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• Downloads: The best free apps for your gaming PC
• Industry voice: The key to a successful IT transformation: understanding user needs
• Industry voice: Why it's important to empower all staff members with Business Intelligence
• House of Cards Season 3 arrives early thanks to Netflix glitch
• Samsung Galaxy S6 camera is going pro
• Saviour of Star Wars is now making your future 4K movies
• Industry voice: How SMBs can use cloud technology for international expansion
• Updated: The VR race: who's closest to making VR a reality?
• Samsung pours a tall glass of Milk Music on Australians
• Review: LG 55EC930T OLED
• Review: Updated: Xbox One
• Google's new Apple Pay rival may be the simplest payment option yet
• Despite the hype, Android Wear adoption is pretty low
• Updated: Google IO 2015: news, rumors and predictions
• In Depth: Next Xbox: what will the Xbox Two be like and when will we see it?
• UPDATED: iOS 9 release date, features and rumors
• Want to unlock your phone? Starting today, just ask your carrier
• iPhone's anti-theft Activation Lock actually helps thwart baddies
• Updated: Verizon-exclusive Lumia Icon meets Cortana with Denim update
• Review: AVM Fritz!Box 3490 Review

Downloads: The best free apps for your gaming PC Posted: 12 Feb 2015 04:00 AM PST Gaming on the PC is still a thriving business, despite the success of consoles such as the Playstation 4 and Xbox One. However, the 3D graphics used in the latest games can put a real strain on your PC. Fortunately, we've got some great free apps that can help you fine-tune your PC's gaming performance. We've also found some useful apps that can help you find the best games on sale, and even record and upload your own gaming videos onto sites like YouTube or Twitch. 1) Steam It isn't the only online store for buying and downloading PC games, but Steam is far and away the biggest. It offers a vast library of games, both old and new, and is now responsible for more than 60% of global sales of PC games. As well as selling new games, the Steam app lets you download free demos and runs special offers on older games too. There's also a Community section where you can join discussions with other gamers, or check out the workshop where fans develop their own 'mods' – modifications – that add new content or features to your favourite games. 2) Game Booster Even when your PC looks as though it's sitting idle, it's actually running many different processes – programs or other Windows features that run in the background and take up processor power and memory. Game Booster allows you to turn off these processes in order to devote maximum power and memory to your games. It also includes a Tweaking option that lets you fine-tune other Windows settings, plus a diagnostic tool that can help you analyse crashes or other problems on your PC. It's not a tool for beginners, though, as you'll need a bit of technical know-how to understand some of the techno-jargon that it throws at you. 3) MSI Afterburner Afterburner was originally designed for MSI's own range of graphics cards, but it will work with most graphics cards that use Nvidia's GeForce processors or Radeon processors from AMD. The app allows you to adjust a variety of settings in order to improve the performance of your graphics card. The two key options are for increasing the clock speed of your main graphics processor, and the video memory attached to it (hence the term 'overclocking'). Fiddling with these settings can cause your PC to overheat if you're not careful, so the app also monitors the temperature of your graphics card and even allows you to speed up the internal fan to help keep things cool. 4) Nvidia GeForce Experience You should always keep up to date with the latest drivers for your graphics card, but Nvidia's GeForce Experience does a lot more than just check for driver updates. Now installed on more than 35 million desktop and laptop PCs that use nVidia graphics cards, GeForce Experience can analyse your PC system and then automatically adjust the graphics and other settings on your games in order to achieve the best performance. It also includes a feature called ShadowPlay that allows you to make video recordings of your games sessions so that you can upload them to sites such as YouTube or Twitch and become an online gaming superstar. 5) Fraps Speed is crucial in action games, and a few extra frames per second can make the difference between winning or being blown to smithereens. Fraps can help you fine-tune the performance of your PC by displaying the frame rate up in one corner of the screen while you are running any of your favourite games. This allows you to experiment with different graphics settings so that you can get the right balance between speed and eye-popping graphics effects. There are a number of different options available, including the ability to record minimum, maximum and average frame rates, so you can analyse the performance of your PC in great detail. 6) Voice-chat apps Whether you're playing a co-op game with just three or four people, or taking part in a World Of Warcraft raid with hundreds of your guildmates, you'll need a good voice-chat app to let you communicate effectively in the heat of battle. There are three main voice-chat apps that dominate the gaming scene – Teamspeak, Mumble and Ventrilo – and each one has its own strengths. Mumble is technically very slick, but Ventrilo is widely used on massively multiplayer games like World Of Warcraft, while Teamspeak also runs on Macs, Android and iOS devices too. Ultimately, though, your choice will probably depend on which one your guild or team is already using. 7) HWiNFO HWiNFO is a bit like a souped-up version of the Device Manager that is included as part of Windows. However, it provides much more detailed technical info than Device Manager so that you can keep your PC running smoothly for games and other tasks. If you want to experiment with overclocking, HWiNFO can monitor the temperature of each individual core within a dual- or quad-core processor. It can display a graph of memory usage so that you can see if there are any programs taking up memory that you need for your games. You can also monitor the performance of your network so that you get good upload and download speeds for online gaming. 8) OBS If you want to show your gaming videos to the world then you'll need some software to help you stream your videos online. There are a number of broadcasting programs available, including XSplit and WireCast, but one of the most popular on gaming sites like Twitch is OBS – Open Broadcaster Software. Although it's completely free, OBS provides lots of useful features, including support for both H.264 video compression and Intel's rival Quick Sync format. As well as simply broadcasting video footage from your games, OBS also allows you to create 'scenes' that combine video with other types of files, such as a voiceover recording or a webcam insert that shows you talking alongside your game footage.

Industry voice: The key to a successful IT transformation: understanding user needs Posted: 12 Feb 2015 03:40 AM PST Most organisations want to deliver innovation through IT. And a lot of folks talk about transformation as being the way to do that – to refresh their IT estates so that IT really delivers tangible business benefits rather than simply providing "more of the same". I think that's absolutely the right idea. But I see people really struggling to make that vision a reality. If you think about it, maybe we can see why. Building and managing an End User Computing (EUC) estate is a mature and well understood activity. Since the mid 90s, hardware refresh with an updated operating system (almost certainly a Microsoft OS) has been the strategy. Virtualisation has added to the mix but the basic principles are the same. Two major trends Two unstoppable trends are combining to disrupt this status quo: firstly, an explosion in device types and secondly, the rush to cloud platforms and SaaS delivery by application providers. In the future, most business apps will be available – and possibly only available – via the cloud over a browser. So, what does this mean for innovation? We have to be realistic about how much change is possible in one go. Clearly, for many organisations, there are real obstacles to transformation in people's minds: cost, risk (security), the fact that the new model just seems too radically different from the current way of thinking and so on. You know that the days of one-size-fits-all desktop procurement are over… but honestly don't know what to do about that. A matter of perspective There are two points to consider that might help. Firstly, start moving from an equipment/kit perspective ('John will need a desktop PC') to a user profile/persona perspective ('John has these application needs to do the job we are hiring him for' and 'John uses these applications to do his job'). This is really the best way to unlock the door to transformation: how to provision the user in the most efficient manner – in terms of the right software, device, applications, connectivity, database access and so forth. Does John really need, for example, the same level of gold-plated security as Jane, his boss, or would it be more efficient for the company and for John to have a more flexible, cloud-based working environment? And the second thought: if you are serious about innovation and estate transformation, you need to put change at the centre of all your thinking and planning going forward. People's roles are changing. ICT is now used by everyone in the company or public sector service delivery organisation you work for. You need to meet that demand in a way that you can manage. How people work can also change, dynamically, over time: if you took a snapshot of everyone's ICT needs in January, I'll bet you a big sum of money that by July at least some of those needs will be radically different. Ongoing process To get to the user profile level of ICT delivery, as well as the ability to flex and change as user requirements do, you need to be building an ongoing management process that looks at how people work and which devices and applications they really use. Identifying what resources are out there and, more importantly, how they are used and what each individual user needs to do their job, must be a constant process happening every day of the year. So, in summary, if I have one message, it's this: the transformation journey starts with understanding the user as an individual. Get this right and you will be well prepared for the disruption ahead! Marina Stedman is Marketing Director at Centrix Software

Industry voice: Why it's important to empower all staff members with Business Intelligence Posted: 12 Feb 2015 03:14 AM PST Business Intelligence (BI) as a discipline is now mature, with most organisations using data warehouses and BI tools to support their decision-making. The search is on for ways to make the most of that data, extracting every last gram of value in order to gain a competitive advantage. Buzzword-heavy areas such as predictive analytics and big data are the obvious signs of this search, but what about giving more people access to the information? Why is 'BI for the masses' important, and how can you get there? The long tail concept Many people will be aware of the term 'long tail'. It's the idea that online retailers like Amazon make more money from less well-known books and movies than from the big sellers. This is because there are so many more of the obscure products than the popular ones. Even though they sell relatively few, the 'long tail' of the sales chart is so long that, overall, all those small sales figures add up to something really significant. Now think of the decisions being made in your organisation every day. You'll have several levels of seniority, from top managers, through to people on the shop floor. Each person is making all kinds of decisions on a daily basis. The executives are making high-level strategic ones, helped by the BI provided by the IT department. Due to the nature of management, there are fewer of these people (and therefore fewer decisions being made) than the main 'doers' in the organisation. All these 'doers' are making decisions too, however small. And this long tail of decision-making makes a huge difference to your organisation, especially when you consider the collective impact. Business intelligence for the SMB market The challenge The challenge is how to give access to data and BI tools to everyone in your organisation, to support all decisions and help give you that competitive advantage you want. It's not easy: by the nature of the long tail, there are many more different types of decision that need to be supported, and your IT department is unlikely to be able to devote the time to making all the different reports to support each and every one. Achieving success So how do you put the power of BI in the hands of all your staff? The key is to take a multipronged approach. New data discovery tools have made it possible for more people to self-serve their BI than ever before, and tools such as Microsoft's Power BI are certainly part of the puzzle. But there are many challenges associated with self-service BI, and these tools alone won't meet the challenge. A complementary approach is to embed BI in the processes and tools that people use on a day-to-day basis. They may not even realise they're using BI, but having the data in front of them, at exactly the time they need it, supports their decision in about the most effective way possible. Real rewards There's no one-size-fits-all solution to supporting the long tail of decision making, but simply recognising the importance of all those little decisions helps reveal there is another way to gain competitive advantage rather than throwing money at the next BI buzzword – investing in the accessibility and reach of BI in your organisation can reap real rewards. Richard Back is a Business Intelligence architect at IPL

House of Cards Season 3 arrives early thanks to Netflix glitch Posted: 12 Feb 2015 02:42 AM PST Well this was a nice surprise for House of Cards fans - the third season just made a brief appearance on Netflix ahead of its planned February 27 debut. The first ten episodes were available to watch but it didn't take Netflix long to realised it had sprung a leak, meaning even the staunchest of turbo-bingers wouldn't have made much of a dent in the new series. So what happened? Netflix told TechRadar: "Due to a technical glitch some Frank Underwood fans for a sneak peek. He'll be back on Netflix on Feb. 27". For those of you incapable of exercising any self control, the episode summaries have been posted around the web. But seriously, why would you do that to yourself? Why an 'offline mode' is never coming to Netflix

Samsung Galaxy S6 camera is going pro Posted: 12 Feb 2015 02:24 AM PST Samsung always puts a lot of work into its cameras, particularly on its flagships and it looks like the Samsung Galaxy S6 will be no exception, with the latest reports pointing to a 20MP snapper with new features. An "insider" for SamMobile has reportedly got hold of a prototype Galaxy S6 and revealed that it's equipped with a 20MP snapper with optical image stabilisation, along with a 5MP front-facing camera. Supposedly the rear camera can take photos in 20MP, 15MP, 11MP, 8MP, 6MP and 2.4MP, while the front camera is the same as the Galaxy A series of phones. Given that this is just a prototype there is some question as to whether the Galaxy S6 will actually ship with this lens. SamMobile theorises that as the Galaxy S Edge won't be shipped in as high quantities as the Galaxy S6, Samsung may only use a 20MP snapper in that if the unit proves expensive or difficult to mass produce. Photo pro One thing that's less likely to change is the software and there's new information on that too. Apparently the camera app will have a Pro mode offering three different focus settings, including manual focus. The name suggests it may also have additional features, such as RAW support, to give users even more power and control, but that's not been confirmed. The gallery app will supposedly be more intuitive by showing text beside each icon so you know exactly what hitting it will do. So as an obvious example, rather than just a trash can you'll presumably also see the word 'delete'. This leak follows a blog post by Samsung, where the company claimed that its next flagship camera would be intelligent and allow users to take amazing pictures under any conditions, without having to do anything but press the shutter button. If anything that's at odds with the presence of a Pro mode, but it would make sense for Samsung to try and provide something for everyone. Who needs Galaxy S6 leaks when you've got a support page?

