Panasonic introduces slew of new cameras
Panasonic has refreshed its G series line-up, replaced its premium compact and top-of-the-line bridge camera and revealed a new set of compacts.
First up, the G5 slots into the range alongside the G3, and is intended as a "step-up" camera for the line-up.
It features a newly designed 16 million pixel Four Thirds sensor and the latest Venus processing engine, which Panasonic claims means that it is capable of delivering the cleanest images of any G series camera.
Other changes include a new grip, an additional "Function Lever" at the top of the camera and the ability of use the LCD screen as a "touch pad" for controlling AF points when the EVF is being used.
Also announced today is a new 45-150mm lens, which is almost exactly the same size as the standard 14-42mm Panasonic kit lens. Designed as an ultra portable carry around travel lens, it will be available on its own and with the G5 as part of a twin lens kit.
Premium compact
After two years, Panasonic has also introduced a new premium compact to sit in its LX line.Although many expected the LX7 to feature a larger 1-inch sensor, as seen recently on the Sony RX100, Panasonic has stuck with the same sensor size as its predecessor, the LX5.
One advantage of this, Panasonic points out, is that the camera is able to maintain a maximum aperture of f/2.3 at the telephoto end of the lens. At the widest end of the lens, an aperture of f/1.4 is available, making it the joint brightest compact camera on the camera, alongside the recently announced EX2.
Bridge camera
The third big announcement comes in the shape of the FZ200, a bridge camera.It features a 24x optical zoom Leica lens which is able to maintain an f/2.8 aperture throughout the zoom length. In 35mm equivalent terms, the zoom ranges from 25mm at the widest point, to 600mm at the telephoto end.
Other specs include a 12 million pixel MOS sensor, a Venus engine, a maximum sensitivity of ISO 6400, full HD video recording and 12fps shooting.
Panasonic has also introduced three new compact cameras, the SZ5, LZ20 and FZ62.
The Panasonic G5 price will be around £599 body only, £699 with the standard 14-42mm kit lens, or £829 with the 14-42mm "X" power zoom lens. The G5 is expected to be available from mid-August. Meanwhile, the 45-150mm lens price will be £279 and is expected to be available from September.
The Panasonic LX7 price will be around £449, and it will available from September.
The Panasonic FX200 price will be £499 and will be available from the end of August or early September.
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Review: Panasonic G5
Introduction
As the first company to introduce a compact system camera, Panasonic has led the way in terms of innovation in this sector of the market.The latest Micro Four Thirds camera introduced into the fold is the Panasonic G5, which it believes to be one of its best cameras to date.
Of course, a lot has changed since 2008, and now only Canon has so far declined to join the market. Panasonic shares the Micro Four Thirds format with Olympus, and, as it has been established the longest, it currently has the largest lens range (if you exclude the Nikon J1/V1 which can be used with F-mount lenses via an adapter).
The Panasonic G5 is an addition to its G line-up of compact system cameras (CSCs), rather than a straight replacement for the G3 (read our Panasonic G3 review). The company says it has identified a gap in the market for the G5, which includes a number of improvements over the one-year old G3.
Features
Featuring a newly designed 16 million pixel digital sensor and the latest Venus Engine VII processor, Panasonic promises that this combination in the G5 delivers images which are cleaner and freer of noise than seen before on a G series camera.As the G5 is considered a 'step-up' camera, it features a number of new and exciting extras in the package. This includes Eye Sensor AF which can automatically detect when the camera is lifted to the eye to begin autofocusing.
Also new for the G5 is the option to use the LCD screen as a TouchPad to control autofocus points when using the EVF.
Some ergonomic changes have also been made, with a new larger grip and the introduction of a Function Lever on top of the camera. A silent shutter mode has also been included, to help with discreet shooting.
Other features include full HD video recording, six fps shooting at full resolution, sensitivity reaching ISO 12,800 and Intelligent Auto mode.
Build quality and handling
The overall shape and size of the G5 is very similar to the G3, but Panasonic has made a particularly noticeable change to the size of the grip. It is now deeper and easier to hold, being more akin to a DSLR-style grip.Like the G3, the G5 features an articulating rear LCD screen. It feels reasonably sturdy, and of course it's extremely useful for shooting in odd positions, such as from above (for concerts and so on) or from the ground - for macros etc.
It's also a touchscreen, and for the first time, Panasonic has incorporated what it calls a "touchpad" option, which allows the screen to be used to set the autofocus point even when using the electronic viewfinder (and the screen is off).
Although there will be some concerns about your nose touching the screen and altering the autofocus point, in reality the feature is extremely handy and you soon come to rely on it - and even wonder why it hasn't been done before. Using it in portrait orientation is a little more tricky, as your nose does indeed press the screen, but you can always flip the screen out of the way if it's causing too much of a problem.
Another new feature on the camera is the Function Lever on top of the camera. When pairing the camera with a Power Zoom lens, this can be used to zoom in and out, which should be particularly useful when shooting video. When another type of lens is attached, this can be used to set exposure compensation - which is handy for quick access.
On the back of the camera is a dial, which can either be used for altering the shutter speed or aperture (depending on the mode being used), or when pushed in can also be used for exposure compensation.
Making a return to the G5 is an eye sensor which can detect when the camera is lifted up to the eye and switches between the EVF and rear LCD screen. On the G3 you need to press a button to switch between the two, which can be a little frustrating. One criticism of the eye sensor though, is that it is a little too sensitive, activating even when relatively far away from it.
Anyone familiar with any of Panasonic's other cameras will be familiar with the menu system, which on the whole has been well organised.
The Quick Menu is available via a button on the back of the screen which can then be operated either via the touchscreen or using the directional arrow keys. However you choose to use it, having these options quickly available is very handy.
Performance
Images from the G5 are very good straight from the camera with lots of detail and bright, clear colours.In low light conditions, images taken at high sensitivity display good control over noise, although not quite on a par with those from cameras with larger sensors.
On occasion, in mixed or artificial lighting, the auto white balance tends to produce warmer colours, but changing the white balance setting is easy from the quick menu.
Panasonic is very proud of the autofocus mechanism on its cameras, claiming it to be the fastest, and most accurate, in the world. For the G5, the company has introduced Eye Sensor AF, which means the camera will automatically focus as soon as the camera is lifted to the eye.
This is very handy for grabbing quick shots, and means you're ready to grab the action as it happens. It works very well, but it's perhaps most useful when using multi-point AF, rather than a singular point which may not be in the location you need.
Panasonic has introduced extra filters to the G5, bringing it in line with the recently announced GF5. These include Cross Process, Toy Camera and Dramatic Monotone.
As you might expect, some work better than others, with a lot of it of course being down to personal preference. Images can be shot in both raw format and JPEG, and you can remove the filter in post-production from the raw files should you choose.
It's a shame, however, that control over aperture and/or shutter speed can't be retained when shooting in Creative mode.
The screen works well in all but perhaps the brightest of sunlight. The same can be said about the EVF, which provides a clear and bright view, and only occasionally needs to be shielded from direct light.
One of the most useful advantages of EVFs over traditional optical devices is that a captured image pops up in the viewfinder. This helps to quickly determine whether the shot has been successful. However, if you're shooting something which requires precise focusing, you may find you need to double check on the rear LCD screen as occasionally images can appear sharper in the EVF than they actually are.
Image quality and resolution
As part of our image quality testing for the Panasonic G5 we've shot our resolution chart.If you view our crops of the resolution chart's central section at 100% (or Actual Pixels) you will see that, for example, at ISO 100 the Panasonic G5 is capable of resolving up to around 24 (line widths per picture height x100) in its highest quality JPEG files.
For a full explanation of what our resolution charts mean, and how to read them, check out our full explanation of our camera testing resolution charts.
Examining images of the chart taken at each sensitivity setting reveals the following resolution scores in line widths per picture height x100:
JPEGs
ISO 160, score: 24 (Click here to see full resolution image)
ISO 200, score: 24 (Click here to see full resolution image)
ISO 400, score: 24 (Click here to see full resolution image)
ISO 800, score: 22 (Click here to see full resolution image)
ISO 1600, score: 22 (Click here to see full resolution image)
ISO 3200, score: 20 (Click here to see full resolution image)
ISO 6400, score: 20 (Click here to see full resolution image)
ISO 12,800, score: 20 (Click here to see full resolution image)
Raw files
ISO 160, score: 24 (Click here to see full resolution image)
ISO 200, score: 24 (Click here to see full resolution image)
ISO 400, score: 24 (Click here to see full resolution image)
ISO 800, score: 22 (Click here to see full resolution image)
ISO 1600, score: 22 (Click here to see full resolution image)
ISO 3200, score: 20 (Click here to see full resolution image)
ISO 6400, score: 20 (Click here to see full resolution image)
ISO 12,800, score: 20 (Click here to see full resolution image)
Noise and dynamic range
We shoot a specially designed chart in carefully controlled conditions and the resulting images are analysed using DXO Analyzer software to generate the data to produce the graphs below.A high signal to noise ratio (SNR) indicates a cleaner and better quality image.
