LG announces Z330 Ultrabook
LG has launched a new ultra-portable laptop, which it says is both thinner and lighter than Apple's market-leading MacBook Air.
The 13.3-inch Z330 Ultrabook joins LGs XNote family of laptops and boasts a stunning Windows 7 boot time of 9.9 seconds thanks to a "super speed tech" optimisation.
The LED backlit display boasts a resolution of 1366 x 768 while there's an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor doing all the donkey work.
There's also 4GB of RAM, upto 250GB of RAM and an Intel HD 3000 graphics card. There's also Bluetooth 3.0 and USB 3.0 in the mix.
Thinner and lighter
The laptop, which looks strikingly similar to Apple's pioneering MacBook Air size zero notebook, is thinner at 0.6-inches and lighter at 2.7lbs.The Z330 was announced in Korea and it's as yet unclear whether the laptop will arrive on UK soil.
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Android Ice Cream Sandwich tablet goes on sale
The world's first tablet running the new Android 4.0 operating system has gone on sale in China at a cost of around just £60.
The Ainovo NOVO7 tablet will host the Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS which is currently only available on the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone.
The product website lists the tablet as boasting a 7-inch capacitive multi-touch display with 1080p video as well as front and rear 2-megapixel cameras.
The battery life is advertised at 25-hours for music, 6-hours for games and 7-hours for browsing the web and there's 4GB of external storage and a MIPS-based 1GHz processor powering things.
There's also access to Gameloft titles and Google-endorsed apps.
Rubin-approved
The tablet is even claiming an endorsement from Android chief Andy Rubin who said in the press release: "I'm thrilled to see the entrance of MIPS-Based Android 4.0 tablets into the market."Low cost, high performance tablets are a big win for mobile consumers and a strong illustration of how Android's openness drives innovation and competition for the benefit of consumers around the world."
The tablet is only on sale in China, although plans are afoot to bring the tablet west. Check out the device in the video below.
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Facebook confirms Gowalla buyout
Facebook has confirmed that it has bought location-based social network Gowalla for an undisclosed sum.
There were reports at the weekend that Facebook had purchased Gowalla, but these were from an anonymous source.
At the time both companies stayed tight-lipped about the acquisition but now they have gone public with statements revealing that Gowalla would indeed be integrated into the sprawling social mass that is Facebook.
"We're excited to confirm that Gowalla co-founders Josh Williams and Scott Raymond, along with other members of the Gowalla team, are moving to Facebook in January to join our design and engineering teams," said a Facebook spokesperson in a statement.
"In talking with the Gowalla team, we realised that we share many of the same goals: building great products that reach millions of people, making a big impact quickly, and creating new ways for people to connect and share what's going on in their lives.
"While Facebook isn't acquiring the Gowalla service or technology, we're sure that the inspiration behind Gowalla will make its way into Facebook over time."
Highlight of our lives
Over on Gowalla's blog, there is a statement that outlines just how the deal took place.It seems that at a recent f8 conference, co-founders Josh Williams and Scott Raymond were tapped up by Facebook and they decided a few weeks later to sell the site to the social network.
"Gowalla, as a service, will be winding down at the end of January. We plan to provide an easy way to export your Passport data, your Stamp and Pin data (along with your legacy Item data), and your photos as well. Facebook is not acquiring Gowalla's user data.
"We know how much many of you loved Gowalla. It's been the highlight of our lives as we've built it with your help over the past two years. As we move forward, we hope some of the inspiration behind Gowalla – a fun and beautiful way to share your journey on the go – will live on at Facebook."
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Gary Marshall: Without Google's cash Firefox is stuffed
Google's worth a lot of money to Mozilla. Firefox's search box delivers serious amounts of cash: in its latest financial statement, Mozilla notes that "a search engine provider" accounted for 84% and 85% of royalty revenue for 2010 and 2009 respectively".
Mozilla might not want to name the provider in question, but let's face it, it isn't AltaVista.
The Firefox deal ran out last month, and Mozilla is being very cryptic about whether it's been renewed.
That means one of three things. One: we're still arguing about it. Two: we've come to an agreement, and we're bloody angry about it. Or three: the deal's off.
We might not know the "what" just yet, but we do know the "why": Chrome. Three years ago, Google really needed Mozilla. Now, it doesn't.
What about you?
