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| Updated: Windows 10: release date, price, news and features Posted: 15 Jan 2015 10:57 AM PST  Windows 10: what we know so farUpdate: An exact time for Redmond's big reveal on January 21, 2015, has been announced. Get ready for more Windows 10 news at 9 a.m. PST on that day. Plus, more details have leaked regarding Windows 10, including leaks of Microsoft's 'Spartan' browser and how much the new OS might cost. Finally, associate editor Kevin Lee has some thoughts on what Windows 10 will mean for laptops. Read more below! With Windows 8 and now Windows 8.1, Microsoft tried – not entirely successfully – to make tablets part of a continuum that goes from number-crunching workstations and high-end gaming rigs through all-in-one touchscreen media systems and thin-and light notebooks down to slender touch tablets. The general consensus is that it still has a long way to go to produce a unified OS. Recently, Microsoft publicly made the first steps to doing just that, with Windows 10. Skipping the Windows 9 name entirely, the Redmond, Wash. firm aims to step into the next generation of computing with the right foot forward. You will soon be able to download Microsoft's Windows 10 Technical Preview by venturing over to its Windows Insider Program website. You'll need a Microsoft account to get it, and it's worth bearing in mind that it's not the finished article so may be a bit rough around the edges.
While there is little information regarding the Windows 10 Road Map currently available following the event and the Technical Preview, this is what we know so far regarding the stymied release of Windows 10:
Cut to the chase What is it? A complete update of Windows When is it out? It will launch "later in the year" in 2015 What will it cost? We really have no idea. Microsoft will not comment on pricing yet.
How much will it cost?One thing Microsoft has been absolutely mum about regarding it's new baby is how much Windows 10 will cost. While the firm has yet to say anything concrete, we now know a bit more about how Microsoft is thinking – or rather, rethinking – how it will generate dollars from this go 'round. "We've got to monetize it differently," Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner said at the Credit Suisse Technology Conference in early December, according to Wind8apps.com. "And there are services involved," he continued. "There are additional opportunities for us to bring additional services to the product and do it in a creative way. And through the course of the summer and spring we'll be announcing what that business model looks like." The most recent report strikes us as potentially controversial if it comes to bear, but the word is that Windows 8.1 users will have access to the big Windows 10 upgrade at no charge. Softpedia reports that, meanwhile, owners of Windows 7 and older will have to pay up to get the new OS. (Also, Microsoft confirmed that the two most recent Windows versions will be able to upgrade to Windows 10 directly.) The likely idea here is for customers to upgrade to a whole new system in preparation for Windows 10. But of course, whether that's likely to happen is yet to be seen. This one's gonna' be bigTwo separate reports lead us to believe that January 21 is going to a bigger day for Windows than any of us could have imagined. First, the recent appearance of a "Phone Insider" app on the Windows Phone store sparked speculation (and claims by The Verge sources) that January 21 will be when Microsoft pulls the curtain back on Windows Phone 10, or whatever it ends up being called. According to The Verge, the Phone Insider app only allows access to the preview build for employees, but that's expected to change after this event. Windows fans will soon have plenty of places to preview the upcoming OS, it seems. This ... is ... Spartan (browser)!Rumors and reports of Microsoft's overhaul of Internet Explorer (or an entirely new product), allegedly codenamed "Spartan", have been stirring for weeks now. But just recently have images of the browser leaked through Chinese website cnBeta, detailing the fabled Cortana integration and darker theme.
Of course, there are likely to be several theme options for the new IE ... or whatever this product is. What's more important is how Microsoft seems to be positioning this browser directly against Firefox and Chrome. (Eventual Office 365 integration a la Google Apps seems like a no brainer, but take that as wild speculation from this editor.) Windows and gaming – imagine thatThe upcoming January 21 event at Microsoft's Redmond campus looks awfully focused on consumers, especially considering the recent news that Microsoft's Xbox lead Phil Spencer will appear to talk about gaming initiatives.
"I'll be focusing more on what we are doing on Win10 in January," Spencer said in a tweet on December 11. "It's time for us to talk about gaming on Windows." A recent Windows 10 leak from prominent blogger Paul Thurrott's Winsupersite details a new OS build – #9901, to be exact – that includes an Xbox app on the task bar. We're itching to find out how Microsoft will redeem itself from Games for Windows on January 21. The latest report comes from ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, whose sources claim that the company is working on a PC game streaming service for Windows 10. It's codenamed "Arcadia", and it will serve up PC and Xbox One games to users, along with certain apps. January 21 just gets curiouser and curiouser. [Editor's Note: When contacted for comment, a Microsoft spokesperson simply said, "We have nothing to share."] Cortana warping over to Windows 10?That's right, Windows 10 will see the spread of Cortana, Microsoft's Siri and Google Now competitor, into all versions of the new OS, including desktops, laptops and tablets. WinBeta recently posted an overview of a leaked version of Cortana on Windows 10, voice and all. YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA0Sk28TsP8The same aforementioned Windows 10 leak from Thurrott details a new OS build – #9901, to be exact – that debuts Cortana with a search box on the task bar. This more than likely allows users to search their PC or the web (through Bing) via typing or their voice. Oh, and how could we forget that Windows 10 is slated to hit every current Lumia device? Imagine if Cortana were able to store your usage data across every Windows 10 device you own? Talk about continuity. But when will this arrive in the public Technical Preview? We'll just have to wait until January to find that out, now won't we. Microsoft playing to the piratesIt was found in Build #9860 that Microsoft introduced support for the MKV video container to Windows 10. This also just so happens to be one of the most popular ways to distribute pirated media online. (Of course, we're sure this wasn't the point.) While often referred to as a codec, MKV is actually merely a format that contains content rendered using other codecs, often H.264. So, what does this mean for plucky new OS? MKV is just one of several file formats that will be supported by Windows 10 from day one. Others include FLAC and HEVC, so expect Windows 10 to be fully prepared for our 4K video and lossless audio future. Phoning in featuresIn issuing the latest Technical Preview build, Microsoft released a fresh feature to Windows 10, but on that's not new to Windows Phone: notifications. Known as the Action Center on Windows Phone 8.1, Notifications on Windows 10 operate in much the same way. Featured as a button on the task bar, Notifications collects alert data from plenty of sources. "You'll see notifications from the system and apps - from new emails and invites to IMs, Facebook posts and more - all in one place, so you don't miss a thing," Microsoft Director of Windows Program Management Gabe Aul wrote in a blog post.
As of December 15, a leaked image of the new Windows 10 Store on Phone Arena seems to confirm that Microsoft looks to unify the Windows Phone and desktop app marketplaces into a single online store. This would be an interesting way to compete with the more prevalent Apple App Store and Google Play. Speaking of new features, Microsoft's Joe Belfiore teased new trackpad gestures that will soon come to Windows 10 during his TechEd Europe keynote in October 2014. Much similar to the gestures that Mac users are used to, the new OS will soon respond to three-finger swipes in three directions. Swiping downward with three fingers will return you to the desktop from within any app, while an upward gesture will summon the new task view. Swiping with three fingers either to the left or right will switch between open apps. Users will also be able to resize snapped windows with a unique three-finger gesture. Shooting for securityRunning the world's most ubiquitous OS, Microsoft has always taken security quite seriously, often releasing patches daily to its various versions of Windows. Now, the company looks to take its security measures for Windows 10, with two-factor authentication (2FA) coming standard on enterprise versions of the OS. Microsoft also intends to protect user identities by storing user access tokens in a secure container that runs on top of Hyper-V technology, isolated from the rest of the OS. Windows 10 will also offer a data loss prevention solution that will allow users to separate their corporate personae from their non-work ones. ... and for your data?Less than a month out, and already Windows 10 has been pegged for collecting user data. While this is a beta preview, and as such should be collecting feedback data, claims from a number of news outlets point to more even more sensitive information. The Technical Preview reportedly has the capability to track and log keystrokes, capture voice data and more. This may be cause for caution, but keep in mind that almost all, if not all, modern operating systems track and log some level of usage data. Though, it's almost always anonymized.
It's still all about unityWindows 10 will be "one application platform" for all the devices that run Windows, according to Microsoft Windows head Terry Myerson, with one store to rule them all. (So to speak.) While on stage at the event, Microsoft showed images of the new operating system running on everything from desktop PCs to smartphones. In fact, Myerson confirmed that Windows 10 will be the driving OS behind its smartphone platform as well. Myerson was mum on the naming conventions (e.g. whether Windows 10 on phones would be known as Windows Phone 10, et. al). But what matters is this: Windows 10 will be behind every device that Microsoft has a hand in, save most likely for the Xbox One. Yes, even the Internet of ThingsBased on CEO Satya Nadella's recent comments during Gartner's Symposium ITxpo, Windows 10 is almost certainly being developed with the Internet of Things in mind.
"Windows 10 is a very important step for us." Nadella said on stage. "It's the first step in a new generation of Windows as opposed to just another release after Windows 8. General purpose computing is going to run on 200 plus billion sensors. We've architected Windows where it can run on everything." Microsoft still cares about enterpriseIn fact, the crux of the September 30th event was to speak to enterprise users and get it in front of them first. "Windows 10 is a very novel approach of separating corporate and personal data across all devices," Myerson said on stage. "Windows 10 is going to be our greatest enterprise platform, ever." Microsoft didn't exactly please its enterprise audience with Windows 8.1 – adoption has been awfully slow. (And now will likely halt with this new version on the horizon.) To that end, Microsoft's Windows Phone guru Joe Belfiore even noted that the company is "looking to find the balance, so that all the Windows 7 users get a familiar experience on the devices they already have." The Start menu: bigger, better, strongerThe return of the Start menu that Microsoft teased during its Build 2014 conference earlier this year was shown off in full force at its Sept. 30th event. Replete with a merging of the traditional Windows 7-style interface and Windows 8 Live Tiles, the new Start menu is designed to please both camps: touch and mouse users.
"They don't have to learn any new way to drive," Belfiore said, referring to Windows 7 business users. That said, customization will also be featured throughout, first with the ability to resizing the Start menu itself along with the Live Tiles within. The Start menu features empowered search capabilities as well, able to crawl your entire machine, not to mention web results. (Through Bing and not Google, we'd imagine.) Snap to it, will ya?The traditional Windows 7 Snap View works in Windows 10's desktop mode with classic and universal apps, enhanced by a new "Snap Assist" interface. Snap Assist works in tandem with Task View, a new feature that allows users to create multiple desktop environments within a single instance of Windows 10.
You can now grab apps from different desktops and group them together using the Snap Assist UI, all of which is mouse or touch controlled. These features seem more designed for face-level multi-taskers, or people that rely more on visual computing. Of course, this comes in addition to enhanced keyboard shortcuts for power users. Keeping in touchMicrosoft is keen on maintaining the ground it achieved in touch-based computing through Windows 8 while reintroducing the intuitive desktop interface of Windows 7. To that end, many of the new multitasking features will be optimized for touch devices as well, like Task View. But it doesn't stop there. YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84NI5fjTfpQThe Redmond firm teased a hybrid interface mode for 2-in-1 laptops and other hybrid devices. Containing elements of both the current Windows 8.1 Start screen and the desktop improvements, this new touch-focused start screen will switch based on the input used. Think of a home screen that allows for both touch input, with large icons and response to gestures or swipes, and more traditional mouse or touchpad interaction, with smaller buttons and list-like interfaces. Belfiore called the approach "continuum" on stage, and the philosophy makes sense at least on paper. Click on through for a detailed look at the rumors and leaks leading up to the recent Windows 10 announcement. On the third page, we projected what Windows 9 – err – Windows 10 would be like, or at least what we had hoped. Read on to see how much we got right. The news and rumors leading up to Windows 10Right up until September 30th, the rumor mill churned with tidbits of info regarding what we all expected would be called Windows 9. What follows is our collection and informed opinions on all the rumors and leaks leading up to the unveiling of Windows 10. Enjoy! Despite rumors of an aggressive development and shipping schedule, there's no official word about what's in the next version of Windows, but there are plenty of rumors (many of them from Chinese enthusiast sites that claim to have leaked builds), plus more reliable information from job postings for the Windows and Windows Phone teams. There are also patents, which may or may not be relevant, and some rare comments from developers on the Windows team. Here's what we've heard about Windows 9 and what we think is happening. Windows Blue turned out to be Windows 8.1 rather than a completely new version of the Windows OS – Windows 9 will be that new version. As for interim releases, we'll probably also get Windows 8.2 before we get Windows 9; Windows 8.3 though is likely to be a non-starter. And we have already seen the initial update to Windows 8.1, called Windows 8.1 Update 1.
