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Techradar |
- Amazon mount charm offensive on major record labels
- LG claims market leadership in LCD monitors
- Radioplayer launches in the UK
- Windows 8 code being sent out to key manufacturers
- Windows 8 code being sent out to key manufacturers
- Firefox 4 for Android launched by Mozilla
- Firefox 4 for Android launched by Mozilla
- Review: Exclusive: LG 47LW550T
- Review: Exclusive: LG 47LW550T
- Microsoft to add NFC to Windows Phone smartphones
- Microsoft to add NFC to Windows Phone smartphones
- Virgin Media TiVo service gets full BBC iPlayer app
- Virgin Media TiVo service gets full BBC iPlayer app
- Updated: 50 really useful iPad tips and tricks
- Vodafone opens up HTC Desire S pre-orders
- Vodafone opens up HTC Desire S pre-orders
- Updated: 50 really useful iPad tips and tricks
- Review: Olympus E-5
- Review: Olympus E-5
- George Lucas 'very happy' with Star Wars 3D makeover
- George Lucas 'very happy' with Star Wars 3D makeover
| Amazon mount charm offensive on major record labels Posted: 31 Mar 2011 01:28 AM PDT  Amazon is reportedly 'aggressively' courting the four main music publishers to be part of its online music store, but the chairman of one of Sony's music publishing companies has accused the retail giant of mounting 'another land grab'. Amazon launched its iTunes competitor on Tuesday, but the music scuttlebutt is that major music labels were left a little nonplussed by the lack of warning. However, according to the Wall Street Journal, who have spoken to 'people familiar to the matter' Amazon is now mounting a speedy charm offensive to win back the key player in the music industry. Major labels The four major labels are Sony Music Entertainment, EMI Group, Warner Music group and Universal Music Group – and a successful music store would need to have the majority if not all of them on board to become a genuine challenger to Apple's hugely popular, and also widely disliked, iTunes. However, at least one section of Sony is not happy with Amazon, with the managing director of Sony/ATV Music Publishing (the joint venture involving Michael Jackson's estate) making his feelings clear. "This is just another land grab," Martin Bandier told the WSJ. "I can't make it any plainer than that. It's really disrespectful, and of course we are considering all of our options." 
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| LG claims market leadership in LCD monitors Posted: 31 Mar 2011 12:42 AM PDT  LG has declared that it is now the world's market leader in LCD monitors, and indicated that it will now focus heavily on Cinema 3D monitors going forward DisplaySearch figures suggest that the Korean giant has taken an 18 per cent share of the global market for LCD monitors. LG apparently provided 2.92 million of the 16.68 monitors sold around the world in 2010. Strong endorsement "This represents a strong endorsement of LG's drive to increase investment in R&D over the last 12 months," said Si-hwan Park, Vice President of the Monitor Division at LG's Home Entertainment Company. "The reason for our success is simple: We've focused on listening to our customers and then innovating around those needs. "To keep on growing our market share, we're going to be moving strongly into CINEMA 3D monitors in the near future." LG is hoping that its IPS panels – which stands for In-Plane Switching – and Cinema 3D monitors will push them up to 20 per cent in 2011, with a focus on 'sophistication and slim design'. 
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| Radioplayer launches in the UK Posted: 31 Mar 2011 12:30 AM PDT  Radioplayer has launched in the UK, a hub of all of the BBC's radio stations and a host of commercial offerings that is hoping to do for online radio what Freeview did for digital television. The radio offering is being adopted by a huge number of radio stations – 157 as of now – and each station that joins the party will adopt Radioplayer as its default player on their website. Any radio station can join the offering on the condition that the tailor their output to a digital environment – with 150 more poised to do so in the coming weeks. Not radical "This less about radio doing something radical and new," creator and MD Michael Hill told the Telegraph. "It's about bringing what the radio industry is already doing online into one place…Successful aggregation of content can only happen when a platform is truly open like Radioplayer is and it has all of the major content partners on board – which this does. "This is how Freeview was set up – which totally changed the digital TV landscape." So, what does Radioplayer bring? A powerful search engine, for one, allowing you to pick out your favourite offerings from the non-airwaves, as well as on-demand programming, podcasts and 'listen again'. Radioplayer can be found at http://www.radioplayer.co.uk/ 
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| Windows 8 code being sent out to key manufacturers Posted: 30 Mar 2011 08:44 AM PDT  Microsoft has begun to distribute early copies of Windows 8 to its key manufacturing partners – according to a respected Windows site. The next generation operating system from Microsoft is hoping to build on the critical and public acclaim around Windows 7 and continue the company's recent progress. Winrumours.com suggests that build 7971.0.110324-1900 of Windows 8 is now being sent out through the company's Connect testing system, but only to key OEMs. Feature set There is already plenty of information circulating about the next Windows, including the likelihood that it will bring a polished gaming component and a system reset function. There will also, it is expected, be support for 3D and expect the touch capability to be heavily ramped up. The news that the build is now with OEMs suggests that, whatever Windows 8 brings, it is not that far away from making a more public appearance. Via winrumours 
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| Windows 8 code being sent out to key manufacturers Posted: 30 Mar 2011 08:44 AM PDT Microsoft has begun to distribute early copies of Windows 8 to its key manufacturing partners – according to a respected Windows site. The next generation operating system from Microsoft is hoping to build on the critical and public acclaim around Windows 7 and continue the company's recent progress. Winrumours.com suggests that build 7971.0.110324-1900 of Windows 8 is now being sent out through the company's Connect testing system, but only to key OEMs. Feature set There is already plenty of information circulating about the next Windows, including the likelihood that it will bring a polished gaming component and a system reset function. There will also, it is expected, be support for 3D and expect the touch capability to be heavily ramped up. The news that the build is now with OEMs suggests that, whatever Windows 8 brings, it is not that far away from making a more public appearance. Via winrumours
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| Firefox 4 for Android launched by Mozilla Posted: 30 Mar 2011 08:27 AM PDT  Mozilla has launched Firefox 4 for Android – allowing people to use the latest incarnation of the popular browser on their handsets. Firefox has become a standard bearer for the underdog after years facing off against Microsoft's dominant Internet Explorer on PC, but the mobile sector may well prove to be a tougher nut to crack. Android is obviously a part of Google, which offers up a default browser that is considered one of the best - fighting it out with supremacy with Apple's offering on iOS. "Firefox for mobile allows users to take the Firefox experience they love everywhere and minimizes typing with features like tabbed browsing, bookmarks, add-ons and Firefox Sync," explained Mozilla. Sleek "With a sleek new look that hides browser controls when not in use, Firefox allows users to focus on the websites they visit. Firefox Sync gives users seamless access to their browsing history, bookmarks, open tabs, form data and passwords across computers and mobile devices. "Firefox also offers thousands of ways to customize the features, functionality and look of mobile Web browsing with Firefox Add-ons. "Firefox is up to three times faster than the stock browser on Android. Major enhancements to the JavaScript engine make everything from page load speed to graphics to overall performance snappy in Firefox." The mobile browser tech is built on the same technology as its big desktop brother – and integrates things like HTML5. 
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| Firefox 4 for Android launched by Mozilla Posted: 30 Mar 2011 08:27 AM PDT Mozilla has launched Firefox 4 for Android – allowing people to use the latest incarnation of the popular browser on their handsets. Firefox has become a standard bearer for the underdog after years facing off against Microsoft's dominant Internet Explorer on PC, but the mobile sector may well prove to be a tougher nut to crack. Android is obviously a part of Google, which offers up a default browser that is considered one of the best - fighting it out with supremacy with Apple's offering on iOS. "Firefox for mobile allows users to take the Firefox experience they love everywhere and minimizes typing with features like tabbed browsing, bookmarks, add-ons and Firefox Sync," explained Mozilla. Sleek "With a sleek new look that hides browser controls when not in use, Firefox allows users to focus on the websites they visit. Firefox Sync gives users seamless access to their browsing history, bookmarks, open tabs, form data and passwords across computers and mobile devices. "Firefox also offers thousands of ways to customize the features, functionality and look of mobile Web browsing with Firefox Add-ons. "Firefox is up to three times faster than the stock browser on Android. Major enhancements to the JavaScript engine make everything from page load speed to graphics to overall performance snappy in Firefox." The mobile browser tech is built on the same technology as its big desktop brother – and integrates things like HTML5.
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| Review: Exclusive: LG 47LW550T Posted: 30 Mar 2011 07:11 AM PDT  LG is unique in the UK TV market by offering both active and passive 3D sets. The 47LW550T is one of the latter, dubbed Cinema 3D by the Korean brand to help confused consumers realise that it shares the same glasses technology that they've become used to at their local multiplex. The 47LW550T arrives on retailers' shelves against a backdrop of a bitter active versus passive argument between LG and its rival Samsung, with the latter at pains to point out that the former's Cinema 3D technology cannot display a full HD 3D image. And that's true, because the 47LW550T's screen-mounted polarising filter sends one half of the 1,920 x 1080 Blu-ray image to one eye and the other half to the other. It's what impact that has on picture quality that's important. First, though, some background info. The 47LW550TT is a 47-inch edge LED-lit set – part of LG's new 2011 range – and is also available in 32-inch, 42-inch and 47-inch guises. Its living room appeal is helped by a slender design and blue-tinted gloss black bezel, but the frame around the screen is rather wide, meaning the 47LW550TT isn't as eye-catching as Samsung's rival D7000 range.
The 47LW550T is packed with all the features we expect from a premium TV plus a few nice extras. The headline act is the Cinema 3D technology. By using a screen filter to sort out left and right eye images, instead of active shutters in the 3D glasses, LG has been able to throw in seven pairs of lightweight, battery-free goggles. That automatically gives the 47LW550T appeal to Sky 3D subscribers wanting to throw a 3D football party, although why they come in a variety of garish colours is a mystery. The set also includes a 2D-3D conversion engine. Something that may get more everyday use than the Cinema 3D feature is the 47LW550TT's 'smart' capability. Like all high-end TVs launched this year, this LG is smarter than Albert Einstein in a Savile Row suit. Its multimedia talents break down into three areas: Smart Share media streaming from a home network, unrestricted web browsing and App access. Net connection is done via the Ethernet jack or optional wireless dongle. The selection of pre-installed apps in LG's NetCast portal is pretty decent, including Acetrax and Viewster movies-on-demand, vTuner net radio, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Picasa, Google Maps and the ubiquitous BBC iPlayer. Some of these you may already have courtesy of your Blu-ray player or TV service, but it's better to be safe than sorry. More obscure/niche/pointless apps can be downloaded from and placed on your personalised dashboard. Check out www.lgtvapp.com to see what's on offer. The web browser promises unfettered surfing – something that Panasonic has omitted from its own Viera Connect smart TVs – but because our review sample arrived before the TVs will hit shop shelves, it hadn't been activated. We had more joy with the Smart Share function, which seems quite robust. Connected to both a NAS drive and a PC on our tech network, we were soon streaming MP3s, JPEGs, and H.264 video files to the 47LW550T's screen with ease. A feature that will never get a lot of fanfare in the advertising blurb is the 47LW550T's extensive picture calibration possibilities. That's a shame, as what's on offer here is unrivalled in the flatscreen TV market. Beyond the usual Vivid, Standard, Cinema and Game picture presets are two ISF Expert options. Selecting one of these opens up the Expert Control sub menu, where you'll find all manner of consumer-baffling tweaks, including a full colour management system. This is where an ISF-certified technician will be able to calibrate the 47LW550T to within an inch of its life, saving their work for you to call into action at the touch of a button. What's great about the 47LW550T is that owners get to play at being an ISF nerd, too. LG's Picture Wizard, found in the setup menu, is a step-by-step process that encourages you to adjust various levels until one image in the screen matches LG's own recommendation. It's similar to the system found on Philips 46PFL9705, but more advanced, including White Level, Tint and Horizontal/Vertical Sharpness stages. The results are saved to the ISF Expert 1 preset. We found our selections greatly improved on the picture quality offered by the Standard mode preset. Connectivity is par for the flatscreen course. There are four HDMI v1.4 inputs (side-mounted, with one offering Audio Return Channel support), two USB ports, Ethernet, composite, PC input and digital audio output. Because of the size of the connections recess, a special adaptor is provided for component and RGB Scart. Other features of note include the ability to use the 47LW550T with LG's optional Magic Motion remote control, 100Hz TruMotion smoothing technology, DivX HD certification and a built-in Freeview HD tuner.
