New MacBook Pros will feature Nvidia graphics
With all of the rumors flying fast and furious in recent days, there's little doubt that Apple plans to introduce a new MacBook Pro soon.
In fact, sources now confirm that the company will ditch AMD graphics processors in favor of Nvidia.
According to recent reports, Apple's forthcoming MacBook Pros will make the switch from AMD GPUs in the current models, to Nvidia graphics to complement Intel's Ivy Bridge processors.
The swap appears to be directly related to the high resolution Retina Display which is anticipated with the new models.
While a "trusted source" confirmed the Nvidia news, it's unknown exactly which GPU Apple will be using.
MacBook Pro + Nvidia= The complete package
The most likely candidate appears to be the GeForce GT 650M, an upgrade from Nvidia's 28nm GeForce GT 640M."Apple's riding the wave of innovation by teaming up with top technology companies it has strong relationships with," remarks MacLife Managing Editor Florence Ion.
"The Mac may not be a gaming machine, but it's primarily favored by professionals for its software and its technological longevity. Might as well pop in a Nvidia GeForce GT 640M GPU to complete the package."
ABC News also confirmed that Nvidia GPUs will be used in the next generation of Apple's MacBook Pro. What's more, rumors claim the notebook will be thinner and lighter than the previous generation and also feature USB 3.0, the first time Cupertino incorporated the faster version of USB.
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New Jersey town outlaws texting while walking
While texting and driving is a well-established safety and legal faux pas, A New Jersey town escalated the texting ban to other modes of transportation, such as walking.
Fort Lee, New Jersey made texting while walking illegal for its 35,000 residents. Police who catch pedestrians in the act can issue a jaywalking ticket for $85.
It sounds rather silly at first, but Fort Lee police chief Thomas Ripoli is taking the matter very seriously.
Deathly serious, in fact, as the town suffered three fatal pedestrian texting accidents so far this year.
"It's a big distraction," Ripoli told ABC News. "Pedestrians aren't watching where they are going and they are not aware."
Texting tickets increase
During a grace period in March police officers handed out informational pamphlets about the dangers of simultaneous walking and texting to raise awareness of the law.Since then more 117 tickets have been dished out.
A report last year by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that 73 percent of adult cell phone owners age 30 and over send and receive an average of 41.5 text messages each day.
That number rises for young adults ages 18-29, with 93 percent averaging 87.7 texts every day.
With people increasingly living on the go, it isn't a stretch to guess that a fair number of those daily texts happen while walking from place to place.
And for New Jersey residents, that busy lifestyle could earn you a nice ticket for your trouble.
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Google admits Project Glass falls short
Google's Project Glass is an ambitious take on augmented reality technology, but the company admitted that the futuristic glasses won't completely measure up to their original plans.
The video introducing Project Glass to the world showed notifications and other contextual information hovering directly in wearers' sight lines, but it seems the reality will be slightly less exciting.
Instead of taking up a wearer's entire field of view, Project Glass will display information "about where the edge of an umbrella might be," a Google spokesperson said.
You likely won't want to wear Project Glass in the rain, though.
Augmented reality
The color graphics shown in the original video may eventually be replaced by a far simpler display, although "it's still too early to know what the functions and UI will be," the spokesperson continued.The spokesperson added that it's the "simple interactions that are making people the most excited" among those who have tried Project Glasses for themselves.
A more simple design could make Project Glass safer for pedestrians and drivers and easier to use.
Project Glass's initial design may be less futuristic than was initially expected, but if the facewear catches on then anything is possible for the future.
But what do they look like?
Oakley CEO Colin Baden previously said that his company has been working on augmented reality glasses since 1997, and he believes that style is one of the most important factors of any wearable technology.To that end, Google filed potential designs for Project Glass with the US Patent Office, providing a glimpse of what future versions could look like.
The patents (one, two, three) show the first example of Project Glass for users who wear prescription lenses (the previous designs have all been lens-free).
Whether the proposed design appears stylish is a matter of personal taste, though it's likely to change significantly before Project Glass becomes available.
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Windows 8 makes it easier for parents to track kids' internet usage
Microsoft's Windows 8 will include a brand new suite of tools to help parents keep track of what their kids are doing on the internet.
The Windows 8 Family Safety toolset will send weekly usage reports about the sites that have been visited, and will allow parents to block specific websites and apps, set time limits for usage, lock search engines into strict SafeSearch, and track Windows Store purchases.
All of this can be done through a parent's administrator account, so the kids don't have access to the information and tools.
The administrator is meant to set up separate accounts for each child so they can keep track of exactly who is doing what.
The reports aren't limited to a single device, either, instead collecting information on websites visited, time spent on each website, search histories, and apps and games usage from every device a child uses his or her Windows account on.
Microsoft has some parenting advice
"Computers give children access to many positive experiences; however, parents face challenges in monitoring what their children see online, the people they meet, and the information they share," said Phil Sohn, Microsoft's senior program manager for family safety, in a blog post."Parenting techniques like this are important, but they may be difficult to employ if your household has multiple PCs or if your kids use laptops and tablets. And glancing over a teenager's shoulder can be awkward for both parents and kids," he continued.
Sohn said the purpose of using individual Windows accounts for each family member isn't solely to monitor what they're doing online.
"It is also a great way for each family member to maintain their own unique online identity while still sharing a single PC," he said.
He believes that the simplicity of the new Windows 8 Family Safety tools will cause more parents to readily use them.
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Lenovo launching the Thinkpad X1 Carbon - the thinnest ultrabook yet
Ultrabooks are looking a little thin these days, and Lenovo claims to have made the thinnest and lightest ultrabook yet – the Thinkpad X1 Carbon.
The Thinkpad X1 Carbon is the successor to last year's 13-inch Thinkpad X1. The name is derived from its carbon fiber frame, allowing the 14-inch ultrabook to weigh in at 3 pound with a mere 18.8mm thin.
It has enhancements over its predecessor beyond form factor. In fact, the larger 14-inch screen allows for a 1600x900 resolution, and the whole thing will be powered by Intel's third-generation Ivy Bridge processor.
It will also come equipped with a 720p HD camera, USB 3.0 port, a backlit keyboard, and the option of 3G connectivity.
Lenovo will also renovate its Thinkpad X, T, W, and L lines, available in June. Most notably, Intel's third-generation Ivy Bridge processor will included in Thinkpad ultrabooks, as will RapidBoost technology and backlit keyboards.
Now with 4G LTE
However, the hook is the introduction of 4G LTE for the first time in Lenovo's Thinkpad ultrabooks, starting with the Thinkpad X230 and T line.4G LTE connectivity will be available without a contract, served a la carte at $1.99 for 30 minutes of access. Sadly, it seems 4G LTE will not be a feature on the X1 Carbon.
Lenovo is making a big fuss over the Thinkpad X1 Carbon's size and weight. It's for good reason, too.
It's positioned to be the thinnest and lightest 14-inch ultrabook on the market. But that might not be enough, according to rumblings of a thinner MacBook Pro set for later this year.
Word has it that Apple's 15-inch Macbook Pro is going on a diet, dropping its optical disc drive and Ethernet port for a slimmer figure.
Ultrabooks following the thin trend
While early rumors said the Macbook Pro could reach MacBook Air levels of thinness, the tune has changed to indicate that it will simply be thinner than the current model, but not quite that thin.A thinner 15-inch Macbook Pro could be dangerous for the ultrabook market, which rose in large part as a response to Apple's svelte Macbook Air.
There's still no word on when the new Macbook Pro might arrive, but a launch to coincide with OSX Mountain Lion this summer isn't too far fetched.
Lenovo is expected to launch the Thinkpad X1 Carbon this summer, though no exact date or price have been given.
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Microsoft's Steve Ballmer dubbed 'world's worst CEO'
Steve Ballmer is the world's worst CEO, according to business bible Forbes.
The performance of the Microsoft boss, head of one of the world's most valuable and profitable companies, is derided in the article which, we must say, borders on the mean-spirited.
Forbes reckons Ballmer, who took over ten years ago has "singlehandedly steered Microsoft out of some of the fastest growing and most lucrative tech markets (mobile music, handsets and tablets.
"The reach of his bad leadership has extended far beyond Microsoft when it comes to destroying shareholder value – and jobs," the article continued, claiming he had also affected profits at companies like Dell, HP and Nokia.
An insane bet
The publication accuses Ballmer of failing to broaden Microsoft's horizons beyond the PC software sector, a mistake that could prove softly mobile continues to encroach on the market."Microsoft is (a) PC company, nothing more" wrote Adam Hartung. As demand for PCs shifts to mobile. Years late to market, he has bet the company on Windows 8 – as well as the future of Dell, HP, Nokia and others.
"An insane bet for any CEO – and one that would have been avoided entirely had the Microsoft Board replaced Mr. Ballmer years ago with a CEO that understands the fast pace of technology shifts and would have kept Microsoft current with market trends.
What about the Xbox 360?
The brutal roasting continues with an assertion that Ballmer should gracefully retire before coming between investors and their fortunes."Although he's #19 on Forbes list of billionaires, Mr. Ballmer should not be allowed to take such incredible risks with investor money and employee jobs. Best he be retired to enjoy his fortune rather than deprive investors and employees of building theirs."
While Hartung presents some interesting points regarding Microsoft's over-reliance on its PC software, the efforts being made with Windows Phone are not without merit, despite slow initial sales.
However, he also completely ignores the phenomenal success Microsoft has experienced in the gaming arena through the Xbox 360, under Ballmer's control.
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News in Brief: One More Thing: The Samsung Galaxy S3 is designed for stalkers
Samsung Galaxy S3, designed for stalkers - That's what we're taking from this schmaltzy TV ad that insists the Galaxy S3 "shares what's in your heart", "keeps track of loved ones", "recognises who you are" and "waits till you're asleep"… Before what Samsung? BEFORE WHAT?
