Sony seems to have gotten its game together like never before, and that includes shipping its flagship phone on time to steal a march over rivals.

The Xperia Z, possibly the best phone from Sony in a long while, is going on sale in Singapore on March 1, for a rather expensive but not unexpected S$988. Impatient buyers can pre-order from February 15 at Sony stores or telecom operators.

From what we’ve seen so far (read our hands-on test),  the Xperia Z is a well-designed and feature-packed gizmo that can take on and possibly beat popular models from HTC and Samsung.

It certainly doesn’t lose out in the hardware department. With a 5-inch screen displaying Full HD resolution, a 1.5GHz quad-core chip and 2GB RAM, it connects to speedy 4G or LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks.

It also betters HTC and Samsung offerings with a 13-meg camera, which promises to bring the Japanese electronics giant’s expertise on digital imaging to the small device.

One more thing that might attract users: a waterproof frame that lets you carry the phone to the pool side without worry. At launch, the Xperia Z will also come in black, white and purple.

Is S$988 a little expensive? The Android phone is certainly not cheap, but the cost is within the range of high-end models from Samsung, for example.

Has Sony pulled a winner out of the hat? Well, this phone will be out for pre-order just as the hype begins with new phones to be launched in the yearly Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in late February. That’s pretty fast, considering that the phone was unveiled only last month.

However, Sony will have to contend with the might of Samsung, now the largest phone maker in the world, in terms of marketing and advertising.

Geeks will no doubt be interested in the Xperia Z, but the bigger market of fashion-conscious “lifestyle” users will have to be convinced Sony is back, amid the Korean wave.

Check out our review of the Xperia Z here.

Remember that Windows RT tablet that Asus was showing off at the end of last year? Well, there’s a 3G version of the VivoTab RT now in Singapore and it’s started selling on Wednesday for S$1,049.

It’s not bad a deal, considering it’s just S$100 more than the Wi-Fi only version that went for S$949 at launch. With 3G, you will be able to connect on the go without worrying about Wi-Fi hotspots not working when you need them the most. 

Other than that, the new 3G tablet is similar to the VivoTab RT that first appeared in October (read our review).

There’s an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor, a 10.1-inch Super IPS+ screen promising sharpness and colour accuracy, along with 2GB of RAM for processing and a modest 32GB for storing your most important files on the go.

The tablet, which ships with a detachable keyboard, runs Windows RT, the “stripped down” version of Windows 8. It’s got a useful version of Office 2013 onboard, of course, but this tablet won’t run your old Windows programs, unlike a full-fledged Windows 8 machine.

Still, you get to surf the Web in all its glory, instead of being passed on to mobile sites. You can also plug in USB drives without any additional on-the-go cable, as you’d use on Android devices.

And Asus has kept the weight similar – at 525g - as before, so there’s no worry about extra bulk.

Maybe the Taiwanese electronics firm should have shipped this 3G version last year. Now, the tablet has to contend with 4G-capable rivals such as its own Android-based PadFone 2 and Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10.1. With tablets, getting on 4G makes a bit more sense as you’d likely use more bandwidth than on a smartphone.

If you’re looking for a tablet that will hook up to the new 4G or Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks in Singapore, there’s another option in Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10.1, which now supports the new technology. The updated version of the tablet will start selling for S$998 in stores today, and come in grey.

Being fresh on the scene, the Galaxy Note 10.1 LTE also ships with Android 4.1.1, which comes with a smoother interface and other goodies on the “Jellybean” version of the software. Otherwise, the updated version is largely identical to the 3G version, which started shipping here last year.

Under the cover, there is a 1.4GHz quad-core Exynos processor from Samsung and a handy 2GB of RAM for smooth switching of tasks. There’s also the Korean electronics firm’s S-Pen, which lets you draw and annotate photos easily on the screen.

The 10.1-inch 1,280 x 800 screen, however, is the same one which has left many Samsung users disappointed. It is not as sharp and vibrant as the smaller screens on Samsung Galaxy phones, like its Note II or S III, for example.

