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Wednesday, April 4, 2012

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Roku celebrates 100 channels in the UK and Ireland, says more are on the way

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 11:39 AM PDT

Hitting any milestones or goals are usually worthy of a celebration, and on this occasion it's Roku's turn to party on. The LT, HD, XD and XS creator is flaunting the reach of 100 channels in its UK and Irish boxes, adding over 60 since its launch date back in January. The outfit isn't planning on slowing down anytime soon, though, saying more channels are expected in the upcoming months and that it aims to bring the one-channel-per-day model to streamers across the pond. Congrats, Roku, congrats.
Show full PR text
Roku Streaming Platform Reaches 100 Channel Milestone

Roku Broadens Channel Offering in U.K. and Ireland

4 APRIL 2012 – Streaming platform Roku ® announced today that the company has more than doubled the number of channels on offer in the U.K. and Ireland since its launch in January.

Roku launched in the U.K. and Ireland with 40 channels of video, music and casual game content including Netflix, and since then has grown its entertainment selection to more than 100 channels including BBC iPlayer, FoxNews.com and Euronews, with more expected over the coming months.

Clive Hudson, Vice President and General Manager for Europe at Roku said: "People are accustomed to streaming content on their computers but the ability to stream programmes and films on their TVs is starting to take hold in the U.K. with the availability of dedicated platforms like Roku.

"In the U.S. we are adding about one new channel per day and this gives us an enormous appeal to a wide variety of audience segments. We aim to follow this model in the U.K. with content for different communities and special interest groups in addition to mainstream channels like Netflix and BBC iPlayer."

Roku streaming players are known for their low prices, simplicity and quality of content. Two models of Roku players – Roku LT and Roku 2 XS – are available in the U.K. and Ireland for suggested retail prices of £49.99 and £99.99, respectively (visit www.roku.co.uk to find retailers). Both models feature on-demand films and programmes from Netflix and Crackle (Crackle is available in the U.K. only); live and on-demand sports from MLB.TV and Ultimate Fighting Championship organisation; music from Classical TV and TuneIn; photos and videos from Facebook and Flickr; news and entertainment from WSJ Live, the Wall Street Journal, FoxNews.com and others from around the world – plus casual games like Angry Birds.

The Roku LT is the lowest-cost option for streaming video and music entertainment directly to a TV, without a PC. The Roku LT connects to the Internet instantly via built-in WiFi and supports up to 720p high-definition video.

The Roku 2 XS provides the ultimate in TV entertainment. It features the content found on the Roku LT and also adds casual games. To enable casual gaming, the Roku 2 XS features an included motion-controlled game remote – which connects via Bluetooth – and a MicroSD slot for additional game storage. The Roku 2 XS supports up to 1080p high-definition video and includes an Ethernet port in addition to built-in WiFi as well as a USB port for playing music, videos and photos from any USB drive.

New York Times playable space game lets you blow up those pesky banner ads

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 11:21 AM PDT

Let's be honest here: as great as The New York Times story on casual gaming might be, it's destined to be overshadowed by the sweet interactive feature at the top, an embedded version of an Asteroids-like shooter from Rootof Creations that lets you do a number on the site's page layout, zooming across the article and blasting elements like ads and Facebook plug-ins. So, is this the future of newspaper publishing right here? We'll let you know when we figure out a way to blast that pesky paywall.

Nissan NV200 Taxi of Tomorrow hands-on (video)

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 11:02 AM PDT

It is, admittedly, difficult to get too excited about a ride in a taxi. Taxis tend to smell, their drivers tend to be rather abrupt in their piloting style and there's a good chance you won't be able to find one when you really need it. Nissan's "Taxi of Tomorrow," then, is hardly the most alluring concept car on display at the New York International Auto Show, but it is, however, the one you're most likely to actually get to take a ride in. It's also a huge advance compared to the the rather tired 'ol Crown Vic. Join us after the break for an exploration of why.
Nissan NV200 Taxi of Tomorrow hands-on

The NV200 is Nissan's panel van, a tall, slab-sided machine that's designed for hauling around moderate amounts of cargo, particularly ideal for small companies. The Taxi of Tomorrow is simply an NV200 that's optimized for fleshy cargo. A bench seat slots in the rear, separated from the two front seats by a thick, healthy slab of protective plexiglass. Those rear seats are covered by an anti-microbial fabric, so hopefully they'll stay fresh and clean despite not being made of the hose-friendly vinyl found in the back of a Crown Victoria cab.


Entry is through a pair of sliding doors with retractable running boards, making this easier to get out of in tight spaces while also eliminating the chance of catching a pedestrian by surprise. There's even the option for a rear-mounted wheelchair lift, making this far more accessible than your average sedan. It's easier to spot, too, with big red and green lights indicating whether a cab is occupied or vacant.

The back seat is a comfortable place to be. The seats are wide and the (see-through) roof tall. Passengers have separate climate controls, so no longer will you be at the complete whim of the driver, and a pair of USB ports means you can juice up your celly on the way to the show. Payment can be processed through the (clearly labeled) RFID area -- though there's still a pass-through if you haven't given up on cash just yet.

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Interestingly this Taxi of Tomorrow hasn't given up on gasoline. It's powered by a two-liter, four-cylinder engine that powers the front wheels. Nissan does have a concept all-electric version of the NV200, but it isn't suited for this kind of duty just yet.

The NV200 Taxi of Tomorrow will become the Taxi of Today late next year, when the $29,700 vehicles will go on sale and start showing up across the boroughs.

Researchers create incredibly thin solar cells flexible enough to wrap around a human hair

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 10:50 AM PDT

You've probably heard that the sun is strong enough to power our planet many times over, but without a practical method of harnessing that energy, there's no way to take full advantage. An incredibly thin and light solar cell could go a long way to accomplishing that on a smaller scale, however, making the latest device from researchers from the University of Austria and the University of Tokyo a fairly significant discovery. Scientists were able to create an ultra-thin solar cell that measures just 1.9 micrometers thick -- roughly one-tenth the size of the next device. Not only is the sample slim -- composed of electrodes mounted on plastic foil, rather than glass -- it's also incredibly flexible, able to be wrapped around a single strand of human hair (which, believe it or not, is nearly 20 times thicker). The scalable cell could replace batteries in lighting, display and medical applications, and may be ready to be put to use in as few as five years. There's a bounty of physical measurement and efficiency data at the source link below, so grab those reading glasses and click on past the break.

Self-sculpting 'smart sand' can assume any shape, create instant prototypes (video)

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 10:28 AM PDT

A new algorithm developed by the Distributed Robotics Laboratory at MIT's Computer Science could lead to an exciting fast prototyping tool, being dubbed "smart sand." Immerse an object in the sand, tiny cubes that send simple proximity messages to each other, which relay through the swarm and determine which blocks are adjacent to the object to be modeled, and those that aren't. Using this data, it's possible to create a map of the subject to be replicated. Initial tests were performed using 2D models, but has also been shown to work reliably with 3D shapes also. While true smart sand would need "grains" much smaller than currently possible, it's said that this isn't an "insurmountable obstacle." The paper will be presented at the IEEE conference in May, or keep going past the break for the explanatory video.

TomTom releases fix for leap year bug, gets GPS devices back on course

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 10:07 AM PDT

Not long after acknowledging that a leap year bug had borked a handful of its GPS devices, TomTom's releasing a fix to solve the problem. The company says some nav systems had tracking issues beginning March 31st, claiming the intercalary conundrum was mainly caused by a bug in the third-party software. Those whose GPS devices are acting a tad bit confused can head over to the source below, where deets on how to get things back to normal await you.

[Thanks, Aryo]

Voice Control for LG Smart TVs to roll out by end of April, Magic Remotes to require spit guards

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 09:45 AM PDT

If TVs only had a brain -- oh wait, now they kind of do. LG's Smart TV series has already begun to flood the market with its suite of apps, streaming video services, support for Flash and gaming all in tow, save for one promised service -- Voice Control. Announced by the company today, an update enabling that feature should hit flat panels by month's end, giving users with Magic Remotes access to simplified search and navigation. Curious to see how it works? Then check out the awkwardly dubbed and unintentionally hilarious video demo after the break.

Google testing heads-up display glasses in public, won't make you look like Robocop

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 09:25 AM PDT

The good news: Google has started testing those augmented reality glasses we heard about earlier in the year. The bad news: if the artsy shots of the test units are to be believed, they won't make you look like some '80s cinematic anti-hero. In fact, the things wouldn't look too out of place in a New York Times style story. The software giant let it be know that, while it hasn't quite got a sale date on the wearables, it's ready to test ProjectGlass amongst the non-augmented public. The company is also looking for feedback on the project, writing in a post today, "we want to start a conversation and learn from your valuable input." Want some idea of what ProjectGlass might offer the public? Sure, it's not quite as good as strapping a pair on your own eyes, but interested parties can check out a video of Google's vision after the break.

Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 review

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 09:00 AM PDT

When Acer's Aspire Timeline Ultra notebooks made their first appearance at CES, these 14- and 15-inch laptops seemed like little more than the successors to Acer's TimelineX series. Thin-and-light laptops, complete with optical drive and some likely reasonable prices. While there's no mistaking that DVD burner and mainstream screen size, we now know a few things we didn't then: the 15-inch version you see up there packs NVIDIA's next-gen Kepler graphics... and Acer's calling it an Ultrabook.

