| GreatCall Wireless simplifies smartphones with the Jitterbug Touch for $169 Posted: 31 Oct 2012 11:37 AM PDT 
Senior friendly feature phone maker GreatCall Wireless announced the availability of its first smartphone, the Jitterbug Touch, on Wednesday. Based off of Sprint's Kyocera Milano, this below entry-level device sports a full slide-out keyboard with large buttons, a 3-inch QVGA 240 x 320 display, 512MB of RAM, a 3.2-megapixel camera, 512MB of internal storage, a pre-loaded 2GB microSD card and a copy of Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) -- old by most standards, but pretty impressive for a phone aimed at the elderly. Regularly priced at $169 off contract, GreatCall is offering the Jitterbug Touch for a thrifty $149 for a limited time. While this handset's specs may not rival that quad-core beast that you've been eyeing, it may be ideal for someone looking to cut their teeth in the fast paced world of smartphones. Show full PR text SAN DIEGO, Oct. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- GreatCall, Inc., a leader in wireless services that help people stay connected, safe and healthy, today announced the launch of the new Jitterbug Touch. The latest addition to GreatCall's growing family of cell phones, Jitterbug Touch offers customers a unique combination of a simplified user interface with the power and flexibility of Android™. The Jitterbug Touch is an entry-level smartphone that customers will actually enjoy using, as it is ideal for anyone who wants a simple and affordable way to stay connected with family and friends.
Jitterbug Touch is Easy To Use
GreatCall has utilized the popular and well-received Kyocera Milano as the perfect choice for its customers. With its distinct round shape and soft-touch finish, it has a low profile that makes it easy to hold and slide into a pocket. The full slide out QWERTY keyboard has big buttons for easily and accurately typing messages.
By adding GreatCall's signature user interface, the Jitterbug Touch offers a simple solution for the less advanced smartphone users, who may be frustrated or intimidated by the navigation required by traditional smartphones. With the simplified user interface, customers can quickly and easily access everything that is important to them, like their favorite contacts and apps, right from the main menu. The main menu also streamlines navigation by laying out all options in a scrolling list with large fonts, so customers don't have to wade through dozens of small icons or features they may never even use.
The Jitterbug Touch is also designed to evolve with the user's needs, allowing them to enjoy everything that Android has to offer, including browsing the Web and access to over 600,000 apps available in the Google Play store.
Jitterbug Touch Offers Simplified Access to Featured Apps and Customer Service
Jitterbug Touch allows users to quickly view and download featured apps without having to search through the Google Play store. These include apps recommended by AARP as well as GreatCall's health and medical apps to enhance the user's lifestyle. By adding any of the featured apps, customers can:
Get immediate help whenever and wherever they need it with GreatCall's 5Star Urgent Response service. Just tap the app, and users can speak to a Certified Response Agent who will determine their location, evaluate the situation, and get them the help they need.
Stay on track with their medications by using GreatCall's MedCoach app. With MedCoach, users can easily follow their medication and vitamin schedule with friendly reminder messages delivered to the Jitterbug Touch.
Socialize, stay informed and entertained with apps recommended by AARP like CNN, ESPN Score Center, Flixster, OpenTable, Sudoku and Kayak.
To further simplify the smartphone experience, there is a helpful GreatCall logo onscreen at all times, that customers can use to find answers. One touch of the logo, and users can easily get help from a live Customer Care Agent 24/7, who can help them with their account, their plans, and even with their phone if need be. Customers can also quickly access a Usage Meter to check minute, text and data usage right from their phone, instead of having to call or login to their account online. And if users ever get overwhelmed, they can use GreatCall's Shake for Help™ service, for instructional tips on how to navigate the smartphone.
"We listened to our customers and have created a smartphone offering that fits their needs - reduced clutter, simplicity, no contracts and low monthly fees," said David Inns, CEO of GreatCall. "All while still providing the flexibility to enjoy the full Android experience if they want it."
Jitterbug Touch Offers Affordable Data Plans
GreatCall's new data plans are designed for people who want the flexibility to use their smartphones more on certain occasions, but who may use less data per month than average. Combined with the award-winning health and safety services and features offered by GreatCall, the new data plans are a compelling offer for users seeking an easy-to-use and budget friendly wireless service.
With the Jitterbug Touch, getting started is easy, as customers can choose from several options of low cost data plans. The "Get Started" plan provides customers 10MB of data for only $2.49 per month, currently the lowest monthly smartphone data plan of any wireless provider. As customers become more familiar with their data usage, GreatCall offers a variety of affordable, no-contract data plans, accommodating the light user all the way up to a heavy user with plans ranging up to 500MB per month.
The Jitterbug Touch has no contracts and is priced at $169, with a limited time introductory price of $149, and is available directly from GreatCall.
Included in all of GreatCall's monthly plans are some additional noteworthy features:
GreatCall will never ask you to sign a contract
Powered by one of the nation's largest, most dependable wireless networks
100% U.S. Based Customer Service available 24/7
No long distance or roaming charges
Key Features of the New Jitterbug Touch:
Easy to use right out of the box
Simplified main menu lists all your apps and contacts
Powered by Android operating system
Responsive touch screen for quick navigation
Full, slide-out keyboard with big buttons
View minute, text and data usage right from your phone
3.2 MP camera with auto-focus and video camcorder
Synch with your email account to send, receive and compose emails
Quickly make calls just by speaking into phone with Voice Dialer
Eco Mode manages battery power consumption
Hearing aid compatible with M4/T4 rating
Handset Specifications
Talk Time: Up to 7.65 hours
Screen: 3.0" QVGA TFT LCD (240 x 320 pixels)
Operating System: Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
Memory: 512MB / 512MB 2GB microSD memory card included (supports up to 32GB)
Battery Type: 1490 mAh Lithium ion (LiIon)
Size: 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.7 in (105.0 x 61.0 x 17.1 mm)
Weight: 5.6 ounces (158 grams) PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1rrVl) |
| Google Play carrier billing goes live for impulse buyers on Verizon Posted: 31 Oct 2012 11:04 AM PDT 
Google gave the broadest of targets when it said Google Play carrier billing would reach Verizon in the "coming weeks" -- those last two words are often hints from companies that we shouldn't hold our breath. Call us surprised, then, when Google quietly takes the option live two weeks later. At least one Droid-Life reader has discovered that it's now possible to load as many as $25 in purchases per month on an existing Big Red smartphone bill and pay through just the one channel. The move puts all four major US carriers on the same page, and gives Verizon subscribers an incentive to splurge on apps and movies for that new Droid RAZR HD... so long as they remember to deal with the financial fallout afterwards. |
| Samsung Galaxy Note II Smart Dock turns a big phone into an even bigger desktop Posted: 31 Oct 2012 10:33 AM PDT 
Many of us would already contend that the Galaxy Note II is more of a pocketable computer than a smartphone, so why not take the definition at face value? Samsung certainly is, as it just began selling a Smart Dock that transforms its phablet into a makeshift desktop. A trio of USB ports give the Note II options for a mouse, keyboard and even external storage -- and if the phone's 5.5-inch screen isn't already a large enough canvas, HDMI video (plus stereo audio out) should fill the gap. While there's no question that the Smart Dock's $100 price is relatively steep, it might be worthwhile for those still mourning the loss of Webtop. |
| MetroPCS intros first Rich Communication Services on LTE, touts universal contacts and chat (video) Posted: 31 Oct 2012 10:02 AM PDT 
Smartphone users are well immersed in a world of contact syncing, media sharing, VoIP and video calls. They're just not used to finding everything in one place, let alone guaranteeing that any carrier-level features will work with other phones and providers. MetroPCS is hoping to put itself ahead on that front by offering a potentially universal fix. It's the first carrier anywhere to launch the Rich Communication Services standard on LTE, which provides a perpetually synced contact list that serves as the launching pad for everything else. Early adopters of the Joyn-branded service can chat through text, share media (including during calls) and start up WiFi voice or video calls without needing yet another specialized service and the extra sign-in that goes with it. Right now, the very young state of RCS on LTE leaves it behaving more like the isolated services it's trying to replace -- on MetroPCS, only those with the Galaxy Attain 4G and an after-the-fact Joyn app download can get the experience as intended. As long as more devices and carriers come onboard, though, the technology might be the long-term key to pulling us away from fenced-off conversations in Google Talk or Skype. |
| Boxee TV heads to Walmart shelves in time for the holidays Posted: 31 Oct 2012 09:34 AM PDT 
Boxee has some fairly grand plans for its Boxee TV set-top box, and it's now set to get a sizeable boost from the biggest retailer around. According Bloomberg News, the device will be available at more than 3,000 Walmart stores in the US starting tomorrow, where the retailer is also said to be setting up displays to demonstrate the device and provide marketing materials. As Bloomberg notes, the deal comes at a fairly critical time for Boxee, which sold some 120,000 devices in the past year compared to 1.4 million Roku boxes and 5.3 million Apple TVs. It also comes on the heels of another attempt by Boxee to win over customers, with it announcing just a few days ago that that it'd be handing out free Boxee TVs to some early adopters. |
| Microsoft: we misspoke, actually, they're 'Windows Store apps' Posted: 31 Oct 2012 09:11 AM PDT 
It happens all the time -- someone misspoke. During an address at Build yesterday, a Microsoft employee told a crowd that the company has taken to calling its apps "Windows 8 Store Applications." Turns out that's not quite right -- the proper terminology is the slightly more elegant "Windows Store apps," as per a note from a Redmond spokesperson. So there you go. No more Metro, no more "Windows 8 Store applications" -- just plain, old "Windows Store apps." |
| Engadget goes ghost hunting -- exploring the gadgetry of paranormal investigation (video) Posted: 31 Oct 2012 09:00 AM PDT 
The rendezvous point is as nondescript as these things come -- a giant convenience store off the side of the freeway, a big cardboard box out front, filled to the brim with pumpkins in anticipation of the upcoming holiday. Stacey Jones approaches us timidly at first, calling my name in our direction, as two of the crew members puff on cigarettes in the unseasonably frigid air. She'd apparently mistaken some other folks for us a moment earlier, a group of college students in hoodies and baseball caps, and is clearly a little embarrassed by the whole experience. It's the first and last time words like "timid" and "embarrassed" can be accurately applied to a middle-aged mother of an adult son who hunts ghosts for a living in central New York State. Group identified, she announces, "We'd better get going. It'll take about an hour to get there." Disappointing news, after the five it took to get to this roadside rest stop. But we nod and smile and get back in our respective cars. She's careful not to reveal the location until we arrive, for concerns of privacy. I've studied her a bit online. A self-described "ghost cop," YouTube is littered with videos of her leading camera crews through abandoned hospitals, in search of dead people apparently desperate to relate some bit of information to her. The location, however, isn't as classically horror movie as we'd imagined or hoped in the car ride up. It's quite idyllic, really -- a beautiful 100-year-old building off the side of the road, 200 yards from a truly stunning old church. Outside the front door, a small signboard advertises a monthly waffle breakfast. Decidedly more ominous are the two graveyards that flank the buildings, with tombstones dating back to the early 19th century, generations of farmers under the ground that may well outnumber residents in this sparsely populated locale. The weather, too, is doing its part to set the scene -- strange, gray clouds hanging low in impossible shapes. "The light," says one of the crew members, as we park and begin the unpacking process. "It's...oversaturated." Sounds seem to travel remarkably well in the cold, crisp, pre-storm air. I step across the road with the show producer, to gather b-roll of 150-year-old headstones, still able to hear every word that Stacey says, as she describes her entry into this strange and oft-maligned world, how her son became possessed by demonic forces on an investigation in a graveyard as a teenager. It's a story she'd recount for the Discovery Channel five years ago, coupled with basic cable dramatizations, portrayed by actors bearing slightly resemblances to their real world counterparts, if you're willing to afford them the advantage of a good squint. Things are far more chipper on the inside, where tables are decked out in yellow and white checkered patterns and a row of industrial-sized waffle irons lines the kitchen counter, in preparation for the upcoming breakfast. The monthly event is one of the last remaining connections to the building's 100-year-old origins, constructed in 1908 as a home for the local branch of The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, a fraternal organization for farmers, spun off of the Freemasons. There was a cheese factory nearby that served as the original meeting place for the grange, until the community raised the $2,500 required to build the two-story structure. Walking through the screen door, Stacey introduces us to two members of Central New York Ghost Hunters and Mary, the Grange's president. Stacey and one of the ghost hunters excuse themselves to go upstairs, as the crew starts setting up for a series of pre-hunt interviews, walking back downstairs a few minutes later carrying a pair of wedding dresses for reasons that are never fully explained. Mary does, however, happily discuss the space in great detail, having taken on the role of historian as part of her duties as grange master. "The meeting hall is upstairs, and then the downstairs was the actual dining hall, entertainment hall," she explains, seated across from me at one of those yellow and white tables. The historic transitions seamlessly into the personal, with Mary eager to explain how the position of grange master led to her role as an amateur ghost hunter. "After one of our functions of feeding the public, (I was) sitting here with one other person kitty-corner to me and two people behind me in the kitchen. And it was one o'clock in the afternoon, and by this time, almost everyone had been gone for over an hour. Sitting there rolling silverware, and all of the sudden I heard from up above--" she pauses, make rhythmic pounding sounds on the yellow and white checkers with her hands. "I immediately went running up the stairs. The building was locked. I went running up the stairs; there's nobody up there."  "Can we pause for a second?" Stacey asks, with a serious look on her face. There was a strange sound during Mary's explanation, something everyone clearly heard, but no one acknowledged. A sound like distant laughter. Addressing the ominous noise, the room is silent for a moment, exchanging glances. "Oh," Mary answers, after a beat, "that was my cell phone." Breathing finally, the room explodes with laughter. Things, it seems, get fairly tense before a ghost hunt. To our left, several tables are overflowing with gadgets. These are the tools of the hunt, largely purchased off the shelf and from places like eBay, gadgets with Sony and RadioShack logos repurposed for paranormal needs. The most prevalent during our hunt tonight are digital voice recorders -- those small, thin devices utilized primarily for memo purposes in meetings and classes. The gadgets will be held by each of the ghost hunters, in attempt to capture Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVPs), messages from the dead implanted on recordings. Stacey's theory holds that, in the case of EVP collection, cheaper is actually better, perhaps because higher-end devices house built-in technology for shielding out such interference.  