Could device-to-device be the next big thing?
Introduction and LTE Direct
Mobile phone networks are getting faster, with 4G now maturing and 5G on its way, but there's a lot more going on than merely increased data transfer speeds. 4K video is about to cause bottlenecks on networks, but the answer could be an odd one; offload it completely and let phones do the donkey work. Cue device to device communications (D2D), which promises to change not only how we communicate with each other, but how the connected car communicates, too.What is device-to-device (D2D) communications?
It already exists, and has done for years. "D2D is a communication between two devices in proximity," says Malik Saadi, VP and GM, Strategic Technology, ABI Research in London. "Bluetooth pairing is D2D, for sharing data or images, but more recently you have Wi-Fi Direct, and Intel's WiDi wireless display technology."Devices already using one or more of these D2D wireless technologies include smart TVs and laptops, while Bluetooth Smart is making a play for connecting devices in the smart home, with smartwatches and wearables, and with beacons.
Now it's time for something better, with hugely bigger data transfer rates and a far longer range.
What is LTE Direct?
Think supercharged Bluetooth on a chip that smartphone manufacturers will soon start fitting in devices. Created by Qualcomm in 2012 and expected to become part of its Snapdragon processor for phones, LTE Direct allows a phone to communicate – and send data – to other phones within a staggering 500m. No network required … well, almost."It creates a proximal communication paradigm away from the local area network – the devices initiate the communication at the network level, but the traffic is at the device level," says Saadi. This is potentially powerful stuff, with LTE Direct-compatible handsets capable of downloading at a speed of 362.4Mb/s.
However, some doubt its potential. "I suspect that 500m is a stretch, with more likely distances to be about 200-300m," says Dr Kevin Curran, Technical Expert at the IEEE, who thinks that WiGig – which can reach speeds up to 7Gbp/s – is more useful if, say, you want to stream 4K video. "Qualcomm's Snapdragon mobile processor can already support WiGig," he notes.
How will it change social networking?
LTE Direct is being talked-up as an 'always-on' discovery technology, which enables the continuous discovery of thousands of devices while maintaining both anonymity and battery efficiency. "You could share files and images with a community around you," says Saadi. "For instance, if you are touring London and you want to share your video to a group of people.""Now we have location services where you need to opt-in and be concerned about battery life, but those limitations are removed with LTE Direct because it doesn't really use any overheads, and it doesn't allow location-tracking, so privacy is enhanced," says Steffen Sorrell, Senior Analyst, Juniper Research. "'The discovery aspect helps you find your friends in the vicinity very easily."
Off-grid apps
Mind you, LTE Direct is not the first technology to allow direct device-to-device communication. "The popular FireChat app allows devices to send messages to one another even without a Wi-Fi or cell connection," says Curran. FireChat uses Bluetooth to connect to nearby phones that also have the app installed, thus creating a distributed, decentralised network."It first gained popularity when over 500,000 people downloaded the app during the Hong Kong demonstrations a few years ago," he says, adding that it's often used by people fearing that the government will switch off cell or Wi-Fi access – such as in war-torn Iraq, or when Facebook blocked a page promoting a protest in Russia.
However, LTE Direct's promise of 'proximity social media' most resembles FireChat's use during the last SXSW event in Austin, Texas. "The idea was to promote event details, DJ sightings and live discussions of what to do and where to go," says Curran. "FireChat even created 'chat-tags' to create or join a live discussion based on topics."
Security and connected cars
Can you make phone calls on LTE Direct for free?
Sadly not. "You still need the presence of a cell tower because for security reasons you need to synchronise, identify and authenticate the devices communicating on the network," says Sorell. "So you won't be able to get free phone calls."However, the call itself won't be hosted on the network, going direct from one phone to another if they're within 500m of each other. "Free calls might be something that comes in the future," notes Sorrell, who says that direct point-to-point communications not involving a basestation are only possible for use by emergency services. The US, UK and South Korea should have such a public safety LTE network by 2017.
While LTE Direct will be largely invisible to users, it could mean better quality of calls. "You'll potentially reduce latency and because it's a peer-to-peer connection there's the potential for higher bandwidth, too," says Sorrell.
Does this mean a future without cell phone towers?
No. Relaying messages from phone to phone might sound like an off-grid future where our phones are nodes on a network, but that's unlikely. "Mesh networking decentralises communications," says Philip Williams, Principal Architect, Rackspace, adding that external networks will continue to exist even if only as a point of entrance or exit to a meshed network."For example, when making an international phone call, a meshed network may exist within a metro-area, but in order to get hold of someone on another landmass, the device will have to interact with another centralised network in order to communicate over thousands of miles," says Williams.
Is there a security risk?
Qualcomm states that the 'technology allows for the anonymous discovery of other devices and doesn't track location or device data'."Any technology that has the ability to track users does have inherent security and privacy risks," says Curran, who doubts that LTE Direct's device-level transmitting and monitoring will interest network operators. "I strongly suspect that mobile operators will operate a centralised proximal device discovery database, and that can certainly be a target for hackers," he says, adding that since it's a proprietary technology external experts have not yet audited it to ascertain the level of risk.
How will the connected car benefit?
This is perhaps the killer app – and it's getting the automotive industry excited. "Two vehicles with LTE Direct could communicate, with one telling the other that there is a traffic bottleneck ahead, and that message could be transferred to other vehicles using mesh paradigms," says Saadi. "And when the two vehicles are in close proximity it could warn one car that he's getting too close." Vehicle-to-vehicle communications is an underlying technology for autonomous, self-driving cars, so LTE Direct could have a massive future.When will be see LTE Direct in phones?
The specification of LTE Direct was finished in March this year, and there have already been trials in Germany and South Korea, with further trials planned for the US, Europe and South Korea – and with both Yahoo and Facebook – but there could be a wait. "I wouldn't expect to see any devices until at least next year, and the use of the tech would be in 2017," says Sorrell.The catalyst for mass adoption of LTE Direct could be the burgeoning Internet of Things. Offloading 4K video to avoid bottlenecks in built-up urban areas is one thing, but the spectre of 50 billion connected devices by 2020 is something else. "Anything that can take traffic away from the network will be beneficial," says Sorell. LTE Direct may never be headline news, but it's destined to be part of a suite of D2D technologies that allow the IoT to become something more than an ambition.
Read More ...
iPhone 6S sales begin with pre-order scramble
Apple iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus on are now on sale this very minute via online pre-orders, which it is encouraging as a way to cut back on long lines at its retail stores.
The new iPhones could be reserved through the website and Apple Store app starting at 12:01am PT or 3:01am ET in the US, and 8:01am BT in the UK. The actual iPhone 6S release date is September 25.
New to this year's configuration is a rose gold iPhone 6S color and 6S Plus color choice, in addition to the usual gold, space gray and silver shades of aluminum.
Both phones are stronger, posses a new 12MP camera and feature faster internal specs. The iPhone 6 to iPhone 6S price hasn't changed in US and UK, but did see an increase in Australia.
iPhone 6S website and app down
Apple's official website to buy the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus was down ahead of today's pre-order rollout, and that's customary in advance of any big product launch from the company.
However, some prospective buyers weren't able to access the Apple Store site right away, leading to a delays in purchasing the highly-sought-after phones.
Others, according to Twitter, tend to find better luck using the free Apple Store mobile app. In past years, we've found that it worked up to a half hour sooner than the website through a computer browser.
Considering all of the hype surrounding the rose gold iPhone, this may leave some Apple fans without the exact iPhone 6S they were wanting on day one.
Shipping time often get delayed minutes after new Apple products go on sale, and although this is an "S" phone, demand is still expected to be high for launch day.
Read More ...