Acer's branding that there Ultra M3 as an Ultrabook because it's less than 20mm (.8 inches) thin, but given that 15-inch display, numpad, optical drive and graphical horsepower, it's hard to think of this as anything other than a mainstream laptop. If you accept Acer's marketing scheme, though, this is the first so-called Ultrabook to ship with discrete graphics. (We're expecting to see more -- many more -- of these.) As of this writing, at least, we don't have a confirmed price, though Acer has said the pricing for the Ultra series should align with current TimelineX notebooks (which is to say, we're hardly expecting this to be a $1,500 machine.) Until we know for sure, it'll be hard to say how sweet of a deal this is, but that doesn't mean we can't talk about what it actually does. How does the performance stack up against regular 'ol 15-inch laptop? Does it pummel your garden-variety Ultrabooks like you'd expect it to? Join us past the break where we break down exactly what this 'tweener can do.
Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 review

Look and feel

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At first glance, the M3 is a rather unassuming machine. The matte black exterior is fashioned out of polycarbonate, save for the textured chrome Acer logo and aluminum lid. The only other interruption in the monochrome exterior are some small, silk-screened text on the hinge letting you know there's "Professionally Tuned" Dolby Home Theater technology powering the audio -- branding you'll find stamped on most every recent Acer laptop. Open it up and you'll find the palm rest and screen bezel swathed in the same ebony skin, while the recessed chiclet keys are surrounded by pewter gray plastic. There's an Acer logo beneath the screen, a 1.3 megapixel webcam in the bezel, and Aspire Timeline U branding placed below the numpad on the right palm rest, along with the obligatory Intel, Windows, and NVIDIA stickers affixed nearby.

Plastic skins rarely lend a laptop luxurious looks, and the M3 is no exception. For what it's worth, though, the fit and finish here are decent, with the only exception being the DVD tray, which isn't fitted as well as we'd like -- when closed, the gaps to the left of and above the tray are noticeably wider than along the bottom and right sides. Make no mistake, though: even if those gaps were narrower, no one would guess based on looks alone that this is a premium machine.

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Make no mistake, though: no one would guess based on looks alone that this is a premium machine.

Despite the use of such low-rent materials in the chassis, we're happy to report that this hasn't adversely affected the PC's construction much. There's zero flex in the palm rest, and while the keyboard could be coaxed to bend by pressing directly on the deck, typing on it produces no noticeable bowing. It's a different story with the display, as it can be made to flex and wobble quite easily -- an issue the M3 shares with an unfortunate number of its competitors, including some made of metal.

Along the front edge of the laptop resides a slim chrome power button, LED activity indicator, plus a second light to let you know the laptop's charging status. Left and right speaker grilles are also located on the underside of that beveled front edge. On the laptop's left side is an SD reader and a tray-loading DVD-RW drive, while the right side is home to just a Kensington lock slot. That leaves the rear for most of your connectivity options: dual USB 2.0 ports (plus one of the 3.0 variety), HDMI, Gigabit Ethernet, a 3.5mm headphone jack and the power port. That's a pretty generous selection of sockets, and it compares quite favorably to other 15-inch thin and lights like Samsung's Series 9. While the rear-facing location makes for an uncluttered appearance, it also makes for woeful ergonomics: reaching back there to connect peripherals, headphones and the power cord feels like a chore. Every. Single. Time.

Keyboard and trackpad

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Back when we first put fingertip to keyboard on the new Timeline Ultra, we found a few flaws with its grid, and we're sorry to say they weren't addressed in the laptop's final form. As with so many other Ultrabooks, the keys suffer from a shallow throw, though in this case the Tab and F-keys are undersized, and there's no backlighting. Like the rest of the chassis, the keys are made of hard, cheap-feeling plastic that left our phalanges yearning for the soft-touch buttons you'll find on a MacBook Pro or Samsung Series 9. On the plus side, the spacing between buttons is ample, which should keep misfires to a minimum. And we've always had a soft spot for numpads, particularly on machines with some gaming chops like this one.

Another Windows laptop, another middling trackpad. The Acer comes equipped with a plastic clickpad from Elan, and while two-finger vertical scrolling is fairly reliable, there were times when multiple attempts were needed to pull this off. Another niggle: the lack of an option for two-fingered sidescrolling. Similarly, pinch-to-zoom works most of the time, but touch doesn't always register, and when it does you'll have to settle for some seriously chunky scaling. Four-finger swipes grant direct access to the desktop -- a feature we found quite useful when it worked -- but again, the trackpad sometimes missed our input, forcing us to try multiple times.

It's not all doom and gloom in clickpad land, though: single-finger navigation works as it should, and right, left and double clicks on the pad register as they ought to.

Display and sound

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One word describes the display on the Acer Timeline Ultra M3: disappointing. It's a machine with some of the latest NVIDIA graphics, but the glossy LCD panel Acer chose doesn't make the best of the GT640M card inside. Resolution on the 15.6-inch screen is a paltry 1366 x 768, which puts pixel density at about 101 PPI. Now it's true, that pixel count is par for the course for budget laptops of all sizes, but if we're comparing it to other big-screen Ultrabooks, the panel doesn't compare favorably against either the 1600 x 900 IPS-quality display on the HP Envy 14 Spectre or the matte, 400-nit, 1600 x 900 panel on the 15-inch Series 9. Heck, even the $949 14-inch Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook has a matte, 300-nit display -- that's a step up, even if, too, has 1366 x 768 resolution.

Aside from an inability to adequately display details, the screen suffers from poor viewing angles. Tilting it back even an inch or two past the sweet spot results in the screen darkening, and moving it further leads to color inversion. Pulling it forward isn't any better, as that causes the kind of wash-out characterized by inverted colors and a sickly yellowish tint. Given those shortcomings, we were surprised to enjoy some pretty wide viewing angles from the sides, even as we approached 180 degrees. In general, though, the display makes for an underwhelming canvas whether you're gazing at a desktop of noticeably pixelated icons or playing Battlefield 3 (much more on that later, of course).

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As for those two front firing speakers, they aren't much more impressive than the display. Sure, they could attempt to regale us with the dulcet tones and steel guitar of Robert Randolph and the Family Band, but like most laptop speakers, they provide neither rich sound nor any semblance of decent bass response. Suffice to say you're better off with some external USB units or using headphones if you want to listen to your tunes in a way even approaching how the artist intended. As for the EQ manipulation magic promised by that Dolby Home Theater technology? It didn't improve our audio experience much, if at all. Whether watching movies or playing games, we were never fooled into thinking that the sounds were coming from anything other than a pair of garden-variety laptop speakers.

Performance and battery life

Our test machine came specced to the max, with a 256GB Lite-On SSD, 4GB of RAM, a 1.7GHz Intel Core i7-2637M CPU and, of course, that NVIDIA GT640M GPU and dedicated 1GB of video memory. Because of that speedy solid-state drive, boot times were like greased lightning: 1.3 seconds to wake from sleep, 12.7 seconds from hibernation, and 12.3 ticks for a cold boot. All those other internals made for a more than capable work machine, as it juggled three HD videos on YouTube, 15 open tabs in Chrome, a Skype chat and some light word processing in Notepad. Through our day-to-day use, the M3 never got more than mildly warm, and the fan only spun up periodically as we kicked into gaming sessions or watched videos for extended periods.

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Speaking of gaming, we spent some time playing Team Fortress 2, Skyrim and Battlefield 3 to see just how well NVIDIA's newly minted GPU performs. Suffice to say, we weren't disappointed. The GT640M routinely delivered frame rates between 55 and 60 fps as we ran around torching folks in Team Fortress 2. During walkabouts in the empire of Tamriel, meanwhile, frame rates consistently hovered around 50fps, dipping into the 40s during battles. An NVIDIA rep promised its new Kepler architecture would enable us to play graphics-intensive Battlefield 3 at over 30fps in Acer's 20mm-thin machine, and it delivered. On its high setting, frame rates hovered in the mid to low 30s, and on medium we got between 40 and 45fps. (The ultra setting slowed gameplay to twenty-something fps, so if you demand the utmost from your gaming experience, the Ultra M3 isn't for you.)

That said, most users should find the Ultra M3 provides ample horsepower to get their game on, and its capabilities truly are impressive given the machine's svelte profile. But, there's a catch. In order to take full advantage of the hardware, you'll be chained to a wall outlet -- to conserve the battery, the GPU performance is severely curtailed when the machine's not plugged in. That's a serious drag, because a big part of the Acer's appeal is its prodigious gaming prowess in a super portable profile, but this limitation takes that away. We know that such sessions would necessarily be quite short due to the battery drain they would entail, but it sure would be nice to at least have the option to switch to a more performance-oriented battery profile during, say, a 30-minute train commute.

Benchmarks roughly mirrored our in-game experience (including a reliance on the AC adapter), as the M3 smoked PCMark Vantage with a score of 11,545 and pulled off an impressive 11,128 in 3DMark06.



