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• Nikon D800 pictures outed
• 55-inch OLED TVs from Samsung and LG to hit CES 2012?
• Updated: Windows 8 tablets: what you need to know
• Google using Chrome browser to flog Chromebooks
• Thicker iPad 3 slated for 2012?
• Updated: Google: Flash for Ice Cream Sandwich yet to be released
• Updated: Google: Flash for Ice Cream Sandwich yet to be released
• In Depth: 9 growing threats to the success of Windows 8
• In Depth: 9 growing threats to the success of Windows 8
• Bang & Olufsen woos women with 'female interaction' study
• Review: Motorola Razr
• Review: Motorola Razr
• Bang & Olufsen woos women with 'female interaction' study
• Bang & Olufsen woos women with 'female interaction' study
• Review: Motorola Razr
• Google: Flash for Ice Cream Sandwich yet to be released
• HTC Quattro release date set for March 2012?
• HTC Quattro release date set for March 2012?
• HTC Quattro release date set for March 2012?
• Nintendo 3DS strategy to focus on non-core gamers
• Nintendo 3DS strategy to focus on non-core gamers
• Nintendo 3DS strategy to focus on non-core gamers
• EU: Millions spent on copyright hasn't cut piracy
• EU: Millions spent on copyright hasn't cut piracy

Nikon D800 pictures outed Posted: 21 Nov 2011 08:10 AM PST Supposed pictures of the upcoming Nikon D800 have been leaked to NikonRumors, and show the camera is slightly smaller than its predecessor, the Nikon D700. The D800 has been anticipated for release from Nikon for several months, with several rumours circulating that the recent floods in Thailand have pushed back the official announcement date. Specs have been emerging from the upcoming camera for several months now, with the new pictures revealing little that wasn't already known. A 36 million pixel sensor is thought to be on board, along with 4fps continuous shooting and full HD video recording in 30p. If reports are to believed, the Nikon D800 has been extremely unlucky in coming to the market, first affected by the Japanese earthquake and recently affected by the Thailand floods. Nikon has one of its key factories in the affected area of Thailand, and has suffered profit losses as a result of the damage caused. Key specs Other specs of the D800 include a larger display, dual Compact Flash and SD card memory slots, an autofocus system identical to the D3 and D700 and a sensitivity range of 100-6400, expandable down to ISO 50 and up to ISO HI-2 at 25,600. Some reports have also suggested that there will be two versions of the D800, one with the anti-aliasing filter removed. It seems likely however that even if this were true, they would share the same body construction and shape. Keep following for more news on the upcoming Nikon D800 as it emerges.

55-inch OLED TVs from Samsung and LG to hit CES 2012? Posted: 21 Nov 2011 07:58 AM PST Both LG and Samsung may be ready to showcase big-screen OLED TVs at CES 2012. The two companies are reportedly gunning for the pre-Olympics battle to get their biggest and best TVs into the world's living rooms. LG has already said that it will launch a 55-inch OLED television in 2012, although LG Display CEO Kwon Young-soo reckoned that it would land in the second half of the year, missing London 2012 by a whisker. OLED-ympics But rumoured competition from Samsung and promise of serious sales inspired by the Olympic Games may have spurred LG on to get the sets out slightly earlier. However, LG already warned that its production run of large-scren OLED TVs will be low, and prices will no doubt be sky high and we can't see Samsung's offerings being any cheaper. Still, with the Olympics kicking off in July 2012, there's still plenty of time to win the lottery between now and then.

Updated: Windows 8 tablets: what you need to know Posted: 21 Nov 2011 07:20 AM PST WIndows 8 tablets: what you need to know Microsoft's been pushing tablet computers for the best part of a decade, so you can imagine how happy the iPad's success makes them. But Microsoft doesn't give up easily, and Windows 8 tablets will be one of the big tech stories in 2012. So what's Steve Ballmer going to be shouting about when he shows them off? Windows 8 tablets will have the new Metro interface As we saw from the Windows 8 preview, Windows 8 tablets will have a marvellous new interface that looks rather like Win dows Phone 7, called Metro. "Fast, fluid and dynamic, the experience has been transformed while keeping the power, flexibility and connectivity of Windows intact," says Microsoft's head of Windows Experience Julie Larson-Green. "Although the new user interface is designed and optimized for touch, it works equally well with a mouse and keyboard. Our approach means no compromises — you get to use whatever kind of device you prefer, with peripherals you choose, to run the apps you love. This is sure to inspire a new generation of hardware and software development, improving the experience for PC users around the world." But the process hasn't been without difficulty for Microsoft. It has had to defend the decisions it made with the Start Menu in Windows 8. In late October 2011, Microsoft was also forced to talk about how Windows 8 tablets would deal with portrait orientations - all the demonstrations thus far have been of Windows 8 tablets in landscape. Windows 8 tablets' release date In December 2011, the New York Times wrote that Microsoft would unveil tablets running Windows 8 at CES 2011 in January, which proved to be incorrect. The NYT credited an unnamed source for the leak, which suggests that Microsoft's keynote will be enlivened by the arrival of the next generation of Windows, as well as Samsung and Dell tablets. As it turned out, no Windows 8 tablets were shown at the show. However, the Windows 8 release date may be sooner than you think.A Windows 8 beta surfaced at Build, a developer conference being held by Microsoft in September and we may be looking at a mid-2012 release. Windows 8 tablets manufacturers A Samsung Windows 8 tablet was shown off at Microsoft's Build conference on 13 September 2011. Check out our Hands on: Windows 8 tablet review After it confirmed that it was to keep making PCs in late October 2011, HP also said it would be making Windows 8 tablets. It has also been widely reported that Dell is pinning its hopes on Windows 8 and that it will be laiunching tablet products fgeaturing the OS. On 9 May 2011, we reported on a rumour of a forthcoming Nokia Windows 8 tablet. The info comes from phone commentator Eldar Murtazin, who wrote on the Mobile Review forum that Nokia will launch a tablet in 2012, possibly pushed back to 2013. Nokia said at October 2011's Nokia World that Windows 8 represents a "broader opportunity" for the company, (reported byTechCrunch). Nokia CEO Stephen Elop later said that the company was looking at the tablet market and is considering just how to take on the might of the iPad. "There's a new tablet opportunity coming... Unquestionably, that will change the dynamics [of the tablet market]." It would appear the Nokia Windows 8 tablet could be slated for June 2012. A leaked slide from Netbooknews.de indicates that Asus will begin selling Windows 8 tablets in Q3 2012. Windows 8 tablets will have a lot of support During an earnings call in mid August, Nvidia's Jen-Hsun Huang also said: I'm very bullish about Windows 8," said Jen-Hsun, "I think it's going to be an amazing operating system. Windows 8 tablets and Windows 8 clam shells that Tegra is going into, I hope will translate into real growth for our company in the second half of next year." "We're not leading the charge on Windows 8, but as we become comfortable that [Windows 8] is a viable ecosystem [and] that the quality of innovation and quality of services and quality of capabilities [are] being delivered there, we will certainly be open to that," he said in response to a question. Motorola has also said it is "completely open to Windows as a platform" according to Cnet. Australian site Smarthouse.au claims some vendors will even move away from Android tablets in favour of Windows 8. Windows 8 tablets will be thin and light While Dell makes some unusually shaped tablets already, the Samsung tablet is "similar in size and shape to the Apple iPad, although it is not as thin." Unlike the iPad, "it also includes a unique and slick keyboard that slides out from below for easy typing." Some Windows 8 tablets will be designed for business "The company believes there is a huge market for business people who want to enjoy a slate for reading newspapers and magazines and then work on Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint while doing work," the NYT says, quoting the inevitable "person familiar with the company's tablet plans". Windows 8 tablets will have apps and an app store Apps are a big part of Windows 8, with Microsoft convinced that "app development will move to the web" and building a Windows Store with manufacturer-specific entrances. Again, we saw a lot more detail on this from the Windows 8 preview. There have also been some leaked Windows 8 tablet apps. Windows 8 tablet specifications aren't strange or startling We'd expect Windows 8 tablets to have similar specifications to other iPad rivals such as the Galaxy Tab or BlackBerry Playbook, essentially netbooks in a different form factor: a gigahertz processor, a gigabyte of RAM, 802.11b/g/n wireless and multitouch capacitive displays. Expect lots of connectivity too, with USB ports a key selling point. Windows 8 tablets will run on ARM, Intel and AMD chips On 18 May 2011, Intel confirmed that there will be separate editions of Windows 8 that run on ARM processors as well as standard x86 processors from Intel and AMD - all companies involved are serious about tablets, though ARM has stolen a lead; all major tablets on the market are ARM-based. The x86 versions of Windows 8 will feature a Windows 7 compatibility mode, while ARM versions won't. But, as we've written, the different processor variants may pose a problem for Microsoft. Windows 8 tablet prices should be similar to Android ones Windows 8 tablets will be up against iPads, Android tablets and Chrome OS netbooks, so if they're not priced very aggressively they're going to be a tough sell.

Google using Chrome browser to flog Chromebooks Posted: 21 Nov 2011 06:55 AM PST Google has started to use its popular Chrome browser to try to sell Chromebooks for the Christmas period. The simple adverts have been showing up at the top of the Google Chrome homepage as Google tries to push the Chrome OS-fuelled notebooks. Currently only Acer and Samsung have made Chromebooks, with the latter far and away the dominant manufacturer. Simplicity Although the notebooks have won praise for simplicity and the speed in which a user can be up and running, the offline features remain a major sticking point as TechRadar's Samsung Chromebook review suggests. A pop-up shop in a PC World and Currys superstore in London's Tottenham Court Road garnered a nice bit of publicity, but Chromebooks cannot be accused of being over-hyped since their launch. In truth, as offline functionality is added to Chrome OS, it becomes a more viable alternative to Windows, although key products like Google Docs' usefulness without a connection are still severely limited. Google's Chrome browser is going from strength to strength, however, and with the apps becoming more prominent within it, and the decision to advertise Chromebooks, there may be light at the end of the tunnel for those who believe that the potential of a cloud-based computer strategy is high. But can Chromebooks come good? Find out what we think in our video below: brightcove : 1261970660001

