Galaxy Note 8.0 touted on Samsung stand prior to MWC 2013 launch
Not that this will be a surprise to most readers, but it now seems absolutely certain that Samsung's long-rumoured Galaxy Note 8.0 will be officially unveiled in a couple of days at Mobile World Congress.
An anonymous tipster, presumably part of the set-up crew in Barcelona, snapped a picture of the Samsung stand and there, lo and behold, is the Galaxy Note 8.0 featured on the big screen.
Naturally, the device looks absolutely gigantic, but it seems Samsung is still intent on us using it in portrait mode with one-hand, although that could be a bit of a stretch for anyone who's not named LeBron James.
The latest leak comes just a week after the Note 8.0 was accidentally revealed at a Samsung event in South Korea.
Top billing
Speculation has suggested that the new, iPad mini-bothering member of the Note family will pack a 1280 x 800 Super Clear LCD display, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, a 1.6GHz quad-core processor and 2GB RAM. The placement of the Galaxy Note 8.0 promotional screen, in the centre of the Samsung stand, suggests that it'll probably be the Korean giant's top announcement at MWC 2013. We already know that the Samsung Galaxy S4 won't be making an appearance at the event this year, with latest speculation suggesting it will arrive at a dedicated event on March 14.
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Sony PS4: All-you-can-eat game subscriptions may be in the works
The Sony PS4 console may house a premium subscription service allowing members to play as many games as they want for a monthly fee, according to the president of Sony Worldwide Studios.
Shuhei Yoshida said Sony has many options with regards to subscription platforms, thanks to the acquisition of Gaikai - the cloud-gaming company that will power and pioneer the PS4's online offerings.
Some observers had expected Sony to reveal a Netflix-for-gamers style service at Tuesday's launch event, but for now that's a 'dream' dependent on digital content flourishing on the console, Yoshida-san said.
He told The Guardian: "As more and more services and contents become available digitally, we'll have more of an option to create attractive packages. So hypothetically we can look at different models – like a cable TV company. We could have gold, silver or platinum levels of membership, something like that.
"We can do subscription services when we have more content – especially now that we have the Gaikai technology available. With one subscription you have access to thousands of games – that's our dream."
Hardware isn't finished yet
Meanwhile Yoshida-san is the latest voice to chime in on why Sony did not reveal the new PlayStation hardware at Wednesday night's PS4 launch event in New York City. Some Sony bosses have claimed the company wanted to leave something to show off at a later date, so we wouldn't get bored between now and the Holiday 2013 release date, while SCEA gaffer Jack Tretton claimed Sony had made a 'conscious decision' not to show it off. This latest explanation might be a little closer to the mark. "We have not finalised the hardware yet and decided not to try to get it finished in time," Yoshida-san said.
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Google music subscription service to rival Spotify, Rdio and Deezer?
Google is in talks with record labels over plans to launch its own subscription music streaming service, according to reports this weekend.
The Financial Times said The Big G is looking to take on successful subscription platforms like Spotify, Rdio and Deezer, while also differentiating itself from Apple and Amazon's approach to music.
According to the report, Google will follow the freemium business models employed by the established streaming giants that allow free listening, but a premium subscription service for access-all-areas music.
Early speculation has suggested that Google would be looking to pre-install the service on Android smartphones and tablets like the Nexus 4 and Nexus 7.
Third time lucky?
Google has tried, and somewhat failed, with its attempts to diversify into the music industry. The Google Music storage locker has been a complete flop, while the Android-based download store is hardly iTunes. The company has traditionally found it more difficult when attempting to court favour among record industry big wigs, who still see the search company as a means of enabling music piracy. The company was criticised by the Recording Industry Association of America earlier this week for linking to pirate sites after claiming they'd be blacklisted. A follow up report from The Verge later on Friday night backed up the FT's claims but said that no service will be launched until Q3 2013. Perhaps it's going to take a while to get Sony, Warner and co on board?
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Xbox 720 expected to arrive at April launch event
Microsoft's response to last week's Sony PS4 launch may come as soon as April with the launch of the new Xbox console, reports have claimed.
Our sister site CVG has revealed that word from its games industry and developer sources equates to a standalone launch event prior to the traditional E3 gaming expo in May.
However, according to CVG, we could hear the first official comments on how the next-gen Xbox will take shape if Microsoft decides to attend the Game Developers Conference in March.
One senior Sony official, who did not wish to be named, claimed Sony had "ruffled some feathers" at Microsoft with its next-gen pitch and was another to lend his voice to the possibility of an April reposte.
