KintĂŠ Taylor
A r t Re vi ew 2 : C o nt empo ra r y Di g i t a l Art i fa ct
ITGM 705 Art Review 2: Contemporary Digital Artifact Winter 2011
Kinté Taylor A R T R E V I E W 2 HTC/T-Mobile myTouch 4G
A r t Re vi ew 2 : C o nt empo ra r y Di g i t a l A r ti fac t
On Wednesday November 3, 2010, T-Mobile started sales on the HTC myTouch® 4G, stating that it’s not a smart phone, it’s the smartest phone yet. The fastest you. The you that keeps everything and everyone you love, right at your finger tips. This phone was released on the heals of the T-Mobile G2. The G2 was suppose to be the Droid 2 killer, the myTouch 4G is suppose to be the iPhone 4 killer. Even the names are similar my Touch 4G and iTouch 4. This phone has functionality tat is very impressive both inside and out. Boasting a front facing camera for video calls, HSPA+ network speeds and Wi-Fi Calling.
HARDWARE Processor Qualcomm MSM 8255 Snapdragon, 1GHz Operating System Android™ 2.2 (Froyo) Internal Memory 4GB ROM/RAM 768MB
A r t Re vi ew 2 : C o nt empo ra r y Di g i t a l A r ti fac t
Kinté Taylor A R T R E V I E W 2 Display 3.8 inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with 480 X 800 WVGA resolution Network GSM/GPRS/EDGE/HSDPA/HSPA+ GPS Internal GPS antenna Camera 5 mega pixel with LED flash with VGA front facing camera Connectivity Bluetooth 2.1 EDR, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n Battery Rechargeable lithium-ion battery 1400mAh Talk Time (in minutes) Up to 360 minutes (Subject to network and phone usage) Standby Time Up to 288 hours (Subject to network and phone usage) Dimensions 4.8 x 2.44 x 0.43 inches Weight 5.4 oz Expansion slot 8 GB microSD™ card included, up to 32 GB card supported Although the phone is made from plastic, metal and glass, HTC did a great job paying attention to design and detail. The sides of the phone are plastic and rounded; the front is glass and the back in metal. Its large 3.8 inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with 480 X 800 WVGA resolution makes viewing and using the phone very easy with the 4 navigations controls places that the bottom of the screen (Home, Menu, Back and “Genius”). Below those buttons is the optical track pad, which is kind of useless since the myTouch 4G is a touch phone. Volume toggles and a micro USB (for charging and data transfer) slot are on the left side of the phone. The right side has been dedicated for the camera and its two-stage key for the shutter and auto-focusing. On the top, there is the power/lock button and a 3.5mm headset jack. The microSD card slot is located under the battery cover.
A r t Re vi ew 2 : C o nt empo ra r y Di g i t a l A r ti fac t
Kinté Taylor ART REVIEW 2 The myTouch has 5 customizable home screens and is expandable to up to 7. The main home screen consists of a clock with the date, time and local weather and 4 software applications loaded for contacts, messages, browser and Qik Video Chat. These icons can be removed and changed and are aligned to an opaque grid. Depending on the icons or widgets you have on a particular screen, you can place from 1 to 16 icons. On the main menu icon you have easy access to make a phone call, go to the phone setting and to your faves. These icons display across all your home screens. There is also a notification shade, which can be dragged down and displays all recently used apps and notifications. The presence of a software phone button that is always present reduces the pain of not having a real phone key. When you press the phone icon, it takes you to a dial pad. From there you can access your contacts, faves, call log and voice mail. When you start to type in a number, the phone looks through your phone book for a matching number, which is displayed at the top of the screen. The android OS also seamlessly merges Google and Facebook contacts and automatically cross-populates your data that is incomplete. Android phones are very good in supporting a number of messaging tasks. Android 2.2 supports Microsoft Exchange, Gmail, a HTC-developed email application that supports exchange, POP and IMAP email. It also supports GTalk and Yahoo Messenger. AIM and Windows messenger Live applications can be downloaded from the Android Marketplace. Swype, an innovative new keyboard, where you simply slide your finger over the letters that make up the word you want to spell, and Dragon Dictation are also preloaded. Friend Stream is software that channels all your Twitter and Facebook account status updates to one place. You have to go to the Android Market to find Facebook and Twitter apps but the OS supports almost all social networks. Although I still use my iPod Touch for all my music, the myTouch 4G has a “Media Room”, where you have access to your video and music files as well as an FM radio. HTC has upgraded to different camera software than what is offered on other Android phones. The 5-megapixel camera, when focused captures clean and clear photos with accurate colors. You can download hundreds of thousands of apps from the Android Market. The myTouch 4G’s Bluetooth supports mono and stereo headsets and
A r t Re vi ew 2 : C o nt empo ra r y Di g i t a l A r ti fac t
Kinté Taylor A R T R E V I E W 2 can be paired with a number of devices. A number of games are preloaded including, Asphalt 5, Monopoly, and RockBand but they are all demos. Replacing Google Search, the 4G uses a “Genius Button”, which when activated gives you a voice-activated search tool. Satellites are locked onto quickly and with the use of Google Maps, it is easy to find your way around. The myTouch 4G also allows Wi-Fi Calling, allowing the user to make phone calls using the Wi-Fi network in their home. Finally, the hotspot feature is extremely useful. If you have the proper plan, you can use the phone as a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot. I have successfully connected my Mac Book Pro and iPad and iTouch to the mobile hotspot. From packaging to the product, I have really enjoyed my myTouch 4G. I was on the fence about getting the 4G or changing to AT&T (at the time Verizon had not gotten and Apple contract) to get the iPhone 4. I had looked into purchasing the iPhone outright and getting it unlocked and staying with T-Mobile because I have been with them for 14 years and when ever I have a problem, they fix it right away. Ultimately a T-Mobile customer service rep cut me a huge deal on the phone and my calling and data package so I stayed with T-Mobile and only one complaint about the myTouch 4G which is true of all smart phones, the battery life sucks. SOURCES h t t p : / / w w w. h t c . c o m / u s / p r o d u c t s / t - m o b i l e - m y t o u c h - 4 g ? v i e w = 1 1&sort=0&filters=3-0-0 http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/phones/Default.aspx?features=48CC3997D234-4683-8B5A-F026B9DB5528&uid=Shop_1_2#T-Mobile-myTouch-4GBlack http://mytouch.t-mobile.com/mytouch-4g http://www.wirefly.com/catalog/t-mobile/htc/mytouch-4g-black/ http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/05/t-mobile-mytouch-4g-review/ http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/article.php?a=435&p=3333