This rugged, $450 timepiece has an old-school analog display that hides its high-tech underpinnings. Press a dedicated button on the watch, and the second hand becomes a compass needle to help you find your way. Since the watch syncs with atomic time stations in the U.S. and several other countries, you'll never need to set the time zone.
The Pathfinder never needs to be recharged; its built-in solar sensor charges it in either sunlight or indoor lighting. There's a barometer, an altimeter and a button that shines an ambient white light that looks like a halogen lamp.
The TNG DS9 PADD Replica is a replica of the original PADD that appeared in the first series of Star TreK: The Next generation, and it is designed to look exactly like the original.
If you want one, the Star Trek TNG DS9 PADD Replica is available ro pre-order for $119.99 from Entertainment Earth.
Sony unveils its new line of headphones designed for today’s young generation. The PIIQ (pronounced like “peek”) headphones are inspired from street culture, skaters, and those who dare to push the limits.
Each of the five models designed by Rui Morisawa and friends has its distinct style and even comes in several style variations. The Marqii is inspired by a snowboard lock, with an adjustable headband to fit perfectly on your head, has a flat detachable cord, and comes with 40mm drivers for a powerful sound output. The Giiq has an overall smooth detail with flex motion cups, padded headband for comfortable audio experience, and 30mm drivers for a robust sound.
The Triqii features internal sliders to keep the ends of the headband hidden yet adjustable. It is built for durability, resisting impacts and scratches, plus a big bass to boot. The Qlasp is a pair of earbuds with dual-purpose hooks that lets you hang it onto your ear or clip it under your lobe. The soft earbuds are snug and comfortable, all while providing crystal-clear sounds from its 30mm drivers. And the Exhale, the most inexpensive of the five, comes with earbuds that look like masks. Each bud contains a 13.5mm driver for powerful sound and even a bass booster. The PIIQ is now available on its online store and will soon be released on retails outlets. Prices range from US$14.99 to US$99.99 for the Marqii.
A concept device from German designer Frederik Podzuweit may provide an answer on how hearing-impaired people can be able to listen to music.
Before anyone could react, yes, it is possible for deaf people to “hear” music with the help of synesthesia, a condition wherein one sensory stimulus leads to automatic, involuntary experiences of an different sense. In this case, people who are hard of hearing can listen to music by vibrations felt in their bodies, which our featured gadget intends to do.
The Music for Deaf People device, or what CrunchGear would like to call “Portable Ears,” is worn on the shoulders like a collar. It then transmits bass, midtones, and treble as vibrations from any portable audio device. The treble vibrations are felt right above the breastbone, while the mid-range sound are released on the collarbones, and the bass can be felt on the back.
The volume and track number can be adjusted by pressing the controls in the front. The device is also expandable, making it fit for any size. Even people who could hear music can even try one of these simply because it looks cool.
With PC’s ever getting more powerful with more advanced specs, it might get quite difficult making them in slimmer and smaller designs. But this has been something that PC maker shuttle has been known for, creating small form factor (SFF) PC’s. And the latest release that they have for the US market is the Shuttle X350.
The Shuttle X350 Slim PC may just be the smallest PC yet from this industry leading company when it comes to high performance SFF PC’s. The Shuttle X350 come in only at 1.5 inch thick, quite small indeed for any current PC design. But with its size comes powerful specs that include a dual core Intel Atom D510 processor along with NVIDIA ION graphics card offering true 1080p HDMI output (optional) with enough space to slip in a slim optical drive. The meticulous design of the X350 Slim PC also allows it to go fan less, dust free as well as virtually maintenance free. The Shuttle X350 Slim PC is set to be available any time now. There’s no news yet on how much it will cost in the Us market.
Using renewable energy for everyday devices seems to have become a cool thing nowadays. This may be the main reason why many solar powered gadgets have become quite popular in the consumer market. You can add up this new Landport Solar Powered Speakers in the mix.