When we return to New York, we put the question to Adam Berry, a cast member of SyFy's Ghost Hunters, and part of that exceedingly rare group of people who can actually claim the role as an honest-to-God profession. He shows of a similar digital voice recorder and a multi-directional Zoom device that ran him around 10 times the price. "You don't have to spend a lot of money to ghost hunt," he answers simply, "but obviously the higher tech the equipment is, the better the results are. It's just one of many ways the teams' approaches differ. Certainly there's no sense of standardization for an activity that feels so utterly removed from accepted scientific inquiry -- or as he puts it, "technically there's no wrong way to ghost hunt, but there are methods that are better than others." Both crews also employ inexpensive, off-the-shelf flashlights for the dual purposes of seeing in the dark and communicating with spirits, leaving them off, but just barely, so a ghost can twist them off -- one flashlight for "yes" and one for "no." The Central New York Ghost Hunters team has employed a good deal of improvisation -- a huge part of a pursuit that, again, doesn't exactly have much in the way of academic backing -- to rig up boxes and metal stands to string together the miniature flashlights and foster more complex communications.  And while each ghost hunter we speak with insists that skepticism plays a large role in their own respective pursuits, we reach out to "Spook" author Mary Roach for a bit of insight on the matter. "Whenever a new technology was introduced, there was a sense that maybe this gadget could be a receiver for information from the beyond," she tells us from her office in Oakland, Calif. "Whenever a new technology could detect something out of the realm of human perception, there's a sense that we could capture those communications through infrared or ultrasound. There's a hope that we'll be able to communicate on their wavelength, from the phonograph to the tape recorder, to infrared cameras." A laser grid is employed by both the Central New York Ghost Hunters and the basic cable TV stars. It's not unlike a standard laser pointer, albeit one that projects hundreds of points on a wall, like small green stars in the sky, in hopes of better detecting movement on the other side of the room. Infrared thermometers are common, too, prized for their ability to detect temperature changes from across the room, as are heat vision cameras, one of which is on-hand, hooked up to a DVD burner. The grange master excitedly describes her first experience with such a device, set up in the area upstairs.  "We didn't know this happened, but up on the stage, this very tall figure stepped out, walked across, blocked out the very tall windows that are in the building, blacked out the majority of that as he walked by," she said. "You could see the figure; you could tell it's a male and walked into an area where you can't walk. There was so much stuff on the floors: cement blocks, tarps, everything. We proceeded to turn, and we caught him again as he stepped out another direction. He was pure green. A very light green. You don't get, when you have a live being, throwing one color. It's going to have multiple colors." It was the first time they used the camera -- and it was the best evidence they ever got. It's a common theme across their experiences with technology: the first time's always the best.  There's a cheap infrared camera on-hand and a parabola mic -- a toy from a spy kit for kids. Several devices detect changes in electro-magnetic pulses (EMPs). Stacey relates a story in which the team investigated the haunting of a child, only to discover that the effects were being caused by unnatural EMP levels emanating from a nearby TV set -- a phenomenon that apparently causes effects surprisingly similar to those of a haunting. The team fiddles around with a RadioShack transistor hacked to scan through AM stations without stopping, in hopes of capturing words and sentences from across the spectrum. "The first time we used this one here," says Caroline, one of the Central New York crew, "it said 'your brother is coming,' and Stacey said, 'whose brother?' And it said, 'Caroline's.' And I have an unusual name. You don't hear that on the radio very often. And I said, 'what's his name,' and it went, 'Anthony.'" The radio technique, according Stacey, is the continuation of a theory set in place by no less a scientific mind than Thomas Edison. Mary Roach again: "The last thing [Edison] got involved with was essentially an amplifier for life units. The idea was that, when you die, you become little bits and pieces of life units that, if you just amplify it, you'll be able to communicate with them, and they'll be able to tell you where they are what's going on."  Perhaps the strangest among the paranormal gadgetry is the Ovilus I, one of the few pieces of equipment belonging to the group created for the express purpose of hunting ghosts. It's an oval-shaped, metal "handheld paranormal device" attached to a small, blue speaker and bearing the words, "for entertainment purposes only." The gadget is said to measure EMFs, temperature and humidity, detecting changes to generate one of hundreds of words stored inside, in hopes that spirits might use their ghostly powers to let the machine speak for them. Stacey fires the Ovilus up, and the device spitting out a few random words, uttering, finally, "Peter." The ghost hunters' faces brighten at the utterance of those two syllables. They've dealt with Peter before in the space. And when we begin our hunt in roughly half an hour, Stacey and crew will make a point of asking for him by name. This, it turns out, is mostly what these ghost hunts entail, standing around a room and asking question without response. "Ghost hunting is boring," explains Stacey. "You sit around in a dark room, you ask questions into the air, and you've got all of your equipment running. Very rarely does something happen when you're doing this. The excitement comes when you review your video or your audio. It's a rare thing to have something happen in front of you, and when it does, you dismiss it because that's the way you're raised. You try to find another explanation for what happened." And say what you will about those who choose to spend their free time hunting for spirits in old building, the Central New York Ghost Hunters devote a good deal of their time this evening to shooting down potential EVPs identifying the sounds of passing cars and doors knocking around in the wind.  The meeting space upstairs where we participate in the hunt has since been converted into a permanent rummage sale, with racks of clothing and dozens of tables devoted to secondhand knickknacks. On the other side of the room is a stage on which the community once put on plays for the farmers. Now, however, it houses countless wedding dress, an ominous sight in light of Stacey's explanation that spirits can travel from place to place on the backs of beloved objects. Gadgets are spread out all over the room, and the ghost hunters excuse themselves to different quarters before the lights go out and a sea of green laser points illuminates the abandoned wedding dresses. The ghost hunters form a prayer circle and begin a roll call, each member of the hunt -- ourselves included -- stating their name and leaving a few seconds' gap afterward, in case a spirit should want to get in on the action. Peter, for one, has been known to chime in here, from time to time. Stacey, characteristically, takes the lead with the question. "Is anyone there?" "Peter, if you're here, can you come and talk to us now?" "Are you dead or are we dead?" "Can you make a loud noise for us?" As predicted, the whole thing is largely uneventful, stray noises being explained away as dogs barking in the distance and the neighbors' car door closing outside, with the two ghost hunters on the other side of the room claiming to hear the sound of a female voice faintly between questions. When the lights come up again, and the tape records are reviewed, that final question seems to have triggered something amongst the timid spirits.  "It's 'sacred blood!'" one of the ghost hunters says, excitedly. "No," answers Stacey," "I hear 'Stacey, come find us find us!'" It sounds like static at first -- and then upon closer inspection, amazingly, it's picked up on two small tape recorders on opposite sides of the large room. A testament to powers of suggestion, the lot of us is evenly split on precisely what the whispering female voice is attempting to communicate. It's the best evidence we'll get that night, and when we play it for Adam Berry, later in the week, he's noncommittal, but admits that the Central New York Ghost Hunters may, in fact, have something on their hands. The crew begins packing up their equipment when the entertainment-only Ovilus, silent for the last couple of hours says, simply, "upstairs" and once again goes silent. The room does as well, ghost hunters and filmmakers looking at one another for direction. It's precisely that compound word that leads myself, Mary and two crew members up another creaky flight of stairs to the attic of the hundred-year-old building, huddled up on the one thin area capable of supporting our weight. The moonlight outside has pierced the strange cloud cover and is leaking in through the old building's wooden slats. There are no more voices that night and certainly no 7-foot-tall green creatures, just more community storage space and a whole bundle of nerves. Certainly nothing that happened over the past several hours would go far toward convincing an afterlife skeptic that, not only are there ghosts walking amongst us, they're eager to have Stacey come find them. If they are, however, the Central New York Ghost Hunters will be waiting for them. This segment originally appeared in episode 37 of The Engadget Show. |
| Android 4.2 camera, gallery ported to Galaxy Nexus running Jelly Bean 4.1.1 Posted: 31 Oct 2012 08:32 AM PDT 
So, you're loving the new gallery and camera options we saw on Jelly Bean 4.2 and have no intention of waiting for that OS for your former flagship Galaxy Nexus? A certain dmmarck on Android Central's forums has sorted that, and you can now grab the camera app for your so-last-month 4.1.1 OS on that handset. Other than a Photo Sphere bug, it's apparently working like the factory version, but newbies beware -- the installation requires some Android hacking chops. You can grab it at the source. |
| Five iPhone 5s in five days: win a 16GB AT&T model with custom Engadget case, courtesy of Cafepress! Posted: 31 Oct 2012 08:01 AM PDT 
Need ideas for a holiday present for that special someone? We know your significant other would be completely enamored at the sight of a beautiful white custom iPhone 5 case... adorned with Engadget's logo on it (the actual iPhone 5 won't hurt, of course). The phone and case was provided to us by CafePress, an e-tailer that not only specializes in custom cases but clothes, stationary, flair and plenty more. It's definitely worth a look-see, but not until after you enter to win this contest -- as well as the ones we started up Monday and Tuesday (they're still going)! Our sponsors: The rules: - Leave a comment below. Any comment will do. Duplicate entries will be filtered out and discarded, so adding additional comments won't increase your likelihood of winning.
- Contest is open to all residents of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), 18 or older! Sorry, we don't make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so direct your anger at our lawyers contest laws if you have to be mad.
- Winners will be chosen randomly. One winner will win one (1) 16GB Apple iPhone 5 on AT&T and a custom case with Engadget logo.
- If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of being contacted. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
- This unit is purely for promotional giveaway. Cafepress, Apple and Engadget / AOL are not held liable to honor warranties, exchanges or customer service.
- The full list of rules, in all its legalese glory, can be found here.
- Entries can be submitted until November 4, 2012 at 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
|
| HTC One X+ review: it's the One X, and then some (video) Posted: 31 Oct 2012 07:30 AM PDT 
A spec bump in the middle of a product cycle? All the cool cats do it these days, even if they risk alienating customers who just bought what they thought was this year's flagship device. HTC has actually played this game for a while, first with the Sensation XE, which acted as a mid-term replacement for the original Sensation and now, with the One X+ which treads all over the One X's toes. However, with this latest handset, the manufacturer has some justification: the One X+ comes with 32GB or 64GB of internal storage, whereas the global One X maxed out at 32GB and the AT&T version was only 16GB. Since there's no microSD expansion on these phones, it's possible to argue that the One X+ is a sensible addition, which caters specifically to storage-hungry power users and audiophiles. (Note: We'll be reviewing the HSPA+ UK version of this handset here, and comparing it mainly to the HSPA+ One X. We'll test the US-destined LTE variant very soon.) There are other improvements aside from the bigger storage option, of course. The NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor has had a speed bump to 1.7GHz -- perhaps in an effort to challenge the Galaxy S III's benchmarking might. There's a larger 2,100mAh battery to stay in step with that more power-hungry silicon; the front camera module has been replaced with a higher-res chip and better image processing; and, there's also some new audio circuitry to improve the speaker's sound quality. The One X+ also runs HTC's updated Sense 4+ skin, based on Jelly Bean, which will eventually arrive on older One-series phones as well. As for the rest of the spec sheet, all the good and not-so-good stuff from the One X has carried over -- the stunning 4.7-inch, 1,280 x 720 Super LCD2 display is still here, thank goodness, and so is the 8-megapixel f/2.0 rear camera. However, there's still only 1GB of RAM (LG and Samsung flagships boast double that). So, what's needed here is an upshot: if you haven't made the leap to a 2012 superphone just yet, how does the One X+ carry itself relative to its cheaper predecessor and the latest competition? Read on and we'll endeavor to find out. Hardware The key selling point of the original One X has never been in doubt. It has a design flair that many other Android phones before and after have lacked, and although the One X+ is marginally heavier (at 135 grams versus 130 grams) it's still the same classy phone. A Gorilla Glass panel -- here upgraded to version 2 -- blends seamlessly into the curved, matte polycarbonate unibody and the overall effect is beautiful and durable in equal measure. Yes, the one-piece build precludes expandable storage and a switchable battery, which are major sacrifices for many users, but in return it rewards you with pleasant vibes every time you pick it up in the morning. "The ratio of black to red is high enough that the phone never looks garish" But even by this slightly superficial measure, the One X+ is not perfect. That's because it only comes in one color: matte black, with glimmers of red on the navigation buttons (especially when they light up), the camera ring and the Beats logo. The AT&T model is slightly sexier perhaps, with black accents instead of red, but there's still no sign of multi-hued love HTC has showered on its latest Windows Phones. If you're the fastidious type, you may also notice that this darker variant is slightly more smudge-prone than the lighter grey and white colors, and also the glossy black HTC logo at the back is something of a dirt trap. In case it helps, we've added some comparison photos from our previous hands-on session below. 
In terms of the device's physical layout, there are no surprises. The face is adorned by three capacitive hardware buttons along the bottom (back, home and multitasking) plus the front camera and earpiece, with a somewhat discreet HTC logo just above the display. (Take note, Verizon, you fiends.) On the right-hand edge we have a good-sized volume rocker, while the power button sits on top beside the 3.5mm jack and the micro-USB port is the sole occupant of the left-hand edge. It's a good and functional layout, but folks with smaller hands may wish there was an easier-to-reach power button on the side instead of on the top (as with the Galaxy S III, for example). Shifting your grip to turn the phone on does become a habit, but it takes a while.