Control yourselves - The iPhone 5 continues to emerge a bit at a time. We've seen the SIM tray, now we can gaze in awe at the headphone jack, earpiece and "Wi-Fi cable" that will apparently come in the next one. Thrilling, thrilling stuff. [SW Box]
Image credit: SWBoxDonde esta la bibliotecha - Those authors are a demanding bunch. Not only do they want to make money when someone buys the books they pour years of work into, now they want to get paid when somebody borrows a digital copy of their book from a library. Who do they think they are? People who need to pay the mortgage and eat to live or something? Jeez. [Guardian]
Unneccessary - Just in case you aren't spending enough of your waking hours on Twitter, it's now going to send you a daily digest email telling you about all the things you already read about on Twitter. It's like it doesn't realise we're addicted or something. [Twitter]
Send help - Speaking of Twitter, it now has 10 million active UK users and 80 per cent of us access the site using our mobile phones. That's higher than the global average of phone-using twitterers (55 per cent). Well, we did say we were addicted… [Guardian]
In sooth I know not why I am so sad – Proving that there's a Twitter bot for everything, @pentametron retweets twitter musings that are written (usually unintentionally) in iambic pentameter, Shakespeare's favoured writing rhythm. "Snapped on the teacher not in trouble tho/Wow sudden rain and hail hello hello." Pleasing. [Gawker]
Paranoid android - This Russian robot is terrifying in its realism and near-sentience, but even more so for its more-than-passing resemblance to our very own Gareth Beavis (pictured below). Keep it away. [Ubergizmo]
New music streamer on the block - Rdio has officially launched in the UK. Yes, we know it technically launched before, but that was before the press release was ready. [Rdio]
Do some good - Samsung is going to donate £1 to charity for every mile you travel while using its Hope Relay app until August 12. Run, jump, hop, hopscotch, skip, wriggle on your tummy – do whatever, you don't often get a chance to weasel money out of a multinational tech company for a good cause. And if you won't listen to us, at least listen to, um, Jamie Oliver. [Samsung]
Wolf - Want to know how often Digitimes is wrong about Apple rumours? Spoiler alert: a lot. [Time]
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Review: ZTE Tania
Introduction
Windows Phone isn't exactly ubiquitous at the moment, and it isn't really setting smartphone owners on fire.Nokia's current financial woes show this, even though it's now joined at the hip to Microsoft and its flagship Lumia 900 is in the wild.
But Microsoft isn't abandoning its smartphone operating system. In fact, a new version is in the offing this year. And ZTE has muscled in with the ZTE Tania, a budget Windows Phone handset that might, just might, help bring the operating system to the masses.
With the ZTE Tania costing £210 on Pay As You Go, or £10-£20 a month on contract, the smartphone undercuts the £450 Nokia Lumia 900 hugely. The question has to be: what do you gain and lose by dropping so much cash from the price?
Well, you don't lose out on a sizable mobile phone. The ZTE Tania has a 4.3-inch 800 x 480 pixel screen. This isn't as sharp and vibrant as the AMOLED found on the Nokia Lumia 900 but it is the same size and has the same pixel count.
There's no front camera, but you do get a 5MP main camera and that Windows Phone stalwart 'Unlock to camera' shortcut button is on the right-hand edge. ZTE has also put the main on/off switch on the right-hand side, where it is easy for smaller hands to reach.
There's a volume rocker on the left edge, headset slot on the top, and the USB port is rather awkwardly located towards the middle of the right edge.
One place ZTE has cut corners is with the build. Next to the Nokia Lumia 900 or Lumia 800 it really does look low grade. The phone is solid enough - we couldn't bend or bow it in our hands - but it just looks budget rather than premium.
The plastic chassis doesn't help here, and there were telltale signs of wear and tear on the camera surround of our review sample.
ZTE has pulled a few punches on the internals too, with just 4GB of internal storage (and you can't add microSD cards to Windows Phone handsets), 512MB of RAM supporting the 1GHz Qualcomm processor, and a 1400mAh battery.
Then again, the ZTE Tania is a Windows Phone 7.5 Mango handset for £210, don't forget.
Interface
The ZTE Tania runs Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, and everything is very familiar. You've got the standard Windows lock screen that delivers time and date, signal strength, Wi-Fi status and battery life. If there's an appointment due, that shows too.Sweep the lock screen up and away and you are into the tile-based Start screen. This is automatically populated with a range of things you might be interested in.
Sweep to the left and a complete apps list appears in tile form. Tap and hold any of these and you can pin what you want to the Start screen. Some of the tiles you can pin can include live data.
You can also pin stuff to the Start screen in some of the apps themselves. In Bing Maps, for example, you can pin a location to the Start screen so you can get back to it easily at a later date.
Microsoft is pretty mean when it comes to enabling you to customise how the Start screen looks. You can choose between a few colours for the tiles and have either a black or white background, but that's it.
It's all very similar to what every other Windows Phone offers, and that's great, because you're not spending a fortune on the ZTE Tania to get it. But there is a big issue that shows where the money has been saved.
While the ZTE Tania has a big, high resolution screen (4.3 inches, 480 x 800), it isn't high quality. There's some blurring as you scroll around, viewing angles aren't great and the TFT is tricky to see in bright sunlight.
Although it looks pretty good if viewed head-on indoors, you do head outside on a daily basis, right?
Contacts and calling
Once you have signed in to an account such as Windows Live, Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter, the ZTE Tania gets populated with information about your contacts.They are all brought together in the People area - or Hub - of the handset. The phone can also import contacts directly from your SIM.
With the importing done, the People hub gives you access to news feeds and information about contacts, contact history and, of course, the ability to get in touch with people too.
Windows Phone makes an attempt to link contacts brought together from different sources. If their names are the same in, say, your Facebook and LinkedIn feeds, it'll collate information from both, although we did find we had to do some linking by hand.
The good thing about this system is that when you've brought people together you can contact them in a whole bunch of ways just by viewing their contact details.
And because Windows Phone is about activities rather than apps, you can even link out to Bing Maps and map their home address if you need to.
It can all get a bit busy, though. We've got hundreds of contacts in our Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google accounts.
We're always miffed with Windows Phone that it shows so little information on the screen at any one time, too.
Really, being able to see just three tweets at once on the ZTE Tania isn't great, and when looking at an individual's contact details we'd also like to see more. Windows Phone needs to devote less space to its header info and more to showing the content we want to see.
The other way to make contact with someone is via the dialler, and you get to this from the Start screen. The dialler offers call history, a link right into the People hub, access to voicemail or a simple, large dial pad where you can simply tap out a number.
It's a real pity that the dial pad doesn't support smart dialling, though. We found fiddling around within the People hub could take longer than starting to tap out someone's name or number on the dial pad.
We can't quibble about call quality, which was fine for us, but we aren't too sure about the ZTE Tania's ability to hold a signal.
Set against other handsets, and with an Orange SIM in both, the ZTE Tania had a tendency to show a bar less of signal strength, and sometimes even two bars.
Messaging
Messaging is important in Windows Phone, and in the ZTE Tania there's a hub all to itself where you can see past messages and easily create new ones.As is the convention for Windows Phone, there's a small menu row at the bottom of the screen, and simply tapping on the + icon enables you to start a new message.
Once you're in the message creation screen, there's an intelligent search of your contacts - just start tapping in the To field and a list of matches appears.
You only see three full matches at a time, though, since the screen space down to the keyboard is used while the keyboard itself has to be kept clear for you to type on. Keep typing to narrow the search, or scroll to get to the contact you want.
Beneath the keyboard there are tiny icons offering the option to attach images or voice notes to messages. And if you hit the three small dots to the right of these icons you can see another option - to delete the current message thread.
One thing Microsoft has got right with Windows Phone is the keyboard. On the ZTE Tania it's really responsive to the touch, and the predictive text is pretty good too.
However, it feels a bit inconsistent that the Messaging area only enables you to send SMS and Facebook chat messages. If you want to make a voice call, you have to come out of Messaging and go into Phone for the dialler.
Facebook accounts are also available from the People hub, which also enables you to see Twitter updates and send emails. Email is something else you can't manage from the Messaging hub.
What we do like is how you can link the inboxes of different email accounts so you can quickly scroll through everything if you like.
Internet
You can access the internet over either Wi-Fi or HSDPA, and in both cases the large screen of the ZTE Tania makes the experience pleasurable.The 1GHz processor helps pages render quickly enough, although not at lightning-fast speeds, and the screen is finger responsive for zooming and panning.
In fact, despite the screen not being the best we've seen on a smartphone, web browsing is one of the key pleasures of this low cost Windows Phone.
The search tool delivers results that look rather different to other browsing experiences. It uses the familiar interface from other hubs and incorporates local searching so that when you enter a search term you get results for the web, local services and images, and can scroll through these with horizontal finger sweeps.
This variety isn't always going to be relevant, but sometimes it can get you to what you want really quickly.
The Local Search will pinpoint locations on a map so that you can easily find out more information about a place, such as its phone number, address and website. You can link out to Bing Maps to get directions, too.
You can pin web pages to the Start screen so that it is easy to get back to them at a later date. This is great for things such as Bing Maps locations or TechRadar articles and reviews you don't have time to read right now.
Once you've found a website you want, there's a general predisposition to drop you into the mobile version.
But it is usually easy to get to the full version of a site.
We don't want to make too big a deal about Windows Phone's consistent inability to provide Flash support, since we're going to see a move to HTML 5 in a big way as time goes along, and that's supported in IE.
But nevertheless it has to be said that the lack of Flash support on the ZTE Tania will be an issue for some at present.
Camera
The ZTE Tania doesn't have a front-facing camera. Nor does the top-end Nokia Lumia 900. Then again, you can get Windows Phone handsets with a front camera, for example the HTC Titan.The ZTE Tania's back-mounted camera shoots stills at resolutions up to 5 megapixels, and there's an LED flash.
One of the neat features of Windows Phone is its ability to automatically upload photos you take to the free SkyDrive storage you get when you sign up for a free Windows Live account. You make the setting from the Camera roll.
