Review: iPad mini 2 with Retina display
Introduction
The iPad mini 2 (or iPad mini with Retina display, if you want to give it Apple's properly elongated title) is the next step in the smaller tablet wars - and with Google and Amazon stepping up their respective games, the Cupertino brand needed something that really hit back with strength.However, even with that landscape, we were still surprised when Apple announced the iPad Mini 2 on stage, coming with things like the A7 chip under the hood and a 128GB iteration to satisfy those that crave a lot of HD action.
On top of that, there's the much-needed Retina screen (as the name might have told you) and an improvement in battery size to help power those pixels more effectively.
However, there's the big issue of price, and one that Apple has had to keenly balance over recent years. However much you like the look of the iPad mini 2, you have to factor in that it will set you back nearly £320 / $399 / AU$479 for the lowest-spec 16GB model with Wi-Fi connectivity only.
Consider the rivals, and you'll see that Apple has a real fight on its hands. Google's 7-inch Nexus 7 is £199 / $229 / AU$299 at the same spec, and Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX starts at the same level (although you'll need to put up with the ads to get it at that price).
Even LG's slightly over-priced G Pad 8.3 is only £260 / around $329 / AU$ 399 for the 16GB model, and that lets you supplement the meagre innards with a microSD card.
Given that Apple's decision to allow users to download the iWork catalgue, as well as the likes of Garageband, iPhoto and iMovie, all for free, then you'll really be looking at buying the 32GB tablet option as a minimum.
It's here that you have to wonder at Apple's pricing strategy. The doubling of the internal storage is something that apparently costs twice as much to achieve, compared to Google, and even less for Amazon.
That said, the iPad Mini 2 does still feel like decent value for money given it's not a loss leader over Google and Amazon, and not just because of the tired 'well, it's an Apple device and therefore spending more should be expected' excuse.
We've never bought into that, and never will. Apple makes well-designed and premium products, but as the extra cost for larger capacities illustrates, it's not always justified.
But while in the phone space we can't understand why an iPhone 5S costs so much more than an HTC One or a Galaxy S4, in the tablet space Apple has a justified lead.
The iPad Mini 2 is an excellent device. There's no other way to look at it. We were pretty impressed with the original Mini a year ago, but bemoaned the low-res screen and under-powered chipset powering things along.
So we fully expected the iPad Mini 2 to be another sidekick to a bigger brother, and with the iPad Air showing itself to be the best tablet on the market, we fully thought we'd be getting a smaller iPad with a Retina screen and an A6 chip - so the decision to make the tablet 64-bit enabled with the latest A7 CPU is a really great thing to see.
It takes a well-made device and adds in so much more - the aluminium finish no longer feels like a deflection from the fact the iPad Mini doesn't have the engine to compete with its Snapdragon-powered rivals.
Check out the benchmark speeds later and you'll see just how much better the CPU is for day to day tasks and, coupled with the rich app ecosystem and improved operating system, you'll see just how far Apple manages to charge the premium price.
M7 Chip
The addition of the M7 chip in the iPad Mini 2 seems, on the surface, to be a little redundant, given you won't be doing much in the way of exercise with the Mini strapped to your arm.However, there are journal-style apps coming out that will use that information to update based on where you've been and the weather at the time - tiny tasks that don't need the help of the larger chip and therefore save time.
Design
When reviewing the iPad mini 2, we compared it heavily to the previous iteration of the smaller tablet - both with and without iOS 7. The jump in the OS is marked, but there's not going to be one owner of the original Mini that isn't distraught when you hand them the newer version.With the screen turned off, there's very little difference between the two versions - the options of Space Gray and Silver are different to the black and silver versions from 2012, and there's a slight increase in the weight from 312g to 331g.
But in the hand there's nothing to choose between them - which is fine, as the design last year was the saving grace of an otherwise low-powered, but cheaper, tablet.
What we've seen is the iPad Mini design being taken on by the iPad Air, and now back again on the smaller sequel, and it really works.
Apple is still maintaining that users will be able to hold it one-handed, and while this is uncomfortable for long periods we did find that on occasion for browsing the internet we were able to work with a single palm.
The aluminium-clad design feels hugely premium. If you've walked into an Apple store thinking that the Mini 2 is too expensive over the Nexus 7, then the second it's thrust into your clammy palms you'll realise that's there's no comparison between the two when it comes to build quality.
While the new Nexus 7 is a much-improved design from Asus , it's still a rubberised device that relies on plastic to make it feel robust and a little lighter.
The iPad mini 2 has the same effect, but it's hugely more impressive. It's not £160 / $170 / AU$180 better, which is something of an issue for those torn between the two tablets, and any Nexus 7 fan would have a very valid reason for purchasing the Google tablet.
But looking simply at Apple's design, and it's easily the best on the market. The smooth covering, machined speaker holes and gently curved edges all combine very well to give a really secure feeling, that this is the device that it was worth forking out a little more.
Even down to the solid click of the sound toggle, or the long travel of the power, home and volume buttons, the whole thing makes you feel like it's robust and won't crack on you a year or so down the line.
There's no TouchID on offer here, and we're torn over whether this is a big miss. We use it all the time on the iPhone 5S, but that's only because it's there. It marginally makes using the phone easier, which is nice.
It's missing more on the iPad Mini 2 for a couple of reasons. Firstly, you're more inclined to pick this tablet up like a phone, meaning your natural impulse is to hold the power button.
Secondly, tapping out a passcode on this screen is harder as your thumb isn't as well placed, meaning most will avoid iPad security altogether.
Given the 64-bit architecture is there for the encryption, it seems odd that Apple has left this out for the Mini 2 and the Air – and it's not like its omission is enough to upgrade to next year when the sequels appear.
Screen
The Retina display on the iPad mini 2 is overdue - there's no two ways about it. It should have appeared on the first version, but either Apple was struggling to get that technology in at the right price 12 months ago or just wanted to give it something to upgrade to, it still feels very late.Given there are multiple rumours of Apple's iPad mini 2 screens being hard to produce, leading to the delay we're seeing for this tablet, and we can perhaps believe the earlier version of events - but given Apple's larger profit margins, we reckon that if it had wanted to it could have launched a Retina iPad mini a year ago.
Anyway, the good news is that it's here now and it looks stunning. The crisp characters, the more realistic colours, the sharpness of the icons - all excellent and well represented.
Some have criticised the mini 2 as having a slightly more washed out colours compared to the Air, but only in real side by side comparisons does this bear out - we couldn't help being impressed by the added sharpness every time we turned on the smaller tablet.
It's so much better than an iPad mini owner who held this device was instantly upset - you could see they wanted to upgrade from a device that cost a fair amount only a year ago.
We're still torn on the issue of screen ratio - the iPad mini 2 follows Apple's tablet strategy of keeping the 4:3 screen, which is the same as seen on TVs before widescreen came in.
This means that video needs the black bars above and below - and sounds horribly last-generation when you consider that most other tablets (the Nexus 7 being the most popular) being in the 'true' 16:9 widescreen version.
However, video watching, while a large portion of what you're going to do with the Mini 2, isn't the primary reason to buy the tablet. For web browsing, swishing through the home screen or generally using the 425,000 dedicated iPad apps, the larger screen (at 7.9 inches) is excellent, offering more real estate by expanding the sides a little more.
So while the video experience seems a little marred, and the tablet needs to be a little wider, we do appreciate the additional pixels to make scrolling through the web that much nicer, and gaming appearing more immersive.
When you've got a graphics chip as capable as the one on offer here, you'll see that's a real plus point.
So Apple: we're still irked that you took this long to deliver us an iPad mini with a Retina display, but by making it the same resolution as the iPad Air (1536 x 2048) and so much higher-res than the competition (the LG, Google and Amazon options all come in at 1920 x 1200) you've given a really cracking screen that goes far beyond what would be acceptable on a tablet.
It's interesting that some think that to criticise the iPhone 5S for not coming up with new screen technology and not do the same with the Mini 2 is hypocritical – it's anything but.
The Mini 2 needed to only make the step up to Retina to be considered a success, as tablets are held to a different standard to phones. And to manage to pack this many pixels into a sub-8 inch screen, bringing the same PPI as the iPhone, is really impressive too.
It lacks the colours gamut and dynamic contrast of the Kindle Fire HDX, but pixel for pixel Apple has outperformed expectations for its next-gen Mini tablet – despite swindling customers last year by ignoring the need for the screen.
Interface
The iPad Mini 2 won't be a surprise to anyone running a current iPhone or iPad, bringing with it the latest iteration of Apple's iOS.But beyond the new features we're happy to report the iPad Mini 2 is nice and fast, despite being a touch slower when it comes to CPU performance compared with the iPad Air.
We're getting to a point where describing a smartphone or tablet as quick under the finger is pointless – once you reach a certain point there's not a lot more speed to be gained.
Even dual-core phones were more than acceptable, so why make a point of highlighting the speed of the new iPad?
Well, it's just virtually flawless through all kinds of tasks. A millisecond faster from a finger press might not seem like much, but once you do a hundred or a thousand of them in a day, and then go back to the previous iPad Mini, you'll realise that there's a real difference in the operation.
The iPad Mini 2 is slightly behind the iPad Air in benchmarking terms, but leagues ahead of the Nexus 7, scoring 2220 on the GeekBench 3 'real world' testing compared to the Tegra 3-powered Google device, which managed just 1800.
However, Apple's claims of total speed domination don't appear to be completely founded, as the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX, with its Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chip, was marginally faster in our tests.
The two both performed amazingly well, but it's interesting to note that in performance terms, Apple can't justify the improvement as a reason for a higher cost.
iOS 7: an all new face
Like it or loathe it, the all-new iOS 7 is still a real step forward for a company that desperately needed to refresh its offering in the face of stiff competition from Android.The new flatter interface takes away the pointless need to pretend all apps are real-life objects just to integrate them into people's lives - users know that pressing the Photos app will take them there, no matter the result.
Like most popular platforms that get upgraded, there's been a large amount of flack coming Apple's way for iOS 7, with juddery icons shown when returning to the homescreen.
This can be negated by heading into Settings, General, Accessibility and then toggling 'Reduce Motion' to On, which creates a much nicer fade transition.
Things like the Parallax effect, which moves the image in the background to create a 3D effect, are much more stable on the iPad Mini 2.
And while this was annoyingly unpredictable on the iPhone 5S, on the Mini 2 it's much better and we wouldn't advise you turn it off, unlike on other Apple devices.
It doesn't even have a huge effect on battery life, which is impressive in itself.
The rest of the interface is easy to use and makes sense for the most part. One of the newer features of iOS 7 is the notification bar, found by dragging from the top of the tablet. This gives access to updates, calendar entries and missed messages.
It's also one of the weaker parts of the OS, as it always starts on the calendar, which doesn't often give a lot of useful information.
The 'Missed' section is often also sparsely populated - we'd rather this prime space was better used by Apple.
However, there are a lot of other areas in which the Cupertino brand has made strides in terms of improving the user experience.
For instance, swiping upwards with all five fingers (or double tapping the home button) will lead to the multi-tasking pane, which shows all of your apps in large thumbnails.
This is an excellent interface, although perhaps a little large, and you can swiftly jump between apps or flick a thumbnail upwards to end it.
We would like to give a special mention to the 'five finger pinch' if you've not used it before on previous iPads. Make sure it's enabled in Settings->General, and then simply pinch in with four or five fingers in any app to return to the home screen. You'll be doing it on your phone before you know it, such is its simplicity.
The new Control Center is something worth highlighting too - drag up from the bottom of the screen and you can control music, brightness, turn on Wi-Fi and loads more.
We would have thought that most people know all about this feature, but the number of iOS 7 users who get their minds blown when we show them that this exists means it's worth highlighting.
It's annoying you can't alter the toggles here, and long-pressing them doesn't move into the menu to get a more advanced look at things like Wi-Fi. Apple has clearly written the architecture to handle other toggles (like on most Android phones) so why it's not here is unclear.
Well, it is: Apple doesn't like the option of too much customisation to keep things simple. For some that's amazing, for others it feels locked down and far too authoritarian on a device they've paid a lot of money for.
There are tonnes of nuances to Apples UI that we'd like to laud here, but we invite you to go and use it for yourself, as despite there being no tutorial, there's very little here that the novice user won't be able to pick up.
Messaging
Typing on the iPad Mini 2 is an interesting experience, one that almost evokes a sense of 'first world problems' to complain about it.But such is the balanced weight of the Retina-clad Mini that holding the device in portrait mode and using two hands to enter text makes it feel too top heavy.
If you split the keyboard (either through pinching outwards on the keys themselves, or dragging up the keyboard icon) it doesn't break apart fully until too far up the page.
And the landscape option pales in comparison to the iPad Air, with the smaller strike zones meaning that even if you prop the Mini 2 up with a cover, it's still not as accurate as we'd like for a productivity device.
You might argue that writing longer documents is an ancillary function, but when Apple is shoving its iWork apps on consumers for free, you can argue quite easily that the company is hoping enough people buy iPads as laptops replacements.
Email and iMessage
While it can be hard to find the people you want (or at least have all the social networks linked) messaging on the iPad is a much better experience.There's iMessage and the decent inbuilt email app on offer as standard, and the variety of other chat apps you can download is mind blowing.
iMessage remains a slightly confusing app in that it can pull in information on your phone number and email addresses and use these to connect to other users - however, this isn't always accurate when you're trying to share details and can result in people trying to contact you in the wrong way.
It's better than it is on the iPhone, which has texting to worry about too, but it's never the most reliable system to set up in our eyes.
Thankfully, the Mail app is a lot better, with a wide and expansive view that makes full use of the screen size.
You get a decent column down one side to see all your missives, and a gentle swipe across allows you to move or edit the mail or send it to the trash can.
On top of that, emails are grouped together nicely when in conversation flow, email folders are easy to use and you can have all your messages in one inbox, even with a variety of accounts being used.
We also like the VIP setting, allowing you to tag only your boss and colleagues, so you know when to panic should you see a mail arriving there.
Facetime
Adding in the Facetime HD camera is a big plus for the iPad Mini 2, as it feels like the 1.2MP camera on the front of the device is so much smoother than before.It has all the same easy functionality as the previous iterations but makes things look so much better over a decent Wi-Fi connection. Facetracking also works well to keep things in focus, and obviously allows you to give up your soul for the odd selfie.
Facetime is still a little impenetrable to set up for some – you have to know which numbers or email addresses have been used to access the service though, which can be frustrating when you have a contact and they've only set up Facetime on a certain email address instead of the number you have for them.
But with the addition of Facetime Audio, and the improved Facetime HD camera, this is a great device for when you're on the go and want to say goodnight to your goldfish from the bus.
And with Facetime Audio now an option, you can have free voice calls with other enabled users thanks to VOIP technology. Once in the app you can set up your favourite people as instant contacts to call - and helpfully they can also be set to call through voice or video by default.
While there aren't that many other ways to talk to people over the iPad Mini 2, the Contacts app is still obviously on board, giving access to all the people you've spoken to and saved over the years.
