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Techradar |
- Catch up: this week's most popular posts
- First shots of Nokia Windows Phone 7 concepts emerge
- 1,000 workers walk out on Nokia after Microsoft announcement
- Exclusive: INQ Cloud Touch to launch in blue variant too
- Sony HDT1000 and HDT500 PVRs announced
- Samsung Galaxy S2, HTC Desire HD 2, Desire 2, Wildfire 2 specs leak
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 2: what you need to know
- Review: Palit GeForce GTX 560 Ti Sonic
- Scientists track world's data at 295 exabytes
- Scientists track world's data at 295 exabytes
- Nokia hints at new tablet strategy with Microsoft
- Nokia: we want our competitors to succeed
- Nokia: we want our competitors to succeed
- Facebook Pages get redesign
- Updated: iPhone 5 rumours: what you need to know
- Review: Sapphire Radeon HD 5750
- Review: PNY GeForce GTS 450 1GB
- Rumour: Apple developing budget iPhone 5
- Review: XFX Radeon HD 5770
- Review: MSI GeForce GTX 470 Twin Frozr II
- Review: HIS Radeon HD 6850
- BlackBerry PlayBook to get Android app support this year?
- BlackBerry PlayBook to get Android app support this year?
| Catch up: this week's most popular posts Posted: 12 Feb 2011 12:00 AM PST  This week, the numbering and naming of future versions of Android got a little confusing as Viewsonic revealed Google's plans for Android 2.4, which involve keeping the Gingerbread name and effectively replacing Android 2.3. And on a more retro tip,we discovered that Sinclair's ZX Spectrum is set to be relaunched to celebrate the classic computer's 30th anniversary. With Mobile World Congress kicking off tomorrow evening, the HTC Desire 2 looks to be one of the handsets that'll be making an appearance. Read on for this week's most popular stories on TechRadar… Top five news stories Android 2.4 to replace 2.3, retain Gingerbread flavour? Viewsonic has revealed Google's plans for Android 2.4, which involve keeping the Gingerbread name and effectively replacing Android 2.3. The American company has been spilling the Android beans because it says it will be the first to release an Android 2.4-toting device, in the form of the ViewPad 4 which should be out in April. The update will allow single-core handsets to work with Honeycomb apps which have been created for dual-core devices, mainly tablets. LightRadio to dramatically boost UK's mobile signal Alcatel-Lucent has come up with what it believes to be a major solution in the fight against poor mobile coverage: the lightRadio. The small, cube-shaped device is designed to complement (and possibly in the future, replace) the large, power-hungry and cumbersome masts that currently supply our mobile signal. Alcatel Lucent promises to 'radically shrink and simplify' these base stations, leading to a 50% reduction in power and allowing mobile networks to move the more fragile and vulnerable sections of the technology in-house. UK developer relaunching ZX Spectrum Sinclair's ZX Spectrum is set to be relaunched by UK developer Elite in 2012 to celebrate the classic gaming computer's 30th anniversary. Those gamers of a certain age will no doubt fondly remember the ZX Spectrum from the early-to-mid 1980s, with Elite set to cash in on the current popularity of retro gaming amongst this demographic. HTC Desire 2 ready for MWC reveal, heading to Vodafone? The HTC Desire 2 should be en route to Mobile World Congress 2011 after showing up in Vodafone Germany's internal inventory. We've already seen the handset make an appearance on the Taiwanese subway (where else?) so it comes as no great surprise that a single line of text pertaining to the Desire 2 has shown up in a computer system somewhere. But as this is Vodafone Germany's computer system, we could be forgiven for thinking that perhaps this means Vodafone might release the HTC Desire HD in the UK as well. BT Home Hub 3 reduces Wi-Fi interference BT has announced its new BT Home Hub 3 broadband router, which is available now on all BT Broadband packages, including the super-speedy BT Infinity option. The new router features what BT calls Smart Wireless. Unlike other routers which can just detect channels without other Wi-Fi networks, the Home Hub 3 can detect unclean wireless signals – such as from kit like TV senders, baby monitors and other radio devices – and the router's firmware will auto-adjust the current wireless channel to move away from the interference. Top five in-depth articles Android 3.0: all the latest updates Now that Android 2.3 features are official, information about its successor, Android 3.0 – Android Honeycomb – is starting to emerge. Here's what we know about Android 3.0 so far. On 20 October, we reported that Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets are rumoured to be heading out to engineers in time for Christmas. This has resulted in a huge range of tablets arriving at CES 2011, with UK release dates later in the year. iOS 5: 12 things Apple needs to fix While flawed, AirPlay and AirPrint in iOS 4.2 showed Apple continues to innovate regarding features for its mobile operating system. However, with competing mobile systems rapidly evolving, Apple can't afford to sit still. And while it's great to see big new features arrive, there are plenty of other things we dearly hope Apple sees fit to fix for iOS 5. Here are the 12 fixes we most want to see… iPad 2 rumours: what you need to know The internet loves Apple and it loves ill-founded speculation, so it's hardly surprising that iPad 2 rumours were flying before the first iPad even reached the UK. With only weeks to go before its expected unveiling the iPad 2 release date, specs and price are still closely guarded secrets, but that doesn't mean there aren't some juicy rumours, inspired guesses and possibly even Apple leaks to consider. Best antivirus 2011: 10 programs on test Malware, hackers, spam, identity thieves and more – which antivirus package should you invest in to prevent them playing havoc with your life? We test 10 of the best antivirus apps available Antivirus isn't something you can get away without any more, and if you think you can't be infected, chances are there's a virus writer somewhere ready and willing to prove you