Sponsored
Techradar |
- Windows 8 coming in 2012, says Ballmer
- Square payments iPad app will 'replace cash register'
- Apple responds to Lodsys in-app purchase claims
- Zuckerberg wants pre-teen children on Facebook
- Review: Updated: Motorola Atrix
- Record-breaking laser transfers 26 terabits per second
- Amazon Android tablet to have 10-inch LCD screen?
- Xbox 360 to get the full 3D treatment?
- Review: Packard Bell EasyNote TSX66
- Review: Panasonic TX-L32E3B
- Ballmer hints at new Windows Phone hardware
- 52-inch glasses-free 3D TV hits Japan
- HTC Holiday outed with 4.5-inch screen
- In Depth: Code complete: IE9 on Windows Phone 7
- New Firefox for Android beta launches
- Apple updates retail experience with new in-store iPads
- In Depth: Wimbledon in 3D: behind the scenes
- Review: Samsung PS51D6900
- Sony admits it will post a big loss
- Review: Toshiba Satellite Pro C660-16N
- Samsung App Store sails past 5 million downloads
- Updated: iPhone 5 rumours: what you need to know
- Review: Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 15
- Updated: Top 30 best Android 3.0 apps
- iPhone 5 to feature curved glass screen?
| Windows 8 coming in 2012, says Ballmer Posted: 23 May 2011 04:12 PM PDT Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer has confirmed that the company's next-generation systems will be out in 2012 and, in doing so, referred to the software as "Windows 8" for the first time. Speaking at developers' conference in Tokyo, Japan on Monday, Ballmer confirmed that the successor to the successful Windows 7 platform will arrive next year for PCs, tablets and slates. So far Microsoft has been careful not to refer to the forthcoming operating system as Windows 8 in any official capacity, but word from the big boss man leaves us in no doubt as to what it will be called. More to come He told developers: "We're obviously hard at work on the next version of Windows. Windows 7 PCs will sell over 350 million units this year. We've done a lot in Windows 7 to improve customer satisfaction. We have a brand new user interface. We've added touch, and ink, and speech. "And yet, as we look forward to the next generation of Windows systems, which will come out next year, there's a whole lot more coming. "As we progress through the year, you ought to expect to hear a lot about Windows 8. Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors." It'll be interesting to see what Ballmer could mean by tablets and slates? Is a distinction being made there? Anyway, the countdown to Windows 8 is on. 
| ||
| Square payments iPad app will 'replace cash register' Posted: 23 May 2011 03:31 PM PDT Mobile payments service Square has launched a new iPad app for retailers, which it believes can replace the traditional cash register. The company has already made it easier for companies to accept payments on the go, thanks to a basic app and a plug-in credit card reader. But the new Square Register app for iPhone will also store a retailer's prices and stock information, a function traditionally performed by a cash register computer. Card Case app Square, run by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, is also trialling a second app for iPhone, iPad and Android which allows users to use their phone as a digital wallet as selected retailers in the US. The Card Case app, only currently available at 50 stores and cafes, will allow users to pay for their goods by checking-in with stores and then taking items to the register. The app will be tied to a credit card account giving users the option of mobile payment, without the aid of NFC technology and negating the need for a physical credit card. Card Case users will also be able to pay by telling retailers their name, if that store also uses the Square Register app. Burgeoning The company today announced that it has given away half a million card readers since it began using the tech, which allows customers to sign their name on the iPad's touchscreen.Square takes a 2.75 per cent cut of the transaction. The burgeoning Square service processed $1 billion in transactions in last year and was used in one million transactions in the last month alone. 
| ||
| Apple responds to Lodsys in-app purchase claims Posted: 23 May 2011 02:50 PM PDT Apple has fired back at the company that has been demanding money from App Store application developers, alleging patent infringement. Patent holding company Lodsys has been trolling app-makers whose creations feature in-app purchases, claiming that functionality infringes on its patented technology. However, Apple has written to the company, requesting that it stop hassling developers saying there is zero grounds for the claims, as Apple has already licensed the technology on behalf of its iOS devs. Expressly licensed Part of the letter, which was sent on Monday by Apple Senior VP Bruce Sewell reads: "Apple is undisputedly licensed to these patents and the App Makers are protected by that license. "Thus the technology that is targeted in your notice letters is technology that Apple is expressly licensed under the Lodsys patents to offer Apple's App Makers," "These licensed products and services enable Apple's App Makers to communicate with end users through the use of Apple's own licensed hardware, software, APIs, memory, servers, and interfaces, including Apple's App Store. "Because Apple is licensed under Lodsys' patents to offer such technology to its App Makers, the App Makers are entitled to use this technology free from any infringement claims by Lodsys." 
| ||
| Zuckerberg wants pre-teen children on Facebook Posted: 23 May 2011 12:05 PM PDT Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has said he will fight a long-standing legal ruling that prevents children under 13 joining the social networking site. Under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, Facebook is prohibited from giving profiles to pre-teen kids. However, with comments that are sure to provoke outrage, Zuckerberg claims that it is important for the education of children that they are able to join sites like Facebook from a younger age. "That will be a fight we take on at some point. My philosophy is that for education you need to start at a really, really young age," he said at the NewSchools summit in California. "In the future, software and technology will enable people to learn a lot from their fellow students," he added. Defend Despite the legalities, it is already estimated that 7.5m children under-13 are already on the site because they lied about their age when signing up. Zuckerberg came under heavy criticism in a US Senate committee last week for failing to protect children from predators as it does not employ enough people to review posts. US Senator John Rockerfeller told one Facebook executive in attendance that "I want you to defend your company here because I don't know how you can." Source: IBTimes 
| ||
| Review: Updated: Motorola Atrix Posted: 23 May 2011 10:26 AM PDT Updated: we've now picked up the UK version of the Atrix and have re-reviewed the phone to make sure it was the same as our US model. We've spent a lot more time with the accessories too, so take a gander at our upgraded article. Back in 2007 Motorola's then arch rival, Nokia, told us its iconic N95 was "what computers have become." The sentiment may have been a little optimistic, but if Motorola were to use that now for the Atrix, it'd be a little more fitting. It isn't what computers have become, but it does give us an idea of where the future is heading with high data speeds, high definition cameras and massive dual core processors. All on a mobile phone which can also almost become a laptop. Our colleagues over at T3.com have spent some time with the Motorola Atrix, offering up a tasty video treat of the phone's top features: Instead, Motorola's gone with "The World's Most Powerful Smartphone" which just might be true, albeit with a little help from its accessory friends. An Orange exclusive at the time of writing (SIM-free models aren't out yet but are expected to hit the £500 mark) – and the subject of a massive advertising campaign – the Motorola Atrix matches the dual-core specs of others such as the new and popular Samsung Galaxy S2 and the LG Optimus 2X, which are hitting stores now and more than capable of matching the power-processor promises.
The Atrix is definitely Motorola's most advanced smartphone ever – it has a 5MP camera with HD video, massive 1930mAh battery and – with optional accessories – it really does transfer from a smartphone to a multimedia centre and very swish looking netbook. It has a tendency to quickly get hot during use though – especially around the lower right-hand corner. No doubt the 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 processor is working hard and providing that heat, but it can be a battery sucker. But it does so elegantly, with the Motorola Atrix able to handle just about every task and app that you throw at it without judder or delay.
It certainly feels like a quality device. It's not uncomfortably heavy at 135g, but just hefty enough for its presence to be felt. The screen is definitely something of quality too – a 4-inch qHD capacitive display. While it may not be able to match the brightness of the Samsung Galaxy S2's Super AMOLED Plus screen (probably the best on any phone out there right now), it certainly holds it own against others on the market.
Blacks look black, whites look bright and only when you put your eyes right up against the screen do you notice the pixels. Icons on the home screen (Motorola's at least) almost seem to jump out at you, and the Gorilla Glass promises to do its best to keep the screen relatively blemish-free.
The back is smooth, which could cause problems. Several times during the review process, the Atrix slipped out of the hands and was only saved by some quick moves to catch it. This happens a lot when you're quickly flipping the camera over to landscape to take a photo and, combined with its weight, could spell disaster. A rugged back would help – but in the absence of this, you'll want to find a case.
The memory card is hot-swappable – you'll have to pull the battery cover off to do it, but this is easy enough. The charging port is on the bottom left hand side alongside a Mini HDMI socket (more on that later). The speaker grill is found at the bottom of the rear – slightly indented to prevent it being muffled.
Perhaps the most impressive gimmick is at the top where the lock/unlock button also doubles up as a fingerprint scanner for unlocking the phone. It actually works very well and you'll find yourself trying to fool it (unsuccessfully) with other fingers at some point. It may not be rigid enough security for Barack Obama, but it's good enough for most of us and is great for showing off down the pub. With all of this, the Atrix is pretty much future-proof (aside from the operating system, which we'll get onto in a moment).
Just as well really – because you'll pay a lot for it. On contract, to get it for free, you'll have to sign away two years of your life and pay £35 at least a month for the privilege – and that's before you buy the added accessories (the lapdock, the HDMI dock, bluetooth keyboard, etc). Although various bundles give you them at a lower price, they're not cheap add-ons and you'll see that reflected in a higher monthly bill. Let's get one thing out of the way first though: if you're looking forward to gorging on Gingerbread, you won't find it in the Motorola Atrix. The Atrix may come with all the bells and whistles one would want, but it ships with Android Froyo 2.2. It seems odd for Motorola to launch its new flagship handset with an old operating system – especially since Gingerbread 2.3 has been out now for several months. And this could prove to be a problem for buyers concerned about being left behind, with the new Android OS – Ice Cream Sandwich – expected by the end of the year. A Gingerbread upgrade is planned for the Atrix for some time in 2011, but this may cost Motorola in the meantime, as other manufacturers push their handsets as having the latest OS. Social media junkies will love this phone. Indeed, it'll appeal to anyone who loves Android's use of widgets. But for those who are always connected – and always have something to say – the Moto Blur overlay makes it fun.
Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn updates can all be configured and they change in front of your eyes on the home screen as they come in.
From here, you can read, reply, view profiles and so on. It's not an in-depth Facebook or Twitter experience, offering just the basics of Reply and Retweet, and serial social media types will prefer proper apps for those.
But for people who want to just glance at what's happening, the Motorola Atrix does this well. The widgets are present from the moment you set the handset up (after you've been guided through the relatively long process of setting up a Moto Blur account, on top of configuring your Google version too).
But in the true spirit of Android, they can be moved around to one of the seven home screens at your disposal.
Widgets for the music player, camera, Google search, function toggles and other apps are loaded on by default along with shortcuts to various apps. Again, these can be removed or reorganised at your pleasure simply by long-pressing the screen. Also, when you get messages from, say, Gmail or Twitter or LinkedIn, you get the appropriate mini icon in the notifications bar in full colour.
The coloured notifications are a small touch – but it adds to the feeling that this is a very complete and fluid OS. As with previous Android handsets, Motorola has slightly tweaked the notification bar on the Atrix (own battery icon, signal bars etc) as well as adding shortcuts to Dialler and Contacts screens at the bottom of the main home screen, where they flank the App Drawer button. These don't stay as you swipe across screens as they do on some Android handsets (such as Samsung's TouchWiz). The dual processor is quick, responsive and, seemingly, very difficult to confuse. Switching between traditionally processor-heavy apps didn't seem to even register a blip, and live wallpapers played along happily in the background. One of the games we tried on the Motorola Atrix, Need for Speed Shift (which Motorola says comes as standard, but it cost us £6) is very graphic-heavy and the kind of game that would grind some Android phones to a halt. Yet on the Atrix, it whizzed along without a care in the world. Opening the app drawer, you can scroll through what's in there at lightning speed. It all looks very neatly laid out and in there are both the stock Android apps and those that Motorola has seen fit to install already.
You do find they double up sometimes, where for instance not only do you get the incredible Google Maps (plus Navigation), you also get Orange Maps which is perhaps not as comprehensive (we say 'perhaps' because it wouldn't open on our review handset). Similarly, you get the standard Android News and Weather reader, plus another next to it in the App Drawer called 'News' which does the same sort of thing. Motorola's included widgets are also fairly functional – it's the usual fare such as toggles for various settings, clocks and shortcuts to contacts.
A nice touch, though, is the ability to resize certain widgets so that they take up more or less space on your screen. It also affects how they look. For example, make the clock widget larger and you get a calendar on the screen too. Make it smaller and it switches from an analogue to a digital clock instead. They're not particularly colourful and look rather business-like, but they're well thought out and, again, they make you feel Motorola has put some thought into its skins rather than just rushing the Atrix out of the door with stock Android loaded on. If you're not a fan, however, the likes of Launcher Pro can quite easily override the Motorola skin, allowing you to customise the Atrix to your heart's content.