On the rear side, we find the protruding camera, which has become symbolic of HTC's top-end line, but which is still prone to scratching, with a small and not especially powerful LED flash to the side. There are charging points on the lower right for compatibility with a range of existing One X docks, and finally the loudspeaker at the very bottom. HTC tells us that a feedback amplifier has been added to this speaker to improve its sound output versus the One X, and indeed we found the speaker to be less prone to distortion when set to maximum volume. As our video review shows, the difference isn't huge, so don't go expecting miracles or hosting house parties without proper audio equipment. Beats Audio 
We need to deal with that other big aspect of this phone's audio output: Beats. If you ever read our review of the HTC Sensation XE, which was the first phone to come with Beats Audio, then you'll know we didn't think much of it. As far as our tests showed back in 2011, it was basically an S-shaped EQ setting; it exaggerated certain bass and vocal frequencies and slightly boosted overall volume. This was enough to give listeners a wow effect with the right type of music, but the same effect (or better) could readily be achieved with any decent music player for Android.
But times have changed and the Beats we see on the One X+ is very different. For starters, it can be enabled or disabled regardless of what headphones you plug into the 3.5mm jack, so the old pretense of only coming to life with Dr. Dre-approved cans has been quietly forgotten. The marketing has improved slightly too. There's still plenty of misleading babble, such as the unfathomable claim that Beats delivers "studio-quality sound," but at least HTC doesn't put so much emphasis on Beats as a selling point any more, and it also gives slightly more clarity on what Beats actually provides -- e.g., a "deeper bass" and "crisper vocals."
The most ironic thing about Beats actually has to be this: despite the mellowed marketing, it's probably more useful on the One X+ than it ever has been. This is because it now comes with a really hefty increase in volume: in other words, max volume is substantially higher with Beats enabled, whereas in the past (for example on the One X) it increased by a much smaller proportion. So long as you can tolerate the exaggerated frequencies that come with it, this can be a big help if you want to play music through over-ear cans with above-average impedance. Camera 
The biggest photographic improvement with the One X+ is undoubtedly its front-facing camera. It's not the higher resolution (1.6 megapixels) that makes the difference -- in fact the final output image is still 1,280 x 720. The power of this shooter actually lies in the quality of the sensor and in the image processing hardware, which together make it a great tool for video chats and self-portraits. The image above speaks for itself, and not only is the shot on the right much clearer and more detailed, it also has a more natural pose thanks to the One X+'s new 3-2-1 countdown feature. "There's still no ability to lock exposure and focus before re-framing a shot" According to HTC, the rear camera hasn't evolved at all -- we're looking at exactly the same module as the One X. But having taken a number of shots and videos side by side with the two phones, we reckon the One X+ has a slight advantage thanks to its faster processor. In burst shot mode, the One X+ snapped 20 pictures in just three seconds, whereas the One X took five seconds. When starting a video recording, the One X+ got going a whole second faster, and its auto-focus seemed to respond quicker too. Of course, extra speed in and of itself isn't going to give you better image quality, and it's in this area where we found the One X+ to be most disappointing, simply because it hasn't fixed any of the quirks present on the One X. For one, there's still no ability to lock exposure and focus before re-framing a shot. This is a big deal because it makes for erratic exposures that are largely outside of your control -- in fact, when trying to take an identical side-by-side shot with the One X and One X+ we found it virtually impossible to get the same exposure and focus on both cameras, not because one is better than the other but because they both seem to work primarily on luck. Another problem: the video data rate hasn't been improved at 1080p, even though we now have a more capable processor, along with more storage to fill up. We captured a high-detail scene above just to prove the point -- it's riven with compression artefacts. The Galaxy S III has a higher video data rate, not to mention two-stage stills shooting, and as a result we'd still say that phone (along with the Note II) has the all-round superior camera. The HTC's saving grace is its low-light performance, which benefits greatly from that fast f/2.0 lens, but which is slightly marred by HTC's detail-destroying anti-noise filter. Performance and battery life 
So much for the outside -- it's the internals that HTC is really relying on to get this handset into people's pockets, and most notably that 64GB of internal storage. On our review device, this yielded around 56GB of usable space, which ought to be enough for most. We plugged the phone into a PC and it automatically switched into storage mode and made swift work of swallowing up an entire 50GB collection of high-quality recordings -- a nice feeling that was never previously possible.
The handset was predictably capable with voice call reception and sound quality, and in terms of mobile data it behaved identically to both the One X and the Galaxy S III on Vodafone UK's HSPA+ network in London. Speeds varied wildly depending on signal, but no more so than with other devices, and they generally hovered somewhere between 1-3 Mbps down and 1-2 Mbps up. Wireless tethering worked flawlessly and was very stable. As mentioned earlier, our review device was 3G only, which is strange considering that LTE is about to take off in the UK in a big way -- if you're contemplating switching to an LTE carrier like EE in the next year or so, then you should probably bear this mind. EE already offers the One XL (the Qualcomm-powered, LTE version of the One X) as part of its LTE launch lineup. "Why didn't HTC go for the S4 Pro here, rather than a souped-up Tegra 3?" The engine in this handset is the AP37 variant of NVIDIA's Tegra 3 chip, which consists of four main cores plus a low-power companion core, with a maximum single-core clock speed of 1.7GHz. This compares to the AP33 silicon in the One X, which maxed out a 1.5GHz. The newer GPU also gets a boost, from 416MHz to 520MHz. The improvement is visible in daily operation simply because everything happens quicker -- often with a half- to one-second edge over the One X -- although we're comparing jelly beans with ice creams here, so its hard to know how much of this difference is solely due to the hardware rather than the updated OS. It's worth pointing out that Vodafone UK's HTC One X recently got a major update that made it much snappier (as you'll see in the benchmark table below). When the One X gets its Sense 4+ refresh, the gap may be reduced even further.
Overall, our new suite of benchmarks resulted in some mixed scores, which hint at this Tegra 3 being a very capable, but also slightly lopsided, processor. What do we mean by that? Well, in those scores where it shines -- such as AnTuTu -- this is mostly due to its fast CPU and RAM, rather than any particular graphical prowess. In fact, the purely visual GLBenchmark test puts the One X+ miles behind the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro-powered LG Optimus G, which also has better battery life. One can't escape the question: is HTC holding this expensive S4 Pro processor back for its real next-gen flagship and fobbing us off with a clock speed bump in the meantime? For the sake of perspective, though, the GLBenchmark test is almost unrealistically taxing. Pick a game from the Tegra Zone store front -- like Shadowgun: Deadzone -- and you'll likely be more than pleased with the graphical quality and frame rates. | | One X+ | Optimus G (Sprint) | Galaxy Note II | Global Galaxy S III | Global HTC One X | | Quadrant Advanced | 7,457 | 7,628 | 6,819 | 5,189 (5,842) | 5,935 (4,906) | | Vellamo 2 HTML5 | 1,897 | 1,710 | 1,831 | 1,565 | 1,663 (1,364) | | AnTuTu | 13,591 | 11,284 | 13,539 | 11,960 | 12,479 (11,030) | | SunSpider 0.9.1 (ms) | 1,345 | 1,283 | 1,023 | 1,460 | 1,773 | | GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt HD C24Z16 Offscreen (fps) | 12 | 31 | 17 | 15 | 9.7 (7.5) | | CF-Bench | 14,558 | 14,398 | 15,267 | 13,110 | 13,928 (13,233) | | Battery life | 7:32 | 8:43 | 10:45 | 9:02 | 7:58 (6:00) | | Lower SunSpider scores are better. One X scores in brackets are pre-update. | And so we arrive at that other crucial area of imbalance with the One X+. Although its clock speed has been increased, we're still looking at basically the same 40-nanometer silicon from which the old AP33 chip was carved. The latest 28nm and 32nm chips from Qualcomm and Samsung are just inherently more efficient, and while the Tegra 3 may be a great choice for a device like the Nexus 7, with its low price and big battery, we're not sure it belongs in a late-2012 flagship smartphone. The problem isn't with regular use or standby, but with processor-hungry tasks like gaming and multi-tasking, which made the phone warm and seemed to drain the battery slightly too quickly.  The phone easily lasted for a day of very light use, with 30 percent of its juice left over after 12 hours, but that particular day included nothing more strenuous than 30 minutes of camera work and a few calls and emails. In our regular looped-video test, the phone last seven hours and 32 minutes, which is slightly worse than the almost eight-hour duration we recorded on the post-update One X and still far, far below the nine-hour threshold set by the Qualcomm-powered AT&T One X and the Samsung Galaxy S III. Software
 To get the measure of the user experience on the One X+, you really need to check out our full reviews of both Sense 4 and Jelly Bean. Merge the two and you get Sense 4+, which is the same friendly, relatively lightweight skin as before, but with some fundamental improvements that mainly come from the shift to Android 4.1. What does that all mean in practice? Well, here's a list of the most useful additions, in order of decreasing relevance to the way we at Engadget live our lives:  1. Google Now. If you imagine the traditional Android home screens as lying along a horizontal line, then Google Now turns that shape into a T. That tail is useful because it adds depth to the OS, in the form of a vertical row of "cards" which appear when you long-press the home button, and which grow intelligently based on what Google can glean about your life. Within a few days of using the One X+, we had cards waiting for us with the local weather forecast (much more nicely presented than HTC's own weather widget), local bus routes and times, and an entire card dedicated to a very well-visited local coffee shop. It's not perfect, however. Some cards weren't useful at all, including a calendar card that only had room to display one appointment (and it was invariably someone else's from a team calendar). More seriously, Google Now can have an unwieldy feel to it, like it's the start of a new OS growing inside the belly of the old one -- something that adds functionality but probably also represents the peculiar ability of Android to scare some people off with its complexity. 2. Voice search. This is part of Google Now, and it's quite powerful. Unlike Apple's Siri and Samsung's S Voice, it can handle speech recognition offline, which makes it very fast. It can perform complex Google searches but also handle basic personal assistant tasks like starting a text message or setting an alarm. What it can't do, however, it search local content with your voice -- for example, "find tracks by Ellie Goulding in my music collection" will only bring up irrelevant Google results. 3. Project Butter. We can't pretend that this makes a huge difference, but it's certainly noticeable if you look out for it. It involves Jelly Bean ramping up system resources whenever you touch the screen to navigate, such that all animations and transitions and movements on the screen are able to run at a clean 60 fps. Even during our brief hands-on we noticed that the notification pull-down moved more cleanly across the home screen, and now it just feels weird to go back to the original One X. 4. A new, aggregated gallery app. This is an HTC addition which organizes photos by event and location, resulting in somewhat handier presentation -- even if your photos tend to all be taken near your home. It also gives you quicker access to your local and cloud-stored photos bringing all those icons (Facebook, SkyDrive, etc.) together in one place. You could access your photos individually through each associated app, but over time we found it made sense to collect images together in this way. 5. HTC Getting Started. This is an app that lets you use a PC to configure your phone more quickly, since you can type out your credentials on a full-sized keyboard. We used it to set up Hotmail and Dropbox, and to set up a gallery picture as wallpaper, but that's about it. The choice of accounts is too limited -- we still spent ages setting up Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Evernote and everything else from the phone itself. "PlayStation Mobile? It still doesn't work." And some stuff that didn't make the earth move for us, and so doesn't deserve to be anywhere on the upper section of the list: 5. HTC's Music app, which works in a similar way to the Gallery in attempting to bring together local and cloud-based content. The problem here is that you can't make playlists across different sources, which renders it pointless -- you might as well access each music source through its own app. 6. HTC's Sense keyboard. HTC has never been great at onscreen keyboards and the One X+ maintains the trend. We instantly switched it out for SwiftKey, which meant losing the new Google-powered word prediction that comes in Jelly Bean. 7. PlayStation Mobile. Guess what? The app still doesn't work -- which rather takes the meaning out of PlayStation Certification. Wrap-up  There's no question that with the One X+, HTC is offering more to Android power users outside of the US. What's less clear is whether it brings more in the areas that actually matter to you. The answer is "yes" -- but only if you meet some rather narrow criteria. If you loved the physical design and excellent display on the original global One X but were put off by its 32GB storage cap and second-best performance, then this new flagship is definitely worthy of consideration. It's extremely snappy, beating rivals phones on certain computation-heavy tests, and its graphics engine delivers a perfectly smooth experience even on the most visually-demanding tasks and games. What's more, the phone achieves all of this without making battery life any worse than it was before. On the other hand, if you weren't particularly drawn to the global One X in the first place, and if you make more mainstream demands on your phone, then you should be more circumspect about this proposition. At the top of the top end, the Padfone 2 and Nexus 4 (along with its cousin, the Optimus G) have dented a lot of egos with their shockingly powerful and well-rounded S4 Pro chip -- and this new souped-up One X+ just can't keep up. Meanwhile, the Samsung GS III and Note II come with better cameras and longer battery life. And if you peer over the platform divide you'll see that the iPhone 5 does so too. Compared to these phones, the HTC One X+ is a missed opportunity. It could have been an S4 Pro-powered phone. It could have been tweaked to deliver superior stills and video recording, and it could have come in more colors. But instead HTC has decided to play it safe -- at least for now. In fact, one of the biggest impressions left over by the One X+ is that it highlights all the continuing strengths of the regular One X. This device has benefited from extremely positive updates since we first reviewed it, with great improvements to all-round performance and battery life, and it's due to get Sense 4+ within the next couple of months too. If you don't mind taking out a contract on a phone that is already seven months into its cycle, and if you can find the One X at a bargain price as a result of the One X+ weighing down at the top of the HTC stack, then it's perhaps a more savvy purchase than its newer, flashier big brother. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Sony NEX-5R review: focusing and performance improvements make this cam a winner Posted: 31 Oct 2012 07:00 AM PDT 
