IT News Head Lines (Techradar) 21/12/2014

Roundup: Updated: We played with the worst apps in the world, so you don't have to

Worst apps in the world: Christmas edition

There's something magical about opening that new tablet or smartphone on Christmas morning, plugging it in, and then opening the app store for the first time. Wonderful, isn't it? Like a toy store that never ends, filled with promises of fun and delight. Then you download some of the apps on our list and the magic is instantly asphyxiated. Santa's dead. The tree's on fire. Grandma's in tears.
Yes, as a special Christmas treat we've brought back our worst apps list for a one-off festive edition. If you want a Merry Christmas this year, you're best avoiding this lot.

Iron Desert

Platform: (iOS and Android)
Price: Free
Nothing says Christmas like military strategy and in-app purchases. Iron Desert: Christmas Edition gets you in the festive spirit as you fight to free the continent from the oppressive despot, Iron Dragon. We're not saying the game is bad, but this is one of the most shameless bits of Christmas shoehorning that we've ever seen. Ah but look, they put tinsel on a tank. We take it all back.

Christmas Dentist Office

Plaftorm: (iOS and Android)
Price: Free
We've played with some atrocious apps in our time, but none that have bombarded us with as many adverts as Christmas Dentist Office. Not just that, most of them are for 'John Edwards Funerals', diminishing the Christmas magic just a tad.

Then we come onto the locked content, which turns out to be most of the game. Even once you've waded through the copious death-related pop-ups and you're faced with Santa's decaying molars, a number of the tools are unusable without further purchases. You literally cannot succeed in this game without coughing up money to drill Santa's face. Happy Christmas everybody!

Christmas Greetings

Platform: Android
Price: Free
We don't know where to begin. While it's meant to be an app for sending cheerful Christmas pictures to loved ones, the images are small and crappy, the app barely works, and, frankly, if we received any of these in an email we'd disown our families. "Touch here for 100 more cards for free", it tells us as we start roasting our smartphones on an open fire.

Christmas Photo Frames

Platform: Android
Price: Free
Christmas is cancelled. (You'll see why when you see the pics.)

1. The ten worst apps in the world

There are now over 1,300,000 apps on the iOS App Store and the Google Play Store is home to around the same number of Android apps right now. What we're trying to say is - there are a lot of apps out there, and unsurprisingly, a lot of them are crap.
We're sure you've stumbled on some stinkers yourself, but we hope you've not come across any as bad of these. You see, at TechRadar we're making it our mission to scour the underbelly of both app stores to find the truly terrible, the truly disgusting, and the truly WTF, all in the name of technology.
Each week we'll be nominating an app that deserves the crown of "worst of the worst", with an aim to complete a list of the ten truly most terrible apps we've ever seen.
So let us begin our dangerous journey through the bowels of humanity's ideas. It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it.

1. I Am Important

Platform: iOS
Price: Free
"The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand." - Vince Lombardi
The price of success in 2014 is jack all. All you need is an iPhone and a sense of deep, penetrating loneliness.
I Am Important is a fake diary organiser designed to make you look like, in the words of the app itself, a "top-flying shaker". For example, it'll generate made-up contacts in the app and put them in your address book. Those contacts aren't just low-life nobodies though - they're "highly important and highly paid business people". You know, better people.
Even more deplorably, the app will create fake events and insert them into your calendar. This is "to make you look busy and important as important people are involved in many events", as the app helpfully informs us. These important people sound really busy and interesting.
But of course, none of this is any good if no one is checking your phone, and as you're so "unimportant", chances are that they won't be. That's why the app lets you post your "success" to Facebook to make your friends green with envy. That's assuming you have any friends, which is unlikely if it's reached this point.

"Sometimes, when you feel like nobody cares, I Am Important will ask you about your day and what happened that day," notes the app description. Sure enough, there's a box at the bottom for you to write how you're feeling. Appropriately, ours suggested "self-condemning".
That last part might not quite match the criteria of the app's mission statement: "I Am Important does two things: 1. Shows the world how important you are. 2. Makes you feel more important."
But here's the best bit: you can pay to remove the app's adverts using a three-tier pricing system dependant on how "Important" you think you are. By clicking "Kind of important" and paying a minimal 69p, you'll get the ads removed but nothing else, while paying more will earn you bonus features, such as a colourful background. And if you fancy coughing up £6.99 for "Head of State/CEO" - importance then: "You're important - big time. You need a crazy, moving background to show everyone that your level of importance is [something undisclosed]."
There's a scene in the The Office (US version) where boss Michael Scott finds a video-recorded TV appearance from when he was a child. In it, a cat puppet asks Michael what he wants to be when he grows up. Michael replies: "I want to be married and have 100 kids so I can have 100 friends. And no one can say no to being my friend." It's a surprisingly sad moment in an otherwise funny scene. I Am Important is that moment embodied in an app. In a word: tragic.

2. Funny Hand Dryer

2. Funny Hand Dryer

Platform: Android
Price: Free
This week's app is called Funny Hand Dryer but there is literally NOTHING funny about it. In any way at all. It's just a pretend, crappy, low-res picture of a hand dryer that makes a noise. If you've ever laughed at this, you're a moron.

To get the "funny" started, you touch beneath the vent as if you were sticking your hands out to dry, and the familiar blowing sound starts blurting out of your phone or tablet speakers. We have literally just described the function of Funny Hand Dryer as exhaustively as possible.
Now, perhaps we're missing the big joke that the rest of you are all in on, but as far as we can tell hand dryers have never quite been a source of 'banter'. Never have we heard a good joke involving a hand dryer and we highly doubt the "funny" is going to start with this app.
But who are we to argue with ten thousand downloads? And the app's creator is obviously keen to maintain the quality their fans have come to expect. The 1.1 update makes sure the app is now installed to any inserted SD card, so you can rest assured that you're never too far from a good bathroom facility-based joke. Just imagine the look on your friends' faces when you whip this one out. You don't deserve friends.
We'd say that iOS users are lucky to have dodged this bullet but the app Electric Razor is almost as harrowingly crap, though we guess you could at least rub the phone all over your face to help imitate the act of shaving. The 21st century is great, isn't it?
Needless to say, the reviews for Funny Hand Dryer are less than complimentary, although one person wrote: "It's alright not the best game in the app store,"
Not the best... but not the worst apparently. You mean you've played worse games than this, anonymous Google user? That may also be the most liberal use of the word "game" we've ever heard.
Luke Stanbridge gives the most in-depth analysis of the bunch, however: "Too basic, you can't change any settings of this app, when you take your hand off the screen the sound effect just cuts out unrealistically."
Yeah, because up until that point it had us utterly hornswoggled.

3. Floating Miley Cyrus

3. Floating Miley Cyrus

Platform: Android
Price: Free

We'll begin this week's worst app review by paying it the one compliment it deserves: Floating Miley Cyrus does exactly what its name promises. That's more than we can say for a few others on this list.
The app drops a tiny version of the titular pop star on your screen, who will dance while you catch up on the day's news, watch a film, or simply brush up on some Marxist critique of capitalism. Whatever it is you people do on your tablets these days.

You can drag her around the screen, but beyond quitting the app, deleting it and moving on with your life, you have no other control. Miley is going to dance and she's going to make you watch. There's no variation either, she just does the same move again, and again, and again, and again.
This being the classy piece of software that it is, a nice little advert will also appear every time you boot up Miley, and because its close icon is so damn small, you're probably going to accidentally open it. Sorry about that.
It's pointless and no one is ever going to open this more than once, but we did discover our own fun game to play. We call it 'Where can you put Miley that's really funny?'. Turns out, quite a lot of places.

On 'researching' this week's app, we discovered a surprising number of Miley-related games in the Play Store, all of an unsurprisingly low quality. So we're also giving an honourable mention to the 'Miley Cyrus Game', in which the player earns points by dragging many Miley faces off the screen. We've experienced fun before. This is not it.

4. Beef War

4. Beef War

Platform: Android/iOS
Price: Free on Android/ $0.99 (69p) on iOS
Imagine an alternate version of history where America fought the Nazis not with guns or Buccaneer bombers, but with beef. No, in fact, stop imagining - you can live that very scenario right now.
Beef War is precisely what its name suggests. It's a war where your only ammunition is cuts of cow. The description doesn't give much away beyond the fact we can expect "48 unique cuts of beef, seven types of panzers, and 'intense strategies'."
Enemy tanks will blast different bovine parts in the middle of the screen, and it's your job to fling meat at them. Yes, meat beats Panzer. What do you mean you've never played Beef, Bayonet, Blitzkrieg before?

Every piece of meat is labeled on an Angus Beef Chart, which unhelpfully uses the world's smallest font size. You'll soon know your chuck pot roast from your flank steak, assuming you have superhero vision.
Ok, so there's some underlying message about American beef farmers being undermined by foreign trade. However, any awareness of the issue is offset by Herbert the Pervert seductively calling out the names of the beef types as you annihilate the enemy, like we're living in some war-meat fetishist's kinky sex fantasy.
And none of this is helped by the absence of any explanation from the app developer whatsoever beyond "BEEEF WAAAAAR" being screamed at you every time you start the game.
And while there's some strategy to it, we'd hardly call it "intense". Though we'll give it this: it's the most realistic war simulator with beef cuts you can play right now, down to the constant and not-at-all-annoying sounds of distress as cowzilla is slowly Panzer'd to death.
Sometimes at night, we can still hear the mooing.

5. Will you marry me?

5. Will you marry me?

Platform: Android
Price: Free
By this point, we've already dug up some some pretty atrocious apps - really, truly awful things. But just when you think you've scraped the bottom of the barrel, someone lifts that barrel up and out squirms a monstrosity that defies imagination.

That monster is Will you marry me?, an app that wants to do the job of proposing to your most beloved one for you.
"Have you ever tried tell your feelings for your girlfriend, or boyfriend?" asks the blurb in broken English. "Want you to make it with your phone? Can't you say it yourself? You can't speak in these situations? You are not alone! But... You can do it with your phone!"
No. No you can't.
Let's start with the design. The app is a single landing page that can only be described as 'my first Powerpoint'. You don't read the text so much as decipher it from a font that, for good reason, we've never seen used before in our lives.
Thankfully the adverts at the bottom are completely legible, directing you to apps that will help you "meet flirty single women" and other entirely inappropriate dating sites. This really helps the romantic mood.