Firefox under fire
The just-finished Google/Mozilla deal was inked in 2008, when the browser market looked very different. The only real rival to Microsoft's Internet Explorer was Firefox, and as a result a deal with Mozilla made lots of sense: as most people don't change their browser's default settings, being the default search option on Firefox kept the internet Googling.Now, though, the heir apparent to Internet Explorer isn't IE; it's Google's own Chrome, which is now more popular than its inspiration. Firefox's market share has fallen slightly, but Chrome's has rocketed: it's gone from less than 5% of the market in November 2009 to 25.69% now. Our own stats confirm the shift: Chrome's been the most popular choice of TechRadar readers since October.
Firefox was a giant killer, but now the giant - IE6 - is dead and buried, its value to Google is dwindling: it's effectively asking Google to pay for giant insurance in a world where there are no more giants.
Its desktop share is in decline, eclipsed by Google's own browser, and even if people aren't running Chrome they're still typing "Google" into search bars or using other Google products - often on mobile, a massively growing market where the search options usually default to Google.
Google's currently undergoing an austerity programme, with new CEO Larry Page cutting the dead wood and concentrating on what really matters to the company.
Firefox, I suspect, isn't on that latter list - and if Google has or is planning to cut the size of the cheques it gives to Mozilla, then Firefox is in deep, deep trouble.
It's iterating too quickly for corporates, doesn't have Google's profile among average punters, has had all its best features nicked by the opposition and could now be losing its cash cow too. It doesn't look good, does it?
The problem, I think, is that I'm finding it hard to find an answer to a very simple question: who is Firefox for?
I can't answer that, because I can't think of a unique selling point for Mozilla's browser. Can you?
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Sony to part with Ericsson phone brand 'mid-2012'
Sony has revealed that it is all set to rid itself of the Ericsson moniker by the middle of next year and it is to focus solely on the smartphone market.
Sony announced back in October that it was buying Ericsson out of its share of the company's mobile phone division so it was only a matter of time before it would say goodbye to the Ericsson brand and now one Sony exec has come up with an estimated time frame.
Own goal
Speaking to Times Of India Kristian Tear, executive VP and head of sales and marketing, Sony Ericsson, said about the changes: "A lot of planning goes into getting the branding right but we will be done by middle of next year."It will also mean that the marketing and advertising investments will go up. We haven't been as fierce as we were a few years back but we will step it up, refocus and invest more in brand-building in select markets."
Tear also noted that Sony will only be focusing on smartphones when it changes its brand as well.
One smartphone which may be the last of the Sony Ericsson crowd is set to be the Sony Ericsson Nozomi. This dual-core smartphone is set to be unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2012.
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Review: Nik Software Color Efex Pro 4
In Color Efex Pro 4, there are 55 different filters. Some of these are, admittedly, similar to each other or of limited use outside specialist fields, but there are plenty of others that can warp, stretch or re-invigorate your photographic imagination in ways that you might not realise using Photoshop alone.
Photoshop is fine if you never run out of inspiration, or you already have an encyclopedic knowledge of every photo effect there is and can pre-visualise each one before you start using it.
But Color Efex Pro goes further. With just a few clicks, you can see how your image would look using a whole array of different effects and treatments you might not have thought of, pushed further than you might have dared.
The full list of filters is displayed in a scrolling panel at the left side of the screen. They are also organised into categories, such as Landscape and Wedding, and are accessed using buttons at the top of the panel.
Filters and controls
When you select an effect, you see the result applied to your photo in the main window, while on the right is a vertical tools panel that offers a whole range of manual adjustments that vary according to the filter you've selected. Some are quick and simple, with few options. Others, such as the Black and White filter and new Levels and Curves, are almost like mini image editors in their own right.
The Black and White filter, for example, creates very good black and white conversions at its default settings, but it can also apply red, orange, yellow and other black and white filter effects, just like the Channel Mixer in Photoshop.
It also offers a Tonal Enhancer that produces low-key, regular or high-key images, and a Dynamic Contrast mode, which produces really strong, graphic monochromatic images. With all three, you can adjust the brightness and contrast, and protect shadow and highlight detail using sliders below the main controls and a histogram at the bottom of the panel.
The controls vary, and these filters don't all have the scope or depth of the Black and White filter, but what they do have in common is Nik's unique U point technology. It's used to apply the effect or remove it from specific areas of the image.
You do this using control points, which create a resizable, circular adjustment zone. Within this zone, the software automatically selects similar areas to the one at the centre of the control point. You can think of it as an automatic selection tool, where the size of the circle is simply the maximum radius of the effect.
This works really well. The selections blend well with surrounding areas, with no hard edges and rarely any edge/halo effects, although you do sometimes need to make a couple of attempts at finding the right area to create the control point.
Fans of Color Efex Pro 3, the previous version, will be thinking that this all sounds very familiar, but there are some major differences in this new version that make it well worth upgrading to.