wrong. You probably won't even know about it when it happens. In the old days, malware tended to make a big song and dance about its presence, but the rules have changed. Now written with an eye towards online crime and cold hard cash, the average virus has learned to stay low and spread via almost any vector. The wrong website. A lost USB stick. A Facebook message. HP TouchPad: what you need to know Of all the supposed iPad killers, the HP Slate was the most interesting - or at least, it was until HP apparently killed it off last Spring. The Slate wasn't dead, though: HP had simply gone back to the drawing board for a bit. And now the HP TouchPad has been announced. All rumours were suggesting that PalmPad was going to be the name of HP's iPad rival, so it's interesting to see that HP has done away with the Palm brand altogether. Top five reviews Samsung Wave II GT-S8530 review Sitting underneath a familiar TouchWiz user interface, Bada gives Samsung the opportunity to have its own app store. There's plenty going on in terms of specifications in the Wave II, too. Hands on: Internet Explorer 9 review As of now you can download the release candidate of IE9 and although it's aimed at developers, this new version of IE9 is feature complete - so the final look and feel might still change, but this is everything you're going to get. At just £199, the new Creative Ziio 7-inch is one of the cheapest Android tablets available. So is it a bargainous wonder, or is it a dead touchscreen dog? The Tizi TV is a mini TV receiver that lets you watch and record television on your iPhone 4, 3GS, iPad or iPod touch (third or fourth gen). Zotac GeForce GTX 560 Ti AMP! review Nvidia's mid-range marvel has hit every branch on the way down the overclocking tree to produce Zotac's GeForce GTX 560 Ti AMP! Also reviewed this week... Amplifiers AV Receivers Cases Compact cameras Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 review Cooling Review Desktop PCs Digital SLRs Graphics cards Zotac GeForce GTX 560 Ti AMP! review MSI GeForce GTX 470 Twin Frozr II review PNY GeForce GTS 450 1GB review Sapphire Radeon HD 5750 review Laptops Toshiba Satellite R360-141 review Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 11-inch review Mobile phones Samsung Wave II GT-S8530 review Network adapter Devolo dLAN 200 AV Wireless N Starter Kit review Network Attached Storage Buffalo LinkStation Pro LS-VL review Portable audio Projectors Speakers Tablets Creative Ziio 7-inch review review Televisions TV tuner cards 
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| First shots of Nokia Windows Phone 7 concepts emerge Posted: 11 Feb 2011 02:37 PM PST  Photos of the concept handsets, believed to be the work of the new Microsoft and Nokia partnership, have emerged less than 24 hours after the deal was rubber-stamped. Engadget is touting a pair of images which its claiming to be early mock-ups of a Nokia-manufactured handset running the Windows Phone 7 operating system. The brightly-coloured phones boast full touchscreens with some Nokia design hallmarks and would add credence to Steve Balmer's claim that both companies have already been working together on devices. Link-up The leaked pictures follow the announcement on Friday morning, revealing that Nokia would make Windows Phone 7 its go-to OS, freeing itself from the sinking ship of Symbian and MeeGo. Windows Phones will now use Nokia Maps and bring its smartphone camera expertise to Windows 7 Phones, which has seen market-leading Carl Zeiss lenses and Xenon flashes deployed in recent years. Meanwhile, Bing will now be Nokia's default search client and apps from the Windows App Marketplace will supersede the Nokia Ovi Store. So what do you make of the concept? Is this the shape of things to come, or just the handywork of an avid enthusiast? Source: Engadget 
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| 1,000 workers walk out on Nokia after Microsoft announcement Posted: 11 Feb 2011 09:30 AM PST  Nokia has had a day to end all days today, with news that the company announcing it is ditching Symbian in favour of Windows Phone 7 prompting 1,000 of its employees to walk out. This is according to Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, which is reporting that workers are protesting with their feet at Nokia's Oulu and Tampere offices. If the reports are accurate then this equates to a quarter of the workforce based at the two offices. All change The news that the company is ditching Symbian in favour of Windows Phone 7 as its primary smartphone OS does point to major restructural changes in the company - and while the number is unknown, CEO Stephen Elop did confirm there would be worldwide cuts. While the majority of the workers are said to have used the company's flexi-time system to stage the walkout, it does point to unrest at the news that Nokia is embracing Windows Phone 7. The company's shares were down by 13 per cent today, and Google had no qualms making light of the Nokia situation, with one of its recruiters tweeting that jobs were available for devs within the company. 
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| Exclusive: INQ Cloud Touch to launch in blue variant too Posted: 11 Feb 2011 09:11 AM PST  INQ's forthcoming Cloud Touch handset will be getting a blue makeover according to pictures obtained exclusively by TechRadar. In a move that does nothing to disprove the theory that INQ's Cloud Touch is designed to be a 'Facebook phone', the new colour scheme seems eerily similar to that of Zuckerberg's creation. While Facebook has denied it will be creating a 'Facebook phone', it has worked closely with INQ to create the Cloud Touch, which features deep social networking integration using the Social Graph API. We just need something old and borrowed We've got confirmation that the INQ Cloud Touch will be coming in both red and white, but this is the first time the blue variant will be shown off. The new Cloud Touch will be shown off at Mobile World Congress 2011, along with the nascent INQ Cloud Q. The phone is set to debut in Q2 2011 from The Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy, and will likely be tipped towards the budget end of the smartphone scale. 
