Fighting Talk: Please, please, not another Steve Jobs biopic
This week's tech rant isn't about Nokia, hoverboards, or the iPad mini 3. Nor is it about Apple Pay double-charging some customers, or Google trying to reinvent the email. This week it's about Hollywood.
Because this week we learned that we'll soon be treated to another retelling of the well-told Steve Jobs story, with producers revealing that former Batman Christian Bale is going to be gaining and losing weight and facial hair to tell us everything Wikipedia already tells us about the founding of Apple.
And it'll be the most pointless of all film genes - the biopic.
As in, a story we already know, about a famous person we already know practically everything about, and one that's already sadly died so the ending won't be much of a shock either.
Christian Bale will need a bit of smoothing out to play young Steve when he was churning out circuit boards in his garage, then there's the shift to paunchy middle-aged Steve from the late 90s and early 2000s, before skinny, balding Steve emerges during Apple's later, second wind, i-powered glory years.
If nothing else, this latest Jobs canonisation attempt should get some awards in the hair and makeup categories, and let Bale demonstrate the full range of his beard.
And if you're lucky, any subtle edits you make to his Wikipedia entry in the next few weeks may make it into the final film, as its producers scrabble together the many public domain stats about the Apple legend.
Tell us one we already know
It'll be two-hours of retold anecdotes, mostly taken from a book that's already three years old, in which Jobs will be portrayed as the often frustrated genius we already know pretty much everything about. We may even see him invent some products we also know about and frequently use.The dialogue will either be made up or based on things we already know were said. The inevitable sequence in which Jobs and Steve Wozniak, the Robin to his Batman, have the idea of making a Mac in his garage is something we all know happened. We don't need to see it portrayed on film.
Details of the invention of the i-devices will show us meetings in which the filmmakers either guess what was said or recreate things we already know we're said - both equally futile.
The chances of seeing anything new in the film, or learning anything from it, or of there being any thrilling revelations, are virtually zero.
Which, ironically, make it the perfect modern, entirely unchallenging, Hollywood product. Five stars. Ideal Tinder date material.
Make sure you see it in 3D - the flyby of the Foxconn factory as the first iPhone cases come out of the production moulds is stunning.
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Hands-on review: Fujitsu Lifebook S904
We recently got some hands on time with Fujitsu's compact Lifebook S904 notebook at VMworld 2014. The 13.3-inch business machine caught our eye for its sleek design and the company's claim that its battery can run for up to 24 hours before giving up the ghost.
While we couldn't verify that claim at Fujitsu's booth, we were able to check out its design and other specs. Inside the model, which was running Windows 8.1 Pro, was an Intel Core i7-4600U Haswell CPU clocked to 2.10GHz (turbo boost to 2.70GHz) backed up by 8GB of RAM. It's also available with Intel's Core i5 chip and can be configured with anything between 4GB and 12GB of RAM.
The S904's internals are wrapped up in an attractive design that's typical of the company's Lifebook models. The base and lid are made of a matte black plastic, while the keyboard and palm rest are coated in a metallic silver aluminium. A silver Fujitsu logo adorns the centre of its sturdy lid.
The machine is chunkier than many 13-inch Ultrabooks but is fairly slim for a notebook that can be fitted with the rarest of accessories: a CD drive. Like many of Fujitsu's Lifebook machines, it's available as one of several modules and can be swapped out for a second hard disk drive. Alternatively, it can be exchanged for another battery, which is where Fujitsu's all-day battery life claim comes from.
The S904 features an attractive and bright IPS display that offers good viewing angles and responds sharply to touch. Fujitsu, sensibly, tends to opt for the 2560 x 1440 (QHD) resolution on its 13-inch notebook displays, and it's done so once again on the S904. It's a good fit for the panel's size and renders text and UI elements easily readable without having to alter Windows 8.1's manification settings.
Connectivity-wise, the S904 features a VGA connection, a HDMI, LAN and USB ports on the left-hand side, with the swappable module bay, power connector, Kensington lock slot and optional SmartCard reader housed along the right-hand edge.
It can also be configured with a fingerprint sensor, TPM and ATP, and communication options can be extended via inbuilt 4G/LTE and a extra peripherals can be hooked up via a port replicator.
The S904 features typically shallow Fujitsu keyboard that allow for fast typing courtesy of its well-spaced chiclet-spaced keys.
In case Fujitsu's touted 24 hours of battery life aren't enough, or if you want to save yourself carrying around modules, the S904's back panel can be removed allowing you to insert a spare battery while on the road.
The Lifebook S904 is aimed primarily at business users, and comes with an enterprise-class price tag to match. Starting at around £1,075, it spans all the way up to around £1,600 for the top-spec model. We'll see whether it lives up to those wallet-thumping figures in our full review.
Verdict
A slightly bulky chassis doesn't detract from the Lifebook S904's charms too much. It's still attractive, and businesss users won't be too bothered about a little extra thickness to get hold of full day of battery life (we'd bet that plenty of consumers would make the sacrifice too).Add in a highly attractive 13.3-inch display with a sensible resolution and great viewing angles, a slew of configurable internals and a multitude of security options, and Fujitsu may have made a notebook that deserves its high-end price tag. We're hoping to get our hands on the Lifebook S904 soon to let you know for sure.
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Week in Gaming: David Hasselhoff vs zombies, Beyond Earth vs the critics, and 8-player vs mode for Smash Bros
The Hoff fighting off zombies on a beach with a nerf gun. It's been a recurring dream of ours for a long time, and now it's the premise of one of the worst and yet most amazing games ever created.
Hoff Zombie Beach has just arrived on the App Store (yes, really) and Hasselhoff is so excited about it that he actually phoned us up to tell us - and who are we to turn down a chat with the Hoff?
"My favourite thing in the world is zombies," he said. "We might be a little bit behind the zombie rage right now, but it's still a lot of fun."
"Its something that's not violent, its just fun. The zombies explode. The crabs come after you and you shoot the crabs." Yeah, not at all. Still, we admire his passion. "We have underwater zombies. It's a zombie fest!"
So how much of a role did the Hoff have in making the game? "I have a hand in just everything I do," he told us. "I learned a long time ago that if you let your partners introduce your TV series, they'll find a way to mess it up. If I mess it up it's ok."
He also promised us that we'll see "a lot of Hoffisms." And if none of that has peaked your interest, this should: "You'll see Pamela Anderson a zombie"
The Hoff even said that eventually he'd like to offer the chance for the highest-scoring player to have themselves put in the game as a zombie.
Right to bear arms
Sunset Overdrive is a little bit eccentric, but Insomniac Games has gone one step further and turned the game's bizarre firearms into real life, working weapons. Both the TNTeddy, which lobs cute, furry grenades, and the High Fidelity Gun, the hipster's choice, have been brought to life and filmed at Walter's Workshop.Hot wheels
This week saw the 32nd Annual Golden Joystick Awards take place, and Bandai Namco used the show to launch a brand new trailer for Project Cars. There are a lot of VROOOOOOOMs and a some very Inception-esque BRAAAAAAAAHHHMMMs. All very dramatic. Shame about that delay though, eh?Space
After partaking in an Interstellar Oculus Rift simulator this week, we've decided that space is pretty much the best. So it goes without saying that we're a bit excited to play Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth.Which is also why we're glad that the game is getting great reviews so far. CVG said "That Beyond Earth comes so close to touching its immediate predecessor, now bedecked with its many add-ons and expansions, is a mighty achievement however, and heralds a promising evolution ahead." which sounds good to us.
- What lies beneath: the terrifying scare tactics behind The Evil Within
Smashing news
But let's be honest, we all know what the best news of this week really was, and it wasn't that Codemasters is making a Micro Machines-style racer (although that did cause a few squeals from several members of the TechRadar team, not mentioning any names). No, it was that Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is going to feature an eight-player mode - a first for the series.Nintendo revealed as much during its Smash Bros' Direct cast on Thursday. The only bad news is that eight-player mode will only be available offline, and not all of the stages will be playable.
Also revealed was that Mewtwo will be available as a free DLC character for both 3DS and Wii U versions in early 2015.
Want some more facts about the new Super Smash Bros? How about 48 of them?
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Opinion: Your data is worth more than chocolate, so stop selling yourself short
As a TechRadar reader, you're savvier than most when it comes to what personal data you share. You've revised your Facebook settings away from the default 'share everything to all people everywhere' and you pause for thought before you hit the 'allow this app to know information about your inside leg measurement' button.
But this, I'm afraid, is just the very tip of the iceberg.
The signs are already pretty ominous and you don't have to dig very far before you hit someone with expertise who is already screaming about the dangers involved with a new free data age.
A few weeks ago Raj Samani, CTO for McAfee EMEA was talking at a Vision for the Web in 2050 get together arranged ahead of IP EXPO Europe. He told the assembled journalists and industry figures that he was 'scared' of some of the ways in which people's data was being frittered away.
"What's worrying is the willingness of consumers to hand over data for almost next to nothing," he said.
"12 months ago in [UK Shopping centre] Westfield, a confectioner was giving away free chocolate and there was a line of people like lemmings queuing to give over their data for an Easter egg.
"They wanted the person's demographic, their contact details and all kinds of other details.
"So I see the perceived value of data declining at such an alarming rate - we value our personal data so little and yet the big companies are paying more for that exact data."
In other words, hundreds of thousands of us, be it on Facebook or in signing up for an app's service (or free chocolate Easter egg) are unaware of how much this data is worth to companies - and perhaps more importantly how that data in someone else's hands could be problematic.
The potential value of data to insurers is the most obvious way of pointing out how sharing data can have negative consequences for the consumer. It could be overt, like car insurance providers giving out black box recorders for your car. Or it could be more covert (and currently futuristic), like a health insurer upping your premium because your fitness band data shows you spend most of your leisure life on the sofa. But either way, it does matter.
Working out how much your data is worth, and what you are OK with being in the public domain is increasingly something you should be aware of. One thing is for sure: companies are already investing heavily in the data market, and it could be worth a trillion dollars by 2020.
When YouTube was acquired by Google in 2006 it valued each user at around $20 dollars. By 2012 when Instagram was snapped up its users were valued at $30 and then when Whatsapp was bought by Facebook it valued each of us at around $42.
Something we're giving away is being snapped up by corporations who can package it and sell it on. So what's your data really worth? Is privacy really no more valuable than a chocolate Easter egg? Does the hypothetical $42 dollars sound a bit too cheap? Maybe privacy is priceless, and it's time we treated it that way.
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Interview: What lies beneath: the scare tactics behind The Evil Within
Survival horror is having a bit of a revival right now, and we're certainly not complaining. Alien: Isolation, Outlast, Dying Light, Silent Hills - whether it's thanks to The Last of Us or down to the new generation of consoles, the genre is enjoying a massive second wind.
