Updated: 10 best iPhone camera and photo editing apps
Best iPhone camera apps 1-5
The latest iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have the best cameras yet from Apple. Despite going with an 8MP sensor for three years now, the Cupertino company gave its latest set of handsets faster phase-detect autofocus and even optical image stabilization on the larger phablet. Similarly iOS 8 brings a host of improvements to the default camera app, with new timelapse tool and ability to shoot slow motion movies - plus all the OS level editing tools.While Apple's prepacked imaging tools are great and all. The iPhoneography only truly sings when with a collection of apps to expand the capabilities of smartphone photography. With this in mind we've rounded up the 10 best camera apps letting you pull off all sorts of new tricks including toy box images, camera shake free videos and fixing lens distortion.
1. Manual
One of the biggest new camera features of iOS 8 was the ability to finally adjust your exposure settings. Although you can manually brighten and darken the frame with the basic built-in camera app, the Manual app adds some more granular control over settings such as ISO and shutter speed.
You could use this added flexibility to capture a long exposure by decreasing the ISO while lengthening the shutter speed. Alternatively when you want to shoot fast moving action in dark conditions, raise the ISO and shoot at a faster shutter speed. What's more, the app also gives you access to more features such as exposure compensation, manual focus and white balance.
The only thing you won't be doing in Manual is editing your images afterwards. Manual is strictly a camera shooting app, focused purely on transmuting moments into pictures.
2. Photoshop Touch
While Manual might not have any editing options whatsoever, look to Photoshop Touch for all your post processing needs. This versatile post processing tool lets you tweak your images for everything from brightness, contrast, saturation to toning down the highlights (otherwise known as the bright parts of the frame).
Beyond some basic adjustments, the mobile Adobe workshop comes with layers and many of the same filtering effects from the full fledged desktop app. With these tools you could apply a blur to one layer and blend another image into the frame, all while adding a grainy texture to to create the effect of double exposed film.
It might sound like overkill for the everyday iPhone snapshot, but it's crucial to have a fully featured image editor when more and more of the best DSLR cameras can wirelessly transfer images over to a smartphone. Like Lightroom Mobile for the iPad, Photoshop Touch also lets you remotely edit images you have stored on Adobe's Creative Cloud.
3. Replay
If moving images are more your area there are plenty of video editors to choose from on iOS. Replay
stands out in several respects thanks to its ease-of-use and the broad
selection of tools packed into it (many of which you'll have to pay for,
however).
You can throw in filters, add text and music,
trim scenes, add slow motion and choose from a selection of preset
styles if you want most of the work done for you. You don't actually
record anything with the app itself, just pick out clips and photos from
the camera roll.When you're happy with the way things are looking, there are a bunch of sharing options to choose from (even though the app says it's "for Instagram" on the App Store). Speaking of Instagram, don't forget the excellent Hyperlapse video recorder from the same team, which can apply both time lapse and stabilisation effects to your footage.
4. SimplyB&W
Color photography is modern and all that, but black and white photography still has it place in the world. Going with a monochromatic image is great for accentuating the lighting or capturing emotion in a photo by removing any distracting hues.With this in mind we're nominating SimplyB&W as the best camera app to make black and white images.
This app can take any image you take and convert it into a grayscale image. For the best looking black and white images, you'll also want to mess around with the color levels by darkening reds or brightening the yellows. Luckily SimplyB&W includes a few templates, which darkens and lightens certain colors. You can also apply filters and add a vignette (dark circular border) to the image to make it a really classic looking image.
5. VSCO Cam
While we're still on the topic of classical film looks, there's no other app that comes with as many excellent film simulations as VSCO Cam. With the app you can add little desaturating and color shifting filters just like Hipstamatic and other apps. VSCO Cam, however, also has a few more options for tweaking the exposure and adding film grain. If you want a simple image editor that also offers some great filter effects, VSCO Cam is it.
Best iPhone camera apps 6-10
6. SKRWT
Distortion is big problem with mobile phones because they all tend to come equipped with a wide-angle lens. If you've ever taken an image of a brick wall or a buildings head on, you might have noticed the center of the frame bulges out causing lines to curve into a bowl shape. It's a small but unmistakable problem all smartphones cameras suffer - that is until SKRWT showed up in the app store.
This vowel-deficient app corrects (or adds more) distortion letting me square up this image above of the Brooklyn Bridge. SKRWT is also a great iPhone camera app if you want to change the perspective of an photo. For example you could take a photo of building looking upward to capture the whole thing. Then make a few adjustments to create a final picture that look like it was taken while looking at the building head on.
7. TinType
Whether you like it or not, the selfie is now hugely popular with the majority of mobile picture snappers. TinType
helps to add a touch of class to your your selfies — or portraits, as
they used to be known — whether you're photographing yourself or someone
else. Sepia, monochrome and painted colour effects are available
(though we'd like to see a few more included as the app's developed) and
there are options to let you adjust the plate grain, eye intensity and
depth-of-field of your shot.
You can save your new creation
without writing over your old one and of course the usual sharing
options are here too (including Instagram). If you take a lot of face
shots, then give TinType a try — there's also Cinamatic
from the same developers, a stylish video capture app with different
filters, recording modes, manual controls and export options to play
around with.8. Brushstroke
There's more than one way to create a beautiful image and the Brushstroke app will turn your real life stills into gorgeous watercolor paintings. The process is as simple as picking an image to convert and hitting the go button. After a few seconds Brushstroke will pop out a freshly painted image that can be further customized with different brush styles, colored paints and differently textured canvases.
There are a handful of other painting conversion apps like Waterlogue and Popsicolor, but Brushstroke has always been the fastest app on the draw. Unlike the other apps, Brushstroke also lets you tweak the image with settings like saturation and brightness.
9. Afterlight
Consistently near the top of the App Store charts, Afterlight is going to set you back a few pennies but is well worth the investment. It manages to marry powerful features with a simple interface, and it includes a ton of textures and filters as well as adjustment tools for dramatically changing the look of your pictures with a few swipes of the finger.
Whether you want your photos to look scrappy and torn or like works of finely tuned art, Afterlight makes it possible. If you just want to straighten and crop your pictures, then it can do that too. It will take you a long time to explore all of the options here, even before you get into the paid packs of effects, and it's easy to see why so many iPhone users love it.
10. Slow Fast Slow
One of the neatest video tricks the iPhone 5S camera introduced was the ability to shoot slow motion videos. But watching balloons pop or skaters pull tricks in just slow motion by itself is gets old really fast. This is where the Slow Fast Slow video editing app comes to let you manipulate the tempo of your video.
Speed up slow motion back to regular speed or put motion into fast forwards. Alternatively, you could take a regular movie clip and alter the frame rate in multiple sections. Slow Fast Slow can even take a video and turn it on its head to play backwards.
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Industry voice: Tech trends for 2015: the year in which the digital-first world takes hold
2014 was an incredible year. We watched technology cross the threshold from futuristic concept to mainstream use with biometric devices like Apple's Touch ID featured on the iPhone and iPad, and 3D printers being piloted across schools for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teaching.
The development of Gigabit-per-second broadband service by BT G.FAST started pushing broadband to new limits and free Wi-Fi became a mainstay in public places like the London underground, train stations, and local coffee shops including Costa and Starbucks.
While some companies soared – internet service Airbnb kick-started the sharing economy, WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook for a whopping $16 billion (around £10.5 billion, AU$19.5 billion), and Alibaba celebrated the largest tech IPO ever, raking in $21.8 billion (around £14.5 billion, AU$26.5 billion) – others fell by the wayside. Amidst all the market upheavals, change was the only constant.
"When you're finished changing, you're finished." – Benjamin Franklin
So what's in store for this year? As the "digital-first world" takes hold, the disruptors will be disrupted and technology will continue to change our lives in big ways. Here are the top technology trends that I see impacting the way we work and play in 2015.
1. Cloud becomes the new normal
The cloud will be embraced en masse this year because the benefits are huge. By digitising information-intensive processes, costs can be cut by up to 90% and turnaround times improved by several orders of magnitude.
What I expect to see by year-end is a world of hybrid deployments in which some information and applications reside in the cloud and the remainder resides on-premise. Data security is a top priority, and a hybrid model allows organisations to balance their workload, meeting all their data sovereignty requirements while leveraging the power of the cloud.
2. Digitisation begins the next massive displacement and migration of labour
The employment landscape will be in flux throughout 2015, the early stages of what I expect to be the next significant labour displacement in history.
Digital technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), wearable technologies, and mobile and smart devices will force organisations to change the way they engage customers, and develop and deliver new products and services. Analytics will become ubiquitous, bringing intelligence to every process. Robotics, smart machines, and artificial intelligence (AI) will infiltrate new parts of the organisation and automate positions that are repetitive and transactional in nature. In time, we could see 20 to 30 million jobs migrate or disappear.
It's not all doom and gloom, but simply a shift from transactional jobs to tacit jobs. Tacit jobs require data analysis, judgement, and problem solving skills, as well as the ability to think creatively, communicate effectively, and collaborate in teams. Tacit jobs are predicted to grow two-and-a-half times faster than the transactional segment and CEOs will soon recognise the skills gap around tacit jobs for technology.
3. New startups will mesh digital and physical
2015 will be the year that we see an increasing amount of nimble startups outpacing established enterprises to bring new products to market faster. Technological advances like 5G networks, more processing power, advances in storage, and cloud and mobile computing are blurring the boundaries between the physical and the virtual – between people and their technology. Startups will follow in the footsteps of Tado and Dash to leverage this "zero-distance connectivity" and offer compelling new products and services.
Startups are purists in their approach, organising their operations around a focused sense of purpose and the promise of tremendous growth. Agility trumps size, which makes startup culture dynamic, unstable, easy to scale, and eager to embrace (even define) new business models.
The startup philosophy entails a rapid product development cycle. Over the next few years, we'll see development cycles evolve from sprints to hyper-connected dashes. Innovation will become faster, more compressed, and approach the spontaneous. To keep pace in a digital-first world, CIOs and business leaders will have to think like entrepreneurs and adopt startup strategies. Borrowing from the startup ethos will empower them to build adaptive enterprises that can proactively create opportunities for growth.
4. The world realises the "Internet of Things" is just the Internet
Everyone is buzzing about the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT is the extension of the internet, connecting us to millions of machines, sensors, and objects around us. The IoT will transform the world as we know it, creating a giant, global network of devices and machines that are connected, communicating, and exchanging data. This market will see 50 billion devices connected by 2020 and a value of $14.4 trillion (around £9.5 trillion, AU$17.5 trillion). Its potential impact is huge.
And while the IoT is viewed by many as a nebulous, futuristic concept, in reality, it already exists: we wear pedometers, smartwatches, and cameras, our pets are micro-chipped, and we drive cars with built-in sensors. Thanks to the IoT, many of our everyday appliances will soon have the ability to self-monitor and communicate with a network – think Marge's fully automated "Ultrahouse 3000" in The Simpsons.
Organisations in both the public and private sector are already using sensor-based technologies to improve inventory control and manage energy through smart grids. As we progress through 2015, more and more people will come to realise the IoT is simply the next evolution of the internet.
5. The Chief Data Officer and Chief Digital Officer will become mainstream
To help guide the enterprise on its journey to digital transformation, two C-level roles will find themselves at the executive table: the Chief Data Officer and the Chief Digital Officer. While their roles are unique, both will focus on the strategic importance of information in a digital economy.
The Chief Digital Officer will be the executive advocate for the digital customer and will emerge to oversee both the strategy and the technology for a seamless and satisfying digital customer experience. According to Gartner, 25% of businesses will have a Chief Digital Officer by the end of 2015.
The Chief Data Officer will emerge as the executive advocate for data management – using the exploding volumes of data and analytics to improve decision making and identify new revenue opportunities. Across the organisation, every function will want access to data and insights about their operations. The Chief Data Officer will make this possible by optimising the management of data (integrating, deploying, securing, governing) and mobilising the organisation around an Enterprise Information Management (EIM) strategy.
The digital-first world is coming like a fast-moving train. It's fuelled by disruptors like cloud technology, the IoT, and a shifting workforce. The impact of its changes will soon be felt. Are you ready?
- Mark Barrenechea is the CEO of OpenText
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Week in Gaming: New 3DS, Metroid Prime on the Wii U, and hope for Watch Dogs 2
It's not easy to admit that I worship at the altar of Nintendo. Despite my resolute belief that the Wii U is still a horse in the new-gen console race, plenty of people discounted it long ago. The little black box has faced its fair share of tribulations since launch but things are looking brighter than ever for Nintendo's console/tablet.
And when a week like this comes around, you know that all the tears and night sweats have been worth it. The January Nintendo Direct may have been lacking some quality Iwata comedy, but it more than made up for that with a flurry of big games, big reveals and plenty of fan service. No time for bananas when there's this much news to announce. So let me break down what happened.
- New 3DS release date: both the new 3DS and 3DS XL will hit Europe on February 13. America will get its hands on the souped-up handheld on the same date, but only the XL. Check out our full review of the new 3DS right here.
- More Amiibos! Oh yes, you didn't honestly think Nintendo was going to stop milking that cash cow any time soon, did you? It's full steam ahead with a further bunch of figures for Super Smash Bros. including Wario, Ness, Charizard and Pacman. Then, as if your wallet isn't aching enough, there are some new Super Mario-themed figures to look forward to, including existing Amiibo characters who are now striking new poses. Which means they're completely different and I must buy them all.
- Release dates aplenty. Both the Majora's Mask 3D and Monster Hunter 4 will be arriving the same day as the new and improved consoles, while Xenoblade Chronicles 3D will touch down on April 2.
- There's a gorgeous new Majora's Mask-themed 3DS that we can't wait to stroke.
- Nintendo is re-releasing a number of games for download on the Wii U, starting with Mario Galaxy 2 (now available) and including Metroid Prime Trilogy (available January 29). And for the first week each title is available you'll be able to get it for half price.
- And beside all of that there were some new game announcements too, although only one really worth mentioning here - the new Fire Emblem for 3DS, which will only run on the "new" 3DS models. Suck it, oldies.
Paws for thought
Ah, Watch Dogs. The very archetype of disappointment. It's not that you were bad - in fact you were pretty great - it's that you had so much untapped potential. And it certainly didn't help that you launched in the shadow of GTA 5 - I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.But inside were some great ideas and the potential for a far better, far less muddled sequel. The game's creator seems to be of a similar opinion. Despite no formal announcement of a follow-up as yet, creative director Jonathan Morin has talked about his early plans for the inevitable Watch Dogs 2, which hopefully won't take five years to make this time.
"We want to allow [fans] to play with a very different state of mind, not wrap up concepts for them," Morin said in an interview with GamesTM. "Players loved the idea of other players who create an alternate reality in their games and, knowing that, now opens up a lot of new possibilities of what online can do."
