Sponsored
Techradar |
- Review: BenQ EW2430
- Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar
- Noise and dynamic range results explained
- Camera testing resolution charts explained
- Nokia Windows Phones still on track for 2011 launch
- Golden Joystick Awards hits one million vote mark
- Exclusive: Google: Web apps are not a path to paywalls
- HTC Bass outed - new name for Runnymede phone?
- In Depth: What if Google bought Twitter?
- Video: HTC Radar vs HTC Titan
- Bose Soundlink Wireless Mobile speaker unveiled
- Exclusive: Google: Offline support making apps better online
- Google Goggles updated to auto-search your snaps
- No mirrorless cameras in Amazon Top 40
- Video: iPhone 5 - what you need to know
- Sky Go reaches 1 million download mark
- Big Canon launch rumoured for November
- Buying Guide: 5 of the best portable iPhone speakers
- Review: Dell U2412M
- Week in Tech: Windows 8 reception proves positive
- Review: PC Specialist Vortex M59 OC
- Review: LG 42LV450U
- Exclusive: Google: Windows 8 App Store not competition for Chrome Web Store
- Cheap BlackBerry Playbooks incoming
- Purported iPhone 5 case suggests big redesign
| Posted: 17 Sep 2011 01:30 AM PDT  You can have any LCD panel you want so long as it's TN. With a small handful of exceptions, that's been the depressingly familiar refrain when it comes to affordable PC monitors. But a few screens do bust through the TN barrier and the latest to make a break for it is the BenQ EW2430. BenQ, of course, has form when it comes to sensibly priced screens with decent panel technology. The BenQ EW2420 is definitely an old favourite. For less than £200 you got a 24-inch full HD panel sporting vertical alignment (or VA) and an LED backlight to boot. That matters because VA panels offer much richer, more vibrant colours than the TN norm, along with deeper blacks and better viewing angles. Typically the only downside is response times. But VA technology has been catching up and the pixel response gap is often negligible. With all that in mind, we've high hopes for the new BenQ EW2430. Paper performerOn paper and at first acquaintance, the BenQ EW2430 really socks it to you. The specification list is frankly to die for. First, there's that VA panel packing an LED backlight and 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. Of course, full HD is nothing special in 2011. But dig a little deeper and some outrageously good numbers emerge. Most impressive is the 3,000 to one static contrast, the best we've ever seen. Next up are 178° viewing angles in both planes and pixel response of 8ms. The latter may be ordinary rather than revolutionary. But overall, it's an awfully promising package. The EW2430 is an imposing physical specimen, too. Okay, the stand offers only tilt adjustment. But the combination of glossy black bezel with brushed and anodised surfaces communicates quality in a manner few, if any, competing sub-£200 monitor screens manage. The feature set, which includes two HDMI ports, DVI and VGA along with a fourport USB header, is solid, too. All of which makes it all the more disappointing to report that the image quality is not what we were expecting it to be. Out of the box, it's immediately apparent that the BenQ EW2430 is short on visual punch. The LED backlight is rated at 250cd/m2. That's pretty modest, but if anything maximum brightness feels nearer 200cd/m2. The result is a slightly dingy overall feel along with dull white tones. The viewing angles are relatively poor for a VA panel, as well. But the real killer for us is involves the pixel response: We've not seen a screen with blurring and smearing this bad for several years. BenQ's use of VA panel technology still has plenty of benefits though. The screen's black tones are far deeper and inkier than any TN screen could possibly hope to achieve. The colours are much more realistic and detailed, too. BenQ has also bequeathed the EW2430 with a lovely chassis and plenty of video input options. But after the glories of the older EW2420, the EW2430 is a crushing disappointment. The LED backlight turned out to be dull, the viewing angles ordinary and the pixel response frankly shonky. We hope BenQ addresses these issue rapidly or the danger is that all cheap VA screens will get a bad name. 
| ||
| Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar Posted: 17 Sep 2011 12:00 AM PDT  The tins of Roses, pots of brandy sauce and packets anti-stress pills are starting to stack up in your local shop. Yes, Christmas is fast approaching. And with less than 100 shopping days until Jesus' 2011th birthday, the tech market is swinging into action. If you thought Christmas was a big thing in your life, it's even more important to manufacturers and retailers who're once again relying on the season of joy to significantly boost their bottom lines. So what tasty treats have we been playing with this week?
Olympus PEN Lite E-PL3 reviewThe new PEN E-PL3 slots into the middle of the new Olympus PEN range, a halfway house between its older brother, the E-P3, and its smaller sibling, the E-PM1 (PEN mini). The E-PL3 uses the same 12-million pixel sensor and 35-point autofocus system as the other models in the new line-up, so the main differences come in the way of shape and a few minor tweaks in the operation and menu of the camera. It's beautifully engineered, stylish and puts in a blisteringly quick performance, and as such we'd happily recommend it to a budding enthusiast in search of lightweight alternative to an entry-level DSLR.
BlackBerry Torch 9860 reviewIt's no secret that RIM is struggling to compete in today's ultra-competitive smartphone market. So does the launch of its first full-capacitive-touchscreen smartphone, the BlackBerry Torch 9860, herald a change in fortunes for the Canadian company? It certainly doesn't have the premium feel of the iPhone 4 or even the touch-and-type BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900. The chassis is pure plastic, with the glossy black finish proving to be the forensic examiner's dream, what with its ability to cling on to fingerprints and smudges. It's hard to see who the BlackBerry Torch 9810 is going to appeal to. Younger users are likelier to flock towards the colourful Curve handsets, and serious users to the Bold 9900.