Another is that you can unlock the handset directly to the camera by pressing the side-mounted shutter button.
Click here to see the full resolution image
For a 5 megapixel camera, shots aren't that wonderful. There's a fair bit of compression, and this luscious bluebell-filled landscape doesn't look half as good as it should.
Click here to see the full resolution image
The macro shooting mode can't cope with very close objects, but used carefully it can generate some nice photos.
Click here to see the full resolution image
Indoors without using the flash in fairly average cafe lighting conditions, the camera does fairly well to capture pretty true colours.
Click here to see the full resolution image
This photo of running water shows that the shutter speed isn't all it could be. You could get some blurring if you don't have a steady hand.
Click here to see the full resolution image
Along with the usual sepia, mono and negative filters that are often found on cameras, there's a red filter that can be used to good effect.
Video
It's great that the ZTE Tania can shoot 720p video, but really, really irritating that it defaults to its other setting, 640 x 480, after you've shot a video. We fell foul of its poor memory on more than one occasion, having to reset to 720p video recording and have a second take.When we filmed the waterfall, we failed to notice that the camera had reverted to 640 x 480 resolution until we got home, so the resulting video is thus disappointingly low resolution.
In our video clip of the bluebells, we were really smooth moving the camera round to record panoramic video, but that's not the impression given when you watch it back.
Media
Music and video are catered for in a special hub all of their own on the ZTE Tania. You can scroll around to see the library of onboard videos - including any you've downloaded and any you've captured locally - listen to music and podcasts and use the FM radio that's built into the smartphone.The music and video hub, incidentally, also includes a link out to the Marketplace, which includes a range of tunes broken down into different genres.
To get your own music onto the ZTE Tania you need to connect to Zune and synchronise it across. It's not a terrible pain, but if you're the kind of person who prefers simple drag and drop via the Windows File Explorer, or microSD card-swapping, it may rankle.
It's great to have an FM radio on the phone, but for some bizarre reason it isn't possible to play radio through the handset's speaker. This is a Windows Phone standard feature, and one that really needs fixing.
One thing that really annoyes us with regard to the ZTE Tania's media handling is that it has a mere 4GB of internal storage and no microSD card support.
The latter is a fact of life for all Windows Phone handsets currently, but if you are a media fan you may not be too happy about it.
Let us add to your woes by saying that our review handset reported just 2.89GB of total available storage.
Battery life and connectivity
We're not the world's greatest fans of non-removable batteries like you see in Nokia's flagship Windows Phone handsets. So we're thankful that the budget build here includes a backplate and a battery you can get at.You might think the 1400mAh battery will struggle to power the large screen of the ZTE Tania. But think again.
We got a day and a half from it if we used it frugally, including no more than half an hour's music playback and another half an hour browsing the internet over a mix of Wi-Fi and 3G, shooting a few still images and videos, and of course taking advantage of mobile email.
That's not bad going in a world where the generally expected smartphone battery life is a day.
If you want to prolong battery life, Windows Phone has a Battery Saver option in Settings. This turns off some services. It also gives you an estimate of how much time you have left on the battery, which can be useful.
Connectivity on the ZTE Tania isn't bad either. HSDPA runs to 14.4Mbps download with 5.76Mbps upload speeds. Our videos uploaded to SkyDrive in reasonably good time - though beware of data charges when you are out and about.
You might want to turn off auto upload and instead do it manually over Wi-Fi, which supports b, g, and n connections. There's internet sharing too.
Bluetooth 3.0 is here of course, and GPS gives you access to mapping and geotagging of photos.
Maps and apps
The ZTE Tania has a range of apps pre-installed that deliver the kinds of things you'd expect from a smartphone. You've got alarms, a calculator and a calendar among them.There's also the Office hub that's exclusive to Windows Phone. This gives you access to Mobile versions of OneNote, Word, Excel and PowerPoint on the device, as well as synchronisation to SkyDrive.
If you are a business user you can also access SharePoint services, and there's also access to Office 365 if you are a subscriber to that. There's nothing like pushing at your own brand, Microsoft!
This being a Microsoft Windows Phone handset there's Bing Maps here rather than Google Maps. We've already noted its ability to find local places of interest, and its connection to Internet Explorer, which helps with searches.
Bing Maps can also provide driving direction between one place and another.
This is all much of a muchness with other Windows Phone smartphones and what there isn't anything ZTE adds to help differentiate the ZTE Tania from the rest of the bunch.
Still, the Marketplace's offerings are growing all the time, and it's well worth a scout around for games and more to help you pass the time or be more productive.
Hands on gallery
Official gallery
Verdict
The ZTE Tania is Windows Phone 7.5 Mango on a budget. You will find it available for around £210, and for that you get an interesting proposition.The price cut from the top-end Windows Phone handsets gets you full blown Windows Phone 7.5 in a large screened device with no ZTE-added extra apps or tweaks, so in a very real sense this is a taste of the Windows Phone operating system without bells and whistles.
We liked
Windows Phone 7.5 is full blown with no corners cut and no elements taken away. If you want to try Microsoft's smartphone operating system but are on a budget, it could be a winner for you.The screen, while lacking in quality, is big, and that means it's better designed for web browsing and media consumption - as long as you don't intend to do either for long periods of time in bright sunlight.
We disliked
The build quality is OK, but a long way from great. But to be honest it is pretty solid, and acceptable for the price. The screen isn't wonderful though, and it can be difficult to view outdoors in bright sunlight.There's a very measly 4GB of built-in storage and no way to add any more to this. It's probably the single most irritating thing about this handset.
The camera isn't up to a great deal, and video recording very annoyingly resets itself from 720p to 640 x 480 after every shoot.
Final verdict
ZTE has done a brave thing bringing the low-cost ZTE Tania to market, and we're pleased it's taken the leap and produced a complete Windows Phone handset at a relatively low cost and with a large screen.If nothing else, it proves this is possible. The likes of the Nokia Lumia 610 and 710 are both cheaper but don't offer the same screen size, and the trend towards the massive screen is something that's currently not well provided for in the Windows Phone camp.
However, there are a lot of compromises on offer here for the price, so make sure you give the Tania a test run before deciding to take the plunge.
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Review: Motorola Defy Mini
Introduction
Motorola's original Defy was a winner of an Android smartphone for us, marrying solid build with a neat design and some nice software touches. It was followed by a revamped handset, the Motorola Defy+, which updated some of the features but left most of what was in the original mobile phone untouched.Now the Motorola Defy Mini has popped up, a smaller version of the Defy with some design changes, but the same solid specifications. This phone might be a steal, priced at around £160 (around $260) SIM-free in the UK, with the only real rival coming from Samsung's Galaxy Xcover.
The Motorola Defy Mini is small. You might say this is a handset designed for a child's hands. And this is a good market for a rugged phone, given how kids are not known for their delicacy and TLC with their technology.
Anyway, it measures a teensy 109 x 58.5 x 12.5 mm and it weighs just 107g. That inevitably means a small screen - just 3.2 inches with 480 x 320 pixels.
The 600MHz processor raises a few on-paper concerns, and the rather short memory allocation of 512MB is another potential worry. There was 121MB free on our sample before we added any apps or data. The camera tops out at 3 megapixels - another budget handset marker, although there's a front camera too, which is nice.
Meanwhile, looking over the remaining specifications it becomes clear that Motorola has included the standard smartphone essentials of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 7.2Mbps download HSDPA, GPS and eCompass. There's DLNA too.
The Android operating system is old, at version 2.3. Ice Cream Sandwich is really where it's at for Android smartphones now.
There's a rather impressive 1650mAh battery, which in theory ought to keep the phone going for a relatively long time.
The rugged features are key to the Motorola Defy Mini's success. Gorilla Glass has been used for the screen so it is scratch resistant. The top mounted headset connector and left side mounted USB port are protected by hinged covers. The backplate is held tightly in place by a sliding lock, and there's a seal around the battery.
The design isn't as industrial looking as that of the Defy and Motorola Defy Mini, but we like it for that. The rubbery backplate is preferable, we think, to the shiny plastic of the Defy and Motorola Defy Mini, and we reckon it'll make the handset easier to grip outdoors when you're wearing gloves.
We like the side-mounted camera shortcut button on the right edge, though it's small and fiddly to use, particularly when you are wearing gloves. Ditto the volume buttons on the same edge. And we aren't overly excited about the tiny on/off button on the top edge, which is also fiddly to use.
Interestingly, we don't see the IP67 rating flashed around with the Motorola Defy Mini, although the phone is touted as dust and water resistant.
Interface
Motorola has skinned the Defy Mini in a slightly new way, and part of this is about the new MotoSwitch user interface, which incorporates features that learn how you use the phone and adapt it accordingly.There's still the familiar four shortcuts that sit at the bottom of each home screen as you scroll around. These take you to Dialler and Messaging as well as to the main apps menu.
The fourth shortcut drops you into one of the bits of freebie software Motorola has added to the Defy Mini - something it calls Dashboard. We'll come to this later, when we look at Maps and Apps.
Meanwhile there are seven home screens to populate with shortcuts and widgets. But you aren't stuck with seven. Tap the Home button beneath the screen and you'll see thumbnails of all seven home screens. Use the plus symbol at the top of the screen to add another one or two if you like.
If want still more home screen choices, then tap the Menu button beneath the screen and choose Profiles.
Now you can switch between three different collections of home screens, labelled Home, Work and Weekend. Populate these with the widgets and shortcuts that suit those times, and you can switch between personalised handset looks for different situations.
No Android smartphone worth its salt comes without a selection of widgets, and Motorola provides a series of its own to complement those that come with Android. They're nicely separated out so smartphone newbies don't get too confused.
Some of the Motorola widgets are part of the new MotoSwitch user interface, and they're really quite nice. You'll see them too on the high-end Motorola Motoluxe.
Social Graph, for example, provides information and contact access to your most frequently contacted people. In the screen shot below we've not set it up yet, but when you do those mugshots will be of your favourite people.