As LTE tablets go, there are other options too, for example, from Asus’ PadFone 2 and Samsung’s own Galaxy Tab 8.9, which has a slightly smaller screen. If you don’t need LTE, the Samsung-made Nexus 10, with its 2,560 x 1,600 resolution, has probably the sharpest screen around.

Asus is cutting the price of its small Android tablet, the Nexus 7, in Singapore at the Sitex show from tomorrow, as it tries to reflect the lower prices for the device in the United States.

The 16GB version will go for S$349, while a new 32GB version will cost S$399, which was what the lower capacity version was sold for previously in Singapore. However, there is no news yet of a 3G version unveiled in the US weeks ago.

The Nexus 7 has proven to be a hit with users looking for a cheap, but well-made alternative to the larger 10-inch iPad.

With a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 chip, sharp 1,280 x 800 screen and zippy Android Jellybean interface, it is expected to sell well this holiday season despite being launched back in June this year.

The price drop will let it compete even more aggressively with Apple’s iPad mini, a tablet with a 7.9-inch screen, which costs upwards of S$448 here. What the iPad mini also has are versions running 3G, starting from S$618, which the Nexus models in Singapore don’t offer.

Google had revamped its Nexus-branded smartphone and tablet lineup a few weeks ago, selling out all devices right after they went on sale afterwards.

Among the changes were lower prices for the 16GB version of the Nexus 7, along with new 3G versions of the 7-inch offering. However, Google is only selling these devices over its Play store to a select few countries, such as the United States, Britain and Australia.

Singapore users have had to buy direct from Asus, which is being criticised for selling at prices higher than the US, even with tax and delivery factored in. With its prices cuts now, the Taiwanese manufacturer seems keen to match prices overseas more closely.

In the US, the 16GB version is going for US$199 (S$244), but Google typically charges for delivery, depending on what else you have in your online shopping basket and where you are sending the stuff to. You could also pay additional tax in some states.

The final cost could end up around S$300, which is still a little cheaper than the S$349 that Asus Singapore is asking for.

However, that smaller difference may now discourage many users from shipping from overseas, what with the hassle and lack of local warranty.

Going to Sitex this year? Download Asus’ brochures (desktop PCs and laptops and tablets).

When it first turned up earlier this year at trade events, LG’s Optimus 4X HD was likened by some pundits as a close replica of fellow Korean electronics maker Samsung’s Galaxy devices.

That may be a slight to the folks at LG, but if you consider how well Samsung has been doing with its Galaxy phones, the comparison is not such a bad thing.

Indeed, after using the LG phone for close to a week now, I have to say it’s a nice addition to the range of Android phones that now spoil smartphone users when it comes to choice.

First, let’s just get the comparisons out of the way. The Optimus 4X HD does have a squarish face that resembles the Samsung Galaxy S II. The soft back cover which you peel off to reveal the battery, SIM card and microSD card slot is also reminiscent of the other Korean-designed phone.

But increasingly, phones are becoming similar because users have shown they like certain things, like a large simple screen without too many buttons. In catering to users,  the LG Optimus 4X HD doesn’t lose out much to most of its rivals.

The quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 CPU does its job here as well as you’d expect of any top-end phone from HTC or Samsung. The 4.7-inch screen, featuring IPS (in-plane switching) for accurate colours and wide-angle viewing, is generous in size and offers a sharp 1,280 x 720 resolution.

The Optimus 4X HD is a good looker too. The 133-gram frame is fairly light, though not so feather-like that you don’t feel it in your pocket. Featuring a rather thin bezel and a minimalist design, the phone doesn’t seem to have any unnecessary heft anywhere.

Like other Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich phones now, the interface is really fast. It helps that LG’s Optimus UI 3.0 skin that it places on top of the plain Android OS is very zippy and doesn’t get in the way of things much.

The animation moving between screens, for example, is neat but doesn’t slow things down. You can also change the effects and customise your home screen, much like many third party launchers out there.