Samsung UE40D5520 reviewWith its crystal finish, slender lines, distinctive colouring and attention-grabbing price, the 40-inch Samsung UE40D5520 simply oozes shelf appeal. But, happily, its appeal doesn't grind to a halt once you get the TV set home. On the contrary, it starts to look like even better value when you actually start using it. Despite costing under £600, it combines a lovely design with a long feature count – including a terrific Smart TV system – and startlingly good picture quality that's better than that of many more expensive TVs we've seen. Provided you give the Samsung UE40D5520 a few minutes of your time when you first unbox it, your efforts will be rewarded more than handsomely. The KDL-40NX723 isn't the most advanced TV Sony has to offer (the KDL-40HX723 offers MotionFlow 400) but there's a definite premium vibe about the 40-inch connected TV in everything from its super-slim Monolithic design to its extensive feature list. Priced at around £220, the Nikon Coolpix S9100 is a camera that offers good image quality and a flexible zoom range in a compact body at a very reasonable price. The ease of use will suit point-and-shoot photographers incredibly well, as will the compact dimensions. Having an 18x zoom lens included will add to the flexibility on offer, too. Compact camerasDesktop PCs PC Specialist Vortex M59 OC review Laptops Media streaming devices Mice SteelSeries World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse: Legendary Edition review Mobile phones Monitors LG D2342P Cinema 3D Monitor review Radio tuners RAM Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB DDR3 review Routers Storage OCZ RevoDrive 3 X2 480GB review Tablets Storage Options Scroll 7-inch Tablet review Tablets accessories TVs Hands ons:Cameras Hands on: Canon PowerShot S100 review Operating systems Tablets Hands on: Fusion Garage Grid 10 review Hands on: Windows 8 tablet review review 
| ||
| Noise and dynamic range results explained Posted: 16 Sep 2011 08:40 AM PDT  Noise and dynamic range As part of our camera testing process we shoot a chart that enables us to measure a camera's dynamic range and the amount of noise that it produces. A camera's dynamic range is a measure of its ability to record different brightness levels within the same image. A camera with a high dynamic range (DR) for example, can record bright details such as clouds as well the grass in a landscape. The clouds will be burned out to a uniform white by a camera with a low dynamic range. Noise is the coloured speckling (chroma noise) and light and dark mottling (luminance noise) that can be seen in some images. Noise becomes more visible when high sensitivity (ISO) settings are used or the images are blown up to make large prints. The chart We shoot our noise and dynamic range chart at every available sensitivity (ISO) setting and analyse the images using DxO Analyzser software. The software measures the signal and the noise that makes up the image and gives a Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) value. The higher the SNR reading, the cleaner the image signal and the lower the noise value. A high SNR is generally better than a low SNR. However, a high SNR at high sensitivities can sometime be attributed to in-camera noise reduction and image smoothing, which can destroy detail. Our noise and dynamic range chart, is supplied by DXO and it's made up of a series of pure optical glass filters with a range of neutral densities mounted in a thick plastic plate. The chart is held on a purpose-made light box that produces diffuse, uniform illumination. Using a glass target avoids the lighting problems and inconsistencies that are often associated with printed charts for assessing dynamic range. The glass also removes the issue of media texture that can create issues for accurate noise measurement with printed targets. Our test laboratory is set up following DxO guidelines and images of the chart are assessed using the DxO Analyzer software to generate signal to noise ratio (SNR) and dynamic range values across a camera's full sensitivity range - for both raw and JPEG images. If the software is not compatible with a camera's raw files we convert them to TIFF format and analyse these images. We only compare files of the same format, JPEGs with JPEGs, raw with raw and TIFF with TIFF. Follow the links for more information about DxO Analyzser 
| ||
| Camera testing resolution charts explained Posted: 16 Sep 2011 08:25 AM PDT  Resolution ChartWe use our resolution chart to help assess a camera's ability to resolve detail.
We shoot the chart at every sensitivity (ISO) setting and examine the images closely on the computer screen. We show a cropped section of the images in our reviews, but the full images can be downloaded via the hyperlinks.
In the above example from the Olympus E-P3 the score would read 24 (see full image) The cropped section shows the part of the chart that tests the camera's vertical resolution (ability to see fine detail) at the centre of the frame. The figures in the image captions give a measure of the camera's performance in line widths per picture height x100. The higher the value, the better the detail resolution and the better the camera's performance. Images are primarily assessed at 100% on the computer screen, but it may be necessary to zoom in and out to determine the resolution limit properly. With some cameras the resolution limit is the point beyond which the lines merge into each other to form a broad grey strip. Sometimes it may not be immediately apparent that two or more of the lines have merged, giving the appearance of detail even though a little has been lost. With other cameras interference patterns develop when the resolution limit is exceeded and these obscure the resolution lines. Our resolution chart is based upon ISO-12233 and is supplied by Applied Image Inc. This chart is suitable for use with a variety of digital camera formats including full-frame, APS-C, Four Thirds and Micro Four Thirds. Lenses Where possible (and unless stated otherwise) we use the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM with the appropriate mount on the camera to minimise variables and ensure that images from different cameras are comparable. 
| ||
| Nokia Windows Phones still on track for 2011 launch Posted: 16 Sep 2011 07:42 AM PDT  There's not been too much to write about on the Nokia Windows Phone front lately, which is always a worrying sign that a launch delay is inevitable. But Nokia is adamant that it will still be launching its first range of Windows Phones in 2011. This is according to the official Nokia Twitter account, which promises that we will see some phones in Q4, with the majority of stock coming in early 2012. "We cannot confirm local availability but the 1st Nokia w/ WP devices will ship in Q4 and with volumes in 2012," explained the tweet. Nokia Win!We've been waiting a rather long time for a Nokia Windows Phone to land - the original announcement was back in February. It wasn't until June, however, when we got a glimpse of the first Nokia Phone. Codenamed Sea Ray, the device was 'leaked' after CEO Stephen Elop showed it off at an uber-secret event. At the moment the rumoured Nokia Windows Phone UK release date is pegged for October, which is smack bang in Q4 so could still be likely. 
| ||
| Golden Joystick Awards hits one million vote mark Posted: 16 Sep 2011 07:21 AM PDT  The Gamesmaster Golden Joystick Awards 2011 have raced to a million votes in record time, with the gaming gongs attracting huge interest. TechRadar publisher Future has been running the awards for 29 years, and they have become a tentpole event in the UK gaming calendar. The flagship Ultimate Game of the Year award will be fought out by gaming giants like Gran Turismo 5, Fifa 11 Portal 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops. Great"It's great that we've already hit a million," says George Walter, Editorial Co-ordinator of the GamesMaster Golden Joysticks, presented by Alienware. "All the time we've spent engaging with different game communities and extolling the Joysticks brand through social media is paying off. "We're also seeing some surprises in the voting, with a few unexpected titles taking an early lead – it's too soon to say for sure, but we could be looking at a few upsets when the winners are announced." 
| ||
| Exclusive: Google: Web apps are not a path to paywalls Posted: 16 Sep 2011 06:53 AM PDT  Google's senior product manager for the Chrome Web Store has told TechRadar that he does not believe that web apps will become an excuse for companies to put free web content behind a paywall. Rahul Roy-Chowdhury insisted that Google's purpose is not to dictate business models, but that the web should not be penalised in terms of asking for payment for functionality. When TechRadar asked if Roy-Chowdhury felt that an increasingly successful web app world could see people move previously cost-free web content behind an app pay-wall he answered in the negative. "I don't think so," he said. "I don't see our role as being an arbiter of other people's business models. Dealer's choice"We want the web to keep very open, but we want the developers to figure out and find the optimum model, whether that is a free trial with a paid upgrade, in-app payments or whether people are fine with paying up front," he added "I think it needs to be a level playing field. If you go for a paid app model and it delivers successfully on other platforms then it should be possible to use [the same model] on the web. "The web should not be at a disadvantage." Blurring linesGiven the changing role of the browser and the power that HTML5 will bring to websites, Chowdhury is aware that the line between web app and website is blurring. "I think it's a case of knowing it when you see it," he stated. "I would say that at the moment it is a fully featured application that keeps people immersed in a task. "I would say that offline access is a key attribute and one of the tests I use personally is to see if the application can be launched in full screen." 