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| Sony HDT1000 and HDT500 PVRs announced Posted: 11 Feb 2011 08:52 AM PST  Sony has announced a double helping of PVR goodness this week, with the launch of the SVR-HDT1000 and SVR-HDT500 personal video recorders. The PVRs have twin Freeview HD tuners built-in so you can record two programmes at once and watch another at either 576p, 720p, 1080i or 1080p picture quality. Price details When it comes to hard-drive size, the clue is in the name. The Sony HDT1000 has a massive 1TB at its disposal, while the HDT500 is a still-impressive 500GB. There are also two USB 2.0 ports so you can use one to view photos, watch movies and listen to music – as long as it's in the JPEG, MPEG or JPEG format – and the other to expand the capacity of the PVRs with an external hard drive. There's no UK release date for the HDT1000 and HDT500 PVRs as of yet (Play says they will be out in May) but price-wise you are looking at £330 for the HDT500 and £400 for the HDT1000. 
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| Samsung Galaxy S2, HTC Desire HD 2, Desire 2, Wildfire 2 specs leak Posted: 11 Feb 2011 07:04 AM PST  Online retailer Expansys has posted full spec sheets supposedly for the HTC Desire HD2, HTC Desire 2, HTC Wildfire 2 and Samsung Galaxy S2 ahead of Mobile World Congress. Quite a spec haul there, but we wouldn't necessarily put money on these being the real deal. For starters, we're fairly convinced that the HTC Wildfire and HTC Desire refreshes will be named the HTC Wildfire S and HTC Desire S, yet the retailer has them down with 2 as the suffix. Core suspicions Still, some sound about right; the Samsung Galaxy S2, for example, is certainly set to be a dual-core behemoth – but we're incredibly sceptical about the possibility of a dual-core HTC Desire HD2 being revealed any time soon. So, basically, peruse these specifications at your leisure but don't be surprised if they turn out to be as real as a herd of unicorns grazing in the desert. We'll bring you all the bona fide news of the Samsung Galaxy S2 and all the soon-to-be-announced HTC handsets from Mobile World Congress next week. 
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| Samsung Galaxy Tab 2: what you need to know Posted: 11 Feb 2011 06:37 AM PST  The Samsung Galaxy Tab was the first real rival to Apple's iPad, so it's fitting that there'll be a Galaxy Tab 2 to take on the iPad 2. Nothing has been officially released yet, but that hasn't stopped the internet from reading tea-leaves, looking for omens and spotting the odd accidentally leaked marketing slide. So what do we know about the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 UK release date, specifications and price? The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 specification includes a dual-core processor This one's a no-brainer: Samsung's mobile boss JK Shin said at CES: "in terms of dual-core applications, we already have a program, and next month at Mobile World Congress we will unveil it". Expect an official reveal on February the 13th. The Galaxy Tab 2 probably has a 1.2GHz Orion processor Mobile Fun appears to have leaked the Galaxy S2 smartphone specs, which give us a pretty good idea of the Galaxy Tab 2 specs: the site details a "powerful dual-core 1.2GHz Samsung Orion processor", Bluetooth 3.0, a rear-facing 8MP camera and a front-facing 1.3MP one. That's expected in March; the Galaxy Tab 2 UK release date is unlikely to be that early, unfortunately. The leaked Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 specifications may be fake Far be it for us to doubt news reports of the "Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 Specifications Britney Spears Katy Perry" variety, but they do tend to base their reports on the specifications typed by a 17-year-old called HOTTESTGADGET on a YouTube video that doesn't contain any actual information. Anyone expecting the reported 3D, super AMOLED display with 2048x1200 resolution and a free horse is going to be gutted when the Tab 2 comes without a horse and with a plain old TFT LCD. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 will run Android 3.0 Samsung didn't wait for an Android-optimised version of Android when it sold the original Galaxy Tab, so it's possible that the Galaxy Tab 2 software will be Android 2.3 Gingerbread if Honeycomb isn't ready in time. But run Honeycomb it will: even Samsung would have to admit that Android 2.3 looks positively clunky next to the smoother, sexier Android 3.0 Honeycomb. By a happy coincidence Honeycomb expects to see a dual-core processor. Did we mention that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 specs include a dual core processor? We love it when a plan comes together. The Galaxy Tab 2 specs might include a ten-inch screen This one's a rumour, but it's a persistent one: Android 3.0 supports bigger resolutions and therefore bigger displays, and Samsung's rumoured to be taking advantage of that. There's also a chance of a seven inch version too - so will we see two separate Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 models? You'll be able to get your Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 from Vodafone Was this a leak or just PR people linking to something interesting? On its official Facebook page Vodafone linked to an article speculating about an Android 3.0 Galaxy Tab 2. Let's face it, though: given Vodafone currently sells the Galaxy Tab, the odds on it selling the Galaxy Tab 2 are hardly dramatic. 
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| Review: Palit GeForce GTX 560 Ti Sonic Posted: 11 Feb 2011 06:03 AM PST  Affordable and factory overclocked, Palit's GeForce GTX 560 Ti Sonic could be the ideal iteration of Nvidia's latest mid-range Fermi. The GeForce GTX 560 Ti caused a bit of a stir last month when it first hit our test benches. We were, and still are, fans of the GTX 460 and were hoping for more of the same graphical goodness in this next generation. Unfortunately though it doesn't hold as special a place in our heart as the GTX 460 though, but that's actually nothing to do with the card itself. It's still a speedy little daemon, and it's still coming in at the price/performance sweetspot of £200. The issue here is that the market has moved onwards since the inception of the GTX 460, or more specifically the competition has moved on. There was nothing to touch the original mid-range Fermi when it came out, only Nvidia cards were competing. Now the spectre of the Radeon HD 6950, with its dual-BIOS, almost risk-free, unlocking, looms large over the field. One thing the GF 114 GPU can do though is overclock, and is another factory-assured overclocked card to give that chip a shot in the arm.