For more more details on how to interpret our test data, check out our full explanation of our noise and dynamic range tests.
JPEG Signal to noise ratio
The JPEG files from the G5 have a fairly similar, but slightly lower signal to noise ratio to those from the Panasonic G3, Sony NEX-5N and Olympus E-P3. This indicates that the images are very similar, but maybe slightly noisier.
Raw signal to noise ratio
After conversion to TIFF the G5's raw files have a good signal to noise ratio at the lowest sensitivity settings. However, the figure falls quite steeply from around ISO 400 and by ISO 800 the raw files from both the Sony NEX-5N and Olympus E-P3 have a better signal to noise ratio, indicating that the images from these two cameras are cleaner.
JPEG Dynamic range
While the JPEGs from the G5 have a greater dynamic range than the Panasonic G3 at ISO 160-400, above this the older camera performs better. Both the Sony NEX-5N and Olympus E-P3 have a better dynamic range score from ISO 100-1600, but above this value the E-P3 is a very close match for the G5.
Raw dynamic range
Although the raw files (after conversion to TIFF) from the G5 can't match those of the Sony NEX-5N, they have a very respectable dynamic range – especially at the lower sensitivity settings. From around ISO 800 upwards they are a close match for the Panasonic G3's raw files and have about 0.5Ev more dynamic range than the Olympus E-P3's files.
Sample images
Click here to see the full resolution image
Lots of detail can be captured by the G5's 16 million pixel Four Thirds sensor. This image has been shot with a Panasonic 45mm macro lens, with the camera in "Expressive" mode to boost the colours.
Click here to see the full resolution image.
In standard colour mode, the G5 produces images which are bright and punchy, without being overly vibrant.
Click here to see the full resolution image
In artificial lighting conditions the G5 has a tendency to err on the side of warm when using the Auto White Balance function.
Click here to see the full resolution image
This image was shot with a 25mm Panasonic lens, and shows the kinds of creative effects that can be had with a wide aperture. It has also been shot with a Cross Process effect.
Click here to see the full resolution image
Click here to see the full resolution image
These two images show the difference between the camera in "normal" mode and when using the "Impressive Art" Creative Effect.
Click here to see the full resolution image
A large number of lenses are available for Micro Four Thirds cameras. This was shot on a 7-14mm ultra wide angle lens.
Click here to see the full resolution image
The Toy Camera effect (also used in the previous picture) creates a vignette around the edge of the image to replicate a pinhole type effect.
Click here to see the full resolution image
Panasonic shares the Micro Four Thirds format with Olympus, meaning that lenses can be swapped between the two. This image was taken with an Olympus 45mm f/1.8 portrait lens.
Verdict
Panasonic is keen to push the G5 under a new category name, DSLM, or Digital Single Lens Mirrorless.It has a slightly larger size (when compared with something like the GF5 for instance), so this would seem to fit a move away from "compact" system cameras, whether it will catch on as a name is another question though.
Overall we have been extremely impressed with the output from the G5 and we can see it being very appealing to lots of people, especially with innovative new features such as the TouchPad AF operation.
It also has a good number of automatic controls, digital filters and scene guides to appeal to novices or those looking simply to point and shoot.
We liked
The newly designed grip makes holding and using the G5 a more pleasant experience than its predecessor, while also giving it a feeling of improved build quality.We disliked
It's a shame that art filters can't be deployed in manual/semi-automatic modes, as you can on Olympus cameras, as this would be really beneficial to those wanting to be extra creative.Verdict
Panasonic has once again delivered a very interesting proposition in the shape of the G5. Purchasing the camera as a twin lens kit, with the new ultra-portable 45-150mm lens would arguably make this the ultimate holiday combination.
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Hands-on review: Panasonic LX7
Features
It's been over two years since Panasonic upgraded its premium LX line-up, which in Panasonic terms is a pretty long time indeed.The LX3 (read our Panasonic LX3 review) was a smash hit across the world, proving to be very popular with DSLR users looking for a good backup camera to take everywhere. However, the LX5 with its only modest upgrades has seemingly made less of an impact.
It's fair to say that some pretty interesting innovations have arrived in the advanced compact market since 2010 when the LX5 made its debut.
Fujifilm introduced the X100 (APS-C format) and the X10 (2/3-inch format) super premium compacts, while Canon launched the extremely large G1 X which has a sensor that is close to APS-C size in the intervening period. These cameras are pretty hefty though, taking them slightly away from compact territory.
Instead, the direct competition for the LX7 lies in the shape of the Canon S100, which includes a host of interesting features and the more recently announced Sony RX100, which features a one inch sensor.
Many will be surprised by Panasonic's decision to stick with the small 1/ 2.3 inch sensor, which is the same physical size as that found in the LX5. It is however a newly designed sensor, which Panasonic says is capable of delivering better performance at high sensitivities and in low light.
One of the important points to remember about the LX7 is that it is able to maintain a fast aperture throughout its zoom range, rising to just f/2.3 at the telephoto end, compared with the RX100, which can only achieve f/4.9 at its maximum reach. Panasonic is keen to point out that this means that the LX7 can operate at several stops lower than the RX100, allowing for lower sensitivities.
Panasonic also believes that in good lighting conditions, and similar shutter speeds the differences in image quality between the two cameras are very small, giving the Panasonic the edge in terms of overall balance.
It's also worth pointing out that at £550, the RX100 costs more than some compact system cameras currently on the market, whereas the LX7, at £449 is a more affordable proposition.
Build Quality and handling
You'd be hard pushed to play spot the difference between the LX5 and the LX7 at first glance, as the LX7 keeps more or less the same chassis as its predecessor.One interesting addition that has been included is an aperture ring around the lens, which is very similar in design to the Canon S100 and Sony RX100.
This ring gives a satisfying click as the dial is turned, and it's surely a feature that will appeal to more traditional photographers. The ring is joined, as on the LX5, by a switch on the lens to alter the aspect ratio, and another to change the focusing mode (between autofocus, macro focusing and manual focusing).
Metal buttons can be found on the LX7, which helps to lend it an air of quality. There are a limited number of buttons on the back of the camera, but the space has been used well with a number of direct controls for oft used settings.
Any key features that aren't immediately accessible can be found in the Quick Menu, found by tapping the Q button on the back of the camera. Unlike the Sony RX100 it doesn't appear that the LX7 is capable of extensive customisation.
The scroll dial on the top right of the back of the camera can be used to change the aperture or shutter speed, depending on what mode you're shooting in. Like on G series cameras, this dial can be pushed in to switch between aperture/shutter speed and exposure compensation. This is a handy feature which saves a lot of fiddly button pressing.
Anyone familiar with existing Panasonic cameras will feel at home with the menu system on the LX7, which is pretty similar to its predecessor and also has a lot in common with G series cameras. One bugbear with the menu system is rather than pressing the centre "OK" button, a push of the directional right button is needed to access certain functions. Pressing the OK button exits the menu altogether, which can be a little frustrating.
Autofocus points can be quickly selected by pressing the left button on the keypad and then scrolling around with the arrow keys until the desired point is selected.
Considering Panasonic is one of the companies at the forefront of touchscreen technology, it's a huge shame that this process couldn't be sped up with a touchscreen device on the LX7.
Performance
Although we have so far only had a chance to test a pre-production sample of the LX7, we have been very impressed by the images it has been able to produce.Many will be disappointed by Panasonic's decision to stick with the same size sensor as in the LX5, instead of opting for a larger device such as found in the Sony RX100.
However, Panasonic is keen to point out that what they lack in sensor size, they gain in wide aperture. That is to say, that at the telephoto end of the lens focal length, the LX7 can still maintain f/2.3, compared with the RX100's 4.9.
We will need to test this further to analyse the results, but we have been very pleased by the images from the LX7, regardless of the sensor size. Even in low light conditions, the camera is capable of producing high quality images with a good amount of noise control.
Also, despite the smaller sensor, restricted depth of field is still possible, while the f/1.4 lens is the joint brightest on the market (tied only with the recently announced Samsung EX2).
Generally, colours are represented very well, being bright and vibrant without being over the top. Auto white balance also does a good job in various conditions, but it can be quickly altered from the Quick Menu if it's not quite accurate.
The LCD screen performs very well in bright sunlight, allowing you to see the image on screen, as there's no viewfinder included as standard. There is a hotshoe on top of the camera and a port to connect an EVF if you feel the need
Sample Images
As we were shooting with a production sample of the LX7, images are capped at 5MB.
Colours look natural from the LX7, they are bright and punchy without being overly vibrant.
Click here to see the full resolution image
Lots of detail can be captured with the LX7's 10 million pixel sensor, while a macro mode is included for capturing close-up images.
Click here to see the full resolution image
As on Panasonic's G series of compact system cameras, the LX7 has a number of creative filters which can be deployed, including this cross processed effect.
Click here to see the full resolution image
The LX7 has a wide angle lens, which allows you to get lots in the scene.
Click here to see the full resolution image
The LX7 copes well in low light conditions, thanks to the f/1.4 lens. Auto white balance has also done an excellent job of keeping colours accurate and natural looking too.
