Sony announces super light 30x zoom camera
The Sony HX50 is the world's smallest and lightest digital camera to feature a 30x optical zoom. It's also equipped with image stabilisation, which Sony says is twice as effective as the Cyber-Shot HX200V, the camera's predecessor.
A 20.4 million pixel Exmor R CMOS sensor is joined by a Bionz processor, which claims to deliver high quality images, even in low light shooting conditions. The Sony Cyber-Shot HX50's sensor is a 1/2.3-inch sized device.
A high speed autofocusing system is said to be capable of capturing quick moments even at full zoom. Speed is claimed to be twice as quick as on the Sony HX200V.
The 30x optical zoom lens gives an equivalent focal length of 24-720mm in 35mm terms. At the widest point of the lens it boasts a maximum aperture of f/3.5, rising up to f/6.3 at the telephoto end.
Aimed at more advanced photographers as well as those attracted by the high zoom ratio, a dedicated dial is included for adjusting exposure compensation, along with a mode dial for manual shooting settings such as P/A/S/M modes.
Add ons
Optional accessories, such as an electronic viewfinder (EVF), flash or microphone can be attached via a Multi Interface Shoe. Full HD video recording at 50p is available. At the back of the camera is a 3-inch, 921,6000 dot Xtra Fine TFT LCD screen.Sony claims that the X-type lithium-ion battery onboard the HX50 is capable of delivering up to 400 shots from a single charge, despite being physically smaller than any of its predecessors.
Nine different picture effects are included to experiment with, while three are available in Intelligent Sweep Panorama mode. Four different movie effects are available.
Inbuilt Wi-Fi and GPS are included, which is likely to be an added attraction to the travelling photographer.
The Sony HX50 price has yet to be determined, but it will be available to buy from May.
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Malta bella: AMD is ready to unleash Radeon HD 7990 GPU
If you were lucky enough to pile into San Francisco's Metreon Theater during GDC 2013 last month, you saw the world's first demo of Battlefield 4, projected loud and proud on the big screen.
A much less publicized debut was also taking place, albeit behind the scenes: AMD's new Radeon HD 7990 graphics card, a.k.a. Malta, powered Battlefield, marking the GPU's own public premiere.
Now, AMD is ready to take the rope off this graphics card bad boy and today announced specs, availability and pricing for what it claims is the world's fastest GPU.
Priced at $999 (no word on international pricing), the HD 7990 is an item meant for the enthusiast crowd. Filled with 8.6 billion transistors, 4096 stream processor and 8.2 TFLOPS of computer power, this dual-card package is a lean, mean, processing machine.
Give me G-P-U
A thousand big ones is a lot to fork over for anything, but AMD flushed the 7990 with as much power as possible.In addition to the aforementioned specs, the GPU comes with 6GB of GDDR5 memory and AMD claimed it can run five simultaneous monitors in one go.
Naturally, the 7990 needs fans to cool it down while it's cooking, so AMD has topped it off with three fans specially designed to be whisper quiet (37 dBa) while also including a large heat sink.
All the hardware amounts to some impressive game play, according to AMD's estimates.
The company asserts the 7990 is the only card that can run Crysis 3 at 3840 x 2160 with max settings cranked up. Tomb Raider can also play at 3840 x 2160 on max mode plus Tress FX.
What's more, the company's tests found the 7990 bested Nvidia's GTX 690 in a 4K resolution fight.
There is an extra incentive to purchase it…well, make that eight incentives.
The card comes bundled with eight free games: BioShock Infinite, Tomb Raider, Crysis 3, Far Cry 3, Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon, Sleeping Dogs and Deus Ex Human Revolution.
The titles will be available within the 7990's product box in any region the bundle is available, AMD noted. Online retailers will start selling the GPU two weeks from today.
It may not be a Battlefield demo, but this should give you a good idea of the kind of card AMD is working with.
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opinion: Does Google Glass spell the end of the public urinal?
Young boys learn from a tender age that there are two types of blokes in this world: the ones who use the urinal and the ones who steal away to a stall for a bit of privacy.
But with Google Glass soon to be photographing you with a wink, will all boys queue for the stalls to keep their pictures off the internet?
If you think people would have the decency to remove their camera-attached goggles while sharing a bathroom with strangers, you'd be wrong.
Although there are only a limited number of the devices in use at the moment, we already have a public confession of Glass being used in the water closet.
Blogger, author and former Microsoft tech evangelist Robert Scoble composed a tweet this week, saying "Yes, I do wear Google Glass into public restrooms. So far no trouble." Some might say that wearing Glass in the toilet is the trouble.
Who watches the watchers?
A debate about privacy will naturally develop out of this and similar Glass concerns. Some public places, notably strip clubs, have already started to inform customers that Google Glass will not be welcome when it is commercially released later in the year, and this could be just the beginning.But, should this be something that individual business owners need to decide and enforce themselves? Or should we expect legislation that helps define what is Glass-appropriate and what is not?
Google chairman Eric Schmidt is currently lobbying to have restrictions put on how drone-style remote controlled helicopters can be used, as many of these now have cameras, and he sees this as a privacy concern.
Surely, if he is concerned about helicopters flying over his back fence and filming him sunbathing he is also concerned about the man standing beside him in the bathroom with futuristic spectacles?
Then again, maybe this could be the dawning of a new age in our thinking about privacy. It may seem strange that we should have cameras on our heads documenting our lives, but maybe it is stranger for us to still be sharing our ablutions with strangers.
Why is it that we'd be unhappy to have this moment published online, but we are happy to share it with whoever happens to be feeling the same urge at the same time?
On second thought, scrap that last suggestion. Wearing a camera in the bathroom is just creepy, regardless of whether it's made by Google or you pick it up from a "spy supply" shop online.
There will no doubt be some common sense rules about when to wear Glass, and when to take it off, but expect governments around the world to step in quickly too.
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INTERVIEW: Launching ebooks was a 'no-brainer' says JB Hi-Fi
JB Hi-Fi is not a brand synonymous with ebooks. At least not yet. The electronics retailer made headlines this week, surprising Australians by launching the Now Books store, alongside iOS and Android ereader apps.
But while the move into digital books surprised pundits - a market so tough that neither Dymocks nor Borders could compete in the local market against internet behemoth Amazon and its Kindle lineup- for JB Hi-Fi, it was a natural evolution of the business.
"The retail book category, at over $2.5 billion in Australia, is bigger than DVDs and CDs combined, and ebook popularity is growing rapidly because of connected devices like tablets and smartphones," says Scott Browning, Marketing Director at JB Hi-Fi.
"As JB is the biggest seller of tablets and EPUB DRM ereaders in Australia, this [move] is a 'no-brainer'. Ebooks are a natural growth extension of the home entertainment digital content offering (for us) as our regular customers are already heavily engaged with ebooks in particular," he says.
What's more, the launch of an ebook store offers JB an opportunity to engage its customers, linking its ereader hardware sales with the digital store through its significant gift card program.