But it sounds like Morin wants to go well beyond simply addressing the game's flaws. Whether this will translate into the uncompromised "GTA with hacking" that we'd hoped for remains to be seen - but we're not going to get our hopes up again.
"I don't think Watch Dogs is perfect in any way and there's a lot of room for improvement," he said. "But you don't always see this when you ship a game. We deliver what we believe the brand should be at the time.
"Afterward, when you cool down after five and a half years [of development] and take your vacations and people play the game, certain elements become clear. They let you continue to bring what you envision to the next level with the fans included this time, which is where I think it really gets interesting."
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Industry voice: What are the hidden costs of software licensing?
For most businesses, fully understanding their software usage and working out the number of software licences they own as well as calculating when they expire or need renewing is a constant source of frustration.
Licensing complexities continue to increase as new technology platforms launch and software consumption methods evolve, and this coupled with the introduction of cloud based usage has seen software from many vendors become increasingly harder to keep tabs on.
Microsoft for example, is changing their licensing models, offering several types of licensing schemes in order to be both cost effective and flexible - but this makes it even harder to keep tabs on existing licenses. So how do you keep on top of software licensing?
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
There has been a recent rise in the number of workers implementing the BYOD policy offered by their employers. Bring your own device has seen companies allowing employees to use their own personal devices into the workplace.These devices are party to privileged company information and applications, and therefore the organisation must have the required software licenses to cover them. If there are any license compliance issues with a device, regardless of whether the end user owns the device, the company will always take the fall. This can cause unexpected costs - having to buy many new licenses to an unexpected penalty.
Client Access Licenses
Originally, servers were used to share documents but now they have developed to host the organization's intranet, hold virtual desktops and support the virtual environment. To access the information stored on the server each device or user needs a Client Access License (CAL), this is where it can get complicated.If you decide to license per device, you license each device to access the server but if you have employees who have multiple devices it would be more economical to license per user, whilst managing a mixture or user and device CALs is administratively difficult, Microsoft don't actually mind how you choose license your estate as long as you can demonstrate how you are managing it - the one exception being Enterprise Agreements, then you choose device or user. Adding another point of confusion - no matter how many servers you have, you only need one CAL.
CAL usage is strictly enforced, and with complications arising from the number of devices and locations from which an application might be accessed, CAL licensing complexity can be difficult to avoid but is harshly penalised, so shouldn't be ignored.
Citrix and Windows Terminal Servers
If you have multiple employees requiring differing software stacks then you need to ensure they are accessing only the software they are entitled to but also only from licensed devices. On one server you could publish Microsoft Office, Project and Visio to specific groups of employees with rights to access each piece of software.To enforce control over these user rights it is often necessary to introduce a management system that can prevent inadvertent usage by an approved user from unlicensed device- this is one of the prevalent areas of shortfall discovered during vendor instigated audits.
Whilst this will facilitate compliance with the vendor's licensing terms it merely illustrates worst case liability but does not help with the re-harvesting of unused licenses so the ability to track which devices have accessed which applications within a 90 day window can help when deciding which users do actually require non-standard applications.
Downtime
When businesses purchase software licenses the largest part overlooked is the actual cost of their employee's time during implementation as well as maintenance and support. A recent study by the U.S Department Of Commerce showed that software purchase expenditure only accounted for around 30% of the total amount spent on software overall - with the costs rising due to management, implementation and labour costs.Hiring Licensing Expertise
Sometimes thought of as a hidden cost, hiring license management expertise actually helps eliminate unnecessary software spend and often reduces an organization's overall software spend - not to mention provide peace of mind should an audit request come through. It is also a long-term cost saving measure, with the initial outlay of hiring an external company sure to come full circle and be recouped in the future.Hiring a Software Asset Management (SAM) expert eases the pressure of managing software licensing complexities, enabling you to concentrate on strategic thinking, moving your business forward and feel safe in the knowledge that your license management is being safely taken care of.
- Sean Robinson is Managing Director of SAM and license management experts License Dashboard.
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Who will win the battle of the enterprise giants?
Introduction
The war over the consumer is at an end. The winners have been declared and the dust is settling: smartphones and tablets are winning, traditional PC sales are declining and Apple, Google and Amazon reign supreme. All of the large consumer-facing technology startups that originated in Silicon Valley are ageing – Apple is over 30 years old, for example – and breaking into the market is becoming harder and harder, to the point where the focus has shifted elsewhere.The social web has exploded over the past decade, with the introduction of Twitter and Facebook bringing the social experience to the internet and reaping billions of dollars in revenue in the process. But the one place where the dust has yet to settle – or even begin settling – is the enterprise.
Previously, creating an enterprise company was a tricky affair requiring a boatload of capital and patience. Microsoft started out as a consumer company and pivoted, after a fashion, into enterprise, building class leading software for big business and supporting the expansion of its enterprise arm through sales of consumer software. Companies like Oracle and Xerox still dominate the space but startups are becoming an increasingly prevalent force, focusing in on a specific problem and 'disrupting' – although I am loath to use the term – that field.
Old giants and new startups
The current competitors for the enterprise landscape, operating in different spheres but with plans to expand once they achieve dominance, include a mixture of startups and legacy companies ranging from Apple, with its $180 billion (around £119 billion, AU$218 billion) cash hoard, to Box, aiming for an IPO in 2015.In 2014, Apple increased its enterprise offering substantially partnering with IBM to offer MobileFirst iOS apps to customers in banking, retail, insurance, financial services, telecommunications, and for governments and airlines. By doing this, Apple has positioned its iOS devices at the centre of a new corporate culture of reliance on mobile technology.
As I wrote in a piece last month, "[Apple] has become the darling of the enterprise landscape – and in a big way. Through the iPhone, and then the iPad, Apple has positioned its products as a staple item within the world of [Fortune 500] companies", and this trend is only set to continue. IBM's focus on big data and Apple's knowledge of design and its already expansive rollout of iOS devices match perfectly.
Indeed, in Apple's press release Bridget van Kralingen, senior VP of IBM Global Business Services, touched on this: "Our collaboration combines IBM's industry expertise and unmatched position in enterprise computing, with Apple's legendary user experience and excellence in product design." Apps have already been created through the partnership for sectors from aerospace to government to banking, showing just how committed Apple is to enterprise software and leaving behind the 'just for creatives' image that was attached to the Mac.
Storage wars
The storage wars are also heating up, pitting Dropbox and Google head-to-head. Dropbox has a service for enterprise clients, named Dropbox for Business, which pitches itself as a "secure file sharing and storage solution that employees love and IT admins trust", offering an individual Dropbox for each user with 1TB of space.Google has a similar offering and can use its other sources of revenue to undercut Dropbox's pricing strategy, as it already does. Dropbox started as a consumer company and so its transition to enterprise has been delayed, but offers a wide range of external plugins via its API which can expand its usefulness to business tenfold.
Google is also fighting with Box on another front, namely online collaboration software. With Google Docs, the web giant pioneered the collaborative online workplace where multiple people could work alongside each other iterating on a document – a feature we use here at TechRadar, no less.
Box takes this a step further by attempting to own the whole experience, creating an almost operating system-like user experience on the internet which can work with any kind of document. Box lists some of its strength as File Sharing, Online Collaboration, File Synchronisation and Policy and Workflow Management, and already has over 57,000 paying organisations using its services.
In 2014 Box released its S1 filings to the SEC declaring its interest in an IPO, raising extra capital to accelerate its growth. Indeed, Box says that if it didn't invest so heavily in growth the company would be profitable (as it is, Box made a loss of $45.4 million – around £30 million, AU$55 million – in Q3 2014, the last declared earnings). That Box is even looking at an IPO shows its intent to stick around, as opposed to being acquired, and fight its corner for a long time to come.
Enterprise is the future
Microsoft has had a change of leadership and is now looking to expand its consumer and enterprise software concurrently. As Mary Jo Foley put it, "Microsoft's enterprise offerings continue to carry the day," bringing in over $14 billion (around £9 billion, AU$17 billion) in Q4 2014. While Microsoft's future may lie with wearables or health in terms of relevancy to the consumer, its fiscal future could lie with enterprise and Satya Nadella knows this.Instead of specialising in one sector, Microsoft attempts to cover them all and it seems to be working. As enterprise isn't generally considered as "sexy" as consumer technology (with the exception of Box) far less attention is paid to it, especially in the tech press, and so it is easy to let Microsoft's innovations go unnoticed – but 2014 witnessed updates to nearly all of the company's main enterprise offerings.
Microsoft's Azure competes directly with Amazon Web Services, offering online hosting for all kinds of companies. 2014 saw a price battle between the two giants, propped up by revenue from other sources. In many ways, this is what separates Amazon, Microsoft and Apple from Dropbox and Box: while the latter have to 'bootstrap' themselves from existing revenue, the former all have strong revenue streams established that can be used to invest in new technologies. Apple's iPhone, for example, brings in north of $100 billion (around £66 billion, AU$121 billion) per year which can be reinvested in new technology, some of which is applicable to enterprise.
The war for the consumer is over, but the war for enterprise is hotting up and these companies are at the forefront of what is going to occur in 2015 and beyond. We will likely see IPOs, buyouts and more, as new products are released almost daily. There has never been a better time to have an interest in enterprise.
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Hands-on review: UPDATED: Oculus Rift
Hands on at Oculus Connect 2014
Update CES 2015: We went hands on with the Oculus Rift Crescent Bay prototype during CES 2015, however the demo was the same one revealed during Oculus Connect. The company has also continued to remain mum on the spec details of the latest audio equipped HMD.Though the audio itself has a few new things under the hood. Specifically, a new Oculus Audio SDK will be part of the CV1 package. This means devs will be able to incorporate 3D positional audio for an even deeper immersive experience. The same SDK will be available for the Samsung Gear VR, another virtual reality venture Oculus is part of.
We've included a few photos of the CES experience and an interview with Oculus's Head of Mobile, Max Cohen where he explains the significance of adding sound to VR.
Update November 12 2014: There has been a recent 0.4.3 release of the Oculus PC SDK, which features Linux support, a number of performance and stability improvements and support for developing Rift content with Unity Free. Another PC update will be released this month, perhaps to coincide with the impending release date of the head mounted display.
Oculus held its first ever Oculus Connect virtual reality conference in Hollywood on September 20, and the growing company used the opportunity to show off its newest Oculus Rift prototype: Crescent Bay. The lighter, more comfortable Crescent Bay Rift prototype has beefed-up specs and, for the first time, integrated headphones designed by the engineers at Oculus VR.
But unlike with past prototypes like DK2 or "Crystal Cove," Oculus is being less than upfront about Crescent Bay's specifications. They bumped the last headset up to 1080p, and Crescent Bay certainly appears to have an even higher resolution, but the company won't confirm as much.
That's because they want to focus on the Oculus Rift as a full package rather than as a simple amalgamation of its various components, all of which will no doubt change by the time the consumer version Rift - CV1, as the company refers to it - is finally ready.
"It's the combination of the resolution with the optics, with the mechanical engineering and industrial design of this thing, that allow for it to look like it's a higher resolution, even though it may or may not be," Oculus Vice President of Product Nate Mitchell told TechRadar. "The synergy of all the components together is what takes it up a notch."
What Oculus instead focused on with the Crescent Bay demos it showed off at Oculus Connect was the level of "presence" the Rift can make users feel under optimal conditions and with content designed specifically to be as immersive as possible.
Down with the Bay
Whereas every past official Oculus Rift demo took place with users seated, this time the company had journalists and other Oculus Connect attendees standing up and walking around with the headset strapped to their faces.In interviews afterward, Mitchell and Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey emphasized that the stand-up Rift experience is not the experience that they're stressing for consumers, but was simply meant in this case to crank up the immersion as high as possible. Mitchell called this demo "conceptual," and Luckey said "the Oculus Rift is a seated experience. It's very dangerous to stand up."
As true as that may be - you probably shouldn't try walking blindly around your home while the Oculus Rift is tricking your brain into thinking you're on a different planet or in a submarine - the stand-up experience demonstrated with Crescent Bay at Oculus Connect was undoubtedly the most immersive and impressive virtual reality demo ever.
The experience consisted of about a dozen demos developed by Oculus's new internal content team. Luckey said these demos are the cream of the crop as far as what Oculus has developed, and many more experiences were scrapped or sidelined. Over several minutes they showed off a variety of potential Rift applications, eliciting a number of very different responses.
The demos
The Crescent Bay demos took place in a highly controlled environment: a small, empty room with four plain, grey walls. A camera - larger than the one used with Crystal Cove - was mounted on the wall, tracking users' positions as they walked around a small, black mat on the ground.By tracking the Crescent Bay prototype's white-studded surface (these nubs are now located all around the headset, including on the back of the strap) this camera can accurately understand your position in the room, allowing you to walk around freely in virtual space. Not to get too dramatic, but it really is a mind-blowing experience.
The demos themselves consisted of several non-interactive environments, from a creaking submarine chamber to a sunny museum in which a life-sized (looked that way at least) T-Rex sniffs around and ultimately steps directly over you.
These short experiences lasted less than a minute each. One highlight took place at the top of a skyscraper in a steampunk, BioShock-inspired city. Standing up in that grey room, you could walk to the edge of the virtual roof and look down hundreds of feet to the traffic below. And as with the T-Rex's roar, the Crescent Bay Rift's attached headphones - technically stereo, but with simulated surround sound - made the experience seem all the more real with traffic noises, hissing wind and more.
That demo called to mind the Game of Thrones "Ascend the Wall" Oculus Rift experience designed by visual effects firm Framestore. Used by HBO at promotional events like the premiere of Game of Thrones' fourth season, Ascend the Wall put users inside an actual metal cage - replicating the elevator from the series - that rumbled and blew cold air at them as they virtually ascended to the top of the show's fictional 800-foot-high Wall.
The more points of feedback these demos are able to simulate, the more "presence" users feel, Oculus contends. These feedback points range from that feeling of cold air being blown in your face - which is not very practical - to ambient sound, which is practical - to something as simple as standing up, which is not ideal for every situation but nevertheless ramps things up considerably.
"You stand up, and suddenly your balance kicks in, and you're like, 'woah!' and you feel your weight shift subconsciously," Mitchell explained to us after the demo. "When you stand up suddenly [your subconscious] is totally engaged."
All of these demos showed off the ways that standing up can enhance virtual reality. For example, within environments that appear small, like a tiny cartoon city or a sci-fi terrain map that could be used for a strategy game, walking around makes you feel like you're playing an Ender's Game-like simulation.
But one of the most fun demos involved simply standing and facing a curious alien on a distant planet. As the user bends down and moves around to better examine the alien, it does the same to the user, clucking in a strange tongue. You actually get the sense that it's talking to you, and it's easy to see how this type of interaction could be used to make video games better.