The background displays two giant wedding rings with "Will you marry me?" scrawled across the top, while your significant other has the choice of selecting either "Yes" or "I need more time".
If your soon-to-be-ex taps the latter, "Think it through again, please, I LOVE YOU!" appears on the screen, suggesting that this relationship has turned into some hellish multiple-choice RPG that they cannot win.
But that button's so unreadable that they'll probably just hit "Yes" to just make the nightmare end. Then the shrill organ music starts to play and they realise that the real nightmare has just begun: they're about to spend the rest of their life with a person who thought that this app was a good idea.

6. Ethan

6. Ethan

Platform: iOS
Price: Free

Who is Ethan? How is Ethan? Why is Ethan? In some ways, aren't we all Ethan?
These are the inevitable musings that come with downloading Ethan, a conversation app that lets you speak to one person and one person only: Ethan.
Ethan is an ordinary guy, apparently. We don't know much about him but we wish we did. So far he's not responded to any of our messages. Oh sure, he'll speak to TimParker. "What a great chap, highly recommended," so goes his review on the App Store. Why won't he message us? We feel really quite left out.
Put simply, Ethan is a real-life Siri. Want advice on what to watch on Netflix tonight? Ask Ethan (we're told he'll always recommend The Room). Stuck for a date idea? Ask Ethan. Which season of Grey's Anatomy is the best? Ethan may have an opinion (we think season 6, hopefully Ethan agrees).

But the way we see it, Ethan is just a guy with access to Google and more free time on his hands than he knows what to do with. "Don't ask if I'm real (I am)" he says. But who are we to believe him when Siri is just as evasive with such questions? We also find his preference for multiple choice questions highly suspicious.
Siri is a robot parading as a human, Ethan Gliechtenstein is a so-called human in our smartphones. This is Philip K Dick's existential nightmare. We are Ethan and Ethan is all of us.

7. Got Juice?

7. Got Juice?

Platform: iOS
Price: Free
From the very the people who created Hold On comes another smash hit app you never thought you needed: Got Juice?
"What's Got Juice?" you ask? Well let us answer your question with another question: ever wondered how much battery you've got left but had no easy way of seeing it? Us neither! Luckily that's not what Got Juice? does, which is just why you need it! This is an app that inaccurately tells you your battery status with a crappy graphic. On our first try Got Juice? told us we had 80% of battery left, the iPhone battery indicator reckoned it was 86%.

Wait, you mean Got Juice? wasn't meant to get the percentage wrong? Well that explains why it's in this list doesn't it.
But then again, who are we to argue with the real critics? sonydog123 said: "This app is free and great, very simple to check your battery status and highly recommended - great job on it!"
While the one and only reviewman57364 really dug deep for his analysis. "Great app! - liked how it goes up to your percentage. Very nice feature."
"Looks cool - I'm shocked there are no ads!" said mriphoneaddict. We'll be more shocked if this is a legitimate review.
But it's allytheangel who really nails it with Roger Ebert-esque insight: "You'll always know exactly how low your battery is! Makes me wonder why it isn't included as a standard."
Yeah, us too...

8. Hold On

8. Hold On

Platform: iOS
Price: 69p

The past few years have seen smartphones completely transform the gaming industry, with some notable titans helping to blow the medium wide open.
Angry Birds defined mobile gaming from the off. Infinity Blade showed us that smartphone games could go toe-to-toe with consoles. Monument Valley proved they could be thoughtful and beautiful. Hold On, which costs 69p, shows us that the app store really needs to sort itself out.
Here's the premise: hold the button for as long as you can. If you let go, the game is over. Then try to beat your previous record. When will the fun end!?
"Develop your perseverance and improve your concentration skills to make you more productive!" reads the app store description. We'll cast some doubt on that. This app is more likely to aggravate any underlying anger issues when you realise you wasted ACTUAL MONEY on it. But perhaps we're too quick to judge, so let's take a closer look.
We've covered the central tenet more extensively than it deserves, but there's plenty more to do. Say, for example, you want to submit your high score, just tap 'submit' and enter your name like it tells you to. What's that? Oh, you can't actually enter your name because there's no working keyboard. Just tap OK then, we guess.

Now that you've anonymously entered your score to the global rankings, better go see how you're faring. Oh look, that just brings up a load of code. This is paying for itself already.
But wait, we forgot the biggest feature of all: you can connect to a friend via Bluetooth and enjoy the shoddiness together! Of course we haven't been able to test this feature because we couldn't persuade anyone to spend their money on it.

9. 99 Bottles!

9. 99 Bottles!

Platform: iOS
Price: Free
Let us set the scene: You're having '99 Bottles of Beer' sung to you by Stephen Hawking. We just described the entirety of the 99 Bottles app.
No, that's not fair, you can also pause the song or choose to start it over. There are also some crap bottle animations that twitch along with the "music". Ok, now we've described it.

Yes, it's the slow, awkward rendition of 99 Bottles you never asked for but you're sure as hell going to get anyway. And what happens if, God forbid, you last the whole 19 minutes and 48 seconds? No spoilers here, but we can confirm that time is accurate because we sat through the whole damn thing ourselves.

Actually, we got a text message at just over 50 bottles down the first time and accidentally hit 'start again', so we basically sat through it twice for this column. You're welcome.
You'll hear all the greats: 87, 64, 50, 42… And if your phone goes to sleep just as bottle 93 has been taken from the wall, does it start exactly where it left off? Course not, it starts number 93 ALL OVER AGAIN.
We really can't think of any useful applications for this other than torture, and Amnesty would be all over this in a heartbeat.
To its creator's credit he at least acknowledges how ridiculous the app is. We just don't know why anyone would use it, let alone make it. Then again we did play it for the whole 20 minutes so we're hardly in a position to judge. No wait, make that 29 minutes and 42 seconds. Again, you're welcome.

10. Pet Baby

10. Pet Baby

Platform: iOS
Price: Free
Here's how I imagine the meeting at Trashicon HQ happened the day the idea for Pet Baby was born.
"Hey guys, people like sharing pictures of their pets. I think I've spotted what they call a 'market opportunity'."
"You sure have, Jerry. But our app budget is focused on babies right now. Babies are funny, remember?!"
"But wait, why don't we combine the two?"
*The room falls deadly silent. A single bead of sweat runs down Jerry's forehead. He's eyeing up his desk across the room, mentally packing up his belongings*
"Careful Jerry, that's the sort of thinking that'll get you a… PROMOTION."
*Everyone claps*

And thus, Pet Baby was born. An app that asks the question that's been on the collective lips of humanity since the dawn of man: "What would your pet look like… as a human baby?" Given that most babies look the same, the answer is probably 'just like every other baby ever', right?
WRONG. Your pet baby is a mutant child that will devour your soul.
You see, rather than making any effort whatsoever to morph your dog's face into some sort of funny canine-baby mashup, the app lazily hacks the two together with an opacity tool to create what can only be described as a pure evil.
But does the fun stop there? Oh no. No, once your rabid demon child has been conceived, you can expose your friends and family to the horror via Facebook and Twitter.
Just look at some of the beauties we came up with:


And God forbid the app ever does produce anything looking mildly sentient, you can expect something like the following:

This app had zero reviews at the time of publishing.









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Week in Gaming: Xbox looks to VR, Android gets Hearthstone, GTA 5 gets snowed under

Christmas is less than a week away, which means, friends, that this is the final Week in Gaming you'll read/endure in 2014 - please weep/rejoice as appropriate.
There was probably a moment many years ago, around the time you first saw Back to the Future Part II, that you imagined what 2015 might look like. It was the year Marty McFly famously stepped on the hoverboard, and maybe you hoped we'd all be playing games with our minds and eating pills instead of meals.
Now take a look out the window. Disappointing, isn't it? Ours cars can't even fly.
Alas, you'll have to keep fantasising for now, but to help keep the faith alive I'll kick off this week's gaming frenzy with some rather rad news: Xbox virtual reality is happening.
TechRadar has been informed by multiple sources that dev kits for Microsoft's VR headset are already in the hands of some developers. That alone is exciting enough, but the HMD is also looking hopeful for a E3 2015 arrival.
We're unable to confirm exactly what the headset will look like, but there have been suggestions that it may blend virtual reality and augmented reality to give it a unique edge over Sony's Project Morpheus.
Actually, we say that's the most exciting news of the week but we did also get Hearthstone on our Android tablets. It's no coincidence that productivity levels have been dropping ever since - good thing we can blame Christmas spirit or some other nonsense.

Snow problem

You know that feeling when you see someone wearing an ugly Christmas jumper unironically, and all you can think is 'I want to run you down with my Landstalker'? Well get grandma round because GTA 5 is making that dream come true this Christmas thanks to some festive DLC.
Rockstar has dropped a huge crate of goodies for GTA 5 players, including a new homing missile and proximity mines "to make spirits bright", some pyjamas and "ugly" jumpers, new masks, and the promise of some holiday crate drops that'll be stuffed with Christmas cheer. Cheer meaning "probably explosives".
But our favourite stocking filler from Rockstar is the promise of occasional snowfall in Los Santos, during which you'll be able to partake in snowball fights with your friends. "But be forewarned," says Rockstar, "those icy little suckers can pack a wallop." See kids, who needs real Christmas when you can live in your Xbox and pummel each other to death with snowballs there instead? Marvel at how lifelike the blood looks at it seeps into the snow.
Our strangest story of the week goes to Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Nintendo's shot at giving the animated mushroom its own spinoff. After a year of countless release delays from a multitude of publishers, Nintendo did the unthinkable: it actually brought the launch forward by two weeks.
Oddly enough, that night I dreamt I was navigating my way through one of the levels as Toad and his mushroom friends chased me, pick axes in their hands and a homicidal look in their eyes. This game is already giving me nightmares. I must buy it.

So long, old friend

But unfortunately all of this has been overshadowed by some extremely sad news. This week it was announced that our fellow CVG will be closing its doors. Some of the content will be migrated over to GamesRadar but currently none of the existing staff will stay, which means it truly is the end of an era.
As the world's oldest video game brand, CVG has witnessed (and in many ways helped) a niche industry unfurl into something massive and mainstream, perhaps against the odds. So we doff our hats to this brilliant publication, and all the laughs and brilliant content you've given us over the years. If you've even so much as glanced at CVG during its time, these messages from the editors reflecting on 33 years of brilliance are well worth a read.