The Evil Within, the debut game from Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami's Tango Gameworks, is one of the names leading the charge - we can confirm that this ain't the game your gran will be playing on Christmas morning. But scaring the bejesus out of video game players is no easy task, so we sat down with Mikami to chat about the ways in which The Evil Within plays on human psychology, and how it deviates from past horror games, in order to crawl beneath the player's skin.
TR: It feels like the horror genre is having a bit of a comeback right now. How much does The Evil Within owe to games of the past, and how much does it deviate?
SM: This game is a return to the basics of survival horror. If you were to compare it to Resident Evil, it would probably be somewhere between 1 and 4. We've worked hard to get the feeling of horror at the heart of The Evil Within to coexist with the fun of playing the game, and I think that we've been successful. More often than not, my past experience wasn't lining up with how I wanted to create this game, leaving me fighting against my instincts. This especially happened a lot with regard to team management, not just with the question of how to best add to the feeling of horror.
TR: How is The Evil Within different in the way it uses visuals and sound to scare the player?
SM: Rather than going for photorealistic visuals in this game, we mixed in a bit of a grainy effect to give the visuals more of a "horror" feeling. For sound, rather than overwhelming the player with frightening ambient audio, we reduced the amount of background music in order to allow the player to keep their ears open and focus on the sounds of nearby enemies
TR: Third-person perspective can make horror games a bit more tricky than first-person titles. What have you done to ensure that the horror still feels as real even though it's not seen directly through the eyes of the player?
SM: While third-person might lose to first-person in terms of immersiveness, I think that being able to see the protagonist's frightened expression can contribute to the feeling of fear. Another advantage of third-person is that it's a lot easier for the player to understand what's going on around them when they get hit by an enemy.
TR: This is a game that's all about the scares - how does The Evil Within play on people's fears?
SM: We've devised various post-effects in order to create deep and striking lighting and shadow effects to enhance the player's feelings of fear and disgust, and to really bring out the atmosphere of the game. We're also using our own slime shaders and super-fast GPU-side collision detection to replicate realistic blood splatter.
If the player character is too agile, then it will detract from the feeling of horror. At the same time, however, if the movement is too realistic then the player will end up getting stressed out by the controls. We've worked to keep movement and actions as realistic as possible while also placing a great deal of emphasis on control responsiveness.
In addition to the difficulty level that is selected by the player, there is also a hidden difficulty modifier in the game. If you play well, the difficulty level will increase. This will cause the AI to behave more intelligently, helping to maintain the tension of combat. The drop rates for ammo and recovery items are also finely adjusted to keep the player right at the level where they have just enough resources to barely make it through.
TR: 30fps might be seen by some people as a limitation to the realism, opting for a more cinematic but less immersive experience. What do you think?
SM: I think that that's normally the case, yes. For this project, the cinematic experience was a high priority for us, leaving us with no choice but to give up on 60FPS. The only unique benefit of 30FPS is that it has a sort of roughness that feels a bit strange, and that can work in the game's favour by adding a bit to the feeling of horror.
TR: How much of what you've done with sound and lighting was driven by your studies on human psychology?
SM: The rule of thumb was that whatever we do or create it was for the sake of creating fear. Music and sound effects had to support creating the sense of fear and tension in every way possible. In respect to music it's not really music. Rather, it's more like ambient sounds.
We designed it so that it's very subtle at times. Sometimes you notice it, sometimes you don't unless you pay close attention to it. Again, all it does is support whatever situation the player is in or that scene. We also tried to make very effective use of silence. Having no music or sound for some situations consciously makes you listen to sounds of enemies lurking in the shadows or dark corners.
I think that, generally speaking, there are two main ways to handle lighting for horror games. The first is to have it pitch black with the player character lighting the way forward with a portable light source, and the second is to build environments with carefully-calculated lighting for maximum effect. While both of these methods can be extremely effective, we mainly utilised the second method for The Evil Within.
Humans are instinctively afraid of the dark, so if you constantly force the player to keep pressing forward through deep darkness with only a tiny bubble of light to depend on, it's likely to end up being too stressful for them. My idea for this project was to create environments where the lighting is carefully controlled to keep the player constantly on edge.
There are a lot of elements to take into account for each and every light source, such as placement, brightness, colour, and number of lights. Each of these will have an impact on the lighting's effect on the player. The main point that we keep in mind while making adjustments is whether or not we are successfully setting a "horror" mood.
There is a very delicate balance to strike, so I'm always worrying about it. It's a problem that comes up time after time during development; the composition of the screen might become too bright and diminish the sense of fear, or it might become too dark, which can increase the feeling of horror but can conversely make it too stressful for the player. It also of course decreases visibility, from a gameplay standpoint. There is also some variability between each player's monitor. Most survival horror games these days allow the player to adjust the game brightness in the options, but my ideal is to strike a balance with lighting where the player can enjoy the game's feeling of horror without having to make significant brightness adjustments.
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Industry voice: What next for virtualisation in midmarket companies?
For several years, midmarket companies have been taking the first steps to embracing virtualisation, but many do not know what to do next.
Companies were eager to hop on the virtualisation bandwagon after seeing what incredible benefits it could bring but, unsure of how to proceed, companies have been left not knowing how best to leverage their new virtualisation platform. What follows are two possible next steps that midmarket companies should consider to continue their virtualisation journey.
Operations Management
Virtualisation technology has introduced a number of improvements to midmarket data centres, but it has also brought on certain challenges – such as monitoring utilisation and "VM sprawl". Virtualisation changes everything, not just the foundations of IT infrastructure but also the culture and how IT is perceived within the business.As a result, the speed of adoption of virtualisation and the complexity of the technology has outpaced the capabilities within a company's IT department to manage these problems. Companies need to adapt the way they monitor and manage their virtual environments. There are many monitoring tools available; however, not all are created equal, some specialise in capacity analysis and others are made for general monitoring and alerting.
Given that a large majority of companies use VMware vSphere as their hypervisor, it comes as no surprise that VMware has also released an operations management tool – vCenter Operations Manager. This management tool provides insight into workload, capacity and health that are crucial to gaining the necessary visibility into performance bottlenecks and leveraging recommendations for problem resolution.
IT admins are now able to fully understand the impact and root cause of the issues before the entire business is affected, reducing the amount of time spent troubleshooting and achieving higher utilisation and savings.
Desktop Virtualisation
With more and more people working from home or on the road, there has never been a greater demand for technology to support mobility and collaboration. In many cases, employees have resorted to bringing their own devices with them to work to simplify their mobile experience, which introduces a new challenge; work that was previously confined to a single desktop PC or laptop is now being taken outside the secure confines of a company's building.The variety of devices now rife within a business increases support problems and also intensifies the likelihood of data breaches caused by lost or stolen devices. The solution to many of these issues is to deploy a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). Moving computing resources back into the data centre makes them significantly easier to manage and control, all while improving the efficiency of both technology and personnel resource utilisation.
This solution provides greater flexibility for end users to access applications and empowers employees to choose their own devices, all while ensuring a flexible, secure workspace with a high-quality user experience.
These are just two of the many topics that could be covered in regards to virtualisation, but they remain important considerations for your next steps to getting the most out of virtualisation.
- Anthony Poh is a Technical Account Manager at MTI Technology, and has over 12 years of experience in the IT industry specialising in infrastructure consolidation and virtualisation
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MacFormat: It's time for the iPad critics to shut up
If you believe what industry analysts say, the iPad is doomed. There again, if you believe what industry analysts say, I have a bridge to sell you, and I have some terrible, terrible news about Santa Claus.
The doom-mongering was given fresh fodder this week with Apple's earnings call: in contrast to otherwise typically strong results in other areas of the business, iPad sales dropped 13% in the last quarter compared to the previous year. What's more, this was the third quarter in a row of decline in iPad sales.
The reaction to the new iPads has been muted too, which is perfectly understandable. No matter how often I and others say that Apple's biggest strength is in iteration - making incremental improvements in every generation that refine and add power and capabilities to the core concept of a product - it's under huge pressure to dazzle and delight with the new and revolutionary. (People tend to forget that while revolutions sometimes lead to better societies overall, they're almost always bloody awful things to live through.) Still, it's nevertheless true that the iPad mini 3 especially feels like a minor upgrade to its predecessor, leading to more claims that the iPad is a dead end.
But if you think Apple doesn't know what it's doing, you're wrong. If you listened in to the earnings call (and I can't think why you'd be doing anything else at 10pm on a Monday night) you'd have heard Tim Cook talk about his vision for the iPad, and it basically boiled down to this. First, the partnership with IBM means selling more iPads to businesses; second, although it's tempting to infer that the market is saturated, in Apple's top six countries between 50% and 70% of iPads are sold to people who've never owned one before; third, emerging markets are growing; and fourth, yeah, people don't upgrade iPads as often as phones and they sometimes pick Macs or iPhones over iPads - and Apple's fine with that, because they're still buying an Apple product.
That's all very revealing, but the most important thing to say to the iPad doomsayers is this: oh my word, shut up about it. I know this is rich coming from me, when I've written 547 words on the topic for TechRadar, but Lord, I am tired of hearing so much chatter about these big, strategic, business-centric aspects of Apple.
What should matter is not whether the iPad is doomed, nor the turgid inside-baseball analysis of Apple Inc, but whether you like your iPad. Is it good? Does it make you productive? Does it bring you joy - not necessarily in and of itself, but because of the things it lets you do and the people it brings you closer to?
If the answer's yes, that's all you need to know. If the answer's no, then that's OK too, and if you there's a competing product out there that will do those things better, then I wish you the kind of uncomplicated happiness with it that surely eludes industry analysts.
If you don't own an iPad, you shouldn't care if it's doomed or not. If you do own an iPad, you shouldn't care either. Apple's business is none of your concern.
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Hands-on review: Kindle Voyage
Is the ereader dying? It appears not if Amazon's latest punt, and the reactions to it I've had, are anything to go by.
This is an expensive device indeed, coming in at £170 compared to the sub £100 options from rivals (and Amazon itself, with the basic Kindle range).
But the Kindle Voyage isn't meant to compete - it's there to lead and be an attractive option for those that love their reading on a commute and are willing to invest a little more.
I have to say that in my early days of use with the Voyage, I'm already loathe to give it up. It's still just an ereader at the heart, and I had not problem with my Paperwhite at all. The brigher screen was clear and crisp, and the response time.
But Amazon has made the Voyage clearer, brighter and faster to interact with, and I've enjoyed all those elements.
The smaller size is nice too, enabling me to slip into a front pocket even with a cover on. (The origami cover, which annoyingly isn't bundled for the cost, is brilliant as a little stand / smart cover to unlock the ereader).