The new update features improvements to the Start Screen including the ability to boot straight into the Desktop, the return of shutdown on Start and a more familiar task bar to unify the old and new user interfaces. The update was announced at Build 2014, along with features teased for Windows updates to come. It certainly seems there's a new development cadence for Windows in action. It seems that Microsoft is set to put out new releases of Windows, Windows RT and Windows Server every year, the way it already does for Windows Phone. While still just a codename, Windows 9 was referenced by Microsoft in a job posting, spotted by MSFT Kitchenon March 13, 2013 and a senior Microsoft VP let the name slip during a live-stream presentation. The next complete version of Windows is being referred to as Windows 9, though this may change. And a new codename has appeared, Threshold, possibly alluding to the shift from our reliance on the traditional desktop to a new world where the Start screen is at the heart of how we use Windows. The term "Windows TH" (possibly for Threshold) appeared on Microsoft's website, referring to a technical preview, before being removed, just days before the September 30th event. The ad, for a Bing Software Development Engineer, says that the team will be delivering products "in areas including Windows 9, IE11 services integration, touch friendly devices including iPad and more." Windows 9 release dateAs of right now, we expect to see Windows 9 in a preview build (otherwise known as Windows Technical preview) to appear on September 30. The latest report from The Verge and Recode cite sources close to the matter with knowledge that a press preview event will take place on that date. Recode's Ina Fried said that the event - geared towards developers and an enterprise audience - will take place in San Francisco with our own sources confirming that invites have apparently gone to relevant media houses and tech analysts. Microsoft has confirmed that it won't be live streaming the event. The company has sent a statement to Winbeta.org stating that "There will be no live stream of the keynote" although one can expect news and content to be posted across all of Microsoft's MSDN blogs. Microsoft communications chief Frank Shaw said the company wasn't ready to talk about how often Windows might come out when we spoke to him in January, but he agreed "you have certainly seen across a variety of our products a cadence that looks like that; Windows Phone is a good for example of that, our services are a good example of that". We don't know if Windows 9 will be available as an upgrade from Windows 7 that you can buy as a standalone product or if you'll have to have Windows 8 to get the upgrade. But it may not be with us for a while yet – Windows business chief Tami Reller has talked about "multiple selling seasons" for Windows 8, meaning that we'll likely have several versions of it. Some rumors have suggested late 2014 or early 2015 for a Windows 9 release, though the former seems wide of the mark. While claims and reports are all over the place, it seems like Windows 9 should drop before September 2015 at the latest to coincide with the back-to-school season and in time for the lucrative holidays season. In January 2014, well-known Microsoft blogger Paul Thurrott said he believes the company plans to release Windows 9 (codenamed Threshold) in April 2015, less than three years after Windows 8. The thinking appears to be that the Windows 8 name is now too tarnished and that – in contrast to Reller's comments above – Microsoft wishes to clear things out by releasing Windows 9 instead. ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley recently echoed these reports, citing sources pointing toward a spring 2015 release for Windows 9. In May, prolific Microsoft leaker FaiKee released two separate documents that he or she claims to be Redmond's full roadmap for Windows 9 and other products. The first of which, released to the My Digital Life forums, pointed to text reading "Windows 9 Windows Preview Release @ 2015 02-03." That appears to point toward a preview release of either February or March 2015. The second leak was caught by Myce.com, and is a bit more vague in timing but less so in the actual text. That alleged official document detailed a preview release between Q2 and Q3 2015, so by September of next year at the latest. In June, we learned from a ZDNet source that Microsoft would launch a preview build of the latest Windows in the fall. But most recently, WZOR struck again with a rumor that Windows 9 in full will launch in that same time frame. Naturally, a Microsoft representative snapped back at the rumor on Twitter. How much will Windows 9 cost?Not a cent. At least that's what Russian leaker collective WZOR claims to have heard. The group reports that Microsoft is considering pushing out Windows 9 for free, but cannot confirm at this time. They also mentioned that upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 9 would cost you about $30 or £20, which is sounds pretty reasonable. What the collective has heard exactly is that a prototype version is in the works in which a barebone version of Windows 9 will be available for free. For additional functionality, users would have to pay up through a subscription. That said, ZDNet's Foley has heard the opposite: different SKUs of Windows will be offered for free or at different prices to OEMs and consumers, but that the desktop version will indeed have a sticker price. A recent, subsequent leak provided by WZOR seems to not only corroborate Foley's sources, but render its previous report moot. Microsoft has learnt to be flexible though given the changing business environment. Google's Chrome OS was barely a blip on Microsoft's radar when Windows 8 launched. Now it is seen as a growing threat to Microsoft's low-end market, so much so that it is giving Windows 8.1 for free on devices sporting an 8-inch (or smaller) display. It is very likely that Microsoft will do the same for Windows 9 (although it could also choose to keep Windows 9 as a premium SKU). Last but not least, the president of Microsoft Indonesia has inadvertently disclosed that Windows 9 would be free for Windows 8 users. What we thought Windows 10 would be likeWill Windows 9 focus heavily on cloud computing? What is Bing's role in the new OS? How much of a power drain will this new version be? We know about as much as these leakers and reporters claim, but have collected all the latest rumors and scuttlebutt below. Cortana: your new best friend?Microsoft's answer to Siri and Google Now just busted out the gate on Windows Phone 8.1, but already Microsoft seems keen on expanding its reach to the company's desktop and tablet OS. Microsoft scoopers at Neowin seem to have inside sources that claim Cortana is not only up and running on internal Windows 9 builds, but its performance is improving. Charms lose their lusterCould one of the more controversial additions to Windows 8.1 be on its way out? Paul Thurrott's points to the fact that it is still there in the latest build to date, 9841. Earlier rumours were at loggerheads with Thurrott's findings. A leak snapped up by Winbeta claims that the Charms menu of the current OS will not be included in the desktop and laptop versions of Windows 9. And, according to ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, the feature is on the chopping block for Windows 9 tablets and 2-in-1 laptops as well. One Windows 9 to rule them allNot so much a rumor as it is a confirmation, newly-minted Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella commented on the future of Windows recently, painting a picture of a unified operating system across all platforms. "In the past we had multiple teams working on different versions of Windows," Nadella said. "Now we have one team with a common architecture. This allows us to scale, create Universal Windows Apps." So, will Windows 9 spur the beginning of a single OS for all Microsoft devices, ultimately ending the fragmentation between Windows Phone, Windows RT and Windows proper? We can only hope. It is worth however considering what Apple and Google are doing when it comes with their mobile and desktop offerings. Apple has subtly started to integrate some aspects of iOS, like Mac App Store, into OS X while Google already confirmed years ago that it would be merging Android and Chrome OS at some point. Windows 9: Return of the Start MenuTeased during the Build 2014 keynote address, the long-missed Start is basically guaranteed to make its return in Windows 9. Since that preview of the Start menu, replete with both Desktop and Modern UI elements, a screenshot (seen below) of an updated version of the feature has surfaced – ba-dum, chhh – through the MyDigitalLife forums. Regardless of whether the snap is legit, since Microsoft has publicly promised the return of the Start menu, it should be safe to expect its debut in Windows 9 ... whenever that is. Subsequent leaks, the latest being from Winsupersite, confirm the fact that a new version of the Start menu will be back.
Truly windowed Modern UI apps are comingWe already know that the new Start menu will be alive and well in Windows 9, but the latest leak points to yet another quality-of-life improvement: truly windowed Modern UI apps. Today, Modern UI apps can be opened and managed from the desktop UI, but immediately switch to that interface when selected. No more, claims Myce through a newly-leaked screenshot (seen below). The image, allegedly pulled from Threshold build # 9795, shows a Metro, or Modern UI, app opened in a windowed state on the (likely) Windows 9 desktop.
Machine learning is the future of Windows?That's at least what Microsoft Research lead Peter Lee wants out of Windows 9. He said as much in an in-depth interview with Digital Trends recently, pointing to Microsoft's Azure cloud computing platform and Bing to hopefully be the drivers behind the next versions of Windows. "Using machine learning to extract relationships, entities, key ideas being worked on and bring those to the surface in tools. Maybe even digital-assistant tools to make companies more productive and smarter. That's one area we're going at" for Windows 9, Lee said. "If I write a document and I want to say, share this with the appropriate people that work with Vikram from the meeting, or say, 'what's trending around me at work,' not in my personal space but at work … answering questions like that requires a very different kind of machine learning," he said. Windows 9 to be smaller, with more appsIn the last Microsoft earnings call CFO Peter Klein made it clear that Microsoft has got the message that Windows 8 tablets need to be cheaper; "we know that our growth depends on our ability to give customers the exciting hardware they want, at the price-points they demand." Another revealing Microsoft job advert talks about having Windows Phone and Windows RT apps run on both Windows Phone and Windows – it's no secret that Microsoft wants to unify things in this area. "Do you wish the code you write for Windows Store apps would just work on the Windows Phone and vice versa? If so, then this is the role for you! We are the team leading the charge to bring much of the WinRT API surface and the .NET Windows Store profile to the Phone." That sounds like a longer term goal, given that the job advert was on the Microsoft Careers site at the beginning of February 2012, and it's being driven by the Windows Phone team, but it could give developers an incentive to write apps for the Windows Store and give Windows 9 users more to choose from. Scaling apps to fit different size screens would help here too. Windows 9 reaches for the cloudA vision for a smaller version of Windows with more apps sounds like it lines up nicely with rumors that Windows 9 will focus heavily on cloud computing. WZOR claims to have information that supports this idea, pointing toward a Chrome OS-like operating system that requires an internet connection. According to the leaker group, the core of Windows 9 will live in the given system's BIOS, while the rest of the OS will reside in the cloud, ready for picking via various apps and services. Exactly how much of the standard Windows functions would be left out is what's worrying about this rumor. Reports have also highlighted some fundamental changes in the way developers within Microsoft are assessing, coding, deploying and actually fixing Windows 9. Of particular interest is the way Microsoft is now considering Windows-as-a-service rather than a project with fixed deadlines, in the traditional start-stop development process. Another intriguing rumour is Asimov, a name that has been floated around and refers to a near real-time Telemetry service that allows Microsoft to peer into your system, a remote desktop connection on steroids. Windows 9 power managementBack in January 2013, a Channel 9 video featuring Bruce Worthington, who leads the team working on Windows power management fundamentals, included some rather technical details about saving power in Windows and the improvement in Windows 8. "If you look at the number of times we would wake up the CPU per second," he explained, "for Windows 7 you would typically see numbers on the order of one millisecond. We would literally be waking up the CPU a thousand times per second. If you look at Windows 8, on a clean system, we have numbers that are better than a hundred milliseconds. " Now that Windows Phone 8 is based on the Windows Phone kernel, power management has to get better. "Now we're looking forward to the next release and we can get even farther – especially as we start interacting more and more with our phone brethren. "They want us to be quiet for multiple seconds at a time. They even talk about minutes in some scenarios which is pretty far afield for us, to be thinking about minutes of being completely quiet. At least getting into the multi-second we're definitely ready to think about that." Especially with Intel Haswell bringing Connected Standby to Core systems, not just low-power Atom tablets, saving power looks like a priority for Windows 9 (especially if it comes out at the same time as Intel's new chips. "For the next release there's all kinds of things we've already identified that are going be quite challenging but at the same time the user is going to get a tremendous boost forward," Worthington promised. Windows 9 gestures and experiencesThere are features we predicted for Windows 8 based on Microsoft patents and technologies we've seen demonstrated by Microsoft leaders like CTO Craig Mundie that didn't make it into the OS. There are features Microsoft plans for every version of Windows that get cut to ship on time; sometimes they reappear, sometimes they don't. Kinect-based 3D gestures might be on the cards this time around, especially as we hear that some notebooks will soon get 3D cameras – although from other suppliers rather than Microsoft. Using two cheap webcams rather than an expensive 3D camera could make gesture recognition hardware cheap enough for laptops and then you could wave at the screen from a distance. And maybe Direct Experience will arrive in Windows 9. The patent explains this as a way of starting Windows to play media files in a special purpose operating system and there are improvements in Hyper-V for Windows Server 8 that Microsoft could use to make Windows 9 work better for this, like being able to move a virtual machine from one place to another while it's running.
One obvious question is whether Windows 9 will be 64-bit only – something that Microsoft alluded to even before Windows 7 shipped – but that's going to depend on what chips are in PCs. Given that even lowly Atom processors are now 64-bit capable, it would make sense for Microsoft to go full 64-bit. On that note, perhaps a sign of things to come but Microsoft has resurrected WinHEC, a hardware-focused event centered around Windows, that was canned six years ago. The event will be held in Shenzhen China next year and is a clear sign that Microsoft wants to reconnect with a community that it now considers to be pivotal to its success. No surprise then that it substituted the original C for "conference" in WinHEC for "community".
Dan Grabham and Désiré Athow contributed to this article  |
| Posted: 15 Jan 2015 10:45 AM PST -470-75.jpg) IntroductionStreaming media around your home isn't a new idea, but the rise of internet-based on-demand services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video means that it's becoming more and more popular as a way to watch TV. Chromecast is an inexpensive media streaming adapter that turns any HDMI-equipped television into an app-driven smart TV when paired with a phone, tablet or computer. The total package is Google's answer to products like Apple TV, and Roku 3 - not to mention Google's forthcoming Nexus Player and the Amazon Fire TV. All devices designed to take your digital content and get it up on your big screen without fuss or fiddle. It's a very simple setup that Google's offering: the Chromecast is a small HDMI dongle that plugs directly into your TV, and connects to your Wi-Fi network. You choose what to watch on another device, and then Chromecast streams that content from the internet directly and displays it on your TV. Curiously, it has no real interface of its own, it just sits and waits for your other devices to tell it what to stream. On its launch in the middle of last year in the US, the Chromecast wowed with its cheap price and it can now be had for as little as $32. It's similarly bargainous in the UK: just £30 - less than a third of the Apple TV's RRP. That's awesome.
On launch, the services that tied in with Chromecast were limited and very much a work in progress. But 15 months on, the list of compatible apps is impressive. Most of the big hitting services are now compatible, with Netflix, YouTube, Hulu Plus, Pandora, HBO Go, Starz and Showtime Anytime etc... all ready and waiting in the US, and BT Sport, BBC iPlayer and more in the UK. You can find a complete list of Chromecast-compatible apps on the Google Chrome Store.