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In depth: Microsoft in 2014: your new "platforms and productivity" provider

Introduction and Windows 10

As the clock struck 12 on January 1, 2014, Microsoft still had a soon-to-be-departing Steve Ballmer in charge, we had no idea who was taking over and Windows 10 was still known as Threshold. Since Satya Nadella was named Ballmer's successor on February 4, the firm has been rebranded as a "platforms and productivity" company and undergone a transformation that has seen significant changes at every turn.

Nadella's arrival and reshaping of Microsoft

One of the first decisions that had to be made was who would take over the reins from outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer. After much speculation that the selection committee would go for an external candidate, it was decided that internal was the way to go, and Nadella the man to take the firm forward.
With an $84 million (around £54 million, AU$103 million) pay packet, Nadella has set about shaping the firm by taking the company away from devices and products to focus on services, especially since the introduction of subscriptions for some of its products.
One of Nadella's first moves was an unpopular one as he cut 18,000 jobs across the firm, in what is the biggest jobs purge in company history as 14% of the total workforce were given P45s. Many of these positions were sacrificed at Nokia, specifically in its home territory of Finland, and are geared towards saving the company considerable amounts in the long run.
It didn't get any easier for Nadella later on in the year as he was forced to apologise over comments he made that suggested women should not ask for a pay raise and instead have "faith in the system". It's hard to judge Nadella's first 10 months in the job this early, although his decisiveness in making hard decisions has to be commended.

Windows 10 arrives

One of the key pieces of the puzzle that will make or break Nadella as Microsoft CEO was realised in September when the firm skipped the number nine and unveiled Windows 10 as its next OS.

• Hands on: Windows 10 review

Microsoft answered the prayers of users everywhere by bringing back a full Start menu as part of the new version of its OS that is already out as a developer preview. Windows 10 will also be on every single Lumia smartphone and link together with its Cortana voice assistant. An early release of Windows 10 is expected in January 2015 and we will find out then if Microsoft plans to offer it as a subscription-based OS to fit in with Nadella's new revenue model.

Subscription becomes the key

One of the biggest success stories of the year was the decision to roll out Office to the iPad, and in hours the product had shot to the top of the App Store charts. Just six weeks after its release, the Office for iPad family had been downloaded 27 million times before a paid subscription option was added in September to reflect the company-wide move to this model.
Since Microsoft began giving away licenses for an increasing number of its products, it's also rumoured that Windows 10 will be offered on a subscription basis with details to be ironed out before January. Subscriptions are a huge part of Nadella's plan to reinvent the firm as one that relies less on revenue from devices or products (licenses) themselves and more on rolling payments for its renowned stable of services.

The end of Windows XP… sort of

April 8, 2014, is a date that will go down in the annals of personal computing as the day Microsoft delivered the death knell to Windows XP by stopping security patches and support. Even though many organisations have moved away from XP, there is still a reluctance to use either Windows 7 or 8 with many waiting for Windows 10 – a situation that could cause a security headache. The UK government even agreed to pay £5.5 million (around $8.6 million, AU$10.6 million) for a year's extension to support for XP, reflecting the continued reluctance to move away from the outdated OS.

Azure, Surface and Windows Phone

Azure grows and grows

Nadella's posturing towards becoming a company that is focused on "productivity and platforms" means that its Microsoft Azure cloud offering takes on even more prominence than it had under former CEO Steve Ballmer. In line with its competitors, Microsoft has cut Azure's pricing on countless occasions throughout the year and has made it one of the key parts of its plans to rely on a subscription-based model going forwards.
Office 365, which arrived on a number of new platforms this year, includes a free 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage for the opening year before becoming a paid-for option after the first 12 months.
The growth is by no means only limited to consumer products and the Azure Government cloud, which was made generally available in December, caters for government customers that require a secure, locked-down version of the cloud service. Over 100 customers have already signed up and it gives Microsoft a real chance to throw down the gauntlet to BlackBerry.

Surface Pro 3

2014 will always be remembered as the time Microsoft tried to convince us all that we don't need a laptop anymore, and its Surface Pro 3 is the answer to the Apple MacBook Air we almost chucked in the bin. After the disappointing Surface and Surface 2 efforts it was third time lucky as the tablet/hybrid sold at twice the rate of the predecessor, and the Surface business had topped almost $1 billion (around £640 million, AU$1.23 billion) in revenue at the last check in October.

Skype for Business and Skype Translator

The Lync-Skype collaboration grew in stature after Skype voice, IM and video became part of the enterprise messaging service for the first time to bring a new level of collaboration to workplaces already using Lync. Bringing the two products closer together reflects the blurring of boundaries between work and home by making it easier to work from home using the popular enterprise collaboration tool.
Skype Translator got its beta release in the last days of 2014 with Spanish and English part of the debut offering that translates one language in text or speech into another. Eventually over 40 languages will be a part of the product and with even Klingon (from Star Trek) on the list, there are potentially hours of fun to be had. Should the translation feature be a success, there is scope for it to become part of Skype for Business and present a chance for more effective interaction with colleagues working across the globe.

Microsoft Lumia and Windows Phone 8.1

Nokia's presence on the Lumia line of smartphones was served notice as the first Microsoft Lumia smartphones were unveiled in October before the Nokia name was ditched entirely the following month. The demise of the Nokia moniker came just seven months after Microsoft finally tied up its deal to acquire Nokia's mobile business for a hefty $7.2 billion (around £4.6 billion, AU$8.9 billion) after several months of regulatory wrangling. Now all it needs to do is get its Windows Phone OS to turn heads.
To do this it unveiled Windows Phone 8.1 in April, and with it came Microsoft's answer to Apple's Siri and Google Now – the Cortana voice assistant. Since it was released in March, the virtual assistant has been hard at work trying to make friends by correctly predicting the outcome of World Cup and NFL games, and its arrival on Windows 10 will only strengthen its reputation.

Other business

We got a first peek at the Microsoft Band wearable wristband that works with all operating systems and packs so many features that its battery life struggles to cope for a day of normal use.

• Could health and wearables be the saviour of Microsoft?

Towards the end of the year, Microsoft finally began to accept Bitcoin payments for digital content including games, apps and videos through its app store, with the success of the US rollout likely to dictate its progress across the world.
The open source community let out a yelp of excitement when the doors to Microsoft's .NET framework were thrown open to developers and it is now available on Linux and Mac OS X for the first time. It marked one of the first occasions that Microsoft truly recognised the open source community as a software development model that has its place in the industry as a whole.
Minecraft became a part of Microsoft's arsenal as it acquired the game's developer Mojang for a huge $2.5 billion (around £1.6 billion, AU$3.1 billion) to take on a title that generated $326 million (around £210 million, AU$400 million) in revenue last year.
Finally, Microsoft said a collective farewell to former CEO Steve Ballmer in August as the energetic ball of fun departed to take over the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers franchise from disgraced owner Donald Sterling.









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Opinion: 5 reasons why the Apple Watch will fail

Earlier this week I listed five reasons why the Apple Watch will succeed, and now I'm back to look at the glass half-empty. The device is sure to sell like gangbusters out of the gate, but to achieve long-term success, Apple needs to find solutions to the following problems.

1. It lacks a defining must-have feature

The iPod promised a thousand songs in your pocket; the iPad packed the most popular functions of a PC into a portable package; and the iPhone brought smartphones out of the BlackBerry age. Apple's biggest products have been disruptive and transformative - but can we say the same about the Apple Watch? It does a lot of things, but nothing that can't already be done on another device. Apple Watch seems to hold a slight advantage in tracking health and fitness data, but the point is there's no single feature that marketers can use to define the product as unique or necessary.

2. It needs an iPhone

Anyone who doesn't own a newish iPhone can't use an Apple Watch. This is a significant limitation, because even though millions of people have iPhones, competing handsets make up the majority of the market. Apple's biggest products have always broadened its audience, but the Apple Watch seems confined to the company's current customers. A PC user might still buy an iPad, and someone with a Samsung tablet might still pick a MacBook, but zero Android users will own an Apple Watch.

3. People don't wear watches anymore

I wore a watch for years, but quit when I got used to pulling out my iPhone all the time. I suspect that's pretty common - who really needs a watch on their wrist in addition to the one in their pocket? This won't be a big issue for those who never gave up on the wristwatch, but many others may need convincing that Apple Watch is worth the hassle.

4. It's yet another gadget to carry

Our pockets, purses and backpacks are bursting with digital devices these days, from mobile phones and tablets to health trackers and handheld game systems. At the very least, every Apple Watch user will also carry an iPhone. More than ever, a product really has to earn a spot on our person, and as I said above, the Apple Watch doesn't appear to add anything decisively new or essential to the mix.

5. It'll be pricey

The entry-level Apple Watch is expected to go for $350 - that's $150 more than an entry-level iPhone 6 with contract. The extra cost makes sense when you compare the breadth and richness of its features and functions with those of lesser smartwatches, but $350 is still $350. With no clear, defining reason to own one, many could view the device as nice but not necessary. The price tag is where the rubber meets the road, and if Apple hasn't addressed its product's deficiencies in other categories, the high cost could be too much to overcome.

• Did Apple get the iPhone 6 Plus right?

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Samsung might launch its own, superior Apple Pay competitor

Samsung will launch its own mobile payment company to rival Apple Pay in 2015, according to a pair of new reports.
The Korean company is in talks with a payments startup called LoopPay, Re/code reported this week.
The real kicker? That Samsung's version will be compatible with retailers' existing credit card machines, which would give Samsung an automatic advantage over Apple Pay.
LoopPay's existing technology lets users tap a key fob, an electronic card or a smartphone "ChargeCase" on credit card machines instead of swiping a credit card, and it's easy to say where Samsung might adapt these for its own purposes.
With that tech embedded into a Samsung smartphone users could pay with their handsets without having to wonder whether the store accepts mobile payments with more complicated systems like Apple Pay and Google Wallet. And LoopPay CEO reportedly said recently that that would happen in 2015 - though at the time no one had any idea what kind of smartphone it would be.