It's a little on the small side if I had any criticism, but the screen is so legible I had no issue day to day. I also really like that the display and frame are now one single pane of strengthened glass, making a very clean and smooth front to the Voyage.
The other big change is the ability to turn the page using the bezel once more, although this time it's through touch-sensitivity rather than a physical button.
Weirdly these buttons don't work well for me at all. But then again a few millimetres to the left or right there's a screen that I can tap and have the pages turn every time. It's annoying that the buttons are accurate at all though.
There are myriad new features coming to the interface that make the Kindle Voyage more powerful for reading than ever before, but they'll be coming to the Paperwhite and family too soon, so aren't really key selling points.
I'll dig into these more in the full review to see if they really enhance the reading experience, or are just gimmicks to make it seem like Amazon 'gets' reading more than you do.
Early verdict
The Kindle Voyage is a premium device with a higher cost associated. However, like the smartwatches it shares a price tag with, you can make a real case for this as a Christmas gift. It makes reading nicer.No matter how easy it is to read on a tablet or smartphone, there's no substitute for the feel of a real book. But the Amazon Kindle Voyage comes much closer than anything before, and it's much nicer to hold and carry around.
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Hands-on review: Nexus 9
The Nexus 9 by HTC is a tablet that's been a long time coming. It's the updated Nexus 7, it's the rebooted Nexus 10, and it's the Nexus 8 too.
The tablet seems to have been through a number of internal iterations, mostly because the tablet market has evolved so rapidly of late. It saw Apple enter the mini tablet space, and then decide to effectively pull out by choosing to bring the most minimal updates possible to the iPad mini 3.
So is the Nexus 9 the silver bullet Google needs to keep up the Android tablet charge? The Android market share is increasing, but at the cheaper end of the market where the quality isn't always as high.
So teaming with HTC to offer an high-power, between-big-and-little tablet seems to be a good move if Google wants to kickstart the lust for the top end tablet.
It's got some might competition - the Samsung Tab S is a rather lovely device in the Android space, and comes in 10.5- and 8.4-inch sizes, to flank this 9-inch (well, 8.9-inch) option. There's obviously the powerful and sleek iPad Air 2, and even Sony's Z3 Compact Tablet is a decent choice.
So what's the big deal with the HTC Nexus 9? With a price tag of £319 ($399, about AU$450) for the 16GB option, and £399 ($479, about AU$545) for the bigger 32GB choice, this isn't the cheap Nexii we're used to. It's a powerhouse with some of the best internals on the market.
Design
The design is clearly led by HTC here, building on Asus' rubberised Nexus 7 and adding in some premium finishes. The larger device - which is now much wider by choosing a 4:3 screen ratio, rather than the 16:9 widescreen that's brilliant for movies - has the same feel to the back, but now comes with a metallic rim.
This aids grip as well as improving the aesthetics of the tablet - and while in the black version it's harder to notice, the chamfered silver edges on the white (ish) model looks a lot more high-end.
There's no microSD slot here, which I've come to expect on most Android tablets, meaning the extra cost of the 32GB model looks like the only way to safeguard yourself from larger apps or big HD movie libraries. The battery seems large enough at 6700mAh, but with the higher-res 2K screen it might need all that juice.
The overall design of the Nexus 9 means that, unless you're blessed with massive hands, this is a two-palmed device to use easily. That's not a real problem as it's pretty light to hold, but I did miss the ability from the Nexus 7.
Speaking of the screen, it's a decent effort indeed without being mind blowing. It's certainly high-res enough to match the iPad Air 2 in terms of pixel count, which means by having a 0.8-inch smaller display increases the sharpness.
I didn't notice anything looking particularly crisp in general use, but then coming from using both the iPad Air 2 and mini 3 from recent reviews, perhaps that's because my eyes are used to such clarity.
That said, I was very impressed with the deep blacks and overall contrast ratio of the screen, which meant I certainly had no gripes watching high-res YouTube clips during my testing time.
Interface
The Nexus 9 I was using was a developer's version of Android 5 / Lollipop, which means I was essentially playing with Android L.That said, it's a really nifty upgrade and it combines well with the larger and wider screen size on offer. Loading TechRadar on the Chrome browser wasn't the fastest experience, with a few lags with swiping, but that's very possibly down to not being final build.
Everything else was swift and I enjoyed the new UI touches. The icons that twist around as you drag the notifications bar from the top of the screen, the unobtrusive windows asking which apps you'd like to use at the bottom, contextual menus - all looking very slick.
The real downside I noted - and it's not a big one, given it's not a key part of the tablet experience - is the camera. Like every Nexus device, this seems more like a proving ground for the software than allowing users to take great photos.
The Lens Blur effects just didn't work (again, possibly due to early software) and the overall snap quality wasn't high at all. The controls were nice and simple though, with swipes left and right getting you into your gallery or letting you choose new photo modes.
There's even the chance to up the control level to include extra manual controls, so it's a nice mix for the casual and more professional user - although I need to see it with a better sensor, optics and, well, not on a tablet.
CPU
The big thing to note here is that HTC has switched away from Qualcomm here to go with an Nvidia K1 chipset. This probably won't mean a lot to many users, save to say it really improves the speed under the finger when flicking through the Nexus 9 and making the graphical prowess that much better.
However, it makes the new tablet a good bet for the future, as with a 64-bit architecture in the tablet and available on the new iteration of Android, the two together will result in more powerful and useful apps.
That said, there's only 2GB of RAM at the heart of the Nexus 9, which means it won't really be able to take advantage of the 64-bit ability, but will have some slight performance enhancements. It's actually only a dual core CPU, but don't let that put you off as the early benchmarking numbers for this tablet have been very impressive.
I wasn't able to test the graphical powers of the tablet as I couldn't download any games onto it, but anecdotal evidence from around the web suggests it's going to be really rather fast indeed.
Early verdict
The HTC Nexus 9 is very much a, well, Nexus device. But without the lower price tag that used to accompany such devices. It does most things well, with a nice design, screen and packaging, while not forgetting to use a mediocre camera as usual.But there's very little else here to wow (save for the impressive front facing, rich speakers), which again is a hallmark of Nexus devices.
That's not a bad thing though - just make sure you'll want that blank canvas, allowing you to slowly customise this well put together tablet into something you truly enjoy.
For those that like simplicity, the higher-cost iPad might be attractive, but for a basic tablet you can make your own, the Nexus 9 looks a good bet.
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Industry voice: To bring your own device is to bring your own risks
The world knows that BYOD trend is here to stay. And enterprises must embrace it. Like any other technology, BYOD is not without its usual hype and is an evolving.
BYOD also implies BYOR, Bring Your Own Risks. Enterprises around the world continue to struggle to protect their information assets through consistent application of security policies even on devices owned by them. Business requirements, end user experience, employee friendly policies, operational overheads tend to override security risks especially when resources are hard to come-by.
Such approaches are not risk-based but risk-accepted approaches, which means inconsistent and flexible implementation of policies and other controls. A risk-accepted approach leaves more holes unless enterprises keep a tab on them and re-assess their exposure and strategic position on the accepted risks.
Maintain control
Maintaining control over enterprise-owned devices is a must to be able to ward off potential threats and evaluate BYOD risks constantly. A BYOD brings in an additional attack surface and a vector, which is growing in size in terms of likelihood of threats and impact from such threats. Just multiply threats by the number of BYODs. Bringing One’s Own Risks is very well over and above other risks enterprises have been trying to stay ahead of. BYODs pose a huge security challenge, no doubt.There are a few steps, which even small enterprises can take, provided the infrastructure supports.
1. Control access to corporate information resources through domain authentication
2. Create a VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) for BYODs and make use of ACLs (Access Control List) as an additional layer in Network Defense
3. Allowing BYODs of different types definitely requires a wireless network, one more layer in your Defense
a. So, have the users authenticate themselves
b. Implement wireless encryption
c. Enforce a tight network access & security policy through the Wireless Access Controller
d. Make use of DHCP (Dynamic Host Control Protocol) to allow only policy-permitted IP addresses
e. Should you decide to go a bit further, make use of MAC address of BYODs
f. If you have a PKI infrastructure, client authentication of BYODs is possible with a little but worthwhile overhead
4. Email infrastructure such as an on-premise Microsoft Exchange or an Office365 infrastructure can help enforce an MDM (Mobile Device Management) capabilities through a mailbox policy
a. Limit retention of emails, most used application on most BYOD
b. Limit email attachment sizes
c. Require a password to access the phone
d. Enforce encryption on device storage as well as removable storage cards
e. Be in the know by keeping a tab on all devices that connect to your Email application and a few more controls
5. When a BYOD is within a corporation, one can subject them to the scrutiny by the network firewalls, IPS/IDS (Intrusion Prevention/Detection System) and leveraging on web content screening and filtering (Uniform Resource Locator).
Many BYODs are just used like a personal mobile Internet browsing shops inside an enterprise. In India, there is a regulation for such shops to keep a record of the users.
- Thiruvadinathan A. is Director of Security & Compliance at Happiest Minds Technologies
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Opinion: Bring back airplane mode!
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has announced that we no longer need to switch our smartphones (and other personal electronic devices) to airplane mode. Instead, we'll be able to use our phones during any part of the flight, including take off and landing.
I don't know about you but I'm already missing airplane mode.
I'm awful at sitting still with nothing to do, so I often go for my phone to check the news and browse a few sites. This quick browse often leads to a number of emails sent, several social media posts and numerous texts. If I'm luck, a loved one will call, if I'm not then an insurance scam will. Before long a few hours and half my battery has gone.
Being on a plane with airplane mode switched on and my phone disconnected from the outside world allows me (and all the other passengers) to enter into a rare oasis of tranquillity where work emails, passive-agressive Facebook statuses and mundane phonecalls have all been banished.
We all know long haul flights are enough of an ordeal already, without the person next to you incessantly jabbering on the phone while battling for supremacy over the arm rest. Now that people won't need to put the phone down even briefly plane cabins could become even louder with the chatter of the air-borne cattle.
We won't even be able to rely on network drops to grant us respite. Many flights now come with on board connectivity, which isn't great news if you or your neighbour have a Wi-Fi calling-enabled phone and contract.
So even flying over the Bermuda Triangle (or other notorious network black spots like the South West of England) won't be enough to disturb the call. We'll have to use self discipline to pocket our phones, and who has any of that these days?
Using airplane mode also gives our devices themselves a bit of a break as well. With network and other battery-draining features turned off, they become little more than glorified watches, MP3 players and handheld games consoles.
This means that even after the longest flights we still usually end up with enough battery juice left for essential calls after we've cleared passport control.