Music is really restricted for UK users, with even the lone Pandora app support no good for us, due to licensing restrictions. The key addition here would be Spotify, but there's a wide range of services that could become available. The truth is that the 'casting' method of getting video onto your TV is simply not very compatible with music. We're sure that this will change (Google can be very persuasive…), but there are major limitations on built-in support at the moment. Google's Chrome browser on Mac or PC lets you mirror a browser tab to your TV, meaning that you can theoretically send any of these services to your TV that way, but there are issues with this.
If you stream video via the compatible apps, the content is streamed directly from the internet to Chromecast without travelling via your phone or tablet. But if you mirror a browser tab, you're effecively streaming video to your computer from the internet via your router, then streaming it back to your router and then streaming it out once more to your TV, resulting in heavy network traffic. If your network is flaky, this will result in choppy performance. We tested on a variety of networks and found results were variable but a clear network should be able to handle it. Browser streaming options are Extreme (720 high bitrate), High (720p) and Standard (480p). Using Chromecast, though, it's clear that it's designed for use with portable devices in mind. You won't find a Chromecast remote in the box or a main menu tying all of the apps together like on an Apple TV or Roku 3. Chromecast rivalsAll streams originate from a special "Cast" button that's built into each compatible mobile app - your device is the remote. Currently, Windows Phone 8 users, who don't have many options among app-filled streaming technology, are totally out in the cold for Chromecast support, with only third party YouTube app TubeCast being compatible. So Chromecast is only really suited to those with Android and iOS devices. Despite these limitations from the big names, Chromecast has extra potential to it thanks to developers getting creative with the Google Cast SDK. Apps like AllCast enable Android - and, starting in January, Apple iOS - users to display video and photos through the Chromecast, for example. Which is useful since Google somehow neglected to add this feature to Android. The Plex app will happily stream to Chromecast, which is perhaps the best way to get your library of downloaded videos up on the big screen. Photo Caster is a free app that enables iOS users to put their photos on-screen similarly. Media Browser is an app for iOS and Android that streams media content stored on any computer in the house, giving the Chromecast home theater PC (HTPC) granting capabilities. You can even stream Podcasts from a few apps. The way Apple integrated its AirPlay streaming solution deep into iOS means that it inevitably has better support when combining an iOS device with an Apple TV, but as long as developers continue to use the Cast SDK, we will inevitably see almost as widespread support for cross-platform solutions - iOS, Android and Chromecast all working together seamlessly. Roku has its Roku SDK, but it's easier for many developers to make their apps compatible with the Android-based Chromecast. It requires a little bit of retooling rather than learning an entirely new ecosystem, as is the case with the Roku. Between its universal nature, rock-bottom price and ease of setup, Chromecast is massively tempting as a little TV add-on. Design and interfaceChromecast is so small it could easily be mistaken for an oversized USB thumb drive with a little more heft to it. That contrasts with Apple TV or Roku 3, which sit as separate boxes, and often have extra outputs, such as for audio. It looks more similar to the Roku Streaming Stick, but don't be fooled - the stick doesn't use casting, it runs apps onboard like the other Roku devices. Chromecast just is one big HDMI plug, with the exception of its power cable. It's a simple black unit, likely to blend into the colour of most TVs (though if it ends up sticking out of the side noticeable, it'll be somewhat more intrusive). If your TV is wall-mounted, Chromecast could be really awkward to implement depending on your TV's HDMI port positions. It might also not fit into the space for HDMI ports in some setups, so Google has included a short HDMI extender cable.
It gets around immediate problems, but be aware that at 72 x 35 x 12 mm, Chromecast might be an awkward fit.
On the rear of the unit is a micro-USB port, and Google has included a five-foot micro-USB-to-USB cable in the Chromecast box along with a power adapter that plugs into the mains. Ideally, you wouldn't use the latter of these - if your TV has a USB port on it, as many Smart TVs do, you can use that as the power source. Otherwise, you'll have to plug in, and it's possible you'll find that five feet isn't enough. Again, it's not a big problem, but it's worth being aware of. Once it's plugged in and ready, Chromecast's software setup is not complicated at all - in fact, it's barely existent.
It's a matter of visiting Google's Chromecast "getting started" website on a laptop, tablet or smartphone, downloading and installing some software, and connecting the device to your home WiFi network. Google has provided apps for each platform that take care of this for you, with the Android version especially good – it does almost everything for you.
On iOS, for example, you need to switch to a Wi-Fi network created by the Chromecast so that you can then tell it how to join your main Wi-Fi network – it's easy enough, but requires a bit of annoying back-and-forth to the settings. On Android, it's all handled for you invisibly – you don't need to manually change Wi-Fi at all. It's impressive.
Content and performanceChromecast finally gives Android owners an official media-relay option that broadcasts content from their smartphones and tablets to a TV in similar way to Apple's AirPlay technology. That it works across Android, iOS, PC and Mac is even better. There's a "Cast" button that's usually built into the top right of all of the compatible mobile apps - it looks like a rectangle with broadcasting bars (like a Wi-Fi symbol) in the corner.
It's easy to recognise, despite Android being full of similar rectangles these days (and Apple's AirPlay symbol being somewhat similar). Tap the "Cast" button and you'll be offered a list of Chromecast devices on your network, so just choose which one and you'll see the screen spring into life, loading the video or audio content you selected. The app then becomes a remote, basically, enabling you to control the screen. The likes of Netflix even give you a custom screen on the device, ditching playing the video there as well in favour of big buttons for controlling playback easily.
Video quality is great from most online sources - Netflix in HD looks as good as you'd hope. We did encounter some freezing issues towards the end of a film, but pausing and restarting got us back in action. Netflix is also capable of streaming from the website on PC or Mac natively (not using the tab mirroring feature) to Chromecast, but when we tried this, the audio was often a tiny bit out of sync.
Not enough to make it unwatchable, but it was a bit distracting. Most of the time, when you send video over to the Chromecast, it picks up quickly. Generally, once you've started playing a video, you can exit the app and start doing other things - and this applies both to mobile and desktop. This means Chromecast can act as a second screen in a couple of cases, particularly when used with desktops, letting you browse the internet or do something else on the computer while a tab with your Gmail, Twitter feed or a video is running in a "casted" background on the big screen.
However, it's not suitable as a second screen option for work; it's just a mirror of something you've already got open, so if you want to interact with it, it needs to be done on your main computers screen. There's also noticeable two-second lag between the computer and the TV. That's a similar amount of consistent lag experienced when using Apple AirPlay mirroring on a Mac computer, but it is at least consistent - it doesn't suddenly hang or get choppy, for the most part.
Showing off a photo you retouched in Photoshop, a document you want a group to proofread in Word, or any program outside of the Chrome browser tab you're casting requires diving deeper into an options menu for a hidden command that's deemed "experimental" by Google. It's buggy and slower than Apple TV's full computer mirroring. Chromecast is not meant for mirroring system-wide applications -at least not yet. App limitationsThe Chromecast tab extension is also limited to Chrome at the moment and may never work outside of the Google-owned browser. That means FireFox, Internet Explorer, Safari and Opera users are out of luck if they had hoped to "Cast" using their favorite browser. While Google has opened up the Chromecast API for building applications, it's still forcing everyone to use Chrome for tab casting from a computer.
Chromecast also doesn't require an entire Apple TV device to sit in your entertainment console or force you to wire up with a lengthy power, HDMI and optional Ethernet cable. Its plug-and-play nature means that it can be transported much more easily and fit into a backpack to carry to a school presentation or business meeting (we used Apple's iCloud version of Keynote to show a presentation from a Chrome tab), hotel room, or friend's TV. That flexibility may be worth its inexpensive price alone. There is one potential of inflexibility, though. The total lack of built-in apps or direct method of control (such as a dedicated remote) means that if your device runs out of battery or is in another room, you can't play anything. We had a few little niggles, such as a photo-casting app that forgot the Chromecast after each use and had to hard quit and restarted. Most of these are probably up to developers to fix, though, and as things mature, we expect they'll improve. VerdictGoogle's take on an AirPlay like universal streaming service is hugely impressive, not just for its price, but because it works well, on many platforms. It's possibly the perfect companion device to an older TV with no smart features, and it's certainly the cheapest way to get Netflix up and running in your living room if you can't plug in any other compatible devices.
That said, this option is now being covered in Google's forthcoming Nexus Player, so don't expect Google Chromecast to get gaming features any time soon. We likedChromecast is brilliantly easy to set up, gave us little hassle after the first few minutes, and then worked really well. You quickly become accustomed to the idea of just reaching for your phone and beaming something over to it - just like the future should be. The streaming quality is generally very good, and it's quite reliable, especially for a product that's still fairly early in its life. It's also impressive that it works so well on all platforms. At $30/£30, we definitely like the price. It's well into impulse-buy territory, and we do think it's worth picking one up just for its potential, even if you already have a way to stream the services it currently works with. We dislikedThe lack of apps was the simple, major problem when Chromecast originally launched. It was fairly well-supported in the US, but elsewhere it needed fleshing out... and it has been. The only thing you might dislike about Chromecast is its reliance on the phone in your pocket or the tablet on your coffee table. But for anyone who keeps those things with them, it's not a problem and in fact for many it's a more convenient way of arranging things. There are a few other things we'd like to see, such as a bit more polish to improve things further – faster loading of videos in some apps, broader support in basic Android apps, stronger streaming from desktops, for example. VerdictChromecast is an inexpensive, easy-to-use way of accessing streaming on your TV. All the major video streaming apps are compatible and you soon find yourself using it on a daily basis. If it cost more, we'd say it might be worth looking at the Amazon Fire TV or the Nexus Player, but at this price how can you possibly argue? Chromecast is fun enough, robust enough and has enough potential that thoroughly recommend it to anyone without a smart TV.  |
| Review: Updated: Amazon Fire TV Posted: 15 Jan 2015 10:25 AM PST  IntroductionWith the introduction of Fire TV, behemoth online retailer Amazon has entered the streaming set-top box battle that may ultimately determine the future of how we get content into our TVs. The device is competitive on both price and performance with Roku 3, Apple TV and Google Chromecast and seems squarely aimed at overthrowing those established players. More competition has come along since then, like the Nexus Player, but Amazon's stalwart box still holds the top spot on our shelves. Why? The product, like Amazon itself, is friendly, powerful, and innovative and tackles some of the critical consumer pain points associated with the current streaming boxes. The less good news is that it doesn't entirely live up to some of the promises Amazon is making. Amazon has explicitly stated that it wanted to address three problem areas about the consumer streaming experience: poor performance, closed ecosystems and cumbersome search. In terms of performance they have a clear winner on their hands. Fire TV is consistently snappy and responsive, thanks to some relatively beefy silicon inside.
Fire TV is a fairly open platform, but its interface consistently tilts toward Amazon's offerings. It can't access content from iTunes or Google Play (no surprise), but does support a wide array of third party services (including the highly coveted HBO Go app) and will presumably be adding more as time goes on. Third-party services, however, are relegated to second-class status within Fire TV's user interface. They sit in the system's "Apps" tab, while the system's prominent Movies, TV, Watchlist and My Library tabs all feed directly to Amazon's offerings. The system's first party offerings are always in plain view and accessible directly from the home screen. Third-party offerings tend to take some clicking and scrolling to get to. While Amazon may overemphasize their own offerings, it's worth noting that the company has been putting serious work into beefing up its Amazon Prime Unlimited Streaming library. Along with a slate of well-produced original content, the company recently announced a deal that will fold HBO's original programming (for shows more than 3 years old) into Prime Unlimited Streaming. They may not have Netflix's numbers yet, but Amazon is clearly becoming a serious player in the ongoing streaming services war. In addition, Amazon recently launched its Prime Music service that gives Amazon Prime users streaming access to an extensive library of top-tier music across a panoply of genres, though it is not yet available through FireTV (music stored in your Cloud Drive is accessible, however). YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm5BGZ8t7uESearch has been addressed with a slick voice recognition feature that uses a microphone on the remote to allow consumers to speak their searches instead of hunting and pecking across an on-screen letter grid. With access to cloud processing to handle the heavy lifting of voice recognition, the system does an excellent job of understanding what you're trying to tell it. However, voice searches only scan for Amazon and Vevo content, an unfortunate decision that significantly undercuts the utility of this breakthrough feature. Amazon has announced that it will be adding support for searching the catalogs of Hulu Plus, Crackle and Showtime Anytime. However, even with these additions, the device's tantalizing voice search function remains deeply underpowered. Amazon has included some compelling extras, including the ability to view photos users have stored on Amazon Cloud Drive, and playback for Music purchased through its MP3 store (though Prime Music is not yet available through the device). Amazon has also put special focus on games with this system and thanks to a more powerful processor and Amazon's optional dedicated game controller ($40) Kindle Fire's gaming options surpass the Angry Birds-level options offered on similar devices. Still, most games are ports of existing Android titles that already run on the Kindle HDX, so while the games look and play well on the system, it doesn't have a patch on dedicated gaming consoles (which, to be fair, are typically far more expensive). One potential differentiator for families is Amazon's integration of its FreeTime area, which allows parents to precisely proscribe the content kids access and their time on the system. It's an interesting offering that's not available on most other streaming boxes, however, it has its own set of drawbacks as well (see FreeTime section for further details). Hardware and designThe box itself is about the size of a small external hard drive, or two CD jewel cases stacked on top of one another. Think of a tiny, squared-off version of the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey lying flat. Its exterior is sleek and minimalist, with the only contrast coming from glossy black lettering on a matte black background. At 0.7 inches thick, all of its visual cues seem to be telling you, "Don't see me." Its rear side is devoted to the essential ports: power, HDMI, optical audio, Ethernet and USB.