Click here to see the full resolution image
The LX7 has a maximum aperture of f/2.3 at the telephoto end of the lens, which was used here. It is this which Panasonic says sets it apart from competitors including the RX100.
Click here to see the full resolution image
Verdict
The premium compact market is one of the most exciting areas of technology at the moment. As manufacturers start to move away from entry-level models, more and more interesting developments are being made in the premium sector.
Panasonic has a good legacy with the LX series, with the LX3 proving to be incredibly popular. The LX5 never quite lived up to its predecessor, so the company will surely be hoping for greater success with the LX7.
Initial impressions of the camera are extremely good, and it seems that it is more than a match for the recently announced Sony RX100, though we would need to do further testing to be fully convinced.
Stay tuned for a full, in-depth review as soon as full production review units become available.
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Finally! A smartphone your grandparents can use
Fujitsu is hard at work to bring smartphones to the lucrative, untapped elderly demographic.
Given the catchy name F-12D, the handset is part of the Japanese company's Raku-Raku line of devices. "Raku-Raku" translates as "ease to use," with the whole product line designed to simplify high tech for elderly customers.
The F-12D runs on an unknown version of Android, and Fujitsu is working closely with Google to design a new interface to keep the touch screen and icons from becoming overwhelming to users.
Making touch accessible again
Part of the user interface that Fujitsu fixed is the handset's ability to ignore "false touches" on the screen. For example, simply tapping on an icon or link will only highlight it, with a second touch required to actually launch the app.The second touch is facilitated by a clickable screen, providing some physical feedback and ensuring that light, accidental touches don't confuse both the phone and its user.
RIM's Blackberry Storm line took a similar approach, but clickable touch screens never quite caught on with mass market appeal.
The smartphone is currently only scheduled to release in Japan, arriving in stores this August. Fujitsu also says that it is eager to bring the F-12D to foreign markets though, so it may not be too long before quite literally everyone and their grandparent will have a smartphone.
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Skype outing fix for weird conversation forwarding bug
Skype has said it will issue a fix for a strange issue, which forwards portions of IM chats on to other users in your contacts list, after the software has crashed.
The issue, first noticed by users across platforms this weekend, means messages you've sent to one contact could quite easily appear in IM boxes of your other friends or work colleagues.
As you can imagine, the consequences of this could be disastrous, especially if you've been using Skype to moan about those said friends or colleagues.
In a blog post, Skype said a fix is on the way this week, and that it believes the number of affected users is very small.
Very specific circumstances
The post reads: "The hotfix addresses an issue that occurs only when a user's Skype client crashes during a Skype IM session, which may in some cases result in the last IM entered or sent prior to the crash being delivered to a different IM contact after the Skype client is rebooted or logged in as a new user."Although we cannot determine precisely how many users may have been affected by this error, we believe the number is small given the very specific circumstances under which the error occurs."
The versions of the client experiencing the difficulties are, Skype 5.10 for Windows, Skype 5.8 for Mac, Skype 4.0 for Linux, Skype 1.2 for Windows Phone.
Skype is advising users to download the updated versions of the client when they become available. The Windows and Linux versions are already up for grabs here.
In the meantime, if you're using one of those versions of Skype, just be careful what you post.
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Barnes & Noble's new Nook for web doesn't work on iPhone, iPad
Barnes & Noble introduced Nook for Web, a browser-based ebook platform meant to compete directly with Kindle's Cloud Reader, Apple's iBooks, and Kobo's Instant Reader.
The Nook for Web app allows users to access the Nook digital bookstore and their personal libraries of ebooks from any web browser - at least, that's the idea.
But Nook for Web doesn't work on Apple's iPhone or iPad, two devices that could sorely use it.
More headaches for iOS users
Users of Barnes & Noble's Nook and Amazon's Kindle services have been frustrated by Apple policies in the past.Apple dictates that ereader apps can't link to a digital bookstore other than Apple's, so users are unable to purchase books from within the Nook and Kindle apps.
But last year Amazon launched the Kindle Cloud Reader web app in part to bypass that policy, allowing Kindle customers to access the digital storefront from an iPhone or iPad's Safari web browser.
Nook for Web seems meant to accomplish the same workaround, but there's a glaring problem: it doesn't work in the iPhone and iPad's browsers.
Attempting to access Nook for Web from an Apple devices produces a message prompting users to access the store from a desktop version of Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari, or Firefox.
But Barnes & Noble's own information hub for Nook for Web claims that it works "in any browser."
A Barnes & Noble spokesperson responded to TechRadar's inquiries to note that "support for Internet-enabled tablets, smartphones and other mobile devices is coming this fall," and that "this will include Apple devices."
Regardless, signing up for Nook for Web now gives you the option to download a predetermined set of six books for free before July 26, and the service does seem to work in most browsers.
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Review: Samsung Exhibit II 4G (T-Mobile)
Overview, design and feel
As 4G coverage continues to spread across the United States, the smartphones built for these fast data networks are growing increasingly affordable. The Samsung Exhibit II 4G from T-Mobile is one of the most competitively priced handsets we've seen yet.While this smartphone on a budget skimps on some of the more luxurious features, it's hard to argue with its price, and the inclusion of a prepaid option available at Walmart.
You won't be hopping on a 4G network for much cheaper than this, but is a low price point the best thing this Android handset has going for it?
Hardware-wise, the Samsung Exhibit II 4G (T-Mobile) is identical to its predecessor, the Samsung Exhibit 4G. Both phones run Android 2.3: Gingerbread with a 1Ghz Snapdragon processor and 512MB of RAM. The differences are mostly external; the Exhibit II has a completely plastic exterior, while the original Exhibit had a rubberized casing.
It's a compact phone, with a 3.7-inch screen and a light body that fits easily in the hand. The WVGA touchscreen is bright, responsive, and at a resolution of 480 x 800, it has a respectable pixel density for its small screen size.
The Exhibit II's screen is 3.7 inches, a mere .2 inches larger than its predecessor's. Indoors, it was colorful and easy to read, but outdoors, it had real problems. Even in moderate sunlight, it would get washed out. Bumping up the display brightness helped, but even at maximum brightness, the screen was difficult to read while outside. Also, maxing out the brightness did no favors for the battery life - we'll get into that later.
The phone features a front-facing VGA camera for video chatting, a generous feature for a budget smartphone.
At a mere 4 ounces, the Samsung Exhibit II 4G (T-Mobile) is light. It fits easily in a pocket or purse without feeling bulky or cumbersome. It's a compact 4.54 by 2.35 inches, with only .45 inches of width.
The Exhibit II has a rather dull appearance. It's not very handsome or eye catching. We appreciated the "grippiness" of the phone's marine blue back, but missed the tougher exterior of its rubberized predecessor, the original Exhibit 4G. We also wish it was available in more colors.
On the Exhibit's backside you'll notice the lens for its 3-megapixel camera and an LED flash. No, that's not a lot of megapixels, compared with the 8-megapixels that's become standard on most smartphones. Still, the phone is capable of taking a decent quality picture, but we'll get into further detail on that later in this review.
The back casing comes on and off easily, revealing a 3.7-volt lithium-ion battery and removable SIM card. Opening the phone is simple, but the case is secure. It never opened accidentally in our pocket or in a bag.
While no SD card is included with purchase, you can add up to 32GB. Onboard storage is a scant 1GB.
On the left side the phone you'll find a volume rocker, which is convenient for quickly silencing the ring of an incoming call, or adjusting speaker levels.
The Exhibit II's power button is on the right side, in convenient range of your thumb. Tapping it once wakes it up or locks the screen. Holding it brings up a quick menu for switching to silent, airplane mode or powering off.
Unfortunately, being located parallel to the volume rocker makes it easy to accidentally lock the device when adjusting the volume.
At the top you'll find a mini-usb port and the standard 3.5mm headphone jack.
With a two-year T-Mobile contract, the Samsung Exhibit II 4G is available for only $29.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate, or for $199.99 from Walmart with no annual contract. This pricing makes it one of the most affordable 4G-enabled smartphones on the market.
Interface
The Samsung Exhibit II 4G (T-Mobile) runs Android 2.3: Gingerbread and Samsung's TouchWiz. While this smartphone has unfortunately been left behind by the even more deliciously named Android 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich, the dual technologies are a useful combination.The lock screen displays the time and date in big letters. Incoming text messages are displayed briefly, in small letters at the top of the screen, and the phone displays icons for quick access to missed calls and new texts until they are viewed.
The top of the lock screen is rather cluttered with icons, including a second clock, battery level, ringer status, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and alerts for apps in need of updating. Facebook and email alerts also appear here briefly.
Gingerbread and TouchWiz
The Exhibit II's combination of the Android Gingerbread OS and Samsung's TouchWiz interface allows for up to seven different home screens, which can be outfitted with apps and widgets of your choosing. The four primary icons at the bottom of the screen are Phone, Contacts, Messaging and Applications.
Newly downloaded apps start off under the Application icon, and can be dragged to a home screen for easy access. This helps reduce clutter, since not every app needs to be on a home screen.