Now that we'll have non-stop access to all the battery-draining delights our smartphones can offer we might see more people rushing to power sockets after they've disembarked, rather than to baggage claim.
At the moment it's up to the airlines to decide whether to allow non-stop use of smartphones during their flights, so I humbly ask them to say no! Keep the requirement for airplane mode! If not for safety, then for the sanity of its passengers.
Thankfully the US has, for now, remained undecided on the issue. But this decision by the EASA will almost certainly bring more attention to the question of in-flight calls.
I can only hope that possible plans to ban calls on US flights, as well as the attendants trying to make it a legal issue not to use them go ahead. The thought of a transatlantic flight sat next to an obnoxious phone user is enough to make me want to go by sea.
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Review: Updated: Amazon Fire TV
Introduction
Update: We've updated our review to include more of the 600-plus apps found on the Amazon Fire TV.With the introduction of Fire TV, behemoth online retailer Amazon has entered the streaming set-top box battle that may ultimately determine the future of how we get content into our TVs. The device is competitive on both price and performance with Roku 3, Apple TV and Google Chromecast and seems squarely aimed at challenging those established players. The good news is that the product, like Amazon itself, is friendly, powerful, and innovative and tackles some of the critical consumer pain points associated with the current streaming boxes. The less good news is that it doesn't entirely live up to some of the promises Amazon is making.
Amazon has explicitly stated that it wanted to address three problem areas about the consumer streaming experience: poor performance, closed ecosystems and cumbersome search. In terms of performance they have a clear winner on their hands. Fire TV is consistently snappy and responsive, thanks to some relatively beefy silicon inside.
Fire TV is a fairly open platform, but its interface consistently tilts toward Amazon's offerings. It can't access content from iTunes or Google Play (no surprise), but does support a wide array of third party services and will presumably be adding more as time goes on. Third-party services, however, are relegated to second-class status within Fire TV's user interface. They sit in the system's "Apps" tab, while the system's prominent Movies, TV, Watchlist and My Library tabs all feed directly to Amazon's offerings. The system's first party offerings are always in plain view and accessible directly from the home screen. Third-party offerings tend to take some clicking and scrolling to get to.
While Amazon may overemphasize their own offerings, it's worth noting that the company has been putting serious work into beefing up its Amazon Prime Unlimited Streaming library. Along with a slate of well-produced original content, the company recently announced a deal that will fold HBO's original programming (for shows more than 3 years old) into Prime Unlimited Streaming. They may not have Netflix's numbers yet, but Amazon is clearly becoming a serious player in the ongoing streaming services war. In addition, Amazon recently launched its Prime Music service that gives Amazon Prime users streaming access to an extensive library of top-tier music across a panoply of genres, though it is not yet available through FireTV (music stored in your Cloud Drive is accessible, however).
Search has been addressed with a slick voice recognition feature that uses a microphone on the remote to allow consumers to speak their searches instead of hunting and pecking across an on-screen letter grid. With access to cloud processing to handle the heavy lifting of voice recognition, the system does an excellent job of understanding what you're trying to tell it. However, voice searches only scan for Amazon and Vevo content, an unfortunate decision that significantly undercuts the utility of this breakthrough feature. Amazon has announced that it will be adding support for searching the catalogs of Hulu Plus, Crackle and Showtime Anytime. However, even with these additions, the device's tantalizing voice search function remains deeply underpowered.
Amazon has included some compelling extras, including the ability to view photos users have stored on Amazon Cloud Drive, and playback for Music purchased through its MP3 store (though Prime Music is not yet available through the device). Amazon has also put special focus on games with this system and thanks to a more powerful processor and Amazon's optional dedicated game controller ($40) Kindle Fire's gaming options surpass the Angry Birds-level options offered on similar devices. Still, most games are ports of existing Android titles that already run on the Kindle HDX, so while the games look and play well on the system, it doesn't have a patch on dedicated gaming consoles (which, to be fair, are typically far more expensive).
One potential differentiator for families is Amazon's integration of its FreeTime area, which allows parents to precisely proscribe the content kids access and their time on the system. It's an interesting offering that's not available on most other streaming boxes, however, it has its own set of drawbacks as well (see FreeTime section for further details).
Hardware and design
The box itself is about the size of a small external hard drive, or two CD jewel cases stacked on top of one another. Think of a tiny, squared-off version of the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey lying flat. Its exterior is sleek and minimalist, with the only contrast coming from glossy black lettering on a matte black background. At 0.7 inches thick, all of its visual cues seem to be telling you, "Don't see me." Its rear side is devoted to the essential ports: power, HDMI, optical audio, Ethernet and USB.
Under the hood, Fire TV is quite powerful compared to its competitors, sporting a quad-core processor, a discrete GPU and 2GB of RAM. Amazon claims it has three times the processing power of Apple TV, Chromecast or Roku 3, and says it can process 57 billion floating point operations per second. You can wire it into your router via Ethernet, but if that's inconvenient, Fire TV also packs two dual-band Wi-Fi antennas. All of this adds up to notably snappy menu performance. Movie titles fly by in the interface, transitioning between services is fast and the system handles itself well when tasked with rendering games.
The Fire TV's minimalist matte black remote is similar in functionality to Roku's, with seven glossy black buttons and a directional selector. It uses Bluetooth to communicate, eliminating line-of sight issues and allowing you to stash the box inside a cabinet or behind a TV. There are buttons for back, home, menu, rewind play/pause and fast forward. Topping the remote on its own is the microphone button that may one day be Fire TV's secret weapon (but not now, for more on this see the Interface and Search section).
Setup
As with Roku 3 and Apple TV, Fire TV's setup is eerily simple, and consists of connecting two or three wires (power, HDMI and an optional ethernet cable). If you don't have it wired to your router, the system will walk you through forging a WiFi connection. As with the Kindle Fire, when you order a Fire TV, Amazon pre-links it to your Amazon account, so after a quick (unskippable) tutorial video you're immediately able to browse Amazon Instant and Amazon Prime videos along with any photos in your cloud drive. Third party apps must be downloaded and set up separately with their own credentials. In terms of simplicity, the setup process is a win, but its lack of customization options leaves you at the mercy of the one-size-fits-all menu hierarchy Amazon has created (more on this later).
Movies and TV
Naturally, the system provides full-spectrum access to Amazon's cloud video services, and Amazon Instant and Amazon Prime Video are both well (if not over) represented. At launch, Fire TV offered 40 third-party channels, a far cry from the hundreds available on Roku and Chromecast, but more are slowly-but-surely trickling in. Amazon made sure they had the most significant services coming out of the gate, with the notable exception of HBOGo which is due later in the year. Predictably, iTunes and Google Play are not available on the system, nor are they likely to be.Amazon is touting Fire TV's innards as a competitive advantage in terms of movie performance, but while menus move quickly, our tests didn't uncover much difference in terms of speed to open third party apps or start playing videos as compared with Roku 3 or AppleTV.
Amazon's native offerings, on the other hand, clearly get a boost from living on their home hardware. First off, all of Amazon's content is accessible from the main menu of the system's OS and can start playing without first launching an app. Secondly, Amazon is introducing a feature called ASAP, which is designed to pre-cache video content for you based on your habits and preferences. I saw this in action when I watched the 11th episode of Alpha House (I had previously watched the first 10 episodes, but not on the Fire TV). Impressively, playback began instantaneously when I clicked, with no load time or buffering. Supposedly the system will make more inferences over time as it monitors my actions. It's a smart, effective system, but as only Amazon's offerings can use it, it's one more way the playing field inside Fire TV is tilted to the home team's advantage.
Music, photos and home movies
Amazon's added a music channel post-launch that allows consumers to access any music stored in their cloud drive (all MP3s bought through Amazon are stored in your Cloud Drive for free). Curiously, Amazon has not yet implemented support for its newly launched Prime Music service, which offers access to a large library of quality music tracks. Fire TV currently supports third party music services such as iHeartRadio, Pandora, Spotify and TuneIn, but these are currently found in the Apps menu, not the music tab, another example of Amazon's home field advantage here.The photo channel provides a way to access any photos or videos you have stored in Amazon Cloud Drive. Amazon provides a free 5GB of storage for all accounts, and more can be purchased via subscription. The system works simply and seamlessly. You can upload photos from your computer, or use Amazon's iOS or Android apps to automatically put any photos you take up on the cloud. In addition to letting you page through slide shows, Fire TV can be set to use your images as a screensaver when the system is idle.
Gaming
It's clear Amazon sees games as a key piece of their strategy with this box. The idea here seems to be to capture casual gamers who aren't sufficiently invested to buy a $400 to $500 dedicated games console, not a bad bet in a time when mobile gaming is reaching more consumers than ever. Since Fire TV runs the latest version of Amazon's Fire OS ("Mojito"), which is based on Android, it's relatively easy for existing Android games to be ported to work on the system and Developers I spoke with from Telltale Games (The Walking Dead) and Mojang (Minecraft) both emphasized how easy it was to move their games onto the platform from their existing games, both of which already run on the Kindle Fire HDX. Amazon has big plans for games, and appears to be actively courting developers and publishers (including EA, Disney, Ubisoft, 2K, Sega and Rockstar) as well as starting up their own in-house design team.
Amazon's seriousness about gaming is best exemplified by its creation of a dedicated game controller for the system (sold separately, $40). While serviceable, the controller does not show the same polish as the rest of the system. Looking like a cross between an Xbox 360 controller and the Ouya controller, the feel of the face buttons and sticks is solid, but its shoulder buttons are a bit stiff and the triggers have a shallow travel that feels unsatisfying. It's worth noting that many of the games on the system (primarily those with simple tablet-type controls) are playable with only the remote.
Standout titles include Minecraft, The Walking Dead Seasons 1 and 2, Terraria, Zen Pinball, You Don't Know Jack, Badland, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and the original Sonic The Hedgehog games. Sev Zero, the first in-house game from Amazon Game Studios is an impressive hybrid tower defense/third person shooter that moves surprisingly well for running on a box this small.
The controller also sports all the buttons on the remote (including play/pause, fwd and rew), allowing you to easily manipulate the system's media options via the controller. While the controller feels substantial in the hand, its look doesn't quite measure up to the gorgeous industrial design of the box itself or the remote. That said, having a dedicated controller at all is a very welcome option. It runs $40 (about £24, AU$43) and currently ships with a free copy of SevZero – which costs $6.99 (around £4, AU$7.50) when bought a la carte – and 1,000 Amazon Coins, a $10 (likely £10, AU$10) value.