Activity Graph learns what apps you've been running and changes to reflect this - or you can set it up with your favourite apps.
We have to say we rather like these widgets, and we're really pleased to see them being used on a budget handset.
Contacts and calling
Getting contacts into the Motorola Defy Mini is an easy enough process. It can cope with Twitter, Google, Facebook and Microsoft Exchange contacts.
Setting up your accounts is a simple matter of entering your username and password - it only takes a minute or two. Once you've done that you can synchronise the accounts into the handset.
It's the same process for synchronising your Facebook contacts. We did have trouble with Twitter sync though, which often failed. This is something we've encountered before - we met it with the Motoluxe too. Maybe Motorola has a perennial problem with its internals, and if so it really does need looking at.
The contacts app itself is neatly designed with a standard dialler area, Call button and links across the top of the screen to the call log, contacts, favourites and groups.
There's smart dialling built in, but such a small portion of the screen is given over to it that it can be a bit difficult to use efficiently. You can only actually see one match at a time.
Calling itself was a straightforward process though, with good call quality. There's not a lot going on by way of noise cancelling, though.
We found that when we were talking to someone in a crowded location it could be hard to hear them. Hope they weren't yelling into the phone and disturbing people around them!
Messaging
The process of composing SMS messages on the Motorola Defy Mini is very standard fare. The interface offers nothing that's going to throw you, although you may find the keyboard is rather pokey to use on the small screen.To help things out here Motorola provides Swype, and indeed you may find that sweeping a finger around the screen is easier than prodding at its tiny keys. Unless you've got child-small fingers, of course.
Auto correct works quite well, but you can't see an awful lot of any text you write, because of the cramped screen.
When you've got a conversation going on a small area about a fifth of the screen shows messages when the keyboard is up. There's going to be a lot of scrolling going on unless you get rid of the keyboard and look at the trail without it.
You have the same problem of a small keyboard and not much screen viewing area in email, and this can be a real pain, since emails usually carry a lot more text than SMS text messages.
One solution is to switch into landscape orientation, but even then you only get to see two rows of text. So the Motorola Defy Mini is not going to work well for you if you are wedded to mobile email.
You'll be better off choosing a phone with a bigger, higher resolution screen.
Internet
The small screen of the Motorola Defy Mini isn't really best suited to internet browsing. There's nothing wrong with it on the connectivity front, with Wi-Fi and 7.2Mbps HSDPA downloads. But we think 3.2 inches doesn't give you enough space for adequate web browsing, and the pixel count, at 480 x 320, is low too.
Web pages look squeezed - take the TechRadar home page, for example. The mobile version looks fine, but pop into the desktop version and things are too squished up for our liking. You certainly can't read anything much without zooming in.
You can double-tap to zoom in and out of pages in the usual Android fashion, and text reflowing works as it should do in these circumstances. But as we've found before in far too many Android handsets, pinch to zoom in further and there's no reflow support.
How much this matters to you will depend, of course, on how you use the web. Double-tap zooming often gives quite enough detail to read web pages successfully.
In general we found web pages loaded fairly quickly, although that last little bit of complex pages sometimes took its time to resolve.
You will also notice that there is no Flash support. We hate it when handsets don't have Flash. It means that video embedded into some websites is a no-go area, and for us that really detracts from the browsing experience.
Camera
With just a 3-megapixel main camera on the Motorola Defy Mini, you can't expect top quality photos. There's a flash, but the camera is fixed focus. That's OK, really, on a handset at this kind of price. And having a side button for launching the camera and taking a snap is a plus.We were a bit disappointed in the shutter reaction time though - if you move the camera about after pressing the button you'll get a blurred image. You learn this quickly, but it's not ideal.
On the plus side, Motorola has added a few image filters that are a bit different to the norm. Alongside the usual and rather predictable sepia and mono there are aqua, emboss, negative colour and negative monochrome and sketch modes. And there's a night scene mode alongside the auto mode.
The camera controls are easily accessed on screen via a neat menu system we've seen before, and this makes the camera relatively easy to use.
Click here to see the full resolution image
Normal shooting mode produces passable images for the phone screen but not really for sharing or printing. Note how the slow shutter speed blurs the water, and the background trees are just a splodge.
Click here to see the full resolution image
The filters are fun, though. Aqua lends a rather nice blue tint to everything you photograph.
Click here to see the full resolution image
The Emboss filter is something you don't often see on a phone camera - it's something you apply after in photo editing software. It makes for some rather fun photographs.
Click here to see the full resolution image
The Sketch filter is also something rarely found on a phone camera, and more often seen in photo editing software. Again the results of using this can be really good.
Click here to see the full resolution image
Click here to see the full resolution image
You've two types of negative to choose between on the Motorola Defy Mini. The Negative Mono has a real night shooting feel about it.
Video
The video camera on the Motorola Defy Mini is rather disappointing as it is limited to VGA (640 x 480) pixels as its maximum resolution. On the other hand it shares the shooting modes of the stills camera, so you can have a little fun.
Media
Motorola tends to take media seriously on its handsets, and for a while we've enjoyed its Music+ application. This gives you access to online services as well as the included music player. For example, forget FM radio - which you've got as a separate app on the Motorola Defy Mini - and go full on for internet radio via SHOUTcast.On the other hand, if you are into karaoke or just enjoy song lyrics generally, then the great news is that as soon as you start playing a track its lyrics are found and shown on screen.
The Motorola Defy Mini's small screen again somewhat lets things down, since you can't see much by way of lyrics at once, but the idea is great, and if you tap a line of a lyric you can view the lot. You can also tap an icon on the player screen to get related YouTube video right from the player, which is neat.
The player copes with AMR, MP3, MIDI and AAC files, although with a memory of just 120MB, there's not enough room to store too many on the phone.
Sound quality leaves a bit to be desired, with the built-in speaker decidedly rough and tinny, and the provided headphones no better than average quality.
If you switch out of the music player to use another app, there's a control panel in the notifications pulldown, and there's also a rather nice widget that incorporates connected features.
Video playback is remarkably smooth, given the low powered processor, and our main issue is really that the small screen doesn't make us want to watch a great deal.
Motorola includes a neat media-related feature in the shape of MediaSee, which really quickly and easily hooks into your network for streaming music, video and images. In theory.
It found all three, streamed music and showed us images full screen. But while it uncovered video, the handset refused to play any of it.
You can also use the Motorola Defy Mini itself as a DLNA server.
Battery life and connectivity
Motorola has given the Defy Mini a 1650mAh battery that's good for 580 minutes of talk time and 420 hours on standby. These figures mean little these days when smartphones are used for a whole lot more than talk, of course.The good news is that the battery really did seem to deliver. When we were indulging in light use, that is. We got more than a day and a half at times when we were making a few calls and browsing the web a little and sending just a few messages.
But leave social media and email sync on, play tunes for a couple of hours a day, watch some video, browse the web and use the GPS and we had to recharge mid afternoon. That's a standard usage pattern for us, and a standard battery life report too.
You've got recourse to a battery saver app if you want to stretch battery life, and can configure this to act as you want it to.
There's quite a lot going on in the Motorola Defy Mini in the connectivity stakes. HSDPA only runs to 7.2Mbps, but that's really fast enough for a handset at this price, and there's also Wi-Fi with hotspot capability, DLNA, media streaming and Bluetooth too.
It's not bad fare, although Moto really does need to fix the MediaSee problem with video streaming, which seems to run across more than one handset (we had the same problem with the Motoluxe).
Maps and apps
We've already noted the MediaSee app that Motorola adds in for media streaming, and its own DLNA sharing app too. It goes without saying that the Motorola Defy Mini also includes good old Google Maps. And there's quite a lot more besides.Dashboard will appeal to fitness fanatics. A pedometer at the top of the screen is coupled with links to apps you might like to use while out and about. By default these are a compass, FM radio and the camera, but you can tap and hold any of these to change them, and the fourth option isn't even configured at the outset, waiting for you to touch and hold it to choose what you want in its spot.
You've also got QuickOffice Lite for viewing Microsoft Office files, a sound recorder, voice dialler (as well as voice search), and a Torch app that toggles the camera's LED flash. It's not a bad set of apps, and of course you can go crazy in Google Play.
Hands on gallery
Official gallery
Verdict
The Motorola Defy Mini takes the Defy idea and puts it into a small package. It works - up to a point. The chassis feels robust, and the covers for the headset and USB slots afford protection, even though they're fiddly to use.But the handset is a bit too small and under-powered for our tastes.
We liked
SocialGraph and ActivityGraph are really nice features, and while we could easily make our own shortcuts to favourite contacts and apps, we like the look and feel of what Motorola has done.The Connected Music Player, Music+, really works nicely. We've always been fans, and continue to be. Similarly, MediaSee is seamless for media sharing - although its video player needs work.
We disliked
There were problems with Twitter sync for us, and MediaSee failed too. Attention to detail, Motorola, please.The Motorola Defy Mini's screen is just too small for some activities, with cramped viewing around the keyboard area.
512MB of internal storage, with the influx of more expansive apps, really isn't enough these days either, so we'd have liked to have seen that boosted.
And more importantly the OS is something of a concern - we can accept Gingerbread for now as it's still a pretty current platform, but we've not heard anything about an update to the OS to Ice Cream Sandwich.
If Motorola (which is almost owned by Google, lest we forget) doesn't get its act together and start being among the first to publish updates to its handsets, we're going to see a few disgruntled customers.
Final verdict
Motorola seems to have a lot of the components for making fab handsets at its fingertips, but doesn't manage to bring them all together perfectly. The idea of taking the Defy range and making it smaller is a good one, but the execution isn't great.We're also not sure about the phone's dust and water rating. Moto uses the phrases 'dust proof' and 'water resistant' on its website, but doesn't' mention IP67. Maybe the Motorola Defy Mini didn't qualify, then.
Overall, it's a decent enough little phone in places - and being life proof plus small enough to pop in places you wouldn't normally see a handset should be tempting.