However, be careful when adding accounts, as you'll likely have a few on there and it's very easy to have information from Exchange, Gmail, Hotmail and iCloud all jostling for position in your list, as well as those from Facebook too.
It's not as easy as on Android to change these though, as you'll need to jump into the external Settings app once more to check the right boxes.
However, when this is done things are nice and simple, showing the friends you've saved as well as their Facebook picture (or other that you've tagged) if you've linked the accounts.
However, here's an issue we're not sure why Apple hasn't fixed as yet: contact linking is nigh-on impossible unless you drill right down through the editing menu.
You can pull all manner of social network account info into a contact card, but when adding the names in you're not going to link to the right person unless you're exact with your spelling.
It's confusing as to why your contact lists aren't pulled from Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and more when you're trying to perform this task, but it's very difficult to tag people together, which is irritating when you want pictures to go alongside each name.
Internet
The internet browser on the iPad Mini 2 needs to be impressive, as otherwise one of the key functions for this device is really negated thanks to the upgraded screen.While you might not be seeing much of an upgrade over older iPads in terms of functionality, the speed in overall use of the device is definitely something to be lauded.
The main difference over last year's iPad Mini (out of the box) is that iOS 7 makes everything a little cleaner and less obtrusive.
The URL bar won't dynamically retreat like it does on the iPhone range, but with 9.7 inches of space to play with, we can't say that we blame it too much.
The bar is actually chock-full of functionality in the same way as its Android counterpart, although there's perhaps a spot more relevance to everything that's run with the Mini 2.
For instance, the reading mode is just a simple icon of text lines in the URL bar, allowing you to easily switch to a more text-friendly mode.
It's a little irritating that you can't sync this with Pocket, as although you might be fine using the 'Saved for Later' function of Safari on the iPad, if you're not using an iPhone as your smartphone then there's no central repository for all the articles you want to read later.
At least if you copy the URL of the site you're reading the app can intelligently work out that you might want to save it to Pocket - but when you can share links over Facebook and Twitter with such ease then it doesn't seem fair that other popular apps aren't supported.
Of course this is completely subjective, and something we would have expected from Apple a few years ago. It's become more relaxed about working with partners recently, however, so perhaps the functionality will come.
In reality, all these reading modes don't mean much when you've got such a speedy and responsive browser.
Apple is touting the fact the iPad Mini 2 is one of the first tablets to use MIMO wireless connectivity, allowing for a stronger and faster Wi-Fi connection. In reality this means that you can wander further from the router and still get access to the internet when you've decided against shelling out for the cellular version of the iPad.
The Retina display, which has finally made its way to the iPad Mini 2, is really bright and clear for reading stories on the go, and the 7.9-inch screen gives you so much more room to work with.
It's no surprise that Apple would make strides in this area, although text wrapping when zoomed in could still do with some work.
However, the internet browser on the iPad Mini 2 is one to be rather respected, as it does what it needs to do with considerable aplomb.
Whether you want to see a list of shared links from Twitter (which is a rather underrated feature, drawing only the tweets from your friends that contain links) or save articles to check out when you don't have connectivity, there's little the iPad can't do.
If you're in a family home with a number of Apple devices then you can easily share links using AirDrop, and this will be useful for those that hate doing the same over messaging or Facebook - although with iMessage, it's hardly a chore.
We would say that something like Google Chrome is a better bet if you're a fan of simplicity though, as over time we found that we never used things like the Reader mode or the integrated quick link.
Chrome, on the other hand, is simple and unobtrusive and connects to Google accounts well too. We're not saying that Safari is a bad browser or anything, but it's worth thinking about the opions at times.
But Apple has kept things simple on both functionality and the interface on the iPad Mini 2's internet browser, and that makes a lot of sense to us.
Media
When it comes to all manner of media, the iPad Mini 2 is a great device to consume the content you want on the go.It starts at 16GB capacity, but 4GB of this eaten up straight out of the box, which means we can only recommend you start with the 32GB version for your media collection.
Given we had managed to suck up 12GB just by downloading a couple of TV programmes, three HD games and plonked on a lot of music, that's not going to last well over the course of your ownership.
We're really rather frustrated that Apple hasn't scrapped the 16GB iteration of the iPad Mini, as it's going to annoy a lot of buyers who go for the cheapest option thinking they're getting a good deal, when in reality it's going to be a compromised performance for many when they have to start deleting content.
You do at least have the option of the 128GB option as the highest tier device now, which is a nice move, but again begs the question of whether Apple is aiming the Mini 2 at the productivity space.
Music
The audio performance of the iPad Mini 2 is hugely impressive, even with the most basic of earbuds on offer.There are plenty of other reviews out there that seem to gloss over the fact that the iPad is as much a media-centric device as anything else, and no matter how many streaming services you subscribe to, the output is always going to be limited by the hardware.
But what Apple has done, and to be honest, always managed to do, is bring refined audio output to a system that commands a premium price.
Through a decent pair of headphones it's possible to capture all the nuance of high-bitrate audio, and even streamed to an external speaker via Bluetooth things don't sound as muddy and horrendous as they might on other devices.
It's a much more compelling option as a portable music player because it has the same audio performance as the Air, yet is so much easier to sling in a bag or even a generous pocket.
It also makes the interface feel a little less stretched out, thanks to there being less screen estate to go around.
On top of that, the lock screen has excellent integration for third party apps, so the likes of Spotify feel as much a part of the iPad Mini 2 as its own music player.
So while sonically we're enamoured, the interface still feels like, as with other elements in iOS 7 for iPad, it's designed for an iPhone and stretched up.
We get that it's meant to be a simple way to show as many songs as possible, and appreciate the widgets on the lock screen and in the Control Center. However, can't we have a more beautiful interface? You can either have a long list of songs with a tiny controller at the top, or a Now Playing screen that is surrounded by bland and unsubtle white.
What happened to the Cover Flow beauty of the first iPhone? Where did that go? It's made even worse by the fact that finally we have a processor that can keep up with all the artwork, yet all we get is this pool of limpid uninterestingness.
Video
Video on the iPad Mini 2 is excellent. There's no other way to describe it. You've got sharp images, a large screen and, the black bars aside thanks to the 4:3 screen ratio, a thoroughly immersive experience.However, it's not the best out there. You can argue that the larger iPad Air and the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX both have better screens when it comes to colour reproduction, giving a more natural-looking experience.
But ones you've plopped your favourite movies onto the iPad Mini 2, you're in a very good place indeed. The 7.9 inch screen is a really portable size that means you can cart the Mini 2 around with you without getting wrist ache from too much watching.
The range of movie codes supported is still disappointing though, with MP4 really the main one that will be supported. iTunes is still an infuriating platform to use to get video onto your iPad – for instance, we needed to encode our battery test video into 1080p from 1080p just to allow it on.
Compare this to the drag-and-drop nature of Android and you'll see that there's still a disparity between the systems.
However, once it's on there, things generally look really good, and that's what matter. Yes, unknown files will have odd thumbnails, but for the most part everything this slick.
You've also got the added bonus that a number of Blu-ray discs now come with an iPad-compatible copy of the film, where Android has to make do with Ultraviolet. Apple's method is so simple and works just as well as if you'd paid far over the odds for a simple TV show or movie from its own store.
We're getting sick of moaning about the cost of videos on the iTunes store, but at least the breadth is getting seriously wide – if you've got an Apple TV you'll wonder how you ever spent so many nights in BlockBusters trying to choose a film to rent.
Camera
The camera interface on the iPad Mini 2 is something of a confusing one, as just like the iPad Air it's got a stripped-down version of the iPhone 5S' app.
This means that instead of the ability to take Slo-Mo videos and make them look amazing on the larger screen, you've instead got the option to take a photo, a video, or a square photo for portrait shots.
You at least get HDR mode, but even the filters, which have similar options available in the separate Photobooth app out of the box, aren't available.
Given the architecture is almost identical from the new iPhone to the iPad Air and Mini 2, we can see why these options aren't there.
We're not going to get that upset, as this might minimise the amount of people using their iPad to take a picture. It's not a good look, and you shouldn't be doing it.
We're more tolerant of this on a smaller iPad, and we have to say that despite only taking 5MP stills the output is very impressive.
The ability to lock auto focus and exposure is still very handy, and in portrait mode especially it was very easy to actually take pictures thanks to the even weight of the device.
Flicking between the modes was no hassle with one hand, and while we noted a couple of times when the auto focus took too long to kick in, when it got it right we were really pleased with the results.
Being able to edit them on the device with iPhoto was brilliant too, although you're more limited with what you can do with the smaller screen. We kept wishing we could alter them on the Air instead, which has a much larger capacity for editing thanks to the increase in size, if not pixel count.
Battery and apps
The battery on the iPad Mini 2 is 50% bigger than its predecessor, but even still we were rather worried about how the new iPad mini would fare when it has to power more pixels and a much stronger engine.In reality, there's not a lot to worry about. Running our looped video battery test on both the iPad Mini and Mini 2 (with iOS 7.0.4 on board and all displays corrected to the same lumen output) showed only a 3% difference in the battery drain, although the original device did fare slightly better.
This isn't surprising though, as pixel driving is one of the major reasons for battery depletion, along with the screen brightness.
It's interesting to note that the iPad Mini 2 can run to a higher brightness than the iPad Air, although the larger device was better than both of its smaller variants, coming in with a 4% better score than the new Retina iPad Mini.
However, and this is important for those trying to decide between the iPad Mini 2 and the Google Nexus 7: it appears that having fewer pixels is kinder to the tablet, showing an almost 33% improvement in battery performance over our video test.
The Amazon Kindle Fire HDX was surprisingly similar in battery life to the Mini 2, coming in at only 3% better power management in the same test, which is close to negligible when you'll be using your tablet for a variety of tasks.
In general use we didn't see as much of a problem – there was certainly no instance of battery draining rapidly as we've seen on other tablets in this smaller category.
You can do a good portion of email reading, watching a TV show and playing a couple of higher-res games before you hit 80% battery life, which is more than adequate in our eyes.
This really equates to a device that you only need to charge every three days, even with the added bonus of it being so portable, and for a tablet that's easily enough.
Apps and connectivity
The Wi-Fi performance of the iPad Mini 2 is really rather good thanks in no small part to the addition of the MiMo technology (Multiple in, Multiple out) that uses a load more antennas to give a really strong and stable connection to your router.We tested this against the iPad Mini, and close to the router speeds were relatively similar. However, as we moved further away things started to drop quickly on the original smaller iPad, where the new Retina-shod version managed to hold on more than admirably.
It's not so much that you need to think of the new tech as offering faster speeds, but if you're in a house that struggles to get Wi-Fi signal to the outlying rooms, this iPad will certainly help there.
4G bands has also been supercharged in the same way as we saw on the iPad Air, and and low power Bluetooth is also on board as well, making it an incredibly well-connected device.
Apps
Apple has thrown on reams of free software with the iPad Mini 2 (and other new iOS 7 devices too), so you now get access to the likes of Pages, Numbers, Keynote from the iWork tribe as well as iPhoto, iMovie and Garageband for free.These are incredibly powerful tools for what is still essentially a cut-down mobile device – we can't say that we'd recommend using them regularly without a keyboard (in the case of iWork) but elements such as iPhoto and Garageband really give you the chance to express yourself fluidly.
When you consider that the iPad Mini 2 will be appearing under the Christmas tree for a few lucky (and wealthy) people, having software right out of the box (well, you do have to download it actually, and it's a fairly hefty download) is a big plus for a shiny new toy.
However, it's worth noting that on the smaller iPad screen it's not as pleasurable to use things like the Garageband app when you want to be precise in your chord strumming or drumming – the larger iPad Air is more adept here.
That said, the portability of the Mini 2, despite not being that far ahead of the slimmed down iPad Air, is a real help when you want to be creative on the go.
On top of that, we still feel the need to laud the Apple App Store for its ability to offer the best apps around. We're talking about things like BBC iPlayer and Sky Go, both of which offer improved user interfaces and allowed downloads first before the Android hop came.
The gap between Apple and Google's app portals is narrowing, but there's no doubt that users will still feel far more secure in the app experience they'll get on an Apple tablet compared to an Android one for now, and that's a big reason to purchase.
Maps should also gain something of a special mention, as while it was a PR disaster for Apple, it's slowly clawing its way back to usable thanks to constant upgrades.
Hands on pictures
Verdict
Well, the iPad Mini 2 being a shrunken down version of the Air eh? Who saw that coming? Well, we all did. Apple announced it a few weeks ago.We weren't really sure what to expect when looking at the new iPad Mini though. Would it have a poor battery? Would the screen be lower brightness? Would it somehow be made out of recycled chicken droppings?
Luckily none of that came to pass, and Apple's managed to really smash the bar set from the first iPad Mini.
We liked
The design of the iPad Mini was great already; so much so that Apple scaled it up and used it on the larger version. It's back in an almost identical form here, but seems less likely to chip and still wows us with the all-encompassing aluminium design.We'd also like to applaud Apple for managing to get large battery and powerful processor under the hood to make a market-leading tablet, and both of those features work very well.
Battery life is strong, the A7 chip works in a robust fashion, and the Retina screen, while massively overdue, is clear and crisp.
And then there's the usual Apple stuff we're starting to tire of praising: the amount of 4G bands, the MiMo wireless connectivity to improve Wi-Fi, the strong catalogue of apps. It's all there and make a tablet that's beyond par in so many ways.
We disliked
Talking of things we're tired of talking about: we're going to mention the price again. It was so nice being able to avoid it with the iPad Air, coming as that did with a comparable tag to the competition in the larger-screen arena.While it's slightly unfair to compare Apple to Google or Amazon, who both sell their devices for cost or slightly under to engage users with the ecosystem, Apple is using that normal route of charging a bit more to make a profit.
And forcing you to use its ecosystem, of course.
But that doesn't detract from the fact you can buy a Google Nexus 7 for 25-30% less than the comparable 16GB / 32GB option from Apple – and that increase in price to improve the amount of storage on board has no justification.
It's a shame because otherwise this is a flawless tablet. You might get a little annoyed at the colours not being as vibrant on the screen as some in the competition, but we can 't really call that an issue.
The storage issue should also be noted here as it's linked to the price. While you can buy versions of the tablet that will have more than enough space for your content, the 16GB option isn't enough.
We're not going to label this as a big negative, as it's completely down to user choice – but the step up in price from 16GB to 32GB means this is a little prohibitive for some.
Verdict
The iPad Mini 2 is almost flawless in so many ways. The rich App catalogue mean it's a device that will grow with you, and the 64-bit A7 chip and Retina display are certainly future-proofing users from an outdated device.The design is still the best in the tablet category, with perhaps only the LG G pad 8.3 coming close.
On top of that iOS 7 is at least a step forward, and finally being able to see things in the clarity they deserve is hugely important.
Even gaming is sensational on this tablet, which is essentially all the first Mini should have been… and a little more.