Thicker iPad 3 slated for 2012? Posted: 21 Nov 2011 06:53 AM PST After years of paring our smartphones and tablets down to the thinnest possible dimensions, Apple could launching a thicker iPad 3 and a larger iPhone 5 in 2012. The iPad 3 is bulking-out reportedly so it can house a higher-resolution display than the iPad 2 and the extra girth is all down to pixel density. As we previously reported, the higher pixel-density that Apple is apparently insisting on is going to cause some brightness issues. Another source previously claimed that the company will add dual LED light bars to counteract this, and this new rumour that the company is increasing the slate's thickness by 0.7mm could see that hold true. Lite Brite The iPad 3 release date should be around March some time (as usual), although the source reckons it "could be publicly shown as early as January". Presumably it will rock out the old 'I'm still carrying a bit of holiday weight' excuse if so. Back to the iPhone 5, and it looks as though 8mm will be added to the handset's length in order to cater for a 4-inch screen. iLounge's source adds that it will rock a metal body unit and land in summer 2012. That tear-drop design that we were expecting to see this October has apparently been done away with due to battery issues. Also reportedly coming in 2012 is the MacBook Pro redesign, which should see the beefy laptops slimmed down in line with the MacBook Air range. iLounge says this information comes from its "most reliable source" and fits fairly well with other Apple rumours that have refused to die; but we're not sure we can quite believe that Apple will deepen the iPad 3… the jury's out on this one. brightcove : 1065669898001

Updated: Google: Flash for Ice Cream Sandwich yet to be released Posted: 21 Nov 2011 06:01 AM PST Update: Adobe has confirmed that it will indeed be releasing Flash Player for ICS. It said in a statement sent to Pocket-Lint, "Adobe will release one more version of the Flash Player for mobile browsing, which will provide support for Android 4.0, and one more release of the Flash Linux Porting Kit -both expected to be released before the end of this year." And that's your lot - after Android 4.0 support, there will be no more versions of Flash Player built by Adobe, although it will continue to offer "critical bug fixes and security updates". Google has confirmed that Ice Cream Sandwich lacks Flash support and will continue to do so until Adobe makes the necessary updates to the software. Despite Adobe deciding to axe Flash for mobile devices, the company is still expected to make the media-friendly format work for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, currently the only ICS phone around. A Google spokesperson said, "Flash hasn't been released for ICS yet so as far as we know, Adobe will support Flash for ICS." No flash in this pan There's no mention of a timescale for the Flash release, however, but we'd imagine that Adobe is all over it, especially as we're anticipating a slew of ICS-toting devices to launch over the coming months. The lack of Flash support didn't escape our attention during TechRadar's indepth Samsung Galaxy Nexus review. At first it was upsetting to discover that we couldn't even download the plug-in from the Android Market – but once we discovered the missing Flash compatibility didn't stop the web browsing experience on the handset being wonderful, we dried our eyes and got on with our lives.

Updated: Google: Flash for Ice Cream Sandwich yet to be released Posted: 21 Nov 2011 06:01 AM PST Update: Adobe has confirmed that it will indeed be releasing Flash Player for ICS. It said in a statement sent to Pocket-Lint, "Adobe will release one more version of the Flash Player for mobile browsing, which will provide support for Android 4.0, and one more release of the Flash Linux Porting Kit -both expected to be released before the end of this year." And that's your lot - after Android 4.0 support, there will be no more versions of Flash Player built by Adobe, although it will continue to offer "critical bug fixes and security updates". Google has confirmed that Ice Cream Sandwich lacks Flash support and will continue to do so until Adobe makes the necessary updates to the software. Despite Adobe deciding to axe Flash for mobile devices, the company is still expected to make the media-friendly format work for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, currently the only ICS phone around. A Google spokesperson said, "Flash hasn't been released for ICS yet so as far as we know, Adobe will support Flash for ICS." No flash in this pan There's no mention of a timescale for the Flash release, however, but we'd imagine that Adobe is all over it, especially as we're anticipating a slew of ICS-toting devices to launch over the coming months. The lack of Flash support didn't escape our attention during TechRadar's indepth Samsung Galaxy Nexus review. At first it was upsetting to discover that we couldn't even download the plug-in from the Android Market – but once we discovered the missing Flash compatibility didn't stop the web browsing experience on the handset being wonderful, we dried our eyes and got on with our lives.

In Depth: 9 growing threats to the success of Windows 8 Posted: 21 Nov 2011 04:55 AM PST 9 challenges facing Windows 8 The news is full of tablets but popular as they are, they're still a tiny fraction of the million PCs that ship every day. That's one of the things Microsoft is counting on with Windows 8; that it can build on the scale of PC sales to sell tablets with the same Windows 8 Metro experience. But Android and iPad aren't the only challenges Windows 8 is going to have to overcome next year, and some of the biggest problems come from Windows' own popularity. Even if Apple and Samsung battle each other to a standstill in court, that doesn't leave the market open for Windows 8. 1. The iPad Apple's tablet has singlehandedly defined the tablet market - as it turns out, because Steve Jobs was determined to teach Microsoft how to do tablets properly. It's got powerful apps - like the upcoming tablet version of Photoshop, integration of ITunes, digital magazines and other key tablet services. It's also got huge mindshare. We don't know what Apple has planned for iPad 3, but whatever it is - that's what Microsoft has to beat. 2. Android Google is far from replicating its smartphone success with Android tablets, but Honeycomb 3.2 is starting to make an impact. Amazon's 7-inch Kindle Fire tablet could be the worst competition; subsidised by Amazon to sell more content, it will have a wide range of apps, including Netflix. But you can get Android tablets in all sizes, with keyboards that clip on or slide out of the way, with active digitiser pens for drawing and writing on screen. You certainly can't do everything on an Android tablet that you can on a PC, any more than an iPad completely replaces a Mac, but with a web browser you can do a substantial proportion of what you want to do - on a thin and light device with a battery that lasts all day, for a substantially lower price than a PC. Windows 8 will have to do a lot more, with longer battery life and lower prices than today's PCs, if it's going to compete with existing tablets. 3. Linux FUD Malware is a problem on every platform popular enough to be worth attacking. It's a nascent problem on Mac OS and Android and it's far more of a problem on Windows XP than it is on Windows 7 because of security improvements. Windows 8 will add a lot of those, including starting your anti-virus software before Windows itself starts up - and blocking rootkits by checking whether the code that boots your system has been interfered with. It does that using a feature in UEFI (the replacement for the BIOS) called secure boot; this checks both the firmware and if the boot components have been signed with a valid key and match what's in the UEFI 'allowed database' (UEFI also checks for known malware). To get a Windows 8 logo, PC will have to ship with secure boot enabled and some Linux enthusiasts have suggested that this will stop you putting an alternative OS on a Windows 8 PC; despite HP and Dell confirming that they'll ship PCs that let you turn off secure boot if you want to, the Free Software Foundation is running a campaign against secure boot. Microsoft has answered this one pretty thoroughly already. If you can turn off secure boot - as you'll be able to on pretty much any PC - you can install any operating system you want. It's also possible for Linux distributions to add support for secure boot ("How secure boot works with any other operating systems is obviously a question for those OS products," Steven Sinofsky noted on the Building Windows blog). There is a question how Linux distributions can securely distribute the keys that UEFI will use, but mostly this is a propaganda issue. 4. BBX Although BlackBerry is falling behind in sales and PlayBook hasn't made much of an impression compared to the iPad or even the more popular Android tablets, RIM's plans for its next generation operating system have a lot of similarities to what Microsoft is promising for Windows 8 tablets. Running on ARM with hardware graphics acceleration that promises impressive gaming support, offering HTML5 for browsing and applications, with a unified operating system allowing developers to more easily target both tablets and phones and a new 3D framework with fluid and charming animation effects; the systems underneath are very different but BBX and Windows 8 for ARM may well ship at the same time and attempt to solve some of the same problems. 5. ARM confusion Metro apps will run on all Windows 8 PCs, whatever chip is inside them. And Windows 8 will run any program that runs on Windows 7; at least on an Intel PC. Existing Windows apps won't run on ARM tablets and the Windows app store will be the only way to get Metro apps onto Windows 8 ARM tablets, but given that there's enough of Windows32 on ARM to run the new WinRT APIs and that the Task Manager is a desktop app - we predict some confusion about what runs on which Windows 8 PCs, unless Microsoft does a really good branding and marketing job on new devices. Steven Sinofsky did tell TechRadar at the Build conference that it would be obvious what runs where: "We will not have a world where you go to the store and say 'I want Photo-something or other' and there's a red box that works on ARM and a green box that works on x86. We won't let that happen. It will be clear." Even so, there's plenty of potential for mix-ups. Windows 8 for ARM will only come on new tablets and that existing ARM tablets that run Android or Web OS won't be upgradeable, even if they have the same specs - but there will be Intel Windows 7 tablets like the Samsung Series 7 slate that will be upgradeable to the Intel version of Windows 8 and we expect to see slates based on the same low-power Core processors that are going into ultrabooks. That means it's not as simple as 'Windows tablets are ARM tablets'; and even though x86 System-on-Chip PCs will have the same always connected, low power idle Connected Standby state, not all Windows tablets will have all day battery life. Having a range of weights, sizes and prices has always been an advantage for the PC because you have the choice of what you want. That's still true, but just as many early buyers found that a netbook was not actually the light and powerful PC they were expecting when they bought it, it has to be clear what the differences between different Windows devices mean. 6. Pricing A recent survey by the Boston Consulting Group said 43% of US consumers wanted to buy a Windows tablet rather than an Android or iPad; but what wasn't clear from that (perhaps surprisingly) large market of potential Windows 8 tablet was what price they'd want to buy it for. We know what price you can sell an iPad for. Pre-sales for the Amazon Fire show you can sell a lot of Android tablets at $199. The failure of the HP TouchPad - and the success of the $99 fire sale - proves that iPad prices aren't tablet prices. Windows 8 ARM tablets have to compete with other ARM tablets, not with the $1,000 pricetag that Ultrabooks are struggling to deliver - and they have to do it without too much compromise. 7. The OEMs Almost every PC manufacturer offers an Android tablet now, so their Windows 8 ARM tablets will compete with their Android ARM tablets, as well as their PC tablets. They also have to get the Windows 8 experience right. And they have to do it by designing machines using new chips, new motherboards, new low-power buses that connect more sensors and controllers, new ways of working with peripherals, firmware systems that are new to many PC makers… they have to make a lot of choices and they have to get them all right. Given that these are the PC makers who cram today's PCs with obtrusive crapware, who are launching Windows 7 slates that don't have the resolution to run Metro properly, will all Windows 8 machines take full advantage of the new operating system? 8. Windows 7 The biggest challenge Windows 8 faces is ousting Windows 7; the most popular and widely adopted version since XP and one that many users and companies are only just switching to. It's a mistake to see Windows 7 as only patching the problems of Vista - it does substantially more than that - but the new release superseded Vista so fast that it became all but irrelevant. That won't happen with Windows 7; whether it's using a different system at work or not upgrading netbooks with low screen resolution, even when they have Windows 8 as well, a lot of people are going to be using Windows 7 for a long time. 9. Shortsighted thinking The full-screen Metro Start screen in the Windows 8 developer preview divides users in a way that's normally reserved for Mac versus PC and iPhone versus Android arguments, but it's far from the only disruptively new feature in Windows 8. The WinRT APIs and their contracts for sharing and searching across applications have significant implications for the way apps are built, and live tiles practically demand that apps be connected to an online service. These aren't incremental improvements to the way you work on your PC today; they're fundamental changes in the way you're going to be using a PC for the next decade. Windows 8 is a turning point for Windows in many ways; a grand vision that will spread to Windows Phone and Xbox in time. But many users are looking for those incremental improvements that make their life better today and if Windows 8 is too much grand vision tomorrow and not enough solid benefit today, it could be too far too fast for some users.