PCMark Vantage
3DMark06
Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 (1.7GHz Intel Core i7 2637M, Intel HD 3000 / NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M, 1GB) 11,545 11,128
Samsung Series 7 Chronos (2.2GHz Core i7-2675QM, Intel HD 3000 / AMD Radeon HD 6750M 1GB) 7,824 8,891
Dell XPS 15z (2.7GHz Core i7-2620M, NVIDIA GeForce GT525M 1GB) 8,023 7,317
Lenovo IdeaPad U400 (2.4GHz Core i5-2430M, Intel HD 3000 / AMD Radeon HD 6470M 1GB) 7,281 4,463
Dell XPS 14z (2.8GHz Core i7-2640M, Intel HD Graphics 3000 / NVIDIA GeForce GT520M 1GB) 7,982 5,414
HP Envy 15 (2.4GHz Core i5-2430M, AMD Radeon HD 7690M 1GB) 7,210 8,839
14-inch Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook (1.6GHz Core i5-2467M, Intel HD Graphics 3000) 6,908 2,618
HP Envy 14 Spectre (1.6GHz Core i5-2467M, Intel HD Graphics 3000) 9,335 3,468
Dell Inspiron 14z (2.3 Core i5-2410M, Intel HD Graphics 3000) 6,177 4,079
Dell XPS 13 (1.6GHz Core i5-2467M, Intel HD Graphics 3000) N/A 4,130
HP Folio 13 (1.6GHz Core i5-2467M, Intel HD Graphics 3000) 6,701 3,387
Toshiba Portege Z835 (1.4GHz Core i3-2367M, Intel HD Graphics 3000) 5,894 3,601
Lenovo IdeaPad U300s (1.8GHz Core i7-2677M, Intel HD Graphics 3000) 9,939 3,651
ASUS Zenbook UX31 (1.7GHz Core i5-2557M, Intel HD Graphics 3000) 10,508 4,209
Acer Aspire S3 (1.6GHz Core i5-2467M, Intel HD Graphics 3000) 5,367 3,221
13-inch, 2011 MacBook Air (1.7GHz Core i5-2557M, Intel HD Graphics 3000) 9,484 4,223
2011 Samsung Series 9 (1.7GHz Core i5-2537M, Intel HD Graphics 3000) 7,582 2,240
Notes: the higher the score the better.


Battery life on the Timeline Ultra M3 is good, but not amazing. We got five hours and 11 minutes out of its three-cell Li-polymer battery in our standard test, with a video looping off the hard drive, WiFi on and screen brightness set at 65 percent. In general workday use checking email, web surfing and word processing in Notepad, we got a little more than five and a half hours before needing to plug in. As you can see in the table below, the M3 bests most 15-inch laptops with discrete graphics (save he Series 7), but it falls short of almost every smaller Ultrabook.

Laptop
Battery Life
Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 5:11
Samsung Series 7 Chronos 5:47
Dell XPS 15z 4:26
Lenovo IdeaPad U400 4:18
Dell XPS 14z 4:54
HP Envy 15 4:07
14-inch Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook 5:06
Dell Inspiron 14z 6:37
HP Folio 13 6:08
Toshiba Portege Z835 5:49
ASUS Zenbook UX31 5:41
13-inch, 2011 MacBook Air 5:32 (Mac OS X) / 4:12 (Windows)
HP Envy 14 Spectre 5:30
Lenovo IdeaPad U300s 5:08
Dell XPS 13 4:58
Samsung Series 9 (2011) 4:20
Acer Aspire S3 4:11

The competition

As we said at the outset, the M3 Acer is a bit too big and brawny to make a fair comparison to (what we consider to be) skinnier Ultrabooks like the ASUS UX31 and Toshiba Z830. Perhaps a more appropriate juxtaposition is with the Lenovo IdeaPad U400. That machine also packs an optical drive, similar specs and discrete graphics, plus a display with the same resolution, albeit in a 14-inch panel. Yet, the U400 doesn't have the Acer's more spacious, numpad-equipped keyboard, nor the capabilities of a Kepler GPU. It does have a higher-quality aluminum build, however.

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Full-featured (and sized) laptops like the HP Envy 15, Sony VAIO SE series, Dell XPS 15z and Samsung Series 7 Chronos could be called competitors as well, though it's difficult to compare them as Acer has yet to announce the Ultra M3's pricing. They have the same screen size and similar battery life and CPU options, but they boast far superior display quality and build materials. Additionally, the M3 is thinner than those machines and dominates them in both benchmark scores and gaming capabilities, thanks to its Kepler graphics.

Wrap-up

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With the Ultra M3, Acer has delivered some serious computing power in an incredibly thin package. In our opinion, it's simply too big to be evaluated as a true Ultrabook, though it is thinner and lighter than typical 15-inch laptops. Its high-end internals allow for some noteworthy performance, but its plastic construction and shoddy screen scream low-end, making it a bit of a paradox. We think what Acer has done is create the computer equivalent of a '70's muscle car shoving a premium powerplant in a subpar chassis: it's great at the (gaming) drag strip, but its shortcomings could make it a tough sell as a daily driver. It's an intriguing package, but without knowing its price point, it's impossible to tell whether it's worth taking the plunge. Regardless, we think that Acer and NVIDIA's latest collaboration has given us a glimpse of a gaming landscape populated by thin, light machines, and that's a decidedly good thing.

Samsung stalls UK Ice Cream Sandwich roll out for unlocked Galaxy S II

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 08:51 AM PDT

So you paid attention to pundits and bought that Galaxy S II outright in the hopes that future software updates would arrive on your device first. And then reality came crashing in. It appears SIM-free is not the way Samsung wants consumers to be, as carrier-agnostic handsets in the UK will be the last to receive Ice Cream Sandwich. The move, though frustrating for many, is not as arbitrary and unfair as it might initially appear to be. Speaking to CNET UK, a company rep confirmed that this upgrade delay has everything to do with cross-carrier testing, compatibility and approval, owing to the "variety of networks" unlocked GS II's can access. Once it does get an unanimous greenlight, however, expect to see the final leg of that TouchWizzed Android 4.0 roll out commence.

Ceramic White Samsung Galaxy Note careens into Canadian hearts starting today

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 08:42 AM PDT

What once was an oddity is now an unstoppable force. With five million units shipped to date, the Galaxy Note's enjoying its well-earned place at the center of Samsung's universe and the company's looking to spread the cheer. Hitting retail shelves across Canada today, the phablet responsible for the stylus's stylish comeback is getting a makeover for Canucks, offering consumers its 5.3-inch wares in a glossy, ceramic white. And with that Premium Suite pack bringing a host of S Pen apps, as well as an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich in late spring, users won't have to wait too long for something more to scrawl about. Check out the official presser after the break.
Show full PR text
Samsung Canada announces the availability of the Samsung Galaxy Note™ in Ceramic White


The White Samsung Galaxy Note arrives in Canada Just in Time for Spring

MISSISSAUGA, ON, April 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Samsung Electronics Canada is pleased to announce the availability of the Samsung Galaxy Note in a glossy ceramic white colour. Just in time for spring, the White Galaxy Note will be arriving at carriers and select retailers across Canada beginning today.

This new colour variation arrives in Canada as the Galaxy Note surpassed sales of over 5 million units worldwide in just five months. Released in October of last year, the Galaxy Note has proven to be incredibly popular with consumers, showcasing a 5.3" HD Super-AMOLED screen as well its revolutionary S-Pen, which accurately recreates the experience of using a real pen.

"GALAXY Note continues to delight customers with its incredible versatility and unique user experience and we are excited to introduce a new colour of the popular Samsung Galaxy Note to Canadians," said Paul Brannen, Vice President, Mobile Communications at Samsung Canada. "Designed to capture, share and create content like never before, the Galaxy Note combines the power of a tablet with the convenience of a smartphone to bring an all-in-one device to the Canadian marketplace."

Workplace Ready
Combining the convenience of a smartphone with the power of a tablet, the Galaxy Note has met rigorous security criteria to be categorized as enterprise ready, providing consumers with confidence to securely integrate their device into the workplace. With enterprise ready criteria built in to the Note Android™ 2.3, Gingerbread operating system, any organization's mobile work force can be remotely managed and securely connected to corporate applications and data while away from their desks.

Enterprise ready is comprised of multiple components that outline Samsung's business-to-business foundations for its mobile devices. These "pillars" are designed to offer customers essential enterprise functionality and security and include: Mobile Device Management, On-Device Virtual Private Network (VPN) and secure access to Corporate Email/Calendar/Contacts.

Enhance The Note Experience
To add to the variety and richness of the GALAXY Note experience, Samsung has also announced a 'Premium Suite' upgrade that will enhance and add to the features that accent many GALAXY Note exclusive features like the S Pen. Available to users in the late-spring timeframe, the Premium Suite upgrade offers new features and applications exclusive to GALAXY Note and that utilize its innovative S Pen, bundled with an OS upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

"With the Premium Suite upgrade, we wanted to add features that enrich users' Note experience even more, including the great advantages of Android 4.0 and innovative applications for S Pen," continued Brannen. "We are committed to providing extraordinary experiences for consumers, and we will continue to provide new features and upgrades to enrich our offering."

Availability and Pricing
The Samsung Galaxy Note will be available in Ceramic White from carriers and select retailers beginning April 4th, 2012. For carrier specific pricing and details, please visit your nearest carrier retailer. For more information on the Galaxy Note, please visit www.samsung.com/GalaxyNote.

Bharti Airtel first to deploy LTE in India, launching in Kolkata this month

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 08:20 AM PDT

ImageIt's beginning on a very limited basis, but Bharti Airtel is achieving a rather significant milestone in India: it's set to become the very first operator to deploy LTE service within the country. Having won spectrum for four markets nearly two years ago, the company will debut its ZTE-built 2300MHz next-gen network in Kolkata (Calcutta). There's no word on when the coverage will expand to the other three circles -- the operator's announced that Nokia Siemens will be heading up the effort in Maharashtra later this year, followed by Punjab and Karnataka -- but we imagine the initial deployment will be a good test to make sure Bharti's network is up to the task first.

[Thanks, Shweta]

Australian court holds Google responsible for misleading search ads

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 07:57 AM PDT

In a turnaround from a lower court ruling, three Australian Federal Court judges ruled yesterday that Google was responsible for its advertisers' content and that it breached the country's trade law by hosting misleading ads. The case centered on four ads in particular, in which the advertisers used the names of their competitors to ensure the ads appeared in search results for said companies. That, the court ruled, was likely to mislead folks searching for those competitors. While there's no fine imposed on Google with that judgement, the judges are asking Google to change its practices and to pay court costs. The ruling also, of course, sets quite a precedent if it is upheld. Not surprisingly, Google disagrees with the judges' decision, noting that it believes "advertisers should be responsible for the ads they create on the AdWords platform," and that it's now considering its options (including an appeal to the High Court).