Interface and Search
Amazon has built an amazingly elegant solution to search in this device, thanks to a microphone embedded in the remote and cloud-powered voice recognition. Unfortunately, the way they have implemented this breakthrough feature is deeply anti-consumer. Voice recognition is accurate and solves the aggravating problem of tapping in your searches in via an on-screen letter grid. However, Amazon has destroyed most of the value of searching this way as voice searches scan only Amazon's native content library.This search myopia isn't only limited to the voice feature though. Indeed there is currently no way to search across services on the device. When I search Roku for a film it tells me if it's on Netflix, Crackle and others as well as if it's on Amazon. I ran into several scenarios where I searched for content I know is on another service (that I'm already paying for) and was only presented the option of buying or renting it from Amazon. It's the device's most serious flaw and Amazon should address if they want their device to be as consumer-friendly as they claim.
Amazon's self-bias is even more striking in the menu structure it has created. Of the 10 top-level tabs on its home screen (Search, Home, Movies, TV, Watchlist, Video Library, Games, Apps, Photos, Settings), all but three (Home, Games and Apps) are for Amazon services. Third party apps are relegated to the "Apps" tab. Thus, four of the highest-level menu items are devoted to different aspects of Amazon's video services, while a single menu item at the bottom of the page houses 40-plus third party apps. Certain high-profile apps (Netflix, Hulu) are profiled on the Home tab under Featured Apps and Games (which sits just below the "Recently Added To Prime" area). To make matters worse, the Apps tab is populated by games as well as apps (the Games tab only has games in it), making that area even more cluttered than it has to be.
In short, Amazon seems to be going out of its way to bury third-party apps on the system. It's not a dealbreaker, as most consumers will be aware of the services they want on their device and figure out how to find them, but it's irksome that these services require several extra clicks to access and can't be customized. Tip: Voice search can be used to navigate to apps you have installed and is often the fastest and easiest way to find a given app.
FreeTime
FreeTime,
FireTV's most ironically named feature, is there to make 100% sure your
children are not free to watch whatever they would like. In addition,
the service costs $5 per month, making it the opposite of both meanings
of the word "free" (though Amazon does offer a 1-month free trial of the
service).
The idea behind FreeTime is a solid one. We're sure many parents would appreciate the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your children are only accessing content from trusted and age-appropriate sources. In practice, however, FreeTime has a long way to go before we can recommend paying extra money to access it (let alone recommend it as a reason to buy the system).
The service operates by having parents create profiles for each child in the household, then white-list specific apps and video content they want that child to have access to. In addition, the system lets parents specify how much time each child is allowed to spend on the system per day in increments of 15 minutes, as well as blocking off certain times. For example, I could allow one child an hour of FireTV time between 4pm and 8pm. And if I were feeling especially mean, I could allow another child four hours of screen time, but only between 2am and 6am. Parents can also set whether a child's time spent on apps, video or either.
The primary flaw in the system is its selection of video content. Currently FreeTime only allows parents to white-list individual videos that has been either purchased from Amazon or are available via Amazon Prime Instant Video. Netflix and other apps are available, but if you give your kid access, they can see every movie on that service (meaning that adding them to your child's library undermines the entire point of FreeTime). Given how open FireTV's ecosystem is and how much wonderful children's content is available on Hulu Plus, Netflix and others, it feels ridiculous (and possibly manipulative) to allow parent's to only proscribe choices that only come from Amazon's libraries.
In addition, FreeTime must be activated for it to work. Once the system is signed into FreeTime mode for a given kid, the countdown timer starts and it's impossible to exit to the main menu without entering a PIN. However, if an unsupervised kid is tech-savvy enough to get the system turned on by themselves (and newsflash, most are) they'll have full access to everything until FreeTime is activated. Also, when the PIN is entered (as it must be to change content choices), the magic numbers are plainly visible on screen, not even obscured by asterisks. And this is all assuming that the FireTV is the only source of content connected to the TV. The idea of this being a serious impediment to any media-hungry kid over age six is a little absurd.
The idea behind FreeTime is sound, but in its current half-executed form, it's largely useless, primarily due to its lack of hooks into the other video apps on the system. FreeTime is not yet a compelling reason to buy FireTV, even for those with small children they want to safely park in front of the flatscreen. Thankfully for FireTV, FreeTime is not its only trick and the box is compelling enough on its other merits to justify purchase. We hope to see Amazon work to improve this feature down the road.
The idea behind FreeTime is a solid one. We're sure many parents would appreciate the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your children are only accessing content from trusted and age-appropriate sources. In practice, however, FreeTime has a long way to go before we can recommend paying extra money to access it (let alone recommend it as a reason to buy the system).
The service operates by having parents create profiles for each child in the household, then white-list specific apps and video content they want that child to have access to. In addition, the system lets parents specify how much time each child is allowed to spend on the system per day in increments of 15 minutes, as well as blocking off certain times. For example, I could allow one child an hour of FireTV time between 4pm and 8pm. And if I were feeling especially mean, I could allow another child four hours of screen time, but only between 2am and 6am. Parents can also set whether a child's time spent on apps, video or either.
The primary flaw in the system is its selection of video content. Currently FreeTime only allows parents to white-list individual videos that has been either purchased from Amazon or are available via Amazon Prime Instant Video. Netflix and other apps are available, but if you give your kid access, they can see every movie on that service (meaning that adding them to your child's library undermines the entire point of FreeTime). Given how open FireTV's ecosystem is and how much wonderful children's content is available on Hulu Plus, Netflix and others, it feels ridiculous (and possibly manipulative) to allow parent's to only proscribe choices that only come from Amazon's libraries.
In addition, FreeTime must be activated for it to work. Once the system is signed into FreeTime mode for a given kid, the countdown timer starts and it's impossible to exit to the main menu without entering a PIN. However, if an unsupervised kid is tech-savvy enough to get the system turned on by themselves (and newsflash, most are) they'll have full access to everything until FreeTime is activated. Also, when the PIN is entered (as it must be to change content choices), the magic numbers are plainly visible on screen, not even obscured by asterisks. And this is all assuming that the FireTV is the only source of content connected to the TV. The idea of this being a serious impediment to any media-hungry kid over age six is a little absurd.
The idea behind FreeTime is sound, but in its current half-executed form, it's largely useless, primarily due to its lack of hooks into the other video apps on the system. FreeTime is not yet a compelling reason to buy FireTV, even for those with small children they want to safely park in front of the flatscreen. Thankfully for FireTV, FreeTime is not its only trick and the box is compelling enough on its other merits to justify purchase. We hope to see Amazon work to improve this feature down the road.
Verdict
Amazon is entering the set top box wars at a very interesting time and with a very compelling product, especially for heavy users of Amazon's digital services. At $100 it's priced competitively with Roku 3 and Apple TV, and we expect the gaps in its channel lineup to be filled in the coming months. It's clear now that the retailer was not waiting, it was watching. Almost every aspect of the Fire TV attempts to improve or refine the aspects of the Roku, Apple TV and Chromecast that currently vex consumers. And as a powerhouse retailer, it's certain Amazon put the reams of customer data to which it is privy to heavy use.
We liked
It's a beefy box with processing capacity to spare. Amazon services are quick and easy to access and its ASAP feature pre-caches Amazon content for you so you can watch instantly. Voice search is the kind of breakthrough you wonder why we didn't see earlier in these devices. It's an open system with most of the must-have apps and channels. Photos were a very pleasant surprise and Amazon seems to be attacking gaming with a diligence we have not seen from their competition.We disliked
It's hard to escape the fact that Fire TV's interface tilts toward Amazon's offerings. We would like to see more visibility for third-party apps in the main menu, as well as customization offerings. The inability of its search function to scan across all of its services (as Roku does) makes the feature worthless unless you are only interested in Amazon's offerings. Customers who aren't sure where to find a particular piece of content will be forced back to searching the web for information.Verdict
This device is simple to use and works well. If you are significantly bought in to Amazon's services, it's hard to go wrong with this box. However, if you are not an Amazon customer or even an Amazon customer who doesn't have or want Amazon Prime, then you might think twice. The device is clearly tilted toward Amazon customers, and nothing short of a full UI overhaul is going to change that. We'd like to at least see Amazon allow some kind of user customization in the interface. Until then, we're calling this device great, but not perfect.
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Amazon Fire TV reaches over 600 apps and games
Amazon is one step closer to conquering the living room today after the company announced it has reached over 600 apps and games on the Amazon Fire TV.
To put things in perspective, the service launched in the US last April and initially had only about 200 apps and games to choose from. Tripling in size in just six months is an accomplishment, and one that the scrappy set-top box desperately needed.
That said, 600 apps is still a drop in the bucket when compared to the thousands found on the Roku 3.
Survey says
The success in this area is primarily thanks to the partnerships Amazon has forged within the gaming community and the move to base the operating system off Google's Android architecture, making it easier to port games from one set of devices to the other.Smaller mobile developers from Shiny Box Games (Dungeon Quest) and HandyGames (Ninja Hero Games) have joined larger developers like TellTale Games (The Walking Dead) and 2K (NBA 2K15) to speak on behalf of their successful partnerships with the retail giant.
"For us, it was really important to be on Fire TV because of our beyond-mobile strategy," said Chris Kassulke, CEO and co-founder of HandyGames in a press release sent to TechRadar. "The end-consumer should have access to their games, whether they are on the go or at home in the living room, and is the reason why we optimized all our games for Fire TV."
We have reached out to Amazon for further comment and will update the story when we hear back.
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AT&T defeats the purpose of Apple SIM by locking it after activation
Despite the lack of heraldry that accompanied it, the Apple SIM was one of the coolest new things Apple announced alongside the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 this month.
So it's too bad that AT&T is ruining iPad Air 2 users' Apple SIMS the second they're activated with the US carrier's network, as MacRumors reported.
The Apple SIM is supposed to let users choose short-term plans from a variety of carriers directly from their shiny new LTE-enabled iPads.
The idea is that you can switch between plans and carriers basically at will, which is especially helpful for users who travel frequently and/or are repelled by commitment.
Get off my lawn
But AT&T has ensured that users who sign up for one of its plans using the Apple SIM won't be able to switch to a different carrier on the same device without ponying up for a new SIM, which entirely defeats the purpose of Apple's latest innovation.The carrier's party-crashing first came to light on Twitter, and Apple later confirmed it. An AT&T spokesperson then told Re/code that "it's just simply the way we've chosen to do it."
Well good freaking luck with that.
AT&T just became the dude who arrives at the party, flips on all the lights and plugs in his own tunes, to everyone else's chagrin. Currently Sprint, T-Mobile and UK carrier EE also support the Apple SIM, and none of them have chosen to be "that carrier."
- Read TechRadar's iPhone 6 review
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The Xbox One's screenshot feature is still months away
It was just a couple of weeks ago when Microsoft Game Studios Corporate Vice President Phil Spencer got our hopes up regarding the Xbox One's inability take screenshots, and already he's dashing those hopes just a little bit.