Under the hood, Fire TV is quite powerful compared to its competitors, sporting a quad-core processor, a discrete GPU and 2GB of RAM. Amazon claims it has three times the processing power of Apple TV, Chromecast or Roku 3, and says it can process 57 billion floating point operations per second. You can wire it into your router via Ethernet, but if that's inconvenient, Fire TV also packs two dual-band Wi-Fi antennas. All of this adds up to notably snappy menu performance. Movie titles fly by in the interface, transitioning between services is fast and the system handles itself well when tasked with rendering games. The Fire TV's minimalist matte black remote is similar in functionality to Roku's, with seven glossy black buttons and a directional selector. It uses Bluetooth to communicate, eliminating line-of sight issues and allowing you to stash the box inside a cabinet or behind a TV. There are buttons for back, home, menu, rewind play/pause and fast forward. Topping the remote on its own is the microphone button that may one day be Fire TV's secret weapon (but not now, for more on this see the Interface and Search section).
SetupAs with Roku 3 and Apple TV, Fire TV's setup is eerily simple, and consists of connecting two or three wires (power, HDMI and an optional ethernet cable). If you don't have it wired to your router, the system will walk you through forging a WiFi connection. As with the Kindle Fire, when you order a Fire TV, Amazon pre-links it to your Amazon account, so after a quick (unskippable) tutorial video you're immediately able to browse Amazon Instant and Amazon Prime videos along with any photos in your cloud drive. Third party apps must be downloaded and set up separately with their own credentials. In terms of simplicity, the setup process is a win, but its lack of customization options leaves you at the mercy of the one-size-fits-all menu hierarchy Amazon has created (more on this later).
Movies and TVNaturally, the system provides full-spectrum access to Amazon's cloud video services, and Amazon Instant and Amazon Prime Video are both well (if not over) represented. At launch, Fire TV offered 40 third-party channels, a far cry from the hundreds available on Roku and Chromecast, but more are slowly-but-surely trickling in. Predictably however, iTunes and Google Play are not available on the system, nor are they likely to be. Amazon is touting Fire TV's innards as a competitive advantage in terms of movie performance, but while menus move quickly, our tests didn't uncover much difference in terms of speed to open third party apps or start playing videos as compared with Roku 3 or AppleTV. Amazon's native offerings, on the other hand, clearly get a boost from living on their home hardware. First off, all of Amazon's content is accessible from the main menu of the system's OS and can start playing without first launching an app. Secondly, Amazon is introducing a feature called ASAP, which is designed to pre-cache video content for you based on your habits and preferences. I saw this in action when I watched the 11th episode of Alpha House (I had previously watched the first 10 episodes, but not on the Fire TV). Impressively, playback began instantaneously when I clicked, with no load time or buffering. Supposedly the system will make more inferences over time as it monitors my actions. It's a smart, effective system, but as only Amazon's offerings can use it, it's one more way the playing field inside Fire TV is tilted to the home team's advantage. Music, photos and gamingAmazon's added a music channel post-launch that allows consumers to access any music stored in their cloud drive (all MP3s bought through Amazon are stored in your Cloud Drive for free). Curiously, Amazon has not yet implemented support for its newly launched Prime Music service, which offers access to a large library of quality music tracks. Fire TV currently supports third party music services such as iHeartRadio, Pandora, Spotify and TuneIn, but these are currently found in the Apps menu, not the music tab, another example of Amazon's home field advantage here. The photo channel provides a way to access any photos or videos you have stored in Amazon Cloud Drive. Amazon provides a free 5GB of storage for all accounts, and more can be purchased via subscription. The system works simply and seamlessly. You can upload photos from your computer, or use Amazon's iOS or Android apps to automatically put any photos you take up on the cloud. In addition to letting you page through slide shows, Fire TV can be set to use your images as a screensaver when the system is idle. It's clear Amazon sees games as a key piece of their strategy with this box. The idea here seems to be to capture casual gamers who aren't sufficiently invested to buy a $400 to $500 dedicated games console, not a bad bet in a time when mobile gaming is reaching more consumers than ever. Since Fire TV runs the latest version of Amazon's Fire OS ("Mojito"), which is based on Android, it's relatively easy for existing Android games to be ported to work on the system and Developers I spoke with from Telltale Games (The Walking Dead) and Mojang (Minecraft) both emphasized how easy it was to move their games onto the platform from their existing games, both of which already run on the Kindle Fire HDX. Amazon has big plans for games, and appears to be actively courting developers and publishers (including EA, Disney, Ubisoft, 2K, Sega and Rockstar) as well as starting up their own in-house design team.
Amazon's seriousness about gaming is best exemplified by its creation of a dedicated game controller for the system (sold separately, $40). While serviceable, the controller does not show the same polish as the rest of the system. Looking like a cross between an Xbox 360 controller and the Ouya controller, the feel of the face buttons and sticks is solid, but its shoulder buttons are a bit stiff and the triggers have a shallow travel that feels unsatisfying. It's worth noting that many of the games on the system (primarily those with simple tablet-type controls) are playable with only the remote. Standout titles include Minecraft, The Walking Dead Seasons 1 and 2, Terraria, Zen Pinball, You Don't Know Jack, Badland, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and the original Sonic The Hedgehog games. Sev Zero, the first in-house game from Amazon Game Studios is an impressive hybrid tower defense/third person shooter that moves surprisingly well for running on a box this small.
The controller also sports all the buttons on the remote (including play/pause, fwd and rew), allowing you to easily manipulate the system's media options via the controller. While the controller feels substantial in the hand, its look doesn't quite measure up to the gorgeous industrial design of the box itself or the remote. That said, having a dedicated controller at all is a very welcome option. It runs $40 (about £24, AU$43) and currently ships with a free copy of SevZero – which costs $6.99 (around £4, AU$7.50) when bought a la carte – and 1,000 Amazon Coins, a $10 (likely £10, AU$10) value. Interface and searchAmazon has built an amazingly elegant solution to search in this device, thanks to a microphone embedded in the remote and cloud-powered voice recognition. Unfortunately, the way they have implemented this breakthrough feature is deeply anti-consumer. Voice recognition is accurate and solves the aggravating problem of tapping in your searches in via an on-screen letter grid. However, Amazon has destroyed most of the value of searching this way as voice searches scan only Amazon's native content library. This search myopia isn't only limited to the voice feature though. Indeed there is currently no way to search across services on the device. When I search Roku for a film it tells me if it's on Netflix, Crackle and others as well as if it's on Amazon. I ran into several scenarios where I searched for content I know is on another service (that I'm already paying for) and was only presented the option of buying or renting it from Amazon. It's the device's most serious flaw and Amazon should address if they want their device to be as consumer-friendly as they claim. Amazon's self-bias is even more striking in the menu structure it has created. Of the 10 top-level tabs on its home screen (Search, Home, Movies, TV, Watchlist, Video Library, Games, Apps, Photos, Settings), all but three (Home, Games and Apps) are for Amazon services. Third party apps are relegated to the "Apps" tab. Thus, four of the highest-level menu items are devoted to different aspects of Amazon's video services, while a single menu item at the bottom of the page houses 40-plus third party apps. Certain high-profile apps (Netflix, Hulu) are profiled on the Home tab under Featured Apps and Games (which sits just below the "Recently Added To Prime" area). To make matters worse, the Apps tab is populated by games as well as apps (the Games tab only has games in it), making that area even more cluttered than it has to be. In short, Amazon seems to be going out of its way to bury third-party apps on the system. It's not a dealbreaker, as most consumers will be aware of the services they want on their device and figure out how to find them, but it's irksome that these services require several extra clicks to access and can't be customized. Tip: Voice search can be used to navigate to apps you have installed and is often the fastest and easiest way to find a given app. FreetimeFreeTime, FireTV's most ironically named feature, is there to make 100% sure your children are not free to watch whatever they would like. In addition, the service costs $5 per month, making it the opposite of both meanings of the word "free" (though Amazon does offer a 1-month free trial of the service). The idea behind FreeTime is a solid one. We're sure many parents would appreciate the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your children are only accessing content from trusted and age-appropriate sources. In practice, however, FreeTime has a long way to go before we can recommend paying extra money to access it (let alone recommend it as a reason to buy the system). The service operates by having parents create profiles for each child in the household, then white-list specific apps and video content they want that child to have access to. In addition, the system lets parents specify how much time each child is allowed to spend on the system per day in increments of 15 minutes, as well as blocking off certain times. For example, I could allow one child an hour of FireTV time between 4pm and 8pm. And if I were feeling especially mean, I could allow another child four hours of screen time, but only between 2am and 6am. Parents can also set whether a child's time spent on apps, video or either. The primary flaw in the system is its selection of video content. Currently FreeTime only allows parents to white-list individual videos that has been either purchased from Amazon or are available via Amazon Prime Instant Video. Netflix and other apps are available, but if you give your kid access, they can see every movie on that service (meaning that adding them to your child's library undermines the entire point of FreeTime). Given how open FireTV's ecosystem is and how much wonderful children's content is available on Hulu Plus, Netflix and others, it feels ridiculous (and possibly manipulative) to allow parent's to only proscribe choices that only come from Amazon's libraries. In addition, FreeTime must be activated for it to work. Once the system is signed into FreeTime mode for a given kid, the countdown timer starts and it's impossible to exit to the main menu without entering a PIN. However, if an unsupervised kid is tech-savvy enough to get the system turned on by themselves (and newsflash, most are) they'll have full access to everything until FreeTime is activated. Also, when the PIN is entered (as it must be to change content choices), the magic numbers are plainly visible on screen, not even obscured by asterisks. And this is all assuming that the FireTV is the only source of content connected to the TV. The idea of this being a serious impediment to any media-hungry kid over age six is a little absurd. The idea behind FreeTime is sound, but in its current half-executed form, it's largely useless, primarily due to its lack of hooks into the other video apps on the system. FreeTime is not yet a compelling reason to buy FireTV, even for those with small children they want to safely park in front of the flatscreen. Thankfully for FireTV, FreeTime is not its only trick and the box is compelling enough on its other merits to justify purchase. We hope to see Amazon work to improve this feature down the road. VerdictAmazon is entering the set top box wars at a very interesting time and with a very compelling product, especially for heavy users of Amazon's digital services. At $100 it's priced competitively with Roku 3 and Apple TV, and we expect the gaps in its channel lineup to be filled in the coming months. It's clear now that the retailer was not waiting, it was watching. Almost every aspect of the Fire TV attempts to improve or refine the aspects of the Roku, Apple TV and Chromecast that currently vex consumers. And as a powerhouse retailer, it's certain Amazon put the reams of customer data to which it is privy to heavy use.
We likedIt's a beefy box with processing capacity to spare. Amazon services are quick and easy to access and its ASAP feature pre-caches Amazon content for you so you can watch instantly. Voice search is the kind of breakthrough you wonder why we didn't see earlier in these devices. It's an open system with most of the must-have apps and channels. Photos were a very pleasant surprise and Amazon seems to be attacking gaming with a diligence we have not seen from their competition. We dislikedIt's hard to escape the fact that Fire TV's interface tilts toward Amazon's offerings. We would like to see more visibility for third-party apps in the main menu, as well as customization offerings. The inability of its search function to scan across all of its services (as Roku does) makes the feature worthless unless you are only interested in Amazon's offerings. Customers who aren't sure where to find a particular piece of content will be forced back to searching the web for information. VerdictThis device is simple to use and works well. If you are significantly bought in to Amazon's services, it's hard to go wrong with this box. However, if you are not an Amazon customer or even an Amazon customer who doesn't have or want Amazon Prime, then you might think twice. The device is clearly tilted toward Amazon customers, and nothing short of a full UI overhaul is going to change that. We'd like to at least see Amazon allow some kind of user customization in the interface. Until then, we're calling this device great, but not perfect.
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| Updated: Google Glass is done as we know it Posted: 15 Jan 2015 10:19 AM PST  Google Glass in its current form is no more. Google is ending the Glass Explorer program "so we can focus on what's coming next," the Glass team wrote in a Google+ post. According to the BBC, Google will no longer produce Glass Explorer Editions, yet it remains committed to, at some point, releasing a version for consumers. As the current program shuts down, Google will continue to "build for the future." "[Y]ou'll start to see future versions of Glass when they're ready. (For now, no peeking)," the company wrote. January 19 is the last day to order a Glass Explorer Edition. TechRadar asked Google for more details on the future of the Glass program and what today's move means for the wearable and its consumer release. Movin' on upGoogle also announced it's "graduating" from the future-forward Google X labs "to be our own team here at Google." The change, the company wrote, will help push it closer from concept to reality. According to the BBC and Fortune, the Glass team will now report to Tony Fadell, CEO of Nest. Glass won't become part of Nest, Fortune reported. The Glass Explorer program launched in 2013, and Explorers could fork over $1,500 (£1,000, about AU$1,589) for a pair of the wearable eyewear. Google opened the program to everyone in the US last year, but signs of its demise started to show late in 2014. The consumer release was reportedly pushed to 2015, and even Glass' chief evangelist, Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin, was caught without his signature accessory after he left it in the car. Future Glass hardware seems a given, but the wearable's place in society is a contentious topic. The device has been banned from places like bars, and "Glasshole" is far from an term of endearment. Google released an etiquette guide for Glass wearers early last year.  |
| Review: UPDATED: Roku Streaming Stick Posted: 15 Jan 2015 10:18 AM PST  The new Roku Streaming Stick has been granted the power of HDMI compatibility, making it the more app-inclusive alternative to the Google Chromecast, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV. It combines over 1,000 apps with an HDMI dongle design that's the size of a thumb drive, and this time it fits into the back of any modern TV. That's important because Roku has been down this road before with a similar streaming stick that only worked with MLH-compatible TVs. It's an idea that pre-dated Chromecast as an affordable way to instantly project apps onto a big-screen television by nine months. But Roku's MHL requirement meant consumers had to buy or already own a "Roku Ready" TV with this special HDMI slot.