Yet another demo had you staring into a mirror, with your head represented by a floating mask. No matter how hard I tried or how fast I moved, I couldn't detect a shred of latency as the mask in the mirror reflected my every movement. Again, the grey room in which this took place was a more controlled environment than most people's homes, but it was nevertheless impressive.
Early verdict
The final experience - and the most game-like - showed off exactly how cool an Unreal Engine 4 Oculus Rift game might be. Futuristic soldiers shot at a hulking robot as it fired right back, explosions sending cars flying in slow motion as the point of view crept slowly down the street toward the machine. It felt natural to physically dance around, dodging incoming bullets and ducking under flipping vehicles, no matter how ridiculous I might have looked to onlookers who couldn't see what I was seeing.This could legitimately be the future of gaming - if Oculus can figure out the input problem. Although many Oculus Rift demos have used an Xbox 360 controller, there's still no standard input device for Rift games. Like Crescent Bay's integrated audio, though, this is a problem Oculus is actively working on.
"There's a very real possibility that we would have come to the conclusion that audio is something we were going to leave to third parties," Luckey told us at the conference. "We came to the conclusion that we had to do it ourselves, and we had to do a good job, because it was so important to get right. I think input is in that camp."
That's just one of the problems Oculus needs to solve before the Rift is ready for consumers, and given that Crescent Bay is just the latest of many prototypes it's unclear when it will be. But when Oculus Rift CV1 is ready, it has the potential to change entertainment forever.
Hands on at Comic-Con and GDC 2014
Update: Oculus Rift Dev Kit 2 is on its way to game makers and it's being used for by movie studios. We revised our hands-on review and added facts about its Galaxy Note 3 screen and Mac support.Hands on impressions by Matt Swider and Alex Roth
As Oculus Rift Dev Kit 2 starts shipping to pre-order customers, we got more face time with the virtual reality headset at PAX Prime and Comic-Con.
Codenamed Crystal Cove, the updated Oculus Rift DK2 costs $350 (about £207, AU$373). That's $50 (about £30, AU$53) more than the first-generation developer kit.
However, the improved specs make it well worth the price bump if you're a developer with a passion for cutting-edge technology and the patience for beta hardware.
The face-worn display outfits developers with an HD screen that's 1080p or 960 x 1080 per eye. It finally meets our next-generation gaming needs.
Believe it or not, the Oculus Rift DK2 display actually uses the 5.7-inch Super AMOLED panel from the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Behind its rubber casing is same exact front panel, "Samsung" logo and all.
This makes sense. Oculus was rumored to be working with Samsung on the South Korean electronics giant's own virtual reality headset. Whether or not that pans out remains to be seen.
Despite both the physical and theorized Samsung ties, Mac compatibility has been added to the Oculus Rift DK2, making good on the start-up company's promise to support Apple machines. All five OS X game developers are rejoicing right now.
Oculus Rift DK2 drops the first interation's control box in favor of integrating the guts into the headset itself. Only a single cable - HDMI and USB woven together - dangls from your face.
The new kit also comes with a motion-tracking camera, which allows for greater movement within the world of the Rift. It looks a bit like a webcam, and a lot like a PlayStation Eye camera from the PS3 days.
It features a blue "on" light and an Oculus logo, but its true power isn't visible to the naked eye. It uses forty infrared LEDs on the headset to track your head movements and integrate them into the game. These LEDs were visible on the version we tried at CES 2014, but not anymore.
In the demos we saw at GDC 2014, this meant players could lean in for a closer look at in-game objects and characters. These were the same demos we saw at CES, with the exception of a new one by Epic Games, which integrated the player into the game a unique way.
The game was a one on one battle between two sword and shield wielding avatars. It takes place in a living room, where players can see representations of themselves seated in the room, controller in hand. To keep an eye on the fight we had to swivel our head and crane our neck.
The Rift was a surreal experience as always; when our opponent turned his head or leaned forward it gave his neck a stretched, snake-like appearance. And when one of the battling avatars leapt up onto your lap, you half expect to feel his little feet on your legs.
If you've used the previous Rift, know that Crystal Cove is a night and day difference. The higher resolution makes all the difference in the world; it's like going from Skyrim on a four-year-old PC to one from last year.
Note that we say last year; the Oculus Rift still isn't sporting visuals that you could call next gen. There are still jaggedly rendered objects, but the immersive nature of the experience trumps graphics any day, and is one you need to see to believe.
Movies come to Oculus Rift at Comic-Con
Both Twenty Century Fox and Warner Bros. were backing new Oculus Rift Dev Kit 2 units at the cosplay-filled San Diego convention with demos for their X-Men and Into the Storm films.
The X-Men Cerebro Experience provided the more surreal experience as attendees slipped into the wheelchair and saw through the eyes of mutant leader Professor Charles Xavier. He, fittingly, donned the just-as-snug brain amplifying mutant detector Cerebro on his own head.
The concept involved seeking the shapeshifting mutant Mystique by looking 360 degrees in any direction. She was hiding in a Comic-Con crowd that was fictitious and barren - it would have been cooler if it used augmented reality here.
The actual hunt was automated and fairly boring, but Professor X's replica wheelchair at the Fox booth provided developers with the opportunity to predict the location of our limbs and torso. It accurately overlayed his body onto our own.
Obviously, this demo didn't call for much movement and that worked to the movie studio's advantage. It could easily trick your mind into thinking that the Professor's subtle finger tap on the armrest was your own with a "Wait, I didn't just do that!"
It didn't have the advantage of a stationary wheelchair-bound character to map our bodies and there was no interaction whatsoever, but Warner Bros did aptly demo its new disaster movie with this terrifying scene recreation. It also messed up our hair.
Both X-Men Cerebro Experience and Into the Storm also gave us insight into how big-name movie studios intend to use Oculus Rift to invent new ways of enjoying theatrical experiences. Video games were just the beginning.
Hands on CES 2014
Oculus Rift gets more impressive every time we see it, and the futuristic virtual reality headset's appearance at CES 2014 was definitely no exception.Since E3 2013 Oculus VR has gained impressive talent and raised an extra $75 million in funding, and the result is the Oculus Rift Crystal Cove prototype (named for a state park in southern California). It's significantly easier on the eyes than older versions of the headset and, by extension, closer than ever to the Rift's final, fully functional, consumer-facing form.
The two game demos Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell showed us in a private meeting room at CES were designed to showcase two new features: positional head-tracking and low persistence, both of which help make the virtual reality experience more immersive and address some users' complaints with the headset, including motion blur-induced nausea.
The head-tracking is the most obvious improvement. The new white studs on the Oculus Crystal Cove prototype's face are indicators that communicate your head's position to a new external camera, mounted near your monitor. As a result the full movements of your upper body, not just the sideways and up/down movements of your head, are detected and translated to the game world.
That means you can lean forward while playing CCP Games' extremely impressive 3D space-shooting game EVE: Valkyrie, bringing your in-game face closer to your space ship's various monitors and switches so you can better read their warnings and instructions. Since the very first demo Oculus Rift has inserted players into virtual worlds, and with this addition it's a more immersive experience than ever.
Get low, low, low, low
Second and more subtle is the low persistence, which makes the Oculus Rift's somewhat notorious motion blur a thing of the past. Now the graphics remain more clear and sharp even when you move your head around rapidly. There's still a tiny amount of blurring, but it's a massive improvement over the previous version of Oculus Rift.To prove it Mitchell turned low persistence off and then on as we moved around, and although the image became darker with it on, it almost totally alleviated what was previously one of the Rift's biggest issues.
The tech behind the low persistence is somewhat complex, but Mitchell explained the gist of it. Essentially the new "Crystal Cove" Oculus Rift's OLED display has zero latency, so it takes the pixels no time at all to change color.
Even then, Mitchell said, there was some blurring, but Oculus alleviated it even further by programming the pixels to consistently but imperceptibly flicker on and off, only turning on when they have "good" data to display.
That new OLED display is also full HD 1080p, just like the prototype Oculus showed off behind closed doors at E3 2013. That of course helps as well.
Wizard Chess
We played EVE: Valkyrie at E3 2013 as well, though on the older, lower-resolution Oculus Rift. In 1080p, and with minimal motion blur and the new positional head-tracking, it was even more immersive now than it was back then - and that's saying something, because even that first time it was totally mind-blowing.Piloting a space ship with an Xbox 360 controller while you look around the cockpit and target enemies with the motions of your head is one of the most impressive gaming experiences ever created. It feels like the first time you played Super Mario 64, or Halo, or Wolfenstein - completely fresh and like it has the potential to change the world of gaming. And right now it's only a demo.
The other software Oculus had at CES was a very basic defense game built by Epic Games in Unreal Engine 4. It's an evolution of one of the original Oculus Rift demos Oculus showed around - the one where users simply walked or floated around several beautiful but interaction-light Unreal Engine 4 environments, including a snowy mountain and the lava-filled lair of a scary-looking demon lord.
Now, that demon sits on his throne across from you, the player, he being your apparent opponent. Around you is his cavernous, fiery lair, and before you is something like a 3D board game with moving pieces. He sends tiny dwarves marching inexorably toward your goal, and you press buttons on the Xbox 360 controller to fire arrows, cannonballs and flamethrowers at them.
There are two views: one overhead and one from closer to the game's level, almost like you're leaning down toward it to put on your thinking cap. And thanks to that positional head-tracking you can actually lean forward to peer into the game and examine the little dwarves up close. You can look into their faces as they're pinned with arrows and crisped with fire.
The experience of playing a game inside a game world is not unique to Oculus Rift. This little game, though still very basic, could conceivably be a mini-game within some epic, sprawling RPG. But like with everything else, playing it on Oculus Rift makes you feel like you're really there.
Early Verdict
Mitchell said the camera that enables the positional tracking may be only a temporary solution. But whatever Oculus settles on to make sure the final version of Oculus Rift features full six-point head-tracking will be included with the unit, whether that means bundling a camera in or something else.There's still no projected release date or final pricing for the consumer product that the Oculus Rift Crystal Cove prototype will eventually become, despite rumors of a Christmas 2014 goal that Mitchell would neither confirm nor deny. And the conspicuous indicator lights on the Crystal Cove's front aren't final either, Mitchell revealed, even if they do look kind of cool.
Mitchell and his colleagues at Oculus VR seem to think the Rift still has a long way to go. That may very well be true, but the fact is the Oculus Rift is the coolest product in the world right now, and it gets better every time we see it.
Alex Roth and Matt Swider also contributed to these hands-on previews
Earlier previews
Update: It's E3 2013, and it's been several months since TechRadar last saw Oculus Rift. The virtual reality headset has undergone two major changes since January: a new prototype now comes with full HD 1080p visuals, and it's now got something resembling an actual video game.Hands on impressions by Matt Swider and Alex Roth
We went hands on at the show to check out what's new with Oculus Rift, and we came away extremely impressed.
Catching snowflakes
Oculus VR is now using Epic's Unreal Engine 4 to demo its Rift headset. Specifically, the company is showing players the lava and snow demo that debuted in videos in late March. Wearing the standard-definition headset (similar to the one we saw at CES, but with an extra top strap for added comfort), we felt like we should be able to catch a snowflake with an open mouth when we looked up at the virtual sky.It's that real-looking, and when we put on the brand new prototype HD Oculus Rift that sensation was only heightened.
Oculus Rift is incredibly immersive, and part of that is thanks to its true stereoscopic 3D. The two screens inside the goggles become extensions of your own eyeballs, and your brain quickly adapts to the point that you'll raise your arm and expect to see them in the game world. You can truly sense the world's depth, and despite knowing it's an illusion it feels very real.
We didn't experience any nausea, but we only used it for a few minutes. We did get a touch of vertigo as we looked down from the top of a virtual mountain, though.
The consumer version of Oculus Rift, which Oculus VR Vice President of Product Nate Mitchell said is coming in "months and not years," will likely come in HD like the prototype we saw at E3. As you can imagine it's absolutely a superior experience.
Mitchell was hesitant to divulge too many specifics, though, mostly because they're always subject to change. "We want to continue to improve the hardware," he said. "Display technology keeps getting better. Sensor technology keeps getting better. We're adding new features and things like that, a lot of which we haven't announced."
He said they want to keep the price point around $300 (about UK£191, AU$312), though.
To infinity (and beyond)
The other big development in the world of Oculus Rift came not from Oculus VR itself, but from EVE Online developers CCP Games. The first development kits for the headset went out a few months ago, and in that time CCP built an impressive demo that they showed off at E3 this week.In it players fly a spaceship using an Xbox 360 controller while the Oculus Rift tracks their head movements. This works incredibly well because just like when you're controlling a vehicle in real life, you can look around and move independently.
The multiplayer demo - which unfortunately is just that, a tech demo - allowed multiple players to fly around in a large outer space environment while shooting lasers and missiles at one another. We could shoot lasers straight forward while targeting other players above and to the sides of our ship by simply moving our head and visually targeting them.
The sense of space in this demo (no pun intended) was simply astounding. Tilting our head down, we could see our knees in the game; we found ourselves moving our arms and expecting our in-game avatar's arms to move as well.
That sensation caused some dissonance as our brain tried to differentiate the virtual body it was seeing from the body it's attached to. That could be solved with a Kinect-style sensor that tracked your arm movements used in tandem with Oculus Rift, though Mitchell said they don't have plans for anything like that.
The dev kits are out there, though, and it's not impossible. In fact, it seems we're just beginning to explore the possibilities of Oculus Rift, and if what we've seen so far is any indication then it's time to get very, very excited for what's in store.
Original article: Oculus Rift made headlines last year for its wildly successful Kickstarter project. The enterprise to create a commercially viable virtual reality headset raised $2,437,429, and at the pre-CES 2013 Digital Experience event, TechRadar got to experience Oculus Rift eyeball-to-eyeball.
The VR headset has been through several iterations, but the one we saw at CES was the most refined. It isn't perfect (and as we found out, it might not ever be perfect for some players) but it's undoubtedly superior to any previous attempts at a virtual reality display.
Instead of a clunky skull-encompassing helmet, Occulus Rift is more like a set of ski goggles, with room inside for small eyeglasses if you wear them.
Inside are two lenses, which each feed a separate 640 x 800 image to your eyeballs. Combined, they form a unified 1280 x 800 image.
Motion tracking means it responds to your head movements, as though you're looking around an actual 3D environment.
Oculus VR (the company behind Rift) showed off its remarkable new kit with the Epic Citadel demo - a standard video game input (in this case, from Xbox 360) in first-person view.
This plunged us into a medieval marketplace populated by humble townsfolk and knights in armour, with snow softly settling around us.
Wear it well
The first time we moved was rather perplexing and disorienting. It's almost like walking for the very first time.However, the visuals seem extremely fluid and natural. And in less than a minute, we felt that Oculus Rift really could be the new face of playing games.
Unfortunately, not long after that TechRadar's motion-sickness susceptible reviewer began to feel something else. He was only able to tolerate ten minutes before nausea spoiled the party.