But the price is still something that really jars when you consider the rivals. The Nexus 7 has a crisp and clear screen, a strong app catalogue (although not as polished) and a decent build – for so much less cash.
The Amazon Kindle Fire HDX follows the same path, but with a better processor – although not the greatest user interface.
We were torn when scoring the iPad Mini 2 as, in a vacuum, there's nothing that touches it apart from the larger Air, and these are tablets in different categories. You wouldn't own both, but the iPad Mini 2 is no longer a sidekick to the larger model.
So here's the upshot: if you're willing more on a tablet and want it to be a little more portable, then the iPad Mini 2 with Retina display can't be beaten. It's slick, fast, powerful and comes with so much free software and design wins that it will provide a trouble-free existence for many years.
But if you're thinking about saving money, the competition is strong too. It's nowhere near as good as the iPad Mini 2, but for the cost reduction you can forgive a multitude of sins.
The iPad Mini 2 might not be a sidekick to the Air in terms of spec but, thanks to Apple raising the price even further this year, it's playing second fiddle to its larger brother.
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Galaxy Gear's 'real' notifications boost may actually make it useful
The Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch has endured a rough time of it since its launch this autumn, after failing to sell smartphone users, or anyone else for that matter, on the real benefits of strapping one on.
Now there is hope, as an update to the Gear Manager app gives the device a shot making some headway, by bringing real notifications from any Android app, directly to the screen.
Prior to the update, users would only see they had a notification so would have to whip out their phone anyway. Now now they'll see the full content of Facebook alerts, WhatsApp messages and everything else.
Thanks to v1.5.111304 of the Gear Manager app, owners will handily be able to select which apps send notifications to the watch and which don't. Progress.
More appealing or less appalling?
To grab the update, Gear users should head to the Gear Manager app on their compatible Samsung smartphone and download the latest version from the Samsung App Store.Does this, all of a sudden, make the Galaxy Gear a more appealing prospect for you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Microsoft outs 3D Builder for Windows 8.1 to aid support for 3D printers
Microsoft has released a new app for Windows 8.1 machines, allowing users to create 3D-printable items.
The free 3D Builder app comes with a host of pre-conceived templates, including everything one could need to create their own 3D-printed model train set, with their Windows 8.1 compatible 3D printer.
As well as host of other templates, like lego-style bricks, money clips, cookie cutters, snowflakes, pendants and the rest of it, users can also build their own items from scratch.
Microsoft is also enabling users (albeit a very small number of users with Windows 8.1 and a 3D printer at this stage) to combine presets into one larger object.
Ornaments, toys and more..
"3D Builder has a catalog of objects you can create from ornaments to toys and more. The clean, simple user interface lets you scale, rotate and adjust what you want to print," wrote Microsoft's Kristina Libby on the official Windows blog."Add multiple objects to a single print – even stack or push objects into one another to create new ones. Printing 3D objects created in other applications or ones that are downloaded from the Internet is really easy with the 3D Builder app and touch as well."
The app is available to download from the Windows Store now and, if you're in the market for a 3D printer, Microsoft is also keep to point out it is now selling the MarkerBot Replicator 2.
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What was he in again? Google Play Movies brings info cards to the UK
Google has rolled out an update for its UK Play Movies app for Android, introducing the handy information cards that rolled out in the US earlier this year.
The feature allows users to pause the video and view information about the actors currently on screen, the related movies and TV shows, as well as information about the soundtrack (sorry Shazam).
Users can tap on the lovely actors' faces to see their filmographies, age, birthplace and the other associated items available from the Google Play store.
The feature is similar to the Amazon X-Ray for the Kindle Fire and saves a trip to IMDb when trying to answer the age old 'what else has she been in?' question.
More Jack Black information
"Next time you're watching a movie on Google Play you can find out that it's Jack Black, who was born in Hermosa Beach, California and is 44 years old," the company wrote on the Google UK Google+ page."In the UK, we've added info cards to the Google Play Movies & TV app so you can easily learn more about the actors, related films and even what song is playing in many of your favourite movies."
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Roundup: Best Linux desktop: which is ideal for you?
Linux is about choice, or so the popular mantra goes, and nothing represents this more than the plethora of desktop environments on offer. Most distros have at least five graphical environments in their repositories, and some offer double-digit numbers of choice. But why? What's the point of all this? Surely it's not a question of having a lot of desktop environments, but of having a single one that works properly. Well, maybe.
That's what we're here to investigate. We're going to look at some of the most popular, and some of the more esoteric desktop choices to find out which one you should be using. But before we go any further, we need to understand what we're looking at.
The phrase desktop environment is notoriously slippery. We're taking the view that a desktop environment is a collection of things: it's the window manager plus a set of utilities. This may come in the form of a pre-assembled package, such as Gnome or KDE, or it may be assembled by the distro maintainer, such as CrunchBang's Openbox or Puppy's JWM.
Of course, even when it comes in a pre-assembled package, it will vary between distributions. KDE, in particular, can seem like a different desktop environment in each distro.
The final thing we have to say before we get started is how we're evaluating them. In short, what should a good desktop environment do? We could get technical here, but really, we don't think the average end user cares that much about technicalities of what happens behind the scenes.
So, we're going to say that a good desktop environment is one that makes computing fun and simple. That's the litmus test we're going to reference when deciding what's good and what's not. That's enough about what we're doing. Bring on the desktops!
Gnome 3
Can the once-popular desktop reclaim lost users?
Gnome was once the most popular desktop environment for Linux. It may still be, but it's hard to be confident now. When Gnome 3 launched in April 2011, it changed from a traditional desktop to a new, stripped bare, minimalist environment, and users took to the internet to demand it reverted to its older ways or else they would abandon it. The developers stayed with the new style and some users have certainly left, but not in the droves that critics predicted. In fact, it's now more common to hear people say that they like the new version.
This new style comes courtesy of Gnome Shell, the part of the Gnome which creates the desktop. It's a radical break from previous versions which featured a panel with Menu, Window List and Notifications area, all of which had been common to most Linux desktop environments since they existed.
In explaining their design decisions Gnome says: "The Shell is designed to minimise distraction and interruption and to enable users to focus on the task at hand. A persistent Window List or Dock would interfere with this goal, serving as a constant temptation to switch focus.
The separation of window switching functionality into the overview means that an effective solution to switching is provided when it's desired by the user, but that it's hidden from view when it's not necessary. The omission of a Window List or Dock also reduces the amount of screen space occupied by the Shell, and therefore makes it better suited to devices with smaller screens."
This philosophy lies right at the heart of Gnome 3. It's about simplifying the computing experience down to its bare minimum, and helping the user focus on a single task. This simplification continues through to the Gnome apps, and has been a constant cause of friction. As Gnome 3 matures, developers have simplified the core apps - Nautilus in particular - and removed functionality.
This, in true computing style, can be viewed as either a feature or a bug depending on your point of view. Given Gnome's focus on simplicity, you may think things are looking good for this contender. Well, not necessarily. We said a good desktop environment should make computing simple, which isn't the same as the desktop environment being simple. For example, if you need to copy files between directories in a file manager, it's often simpler to use a split view to enable you to see both directories at once. This option, however, was removed when Nautilus was simplified.
In the latest version of Gnome, the developers have relented slightly and introduced Gnome Classic. This is a series of extension that make Gnome 3 look like Gnome 2. It now sits in a halfway point where it has the look of Gnome 2, but everything in it still has the minimal Gnome 3 feel. As such, we find it hard to recommend at the moment, but it is early days and later versions may improve upon it.
Verdict
Best for: MinimalismAvoid if: You like to see what's going on
Try on: Fedora
In a nutshell: Less is more
KDE
How do you evaluate an ever-changing beast?
The problem with evaluating KDE is that it seems to be different each time we see it. There's the vanilla KDE you get if you install it in a non-KDE distro, but many KDE-specialist distros (Mageia, ROSA, OpenSuse etc) have customised desktops.
Most hard-core KDE users have personal settings that they've tweaked over the years and often provide a desktop environment radically different to the one you'd get straight after an install. In fact, the differences between two KDE installs are often so big, someone unfamiliar with Linux would be hard-pushed to recognize them as the same desktop environment.
Because of this, we're going to go out on a limb and say that KDE isn't a desktop environment at all, but a framework within which you can build a desktop environment. The default settings in vanilla KDE are, in our humble opinion, terrible. It looks bland and doesn't take advantage of KDE's power. There are a number of distros that come with much better setups, particularly the three mentioned above, but they are all a little conservative.
The real power of KDE comes when you dive in and customise it yourself. For the most part, this is done through widgets. While many desktops allow for some form of third party add-ons, no other embraces them as much as KDE. In fact, most of KDE is made up of these widgets. Some are distributed as part of the main KDE package, while others can be sourced from other developers, but they all have the same access to the desktop environment's internal workings.
An overloaded screen full of graphically slick widgets that display all manner of information, mostly useless, is the hallmark of a new KDE user. With time and experiences, most KDE veterans whittle their way down to just a few widgets that provide them with what they need.
For example, Ben has two folder views (for My Documents and Downloads folders), a weather forecaster (essential for a cycle commuter), and yuake (a terminal that drops down from the top of the screen when F12 is pressed). That provides his idea of the perfect balance between clutter and information. Yours, of course, may be different.
Death by customisation
The second main area that you can customise in KDE is activities. In some ways these are like far more customisable virtual desktops. They allow users to switch between highly customisable views for when they're performing different activities on their computer. As with most parts of KDE, in order for it to be useful, you have to spend time customising it to your workflow and use-cases. For many people, this is a bit too much effort and it's a feature that's rarely used.
Of course, a desktop environment, as we said at the start, is about the complete package, including several utilities. While many of the others we look at here use similar GTK utilities, KDE uses Qt based ones. Typically these continue the KDE philosophy of ultimate configurability. There are enough of them that you could conceivably do all your computing in the KDE apps from the Konsole terminal emulator to the Calligra Office Suite to Konqueror, the web browser.
This means you have a full set of applications that all share the same design principals, and have the same look and feel. In theory this should mean you have a consistent desktop, though it doesn't always work out as well.
Verdict
Best for: CustomisationAvoid if: You like GTK
Try on: OpenSuse, Rosa or Mageia
In a nutshell: Tweaker's heaven
Unity
The new contender has made friends and enemies
After the demise of Gnome 2, the Gnome team, as we have seen, created Gnome 3 with a completely redesigned desktop. Ubuntu, previously the leading Gnome distro, decided not to use the new Gnome but to create its own desktop and called it Unity. There have been cries of it being near-identical to Gnome 3, but these seem to be from the superficial standpoint of the bottom panel going, and most of the action happening in the top-left corner.
Unity doesn't have the same philosophy of maximum simplification, and the two desktops are actually quite different to use. The Unity desktop, though tidy, is busier than in Gnome 3. There's a Launcher and Window List on the desktop, so you don't have to switch to a new screen to access basic functions.
Perhaps the most unusual thing about the Launcher is that you can pin web apps to it as well as native applications. Sceptics claim that these are little more than links to the web address, which have been available in other desktop environments for years. These sceptics have a point, but the 'little more' can be important.
For example, it allows web apps to access the notifications area. While not everyone feels comfortable using the cloud, this makes things like web mail a little nicer to use for those that do.
Strong functionality theme
Perhaps the big showdown between Gnome 3 and Unity is in the Overview vs Dash. These are roughly equivalent to the menus on traditional desktop environments. Places where you can launch apps (that aren't in the launcher), and search for things.
Like Gnome 3's Overview, Unity's Dash is accessed through the top-left corners. Unlike Gnome 3, though, it doesn't have a Window List or a 'favourites' bar, since these are included in the main desktop. Again, we see the differences between the different philosophies shine through. Gnome 3 is as simple as possible, while Unity's has more functionality.
By default, it allows the user to search through their applications, files stored locally and products on Amazon. The idea is to create a single point where the user can search for anything: just open the Dash and type what you want. The inclusion of the online results has upset some privacy campaigners, and it is possible to turn it off in the Settings panel.
The biggest feature of Unity's Dash that's absent in the Gnome version are the lenses. These allow you to focus your search on a particular area. For example, the videos lens allows you to search online videos. For those of us in the UK, this seems to bring back results mostly from the BBC's iPlayer. There's also a Wikipedia lens to help you quickly find articles on the online encyclopedia.
We can see real potential in these lenses, but for the moment they feel a little under done. The videos lens, for example, doesn't search a wide enough range of sources. If it provided a single point where you could search all video sources you had access to, then it would be a great feature. As it is, we find we hardly use it. We found that it took some time to get used to Unity, but now we can't remember why we ever used app menus.
Verdict
Best for: Big icons and web appsAvoid if: You like menus and panels
Try on: Ubuntu
In a nutshell: Innovative & bold
Mate and Cinnamon
A tale of two Gnome forks
When Gnome and Unity both made radical changes to their desktops, two desktop environments emerged that sought to provide a comfortable home for disillusioned users. They both built upon Gnome code, and they both aimed to recreate a familiar look and feel, but they took different paths to that goal.
Here we'll look at Mate and Cinnamon. If you start either of them, you'll be presented with a similar screen. There's a desktop where files can be dropped, a panel along the bottom which shows notifications, a list of open windows, and an Applications menu in the bottom left corner. For the purposes of this article, we'll refer to this as the traditional desktop.
It's been the way many of us have interacted with our computers for almost two decades now, and most people find it easy to use. The differences between the two desktop environments really come down to the pedigree.
Mate is a continuation of Gnome 2, while Cinnamon is a fork of Gnome 3, which is designed to retain the structure of Gnome 2. The most obvious difference between the two is that Cinnamon takes advantage of modern hardware to provide slick graphics while Mate runs more efficiently on older hardware. The extra power of Cinnamon is used to provide things like an overview (swipe the mouse into the top-left corner and it will display an overview of the open windows). Less dextrous users, though, can find this annoying when they go for the file menu a little too aggressively and suddenly find that the desktop disappears.
In the latest version of Cinnamon (1.8), desklets have been introduced. These allow you to put dynamic objects on your desktop. For example, clocks or comic viewers that automatically update themselves. These are similar to widgets that are found in KDE, though they aren't as all-pervasive. Since they're a new feature, we don't yet know whether they'll become as powerful as KDE's widgets, or if they're just going to add a little glamour to the Cinnamon desktop.
Pick your Gimp
The second biggest difference is that Cinnamon is based on the GTK 3 tool kit while Mate is built on GTK 2. This means the two look slightly different, and match a different set of applications. Of course, using a desktop that uses GTK 2 doesn't mean you can't use software using GTK 3 and visa versa, but it isn't as smooth an experience.
As it currently stands, almost all applications that aren't part of the Gnome project have a GTK 2 version. However, this is likely to change in the future as developers start to take advantage of the newer GTK 3 features. We find that there is little to differentiate between the two, and users that like one will probably like the other. Perhaps, as time goes on, the two desktops will diverge to target specific userbases, but this is pure speculation.
We do know, though, that these two young desktops have rapidly become among the most popular interfaces for Linux. They've done this by listening to users and providing them with what they want.