There are some new and very interesting filters, for a start. Dark Contrasts creates a pseudo-HDR effect from a single image, with intensified contrasts, edge glow effects and heightened saturation. Detail Extractor works on localised contrast and rebalances highlight and shadow tones.
The Film Effects in the previous version have been split up and expanded into different sections, including Faded, Modern, Nostalgic and Vintage, and the new Levels and Curves filter is extremely useful, particularly with the U Point adjustments.
Presets and combinations
One of Color Efex Pro's strong points has always been its ability to preview effects directly and simply, and version 4 takes this further by adding presets for each filter, which are accessed by clicking a button to the right of the filter's name. You choose a preset you like, it's applied in the main window and you can then tweak the settings if you need to, or accept the effect as it is.
The other big change to Color Efex Pro 4 is the ability to combine filter effects. Previously, you could only apply one at a time - it would be applied in Photoshop as a new layer, complete with layer mask, but then you'd have to reopen Color Efex Pro to add another.
Now, though, you can combine any number of effects without leaving the application. Not only that, you can save these combinations of effects as Recipes - Color Efex Pro comes with a selection of great-looking recipes to give you an idea of what this new feature can achieve.
The ability to combine effects in this way greatly expands Color Efex's potential. It's true that there have been only modest additions to the range of filters in this release, but the changes to the way the plug-in works, although less glamorous, are hugely significant. Color Efex Pro always offered a large array of excellent photographic filter effects, but now it enables you to combine them quickly and in much more exciting ways than ever before.
Verdict
If you already use Color Efex Pro, version 4 is definitely worth the upgrade. And if you don't, you're missing out on one of the image-editing world's truly great filter collections. It's not cheap, but if you try out the fully-functional trial version, you'll soon find out why. It beats rivals such as Tiffen Dfx 3.0, OnOne Perfect Effects 3 and Alien Skin Exposure 3 in our books.Color Efex Pro 4 is expensive, but you get a huge range of effects, many with in-depth controls. It's both powerful and inspirational, and the new filters, combinations and presets are a big step forward.
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New Sony Ericsson Nozomi image saunters onto the web
The huge-screened Xperia phone you can see to the right is said to be the latest image of the Sony Ericsson Nozomi.
There's not much detail to discern from the picture other than that the buttons look like really tiny physical ones (home, back and menu) and there's nary a bezel to speak of.
With such a huge screen, though, we'd be expecting some lofty resolution – previous leaks peg it at 1280 x 720 with a PPI of 342.
Would you like a little smartphone with that screen?
Screen aside, the last round of speculation also put the processor at dual-core 1.5GHz standards, with 1GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage and no microSD slot.We're also expecting a microSIM, NFC chip and a 1750mAh battery to be contained within.
No doubt Sony Ericsson will let us know some official news on the Nozomi at CES 2012 or Mobile World Congress 2012 – it's been a while since we've heard anything from Sony Ericsson (except that Sony is buying out the Ericsson part) so it'll be interesting to see what the company has been beavering away on in secret.
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Samsung shows off flexible OLED tablet concept
Samsung has released a new video showing what tablets could be like in the future, with a video showing just how much fun we could all have with see-through flexible displays in our lives.
One of the excellent things about OLED is that it can indeed be bent in all manner of directions and the concept video shows a person with a bendable see-through tablet and using it for augmented reality, location-based information and the like.
Bend me, shake me…
Back in May, Samsung showcased a new type of touch technology which utilised OLED and was completely bendable.The protorype comprised two AMOLED panels, silicone rubber, a glass cover and a modular case for it all to sit in.
The prototype is set for use in phones and tablets in the future and now the company has given us another glimpse at what it thinks tablets will be like a few years down the line.
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Asus Padfone to come with quad-core Tegra 3 chipset?
The Asus Padfone, which you may remember from its wonderfully shambolic Computex launch, may well land at Mobile World Congress 2012 with a quad-core Tegra 3 processor and Android 4.0 in tow.
Or so NetBookNews told Engadget during the latter's latest podcast, saying that it has it "on good authority" that this is the case.
Although we already knew that the tablet-phone hybrid would land with Ice Cream Sandwich, release-date-wise the most we knew for sure was that it would be some time in Q1 2012.
That is brand new information
But that Tegra 3 processor is brand new news to us – previously we're crossed our fingers and hoped for the Nvidia processor but it was by no means a given.It still isn't a given, although it will come as no surprise to see Asus opt for the power-house processor since Asus has already popped it into the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime, hence the high rating on the TechRadar rumour meter:
With a Mobile World Congress 2012 unveiling on the cards, there's still a bit of a wait ahead of any Padfone fans – so until then, relive the magic of CEO Jonney Shih's Computex keynote where we first learned of the phone... tablet... thing:
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38% of app-using Brits don't pay for apps
Apps may be the best things to happen to the mobile phone since Snake, but here in the UK 38 per cent of us have never spent money on them.