Many Widgets of varying degrees of usefulness come pre-loaded, and can be added or removed from any home screen. A Google search bar with voice recognition is an essential, and an Android widget that offers interface tips is helpful for new smartphone users. T-Mobile's recommend apps Widget was an eyesore, but easily done away with.
All in all, the interface is simple and pretty, but did have a tendency to become sluggish or unresponsive with multiple apps running.
Performance
With only 512MB of memory (356 available for non-OS functions), multitasking is not one of the Exhibit II's strengths. Thankfully, the phone has an Active Applications widget, which tells you how much system memory is being used, and allows for easy management of multiple apps.
While app loading times were generally fair, the interface became slow when exiting or resuming processor-intensive apps such as games or streaming media services. Home screen navigation would be noticeably slowed, and icons would pop in after a second. It was nothing unreasonable; just don't expect the snappy response of a multi-core processor device.
Overall, the Exhibit II performed well enough if given a chance to "catch its breath" in between applications.
Contacts and calling
Contacts
The Contacts app on the Exhibit II's dock can be synced with your Google account or Microsoft Exchange, as well as Facebook and other social networks. It will also bring in your friend's profile pictures, and your calendar.
Contacts can be sorted via Favorites, or by marking people as Friends, Family or Co-workers. The Contacts app also creates a group for contacts who use Qik, a pre-installed video mail service (video chat too if you sign up for premium).
Contacts is integrated with the dialer and call history for easy access.
Calling
The Phone icon on the dock handles calling and traditional voicemail. Visual voicemail is available, through a separate pre-loaded app.
Phone is integrated with Contacts, for quick access to your phone book and sorted contacts.
The Exhibit II's earpiece speaker is a little on the quiet side. The speakerphone, however, was nice and loud, and picked up our voice well.
In the city of San Francisco, T-Mobile's HSPA+ network performed admirably. Calls were stable and clear, and never dropped.
Messaging
The Messaging app on the Exhibit II's dock handles all the phone's SMS and MMS messages. Messages are listed in order of the date received, and are grouped into conversations by contact. The icon on the dock displays the number of unread messages.
Texting
Typing text messages in portrait mode felt cramped, due to the Exhibit II's small screen. Switching to landscape mode was much more comfortable. Thankfully, TouchWiz provides Swype, which makes drafting messages much easier, especially in portrait orientation. We recommend using it.
The Email app does a commendable job of organizing mail from multiple accounts, using colored icons to differentiate mail to different addresses, and breaking up messages by date received.
Email can be browsed by separate inboxes, or all in one place. The search function efficiently navigates multiple inboxes.
Internet
The Samsung Exhibit II 4G uses T-Mobile's HSPA+ 4G network, which proved to be speedy and reliable throughout the city of San Francisco.
Websites loaded quickly, and streaming media services such as Netflix and YouTube performed especially well. Videos generally played at the highest available resolution, almost never needing to stop and buffer.
Network speeds were consistently between 3.8 and 5.5 MBPS.
Web Browser
The Android Gingerbread browser under the phone's Web app is speedy, simple and functional.
Web pages loaded smoothly, without shifting around or awkwardly resizing images.
The browser also supports Flash video. Playback was not as strong as videos in the YouTube app, but it was functional.
Camera
As mentioned, the Exhibit II's camera is only 3-megapixels. Still, it's capable of taking decent pictures, but not anything we'd want to frame and put up on the wall.
In even outdoor lighting, the camera takes colorful photos, but since the resolution is limited to 2048 × 1536, they're lacking in detail.
Focus can be set manually by touching the screen, and the LED will provide a fill light as needed in addition to a flash, but the camera still struggles with uneven lighting conditions. The results can often appear washed out.
The camera's shutter speed is a little slow, and since there's no dedicated camera button (you must select Camera off the home screen), it's not great for capturing spur of the moment shots.
Still, the photos are of a passable quality, certainly good enough for Facebook or snapping a picture of a plate of food. Also, the camera can easily take self-portrait shots, but they may not be good enough to be your online avatar.
Video
Both the front and rear facing camera on the Exhibit II 4G can capture video. It records at a maximum resolution of 640x480, and video settings are limited to adjusting the white balance or reducing the resolution.While the phone is capable of taking videos it's obviously not intended for anything more than playing around with. This is not what you want to record a high school graduation or a baby's first steps with.
Videos are saved in the MP4 format, and can easily be transferred to your computer via USB or the Kies Air app. You can even record directly from the YouTube app, which makes uploading to the web remarkably simple.
Media
The Samsung Exhibit II 4G (T-Mobile) has individual applications for listening to music, browsing photos and watching videos. Your personal media can be synced via USB. Since the phone only has 1GB of onboard storage, an SD card is a necessity for getting the most from these functions.
The phone's Music app has several equalizer presets that make for good quality listening. Obviously, you don't want to listen to music using the tinny, external speaker. That's where the headphone jack located on the top of the phone comes in handy, making it easy to run headphones to the Exhibit while tucked away in a pocket.
The Music app has a strong search function, which can quickly locate a song based on artist, song name or album.
The Videos app is very similar, but much simpler. It displays preview icons for videos captured by or transferred to the Exhibit II.
The Media Hub app is a movie and TV rental application that comes pre-loaded on the phone. Its interface is intuitive, and its prices are competitive with services like iTunes.
Battery life and connectivity
Battery
The Samsung Exhibit II 4G is rated for 5.5 hours of talk time, an estimate we found to be accurate with the phone at default settings. The OS features a Settings tab for Power saving mode, which allows you to tweak battery-draining options such as WiFi, Bluetooth, Email checking and GPS monitoring all in one place.
Keeping these settings to their defaults makes for optimal battery life, but most users will want to adjust them, most especially screen brightness. As we mentioned before, the Exhibit II's screen becomes quite washed out in sunlight, and bumping up the brightness is the only compensation. This puts significant strain on the battery, as does heavy 4G use, media streaming or playing games.
The Samsung Exhibit II 4G (T-Mobile) made it through days of light to moderate use with 40% of its battery remaining. We made multiple calls, sent text messages, checked email and Facebook and did a little web browsing. Using WiFi rather than 4G also helped extend battery life.
On a day of heavy use, doing all of the above as well as playing games and streaming Netflix over T-Mobile's 4G network, the phone needed to be charged by early evening. If you're going to be out and about and entertaining yourself with your smartphone, the Exhibit II will not make it through the day on one charge. Luckily, the phone's battery is easily removed, so carrying a spare is an option.
Connectivity
The Exhibit II's mini-USB port allows you to connect to a PC or Mac for fast and simple file transfers. It can also be synced over Wi-Fi with the onboard Kies Air app.If you purchase an SD card (the Exhibit supports up to 32GB) the phone can be used as a mass storage device. It will function like an external hard drive, with simple drag and drop file transferring.
Maps and/or apps
The Exhibit II 4G comes packed full of Samsung apps. Most of them are useful, and those that are not can be left in the Applications folder and forgotten about. Unfortunately, these proprietary apps cannot be deleted, which may frustrate some users, especially since the phone's onboard storage is so low.
Kies Air is a stand-out application, allowing you to manage files on your phone via a computer's web browser. You simply connect your computer and the phone to the same Wi-Fi network, and Kies Air generates a web address where you can access all files on your phone. From a browser, you're able to look at pictures and stream videos from the Exhibit II, or transfer files to and from your smartphone or computer. It makes for simple communication with any computer, without the need for drivers or a cord.
In addition to the standard Google Maps app, the Exhibit II comes with two GPS navigation apps that provide spoken, turn-by-turn directions. There's Navigation, powered by Google Maps, and TeleNav GPS Navigator, which is a TomTom application. Both apps feature surprisingly accurate voice recognition. Of course, GPS is a significant drain on battery life, but provides a very accurate and useful service.
Social Hub is also among the best of the pre-loaded apps. It puts text messages as well as email inboxes and social network feeds all in one place. You can view them individually or as one large feed/inbox. It quickly replaced the Messaging and Email app as our go-to communication app.
Other apps include Slacker Radio, a music streaming app, and Qik video, a video mail app (video chat available for premium users). They were functional, but pale in comparison to more widely used, third-party apps such as Spotify and Skype.
Verdict
At either $30 or $200, depending on whether you accept a two-year T-Mobile contract, there's no argument that the price for the Samsung Exhibit II 4G is right, but have the developers cut too many corners?
We liked
As we said, the Samsung Exhibit II 4G (T-Mobile) is very affordable, and the chance to go pre-paid on a fast, reliable 4G network like T-Mobile's is very nice. The low initial cost of this smartphone, coupled with the variety of payment options offered by T-Mobile make the Exhibit II very tempting for the budget conscious.This smartphone has a lot of bells and whistles for a low-cost device, even if they aren't as beefy as what you'd find on higher-end models. A front facing video camera opens up the wide world of video chatting, and free, onboard GPS with spoken turn-by-turn directions will make even iPhone 4S users jealous.
The GPS as well as several other proprietary apps impressed us. Kies Air is an especially convenient app, perfect for a quick sync or file transfer while at a friend's house, and frees you from having to carry a USB cord. Social Hub was also very useful, providing quick access to multiple email accounts and social network feeds.
