I posted this comparison photo of the N810 tablet and the MacBookPro both displaying the www.BarackObama.com website so you can see the details.

My downside of the N810 is that it’s not a phone. I wish is was, I want it to be! Now don’t get me wrong it has WiFi and WiMax built-in so you can feel free to Skype away but I want more than that especially at around $500. People that defend the device don’t consider this device a smartphone. I agree with that, it’s in its own class; it’s a web access tool, VoIP phone, mp3 player, video player, video chat machine etc…you name it. It just not a phone.

I picked up one of the express cards the 1st day it was available and have been running tests the past couple of weeks. My BOTTOM LINE? Blazing fast man! I was getting speeds on the download like 4-5Mbit/sec and in the same spot on my EVDO broadband card I was getting like 1.5Mbit/sec. No lie in some spots I got download speeds of 7 Mbit/sec. Now, I recognize alot of people may not be on the service just yet and that it’s prob not realistic to get 7Mbit/sec continually, XOHM is advertising speeds between 3-5Mbit/sec. I was able to pull up The Office episode on HULU, play a youtube video and broadcast on Ustream at the same time without a glitch. Ohhh and I took it in the car too for a drive to see if the connection would hop from tower to tower that was pretty seamless too.

For the techie in you the difference between WiFi and WiMax is that WiMax broadcasts on the 2.5-GHz portion of the radio frequency spectrum, which is a higher frequency than the 2.4 GHz that WiFi (the 802.11b/g/n standards) runs on. It’s also different because it has a longer range, one WiMax enabled tower can reach 30 or so miles as opposed to several hundred feet from WiFi. To really compare this you should think of a home DSL or cable broadband connection while you’re mobile! That’s what this is like. I know this is a “Want it Wednesday” post but you can only get it right now in Baltimore. Why Baltimore? Because we are the geek capital? NOT! Sprint/XOHM engineers said they needed a test bed that wasn’t too large but dense and an urban environment that would have alot of frequency challenges with buildings etc…They are doing a national rollout of XOHM WiMax check their site to see when service is coming your way www.XOHM.com. Upcoming cities are: DC, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Philadelphia and others. When it comes to your area it’s worth a look for sure, especially if you are in a city with 3 or fewer options right now for broadband.

Bottom line the Google Android marketplace doesn’t have many apps right now BUT that window of opportunity will be closing - hurry up, we just learned coming on Monday their app store opens up for ANY app. They too are giving 70% revenue share for your application so STOP playing around sharpen your JAVA programming skills and make some apps. Start with a very simple and quick app and use that as leverage to get you additional funding for more apps, oh yeah and don’t rule out advertising in your app or take it even further, make an edutainment-app and apply for some grant funding from places like NIH, NSF – whatever you do don’t miss out, currently T-mobile has the only android-powered phone the “G1″ but rest assured many more will be coming soon. Entrepreneurs find some black developers and invest in them.

For more scoop listen to today’s Digital Spin Google Android interview with Google Android Engineer Steve Harrowitz.

2 megapixles camera/camcorder

2.4″ internal widescreen

1.3″ external display

Full QWERTY keyboard

microSD memory port

External music controls

While LG is touting the phone’s 18-mm “thin body” I can say while holding it it didn’t feel so thin at all.

The lotus does have some appealing features like document viewing for Word and Excel files, threaded SMS, and built in GPS.  The Lotus is not available just yet but you can be notified when it is on Sprint’s website.  Once released it will be available exclusively on the Sprint Network.

My bottom line: I’m flipping out on the Flip. An absolute must-have in my book! I have had one minor problem with the unit but after performing a hard-reset it was all good. Oh and just hold it very still as you shoot, it’s easy to fall into “shakey-cam” because it is so small and easy to move around while shooting, it feels like an extension of your hand. 

PROS: Lightweight, fits in pocket, no cables, runs on 2 AA batteries (YES! no complaining about a dead battery or the frustrated “I need a freakin outlet!”)

NEGS: 640 x 480 resolution (bye-bye HD), no flash (but somehow still does remarkably well in low-light environments), photos have to be extracted from the video

COST: Starts at $129 to $179 at www.theflip.com

Oh and yes, you can sync the pen with your computer, the Livescribe software syncs your notes and the linked audio so you can actually search by keyword. When I reviewed my files on my PC (no MAC version yet) you can simply mouse-click on a word and the audio recorded at the time of that specific pen stroke will begin playing. Man, this gadget is perfect for students who’s handwriting can look like hieroglyphics especially when trying to keep up with SOME of those long-winded (yadda, yadda, yadda) professors.

I tested the $199 2Gig version that can capture up to 100 hours of audio. They do have a less-expensive 1Gig version for $149. Special paper notebooks cost $19 for a 4-pack of notebooks, they also are planning to let you print paper from their site for free to eliminate use barriers.

Mario’s bottom line?
Pros: works as advertised, the pen can be used as a regular ink pen (imagine that), relatively inexpensive, audio capture is incredible for its size
Negs: needs special paper, no optical character recognition for transcribing my notes to text (but I hear thats’s coming)

You can see video of the Pen in action here.