| ||
| HTC Bass outed - new name for Runnymede phone? Posted: 16 Sep 2011 05:19 AM PDT  The unusually named HTC Runnymede looks likely to come to the UK in the guise of the HTC Bass, if a new web posting is anything to go by. Online retailer Handtec has created a page for the HTC Bass, offering it SiIMfree and in a rather fetching white. There's no price as of yet but there's a few specs listed. The handset is said to be packing Google Android 2.3.4, has a 1.5 GHz (probably dual core) processor, 4.7-Inch screen, 16GB internal memory, 8MP rear camera and 1.3MP Camera, as well as GPS, WiFi and Bluetooth. The Beats go onThe phone also has a Beats logo, hence the reason why the handset has been given the HTC Bass moniker. Just this week, HTC unveiled its first phone to have Beats integration. The HTC Sensation XE marks the first time TechRadar has managed to listen to the Beats technology within a handset and we were impressed with the results. The tie-up with Beats all stems from HTC acquiring a 51 per cent stake in Beats Electronics in August for a cool $300 million (£190 million). 
| ||
| In Depth: What if Google bought Twitter? Posted: 16 Sep 2011 05:00 AM PDT  What if Google bought Twitter?Rumours about Google buying Twitter have been floating around for ages, with pundits suggesting that the best way for Google to get the social web would be to buy part of it. The launch of Google+ means that's less of an issue, but there are still several compelling reasons why Google might consider reaching for its chequebook. The first one is reach. While Google+ attracted more than 25 million users by August, Twitter has many more: its 300 millionth user reportedly signed up in May, and while there's a difference between having an account and actually using it there's no doubt that in terms of numbers, Twitter wins here. As the firm rolls out targeted adverts later this month - part of an ongoing strategy of building a Facebook-sized advertising business - those numbers could represent a significant amount of money. The second, and more important, reason is relevance. We're increasingly turning to the social web for product recommendations, buying advice and so on - not least because traditional search can be horrible when you're trying to find that kind of information. By making real-time search results part of Google's wider search offering, that could help differentiate good sites from bad, breaking news from old posts, buying advice from spammy pages. That's partly why Google+ integrates with Google search, but again Twitter has the big numbers here. Good for Twitter?Would it be good for Twitter? There are cost savings - Twitter would benefit from Google's infrastructure - and $8 billion to $10 billion, the price pundits predict Google would have to pay for the service, would certainly boost Twitter's bank balance. There's also scope for integration with Google's other services, such as Gmail and Google Talk, which could help boost Twitter's popularity and therefore its usefulness. Such integration might also address the key criticism of Twitter's business model: its apparent inability to make huge piles of cash from its service. As a stand-alone business, Twitter ultimately has to make stand-alone profits; as part of the low-margin, high-volume Google, it would be under considerably less financial pressure, hopefully avoiding future mis-steps such as the introduction of the infamous advertising Quick Bar. There are negatives too, however. Any deal would face detailed scrutiny from anti-trust regulators: you can be sure that rivals would scream blue murder if the king of web search attempted to become the king of social search too. There's also Google's track record to consider. It's bought social services before - Q&A service Aardvark, location-based service Dodgeball and microblogging service Jaiku - and turned reasonably successful services into failures, and it could easily do the same with Twitter. What would Google do?There are several ways Google could ruin Twitter. It could face difficulties integrating two very different companies, a problem that many firms encounter when they join forces. If it handles Twitter's integration with other services badly, it could dilute the single-minded focus on real-time chat that's made Twitter the success it is. And now that Google+ exists, Twitter could face Not Invented Here syndrome, where existing Googlers' enthusiasm is reserved for the products they created in-house rather than any perceived interloper. So are there any other potential suitors? The obvious candidates have the cash, but they also appear to have the access they need: Microsoft has just renewed its Twitter search deal for Bing, Apple has extensive Twitter integration in iOS 5, Amazon already uses the service to tweet Kindle users' book ratings and eBay won't be keen to acquire another communications firm so soon after dumping Skype. The big problem is the price tag: $10-plus billion is an enormous amount of money for a company that, as yet, isn't bringing in billions of dollars in revenues. Perhaps the best option for Google is to bring back something it already had: real-time search that included (but wasn't limited to) Twitter's "firehose" of content. Google dumped the feature back in July when its existing agreement with Twitter expired. The intention is clearly to have Google+ replace Twitter, but the former is a long way from having the reach - not to mention the population of media types and celebs - that Twitter can offer. Rather than buy Twitter, Google might be better off just buying access to it. 
| ||
| Posted: 16 Sep 2011 04:43 AM PDT  We spent some time with the HTC Titan and HTC Radar at IFA 2011, and brought your our in-depth hands on reviews, complete with a multitude of pictures and words. But if you're wondering how Windows Phone Mango actually runs on the phone, we're here to help too, with our video of both the Titan and the Radar in all their glory. One's a behemoth of a handset with a 4.7-inch screen, and the other a more 'standard' phone with a brushed aluminium chassis - which will you choose when they land in the coming months? brightcove : 1161542882001
| ||
| Bose Soundlink Wireless Mobile speaker unveiled Posted: 16 Sep 2011 04:22 AM PDT  Bose has launched a Bluetooth-enabled portable speaker as it looks to grab a slice of the growing wireless music market. The Soundlink Wireless Mobile uses the A2DP Bluetooth specification and is compatible with the iPhone, iPad and Android devices. Bose says its new speaker, which is somewhat reminiscent of an old transistor radio, will work with devices up to 10 metres away, and has reached 20 metres in tests. Those tests also included durability, with Bose claiming the Soundlink Mobile Wireless proved resistant to salt, fog, sand, wind and moisture in its labs – so there's no need to worry about taking it to Eastbourne in the middle of winter. Extra protection is provided by the unit's front cover, which doubles as its stand. Delivering the Soundlink Wireless Mobile's sonics is a quartet of Neodymium drivers for the mid-range and high frequencies, plus a pair of opposing passive radiators for bass duties.