The Landport Solar Powered Speakers comes from Japan where it was just recently introduced and is eyed for release around March. It is a uniquely designed twin speaker system armed with its own lithium rechargeable batteries and with a solar panel on top. It is designed to gather as much solar power as possible to charge the batteries that run the speakers. At full charge, the Landport Solar Powered Speakers can be used for 8 hours continuously. The Landport Solar Powered Speakers is designed for use with your iPods and mp3 players through a stereo mini input. It is set to cost around 5,250 Japanese Yen which would be around US$58.
With the Mini 210 HP took their popular netbook formula and updated it once again, this time focusing even more on HP’s target buyers. Netbook buyers want good looks, light weight, and a low entry price, and HP was able to deliver, though with some sacrifices compared to HP’s higher end Mini 5102.
Note: If you go to HP.com now you’ll notice that the Mini 210 has been replaced with the Mini 210 HD. It’s essentially the same computer, but the starting price is $329 and the Intel N455 processor is standard. The Broadcom HD video accelerator is bundled with the Intel Atom N475 as a $40 upgrade. The “HD” in the the name refers to the standard equipment 720p-capable display.
The Mini 210, HP’s mainstream netbook model, starts out at $280 but this unit was configured a bit higher than that. The Mini came equipped with Intel’s Atom N450 1.66GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 160GB of storage (5400RPM), Intel GMA 3150 grpahics, and Windows 7 Starter Edition. It has a webcam, Bluetooth, 802.11b/g WiFi, and not too much else. The 10.1-inch display runs at 1366×768. Exterior ports include a card reader, three USB 2.0 ports, ethernet (hidden under a cover), Kensington lock port, VGA, and a headset jack. The “Sonoma Red” exterior our unit features is a $20 upgrade.
The Mini 210 comes with a new, sleek body design that is a major improvement over HP’s previous low priced computers. It’s thin (just 1.1-inches), curvy, and attractive with satin-feel materials and no hard edges. The system is mostly plastic but it looks well designed, especially with the edge-to-edge display and a small battery that fits perfectly into the contours of the computer. The computer weighs just about 3.0 pounds and feels like it’s put together well. The design overhaul makes the Mini 210 one of the better looking netbooks on the market, thanks to some design cues borrowed from HP’s Envy line.
One of the new perks of the HP 210 is that the bottom cover can be removed without tools so owner can easily access the components inside. It’s a nice feature but it’s probably not something people will use much. It’s a bit tough to put all the clips back in place once they are removed and they are plastic so there is the issue of wear, which means it’s best to use this feature sparingly.
The computer comes in a number of snazzy color options, including the metallic red featured in this review. It’s a handsome color that I’d definitely consider (even for the extra $20), but after a few weeks of usage I noticed a number of scuffs on the top and bottom. So the metallic paint job might look great, but the coated plastic lacks the durability of HP’s better equipped systems. See the gallery below for a close-up shot.
The keyboard on the Mini 210 is as good as ever, giving the 10-inch system a very good typing experience with just one exception–the arrow keys. Typing with the Mini 210 really is quite good, even for extended periods of time and the layout is just about standard, complete with full-sized Shift keys, but the up and down arrow keys had to be crammed into the space normally alloted for a single key. It’s not a major problem, but it’s a flaw that I ran into a few times.
With the netbook HP opted for their buttonless clickpad, using a design also seen in HP’s Envy series (which it borrowed from Apple’s MacBooks). The clickpad works well enough and it’s a pretty slick addition to the otherwise barebones computer, but HP still has a long ways to go before they can match what’s found on the MacBook. It works for general use and it does look cool. It does not work well when precision is necessary and it often messed up when I had an errant finger on the pad. I like the concept, but it never quite won me over.
At the top left of the clickpad is a LED that shines when the trackpad is turned off. Without reading the instruction manual few users will probably never figure out how to operate this and the few times I got it to turn on (and the pad to turn off) I couldn’t figure out how to re-enable the pad. It turns out that you have to double-tap the top left corner to use this function. It seems obvious now, but at the time it’s not clear just what the pad is up to.