TouchWiz and Gingerbread make a good combination. The browser is fast and attractive, and having Swype makes for fast message composition. The Active Applications widget offers the kind of honest assessment of memory usage you'd normally only get from a third-party application, and allows you to easily manage background activity. All in all, these apps put the bloatware found on most new phones to shame.
We disliked
The Exhibit II's screen was a major point of irritation. Even in moderate sunlight, it gets washed out. Bumping up the display brightness is all you can do to compensate, which hurts the already not-so-great battery life.Even with the brightness cranked up, it's still rather hard to see it outdoors. Also, the screen is none too wide, so typing in portrait mode is tough with big fingers. Using Swype or switching to landscape mode is much better.
The camera is none too great either, but this is an understandable, "get what you pay for" situation. We'd rather have the front-facing video camera than 8-megapixel image quality.
The place where the Samsung Exhibit II 4G (T-Mobile) really feels like a budget phone is in overall performance. Coming in and out of processor and memory-intensive apps like games and streaming video kills the frame rate and makes the phone sluggish and unresponsive. Usually it goes away if you give the phone a second, other times you need to go into Active Applications and dump the memory-hogging app. This is not a phone for the impatient; someone who's used to an expensive multi-core device will find it frustrating.
Also, while T-Mobile's network proved itself throughout our trials, and the company offers a wide range of flexible plans, we don't like that it limits how much data you can have at 4G speeds.
For example, on a $50 unlimited plan, only your first 100 MB of data is delivered at 4G speeds. At $60 dollars a month, it's your first 2GB. While this is becoming standard practice among many carriers, and T-Mobile is absolutely upfront about this fact - it's not hidden in the fine print - it makes us question the value of paying for 4G service.
Final Verdict
It's hard to argue with the Samsung Exhibit II 4G's price tag. At $30 (after a $50 rebate) with a two-year contract, or $200 for pay-as-you-go at Walmart, you'll be hard pressed to get a better smartphone for your money, especially at 4G speeds.To get to this very low price point, Samsung has obviously skimped on some of the hardware, but the only place it really hurts is the screen, which is hard to see in sunlight and cramped for typing. The phone's low memory is manageable, thanks to the Active Applications widget.
Finally, the pre-loaded apps and T-Mobile's network really impressed us. The data speeds were consistently fast, and the quality and reliability of calls were among the best we've experienced. If you want 4G on a budget, or crave the flexibility of a month-to-month plan, you're not going to do much better than the Samsung Exhibit II 4G.
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Google's transforming laptop-tablet patent could be the next Nexus
A new Google patent surfaced, and it seems to detail a device that could become a Google Nexus-branded transforming laptop.
The patent, titled "moveable display portion of a computing device," describes a transforming laptop-tablet hybrid with the capability to flatten into a tablet and expand into laptop without any additional pieces.
The new device can even swivel on a corner, although the purpose of this function is anyone's guess.
With Google's lines of Chromebooks and Android devices continuing to expand, this new patent could indicate plans to bring Chrome OS and Android Jelly Bean together into one comprehensive Google Nexus device.
But at least one analyst thinks it's a terrible idea.
Google is competing with itself
J. Gold Associates analyst Jack Gold answered simply "No" when asked whether he thinks the device described in Google's patent is a good idea.In Gold's opinion, the Android ecosystem is becoming far too complex, and it wouldn't make sense for Google to add yet another possible form factor to the mix.
"The issue is that there are so many different form factors and different models," Gold said.
"On the other hand, if you get too complicated and too complex, especially if Google's doing it, one, you compete with your ecosystem, and two, people don't know what to make of it."
In Google's latest patent, the screen slides forward over the keyboard and then lies flat to transform the device into a touch tablet. But Gold says that design may be too complicated and prone to breaking down.
"What people want - what people mostly want today - is simplicity," he said.
"They also want functionality, but you know, if it's something weird, you have a hard time selling it."
Past transforming laptops haven't been terribly successful for a number of reasons, Gold said, one being that they simply don't work very well.
He added that the Microsoft Surface's solution - which adds a physical keyboard to the tablet's magnetic cover - is "actually pretty elegant."
"There's no connector to break. It's fairly simple and straightforward," he said.
"Simple is good," he concluded. "It really is, when you start talking about these devices."
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Budget Huawei G300 handset to get ICS update on Vodafone
Vodafone has announced that it will update the bargain Huawei Ascend G300 handset with some nice, tasty Ice Cream Sandwich.
The $100 pay-as-you-go handset went on sale in April to great acclaim, and it'll soon be free of the shackles of the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system.
The device, which is the first Huawei handset to bring the company's new Android skin into play, touts a 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM beneath a 4-inch WVGA touchscreen.
The handset also has a 5MP camera, 2.5GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot.
Vodafone drops the deets
Vodafone's IT technical manager Kevin Ralph says the company takes a couple of weeks to test the Android updates, once the manufacturer has configured its own version of the software.Ralph says that the G300 device will get the full Ice Cream Sandwich package.
"It's the first time we've seen Ice Cream Sandwich on a Huawei, and the first time we've seen them do this kind of upgrade -- so it's important we test everything and make sure the user will get the best experience," he said on the company's corporate blog.
Why does it take so darn long?
Meanwhile, Vodafone's head of terminals technology, Chris May had spilled the beans about why the upgrade process often takes so long.
"Typically software and firmware now goes through a two-stage testing cycle," he said.
"After conducting a first round of tests we report back to suppliers with our recommendations for any improvements -- and then we would expect to see that upgrade again before we could be confident that it meets the highest standards for our customers."
Then it goes all the way back to Google. "Once we have tested and approved the upgrade it goes back to the manufacturer to review before being sent for approval by Google, in the case of Android.
"Once our testing's completed we're keen for the update to get through the remaining steps in the process smoothly and quickly so it's in our customers' hands sooner rather than later."
"Typically software and firmware now goes through a two-stage testing cycle," he said.
"After conducting a first round of tests we report back to suppliers with our recommendations for any improvements -- and then we would expect to see that upgrade again before we could be confident that it meets the highest standards for our customers."
Then it goes all the way back to Google. "Once we have tested and approved the upgrade it goes back to the manufacturer to review before being sent for approval by Google, in the case of Android.
"Once our testing's completed we're keen for the update to get through the remaining steps in the process smoothly and quickly so it's in our customers' hands sooner rather than later."
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Samsung Galaxy Note confirmed for T-Mobile
Samsung's Galaxy Note – the identity-confused smart phone and a tablet hybrid – is bucking AT&T exclusivity and heading to T-Mobile.
Rumors of a jump to T-Mobile began earlier this year. Leaked documents hinted at a device for the carrier with a model number and screen resolution strikingly similar to Samsung's jumbo smartphone, or miniature tablet depending on your perspective.
The South Korean firm issued an official press release announcing the Galaxy Note's new carrier, which will use T-Mobile's HSPA+ network rather than 4G LTE like it did with AT&T.
Is bigger better?
The Galaxy Note will run on a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 processor. It features a large 5.3-inch HD Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 800 x 1280 pixels, a 2-megapixel front-facing lens, and an 8-megapixel rear camera for capturing photos and full HD video at 1080p.Samsung has the it running on Android 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich, which is accompanied by specialized productivity apps like S Note, S Memo, and Polaris Office to take advantage of the included stylus.
Samsung and T-Mobile are still quiet on an exact date for the Galaxy Note to arrive, but promise customers will be able to get their hands on it "in the coming weeks."
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Mozilla releases Firefox 14, more secure with OS X Lion full-screen support
Browser security is now more important than ever for computer users, so it's no surprise that it's one of the key features in Firefox 14, which made its debut on Tuesday.
The Mozilla Project continues its fast development pace today with a Firefox release aimed at adding new features, while tightening up security at the same time it spices up web-based games.
Front and center is security, with Firefox 14 now automatically utilizing HTTPS for Google searches "to protect your data from potentially prying eyes, like network administrators when you use public or shared Wi-Fi networks," The Mozilla Blog explains.
"Google is currently the only search engine that allows Firefox to make your searches private, but we look forward to supporting additional search engines with this feature in the future," Mozilla adds.
Better gaming, video playback
Developers will also find plenty to love in Firefox 14 with support for a Pointer Lock API for allowing web-based apps to better control the mouse - perfect for first-person games.Firefox 14 also supports full-screen mode with OS X Lion 10.7, promising a better experience for both video playback as well as web games such as Mozilla's own BrowserQuest.
Last but not least, Mozilla changed the way it displays the icon to the left of a URL in Firefox 14, making it easier to see if a website's identity is verified at a glance.
Firefox 14 is now available for download from the Mozilla website for Windows, Mac and Linux.
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Google Nexus 7 begins shipping in UK
Pre-orders of the Google Nexus 7 tablet are starting to ship today, with some retailers beginning the roll out.
Despite Google apparently saying it wanted to coordinate the launch of its fancy 7-inch device, some consumers will be able to get their hands on the new tablet sooner than others.