LG even makes it easy to change the entire mood of your phone by switching between themes. This just reminds me of Cyanogenmod in a good way.

The Korean phone maker also likes to tout its QuickMemo app, which lets you draw on just about any screen that is showing. With it, you can annotate, say, a holiday picture or scribble what you feel about a tweet. I’m not a fan of the feature, to be honest, but it may be attractive to users who like to scribble notes on things they see.

If there is one thing that I don’t like about the interface here, it is actually the soft-touch buttons on the bottom of the phone. The back/home/context buttons here are pretty close to the screen, causing me to accidentally tap on them when I am typing away on the keyboard on screen.

This means you often get out of an SMS or chat screen and back to the home screen, which can be a little annoying. Perhaps I’ve been using a Galaxy S II for too long, where the central Home button is a physical button that requires you to press hard to access. In any case, it’s something to consider for folks who are switching to LG for the first time.

Apart from that, I generally enjoy using the Optimus 4X HD.

There are little touches like LG’s SmartShare, which lets you send videos, songs and pictures wirelessly to your TV. The video player is also impressive. Thumbnail previews play while you are watching another video on the screen, rather like a picture-in-picture feature on your TV.

The onboard 8-meg camera isn’t bad either, though I do have some issues shooting in really low light, say, in some restaurants. In bright areas, obviously, the Optimus 4X HD has no issues. Here are two actual photos shot from the phone (warning: large file sizes).

It helps that the camera is fast to focus and fire away. It doesn’t shoot as many times at one go than an HTC One X, but in most situations, it is good enough for quick shots because it doesn’t take more than a split second to focus and be ready to fire.

How is the battery life? The 2,150mAh power pack keeps the phone going for a day, on most days, if I don’t have Bluetooth running all the time. I usually do that so I get connected once I jump into my car and fire up the built-in Bluetooth speaker. If I do that, I have to remember plugging in the phone to a car charger each time I go out, so the phone has enough juice should I have to make an urgent call late in the day.

On the whole, I have to say that LG has improved leaps and bounds with the Optimus 4X HD, compared to its earlier Android phones. The interface here is neat and zippy and it doesn’t lose out in the specs department either

The biggest surprise for me is that the phone is quite a bit cheaper than its HTC and Samsung rivals. The Optimus 4X HD is going for S$738 (without subscription), while the One X and Galaxy S III are tagged with prices closer to S$1,000 (see our top three Android phones).

If there is one thing that will stop me from buying the LG phone over the other two, it may be down to that elusive X factor. The HTC One X with its flexible but durable case and speedy camera and Samsung Galaxy S III with its svelte, rounded finish give them a slight edge over LG’s flagship phone in a really competitive arena.

I’d still say the Optimus 4X HD is one of the top three phones to check out now. Just make sure you compare closely because the differences can be down to very personal preferences.

Sony seems to be a forgotten name these days when people talk about Android phones and inevitably bring up Samsung and HTC. But its latest range, including the top-end Xperia ion, waterproof Xperia acro S and sporty Xperia go, is well worth a look before going with the popular choices.

Since taking over Sony Ericsson earlier this year, the Japanese electronics firm seems to have improved on its designs and clarified who each phone should target. The Xperia go, which we had the chance to check out recently, is one example. 

Compared to its more expensive Xperia brethren, the S$488 Xperia go only comes with a 3.5-inch screen (instead of 4-plus inches of colour) and a 5-meg camera (instead of 12-meg shooters).

For some reason, it also runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread instead of the more recent Android 4.0 while the dual-core A9 Cortex processor hums along at a modest 1GHz.

If the specs don’t excite, that’s probably because enthusiasts are not the target audience here. But for a phone sold with a contract for less than S$100, it is one of the best for folks upgrading from “feature” phones or those looking for a sporty phone or even a full-featured MP3 player.

The touch and feel, for one, reminds one of a premium phone rather than a cheap gizmo. The hardy non-slip finish, meant to give it a sporty accent, is a nice change from the usual metal, faux metal or plain cheap plastic you get even in some high-end models. I’d argue that the Xperia go feels better in my hand than my good old Galaxy S II!

