IT News Head Lines (Techradar) 22/04/2013

So far, Spotify is more popular than iTunes with Twitter Music users

Read into this what you will, but in the first 24 hours of its existence, figures suggest that slightly more people used Spotify than iTunes to enjoy tracks on the new Twitter Music service.
According to stats from Simply Measured, 11,984 people used the #NowPlaying hashtag to tweet Spotify links from the web or iOS app, compared with 11,612 shared #NowPlaying tweets linking to iTunes.
The third factor in this equation, the Rdio streaming service was a distant last, accounting for 3,457 tweets.
In total there were over 226,000 #NowPlaying tweets sent from Twitter Music during the first 24 hours, which the researchers claim is four times the amount of Vine videos posted during its first day.

But what does it mean?

The results are both surprising and unsurprising in somewhat equal measures.
iTunes previews can be accessed on Twitter Music freely, whereas users listening to full tracks must sign in to either their Spotify or Rdio account.
It either means that users don't have a problem with signing into those accounts in order to listen to entire songs, or they just don't consider a 30 seconds iTunes preview to be worthy of a #NowPlaying tweet.
How do you interpret the stats? Is it to early to be making any judgements? We found these figures quite interesting, but do you even care? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Samsung, HTC and LG team up to start a wireless charging format war

Blu-ray vs HD-DVD and VHS vs Betamax were legendary tech format wars, but it's unlikely we can expect the same level of drama or excitement from the latest standards battle to emerge on Friday.
Mobile manufacturers Samsung, LG and HTC have become fully paid-up members of the Power Matters Alliance responsible for pushing the advance of wireless mobile charging.
It's a big coup for the PMA, which was set-up by Powermat and Duracell and boasts support from Starbucks and the US mobile network AT&T.
It was the groups alignment with AT&T which swung the deal, as according to a Crave report, it asked Samsung, LG and HTC to built Powermat-ready tech into future handsets.

The battleground

However, this brings us to the new battleground. The PMA's big rival Qi was thought to have become the accepted industry standard after providing wireless charging solutions for Nokia's recent Lumia handsets and Google Nexus devices.
Last month it was also revealed that the Samsung Galaxy S4 will be compatible with wireless charging accessories from Qi, but it now appears it'll be the last of the series that is.
Qi is a product of the open Wireless Power Consortium, set up by the likes of Sanyo, Philips and Logitech, which currently has over 130 members.
As Crave points out, now that the PMA has three of the biggest Android manufacturers on board with its wireless charging standard, a lot of folks will wait for the outcome of the format war before going all in on one standard.

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Take that MacBook Air! Thinnest and lightest laptop unveiled in Taiwan

Little-known Taiwanese manufacturer Inhon is laying claim to the title of world's thinnest and lightest laptop after launching the new Blade 13 Carbon notebook.
The 13-inch Windows 8 device boasts a slimline frame of just 12.88mm, which the company said is a full 2mm thinner than its nearest rival, the NEC Lavie X.
It's also lighter than any other laptop ever, according to Inhon, weighing in at 1.9lbs (870g), which is a full pound lighter than the 13-inch MacBook Air and beats its nearest rival, the NEC Lavie Z, by around 5g.
Despite its svelte Carbon frame, it isn't shy on including some heavyweight specs. It's got a 1080p HD screen, Intel i5 or i7 processors, upto 256GB of SSD storage and 4GB of RAM.

No international release?

International availability of the device has not been announced, but Engadget reports it'll go on sale for the equivalent of $1,350 in its homeland (around UK£886, AUD$1,314).
There's also a cheaper fibreglass-built alternative, with a 1600 x 900 display that'll cost around $1,000 (UK$656, AUD$973), but that ups the weight to 2.6lbs.

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Intel plans to power more dirt cheap Microsoft and Google touch devices

Reports on Friday claimed Intel processors will power a new breed of affordable touchscreen laptops and tablet devices running both Microsoft and Google operating systems.
CNET's sources said the company is targeting the lower end of the market with both Windows 8 and Google Android touch-enabled devices.
"There are design wins for Android tablets at that $200 price point. Intel will be participating in that market this year," the source told CNET.
The report backs up comments from Intel CEO Paul Otellini who, following the company's quarterly earnings call this week, said the price of Intel Atom-based notebooks are to drop quite dramatically.
"If you look at touch-enabled Intel-based notebooks that are ultrathin using [Atom] processors. Those prices are going to be down to as low as $200," he said.