In Depth: 9 growing threats to the success of Windows 8 Posted: 21 Nov 2011 04:55 AM PST 9 challenges facing Windows 8 The news is full of tablets but popular as they are, they're still a tiny fraction of the million PCs that ship every day. That's one of the things Microsoft is counting on with Windows 8; that it can build on the scale of PC sales to sell tablets with the same Windows 8 Metro experience. But Android and iPad aren't the only challenges Windows 8 is going to have to overcome next year, and some of the biggest problems come from Windows' own popularity. Even if Apple and Samsung battle each other to a standstill in court, that doesn't leave the market open for Windows 8. 1. The iPad Apple's tablet has singlehandedly defined the tablet market - as it turns out, because Steve Jobs was determined to teach Microsoft how to do tablets properly. It's got powerful apps - like the upcoming tablet version of Photoshop, integration of ITunes, digital magazines and other key tablet services. It's also got huge mindshare. We don't know what Apple has planned for iPad 3, but whatever it is - that's what Microsoft has to beat. 2. Android Google is far from replicating its smartphone success with Android tablets, but Honeycomb 3.2 is starting to make an impact. Amazon's 7-inch Kindle Fire tablet could be the worst competition; subsidised by Amazon to sell more content, it will have a wide range of apps, including Netflix. But you can get Android tablets in all sizes, with keyboards that clip on or slide out of the way, with active digitiser pens for drawing and writing on screen. You certainly can't do everything on an Android tablet that you can on a PC, any more than an iPad completely replaces a Mac, but with a web browser you can do a substantial proportion of what you want to do - on a thin and light device with a battery that lasts all day, for a substantially lower price than a PC. Windows 8 will have to do a lot more, with longer battery life and lower prices than today's PCs, if it's going to compete with existing tablets. 3. Linux FUD Malware is a problem on every platform popular enough to be worth attacking. It's a nascent problem on Mac OS and Android and it's far more of a problem on Windows XP than it is on Windows 7 because of security improvements. Windows 8 will add a lot of those, including starting your anti-virus software before Windows itself starts up - and blocking rootkits by checking whether the code that boots your system has been interfered with. It does that using a feature in UEFI (the replacement for the BIOS) called secure boot; this checks both the firmware and if the boot components have been signed with a valid key and match what's in the UEFI 'allowed database' (UEFI also checks for known malware). To get a Windows 8 logo, PC will have to ship with secure boot enabled and some Linux enthusiasts have suggested that this will stop you putting an alternative OS on a Windows 8 PC; despite HP and Dell confirming that they'll ship PCs that let you turn off secure boot if you want to, the Free Software Foundation is running a campaign against secure boot. Microsoft has answered this one pretty thoroughly already. If you can turn off secure boot - as you'll be able to on pretty much any PC - you can install any operating system you want. It's also possible for Linux distributions to add support for secure boot ("How secure boot works with any other operating systems is obviously a question for those OS products," Steven Sinofsky noted on the Building Windows blog). There is a question how Linux distributions can securely distribute the keys that UEFI will use, but mostly this is a propaganda issue. 4. BBX Although BlackBerry is falling behind in sales and PlayBook hasn't made much of an impression compared to the iPad or even the more popular Android tablets, RIM's plans for its next generation operating system have a lot of similarities to what Microsoft is promising for Windows 8 tablets. Running on ARM with hardware graphics acceleration that promises impressive gaming support, offering HTML5 for browsing and applications, with a unified operating system allowing developers to more easily target both tablets and phones and a new 3D framework with fluid and charming animation effects; the systems underneath are very different but BBX and Windows 8 for ARM may well ship at the same time and attempt to solve some of the same problems. 5. ARM confusion Metro apps will run on all Windows 8 PCs, whatever chip is inside them. And Windows 8 will run any program that runs on Windows 7; at least on an Intel PC. Existing Windows apps won't run on ARM tablets and the Windows app store will be the only way to get Metro apps onto Windows 8 ARM tablets, but given that there's enough of Windows32 on ARM to run the new WinRT APIs and that the Task Manager is a desktop app - we predict some confusion about what runs on which Windows 8 PCs, unless Microsoft does a really good branding and marketing job on new devices. Steven Sinofsky did tell TechRadar at the Build conference that it would be obvious what runs where: "We will not have a world where you go to the store and say 'I want Photo-something or other' and there's a red box that works on ARM and a green box that works on x86. We won't let that happen. It will be clear." Even so, there's plenty of potential for mix-ups. Windows 8 for ARM will only come on new tablets and that existing ARM tablets that run Android or Web OS won't be upgradeable, even if they have the same specs - but there will be Intel Windows 7 tablets like the Samsung Series 7 slate that will be upgradeable to the Intel version of Windows 8 and we expect to see slates based on the same low-power Core processors that are going into ultrabooks. That means it's not as simple as 'Windows tablets are ARM tablets'; and even though x86 System-on-Chip PCs will have the same always connected, low power idle Connected Standby state, not all Windows tablets will have all day battery life. Having a range of weights, sizes and prices has always been an advantage for the PC because you have the choice of what you want. That's still true, but just as many early buyers found that a netbook was not actually the light and powerful PC they were expecting when they bought it, it has to be clear what the differences between different Windows devices mean. 6. Pricing A recent survey by the Boston Consulting Group said 43% of US consumers wanted to buy a Windows tablet rather than an Android or iPad; but what wasn't clear from that (perhaps surprisingly) large market of potential Windows 8 tablet was what price they'd want to buy it for. We know what price you can sell an iPad for. Pre-sales for the Amazon Fire show you can sell a lot of Android tablets at $199. The failure of the HP TouchPad - and the success of the $99 fire sale - proves that iPad prices aren't tablet prices. Windows 8 ARM tablets have to compete with other ARM tablets, not with the $1,000 pricetag that Ultrabooks are struggling to deliver - and they have to do it without too much compromise. 7. The OEMs Almost every PC manufacturer offers an Android tablet now, so their Windows 8 ARM tablets will compete with their Android ARM tablets, as well as their PC tablets. They also have to get the Windows 8 experience right. And they have to do it by designing machines using new chips, new motherboards, new low-power buses that connect more sensors and controllers, new ways of working with peripherals, firmware systems that are new to many PC makers… they have to make a lot of choices and they have to get them all right. Given that these are the PC makers who cram today's PCs with obtrusive crapware, who are launching Windows 7 slates that don't have the resolution to run Metro properly, will all Windows 8 machines take full advantage of the new operating system? 8. Windows 7 The biggest challenge Windows 8 faces is ousting Windows 7; the most popular and widely adopted version since XP and one that many users and companies are only just switching to. It's a mistake to see Windows 7 as only patching the problems of Vista - it does substantially more than that - but the new release superseded Vista so fast that it became all but irrelevant. That won't happen with Windows 7; whether it's using a different system at work or not upgrading netbooks with low screen resolution, even when they have Windows 8 as well, a lot of people are going to be using Windows 7 for a long time. 9. Shortsighted thinking The full-screen Metro Start screen in the Windows 8 developer preview divides users in a way that's normally reserved for Mac versus PC and iPhone versus Android arguments, but it's far from the only disruptively new feature in Windows 8. The WinRT APIs and their contracts for sharing and searching across applications have significant implications for the way apps are built, and live tiles practically demand that apps be connected to an online service. These aren't incremental improvements to the way you work on your PC today; they're fundamental changes in the way you're going to be using a PC for the next decade. Windows 8 is a turning point for Windows in many ways; a grand vision that will spread to Windows Phone and Xbox in time. But many users are looking for those incremental improvements that make their life better today and if Windows 8 is too much grand vision tomorrow and not enough solid benefit today, it could be too far too fast for some users.

Bang & Olufsen woos women with 'female interaction' study Posted: 21 Nov 2011 04:30 AM PST Good news ladies. Bang & Olufsen has you in mind for its latest "innovative product concepts", promising that they will "very much appeal to female consumers". We don't know about you, but we're excited. The company's latest press release speaks of its unerring commitment to the fairer sex with such beautifully written phrases as "there can be big business perspectives in products which are appealing to women". Yes, apparently the chicks hold the household purse strings in their dainty little fingers and B&O isn't shy about its commitment to liberating those closely guarded pennies by way of a three year study into "Female Interaction". Here come the girls The project took in hundreds of women's opinions, allowing B&O to create a "segmentation model" of four "different types of female technology users" that the company deftly shoe-horns us all into - although it was too ashamed to detail what those four types actually are (blonde, brunette, ginger and grey?). Apparently, what with those long nails and expensively-coiffed hair-dos, ladies "interact" with technology differently to our club-toting XY-chromosomed counterparts for whom all of B&O's existing products have, presumably, been designed. "This project is going to rub off on Bang & Olufsen's new products – there is no doubt about that," said Lyle Clarke, concept manager at B&O. Sadly the press release didn't actually see fit to mention any actual technology – after all, women aren't all that bothered about those fiddly gadgets and black boxes and oh can't someone please set the VCR for us because those instruction manuals are just double Dutch to us. But B&O did include a picture of the Beo6 remote control in use by a woman. The proper use of traditional remote controls has, of course, eluded the female sex for many years. All those buttons and that phallic rectangular design – straight over your heads, right ladies? Three years of hard study, and this ugly handheld circular console with a rectangular thing above it is what B&O has concluded women want. Well, at least it isn't pink.