OCZ Vertex 4 SSD released, wins calm praise on the review circuit

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 07:36 AM PDT

The Vertex 4 is a big deal for OCZ, because it's the company's first top-end SSD to come with an in-house Indilinx controller. We first saw an earlier version of this proprietary silicon put to good effect in the Octane drive a few months ago, and by most accounts the Vertex 4's updated Everest 2 controller continues in the same vein. The new drive will ship in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB varieties, with MSRPs of $179, $349 and $699 respectively, which stacks up well against Intel's 520 series. Bearing in mind that only the larger two variants have been sent out for review so far, the general feedback is that the Vertex 4 is reliable and indeed excels in certain key benchmarks like random write performance, which Anandtech described as "incredible." On the other hand, read performance and some other real-world benchmarks were less earth-shattering, and most reviewers have been quite measured in their conclusions. Storage Review, for example, suggested that the new Vertex's attractiveness will grow over time, as pricing gets more aggressive and OCZ's decision to use its own controller pays dividends in terms of support and firmware tweaks. Check out the source links for all the usual benchmark graph goodness.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]

PlayStation Vita 1.66 firmware update rolling out now, minor UI tweaks in tow

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 07:23 AM PDT

Shortly after unleashing (and quickly pulling back) the PS Vita's v1.65 firmware update, Sony's rapidly rolling out a followup release. Version 1.66 brings with it a few UI tweaks, including tidbits such as the addition of a progress bar during app installs, notification alerts now only popping up for three seconds, plus the option to tap Retry / Cancel when running into troubles during location search. Games like Unit 13 and Gravity Daze will also see "functional improvements," while the Near app is getting a direct link to the PlayStation Store, making it easier to grab apps that other folks are toying with. The refresh is up for grabs now, so be sure to hit that System Software on your quad-core beast, or head over to the source below if you're in need of some guidance.

SwiftKey 3 Beta launches, no space bar required (video)

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 07:00 AM PDT

Just when we thought our favorite Android virtual keyboard couldn't get much better, TouchType decided to prove us wrong by launching SwiftKey 3 Beta. If you're one of the product's 30,000+ VIP users, you'll want to get your hands on the company's newest creation right now, for free. What's new? The space bar is no longer required, for one -- Smart Space detects and corrects "miss-typed or omitted spaces across whole phrases." Paradoxically, that same space bar is now wider, just in case you're feeling nostalgic. Smart punctuation further enhances the UI, with language-specific improvements in tow. In fact, SwiftKey 3 offers support for seven new languages -- Korean, Estonian, Farsi, Icelandic, Latvian, Lithuanian and Serbian (for a total of 42). Finally, you'll find two lovely new themes, Cobalt and the Ice Cream Sandwich-inspired Holo. We've been playing with TouchType's latest and greatest for a few hours now on both our HTC One X and our Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 and we've stopped using the space bar completely. Did you notice? Wedidn'tthinkso. Check out the gallery of screenshot below, hit the break for a demo video and the full PR, then follow the More Coverage link to sign up as a VIP.
SwiftKey 3 Beta screenshots

Show full PR text
Next Generation Auto-Correct; SwiftKey 3 Beta Launches

A major leap forward in touchscreen typing

Beta release available to SwiftKey VIPs at http://vip.swiftkey.net

LONDON, April 4, 2012: SwiftKey 3, the latest-generation of the award winning keyboard app for Android devices, is now available as a free beta release to SwiftKey's passionate community of over 30,000 VIP users.

SwiftKey (http://www.swiftkey.net), which recently won the Most Innovative App at the Global Mobile Awards in Barcelona, has packed the latest release full of fantastic new features and updates, including:

Smart Space – a major leap forward in auto-correction technology, Smart Space adds to SwiftKey's already cutting edge correction by detecting miss-typed or omitted spaces across whole phrases of poorly typed text in real-time. SwiftKey now offers the most accurate and complete auto-correction available on a smartphone or tablet.

Two new themes – a new theme, 'Cobalt', to match SwiftKey's new look and feel, and an Ice Cream Sandwich-styled 'Holo' theme, as voted for by SwiftKey's VIP community.

An enhanced UI – a much larger space bar and smart punctuation key help improve accuracy and make it quick and easy to access common punctuation.

Additional languages – SwiftKey 3 now offers support for an additional seven languages, bringing the total up to 42. The new languages are Korean, Estonian, Farsi, Icelandic, Latvian, Lithuanian and Serbian.

New punctuation functionality – intelligent, language-specific punctuation handling (for example, spaces between words and certain symbols in French, such as 'Bonjour !').

In addition to these key updates, SwiftKey 3 includes core improvements such as backup of learned language data and improved options for users to customize auto-correction features.

This SwiftKey 3 Beta is only available through the SwiftKey VIP community, which new members are welcome to join now for a limited time only athttp://vip.swiftkey.net. SwiftKey's development team will be working closely with the community to gather feedback and make improvements.

Terrafugia Transition aircraft first hands-on (video)

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 06:36 AM PDT

People used to say that cars in the '50s and '60s had fins, giant wing-like protuberances that designers grafted on to capitalize on the fledgling concepts of aerodynamics. Your fist impression of the Terrafugia Transition is much the same as standing next to a 1959 Coupe de Ville -- it's huge, and the giant vertical stabilizers on the back have a distinctly Cadillac feel. This, however, is different. Sure, it too is made in the US, but it's crafted of carbon fiber, titanium and aluminum, costs $279,000 and seats only two. Oh, and did we mention it can fly? It's making its major auto show debut this week and we got a chance to check it out. Follow us after the break for some grounded impressions.
Terrafugia Transition first eyes-on

First, let's set something straight: the Transition has many times been referred to as a "flying car" and we too have been guilty of this in the past. To be fair, it is a car that can fly, but the representatives from Terrafugia are quick to point out that this is more a plane you can drive. And, looking at the thing, that's pretty apparent. For natural reasons fewer concessions have been made in the interest of getting through the air than cruising down the highway.

The core concept is of an aircraft that you can fly into a small airport, fold up the wings, and then drive the short distance to your destination. (We're told most people are within 30 minutes of a civilian airport.) This has a number of benefits, not the least of which being the cost of a hangar rental, which can run upwards of $1,000 a month for a light aircraft. This thing you can drive home and park in the garage.


Also imagine a frequent traveling businessman flying into a small airport for a nearby meeting. Small airports don't have rental car terminals and so it'd be difficult to get from that airport to the meeting. With the Transition you can just drive there -- and make quite an impression when you arrive.

The thing is largely made of carbon fiber for lightness and strength, but also relies on aluminum and titanium components. These too are lightweight but, more importantly, they're corrosion-resistant. This is a consideration most aircraft don't need to worry about but the Transition, driven on salty roads, most certainly will.

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It isn't a rocketship, though. Cruising speed is 100mph in the air, where it'll net about 20MPG burning inexpensive 91 octane fuel. On the ground, when the flat-four engine powers the rear wheels (not the propeller), drivers can expect about 35MPG. Respectable, but keep in mind it only seats two and has storage space for a few overnight bags. (Yes, your golf clubs will fit behind the passenger seat.)

This small size is in part required by the FAA's Light Sport classification, which means pilots can be certified to fly the thing in about half the time of a typical license. And, while the $279,000 price tag may scare off daydreamers, those looking to buy a small aircraft will know that's actually quite fair, and the extra practicality here could make this downright affordable -- relatively, anyway.

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The Transition is up for order now if you're convinced, the first units set to be delivered next year. However, Terrafugia only plans to deliver 10 of these next year and orders already number in the hundreds. In other words, if you're in a hurry to get in the air, this may not be the choice for you.

Sonos listens to reason, drops dedicated controller in favor of smartphone apps

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 06:23 AM PDT

Sonos listens to reason, drops dedicated controller in favor of smartphone apps
Sonos will halt the sale of its pricey CR200 remote control from June 1st, after acknowledging that it's been nudged into obsolescence by free software controllers for Macs, PCs, tablets and smartphones. It'll honor warranties and issue software updates for the "foreseeable future," but CEO John MacFarlane indicates the decision was inevitable, having been brewing ever since the "early days of the iPhone explosion." That never stopped his company from selling the CR200 for a hefty $349, but then again he probably deserves some respect for finally making the call. After all, rival Logitech charges a premium for its own touchscreen-equipped Duet and Touch controllers, even if you only use them once during installation and then never go near them again.

Paramount flicks are coming to YouTube and Google Play despite Viacom lawsuit

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 05:58 AM PDT

While its corporate parent Viacom continues to tussle with Google over who is liable for user uploaded content, Paramount Pictures has stuck a deal to offer its movies for rental on YouTube / Google Play in the US and Canada. According to Google that adds up to around 500 new movies becoming available on the service over the next few weeks including hits like Ferris Bueller and The Godfather. Those catalog titles are currently available on 48hr joypasses for $3.99/$2.99 (HD/SD) each, while newer titles like Hugo are $4.99/$3.99. Also worth noting is that now the folks at Mountain View can count five of the six major studios (Fox is still out) among their offerings. We'll see if this signals a thawing relationship between Google and the studios upset that pirated copies of their content are so easily found via Google's searches (doubt it), but at least Android users can look forward to more easily accessible content.