• And the Samsung Galaxy S5 has a fingerprint sensor - a perfect fit?

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IN DEPTH: 7 best iPhone health apps for iOS 8

What is The Apple Health app and best fitness

With the arrival of iOS 8, health is suddenly a big focus for Apple. So much so that the iPhone maker has made a dedicated Health app.
This official iPhone Health app keeps track of everyone's important biometric data and also records steps though the Apple's M8 and M7 co-processor within the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 5S.
What's more, these fitness metrics can be corralled from and shared with many of the third-party health apps on iOS. You won't have to always switch between apps.
Apple could have limited the scope of its pre-installed Health app to the forthcoming Apple Watch, but it didn't. More and more, the company is opening itself up to outside developers, and that's healthy.

iPhone Health app: How to use it

Health is the latest built-in app Apple has introduced with iOS 8. It acts as a central hub for developers to share fitness and health data from their own respective apps, fitness trackers, smartwatches or simple data users plug into the Health Kit directly. The app will practically take all sorts of data from your age, weight, height, meals, steps exercise or what have you and collate it all into your personal health record.
The interesting bit comes with being able to see all of this information charted into graphs across hours to days to months and so on. Additionally users can also setup a Medical ID to give your doctor a quick medial record that goes beyond a yearly check up with your local physician.
Most importantly, though, the Health app acts as hub to also display all the data coming in from third-party apps. After a rough start more and more apps on the app store are being updated with Health app support. Now the only problem is figuring out which of the thousands are the best. But fret, not as we bring you our list of the 8 best fitness apps for iOS 8.

1. RunKeeper

This app has been a keeper well before Apple introduced its Health app and now it's been made even better with the added integration. RunKeeper taps into the iPhone's GPS to record your time, pace, calories burned and how far you've run. The app will also give you audio alerts telling you how you're doing pace-wise, plus your time and distance in the middle of a run.
Once you're done making your rounds, you can review your data with charts and a nice little map of your entire route. Beyond tracking your impromptu jogging sessions, users also have access to a preloaded set of training and running routines. Alternatively, you can design your own custom interval workouts and set your own challenges.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 6.0 or later on an iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

2. 7 Minute Workout

Of course, there's more to exercising than just running and 7 Minute Workout can help introduce you to a whole new set of calisthenics. The app includes instructions for a whole series of exercises including tricep dips, planks (not to be confused with planking), box squats and much more. It even provides instructional video for each to make sure you have the proper form.
When it's go time, the app also simplifies workout sessions by timing and guiding you through the process. 7 Minute Workout includes three preset workouts to make sure you're pushing muscles to exercise your whole body. If you want to focus on your pectorals or what have you, there's also the option to arrange a custom session.
After you're all done the 7 Minute Workout app integrates with Health app by porting over your workout data and stats.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 7.0 or later on an iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

3. MotionX 24/7

After moving around so much, you're going to get tuckered out eventually. Sleep is good for you and there's a way to analyze how well you're resting using just your smartphone with MotionX 24/7.
All you have to do is place your handset next to your pillow in bed or wear it on an armband while you sleep and start the app. Using the iPhone's accelerometer, MotionX 24/7 can tell when you're tossing and turning. All the while, the iOS device's microphone will record your breathing and snoring to provide insight on how restful your sleep is. The end result of all this data recording helps to determine when is the best possible moment for you to wake up feeling fully refreshed.
Beyond keeping tabs on your sleep schedule, MotionX 24/7 also includes step counting and a feature for checking your heart rate by placing your finger over the rear camera and flash.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 7.0 or later on an iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

More of the best health apps on iOS 8

4. UP by Jawbone

Up might be the latest Jawbone's latest app designed for the Jawbone Up24 fitness tracker, but you can also to use it with just an iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus or iPhone 5S by itself.
Thanks to the new Health app and the step tracking capabilities of Apple's M8 and M7 co-processor you can use the app to track your steps, sleep and food intake. The later options require a lot manual input there are few apps that look as good as Jawbone's Up, which displays all your metrics in bright colors with line and bar graphs.
Honestly, with Jawbone Up3 coming out soon, this app is a good holdover instead of springing for the last-generation wristband fitness tracker.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 7.0 or later on an iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 5S.

5. Sick Weather

Staying healthy isn't just a matter of staying in shape, it's also not getting sick. Labeling itself as a Doppler radar for sickness, Sick Weather provides users with real-time maps of illnesses around the city. The app combs social media for reports of people feeling under the weather and adds makers onto a local map.
Sick Weather covers a long list of known bugs including the Flu, Norovirus, Pink Eye and Whooping Cough, plus 19 other illnesses. In theory, by plotting out exactly where sick people have shown up, you'll be able to avoid getting sick yourself. Users will also be able to turn on an alert feature notifying them before they enter a danger zone by surprise.
This is the only app on this list that does not sync up with Apple's Health app, but we feel it's still important enough to note. Just keep in mind Sick Weather adds a big drain on your battery life by accessing the iPhone's GPS, so be sure to quit out when you're staying put for a while.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 7.0 or later on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

6. Carrot Fit

Personal trainers can be awfully scary sometimes. Electronic fitness apps are too nice allowing you to slack off too often. Carrot Fit places itself somewhere between (or outside) these two extremes by comically berating you into exercising more.
Upon opening up the app, Carrot Fit proclaims itself as your new fitness overlord before proceeding to demand thanks for getting your flabby self into shape. Just like to the 7 Minute Workout Carrot Fit will prompt you with an exercise routine and count everything down.
Rather than embedding instructional videos from YouTube like 7 Minute Workout, Carrot Fit animates and explains exercises to great comedic effect. This is all helped by a monotone, but generally insulting, GLaDOS-like voice. The app also makes constant pop culture references including calling wall squats the Invisible Iron Throne as a nod to a Game of Thrones. Later the app asked me if I feel the burn before remarking that it was the feeling of "winter coming to your knees."
The comedy schtick adds a bit of levity to what are generally boring and grueling exercises. But underneath all the extra polish and jokes, Carrot Fit is a just very well put together app with great production value.
Like Jawbone's UP app, Carrot Fit will benefit from iPhones equipped with Apple's M7 or M8 co-processor. The app is entirely usable with the iPhone 5 and iPod Touch 5 running iOS 8 with the caveat that you won't be able to add your steps to the total of calories burned in your 7 minutes in hell workouts.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 8.0 or later on an iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

7. WebMD

WebMD is slightly different from all the other apps we've previously discussed as its more focused on keeping track of your overall health and not just during exercise. In this sense, WebMD focused on developing your Healthy Target working in tandem with the Apple Health app and devices made by devices made by Entra, Fitbit, Jawbone, Telcare and Withings.
In the app you'll spend a lot of time developing and sticking to healthy habits such as competing 10 jumping jacks, five squats and five pushups before turning on your TV each evening. The end goal is to lose weight, eat healthier, sleep more and just generally living healthier.
There are also two other parts of the app; the first being Health Tools, which provides medical explanations for illnesses and their likely symptoms. Similar to the WebMD site you can also access medical listings for local doctors pharmacies and hospitals. Healthy Living, meanwhile, is a daily lifestyle magazine that offers tips on exercise, beauty, food and relationships.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 7.0 or later on an iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

• Get the lowdown on the Apple Watch

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Chromebooks can now listen up when you say 'OK Google'

There's a Chrome browser extension that lets users activate voice commands by saying "OK Google," but Chrome OS users soon won't need it anymore.
The browser extension required users to have a specific page open for it to work, but Google has built the feature right in to the latest developer build of Chrome OS.
That means the operating system listens for the words "OK Google" all the time, no matter what you're doing or which pages are open.
This is, of course, an option, so if you'd rather it not listen - for whatever reason, be it saving battery life when your Chromebook is unplugged or even privacy concerns - you can turn it off.
Chrome OS's "OK Google" functionality hasn't rolled out in a wide update for the stable channel yet, but anyone interested can grab a version with the feature from the Chrome OS developer channel. If you're interested check out instructions on activating it over at the Chromium Code Review.

• "OK, Google: show me TechRadar's Nexus 6 review"

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Facebook doubles its next F8 conference for a two-day extravaganza

After resurrecting the once-annual F8 developer conference in early 2014, Facebook has announced it's expanding the event for a two-day extravaganza next March.
The 2015 F8 Facebook conference will mark the first time the event has gone longer than one day.
"Facebook's developer community is bigger today than it ever has been," reads an announcement Facebook sent out today. "The scope of the company's products has broadened, and there's more content to share than can fit into a single day. The additional day means double the number of technical sessions, product demos, and onsite experiences for Facebook's growing developer community. "
The announcement said registration details will be sent out in early 2015, but for now you can mark your calendar and create a Facebook event for March 25 and 26.

• The OnePlus One stands alone

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T-Mobile agrees to pay out $90 million over mobile cramming

T-Mobile has settled with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over a case that alleged it had "crammed" unauthorized charges onto subscribers' bills.
T-Mobile has agreed to pay $90 million out to customers who were charged as much as $10 per month for unsolicited horoscopes, jokes and other nonsense.
The settlement dictates that T-Mobile spends at least $67.5 million on a program for consumer refunds, $18 million to state governments and $4.5 million to the US treasury.
Current and former T-Mobile subscribers who think they may have been affected can head to tmobilerefund.com to request a refund once the site is up and running.

Who's next?

"Yet again we are faced with a phone company that profited while its customers were fleeced by third parties who placed unauthorized charges on their phone bills," FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Travis LeBlanc said in a rather self-congratulatory statement. "And once again the FCC is standing up for those customers."
"Today's settlement holds T-Mobile responsible for its billing practices and puts money directly back into the pockets of American consumers," he continued.
The case against T-Mobile began over the summer, and it's nice to see it come to a swift end, but it's just one of numerous identical suits against carriers in the US.
AT&T reached a similar settlement with the FTC (though for an even larger $105 million) in October, while the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took Sprint to task for cramming this week.