While Motorola has put a lot of effort into the Atrix's Moto Blur skin, the same can't be said for the calling section. It's pretty standard Android fare. It works very well and suggests that perhaps Motorola isn't too bothered about fixing something that isn't broken. The Contacts section is also standard Android fare on the surface, but when you delve into it, you notice it is integrated with the Moto Blur experience, meaning you get birthdays, and all manner of social media information on a contact.
For example, swiping across one of three screens will give you the contact's contact details on one, your contact history with them on another and their social media updates on a third. It also means you are able to directly Facebook or Tweet someone in the same way that you would send them an email or a text. Again, it shows just how much Motorola is trying to make the Atrix your social media hub and it works well.
Call quality is good, with just the right amount of bass in the speaker so that conversations don't sound tinny at your end. Callers reported a clear line and no problems with the quality at the other end, and the phone was able to hold onto a signal in the centre of London while in a moving vehicle. You can make a call by using the contacts or dialler icons on the main home screen or, as with most other Android phones, start tapping a name into the Google search box and the person you're after will eventually pop up. That is, of course, if you haven't set up one of the home screen widgets to take you directly to the contact quickly. The loudspeaker is very loud. In fact, during a call, it had to be turned down because it was a little too loud. It could work out quite well though, as it's always best to be able to turn it down rather than not be able to turn it up enough if you're trying to get the sound to a few people in a room. As with all Android handsets, you'll need a Google Account (and, therefore, a Gmail address) to even be able to begin using the Motorola Atrix. You don't have to actually use the Gmail address once you're in, but if you do, then it works well. The Gmail app is preloaded, which allows not only a detailed search, but also the ability to sync labels. Fans of messaging will be impressed with the Atrix. Because the various social media options are hardwired into the phone, you're able to contact your desired subject by any means. It's easiest to go into their contact page and select the method you wish to use there, rather than firing up individual apps.
When you hit the Messaging app, you get the option to open the inbox for each individual method, but there is also a Universal Inbox that works well and looks good. At no point does it feel complicated. It just seems to work. If you do decide to look at individual methods separately, there's a uniform look. For example, there's no Facebook branding on the Facebook inbox (other than the icon when you select to open it).
It looks exactly like your Twitter DM inbox which, in turn, looks like your email inbox and LinkedIn inbox and so on. It feels again like Motorola has put a little thought into what will make the experience look and feel good on the Atrix, and here it has succeeded. IM is handled by the onboard Google Talk application - although we were hoping Motorola might see fit to bring some other instant messaging options here too, but no dice it seems.
Motorola has ditched the standard Android Keyboard in favour of its own. It works well enough, but can easily be replaced with the multitude of keyboards on offer from the Android Market. Curiously, though, while it does add a full stop if you tap the space bar twice, it doesn't autocorrect words as you get them wrong by default, and you have to go into the settings to rectify this.
You can tap out messages in portrait or landscape mode. Portrait works fine but in landscape the Atrix struggled to keep up, as you can see in this picture. A version of the increasingly popular Swype is also present. It's a keyboard you'll absolutely love or hate – but if it's the latter, there are alternatives available. If you want to browse the web at high speeds, then the Motorola Atrix is probably one of the phones for you. Equipped with Wi-Fi 802.11 supporting A,B,G and N, it loads pages in a jiffy – partly due to the speed of the connection, but also due to the processor which, again, whirrs along in the background and is able to process pages very quickly indeed.
The entire Guardian.co.uk front page loaded up in fewer than three seconds on Wi-Fi, and just marginally longer on 3G over HSDPA. The wonderful Android browser is present here and works brilliantly, as it does on most other Android devices. As with all modern browsers (including those on the Apple iPhone 4 and BlackBerry Torch), it's WebKit-based and does a stellar job.
Pages load quickly and, thanks to Flash support coming as standard on the Froyo build onwards (for the phones that can support it), they look beautiful. Displayed in full colour on screen they enable the option to tap to zoom in on the elements you want to concentrate on.
Playing video embedded in sites is simple, and the Atrix does this happily. Zoomed out, sites look great (though the text is often illegible because of the size). However, it reformats perfectly when you double tap and zoom in. Text reflow is supported, but doesn't automatically resize when you pinch and zoom to change the screen size - instead a slow double tap is needed. As you scroll down pages, you may expect to see a lag as it renders, but that's doesn't happen on the Motorola Atrix. By the time your finger has whizzed down, the page has loaded already. It really is fast.
There's no customisation on the browser – it's vanilla Android – but it's such a strong part of the operating system that Motorola clearly feels it doesn't need to change a thing about it. Of course, you can install others, and there are many excellent browsers on the Market including Dolphin, Opera Mini and Firefox. But unless you have a serious issue with any one element of the stock Android browser, it's unlikely you'll feel a need to change the default offering on the Atrix.
The Motorola Atrix comes equipped with a rear facing 5MP camera. While not shabby, it's certainly not cutting edge with other offerings such as the Samsung Galaxy S2 boasting 8MP cameras, and others with even higher capabilities. That's not to say that it isn't good – it works well and shoots nice pictures. Starting up the camera from cold takes just over a second, and it's instantly ready to take the picture. This could be down to the processor again – but whatever the reason, it's a welcome feature as it cuts down the risk of the moment having passed by the time you're ready to take a snap, which happens pretty rapidly. Once taken, your photo can then be uploaded to a plethora of apps, depending on what you have installed on the Atrix.
DIM: Some people have complained of a lack of quality in photographs taken in low light Click here for full-res version
LOW LIGHT: Without a flash, you may as well not even bother with some shots Click here for full-res version
BETTER: Stick the LED flash on (or leave it in Auto mode) and photos are bathed in a good volume of light, and with the minimum of noise Click here for full-res version
SMILE: A fast shutter speed captures relatively slow moving objects without too much blur Click here for full-res version The shutter speed is quick. If the subject is moving quickly, you're likely to encounter blur. But if it's just a little natural movement, it locks on, focuses and snaps very quickly after you press the capture button with a good focus. There are various modes, including a sports mode, which should make taking photos of fast moving subjects a little easier, although it didn't seem to make much difference during the review process. Other modes on offer include the likes of Macro, Auto and Portrait, and there are some in-built effects which will give you a black and white or sepia alternative. However with so many free photo manipulation apps available on the Market, the built-in effects are a bit pointless because third party ones are so much better.
You can get into these settings fairly easily by tapping on the screen, making them move in from the right. But that means that you can't tap in on the screen to choose where you want to focus the shot. You have to let the Motorola Atrix do this for you, and it can get this wrong.
For example, it won't focus automatically on text and because you can't tap the screen to focus. You have to go into the Scenes menu and manually change the mode from Auto to Macro. In theory it only takes a few seconds, but in practise, it's annoying that you're forced to go digging around menus. There is a second, lower-res camera on the front, but aside from taking the odd self pic or using it to check your makeup, this will likely not be used for anything other than video calls.
The back of the Motorola Atrix boasts of the camera's capabilities with a not-too-subtle 'HD Video' badge. When it comes to shooting video, it doesn't disappoint either. The quality – either playing back on the Atrix or blown up on a large HD TV – is equally as stunning. In good light, it looks brilliant. Lower light is passable, though susceptible to a little noise.
Helpfully, you can enable the LED flash to help you in darker conditions, but the illumination only works if you're filming something that's close up. If you're filming, say, a large room, the light doesn't stretch more than a few inches, so you'll still have some lighting issues. As with the still camera, there are some scene modes that you can use to assist in your shooting (Everyday, Outdoors and Concert) and again, you can use effects to change the video to black and white if you wish. You can also shoot video on various modes from QVGA right up to 720p (which is set by default).
One nice touch is that when you select a video, if you'd like to send it by MMS, the Atrix asks if you'd like to resize it so it will fit within the size limit, and then fires up some video editing software. This is helpful because the HD videos are huge compared to the 300KB or so limit that mobile networks impose, so it's a necessary feature that's sometimes overlooked.
Media is at the heart of the Motorola Atrix. With 16GB of internal storage and support for 32GB of additional memory, you could load this up with up to 48GB of content.
The media player looks like stock Android, but it has some great little additions. These include a Music Videos section, which searches online for music videos.
It also supports TuneWiki, so you can see what friends on Facebook and Twitter are playing and sing along.
Another free offering is a Song Identification section, which works like Shazam but is fully integrated rather than being a third party add-on (like Sony Ericsson has been bundling for years, with its Track ID service). You can access it either via the app drawer, or by using the Motorola widgets that are included as standard. Sound quality is very, very good – there's enough bass using the supplied headphones and the volume is loud. Some handsets have left it difficult to hear because the loudest volume isn't loud enough, but there's no danger of that with the Motorola Atrix, which pumps out good quality music and has even more space on the dial if you want to really deafen yourself. If you want to play your music through your loudspeaker, it sounds quite tinny – but then again, unless you're 13 years old and planning to annoy fellow passengers on a submarine (we've used the bus analogy too many times), this probably won't concern you. Most formats are supported, including H.264, WMA9, AAC, MPEG-4, MP3. AMR NB, eAAC+ and AAC+. There's no FM radio on board the Motorola Atrix, which is a noticeable absence – especially when they're still being incorporated by other manufacturers. It may not be as big a deal these days, now that streaming radio is available through third party apps and phones can cope with streaming while completing other tasks, but it's strange for a phone with everything else, to lack a feature still used by lots of people. By default, there's no dedicated video viewing app on the Atrix. Although videos play happily through the gallery, file manager or if you click on them within emails, there's no 'Videos' app in the way there is a 'Music' app (ignoring the supplied YouTube app).
Having said that, the phone's multimedia centre is present and kicks in on connection to the HD dock (more on that ahead) or if you go through the Media share app. Like the LG Optimus 7 and LG Optimus 2X, the Atrix comes with a DLNA client that lets you play content from your computer or DLNA server on your phone. This worked incredibly smoothly for movies, music and photos. Setting it up in the Windows 7 Home Group is also easy, as long as you click all of the checkboxes. DLNA streaming turns your phone into a digital media player around the home. Watching movies on it is comfortable with the in-ear headphones because the bass is just as good as it is on the music player. Controls are very basic though, and any diehard movie fans will probably download an alternative video viewer with more bells and whistles. The problem is that slippy back, which means you may end up dropping the Motorola Atrix accidentally. You find yourself having to hook your fingers around the top and bottom, which can get a little uncomfortable after a while.
Looking at photos is a much easier experience. The Atrix comes with the Android gallery app but it's been given a bit of a Motorola makeover. On opening it, you get various categories to browse which, when you open, display a grid of thumbnails.
But turn it on its side and it switches into an Apple-esque cover-flow mode, splitting the photos and videos into date category. It looks nice and keeps things fairly organised without you having to lift a finger. From here, you can tap on your photo and either edit it with a basic photo editing package (to crop or resize) or tag people for uploading to Facebook. The entire process is simple and uncomplicated, which means that you aren't reliant on browsing the Android Market for solutions.
The Motorola Atrix's battery is enormous, at 1930mAh. Other comparable phones on the market at the moment have smaller power supplies (The LG Optimus 2X comes with a 1500mAh battery, as does the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc, while the Samsung Galaxy S2 opts for 1650mAh). So, you'd expect this battery to be brilliant. And it actually is pretty impressive. Android phones have been notorious for terrible battery life ever since the HTC G1 first brought them to our attention, and the Motorola Atrix is probably the first to really surprise you. It's not amazing, and if you use it for moderate to heavy use all day, you'll still need to give it a nightly zap, but on the whole, it'll get you through a day without the need for panicking. Our average use consisted of taking the phone off charge at 7am, making about 40 minutes of calls, enabling all background syncing, browsing the web over Wi-Fi and 3G for about an hour, playing music for an hour, going for a two hour run (with GPS on the whole time using the Adidas micoach app, and streaming live radio through the TuneIn App) and tinkering for about 40 minutes. By 5pm, the battery was down to 20%, but didn't die until the following morning. You also have to bear in mind that if you do buy the lapdock and/or HD dock, this will affect your performance too, because you'll go from just expecting the battery to last all day to giving it intermittent blasts as it does other tasks. Motorola says the Atrix is capable of up to 540h talk time and 400h standby. Of course, it's always impossible to gauge because real life use will depend on factors such as signal strength. But it's certainly capable of putting in the mileage, and if you're a light user it's not impossible to get two or maybe even three days out of this in between charges. If you keep an eye on your usage, you'll definitely get away with a weekend's break without the charger, which is more than can be said for the majority of Android handsets.
Connectivity wise, it's all on board. There are the standard options we've come to expect – Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth, plus HSDPA (and 4G if you ever manage to find a network). As part of the Android setup, you can also share your data connection and turn your phone into a wireless hotspot. The Wi-Fi works perfectly. GPS took a good 5-10 seconds to get a fix, but once it had managed to, it kept hold of the connection without problems. DLNA support means your Atrix can control media around the home.