Dropbox doubles referral rewards, offers up to 32GB for those dripping in charisma

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 05:39 AM PDT

Dropbox doubles referral rewardsThat whole 'refer a friend' thing must be working. Or maybe it isn't. Either way, Dropbox has felt the need to double the extra capacity you get as a reward for persuading your buddies that cloud storage really is 153x better than a USB stick. For each successful referral, you'll now get 500MB up to a maximum of 16GB. Pro users will get 1GB per referral up to a limit of 32GB. Get in there quick before someone else in your gang starts promoting Google Drive and its rumored document editing capabilities.

[Thanks, Ninad]

Motorola Webtop 3.0 beta captured on video, running off Droid RAZR with ICS

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 05:12 AM PDT

We were pondering Motorola's LapDock widget just recently, after seeing a similar Phone-becomes-PC concept based on Ubuntu. Now, due to some happy coincidence, a video has appeared on YouTube claiming to show a leaked update to LapDock's accompanying software -- Webtop 3.0 beta. This version is shown running off the Droid RAZR rather than an Atrix, and it's now based on ICS with a customized version of the stock browser instead of Firefox. There's a lot that's right about turning a smartphone into the engine of a more PC-like experience, especially as docking accessories get cheaper, so hopefully this is evidence that Motorola's software people really are about to try something new.

Samsung's ST200F goes on sale in Korea, wants you to know it exists

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 04:56 AM PDT

Having trouble remembering Samsung's ST200F? You're forgiven as it was announced during the feed-busting monster that is CES, and alongside three other (arguably more interesting) Sammy WiFi-enabled shooters. No matter, as today the company's jogged our memory by letting us know the 16 megapixel shooter will soon soon grace Korean shelves for ₩249,000 (or around $200). Those buying will also be granted to a 10x optical zoom, 802.11 antennae and 720p video recording. And best of all, a quick perusal of online retailers reveal it's already up for preorder and will likely ship stateside in mid-April. Considerably later than the previously promised "February" ship date, but beggars can't be choosers. Right?

2600 Volume 1 released as a DRM-free ebook: phreak like it's 1984

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 04:29 AM PDT

Long-running hacker magazine 2600 has been digging into its archives quite a bit as of late (it began releasing videos of the early HOPE conferences in December), and it's now gone back right to the beginning for its latest offering. It's just released 2600: The Hacker Digest - Volume 1, a DRM-free ebook that collects its first year of newsletters -- reformatted in book form for easier reading, but with every last detail intact (including typos). That's available in both the Kindle and Nook stores, as well as through 2600's own site in plain old PDF form, each of which set you back just under $4. What's more, while there's no firm word on any additional volumes just yet, 2600 says it'll keep them coming if there's enough support for the first one.

Sony Mobile reshuffle sees Nordberg out, Kunimasa Suzuki in, business as usual

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 04:21 AM PDT

Major changes are afoot over at Sony. After rebranding its mobile division, the firm has also now moved aside the former Ericsson exec who initially came with it. Kunimasa Suzuki will replace Bert Nordberg as CEO of Sony Mobile on May 16th, after leaving his current role as Executive Vice President at Sony proper. Nordberg will still have a hand in the division, taking on the role as Chairman of Sony Mobile Communications' board. Sony's Xperia S might be fresh-faced, but it's soon to come up against stiff competition -- the handling of which will no doubt be Suzuki's first true test.
Show full PR text
Sony Mobile Communications Announces New Leadership
Kunimasa Suzuki named new President and CEO and Bert Nordberg to become Chairman of the Board

04 April 2012

LONDON, UK – April 4, 2012 – Sony Mobile Communications today announced that Kunimasa Suzuki has been named President and CEO of Sony Mobile Communications, effective 16 May 2012, and Bert Nordberg, currently President and CEO, will step down from the leadership of the company. Bert Nordberg will become Chairman of Sony Mobile Communications' board.

As announced by Sony Corporation on 27 March, Corporate Executive Officer and Executive Vice President, Kunimasa (Kuni) Suzuki, will assume responsibility to oversee planning and design of all Sony's consumer products and services, with the aim of strengthening horizontal integration and enhancing the user experience across Sony's entire product and network service lineup. His responsibility includes overseeing the mobile business that Sony has identified as one of its core electronics business areas, including smartphones, tablets and PCs.

"Kuni has a vast experience in product planning and management in the information technology and mobile product business, as well as experience of cultivating business in emerging markets," said Kazuo Hirai, President and CEO of Sony Corporation. "He is a strong leader and the right person to oversee Sony Mobile Communications as we establish a new business structure as 'One Sony' intended to reinforce and accelerate our overall business management."

"Bert Nordberg has done an outstanding job in transforming Sony Ericsson, now Sony Mobile Communications, from a feature phone to a smartphone company," continued Kazuo Hirai. "I have enjoyed working with Bert and I would like to thank him for his vital contributions over the years, and I am glad that he will become the Board's chairman to support Kuni and the management team of Sony Mobile Communications during these critical phases of the company's integration with the wider Sony Group."

"During my years with Sony Ericsson and now Sony Mobile Communications, I've seen the mobile industry change at a rapid pace. We've shifted the company from feature phones to a smartphone company, and established Xperia™ as the Sony smartphone with consumers and operators around the world," said Bert Nordberg, outgoing President and CEO of Sony Mobile Communications. "Sony is a content, electronics and entertainment powerhouse and it has been a pleasure being part of the Sony team during both the joint venture and through the transition of becoming Sony Mobile Communications."

"Sony has identified digital imaging, game and mobile as the three core pillars of its electronics business, and smartphones are a cornerstone of this strategy," said Kunimasa Suzuki, Corporate Executive Officer, Executive Vice President of Sony Corporation. "I look forward to working more closely with our global operator customers and everyone at Sony Mobile Communications to drive the company's business and bring outstanding connected entertainment experiences to consumers around the world."

From 16 May 2012, Kunimasa Suzuki will assume the role of President and CEO of Sony Mobile Communications in addition to his role as Corporate Executive Officer, Executive Vice President of Sony Corporation. Kunimasa Suzuki will be based in Lund, Sweden and Tokyo, Japan.

Yoshihisa (Bob) Ishida will continue to serve as Deputy CEO and Kristian Tear will continue to serve as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Sony Mobile Communications.

"Sony" and "Sony Entertainment Network" are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sony Corporation. "Xperia" is a trademark of Sony Mobile Communications. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About Sony Mobile Communications
Sony Mobile Communications is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation, a leading global innovator of audio, video, game, communications, key device and information technology products for both the consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, computer entertainment and online businesses, Sony is uniquely positioned to be the leading electronics and entertainment company in the world. Through its Xperia™ smartphone portfolio, Sony Mobile Communications delivers the best of Sony technology, premium content and services, and easy connectivity to Sony's world of networked entertainment experiences. For more information: www.sonymobile.com

Samsung's Galaxy Tab(s) 2 delayed by, you guessed it, Ice Cream Sandwich

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 04:06 AM PDT

Since the calendar clearly says April, we can take it as read that Samsung missed the promised March release window for both the seven and ten-inch versions of the Galaxy Tab 2. The company conceded that it was because both it and Google needed more time to tailor the software to the new hardware. Now both slates will arrive with a fully tweaked and revved version of Android 4.0 towards the end of this month.

Motorola GLEAM+ shimmies onto shelves, into European pockets

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 03:44 AM PDT

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There are many typographical accoutrements manufacturers can hang on existing product names to let you know that this one's different, better. Motorola's plumped for the humble "+" to let us know this isn't just any Gleam, it's a new, improved beast. So what's changed since last time? Well, it's dropped a dress size first of all, measuring 0.4mm thinner than its elder sibling, and that dot-matrix style outer display now stands much taller. The main screen also jumps from 2.4- to 2.8-inches, sporting a 400 x 240, WQVGA resolution. So, if you're a fan of the form-factor, and live in Europe (it still only has that dual band GSM radio) then you can get your mitts on it from today. PR after the break.
Show full PR text
Motorola Mobility Introduces the Return of True Style with Motorola GLEAM™+

Motorola GLEAM+ is 0.4mm thinner and now features a full HTML Browser

April 04, 2012

LONDON – April 04, 2012 – Motorola Mobility UK Ltd. introduces Motorola GLEAM™+, the slimmer, sleeker version of 2011's elegantly designed and award-winning* flip phone for the style conscious. Motorola GLEAM+ is now available in the UK free from £10 a month on Tesco Mobile.

Motorola GLEAM+'s 13.5mm clamshell fits perfectly in your hand, whilst the simple and elegant design makes it truly stand out from the crowd. With its easy-to-use interface and clear, crisp screen, Motorola GLEAM+ is designed to be uncomplicated and intuitive so you can enjoy the fun of mobile life. The device showcases a modern LED matrix display combined with a glowing base light that provides expressive notifications and alerts so you never need miss a call or message.

It's not just the aesthetics that will keep you entertained. Motorola GLEAM+ features both camera and video1 recording so you can snap, shoot and share your memories with friends and family whether in-person, via picture messaging, or even through social networks. Staying in touch is even easier, with added storage for your phonebook and text messages, as well as a faster, more powerful browser at your fingertips.

There's music too – with an FM radio and easy-to-navigate mp3 player and SD card support, the Motorola GLEAM+ gives you access to your music wherever you are.

"The Motorola GLEAM+ is as stylish and easy to use as ever for the consumer who enjoys the simple things in life, without compromising on design and functionality," said Victoria McManus, UK and Nordics marketing director, Motorola Mobility. "We designed this handset with a clear focus on delivering a great experience in a simple, sleek and stylish design."