With over 250,000 books at launch and 100,000 set to "arrive soon", JB has managed to get all the major Australian publishers on board, and is now working with minor publishers to expand the offering. Thanks to the safety of Adobe's ebook DRM, Browning doesn't expect any disadvantage with the availability of titles from publishers either.
"The Adobe DRM was considered to be the most platform agnostic and resilient consumer option as it allowed us to develop established solutions for PC, Mac, iOS, Android and some of the more popular ereaders like Kobo," Browning explains.
A digital shift
One of the more interesting aspects of the Now Book store launch wasn't so much that it happened, but that it indicated a real shift in JB's approach to content. Following on from the launch of Now Music back in December 2011, it seems that the bricks and mortar retail store is coming to grips with the realities of digital distribution faster than its competitors."[JB Hi-Fi] has always looked closely at the relationship between the devices we sell and the consumption behaviours they support," explains Browning.
"[That could be] selling CDs with audio equipment, DVDs with DVD players, Blu-ray with hi-def TVs, games with consoles, headphones with iPods and now digital content with connected mobility such as tablets and smartphones."
"Little has changed in our DNA from that perspective as these are logical steps in our model to evolve in step with our customers," Browning adds.
With that in mind, it seems only logical that the next step for JB would be a move into digital video distribution. And with platforms like UltraViolet making that a somewhat easier proposition for a retailer, it's not impossible to imagine a JB Hi-Fi digital video platform in the near future.
"Video on demand and UltraViolet redemption are definitely other logical extensions and it's a case of watch this space for now," teases Browning.
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Australia's cheapest Samsung Galaxy S4
Samsung's Galaxy S4 World Tour landed in Sydney last night, with the electronics giant announcing that the handset will be available in Australia from Saturday April 27.
It will be available at Samsung stores and the big electronics chains outright for $899 for a 16GB model. All of the major local telcos will be ranging the phone too.
With so little time to make a decision, we're done the legwork in helping you find the best value plans for what will surely be one of this year's most popular phones.
We'll look at the middle rate plans for each of the carriers, which sits at about $60 a month. But, remember that the telcos also offer the phone at plans at both ends of this price: cheaper plans with fewer inclusions and more expensive plans with more data and unlimited calls and messaging.
Virgin Mobile: as the underdog in this race for your GS4 dollars, Virgin has the most competitive rates. $66 a month will cover the plan and handset repayments for the GS4, and buy you 3GB of data a month, $700 worth of calls (at $2.38 for a 2-minute call) and unlimited text messaging.
And, in case you've forgotten, Virgin is owned by Optus and shares its network, so you get the same coverage as with Optus, including 4G services.
Vodafone: with 4G services starting in just a few months, the GS4 is bound to be a big deal to the folks at Vodafone. As such, they are offering an extra 1GB of data for the first 12-months on plans of $60p/m or higher. Including handset repayments you'll pay $65 and get 2.5GB of data for the first 12-month, 1.5GB thereafter. You also get $650 worth of calls (charged at $2.36 for a 2-minute call), unlimited calls to other Vodafone customers and unlimited text messaging.
Optus: for one reason or another, Optus isn't choosing to be particularly persuasive with its GS4 pricing. You'll pay $67 per month for a GS4 plan, with 1.5GB of data each month, $650 worth of calls (charged at $2.15 per 2-minutes) and unlimited text. You can also make unlimited calls to other Optus phone numbers.
Telstra: with the bulk of Australia's mobile subscribers on its network, Telstra probably doesn't need to be that competitive. And, it isn't. We haven't seen the telco's $60 plans for the GS4, but for $87 (including the handset repayment) you're getting similar inclusions to the plans from the competition: 1.5GB data, $800 worth of calls and unlimited text.
Telstra is also selling the phone outright for $816, which is a fair bit cheaper than the official price from Samsung.
There are better deals still if you shop online for an unlocked handset. Kogan is selling the GS4 (16GB, Black) for $799. Mobicity is advertising the Octa-core version of the phone for the same price, or the 4G version (the same as the model sold by the telcos) for $829.
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PS4 share button pitch proves Sony is listening to developers
The idea behind the PS4's DualShock 4 share button is being credited to a first-party developer, which is further proof that Sony is listening to its game developers this time around.
"I think it was [creative director] Nathan Gary in Santa Monica studios who suggested it," said Sony's President of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida to Edge Magazine.
"How about adding a dedicated button on the controller so that everybody can just press that button to share?" he said of Gary's pitch.
Yoshida mentioned that Gary had been helping out with Sony Santa Monica's independent studios on the development of Journey and Unfinished Swan at the time.
The pitch involved Microsoft, sort of
Gary's idea for the DualShock 4 controller ended up being one of the highlights of the PlayStation Meeting event in New York City.The irony is that his original pitch for the PS4 controller's unique button was done using Microsoft software, when Sony's console is meant to rival the features of the new Xbox.
"So Nathan put together a Powerpoint and pitched in this Share button idea," said Yoshida.
"And we all went, that's a brilliant idea! So it was a pretty quick decision after he suggested it and I'm sure he's pretty proud of his contribution."
Yoshida said that Sony had been discussing how people should be using the PS4 system, specifically focusing on sharing as one of the central experiences.
Why Knack?
While the PS4 share button idea made sense at the PlayStation Meeting event, the reveal that didn't add up as much for gamers was the first title demoed, Knack."It was pretty intentional," said Yoshida about PS4 system architect Mark Cerny's presentation.
"We were like yeah we hate to see all the PS4 games being FPS or action-adventure or very photorealistic, you know big-budget blockbuster games."
So when Cerny approached them about a Crash Bandicoot-like game for PS4, his idea was also rubber-stamped by Sony.
Knack didn't show off the power behind the PlayStation 4 compared to other game demos like Killzone: Shadow Fall, inFamous: Second Son and Drive Club.
However, it's good to see that Sony, often-criticized for making PS3 difficult to develop for, is listening to the development community in the lead up to its next-generation console's launch.
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Panasonic reveals latest CSC with Wi-Fi and NFC
Panasonic has launched its latest compact system camera - or DSLM (Digital Single Lens Mirrorless) - the Lumix G6.
Revealed roughly a year after its predecessor, the Panasonic G5, it uses the same 16.05 million-pixel sensor but features a new Venus engine which boosts sensitivity settings up to ISO 25,600.
Further improvements have also been made to the autofocus system with "Accurate AF" and "Low Light AF" now included. Panasonic is aiming to be the industry's number one for focusing in low light.
The new Venus engine also facilitates the Panasonic G6's rapid burst shooting capability, which has been boosted to 7fps in full resolution. The camera is capable of shooting at 5fps in AF tracking mode.
A new 24p video mode has been added for a "filmic" effect when capturing full HD videos. It can also output in both AVCHD progressive and MP4 formats.
Another improvement has been made to the electronic viewfinder, which is now an OLED viewfinder. This promises to be both brighter and faster than traditional LCD finders.