Now, the company is taking cues from Google with the Roku Streaming Stick 2014 that delivers apps to any TV when it's plugged into an HDMI port. It comes with a handy remote and sports a familiar interface that has made past Roku devices so easy to use. It costs a little more than Chromecast and doesn't have all of the special features like mirroring an entire computer to the TV, but that's the price of having more than 50 times as many compatible apps and a physical remote control. YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKRp_4yKs3sDesignThe Roku Streaming Stick is small, but its designers managed to bathe almost every inch of it in the company's familiar purple hues. It's a bit obnoxious to have what appears to be an oversized purple thumb drive jutting out of a black or gray television, as much as we appreciate Roku for sticking to its guns with the color choice. The good news is that the Roku Streaming Stick dimensions allow it to easily hide behind a TV set - in most cases. It's 3.1 in x 1.1 in x .5 in, which is a tad larger than the Chromecast at 2.8 in x 1.4 in x .47 in. While the Roku stick is a lot lighter at 18 grams vs Chromecast's condensed 34 grams, the more important factor is the size.
These extra tenths of an inch could make the Roku Streaming Stick a tight squeeze in the back of a television set, depending on where the HDMI ports are located. We weren't able to slide it into HDMI 1 of the TV we tested it on because there wasn't enough room. Remember, these HDMI slots are designed to accommodate HDMI cables with flexible cords beyond a inch. The Roku? It can't be bent. Google solved this problem by boxing Chromecast with an HDMI extender, an optional adapter with a flexible body. It's an extra accessory just in case your HDMI ports are too close together or the open HDMI slots are inconveniently on the rear of a wall-mounted TV. It's also supposed to boost WiFi reception. The Roku Streaming Stick includes none of this, even though it costs more. Once the Roku is securely in an HDMI slot, it works as advertised as long as you have a way to power it. There's a micro USB cable included that's 6 feet long - the same length as the Chromecast micro USB cable - and a power adapter. They can be plugged into any power outlet or a USB port with enough wattage. Roku says that the streaming stick typically takes less than 2W when streaming HD video, so it's green-planet friendly and not overly demanding if your TV does have a nearby USB port . The vents that line the sides of this HDMI stick ensure the hardware on the inside runs silently, and the dual-band wireless N antennas keeps the WiFi connectivity fast enough for all of the HD video thrown at it. We didn't experience slowdown from the single-band Chromecast once videos got started, but because Roku has dual-band antennas, it supports both the overcrowded 2.4 GHz frequency and the less trafficked 5 GHz frequency. Of course, this only matters if your router supports the 5 GHz variety. AppsRoku always confidently boasts that it has more apps than all of its competitors combined. With over 1,000 apps that statement is true, even if a large chunk of them are niche apps no one has ever heard of. What's important is that all of the major apps or "Roku channels" are here. Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu Plus, Crackle, Vudu and HBO Go all stream movies and TV shows without a hitch.
Amazon Instant Video is significant because only Roku and the new Amazon Fire TV support this vast library of free Prime content and often-cheaper movie rentals. There's no sign of it coming natively to Chromecast or Apple TV any time soon. There's also a clutch Time Warner Cable app, but it's requirements aren't as subscriber-friendly. It not only needs the name and password of a TWC TV subscriber, it forces streaming to happen in the home using a Timer Warner cable modem. There's no HBO Go-style password sharing possible here. The Roku Streaming stick ecosystem also has your music streaming playlists on demand with Pandora, Spotify, Rdio, iHeart Radio, Plex and so on. Google Music and the newer Beat Music are the only major music streaming services you won't find on this or any Roku device. There are over 50 apps for kids, including PBS Kids and four separate Disney stations, and 66 apps for sports fans. WatchESPN is the most popular, while MLB.TV, WWE Network, MLS Live and NHL GameCenter make the top 10 list among sports apps. Each requires a subscription or pay-per-view for live streaming. There's an NBA GameTime app, but it only offers live score updates. Still, these 66 sports apps are 66 more than non-athletic Chromecast offers right now. Other channel genres include News & Weather, Science & Technology and the niche among niche apps, Special Interest. QVC is the No. 1 app here followed by the Aliens and UFOs Channel, and it just gets weirder from there. You can fall for the dedicated Pranks channel or spend time checking out the bizarre Occult Network Channel. It's also nice to see the Liquidation channel is still hanging in there like an "everything must go sale" that never seems to end. RemoteThe Roku Streaming Stick remote control is just larger than the palm of your hand. It's size and pill-shaped form factor make it easy to hold with one hand and still reach all of the buttons. A two-handed approach to this small remote makes you look ridiculous. That's when you know a company got its TV remote design right. Intuitive buttons for going back and home are up top, followed by the traditional Roku directional pad. Below that are skip backward, an OK button and the options key. Rewind, play/pause and fast forward are the only other media playback buttons. It's just the essentials and sometimes that's all you need.
The bottom portion of the remote is dedicated to four apps. The logos of M-Go, Amazon Instant Video, Netflix and Blockbuster, adorn these four shortcuts and make navigation a bit easier and less confusing. In fact, pretty much the only confusing about the remote is why Blockbuster was included as one of the shortcuts. HBO Go, Hulu Plus or, heck, even QVC wouldn't been a better choice. As easy as it is to use the Roku Streaming Stick remote, it's not as advanced as the Roku 3 version. That's the one that includes a headphone jack for a unique "private listening" mode. It's one of those ideas that you haven't seen anywhere else before, so it's curious as to why Roku didn't it in this Roku model. Motion control sensors for games are also absent. Fans of Angry Birds Space are going to have to bow out of the remote wagging fun when using the Roku Streaming Stick version. Of course, if it's games you're after, the Amazon Fire TV is shaping up to be the best choice. It has a dedicated gamepad sold separately and promises 1,000 games by the end of April. Losing this Roku remote doesn't spell the end of streaming. There's a Roku remote app offered in the iOS and Google Play app stores, and it goes beyond simple on-screen controls. It boasts a QWERTY keyboard for a much quicker method of searching through content. You'll never want to hunt and peck with the remote's direction pad again after using the app. InterfaceThe Roku Streaming Stick interface is decked out in purple, which helps emphasize the colorful logos of its apps. After all, the 1,000-plus apps are rightfully the main focus of every Roku. Sorting through them is just as clear cut. The default My Channels menu arranges your favorite apps into a easy-to-navigate grid layout that can be customized with a few clicks of the remote. Do you want Netflix in the top row of this 3 x infinity grid? You got it. Want to demote Blockbuster to the very bottom or even delete it? That's just as simple. You just can't get rid of its permanent shortcut button on the remote. Below My Channels are separate sections for movies and TV shows. Unfortunately, both menus are dedicated to the on-demand video service M-Go. As tempting as its "two free movies for signing up" deal is, it would've been nice to see a more fleshed-out pair of sub-sections. Ones that catalogued new and interesting video content from all apps installed, not just M-Go, would've done the trick.
The comprehensive search menu actually does just that if you do some of the heavy-lifting. It offers a deep dive through all apps installed when typing in the name of a movie, TV show, actor or director. Simply typing in "Wolf of Wall Street" lists four entries, all in HD, with Amazon Instant Video and Vuvu displaying cheaper rental prices. M-Go and Redbox Instant are more expensive. Save a dollar, earn a dollar, and eventually this Roku will pay for itself. Searching through the Roku ecosystem is only matched by the Amazon Fire TV, which lets you perform voice searches. There's no hunting-and-pecking with the remote or even a need to pick up a smartphone to activate the on-screen QWERTY keyboard. Saying "Wolf of Wall Street" aloud is a whole lot easier than typing it out with the remote's directional pad. Roku Streaming Stick vs ChromecastThe Roku Streaming Stick is the instant winner over Chromecast right now if you're looking for apps like Amazon Instant Video, Time Warner Cable or niche content that isn't available Google's device just yet. However, the Roku Streaming Stick costs $50 (£50, about AU$54), which is half the price of a Roku 3, but more expensive than the Chromecast. Google undercuts the price of all streaming players at $35 (£30, about AU$39).
This Roku is also missing the ability to mirror a computer display onto a big screen. That's the standout feature of Chromecast and its clutch Chrome tab browser extension. All Roku devices can beam photos and music from iOS and select Android devices, but it's clunky software that isn't worth the buffering time. Roku is clearly charging a premium for its more expansive ecosystem. It's going to be some time before Google is able to catch up to the 1,000 apps that are available right now on Rokus.
Roku Streaming Stick vs Amazon Fire TV StickThe Roku Streaming Stick is the agnostic older brother to the Amazon Fire TV Stick. If you can't decide which e-tailer to give your money to, and would rather give it to the services themselves, this is the streamer for you. It also has the most content than any other platform. However just be prepared to wait a bit longer for it to load, speed really isn't Roku's strong suit. Amazon Fire TV, on the other hand, is lightning-quick and is best suited for those people who have really sunk their teeth into the Amazon ecosphere. It has better specs than anything in that form-factor and is $10 cheaper than the Roku Streaming Stick. Amazon Fire TV feels like a device specifically engineered for Amazon Prime subscribers and while everyone else is welcome, you'll have a hard time finding something to watch without ponying up a $99 per year subscription fee.
We likedThe Roku Streaming Stick slims down Roku's popular app delivery system and halves the price of the Roku 3. There are over 1,000 apps and yet the grid is easy to customize. Its interface ties everything together and the remote is small enough for one-handed navigation. Those are two things missing from Chromecast. It requires you to go into individual apps on a phone or tablet to beam them to a TV and it is only compatible with iOS and Android devices. This Roku platform is the remedy for people who want ditch the smartphone and tablet and, instead, press the "easy button" on a physical remote to be entertained.
We dislikedThe size of this streaming stick is larger than the head of any HDMI cable, and some TVs tuck their HDMI ports into the frame of the television. That can make the Roku Streaming Stick a tight fit. Roku its all about its apps, but not much else. There's no computer or mobile device mirroring going on here, and its remote doesn't think outside the set-top box like the Amazon Fire TV does with its innovative voice search. The Roku Streaming Stick isn't necessarily better than Roku 3. In fact, it's missing the unique headphone jack in the remote for its private listening mode. It just happens to be cheaper, but not as inexpensive as Google's Chromecast.
VerdictThe Roku Streaming Stick is a cinch to plug into any spacious enough HDMI port now that it doesn't require an MHL-compatible TV. From now on a "Roku Ready" HDTV just means having a TV with an ordinary HDMI port thanks to this more compatible version of the device. It's not quite as affordable as the Chromecast, but it has more of the apps that people want right now, including Amazon Instant Video. That's significant because Amazon often has cheaper HD movie rentals than other services. It's an app you won't find on either Chromecast or Apple TV. There are a number of new streaming devices out right now, but the the Roku Streaming Stick stands as the most efficient way to make a normal HDTV into a smart TV without springing for a pricier set-top box. At least until the Google Chromecast app list is able to catch up.  |
| In Depth: Could the impressive Saygus V2 topple the OnePlus One? Posted: 15 Jan 2015 09:06 AM PST  You won't have heard of the Saygus V2 unless you were one of a handful of people to take a punt on a completely unknown brand last year. But that hasn't stopped the US-based firm from making one the most impressive smartphones at CES 2015. Let's get the main problem out the way first: this is a chunky handset, and not really made with premium design in mind. It's nearly a cm in thickness, which might as well be one of the original brick phones in the minds of some consumers.
But that's not what Saygus is about – nor, do I suspect, is that something the brand is keen to focus on when setting out to try and nab a portion of the massive smartphone market. Chris Baker, VP for corporate development at Saygus, told me that the company was trying to make the phone it wanted to see, which is where innovations like dual microSD slots come into play.
On top of that you've got a 5-inch Full HD display, 3GB of RAM, a massive (removable) 3100mAh battery (which, according to Baker can last 50% longer than other phones with the same power pack thanks to an extra battery chip under the hood) and a Snapdragon 801 chipset. It's got two of the most powerful cameras on the market too: a 21MP rear facing option and a 13MP option on the front, destroying even the pointlessly well-endowed HTC Desire Eye – and that's before you hear both sensors have optical image stabilisation.
There's an infra-red port on the top, front facing Harmon Kardon speakers above and below the display and a 60GHz mobile beaming capability for sending pictures directly to your TV or monitor. In fact, add in the fact it's got Qi wireless charging built right in and you could feasibly have a mat at work where you chuck the phone down and an NFC tag will instantly beam the signal straight to a monitor, Bluetooth mouse and keyboard could auto connect and the 3GB of RAM could easily handle loads of apps – that's a PC substitute right there.