Convertible

Earlier on Friday, Digitimes had claimed Intel was also promoting convertible Android-powered laptops running Intel Atom processors.
It claimed Lenovo, Acer, Toshiba, Asus and HP were all planning to launch such devices later this year with a $500 "sweetspot" price point.

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Review: Panasonic TX-L55ET60

Overview

Looking at the TX-L55ET60, it's hard to believe it only sits in the middle of Panasonic's new TV range. Thanks to its gloriously slim metallic silver and glass frame, it looks every inch a flagship TV.
A quick double check, though, confirms that the L55ET60 really is only a mid-range model. In fact, it's Panasonic's entry-level 55-inch 3D model for 2013, complete with a relatively painless price tag of £1500.
Making the L55ET60's mid-range status even more startling is its carriage of Panasonic's superlative My Home Screen interface, which does a brilliant job of streamlining your access to the TV's myriad content sources. Plus it supports Panasonic's Viera Connect online platform, and enjoys a potent-looking picture engine that includes a '600Hz' motion system and an IPS panel designed to support wider viewing angles than standard 'VA' panels.
If you can live without 3D, you can save yourself a few bob by stepping down to Panasonic's E6 series. These TVs use a VA panel and have less potent motion processing, but as our recent review of the 42-inch L42E6 proves, they're still rather good. A fact which raises expectations for the ET60 series sky high.
Above the ET60 series in Panasonic's range are the DT65 series, which adds local dimming to the TV specification, and the WT65 series, which further adds Panasonic's most advanced motion processing system ever, delivering a 3600Hz effect.
In terms of products from rival brands, it's a difficult call at the moment because so many of the big brands have only just started launching their new 2013 ranges. But interesting, still-available (at the time of writing) 2012 models you might want to check out would be the Samsung UE55ES8000, and the Sony KDL-55HX753.

Features

Panasonic first introduced its Metal & Glass design concept in 2012 but only applied it to its two top-tier LCD series, the WT50 and DT50s. Happily, though, the concept has been both refined for 2012 and extended further down the range, so that it now sits glamorously around the 55-inch screen of the mid-range L55ET60.
And when we say 'glamorously', we mean it. The glinting light silver metallic finish of what little there is of the super-slim bezel looks delightful, as does the sliver of see-through material that angles out from the bottom edge. Even the silvery stand is a significant cut above the mid-range norm.
Connectivity is decent rather than outstanding, with highlights of three HDMIs, two USBs, an SD card slot, integrated Wi-Fi and a VGA computer port. A fourth HDMI would have been appreciated, and we're also increasingly starting to see three USBs on today's multimedia savvy TVs. Still, we must remember that the L55ET60 is ultimately a mid-range model, however high-end it might look.

You can play back multimedia files from USB sticks or networked DLNA computers, as well as going online with Panasonic's Viera Connect platform. Among the most interesting services on this are Netflix, Acetrax, the BBC iPlayer, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Eurosport, BBC Sport, BBC News and - with the addition of an optional extra camera - Skype.
There are currently no apps for LoveFilm, ITV Player, 4OD, BlinkBox and Demand Five, but hopefully some if not all of these services will arrive on Viera Connect at some point.
The L55ET60 does a brilliant job of helping you access all your content via its new My Home Screen interface, which we'll have a closer look at in the Usability section.
Turning next to the L55ET60's screen specifications, the first thing to report is that it's a 3D TV, employing LG's passive system (where a polarising filter is placed across the front of the screen). Four pairs of passive glasses have been included free.
It's a full HD screen - as you would expect these days - made using the IPS LCD panel technology designed to deliver a slightly wider viable viewing angle than VA panel types. Excellent though this sounds, however, past experience suggests that using IPS panels can result in less impressive contrast performances than you get from VA panels...
A combination of a native 100Hz panel with a 6-segment scanning backlight, meanwhile, delivers an impressive-sounding 600Hz effect, hopefully keeping LCD's common motion blur problems to a minimum.
When it comes to video processing, the L55ET60 is powered by Panasonic's V-Real 3D Pro engine, which is responsible for the TV's motion processing options, noise reduction tools, and dynamic backlight control system - all of which can have their power levels individually adjusted to suit your tastes and the requirements of different types of source material.
As a side point, it's a real relief to note that Panasonic has put right a key omission of its 2012 LCD TV settings by including a backlight adjustment. This makes calibrating pictures much easier and more effective.