But the lack of overall fluency and reliance on last-gen components (including that underpowered processor) is a worry, even at the modest price.
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Review: LG Optimus L3
Introduction
Someway off becoming a leader of the smartphone scene, LG's Optimus L3 is an entry level handset that counteracts a less than ground-breaking array of specs, largely uninspiring styling and a less than fluid user experience with an impressive performance in the area that is arguably most important to its intended market, pricing.Lining up for as little as £79.95 on a pay-as-you-go basis across a range of networks through smartphone retailer Phones 4U, the L3 is one third of the new Optimus L series and lines up as the smaller, lower-end sibling to the mid-market L5 and higer-end L7.
Banking on its wallet-friendly price point to separate it from the expansive range of entry-level smartphones, the latest LG offering faces stiff competition from a flurry of more aesthetically pleasing, specs impressive and desirable devices from more coveted brands of the pocketable handset sector, such as Samsung and HTC.
Whilst the handset's sub £100 price tag will appeal to many, the minimalist price point comes at a cost with the handset's dated array of specs seeing the device line up with a number of its core elements, such as the screen and inbuilt camera, falling below the expected standards.
Despite its widespread limitations, thanks to the device's 800MHz processor and few hardware demands, the L3 is rather zippy with the sub-sized smartphone allowing users to freely scroll through the selection of Android 2.3 Gingerbread enabled homescreens and menus with ease, tackling the transitions in a simple, albeit low resolution manner.
On first impressions the handset is largely disappointing with an extremely low-resolution touchscreen display providing heavily grained images and far from impressive visuals. These first impressions are only further compounded the deeper you delve into the handset's core.
On the compact side of the smartphone spectrum, the 3.2-inch LCD TFT capacitive touchscreen offering found on the L3 is a frankly pitiful inclusion. Far from responsive, the QVGA feature boasts just a 320 x 240p image resolution with the low quality images further depleted by the minimalist 256K colour contrast ration and poor 125 pixels-per-inch image density.
Although sure to attract many thanks to its extremely low pricing, the LG Optimus L3 features fewer bells and whistles, and a lower array of hardware feature, than a number of its similarly priced rivals with the £79.99 priced Orange San Francisco offering a superior 800 x 480p resolution display. Elsewhere the Alcatel OT-602 manages to utilise the same 320 x 240p resolution screen, albeit on a smaller scale, for some £50 cheaper.
Not all doom and gloom, there are areas of the hardware wars where the L3 comes into its own and manages to gain some much needed added credit. In a section of the market increasingly dependent on the use of microSD cards for any workable amount of internal storage, the L3 boasts 1GB of memory inbuilt.
Whilst the device can still be expanded up to 32GB via microSD, this full gigabyte base is a marked improvement on many of its sub 256MB touting rivals.
Fulfilling its role as a smartphone, the L3, like virtually all modern devices, offers users the standard collection of connectivity options with the now customary 3G and Wi-Fi abilities further enhanced by Bluetooth 3.0.
In terms of internals, whilst Google's Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS is no longer at the fore of software potential, with no Android 4.0 ICS update to be made available, LG's decision to skin the L3 with its own Optimus 2.0 Lite user interface could be seen as a mistake with a less than fluid experience helping create a device that through a period of long-term use would quickly transform multiple small niggles into a series of massive molehills.
Design and feel
Far from the most beautiful handset on the market, the LG Optimus L3 is a squat, stubby, square device that fails to inspire on an aesthetical front.Whilst the manufacturer might have wanted to give the handset an air of grandeur and the appearance of a high-end metal construct, in reality the device is a widely plastic affair that despite a strong construction does creak in the hand and offers little reassurance against the inevitable, knocks, bumps and scratches picked up during the course of a handset's lifecycle.
With a somewhat questionable design the handset's fit in the hand is also less than ideal with the abruptly angled corners combining with poorly placed volume controls to create a device that feels aggressive against the palm and which causes awkward, far from ideal holding positions.
With the volume controls running along the upper left section of the device, thumb and forefinger placement when holding the handset in left and right handed manners respectively spells an accidental pressing risks, forcing users to feel on edge and constantly conscious of inevitable unwanted alterations.
With the handset being a likely first buy for a teen or younger user, the L3, in all reality, would be best served by touting a selection of life-proof, knock, drop and splash proof features that will keep the budget device chugging along well after it has been put through the mill.
Despite these desires, the pocketable handset falls somewhat below expectation, and the levels of its marginally more expensive Motorola Defy rival, with the plastic coating proving prone to scratches and less than reassuring in a low level drop test.
Lining up at just 11.7mm thick and a comfortable and reassuring 109 grams in weight, the L3 is a compact and manageable device with few connection ports detracting from what is a largely smooth finish.
Although the top mounted 3.5mm audio jack connection and centralised microUSB changing dock on the base are well positioned, the dock connector is a shoddy affair making swift charging or transfer connections an errant option instead replaced by a clunky, slow, fiddly affair that will infuriate from the first use to the last.
Despite having just three physical buttons, power, volume and home, the L3 once again falls short of the mark with the narrow, elongated home button less than pleasant to use on a frequent basis, sitting flush with the handset's fore and failing to offer any purchase during use.
Interface
Whilst Google's Android 4.0 operating system might be nothing more than a long sought-after pipedream for L3 adopters, the handset utilises Gingerbread and the company's Optimus 2.0 Lite UI to offer users a familiar Android environment filled with five homescreens that can be simply adorned at will with the usual array of widgets, shortcuts, files and applications from the recently renamed Google Play Store.Certainly not the sleekest and most well-honed UI on the smartphone market, LG's Optimus 2.0 Lite offering found on the L3 tailors itself directly to the handset's entry-level user base enabling first-time smartphone users to simply and intuitively riffle their way through the device's full bag of tricks with minimal fuss.
Although the incorporated 800MHz processor keeps users whipping their way back and forth through the handset's menu listings and applications at a frantic pace, more straightforward tasks such as scrolling up and down through a list of options is met with a more jilted, stilted and slowed experience.
Offering multitasking of sorts, an extended press on the home button will see users offered instant access points to the four most recently accessed applications and services, improving the user experience and helping maintain a level of userbility to a device that is plagued in all aspects of its being by a shockingly shoddy display.
On the whole offering a pleasant and simple to follow user experience for the first time smartphone owner, the L3's interface could be further improved and be made simpler to new adopters by replacing the display for a higher resolution offering.
Repeatedly the source of uncertainty, the simplicity of the Android OS is let down somewhat by a screen so heavily grained and pixelated that simple instructions and input methods can be repeatedly mistaken.
One of the most frequently used aspects of the handset's touchscreen based UI, the L3's selection of digital full QWERTY keyboard forms are a collection of cramped, poorly spaced input forms with the low-resolution display further compounding the undersized nature of the keys.
With accidental key presses an unavoidable pitfall that results in lengthy periods of deleting and redrafting, worst offenders of the sub-sized QWERTY offerings are the handset's full stop and forward slash buttons when entering a URL, both of which are small, even by L3 standards, and unnecessarily fiddly to access.
Contacts and calling
Contacts
Accessed via a homescreen shortcut or the full app menu, the contacts section is a minimalist affair with a selection of easily navigated, albeit wildly uninspiring, contacts able to be added to with easy thanks to the handy step-by-step walk through contact sheet that allows users to input everything from contact name and number to a selection of email and postal addresses, personal notes and even assign set people to particular contact groups for further improved location and accessing.Allowing users to search contacts via these set groupings, the L3 makes up in part for its lack of social network support with contacts unable to have their Twitter stream or Facebook updates link through directly to their virtual contacts card.
Calling
Acting liberally on the 'smart' aspect of its smartphone branding with a truly barebones array of specs, the LG Optimus L3 fares little better on the 'phone' section of its name with calls made and received often accompanied by a hearty amount of muffling and distortion, making it hard to hear conversations, especially when using the handset in a bustling, urban area that is accompanied by a variety of loud noises.Sadly, for a smartphone, the L3's voicemail functionality is severely lacking in the smarts with the now standard visual voicemail expectations errant, replaced instead by the now dated, clumsy and far from convenient '901' voicemail calling service.
Messaging
Once again failing to hit the seamless integration standards of its smartphone predecessors and a number of its closest rivals, the L3's messaging abilities prove clunky, cramped and unnecessarily sluggish.Easy enough to access and open thanks in large to the overlaid Android OS, the handset's messaging services are yet another prime example of the device's back-to-basics price cutting that has been introduced to get the phone's price point as low as possible with little regard to eventual overall usability.
Keeping the handset further behind the times and away from fully appeasing its demanding teen, entry level market, the LG handset fails to provide social integration through its messaging services with users unable to create contacts group and receive all forms of messaging formats through in a single swipe from the standard text and MMS messages to direct tweets, Facebook updates and instant messages.
Yet another downfall of the handset's minimalist display, messaging is further complicated by the handset's poor digital QWERTY keyboard offering little room for precise key strokes and proving prone to unwanted presses and fiddly, time consuming alterations. Whilst these issues are somewhat appeased by switching the handset to a landscape stance, the keyboard remains far from ideal.
Adding a small amount of glitz to the largely gloomy horizon, the L3's MMS features are simple and intuitive to use, with the Android OS once again coming to the handset's rescue with the easy attachment system available to all composing text messages.
Internet
Featuring a lesser version of the multi-tabbed, desktop-esque browsers found on the likes of the Apple iPhone 4S, Samsung Galaxy S3 and HTC One X, the LG Optimus E3 boasts a more low-key, reduced feature option with a near WAP offering throwing users back into the mobile browser past and marking just a minimal upheaval on the feature phones that many first time smartphone owners will be accustomed to.Allowing users to jump online via the standard Wi-Fi and 3G means, the latest Optimus handset does provide the option of truly portable browsing just in a less than groundbreaking, hardly inspiring manner that will no doubt deter many from making the most of their newfound online availabilities.