The time it takes for sickness to kick in appears to depend on the game's frame rate, camera system and other factors that have yet to be isolated.
But surprisingly, while Oculus VR's representatives say this initial reaction is common among first-timers, they also report that most (though not all) players subsequently become accustomed to the experience.
Early verdict
There is still no target release date for the final product, let alone price. At CES, two versions were shown: the somewhat rough prototype, which is covered by black tape; and the developer kit, which looks far more polished.But whenever it appears, Oculus Rift seems set to mark a big shift in gaming. Clearly, though, there's work to do if the headset is to fulfill its potential - we can't see it becoming truly popular if it gets a reputation for making players sick.
Read More ...
Updated: Best smartwatch: what's the best wearable tech for you?
Best smartwatch #10 - 6
The best smartwatch may be in the offing, but that doesn't mean there aren't good options to weigh down your early adopter wrists in 2015.Dozens of choices are available. A third are made by startups like Pebble, a third from rebounding firms like Motorola, and a third are from Samsung alone ... in the last 30 seconds.
All of them deliver important information closer than "at hand," from texts messages to email alerts. Notifications and apps are the big difference between smartwatches and the best fitness trackers.
Yes, Apple Watch will likely change the face of digital wristwatches in early 2015 and Android Wear will continue to evolve with the likes of the LG G Watch R and Sony SmartWatch 3.
But, so far, here are the best smartwatches to strap to your naked wrist that, for more than a decade, has been relying on a mobile phone to check the time.
10. Sony SmartWatch 2
Before there was Android Wear, the Sony SmartWatch 2 beamed all of the same notifications to our wrists from Google-powered phones. Its 1.6-inch LCD handled is large enough to read all of our texts, email snippets and even Twitter feed without taking out the Sony Xperia Z2.Best of all, the very literally named Sony SmartWatch 2 is compatible with all Android phones that run Android 4.0 or greater - something we can't say about most Samsung smartwatches.
To boot, it uses a normal micro USB charger, has an aluminum body and a variety of silicon or stainless steel straps, with third-party 24mm bands compatible.
9. Razer Nabu
Even in beta form, there's a lot to like about the Razer Nabu smartband. Its privacy-friendly 128x32 OLED screen is meant to sit on the underside of your wrist. That keeps notifications like texts, emails and tweets away from prying eyes.The thin wristband is tricked out with an accelerometer, altimeter and vibration motor that tips you off about incoming messages. These specs make it ideal for tracking personal goals too. Metrics include calories burnt, steps taken, floors climbed, distance traveled and hours slept.
Social discovery is the breakthrough feature that we want to explore in the final version. Like the popular Bump app that shut down this year, it lets you exchange information with Razer Nabu wearers with a simple high-five. Right now it's only splash proof and compatible with the iPhone 5 and greater and Android 4.3 and greater.
There's certainly more testing to be done and features to roll out in full. However, the Nabu is a solid entry from Razer that we weren't expecting but are liking with every new update.
We're looking forward to the fact that Razer has added a more affordable option in the form of the Nabu X as well.
8. Samsung Gear Live
Samsung recycled its boxy smartwatch design when it made the Samsung Gear Live, but that was enough to make it our favorite Android Wear watch early on. That's because it conformed to the wrist with curves lugs, making it better than the black slab that is the LG G Watch.Gear Live also sneaks in a so-so heart-rate monitor, a smaller (though still proprietary) travel charger and a 1.63-inch Super AMOLED display with a superior 320 x 320 resolution. Intelligent Google Now notifications made it worth owning over non-Android Wear watches if you couldn't wait for the more stylish Moto 360.
Of course, now that Motorola's circular smartwatch has launched, it only serves as the boxy alternative if you have something against rocking the iconic round design of the Moto 360.
Samsung is known for outdating its own products with quick refreshes, but this may be its only Android Wear smartwatch for some time. The South Korean electronics giant is busy working on its own Tizen watches like the Samsung Gear S.
7. Samsung Gear S
Speaking of the Gear S, the eye catching, clunky, curved smartwatch beats its predecessor by one spot on our list.The Gear S is definitely a premium looking smartwatch if you don't mind how big it is. Instead of opting for a classic analog style like the Moto 360 or sporty analog look like the LG G Watch R, Samsung has made a rather futuristic beast putting the Gear S in its own unique spot.
The AMOLED screen is a thing of beauty and the Tizen OS runs surprisingly well. However apps are extremely limited.
You'll also need a compatible Samsung phone to use the watch. The calling and texting features the Gear S is most famous for also come at a high cost.
You'd have to shell out the $350 (£329, AU$449) for the Gear S plus whatever price for a compatible smartphone - like $879 (£600, AU$960) for an unlocked Samsung Galaxy Note 4 - then pay an extra data fee. Without the data plan, you're stuck with a huge, uncomfortable smartwatch which will run off of Wi-Fi.
The Gear S made the list purely because it functions well enough for what it's made for and has loads of potential ... but only if you're willing to pay the price.
6. Sony Smartwatch 3
It seems like Sony learned a thing or two making the Sony Smartwatch 2. The latest Sony Smartwatch 3 actually has Android Wear, despite the fact that the company has its own ecosystem.
Its 1.2GHz quad-core processor and 512MB of RAM leave it packed with power and with GPS built in it's a more fully-functional fitness accessory than most other smartwatches. Of course all that power doesn't come cheap, as the Sony SmartWatch 3 retails for $250 (£189.99, AU$299.99).
If you're not fond of the strap design, Sony unveiled a Pebble Steel-esque band called the Sony Smartwatch 3 Stainless Steel edition during CES 2015. It looks pretty nice compared to its rubbery counterpart, but the guts remain the same.
Best smartwatch #5 - 1
5. LG G Watch R
The LG G Watch R has got one thing right, it's one of the few Android Wear smartwatches that actually looks like a watch. It may not appear as fancy as the Moto 360, but it still has a sporty look that many might actually prefer.In terms of specs the G Watch R is relatively well equipped with a 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage and a 410mAh battery.
Compared to the Moto 360 that's a better processor and larger battery, plus you also get a barometer, heart rate monitor and 9-Axis (which includes a gyro, accelerometer and compass).
The display is also worth shouting about. While the Moto 360 had a larger screen which made text a little larger and easier to read, the higher resolution display of the G Watch R is easier on the eye, while the P-OLED screen delivers strong colors.
It's still a bit pricey at $300 (around £220, AU$280) but remains one of the top smartwatches out there.
4. Pebble
The Kickstarter favorite that started it all is still relevant among its smartwatch imitators. That's because the plastic Pebble watch has functionality that's identical to the Pebble Steel and a lot of the same specs too. It's just in cheaper, bulkier plastic housing with more color options.Offloading texts, email alerts and every other smartphone notifications to the wrist has never been easier thanks to Pebble's black-and-white 1.26-inch e-paper LCD. It's also both iOS and Android compatible. Any Apple or Google smartphone with Bluetooth 4.0 syncs just fine. Water, at a shallow enough depth, is also compatible with this 5ATM resistant smartwatch.
It's never been easier to slip on a smartwatch. Pebble's new price is $99 (£99, about AU$114), making it one of the cheap among computerized watches. No one is going to mistake it for the classic timepiece, but Pebble delivered on its Kickstarter promise and is up to 4,000 apps, something that gives Android Wear and Apple Watch a real challenge.
3. Samsung Gear 2 Neo
Believe it or not, the plastic Samsung Gear 2 Neo felt better on our wrists than the metallic and therefore "premium" Samsung Gear 2. This is one case in which plastic bests metal.It comes down to weight, really. The still-sturdy Neo is 1.94oz (55g) vs the all-metal Gear 2's 2.39oz (68g), easing constant reminder that a dumbed-down mobile phone is strapped to your wrist. A wearable shouldn't wear you out with heaviness. The Neo is also missing a camera, though it's hard to say anyone is really going to be missing such an unnecessary component.
There's not much trade-off. The Gear 2 Neo has pretty much the same specs and semi-stylish design as the Samsung Gear Live. Heck, even the original Samsung Galaxy Gear has most of the same components. There's a 1.63-inch Super AMOLED with 320 x 320 resolution, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage.
Both second-generation smartwatches have a 1GHz dual-core processor that's bumped up a smidge from the Galaxy Gear's 800MHz dual-core CPU, and it lasts longer between charges, ranging about 2-3 days before you have to scramble back to its proprietary pogo connector.
It really comes down to whether or not you like the newer Tizen operating system of the Gear watches and actually own a Samsung device. While the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo offer wider compatibility with Samsung devices vs the Galaxy Gear, its still limited to about three dozen Samsung-made smartphones and tablets.
2. Moto 360
Hands and wrists down, Motorola makes the best Android Wear smartwatch. Its Moto 360 is defined by a 1.65-inch circular display, stainless steel frame and premium leather band.This is the only Google watch of the three on sale right now that can pass itself off as a stylish designer timepiece. Everything else so far has been square and plastic. Moto 360 doesn't come off as an overt computer strapped to your wrist. It analog watch faces really blend in.
Its Google Now integration seamlessly beams SMS, email alerts and every other smartphone notification to your wrist. Sure, Moto 360 has an inefficient processor that sometimes stunts swiping through these Android Wear menus and battery life is a day at best. Worst of all, if you just bought a new iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, it's not compatible. It's Android only.
On its face - it's beautiful, beautiful face - Moto 360 is the best-looking smartwatch and comes with a nifty Qi wireless charger to make up for those all-too-frequent charges.
1. Pebble Steel
The best smartwatch you can strap to your wrist right now is the Pebble Steel. It's the more grown-up version of the plastic original that gained fame on Kickstarter a year ago. The 2014 edition sports a smaller, less boxy face and a stainless steel frame for the 1.26-inch LCD.Pebble Steel's silver or matte black casing choices comes with a matching metal band to complete to sophisticated look and, if ordered from Pebble.com, a leather band is included.
You get all of the same texts, emails and notifications at a glance, all for the new price of $199 (£179, about AU$228). Missing, however, is the brilliant color display that makes Moto 360 shine and a way to get around Pebble's annoying eight installed apps limit.
Of course, Pebble Steel doesn't have the battery life issues of the Moto 360. It can last up to seven days between charges and is compatible with both iOS and Android phones. It's for everyone and, with swappable bands, for every stylistic situation.
It's also for pretty much everywhere you go considering its 5ATM water resistant rating. This means it's waterproof enough for swimming in shallow water and even has real-time swim tracking software among its list of 4,000 apps. That's something you won't find on rival smartwatches, which typically top out at IP67.
Pebble's second iteration of the smartwatch is very much focused on being a watch first and a smartwatch second. That's the proper order many others smartwatches manufacturers fail to realize and Pebble has successfully delivered on twice.
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UPDATED: Google Android Wear: what you need to know
What is Android Wear?
Update January 2014: If you thought BlackBerry was obsolete, apparently Google disagrees because it looks like Android Wear is getting a dose of BBM. It's not been confirmed exactly when BBM for Android Wear will be arriving, but in an official blog post BlackBerry claims it's coming soon.In the meantime, check out our take on the best new Android Wear watch faces. More details can be found below.
Update December 2014: Android 5.0 Lollipop for Android Wear is starting to roll out right now and should be on all compatible smartwatches next week.
The update is focusing on watch faces which you can download from the Google Play store. Designs are centered around PAC-MAN, Despicable Me, Plants vs Zombies, Porsche and much, much more thanks to a new Watch Face API now available to developers.
With the update, users can add and swap out Android Wear watch faces using the companion phone app.
The Android Wear app has also been updated to make browsing, downloading and switching watch faces simpler - plus you can now view your apps' battery usage and storage.
You can also quickly bring a card back if you've accidentally dismissed it, quickly access various settings by swiping down from the top of the screen, easily block notifications from any app directly from your watch and recently used actions now appear at the top of the list when you tap the watch face.
New modes include Theater Mode which lets you keep the screen off and mute vibrations when you're in a dark room, and Sunlight Mode which temporarily boosts the screen to maximum brightness.
We'll be sure to give you more details about the new software goodies in action once our own Android Wear smartwatches update.
Original article below ...
We put the first three Google-powered smartwatches on our wrists in TechRadar's Android Wear review, but concluded that the software is still best worn by early adopters.
All three watches - the Moto 360, LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live - rank among the best smartwatch for 2014, but need to lose the computerized design and boast longer battery life.
The good news is that Android Wear manufacturers have more smartwatches up their sleeves. We tested the Sony Smartwatch 3, Asus ZenWatch, LG G Watch R.
The watches are shaping up as fashionable as they are functional and run the same uniform smartwatch platform we already like. It basically extends the leading smartphone software to the body and gives Google its best shot at taking on Apple Watch.
Android Wear supports both round and square watch faces, and the lineup won't stop there. Additional manufacturers are committed Google smartwatches. For example, an HTC watch is planned for 2015.
As Android head Sundar Pichai penned in the announcement, these app-driven time pieces understand the context of the world around you and deliver messages and reminders beamed directly to your wrist.
Convenient Google Now notifications are literally on hand thanks to Android Wear, and the ability to seek out information with voice controls outfits everyone with the all-encompassing power of the search engine.
What Android Wear does
Android Wear is intended to provide "information that moves with you" and so far it lives up to that promise. It puts the entire world inches from your suddenly-free fingertips.It doesn't just tell the time. The wearable operating system makes suggestions based on time and it factors location into its context-sensitive data.
- This is merely the explainer. Read the Android Wear review
The new technology also tips off wearers to dangers that lurk, as demonstrated in Google's first Android Wear video. A "Jellyfish warning" prompt can be seen with a surfer's flick of the wrist.
A relevant list of nearby beaches saves the video's early adopters who can surf without worrying about the sting of the boneless, brainless ocean creature. Yes, it could save your life, or at least save lots of pain.
The first day we tested the Moto 360 at the Chicago Cubs baseball stadium, this was perfectly illustrated. A severe thunderstorm warning flashed on our watch and we knew about the rain before everyone else.
All of a sudden, digging that rectangular smartphone or, worse, phablet out of your pocket and pulling up a much more involved directions or notification app seems so pedestrian.
Making time for families
Google seeds the idea that Android Wear can alleviate our addiction to smartphones in an effort to make more time and eye-contact with our families.This concept is more practical than the similar idea the company has been floated when delivering the Google Glass Explorer Edition to beta testers. Smartwatches feel natural and unobtrusive.
A parent is able to attend breakfast with his family while keeping a close eye on the estimated commute time to work thanks to an on-wrist Google Now notification.
"No surprises" is the unofficial goal of Android Wear. Leaving too early and breezing through traffic would have filled this parent with breakfast-skipping regret. Leaving too late would've started his day with traffic-influenced anxiety.