When Spencer said in early October that Microsoft is indeed working on letting users take screenshots - strangely, the system can easily record video footage, but not still images - we had hoped that update might come soon.
He mentioned it in the same breath as custom themes and personalization, after all, and Microsoft this week confirmed that's coming in the November Xbox One update.
But Spencer has now confirmed to IGN that the Xbox One won't be able to take screenshots until 2015 at the earliest.
Happy new year
"In December, it's probably a time for us to pause for a little bit and settle just as all the new consoles are coming online," Spencer said. "As we come back into the new year, we'll see new stuff, and screenshots is on the list."He said "it's a little more technically challenging" than he thought, especially since no one wants the feature to just clip potentially low-res or motion-blurred images from the videos the console takes.
"They're working on it," Spender continued. "They know people want it. The team has a path to getting it done, and now it's just prioritizing."
He added that improving install times is another priority for the team.
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Are blue jeans the iPhone 6's real worst enemy?
Every smartphone has its problems, but for a variety of reasons those afflicting the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have been scrutinized with an excessive amount of glee.
In case the lazily named "BendGate" and all the bugs that launched in iOS 8 weren't enough to sate your appetite for watching iPhone users tear their hair out, the latest development may suffice.
Once again it involves pants. Where iPhone 6 Plus users reported previously that tight trousers caused the massive handset to contort into unseemly shapes, now some users are noting that their phones have absorbed an unsightly blue hue from their denim garments.
Specifically numerous users have told BGR that the plastic strips along their new iPhones' edges have over the past few weeks turned the blue of fresh jeans.
Dyeing on the inside
Most brand new pairs of jeans carry a warning to give them a wash before you sit on your white couch with them on, but no one reads warning labels anyway.Now users have reportedly found it difficult to scrub the color out using common cleaning products, even as Apple has allegedly instructed them to do.
One solution is to use a case, although some users are understandably hesitant to cover up their sexy new iPhones with even more ungainly plastic. And besides, aren't they big enough without adding another layer?
Regardless, there is no way in hell we're going to refer to this as "DyeGate," so just check that one at the door. Thanks.
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Google Inbox users can now download the service's web app
Google launched its brand new Google Inbox service this week, and the app just became available through Google's Chrome web store - to users who have already received invites, at least.
Inbox is Google's attempt to combine Gmail and Google Now and defeat email clutter once and for all.
It's been available for two days on iOS and Android, as well as in browsers, but today marks the launch of the official Google Inbox web app.
Saved for later
The web app itself is pretty minimal, apparently acting as little more than a bookmark to take you to the existing site, but there's no telling how it will change as Inbox evolves.Currently the service groups emails by category, automatically highlights relevant info within messages, and tracks things like reminders, appointments, flights, and more.
In TechRadar's hands-on time with Google Inbox, we noted that it's "a lovely service" that still has plenty of growing to do.
Inbox users today received the ability to invite their friends to use it, according to Slashgear, so start hitting up your homies if you want in to.
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Apple Pay and Google Wallet are no longer welcome at one US retailer
Rite Aid is one of the retailers that supported Apple Pay when the service launched on October 20, but now the drug store chain has ceased accepting both that and Google Wallet.
Customer service representatives confirmed with PC World that the retailer is no longer supporting either mobile payment method at its 4,600 stores in the US.
Apple Pay has had its share of launch-window hiccups, but currently the reason for Rite Aid's decision is unknown.
Broad strokes
It's also troubling that the store has apparently decided to paint Google Wallet, which has worked at Rite Aid locations for years, with the same brush.And it's unclear whether all NFC payment methods, such as those from credit card companies, are affected, or if it's just Google and Apple's options.
We're not alone in noting the link between Rite Aid and the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), a join effort among multiple retailers - the drug chain included - that aims to develop its own mobile payments network.
Rite Aid has yet to issue a statement, but we'll update if that changes.
- Is the iPhone 6 the best iPhone ever?
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Some Samsung Ativ S handsets are being updated to Windows Phone 8.1
It seems crazy now for anything other than a budget handset to release without 4G LTE, but back in 2012 the lack of 4G on most models of the Samsung Ativ S was only a minor point against it.
Now the Ativ S has the same problems any other aging smartphone does, including outdated software - but that's about to change, at least in certain regions.
The Ativ S was a relatively early Windows Phone 8 device, and soon some versions of it will be upgraded to Windows Phone 8.1.
Wait and see
Rumors that the Ativ S would be updated began over a week ago, reports Windows Central, but it turns out the update is only going to "a very select few" devices.Namely unlocked Ativ S smartphones in regions including Austria and possible Hong Kong are getting Windows Phone 8.1.
There may be ways to downgrade your phone's firmware and switch its region, but in general those aren't recommended.
The rest of us will just have to wait, it seems.
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Sprint's 'iPhone for Life' program offers yearly iPhone upgrades
Apple so far has a pretty great track record when it comes to phones, but will the iPhone always be at the top of its class?
With its new "iPhone for Life" program, announced in September alongside the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, US carrier Sprint is hoping it will.
The plans announced last month let users make monthly payments and get a new iPhone every two years, but Sprint has just announced an updated version that lets you upgrade every 12 months instead.
Subscribers will pay anywhere from $30 to $45 (depending which version of the iPhone 6 they get) to lease the phone for a year, after which they can buy the leased phone, upgrade to a new iPhone for no money down, continue leasing their current phone, or end the agreement entirely.
Out with the old
The new iPhone for Life plans will be available starting November 14, 9 to 5 Mac reports.The plans also require users to sign up for a $50 unlimited talk, text and data plan, bringing the total costs per month to between $80 and $95.
The old two-year plans will still be available, but reportedly only for the iPhone 5S.
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In depth: Big Hero 6 takes the future of tech to a whole new level
Robots. Microbots. 3D printing. Add a dash of Marvel inspired comic book characters, a story filled with heart, buckets of beautiful artwork and animation, and it looks like Disney has a winning recipe with its latest film, Big Hero 6.
Set in San Fransokyo, a lovely fusion of San Francisco and Tokyo, it's not surprising that so much tech was used in the movie - after all both cities are closely tied to technology.
The majority of the characters are also super smart, tech savvy teens - and in one case, a robot - who use a lot of brain power to solve problems in the movie. But we wondered just how much tech was based on actual real life machinery.
After a screening of the film, directors Don Hall and Chris Williams, CTO of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Andy Hendrickson, visual effects supervisor Kyle Odermatt and producer Roy Conli sat down to discuss the importance of science and the tech inspirations used in the movie.
Science and fiction
Like all movies, the tech in Big Hero 6 is a lot more fantastic than we're used to. Even so, much of it is based in reality, or close to it.
One such example is 3D printing. We've seen and heard about it from different companies, and it was all the craze last year. Director Don Hall told us, "We definitely wanted to take advantage of 3D printing. It's more prevalent now but three years ago, it was still big time bleeding edge tech, so we wanted to make use of that."
And make use it they did. But in the film, we see what it can be in the future: a device you use at home to print whatever you want, as fast as you want - think massive amounts of stuff popping out of the printer within minutes - like armor for your giant robot.
3D printing still has a long way to go in this regard but we're sure it'll eventually take off soon especially since there's a different printer showing up on Kickstarter every day.
Bots bots bots
Speaking of robots, we can't forgot about Baymax, the lovable, marshmallow-y bot who is sure to achieve Wall-E levels of fame after the movie releases.The team wanted to him to look as huggable and non-threatening as possible. For inspiration, they went to a robotics lab at Carnegie Mellon where they settled on vinyl as the material of choice for Baymax's skin.
The team also decided that a toddler "with a full diaper" carried out the non-threatening message perfect for a friendly nurse-bot.
The other robot in the film is completely different. Where Baymax is the anthropomorphic best bot friend we've always wanted, the microbots are a clear counterpoint with their creepy, insect-like characteristics - though they're still a cool type of bot we'd want.
During research trips, microbots were heavily studied, and so were nanobots. But ultimately, Hall said the concept was scrapped because "they're the least cinematic robots [because they're] microscopic."
On average, there are about 20 million microbots in every shot they appear in. They attach to their microbot buddies with electromagnetism by way of a neural, telepathic headband where the person can then control them. Through swarm-like waves, the microbots form structures and shapes to move around (or move objects).
Realistically, we're not there yet with robots, but we're pretty close. Robots have been around much, much longer than 3D printing - Asimov, Asimo, drones, factory machines, the list goes on and on. Check out the video below to see how far along microbot technology is.
For the love of science
Apparently researching science involves trips to university labs ... and watching YouTube videos. Visual effects supervisor Kyle Odermatt said to find the "coolest things based on chemical reactions" likely led to "a couple weeks right there YouTube scouring."Scientific breakthroughs were often emailed and shared within the office to stay on top of the latest innovations. A lot of time was also spent making sure the science behind the tech was sound - even the science fiction-sounding ones, like telepathy. Andy Hendrickson, the CTO of Disney said, "Everything has a basis in reality, even something as seemingly farfetched as that."
He elaborated with the following anecdote: "We were pretty sure with telekinesis that we were going to be way ahead of the curve but six or eight months ago, we started hearing about this experiment where a guy being hooked up to a computer was making another guy's finger move involuntarily to press a button."
So there you have it. The likelihood of having a robots everywhere and telepathy are just around the corner - give or take several years, but you can see it all in action while catching snippets of the Bay Area in the universe of Big Hero 6.
The film hits the theaters on November 7 in the US, and in January in the UK.
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Review: Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro
Introduction and design
The Yoga 2 Pro was arguably the finest convertible Ultrabook money could buy when it launched in late 2013 - and it continues to impress today. It was sleek, packed a best-in-class QHD+ display and could transform into a multitude of positions depending on how you wanted to use it.At $1,099 (£1,099, around AUS$1,254), it was also relatively affordable compared to competing Ultrabooks boasting displays with high pixel densities.
On the flip side, its battery life, unwieldy tablet mode and lack of 802.11ac Wi-Fi meant that there was still plenty of room for improvement. By addressing these concerns, I could see Lenovo returning with a smash hit on its hands.
On paper, the Yoga 3 Pro promises to be just that, with one look at the spec sheet revealing a machine for fans of both convertible machines and Ultrabooks in general to lust after.
Broad appeal?
One of the first devices to arrive with Intel's new Core M "Broadwell" processor, which succeeds the company's battery-sipping Haswell architecture, it has catwalk-thin dimensions and comes in a trio of colours: Golden, Orange Clementine and Light Silver.It has a designer (and not to mention brave) price tag to match, starting at $1,299 (£1,299) for the entry-level model with a 256GB SSD. That rises to $1,699 (UK and AUS price TBC) for the top-spec offering, which doubles storage capacity and comes with the Pro, rather than regular version of Windows 8.1.