With just a single pre-installed browser offering, users are forced to either opt for the stilted, and clunky basic Android browser that offers up to four tabbed pages, or turn their attentions to the Google Play store in order to download a replacement online enabling piece of software such as Opera Mini which allows as many as nine web pages to be open simultaneously.
Continuing the theme of moderate abilities let down massively by the hugely disappointing display, web access on the L3 is a troublesome affair with the handset's 3.2-inch TFT screen ensuring text is hard to read and heavily distorted, even when zoomed in. Somewhat unsurprisingly given its price point, text reflow is a no-no with a hearty amount of scrolling required to consume zoomed in content.
Whilst 3G speeds vary widely depending on location and network provider, the handset's Wi-Fi connectivity options, once having progressed through a sluggish and fiddly setup process, are satisfactory although far from the speediest on the market.
Surprising simple and pleasantly functional, the handset's bookmarking features see an easy accessible button line up alongside the browser's URL bar with a simple tap all that is required to create, edit and access bookmarked web pages.
Camera
Keeping the in-built camera selection to the skeletal minimum required to simply tick the box on the consumer analysed specs sheet, the L3's 3-megapixel camera is again a disappointment with no flash in tow to help rescue the highly pixelated end products.Whilst shooting indoors under virtually any circumstances is a sure-fire recipe for low-quality, heavily grained and poorly colour managed images, take the handset outside into natural lighting and the camera is capable of a few small surprises.
Although you wouldn't know it viewing captured shots on the handset's display, transferred to a PC and shots in natural lighting conditions are surprisingly good with crisp edges and a well rounded colour pallet a world away from its indoor snapped counterparts.
Despite offering a selection of environment-based shooting options, the choice of sports, portrait and landscape capture modes appear to make virtually no difference to the results with only the digital zoom having a noticeable, degrading effect, on shots.
Far from the snappiest snapper to feature in an entry level smartphone, the L3's camera can prove a little slow off the mark at times, with the intermittent shutter speed paired with an extremely slow boot up time to ensure that fleeting moment you want to capture is often missed.
Unlike many of its higher end rivals and a select few of its entry level compatriots, the L3 is a single camera affair with no forward-facing snapper featuring to provide improved video calling functionality.
Click here to see the full resolution image
Click here to see the full resolution image
Click here to see the full resolution image
Click here to see the full resolution image
Video
Much like the device's stills camera, the handset's inbuilt video recording functionality is someway off setting the world alight, with a fixed focus lens meaning more detailed or distant aspects of video content can go by unnoticed or simply inaccessible.With poor colour management and a hearty amount of motion blur, video captured with the L3 is uninspiring and appears dated. Far from encouraging users to create their own content, the VGA 640 x 480p video recording capabilities at 24 frames-per-second produces footage that fails to excite and prompt further use.
With the lack of an inbuilt flash once again limiting the camera's use as a functional video recorder, settings options offered to users are a minimalist affair with reducing the image quality and turning the microphone off the only viable options.
Take a look at our video sample taken with the LG Optimus L3 below.
Media
Anything but a media-centric device, the LG Optimus E3's digital content playback services are severely limited by its woeful display with the 3.2-inch TFT offering, ensuring that users looking for movie or online video playback on the move carry their laptops or tablets with them at all times.Whilst the handset's inbuilt memory is a pleasantly surprising 1GB, up on many of its similarly priced competitors and a figure that can be increased up to 32GB via microSD card, this storage is not ideal for hearty amounts of audio and video content with playback options set to offer a disappointing representation of the content transferred to the compact blower.
Whilst missing the mark for many counts, the L3 ticks one box of the media requirements shortlist with inbuilt FM radio functionality allowing users to enjoy questionable quality music and discussions on the move in patchy, location based and intermittent form.
A near non-existent viewing angle with the 3.2-inch TFT display offers users little in terms of leeway with any transition from a direct, front-on view resulting in silhouetted images, a lack of definition and very quickly nothing more than a monochrome view of obscure, blurred motion.
Although the inbuilt speaker is well positioned in terms of ensuring against stray fingers blocking the sound, audio playback through the device is a highly tinny affair with little bass resulting in poor quality, shallow audio that almost rattles through the device's plastic form.
Despite the full array of media forms from the inbuilt music player, image galleries and video feeds including YouTube able to be accessed through the homescreen via a selection of shortcuts and widgets, doing so is often followed by disappointing results with a limited selection of features and the continually poor screen deterring from any form of picture editing or video viewing.
Battery life and connectivity
Battery life
Asides from a manageable price point, the other benefit of having a slim array of specs is that, unlike a number of its rivals, the L3's battery is capable of powering well past the single day period of use and well through a considerable chunk of the week on a single charge.With a 1500mAh lithium-ion battery, the Optimus branded device is touted as having a 600 hour standby time and up to 12 and a half hours worth of talktime on one run of the battery's juice.
Whist these figures are a little overzealous, the handset was more than up to the task of managing the better part of a week without the need go be plugged in.
Strangely, left unattended the L3 had a tendency to briefly flash to life at random, intermittent periods, an unexplained quirk that is sure to have a negative effect on the device's battery potential and one which at times can prove startling, irritating and wildly inappropriate.
Connectivity
Playing host to the usual array of Wi-Fi, 3G and GPS connectivity options, LG's compact handset offers a range of options allowing users to send, receive and access all manner of data.Although 3G services can prove a little patchy, the Wi-Fi offering performed well throughout if a little jittery to sync with networks.
Despite being connected to strong, uninterrupted Wi-Fi services, the L3 has a nasty habit of reverting to 3G networks to do its bidding, an unwanted and potentially costly feature that during our time with the device saw a couple of pounds worth of credit wiped and more than 30 top up reminder text messages received in around an hour-long timeframe, close to 150 in a single evening.
Connecting the handset to a PC via the boxed microUSB cable presents a variety of options with simply charging the device or syncing files between devices.
Filling the handset with multimedia goodies is a simple enough task with those opting to transfer existing content, as opposed to downloading via the Google Play Store, can fill their microSD cards with content before being utilised on the handset.
Maps and apps
Apps
Unlike many of its entry level rivals, which target the first-time and teenage smartphone markets, the L3 fails to offer a selection of preinstalled applications likely to appeal to such users wants and needs with the now standard social offerings of Facebook and Twitter not added to the handset prior to boxing.
Whilst such apps, services and features can be added by a simple, free jaunt to the Google Play store, the convenience and user-appealing reassurance of their premature installation on many rivals is one which is missing from the Optimus, an omission that sparks a number of questions around LG's planned user support for the device.
What L3 owners will be treated too instead of Facebook and Twitter, however, is the array of barebones Google-branded Android classics with the likes of YouTube and Google Books lining up alongside the handset functionality requiring array of settings and shortcuts and of course the increasingly pushed Google+ service.
Maps
Thanks to its Android innards the L3's mapping software comes in the form of the tried and tested favourite that is Google Maps, with the usual array of mapping and direction providing characteristics in tow.Even when connected using a strong Wi-Fi signal the Optimus' GPS abilities are far from a speedy affair, with image rendering of searched locations chugging along like a dial-up accessed web page.
Furthermore, zooming in and out of maps provides a stunted, slow experience that is further extrapolated when used under a 3G connection.
Adding further woes to the handset's less than impressive mapping abilities, the L3's Google Maps software crashed without warning on a number of occasions with location based information, such as current location required for directions, repeatedly failing to initialise and provide useful, accurate information.
With the Google Play Store ensuring all user's wants and needs are fulfilled, and the handset's 800MHz processor is a match for most apps, games and software add-ons although the desire to play games with such a poor visual is questionable.
Hands on gallery
Official gallery
Verdict
A handset that fails to ever get into its stride, the L3, although only an entry level machine, fails to inspire or encourage continued use with a number of niggling issues given no hope of large scale success thanks in large to the decision to opt for one of the worst screens on the smartphone scene.We Liked
Compact and lightweight, in truth the Optimus L3 provides everything the first time smartphone owner needs, it just fails to push the boundaries or tie these features together in a seamless fashion.With a strong, multi-day, battery life the handset's 1GB of internal storage stops over a number of its competitors and when packaged alongside a zippy 800MHz CPU makes a strong base level for a handset that could have been so much better.
We Disliked
Hardly a springboard into the ever widening smartphone sector, the L3 sheds a bad light over many similar priced and highly impressive handsets with the device's screen a feature that, without the numerous other issues, could single-handedly reduce the Optimus' potential to its knees.With a cramped QWERTY keyboard and a jilted user experience, there is little of L3 that encourages users to push the limited potential of the handset, instead acting as a curiosity killer that will see many adopters forgetting about the handset's 'smartphone' tag and using little more than the phone and text features.
Verdict
Although it is hard to overlook the loveable price tag, there are handsets out there will sub £100 stickers attached that overshadow the L3.A stubby, plastic device that is certainly not a grower, the Android 2.3 device is to be quickly overshadowed by a number of rivals with its lack of future proofing to see it become a distant memory in a few short months.
That is unless to plump for the device and find yourself stuck with it for the next 18 months.
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BBC to stream 24 live HD Olympics events simultaneously
The BBC has unveiled its digital plans for the London 2012 Olympics and it's certainly not doing things by halves, with web, mobile, tablet, desktop, connected TV and regular TV all getting a look in.
Auntie has developed a seriously impressive new website which will be live on the bbc.co.uk/sport website that will give you the option of live streaming one of 24 events in HD at the height of the Games.
You'll also be able to pause, rewind, catch up on previous bouts or races or whatever, switch between live events and check out nifty facts and figures among a multitude of other things.
No escape
The nifty new website is just the beginning though – if you don't happen to be in front of a desktop or laptop computer, there's a new mobile website that will also be streaming live HD video (over Wi-Fi and 3G) for your phone or tablet, and mobile apps for iOS and Android.Now that it's the future, the BBC has also built an HTML5 connected TV app that will be available on Sony smart TVs and the Sony PlayStation 3 which will provide the 24 live HD video streams as well.
No word on Xbox getting a similar app though – you'll have to rely on the catch up services provided by iPlayer.