War is brewing
CVG's report also revealed that a Microsoft PR partner, which has worked with the company on previous launches, has registered the domain name XboxEvents.com. Make of that what you will. If Microsoft does unveil the next-generation Xbox in April it is highly unlikely that we'd see a repeat of the hardware no show, which somewhat overshadowed Sony's two-hour launch event in New York. Shortly after the PS4 event Microsoft's director of programming for Xbox Live Larry Helb (aka Major Nelson) mocked his company's great gaming rival for not showcasing the goods. He tweeted: "Announce a console without actually showing a console? That's one approach" On Friday PlayStation's US boss Jack Tretton assured that the physical incarnation of the PS4 will be showcased at E3 or sooner. Could it be timed to coincide with Microsoft's big reveal?
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Week in Science: Luke Skywalker's bionic hand takes another step closer to reality
Ever wished you could simply drive home sober after a night out on the town? Or perhaps you're struggling to kick those filthy cigarettes? Science has the answer.
Plus, if you've lost an appendage you may soon be able to replace it with robot hands that can genuinely feel like your own skin, just like Luke Skywalker.
Star Wars-style cyborg hands are just around the corner -- This week researchers from Switzerland have shown off plans to attach the first bionic hand with real-time nervous feedback built in. The robot hand will be attached to the patient's median and ulnar nerves in his forearm, allowing him not only to control it via thought, but to actually feel the hand via skin sensors on its fingers and palm. If all goes well, we could have a Luke Skywalker-style robotic hand ready to upgrade or replace your own, sooner rather than later. [AAAS]
A magic sobering-up pill -- Wouldn't it be nice at the end of a night to be able to pop a pill, instantly sober up, and drive home? Sounds like science fiction, but researchers have developed a new complex of enzymes, packed up in a nano-capsule, to create a new tiny pill that dramatically reduces blood alcohol levels in mice. Further testing is obviously required, but the nano-capsule enzyme concept shows serious promise for both dealing with alcohol overdoses, and other enzyme-treatable diseases. [Nature Nanotechnology]
Girls really are better at languages than boys -- It's commonly noted that girls pick up languages quicker and more easily than boys, and now scientists think they've found the reason. A study showed that a gene called FOXP2, thought to be involved in speech and language formation, was found in higher concentrations in the brains of girls over boys. More studies are required due to the small sample sizes, but the results could explain why girls often speak first. [Science]
A genetically engineered tastier tomato might be on the way -- The genetic code of the humble tomato was published last year; since then scientists have been looking at what makes certain tomatoes taste better than others, and why mass produced tomatoes are bland. Essentially, what they're doing is taking the flavourful chemical-producing genes and inserting them into the genomes of high yield, mass-produced tomatoes, giving you the best of both worlds. It's a long road, but a tastier tomato could be heading your way sooner rather than later. [ScienceNOW]
Life, as we know it, might have been bleached out of existence on Mars -- The reason we haven't found the signs life on Mars yet, might not be because it's not there, but because it's actually been bleached away. Scientists studying a meteorite from Mars, that was discovered frozen in the Antarctic ice, have discovered chloride compounds and other chemicals commonly associated with cleaning agents like bleach. Coupled with what the Phoenix Mars lander found, it indicates that the surface of Mars might be covered in bleaching agents that could have eradicated signs of carbon-based life. Martian life might have existed, but it looks like we might never find it, thanks to the celestial cleaners. [New Scientist]
Immune boosters could help stop the new viral killers before they kill you -- The emergence of new deadly viruses, like the coronavirus that's recently hit the news in the UK, and SARS, has prompted researchers to delve into new ways to help kill off the bugs once you become infected. A study has shown that immune boosters, proteins that enhance the action of your own immune system, are effective in reducing the number of infected cells. Type I and III interferons could be the difference between stopping outbreaks of the deadly viruses, and the world turning into a real-life game of Plague Inc. [mBio]
That's no moon, it's a planet -- We commonly think of planets as pretty big things, but astronomers using NASA's Kepler telescope have found the tiniest world ever, some 210 light-years from Earth. Kepler 37b is one of three planets orbiting a Sun-like host star in the Lyra constellation, and is only 10 per cent larger than our Moon. Considering our own planet Earth is a bit on the titchy side, maybe good things do come in small packages. [Nature]
Trying to quit smoking? E-cigarettes might be the answer -- There are loads of different aids to help you ditch the habit, but British regulators are looking to add another, possibly more effective, method to the approved list. The government is looking at regulating e-cigarettes as medicine, meaning they can be prescribed by doctors. E-cigarettes allow you to adjust the amount of nicotine taken in with each inhalation, and eliminates the tar and carcinogens associated with traditional cigarettes by using electronic vaporisers instead of burning tobacco leaves. In theory, you can gradually reduce the amount of nicotine in each puff until you're weaned off the addiction. Just remember to keep it charged up. [New Scientist]
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Review: Mad Catz FREQ 5
There's something to be said for choosing your style and sticking to it. Mad Catz has done just that with its PC gaming range of capitalised peripherals and is rolling out that now familiar angular aesthetic to its FREQ range of gaming headsets.