The tablet has already been made available through limited retailers in the US, but now the UK is getting a taste of the device too thanks to Currys and PC World.
However, the 'out of stock' signs are already being hung, as the retailers are quickly rippling through their initial allocation.
You want it when?
The frustrating thing for some Nexus-worshippers is those that pre-ordered through Google's Play Store portal will have to wait longer to get their hands on the device – up to two or three weeks longer, depending on when the order was placed.It seems the Google Nexus 7 tablet – manufactured by Asus – isn't quite as coordinated as the search giant may have hoped. HMV promised to have it on sale on July 16, only to change its mind at the last minute and say this was when pre-orders would be accepted.
The tablet is set to be a massive hit over the Christmas period, as the sub £200-price point makes it an affordable yet powerful option to sit under the tree.
Check out our in-depth Google Nexus 7 review if you want to know if you should shell out a few notes for the new tablet – you may be more impressed than you'd expect.
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Microsoft explains minimalist Office 2013 interface
Microsoft has talked more about its reasoning behind the minimalist design for its Office 2013 desktop apps. Naturally, the suite follows the plainer, Aero-free design of the Windows 8 desktop, but there's much more to Office 2013's Metro-style design than that.
"We thought a lot more about different screen sizes and different devices, we really wanted to maximise the real estate," explained Microsoft technical product marketer Julia White, responsible for Office, Office 365 and Exchange.
The flatter ribbon icons on a white background do seem overly stark at first, but make more sense in use, especially on a touchscreen. White continues: "It's about getting the content front and centre and trying to get the application content out of the way – there when you need it, but out of the way when you don't. On tablets and RT devices, you want to put the application stuff [to one side].
"The other aspect is thinking about touch, how do we ensure great navigational elements for touch too, so we've got bigger targets, more white space, that type of thing. So together those two things influence how the UI was adapted and how it's the clean and simple look."
The most impressive thing about new Office is how efficient it is – you can start using the apps before they've even installed, while the movement of the cursor is smoother. Even the way Outlook 2013 places an active email draft alongside its parent has already made a difference to us.
More on Office 2013 Metro
Office 2013 will include both Metro and desktop applications but so far we've only seen Metro versions of OneNote and Lync. These will be available at the same time as the desktop apps - but it's "just a matter of time" for the other Office apps Christ Pratley told TechRadar.White elaborated on this for us. "So we've started with the two apps because it's really about note taking and on the go and communication and so that's why we picked those two to start. As we think around all the apps, we certainly have a roadmap about how we want to think about the applications across the new Windows 8 experience as well as the Desktop.
"[We have] no firm plans to share on that front, but it's something we're realty thoughtful about and working without customers about what makes sense and what timeline."
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Schmidt: Google 'always wanted to be in the hardware business'
Google always had an eye on the hardware business, according to ex-CEO Eric Schmidt, even way back when it was just a search engine.
Speaking to reporters in Idaho, Schmidt explained that he wouldn't necessarily call Google a 'hardware company', but it has some pretty serious designs on the devices market.
"We always wanted to be in the hardware business. Larry and Sergey have always wanted to do hardware in one form or another," he said before going on to explain that acquiring Motorola was "a way to get into it quickly".
Hardwearing
As well as the Motorola manufacturing arm, Google has its Nexus range of tablets and smartphones on the market, which are actually made by Asus (Google Nexus 7) and Samsung (Galaxy Nexus) and used to showcase new iterations of Android.The company has also recently launched the Google Nexus Q, a home entertainment media streaming device which will only be available in the US at launch – and, of course, there's its Project Glass AR spectacles which have caused quite a stir on the web.
But despite all this hardware and its new Moto-flavoured arm, Google insists it's still an "information company" above all else.
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Review: Intel DZ77RE-75K
We've been here before, haven't we? Back in the days when we were used to having bespoke ports for every device, and plugging in something new involved powering down the entire PC and restarting before it would work, a brand new port with unassuming looks came along and changed everything.
When USB first arrived, you had to upgrade your hardware to take advantage of it. Motherboards and PCs that came with the new port would only have one, and devices that used it were expensive and thin on the ground.
Of course, that all changed over time, and USB ports and devices are now more plentiful, cheaper and a lot faster.
This is why there's a hint of déjà-vu with Thunderbolt. It promises a hell of a lot, but the cost and shortage of compatible devices mean that early adopters might want to tread carefully.
The new Intel DZ77RE-75K motherboard therefore can't rely on its Thunderbolt port alone to make it an attractive proposition. There are plenty of additional sweeteners to make it a more enticing upgrade, but are they enough?
Rolling thunder
Initially a joint collaboration between Intel and Apple, the Thunderbolt port combines PCI Express and DisplayPort functionality into serial data port. The upshot of this is an extremely versatile interface with data transfer rates of up to 10Gb/s, as well as the ability to daisy-chain up to six devices from a single port.Thunderbolt retains backwards compatibility with DisplayPort devices, so you could feasibly daisy-chain six external hard drives and a monitor from one port. That looks great on paper, but does the Intel DZ77RE-75K capitalise on its potential?
We hooked up a LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt external hard drive to the DZ77RE-75K in order to find out. In fact to really push the interface we popped two 120GB SSDs in a RAID 0 array into the enclosure. This certainly isn't the setup you'd usually get out of the box from LaCie - the Little Big Disk usually ships with dual 1TB hard drives ticking over at 7,200rpm.
With the two SSDs ready to hammer the Thunderbolt's bandwidth, we began running our data transfer benchmarks - and the results were very good, if not great.
With the AS SSD benchmark tool we saw sequential read speeds of 424MB/s, and write speeds of 250MB/s. The ATTO Disk Benchmark tool delivered similar results, with write speeds 273MB/s and read speeds of 466MB/s. This is a hell of a lot faster than USB 3.0, but a long way off the promised limit of 10Gb/s.
However, as we mentioned earlier, the LaCie Little Big Disk doesn't usually come with a pair of SSDs, normally you'd get a couple of 7,200rpm drives for your cash. If SSDs don't stress the interface, then traditional hard drives certainly won't, which leaves us with the rather large elephant in the room when it comes to Thunderbolt - there just aren't devices out there that truly take advantage of the technology.
Once you start daisy-chaining devices and streaming HD video from one storage device while copying large files to another - all while using a DisplayPort monitor - the increased bandwidth of Thunderbolt will prove useful. How often this scenario is likely to play out for you will be one of the main factors to consider if you're thinking of going for Thunderbolt.
We attached a second Thunderbolt drive to the Little Big Disk (most Thunderbolt devices should come with two ports for daisy-chaining) and the DZ77RE-75K detected it without a problem - it appeared in Windows Explorer as if we had plugged it directly into the motherboard.
While the ability to daisy-chain devices makes up for the fact that there is only one Thunderbolt port with the DZ77RE-75K, we wanted to identify any performance issues when doing so.
On the second hard drive, at the end of the chain, we ran a looped HD video file while running the AS SSD benchmark on the first drive again. The differences in the results were negligible, with only a slight decrease in write speeds (245MB/s - a drop of 5MB/s) and a tiny increase in read speeds (429MB/s, up just under 4MB/s). These results are within the margin of error, so we can say the performance impact is unnoticeable.
We then swapped the order of the drives, so that the drive playing the looped video was first in the chain, with our benchmark drive behind it. When we ran the benchmarks again the impact was much more pronounced, with read speeds of 210MB/s and write speeds of 394MB/s. Access times also leapt from 0.19ms to 0.26ms. This shows that the location of a device on the daisy-chain is worth considering if you're thinking about a similar setup.
Blue screen of death
While Thunderbolt certainly has potential - and it's a nice addition to the DZ77RE-75K - we don't think there are enough pros at the moment to justify purchasing the board for the new port alone.So how does it cope in other areas? We've never felt that Intel Extreme boards were the sturdiest of mobos, and during our testing the DZ77RE-75K encountered a few hiccups, mainly to do with the integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 of the Ivy Bridge processor (the i7-3770k fact fans) we were using.
With our monitor plugged in to the board's built-in HDMI, all was fine until we tried converting some video files, when our conversion program continued to hang. Updating the Intel HD Graphics 4000 drivers brought about a good old fashioned blue screen of death.
A quick trip into Safe Mode and rolling back the drivers did the trick, but there were a few more hangs in store for us, all based around the graphics. An Intel motherboard struggling with Intel's drivers for the integrated graphics on an Intel processor - hmm...
Elsewhere we get two PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots and the standard support for SLI and CrossFireX to help get around the flaky integrated graphics support. Dual gigabit LAN ports go some way towards making the DZ77RE-75K more interesting to us gamers, and there are enough USB ports in 2.0 and 3.0 flavours to shake a (USB) stick at.
Four SATA 6.0Gb/s ports complement the four 3.0Gb/s ports. It's a decent set of features, but nothing you won't find on any of the competitors' mobos.
As you'll see from our technical analysis, the performance of the board wasn't stellar either, lagging behind other boards - especially in the memory bandwidth stakes. In the end, the DZ77RE-75K's standard features and performance mean it ends up relying on Thunderbolt to stand out from the crowd. This early in Thunderbolt's life, unfortunately, that's just not enough.