Review: Samsung UE48JS8500
Introduction and features
If the spectre of 'another curved TV' isn't welcome, the appearance of this, the most affordable TV from Samsung's SUHD line-up, certainly is. For the UE48JS8500 – available in the US and UK selling for $1,499 and £1,649 respectively – represents the latest and greatest LCD tech, pointless curve not withstanding.I don't hate curved TVs. They actually work really well in the corners of a room, maximizing the space really well. However, look at them head on and I find the effect frankly bizarre.
Why would you want a curved screen in a home cinema (which is where this TV is headed), or any other situation where you will be staring at the screen from the sweet spot? It serves no purpose, and no amount of popularisation will convince me otherwise.
Luckily there's a lot more to like about the Samsung UE48JS8500.
Features
Rather confusingly, SUHD doesn't really mean anything.Is Samsung hoping we all presume it means 'Super Ultra HD'? Perhaps so.
At the heart of the UE48JS8500 is an Ultra Clear Pro panel – an Edge LCD-backlit LCD, to be precise – whose slice of nano-crystal quantum dot tech promises to produce a brighter, more colourful image. In fact, that's '64 times more colour expression than conventional UHD TVs' according to Samsung's website, though it also gives a more conservative figure of 1.2!
It also promises twice the black levels from its Precision Black Pro processing, though the key figure is the eight million pixels it gets from its 4K Ultra HD 3840 x 2160 resolution.
Also lurking inside the UE48JS8500 is an all-new Smart Hub suite of apps built for the first time on Samsung's own Tizen OS, which is a mostly successful attempt to stop Google's Android TV in its tracks. Though initially promised to dominate its phones, Samsung has produced only one Tizen phone so far.
Other features include a quad core processor, built-in twin Freeview HD and Freesat HD tuners, record TV to USB, Wi-Fi, active shutter 3D (though weirdly no 3D specs are included), and – of course – HEVC decoding for 4K video streaming from Netflix and Amazon.
Design
The UE48JS8500 performs some balancing act, perching (solidly) on a T-shaped stand whose curved column reaches under and behind the TV, where it attaches. The main piece of the stand curves slightly, too. It's all a brushed metallic design, of course, with excellent construction quality – as with the TV itself, which has a super-slim bezel. As usual with curved TVs, you can't swivel the TV.Ins and outs
The UE48JS8500 comes with a separate box for the majority of connections.
That's understandable for TVs that are so darned slim and space-efficient that they just don't have room for the electronics, but as a curved TV the UE48JS8500 actually takes up quite a lot of space already.
The box itself – which houses four HDMI inputs (all HDCP 2.2-compliant), two USB slots and an optical digital audio output – connects to the UE48JS8500 via a proprietary cable.
Next door is an Ethernet LAN slot, a USB slot, a headphones slot, RF ins, and slots for component video/composite video adaptors.
Also available
Alongside the 48-inch UE48JS8500 in Samsung's 8 Series is the 55-inch UE55JS8500 and 65-inch UE65JS8500. There are also two non-curved versions, the 50-inch UE50JU6800 and 60-inch UE60JU6800.Further down are the non-SUHD JU7000 Series and the curved JU7500 Series, which are otherwise identical. All have Ultra HD 4K panels.
A slight step-up from the UE48JS8500 are Samsung's flagship TVs for 2015, the 48-inch UE48JS9000, 55-inch UE55JS9000 and 65-inch UE65JS9000, which all have curved panels, as do the 65-inch UE65JS9500T and two sizes that only those who've never heard of the concept of a home cinema projector could countenance, the 78-inch UE78JS9500T and 88-inch UE88JS9500T.
Picture quality
An Edge LED-backlit TV with a native 10-bit LCD panel rated at 120Hz and an Ultra HD 4K resolution, the UE48JS8500 is – thanks to its quantum dot nano-crystal layers – nevertheless all about colour.That excellent colour performance is boosted in no small part by brightness, which the UE48JS8500 has in spades thanks to its native energy-harvesting tech, Peak Illuminator.
An episode of Marco Polo from Netflix 4K is treated with incredible subtly, with Kubla Khan's stately pleasure-dome featuring carefully blended colour that shape-shifts in real-time, creating an image of immense realism.
The gloomy areas of the palace are left an enticing jet-black, but Polo's dark coat suffers from black crush, with little detail within. It's the same story with black suits in a showreel from Amazon Instant 4K, which all suffer from the same trade-off. In this regard, the UE48JS8500 proves that the SUHD concept is good, but it's no OLED.
Is a 48-inch TV big enough to tease-out enough 4K detail to make streaming in 4K worthwhile? Actually, yes it is – the image is near immaculate with bags of detail and impressive depth, which is more than you can say for a Full HD image on a TV of this size.
It's worth subduing the backlight by half for movies, to around 10 (only the Movie preset, at 13, gets anywhere near taking the backlight off maximum), for which the reward is superb contrast and excellent local dimming.
That takes the eye-popping edge from colour, but it's definitely worth doing. As Marco Polo rides out into the desert, the big sky is pure white, and though it dominates the image, the dark silhouette of a tree remains profoundly black.
As an Edge LED-backlit LCD, the UE48JS8500 doesn't have any native local dimming, instead using digital trickery to create Smart LED. However, it works pretty well, mostly getting rid of patchiness when used on the highest setting to create a panel of mostly consistent brightness.
Mostly…when the city lights go out in a 4K clip of Chicago at night, the UE48JS8500 doesn't go completely and utterly black, as OLED TVs do. I noticed a few patches of brightness, and a touch of haloing around brightly-lit white text when set against a black background. But this is nit-picking in the extreme.
Moving down the scale to Gravity on 2D Blu-ray, the UE48JS8500 retains that highly detailed, consistently bright and awesomely coloured image, and matches it with a judder-free performance.
Okay, so there's still some crushing in dark areas of the image, but the blackness of space remains profound and camera pans are smooth. Things do get a tad frenetic when the satellite debris hits the Space Shuttle, and in sequence like this it's wise to engage Auto Motion Plus to reduce motion blur. It's best kept on its 'standard' setting to avoid any artefacts creeping in.
Get to broadcast HD channels and the good work continues, with images from the World Athletic Championships from Beijing on BBC One HD containing far more detail than I had expected. Even the standard definition broadcast, while very soft, is plenty clean enough to watch.
Usability, sound and value
The main difference between the UE48JS8500 and the pricier models in Samsung's range is this TV's lack of an Octa-Core processor.And it shows.
TVs are now being asked to do so much more than they did the previous year – especially with the advent of 4K – and the UE48JS8500 is sometimes visibly encumbered. Okay, so it's not as slow as a Virgin Media TiVio box I had it connected up to, but the UE48JS8500 definitely does take a bit of patience when trawling through its user interface and launching apps.
Part of the reason for using the new Tizen OS is that the UE48JS8500 can re-connect far quicker than previously to external devices when already paired via Bluetooth, though the focus on Samsung-only smartphones makes this feature fairly pointless for most people.
What the UE48JS8500 does have is a slice of second screen action, with some screen mirroring and streaming. Key here is Samsung's Smart View 2.0 app for Android and iOS, which allows the pushing of images and video to the TV, and the pulling-in of live TV thanks to the UE48JS8500's twin TV tuners.
It's reasonably slick, but it did crash twice during my tests, suggesting that there is a bug or two.
Software
You can read an in-depth review of the new Tizen OS-driven Smart Hub user interface in our review of the UE55JU6400. Suffice to say that apps include the BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4OD, Demand Five in the UK as well as the likes of Netflix, Amazon Instant and YouTube.The UE48JS8500 does reasonably well with digital media, supporting 4K files, too. Video files like MKV, AVI, AVC HD and MP4 were all played by the UE48JS8500's ConnectShare software, as were both MP4 and TS files containing 4K material.