Although 88 per cent of people who took part in KPMG's fifth annual Consumer and Convergence report say they have downloaded at least one app to their mobile phones, nearly 40 per cent have never paid for a smartphone app.
While we're all very au fait with having apps on our phones, it seems there's still a psychological barrier that prevents a lot of us from seeing the exchange of money for their services as the norm.
Appless
It's a strange industry, which sees a relatively few developers making a lot of money from their apps and those creating free apps often rely on income from in-app advertising to make it worth their while.Research released in November pegged Android as the app platform to watch, with Google's OS providing 50 per cent of app sales compared to iOS's 15 and Windows Phone's 1.7 per cents.
But if developers don't start earning decent income from creating apps, surely we're going to start seeing a decline in the quality and quantity of the software available on all platforms.
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Tutorial: 10 Windows Phone 7.5 Mango tweaks
10 Windows Phone 7.5 Mango tweaks
The Mango update for Windows Phone is a huge leap forward for the platform, bringing battery-friendly multitasking and lots more features for developers - like being able to use the camera and GPS in apps.And setup is as simple as ever; just fill in the details for your Windows Live account, Facebook and Twitter and all your contacts and calendar entries will arrive.
But there are a few settings you'll want to change to make the best of your phone. Here are our ten recommended Windows Phone Mango tweaks.
1. Use more than one tab in IE
Mango includes the mobile version of IE9 so you can now load just about any website, but if you follow a few links from tweets in the What's New section and then open the tabs, you won't see anything except the last page.By default, the browser loads all the links from other apps in a single tab. Change the setting in Internet Explorer for 'Open links from other applications in' to 'A new tab' and you can have multiple pages load in the background.
Follow a link then press and hold the back key to jump back while the page is still loading and instead of waiting, you can read some more updates, click some more links and then read the web pages that have loaded.
2. Configure picture sharing
You don't want to automatically share every picture you take - especially if you're snapping a receipt or credit card statement you want to save, or if you accidentally take a shot of the back of your thumb or the inside of your pocket.You can still save all your photos to SkyDrive, but now you have to turn that on deliberately using Settings > Applications > Pictures + Camera > Automatically upload to SkyDrive. Pick whether you want to see a shortcut for Twitter, Facebook or SkyDrive on the menu for individual photos (the others will be options when you pick Share… for a photo).
You still only get full resolution copies of photos when you plug your phone in to your PC; if you want to drag and drop those from the default folder in My Pictures, do it from Explorer rather than the Zune software.
3. Turn on battery saver
There are more things in Mango that can use up your battery - like background apps, live tiles, apps that use the camera and GPS. It's not that battery life is worse in Mango; it's that you have more choices between using features and tweaking setting to save battery.There are some specific settings to check but there's a handy automatic power saving feature that's not on by default: Battery Saver. You might see a prompt to turn it on when you battery first starts to run low, or you can turn it on right now from Settings > Battery Saver.
When you get down to 20% battery, email will stop syncing automatically, live tiles won't update and apps won't run in the background, although you still get fast switching and you can still sync email by hand if you're expecting an important message. That way you can eke your battery out for longer and you don't have to remember to turn power saving options on and off by hand.
This is also where you can see exactly how much charge you have and how long that's going to last.
4. Turn off live chat
If you want to use Messenger and Facebook chat like text messages, it's built in on Mango; you can swap between SMS and IM in the same conversation using the Switch button and swipe across to see which contacts are online.But if you don't use it, even if you don't see online contacts you might still be using up battery for chat. Check Settings > Applications > Messaging and slide Facebook Chat to Off.
5. Take control of multitasking
With apps that are written to run in the background in Mango, you get to switch back from another app instantly and things carry on in the background - like music playing and settings syncing. But just because an app can run in the background doesn't mean you want it to.Good apps will have a setting to let you choose, and you can also turn them off from Settings > Applications > Background Tasks. Check the Advanced button for a list of all apps that do background processing whether or not you can control that - at this point your only option is to uninstall them, but at least you know which apps will carry on running and can make that choice.
6. Pin Wi-Fi settings
One of the little annoyances with the original Windows Phone OS was having to go all the way into Settings to turn Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on and off. Now that Mango gives apps more access and lets you pin tiles for features within an app, there are several apps that let you pin a link to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth settings directly to your Start screen. Our favourite is Toggle, which also lets you pin tiles for data, airplane mode and reminders.
