Naturally, as time progresses, personal interest and taste change; replaced with new interest(s). Despite my own attempts to persuade myself to ignore the urge, I rarely follow through with my intention(s) to resist falling for the next latest & [purportedly] greatest gadget. Call it a pricey hobby, an infatuation, a crazy lust for all things shiny and electronic. There are very few items that manage to hold my attention and interest long enough to die a slow and natural death of overuse, abuse, and accidental breakage.

The most difficult urge? Mobile phones. As revisions and updates surface, cellphones become more and more advanced packing a more powerful "punch" than preceding handsets. Try as hard as I might – even going as far as ignoring tech sites and forums whose sole purpose is to focus on mobile phones – a small glimpse of a thumbnail is enough to send me careening for more information and a means to acquire a handset for my own use. It seems like only yesterday the amazing Nokia N95 was all I could think about, then the Apple iPhone dropped on to the scene, now… The HTC TyTN II Kaiser.

Deciding to give the HTC TyTN II Kaiser a proper break-in and thorough use before reviewing, I thought it might be interesting to recall my first, second, third – and all the way up to my current mobile handset [in chronological order].

• Motorola V8160 – This was my first and probably the smallest flip phone that I have ever or will ever own.
• Nokia 8290 – I think everyone had one of these phones at some point in their life. Nearly bombproof, the 8290 was a true warrior of a handset.
• Nokia 8390 – My favorite mini candy bar handset from Nokia; that white backlit display was just perfect.
• Sony Ericsson T68i – My first color screen handset. Nice to look at [for its time] but incredibly slow.
• Nokia 7250i – My first decent camera phone. The T68i didn’t count because it required an external camera.
• Siemens SL56 – A tiny slider that didn’t last too long. The cramped keyboard was too small for heavy SMS messaging.
• NEC 525 – Large vibrant screen but cumbersome phone software.
• SideKick (color) – Sometimes you just end up with a sour lemon.
• SideKick II – I assumed the 2nd generation SideKick was going to be better. *cough*
• Treo 650 – My first experience with Palm. Juggling multiple applications was great.
• Samsung A920 – A complimentary handset from Sprint. Samsung made a solid flip phone that doubled as an EVDO modem for tethering.
• Treo 700p – An updated case and OS provided an even better Palm experience than the Treo 680. No other threaded SMS app comes close, unless you count the iPhone.
• Samsung Upstage – A complimentary handset from Sprint. The two LCD screen design is more inconvenient than convenient.
• BlackBerry 8703e – A solid BlackBerry device.
• BlackBerry 8100 Pearl – The slim form factor was great, the keyboard layout, not high on my list of favorites.
• Nokia N95 – A true power packed Nokia candybar slider. 5MP camera, 30 fps recording, GPS, Symbian.. Nearly perfect. Well actually, now that the 3G US version is out… It just might be.
• BlackBerry 8300 Curve – The slim form factor of the Pearl, but a full-size keyboard reminiscent of my first BlackBerry the 8703e.
• Apple iPhone – The easiest phone to open, charge, and start using. A high resolution touch screen that still has its faults.
• HTC TyTN ii Kaiser – My first Windows Mobile (6) device. I’ll share my thoughts regarding my feeling of switching from the iPhone to the Kaiser.

* There were a few other handsets between the first and current handsets but their names have slipped my mind.

The list will go on. But for now, I’m overwhelmed with the HTC TyTN ii Kaiser. Check back for an update which will share my experiences switching from Apple’s all touch-screen iPhone to a Windows powered Smartphone. That Apple iPhone could never be labeled a true Smartphone anyway… right? What handsets did you own, and which among them was your favorite?

Front view of the Samsung NV11 digital camera. Solid housing and a Schneider lens to capture images w/ a resolution up to 10.1 mega pixels. The only drawback is that the lens does not sit flush with the body.

Jutting out from the front of the housing is a Schneider Varioplan 7.8-39mm lens. What sets the NV11 apart from the rest of the point-n-shoot options is the lens which juts out the front side of the camera. It’s not the prettiest camera on store shelves, but surely meets the standards of a specific user looking for an everyday point ‘n shoot built like a tank.

In it’s powered-off state, the NV11 lens housing juts out of the front side of the camera. Within due time, you begin to look past this physical "inconvenience" after enjoying the zoom capability of the camera.

The Samsung NV11 specs

Not your typical point-n-shoot camera, the Samsung NV11 offers a great selection of options and features including one of the trickest grid-like interfaces (which reminded me of playing Battleship). Using a series of horizontal and vertical touch sensitive buttons, the NV11 offers an intuitive interface for navigating camera options or adjusting image settings on-the-fly.

• Image Sensor: 1/1.8" CCD, 10.1 MP
• Lens: Schneider 7.8-39mm, F2.8 – F4.4, 5X Optical Zoom, 11.4X Digital Zoom
• LCD: 2.7" TFT LCD
• Shutter: Auto: 1 – 1/2000, Manual, S Mode: 15 – 1/2000 , Night: 15 – 1/2000
• Facial Recognition – Coupled with the Advanced Shake Reduction, blurry portraits are a thing of the past.

The list of specifications is long winded and includes various exposure, flash, sharpness, effects, white balance, and voice & movie recordings. Enjoy the ability to record DVD quality videos at an amazing 30 fps.

A larger point ‘n shoot

Driving down Pike St. (Seattle) – George Bush Federal Courthouse and Space Needle in the distance

Up close, giant serving of Pesto atop a salmon omelet at CJ’s Cafe.

As many others believe, actions & images speak louder than words. Thanks to the intuitive interface, simple learning curve, and overall simplicity, it was possible to spend more time shooting rather than flipping through the manual. The solid build and size coupled with the Anti-shake mechanism allowed for clear un-blurred candid images.

Likes and dislikes

I am by no means a professional photographer, but I do enjoy trick looking gadgets that manage to turn heads or raise eyebrows. The Samsung NV11 is not your usual Canon SD – the large lens protruding out the front of the camera makes others wonder "is that a point ‘n shoot?"

Likes

• High Sensitivity up to ISO 1600
• 10.1 MP – Pixels aren’t everything, but the NV11 matches my Nikon D80 (for pixels).
• Solid build quality and industrial strength aesthetics.
• Intuitive touch interface – glide your fingers across the sensors horizontally & vertically to manipulate settings, edit photos, apply effects, or browse.
• Large screen – no wonder the camera is on the larger side.
• On board photo editing and effects – frame, add drop shadows, frames, rounded corners, etc. (Skip the post processing and add image effects directly on the camera and print).
• USB cable charging – charge via USB using the wall adapater or your computer.

Dislikes

• No memory card – I understand that it is becoming the norm not to include a memory card, but a 512 MB wouldn’t hurt.
• Image distortion with Advanced Shake Reduction enabled. See the Pike St. (Seattle) image above.
• Slow start-up time – a little bulkier and slower to start compared to standard point ‘n shoot cameras.
• Bulky hard lined housing and obtrusive lens; check out the the compact sibling Samsung NV3 (7.2 MP).
• Weak flash
• Noticeable noise at ISO 100-400.