The HDMI port will enable you to connect to your TV to view the experience in High Definition if you'd like to share your videos and photos, and the excellent Phone Portal enables you to control your Atrix's file system over Wi-Fi from any other device. It worked flawlessly via a Macbook Pro and then (despite fears there would be some kind of error) also worked perfectly from the browser on a Samsung Galaxy S2, so that one phone was controlling the other. Connection to a computer is courtesy of a standard USB cable for dragging and dropping, although it was much more elegant to download the excellent Dropbox client and get files to and from the Atrix that way, or via the Phone Portal.
The major selling point of the Motorola Atrix is not necessarily what the phone is – but what it becomes. For power users and business people who it is inevitably aimed at, the Lap Dock will be a fantastic addition.
The idea is simple. The Lap Dock is a dummy laptop. It's thin, but it's heavy. To fire it up, you lift open a cover at the rear and slot the Atrix in.
It then fires up the computer, which runs two operating systems side by side. One is a form of Linux that allows you to browse the web and do simple netbook tasks (bizarrely, considering this runs Android, it comes installed with Firefox rather than Google Chrome).
At the same time, on the left-hand side, your phone screen pops up and you're able to do everything you'd normally do on it (including making and receiving calls via the laptop, sending and receiving texts and emails). The Lap Dock will even charge your phone for you and piggy back the Motorola Atrix's 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS connections. The battery lasted a good four days like this, bearing in mind that you'll likely be carrying this around and using it intermittently rather than continuously.
And just in case you're wondering how it's doing, it even comes with a sequence of lights on the case that indicate how much power is left, alongside two USB ports.
A few apps are included on it as standard, including the Entertainment Centre (which runs through your media and plays it back from the phone) and that Firefox browser. Others, such as Motorola's own Webtop Zone and Facebook, are merely shortcuts to the websites. The idea is that you'll use this as a cloud computer (making it all the more bizarre that it runs neither the Chrome browser nor the cloud-based Chrome OS) for your work when you need it. In theory, the Lap Dock is a very good idea. In practice, it falls down in a few places. Firstly, it feels like it's not complete. Having two operating systems feels like awfully hard work. You're constantly flitting between your phone and the Linux environment. It's almost as if Motorola couldn't decide what it wanted them to do so it threw both OSes in.
It would make more sense to have the Lap Dock running either a Linux operating system only, that then integrates the various phone elements into the core OS, or just blow up the entire Android screen and use that as the OS. Android Froyo is certainly capable – especially when you consider that it comes with Flash support for websites plus full email clients and media players. Secondly, the screen may be nice and bright but because of the way the Atrix sits at the back of the Lap Dock, there's only a certain amount of leeway. This means you can't actually push the screen too far back, and it can make for a very uncomfortable angle when trying to work with the Lap Dock on your knees. It's a simple design fault that is annoying, inexcusable and should surely have been picked up during the conception and testing processes. Thirdly, there's the price. Some bundles are available which will give you the Lap Dock at a discount with Orange, or you may get the phone for free and just pay for the Lap Dock. But you're still looking at a minimum of £250-£300 on a high-spend tariff, which means that you're then in cheap notebook territory and, frankly, netbooks will probably do the job better.
Another problem is also one of the strengths of the package. It integrates so well with the phone that it won't work without the Atrix being plugged in. It should be desirable to have the Atrix connected, not essential, because if you find yourself in a position where you need to use it as a standalone laptop for any reason, you're out of luck. It's then nothing more than an expensive doorstop. You can see what Motorola is trying to do with the Atrix and the Lap Dock, and the fact that Android is so open and customisable means that manufacturers are limited only by their imaginations. It's a credible and exciting first step, and a very exciting insight into where smartphones and laptops are going and how their relationship with each other is developing. But alas, with the Lap Dock it just feels like it's not quite there yet.
Where the Motorola Atrix's Lap Dock falls short, with the docks, the Atrix really comes into its own. There are two available.
The cheaper dock (though still expensive at around £30) is merely a charging device that you can slot the phone into.
The second is the HD Multimedia Dock. It's more expensive, at around £75, but this plugs via an HDMI lead into your TV for the full HD experience.
Dock the phone and it instantly goes into HD mode, firing up the Entertainment Centre which then allows you to scroll through your Music, Photos and Videos and even play them in a slideshow.
The HD Dock comes with a remote control which allows you to scroll through your files from the comfort of your chair.
You'll also find three USB connection ports on the back. And that's just the beginning.
You can also fire up the Webtop Connector and enjoy the Lap Dock experience on your HD TV. You have to make sure the power cable is plugged into the dock at the back, otherwise it will only fire up the Entertainment Centre, which is a bit odd and led to a lot of head scratching during the reviewing process.
However, once that's in, the Webtop Connector option appears on the Atrix's screen for you to tap and away you go. You can do one of two things. You can use it as just a streaming player (watching the likes of iPlayer through your TV via your phone) or you can also get hold of the original bluetooth keyboard and mouse and turn your TV into a full web browsing tool. Essentially, with Webtop Connect, you're just doing exactly the same on your HD TV as you did with the Lap Dock – it's the same software experience of having two OSes in one place. But it works so much better like this because it doesn't feel like it's trying to be a netbook or anything other than a web experience on your phone blown up on the TV. Having said that, one advantage is you can use the Firefox browser rather than the Android browser, which affords you perks such as being able to watch ITV player (which annoyingly still redirects all phone users to the mobile version of the site). Obviously, it's not as portable as the Lap Dock experience (unless you like lugging a HD TV around) but for an added extra in the home, it works brilliantly.
The Motorola bluetooth keyboard and mouse look both elegant and stylish and run off normal AA batteries.
Again, they're not cheap. And at around £70 for them on top of that £75 for the dock, it may feel a little too expensive. However, it's still cheaper than the Lap Dock, and seeing your photos and videos play on a large HD TV as opposed to a much smaller Lap Dock screen is far better.
If you're looking for a powerful smartphone, then the Motorola Atrix will definitely hit the spot. Not only is it enabled with every method of connectivity that you could shake a USB cable at, it probably is, as the marketing hype keeps telling us, the world's most powerful smartphone. It shows just how much Android has come of age in the two and a half years since the G1 first hit stores, and feels future-proof for anyone thinking of signing up to a two year contract We liked Kudos goes to the huge battery. It's not going to power a nuclear substation but compared to what's out there at the moment, it certainly shows other Android phones up and makes you realise competitors could really do better. The camera is above average with that great shutter speed and HD video making a real difference. You could easily get away with leaving the compact camera at home when you go on holiday. HD is really where the Atrix comes into its own with that dock and although we're not fully convinced by the Lap Dock, we have to give a thumbs-up to Motorola for highlighting the potential here. Even if you don't use the HD dock, you'll still be more than happy with the screen which enhances the feeling that this is a quality device. The impressive battery is larger than others out there at the moment and capable of punching above its weight. The better than average camera has a good shutter speed compared to comparable models and amazing HD video. The HD Dock turns this into a truly multimedia little computer, and the Lap Dock has potential. The high res screen adds to a device that already looks like a top quality piece of kit. We disliked Motorola's decision not to include Gingerbread when competitors are already looking forward to Ice Cream Sandwich seems a bit crazy. It's not a deal-killer since the upgrade is promised but it would be nicer to have it now than not. For such an expensive device, the Atrix really should have a better rear cover because this will slip out of your hands at some point. Get a case immediately to protect it and ensure a better grip. To realise the full potential, you have to buy the accessories which are not cheap – and if you go down the sim-free route, the whole lot will leave you with a £1000-ish shaped hole in your pocket. The cost of the Lap Dock alone will turn many people off – meaning Motorola is shooting itself in the foot to a certain extent. The fact that its a 4G phone is great for one-upmanship with friends – until they ask for a demo and you realise 4G doesn't exist in this country so it's a bit of a pointless selling point and what you're holding is a 3G phone like almost everybody else. Although it's not a killer, Gingerbread would have been nice out of the box rather than waiting for a promised upgrade. The slippy back panel means that your expensive device could end up with a few bumps before too long. The price of the accessories is offputting – if you go down the SIM-free route, the phone, Lap Dock and two docks will leave a £1,000-ish shaped hole in your pocket. The fact that it's a 4G phone yet current technology means we can't test that out in this country is annoying. Verdict The real issue one has is whether you evaluate the Motorola Atrix as just a phone, in which case it's a stellar piece of equipment that is definitely a suitable contender for your cash, if only because it has one of the best batteries on an operating system that is notorious for guzzling juice. Or do you evaluate the Atrix as a sign of things to come, bearing in mind the potential of the Lap Dock if other manufacturers follow suit? In that case, this could have an impact on the Android world, like Apple's capacitive glass screen and Touch Flow technology impacted other smartphone manufacturers, and is the sign of an exciting future. Motorola, of course, has been one of the great innovators with goodies like the StarTac and Razr, which did its portfolio wonders back in the day. The Atrix with the Lap Dock may not be of the same calibre in some eyes – but it's certainly revolutionary and could fire the starting gun to other Android competitors 
| ||
| Record-breaking laser transfers 26 terabits per second Posted: 23 May 2011 10:16 AM PDT A single laser beam has been used to transfer 26 terabits of data in one second by researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany. The extreme data transfer was the equivalent of 700 DVDs being transferred in one second, speeds that we mere mortals can only dream of as we sit drumming our fingers on the desk while ripping a single CD, watching the progress bar slowly creep along the screen. It's not the fastest data transfer known to mankind, with Professor Wolfgang Freude, the paper's co-author, explaining, "Already a 100 terabits per second experiment has been demonstrated. "The problem was they didn't have just one laser, they had something like 370 lasers, which is an incredibly expensive thing. If you can imagine 370 lasers, they fill racks and consume several kilowatts of power." Here's the complicated bit The secret to the single laser transfer was using very short pulses in a 'frequency comb', a number of different colours of light contained within the single beam. The laser pulses are beamed through an optical fibre, but special equipment is required to unpick the coloured data strings when they reach their destination. It's all a bit complex for us at this time on a Monday afternoon (check out the scientific journal Nature Photonics for more information), but Professor Freude reckons that the technique could be integrated into silicon chips, so we could see this super speedy file transfer in consumer machines at some point in the future. Lasers: the only way you could possibly make data transfer cool. Good work, science. 
| ||
| Amazon Android tablet to have 10-inch LCD screen? Posted: 23 May 2011 09:29 AM PDT Amazon's much-rumoured Android tablet (or family of tablets, depending on who you believe) is set to launch as a 10-inch model, with a 7-inch sibling also on its way. PCMag cites sources in Taipei as revealing that the retailing giant originally wanted the tablet to be able to switch between an E-ink-style reading display and a colour LCD screen. Although this kind of screen is in development by a number of manufacturers, there's very little chance it will hit the market before 2013. In the meantime, Amazon's Android family will don LCD screens, as well as offering an Nvidia Tegra quad-core processor. Honeycomber There's still no clue from any of the anonymous sources as to which version of Android the tablets will launch with – we imagine Android 3.1 will be the preference over Android 3.0 – but all the pundits seem quite agreed on the fact that it will launch in time for the Christmas retail rush. Amazon seems to be the great white Android tablet hope, with existing Honeycomb offerings failing to set the world alight with passion and even Android darlings HTC struggling to offer the complete package. It's not hard to see why; Amazon has everything on its side for a successful tablet: marketing reach to hit millions of customers, the coffers to offer a competitively priced tablet and even its own Android app store. Better watch your back, iPad… 
| ||
| Xbox 360 to get the full 3D treatment? Posted: 23 May 2011 09:25 AM PDT Microsoft looks likely to bring 3D to the Xbox 360, with the company all set to reveal its 3D plans at E3 2011. This is according to Eurogamer, which is quoting unnamed sources close to the matter who say that the 3D will be the same as what you currently get on the PS3 and that it could well be announced at this year's E3. Sony announced its 3D firmware upgrade for the PS3 back in February 2010, with the update finally landing in June. Although the Xbox 360 technically already has 3D content out – Call of Duty: Black Ops was released in stereoscopic 3D – it doesn't currently do it to the exacting specifications of the PS3, which outputs at 1280x1470.