'Okay Google' on the wrist
Even more touching is the dad who receives a Google Hangouts message right on his Android Wear smartwatch while bathing his son. "Dude, this game is insane!" writes the token friend who doesn't have such responsibilities.The dad doesn't run to a TV or have to awkwardly palm his smartphone with soapy hands for an update. "Okay Google, what's the Syracuse score?" he asks his watch without pressing a button.
A scorecard of 28-27, naturally in favor of his college basketball team, pops up. He cheesily shouts "Yay" while raising his hands. His young, halfway washed son does the same without us knowing if he really knows why. He could easily be cheering for having more time with his dad.
The increasingly familiar "Okay Google" voice prompt opens up a world of possibilities beyond sports score updates. Android Wear smartwatches can handle questions like, "How many calories are in an avocado?" to more personal queries like, "What time does my flight leave?"
"Okay Google" can also accomplish tasks outsourced from a smartphone. Calling a taxi, making restaurant reservations, setting alarms and sending - not just receiving - texts is all possible to do hands-free with the Android Wear operating system.
Fitness and third-party apps
Google Wear fitness apps
Google's Android Wear smartwatches can solve everyone's pesky pedometer gripes, whether it's always losing the easy-to-misplace device or not having it with you at all times.This should remedy the problem we have with Samsung's S-Health app in Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy S5. These phones are sometimes sitting idle on a table while we move, robbing us of our workout goal.
It'll also give Google a way to rival Apple's iOS 8 Health app that's a part of iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and other iDevices including next spring's Apple Watch. Right in Android Wear's territory.
Latching a wearable to our wrist can count every step and chart whether or not we're meeting our exercise goals. Fitbit Force, Nike FuelBand SE, Jawbone Up24 and Samsung Gear Fit have all proven this.
Google Fit promises to aggregate data like heart rate, steps taken and blood glucose, and to connect with our favorite fitness apps for real-time speed, distance and time data while walking, running and cycling.
So far, Google's app underwhelmingly tracks steps, in the case of Samsung Gear Live and Moto 360, a semi-accurate heart rate. Motorola's Heart Rate Activity app just adds a extra motivational interface.
The app needs more metrics and really needs the graphs that break free of the watch interface. Why isn't this data on an Android or computer yet? Maybe we'll that launch with Android L.
The wait may be worth it. Fitbit Force and FuelBand lack smartwatch capabilities and, as stylish as the Gear Fit may be, it's only accessible by Samsung smartphones, not all Android devices.
That leaves the door wide open for Google among Android owners.
QR codes, music and Chromecast
Google's Android Wear multitasks you run for an already-boarding flight. You can keep count of calories burned while flashing a QR code in front of the airline employee in order to board the flight.Music doesn't come directly from any current Android Wear smartwatch, though the Sony Smartwatch 3 is kick off housing songs on the wristwatch. All watches can still activate song playing via voice commands.
Google calls this a "key to a multiscreen world." Further out, it promises to cast movies to a TV, presumably with its inexpensive Chromecast streaming device, open garage doors with smart home connectivity.
"There's a lot of possibilities here so we're eager to see what developers build," wrote Pichai toward the end of his announcement post.
Third-party apps on Google Play
Android Wear is made even more convincing as a smartwatch because developers will be able to easily translate their apps from Google's mobile ecosystem.There are now more than 44 featured Android Wear apps in the official subsection on the Google Play Store with the best coming directly from Google.
Maps makes it convenient to pull up walking directions or, if you're in the car, voice activate navigation to your dash-mounted smartphone without awkwardly leaning over into the steering wheel.
Hangouts beams text and instant messages to the wrist. It's one of the best features, as you can quickly dismiss trivial correspondents while getting a head start on the important ones.
Though we're waiting for an Uber app, Lyft can call cars with a simple voice phrase, Evernote can help you jot down thoughts, Hue Control can turn your lights on and off and Glympse can beam your location to friends.
Outside of the official apps, all notifications that appear in your smartphone's notification tray make their way to the smartwatch.
There are also apps and watch faces that don't appear in the Android Wear subsection, but work with the watches nonetheless. We particularly like the unofficial GoldenEye 007 watch face.
Ware Aware is also a developer-made top pick for us because it vibrates every time we accidentally walk away from our phone. It doesn't appear in Google's special subsection and it's clear third-party devs are moving quickly.
It shouldn't take long for your favorite apps to appear on the Moto 360, Samsung Gear Live or LG G Watch, whereas developers may struggle to navigate Samsung's Tizen platform that's limited to its Galaxy devices.
Android Wear watches
Android Wear smartwatches so far
The Android Wear smartwatch selection is expanding, but you can only buy the LG, Samsung and Motorola models right now. Sony and Asus watches are coming soon, and LG has another up its sleeve.The Moto 360 was front-and-center in the smartwatch announcement, even though Google has offloaded Motorola to Lenovo. There's good reason for highlighting this time piece: it's ambitious.
As the name suggests, Moto 360 has a beautiful circular face that contrasts with other watches we've seen like the square Pebble Steel and boxy, but wrist-conforming Samsung Gear Fit.
This beautiful watch face has a 1.56-inch LCD display that boasts a 320 x 290 resolution and 205 pixels per inch. It's protected by Gorilla Glass 3 and costs $250 (£200, likely AU$275)
It's not the rumored OLED screen and the circular watch face doesn't sit behind sapphire glass, which is the Apple Watch. But it certainly costs less than the so-called iWatch.
Sticking with that authentic watch styling, there are no charging contacts or USB ports. Motorola went with an inductive wireless charger, giving us a wire-free reason to own that Qi-compatible Nexus charger sold in the Google Play Store.
It doesn't feature a privacy-invasive camera like the Galaxy Gear and Gear 2 either. This just didn't fit into the classic design, according to Motorola. Also, unlike Samsung's non-Android Wear watches, it supports more phones than its own Moto X.
Moto 360 is compatible with Android 4.3, Android 4.4 and Android L phones and tablets that use low-powered Bluetooth 4.0 for battery life conservation.
Left off the compatibility list is Apple. That means even if you own a brand new iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, it won't work with this Android-only device.
Moto 360 blends familiar Android menus like Google Now and Hangouts messages with a sophisticated-looking digital watchface, and Motorola touts just-as-premium strap materials that remain comfortable.
The company promises a variety of styles beyond the default leather straps, including metal bands and new leather colors. In the meantime, we've taken the toolkit to the watch and added our own 22mm strap.
LG G Watch R is even rounder
One-upping Motorola's smartwatch is the LG G Watch R that's due out this fall. It boasts what LG loves to refer to as the first full-circle watch powered by Android Wear.It's true. Moto 360's display doesn't form a complete circle. It has a blank spot at the bottom. This chin or horizon line houses its screen components instead of needing a blank circular bezel for the task.
Moto 360 isn't ideal for analog watch faces, and LG think it has a solution. LG G Watch R uses a circular bezel on its smaller 1.3-inch Plastic OLED screen, but covers it up with second-hand tick marks.
Some people think this looks more like a real watch, while others call it a diver's watch and don't want to wait until it until the Autumn release date or pay its likely expensive price (so far £220 in the UK).
Sony Smartwatch 3, Asus ZenWatch coming soon
The newest smartwatches were announced at IFA 2014 care of Sony and Asus. They couldn't be more different.Sony said it purposely stuck with a square-shaped display on its Sony Smartwatch 3 because it's better. It also stores music in its 4GB of internal storage and adds a GPS chip to its specs - firsts for Android Wear.
Fixing a major complain of ours regarding proprietary chargers, Sony opted to include a micro USB port for charging. Brilliant. It also promises a longer battery life, but that remains to be tested.
Asus went a different route with the Asus ZenWatch. It's boxy, but still stylish with a stitched leather strap and 2.5D curved glass.
Even though manufacturers can't fundamentally change Android Wear, a nifty Asus ZenUI Wellness app makes use of the watch's nine-axis sensor and makes good on Asus' promise to make a health gadget.
The Sony Smartwatch 3 will go on sale in October for $250 (£190, likely AU$275), while Asus ZenWatch is soon to be available for pre-order but no officially confirmed price is known.
Samsung Gear Live and LG G Watch
Samsung and LG had the first Android Wear watches on sale with the Samsung Gear Live and LG G Watch debuting for early adopters.LG G Watch is a little more awkwardly titled, as if it's a typo with too many Gs. Just as awkward is the fact that the Moto 360 dissed square-faced smartwatches in its unveil.
That happens to be the exact design of the LG G Watch. And, curiously, it's is opposite of the LG G3 that seems to be all about its new quick circle case.
LG doesn't seem to be offended, though. The company thinks it's hip to be square with a buttonless design that highlights the boxy watch face even more.
With a 1.65-inch LDC IPS display, the G Watch is bigger than the Samsung Gear Live's 1.63-inch display, but has a tad fewer pixels with a 128 x 128 resolution instead of the 320 x 320 resolution.
Importantly, the LG G Watch lasts longer than the Gear Live thanks to a larger 400mAh battery. It lasts a day and a half whereas Samsung's watch typically stops ticking just shy of 24 hours.
Battery life is key for a wearable device that has to be worn all day long.
The Android 4.3-compatible LG G Watch is roughly the same size as the Samsung Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo and water and dust resistant.
Also, like the Pebble Steel, it follows the trend of supporting swappable bands for a more personalized look and feel.
The LG G Watch costs $229 in the US and £159 in the UK. It's more expensive than the Gear Live in the US at $199, but cheaper than Samsung's UK price at £159. It really depends on where you live.
As we predicted, there was no rumored 3G-cabale LG G Watch unveiled. Expect that to be added further down the line in smartwatches and possibly available in South Korea before anywhere else.
Where Android Wear stands
Android Wear shows more promise on day one than Google Glass has in its year and a half of availability because it's not a stretch to imagine donning Moto 360, LG G Watch or Samsung Gear Live.Since only three watches have released, there are still plenty of questions left to be answered about its future, especially its battery life going forward.
Then there's the question of iOS compatibility. Would Android-powered watches ever be able to connect to an iOS 8 device? Google has made plenty of its gadgets, app and services work with Apple's iPhone and iPad hardware. Why not?
We're looking forward to seeing how natural the "Okay Google" voice commands progress and if Google-owned Nest creates an Android Wear project of its own.
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Review: mini review: JBL Synchros S400BT
Stripped down of all its niceties, the JBL Synchros S400BT are a great set of headphones. The sound is full and it hits all the marks no matter what kind of music you toss at it. Comfort was never an issue and the battery life seemed to last longer than it should have. I could go on, and I will later in this review.
Once you add in the fine details, along with features like touch control and NFC tap-to-connect functionality, the S400BT seems like the wireless headphones you’ve been waiting for all along. But at $229 (£199, about AU$279), is the package convincing enough to choose over JBL’s own $99 wireless E40BT, or other competitively priced wireless headphones?
Design
A glance at the JBL Synchros S400BT shows that JBL likes to blaze its own path. Matte-coating, glossy and cross-hatched plastic here, stainless steel and leather there. It’s a beautiful mess of materials that somehow comes together well.
There is a method to JBL’s madness, however, as the S400BT’s design yields durability and comfort. The elegant stainless steel headband, which adjusts large enough to fit my head (larger than most, I’d say), is seamlessly fitted on its underside with a thick bit of leather cushion to rest softly on your head.
The thick, matte-coated arms on the left and right act as the site of flexible articulation for each of the earcups. The S400BT may look stiffly professional, but I was able to fold, bend and compact them to fit a coat pocket in a pinch, something the crowd who digs sporty, ultra-portable headphones will enjoy.
Earcups are the undisputed heart and soul of headphones. The ones in the JBL S400BT have the heart and soul, but they also have brains. Inside the soft, leather-coated on-ear cups, which have a small, but serviceable range of motion, are 40mm drivers.
Additionally, there’s a rechargeable battery inside the left earcup promising up to 15 hours of battery life. It’s where you’ll also find a 2.5mm input that offers dual functionality by way of charging the headphones, as well as offering up the option to use them as wired headphones if you can’t reach a USB port and the battery depletes.
Here’s where things get brainy. Since we live in the future and there’s somehow still room inside a kid fist-sized earcup, you’ll find all the controls here. Along with standard fare like a power and Bluetooth connect button, several touch gestures are built into the glossy face of the earcup. The right earcup hosts the NFC tap-to-connect site.
Based on looks, the JBL Synchros S400BT tries its best to justify a premium price and does a good job of it. But does the performance tie a bow around the package or cover it in mud?
Performance
When it comes to headphones, performance begins and ends with comfort, and comfort of on-ear headphones is often hit-or-miss with me. These brilliantly walk the delicate line of squeezing against my ears just tight enough to minimize sound leakage and remaining breathable.Sound performance is good, though a bit of the richness and bass escapes with a turn of the head, which usually causes the seal between the cup and your ear to break.
Gesture controls work as expected. Tap once to pause music or take a call. Swipe up or down to adjust volume. Swipe left or right to change songs. Of all the premium features included, this felt the most tacked on and uninspired. It’s a neat feature that might seem desirable to some, but if it had meant the difference of $50 or more for the S400BT, I would have left it on the curb.
The rechargeable battery worked like a champ, often providing me with just over the advertised 15-hour battery life. Though its roots are in wireless, JBL didn’t forget the 2.5mm to 3.5mm cable, which I was pleased to resort to after a long flight drained the headphones.
Unfortunately, Bluetooth signal strength was an issue for me. Connecting is a breeze, but I consistently encountered connectivity issues with the S400BT. Not only does it require absolute line-of-sight with the device it’s connected to, a simple turn of the head can stop the flow of audio completely.
Wireless came with an asterisk in the case of the S400BT, as I usually had to have my phone in a breast pocket to get a clear signal. It pains me, as these headphones do so much right, that they can’t get the fundamentals down.
We liked
The look and feel of the JBL Synchros S400BT won me over quickly. I’m a sucker for the clean, professional presentation and JBL made the offering even sweeter with the solid battery-life and powerful sound drivers. I also liked the clever 2.5mm to USB charging method.We disliked
Not much, that is, until it came to Bluetooth performance. Mimes will love it, as it rewards the motionless. Unfortunately, that subjects about 99% of the population to shoddy signal issues.Final verdict
It’s 2015 and wireless headphones are cheaper than ever. Some at retail are going as low as $100. So just what does the JBL Synchros S400BT do differently to justify its $229 price tag? Not enough.If it’s wireless or bust, stick with the $99 JBL Synchros E40BT, an option that has most of the functionality of the S400BT at less than half the price.
- Check out the best wireless headphones
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Navigating remote desktops on iPad just got easier with Citrix X1 mouse
Have you ever tried to tap on a link on an iPad, but missed because your fingers were too big? Having a mouse would help, but unfortunately Apple doesn't allow Bluetooth mice to connect to iOS, unless you take the risk of jailbreaking. Introduced at Summit 2015, Citrix may have solved your tapping dilemma with a prototype X1 mouse that works with the companion Citrix Receiver client.