• Apple's new iPhone is its biggest and best yet

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Alleged Sony Xperia E4 gets pictured next to a predecessor

It's been less than a week since we first caught wind of the Sony Xperia E4, an unannounced budget handset that's rumored to be launching at MWC 2015.
Already, though, Polish site Teleguru has published a sizable gallery of photos of the phone, including some with it posing next to the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact.
The Xperia E4 is rumored to have a 5-inch screen, but with its thin bezels it appears only slightly larger in overall size than the 4.3-inch Z1 Compact.
No one will complain about getting a lot more screen real estate (even if it is just 540 x 960) while sacrificing a minimal amount of portability, and the budget Xperia E4 reportedly also comes with a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek chip, 1GB of memory, 8GB of storage, and 5- and 2-megapixel cameras.

It will supposedly launch with Android KitKat and be upgraded to Lollipop some time later, and cost $200 (about £128, AU$245)
The version in these pictures is reportedly a prototype, and it may be months yet before we actually see it.
But we'll be keeping an eye out as its expected release date in March approaches.

• Google's Nexus 6 is no budget phone

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Updated: CES 2015: what to expect from the biggest tech show of the year

What we expect to see: Samsung, Sony, LG and HTC

Keep checking back in the days leading up to the show for more CES 2015 news and rumors!
CES invades Las Vegas January 6 - January 9, 2015. Those dates are fast approaching - hell, the annual tech fest to end all tech fests will be here before you can say, "Happy New Year."
Already we've had info coming in revealing what CES 2015 will hold, though of course many mysteries still await in those desert conference corridors.
Read on for a company-by-company breakdown of what we expect to see during the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show, and let us know in the comments if there's anything you're particularly keen on peeping come early next month. We'll keep an eye out for it.

Samsung

Update December 16: It's a very long shot, but there are whispers the Galaxy S6 may in fact show it's face at CES 2015. Why is it a long shot? The reasons are almost innumerable, so here's just one; Kim Hyun-suk, Samsung's head of visual display, was quoted as saying "there will be no surprise shows [at CES]." We take that to mean no S6, though of course, anything is possible.
Update December 11: One thing is for sure; Samsung plans to show Tizen TV at CES. Kim Hyun-suk revealed a Tizen TV will be there for people to "meet," though per his above quote, we doubt we're in for any earth-shattering announcements.
Update December 5: Samsung has sent out formal invitations to its CES 2015 keynote and press conference. The press conference will be "a journey to discover Samsung's latest innovations that will create new possibilities and shape the future," and the place we'll likely see most if not all of Samsung's announcements. It goes down at 2 pm PT on Monday, January 5. The keynote begins at 6:30 pm PT on January 5; President & CEO BK Yoon will discuss the Internet of Things and "how it will transform our lives."
What else we expect to see from Samsung...
Samsung's CES 2014 press conference will live on in infamy thanks to Michael Bay, but this year we expect the Korean firm to rebound with products that steal the show, not stage-ditching directors.
It's par for the course Samsung will unveil its latest TV line at CES, and we expect a follow-up to the bendable TV unveiled last time around (maybe one that folds in half!). Some of the firm's CES '14 televisions had gorgeous curves, making a repeat of sloped screens highly likely.

But that leaves us wondering, what else? Will we see the next iteration of Galaxy Pro tablets? It's possible. A new laptop? Slightly less likely, though not a stretch. More washing machines? Oh, you know it.
What would really knock our socks off is an update to the company's smartwatch and fitness tracker line-up and, if we can be so bold, some talk around Gear VR. That's all speculation on our part, but not out of the realm of possibility.
Samsung's plans may have yet to fully crystallize, but you can bet one of if not the biggest brands at CES will do it up this year. Especially if it wants you to forget about Michael Bay.

Sony

Update December 19: Talk about a beautiful nightmare - Sony has released a very surreal teaser trailer for CES 2015. From a pregnant woman to a painted face to an all-eyeball closeup, Sony's clip has us scratching our heads. There are some hints to be gleaned; the "5" in the elevator and lollipop are likely references to Android 5.0 and a possible glimpse at a super slim TV.
Check the teaser out for yourself:
YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gC_NIVpXf4
What else we expect to see from Samsung...
Sony always comes out swinging at CES, and we expect this year to be no different.
The company is hosting the prerequisite press conference on January 5, and there it plans to parade "the latest products and technology in 4K UHD, Hi-Res Audio, Digital Imaging and Mobile." If that doesn't spell it out for you, we're not sure what will.

While the thought of more (affordable?) 4K TVs is certainly tantalizing, the possibility of seeing the Xperia Z4 onstage is what really piques our interest. The firm announced its new Exmor RS IMX230 camera sensor in mid-November, and though it packs the same 21MP resolution as the Xperia Z3's camera, it has a number of new features, including a CMOS image sensor that can track rapidly moving subjects.
A report from PhoneArena has the handset, said to come equipped with a larger QHD screen, joined at CES by an even heftier Xperia Z4 Ultra. Among the rumored upgrades, both new phones could sport a heaving 4GB of RAM. What those extra GBs will bring is anyone's guess, but they'll sure look good on a spec sheet.
Update December 16: Or maybe we won't see the new Xperia line at CES? A mid-December report has the Xperia Z4 Compact and Z4 Ultra rocking Snapdragon 810 processors, a chip set that's reportedly in short supply. If the new phones are set to sport the 810s, it may not be until later in 2015 we actually lay our eyes on them.
We also expect Sony to return to the wearable conversation; the tech is poised to be a major focus of CES 2015, and Sony should have more to say on its Core fitness tracker and other wearable goods.

LG

Update December 18: LG dropped another pre-CES tidbit the week before Christmas by announcing webOS 2.0 will be unveiled during the Las Vegas event. The updated Smart TV platform is said to be simpler and more intuitive than the first iteration. A better UI is matched by more services like Amazon and Netflix. webOS 2.0 is due to show its face on a new line of TVs revealed at CES.
Update December 16: LG unveiled a new line of 4K UHD TVs in the pre-CES build up that use quantum dot technology for improved color saturation and wider palette. Nano-sized crystal dots are used to emit various colors, depending on their size, can help improve the picture color reproduction rate by more than 30%. What's more, the quantum dots (the coolest TV tech name ever?) are also said to improve the screen's overall brightness. Look out for the new line at CES.
Update December 1: Well, things just got a little more interesting for LG. Word from some Android Authority sources is that the company will go on a Vegas bender, literally, and show off the LG G Flex 2. While the first G Flex was more gimmick than gimme product, the second gen is said to be a major upgrade over the original. In addition to its signature curve, the G Flex 2 will reportedly have a high-res OLED screen and small form factor. What's more, the phone can apparently self-heal even better than before.
What else we expect to see from LG...
As it does every year, LG is kicking off media day with an 8am PT press conference. It's early, it's packed, and it usually leaves us looking to MWC for the more memorable consumer electronic goods. In short, like a $5 casino buffet breakfast, we'll get our fill of announcements here but will be hungry for more an hour later.
Last CES was all about LG meeting Samsung on the TV battlefront, and that should continue on at CES 2015. What that means in terms of significant come-to-market announcements is likely not much, but it should make for good chest-thump viewing.

LG's press conference invite is predictably vague, offering only the chance to "enjoy a sneak peek at what's in store for 2015" and hear from LG execs about "product introductions and business strategies for the year." Unfortunately "product introductions" probably doesn't mean the LG G4.
Instead, look for the aforementioned televisions, some of them massive, more than a passing word on webOS and a wearable, plus a healthy smattering of smart home products.

HTC

HTC, it seems, does have CES 2015 plans after all.
A company spokesperson said in early December the One M8 maker planned to debut a new wearable in Las Vegas, though it won't be a smartwatch, as has been previously rumored. The product is said to be "very different from anything currently on the market," though of course HTC would say that.
For the device, HTC will reportedly work closely with firms who have already made headway in the activity app space, signalling we could be in for a fitness tracker or something else along those lines.

What we expect to see: Sharp, Nvidia and more

Sharp

Details are few and far between for Sharp, but an invitation to the company's January 5 keynote is something, at least.
The firm's presser kicks off at 9 am PT and is titles "Life Inspiring Imagination." What will we see there? The surest bet is TVs, but perhaps Sharp will have a few surprises up its sleeves?

Nvidia

As it did for CES 2014, Nvidia is going early with a press conference schedule for January 4 at 8 pm PT. It's here CEO Jen-Hsun Huang will unveil new mobile and automotive technologies, which is pretty much what we got the last time around.

We're likely in for the company's latest and greatest processor post-Tegra K1, and it's interesting to see that Nvidia's auto obsession continues beyond last CES.

Valve and other Steam Machine makers

About the only thing you can expect from Valve is that it won't be at CES 2015, despite having a huge presence during the 2014 campaign.
The Portal maker informed TechRadar it won't be attending CES in the New Year, saving its Steam Machine mojo for March's GDC 2015.

Although the progenitor behind the Steam Machine movement is sitting this CES out, other companies like Alienware, Maingear and Gigabyte could be present to show off their PC-gaming-in-the-living-room wares. We haven't heard anything definite, but we don't expect CES 2015 to be totally Steam Machine silent.

What we want to see: #1 - #5

The ramifications of CES 2014 are still being felt in everything from TVs to processors to wearables. CES 2015 promises to be an even bigger show, full of the innovative, the inspiring and the impossible.
We've put together a list of what we want to see at CES 2015, so read on for our hopes and best guesses for the show. And don't forget to let us know what you're pining for come January, too.

1. TV innovation beyond the bend and curve

We get it. You can bend and curve (see here and here) a TV. Big whoop. How about revealing some television innovation that truly improves our viewing experience?
CES 2014 was all about the curved TV screen for big guns Samsung and LG - who could make it bigger, thinner and curvier without folding? The problem was, was there even a problem for these concave couch curlers to solve?
As Dan Grabham asked in his CES hands on review of the 105-inch curved Ultra HD TV from LG, "do we really need curved TVs?"
The answer, from looking at the market, is no. Yes, there was an awe factor when unveiling these futurist devices in front of ravenous consumer-tech crowds, but when the lights faded and everyone went home, we weren't buying these sets.

Instead of trying to lure us in with more bends and curves, we want Samsung, LG and others to announce more 4K content and a viable system to deliver it to consumers at CES 2015. We know it's not the sexiest subject, especially since we've already seen 4K-and-beyond TVs, but why not give us stuff to actually watch on the growing field of ultra high-res screens?
There's currently no reason for the average person to buy a pricey 4K TV because there simply isn't that much 4K content to watch on them. If Samsung, LG, et al can come up with the content and fast, reliable ways to get it to consumers, we may leave Las Vegas truly impressed and excited for the living room screen's future.