Touchy-feely
On the back of the camera is a one million dot, free-angle 3-inch electro static touchpad which allows for touch focusing and touch to fire the shutter. Like with the G5, TouchPad AF enables you to use the LCD screen to focus, even while using the viewfinder.The G6 is Panasonic's second camera to feature inbuilt Wi-Fi and NFC, after the GF6 was announced earlier this month. This allows for instant communication between smartphones and tablets to control the camera remotely as well as share images online.
Panasonic says that previous generations of the camera, the Panasonic G5 and the Panasonic G3, will remain on sale throughout 2013 to give consumers a greater degree of choice.
The Panasonic G6 price will be £629/US$958/AU$934 (including 14-142mm kit lens). It will be available from the end of May.
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Panasonic introduces high-end compact with f/2.0 lens and inbuilt Wi-Fi
Panasonic's latest compact camera sits at the top of the Lumix range of fixed lens cameras. The LF1 features a 12.1 million-pixel 1/1.7 inch MOS sensor along with a fixed zoom lens.
Although some were expecting Panasonic to follow the same route as the Nikon Coolpix A and the Fuji X100S, the company has decided to stick with a small sensor for the camera.
The small and lightweight body of the Panasonic LF1 fits in a 28-200mm (35mm equivalent) Leica DC Vario Summicron lens which has a maximum aperture of f/2.0 at the wide angle of the lens.
Housing a Venus engine, the camera has a sensitivity range of ISO 80-12800. Panasonic claims that the camera is capable of producing well balanced images, even in strong contrast situations. Further enhancements to image quality come in the shape of Panasonic Noise Reduction and Edge Smoothing systems.
Full HD video recording at 50i is available, in both AVCHD Progressive and MP4 formats.
EVF
Along with a 3-inch LCD screen, a 0.2 inch electronic viewfinder is included, giving you a choice of different shooting preferences. A control ring at the base of the lens barrel allows for manual control of parameters such as aperture, shutter speed and zoom.Creative Control and Creative Retouch are available for those looking to experiment with their images. There are 15 different effects that can be used pre or post capture, while 13 of them can also be applied to panorama shots. A composition guide is also available to help get the best shot.
As with several other cameras in Panasonic's Lumix range, the LF1 includes integrated Wi-Fi and NFC technology.
Other interesting features include high-speed burst shooting (10fps), quick start-up and autofocus and a level gauge to accurately judge horizons.
The Panasonic LF1 price will be £379 (around US$576/$AU563). A release date of mid-June is expected.
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Panasonic updates G series travel lens
Panasonic has updated its 14-140mm travel lens for its range of G series cameras.
The new lens is a 10x optical zoom, and comes in a compact metal body that's smaller than the previous lens. Its 14-140mm focal length gives an equivalent, in 35mm terms, of 28-280mm making it a versatile choice for holiday and travelling photographers.
At the widest end of the lens, the maximum aperture is f/3.5, rising to f/5.6 at the telephoto end. Panasonic says that the lens has been optimised for cameras with high-speed AF such as the Panasonic G6 and Panasonic GH3.
Stable
Incorporating Panasonic's Power OIS (optical image stabiliser), the lens promises to compensate for both small and fast movements and large slow movements to shoot clear shots in different lighting conditions.The lens is the latest addition to Panasonic's Lumix G system, but it is also compatible with the Olympus range of Micro Four Thirds cameras. Currently, Micro Four Thirds cameras have the biggest choice of proprietary lenses on the market, compared with other compact system cameras.
The Panasonic 14-140mm lens price is £599/US$912/AU$891 and it will be available from the end of June.
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Hands-on review: Panasonic LF1
There's been a lot of rumour and speculation about whether Panasonic will introduce a high-end compact camera like the Panasonic LX7, but with a larger sensor. So when we saw the name of Panasonic's latest top-end compact camera, the Lumix DMC-LF1 - to gives it its full title, we wondered if the LF stood for large format. Well it doesn't, because inside the Lumix LF1 is a 1/1.7-inch sensor like the one in the LX7.
Brush aside any disappointment that that news may bring, however, because the comparatively small sensor inside the LF1 enables it to have a lens with a focal length range equivalent to 28-200mm in 35mm terms. This makes it enormously versatile and suited to for shooting a range of subjects.
The LF1's versatility is further enhanced by its sensitivity range, which is ISO 80-12,800. This enables it to shoot with long shutter speeds to blur movement and freeze movement in low light.
There's further good news with the LF1's maximum aperture which is f/2.0 at the widest point of the lens and f/5.9 at the telephoto end. This should allow depth of field to be restricted as well as allowing faster than average shutter speeds in low light.
Unlike many small compact cameras, the LF1 has a viewfinder. And rather than being a tiny direct finder that suffers from parallax error, the LF1 has an electronic viewfinder (EVF).
The benefit of an electronic viewfinder is that it displays the image as it will be captured, taking into account the exposure, white balance and colour settings.
Build and handling
Panasonic has given the LF1 a high quality look and feel. It has a flat shape, with rounded sides and has more than a passing resemblance to the Sony RX100 – although the Panasonic camera has an EVF and is just a little slimmer.To be fair to Sony, however, the RX100 has a larger (1-inch) sensor.
The LF1 is large enough to feel comfortable in your hand, but small enough to slip into a trouser pocket.
A dial on the top of the LF1 allows the shooting mode to be selected quickly and easily. The enthusiast favourite exposure modes (aperture priority, shutter priority and manual) are all present along with Program, Intelligent Auto (iA), Creative Control, Scene, Panorama and two custom setting modes.
A ring around the lens allows quick exposure adjustments to be made, with a display on the screen and in the viewfinder showing the settings being selected. In manual mode the dial on the back of the camera around the navigation controls allows full control over shutter speed as well as aperture. The two dials work well and are preferable to pressing buttons to make adjustments.
At first glance you might dismiss the LF1's viewfinder as being too small, but actually it works rather well. We have only been able to use a pre-production sample of the camera, but we think the EVF is a significant bonus. We found it gives a clear view of the scene and it should be a big advantage in bright light when it can be hard to compose images on the screen on the back of the camera.
Performance
We have used a pre-production sample of the LF1, but we were unable to save or examine any shots that we took with it. Consequently we will have to leave any comments about the quality of the images that it produces until we have a full-production sample in for testing.However, Panasonic has a good track record with its high-end and travel compact cameras such as the LX7 and TZ40. The fact that the LF1 has a Leica lens is also good news.
We were only able to use the LF1 indoors, but its autofocus system performed pretty well, finding the subject quickly and focusing without a fuss. We're looking forward to putting it through its paces soon.
Early verdict
Panasonic has created a very attractive compact camera, however, with the rise of APS-C format compact cameras such as the Fuji X100S, Nikon Coolpix A and Ricoh GR the top-end compact market is changing significantly. The LF1 will have to compete with these as well as models like the Canon G15 and Nikon P7700 which have smaller sensors.Not surprisingly, at £379/US$576/Au$563 the LF1 is significantly cheaper than either of the APS-C format cameras. Its launch price also compares favourably with the current street prices of the G15 and P7700.