Before we get onto the 47LW550T's 3D performance, it's worth noting that its hi-def 2D images are excellent. LG claims a 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio for the 47LW550T, but our lab measured a real-world figure of 262,000:1. That's quite a big difference, but 262,000:1 is still impressive, putting it easily in the upper echelons of current LED TVs. And that objective figure translates to subjective viewing, too. With Ridley Scott's Robin Hood on Blu-ray, the 47LW550T offers a well-contrasted picture that's capable of displaying peak whites and Emo-grade blacks simultaneously. The opening night-time scene, with torch-wielding villagers surrounded by the forest darkness, is therefore suitably atmospheric and immersive. This excellent contrast ratio and black level comes courtesy of a stable edge-LED backlighting system (with local dimming) that manages to avoid any trace of light pooling. A 16-step greyscale pattern showed clear delineation without any crushed blacks. Even doubling up to 32 steps only resulted in the brightest whites failing to separate. Colour performance is similarly commendable. With our own Picture Wizard-enabled preset, tones were bright, believable and full of subtlety. Reds managed to look red, rather than orangey. Again, a reference gradation test showed none of the blocking that afflicts less well-engineered screens. The 47LW550T falls down slightly with motion. There is a noticeable loss of picture detail with fast horizontal pans; engaging the TruMotion frame interpolation tech, even on its low setting, resolved the problem immediately, but introduces predictable haloing around fast-moving objects. When Avatar's Sully takes control of his Na'vi for the first time and runs around like a loon, we were quick to dispense with TruMotion. The 47LW550T isn't a disastrous performer with motion (it compares well with Philips 46PFL9705, but put it head to head with Panasonic's new TX-L42E30B and it comes second. Switch up to three dimensions and the 47LW550T continues to raise a smile, but it isn't without its flaws. Firstly, despite using passive technology, the 47LW550T still exhibits crosstalk. As always, it's dependant on the material, but anyone hoping this niggling 3D side-effect would be AWOL will be disappointed. On the plus side, 3D glasses without active shutters means flickering pictures are a thing of the past. Watching Avatar 3D on the 47LW550T was a pleasure, and the fact that having ambient lights on didn't irritate the 3D delivery system was a welcome bonus. The viewing angle is also good. Move around the room and the picture follows. The same cannot be said of Active 3D systems, where the eyewear can lose sync. However, go off-axis vertically and you begin to notice the horizontal ripples of the screen's filter, especially with bright material. And what of the resolution loss? Well, it's certainly true that full HD 3D Blu-rays don't look as sharp as their 2D counterparts and if you get close to the screen you can clearly see where horizontal resolution has been chopped in half, but at a normal viewing distance it's much harder to spot. And even with the resolution loss, the sharpness of the overall picture is impressive; losing half the vertical resolution doesn't mean it's suddenly back to DVD standards. It's more like Blu-ray lite. Whether or not that's good enough for you is a personal choice, but we'd suggest that the positives of the passive 3D system outweigh the negatives.
Sound Despite the 47LW550T's slender design, LG's engineers have managed to endow it with a decent set of speakers that deliver a better performance than some of its competitors. They do most of their work in the midrange, and lack real low-frequency impact, but the sound is generally warm and engaging, rather than thin and raspy. At full volume (100 on the nifty, animated speaker dial) the 47LW550T goes quite loud, too, although you'll want to nudge it down a notch as distortion does begin to creep in. The optical audio output and audio return channel-savvy HDMI jack make it easy to connect the 47LW550T to a home cinema system. The sound menu features a few tweaks that users can make. The 47LW550T offers five adjustable presets: Standard, Music, Cinema, Sport and Game, of which cinema was our personal favourite, adding the most bass. The sport mode, by contrast, seems to rob the entire soundstage of any weight, making BBC's news readers sound like croaking, reanimated corpses. Clear Voice II is also offered; whatever LG thinks it's supposed to bring to your aural experience, it's best left permanently ignored. Oddly, and somewhat refreshingly, we found nothing resembling a virtual surround mode. Perhaps LG has realised that it's simply not worth bothering with. Value The 47LW550T should be available for around £1,300, which is less than competing models such as Samsung's UE46D7000 (£1,700), Philips PFL469705 (£1,600) and Panasonic's TX-P42VT30 (£1,600). Your hard-earned money gets you a well-featured 47-inch LED with a commensurate picture and an enjoyable 3D performance. Cinema 3D isn't state of the art, but the cost-saving from the seven bundled glasses compared to Active Shutter specs means it's certainly a bit of a bargain. Ease of use Living with a 47LW550T shouldn't pose any problems to those with a modicum of consumer electronics know-how, but some aspects do take getting used to. For instance, unlike some other brands, LG's home page mixes regular TV menus (input/setup) with all the set's smart functions, plus a PIP (Picture in Picture) window of what you're currently watching. It's certainly pretty and colourful, but you may prefer a more traditional layout. Other niggles include not being able to access the Home screen when 3D material is being played (presumably because of the PIP window), a blazing white light sited in the lower right corner of the screen that has to be deactivated in the settings menu, and a health warning that pops up whenever your call on a 3D source. If you're happy listening to MP3s on an iPod rather than lugging a Discman around, then you'll probably also appreciate the convenience of the 47LW550T's Cinema 3D system without worrying too much about its sub-full HD, three-dimensional images. Of course, there's more to the 47LW550T than its 3D capabilities. This is a high-end smart TV, with plenty of fine-tuning options, at an eye-catching price. We liked The 47LW550T offers a high-quality 2D picture performance thanks to efficient edge-LED lighting and a brilliant set of user adjustments, while 3D images benefit from the 47-inch screen size and flicker-free Cinema 3D technology. NetCast and Smart Share make it an ideal set for a connected home. We disliked The 47LW550T's motion-handling isn't up to the high standards set by other areas of its picture peformance, and some of the picture and sound presets (take a bow, 'Vivid') are hopelessly inadequate. The wide bezel design isn't as neat as it could be, either. Verdict Hardcore AV geeks will always remain sniffy about passive 3D screens because of the drop in picture resolution, but LG needn't be bothered – the 47LW550T is a consumer product, not a reference-grade 3D display. Its 2D performance is rock-solid, its mulitimedia functions are up to speed with the competition and its particular flavour of 3D is convenient and comfortable. Fun for all the family, as the saying goes. Related Links
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| Review: Exclusive: LG 47LW550T Posted: 30 Mar 2011 07:11 AM PDT LG is unique in the UK TV market by offering both active and passive 3D sets. The 47LW550T is one of the latter, dubbed Cinema 3D by the Korean brand to help confused consumers realise that it shares the same glasses technology that they've become used to at their local multiplex. The 47LW550T arrives on retailers' shelves against a backdrop of a bitter active versus passive argument between LG and its rival Samsung, with the latter at pains to point out that the former's Cinema 3D technology cannot display a full HD 3D image. And that's true, because the 47LW550T's screen-mounted polarising filter sends one half of the 1,920 x 1080 Blu-ray image to one eye and the other half to the other. It's what impact that has on picture quality that's important. First, though, some background info. The 47LW550TT is a 47-inch edge LED-lit set – part of LG's new 2011 range – and is also available in 32-inch, 42-inch and 47-inch guises. Its living room appeal is helped by a slender design and blue-tinted gloss black bezel, but the frame around the screen is rather wide, meaning the 47LW550TT isn't as eye-catching as Samsung's rival D7000 range.
The 47LW550T is packed with all the features we expect from a premium TV plus a few nice extras. The headline act is the Cinema 3D technology. By using a screen filter to sort out left and right eye images, instead of active shutters in the 3D glasses, LG has been able to throw in seven pairs of lightweight, battery-free goggles. That automatically gives the 47LW550T appeal to Sky 3D subscribers wanting to throw a 3D football party, although why they come in a variety of garish colours is a mystery. The set also includes a 2D-3D conversion engine. Something that may get more everyday use than the Cinema 3D feature is the 47LW550TT's 'smart' capability. Like all high-end TVs launched this year, this LG is smarter than Albert Einstein in a Savile Row suit. Its multimedia talents break down into three areas: Smart Share media streaming from a home network, unrestricted web browsing and App access. Net connection is done via the Ethernet jack or optional wireless dongle. The selection of pre-installed apps in LG's NetCast portal is pretty decent, including Acetrax and Viewster movies-on-demand, vTuner net radio, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Picasa, Google Maps and the ubiquitous BBC iPlayer. Some of these you may already have courtesy of your Blu-ray player or TV service, but it's better to be safe than sorry. More obscure/niche/pointless apps can be downloaded from and placed on your personalised dashboard. Check out www.lgtvapp.com to see what's on offer. The web browser promises unfettered surfing – something that Panasonic has omitted from its own Viera Connect smart TVs – but because our review sample arrived before the TVs will hit shop shelves, it hadn't been activated. We had more joy with the Smart Share function, which seems quite robust. Connected to both a NAS drive and a PC on our tech network, we were soon streaming MP3s, JPEGs, and H.264 video files to the 47LW550T's screen with ease. A feature that will never get a lot of fanfare in the advertising blurb is the 47LW550T's extensive picture calibration possibilities. That's a shame, as what's on offer here is unrivalled in the flatscreen TV market. Beyond the usual Vivid, Standard, Cinema and Game picture presets are two ISF Expert options. Selecting one of these opens up the Expert Control sub menu, where you'll find all manner of consumer-baffling tweaks, including a full colour management system. This is where an ISF-certified technician will be able to calibrate the 47LW550T to within an inch of its life, saving their work for you to call into action at the touch of a button. What's great about the 47LW550T is that owners get to play at being an ISF nerd, too. LG's Picture Wizard, found in the setup menu, is a step-by-step process that encourages you to adjust various levels until one image in the screen matches LG's own recommendation. It's similar to the system found on Philips 46PFL9705, but more advanced, including White Level, Tint and Horizontal/Vertical Sharpness stages. The results are saved to the ISF Expert 1 preset. We found our selections greatly improved on the picture quality offered by the Standard mode preset. Connectivity is par for the flatscreen course. There are four HDMI v1.4 inputs (side-mounted, with one offering Audio Return Channel support), two USB ports, Ethernet, composite, PC input and digital audio output. Because of the size of the connections recess, a special adaptor is provided for component and RGB Scart. Other features of note include the ability to use the 47LW550T with LG's optional Magic Motion remote control, 100Hz TruMotion smoothing technology, DivX HD certification and a built-in Freeview HD tuner.