Review: Motorola Razr Posted: 21 Nov 2011 04:30 AM PST Overview, design and feel The familiar Motorola Razr brand is back, but this time it's re-imagined with Android 2.3.5, an 8MP camera with Full HD recording and a super slim chassis that's just 7.1mm. That doesn't make it the thinnest phone in the world, as it's still got a thicker end to it at the top of the phone - but given you don't hold that section, it certainly feels slim. However, lumping most of the components at the top does make it feel a little oddly-balanced in the hand, although it's only 127g heavy (incidentally, the original Razr was 95g - but that didn't have GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G or a camera on board). brightcove : 1276176311001 The screen is also oddly designed in our opinion, with a large amount of chassis surrounding the display. This means that, despite being 4.3-inches in size, it does look smaller than similar screens. That's not to take anything away from the Super AMOLED technology used, as it's top notch: we're talking qHD resolution (960 x 540) and clear and crisp colours making it a joy to use. The design of the phone is slightly odder though: it's a very angular design, and elements like the power / lock key take their cues from the likes of the Milestone range, with golden coating and ridges to make it easier to find in the hand. The front of the phone is sparsely populated, as we've come to expect from many mobiles at the moment - we're talking a front facing camera (1.3MP) and the four Android keys. We're always pleased to see the search key added, as it make contextual search for things like Music or Emails that much easier. The top of the phone features three ports: the 3.5mm headphone slot, the microUSB port and another for the mini HDMI lead, which sadly doesn't come in the box but allows you to pump content to a larger display. It's a unibody design, obviously to preserve the super thin form factor - this means that you can't access the battery or take the back off. The only way to pop in a microSD card or the microSIM that this phone takes is to pull down a small flap on the side. However, we encountered no freezes so never needed to rip out the battery, and the SIM and SD set up was super painless too. The Motorola logo at the top could be better quality in our opinion, as it was scratched within a couple of days' use. There's no camera button to speak of, but the 8MP sensor on the rear is joined by a single (but bright) LED flash and the speaker grille, which offers up some pretty loud sound for such a small opening. We found the larger screen was just about OK for manoeuvring around with a single hand - we had to stretch to reach items on the far side of the display, but on the whole it was pretty good and easy to use. Interface Moto has skinned Android to within an inch of its life on the Motorola Razr, and although it's not giving the altered UI a name, it's still something pretty novel. Let's start with a positive: like so many of the 1.2GHz dual core phones on the market, it whips through the home screens with no issue at all, and is adept at opening and closing a number of applications, no matter how many you have open at one time. There's no 'pinching to see all your home screens at once' option here; instead you swipe up from the bottom of the screen to see all your displays in one place. It's sad that you can't add in any more home screens, and are stuck with the basic five, as there are so many widgets you'll want to play with that you'll quickly fill up the space. There is a way to slightly mitigate this, thanks to Motorola: you can resize each widget to make it bigger or smaller, depending on the kind of application. This means you can see more or less of your calendar, incoming messages or emails, and can therefore chuck in a little more stuff. However, it's not the best system, as some widgets (like music) simply don't want to be resized. The notifications bar (accessed by dragging down from the top of the screen) is a little different too - sadly, there are no controls on offer with it, meaning you have to jump into the settings menu or put a widget on the homescreen to activate Wi-Fi and the like. And if you get a message, there's no preview of it in the pull-down menu either, which is odd when so many other phones manage it. We're not fans of the big 'No Entry' signs next to each notification, which allow you to clear said alert - these look ugly and we'd prefer to access them via swiping or the like. Calling and contacts Contacts The contacts system on the Motorola Razr isn't much different to most other Android phones on the market, with the ability to join and separate accounts to a single person available. Like the Samsung range, it's not the easiest thing in the world to link up your buddies - you have to press the menu key once inside their profile and select 'Join' to choose from a list of social networking accounts that they could belong to. It's a world away from the ease with which HTC manages it with HTC Sense. If there's already a lot of information in the contact card, then sometimes you'll have to dig even deeper to find the 'Join' functionality, which can be irritating if you have hundreds of people on your phone... you lucky, popular thing, you. However, there is a fairly nifty widget on the home screen that lets you select your favourite friends and have them arranged in a grid formation to look at whenever you like, which makes it a lot easier to stay in touch. Calling We're getting a little bored of saying call quality is 'fine' on today's smartphones, and usually all we can comment on is the volume of the speakerphone. However, there's a definite issue with the earphone on the Motorola Razr, as making a call means you can hear a definite 'chirrup', almost like a very slight echo, whenever sound comes into your ear, which is a little annoying and ruins the premium feel of the phone. That aside, we can't really fault the Razr for calling ability though, as it was above average at maintaining signal, even in areas where we've previously struggled to get it going. There's also smart dialling too, so when you fire up the easy to use dialler, simply tap out the corresponding letters to the persons' name on the phone and the Razr will work out the possible matches, making it very easy to search for people you want to chat to. Messaging The Motorola Razr's messaging capabilities are as good as anything else from the Android range, meaning you can connect up to the likes of Corporate email over Exchange, webmail (with Yahoo, Windows Live and Googlemail all supported from the start), Facebook and Twitter. Where the Razr beats most of the competition is the ability to aggregate these messages into an easy to use inbox, where all messages from all the accounts will show up in one place. It's a slightly clumsy system in practice, as it's not always easy to get to the universal inbox without a couple of taps. For instance, you have to pop into 'Messaging' before you can get access to the icon to open up your full list of messages, and there's no way to put an icon for the universal inbox on the home screen. The widget is supposed to solve that issue, but all this does is bring up a list of unseen messages, and then takes you straight to the Messaging centre again, where you have to click again for the universal inbox. That's after being asked whether you want to mess with the widget settings, so it's not simple to just see all your messages. It's similar to the Samsung Galaxy S2 in this respect, with its myriad steps to jump into all your messages (and issues with syncing them all at once too) and pales in comparison to the likes of the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and Torch 9810, which both have very easy to use methods of seeing all your messages in one place. However, we do like the fact you've got offline support for your social networking messages - being able to see and respond to Facebook mails offline and without having to open up the app is a big plus. There are two pre-installed keyboards on the Motorola Razr, with the standard multi-touch option (based on the Gingerbread keyboard from Google) and Swype on offer. Many people will prefer to use Swype, as it's proved a popular option - and we found it to be as good as any other iteration on alternative handsets. We preferred the multi-touch keyboard though - the prediction was pretty good, and the auto-correct mostly on the money. We would advise you to look at some of the other decent keyboard on the Android Market, such as Swiftkey X, as they can really improve your typing speed too. Internet You may have noticed we're fans of the internet browser on many Android phones, and the Motorola Razr is no exception. Thanks to the 4.3-inch Super AMOLED screen, words and images look pin sharp and easy to read even zoomed out, thanks to the upgraded qHD resolution too. The 1.2GHz processor is also pretty darn adept at whizzing through web pages when it's on song too, jumping from one site to the next without missing a beat. However, we say 'on song' there because for some reason the Motorola Razr can be a little erratic when browsing the web. Sometimes you can ask it to open up a new website or search on Google and the phone will respond instantly, matching the iPhone 4S or the Samsung Galaxy S2 for speed. But other times it will seem like it's simply ignoring your request, with no progress bar and just a blank screen to watch, even with a decent signal strength displayed. This was intermittent, but enough to be irritating - only constantly refreshing the browser brought solace, which is lightly to annoy several users. Another HUGE gripe is the bookmarking system, with five bookmarks locked in from the likes of ESPN and CNN. We're not fans of loads of prescribed bookmarks from manufacturers at the best of times, but being forced to have a link to those that some people have no intention of ever visiting is particularly galling. There's also a noticeable judder when moving around the screen, and when zooming into text it's not the smoothest experience on a mobile phone, which again reduces the premium feel. However, at least there's text reflow on offer - it's not in HTC's league, which automatically re-jigs the text to make sure it always fits the screen no matter how zoomed-in you are. With this version you'll need to double tap the text to make it re-align once zoomed in, but it's not too difficult to achieve. And good news: Flash video works very well on this powerful little grunt nugget. It loaded up instantly for us in nearly every scenario, and was one of the better versions of the platform on a mobile. Which makes it a big shame that's it's going to be canned from handsets. There's also an option to Tweet or post to Facebook whatever site it is you're looking at - it's a nice function to have, and shortens your URLs for you. It's annoying to have it so close to the Bookmarks button though, as we constantly pressed it accidentally. Media Now we come to a real strong point for the Motorola Razr: media. From an innovative music player to high-quality video playback, we're fans of using the Razr as a day to day PMP. Music The music player on the Motorola Razr may not be anything extraordinary sonically, but it's certainly innovative with a number of features that make it different from the reams of similar Android music players. For starters, it's a portal to start with, rather than a straight list of music. Should you want to browse internet radio, stream over DLNA or simply hop right into your music collection, it's a simple task to choose an option. It's not an amazing layout though, with album covers scattered all over the screen (most of which are blank, given few people actually update their music collections in such a way) and the options to tap are quite 1997 in their design. But once you've bopped your way into the music player, you've got the option to not only listen to a song, but also have the lyrics displayed as well. It's almost unerring in picking the right song, and is a fun feature to have - although we suspect you'll be turning it off before too long as like us, you just want to listen to your songs. The good news is the skin doesn't preclude the full use of the quality Android music player. Fancy it ain't, but if you want to shuffle songs, skip through tracks or set up a playlist, it's all as easy as pie here. Plus there's also a handy widget that sits on the lock screen, displaying album art and allowing you to skip through tracks without having to head into the phone. Audio quality is slightly hard to judge here - it's pretty good on the whole, but seems to change markedly depending on the buds you attach to the top. Lower end headphones sounded dreadful (more so than we're used to) but decent options made everything sound rosy again - so we suggest you invest. Video We expected video performance on the Motorola Razr to be up there with the best, thanks to the Super AMOLED screen technology it's nabbed from Samsung. And on the whole it fully lived up to that promise, with excellent colour rendering and deep contrast ratios, making it the equal of the Samsung Galaxy S, if not the S2, which does have the superior Super AMOLED Plus technology on board. One gripe we do have is the lack of a dedicated video portal. You have to pop into the Gallery application and look for your videos by thumbnail - this is less than ideal when you're not entirely sure what your movies look like compared to one another. The video player is also a little basic - we're talking a timeline to scrub forwards and back, plus Play/Pause options too. It's not a terrible thing, as this is really all you'll want to do when watching a movie, but if you try some of the third party options on the Android Market like MVideoPlayer, you'll see the world of difference. Photo The camera roll on the Motorola Razr is a little enhanced compared to the usual grid layout of photos, as it's also pulling in from your social networks. We're fans of the 'Cover Flow' style of showing the albums of your friends from Facebook, although there don't ever seem to be that many to choose from, yet some persist from a while ago. That said, opening the pictures is a slick experience considering they're being pulled from the cloud, and it's elements like this that show how far social network photography storage has come - we can now see hideous pictures of ourselves right before we go into a job interview. Hands on photography Verdict The Motorola Razr is one of those phones that, like the Atrix, we instantly looked forward to when we saw it launched. A super thin body, oodles of RAM, Kevlar casing and a top end processor are all things we want to see in a phone of this ilk, and it's good to see Moto attempting to compete with the likes of Samsung and Apple. We liked The current Motorola overlay might not be explicitly called MotoBLUR, but we liked it nonetheless. It's bright, colourful, and adds something different to the Android system with resizable widgets, a fancy notifications bar and the ability to hide the apps you don't like from the menu. The media options on the phone are excellent as well, with the video and music players both managing to be excellent additions. They're not the best we've seen on a phone, but the range of functionality is certainly impressive. And the dual core processor - sure it's nothing new, but there's a lot to be said about a phone that simply WORKS when you want it to, and doesn't just return a blank thinking screen while you wait for your smartphone to think about doing what you asked it. Smart Options are a nice touch as well, with the ability to make your phone do certain things based on time of day, location or functionality. It's something we're sure we'll see a lot more of, and remember: you saw it here (sort of) first. We disliked However, despite running a very similar feature set to the Samsung Galaxy S2, there was a lot we weren't so impressed with on the Razr. The top heavy design means the phone feels a little odd in the hand - almost unbalanced at times when typing. It's not a big problem, but detracts from the impressive slimness. The fact we can only have five home screens is irritating too - the onus here is on widgets, and while you can resize them, we quickly ran out of space to chuck them. Battery life is similarly unimpressive, with our Motorola Razr often beginning to panic around 8PM each evening. While is mostly lasted until charge time, it's irritating to be told you should be looking for a charger - like a child that worries too much about bedtime. The fact we're not allowed to delete certain bookmarks also annoyed us beyond belief - sure, this is a little thing, but it's OUR phone and we should jolly well be allowed to choose which sites we want to look at regularly and which we don't. This had better be fixed with the next software update or we'll... well, do nothing. But keep moaning to people about it when they mention the phone. Verdict Motorola needed a phone like the Razr in its arsenal, and now it has one to be proud of. It's got all the dual-core power of the Atrix, plus a superior screen; more importantly, it's jumped from a squat chassis to a sumptuous slimline affair that glides into the pocket. However, we're not sure about the way the screen is swamped in the frame of the phone, nor about the certain elements Moto has locked down - plus the battery life remains an issue. Looks- and functionality-wise, there are many comparisons to be made with the Samsung Galaxy S2 - and we can't help but recommend that latter over this phone, with a superior range of customisation on offer and a snappier UI to boot.