Sound
Rather unusually, the UE48JS8500 is fitted with a couple of subwoofers as well as the left and right speaker, creating a 2.2 Channel system that's actually quite impressive.Okay, so music and vocals can get lost slightly during movies, but there's significantly more bass, midrange and volume than on most TV speakers.
Value
Since the UE48JS8500 has more or less the same picture tech as the far pricer JS9000 and JS9500 Series, it's got to be considered decent value.However, the UE48JS8500 doesn't include any active shutter 3D glasses, which is a shame since arguably the arrival of 4K resolution is at last making the 3D format highly impressive.
Verdict
We liked
There's so much to like about the UE48JS8500, from its blistering colours, scorch-your-eyes-out brightness and deep blacks to its scintillating detail and depth. Motion is smooth, while judder is successfully removed from Blu-ray discs.This 48-incher also happens to have some of the best audio we've heard on the TV this price, as well as some excellent second screening options, and an app-packed smart TV interface.
We disliked
Although the Edge LED system is very well executed, there are a few patches within the panel of uneven brightness, though they're only visible during very dark sequences.It's also not the easiest TV to set-up, offering only a few basic picture presets, none of which are particularly easy on the eye.
A tweaking session thus ensues, which won't be welcome for many. Its high brightness is something to be wary of, and while contrast is impressive, there's significant black crush.
Other gripes include a lack of processing speed, which hampers the likeability of Smart Hub, and the need for a separate connections box, which will only add to the mess of cables on an AV rack for most users.
Verdict
If you're in the market for a Samsung SUHD, the 48-inch UE48JS8500 – considerably cheaper than the step-up UE48JS9000 and UE65JS9500T models – is worth a long, lingering look.The UE48JS8500's superb colour, awesome 4K detail and sublime depth make this one special TV, though some black crush takes the edge off. Excellent usability features – from second-screening a TV channel and hosting all UK catch-up TV apps to supporting Netflix/Amazon 4K and playing-back 4K video files – are welcome but slightly under-powered in terms of processing speed, but the UE48JS8500 remains a good value way to sample Samsung's impressive SUHD TVs.
Also consider
Taking on and beating the UE48JS8500's SUHD suite of tech is the LG 55EG960V, a 55-inch TV using OLED technology that Samsung appears to have given up on, for now.
However, OLED TVs are enormously pricey, s instead consider the likes of the Panasonic TX-50CX802, the Japanese brand's best LCD TV to date whose pictures also have plasma-like colour and black levels as well as HDR, Firefox OS-driven smart TV, and even Freeview Play.
Read More ...
Updated: iPhone 6S and 6S Plus pre-order: How to get Apple's new phones
iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus pre-order
Update: iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus pre-order start at 12:01am PT/3:01am ET Saturday morning! The iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus release is officially slated for September 25, but why not reserve your new phone ahead of time?Apple unveiled the long-awaited iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, the phones that will take the candle from the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, on Wednesday, and almost immediately the questions were, when and where can I get them?
Fear not, gentle reader, we've got you covered.
Below you'll find every place you can pick up the new iPhones when they launch on September 25 plus iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus pre-order details and tips. We've also got the rundown on pricing and Apple's new iPhone Upgrade Program.
iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus price
A special note on pricing: Since most major carriers have done away with two-year contracts, which allowed for lower phone prices that factored in contract subsidies, the costs of the new iPhones reflect new monthly payment plans offered by carriers (and now, Apple).Across the board the iPhone 6S costs $649, $749 and $849 for 16GB, 64GB and 128GB models, respectively, while the iPhone 6S Plus costs $749, $849 and $949 for the same size configurations. What you actually end up paying every month will depend on your carrier and your plan.
iPhone 6S and 6S Plus pre-order details
The new iPhones start life on the product cycle this Saturday, September 12, at 12:01am PT. That's when they go up for pre-order on Apple's website and through carriers directly. Demand will likely be high, as it usually is for new iPhone releases, though by the same token Apple has also done a decent job in recent releases at managing supply to meet demand.If you really, really want a new iPhone, pre-ordering a good bet to secure your device early.
iPhone 6S and 6S Plus pre-order tips
Here's some pre-order advice from Mobile Editor Matt Swider: the best way to set yourself up for pre-order success is to download the Apple Store app on iOS. It tends to work best on an iPad, by the way. The app, Swider says, got him and two roommates into the pre-order stream more quickly than Apple's website. Because of the number of users coming on at once, the website has historically lagged.When you purchase an iPhone from Apple, you have to enter in some information about your wireless account. You can enter it ahead of time and save for later so you're ready to go when the time comes.
To enter your wireless account info now head to the online Apple Store and select iPhone 6S along the top product choices. Click on Models & Pricing (an easy-to-spot blue button). There will be some blue linked text under the pre-order information, and it's through the linked option to "Get ready now" that you can enter and save your carrier information.
In the Apple Store App, you can click "Get ready to pre-order iPhone 6S" and enter your wireless account details. Select "Remember Me," and all the information will be stored so it's ready to go when you're ready to pre-order.
iPhone Upgrade Program and Carriers
Apple iPhone Upgrade Program
Also happening when pre-orders kick off: Consumers can reserve an iPhone for an in-store upgrade through the new iPhone Upgrade Program. The program lets customers get a new iPhone every year as long as they've made 12 months of payments.The phone you buy through the program is unlocked, allowing you to choose your carrier. It also comes with AppleCare+, something not offered through individual carrier payment installment plans.
Payment plans are for 24 months, and are broken down like this:
iPhone 6S 16GB - $32.41/month
iPhone 6S 64GB - $36.58/month
iPhone 6S 128GB - $40.75/month
iPhone 6S Plus 16GB - $36.58/month
iPhone 6S Plus 64GB - $40.75/month
iPhone 6S Plus 128GB - $44.91/month
AT&T
AT&T is launching pre-orders on Saturday at 12:01am PT, and customers can head straight to att.com/iphone to order their phone. The devices go on sale in stores starting at 8am local time Friday, September 25.Ma Bell is offering a number of incentives for those who buy a new iPhone on its network, including 15GB of data for $100 for those who get an iPhone on one of its Mobile Share Value plans, as well as other deals.
Sprint
Pre-orders start on September 12 at Sprint. The carrier hasn't indicated whether its stores will start selling the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus when they open on September 25, but don't be surprised if they do.Interestingly, Sprint does have a 2-year-contract option, so customers can choose the traditional $199, $299 and $399 price tier, depending on the storage of their phones.
T-Mobile
The Uncarrier revealed some of its plans for the new iPhones the day after Apple announced them.Yes, it's going to offer pre-orders starting just after midnight on Saturday, but it's taking a different route when it comes to pricing and plan options.
Customers can get an iPhone 6S for $20/month for 18 months through the carrier's JUMP! On Demand program, or a 6S Plus for $24/month for 18 months, both for $0 down.
T-Mobile also introduced a new Lifetime Coverage Guarantee, which means that as long as users have a new iPhone, if they aren't totally satisfied with the coverage they can get a full refund for the amount they spent in the first month of their plan. T-Mobile will also unlock the iPhone so they can switch to another carrier.
Verizon
Just like its cohorts, Verizon is offering iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S pre-orders Saturday. It too has kept mum on in-store availability, but we expect that to be revealed in the coming days. As with Sprint, you can choose a traditional two-year contract for a lower subsidized price on Verizon.From Apple
Of course, you can order a new iPhone in all available configurations and on any of the above-listed carriers through Apple's online store directly. Or, you can sign up to reserve an iPhone 6S or iPhone 6S Plus through the company's iPhone Upgrade Program.
Read More ...
Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic might cost more than the Apple Watch Sport
IFA kicked off with a ton of smartwatches including the Samsung Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic. Though not it's not official yet in the US, it seems like we have an inkling about upcoming pricing.