Before we get onto the 47LW550T's 3D performance, it's worth noting that its hi-def 2D images are excellent. LG claims a 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio for the 47LW550T, but our lab measured a real-world figure of 262,000:1. That's quite a big difference, but 262,000:1 is still impressive, putting it easily in the upper echelons of current LED TVs. And that objective figure translates to subjective viewing, too. With Ridley Scott's Robin Hood on Blu-ray, the 47LW550T offers a well-contrasted picture that's capable of displaying peak whites and Emo-grade blacks simultaneously. The opening night-time scene, with torch-wielding villagers surrounded by the forest darkness, is therefore suitably atmospheric and immersive. This excellent contrast ratio and black level comes courtesy of a stable edge-LED backlighting system (with local dimming) that manages to avoid any trace of light pooling. A 16-step greyscale pattern showed clear delineation without any crushed blacks. Even doubling up to 32 steps only resulted in the brightest whites failing to separate. Colour performance is similarly commendable. With our own Picture Wizard-enabled preset, tones were bright, believable and full of subtlety. Reds managed to look red, rather than orangey. Again, a reference gradation test showed none of the blocking that afflicts less well-engineered screens. The 47LW550T falls down slightly with motion. There is a noticeable loss of picture detail with fast horizontal pans; engaging the TruMotion frame interpolation tech, even on its low setting, resolved the problem immediately, but introduces predictable haloing around fast-moving objects. When Avatar's Sully takes control of his Na'vi for the first time and runs around like a loon, we were quick to dispense with TruMotion. The 47LW550T isn't a disastrous performer with motion (it compares well with Philips 46PFL9705, but put it head to head with Panasonic's new TX-L42E30B and it comes second. Switch up to three dimensions and the 47LW550T continues to raise a smile, but it isn't without its flaws. Firstly, despite using passive technology, the 47LW550T still exhibits crosstalk. As always, it's dependant on the material, but anyone hoping this niggling 3D side-effect would be AWOL will be disappointed. On the plus side, 3D glasses without active shutters means flickering pictures are a thing of the past. Watching Avatar 3D on the 47LW550T was a pleasure, and the fact that having ambient lights on didn't irritate the 3D delivery system was a welcome bonus. The viewing angle is also good. Move around the room and the picture follows. The same cannot be said of Active 3D systems, where the eyewear can lose sync. However, go off-axis vertically and you begin to notice the horizontal ripples of the screen's filter, especially with bright material. And what of the resolution loss? Well, it's certainly true that full HD 3D Blu-rays don't look as sharp as their 2D counterparts and if you get close to the screen you can clearly see where horizontal resolution has been chopped in half, but at a normal viewing distance it's much harder to spot. And even with the resolution loss, the sharpness of the overall picture is impressive; losing half the vertical resolution doesn't mean it's suddenly back to DVD standards. It's more like Blu-ray lite. Whether or not that's good enough for you is a personal choice, but we'd suggest that the positives of the passive 3D system outweigh the negatives.
Sound Despite the 47LW550T's slender design, LG's engineers have managed to endow it with a decent set of speakers that deliver a better performance than some of its competitors. They do most of their work in the midrange, and lack real low-frequency impact, but the sound is generally warm and engaging, rather than thin and raspy. At full volume (100 on the nifty, animated speaker dial) the 47LW550T goes quite loud, too, although you'll want to nudge it down a notch as distortion does begin to creep in. The optical audio output and audio return channel-savvy HDMI jack make it easy to connect the 47LW550T to a home cinema system. The sound menu features a few tweaks that users can make. The 47LW550T offers five adjustable presets: Standard, Music, Cinema, Sport and Game, of which cinema was our personal favourite, adding the most bass. The sport mode, by contrast, seems to rob the entire soundstage of any weight, making BBC's news readers sound like croaking, reanimated corpses. Clear Voice II is also offered; whatever LG thinks it's supposed to bring to your aural experience, it's best left permanently ignored. Oddly, and somewhat refreshingly, we found nothing resembling a virtual surround mode. Perhaps LG has realised that it's simply not worth bothering with. Value The 47LW550T should be available for around £1,300, which is less than competing models such as Samsung's UE46D7000 (£1,700), Philips PFL469705 (£1,600) and Panasonic's TX-P42VT30 (£1,600). Your hard-earned money gets you a well-featured 47-inch LED with a commensurate picture and an enjoyable 3D performance. Cinema 3D isn't state of the art, but the cost-saving from the seven bundled glasses compared to Active Shutter specs means it's certainly a bit of a bargain. Ease of use Living with a 47LW550T shouldn't pose any problems to those with a modicum of consumer electronics know-how, but some aspects do take getting used to. For instance, unlike some other brands, LG's home page mixes regular TV menus (input/setup) with all the set's smart functions, plus a PIP (Picture in Picture) window of what you're currently watching. It's certainly pretty and colourful, but you may prefer a more traditional layout. Other niggles include not being able to access the Home screen when 3D material is being played (presumably because of the PIP window), a blazing white light sited in the lower right corner of the screen that has to be deactivated in the settings menu, and a health warning that pops up whenever your call on a 3D source. If you're happy listening to MP3s on an iPod rather than lugging a Discman around, then you'll probably also appreciate the convenience of the 47LW550T's Cinema 3D system without worrying too much about its sub-full HD, three-dimensional images. Of course, there's more to the 47LW550T than its 3D capabilities. This is a high-end smart TV, with plenty of fine-tuning options, at an eye-catching price. We liked The 47LW550T offers a high-quality 2D picture performance thanks to efficient edge-LED lighting and a brilliant set of user adjustments, while 3D images benefit from the 47-inch screen size and flicker-free Cinema 3D technology. NetCast and Smart Share make it an ideal set for a connected home. We disliked The 47LW550T's motion-handling isn't up to the high standards set by other areas of its picture peformance, and some of the picture and sound presets (take a bow, 'Vivid') are hopelessly inadequate. The wide bezel design isn't as neat as it could be, either. Verdict Hardcore AV geeks will always remain sniffy about passive 3D screens because of the drop in picture resolution, but LG needn't be bothered – the 47LW550T is a consumer product, not a reference-grade 3D display. Its 2D performance is rock-solid, its mulitimedia functions are up to speed with the competition and its particular flavour of 3D is convenient and comfortable. Fun for all the family, as the saying goes. Related Links
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| Microsoft to add NFC to Windows Phone smartphones Posted: 30 Mar 2011 06:53 AM PDT  Microsoft has teased that it is to add NFC compatibility to a future version of its Windows Phone software. Google has already added NFC to Android 2.3 and it looks like Microsoft is following a similar route with its smartphone portfolio. According to Bloomberg, Microsoft will be looking to put the technology – which allows you to make payments with your phone – into the chassis specification for its upcoming Windows Phone handsets. Nokia has already announced that NFC will be in its Symbian handsets this year and Motorola exclusively told TechRadar that it is looking to add the tech to its handsets, even though there is a premium that goes with the implementation of NFC. Samsung has followed suit with the Galaxy S2 and the Wave 578, and has already offered NFC support for its Bada smartphones. NFC implementation There is something of a buzz around NFC technology at the moment. Alongside Microsoft, MasterCard has said it has teamed with digital security firm Gemalto so it can add NFC to SIM cards – the cards are set to be called MasterCard PayPass SIM card. The introduction of NFC into Windows Phone handsets is likely to come in a software update later in the year. Microsoft is currently rolling out its latest update. Called NoDo, it adds features like cut and paste to Windows Phone 7. 
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| Microsoft to add NFC to Windows Phone smartphones Posted: 30 Mar 2011 06:53 AM PDT Microsoft has teased that it is to add NFC compatibility to a future version of its Windows Phone software. Google has already added NFC to Android 2.3 and it looks like Microsoft is following a similar route with its smartphone portfolio. According to Bloomberg, Microsoft will be looking to put the technology – which allows you to make payments with your phone – into the chassis specification for its upcoming Windows Phone handsets. Nokia has already announced that NFC will be in its Symbian handsets this year and Motorola exclusively told TechRadar that it is looking to add the tech to its handsets, even though there is a premium that goes with the implementation of NFC. Samsung has followed suit with the Galaxy S2 and the Wave 578, and has already offered NFC support for its Bada smartphones. NFC implementation There is something of a buzz around NFC technology at the moment. Alongside Microsoft, MasterCard has said it has teamed with digital security firm Gemalto so it can add NFC to SIM cards – the cards are set to be called MasterCard PayPass SIM card. The introduction of NFC into Windows Phone handsets is likely to come in a software update later in the year. Microsoft is currently rolling out its latest update. Called NoDo, it adds features like cut and paste to Windows Phone 7.
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| Virgin Media TiVo service gets full BBC iPlayer app Posted: 30 Mar 2011 06:51 AM PDT  The Virgin Media TiVo box has been given a key update, with the BBC iPlayer app coming out of beta and now apparently offering HD catch-up of Auntie's programmes. The iPlayer app is already on the boxes, but was a beta offering with several bugs which have, presumably, now been ironed out. The BBC catch-up service has proven to be phenomenally popular on Virgin Media, and the extension of a full app onto the Virgin Media TiVo box will be good news for many who have got their hands on the eagerly anticipated kit. Taking advantage "Taking advantage of the power to run dedicated 'connected' applications on the TiVo powered set-top box, a new BBC iPlayer app can be found in the growing 'Apps and Games' section and offers the full library of BBC iPlayer content, including catch-up shows in HD as well as radio shows for the first time ever," a Virgin Media spokesperson told TechRadar. "With around 1,000 hours available - previously 350 hours - to watch from the last seven days and other new features such as subtitling and signing, the new service will also gain new functionality over time and supersedes the existing BBC iPlayer serviceon Virgin Media to provide the most complete TV on Demand service possible." As TechRadar's Virgin Media TiVo review discovered, the latest PVR on offer is a powerful beast but in need of a bit of a polish – and a refreshed BBC iPlayer app is certainly a step in the right direction. 
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| Virgin Media TiVo service gets full BBC iPlayer app Posted: 30 Mar 2011 06:51 AM PDT The Virgin Media TiVo box has been given a key update, with the BBC iPlayer app coming out of beta and now apparently offering HD catch-up of Auntie's programmes. The iPlayer app is already on the boxes, but was a beta offering with several bugs which have, presumably, now been ironed out. The BBC catch-up service has proven to be phenomenally popular on Virgin Media, and the extension of a full app onto the Virgin Media TiVo box will be good news for many who have got their hands on the eagerly anticipated kit. Taking advantage "Taking advantage of the power to run dedicated 'connected' applications on the TiVo powered set-top box, a new BBC iPlayer app can be found in the growing 'Apps and Games' section and offers the full library of BBC iPlayer content, including catch-up shows in HD as well as radio shows for the first time ever," a Virgin Media spokesperson told TechRadar. "With around 1,000 hours available - previously 350 hours - to watch from the last seven days and other new features such as subtitling and signing, the new service will also gain new functionality over time and supersedes the existing BBC iPlayer serviceon Virgin Media to provide the most complete TV on Demand service possible." As TechRadar's Virgin Media TiVo review discovered, the latest PVR on offer is a powerful beast but in need of a bit of a polish – and a refreshed BBC iPlayer app is certainly a step in the right direction.