Review: Motorola Razr Posted: 21 Nov 2011 04:30 AM PST Overview, design and feel The familiar Motorola Razr brand is back, but this time it's re-imagined with Android 2.3.5, an 8MP camera with Full HD recording and a super slim chassis that's just 7.1mm. That doesn't make it the thinnest phone in the world, as it's still got a thicker end to it at the top of the phone - but given you don't hold that section, it certainly feels slim. However, lumping most of the components at the top does make it feel a little oddly-balanced in the hand, although it's only 127g heavy (incidentally, the original Razr was 95g - but that didn't have GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G or a camera on board). brightcove : 1276176311001 The screen is also oddly designed in our opinion, with a large amount of chassis surrounding the display. This means that, despite being 4.3-inches in size, it does look smaller than similar screens. That's not to take anything away from the Super AMOLED technology used, as it's top notch: we're talking qHD resolution (960 x 540) and clear and crisp colours making it a joy to use. The design of the phone is slightly odder though: it's a very angular design, and elements like the power / lock key take their cues from the likes of the Milestone range, with golden coating and ridges to make it easier to find in the hand. The front of the phone is sparsely populated, as we've come to expect from many mobiles at the moment - we're talking a front facing camera (1.3MP) and the four Android keys. We're always pleased to see the search key added, as it make contextual search for things like Music or Emails that much easier. The top of the phone features three ports: the 3.5mm headphone slot, the microUSB port and another for the mini HDMI lead, which sadly doesn't come in the box but allows you to pump content to a larger display. It's a unibody design, obviously to preserve the super thin form factor - this means that you can't access the battery or take the back off. The only way to pop in a microSD card or the microSIM that this phone takes is to pull down a small flap on the side. However, we encountered no freezes so never needed to rip out the battery, and the SIM and SD set up was super painless too. The Motorola logo at the top could be better quality in our opinion, as it was scratched within a couple of days' use. There's no camera button to speak of, but the 8MP sensor on the rear is joined by a single (but bright) LED flash and the speaker grille, which offers up some pretty loud sound for such a small opening. We found the larger screen was just about OK for manoeuvring around with a single hand - we had to stretch to reach items on the far side of the display, but on the whole it was pretty good and easy to use. Interface Moto has skinned Android to within an inch of its life on the Motorola Razr, and although it's not giving the altered UI a name, it's still something pretty novel. Let's start with a positive: like so many of the 1.2GHz dual core phones on the market, it whips through the home screens with no issue at all, and is adept at opening and closing a number of applications, no matter how many you have open at one time. There's no 'pinching to see all your home screens at once' option here; instead you swipe up from the bottom of the screen to see all your displays in one place. It's sad that you can't add in any more home screens, and are stuck with the basic five, as there are so many widgets you'll want to play with that you'll quickly fill up the space. There is a way to slightly mitigate this, thanks to Motorola: you can resize each widget to make it bigger or smaller, depending on the kind of application. This means you can see more or less of your calendar, incoming messages or emails, and can therefore chuck in a little more stuff. However, it's not the best system, as some widgets (like music) simply don't want to be resized. The notifications bar (accessed by dragging down from the top of the screen) is a little different too - sadly, there are no controls on offer with it, meaning you have to jump into the settings menu or put a widget on the homescreen to activate Wi-Fi and the like. And if you get a message, there's no preview of it in the pull-down menu either, which is odd when so many other phones manage it. We're not fans of the big 'No Entry' signs next to each notification, which allow you to clear said alert - these look ugly and we'd prefer to access them via swiping or the like. Calling and contacts Contacts The contacts system on the Motorola Razr isn't much different to most other Android phones on the market, with the ability to join and separate accounts to a single person available. Like the Samsung range, it's not the easiest thing in the world to link up your buddies - you have to press the menu key once inside their profile and select 'Join' to choose from a list of social networking accounts that they could belong to. It's a world away from the ease with which HTC manages it with HTC Sense. If there's already a lot of information in the contact card, then sometimes you'll have to dig even deeper to find the 'Join' functionality, which can be irritating if you have hundreds of people on your phone... you lucky, popular thing, you. However, there is a fairly nifty widget on the home screen that lets you select your favourite friends and have them arranged in a grid formation to look at whenever you like, which makes it a lot easier to stay in touch. Calling We're getting a little bored of saying call quality is 'fine' on today's smartphones, and usually all we can comment on is the volume of the speakerphone. However, there's a definite issue with the earphone on the Motorola Razr, as making a call means you can hear a definite 'chirrup', almost like a very slight echo, whenever sound comes into your ear, which is a little annoying and ruins the premium feel of the phone. That aside, we can't really fault the Razr for calling ability though, as it was above average at maintaining signal, even in areas where we've previously struggled to get it going. There's also smart dialling too, so when you fire up the easy to use dialler, simply tap out the corresponding letters to the persons' name on the phone and the Razr will work out the possible matches, making it very easy to search for people you want to chat to. Messaging The Motorola Razr's messaging capabilities are as good as anything else from the Android range, meaning you can connect up to the likes of Corporate email over Exchange, webmail (with Yahoo, Windows Live and Googlemail all supported from the start), Facebook and Twitter. Where the Razr beats most of the competition is the ability to aggregate these messages into an easy to use inbox, where all messages from all the accounts will show up in one place. It's a slightly clumsy system in practice, as it's not always easy to get to the universal inbox without a couple of taps. For instance, you have to pop into 'Messaging' before you can get access to the icon to open up your full list of messages, and there's no way to put an icon for the universal inbox on the home screen. The widget is supposed to solve that issue, but all this does is bring up a list of unseen messages, and then takes you straight to the Messaging centre again, where you have to click again for the universal inbox. That's after being asked whether you want to mess with the widget settings, so it's not simple to just see all your messages. It's similar to the Samsung Galaxy S2 in this respect, with its myriad steps to jump into all your messages (and issues with syncing them all at once too) and pales in comparison to the likes of the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and Torch 9810, which both have very easy to use methods of seeing all your messages in one place. However, we do like the fact you've got offline support for your social networking messages - being able to see and respond to Facebook mails offline and without having to open up the app is a big plus. There are two pre-installed keyboards on the Motorola Razr, with the standard multi-touch option (based on the Gingerbread keyboard from Google) and Swype on offer. Many people will prefer to use Swype, as it's proved a popular option - and we found it to be as good as any other iteration on alternative handsets. We preferred the multi-touch keyboard though - the prediction was pretty good, and the auto-correct mostly on the money. We would advise you to look at some of the other decent keyboard on the Android Market, such as Swiftkey X, as they can really improve your typing speed too. Internet You may have noticed we're fans of the internet browser on many Android phones, and the Motorola Razr is no exception. Thanks to the 4.3-inch Super AMOLED screen, words and images look pin sharp and easy to read even zoomed out, thanks to the upgraded qHD resolution too. The 1.2GHz processor is also pretty darn adept at whizzing through web pages when it's on song too, jumping from one site to the next without missing a beat. However, we say 'on song' there because for some reason the Motorola Razr can be a little erratic when browsing the web. Sometimes you can ask it to open up a new website or search on Google and the phone will respond instantly, matching the iPhone 4S or the Samsung Galaxy S2 for speed. But other times it will seem like it's simply ignoring your request, with no progress bar and just a blank screen to watch, even with a decent signal strength displayed. This was intermittent, but enough to be irritating - only constantly refreshing the browser brought solace, which is lightly to annoy several users. Another HUGE gripe is the bookmarking system, with five bookmarks locked in from the likes of ESPN and CNN. We're not fans of loads of prescribed bookmarks from manufacturers at the best of times, but being forced to have a link to those that some people have no intention of ever visiting is particularly galling. There's also a noticeable judder when moving around the screen, and when zooming into text it's not the smoothest experience on a mobile phone, which again reduces the premium feel. However, at least there's text reflow on offer - it's not in HTC's league, which automatically re-jigs the text to make sure it always fits the screen no matter how zoomed-in you are. With this version you'll need to double tap the text to make it re-align once zoomed in, but it's not too difficult to achieve. And good news: Flash video works very well on this powerful little grunt nugget. It loaded up instantly for us in nearly every scenario, and was one of the better versions of the platform on a mobile. Which makes it a big shame that's it's going to be canned from handsets. There's also an option to Tweet or post to Facebook whatever site it is you're looking at - it's a nice function to have, and shortens your URLs for you. It's annoying to have it so close to the Bookmarks button though, as we constantly pressed it accidentally. Media Now we come to a real strong point for the Motorola Razr: media. From an innovative music player to high-quality video playback, we're fans of using the Razr as a day to day PMP. Music The music player on the Motorola Razr may not be anything extraordinary sonically, but it's certainly innovative with a number of features that make it different from the reams of similar Android music players. For starters, it's a portal to start with, rather than a straight list of music. Should you want to browse internet radio, stream over DLNA or simply hop right into your music collection, it's a simple task to choose an option. It's not an amazing layout though, with album covers scattered all over the screen (most of which are blank, given few people actually update their music collections in such a way) and the options to tap are quite 1997 in their design. But once you've bopped your way into the music player, you've got the option to not only listen to a song, but also have the lyrics displayed as well. It's almost unerring in picking the right song, and is a fun feature to have - although we suspect you'll be turning it off before too long as like us, you just want to listen to your songs. The good news is the skin doesn't preclude the full use of the quality Android music player. Fancy it ain't, but if you want to shuffle songs, skip through tracks or set up a playlist, it's all as easy as pie here. Plus there's also a handy widget that sits on the lock screen, displaying album art and allowing you to skip through tracks without having to head into the phone. Audio quality is slightly hard to judge here - it's pretty good on the whole, but seems to change markedly depending on the buds you attach to the top. Lower end headphones sounded dreadful (more so than we're used to) but decent options made everything sound rosy again - so we suggest you invest. Video We expected video performance on the Motorola Razr to be up there with the best, thanks to the Super AMOLED screen technology it's nabbed from Samsung. And on the whole it fully lived up to that promise, with excellent colour rendering and deep contrast ratios, making it the equal of the Samsung Galaxy S, if not the S2, which does have the superior Super AMOLED Plus technology on board. One gripe we do have is the lack of a dedicated video portal. You have to pop into the Gallery application and look for your videos by thumbnail - this is less than ideal when you're not entirely sure what your movies look like compared to one another. The video player is also a little basic - we're talking a timeline to scrub forwards and back, plus Play/Pause options too. It's not a terrible thing, as this is really all you'll want to do when watching a movie, but if you try some of the third party options on the Android Market like MVideoPlayer, you'll see the world of difference. Photo The camera roll on the Motorola Razr is a little enhanced compared to the usual grid layout of photos, as it's also pulling in from your social networks. We're fans of the 'Cover Flow' style of showing the albums of your friends from Facebook, although there don't ever seem to be that many to choose from, yet some persist from a while ago. That said, opening the pictures is a slick experience considering they're being pulled from the cloud, and it's elements like this that show how far social network photography storage has come - we can now see hideous pictures of ourselves right before we go into a job interview. Hands on photography Verdict The Motorola Razr is one of those phones that, like the Atrix, we instantly looked forward to when we saw it launched. A super thin body, oodles of RAM, Kevlar casing and a top end processor are all things we want to see in a phone of this ilk, and it's good to see Moto attempting to compete with the likes of Samsung and Apple. We liked The current Motorola overlay might not be explicitly called MotoBLUR, but we liked it nonetheless. It's bright, colourful, and adds something different to the Android system with resizable widgets, a fancy notifications bar and the ability to hide the apps you don't like from the menu. The media options on the phone are excellent as well, with the video and music players both managing to be excellent additions. They're not the best we've seen on a phone, but the range of functionality is certainly impressive. And the dual core processor - sure it's nothing new, but there's a lot to be said about a phone that simply WORKS when you want it to, and doesn't just return a blank thinking screen while you wait for your smartphone to think about doing what you asked it. Smart Options are a nice touch as well, with the ability to make your phone do certain things based on time of day, location or functionality. It's something we're sure we'll see a lot more of, and remember: you saw it here (sort of) first. We disliked However, despite running a very similar feature set to the Samsung Galaxy S2, there was a lot we weren't so impressed with on the Razr. The top heavy design means the phone feels a little odd in the hand - almost unbalanced at times when typing. It's not a big problem, but detracts from the impressive slimness. The fact we can only have five home screens is irritating too - the onus here is on widgets, and while you can resize them, we quickly ran out of space to chuck them. Battery life is similarly unimpressive, with our Motorola Razr often beginning to panic around 8PM each evening. While is mostly lasted until charge time, it's irritating to be told you should be looking for a charger - like a child that worries too much about bedtime. The fact we're not allowed to delete certain bookmarks also annoyed us beyond belief - sure, this is a little thing, but it's OUR phone and we should jolly well be allowed to choose which sites we want to look at regularly and which we don't. This had better be fixed with the next software update or we'll... well, do nothing. But keep moaning to people about it when they mention the phone. Verdict Motorola needed a phone like the Razr in its arsenal, and now it has one to be proud of. It's got all the dual-core power of the Atrix, plus a superior screen; more importantly, it's jumped from a squat chassis to a sumptuous slimline affair that glides into the pocket. However, we're not sure about the way the screen is swamped in the frame of the phone, nor about the certain elements Moto has locked down - plus the battery life remains an issue. Looks- and functionality-wise, there are many comparisons to be made with the Samsung Galaxy S2 - and we can't help but recommend that latter over this phone, with a superior range of customisation on offer and a snappier UI to boot.

