Ubunto phones to land in October
While iOS and Android rule, and Windows Phone dukes it out with BlackBerry for third, a new player will enter the smartphone fray in Q3 this year.
Ubunto powered phones will be on store shelves in October, according to Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. He also says that app developers will get access to the latest build by the end of February, so long as they have a Samsung Galaxy Nexus to install it to.
Developers are being lured by the promise that native apps written for Ubunto phones will also work on desktop computers, and vice versa. Hopefully this fills the Ubunto app store for richer offerings than we tend to find on mobile app marketplaces.
Mobile computers
This interoperability between mobile and desktop computing is key to Ubunto as a successful smartphone OS. Shuttleworth imagines devices that will cross the limitations of today's smartphones, creating devices that can be docked to larger displays and input peripherals and behave like a PC when necessary. This is much the same vision BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins has the BlackBerry platform. A significant point of difference is essential for kickstarting a new mobile ecosystem at this time. Apple and Samsung are ruling the sales charts, leaving little for the other major players. To get Ubunto off the ground, Canonical will need a strong manufacturing partner, or three, which represents a significant risks for the OEMs struggling to make sales with Android. In its favour, the telcos are still hungry to find a viable third ecosystem to support; one the carriers can exercise some control over in a way that is impossible with iOS. With Windows still slow out of the gate and the future of BlackBerry uncertain, perhaps Ubunto is the third we've all been waiting for.
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Report gives sign of just how much the PS4 will cost
As Sony's Feb. 20 event inches closer, we might have our first sense of just how much the company plans to charge for its highly anticipated PS4.
According to Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun as reported by The Verge, the new system will cost over 40,000 yen, or about $428 (UK£273, AU$414).
It's unclear where the Japanese paper got its information, but the figures fall in line with previous chatter that the system will cost around $400 (UK£255, AU$387).
The Asahi Shimbun is one of Japan's major national newspapers, so it's no rag, but still take the report with a grain of salt. Or a shot of sake, whichever you prefer.
PS points
The paper also mentions a 2013 launch for Japan and the U.S., though there's reference of a European release date. As for the controller, Asahi Shimbun's report also backs up claims that it will feature a touch pad while being similar in size to the current Dual Shock 3 model. Going back to the price, there's no way to know until official announcements just how much it will cost in different regions, but the paper's report gives us a realm to work with. Sony launched the most expensive version of the PS3 for $599 in the U.S. in 2006, while the cheapest version now costs $269 stateside (that's 60,000 yen and 24,980 yen in Japan, respectively). In the U.S., the basic Wii U costs $299.99 while the Deluxe model goes for $349.99, so while the PS4 might not be able to compete on the price front, its rumored price isn't too outrageous, especially if its specs stack up.
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Your phone is all you'll need in a BlackBerry 10 future
A lot of buzz is billowing around BlackBerry these days, as analysts, consumers and the media keep a rabid eye on the renamed company's every move and so far non-specific sales numbers.
Though all eyes are on BlackBerry 10 and sales of the Z10 (the Q10 isn't available yet), CEO Thorsten Heins is already looking to the future, Reuters reported Tuesday.
It's apparently a future where the only device you'll need is a BlackBerry.
Heins wants BlackBerry to come to represent "true mobile computing," though he said it's not going to happen in the next quarter; the current game plan will play out over the next two to four years.
Heins said it's not just about tablets and smartphones, either. The architecture behind BlackBerry 10 is "not a downgraded PC operating system," he said. "It is a whole new innovation build from scratch. It's built for mobile."