It seems, however, the Xbox 360 may well be getting the HDMI 1.4 protocol adopted by the PS3 (Sony has managed to cram most of HDMI 1.4's specs into its 3D without actually giving the PS3 a full hardware upgrade), which would allow Microsoft to market the Xbox 360 as an all-singing, all-dancing 3D gaming machine. "The machine is not only very capable, it's more capable than the PlayStation 3 of doing stereo, assuming you don't have one of the old crappy ones with the composite leads... assuming you have a HDMI Xbox," said Eurogamer's man on the inside. "The bottleneck is more on the graphical throughput for rendering out in stereo." If you want to find out what else Microsoft could be launching at E3, then check out our in-depth Microsoft at E3 2011: what to expect feature. 
| ||
| Review: Packard Bell EasyNote TSX66 Posted: 23 May 2011 09:11 AM PDT Packard Bell has been busy refreshing its laptop range. The EasyNote TSX66 is a premium version of its existing TS Series, and an impressive little beast indeed. For a start it packs away one of Intel's second generation Sandy Bridge Intel Core i7 processors, previously seen in Acer's Aspire 5750G. Add in some great features and this is an excellent all-round laptop that should appeal to anyone demanding loads of power and strong usability at a reasonable price. The EasyNote TSX66 aims to provide maximum comfort and convenience, wrapped in a stylish chassis. There's no denying the laptop looks smart, with a wavy design adorning the Honey Bronze lid, helping it stand out on the high street shelves. This design continues inside on the palmrests. It combines well with the metallic finish of the plastic interior, giving the impression that the EasyNote TSX66 is something a little bit special.
We were surprised to find the chassis flexed under pressure in spots, however, with the area around the DVD drive proving particularly weak. But the palmrests are solid and the lid tough enough to protect against bumps. Packard Bell has stuck with the isolation-style keyboard for the EasyNote TSX66, and we're big fans as always. It's a comfortable board for prolonged typing sessions, with the keys well spaced and spread out, and you get a separate numeric pad if you love a bit of data entry. The EasyNote TSX66's touchpad is compact but responsive. A separate scroll bar along the right edge allows quick navigation through web pages and documents. At 2.7kg, this laptop can feasibly be lugged around on a regular basis if required. It's surprisingly slim considering its 15.6-inch screen, so at least it slips easily into any normal bag or briefcase.
A vibrant 15.6-inch screen on the Packard Bell EasyNote TSX66 proves a great means for watching films, playing games or simply killing time browsing the web. Like most modern screens, it's a 16:9 widescreen display with a 1366 x 768 pixel resolution. Photos and other images look sharp. Viewing angles are also quite strong, with no significant loss of colour when the EasyNote TSX66's screen is tilted or rotated. The glossy coating brings images to life, with excellent colour reproduction. Unfortunately it also bumps up reflectivity, a problem that hampers most laptops we see, so you'll struggle to work outdoors on sunny days. If you like having your entire media collection to hand, or plan on installing loads of games, you'll make full use of the EasyNote TSX66's 750GB hard drive. As always, a chunk is taken up by a recovery partition and Windows, but you'll have more than enough free space to play around with.
Packard Bell has a standard set of features that it includes with all its laptops. Most of these, such as the MyBackup tool, aim to save you time – performing useful functions at the touch of a button. With MyBackup, press F2 at any time and a window pops up that quickly saves copies of your important files, in case the worst happens and your laptop ends up at the bottom of a stairwell/lake/tar pit. There's also a Social Networking app on the Packard Bell EasyNote TSX66 that automatically logs you into Facebook, Flickr and YouTube and streams updates from all of your accounts. Sadly there's still no support for Twitter, Gmail and others, but we live in hope. Another great tool for keeping in touch online is the HD webcam. When used for Skype video calling, our image was sharp and always in focus, with minimal motion blur. You get the usual array of ports on the EasyNote TSX66, including USB 3.0 and HDMI, as well as a five in one memory card reader. Networking is strong as expected, with 802.11N Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet supported.
One of Intel's most powerful mobile processors, the quad-core Core i7 2630QM, runs the Packard Bell EasyNote TSX66 at an incredible rate. Hyperthreading support means it can handle up to eight threads at once, and it runs at a nippy 2GHz. We've seen Sandy Bridge Core i7s in a few laptops now, and performance has always been excellent. The Acer Aspire 5750G recently sported the same chip and pumped out a MobileMark score of 256, while Apple's 15-inch MacBook Pro managed an impressive 307. Benchmarks However, the EasyNote TSX66 outdid them both, with a ridiculous score of 333. This is the highest result we've had, as far as memory serves, and illustrates just how much power to expect from this machine. Backed up by 6GB of DDR3 RAM, you can comfortably run any number of applications without any sign of slowdown. If you like to do a million things at once, such as browsing the net while listening to music and fiddling around with various applications, the Packard Bell EasyNote TSX66 can handle it. We ran intensive design suites without suffering grind, although the lack of dedicated graphics does limit multimedia ability. You can still play some of the latest games at an impressive frame rate, but you'll have to turn down detail levels on some of the more resource-pounding titles. Despite the powerful components, we still dragged four and a half hours of life from the EasyNote TSX66's battery before it died. This is excellent for a Sandy Bridge Core i7 laptop, although the Acer Aspire 5750G narrowly beats it, with 286 minutes from a single charge.
Packard Bell's EasyNote TSX66 has a distinctive style and impresses with its powerful specs, but is sold on its comfort and convenience. With one of the most powerful mobile processors on board, we had high hopes that performance would match usability, making this an excellent all-rounder. We liked Scoring one of the highest marks we've seen in our benchmarking tests, the EasyNote TSX66 is crazy powerful. Imagine if Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sly Stallone and Dolph Lundgren got together and had a terrifying love child. Their offspring would have its backside handed to it by this laptop. Packard Bell laptops are always comfortable to use, and the EasyNote TSX66 is no exception. The isolation-style keyboard is well sized, the touchpad is responsive and the 15.6-inch screen is bright and colourful, with good viewing angles. It's also user-friendly, with some decent software for beginners and tons of storage space. And while it isn't the most portable laptop we've seen lately, you still get an impressive four and a half hours of battery life on the go. We disliked Although the EasyNote TSX66's chassis looks pretty, it is a little weak in areas. Nothing serious, but we expected Packard Bell's usual high build quality. We understand that you get incredible performance for this price point, but it's a shame there's no dedicated graphics unit. The Sandy Bridge CPU copes admirably with image rendering, giving you enough grunt to run design suites, edit your video and play some games on low detail, but a proper graphics card would've made this a great portable gaming machine. Verdict If you need a laptop that'll last you a number of years, this is a fantastic and affordable option. The Packard Bell EasyNote TSX66 looks good, packs plenty of punch and definitely offers the kind of comfort we expect from Packard Bell. 
| ||
| Posted: 23 May 2011 09:05 AM PDT The Panasonic TX-L32E3B is driven by price, rather than features or technology. In order to keep the cost down this entry-level 32-inch set eschews niceties such as 3D playback or Panasonic's Viera Connect online system, but has managed to hang onto edge LED backlighting and sports an IPS Alpha panel. If advanced web capability is your bag you should investigate Panasonic's TX-L32E30B, or its 37-inch and 42-inch siblings, while for three-dimensional fun you'll have to make a considerable jump in price to the TX-L32DT30B, or its 37-inch stablemate, the TX-L37DT30.
There are precious few interesting tricks and tools on the TX-L32E3B. When it comes to setting up pictures, for instance, it initially looks like there isn't anything going on beyond the absolute basic colour, contrast, brightness and sharpness settings. There is a sensor to detect light levels in the room and adjust the picture settings accordingly (labeled as 'C.A.T.S'), but eco-friendly features like this are found on most decent TVs now. Activating the set's Colour Booster option increases saturation slightly, but at the expense of a little naturalism and subtlety, so should be avoided unless you value vibrancy over accuracy. The Advanced Features menu contains resolution enhancement and an option for turning off overscanning (whereby you can watch HD sources on a pixel for pixel basis) but, again, these are commonplace features on modern TVs. The similarly disappointing connections roster lacks USB ports, and, while there is a LAN port, this is only there as mandatory support for the TV's built-in Freeview HD tuner and doesn't open up DLNA networking or suggest any sort of advanced internet capability. There is a SD card slot, though, that will accept HD video as well as photo files. The TX-L32E3B's bodywork is robust for an entry-level TV, though and the combination of edge LED lighting and the aforementioned IPS Alpha panel (which ought to enable a wider than average viewing angle and reduce motion blur) claws back some respectability.
The TX-L32E3B makes its strongest impact with sharpness when watching high-definition content. Detail levels are striking for a relatively small set, easily revealing individual hairs and facial pores during closeups. Crucially, this impressive clarity isn't accompanied by the sort of noise that would suggest the sharpness is being forced; grain levels aren't excessive, edges don't have the tell-tale glow of clumsy edge enhancement and any noise that might be in a source isn't given the extra prominence that sometimes results from resolution boosting technology. The lack of conspicuous over-processing contributes to an extremely natural performance, even with standard-definition pictures. If you do want to crank up the sharpness you can experiment with the Resolution Enhancer without having to worry about it making pictures look too artificial (if you stick to using it on its lowest setting, at any rate). The TX-L32E3B's pictures might not be the most eye-catchingly vibrant around, but seem to require little tweaking for optimum Blu-ray performance. Of course, this is just as well given that the tools available for adjusting hues are practically non-existent. The IPS Alpha panel enables the pictures to retain colour and contrast from an appreciably wider viewing angle than most LCD TVs, while gamers should enjoy the TX-L32E3B's astonishingly quick response time (just 10ms), which all but eradicates input lag. While you could never describe the pictures as explosive, the TX-L32E3B's edge LED engine is able to deliver a mixture of light and dark content simultaneously without wiping out too much brightness or graying over dark areas. Low-lit scenes also reveal only the tiniest amounts of backlight inconsistency. This is always a particular concern with edge LED TVs, but the TX-L32E3B suffers from it less, even, than Panasonic's top-end 32-inch LCD, the L32DT30. The dynamic contrast system does cause obvious brightness 'stepping' during scenes with repeated abrupt transitions between bright and dark shots, though and the Moving Picture Resolution (MPR) of the TX-L32E3B is just 300 lines, so it's unsurprising to find clear signs of softness and resolution loss during camera pans or over fast-moving objects. However, while this is a significant issue for a few minutes after you first turn the TV on (many LCD TVs need to warm up a bit before they look their best), for most of the time it's only a minor and occasional irritation. The only exception to this is when playing games involving a lot of fast panning around, where the extra softness is more apparent.
Sound The TX-L32E3B is very slim, which looks great but is bad news for audio. Bass is in very short supply, causing the soundstage to become rather brittle and artificial when the speakers are pushed hard by any sort of action sequence. This is so common an affliction for super-slim sets, though, that it's hard to consider a truly serious weakness and the set is sufficiently convincing with everyday TV broadcasts. Value In terms of overall picture quality – in both standard and high-definition modes – the TX-L32E3B measures up well against the competition, especially if you value naturalism over gaudiness. However, there are numerous 32-inch TVs around (most noticeably from Samsung and LG) that offer both significant online features and reams of picture calibration aides while costing the same as or less than the TX-L32E3B. Ease of use An advantage of the TX-L32E3B's lack of features is that it is easy to use. Aside from the pointless Advanced Features' submenu within the main picture section, there's nothing on either the menus or the TV's remote control to terrify the technophobic.