The 10.1-inch HD LED “BrightView Infinity” widescreen display runs at 1366 x 768, which is a nice improvement over the netbook-standard 1024×600. It’s crisp with good colors and OK viewing angles. The gloss adds to the image quality when you are looking directly at the display but does cause a number of issues with glare and smudges. Sound is better than expected for a netbook (or any computer this size) so HP has clearly been working on that.
Performance is standard for a netbook equipped with this build, which is to say, not great. Windows 7 Starter would be a downside, but when you are only packing 1GB of RAM it doesn’t really matter. Buyers would do well to get the upgrade to 2GB for $39 which will make the system more bearable (or just upgrade themselves using the easy-access underside). With just 1GB the computer drags when doing anything more intensive then light internet browsing and it could not reliably play a movie I had transcoded to 480×368. YouTube video played back fine, so long as you were not using 1080p or 720p, and Hulu in normal resolution went well. The system is available with a Broadcom HD accelerator (the Crystal HD Enhanced Media Accelerator), which is well worth the money if you are considering watching any video at all. Installing and uninstalling programs was painfully slow, making for another low point for the Mini 210 after its problems with non-web video playback. So the Mini 210 doesn’t have issues that other netbooks don’t, but choosing the right components makes a big difference.
The battery life on the Mini 210 is limited by the fact that our test unit has the flush 3-cell battery not the slightly extended 6-cell (a worthwhile $20 upgrade). The 3-cell is said to be good for about 4.5 hours and the 6-cell 10.2 hours, but my usage put the Mini 210 with the smaller battery at more like 3 hours. Anything you do on this computer is relatively intensive so the battery life gets eaten up pretty quickly, especially since screen glare meant I usually had to keep the backlight higher than I would have liked. The 6-cell should put real-life usage at around 6-hours, which isn’t particularly impressive but it’s a much better number.
Overall I like where HP is going with the Mini 210, but I have some problems with this computer. I like how it looks, but the scuffs on the exterior were bothersome and I enjoy the portability, but the extended battery would have really helped as the computer kept dying on me whenever I took it away from my desk. Similar to the the battery life, poor performance and video playback problems could have been avoided with minor upgrades–in fact less than $100 in upgrades would have made this a much better computer. It still wouldn’t be in the running for my top netbook, but it would be much more competitive than I found it to be.
Back in April Fujitsu posted a release about a new type of secure USB drive that used self-erasing operations in order to protect the data on board. The idea of a self-destructing USB drive (or any storage device for that matter) is a great one, but it looked like Fujitsu was finally taking things a step further than the typical secure USB drives that have been available (and not always so secure).
Fujitsu approached the device with two goals: “in the event that the USB memory device is lost or stolen, the data should not only be encrypted, but should automatically be deleted; and confidential data should be prevented from being copied except on predefined USB memory devices or servers”. To accomplish these their device was given a processor and battery (charging time is 5 minutes), which enable it to delete data after a set period of time (between 10 minutes and 7 days) or if it is plugged into an unauthorized computer. The drive is also able to delete its data if the incorrect key is entered a set number of times. It has 256-bit AES encryption.
In addition to 0n-device security Fujitsu has installable file redirect software that means data from the secure USB drive can only be used off of the drive or from a secure server, not copied locally, printed, or emailed. There are also administrator functions so admins can track their drives and see if they were deleted.
According to Crunchgear the drive, known as the Tamatebako, is now available in Japan although without reading Japanese not much more information can be parsed from Fujitsu’s release (PDF). We can see that the drive is 2GB, measures 70×70x24mm, and that it’s compatible with Windows XP and Vista (presumably 7 as well).
As N900 is a pack in a strong hardware in a small frame. The cell phone is generation old but powerhouse with 600Mhz ARM Cortex A8 inside and Operating system is Linux based Maemo, porting another Linux based OS on the N900 is easy rather on a symbian based handset.