• The TV that impressed us most at CES 2014 wasn't curved

Update: LG gave us a taste of what its future TV innovation has in store. In mid-July, the company posted a YouTube video of its flexible 18-inch OLED display. It's a neat trick and one that could have actual benefit to consumers, like fitting larger screens in unconventional spaces. Might we see the tech at CES 2015? We'd sure like to.
YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxbHpXE4VM0

2. Stop the 4K TV price madness

It's no secret that 4K TVs are astronomically expensive, but on July 22 Samsung took it to a whole new level by revealing the price of the 105-inch curved 4K TV it showed off during CES 2014. The damage? A whopping $120,000 (about £70,333, AU$127,732).
Talk about going from wow factor to ow factor.
We understand the parts for these high-res beasts are expensive, but it'd be fantastic if Samsung, LG and other makers of 4K TVs could lower the price of their products in addition to giving us stuff to watch on them.

It may take years before 4K TV prices are within most people's budgets, but the movement could start at this upcoming CES. We want to see top-tier TV manufacturers like Samsung reduce the price by one digit with a $999 price tag for a 50-incher.
This may be wishful thinking, but it's not unreasonable to want TV makers to begin to bring down the prices of the technology it carts out to amaze us.

3. More than just more tablets from Samsung

Director Michael Bay's meltdown was the most memorable moment of Samsung's CES 2014 press conference. Unfortunately for the Galaxy tablets also wheeled out during the presser, they were upstaged. Hard.
Samsung has unveiled even more tablets since CES, leading us to plea, "Enough!" We're heading into the pre-CES months hoping Samsung can cook up a mobile device (yes, just one) that will hold its own next to celebrity implosions and smart laundry machines.
The Korean firm intrigued with its Youm flexible phone screens during CES 2013 - perhaps it will be ready to unveil a consumer-ready foldable phone or tablet during 2015's dance? With LG revealing roll-up displays (destined for TVs, to be sure), Samsung may be feeling the heat to bring a bendy phone/tablet to market.

4. Steam Machine pricing and availability

No doubt the people's favorite at CES 2014 was Valve and its army of Steam Machine partners, not to mention the Steam Controller.
Valve hasn't kept quiet; since January, the company held a developer conference, showed off its VR headset and, in not so good news, announced Steam Machines won't arrive in consumer homes until 2015. It's the last point we want addressed at CES.
While at least one non-Valve Steam Box - the Alienware Alpha - should be out this year, we want the release date and price questions resolved for everyone else. In other words, we want CES 2015 to be brimming with Steam Machine news, including word of a truly affordable one.
YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YAf5S4LSJQ
Aside from Alienware, the rest of the pack, led by Valve, should get its act together by CES 2015. Of course, anyone familiar with Gabe Newell's crew knows speed is not their calling card, so while we can hope, we won't hold our breath.

5. LG and Huawei deliver standout smartphones

It's a long shot to think LG will actually unveil a smartphone during CES as it hasn't the last two years and typically saves such unveilings for MWC. Nevertheless, this is a list of what we want to see, right?
Along with Huawei, LG could use CES to gain massive exposure with a knockout smartphone. The LG G3 isn't chopped liver, but perhaps LG could put its foldable display tech to work bending like a Cirque du Soleil performer?
As for Huawei, the Chinese firm is trying mightily to break into the US market. What better way to re-re-introduce itself to US buyers than with a carrier-backed, affordable and better-than-average phone announced in Sin City? Hell, trot out AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega or, better yet, T-Mobile CEO John Legere to say a few words. Even better, bring them both onstage and see what happens.

We digress, but the point is CES has become stagnant on the smartphone announcement front. We'd love to see LG and Huawei liven up the proceedings with a phone that makes us drool.

What we want to see: #6 - #9

6. Next-level wearables

Wearables are here, and they're beyond what even Dick Tracy could have imagined. CES 2014 saw its share of fitness and activity trackers, but in the subsequent months the market has exploded (relative to what it was, at least).
Android Wear has ushered in a new era of wearable tech, and there's more than a fair chance we'll see the Apple iWatch announced before CES 2015 gets off the ground.
Although wearables are gaining steam, there's always room for improvement. Our wish list for CES 2015 wearables includes waterproofing, more with heart rate monitors, standalone smarties that don't need a mobile device and more full-featured smartwatches that are compatible with different OSes.

The last one is another long shot, but as TechRadar's resident wearables expert Matt Swider opines, it'd be nice to be able to have an Android Wear smartwatch that worked with an iOS device, and vice versa.
There's little doubt CES 2015 will be filled to the walls with wearables. One manufacturer - Lenovo - has confirmed it plans to unveil new wearable devices during the Vegas gathering.
The question is, will the new batch of wearables be much of an improvement of the ones we already have?

7. Virtual reality in Las Vegas

Just like wearables, we're no longer speaking of VR as a far-off possibility. There are a number of big-name contenders that, while not quite ready for consumers, are pretty damn close to being released. Oculus Rift is eyeing 2015, Sony's Project Morpheus is moving along and Samsung Gear VR is looking increasingly ready to reveal itself.
That's not to mention the other smaller firms working on virtual reality gear (like the Virtuiz Omni) and the gaggle of developers likely to spring up after Oculus' VR conference in September.

CES is as much about entertainment as it is anything else, so VR-related innovations are well within the scope of the show. We want to see more VR content (games, apps, movies, etc.), more polished products and, if it's not revealed at IFA 2014, Samsung's VR headset.
Gear VR will likely be a serious Rift and Morpheus competitor, so come CES, we hope Samsung and anyone else dabbling in virtual reality are ready to bring it on.

8. Truly good 2-in-1s

It's not CES unless a cacophony of computers make their voices heard. There will be PCs of every stripe at CES 2015, but we're looking specifically at 2-in-1s for right now.
HP, Dell, Acer and Asus are just a few of the notable names we're putting money on to unveil new tablet/laptop hybrids, so it's not a matter of if they'll be announced but rather of how good they'll be.
There's a chance Windows 9 will release this fall, which would already be an improvement over Windows 8.1. Even if we don't go all the way up to nine, Windows 8.2 may be ready to rumble come January 2015.

Aside from a souped-up OS (assuming most of the hybrids will run Windows), the advances in processors like AMD's Beema and Mullins APUs and Intel's Core M could make the 2015 crop of 2-in-1s the best to date.
If the build quality matches better internal specs, 2-in-1s may be the sleeper hit of CES 2015.

9. Smarter cars than ever before

Toyota ran away with our Best of CES 2014 awards thanks to its hydrogen-powered car. Part of our reasoning in giving the FCV the top spot was because of its industry-changing position as the first mass-produced fuel-cell vehicle. Its impact, we reasoned, would be far reaching and vastly positive.
Next CES, we want more of the same. We want cars that run on next-gen energy sources and we want cars that don't need a driver at all. Google typically doesn't drop by CES, but that doesn't mean automated cars from different venders can't make an appearance.

Speaking of Google, we fully expect automakers to show off their Android Auto as well as Apple CarPlay-equipped models. For those who haven't picked a side, CES 2015 is the perfect time to call shotgun.
Car infotainment systems are in some ways still in their infancy, so we're excited to see what solutions await. Especially if it means going for a test-drive.

• Relive the magic of CES 2014

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Showdown: Selfie stick: genius invention or idiot pole?

Unsurprisingly, the selfie stick has earned itself a marmite reputation - you either love it or you hate it with a fiery passion. The nation is split, and so too is the TechRadar mobile team.
In the blue corner we have John McCann, a self-proclaimed selfie stick super fan, while in the red corner we have Gareth Beavis, who is quite possibly the stick's biggest enemy.
We've let them go head to head on the sensitive subject of the selfie stick and stake their claim as to why they are right - but whose side are you on?

John McCann: Selfie stick - get in my life RIGHT NOW

"My name is John and I really, really want a selfie stick. Why? Well, at first there was no particularly rational reason, I just became obsessed with them. I'm not even someone who takes a lot of selfies - although they're a great way to test out the front-facing snapper on whatever phone I'm reviewing, especially if there's a beauty mode present. Not that I need it, of course.
But when I'm out with friends and we want a picture, it's easier to grab a phone and all huddle around to try and get in shot, rather than ask a stranger to take one, which more often than not ends up being a terrible photo anyway. There are, however, two issues here.
First, if there's a large group of you it's difficult to get everyone in shot while holding your phone at arms length - meaning you'll literally have to go cheek to cheek and even then Dave's fat head is still cut out.
Then there's the taking of the photo. So many phones have ditched physical shutter keys, meaning a fiddly and unorthodox grip on your phone as you try to hit the on-screen capture button.
Some handsets do allow you to use the volume keys to capture images, but if you're rocking an iPhone 6 Plus or Samsung Galaxy Note 4 this can be pretty tricky too. Especially after a few drinks.
The humble selfie stick solves both of these issues. It gives you the distance you need to get Dave's big head in, plus most come with a remote shutter to fire the camera without having to actually touch your phone.
Of course people will scoff, but they're just jealous you've a group of friends willing to get in a photo with you. And just watch the retweets and likes stack up once you've posted the legendary shot on Facebook, Twitter and every other social network in sight.
You 1. The naysayers 0.
And to get you in the mood, here's a cracking YouTube video. (You're welcome)."