Since most business software doesn't have a native iOS equivalent, these programs run on a server, and Citrix-designed software allows access to these apps from a phone or tablet. The downside is that Windows-based software is designed for mouse and keyboard input on a desktop, not for touch navigation.
The Citrix X1 is a hardware mouse that sends its position and movement to the Citrix Receiver client, which must be installed on an iPad. The app translates the signals and sends it to the server.
iPad as a mobile workstation
Citrix's remote desktop apps coupled with an X1 mouse and a Bluetooth keyboard, a one-pound iPad Air transforms into a mobile workstation. If your workflow doesn't require the native processing and graphics power of a five-pound workstation notebook, the Citrix setup gives you access to your files, documents, and Windows programs without the bulk.Where to get the Citrix X1
Unfortunately, the X1 is still in prototype currently and Citrix is selecting a few lucky users to test drive the product. If you like the idea and want to participate in Citrix's pilot program, you can contact the company for a demo unit.
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Samsung Galaxy S6 will reportedly copy one crucial iPhone feature
The Samsung Galaxy S6 is rumored to be a major redesign compared to the Galaxy S5, with a new look and materials and massively improved specs.
Now we've learned of one additional way in which the Galaxy S6 might differ from its predecessor, while at the same time becoming more similar to the iPhone: its fingerprint scanner.
The Galaxy S6 will do away with the swipe-style fingerprint reader and gain one more similar to Apple's TouchID sensor, with touch-based recognition in the home button instead of a sensor that requires users to swipe a finger, according to SamMobile.
That also means a larger home button than previous Galaxy phones, altering the line's design in a very noticeable way.
Seems legit
The site heard this from "highly credible sources," and it has a pretty good track record on these things, so this could be legit.Less certain is what processor the S6 will include, as rumors say it won't be the Snapdragon 810.
- The LG G4 could take everyone by surprise
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Review: Digital Storm Triton
Introduction
Thin gaming laptops are in. We've already seen a few spectacularly slim and powerful mobile rigs including the Origin EVO15-S and MSI GS60 Ghost Pro 3K. Not to mention the Gigabyte P35W v2 from yesteryear, which managed to stuff an optical drive into a laptop chassis measuring a mere 0.83 inches thick. At CES 2015 we only saw the thin laptop revolution continue with the Alienware 15 and 17, both of which now feature a 1.4 inch thick frame.But before we get ahead of ourselves, Digital Storm has produced an interesting new number called the Triton. Straight out of the box this 15.6-inch laptop is a doozy with a body less than an inch thick and outfitted with Haswell Core i7 processor and Nvidia's new Maxwell GPU, the GTX 970M. The best part? All these components come standard with a 1080p screen for just $1,512 (about £996, AU$1,835).
It's quite the bargain on paper. Now the question is whether this affordable, powerful and thin laptop can fit the bill.
Design
The Triton has a sleek, futuristic look to it. Bucking the tradition of making every laptop a plain rectangular slate, Digital Storm has trimmed all the corners of this slim gaming rig at an angle to look like something out of Battlestar Galactica. In fact, the machine features sharp angles almost everywhere; the front lip bevels backwards slightly, and the keyboard deck dips below the palm rest following an angled edge before rising again to the slanted Onkyo speaker bar.
It's a sharp design and the angular aesthetic matches well with laptop's thin shape. Still, the laptop is by no means small. Digital Storm has outfitted it with a large trackpad and keyboard complete with a number pad, though at the expense of a shorter right shift and tilde key.
Digital Storm Triton is also comprised of a mostly metal body, making it feel a bit more premium while adding to the laptop's overall rigidity. Both the screen lid and Triton's underside are made of metal, the latter of which helps to passively cool the laptop to a degree.
Heat pipe
One major design misstep is the laptop comes with only one exhaust port on its left side. Although the laptop is running a very efficient chipset, it still produces an incredible amount of heat that all has to be forced through a tiny slot.It's a problem that makes the Triton uncomfortable to use whether it's resting on your lap or even a desk, unless you're using it to keep a hot beverage warm. During heavy gaming sessions, the Triton can practically double as a space heater.
Specifications and performance
Digital Storm's Triton is a slim little package measuring 0.98-inches thin. That said, the laptop weighs in at a substantial 5.5 pounds while its other dimensions are 15.16 inches wide and 10.67 inches deep.The Origin EVO15-S and MSI GS60 Ghost Pro 3K are virtual twins sporting nearly the same body. MSI's just barely edges out as the slightly larger gaming laptop measuring in at 16.5 x 11.3 x 0.85 inches and 4.36 pounds. Meanwhile, the Origin EVO 15-S has dimensions of 15.35 x 10.47 x 0.78 inches and weighs 4.3 pounds.
Here is the Digital Storm Triton configuration given to TechRadar:
Spec Sheet
- CPU: 2.5GHz Intel Core i7-4710HQ (quad-core, 6MB cache, up to 3.5GHz with Turbo Boost)
- Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M (3GB GDDR5 RAM), Intel HD Graphics 4600
- RAM: 8GB DDR3L (1600MHz)
- Screen: 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080 (Anti-Glare) LED-backlit Matte Display
- Storage: 120GB SSD; 750GB HDD (7,200rpm)
- Ports: 3 x USB 3.0, 2.0 x mini Display Port, HDMI, Headphone jack, Microphone jack, Optical audio out, Ethernet, SD Card Reader, USIM card reader
- Connectivity: Intel Wireless-AC 7265 + Bluetooth 4.0
- Camera: 2MP 720p webcam
- Weight: 5.5 pounds
- Size: 15.16 x 10.67 x 0.98 inches (W x D x H)
If you have a little more money in the bank, the next model up on the Triton tree includes a Nvidia GTX 980M graphics upgrade at a none-too-steep $1,889 (about £1,246, AU$2,309). What's more, Digital Storm machines at every tier include a three-year warranty with one-year part replacement and life-time technical support.
The stock EVO15-S runs with a very comparable chipset sharing the same processor and GPU - albeit with double the video RAM - for a much heftier $2,299 (about £1,516, AU$2,810). Origin's machine might seem absurdly more expensive, but keep in mind the price also includes 256GB of SSD storage, 250GB more in hard drive space, as well as double the amount of RAM.
On the other hand, the MSI GS60 is a somewhat affordable way of getting into 3K gaming for $1,899 (about £1,252, AU$2,321) on Amazon. The highest end Ghost Pro 3K variant offers up the same processor with last generation - but still very capable - Nvidia GTX 870M GPU with 16GB of RAM and, of course, the 2,880 x 1,620 IPS screen.
Performance
The Triton is a juggernaut when it comes to regular everyday computing task. It hardly broke a sweat swapping though a dozen tabs in Firefox, while simultaneously streaming Google Music and a Netflix movie as I typed up this review in Microsoft Word.Although the laptop is rocking a Nvidia 970M with only 3GB of video RAM, it performed admirably at playing games. I was able to run both Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Dragon Age Inquisition at a fairly consistent 45 frames per second (fps) and 30 fps, respectively
Sure it's not the silky smooth 60 fps that gamers crave, but these are playable frame rates and it was surprising to see the Triton keep up with the Origin EVO15-S, which came running with a beefier version of Nvidia's 970M packing 6GB of video RAM.
Benchmarks
- 3DMark: Ice Storm: 59682; Cloud Gate: 18,787; Fire Strike: 5,649
- Cinebench CPU: 657 points; Graphics: 100.93 fps,
- PCMark 8 (Home Test): 3012 points
- PCMark 8 Battery Life: 3 hours and 38 minutes
- Bioshock Infinite (1080p, Ultra): 103.04 fps; (1080p, Low): 148.71 fps
- Metro: Last Light (1080p, Ultra): 27.33 fps; (1080p, Low): 80.33 fps
By comparison the MSI GS60's Nvidia GeForce GTX 870M GPU is starting to slip by current standards. In the same tests the 3K gaming laptop put up some comparatively lower marks with 16,865 points in Cloud Gate and a Fire Strike score of 4,334 points.
Whip out your spare monitor and speaker
After being thoroughly impressed with the Triton's slim, metal build and stellar computing performance, it's sad to say that both the laptop's screen and speakers are disappointing.The display is a low contrast TN panel that makes it hard to distinguish details in shadow. It also has extremely poor viewing angles. Even looking at the display by just a few degrees off center can wash out most of the on-screen detail.
Similarly, the speaker bar is surprisingly tinny despite the sizable drivers behind it. Considering this is also a branded speaker from Okyno, a Japanese electronics company specializing in home cinema and audio equipment, I was also expecting a more full-bodied sound from the laptop's tweeters.
Unfortunately subpar media experience is a sour note that essentially sullies everything great about the Triton. Sure it can play games well, but it won't look or sound great unless you invest in a decent monitor and pair of headphones to get a truly enjoyable multimedia experience.
Power sipping components
The Triton dodges the gaming laptop trope of poor battery life. Surprisingly, it lasted for three hours and 38 minutes on our PCMark 8 battery test. By comparison, the Origin EVO15-S quickly ran out of charge after a short 2 hours and two minutes while the MSI GS60 Ghost Pro 3K languished soon after 2 hours and 58 minutes.With regular use the Triton saw me through a slightly shorter three hours and 10 minutes while browsing the web with a half dozen Firefox tabs open, streaming Google Play music and watching a short snippet of Jack Reacher on Netflix. All-in-all that's not too shabby for a high-powered and efficient gaming laptop.
Verdict
Gaming laptops are rarely affordable but the Digital Storm Triton is one of the very few machines that seems to be worth its weight in components. You get a lot of bang for your buck between the Intel Core i7-4710HQ processor and Nvidia GTX 970M graphics card. All that said, the Triton isn't without missteps, including the low-contrast screen and tinny speakers.We liked
The Digital Storm Triton is an attractive, powerful and, most importantly, affordable gaming laptop. These are three qualities you don't often hear in the same sentence, making this machine special for pulling together such a rare combination.The graphics card might only have 3GB of video RAM on board but it's no slouch. I can easily run games with a playable frame rate at 1080p and Ultra setting. 60 fps gameplay, meanwhile, is just a few clicks away, typically only requiring me to turn off the ambient occlusion. It's not quite on the same level as a decked-out gaming desktop you can get for the same money, but the Digital Storm Triton is a great option for PC gaming newcomers looking for a machine.
We disliked
Unfortunately for all the good things I have to say about this laptop, I have just as many knocks against it. The screen is an essential part to any machine but the Triton's display is simply terrible. In my time using it, I often had to adjust the screen as I tilted my head because of its extremely narrow viewing angles.Even if you look at the display dead on, you'll have to increase its brightness as the monitor isn't very bright, which then leads to other problems like washing out blacks. Likewise the speakers leave a lot to be desired from a decently sized speaker bar engineered by Okyno.
Users will also want to keep this machine off their laps as it gets rather hot. Aside from the metal underside potentially searing your lap, you'll also want to keep your hand clear of the blast of heat constantly pouring out the left side of the machine.
Final verdict
Taking the good with the bad, the Digital Storm is still an incredible deal. It has enough computing power to play most modern games at 60 fps with just a few tweak in your graphics settings. What's more, the Triton has enough power to rival some of the biggest and baddest gaming machines I've reviewed, including Origin EVO15-S, which previously showed up the $4,166 (about £2,434, AU$4,443) Alienware 18 equipped with two Nvidia GTX 880M GPUs running in SLI.For $1,620 (about £1,063, AU$1,974), the Digital Storm Triton is a powerful little machine that's definitely worth a look despite all its flaws.
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OnePlus Two might get a quadHD display and Snapdragon 810
The OnePlus One has been notoriously difficult to acquire, no doubt frustrating some would-be customers, but those present troubles aren't stopping OnePlus from looking to the future.
The latest OnePlus Two rumors, from GizChina, peg the One successor with a 5.5-inch display and a Snapdragon 810 chip, plus 4GB of RAM, a 3300mAh battery and Android 5.0 Lollipop.
That would be the same size as the OnePlus One's display, but word this time is that the OnePlus Two's resolution will be bumped up to 2560 x 1440 - in other words, quad HD.
It's unclear where the site got this info, so take it with a side of salt.
Certainty and surprises
But the OnePlus Two is definitely happening - it's only a matter of waiting until the second or third quarter of 2015 at this point, as OnePlus team members revealed on Reddit last fall.OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei said in January that the OnePlus Two will "surprise people," and although it's not clear yet exactly how we're hoping it's not with the Snapdragon 810's rumored overheating.
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in depth: HDR: welcome to the next big shift in home entertainment
Introduction and the impact of HDR
Talk of 4K TV has become pervasive, and if the hardware on display at CES 2015 was any indication, a plethora of companies are lined up to ride the momentum.Several other home entertainment innovations became ubiquitous at the trade show, such as LG's Quantum Dot LED TVs, or Samsung's line of premium SUHD TVs that will supposedly upgrade the already-existing Ultra-HD standards.
But in the shadow of these improvements, conversations stir of another development – it's called high dynamic range, or HDR, and it could spark the next shift in TV hardware.
What is HDR?
High dynamic range isn't completely new, at least outside of TV hardware. High-end cameras and recent smartphone apps utilize HDR for higher quality photos. By combining several photos taken during a single burst, HDR leaves less room for error, and in most lighting conditions, garners striking results.Separate photos are taken at different exposures during the process. These are called stops, and the amount of light is doubled from one to the next. So while the first stop produces an extremely dark image, the last result is exceptionally bright, lending better luminosity to the final portmanteau photo.
HDR video, though, is shot with an expanded range – it captures darker shadows and brighter whites during the shooting process. It doesn't really combine the lights and darks, but separates them even further, creating a wider array of possible colors – HDR TVs are the only foreseeable option for doing the image justice on the screen.
Different cameras have varying numbers of stops when using HDR imaging, but all in all, the process allows for images that regular digital photography wouldn't be able to capture. HDR is bringing media closer to what the human eye sees, and by doing so, is creating more realistic images, from scenes bleached with sunlight, to nighttime shots on city streets.
How will HDR affect the viewing experience?
4K is the biggest trend in viewing hardware today, and for good reason – it delivers four times the normal amount of pixels than 1080p, presenting finer detail and better textures. Companies such as Sony, Samsung, Panasonic and LG are busy moving their 4K TVs onto store shelves this year, and improvements in hardware will allow more viewers to see content with the increased resolution.
But HDR is markedly different because of how it actually changes the picture. Colors are more vibrant, blacks are deeper, objects more pronounced. Hues are also more exaggerated, alternating between cool and warm in the same image.
The key here is brightness: the majority of TVs today have a typical brightness of 400 nits (the unit for luminance), while some made the leap to about 750 in 2014. HDR TVs, though, have a maximum nit count of about 1,000. That increase means the difference between normal outdoor scenes and more realistic ones.