While the Mad Catz designs polarise opinion, you generally can't argue with the quality of components used, and the FREQ 5 headset boasts a decent technical specification.
I have to be honest and admit that I'm not entirely au fait with what difference neodymium magnets make in terms of sound, but the 50mm drivers give you excellent sound levels. The clarity is impressive at this price and the headset's USB sound chips are likewise effective in the PC environment.
The FREQ 5 comes with three different preset equaliser levels, one of which is the necessary gaming mode. The problem is that because it's accessed via a simple toggle switch, I'm not entirely sure which is which. The other two presets are for music and chat, and while the talk mode is pretty obvious (and fairly effective) I'm not sure how useful they are.
Either way the bassy game mode is clear and allows you to pinpoint noise direction relatively accurately, while still giving you that ear-shaking boom you want in the middle of a BlOps battle zone. The secondary mode is perfect for music, stopping it getting unnecessarily fuzzy with excessive bass, and promoting vocals without them getting too spiky or too harsh.
Sound as a pound
Sadly sound quality is not the only feature to judge a headset on. Though the build quality of the FREQ 5 cans is excellent I'm less convinced about the actual design. While there's a decent 45º rotation on the ear pads the actual frame is incredibly rigid, making it a struggle to jam onto your head comfortably. They fit perfectly snugly over my little ears, which meant they kept out much of the general PC Format office noise, but after a few hours the headset became a little oppressive. I'm not a big fan of the controls either. The mic mute and equaliser buttons are functional and easily accessible, but the rolling volume control is stiff and totally unresponsive. It doesn't react to small, incremental changes and when you do finally get it to register, it generally overdoes things, making the volume either too loud or too quiet. And it doesn't work at all if you use the FREQ 5 in MP3/ smartphone mode via the 3.5mm jack. You can still use the detachable mic over the single jack when it's plugged into a phone, but I would be willing to bet I will never, ever see a single human being walking around using their FREQ 5 cans while chatting on their phone. So the FREQ 5 is a bit of a mixed bag, then. The sound quality is the standout feature of these cans - and that came as a bit of a surprise after the initial disappointment over the actual design of the headset. After playing with the cheaper RoG Orion Pro headphones last month, the Mad Catz cans were always going to struggle… and so it comes to pass.
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Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar
I played with the Xperia Z for the first time at CES and I loved it from the second I laid hands on it. You won't find a bigger fan of the Samsung Galaxy Note than me, but I'd swap my Note for a Z in a second… if it wasn't for that enormous price tag.
Still though, it's a very exciting handset and its good news for everyone that Sony has joined the likes of Apple, Samsung and HTC at the truly premium end of the smartphone market. Taking a bath with a waterproof phone never sounded so good!
To that end, our Sony Xperia Z review has gone up this week, along with a number of other interesting products… not least the GTX Titan graphics card which delivers simply stunning – STUNNING – benchmark results from a single GPU.
So here we go – check out this week's hottest reviews…
Sony Xperia Z
The Sony Xperia Z is the first next-gen smartphone of the year and it's a brilliant device. Sony is making a triumphant comeback in many areas at the moment, but mobile is an area it's focussing on more than any other. With blistering fast performance, market-leading features and some unique talents - including the ability to go underwater without drowning – it's a definite candidate for phone of the year. The only real problem is the price – it costs even more than the iPhone and significantly more than the next-best Android offering, the Samsung Galaxy S3. Sony knows it can always lower the price, but putting it up is more tricky – so it's giving itself plenty of room to find the perfect price point. Should you buy it? If you're happy to spend the money, absolutely.
Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan
The GTX Titan is the world's fastest single-GPU graphics card and is likely to stay that way for some time. It packs the same full-fat Kepler core as used by the 18,688 Tesla K20 cards inside Cray Titan – the world's most powerful supercomputer. In our benchmarks it came close to beating two next-best-thing GeForce GTX 680 cards in SLI and you'd hope it would be that power full too, given the retail price is north of £800. SO it's the graphics card to buy if price is ni object, then. But for general PC gamers, this is not a card that will have much relevance when you can get far better price-to-performance balance from the likes of the GTX 670.
Hands on: HTC One review
The HTC One is the firm's new attempt at a market-leading handset, and with an all-aluminium body, super-high-res 4.7-inch HD screen and futuristic camera technology, it could be something of a winner. HTC has brought even better design and improved things even further by innovating on things like user experience and camera functionality - in a world of smartphone patent litigation, this is a breath of fresh air. In short, we're really glad to see HTC is still putting its weight behind a top-end smartphone; confusing name aside, the HTC One shows a lot of promise and could well see the firm pulling back into the black in 2013.
Hands on: Google Chromebook Pixel review
It's a Chromebook, which means it only runs Chrome OS. And Chrome OS is just the Google Chrome browser with a couple of extra features. So is it hot... or not? Well we're still hesitant to recommend anyone buy one of these things but this is certainly the best Chromebook yet. It's sparkly and pretty and high res and lovely. But it's still a Chromebook...
And this week's other reviews...
Hands on: Nikon D7100 review
Hands on: Sony NEX-3N review
Hands on: Sony HX300 review
Hands on: Sony Alpha a58 review
Asus VivoTab Smart ME400 review
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Fox seeking to stop Dish's On the Go feature for the Hopper
Dish TV's Hopper DVR was finally made available to its customers in early February after a few weeks of controversy stirred up at CES 2013.
The Hopper made Dish some enemies at broadcasting companies across the U.S. with its ability to skip the commercials on networks like CBS, NBC, and Fox.
Though the networks are still trying to find a way to stop Dish from using such technology, they haven't had much success to this point.
Not content to just let Dish and its customers watch television the way they want contently, Fox has now reentered the legal arena with the satellite cable company over a completely different aspect of the Hopper.
No streaming for you
Though the AutoHop ad-skipping capabilities are what got Dish in hot water with content providers previously, the new partnership with Slingbox is what's drawn Fox's ire. The Hopper with Sling allows users to stream live television and recorded shows to any mobile device with the Dish Anywhere app. The set-top box also allows users to download saved shows from the DVR onto devices like the iPad to take on the go. Fox however doesn't believe its current deal with Dish allows customers such freedom with its content, and is seeking an injunction alleging Dish is violating Fox copyrights. "Paying Dish for a satellite television subscription does not buy anyone the right to receive Fox's live broadcast signal over the Internet or to make copies of Fox programs to watch 'on the go,' because Dish does not have the right to offer these services to its subscribers in the first place," Fox said in the filing. Previously, Fox also tried to seek an injunction against the Hopper over ad skipping, but was denied by a U.S. District Court, even though Judge Dolly Gee agreed the feature constituted copyright infringement. A hearing at the U.S. District Court in California is set for March 22, and it's likely plenty of other spurned broadcasting companies will be paying close attention to what transpires.
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Microsoft Surface Pro returns to retail stores in limited quantities
Microsoft has not made it easy for eager customers to purchase the Surface Pro tablet, but now's the time if you've been holding off.
The 128GB Surface Pro popped back into Microsoft's retail stores for another round of limited quantity sales on Friday, according to a report from CNET.
The Windows 8 tablet sold out quickly when it debuted in the U.S. in February, and it's been a rare find ever since.
Despite its return to retail stores, though, the Surface Pro is still sold out on Microsoft's online retail portal.
Call first (duh)
Microsoft has been working hard to get the Surface Pro back onto shelves ever since its debut. Nevertheless, high demand has kept the Pro model off shelves for the better part of this month. CNET reported on Friday that Microsoft retail stores in California, Massachusetts and New York had stock of the 128GB Surface Pro, but that other stores did not. Obviously, you should call your local Microsoft store if you're thinking of heading out to pick one up.What of the rest?
Meanwhile, Microsoft's Surface RT model has expanded out to retail locations other than Microsoft's own. Back in December, Microsoft's general manager of Surface tablets, Panos Panay, said, "We've increased production and are expanding the ways in which customers can interact with, experience and purchase Surface." Hopefully, that extends to the Surface Pro soon as well.
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