Picture Quality

The L55ET60's pictures are startlingly good at times, especially with 3D. But they also suffer a fairly significant flaw that serious film fans in particular will find hard to ignore.
Starting with the good stuff, the L55ET60's brightness levels are intense, delivering levels of instantly appealing punch that it's hard to believe are being produced from an edge-LED lighting system tucked behind such a puny bezel.
This extreme brightness proves extremely handy when it comes to the L55ET60's colour reproduction, too, driving tones across an agreeably wide spectrum right out of the screen without, critically, allowing the picture to lose tonal subtlety or become gaudy and unnatural.
The L55ET60's core colour tone is a touch warmer than that of the Panasonic L42E6 and other VA-type panel TVs. But far from being a bad thing, the L55ET60's slightly redder tone actually ends up sitting quite nicely with the sort of calibrated tones generally best suited to Blu-ray and DVD playback.

Another excellent aspect of the L55ET60's performance is its motion handling. The backlight scanning system manages to greatly reduce both the judder and resolution loss complaints usually suffered by LCD screens, and it does so without causing the image to look unstable or over-processed - so long, at least, as you keep the set's motion control options on a relatively low power setting.
Even if you don't want to use the motion processing at all the L55ET60 remains more accomplished with motion than most - a fact which also helps it deliver images of good - though not quite outstanding - clarity and sharpness. It's important to stress, mind you, that this clarity isn't pushed so hard by the L55ET60 that pictures break down into grittiness or other types of 'harsh' noise.
The efficacy of the L55ET60's processing engine can be seen in its reproduction of standard definition pictures too, as they're re-rendered up to the screen's native full HD resolution very pleasantly. We've seen some rival TVs make standard def sources look sharper, perhaps, but the L55ET60 sensibly works within its limitations by taking a gentler approach to adding detail that takes care not to add too much picture noise to proceedings.

Strong 3D playback

The L55ET60's single strongest area, though, has to be its 3D playback. Its 3D pictures suffer with practically zero crosstalk ghosting noise and enjoy extreme levels of colour punch and brightness - the latter being achieved, crucially, without dark 3D images being afflicted by the sort of backlight clouding woes still painfully common with edge-LED LCD TVs.
The lack of crosstalk helps 3D pictures on the L55ET60 enjoy a real crispness despite the fact that resolution levels aren't as high as those you get with good-quality active 3D TVs. The sense of space in the L55ET60's 3D images is deftly handled and credible too, and as we've often found before, the passive 3D format is generally more relaxing to watch for extended periods of time than the active format - especially if your room is routinely quite bright.
The L55ET60 isn't immune to passive 3D's weaknesses, though. In fact, its relatively large screen rather emphasises them. So it is that you can sometimes see faint traces of horizontal line structure from the polarising filter over very bright parts of the image, as well as jaggedness over small objects or contoured edges. For many people, though - especially families - the relative simplicity and affordability (given the provision of four free pairs of glasses) of the passive format makes perfect sense.
You're probably starting to wonder at this point about the the flaw in the L55ET60's picture make up mentioned earlier. So let's get into that now, as we put Panasonic's 55-inch mid-ranger through its paces with dark scenes.
The problem is that the L55ET60 just can't render the colour black with as much richness and authenticity as some of its rival TVs. Dark scenes thus tend to appear rather grey and misty, which inevitably prevents them from looking as natural and authentic as bright scenes.
Panasonic has provided a solid set of tools with which you can try to tackle the set's black level shortcomings. Engaging the adaptive backlight system can result in a generally more satisfyingly deep black tone, and we'd also recommend splurging down the backlight setting to as little as a third of its maximum value.
Taking these measures does result, though, in a significant reduction in the image's previously attractive brightness - as well as leading to a loss of detail in dark areas. Furthermore, no matter what we tried, dark scenes still looked a little grey compared with the best LCD and especially plasma TVs out there.
To put all this in perspective, the L55ET60's black level averageness isn't a big problem for much of your viewing time, given normal broadcast TV's preference for bright, colourful images. It's worth adding, too, that the L55ET60's contrast holds up better from wide viewing angles than that of many of its peers.
All the same, the L55ET60's contrast flaws could certainly could become an irritation to people who like to dim their lights for intense movie experiences from time to time.
The average black levels could also be a concern for serious gamers - as, sadly, will the the L55ET60's rather high input lag figure. Our tests produced a lag reading of 65ms on average, which is certainly high enough to reduce your abilities with timing- and speed-sensitive games.

