- Usability
- Connectivity
- Hardware
- Input Methods
- Applications
- Ratings:
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As would be expected from a device calling itself an Internet Tablet, it comes with a couple of ways to connect itself to the Internet. The easiest is via a Wi-Fi access point. The 770 supports 802.11b/g, with both WEP and WPA, making it very easy to connect to most hot-spots. Unfortunately, it does not appear to have any kind of VPN client, making it unsuitable for any wireless network which uses tunneling for security.
The second connection method is via a Bluetooth connection to a mobile phone. This is similarly easy — the connection software includes pre-defined settings for all common network providers, and some I was unfamiliar with. The only other machine I have managed to persuade to connect to the 'net via my mobile is my PowerBook, and that was a lot more of a struggle.
Once paired with a telephone, the 770 supports file transfer, allowing you to make use of the phone's internal storage for documents, as well as using the 770's gorgeous screen for examining photographs taken with a camera phone. Unfortunately, I was unable to pair it wirelessly with a computer, leaving the USB cable as the only way of transferring files between it and a desktop.
On the subject of the USB cable, file transfer is implemented in a rather neat way. When you plug the cable in, it un-mounts its flash RS-MMC and the device functions as a flash card reader. Once the cable is unplugged, it re-mounts the card. The advantage of this is that you don't need to have any software taking up RAM for handling transfers. The down-side is that transferring files from the built-in flash to an external machine is a two-step process, as they have to go via the memory card.