Cost also varies (somewhat inconsistently) depending on which colour you choose; you can view the full line-up on Lenovo's website.
There are a few notable competitors in that price bracket. One is Microsoft's Surface Pro 3, which will set you back $1,299 for the 256GB / Core i5 version, and Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina, which costs the same for the 128GB / Core i5 model.
Then there's the Yoga 2 Pro that, following a price drop that has seen it fall to just $849 (around £530, or AUS$969), now represents serious value for money. Although it's engineered towards gaming, another option to consider is the Razer Blade, which we reckon is one of the best-crafted Windows laptops of all time.
Flexi-time
One of the Yoga 3 Pro's most striking features is its watchband hinge, which has been crafted from more than 800 individual pieces of aluminium steel, according to Lenovo.There are now six hinges, compared to the Yoga 2 Pro's two. They add a retro twist to an otherwise modern design, and in addition to oozing elegance they occasionally emit the sort of satisfying clink you might hear when slipping on an expensive timepiece.
Windows 8 Ultrabooks have for some time struggled to escape the shadow cast by Apple's MacBook Air, but Lenovo has found a way to stand out without aping the Cupertino company's well-familiar design aesthetic - and it's refreshing to see.
This stylistic choice is timely in more ways than one having arrived during a year that has seen the tech industry pay more attention to fashion trends (in the case of wearables like the Apple Watch, anyway - others remain stoney-faced at the idea.)
But it's not fashion for fashion's sake: the new hinge design makes the device sturdier than the not-exactly-flimsy Yoga 2 Pro, and Lenovo says that it also enabled its engineers to slim the device down to the point that they did.
Flipping tech
That hinge allows you to flip the lid 360 degrees into one of four different modes: standard Laptop, Tent, Stand, and Tablet. Next to Laptop mode, Tent is perhaps the most useful because it takes up the least room on the surface area and makes it easier to interact with Windows 8.1 apps.
I took the Yoga Pro 3 on a trip and found that the Tent position allowed the device to double as an attractive alarm clock when positioned on the hotel's bedside cabinet.
The other modes have their uses too; Stand provides the same benefits as Tent while providing more rigidity, and Tablet, a bugbear on the Yoga 2 Pro due to that device's thickness, is easier to handle on the Yoga 3 Pro due to it being thinner, lighter and slightly longer in the body than the outgoing machine.
Specifications and build quality
The Yoga 3 Pro gets a QHD+ display, which totes the same 3200 x 1800 pixel resolution found on the Yoga 2 Pro. You'll want to adjust the magnification settings in Windows 8.1 to 150% or higher make fonts and text clearly legible.Sticking to higher resolutions gives you more desktop real-estate to edit multimedia files and snap documents side-by-side. In some scenarios it can be a real productivity boon, but overall the resolution still feels like overkill at 13 inches.
One option is to lower the resolution to 2048 x 1152 (16:9), a notch under the native resolution, which keeps everything looking sharp while remaining readable with magnification set to 100%.
The display's 300 nits is sufficiently bright for indoor use, but slightly too dim for outside conditions. It's an IPS panel with very good viewing angles - a crucial factor for a device designed to be used in many positions.
The Yoga 3 Pro is one of the most portable Ultrabooks around, coming in 17% slimmer and 14% lighter than the Yoga 2 Pro, by Lenovo's measurements.
It weighs just 2.62 pounds, making it lighter than the 13-inch MacBook Air's 2.69 pounds, and it's slightly thicker along the middle of the left and right edges, as opposed to the tapered design of Apple's machine.
It's roughly the same weight as Samsung's Series 9 900X3C, and only the ageing Toshiba Portege Z930/Z935 and Sony Vaio Pro 13 come in lighter in the 13-inch category, at 2.50 pounds and 2.34 pounds respectively.
Build inequality
The Yoga 3 Pro measures 13 x 9 x 0.5 inches (W x D x H), and it's astounding just how svelte, portable and slim Lenovo has made it.It can easily be picked up from any edge with the lid at any angle with ease; however, doing so can expose the Ultrabook's questionable build quality, raising the question of whether Lenovo has made it too thin.
The lid possesses an alarming amount of flex along the left and right-hand edges, and picking it up using the frame's bezel produces a rippling, discoloured effect.
At no point did I feel like the lid would snap, or even that it might cause substantial damage, but the undesired effect made me constantly aware of the need to be gentle when flipping it into different positions.
The Ultrabook's base also suffers from slight flex when force is applied to the left and right areas of the clickpad, an action that makes it creak more than a pensioner's knees.
I'm in the thinner = winner camp when it comes to Ultrabooks, but there is an argument that it can be detrimental for devices to be too slim, especially if it's at the expense of build quality, and Lenovo treads a fine line with the Yoga 3 Pro.
The Yoga 3 Pro is made of a smooth plastic with a dimpled effect on the base and under the display frame. Both the lid and base have a tapered edge, which helps keep it steadfast when in tent mode and prevents it from slipping.
Picking the machine up when the lid is closed is another matter. Lenovo made the decision not to include a recessed section or lip along the machine's front edge, and as a result attempting to open it from the front can be a maddening experience - even with two hands (forget using one - the lid is simply too light).
I eventually clocked on that it's far easier to open the lid by placing my index finger on each of the machine's sides to hold it steady and using my thumb to prise it open. Is it a big deal? No. Could it have been easily avoided? Without doubt.
Ports and connectivity
The Yoga 3 Pro is an impressive feat of engineering, but sacrifices clearly had to be made for it to be so thin at the expense of its I/O capabilities.Due to the watchband design, there is no room for ports at the rear of the device. Instead they have been lumped into the thicker middle section along the machine's left and right-hand edges.
On the left-hand side is a power port, which doubles as a USB port. The power connector itself has a slightly curved lip to prevent you from plugging into another USB port, which could damage the laptop.
Next to that is a USB 3.0 port and a full-size SD card connector. Unfortunately not enough room remained for a full-sized HDMI port, so you'll have to make do with using an adapter. It's not a huge deal, but slightly irritating if you output to a HDMI monitor regularly.
The standout communications protocol onboard is 802.11ac Wi-Fi, which was sorely missing from the Yoga 2 Pro. I found that connectivity held solidly throughout my time with the review model. Bluetooth 4.0 is also present for pairing speakers, peripherals and other devices.
Performance and battery life
Benchmarks- Cinebench (Multi-Core): 13.3fps
- 3D Mark 11
- Ice Storm: 25,839
- Cloud Gate: 2,738
- Sky Diver: 1,406
- Fire Storm: 329
- PC Mark 8
- Home: 1147
- Work: 2,393
- Battery life test
- Power saver: 5 hours 15 mins
- Balanced: 4 hours and 30 minutes
- High Performance: 2 hours and 57 minutes
- TechRadar Light Use battery test: 7 hours and 10 minutes
Under the hood is Intel's Core M-5Y70 CPU, which is clocked at 1.1GHz (turbo boost to 2.6GHz). As I've mentioned, it's based on Intel's Broadwell architecture, which brings the benefit of allowing manufacturers to make their Ultrabooks fanless (and thinner and quieter as a result). The Yoga 3 Pro isn't fanless, but it still runs very quiet. You'll occasionally hear its internal fan whirring away under heavier CPU or graphic-intense workloads.
Unfortunately, the move to Broadwell has had a negative impact on processing power compared to the Yoga 2 Pro. Last year's Ultrabook scored around 1,000 points more in PC Mark's Home and Work benchmarks. The Yoga 2 Pro's HD 4400 also scored slightly higher than the Yoga 3 Pro's HD 5300 in 3D Mark's more demanding Fire Strike and Cloud Gate benchmarks. However, the newer entrant performed better in the Ice Storm test, which simulates light gaming use to test the GPU.
The system runs cool most of the time. When it does begin to warm up under heavier loads, heat is concentrated to the top right-hand corner of the base, and I never found it to heat up to the point where it was uncomfortable.
Other specs include 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD from Samsung, which make for a nippy machine that boots up and shuts down almost instantaneously. Performance in Windows 8.1 apps is smooth, with the Yoga 3 Pro able to handle anything you can find in the Windows Store.
Graphics duties are taken care of by Intel's integrated HD 5300 solution, meaning only modest gaming is on the menu. Games running Valve's Source Engine (such as Team Fortress 2, or Half-Life 2) will manage a healthy 40 - 50 FPS on lower resolutions with details turned down. A more demanding title in Skyrim, on the other hand, only managed an average (and borderline unplayable) 30FPS on 1280 x 720.
Most tasks on the desktop can be undertaken without any sign of slowdown; 1080p videos play with a hitch (including when outputted to a larger monitor or TV), and medium-sized images in GIMP around 300MB in size can be scaled and resized with delays into tens of seconds, rather than minutes.
Battery strife
The Yoga 2 Pro's middling battery life was one of the main pain points of last year's outing, and poor performance has once again reared its head on the Yoga 3 Pro.The move from Haswell to Broadwell was expected to increase efficiency, and while Lenovo states nine hours of continuous use, you won't hit that unless you use the machine very conservatively.
Our Light Use battery test: viewing websites, holding a couple of Skype calls, watching a few YouTube movies, editing documents and images (and so on) allowed the battery to run for just over seven hours. That was with Lenovo's battery power management panel set to 'Power Saver', brightness on 75%, keyboard back-lighting, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi all switched on.
For further analysis, I also ran PC Mark 8's punishing Home Battery Life test under all three of Lenovo's power management settings, with brightness set to 100% and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi switched on.
As expected, all three yielded lower results then the manual Light Use test, with particularly dismal results from the High Performance setting. Where the Yoga 2 Pro managed roughly 3 hours 10 minutes under the same conditions, the Yoga 3 Pro went for just 2 hours and 57 minutes.
This is not an Ultrabook that will go anywhere near all day if you want to use the display on full beam. Whether this is down to Lenovo's poor battery management software or Intel's Core M processor will become clear when more Ultrabooks based on Broadwell hit the market.
On the plus side, charging times aren't so bad. Set Lenovo's charging assistance software to Normal Mode and juice is restored up in around 2 hours 30 minutes. A second option, Conservation Mode, will top up from empty in around four hours but is less taxing on the battery level, which Lenovo reckons can help extend battery life if frequently used.
Keyboard and clickpad
I was impressed with the Yoga 2 Pro's keyboard, and the Yoga 3 Pro's is a more-than-solid offering with well-spaced chiclet keys that possess a decent amount of travel. It's here that the laptop's thin profile comes in as an advantage.Because it sits so low, it almost feels like you're typing on the surface that it's resting on, allowing the wrists to rest at a comfortably low position. Its keys are once again shaped like those from Lenovo's Thinkpad line of devices, with a square top edge and rounded bottom.