Usability

The dominant factor here is Panasonic's My Home Screen interface. This is inspired, frankly, in the way it manages to give you easy-to-follow and even personalised access to all the online/multimedia/tuner/DLNA PC sources the L55ET60 is a portal too.
It works by providing a series of pre-established 'home screens' with different focusses (Lifestyle, information, TV) as well as allowing you - and other family members - to build your own individual home screens, populated by links to only the apps and services you most use.
The menus are cleanly presented, respond quickly to your navigation, and are easy to follow. Even building your own home screen is remarkably simple, taking just a couple of minutes.
Also hugely appreciated are the lengths Panasonic goes to to make sure you understand how to use the L55ET60 right out of the box, via a series of written and spoken tutorials that kick in when you first boot the TV up. Thanks to these and the helpful layout of the menus, we never felt even confused by anything in the L55ET60's menus.

This thoughtful approach stands in stark contrast to the inscrutability of Samsung's brilliant but daunting 2013 Smart TV interface.
The L55ET60's standard remote control is decent, meanwhile, not least because of its well-emphasised buttons for quickly accessing Apps and the Home Screens. However, if you have an Android of iOS smartphone or tablet, we'd strongly recommend that you download Panasonic's Viera Remote 2 app, which does a mostly excellent job of enabling you to share content from your device to the screen; share video from the TV to the portable device; control the TV; or even input voice commands and text to the TV via your smart device's built-in mic.
The separate menu system you have to use to adjust the L55ET60's pictures, sound etc is more bland than the rest of Panasonic's operating system, but it's still easy to use for the most part.

Sound

While the L42E6 only had a stereo speaker system, the L55ET60 enjoys a 2.1 set up, with an additional bass speaker. While this sounds promising on paper, though, it doesn't make as profound a difference to the L55ET60's performance as we would have liked.
There is a touch more bass underpinning the mid-range, and the set can go a bit louder before starting to succumb to distortions and overt muddiness. But the L55ET60's audio system still struggles to expand to accommodate action scenes, and sounds a bit unnatural with deep masculine voices.

Value

The L55ET60's £1500 price tag isn't steep by any means for a TV that offers the most user-friendly smart interface in town along with a pretty extensive set of multimedia playback options, a gorgeous design and frequently very enjoyable 2D and 3D picture quality.
However, the value argument is damaged a bit for serious film fans by the L55ET60's difficulties with dark scenes - especially given that Panasonic's new set is currently having to share shelf space with some excellent and now heavily discounted 2012 TVs.

Verdict

Panasonic's entry level 55-inch 3D TV for 2013 cuts a mighty handsome figure. What there is of the L55ET60's unfeasibly skinny bezel looks a shimmering vision in its silvery metal finish with glass accents.
The L55ET60 also sets a brilliant early tone with its superb My Home Screen interface, which has to be the most friendly and well-designed Smart TV 'hub' system we've seen to date.
Even the TV's picture quality strikes a good early note thanks to its high brightness, bold approach to colours, and excellent motion performance.
The L55ET60 is ultimately just fetched up short of an unbridled recommendation, though, by a combination of its rather short list of online video streaming services, and its underwhelming contrast performance.

We liked

There are precious few prettier 55-inch TVs around this year, and nor does any other TV offer a more user-friendly operating system. The set's multimedia and smart device support is mostly excellent too, and its 3D pictures are great fun.

We disliked

Dark scenes reveal a rather average black level performance, and it would be handy if Panasonic could get round to adding a few more online video services at some point. Gamers should take note of the L55ET60's rather high input lag, too.