Saviour of Star Wars is now making your future 4K movies Posted: 12 Feb 2015 01:55 AM PST You may not be familiar with the name Peter Harmy, but you may have come across his excellent work in creating a remastered, unaltered version of the original Star Wars trilogy, which dropped all of the edits made since their original releases. The Star Wars Despecialised Editions went down a storm with fans of the original movies, and it turns out that his work also caught the eye of NanoTech Entertainment, which has just hired Harmy to help it convert a number of existing movies into 4K. Those will be beamed through its UltraFlix 4K streaming service in a bid to take on rivals like Amazon and Netflix in the 4K arena. Now, how about getting that 4K Star Wars trilogy we've been waiting for? YouTube : www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHfLX_TMduY Everything you need to know about 4K right now

Industry voice: How SMBs can use cloud technology for international expansion Posted: 12 Feb 2015 12:15 AM PST According to recent figures, over 40 percent of the world's population is now online, accounting for around three billion people. By 2018 it's estimated that a further two billion will have joined them. We truly live in a global village and for UK businesses everywhere this represents an incredible opportunity to expand and attract new customers, suppliers and employees. In recognition of this the UK government aims to double the UK's exports to £1 trillion by 2020, but for many SMBs overseas expansion still remains a daunting prospect which they would rather forego in favour of 'keeping it local'. But it doesn't need to be daunting. There's a plethora of highly affordable cloud-based technologies that can help small businesses break down international barriers without sacrificing all of their money, or perhaps more importantly, their time in the process. Where to start The first barrier to exploring overseas opportunities for a lot of SMBs is knowing where to begin. Not only is prospecting overseas for a new business challenging, but how can strong personal relationships with new stakeholders be maintained from hundreds of miles away without regular, costly business trips? No technology can completely replace the benefits of getting out there and physically meeting with international prospects, but technology can play a pivotal role in effective ongoing communications and when following up with new prospects. Whilst you cannot be physically present at all times, the use of videoconferencing and online meetings is a cost effective way to maintain a 'local' presence, helping to deliver the same high level of personal service that would be expected from a UK-based customer or supplier. A great example of this is Conversion Rate Experts, a UK-based Citrix customer with a largely international client base. Knowing it would be far too costly and time consuming to conduct all of their meetings face to face, they use GoToMeeting to help with international collaboration needs. Citrix GoToMeeting review In just one week, a member of their team was recently able to hold 39 meetings with clients in 11 different countries, without ever having to leave his office. Online meeting solutions usually offer VoIP phone call functionality as well, putting an end to big business phone bills as an added bonus. Another issue for many SMBs exploring international opportunities is that of control. When customers and suppliers are many miles away, how do you know what they are doing and how can you keep tabs on everyone? Power of the web Despite these concerns, it's important to remember that international business is done between people, not countries. The power of the web makes working with someone in another country no different to working with someone in the same building. Cloud-based file sharing solutions allow data and documents to be shared securely with anyone, anywhere, while online collaborative workspaces make it extremely simple for colleagues who are physically far apart to exchange ideas and communicate as if they are sat around the same table. Online workspaces can be tailored to the needs of any given project and scaled according to the number of people involved. Access to cloud-based workspaces can also be controlled for security purposes, but is usually completely flexible so colleagues, customers and suppliers can all collaborate within the same workspace if required. These are just a couple of examples of how small businesses can use technology to break down barriers to international growth, cutting down business miles, data traffic and expenses through intelligent deployment of smart flexible solutions. Growth Vouchers Also note that if you are unsure on how to make the most out of the technology available to your business, the government's Growth Vouchers scheme offers small businesses the chance to receive up to £2,000 worth of specialist advice on a variety of key business topics including digital technology. To find out more about Growth Vouchers, head over here. Andrew Millard is Senior Director Marketing EMEA at Citrix

Updated: The VR race: who's closest to making VR a reality? Posted: 11 Feb 2015 11:27 PM PST The VR race: Sony, Microsoft and Google When it comes to emerging technologies, numerous tech companies appear to be eyeing virtual reality as a veritable New World ripe for plunder. The technology itself, of course, has existed for decades in one form or another; however, it's only been able to offer little more than novel functionality for consumer-facing markets. But VR technology has evolved dramatically in recent years and the industry is now heating up and heading towards a virtual arms race. Companies like Samsung, Sony, Google and Oculus are now all names associated with VR for gaming, social and mobile platforms - and they're all getting closer to bringing their products to market, but how fully realized will the products be? Now that Microsoft has officially entered the playing field with the HoloLens - which focuses on augmented reality, or holograms - will AR finally secure a place under the spotlight too? Let's take a look at how the virtual competition stack up so far. Console gaming and VR: Sony's Project Morpheus Virtual reality for console gamers may not get more in-depth than Sony's Project Morpheus. Reviewers commented that the product feels "more polished" than other products reportedly close to market, including the Oculus Rift. Specs are subject to change, but the current prototype runs a 1080p HD LCD display coupled with a 90-degree field of vision. Like many of these devices in the development phase, the chief concern of reviewers is the weight of the headset. Wearing heavy VR headsets for longer than 15 minutes ruins the experience with the possibility of sore neck muscles and headaches. Potential Competitive Edge: Sony has its own movie and television studios, a huge pile of cash and the PS4 to its credit. This means the company can supply much of its own content, and that it has a ready-made legion of loyal gamers at its disposal. While Sony's initial aspirations for its VR headset seem to be a little more limited in scope than Facebook's, they are no less ambitious. When the project was announced last March (perhaps no coincidence that this was roughly the same time Facebook acquired Oculus), SCE President Shuhei Yoshida went on record to say, "Project Morpheus is the latest example of innovation from SCE, and we're looking forward to its continued development and the games that will be created as development kits get into the hands of content creators." Promising reports from tech reviews also appear to indicate that there is little downside to the Morpheus at this stage in its development. It would seem that Sony currently is firing on all cylinders with its VR offering. Lagging behind: Microsoft HoloLens The seven year project has been under wraps for a long time though Microsoft is a late-comer to the VR/AR party with its latest offering: the HoloLens. The FOVE was previously on this list as the closest to virtual reality Microsoft ventured into, but it seems like augmented reality is where the company is headed now. Not much else has been mentioned about the AR device in terms of pricing, but Microsoft is shooting for the same release date as Windows 10 - which is pretty ambitious considering it's been rumored as June 2015. Aside from giving the HMD a fancy marketing spin - holographic projections opposed to augmented reality, Microsoft invented a third processor: a holographic processing unit or HPU. The HoloLens also includes a CPU and GPU as well. The HoloLens will be wireless, meaning users can move and interact untethered in the world around them as they simultaneously view and interact with projections. It also doesn't need a PC connection or phone to operate making the battery life questionable as it's unknown at this point. A service called Holo Studios lets HoloLens users create 3D objects, moving and manipulating projected images in space. These creations can then be 3D printed. Potential Competitive Edge: Like Sony, Microsoft's Xbox One allows for a very clear path to market. And if coupled with the console, this headset could make for an incredibly versatile device with a wide range of both gaming and non-gaming applications. Our hands on with the HoloLens provided a pleasantly surprising experience - one that left skeptics in awe at how well the HMD actually works. It looks like it's past the prototype stage but it still probably has a long way to go. It doesn't seem likely it launch on time this year either considering the device seems pricey to manufacture. The promising hardware and software coupled with the untethered aspect - if it doesn't suck up all the battery life - could make the HoloLens the biggest achievement for Microsoft in the augmented reality space. DIY virtual reality: Google Cardboard While many VR companies look to create all-inclusive headsets that use their own operating systems, tech giant Google has gone a decidedly different route. The company's developers wanted to create a way for people to enjoy virtual reality that didn't involve expensive equipment. What they came up with is "I/O Cardboard" - a cut-and-fold VR headset that integrates with any Android phone and its corresponding Cardboard app. The strategy takes aim at democratizing the VR movement by putting headsets into the hands of consumers and developers who may otherwise consider products like these well out of their price range. Cardboard is an open-source project, which leaves the development field wide open for whoever thinks they can improve on what Google has started. The full design specs to create a Cardboard prototype areavailable through Google for free. Potential Competitive Edge: Google's R&D department is massive, and the company is well-known for its clever designs. It also isn't afraid to take risks in pricing to get its foot in the door against much higher-priced devices (just look at the Chromecast). Additionally, some industry observers have speculated that this could lead to some sort of VR integration with Google Glass further down the road. It seems unlikely, though, that Cardboard will be able to compete directly with some of the more advanced and full-featured headsets in the market. Google also has a pretty significant graveyard of abandoned projects, and only time will tell if Cardboard's headstone will be among them. Google teams up with LG: VR for G3 Little is known right now about VR for G3 except that Google software will be used to create a virtual reality environment. The design of VR for G3 is based on the blueprint for Google Cardboard. VR for G3 is also reminiscent of Samsung Gear VR since it uses an LG G3 phone to provide the visuals and sound. It will also feature a special "neodymium ring magnet" that uses the phone's gyroscope to let users control it without touching the display. Potential Competitive Edge: Pricing is key here. If Galaxy Note 4 owners are willing to buy the Gear VR, G3 owners may be drawn to the VR for G3. But phone-specific tethering could also kill both VR devices. It's also unclear how well the G3 VR works at this point but the power of Google may help the tech succeed. Then again, the hype over Google Glass didn't do it any good since it's been shelved for the unforeseeable future. The VR race: Oculus, Samsung and Razer Sleek mobile integration: Samsung's Gear VR Google may want to bring low-cost VR to the masses, but Samsung's Gear VR headset makes mobile virtual reality look sleek and seamless with its dedicated platform. The big reveal for Gear VR happened during IFA 2014. The differentiating factor for this headset is the addition of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 - meaning Gear VR isn't a standalone device. In fact, there is a compartment at the front of the device for the handset. Gear VR hasn't been a complete letdown and is in fact, pushing VR along quite nicely. It's helping spawn a mobile VR movement of sorts and with the help of Oculus, the tech seems to sound so far but devs need to step it up and provide more VR experiences. Potential Competitive Edge: Like Sony, Samsung is capable of putting an enormous amount of funding behind this project. In recent years, the company's smartphones have garnered an enormous base of loyal followers to rival (or even surpass) Apple's iPhone. The Gear VR is also the first virtual reality device to make it to market - plus the first VR mobile device to boot - and it isn't completely horrible. However, if Samsung chooses to limit Gear VR's compatibility exclusively to its Note 4 phones, it also could limit the market in terms of eligible consumers. Were the device to be compatible with a range of Android devices, though, Samsung would likely be able to expand its market. YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvDb0C5pGYI Industry leader: Facebook's Oculus Rift If smartphone headsets are the toe-in-the-water version of VR, then Oculus is on an Olympic-diving-board level. Remember that duct-taped Oculus VR prototype with the bulging cable headdress from 2012? That was ages before Facebook bought the tech startup for $2 billion in March, 2014. The company's latest development kit for its flagship VR headset, the Oculus Rift (dubbed Crescent Bay by the dev team), is the industry's leader by a massive margin. The Oculus Rift sports 1080p Samsung OLED screens (960 x 1080 in each eye) with a 110 degree field of vision and is paired with an infrared camera for depth tracking, along with 40 infrared emitters within the headset. It can be joined together with a Leap Motion controller for an intense sense of immersion. While reviewers said performance adjustments from the Crystal Cove prototype weren't staggering when it became DK2, they noted the frame rate was smoother. Sadly, all the improvements in the world won't get this product to market any faster. Decision-makers at Oculus still haven't set a date for the headset's release, but that hasn't stopped them from taking pre-orders. Potential Competitive Edge: The Oculus Rift has both a ton of hype and a boatload of name recognition working in its favor. Additionally, the pairing with Leap Motion opens a seemingly limitless world of applications when it comes to augmented reality. The device's substantial backing by Facebook also ensures it's not going to be looking for financial support anytime soon. However, the longer it takes this product to reach consumers, the less these advantageous factors will matter as its competitors will only continue to gain ground by leaps and bounds. For its own part, though, Facebook appears to be setting itself up for the long game when it comes to the Rift. When Oculus VR was acquired by Facebook last March, Mark Zuckerburg was quoted as saying, "Strategically we want to start building the next major computing platform that will come after mobile [...] There are not many things that are candidates to be the next major computing platform. [This acquisition is a] long-term bet on the future of computing." Seeking standards: Razer OSVR OSVR is Razer's answer to the Wild West of virtual reality. The company created a new platform called Open-Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) in an attempt to unify those in the VR field, and people who want a piece of the VR pie. Essentially, the open platform is free and will allow third parties to design and build their own apps and hardware across any operating systems, including Windows, Android and Linux. The OSVR is available limitedly to developers now, with public access arriving later in 2015 But that's not all from Razer. The company also announced a VR head mounted display its calling the OSVR Hacker Dev Kit. The HMD isn't close to being ready for consumers from our hands on during CES, but the prototype promises to be modular and like the software, completely open. Potential Competitive Edge: If Google is trying DIY VR, Razer is taking it to another level. The company promises it will be modular and like the software, completely open. Design schematics for the hardware will even be available to print out on 3D printers. But from our hands on during CES, the HMD is far from ready for consumers and is still very much a prototype right now. Will Razer at least win in terms of standardization? It seems like more companies are jumping on board the OSVR train. If hardware won't win, the software and platform may come out on top. The verdict: Still unclear So do any of these companies truly have a decisive advantage? To some extent, arguments could be made for most of these headsets. Oculus currently is considered the industry leader, but Sony's Morpheus appears to be poised as its strongest competition. And though it's not virtual reality, the Microsoft HoloLens is certainly garnering a lot of attention. It's also worthwhile noting that Sony and Samsung both are extremely well-funded where Sony in particular, can leverage its PS4 consumer base to hit the ground running with its headset. Microsoft, of course, possesses a similar advantage with its Xbox One fans. While its headset's functionality likely will be used with smartphones, Samsung does have a wide app and gaming environment to help bolster its offering. There may also be other unexplored advantages to coupling a 3D experience with the convenience and portability of a smartphone. Google Cardboard, too, could find itself benefitting from this paradigm, with VR for G3 and even with the Project Tango tablet. In the end, the future of VR headsets will inevitably revolve around these devices' ability to make gamers (and then, presumably, the wider non-gaming market) want to use them. That means the goal is making them affordable, wearable and simply better at creating a compelling graphical experience than the current model. In either case, the public will find out who truly has the upper hand in a matter of months.