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| Updated: 50 really useful iPad tips and tricks Posted: 30 Mar 2011 06:37 AM PDT  With great new features like two video cameras, a faster processor and a thinner design, the iPad 2 is the world's best tablet device. It's also fully capable of running the latest version of Apple's iOS operating system and great apps like iMovie and GarageBand. Here we present 50 really useful iPad 2 tips. We cover everything from customising your Home screen through to getting more from built-in apps like Mail and Safari. The vast majority of these tips will also work on the original iPad, so owners of the first generation device shouldn't feel neglected. 1. Create folders iOS now supports folders. To create a folder all you need to do is tap and hold on an app until they all start to jiggle, then drag the app over another icon and release. Your iPad will create a folder with both the apps in. The folder will be named according to the category of the apps it contains, but you can rename it as you like.
2. Access all running apps Double-clicking the Home button shows you all the apps that are running on your iPad in a bar along the bottom of the screen. To switch to a running app just tap on it here in this bar. Just swipe the screen downwards to remove this bar.
3. Orientation Lock or Mute? The internet got mightily upset when Orientation Lock was replaced with Mute on the iPad during the last iOS update. Apple listened, and now you can head to Settings > General to choose between Lock Rotation and Mute.
4. Passcode Denied… DELETE ALL! If you're carrying around sensitive data, you can now enable a feature that'll erase all the data on the device if someone inputs the incorrect passcode 10 times. Navigate to Settings > General > Passcode Lock > Erase Data.
5. Home Sharing First, turn on Home Sharing in iTunes (Advanced menu) and on your iPad (Settings > iPod and enter your Apple ID). Next, launch the iPod app on your iPad. In the left column, find the little house with "Library" next to it. Tap on that and then on one of the Shared Libraries. It might take a few minutes to update, but then you can watch and listen to all of that Library's media on your iPad.
6. Control iPad notifications Have you ever played Tap Tap Revenge on the iPhone? Good, then you know how annoying notifications can be. These messages pop up on the iPad as well. but you can control them. Go to Settings, Notifications, and configure which alerts (and accompanying sounds) will appear.
7. Go VPN The iPad supports a VPN connection. To configure it, go to Settings, then General > Network. Select the VPN and move the slider to On, then add a VPN configuration with your server and account details.
8. Stop asking to join Wi-Fi networks If you're fed up of getting bugged by messages asking if you'd like to join this or that Wi- Fi network all the time then head to Settings, Wi-Fi and turn off Ask to Join Networks. You can still join any network that will have you from this same screen, it just won't bug you constantly when the opportunity arises.
9. Turn battery percentage off Do you find the battery charge percentage distracting? The good news is you can turn it off very easily. Go to Settings, General, Usage and you can turn it off here.
10. Quick volume mute When the iPad first launched, there was no dedicated mute button anywhere on the device. However, with iOS 4.3 Apple has given you the choice of using the lock switch to mute the sound or lock the iPad's orientation. Either way, a good tip for quickly muting your iPad is to press and hold the Volume-down button.
11. Use an Apple keyboard Missing a real keyboard? Any Apple Wireless Keyboard will work with the iPad. In fact, your iPad will work with any Bluetooth keyboard. Some iPad cases have a keyboard built in, which can be handy. 12. Connect to an HD TV You can connect the iPad 2 to your HD television using Apple's new Digital AV Adapter (which connects from your 30-pin Dock adaptor to a HDMI port) or a plain old Apple VGA Adaptor. Both are available from the Apple Store. The iPad 2 supports video mirroring, so your entire Home screen will appear on the TV, not just the videos you play.
13. AirPlay: Stream movies, photos and music Whenever you see the AirPlay icon on your iPad it means you can stream whatever media you're viewing to your Apple TV, which is usually connected to your living room TV. All you need to do is tap the AirPlay icon (which looks like a rectangle with a triangle in it) and it starts playing automatically - it's so simple!
14. Take an iPad screenshot You can take a screenshot on your iPad by pressing Home and then the Sleep/Wake button. The screen will flash and you'll hear a click, indicating that a photo has been taken. Your screen shots are saved automatically in your Photos gallery. Here, you can view or email them as you see fit. 15. Avoid underpowered USB docks The iPad does not charge when you connect it to some USB docks or even certain ports on some notebooks. Instead, plug in to a high power USB port (check you computer's specs, or use a powered USB dock). On some PCs, USB ports on the front of the computer are lower power, so you will need to plug into one on the back. 16. Use Multitasking Gestures Multitasking Gestures, which utilise four and five finger gestures, are available in Settings only to iPad owners who have installed Xcode on a Mac. You need to buy Xcode from the Mac App Store ($5/£2.99) and install it, then from the Xcode homescreen, select your iPad and click on the Use for Development button. You'll be asked for your developer account details, but if you click on Cancel at this stage it still works.
17. Restrict your Spotlight searches Swipe left on the Home screen to reveal the Spotlight search. By default it searches everything including songs in your iPod, podcasts, apps and events. To restrict the areas it searches, since you may not want all these categories included, look in Settings > General > Spotlight Search.
18. Add a Google Calendar Want to add your Google Calendar to the iPad's Calendar app? No problem. In Settings open Mail, Contacts, Calendars. Add an account and tap on Other. Tap on Add CalDAV Account and enter your Google Account credentials (the Server is www.google.com). Exit the Settings app and tap on the Calendar app and all your events should appear. By default all calendars are displayed, but you can tap on the Calendars button to choose which ones are shown.
19. Find My iPhone (or iPad) is now free Apple's Find My iPad works for MobileMe subscribers, but you can set it up for free on your iPad. In Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars tap the Add Account button and select MobileMe. If you have an iTunes or MobileMe account then enter it here. Alternatively, tap on Create Free Apple ID. You may need to check your inbox and verify your account now. Return to the MobileMe screen and switch on Find My iPad. Now sign into me.com to see your iPad on a map, or install the Find My iPhone app from the App Store.
20. Use AirPrint Thanks to AirPrint you can print right from your iPad, provided you've got a compatible printer, of course. If you've got an AirPrint ready printer then you just choose Print from the Share menu for virtually any open document. AirPrint works with the new range of printers from HP, and you can use a Mac app called Printopia (www.ecamm.com) to print to any printer connected to a Mac.
21. Use a Smart Cover Apple's new iPad Smart Cover (from £35/$39) is a must have iPad accessory - it's not just a dumb cover. When you draw it over the iPad's screen it puts it to sleep for you, and wakes it up when you open it. Also, it latches onto special magnets built into the side of the iPad 2, so it's a perfect fit.
22. Share from Pages Transferring Pages documents from your iPad by syncing with iTunes on your Mac or PC is a real hassle. It's much quicker to use the Share menu to email the finished document to wherever you need it to be. Also, you can email it as a Word or PDF document if you like.
23. Turn iPad caps lock on To type a capital letter on the onscreen keyboard you first tap the left or right shift key, then the letter. If you need to type a whole word in caps this can be painful. Save time typing in caps by turning the caps lock on. To do this double tap on either shift key.
24. Copy and paste You can quickly copy and paste text by tapping and holding down, and then choosing Select to select the exact portion of text you'd like the copy. Next tap Copy, then go to a different app, and tap and hold down again, then tap Paste from the menu that appears. Top tip: To select an entire paragraph of text you need to tap four times.
25. Replace a word When you hold down on a word to copy it, choose Select, then you will see a new option: Replace. Tap this and, you can see suggestions for alternative words that have similar spellings. It's a good way of quickly correcting typos.
26. Hidden apostrophe key on the keyboard This is a great tip for any app, such as Notes, Pages or Mail, that you type into using the iPad's virtual keyboard. Rather than having to go to the second screen of the keyboard every time you want to type an apostrophe (which is a real pain) just tap and hold on the ! key and a hidden apostrophe option will appear - then just slide your finger up to access it.
27. Quick quotes You don't have to move the iPad's second keyboard screen to enter a quotation mark either. Simply tap and hold over the ? key and a quotation symbol appears, which you can select by moving your finger upwards.
28. Add a full stop Another great keyboard tip for typing in apps such as Pages, Notes or Mail is to doubletap the space bar at the end of a sentence. This adds a full stop and a space for you, which can be enormously time-saving when you're writing long articles.
29. Dim your iBooks You can lower the brightness setting down to a low level using the Brightness option under Settings. But the iBooks app has its own brightness slider, which you can use to lower the level down more conveniently.
30. Change days There's no way to swipe to change between days in the Calendar app, but don't forget the navigation bar along the bottom of the screen - this can be used to switch to different days (or weeks/months, depending on the view you've chosen). The current day is always shown in blue, or you can just tap the Today button to return to the current day.
31. Street View in Maps The Maps app running Google's Street View is one of the coolest features of the iPad, yet accessing it is so confusing few people even know it's there. To access Street View you need to have dropped a red pin on the map (which happens when you do a search). You then tap the red and white icon of a person to enter Street View.
32. Directions in Maps There's no free sat nav for the iPad, but directions in Maps are a substitute if you're walking, driving or taking the bus. Just tap Directions on the top left of Maps and the iPad even works out where you are right now, then takes you step-by-step through each stage of your journey.
33. Display PDFs There are two ways to display PDFs on your iPad: you can either email them to your iPad, in which case you get an Open in iBooks button appear, or you can sync PDFs from your Mac or PC via the Books tab in iTunes. To do this just drag and drop the PDF into iTunes, then when you sync your iPad click on the Books tab and select the PDFs you'd like to sync. In iBooks you click on PDFs in your library to see the PDFs you have ready to display.
34. Camera focus and meter In the Camera app, tap on your subject to both focus on and meter the light properly. In this shot, notice how the chair is dark and the boy outside is properly metered. You can reverse that by simply tapping on the chair.
35. Get a grip You'll probably hold the iPad by its sides, but it'll rotate to put the shutter button at the bottom, making you wobble when you reach for it. So use the orientation lock to put the shutter where you can easily thumb it, then just rotate your images or videos afterward in an image editor.
36. Take charge in FaceTime Once you've started a video call, you can move the picture-in-picture window that shows you by simply dragging it around with your finger.
37. Photo Booth fun Sure, you're great, but Photo Booth is even more fun if you point it at friends or family. Simply tap the 'twirly camera' icon in the bottom right. to use the camera on the back You can also snap stills by hitting the shutter button, but Photo Booth doesn't do video.
38. Download photos straight from your camera to your iPad You can't plug an SD card from a digital camera straight into your iPad to view the photos, but you can purchase the iPad Camera Connection kit from Apple. With this device attached you can transfer photos straight from your camera's memory card. Get it from the Apple Store online. 39. Quicker websites Save time typing web addresses in Safari by using the iPad's ".com" key when typing in a URL. A little-known timesaver is that if you hold down the .com key you get access to a menu that offers a .co.uk and other options too.
40. Quick Safari scroll You can jump up to the top of any web site - indeed any list - by tapping on the top of the title window. It's much faster than scrolling by hand.
41. Zoom in on websites You can zoom in on any website by pinching out with two fingers on the screen. This also makes it easier to select words and tap links. To zoom out again, just pinch in with two fingers. Double-tap on any text or image to auto-zoom so it fills the screen.
42. Turn on Bookmarks bar in Safari We all know you can tap the bookmarks icon in the Safari toolbar to access your bookmarks, but you can significantly cut down the number of taps it takes to get to them by turning on your Safari Bookmarks Bar permanently. In the Settings app, tap Safari, then turn Always Show Bookmarks Bar to ON.