The sporty features go deeper than the surface. Only the USB port – for charging and connecting to a PC – and the headphone jack are available on the outside and both are protected by removable covers.

To access the SIM card and microSD memory card slots, you have to peel off the back cover. Even then, you still can’t get to the rest of the phone – the circuit board, for example – because they are protected by a turquoise-coloured hard shell.

What of its waterproofing qualities? I actually splashed the Xperia go under the tap for a few seconds and, well, it is still working now as I type this review. The tough cover, by the way, dispels water easily. A simple wipe with a piece of dry cloth and the moisture is off the phone.

The Xperia go has its limitations, of course. The smallish screen is obviously a bummer when it comes to surfing the Web. Though the screen is bright and has very good contrast, the 480 x 320 resolution is also hardly the sharpest around. The Xperia acro S, by contrast, has a 4.3-inch screen that packs in 1,280 x 720 pixels.

Still, the phone does well in what it promises to do. The adidas micoach app included here lets you seriously track your workout sessions. For example, rather than just set the distance or time to run, you can adjust a workout that incorporates both an easy effort and a tougher “medium” speed run.

For folks who walk often, there’s also the WalkMate app that tracks your regular exercises. It helps too that an additional compass app here is pretty accurate in working with GPS satellites to identify where you are and guide you in the general direction of where you want to head towards.

On the phone’s main screens, Sony has also put up widgets of its music player and Timescape feed, which takes your Facebook and Twitter feeds and updates you of what your friends are doing. You can always turn these widgets off, of course, though during my tests, they don’t seem to cause much slowdown to the very smooth interface.

I’d readily recommend the Xperia go to anyone looking to move from a feature phone to a smartphone. The low price belies the excellent design and build quality here, even though the operating system, which Sony says will be updated to Android 4.0 at a yet unknown date, is somewhat dated for those who care.

The phone could also double as a workout gizmo. The 9.8mm thick frame is thicker than the Apple iPod Touch and also bigger than Motorola’s Actv, but the Xperia go is a lot more powerful.

It runs third party fitness apps such as Endomondo as well, unlike the Motorola Android device. Plus, unlike the iPod Touch, the Xperia go is a full-fledged phone that can double up as a second phone for you to plug in a local SIM card when overseas.

I’d also be happier to bring this tough little gizmo to the beach instead of my precious but fragile smartphone. For phone geeks who may not favour its slightly less advanced engine, the Xperia go could be a second phone that is definitely worth looking up.

Indeed, have more such phones and Sony would get back into the game more against its Korean and Taiwanese rivals.

It may not have as much buzz surrounding it as Samsung’s Galaxy S III or HTC’s One X, but LG’s equally-spec’d out Optimus 4X HD now hopes to draw those hard-earned dollars out of your wallet by going for quite a bit cheaper than arguably the two most attractive phones now.

For S$738, it will be one of the most affordable phones in Singapore to sport a quad-core chip, a 4.7-inch screen and a very sharp screen boasting 1,280 x 720 resolution, when it ships on July 28. As flagship phones go, the deal looks attractive.

Perhaps seeing how well fellow Korean electronics giant Samsung has done with its Galaxy phones, LG certainly spared no effort when it came to packing in the latest hardware.

The quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 should run speedily with the latest Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) apps and the generous 4.7-inch screen comes with high-quality IPS (in-plane switching) to offer a great view on the go. For those concerned about the interface, LG has done some work on the Android interface, customising it to come up with its own Optimus UI 3.0.

To top things off, there’s a handy 2,150mAh battery pack included. So LG’s Optimus 4X HD should carry just a bit more juice than the Galaxy SIII, which has a 2,100mAh battery. That’s a good thing because these big screens do suck battery fast.

We’ll have more to discuss about the LG Optimus 4X HD when we test it out soon!