And, of course, if you're old school then you can just turn on the television and check out BBC One which will be running Olympics coverage with breaks only for the news (when the Games action will switch to BBC Two) and BBC Three, as well as the alternative red button services and two specially-created Freeview channels.
That's not to mention the BBC One HD coverage which will include some events broadcast in 3D. A dedicated digital radio station, Radio 5 Live Olympics Extra, rounds off the options nicely.
What this amounts to is 2,500 hours of content being broadcast across the platforms - that's 1,000 more hours than we saw coming out of Beijing 2008.
And if you don't like the Olympics then there is a bit of stuff for you on BBC 2 but, to be honest, you're best off getting a movie streaming account or emigrating.
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Apple given opportunity to block Samsung tablets
Samsung may find itself in a spot of bother in the States, after Apple won an appeal in a patent infringement case.
Although the two companies are currently battling over 20 patent-related cases in 10 countries worldwide, the particular case in question relates to a patent involving the design of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.
Apple claims Samsung has infringed on its iPad design with the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and although a Californian district court dismissed the case, the US Court of Appeals has overturned the decision.
So what does this mean?
The new ruling means Apple is able to continue its bid for an immediate injunction against the sales of specific Samsung tablets.So a ban won't come into effect right away, and Samsung will no doubt fight its corner in light of the latest ruling, but this is a win for Apple in the complex patent battle.
The CEOs of Apple and Samsung have agreed to meet up in an attempt to resolve the issues between the two companies, and hopefully put a stop to the ridiculous number of lawsuits currently flying around. We just hope an agreement is made.
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Intel launches business-friendly vPro processors
Intel's latest 3rd generation vPro processor family - codenamed Ivy Bridge – will not only be more powerful, it will also create new levels of security for businesses, kill off the desk phone, as well as allow for slimmer and longer lasting devices.
Rick Echevarria, VP of Intel Architecture Group and general manager of the Business Client Platforms Division,revealed a range of business-friendly features in the new 3rd Generation Intel Core vPro processor family for business and intelligent systems, including;
- Active management technology (AMT)
- Identity Protection Technology (IPT) extended with public-key infrastructure(PKI)
- Reduced form factors
Enhanced security
One of the new key technologies for administrators - especially if they're a McAfee user - will be the new Active Management Technology (AMT).Intel have integrated McAfee's ePO Deep command into its Core vPro processors, to reduce security management costs, and to ensure protection even when PCs are disabled or are powered off. With AMT administrators can install security updates and put protection in place ahead of threats, even when systems are powered off or are using encryption.
The technology also includes Identity Protection Technology (IPT) extended with PKI capability, a hardware-based technology that increases security against threats of cyber-stalking and attacks on a users' identity. The technology adds security at a chip-level, which means hacking techniques such as screen scraping and keyboard recording can't get access to the secure data, as all the hacker will see is a blank or a black screen.
All-in-ones and the death of the desk top phone
The new technology will also enable new desktop and all-in-one innovations. Intel's Echevarria envisages new all-in-one devices for businesses, that will be "transform the workspace, not only saving space and reducing clutter, but by super-charging technology with touch-screen technology, secure high-definition video conferencing and energy efficient high-performance."Additionally Echevarria also envisages that the desk phone will disappear and be integrated into the desktop and all-in-one, "does it really makes sense to spend $500 on a desk phone when it can be integrated in an all-in-one? The answer is obvious."
New wafer-thin ultrabooks on the way.
The most obvious impact that most businesses users will see from the new vPro processors is the slimming down of laptops to wafer-thin tablet-challenging sizes. Intel announced that Fujitsu, Toshiba and Lenovo all have such systems ready to ship within two months.At the launch Lenovo demonstrated the Lenovo X1 Carbon ultrabook, which the firm described as the thinnest and lightest 14in ThinkPad system ever. The X1 weighs less than 1.36kg, is just 18mm thick and uses carbon fibre in its construction.
Later this year Intel vendors will bring to market ultrabooks with touchscreen capabilities, Echevarria revealed, including ultrabook convertible models.
"Ultrabooks based on Intel Core vPro processors are a great example of platforms that are good for business and engineered for security while delivering a no-comprise, user-centric experience," he said.
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Sony Xperia S Ice Cream Sandwich update arriving May/June
Sony has confirmed that the Xperia S will receive the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update in the coming weeks.
Sony has been slow off the mark to push the ICS update out to its users, after initially claiming the update would be available for the Xperia S in April.
Users have seen that April time-frame slip back, but it looks like Sony has finally sorted itself out, after it posted an update on one of its support forums.
Any other date is just speculation
The post reads: "Xperia S is planned to get ICS somewhere around late May/early June. That's what's been said and that's still what we're sticking to."Any other date (such as June/July) is just speculation.
"The roll out is, as always, gradual and will not happen over night for all phones. Some phones might get the update in late May while other[s] will get it in mid June etc."
This update seems to tie in nicely with the Ice Cream Sandwich roll out for other Xperia handsets including the Xperia Arc S, Xperia Neo V and Xperia Ray.
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Sony Xperia Lotus set to replace Xperia Active
The successor to the outdoorsy Xperia Active has been leaked as the Sony Xperia Lotus.
The Xperia Active didn't exactly set the world alight with its specifications, but still managed to notch 4 out of 5 in our in-depth review as it turned out to be a perfectly capable little phone for the money.
Now it looks like Sony is set to reboot the handset with the Xperia Lotus, or Xperia ST27i/ST27a if you prefer, after details were leaked on its website.
Boost in specs
According to the leak, the Xperia Lotus will sport a 1GHz dual-core processor, touchscreen display with a 480x854 resolution and will run Android 2.3 Gingerbread.It would be disappointing to see the Xperia Lotus ship with Gingerbread, as the likes of the HTC One V and Desire C come with Ice Cream Sandwich – however, Blog of Mobile reckons ICS will be included.
We hope the Xperia Lotus also has the water- and dust-proof qualities of its predecessor, but we will have to wait and see what comes of this rumour.
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In Depth: iTunes 11 release date, news and rumours
iTunes 11 rumours
When Apple released iTunes in 2001, digital music was in its infancy. Over a decade ago, it was a novelty to rip a CD to your computer and make mixes, and the CD format was popular enough that a major part of Apple's advertising centred around burning mixes back to recordable CDs.The arrival of the iPod changed everything, and then the iTunes Store further wrenched Apple's software from its roots. Today, iTunes isn't a mere jukebox, but also a manager for films, TV shows, podcasts, ebooks, and apps, along with providing an interface to fine-tune the content on iOS devices.
As media industries move to the cloud and streaming, iTunes continues to evolve; and a combination of reports and guesswork hints at the iTunes 11 features that are likely to appear.
iTunes 11 and iCloud
According to 9to5 Mac, work on iTunes 11 began prior to iTunes 10.6, and support for iCloud will be a big component of the new software. Ars Technica concurs, and said iTunes 11 could include a centralised preferences panel for controlling iCloud features, such as iTunes in the Cloud, iTunes Match, iPhone and iPad back-ups to iCloud, and more. iDownloadBlog also stated iCloud integration would be stronger in iTunes 11, going so far as to say iCloud data for apps and games would be synced to your local iTunes Library.iTunes 11 interface
Last summer, iDownloadBlog said iTunes 11 would be "revamped from the ground up", resulting in a much cleaner and slicker iTunes interface. iTunes's relative bloat and complexity is something plenty of people are unhappy about: Microsoft Fix It said the interface is plain awful and compared it unfavourably to Microsoft's Zune software; elsewhere, Jason Snell for Macworld argued that Apple should turn iTunes into a suite of separate, simpler apps. However, according to the reports from 9to5 Mac and Ars Technica, the majority of iTunes 11 features will result only in under-the-hood changes, not cosmetic ones.A new audio format for iTunes 11
A big change for iTunes 11 could be an entirely new audio format. Tom Davenport and Charles Arthur for The Guardian wrote that Apple is working on 'adaptive streaming', which in iTunes 11 and through iTunes Match would create a system that adjusted itself to available bandwidth and storage. "All of a sudden, all your audio from iTunes is in HD rather than AAC. Users wouldn't have to touch a thing—their library will improve in an instant," said the Guardian's sourceiTunes 11 music streaming
A change in audio format, and one dedicated to streaming, will reignite seemingly dead rumours about Apple working on a streaming audio service (as opposed to iTunes Match), in order to battle the likes of Spotify. Having streaming audio in iTunes 11 might seem counter-intuitive, given the iTunes Store's download-based model. However, while 7Digital claimed iTunes has peaked and streaming is the future, Spotify chief Daniel Ek said streaming services actually boost sales.A new iTunes 11 store
An integrated streaming service would only make sense if every aspect of the iTunes Store was more integrated into the general iTunes experience, and iDownloadBlog's report from last year did make such a claim: "Rather than the iTunes Store being essentially a web browser, the iTunes Store will actually be integrated into the entire app—much like Spotify is currently." This chimes somewhat with 9to5 Mac's own report about an iTunes 11 store revamp, which is said to be "even simpler and more user-friendly than the current design". The report added that most changes will centre on a more engaging and interactive experience, but Ars Technica has said Apple's acquisition of Chomp will also play a role, improving search and therefore making content more discoverable in iTunes 11.iTunes 11 and the Apple TV
One of the more out-there iTunes 11 rumours concerns the Apple iTV. Cult of Mac reported that the iTV will have an "iTunes-integrated touch-screen remote and Siri-like voice command tech". Even if that doesn't come to pass, there are possibilities of other iTunes 11 features regarding TV content. As Ars Technica showed Apple's new 1080p format compares favourably with Blu-ray, and Tech of the Hub reported that some digital copies of movies loaded into iTunes are automatically made available via iCloud. This could point to iTunes 11 ushering in iTunes Match for movies and television.iTunes 11 and OS X Mountain Lion
A final thought regarding iTunes 11 features involves OS X Mountain Lion. Apple has revealed some information about the new version of OS X, including Notification Center and Share Sheets in Safari and Photo Booth. Although iTunes hasn't yet figured in details about OS X Mountain Lion, it's possible iTunes 11 will be able to send notification banners to Notification Center and also enable you to share your current musical tastes on Twitter via Share Sheets.iTunes 11 release date
Major and point updates to iTunes arrive on an erratic basis, but there's a possibility iTunes 11 will appear alongside the iPhone 5 (or the new iPhone as Apple will probably call it). However, 9to5 Mac reckons we will most likely instead get a further 10.6 update purely for iOS 6 compatibility, followed by iTunes 11 a little later. Ars Technica thinks iTunes 11 will coincide with new iPhone hardware, meaning a release date between late June and early October.