Samsung pours a tall glass of Milk Music on Australians Posted: 11 Feb 2015 10:31 PM PST Samsung refuses to give up in the competitive music streaming market. Just months after it finally gave up the battle for its Samsung Music Hub, the Korean giant is back in Australia with the launch of its Milk Music streaming service. The digital radio streaming service – more akin to Pandora than Spotify – offers genre-based streaming for Galaxy device users, with over 150 different stations available to choose from. Users can fine-tune each of the stations to mix up older and newer songs, as well more and less popular tracks. Preferences can be synced across devices, so long as you log in with your Samsung account. A galaxy of sound In typical Samsung fashion, Milk Music is only available for users of certain Samsung devices. If you want to use the app, you'll need to own a Galaxy S3, Galaxy S4, Galaxy S5, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy Note Edge, Galaxy Tab 4, Galaxy Tab S, Galaxy Note Pro, Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 edition) or the Galaxy Gear S. The app is free to download from the Google Play or Samsung App Store, although you will get ads during playback. There doesn't appear to be a paid option to turn that off. There's also no indication on the music selection, and whether the app has a radio license like Pandora that gives it access to everything, or individual deals with record labels like Spotify. Need a device to check out Milk Music? Why not read our Galaxy S5 review?

Review: LG 55EC930T OLED Posted: 11 Feb 2015 08:20 PM PST Introduction There was a point a few years ago that OLED was threatening to follow SED TVs into the abyss of failed television technologies. Thankfully, LG seems determined to make the technology succeed, and has been both improving the screen size of OLED displays while dropping the price. The 55EC930T is the latest LG OLED television to hit Australian shores. Priced at just $3,999, it's a third of the $12,000 price tag of the company's first OLED panel which launched in the tail end of 2013. Like all LG OLEDs before it, this model features the curved screen that seems to be in vogue with the South Korean manufacturers at the moment. Unfortunately, there's no option for a flat screen model with OLED, so if you want to get on board with the TV tech, you'll need to accept the bent display. To be fair, it's not too great a sacrifice. You also get a Smart TV powered by webOS – which works incredibly well on the large TV – alongside all of LG's VOD services like SBS On Demand, ABC iView and BigPond Movies. Also in the box is the LG Magic Remote, which has improved dramatically since it was introduced and now feels like an intuitive interface rather than a Wiimote gimmick. But given that even Samsung appears to have given up on OLED technology for its televisions, there's not a huge amount of competition for LG here. Electronics and in/out ports backpack from the curved panel, which is reinforced with carbon fibre to give it strength. There are three side facing HDMI inputs (one of which is MHL compliant), plus a trio of USBs, a headphone mini jack output and PCMCIA card slot. Downward facing is another HDMI, which is ARC enabled for routing audio back to an AV receiver or soundbar, plus terrestrial aerial and satellite feeds, a component AV input via an adaptor, an optical digital output and LAN jack. Naturally, you don't have to hardwire your network connection. There's dual band wireless support for 2.4 and 5Ghz, as well as Wi-Fi Direct. If your building and router distance doesn't preclude it, it's sensible to opt for 5GHz to reduce dependence on what's often an overcrowded Wi-Fi band. Two remote controls are provided; a short, functional infra-red wand and LG's latest Magic Remote pointer. For the most part, the latter is the most convenient way of navigating around the set, although you will occasionally need to use the IR. The set is light, tipping the scales at just 16.7kg with stand. The panel is amazingly thin at 4mm. Picture quality There's no mistaking an OLED picture when you see it. With an impenetrable black level performance, bright dynamic peaks and deep rich colours, the technology provides eye candy of the boldest order. Picture performance is quite low maintenance too, as routing around the calibration menus doesn't offer too much in the way of rewards. Picture modes, which comprise of vivid, standard, eco, cinema, sports, game and two ISF expert modes, are pretty spot on straight from the box. As OLED is a self-emissive technology it doesn't require a back light; the result is an even cloak of velvety black. This ability to deliver solid black without fear of wobbly edge lighting, so familiar on LED LCD, has a big impact on letterboxed movies. The image is crisply framed with no hint of unused screen or bezel; in a darkened room it's like owning a 21:9 display. The only time I've seen a similar effect was from final generation PDP panels produced by Pioneer and Panasonic. There are less obvious benefits claimed too. Apparently, science says that OLED emits less blue light than an LED backlight LCD, which is apparently beneficial to your peepers. Blue light is a part of the visible spectrum between 380nm and 550nm. Make of that what you will. In some sense though, OLED flatters to deceive. While the panel does absolute black absolutely, its grayscale isn't that different from other panel technologies. You'll find no more shadow detail on your Blu-ray's here than you'll see on a high spec LED screen. What it does do though is hold colour spectacularly well at low grey levels, which helps even dimly lit images retain a certain lushness. Colour vibrancy is high but rarely garish. As Paul Bettany kneels before the sunflowers early on into Transcendence, the colour palette maintains a vibrant balance between skin tone authenticity, deep green leaves and vivid yellow flowers. LG's WRGB OLED panel technology shines with such bold hues. There's no immediate loss of intensity when viewed at an angle either. LG quotes the effective viewing angle to be up to 160 degrees. The picture retains its snap regardless of where you're parked. The effect of the curve itself is rather subtle, which inevitably begs the question 'Why bother?' LG's engineers have confided to me that curving the set involves some challenging engineering and is not undertaken lightly. Although much is made about the curve being immersive, at this screen size I remain unconvinced. At best it's little more than a benign bend. The screen's 3D performance is excellent. As you'd expect from LG, the panel embraces passive polarisation. This means no light source flicker and no great glasses expense; any polarising specs will do, including the Real D ones from your local cinema. OLED's inherently fast response time pays big dividends here. Four pairs of passive 3D glasses are bundled in the box. Inevitably there's a certain amount of jaggedness (this is a Full HD screen after all, and that equates to a loss of resolution with Passive technology) but the overall viewing experience is great. And as you might expect from OLED, the 3D looks bright and dynamic. Screen brightness in stereoscopic mode is rated to be 174 cd/m2 compared to 95 cd/m2 from a comparable LCD. Usability, sound and value LG has done a terrific job with webOS, aka LG Smart+. Unlike rival internet connected TV platforms it's predicated on simplicity, with an unassuming menu bar that allows easy access to streaming services and functionality. As an example of minimalist interface design, webOS is brilliant. The slanting coloured tiles of the launch bar offer instant access to streaming services, broadcast TV and other functions including web browser and TV guide. Where the interface excels is in its ability to switch sources. You can watch BBC iPlayer or YouTube, pause and flick over to live TV, and then return and carry on with the stream. It's fast too. You can also prioritise services and functions by grabbing them with the cursor and dragging them to the front of the launch bar. There's also a history list of things you've been watching recently. Even the out of the box set up routine has an edge over rivals, with LG's Bean Bird mascot guiding users through the process. WebOS works great with the cursor driven Magic Remote too. The gyroscopic sensors track your position accurately onscreen, and the ability to drag and drop elements of the WebOS interface is very intuitive. The webOS tiles spread across two screens, but there's no folder system to nest them together so you may well run out of space. That said, the launcher itself works best with a relatively small selection of key apps on the main screen. At the time of writing there's not a full set of catch up provided, with only ABC iView and SBS On Demand offered. Other streaming services available include BigPond Movies and YouTube. LG says it's optimistic about providing new third party apps, courtesy of an open SDK for developers. Back-end apps include Smartshare, Camera and Photo Editor, Time Machine for recordings made to a hard drive and an egallery for artful screen filling. Optional apps from the LG download store include CinemaNow, Skype, Spotify, Eurosport player, , Napster, Deezer and others. The platform also supports screen mirroring from compatible smartphones. There are some functional caveats though. The set lacks dual terrestrial/satellite tuners which rather limits second screen opportunities. Robust audio One big surprise for such a thin set is the audio performance. The downward firing speakers of the EC930T sound surprisingly robust. And while volume is capped before things get too rowdy, there's a good full-rounded mid-range which serves most content and dialogue particularly well. Value While OLED's picture attributes are immediately obvious, assessing value is somewhat more difficult. While LG continues to erode the entry price of its OLED screens, there's still quite a gulf between this new technology and established LED sets, consequently the $3,999 55-inch EC930T is clearly not going to appeal to those looking for a big-screen bargain. But this is very much a premium screen both in terms of design and performance, so you wouldn't expect to find it in a bargain basement deal. In terms of cosmetic design and 1080p image quality it's decidedly upmarket. Verdict The LG EC930T is the first in a new breed of eagerly anticipated webOS OLED TV offerings, and I'm suitably impressed. Astonishingly thin and offering an image that combines hitherto unseen dynamics with rich colour fidelity and exquisite levels of detail, this LG may not be cheap but it certainly doesn't disappoint. While it's perhaps a shame that currently there is no flat version to opt for, as the curve itself is divisive, the set is a good deal smarter than its principal competition. The refreshingly uncomplicated WebOS user interface is fun and intuitive to use, particularly when waving the Bluetooth Magic Remote. While the set may be relatively light on catch-up services, given LG's track record in this department I'm optimistic that a full compliment of mainstream services will appear in due course. This OLED screen even makes a valiant job of sounding half decent, offering a full-bodied mid-range that sounds fine with most content sources despite its admirable slimness. The set's 3D performance is also perfectly enjoyable, with no overt crosstalk double imaging to spoil the fun. 2015 could well be the year that OLED finally breaks through into the mainstream. If you want an early look at the screen tech everyone's going to be talking about, get an audition of this 55-incher sooner rather than later. I suspect you're rather going to love it. We liked With pitch perfect blacks and intense white highlights, the 55EC930T sets a new standard when it comes to dynamic range. It's as close to tomorrow's mooted HDR (High Dynamic Range) TV standard as you're likely to see today – and it looks superb with letterbox movies on Blu-ray. Colour reproduction is also hyper realistic. LG's Smart+ webOS platform also proves deliciously intuitive to use. We disliked LG's predilection for curved panels is a potential stumbling point for some buyers. Cosmetically, the screen looks great but I still struggle to believe there's any genuine user benefit to be had by going around the bend. Curvature creates a viewing sweet spot, particularly with 3D content, and looks warped with programme and onscreen graphics. It also seems to encourage all sorts of unusual ambient light reflections. Verdict The LG 55EC930T is a television ripped from the science labs of Tomorrowland. The first Full HD OLED to incorporate LG's webOS Smart platform, it provides a compelling, curved TV viewing experience that belies its everyday 1080p resolution. Image quality is generally excellent, with unprecedented black level performance and dynamics. Like plasma before it, OLED offers a wonderfully cinematic presentation, with the added benefit that it's even more dynamic than LED LCD. Despite wafer thinness, audio performance is surprisingly good and 3D appears clean and immersive. Of course, there's a price premium for such new tech, but if you can dig deep enough you'll not be disappointed.