Verdict: Mate
Best for: Older computersAvoid if: You like GTK 3
Try on: Mint
In a nutshell: Gnome 2 lives!
Verdict: Cinnamon
Best for: HipstersAvoid if: You have an older machine
Try on: Mint
In a nutshell: A traditional desktop
Xfce
The original refuge to Gnome 3
Many people saw Xfce as a natural refuge for Gnome 2 users when Gnome 3 came out. It's GTK-based desktop environment and has a roughly similar layout. However, many of those who initially joined it after leaving Gnome 2 have since moved on, including Linus. This is because the two desktops were designed for different users.
Xfce's graphics and effects are a little less impressive, and there are less controls. Thunar, the file manager, is also simpler than those in the bigger platforms, but perfectly functional for most uses.
All this comes from the days before Gnome 3, when Xfce carved out a niche as a stripped-down Gnome 2-like desktop for low-powered machines. It does have a few features that some of the even lower-powered desktops (such as LXDE) don't, like launcher panels, but these aren't as graphically slick as in the more powerful environments.
In the last couple of years, other desktops have come to fill in the niche of Gnome 2, while Xfce has continued to do what it's always done well: a simple, low-powered Linux desktop. We wouldn't quite feel right about describing it as 'no frills', but it certainly has a very limited number of frills. Whether or not it has enough is a matter of personal taste.
Verdict
Best for: Not too minimalist minimalismAvoid if: You like a high level of configurability
Try on: Xubuntu, Debian
In a nutshell: Aims for simple, but not too simple
LXDE
The feather weight desktop that still packs a punch
There are basically two ways to design a desktop environment. One is to ask yourself 'how much can we provide to the user?' and the other is to ask yourself 'what's the least we can provide to the user?' LXDE is designed with the latter in mind.
The window manager is simple, as is the file manager. In short, there's no cruft. Nothing that you don't need. The result is a clean interface that's pleasantly free of interference. It's a cool glass of water after drinking flavoured pop. Some might call it boring, and they'd have a point, but does that really matter? Should your desktop environment be exciting, or should it stay out of your way and let you get on with what you're doing with the minimum of fuss?
If you're of the latter opinion then LXDE could be for you. It's enjoying a certain renaissance at the moment due to it being the most popular desktop environment on the Raspberry Pi. The two projects fit together well because they're both based on the principle that computing is about function, not form.
Of course, it is a little bit about form, and we think the incarnation of LXDE in Lubuntu has the best theme and set up, so it's a great place to start for people new to this environment.
Verdict
Best for: Low resource useAvoid if: You like graphical effects
Try on: Lubuntu
In a nutshell: A great desktop for older machines
A few unusual choices
Enlightenment
There's no way to hide the fact that Enlightenment is about eye candy. Things fade, pop and shimmer with glee any time you do anything. Some people find all these distractions and window dressing (sic) a bit too much, but for others it adds a sense of humour to their computing.
Enlightenment describes itself as a desktop shell, which means it's desktop environment without any applications supplied. Since the styling is so different from the others (from which you'll need to take software) this means the result is a system that looks inconsistent. However, if you like desktop effects, but don't like KDE, Enlightenment may be for you.
Sugar
When Nicholas Negroponte founded One Laptop Per Child, the project kicked off with extremely limited hardware, so the developers set about creating a desktop environment that was both very light on resources and very child-friendly. Given that most of their target users had never seen a computer let alone used one before, it had to be easy to use as well.
Sugar is the result of this. It's a little too simplistic for most uses, but it's excellent for kids with its big blocky icons and a high-contrast colour scheme that make it great for their first digital steps. Try a Fedora spin here http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick.
Openbox
We said at the start that a desktop environment is a tricky thing to define. Openbox is a perfect example of why. A number of the other desktop environments use Openbox as their window manager of choice (such as LXDE and razorQT). However, with some configuration, it can be turned into a desktop environment in its own right, and that's exactly what the developers of CrunchBang have done.
It's stripped bare environment that perhaps has something in common with Gnome 3, though not quite to that extreme. It's minimalism has endeared it to sysadmins and hardcore users that appreciate the lack of desktop bloat.
Puppy
This distro has built a desktop environment around JWM, a slim window manager that's not used in many other setups. As you may be able to guess, this is one designed to be frugal with resources. The end result is pleasant, though not spectacular, and works admirably on older hardware.
It's designed in the traditional fashion and does a good job of just staying out of the way. It can look a bit dated when compared to it's more resouce-intensive cousins, but as many people find that endearing as annoying. Not many people would pick this for a new machine, but it does a great job of keeping machines running that would otherwise be scrapped.
Xmonad
If there's one desktop environment that stands out from all the others we have here it's this one. Before you start using it, it's best to forget everything you think you know about how a desktop should work. Right, have you done that?
The desktop in Xmonad is split into tiles, each of which contains an application. You can shuffle the tiles around, change their sizes, and focus. You can also use the mouse within the tiles, but not to sort out the desktop like you would with windows. The result looks a little peculiar, but it is surprisingly usable once you get used to the new layout.
Of course, it won't suit everyone. There's a guided tour to get you started here www.xmonad.org/tour.html.
RazorQT
As we've seen, there's a large range of lightweight desktops for Linux. However, almost all of them use the GTK toolkit which could cause problems as development has shifted to the less lightweight GTK 3. (LXDE has started work on a Qt version, but it could be some time before it's ready for mainstream use).
Many people also prefer the look and feel of Qt. RazorQT was created to fill this particular gap. It's built using the same Qt toolkit as KDE, but without any of the bloat. As yet, it doesn't have many applications, but works with the KDE ones. It's still young when compared to most of the other ones in this roundup, and we expect it to improve and start to challenge the other lightweight environments soon.
Conclusion
If you ask ten computer users what they want from a computer interface, you'll get ten different answers, so why should they all use the same desktop environment? The answer is simple: they shouldn't.Because of this, we're not limiting ourselves to a single 'best desktop' because we don't think there is one, but we're not completely copping out. We're going to pick our favourite desktop in four categories: traditional, newstyle, tweakers and outlier. We feel this recognition of different styles of computer use has become especially important in the past couple of years as the desktop possibilities in Linux have diversified significantly.
There has always been a range of desktops, but now, more than ever before, there are a range of good desktops. Not all of them will suit everyone, but everyone, we think, will be able to find a desktop that works well for them.
For the traditionalists
We have to say that there are no bad choices in the category at the moment. Xfce, LXDE, Mate, Cinnamon and KDE are all great desktops. They all have good and bad points, but we think that most traditionalists would be happy with any of them. However, there has to be a winner, and we're picking Mate for the way it continues the Gnome 2 feel through to the present day.For the brave new world
This one comes down to Gnome 3 and Unity. Plenty of people hate both, but there's definitely a demand for much bolder desktop designs. We're going to go with Unity as our top desktop for the brave new world simply because we can't align ourselves with Gnome's stripped bare design. We like we need a little bit more activity on the desktop. Yes, sometimes it distracts us, but that's not always a bad thing.For the tweakers
Let's be honest, there was only ever going to be one winner here and it's KDE. Although, an honourable mention should go out to Cinnamon now that it includes desklets. Enlightenment is another option, though we feel it doesn't match KDE as a complete desktop environment. Maybe next year, KDE will have a challenger.For the outliers
We're going to pick the desktop that adds the most to the world of desktops. That is, the one that has the most useful features that can't be done in any common environment. The winner offers a radically different way of doing things that we found surprisingly usable. In fact, we were tempted to switch. Hats off then to xmonad.
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In depth: 10 ways everyday tech is changing the world
The gap between what an inventor sees as the main use for their creation and what people eventually do with is can be vast. Just ask Robert Oppenheimer. But some of the technologies that we're most familiar with have also been twisted into new uses - far from what their creators imagined. Here are ten of the most fascinating.
1. Smartphones as weather stations
The mobile phone in your pocket contains a lot of sophisticated sensors - for light, temperature, pressure, magnetic field and location, among other things. This data can be tremendously useful to meteorologists trying to forecast the weather, so British company OpenSignal has built an app called Weathersignal that collects this data from Android handsets and then uses it to improve forecasts. It's proved effective enough that the Met Office has expressed an interest in getting hold of the raw data for its own use.2. Kinect for 3D scanning
Microsoft's Kinect sensor, originally built for games, has been hacked endlessly by developers keen to get access to its cheap-and-cheerful 3D capabilities, as seen in Buzzy electropop duo Avec Sans' recent video for Shiver.Shortly after Kinect's launch, DIY electronics specialists Adafruit Industries offered a bounty for the first open-source drivers. At first, Microsoft closed ranks and said it refused to condone the modification of its products, but later it rolled back and said that the USB interface had been left open by design. Either way, Kinect is now used widely for cheap 3D imaging.
3. Wi-Fi for location
Wi-Fi networks are traditionally built for communication, and they're good at it - the technology has proliferated around the world for that very reason. But they're also used by companies like Google, Navizon and Skyhook Wireless to locate you effectively in urban areas.After years of struggling with GPS chips, it's now much quicker and easier to locate you from what networks you can see around you, and how strong the signal is. As an added bonus, it even works perfectly indoors. The only place you now need GPS is far from civilization.
4. The theremin as an instrument
Here's a little-known-fact - the theremin wasn't originally intended to be a musical instrument at all. The spooky sounds it produces were the result of Russian research into proximity sensors in the 1920s, after the outbreak of the Russian civil war.
Its inventor, Léon Theremin, patented the device in 1928, then embarked on a grand tour of Europe playing his new creation to packed-out audiences. Eventually he found his way to the United States, where it became an instant hit.
5. Twitter in crisis situations
Among all the misspelt hashtags, rage and photos of what people are having for dinner, Twitter is really quite good at sharing information between large groups of people in emergencies. That's pretty far from its original goals as a status update tool, but it's been of tremendous utility following numerous natural disasters, political uprisings and other crisis situations. Most famously, the service been credited with the early organisation behind the 2010-2011 revolutions across the Middle East. Not bad for an app originally described as "a short burst of inconsequential information".6. Minecraft in education
Swedish bedroom coder Notch knew he was onto a good thing when he created Minecraft, but he never imagined that his creation would be used by Google to teach quantum physics to the next generation of coders. That's the idea of qCraft, anyway, a mod for the game that introduces certain principles that are only possible at a quantum scale. It's not the only attempt to integrate Minecraft into education either - the team at Minecraftedu.com have a whole stack of ways to bring the blocky sandbox game into schools.
7. The Mosquito as a ringtone
It's difficult to outsmart a generation of children who've grown up with the technology that we're still fumbling around working out how to use. The best example of this is the Mosquito - an electronic device that generates a sound that can only be heard by young people. It was originally sold to prevent teenagers loitering in public places, but a campaign to ban it as an abuse of human rights fell apart after it was swiftly co-opted as a ringtone that couldn't be heard by teachers if it rang during class.8. Loudspeakers as weapons
Speaking of sonic weaponry, militaries across the world have developed loudspeakers that can injure, incapacitate and torture opponents. Extremely high-power sound waves can damage the eardrums of a target, causing both pain and disorientation, while less-powerful noises can still be used for temporary crowd control purposes - police in Pittsburgh used sound cannons against protesters during the G20 summit. Ultrasound weapons may become part of our future too - tests on mice have shown lung and liver damage can take place above 184 decibels. Ultrasound is well beyond the range of human ears, so you'd never hear it coming.
9. iPads for surgery
Augmented reality apps have much promise for the world, but in most areas that promise has yet to be delivered. One exception is the use of iPads in surgery - German surgeons snapped a picture of a patient's liver with an iPad camera, then used pre-surgery scans to overlay details of where structures such as tumours and blood vessels were situated to help them find their way around. Being able to see the entire organ in three dimensions allowed the team to avoid damaging complications.10. PlayStation 3 curing cancer
Finally, between March 2007 and November 2012, you could use your PlayStation 3 to contribute to the fight against cancer. Citizen science initiative Folding@home allowed PS3 owners to use the console's processor to crunch through protein folding simulations with high efficiency, delivering a 20x speed boost over PCs being used for the same task. During the time it was available, PS3 users contributed more than 100 million hours of computation to the Folding@home project, which the team behind it described as a "game-changer". No pun intended. We hope.
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'Apple doesn't own sexy,' Samsung claims as Schiller cries wolf once again
Apple's top PR bod Phil Schiller has claimed Samsung's trademark infringement diminished the global view of the company's innovative verve and made it more difficult to sell the iPhone and iPad.
During the retrial (as if the world needed one) of the great Apple vs Samsung patent war in the US, Schiller said Samsung's copycat tactics caused the tech buying public to doubt Apple's design skills.
Schiller, Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide product marketing, told Judge Lucy Koh he was "quite shocked" when Samsung unveiled the first Galaxy S. "They went and copied the iPhone," he said.
"It weakens the view that the world has for Apple," Schiller added, saying it caused consumers to "question our innovation and design skills in a way that people never used to."
Bringing sexy back
Samsung's legal representatives hit back by holding up a Galaxy Tab and asking: "Apple doesn't own a patent on a product being beautiful or sexy. Isn't that correct? Apple doesn't own the right to preclude the design of this hardware?'Upon being shown the 10-inch Galaxy Tab, Schiller replied: "I don't know which Samsung devices are allowed to copy our devices and which ones aren't. It looks like an iPad."
The retrial taking place in California doesn't centre on whether Samsung is guilty of patent infringement, but around the damages that Samsung should pay.
In August last year, the jury ordered Samsung to pay $1.05 billion in damages, (around $650m, AU$1.12bn) although that was later rescinded to a lower amount.
Apple wants $380m (around £235, AU$406m) in damages, but Samsung only reckons it should have to pay $52m (around £32m, AU$55). Regardless of the outcome we're pretty sure they'll be at least 5,627 appeals and counter-appeals from one side or t'other, so strap yourselves in guys.
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Ballmer on his exit: 'Maybe I'm an emblem of an old era'
When outgoing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced that he would retire after more than 30 years with the company, people wondered if he was pushed out.
After all, it has struggled against Apple and Google in the mobile marketplace so much recently that this became Ballmer's biggest regret.
But the always-emotionally invested Microsoft head explained that it was his decision after he realized that the company's much-needed pattern break was being held up by himself.
"Maybe I'm an emblem of an old era, and I have to move on," he told the Wall Street Journal.
"As much as I love everything about what I'm doing, the best way for Microsoft to enter a new era is a new leader who will accelerate change."
Microsoft board not shocked
Ballmer's realization that Microsoft needed a reboot was obvious from all of the pressure his fellow executives disclosed in today's lengthy Journal piece."Hey, dude, let's get on with it," lead director John Thompson once told Ballmer in a conference call. "We're in suspended animation."
But the pressure from Microsoft's board is said to have been to always "go faster." The directors "didn't push Steve to step down," according to Thomson.
Not that it was a total stunner that Ballmer decided to exit either, with Microsoft board member Charles Noski commenting that he and other members weren't "surprised or shocked."