First impressions following a demo are that the speaker is capable of going loud without distorting, and offers a decent frequency range. Other features of the Soundlink Wireless Mobile include Bose's own digital signal processing technology to polish incoming audio, and an internal memory that logs the six most recently used Bluetooth devices, meaning most times you won't have to pair your music source again. The conservative-looking gadget comes with a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery, which Bose says will last up to eight hours. It also features a 3.5mm jack for connecting non-Bluetooth devices. There are two variants of the Soundlink Wireless Mobile. The £260 basic model features a grey nylon cover, while the LX version, with dark brown leather casing, retails for £300. Accessory covers in red, purple, burgundy and tan are available with prices starting at £25. The Bose Soundlink Wirless Mobile is available now from Bose stores. 
| ||
| Exclusive: Google: Offline support making apps better online Posted: 16 Sep 2011 04:11 AM PDT  Introducing offline capability is improving Google applications' online functionality, according to Chrome Web Store senior product manager Rahul Roy-Chowdhury. One of the key complaints about the Chrome OS has been that usage of the cloud-centric operating system is hamstrung when an internet connection is missing. Therefore, apps that can be used even when offline are key additions for Chrome, and Roy-Chowdhury told TechRadar that the process of adding this kind of functionality is also having a positive affect on the applications overall. Better overall"Interestingly, although offline is very nice in and of itself – in that it allows use when not connected, having offline support is making apps better overall," said Chowdhury. "By following the dev best practices for adding offline functionality the chances are that the apps are going to be better online as well." The arrival of an offline Gmail app at the end of August is just the start for Google, with the US company keen to make the disconnected feel a little more like they can still function. 
| ||
| Google Goggles updated to auto-search your snaps Posted: 16 Sep 2011 04:01 AM PDT  Google Goggles has been given a significant upgrade, with the app now able to auto-check photos for any recognisable items – such as landmarks, paintings and other objects. This means that you no longer have to load the application up for it to work, as it will sit in the background waiting for you to take an image and then ping you if anything in your photograph matches what's in its database. While this does sound like the app has gone sentient, it will only check your photos if you let it, by going into the settings and ticking the Search From Camera box. Goggle eyedOn its blog, Google explains why we would use the new Google Goggles: "Let's say that I'm going on vacation, and I decide to use my Android-powered phone as my primary camera. "Goggles would identify landmarks, paintings and other interesting objects in my photos. I can share these facts about my vacation with my friends right from my Goggles search history." In short, Goggles will turn you into an annoying know it all who nobody will want to go on holiday with. If you are happy with that, then the new update is available now. 
| ||
| No mirrorless cameras in Amazon Top 40 Posted: 16 Sep 2011 03:51 AM PDT  Compact system cameras are failing to make a dent in the purses of Amazon shoppers, as no mirrorless models can be found in the top 40 best selling cameras in the UK, US, Germany and France. Despite the huge increase in compact system cameras currently available on the market, and the frenzy surrounding rumoured Canon and Nikon releases, no existing compact system camera models are appearing in Amazon's best seller lists. In Japan, official charts show the overall market placings of digital cameras, and these recently indicated that more than half of all cameras purchased were mirrorless models, with the new Olympus PEN E-PL3 appearing highest at no.6. In other countries however, it's harder to determine the best sellers as detailed reports are not so easily available. However, using sites such as Amazon is a good indicator of the overall market trend. It may seem surprising that the list does not include a CSC, but considering that the two major players, Canon and Nikon, are yet to enter the market, it could be that American and European consumers are waiting for these new releases. Shopping habitsIt could also be that the limited range of lenses available for compact system cameras is having an impact on shopping habits. When third party manufacturers such as Sigma, who announced it was working on some micro four thirds lenses earlier in the year, decide to make its products available, the concept of a mirrorless model may seem more attractive. On the Amazon UK site, the current best selling camera is the Panasonic Lumix FS35, a three year old budget compact model, followed by the Fujifilm Finepix S2950 bridge camera. The first DSLR to appear in the list is Nikon's entry level D3000. With the majority of the cameras in Amazon UK's top 20 falling into the "budget" end of the spectrum, this could perhaps suggest more about the buying habits of Amazon customers, with more "serious" photographers perhaps choosing to spend their cash in more established photographic outlets. A quick peek at dedicated photography stockist Warehouse Express however also shows that CSCs are not within its top 10 best sellers either, with the Nikon P300 compact topping the list followed by Nikon's enthusiast DSLR, the D7000. Interestingly, on the Amazon US site, Canon compacts dominate the top 3, with the S100 which was only announced yesterday, storming into 3rd place. 
| ||
| Video: iPhone 5 - what you need to know Posted: 16 Sep 2011 03:25 AM PDT  Every year the world goes crazy over the thought of a new mobile from Apple, and the iPhone 5 is no exception. So to help you out, we've waded through the literally hundreds of published 'facts' about the iPhone 5, and picked out the specs, dates and features we think are most likely to appear on the new handset in our iPhone 5: what you need to know. But if you're in a hurry and the idea of waiting a month to see the new phone brings you out in a cold sweat, then check out our video - all you need to know about the forthcoming iPhone 5 in 130 seconds. brightcove : 1161523880001
| ||
| Sky Go reaches 1 million download mark Posted: 16 Sep 2011 03:05 AM PDT  Sky has announced that Sky Go, its on-demand app, has reached 1 million downloads since its launch in July. The service is available through an iOS app, Xbox and desktops PCs and is a re-branding of two older Sky services: Sky Player and Sky Mobile TV. In a blog post celebrating the milestone, Sky said that over 40 million pieces of content was watched on Sky Go in August, 85 per cent of which was live channels and 15 per cent on demand. Sky StreamingSky has put the surge in demand for Sky Go down to big football matches, transfer deadline day and the recent London riots. It also explained that there is more to come from the app, with Cloud integration about to make it easier to connect to the service while on the go. "As consumers increasingly get more and more familiar with viewing TV on the go, we understand that they'll want the very best viewing experience possible," said Holly Knill, Head of Sky Player and Mobile TV. "In the future, it will become even easier for Sky customers to enjoy Sky Go on the move, thanks to our recent acquisition of The Cloud, Europe's leading network of public access Wi-Fi hotspots. "Sky Go's integration with The Cloud will allow customers to enjoy free access via thousands of wireless hotspots throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland, so they can enjoy the highest-quality streaming of the content they love while out and about." 
| ||
| Big Canon launch rumoured for November Posted: 16 Sep 2011 02:47 AM PDT  A leaked invite appears to suggest that Canon is going to unveil something 'historic' in November, but what will it be? Barely a week goes by without the rumour mill drumming up more stories about the impending release of a mirrorless camera from the 'big two' - Nikon and Canon - but this is the first time we've seen a definitive date when something will be announced. However, Canon fans are also anticipating the release of the 5D Mark III and 1DS Mark IV. The leaked invite, as reported by PhotoRumors, states that "Canon is making an historic global announcement" on November 3rd, 2011. Location location locationThe location of the event is perhaps the biggest clue as to what lies beneath. Holding an event in Hollywood suggests that Canon will be pushing the camera's video capabilities. What that camera will be is anyone's guess, but of course the 5D Mark II is well-known for its impressive video specifications, and is even used by some professional film makers in lieu of more traditional video equipment. It's also worth remembering that Canon also produces dedicated video cameras, so it could be the "4k camera" that was shown in concept at the Canon Expo last year in New York. The 4k camera includes the capability to shoot at 4096x2160 resolution at 60 frames per second, compared to the 1280x1080 resolution of full HD. There's also the possibility that November will see the launch of Canon's first compact system camera. Rumours suggest that Nikon will be debuting its mirrorless model any day now, and it seems likely that Canon will not want to miss out on the compact system market once its major competitor enters the fray. 