43. Clear browsing history in Safari Need to cover your tracks online? You can delete your Safari browser history in a flash. Just open the Settings app, then tap Safari and tap on Clear History. Note you can also wipe your Cookies and clear your Cache here too.
44. Open Safari links in a new page You can open links in a new Safari window, rather than always opening them in the current one. Just tap and hold on the link and a pop-over menu appears giving you the option to open the link in a new page.
45. Find text on a page You can search for a particular word on an open page in Safari. Type your word into the Google search box. You'll see a list of suggestions appear, and near the bottom you'll see "On This Page", showing how many times that word appears on the page. Tap the Find option to go to the first instance of the word.
46. Turn off iPad email alert chimes You can turn off the chime for new emails. Go to Settings, then General, then Sounds and turn off the New Mail sound. You can also adjust sound levels here.
47. Preview more of your emails The iPad's Mail app defaults to previewing two lines of each email before you tap on it. Sometimes however it would be handier to be able to see more of an email before loading the whole thing in, especially if you are on a slow connection. To do this open the Settings app, then tap on Mail, Contacts, Calendars and change the Preview options to add more lines.
48. Turn off iPad push mail Most mail accounts default to Push as a delivery mechanism, if available. This automatically 'pushes' any new emails your way as soon as they are available. If you find this annoying or distracting you can set your Mail accounts to check for new messages at intervals, or manually so they only check for new messages when you tap the Refresh button. To turn off Push, select the Settings app and Mail, Contacts, Calendars and choose Fetch New Data, then turn Push on or off.
49. Make an iPad backup If you want to make sure your iPad's data is properly backed up then you can force iTunes to back it up. When you're conencted to your Mac or PC, open up iTunes and right-click on your iPad in the Devices list and select Back up.
50. iPad is flat and won't charge If your iPad battery is completely flat then it can take a while for the red battery symbol to appear when you plug it in to charge, indicating that it is charging. Don't panic, just leave it plugged in and wait - the charging symbol will appear eventually.
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| Vodafone opens up HTC Desire S pre-orders Posted: 30 Mar 2011 06:37 AM PDT  Vodafone has announced that it is offering the HTC Desire S for pre-order, ahead of the hotly-anticpated phone arriving on its UK release date of 8 April. The HTC Desire S will be available for no additional cost on the company's £30, two-year plan which includes 600 minutes, unlimited texts and half a gig of mobile data. According to TechRadar's HTC Desire S review, the phone is worthy of consideration, picking up four stars and earning praise for its slick UI and great call quality. But... However, the review did suggest alternatives, adding: "we can't help but have our gaze drawn to the HTC Incredible S and the Samsung Galaxy S2." Vodafone has also announced that it will be offering the Samsung-built Google Nexus S in either its original black chassis or an exclusive white version. That phone will be available for no extra cost on the £35 a month, two-year plan with 900 minutes, unlimited texts and 750MB of mobile data. Lastly the network announced that the HTC Wildfire S – likely to be a popular handset – will be available in three different colours, including exclusive grey and purple versions, although a release date and pricing is not yet available. 
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| Vodafone opens up HTC Desire S pre-orders Posted: 30 Mar 2011 06:37 AM PDT Vodafone has announced that it is offering the HTC Desire S for pre-order, ahead of the hotly-anticpated phone arriving on its UK release date of 8 April. The HTC Desire S will be available for no additional cost on the company's £30, two-year plan which includes 600 minutes, unlimited texts and half a gig of mobile data. According to TechRadar's HTC Desire S review, the phone is worthy of consideration, picking up four stars and earning praise for its slick UI and great call quality. But... However, the review did suggest alternatives, adding: "we can't help but have our gaze drawn to the HTC Incredible S and the Samsung Galaxy S2." Vodafone has also announced that it will be offering the Samsung-built Google Nexus S in either its original black chassis or an exclusive white version. That phone will be available for no extra cost on the £35 a month, two-year plan with 900 minutes, unlimited texts and 750MB of mobile data. Lastly the network announced that the HTC Wildfire S – likely to be a popular handset – will be available in three different colours, including exclusive grey and purple versions, although a release date and pricing is not yet available.
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| Updated: 50 really useful iPad tips and tricks Posted: 30 Mar 2011 06:37 AM PDT With great new features like two video cameras, a faster processor and a thinner design, the iPad 2 is the world's best tablet device. It's also fully capable of running the latest version of Apple's iOS operating system and great apps like iMovie and GarageBand. Here we present 50 really useful iPad 2 tips. We cover everything from customising your Home screen through to getting more from built-in apps like Mail and Safari. The vast majority of these tips will also work on the original iPad, so owners of the first generation device shouldn't feel neglected. 1. Create folders iOS now supports folders. To create a folder all you need to do is tap and hold on an app until they all start to jiggle, then drag the app over another icon and release. Your iPad will create a folder with both the apps in. The folder will be named according to the category of the apps it contains, but you can rename it as you like.
2. Access all running apps Double-clicking the Home button shows you all the apps that are running on your iPad in a bar along the bottom of the screen. To switch to a running app just tap on it here in this bar. Just swipe the screen downwards to remove this bar.
3. Orientation Lock or Mute? The internet got mightily upset when Orientation Lock was replaced with Mute on the iPad during the last iOS update. Apple listened, and now you can head to Settings > General to choose between Lock Rotation and Mute.
4. Passcode Denied… DELETE ALL! If you're carrying around sensitive data, you can now enable a feature that'll erase all the data on the device if someone inputs the incorrect passcode 10 times. Navigate to Settings > General > Passcode Lock > Erase Data.
5. Home Sharing First, turn on Home Sharing in iTunes (Advanced menu) and on your iPad (Settings > iPod and enter your Apple ID). Next, launch the iPod app on your iPad. In the left column, find the little house with "Library" next to it. Tap on that and then on one of the Shared Libraries. It might take a few minutes to update, but then you can watch and listen to all of that Library's media on your iPad.
6. Control iPad notifications Have you ever played Tap Tap Revenge on the iPhone? Good, then you know how annoying notifications can be. These messages pop up on the iPad as well. but you can control them. Go to Settings, Notifications, and configure which alerts (and accompanying sounds) will appear.
7. Go VPN The iPad supports a VPN connection. To configure it, go to Settings, then General > Network. Select the VPN and move the slider to On, then add a VPN configuration with your server and account details.
8. Stop asking to join Wi-Fi networks If you're fed up of getting bugged by messages asking if you'd like to join this or that Wi- Fi network all the time then head to Settings, Wi-Fi and turn off Ask to Join Networks. You can still join any network that will have you from this same screen, it just won't bug you constantly when the opportunity arises.
9. Turn battery percentage off Do you find the battery charge percentage distracting? The good news is you can turn it off very easily. Go to Settings, General, Usage and you can turn it off here.
10. Quick volume mute When the iPad first launched, there was no dedicated mute button anywhere on the device. However, with iOS 4.3 Apple has given you the choice of using the lock switch to mute the sound or lock the iPad's orientation. Either way, a good tip for quickly muting your iPad is to press and hold the Volume-down button.
11. Use an Apple keyboard Missing a real keyboard? Any Apple Wireless Keyboard will work with the iPad. In fact, your iPad will work with any Bluetooth keyboard. Some iPad cases have a keyboard built in, which can be handy. 12. Connect to an HD TV You can connect the iPad 2 to your HD television using Apple's new Digital AV Adapter (which connects from your 30-pin Dock adaptor to a HDMI port) or a plain old Apple VGA Adaptor. Both are available from the Apple Store. The iPad 2 supports video mirroring, so your entire Home screen will appear on the TV, not just the videos you play.
13. AirPlay: Stream movies, photos and music Whenever you see the AirPlay icon on your iPad it means you can stream whatever media you're viewing to your Apple TV, which is usually connected to your living room TV. All you need to do is tap the AirPlay icon (which looks like a rectangle with a triangle in it) and it starts playing automatically - it's so simple!
14. Take an iPad screenshot You can take a screenshot on your iPad by pressing Home and then the Sleep/Wake button. The screen will flash and you'll hear a click, indicating that a photo has been taken. Your screen shots are saved automatically in your Photos gallery. Here, you can view or email them as you see fit. 15. Avoid underpowered USB docks The iPad does not charge when you connect it to some USB docks or even certain ports on some notebooks. Instead, plug in to a high power USB port (check you computer's specs, or use a powered USB dock). On some PCs, USB ports on the front of the computer are lower power, so you will need to plug into one on the back. 16. Use Multitasking Gestures Multitasking Gestures, which utilise four and five finger gestures, are available in Settings only to iPad owners who have installed Xcode on a Mac. You need to buy Xcode from the Mac App Store ($5/£2.99) and install it, then from the Xcode homescreen, select your iPad and click on the Use for Development button. You'll be asked for your developer account details, but if you click on Cancel at this stage it still works.
17. Restrict your Spotlight searches Swipe left on the Home screen to reveal the Spotlight search. By default it searches everything including songs in your iPod, podcasts, apps and events. To restrict the areas it searches, since you may not want all these categories included, look in Settings > General > Spotlight Search.
18. Add a Google Calendar Want to add your Google Calendar to the iPad's Calendar app? No problem. In Settings open Mail, Contacts, Calendars. Add an account and tap on Other. Tap on Add CalDAV Account and enter your Google Account credentials (the Server is www.google.com). Exit the Settings app and tap on the Calendar app and all your events should appear. By default all calendars are displayed, but you can tap on the Calendars button to choose which ones are shown.
19. Find My iPhone (or iPad) is now free Apple's Find My iPad works for MobileMe subscribers, but you can set it up for free on your iPad. In Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars tap the Add Account button and select MobileMe. If you have an iTunes or MobileMe account then enter it here. Alternatively, tap on Create Free Apple ID. You may need to check your inbox and verify your account now. Return to the MobileMe screen and switch on Find My iPad. Now sign into me.com to see your iPad on a map, or install the Find My iPhone app from the App Store.
20. Use AirPrint Thanks to AirPrint you can print right from your iPad, provided you've got a compatible printer, of course. If you've got an AirPrint ready printer then you just choose Print from the Share menu for virtually any open document. AirPrint works with the new range of printers from HP, and you can use a Mac app called Printopia (www.ecamm.com) to print to any printer connected to a Mac.
21. Use a Smart Cover Apple's new iPad Smart Cover (from £35/$39) is a must have iPad accessory - it's not just a dumb cover. When you draw it over the iPad's screen it puts it to sleep for you, and wakes it up when you open it. Also, it latches onto special magnets built into the side of the iPad 2, so it's a perfect fit.
22. Share from Pages Transferring Pages documents from your iPad by syncing with iTunes on your Mac or PC is a real hassle. It's much quicker to use the Share menu to email the finished document to wherever you need it to be. Also, you can email it as a Word or PDF document if you like.
23. Turn iPad caps lock on To type a capital letter on the onscreen keyboard you first tap the left or right shift key, then the letter. If you need to type a whole word in caps this can be painful. Save time typing in caps by turning the caps lock on. To do this double tap on either shift key.
24. Copy and paste You can quickly copy and paste text by tapping and holding down, and then choosing Select to select the exact portion of text you'd like the copy. Next tap Copy, then go to a different app, and tap and hold down again, then tap Paste from the menu that appears. Top tip: To select an entire paragraph of text you need to tap four times.
25. Replace a word When you hold down on a word to copy it, choose Select, then you will see a new option: Replace. Tap this and, you can see suggestions for alternative words that have similar spellings. It's a good way of quickly correcting typos.