Check out the video in which guy has ported Android Froyo which is the latest version running on N900.
Looks like the Android-toting Cius wasn't the only tablet out of Cisco this week -- the company's also announced a countertop unit for home energy management with a 7-inch, 800 x 480 capacitive touch screen. Running Ubuntu Linux for MID on a 1.1GHz Intel Atom chip, the Home Energy Controller connects to smart thermostats and appliances over 802.11n WiFi or gigabit ethernet using protocols including ZigBee. It then lets you keep tabs on your electricity usage, and suggests ways you could improve -- assuming you're using the tablet for its intended purpose instead of watching hardware-accelerated videos on Mediafly, browsing the included app store, or (potentially) using it as a phone of some sort. Forbes reports the device will run $900 per installation, though it's more likely it'll arrive subsidized by a monthly power bill. See it in action right after the break, and hit up that PDF at the more coverage link for a full spec sheet.
More 3D displays are coming our way. A little 7-inch display from Apitek also packs 3D capability to let you view photo and video in 3D. And you do not need any 3D-glasses for this Apitek’s 7-inch 3D display.
If you’ve owned one of the latest 3D camcorders, you’d be interested in having the Apitek 3D display to show off the recorded 3D videos and photos on this 7-inch display. It also comes with software that allows you to convert any 2D images to 3D.
The Aiptek 7-inch 3D display is now available on Amazon for pre-order for a price of $200. It’ll ship on August 15th. If you want one, just hit the “Buy now” button below.
I like my iPhone, but it drives me crazy to have to hold the thing or hover over it lying on the desk while I watch YouTube. It’s also irritating that the iPhone sucks down the battery like crazy when I watch video and goes dead fast.
Konnet has unveiled a new accessory for the iPhone, that is compatible with the new iPhone 4, called the PowerEZ Plus. The gadget is a small external battery about as wide as the iPhone that connects to the charge and sync port.
The battery is about half an inch thick and has 1000mAh of power inside the battery. The battery also has a kickstand on the back to stand the iPhone up for watching video. It sells for $29.99 and is available now. This device fixes both my issues with battery life and having to hold the iPhone for video playback.
CyberPower has launched a new series of 3D desktop gaming PCs that are based on NVIDIA’s 3D Vision surround technology, the CyberPower Gamer Xtreme 3D.
The CyberPower Gamer Xtreme 3D PCs are designed to be used with three high resolution displays, and as well as the Gamer Xtreme PCs CyberPower will also offer the option in their Gamer Ultra range.
CyberPower customers can begin customizing a 3D-ready PC or a complete 3D Vision Surround system with 3D monitors and glasses. Gamer Xtreme and Gamer Ultra 3D Vision Surround PCs can be optionally equipped with powerful Intel Core i3, i5, or i7 processors or AMD’s six core Phenom for smooth system performance. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 400 GPUs deliver the graphics horsepower to run your games in 3D stereo, across three displays, at HD resolutions up to 5760×1080. CyberPower’s 3D Vision Surround-based gaming PCs are cooled by its new Xtreme Hydro LiquidCooling solution featuring a 360mm radiator and can be easily factory overclocked. CyberPower 3D Vision Surround systems are also SATA-III and USB 3.0 ready to boost speeds and customized with a number of hard drives, SSD, Blu-Ray devices to enhance your 3D entertainment. High performance memory upgrades, and other peripheral components options are also available at the company website.
You can find out more details about the new 3D Vision Surround gaming PCs over at CyberPower.
Samsung’s latest netbook the N230 comes with an impressive claim, 13.8 hours of battery life, which should be enough for anyone who wants to use their netbook when they are out and about.
Other specifications are pretty much standard for a netbook, with a choice of either a 1.66GHz N450 processor or a 1.83GHz N470 processor, plus 1GB of RAM.