7. Set up web app installs
If you read about a cool app when you're using a computer that has a keyboard and a nice big screen, you don't have to pull out your phone and tap away on the on-screen keyboard to get to the same place.You can browse the Windows Phone Marketplace in the Zune software and set apps to install when you next connect your phone. Or you can browse the web version of the Marketplace at www.windowsphone.com and send apps directly to your phone; you just need to fill in your phone number and accept the terms.
If your mobile network isn't feeling helpful, you'll get an email message with a link to click to open the app page in Marketplace. But if everything is working right at the operator, what arrives is a text message you never see that tells your phone to install the app straight away.
If it doesn't work the first couple of times you try it, go back and put the phone number in again - we've had it fail at first then start working and keep working without any further problems, so don't give up. If you don't get prompted for your phone number when you click the Install button, go to My Phone on www.windowsphone.com and choose Account, Update and add your phone number again.
If you upgrade to Mango and need to reinstall apps - or get a new phone - you'll see a list of apps you've installed before on the Account page and you can reinstall them from here.
8. Install enough apps and games
When you have a lot of apps, it's important to be able to navigate through them quickly. In Windows Phone 7.5, installed apps are still arranged alphabetically but you can also tap on any letter to bring up an on-screen alphabet so you can jump down to Y for Yelp more quickly.The letters dividing your apps only appear if you have enough programs installed - for some reason that's 43 apps, so it's rather bizarrely worth installing a few extra apps you're not sure you'll ever use to make it easier to navigate through the ones you know you want.
There's a trial version of most apps in the Marketplace, so try out everything that looks interesting; get a copy of AppFlow to get some great suggestions.
While you're at it, install more games. Once you have 20 games installed, the Games Hub puts the games you've played most recently at the top of the list instead of starting with the Xbox games and tucking independent titles away at the bottom of the list.
Again, we can't work out why this isn't turned on even if you only have a handful of games, because without it you have to scroll past Xbox LIVE Extras every time you want to play Alchemic Phone.
9. Look for Mango-ready apps
One reason we like the AppFlow app more than the official Marketplace app; it highlights apps that take advantage of Mango features with useful live tiles and background multitasking.Whether you're pinning an exchange rate, the weather in a specific city or your tube journey home to see at a glance when there are delays, live tiles make apps that are designed for Mango much more useful - even more so when the tile tells you so much you don't have to launch them to get what you need.
10. Set up wireless sync
It's not new to Mango, but wireless sync is so useful it's worth mentioning again (and you might need to set it up again after updating your handset to Mango - or you might find you actually can set it up instead of seeing unhelpful errors about not being connected).Connect your handset to your home Wi-Fi network and choose Settings, Wireless Sync in the Zune software while your PC is connected to the same wireless network; the Zune software will pair with your phone and whenever the phone is plugged in and on your Wi-Fi network (and you're not using it) it will sync photos and music (as long as your PC is on too).
Set up sync lists of dynamic playlists like Smart DJ lists and you'll get new music automatically.
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Question mark over Firefox and Google search deal
Mozilla could be about to lose its largest revenue stream, with reports that Firefox has lost its lucrative search contract with Google which saw the browser pull in cash for each search made through the Firefox Google homepage.
The Mozilla Foundation is a non-profit organisation but revenue, alongside donations, is needed for the browser to survive and ZDnet is reporting that Google has not renewed its contract with Mozilla, which brought in a whopping 84 per cent of the company's royalty revenue last year.
Although Mozilla has not confirmed the situation, it is thought that after three years a new deal is off the table and even Mozilla's own financial statement makes no reference to Google, instead it states rather cryptically: "The Corporation has a contract with a search engine provider for royalties which expires November 2011.
"Approximately 84 per cent and 86 per cent of royalty revenue for 2010 and 2009, respectively, was derived from this contract."
Firefox not on fire
Firefox has seen its market share shrink significantly with the launch of Google Chrome.The latest browser share results show that Firefox has been usurped by Chrome in global browser stats with Google's browser having 25.69 per cent of the market, up from just 4.66 per cent in 2009.
Internet Explorer, however, is still very much the dominant browser.
Mozilla's updates of Firefox have become increasingly erratic over the last few months – there were just six weeks between Firefox 7 and 8.
A statement has been released by Mozilla about the situation but it gives little away.
It reads: "Our search relationship with Google remains positive for both of us. We are in active negotiations and have nothing further to announce at this time.