26. Hidden apostrophe key on the keyboard This is a great tip for any app, such as Notes, Pages or Mail, that you type into using the iPad's virtual keyboard. Rather than having to go to the second screen of the keyboard every time you want to type an apostrophe (which is a real pain) just tap and hold on the ! key and a hidden apostrophe option will appear - then just slide your finger up to access it.
27. Quick quotes You don't have to move the iPad's second keyboard screen to enter a quotation mark either. Simply tap and hold over the ? key and a quotation symbol appears, which you can select by moving your finger upwards.
28. Add a full stop Another great keyboard tip for typing in apps such as Pages, Notes or Mail is to doubletap the space bar at the end of a sentence. This adds a full stop and a space for you, which can be enormously time-saving when you're writing long articles.
29. Dim your iBooks You can lower the brightness setting down to a low level using the Brightness option under Settings. But the iBooks app has its own brightness slider, which you can use to lower the level down more conveniently.
30. Change days There's no way to swipe to change between days in the Calendar app, but don't forget the navigation bar along the bottom of the screen - this can be used to switch to different days (or weeks/months, depending on the view you've chosen). The current day is always shown in blue, or you can just tap the Today button to return to the current day.
31. Street View in Maps The Maps app running Google's Street View is one of the coolest features of the iPad, yet accessing it is so confusing few people even know it's there. To access Street View you need to have dropped a red pin on the map (which happens when you do a search). You then tap the red and white icon of a person to enter Street View.
32. Directions in Maps There's no free sat nav for the iPad, but directions in Maps are a substitute if you're walking, driving or taking the bus. Just tap Directions on the top left of Maps and the iPad even works out where you are right now, then takes you step-by-step through each stage of your journey.
33. Display PDFs There are two ways to display PDFs on your iPad: you can either email them to your iPad, in which case you get an Open in iBooks button appear, or you can sync PDFs from your Mac or PC via the Books tab in iTunes. To do this just drag and drop the PDF into iTunes, then when you sync your iPad click on the Books tab and select the PDFs you'd like to sync. In iBooks you click on PDFs in your library to see the PDFs you have ready to display.
34. Camera focus and meter In the Camera app, tap on your subject to both focus on and meter the light properly. In this shot, notice how the chair is dark and the boy outside is properly metered. You can reverse that by simply tapping on the chair.
35. Get a grip You'll probably hold the iPad by its sides, but it'll rotate to put the shutter button at the bottom, making you wobble when you reach for it. So use the orientation lock to put the shutter where you can easily thumb it, then just rotate your images or videos afterward in an image editor.
36. Take charge in FaceTime Once you've started a video call, you can move the picture-in-picture window that shows you by simply dragging it around with your finger.
37. Photo Booth fun Sure, you're great, but Photo Booth is even more fun if you point it at friends or family. Simply tap the 'twirly camera' icon in the bottom right. to use the camera on the back You can also snap stills by hitting the shutter button, but Photo Booth doesn't do video.
38. Download photos straight from your camera to your iPad You can't plug an SD card from a digital camera straight into your iPad to view the photos, but you can purchase the iPad Camera Connection kit from Apple. With this device attached you can transfer photos straight from your camera's memory card. Get it from the Apple Store online. 39. Quicker websites Save time typing web addresses in Safari by using the iPad's ".com" key when typing in a URL. A little-known timesaver is that if you hold down the .com key you get access to a menu that offers a .co.uk and other options too.
40. Quick Safari scroll You can jump up to the top of any web site - indeed any list - by tapping on the top of the title window. It's much faster than scrolling by hand.
41. Zoom in on websites You can zoom in on any website by pinching out with two fingers on the screen. This also makes it easier to select words and tap links. To zoom out again, just pinch in with two fingers. Double-tap on any text or image to auto-zoom so it fills the screen.
42. Turn on Bookmarks bar in Safari We all know you can tap the bookmarks icon in the Safari toolbar to access your bookmarks, but you can significantly cut down the number of taps it takes to get to them by turning on your Safari Bookmarks Bar permanently. In the Settings app, tap Safari, then turn Always Show Bookmarks Bar to ON.
43. Clear browsing history in Safari Need to cover your tracks online? You can delete your Safari browser history in a flash. Just open the Settings app, then tap Safari and tap on Clear History. Note you can also wipe your Cookies and clear your Cache here too.
44. Open Safari links in a new page You can open links in a new Safari window, rather than always opening them in the current one. Just tap and hold on the link and a pop-over menu appears giving you the option to open the link in a new page.
45. Find text on a page You can search for a particular word on an open page in Safari. Type your word into the Google search box. You'll see a list of suggestions appear, and near the bottom you'll see "On This Page", showing how many times that word appears on the page. Tap the Find option to go to the first instance of the word.
46. Turn off iPad email alert chimes You can turn off the chime for new emails. Go to Settings, then General, then Sounds and turn off the New Mail sound. You can also adjust sound levels here.
47. Preview more of your emails The iPad's Mail app defaults to previewing two lines of each email before you tap on it. Sometimes however it would be handier to be able to see more of an email before loading the whole thing in, especially if you are on a slow connection. To do this open the Settings app, then tap on Mail, Contacts, Calendars and change the Preview options to add more lines.
48. Turn off iPad push mail Most mail accounts default to Push as a delivery mechanism, if available. This automatically 'pushes' any new emails your way as soon as they are available. If you find this annoying or distracting you can set your Mail accounts to check for new messages at intervals, or manually so they only check for new messages when you tap the Refresh button. To turn off Push, select the Settings app and Mail, Contacts, Calendars and choose Fetch New Data, then turn Push on or off.
49. Make an iPad backup If you want to make sure your iPad's data is properly backed up then you can force iTunes to back it up. When you're conencted to your Mac or PC, open up iTunes and right-click on your iPad in the Devices list and select Back up.
50. iPad is flat and won't charge If your iPad battery is completely flat then it can take a while for the red battery symbol to appear when you plug it in to charge, indicating that it is charging. Don't panic, just leave it plugged in and wait - the charging symbol will appear eventually.
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| Posted: 30 Mar 2011 06:00 AM PDT  A 12.3 million pixel sensor borrowed from the E-PL1, a new TruePic V+ processing engine, 720p movie recording and an electronic level are all improvements that the Olympus E-5 has on the E-3, but is that enough to tempt Four Thirds photographers to buy an E-5? It's unusual for a camera manufacturer to announce a camera and say that it may be the last in the line, but that's just what Olympus has done with its E-5 release, the replacement for the E-3. With this Olympus E-5 news, the company isn't saying it will be the last top-end E-series camera, but it may be the last one with an optical viewfinder and reflex mirror. Olympus is also keen to point out that removing the mirror from DSLR doesn't have to result in a smaller camera; it could be done to create space for new, previously unthought of features. After all, the company has a history of developing features such as full-colour live view and articulated LCD screens for Olympus cameras that initially some thought gimmicky, but have now found favour and have been adopted more widely. So, having whetted our appetite for the future, Olympus gives us a relatively minor upgrade to the E-3, with a 12-million-pixel sensor instead of a 10-million-pixel device, a new processor, a larger LCD with a higher resolution, 720p movie recording capability, an electronic level and a switch to SD and CF slots instead of xD and CF ports. Again rather unusually, but with refreshing honesty, Olympus UK's Mark Thackara tells us that the company isn't really expecting to persuade many photographers to switch brands: the Olympus E-5 is intended to keep existing E-series users happy. But is there enough to keep them faithful to the brand, we wonder?
Although Olympus likes to bandy the word professional around in connection with the E-5, like Nikon's D300S, it's really more of a semi-pro or serious enthusiast level model. Its build quality, however, is very high, it is splash-and dust-proof and it feels tough enough to survive the rigours of semi-professional use. From the rear the Olympus E-5 body is quite angular looking with lots of straight lines, however, it is very comfortable to hold with plenty of grippy-textured patches that help keep it safe in your grasp. Moving up from a 2.5-inch LCD on the E-3 to a 3-inch device on the Olympus E-5 body means that some button rearrangement has taken place and the buttons that are beneath the E-3's LCD have been redistributed above and also the right of the Olympus E-5's screen. On the whole, the E-5's controls are logically laid out and sit within easy reach, but there are a few quirks. Those with small hands may find the rear control dial a bit of a reach with their thumb, especially when their index finger is on the heavily recessed exposure compensation button on the top plate. As with other Olympus cameras, namely the E-series DSLRs and the Pen micro system series, it is odd that the manufacturer chooses to bury the option to set JPEG files to the highest quality via the custom menu. Why this isn't located with the other image quality options in the first page of the shooting menu is a mystery. I'm sure many Olympus cameras shoot Fine Quality JPEG images for quite some time before they discover the Extra Fine option. On the subject of the E-5's menu, Olympus has added coloured tabs to the custom menu options, but the overall look is quite dated. Unlike Nikon and Canon cameras, there's no option to allocate a selection of frequently used menu features to a 'My menu' type screen. Also, there is some wasted free space in the first two shooting menus, that could be used more sensibly to house one or two of the custom options. Why are the metering and white balance options located in the custom menu for instance? Although the Olympus E-5 has a fair smattering of direct control buttons the LCD can also display the Super Control Panel which allows the user to select and adjust up to 20 settings using the navigation and OK buttons. It's quick and easy to use (even if there is quite a bit of button pressing) and is a great way of assisting those progressing up from Olympus's other cameras. It would be nice if it were possible to customise the display though. Like the E-3 before it, the Olympus E-5 doesn't really deliver the smaller camera promise made for the Four Thirds format. It is similar in size to the Canon EOS 7D and Nikon D300S, yet it has a smaller sensor. Olympus's retort to this comment is that the Four Thirds lenses are near telecentric, so the light rays hit the sensor at an angle that is very close to perpendicular, which helps to improve image quality and reduce vignetting. We certainly found there was a significant improvement in image quality when we switched from shooting our lab charts with our standard Sigma 50mm f/1.4 lens to using Olympus's Zuiko Digital ED 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 SWD optic. This is mostly likely because Olympus's lenses have a near telecentric design and are specifically designed for use with Four Thirds sensors. The lenses are also subject to a 2x focal length magnification factor, making the Four Thirds system a great option for telephoto lovers, but less popular with wideangle enthusiasts.