The LF1 is small, but the Coolpix A and Ricoh GR aren't a huge amount bigger. However, the LF1's viewfinder is a significant addition that will be very attractive to many photographers looking for a camera that they can use in a range of lighting conditions. It is a significant step up from the viewfinder found on the Canon G15.
We think that enthusiasts will like the control layout and we're just itching to get a full production sample in for testing to see how good its images are.
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Hands-on review: Panasonic G6
Introduction
Although Panasonic has stuck with the same 16.05 million pixel Live MOS sensor in the Lumix G6 that it used in the Panasoni G5, it has used a new, more powerful Venus Engine, a better touchscreen and an improved electronic viewfinder (EVF).According to Panasonic, the compact system camera's new processing engine enables the G6 to produce better quality images, and in turn enables a wider extended sensitivity range of ISO 160-25600.
In addition, the manufacturer says the new engine enables faster autofocusing, especially in low light. Panasonic has also worked to improve the G6's ability to track moving subjects as well as boosting the maximum continuous shooting speed to 7fps.
As on the Panasonic G5, there's a collection of creative control modes with options such as Toy Camera and Pop Colour that adjust the processing of the images to give them a particular look. These are accessed via the main mode dial and can be used when shooting raw as well as JPEG files, giving you a 'clean' image as well as one with the effect applied.
In addition, there are a selection of photo styles available (Standard, Vivid, Monochrome and more) that can be selected when shooting in any of the exposure modes apart from Creative Control.
Panasonic has also given the G6 Wi-Fi connectivity, and an NFC chip means that it is possible to connect quickly and easily to other NFC devices such as an Android smartphone or tablet.
As yet Apple hasn't included an NFC chip in its iPhones, but rumours are rife that one will feature in the iPhone 5S/6.
The Panasonic G6 price will be £629 (around US$958/ AU$934) including a 14-142mm kit lens. It will be available from the end of May.
Build and handling
Panasonic has made a few subtle but pleasing changes to the appearance of the G5 for this new G6. For a start the camera looks and feels a little more serious than the Panasonic G5. The viewfinder bump is less pronounced and the texture of the body surface has changed.The silver controls on the back of the Panasonic G5 are now black on the Panasonic G6, giving it a higher quality appearance.
There are also a couple of additional function buttons, bringing the total to five physical function buttons on the back of the camera. These enable greater customisation of the Panasonic G6, making it quicker and easier to use once you've set it to your preferences.
In addition, the Panasonic G6's electronic viewfinder (EVF) has been changed to an OLED unit that is brighter than an LCD finder. Although the type of device has changed, its resolution is the same (1,440,000 dots) as the Panasonic G5's EVF.
When we used a pre-production sample camera we found its EVF provided a very clear view, with lots of sharp detail and natural colours. We were still aware that we were looking at an electronic unit rather than an optical viewfinder, but the difference is much less than it used to be and the finder provides a natural-looking image.
An electronic viewfinder (EVF) also brings the benefit of showing how the image will appear when it is captured, taking into account any changes in exposure and white balance.
Another key upgrade made for the Panasonic G6 is the switch to a 3-inch electrostatic touchscreen, which is much more sensitive than the resistive touchscreen on the Panasonic G5. This makes making settings selections and adjustments quicker than before, putting the Panasonic G6's screen's response on a par with that of the Panasonic GH3.
It's especially useful when using Touchpad AF, which enables the AF point to be selected by touching the screen while composing images in the EVF. It's a significant improvement on the Panasonic G5.
We found the main LCD screen also provides a clear view even in quite bright light, and because it is mounted on an articulating hinge it makes shooting from awkward angles much easier than normal. Touch Shutter mode, which triggers the camera to focus on the point selected by a touch on the screen and then fire the shutter, is especially useful when shooting from a very low or high angle.
At times, however, it would be helpful if the on-screen digital level could be made a bit clearer, because its not always easy to see it change from yellow to green to indicate the camera is level when the screen is being viewed from an angle.
One minor issue that we have with the Panasonic G6's controls is that the navigation buttons have a rather 'squidgy' feel and they sit low into the camera body, making them a little hard to identify with the thumb when holding the camera to the eye.
Performance
We have been able to shoot with a pre-production sample of the Panasonic G6, and despite the odd bug or two that will be ironed out before the camera comes to market, our initial impressions are very good.You can see our sample images from this initial pre-production model of the Panasonic G6 on the next page. Because the camera we used was a pre-production sample we are only able to publish images after they have been reduced in size to under 5MP.
Panasonic's claims for the G6's AF system seem to be borne out, since it is fast and accurate. We will have to investigate this further when we get a full production sample in for testing, but the Panasonic G6 seems better able to focus in low light and follow moving subjects than its predecessor.
Our images from the pre-production sample Panasonic G6 have good, natural colour, and the automatic white balance system seems to handle a range of lighting conditions well.
We are also impressed with the camera's metering performance as the Multiple zone system coped well when bright areas of sky or bright objects were in the scene.
Although we can only publish sample images that have been reduced in size to under 5MP, image quality appears to be high and at least on a par with that of the Panasonic G5.
We will need to take comparison shots on a full-production sample before we can verify Panasonic's claims for reduced noise and better image quality.
Our JPEG images taken at ISO 1600 have lots of detail, with very little sign of noise and just a hint of smoothing visible at 100% on the screen. As yet we haven't been able to examine the raw files.
We haven't been able to test the Panasonic G6's Wi-Fi connectivity or NFC technology yet, but we are looking forward to doing so.
Panasonic's Lumix Link app is excellent, because it enables you to take control over a wide range of camera settings via your Android or iOS smartphone or tablet. We found it works very well with the Panasonic GH3.
Initial verdict
We liked the Panasonic G5 because as well as producing high quality images it has all the headline features that we want from a modern compact system camera: a good viewfinder, a vari-angle touchscreen, the ability to shoot raw and JPEG images when using the Creative Controls and a sensible control arrangement with some novel thinking.While Panasonic hasn't done anything radical such as increasing the pixel count of the sensor, the Panasonic G6 has some good enhancements over the G5. The touchscreen, for example, is much more sensitive, which makes it faster and more inviting to use.
The autofocus system also seems to be faster and better able to follow moving subjects, although we naturally want to look into this much further when we get a full production sample in for testing.
It will be especially interesting to use the autofocus system and high sensitivity settings in low light conditions to see if the camera can be used for shooting a wider range of subjects than we traditionally consider appropriate for a compact system camera. Could it produce good sport or gig images, for example?
Sample images
Click here to see the full resolution image
Despite the bright building and sky in the background, the Panasonic G6 has produced a bright image with detail in the darker statue.
Click here to see the full resolution image
This image was taken at ISO 1600, and the level of detail in the model's skin is impressive.