And I haven't even got to the bits that developers will love: the phone is completely open with root access and can even dual boot between stock Android and any ROM you care to mention.
Even the design of the phone – the chunkiness of which makes more sense now when you consider what's packed in there – has a function, with the fractal pattern on the back of the Kevlar fascia boosting your phone's signal by up to a bar, according to Baker. The Saygus V2 is, simply put, a really interesting phone. It's miles behind the rest when it comes to design, looking like an unimpressive brick next to the brilliance of the iPhone and HTC range. But that's not what this phone is about. It's about finding some really top components and combining them with industry staples to outperform what's out there already. The dual-slot microSD is a nice idea, and it'll be interesting to see if that can handle 256GB cards when they appear – the theoretical maximum of 320GB right now could be pushed to over half a terabyte.
This is a phone for the tinkerer, the person who wants to not compromise on anything apart from design, letting them change channel on their TV while remotely playing a game on another monitor, or watching a movie with clear front facing speakers. There is a caveat here though, and it's a big one: while engineering samples were floating around CES, there was a lot on these phones that I couldn't test properly. There were no sound files loaded on the handset, so it's hard to find out if those speakers really can take on HTC's Boomsound.
The cameras are powerful, but likely unoptimised at this point. The price point has yet to be set (although a little lower than the top flagship phones was what I was told). The screen and chipset are nothing special and I was unable to test out whether the dual-slot storage would really be able to seamlessly slip from one card to another. But I get the feeling this is a phone designed for a community that will forgive such things if the handset actually works and offers all the goodies they've been looking for. The Saygus V2 is like a more hardcore Nexus.
It's smaller and more easily handled than something like the OnePlus One, which is currently many enthusiasts phone of choice. However, I'd estimate it's going to come in at around 70% more to buy SIM free, which will put off a few prospective buyers. It's also unclear how a completely unknown brand can compete in an already saturated market without a massive marketing budget. OnePlus did it on a spec and price combo, where Saygus will have to hope communities get behind the power it puts on offer. Still, it's so refreshing to see a phone company just trying to make a handset that really caters for the smaller subset of smartphone users looking to get the most out of what Android can do – the Saygus V2 could very well be your new phone if that's you.  |
| Hands-on review: Samsung Galaxy A5 Posted: 15 Jan 2015 08:38 AM PST -470-75.JPG) Samsung's a good brand for trying things out. After the mixed reviews to the Galaxy S5 it needed something big, as the Galaxy Alpha and Note 4 both accelerated the design story while keeping up with the high-power internals. But that doesn't mean the South Korean giant wasn't looking to keep things fresh in the non-premium market, offering something for those that don't want to have to sell a car / kidney / house every time they fancy a new handset. The Galaxy A5 joins the A3 in the new range of more affordable smartphones, bringing with it a lower spec list while upping the design message with an all-metal unibody along with a microSD slot.
The latter part is important, after the Galaxy Alpha (which only had a 4.7-inch screen) decided to go without the memory expansion but keep the removable battery. It seems Samsung can only ever have one of these features on board at any one time, with the metal chassis prohibiting the use of a battery pack that can be swapped out.
Not that this should matter too much, as the Snapdragon 410 chipset combined with the 720p 5-inch screen won't be too taxing on the 2300mAh battery – although given this could be in the same price category as the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact, that's quite a disappointing spec list. The CPU issue is one that will worry those that know what they're looking on the spec sheet, as it's nowhere near as powerful as the Snapdragon 800 and 801 chipsets that are being offered for a similar price.
The 2GB of RAM is more than enough to power most games and heavy web pages, and as such should keep your phone running smoothly for a good few months. However, you might find that some apps don't perform as well as on friends' phones as Samsung has curiously skimped on the power here.
The design is half-decent though, with the all metal frame feeling nice in the hand. The rear still doesn't feel a high-class as the iPhone 6 or HTC One M8, but then again I'd rather that was saved for the Galaxy S6 – if you can imagine Samsung fans will finally realise that having a battery pack, rather than a spare battery, is a much better and simpler idea.
It's not a bad phone to hold though, and like many phones on the market the advanced screen technology (in this case Samsung's Super AMOLED) helps offset the lower resolution. It was more like a Full HD display on first sight, and looked like a superior level of quality compared to the A3.
The camera on the Samsung Galaxy A5 is a pretty high quality affair, and along with the metal chassis is probably the key selling point on the mid-range phone from Samsung. At 13MP it's certainly powerful enough for most, but again the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact is offering a 20.7MP effort in the same sort of frame – complete with more camera modes as well.
That said, the Galaxy A5 does have wide selfie mode, which will appease a few of those looking to get a phone that's better for the group shots they want to be in as well. The camera protrudes slightly from the rear of the phone, sitting alongside the single LED flash and speaker grille, which doesn't really get in the way when holding the phone but could have looked nicer if flush with the chassis.
The argument there is that the optics needed to be that large to fit everything in, but a couple of 0.1mm wouldn't have hurt and could have facilitated a larger battery – perhaps even a curved back? Early verdictThe Samsung Galaxy A5 is a fine phone for the mid range market – albeit a bit underpowered, coming with a CPU that's only marginally better than that found in most Android Wear smartwatches. The design is definitely a step forward and, along with the 13MP camera, will probably be what tempts customers looking for a new handset when browsing the shelves of the local phone seller. However, it feels like this phone should be a little cheaper – perhaps it will appear for something a little more palatable when the Samsung Galaxy A5 release date rolls around in a few months – as it's just a metal phone with some basic internals and Samsung's TouchWiz interface. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but there's nothing here that really sets the heart racing. And it doesn't even have the heart rate monitor of the S range to check it.  |
| Posted: 15 Jan 2015 07:21 AM PST  Liquid Leap: introductionYou probably know Acer for its good-value laptops, but with the Liquid Leap it's having a crack at the big noise in lifestyle tech: wearables. The Liquid Leap is a fitness tracker with a hint of smartwatch functionality. At £80 it's not a price for a band with a full display. However, with a fiddly fit and only surface-level features in each of its areas, it's best used as a simple watch and pedometer. Design and ScreenThe great thing about opting for a fitness tracker rather than a full-blown smartwatch is that it'll likely be a good deal smaller. At about an inch wide, the Acer Liquid Leap's face doesn't bogart your wrist and doesn't scream for attention either.
Of course, it doesn't look like a normal watch either. A rubbery plastic strap snakes around the front to meet a rectangular display. There's no curved glass Samsung-style flashiness here, and, in the white version at least, the great difference in tone between the screen and the strap is a bit jarring. The Acer Liquid Leap is not an especially stylish device, although the black version does seem to look a bit better, and is less likely to show up grime.
Like many other fitness bands, the Acer Liquid Leap uses two little metal prongs that jam into slots on the other side of the band to secure the band on your wrist, rather than a more traditional watch strap. Get the thing on and it's very secure, though doing so can be easier said than done at times. As the Acer Liquid Leap rubbery-plastic strap is a little on the hard side, you have to push very hard to get the prongs through. This gets a little better as the strap wears a bit, however, and should become easier with practice. The rival Sony SWR30 is a good deal easier to work with, and a bit more comfortable. Where the back of the SWR30 is curved, the Acer's rear plate is pretty flat so doesn't hug your wrist.
However, it's pretty comfortable regardless. The Acer Liquid Leap weighs just 15g meaning it pretty much disappears on your wrist unless you do the thing up tight enough to make your hand turn blue.
There are also zero buttons to worry about. The Acer Liquid Leap uses only gestures and its teeny-tiny touchscreen for operation. Two taps turn the band on, with a little metal bit next to the screen acting as a suggestion of where you might tap. This gesture takes a bit of getting used to, though. As it seems to rely on the accelerometer rather than a capacitive sensor, you have to give the Acer Liquid Leap a fair old whack to make it wake up. Two tiny taps won't do.
Still, the screen is one of the Acer Liquid Leap's best bits. The £80 price makes this one of the cheaper fitness bands to offer a proper screen, and it's about as crisp and clear as one of those blue-sky winter mornings where your breath comes out like freezing fog. The Acer Liquid Leap has a 0.9-inch OLED screen of 128 x 32 pixels. Resolution is very, very low, but as the screen is monochrome it's able to look crisp and pixellated at the same time — as if deliberately lo-fi. Liquid Leap: features, including fitnessFeaturesThis isn't a real smartwatch, either, so what you'll see on the little display is basic. Two taps will show you the time and date, while sideways flicks on the screen take you to pages showing your steps that day, how far you've walked, the calories you've burnt up and the minutes spent active. One flick further takes you to the apps section. But don't get too excited as the Acer Liquid Leap's extra features are pretty limited.
You can engage sleep tracking, check out your phone notifications and go to the music controls section. There are no bits beyond this as the Acer Liquid Leap doesn't run Android Wear or another pre-existing OS, but a system Acer seems to have cobbled together itself. It hooks into an app on your phone called Leap Manager, and while it works for Android and iOS, it's not the slickest and is a bit basic. I had a few issues hooking it up to a couple of test phones, and even within the Acer Liquid Leap's limited scope, it's pretty rudimentary.
While the Acer Liquid Leap handles notifications, it only relays those of calls, texts and meetings, not Whatsapp messages and so on. You'll see the same deal in the music controls. It'll work with the default player, but not Spotify. It's limited. Fitness TrackingThe Acer Liquid Leap is only meant for very basic fitness tracking. While it can do a few things, its brains are really pretty basic. It uses an absolutely tiny Cortex M0 processor and it only really has one actual sensor — a motion tracker 'G-sensor'. This can tell when you're moving, but has no clue about where you are, the actual speed you're travelling (beyond a guess) or whether you're moving up/downhill. Serious runners will want GPS in their watch and rival Fitbits offer an altimeter, which offers a count of the number of steps you climb each day.
Like all other wrist-worn trackers, the Acer Liquid Leap also struggles with accuracy — judging between when you're walking/running or just flapping your arms around in angry conversation. However, comparing with a tracker measuring in the pocket (which doesn't have the same problems) the results are only generally a few per cent off. Unless you're a wildly gesticulating kind of guy, at any rate. The Acer Liquid Leap is best thought-of as a simple way to see how truly lazy you are and act as a motivation to get your backside into gear to change that. In actuality it's pretty basic. The sleep tracking is hardly Olympic standard either. It really doesn't do much more than time the gap between the point where you press the 'sleep' button to where you tell the band you've woken up. If you're expecting a scientific run-down of the quality of your sleep from hour to hour based on your movements, you won't find it here. Not unless Acer adds that in an update. One real sore point is the Acer Liquid Leap doesn't have an alarm. It really isn't a 24-hour buddy in the way the best smartwatches and fitness trackers are. You can't sync the data with other fitness platforms like Endomondo either, so if you don't like Acer's software you're pretty stuffed, for now at least. Liquid Leap: battery life and verdictBattery LifeOne benefit of the Acer Liquid Leap's basic style is that the battery lasts for a fair bit longer than a full-on smartwatch. I got five days' use off a charge, so it won't feel like you're plugging the thing in as often as your phone. As there's no charge socket, the Acer Liquid Leap also has IPx7 waterproofing. This means you can submerge it in water for 30 minutes with no problem — a shower or a bit of rain is no problem at all. Acer even claims you can swim in the thing, which is generally not supported by watches that use rubber seals, because of the chlorine or salt.
Like most other fitness bands, though, charging is a bit of a faff. You need to lock the Acer Liquid Leap into a little plastic shell that has its own microUSB socket. I found the thing a bit too easy to misplace, but this means you can use the same charger as your phone, if you're an Android user.