Canada's Best Buy loaded its site with the wearables ready for pre-orders and it looks like the Gear S2 will cost CA$399 (£260, AU$560) in black and silver, with the S2 Classic weighing in at CA$429 (£280, AU$600). The conversions are quite a bit higher in US dollars and likely won't be the final pricing.
However, if it does match up, then the Gears will actually cost more than an Apple Watch Sport, which starts at $349 (£299, AU$499).
Design-wise, the Gear S2 Classic is likely aimed at the Apple Watch Edition crowd and will ship in a black case with a leather band. The Gear S2 will ship with a dark gray case and dark gray band or silver case with white band.
There's no real difference between the two Samsung smartwatches except for the dimensions and battery size with the latter only differing in the Gear S2 3G model.
The Gears are shipping on October 2 in Canada. Global pricing should be announced soon, along with a release date for the wearables. We hope.
Via MobileSyrup
Read More ...
Office 2016 will force you to install updates
After announcing that Office 2016 will become available for consumers starting September 22 and for business users starting October 1, Microsoft reveals that it is adopting the same update strategy that it is taking for Windows 10.
When the Microsoft switched to offering Windows as a service, rather than as a software product, it revealed that updates will automatically download and install in the background, and consumer users cannot opt out of these updates, bringing security patches, fixes or new features to the OS.
With Office 2016, enterprise customers will be placed in similar Current Branch or Current Branch for Business, following a similar upgrade cadence as Windows 10. Unlike Windows, however, there will not be a third Long Term Service Branch, or LTSB.
Keeping current
Users on Current Branch will receive new updates and features faster. They trade off a little bit of stability as the new features may not have undergone large scale testing, but they also have access to new features sooner.Current Branch customers will receive updates on a monthly cycle.
On the other hand, Current Branch for Business, or CBB customers, will get updates every four months. Microsoft will still deliver security fixes as needed in the months where there isn't a CBB update.
Penalties for not keeping current
Like Windows, customers must stay current to receive future product updates, security fixes and new features. In a similar strategy to Windows 10, Microsoft is forcing CB and CBB customers to install updates as they're ready, but CBB can delay updates if needed.Unfortunately, this means that like Windows 10, CB customers cannot skip an update. CBB users can defer one cycle of updates, which gives them four months to decide. If CBB customers defer updates, they must deploy the subsequent round of updates or else they would not receive further updates from Microsoft.
Your placement in CB or CBB will vary depending on the Office 365 package your organization subscribes to. Office 365 Business and Office 365 Business Professional users fall under the CB track, while Office 365 ProPlus, Office 365 Enterprise E3 or Office 365 Enterprise E4 users can switch to CBB for greater flexibility on when to deploy updates. The CBB plans are pricier, costing about $12 to $22 (£7-14, AU$16-31) per seat monthly, while the CB plans cost $8.25 to $12.50 (£5-8, AU$11-17) per seat monthly.
Owning Office
The CB and CBB policies only apply to customers who sign up for the Office 365 subscriptions. Individuals and organizations who prefer to purchase a perpetual license won't be able to join the CB or CBB track, Microsoft said.Once Office 2016 is released, users of Office 2013 will continue to receive updates and security fixes for 12 months, and Microsoft is urging those users to migrate to Office 2016.
Office 2016 will be available on September 22 for CB users, and the first CBB update will occur in February 2016. Business customers can start downloading Office 2016 in October through Software Assurance.
There is also a separate version of Office 2016 for Mac.
Via: ComputerWorld
- Read our Office 2016 review
Read More ...
How to restore ringtones to iPhone
Got an Apple, Mac, or iOS tech question? We have the answer. This time we have a reader whose custom-made iPhone ringtone library has seemingly disappeared. But that doesn't mean those tones are gone for good! Here are the steps you can take to track them down on your Mac, then restore them to your iPhone.
Question
I had a library of homemade iPhone ringtones on my Mac that disappeared during the last OS X software upgrade. All my friends and family members had a ringtone assigned to them. I knew exactly who was calling me without having to look at the phone. About 5 months ago I exported my iTunes library to my Desktop: File > Library > Export Library. Is there a way to isolate the ringtone files and restore them to iTunes? Or would it be better to just do a complete restore? Also, is it possible to backup the ringtones to a CD to prevent this from happening again?Answer
Ack! That's never fun when files go missing after a software update. Furthermore, Export Library doesn't actually backup your iTunes media files — it contains metadata such as your playlists and ratings.Fortunately, you might still have some options available. Your best bet would be to access an actual backup that you made through Time Machine or other means, but even if you don't have one of those, the ringtone files could still be on your computer even if iTunes isn't showing them. A Finder search can help you track down the missing files since all ringtones end in a ".m4r" extension. Hit Command + F to begin a search; type "m4r" in the search field, then, when the result completions appear, you'll see "Kind: Ringtone." Select this type.
By performing this search, you should be able to find your missing files if they're backed up anywhere on your Mac. Once you have them, simply drag and drop those ringtone files onto the iTunes icon in the Dock, and they will be re-imported. Once re-imported, they can be synced over to your iPhone and re-assigned to the contacts.
In regards to backing up to a CD, yes, ringtones can be put on a CD (or other type of storage media) just like any other files. Simply insert a blank CD into your Mac, then burn the ringtone files to it for safekeeping. For further information on how to burn files to a disc on a Mac, here are Apple's instructions on the matter.
Got an Apple tech question? Email ask@maclife.com.
Read More ...
NASA 4K channel to let you see four times deeper into space
NASA has been collecting 4K videos on its YouTube page for months now, and now the space exploration agency has announced its plans for a full-blown UHD channel.
NASA announced on its blog today that it plans on partnering with Harmonic, a company that specializes in video compression and delivery, to bring 60fps videos to 2160p screens.
The UHD channel is expected to launch on November 1 and feature some of the recycled films from the company's YouTube page and high-resolution images, as well as some completely remastered footage from historical missions.
So where will you be able to watch all the grandeur of space in 4K? According to the post, Harmonic is negotiating with cable and satellite TV providers for distribution. However, given that NASA's HD channel isn't available on every network, chances are good that it'll be a few years before companies like Comcast and Verizon consider adopting NASA's 4K footage.
That said, if you can't wait to see space in Ultra-HD, NASA will provide a stream online for users with at least a 13Mbps internet connection.
Put a tally in 4K TV's win column.
- How does the new Apple TV stack up? Read our New Apple TV vs Chromecast vs Roku 3 vs Amazon Fire TV guide!
Read More ...
Hands-on review: Sony A7S II
Introduction and features
Sony has three full-frame compact system cameras – the jack-of-all trades A7 II, the high resolution A7R II and the high-sensitivity A7S. The A7S is the last to be updated, and it's probably the most specialized of all. It sacrifices outright resolution with just 12 million pixels, but makes up for it with ultra-high sensitivity (up to ISO 409,600) and top-quality 4K video.The original A7S was one of the early 4K cameras but, crucially, could only record 4K video to an external device. Newer rivals could record 4K video to an internal memory card, leaving the A7S looking out of date – so the internal 4K video recording of the A7S II is perhaps its most important new feature.
Like the A7R II, which we've just reviewed, the A7S II allows internal recording in the XAVC-S format with no pixel binning. Pixel binning uses neighbouring pixels to 'improve' the data for each photosite on the sensor, but it's a type of mathematical interpolation that's no substitute for proper, pixel-level data, and Sony claims this is one of the A7S II's key technical advances. The XAVC-S format is the 4K equivalent of the AVCHD format used by Sony and others for efficient 1080 full HD video recording.
The power needed to capture full HD has a knock-on effect on lower resolutions, and the A7S II can also record full-HD footage at up to 120fps and at a bitrate of 100Mbps for super-slow motion playback. The bitrate is an indication of the compression applied to video footage and its subsequent quality.