Click here to see the full resolution image
The camera's articulating screen makes taking low-level shots like this a doddle. The heavy vignetting is the result of using the Toy Camera Creative Control Mode.
Click here to see the full resolution image
The focused part of this ISO 400 image, taken using Panasonic's 45mm f/2.8 Macro lens, is packed with detail. Using the maximum aperture (f/2.8) has produced a pleasant fall-off in sharpness and separated the subject from its background.
Click here to see the full resolution image
The on-screen level is useful for getting subjects on an even keel when you need to.
Click here to see the full resolution image
The exposure is good here, considering the predominantly white subject. Taken at ISO 400, there's also lots of detail in the horse's hair.
Click here to see the full resolution image
Touchpad AF mode is useful for positioning the AF point precisely when you have the camera held to your eye.
Click here to see the full resolution image
The Panasonic G6's fast responses make it a good choice for taking shots in a busy city, and you have to time your shots to miss the crowds.
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BlackBerry patent filing shines a light on potential Torch-style BB10 handset
BlackBerry may be planning to launch a sliding BB10 handset akin to now defunct Torch range, judging by a patent filing unveiled this week.
The filing shows a handset that appears to be a cross between the all-touchscreen BlackBerry Z10 device and the sliding BlackBerry Torch handset which combined a touchscreen and a QWERTY keyboard.
The Canadian smartphone giant filed for the patent back in December 2011, but have finally had it approved, Engadget reports.
So far BlackBerry is experimenting with just two form factors for its all-important BB10 handsets, the Z10 and the Bold-alike BlackBerry Q10 device, due to go on sale this spring.
BlackBerry Live launch?
The company's annual showcase BlackBerry Live (formerly BlackBerry World) is up next month so it's certainly a possibility that we may see this third form factor break cover at the event.Would you like to see BlackBerry offer a full-touchscreen BB10 device with the added bonus of a physical keyboard? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Review: Kyocera Torque Review
Introduction and design
Smartphones have become quite sophisticated in recent years, but thanks to the glass, plastic and aluminum being used in manufacturing, they're getting more fragile as well. While this is a windfall for third-party case makers, it creates a dilemma for those who work in extreme environments.
That's where the Sprint Torque by Kyocera comes into play. There's no need for a case with this particular Android-powered smartphone, because it's already ruggedized against water, dust or even a drop from nearly six feet high, right out of the box.
Design
As you might expect from any smartphone endorsed by Bear Grylls of Man vs. Wild, the Torque actually meets military standards for dust, vibration, extreme temperatures and even water immersion up to 3.28 feet (more on that in a bit). The downside is this armor adds a more bulk and weight, although it's negligible for those used to adding cases from Otterbox and the like.
The ruggedized exterior extends to three plastic Android navigation keys for Back, Home and Menu – all of which have been textured along with the rest of the non-slip, Dura-Grip reinforced housing. It's a handsome, if somewhat intimidating, handset.
Up top are dedicated speaker and power buttons, with a headphone jack hidden below a protective cap, which also shields the micro-USB jack at bottom. Along the lower right side is a camera shutter button, while a volume rocker and push-to-talk Direct Connect button (ringed in yellow plastic) round out the left edge.
There's a solid heft to the Torque at 5.54 ounces, and the 4.44 x 2.38 x 0.56-inch frame may take a little getting used to in smaller hands. The back features a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, while a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera gets the job done for video chatting on the go.
Sprint has priced the Torque by Kyocera affordably: $349.99 contract-free, but after with two-year contract and a $50 mail-in rebate, this rugged beast can be yours for absolutely free.
Interface, calling and internet
Interface
At its heart, the Torque is a fairly run-of-the-mill Android 4.0.4: Ice Cream Sandwich handset. This is the most up to date version of ICS, but Sprint isn't saying whether or not the device will be upgraded to Jelly Bean. It's doubtful that it will happen, since JB doesn't support Qualcomm's push-to-talk QChat, the technology powering the Sprint's Direct Connect feature.
The four-inch, WVGA IPS display contains a humble 800 x 480 resolution, but otherwise the screen is clear and bright, with a good balance of saturation and contrast. Our only complaint here was the automatic brightness setting occasionally wigged out, making the display too dark in sunlight.
While the Torque isn't quite stock Android, it's pretty close – Sprint showed some welcome restraint when it comes to preloaded apps. One carrier-added extra of note is Sprint ID, which allows users to download free packs to customize the look and feel of the device.
ID packs range from new wallpapers to full-on branded experiences like ABC News, eBay, Yahoo and even movies such as Sony's new "Evil Dead" remake, which adds customized ringtones, photos and quick links to various social media dedicated to promoting the film.
Installing new Sprint ID packs actually required us to turn off any available Wi-Fi connection, since they can only be downloaded over the carrier's network. Otherwise, this feature is a fun way to customize the Torque and switch between packs with just a few taps whenever the mood strikes us.
Calling
There's potential good news for those who plan to use the Torque for wireless data as well as actually making calls: Kyocera's handset is the first rugged Sprint device to take advantage of its fledgling 4G LTE network, and it's got one of the loudest speakers we've ever heard on a mobile device. It would be great for someone who works in a noisy environment.
Sadly, our testing was done far from any Sprint LTE location, so we had to settle for the carrier's traditionally poky CDMA-based 3G network. Our informal SpeedTest.net findings produced a dismal 0.68Mbps down and an even creakier 0.25Mbps up, so the Torque is far from a speed demon on legacy networks.
The Torque includes both a standard Android browser as well as Google Chrome, the latter of which performed a respectable 1612.8ms using the SunSpider 0.9.1 JavaScript benchmark, and ranked between the HTC One S and the iPhone 4S with a Peacekeeper score of 459.
Thankfully, the Torque performed much better in our calling tests. While the earpiece produced occasionally digitized sound on our end, callers remarked how crystal-clear our voice was at their end.
Kyocera boasts that the Torque includes "Smart Sonic Receiver," which uses tissue and air conduction in the eardrum to boost call volume, even in loud environments such as concerts or sporting arenas. We certainly noticed the difference, although the twin speakers along the bottom front of the handset impressed us even more.
We like to occasionally drive with the free iHeartRadio app serving up our favorite Los Angeles-area talk radio station, but the frequent mix of clearly miked host and phone-in caller can be challenging for even the best speakers. No such problems with the Torque, whose speakers were loud and clear for both types of audio, even with the volume below full blast.
For business users, Sprint and Kyocera have also included push-to-talk Direct Connect, a feature we were unable to test (and is disabled anytime the device is in LTE mode anyway). The push-to-talk button is hard to miss, however: We wound up pressing it by mistake nearly every other time we picked up the device.
Camera and video
Kyocera has infused the Torque with a respectable 5MP rear-facing camera, which produces JPEG images sized at 2592 x 1944. Unlike many midrange smartphone cameras, photos from the Torque had good contrast with accurate color saturation.While images tended to be a little soft around some edges, the Torque produced remarkably clear photos outdoors, with the quality dropping off accordingly as we moved indoors. Pictures taken with the LED flash were garishly yellow at times, with most of the light focused at the center of frame.