Yet another lifestyle speaker maker seems to be making its way here to grab a share of the iPod/iPhone/iPad crowd’s penchant for spending loads of money on okay-sounding speakers that look prettier than they usually perform.

That’s what it looks like when you first see Libratone’s pretty Live and Lounge speakers that wirelessly stream music from your iDevice.

Fortunately, at least the small Danish speaker maker with 20+ staff does make its Airplay-enabled speakers sound honest in a field where a hefty S$1,000 often buys you more form than function. 

The Libratone Live, going for S$1,199, requires little setup. If you use an Android phone, there’s a 3.5mm audio jack at the back to hook up, but that means you have to walk towards the speaker to change tracks.

Essentially, the Libratone Live is a single-box system that comes with five individually powered drivers – two ribbon tweeters (25 watts each), two ceramic mids (25 watts each) and a handy 8-inch bass unit (50 watts) at the bottom.

The four drivers at the top half of the plastic cabinet fire at an angle, much like a dipole surround speaker in 5.1 setups, so you will hear the sound reflected indirectly. This presumably means that you can place the unit off-centre, much like iPod dock-speakers that are usually placed at the side of a room.

I must say I wasn’t won over by the promise of room-filling sound during a show-and-tell today for Singapore media. Like many iPod-based speaker systems, there is no stereo imaging (it’s just one speaker, after all) and no matter how loud you play the music, the sound feels a little trapped at the speaker. There is no illusion of a singer in front of you, but more of a concentrated burst of sound.

That’s being a little harsh, of course. Libratone actually does an above average job, at least among its rivals, in separating the various facets of a music track. Though they are all squeezed together in a small cabinet, the various drivers do make the different instruments in a track sound distinct.

Bass is another plus point, again when compared to similarly-priced rivals. The Libratone Live easily beats most desktop-bound iPod dock speakers, whether they use AirPlay and Wi-Fi or wired connections. The lows produced by the Danish speakers are more controlled and tighter than the loose and undefined noise coming out of many “bass heavy” speakers today.

The Libratone Live is still no match for a pair of separately powered bookshelf speakers. But for folks who want less clutter and prefer to easily stream music straight from their iOS device or computer (PC or Mac using iTunes), it appears attractive.

It helps too that the Live comes in various nice colours (red costs S$100 more, and a replacement cover will set you back about US$99 or S$125) and the cover is made of cashmere. Yes, this is similar to the stuff used to make sweaters, which is nice to touch and ranks high in terms of the all-important wife acceptance factor.

Libratone  also showed off a bigger sound bar-type Lounge speaker today, which I think will impress those who seek a fuller sound for their living room.

To start with, by firing straight at the listener, the Lounge produces sound that feels more direct. Though it uses the same amplification as the smaller Live, there is enough power to drive a bigger 8-inch inverted woofer for better bass and two 4-inch ceramic mid-range drivers (the tweeters are the same size).

With a bigger cabinet, the Lounge also doesn’t suffer from as much congestion as the Live. If you want to fill a room with effortless-sounding music or movies, the Lounge is much more attractive, despite costing quite a bit more at S$1,999. It too features the same touch of cashmere but will come in black for Singapore for now.

Are both the Libratone speakers worth checking out? Definitely, if you don’t want to simply go for the loudest bass and smallest speakers.

As an enthusiast, I’d still recommend that you save your music in an open lossless format like FLAC (instead of Apple’s proprietary stuff), store them on a server instead of a space-constrained Apple device and finally to get a hi-fi system built on separate components.

But that’s not for everyone, of course. The cost and difficulty in setting up and a lack of space in increasingly crowded Singapore are but two reasons why people prefer systems like the Libratone Live and Lounge.

And for roughly the same price as these two speakers, I’ve seen poorer-looking and heard poorer-sounding speakers that somehow still convince many iPhone users, who are thrilled more by the wireless streaming or docking than the actual sound, to part with their money.

In other words, if you are set on buying speakers that play tracks from your iDevice, you could do a lot worse with many other brands should you ignore these Libratone speakers.