Of course, the battery stamina doesn't seem all that hot when you compare the Liquid Leap to something like the Garmin Vivofit, which gets you a year of use from a battery. VerdictA year or so ago, this would have been a buzz product, but with so many fitness bands coming out now, the Acer Liquid Leap struggles to stand out. There's nothing about it that's bad as such but the feature set is limited, the style lacking and seriously, a digital watch with no alarm?! We likedThe screen on the Liquid Leap is very good, and it's competitively priced at £79.99. The addition of limited smartwatch-style notifications and music controls inches the VFM ticker up a little further, too. We dislikedTo be honest, there's as little to actively dislike about the Liquid as there is to like about it. You can't say it does anything exceptionally, and it can be slow to respond, and a little inaccurate when counting steps. It's short on features and those it has are unexceptional, basically. But nothing about it is outright terrible. "Meh" might be the word, here. Final verdictIf you're in the market for a fitness band, you can do worse than the Liquid Leap, but you can also do better - there's the Garmin Vivosmart, for instance. The price is low, and it may get lower online, but for now, while I wouldn't say "No way" to anyone considering the Liquid Leap, I also wouldn't enthusiastically urge them to dive in.  |
| Posted: 15 Jan 2015 07:00 AM PST  If you need to stay in touch with friends and relatives, Skype is for you – its free voice and video calling services are feature rich and simple to use. Why you need itIt's fair to say that Skype has revolutionised the way we stay in touch in the internet age. By allowing us to make free video calls over the web, it took a science fiction fantasy and made it a reality enjoyed by millions of users across the globe. If you don't have a webcam to make video calls, you can still make voice calls or use Skype as an instant messaging app, all for free. It also doubles as a traditional telephone service, allowing you to call mobile and landline numbers anywhere in the world using its Skype Credit system. And it's ideal for business users thanks to its ability to set up group calls or group video calls. Provided everyone in your conference call has Skype, that allows you to stay in touch with business partners and clients completely free of charge. There are tons of extra features, too. Get a phone number for your Skype app and attach a caller ID to it, forward calls from Skype to the phone of your choice, or share contacts and files. You can even share your screen with the person you're calling, useful for demonstrations or one-to-one tutorials. So whoever you need to stay in touch with and however you need to do it, Skype is sure to offer a great service to fit the bill. Key features
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| The iPhone 6S could double up on RAM with 2GB Posted: 15 Jan 2015 06:50 AM PST  You might have only just got used to the sizes of the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus but we're already thinking ahead to the iPhone 6S (or iPhone 7?). The latest gossip from insiders is that this year's handset will boast 2GB of RAM compared with the 1GB stuck inside the 2014 editions. That's more memory to deal with multiple apps running at once as well as larger images and video files. Doubling up on memory should mean a much faster and more capable iPhone, particularly when it's paired with the usual CPU upgrade that Apple treats us to. The iPad Air 2 features 2GB of RAM too. More power!It's not all set in stone yet, though: Apple is said to be concerned about the price of including more memory (it doesn't come cheap you know) and there may be supplier issues to worry about too. Still, if Taiwan's Tech News is right, the 2GB version has got the nod. We're still some way off from seeing the next iPhone, but the speculation has already started - an extra-tough sapphire screen, a dual-lens camera and a 3D pressure sensor could be on the cards come September. In addition, here are 10 things we'd like to see from Apple's next flagship.  |
| Industry voice: How to get connected apps right: looking to Platform-as-a-Service Posted: 15 Jan 2015 06:30 AM PST  The Internet of Things (IoT) enables us to connect every device we own to the internet. This could be linking light bulbs to the web, or even the dishwasher, coffee machine and doorbell. Looking outside the home, commercial applications of IoT devices include sensors in plant machinery, or biochips in farm animals, all the way to sensors in the ground detecting temperature and moisture content in sports fields. Not only will every device with a circuit board have some kind of connection with the internet, but so will those systems we might never have considered to be electrical a decade ago. This interconnected world produces a number of hurdles for the internet in its current state. We've already heard about core infrastructure upgrades taking place to move from IPv4 to IPv6 to cater for all of these additional addressable devices. So we have seen bandwidths increasing not only across fixed lines but also, more importantly, over wireless connections as well, such as LTE. These are critical to the success of IoT, but are our applications ready for the influx of additional data collection, storage and processing that they now have to handle? Ubiquitous connectivityThere are billions of new devices connecting to the internet and many billions more on their way, with Gartner predicting 26 billion connected devices by 2020. As a result, the scale of the computer systems required to manage these units has grown considerably. We've seen this in the past few years with the growth of the number of smartphones and tablets, and how enterprise IT departments have had to scale to handle these additional devices on their networks as well as within their applications. For instance, they're now having to consider additional software licenses, increased RAM, enhanced CPUs, more storage and faster networking to name a few. Managing these ever increasing demands, as well as providing a scalable and highly available service is a tough ask. But there are a number of technology solutions coming to the forefront to help address these issues. What is PaaS?Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) provides a mechanism that allows enterprises to control the whole application environment from a single place. Leveraging the investment in the virtualised layer of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), the PaaS sits on top and uses the required infrastructure resources. This enables application developers to build applications without worrying about the execution environment of the app, or how to scale it or provide high availability. The application describes to the PaaS the resources that it needs to run and the operator of the platform controls how much memory and storage the application requires from a management console. Choosing a languageThere are a number of programming languages available to develop applications, and different languages can be used in tandem to meet business needs. For example, developers can write a high throughput Node.js application that uses Web Sockets to serve their clients within the same PaaS as they are running a Java application that executes CPU intensive image manipulation. Establishing controlOperators are able to manage how a deployed application behaves and what resources it has access to. From a single place, the operator has complete control over the runtime characteristics of an application, what data sources it has access to, what compute it's permitted to use and how to handle failures. For example, if there was a sudden increase in site traffic due to a marketing push, adding additional instances of the application could be handled via a single click, or it could be automatically handled in some cases (although down-scaling is hard to predict precisely). PaaS also gives the developer control over the services that their applications can access. This is critical in IoT application development as the volume of sensor data that is expected to be transmitted over the network is increasing, and as a result, the ingestion of this data needs to be controlled. The PaaS provides another abstraction layer where the data providers can be separated from the applications accessing them, meaning the amount of throughput for each application can be easily governed. A high throughput example would be an application that ingests data from sensors distributed around a railway network, where the processing and storage of this data is not only business critical but also potentially harmful to life if it's not handled expediently. At the other end of the scale, a lower class of application that is storing data collected from dishwashers and processing it to provide better servicing plans to customers wouldn't require such high throughput compute and storage. As IoT becomes an increasingly integral part of everyday life, so too does the ability to securely receive data from everywhere, process it quickly, store it and scale as business demands dictate. Those businesses that take advantage of new technologies such as PaaS will be able to control and scale their business needs to meet the increasing demands of their customers.
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| Could BlackBerry unveil a slider at MWC? Posted: 15 Jan 2015 06:25 AM PST  It's been years since BlackBerry last released a phone with a sliding keyboard, but the company might be giving it another shot. A couple of rumours have emerged which are individually quite questionable but together become more compelling. As N4BB reports, late last year rumours started bubbling of two new BlackBerry phones with concealable keyboards, dubbed the Visa and Victoria. These devices seem to be based on an old patent, but the rumours suggested they'd launch in early Q2 of 2015. So far so suspect, but N4BB points out that BlackBerry's CEO John Chen has also stated that the company will unveil a unique concept device at MWC 2015. Probably not coming soonSo far the only BlackBerry handset we're expecting any time soon is the rather more mainstream sounding BlackBerry Rio, so that probably wouldn't fit the bill of a concept device, but a slider phone could. If we do see one at MWC then it may still not launch any time soon if at all, since it is possibly just a concept device and since the Rio was believed to be the only BlackBerry handset launching in the first half of 2015. But the company will apparently be revealing a 12 month roadmap at the event, which this phone could be a part of and at the very least it would suggest that BlackBerry is looking into sliding keyboards again, which is good news for slider fans everywhere.  |
| Ofcom to get tougher with BT over superfast broadband Posted: 15 Jan 2015 05:42 AM PST  Ofcom is preparing a set of tougher tests for BT's broadband division, as it looks to make sure the internet marketplace in the UK remains competitive. As a result, BT may raise its prices or reduce the fees it charges rivals to share its superfast broadband network. Ofcom already monitors the price BT charges to firms such as TalkTalk and Sky to use its network - a deal known as "virtual unbundled local access" or VULA. Around 3.4 million connections are currently sold on in this way. Now Ofcom wants to put tighter controls on the gap BT can leave between the wholesale and retail charges levied to its rivals and its customers. Other firms must be able "to compete and make a profit" in the words of the regulator. Testing times"We're not opposed to the principle of a test," said a BT spokesman. "Ofcom has said our current prices will also pass this new test when it comes into force. "However, we do not think our sports costs should be part of any assessment and we reject the notion that Sky and TalkTalk require further regulatory assistance." BT Sports - which is offered for free to BT's broadband customers - and the company's mooted takeover of EE are also going to be factored in to Ofcom's calculations. If BT's margins are squeezed by Ofcom then it may not be so keen to bid high for sporting rights in the future. Ofcom's proposals must now go before the European Commission for approval. If accepted, they will come into force in March and continue until March 2017. Via BBC  |
| Industry voice: Top five cloud trends for 2015: a new era of B2B innovation Posted: 15 Jan 2015 05:15 AM PST  While the public cloud wars continue to rage among Google, Amazon and Microsoft, over the course of this year, we're likely to see a quiet storm gathering around cloud platforms. Cloud platforms are typically less well understood architecture but serve as a growing greenfield for enterprise innovation, application creation and business agility. Why is the platform coming into its own? Look at these milestones concerning domain maturity and growth:
Here are the five cloud trends we predict will unfold over the course of 2015. 1. Gravitational forces pull cloud universes togetherAs clouds coalesce around CRM, HR, financials, and IT, we're seeing how these universes are naturally attracting one another. End users are demanding the expansive functionality that cloud integration provides – in shared services and a broader view of their operations and customers. Cloud vendors can build the requisite connections to draw themselves closer because in the cloud world there are fewer technology obstacles than in the data centre era. Specifically, APIs and common programming languages, such as Ruby or Perl, provide each universe with a widening and more accessible surface area to speed and simplify the connections. 2. A meteoric rise for cloud verticalisationAs cloud platforms continue to mature, and more organisations are drawn to the financial and innovative benefits, cloud is spurring interest from even those industries that have been hesitant. Think of those most beset with regulation, compliance and privacy: federal, life sciences, financial and healthcare. For example, while the US government's Cloud First strategy has moved slower than anticipated with only 2% of 2014 government agency IT budgets going to cloud services according to a report released last September, those agencies that have navigated security and compliance hurdles have delivered real innovation. Lots of cloud providers are going to take the necessary steps to receive appropriate industry certifications, creating more platforms designed to align to Sarbanes-Oxley, FDA, FedRamp and others. 3. CIOs buying services, not compute powerNot long ago, IT teams used to be the administrator of data centre infrastructure. But as the hardware behind the cloud (VMs, KVM, Docker, and so on) continues to become more scalable, connected and increasingly delivered as a service, IT teams can move away from a components-centric world of storage space or CPUs. In the future, we'll see more IT teams thinking of and buying services to deploy apps or solve problems, like adding request management, on-boarding employees and purchasing. IT teams are looking through the lens of the business services they deliver, not the IT components. This has several implications, and one is that the role of CIOs is moving away from being associated with broken smartphones, PCs and other hardware. Instead CIOs can focus on advising how to use IT to deliver the requisite business services. With that, CIOs are claiming their seat at the table with other business leaders. As a corollary, IT staff will need to develop new skills to be conversant in and support business services. 4. Data-as-a-Service or Business Intelligence 2.0 emergesAs more companies build cloud-based systems-of-record that capture their corporate operational data, the data residing there is increasingly ripe for business intelligence. More enterprises will tap this data as a repository rich for operational insight. How are users accessing the company's business services? What services are the most used? Having a single system of record can help IT teams leapfrog more traditional data warehousing techniques by running analytics on the sitting data in the system of record. 5. The cloud brings "agile development" to business teamsJust as agile development has changed the way software is coded, we're seeing that a cloud platform is expediting the way business teams can convert ideas into applications. By having a common platform to develop on, organisations can let their teams rapidly create and test their ideas – in days or weeks instead of months. They can fail quickly – investing and risking less money. Think of the cloud platform as enabling the "Series A" investor within the enterprise. Just look at what the USPS did to spur its 2014 holiday stamp program. In days they built a system to streamline postage stamp delivery from two factories to local post offices across the country based on a custom app. The cloud platform is unleashing a new era of B2B innovation.
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| Apple to use its own CPUs in future iMac and MacBooks? Posted: 15 Jan 2015 05:04 AM PST  A report published by analyst firm KGI claims that Apple will use its own processors in at least one Mac device in 2016 with 9to5Mac suggesting that it might be a future iteration of the yet-to-be-released 12-inch MacBook Air. Analysts for the firm reckon that the application processors, which will be replacing Intel's own, would perform at a level between Intel's current Bay Trail-based Atom and the Core i3. All MacBook Air laptops currently use the more powerful Core i5 and while it would make sense for Apple to switch to its own Ax-based AP to control its own destiny, it needs to do so without alienating its legacy users. The shadows of Project AquariusSamsung is expected to be the foundry fabricating these processors and KGI claims that it will be using a yet-to-be released 10nm FinFET process. If the claims are true, 2016 will mark a milestone in Apple's history as it will be the 30th anniversary of Project Aquarius, a failed attempt by Apple in the late 1980's to create a quad-core CPU to be used in its Mac computers. Over the past few years, the company has acquired two semiconductor companies (PA Semi and Intrinsity) as well as investing massively in Imagination Technologies.
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| Samsung says "a flood" of Tizen devices are on the way Posted: 15 Jan 2015 04:02 AM PST  After years of development, Samsung finally has its first Tizen-powered smartphone on the market in the form of the Z1. The company is promising that's just "the tip of the iceberg" though, and "a flood of devices" are on the way in 2015. Does that make Android the Titanic, about to run aground on Samsung's own OS? Perhaps. Samsung's Mingi Hyun has written a lengthy blog post on the company's plans for Tizen and its advantages over Android. "Tizen is 'lighter' than other operating systems," says Hyun, explaining that this lightness of touch means it can do more with less processing power and memory - something you can't really say about TouchWiz. Bring your own OSHyun says Tizen will be coming to smart appliances and smart TVs in the near future, and that the company is working hard building out an ecosystem that can connect all of these devices. Samsung wants to get all of its hardware hooked up to the web in the next five years. Google and Apple can still come to the party, though. "We also remain open to other operating systems," promises Hyun. "We also value the relationships we have built with our partners, as these relationships have helped us discover more ways to improve the user experience of our devices." Considering Samsung sold 665 million bits of kit in 2014, Tizen could get a foothold in the market very quickly if Samsung decides to go all-in with its own OS. With LG expanding its use of webOS as well, Google is going to have to stay on its toes as all of our devices get smarter.  |
| Downloads: Binary boot camp: 10 apps to get your PC in perfect shape Posted: 15 Jan 2015 04:00 AM PST  New Year is when many of us head for the gym to work off all those mince pies, but a January boot camp doesn't just benefit humans – it can be good for your PC, too. A regular cleanup can do wonders for your PC and make it the lean, mean machine it was when you bought it – and making your PC better can make you more productive too. Here are some of the apps that can help get your PC back in peak condition. 1. SiSoftware SandraSandra is the electronic equivalent of getting a full medical check: it analyses your PC and lets you know how well each part of it is performing, producing benchmarks that you can then compare against similar systems.