As you can tell from the benchmark results the Palit GTX 560 Ti Sonic is faster than its reference-designed brethren, but lacks the raw power of the Zotac GTX 560 Ti AMP! edition's extra 50MHz clock speed. The Zotac card represents the same boost over the Palit card as that Sonic edition does over the reference design. What isn't shown here though is the performance of the competing Radeon cards, especially at the high-end, tessellation-heavy DirectX 11 benchmarks. The Nvidia and AMD cards trade blows across most of the suite, but the dual-tessellation engines of the Cayman GPU gives it the edge in the likes of Heaven 2.0 and with Metro 2033's tessellated character models. DirectX 11 tessellation performance
DirectX 11 gaming performance
One of the things that Palit brings to the overclocking market is the ability to not only drop superior cooling onto their cards, thanks to the scale of its operation it can redesign the reference PCB and produce its own versions of the cards rather than relying on rebadged, bin-sorted reference cards. The first thing you'll notice about the Palit GeForce GTX 560 Ti Sonic is the fact that it is so very teeny-tiny. Compared to the increased scale of Zotac's GeForce GTX 560 Ti AMP! card's redesigned PCB it looks for all the world like a low-end card with an unnecessary cooler strapped to it. It's still a dual-slot card, but is significantly shorter than even the reference design. Still though Palit has managed to fit a dual-fan cooler onto it to give that stressed GPU some much-needed chilling. It does come with a pretty healthy overclock on it too. Compared to the 822MHz core clock of the reference design you're looking at 900MHz straight out of the box. That's not as crazy as the 128MHz boost you get on the Zotac GeForce GTX 560 Ti AMP! but it's still a pretty hefty performance hike. That's born out by the increased performance in the benchmark tests. You're looking at around a 10% increase on average across the suite, and considering the GTX 560 Ti Sonic is less than a tenner more expensive than the £199 MSRP of the reference designed cards that's pretty good. We were hoping that the redesigned PCB and improved cooling solution might enable us to reach the sort of speeds the Zotac AMP! edition is capable of out of the box, unfortunately though the GTX 560 Ti Sonic while operates at 950MHz it is a trifle flaky. That's a shame for Palit, but it does mean the Zotac card still rules the roost as the best example of the GTX 560 Ti, and almost justifies the price premium it is charging for the privilege. The Radeon HD 6950 is still a fly in the GTX 560 Ti's overclocked ointment, and it's all down to the BIOS flash that gives the reference Radeon's a transformation into fully fledged HD 6970s. I've got a feeling AMD might be starting to phase out the dual-BIOS on the Cayman cards to call a halt to the BIOS flashing, but for the moment it's still very much a possibility. And one hell of a selling point. We liked The size of the Palit GeForce GTX 560 Ti Sonic is also a selling point. For those with a paucity of space in their chassis this reduced footprint could be a godsend, and should make a good base for a portable LAN rig too. It's also a very competitive price for an overclocked version. If you can't afford to stretch for the HD 6950 this Sonic edition is a good bet. We disliked It was a bit of a disappointment that we couldn't push it to what seems to be the GTX 560 Ti's maximum of 950MHz, but realistically that's not a huge issue considering the relative price. Final word For just a little more than the price of the vanilla GTX 560 Ti the Palit Sonic edition represents good value and excellent performance. That said for another tenner you can pick up a Radeon HD 6950 that's ripe for a good ol' flashing. Related Links
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| Scientists track world's data at 295 exabytes Posted: 11 Feb 2011 04:57 AM PST  In this information age, we already know there's a lot of data hanging around – but scientists have now quantified this, saying that until 2007 there were 295 exabytes of data. An exabyte is a billion gigabytes and 295 of them equates to more data than it's worth comprehending. The figure will only have increased since the '07 cut-off date, given that the researchers reckon the storage capacity of the world's computers doubles every month. Information overload Researchers Martin Hilbert and Priscila Lopez of the University of Southern California came up with the figure by estimating the amount of information held in books, PCs, DVDs, micro chips, X-ray films and paper adverts, among other things, The survey looked at the years between 1986 and 2007, and pinpoints 2002 as the year that worldwide digital storage became greater than analog storage. According to the survey, 94 per cent of memory was in digital form by 2007 but even these great reams of digital memory are dwarfed by the information stored in the DNA of a single human. 
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| Scientists track world's data at 295 exabytes Posted: 11 Feb 2011 04:57 AM PST In this information age, we already know there's a lot of data hanging around – but scientists have now quantified this, saying that until 2007 there were 295 exabytes of data. An exabyte is a billion gigabytes and 295 of them equates to more data than it's worth comprehending. The figure will only have increased since the '07 cut-off date, given that the researchers reckon the storage capacity of the world's computers doubles every month. Information overload Researchers Martin Hilbert and Priscila Lopez of the University of Southern California came up with the figure by estimating the amount of information held in books, PCs, DVDs, micro chips, X-ray films and paper adverts, among other things, The survey looked at the years between 1986 and 2007, and pinpoints 2002 as the year that worldwide digital storage became greater than analog storage. According to the survey, 94 per cent of memory was in digital form by 2007 but even these great reams of digital memory are dwarfed by the information stored in the DNA of a single human. 
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| Nokia hints at new tablet strategy with Microsoft Posted: 11 Feb 2011 04:14 AM PST  Nokia has hinted that tablets could play a big part in its future by confirming it is free to pursue its own strategy in that area. At the recent investor press conference to announce the tie-up with Windows Phone 7, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop confirmed that Nokia has some tablet plans in the works: "When it comes to this platform, we reserve the right to introduce tablets on other platforms. "Whether that be internal projects or we could take advantage of what Microsoft is innovating with, we've nothing to announce on that today." MeeGo gone? Elop did downplay the chance of that being a MeeGo tablet though, as when questioned about the point of launching a tablet with a dead OS, he said 'You've answered your own question there." It seems that MeeGo is going to transition into an 'exploratory tool' for Microsoft, with Elop stating that it will be used to 'anticipate the next disruption' in the tablet or smartphone markets. However, he did also confirm that there will still be a MeeGo product shipping this year, which is likely to be a netbook given what we saw at CES. 