It’s a phone, a tablet and a laptop rolled into one. The Asus PadFone, which has received much fanfare since its unveiling some months back, is coming to Singapore on June 2, and geeks will surely lap it up.

The all-in-one device will be available exclusively from StarHub for eight weeks, after which you can probably buy the basic unit at the retail price of S$800.

We say basic unit because at its heart is a smartphone running the latest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich. The phone is well-made and feels solid to touch, like Asus’ Transformer Prime tablet and its Zenbook ultrabook.

But when you find the 4.3-inch Super AMOLED screen too small, you can slot it easily into a larger 10.1-inch screen, called the PadFone Station. Now, you have transformed the phone, like the robots in the movies, into another device – a tablet.

Not happy still? Plug it into a keyboard dock and you have a portable laptop for firing away your e-mails easily.

It’s clear Asus is taking the concept of docking to new levels. While its Transformer Prime tablet could dock with a keyboard dock, just like Motorola’s Atrix phone could transform into a laptop when docked, the PadFone is a three-in-one device.

The concept is not for everyone – many will still prefer to carry a phone and an ultrabook – but here’s something that will make geeks rub their hands with glee. And Asus has them in mind, clearly.

Take the too-cool stylus, for example. Like any regular stylus, you scribble and draw with it. Yet, it also functions as a earpiece, allowing you to answer calls with the built-in speaker.

Asus has put in quite a bit of thought into the experience and that’s a good thing. When you slide the smartphone into the tablet enclosure, for example, the bigger screen automatically powers on within a second or so. If you were playing a video, it continues playing without interruption.

The other cool thing is the batteries involved. The phone comes a 1,520mAh battery, which is not bad, and this gets charged when you plug it into the tablet, which is really little more than a screen with a handy 6,600mAh power pack.

What if you connect those two to the keyboard dock? Yup, the onboard battery charges the tablet battery, which charges the phone battery. So, you don’t worry so much about your phone draining your battery, which is what happens now when you hook up your phone to let your laptop go online.

The thing is, even with everything plugged in and “transformed” into the ultimate geeky device, the PadFone isn’t that heavy. It’s not as light as an ultrabook, surely, but it’s still quite easy to carry around without a heavily-padded bag.

The PadFone is obviously a gadget for the future. Like other “transform” devices, it will attract the geeky niche with its seamless all-in-one convenience.

But obviously, the folks making the core of most of our laptops now – Intel – are not sitting around doing nothing. Their answer is the ultrabook – cheap, thin, light and powerful.

For users, it’s quite compelling to just bring a phone along with a really thin ultrabook. In terms of weight, there’s not much difference. Plus, you enjoy a more familiar operating system like Mac OS or Windows and your Office programs.

One thing that makes the PadFone more appealing is perhaps the easy switching between devices. It really points to the future, when all your photos, movies and documents are available on the cloud and you can easily log in to a remote desktop using something like Citrix.

The other selling point is price. The basic unit at S$800 (without contract) is a good deal and the PadFone, on its own, is a nice smartphone with a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor.

The PadFone Station, which turns it into a tablet, costs another S$328, while the PadFone Station Dock goes for S$228 and PadFone Stylus costs S$128. Assuming you buy everything, you still won’t break the bank at S$1,484.

Right now, though, Asus is fighting against convention. Its new gadget might play very well with techies but may not stop people from buying, separately, a Samsung Galaxy S III, an Apple iPad and an Asus Zenbook.

Despite being one of the first with an Android phone when it released the Droid and Milestone about two years ago, Motorola has not had a top-end phone that stood toe to toe with offerings from rivals such as Samsung, HTC and even Sony Ericsson of late.

That changes now with the new Razr, which brings the Android pioneer up to the speed with not just the latest hardware but also a surprisingly nifty software experience.

First off, for those not in the know, the Razr is named after the original clamshell design from 2004, which brought Motorola so much success (it was number two phone maker, after Nokia, at one point) and which ultimately led to the company breaking up and almost being lost as a has-been phone maker.