Review: Updated: Xbox One Posted: 11 Feb 2015 05:45 PM PST Introduction The new Xbox that emerged at launch was both traditional and under-featured, a disappointment borne of a company reeling from the negative reaction to its original vision and trying to offer something else in a short space of time. In a now infamous u-turn, Microsoft scrapped plans for the always-online revolution that would have allowed for disc-less play, easy game sharing on other owner's consoles, mandatory system scans and an end to second-hand purchases as we know them. A year and two months later, however, the Xbox One has slowly grown into a true contender to the PS4's throne. The Xbox One is not just a games machine, it's also a clever and powerful media hub designed to sit at the centre of your digital home – or at least it would be, if Australians had access to many of the features that overseas Xbox users are currently enjoying. Microsoft has finally announced that its TV service OneGuide will soon Australia. Regardless, the last year has seen the situation improve for Australians in many ways, and not just in terms of streaming media content. That's not to say that the console can rest easy – there's still a long way to go until we see Xbox One's full potential. YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSBlm0pgxno It's quite the legacy to live up to. For long stretches of the last console generation, the Xbox was king. While the Wii was everywhere, and millions of gamers and AV enthusiasts eventually picked up a PlayStation 3, for a while there the phrase "let's play some Xbox" was almost interchangeable with "let's play some video games." It was the console that brought Xbox Live into maturity, setting the standard for the online experience on a gaming console. It taught couch gamers to tolerate the tech support look of a headset in exchange for voice communication, and that you get what you pay for: a year of Xbox Live Gold might have cost as much as a game, but the service was more robust than Sony's PSN. The original Xbox One release date was 22 November 2013, launching with the new version of Kinect on board by default. These days of course, Microsoft is offering a Kinect-free option, which has proven popular because of the bundle's cheaper price and higher performance. The standard Xbox One console can now be purchased for about $499, while the version with Kinect costs about a hundred dollars more. Make no mistake though, Kinect is baked deep into the Xbox One experience, with voice and gesture controls at the heart of everything should you choose to use them. So if you're not going to play a game, you don't need to use the excellent gamepad to turn the console on or navigate to your entertainment of choice. Design We've gone a full calendar year without Microsoft making any major tweaks, fixes, or modifications to the Xbox One's initial design, barring a single special edition with a larger hard drive. Companies like Nyko, PDP and Power A have come along to offer additional products like intercoolers and clip-on charging stations, but Microsoft's rock-solid design has stood the test of time so far. The first thing you'll notice about the console when you get it out of the needlessly elaborate packaging is what an absolute beast it is. It measures 274 x 79 x 333 mm, making it longer and taller than a PlayStation 4 or an Xbox 360. You don't need a tape measure to figure that out though, the thing just looks huge and it's not exactly a looker when you see it up close, either. Its size and girth harkens back to the original Xbox, an imposing black plastic beast covered in black plastic ridges. Microsoft seems to be throwing back to that design, bringing back the all black and the ridge-covered aesthetic. Its massive size and black rectangular construction evoke a stereo tuner from the nineties. Its imposing bulk begs to be hidden away, with just its slot loading disc drive exposed, little white Xbox logo glowing in lonely TV cabinet darkness. For a console of this size, you would at least expect for the power supply to be built inside the unit. But as with the Xbox 360, that's not the case. The external power brick is large and contains its own fan. This, at the very least, offers a quieter console unit than Sony's competing console. It does, however, make the PS4 look even more elegant, which is a lot smaller despite having an internal power supply. Flip the machine around and you'll see a plethora of ports. It has all your standard nodes: ethernet, HDMI out, power, S/PDIF (commonly used for optical audio), dual USB 3.0 ports and an IR out. Additionally, there are two proprietary ports, one for hooking in the Kinect, and a HDMI-in, which is how you feed the Xbox One a TV signal from a set-top box. There's also a third USB 3.0 port found on the system's right side. The HDMI-in can function as a passthrough and allows any old HDMI signal in, but this introduces a lot of input lag, making it no good for hooking in another console. So if you were thinking of running an Xbox 360, PS3 or even a PS4 into the Xbox One in order to save HDMI ports in your TV... forget it. That's not what it's for. What's in the box? An Xbox One purchase gets you the console, a power cable and adapter (aka the power brick), a decent headset, the headset adapter, a HDMI cable and controller with batteries. You'll also get a 14-day free trial of Xbox Live Gold. Depending on your choice of edition, you may or may not get a Kinect in there too. This isn't always explicitly clear on the packaging, so make sure to read up on your options if you do want one. Your bundle may also pack-in games such as Sunset Overdrive or Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. So far there have been two special edition coloured consoles, white and a gunmetal grey (with squiggly decals), with more expected in the coming year. The Xbox One's setup is more involved than on the PS4, but it's still not terribly complex. If you bought a Kinect, you'll have to connect its proprietary cable along with power and HDMI. If you plan to watch TV on the console, you'll need to supply a second HDMI cable, through the system's HDMI-in port. Soon, Australians will be able to run the OneGuide's setup, which isn't too complex, but until then it's just a standard tuner device. We'll get into that in the OneGuide portion of this review. Kinect Kinect 2.0 began as a statement, one of Microsoft's many challenges to the existing console model. However, as the Xbox One itself reneged on its promises of always-online functionality, the Kinect began to look more like a boondoggle, a remnant of a discarded design philosophy. Ultimately, Microsoft seems to have agreed, ditching the console camera/microphone/box of magic from new models of the console. On the whole, that's a shame, as the Kinect is a truly fascinating, if frustrating, piece of kit. From design perspective, the Xbox One's version of Kinect is a whole lot bigger than its predecessor. It's also designed to sit in front of your TV, rather than perched on top of the screen like the PlayStation Camera. That's because its field of view is now so large that it doesn't need to sit up high, meaning you no longer have the original Kinect's unnerving habit of moving to find you across a room. Just like the system itself, it has a white light up logo on its right side. Dull red lights from its IR blaster intermittently glow when it's active. The underside of the Kinect has rubber feet that provide a firm grip. It's not going to fall off your entertainment center any time soon. It can also tilt up and down, with enough range of motion that there shouldn't be any trouble finding the right angle for your living room. But, given that Kinect has been dumped as an intrinsic part of the console, why mention it at all? While it's no longer deemed necessary, Kinect's still woven into the fabric of the UI. In fact, its built-in voice commands are probably the best way to navigate the console at this point (more on that in "interface", below). Games themselves use it sparingly at this point (although a couple of upcoming indie games, Fru and Nevermind, look to be using the peripheral in some hugely inventive ways), but on the whole I'd recommend those with an extra chunk of change indulge in one. In terms of set-up, the camera takes around five minutes to calibrate, finding the right angle and learning both your voice and performing a sound check. After that, the system becomes spectacularly good at recognising users, even signing in anyone who's tied their face to an account as they enter the room. Its ability to recognise gesture commands (used to swipe between menus or act as a cursor) is a little spottier, however. In terms of vocal commands, the Kinect will recognise TV noise, but if there's background chatter, it will start to struggle to hear what's being said. For British readers, it's also worth pointing out that, initially at least, anything other than received pronunciation may prove incomprehensible to the software. Commands are hugely varied. Saying "Xbox" is the prompt for Kinect to begin listening for a command, after which you can switch the console on and off, navigate menus, activate and Snap apps or control individual functions of programs, such as controlling media players. They're also strict on what needs to be said to do perform any of these functions. You "go to" games rather than "play them", and saying "Xbox on", but "Xbox turn off". I wouldn't holding out much hope for Microsoft instituting a more accommodating list, but if you learn the existing one well enough (the console has an exhaustive tutorial page) it becomes a truly useful feature, alongside the added extras of having a built-in mic for online play, a camera for streaming and access to some of the stranger games coming to the console in future. Interface Xbox One's central menu has all the hallmarks of Windows 8's Metro UI, a mosaic of reactive tiles separated into four broad sections: pins, home, friends and store. Home is what you'll see when you switch on your console, or return to when you press the menu button on your controller. Dominated by a tile of the app you last used, still running (even if you've turned the console off, given the console's standby mode default), it's surrounded by a series of recently-used programs, your games & apps library, featured adverts and the Snap start-up function (more on that below). Swipe left and you'll find your pins, apps you want to keep permanently accessible. This functionality runs deep: you can pin individual shows or a TV channel. Swipe right and you'll find the relatively new friends section, which gives easy access to your own profile, a friends list, recently played games, an activity feed (updated to allow for comments on other people's achievements or shared clips) and a Gamerscore leaderboard. Finally, the store panel offers fairly cluttered access to games, apps, movies and more, which, in sadly now-traditional Xbox style, prioritises huge adverts over easy navigability. All of these screens are simplified to the point of being unhelpful. It's a UI so clearly built around access to Kinect that buying a console without one actually makes finding the things you need actively difficult. "Settings", for example, is hidden within the games & apps menu. If you can't just bark "Xbox, go to settings", you need to go to the home screen, hit games & apps, then navigate to the apps page, scroll over any number of downloaded content to get to it, before actually doing what you wanted to in the first place. All of this may soon be moot however, as there are rumours of a full UI redesign to come in tandem with the release of Widnows 10, which will interact more closely with Xbox One. But for the buyer right now, it's worth realising the difference Kinect makes. You can't accuse the interface of being sluggish, however. The console turns on extremely quickly, because it rarely fully turns off, rather going into standby mode, allowing for background downloads and multitasking to continue. Loading times are a question only of your own internet connection speed, even when switching between whole apps, or running two simultaneously with Snap. It may be flawed in design, but in performance it can hardly be faulted. Snap Snap is perhaps Xbox One's standout feature, letting you use a third of your screen space to run a second app in tandem with your main focus. Either say "Xbox, snap [app name]" or double-tap the controller menu button and press up on the D-pad, and you'll be able to choose from many of the console's apps that would otherwise require fiddly switching to get working. TV or streams, Twitch broadcasts, Skype, achievements and parties can all be viewed, set-up and organised as you play a game or watch something else on the remaining section of the screen. The resulting black bars that come from retaining main screen resolution are an unfortunate necessity of how Snap works, but you will come to ignore them. Most interestingly, certain developers are now making games that can be played fully in Snap mode. Mobile smash Threes! and the Pac-Man like Nutjitsu can both be run on the small side of the screen. Gaming For all its ambitions of becoming a true media hub, the Xbox One is a games console first and foremost, seemingly built around aiding the increasing number of living rooms that see interactive entertainment gracing the big screen more often than TV or movies. Its home screen is packed with ways to play, share and (perhaps more so than anything else) buy games, not to mention indulge in gaming pursuits while you perform unrelated activities: playing as you use Skype to call disgruntled family members, or keeping one eye on a Twitch stream as you watch TV. Performance Inside the big black box, Microsoft has included an AMD processor with an impressive 32MB of ESRAM and 8GB of DDR3 memory. Standard models come with a creditable 500GB mechanical hard drive, although all games, disc-based or not, now require an installation, so that will fill faster than you might think, especially when compared to last generation consoles. The recent Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare special edition introduced the console's first terabyte hard drive, and I wouldn't be surprised to see that become more widespread in the coming year. Those game installations can provide a small speedbump to playing the game you've just bought, more so than on PS4 in most cases. The disc copy of Madden for Xbox One needed six minutes to reach 25% installation before letting us on the gridiron. The PS4 version needed two minutes, and an additional minute to download a patch before online features were enabled. While it's not a major problem in and of itself, it's worth taking into account that games are beginning to add major content downloads alongside the installation, simply to ship on a single disc. Halo: The Master Chief Collection requires a 20GB patch simply to access its online features. I doubt this will become standard, but with day one patches becoming more and more common, I recommend reading up on individual games to avoid any "I want to play now" frustration. Despite its powerful innards, much has been made of the Xbox One's inferiority to PS4 in terms of graphical capability. Most notably that comes in the native resolution of mutliformat games. Early third-party games tended to output at 1080p on PS4, and 720p on Xbox One. This has been improved on a tad, although not completely. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Metro Redux both run at 900p on Xbox One compared to the PS4's 1080. Ubisoft even attempted to end the debate by capping Assassin's Creed: Unity at 900p on both consoles, although the resulting furore means I very much doubt this will become standard practice. It's a minuscule difference to all but the most trained eyes, but more worrying is how certain games include clearly more detailed lighting and textures on PS4. Grand Theft Auto V, for example, loses some environmental detail on Xbox One. Of course, all of this is in aid of performance, and it's not in vain. Games are almost universally smooth, with short loading times. To the console's credit, the notoriously troublesome Assassin's Creed: Unity ran far better on Microsoft's console upon release. With advancements already being made, and Microsoft's decision to drop Kinect in favour of optimising processing power, it's not outlandish to suggest that the gap will be closed even further as the console ages. But I simply can't say that it matches the PS4 for sheer graphical heft just yet. The games That said, as far as the games themselves are concerned, Xbox One began to outstrip PS4 for exclusives by the end of 2014. Sunset Overdrive and Forza Horizon 2 arrived to bolster the console's AAA catalogue, while the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta gave a glimpse of what Microsoft's classic series will look like later this year. Added to the likes of Titanfall and Dead Rising 3, the library of console-exclusive games on the One (many of Microsoft's own releases have come or will be coming to PC, presumably to tie in with the release of Windows 10) is currently stronger than PS4. Although the Wii U, while less powerful, retains the most critically acclaimed exclusive line-up. That's not to say the One's own games haven't included any hiccups. One of Microsoft's tentpole releases, Halo: The Master Chief Collection arrived in a disastrously poor state, and remains fundamentally broken in many areas. The game, which comprises Halos 1 - 4 remastered with updated single and multiplayer portions of the FPS classics, has been plagued by matchmaking issues since release, leading developers 343 Industries to offer huge chunks of upcoming DLC (including the entirety of Halo: ODST) as free downloads to placate disgruntled owners. 