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News in Brief: One More Thing: Tricky Mars Rover Kinect game hits Xbox
Mars bar - We could've been astronauts but we lacked the physical ability, the level of intelligence required and the basic motivation to train. Happily we can pretend like we do possess all those things by carrying out the seven-minute Mars Rover landing sequence with full body motion control using Mars Rover Landing for Microsoft Xbox Kinect. Related: Nasa's AR iOS Mars Rover app. [Xbox]
IM ER GURD - Facebook was briefly in hot water as it "accidentally blocked" Redditors' fave image upload site Imgur but pulled it all back with a personal confession from the engineer who did it and a picture of his dog in a bandana (see above). Insta-forgive. [TNW]
Get involved - Wikipedia is shedding admins and editors left, right and centre – in summer 2007 it had 50,000 users making five edits or more per month and this year that figure has dropped to 30,000. Support your local Wikipedia page. Sign up. And don't post too much crap. [The Atlantic]
AR…GH - Some people really don't like AR headsets. For example three people in a Parisian fast food joint who tried to rip permanently-attached EyeTap Digital Eye Glasses from Dr Steve Mann's head for some reason. We wonder if Google has factored this prejudice into its Google Glass launch plan? [Eye Tap]
WANTED - "Web users for fairly safe journey. No wages, temperate climes, long hours of surfing. Sound return guaranteed. Honour and recognition unlikely." Google has added 360-degree imagery of the Antarctic's in- and outdoor locations to Google Maps for not-really-all-that-intrepid-now-you-come-to-mention-it explorers everywhere. [Google]
Tales of dogs and feet - Someone has swept back through the dusty annals of time to find the first even Instagram photo from way back in nineteen-dickety-the-other-year. It is of a dog and a foot. [Instagram]
Doug - Digg founder Kevin Rose says Digg lost its way because "Twitter became a major place to find out what was breaking" and "Facebook became a place to share links". Rose says this is the social media growing up. Sure, growing up, moving on… same diff. [WSJ]
What would Austen say - We can't guarantee it but we're fairly sure if it weren't for the advent of ebooks, the world would not have to put up with smut-merchants releasing classic literature like Pride and Prejudice with added "graphic sex and fetish scenes". Well. Thanks for that, 50 Shades of Grey. [Stylist]
You wouldn't steal a car – Music commissioned by a music rights group for an anti-piracy advert (you know the one) was used and reused again and again without the composer's permission or a sniff of payment. This week the music rights group lost the court case against it and will have to pay up. What delicious irony. [Torrent Freak]
Sign of the timelines - The first teaser for M. Night I've-forgotten-how-to-make-a-decent-film Shyamalan's next thing After Earth is so internet it looks like a Facebook advert. [Vulture]
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Microsoft under the microscope over browser choice again
The European Commission has Microsoft back in its sights over browser choices, as it reopens an investigation into whether the company is yet offering customers a fair choice of browser to use.
In 2009, the EC ruled that Microsoft must offer users a choice screen to allow them to choose their preferred web browser without having to wade through menu after menu in order to pick something other than IE.
The Commission says that it believes Microsoft may have failed to offer the choice screen in Windows 7 Service Pack 1 back in February 2011 and that Microsoft has acknowledged that this is the case.
Comply
Microsoft now says that "a technical error" was to blame for the missing choice."Due to a technical error, we missed delivering the BCS (browser choice screen) software to PCs that came with the service pack 1 update to Windows 7," it said in a statement.
"While we have taken immediate steps to remedy this problem, we deeply regret that this error occurred and we apologise for it."
Not ideal
"We take compliance with our decisions very seriously. And I trusted the company's reports were accurate," said Joaquin Almunia, VP of the Commission in charge of competition policy."But it seems that was not the case, so we have immediately taken action. If following our investigation, the infringement is confirmed, Microsoft should expect sanctions."
Microsoft was instructed to offer the choice screen rather than funnelling all Windows users directly to Internet Explorer in order to make the web browser market a more competitive place.
If the EC finds that Microsoft has failed to meet the agreed commitments, which it seems likely that it has, it may be fined up to 10 per cent of its total annual turnover.
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Valve talks up Steam and Left 4 Dead 2 on Linux
Valve has opened a Linux blog to document its efforts to get the gaming platform onto the open source operating system and potentially bring franchises like Half Life, Portal and Team Fortress with it.
An experiment to port zombie shooter Left 4 Dead 2 to Ubuntu was successful enough to pique Valve's interest in Linux as a platform and work has continued to optimise the game and bring Steam across to the OS.
"The goal of the Steam client project is a fully-featured Steam client running on Ubuntu 12.04," wrote the Valve Linux team on the blog.
Progress report
"We've made good progress this year and now have the Steam client running on Ubuntu with all major features available."We're still giving attention and effort to minor features but it's a good experience at the moment. In the near future, we will be setting up an internal beta focusing on the auto-update experience and compatibility testing.
"Since the Steam client isn't much [good] without a game, we're also porting L4D2 to Ubuntu.
"We're working hard to improve the performance and have made good progress…our goal is to have L4D2 performing under Linux as well as it performs under Windows."
The Linux community it certainly a passionate one and Ubuntu has proven to be a popular flavour of the OS.
Valve's Steam has been a massive hit on both PC and Mac and the company is clearly looking to roll that success further.
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Instagram is coming to Google Nexus 7 thanks to app update
Much loved filter-tastic photo sharing app Instagram has had an update so that it shall go to the Google Nexus 7 ball after all.
The economical tablet doesn't have a rear-mounted camera, so the onus is on applying washed out retro-style filters to existing photos, or taking low-res MySpace-style snaps with the front-facer then filtering and blurring them until they look halfway decent.
You'll also be able to post pictures directly to Flickr using the sharing options, a little treat that wasn't on the Android app before.
Filter no filter
There wasn't exactly outrage and uproar and rioting in the streets when it emerged that the Nexus 7 wasn't compatible with Instagram due to the absence of a camera on the back.But at the very least, a couple of people were mildly disgruntled and may have expressed distress to one another via the medium of pictures of coffee with heart-shaped chocolate sprinkles and fingernails painted in zany colours.
Those people can now rest easy. (And the rest of us can say stuff like, "If not having Instagram was a dealbreaker for you - well, maybe you need to have a word with yourself.")
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Samsung buys into CSR for handset connectivity and location technology
Samsung has splashed some of its cash in the direction of Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR), in return for some of the British firm's resources, patents and technology.
Shelling out $310 million (around £198 million), Samsung's transaction with the UK-based company sees CSR transfer all of its resources devoted to handset connectivity technology to the global manufacturer.
Handset connectivity refers to the 'cutting edge' technology CSR has been researching regarding Bluetooth and Wi-Fi interoperability, which are now prevalent across nearly all smartphones.
CSR will also shift some of its resources regarding handset location technology to Samsung – giving the South Korean firm 310 employees and a series of fixed assets.
Patent by numbers
The deal also sees the Korean giant gain 21 patents, which it will then licence royalty-free back to CSR.Finally Samsung has been granted "world-wide, perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive license of CSR's intellectual property rights" – allowing it to use the technology as much as it wants, in devices anywhere in the world.
As a result of this deal, Cambridge Silicon Radio will stop investment in its handset location and connectivity divisions, and focus on five core areas; Voice & Music, Automotive Infotainment, Indoors Location, Imaging and Bluetooth Smart markets.
Joep van Beurden, CEO of CSR, said: "I believe that under Samsung's ownership the handset operations will be in a better position to prosper in the global handset market."
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Exclusive: 'PDF is where documents go to die,' says Microsoft exec
A senior executive at Microsoft has hammered the PDF format, complaining that it is 'where documents go to die'.
In the discussions around the next generation of Office, Microsoft Office's general manager Chris Pratley told TechRadar about his problems with the common but much derided document format.
"PDF is where documents go to die," he said. "Once something is in PDF, it's like a roach motel for data.
"I could print it but that's not so useful. I copy a table and take that back to Word with high hopes and what I get is not that great."
Office improvements
Obviously the conversation continued around what Office 2013 does with PDFs in terms of improving the formatting, with PDF Flow a major new feature."Now it's a Word file; it's not an image of a word file, it's not a dumb translation of letters to words, it actually is Word structure," he continued.
"We look at the structure of the PDF and say 'there's a one here with an A and B below; that should be represented by a multi-level list', 'here's a bunch of lines and squares, that looks like a table'. Even things like page numbers.
"It says page one of five in the corner; if I add a bunch of text it will say page one of six."
The Portable Document Format was developed by Adobe back in 1991, but has been an open standard since 2008.
It's not the first time an Adobe product has faced criticism from a major player and it's unlikely to be the last, but it's still a withering comment about one of our most familiar document types.
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Interview: Microsoft on the 'Metrification' of Office 2013
Office 2013 is the Office you know, just Metrified, modern – and all yours, says general manager Chris Pratley.