While the Torque produces decent results, it can be quite slow on the draw: It takes three full seconds to launch the Camera app, and there's a long pause after pressing the dedicated camera button on the right edge before the shutter actually snaps. This is also a single-stage button, so you'll want to check focus and exposure before pressing it.
Kyocera has made welcome improvements to the stock Ice Cream Sandwich Camera app, including HDR, continuous shooting, Instagram-style live effects, smile shutter and panorama courtesy of Morpho's Quick Panorama app (which is built into the Camera app, but also has its own icon on the home screen).
Camera samples
Click here to see the full resolution image
Click here to see the full resolution image
Click here to see the full resolution image
The Torque also shoots up to 1080p HD video at 30fps, with almost unnatural color saturation and an overall lack of definition, especially with finer details in the frame.
Make the quality is set to 1080p to get a clear idea of the of the Torque's video capabilities.
Battery life, durability and performance
The Torque by Kyocera includes a removable, 2500mAh Lithium Ion battery tucked beneath a ruggedized cover held firmly in place by a large screw above the micro-USB port. Thankfully, a screwdriver isn't required – we were able to open and close the cover easily with a thumbnail.Sprint rates the Torque talk time at a whopping 18 hours, a claim we're hard-pressed to dispute. The carrier doesn't rate the device for standby, but based on the week we spent with it, the included battery certainly outlasts more expensive competing handsets.
Underneath the battery is a micro-SIM slot, now required for Sprint 4G LTE devices. A micro-SD slot is also tucked away just below a notch used to eject the battery, capable of up to 32GB of additional, user-provided storage.
The device also includes 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, mobile hotspot connectivity for up to eight devices and stereo Bluetooth 4.0 wireless, all of which performed as expected.
So just how rugged is the Torque? Kyocera claims the device meets an IP67 rating for dust and water immersion as well as Military Standard 810G for just about any condition you can imagine, including solar radiation (!!), humidity and other temperature extremes.
To test these claims, TechRadar took the Torque on a hike through the woods, tossing it into grass, mud and against trees with no ill effects. A passing thunderstorm also gave us the opportunity to stand out in the pouring rain while engaged in a speakerphone call – unthinkable with any other handset, but the Torque passed the test with flying colors.
Perhaps the boldest claim Sprint and Kyocera make with the Torque is its ability to withstand 30 minutes of being immersed in up to 3.28 feet (one meter) of water. Naturally, we had to try this for ourselves using a bathtub full of water, even calling the handset from another line just because we could. Once again, the Torque came out no worse for the wear.
Just for good measure, we also gave the Torque a toss onto the lawn. Not only did it keep on ticking, it didn't stop shooting either. Warning, not for the easily dizzied.
Performance
While few would accuse the armored Torque by Kyocera of being a slouch in the durability field, its 1.2Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8969 dual-core processor is dated, and you can feel it. The Torque boots up in a poky 40 seconds but once started, we found the processor largely acceptable in daily use.
As the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding: Version 3.3 of the AnTuTu Benchmark app came back with a score of 10521, which again puts it just below the HTC One S (10644), but pales in comparison to a flagship device like the Samsung Galaxy S3 (16301). The processor is aided by a 4GB ROM coupled with 1GB RAM and an equal amount of onboard storage.
Sprint bundles a sprinkling of bloatware with the Torque, including ICE for emergency contacts, Mobile Sync for free, cloud-based contact sync, Polaris Viewer for opening Microsoft Office documents and Sprint Zone for accessing account information, carrier news and even music, movies and TV shows through the Entertain Me portal.
In addition to the aforementioned Sprint ID app, the provider also includes shortcuts to Battery, Direct Connect, LED Flashlight, Eco Mode (battery-saving features) and iZat, Qualcomm's built-in enhanced location technology. All in all, Sprint has shown restraint by not overloading the Torque with unwanted features, but we did miss the traditional built-in Notepad app, a curious omission.
Verdict
Aside from rugged good looks, the Torque by Kyocera makes a fine midrange device for Sprint users on a budget. We consider it a plus that it can withstand such brutal conditions, even if we're more likely to drop it while getting out of the car instead of something more exciting, like making calls in the midst of a hurricane.We liked
The Torque is one tough cookie – we definitely wound never put our iPhone 5 through any of the battle testing Kyocera's handset endured for this review, and the black ruggedized exterior is as handsome as it is practical.
Hands-down, our favorite feature is the quality and volume of the speakers, which were the loudest and clearest we've ever come across, although nearly stock Android was a nice plus. The Torque also takes surprisingly decent still images with great contrast and color saturation.
We disliked
Although the rear-facing camera takes decent photos, the slow shutter speed makes this a half-hearted recommendation, especially for snapping pics of kids or animals. It's also not the best 1080p HD video shooter around.While it was a pleasant surprise to come powered by a more recent version of Android, by this point Ice Cream Sandwich doesn't quite have the same level of freshness it did a year or two ago. Our only real hardware complaint was that darned Direct Connect button, which is just large enough to accidentally press exactly when you don't mean to.
Verdict
Bear Gryllis adventures aside, the Kyocera Torque would be a good fit for anyone who works outdoors in noisy environments and tends to be rough on their phones. This would be an ideal work phone for a construction worker, and it costs nothing after a mail-in rebate and two-year agreement.Kyocera may not be a name normally associated with quality Android handsets, but the manufacturer has found a nice niche with the Torque that's worthy of a look for Sprint customers.
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Android Jelly Bean 4.2 update may mark end of the road for HTC One X
2012's HTC One X will be boosted to Android 4.2, before too long but chances of a further upgrade to Android Key Lime Pie lie somewhere between 'slim' and 'none', according to reports.
GottaBeMobile brings word from a notorious HTC tipster that the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean update will be joined by the latest version of Sense 5.0, but that'll be the end of the road for the handset.
Developer and HTC tipster @LLabTooFeR wrote on Twitter: "No ETAs at the moment...4.2.2 will be last update for One X"
HTC has yet to confirm an update schedule for the dual-core, 4.7-inch handset, which shipped with Android Ice Cream Sandwich, but was refreshed with Jelly Bean 4.1 in November.
HTC One implication
If the HTC One X isn't to get Key Lime Pie than it seems unlikely that its 2012 stablemates, the HTC One X+, HTC One S and HTC One SV will get it either.However, HTC One X isn't the only phone that'll be expecting an Android 4.2.2 update sooner rather than later.
Even the flagship HTC One that recently went on sale around the world is only shipping with Android 4.1, but it's perfectly conceivable that it'll skip 4.2 and go straight to 5.0.
Key Lime Pie is thought to be the latest version of Android, but Google is yet to officially announce it. That's expected at Google I/O next month.
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Facebook real name policy upheld in Germany
You can't parade around as a fake Bastian Schweinsteiger on Facebook anymore, as the site's right to terminate accounts that use pseudonyms has been upheld in German courts.