2015 will be a critical year for the console, particularly with regard to its competition with PS4. Both consoles will start to receive blockbuster exclusives this year. Halo 5, Fable Legends, Rise of the Tomb Raider (a timed exclusive, but an exclusive nonetheless) and Crackdown will provide strong AAA competition on Xbox One. ID@Xbox, the console's indie release programme, will start to produce some underground hits too. Cuphead, SuperHot and Smite and more should start to offer some competition with PS4's traditionally stronger indie catalogue, while Microsoft's work to snare many PC ports as console exclusives should help prevent PS4 from getting any more enticing. With more and more of the third party industry solely interested in multiplatform releases, choosing between exclusive line-ups rests on one or two games. At this point, Xbox One offers the superior choice, but buyers deciding between Sony and Microsoft's offerings might be better served by looking at what will be out in six months time. For the One's part, this year will see most of Xbox's best-loved franchises (perhaps with the exception of the new Gears of War, although that remains a possibility) receiving a new installment. If it's familiarity you're after, this is the choice. The controller It's a testament to Microsoft's sterling work on the Xbox 360 controller that the One's version is merely an iteration (not to mention that Nintendo's Wii U Pro Controller openly acknowledges its excellence by nabbing the design almost wholesale). While slightly chunkier, and with a grippier matte texture, the basic design remains almost identical. Asymmetrical sticks lend themselves to most games and the various contours have been shaped specifically to help you play for frankly dangerous lengths of time before getting the controller cramps of old. Unfortunately, that unchanged design still means you'll need a steady supply of AA batteries to keep it running, unless you buy the overpriced charge-and-play kit. However battery life is substantially better than the PS4's quickly-drained Dual Shock 4 as a result. What changes have been made tend towards minor improvements. The menu button has been shifted to the top of controller to stop accidental presses, and the sticks have been surrounded with what feels like kevlar, a perfect addition for twitchier games. The new Impulse rumble system, which was introduced to early testers by simulating the feeling of a heartbeat in the centre of the controller, has barely been used besides offering the feeling of some arcade lightgun-like force feedback on trigger pulls. It's something of a gimmick, but a pleasant one, although it does seem to have resulted in triggers that feel a little flimsy when used normally, especially when compared to the 360 equivalent. It's an improvement in almost every other way, however and, for my money, the best controller of this generation of consoles. While it lacks the Dual Shock 4's more advanced features (touchpad, motion controls, etc.), it's simply a better fit for the hand. Microsoft has even been issuing intermittent firmware updates specifically for the controller, meaning its responsiveness has been improved since launch. That's commitment. Media Much of Microsoft's early coverage of the Xbox One centred on its ability not only to play your games, but act as a go-between for almost every other function you'd want your home entertainment set-up to include. What's emerged is perhaps not quite what had been promised, particularly outside of the US, but it's been improved regularly and hugely since launch, with monthly system updates offering more and more of what owners demanded. As a media machine Xbox One is fairly fiddly and compartmentalised, with multiple apps to download as and when you want them. But it's certainly better than any other console on the market, and possibly more versatile than a few dedicated services might like to admit. Blu-ray and DVD playback A must for the console, disc format video needs a specific app to run (although you'll be prompted for this the first time you pop in a non-game disc). After some initial hurdles - the console had to be updated to run 50Hz playback for UK TVs, and the picture quality has been improved with patches - disc playback is now hassle-free and a good alternative to most dedicated players. Anyone familiar with the Xbox 360 DVD functions will recognise the bare-bones, but eminently functional strip of options that constitute the console's playback menu. It's a neat way to combat the lack of a dedicated remote, but you can also use SmartGlass to turn your phone or tablet into a remote. Or you can use Kinect voice commands to control much of the experience, although there's no way to navigate menus using the camera's microphone at this point. Add to that the patched ability to play 3D Blu-rays, and the fact that Xbox One's standby mode and multi-tasking means you can switch app or turn off playback entirely and return to precisely the point you left, and the console's an extremely competent player. DLNA and Plex Personal media streaming is becoming more and more important to consumers and, following several updates, Xbox One is becoming more and more adept a machine at performing the task. USB playback has always been available, and has been improved with the addition of support for many more file formats, including MKV, which was clamoured for at release, and has still not been added to PS4. But it's network streaming that sets the console apart. DLNA has been a robust addition to the console and, in my experience, is a truly excellent feature. Currently, there are two apps that can perform the job. The superb Plex, a service that organises your photos, music and videos into a pretty, Netflix-alike library, is a small download and of minimum fuss to set up. To use it on Xbox One at this point, however, you need to take up the Plex Pass premium subscription service. Your free solution is the console's own media player app. It's a far less elegant addition, with an ugly menu system, and requiring you to download several different apps just to play the various file types. It's also clearly designed for interaction with Windows 8. I had to bypass several niggly obstacles just to connect it to a Windows 7 PC. All of this said, once set up, performance is snappy and of good quality, proof that the DLNA architecture is sound. With further updates, the opening up of Plex to non-paying users, and the recent announcement of Windows 10's interactions with the console, you should expect to see media streaming become even better as time goes on. Those willing to put up with some hassle will find a functional player already there. Streaming apps Another beneficiary of Microsoft's constant updates has been the Xbox One's app store, particularly when it comes to streaming programs. It's been a slow start, and there's still a long way to go, but it's constantly getting better.. From wide-ranging offerings such as Yahoo!7 Plus7, Quickflix, SBS On Demand and YouTube to niche-interest services like WWE Network, Crunchyroll, GoPro Channel or Vine, there's plenty to watch on the Xbox One. There are several notable omissions, such as Foxtel Go and ABC iView, both much-loved services on 360, but Microsoft continue to promise that they're on the way. t's worth pointing out the Twitch app in particular, which offers a no-fuss way to both watch the thousands of live game broadcasts and set up your own, using Kinect as both camera and microphone, while Snap lets you watch your hopefully burgeoning chat window as you play. TV and OneGuide When it first launched, the Xbox One's potential as a media device was very much a work in progress. Especially if you live outside the United States, as it was only on its home turf that the Xbox One's OneGuide feature worked, allowing you to use the Xbox to work with and control your TV set top box. That's all about to change in Australia though, with Microsoft promising the arrival of its OneGuide feature in a firmware update in March. There will also be an optional Xbox TV tuner for sale for $39.95. In the meantime for Australians though, it's a lot easier, and also a lot less rewarding. Our international correspondents tell us that the OneGuide menu is accurate, but not fast, and certainly not populated with a lot of content. Using Kinect commands with the OneGuide can also be a headache. While it easily understands page up or page down, telling it to go to specific channels can be rather inaccurate. It often tripped over all the different acronyms that make up station names, and sometimes struggled with something as simple as Comedy Central. Our favourite part of the Xbox One's cable integration wasn't the OneGuide, is was being able to save specific channels and movies to our Pins for fast access. We also liked how TV listings were integrated in search results alongside streaming services. For example, if you used Bing to search for a movie, the results will include the next time it's showing on TV, as well as places to buy or rent it. Lastly, while that HDMI-in is meant for TV, you can use it for anything with an HDMI port. Before you get too excited, we should tell you that it's slightly too laggy for gaming. Forget about playing Killzone: Shadow Fall or Super Mario 3D World via the Xbox One, it's a much better experience plugged directly into your TV. Network Live has been the gold standard (pun fully intended) for console online services since the original Xbox. An almost peerlessly stable and fully-featured offering that almost single-handedly helped turn Xbox from niche concern into commercial behemoth. Its third iteration is perhaps its biggest test so far. Still a premium subscription, but now one that locks off the majority of the console's content, it needs to prove itself as a truly worthy service, almost to make the entire console a worthwhile purchase. While anyone can connect their Xbox One to the internet, it takes a Gold subscription to make most of its many menu options start working, not to mention cease the barrage of adverts for the service the dashboard will throw at you until you sign up. That said, an existing 360 Gold account covers both consoles, so upgrades will be sorted out of the box. Party chat, Game DVR and all online games require payment to access but, for the most part, that feels like a fair price to pay. With PSN now a premium service, direct comparison reveals the One's online efforts to be superior. It's a more stable service for a start, without Sony's all-too-regular downtime. Matchmaking's fast across dedicated servers, and cloud computing is being used to help upcoming games like Crackdown "outsource" much of their processing, resulting in better looking, better performing games. Party chat, long Xbox Live's secret weapon, has suffered, however. While being a Snap-able app should make it even handier, for some reason Microsoft's app-agnostic chat and invite system is now a buggy mess. Parties regularly fail to set up or simply refuse to recognise voice chat. It's a significant problem, especially given how fundamental the service was to 360. I'd expect coming updates to combat this, but don't expect a totally smooth ride. The most significant addition to Xbox One's version of Live, however, is the Games With Gold service. A straight copy of PSN's Plus scheme, this offers four free games each month (two on Xbox One, two on Xbox 360), not to mention weighty discounts on many games. The scheme doesn't have quite the hit-rate of Plus just yet, but with brand new games like #IDARB launching as a free download, and 75% discounts on big-hitters like Titanfall, I can see it becoming as essential a monthly destination as Sony's equivalent and as much a reason to pay for Gold as anything else. Game DVR and media sharing A major focus of both Xbox One and PS4 has been in embracing the world of mass sharing, both on social media and video playback sites like YouTube. Where PS4 offers a neat functionality in its share button menu, the One offers both a less comprehensive, yet in some respects more accommodating, take on the idea. First off, Xbox does not yet let you take and share screenshots, a baffling decision, given the PS4 gained immediate popularity (and exposure) on Twitter because of the feature. Microsoft has promised that the feature will arrive in 2015, but there's been no more specific announcement than that. With regards to video content, the built-in Game DVR feature will save the last 30 seconds of gameplay footage if you say "Xbox, record that" to your Kinect (or double-tap the menu button and press X, for those without the camera). Clips are sent to the Upload app, a one-stop shop for everything you and your games capture. Here, you can share clips with friends, or showcase them on your public profile. Certain titles, like Kalimba, even automatically record the 30 seconds around you unlocking an achievement Clips can either be uploaded directly to YouTube (best performed by downloading the official app, which has the feature built-in) or sent to a OneDrive account through the Upload app, where they can be downloaded and edited on a computer, perfect for YouTubers who want to perform complex edits without the need for faffing around with a USB drive. For the more casual video sharer, Upload Studio, yet another app, can be used for very simple editing, effects and voiceovers if you only want to make small changes, or stick multiple clips together. The 30 second reaction recordings are both less versatile, and a little more manageable than PS4's 15-minute equivalent, although I have to say that capturing too much is more satisfying than the numerous times the One's short clips have just missed the moment I wanted to share. If you're expecting to want to record something, you can use Game DVR to manually record a chunk of gameplay, but given that most stand-out gaming moments come out of nowhere, it's something of a clunky solution. That said, the clips themselves are comparable to the PS4's efforts (i.e. not particularly high in quality, but perfectly serviceable), and when it does work in your favour "record that" is a far more immediate feature than the share button. Updates Key to almost every section so far is Microsoft's near-constant updates to the console, which have turned a relatively under-featured launch console into a far more appealing prospect a year or so later. I might have balked at updating regularly in the past but the ability to have the Xbox One download updates in standby mode (easily switched on in the settings menu) means I've rarely had to wait to play. While it's fair to say that much of the work done has been to fix obvious problems (with a fair bit still outstanding), it would be unfair to say that Microsoft has simply been patching up holes. Many of the One's best updates have come from left field, such as extra media streaming file formats, and turned some of the console's features into the best in the market. Given Sony's relative reticence to make changes to the PS4, it's easy to see the coming year bringing the Xbox One up to speed with much its rival's current advantages, and outstripping it in others. Add to that Microsoft's proven interest in and reactions to fan feedback. Its UserVoice petitions site, where fans suggest features that could be added, and the Xbox Preview Programme, which rolls out updates to a select group of users early, to catch any final bugs before release, mean it could well be seen as the most owner-focused console yet released. With enough consumer weight behind an idea, Microsoft can quickly and easily institute it. Verdict Perhaps more than anything else, Xbox One is a hallmark of how internet connectivity can alter user experience. It might not be the revolutionarily demanding web-box Microsoft initially wanted it to be, but Xbox One still wouldn't be what it is now without that direct line to Redmond, constantly pumping in new features and fixes. From expensive, muddied beginnings, we're now faced with an affordable console with great games, a damn-near comprehensive set of media playback options, and the kind of extra features you'd have been calling "futuristic" a short while ago (background video calls while watching TV on a games console streamed from a laptop, for instance). Xbox One still faces challenges, not least in proving that it can match up to thePS4 in terms of gaming power in the long-run, but it's already proved that it can overcome many of its problems. I'm inclined to think it can keep the run going. But what of the console I have now? Well... We liked First and foremost, I'm finally starting to believe that Microsoft is making the all-in-one entertainment box it promised. As a games console, the Xbox can boast some of the best exclusive new-gen games yet released, with many of its upcoming exclusives bound to follow in their ancestor's critically-acclaimed footsteps. Its online service remains the most stable around, and is matching PSN for generosity now, too. It has the best controller on the market, and (whisper it) a peripheral in Kinect that could yet still offer some as-yet-unseen experiences. At the same time, its bevy of apps and updates have made for a console that feels future-proofed. It's ready to offer those with the time a console that can seamlessly switch between TV, subscription streaming, local streaming, broadcasting, gaming and communicating with not even the touch of a button, just the sound of a command. These two sides mesh in a responsive architecture that can handle any number of simultaneous processes, offering even the most hyperactive media consumer a machine that can handle their demands, not to mention offer multiple ways to fulfil them. There's something unique happening here. We disliked More than anything else, that multiformat games continue to underperform. While improvements have been made, it's becoming increasingly worrying that Xbox One may simply be incapable of matching the PS4 for power when it come to gaming. Similarly, Microsoft's focus on entertainment as a whole has led to a few niggling problems on the gaming side. The continued lack of a screenshot function, fiddly Game DVR options and intermittent party system all point to a company that seems to be showing its priorities, and ignoring what it see as less important fixes. There's also the ongoing delays with an Australian rollout of OneGuide, but at least we have a date for that situation to be fixed now. Ditching the Kinect as an intrinsic piece of the console experience may offer some extra processing power, but it leaves holes elsewhere, not least in a UI that was clearly designed with voice commands in mind, and suffers hugely for losing them. Not only that, but those who have shelled out for Kinect will likely never see improvements to the voice commands, or mainstream uptake of the technology that made the camera interesting. And, of course, the year-old problem of the console looking like a functionless Betamax player remains. It's something you want to hide away in a cabinet rather than the standalone media centrepiece it should be. It's a problem that may never be fixed. It shouldn't have been one in the first place. Final verdict Perhaps the most exciting thing about Xbox One is that it will probably never be "finished" in the true sense. That's not to say it will never function properly, I expect many of my problems with the console will be dealt with come the end of the year, but that Microsoft seems willing to continue with updates, add new ideas, alter others and keep tinkering forever. This is practically a different console to a year ago, and with more updates, a wealth of games and perhaps even a wholesale UI change in the offing, it could be yet another, more accomplished one come 2016. There's a good chance that it will never match PS4's performance focus, that its multiformat games will always suffer a little, but the combined strength of Xbox Live's sheer reliability and a wealth of ideas that sit alongside the console's gaming functions make it something a little different to a straight games console. Purists will naturally balk at that. The PS4 is, after all, "for gamers, by gamers" but those interested in their tech may just find something a little more interesting in Microsoft's ever-evolving creation. Those simply after a machine that meets their modern living room needs will find much to love here, too. It's a machine that can take almost anything current trends in watching, communicating and gaming can throw at it. That it will more than likely handle anything future trends can throw at it too is its true strength.