"We have every confidence that search partnerships will continue to be a strong and growing generator of revenue for the foreseeable future. "
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Review: Fuji FinePix X10
Overview
Fuji created quite a stir when it released its FinePix X100 in March. The combination of a retro-styled metal body, APS-C sized sensor, fixed 23mm f/2 lens and a unique hybrid viewfinder caused plenty of interest among enthusiast and professional photographers alike.Fuji's FinePix X10 sits below the X100 in the range, sporting similar retro styling, but sacrificing the large APS-C sensor and fixed lens in favour of a 2/3inch EXR CMOS sensor and a 4x zoom lens providing an angle of view equivalent to a 28-112mm lens on a 35mm camera. An impressively bright maximum aperture of f/2-2.8 has been achieved and the zoom is operated manually, carrying on the retro theme.
A positive point to glean from this specification is that the price is much more modest. Costing around £530, it is much more reasonably priced than its bigger brother, so it will be interesting to see how it fares when it comes to image quality.
Fuji's EXR CMOS technology uses a different pixel arrangement to conventional image sensors. This enables the camera to either take pictures at the full 12MP resolution, or to combine neighbouring pixels to increase image quality in low light conditions.
Another trick this unique sensor can pull off is to enable neighbouring pixels to take images at two different ISO sensitivities simultaneously, enabling images with much greater dynamic range to be captured, without having to take multiple frames.
An EXR Auto mode automatically recognises which EXR configuration should give the best results under the conditions, or each mode can be selected manually.
Other features include 1080p video recording and continuous shooting at frame rates up to 7fps, which should be perfect for capturing action. Enthusiasts will be glad to find that the Fuji FinePix X10 can also record images in Fuji's RAF raw format, providing extra scope for editing images afterwards.
Build quality and handling
The chunky black metal body of the Fuji FinePix X10 is reassuringly well put together and the retro styling doesn't stop at the way the camera looks. A smart leatherette finish has been applied around the middle, providing a firm and comfortable grip over the camera body.
Controls are laid out in a mixture of retro and contemporary ways. Exposure modes and compensation are selected using chunky metal dials on top of the camera, with the shutter release placed in between. A threaded socket for attaching a cable release is inset into the shutter release, which is a feature rarely seen on modern cameras.
The rear has the controls you might expect to find on a typical digital compact camera, with four buttons along the side of the 460,000 dot 2.8-inch LCD screen and a directional/navigation control to the other side.
Two control dials for altering exposure provide direct access to any adjustments you may wish to apply. The thumb wheel placed near the top plate is very easy to operate, but the bezel-style ring placed around the buttons on the rear can be a little fiddly to use by comparison.
Images can be composed either on the LCD screen or in the optical viewfinder. The screen is bright, clear and has an excellent ant-reflective coating applied, which helps when using the camera in bright conditions.
The Fuji FinePix X10's viewfinder is also very bright and clear, plus unusually for a digital compact camera, it provides a decent sized view and is quite comfortable to use with glasses. Unfortunately there are no markings in the viewfinder to signify where the focus point may be, even when it is fixed to the centre, so confirming sharp focus through the viewfinder is a matter of guesswork.
Still, it is quite useful when shooting in bright conditions at moderate apertures, where much of the scene will be in focus.
Located next to the viewfinder is a switch to activate the built-in flash unit, which sits flush inside the top plate of the camera. The flash is very small, but is still useful for occasional fill in.
For situations where more demands are made of the flash, a standard hotshoe is provided. This enables Fuji's EF-42 and EF-20 TTL flashguns to be mounted and as it is a standard hotshoe, a wide range of accessories can be used, including wireless triggering systems or studio lights with an adaptor.
Flash can be synced at any shutter speed, right the way up to 1/4000sec, which may be of particular interest to those who use flash in bright conditions for creative effect.
In use, the Fuji FinePix X10 feels very responsive. Autofocus is quick and accurate under most conditions, although it can sometimes struggle to lock onto subjects in low light conditions. Once the camera is focused, there is little noticeable shutter lag.
Menus are clear and easy to navigate too. The quick response and handling of the camera can be attributed to the dual-CPU EXR processor, which has two separate processing cores, just like you may find in many modern computers.
Even when shooting raw images, there is very little waiting around for the camera to catch up, especially when a suitable high-speed SD card is used.
Performance
Images produced by the Fuji FinePix X10 are rich and detailed at most ISO sensitivities. Significant levels of noise don't start to show until ISO 800, and even then any speckling is only visible on close inspection. ISO 1600 produces perfectly printable results too.
Although some fine detail is lost to noise reduction, prints up to A4 should still be perfectly acceptable. Even at higher ISO sensitivities, noise levels are admirably well-controlled, even though more and more fine detail is sacrificed.