The TX-L32E3B's is reasonably attractive, but its connections are limited and the feature list is short, to put it mildly. The pictures, however, are well above average for a TV of this price, with natural colours, decent contrast and a wider than usual viewing angle. Brightness levels can jump around a bit, thanks to the set's dynamic contrast system and there's resolution loss with motion that's accompanied by blurring for the first few minutes after you turn the TV on from cold each time. The set's audio struggles to do justice to action scenes too, in keeping with most other slim 32-inch TVs. We liked The TX-L32E3B's edge LED backlighting is surprisingly even and delivers a decent black level response for an affordable 32-inch TV. Colours are very natural too and HD pictures are sharp and detailed. The set is also very easy to use and many people will appreciate its direct, unprocessed video performance. We disliked The lack of features is frustrating; there are limited multimedia tools, which is extremely unusual by today's standards and hardly any picture adjustments beyond the absolute basics. The dynamic contrast system can cause a little brightness inconsistency, too, and there's resolution loss with motion accompanied by smearing when you first turn the TV on. Final verdict The TX-L32E3B is decent looking, but not as well built as other Panasonic TVs. It's easy to use, but this is down in part to its lack of features. It's got a LAN port, but this doesn't enable DLNA networking and there's no Viera Connect. Pictures are colourful and rich in contrast, but brightness levels can be inconsistent and there are motion flaws. Overall, the TX-L32E3B's pictures are good enough to make it a very worthwhile second-room set, but it's neither flexible nor sufficiently feature-laden to do great service as a main TV. 
| ||
| Ballmer hints at new Windows Phone hardware Posted: 23 May 2011 09:01 AM PDT Microsoft CEO Stever Ballmer has dropped hints that tomorrow's Windows Phone 7 Mango update reveal will also see new handsets announced. Speaking at an event in Japan, Ballmer mentioned the Mango update and its 500 new features, many of which have already been detailed by the company. But he also spoke of the "launch event tomorrow including some of the particulars about who's going to building Windows Phones and which carriers are going to be offering them here in Japan." Wild speculation While that remark is obviously specific to the Japanese audience he was addressing, speculation is rife that we'll also see new global partners – or even new handsets – showcased at the event on Tuesday. It would be no kind of shocker to discover that Sony Ericsson has a Windows Phone handset in the works after its deliberately vague comments on the subject and photos of prototypes emerging online. But it would be exciting to see some of the second generation of Windows Phone 7 phones coming through – it has been a good eight months since its launch, after all. Who does Microsoft think it is? Apple? 
| ||
| 52-inch glasses-free 3D TV hits Japan Posted: 23 May 2011 08:13 AM PDT Dimenco has released a 52-inch 3D TV which doesn't require the use of 3D specs. The autostereoscopic behemoth gives off full 1080p in all its three dimensional glory to be viewed and enjoyed by the naked eye. The company, made up of senior ex-Philips engineers, aims to have glasses-free 3D TVs on the consumer market within four years; while the catchily-named BDL5231-3D2R may be glasses-free, its price tag sure is not with the 52-incher hitting the Japanese shelves priced at around £13,000. Glasses free as a bird Also on show here are a 2,000:1 contrast ratio, 8ms response time, 700 nits of brightness and a refresh rate of 60Hz. It's not the first specs-less 3D TV we've heard of, however; Toshiba has already launched its glasses-free 3D TV in Japan with a European launch set for later this year. Samsung also has a glasses-free 3D TV on the cards, although it has warned that it'll be at least a decade before the company has an autostereoscopic set that it is happy to release into the market. But it sounds to us as though Samsung may want to get a wriggle on if Dimenco and Toshiba are already closing in on a retail launch. 
| ||
| HTC Holiday outed with 4.5-inch screen Posted: 23 May 2011 07:13 AM PDT Details of an upcoming handset codenamed the HTC Holiday have surfaced online, with rumours of a enormous 4.5-inch screen complete with qHD resolution. Other juicy specification speculations include a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 1GB of RAM, 8-megapixel rear-mounted camera, 1.3-megapixel front-mounted camera and Android Gingerbread. If all that's true, the Holiday had better come with a super-powerful battery too, or it won't be much good to anyone. Holiday, celebrate The specs come courtesy of renowned HTC-leaker 911Sniper, while PocketNow has dug up a photo of a fairly standard-looking HTC Android handset that may or may not be the HTC Holiday. While the HTC Holiday seems headed to US network AT&T, we'd be very surprised and, frankly, a bit hurt if a variant doesn't make a sojourn over to our fair shores. The AT&T branding suggests a spot of LTE/4G connectivity action, although that won't do us Brits much good at present. As the old adage goes, a change is as good as a holiday; in the phone world, it looks as though a Holiday could be a very exciting change indeed. 
| ||
| In Depth: Code complete: IE9 on Windows Phone 7 Posted: 23 May 2011 07:07 AM PDT We might get a shipping date for the Windows Phone Mango update from Microsoft this week, but Joe Marini, Principal Program Manager for IE on Windows Phone, told TechRadar last week that IE9 for Windows Phone is already "code complete; we are now debugging, we are performance tuning. Graphics performance is a big focus for us right now. That, rendering compatibility, markup compatibility - any rendering issues are really getting looked at closely right now." Hardware accelerated browsing (including video, audio, text, canvas, drawing and general rendering) is one of the major improvements in IE9. When Microsoft first showed off the hardware acceleration in IE9 mobile earlier this year, it was getting 23 frames per second in Microsoft's 'speed reading' demo (compared to 11fps on Android and 2 on iPhone). "That's just what we got by the GPU acceleration being there," Marini said, before the team starting working on any performance improvements; now it's up to 27fps.
FAST FLIP: The speed reading performance test on mobile IE9 is up to 27fps from 23 There are other performance improvements since the earlier demo. "We took a holistic view of performance in the world of mobile where you have got spotty data connections or network congestion. We have a nice tiled rendering experience where as the site is coming down, we detect where a user is scrolling in the page and we provide those tiles first." Despite having a version of the Chakra JavaScript engine and the same layout engine as IE9 for Windows ("We're sharing the same code base. If something renders on IE9 desktop it should render on the phone as well," promises Marini), the phone version isn't identical by any means. That wasn't the goal. "Same markup does not mean you can mark up a site [in HTML5] and it automatically works on mobile - same markup means it should work across different platforms." Designed differently With a smaller screen size and users who are more likely to be doing something specific, mobile sites work better if they're designed differently. "When you're using the web on a mobile device, it's an adjunct to what you're already doing. If I'm at the bar with my friends I might be transferring money from my savings account to my checking account so I can pay the tab but that's not the reason why I'm there. "And if I'm on the bus and there area lot of people around me I might hesitate to log in to my banking site if it dumps me straight into my account page with all this information visible; you might want to send then to an initial page that has less sensitive information."
MOVE THE ADDRESS: IE9 in Mango moves the address bar to the bottom (next to a Metro-style refresh button) to leave more room for the web page IE9 supports HTML5 audio and video for full-screen playback and background audio, though not yet videos embedded in a page, as well as canvas and SVG; it supports geolocation including GPS, ECMAScript 5 (though not the strict version which will be in IE10), CSS media queries (which automatically show a different page layout on smaller screens), the viewport tag for automatically resizing pages to the screen size, 2D CSS3 transforms, fonts, backgrounds, borders and colours. Web forms look like the rest of the Metro interface on the phone and HTML5 input types will make filling in forms easier; a page can specify if the form should contain an email address, phone number, date, time or URL and the phone will show a customised keyboard to make it easier to type. Instead of separate image files, web sites can store images as part of their HTML so they download faster; sites also get up to 5MB of local storage on the phone for caching information so you don't have to keep downloading it. There's no way for a site to ask for more than 5MB because that's not in the spec but unlike other browsers Marini says IE lets a web site check how much space it has left (if it tries to download more than there's space for the spec just produces an error).
CSS3: Sophisticated web site layout will work in Mango Although Adobe continues to say it's working on Flash for WP7, Marini seemed to rule out plug-ins in Mango when he talks about security for mobile browsing. "We don't do stuff like ActiveX, we don't have browser helper objects, we don't have binary plug-ins. A lot of things that were security issues, we simply didn't do on the phone - a, because we didn't need them and b, for security." Once Mango is finished, the mobile IE team will carry on working in parallel with desktop IE. "If you play with the preview of IE10 on the desktop you can get a sense of where IE10 on Windows Phone is going to go," Marini hinted. Other future improvements might include an offline cache for web apps and ways to link between apps and web pages. "We're looking at how we can make web sites more integrated with the whole phone experience," says Marini. 
| ||
| New Firefox for Android beta launches Posted: 23 May 2011 06:11 AM PDT Mozilla has made available for the first time a beta version of its mobile browser for Android devices. Called, unsurprisingly, Firefox Beta, the new app shows off a version of Firefox 5 which is still in development. The beta offers a load of new features, including improved load speeds, better panning, improved compatibility with SwiftKey and a better display of images and video. More add-ons Mozilla has also revealed that there are now over 150 add-ons for Firefox for mobile, with 100 of those compatible with the latest beat version of the app. This makes sense, considering Mozilla is using the same browsing engine as its desktop to power the mobile app. The new app also adds support for over six menu items in the Android Menu and images downloaded to the Android Gallery are now immediately visible. If you have an Android device running on Android 2.0 or higher, then you can go to the Android Market and download the app now. 
| ||
| Apple updates retail experience with new in-store iPads Posted: 23 May 2011 06:04 AM PDT Apple has launched some handy new retail features including an Apple Store app for the UK and iPads at every product point in its Apple Stores. Remember those mysterious parcels that showed up at Apple stores across the globe last week? Remember how exciting it was not knowing what they were and speculating that they could, in fact, be a whole new exciting Apple product to lust after?
iPadding We took a trip down to the Apple Store at Covent Garden to check out the new arrivals, and it looks a little as though the iPads have taken on a life of their own and started breeding; they are everywhere.
Housed in little Perspex boxes, the iPads run special software called Smart Sign and won't do anything but communicate information about the product they're next to; if you hit the home button, nothing happens. So, there's not much point in bringing a chisel along to try and un-house it, slip it under your jumper and walk out nonchalantly, whistling all the while.
It's easy to be flippant about boring old in-store signage, but the iPads offer customers all the info about a product at the swipe of a finger; the iPhone iPad, for example, has a tab about networks and their tariffs, which is pretty useful when you're in the market for an iPhone.
Garcon! By far the best feature of the new iPad signs is the Specialist tab; this allows you to call for a member of Apple Store staff to come over and help you in person should the all-knowing iPad be unable to answer your questions. It's certainly preferable to clicking your fingers and calling "Garcon!", anyway.
Of course, the proliferation of iPads strewn around the store also helps to make customers want one all the more; flicking your way through the bright screen and seeing just how easy it is to read text on it. It's certainly a clever marketing ploy as much as anything else. As well as the iPad invasion, Apple has launched its Apple Store App for iPhone and iPod touch in the UK. It's a fairly standard app that allows users to buy something and pick it up instore, or schedule an appointment at the Genius bar. Finally, Apple have made its instore Personal Setup service standard on all iPad, iPhone, iPod and Mac products, so each customer gets a half-hour one-to-one session of guidance, set-up and advice when they buy a new Apple toy. Business as usual Apple was keen to point out that this isn't a gimmick, or a 'service' as such – "It's just something we do," a spokesperson told us. And it's not an opportunity to encourage further sales. He added, "We never up-sell, we just want to provide the best possible experience for our customers." While it's not quite as exciting as a new secret product to celebrate the stores' tenth anniversary, the new additions to the stores are going to make life easier for anyone who hangs out in Apple Stores or plans to buy an Apple product. For everyone else? Well, we're surprised that you're still reading, to be honest. 
| ||
| In Depth: Wimbledon in 3D: behind the scenes Posted: 23 May 2011 05:19 AM PDT It's no happy accident that Wimbledon is being filmed in 3D this year. The tournament is one of the biggest and most watched sports spectacles in the world – last year 365 million people watched the tournament, with an average of 12,140 hours of coverage shot – and thanks to Wimbledon's close relations with the BBC, it's a place where many televisual innovations have made their debut. For instance, 1927 was the year the BBC brought radio to the tournament. TV was introduced in 1937, while colour TV arrived in 1967 and high definition pictures became supported in 2007. With the arrival of 3D, Sony – which is supplying the 3D cameras – is hoping to bring Wimbledon closer to more people than ever before.
"We think 3D is one way of expanding Wimbledon to a global level," David Bush, Marketing Director of Sony Europe, told TechRadar. "There's no greater expression of entertainment than the world of sport. So we are delighted to be partnering with Wimbledon. It's a fantastic opportunity to bring people closer to the action with 3D." It's not all of Wimbledon that's getting the 3D treatment – the men's semi finals and the men's and women's finals are to be shot in 3D. But the question remains: just how will Sony, the BBC – which has television rights – and the folks behind Wimbledon broadcast Wimbledon in 3D?
To find this out, TechRadar was invited behind the scenes to the only 3D trial Sony will be having at Wimbledon, before the tournament itself begins 20 June. Sony is no stranger to shooting major sporting events in 3D. It was its technology that was used to bring 2010's World Cup in another dimension. So Wimbledon seems like a natural progression for the company and given that it has also procured the HawkEye technology, it can offer a complete Wimbledon package. "Sport is incredibly important to us – we can contribute to the whole value chain, from lens to the living room," said Bush. "The World Cup last year was a very important milestone for us. We shot 25 games in 3D." The World Cup was something of a test bed for Sony's 3D cameras, as well as Can Communicate, the production company that helped produce the 3D games. Based in Richmond, London, Can Communicate was one of the first production companies to embrace 3D, so much that it wasn't the 2010 World Cup which it began shooting in 3D, but the one before. "We actually experimented with 3D in the 2006 World Cup, and when we finished that we thought there had to be another, better way to do 3D," Duncan Humphreys, Head of Production of Can Communicate, explained to TechRadar. "So we spent time and money in learning how to shoot 3D."
The time and money paid off, as Can Communicate have so far shot 3D productions of the 6 Nations Rugby, 2008 World Ice Hockey final, a Ferrari F1 promo, Usain Bolt in the Great Manchester Run, the Roland Garros Tennis and the FIFA World Cup. But all this experience is nothing without the industry's support for 3D – something Humphrys believes is finally here, and here to stay. "In late 2009, technology was a key component and screens started to show 3D content. "Once broadcasters and Avatar came along, it started a firestorm." The experience of the World Cup means that the blue print of how to shoot Wimbledon in 3D is already set. "There were 18 months of R&D which was put into four months' work in the World Cup," said Humphreys. "In the end we were able to deliver an end-to-end 3D production that nobody thought possible. "The workflow we used at the World Cup will be employed at Wimbledon. Everything has been streamed down, though, so it makes it easier to handle the 3D production."