Final Verdict

The L55ET60's premium looks provide a beautiful disguise for its mid-range status, and if there's a friendlier Smart TV in town right now, we haven't met it. It caters well for your multimedia needs too, and there's much to admire about its picture quality - especially its bold colours, excellent motion clarity, and brilliantly relaxing, engaging 3D images.
In the end we can only award it a final score of four on account, mainly, of its merely solid contrast performance. But Panasonic's TV is still worth at least an audition by all but the most serious of film fans.

Also Consider

With no comparative new 2013 models available at the time of writing, the rival sets that currently most warrant your attention are actually 2012 models - especially now these are being fairly heavily discounted in some online stores.
One example would be Samsung's UE55ES7000. This offers an equally lovely design, and outguns the L55ET60 in the picture quality department thanks to its excellent post-calibration contrast performance. It also delivers a considerably wider range of video streaming services - though its viewing angle is more limited, and Panasonic's online/multimedia interface is much better.
Sony's 55HX753 would be our other worthwhile rival. This set doesn't deliver quite the same level of picture quality as Sony's exemplary HX853s, but its black levels are slightly deeper than the L55ET60's and it offers a more video-rich online platform. Its interface falls far short of Panasonic's, though, and the Panasonic's passive 3D playback is ultimately more rewarding than the active system on the Sony.

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Week in Science: The batteries that charge 1,000 times quicker and last 10 times longer

Batteries have been shoved well and truly into the spotlight this week. From sulphur and voltage spikes, to a battery technology breakthrough that could produce cells which fully charge in minutes and last for days rather than hours.
If that wasn't exciting enough, we've got black holes, super nanosuits, and the real reason we love beer, all waiting for you in another exciting Week in Science.
Microarray batteries could charge 1,000 times quicker -- Scientists may have finally made the massive breakthrough in battery technology we've all been waiting for. Miniaturisation is the key here; essentially researchers have created ranks of microbatteries, producing many, many 3D electrodes combining intertwined anodes and cathodes at the microscale. That creates a much higher surface area to volume ratio, and means that electrons don't have far to flow to complete the circuit and therefore output power quicker to where it's needed.
The result is a battery that fully charges in minutes and lasts 10 times longer than current lithium-ion cells, something that would certainly boost battery life by miles in our smartphones. Unfortunately, the battery isn't quite ready for primetime, given a few safety concerns including a flammable electrolyte, but this could be the breakthrough that finally brings batteries up to scratch with the rest modern technology. [Nature Communications]
Next-generation batteries could stink like rotten eggs -- Miniaturisation may be the next hot battery technology, but sulphur might be the new material to boost it even further. A new technique called inverse vulcanisation creates new polymers out of a liquid sulphur mix, creating a new material for the potential construction of cathodes. Current generation sulphur-based batteries, although they provide good power density and low rates of self-discharge, quickly eat up their sulphur cathodes. The hope is that this new cathode sulphur polymer will solve that issue, beating lithium-ion batteries in almost all respects. While more research is clearly needed, soon your batteries could be sulphur-powered as well as being tiny. [Nature Chemistry]
Spikes throw your sensors for six -- If leaps in battery tech weren't enough this week, it seems the way you charge you current cell could make a difference to its life after all. Unlike nickel-cadmium or nickel-hydride batteries, lithium-ion batteries are meant to be able to be topped up whenever -- they don't have a memory of charge. However, new research suggests that incomplete charging and discharging does have an effect on battery life. Surprising spikes in voltage were seen from incomplete charges of batteries, meaning capacity sensors were thrown way off. That could result in your phone, or more importantly, your car, thinking you have more juice than you do in your battery, running flat without warning before you get home.
Thankfully, now that we know it's going on, battery capacity sensors can be adapted, something that's obviously pretty pressing and crucial for the burgeoning electric car market. [Nature Materials]
Microneedles could be the new staples -- Modern medicine really isn't all that modern sometimes -- we still use what are essentially staples to hold skin grafts and wounds together. But taking a bite out of nature, a new patch littered with microneedles could be the next generation of wound repair patch. Mimicking the spiny head of a parasitic worm, the patch's needles penetrate the surrounding skin to hold things in place. A thin hydrogel coating then swells to anchor all the needles and flesh together when in contact with water. The patches proved to have three times the adhesion strength of surgical staples, and could have far-reaching medical applications. Soon you could be patched up by something derived from a parasite, which could even deliver drugs into your system. [Nature Communications]