By some accounts, Sony botched the NEX-F3. Positioned as the successor to the fantastic C3, it replaced that camera's slim profile with a bulkier build, but sacrificed basic display tilt functionality in favor of a front-facing model. Image quality was fine, but focusing speeds fell short. Fortunately, the company has redeemed itself with the $750 NEX-5R. The mirrorless camera you'll read about today represents everything a successful update should: performance has been improved all around, the touchscreen tilts in every which way and the design has changed only for the better. It's also the first Sony mirrorless cam to feature WiFi, along with the company's new PlayMemories Camera Apps. Wireless connectivity is undoubtedly becoming a popular addition in higher-end models, but that doesn't mean it's a feature users are demanding. With Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Camera, connectivity -- 4G in particular -- makes perfect sense, but how does that web experience transfer to a tiny 3-inch touchscreen? And does it detract from usability overall? Join us past the break for a closer look at this very capable 16.1-megapixel interchangeable lens camera. Hardware
The NEX series has maintained a basic form factor since its inception -- oversized lens nearly flush with the camera's left, a pronounced grip on the opposite side -- and the tradition lives on today. The 5R retains some basic styling from the 5 and 5N that came before, in particular the slightly boxy design and textured plastic grip. But the NEX-7 has made an impression here as well, with that camera's power toggle, shutter release and front function button making an appearance, along with one of that flagship model's two top-mounted dials. The shoulder strap mounts have also been moved up to match the 7's positioning, while the stereo microphones remain on top, flanking Sony's proprietary accessory port (which you'll use for mounting the bundled flash or the $350 OLED EVF). This top mic positioning is favorable for narration, but it's not ideal for interviews, where you'll likely want to add Sony's $130 microphone -- sadly, there's no 3.5mm input here, so you're stuck with the proprietary version, which fortunately offers decent performance without a lot of bulk.  The company has done away with the prominent model branding, opting instead to identify this flavor with a modest line of text just above the 3-inch, 921k-dot touchscreen. Just like its predecessor, the 5R can be operated entirely with hardware controls, with the touch functionality serving only to complement the interface, not to complicate it. The rear controls will be familiar to any NEX user, including a dial with a center selector and a four-position toggle, for direct access to drive mode, display, ISO and exposure compensation options. There are also two variable buttons that change depending on the mode. By default, the top one launches the system menu while the bottom can be configured with one of 20 options, such as quality settings or white balance. The shutter release and power dials up top are joined by a playback and video record button -- the latter of which is a tad too difficult to press, particularly when shooting with the LCD facing up. Unlike the F3's relatively limited display, this model can flip 180 degrees to face forward without compromising upward and downward tilt functionality, pairing the enhanced range of motion we've enjoyed with previous-gen NEX models with a front-facing option that works well for self-portraits. On the bottom of the camera is a combination battery/SDXC compartment -- unlike some other NEX models, the 5R's access panel is located far from the tripod socket, so you won't need to remove a mount before swapping SD cards. The battery is the same NP-FW50 pack that Sony has been including since day one, offering 1,080mAh of power. While you will be able to use older batteries and chargers, Sony has opted for micro-USB charging this time around, with a compact AC adapter packed in the box. The camera seemed to charge quickly using this method, and because of the industry-standard socket, you can juice up with everything from a laptop to a pocketable USB backup cell.  Next to the micro-USB slot, on the left side, you'll also find an HDMI port, just below a WiFi logo. Like other manufacturers, particularly Samsung, Sony has begun making a heavy push for wireless connectivity in its mirrorless line, with this 5R, and the NEX-6 a few weeks later. On the 5R, 802.11b/g compatibility lets you upload images to a smartphone, computer, compatible HDTV or directly to the web. You can also download specially designed PlayMemories Camera Apps directly from Sony, which we'll touch on a bit more in the UI section below. User interface  Sony's managed to grow its user interface without making significant changes. That still means lots of digging in order to format cards or change the focusing mode, with major adjustments visible only at the top menu level. The good news here is that current NEX users should have no trouble configuring the camera without pulling out a manual. The biggest addition is an Application section -- for the first time, Sony is letting you add "apps" to the camera, though by no means is this an open invitation to collect and create. Direct Upload (to Facebook or Sony's site), Smart Remote Control and Picture Effect+ come preloaded, while Photo Retouch (free), Multi Frame NR ($5) and Bracket Pro ($5) are available for download. And that's it -- for now. Third-party developers won't be permitted to submit apps, so anything you see has been and will be created by Sony. The camera's app store, if you can call it that, is largely web-based, with similar basic browsing functionality extending to the connection process as well. This means that you can log in to hotel or other public networks using a username or password, so it's possible to purchase WiFi access for your camera just as you would a laptop or smartphone. To connect, you'll tap your desired network, enter a password if applicable or log in to a web authorization form by tapping the tiny on-screen keyboard. It's hardly a speedy process, but it does work. We were able to upload a photo to Facebook successfully from a hotel network and then add a caption, though typing even a short sentence was quite painful. By default, the photo is added to a new gallery labeled with the time it was shot, though you can also browse through your existing Facebook albums if you'd like to drop it somewhere else. We're not completely sold on the idea of direct camera uploads, since it hardly seems efficient for multiple images, but it is a possibility here -- and, like with the touchscreen functionality, the feature is there if you want to use it, but nearly invisible if you don't.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to test handset integration, including the Smart Remote Control and smartphone viewing functions. Both require that you install the free PlayMemories Mobile app for Android or iOS. At the time of publication, we were told that the current app version (2.0.2) was incompatible with Android versions above 4.1, along with iOS 6. A new app is on the way, but the current iteration did not allow us to connect to the camera successfully. We tested two NEX-5R cameras and multiple Android devices, including a Galaxy Note running 4.0.4, which was also unable to connect. Sony is aware of the issue and has confirmed that a fix is in the works. You may have noticed the NEX-6's dedicated mode dial -- there isn't one here. Instead, you'll press a button to toggle a UI mode selector, which offers the usual variety of manual options, along with Sweep Panorama, Scene Selection, Intelligent Auto and Superior Auto, which brings a bit of magic into play to reduce blur and noise. We spent the majority of our time shooting in this latter mode to see just what the 5R is capable of, and how it responds to difficult lighting situations. We'll dive in a bit further down below, but we were quite pleased with this option, particularly when reviewing stills after a day of shooting. Performance and battery life  It's not flawless, but the NEX-5R is one of the mirrorless category's brightest stars. It's not flawless, but the NEX is certainly one of the mirrorless category's brightest stars. For starters, it snaps away at up to 10 frames per second, with full-resolution shots and phase-detection AF. You won't need to shoot this quickly in most situations, but this performance translates to other areas as well, such as the Multi-Frame Noise Reduction mode you can take advantage of while shooting in Superior Auto. Based on the current scene and exposure, the 5R may opt to engage this option, which fires off three consecutive frames and displays a merged image a second or two later. Because the camera can shoot so quickly, minor movements won't throw off the end result. We'd like to see Sony provide a bit more warning before firing the shutter multiple times, but there is a small on-screen indication that serves its purpose only if you don't miss it. Focusing has also advanced several-fold -- in the past, we've often been less than thrilled with the NEX line's abilities in this department, but with the 5R, we consider our prayers answered. The new Fast Hybrid AF pairs 99 phase-detection and 25 contrast-detection focus points, delivering a system that can adjust very quickly and accurately, even in dim light. We always prefer to shoot without the AF-assist light, so we flipped that off just as soon as we'd disabled the annoying menu beep. Even so, the camera did an excellent job bringing subjects into focus in nearly pitch-black conditions, even at the 18-55mm kit lens' maximum focal range. We've never seen performance like this from an NEX -- not even close. Olympus' OM-D E-M5 still takes first prize for speed, but the 5R's abilities are commendable, too. We saw equally impressive improvements on the video front, especially when it came to focusing. In auto mode, you can tap your subject on the display, at which point the camera will maintain that target as it moves, assuming your position (or theirs) doesn't change dramatically. Tracking is nothing new, but past results have been mixed. Here, it works well -- you can get an idea of the responsiveness in the sample clip below. In manual modes, you can select the center focus point, which is generally our preference for filming hands-ons and reviews. If your subject moves or changes position, the 5R will adjust very quickly to match it. Like the 5N that came before it, this year's model offers 1080p captures at 60 and 24 frames per second in AVCHD mode. If you opt for MP4, the maximum resolution drops to 1,440 x 1,080 at 30 fps. While you can't expect DSLR-like longevity, we've always been impressed with the NEX series' battery life. Sony has been using the same 1,080mAh pack since the very first model, and we've found it to perform well even after several years of use. Nonetheless, we used a brand-new cell with the 5R, and after a full charge, we were able to walk away with nearly 22 minutes of HD video and more than 550 still images, including several multi-frame captures in high-ISO noise-reduction mode shot over the course of a 24-hour period. We also spent plenty of time fiddling with settings and using WiFi features, so your shot count may actually surpass this. Image quality Picture and video quality, even at higher ISO settings, was stellar. The camera's exposure was typically spot-on, and we never found a need to venture beyond the automatic white balance setting, with each shoot yielding accurate results. We've had some issues with past NEX models when shooting in tungsten or vapor light, but we were quite pleased with the images here. The ILC offers a sensitivity range of ISO 100-25,600, which has become standard among DSLRs and higher-end mirrorless models. Noise-reduction techniques, such as multiple shot merges of nighttime scenes, and the camera's standard algorithm, work to successfully reduce noise without much compromise on sharpness at ISO 6400 and below. As you venture to 12,800 and 25,600, there's often substantial degradation, but both will work fine for web shooting or when you're in a bind. Let's take a look at some samples. Waves batter the coastline as golfers explore a hillside course near Tanah Lot Temple in Bali. This f/11, 1/160-second exposure ensured sharp details throughout the frame with perfect exposure and accurate color balance.  Singapore's Changi Airport boasts a movie theater, swimming pool and this butterfly garden, captured with incredible clarity with a 1/160-second exposure at f/4.  An enormous variety of ants call Southeast Asia home, including this little fella at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. The 5R's Superior Auto mode snagged all the action accurately with a 1/160-second exposure at f/5.6.  A jump to ISO 1250 guaranteed sharp details in a shady area of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, with a spot-on 1/160-second, f/5.6 exposure and very little noise.  Sure, we could have managed with a slower exposure in this static scene, but the camera's Superior Auto mode opted to bump the sensitivity up to ISO 2000 in order to minimize risk with a 1/160-second capture at f/4. Colors are perfectly accurate, despite the mixed light, and all the right details are plenty sharp.  In aperture-priority mode, we set the ISO to 3200 in order to capture the fast-moving monkeys in this shaded Indonesian forest. With a steady hand, a 1/80-second exposure at f/5 worked just fine for this family portrait.  Evening cityscapes can often present plenty of challenges for even the most advanced cameras, so we switched to aperture-priority mode and maxed out the kit lens at f/3.5. We were able to capture plenty of sharp details at 1/60-second and ISO 3200 without generating any nasty artifacts.  You wouldn't know it from the shot below, but this audience scene was incredibly dim -- we couldn't make out any details with the naked eye. Motion is partially to blame for the slightly blurry result with this 1/6-second exposure at f/5.6, but the ILC performed quite well regardless, with some of the noise likely removed during in-camera processing.  You'll probably recognize some familiar faces in our reel below. Since the 5R's dedicated video button lets you snag HD clips from within most shooting modes, capturing motion alongside stills was a breeze. Focusing performance was fantastic, as was exposure, color balance and sharpness in all of our sample footage. Even low-light results were excellent, with very little visible noise. The competition  Like manufacturers in other markets, camera makers deal with massive price sensitivity. Some continue to churn out expensive models that offer little advantage over the competition, but Sony has understood the need to remain aggressive from the very beginning, and continues that tradition with the 5R. If you've already invested in the E-mount ecosystem and have a few lenses on hand, you can snag this latest model for $650 (body only), which, considering the advantages it offers over the $500 F3, makes it quite a deal. If you're more concerned about cost than performance and design, then the NEX-F3 is worth considering as well, or you can snag a used C3 for just over 300 bucks. If you can spare an extra two bills, the upcoming NEX-6 ($850 body only) will likely be the best option for advanced users, thanks to its built-in OLED electronic viewfinder, dedicated mode dial and full-size hot shoe. Perhaps you're in the market for a Micro Four Thirds camera? The Olympus E-M5 is a close match for the NEX-5R, besting Sony's offering in terms of focusing performance. It's pricey, at $999 (body only), but two siblings just came off the assembly line -- the E-PL5 ($700) and E-PM2 ($600) -- both promising similar focus speed for a more manageable price. Panasonic's upcoming Lumix GH3 is also one to watch, especially for videographers. Wrap-up  We've followed Sony's NEX line closely, after seeing significant promise with the very first models -- the NEX-3 and NEX-5. This year's successors offer even more punch, and we're quite thrilled with the 5R. We're not convinced that the company's closed "app" approach is best for consumers, and the WiFi advantages have yet to be proven, but the focusing and shooting improvements alone make this compact ILC a winner. Sony has reinforced its commitment to the photography community with a very solid 2012 lineup, and anyone on the hunt for a market-leading camera should keep the NEX-5R near the top of their list. Michael Gorman contributed to this review. |