| ||
| Buying Guide: 5 of the best portable iPhone speakers Posted: 16 Sep 2011 02:45 AM PDT  5 of the best portable iPhone speakersWhether you're planning to go down to the park for a picnic with friends and family, or are having some people round for a barbecue, it's nice to add to the ambiance with a bit of background music. We've picked five portable sound systems and put them through their paces to see which makes the best outdoor companion. They're all battery powered and are designed to be portable, so many come with a carry case, strap or handle. But each has its own strengths that may make it perfect for you, so just because we pick a single winner, don't simply ignore the others - we've chosen these five in particular from a long list of possible contenders, so they're all worth your consideration. Battery-powered docks aren't your only option, of course. You can get speakers that draw their power from your iOS device, such as the £25 Griffin Travel Speaker. Then there are several passive iPhone holders available, which boost the sound coming from its built-in speaker without the need for batteries. However, passive amplifiers have the disadvantage that the sound they're boosting isn't great in the first place - not a patch on the audio you'll get from a proper speaker dock like these. Oh, and if the great British weather doesn't hold for you, none of these are waterproof… Altec Lansing Orbit MP3 IM227 - £25
Gear4 Explorer-SP - £50
Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere 2 - £80
Logitech S715i - £95
Sony RDP-X80iP - £120
The five on test are all battery powered, four from internal cells you charge from the mains, the last on three AAAs. This, along with the fact that we've chosen them with portability in mind, means you can easily take them out of the house and power up your tunes. Portable iPhone speakers testedTest one: Sound qualityWhile it's important that these speakers are easy to carry around, you don't want something that makes your music sound rubbish. The good news is that none of these five commits crimes against music. But the old adage of getting what you pay for rings true, with the costlier speakers pushing out the best sound. At the top end of our price range, the Sony is our joint favourite for the audio it produces. The bass really complements the crisp mid and high ranges, giving a depth to your songs without overpowering things. Better still, there's a built-in equaliser with five presets you can use to tweak the sound, and it'll go plenty loud enough to provide the soundtrack to your picnic or garden party. Cheaper soundsIf you're not keen on shelling out £120 for the Sony, you can come down the price scale here without sacrificing too much in the way of sound quality. The cheaper Logitech S715i is equally impressive, providing a detailed overall picture with nicely defined bass plus clarity at the higher end. Pushing up the volume isn't a problem for it, either. There's no built-in EQ, but don't forget you can still use your iPhone or iPod's presets. Coming down to the cheaper of the two Logitechs, the sound does take a knock, the treble being noticeably muddier in comparison to the S715i, though the bass remains well-defined. So for the £80 price tag, you're still getting a very good sound system - remember you're not going to be listening to both in quick succession like we have, which serves to highlight such differences. It's got a 3D sound option too, which does a reasonably good job of giving the audio more depth, at the cost of some clarity. And like the Sony and Logitech S715i, it's plenty loud enough. Likewise, the Gear4's got the power to go nice and loud, though we noticed that the bass did start to distort as you got the higher volumes. At normal listening levels, however, the overall picture is nicely balanced. We found it was improved by switching on the 3D setting, which helps pick out the treble a bit better. And finally we come to the little Altec Lansing Orbit speaker. We have to admit that we thought long and hard about whether it was fair to include such a dramatically different product alongside some of these audio heavyweights, but as soon as we heard it, we knew it deserved its place in this group test. Okay, something this small is never going to be able to go all that loud (though you'd be surprised by how much noise it can produce), and you aren't going to get any real bass of note, but the overall picture you get is far more detailed than we'd expected from such a small speaker, and spoken word is clean and crisp, making this a great choice if you want to listen to a sports match while you're in the park. Verdict
Test two: PortabilityThree things matter here: size, weight and robustness. The smaller and lighter the dock is, the less of a pain it's going to be to lug around the place. The Sony is both big and heavy - far from ideal for taking to the park or beach, but fine for in the garden. Ditto the Logitech S715i. The Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere 2 and Gear4 strike a good balance between size and weight, but the Logitech wins. Without question, the most portable here is the Altec Lansing, though we were concerned the cable grip could damage the wire over time and that the power switch could get pressed in your bag rather too easily. The plastic grilles behind the Gear4's material mesh feel a bit flimsy - not a dealbreaker, but less robust than all the others. Verdict
Test three: Extra featuresBecause these speaker docks are all portable, they come with helpful extras to aid you when taking them out and about. When you buy the Gear4 or either Logitech model, you get a soft carry pouch in the box, which protects the dock to a certain extent when you're flinging it carelessly into your bag as you're rushing out the door. They're simple, and reasonably effective at protecting the dock from scrapes, but don't have carry handles to speak of. One nice touch of the Pure-Fi Anywhere 2 is that its power adapter is designed to fit in the docking bay inside the pouch while you're transporting it. The tiny Altec Lansing doesn't bother with a case and makes do with just a wrist strap for carrying it, while Sony has gone for a grip handle cutout in the back of the dock, making it easy to pick up quickly. All bar the Altec Lansing have some form of on-board controls, from the Logitech S715i's basic volume buttons to the Sony's more sophisticated touch controls for your music. To complement these buttons, all except the Altec Lansing have remote controls. You might wonder why you'd want to take a remote on a picnic to zap a dock that's only a few feet away from you, but they do give more control options than what's on the docks themselves. They're also good when you're having a barbecue, so that you can skip songs playing through your device on the terrace when you're cooking down the bottom of the garden. And don't forget that these speakers aren't just for use outdoors - when you bring them inside, the remote's a nice addition if you don't want to get up from the sofa. Lastly, none of these speakers are limited to iOS devices either. All have standard 3.5mm aux-in capability so you can plug in other phones or MP3 players, though in most cases you'll need your own cabling. Verdict
And the best portable iPhone speakers are...Gear4 Explorer-SP - £50
As we said right at the start, these five docks all have their strengths and are worthy of your consideration. Which you decide to spend your money on has to depend on where you plan to use it. If you're just after something you can fling in a bag and take with you everywhere so that you can enjoy your tunes whenever you fancy, look no further than the Altec Lansing. It won't weigh you down or take up much room in your bag, and because it's so cheap, you'll likely be less worried about it getting damaged or stolen. But sound-wise, we wanted more than you can get from such a small box. On that front, there's little to choose between the Sony and the Logitech S715i, both of which do a sterling job. But equally, we mustn't forget we're testing picnic speakers, which can't be too heavy, given all the other paraphernalia you're likely to want to take along with you. The Logitech S715i and the Sony are too heavy for us to recommend as true picnic speakers. However, for something around the house, we can't recommend either of these highly enough. In fact, the S715i is now in our Tap! Top 10 list of accessories for your device. And so we're left with the cheaper (and, crucially, lighter) of the two Logitechs and the even cheaper, if slightly heavier, Gear4. On a pure audio basis, we felt the Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere 2 picked out the bass better, but then we loved the crispness of the treble coming from the Gear4, especially in 3D mode. Not a great deal to choose between them there, then. But because these speakers are going to be taken out and about, you don't want one that's so expensive you're going to be worrying about it constantly. Ultimately, then, for summer picnics and barbeques, the Gear4 balances portability, sound quality and price. 