When TechRadar walked around the OB truck used for the trial, it's hard to see that this is a streamlined operation – considering that the outside broadcast truck used for the actual Wimbledon finals will be almost twice the size as the one found in the Wimbledon carpark. This is because it is packed with stenographers and convergence pullers whose job it is to make sure that the 3D shown to TV audiences is the best it can possibly be. As for the actual shoot, six Sony HDC-P1s cameras will be used on Element Technica rig - three are paired up, while one camera will be shooting the court from above. The footage from these will all be piped through to Sony MPE-200 processors. These machines will iron out any convergence or interocular glitches that may appear in the live feed. This is why the kit has been given the name of 'stitch' by the production company. The BBC is also allowing its feeds to be used, so the MPE-200 can also act as 2D to 3D converter for some of the more minor shots. Sony and Can Communications are reciprocating the favour by making their feeds available to the BBC. "We have five camera positions – the main 3D camera will be in what is usually seen as the traditional camera two position," explained Humphreys. "We have two cameras in the pits and two at the other end of the court. We've put all the cameras much lower to create depth. And as it is in 3D, there's not much panning going on. "Tennis is one of the sports that is designed for 3D. You're close to the action, so you end up with a lot of depth cues."
One of the ways the 3D filming process has been streamlined from what went on in the World Cup, according to Humphreys, is with the cabling – an important part of any setup, especially for an event such as Wimbledon, which is in a relatively confined space. "There are two feeds wrapped in one fibre cable, which is sent back to the camera controller unit, which is fed to the image processor – at the World Cup this was treated as two separate cables. "The process looks fairly complicated, but once everything is in position it's incredibly efficient. "I am confident that what we will offer this year will be faultless."
Two amazingly talented children tennis players were filmed for the trial, and the results TechRadar saw relayed back in real time were impressive. It was clear to see that the 2D to 3D conversion needed some work but this is all part of the process of getting the footage right. Unlike football, the camera operators can predict more or less where the action will be, so the 3D is more natural and there is a lot more of it. "Tennis is well suited for 3D," said David Bush at Sony. "But there is a lot of discussion at the moment about sports that we didn't know at first would be good for 3D. Things such as wrestling and cage fighting. "There may be sports coming from the leftfield which are particularly suited to 3D."
While we all hold our breath for chess in 3D, there is the small fact that the only place to see Wimbledon in 3D at the moment is at the cinema. The Apollo cinema chain has the rights to show the games in 3D, something Rob Arthur, Managing Director of Apollo cinemas, is excited about. "Two years ago Apollo didn't have 3D or digital or satellite technology. Now all of our cinemas are digital and satellite enabled and we will be screening Wimbledon in pretty much of all our cinemas. "What we're trying to create is that feeling of excitement you get at Centre Court. "We'll be offering Pimms, strawberries and cream – we're hoping to event-ise the matches to make audiences feel like they are part of an event. "Our brand ethos is not just about film, but entertainment."
As for watching Wimbledon in 3D in the home, the BBC is still working out who it should give the content to. At the moment, 15 broadcasters in Europe and the world over are set to take the feed, but we'll have to wait a few weeks to see which, if any channel, will be showing it in the UK. The obvious choice is Sky as it has the only 3D channel in the UK, but the BBC may well decide to offer 3D through its iPlayer service.
However you end up watching Wimbledon in 3D, it's another sign that 3D is more than ready for the mainstream – and a long cry from the 200 people who turned up to watch tournament on its debut back in 1877. 
| ||
| Posted: 23 May 2011 05:15 AM PDT The Samsung PS51D6900 sells for a paltry £1,300, despite its active 3D technology and 51-inch screen. Its unusual screen size doesn't seem to have made its body bigger than Samsung's 50-inch sets, thanks to a narrow bezel that is finished in attractive deep grey and tastefully offset by some transparent trim. The bodywork lacks the dazzle of Samsung's D7000 and D8000-series edge LED TVs, but it's undoubtedly a looker. Samsung's new Smart TV platform improves on the previous Internet@TV service by dramatically increasing the amount of content available to browsers and by revamping the user interface. The PS51D6900, like most mid-range to high-end sets, employs 600Hz sub-field driving to improve motion fluency and general image stability and also benefits from one of Samsung's new Clear Image Panels with anti-reflection filtering. Joining the PS51D6900 in the D6900 series is the 59-inch PS59D6900, but there are other 3D models above and below, too. Samsung's entry-level 3D model is the PS43D490 (note that this has an inch more than the usual 42-inch TVs too), which costs barely half as much but doesn't have a full HD resolution, a Freeview HD tuner, or any Smart TV online capability. There are also two D550 models, the 51-inch PS51D550 and 59-inch PS59D550, which up the size and adds a Freeview HD tuner. Above the PS51D6900, meanwhile, can be found the D7000 and D8000 series. The D7000s come in 51-inch and 59-inch sizes, and introduce an ultra-slim design as well as the potential picture-boosting Real Black Filter. The D8000s feature a metallic design and ultra-slim profile, and come in two sizes: the 64-inch PS64D8000 and 51-inch PS51D8000. The D8000 models add open Internet browsing and Skype to the feature list, as well as shipping with a so-called TwinView touch-control remote. It's the PS51D6900 that feels likely to be the mass market favourite, though, pitched as it is against the likes of Panasonic's active 3D TX-P50GT30B and LG's passive 3D 47LW550T.
The PS51D6900 employs active 3D technology and comes with just one pair of glasses, although extra pairs of the most basic sort can now be found for as little as £50. Anyone after more sophisticated eyewear, meanwhile, can buy the (rechargeable, lightweight) SSG3300 versions for just £70, while the premium SSG3700 specs sell for about £90. This is great news, as it substantially reduces the full price a normal family might have to pay to get into Active 3D viewing. The PS51D6900 also boasts Samsung's impressive 2D to 3D conversion circuitry, which works with five different depth 'cues' versus the two or three usually exploited by 2D to 3D technology. The 3D sync transmission platform is Bluetooth, rather than infra-red, which, according to Samsung, delivers a more stable connection, especially if there are many people watching at once. The PS51D6900 benefits greatly from Smart TV. The new 'Hub' main menu screen uses a lovely collection of icons to provide instant access to an amazing range of sources, including everything from the built-in Freeview HD tuner through to your AV inputs, all the multimedia stuff stored on your PC or USB devices, plus Samsung's online content and apps, which now include BBC iPlayer and a 3D portal. The latter currently features trailers of 3D films, a trio of documentaries including one exploring William Hearst's 'castle', some obscure music videos and a bunch of kid's programmes, many of which appear to hail from Korea. Other highlights of the PS50D6900's online apps and services are LoveFilm, AceTrax, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and the vTuner Internet Radio server. There are also games galore and loads of specialist information apps, adding up to a very impressive overall app count. The PS51D6900 might not bear endorsements from either the Imaging Science Foundation or THX, but it is certainly not short of set-up aids. The colourful and clear onscreen menus include a small selection of picture presets (Movie, Standard, Relax and Dynamic), an unusual 'Cell Bright' option that enables you to adjust the pixel brightness (in addition to a normal, general brightness option), and all manner of options in an Advanced menu including black tone boosters, a dynamic contrast tool, gamma adjustments, white balance fine tuning (via offset and gain tweaks for the RGB colour elements), a 10-point white balance adjustment, a skin tone booster, an edge enhancer, and a Motion Lighting feature that adjusts the brightness levels of the picture automatically based on the amount of motion being shown, in a bid to reduce power consumption. Some of these features – specifically those that involve processing - have to be treated with kid gloves or often turned off completely because they can sometimes do as much harm as good. So long as you bear this in mind, it's always good to find TVs offering as many picture personalisation tools as possible. The PS51D6900 is well set up for multimedia, with built-in Wi-Fi that enables you to go online or access stuff on your PC without a physical connection, as well as two USBs for playing back most photo, video and music file formats or for recording from the HD tuners to hard-disk drives.
The first thing that hits you when watching a full HD 3D Blu-ray is how amazingly detailed pictures look. Every last tiny pixel of full HD detail - such as the minute shiny 'panels' in the aliens' clothes in Monsters Vs Aliens - is shown with extreme accuracy and not a trace of noise. In fact, they're arguably the sharpest 3D pictures seen on any TV to date and help the set deliver a really impressive sense of depth to 3D shots. Provided you set the PS51D6900 to its Dynamic picture preset when watching 3D, it also delivers impressively rich, dynamic and believable colours, and retains a decent amount of brightness too. Certainly, there's no sign of the hollow look that affected dark areas on Samsung previous generation of plasmas. The only minor problem with the PS51D6900's 3D performance is that it suffers a little more from crosstalk ghosting noise than Panasonic's plasmas. Happily, though, this is usually restricted to what you might call 'internal' crosstalk, where you can only see the ghosting within relatively dark objects. For instance, during the Golden Gate Bridge sequence of Monsters Vs Aliens, while the struts and cables appear more or less crosstalk-free against the blue sky, internal reflections on the widest of the struts do ghost a little. Motion occasionally looks a touch uncomfortable in 3D mode too, with slight judder affecting backgrounds during camera pans or tracking shots. It is a minor niggle, though, rather than a significant distraction. One last, minor, grumble is that there is no dedicated picture preset that kicks in automatically as soon as the TV detects a 3D signal. With 2D material, without the darkening effects of the active shutter glasses the PS51D6900 immediately suffers in comparison with Panasonic's GT30 and, especially, VT30 series by virtue of not delivering nearly the same degree of black level response. There's a slightly greyer look to dark scenes, which inevitably reduces their impact. It also marginally affects the tone of very dark colours, and there's slightly less shadow detail to be seen in very dark areas versus the latest Panasonics. However, not being as good as Panasonic's remarkable screens when it comes to black levels does not mean that the PS51D6900 can't still deliver a very engaging performance indeed. In fact, by any other, non-Panasonic measure, black levels are very good. They certainly look deeper than those of last year's equivalent Samsung plasma model and outgun those of practically every LED/LCD TV - especially once you've taken the immaculate black level uniformity into account. The impeccable sense of sharpness and detailing noted with 3D continues into 2D mode, too, and colours are rendered with an engaging mixture of vibrancy and naturalism. There's no doubt that Panasonic's latest G and V plasma models deliver a punchier and even more dynamic colour palette, but the PS51D6900's pictures are never less than credible. The set's plasma technology also means you can watch the screen from a much wider viewing angle than Samsung's LCD TVs and there's no motion blur whatsoever, again thanks to the innately fast response time of plasma technology. Also impressive is how well the set upscales standard-definition material. Samsung TVs generally perform unusually ably in this key regard, but converting a relatively grubby standard-def digital broadcast up to HD without losing significant colour accuracy and colour striping is particularly difficult on a plasma set. Yet the PS51D6900 suffers hardly at all with either issue. Finally, the PS51D6900 appears to be a decent gaming proposition, thanks to a pleasingly low 34ms of input lag. This shouldn't be enough to contribute on any regular basis to unfair deaths in Call of Duty or missed notes on Guitar Hero.
Sound Samsung has made considerable improvements to the audio quality of its 2011 TVs. The desperately underpowered, thin sound of previous generations has given way to a much more open and powerful mid-range, which immediately makes sound appear more well rounded and natural. This is true even with relatively straightforward TV fare, with voices (especially male ones) sounding less nasal. Of course, where the extra power and range really scores is when watching action sequences, which now actually sound credible and involving rather than thin, harsh and distracting. There's still room for improvement when it comes to both the portrayal of really fine treble detail and deep bass levels; in other words, a bit more dynamic range would be nice. But overall the PS51D6900's sound is powerful enough to produce a soundstage able to do the large pictures justice. Value It's in the value department that the PS51D6900 makes its most persuasive case. Panasonic's brilliant rival, the P50GT30, costs more than £1,700 on the high street, whereas the PS51D6900's is more like £1,300 and (unlike its rival) comes with a free pair of glasses. Extra pairs of Samsung's glasses are cheaper, too, which means that the PS51D6900 is able to entertain a family of four for at least £600 less than the Panasonic, which will make the Korean-made screen's marginally inferior 3D performance seem like a perfectly acceptable trade-off to many. Ease of use The PS51D6900 is phenomenally easy to use, considering how many features and content sources it supports. The Smart Hub is clearly the most important element of this, thanks to the way it handles huge amounts of information remarkably easy thanks to its graphics and intuitive layout. But the separate set-up menu is also mostly great, thanks to its clean text, attractive layout and brief onscreen explanations of what each feature is for when you highlight it. The remote control doesn't look particularly special, but it has an intuitive layout and fits comfortably in your hand. The onscreen menus aren't perfect, though. For instance, there seems a totally unnecessary division of features between separate Advanced Settings and Picture Options sub-menus when one sub-menu would have been much more sensible. Also – bizarrely – the TV's Game preset is hidden away in a 'General' sub-menu of the main System menu option rather than being included with the rest of the picture presets. Overall, though, many rival brands could learn a few things from Samsung's new operating system.