"While I would like to stay here a few more years," Ballmer told the board, "it doesn't make sense for me to start the transformation and for someone else to come in during the middle."
I've had the time of my life
Ballmer has still been in charge of making pivotal deals and launching new products like the Surface 2 and the soon-to-be-released Xbox One.But the board is now looking for its third CEO since its beginning in 1975, as it transitions from the Ballmer era into one filled with new toys in the hardware-dominated tech industry.
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Internet Explorer on Xbox One does more than 'just work,' says Microsoft
The Xbox One's version of Internet Explorer doesn't "just work," Microsoft assured today.
What the Softies are getting at is that the browser is not merely functional, but much better than that, according to a blog post by Microsoft Creative Technologist and Senior Product Manager Bryan Saftler.
"The sites you love on the web do more than just work in Internet Explorer for Xbox One," Saftler wrote.
"Because we built Internet Explorer for Xbox One with support for modern web standards like HTML5 and CSS3, your favorite sites are going to look amazing on a television."
Just browsing
Saftler also detailed the ways users can interact with the Xbox One's browser. Apparently gesture controls using the new Kinect, voice commands, an Xbox One controller, or a tablet with the Xbox SmartGlass app will all work.In addition, the new Internet Explorer for Xbox One has 200% better support for modern web standards over the Xbox 360's browser, he noted.
And important browser features like website pinning, tabs, private browsing, SmartScreen, Cookie blocking and Do Not Track mode will all be present in the new browser as well.
"Finally, any pinned sites or favorites you saved in Internet Explorer on your Xbox 360 will be pulled forward to your Xbox One," Saftler wrote.
A better experience
It sounds like Kinect and SmartGlass will make browsing the web on Xbox One a whole lot easier than it was on Xbox 360.You can even easily move websites back and forth between the TV and a tablet, according to today's post.
And the Xbox One's ability to "snap" applications to one side of the screen means you can browse the web easily without closing your game, a very cool feature that could be great once we get used to it.
Microsoft has some useful tips for web designers who want to make sure users get the best experience on their sites on Xbox One, so head over to the full blog post if that's you.
You can also win an Xbox One and a year's subscription to Xbox Live Gold if you tweet at Microsoft's @IE handle with the hashtag #IEonXboxOne and tell them what you're excited about in Internet Explorer for Xbox One.
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HTC One Two may see upgrade to Snapdragon 800, Android 4.4
The HTC One is one of the finest Android handsets ever produced, so we're expecting great things from its successor, the HTC One Two.
And according to the Twitter tipster @evleaks, the One Two will feature three important upgrades over the original HTC One: a Snapdragon 800 processor, a 5-inch 1080p display and Android 4.4 KitKat.
Given the current flagship offerings from the likes of Samsung, Sony and LG, those specs aren't surprising, but they're still upgrades over the HTC One's Snapdragon 600, 4.7-inch screen and last-gen Jelly Bean.
The HTC One Two will reportedly ship with KitKat out of the box.
HTC One Two rumors
The HTC One Two, also known by the codename "M8," is thought to be scheduled to arrive at some point next year - possibly by April 2014.We've heard about the HTC One Two's Snapdragon 800 before, when a batch of images allegedly showing the next HTC flagship leaked earlier this month.
That leak also brought with it word of a boost to 3GB of RAM, a leap over its predecessor's 2GB.
The One Two is also expected to be the first Sense 6 handset from HTC. We've no idea what Sense 6 will actually look like, but hopefully we'll find out before mid-2014.
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Sony confirms new next-gen games, including Uncharted 4
The PlayStation 4 has finally arrived on US (and Canadian) shores with a bunch of great games in tow. However, Sony had a few surprises up its sleeves about even more games coming in 2014.
Partnering with Spike TV an hour right before the PS4 hit, Sony set hearts afire with the announcement of several new titles.
Perhaps the most anticipated of the pack is the confirmation of the latest installment to Uncharted, a PS4 exclusive game from developer Naughty Dog.
Though there's a teaser trailer, neither company gave up any more info - like if Drake will be back (and hitched to Elena?), or who that mysterious voice is beyond saying: "We can confirm that the voiceover is performed by Todd Stashwick and he will play a character in the game."
Sir Francis Drake perhaps? Who knows! Whatever happens, we at least want a cameo from Sully.
Uncharted 4 (or whatever its name will be) doesn't have a release date set yet.
Ellie front and center
Sony also announced that The Last of Us will get a DLC in the form of an Ellie-centric arc - Naughty Dog's first ever single-player DLC.It's just another tantalizing teaser, but the companies were more willing to dish out details on the upcoming game.
The Last of Us: Left Behind focuses on you playing as Ellie during her time before meeting Joel in TLOU. The story will include new character Riley, Ellie's best friend and mentor from her military boarding school.
The Left Behind DLC will release in early 2014, but you can pre-order it starting November 19 from the PlayStation Store for $14.99 (about £9.31, AU$ 16.01).
More games headed to you next year
It may seem like the PS4 is lacking new games for the end of 2013 but hopefully the current launch list will be enough to last you through to 2014.You can also look forward to inFamous: Second Son exclusively for the PlayStation 4 on March 21, 2014 in the US and the Destiny beta - which will also head to PS3 owners early next year.
Snake fans, rejoice: in spring of 2014, Metal Gear Solid V will get a mission titled "Deja Vu" that will allow gamers to play as Classic Snake on your brand new console.
Lastly, there were inklings of The Last Guardian, though nothing official - not even an estimated launch - was announced.
This lineup should be enough to satiate your appetites until the Xbox One comes out November 22 with its own set of games so you can compare and gloat over which console is better. Or you can be like Microsoft and play nice.
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Blip: Xbox shows a little heart on PS4 launch day
As we enter the "goodwill towards men [and women and woodland creatures]" season, it sends a warm fuzzy down our cold, dark hearts to see a bitter rival extend a gesture of friendship, however small.
"Congratulations on your launch, Sony," read an image posted by the official @Xbox Twitter account at 9 a.m. PST. It was accompanied with the message "Congrats @Playstation. From #Xbox."
Today marks the North American launch of Sony's PS4, and who better than the folks at Xbox to know the blood, sweat and tears that go into pulling off a console release?
Sure, Xbox's true feelings would probably read something like, "Just wait until the Xbox One drops awesome bombs on November 22, suckas!!! #xbox1rulesps4drools" but we'll hold tight to the fuzziness for now.
More blips!
Wrap yourself up in some more blips.- Snapchat's billion dollar buyout part two: the Googling
- Americans have no shame when it comes to using smartphones
- See the PS4 unboxed Daft Punk style
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PS4 HDMI issue results in a limited number of broken launch hardware
Some PS4 owners are experiencing HDMI issues with their new console on its North American launch day, putting a kink (and not a Knack) in their plan to immediately start playing next-generation video games.
A few early adopters are seeing a "failed output signal" error message on their TV due to the faulty HDMI jack instead of being able to load PS4 launch games like Killzone: Shadow Fall or Knack.
The bad news for Sony is that this included multiple members of the press, as sites like IGN, Kotaku and Forbes reportedly received broken PS4 systems.
Just as glaring, at least two of the company's Taco Bell early access winners are said to have experienced similar issues.
Not a 'Red Ring of Death'
On the flip side, the good news is that Sony is calling the broken PS4 systems isolated incidents, something that goes hand-in-hand with launches. There's also no surprise at today's PSN errors."A handful of people have reported issues with their PlayStation 4 systems," Sony wrote in a statement sent to TechRadar.
"This is within our expectations for a new product introduction, and the vast majority of PS4 feedback has been overwhelmingly positive."
The company said that it's "currently reporting a very small percentage" of PS4 problems, though it previously told IGN that the number was .4% of units shipped to date.
How to fix the PS4 HDMI issue
Since all PS4 owners have brand-new consoles, there's a warranty attached to the purchase, and Sony said that it's on the ball on sending out replacements."We are closely monitoring for additional reports, but we think these are isolated incidents and are on track for a great launch," Sony indicated in its statement.
"As part of our normal customer service policy, we've asked those with affected PS4 systems to send them back to us so we can fully test them."
If you were lucky enough to snag a PS4 in North America on launch day, but unlucky enough to have these HDMI problems, Sony is sending out a new system right away.
"We are immediately sending these people replacement PS4 systems," noted the company.
The number of affected gamers may be a small drop in the bucket, though. Back in August, Sony said that one million PS4 per-orders were in place worldwide.
It expects to sell 5 million globally by the end of March 2014, when the units with faulty HDMI ports will literally be an old news story.
- See the inside: PS4 innards spilled, replaceable hard drive is revealed
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Google Play Music app hits iOS with a free month of All Access
Google Play Music subscribers should have a hop in their step now that word has come that the All Access Music app is finally available on iOS.
The search giant's music service has always been available on iOS through a HTML 5-enabled browser app, but Google just released a full-fledged app for iOS devices.
Users can expect the same free, standard Google Play Music service that lets them stream internet radio and upload up to 20,000 tracks to their music collection to the cloud.
What else is there to it?
Google also offers a free month of All Access streaming service, which normally costs $9.99 (about £9.99 or AU$11.99). But this offer is only being extended to new users that haven't already used up their free trial of the service.All Access grants a pass to over 20 million tracks with custom radio stations to help music lovers discover new songs through "smart recommendations." Google's paid music service lets you download up to 20,000 tunes for listening offline on your devices as well.
Chromecast owners will be glad to hear the new iOS app has support to cast music wireless from Apple products to a TV. Oddly enough the only thing that seems to be missing on the app is the ability to buy songs.
For now, the app only comes as an iPhone version made for smaller screens, but Google is probably cooking up a higher-resolution version for iPads that won't look quite as blown up.
Crowded waters
Google's all-you-can-eat music app joins the iOS ecosystem where there are already a number of services that do just about the same thing.Spotify offers nearly the same service for $10 (around £6.21, AU$10.68) with unlimited streaming and the ability to download up to 3,333 songs across three registered devices. If streaming only is more your speed, Rdio's $10 (around £6.21, AU$10.68) plan has unlimited web and mobile music streaming. The service however, does not include an option for offline listening.
For the cost of nothing at all, Pandora offers unlimited Internet radio offset by a set number of song skips and ads. To help take care of those annoyances, users can also pay $3.99 (around £2.47, AU$4.26) a month for the premium Pandora One service. This grants listeners six skips, higher-quality audio, and the Pandora One Desktop App.
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The Tip Off: TechRadar Tip Off: $74.99 for a Cyber Acoustics 3 Piece Speaker System
Most of us have a great sound system for the living room, but what about the desktop computer space?
That's where today's TechRadar Tip Off has got you covered: Cyber Acoustics 3 Piece Flat Panel Design that comes with a subwoofer and two satellite speakers for only $74.99.
The Cyber Acoustics set will rattle you out of your seat - in a good way. The bass is strong and you can turn it way up without hearing any crackle. Your movies will sound perfect, your music will resonate loud and clear and it'll feel like you're right in the middle of a video game.
Three pieces for the price of one
Aside from powerful sound, the Cyber Acoustics is all about convenience - the set comes with a little control pod that holds the power and volume buttons, plus a handy cradle is also included for your music devices.
You'll also find yourself with 46 watts from the satellite speakers and the subwoofer combined, with a peak of 92 watts.
Great for a dorm room, bedroom, home office or wherever for whatever you need to sound loud and clear, at $74.99, these speakers really can't be missed.
Offers are subject to change.
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AMD clarifies GPU, Battlefield 4 bundle: It's not across the board
When AMD announced its latest GPU, the Radeon R9 270, earlier this week, it outed alongside it a new Battlefield 4 bundle.
The deal sounded as sweet as sundae-topping cherry: Purchase any R9 graphics card, get a free copy of BF4. Turns out, the bundle has a one major caveat, and AMD has provided clarification to the offer.
Acknowledging that its initial press alert "was not clear," the chipmaker said that while all AMD Radeon R9 series cards are "theoretically eligible for the promotion," because the bundle is administered by the company's channel partners, it's up to them to decide which R9 SKUs include BF4.
To help customers find retailers and add-in-board partners how the game bundle is being offered, AMD said it will keep this portal up to date with BF4-qualifying SKUs and promotions that it is aware of.
Battlefield 4 bundle availability
AMD pointed out two spots with Battlefield 4-enabled SKUs; XFX and Sapphire.At Sapphire, BF4 is packaged with a Dual-X R9 270X 2GB GDDR5 board.
Over at XFX, the promotion applies to any Radeon R9 270 or R9 270X card. Interestingly, the company is offering the bundle to those who purchased a card before November 12, unlike the November 13 date cited by AMD.
Unfortunately for those who missed AMD's November 13 cut-off date, the company said it couldn't make the game bundle available retroactively because of contractual agreements with EA/DICE.
However, AMD will be giving away 1,000 BF4 codes through its social networks in the coming weeks as a goodwill gesture.
Check its Facebook and Twitter page for more information on when those giveaways are going down.
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Full list of PS4 launch games: what to play on day one
With today's North American release of the PlayStation 4, the next generation of video games is truly here (the Wii U didn't really count, did it?).
But now that PS4 launch day is finally here, what are you going to do with your shiny new PlayStation console?
Don't worry. There are a ton of PS4 launch games to justify your purchase today - 24, in fact.
And those are just the launch games coming out today - there are plenty more coming down the road.
Check out TechRadar's comprehensive list of PS4 launch games if you're unsure what to play first or when to spend your money, and have fun with your new console today!
PS4 day one games
Battlefield 4EA DICE's signature war game returns for its fourth entry - and most importantly, the next-gen version features the 64-player battles that have always made the series superior on PC.
Killzone Shadow Fall
The latest entry in Sony's in-house shooter franchise looks bigger, louder and shinier than ever.
Resogun
A side-scrolling space ship shooter for those who remember what Darius was. And it's free to PlayStation Plus subscribers!
Need for Speed: Rivals
Evade the cops - or be a cop. The latest Need for Speed sequel is identical on all four major platforms (Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, and PS4), so you might as well pick it up on PS4 today.
Warframe
It's a game about space ninjas, and it's totally free-to-play - you have no excuse not to check out Warframe today.
Angry Birds: Star Wars
If you're not sick of Angry Birds yet, pick up the Star Wars-licensed version on PS4 for the absurd price of $49.99. Or just play it free on Android. You know, whichever.
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
This swashbuckling Assassin's Creed game launched earlier this month on Xbox 360 and PS3, but if you were waiting for the next-gen version to drop then now's the time to get back into the Animus.
Blacklight Retribution
Another free-to-play day one PS4 game? Why would you need to buy any games at all with a selection like this? This one's a war time shooter, though, granted, it's already out on other platforms.
Call of Duty: Ghosts
Again, Ghosts is out on other platforms already, but if you just had to wait for the next-gen version then today's your day.
Contrast
The PS4 is looking like the place for indie games, and Contrast is just one of the many reasons why. Play with shadows in this cute puzzler - and do it for free with a PlayStation Plus account.