| ||
| Posted: 16 Sep 2011 02:00 AM PDT  The U2412M from Dell might look like a P2411H Professional series, but there's one important difference: it's an IPS screen, not a TN. That means better colour representation, better viewing angle and a higher price. Screen types are seldom highlighted by manufacturers but they are the single biggest deciding factor in your screen's image quality. The question is: why pay more for IPS? Class is now in session. Crystals in in-plane switching (or IPS) screens are aligned horizontally between two oppositely polarised glass substrates, rather than the vertical arrangement of crystal rods found in Twisted Nematic panels (TN). In IPS screens, crystals are kept parallel in a lateral electric field, whereas in TN panels they untwist when voltage is applied, and their alignment alters as they drift from the anchored electrode. This hinders the flow of the bulb light and the contrast and colour representation as you look at the screen from wider angles than head-on. IPS vs. TNIPS panels are capable of true 1000:1 contrast ratio: that's the difference between the whitest white and darkest black to you and me. TN panels often boast a 'dynamic contrast ratio' of 8000:1, which is much higher than an IPS screen, but that doesn't mean the contrast's eight times better; in fact it's worse. As TN screens change from deep dark colours to bright whites, the contrast adjusts automatically, temporarily changing the contrast setting to allow the deeper colours through. The result is an often irritating visible colour adjustment that grates and has anyone of rightmind and seeing-eye reaching to turn it off. Ready… draw!After dragging TN panels through the mud, it's worth highlighting their advantages. First, they are a lot cheaper to produce because they require half the transistors per pixel that an IPS screen requires. Second, they produce much quicker response times; 2ms isn't an unusual figure for a good TN screen, while IPS panels struggle to get under 8ms. Is it worth paying more for all the IPS niceties then? When they come in a package like this Dell U2412M, absolutely. The screen and panel look very similar to Dell's flagship U3011H 30-inch screen, and like the £1,000 model, this U2412M is vertically adjustable and can be flipped to portrait orientation. The depth of blacks and brightness of whites onscreen is instantly noticeable, and as we put the U2412M through it's paces using some high-colour HD video, it didn't disappoint, rendering the full 16.7 million colours of the RGB spectrum. There are also a good range of menu options, such as clock and phase that we don't often see in affordable panels, though the U2412 didn't automatically adjust its orientation as we flipped it from landscape to portrait. As for an IPS's Achilles heel: response time, yes it's noticeable through rigorous benchmarking, but you won't notice the difference to a TN's response while you're gaming. That makes the U2412M a winner. It's a well-built, affordable and adjustable IPS panel. 
| ||
| Week in Tech: Windows 8 reception proves positive Posted: 16 Sep 2011 02:00 AM PDT  It's been a big, big, big, big week for Windows fans: Microsoft has finally unveiled its forthcoming Windows 8, the most significant upgrade since we went from Windows 3.x to Windows 95. There's a new user interface, called Metro; support for new hardware, including ARM-powered tablets; massively improved performance and boot times; and proper touchscreen support. Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky is the president of the Windows division, and he sat down with Mary Branscombe to explain the big picture: "We envision an operating system that scales from small form factor keyboard-less tablets all the way up to the high end," he told us in an exclusive interview. "It's an incredibly bold vision and one we're executing on." Windows 8 isn't a cut-down Windows; your Windows 7 apps will run quite happily. "We looked around and we don't see these apps being replaced by something else," Sinofsky says. "The technology that produced these is not an accident; people have problems to solve and they developed tools to solve those problems." The exception is on ARM-powered devices such as Tegra tablets, which won't support older Windows apps. "Those apps don't take advantage of all the things that make ARM a unique offering," Sinofsky says. "The reason you use the ARM chip is that you want great power management, like Connected Standby. An x86 app doesn't respect standby so the app is going to just drain the battery." A new MicrosoftWindows 8 isn't just a new operating system: it's a new Microsoft too. That's what CEO Steve Ballmer reckons, anyway. "If Windows 8 is Windows reimagined, we're also in the process, and Windows 8 is an important step of that, of reimagining Microsoft," he said, giving us a great excuse to dig out footage of the legendary "Developers! Developers! Developers!" shout-fest. Windows 8 certainly sounds impressive, but what's it actually like in the real world? We sent tech guru Mary Branscombe to kick Windows' tyres, to check for blue smoke on start-up and to poke it with her special software spanners in our Hands on: Windows 8 review. Her verdict? "At this stage there are certainly rough edges, but the Windows 8 experience is also extremely compelling and genuinely innovative." We'd strongly recommend reading the whole article, which covers everything from Windows 8 hardware to handwriting recognition. Belgium vs spoonsOf course, Windows doesn't exist in isolation: it's in a world where Windows 7 is enormously popular, and where Mac OS X Lion is tempting people away from the Windows world. How does Windows 8 stack up in that company? Gary Marshall fired up the TechRadar Compare-O-Meter: "Windows 7 was really Windows Vista done properly, but the move to Windows 8 is something else entirely," he says. "If you currently own and like Windows 7, we think you'll want to upgrade." But is it better than Lion? "That's a bit like asking whether Belgium is better than spoons, or whether jazz is better than chess," Marshall says. "The two OSes are designed to do very different things... what we think Windows 8 has that Windows 7 perhaps didn't is the wow factor, the iPad-y desirability that Apple fans know so well. It's early code and it's still evolving, but from what we've seen so far we're very excited." If you're excited too, you don't need to wait until 2012 to get your hands on Windows 8: you can download the developer preview of Windows 8 right now, for free, although of course we wouldn't recommend running it on any critical kit. To find out where to get it, how to install it and what to watch out for, check out our in-depth Windows 8 installation guide. 