For the dedicated stills photographer the most exciting upgrades in the Olympus E-5 vs E-3 are the increase in pixel count from 10.1 million to 12.3 million, a 3-inch LCD screen with 920,000 dots, a one stop higher maximum sensitivity setting (ISO 6400) and a new processing engine (TruePic V+) which Olympus claims is able to deliver the best resolution from any 12 million pixel sensor. The addition of an electronic level that can be displayed in either the LCD or the viewfinder is also attractive. Though by itself perhaps not enough to convince someone to upgrade, it is one of the best implementations of a level that we have seen and it's easy to see in both displays. It is especially useful in a camera with an articulated screen (like both the E-3 and E-5) as it's easy to miss a sloping horizon when shooting from ground level or another awkward angle. When using the viewfinder it's helpful that the level stays illuminated (using the exposure compensation scale) even when the shutter release is depressed. Though they haven't always had the highest resolution, Olympus DSLR LCDs have usually managed to punch a bit above their weight. With 920,000 dots the E-5's screen is only beaten by those on Canon's EOS 550D and EOS 60D which both have 1,040,000 dot LCDs, and it provides a good clear view of the scene being composed as well as of captured images. There's sufficient detail visible in the enlarged views to enable accurate manual focusing, helpfully the magnified view can be set to activate when the lens focus ring is rotated or when either the depth of field preview or Fn (function) button is depressed. Olympus has also introduced video technology to its top-end DSLR, but while other manufacturers are starting to feature 1080p capability, Olympus has plumped for 720p (1280x720 pixel) video at 30fps in the Olympus E-5. It can shoot up to 7 mins of footage at this resolution, or 14 mins at 640x480 pixels. Though the built-in mic is monaural, there is a port to connect an external stereo mic. Although the E-5's custom menu seems unnecessarily populated with features such as the white balance and metering options that you might expect to access elsewhere, there's also plenty of opportunity for photographers to set the camera to their personal preferences. Several button and dial control functions can be swapped or their operation reversed and its worth spending some time experimenting with them. It's the sort of thing that's worth revisiting after using the camera for a while. For instance, initially it may seem sensible to set the Fn (function) button to 'One touch white balance', to allow the custom white balance to set quickly, but if you only tend to use it in slowly developing situations where time is not absolutely critical, it may be better to use it to access one of the other features. There's plenty to choose from including activating face detection, depth of field preview, Live Preview, activating the home AF point, switching to manual focus, changing the file format, selecting the exposure mode, taking a test picture, setting the camera to a saved custom set-up (Myset 1-4), zooming in and out, activating the level, magnifying the on-screen image, selecting the AF point or switching IS mode.
With an Supersonic Wave Drive (SWD) lens such as the Zuiko Digital ED 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 SWD mounted the E-5's 11-biaxial point AF system performs well. It focuses quickly and quietly in most situations. In the darkness of a pub music gig it managed to get the target sharp the vast majority of the time, even when one of the peripheral AF points was activated. It's not quite up to the standard of the Nikon D7000 or D300S with an f/2.8 optic in place, but it's not far behind. However, it lacks the AF point selection options response customisation capability of these cameras, so despite its speed and greater focal length magnification factor, it may not be the first choice of dedicated sports snappers. Like with most DSLRs, the E-5's live view AF system isn't suitable for use when shooting moving subjects, it focuses the lens just a little too slowly. This makes live view most useful with landscape, still life and macro subjects and although the contrast detection AF system can usually be relied upon to find the correct focus point, it makes more sense to focus manually, assessing sharpness on the LCD with the magnified view enabled. The Olympus E-5 face detection does a great job of recognising that there are faces with the scene, but it still takes a little while to get them into sharp focus, especially in low light. It's important to remember to set the camera to Auto AF point selection when using face detection as otherwise it focuses on the subject under the last selected AF point (rather than the face) as soon as the shutter release button is pressed. Like all Olympus DSLRs apart from the most basic E-450, the Olympus E-5 has built-in image stabilisation. This sensor-shifting mechanism claims to extend the safe hand-holdable shutter speed by up to 5 stops. That's the difference between 1/500 sec and 1/15 sec, which is a bold claim and whether or not it is possible to achieve it will vary from photographer to photographer and lens to lens. It is clear, however, that it does help prevent shake induced blur from spoiling images.
When the Olympus E-5 high sensitivity noise reduction system (what Olympus calls the Noise Filter) is in its default or Standard setting, there is very little chroma noise visible in the images it produces. In fact, even with the filter turned off the interference is primarily luminance noise. The results are very good up to ISO 3200 when the level of detail visible drops. There's no dramatic smudging, but details just start to get a little fuzzy and merge into one another. Helpfully, the raw development module of Olympus Viewer 2 which is bundled with the E-5 allows the level of noise reduction applied to raw files to be adjusted to other 'in-camera' settings. Generally, the best compromise between noise and detail visibility in ISO 3200 and ISO 6400 images is struck when the in Noise Filter is set to Low. High sensitivity raw images processed using Adobe's Camera Raw have a much coarser texture than those processed using the supplied Olympus Viewer 2 software. The Adobe processed image has less visible chroma noise, but it also has a fragmented texture. Although noise often appears well controlled when images are viewed at pixel level, even toned areas in images captured at ISO 64000 sometimes exhibit patches of subtly false colour. In one image, for example, a plain wall shot in low light appears to have very faint broad bands of red. For a 12-million-pixel camera the Olympus E-5 can resolve a high level of detail and the low sensitivity results looks fairly natural rather than overtly digital when examined at 100% on the computer screen. As a general rule, the greatest level of detail is captured when the in-camera noise reduction system is turned off, but as the visibility of noise and detail varies to some extent depending upon the subject it is best to shoot raw images that can be adjusted later if necessary. On the whole, Olympus demonstrates a good understanding of colour and exposure, and the E-5 doesn't disappoint, though it has a tendency to make reds a bit too vibrant. Switching to the Portrait Picture mode enhances red even further, which is not especially flattering for most subjects apart from with the palest skin. While the results can be obtained by post capture adjustment, Olympus is very keen on its filter effects. Conveniently on the Olympus E-5 these can be accessed via the Picture Mode options. For most occasions, however, the Natural Picture Mode is the way to go. We found that the automatic white balance setting turns out natural looking images in a range of natural lighting situations and it retains the anticipated colour of artificially illuminated scenes. Candle-lit settings, for instance, still have plenty of atmosphere. In some cases, for example, when shooting under an overcast sky, the AWB setting produces better results than the warmer output generated by employing the cloudy white balance setting. Software Olympus supplies the E-5 with Olympus Viewer 2, which can be used to facilitate image download, organisation into folders and processing. The range of controls is extensive, and although they are largely limited to in-camera type adjustments (plus a curves control option), it is very good. In fact it gives Canon's excellent Digital Photo Professional software that is bundled with Canon DSLRs a good run for its money and Olympus E-5 users should not over look it when processing raw files. As part of our review process we've implemented a new testing procedure. To test the Olympus E-5 image quality, we shot our resolution chart, each with the Olympus 12-60mm lens. If you look at our 100% crops below or download the images and view the central section at 100% (or Actual Pixels) you will see that, at ISO 100 the Olympus E-5 is capable of resolving up to 26 (line widths per picture height x100) in it's highest quality JPEG files. Examining images of the chart taken at each sensitivity setting reveals the following resolution scores in line widths per picture height x100: JPEGs
0.4secs at f/8, ISO 100: 24
ISO 100: 24 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 200: 24 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 400: 24 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 800: 24 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 1600: 24 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 3200: 20 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 6400: 16 (Click here to view full-res image) Raw files
ISO 100: 26/24 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 200: 24 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 400 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 800: 24 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 1600: 24 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 3200: 20 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 6400: 18 (Click here to view full-res image)
There's plenty about the Olympus E-5 to keep the enthusiast photographer happy; however, it's one of those cameras that has lots of 'buts' about it. For a start many photographers, apart from those already committed to the Four Thirds standard, are still like to be put off by the fact that it has a smaller than average sensor with no obvious weight, cost or size advantage. Although there's no denying the high quality of the results the camera can produce at low sensitivity settings, a pixel count of 12 million is also decidedly last season and this may discourage some photographers more than it should. While the Olympus E-5 automatic focusing system is fast and accurate (provide the right lenses are used) in most situations, it lacks a little of the functionality (and complication) of the systems in the Canon EOS 7D and Nikon D300S. The handling is also a little less slick, although there are plenty of opportunities to customise the controls. It is still very new, but at around £1500, the Olympus E-5 price seems steep in comparison with the Canon 7D price, which is around £1,150 and the Nikon D300S price, which stands at about £1,035. The current Olympus E-5 price is also unlikely to persuade too many users of other Olympus cameras, like the E-3, E-30 or E-620, to upgrade. Related Links
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| Posted: 30 Mar 2011 06:00 AM PDT A 12.3 million pixel sensor borrowed from the E-PL1, a new TruePic V+ processing engine, 720p movie recording and an electronic level are all improvements that the Olympus E-5 has on the E-3, but is that enough to tempt Four Thirds photographers to buy an E-5? It's unusual for a camera manufacturer to announce a camera and say that it may be the last in the line, but that's just what Olympus has done with its E-5 release, the replacement for the E-3. With this Olympus E-5 news, the company isn't saying it will be the last top-end E-series camera, but it may be the last one with an optical viewfinder and reflex mirror. Olympus is also keen to point out that removing the mirror from DSLR doesn't have to result in a smaller camera; it could be done to create space for new, previously unthought of features. After all, the company has a history of developing features such as full-colour live view and articulated LCD screens for Olympus cameras that initially some thought gimmicky, but have now found favour and have been adopted more widely. So, having whetted our appetite for the future, Olympus gives us a relatively minor upgrade to the E-3, with a 12-million-pixel sensor instead of a 10-million-pixel device, a new processor, a larger LCD with a higher resolution, 720p movie recording capability, an electronic level and a switch to SD and CF slots instead of xD and CF ports. Again rather unusually, but with refreshing honesty, Olympus UK's Mark Thackara tells us that the company isn't really expecting to persuade many photographers to switch brands: the Olympus E-5 is intended to keep existing E-series users happy. But is there enough to keep them faithful to the brand, we wonder?
Although Olympus likes to bandy the word professional around in connection with the E-5, like Nikon's D300S, it's really more of a semi-pro or serious enthusiast level model. Its build quality, however, is very high, it is splash-and dust-proof and it feels tough enough to survive the rigours of semi-professional use. From the rear the Olympus E-5 body is quite angular looking with lots of straight lines, however, it is very comfortable to hold with plenty of grippy-textured patches that help keep it safe in your grasp. Moving up from a 2.5-inch LCD on the E-3 to a 3-inch device on the Olympus E-5 body means that some button rearrangement has taken place and the buttons that are beneath the E-3's LCD have been redistributed above and also the right of the Olympus E-5's screen. On the whole, the E-5's controls are logically laid out and sit within easy reach, but there are a few quirks. Those with small hands may find the rear control dial a bit of a reach with their thumb, especially when their index finger is on the heavily recessed exposure compensation button on the top plate. As with other Olympus cameras, namely the E-series DSLRs and the Pen micro system series, it is odd that the manufacturer chooses to bury the option to set JPEG files to the highest quality via the custom menu. Why this isn't located with the other image quality options in the first page of the shooting menu is a mystery. I'm sure many Olympus cameras shoot Fine Quality JPEG images for quite some time before they discover the Extra Fine option. On the subject of the E-5's menu, Olympus has added coloured tabs to the custom menu options, but the overall look is quite dated. Unlike Nikon and Canon cameras, there's no option to allocate a selection of frequently used menu features to a 'My menu' type screen. Also, there is some wasted free space in the first two shooting menus, that could be used more sensibly to house one or two of the custom options. Why are the metering and white balance options located in the custom menu for instance? Although the Olympus E-5 has a fair smattering of direct control buttons the LCD can also display the Super Control Panel which allows the user to select and adjust up to 20 settings using the navigation and OK buttons. It's quick and easy to use (even if there is quite a bit of button pressing) and is a great way of assisting those progressing up from Olympus's other cameras. It would be nice if it were possible to customise the display though. Like the E-3 before it, the Olympus E-5 doesn't really deliver the smaller camera promise made for the Four Thirds format. It is similar in size to the Canon EOS 7D and Nikon D300S, yet it has a smaller sensor. Olympus's retort to this comment is that the Four Thirds lenses are near telecentric, so the light rays hit the sensor at an angle that is very close to perpendicular, which helps to improve image quality and reduce vignetting. We certainly found there was a significant improvement in image quality when we switched from shooting our lab charts with our standard Sigma 50mm f/1.4 lens to using Olympus's Zuiko Digital ED 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 SWD optic. This is mostly likely because Olympus's lenses have a near telecentric design and are specifically designed for use with Four Thirds sensors. The lenses are also subject to a 2x focal length magnification factor, making the Four Thirds system a great option for telephoto lovers, but less popular with wideangle enthusiasts.