Device Technical Specifications

Networks: GSM 900/1800(WE) GPRS class 12
Dimensions: 107 x 52.5 x 13.5mm
Weight: 105g
Display: 2.8" WQVGA (400 x 240) 260K TFT CLI: 144 LEDS
Internal user available memory2: 50MB, expandable up to 16GB via microSD
Email: POP3, IMAP4
Camera: 2MP, fixed focus, digital zoom
Audio: MP3 playback; FM radio W/RDS; AAC, AAC+, MP3, MIDI, AMR NB, AMR WB, WAV
Video1: capture up to 12FPS and playback up to 25FPS, .263, MPEG4
Other: alarm clock
Connectivity: USB 2.0 (high speed), Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR; micro-USB charging & data (USB 2.0 HS); 3.5mm headphone jack
Web browser: WAP 2.0
Battery type: 750 mAh
Battery life3: Talk Time up to 4 hrs 49 mins, Standby Time up to 417 hrs 26 mins
Size: 75.84cc

Pricing & Availability

Motorola GLEAM+ is now available in the UK free from £10 a month on Tesco Mobile both in Tesco Phone Shops and online.

Next Issue Media launches on Android, $15 a month for access to 32 magazines

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 03:11 AM PDT

If you've taken issue with your usual choices for buying magazines on your tablet, be it pay-per-issue or per-subscription, you're not alone. If you'll recall, it was nearly a year ago that Next Issue Media launched the preliminary version of its "Hulu-meets-magazines" app on the Galaxy Tab, and it's finally ready to release this physical newsstand alternative officially. After raking in a slew of deals last November, its Android 3.0 app is now available -- users can fork over a monthly fee of $10 to access all of its monthly and bi-weekly content, while an extra five bucks adds in weekly content, essentially giving you access to every publication on offer. Singular subscriptions are also available for two to 10 bucks, and you'll currently have a choice of 32 mags from the likes of Car and Driver to The New Yorker. Interestingly, TechCrunch notes that NIM plans to get the app over to iOS "soon" -- it'll surely be interesting to see how it competes with Apple's own Newsstand. You'll find more info at the via links below, and you can flip over to the source for details about a 30-day trial offer.

Nokia Lumia 900 teardown peeks behind that $99 price (video)

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 02:31 AM PDT

We've always admired Nokia's ability to make a solid phone to a budget, when it's done right, your average user won't notice the difference. Given the strict hardware limitations imposed by Windows Phone, the Lumia 900 was never going to be a hyper-powered handset, but now we can see how the company have managed to get it out for just $99. Tech Republic tore down its review model to confirm the handset's internals are almost uniformly modest. There's a single-core 1.4GHz Qualcomm CPU paired with 512MB of RAM, a fixed 16GB of storage and that limited (but pretty) 800 x 480 AMOLED display. Still, the accountants didn't get at that beautiful 8-megapixel camera, even if it is the same unit we'd seen in the N9 and Lumia 800. If you'd like to watch the handset get torn to pieces (the secret's in the SIM slot) then take a look at the video we've got for you below.

Nokia Maps Suite 2.0 rolls out to Symbian devices, breaks free from beta chains

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 02:02 AM PDT

Symbian users haven't seen any shortage of love come their way in 2012. Just look to the 808 PureView for proof of that platform's staying power. Now, Nokia's doling out even more good news, dropping the beta tag from its Maps Suite 2.0 and officially rolling out that software to ^3, Anna and Belle handsets. For those unfamiliar with this bundle of location services, it's primarily a tidy integration of Espoo's Maps, Drive and Transport apps sewn into one, with tailored icons, enhanced UI customization, voice search and photo-tagging. Interested parties can get to downloading the currently available refresh via an OTA update on their phones now. And while you wait for that lengthy install, check out the source link below for additional shots of the packaged goods.

Microsoft 'Shopping assistant' patent could help you find Elmo, more time for the kids

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 01:01 AM PDT

Microsoft's just been granted a patent entitled "Shopping assistant." The claims indicate a system that generates a route to a product based on user-defined criteria (i.e. quickest, cheapest, shortest distance,) it also indicates that certain real-time conditions from participating merchants, such as stock levels, could also help determine the route. Now we're no CSI, but sounds to us like someone got fed up pounding the Mall looking for the last Buzz Lightyear, and cooked up a system to help save folk from the same pain. The problem is, we're not sure we like the idea of Windows Shopping all that much either...

Sprint HTC 'Evo One' gets some in-person pics, kickstand and all

Posted: 03 Apr 2012 11:57 PM PDT

While the supposed HTC One series variant destined for Sprint only just broke cover in a leaked PR photo yesterday, now there's more concrete evidence of its existence in a few pics posted by Android Life. Still being referred to as the HTC Evo One, the specs listed are the same, with a 4.7-inch 720p screen, 8MP camera, Android 4.0.3 with the Sense 4.0 UI that we've already become accustomed to and that oh-so-familiar kickstand around back. According to the description, the hardware is up to the standards of HTC's other One phones, and the software is predictably running "buttery smooth". All that's left now would appear to be the official unveiling (which may only be hours away now), hit the source link for a few more close up shots.

Japanese researchers show off 'interactive' plants: real leaves, artificial emotions

Posted: 03 Apr 2012 11:33 PM PDT

Looking for a little more companionship from your household plants? Then a team of researchers from Keio University in Japan may have just the thing for you. They've developed a rather elaborate system that promises to lets plants react to you and display a variety of different emotions (see "anger," pictured above). Yes, that's a real plant sprouting up out of the box, which contains sensors and microphones that monitor its surroundings, as well as some actuators that are connected to the plant itself with some fine cords. Lest you worry about the safety of the plants themselves, the researchers say that they've had plants rigged up like this for nearly a year and none have wilted. Of course, there's no indication of a commercial version just yet, but you can get a glimpse of the current state of things in the video after the break courtesy of DigInfo TV.

TiVo Premiere updates coming with new Netflix and YouTube apps; Bay Area gets Comcast VOD

Posted: 03 Apr 2012 10:11 PM PDT

Waiting for your TiVo to see the upgraded Netflix and YouTube streaming apps we got a peek at during CES a few months ago? How about the ability to access Comcast's video on-demand that we've been waiting for since last year? According to tweets by Vice President of user experience Margret Schmidt we may see all that and more soon, as she mentioned "expecting" the Spring Update with new video streaming apps and parental controls in HD menus to roll out to Premiere and Elite DVRs this month. As far as Comcast Xfinity On Demand, the rollout is targeted to begin in the San Francisco Bay Area, with an update for DVRs there this week before the feature is turned on later this month. This shaping up to be a very interesting year for the smiley faced DVR company with new hardware still waiting in the wings, add in all these new software capabilities and TiVo looks like a winner in more than just the legal battles.

[Thanks, Joe, Sebs]
TiVo's latest Netflix and YouTube interfaces

Rogers offers HTC One X for pre-order in Canada, $170 on contract through April 30th

Posted: 03 Apr 2012 09:33 PM PDT

Rogers puts HTC One X up for pre-order in Canada, $170 on contract through April 30th

You never thought that Canada would let the UK steal all of that gorgeous HTC One X limelight, did you? While Rogers can't compete with the phone's April 5th arrival at T-Mobile and Orange in the land of tea and crumpets, the Canadian carrier is currently offering HTC's flagship device for pre-order. Now through April 30th, customers may pick up the dual-core Snapdragon S4, LTE version of the handset for $170 on a three-year plan. Naturally, we're just as excited as you to put this variant through its paces, but if it performs anything like the HTC One S, we're certainly in for a wild ride.

Ice Cream Sandwich leaks for Samsung Galaxy Note (update)

Posted: 03 Apr 2012 08:20 PM PDT

For its part, Samsung has been none too coy about the upcoming Android 4.0 release for the Galaxy Note. So far, we know that it's set for a Q2 debut and will pack a new set of S Pen apps, but if you've longed to jump into the frozen goodness a bit early, today you can rejoice -- a leaked build of Ice Cream Sandwich for Samsung's fabulous phablet has reared its head in the forums of RootzWiki. Curiously, the file is available only as an EXE, so you'll want to exercise a bit of due diligence with this one. That having been said, comments in the forums are quite enthusiastic.

Update: Now that Ice Cream Sandwich is out in the wild, the community is already circling back to provide a rundown of what more timid users may expect. Most notably, Samsung's Premium Suite for the Galaxy Note isn't included in this build, and while TouchWiz is said to crash upon first boot and with the addition of a Google Play account, reports suggest that these are one-time glitches. Otherwise, much of the system is said to be in excellent shape. As for the EXE that we'd mentioned, it's an Odin one-click file that's designed to make the installation rather painless.

[Thanks, Tyler]

Engadget HD Podcast 293 - 04.03.2012

Posted: 03 Apr 2012 07:47 PM PDT

This week we've got a fresh set of video apps for the Xbox 360, including Comcast Xfinity TV, HBO Go and MLB.tv. In a bit of a throwback session, we've also got some discussion concerning Windows Media Center (both in Windows 8 and the upcoming Ceton Q), Kaleidescape and even our old friend tru2way checking in from the Great White North. After that we've got some businessy news to take care of and a quick heads up for HDTV shoppers before we talk about what we've been watching (hint: Lilyhammer.)

Get the podcast
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3).
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[MP3] Download the show (MP3).

Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh (@bjdraw), Richard Lawler (@rjcc)

Producer: Trent Wolbe

00:11:25 - Xbox 360 apps now live for Comcast Xfinity TV, HBO Go and MLB.tv
00:25:00 - Ceton's Q DVR companion app for Windows Phone gets detailed tour
00:29:48 - Media Center to live in a separate version of Windows 8?
00:36:45 - Kaleidescape DVD servers granted a temporary stay
00:42:53 - Seas0npass tethered jailbreak now available for Apple TV 2s running iOS 5.1
00:44:38 - Tribune stations nationwide including WGN America go dark on DirecTV
00:47:05 - Verizon's CEO has a plan for wireless pay-TV, if the government will allow it
00:50:00 - Canada's Videotron finally delivers tru2way-based illico TV HD DVRs
00:53:15 - DirecTV's latest HD interface comes to the five tuner HR34 DVR
00:54:00 - Samsung Display spinoff officially launches as 'the world's largest display manufacturer'
00:58:15 - Flat-panel TV shipments to fall for the first time ever in 2012?
01:00:30 - PSA: Real LCD HDTV refresh rates are getting harder to find behind marketing fluff
01:06:00 - Must See HDTV (April 2nd - April 8th)

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This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Is Samsung's white Galaxy Note coming to Canada on Telus tomorrow, Bell on April 10?

Posted: 03 Apr 2012 07:21 PM PDT

Is Samsung's white Galaxy Note set arrive in Canada on Telus tomorrow, Bell on April 10?

It's been nearly two months since Samsung's LTE Galaxy Note made its debut in the land of maple syrup Canada, and now Telus and Bell might finally begin stocking the white variant of the Gingerbread-loaded phablet. According to (supposed) internal memos leaked from both companies to Mobile Syrup, it appears as though Bell's planning to release the 5.3-inch device on April 10th, while Telus may let it loose as soon as tomorrow. Notably, the site also mentions that you'll be looking at an unchanged entry-fee of $200 with a three-year contract or $730 if you'd prefer the phone sans strings. It likely won't be long until this unicorn's northerly arrival gets confirmed for sure, but for now, drag your cursor over to the source links below for a shot of the Bell document and further insight.

Listen to the Engadget Mobile Podcast fireside chat, live at 11PM ET!

Posted: 03 Apr 2012 06:50 PM PDT

It's early in the week and it's later at night, but the Nokia Lumia 900 and HTC One reviews are fresh on our minds and we want to talk about them. And we have a feeling you want to hear about them as well. Should be fun, so come join us if you're up for some late night shenanigans!

April 3, 2012 11:00 PM EDT

Fisker Atlantic EVer unveiled in New York, we go eyes-on

Posted: 03 Apr 2012 06:08 PM PDT

Fisker's Karma series-hybrid electric vehicle hasn't exactly been receiving a lot of great press lately, but the company didn't let the process of swapping out 640 battery packs dampen the launch of that car's smaller sibling, the Atlantic. This long-expected (and recently spied) auto is a shortened, slightly smaller car that is said to be priced at a "much lower price point" than its predecessor. But, like the bigger Karma (and the even larger Surf), there's an on-board motor that burns gas to generate more electricity to extend that range -- but sadly nobody's saying by how far.

In this case it's a four-cylinder BMW-sourced engine providing that extra range, exhaust peeking out just behind the front-left wheel. A four-banger doesn't sound all that impressive in a car like this, but remember it's only tasked with spinning a generator. Moving the sedan (and its healthy complement of batteries) will be an undisclosed electric powertrain. Sadly no details are being given tonight for performance or cost, but we're told it'll set you back about as much as an Audi A5. Could that mean a $40,000 starting price? That'd be less than half the cost of the $102,000 Karma, and potentially quite a revolution. Needless to say we can't wait to find out.

We weren't able to peek in the trunk, but we're told the new engine provides more space for your junk than the Karma's current arrangement. The car is said to match the A5 in terms of cargo space, which is certainly nothing to sneeze about. Now mind, this is just a concept and things are liable to change on the long road from here to production, but Fisker isn't known for tweaking much along the way. Suffice to say, this should be very close to the car that hits dealerships... eventually.
Fisker Atlantic eyes-on

Nokia Lumia 900 review

Posted: 03 Apr 2012 06:00 PM PDT

Long-awaited, heralded, longed for, lusted after, overdue, deal breaker, savior, second coming, dead-on arrival, revelation, last gasp, comeback, hail mary pass, flagship... finally! If that string of descriptors hasn't already tipped you off, Nokia's Windows Phone messiah has arrived stateside to either silence critics or give' em fodder for further nay-saying. Ensconced in a polycarbonate frame that's similar to the N9, the Lumia 900 on AT&T's LTE network is widely understood to be Espoo's first true stab at building a presence for a mobile brand that's ubiquitous everywhere but here.

To understand the gamble the company's making with the Lumia 900, one need only look to another critically acclaimed, yet interminably stalled overseas import: Kylie Minogue. That foreign pop siren, a music industry veteran, has repeatedly failed to empty mainstream American wallets with her scattered hits, despite enjoying chart domination across the globe. Indeed the formula for US success is a fickle one. No matter the product category, the crossover membrane can sometimes prove too thick to permanently breach, often resulting in a "one and done" mentality marked by an inevitable retreat to more conciliatory European shores.

For the time being, though, it appears that Nokia's going all in, ready to see its folie à deux with Microsoft through to the end. Indeed, with an irresistible on-contract price of $99, it would seem both parties are counting on this to be the mass market magic bullet they've sorely needed. So, can the Lumia 900, a single-core 1.4GHz handset hampered by a so-so 800 x 480 display, prove this tech alliance wasn't ill-struck after all? Can an attractive industrial design and simplified UI triumph over seemingly modest specs? Will Nokia end up retreating to its overseas kingdom? Abandon those fanboy caps all ye who tag along, as we put this Finnish smartphone under the hot lights.
Nokia Lumia 900 review

Hardware


Given that it borrows from the Lumia 800's quirky design, you'd assume your initial brush with the 900 would be love at first sight. You'd think that, but you'd be wrong. Something's slightly amiss here, and it took us a moment to hone in on what, exactly, is keeping the 900 from a front row seat in the wow department. Eventually, though, it came to us: that screen! Forget its humble 800 x 480 resolution for the time being; that's not the glaring flaw. What kept us scratching our heads was Nokia's decision to nix the 800's sinuously tapered curves, that chassis whose glass panel seamlessly bled into the polycarbonate hull. It's gone, and for no good reason. Instead, users are treated to a jarring experience: a border now surrounds that 4.3-inch display, causing it to protrude awkwardly from that shapely, cyan body. Suffice to say, it makes for an unflattering first impression.

So, that's ding one: some unequivocal ball dropping on Nokia's part. Are you prepared for aesthetic con number two? This change is more subtle and once again, it wasn't for the best. If you've ever held an 800 in hand, you know how premium it feels. Inevitably, then, you'll notice the change in this handset's texture. A body that was once smooth and polished has grown rougher in its journey across the Atlantic. Of course, most consumers will probably be none the wiser, having never handled the Lumia that started it all.

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For the most part, Nokia's kept the general layout of the buttons and ports intact. The volume rocker, power button and dedicated camera keys still lie along the right-hand side of the device, leaving the opposite edge clean. Thankfully, though, these flush, metal buttons have benefited from a little tightening -- they feel more rigid than the ones on the 800, and you won't encounter any loosening or jiggle. At the base, the speaker melds beautifully into the polycarbonate hull, making hand obstruction unlikely. Meanwhile, uncovered ports for a 3.5mm headphone jack and micro-USB socket sit up top.

The unit's micro-SIM can also be accessed here. However, Nokia retooled the device so that you no longer have to depress, flip and then slide out that slot's flimsy drawer. Instead, there's an included door key that, when inserted, causes the sealed tray to pop out. SIM-swappers might take issue with this admittedly inelegant solution, as it'll force them to keep vigilant watch of an easily lost sliver of metal. To that end, we'd advise prospective owners to keep a host of pins at the ready.

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Flip the phone on its face and you're met with a uniquely contoured back, broken only by a metallic ellipse housing an 8-megapixel shooter with a f/2.2 Carl Zeiss lens and accompanying dual LED flash. In a remarkable show of restraint, AT&T kept its logo-happy paws off, allowing users to revel in the 900's naked beauty. The camera module should trigger some déjà vu: you've seen it not once, but twice, in the N9 and Lumia 800. A tour of the device's front finds a VGA camera, ambient sensors, a trio of capacitive Windows Phone buttons and the only instance of branding -- double billing for Nokia and AT&T.

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For top-shelf phones, an HD display has become a must, be it qHD or 720p -- just look at the Galaxy Nexus or HTC One X. Sadly, fans of the Windows Phone experience have had to make do with a software-dictated resolution cap of 800 x 480 -- a frustrating limit that on paper, at least, keeps even the worthiest Mango handsets positioned below other flagships.

Still, with the inclusion of Nokia's ClearBlack AMOLED display tech, prospective owners will be treated to an incredibly bright and intensely saturated screen that's refreshingly liberated from the 800's PenTile trappings. Even when viewing it outdoors in direct sunlight, we had no difficulty discerning the contents of our live tiles or even the camera interface. Granted, we had the brightness cranked to the max, but contrast this readability with the high level of glare commonplace on competing handsets and you should be able to overlook the Lumia 900's graphical shortcomings. Truly, the simplicity of the Windows Phone UI -- specifically the undemanding design of its icons -- works well within these constraints. It's only when you visit image-heavy websites or attempt to view the shots in your photo library, that this pitfall becomes impossible to ignore.

Performance and battery life

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Windows Phone favors the charm of its animations over the immediacy of loading applications.

Windows Phone Mango, as we've said again and again, is an operating system constrained by an unfortunate combination of inflexible spec requirements. To know its ease of use is to love it, but that clean UI comes at a single-core price. True, WP handsets with beefier CPUs are reportedly in the pipeline, though what they are and when they'll launch is anybody's guess. For the time being, we must contend with the 900's 1.4GHz Snapdragon processor and 512MB of RAM, neither of which should be underestimated.