Above ISO 3200, the camera reduces image resolution in an attempt to retain image quality. ISO 6400 is still acceptable for small prints and sharing on the web, but ISO 12800 may be a step too far, with most fine detail being smudged beyond recognition by the camera's noise reduction system and images having a general snowy appearance.
Using the available EXR modes can improve image quality, depending on the scene. Using the low-light EXR mode tends enable acceptable quality images to be taken at sensitivities a stop higher than without, up to ISO 3200 and the Dynamic Range mode does an excellent job of retaining extra detail in highlight and shadow areas, although it isn't quite as effective in very bright conditions.
As is typical for a Fuji camera, colours are vibrant on the Fuji FinePix X10 using default settings. Film simulation modes to recreate the look of Fuji's Velvia, Astia and Provia films are provided and cover most shooting scenarios, with Provia being the default setting.
The Velvia mode produces vivid colours best suited to scenic shots, and the Astia mode produces subtle tones well and is best suited to portraiture. Auto white balance does an excellent job in natural lighting, and a fair job under artificial lights indoors, leaving a slight colour cast in the image.
Multi-segment metering produces accurate exposures under a wide range of conditions and isn't easily fooled by large areas of light or dark in the image. Centre-weighted and spot metering modes are also provided and the direct access to exposure compensation and manual exposure adjustments makes these modes a pleasure to use.
Image quality and resolution
Our results from the lab have been compared against the Fujifilm X100, Canon PowerShot G12 and Nikon Coolpix P7100, all top of the range compact cameras from their respective manufacturers.Our analysis shows that all four cameras produce good results, but the X10's raw files (after conversion to TIFF) are on par for signal to noise ratio with the Canon PowerShot G12 and Nikon Coolpix P7100. When it comes to dynamic range, however, the raw file (after conversion to TIFF) results show that the Fujifilm X10 is capable of capturing a greater tonal range than both the Canon PowerShot G12 and Nikon Coolpix P7100.
Resolution
As part of our image quality testing for the Fuji X10, we've shot our resolution chart.If you view our crops of the resolution chart's central section at 100% (or Actual Pixels) you will see that, for example, at ISO 200 the Fujifilm X10 is capable of resolving up to around 22 (line widths per picture height x100) in its highest quality JPEG files.
For a full explanation of what our resolution charts mean, and how to read them please take a look at the resolution charts article.
Examining images of the chart taken at each sensitivity setting reveals the following resolution scores in line widths per picture height x100:
JPEG images
ISO 100, score: 22 (see full image)
ISO 200, score: 22 (see full image)
ISO 400, score: 20 (see full image)
ISO 800, score: 20 (see full image)
ISO 1600, score: 20 (see full image)
ISO 3200, score: 18 (see full image)
ISO 6400, score: 14 (see full image)
ISO 12800, score: n/a (see full image)
Raw images
ISO 100, score: 22 (see full image)
ISO 200, score: 22 (see full image)
ISO 400, score: 20 (see full image)
ISO 800, score: 20 (see full image)
ISO 1600, score: 20 (see full image)
ISO 3200, score: 18 (see full image)
Noise and dynamic range
We shoot a specially designed chart in carefully controlled conditions and the resulting images are analysed using the DXO Analyzer software to generate the data for the graphs below.Signal to noise ratio
A high signal to noise ratio (SNR) indicates a cleaner and better quality image.
JPEG images from the Fujifilm X10 show signal to noise ratio results that are on par with the Canon PowerShot G12 and Nikon Coolpix P7100, and are better than the X100 from around ISO 800.
Raw signal to noise ratio
Raw images (after conversion to TIFF) from the Fujifilm X10 have a better signal to noise ratio than the Canon PowerShot G12. Meanwhile, the Nikon Coolpix P7100 just beats the Fujifilm X10 from a sensitivity of ISO 800 upwards, but the difference in scores is exceptionally small.
The benefit of the Fuji X100's APS-C sized sensor comes to bear here as its raw files produce a cleaner signal than the other cameras.
JPEG dynamic range
This chart shows that the Fujifilm X10's JPEGs capture a wide tonal range up to a sensitivity of ISO 1600, at higher sensitivities some of the tonal range in the shadows and highlights will be lost.
Raw dynamic range
This chart indicates that the Fujifilm X10's raw images (after conversion to TIFF) capture a wide tonal range across the sensitivity range, comfortably out performing both the Canon PowerShot G12 and Nikon Coolpix P7100. As we would expect given its larger sensor size, the Fujifilm X100 manages to outperform the Fujifilm X10's dynamic range performance.