Google's new Apple Pay rival may be the simplest payment option yet Posted: 11 Feb 2015 04:18 PM PST Rumors of Google's new "Plaso" service prove two things: that the mobile payment war is just getting started, and that tech companies are running out of good code names. With Google Wallet being overshadowed by Apple Pay, Google is working on the new mobile payment service to steal some of the spotlight back, reports The Information. Looking for a Chromebook? These are the best Plaso reportedly activates when a user with the service enabled on their phone (and Bluetooth turned on) enters a store with the tech installed. It then lets users pay without even having to take their phones out of their pockets, according to the site's sources. Store employees would be able to access users' payment options by simply asking them their initials, which raises a lot of privacy and security questions. First and foremost: what if two people in one store have the same initials? Luckily Google can take its time to iron out this type of kink before announcing the Plaso service officially - assuming this rumor pans out to begin with. Microsoft's Office 365 heads for the cloud

Despite the hype, Android Wear adoption is pretty low Posted: 11 Feb 2015 03:35 PM PST Wearables are probably the most-hyped thing in the world of tech right now, but that doesn't mean they're selling well. Just around 720,000 Android Wear smartwatches were sold during 2014, of a total of 4.6 million wrist-worn wearables, according to the analysts at Canalys. The best-seller? Unsurprisingly, it was the Moto 360. Considering a lot of would-be smartwatch wearers are likely waiting for the Apple Watch to drop, 4.6 million is a pretty decent total, but Android Wear - the biggest single wearables platform, uniting a ton of different devices - makes up less than a fifth of that total. Even long-time Android phone makers like HTC are starting to ignore Android Wear in favor of their own wearable solutions - or so the rumors say. Ultimatum As a new area of tech products, wearables are seeing slow growth on the consumer side and big promotion from the companies making them - and that shouldn't surprise anyone. But unless we see some standout Android Wear bands this year, the Google platform might be in trouble - especially once the Apple Watch drops and steals the spotlight like Apple products always do. MWC 2015 is right around the corner

Updated: Google IO 2015: news, rumors and predictions Posted: 11 Feb 2015 02:55 PM PST Latest Google IO 2015 news and rumors Update: Official dates were revealed for Google IO in mid-February. The developer conference is set to invade San Francisco's Moscone Center May 28 - May 29. Like years previous, Google plans to broadcast the event's happenings for folks who'd like to tune-in from home. The keynote and select sessions will be live streamed. If you'd like to attend in person - ahem, devs - registration opens March 17 at 9 a.m. PT/5 p.m. GMT and lasts until March 19 at 5 p.m. PT/1 a.m. GMT. There's no need to rush because hopefuls can register at any point during that time. Applications will be selected at random and when someone registers has no bearing on whether they are selected. Details on session specifics are still missing, but we'll update this hub as soon as we know more. Read on for more news and rumors below! In the months since the less-than-thrilling IO 2014, Google has unleashed a number of tantalizing products and intriguing concepts that have us looking forward it its 2015 conference. With Android L releasing into the wild, the revelation of the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9, Android Wear smartwatches winding up on wrists everywhere, and devices like Project Ara and Project Tango teasing us with possibilities, Google is setting itself up for even more innovation in 2015. Unlike last year's IO, which was short on exciting announcements, we expect Google to rebound an event loaded with breakthroughs, surprises and products we can't wait to use. Read on for the latest news and rumors surrounding the show, and let us know what you'd like to see in the comments below! Also, head to Page 2 for what we'd like to see at Google IO 2015. Project Ara The intrigue around Project Ara, Google's modular phone, is palpable. The biggest question surrounds whether this thing will actually work with so many parts options, and thankfully we'll get a chance to see if it can in the second half of the year. Google announced in mid-January Project Ara will launch as a pilot program in Puerto Rico later on this year. We know, that's after IO, but we wouldn't be surprised to hear more about this program, and maybe even some more test markets, before IO is in the books. Look for some nitty gritty on how Project Ara functions during the conference as well as a pitch to developers and components makers to bolster the Ara ecosystem. Android 5.0 Lollipop and Chrome Android 5 is pretty sweet, but it's having a hell of a time getting to flagship phones. Sure, the HTC One M8 developer and unlocked additions were treated to Lollipop in mid-January along with Galaxy S5s living in the UK, but that's hardly widespread adoption. We hope by the time IO rolls around, most flagships on most major networks have joined Team Lollipop. If that's the case, it would make for good timing for the next version of Android to release, something like Android 5.5 or even, dare we say, Android 6. Announcing Android 6 would fit Google's timeline for new mobile OS reveals; it was at IO 2014 that we first met "Android L," after all. Chrome also seems likely for lots of IO love. While we haven't heard anything specific to IO, we do have a sense of things to come. Google announced in mid-January Chrome Remote Desktop for iOS, letting users access their PC on their iPhone or iPad. The concept is nothing new, but the fact Google released this specifically for iOS gives us a clue that more cross-OS functionality is top of Google's mind. Cardboard Oculus Rift may rule the VR roost, but don't count Cardboard out before it gets a chance to shine. In December 2014, Google announced some choice updates for its VR viewer, including a dedicated page for apps on Google Play and a number of places to purchase Cardboard so users don't have to make their own. Developers (the target IO audience) were also given access to Cardboard SDKs for Android and Unity. New viewer specs and a wave of VR-related hiring rounded out the year-end announcements. So what does this mean for IO 2015? Likely plenty. There's six months between these announces and the conference, ample time to hire VR folks, improve the viewers design (Cardboard 2, anyone?) and create apps and games to prance out on the IO stage. Expect Cardboard to get more than a brief mention at this year's conference. Android Auto Besides wearables, there's really no hotter space for companies to get into than cars right now. Google, as you know, has been very active on the auto front. Let's start with a no-big-deal project (not) - its self-driving car. Google followed up the buzz around its initial mock-up by revealing in December 2014 it has a self-driving prototype that, you know, actually drives its self. Google is currently testing this version and plans to put functioning vehicles on Northern California roads sometime this year. A Google IO 2015 demo feels very plausible. In addition to its self-driving car, car companies are signing up for Android Auto left and right. Several Android Auto-related announcements were made during CES 2015, including ones from Pioneer, Volkswagen and Parrot. Following Android Auto's debut at IO 2014, you can bet your left blinker Google has more car talk planned for this year's gathering. Android TV Say hello to the new king of Google's TV OS ambitions. Google TV is dead, the company announced in early January, usurped by the burgeoning Android TV platform. With support ending for Google TV and the one-year anniversary of Android TV's emergence approaching at IO, Google is sure to spend plenty of time talking about the smart TV system this year. Sony plans to put Android TV in all its 2015 models, and developers are now encouraged to create Android TV and Cast-enabled apps. Google will no doubt enlighten us further on its living rooms plans at IO 2015, placing Android TV at the heart of it all. Google Wallet, Glass, virtual reality and Fit Read on for what we want to see during the annual developer confab, and tell us know in the comments what showstoppers - or showsleepers - you think Google will whip out. Pull out your Google Wallet Now that Apple has gotten serious about mobile payments with Apple Pay, we anticipate Google Wallet getting some love during IO 2015. Mountain View's mobile payment platform has bounced like a bad check, but as Apple gets into the game in a big way (have you been to a McDonald's in the US lately?), Google can't sit idly by as its biggest rival gobbles up NFC payment-dom. The world is still wary of mobile payments, especially in the wake of massive credit card hacks, so it's yet to be proven if Apple Pay (or any service) is the silver bullet to the anti-credit card conundrum. Despite that - or maybe because of it - we want Google to swing for the fences with a revamped Google Wallet. The timing may be tricky as some US retailers are shunning Apple Pay in favor of their own mobile payment system, but we wouldn't put it past Google to corral some big names into its tap-to-pay service circle. Where the heck is Google Glass? OK, Google. The Explorer program is several years old, more apps have found their way onto your loved/loathed wearable and you've allowed US consumers to have their hand at Glass, but when are we going to see the final consumer version and its (hopefully) cheaper price? Yes, Google Glass is part of completely new device category and there's want to get it right, but there's a feeling we can't shake that now that Android Wear has shown its face, Google has relegated its first wearable to the basement. Not helping matters is the fact the consumer edition release date has reportedly been pushed until 2015, and app makers, including Twitter, are distancing themselves from the Glass. To top it off, the Glass poster child, Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin, left his company-made headset behind in the car while he attended a November Silicon Valley event, not exactly sending a singing message that Glass is something you can't leave home without. That sets the stage for a pretty telling IO 2015. Google has two choices, really: either try to re-capture the public's imagination with Glass (or, more fittingly, show it has real-world applications), or keep quiet and let Glass slide quietly out of sight. We think Google will go for the former, otherwise all those years of pushing Glass on developers and executives sporting them on their brows will be for naught. More critically, with other head-worn wearables like Oculus Rift gaining greater visibility, Google can't afford to let Glass' future get any foggier. We expect Google to place lots of emphasis on apps made for Glass, especially since its Glass Development Kit will be around a year old by then, plus show us hardware that's vastly improved and/or vastly cheaper than what one sees bobbing on heads around the Valley these days. When Google met VR Speaking of things you put on your face, Google's DIY Cardboard VR headset was a fun yet potentially conspicuous surprise during last year's IO. Google handed out the headset as a little something extra at the end of its Day 1 keynote, but you didn't need to be in attendance to get one because anyone can build the "no frills" viewer with a few acquired materials. Could Google flush out the concept during IO 2015? We think so, especially since Samsung's Gear VR does virtually the same thing with more premium materials. Whether this means Google delivers a more durable headset, reveals apps and games developed for Cardboard as-is, or introduces some virtual reality features somehow tied Glass, we don't know, but we can say the VR market is too hot for Google to pass up. Update December 10, 2014: Google showed how serious it is about Cardboard by filling us in on the work it's been doing since the viewer was revealed. The company added a dedicated collection page on Google Play for Google apps. There are now more places to pick up a Cardboard viewer, developers have access to SDKs for Android and Unity and makers scored some new building specs. Finally, Google said it's hiring for positions in Cardboard and VR, signaling this is far from the last we've heard about the DIY VR viewer. Focus on your Fit Another carryover from IO 2014 we'd like to see at the 2015 run is Google Fit. The Apple HealthKit rival officially launched as a Google Play app in late October, while developers were given full access to the platform's APIs. As developers create health-enhancing programs for Android users and devices become better equipped to use Google Fit's feature set, there should be plenty to relay come dev con time. We'd like to see just how far Fit has come in a year's time and what the future holds for Google and health. What's more, who's to say Google won't have a fitness tracking wearable to show that puts Fit front and center? The living room, Google watch and other stuff Coming to your living room … again! Stop us if you've heard this one before, but Google will make a play for your living room during IO 2015. What we hope is different this time around is Google coming at your favorite four walls with some kind of cohesive plan in place. The company recently announced Nexus Player, perhaps its most robust and practical entertainment offering to date, but don't expect it to stop there. Even if it should. Google struck gold with Chromecast, the dirt cheap dongle some people own more than one of, so no one would be surprised if the firm returned to the formula with Chromecast 2 or another bargain bin-priced device. In fact, Google is reportedly already working on Chromecast 2, making an IO reveal seem all the more likely. Whatever Google does, we want it to, you know, make cohesive sense. So far, this "scatter gun approach" (hat tip James Rivington) is only creating a series of half-baked products that no one is buying into. That is, except Chromecast. It might be time for Google to put its money on the winning horse, if you catch our drift. 'Android Wear, where you at?' "In watches like the Moto 360, LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live, that's where, TechRadar!" Yes, Google's wearable OS has taken hold in a surprisingly quick turnaround from announcement to market. The only thing missing? Google's own smartwatch running its home-grown Android Wear OS. No biggie, right? Like the Apple Watch before it, the Google watch has been the stuff of legend for what feels like ions. Unlike the Apple Watch, the Google watch is still unannounced. Even more unlike the Apple Watch, the Google watch probably won't be on sale by the time IO 2015 rolls around (the Apple Watch release is slated for early 2015). This leaves Google out of a growing hardware product category while others grab hold. One could argue Google has more than enough of a stranglehold on the smartwatch market with Android Wear, and it's certainly a valid point. However, in order for Google to truly be in the wearable conversation, we need to see its own branded hardware serve as the hallmark for what Android Wear can really do. So, Google, give us the Nexus Watch, or whatever you want to call it. Give us something we can point to and say, "Hey, Apple, you see what Google came up with?" Give us something to strap on our wrists so we can complete the look with our Nexus phone, Nexus tablet and Google Glass. Give us the wearable we've been waiting for. YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQHVfNSVmH4 Update December 10, 2014: With the release of Android Lollipop for Android Wear, Google introduced a bevy of custom watch faces for the wearable. The firm also released its Watch Face API, letting developers take a crack at creating their own watch faces. We have an inkling the many faces of Android Wear (plus a whole lot more) are due for some major airtime at IO 2015. And the other stuff Just like ice cream flavors, everyone seems to like the idea of vanilla Android, so don't drop your jaw if Google announces another Google Play Edition flagship phone. Google seems to be spacing its hardware reveals further and further apart, making a new Nexus phone or tablet reveal at IO 2015 feel unlikely. Like last year, the company will probably focus most on its software platforms, stressing the ease of developing for Chrome and Android over OSes-that-shall-not-be-named. Another Android iteration after 5.0 could definitely come (Android 5.5, for example), as could improvements to Google Now and the other services Google offers. Is the Galaxy S5 the best Android phone around?