That preamble aside, the Lumia 900's performance is remarkably smooth. Note we didn't say fast -- not that it doesn't display considerable speed when piloting through its live tile homescreen or app list. No, it's definitely speedy, but there's no arguing that the handset moves at its own fluid pace. It appears as if all WP navigation takes on a consistent cadence; it's a UI that favors the charm of its animations over the immediacy of loading applications. Oddly, too, though it consistently scores higher than the Lumia 800 in benchmarks, it feels like it's operating at a more leisurely pace: it doesn't launch apps quite as promptly, and scrolling isn't as brisk. Where that more diminutive phone zips, this one floats. It may frustrate users accustomed to lightning-quick smartphone responses, but eventually the 900's flow wins you over until you completely forget it was a distraction in the first place.

Nokia Lumia 900 Samsung Focus S Nokia Lumia 800 HTC Titan
WP Bench 92 91.54 86 96
Battery rundown 4:29 4:24 2:40 3:00
SunSpider (ms, lower numbers are better) 6,902 6,914 7,200 6,500

Stacked up against its WP comrades old and relatively new, including mid-rangers and high-end handsets, the 900 disappoints. With a middling SunSpider score, a WP Bench result that fails to best last year's Titan and battery life on par with Samsung's (non-LTE) Focus S, the 900 safely earns the underachiever crown. It's disheartening to see this highly anticipated phone fall prey to whatever discord resulted from AT&T, Nokia and Microsoft's combined software broth.

Web browsing on the Lumia 900 is handled well by the native Internet Explorer app, although, as highlighted by that SunSpider result up there, full desktop pages can take some time to fully render -- about 30 seconds on average. We pulled off pinch to zoom without a hitch, with no white spaces or checker-boarding.

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It was Andy Lees, Microsoft's former Windows Phone chief, who claimed late last year that the company's resistance to issue LTE-capable handsets stemmed from a desire to create longer-lasting, more power efficient handsets. Remember the Thunderbolt? Apparently, so does Redmond, and although that particular misstep belonged to HTC, Android and Verizon, the lesson was not lost on the WP team. Determined to vault past criticism of releasing devices ill-equipped to handle the demands of AT&T's 4G LTE network, the Lumia 900 hits shelves with a 1,840mAh battery in tow. Sounds like it would be enough and it is... just enough.

Compared to all the Lumias that have come before it, the 900's charge does nearly double duty, holding on a respectable four hours and 29 minutes. That's still hardly impressive, of course, but bear in mind that this was with a video playing in an incessant loop. Under the duress of real-world usage -- that's with the brightness at its medium setting, Twitter set to sync at 15 min, one push mail account and GPS and WiFi connected -- we were able to squeeze just about two full days from one charge. Make use of Mango's battery saver settings and we're convinced moderate to light users will enjoy nearly 72 hours of productivity.

Camera

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Nokia's imaging know-how elevates this device beyond its workhorse performance and into a realm that quite nearly rivals the heights attained by Samsung's Galaxy S II and Apple's iPhone 4S.

Like a beacon of hope shining in the midst of this less-than-perfect storm comes the Lumia 900's 8-megapixel rear shooter. Nokia's imaging know-how, cemented in the outing of its 41-megapixel 808 PureView, elevates this device beyond the flavorlessness of its workhorse performance and into a realm that quite nearly rivals the heights attained by Samsung's Galaxy S II and Apple's iPhone 4S. Imbued with the same f/2.2 Carl Zeiss lens outfitting both the N9 and 800, the 900 should delight novices and pros alike with an intelligent sensor capable of arrestingly vivid images. Hold down the dedicated camera key and you'll wake the phone from sleep directly to the camera app -- a handy shortcut when photographic inspiration unexpectedly strikes. And while the shutter can easily be triggered by this very same hardware key, you can also tap onscreen, hold to focus and snap, allowing the sensor to adjust for the scene, white balance, ISO and exposure. Or you can manually tweak these settings, as well as swap out the 4:3, 8-megapixel resolution for 16:9, 7-megapixel shots.
Nokia Lumia 900 sample shots

The 900's imaging software doesn't quite match the superior optimization on the N9, but it certainly outranks the 800. As you'll see in the gallery of sample shots, the phone's module displays a knack for depth of field, crisp replication of detail and balanced color. While you won't be able to appreciate this astonishing performance on that 800 x 480 display, you'll sit back and smile when those pics stream across your desktop.


Video on the 900 performs just as admirably, with the phone set to record at 720p. A few hiccups did surface during playback -- you'll notice the sensor occasionally adjust the focus as we pan 180 degrees. Audio clarity also suffers slightly, but we'll chalk that up to the high winds howling in the background as we filmed.

Software

Users familiar with Mango's underpinnings (our full Windows Phone 7.5 review is here) can move along -- there's nothing new to see here. But even as Tango's suite of UI improvements wait in the wings, prospective Lumia 900 owners can still savor this older, slightly over-ripened software. Clean design abounds in this mobile phone OS for dummies -- and that's a compliment. From the wide-blocked live tile homescreen to the easily accessible and alphabetically categorized app menu, all the complicated and unnecessary bits that would confound the less nimble smartphone user are tucked out of sight. All told, the experience is amazingly intuitive and fluid, as we've said before, though it could frustrate power users with its lack of personalization options.

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The 900 never lags or stutters, defaulting instead to a measured, graceful flow.

To Microsoft's credit, the 900 never lags or stutters, defaulting instead to that measured, graceful flow we described earlier. Certain applications load appreciably quicker than others, particularly native ones, but thanks to that pristine, visual uniformity decreed by Microsoft, even the slowest of apps manages to dazzle. Gone, too, are the days when WP critics could deride Redmond's smartphone ecosystem for a paucity of these pinnable tiles, as there are now over 40,000 80,000 apps available in its Marketplace. Nokia and AT&T have done their best to tread lightly with the bloat, choosing to pre-load the Lumia 900 with only a dozen applications, like Code Scanner, myWireless, U-Verse Mobile, Xbox Live, ESPN, Tango and Maps. Blessedly, 80 percent of these are removable, so while this handset may ship with a plump software load, users at least have the option to clean it up and make the most of that allotted 16GB of storage.

In a welcome turn of events, Nokia is also releasing the 900 to the public with Internet Sharing enabled from the outset; an option that was sorely missing on T-Mobile's Lumia 710 and the unlocked 800. So, if you decide to opt in for this handset and happen to call one of AT&T's 4G LTE or HSPA+ coverage areas home, you should have no problem tethering to your laptop and enjoying the freedom of a true mobile hotspot -- your data plan, willing.

Network

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This is Windows Phone's first dance with LTE and, despite being late to the ball, the Lumia 900 still gets to surf along those radio waves -- they're just no longer as incredibly blazing. Speeds have diminished somewhat since AT&T's 4G LTE network officially launched in New York City, owing undoubtedly to an uptick in consumer adoption. Considering performance consistently maxed out at about 21Mbps down and 8Mbps up, users won't have much to gripe about, with typical downlink results ranging between 17Mbps to 20Mbps and uplink at 5Mbps to 7Mbps, perfect for streaming Netflix or sharing large files over SkyDrive. Default to an HSPA+ only zone and those downlink speeds will hover around 5Mbps to 8Mbps -- still more than adequate for most uses.

Wrap-up

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Windows Phone fans have waited with bated breath for the Lumia line's "true" stateside debut. Standing tall with a 4.3-inch display and being the first of Nokia's brood to boast LTE connectivity, the 900 is the company's call-to-arms, a mid-range contender crafted with a single-minded mission: shore up the gaps left by the lesser 800 and 710 and establish a brand presence. Those handsets, for all their good looks and performance strengths, were more mobile welterweights than anything else: they aimed too low and too wide to capture the public imagination.

This Lumia, though, was supposed to change all of that, backed by a considerable marketing push and higher-end ingredients. While we wouldn't color this AT&T debut as a failure, we wouldn't call it a crowning achievement either. Apart from a stated preference and dedication to Microsoft's Windows Phone OS, savvy geeks on the cusp of the next best thing won't necessarily want what the 900 has to offer, especially in light of that other spotlight-stealing flagship, the One X. By no means are these phones on equal footing. It's just that Nokia may have shot itself in the foot, succumbing to the hazards of hyperbolic quicksand far ahead of launch day. Much ado about nothing? Not quite, the Lumia 900 has its strengths, coming mainly in the form of optics, but it's the overall package and performance that's simply too plain, too ordinary, too dependable to merit the haughty flagship halo it aspires to emanate.

In that context, the Lumia 900 comes off as yet another decent offering on AT&T's increasingly bountiful LTE lineup. Dispense of Espoo's rose-colored glasses and the case for this middle of the road Lumia becomes somewhat clearer. Filter out the marketing noise and focus on its superb performance as a reliable point-and-shoot and now you've got a winner. Toss in those considerable network speeds and default access to Internet Sharing and, suddenly, it's a shining star. Sprinkle all of that with an attractive polycarbonate case, a saturated and legible display and the magic eraser of its $99 on two-year contract pricing and, ipso facto, you've got a no-brainer purchase staring you in the face. Does the Lumia 900 fail to find its place amongst other smartphone hulks? Well, yes. But again, it's playing in a league of Windows Phone's single-core own. With the careful cultivation of a cultish, fashion-conscious consumer following, however, this could very well be Nokia's greatest hit.

Myriam Joire contributed to this review.
at 12:12 PM

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