The first ever-lab grown kidney actually works -- Medical science made a huge breakthrough this week with the first ever working transplant of a kidney wholly grown. It was grown in just two weeks in a lab from a combination of human stem cells and rat kidney cells. The kidney was inserted into a rat where it was capable of filtering urine just like a natural kidney could. Unfortunately, it only managed 10 per cent efficiency, but it's a start. The next step is to try the same thing in pigs, which have very similar vascular systems to our own, and to get the efficiency up. It's a little while away yet, but kidneys grown to order might soon be available for human transplant, and that really will be revolutionary. [Nature]
Anti-cancer scientist jailed for faking results -- The first scientist to be convicted in the UK for breach of scientific safety laws, has just been jailed for three months. Steven Eaton, who worked for pharmaceutical firm Aptuit, was prosecuted under the 1999 Good Laboratory Practice Regulations for falsifying test results from an in-research anti-cancer drug. By selectively reporting results, he was able to show that the drug had passed tests, when indeed it had failed. The court was told that the drug could have easily caused irreparable damage to cancer patients if it had been cleared for sale. It just goes to show that there's greed and dishonesty within science, just as there is within any other industry. [BBC]

Pleasure and beer go hand-in-hand -- The reason why so many of us love beer has finally been unearthed. It's been known for a long time that alcohol releases dopamine to tickle our pleasure centres, but now the mere taste of beer has been proven to produce a similar, but totally separate response. A study that sprayed just 15ml of beer onto the tongues of volunteers showed large spikes in dopamine levels within minutes of tasting the beer. That triggers our reward response, the same one that's also initiated when you sleep or have sex, and is one of the reasons why you get cravings for beer.
The researchers also discovered that people with a history of alcoholism in the family got a much bigger surge in dopamine levels in the brain when tasting beer. That might explain why some people are predisposed to alcoholism, and find it much harder to kick the habit. [Neuropsychopharmacology]

Nano-suits could be the new spacesuits -- What if you could be protected from the harsh vacuous environment of space by just an impossibly thin layer, like an invisible micro spacesuit. That's what researchers accidentally discovered when they bombarded a worm with electrons in the vacuum of an electron microscope. The electrons imparted energy onto the outside skin of the worm, causing it to polymerise into a nanoscopic protective layer, allowing the worm to move and survive normally in a vacuum.
Researchers then found they could create artificial nano-suits using compounds coated onto the outside of insects in a similar manner. Scientists think that this kind of nano-suit technology could be adapted to create new spacesuits and other protective gear against the deadly environment of space. An invisible shield, barely the width of a human hair, sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, but could turn out to be a very real possibility. [Science]

Flash, and a black hole is born -- Black holes are so named because you can't actually see them. They're black, appearing invisible in space, because they absorb all light and other electromagnetic waves, as well as all matter. However, it seems a burst of neutrinos given off by the formation of a new singularity, as a star simply implodes, might be the key to spotting them. As the neutrinos are ejected, the core of the star suddenly becomes lighter, which in turn fires a shockwave through the star's outer layers. This sends them flying off into space, glowing brightly as they do so. That process creates enough of a flash of light for us to see back here on Earth, allowing us to witness the birth of a new all-consuming black hole. [New Scientist]

Fancy eating a tree for dinner? -- Scientists have managed to transform indigestible cellulose, what you might call fibre in your diet, into one of our staple foods, starch. Cellulose and starch are both made of chains of glucose, differing only in the way the chains are constructed. Using synthetic enzymes, researchers were able to essentially convert cellulose into starch, which is a far harder prospect than it sounds. The resulting material can then be process into all sorts of things, potentially including food, or a new source of biofuel to keep our engines running. [PNAS]

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In Depth: 10 ways Outlook.com beats Gmail

Microsoft has been pushing hard to let people know Outlook is still alive. This might come as a surprise to Gmail users, who long ago abandoned personal folders, desktop apps and maybe even the Blue Screen of Death (say, by switching to a Chromebook Pixel).
Yet, even for the Gmail elite, there are still a few reasons to consider using Outlook.com. In fact, some of them might just be compelling enough for a corporate worker or someone tied into Microsoft products.
Here are 10 ways Outlook.com beats Gmail, all good reasons why Gmail may not be as good as Outlook for you.