DC Universe Online
This DC MMO arrives on PS4 with better graphics but the same action. It's free to play, so if you're not already playing it on PC or PS3 you might as well give it a look.
FIFA 14
EA Sports is here on day one in full force, and all its next-gen games, including FIFA 14, use the brand new Ignite engine.
Flower
Thatgamecompany's plant-based indie game lets you live the life of a petal drifting on the wind. It's quite relaxing.
Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition
The "Ultimate Edition" of the DC characters-filled fighting game from the makers of Mortal Kombat includes next-gen improvements, plus new missions and all the DLC characters released so far.
Just Dance 2014
If you have some PlayStation Move controllers lying around from last gen, or you're planning on picking up the separately sold PlayStation Camera accessory, then you'll be able to play Ubisoft's dance title on PS4.
Knack
Knack is one of Sony's first party games launching today. It's an old school 3D platformer, puzzler and combat game in the vein of Ratchet and Clank, but without all the guns, but with a shapeshifting protagonist.
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes
If you prefer Marvel to DC (and LEGOs to realism) then LEGO Marvel Super Heroes will be your game today. It includes more than 100 Marvel universe characters.
Madden NFL 25
EA Sports continues to dish out next-gen sports games with Madden NFL 25, also on its impressive new Ignite engine.
NBA 2K14
The best - and only - basketball series for the last few years continues its reign on PlayStation 4 today.
Skylanders SWAP Force
For the kid in all of us, Skylanders requires players to buy physical toys that they can then control in the game world. The newest version features two-part figurines whose top and bottom halves can be switched to swap powers.
Sound Shapes
Another great indie game, Sound Shapes builds songs by famous artists like Beck and Deadmau5 as you explore its minimalistic platforming levels - and then lets you build your own.
Super Motherload
The sequel to the indie game Motherload involves digging deep underneath the red surface of Mars.
Trine 2: Complete Story
Trine 2: Complete Story features improved visuals and new abilities, and it runs at a gorgeous 60-frames-per-second.
The Playroom
Finally, don't forget about The Playroom, the pack-in title that's included with every PlayStation 4 out of the box! The separate PlayStation Camera is required for full enjoyment of this quirky little tech demo.
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Nokia Lumia 2520 tablet glides into AT&T November 22
Who's ready to celebrate Thanksgiving with Nokia's first crack at a Windows RT tablet? AT&T has set the date in stone, and there's only one week left before the big unveil.
AT&T today announced its launch plans for the Nokia Lumia 2520, the Finnish smartphone giant's debut in the tablet space - at least until their devices division gets absorbed into Microsoft next year.
Powered by Windows RT 8.1, the Lumia 2520 will be available in black only at all AT&T channels beginning Friday, November 22, priced at $399.99 with a two-year agreement.
AT&T will also be offering the tablet in a bundle with the Nokia Lumia 925, Lumia 1020 or Lumia 1520 smartphone, which knocks the price down to $199.99 with a two-year agreement.
Killer design
Weighing a mere 22 ounces, the 10.1-inch Lumia 2520 couples what AT&T calls Nokia's "killer design" with Microsoft's latest tablet-centric operating system, which includes Office and Outlook built right in.Nokia has also added a few software enhancements of its own, including the children's game Dragons Adventure, Nokia Storyteller and Video Director apps for turning photos and videos into slick presentations, and HERE Maps for getting around town in style.
The Lumia 2520 offers 32GB of internal storage with a micro-SD card slot to add more, and includes 6.7MP rear camera featuring Nokia's famed Carl Zeiss optics.
Last but not least, Nokia's Lumia 2520 features a ClearBlack display, which AT&T claims gives the tablet an edge over competitors by allowing content to be viewed in full 1080p HD, even in direct sunlight.
- Check out Apple's latest iPad mini with Retina Display in our hands-on review!
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The PS4 is on sale now - where can you find it?
If you weren't willing to freeze your buns off waiting for a PS4 at its midnight launch, and you didn't pre-order one to be hand-delivered to your doorstep, you may feel a rising panic - "Will I ever find one??"
Thankfully, your friends at TechRadar are here to help.
Your best bet at this point is to hit up a few non-Sony retailers. We've gathered the most up-to-date information on the console at a number of these, so keep on reading for order info. And happy gaming!
Walmart PS4 availability
Not one of the lucky Walmart shoppers who picked up a PS4 courtesy of Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant? Don't worry, you're still in luck.Walmart is currently showing online availability for a "PS4 Console Solution Bundle w/ DualShock 4 Controller and Game." For a cool $517 (plus tax and shipping), you can head online and order the console as part of a package with one game (we chose Call of Duty: Ghosts) and an accessory.
At the time we checked, only the PS4 Camera was an accessory option.
Walmart is offering free shipping, though you'll have to wait until sometime between November 26 and November 29 to receive the system. If you order your PS4 today and bump it up to the rush delivery for $14.91, it will arrive by Tuesday, November 19.
If you just want the console, we suggest calling or strolling into your local Walmart. The company has a store locator to help track the locale nearest you.
Amazon PS4 availability
Stock of the PS4 at the etailer soared off the virtual shelves. It may have had something to do with the PS4 + Kindle Fire HDX 7" bundle for $599.99.You're out of luck when it comes to the console sans tablet too, though Amazon is offering notification sign-ups for all its PS4 bundles and standalone system offerings. It's little consolation, but being one of the first to know when the console is back in stock can mean the difference between getting your console this year or next.
Toys R Us PS4 availability
Unfortunately, the only way to score a standalone PS4 through Toys R Us' online store is to add it to a "Wish List," or a registry of sorts that lets family and friends know you want the console item.However, you can still receive email availability notifications for several PS4 game bundles, including a CoD bundle, Battlefield 4 bundle and a Killzone: Shadow Fall and Knack bundle.
Keep checking with your local stores about in-store availability as well - like Walmart, Toys R Us has an online tool to help customers find their nearest brick and mortar locations. We suspect stock will find its way back into TRU's shelves by Black Friday.
Best Buy PS4 availability
Alas, the PS4 is sold out online at Best Buy as both a standalone console and as a bundle with Call of Duty and a PS Plus 12-month subscription card.As with the above, calling in for availability never hurts, or you brave the weekend crowds and head into your nearest location, surmised by using the company's store locator.
Kmart PS4 availability
Attention Kmart shoppers - while the PS4 is harder to find here than all the space ship pieces in GTA V, the company does have a handy local availability tracker on its PS4 page.You'll have to spot the yellowish box in the upper right hand corner of the page. From there, you can choose shipping availability for your region and stores where in-person pickup is available. Choose the latter, and Kmart will pull up local stores and inform you whether the PS4 is in or out of stock at each of them.
- Undecided about whether to buy the PS4 or not? Check out our hands on PS4 review to get the 411.
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PlayStation Network buckling under strain of new PS4 log-ons shocker
The new Sony PS4 went on sale in the US and Canada today, but those receiving their new console are currently unable to use it to its full capabilities, due to problems with the PlayStation Network.
Due to the "extremely high volume" of logons from new PS4 owners, the online portal has fallen under the strain, with Sony saying it is working on a fix and urging users to be patient in the meantime.
The failure prevents users from downloading the essential day-one software patch that unlocks features like Remote Play with the PS Vita, Blu-ray and DVD playback, as well gameplay recording.
Naturally, with the PSN out of commission, that also means game downloads and online multiplayer is off limits, as well as the ability to share the gaming footage users are currently unable to even record.
Workaround
"The PlayStation Network is currently experiencing extremely high volume, some gamers may experience some difficulty connecting. We ask for your patience," read a post on Sony's support site.As Sony works on a fix ahead of what promises to be the busiest weekend of this or any year, there is a way for eager gamers to work around some of the issues.
PS4 owners can download the 300MB update via the PlayStation Network website, load it on to a USB stick and then plug that into the console to install.
However, that's not going to get gamers online, so until Sony comes up with the fix, there'll be no game downloads and no testing of mettle against opponents over the interwebs.
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DDR4 to land next month, doubles stick capacity to 16GB
It seems that DDR4 has got its skates on. Revealed to be alive and kicking at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) earlier this year, the memory standard wasn't expected to hit the shops for some time, making its appearance on a Crucial product page something of a pleasant surprise.
Dubbed 'next generation memory', the memory maker says that DDR3's successor will arrive in 'late 2013'. One of the most exciting aspects of DDR4 is that it allows for more capacity per component to allow higher density modules, meaning a whopping 16GB of RAM will fit onto a single stick for your PC. Most desktop motherboards give you at least two slots to play with, meaning you'd end up with 32GB of solid computing grunt.
It's sure to give creative types including those that dabble with anything from 3D modelling to video production a real boost, not to mention the benefits for gamers. However, like most next-gen tech we wouldn't place any bets on it arriving with a particularly wallet-friendly price tag.
Muscle memory
According to Crucial, DDR4 offers three main benefits from its predecessor. The first is that it's twice as fast, offering speeds of 2.1 GHz and above, allowing applications to load faster and handle data-intensive applications with greater efficiency.It's more energy efficient too, using up to a fifth less power than DDR3, giving devices longer battery life and lowering energy costs. Though its 1.2V operation (compared with DDR3's 1.5 volts) may not make a huge difference to energy consumption and regular desktop PCs (which will mainly benefit from reduced system temperatures), it could save a wad of cash for data centers powering large-scale applications.
Of course, you won't be able to bung DDR4 onto any old motherboard, so it'll be a case of keeping your eyes peeled for supported models over the course of the next year.
- Maybe the PC isn't dying and it's just gone high end after all
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Review: Updated: BlackBerry Z30
Introduction
The BlackBerry Z30 is too late. This isn't the place to recap BlackBerry's highs and lows, but with the reassuringly expensive Z30 in your hand it's tough not to muse about what might have been. This is a smartphone worthy of flagship status, and it offers a significant improvement over the BlackBerry Z10.This is a heavy smartphone with a 5-inch 720p Super AMOLED display, a really premium build, and a solid set of specs, including a 1.7GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, 4G support, an 8MP rear camera, 2MP front camera, and a big 2,880mAh battery.
Sadly for BlackBerry, these are cutting edge specs from more than a year ago; it simply hasn't been able to keep up with the pace set by the leading Android manufacturers with phones like the Samsung Galaxy S4, the LG G2, and the Sony Xperia Z1.
It may be able to compete with the likes of the Nokia Lumia 925 on paper, but it's more expensive than its Windows Phone rival.
If you do covet the BlackBerry Z30 then you'll need to lay down £529 (around $850, AU$905) for a SIM-free handset. Alternatively, you should be able to pick one up for free by committing to a two-year contract at £32 per month or more.
The niche market of business users that the Z30 might appeal to probably won't balk at that price. It's a tough sell for the wider consumer market and few people will be persuaded to board a sinking ship by anything less than a stellar handset.
This better-looking, big brother of the Z10 measures 140.7 x 72 x 9.4mm. It doesn't feel overly big for a phone with a five-inch display. It may not quite achieve the super-slim bezel of the Galaxy S4, but it manages to undercut the Xperia Z1 on height and width, even if it isn't quite as svelte.
It has the typical black glass slab aesthetic that all the young phones are sporting nowadays, but the silver bar at the bottom of the screen breaks it up nicely and runs around the edge to provide a welcome contrast with the plastic.
The back cover is subtly textured plastic with the classic silver BlackBerry logo in the middle. The camera and flash break up the woven pattern and sit offset to the left at the top. The cover snaps off, with a bit of encouragement, to reveal slots for a SIM card and a microSD card. You can swap microSD cards up to 64GB in size without having to switch the Z30 off. The battery is non-removable.
There are no buttons at all on the face and the bottom edge of the Z30 is similarly naked. On the right spine there's the volume up and down buttons, which double up as camera keys when the camera app is open.
There's also a dedicated voice control key in between the volume controls and it launches BlackBerry's answer to Siri and Google Now. When you're playing music or videos this key doubles up as a play/pause control.
Up top you'll find the central power button with a standard 3.5mm headphone port to the left of it. The left spine is home to the microUSB and the microHDMI ports, but you only get a USB cable in the box.
At 170g you're going to feel the weight of the Z30 as soon as you pick it up. This is one of the heaviest smartphones around, but that's not to say it's uncomfortable to hold, because it isn't.
The textured plastic back cover actually provides a lot of grip, but it's still easy to slide in and out of a pocket. It's awkward to try and use the Z30 one-handed, though.
Interface
The BlackBerry Z30 ships with the latest version of the platform which is BlackBerry 10.2. There are a few subtle improvements, but nothing is drastically different from 10.1 and our BlackBerry 10 review gives you a real insight into the operating system.BB 10 will be very easy to pick up for anyone who has used a smartphone before, as all the major platforms have plenty in common. For users coming from BlackBerry 7 there is going to be a learning curve here, but BlackBerry has helpfully provided a few tutorials to help you get to grips with the basic gestures required for navigation.
When you tap the power key up top, or swipe up from the bottom of the touch screen, you'll be greeted by the lock screen. The lock screen shows your status in a bar at the top which displays battery life and signal strength.
Below that you have the time and date. To the left you can see your notifications about messages and calls, including any social media accounts you may have set up.
Tapping on these reveals a little detail about what's inside, which can be a real time saver - one of the new features in BlackBerry 10.2.
At the bottom right you'll find a camera icon, and you can tap and hold on it to quickly launch the camera. Quickly means under three seconds.
To unlock the Z30 you need to slide up from the bottom of the screen. This means that, with practice, you can actually unlock the phone from sleep with one long slide from the bottom of the screen up towards the top and you'll bypass the lock screen completely.
Your home screen will default to your grid of apps until you start opening things, at which point it becomes a multitasking menu. All of your home screens have three icons in a dock at the bottom: Phone, Search, and Camera.
The lack of physical or capacitive keys means everything is gesture-based. You swipe up to back out of an app and you swipe down from the top to access the menu.
When you swipe up you'll always return to the home screen which displays the last four apps you had running. It can actually display eight, but you'll need to swipe up to see the other four.
Some of them will cycle new images, a bit like live tiles or widgets. If you swipe down from the top of the home screen you'll open the quick settings menu which affords you quick access to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Rotation Lock, Alarm, Notifications, or the full Settings menu.
From your home screen you can swipe from left to right to access your BlackBerry Hub, which is essentially a unified inbox for messages. If you swipe from right to left you'll find your apps organized in a familiar four by five grid of icons.
Tap and hold on apps to move them around. You'll also see a small bin icon on the apps you can delete, and dropping one app icon on top of another will create a folder which you can name as you please.
So far, so intuitive. The 1.7GHz dual-core processor and 2GB of RAM seem to provide ample power for the platform. Navigating around the phone is quick and easy.
The transitional animations are smooth and we didn't encounter any stuttering or lag.
Additional gestures, like peek, help it hang together and soon feel natural; you can slide up just a little from the bottom of the screen for a quick look at your notifications on the left and then let go to close it, or swipe off to the right to bring up the hub if you see something you want to check.