| Bluegrass Cellular offering homespun wisdom, iPhone 5 for $150 on November 2nd Posted: 31 Oct 2012 06:44 AM PDT 
When we think about Kentucky, we're put in mind of dusky beverages, Harland Sanders' chicken and its legendary derby. That's why it's so nice to see regional carrier Bluegrass Cellular offering the iPhone 5 on its network. The handset arrives on November 2nd, with the 16GB variant setting you back $150 on any of its plans, the cheapest offering you 200 minutes, Unlimited texts and 3GB data for $65. We've got all of the plans laid out for you after the break, so grab your twelve-string and join in. | | Plan 1 | Plan 2 | Plan 3 | | Price | $64.99 | $79.99 | $99.99 | | Voice Minutes | 200 | 550 | Unlimited | | SMS | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | | Data | 3,000 | 3,000 | 3,000 | | iPhone 5 16GB | $149 | $149 | $149 | | iPhone 5 32GB | $249 | $249 | $249 | | iPhone 5 64GB | $349 | $349 | $349 | | Prices correct as of 10/31 | Show full PR text iPhone 5 Coming Soon Bluegrass Cellular announced it will offer iPhone 5 beginning Friday, November 2. iPhone 5 will be available starting at $149 for the 16GB model, $249 for the 32GB model and $349 for the 64GB model in all Bluegrass Cellular Customer Care Centers, select Authorized Agent locations and online at http://www.bluegrasscellular.com/iphone In ad.dition, iPhone 4S will be available starting at $49 and iPhone 4 will be available starting at $0.99. Bluegrass will allow iPhone 5 customers to connect to its fast 3G network. iPhone 5 is the thinnest and lightest iPhone ever, completely redesigned to feature a stunning new 4-inch Retina display; an Apple-designed A6 chip for blazing fast performance; and ultrafast wireless technology-all while delivering even better battery life.* iPhone 5 comes with iOS 6, the world's most advanced mobile operating system with over 200 new features including: Shared Photo Streams, Facebook integration, all-new Maps app, Passbook organization and even more Siri features and languages. "We are pleased to offer iPhone 5 to our customers throughout the Bluegrass Cellular service area nationwide," said Ron Smith, President and CEO, Bluegrass Cellular. "Our customers are excited to experience this new device's unique features and applications on our exceptional network, wherever they go." For further details please call 1-800-928-CELL. For more information on iPhone 5, please visit: http://www.apple.com/iphone |
| Archos adds the 80 Cobalt to its ICS tablet range: 8-inch screen, 1.6GHz CPU and 1GB of RAM Posted: 31 Oct 2012 06:30 AM PDT 
The FCC may have spoiled the surprise months ago, but Archos has taken to Facebook to officially reveal the new member of its Elements range -- the Archos 80 Cobalt. As you may have guessed from the familiar size codification, the WiFi-only slate sports an 8-inch capacitive screen filled with 1024 x 768 pixels, supporting 1080p video playback. The other specs you'll want to know include the dual-core processor running at 1.6GHz, 1GB of RAM and 8 gigs of on-board storage, expandable with a microSD card of up to 64GB. Modest 2-megapixel and 0.3-megapixel shooters occupy the back and front of the 0.48-inch (12mm) thick tablet, respectively, which weighs in at a solid one pound (470g). There's no word on a release date or pricing for this ICS device, but we'd imagine the answers are "soon" and "under $200." Any more than that, and we can't see people choosing it over, say, a Nexus 7, even if it does have an extra inch on the competition. |
| Hon Hai Precision sees profits surge in Q3 Posted: 31 Oct 2012 06:07 AM PDT 
The two-headed beast that is Foxconn / Hon Hai has just released its latest financials, showing that the oft-troubled manufacturer has seen profit margins jump around two percent. It brought in $24 billion (NT$ 711.0 billion) in net sales, generating a net profit of $1.3 billion (NT$ 30.2 billion). At the end of September, it had $1.4 billion stashed in the bank, and the company has said it is striving to enforce "social and environmental responsibility," as it should, really. |
| Nokia Lumia 820 up for UK pre-order: free on contract or £380 sim-less, wireless charger thrown in Posted: 31 Oct 2012 05:42 AM PDT 
Carphone Warehouse is now taking pre-orders for the Nokia Lumia 820 handset, and there's good news for the cash bereft -- it's free on contract, and the reseller will toss in a £45 wireless charging plate to boot. You can commit £29 per month to O2, Vodafone or Orange to avoid paying up front, or grab an unencumbered handset at £380 for the 4.3-inch Windows Phone 8 device in black, red or white. For that, you'll get a 4G-capable smartphone with an 800 x 480 OLED screen, 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB of RAM and 8-megapixel camera. The free extra offer will expire when shipping starts, so if the WP8 launch has you all charged up, hit the source. Show full PR text Nokia 820 available to Pre-Order from Carphone Warehouse Free wireless charging plate - worth £44.99 - for all pre-order customers London, 31st October 2012 – Carphone Warehouse has announced that the new Nokia Lumia 820 handset is available to pre-order from today at http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/mobiles/mobile-phones/NOKIA-LUMIA_820. Customers who pre-order with Carphone Warehouse will also receive a free Nokia Wireless Charging plate worth £44.99. Powered by the latest Windows Operating System, Windows 8, the Nokia Lumia 820 is a speedy handset that's beautifully simple to use. The slender look smartphone has a stunning 4.3" screen and 8MP camera with 'Smart Shoot' feature that lets you take multiple photos with a single click so you can edit photos effortlessly to get that perfect picture. Pre-order customers will also receive a Nokia Wireless Charging Plate for free that allows you to charge your Nokia Lumia 820 without cables or plugs. Just lay your Lumia on a colourful charging plate until you're ready to go. Put a plate in the kitchen, the office, or your bedroom; the more plates you have, the more places you can easily charge. The Nokia Lumia 820 is available in Black, White and Red and available to pre-order from Carphone Warehouse at http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/mobiles/mobile-phones/NOKIA-LUMIA_820. It will be available on O2, Vodafone and Orange starting at £29 per month. |
| Nokia Lumia 822 for Verizon hands-on (video) Posted: 31 Oct 2012 05:22 AM PDT 
Now that Microsoft's officially flooded the world with good tidings of Windows Phone 8, it's the turn of OEMs and carriers to get the word out about their own Microsoft-flavored smartphones. We finally got a chance to play with Nokia's previously leaked and recently announced Lumia 822 for Verizon, a mid-range handset similar to the Lumia 820 on AT&T and the Lumia 810 for T-Mobile that will cost $99 with a two-year contract. Availability is slated for sometime in November -- it's been a long time since we've seen a Nokia device on Verizon (sorry, but those Pantech-built models don't count), so this is rather exciting news. Spec-wise the Lumia 822 features a 4.3-inch WVGA ClearBlack AMOLED display, an eight-megapixel autofocus Carl Zeiss camera, a 1.2MP front-facing shooter, a Qualcomm dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB or RAM, 16GB of internal flash, microSD support for additional storage, and optional Qi-compatible wireless charging. Radios include CDMA and LTE for Verizon, GSM / GPRS / EDGE / UMTS / HSPA+ for global roaming, WiFi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, A-GPS and NFC. In terms of design, the Lumia 822 is much curvier than its siblings and the battery cover doesn't wrap around the sides. The camera pod and flash placement matches the longitudinal setup from the Lumia 920 and Lumia 810 instead of the transverse layout found on the Lumia 820. At 142g (5 ounces) it's quite a hefty device, but despite being 11.2mm (0.44 inches) thick, it feels very nice in hand. Build quality is solid, which is pretty much what you'd expect from Nokia. The phone will be available in three colors: black, white and our favorite, a stunning shade of grey. See for yourself in the gallery below, and peek after the break for our hands-on video. Brad Molen contributed to this report. |
| Neo Geo X coming to Europe December 6th for £175 / €199 Posted: 31 Oct 2012 04:39 AM PDT 
As we pointed out, European gamers will be able to pew-pew or grapple on the go with the Neo Geo X alongside their US counterparts on December 6th, and now we know for how much and where: £175 in the UK and €199 elsewhere at Funstock. For that sum you'll get the handheld with a 4.3-inch screen, joystick, game card, AES-style charging dock with HDMI output and 20 pre-installed retro games -- with more arriving soon. So, if you're up for kicking it 1990s style that side of the pond, grab it at the source. |
| Google research pane for Docs adds personal content, integration with Presentation and Drawing Posted: 31 Oct 2012 04:12 AM PDT 
Building off of the web search capabilities of its research pane for Docs, Google is now giving users the ability to search for and insert their own personal content. For example, if you're working on a presentation in Drive and want to add a photo from your Picasa album, or a quote from a friend's Google+ profile, you'll now have the option of adding personal content from within the research pane without leaving your project. This new search feature pulls information from your personal Picasa albums, Drive and Google+ accounts, and users will also find that the research pane has been extended to Presentation and Drawings. Unfortunately, Google Apps customers will still be limited to web-only search results, as personal content search is intended for individual accounts. However, if you're a starving student heavily embedded in Google's ecosystem, this time saver just might shave a few minutes off of your weekend cram session and that's always a good thing. |
| Hurricane Sandy has knocked out 25 percent of all cell towers, cable services in 10 states Posted: 31 Oct 2012 03:29 AM PDT 
Julius Genachowski has revealed that Hurricane Sandy has knocked out a full quarter of cellphone towers and cable services in the 10 most affected states. The FCC chief believes that, as more towers expend their battery back-ups and the storm's continued presence, the situation's going to get worse before it gets better. He's also reiterated that users should avoid making non-essential calls and use e-mail or social media to avoid overloading the straining networks. One point of interest in the call, was that land line phone outages were much less widespread -- which might be something to remember if you've ever considered cutting the cord. |
| Nexus 7 sales clocking in at close to a million per month Posted: 31 Oct 2012 02:43 AM PDT 
While it was pretty clear that ASUS' Google-partnered Nexus 7 contributed heavily to the Taiwanese maker's healthy Q3 results, there was no official confirmation on its exact sales figures so far. ASUS CFO David Chang has now come clean and told the WSJ that the 7-incher is close to touching the one million per month mark, just about double the rate of sales at its launch. While this number is a fraction of the iPad's sales (14 million in the last quarter alone), it could well go up due to the recent price drop and the addition of new 32GB models to the portfolio. On the flip side, the Nexus 7 is sure to face heat from close rivals, the Kindle Fire HD and the 7.9-inch Apple iPad mini, while the mega-spec Nexus 10 will also entice some buyers away from ASUS' reach. |
| O2 first UK carrier to confirm LG's Google Nexus 4 Posted: 31 Oct 2012 02:16 AM PDT 
So, heard about that Google Nexus 4 thingy from LG? O2 is the first UK carrier to announce it'll be carrying this year's winner of the "most-leaked Android phone" award, which was mercifully launched on Monday. So far, we've found the "phenomenal" quad-core, 4.7-inch, 1280 x 768 handset with virgin Jelly Bean 4.2 to be "better than the sum of its parts," and Google will be selling the phone sim-free for an enticing £239 at the Play store. That means you'll likely find the device free under contract, but your carrier choices may be limited to start, as O2's rumored to have a 30-day exclusive. There's no mention of price or availability, but Google's own sale date of November 13th seems a good bet. |
| Toshiba Q2 results: profit of $722 million, whole-year forecast cut by $500 million Posted: 31 Oct 2012 01:30 AM PDT 
Toshiba has managed to pick itself up this quarter, recording $17.8 billion in sales, making for an operating profit of $722 million over the past three months. The "social infrastructure" segments recorded a healthy profit ($518 million), while income from digital products, home appliances and electronic devices fell due lower than expected demand. Forecasts for the year have been cut for the full year by approximately $500 million to $3.26 billion, as Toshiba expects lowers sales and operating profits due to the uncertain global economic situation. Individual segments are expected to continue their distinct trends, with the social infrastructure business pulling in more while its other arms bear the brunt of the economic slowdown. [Image credit: Wikimedia Commons] |
| Panasonic shows $613 million operating profit for Q2, but lowers full year projections Posted: 31 Oct 2012 01:16 AM PDT 
The good news for Panasonic in its Q2 earnings release is that it managed to record a 48.8 billion yen ($613 million) operating profit, higher than last year. The bad news however is word of falling sales in its TV business, although we're not hearing any confirmation of changes in its plans for mobile phones. New CEO Kazuhiro Tsuga is working a new restructuring plan that should help return divisions like its one for TV to profitability, but there will be costs upfront. The company revised its operating profit prediction for the year to 140 billion yen ($1.76 billion) based on the slower sales, and still is looking at a net loss for the year of 765 billion yen ($9.6 billion) due to deferred tax assets. Hopefully any cost-cutting doesn't affect the quality of its Viera HDTV brand, but Panasonic will have to figure out some way to turn those stellar reviews into overall profits, even as the market continues to shrink. Our suggestion? Get some of those 8K Super Hi-Vision plasmas to market, ASAP. |
| ZTE launches Nubia range of high-end devices, announces Z5 quad-core smartphone Posted: 31 Oct 2012 01:08 AM PDT 
ZTE's plan to reinvent itself as a high-end smartphone was missing one, crucial ingredient -- a European-sounding name that ended in "...ia" to brand its new range of top-level devices. That's why the company has just announced Nubia, which apparently means "cloudy" in Latin. It's also teased details of the first handset to arrive under this new cloud (geddit?), the Z5. This new 5-inch smartphone will have quad-core internals, a 13-megapixel camera and "Italian" design -- which makes us hope above hope that they hired Pininfarina and it'll come in Ferrari Red. |