It can tell you the state of your hard disk, analyse the speed of your network, let you know if any part of your system is delivering less than stellar performance or identify conflicts between bits of your system, and while it's probably a little over the top for casual computer users, it's a great tool for PC power users and the insatiably curious. 2. CCleanerRunning CCleaner on your PC is like sweeping it with a brush: it gets rid of the dust and cruft that can accumulate over time and that can make your PC work harder and/or use up more disk space than it really needs to.
The app makes it simple to get rid of temporary internet files, system files and unwanted installers, clear log files and remove redundant Registry entries, clear applications' temporary files and prevent unwanted apps from running when Windows starts. It's simple, user-friendly and very quick, and there's a portable version if you want to run it from a flash drive or CD. 3. CrystalDiskInfoWant to know what state your hard disk or solid state drive is in? Then you need to get S.M.A.R.T. It's short for Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology, and it's a system that essentially means your hard disk can tell you whether it's feeling poorly.
CrystalDiskInfo lets you see the S.M.A.R.T. information for your drive(s), enabling you to see whether a drive is running too hot, if it's starting to report more and more disk errors or if it's about to go boom and take all your important data with it. It's a useful tool to have. 4. DriverEasyIf you're using Windows 7 or later you can skip this one, as Windows Update does a great job of keeping your system drivers up to date. On older systems, though, staying on top of driver updates can be a pain – albeit a necessary one, as driver updates often eradicate bugs and security flaws.
DriverEasy promises to make the whole process painless by analysing your system and comparing what you've got to its driver database to let you know whether anything needs updated, and while it doesn't install the new drivers automatically - that's in the paid version - downloading manually isn't too much hassle. 5. Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+Ad-Aware is designed to remove unwanted programs and to prevent them from getting onto your PC in the first place from malicious websites and infected emails. It scans for viruses and other dangerous software, and it also looks for adware and spyware.
The first of these is software that blasts you with unwanted ads, and the latter tracks what you're doing and uploads that information to third parties. A full scan of a typical PC can take ages, but it's worth doing – and once you've done it then the real-time protection should help keep your PC free of net nasties. 6. MP3tagIf like us you've got gigabytes of digital music on your PC, you've probably got a problem with it: the meta tags, the information that says what song is what and who did it, is often very messy.
MP3tag can solve that. From imposing consistency – no more will you have some songs marked REM and others R.E.M. – to correcting errors, standardising file names and downloading the correct album art for each record, MP3tag does a great job of taming even the largest, messiest MP3 collections. It works with non-MP3 music files too, with support for FLAC, AAC and more. 7. HandbrakeVideo formats fall in and out of fashion, and that means it's easy to end up with a hard disk full of clips in varying formats and in various resolutions, or a library of discs just dying to be digitised.
Handbrake can sort it all out for you. It can convert video clips from almost any format to any other format, which is great for getting files from dying or obsolete formats into more modern ones, and it can backup DVDs and Blu-rays too. Its filters also do a pretty good job of correcting common quality problems with home movies. 8. EraserDeleting files doesn't actually delete them: your computer just marks them as "safe to overwrite" and pretends they're not there. That's not a problem unless you're dealing with information you don't want to share – for example if you're selling a computer or giving it away you might not want someone to recover your personal banking information or other personal or business data.
Say hello to Eraser, which ensures that deleted files can't be recovered by overwriting them with carefully selected patterns. It's programmable, too, so you can schedule it to run at regular intervals such as the weekend or in the wee small hours. 9. RecuvaAs you may have guessed from the name, Recuva does the opposite of Eraser: its job is file recovery, not file deletion. It's our go-to app for retrieving image files from corrupted camera memory cards, enabling us to recover our precious holiday snaps, but it's just as happy recovering accidentally deleted music from iPods or business documents that got trashed during a computer crash.
It can rebuild corrupted Word documents from temporary files, recover accidentally deleted emails and get files back even after hard disks have been reformatted. When things go wrong, Recuva can usually make them right again. 10. Revo Uninstaller FreeRevo Uninstaller reaches the parts the default Windows uninstaller can't reach, scanning your PC for the various bits and pieces that are often left over once an app has been uninstalled, such as temporary files, user documents and redundant Registry entries.
That's particularly handy if you're tight for hard disk space or tend to install lots of apps. If you need more powerful uninstallation, for example to automatically remove multiple programs at the same time or to force-uninstall a program that's refusing to go nicely, the 30-day trial of the Professional version is fully functional and gives you access to all its advanced features.  |
| HTC's Android 5.0 update schedule leak reveals lots of Lollipop love Posted: 15 Jan 2015 03:31 AM PST -470-75.JPG) HTC has been relatively forthcoming about its Android 5.0 Lollipop plans, confirming early on that it would bring it to the HTC One M8 and original HTC One within 90 days of the final build being available. Sure enough the update has started arriving on unlocked and developer versions of the HTC One M8, with other versions of the handset expected to get it very soon. But what's next? Well, we might have the answer. According to a leak from HTC-Vietnam (which is not an official HTC site), the HTC One M7 will also be updated this month, which is in line with HTC's 90 day time frame. Then in February we'll apparently see Lollipop land on the HTC One E8, Desire Eye, One M8 Eye and Butterfly 2. March mayhemThings get even busier in March, with the HTC One Max, One M7 dual-SIM, Desire 816, Desire 820u, One Mini 2 and the Chinese versions of the One E8 and One M8 Eye all apparently getting the update. Finally the original HTC One Mini, Desire 610, Desire 820s and Desire 510 should get Android 5.0 in either March or April. That covers most of HTC's recent devices so if your phone isn't in the list we wouldn't hold out hope of getting the update. As for the list itself it seems believable, but as with all leaks it's best to take it with a pinch of salt. Even if it is true it's always possible that timings will change, but it suggests at least that most of HTC's handsets will be running Lollipop within a few months, which is pretty good going.
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| Microsoft sets time for Windows 10 live stream Posted: 15 Jan 2015 03:30 AM PST  Microsoft is due to shine the spotlight on Windows 10 at its Redmond campus on January 21, and now the company has set a time for you to tune in. The event will be livestreamed on Microsoft's dedicated Windows 10 story website from 9am (Pacific) / 5pm (GMT). Don't worry if you miss it: an on-demand version will be available to view on the same page straight after. Lined up to speak alongside the company's CEO Satya Nadella are several execs from its Operating Systems Group -- including Terry Myerson, Joe Belfiore and Phil Spencer. While Technical Previews of Windows 10 have focused on how it works on the desktop, Microsoft is expected to shed light on its consumer-focused features -- in addition to how it will charge for it.
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| Industry voice: What can be done to promote trust in electronic banking systems? Posted: 15 Jan 2015 03:25 AM PST  IntroductionIt wasn't so long ago that the PIN and personal password were your guarantee for secure internet banking. Then along came digital signatures and personalised images or phrases to ensure that the website is genuine, and the addition of single use Transaction Authentication Numbers (TAN), plus two factor authentication, where the TAN is generated by an individual security token or independently transmitted by email or SMS. Then chipTAN generators added transaction data to outwit man-in-the-middle attacks, and now there are calls for a further layer of biometric identification for added security. Does all this mean that, year-on-year, the public is growing ever more confident of the safety and security of internet banking? Probably not – any more than a house surrounded by a high wall with razor wire, electric fencing, motion detectors, security cameras and armed response warnings makes you feel confident that this must be a safe neighbourhood to live in. Layer upon layerAdding many layers of security is the obvious bit – the criminal may have discovered my PIN code and got a bank statement from the refuse bin, but still might not be sure about my birth date and mother's maiden name. When there is a certain amount of human interaction, as in telephone banking, you can even allow a bit of leeway on getting these answers exactly right. Sometimes the call centre asks for more details than I can provide: I have remembered to take my debit card and PIN, reminded myself of all my security answers – and then they ask for the amount of a monthly standing order and I simply cannot remember. But does that mean they will slam the phone down on me? No, they go on asking other questions and see how I manage. Even though I failed one security test, I get another chance because a human operator has time and the social skills to judge how I react to being told I have failed a test, how I explain or justify my failure, and how I respond to further questioning. A human operator has a human brain that can make very many more subtle decisions based on further layers of information. It can also be wrong. If, however, the whole transaction takes place via a keypad, there is vastly less corroborating data and greater reliance on mechanical answers. If the PIN or keyword is wrong, it is wrong, and it would be unwise to allow too many further attempts – because we might be under attack from a system using an algorithm to generate a series of likely PIN numbers. Judgement callsBut what if the keypad entry system was so sophisticated that it could, like the call centre staff, make judgements about such mistakes – whether, for example, the entry process was a mechanised attack, or behaving like an absent-minded but genuine customer, or like a hacker trying out a series of likely guesses? Google searches, for example, are pretty good at guessing what was really meant when terms are misspelled – they don't just shut down on you. Similar intelligence might help make decisions on whether a mistaken password was a slip or fraud and, like a human operator, it might actually identify, raise an alarm and help nail the attacker instead of simply blocking them to try again later. We're talking the future here – artificial intelligence may be sufficiently advanced to provide some interesting screening attempts, but not yet enough to be trusted with anything as sensitive and precious as real-world customers who are paying for the bank's services. There are, however, recent developments that could bring that future closer. A fuzzy approachSo what can be done right now to increase trust in banking systems? Today's most advanced automated security tests throw every known attack at the system under every likely operating condition and – being cloud-based – the tests are kept up-to-date with new attacks as soon as they are recognised. This is a powerful solution for reassuring the bank's management that their systems are indeed secure and trustworthy, but it is hard to explain this to the customer in a way that builds their trust. They might even wonder why – if the system was properly designed in the first place – does it now need so much additional testing? The human factor in telephone banking raises the question of whether better trust might be built around a more organic test approach – one that builds up layers of testing that are not so rigidly defined. You could describe these test criteria as being "fuzzy", meaning that the correct responses are not so sharply delineated around the edges. The point is that today's sophisticated test procedures do include a form of "fuzzing testing" as a way of addressing unknown security threats. Fuzzing testing bombs the system – anywhere where applications and devices receive inputs – with semi-random data instead of known attack profiles. This is one way to find if any irregular input can crash or hang an application, bring down a website or put a device in a compromised state – the sort of thing that might happen when someone inputs a letter 'O' when it should have been zero, or accidentally hits an adjacent key. Zero-day attacksAnother goal of fuzzing testing is to anticipate "zero-day" attacks – i.e. those that hit you before they hit the news. Hackers assume that you have thoroughly tested your system with traditional functional testing, but there are so many permutations of invalid random input that may not have been tested. As David Newman, President of Benchmarking Consultancy Network Test, explains: "Attackers have long exploited the fact that even subtle variations in protocols can cause compromise or failure of networked devices. Fuzzing technology helps level the playing field, giving implementers a chance to subject their systems to millions of variations in traffic patterns before the bad guys get a chance to". All it might take is one random string of input to cause a crash or hang, and so hackers use automated software to keep throwing random input at your network in the chance of striking lucky. "It takes a thief to catch a thief", as they say – so fuzzing testing does the same thing, but under controlled conditions. Again, such fuzzing testing relies heavily on automation to get sufficient test coverage. Today's fuzzing test tools generate millions of permutations – not only making the network much more secure, but also saving manual work and keeping the testing fast and efficient. The immediate benefit of fuzzing testing is that it increases the bank's trust in its own system security. But does that help the customer to build trust? I suggest that it does, for the following reasons. One of the things that supports trust in Google is the way it handles silly mistakes: if a user misspells a search term, Google comes up with intelligent suggestions, and that gives the feel of a well-designed system. By analogy, if a customer makes a small slip when logging in to the bank, and the system responds stupidly or even crashes, it suggests that the system is fragile, and that does not build customer confidence. So the greater resilience to error resulting from repeated fuzzing testing does make the system seem less fragile – and that is the first step in building confidence. What lies ahead?Today's functional test systems can do a lot to reassure network managers that their systems are defended as well as possible against attacks and faults, but then the task is to pass on that confidence to the customer without over-explaining and sounding "defensive" in the negative sense. Fuzzing tests go further along the same lines by adding confidence against unknown and unexpected threats, but I suggest that their application could also make the system begin to feel more solid and trustworthy to the customer. Can we go further? Can we build into a mechanised entry system the equivalent of human intelligence that can assess the personality of the applicant and make good decisions about the credibility of their responses, and what further questions to ask? Instead of just dumbly closing down, can the system flag a danger signal and then escalate authentication with further security checks? To the customer, such an intelligent response would suggest that the system really is alert to danger and "knows what it is doing" – as scary, and yet as comforting, as a community police officer with good local knowledge and experience. We still have a long way to go before computers can match those skills, but recent advances in real time big data analysis could help clarify understanding of human behaviour patterns, and suggest more subtle tests to identify fraudulent behaviour. Couple that with fuzzing techniques that extend response testing to embrace the infinite variety of possible near misses, and this could point the way ahead. Because the real challenge is two-fold: both to make the system resilient to attack and, at the same time, to build the customers' trust that the system is truly resilient.
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