The PS51D6900 combines appealing looks and 51-inch images (versus the usual 50-inch) with a long feature list, inputs galore and – best of all – a really nice all-round picture performance, regardless of whether you're watching 2D or 3D. We liked The PS51D6900's sub-£1,300 price is very attractive for a set of this size and will be enough in itself to win many to its cause. It's also a good all-round performer with 2D and 3D, and offers an unprecedented amount of online capability, including plenty of video sources. The onscreen menus are excellent, too, in the way they explain each feature when you select it. We disliked There are one or two odd organisational issues with the PS51D6900's onscreen menus and there's a touch more crosstalk with 3D viewing than we've seen with the very best 3D performers. Also, although the PS51D6900's glasses are cheaper than most 3D active shutter glasses, they're still more expensive than those used with passive 3D TVs (though the passive options require you to take a hit on 3D resolution). Final Verdict The PS51D6900 looks lovely in an understated way, its extra inch of picture is appreciated and, most importantly of all, its £1,300 price is very attractive for such a large active 3D TV. What really pleases the most, though, is that it backs its up-front appeal up with a very satisfying performance, be it in 2D or 3D mode. 
| ||
| Sony admits it will post a big loss Posted: 23 May 2011 04:25 AM PDT Sony has told the market that it is now expecting to post a £1.9 billion net loss for the last financial year. The electronics giant has admitted that earlier predictions of a (£527m) 70 billion yen profit had been confounded by Japanese tax credits. The 260 billion yen net loss is another bit of bad news for Sony, a company that has suffered a torrid time of late. Annus horribilis As well as the horrific Japanese earthquake, the company has also suffered from the well-publicised PSN outage and the loss of customers' personal details. Sony has estimated that the quake has cost them 150 billion yen (£1.13 billion) and that the known costs of the outage amount to over £100 million. The final earnings report will be made on Thursday, but 2011 is proving to be something of an annus horribilis for the company. However, there it potentially light at the end of the tunnel, with the company's eagerly awaited PSP 2 - codenamed the NGP - arriving later in the year, and the growth of 3D handing a timely boost across Sony's myriad business interests. 
| ||
| Review: Toshiba Satellite Pro C660-16N Posted: 23 May 2011 04:00 AM PDT While the Acer Timeline X 4820T brings lightweight portability and the HP Pavilion dv6-3112sa unrivalled power, the Toshiba Satellite Pro C660-16N aims at a much more modest target. Its sub-£400 price tag makes it a low-cost option and, for such a bargain price, you get a surprisingly good deal. At the heart of the C600-16N is a Core 2 Duo T6670 processor which, although dated, is still a solid performer. It predates the Core i3 found in the HP and Acer, but it's still capable of running most programs and dealing with multiple programs such as Word, Internet Explorer and photo viewers. The capable processor is also backed up with a healthy 4GB of RAM, which helps speed up the day-to-day running of your machine. This makes it perfectly adept at basic home computing, but this is where the Toshiba's limits lie. Sadly, the Toshiba only features an onboard graphics chip. Our lab tests showed woeful graphics power, which makes it unsuitable for anyone looking to edit video, play games, use Photoshop or watch HD content. Benchmarks Battery life: 250 The unassuming hardware inside the Toshiba Satellite Pro C660-16N, which puts the focus on basic tasks rather than entertainment, is also echoed in the laptop's drab looks. The whole machine is a charcoal colour with an attractive texture on the lid.
Lift the lid, however, and the flat featureless keyboard is revealed, which blends seamlessly into the flat black plastic palmrest and matt-finished bezel. It's a desert of black plastic and is certainly not for the fashion conscious. Durable chassis While it may look unexciting, the build quality is great, as you would expect from Toshiba. It feels solid, strong and durable, while remaining relatively lightweight at 2.4kg. You could carry it with you easily and not worry about placing it into a bag, but if you're looking to turn heads while sitting in the park or your favourite café, then look elsewhere. The four-hour battery life is only beaten by the Acer, which is designed to be a true portable, and the Toshiba's processing power surpassed the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 15 in our lab tests. Unsurprisingly, the Toshiba is in turn outclassed by the powerful Core i3 Acer and HP. For this reason, it's hard to recommend the Toshiba. Yes, the Toshiba represents a huge saving and if you want a laptop for basic email and web surfing it's a great buy. However, if you're looking for a laptop for entertainment purposes, then the C660-16N is totally unsuitable. 
| ||
| Samsung App Store sails past 5 million downloads Posted: 23 May 2011 03:58 AM PDT Samsung has revealed that its Samsung App store – the first of its kind for televisions – has passed the 5 million download mark. The store was launched back in February 2010 and it initially took until December of that year to hit 1 million downloads, but this number doubled by the time January 2011 rolled along. The pace has picked up even more, with the total downloads now at 5 million. The most downloaded app, according to Samsung, is YouTube, followed by Google Maps, AccuWeather and Vimeo. Currently there are around 550 applications that have been made especially for viewing on a TV. Limitless possibilities "The TV is a family-based device and people want to lean back and enjoy their time in front of the TV," said Kang-hyun Kwon, senior vice president, Media Solution Center, Samsung Electronics. "These apps are the entry point for consumers to discover other experiences on their TV like gaming and social networking as well as the limitless possibilities being created by our third-party developers." In March Samsung announced that the total apps downloaded from the Samsung App Store – for both phones and televisions – was an impressive 100 million downloads. One of the latest apps Samsung has announced is a 3D VOD service, which is available on its its D5520 TV entry level LED Smart TV range, all the way up to the flagship D8000 series. 
| ||
| Updated: iPhone 5 rumours: what you need to know Posted: 23 May 2011 03:48 AM PDT iPhone 5 (or the iPhone 5G, as some are calling it) rumours are flying thick and fast already. Will the 5th generation iPhone deliver ultra-fast mobile internet? What other specs will it feature? Let's raid the iPhone 5 rumour fridge to find the tomatoes of truth amid the stinky stilton of baseless speculation. But first, our colleagues on T3.com have rounded up the latest rumours in the iPhone 5 video below. iPhone 5 release date The Apple Worldwide Developers' Conference 2011 date has been announced as 6 June 2011, so it's possible we'll see the iPhone 5 break cover there. However, Jim Dalrymple at The Loop says that this year's WWDC will be about software, not hardware, with Apple focussing on iOS and Mac OS. This fits with Apple's established rhythm of iPhone releases, with new models appearing in late June or early July each year. So it's a safe bet that the iPhone 5 release date (UK and US) will also be late June or early July. The usual July release date was mentioned by Engadget's source too in January 2011 - meaning the standard release cycle looks set to continue. A new report from China later stated that Q3 (which still includes July) is now the earliest we will see the iPhone 5, after the disaster in Japan pushed back supply of key components. On 20 April 2011, it emerged that the iPhone 5 release date may now be September 2011 rather than June/July. This date was cited by three sources who spoke to Reuters. On 17 May, we reported that Phones4U outed the iPhone 5 release date as 21 November 2011. We're not sure how Phones4U would know the release date at this stage, though, so take this particular snippet of information with a pinch of salt. iPhone 5 form factor The Wall Street Journal reported that: "Apple is also developing a new iPhone model, said people briefed on the phone. One person familiar said the fifth-generation iPhone would be a different form factor than those that are currently available… it was unclear how soon that version would be available to Verizon or other carriers." This has since been backed up by reports from Engadget we reported on 17 January 2011, which state the design will be a 'total rethink'. Of course, since the iPhone 3G was followed by the 3GS it's possible the new iPhone won't be a total refresh and we'll see an iPhone 4S (or iPhone 4GS) before an iPhone 5. An iPhone 4S looked more likely on 16 May 2011 after analyst Peter Misek wrote: "According to our industry checks, the device should be called iPhone 4S and include minor cosmetic changes, better cameras, A5 dual-core processor, and HSPA+ support." However, earlier reports from China backed up the larger-screened, metal chassis-sporting iPhone 5 rumours, so the redesign still seems firmly on the cards. On 22 March 2011, China Times also reported that the iPhone 5 will feature a 4-inch display. A rumour we covered on 7 March 2011 suggests that the new iPhone will do away with the glass back and opt instead for a metal back which will act as a new iPhone antenna. And an Apple patent that we reported on on 7 April 2011 suggests that we could see the bezel put to good use on the new iPhone. The patent describes how visual indicators and touch-sensitive buttons could be incorporated to the space around the iPhone screen. Rumours that we covered on 3 May 2011, suggest that there may even be two versions of the new iPhone: a 'standard' iPhone 5 and an iPhone 5 'pro'. Apparently, Apple is buying in components of differing quality, and those parts wouldn't be required for a single phone. A cheaper, smaller iPhone 5 - an iPhone nano A prototype version of a smaller iPhone is said to exist, built to ward off competition from cheap Android handsets. Rumours around an iPhone nano picked up again on 13 February when the Wall Street Journal claimed that the so-called 'iPhone nano' exists and may even be on sale later this year. Those iPhone nano rumours may hold little truth, though. As we reported on 18 February, the New York Times cites an anonymous source who says there will be no smaller iPhone from Apple. "The size of the device would not vary," says the source. A white iPhone 5 The Economic Daily News is reporting that white iPhone 5 glass is being shipped, with a supplier called Wintek being the sole touch panel vendor for the white iPhone. iPhone 5 specs According to the Chinese Economic Daily News (via AppleInsider), with the exception of Qualcomm chipsets - which would replace the current Infineon chipsets in the iPhone 4 - Apple's sticking with the same suppliers for the 2011 iPhone 5G components. We'd expect the basics of the iPhone 5 specs to get a bump - more memory, faster processor, and more storage. The specs? A new antenna, 1.2GHz processor (possibly dual-core) and a larger screen: 3.7" instead of 3.5". The iPhone 5 may also be made from a new kind of alloy, or maybe meat. In other rumours which surfaced on 15 February 2011, Digitimes is reporting on information supposedly leaked from component suppliers that claim the iPhone 5 will feature a larger, 4-inch screen. Digitimes quotes the source as saying that Apple is expanding the screen size "to support the tablet PC market as the vendor only has a 9.7-inch iPad in the market." On 23 May, we reported on rumours that the iPhone 5 could feature a curved glass screen. These rumours also came from Digitimes, which said that Apple has purchased between 200 and 300 special glass cutting machines because they're too costly for the manufacturers to invest in. We're also hearing word of a multi-core design, in keeping with the rest of the mobile world, as Apple looks to improve both battery life and performance. The iPhone 5 will also get a massive graphical boost as it moves to a dual-core GPU - this could herald true 1080p output from the new device, according to our news story on 18 January. UPDATE: On 10 March 2011 it emerged that the A5 chip, found in the new iPad 2, looks to be headed to the iPhone 5, bringing enhanced functionality and dual-core power. iPhone 5 digital wallet There's been some speculation that Apple might include Near Field Communication (NFC) technology in the iPhone 5G, turning it into a kind of credit/debit card. However, as Techeye.net notes, "Apple has looked into NFC before" so this might not be imminent. However, with the tech being inside the Google Nexus S, the time for NFC may finally be here. UPDATE: On 24 February 2011, we reported that an Apple patent has revealed an e-wallet icon on the iPhone homescreen. This adds credence to the rumour that iPhone 5 will feature NFC. However, on 14 March 2011, reports in The Independent cited sources from 'several of the largest mobile operators in the UK', who said that Apple told them not to expect NFC in the iPhone 5. So perhaps we'll have to wait for iPhone 6 for that. But who to believe? On 22 March 2011 China Times reported that the new iPhone will include an NFC chip. LTE support At least one analyst thinks the iPhone 5 will support LTE, super-fast mobile broadband, in the US. That would make the iPhone 5G a 4G phone, which won't be confusing at all. LTE is certainly coming - AT&T plans to roll out its LTE service in 2011 - but an LTE iPhone has been rumoured for a while. USA Today floated the idea of an LTE iPhone on Verizon last year. iPhone 5 camera Speaking at a live Wall Street Journal event, Sony's Sir Howard Stringer was talking about the company's camera image sensor facility in Sendai, a town that was recently ravaged by the recent Japanese earthquake and tsunami. According to 9to5Mac, he said something along the lines of, "Our best sensor technology is built in one of the [tsunami] affected factories. Those go to Apple for their iPhones… or iPads. Isn't that something? They buy our best sensors from us." iPhone 5 price If the iPhone 5 is an evolutionary step like the move from the iPhone 3G to the iPhone 3GS then we'd expect the price to stay more or less the same, although in the UK higher VAT rates may well mean a higher price tag. iPhone 5 pictures A spurious photo of an iPhone 5 front case has been unearthed by a Chinese reseller, suggesting that the next Apple handset will feature an edge-to-edge display. We're not convinced it's a genuine Apple part, though. On 17 March 2011, we reported on another supposed set of leaked iPhone 5 cases, this time looking remarkably similarly to iPhone 4 cases. What do you want to see in the next iPhone? Hit the comments and share your thoughts. 