12 megapixels may seem an insanely low resolution for a full-frame compact system camera, but the A7S II is designed for sensitivity rather than resolution. This is as clear an indication as you could ask for that resolution, sensor size and high-ISO performance are inextricably linked. In short, the only way to get good quality at super-high ISOs is with super-sized photosites on the sensor, and that inevitably means you get fewer of them.
The A7S II also adds Sony's latest 5-axis image stabilization, so that in extremely dim lighting, where even its highest ISO settings still produce slow shutter speeds, the A7S II should still be able to get sharp hand-held images.
While the Sony A7S II has the same resolution as the original model, Sony says new noise reduction hardware and software gives better results at high sensitivity settings. This is also a designed as a professional video camera, and Sony has included its S-Log2 setting as well as its new S-log3 mode. These can increase dynamic range by up to 1300% by creating what looks like very flat looking footage initially, but which is designed for extensive post-capture grading. While S-Log2 is especially useful for preserving brighter tones, S-Log3 is designed to capture the maximum tonal range in shadow to mid-tone areas – this is the video equivalent of shooting raw files for stills.
Finally, the number of autofocus points has been increase to 169, and Sony says the A7S II has 2x faster autofocus response in video mode.
Build, handling and early verdict
Sony's original A7, A7R and A7S did draw some criticism for their design and layout, and in the Mark II versions, Sony has made some changes. The camera's grip is bigger, the shutter release has been moved forward on to the top of the grip and the video record button is now on the side of the thumb-grip on the back of the camera – this makes it harder to press accidentally. In fact, though, it makes it harder to press generally, so you might want to set one of the two custom buttons on the top of the camera to start video recording instead.The A7S II feels well made, though, and it's comfortable to hold. It's also tougher than the old A7S, with more magnesium alloy in its construction and a reinforced lens mount.
The menu layout is largely the same as the A7R Mark II's, which we've already reviewed, and has the same high level of customisation available. However, it would be nice to have separate sections within the main menu for stills and video controls, and a second Function Menu for video options.
Performance
We haven't been able to shoot any samples with the A7S II yet, but its predecessor was pretty impressive and the samples that Sony has shown us do look very good..The A7S II does have fewer pixels than the A7R II and A7 II, so you won't get the same level of resolution. But it's easy to get caught up in megapixel hype and forget that not so long ago 12 megapixels was actually quite a lot – and it's still enough to create high-quality A3 prints. This camera isn't just about stills, though, but video too, and both 4K and Full-HD footage should have higher quality because they're generated using the larger photosites on the A7S II's 12-megapixel sensor.
We found that the original A7S controlled noise well, though the top ISO 409,600 setting came with such a drop in quality that it was best avoided. But it's important to keep this in perspective – compared to typical consumer DSLRs and compact system cameras, this is a stratospheric level of sensitivity and it's remarkable that the sensor can record images at this level in the first place. Sony says the A7S II has improved high-ISO performance and we look forward to testing this properly when we can get a sample for testing.
Sony is claiming a big improvement in the A7S's autofocus capability too. We were shown a demonstration involving a stuffed toy in a dark box,and it did look good, while in more average lighting conditions it proved fast and accurate. Again, though, we'll want to test this properly.
Early verdict
The A7S is a specialised, high-sensitivity stills/video camera and we're told over half of the people who bought it are professionals. Sony already makes a cheaper general-purpose variant, the A7 II, and a high resolution model, the A7R II, so it's able to target the A7S II at low light and video photography without the need to compromise it for a wider audience. The in-camera 4K recording brings it up to date – this was starting to look like a serious failing in the original model, and the faster AF and better noise control are a useful step forward.The Sony A7 II is a better all-rounder and the the A7R II shoot higher-resolution stills, but if you need to specialize in video or low-light photography, the improvements in the A7S II look like an important update to an important camera.
Read More ...
Apple's new Live Photos feature will eat up your storage
Apple's Live Photos aims to add a fun twist to your still photography, but could gobble up your precious onboard storage very quickly. The new feature, which works by automatically shooting video with sound up to three seconds prior and after a photo is taken, will take up twice as much storage as a single photo consumes, MacRumors reports.
It's logical that a photo that's sugar-coated in full motion and sound would take up more room, but it creates even more of a storage conundrum for future iPhone 6S owners. Especially those who are looking to nab the 16GB options. On the other hand, if you're considering, or who have already pre-ordered, the 64GB or 128GB flavors of the iPhone 6S or iPhone 6S Plus, you'll be able to take tons of Live Photos before you need to offload them onto your Mac.
Thankfully, the on-by-default feature can be turned off if you're hoping to get the most out of your storage space. Stay tuned for our full review of the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus to see more in-depth findings on the impact of Live Photos on storage.
Check out our hands-on review of the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus
Read More ...
iPhone 6S Plus vs Samsung Galaxy Note 4
Apple is still pretty new to the phablet game, though you wouldn't know it given how impressive the iPhone 6 Plus is and what an upgrade the iPhone 6S Plus looks to be.
If there's one company which can really stand up to Apple's phablet might though it's Samsung, and while the Galaxy Note 4 isn't quite the latest in its line of sizeable smartphones it's still a top tier handset that's becoming ever more affordable. But is it mighty enough to match the iPhone 6S Plus?
Design
The iPhone 6S Plus has a slim metal unibody, with slightly curved edges, just like the iPhone 6 Plus. It's a premium design and a great looking one.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 doesn't look quite as high-end, as while it has a metal frame the back is plastic. It has a leather-like look to it, but the texture isn't really fooling anyone. Still, while it's not as good looking (or feeling) as the iPhone 6S Plus, the Galaxy Note 4 still has a fairly premium design.
Display
A 5.5-inch 1080 x 1920 IPS screen fronts the iPhone 6S Plus, for sharp, crisp visuals. That might sound good but the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 has a big and bright 5.7-inch 1440 x 2560 Super AMOLED display, so it's both sharper and larger, making it preferable if you're after a true phablet.
The extra size does make reaching the far corners a little harder, but given the inclusion of an S Pen stylus this is clearly designed as a two-handed device and the stylus opens it up to new modes of interaction, such as handwriting.
Power and performance
The iPhone 6S Plus is easily Apple's most powerful handset yet, thanks to a speedy A9 processor. That's a significant upgrade over last year's already powerful model and should easily be enough to rival or even top the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, with its quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor and 3GB of RAM.Camera
Neither of these phones skimp on the camera, with the iPhone 6S Plus packing a 12MP shooter on the back, complete with optical image stabilisation to counter shaky hands, while there's a 5MP snapper on the front. We'll have to put it through its paces but we were already nightly impressed by the camera on the iPhone 6 Plus and this looks to be an upgrade.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 meanwhile has a 16MP snapper on the back, also with optical image stabilisation, and a 3.7MP one on the front. The main camera fares brilliantly in well-lit scenes and even holds its own in low-light.
OS
The iPhone 6S Plus runs iOS 9, while the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 shipped with Android KitKat and can now be upgraded to Android Lollipop.
The different OS's lead to some of the biggest differences between the phones, especially when it comes to apps, where iOS still arguably has the lead, and customisation, where Android definitely does. But they're also both slick, polished and intuitive.
Battery
There's a meaty 3220 mAh juice pack inside the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and it's even removable. Actual life is around a day, with moderate use likely to leave you with roughly 20%-30% left by the time you go to bed.
As usual Apple hasn't revealed the size of the battery in its new phones, but we're hopeful that the iPhone 6S Plus will at least be a match for the older iPhone 6 Plus, if not slightly better, when it comes to battery life, so you'll hopefully be able to get a minimum of a day from it.