Bang & Olufsen woos women with 'female interaction' study Posted: 21 Nov 2011 04:30 AM PST Good news ladies. Bang & Olufsen has you in mind for its latest "innovative product concepts", promising that they will "very much appeal to female consumers". We don't know about you, but we're excited. The company's latest press release speaks of its unerring commitment to the fairer sex with such beautifully written phrases as "there can be big business perspectives in products which are appealing to women". Yes, apparently the chicks hold the household purse strings in their dainty little fingers and B&O isn't shy about its commitment to liberating those closely guarded pennies by way of a three year study into "Female Interaction". Here come the girls The project took in hundreds of women's opinions, allowing B&O to create a "segmentation model" of four "different types of female technology users" that the company deftly shoe-horns us all into - although it was too ashamed to detail what those four types actually are (blonde, brunette, ginger and grey?). Apparently, what with those long nails and expensively-coiffed hair-dos, ladies "interact" with technology differently to our club-toting XY-chromosomed counterparts for whom all of B&O's existing products have, presumably, been designed. "This project is going to rub off on Bang & Olufsen's new products – there is no doubt about that," said Lyle Clarke, concept manager at B&O. Sadly the press release didn't actually see fit to mention any actual technology – after all, women aren't all that bothered about those fiddly gadgets and black boxes and oh can't someone please set the VCR for us because those instruction manuals are just double Dutch to us. But B&O did include a picture of the Beo6 remote control in use by a woman. The proper use of traditional remote controls has, of course, eluded the female sex for many years. All those buttons and that phallic rectangular design – straight over your heads, right ladies? Three years of hard study, and this ugly handheld circular console with a rectangular thing above it is what B&O has concluded women want. Well, at least it isn't pink.

Bang & Olufsen woos women with 'female interaction' study Posted: 21 Nov 2011 04:30 AM PST Good news ladies. Bang & Olufsen has you in mind for its latest "innovative product concepts", promising that they will "very much appeal to female consumers". We don't know about you, but we're excited. The company's latest press release speaks of its unerring commitment to the fairer sex with such beautifully written phrases as "there can be big business perspectives in products which are appealing to women". Yes, apparently the chicks hold the household purse strings in their dainty little fingers and B&O isn't shy about its commitment to liberating those closely guarded pennies by way of a three year study into "Female Interaction". Here come the girls The project took in hundreds of women's opinions, allowing B&O to create a "segmentation model" of four "different types of female technology users" that the company deftly shoe-horns us all into - although it was too ashamed to detail what those four types actually are (blonde, brunette, ginger and grey?). Apparently, what with those long nails and expensively-coiffed hair-dos, ladies "interact" with technology differently to our club-toting XY-chromosomed counterparts for whom all of B&O's existing products have, presumably, been designed. "This project is going to rub off on Bang & Olufsen's new products – there is no doubt about that," said Lyle Clarke, concept manager at B&O. Sadly the press release didn't actually see fit to mention any actual technology – after all, women aren't all that bothered about those fiddly gadgets and black boxes and oh can't someone please set the VCR for us because those instruction manuals are just double Dutch to us. But B&O did include a picture of the Beo6 remote control in use by a woman. The proper use of traditional remote controls has, of course, eluded the female sex for many years. All those buttons and that phallic rectangular design – straight over your heads, right ladies? Three years of hard study, and this ugly handheld circular console with a rectangular thing above it is what B&O has concluded women want. Well, at least it isn't pink.