In Depth: Next Xbox: what will the Xbox Two be like and when will we see it? Posted: 11 Feb 2015 01:06 PM PST Next Xbox You can't talk about the next Xbox without first taking a look at the current one. And as we approach the first anniversary of Xbox One's launch, the console available to buy today is a very long way from the one announced on stage by Don Mattrick back in May 2013. If all the features in the original Xbox One announcement had come about, we'd now have a console that required a near-constant internet connection for you to play your games. The physical discs containing your games would have been tied to your Xbox Live account, effectively killing off the pre-owned games market. And it would have needed the new and improved Kinect (bundled with every console) to be connected in order to be fully functional, even if you never intended to use Kinect's voice or motion control. "Microsoft made many mistakes during the pre-launch period of the Xbox One," says Wired and T3 tech expert Guy Cocker, "but there were three major ones. "Firstly, it pitched a product that no one wanted. The announcement heralded the device as an entertainment box that combined a DVR, a video streamer, an internet browser and pretty much lastly a games machine. "Because of this, and Microsoft's perceived need for Kinect to power all this, the machine was significantly more expensive than the PS4. Finally, it proposed some very anti-consumer measures when it came to being able to buy games and then give or sell them to someone else." It's safe to say that these features were not well-received by the majority of gaming fans. Microsoft, to its credit, listened to fan feedback and one after another introduced new policies to make the console more appealing to its core audience. Xbox updates It's been quite the transformation, but Microsoft is nowhere near finished yet and through monthly software updates, the console has continued to tweak its look and performance. Since launch it's added external hard drive support, improved media player functionality for multiple file types and formats, drastically overhauled its party chat and social functions and made changes to its built-in game DVR features, and that's only been in the last three months. And given that this generation of consoles is even more amenable to change thanks to operating systems built specifically for regular updates, dedicated game servers and ample access to cloud storage, what's actually inside the box under your TV needn't be the end-all its capabilities. What does this mean for the Next Xbox? So what can we learn from all this about the Next Xbox? Yes, the new one, because there will, inexorably, be another console. It's certainly some ways off yet, but will it be another eight year wait? There are differing opinions on that. "I would think so," says Jon Hicks, former editor of Official Xbox Magazine, "but the timing may change. Microsoft was very clear at the announcement of Xbox One that it would have a ten-year lifespan, and that is likely to remain the case, but the shift from Xbox 360 and PS3 to next-gen hasn't mirrored the shift from the previous generation. "The initial sales of new-gen consoles, and the drop-off in software sales for the previous generation, has surprised everybody - the expectation was of a slower transition, and the consensus explanation is that there was significant pent-up demand for new consoles. So it might be that Xbox One's replacement arrives a bit sooner than the eight years that Xbox 360 lasted, though the overall lifespan sticks at ten years. That said, even the sales data doesn't really compare any more because Xbox 360 has an extremely robust digital sales platform, the data for which isn't shared publicly. So it could be the drop in physical software sales is a red herring. Ask me in a couple of years, basically." Cocker, though, thinks it'll be sooner. "I would say there'll be another Xbox in about five years time," he says. "I think Microsoft will have definitely learned from its mistakes; the main guy responsible for the Xbox One's development, Don Mattrick, left the company for Zynga shortly after announcing it on stage, and Phil Spencer, who now runs Microsoft's Xbox division, is a games man through and through. I think 2015, actually, is going to be a good time for Xbox. It's putting games back at the forefront, which is how it managed to become so successful with the original console back in 2001; with a great machine and great exclusive games like Halo and Jet Set Radio Future." Next Xbox: a game focus? Ah yes, the games. Microsoft may have neglected to mention those during the Xbox One's original reveal, but it's changed its tune since in response to vocal feedback from gaming communities. It's a lesson MS isn't likely to forget in a hurry - the company's E3 and Gamescom messages were solely focused on games over the console's TV and set-top box capabilities. "I think the next Xbox will be a very game-focused console, so it will launch with high-spec PC parts like the Xbox One, the difference being it will be cheaper at launch," says Cocker. "I think the key for Microsoft, one that it has recognised, will be to make more acquisitions like Mojang (which Microsoft purchased just last week for $2.5bn) over the coming years. Exclusives are the lifeblood for any console maker, and Microsoft needs to build stronger brands and exclusives in the face of Sony's increasing dominance in exclusive games and studios. There's also a very good chance the next Xbox will finally ditch a physical disc drive, I think, as online services get better and better." "Both Xbox One and PS4 are extremely online-focused consoles and the games produced for them reflect that - Destiny being the most recent high-profile example of an online-only game," says Hicks. "Somebody, and it might not be Microsoft, is definitely going to have an online-only console relatively soon. It's just the way the world is going now. The only thing that I would bet on is that next time Microsoft will announce it with its still-impressive games lineup first." The "TV, TV, TV" approach is not one the company is likely to repeat, certainly. Next Xbox: Kinect And what of Kinect, the cutting-edge technology Microsoft was so keen to push as the Xbox One's key unique selling point just months ago, which now appears to have been all but forgotten? "It's not the fundamental platform feature that Microsoft was initially hoping for, and it won't have as extensive an array of software that uses it as a result," Hicks says. "But it's still a smart piece of tech, it can be used in very interesting ways, and it's a distinctive asset for the platform. I wouldn't be surprised if we see some cool applications and games for it next year, once Xbox One is a bit more established sales-wise." Next Xbox: hardware Yet while its rival PlayStation continues to explore new horizons for the PS4 and beyond with Project Morpheus, Playstation Now and Vita Cross-Play, Microsoft has a few other aces up its sleeve. "Microsoft has always had an incredible R&D budget and will continue to invest in all sorts of new technology, whether for use itself or for licence elsewhere," Hicks says. "I suspect we'll see Kinect return in some capacity; there will be other as yet unrevealed technology that will join it. I've been hearing for years that there was VR tech in development; there'll be other stuff too. The original Kinect was an accessory added to the 360 very late on, and was hugely successful - Microsoft designed Xbox One specifically to support potential expansion of that sort. Ten years is a long time, you don't design something to last that long without leaving it open to evolution." YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re1EatGRV0w Whether we'll see this new technology take shape during this console generation or next remains to be seen, but we do know that Illumiroom, a proof-of-concept projector system from Microsoft Research that augments the area around your TV to reflect what's being show on your console – a visual version of surround sound, effectively - may well make a return along with the next Xbox, after Microsoft deemed it 'too expensive' to mass produce for the Xbox One. The overall positive public response to Illumiroom isn't something the company is likely to forget when it comes to brainstorming the new console, if it hasn't already begun to. A new console is a case of when rather than if, and with the lessons learned from the Xbox One's launch, its subsequent evolution and rising sales, Microsoft couldn't be in a better position to make the next console its most considered launch yet. We just might have to wait another seven years for it.

UPDATED: iOS 9 release date, features and rumors Posted: 11 Feb 2015 11:54 AM PST iOS 9 release date, compatibility and features Apple hasn't skipped a beat with its annual iPhone and iPad updates, so there's little doubt that it'll be called iOS 9 and launch in tandem with the new iPhone. But that's months away. iOS 9 is likely to be previewed well before the iPhone 6S unveiling, specifically at this summer's World Wide Developer's Conference. iOS 9 is due to take center stage at WWDC 2015 with feature announcements and, of course, a beta made available to anyone with an Apple developer account. Here's what we know so far about iOS 9 and what we're hoping to see in four months. iOS 9 release date When is iOS 9 coming out? Well, that depends on who you are. Registered Apple developers presume that they'll be able to test out the iOS 9 beta in early June again. Everyone else, meanwhile, is expected to have to wait until September to download it. That's when the final version of Apple's latest mobile operating system has come out in years past. That three-month wait can be a good thing. iOS 9 beta 1 will be buggy and unfinished. The best features typically don't launch until the gold master version in September anyway. iOS 9 compatibility This may be the first iPhone and iPad software to require a lightning cable connection, at least if it follows the current trend among Apple smartphones. iOS 8 muscled out iPhone 4 compatibility last year, and iOS 7 said goodbye to iPhone 3GS two years ago. Is iPhone 4S on the iOS update chopping block? That makes sense. After all, the company is gearing up for its lightning-port-required Apple CarPlay infotainment system. On top of that, iPhone 5 and iPhone 5C first introduced 1GB of RAM, up from the 512MB in the iPhone 4S. It's time to retire these 30-pin dock devices. iOS 9 features we want to see Home screen widgets We've been crying out for widgets for years and with iOS 8, Apple is sort of giving us them... sort of. They live in Notification Center with basic functionality at-a-glance. Pulling down this hidden menu reveals live sport scores, OpenTable reservations and a Calendar preview, for example. But what we'd still love to see is home screen widgets. Apple has kept its interface clean and that's presumably one of the reasons why widgets have taken so long to arrive in any form. Empowering users to customise their home screens can only be a good thing, though, and if Apple doesn't want to go as all-out with it as Android has, it could always look to Windows Phone for inspiration and simply make its icons "'live." This doesn't have to be completely different to what's there now, but folders that tell you more information about changes to the apps held within is our top ask for iOS 9. Guest and kids mode Does someone else in your family like to get their grubby little hands on your iPad? Kids love playing games on the tablet, which is more accessible than PS4 and Xbox One. Letting a spouse or child borrow your expensive Apple device wouldn't be as much of a problem if there was a proper guest mode and, better yet, kids mode. Sure, there's a very limited "Guided Access" option that restricts usage to one particular app, but a system-wide guest account for family members would be ideal for the family iPad. Coupling this proposed guest mode with an instant Touch ID login would be even better and would one-up Google's existing multiple account interface found in Android 5.0 Lollipop. Actual multitasking Let's be honest: using two apps at once is true multitasking. Switching between two paused apps is not true multitasking. Apple could upgrade iOS 9 from the latter, fulfilling the side-by-side app functionality that always seems to be rumored but never actually pans out every year at WWDC. A 12-inch iPad Pro would give mobile power users enough space to work with two or more apps at once, and the speculated 2GB of RAM for upcoming devices would back it up. iOS 8 code had suggested that Apple was testing out some sort of multitasking, so it isn't very farfetched that the feature could make its official debut in iOS 9. More interface shortcuts iOS 9 is likely to open up new shortcuts, allowing you to quickly navigate menus on your iPhone and iPad with simple taps or gestures. Apple did a good job of this with iOS 8 via interactive notifications, frequent contacts listed in the "multitasking" menu, inline audio and video messaging and a bunch of mail app tweaks. iOS 9 could save us even more time. We'd love to see Command Center host shortcuts to individual settings: holding down the Wi-Fi on/off switch should lead to the Wi-Fi menu, the Bluetooth switch to the Bluetooth menu, etc. That's much faster than closing the app and heading to the settings menu to make a simple change, like pair a new Bluetooth device. Android has been able to do this trick for years. Another Google-inspired menu change involves keeping media in the notification menu, not just on the lockscreen. Actively streaming a movie should put the controls at your fingertips. iOS 9: features we fully expect Stability The No. 1 new feature we're going to see from iOS 9 is stability. iOS 8 has been plagued with false starts, glitches and continuing Wi-Fi and battery drain bugs. Apple's Health app made a unfashionably late debut in iOS 8.0.1, a botched update it pulled, and its messages boards are full of complaints, which alluded to during its iPad event. iOS 9 is rumored to be receiving a lot of under-the-hood attention to prevent the same issues from reaching the post-beta masses in September. With the quick adoption rate that Apple devices have over Android, there's really no time for such widespread bug-testing. Smaller footprint There are still plenty of iPhone and iPad users left behind in the transition from iOS 7 to iOS 8 simply because they don't have enough storage to make the update. These deprived 16GB phone and tablet owners need up to 5GB of free space to install iOS 8, and that means deleting precious apps, photos, videos and music. With the iPad Air 2 syphoning off 3.4GB for the operating system alone, this leaves users with a paltry 12.6GB and, if you factor the 5GB needed, that's just 7.6GB for all of their content. iOS 9 will reportedly change this frustrating internal space problem that made finally paying for iCloud storage seem like a punishment. iOS 8.1.3 is already setting a good example with a slightly smaller footprint. Fairer iCloud Drive pricing Ready or not, everything is being saved to the cloud these days and there's no easier way to back things up on an iPhone and iPad than iCloud Drive. Apple's cloud-based ecosystem automatically saves photos, video and documents exactly like every other file hosting platform out there - except it costs more. Yes, there's 5GB of free storage space, but that's not even big enough to remotely back up a 16GB iPhone. Paying for 20GB isn't big enough if you own more than one Apple device. 1TB of space from Dropbox and Google Drive is half the price of iCloud Drive and that really needs to change with iOS 9's native cloud storage system. Apple-branded Beats music service Streaming music is really taking off and we'd love it if Apple offered its own streaming service, much like Google did with Play Music All Access. Not that the existing services aren't great, but one which can easily be tied into your iTunes account and include access to your existing iTunes library would certainly be welcome. Plus if Apple did make a streaming music service you know it would be slick and attractive. It already has iTunes and now it's purchased Beats and has access to Beats Music. It's not unrealistic to think that Apple might build the service into iOS 9, either as Beats Music or under new Apple branding, if it doesn't come even sooner in the form of iOS 8.4. Apple Maps improvements Apple is regularly improving its once-disastrous mapping effort and with each update it becomes ever more useful, but it's still not quite a match for Google Maps. One major improvement which was actually rumoured for iOS 8 but didn't arrive was public transit directions for bus, train and subway routes. More ambitiously, we've also heard rumours that Apple is working on an augmented reality view that uses your camera to highlight points of interest on your screen. This could explain all of the camera-equipped Apple vans roaming the streets. Humanize Siri Siri is tremendously popular and with good reason. Apple's virtual assistant makes it quicker and easier than ever to find out information and does a solid job of making iOS devices hands free. It got even better with iOS 8, thanks to a handful of new features, such as Shazam integration and the ability to activate it simply by saying "Hey Siri." But there's still room for improvement and Apple could do worse than taking a page out of Microsoft's book. Cortana, Microsoft's Siri rival, has an impressive amount of inflection in its voice making it sound less like a dastardly robot and more, well, human. It's not a feature which makes it any more useful as such, but it certainly makes it more pleasant and natural to talk to and we'd love to see Apple take a similar approach with Siri. iOS 9 long-shot features Ability to default to third party apps Apple still has the largest and most diverse selection of apps of any mobile OS, but it largely keeps them at arms-length and keeps the core smartphone operations fairly locked down. There aren't any third party SMS apps for example and while there are alternatives to the "Mail" app there's nothing built into iOS to let you make one of them the default email app. So we'd love it if iOS 9 let us switch to third-party default apps and we'd love it even more if Apple opened up more APIs to developers, enabling them to make alternatives for other Apple apps. Not that Apple doesn't do a great job for the most part, but choice is rarely a bad thing and as it's now allowing iPhone and iPad keyboard app extensions, this might not be a pipe dream. The ability to hide apps that can't be uninstalled Apple clearly doesn't want people deleting the stock apps that come with iOS, yet we'd wager we're not alone in saying that we don't use all of them - they clog up the home screen. Android has its app drawer and we don't expect as major an addition as that, but maybe just a 'hide' option against them in the settings screen. Then you can always go back in and unhide the forgettable apps if and when you decide that you do want to use them. This is a feature that would become even more important if Apple let us change the default apps as suggested above. Less reliance on iTunes Liking iOS doesn't necessarily mean liking iTunes and it definitely doesn't mean liking being forced to use it whenever you connect your iPhone and iPad to a computer. It's a rather divisive piece of software and there are times when simply being able to mount your iDevice as a drive, wade through its folders and cut and paste things would seem an easier way to go about managing it, so it would be great if Apple let us do just that with iOS 9. It doesn't have to ditch iTunes, just give us the option to use something else. Embrace jailbreaking rather than trying to prevent it Apple has always done its best to prevent jailbreaking. Of course, determined users always find a way. There are numerous advantages to having a jailbroken device and we're not talking about the illicit ones. Escaping lockdown opens up new apps and features that Apple won't allow in its walled garden. Often these are things that other operating systems already provide or which Apple will later add. For example folders were possible on jailbroken devices long before they were added to iOS and SBSettings pre-dated the long-overdue Command Center by five years. Of course when Apple does add these features they're normally a lot more polished and stable, but adventurous users should have the option to get new functionality early. We're not saying Apple should build in the ability to access these things, just that it shouldn't block it, much like Google makes no attempt to stop users from rooting their devices. We don't see Apple ever doing a 180 on this but we'd love it if the Cupertino company did make things more lax in iOS 9.