1. No email scanning

This is the basis for Microsoft's Scroogled campaign and a big reason to consider switching. If you are discussing yachts with your brother-in-law, you'll start seeing ads about yachts. In Outlook.com, this does not happen. To be fair, many of us have decided to live with the intrusion and mostly trust Google when it says the information in our emails will never get into the wrong hands. (In a statement released to TechRadar, Google said the ads keep the service free, that no human ever sees private emails, and that an algorithm determines what we see.)

2. Inline photo slideshows

Granted, this one won't suddenly boost your productivity, but Outlook.com does allow you to view attached images as a slideshow. It's a bit annoying because you have to install Silverlight first. Once you do, you click a link to view images as a slideshow. Slick.

3. Personal folders

Maybe you gave these up back in the late 90s. Having folders where you place related emails can be handy, although Google would say it is inefficient. (With Gmail labels, you're not just grouping emails but you are making them much more searchable.)

4. Direct Microsoft Office support

Big surprise here, right? Both Outlook.com and Gmail can open and edit Office documents just fine, but the big difference is in file compatibility. Outlook.com can open a Word doc in Skydrive and shows the familiar Word interface. You can then download the Word doc, make edits, re-upload to the cloud, and re-send through Outlook in the native format, with no exporting or format glitches.

5. Email aliases

This is another minor difference, but one that could help some users. In Outlook.com, you can add an alias that is directly tied (aka, a clone of) your main email address. For example, if you use technoguy1 you can also use technoguy2 and receive email into the same account. Gmail gives you many forwarding and multi-inbox options and even enables you to switch accounts entirely using a pop-up menu in Google Chrome, but it doesn't quite have the same alias feature.

6. Exchange ActiveSync support

Gmail dropped support for EAS in January, encouraging business users to switch to the paid Google Apps service. Exchange ActiveSync is designed for corporate users to keep contacts, mail and calendar in sync with a corporate email server. As you might expect, Outlook.com works seamlessly with Exchange, and entirely for free. That said, Microsoft Exchange itself is not exactly free for businesses.

7. Contact sync with LinkedIn

Outlook.com syncs with LinkedIn (and Facebook and Twitter) for contacts. The feature is the most helpful when it comes to seeing more more information about a contact, such as their place of work and a photo. The info pops up right in the message view. Of course, you can do the same thing with an add-on such as Rapportive in Gmail.

8. Chat with Facebook friends

Another big differentiator, one that shows how Google sometimes only works in a closed system (eg, with Google+), is that you can chat with friends who are on Facebook right from the Outlook.com inbox. Again, this may not have a life-changing effect on your day, but it is a sign that Outlook.com is trying to be a little more socially connected.

9. Message alerts

Outlook.com syncs with Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. That's handy for contact management, but there's another perk. In your inbox, you'll get a reminder email about birthdays for contacts. This can be a little intrusive if you have mostly "fake" friends on social networks, but can save your skin if it is your spouse.

10. Fewer ads

Here's one based on our own personal experience and backed up by Microsoft statistics. Outlook.com shows fewer ads. For example, you won't see ads pop up above email exchanges. Microsoft says there are 60% fewer ads overall.

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Review: LaCie XtremKey

Having a small and portable USB flash drive capable of carrying around most of your important files is all well and good, but the more you take it out, the more likely it is you'll accidentally damage the drive - putting your important files in danger.
The LaCie XtremKey has been designed to be as tough and resilient as possible, while still remaining relatively portable. It's water resistant up to 200 metres (656ft), can survive 10 metre (32ft) drops and can withstand being crushed by up to 10 tonnes of pressure.
It can also withstand heats as high as 200°C (392°F) for 3 minutes and freezing conditions as low as -30°C (-22°F) for 24 hours, thanks to its ZAMAC metal alloy body.
While it's not small, it's not unbearably chunky either, and the design is certainly slick and eye catching. Though we didn't start a fire or go diving to really put the LaCie XtremKey through its paces, it certainly felt to us like a solidly built device that you could safely store your files on.
AES 256-bit encryption protects your files from dangers that the reinforced body could not, and 32GB of online secure storage is also included via LaCie's Wuala service.
Read and write speeds were good, with 203.18MB/s sequential read speeds and 85.82MB/s sequential writes.