For the dedicated stills photographer the most exciting upgrades in the Olympus E-5 vs E-3 are the increase in pixel count from 10.1 million to 12.3 million, a 3-inch LCD screen with 920,000 dots, a one stop higher maximum sensitivity setting (ISO 6400) and a new processing engine (TruePic V+) which Olympus claims is able to deliver the best resolution from any 12 million pixel sensor. The addition of an electronic level that can be displayed in either the LCD or the viewfinder is also attractive. Though by itself perhaps not enough to convince someone to upgrade, it is one of the best implementations of a level that we have seen and it's easy to see in both displays. It is especially useful in a camera with an articulated screen (like both the E-3 and E-5) as it's easy to miss a sloping horizon when shooting from ground level or another awkward angle. When using the viewfinder it's helpful that the level stays illuminated (using the exposure compensation scale) even when the shutter release is depressed. Though they haven't always had the highest resolution, Olympus DSLR LCDs have usually managed to punch a bit above their weight. With 920,000 dots the E-5's screen is only beaten by those on Canon's EOS 550D and EOS 60D which both have 1,040,000 dot LCDs, and it provides a good clear view of the scene being composed as well as of captured images. There's sufficient detail visible in the enlarged views to enable accurate manual focusing, helpfully the magnified view can be set to activate when the lens focus ring is rotated or when either the depth of field preview or Fn (function) button is depressed. Olympus has also introduced video technology to its top-end DSLR, but while other manufacturers are starting to feature 1080p capability, Olympus has plumped for 720p (1280x720 pixel) video at 30fps in the Olympus E-5. It can shoot up to 7 mins of footage at this resolution, or 14 mins at 640x480 pixels. Though the built-in mic is monaural, there is a port to connect an external stereo mic. Although the E-5's custom menu seems unnecessarily populated with features such as the white balance and metering options that you might expect to access elsewhere, there's also plenty of opportunity for photographers to set the camera to their personal preferences. Several button and dial control functions can be swapped or their operation reversed and its worth spending some time experimenting with them. It's the sort of thing that's worth revisiting after using the camera for a while. For instance, initially it may seem sensible to set the Fn (function) button to 'One touch white balance', to allow the custom white balance to set quickly, but if you only tend to use it in slowly developing situations where time is not absolutely critical, it may be better to use it to access one of the other features. There's plenty to choose from including activating face detection, depth of field preview, Live Preview, activating the home AF point, switching to manual focus, changing the file format, selecting the exposure mode, taking a test picture, setting the camera to a saved custom set-up (Myset 1-4), zooming in and out, activating the level, magnifying the on-screen image, selecting the AF point or switching IS mode.
With an Supersonic Wave Drive (SWD) lens such as the Zuiko Digital ED 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 SWD mounted the E-5's 11-biaxial point AF system performs well. It focuses quickly and quietly in most situations. In the darkness of a pub music gig it managed to get the target sharp the vast majority of the time, even when one of the peripheral AF points was activated. It's not quite up to the standard of the Nikon D7000 or D300S with an f/2.8 optic in place, but it's not far behind. However, it lacks the AF point selection options response customisation capability of these cameras, so despite its speed and greater focal length magnification factor, it may not be the first choice of dedicated sports snappers. Like with most DSLRs, the E-5's live view AF system isn't suitable for use when shooting moving subjects, it focuses the lens just a little too slowly. This makes live view most useful with landscape, still life and macro subjects and although the contrast detection AF system can usually be relied upon to find the correct focus point, it makes more sense to focus manually, assessing sharpness on the LCD with the magnified view enabled. The Olympus E-5 face detection does a great job of recognising that there are faces with the scene, but it still takes a little while to get them into sharp focus, especially in low light. It's important to remember to set the camera to Auto AF point selection when using face detection as otherwise it focuses on the subject under the last selected AF point (rather than the face) as soon as the shutter release button is pressed. Like all Olympus DSLRs apart from the most basic E-450, the Olympus E-5 has built-in image stabilisation. This sensor-shifting mechanism claims to extend the safe hand-holdable shutter speed by up to 5 stops. That's the difference between 1/500 sec and 1/15 sec, which is a bold claim and whether or not it is possible to achieve it will vary from photographer to photographer and lens to lens. It is clear, however, that it does help prevent shake induced blur from spoiling images.
When the Olympus E-5 high sensitivity noise reduction system (what Olympus calls the Noise Filter) is in its default or Standard setting, there is very little chroma noise visible in the images it produces. In fact, even with the filter turned off the interference is primarily luminance noise. The results are very good up to ISO 3200 when the level of detail visible drops. There's no dramatic smudging, but details just start to get a little fuzzy and merge into one another. Helpfully, the raw development module of Olympus Viewer 2 which is bundled with the E-5 allows the level of noise reduction applied to raw files to be adjusted to other 'in-camera' settings. Generally, the best compromise between noise and detail visibility in ISO 3200 and ISO 6400 images is struck when the in Noise Filter is set to Low. High sensitivity raw images processed using Adobe's Camera Raw have a much coarser texture than those processed using the supplied Olympus Viewer 2 software. The Adobe processed image has less visible chroma noise, but it also has a fragmented texture. Although noise often appears well controlled when images are viewed at pixel level, even toned areas in images captured at ISO 64000 sometimes exhibit patches of subtly false colour. In one image, for example, a plain wall shot in low light appears to have very faint broad bands of red. For a 12-million-pixel camera the Olympus E-5 can resolve a high level of detail and the low sensitivity results looks fairly natural rather than overtly digital when examined at 100% on the computer screen. As a general rule, the greatest level of detail is captured when the in-camera noise reduction system is turned off, but as the visibility of noise and detail varies to some extent depending upon the subject it is best to shoot raw images that can be adjusted later if necessary. On the whole, Olympus demonstrates a good understanding of colour and exposure, and the E-5 doesn't disappoint, though it has a tendency to make reds a bit too vibrant. Switching to the Portrait Picture mode enhances red even further, which is not especially flattering for most subjects apart from with the palest skin. While the results can be obtained by post capture adjustment, Olympus is very keen on its filter effects. Conveniently on the Olympus E-5 these can be accessed via the Picture Mode options. For most occasions, however, the Natural Picture Mode is the way to go. We found that the automatic white balance setting turns out natural looking images in a range of natural lighting situations and it retains the anticipated colour of artificially illuminated scenes. Candle-lit settings, for instance, still have plenty of atmosphere. In some cases, for example, when shooting under an overcast sky, the AWB setting produces better results than the warmer output generated by employing the cloudy white balance setting. Software Olympus supplies the E-5 with Olympus Viewer 2, which can be used to facilitate image download, organisation into folders and processing. The range of controls is extensive, and although they are largely limited to in-camera type adjustments (plus a curves control option), it is very good. In fact it gives Canon's excellent Digital Photo Professional software that is bundled with Canon DSLRs a good run for its money and Olympus E-5 users should not over look it when processing raw files. As part of our review process we've implemented a new testing procedure. To test the Olympus E-5 image quality, we shot our resolution chart, each with the Olympus 12-60mm lens. If you look at our 100% crops below or download the images and view the central section at 100% (or Actual Pixels) you will see that, at ISO 100 the Olympus E-5 is capable of resolving up to 26 (line widths per picture height x100) in it's highest quality JPEG files. Examining images of the chart taken at each sensitivity setting reveals the following resolution scores in line widths per picture height x100: JPEGs
0.4secs at f/8, ISO 100: 24
ISO 100: 24 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 200: 24 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 400: 24 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 800: 24 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 1600: 24 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 3200: 20 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 6400: 16 (Click here to view full-res image) Raw files
ISO 100: 26/24 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 200: 24 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 400 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 800: 24 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 1600: 24 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 3200: 20 (Click here to view full-res image)
ISO 6400: 18 (Click here to view full-res image)
There's plenty about the Olympus E-5 to keep the enthusiast photographer happy; however, it's one of those cameras that has lots of 'buts' about it. For a start many photographers, apart from those already committed to the Four Thirds standard, are still like to be put off by the fact that it has a smaller than average sensor with no obvious weight, cost or size advantage. Although there's no denying the high quality of the results the camera can produce at low sensitivity settings, a pixel count of 12 million is also decidedly last season and this may discourage some photographers more than it should. While the Olympus E-5 automatic focusing system is fast and accurate (provide the right lenses are used) in most situations, it lacks a little of the functionality (and complication) of the systems in the Canon EOS 7D and Nikon D300S. The handling is also a little less slick, although there are plenty of opportunities to customise the controls. It is still very new, but at around £1500, the Olympus E-5 price seems steep in comparison with the Canon 7D price, which is around £1,150 and the Nikon D300S price, which stands at about £1,035. The current Olympus E-5 price is also unlikely to persuade too many users of other Olympus cameras, like the E-3, E-30 or E-620, to upgrade. Related Links
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| George Lucas 'very happy' with Star Wars 3D makeover Posted: 30 Mar 2011 05:54 AM PDT  George Lucas has proclaimed himself to be 'very happy' with the 3D work being done on Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, as Prime Focus were named a partner on the project. The Phantom Menace will be the first of the six films to be converted into 3D, with creator Lucas keen to see the job done well, and Prime Focus has been selected by Lucas and his Industrial Light & Magic effects house. "It was incredibly important to me that we have the technology, the resources and the time to do this right," said Lucas. "I'm very happy with the results I've been seeing on Episode I." Tinker man It certainly won't be the first time that work has been done on updating Star Wars – with the original and much loved trilogy remastered, poked, prodded and put through the digital grinder on several occasions by Lucas. Episode One - much maligned by the critics - is due to arrive in cinemas from February next year, with Blu-ray version likely to follow soon afterwards. But, although many fans will now have the films collected on numerous formats, the prospect of 3D remains enticing, as long as it is done really well. And perhaps Jar Jar is digitally deleted to boot. Oh, and make sure that Han shot first. 
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| George Lucas 'very happy' with Star Wars 3D makeover Posted: 30 Mar 2011 05:54 AM PDT George Lucas has proclaimed himself to be 'very happy' with the 3D work being done on Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, as Prime Focus were named a partner on the project. The Phantom Menace will be the first of the six films to be converted into 3D, with creator Lucas keen to see the job done well, and Prime Focus has been selected by Lucas and his Industrial Light & Magic effects house. "It was incredibly important to me that we have the technology, the resources and the time to do this right," said Lucas. "I'm very happy with the results I've been seeing on Episode I." Tinker man It certainly won't be the first time that work has been done on updating Star Wars – with the original and much loved trilogy remastered, poked, prodded and put through the digital grinder on several occasions by Lucas. Episode One - much maligned by the critics - is due to arrive in cinemas from February next year, with Blu-ray version likely to follow soon afterwards. But, although many fans will now have the films collected on numerous formats, the prospect of 3D remains enticing, as long as it is done really well. And perhaps Jar Jar is digitally deleted to boot. Oh, and make sure that Han shot first.
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