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| Nokia: we want our competitors to succeed Posted: 11 Feb 2011 03:25 AM PST  Nokia has confirmed that its relationship with Microsoft is non-exclusive, but stated that it wants the likes of Samsung and HTC to prosper in the market too. At the investor conference TechRadar was invited down to, Stephen Elop, Nokia's new CEO, said he hoped the announcement would help see a boost in sales across all devices: "Our number one priority now is the evolution of the [Windows Phone 7] ecosystem - and that includes work done by our competitors. "We see this as a good thing as it will help Windows Phone 7 thrive." Android attack When quizzed about the possibility of Nokia joining the Android platform, Elop said that explorations with Google had taken place, and that Android has some 'attractive elements'. "We spent time with our colleagues at Google [over the possibility of bringing Android on board]. "It's an attractive ecosystem, but we have a fundamental belief that it would have been difficult to differentiate ourselves within it. "The value is going to become commoditised as a number of devices rush in, and eventually that's going to push all the value to Google. "The Microsoft option gave us the best opportunity to fight with a new ecosystem, and that allows us to offer customers the best choice." 
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| Nokia: we want our competitors to succeed Posted: 11 Feb 2011 03:25 AM PST Nokia has confirmed that its relationship with Microsoft is non-exclusive, but stated that it wants the likes of Samsung and HTC to prosper in the market too. At the investor conference TechRadar was invited down to, Stephen Elop, Nokia's new CEO, said he hoped the announcement would help see a boost in sales across all devices: "Our number one priority now is the evolution of the [Windows Phone 7] ecosystem - and that includes work done by our competitors. "We see this as a good thing as it will help Windows Phone 7 thrive." Android attack When quizzed about the possibility of Nokia joining the Android platform, Elop said that explorations with Google had taken place, and that Android has some 'attractive elements'. "We spent time with our colleagues at Google [over the possibility of bringing Android on board]. "It's an attractive ecosystem, but we have a fundamental belief that it would have been difficult to differentiate ourselves within it. "The value is going to become commoditised as a number of devices rush in, and eventually that's going to push all the value to Google. "The Microsoft option gave us the best opportunity to fight with a new ecosystem, and that allows us to offer customers the best choice." 
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| Posted: 11 Feb 2011 03:23 AM PST  Facebook has announced upgrades to its Facebook Pages including a redesign in line with the recent profile update. Facebook Pages can now display recent photos along the top of the page, as well as allowing admins to highlight who is running the Page. Meanwhile, tabs have been moved to a column under the Page profile picture. One nifty new move is to allow Pages to post comments and 'like' other Pages as their own Page, rather than as the person managing the page. That's confusing For example, TechRadar could now comment on another company's Facebook Page as TechRadar; this wasn't previously possible. Other improvements include the filtering technology on the Page Wall, which will display the most interesting posts first (presumably based on number of comments and 'likes'). Developers may also be pleased to hear that the Pages now support iframe based tabs for more design flexibility, while Page owners may enjoy opting to receive email notifications when people post comments on the Page. Within four weeks, the new format will be rolled out to all Pages on Facebook; personal profiles won't be affected. 
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| Updated: iPhone 5 rumours: what you need to know Posted: 11 Feb 2011 03:06 AM PST  iPhone 5 (or the iPhone 5G, as some are calling it) rumours are flying thick and fast already. Will there be a rush release to erase memories of the iPhone 4's antenna problems? Will the 5th generation iPhone deliver ultra-fast mobile internet? Will it ever end up on Verizon in the US? Let's raid the iPhone 5 rumour fridge to find the tomatoes of truth amid the stinky stilton of baseless speculation. The iPhone 5 isn't the Verizon iPhone, and vice versa The Verizon iPhone rumour has been around forever, and one day it'll come true - but it won't be the iPhone 5. The Wall Street Journal said a Verizon iPhone was nearly ready back in October, and we'd take that one seriously: the WSJ is the paper Apple tends to share its secrets with. It says that "the [Verizon] phone would resemble the iPhone 4 currently sold by AT&T, but would be based on an alternative wireless technology used by Verizon, these people said." Which people? "People familiar with the matter". The iPhone 5 will have a different form factor to the iPhone 4 WSJ: "Separately, Apple is also developing a new iPhone model, said people briefed on the phone. One person familiar said the fifth-generation iPhone would be a different form factor than those that are currently available… it was unclear how soon that version would be available to Verizon or other carriers." This has since been backed up by reports from Engadget we reported on 17 January 2011, which state the design will be a 'total rethink'. Of course, since the iPhone 3G was followed by the 3GS it's possible it won't be a total refresh and we'll see an iPhone 4S before an iPhone 5. There might also be a cheaper, smaller iPhone 5A prototype version of a smaller, cheaper iPhone is said to exist, built to ward off competition from cheap Android handsets. The iPhone 5 specs will be evolutionary, not revolutionary According to the Chinese Economic Daily News (via AppleInsider), with the exception of Qualcomm chipsets - which would replace the current Infineon chipsets in the iPhone 4 - Apple's sticking with the same suppliers for the 2011 iPhone 5G components. We'd expect the basics of the iPhone 5 specs to get a bump - more memory, faster processor, more storage - but DVICE quotes a single insider who claims to have handled Verizon prototypes. The specs? A new antenna, 1.2GHz processor and a larger screen: 3.7" instead of 3.5". The iPhone 5 may also be made from a new kind of alloy, or maybe meat. However, we're also hearing word of a multi-core design, in keeping with the rest of the mobile world, as Apple looks to improve both battery life and performance. The iPhone 5 will also get a massive graphical boost as it moves to a dual-core GPU - this could herald true 1080p output from the new device, according to our news story on 18 January. The iPhone 5 specs may include a digital wallet There's been some speculation that Apple might include Near Field Communication (NFC) technology in the iPhone 5G, turning it into a kind of credit/debit card. However, as Techeye.net notes, "Apple has looked into NFC before" so this might not be imminent.