| ||
| Review: Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 15 Posted: 23 May 2011 03:30 AM PDT Lenovo has long been associated with business, but its ThinkPad range has transcended the world of corporate business trips and offices and is now just as comfortable in the home. The ThinkPad Edge 15 doesn't disguise its corporate heritage and celebrates it through its plain black exterior and its red 'finger pointer' in the middle of the chassis. As Lenovo's budget offering, the Edge makes money-saving compromises. There's a dedicated ATI HD 4250 graphics card, which means its capable of watching HD movies and playing basic games, but that's where the positives end. In terms of storage, there's a 250GB hard drive, which in modern terms is very low. There's still plenty of room for storing thousands of pictures and plenty of movies, but most sub-£399 laptops come with at least 320GB. The Edge also ships with just 2GB of RAM which is the absolute minimum you should look for when buying a laptop. Compared to the 6GB included in the HP Pavilion dv6-3112sa, this is very low and means that using your PC won't feel as responsive when running intensive applications such as photo editing. The final and most important item on the Edge's list of hardware sacrifices is the ageing AMD Athlon II 2.1 GHz processor, which is dwarfed in performance by the older first-generation chips found in the HP Pavillion dv6 and Acer Timeline 4820T. The impact on performance is staggering and our lab tests showed that the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge was vastly inferior to the HP in every respect, apart from a seven-minute longer battery life. Benchmarks Battery life: 214 Despite this, the 214-minute battery life is disappointing and there are plenty of laptops that offer eight hours' life or more for less money. Solid build The Lenovo feels solidly built and it is robust enough to withstand a hectic lifestyle, making it perfect for people looking for a business machine capable of basic office tasks. The screen is sharp, but non-reflective, making it ideal for working in bright sunshine, but it won't make your movies look their best. At 2.5kg, it's light enough take out with you on the move; however, if you spend your life carrying a laptop on your back, then a lighter option like the 2kg Acer with Core i3 is a much better option. In short, the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge makes too many sacrifices for no real benefit. It's thoroughly trounced by the Acer and HP in every respect, from raw power for getting more done to size, weight and build quality. With so many great machines on offer in the sub-£450 space, it's impossible to recommend the ThinkPad Edge for any user. 
| ||
| Updated: Top 30 best Android 3.0 apps Posted: 23 May 2011 03:13 AM PDT Android 3.0 is set to explode. While the Motorola Xoom is off to a slow start - according to some analyst projections - the new OS will appear on several new tablets, including the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and new models from Asus and Acer. As Android has shown on the smartphone platform, it is possible to dethrone Apple by sheer numbers, now that there are more Android handsets in use than iPhones. Will Android 3.0 usurp the mighty iPad and iPad 2? That all depends on the app. Here are the current top picks of a relatively small group of Android 3.0 apps (about 60 available currently). (Note: Our list does not include apps included on the tablet already. These are the apps, listed in order starting with the ones we recommend downloading first.) 1. Pulse Pulse deserves a place of honour on your home screen for one reason: it aggregates the web. The idea is to showing top stories from around the web, but each one shows a quick thumbnail. When you click, you can read just the basic story and view photos without the usual clutter. It's also easy to share links.
2. Google Earth Google Earth is free, like most Google apps, but worth the download on the Xoom because of how quickly it works on the Tegra processor. In our tests, zooming into a London street corner, the app worked smoother than anything we've seen on the iPad for mapping software. You can plan routes as well, see topographical info, and search for landmarks all over the world.
3. Google Sky Map One of those rare apps that makes people gasp when they first use it, Sky Map shows star constellations in real-time as you move your tablet around the night sky. You can zoom in and choose to hide some objects, such as planets, to make it easier to find what you want.
4. Google Body Google Body lives up to the Google mission statement: you can find anything, even your femur. The interface for looking at the human body is very intuitive - you can zoom in on any body part, view just a skeleton or muscles, and search for body parts, muscles, bones, or just about any part of our anatomy.
5. Kindle When we picked the top Android apps many eons ago, Kindle was a top contender. On Android 3.0, it is less compelling, since the Google Books app works quite well. However, any books you have previously purchased from the Kindle Store appear here automatically.
6. Angry Birds Rio A game based on the movie, Angry Birds Rio is not only addictive, it's also free. On each level, the goal is to rescue the birds Blu and Jewel, featured in the film. The game mechanics are the same as the original, minus the pigs: you pull a rubber band back and launch a bird to knock down buildings.
7. Double Twist Double Twist does not add any new twist to music playback on the Xoom. What it does provide is a desktop app that can sync all of your music, videos, photos, and podcasts. The Xoom version is obviously a re-formatting of the smartphone version, but when you okay a song the album cover appears in HD and the controls for advancing through tracks are easy to find and use on the larger screen.
8. Adobe Connect Mobile For those who already use Adobe Connect, the mobile version for Xoom is a must-download. For the rest of us, this screen-sharing and webconferencing system works well on a tablet because you can instant chat with colleagues, share your screen, and host meetings. Unfortunately, the webcam did not work with the Xoom version (it did work on a BlackBerry PlayBook).
9. FlightTrack (£3.07) One of the few paid apps on our list, FlightTrack is a top pick because it allows you to check flight departures and arrivals quickly, see an icon of your plane during flight, and check for flight changes. The interface is also robust: you can search for flights at 4,000 airports and for 1,400 airlines.
10. Air Attack HD (£1.79) Second only to Angry Birds in terms of compelling gameplay and rich graphics, Air Attack HD is a scrolling shooter with detailed maps and plenty of gameplay twists. You can control one of two classic planes. On the Xoom, the HD version looks amazing and runs smoothly. Some levels have destructible bridges, and wait for the end of each level for massive boss battles.
11. BackBreaker THD (£3.07) This American football game shows how the Xoom hardware can be used for a real arcade game. The graphics look crisp and colorful as you control a running back who has to make his way to the touchdown zone. Stadiums look great, and the juke moves are varied and realistic.
12. Androidify Androidify has no practical function, but that doesn't mean it's useless. You can customize the green Droid character with crazy hair and paints, then share your creation on multiple services, including Picasa and Dropbox, attach the image to any contact, store in your Gallery, or send by email.
13. Dropbox Some businesses say they could not operate as smoothly without Dropbox. The reason: the app lets you share just about anything in a common portal that's accessible from anywhere. On Android 3.0, the app is one of the best ways to send images, video, and documents to the device.
14. DocsToGo The free version of this app is a must-download if you routinely need to view Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Office documents. You can't edit docs, and the free version does not work with Google Docs, but you can open files from the local storage on your tablet.
15. SoundHound The main reason we like SoundHound is because it actually works. A music recognition engine, the app will "listen" to recorded music and tell you the artist name, track, and album. We identified about a dozen songs accurately. The app is not as good at recognizing a song you hum or whistle, though.
16. Springpad Springpad is a free app for organizing your notes and tasks for the day in one place. You can also add pictures, music, and other media. One of the best features: you can search for shops nearby and then add them to the app along with a note and a map. You can also scan barcodes and add those items in the app.
17. Weatherbug We prefer Weatherbug over AccuWeather because it's…less buggy. (AccuWeather tends to crash or freeze on Android 3.0.) You can quickly see current conditions, alerts, and weather forecasts. The app works automatically for your current location using GPS but you can add any other city.
18. Cordy Next to Angry Birds Rio, Cordy is one of the better games on offer for Android 3.0. You control a tiny robot who has to make his way across a gameworld, usually by jumping over objects, pushing and pulling them, or throwing things. The graphics are amazingly detailed.
19. Touchdown Not to be confused with a football app, Touchdown allows you to easily tap into your Microsoft Exchange email and calendar. Configuring the app is easy: you just tap in your username and password. The interface is modeled after Microsoft Outlook with tabs on the left and a preview pane at right.
20. Gun Bros. A game made originally for iPhone and iPad, Gun Bros. is a top-down shooter that looks amazing on Android 3.0: crisp graphics, good sci-fi sound effects, and fast gameplay. The game is a bit buggy and the controls can be wonky, but the onslaught of enemies requires some extra strategy.
21. Dungeon Defenders One of the only games with an online component, Dungeon Defenders is a chaotic action game with some RPG elements. You can collect items and power-ups, level-up your character, and - when playing online - compare you're the stats of your character with others for bragging rights.
22. USA Today Not quite as useful as Pulse for catching up on the news, USA Today shows you the news of the day - covering global news, sports, technology, and other areas in a clean interface. Includes current weather and forecast, a photo viewer, voting, and stock market listings.
23. Glympse The main strength of proximity-sharing app Glympse is that you don't have to register or even share any personal details other than your location. The app first finds out where you are using GPS. You can then send the location via email or SMS, or update your Facebook or Twitter status.
24. Evernote Evernote is an extremely popular app which helps you collect notes throughout the day and save them to the Evernote site, where you can access them from other devices. For example, you can jot down phone numbers or reminders. The app is just scaled up for Android 3.0 but still has some smartphone vestiges.
25. Opera Browser The main reason to use the Opera Browser for Android is to gain some extra speed for certain web sites. In our tests, the Opera app loaded rich content sites like GamesRadar.com faster than the Xoom's built-in browser. No tabs, but there's an easy way to save pages and share them with friends.
26. MiniSquadron! Lite A brilliant game with so-so graphics, Mini Squadron Lite is side-scrolling game where you control and airplane with your fingers and shoot down enemy craft. The only ding compared to higher-ranked games is that the graphics tend to look a bit blurry on Android 3.0, but the gameplay is frantically fun.
27. Latitude An extra add-on for Google Maps, Latitude allows you to share your location automatically with only those you select (and are also using Latitude). The advantage on Android 3.0 is that the map is much easier to see, which is helpful when you want to track the locale of nearby friends.
28. Glow Hockey One of the few games we have included that works about the same on a smartphone, Glow Hockey is a good pick for the Xoom because it is a two-player game and the tablet offers more screen size for controlling your paddle and. The goal is to smash the puck into the goal before your opponent. You can select alternate paddles, play against the computer, and choose a difficulty level.
29. DrawFree We won't say DrawFree is the best sketching app for Android - but, for now, it is the only one and it's free. There are a few options for selecting brush, pen, or marker and then choosing a color. The Motorola Xoom we used for testing is highly responsive to subtle finger sketches.
30. Earthquake! Not the most timely app, since Japan has recently suffered a horrendous disaster. Earthquake! does help you keep tabs on minor and major earthquakes across the globe. More importantly, it makes use of the wide tablet screen, showing quakes on the left and a zoomable map on the right.
| ||
| iPhone 5 to feature curved glass screen? Posted: 23 May 2011 03:04 AM PDT The latest iPhone 5 rumour pegs a curved glass screen for the next Apple smartphone, according to 'industry sources'. According to Digitimes' not always completely reliable sources, Apple itself has been forced to buy between 200 and 300 special glass cutting machines to create the screens because they're too expensive for the manufacturers to invest in. It's not clear exactly how curved the screens will be - it could be a very subtle design addition with a slight curve in the style of the fifth-gen iPod Nano, rather than an overt, avant-garde contact-lens style bounce. With more and more rumours touting very minor design upgrades, we'd imagine the former. Crystal ball The machines, set to be used for slicing the glass, are not yet in use. They'll enter operation once proper volume production of the iPhone 5 begins – presumably that will fairly close to launch. Quite when that will be is anyone's guess as rumours of delays abound, and Apple is still working on getting the most out of its manufacturing runs – displays are notoriously easy to break, after all, so the company is keen to increase the number of displays that make it out of the process alive before entering full scale production. The iPhone 5 has been long-rumoured to get a larger 3.7- or 4-inch screen, and it's not the first time the curved screen mutterings have surfaced either. Either way, it's looking more and more likely that we'll have to wait until September to find out the truth about the iPhone 5. Pass the time with the video our pals at T3 have put together, rounding all the iPhone 5 rumours into one handy place: 
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from techradar To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment