Hands on: HTC Desire Z review
The world might have been going gaga for the Desire HD, but it's easy to forget another phones was announced at the same time, and given the specs the HTC Desire Z is no little brother - it's a decent handset in its own right.
Featuring a full aluminium shell and slide out QWERTY keyboard, the HTC Desire Z is not only nice to look at and hold but solves an issue for people with fatter thumbs: a physical keyboard along with Android 2.2 and a raft of HTC-only features.
The HTC Desire Z is smaller than the Desire HD with only a 3.7-inch screen, which is still an impressive WVGA offering with 800x480 pixel and a nice-looking contrast ratio.
What's odd is this Super LCD screen (there's an OLED shortage don't forget, so HTC has gone for alternative tech rather than risk not being able to fulfil orders) is more attractive-looking than the Desire HD, which uses the same technology.
The colours look richer and the contrast ratio seems higher - we're looking forward to having some time with both to see if there are some settings that can be tweaked to improve things.
What's impressive is the HTC Desire Z looks and feels like a premium handset in the normal tablet mode - use it in portrait or landscape mode and it responds quickly and works well.
But there's also the QWERTY keyboard to think about, and it opens with a really cool hinge that lifts then pops down again, which HTC says will make it easier for the fat-thumbed or longer fingernailed among us to type along the top line of text.
The keys are slightly raised and easy to press down, although are a little bit stiff. But the dimensions of 119mm x 60.4mm x 14.16mm mean the HTC Desire Z is a decent device to hold in two hands and tap out a few characters.
One nice little touch is the ability to set two keys to perform a certain function, be it call a contact, open a web page or start up an application - it's the little touches like this that make smartphones less scary for users.
At the bottom of the phone there's a full optical trackpad, which makes a change from the Terminator eye on the HTC Legend and Desire, and is more useful for when trying to scroll through text, and it's flanked by the other standard Android keys for navigation.
The 3.5mm headphone jack is on the top, which will enrage or delight some users depending on how they pull the phone out of their pocket, and there's also a dedicated camera key, which is a welcome addition indeed.
But the physical side of things is becoming less important than before, as it's in the interface that users are looking for the greatest changes and cool features to turn their phone from a bog standard gadget into a wonder-unit.
And like the Desire HD, the HTC Desire Z manages this with aplomb with the same improved Sense UI, offering a number of upgrades.
But firstly, and most importantly, the interface responds quickly and sprightly under the touch and just works. Click and icon, perform a swipe and the HTC Desire Z will do it without lag (or it managed it on the device we saw, which always bodes well).
It's a mixture of Android 2.2 becoming a real contender for a smartphone OS under the hood and the excellent optimisation HTC is becoming known for.
The Sense UI home screens are back in full force too, and this means an improved 'favourite contacts' widget, enhanced mapping and a number of new applications too.
The mapping is one of the most impressive areas, and HTC is keen for users to understand that this is a new evolution for Android phones. Instead of relying on copious amounts of data, maps for major cities can now be preloaded onto the HTC Desire Z and allow for much easier navigation.
The HTC overlay on the navigation side of things is excellent too - Google has already done a good job, but this time there's also 'Helicopter Mode' which means when you're stopped you can ask the phone to fly ahead and show you where the route is going to take you.
Not literally - we'd probably have mentioned it earlier if the HTC Desire Z could actually levitate and scout for information.
The internet was somewhat akin to that on the HTC Legend, which has an 600MHz Qualcomm processor. It works well, and there's a lot of functionality packed in, but at times it does lag on the HTC Desire Z.
We're talking very slight amounts: for instance when you zoom into text and it re-jigs itself to fit the width of the screen, it takes a beat to achieve it, where it's instant with the Desire HD.
Given that the HTC Desire Z seems to be the cheaper phone, it makes sense that some compromises would have to be made - or it could just be the non-final firmware on board that caused the ever-so-slight lag.
Messaging is clearly an important area for the HTC Desire Z, and not just because it's got a QWERTY keyboard (although that's obviously important) but also a unified inbox, bringing it on a par with the iPhone 4.
The Desire HD has the same functionality, but for some reason it seems more at home on the Desire Z, and elements like being able to specify people you want to hear from on email make it even easier to use.
As we mentioned, tapping out messages on the keyboard is a decent experience and with a little practice we're pretty sure we'll get the speed up to a very reasonable standard.
Contacts are the same as before, but with a little extra functionality - you can obviously sync Facebook, Twitter and email accounts with your friends, but you can now see more information on the favourites widget.
You can also do little things like pre-tagging Facebook photos, which just makes things that much easier, and is impressive.
The media side of things is pretty good too - it's clear that this isn't the phone's primary function, as there's no Dolby Mobile or SRS surround enhancement to be messing around with (although we're not sure they always add to the quality of the movie or music).
But the DLNA support is there, allowing you to ping new content to a larger TV or computer with ease, be it pictures, music or videos.
For the latter, there's a 5MP camera and HD video recorder bolted on, although the flash isn't as powerful as on the HTC Desire HD.
Music and video sounded fine to us though, and we're glad to see that the same interface has been kept from older phones like the HTC Desire - the simplicity is something we're fans of, but it could do with an overhaul in the next iteration of the Sense UI as others offer more.
However, a direct link to the Amazon MP3 store is a nice addition and somewhere we can see we'll be accidentally spending a lot of money if Spotify fails us when out and about.
The speaker sounds loud and clear, although not that distinctive in the hubbub of a busy room... but then again, when are you going to use it in that environment, unless you want to be glared at on a train? That's right, glared.
Another cool feature is the Shazam-a-like SoundHound, which promises to listen to you humming or singing (or an actual song) and tell you what the song is. We're sorry folks, but while TechRadar does go that extra mile to get deeper into technology, we're not going to start humming in front a room of other sweaty journalists.
Plus the only song we could think of was the PussyCat Doll's 'When I grow up' and that seemed a little inappropriate.
There are loads more things on the HTC Desire Z we're looking forward to testing - how does the screen look in bright light? What's the call quality like? Does filling it with content cause the 800MHz processor to slow down?
More importantly - does the 1300mAh battery stand up to the task of all day use when the HTC Legend and Desire failed so miserably?
But these are all questions for the forthcoming full and in-depth HTC Desire Z review, where we can properly probe the limits of this handset.
For now, we're quietly impressed with this QWERTY slider, as it offers a lot in a small package and doesn't fall down in areas other smartphones inexplicably manage to time after time - so despite the hype surrounding the HTC Desire HD, the HTC Desire Z seems to be an equally impressive phone too.
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IDF 2010: Intel predicts computers that can read your mind
Justin Ratner, Intel's Chief Technology officer and freestyle futurologist, whipped out his crystal ball on the final day of the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) and predicted a future of pervasive context aware computing. In his closing keynote, Ratner painted a picture of all-aware computers and devices that know not only where you are, but what you're doing, feeling and even thinking.
Practical demos included a prototype destination application from travel guide outfit Fodors. It was the usual restaurant-toting, point-of-interesting hawking application with the added twist of constantly learning your preferences in terms of factors such as cuisine and price points.
The application also had a snazzy auto-blogging feature that combined any photos taken with auto-generated commentary on your whereabouts and activities.
It's all about context
Next up was Lama Nachman, Intel's context-computing specialist. Nachman explained how an array of familiar sensors such as accelerometers, light sensors and GPS could be used to build up a detailed picture of behaviour, location and more.
Much of the discussion was theoretical, but tangible examples included a TV remote that detects the user's identity based on how the device is wielded. From there, the system can present the user with preferred viewing options. Another near-future example involved animated avatars depicting an individual's status. Think of them as a replacement for those happy headshots in your Facebook feed.
Needless to say, neither choosing a restaurant nor allowing friends and family to know you're out jogging or in a meeting are terribly profound. Where things get really interesting is when you begin to build up a more detailed picture over time.
Computerised surveillance
Known as context aggregation, the analogy here is personal finance. It's easy enough to be aware of each individual financial transaction you perform. But keeping track of your broader financial behaviour is much more tricky. Thus, with context aggregation all kinds of short, medium and long term behaviour patterns can be tracked.
Forget kidding yourself over how many hours of work you've done, how much exercise you've been taken or how much quality time you've spent with the sprogs. In the future, it will all be logged in cold, hard numbers.
Of course, the ultimate end game here is direct reading of your thoughts by computers. Ratner duly delivered with a video showing research into just that by Carnegie Mellon University and supported by Intel. In truth, the video didn't reveal much beyond a system that can distinguish whether a human is thinking of one of two words, but the implications are still, well, mind boggling.
As for when we can expect context-aware computing to really take off, Ratner could not sprovide specifics. But as with all things computer-related, the safe bet is sooner than you think.
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Kinect to give Xbox 360 five-year life boost
Microsoft believes that the arrival of Kinect has breathed new life into the Xbox 360, with the company treating the new motion control system like the launch of a whole new platform.Speaking to Gamasutra, Xbox product director Aaron Greenberg believes that the Xbox 360 is going to be around for a long time to come.
"We do think that this generation is unique," he explained.
"We're treating the launch of Kinect as an entirely new platform launch, as almost a new generation.
"For us that does extend the product life cycle."
Five-year plan
Even though the Xbox 360 has already been around for five years, Greenberg is adamant that the console is only halfway through its lifespan, noting: "we're five years in. We think we have another good five years-plus, but that remains to be seen - but easily there's another five years' life."
This life boost is all down to Kinect, according to Greenberg, who thinks that the addition of the motion controller brings a new lease of life to the Xbox.
"I think what [Kinect] enables us to do is to keep things fresh, enable developers to bring new IP to the market, and enables people to have new experience."
With Greenberg hoping that Kinect will sell more than the Xbox 360 did on its launch – the target is to exceed three million sales – it seems that Microsoft is betting big on gamers wanting to play titles sans controller.
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Gary Marshall: IE9 is ie-mazing
Internet Explorer appears to be having a Rocky moment: dismissed by many as a washed-up has-been, a mere shadow of its former glory, the browser has emerged from a regime of punching animal carcasses and running up and down steps to land some serious blows on its rivals. In the past, describing a new Microsoft browser as "the best version of Internet Explorer yet" was like hailing somebody as the smartest member of N-Dubz, the best presenter on the One Show or the most interesting Sugababe: praise, yes, but praise so faint it's bordering on the sarcastic.
Now, though, it means something: IE7 was OK, IE8 was pretty good and IE9 is shaping up to be a genuinely excellent bit of software.
The secret, I suspect, is that like any fictional boxer, Microsoft needs a good thumping from time to time.
When IE6 shipped Microsoft had routed its rivals, and it was able to say "Well, that's the internet finished. Let's go to the pub for five years." If it weren't for Firefox, it's quite possible that the entire Internet Explorer team would still be AWOL.
We're seeing something similar with smartphones and games consoles. Windows Mobile? Flabby. Along comes Apple and Android, and all of a sudden Microsoft gets its mojo back. Xbox? Pwned by Nintendo's Wii, so Microsoft goes away and comes up with Kinect.
Whether Windows Phone or Kinect take off isn't really the point: it's that they're both examples of Microsoft getting its backside handed to it on a plate and the firm deciding to do something about it.
Hunger and fear
It's not just Microsoft. The secret to any tech firm's success is a combination of hunger and fear: hunger for success and fear of the competition. Without competition, firms fester: they release half-arsed products (or in the case of Internet Explorer for the best part of six years, no products at all), they don't treat their customers as well as they should and they don't bother investing in the future. Why should they when they don't need to?
Maybe we need to monitor tech firms more closely, and if a firm gets too successful and a natural competitor doesn't emerge, we should all agree to a boycott.
Imagine the stuff Apple would come up with if the entire planet refused to buy its stuff for a year, or what Google's search would be like if we all spent a year using Bing instead.
IE9 is great, but imagine what it'd be like if the development team hadn't had a half-decade holiday.
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Exclusive: YouView branding explained by new CEO
Richard Halton has spoken of his 'great excitement' about Project Canvas' rebranding as YouView, telling TechRadar he was delighted to get on with the task of telling the public about the service. Project Canvas has finally been given its real name after months of planning, and the YouView brand evokes both online video giant YouTube and the great British success story that is the Freeview platform.
"It is really exciting," said Halton, who was confirmed as CEO of the new company. "It feels great to have one of those days that's a little bit about the channels and also about getting the consumer brand away.
Fantastic story
"It is a fantastic story for the consumer and we wanted to get the YouView brand out there.
"Telling the audience about connected TV could risk being a bit mystifying, but with the name YouView you create a crumbtrail back to Freeview which is quite reassuring.
"It means that you are letting the content of the platform sing out, rather than an unfamiliar brand."
Content is king
Halton believes that content is going to be the biggest thing about YouView, allowing people to go backwards in time in the familiar EPG TV listings or search for hubs of their favourite programmes.
"I think people now understand what it take to make this platform a success," he said.
"You need a simple brand and a really clear consumer proposition that offers an easy environment to find content.
"Content providers want something that is very easy to put content on once and it be available for all devices and we want to deliver those things."
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Exclusive: YouView CEO expects to have Sky Sports on platform
YouView will potentially carry the main Sky Sports channels, with CEO Richard Halton confirming to TechRadar that he expects BT to include the potential to subscribe to the channels in its YouView offering. When asked if he felt a BT Vision YouView or Talk Talk YouView box would carry Sky Sports, and therefore Premier League football, Halton answered: "I would assume that that would be the case."
"BT or Talk Talk could make a YouView box, which has the linear channels."
Linear channels
"The thing about the common approach of YouView is that it allows you to integrate linear channels and on demand," he added.
"You could be watching live TV at 9pm, load the normal TV guide but then go back in the EPG to the day before."
Sky does, of course, offer more of its sports channels on its platform, and all of them are available in HD to people with the right subscription, but BT, TopUp TV and Virgin Media are among those that offer subscriptions to Sky Sports 1 and 2 after Ofcom set the wholesale price of the channels.
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Exclusive: YouView still hoping to include Sky Player
YouView CEO Richard Halton has underlined his hope that Sky and Virgin Media will eventually be an important part of the IPTV service when it arrives next year. Although both Sky and Virgin have been forthright in their annoyance with the entire Project Canvas proposition since its inception and eventual evolution into YouView, neither has fully ruled out involvement in the platform.
"I think if you look at Virgin and to a lesser extent Sky, they tend to be pretty frank and open about the proposition," Halton told TechRadar.
Rejected the platform
"I think it's important to see we are talking to a consumer that's rejected Sky and Virgin, so it's actually an opportunity to get their content to audience that wouldn't buy their platform," he continued.
"I don't expect to have them singing it from the rooftops, but time will tell."
It was only back in May that Sky Player head Griff Parry told TechRadar that he would play a watching brief with YouView – then Canvas.
Not ruling it out
"I said publicly that I wouldn't rule it out," said Parry. "[Sky's] main concern was more to do with the part that the BBC plays.
"We're not hostile to connected devices, and we are keen to embrace opportunity," he added
"That's what the Sky Player program is about, and it has always been clear that we see Canvas as one of a number of platforms in this area.
"There's been a lot of Canvas rhetoric suggesting that it will be the only solution but it's becoming clear that that's not going to happen.
"Canvas…are one of several platforms in a space where so much is going on so it's about prioritising the right things."
Virgin on unlikely
The prospect of Virgin Media getting involved would seem to have faded rapidly following the sale of its VMtv channels.
The cable giant has, however, got a tie up with TiVo coming this year that will see much IPTV functionality brought to its set top boxes.
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Review: New Apple iPod nano (2010)
Somebody at Apple obviously hates the phrase "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" because it has completely redesigned its best-selling iPod, the iPod nano, yet again. This year's model is half the height of the previous generation and has the same clip-on design as the new iPod shuffle. The big change is that there's no click wheel, just a screen.
In fact, the only physical buttons found on the device are for sleep/wake and adjusting volume. Everything else is controlled by a brand new multi-touch display.
But don't mistake the nano for a scaled down iPod touch; the nano appears to run some version of iOS, Apple's iPhone, iPod touch and iPad operating system, but its a unique severely restricted version compared to the full fat iOS 4 found on the touch. You can't buy and install third party apps, for example, and there are far fewer applications, and no Wi-Fi.
In Apple's iPod line up, the new nano still sits squarely in-between the simplistic iPod shuffle and the all-singing, all-dancing iPod touch,with the traditional iPod classic now marginalised as a device reserved for people who need a lot of storage.
Historically the nano has always represented a good balance between price and features, but this time around we were surprised to find that the UK price has actually risen by quite a bit, with the 16GB version at £159 (up from £138) and the 8GB version at £129 (up from £118).
What's even more surprising is that the ability to play or create videos (one of last year's nano's most touted features) has been removed altogether, making the new nano an audio-only device.
But before we tackle that thorny issue, let's take a look at the intriguing new multi-touch display.
The screen itself is perfectly square, measuring 3.9cm on the diagonal, and a resolution of 240 x 240 pixels. You get four icons on each screen, and from the Home screen you have access to Playlists, Now Playing, Artists and Genius Mixes.
Swipe left and you get another screen containing Radio, Podcasts, Photos and Settings. The next screen contains Songs, Albums, Genres and Composers and finally the last screen boasts Fitness and Clock.
As with the iPhone, pressing and holding an icon makes it wiggle, so you can move apps between screens. You can also change the wallpaper in the Settings app. Good use is made of inertia scrolling when navigating through lists, and you can also press and hold to bring up an alphabet letter to jump straight to it.
Navigating with touchscreen
It's not immediately obvious how you move back up a level in a menu, but a right swipe always takes you back one screen from wherever you are. Tapping and holding anywhere will take you back to the Home screen.
Once you understand all this, you'll find navigating menu items on the new nano is much easier than using a click wheel.
Apps like Playlists, Genius Mixes, Genres, Composers, Podcasts, Albums and Songs are just different ways of accessing your music collection and are much the same as they've always been.
As you'd expect, the Now Playing app displays album artwork for whatever track is currently playing. Tap once to bring up player controls and swipe left from here to access more controls for creating a Genius mix based on the playing song, or scrub through the track.
The Radio app uses the earphones as an antenna and makes good use of multi-touch, enabling you to scroll through FM frequencies, or you can just tap the arrow icon to scan for a station with a good signal. You can also pause live radio for 15 minutes.
The Fitness app isn't the full Nike + iPod Sport Kit experience - instead its just a pedometer, which is a bit disappointing, but you can plug in the Nike + iPod Sport Kit accessory to the 30-pin dock connector port.
Syncing the new nano with iTunes was a pretty typical experience. People tend to either love or hate iTunes, so don't expect anything different here.
One thing we noticed was that while the nano won't play video, it won't stop you syncing and playing the audio from video podcasts.
The battery life is a healthy 24 hours of audio playback and charging is done through the dock connector.
There's no doubt about it – navigating menu items using multi-touch is a lot easier than using a click wheel. The multi-touch display frees you from the constraints of the click wheel and also feels fast and responsive. It's also bright and colourful, meaning photos really stand out.
In typical Apple fashion it even adds a bit of Ken Burns-style magic to your slideshows. It's little touches like this that continually surprise you (in the best way) about the nano.
The nano's minimal approach to physical buttons means that you can't pause or skip a track without actually looking at its tiny screen, which is a big drawback for any exercising endeavour.
As you can imagine, flailing about jabbing at the screen can only bring frustration on a treadmill, or if you simply want to skip a track while walking down the street without bumping into a lamppost.
It comes as something of a relief then to discover that if you plug in a pair of headphones with a clicker on them (like the ones that come with the iPhone) they function perfectly well with the nano, enabling you to pause and skip tracks without having to look at the screen.
Given this, why on earth has Apple only included the bog-standard clicker-less white iPod earphones in the box?
To make matters worse, two features of the new nano actually require headphones with a clicker to work at all! Plug in some earphones with a built-in microphone and a new app called Voice Memos appears, enabling you to record... yes, you guessed it, voice memos.
VoiceOver is also available as an option for visually impaired users who want to be able to navigate the menu system, but it will also tell you the name of the currently playing song if you click and hold on your headphone's in-line clicker button. Without the clicker button this feature simply isn't available.
It's no secret that Apple's earphones are of dubious audio quality, so we'd always recommend investing in a better pair, but make sure you buy some with an in-line clicker, because without it your nano experience will be seriously hampered.
The argument can be made that video on a small screen is a fundamentally flawed idea anyway. Indeed, watching a TV show or music video on a nano was never a comfortable experience, but the simple fun of being able to shoot a quick video of your friends and watch it back immediately was hard to beat.
As a strategy for Apple it makes sense to focus the iPod nano entirely on music and leave video to the more accomplished iPod touch, but the price difference between a low-end iPod touch and the high-end iPod nano is pretty narrow.
We liked:
As we've already mentioned, the multi-touch interface is well designed and accessible. The new clip on the back is also a useful addition, especially if you want to take your new nano to the gym – there's no need to stuff it into a pocket anymore.
Genius playlists are also a stand-out feature, enabling you to quickly and easily create a playlist of similar sounding music, which makes life easy when you can't decide what to listen to.
We disliked:
What the new iPod nano does, it does incredibly well. Putting multi-touch onto a device with a screen that's only 3.9cm on the diagonal, and making it work in a way that feels intuitive and natural, is an incredible achievement. Hats off to Apple for getting this right.
Our only real gripe with the way the nano performs is the lack of controls on the headphones supplied in the box.
Verdict:
Comparing the new nano to last year's model we can't help but feel that we're missing out on something. While Apple has given us multi-touch with one hand, it has taken away the ability to play and record video with the other, while charging is £21 more for the trouble.
A video-capable 8GB iPod touch is only £30 more expensive, and with an iPod touch you get access to the thousands of apps available on Apple's App Store.
If Apple wanted to convince us that taking video playback away from the nano in exchange for multi-touch was a fair deal then it needed to include some sort of nano App Store, or at least bundle a few more apps with the nano beyond the simple Clock, Radio, Photos and Fitness apps you get by default.
As it stands, the new nano performs wonderfully as a device purely for listening to audio, provided you invest in some new headphones, but it feels unnecessarily limited in other areas.
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In Depth: IE9 beta vs Firefox vs Chrome: what's the best browser?
Internet Explorer 9 is shaping up to be the best version of Internet Explorer yet - but how does it compare to its rivals? Is it catching up with Chrome? Could it be faster than Firefox? There's only one way to find out.We tested IE9 against the latest betas of Firefox (4.0 beta 6) and Chrome (6.0.472.59). We went for the public betas rather than Firefox nightly builds or the Chrome dev channel as the public betas are designed for everyone to experiment with.
Don't expect an entirely trouble-free experience, though: betas are unfinished bits of software, so the odd crash, incompatibility or outright weirdness comes with the territory. In IE9's case that weirdness appears to be a complete refusal to play nice with Google Docs on our test PC. Office Live, as you might expect, worked just fine.
First impressions
The first thing you'll notice about IE9 is the interface - or rather, the lack of it. Where previous versions filled the screen with lots of buttons and toolbars, IE9 does its very best to hide: everything you need is in a single line at the top.
MINIMAL: IE9's new interface is barely there: Microsoft knows that it's the picture that matters, not the picture frame
It's simple, elegant and effective: back and forward buttons, a combined URL and search box with integrated close, refresh and compatibility mode buttons, your open tabs and then three icons for home, favourites and options.
The combined search and address bar can offer search suggestions, but unlike Chrome's suggestions it's something you have to opt into before your keystrokes are shared with remote servers.
IE9 SEARCH: Microsoft has put search suggestions into IE9, but you need to opt in if you want your keystrokes sent to its servers
The notification bar returns, but it's in a new place - politely coughing at the bottom of the screen rather than bellowing from the top as it used to - and at long last IE gets a download manager. It's no ordinary download manager, though: the final version of IE will use its SmartScreen anti-phishing system as a kind of reputation management system for downloads, warning you of potentially dodgy ones without bugging you about respectable ones.
You also get a Chrome-style New Tab window showing recently visited websites, and in a nice touch coloured bars show how much of your time you've been spending on each one.
Internet Explorer 9 looks very much like Chrome, but that's no bad thing: anything that reduces on-screen clutter and lets us concentrate on the sites we want to see is fine by us. We're not convinced by Firefox's new look, though: it feels a bit thrown together. Perhaps that'll change with future releases.
Features and standards
Both Firefox and Internet Explorer feature hardware graphics acceleration, which promises to boost performance by getting your PC's graphics system to handle some of the heavy lifting. It's coming to Chrome too, but it hasn't made its way across from the developer channel yet.
The reason hardware acceleration is important is because we're doing more and more in the browser, and the line between desktop applications and web applications is becoming increasingly blurry. By giving web applications the same power you'd give desktop applications, they should run much more smoothly.
IE9 is rather keen on its web applications, and in Windows 7 it introduces some clever new features to handle them. If you drag the icon from the current tab to the taskbar you can pin it just like any other program, and when you open it the browser buttons change colour to match the site - so for example if you pin Flickr you get blue browser buttons.
Once you've done that, right-clicking on the icon gives you a jump list, so for example if you've pinned Twitter to the taskbar you get a list including New Tweet, Direct Messages, Mentions, Favourites and Search.
It's very clever and very handy. Firefox and Chrome both support web applications, but not by default: Google's support for apps is only in the developer releases, while Firefox needs Mozilla's Prism to turn sites into desktop applications.
IE9 WEB APPS: IE9-aware applications gain jump lists when you pin them to the Windows 7 taskbar. This one's from Twitter
IE9's support for web standards has been beefed up, too, and it's starting to catch up with its rivals. It supports SVG graphics, WOFF web fonts, HTML5 video (H.264 only) and achieves an Acid3 score of 95%, which is exceptional compared to previous versions.
All three browsers are expandable - Firefox via Add-ons, Chrome via Extensions and IE via Accelerators and Add-ons - and all three offer variations on the Private Browsing theme, but only two of the three browsers have each tab in a separate process.
Misbehaving sites or plug-ins - hello, Flash! - can be killed in Chrome and IE9 without affecting other open tabs, but in Firefox they can still bring down the entire browser.
TABS APART: Both Chrome and IE9 break each tab into a separate process, enabling you to kill a misbehaving plug-in without bringing down the browser
Performance and benchmarks
Let's pretend that JavaScript performance is like running the London Marathon. Chrome always finishes first, Firefox always comes second and Internet Explorer is wearing a chicken suit, wheezing its way through the finish line after the crowds have gone home.
Not any more.
Internet Explorer hasn't just been to the gym: it's munched a whole bunch of energy bars and guzzled a gallon of Red Bull. In the SunSpider benchmarks IE9 whooshes past Firefox and comes very close to catching Chrome, with just 33 milliseconds between Microsoft and Google.
The gap between IE9 and Firefox is much bigger: around 250 milliseconds in IE's favour. That said, we defy you to spot any real difference in everyday web browsing: unless you've got a hopelessly underpowered PC, all three browsers feel equally speedy.
Mozilla points out that SunSpider isn't necessarily the best benchmark to use for browsers - "many benchmarks don't actually do anything," platform engineer Rob Sayre says - and it's developed an alternative, Kraken. As Sayre explains, "We believe that the benchmarks used in Kraken are better in terms of reflecting realistic workloads for pushing the edge of browser performance forward." Naturally we decided to test the browsers on that, too.
Kraken is a much bigger benchmark - it takes around four times longer than SunSpider to complete - and we expected Firefox to do well; let's face it, Mozilla isn't going to go "hey! Come and see Firefox get its arse kicked!"
We also expected IE9 to do badly, because by a handy coincidence Mozilla decided to remind us about Kraken just hours before the IE9 beta went live. Guess what? Firefox did quite well and IE9 didn't.
NOT SO FOXY: We're not entirely convinced by Firefox's new look: it's the least pretty of the three browsers here
Where Firefox and Chrome completed Kraken in around 20,000ms, IE9 needed more than 50,000ms. The bottleneck appears to be the Gaussian Blur test, which takes IE9 around 30,000ms to complete compared to Firefox's 2,000ms.
So what does that actually mean? The short answer is "not much": as Webmonkey points out "Among the real-world things Kraken tests are Mozilla's new beat detection scripts, which uses experimental audio APIs, and image processing tools like the ones that apply a Gaussian blur or desaturate a JPG using JavaScript."
Put simply, Kraken is interested in really demanding web application features, so its scores don't really reflect how your browser will cope with everyday websites.
Here are the numbers:
SunSpider
IE9 566.8ms / 630.4ms
Chrome 6 533.2 ms / 545.8 ms
Firefox 4 823.8 ms / 797.4 ms
Kraken
IE9 52,752.2ms / 57,852.7ms
Chrome 6 20,242.8ms / 20,214.4ms
Firefox 4 19,421.0ms / 19,481.2ms
Verdict
Internet Explorer 9 is quite simply Microsoft's best browser yet, and if the three browsers were all final builds IE would stand a good chance of being our recommended browser on Windows. But there's a problem, and it's a performance problem.
IE9 may be as fast as its rivals but Microsoft's browser development isn't as quick, so for example while we're testing Chrome 6 in beta Chrome 7 is already shooting down the developer channel. IE9 is a great browser today, but if it doesn't ship soon it will be overtaken before it's even started.
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IDF 2010: Intel: SSDs may never be price competitive
A leading Intel Fellow explained that SSD "may never" become competitive with normal hard drives in terms of price.Speaking at this year's IDF San Francisco, Intel's SSD guru, Knut S. Grimsrud, Technology and Manufacturing Group Director of Storage explained that time may be running out for the SSD.
He suggests that the timeframe for SSDs becoming cheaper than traditional spinning platter hard drives - on a price per gigabyte level - is "quite a way off." Grimsrud followed that up by saying that it "may actually never be the case."
"That doesn't mean it's hopeless," he continued. "On a per unit basis I do see that in the very near future SSD can actually be cheaper."
Price per unit more of interest
Grimsrud explained that in terms of usage then you could argue that a cheap, "big enough" SSD would be cheaper than an unnecessarily large hard drive. "On a netbook maybe you don't need a terabyte of storage, maybe all you need is $30 worth of storage."
"The unit price of a big enough SSD could make it interesting even if the $/GB isn't competitive."
He followed that up by talking about when we might actually see large capacity SSDs on the market. "There really aren't any technical barriers to making really big SSDs today, but there are financial barriers because you pay proportional to the capacity."
Prices are coming down relatively. "Costs are scaling really nicely," Grimsrud continued. "You'll notice with each generation you're getting more for roughly the same price."
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Review: New Apple iPod touch (2010)
The iPod touch has been the world's premium MP3 player for some time now, and with the launch of the new iPod touch 4G model, that doesn't look like changing.Despite the new iPod touch being even thinner than last year's model, Apple has managed to squeeze into it a super-sharp Retina display, two cameras and the A4 processor that powers the iPhone 4 and iPad.
These key hardware upgrades mean you can now make FaceTime calls and record and edit HD video, just like you can on the iPhone 4.
Apple hasn't copied the iPhone 4's form factor, however, so the touch retains its shiny metal backplate, which is as prone to fingerprints and smears as it's always been.
The Sleep/Wake button has moved to the right-hand side, to match the iPhone and iPad, but the headphone connector remains on the bottom, next to the dock connector.
With a feature-set that's so close to the iPhone 4, comparisons are inevitable, even though, ultimately, one's a phone and the other is a media player with a whole load of extras. Importantly, there's no ongoing cost involved with the iPod touch, which there is if you sign up for an iPhone 4 with a contract.
There are three iPod touch models in all: an 8GB offering for £189, a mid-sized 32GB version at £249, and the top-end 64GB one, costing £329.
Once you get the new iPod touch in your hand, it feels incredibly thin, and at 101g, it's 14g lighter than its predecessor and 36g less than the iPhone 4.
One less fortunate change that Apple has made, is no longer supplying headphones with an in-wire clicker. You get a regular (read: rubbish) pair of Apple earphones, which means you have to get the iPod out of your pocket to control the media player.
The new iPod touch (left) is slimmer than last year's model (right)While you can plug in a compatible set of clicker earphones, it's a shame Apple has chosen not to supply these with its top-of-the-range iPod.
The touch's processor has been upgraded to an A4, just like the iPhone 4 and iPad, and performance is superb – more on that later.
Retina display
When you switch the iPod touch on, the first thing you notice is the amazing Retina display.
With a resolution of 960x640 pixels, it packs in 326 pixels per inch, which is four times as many as the screen in the iPod touch third generation model.
The display's bright, vivid and incredibly sharp – if you've used an older iPod touch or iPhone recently, you'll notice the difference immediately, especially when reading text. Even after using it for a week, we're still amazed by it every time we switch it on.
But while this is a Retina display, it's not exactly the same as the iPhone's, in that it doesn't have in-plane switching (IPS). This means the viewing angles aren't as good, and you can see a marked difference between this and the iPhone 4 if you look at the screen from an angle.
However, in practical terms, we didn't notice anything when using the iPod touch on our own or even when watching over a friend's shoulder.
The new iPod touch also has the usual Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, and wireless-N makes its bow on an iPod for the first time too.
Apple hasn't put a GPS chip in the iPod touch, but its location pinpointing system, which uses nearby Wi-Fi networks, was remarkably good in urban areas – though invariably it doesn't work when you're away from civilisation.
When the very first iPods came out, there was a lot of talk about battery life, and it's a testament to Apple that such discussion is now largely irrelevant. The company claims the fourth generation touch can do 40 hours of music playback, or seven of video, compared to 30 and 6 in the third-generation model.
As with all such devices, exact battery life depends on what you're doing with the device, but we never found ourselves glancing nervously at the battery indicator, as we have done with some previous iPods. A percentage figure next to the battery indicator would be a nice addition though.
App store
Just like the iPhone and iPad, you can take your pick from the 250,000 apps on the App Store to make your iPod touch do just about anything you want.
Steve Jobs has been keen to press the point about the device's gaming capabilities, and the new Game Center app, part of iOS 4.1, and the three-axis gyroscope both add to this.
Game Center is a one-stop shop for gaming, where you can download compatible games from the App Store and build up a list of friends to play against. The list of games is growing all the time, and includes popular titles such as FarmVille, Flight Control and Real Racing. As with any social network, it'll become more fun as more of your friends join up to it.
The iPod touch's cameras are a bit like the proverbial buses – we've waited years for one to appear, and now two have come along at once.
There's a VGA front-facing camera for FaceTime video chat, and a rear-facing one for taking snaps.
Both are welcome additions, even though the latter isn't anywhere near as good as the iPhone 4's when it comes to taking still photos. At just 960x720 pixels (0.69 megapixels), there were compact cameras a decade ago that were capable of more.
Colour reproduction is slightly colder and less realistic than the iPhone 4, and the angle of view is narrower.
Furthermore, there's no HDR, and the lens is fixed-focus – tapping the screen merely alters the exposure. So while this could take a quick snap of your day out to share on Twitter or Facebook, its uses are limited as a stills camera.
Certainly when compared to the iPhone 4, it's chalk and cheese, and you can see a marked difference between the two photos below, taken from exactly the same position using an iPod touch and an iPhone 4.
iPhone 4 photo...
See full-res imageiPod touch 4G photo...
See full-res imageWhere the camera does hold its own, however, is video recording. It shoots 30 frames per second at a resolution of 1280x720 for 720p HD, and does a decent job.
While colours still aren't as rich as those in iPhone 4 footage, the angle of view was wider and panning was smoother. We'd go so far as to say that we preferred the iPod touch for the sort of straightforward, point-and-shoot video that it's most likely to get used for.
That said, it's still no match for a dedicated camcorder or even a Flip-style pocket device.
Once you've recorded your footage, you can edit and publish it by buying iMovie for £4.99 from the App Store.
FaceTime
Apple has run a major advertising campaign for FaceTime, its video chat service that works over Wi-Fi.
It uses the front-facing camera to film your face as you talk to a friend, while at the same time, beaming their face to your device. Until now, it had been exclusive to the iPhone 4, and you had to make a regular mobile call first.
Now, you can use FaceTime on your iPod touch, and it works a treat. You sign up with your Apple ID (the same one you use for the App Store and iTunes Store) and then anyone with an iPod touch or iPhone 4 can call you, simply using your FaceTime email address.
The only glitch we had with it was when we tried calling a friend whose device wasn't connected to a Wi-Fi network at the time. Instead of getting an error message at our end, we got the regular ringing sound, as though nothing was wrong. The recipient did, however, get a notification of a missed call when we hung up.
We recorded three test videos with the new iPod touch. One outside the TechRadar office in the sunshine, one inside the office and one outside using the front-facing camera.
See video in HD
See video in HD
See video in HD
As with all iOS devices, you have to connect the iPod touch up to iTunes before you can use it.
You'll be guided through the setup process, and offered the chance to restore a previous backup to it –so if you've already got an iPod touch or iPhone, transferring all your apps and settings across is a breeze.
If you'd rather not load all your apps onto the iPod, you can simply uncheck the ones you'd rather leave on your computer and resync. Since the iPod touch we tested came with iOS 4.1 installed, we didn't have to wait around while iTunes downloaded any updates – we simply transferred our music across and were ready to go in minutes.
Any apps you buy on the iPod touch are synced to your computer when you next connect it up, although if you manage your music manually, things you buy on the iPod aren't copied across automatically.
While it's easy enough to do this yourself (by right-clicking the iPod's name in iTunes and selecting Transfer Purchases), it would be nice if this was automated.
We mentioned the A4 processor earlier, and boy does it make the iPod touch fly. It boots from cold to the Home screen in 31 seconds, five seconds faster than the iPhone 4. But in reality, there's rarely any need to switch the device off completely – just put it to sleep and you can wake it in an instant as soon as you want to use it.
General performance is identical to the iPhone 4. Swiping between screens is smooth, pop-up alerts appear without jittering and folders sweep open majestically. The whole user interface just oozes class and polish and is a joy to use, as is the on-screen keyboard.
The new iPod touch is so much more than a portable media player, and the stunning display complements the new, faster processor to make it wonderful to use, while FaceTime video calling and HD video recording are great additions.
We liked:
We still marvel at the sharpness of the Retina display and the speed at which you move around iOS, browse the web or do anything else.
As an HD video camera to carry round in your pocket for spontaneous point-and-shoot footage, you won't go wrong here. And Game Center is a great one-stop social gaming portal.
We disliked:
We didn't find much here that we disliked, really. We're pleased to see cameras in the iPod touch, but for still shots, the rear-facing one doesn't come close to competing with any compact cameras from recent years. And even though this is an incredible package, it comes with a premium price tag.
Verdict:
So is the iPod touch worth it? Relative to the iPod nano, it's a no brainer if you can stump up the extra cash.
With the 8GB nano coming in at £129 and the 16GB model £159, the huge number of extra features you get with the touch makes it totally worth the extra money. Comparing it to the iPhone is more complicated, and ultimately, your choice will depend on what you want to use the device for.
Remember that just because the iPod touch can't connect to mobile networks itself doesn't mean it can't be used as a phone or to browse the web when you're not within range of your Wi-Fi network.
As well as FaceTime, apps such as Skype enable you to make and receive calls, and if you're prepared to carry round a MiFi dongle (which turns a 3G signal into a Wi-Fi network), then you're no longer tied to fixed Wi-Fi.
Certainly for occasional use, an iPod touch and a PAYG MiFi is far cheaper than buying the bottom-end iPhone 4 on PAYG.
So comparing the touch to the other products in Apple's range, it offers remarkably good value for the incredible set of features you get with it.
But taking a step back, £189 is a lot of money to stump up for anything, let alone £329, however good its feature-set may be. It would have been nice to see the 8GB model come in below the £150 mark, and the 64GB version dropped to under that £300 hurdle.
However, if you do plump for one of these, it won't disappoint.
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In Depth: YouView: All you need to know
YouView is coming, with a service backed by some of Britain's most familiar broadcasters bringing subscription-free, on-demand and catch-up television to UK living rooms through your broadband connection. TechRadar has, of course, been following the scheme – which was codenamed Project Canvas through its inception – from the beginning of its twisty journey.
Billed as the future of Freeview and Freesat, the use of broadband to provide access to some of the most watched television shows in Britain, when you want them, is certainly an attractive proposition.
So without further ado TechRadar has put together the most important questions you might have, and provided the answers.
What is YouView?
YouView is a project from some very familiar major broadcasters and ISPs to bring IPTV – television through your broadband connection - into the UK home in a way which is simple for consumers.
The beauty of IPTV is that it allows on-demand viewing. So in just the same way as your YouTube or iPlayer programmes start when you press play, so will archived shows on YouView.
Because it is 'streamed' you don't need to set recordings or worry about missing shows, because they will all be available to play whenever you want.
YouView will offer a set of standards for set-top box and televison manufacturers to conform to, in the same way as Freeview and Freesat boxes can be made by anyone, but, controversially, will also dictate the User Interface.
In the words of YouView: "YouView brings you all the plug-in-and-watch simplicity of Freeview, plus the UK's leading Internet catch-up services.
"That means you'll get the digital TV you love, plus BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD, Demand Five and SeeSaw, all instantly available on your TV, through one simple set-top box.
"For the first time, your on-screen programme guide will go backwards in time as well as forwards. You can discover and watch great programmes whenever you want – even ones you thought you'd missed."
Will I be able to watch programmes in HD
The YouView FAQ insists that streamed HD programmes will be available, although that will of course be dependent on the speed of your connection.
"Of course, YouView will also have high definition, as well as the choice of pay-TV channels, and special Internet-based services," says YouView.
Who are the partners in YouView?
BBC has been a lead partner in YouView to date, but are joined in the venture by telecoms giant BT, ISP TalkTalk, network specialist Arqiva and fellow terrestrial broadcasters ITV, Channel 4 and Five.
Five dropped out of the running for a while, but are now back involved since its takeover.
When will it launch?
YouView expects to launch in the first half of next year.
"We haven't quite tied down the launch date yet, but all being well it'll be in the first half of 2011," says YouView.
The original hope was to launch by the end of 2010, but the wrangling over giving the project the go-ahead and the continued controversy around the project have meant that it will be next year.
How will I find programmes?
The user interface will be a key part of YouView, with the partners indicating that they will offer a "programme guide that goes backwards as well as forwards" along with a comprehensive search system.
"Viewers will also be able to simply search for the kind of programmes they like by genre, interest or locality, including films, sports and new content from the internet," explains YouView.
"Plans to offer an applications store will also give viewers new types of services and levels of interactivity with their favourite programmes."
How much will it cost?
It's important to note that this is a subscription free service – so you will only pay a one-off fee for the set-top box, or the television with integrated tuner.
"YouView set top boxes will be available for a one-off fee, with no contract," says YouView
"They may be offered at special rates as part of new or improved broadband packages.
"To get the full range of on-demand and interactive services, viewers will need a broadband connection from their chosen internet service provider."
With no boxes yet made, pricing is still up in the air, but expect more news on that soon.
Why is it controversial?
The likes of Sky and Virgin Media see YouView as a platform that takes away some of their unique selling points, and are annoyed that the BBC is engaged in a platform rather than concentrating on programme making.
Major manufacturers, the most vocal of which has been Sony, are annoyed that the User Interface is being designed by YouView, rather then left up to them
This makes it much more difficult for manufacturers to 'differentiate' their products, and also makes it harder to bring in their own separate additions and services.
Will I need new equipment?
"If you can already get digital TV, you shouldn't have any problem getting YouView." Explains YouView.
"Obviously you'll need to buy the YouView box itself. But if you've already got Freeview or Freesat, your current kit will carry on working just the same, and receive all the services it gets now."
So, you'll need a YouView box and a broadband connection, along with a digital television signal.
Will there be Pay TV channels?
Yes. Paid-for services have long been included in the project. Expect movies to be available early, and look out for other major players getting involved.
"For those who want more, there'll be a huge choice of on demand and pay TV - including films, sports & US drama," confirms YouView.
Will I be able to get Sky Sports?
'Probably' is the best we can do at the moment. Sky Sports 1 and 2 are now available for wholesale and have been snapped up by a range of platforms including BT Vision, and with BT one of the partners you can perhaps expect for a paid-for sports option on YouView.
Sky are very cross about YouView, but has never ruled out putting its own on demand service - Sky Player - on the platform.
Is the company does go ahead with this, then it would bring all of Sky's on-demand shows to the platform - which would be a major boon for YouView, but there is no guarantee that it will.
Who will make the boxes?
Anyone who is prepared to use the UI and confirm to the standards set by YouView will be able to make a set top box or integrated tuner - although some manufacturers have already expressed an interest.
"Cisco, Humax, Technicolor, LG, Sagem, Amino, TVOnics and others," are all involved, according to YouView CEO Richard Halton.
Is it the web on my TV?
Principally no. What IPTV and YouView does is use the connection of the internet - your broadband - to stream programmes, use apps and offer other services.
Think of it in terms of applications on your mobile phone, they use the mobile connection, but they are not necessarily offering the world wide web.
It seems unlikely that YouView boxes will include a browser, but it has not yet been confirmed either way.
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IDF 2010: Intel: Larrabee was 'impractical'
Thomas Piazza, Intel Architecture Group Director, Graphics Architecture, spoke honestly about the failings of Intel's Larrabee graphics architecture at this year's IDF.At a group panel discussion with the Intel Fellows, essentially some of the smartest people at Intel, Intel's head graphics honcho was quizzed about Larrabee.
When asked if they ever expected to see a Larrabee-based graphics part coming out at all, the entire panel looked directly at Piazza, as he hunkered down in his stool.
"I honestly thought i'd get through two days without someone asking me that..." he said, followed by a simple, "I don't think so."
The Larrabee project was Intel's great hope of creating a serious consumer graphics card. For years Intel kept hinting at the power and ultra-programmable design of the thing, even going so far as to show a rather weak demo at last year's IDF in San Francisco.
Performance-per-Watt nightmares
The project was canned due to numerous delays and poor performance, meaning that even if it finally did appear it would be several generations behind the GPUs of Nvidia and AMD.
When asked why Piazza thought it had failed though he was surprisingly candid. "I just think it's impractical to try to do all the functions in software in view of all the software complexity," he explained. "And we ran into a performance per watt issue trying to do these things."
"Naturally a rasterizer wants to be fixed function." Piazza went on. "There is no reason to have the programming; it takes so little area for what it does relative to trying to code things like that."
It turned out that it was a problem of trying to balance out what they were doing, trying to find "what's the right level of programmability and what's the right level of fixed function."
Unfortunately with the Larrabee project Intel tried to make everything programmable.
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Review: Lexmark Interpret S405
Along with HP, Lexmark stuck with the old-fashioned system of tri-colour cartridges with built-in print heads longer than most manufacturers. But we all resented throwing away expensive ink just because one of the three chambers had run dry, so fixed print heads and individually replaceable ink cartridges, which are little more than basic ink tanks, are the new order of the day.
The Interpret S405 joins the previously reviewed Lexmark Interact S605 in serving up Lexmark's new Vizix individual ink system, more along the lines of the Canon MP640. But whereas most 'all-in-one' printers come up short in office-minded features, the S405 aims to give you everything you need.
Whereas the fun-loving and flamboyant Lexmark Interact S605 is based around 10.9cm full-colour touch-screen, the cheaper S405 has a more hard-nosed businesslike mono LCD for just two short lines of alpha-numeric characters.
This makes it less than ideal for printing photos direct from memory cards, since you can't preview them, although printing is still possible using the USB input socket which can read memory sticks or connect with PictBridge-enabled cameras, or from the single memory card slot which works with SD, MMC, Memory Stick and xD cards.
Even so, with only four inks under the bonnet, photo quality is merely good, rather than fabulous, as colour space is slightly lacking.
Where the S405 really hits its stride is in office duties and, unlike the S605, it adds a 35-sheet ADF (Auto Document Feeder) for scanning, which makes short work of multi-page documents.
Moreover, the ADF teams up perfectly with the built-in fax machine, also lacking on the S605, so you can make mono or colour photocopies, print and send or receive faxes even when your computer is switched off.
Having the right connections is vital in business and the S405 doesn't disappoint. As well as the usual USB 2.0 port for connection to a standalone computer, there's Ethernet for hooking up with a home or small business network and, even more important nowadays, full Wi-Fi connectivity. This is particularly good for printing from your laptop, anywhere around the home.
The S405 is no slouch when it comes to print speeds. In our tests, it outputted mono text pages in seven seconds flat and colour DTP pages in just under 20 seconds. Switch to photo output and you'll get a regular quality 6x4 print in about 30 seconds.
The only real fly in the ointment is that the standard capacity cartridges supplied with the printer last no time at all, but page yield and running costs are average if you switch to Lexmark's XL high capacity cartridges.
The new generation of Lexmark inkjets is a huge improvement over previous models, both in terms of print quality and running costs. The four-ink system is perfectly suited to document printing, and photo output is surprisingly rather better than from Lexmark's older six-ink models.
We liked
Despite the email revolution, sometimes we still need to send and receive faxes when working at home, and the S405 enables this in fine style, along with a good quality keypad and 35-sheet document feeder.
Printing in normal and high quality modes is massively quicker than most of Lexmark's older printers for photos as well as documents, and the Vizix individual ink system makes for reasonable running costs too.
The provision of Wi-Fi as well as Ethernet connectivity is a bonus, making the printer compatible with pretty much any home network.
We disliked
There's only one paper input tray, which sits at the back of the printer, so it's impossible to load up the machine with standard paper and letter-headed stock simultaneously, or plain and photo paper, as you can with printers like the Canon MP640. There's also no provision for printing onto white-faced CDs and DVDs.
Verdict
As a home office or small business printer, the Interpret S405 makes short work of printing, scanning, photocopying and faxing. It's reasonably cheap to run and print speeds and quality are good, making it a bit of a bargain at the price.
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News Of The World to go behind a paywall this October
News International has announced it is to put the website of Sunday tabloid newspaper News Of The World behind a paywall this October.The move comes just months after Murdoch and co blocked free access to the Times and Sunday Times websites.
In a statement, Rebekah Brooks, chief executive, News International said about the move: "The News Of The World website will be the third of our titles to launch a paid-for in under four months.
"News International is leading the industry by delivering on its commitment to develop new ways of making the business of news an economically exciting proposition."
News of the world wide web
Only time will tell whether charging for access to tabloid news is economical. The Times hasn't exactly had massive exclusives to entice web users to climb its paywall.
However, the NOTW with its myriad footballer scandals and apparent sportsmen on drugs / celebrities off the rails agenda may well prove too tantalising a thing to miss for some.
Alongside the News Of The World, Fabulous magazine is also getting its own website which will accessible when you pay the £1 a day or £1.99 a month charge.
For those who want their papers on the iPad, the iPad app will be £1.19 a week.
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Review: Acer Aspire 5738DZG
Sitting at the top of the European laptop market, Acer is well known for offering high-quality laptops built around the latest technology, at truly competitive prices. As a result, it was no surprise to see Acer be the first to release a fully 3D-capable laptop to consumers in the form of the Acer Aspire 5738DZG – a 15.6-inch Intel and ATI-based multimedia machine that uses polarised screen technology to create a stunning 3D effect.
With such impressive rivals as the Asus G51, G53 and G73, and the Rock Xtreme 680 all currently available and built around Nvidia's far more powerful and more expensive 3D Vision technology, it was this use of a less capable, but far more affordable, polarised screen that always had the potential to be the Acer Aspire 5738DZG's Achilles heel, with far less gaming and movie content currently available and less powerful technology driving the overall 3D experience.
So, with many big-name game developers and content creators backing Nvidia 3D Vision, how does the Acer Aspire 5738DZG measure up to its high-priced rivals and can it truly bring immersive 3D entertainment into the living room?
Unfortunately the answer is not as cut and dried as we'd have liked, and while there's no doubt that the Aspire 5738DZG delivers a striking 3D effect at a great price, this is a laptop with as many flaws as it has benefits.
With its 15.6-inch screen striking a nice balance between size and portability, the Acer Aspire 5738DZG is a semi-portable laptop, suitable for home use and basic travel.
Weighing 2.9kg, you can comfortably carry it on short journeys, but the 191-minute battery life means you'll need to carry the AC adapter during the day to charge the battery at least twice a day, making it a machine more suitable for use at home on your desk.
As with most laptops in Acer's entry-level range, the Aspire 5738DZG uses plastic throughout its chassis, with no use of the brushed aluminium and metallic finishes seen on more expensive machines such as the Acer Aspire Ethos 8943G.
This creates quite a cheap feel to the Aspire 5738DZG, but the chassis still manages to feel suitably resilient and well made, making it tough enough for frequent use by the whole family.
The user interface of the Aspire 5738DZG incorporates Acer's traditional use of a flat keyboard with all keys raised slightly above the chassis' surface. While the flat keys restrict tactility somewhat, the ample spacing between each key makes it easy to type at speed.
All keys respond smoothly for a reliable typing action. A full numeric keypad is also in place, for quickly and easily inputting data – into spreadsheets for example.
KEY FEATURE: Acer's unique keyboard design has all keys raised above the chassis' top panel
The Aspire 5738DZG's large touchpad measures 100 x 50mm and perfectly matches the 15.6-inch screen's 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. Only the cheaply made mouse buttons let things down slightly, because they lack the quality of the rest of the interface.
A scrollbar on the pad's right-hand side makes it easy to scroll vertically through documents, while a small button can be used to disable the pad entirely, for when using an external USB mouse.
NO TOUCHING!: A compact button enables you to instantly disable the Acer's huge touchpad
To help keep costs low, the Acer Aspire 5738DZG has been built around an older Intel Pentium T4300 processor running at 2.1GHz, rather than one of Intel's latest entry-level Core i3 or mid-level i5 chips.
Backing up the processor is 4096MB (4GB) of DDR2 memory, again eschewing the use of newer technology – in this case faster DDR3 memory – in order to keep the Aspire 5738DZG as affordable and accessible as possible.
Storage is far more pleasing, with a 500GB hard drive in place spinning at 5400rpm for average data read/write speeds.
Unlike more expensive 3D-capable rivals, such as the Asus G51, that use a Blu-ray optical drive for maximum external disc storage and high-definition multimedia playback, the Acer Aspire 5738DZG has a standard CD/DVD rewriter – fitted on the chassis' right-hand side – for creating your own discs.
CARD HOLDER: A 5-in-1 card reader provides easy access to popular multimedia card formats
A 5-in-1 card reader at the front of the chassis enables access to the most popular media card formats, making it easy to share files with your smartphone and digital camera. All other ports are spread across the right and left-hand sides of the Acer Aspire 5738DZG.
Two USB 2.0 ports are located on the right, while the left side has two more USB 2.0 ports, alongside VGA and HDMI outs for connecting to external analogue and digital displays.
HIGH OUTPUT: VGA and HDMI-out ports enable you to connect to analogue and digital HD displays
Impressively for such a low priced machine, the Acer Aspire 5738DZG is well equipped for high-speed network connectivity.
802.11n Wi-Fi allows the fastest possible wireless network connections, while a Gigabit Ethernet port on the chassis' left-hand side allows high-speed network connections via Ethernet cables. Bluetooth support is also in place for wirelessly syncing compatible peripherals.
A mid-level ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 graphics card drives the Acer Aspire 5738DZG's 15.6-inch screen, for basic graphics performance.
The screen's 1366 x 768 pixel resolution enables high-definition 720p video content to be viewed in all its glory, but with no support for sharper 1080p content, the Aspire 5738DZG lacks the full high-definition compatibility of more expensive machines such as the Rock Xtreme 680 and Asus G73.
Of course where the Acer Aspire 5738DZG stands out is its use of a polarised 3D screen, with accompanying 3D glasses. The 3D effect works by polarising each pixel on the screen, with half of the pixel polarised one way and the other half polarised another.
The lenses in the passive, non-battery powered, glasses then let each eye only see the pixels that are polarised in the same way as that specific lens – effectively creating two separate images from one.
In this way, your brain is able to then combine these two images to create a single three-dimensional image. Although the technology is extremely simple in concept, the effect produced by the Acer Aspire 5738DZG is outstanding with photos, videos and games popping from the screen with impressive depth and a truly immersive quality.
Images really do leap out at you and make you feel as if you can reach out and touch them.
A particular benefit of the Acer Aspire 5738DZG over its Nvidia 3D Vision-based rivals is the improved colour vibrancy afforded by the passive 3D glasses.
While laptops such as the Asus G51 and the Rock Xtreme 680 feature battery-powered glasses that greatly reduce the brightness and colour display of the 3D image, there is no such problem with the Acer Aspire 5738DZG – all colours retain their vibrancy when wearing the glasses.
DOUBLE VISION: Two pairs of polarised 3D glasses are included, each with their own protective pouch
While the greatest 3D effect is, of course, provided by content specifically created for 3D use, the TriDef 3D software installed on the Acer Aspire 5738DZG also enables you to easily turn your standard 2D photos and videos into 3D, although this is far less impressive.
While some of our test photos and videos did obtain a slight 3D effect, they mostly appeared unchanged other than a slight blurring at the edges – a symptom of attempting to polarise the image.
The greatest flaw of the Acer Aspire 5738DZG's polarised 3D technology, however, is the effect it has on your eyes and your brain.
By tricking your brain into thinking it can see a three-dimensional image that doesn't really exist, we found varying side effects occurred almost immediately during our use of the Aspire 5738DZG, including slight headaches, dizziness and nausea. These even continued for several minutes after taking the glasses off. Since this doesn't happen when using Nvidia's 3D Vision technology, this is a major flaw.
Aside from the 3D usability, however, the Acer Aspire 5738DZG is a suitably powerful and capable laptop for most home and multimedia use. The Intel Pentium processor and 4096MB of DDR2 memory provide ample performance for basic tasks such as browsing the internet, running word processors and enjoying music and movies.
While we've seen more powerful laptops at this price, such as the Packard Bell EasyNote TX86 and the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge, this is still a capable machine for family use.
Graphics are similarly capable, with the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 running high-definition video and even many recent games with suitable aplomb. While the Acer Aspire 5738DZG certainly isn't a dedicated gaming machine – inevitably at such a low price – we were pleased with the performance on offer.
Photo and video editing is easily possible, and market-leading entry-level applications such as Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Elements run with ease.
Whether viewed with or without the polarised 3D glasses, the 15.6-inch screen is impressively bright and vibrant, with stunning colour and contrast creating realistic images.
The glossy Super-TFT screen proves inevitably reflective, however, making it better used indoors. It is only when wearing the polarised 3D glasses that non-3D tailored content appears blurry.
A nice final touch of the Acer Aspire 5738DZG is how quiet and cool it manages to stay, even during the most intensive use. A mid-sized fan on the left-side rear of the chassis runs silently to cool the internal components, ensuring the base of the chassis stays comfortably and safely cool to the touch at all times.
As a result, you can work with the Aspire 5738DZG on your lap in total comfort, whether sat on the sofa at home or on the daily commute.
While there's no denying the Acer Aspire 5738DZG is a unique and, above all, affordable entry into the burgeoning 3D laptop market, there's also no hiding from it flaws.
With its polarised screen making us feel far too queasy for our liking, we cannot say that we'd be comfortable using it for long periods of time.
Despite its strong performance and decent specification, this is what ultimately prevents the Acer Aspire 5738DZG from a higher recommendation and if you have the budget to buy an Nvidia 3D Vision powered machine, you're sure to find it a far more usable alternative to this flawed entry-level 3D machine.
We liked
At such a low price, this is a great way to enter the 3D market. With its vibrant screen and stunningly effective 3D screen creating an immersive way to enjoy your photos, videos and games, the Acer Aspire 5738DZG truly brings a new world of entertainment to your home.
Despite its comparatively low-powered components, the Acer Aspire 5738DZG is a surprisingly powerful laptop for the price. Whether you want to use it as a home office machine or an entry-level family media centre, there's plenty on offer for the whole family to enjoy.
Acer's unique user interface makes the Aspire 5738DZG a pleasure to work on at all times. The spacious keyboard and large touchpad are easily accessible, consistently responsive and always accurate, making it easy to keep working over extended periods of time.
We disliked
By trying to trick your brain into seeing a 3D image that doesn't exist, the Acer Aspire 5738DZG's polarised screen quickly made us feel dizzy and nauseous – an uncomfortable feeling that managed to last long after we took off the 3D glasses and switched the laptop off.
Despite its gallant efforts to turn basic 2D photos and videos into 3D, the Acer Aspire 5738DZG's TriDef 3D software failed to make much of an impact. Adding the most basic 3D effects at best, we found most images just became blurry and pixilated by the software.
By using older Intel Pentium processor technology and DDR2 memory to keep costs down, the Acer Aspire 5738DZG is already showing its age. While it excels as an affordable entry into the 3D market, this is not a machine to future-proof yourself against the years ahead.
Verdict
While the Acer Aspire 5738DZG must be commended for bringing 3D technology to the entry-level laptop market, it can only really be seen as a proof-of-concept, rather than a full 3D home media centre.
Despite its strong performance and stunning screen, its polarised technology proves far too uncomfortable to use for long periods of time, making it very hard to recommend against the many excellent Nvidia 3D Vision equipped laptops already on sale.
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Orange delays HTC Desire Android 2.2 update again
Orange has announced another delay to its Android 2.2 HTC Desire upgrade.Previously the date was set for 'mid-September', with users of O2 and Vodafone HTC Desires already having their new Android 2.2 firmware.
But now Orange has confirmed via Twitter that the update will be delayed, but not by too long:
"Orange Desire fans – bit of an update on Froyo for you…
"HTC told us they've had issues with the update, but these are now resolved. So we're just waiting for them to give final partner approval.
"Apols for the delay guys. We've been told to expect it shortly – think days rather than weeks!"
At least we're not...
And in what could be a dig at Vodafone following the 360 services debacle ahead it of its Android 2.2 update for the Desire, Orange added:
"Just to point out, the delay is not related to an Orange services on the device..."
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Official: Project Canvas unveiled as YouView
Project Canvas has been officially named YouView, with new CEO Richard Halton hailing the BBC backed IPTV scheme as likely to "change the way we watch television forever." The YouView name has been touted for some time – with obvious parallels with YouTube and Freeview.
Halton, who has headed up Project Canvas, was confirmed as CEO of the new YouView service, which is expected to begin hitting UK living rooms in early 2011.
Controversy
YouView has seven partners, Arqiva, BT, ITV, Channel Four, Channel Five, Talk Talk and BBC – with the BBC Trust's decision to rubber stamp the project still mired in controversy.
The likes of Sky and Virgin Media, along with major manufacturers like Sony, have made it perfectly clear that they do not agree with the BBC's involvement in the platform.
But, the public are sure to be excited by what many are touting as the next generation of Freeview and Freesat.
Subscription free
"YouView is a brilliant new subscription-free TV service which combines the best TV with on demand services and internet content," said Halton.
"I am delighted to be leading the team who will make it a reality and think it will change the way we watch TV forever.
"We are creating an exciting consumer brand which will stand for a better TV experience for UK homes. Connected TV creates all kinds of creative possibilities, for existing networks as well as local services and new developers of interactive applications.
"It all adds up to great news for TV audiences. I look forward to working closely with the creative and developer communities to open up exciting possibilities for viewers to discover and enjoy content in new ways."
A website has been set up at www.youview.com, which describes the new IPTV service, which will offer catch up TV, interactivity, apps and, potentially, commercial on-demand offerings.
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Diaspora, the 'privacy aware' Facebook, releases its source code
Soon-to-be-launched social network site Diaspora has announced it is releasing its source code to developers.The makers of Diaspora – four New York university students – are pitching the site as a "community project" which "puts users in control".
The idea for the site was borne from the privacy problems Facebook recently had, proving that there could be room for a social-network which doesn't use people's data for monetary gain.
"We began the summer a list of technologies, and a few bold claims and the goal to make an intrinsically more private social network," explains Diaspora on its blog.
"The overwhelming response that we elicited made us realise that technology wouldn't be enough."
Share and share alike
This is why Diaspora is being handed over to devs, so that the crowd can make a "simple and functional tool for contextual sharing".
Screenshots for Diaspora have been released and the site looks like a cleaner version of Facebook.
Features that are being implemented in the site include the ability to share photos with friends privately and in real time and the fact that all data is signed and encrypted.
Interestingly in the alpha release for Diaspora which is set for October, Facebook integration will be included.
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IDF 2010: Hands on: D-Link Boxee Box review
While there aren't yet too many TVs out there with the a serious CPU in them, the Atom-powered D-Link Boxee Box is looking to bring the smart TV. At this year's IDF San Francisco much of the focus has been upon the spread of the Intel Atom processor and subsequently the burgeoning sphere of the Atom-powered Smart TV.
But the set top box is surely where we're going to see the most take up, especially in the beginning. After all, we've already bought our flatscreen TVs haven't we?
We had a chance to talk to Andrew Kippen of Boxee and Joe Melfi of D-Link about their new set-top box and have a play.
Essentially the Boxee Box is an internet media streamer, pulling content down from the web, but it can also connect to a home network and draw local media from attached USB devices and SD cards too.
What it doesn't have though is any internal memory and thus lacks any facility to record media yourself. On a box that costs $199, that is a bit of an issue.
The D-Link Boxee Box is purely powered by a combo of the Intel Atom and the Boxee media player software that's been around for a while. We've been using the Boxee beta software for almost a year and it's an incredibly user-friendly application.
As the OS for a media box it makes for just as pleasurable an experience. And with the power of the Atom - compared to something like the Realtek chips powering devices like ACRyan's PlayOn! boxes - it's also incredibly smooth.
The most impressive thing about the Boxee Box, and posssibly something D-Link could happily sell as a standalone product, is the remote control.
On one side it's got a very basic D-pad for navigation, with a single menu button and a solitary play/pause button. On the flip side though is a full mini qwerty keyboard. It's a beautifully simple little controller, and as Kippen said "as soon as you pick it up you wonder why you haven't had one of these for years."
There's little difference between the Boxee software you've been able to load onto your PC since the first public beta at the beginning of the year. It still pulls down and offers location specific media streams, and provides cover art, synopsis and other data for media stored locally.
But as Kippen explains, "there are restrictions in place by content providers on what we can stream to PCs. For example some providers will only stream SD content to PCs, but will stream their HD content to set top boxes."
And the Intel processor churning away inside its actually able to deliver a very impressive 1080P HD video experience. Joe Melfi also explained that the Atom processor also helps the Boxee Box to cope with the myriad codecs that are required for it operate properly as a serious media streamer.
It also comes with a set of apps too, with an open platform allowing developers to create applications to cover content providers that aren't currently catered for. Already though there are iPlayer, BBC Live and 4OD apps ready and waiting to go.
For all the online content that isn't catered for by apps though you wont necessarily have to wait for someone to create it. The Boxee Box comes with a full HTML 5 browser formatted for the TV so you can still use whichever stream you prefer.
One of the few problems that we can see is that, as Levar Burton, talking at the Smart TV media party, said, it looks "like a Borg Cube" - and he should know.
But are people going to want something that chunky sat next to their TV? In a cube-y kind of way it's aesthetically pleasing, but is in no way ergonomic.
The price too is a bit of a sticking point; realistically in the UK we're guessing it's going to be around the £150-£180 mark. That's a lot for a set top box without the ability to record or receive digital TV - Apple TV and many other media streamers currently sit around the £100 mark. www
Still, it's a neat little box, if a little chunky, offering a large array of content-viewing options and an incredibly smooth and responsive experience.
We'll bring you a full review once we've got a Boxee Box in our hands back home.
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Halo: Reach becomes 2010's biggest entertainment launch
Xbox 360 game Halo: Reach brought in $200 million in just 24 hours, making it the biggest entertainment launch of 2010. Triple-A game releases have increasingly overtaken the big box office opening weekend takings of movies in recent years, and the latest instalment of Halo took a staggering £128 million in its opening two days.
"Based on US sales alone, Halo: Reach is now the biggest entertainment launch of 2010 in the US, eclipsingthe three-day opening weekends of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters like Iron Man 2, Alice in Wonderland and Toy Story 3 in a single day," trumpeted Microsoft.
Movie numbers
In recent times, it has taken the likes of Dark Knight and Transformers five days to reach the $200 landmark, although games obviously cost more than the price of a movie ticket.
In box office alone (before sales of DVDs, Blu-ray and TV rights) Titanic took an estimated $760 million, the best selling game in terms of units is believed to be Pokemon with just over 20 million sales, which would suggest that the total revenue ends up smaller in the long run.
"'Halo: Reach is the biggest game Microsoft has ever released, and its launch has already surpassed every game, movie and entertainment launch this year," said Phil Spencer, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios.
"Every major instalment has grown in scope and popularity, firmly cementing the Halo franchise as one of the most popular entertainment properties in the world over the past decade."
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Review: Toshiba Satellite Pro C650-197
Toshiba's corporate Satellite Pro range covers a wide range of business requirements at truly affordable prices. The Satellite Pro C650-197 is an entry-level portable that performs well overall, but is sadly lacking in standout features against its rivals. The Intel Core i3 350M processor provides impressive performance. Even though it uses 4096MB of memory, compared to the 3072MB of the other laptops at this price, we noticed no improvement in our benchmarking tests, with performance matching all but the Acer Aspire 5741-333G32Mn.
An integrated Intel graphics card provides basic multimedia performance, with enough power for basic photo and video editing.
A real highlight is the 15.6-inch widescreen display, which is identical in size to the Acer and HP G62-a45SA, but marginally brighter. Colours look natural and contrast levels are deep, although the screen is as reflective as others with a glossy screen coating.
The Toshiba's black chassis stands out from the faux-metal builds that populate this price point. However, it's similar to the HP in its resistance to fingerprints and the slight flex around the optical drive.
While the 2.4kg weight is marginally heavier than the Packard Bell EasyNote NM86, and the 230-minute battery life is lower than some of the competiton, this is still a laptop that can easily be taken on the road. However, the battery life plummets to just 98 minutes when watching a DVD.
As with the HP, usability is mixed. The slightly spongy keyboard is well sized, despite the inclusion of a separate numeric keypad. Touch-typing is a breeze, even with the lack of key definition.
However, even though the touchpad is rather cramped, we still found our palms brushed it occasionally when typing.
Limited features
Features are rather basic, even at this price point, especially when compared to the HP. A meagre two USB ports are available for connecting peripherals, while there's no HDMI port for hooking up to a high-definition (HD) display, something which is present on all the other laptops here.
Networking capabilities are standard, with fast 802.11n Wi-Fi for wireless connections and basic 10/100 Ethernet for wired connections. A 4-in-1 card reader provides less flexibility than the multicard readers, although the 320GB hard drive matches the ample storage of the Acer.
Features may be lacking and usability mixed, but the Satellite Pro C650-197 is still a decent machine. Performance is assured, thanks to the Intel Core i3 processor, while the widescreen display is bright, vibrant and perfect for working – or playing – well into the night.
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T-Mobile to offer HTC Desire HD
Fresh from being told that the HTC Desire HD won't be coming for more than £35 a month on contract, T-Mobile has decided to offer it on a £40 a month deal.The new HTC Desire HD has been given a UK release date of April by T-Mobile, along with the high price tag.
There's no information on any further pricing details, with 'more details to be revealed closer to the availability of the phone'.
Why so expensive?
The HTC Desire HD has the highest specs of any phone in the Taiwanese manufacturer's line up, with a 4.3-inch screen and 8MP camera with HD video recording.
But that doesn't really explain the higher price tag over at T-Mobile, so we'll have to wait and see if Vodafone et al follow suit.
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Kinect and Move 'will be bridge for Wii kids'
The chief executive of key game developer Take-Two has suggested that Microsoft's Kinect for Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation Move will allow kids to 'graduate' away form the Nintendo Wii. The Wii has been phenomenally popular in family gaming, but has never been as popular with core gamers and Take-Two's Ben Feder has suggested that Nintendo may now see an exodus to Xbox and PS3.
"What Sony and Microsoft have really done with Kinect and Move -- especially Move, is provide a bridge for guys that are used to playing the Wii system with the wand and bringing them over to a HD system," said Feder.
Wii HD = PS3
"The PlayStation 3 with Move, in my view, is the Wii HD system. I think maybe Mum isn't playing, but the kids are 'graduating,' and Microsoft and Sony have both provided a bridge to bring them over.
"I believe [Nintendo] raised a generation of kids to play video games that are now growing up and wanting a true HD experience."
It's an interesting stance that has been echoed behind the scenes for some time, with suggestions that Nintendo's decision to make the Wii very child friendly will ultimately see people move off to its more rivals.
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Review: Packard Bell EasyNote NM86
Packard Bell has released some very impressive laptops in its consumer EasyNote range since the company's acquisition by Acer in 2008. The EasyNote NM86-GN-010UK is a highly portable machine, despite its solid build, and features a fantastically crisp display. With a weight of 2.3kg and thickness of 34mm, it is a compact and portable laptop. The 303 minute battery life is a great result and means you can leave the charger at home and work on the daily commute.
Although the chassis is light, it's also solidly built, with almost no visible flex seen in any area. It's attractive too, with a subtle patterned design covering the palmrests and lid.
The excellent build quality extends to the keyboard, which uses the same style as the Acer Aspire 5741-333G32Mn, with flat keys raised slightly from the chassis. A lack of key definition doesn't hinder touch-typing thanks to the spacing between each key.
There's no separate numeric keypad, as there is on the Acer, but a couple of handy shortcut buttons are included as well.
As a result of the more compact dimensions, the 14-inch display quite small, although it is still a good size for working on documents and even watching movies. A 1366x768 pixel screen resolution has been used, despite the reduced size, so images are pleasingly sharp.
The screen features a glossy Super-TFT coating and photographs look stunningly realistic considering the price. The only disadvantage is the increased reflectivity.
Performance is good, with 3072MB of memory backing up the Intel Core i3 processor, and integrated Intel graphics providing graphical power. Office applications and basic multimedia tasks pose no problem.
Limited storage
The 250GB hard drive provides the same amount of storage as the HP G62-a45SA, and less than the Acer Aspire 5741-333G32Mn and Toshiba Satellite Pro C650-197.
This will be okay for most family use but could fill rapidly if you have a lot of digital music and movies to store. Files can be saved to DVD and CD, however, using the built-in optical drive.
Networking is strong, with Gigabit Ethernet and 802.11n Wi-Fi available for wired and wireless communications. There's also built-in Bluetooth for wirelessly sharing files with mobile devices, or connecting a wireless headset.
With excellent build quality and a sharp and vibrant screen, not to mention strong performance for the price, the EasyNote NM86-GN-010UK offers fantastic value for money. Granted, the limited storage is a let-down, but is forgivable considering the many strengths on offer.
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