For more more details on how to interpret our test data, check out our full explanation of our noise and dynamic range tests.
Sample images
A standard ISO hotshoe allows external flash accessories to be attached to the Fuji FinePix X10, which can expand creative possibilities.
See full-res image
Detail levels are excellent and images are sharp straight from the camera.
See full-res image
The EXR low light mode improves high ISO quality for shooting in dark conditions.
See full-res image
The built-in flash is weak, but still useful for fill-in at close quarters.
See full-res image
See full-res image
Multi-segment metering copes well in a wide range of conditions.
See full-res image
Colours are vivid, without over saturating skin tones.
See full-res image
The standard film simulation mode aims to reproduce the look of Fuji Provia slide film.
See full-res image
Whereas the vivid setting aims to reproduce Fuji Velvia slide film, with its highly saturated colours.
See full-res image
A Super-Macro mode allows focusing as close as 1cm from the front element of the lens.
See full-res image
See full-res image
Shutter speeds between 1/4000sec and 30sec can be selected.
See full-res image
In-lens image stabilisation helps to reduce image blurring due to unwanted camera movement.
See full-res image
Auto white balance does a reasonable, but not spectacular, job of correcting artificial lighting indoors.
See full-res image
Sensitivity and noise
Full ISO 100 image. See the cropped (zoomed to 100%) versions below.
ISO 100
See full res image
ISO 200
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ISO 400
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ISO 800
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ISO 1600
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ISO 3200
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ISO 6400
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ISO 12800
See full res image
Verdict
Just as it did with the FinePix X100, Fuji has managed to make a camera with the Fuji FinePix X10 that not only looks the part, but delivers on image quality and handling too.
The well-constructed metal body is robust, easy to use and looks very smart too. Image quality is as good as any high-end compact camera can deliver at the moment, especially if the EXR modes are used to their strengths.
We liked
Premium build and retro design compliment the excellent handling and image quality offered by the Fuji X10 perfectly.We disliked
There is very little to dislike about the Fuji X10. If the bezel on the rear was a bit more substantial and the viewfinder had marking for a central focusing point, these would be welcome improvements.Final verdict
Enthusiasts and even beginners who are in the market for a high-quality compact camera shouldn't be disappointed by what the Fuji FinePix X10 has to offer.Although it is priced a little high when compared to cameras like the Canon Powershot G12 or Nikon P7100, it look, feel and handles like a premium product, and is priced accordingly.
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24% of people now using mobile phone to pay in shops
Nearly a quarter of people around the world are now forgoing cash and cards in shops and opting instead to pay using a mobile phone, according to the latest research.
KPMG surveyed 9,600 people who own a laptop, tablet, smartphone or mobile phone from 31 countries to come up with that figure, in the tax accountancy firm's fifth annual Consumer and Convergence Report.
When you look at the UK alone, however, that 24 per cent figure drops to 10 per cent, which suggests that the UK isn't quite there with the mobile payments thing quite yet.
But we're certainly on the cusp of a mobile payments revolution here, with a number of retailers and mobile networks teaming up to offer Near Field Communication (NFC) payment points and phone manufacturers increasingly including the necessary tech in their handsets - some pundits predict that one in five handsets will feature an NFC chip by 2014.
Confessions of a phoneaholic
We might not be doing so much paying with our phones in the UK, but that's not to say that mobile devices aren't getting a work out while we shop – one in five of us scan barcodes as we peruse the high street, while a hefty chunk of us are researching shops, products and discounts from our gadgets.eBay also revealed last week that 10 per cent of its sales now come through mobile phones in the UK; forget your sassy best friend, these days the smartphone is clearly the shopper's companion of choice.
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Apple licensed iOS feature to Nokia, offered Samsung same deal
Court papers have revealed that the normally closed-doored Apple has licensed software patents out to other companies, including Nokia and IBM.
It also offered a similar deal to arch-nemesis Samsung in November 2010, but the settlement negotiations fell apart – no one seems to know exactly why.
Apple referenced this failed accord in its bid to have Samsung Galaxy devices banned in the US, a bid that Judge Lucy Koh chucked out of court at the tail-end of last week.
Patently ridiculous
Nokia and IBM agreed to pay Apple to use patent number #7,469,381 which, as patent fans will know, relates to iOS's 'scrollback' behaviour.In iOS, when you scroll beyond the boundaries of a document or web page, you're treated to some grey background action before the subject bounces back to fill the screen - something that Nokia pays Apple royalties to include on its smartphones.
It may seem like a pretty trivial feature to the average smartphone user, but if the past twelve months have taught us anything, there's really no such thing as a pretty trivial feature in patent disputes.
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