Review: Motorola Razr Posted: 21 Nov 2011 04:30 AM PST Overview, design and feel The familiar Motorola Razr brand is back, but this time it's re-imagined with Android 2.3.5, an 8MP camera with Full HD recording and a super slim chassis that's just 7.1mm. That doesn't make it the thinnest phone in the world, as it's still got a thicker end to it at the top of the phone - but given you don't hold that section, it certainly feels slim. However, lumping most of the components at the top does make it feel a little oddly-balanced in the hand, although it's only 127g heavy (incidentally, the original Razr was 95g - but that didn't have GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G or a camera on board). brightcove : 1276176311001 The screen is also oddly designed in our opinion, with a large amount of chassis surrounding the display. This means that, despite being 4.3-inches in size, it does look smaller than similar screens. That's not to take anything away from the Super AMOLED technology used, as it's top notch: we're talking qHD resolution (960 x 540) and clear and crisp colours making it a joy to use. The design of the phone is slightly odder though: it's a very angular design, and elements like the power / lock key take their cues from the likes of the Milestone range, with golden coating and ridges to make it easier to find in the hand. The front of the phone is sparsely populated, as we've come to expect from many mobiles at the moment - we're talking a front facing camera (1.3MP) and the four Android keys. We're always pleased to see the search key added, as it make contextual search for things like Music or Emails that much easier. The top of the phone features three ports: the 3.5mm headphone slot, the microUSB port and another for the mini HDMI lead, which sadly doesn't come in the box but allows you to pump content to a larger display. It's a unibody design, obviously to preserve the super thin form factor - this means that you can't access the battery or take the back off. The only way to pop in a microSD card or the microSIM that this phone takes is to pull down a small flap on the side. However, we encountered no freezes so never needed to rip out the battery, and the SIM and SD set up was super painless too. The Motorola logo at the top could be better quality in our opinion, as it was scratched within a couple of days' use. There's no camera button to speak of, but the 8MP sensor on the rear is joined by a single (but bright) LED flash and the speaker grille, which offers up some pretty loud sound for such a small opening. We found the larger screen was just about OK for manoeuvring around with a single hand - we had to stretch to reach items on the far side of the display, but on the whole it was pretty good and easy to use. Interface Moto has skinned Android to within an inch of its life on the Motorola Razr, and although it's not giving the altered UI a name, it's still something pretty novel. Let's start with a positive: like so many of the 1.2GHz dual core phones on the market, it whips through the home screens with no issue at all, and is adept at opening and closing a number of applications, no matter how many you have open at one time. There's no 'pinching to see all your home screens at once' option here; instead you swipe up from the bottom of the screen to see all your displays in one place. It's sad that you can't add in any more home screens, and are stuck with the basic five, as there are so many widgets you'll want to play with that you'll quickly fill up the space. There is a way to slightly mitigate this, thanks to Motorola: you can resize each widget to make it bigger or smaller, depending on the kind of application. This means you can see more or less of your calendar, incoming messages or emails, and can therefore chuck in a little more stuff. However, it's not the best system, as some widgets (like music) simply don't want to be resized. The notifications bar (accessed by dragging down from the top of the screen) is a little different too - sadly, there are no controls on offer with it, meaning you have to jump into the settings menu or put a widget on the homescreen to activate Wi-Fi and the like. And if you get a message, there's no preview of it in the pull-down menu either, which is odd when so many other phones manage it. We're not fans of the big 'No Entry' signs next to each notification, which allow you to clear said alert - these look ugly and we'd prefer to access them via swiping or the like. Calling and contacts Contacts The contacts system on the Motorola Razr isn't much different to most other Android phones on the market, with the ability to join and separate accounts to a single person available. Like the Samsung range, it's not the easiest thing in the world to link up your buddies - you have to press the menu key once inside their profile and select 'Join' to choose from a list of social networking accounts that they could belong to. It's a world away from the ease with which HTC manages it with HTC Sense. If there's already a lot of information in the contact card, then sometimes you'll have to dig even deeper to find the 'Join' functionality, which can be irritating if you have hundreds of people on your phone... you lucky, popular thing, you. However, there is a fairly nifty widget on the home screen that lets you select your favourite friends and have them arranged in a grid formation to look at whenever you like, which makes it a lot easier to stay in touch. Calling We're getting a little bored of saying call quality is 'fine' on today's smartphones, and usually all we can comment on is the volume of the speakerphone. However, there's a definite issue with the earphone on the Motorola Razr, as making a call means you can hear a definite 'chirrup', almost like a very slight echo, whenever sound comes into your ear, which is a little annoying and ruins the premium feel of the phone. That aside, we can't really fault the Razr for calling ability though, as it was above average at maintaining signal, even in areas where we've previously struggled to get it going. There's also smart dialling too, so when you fire up the easy to use dialler, simply tap out the corresponding letters to the persons' name on the phone and the Razr will work out the possible matches, making it very easy to search for people you want to chat to. Messaging The Motorola Razr's messaging capabilities are as good as anything else from the Android range, meaning you can connect up to the likes of Corporate email over Exchange, webmail (with Yahoo, Windows Live and Googlemail all supported from the start), Facebook and Twitter. Where the Razr beats most of the competition is the ability to aggregate these messages into an easy to use inbox, where all messages from all the accounts will show up in one place. It's a slightly clumsy system in practice, as it's not always easy to get to the universal inbox without a couple of taps. For instance, you have to pop into 'Messaging' before you can get access to the icon to open up your full list of messages, and there's no way to put an icon for the universal inbox on the home screen. The widget is supposed to solve that issue, but all this does is bring up a list of unseen messages, and then takes you straight to the Messaging centre again, where you have to click again for the universal inbox. That's after being asked whether you want to mess with the widget settings, so it's not simple to just see all your messages. It's similar to the Samsung Galaxy S2 in this respect, with its myriad steps to jump into all your messages (and issues with syncing them all at once too) and pales in comparison to the likes of the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and Torch 9810, which both have very easy to use methods of seeing all your messages in one place. However, we do like the fact you've got offline support for your social networking messages - being able to see and respond to Facebook mails offline and without having to open up the app is a big plus. There are two pre-installed keyboards on the Motorola Razr, with the standard multi-touch option (based on the Gingerbread keyboard from Google) and Swype on offer. Many people will prefer to use Swype, as it's proved a popular option - and we found it to be as good as any other iteration on alternative handsets. We preferred the multi-touch keyboard though - the prediction was pretty good, and the auto-correct mostly on the money. We would advise you to look at some of the other decent keyboard on the Android Market, such as Swiftkey X, as they can really improve your typing speed too. Internet You may have noticed we're fans of the internet browser on many Android phones, and the Motorola Razr is no exception. Thanks to the 4.3-inch Super AMOLED screen, words and images look pin sharp and easy to read even zoomed out, thanks to the upgraded qHD resolution too. The 1.2GHz processor is also pretty darn adept at whizzing through web pages when it's on song too, jumping from one site to the next without missing a beat. However, we say 'on song' there because for some reason the Motorola Razr can be a little erratic when browsing the web. Sometimes you can ask it to open up a new website or search on Google and the phone will respond instantly, matching the iPhone 4S or the Samsung Galaxy S2 for speed. But other times it will seem like it's simply ignoring your request, with no progress bar and just a blank screen to watch, even with a decent signal strength displayed. This was intermittent, but enough to be irritating - only constantly refreshing the browser brought solace, which is lightly to annoy several users. Another HUGE gripe is the bookmarking system, with five bookmarks locked in from the likes of ESPN and CNN. We're not fans of loads of prescribed bookmarks from manufacturers at the best of times, but being forced to have a link to those that some people have no intention of ever visiting is particularly galling. There's also a noticeable judder when moving around the screen, and when zooming into text it's not the smoothest experience on a mobile phone, which again reduces the premium feel. However, at least there's text reflow on offer - it's not in HTC's league, which automatically re-jigs the text to make sure it always fits the screen no matter how zoomed-in you are. With this version you'll need to double tap the text to make it re-align once zoomed in, but it's not too difficult to achieve. And good news: Flash video works very well on this powerful little grunt nugget. It loaded up instantly for us in nearly every scenario, and was one of the better versions of the platform on a mobile. Which makes it a big shame that's it's going to be canned from handsets. There's also an option to Tweet or post to Facebook whatever site it is you're looking at - it's a nice function to have, and shortens your URLs for you. It's annoying to have it so close to the Bookmarks button though, as we constantly pressed it accidentally. Media Now we come to a real strong point for the Motorola Razr: media. From an innovative music player to high-quality video playback, we're fans of using the Razr as a day to day PMP. Music The music player on the Motorola Razr may not be anything extraordinary sonically, but it's certainly innovative with a number of features that make it different from the reams of similar Android music players. For starters, it's a portal to start with, rather than a straight list of music. Should you want to browse internet radio, stream over DLNA or simply hop right into your music collection, it's a simple task to choose an option. It's not an amazing layout though, with album covers scattered all over the screen (most of which are blank, given few people actually update their music collections in such a way) and the options to tap are quite 1997 in their design. But once you've bopped your way into the music player, you've got the option to not only listen to a song, but also have the lyrics displayed as well. It's almost unerring in picking the right song, and is a fun feature to have - although we suspect you'll be turning it off before too long as like us, you just want to listen to your songs. The good news is the skin doesn't preclude the full use of the quality Android music player. Fancy it ain't, but if you want to shuffle songs, skip through tracks or set up a playlist, it's all as easy as pie here. Plus there's also a handy widget that sits on the lock screen, displaying album art and allowing you to skip through tracks without having to head into the phone. Audio quality is slightly hard to judge here - it's pretty good on the whole, but seems to change markedly depending on the buds you attach to the top. Lower end headphones sounded dreadful (more so than we're used to) but decent options made everything sound rosy again - so we suggest you invest. Video We expected video performance on the Motorola Razr to be up there with the best, thanks to the Super AMOLED screen technology it's nabbed from Samsung. And on the whole it fully lived up to that promise, with excellent colour rendering and deep contrast ratios, making it the equal of the Samsung Galaxy S, if not the S2, which does have the superior Super AMOLED Plus technology on board. One gripe we do have is the lack of a dedicated video portal. You have to pop into the Gallery application and look for your videos by thumbnail - this is less than ideal when you're not entirely sure what your movies look like compared to one another. The video player is also a little basic - we're talking a timeline to scrub forwards and back, plus Play/Pause options too. It's not a terrible thing, as this is really all you'll want to do when watching a movie, but if you try some of the third party options on the Android Market like MVideoPlayer, you'll see the world of difference. Photo The camera roll on the Motorola Razr is a little enhanced compared to the usual grid layout of photos, as it's also pulling in from your social networks. We're fans of the 'Cover Flow' style of showing the albums of your friends from Facebook, although there don't ever seem to be that many to choose from, yet some persist from a while ago. That said, opening the pictures is a slick experience considering they're being pulled from the cloud, and it's elements like this that show how far social network photography storage has come - we can now see hideous pictures of ourselves right before we go into a job interview. Hands on photography Verdict The Motorola Razr is one of those phones that, like the Atrix, we instantly looked forward to when we saw it launched. A super thin body, oodles of RAM, Kevlar casing and a top end processor are all things we want to see in a phone of this ilk, and it's good to see Moto attempting to compete with the likes of Samsung and Apple. We liked The current Motorola overlay might not be explicitly called MotoBLUR, but we liked it nonetheless. It's bright, colourful, and adds something different to the Android system with resizable widgets, a fancy notifications bar and the ability to hide the apps you don't like from the menu. The media options on the phone are excellent as well, with the video and music players both managing to be excellent additions. They're not the best we've seen on a phone, but the range of functionality is certainly impressive. And the dual core processor - sure it's nothing new, but there's a lot to be said about a phone that simply WORKS when you want it to, and doesn't just return a blank thinking screen while you wait for your smartphone to think about doing what you asked it. Smart Options are a nice touch as well, with the ability to make your phone do certain things based on time of day, location or functionality. It's something we're sure we'll see a lot more of, and remember: you saw it here (sort of) first. We disliked However, despite running a very similar feature set to the Samsung Galaxy S2, there was a lot we weren't so impressed with on the Razr. The top heavy design means the phone feels a little odd in the hand - almost unbalanced at times when typing. It's not a big problem, but detracts from the impressive slimness. The fact we can only have five home screens is irritating too - the onus here is on widgets, and while you can resize them, we quickly ran out of space to chuck them. Battery life is similarly unimpressive, with our Motorola Razr often beginning to panic around 8PM each evening. While is mostly lasted until charge time, it's irritating to be told you should be looking for a charger - like a child that worries too much about bedtime. The fact we're not allowed to delete certain bookmarks also annoyed us beyond belief - sure, this is a little thing, but it's OUR phone and we should jolly well be allowed to choose which sites we want to look at regularly and which we don't. This had better be fixed with the next software update or we'll... well, do nothing. But keep moaning to people about it when they mention the phone. Verdict Motorola needed a phone like the Razr in its arsenal, and now it has one to be proud of. It's got all the dual-core power of the Atrix, plus a superior screen; more importantly, it's jumped from a squat chassis to a sumptuous slimline affair that glides into the pocket. However, we're not sure about the way the screen is swamped in the frame of the phone, nor about the certain elements Moto has locked down - plus the battery life remains an issue. Looks- and functionality-wise, there are many comparisons to be made with the Samsung Galaxy S2 - and we can't help but recommend that latter over this phone, with a superior range of customisation on offer and a snappier UI to boot.

Google: Flash for Ice Cream Sandwich yet to be released Posted: 21 Nov 2011 03:50 AM PST Google has confirmed that Ice Cream Sandwich lacks Flash support and will continue to do so until Adobe makes the necessary updates to the software. Despite Adobe deciding to axe Flash for mobile devices, the company is still expected to make the media-friendly format work for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, currently the only ICS phone around. A Google spokesperson said, "Flash hasn't been released for ICS yet so as far as we know, Adobe will support Flash for ICS." No flash in this pan There's no mention of a timescale for the Flash release, however, but we'd imagine that Adobe is all over it, especially as we're anticipating a slew of ICS-toting devices to launch over the coming months. The lack of Flash support didn't escape our attention during TechRadar's indepth Samsung Galaxy Nexus review. At first it was upsetting to discover that we couldn't even download the plug-in from the Android Market – but once we discovered the missing Flash compatibility didn't stop the web browsing experience on the handset being wonderful, we dried our eyes and got on with our lives.