| ||
| Review: PC Specialist Vortex M59 OC Posted: 16 Sep 2011 01:30 AM PDT  So PC Specialist, what have we here with the Vortex M59 OC? An overclocked Core i5 2500K? Why, a system with a CPU specification like that puts you in some pretty illustrious company: there's Chillblast's Fusion Rocket for starters. Chillblast's overclocked 2500K runs at 4.5 GHz, which is 300MHz slower than this rig, but then it's also £150 cheaper. There's also our new favourite Core i5 system, the AT-FX Polaris. Inside that rig lies a 2500K overclocked to 4.8 GHz, matching PC Specialist's rig. It costs nearly £300 more, but there are several luxurious higher specified components inside to justify that. The Vortex M59 OC fits neatly in between the two at £899. It's certainly a smart price point, but how does it compare to these two 2500K-equipped rivals? Would you be better off going for the cheaper or higher specified option, or does this rig offer a happy middle ground? Well, let's look at the specs beyond that CPU. First, it's air cooled by a Titan Fenrir Evo. Approaching the £1,000 point, you might expect to see a water cooling unit, but PC Specialist has managed a big CPU overclock on air cooling, and that's fine by us; it is a good cooling unit after all. We've no grumbles so far. Next, let's look at the memory. The Vortex has 4GB of Kingston HyperX 1,600MHz DDR3 RAM occupies this rig, and it performed very well in our memory bandwidth test, posting 20.76 GB/s, which is as quick as we've seen from a 4GB kit. That'll help any CPU-intensive tasks, such as video encoding, as well as loading times. Chillblast's Fusion Rocket's 4GB kit doesn't have the throughput that these HyperX modules have, whereas up there in the Polaris's lofty heights, there's 8GB on offer. It still doesn't beat the Vortex's RAM in sheer GB/s, but having double the capacity is useful too. The RAM, like the CPU and cooler, do demonstrate a happy middle ground - so far so good. This is a gaming rig, and gaming performance is all about graphics cards. Choosing the right card in a densely populated market is important to a system's overall value, and those crucial frames per second in your favourite games. PC Specialist's solution: Nvidia's GTX 570. In a world of rigs powered by HD 6950s and GTX 580s, the GTX 570 is a rarity. They were quite expensive on launch, just shy of £300 for a Fermi card with largely the same layout as the GTX 480 but without that insatiable thirst for electricity. Just one stream processor away from the GTX 580, the 480 CUDA cores are still capable of high resolution, high frame rates, but a reduced 1.2GB of memory leaves it trailing way behind the GTX 580's impressive pace. TechRadar Labs
DX11 tessellation performance DX10 gaming performance CPU rendering performance The price has been slashed since the GTX 570's release, making it a very appealing – you guessed it – middle ground between the 560 Ti and the full-blown 580. Sitting in this rig, it provides enough grunt to keep frame rates over 40fps at 1080p. Our only reservation with the Vortex is the lack of an extra that the very best systems have. There's no SSD, the mobo is mid-range... not big problems, nor a rip-off at all, but the market is that tight. 
| ||
| Posted: 16 Sep 2011 01:15 AM PDT  OverviewIf there's one thing you can usually rely on LG to deliver somewhere in its TV range each year, it's groundbreakingly low pricing. The brand has already exploded the pricing of active 3D plasma technology with its PW450 series, including TVs such as the LG 42PW450T. Now it seems as if it might be trying to do the same thing for edge LED, courtesy of the LG 42LV450U. This 42-inch edge-lit TV costs only a trio of tenners over £500, and is selling for slightly less than this at times. However, it quickly becomes apparent that the LG 42LV450U might not be the bolt-on bargain it first appears. While it's a decent-looking, nicely built TV for the price, with its slender rear and glossy, glamorous bezel, it's certainly not overburdened with features. When it comes to multimedia support, for instance, the absence of a LAN port means you're restricted to playback of photo, music and MPEG-4/DivX movie files from USB flash drives. There's no DLNA PC connectivity or access to LG's online features. The lack of a LAN port also reveals that the TV doesn't even have a Freeview HD tuner. It does have one or two tricks up its sleeve, though, including LG's so-called 400Hz MCI motion processing, and enough picture set-up tools to earn the endorsement of the Imaging Science Foundation. Also available in LG's LV450U range are bigger brother the 47-inch 47LV450U, little sister the 37-inch 37LV450U and the baby of the range, the 32-inch 32LV450U. If you fancy adding Smart TV functionality and a Freeview HD tuner to your LG mix, you're looking at stepping up to the LV550T range and the LG 42LV550T model. Below the LV450U series are the LV355U models, which remarkably still use edge LED lighting despite being even cheaper. Even more startlingly, they also have a Freeview HD tuner built in. They don't, however, have the LG 42LV450U's 400Hz engine. Features
There seems little choice but to kick off this section of our review by talking about things the LG 42LV450U does NOT do. Tough to take, even at the LG 42LV450U's deflated price point, is its lack of a Freeview HD tuner. Such tuners are increasingly considered standard issue on all but the most utterly basic of TVs. This point is underlined by the fact that the next model down in LG's LCD TV range carries a Freeview HD tuner. Also missed is any sort of Smart TV functionality. LG's 2011 online service has come a long way from last year's fairly insubstantial NetCast platform, so it's a shame not to have access to even a small section of its many charms. But then the LG 42LV450U doesn't even have a LAN port, so going online with it was never likely to be an option. The absence of a LAN also means there's no facility for streaming files from a DLNA PC – another feature LG has got rather good at with some of its other TVs, now that it's ironed out teething troubles with its PLEX multimedia server system. For form's sake, it should be pointed out that the LG 42LV450U also doesn't support 3D playback, be it active or LG's preferred passive flavour. But this is no surprise on a sub-£550 TV, given that 3D technology is still generally commanding a fairly significant premium. Despite lacking a couple of fairly commonplace tools, the 42-inch LG 42LV450U's feature cupboard isn't completely bare. Its edge LED lighting is arguably a feature in itself when put in the context of the screen's low price – and it inevitably helps the TV look very slender and attractive.
Also, while its connections don't run to a LAN port, they do include at least a little multimedia support in the shape of a single USB port through which you can play JPEG photo, MP3 audio and DivX video files. The DivX support extends to HD files too, although overall file compatibility is some way short of that enjoyed by LG's DLNA-capable TVs. Alongside the USB port are a respectable three HDMI ports and, unexpectedly, an RS-232 port with which the TV can be integrated into a full home cinema system. It's a bit surprising to find that many of the LG 42LV450U's connections face straight out of the TV's rear rather than allowing you to insert your cables from the side, since this means it's going to be much harder to mount the TV on the wall. Mind you, research suggests that precious few of us actually bother to put our flat TVs on the wall anyway. Finding motion processing on a TV of the LG 42LV450U's lowly price is a boon – even if the 400Hz MCI system LG uses doesn't actually deliver a 400Hz refresh rate. Rather the number is derived – in what's becoming an increasingly common if unhelpful practice – from a combination of native refresh rate, scanning backlight and frame interpolation processing. The LG 42LV450U's on-screen menus offer an impressive degree of image manipulation for such an affordable set. But then you'd expect this, given that the TV's been officially endorsed by the Imaging Science Foundation (ISF). This endorsement means that you can pay one of the ISF's trained representatives to come around and calibrate the TV with separate night and day settings specifically designed to suit your particular room environment. Key among the adjustments available – and doubtless playing a big part in the ISF endorsement – are a reasonably full colour management system, a number of different gamma settings and fine-tuning of the white balance. The set also provides plenty of more minor processing tools, such as an edge enhancer, black level booster and noise reduction systems. But we strongly urge you to only use most of these smaller processing tools under extreme circumstances, especially if you're watching HD TV, because – as is so often the case – many of them can actually reduce the quality of a strong source image rather than improve it. Picture quality
Given its relatively low feature count, the LG 42LV450U really needs to nail the picture quality section of this review if it's to follow through on its on-paper bargain potential. Unfortunately, though, while it tries hard in some ways, its picture quality doesn't ultimately stand out from the budget hordes as much as it needs to. The TV is at its best, predictably, when showing bright high-definition sources; especially animated stuff such as the Blu-rays of Toy Story 3 and Rango. With this sort of material, the customary rich colours and high brightness associated with edge LED technology are able to shine – literally. Given that many cheap flatscreen TVs tend to carry slightly wan colours and muted brightness levels, this edge-LED fuelled dynamism will likely win the set quite a few fans among people perusing the crowded shelves of their local high street electrical store. It also makes the TV a potentially winning option for rooms that tend to be quite bright. However, the dynamism and brightness also seem to be hiding weaknesses elsewhere – more on this in a minute. First, though, there's another surprising strength of the LG 42LV450U's pictures to report: their sharpness, at least when showing HD pictures. Fine detail levels are high, edges are crisp without using the optional edge enhancement system (this tends to over-stress edges, in fact) and motion reproduction is pretty solid by budget TV standards. There is certainly some loss of resolution over moving objects, but it's not bad at all, and doesn't tend to get so severe that the picture becomes overtly smeary. You can reduce this slight resolution loss via the HD TV's TruMotion processing option. However, be prepared to pay a price for this in the shape of processing-related side effects such as smudging around the edges of moving objects, and the appearance of what look like 'skipped frames' if the action is particularly fast paced.