The Samsung N230 comes with a choice of either a 160GB or a 250 GB hard drive, and it features a 10.1 inch LED backlit display with a resolution of 1024 x 600.
Other specifications include WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0 plus the option to add in a 3G modem. If you don’t fancy the 13.8 hour battery you can go for a smaller one which will give you around seven hours of usage.
The Samsung N230 netbook will be available in the UK within a few weeks for £349.
Virgins new Broadband2Go MiFi 2200 device has now been launched in the US for a contract free $149. Giving you a personal hot spot you can carry around and hop on at any time, together with up to 4 other WiFi-enabled devices at any time to access the Internet.
Virgins new aluminium encased Mifi measures only 3.50 x 2.32 x 0.35 inches and weighs just 2.05 oz and is capable of providing up to 4 hours of usage on a fully charge and up to 40 hrs of standby time.
HTC Hero owners have been waiting for quite some time for HTC to release Android 2.1 for the Hero, the good news is that Android 2.1 is finally available for the HTC Hero.
Android 2.1 is being rolled out as an over the air update (OTA), and Android 2.1 (Eclair) adds a range of new features to the HTC Hero.
Update – HTC Hero Android 2.1 Firmware Over The Air (FOTA) update (Second Package)
In our commitment to providing you with the best user experience, we are pushing out a new firmware update to your HTC Hero. Your phone will receive a notification of this update when it is made available. Simply press OK to accept the update via a data connection such as Wi-Fi or GPRS/3G. After installing the update, you can confirm a successful update by confirming the Firmware version (From the Home Screen go to MENU> Settings> About Phone> Firmware version). The new Firmware version will be 2.1.
Update Information: Android 2.1 Platform Upgrade
Note：Please back up your data first, and you have to upgrade your phone with the first FOTA package to be able to get the Android 2.1 FOTA upgrade. We recommend using a free Wi-Fi hotspot or an unlimited data plan to apply this update. If not, standard data connection charges may apply. For any questions, please contact us via http://www.htc.com/www/CA_Hotline.aspx
Android 2.1 brings a range of new features to the HTC Hero, which include Google Maps Navigation.
Over the last hour Engadget has been receiving tips that Nexus One owners on the AT&T network were receiving updates for Android 2.2 FRF85 over the air. The updates were then later confirmed as official by Google and you should now see a notification in the bar to allow you to upgrade your device over-the-air.
Heres a direct link from the Google’s servers to update from Android EPE54B to FRF85. The link is supposed to provide an update that will work on any Android build, but this has not been confirmed as yet.
It seems that Microsoft’s [MSFT] roadmap for the next version of Windows, Windows 8 may have been leaked by a slide show that has turned up on an Italian Windows blog Windowsette.
Microsoft has declined to comment on the slide shows authenticity, which gives the impression that it could be legitimate, and the slides have been watermarked with ‘Microsoft Confidential’
One of the slides refers to Apple, ‘Apple brand is known for high quality, uncomplicated, ‘It just works,’ This is something people will pay for!’, and whilst the slides mention Apple, Microsoft is still way ahead of Apple in terms of operating systems with around 90 percent of desktop operating systems being a version of Windows.
One of the interesting things that turned up in slides is a Windows Store, where third party developers will be able to submit and sell applications. Microsoft can obviously see the potential in a Windows based app store after the huge success of the Apple App store and the growing Android market.
Another thing that was revealed in the slides was more information on Windows 8 which included the following statement, ‘Windows 8 PCs turn on fast, nearly instantly in some cases, and are ready to work without any long or unexpected delays,’
You can see more information on the Windows 8 roadmap over at MSFTKitchen, as well as all the presentation slides.
Specifications: Status: Expected Summer 2010 OS: Android 2.1 Éclair Weight: 118g Screen: 4 inch, 16M colors, Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen Resolution: 480×800 pixels Camera: 5MP with autofocus, touch focus, geotagging, face and smile detection
Video recording 720p @ 30fps Memory: 8/16GB internal storage Card slot: microSD CPU: S5PC110 Hummingbird 1GHz processor RAM: Yet unknown Networks: Quad-band GSM, HSDPA Full Specs at GSMArena.com Its competition is fierce, but I still think the Android über-phone Samsung Galaxy S deserves to be at the top of this list. Let me explain why. The Galaxy S is currently the only high-end device with a large, Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen. As I mentioned when I built my own imaginary superphone a while ago, Super AMOLED is 20% brighter, has 80% less sunlight reflection and uses 20% less power than traditional AMOLED screens. Super AMOLED displays also offer better contrast. Since Engadget called the screen on the Galaxy S “jaw-droppingly beautiful”, “bright and crisp” and “stunning”, I am prone to believe the stats.
2. HTC Evo 4G (Supersonic)
Specifications: Status: Expected Summer 2010 OS: Android 2.1 Eclair Weight: 170g Screen: 4.3 inches, 128K colors, TFT LCD capacitive touchscreen Resolution: 480×800 pixels Camera: 8MP with LED flash and autofocus, capable of recording 720p video
1.3 MP front facing camera Memory: 1GB internal storage + 8GB memory card included Card slot: microSD CPU: Snapdragon QSD8650 1GHz processor RAM: 512 MB Networks: CDMA / EV-DO / WiMAX Full Specs at PhoneArena.com When the Windows Phone HTC HD2 was announced, people craved a device with equally impressive hardware running Android, and HTC made sure they got what they wanted with the Evo 4G (a.k.a. Supersonic). The Evo has a huge display; 4.3 inches, and to my knowledge that size is currently the second largest available on a smartphone (the screen on the Dell Streak (Mini 5) is 5″ ), and it looks massive in the pictures. Here’s a size comparison with 3.5″ and 3.7″ screens. Some other noteworthy features are HDMI out, a 1500mAh battery, kickstand, FM radio, a digital compass, accelerometer, proximity sensor, light sensor, aGPS, 3.5 mm audio jack, Wi-Fi and of course 4G. The HTC Evo also features the acclaimed and incredibly customizable HTC Sense UI with social network integration. What more can I say? I want one.
3. HTC Droid Incredible
Specifications: Status: Available late April, 2010 OS: Android 2.1 Éclair Weight: 130g Screen: 3.7 inches, AMOLED capacitive touchscreen Resolution: 480×800 pixels (WVGA) Camera: 8MP with dual LED flash, autofocus, geotagging Memory: 8GB internal storage Card slot: microSD CPU: Snapdragon 1GHz processor RAM: 576 MB Networks: Quad-band GSM, CDMA Full Specs at PhoneArena.com If I were to buy one of these phones myself, I would probably pick the HTC Incredible. If it only came equipped with a slide-out hardware QWERTY keyboard, the Incredible would have been fairly close to the device of my dreams. Engadget loved the Incredible, and the phone is basically a slightly improved version of Europe’s HTC Desire, which in turn is a Nexus One with a few minor enhancements (it runs HTC Sense, has an FM radio, etc).
4. Dell Lightning
Specifications: Status: Expected Q4 2010 OS: Windows Phone 7 Weight: 170g Screen: 4.1 inches, Samsung OLED capacitive touchscreen Resolution: 480×800 pixels (WVGA) Camera: 5MP with autofocus Memory: 1GB internal storage + 8GB memory card included Card slot: microSD CPU: 1GHz QSD8250 Snapdragon processor RAM: 512 MB Networks: Quad-band GSM, UMTS The recently revealed Windows Phone 7 device Dell Lightning will launch with GPS, compass, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, accelerometer, FM radio, a 1400 mAh battery and full Flash support including video playback. Judging from the pictures, this is one good looking phone, and I especially like the portrait slider form factor with a QWERTY keyboard.
5. Dell Streak (a.k.a. Mini 5)
Specifications: Status: Coming soon OS: Android Donut with future OTA upgrade to Éclair Weight: 220g Screen: 5-inch, TFT LCD capacitive touchscreen with multi-touch Resolution: 480×800 pixels (WVGA) Camera: 5MP with autofocus and dual LED flash + VGA front facing camera Memory: 512 MB ROM + 2 GB non-user accessible microSD for apps and files Card slot: microSD CPU: Snapdragon 1GHz processor RAM: 256 MB Networks: Quad-band GSM, HSDPA Dell may advertise the Streak as a tablet, but I call it a smartphone with a frakking colossal display. It may merely have half the RAM of the other devices on this list, and it will launch with Android Donut, but the Streak has the largest screen of them all, and its massive size will definitely offer some advantages. Needless to say, the Dell Streak comes loaded with accelerometer, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, aGPS and a digital compass as well.
A feature that was introduced in Android 2.1 is live wallpapers, and they debuted on the Nexus One back in early January 2010. Live wallpapers are basically animated, interactive homescreen backgrounds that can behave differently depending on the time of the day, where you are, Internet updates, and how you move and touch your device. One can think of them as tiny applications that run in the background, and they have access to all the facilities of the Android platform.
Some people don’t like live wallpapers, since they believe the wallpapers mainly slow down the phone, drain the battery and are distracting. They might have a point, and perhaps it’s just the charm of novelty, but I really enjoy them. I’ve always wanted my phones to not only be functional, but personal, fun, and visually appealing. One of the many things I love about Android is how customizable it is, and I welcome all new ways to personalize my device. Live wallpapers can also be functional, like the one that comes with the latest version of Google Maps. If I’m going to keep using them in the long run, however, remains to be seen.
Several of the default live wallpapers (like Galaxy, Grass, Nexus and Water) would probably qualify for this list, but I leave them out of account here as I’m only talking about third-party live wallpapers. I tried a lot of wallpapers when writing this piece, but naturally I haven’t been able to test all of them, so if I have missed any cool ones, please feel free to let me know. It was comparatively easy to figure out the top entrants, but it was difficult to decide which wallpaper was better than the other, so they are in no particular order. Click on a thumbnail to see the full picture. What’s New?
This live wallpaper keeps it simple by just showing a ridge with trees silhouetted against a sunset, while clouds gently move across the skyline. The image that is used provides a good contrast to all the widgets and shortcuts on your homescreen, so it’s not in the way. It would be nice with some options, though.
Of all the live wallpapers on this list, I think PongClock presently has the highest rating on the Market: 4.51 / 5 (based on only 51 ratings, though). It shows a game of Pong on your homescreen, as well as the current time, and it has a true retro feel. PongClock comes with many settings, and even a multitouch game mode! Check it out.
If PongClock is the highest rated live wallpaper on this list, Earth is definitely the most popular, and it has a high rating as well (4.31). As the name implies, Earth shows our world as seen from space. The globe rotates, and there are plenty of ways to customize the animation. You can change the background, add a starfield, change the speed and rotation, the size of the globe, choose between many different maps, add an orbiting moon, et cetera. I can see why Earth is so popular.
Zoomfield shows flying objects coming towards you, but unlike many of the other live wallpapers with similarly styled animations, Zoomfield is rather soothing.
I had heard a lot of good things about Starfield, and I must admit that I initially was a bit disappointed when I first tried it. My main objection was that it seemed too distracting – a bit stressful, even. But after I slightly decreased the number of stars, the speed and activated the Background option, I really enjoyed having stars coming towards me. I think Starfield is clean, stylish and has a nerdy cool to it. The live wallpaper reminds me of Star Wars, and that is always a good thing (except for the turkey Phantom Menace, of course). You can even double-tap on your screen to engage the warp engines! There’s a similar live wallpaper called 3D Galaxy, but I prefer this one.
This live wallpaper shows a boat on a billowy ocean, and since Wave is connected to your phone’s accelerometer, tilting your device will move the boat.