Price and availability
The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is out now and can be found for around £420 ($540, AU$880), while the iPhone 6S Plus will be hitting shelves shortly for a starting price of £619 ($749, AU$1,229), so it's quite a lot more expensive.Verdict
Despite being a year old the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 stands up surprisingly well to the iPhone 6S Plus. A big battery, a superb screen, a decent camera and a reasonable amount of power help it hold its own, while its S Pen lets it stand out.But the build isn't up to Apple's standards (or indeed the standards of the newer Samsung Galaxy Note 5) and while the Note 4 has a fingerprint scanner it's far clunkier than Apple's Touch ID implementation.
So the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is perhaps a less refined phone overall, but being a year old it's also a fair bit cheaper.
Read More ...
The latest Windows 10 Mobile preview has been delayed
Want to test the next Windows 10 Mobile preview build? Don't hold your breath.
The next sneak peak of the mobile operating system was supposed to come out today, but it has been delayed, according to Gabriel Aul, Microsoft's Vice President of WDG Engineering Systems.
Aul posted the news on his Twitter feed this morning. Essentially, Microsoft discovered an issue that would have caused subsequent versions of the beta system to not install over the proposed current build. Users would have been required to "reflash" in order to move onto the next build, Aul said.
So what's next?
In order to remedy the issue, Aul said his team will be "working over the weekend here" in order to "get it out as soon as we can while ensuring quality." Aul said the issue could only have been discovered by installing a subsequent build, which is why Microsoft was so late in catching the issue.Aul apologized to his Twitter followers and said the issue will be resolved "early next week."
"As Insiders you're seeing the real process of making an extremely complex piece of software. There are bumps," he added.
The vocal minority
Aul's apologies didn't dissuade some of his followers from vocalizing their displeasure. Stelios Kalitzis said in response to the news that the delay is a "Totally failure [sic] one more time for Microsoft and [Aul] personally!"A Twitter user named Das Jessy said the delay could prompt Windows users to move to competitors: "We fully understand but at some point you are promoting folks to move over android/iphone..You are giving them the proper reason to."
Some users were more forgiving. "Thanks for the update. Don't let the haters get you down. Complex system with lots of chances for errors - we get it," Fritz Pabst posted.
Previous builds
The last major Windows 10 Mobile build was released last month. The updated preview, Build 10512, featured improvements to overall performance, as well as interface changes and bug fixes.Windows 10 Mobile was initially rumored to go live in September. However, recent reports indicate the operating system likely won't reach the masses as a final product until November.
Given the recent hiccup, it's clear the build process is fluid and Microsoft is dedicated to creating a system of transparency. "In the past, and with other companies, you see nothing, then an event, and final product. Bumps all hidden from you," Aul explained.
- If you're interested in previewing the mobile operating system, check out this primer on how to download the preview today.
Read More ...
iPhone 6S vs HTC One M9
If there's one company which can rival Apple for smartphone design it's HTC, and the HTC One M9 is its most gorgeous yet. Not only is it a stunning handset, it's also powerful and packed full of features.
But it may have met its match with the iPhone 6S, a phone which is definitely one of the best looking Apple has ever made and is similarly packed with features and power. So just how do these two pinnacles of smartphone design compare?
Design
With its slim 7.1mm thick build and premium metal shell the iPhone 6S is a great looking phone, but the HTC One M9 is also clad in metal and it can be had in a two-tone colour scheme for an even more eye-catching look.
The gently curved back makes it comfortable to hold too, though at the cost of slimness, as it's a thicker 9.6mm. Its distinctive front-facing speakers make it obvious that this is an HTC handset even front-on, but the iPhone 6S with its improved Touch ID scanner is arguably even more iconic.
Display
The iPhone 6S has a 4.7-inch 1334 x 750 IPS LCD display with a pixel density of 326 pixels per inch, while the HTC One M9 has a 5.0-inch 1080 x 1920 Super LCD3 screen with a pixel density of 441 pixels per inch.
So the iPhone 6S has a slightly less sharp display, but not by much and it's more compact, which could appeal to some buyers. It should sport good contrast and accurate colours too if the iPhone 6 is anything to go by.
Power and performance
With a 2.0GHz octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor and 3GB of RAM the HTC One M9 is a pretty powerful phone. But the iPhone 6S's Apple A9 processor leaves it with a whole lot of horsepower too.
These are both clear flagships with the slick performance you'd hope for and while the HTC One M9 has the lead on paper the iPhone 6S should be able to rival it in practice.
Camera
Both HTC and Apple have upgraded the camera in their latest flagships. The iPhone 6S has boosted the megapixel count from 8 on the iPhone 6 to 12 now, while the front-facing camera has also been upgraded to a 5MP sensor.
HTC meanwhile has gone from a 4 UltraPixel snapper on the HTC One M8 to a 20MP camera on the M9, while its front-facing sensor gets the 4 UltraPixel treatment.
Both phones have impressive photography skills then, but the iPhone 6S is likely to edge out the win, despite having fewer megapixels. The HTC One M9 is a good camera phone, but the iPhone 6 is a great one and based on the specs the iPhone 6S should be even better.
OS
The single biggest difference between the iPhone 6S and the HTC One M9 is arguably the operating systems they run. The iPhone 6S sports iOS 9, complete with improvements to Siri and Apple Maps, while the HTC One M9 runs Android 5.1 (overlaid with HTC Sense 7.0). It's a more customisable experience but the app offering isn't quite as rich.
Beyond the OS differences the iPhone 6S also supports 3D Touch, which slightly changes the ways you can interact with the phone, as tapping an app or option lightly will result in a different outcome to a forceful press, and there's no such functionality on the HTC One M9.
Battery
The HTC One M9 has a fairly underwhelming battery, and it actually seems a backwards step from the HTC One M8, and while it's not dire its 2,840mAh juice pack just barely lasts a day of moderate use.The iPhone 6's battery didn't hugely impress us either, but it was at least a step up from the iPhone 5S and Apple seems to think the iPhone 6S is on a par with it, so we're cautiously optimistic that the iPhone 6S will have respectable life.
Price and availability
The HTC One M9 has an RRP of £579.99 ($649, around AU$799), but it's been out a while and you can get it for significantly less than that if you shop around.The iPhone 6S on the other hand isn't likely to be discounted any time soon and its starting price is £539 ($649, AU$1,079), so you'll end up paying more for it. There's going to be crazy demand too, so you might have to wait a while to get your hands on one.
Verdict
The HTC One M9 is one of the closest things you can get to an iPhone 6S if you'd rather run Android. It has a similarly stylish build, plenty of power and a screen that's almost as compact.
It's also slightly cheaper, but it's likely to lose out a little on both camera skills, which is a major point in the iPhone 6S's favour.
Then of course there's the OS. Both iOS and Android have been polished to near perfection but they still offer different experiences, with iOS still tending to get more premium apps, while Android is far more customisable.
Read More ...
TechRadar Deals: The best iPhone 6 deals in September 2015
Best iPhone 6 deals
Your contract is up, you're ready to upgrade and you're looking for the best iPhone 6 deal for your budget? Look no further - we've done all the research and found all of the UK's best contracts for Apple's best-ever iPhone. They're all 24 month deals - no way around that unfortunately - but with prices from under £35 a month, there's never been a better time to pick up this phone! In fact September is the best month to be looking for iPhone 6 deals, with its successor (the iPhone 6S) just around the corner. The phone is available with three different storage capacities - 16GB, 64GB and 128GB. As always, we'd advise you go into your purchase knowing how much space you're going to need, and don't be swayed when it comes time to spend your money.