Contacts and calling
When you set up the BlackBerry Z30 you'll get the usual options to suck in contacts from your various social media spheres. You can bring them in from your SIM card, your email account (if it's Gmail or Hotmail), your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or your BBM accounts.
You can access contacts from the contacts app or from the phone app. You can also cycle through and add them when you compose a message in the Hub.
We found that our contacts app had everyone listed, but the contacts tab in the phone app conveniently only lists contacts with phone numbers. Adding a phone number to an existing contact immediately bumps them into the phone app.
When we added contacts from various accounts they were all immediately listed except for Facebook which added people gradually over a period of days.
Taking a closer look this may be because the contacts app doesn't just suck in their personal contact details from Facebook, it lists everything else from their birthday to their employment history.
Combining contacts from different sources, unless the names are identical, is always a problem, so you can expect a laborious process of linking them together if you use multiple sources.
Another mild annoyance is that when you choose the link option in the contact it doesn't give you a quick list of suggestions; you actually have to go back to your full contact list and find the right one.
On top of Details, each contact also has an Updates tab which pulls in the latest from any social media accounts of theirs where you're connected, and an Activity tab which is a record of your communications.
The final feature worthy of note is the fact that you can choose personalised ringtones and vibrations for each incoming communication from each contact, you can even decide whether you want the LED to flash or not.
Calling
To make a call you tap the Phone icon in the dock at the bottom left of your home screen. There is also a Phone icon listed in the apps, although we can't think of a reason you'd ever use it since the Phone icon is ever present at the bottom left of all your home screens.You can also initiate a call by selecting a contact from a message within the BlackBerry Hub or from the Contacts app.
The Phone app lists Voicemail at the top and there are two slots alongside it where you can list favourite contacts. There's no visual voicemail so you will need to call in to check your messages.
Below that you'll find a list of all your calls and there's a tab so you can quickly check Missed calls only. Tap on any of the numbers in this list and you'll initiate a call.
At the bottom there's also a Contacts tab and the Dial Pad. The Contacts tab just lists contacts with phone numbers and when you tap on one the available numbers slide down, which is great if they have more than one. You can just tap the number you want to call.
The Dial Pad is perfectly functional. The option to add new numbers to existing contacts, or create new contacts, is right there when you dial in a new number. There's no smart dialling feature.
Call quality is very good. Switching from a Galaxy S3 in a known poor reception area the BlackBerry Z30 showed a marked improvement with no dropped calls.
Those multiple microphones are obviously working their magic for noise cancellation too, as the other caller reported great quality audio despite our noisy background. On our end callers sounded clear and crisp. As a phone the Z30 really delivers.
Messaging and Internet
Messaging
The BlackBerry Hub is one of those things that sounds like a great idea, but you immediately realise that you don't really want a unified inbox on being confronted with a torrent of irrelevant and distracting nonsense. For most of us, social media accounts are still not on a par, in terms of importance, with email or text messages.Thankfully BlackBerry has neatly divided your accounts, so it's very easy to just select the one you want to view.
You can dictate exactly what should appear in the blended stream, and if you also tweak the notifications within individual apps, it becomes quite easy to create a central place that only throws up what you want to see.
You can take it further by turning Priority Messages on. The Priority Hub defaults to messages in conversations that you started, messages from people with the same last name as you, and messages marked as high importance by the sender.
You can even teach it what to include over time by long pressing on any entry in the Hub and adding or removing it from your priority filter. The end result is a very useful and thoughtful way of ensuring that you are only ever interrupted by the messages you actually want to receive.
The Hub is also where you'll go to create a new message. There's a Compose option at the bottom and you'll be prompted to choose the account you want to send a message from.
It's easy to compose a message and the virtual keyboard is very good. The prediction and auto-correct are useful and they improve the more you use them.
The virtual keyboard emulates BlackBerry's physical keyboards with silver frets spacing out the lines of keys and providing a natural place to throw up word predictions.
It feels comfortable and accurate to type on; the only thing that's missing is a Swype option, which would allow you to keep your thumb on the screen and move between letters to type.
It's especially handy for typing one-handed on a big phone, so it would be good on the Z30. Another minor gripe with the keyboard is the fact that all the letters are displayed in capitals regardless of whether you are actually going to type a capital letter.
It feels a little odd at first that it doesn't switch between upper and lower case to indicate whether you're on caps or not.
BBM is the instant messaging solution on the Z30 and its usefulness depends entirely on how many people you know that use it. It used to be the gold standard of instant messaging apps, with real time updates informing you when the recipient had read your message.
BlackBerry also added the option to share files and, more recently, enabled BBM to handle audio and video calls using your Wi-Fi or data connection.
Truth be told, a lot of apps on other platforms have replicated BBM's killer features, but the app is now on Android and iOS providing a real boost to its potential usefulness.
Internet
The basic browser that comes on the BlackBerry Z30 is perfectly usable. It seems fairly fast and responsive and the Z30 supports the latest quad-band LTE and there's dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n support.We tested on 3G and Wi-Fi. The full fat version of the TechRadar website loaded in five seconds on Wi-Fi, and was a second or two slower on 3G.
You can set up bookmarks, check your history (filtered by day), and open multiple tabs. When you first open it, by selecting Browser from the app list, it defaults to a grid of your most recently open pages.
Text generally looks crisp and clear, images are colourful and detailed, and it's easy to zoom in and out. The only glaring omission is the lack of text reflow, so if you zoom in the text doesn't realign and you will have to scroll sideways to read it.
It feels a little weird that the search and address bar are at the bottom, but that will depend what browser you are used to.
The number of open tabs is listed to the left and the menu options can be opened via the icon on the bottom right. Adobe Flash is supported, but you'll find it is off by default, so head into Settings > Display and Actions to enable it.
You'll also find a Reader option in the menu which strips out all the images and just serves up plain text. It has a handy text resize option at the bottom so you can enlarge the text if required.
If you don't like the BlackBerry browser then there are a number of alternative browsers in BlackBerry App World, but sadly you won't find any big names like Chrome or Dolphin.
Overall the BlackBerry Z30 offers a really good web browsing experience. The only missing element for us was the inability to sync bookmarks with a desktop or laptop, something which makes Chrome so enticing.
Camera
The main, rear-facing camera on the BlackBerry Z30 is rated at 8MP. It boasts autofocus, image stabilisation, a 5x digital zoom and an LED flash. It can also capture full HD video at 1080p.According to BlackBerry the Z30 camera also has a five-element F2.2 lens, and back-side illumination for better low-light performance.
The secondary, front-facing camera is rated at two megapixels and it's really for video calls.
Launching the camera app is easy, just tap on the Camera icon that's ever present at the bottom right of your home screens, or press and hold on the Camera icon that sits at the bottom right of the lock screen.
You'll find an extra Camera icon in your app grid as well. You can go from a dead start to taking a shot in under three seconds, which is impressively fast.
The shutter speed is generally zippy, and you can tap on the screen to take a photo, or you can use either of the volume keys. We recommend the volume keys.
The fact that it will try to autofocus on the spot you tapped on the screen before taking a shot can cause a delay, but then without the autofocus you're going to get a lot of blurry shots. If you tap and hold your finger on the screen you can change the focus point.
The Z30 has a simplified Camera app. It actually has fewer options than the BlackBerry 9720's Camera app, despite the fact it has a far superior shooter.
This rationalisation is definitely a good thing for most casual camera users, but it might disappoint real photography enthusiasts looking for ISO settings and the ability to change shutter speeds. Your default mode is the camera for still shots, tap that icon and you'll see the video camera and the Time Shift options.
In the basic camera there are four shooting modes: Normal, Stabilisation, Burst, and HDR. You also get five scene options: Auto, Action, Whiteboard, Night, and Beach or Snow. Beyond that you can opt for auto flash or turn it on or off, and you can choose the ratio: 1:1, 4:3, or 16:9.
Time Shift is the oddball. It allows you to take a series of shots and then select the best faces from them to get a perfect group photo.
In theory you could eliminate closed eyes or daft expressions, but it doesn't always work perfectly.
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Video
The video camera on the Blackberry Z30 only offers Normal, or Stabilisation shooting modes. The are just a trio of scenes too, with Night, Beach and Snow on offer.You can also opt to have the flash stay on for recording in the dark and switch between 1080p or 720p quality. You simply tap on the screen to start recording and tap again to stop. The flash icon sits at the bottom left to allow you to shed more light on your subject if required.
The front-facing camera can only capture 720p video and, as stated before, it's really for video calls.
In very busy environments with a moving camera going in and out of direct sunlight, the camera struggles with a lot of movement - even with stabilization on.
With indoor video the camera deals well with slight movements, but it does have trouble with the light source and shifting subjects. You can also hear the audio break up when there's a piercing scream.
Up close and mostly stationary you can really see the potential quality of your videos. The audio is clear and the picture quality is very good.
The video camera does a fairly good job from a speeding car, but you can hear the wind whipping round the microphone. You can also see it trying to adjust to the murky light in the sky.
Media
Any smartphone with a five-inch display is going to be expected to deliver a good media experience and the BlackBerry Z30 does not disappoint. It boasts a healthy 16GB of internal storage and there's a microSD card slot under the back cover which allows you to add up to a further 64GB.If you plug the Z30 into your computer with the USB cable provided then it should automatically install the BlackBerry Device Manager which allows you to access all the files on your Z30 as though it was another hard drive. You'll be able to drag and drop files with ease.
Alternatively you can download and install the BlackBerry Link software. It enables you to schedule regular backups and share files wirelessly when you're connected to the same network.
It can also restore your BlackBerry Z30 if you run into any problems. It's easy enough to use, but it can take a little while to establish a connection. We had to restart the Z30 on more than one occasion to get the software to spot it and connect.
Music
The Music app is a totally straightforward affair. You can create playlists and filter your collection to find what you're after.
The sound quality on the speakers is actually pretty impressive for a phone, but a decent pair of headphones is always going to be your best bet if you plan on using the BlackBerry Z30 as your portable music player. There is a stereo headset provided with earbuds and a tangle-free cord.
There's no equalizer to speak of and options are limited. If you long press on the track playing then you can access the Play On option which allows you to stream music to any devices in the vicinity that support DLNA.
Once your music has started you can back out of the app and get on with other things. The volume keys will bring up a set of mini controls, so you don't need to dip back into the Music app proper to pause or skip tracks.
Format support is solid with WMA, MP3, MKA, AAC, AMR, F4V, and WAV all playable on the Z30, but there's no FM radio.
You can also purchase music in BlackBerry World. Individual tracks are 99p and albums vary from around £7 up to £10.99 for the latest Kings of Leon release. There seems to be a fairly good depth of music on offer.
Videos
The Video app is even more bare bones than the Music app. It lists your videos by date, or you can organize them into albums. Just tap on a video to play it.
There's an icon at the top right which you can tap to change the aspect ratio. If you head into More options at the bottom right you'll find the same Play On option for DLNA streaming and an option to enable Repeat.
Videos look good on the 5-inch screen, but at 170g you're going to get fed up of holding the Z30 quite quickly. Movie fans should invest in some kind of stand.
You can edit videos with tools to crop, enhance, and shorten available via Edit in More options. The app also supports all the major formats including 3GP, 3GP2, M4A, M4V, MOV, MP4, MKV, MPEG-4, AVI, ASF, and WMV.
If you want to rent or buy movies or TV shows then you can check out what's on offer in BlackBerry World. The prices are steep, with the majority of rentals at £3.99 and the cost of buying a blockbuster like Star Trek: Into Darkness a whopping £12.99. TV shows like Fringe cost £1.99 per episode.
The collection on offer definitely lags behind what you'll find on iTunes or Google Play.
Photos
You'll find your photos in the Pictures app, where they're presented in standard thumbnail views – or you can swipe through them full screen one by one.For some reason there's no option to create a new album on the BlackBerry Z30, so you're stuck with everything being dumped into Camera unless you're prepared to fire up BlackBerry Link on your computer and create albums there.
On the plus side you have a good range of editing options built in. There are cropping tools to quickly resize your shots. There are enhancement tools that include things like red eye reduction and saturation. Then there's the fun stuff in filters and frames.
The Filters section has ten options, from Lomo to Cartoon, and you can drag the slider across an image to see it working its magic in real time. This definitely makes the filters more fun to play with. There are eight frames so you can create a basic border, give a shot an aged feel, or go for a film strip effect.
It's easy to share your favourite photos directly from the app via BBM, email, or other social media accounts.
Battery life and connectivity
Battery life
The BlackBerry Z30 is packing a 2,880mAh battery. Although you can remove the back cover, you can't remove the battery, so there's no carrying a spare. From our time with the Z30 it seems unlikely that you'll need to. This phone can really go the distance.
BlackBerry quotes up to 18 hours of talk time and up to 16 days on standby. That actually sounds plausible.
We did our 90 minute video test and it barely put a dent in the battery. After using it quite heavily for a mixture of video, music, browsing, calls, and games the Z30 was still ticking at the end of the day.
It should certainly see you through a normal day's use with change, and you may even make it a couple of days between charges. Battery life is definitely one of the strengths of the Z30.
Connectivity
There's nothing obvious missing in this department. The BlackBerry Z30 supports quad band LTE, HSPA, and GSM/GPRS/EDGE. There's also dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and it can serve as a 4G mobile hotspot. Throw Bluetooth 4.0 LE, A-GPS and NFC into the mix and you have a well-connected device.
Your DLNA options are built in to the relevant Pictures, Video, and Music apps, via the Play On option, or you can go into Settings and look for devices under Media Sharing. It's easy to use.
You also have the option of investing in a microHDMI to HDMI cable to plug your BlackBerry Z30 directly into your HDTV.
The only issue we encountered with connectivity was related to the Wi-Fi connection. On two occasions the Z30 dropped the Wi-Fi connection and switched to the mobile network, but the Wi-Fi icon was still full, as though Wi-Fi was on.
After restarting the phone it immediately reconnected, but this is a concern and it could lead to unnecessary data usage.
Maps and apps
Maps
The BlackBerry Z30 comes with a Maps app that includes turn-by-turn directions. The maps it draws on are from TomTom and they seem fairly accurate.
The app is also able to give you an indication of how heavy traffic is. Green roads are clear, orange is moderate, and red indicates heavy traffic.
Visually it's very basic, just a top down map, or a bare bones turn-by-turn angled view. There aren't very many POIs marked and searches for specific places are patchy, but we did find a handful of local businesses covered.
The GPS was very fast to get a fix on our position, but the Maps app is generally sluggish and it takes a while to load in as you zoom in and out. Compared to Google Maps, it feels dated and slow.
Turn-by-turn navigation is a great feature, but we definitely have our concerns about its accuracy. We checked a route on the Z30 Maps app and on Google Maps, from Dunbar on the east coast to Edinburgh Castle right in the heart of Scotland's capital.
While the directions were very similar and both sets would get you there, the time estimates showed a large discrepancy. Google Maps estimated a journey time just under 50 minutes, but the BlackBerry Maps app was more optimistic with an estimate of 33 minutes.