PAY PHONE: Apple patents show how a near field communication-equipped iPhone 5 could act as a kind of credit card The iPhone 5 release date will be in the summer… Apple's established a rhythm with iPhone releases, with new models appearing in late June or early July each year. It's a safe bet that the iPhone 5 release date will also be late June or early July. As Beatweek magazine points out, Apple's A-Team can't be everywhere at once; by staggering the releases of the iPad 2 and the iPhone 5, they get to work their magic on both devices. …or maybe the iPhone 5 release date will be earlier iLounge said its source reckoned Apple would push the iPhone 5 release date forwards - possibly to January 2011 - because of the iPhone 4 antenna problems, although iLounge itself said the claim was "hard to believe". The source could be confusing the Verizon iPhone and the iPhone 5. The usual July release date was mentioned by Engadget's source too in January 2011 - meaning the standard release cycle looks set to continue. The iPhone 5 specs may include LTE support At least one analyst thinks the iPhone 5 will support LTE, super-fast mobile broadband, in the US. That would make the iPhone 5G a 4G phone, which won't be confusing at all. LTE is certainly coming - AT&T plans to roll out its LTE service in 2011 - but an LTE iPhone has been rumoured for a while. USA Today floated the idea of an LTE iPhone on Verizon last year. The iPhone 5 price won't change If the iPhone 5 is an evolutionary step like the move from the iPhone 3G to the iPhone 3GS then we'd expect the price to stay more or less the same, although in the UK higher VAT rates may well mean a higher price tag. 
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| Review: Sapphire Radeon HD 5750 Posted: 11 Feb 2011 03:00 AM PST  The HD 5750 is not a rampaging powerhouse. It can run games at 1,680 x1,050, but don't expect searing frame rates, especially when anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering are on the cards. Moreover, DX11 effects, such as Tessellation and Multi-thread Rendering, require the kind of resource budgets the 5750 simply can't raise. With its narrow memory bus and a GPU that pales in comparison to AMD's other offerings, it struggles in these tests. Market changes mean that things have got a little better for the HD 5750, however. Just a month or so back, it was priced similarly to Nvidia's GTS 450, the raw grunt of which it simply can't match. It's come down a bit in price now though, and can be found for around £15 cheaper than the GTS 450, and its bigger brother, the HD 5770. But still that £15 makes the difference between decent and average gaming at 1,680 x 1,050. At 1,680 x 1,050, with 4x AA, the HD 5750 runs DX10 games at reasonable speeds of 30 to 40fps, and even has a tickle at competence when cranked up to 1,920 x 1,080. Throw some DX11 tessellation on top, though, and it struggles to even produce playable frame rates. With the HD 5750, you can forget any dreams of DX11 gaming on the cheap; the API's routines are simply too demanding on hardware to give this card a shot at providing smooth playability. More powerful mid-range cards struggle to produce acceptable speeds in this environment, and sadly for the 5750, it isn't one of those. It handles older DX10 games okay – as evidenced by its 1,680 x 1,050 performance in Far Cry 2 – but anything newer is a chugfest. No place Part of the problem is its pricing. Given that much better cards are just a little more expensive, the poor little thing doesn't really have a place in the world, and the only way we'd condone owning one is if it came in an off-the-peg PC. We simply cannot recommend that you part with £85 for one, when £15 more gets you decent midrange performance with the HD 5770, or Nvidia's GTS 450, both of which are considerably more competent players at 1,680 x 1,050. Likewise, if you want a media centre card, there are way cheaper options available – such as AMD's own HD 5570, examples of which can be found for £50. Or, if you fancy something a little newer and gruntier, there's also Nvidia's Fermi-based GT 430, for around £55. The HD 5750 is too ambitious in price to be a cheap-and-cheerful media centre card, too weedy to perform competently in DX11 and completely overshadowed by more powerful cards that are just a shade more expensive. Related Links
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| Review: PNY GeForce GTS 450 1GB Posted: 11 Feb 2011 03:00 AM PST  The GTS 450 offers mainstream gaming at an affordable price-point. This tiny powerhouse (well, it's still dual-width, but pleasingly short) is capable of feats beyond its £100 price tag. What's more, in SLI, you'll see massive performance gains of 80 to 90 per cent, making the dual-card upgrade path a realistic and rewarding option for budget systems. It bears architectural similarities to its bigger brother, the GTS 460, but with half the memory bandwidth and half the CUDA cores. What's impressive is that it doesn't offer half the performance in DX10 games, which it's perfectly happy with. Start throwing DX11 at it though, and it begins to run out of puff in fairly short order. The market has moved around the GTS 450. Initially priced against AMD's HD 5750 (which it beats into a cocked hat), price-drops on the AMD side mean it now squares off directly with the HD 5770. Now that's a tough fight. DX10 performance at the mainstream resolution of 1680 x 1050 is where the GTS 450 really excels. It starts to run low on poke when you up the ante to 1,920 x 1,080, and under the long shadow of DX11, it really feels the pinch. If you want to get the most out of the best and brightest new games, you're going to need a bigger boat. We've been consistently impressed with the GTS 450 since it launched. A combination of pricing, midrange performance and the current ease-and-excellence of SLI dual-card setups has made it an attractive prospect all-round for gaming on a budget. Gaming excellence DirectX 10 gaming is really where it excels, though. When you start adding DX11 routines such as tessellation into the mix, it feels the pressure, and performance drops as a result. All our tests were run with 4x AA applied, both at 1,680 x 1,050 and 1,920 x 1,080, which the GTS 450 was quite happy with in DX10. Dropping this improves DX11 performance, but not by an awful amount. What's more, AMD price drops have put it slap-bang beside the HD 5770. There's really not a lot to choose between them. And thanks to price drops for the GTX 460, it's becoming harder to call the GTS 450 the mainstream card of choice. Inexpensive examples of the 1GB GTX 460 can be had for just £30 more than the standard GTS 450, and it's safe to say that the former is way more than £30 more powerful. The GTS 450's position, then, is weakening over time. It struggles with DX11, making it a poor choice for future-proofing, and price drops from the competition – both friend and foe – mean that it's not quite the bargain powerhouse it once was. Related Links