The new Razr, besides the sleek branding and ultra-thin design, has little resemblance to the old. Okay, the premium design is still there, with Kevlar fibre in the back of the phone for rigidity and texture and the 7.1-mm frame making this one of the slimmest phones around.

But the designers have also taken pains to make sure the beauty is more than skin deep, reporters were told at a Singapore launch event on Friday. The Corning Gorilla glass, for example, is able to prevent your keys scratching the screen, and interestingly, the components under the hood are sprayed with a nano material to keep water out, in case you spill water or wine on the Razr.

The hardware, as I said before at the unveiling of the phone, brings it on par with the rest of the competition. The 4.3-inch Super AMOLED screen is big and bright enough for surfing the Web comfortably, the 1.2GHz processor and 1GB RAM keep things humming along smoothly, and the 8-meg HD camera shoots HD videos on holidays.

If the specs look good on paper, I wasn’t disappointed either when I  got a quick hands on at the launch. First off, the Kevlar fibre does remind one of the iconic textured design of the original Razr, which had etched button keys. The screen on the new Razr is also one of the brighter ones I have seen (other than Samsung’s Super AMOLED plus on its Galaxy S II phone).

What’s more impressive is the software that Motorola seems to have thrown in. The MotoCast software that comes with the phone easily lets you connect to documents on your home PC, which you can also use to stream movies and songs from while you are on the go.

I know this is not new – even Windows Mobile of old had similar, though less easy to use apps – but MotoCast being included in the box makes it fuss-free for non-techies to get things done. All you have to do is install the software, connect your phone and set a password. Once you are out and about, you can simply log in to see the files you have shared on your PC.

The good news is, the interface is pretty as well. Similar to the album flow that Apple’s MP3 players are known for, the Motorola music player lets you browse albums intuitively by flipping virtual album covers. You can browse both the songs stored on your phone and those you have set to stream over the Internet to your PC.

What’s not so cool, of course, is that the 3G cellular network is not always super fast. So, such cloud computing services on mobile devices are still something to be improved on when the network is more ready. You’d probably also need to have fast uploads from home – likely on a fibre broadband service – if you want to stream HD movies from your home PC to your phone while on holiday.

Like with its previous phones, Motorola has thrown in a number of other customisations to sell the idea that the Razr is not another cookie cutter Android gizmo.

Some are useful, like a feature that lets you turn certain settings on and off automatically to extend battery life.  For example, you can set your Bluetooth or GPS off when you reach home – the phone gauges your pre-set home location – because you may not need them.

This, according to Motorola, can save up to 30 per cent of battery life, which is handy at a time when phones like the Apple iPhone 4 S and Samsung Galaxy S II are often running out of juice because of all the features onboard.

Not everything that Motorola has thrown in is useful, of course. For example, there is a neat, little animation that lights up your screen when you slide through several main screen menus. Such touches are nice but users should approach with a word of warning – they can slow down the phone if you have loads of widgets running at the same time.

Fortunately, when I tried one of the “clean” out-of-box Razrs, the performance was hard to complain about. I could swipe through the screens and launch apps without any perceivable lag.

All the enhancements which Motorola is so proud of also means it needs time – possibly more than its rivals – to update the Android operating system on the Razr. It is running the “Gingerbread” 2.3.5 version, and Motorola executives did not give a time line for an update to the newly-announced Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” OS for Asian markets.

Still, that does not make the Razr a bad phone. The only device slated to ship with Android 4.0 and its long list of enhancements is the Galaxy Nexus (no dates for Singapore yet), so the Razr is still pretty up to date with most rivals, as far as features are concerned.

Should you buy the Razr? I’d say it’s definitely in my list of top phones for the moment, along with the HTC Sensation XL and Samsung Galaxy S II. And the Razr’s asking price of S$888 in Singapore, when it ships in Singapore on November 11, is a competitive one, considering that top-end phones these days are closer to S$1,000 here.

Photos courtesy of our technology content partners at Yahoo! News Singapore.