| Samsung gets official with the Galaxy Premier: 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED, 8MP camera, GS III styling Posted: 31 Oct 2012 12:59 AM PDT 
If Samsung took a wrong turn with its brand-diluting Galaxy S III Mini, then the much-leaked Galaxy Premier is where it gets back on track. The phone keeps the outward visage of the Galaxy S III and makes only modest sacrifices in order to reach a wider audience. These include a slightly shrunken 4.65-inch screen, which still blazes away with a full 720 x 1,280 Super AMOLED panel, an acceptable dual-core 1.5 GHz TI OMAP 4470 processor, 1GB of RAM and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The cameras haven't been messed with -- we're still looking at an 8-megapixel rear and a 1.9-megapixel front-facer -- while connectivity includes Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC. So far, the phone has only been made official in the Ukraine, where it's been pegged for a November release and priced at 5,555 Ukrainian hryvnias -- an exotic-sounding figure that very roughly translates to $680. |
| Wii U Deluxe Digital Promotion will give gamers a $5 credit for every $50 spent on downloads Posted: 31 Oct 2012 12:27 AM PDT 
If a copy of Nintendo Land, 32GB of internal memory and a black paint job weren't enough for you to drop an extra $50 for the Wii U Deluxe Set, Nintendo's hoping fresh details on its Deluxe Digital Promotion will further sweeten the pot. When deluxe console owners buy a game through the firm's eShop or purchase a download code at a brick-and-mortar store, they'll receive roughly 10 percent of the price in points. For example, gamers will net 599 points for a title with a $59.99 price tag. For every 500 points, users can snag a code redeemable for $5 in eShop credit useable on the Wii U or 3DS digital storefronts. The house that Mario built will keeping track of points between the system's launch day and December 31st, 2014, but won't issue credits until the promotion's website launches sometime in December. Look out below for more details in the press release. Show full PR text Nintendo's Deluxe Digital Promotion Makes Wii U an Even Bigger Holiday Value Wii U Deluxe Set Owners Can Earn Points for Digital Purchases Through 2014 and Redeem Them for Even More Downloadable Games and Content REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- As Nintendo prepares to launch the revolutionary Wii U home console on Nov. 18, consumers in the United States can look forward to a special promotion that will give select Wii U owners even more bang for their entertainment buck. Nintendo today revealed details about the Deluxe Digital Promotion, which lets consumers who buy the Wii U Deluxe Set earn points when they purchase downloadable games and redeem those points for even more fun digital content in the online Nintendo eShop. The promotion gives Wii U Deluxe Set owners a big incentive to connect their systems to the Internet and discover a constantly expanding array of downloadable games, entertainment offerings and cool ways to connect with family and friends. All Wii U Deluxe Set owners who purchase digital content for Wii U, including downloadable games in the Nintendo eShop for Wii U and download codes sold at select retail stores, will earn points with a value equivalent to approximately 10 percent of the Nintendo eShop list price of each purchase. For example, a game priced at $59.99, such as New Super Mario Bros. U, would earn 599 points. For every 500 points they earn, participants will receive a code worth $5 in credit to be used in the Nintendo eShop for either Wii U or Nintendo 3DS. Points will be earned on all digital purchases made on a Wii U Deluxe Set from Nov. 18, 2012, until Dec. 31, 2014. When the Deluxe Digital Promotion website launches in December, participants can see the points they've earned and receive codes for Nintendo eShop credit by signing in with their Nintendo Network ID and password. Codes must be received at the website by March 31, 2015. Received codes must be exchanged for Nintendo eShop credit on Wii U or Nintendo 3DS by June 30, 2015. Nintendo eShop credit on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS does not expire. "From day one, we want Wii U owners to experience the full breadth of great downloadable games and content available for the console," said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "The Deluxe Digital Promotion is our way of encouraging Wii U Deluxe Set owners to explore the Nintendo eShop and discover how Wii U offers an incredible combination of fun, innovation, convenience and value." The Wii U Deluxe Set offers extraordinary value right out of the box. Launching Nov. 18 at a suggested retail price of $349.99, it includes a black Wii U console, black touch-screen Wii U GamePad controller, sensor bar, AC power adapters and stands for both the console and the controller, a charging cradle for the GamePad, an HDMI cable and a copy of the Nintendo Land game, which features 12 playable attractions based on Nintendo's most imaginative and beloved game franchises. Consumers who purchase the Wii U Deluxe Set can use the Deluxe Digital Promotion with a Nintendo Network Account. Qualifying Nintendo eShop purchases in the Deluxe Digital Promotion include games and content published by Nintendo as well as games from third-party publishers. Digital content purchases from the Wii Shop Channel are not eligible for Deluxe Digital Promotion points. Purchases from the Nintendo eShop via Nintendo 3DS hand-held and Wii U Basic Set systems are also ineligible. |
| Myst linking book replica goes on sale with full PC inside, won't quite take us to other worlds (video) Posted: 30 Oct 2012 11:45 PM PDT 
Most of us who remember Myst are content to relive the halcyon days of click-and-watch puzzle games by loading up the iPhone port. Mike Ando is slightly more... dedicated. He just spent the past six years building a replica of the Cyan game's signature, Age-traveling link books that includes a full Windows XP PC with a 1.6GHz Atom, a 2-hour battery, a 5-inch touchscreen and every playable game from the Myst series stored on a CF card. And while we've seen books hiding devices before, Ando's attention to detail might just raise the eyebrows of hardcore custom PC and gaming fans alike: he went so far as to gut and emboss a 135-year-old copy of Harper's New Monthly Magazine to match Cyan's reference tome as closely as possible. It's tempting for anyone who cut their teeth on CD-based gameplay through Myst, but perfect devotion to one of the better-known fictional worlds will cost an accordingly steep $15,625. We wouldn't have minded seeing some real intra-world travel for the cash outlay. |
| HP ElitePad 900 travels to the FCC, brings pros closer to Windows 8 tablet utopia Posted: 30 Oct 2012 10:07 PM PDT 
HP couldn't help but harsh the mellow of cutting-edge workers when it revealed the ElitePad 900 wouldn't ship until January. Still, there's less chance of any setbacks now that we know the FCC has rubber stamped the Windows 8 tablet. The version passing through the agency is a 3G model for mobile road warriors and touts the 850MHz, 1,700MHz and 1,900MHz bands we'd expect to for HSPA on AT&T, T-Mobile and Canadian networks. Few other surprises exist; we're mostly happy to know that NFC exists alongside dual-band 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0. No, the approval won't be much consolation to the suits and ties wanting a tablet of their own as of yesterday, but it should be a relief to IT managers planning a much more creative use of the company budget in 2013. |
| OWC certifies 480GB Mercury Aura Pro SSD for 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display Posted: 30 Oct 2012 09:01 PM PDT 
The inside of a MacBook Pro certainly isn't for the faint of heart, but if you're willing to pair your recklessness with a side of wild abandon, then you might just have what it takes to upgrade the storage of the Retina-equipped 13-inch model. OWC is more than willing to test your limits with its 480GB Mercury Aura Pro, an SSD module that's now certified for use with Apple's latest laptop. While its $580 price will deter many, the 480GB option compares favorably to the 512GB upgrade from Apple, which rings in at a healthy $800. OWC says that additional capacity sizes will be announced this November, which is reason to remain hopeful if this one has priced you out of the market. |
| Yelp's new picture-heavy menus give you a better look at that Baby Back Rib Tickler Posted: 30 Oct 2012 08:33 PM PDT 
Needless to say, we're all well aware of Yelp's popularity amongst people who love a thing or two about visiting restaurants and, in turn, eating some good ol' food. And while the service could be considered relatively great as is, it never hurts to see a few new features added here and there -- especially one as useful as the new "Explore the Menu," which is made possible by everyday users like yourself. The newfangled menu system will allow folks to upload pictures of any grub item they've tried at frequented restaurants, making it easier for future goers to have a slight idea of what to expect should they be interested in trying a particular dish from one of the many places listed within Yelp. The novel menu pages will be rolling out to business pages today in the US, with Yelp noting that this will be the "first time ever" it's simultaneously launching a fresh service across its OG site, mobile website and applications. |
| Data hungry apps revealed with Onavo Count, free usage tracker for iOS Posted: 30 Oct 2012 07:29 PM PDT 
Yes, you can currently snag a data usage tracker for iOS, but if you're wanting to know exactly which apps are sapping your monthly data, then Onavo Count is where it's at. The free app just debuted in the App Store, which allows users to pinpoint the most data hungry titles with a handful of lovely graphs. Like other apps, Onavo Count will help you from exceeding your monthly allotment by tracking your last 30 days of mobile data usage, and if you really want to geek out, you can even break it down by week. Not to stop there, the app is also integrated with Onavo Extend, which compresses unencrypted data in order to help users squeeze a bit more from their data plan. If your interest is now piqued, be sure to hit up the video after the break, or simply head over to the App Store, where you can snag it for yourself. Show full PR text Onavo Releases Onavo Count, the App Store's Only App Data Usage Counter!
Menlo Park, CA – October 30, 2012 – Today, Onavo announced the release of Onavo Count, the first and only app for iOS that provides users with transparency into their iPhones' app data usage.
While carrier and other third party apps have helped iPhone users monitor their total data usage, there are no apps in the App Store that make it easy for users to make sense of their apps' data consumption... until now. Onavo Count makes it easy for iPhone users to find out which of their apps are using up their mobile data. In addition to a 30-day overview of users' app data usage, Onavo Count also gives users individual App Profiles, complete with charts that track weekly data usage and gauges that measure individual app's overall mobile data usage. Each one of these helpful features is displayed in Count's colorful and handsome interface, which makes monitoring data consumption even better. Not only are Onavo Count's insights unique, but Onavo Count is also the only app data usage monitor that prevents battery drainage by using cloud-based technologies! And if that wasn't enough, Onavo Count also seamlessly integrates with Onavo Extend so that users can see how much data is being consumed by each app along with the amount of data saved by Onavo Extend in one beautiful and easy to understand screen. At Onavo, we get it. Life is going mobile. And with Onavo, iPhone users can now finally understand their apps' data usage by keeping Count! |
| iPad mini review Posted: 30 Oct 2012 06:00 PM PDT 
The iPad mini has been rumored for nearly as long as the original iPad has existed, but it wasn't clear early on how many of those rumors were based on fact and how many were based on hope. Hope, that was, for a smaller, more portable tablet that would bring access to all the Apple ecosystem had to offer, in a package you could easily hold in one hand. Specifically, a package more affordable than the 10-incher. That's this, the 7.9-inch, $329 iPad mini that sports a screen with the same resolution as the iPad 2 -- only smaller. As we put this one through its paces it quickly became clear that this is far more than a cheaper, smaller iPad. This is a thinner, lighter device that deserves independent consideration. In many ways, it's actually better than the 10-inch slate from which it was born. But is it better for you? Join us after the break as we find out. Hardware The iPad mini looks a lot more like a blown-up iPod touch than a shrunken-down fourth-generation iPad. Apple wanted to be very clear at its product-packed iPad mini launch event that this isn't just a shrunken-down iPad. And, indeed, that starts with a very different case design. While the second, third and fourth generations of iPads have all been more or less indistinguishable, the iPad mini's anodized aluminum back looks entirely different. In fact, the whole thing looks a lot more like a blown-up fifth-generation iPod touch than a shrunken-down fourth-generation iPad. The profile itself is more rounded than the full-size iPad, lacking the sharp taper at the edges. This, we presume, gives a little more room for the battery inside, but it also makes this a more comfortable slate to carry around. The edges on the 10-inch iPad can cut into your hand if you're the sort who carries yours wherever you go. Not so with the mini.  