This latest update in the back-and-forth battle over the social network's controversial real name policy reaffirms two earlier decisions by lower courts.
Facebook can really "like" the decision by the Administrative Court of Appeals of the State of Schleswig-Holstein this time around.
It will be the final ruling, according to Susanne Rublack, a spokesperson for the appellate court who talked to PC World.
The reason behind the decision
At the heart of the case was whether or not German citizens had the right to online pseudonyms.This right is enshrined in German law, said to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ULD) for Schleswig-Holstein back in December.
However, the data protection body's case ran into trouble when Facebook challenged the decree on the grounds that its European headquarters is in Ireland.
The court found that none of the social network's data processing actually takes place in Germany, where Facebook houses only an ad sales and marketing team.
With the the luck of the Irish, Mark Zuckerberg's company escapes with a win in this third, and most likely final, challenge to Facebook's real name policy.
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Apple says to look at fall, 2014 for 'amazing' product developments
Tim Cook and Co. probably did a collective "nah nah nah nah nah" with their thumbs near their ears after Apple's earnings report came out today, besting analyst predictions and showing that those calls for the CEO's head may have been premature.
By the numbers, the firm sold 37.4 million iPhones during the three month period ending March 30, up from 35.1 million the same quarter one year ago. It's a relatively modest bump, but another iDevice was ready to pick up the slack.
The iPad bounded through the quarter, with sales amounting to 19.5 million, up from 11.8 million from the same time last year.
All told the company posted $43.6 billion in revenue and a net profit of $9.5 billion compared to revenue of $39.2 billion and $11.6 billion in profit from the year-ago quarter.
And Cook left listeners on the company's earnings call with this teaser: "Our team is working hard on amazing hardware and software developments we can't wait to introduce in the fall and into 2014."
Gold medal days
We've heard it many (many) times before, but this proved to be a record-setting quarter yet again. The iPhone and iPad set new sales records for the period while iTunes set a new all-time revenue record, the gathered Apple-ites noted.'Tunes saw quarterly billings of over $4 billion with revenue rising 28 percent year-on-year.
More iPad minis were sold during the March quarter than in the previous quarter, with the vast majority being first time iPad buyers.
On the product side, the biggest blemish was a drop of 2 percent in Mac sales. The company sold 4 million in the same quarter last year but failed to breach that number on this go around.
"The reason we were down 2 percent is that the market for PCs is incredibly weak," Cook offered by way of explanation, citing recent research that the market as a whole contracted sharply. "It's the largest decline that I can remember from being in this industry for a long time."
Could cannibalization from the iPad be to blame?
"At the same time [as Mac sales fell], we sold almost 20 million iPads," Cook said. "It's certainly true that there is some cannibalizing of Macs has gone on, but I don't think it's a huge number. Some people are probably extending their upgrade cycles.
"That said, I don't think this market is a dead or dying market by any means. We think it's an alive market and that the iPad could actually end up benefiting the Mac because people think about the product they're buying in a different manner.
"Our strategy isn't changing. We're going to continue making the best personal computer...we have more great stuff planned."
On the App Store side, CFO Peter Oppenheimer revealed the company pays $1 billion to developers every quarter as customers have helped download 45 million items.
Take note
Speaking of upcoming offerings, as noted earlier Cook signaled that the fall and next year are where folks need to pay attention for major announcements."I don't want to be more specific," Cook said as to whether there won't be significant product introductions between now and September. "I'm just saying we have some really great stuff coming in the fall and across all of 2014."
The company is exploring "exciting new product categories," though Cook declined to give specifics. Reports point to Apple coming up with its own wearable tech in the form on an iWatch, though again, no specific categories were named.
Cook also touched on confidence in its supply chain confidence, a relationship that can seem shaky at times.
"The work that we do to create truly innovative products is very hard," he said. "But we are working very hard with our manufacturing partners to execute what we feel is a very exciting roadmap."
Unsurprisingly, Cook's attitude towards 5-inch iPhones hasn't changed since last quarter, with the CEO explaining that there are too many tradeoffs in making a larger screened device than what Apple is willing to sacrifice.
"Our competitors have made some significant tradeoffs in order to ship a larger display," he said, ticking off features like resolution, color quality, portability and compatibility with apps. "We would not ship a larger iPhone while these tradeoffs exist."
Despite what are certainly strong figures, Cook cautioned that going into the current quarter, the company's growth rates have slowed and its margins have dropped markedly from the heady days of 2012.
We don't doubt the company will continue to bring in billions, but there are wolves circling the company's market share.
Apple, however, trusts it can keep them at bay.
"Samsung is the top competitor and, married to Google on the operating side, obviously that's our top competitors," Cook said. "But we feel we have the best products by far."
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Surface Pro is shipping off to UK, Germany, 17 others next month
Microsoft announced today that the Surface Pro tablet will be released in 19 additional countries in May, plus five more by the end of June.
Notably, the Surface pro will arrive in the U.K. in May, Microsoft revealed on its Surface blog.
Add to that Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland in May as well, and the Surface Pro will finally be a global product.
But it won't stop there - the following month, in June, the Surface Pro will launch in Korea, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore, and Thailand.
Surface going global
Unlike the Surface RT, which runs a dumbed-down version of Windows known as Windows RT, the Surface Pro runs a fully functional version of Windows 8.The Pro version of the Surface tablet is currently availably only in the U.S., Canada and China, but that will change rapidly starting next month as Microsoft's flagship tablet begins rolling out to 24 additional countries.
The Surface RT, meanwhile, already available in 25 markets, will extend its reach soon as well: the inferior Surface tablet will launch in Malaysia on April 25th, in Mexico by the end of May and in Korea and Thailand in June, Microsoft revealed.
Learning from past mistakes
Microsoft claimed that demand for Surface tablets has been high, and that it's had difficulty keeping the 128GB Surface Pro in stock. That may account for the delay in the tablet's global launch - at least that's what Microsoft seems to be saying.The company also said that would-be Surface users around the world have requested more updates, prompting Microsoft to add:
"To those of you who have pressed for information - please understand that before making these announcements we make sure that we have the volume of devices in place and alignment with our retail partners to do each launch well."
To be fair, any release delays are understandable considering what happened when the Surface Pro launched in the U.S. No doubt Microsoft is eager not to repeat those mistakes.
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Blip: Hackers target AP's Twitter, send message of White House explosions
If you follow the AP's Twitter account and were alarmed to read a tweet that there were two explosions at the White House and "Barak Obama" had been injured, you weren't alone. The U.S. stock market took a plunge following the tweet, which was sent out shortly after 1 p.m. EDT.
The tweet, it turns out, was fake, the work of hackers who compromised the AP's Twitter accounts following phishing attempts on the organization's corporate network.
Its accounts suspended, the AP said it's working with Twitter to investigate the hack, only the latest in a number of high-profile account breaches at the social network.