"We didn't mess around with the ribbon; we Metrified it but we didn't change a lot of stuff. Instead it's all about connecting to the cloud, making it your Office regardless of device. Making it Metro and smooth and live and digital. That's the theme of what we're trying to do here; it just becomes modern, your modern office."
Microsoft and the Office team have plenty of ideas for futuristic technology; look closely at last year's Productivity Future Vision video and you'll spot augmented reality glasses recording and translating several months before Google Project Glass was announced.
Those videos and the Envisioning Lab they come from are part of the Research, Experimentation & Design team that's just one of the areas Pratley is responsible for.
Pratley knows the history of Office (he worked on Word for eleven years and ran the team that launched OneNote) but recently he's been concentrating on the future. He set up Office Labs, which produces prototypes and tools like Ribbon Hero and Search Commands for Office (and is also behind The Garage; an internal incubator for hardware and software ideas at Microsoft).
"We do a lot of things that may or may not pan out," he explained to TechRadar. "The Office team is very keen on doing things that are going to succeed so Office Labs is sort of like the bleeding edge of Office advanced development."
When that development pays off, he says, "Some things from Labs and Envisioning make their way into the Office 15 apps". That makes him the ideal person to ask about the future of Office - especially Metro, as he's also in charge of the design team for Office who have been working on what he calls the "Metrification" of Office, from the look and feel to the new icons.
What does he think the most important feature in Office 2013 is? He enthuses over new tools like the finger-friendly contextual radial menu in the full Metro version of OneNote, the in-place email replies in Outlook, Excel's Quick Analysis lens for suggesting chart and pivot table layouts and the Flash Fill tool that makes it easy to get information out of badly formatted data (a collaboration with Microsoft Research for handling repetitive behaviours and pattern recognition which he calls "probably the single coolest thing I can show you").
PDF Flow in Word is a feature he says the Office team has been planning for some time. "PDF is where documents go to die," he complains. "Once something is in PDF, it's like a roach motel for data. I could print it but that's not so useful. I copy a table and take that back to Word with high hopes and what I get is not that great."
PDF Flow lets you open a PDF directly in Word as a live, editable file. "Now it's a Word file; it's not an image of a word file, it's not a dumb translation of letters to words, it actually is Word structure. We look at the structure of the PDF and say 'there's a one here with an A and B below; that should be represented by a multi-level list', 'here's a bunch of lines and squares, that looks like a table'. Even things like page numbers. It says page one of five in the corner; if I add a bunch of text it will say page one of six."
Then there's the ability to put videos in Word documents. "Word started out being intended for print. People increasingly don't print, they read on line, on whatever device they're on. If they're not going to print, then we can make it possible to put videos into word and let them play. So Word becomes a bit more like a Happy Potter newspaper…"
Your Office, everywhere
But what he singles out as a fundamental improvement is the way you get Office 2013; a combination of subscription, cloud sync and streaming that puts Office on every device you use – PC, Mac, phone and tablet, for one price."What you used to do with Office is you would buy it for a machine and maybe you'd get a licence to put it on two machines, but you were essentially connecting it to a machine; you were buying it like you would buy a peripheral. You can still buy Office the old way and you will perpetually own it - and it will not get any better over time (except for bug fixes and security fixes).
But when you choose to buy the subscription, you're buying Office for yourself, not for a device. That means it's available on all the devices you love and most importantly you have a connection to the cloud service. You have your documents and settings. It's your modern Office, not buying a piece for your PC and sticking it on there and letting it get old. You stay up to date, you stay connected to it."
"You will get it with your phone or you can add it to your phone if you have a phone from another company, it will be on your tablet, it will be on your PC, it will be on your Mac. You've already seen a taste of this with OneNote; it's on Android and iPhone and iPad and so on. Any devices we make local client bits for, you have those.
"You don't buy Mac Office or Windows Office, you're buying the subscription. If you happen to have Mac, you have Office on Mac, if you happen to have a PC, you'll have Office on PC. It'll will be best on Windows, but it won't be crappy on the other places; it will also be leading on those platforms. We'll make it really good."
What he didn't say is what applications you'll get on other devices; whether it will stay with just Lync and OneNote or whether we'll actually see Office for iPad.
Settings like recently opened files and even where you were in a document travel with your Office account, and apps stream to a new PC fast enough to make it worth doing on any PC you happen to use. "I want to open this document so I say open in Word and the PC goes 'I don't have it, I'll go get it'. It starts to pull the first blocks of code for Word off our service and it pulls them in the order it will need them to start up.
"It's one step ahead of you; you get your document loaded and it starts pulling down all the other parts of Word. We have all these metrics on what people do next after they do one thing so we're pulling down the next most likely pieces of code until the whole thing is on the machine and it only takes a few minutes (depending on the speed of your Internet connection)."
And Office itself will get updated far more often. The businesses that refused to reinstall Office sooner than every three years are happy with incremental improvements that stream down automatically. "Improvements, bug fixes, new capabilities showing up; that kind of things can happen much sooner. We already do this at a faster cadence with the Web; Web apps updated every month or quarter. They get better over time with new features and new capabilities. The mobile apps are updated yearly roughly, right now, and Office is going to move to something faster than that."
It's not just that Microsoft wants to keep you paying the subscription month after month, Pratley says convincingly. It solves the perennial problem of people complaining about a bug or missing feature that's fixed in a version they don't want to pay again for. "It would drive us nuts as software designers because we would make new things and no-one would be using them."
Modern, Metro, minimal
Even in the desktop apps, Office 2013 has the clean, chromeless look of Metro. "We adopted the Metro design principles. We cleaned things up, we took away all the old cruft; the heavy boundaries, all the bevelled edges and shadowed are gone. The icons are flatter. It's just really clean. The principles of Metro are things like 'content over chrome' so we minimise the chrome as much as possible. Let the text and typography be the user interface."You don't have giant icons for everything, because in Metro icons are largely redundant compared to the old style of interfaces where people started going nuts and adding icons for every single thing. An icon is supposed to be some recognisable object. When you've got 4,000 of them and they're for abstract concepts like mail merge, an icon is not helping you."
The cleanup means some tools have gone missing and there's often less to see on screen. Is there too much white space for a program as powerful as Office? Pratley suggests taking the time to get used to it. "This is one of those areas where people are tuning their interpretation of Metro. Some people would say Metro means just the thing and everything else is blank and other people react and think it's too blank so you're tempted to put more in and then you get clutter again.
"You have to make sure how much of your reaction is [that it's] not what you're used to versus it's really a problem
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Google equips tech to take on drug cartels and other baddies
Google thinks that the solution to international drug, arms, people and organ dealing gangs lies with technology and it is hoping to do something about it through its Google Ideas arm.
"Can technology expose, map and disrupt these networks?" so asks Google Ideas as it launches the Illicit Networks: Forces in Opposition (INFO) partnership.
You may well be thinking, what has this got to do with a search engine? What can Google possibly do to tackle these real world problems?
To be honest, there's no clear answer to that second question yet. It's partly what the company hopes to find out during the first three-day conference in Los Angeles, in partnership with the Council on Foreign Relations and Tribeca Film Festival.
Very not evil
Likely Google's role will be a financial and facilitatory one, providing the network, publicity and web-presence to create an action network which will then work to "expose, map and disrupt" criminal conglomerates.The main aim is to remove the shroud of secrecy from these illicit and often global networks that dabble in drugs, people trafficking, arms dealing and more.
As Jared Cohen, director of Google Ideas, explains, "We believe that technology has the power to expose and dismantle global criminal networks, which depend on secrecy and discretion in order to function.
"And for the past few months, we've been working with people fighting on the front line to gain a better understanding of what drives these networks and how they function.
"Through the summit… we hope to discover ways that technology can be used to expose and disrupt these networks as a whole – and to put some of these ideas into practice."
What Google and co will actually achieve remains to be seen, but the launch video is pretty hardcore and highlights the human need to destroy these networks - as well as the small matter of them costing the global economy $2.1 trillion (about £1.3 trillion) every year.
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iPhone 5 could use new super-thin screen technology
The iPhone 5 will use new in-cell technology to produce a display which is considerably thinner than current screens, according to sources.
The report by The Wall Street Journal claimed "people familiar with the matter" revealed Apple had drafted in Sharp, Japan Display Inc and LG to create the new, thinner displays for its sixth generation of iPhone handset.
The in-cell technology reduces the number of layers required to produce a touchscreen, which not only reduces the depth of the screen, but also makes it more lightweight – meaning the iPhone 5 could be the thinnest, lightest handset from the Cupertino-based firm yet.
Bigger screen?
As well as this new screen technology, we've also heard numerous rumours suggesting that Apple will finally break its 3.5-inch display rule it's implemented on all iPhones to date.According to the myriad leaks, the iPhone 5 looks set to sport a 4-inch display, as Apple looks to play catch-up to the likes of the 4.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S3 and 4.7-inch HTC One X.
Unsurprisingly Apple is staying quiet on the whole subject, although it's thought that the next iPhone will arrive sometime this Autumn, probably alongside the launch of iOS 6.
In the meantime, take a look at our iPhone 5 release date, news and rumours article for all the latest on Apple's next smartphone.
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