Plasma is customizable live wallpaper that generates flowing, psychedelic colors on your homescreen. It comes with an effect builder and a series of presets. I like when live wallpapers aren’t in your face, and Plasma is classy.
Even though I like the idea of having fish swimming around on my homescreens, I think Aquarium has lots of room for improvement. It shows tropical fish in a fish tank, and the animations are alright, but I think the general look is a bit too childish.
The developer describes his creation with the words “Bouncing lines, old school live wallpaper. A nostalgic trip with the old screen saver.” Depending on how you configure Lines, it can almost have a ghostly effect. It’s a good choice for those who like plain black backgrounds, but want to add a twist to it.
This live wallpaper shows slowly moving bézier curves, inspired by the PS3 homescreen. You can customize the look of it, and the live wallpaper has seven different color themes. I enjoy Bezier, because it’s not distracting, it’s clean, slick and it makes the homescreen a bit more fun to look at.
Galactic Core is similar to the default Galaxy live wallpaper, and they both share a serene quality. Galactic Core features a rotating spiral galaxy, is unobtrusive and doesn’t distract.
This is a modification of the Nexus live wallpaper that comes preloaded with Android 2.1, but unlike the original, NexusMod has lots of options. I like how it’s geek chic, but I wish it had a speed setting since it’s a bit too busy for my taste.
Bobs may not appeal to everyone, but of the live wallpapers that show animations moving across the screen, this is one of my favorites. I like how the color of the animation changes, and how it slows down, speeds up and twirls. The developer calls it “yet another nostalgic 20th century old school demo effect”, reminiscent of those that could bee seen on the Amiga back in the day.
Live Waterpaper uses OpenGL to create a watery effect, and when you tap on the screen, you manipulate the water’s surface. This is currently my favorite live wallpaper (I think), mainly because it’s subtle and peaceful, but it still has a nice and very tangible effect, and since you can use it with the background image(s) of your choice, you can avoid all contrast issues. It’s like a regular homescreen wallpaper, but with a bit of oomph to it – the best of two worlds.
This is a live wallpaper that shoots off fireworks in all sorts of colors, and you can tap on the screen to launch a new firework. Fireworks has lots of settings, and you can make it look quite good, but I would have enjoyed this live wallpaper more if the animations were a bit more realistic.
I initially made the mistake of dismissing this live wallpaper, since I didn’t give it enough time to do its thing, and it looks kind of modest at first. It’s also not a single live wallpaper, but several – all with different effects. The developer describes them with these words: “A set of live wallpapers, each displaying a slowly changing pattern which gradually evolves in your home screen. These subtle animations save battery power and keep your home screen responsive.” I could add “artistic” to that description. I think Substrate is one of the better and most original live wallpapers out there at the moment.
This is a live wallpaper for all the fellow nerds out there: it displays the Android activity log on your screen. You can select which font to use, and Logcat has an “old phosphor effect” option. There’s a full version as well, which is more customizable. I think Logcat is a bit too distracting, and it makes it rather hard at times to see the shortcuts on your homescreen, but it’s still a fun live wallpaper that deserves to be on this list.
This live wallpaper shows zombies walking across your screen, and if you tap on them – an airplane comes flying in and blasts those bad boys into oblivion. It’s apparently a fan work for Metal Slug (a series of video games that made its debut on the Neo-Geo back in 1996).
Shake Them All! is a very popular live wallpaper that displays Androids falling down your screen, using a realistic physics engine and your phone’s accelerometer. The falling Androids apparently react to gravity (I guess he’s not talking about the same gravity that keeps us on the ground), touching, shaking your phone and even light and sound.
While we’re on the topic of falling Androids, one cannot fail to mention the Flying Androids of this live wallpaper. It displays Androids in various sizes and at different distances flying across your screen. Some of them are apparently into extreme sports, as they use skateboards as their preferred method of transportation…