Gareth Beavis: Absolutely horrendous

"The selfie stick. Let's sit for a moment and think about that. A stick, that you have to carry around, with the single purpose of making it easier for people to see where you are and (hopefully) envy you.
I don't have time to get into my anger that the 'selfie' has become a thing. I use the quote marks as it's the only way I can tolerate even writing the word... it's narcissism taken to a new level, and now someone has made a tool to supercharge the maddening phenomenon.
Look, before I get into the reasons why a selfie stick is a horrendous idea, I do agree with some of John's points. Yes, taking a photo without looking at the camera screen is a nightmare nowadays thanks to some phones getting rid of the button altogether. It's hugely frustrating.
And the tech fan in me likes that you can fire the camera with a Bluetooth button. I'll always love a remote button, no matter the function.
But why do we need a stick to help? I was flabbergasted to learn that, especially in tourist hotspots, these are a very popular thing to have, doubling up as a walking cane for those moments when your legs, possibly atrophying from spending too long dribbling over YouTube vloggers, need a little boost.
I get that there are moments on a trip when you want a photo of you and your significant other, or group of mates, and you don't want to hand over your camera to a complete stranger. But you've still got to plan that into your day: the possibility that you'll come across a pretty spot and you need your special pole to help out.
Yes, the 'selfies' are better with the pole attached; the field of view is wider and the angle is better from up high. But what's wrong with just taking a picture of a scene and then publishing that to Facebook? Why do you have to be in it? And if you do have to be involved in the snap, why do you need the quality upgrade so much that you'll carry hardware with you?
I appreciate this is me verging on 'come sit on my knee and I'll tell you a story of how good it used to be in the olden days' Grandpa mode, but it's one of the few things that I really dislike thanks to the fusion of social media and front-facing cameras.
Just take nice pictures and remember that nice place. You don't need a magic stick to help you out."









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Updated: Sony Xperia Z4: what we want to see

The Sony Xperia Z3 has only recently arrived on shop shelves but with Sony now in a pattern of releasing two flagships a year we're surely only a matter of months away from the Sony Xperia Z4, so it's not too early to make a wish list of what we want to see.
In fact we're even starting to hear rumors about Sony's next flagship, including one report which reckons the Japanese firm will return to an annual launch of its top device, ditching the recent trend of every six months, though not until after the Z4 launches.
Updates: New rumors point to a May release and leaked images from the Sony hack give us a glimpse of what the Xperia Z4 may look like.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? Sony's next flagship smartphone
• When is it out? Likely to be on shelves in April/May but it could be announced as early as January
• What will it cost? A lot - this will be a high-end device

News and rumors

The Xperia Z3 hasn't been out for long, but already there's chatter on the web about its successor, the Sony Xperia Z4.
In fact we could be in for something quite special as initial claims include specs which would make the Xperia Z4 the most powerful smartphone around.
A 5.5-inch QHD 1440 x 2560 display, 64-bit 2.8GHz octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor, 4GB of RAM, Adreno 430 GPU, 32GB of storage and a Exmor RS CMOS sensor have all been touted for the Xperia Z4.
But more recent rumors are a little more humble. The latest we've heard still includes a QHD display, but at 5.4 inches rather than 5.5. The latest set of rumors also includes 4GB of RAM, but just a 32-bit Snapdragon 805 processor.
The camera is said to have a 20.7MP resolution, just like the Xperia Z3, but with a new sensor capable of taking in more light, along with an upgraded 4.8MP front-facing snapper.
The battery is pegged at 3420mAh, which is a slight boost over the 3100mAh Xperia Z3 and in news which should surprise absolutely no-one the Z4 will apparently run Android 5.0 Lollipop.

All in all while not quite as impressive as the initial spec rumors, that would still make for a big improvement over the Xperia Z3. Oh and there's also a brief mention of the design, from the same source, saying that it will have thinner top and bottom bezels as well as more rounded corners as you can sort of see in the accompanying image.
You may not have to imagine what the Z4 may look like any more though, after images apparently taken from the email account of the Sony CEO during the major Sony hack reveals early renders of the Xperia Z4.

What can you expect then? Well a mirrored front and rear, the now-traditional oversized power/lock key on the right and three colour options - white, black and yellow. That's if the images are correct, of course.

Sony Xperia Z4 release date

We can also take a guess as to when the Xperia Z4 will launch. Sony announced the Xperia Z2 at MWC 2014 on February 24, so there's a fair chance that the Xperia Z4 will arrive at MWC 2015, which next year is set to happen on March 2-5.
That will put almost six months between the Xperia Z3 and the Xperia Z4, so it would make sense if Sony is sticking to two flagships a year.
But we're hearing it might be announced even earlier, as Sony has confirmed that it will be holding a press conference at CES on January 5, though it might have something other than the Xperia Z4 planned. Sony has even put out a teaser trailer, and some suggest the Z4 can be seen in the reflection of an eye.
Either way it probably won't hit stores until around April, as Sony is set to release its new Exmor RS IMX230 image sensor in April 2015 (or May if you believe an email leaked via the Sony hack) and the Xperia Z4 is likely to sport the new sensor. As for what we want to see, read on for all our thoughts.

4K video that actually works

Sony's been trumpeting its phones 4K video capabilities since the Xperia Z2, yet neither that nor the Xperia Z3 can actually record for more than around five minutes without heating up and shutting down the video.

That's obviously a major problem and while it doesn't quite render the 4K feature redundant it does severely limit it. The fact that Sony has left it unfixed in the Xperia Z3 is perplexing, presumably there isn't an easy fix, but if longer videos were possible it could be a genuinely useful feature, whereas right now it's just kind of an embarrassment.
So hopefully it will be fixed for the Sony Xperia Z4. You never know, some people might even have 4K televisions by then too.

A QHD display

The Sony Xperia Z, Z1 and Z2 all had 1080p displays and that was fine as that was the best any smartphone had at the time and the screen size was at least being increased.
But then the Xperia Z3 also launched with a 1080p screen and that was slightly more disappointing, since the size remained the same and other than increased brightness there wasn't much of an upgrade, plus some other phones, such as the LG G3, have started including QHD displays.
We want the Xperia Z4 to wow us and a 1080p display for the fifth time in a row won't do that, so we're hoping its QHD.

Smaller bezels

The Sony Xperia Z3 looks great, but the bezels above and below the screen are off-puttingly large. Presumably there's a reason for their size, they're likely housing vital components required to make the phone actually work, but they're unsightly and we hope they're smaller next time around.

Improved low-light performance

For the most part the Xperia Z3 has a perfectly capable and even impressive camera, but its low-light performance could still use some work.
Sony made some strides with the Xperia Z3, improving it over the Z2, but seemingly more with software than hardware as its low-light photos tend to come out over-processed, leaving it trailing behind the likes of the iPhone 6 and the HTC One M8 in darker scenes.
Clearly Sony is aware of the problem given that it made some improvements on the Xperia Z3, but it didn't go far enough. We want proper hardware improvements, rather than awkward software fixes.
Sony is due to release a flagship mobile image sensor, the Exmor RS IMX230 in April 2015 and it is likely that the Xperia Z4 will come with the new sensor.

More power

With a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor and 3GB of RAM you might not think the Xperia Z3 was lacking for power, yet in some ways it is. For one thing all that power seemingly hasn't translated into performance, as surprisingly we found a little bit of lag in use, especially when switching between apps.

It's not a big deal but it does feel less snappy than most other recent flagships despite the specs, which on paper should be more than up to the task. So we're more after increased performance than an actual boost in specs, if it takes improved specs to do that then fine, but if the same thing can be achieved with a bit more optimisation that's fine too.
Having said that superior specs wouldn't be a bad thing either way, as the Snapdragon 801 is starting to look a bit long in the tooth with the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 using a Snapdragon 805 chip and the Snapdragon 810 expected to start arriving in phones soon.

Fewer bugs

Another surprising aspect of the Xperia Z3 was just how buggy it seemed, with the keyboard sometimes bouncing or proving unresponsive and the notifications bar occasionally getting stuck half way down.
Hopefully Sony will patch those bugs out of the Xperia Z3 anyway but we'd really rather it makes sure the Xperia Z4 is bug-free before launching it.

Faster camera and autofocus

As long as the light's good the Xperia Z3 can take some exceptional snaps, but one problem with it is actually getting to the point of being able to take a photo, as both launching the camera and the autofocus are a little slower than we'd like.
We're talking milliseconds here, but that can still mean the difference between capturing a moment and missing it, so hopefully the Xperia Z4 will have a snappier snapper.
The new Exmor RS IMX230, which the Xperia Z4 is likely to come with, is claimed by Sony to be the industry's first CMOS image sensor built for smartphones which can track fast-moving subjects thanks to built-in image plane phase detection autofocus.
This new sensor would make the Xperia Z4's camera much better at photographing fast moving subjects.

A new design

We've mentioned that we want smaller bezels but what we'd really like to see is a totally new design. Sony has done a good job of refining its OmniBalance design but there's only so much you can do and with handset after handset sporting fundamentally the same look it's starting to get a bit boring.

Not to mention the fact that for our money both the iPhone 6 and the HTC One M8 look better. So hopefully Sony will do something new and exciting with the Xperia Z4.
Make it metal, give it curves, make it triangular. Ok, maybe not that last one, but we're sure Sony can come up with something, oh and get rid of all those annoying flaps! Most likely it will stick with OmniBalance, but we can dream.

Better Lifelogging

Sony's Lifelogging app is an interesting idea, as it goes beyond just counting steps to also tell you how much running, cycling and sleeping you do and even how long you spend listening to music or watching videos (as long as you do it on your phone).
Essentially as the name suggests it's designed to log your life, but it could do with some improvements. The biggest issue is that it's just not accurate enough, but there are also quirks like the fact that it counts all apps as games, so even if you've never touched a game on your smartphone it will likely peg you as a big mobile gamer.
Plus, while all this information is interesting it doesn't really lead to anything or give you any insights based on the data. If Sony can work on all those things for its Z4 implementation then it could become genuinely useful.

Innovation

Asking for innovation might seem a bit vague, but with smartphones increasingly levelling out when it comes to specs it's innovation that can really help them stand out, so it would be great if the Sony Xperia Z4 had one or more innovative new features.
What those might be is anyone's guess, maybe a scratch proof body, maybe a virtual reality display, probably not a virtual reality display, but something and ideally something that's more than just a gimmick.
Come on Sony, give us a new feature that even Z3 owners will consider upgrading for.

• We have ideas for the LG G4 as well.