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| Rumour: Apple developing budget iPhone 5 Posted: 11 Feb 2011 02:51 AM PST  Apple could be developing a budget iPhone in order to ward off competition from Google Android handsets. A prototype version of a smaller, cheaper Apple handset than the iPhone 4 is said to exist, although this is no guarantee such an iPhone will ever make it to market. The mysterious little iPhone is apparently a third smaller than the iPhone 4, with no home button on the front of the handset, which certainly sits well with rumours that Apple is aiming to do away with the button on all iOS devices. iPhone nano The person who claims to have seen the prototype device says that Apple has considered selling it at around $200 (about £130); you can currently get an iPhone 4 for around that price, but you'll be locked in to an expensive two-year contract for your trouble. Another price cutting measure is to take advantage of drops in component pricing. The new budget iPhone could use parts currently used in the iPhone 4 – processor, display etc. – leaving new, pricier elements to the as-yet unannounced 'big' iPhone 5. Apple for the people The reasoning behind Apple's potential downmarket move is to widen the handset's appeal and combat the effects of Android, which currently offers a huge range of price points. A lower-cost iPhone could also see Apple get a foothold in the huge Chinese and Indian markets where price is a real factor. Although very few people in the company know of the project, Bloomberg's source says that Apple was aiming to reveal the budget iPhone in the summer. Could this mean two new iPhones this year? Be still our beating hearts. 
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| Posted: 11 Feb 2011 02:30 AM PST  AMD's pokey little mid ranger, the HD 5770, has been around for some time now. AMD is in the process of refreshing its range with the new 6-series cards, so we have to ask: is there still a place in the world for this little fellow? The answer is a resounding yes. At £100, the 5770 offers pretty decent value for money. And while this example from XFX trades HDMI for DisplayPort and a single DVI-D connection to keep the costs down, it's also a more elegant solution than most 5770s due to its single-slot nature and compact heatsink. The 5770 always did run cool and quiet – so who needs a chunky lump of copper on there taking up space and weight? When a card is this cheap, the upgrade path that Crossfire represents is an option too. Priced to compete with Nvidia's GTS 450, can it match it in the performance stakes? On a smaller scale to AMD's beefier cards, the 5770 demonstrates the company's ability to build GPUs which tail off less, performance-wise, than Nvidia's, when it comes to rising resolutions in DX11. Not that you'd want to crank your games past 1,680 x 1,050 with the HD 5770. But broadly speaking, it trades win-some-lose-some blows with Nvidia's GTS 450, depending on the game in question. If you have £100 in your pocket and you're desperate for a competent midrange card, it comes down to this choice: the GTS 450 or the HD 5770. There's really very little to choose between them, as they take turns outperforming each other, depending upon which game you run. So which way do you turn? There's only one answer, and it's really another question: what else does the card do? Multi-screen The HD 5770 can utilise AMD's EyeFinity multi-screen technology. Is that any use to you? Do you have three panels on your desk? Let's be honest, most people don't. Then there's the DisplayPort; handy for HD TVs. If you're combining media consumption with gaming potential, the HD 5770 isn't a bad choice. All that said, most people, we suspect, would choose on brand loyalty. If you're a fan of their cards, with that elegant architecture, cooler temperatures and quieter operation, it'd be hard to say no to the HD 5770. However, AMD is right in the middle of a range-refresh with its 6-series cards, and you can bet your boots that there'll be a direct replacement for the HD 5770 along soon enough. Whether that's worth waiting for is anybody's guess, but in the meantime, the 5770 does the business if you don't give it too much real-estate to tool around in. Related Links
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| Review: MSI GeForce GTX 470 Twin Frozr II Posted: 11 Feb 2011 02:30 AM PST  As with every generation of cards, the flagship sets sail before the hanky-waving crowds, and the slimmed down versions with slightly less capable GPUs follow in their wake. The GTX 470 came hot on the heels of the GTX 480, and with only marginally reduced architecture. It first launched at £290, in what seemed like a direct attack on AMD's excellent HD 5870. That's proper, high-end, enthusiast pricing, and you'd expect pretty hefty performance for that kind of outlay. But price cuts happen, and never more explosively than with the GTX 470. While you can plump for enhanced, 1.5GB versions with higher clockspeeds, this overclocked model from MSI offers sterling performance for just a shade over £200. Incredible! To put things into perspective, that's almost a ton cheaper than its May launch price which, at this present moment, puts it right in the ring with ATI's new HD 6870, and makes it a much more attractive upper-mid range price prospect. Under DX11, the GTX 470 happily trades blows with AMD's newer (and similarly priced) HD 6870, and comes away with a few more points under its belt. It's an absolute monster in the DX10 stakes, happily cracking out awesome frame rates across the board, and it's happy as Larry at 1,920 x 1,080. Price performer If the GTX 470 was still squatting at £290, it would be no kind of contender. Competition breeds success, of course, but success also breeds competition, and this card competes – extremely hard – on price. It's easily the most all-round powerful model in our ten-card test, handling DX10 awesomely and DX11 well, and it's now price-matched with AMD's latest upper-mid range card… which it outperformed in most games in our tests. There's also the fact that you can actually pick up vanilla versions of the GTX 470 for far less than the cost of this overclocked card. We found stock GTX 470s for as little as £175 and if you're seriously considering plumping for a 1GB GTX 460 – and hey, who wouldn't? – we'd actually ask you to think very hard about investing an extra £35 for one of these instead. It's not a great premium, when you consider the performance increase you're getting. In all honesty, the GTX 470 is closer to high-end than midrange, which makes it an enormously attractive prospect. But if you do buy one, make sure you've got a nice, free-flowing chassis, because this fellow can get a little hot under the collar. Related Links