So in movies shot with HDR-compatible cameras, desert scenes will be much clearer, with colors and brightness more akin to actual sunlight. Winter shots will present a higher disparity between buildings and surrounding snow. While 4K increases the resolution quality of the picture being shown, HDR increases the colors, contrast and all around realism.
Once HDR becomes a household viewing standard, more and more film and TV crews will likely begin shooting with HDR-compatible cameras.
What can I watch in HDR and when?
What content is (or will be) available to watch in HDR?
Because of the novelty of HDR at this stage, there isn't much content to prove its staying power. The technology is still in the experimental phase for movies, and only a few instances are on the horizon for TV. However, there are more on the way.Dolby and Warner Bros. announced three movies on the way in HDR: "Edge of Tomorrow," "Into the Storm," and "Lego Movie." The partners plan to stream these movies on Dolby TVs, and while the current models won't fully demonstrate HDR's potential, it may encourage more entities to follow suit.
Netflix in particular has been a vocal proponent for HDR. Marco Polo, a Netflix original about the explorer and his encounter with Kublai Khan during his younger years, is the first series to be presented with HDR, and Netflix said about 10 of its 60 original series this year may follow suit.
The streaming company has been looking past 4K for some time now, and recognizes HDR as the next development in viewing potential. Netflix's Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt said he doesn't think 4K will be enough for many viewers, and that resolution innovation will be in the rearview mirror by 2016. And as a company that prides itself on watching the road ahead, it may be safe to assume more of Netflix's series will be compatible with HDR.
When will HDR be available?
Companies such as Sony and Samsung are already in the process of rolling HDR into their "Ultra-HD" TVs, but have yet to announce when HDR will be fully finished at the lab – as with 4K, the hype took a while to catch on before numerous companies jumped onboard.And with 2015 being the supposed year when 4K TVs will finally become an industry standard, it's not reaching to think HDR will be on par or even above 4K's level of attention by the end of the year.
Judging by the number of hardware and content companies trying to stay ahead of the HDR curve, though, it seems as if the viewing standard won't stay the same for much longer.
In that vein, it could be safe to expect widespread adoption of HDR by 2016. Like any trend in the wider world of technology, it might take a while to catch on. But with so many companies and creative entities betting on HDR, it may be only a matter of time.
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Sony Xperia Z4 passes through Japanese certification authorities
Rumors of the Sony Xperia Z4 just got a bit more concrete, as the new Sony flagship appears to have passed through Japan's certification agency.
The Z4 is said to have a 5.2- or 5.5-inch QHD display and a Snapdragon 810, and it's expected to launch this Spring.
It appeared in three carrier-specific versions, for NTT DoCoMo, KDDI and SoftBank, respectively, reports Japan's Blog of Mobile.
All three versions support LTE, of course, as well as Voice over LTE.
We still haven't heard anything official about the new Sony phone, but the fact that it's being seen going through the usual channels could indicate things are on track with the Sony Xperia Z4, despite Qualcomm's rumored Snapdragon 810 troubles.
There's no word yet of the rumored Xperia Z4 Compact and Z4 Ultra, but we'll be keeping an eye out for those as well.
- TechRadar's Samsung Galaxy S5 review: an evolution, not a revolution
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Hands-on review: Updated: PlayStation Now
Introduction, library, pricing and stream quality
Update: Starting January 13, PlayStation Now will have a subscription option that costs $19.99 per month or $45 for three months. It will start first on PS4.A lot can change in two years.
On July 2, 2012, Sony bought the then-barely-known cloud gaming service, GaiKai, to the tune of $380 million (£242 million). The decision was met with tepid excitement and heaps of skepticism.
The excitement made sense. Though a foreign idea at the time, game-streaming sounded like an ambitious way to replace the derelict brick and mortar rental stores. (Sorry, Blockbuster!) The skepticism, however, was also understandable.
How could the average user expect a stable, quick connection for an entire gaming session? And how could Sony price it so that both consumers and developers get a fair deal?
It's with these questions in mind that we fast-forward to July 2014, wherein the fruit of that union is finally ready for harvest. It's called PlayStation Now, and if you haven't heard of it, it's kind of a big deal.
Until today, the private beta was only open to a select few. Now, the beta's open to PS4, PlayStation Vita and PlayStation TV owners the world over, with plans to expand to both Sony and Samsung TVs in the near future.
What follows is my experience with the service and fly-by-night phenomena many didn't believe could even work two short years ago.
Great expectations
We had hoped back then, perhaps somewhat naively, that PlayStation Now would be the Netflix of video game streaming. That we could shell out a paltry $8.99 a month and access any game we choose forever - so long as we didn't let our subscription lapse.What we got isn't the evolution of Netflix. That's not to say it's bad, mind you. It's just … different.
Update: In the time since its inception, PlayStation Now has added a subscription option. The service will cost $19.99 per month or $45 if you sign up for three months. Skeptical? Sony is offering a seven-day trial for free.
Let's start at the beginning. PlayStation Now's interface is incredibly subdued. There are only four tabs: Welcome, All Games, Connection Test, and My PS Now Games.
Exploring the Welcome tab reminds you to use a wired connection for the best results and, before you begin streaming a title, test your connection. (If you're wondering, yes you can pass the test if you're using a wireless signal. We managed to pass the test on Wi-Fi, though that may not have been an accurate assessment.)
Sony promised close to 100 titles before the beta goes live, among them first-party behemoths like The Last of Us, God of War: Ascension and Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus.
Game Library
Sony delivered. Sort of.There are now over 100 games available to stream, everything from triple-A masterpieces like The Last of Us and God of War: Ascension to smaller indie darlings. My only complaint is that games aren't added as quickly as I'd like. It'd be nice to see a new, must-play game added every week, but so far that hasn't happened. Not to say that this can't or won't change as soon as the beta switches from private to public.
But the good titles are worth the price of entry - which I'll get to soon enough, don't worry. Games like Saints Row 3, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Darksiders and Catherine are all up for grabs.
Sadly, some of the 85 games are discount bin fodder, and have been for the past few years. I don't know anyone lining up to play Heavy Fire: Shattered Spear or Jimmie Johnson's Anything with Wheels. But the variety offered here should be enough to please a diverse set of tastes.
Pricing
PlayStation Now could offer the biggest and best games from the company's 20-year foray into game consoles, but if the pricing is wrong, none of it will matter. Nailing down exactly what PlayStation Now's pricing is and how this will shake out, however, is a little tough.From now games are divided into four rental periods (four hours, seven days, 30 days and 90 days) or all-you-can-play for $20 a month. The price between the first two rental periods typically only differs by one to two dollars, but there's a major jump in cost that happens between the 30 and 90-day levels.
However, once you purchase time with a game, you can't buy additional time. Ideally, you should be able to buy a four-hour demo for $2.99 and, once you've decided you like it, unlock 7-day access by paying the difference.
As it stands, you'll need to wait out the four hours and pay the full 7-day price. There's no way to transition from one to another without waiting out the time for which you paid.
Thankfully, the rental period begins the first time you play the game not when you purchase it. However, you must start your game within 30 days of purchasing the rental or that money is wasted.
Here's a table of three games, one early PS3 game; one PSN game; and one more recent PS3 game displaying not only the difference in price over each time period, but the difference between games altogether as well:
- Metal Gear Solid 4: 4 hours - $ 3.99, 7 days - $7.99, 30 days - $12.99, 90 days - $14.99
- Mega Man 9: 4 hours - $2.99, 7 days - $3.99, 30 days - $5.99, 90 days - $7.99
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution: 4 hours - $4.99, 7 days - $6.99, 30 days - $14.99, 90 days - $29.99
But dig in a bit deeper, and these logical prices stop making sense.
Take, for example, Metal Gear Solid 4: it's $7.99 to rent for seven days - not a terrible price when it's isolated without a comparison. But when this game goes for $6.99 used at GameStop, it seems a lot less sensible. Though, the point can be made that you would need an actual PS3 console to play that disc, thanks to the lack of backwards compatibility on the PS4. So, this argument can swing either way.
Where I can see PlayStation Now finding some traction is with gamers supplementing their PS4 experience with rentals - or, crazier, users giving up their physical media collection completely. This depends largely on how quickly games come to the store. But, in a perfect world in which games launch simultaneously on retail and PS Now, you could be playing the week's biggest game without leaving your couch for the pittance of $6.99.
There's a lot of potential here, but the pricing model isn't all that consumer-friendly.
Stream quality
Games take about 15 seconds to load up, and seem a hair faster than they were at CES. Single player worked seamlessly in Guacamelee!, and local multiplayer wasn't a problem either.I also noticed that since CES, there was little to no signal degradation. Everything came through in crystal-clear HD or not at all. The only time I saw some stuttering and screen tearing was during an intense, input-heavy game, like Dead or Alive 5.
Whether PlayStation Now can support multiplayer games online, however, remains to be seen. I can only imagine that a signal being relayed from a local PlayStation 4 to a PS Now server then to the game server and back would be too slow to play online. Whether that turns out to be true, though, remains to be seen and is something that requires confirmation from Sony.
What I do know is that you really want to heed Sony's advice on an ethernet cable. A lost connection to your router will boot you from the game whether you've saved 10 seconds ago or 10 minutes ago. I got booted from games multiple times due to a bad connection. Though, this may have to do with the amount of dedicated servers for the beta, and not something indicative of the final service.
Early verdict
It's hard to judge the service on this brief, partial display. Once more server space becomes dedicated to PlayStation Now, many of these complaints may become a moot point.We liked
As promised, Sony delivered a slew of games. Picking which one of the 80-plus games to download first is a difficult decision, and this is only the beginning. Plus, rentals don't take up any space on your hard drive, and there's zero download time - just a quick 20 second setup before you play each game.Finally, while the service is only available now on the PlayStation 4, it will eventually span the entirety of Sony's gaming and media devices as well as possibly expanding onto smartphones.
We disliked
It would've be great to cut yourself off entirely from a console, but that doesn't seem possible with PlayStation Now in its current state. There's just not enough of a selection without getting the latest releases on there every week, and even if they were, the prices add up quickly.Games can sometimes be more for a seven day rental than their retail price. Frankly, I wish PlayStation Now would borrow EA Access's better, consumer-friendly pricing system.
Early verdict
Sony has time to fix the problem with its PlayStation Now pricing model, lack of flexibility, and has plans to step up the amount of content available to stream. There's a lot to look forward to with the service. That is, so long as Sony can adopt a better model to attract the most gamers to the platform.Hands on: CES 2014
Backwards compatibility may have gone the way of the dodo but now Sony has introduced a way to play its last-gen games, and you don't even need a PlayStation 3 or 4.PlayStation Now could be the Netflix of video games. Through a subscription or a la carte rental payments players can stream PS3 games in 720p, no console required.
Solid Snake on your iPhone?
When the service launches this summer it'll be exclusive to Sony Bravia TVs, the PS4 and PS3. Sony plans to expand compatibility to the PS Vita handheld and Sony Xperia Android devices.PlayStation Now won't be exclusive to Sony products forever. The Japanese electronics behemoth has said its goal is to support a "broad range of Internet-connected devices." This includes non-Sony TVs and smartphones.
At Sony's mega booth at CES 2014 I spent a little hands on time crushing mythological monsters and skulking through the apocalyptic wasteland.
My demo used a Sony Bravia TV with DualShock 3 controllers connected directly to the TV. A Sony rep told me that Bluetooth is the only requirement to get controller playing with a TV. At launch, only the PS3's DualShock 3 will be supported for direct television play.
Four games were playable at the CES demo: God of War: Ascension, Puppeteer, The Last of Us and Beyond: Two Souls. I played the first three and was impressed with the latency of the controls, which showed zero lag.
However, the visuals were a bit of a downgrade. God of War and Last of Us, known for being real system pushers, looked noticeably fuzzy at times. There were also some pretty big initial load times.
The opening load time on The Last of Us, known for being pretty epic, came out to a minute and thirty seconds, according to my iPhone's stopwatch. That could be due to the internet being slammed by convention-goers, or just the early nature of the Now service. Either way I'm hoping performance improves by the time its opened to the public.
The cloud advantage
While latency could be an issue, Sony is saying that a 5 Mbps connection is all that's required for PlayStation Now. Basically, if your internet connection can support Netflix, Now shouldn't be a problem.And having your data up in the cloud will mean your saves will follow you across your devices, wherever you choose to log in from.
You'll also never need to worry about patching, since the server will always be dishing up the latest version.
A lot is up in the air
Even though Sony was letting people try the service, there's still a lot it won't say about PlayStation Now. First, there's the price.Sony has said that users will be able to choose between subscription and per title pay-to-play rentals. It hasn't said how any of that will be priced, or if subscriptions will provide unlimited play, or be tied somehow to PS Plus.
Also, Sony has yet to divulge what games will be available at launch, or down the line. Reps at CES couldn't even confirm that the four titles at the demo would be ready to stream. They also wouldn't say anything about PlayStation 2 and original PlayStation games, just that they were "a possibility."
Early verdict
Despite all the unknowns and the graphical half step backwards, PlayStation Now is one of the most exciting bits of gaming news to come out of CES. As a life-long gamer, I sorely miss backwards compatibility. Having Sony's amazing back catalog at my disposal would be incredible, especially for a flat fee.This could be the HBO GO of video games, and I'm excited to hear more about the lineup, and when I'll be able to play The Last of Us on my Vita. Sony has a closed beta planned for the end of January; expect more news once that kicks off.
Originally contributed by Alex Roth
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Updated: Xbox One price drops yet again, but the promotion is limited
Update: A Microsoft spokesperson tells TechRadar that the Xbox One price cut is currently limited to the US.
As far as how long it will last, they're "not going into depth on the life of the price promotion at this time," the spokesperson said, but promised "more details soon."
Original story follows…
The Xbox One's price went down late in 2014 and then right back up at the end of the year, and now it's gone back down again.
That means $50 off the Xbox One for a total price of $350 in the US, Microsoft announced via Xbox Wire.
It's unclear whether this discount applies outside the US, or whether this price slash is more permanent than the last one, but we've asked Microsoft to clarify those two points.
Despite a rocky launch the Xbox One is doing better than OK for itself now, with sales during November and December 2014 reportedly beating sales of the Xbox 360 during the same period in the older console's lifespan by 50%.
We'll update this article if we hear back from Microsoft on the details of its latest Xbox One price cut.
- But is the PS4 the better choice?
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Review: Amazon Fire HD 6
Introduction
Tablets are in an odd place right now. Sales are slumping for both Android and iOS devices and with phones growing in size every few months the need for a separate, similarly sized device that lacks all the smartphone features is definitely waning.But that isn't stopping Amazon, in fact the online shopping behemoth has recently refreshed almost the entire Fire tablet line, giving spec bumps to both the HD 7 and HDX 8.9 and unveiling possibly the most interesting of all, the Amazon Fire HD 6.