Of course, that's helped greatly by the decrease in weight here. The WiFi-only iPad mini weighs just 0.68 pounds (308 grams), which is less than half the weight of the fourth-generation iPad. It's far thinner, too, at 7.2mm (vs. 9.4) and measures 7.87 x 5.3 inches (200 x 135mm) on the other dimensions. Inside that plane is a 7.9-inch, 1,024 x 768 IPS LCD which has significantly smaller bezels than those found in other iPads. It's thanks to those bezels that a display this size can be housed in a slate this size, but still that 5.3-inch horizontal span may be a bit of a problem for some. The joy of a 7-inch tablet is walking across the office or the airport, holding the slate in one hand while tapping away at it with the other. To us, the joy of a 7-inch tablet is walking across the office or the airport, holding the slate in one hand while tapping away at it with the other. The Nexus 7, with its 16:9 aspect ratio, is relatively narrow and easy to carry securely one-handed -- even by those whose mittens are size S. With the iPad mini, holding the slate in the same way can be a bit of a reach. This editor, who wears XL gloves, had no problem palming the littler iPad, but when we handed it to other, dainty-fingered people they sometimes struggled to hold it securely. The scrawny bezles on either side actually exacerbate this issue to some degree, as those who must loop a thumb around the front of the device when holding it are forced to put that thumb right on the display. Thankfully, every app we tried handled this situation without issue, Kindle and iBooks turning pages and acting normally even with that stray opposable member making square contact on the digitizer. Overall, the tablet is very comfortable to hold; its thinness and lightness are both attributes that must be perceived first-hand. That 7.2mm depth is exactly the same as the fourth-generation iPod touch, which even today is an impressively svelte device. We reviewed the black model, which features a dark bezel and anodized back to match. It's cool and matte to the touch, which we find very appealing, but time will tell just how durable this black version will prove. Those who are scratch-averse may want to think about the white and silver variety, which will likely hide those markings a bit better. The layout of the buttons is familiar, but different. The volume rocker and orientation lock switches are on the upper portion of the right side, but here up and down are distinct buttons, not like the integrated rocker on the full-size iPad. It's also not like the three-way rocker found on the latest iPod nano, which features an integrated play/pause button. That's a bit unfortunate, as we'd like to see that find its way across the product line, but perhaps it will in future revisions. (Yes, we're expecting more.) The power button is up top, looking and feeling very much like those on older iPads. There's a small slit for a microphone up there as well, and on the other side, the 3.5mm headphone jack, which bucks the trend of bottom-placement found on nearly every other Apple mobile device. On the left side of the device nothing, and on the bottom is where the Lightning connector lives. Like the iPhone 5, that connector is flanked by two sets of two rows of holes, drilled to let the device's sound out. It's reasonably loud and, since it's on the bottom not the back, the sound is closer to traveling in the right direction to meet your ears, but it's still a less than ideal listening experience. You'll want a set of headphones -- which, as with other iPads, are not included. The only other button is on the front, a smaller version of the same Home button found on the iPad. Curiously, it's even smaller than the button on the iPhone, making it very petite indeed. Around back, there's just one detail to concern yourself with: the lens assembly for the 5-megapixel iSight camera stuffed in the upper-left. That's paired with a 1.2-megapixel FaceTime HD center-cut in the bezel atop the LCD. Display  Mini owners may have to make do with some resolution envy, but they at least won't be lacking in any other regard. No, this isn't Retina, but maintaining the same resolution as a 10-inch display shrunken down to 7.9 means a necessary boost in pixel density: 163ppi. That's a nice increase over the iPad 2's 132ppi, but it still falls short of the 264ppi of the fourth-generation iPad -- not to mention, the iPhone 5's 326dpi. Naturally, this means that text isn't anywhere near as sharp as on the newer iPads, but this is still a very nice-looking display. In fact we found the brightness and color reproduction to be improved over the iPad 2, comparable to the latest Retina displays. Colors are very pleasing to the eye and viewing angles, as ever with an Apple display, do not disappoint. You can line up as many friends as you like and sit them shoulder-to-shoulder, they'll all have a bright, clear picture. Yes, mini owners may have to make do with some resolution envy, but they at least won't be lacking in any other regard. Performance and battery life  The iPad mini is running a dual-core 1GHz CPU with 512MB of RAM, same as in the iPad 2 and as such it throws down the same benchmark scores and overall performance figures. Geekbench averages out at 751 and GLBench shows 24fps on the 2.5 Egypt HD benchmark. The SunSpider JavaScript benchmark completes in 1,426ms. | Geekbench | Results (higher is better) | | Apple iPad mini | 751 | | Apple iPad (late 2012) | 1,763 | | Apple iPad (2012) | 720 | | Apple iPad 2 | 721 | | Apple iPad | 442 | | Apple iPhone 5 | 1,628 | | Apple iPhone 4S | 623 | These numbers pale in comparison to the new, fourth-gen iPad but we think that in day-to-day usage the relative lack of performance won't be as noticeable. Apps do load more slowly but most are still up and running within a second or two and when it comes to general web surfing tasks the iPad mini easily kept up with our taps and swipes. So, perhaps not the greatest performance in the Apple lineup, but there is one place where it bests the rest: battery life. | Tablet | Battery Life | | Apple iPad mini | 12:43 (WiFi) | | Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 | 12:01 | | Apple iPad (late 2012) | 11:08 (WiFi) | | Apple iPad 2 | 10:26 | | ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime | 10:17 | | Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 | 9:55 | | Apple iPad (2012) | 9:52 (HSPA) /
9:37 (LTE) | | Google Nexus 7 | 9:49 | | Apple iPad | 9:33 | | Pantech Element | 9:00 | | Motorola Xoom 2 | 8:57 | | HP TouchPad | 8:33 | | Lenovo IdeaPad K1 | 8:20 | | Motorola Xoom | 8:20 | | T-Mobile G-Slate | 8:18 | | Acer Iconia Tab A200 | 8:16 | | Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus | 8:09 | | Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet | 8:00 | | Archos 101 | 7:20 | | Archos 80 G9 | 7:06 | | RIM BlackBerry PlayBook | 7:01 | | Acer Iconia Tab A500 | 6:55 | | T-Mobile Springboard (Huawei MediaPad) | 6:34 | | Toshiba Thrive | 6:25 | | Samsung Galaxy Tab | 6:09 | | Motorola Xyboard 8.2 | 5:25 | In our standard battery run-down test, which entails looping a video with WiFi enabled and a fixed display brightness, the iPad mini managed an astounding 12 hours and 43 minutes. This gives it the longest battery life of any tablet we've ever tested, besting even the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 by 42 minutes. Indeed during the course of our testing the battery on the iPad mini exceeded our expectations, expectations that were already high thanks to the consistently great battery life offered by the iPad family. Cameras The iPad 2 never saw HDR nor the Panorama mode that wowed us so on the iPhone 5, and neither does the iPad mini. It does, however, have a better camera than the iPad 2, a 5-megapixel shooter with an f/2.4 lens, and a 1.2-megapixel Facetime HD camera up front. The one 'round back appears to be the same camera module used on the iPhone 4 and as such, it takes good quality images. No, they don't quite pop like the 8-megapixel shooter on the iPhone 5, nor does this tablet manage low-light shooting as well as Apple's latest round of CPUs, but in our opinion tablets should only be used to take pictures in a pinch, and as such the iPad mini does just fine. It also takes reasonably good video, shooting at 1080p like all the latest Apple devices. But again, the combination of a lower-res sensor and the lack of a newer image processing chip means image stabilization isn't nearly as good here as on the iPhone 5. So, you'll want to hold steady while shooting, but remember to do so in a place with enough ambient light; do that and you'll get yourself some quality footage. The competition  You can't tally up any iPad's chances in the market without comparing it against all the other iPads in the market, and so we'll start by comparing the mini to its siblings, of which there are two at present. First is the iPad 2, available only in 16GB sizes either WiFi-only or a 3G model, each priced $70 more than the same-sized mini. For that $70 more you get a bigger screen and lower-resolution cameras front and back. For us, this is a no-brainer. Get the mini. Unless you suffer from ailing eyesight and need a larger portal into the iOS world, the smaller device is far and away the better one. The choice between this and the new fourth-generation iPad is a bit more challenging. It's a considerably more expensive device, starting at $499, and of course a bigger and heavier one, too. Still, battery life on that guy is impressively good (over 11 hours) and the performance is stellar -- living up to and exceeding Apple's "2x faster" claims. Still, speed isn't everything and while we love that big, Retina display we're not entirely sure that we prefer it to the tiny, lightweight form factor of the mini. In fact, we found ourselves enjoying the portability of the mini so much that we'd probably give that one the nod, but this decision will almost certainly come down to personal preference. So, if you can, head to an Apple Store and try out both. Moving outside of the ecosystem, most people are comparing the iPad mini to the Nexus 7. To some degree that's a natural comparison, as this is Apple's cheapest tablet compared to Google's low-cost device. In practice, these are very different devices, starting with the cost: $199 for a 16GB Nexus 7 vs. $329 for the iPad. The designs are strikingly different, too, with the Nexus having a high-quality but somewhat discount feel versus the overwhelmingly high-end iPad mini. In no way does Apple's latest feel like a tablet that was made to a budget. It simply feels like an Apple device. And, of course, it gives access to Apple's ecosystem of hundreds of thousands of tablet-friendly apps -- plus all the media iTunes has to offer. We can't help you decide which ecosystem, Apple or Google's, is better-suited to your interests, but we do imagine that will be the deciding factor for most. When it comes down to hardware, it's almost no contest between the two, with the iPad mini clearly winning out -- except in one area. That's the display. The Nexus 7 has a higher-resolution panel that's also 16:9, making it better for movie watching. It's also narrower, and thus easier to hold in your hand. We'd also be remiss if we didn't at least mention the $199 Kindle Fire HD. Amazon's latest also offers a higher-resolution, IPS LCD and has the extra selling point of stereo speakers. It also has a strong suite of content, courtesy of Amazon's many partnerships, but overall we have a hard time comparing these two. Amazon's device is clearly a cut-rate slate designed to push as much digital buying power into the hands of consumers as possible, while Apple's is simply a legitimately nice tablet. It's a legitimately nice tablet that Apple certainly would love for you to fill with premium content downloaded through iTunes, but it never feels like a shopping portal. The Kindle does. Accessories  Surely, the most popular accessory for the iPad mini will be the new Smart Cover that, despite being both smaller and of considerably simpler construction, still costs the same $39 as the bigger, 10-inch version. That's a little unfortunate, especially because we don't think this version works as well. There is one positive change: the smaller Smart Cover moves away from the aluminum hinge on the bigger version, a good thing because we've seen plenty of scratches caused by that metal-on-metal contact. It's still attached magnetically, but where the 10-inch model will immediately snap into the perfect placement every time, we found the mini cover just as eager to attach either too high or too low. It requires a little more precision. Hardly a deal-breaker (how often are you removing your Smart Cover?) but a bit of an annoyance. The other accessories, and there are plenty of them, all make use of the device's Lightning connector, many existing only to add a little more life to your various iPod docks and chargers. The stubby 30-pin to Lightning adapter is $29, the same cost as the two camera adapters: one USB and one SD. (This is a change from the 30-pin Camera Connection Kit, which included both for $29.) The Lightning to 30-pin adapter (which includes a 0.2 meter cable in the middle) costs $39 and, finally, both the VGA and digital AV adapters are $49. Like the previous Digital AV adapter (which was $39), this one includes HDMI output and has an input so that you can still charge the tablet while it's in use. Handy for those digital signage applications -- or getting in one final, epic Lord of the Rings marathon before December. Wrap-up  This isn't just an Apple tablet made to a budget. This isn't just a shrunken-down iPad. This is, in many ways, Apple's best tablet yet, an incredibly thin, remarkably light, obviously well-constructed device that offers phenomenal battery life. No, the performance doesn't match Apple's latest and yes, that display is a little lacking in resolution, but nothing else here will leave you wanting. At $329, this has a lot to offer over even Apple's more expensive tablets. Those comparing this to the Kindle Fire HD will have a hard time, as that's a tablet manufactured to a fixed cost and designed to sell you content. This is very much more. Similarly, the hardware here -- the materials, the lightness, the build quality, the overall package as it sits in your hand -- is much nicer than the Nexus 7 and it offers access to the comprehensively more tablet-friendly App Store, but whether that's worth the extra cost depends entirely on the size of your budget -- and your proclivity toward Android. Regardless, the iPad mini is well worth considering for anybody currently in the market for a tablet. Its cost is compelling, its design superb and it of course gives access to the best selection of tablet-optimized apps on the market. To consider it just a cheap, tiny iPad is a disservice. This is, simply, a great tablet. Update: This review originally stated (as does Apple's spec page) that the iPad mini has a mono speaker. It is, in fact, a stereo device. [Last photo by Will Lipman] |
| iPad review (late 2012) Posted: 30 Oct 2012 06:00 PM PDT 
Welcome to the new new iPad, same as the old new iPad. Well, mostly, anyway. It was less than eight months ago that Apple grafted a Retina display onto its world-conquering tablet, giving every other slate on the market resolution envy, while enchanting gadget lovers with world-class performance and battery life. Now, it's obsolete. Put out to pasture just as it was hitting its stride and replaced by this, the fourth-generation iPad -- still just called "new iPad." Other than a Lightning connector on the bottom it's visually indistinguishable from its predecessor. Even its starting MSRP of $499 stays the same. But, on the inside where it counts, is the new, fire-breathing A6X processor. Could this be possibly worth buying a second new iPad in just one year, or could this perhaps be the one you've been waiting for? Hold on to your wallets and click on through to find out. Hardware Chances are you're reasonably familiar with the look and layout of the new iPad by now. The most important point to make here: in terms of look and feel, absolutely nothing has changed compared to the third-generation iPad. We got out our scales and our calipers and couldn't find a fraction of a millimeter difference in dimensions or a gram's adjustment of weight. So, that means you're looking at a tablet that measures 9.5 x 7.3 inches across its glass-covered front, which of course protects that luscious 2,048 x 1,536 Retina display. The tablet still measures 0.37 inches (9.5mm) thick and weighs 1.44 pounds (632 grams) in WiFi guise, as we tested here, 0.02 pounds (10 grams) heavier if you opt for the cellular model. That's 0.6mm thicker and 0.11 pounds heavier than the iPad 2 -- which, by the way, lives on should you find the new iPad mini a bit too tiny for your tastes. The gradual refinements of the iPad design have created a tablet that is both comfortable to hold and still striking to look at. When holding an iPad 2 and a third-gen iPad in either hand it's possible to tell them apart -- just. But, hold a third-gen unit in one hand and a fourth-gen unit in the other and you'll be left gazing at the size of the hole in the bottom to identify one from the other. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as the gradual refinements of the iPad design have created a tablet that is both comfortable to hold and still striking to look at.  Again, it's a 2,048 x 1,536, 9.7-inch LCD up front, with a 720p EyeSight HD camera located front-and-center above the panel and the familiar, concave Home button below. The power/lock button, still slender and made of black plastic, resides on the right side of the top, while the black volume rocker and rotation lock switch can be found on the catty-corner on the right side.  