The journey actually takes around 50 minutes, so the BlackBerry app was way off.
Apps
One of the main weaknesses of the BlackBerry 10 platform is a lack of apps compared to its competitors. The last we heard, in May of this year, there were over 120,000 apps available, but it's all about quality not quantity.Even if we overlook the fact that many BB10 apps are quick ports of Android apps, we can't overlook the fact that there are some major omissions from BlackBerry World.
You'll have to make do without things like Google Maps or Chrome, there's no Netflix or Sky Go, and you won't find Skype. Much depends on what you use. Many people won't miss these apps, but some definitely will.
You will find things like Spotify, SayIt, Flixster, ReadItNow, and there's a nice Guardian app. Recent additions include heavyweights such as Evernote and Flipboard, not to mention cool wee apps like Hype Machine. The list is growing, but it's growing slowly and not all of the missing apps have an alternative.
It is also apparent with some apps that they've been ported without much thought for how BB10 works.
Apps like Goal were clearly not designed to be used without a Back button, and navigation can be a real chore. The obvious lack of effort on the part of the developers shows how little BB10 figures in their plans – and that's very unlikely to change now.
The pre-loaded apps cover a lot of bases. BlackBerry's reputation for productivity is reflected in the likes of Documents To Go and BlackBerry Remember.
You'll have no trouble keeping on top of your schedule and your inbox with the BlackBerry Z30 out of the box. The on-board apps tick all the business boxes.
Sure, some of BlackBerry's offerings may lack elegance, but they're always fit for purpose. Substance over style sums it up neatly.
There are two standout inclusions. Smart Tags allows you to scan or create your own QR codes and NFC tags.
They can work as handy timesavers for giving out directions or creating a business card. There's also an app called Story Maker which allows you to combine your photos and videos with music and filters in a timeline to create your own multimedia compositions. It's quite fun and very easy to use.
Games
If you were saddened by the lack of apps then close your eyes now. BlackBerry 10 is horribly short of good games. Like the apps, there are new games coming out on the platform all the time, but the vast majority are poor quality clones of classics or ports of old hits from iOS and Android.The Games app allows you to tie in your BBM account so you can compete with friends more easily. It also gives you a profile to show off your achievements.
Hands on gallery
Verdict
If the BlackBerry Z30 had been released in place of the Z10 then the company might not be in so much trouble now, although realistically it could have done with landing at least six months before that to have had a real hope of arresting BlackBerry's decline.It is a good smartphone with a premium feel and it performs well, but there's just no avoiding it, this is too little, too late.
We liked
There's a reassuringly expensive feel to the weight and finish of the BlackBerry Z30. You enjoy slipping it in and out of your pocket.The camera is relatively fast and we captured some good shots with it. It's also a good phone for web browsing, thanks to the speedy performance and the big, attractive screen.
The unified hub for messages is really good once you've tweaked it for your own needs. The Z30 is also a solid phone for calls and it has real staying power thanks to that big battery.
We disliked
The dropped Wi-Fi was the main low point, particularly as it didn't seem to register properly. The Maps app was also a real let down.Some big players are absent from the app list and the general standard is quite poor. You'll find a lot of apps in BlackBerry World with very low ratings, and too many of them simply haven't been designed for the BlackBerry platform. We can't see this being resolved as an issue given BlackBerry's current health.
Final verdict
It's sad to think that this might be BlackBerry's last release because with the Z30 it has finally, belatedly, figured out how to make a really good touch screen smartphone.The trouble is, the Z30 is up against the Samsung Galaxy S4, the iPhone 5S, the LG G2, and even the Nokia Lumia 925. In terms of pricing and features you could make a compelling argument that every one of those devices would be a better buy right now than the BlackBerry Z30.
Make no mistake, the BlackBerry Z30 is a good smartphone, but in today's competitive market, good simply isn't good enough. Like some of Nokia's recent offerings, the Z30 feels like a solid piece of hardware that's let down by the software running on it.
We enjoyed our time with the Z30, but it won't be too difficult to say goodbye.
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Techradar Deals: TechRadar's Deals of the Week: Jabra Clipper Bluetooth Headset only £17.49, saving 32%
Welcome back tech bargain hunters. We've got another selection of great technology deals and discounts in the hope of saving you a buck or two.
The top deal this week is the Jabra Clipper Bluetooth headset for only £17.59, a saving of 65%. It will work with pretty much any mobile phone packing the cool blue wireless tech.
It clips on your pocket, tie or whatever and comes with a 3.5mm socket for plugging in any headphones you choose, including the ones supplied. This means you can switch between calls and music seamlessly without ever having to take your phone out your pocket.
Another top deal we thought worth highlighting is the Western Digital 1TB USB 3.0 hard drive for only £49.99, a saving of 29%. A perfect choice for those looking for a small, discreet and good performing portable hard drive.
If you spot any good tech deals be sure to pop them in the comments below for others to see and we'll see you next week for more great tech deals.
Storage
- Samsung 2TB D3 Station External Desktop Hard Drive - Black | Was: £79.99 Now: £59.99 | Amazon
- SanDisk 128GB SATA 6GB/s 2.5 Inch Internal SSD | Was: £62.49 Now: £56.99 | Amazon
- WD Elements 1TB USB 3.0 High Capacity Portable Hard Drive for Windows | Was: £69.99 Now: £49.98 | Amazon
Tablets & E-readers
- SONY PRS-T1 E-BOOK READER - WHITE | Now: £49.99 | Argos via Ebay
- Samsung 7-inch Galaxy Tab 3 (Golden Brown) | Was: £189.94 Now: £119.99 | Amazon
Screens
- LG 29-inch Widescreen HD Ready LED TV | Was: £269.99 Now: £219.00 | Amazon
Audio
- Pioneer SE-MJ511-HP Fully Enclosed Dynamic Headphones with Swivel Mechanism | Was: £29.99 Now: £23.91 | Amazon
- Pioneer SE-MJ591 Fully Enclosed Foldable Audiophile Quality Headphones | Was: £219.99 Now: £156.70 | Amazon
- Katinkas Kaboom Wireless Bluetooth Speaker - Blue | Was: £45.99 Now: £30.49 | Amazon
- Wireless Portable Speaker with Microphone for iPhone/iPad/iPod/MP3 Player/Laptop | Was: £29.99 Now: £14.99 | Amazon
Digital Cameras
- Panasonic DMC-S5EB-K Camera - Black (16MP, 4x Optical Zoom) 2.7 inch LCD | Now: £49.99 | Amazon
- Lowepro Napoli 5 Soft Leather Digital Camera Pouch | Was: £17.60 Now: £3.99 | Amazon
- Hama Rexton 130 Camera Bag - Black/Red | Was: £49.99 Now: £30.88 | Amazon
DVD
- Fast & Furious 1-5 Box Set [Blu-ray] [Region Free] | Now: £13.23 | Amazon
- Cables To Go 5m S-Video + Audio to 3 Rca Type Adapter Cable | Was: £21.24 Now: £15.03 | Amazon
Mobile Phone Accessories
- Kogeto Dot 360° Panoramic iPhone Video - Green | Was: £69.95 Now: £29.09 | Amazon
- Jabra Clipper Bluetooth Stereo Headset | Was: £49.99 Now: £20.99 | Amazon
Miscellaneous
- Wireless IP Wifi CCTV Security Camera Network IR Night Vision Monitor | Now: £28.99 | Ebay
- I-Cube Pico Android Hand Held Digital TV Dongle | Was: £59.99 Now: £21.98 | Amazon
- KONIG 4 Port HDMI Switch | Was: £61.58 Now: £40.51 | Amazon
- Hama Universal 3D Shutter Glasses for PS3 and IR 3D TVs | Was: £89.99 Now: £21.26 | Amazon
Cases
- Logitech FabricSkin Keyboard Folio Case for iPad 2/3/4 - Urban Grey | Was: £129.00 Now: £84.57 | Amazon
- Targus Case for 16-inch/A7 Shoulder Strap | Was: £28.49 Now: £12.92 | Amazon
- Krusell Avenyn UnderCover Clip-On Case for Samsung Galaxy S4 - Black | Was: £14.99 Now: £11.38 | Amazon
- Case Mate Sebastian Murra East and West Empire Vibe Designer Cases for Samsung Galaxy S4 | Was: £34.99 Now: £27.17 | Amazon
- Sena Magia Slim Leather Protective Case for Samsung Note II - Black | Was: £49.99 Now: £40.23 | Amazon
- Caseit Leather Effect Flip Case Cover for iPhone 5/5S | Was: £19.99 Now: £13.93 | Amazon
- Apple iPhone 5 Case Soft inner and hard shell Case, Black, Slim, Cygnet | Was: £14.95 Now: £12.99 | Amazon
iOS Apps
- Master FX | Now: £7.99 | iTunes
- PicPlayPost | Now: Free | iTunes
- Spark Player Air | Was: £0.69 Now: Free | iTunes
Android Apps
- Judge Dredd: Countdown Sec 106 | Now: £1.99 | Google Play
- Tunable: Tuner, Metronome, Rec | Now: £0.62 | Google Play
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Hands-on review: Mini Review: Buffalo TeraStation 3400
Buffalo has been producing small business NAS devices for many years.
This compact four-bay unit is an interesting mix of traditional NAS options (like needing desktop software to configure the device) and new features like USB boot and iSCSI support (you can use it either as traditional network storage or directly attached to a server. It can be included as part of a storage fabric using tools such as Storage Spaces in Windows Server 2012).
We like the a handy screen on the front that shows you startup and diagnostic information, reminds you if you haven't plugged in an Ethernet cable and displays useful information like the IP address and link speed.
Twin Gigabit Ethernet ports and four USB ports give you link aggregation for improving performance and reasonable expansion options; two of the ports are USB 3 for speed, but you don't get the older high-speed eSATA expansion. On the other hand, there are UPS ports on the front and the back of the case.
Although you can take out the four drive cages without tools, you will need a screwdriver to remove or fit drives into the cages; many competitors have switched to more convenient tool-free mountings. The only cloud option is backing up to Amazon S3 and you don't get sync tools to run on your PC or Mac to keep files up to date when you're travelling. However, as well as the Apple Time Machine compatibility offered by many small business NAS devices these days you get ten licences for NovaBACKUP Business Essentials 14 that you can use to back up your office PCs. WebAccess means you can connect from any device with a decent browser, so you're not limited to Android and iOS (although there are mobile applications for those as well as Windows Phone). You can also use it as an FTP server for file access.
For many businesses, these simpler options will actually work out better. And while Buffalo suggests you install the TeraNavigator software to set up your TeraStation, if you type the IP address from the display on the front into your browser, you can log in to the NAS and configure it through the web interface instead. Sensibly, this prompts you to change the admin password straight away (and it helpfully gives you the device name to look for in Explorer as well).
This gives you the same interface as TeraNavigator, with the choice of the full admin control panel, which opens by default, or the Easy Admin interface which walks you through setting up WebAccess, backing the NAS up to an external USB drive or another TeraStation, search indexing, user and group management, RAID settings and changing the main password with helpful wizards.
If you're experienced at managing network storage you can jump straight in; if you don't know the difference between RAID 0, 1, 5 (the default if you have all four drives fitted) and 6, you get a good explanation to help you decide whether to stick with the defaults. You can even use the Easy Admin interface to join the TeraStation to your Active Directory so you don't have to set up users and groups all over again.
You can't switch to JBOD or iSCSI modes here, which is just as well; if you don't know how to set those up in the advanced interface, you should stick to RAID. Similarly, you have to use the full interface to enable backup to Amazon S3.
The interface doesn't have the clean, modern look of Netgear's new OS, but it's packed with useful touches. If you've tucked the TeraStation into a corner and you need help locating it (or you have more than one and you want to be sure you're swapping out the right hard drive), you can click an icon in the web interface that flashes the screen and plays a tune on the TeraStation you're working with. You can set up to three schedules for turning off power to the hard drives, if you don't need the NAS on overnight or at weekends. And the defaults are sensible; file services and SMB 2 are on by default, but remote access and support for offline files are off because not everyone will need them.
Verdict
The TeraStation 3400 might not be one of the most exciting NAS devices on the market, but it's very capable. File performance over the network is good and the interface gives you a choice of basic or advanced setup, and even the advanced setup is clear and well organized.With an ARM processor rather than an Atom inside, the 3400 isn't as well suited to running more demanding applications and it doesn't have an app store for adding more features but you can use it to stream content (using DLNA or iTunes) and as a print, web or even MySQL server, or to collect video from IP surveillance cameras (although as usual, that requires extra licences). For a smaller office, being able to share a printer and host some web pages with office information could mean you don't need a full server. The TeraStation 3400 is flexible enough to work well on its own or with the server setup you already have.
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Mobile working: the kit you need to succeed
Once upon a time, businesses only had PCs to contend with. Bandwidth was limited, making it almost impossible for staff to work from home, let alone out on the field. But then came laptops, which made it easier to work away from the office.
More recently, smartphones and tablets, alongside software, the cloud, and advanced mobile applications, are seeing the entire business world embrace a mobile workforce.
The kit you need to succeed should comprise:
1. Tablets, smartphones and laptops
Firms will need to make a decision on the types of devices they wish to use, based on the functions they are expected to perform. A laptop is capable of carrying out the tasks you would complete on a desktop computer, but many firms are using notebooks, tablets and even smartphones instead: their smaller size makes them convenient and flexible.If using tablets or smartphones, you will need to consider whether staff need an additional keyboard. Firms should also consider screen size; and how long you will need the battery to last.
Additionally, you should decide whether to deploy a 'Bring Your Own Device' policy, or provide staff with devices yourself. Both have their advantages, but the former will ultimately be cheaper.
2. Software
Firms must consider if they wish to use a uniform operating system such as Windows on devices. It is also important to think about security software, including anti-virus, in order to keep business data safe.Some small firms will find monitoring and reporting software a useful way of keeping track of employees. Meanwhile, remote desktop connection software allows you and your staff to access files and documents on an office computer using your smartphone or tablet.
3. Enterprise applications
Enterprise applications are a way of taking advantage of the software that is not already on a tablet; and using apps can make your business more efficient. For example, staff can access SkyDrive files while on the move, or can call overseas using Skype and Wi-Fi, rather than running up a hefty phone bill. You can also make your own productivity apps internally.4. Cloud or server
For some small firms, it will be beneficial to set up a remote access server for employees to download project files. Alternatively, or if you don't have a server, cloud is one of the core pieces of kit that will keep your business working remotely. For example, an online collaboration system allows users to access files using mobiles and tablets.Cloud also adds an extra layer of security to your business data, as staff won't have to carry the information around on their mobile devices.
5. 4G/bandwidth
As the industry moves towards cloud and mobile devices, your employees will need to be connected. If they are using high bandwidth applications such as video, or if you are expecting staff to upload and download large files, you'll need to consider 4G services offered by the UK mobile operators.On top of this, you will also need to make sure employees have adequate Wi-Fi bandwidth to effectively carry out their jobs if they are working from home.
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