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Updated: Amazon Instant Video now offers 4K streaming for the UK and US

Update: Amazon has announced that its 4K service is now live for Prime Instant Video users in the UK too. As long as you're a Prime customer, you'll be able to enjoy UHD content at no extra charge.
However only a limited number of television from LG, Sony or Samsung are compatible with the 4K app right now, with more to come in 2015.
Original story below...
Following in the footsteps of Netflix - and getting in the door just in time for festive viewing - Amazon has launched 4K streaming for Instant Video.
The service has gone live in the US, while a spokesperson told TechRadar: "Today's news is US-only. We don't comment on future plans, please stay tuned."
Amazon's Ultra HD streams are available through Instant Video app or on any compatible smart TVs. As you'd expect, the selection is limited for now, with BBC's Orphan Black joining Amazon's originals and a handful of titles from Sony.
But the best news is that customers won't be asked to pay anything on top of their current Prime fee should they want to enjoy some 4K.

• Amazon Prime Instant Video review

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Download of the day: Steam

Steam is the ideal software to enjoy your games and socialise with your friends. With a thriving community and tons of mods for all your favourite games, it's a great all-round game management app.

Why you need it

Steam is a standalone client that lets you download and play games, chat with your friends and store your save progress in the cloud. Around 70% of all PC games bought online are downloaded through Steam, and with more than 3,700 games available for download and over 100 million active users, to call it popular would be something of an understatement.
But it wouldn't do it justice to leave it to that. There's a store packed with superb games from big name publishers, as well as plugins and mods from a whole range of independent creators and fans in the Steam Workshop. There's also a lively community, and you can chat with your friends while you game, useful for coordinating raids or planning your team's next move.
You can add games from rival clients to your library (such as EA's Origin client), use Steam to update your graphics drivers, install games remotely and even stream games to other computers and Windows tablets on your network.
Steam is more than just a conduit through which you can play games; it aims to be the complete gaming hub for you and your friends, and it does that very well indeed.

Key features

• Works on: PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android
• Versions: Free
• Download: Buy, download and play games from a wide range of publishers
• Extend: The Steam store is full of fan-made mods and plugins for thousands of games
• Community: With over 100 million users, Steam lets you connect with people from all over the world and chat with your friends while you game

You'll also like

• Origin
• Game Booster
• Bandicam
• Camtasia
• CamStudio

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Microsoft's Xbox VR headset is alive, and it's already in the hands of developers

TechRadar has learned that Microsoft's virtual reality headset is well into development, and it looks like we may see it in 2015.
Sources familiar with matter have informed TechRadar and VR Focus that the Xbox One headset dev kits are already in the hands of some developers, suggesting that the company is busily working to get software lined up.
While we have been given no explicit indication of time, a separate report from Digitimes claims Microsoft is planning to mass-produce the device in 2015. It also adds that the Project Morpheus rival is being headed up the team in charge of Surface tablet development.

Clash of the titans

Digitimes' own sources reckon Microsoft will showcase the device at E3 2015, with an eye to enter mass production in the same year.
Having learned ourselves that developers are already testing HMD, we'd say that it's highly likely to show up at E3, if not before. We previously revealed that Oculus VR was planning to launch the Rift by Summer 2015 in a limited rollout, so Microsoft's own reveal might be perfectly timed.
We've approached Microsoft for comment and will update if we get a response.

• Hands on with Sony's Project Morpheus

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Review: CoPilot Premium sat nav app

If you're reading Tech Radar you've surely got a smartphone in your hands now, reading this, or it's warming the front area of your jeans.
And guess what? Your Android or iThing's combination of GPS tracking, chips and apps makes it an ideal platform for satnav. You will, of course, have to invest in a car kit – charger and cradle, as it won't be as effective rattling around in your car's footwell. I'd recommend Montar's universal mount (£17.49) and a Belkin charger (£3.99).
Then head to Apple's app store or Google Play for your download of CoPilot's Premium app. It's currently £13.99 for UK and Ireland or £23.99 for Europe in both shop windows. Sorry Windows phones, you miss out. Again. Sorry.

Features

Delve into the menus and you'll realise that this is a tweaker's dream, with an unimpeachable range of options.
Destinations are found via simple postcode input, but you can open up My Places (favourites, basically), browse points of interest or delve straight into your phone's contacts to hoik addresses out. Any destination can be added to My Places with a poke of a favourites button and the interface is clear and intuitive. And you can back up your favourites and recent destinations to the cloud, in case your phone is kidnapped. Yup. They've pretty much thought of everything.
More importantly, as the maps are downloaded directly to your mobile's memory, you don't need a mobile connection, so this is not going to gobble data allowance, although you'll need it clicked on for traffic assist, which is sent over the network wires.
Speaking of which, a year's worth of CoPilot's "ActiveTraffic" alerts is bundled with your app purchase – renewal costs an entirely reasonable £6.99.

Performance

You'll need to spend a couple of minutes in Wi-Fi range to set the app up, with a miscellany of screens choosing your voice from iOS's default options (strangely, it offers just a list of names, with no opportunity to preview. We arbitrarily plumped for Eleanor. Because Eleanor wouldn't navigate us wrong, would she?) then choose whether to link the app to social media, because which of your friends could ever get bored of being notified you're on your way to Tesco. And that you've arrived at Tesco? And that you've left Tesco…
Then you have to download your map, as the app works offline, as noted. All of Europe is 3.83GB, UK and Ireland is 479.9MB. Obviously, Wi-Fi is recommended for this.
Favourites and places are easy to programme in, and you can even find destinations directly through a geotagged photo in your library, which is an absolute boss move. Locations can also be found directly via google search, which also throws up a congestion zone warning, for instance, if your destination is in central London, asking if you want to avoid such awfulness. It even offers two alternative routes, taking into account routes, traffic and tolls. And as it's on a smartphone, you can choose landscape or portrait mode view.
The maps are clear and concise, with speed camera notifications and live traffic, a smartly done map and simple instructions. The traffic warnings work well, too, offering up alternative routes immediately, although the app does show a distinct lack of backstreet-warrior savvy. One of its first actions was to direct us towards a section of the North Circular that's essentially an eternal, four-lane car park.
Then there are the notifications: this thing pings and dings constantly like you've just received a text or email which – as it's a phone you're using it on – becomes enormously distracting.
But it's pleasingly customisable: a thumb to the menus gives the choice of sticking different info in different parts of the screen, depending on your preference, so you can have distance, ETA, time remaining, speed, altitude and heading to the left or right, a degree of personalisation stand alone satnavs just don't offer.

Verdict

This is a pretty terrific halfway house between a compromised free app and a full-fat satnav. It costs little more than £35 (with mount and charger), but offers a similar experience to a mid- to high-end TomTom or Garmin and it's massively versatile, offering a depth of search options, view details, google searches and geotagging to find destinations that simply blows away most standalone satnavs. You can even listen to your device's music, while you drive, with the noise reduced for hollers. Honestly, this thing is vexingly difficult to fault.



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Sony's surreal CES 2015 teaser features Android TV and... a pregnant woman

CES 2015 is just round the corner and we're eagerly anticipating the tidal wave of tech that's about to surge through Las Vegas. Now Sony has given us the sneakiest of peeks at what it'll be showing off.
Posted on YouTube, the teaser trailer is a slightly odd collection of scenes including a chameleon, a time-lapse of the Paris skyline and a pregnant woman.
While those particular images are rather more cryptic, the woman pushing floor five in a lift followed immediately by a girl with a lollipop can mean only one thing: Android 5.0 Lollipop.

This could mean we'll get news on when the Xperia Z3, Z3 Compact and co. will get getting the sweet upgrade treat - but it looks like the big thing will be Android TV.
Sony is one of the main manufacturers confirmed to launch a Lollipop-powered goggle box in 2015, and CES would be the perfect stage for it to show off its wares. Hints from other clips in the video suggest it's set to be a super slim solution - so much so that someone lovingly strokes it right at the start.

Something in your eye?

There's even the chance the Sony Xperia Z4 may show up, but the link in the video is pretty loose with what appears to be a faint rectangular object in the reflection of an eye.
TechRadar will be out in Las Vegas to bring you all the latest from the show, but in the meantime have a watch of the video below and let us know what you think Sony is hinting at.
YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gC_NIVpXf4

• CES 2015: what to expect

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Lenovo's new phone might boast a 46-day battery life

However much our smartphones improve in terms of power and style, it feels like battery life only gets worse. That's not a situation Lenovo is happy with, and the rumour is that its next P70t mobile will boast a crazy 46-day battery life.
Before you get too excited and throw out your portable charger we should point out that it looks like the 46-day figure is for standby time and based on some back-of-an-envelope calculations, so not an official statistic yet. Leaks from within the manufacturer suggest the phone will rock a 4000mAh battery (the iPhone 6 uses a 1810 mAh one, by comparison).
There's more to the forthcoming P70t than a beefy battery, though: the handset will also include advanced power-saving technologies and shut down all apps running in the background when you lock it, enabling you to eek out every last drop of battery juice.
The rumours come courtesy of Gizmo China, and the site says that the Lenovo P70t will measure 142mm by 71.8mm with a thickness of 8.9mm. Aimed at business users and available in black or white, the phone weighs in at 149g, according to the leaked information.

Off the grid

Also of note is the fact that the battery is removable, so you could in theory keep a spare with you and head off for 92 days of living off the grid if you fancy some solitude. The P70t will feature a 5-inch 720p OGS display screen and a 64-bit quad-core LTE processor if the documents seen by Gizmo China turn out to be on the money.
Lenovo does have previous form when it comes to building products with long-lasting batteries — the P780 also features a 4000mAh battery.
Let's hope the Chinese firm can come good on its promise to produce a phone that can go more than a month without needing a top up. It'll make for a hugely appealing handset if so.

• Battery life tips for iPhone and Android

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Christmas crackers: Evernote

Evernote is the Swiss Army knife of data collection programs. There are versions available not only for Windows but also for phones and tablets, so you can take the information with you wherever you go, and the sharing options mean that you can work on things with friends and family.
The possibilities with the program are just about endless; you can use it to store and organise all manner of things you need to keep track of. You could use it to record recipes you find online and build up a shopping list, or you could maintain a list of people you need to write thank you letters to.
There's a web clipping tool available that can be used to save text and pictures from websites – great if you're looking around for things to buy in the January sales. Evernote is an excellent planning tool, so you can easily put together ideas for things you want to do, resolutions you want to make and so on.
Evernote is available to download and use completely free of charge, but paid-for premium accounts gain access to extra features – but for day-to-day use, a free account is more than enough for most people.



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