Want the iPhone 6 Plus or the cheaper iPhone 5C? We've got you covered:
- Best iPhone deals (all models)
The UK's best iPhone 6 deal:
Free 16GB phone | 1000 mins | Unlimited texts | 2GB data | £34.99pmThis is a great value deal on the 16GB iPhone 6. You can get it in gold, space grey or silver and it offers unlimited texts, 1000 mins - that's nearly 17 hours call time - and 2GB data per month. The £35 per month is more than fair, making total cost over 24 months £839.76Get this deal in Gold | Get this deal in Space Grey | Get this deal in Silver
Now let's break down the best iPhone 6 deals by network...
Best iPhone 6 deals on EE
The place to go if you want high-speed 4GFree 16GB phone | 1000 mins | Unlimited texts | 2GB data | £34.99pmThis is a great value deal on the 16GB iPhone 6. You can get it in gold, space grey or silver and it offers unlimited texts, 1000 mins - that's nearly 17 hours call time - and 2GB data per month. The £35 per month is more than fair, making total cost over 24 months £839.76
Get this deal in Gold | Get this deal in Space Grey | Get this deal in Silver
Free 64GB phone | Unlimited calls | unlimited texts | 10GB data | £44.99pmThis is a free phone as well, but it's also a 64GB model. Given the amount of music and video we use these days it's almost certainly worth spending a little bit more to get this higher capacity handset. The 10GB of data is also very generous, plus there's £30 cashback making it cheaper than last month's deal. It's available in all three colours and the total cost over 24 months is £1049.76.
Get this deal in Gold | Get this deal in Space Grey | Get this deal in Silver
Free 128GB phone | Unlimited calls | unlimited texts | 10GB data | £49.99pmIt might not be "cheap" but trust us, this is an amazing deal. For one thing it's for the delicious 128GB iPhone 6, and for another it has unlimited calls and unlimited texts with a massive 10GB of data - plus it's on EE Extra which means double speed 4G! Total cost over 24 months is £1,199.76
Get this deal in Gold | Get this deal in Space Grey | Get this deal in Silver
Best iPhone 6 deals on O2
The network with extras like O2 PriorityFree 16GB phone | Unlimited calls and texts | 5GB data | £39pmThe cheapest deal on O2 is a bit more expensive than it was in July, but you also get more for the money. For £4 more than the cheapest 16GB deal on EE you get 5GB data instead of 2GB which is highly welcome and ideal for anyone prone to stream music or video when out and about. This isn't the cheapest deal but it is a good deal! The total lifetime cost is just £936 over 24 months.
Get this deal in Gold, Space Grey or Silver
Free 64GB phone | Unlimited calls and texts | 10GB data | £49pmA modest enough jump in the monthly cost here gets you double the data and a 64GB iPhone 6 instead of 16GB. This is a good deal but is outmatched by the best 64GB iPhone 6 deal from EE in the section above. If you go for this one it will cost you £1,176 over the 24 months of the contract.
Get this deal in Gold, Space Grey or Silver
Free 128GB phone | Unlimited calls and texts | 10GB data | £54pmThis is the best deal on a 128GB iPhone 6 on O2, courtesy of Carphone Warehouse. Unlimited texts and calls backed up by 10GB data and a free 128GB handset - it's a pretty good deal but again it's outmatched by the EE offering above. Total cost over 24 months is £1,296.
Get this deal in Gold, Space Grey or Silver
Best iPhone 6 deals on Three
The network with unlimited dataFree 16GB phone | 600 mins | Unlimited texts | 2GB of data | £39pmA bit mean on the data perhaps, but this is still Three's best iPhone 6 deal where you don't need to pay upfront for the phone. Most people will find 2GB of data more than ample for their needs. Total cost over 24 months is £936.
Get this deal in Gold | Get this deal in Space Grey | Get this deal in Silver
Free 64GB phone | 600 mins | Unlimited texts | 2GB data | £43pmThis is the best deal on Three if you want a free 64GB iPhone. 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 2GB data is a good package and £43 is a fair monthly cost but when you look at those EE deals at the top of the page you have to wonder whether that's the network to go for. Total cost over 24 months is £1,032.
Get this deal in Gold | Get this deal in Space Grey | Get this deal in Silver
Free 128GB phone | 600 mins | unlimited texts | 4GB data | £52pm
A bit more space for music and video than the 16GB and 64GB models. You get 4GB data and Three's weirdly low 600 minutes of calls, but if you aren't using Facetime and WhatsApp for calls already, perhaps now is the time to use that data. The total cost of this tariff is £1,248 over 24 months.
Get this deal in Silver
Best iPhone 6 deals on Vodafone
Offers extras like Spotify and Sky SportsEXCLUSIVE:
£44.99
FREE 16GB phone | Unlimited calls and texts | 10GB data | £39pm
This is an exclusive deal just for TechRadar readers! Use the discount code TECHRADAR45 at the checkout and you can get a £44.99 discount on the iPhone 6. So instead of paying £44.99 upfront, you get the iPhone 6 for free with 10GB data, unlimited everything else for just £39 per month. You won't find a better deal on data than that - don't forget to use the discount code. The total cost of this tariff is £936 over 24 months.
Get this deal: iPhone 6 Silver | iPhone 6 Gold | iPhone 6 Space Grey
Free 64GB phone | 1000 minutes | unlimited texts | 1GB data | £39pm If you're more concerned about the amount of storage on your iPhone, rather than the amount of data you get each month, this deal from Vodafone will be right up your street. There's 1000 minutes, unlimited texts, 1GB of data and a free 64GB iPhone 6, all yours for just £39 per month. The total 24 month cost on this deal is £936.
Get this deal in Gold | Get this deal in Space Grey | Get this deal in Silver
Free 128GB phone | Unlimited calls and texts | 2GB data | £49pmLast month's best deal on the 128GB iPhone 6 model from Vodafone was a lot better than this. With just 2GB it's far outmatched by the 128GB deal on EE above, but if you want to go with Vodafone this from Carphone Warehouse is the best 128GB offer out there in August. The total 24 month cost is £1,176.
Get this deal in Gold | Get this deal in Space Grey | Get this deal in Silver
Read More ...
Tell us: Are these company logos cool or crap?
It might not seem like a big deal when a tech company changes its logo, but the move tends to perk people's interest because it can signal significant changes taking place inside the company. Plus, it's the rest of us who have to look at the darn thing until the next change, anyway.
Google recently redesigned its logo to better reflect its image as a company that has grown dramatically since it first started in 1998. As techradar Mobile Editor Matt Swider put it so well, Google's new logo is, simply, a more accurate reflection of the company's slimmed down product portfolio.
But not every updated logo is a success. Some do the impossible and make their logos worse than it was before.
We've gathered up some of the tech world's biggest players along with their old and new logos, and we want you to tell us, are they any good or total crud? Vote on the choice that best describes your feelings about each logo. After a week, we'll publish the results so you can see how others voted. Have fun!
- The poll may take a second to load!
Read More ...
iPhone 6S's missed business opportunity
A couple of times a year, "tech Christmas" rolls around in the form of Apple events, where Apple releases updates and new products that the tech industry has been salivating over for weeks and months. Earlier this week, Apple did not disappoint by introducing some of the more interesting products and features they've released in sometime, even deviating from some typical Apple stances (stylus, what?).
The two show-stealers were the iPhone 6S and the iPad Pro, and yet the they hit different audiences. The iPhone 6S was fully targeted toward the consumer, particularly how the 3D Touch technology will give users a new way to interact with their phones. But what about business? The iPad Pro, 78% bigger than its predecessor the iPad Air 2, delivers a packed punch with a hefty processor, Apple Pencil and smart keyboard accessories for the perfect business sidekick.
While the iPad Pro does answer a lot of needs for bringing Apple's tablet into serious consideration for business use, did Apple miss the boat on highlighting how the "best iPhone yet" can be used for business purposes as well?