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Updated: HTC Desire C officially confirmed for June launch
The HTC Desire C has been talked about in louder-than-whispered tones for the last few weeks, and has finally been made official.
The new phone will be available in both black AND white (the future of colour is no colour, right?) and also has a 'durable metal frame with precision engineering'.
T-Mobile has already waded in and stated it will be stocking the Desire C, and it will be coming at a very reasonable £15.50 per month (or £170 if you're more PAYG-minded).
As big as an iPhone
The phone is packing a 3.5-inch HVGA display, 600MHz processor, 5MP camera and 4GB of internal storage (with no word on a microSD card slot).It's also going to be coming rocking Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and Beats Audio branding – so that paltry processor aside, it's looking like a fairly decent handset for the money.
Update: We've now got a video of the thing, and confirmation of the above specs - see the new budget handset in action:
The HTC Desire C release date has been set for June, so it's not long to wait now – especially if you've not got many pennies to rub together but just HAVE to have a better phone for the summer.
The handset will also be available from every other provider too - we're waiting for more pricing information from other sources, but expect it to be fairly similar to T-Mobile's.
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Is Samsung working on next Google Nexus device?
It looks like Samsung and Google are partnering up again to bring us another Nexus device.
Android Community has done some digging around in Google's repositories and dug up info which points towards a new device being manufactured by Samsung.
The key feature which has been uncovered thus far is a new processor, known as the Exynos 5250 dual-core Cortex-A15, which uses Mali T-604 graphics.
Usain Bolt better watch out
Now this chip information may be mumbo-jumbo to some of you, but what it means is the processor is clocked at 544MHz, compared to the 266MHz we get from the Exynos 4210 found in the Galaxy S2.With over double the clocked speed of its predecessor the new chip is set to be lightening fast, so whatever device Google and Samsung are concocting it's probably going to be a blockbuster.
Other details which have been uncovered include a Super AMOLED display (1280 x 800 resolution) and 5MP camera, which point towards the device being the much rumoured Google Nexus tablet, although there are reports Asus has been chosen to produce this.
We're going to have to wait and see what Google and Samsung have up their sleeves, but a Google tablet is expected to launch before the end of the year.
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HTC Desire C confirmed by T-Mobile UK
The HTC Desire C has been talked about in louder-than-whispered tones for the last few weeks, and has finally been made official.
The news doesn't come from HTC directly though, as T-Mobile has jumped the gun and sent out a media alert to state it will be getting the new phone on its books.
The handset has no specs attached as yet, but will be coming at a very reasonable £15.50 per month (or £170 if you're more PAYG-minded).
As big as an iPhone
From what we've heard so far, the phone will be packing a 3.5-inch display, 600MHz processor, 5MP camera and 4GB of internal storage (with no word on a microSD card slot).It's also going to be coming rocking Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and Beats Audio branding – so that paltry processor aside, it's looking like a fairly decent handset for the money.
Update: We've now got a video of the thing, and confirmation of the above specs - see the new budget handset in action:
The HTC Desire C release date has been set for June, so it's not long to wait now – especially if you've not got many pennies to rub together but just HAVE to have a better phone for the summer.
We're waiting for more information from HTC, so we'll give you a full run down when we get it.
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Fujifilm announces X100 wide angle converter
Fujifilm has announced a new wide conversion lens for its X100 premium compact camera.
The converter attaches directly to the camera and increases the field of view from a 23mm (35mm in 35mm equivalent terms) to a 19mm (28mm in 35mm terms) optic.
It has been specially designed to preserve the X100 lens' optical quality, with Fujifilm promising that it is capable of delivering comparable image quality even at f/2, the widest aperture setting available.
Manufactured in Japan, the WCL-X100 comprises of four premium glass elements in three groups, designed to keep aberration to a minimum and also including Fujinon's unique Super EBC coating.
Upgrade
To use the lens converter, owners of X100 cameras need to update the Firmware to version 1.3.0 or later, which allows the option to be selected by the Fn or RAW button. The X100 includes options to apply image processing to shots taken with the converter to reduce image distortion, ensure balanced illumination and reduce chromatic aberration.When using the WCL-X100, full functionality of the X100 remains, including the autofocusing speed and 10cm macro distance. Also compatible with the hybrid optical and electronic viewfinder, the converter is manufactured from the same materials, textures and colours as the X100.
The converter will be available in black and silver, while a WCL-X100 price is looking likely to be around £249 (around $400) with an August on-sale date.
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LG Optimus 4X HD release date pegged for June
LG has confirmed that its first quad-core mobile phone will arrive in key European markets, including the UK, in June.
We first saw the LG Optimus 4X HD at MWC 2012, where it boasted some impressive speed (claiming to be twice as fast as the Galaxy Nexus) and 3D rendering capabilities.
The Optimus 4X HD will be LG's first Ice Cream Sandwich phone to hit stores, a little behind the pace, with the likes of the HTC One X already available, and the Samsung Galaxy S3 going on sale on May 30.
Tricked out
There's no word on pricing yet, but expect the Optimus 4X HD to carry a hefty price tag as it's packs the latest tech including; Nividia's 1.5GHz quad-core Tegra 3 processor, 4.7-inch True HD IPS display, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and an 8MP camera with full HD video recording.Not to be outdone by the Galaxy S3's 2,100mAh juice pack, the Optimus 4X HD sports a 2,150mAh battery which features LG's new SiO+ battery technology - apparently giving you more life.
LG has stuffed the Optimus 4X HD with some fancy tricks including a 3D converter, allowing you to digest content in the third dimension when it's plugged into a 3D-capable TV and Media Plex TM, which LG claims "is a collection of software features that take image and video playback on the smartphone to a level that until now was only possible on a PC or laptop."
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Front-lit Kindle to land in July but Kindle Colour unlikely
Night owls will be pleased to hear that Amazon's next Kindle is said to be front-lit so you can do away with those pesky reading lights.
Reuter's source, who claims to have seen a prototype of the front-lit ereader, says the new Kindle will arrive in July in both Wi-Fi only and 3G versions.
July, of course, being one of the months in which the nights are shortest - how's that for timing?
Half light
What the new front-lit Kindle won't have, though, is colour – the source was quite clear on it running a monochrome E-Ink display.Rumours broke last week (by way of the ever-patchy Digitimes) that a Kindle Colour may be hitting the shelves in the second half of 2012.
But Reuters now reports that there is "very little chance" of Amazon launching a Kindle Colour this year, although the company has apparently had talks about such a thing with E Ink so it may yet be in the works.
As for the ever-elusive Kindle Fire 2, the front-light source said it will launch in time for the Christmas shopping season this year, with an 8.9-inch screen in tow.
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Review: CyberPower Infinity Achilles
The CyberPower Infinity Achilles is the most affordable of the Ivy Bridge PCs we've seen so far, but at just under a grand you'd struggle to actually call it cheap. Though there are most definitely compromises in this sub-£1,000 build.
CyberPower does still hold a special place in my heart, mainly because the first full PC I bought with my own money came from there. I'd been impressed by the 72-hour burn-in that every one of its PCs undergoes before sale. That sort of stress-testing took away the worry about buying a full rig when I'd spent my life building them myself.
That £500 machine I bought was rocking the excellent Athlon64 3200+ CPU and a low-end 6600 GT. How times have changed; AMD is no longer the de facto gamer's CPU of choice, and Nvidia doesn't even have a mid-range card in this GPU generation, let alone a low-end part.
With the prices of high-end components creeping ever upwards, so is the cost of the mid-range. This machine isn't quite mid-range, and definitely isn't high-end, but if you're plugged into a 1,920 x 1,080 monitor then you'll end up with an excellent games machine and wonder why people insist on spending more.
Compromise
As one of our Ivy Bridge launch rigs, it makes sense to talk about the CPU first. CyberPower has opted for the Core i5 3570K. It's strapped an EZ Cool water block to the chip and ramped the clocks up to 4.5GHz. We're pretty sure that the combo, together with the Asus Z77 motherboard, will allow for slightly higher frequencies, but it's stable and definitely fast enough.That motherboard, though, is evidence of the first of the Infinity Achilles' compromises. It's one of Asus's budget Z77 offerings, and so has a low-end 4+1+1 power phase setup, which is probably the reason for the more conservative 4.5GHz overclock. It also has limited multi-GPU support, avoiding SLI completely. But it's a thoroughly capable board in every other respect.
A quick look in the DIMM slots and you'll see the no-frills RAM. It's 8GB of 1,333MHz rated Kingston DDR3, but as our RAM test has shown, you can't tell a lot by the outside. There's also a very basic Cooler Master 500w PSU, looking rather industrial. But it's functional, and capably powers the AMD HD 7870 GPU doing the graphical donkey work.
That GPU is a great compromise as it offers fantastic frame rates at 1080p resolutions and makes a good stab at the higher end too. It seems strange talking about a £1,000 machine making compromises, but when the top end is so much higher up the price spectrum, we've little choice.
We'd maybe have hoped for a little more wiggle room under the grand mark, but CyberPower has only really charged a £100 premium on the build, overclocking and testing of the rig over the price you'd pay for the parts.
If you've only got a grand to play with, CyberPower has made a smartly-specced machine, with enough potential for upgrading that you'll have a great platform to build from.
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