The Syrian Electronic Army has taken credit, though perhaps the group should have consulted an AP Stylebook prior to writing the tweet.
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Mozilla 'thrilled' at demand facing first Firefox OS phones
Update: There's been a tweak to the Geeksphone store message, one that better addresses what's caused it to be temporarily down.
"Due to the great demand for our phones...the shop is currently out of stock," the new message read.
"The online sale wil restart in the following hours."
Original article...
Phones running Mozilla's Firefox OS are today making it into the wild.
Spain-based Geeksphone opened orders for two dev preview handsets this morning and within hours Keon and Peak had sold out. The startup OEM's online shop is currently displaying a two-line message that it's temporarily shut down for maintenance, an indicator it's reached maximum order capacity.
Mozilla, for its part, is well aware of the situation at Geeksphone.
"Mozilla is thrilled to see such high demand for the Firefox OS developer preview devices, made available today by Geeksphone," Stormy Peters, director of websites and developer engagement at Mozilla, said in a statement sent to TechRadar.
"The support for these devices has been overwhelming, and we are pleased to see the development community excited to create content for the open web on mobile. We believe developers working with Firefox OS will help to bring the next two billion users online, through the power of the open mobile web."
Scorching
While Mozilla stayed high-level as to why developers are flocking to the phones, one very terrestrial factor may be playing into demand.Geeksphone priced the Keon at $119 (around UK£77, AU$115 ) and the higher-end Peak at $194 (around UK£127, AU$189). Devs will get to play around with the Linux-based, open-source OS before retail units start shipping in June.
Mozilla plans to offer Firefox OS devices in five countries then, with more added by the end of the year.
Neither device is a barnburner, but that's not really what Mozilla is after.
The burnt orange Keon is home to a single-core 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage, a 3.5-inch HVGA display, 3MP camera and a 1,580mAh battery.
The Peak struts in white with a 4.3-inch qHD IPS display, 1.2GHz dual-core chip, 2MP front camera 8MP rear snapper complete with flash, 1,800mAh juicer and the same RAM and internal storage as its little brother.
Geeksphone is reportedly looking to get orders out at a rate of about 5,000 per day, though it's unclear when the first units will start shipping. It's also unknown exactly how many units were sold today, but we'll update this story when and if we find out more.
The hope is to have the handsets back on sale before the week is up, so if you're holding on for a dev unit, sit tight. Neither Mozilla nor Geeksphone seem eager to disappoint.
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Blip: Justice is served: Measly payday for 'Antennagate' finally in the mail
A DVD. Dinner for one. Parking five miles from any event in San Francisco.
There are a number of things you can buy for $15, and those of you affected by "Antennagate" will soon be flush with dinero. Well, $15 of dinero.
Reports indicate that Apple has started paying out settlement checks for the iPhone 4 scandal that broke out in 2010. Some phones had antenna and reception issues, and while Apple gave a number of free bumpers to quell customer fury, those who didn't receive one will now start "rolling" in class action dough.
The $15 is only for U.S. customers as per iPhone4settlement.com, the case's dedicated website. Those of you crouched by your mail slot can start daydreaming about the settlement's possibilities.
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Google patent brings augmented reality driving to life
Google has been granted a patent that brings several of its ideas, including augmented reality and Street View, into one single sat-nav system.
The patent is titled "Panoramic images within driving directions" and describes a GPS guidance system that overlays information via a video feed onto your windscreen.
"In other embodiments, the panoramic image is replaced and/or complemented with one or more of 3D models, full-motion video, full-motion video of 360 degrees images," says the patent from the USPTO, "and live feeds from video cameras to provide enhanced driving directions."
Google Drive
As we know, Google has been working on its driverless cars for some time, so whether this will play a part in that is unclear.The patent certainly isn't the most groundbreaking idea. But considering Google's number of growing services, it seems like Mountain View is ensuring that it beats everyone else to the punch when it comes to augmented reality driving.
Nonetheless, there are a lot of questions as to what true AR driving might entail. Will street signs soon be beamed live to our windshield mirror? And let's not even get started on the potential for advertising.
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Salesforce connects CRM with social listening
Salesforce.com has launched a social advertising application that connects social ads with CRM and social listening – the ability to monitor what's being said about a company or brand on the internet.
Named Salesforce Social.com, it is part of the Salesforce Marketing Cloud. The company says it can be used to power social ad campaigns on Facebook and Twitter using real-time customer and social listening data.
Marketers can use the application to test the available targeting, creative and placement combinations to drive highly localised and relevant ads. They can also monitor campaigns and receive immediate feedback on social ad performance around their goals.
Michael Lazerow, CMO of Salesforce Marketing Cloud, salesforce.com, said: "Social ads cannot be disconnected from your business. By bringing together Social.com with Salesforce CRM and the social listening application Radian6, we've made it possible for marketers to connect social advertising with their customer data and real-time trends to maximise return from their advertising dollars."
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Microsoft man emphasises phones' future
One of Microsoft's UK based thought leaders has indicated that smartphones will be the pivotal member of the trinity of devices with tablets and PCs in coming years.
Dave Coplin, Chief Envisioning Officer for Microsoft, told an audience at the Internet World conference in London that, although smartphones are now becoming ubiquitous, they will change the way people behave.
"We will have more and more access to information that will challenge what we do inside and outside of our organisations," he said, adding: "They will not be phones any more; they will be our windows to the digital world."
Their role in providing the quickest way to access information will be crucial, although tablets will also be important for functions that work effectively on touchscreens, and keyboard computers for work that needs a lot of typing and data input.
Coplin also stood by Windows 8 as a disruptive technology and argued that in the long term it could help users to become more creative. The operating system has had generally positive reviews but there have been criticisms, some expressed at the conference session, about the way the user interfaces work with a keyboard.
"We want to disrupt the way that people work, to get them doing more on touch enabled devices, but we're in a period of pain at the moment," he said.
He portrayed Windows 8 as part of a change that will make people more creative in the long term, and said that over three years they can change the way they think about technology.
The comments came towards the end of a presentation in which Coplin championed the cause of flexible working, suggesting that the traditional office space often hampers creativity and that people should have more freedom to find a place where they can best get a job done.
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Blip: iTunes finally lets you buy now, download later
Here's an update that's arrived a lot later than it probably should have. iTunes users who want to grab entire seasons of TV shows or music box sets now have the option to make their purchase and then download at a later date.
On buying movie, TV and music bundles, you'll be given the choice to hit either "Download" or "Later", meaning you can buy on your phone and then watch via the Cloud as soon as you get in. No waiting around.
To take advantage of the new feature, you'll need to be running iOS 6 or above, or at least iTunes 11 on a desktop.
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Blip: Twitter down for some, iCloud playing up too
It's not just you! Twitter is down for some, slow for others and fine for some lucky few - the site has its engineers on the case.
Apple's Game Center, iCloud and Apple ID services also seem to be struggling, although an earlier issue with the iTunes Store should now be resolved.
On the plus side, Facebook and Google+ both seem to be fine.
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