Touching on the business user
3D Touch, or the ability to tap a little more firmly to unveil other functions, is the biggest feature announced around the new iPhone, bringing a new way to interact with the iPhone. The biggest win is that it takes away a lot of unnecessary clicking around applications to help power users stay efficient and productive.When email and other forms of communication make up more than half of our day, having the ability to use 3D Touch to increase the speed with which business users answer daily emails, texts and phone calls is tremendous.
While these initial options already present quite the game change for "pro" iPhone users, the real test will come from third-party developers who will factor 3D Touch into their functionality.
Need for speed
In addition to the screen function upgrade, the new iPhone throws an upgraded chipset into the mix in the shape of the A9 processor.Not only is the A9 faster, it's also more battery efficient. This means business users can travel from meeting to meeting, answering emails and taking calls on the go without the constant worry of needing to find a charging station. In addition, for those who use the phone to play games, the experience will be faster and better than any predecessor has seen.
Business users need more
All in all, the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus features functionalities and improvements that make the phone better for business use, yet Apple avoided highlighting this, focusing only on the iPad Pro for professionals. Perhaps the company did not want to lose the buzz around the iPad.Up until now, iPhones have been users' leisure or personal phone, while Android and Blackberry have owned the business phone market due to security and productivity strength. This event was the opportunity for Apple to rise to the top of the class with a full-suite of business-friendly devices.
Instead, Apple kept the iPhone discussion traditionally consumer. By doing so, Apple is allowing its competitors to continue to own the conversation around business use, like Samsung, which claims to have the fastest smartphone on the market with productivity-boosting features like split-screen multitasking and S finder, which helps you quickly locate files stored on the phone.
With a hefty price tag and mobile carriers moving away from subsidizing the cost of smartphones through binding yearly contracts, Apple should have honed in on how the updated iPhone brings more to the table than just leisure use. Competitors, like Motorola, provide quality phones, like the Moto E, that provide a clean OS experience, good battery life and speed of processing at a very affordable price. Apple should go beyond resting on the cachet of its brand to help unveil the true value their hardware and software deliver to help business-minded users move the needle or uncomplicate their day. Because that's worth any price.
- Read our comparison of the iPad Pro and Surface Pro 3
Read More ...
Sony's new 4K camera can shoot in near-total darkness
Sony has been on a roll updating its mirrorless full frame camera lineup with the a7 Mark II and a7R Mark II, and so it seems natural that the Sony a7S Mark II is here at long last.
While the a7S Mark II sticks with a 12.2MP sensor, Sony has added 5-axis in-body image stabilization to the new. The added stabilization should help photographers take steady images in low light conditions when an ISO sensitivity of 409,600 can't cut it.
The a7S Mark II can finally record 4K video all on its own unlike its predecessor, which required an external recorder to push Ultra HD footage too. Sony also touts the a7S Mark II can record 3,840 x 2,160 resolution footage with a full pixel readout (which samples and refreshes pixels more often) and no pixel binding.
Aside from recording 4K video, the new camera can also shoot record 1080p video at 120fps but only if you've slotted in an UHS Class 3 SD card. There's also the option of shooting Full HD footage at 24p and 30p.
Sony has also fitted the Mark II version with a new 169 point autofocus system, BIONZ X image processor. Current Sony a7 will also notice an increased the viewfinder magnification, which has jumped from a factor of 0.71x to 0.78x.
The Sony a7S Mark II will be available for about $3,000, final pricing has yet to be decided, later this October. Stay tuned for our hands on review.
- These are the best mirrorless cameras
Read More ...
Microsoft confirms headline features for Dynamics CRM 2016
Microsoft has confirmed the final list of features that will make up the upcoming release of Dynamics CRM 2016.
In a post on the Dynamics blog, Bob Stutz, corporate VP of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, explained that the solution will release in Q4 2015 and there are six major new features aimed at improving the intelligence, mobility and service provided by Dynamics CRM.
Cortana sees its role in Dynamics CRM step up a notch with a higher level of integration that allows sales activities, accounts and opportunities to be embedded at any time thus providing salespeople with the most relevant information when they needed it.
There is a real focus on bringing better Office integration to Dynamics CRM and on that front it has become a lot easier to open Office documents within CRM or the CRM mobile app using Word and PowerPoint.
Excel, meanwhile, gets its own special treatment in the shape of new templates to automate core tasks to make the life of customers even easier.
Delve takes on a big role
Microsoft is throwing a lot of weight behind its Delve analytics for Office and its inclusion in Dynamics CRM 2016 means that only the trending content most relevant to what the person is working on will be shown.Other additions include next generation CRM apps for Outlook that make it easier for people to track emails and add new contacts as well as personalised sales documents based on CRM data that save a great deal of time for those involved.
Read More ...
IBM buys StrongLoop to add Node.js development to its cloud
IBM has made another acquisition to bolster its enterprise cloud offering in the shape of StrongLoop.
The deal, for which terms have not been disclosed, gives IBM a top player in the application developer software for enterprise sector and, in particular, it focuses on the popular open source programming language Node.js.
What the technology does is provide enterprises with the chance to develop cloud based and mobile apps equipped with APIs that are able to handle huge streams of data whilst at the same stage possessing the ability to plug-in to other enterprise apps at the back end.
Node.js is an incredibly popular framework to perform this task and it goes some way the helping enterprises handle the huge volumes of data that come with operating in markets focused on the internet of things, mobile and web applications.
From StrongLoop's side of the deal, it has reiterated to the Node.js community that it expects to continue as it has done for some time except that becoming a part of IBM will give it increased resources with which to go about business on a daily basis.
"With this acquisition, the industry benefits from Node.js' formal entry into the mainstream enterprise," said Juan Carlos Soto, CEO of StrongLoop. "As leaders in the Node.js open community, we plan to further advance open, community-driven innovation coupled with global, enterprise class software and services offerings to grow client value in the API economy."
Investment on the up
It will come as no surprise that StrongLoop is planning to increase its investment in the Node.js ecosystem at a faster rate than is currently the case.As a result of the deal, Node.js developers will be able to access IBM Bluemix as an operating environment and StrongLoop's tools will be combined together with IBM WebSphere and Java to give Node.js developers to best offering possible.
Read More ...
Dell's new Venue 8 Pro tablet promises a 'real desktop experience'
Dell is ready to give prospective Venue 8 Pro owners a "real desktop experience" when the next iteration of the tablet is unleashed.
First reported by German technology site Giga, leaked screenshots show a new version of the popular tablet that has a full HD 8-inch display and comes with a dock that is designed to replicate a desktop.
The leaked shots point to a high resolution, full HD display with an Intel 'Cherry Trail' Atom x5-Z8500 processor that is complemented by 4GB of RAM and full support for Windows 10 in 64-bit.
That's similar to the Toshiba Satellite Click that we saw at IFA which comes with half the memory.
For those that want it, there's the option to add world-facing 3D Depth Camera Technology that offers users the chance to take advantage of the Windows Hello login that comes inside the new version of the OS.
Providing the "real desktop experience" is the Type-C Dell Dock and Tablet Stand that has dual display connectivity when at a desk and an optional custom-designed Rotating Folio gives protection.
Coming in November
Other tidbits include a Wacom-enabled Active Pen and optional 4G/LTE connectivity plus Miracast wireless display, NFC and 802.11ac Wi-Fi.We can expect to see the next generation Dell Venue 9 Pro 5000 to drop in November with prices to be confirmed in due course.
Read More ...
Available Tags:iPhone 6 , iPhone , Samsung , iPhone 6 , Apple , NASA , Sony , iPhone 6 , Galaxy , Windows , iPhone 6 , HTC , iPhone 6 , TechRadar , iPhone 6 , Microsoft , IBM , tablet ,
No comments:
Post a Comment