Once caveat in this area is the lack of a F-row of keys, which is a curious and frustrating omission for an Ultrabook with a "Pro" moniker. There's plenty of room between the top of the keyboard and the hinges to squeeze one in, and the empty space winds up looking a little barren.
Even if a F-row wasn't included, pushing the keys higher up the keyboard would have allowed Lenovo to make the clickpad slightly larger. As things are, it's merely adequate, with a smooth texture that's a magnet for fingerprints.
I occasionally found that clickpad's sensitivity was a little on the low side and failed to register swipes if not enough pressure was applied. Clickpads, like keyboards, are subjective, and I prefer ones that are rock solid and highly sensitive (in terms of physical pressure required, not the cursor speed in Windows).
The MacBook Pro line has led the line in this area, and those on Fujitsu's Lifebook line of business Windows 8.1 notebooks tend to perform similarly well. As someone who has become accustomed to a MacBook Pro clickpad, I often became frustrated at the Yoga 3 Pro clickpad's imprecise nature.
Multimedia and apps
The Yoga 3 Pro's speakers are typical of most 13-inch laptops: loud enough to fill a small room, but sorely lacking in bass, so a dedicated external set will be required if you're planning on using it to provide the soundtrack at parties.On the front of the frame is a 720p webcam, which produces a video image clear enough for Skype calls and is comparable to a mid-range smartphone camera.
In terms of bundled Lenovo software, the company has given its adaptive "Harmony" software, which is designed to adapt to how you would use the machine over time, a short in the arm. Reading an e-book, for example, will see it automatically change the brightness and colour temperature according to environment lighting.
It can also apply a sepia-like on-screen filter to writing apps such as Evernote, which is designed to simulate a book's page. I found it more distracting than useful, though I don't doubt that it would reduce eye strain when used for hours at a time.
Verdict
The Yoga 3 Pro is undoubtedly a stunner: it's almost perillously thin, offers supreme portability and is genuinley useful in certain scenarios when flipped into its various modes. If you value those attributes above all else, there is nothing out there quite like it.Such originality is a dual-edged sword, because you'll have no choice but to pay through the nose to get it. Moreover, questionable build quality, poor battery life and lower perforance than last year's model are ovearbearing negatives that you should be aware of before pledging your hard-earned.
We liked
The Yoga 3 Pro is thin and light with a strikingly original design, making it arguably most attractive Windows 8.1 Ultrabook out there. Its display isn't one of the brightest we've laid eyes on, but its QHD+ resolution means that text, images and UI elements look pleasingly crisp and provide plenty of desktop real-estate for productivity or general tasks, in addition to light gaming.Its excellent IPS display means that content can be easily viewed from all angles and shared with a friend when flipping the convertible into one of its four different modes.
For those that like to be productive, the lack of an F-row of keys only slightly detracts from what is an excellent keyboard to type on. It's satisfying to use thanks to its incredibly low profile and decent sized, well-spaced chiclet-style keys.
It may not be an absolute beast in the power department, but a fast-performing SSD means that you're never waiting long for it to boot up and shut down, and Windows apps open and close in a snap.
We disliked
It can't be escaped: this is a fairly pricey Ultrabook with only very average battery life. Sure, if you set the display to 25% brightness and read a couple of websites a day then you may well hit those nine hours that Lenovo promises, but is that the experience you want on something that costs upwards of a grand - and then some?Not only does the Yoga 3 Pro have poorer battery life than the Yoga 2 Pro, our benchmarks show that it's less powerful too - in both the CPU and (in more taxing conditions) graphics departments.
It's incredibly pretty and portable, but that thinness has been achieved at the expense of build quality. The lid is overly flexible and highly sensitive to LCD discolouration no matter how or where you grab it. It's also awkward to open in the absence of a recessed lip.
You may fall in love with that superb keyboard, but only if you can get along with not having a dedicated row of F-keys. And while the clickpad operates smoothly enough, it becomes caked in fingerprints too easily and is slightly finicky with how much pressure it wants you to apply.
Final verdict
The Yoga 3 Pro ultimately fails to live up to its high price tag once you get past the attractive exterior. There are too many drawbacks for it to be recommended to anyone other than the style conscious crowd and those who must have the latest model at any cost.On the other hand you can look past its caveats and simply want one of the thinnest and lightest Windows 8.1 machine on the market for everyday computing tasks - whether that's browsing the web, light gaming or productivity work - you'd be hard pressed to find find anything like it.
But before you put your hands into your pockets, it's worth noting that the Yoga 3 Pro is one of the first Core M devices to race out of the traps, and others are expected to follow soon. Thinner and lighter is set to become the norm, and with fanless designs on the horizon, we should expect to see even more experimental models that won't break the bank in the near future.
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Updated: Best SLR: which should you buy?
Digital SLRs are what most people would consider a 'proper' camera. Our camera reviews list every new DSLR because this is a very important sector in the digital camera market. It's the type of camera chosen by professional photographers and keen amateurs, and for three main reasons:
First, digital SLRs have much larger sensors than compact cameras. This has nothing to do with megapixels – it's about the sensor's physical dimensions. Larger sensors give sharper, smoother images and better quality in poor light.
Second, digital SLRs take interchangeable lenses. They're usually supplied with a general-purpose 'kit' lens which covers everyday needs, but you can also get specialist lenses for ultra-wideangle shots, long-range telephoto work, portraits, architecture and more.
Third, you get much more manual control. You can get different creative effects by adjusting the shutter speed, lens aperture and focus yourself rather than leaving it to the camera to do it automatically.
DSLRs vs mirrorless CSCs
All these advantages apply to the new breed of mirrorless compact system cameras too. The key difference is that DSLRs have a mirror in the body reflecting the image up into an optical viewfinder, whereas mirrorless cameras use the sensor itself to generate an image which is fed to a screen on the back of the camera and sometimes an electronic viewfinder too.Some people prefer optical viewfinders and the size and feel of a DSLR. Others prefer the small size and 'always on' live view of a mirrorless compact system camera. It's a debate that's likely to carry on for some time.
DSLRs for beginners
Digital SLRs have a reputation for being complex and intimidating, but they can actually be as straightforward to use as a regular compact digital camera. The important thing is to choose a camera that you feel you can get to grips with.A typical entry-level SLR has plenty of automatic control options, such as 'scene modes' for landscapes, portraits and other subjects, which allow the user to concentrate on timing and composition while the camera handles exposure and white balance etc. The more advanced exposure modes (aperture priority, shutter priority and manual) are also usually present to give 'room to grow' as you gain in experience.
Most entry-level SLRs are small, light and inexpensive. They lack the robustness and features of more expensive models, but they're still capable of taking top-quality shots.
See our list of DSLRs for beginners for our current favourite models.
DSLRs for enthusiasts
Digital SLRs designed for enthusiasts generally have more of everything – more megapixels, faster continuous shooting, more advanced features, better movie modes and other options designed for photographers who've moved beyond the basics.These cameras will still have fully automatic modes for new users, or for situations where you don't have time to mess with manual adjustments, but when you do want to take control you'll find it easier than it is with a beginner model.
Digital SLRs for enthusiasts are generally larger, heavier and more robust. They may have metal construction and weather sealing for adverse conditions and some full-frame DSLRs now fall within the price range of keen photographers.
See our list of DSLRs for enthusiasts.
DSLRs for professionals
Professional DSLRs don't always have the highest resolution sensors. Pros look for different things in their cameras, and one of the primary factors is robustness and longevity. Pro DSLRs have strongly-made metal alloy bodies, no-fuss controls which make no concessions for novices but are built to withstand hard use in all kinds of conditions, and will usually have larger-than-usual batteries so that they can shoot for longer.
Some pro models bring state-of-the-art autofocus systems and high continuous shooting speeds that you won't get in amateur cameras. These are designed for busy sports, wildlife or press photographers. The Nikon D810 is unique in this category, too, for having a 36-megapixel sensor – 50% higher than any competing DSLR – its predecessor, the D800/E, was a favourite amongst landscape, portrait and commercial photographers.
See our list of top DSLRs for professionals.
DSLR features to look for
Brand/lens mount: Canon, Nikon and Pentax all make digital SLRs, but each one uses a different lens mount. You can't put Canon lenses on a Nikon, or Nikon lenses on a Pentax. Each of these makers offers a good range of interchangeable lenses, though Canon and Nikon offer the widest choice and availability.
Sensor size: Most DSLRs have sensors measuring around 24mm x 16mm – about the same size as old APS film.This is many times larger than the sensors in compact digital cameras, and it's why DSLRs and other cameras with big sensors offer such a quality advantage. But some DSLRs have full-frame sensors. These are the same size as 35mm film, and twice as large again. This is what the professionals choose, but the cameras are much more expensive and the lenses are bigger and bulkier.
Megapixels: Surprisingly, perhaps, there's not much to choose in terms of megapixels between cameras for beginners and those for pros.
Movies: Just about all DSLRs now shoot full HD movies, but although the specs may look the same the real differences are in the details. Top cameras will be able to shoot at higher frames rates like 60fps or 50fps for smooth slow motion. They can save uncompressed footage 'live' to external recorders for better quality and will have both microphone and headphone sockets for better audio recording. A better camera will also offer more manual control over the camera settings while filming.
Articulating display: DSLRs can also be used in 'live view' mode, where you compose the image on the screen on the back of the camera, not in the viewfinder. A tilting or fully articulating display can be helpful here for composing shots at awkward angles, and it's an advantage for shooting movies too.
Continuous shooting: A basic camera might be able to shoot continuously at three to four frames per second, but more advanced models can shoot at six to eight frames per second, while pro cameras can hit 10-12 frames per second. This might not matter much for everyday photography, but it's important for sports and action.
Construction: Beginner-orientated DSLRs are lighter and more plasticky than the pro models, but they're perfectly well made and should last for years in the hands of any reasonably careful owner. Pro cameras are heavier, with metal bodies and weather sealing around the joints and buttons. The shutter mechanisms will have a much longer life expectancy too – 200,000 shots and more, in some instances.
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Samsung Galaxy S5 will get Android Lollipop in December
Android 5.0 Lollipop will hit the Samsung Galaxy S5 this December.
Sources speaking to Sam Mobile have confirmed as much, but the update could take up to a month to roll out to devices across all regions. Hopefully we'll have it in time for Christmas though.
Networks can delay rollouts further, as they do their own checks on the new software, so there's always a chance it's not released for your phone until early 2015.
Android Lollipop was revealed earlier in the year but only got its official name this month. It'll bring a new, flatter design, as well as Project Vault which should give batteries a major improvement.
- Everything you need to know about Android Lollipop
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