I've been using the Fire HD 6 as my sole tablet for about a week and it's surprised me, far outweighing any expectations I had when I first booted it up and tapped in my Amazon details.
But, let's start with a quick overview of things. The Fire HD 6 as you might have guessed, boasts a 6-inch display which is actually the feature that sets it apart from the rest of the crowded tablet space.
A 6-inch display is more common for a smartphone than a tablet, with most slates slipping into the 7-10-inch range. It gives the Amazon Fire HD 6 a real selling point.
There have been larger tablets this year, the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 12.2 for example; so seeing one go the other way and offer something much smaller is hardly surprising.
The price is also a real plus point for the Amazon Fire HD 6. Starting at £79, $99 for the 8GB version (with ads) and going up to £99, $119 (also, with ads) for the 16GB model, it's the cheapest tablet Amazon has ever released and only £20, $20 more than the Kindle.
When it comes to the tablet specs, the Amazon Fire HD 6 is pretty well equipped. There's a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM and both front and rear facing cameras.
When you consider the iPad mini 2 starts at £239, $299 and boasts a dual-core 1.3GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage space, Amazon's pocketable tablet sounds like a great deal.
Obviously, Amazon has had to take some shortcuts to keep the price low, but nothing on this tablets screams 'bargain bin'.
The 1,280 x 800 display is not quite as sharp as a 1080p version, or the Retina display on the iPad mini 2, but it still has accurate colour representation and films streamed at 720p look good, especially as the screen squashes more pixels in.
Design
I'd describe the looks of the Fire HD 6 as chunky and durable, almost the perfect tablet to give to kids. The plastic chassis is far from premium, but it feels reliably sturdy and there's almost no give. I even dropped it and though I picked it up fearing the worst, it didn't even pick up a scratch.A thick black bezel surrounds the screen, while the chassis is available in a variety of hues. My review unit is what Amazon describes as cobalt (blue) and I found it clashed a bit with the black front. It's a minor quibble though as other colours are available, including the neon-like citron, magenta (pink) along with black and white for the less daring.
The Fire HD 6 measures 169 x 103 x 10.7mm and weighs 290g (10.2 oz). For a tablet this small, it does actually feel a bit heavy, though it weighs exactly the same as the 2013 Nexus 7 and less than the 8-inch Nvidia Shield Tablet (390g).
Reading a book in portrait mode was OK, though after about thirty minutes my arm started to get tired, but maybe that's just my weak arm. Watching a film in landscape is even more problematic, I had to prop the tablet up on a table to make it through an episode of Black Sails on Amazon Prime.
On the back is a single speaker, a step-down from the dual stereo speaker that sits on the HD 7 and a 2MP snapper (there's also a VGA version on the front, for those who want to engage in very blurry Skype chats or take grainy selfies).
On the top is the headphone jack, on/off switch and the microUSB port for charging, while the volume rocker is situated on the left.
Even though the materials used here are far from the metal and glass Apple uses to craft its iPad mini line, it's a big step up from older Amazon tablets and bargain Android slates of old.
It's durable, easy to grip and sturdy, if a little thick for my liking. But really this device is all about accessing Amazon's vast library of content and services, from Kindle books to Prime videos to shopping for your next batch of Sriracha hot sauce, and this it does well.
Key features and interface
If you've ever used a tablet from Amazon before, you'll feel right at home on the Fire HD 6, basically because everything is pretty much the same as it has always been.Fire OS 4 now runs atop Android 4.4 but looks completely unrecognisable from Google's baby. Instead of a typical homescreen, you're presented with a carousel of content that incorporates all your apps, movies, books and music. When you open a new app it takes its place at the front of the carousel, though you can pin content you use most frequently so they stay at the front.
Swipe up from the carousel and a more traditional app grid appears, while dragging an app on top of another creates a folder.
Above the carousel is a menu chock full of links to everything Amazon offers, from games to audiobooks, and if you keep scrolling you'll find Amazon's impressive photo storing solution, Cloud Drive.
Swipe down from the top and there's the typical notification shade, with a row of non-customisable quick settings that let you easily alter the brightness, toggle Wi-Fi and jump into the full settings app.
Customisation on the whole is completely non-existent in Fire OS and it's something I really dislike. That means no widgets, no custom icons and you can't even alter the background colour to anything other than black. It's as it comes for the entire time you have the tablet.
Many instantly disregard Amazon's UI and for smartphones, like the Amazon Fire Phone, I agree that is doesn't work. But, for a tablet solely about pushing and consuming content, I think it works perfectly. Everything is within easy reach and it's quick to jump from a book you're reading to the film you were watching last.
It's a purely visual interface, with big icons, film artwork and album covers everywhere, so finding what you want is easy. That is unless you want to get to your email or documents, which both get pushed away every time you open something new.
But, then again this isn't a tablet you'll be wanting to type out a long email on. I tried the email and calendar apps out for a few days as both work with all the usual accounts, such as Google, Yahoo and so on, but was frustrated by the lack of features and functionality. I quickly signed out and never touched them again.
Just like stripping out an Android staple like customisation, Amazon also cuts off access to the Google Play Store, instead restricting you to the brand's own app store.
While the Amazon app store has access to over 24,000 apps, including headline acts like Twitter, Facebook, Netflix, BBC iPlayer and Monument Valley, it lacks some very important apps. Notably, every single Google app. That includes Gmail, Google Maps, Play Music, Chrome - I could go on and on. It seriously hampers the usefulness of any of Amazon's tablets.
As Chrome is a no-go, Amazon's Silk browser takes care of all your web based need. It's a fairly simple tabbed browser that loads pages fast and renders everything as it expected.
As with any browser worth its salt, it lets you save bookmarks and rounds up all most visited pages into a visual page that lets you easily jump back to one.
A 'trending now' section gathers some top stories from around the web and you can easily share to Twitter and other social networks.
If Chrome was available I would install it straight away and Silk would become just another icon I never tapped, but it's not, as annoying as that might be. The truth is that the Silk browser is good enough, but it lacks a few features.
While Amazon decided not to include a few of the software features it added to the Fire Phone, like Mayday customer service or Firefly, Amazon Freetime has made the jump. Freetime is basically a profile switcher designed for kids, a very good one at that.
I mentioned earlier that due to the chunky, durable build, this tablet is perfect for kids and the addition of Amazon Freetime makes this even more so. Set-up is simple; you just tap in a PIN, set-up a profile for your child (or children) and then add in content you've purchased that you're happy for them to use.
There's one thing I haven't really touched upon yet, as I wanted to finish this section with what I feel is most key of all the features, and that's the tablet's integration with Amazon's Prime service.
If you haven't used Prime before, you'll bag a 30-day free trial when you first log-in, but if you have you'll already know the variety of features it brings. I'd recommend anyone picking up this tablet to also grab a Prime membership, the two work hand in hand.
Prime's key selling point on the Fire HD 6 is video, letting you stream Prime movies and TV shows in HD and giving you the option to cache them on the device for offline viewing.
As my review unit only came with 8GB of storage, I was limited in what I could download, but it's still great to be able to carry on watching the latest episode of Mad Men when you're without connection on the tube.
If something you're after isn't on Prime, there's a good chance you'll be able to buy it and download it.
The essentials
My review unit came with just 8GB of internal storage, but out of that I could only use about 4.5GB. Once I'd installed Football Manager Handheld 2015, Monument Valley and Ridiculous Fishing I had used up nearly 2GB.
Add in two HD episodes of Black Sails and I was down to just 700MB free. I'd recommend paying that extra £20, $20 and upping it to 16GB, but even with that you'll be quite restricted.
I also got a case to try out, one of Amazon's leather covers that protects both the rear and the front of the device. It feels good in the hand and slips on with a satisfying click; this case isn't going to fall off without you pulling at it.
Unlike a lot of Amazon's cases it's not an origami style, but part of the back does fold so you can prop it up on a desk. It doesn't feel very secure when it's in this propped up state, but it manages to just about stay up, as long as you don't touch it.
Performance, battery life and camera
Performance
The Fire HD 6 is packed with a quad-core 1.5GHz processor and 1GB of RAM and everything from opening up apps to playing games is a smooth experience.Lag was something I never came across, even when playing high powered games like Football Manager Handheld 2015 or Asphalt 8.
The Geekbench 3 benchmarking app returned a multi-core score of 1456, a little lower than the 1476 score the Fire HD 7 gets. It's also a lot lower than some of the competition, including the old Nexus 7 which picks up a score of 1896.
Battery life
Battery life is key for a tablet and Amazon claims that you'll manage around eight hours of mixed use, so video watching, web browsing, ebook reading and web browser, before you're reaching for the charger.Amazon, just like Apple, doesn't disclose the size of the battery, but I'd say the estimates are pretty much on point.
I got through a day of pretty heavy usage with ease. Taking it off the charger at about 9am, setting it up, installing apps, reading a book and watching a couple of TV episodes through iPlayer and Prime Instant Video. By about 9pm I had 39% left.
I also tested it out by watching The Dark Knight Rises, in HD, all the way through, streaming from Amazon Prime Instant Video. By the end of the film the tablet was down 30%, from 90% to 60%, which does seem quite a large amount.
Camera
Another tablet, another camera that is hardly worth the material it's constructed of. Amazon Fire tablets have, in the past, dispensed with the rear camera completely, but for the new Fire HD range Amazon has fitted it out with a 2MP rear snapper and a VGA one up-front.I'll start off by saying this camera won't replace your point and shoot, it won't replace your iPad Air 2, it won't replace your smartphone and it probably won't even replace one of those disposable cameras you get at weddings.
The rear camera doesn't come with many additional features, just a basic HDR setting and a Panorama mode.
If I can think of a positive note it is that the autofocus is fast, and you can change the exposure slightly by tapping on different parts of the picture.
Pictures taken in daylight, albeit a rainy day in Clapham, came out grainy and they all lacked detail. Turn out the lights and all you'll end up with is a grainy, slightly reddish image. You can also take 1080p video, but I found that, again, to lack detail and the footage came out like I was purposely shaking the tablet.
Switch over the front-facing VGA camera and things don't improve. Selfies are not even Instagram worthy and video chat ended up, more times than not, with the person I was talking to complaining that they couldn't see me.
Camera samples
Click here for the full res image
Click here for the full res image
Click here for the full res image
Click here for the full res image
Click here for the full res image
Click here for the full res image
Click here for the full res image
Verdict
Amazon's smallest and cheapest tablet yet has a lot going for it, and that's not just the £79, $99 price-tag.The 6-inch screen is big enough to watch a film on and the processor is just beefy enough to play the latest and greatest graphically intense games.
We liked
The integration with Amazon's Prime services is excellent and works like a charm. From caching videos, in HD I might add, for offline viewing, to syncing up where I was at in a book on my Kindle Voyage, everything just works as it should.I also really like how every bit of media I consume shows up on the carousel, making it easy to jump back into it when I want to resume watching. Normally, I'd have to open up an individual app before this was possible.
Making a 6-inch tablet might seem a bit odd, especially when phones like the Nexus 6 posses a screen only 0.4-inches smaller, but I grew to appreciate having something so small that I could use solely for media.
I chucked it in my bag when I was getting the train home, knowing that I'd have something to watch, without having to buy single episodes or mess around with syncing.
While it garners a lot of criticism, I actually really like Amazon's UI for tablets. It puts content right in front of you and if you like the traditional app grid, just swipe up. Yes, it doesn't work on phones where you're using a load of different apps and opening up a multitude of messaging clients, but when all you're doing in watching and reading, it's all you need.
We disliked
And, at the same time that last comment leads right into one of the things I really dislike - all I did was watch videos and read books. On my iPad mini I can draw, write, make a song, read the latest issue of T3, along with also reading books and watching videos.The Amazon ecosystem is restrictive and it's not built for productivity, it doesn't even have Google Drive and Docs access, something that I use everyday.
While Amazon has improved its email, calendar and web browsing apps in recent years, they're still poorly designed and lacking features. Just let me download Gmail, Google Calendar and Chrome.
Having an 8GB option is great to keep the costs down, but when you only have about 4.5GB of that you can actually use, it can become full with only a few games installed. There's no microSD expansion either.
Final verdict
I've spent a good amount of time with the Amazon Fire HD 6 and it has already inserted itself into my regime. The mixture of durability, small footprint and access to Amazon's Prime service combine to make a device that's great for watching movies on the go, but not so great for actually getting things done.If you've only got £80, $100 and you want a tablet, this is the best that you can get, just don't expect it to replace your laptop, or even your iPad.
First reviewed: November 2014
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Google is quietly changing its business model
Google has launched a new service called Google Domains as a Beta in the US, only days after rumours of a persistent interest in the massive US car insurance market surfaced.
Google already allows users to buy their domains from the search provider, albeit via a more convoluted route (you need to go through Google Apps).
Domains is a more straightforward route and even includes access to four third-party webpage developers (WIX, Squarespace, Weebly and Shopify) to help customers build their websites.
You also get 100 email addresses and 100 sub-domains with prices starting from $12 (around £7, AU$13). Expect it to roll out across other territories.
Commission mission
Google appears to have focused its resources on building more commissioned-based services to grow its revenues, even if it means competing with its own clients.The company seems to be using the UK as a testing ground, having established a number of price comparison services at this compare homepage for credit cards, mortgages, current/saving accounts and even car insurance.
That's only a tiny fraction of what the likes of moneysupermarket.com offer (the latter has nearly 50 products), but that's a start and Google is already gathering momentum by pushing its own services ahead of its competitors and exploring multiple territories.
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Download of the day: iTunes
Organise your media collection and discover new artists, films and TV programmes with iTunes.
Why you need it
There's no denying that Apple's iTunes software is a powerful piece of music software. It can help you get your media library organised, whether that consists of music, films or TV shows, and with a gorgeous album art layout and simple colour scheme, it looks good too.You can create your own playlists and burn them to CD, or let iTunes take over with its Genius feature, which automatically creates playlists based on the songs in your library. It also features Genius Mix, which plays a selection of songs based on a chosen genre, much like a radio station.
Then there's the iTunes Store, which boasts over 43 million songs, 85,000 films and 300,000 TV programmes to choose from. It's the largest music vendor in the world, so it's pretty much guaranteed you'll find what you're looking for. If you own an Apple device, you can also download apps for it from a range of over 700,000.
There are a load of useful features to help make viewing your media much easier, from custom colours for each album view to various different file sorting options, so you can find exactly what you're looking for in a cinch. So give iTunes a try and find out why it's one of the most popular media players in the world.
Key features
- Works on: PC, Mac
- Versions: Free
- Play your media: Whether you want to play songs, movies or TV shows, iTunes can get you sorted
- Stay organised: Create playlists, burn CDs or have iTunes choose a playlist for you
- Expand your collection: The iTunes store is one of the largest media stores out there, so there's bound to be something there to keep you entertained
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