Want to unlock your phone? Starting today, just ask your carrier Posted: 11 Feb 2015 11:47 AM PST Update: The agreement between US carriers and the FCC went into effect today, making it easier than ever to unlock your phone. Here's how easy it is: US carriers are now legally required to provide unlocking services. There are some exceptions, which the FCC expands on in an unlocking FAQ, but for the most part life just got easier for those who don't want to have to buy a new phone every time they jump carriers. Each carrier has different rules and requirements, as well, so check with yours to know exactly what's possible. Original story follows… You may not get the runaround the next time you try to unlock your cell phone in order to use it with another carrier, and it's all thanks to a new agreement between the FCC and carriers. AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and US Cellular have committed to "voluntarily" allowing consumers to unlock their phones and tablets. Under today's agreement, carriers will have to clearly explain their unlocking policies from the beginning and then notify customers of their unlocking eligibility in the future. For most subsidized phones, this will likely come within two years time. For prepaid customers, however, the agreement stipulates that they're eligible one year after buying the phone. Carriers will be required to unlock phones within two business days. Military personnel about to be deployed have the ability to unlock their phones right away. Volunteer after warnings The practice of unlocking a handset tied to a specific cell phone network was made illegal earlier this year due to the Library of Congress' review of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Both the White House and FCC decried this measure, which was taken on by online petitioners who were outraged by the new ruling. Carriers may be voluntarily agreeing to this new policy, but it's at the behest of new FCC Chair Tom Wheeler, who threatened to enact mandatory regulations if they failed to act, according to The Hill. Customers still have to pay for their device in full or wait out their contract period and make sure it's compatible with another network. But it's a step in the right direction for these would-be criminals. More FCC news: As FCC pushes to lift in-flight phone call ban, one agency preps a fight.

iPhone's anti-theft Activation Lock actually helps thwart baddies Posted: 11 Feb 2015 11:00 AM PST In the year-plus since Apple introduced the Activation Lock to iOS, iPhone thefts have fallen significantly in three major cities, officials say. iPhone thefts are down 40% in San Francisco and 25% in New York, while smartphone thefts overall have dropped 50% in London, reports Reuters. When will Apple drop the iPad Pro? That would suggest that the Activation Lock feature - which renders a stolen iPhone useless to thieves - has actually proved effective in thwarting bad guys. More and more states are making laws mandating that phone makers include anti-theft measures in their devices, and officials from all three cities urged these companies to turn them on by default, like Apple has. Anyone who's had a phone stolen can attest to what a bummer it is, and if these measures are really working then we say bring 'em on. The Apple Watch is almost here

Updated: Verizon-exclusive Lumia Icon meets Cortana with Denim update Posted: 11 Feb 2015 10:25 AM PST Update: Microsoft's Joe Belfiore promised that the Verizon-exclusive Lumia Icon would receive its Denim update toward the beginning of this year, and now it's finally arriving. The update brings the Icon up to Windows Phone 8.1.1, according to PC World, making it a major update with lots of new features - chief among them, of course, Microsoft's virtual Siri rival Cortana. The Denim updates for Verizon's Lumia Icon have begun rolling out to users over the air, so keep an eye out for yours to arrive. Original story follows… The Lumia Icon is one of the most well-regarded Windows Phone devices out there, despite its Verizon exclusivity. Users have been waiting for their Denim update ever since late 2014, when Microsoft Operating Systems Group Corporate Vice President Joe Belfiore promised it would arrive in early 2015. TechRadar rated the best gaming laptops top to bottom To some that meant January, but with the first month of the year come and gone Belfiore has responded to users' concerns on Twitter. "Lumia icon people asking what I meant by 'early 2015': The first part of the year. In my mind that means jan/feb or so. Less likely March," he tweeted. "Know that Vzw & MS are actively, daily working on getting it done. The test process has unpredictability so we can't say a firm end date," he added in a subsequent tweet. So while the Lumia Icon Denim update might be pushed back to March, according to Belfiore a February release is more likely. Fingers crossed! The best laptops of 2015 are easy to spot

Review: AVM Fritz!Box 3490 Review Posted: 11 Feb 2015 09:58 AM PST Introduction The new mainstream Fritz!Box 3490 offers the guts of the company's top-end 7490 router, including 3x3 MIMO 802.11ac wireless, but without the built-in hardware to manage DECT or analogue telephony, which brings down the unit's cost considerably. It costs around £130 (US$157, AU$192), considerably less than many top-end 802.11ac routers. The 3490 has a built-in a modem that supports ADSL and VDSL with the same vectoring technology that allows for faster fibre connections. Of course, as with just about any other router, it works fine with cable connections too. There are two USB 3.0 ports, one at the side and one at the rear, with four gigabit ethernet ports at the back, along with a DSL connector. Sitting next to the 7490, it would be impossible to tell the two apart, since both sport a red and silver chassis, and internal antennas with fins on the top to boost the signal. Aside from the lack of special DECT hardware, the 3490 is similar on the inside too. It has the same 800MHz dual-core processor and comes with 128MB of memory. But as with any AVM router, the real selling point is the Fritz!OS software, which is intuitive, well-designed, and offers features that aren't offered by competitors. The 3490 comes with the newly-updated Fritz!OS 6.20, which adds even more to an already strong feature set. There's a new security interface and secure password suggestion. And new since at least the version of Fritz!OS that shipped with the 7490, is the use of QR codes to quickly scan all the router settings with a mobile phone, if you're running into issues connecting your devices. The software offers other useful features, such as a frequency scanner, which can tell you which 2.4GHz or 5GHz wireless channels are currently in use by other nearby routers, a diagnostics mode and a file management system for connected USB devices. The "info" LED at the front can be configured to turn on when a specific event occurs, such as a USB device being connected. Finding the right setting to adjust, meanwhile, always feels a lot easier than with other models, as though a bit more thought has gone into it than many networking firms bother with, a sure sign of good UI design. AVM has also worked on its energy-saving credentials too, a concern for many people, since routers are usually left on all the time. As always, the ethernet ports are set to run at only 100Mbit/sec when you first set up the router. Look in the logs and you can see the router automatically cuts power to its antennas when all connected devices are idle. You can schedule the wireless to be switched off completely between certain hours. With the wireless on, I measured power consumption of 5.1 watts when the 3490 was in use. Wireless performance In order to test the 3490 I used the Mac software WiFiPerf along with a 2013 MacBook Pro, which natively supports 3x3 802.11ac wireless. WiFiPerf is a great app for testing, since it sends data directly between the server and client, while a file transfer can be affected by the speed of a storage device. I ran the test at distances of one metre, five metres and ten metres. At five minutes I measured the speeds from client to server as well as server to client. As is becoming a trend in some modern routers, the 3490 doesn't allow you to explicitly choose 2.4GHz or 5GHz output, but instead picks the fastest bandwidth available depending on the device that connects to it. So it wasn't possible to test 2.4GHz performance on 802.11n with this setup. This isn't too much of an issue nowadays, since just about all new devices from the last few years support 5GHz 802.11n, as well as 802.11ac. For reference, I usually see around 120 Mbit/sec at close range with 2.4GHz from most routers, which is far less than you get with 5GHz, but seemingly slightly better range, since 5GHz seems to drop off far quicker. AVM Fritz!Box 3490 802.11n 5GHz client to server: One meter: 268 Mbit/sec Five meters: 158 Mbit/sec Ten Meters: 102 Mbit/sec AVM Fritz!Box 3490 802.11n 5GHz server to client: One meter: 273 Mbit/sec Five meters: 247 Mbit/sec Ten Meters: 220 Mbit/sec AVM Fritz!Box 3490 802.11ac client to server: One meter: 653 Mbit/sec Five meters: 334 Mbit/sec Ten Meters: 151 Mbit/sec AVM Fritz!Box 3490 802.11ac server to client: One meter: 611 Mbit/sec Five meters: 502 Mbit/sec Ten Meters: 361 Mbit/sec Having tested a wide range of other routers under identical conditions, I can say these results are mostly excellent, with short-range 802.11ac performance that's right up there with some of the best models on the market, and, surprisingly, a notable improvement over the results I measured from the 7490. We Liked The 3490 is fast in both 5GHz 802.11n and 802.11ac wireless modes. The software is well-designed and full of useful features. Although the latter has been always been a strong point for AVM, I've never seen really excellent wireless results from their products, so finally having performance that matches the software quality is more than welcome. And what's best is the price. AVM routers aren't cheap, and the 7490 is one of the priciest routers on the market. Although the 3490 isn't the most affordable router, it's on a level that's at least equal to many competing models and notably better value than many of AVM's other models. We Disliked A few years ago, AVM's original approach to intuitive and well-designed router software was revolutionary. Now though, other firms have embraced the same philosophy and provides software that's just as good as AVM's efforts. Many of the features offered by the Fritz!Box are equalled, or in some cases surpassed by the software on other routers. The Fritz!Box routers are just starting to look a little dated, and no longer as original as they once were. The transfer speeds are great, some of the best I've seen from AVM, but this is coming at a time when most firms are launching quad-stream models, which are faster still, leaving AVM one step behind with their mainstream offering. Expect the next AVM router to be an all-singing 4x4 model. And given the similarities of the external design with the 7490 and so many older Fritz!Box models, I now feel AVM's software and hardware could do with a more radical overhaul to make it feel fresh again. Verdict The Fritz!Box 3490 is a fast and powerful router that offers great speed over both 802.11n and 802.11ac. It's the fastest Fritz!Box I've used, and is much better value for money than many of AVM's previous models. It should be said that the software is great too and, while I think it looks a tad bland compared with the nifty design used on Asus' routers, for example, it's fast and full of features.

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