On the bottom, of course, is the major change: the Lightning connector. Apple's new interconnect is far superior in every regard to the old Dock port: thinner and easier to connect, more durable and faster when transferring files. But that might not help assuage the pains of a house (and, perhaps, garage) full of docks and accessories that want the older, fatter, flimsier, clunkier and frankly uglier connector that came before. Apple has you covered with a suite of adapters that will address nearly every incompatibility, but none come for free. Neither does progress, we're afraid to say. (Check out our iPad mini review for a full run-down of those connectors.) Display  What more can we say? This is still the best display you'll find on a tablet. We went on and on about Retina in our review of the third-gen iPad and while we'll spare you the soliloquy this time, we will say that the Retina display in the new iPad still looks fantastic. Brightness, contrast and viewing angles are all world-class, color reproduction is brilliant and even outdoor visibility is superb. And we haven't even mentioned the resolution yet. Yes, the 2,048 x 1,536 pixel count beats all other portables (though not for long, thanks to the forthcoming Nexus 10 matching it), but we'll point out yet again that the way iOS scales things means you won't get any more usable display space on the tablet. Icons and buttons and everything else are exactly as big as they were on the iPad 2, but now they are of course rendered with amazing clarity. So, too, is text and other visual controls -- at least in the apps that have been updated to support the display, which these days is an awful lot. Cameras The new, new iPad has a five megapixel camera on the back and 1.2 megapixel FaceTime HD camera up front, a step up from the VGA unit that was still found wedged inside the bezel of the third-gen iPad. That, then, is a solid improvement, but image quality on the back we didn't find to be much improved from the previous iPad, which in general took pleasing shots. That said, image capture is completed much, much more quickly than before, enabling the kind of rapid-fire shooting we enjoyed on the iPhone 5. Sadly, still no Panorama nor HDR modes here. Performance and battery life The new iPad skips directly past its predecessor's Ludicrous speed and goes directly to Plaid. Oh, hello. Did you decide to cut to the chase and skip directly here? We don't blame you, and neither will we beat around the bush. At the time, the third-gen iPad was the fastest we'd tested. The new iPad skips directly past its predecessor's Ludicrous speed and goes directly to Plaid. Where the last iPad scored 720 on the Geekbench benchmark, the new iPad blows that out of the water with a 1,763 average score. GLBenchmark's 2.5 Egypt HD test ran through at 42 fps. The SunSpider JavaScript benchmark completes in an average of 865ms, more than twice as fast as the last iPad and both these benchmark scores best even the iPhone 5, which, for a short time, was Apple's fastest mobile device. | Geekbench | Results (higher is better) | | Apple iPad (late 2012) | 1,763 | | Apple iPad (2012) | 720 | | Apple iPad 2 | 721 | | Apple iPad | 442 | | Apple iPhone 4S | 623 | | Apple iPhone 4 | 375 | This is all thanks to the new A6X, a retooled and more efficient version of the A6 processor running in the iPhone 5. Here, it's clocked up to 1.39GHz from the 1.05GHz in the phone version, both having 1GB of RAM. In case you were wondering, yes, it still got quite warm when running through the gamut of tests. We don't consider this to be a concern by any means, but if you found the toasty nature of the third-gen iPad distasteful, you're likely to encounter the same heat here. | Tablet | Battery Life | | Apple iPad (late 2012) | 11:08 (WiFi) | | Apple iPad mini | 12:43 (WiFi) | | Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 | 12:01 | | Apple iPad 2 | 10:26 | | ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime | 10:17 | | Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 | 9:55 | | Apple iPad (2012) | 9:52 (HSPA) /
9:37 (LTE) | | Microsoft Surface with Windows RT | 9:36 | | Apple iPad | 9:33 | | Pantech Element | 9:00 | | Motorola Xoom 2 | 8:57 | | HP TouchPad | 8:33 | | Lenovo IdeaPad K1 | 8:20 | | Motorola Xoom | 8:20 | | T-Mobile G-Slate | 8:18 | | Acer Iconia Tab A200 | 8:16 | | Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus | 8:09 | | Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet | 8:00 | | Archos 101 | 7:20 | | Archos 80 G9 | 7:06 | | RIM BlackBerry PlayBook | 7:01 | | Acer Iconia Tab A500 | 6:55 | | T-Mobile Springboard (Huawei MediaPad) | 6:34 | | Toshiba Thrive | 6:25 | | Samsung Galaxy Tab | 6:09 | | Motorola Xyboard 8.2 | 5:25 | | Velocity Micro Cruz T408 | 5:10 | Of course, as Pirelli likes to remind us, "power is nothing without control." On the mobile device front, power is nothing without battery life, and we're happy to report that fourth-gen iPad owners can have it all. On our standard rundown test, in which we fix the display brightness and leave WiFi enabled, the new iPad clocked in 11 hours and eight minutes. That's well better than the 9:52 the last model eked out, but keep in mind we were testing a cellular model that time. This one is WiFi-only. Wrap-up  The new iPad is the best 10-inch tablet on the market. Twice as fast, better battery life, same cost. What more do we need to say? The new iPad is a hit on all fronts -- but it of course won't be received that way by all. Those who just made the investment in an old, new iPad are likely going to feel a bit burned, and we feel for you. Meanwhile, those still voicing their dissatisfaction with the Lightning connector will surely lament its presence here, but to you folks we say the world is moving on and now is as good a time as any to jump on board.  The new iPad is the best 10-inch tablet on the market. That said, we'd be lying if we didn't say the new iPad mini is an incredibly compelling alternative, a device so good that perhaps this update was released so soon after its predecessor to maintain the appeal of the bigger, more expensive unit. The conspiracy theorists are welcome to argue this point, but we'll say this with conviction: this is a wonderful time to buy a tablet. If you're still on the fence about buying into Apple's tablet ecosystem, go ahead and pull the trigger already. The only question is: which size? |
| Acer delays Windows RT tablets as it gauges Surface acceptance Posted: 30 Oct 2012 05:04 PM PDT 
Acer is no stranger to airing its skepticism of Microsoft Surface, but the company is now adopting caution as the name of the game for its own Windows RT tablets. In an interview with Reuters, company president Jim Wong told the outlet that Acer would deliver its own RT-based tablet no earlier than Q2, as it's now monitoring how Microsoft's own hardware fares in the marketplace. According to Wong, Acer had previously targeted a Q1 debut. As it lets Microsoft serve as the canary in the coal mine, Acer will continue to focus on its full-fledged Windows 8 hardware, as well as develop and refine its own RT offering. "I don't know what's next, what Microsoft will do," Wong said. "We are watching how Surface is doing ... How is RT accepted by customers... We don't know... We want to see." |
| Join the Engadget HD Podcast live on Ustream at 8:30PM ET Posted: 30 Oct 2012 04:35 PM PDT  It's not Monday, but it is still time for you to listen into the recording booth when the Engadget HD podcast goes to mp3 at 8:30PM. Please be a part of it by reviewing the list of topics after the break, and then participating in the live chat too.
Disney acquires Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion, plans more Star Wars movies
Xbox SmartGlass now available in Google Play, brings console integration to Android
Microsoft offering free Media Center upgrade to Windows 8 Pro users until January 31st 2013
Google bumps Android to 4.2, keeps Jelly Bean moniker
TiVo Premiere fall update starts rolling out with more HD menu screens and a few other tweaks
Tim Cook: 1.3 million Apple TVs sold in Q4, 5 million for 2012 fiscal year
BBC iPlayer comes to Sky+, Hell reports incoming frost
ITV Player revamp brings ad-free TV rentals, keeps the free catch-ups
Roku update adds cross-provider search over Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO, Vudu and Crackle
Boxee hands out free Boxee TVs to its most eager cloud DVR fans
Netflix Q3 2012 earnings: 2 million more streaming subscribers worldwide, $8 million net income
Open webOS-powered HDTVs said to be on the way from... LG?
Samsung 2012 Smart TVs get Amazon Instant Video streaming app, synchronicity with your Kindle Fire
Barnes & Noble bolstering Nook Video catalogue, bringing UltraViolet to the HD and HD+
LG's 84-inch 4K TV goes on sale in the US for $19,999, home mortgage optional
Warner, Redbox agree to 28 day delay on disc rentals, UltraViolet support for Redbox Instant
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to receive the Dolby Atmos treatment
Must See HDTV (October 29th - November 4th) Online video chat by Ustream
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Engadget's Seattle meetup wrap-up! Posted: 30 Oct 2012 04:16 PM PDT 
Goodnight Seattle! Man, we sure had a blast at last night's reader meetup. The party went down at the Showbox Theater, right across the street from the city's fishy Pike Place Market. Droves of Emerald City Engadget readers braved the drizzle to hang out, talk tech and win some of the year's coolest gadgets -- including a brand new Microsoft Surface RT (yes, it came with a keyboard), a Nexus 7 and a pair of Kindle Fire HDs. We learned a lot of valuable lessons: everything's better with a green screen, people want to know where we go sweater shopping and Seattle's gadget geeks don't really know all that much about the Wu Tang Clan. Thanks everyone for coming out -- we'll see you in New York City! Philip Palermo contributed to this report. |
| Apple iMessage sees second outage in a week, iTunes UK follows suit (update: back up, in theory) Posted: 30 Oct 2012 03:44 PM PDT 
Apple may have a lot of iMessage users, but it has also had its share of teething troubles as the chat service (and iCloud) grows. That's certainly been true this month: Apple has confirmed that, for the second time in a week, iMessage is down for at least some users. There's a real chance those conversations won't go through unless it's between iPhone users that can try SMS. More pressing for anyone in the UK is a wider iTunes outage, as we've heard multiple reports of the app and media repository being inaccessible in the country no matter what device they use. We've reached out to Apple and will update if there's an explanation or a repair schedule for either outage. For now, we'd suggest that iMessage lovers communicate through social networks and passive-aggressive word choices in Letterpress.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Update: And no sooner than we post than Apple has iMessage back up and running. Let us know through tips if you're still having iMessage or iTunes UK trouble, however. |
| Nexus 4 boasts SlimPort support for tethered display sharing Posted: 30 Oct 2012 03:42 PM PDT 
A lot of the hubbub yesterday was around the Nexus 4's support of Miracast, courtesy of Android 4.2. If you don't want to spring for a dedicated TV box or invest in a whole new set of gadgets to supersize your mobile experience, then you may be excited to hear that the handset also supports SlimPort. We haven't heard much from the DisplayPort-based standard since January, but we're happy to report it finally appears to be ready for primetime. Analogix, the company behind the tech, already has its first adapter up for sale on Amazon (at the more coverage link), which takes the Nexus 4's micro-USB port and allows you to connect an HDMI cable to it -- so long as that proposition is worth $30 to you. Eventually DVI, VGA and DisplayPort will also be added to list of output options, potentially making the this handset's charging port the most versatile micro-USB jack in the smartphone market. For more, check out the PR after the break. Show full PR text Analogix Releases SlimPort Accessories for Google Nexus 4 Smartphones SlimPort accessories connect Nexus 4 smartphones to any display Tuesday, October 30, 2012 9:09 am PDT
SANTA CLARA, Calif. SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Analogix Semiconductor, the market leader in enabling DisplayPort solutions, announced that Google Nexus 4 compatible SlimPort accessories are now available for consumer purchase at Amazon.com in North America and Europe. The Nexus 4 smartphones built by LG Mobile Communications and SlimPort accessories seamlessly connect to any HDTV, monitor and projector as well as provide simultaneous connectivity to the phone's power source. "Whether enjoying games, photos and videos your way or presenting to a large audience, SlimPort accessories add endless value to your smartphone," said Andre Bouwer, Vice President of Marketing for Analogix Semiconductor. "With robust camera technology, innovative apps like Google Now and Google Play running on Android 4.2, the Nexus 4 will hold it all. And when combined with SlimPort accessories you can use it all, wherever you go, on any screen, without running out of battery." SlimPort accessories maximize the battery life, while also providing the option to charge the mobile device when in use on the auxiliary screen. Now Nexus 4 smartphones can enjoy Full-HD and 3D media sharing without interruption on a larger display with up to 8 channels of audio. Analogix will be releasing a total of four supporting SlimPort cables and adapters with connectivity through all display standards - HDMI, VGA, DVI and DisplayPort. The first in the series, model SP1002, is immediately available in both the US and Europe on Amazon for $29.99 (USD). Soon, it will be rolled out to the other parts of the world. For more information about SlimPort devices and accessories, the benefits of such solutions, where to buy and more, visit http://www.slimportconnect.com. About Analogix Semiconductor Analogix Semiconductor, Inc. designs and manufactures semiconductors for the digital multimedia market, from portable devices such as smart phones to high-end graphics cards and large, high-definition displays. Analogix is the market leader in providing end-to-end interface connectivity semiconductor solutions for DisplayPort, including the SlimPort family of products. For more information visit www.analogix.com or follow us on Twitter @Analogix. Analogix and SlimPort are trademarks or registered trademarks of Analogix Semiconductor, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners. |
| Microsoft: we're calling our apps 'Windows 8 Store Applications' Posted: 30 Oct 2012 03:27 PM PDT 
Ever since those bygone days of Metro, we've all been struggling to figure out precisely what to call the design language of Microsoft's OS offerings. When the question was put to MS's Will Tschumy, the user experience strategist told a crowd at Build that the company is calling Win 8 apps "Windows 8 Store Applications" -- not exactly as elegant as the aesthetic the company is implementing across its products. Update: Looks like Microsoft didn't quite get it right yesterday. Redmond's actually calling them "Windows Store apps." |
| Holy Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! Tetris ported to a jack-o'-lantern (video) Posted: 30 Oct 2012 03:04 PM PDT 
What happens when you gut a pumpkin and replace its insides with heat-shrink tubing, solder, 128 LEDs, eight AA batteries, an Arduino board and clever programming? You get what self-proclaimed tinkerer Nathan Pryor calls "Pumpktris." Over the years we've seen the classic puzzle game Tetris ported to some amazing things, but a piece of fruit? Just in time for Halloween, this high-tech spin on the jack-o'-lantern features a fully playable Tetris game controlled from the pumpkin's joystick stem. Whether you're a hardcore do-it-yourselfer, or a diehard Tetris fan hoping to top the system's high score (9,800 points), you can build your very own Pumpktris. Of course, its creator estimates it'll take around 12 hours or longer to build the custom LED matrix and joystem and carve up the gourd of your choice. If you're up to the challenge, you can find a complete walkthrough of the project at the source link below. However, if you'd just like to see this quasi-organic gaming rig in action, check out the groovy video after the break. |