HTC Quattro release date set for March 2012? Posted: 21 Nov 2011 03:20 AM PST HTC's quad-core tablet, codenamed the HTC Quattro, won't be making its dent in our bank accounts until March 2012, according to Digitimes. And that's the very earliest that the souped-up 10.1-inch tablet will arrive, according to Digitimes' supply-chain sources, with Beats Audio, DropBox integration, 1GB of RAM, Wi-Fi, 3G, and a 2MP camera all on board. Quite fancy a pizza now While the Quattro has the quad-core tablets tied up for HTC, there's a bit more action on the smartphone side of things. We've already heard about the HTC Edge which promises plenty of grunt from its Tegra 3 processor, but the HTC Zeta is a newer one – promising a Qualcomm 2.5GHz quad-core CPU rather than the Nvidia-made Tegra 3. Also on board the HTC Zeta will be a 4.5-inch display, 8MP camera, HTC Sense 4.0 and the now-obligatory Beats Audio integration, according to the occasionally correct Digitimes. Other reports on the Zeta promise Ice Cream Sandwich, 32GB of storage, Bluetooth 4.0 and a snazzy sleek design (pictured). Despite the HTC Quattro's rumoured March release date, we won't be at all surprised to see it unveiled at February's Mobile World Congress 2012 – and we'll be crossing our fingers for a Zeta, Ville and Edge unveil then too. But the Quattro to hit the shelevs in March? We can believe it.

HTC Quattro release date set for March 2012? Posted: 21 Nov 2011 03:20 AM PST HTC's quad-core tablet, codenamed the HTC Quattro, won't be making its dent in our bank accounts until March 2012, according to Digitimes. And that's the very earliest that the souped-up 10.1-inch tablet will arrive, according to Digitimes' supply-chain sources, with Beats Audio, DropBox integration, 1GB of RAM, Wi-Fi, 3G, and a 2MP camera all on board. Quite fancy a pizza now While the Quattro has the quad-core tablets tied up for HTC, there's a bit more action on the smartphone side of things. We've already heard about the HTC Edge which promises plenty of grunt from its Tegra 3 processor, but the HTC Zeta is a newer one – promising a Qualcomm 2.5GHz quad-core CPU rather than the Nvidia-made Tegra 3. Also on board the HTC Zeta will be a 4.5-inch display, 8MP camera, HTC Sense 4.0 and the now-obligatory Beats Audio integration, according to the occasionally correct Digitimes. Other reports on the Zeta promise Ice Cream Sandwich, 32GB of storage, Bluetooth 4.0 and a snazzy sleek design (pictured). Despite the HTC Quattro's rumoured March release date, we won't be at all surprised to see it unveiled at February's Mobile World Congress 2012 – and we'll be crossing our fingers for a Zeta, Ville and Edge unveil then too. But the Quattro to hit the shelevs in March? We can believe it.

HTC Quattro release date set for March 2012? Posted: 21 Nov 2011 03:20 AM PST HTC's quad-core tablet, codenamed the HTC Quattro, won't be making its dent in our bank accounts until March 2012, according to Digitimes. And that's the very earliest that the souped-up 10.1-inch tablet will arrive, according to Digitimes' supply-chain sources, with Beats Audio, DropBox integration, 1GB of RAM, Wi-Fi, 3G, and a 2MP camera all on board. Quite fancy a pizza now While the Quattro has the quad-core tablets tied up for HTC, there's a bit more action on the smartphone side of things. We've already heard about the HTC Edge which promises plenty of grunt from its Tegra 3 processor, but the HTC Zeta is a newer one – promising a Qualcomm 2.5GHz quad-core CPU rather than the Nvidia-made Tegra 3. Also on board the HTC Zeta will be a 4.5-inch display, 8MP camera, HTC Sense 4.0 and the now-obligatory Beats Audio integration, according to the occasionally correct Digitimes. Other reports on the Zeta promise Ice Cream Sandwich, 32GB of storage, Bluetooth 4.0 and a snazzy sleek design (pictured). Despite the HTC Quattro's rumoured March release date, we won't be at all surprised to see it unveiled at February's Mobile World Congress 2012 – and we'll be crossing our fingers for a Zeta, Ville and Edge unveil then too. But the Quattro to hit the shelevs in March? We can believe it.

Nintendo 3DS strategy to focus on non-core gamers Posted: 21 Nov 2011 03:03 AM PST Nintendo has announced its plans to make its Nintendo 3DS handheld console more attractive to family audiences, with games that appeal to older gamers and more casual players. Targeting non-core gamers was a strategy that worked wonderfully well with the Nintendo Wii, and the 3DS could certainly do with a similar boost. Nintendo has already been forced to cut the price of the 3DS dramatically after sales dropped off a cliff, but it is hoping that it can give the handheld a major boost. Older female gamers? "In terms of other genres, absolutely we will continue to push the envelope with new, unique, differentiated experiences that you can only get on the Nintendo 3DS and that widen the consumer demographic," said US Nintendo boss Reggie Fils-Aime. "So, will there be content to appeal to consumers 50 plus the way Brain Age did? Absolutely. Will there be content that's going to appeal to women the way we are able to do with the DS? Absolutely. "I can't go into the details of what exactly those titles will be, but stay tuned. There is information that we'll be sharing prior to E3, plus a lot of information at E3 as well." Of course, 2012 will be a key year for the 3DS, with the arrival of Sony's PlayStation Vita bringing some high profile competition.

Nintendo 3DS strategy to focus on non-core gamers Posted: 21 Nov 2011 03:03 AM PST Nintendo has announced its plans to make its Nintendo 3DS handheld console more attractive to family audiences, with games that appeal to older gamers and more casual players. Targeting non-core gamers was a strategy that worked wonderfully well with the Nintendo Wii, and the 3DS could certainly do with a similar boost. Nintendo has already been forced to cut the price of the 3DS dramatically after sales dropped off a cliff, but it is hoping that it can give the handheld a major boost. Older female gamers? "In terms of other genres, absolutely we will continue to push the envelope with new, unique, differentiated experiences that you can only get on the Nintendo 3DS and that widen the consumer demographic," said US Nintendo boss Reggie Fils-Aime. "So, will there be content to appeal to consumers 50 plus the way Brain Age did? Absolutely. Will there be content that's going to appeal to women the way we are able to do with the DS? Absolutely. "I can't go into the details of what exactly those titles will be, but stay tuned. There is information that we'll be sharing prior to E3, plus a lot of information at E3 as well." Of course, 2012 will be a key year for the 3DS, with the arrival of Sony's PlayStation Vita bringing some high profile competition.

Nintendo 3DS strategy to focus on non-core gamers Posted: 21 Nov 2011 03:03 AM PST Nintendo has announced its plans to make its Nintendo 3DS handheld console more attractive to family audiences, with games that appeal to older gamers and more casual players. Targeting non-core gamers was a strategy that worked wonderfully well with the Nintendo Wii, and the 3DS could certainly do with a similar boost. Nintendo has already been forced to cut the price of the 3DS dramatically after sales dropped off a cliff, but it is hoping that it can give the handheld a major boost. Older female gamers? "In terms of other genres, absolutely we will continue to push the envelope with new, unique, differentiated experiences that you can only get on the Nintendo 3DS and that widen the consumer demographic," said US Nintendo boss Reggie Fils-Aime. "So, will there be content to appeal to consumers 50 plus the way Brain Age did? Absolutely. Will there be content that's going to appeal to women the way we are able to do with the DS? Absolutely. "I can't go into the details of what exactly those titles will be, but stay tuned. There is information that we'll be sharing prior to E3, plus a lot of information at E3 as well." Of course, 2012 will be a key year for the 3DS, with the arrival of Sony's PlayStation Vita bringing some high profile competition.

EU: Millions spent on copyright hasn't cut piracy Posted: 21 Nov 2011 02:11 AM PST The European Union's digital agenda commissioner has hit out at digital entertainment, claiming that the millions of pounds spent enforcing rights issues online has only served to make people hate copyright and hasn't cut online piracy. Speaking at the Forum d'Avignon conference, Neelie Kroes also told delegates that to stem digital piracy, the copyright system needs overhauling. "Is the current copyright system the right and only tool to achieve our objectives? Not really, I'm afraid," she said. "We need to keep on fighting against piracy, but legal enforceability is becoming increasingly difficult; the millions of dollars invested trying to enforce copyright have not stemmed piracy." Sur le pont? "Citizens increasingly hear the word copyright and hate what is behind it. Sadly, many see the current system as a tool to punish and withhold, not a tool to recognise and reward." So what's the answer? Kroes posits that we need to start over, with "the artist at the centre, not only of copyright law, but of our whole policy on culture and growth." She also emphasised the need for digital flexibility, describing the current system as "the straitjacket of a single model". That's all very nice and seems rooted firmly in fact, but Kroes' speech highlighted lots of problems without really putting forward any new solutions, instead backing the a "one stop shop" rights database and the importance of making content available at speed. But with music streaming services like Spotify finding that music labels are abandoning ship due to poor returns and the jury still out on movie streaming, the real question is what the digital entertainment industry should try next.

EU: Millions spent on copyright hasn't cut piracy Posted: 21 Nov 2011 02:11 AM PST The European Union's digital agenda commissioner has hit out at digital entertainment, claiming that the millions of pounds spent enforcing rights issues online has only served to make people hate copyright and hasn't cut online piracy. Speaking at the Forum d'Avignon conference, Neelie Kroes also told delegates that to stem digital piracy, the copyright system needs overhauling. "Is the current copyright system the right and only tool to achieve our objectives? Not really, I'm afraid," she said. "We need to keep on fighting against piracy, but legal enforceability is becoming increasingly difficult; the millions of dollars invested trying to enforce copyright have not stemmed piracy." Sur le pont? "Citizens increasingly hear the word copyright and hate what is behind it. Sadly, many see the current system as a tool to punish and withhold, not a tool to recognise and reward." So what's the answer? Kroes posits that we need to start over, with "the artist at the centre, not only of copyright law, but of our whole policy on culture and growth." She also emphasised the need for digital flexibility, describing the current system as "the straitjacket of a single model". That's all very nice and seems rooted firmly in fact, but Kroes' speech highlighted lots of problems without really putting forward any new solutions, instead backing the a "one stop shop" rights database and the importance of making content available at speed. But with music streaming services like Spotify finding that music labels are abandoning ship due to poor returns and the jury still out on movie streaming, the real question is what the digital entertainment industry should try next.

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