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| Posted: 11 Feb 2011 02:30 AM PST  Take any card by either manufacturer and benchmark it next to its direct competitor from the other camp and there's at least one very clear conclusion to draw. Nvidia has the grunt, while AMD has the elegance. But another factor soon becomes apparent. When DX11 is added to the mix, AMD's performance doesn't tail off quite so quickly at the higher resolutions, and it's a point the HD 6850 makes very well indeed. This card represents a bit of an odd mixture. It seems to be built specifically to tackle DX11, and yet it still lacks the raw power to contend with its closest competitor in the price-range, the GTX 460 1GB, in DX10 applications. And of course, in DX11 games it outperforms the card it was designed to replace: AMD's own HD 5850. What's odd is that the HD 5850 hasn't dropped in price as a result. Which, in all honesty, would seem to make it a prime contender for midrange future-proofing. Let's take a look at the benchmarks. As evidenced by its Heaven 2.0 and Metro 2033 scores, the HD 6850 handles tessellation quite nicely compared to other cards in its price-category. What's interesting is that its closest competitor overall is really the GTX 460 768MB. For sheer frames-per-second across DX10 and DX11 at 4X AA, and between 1,680 x 1,050 and 1,920 x 1080, there's little to choose between them. The HD 6850, though, is an odd beast. In close competition with the GTX 460 768MB, it also outperforms the card it was designed to replace, the HD 5850, in DX11, but receives admonitions from the same predecessor in DX10 environments. Mixed bag It's a muddy puddle and no mistake. But what it really amounts to is generous midrange performance, an element of future-proofing, and a card that purrs away in your system with now trademark AMD quietness. It's a tough call between this and the 768MB version of the GTX 460, however. Overall, the 460 comes out on top, but only by a few frames per second – generally not a noticeable amount to the human eye. And if you're in competition with the 768MB GTX 460, you're in slightly less competition with its 1GB iteration, which is tough on the HD 6850, as it's the same price. One can't help but feel the HD 6850's day will come, but it isn't here yet. Every card is subject to price drops over time, and when that process brings the HD 6850 down below the GTX 460 line, it'll hit the absolute sweet spot. For now, however, the HD 6850 is a strong mid range contender with decent DX11 potential. Related Links
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| BlackBerry PlayBook to get Android app support this year? Posted: 11 Feb 2011 02:14 AM PST  RIM could be planning to allow Android applications to run on its BlackBerry Playbook and implementing this in the latter half of the year,according to Bloomberg. The news outlet, which cites three people familiar with the matter, says that RIM plans to piggyback Android's 130,000+ apps using software it is developing internally, lending credence to previous rumours. The PlayBook itself runs BlackBerry's proprietary QNX-based OS, but if the rumours are to be believed, support for Android applications could be ready as early as the second half of this year, possibly using the Dalvik Java virtual machine. Clever RIM Although it's not clear how the Android Marketplace would integrate with BlackBerry's own App World, if at all, it certainly would be a quick and easy route to a successful app store for the new tablet, particularly as BlackBerry has fallen behind in the apps arms race. Google has yet to comment on the rumours, making it unclear whether or not this is a move that's been sanctioned by the Android owner. The sources also say we could see Android apps running on the RIM tablet as early as the second half of 2011. The BlackBerry Playbook should be available in the UK in late Spring, something we're pretty excited about after our glowing hands on BlackBerry PlayBook review. 
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| BlackBerry PlayBook to get Android app support this year? Posted: 11 Feb 2011 02:14 AM PST RIM could be planning to allow Android applications to run on its BlackBerry Playbook and implementing this in the latter half of the year,according to Bloomberg. The news outlet, which cites three people familiar with the matter, says that RIM plans to piggyback Android's 130,000+ apps using software it is developing internally, lending credence to previous rumours. The PlayBook itself runs BlackBerry's proprietary QNX-based OS, but if the rumours are to be believed, support for Android applications could be ready as early as the second half of this year, possibly using the Dalvik Java virtual machine. Clever RIM Although it's not clear how the Android Marketplace would integrate with BlackBerry's own App World, if at all, it certainly would be a quick and easy route to a successful app store for the new tablet, particularly as BlackBerry has fallen behind in the apps arms race. Google has yet to comment on the rumours, making it unclear whether or not this is a move that's been sanctioned by the Android owner. The sources also say we could see Android apps running on the RIM tablet as early as the second half of 2011. The BlackBerry Playbook should be available in the UK in late Spring, something we're pretty excited about after our glowing hands on BlackBerry PlayBook review. 
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