Because of these sorts of issues, you're probably best to leave the TruMotion system off for most of the time. These things boil down to personal taste, though, so don't be afraid to try the processing out for yourself. LG has provided the facility to fine-tune TruMotion's activities by manually adjusting the relative 'power' of its separate judder and blur components. While the LG 42LV450U's strengths initially make it an engaging TV to watch, if you look a little deeper you start to see some problems behind the surface gloss. The biggest of these by far concerns the set's black level depth. Using the TV's default presets, dark scenes tend to look greyed over and, as a result, rather flat and hollow. You can get a more convincing black colour if you really crank down the set's brightness and backlight settings. But by the time you've taken so much brightness out of the picture that blacks look black, shadow detail has been crushed into oblivion, and the rest of the picture has become too dull for use in all but the darkest of environments. There is a little good news concerning the LG 42LV450U's dark scene reproduction, though, in that the backlighting seems pretty even across the whole screen; there aren't the pools of extra brightness towards the screen's edges that characterise an unfortunate number of edge LED TVs. The TV doesn't have local dimming, either, which is actually a good thing, since it means you don't get the blocks of light inconsistency around bright objects that you can get with locally dimmed edge LED models. Another area where the LG 42LV450U's low price can be seen in its picture performance is its standard definition playback. The 42-inch TV's upscaling doesn't do a particularly good job of either suppressing noise in low quality standard definition sources or adding sharpness, especially as there's a slight increase in the amount of resolution lost over motion. This all makes the TV's lack of Freeview HD tuner feel all the more painful, of course. One last negative of the pictures finds the TV screen's contrast reducing quite dramatically if you have to watch it from any significant viewing angle. But to be fair, this is true of almost every other LCD TV, too. Sound, value and ease of use |
 |  |
Exclusive: Google: Windows 8 App Store not competition for Chrome Web Store
Posted: 16 Sep 2011 01:07 AM PDT
Google's Rahul Roy-Chowdhury has told TechRadar that he does not believe Windows 8's app store will be competition for the Chrome Web Store.
Roy-Chowdhury, speaking to TechRadar at the launch of local Chrome Web Stores for the UK and 23 other countries, had seen the integrated store within Windows 8, but was not worrying unduly.
"I've seen what's available but I don't see it as a rival or something to compare [the Chrome Web Store] with," he said.
Another channel
"With the Chrome Web Store we are not trying to be exclusive, but with apps like the BBC Good Food offering we're just keen for people to discover it," added Roy-Chowdhury
"The web store is just one distribution channel that people can access and the goal is not to lock things down to one distribution channel."
Another thing that is designed to be simplified but not locked down in Chrome's Web Store is the payment system.
Roy-Chowdhury insists that making using Google Checkout simpler within the store is not designed to lock devs into that particular payment mechanism, but merely to give them an elegant solution.
"The way I see the payment issue is that we want to make it easy for users with Google Checkout," he added. "But we are adding that as a benefit and not a requirement.
"Developers can use their own payment system or an integrated checkout system and we would like people to choose which provides the better experience."
| |
Cheap BlackBerry Playbooks incoming
Posted: 15 Sep 2011 09:09 PM PDT
RIM has hinted that it will cut price of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet in a bid to combat poor sales.
During a profitable, but worryingly below par, quarterly earnings report, the Waterloo-based company admitted it had only shipped (not sold) 200,000 units of the PlayBook.
Now, the device could go the way of the HP TouchPad, which saw a dramatic bargain hunt when the company opted to cut its WebOS loses and reduce the tablet to just £89.
"In addition to the inventory on RIM's balance sheet, there is inventory in the channel that we will work through with our partners to sell through over the coming months," said CFO Brian Bidulka during a conference call.
Q2 woes sees profits slide
Despite posting net profits of $329m and earnings of $4.2bn for the second financial quarter of 2011, RIM's stock price took a battering due to the earnings being at the low-end of estimates.
CEO Mike Lazaridis also added that the BlackBerry Playbook sales were "well below expectations" but says the product remains in its infancy and RIM still expects it to perform well.
He says the new sales initiative will be coupled with more software updates, which will hopefully see RIM release the long-promised player that makes some Android apps compatible with the device.
So, do we expect a TouchPad-like fire sale as RIM bids to shift some of the inventory hanging over its neck? No. However, better deals will be out there for those on the look-out for a cut-price tablet.
After all, there's no telling how many of those 200,000 "shipped" PlayBooks are currently in the hands of consumers. Not enough, by the sounds of things.
Link: WSJ
| |
Purported iPhone 5 case suggests big redesign
Posted: 15 Sep 2011 12:46 PM PDT
The race to uncover the new iPhone 5 took a new twist today when accessories manufacturer Case-Mate posted a gallery of new cases promising a radical new form factor
The cases suggest that the hotly-anticipated new iPhone device will boast a curved aluminium back, very similar to the iPad 2's design.
The gallery featuring the cases has now been taken down and replaced by a holding page.
Pinch of salt
While it's interested to see more impressions of what the fifth generation iPhone 5 could look like, it's important not to get too carried away.
iPhone case manufacturers have been successful in predicting designs before now (through illegal means, we might add), so it's not out of the realms of possibility that Case-Mate has the inside scoop.
However, stories continue to emerge asserting with the same conviction that the next iPhone will or will not undergo any design overhaul.
Just today, reports of emerged that the iPhone 5 will have an "elongated home button", which is a new one on us.
Without making any accusations, it also seems fair to assume that the publication of this story has seen Case-Mate enjoy higher than usual traffic than on a regular business day. Just saying.
| |
| 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