Verdict

It might not be for everyone, but if you want a solid USB flash drive to keep your files safe when you're in extreme - or at least mildly perilous - situations, then the LaCie XtremKey is a robust and well-designed bit of kit.

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Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar

This week we've looked at the HTC First, the first phone with Facebook Home pre-installed as well as Nokia's bottom-rung Lumia, the 520.
We've also got hands on with the new Kobo reader as well as TomTom's brand new Sport watch.
So let's get stuck in. Here's our round-up of the hottest tech we've played with this week.
Nokia Lumia 520
The Nokia Lumia 520 is Nokia's fifth Windows Phone 8 handset. It's a phone which slots into the very bottom end of the range, just below the Nokia Lumia 620. And we do mean just below - the specs of the 520 and 620 are remarkably similar, meaning that Nokia's main competition at the bottom end of the market is itself. Otherwise, its biggest rival is likely to be the recently launched Huawei Ascend W1 - a low-end handset that we're rather fond of.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 review
With the Galaxy Note 8.0, which bridges the space between the Note 2 and Tab 2 10.1, it's clear that Samsung is continuing its approach of throwing out as many devices as it can in an effort to catch as many consumers as it can. The question is, do the customers care about all this subtle differentiation, or is Samsung just creating confusion in an oversaturated market? A scaled up Samsung Galaxy Note 2 it may be, but there are a lot of positives on offer thanks to that larger screen.

HTC First review
Facebook is so big, so everywhere, so omnipresent that it's already on everyone's phone, but apparently that's not enough for the sharing mogul. Now Facebook has decided to completely take over devices with Facebook Home, and has collaborated with HTC to create the HTC First, a phone meant to show just what that experience can be. The First moniker comes from being the first phone with Facebook Home preloaded. It's a well built, unassuming little handset, nowhere near as big, flashy or as fast as the quad-core HTC One.

Hands on: TomTom Multi-Sport GPS Watch review
TomTom has always been about getting from A to B in the fastest, simplest way. So the announcement that it would be focusing more on the space in between those points was a surprise to many, despite the fact that TomTom's mapping system makes its GPS watch feel like a no-brainer in many ways. But with wearable tech the current hot topic of discussion, the initial surprise around TomTom's sports watch has rapidly turned into intrigue. So TechRadar got wrist-on and personal to see whether TomTom could bring its solid reputation as a mapping service to the realm of sports tech.

Nikon Coolpix P520 review
Competition in the bridge camera market at the moment is pretty fierce. It's one of the only growing segments in the compact camera market, as users look for something much more advanced than their phone, especially in regards to zoom functionality. It's a bit of an oxymoron that bridge cameras are lumped into the compact genre when, in actuality, many of them are roughly the same size as entry-level DSLRs. Where the difference lies, however, is in the size of the sensor. The Nikon P520 houses an 18 million pixel, 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor. This is the same size as those found in many "normal" compact cameras. However, where this camera, and other cameras of its type, trumps the larger sensored DSLR is the zoom flexibility.

This week's other reviews

Cameras
Nikon Coolpix A review
Panasonic Lumix GF6 review
Nikon Coolpix P330 review
Ricoh GR review
Accessories
Thrustmaster Y-250C review
Klipsch Image ONE (II) review
Chrome Sentinel Laptop Backpack review
SteelSeries World of Warcraft Wireless MMO Mouse review
Mobile phones
Motorola Razr HD review
Samsung Galaxy Mega review
Networking kit
Archos TV Connect review
Devolo dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ review
Speakers
Edifier e10 Exclaim review
Storage
LaCie Blade Runner 4TB review
Transcend Wi-Fi SD Card review
Tablets and ereaders
Archos ChildPad review
Amazon Kindle Fire HD review
Kobo Aura HD review

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