The sky's the limit
So if the BlackBerry 10 architecture won't be limited to just phones and tablets, what exactly is Heins envisioning? BlackBerry's Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben told Reuters that starting this year, "you will be able to plug the [Z10] device into a docking station at the office and then all you need is a keyboard, a mouse and a screen." "Combined with cloud services, this would mean you don't need a laptop or a desktop," he added. As Reuters pointed out, BlackBerry owns the QNX operating system behind BB10, which also powers everything from cars to nuclear reactors. Who knows where the company could go with it? "What we need to decide is where do we play? It could be a software play, a licensing play, an end-to-end horizontal play, we'll figure that out," Heins said. "In five years, yes we might still be in hardware, but we may not be in hardware ... I'm not ruling anything out."Remaining focused
But BlackBerry is going to remain focused on consumers and BB10 for now. "Over the short term, yes, we have to be successful with the [BlackBerry 10] devices," he said, admitting that BlackBerry has to win back enterprises and consumers who were lost to Apple and Android. In the U.K. and Canada, BlackBerry 10 devices are breaking records for the company. As of Tuesday, stock was up more than 24 percent from Friday's close. That's surely a good sign, though the new OS's presence in the U.S. has yet to be reestablished - BB devices had plummeted to just one percent of mobile traffic in the U.S. by last summer, and BlackBerry 10 won't launch stateside until March. The BlackBerry Q10 could launch in the U.S. as late as June. In addition, Heins told Reuters that BlackBerry remains committed to tablets. After the minimal impact of the BlackBerry PlayBooks, though, he needs to make sure the next BlackBerry tablet - which is currently in the works - is profitable. Even so, existing PlayBooks will be upgraded to BB10, proving the company's current commitment.
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Touchscreen Chromebook named 'Pixel' pops up in video leak
A YouTube slip-up might just have revealed a new Google Chromebook called the Pixel.
The original video that tipped this Chromebook has already been taken down (though more videos are, heroically, taking its place), but that won't stop the internet buzz about it.
The video doesn't dish many details about the possible Pixel, likely named after its high-resolution display.
What it does say is that it's a touchscreen laptop housing 4 million pixels on the display. According to guesswork around the net, that amounts to hearty a 2560 x 1700 resolution.
Chrome domed
The video originally comes from visual guide company Slinky.me, which claims the video got loose when the company's servers were attacked by hackers. But the video could very well have been a mistake public post. Whatever the reason, we got a nice rumor to chew on to be taken with a few grains of salt. Chromebooks are nothing new: there's the Acer C7 Chromebook and the Samsung Series 3 Chromebook, both released in the last few months. The video said this will be the first laptop completely designed by Google, which is somewhat true. Google attempted to release a Chromebook in 2010 called the Cr-48. But that notebook only made its way into a few hands and was never commercially available. There's no telling if the search engine will manufacturer the Pixel itself, or partner with another company to put it together, much like Google does with the Nexus brand of devices. The leak goes along with a rumor that made the rounds in November. It was from a suspect source, the China Times, which said Chinese manufacturer Compal was producing a Google-branded touchscreen notebook. But that rumor doesn't lend too much credence to this one. Whatever the case may be, we'll make sure to keep a close eye on any possible Chromebooks to come. Until then, feast your eyes on what is, at least for the moment, the Pixel:
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Apple, Samsung snare all phone profits for 2012
Apple and Samsung have gobbled up all of the smartphone spoils in 2012, leaving their competitors to break even or worse.
According to figures collected by Canaccord Genuity, the two electronics powerhouses combined snagged 103% of the industry's operating profits for the year, with Apple scoring the lion's share at 69%.
Cornering the market
To achieve a number greater than the whole, the 103% figure includes the loses made by some of the other big names in consumer tech. Sony, Motorola and Nokia all found themselves in minus figures, LG and BlackBerry broke even, while HTC scrapped over the line with 1% of the market's profits. Speaking with Apple Insider, Canaccord analyst Michael Walkley notes that he doesn't know of anything in the short term that should shake Apple and Samsung from the top spot. Hopefully Walkley's predictions prove conservative. Companies like BlackBerry, Sony and HTC are responsible for some of the most important innovations in phones since the launch of the iPhone, and it would be a shame to have this stifled by a two horse race. Perhaps HTC's 'ultrapixel' camera could be what it needs to dip its hands back into the industry's pot of gold.
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No Google slides, 'scream or smoothies at this year's MWC?
Those jonesing for a Google badge at this year's Mobile World Congress could be out of luck as the Mountain View team might not do Barcelona in the same way it has in year's past.
"I can confirm that indeed, [Sonia, writer of the test-mobile.fr report], we will not stand at MWC this year," read a translated statement provided by Google France to the site.
"However, the Android team will be present in Barcelona to support its partners."
Google doesn't really need to man a massive booth to build buzz and win Android OS converts, so if it doesn't decide to have a stand presence at MWC 2013, we wouldn't be surprised. Just a little disappointed.
But we had so much fun...
Smoothies, claw games, robots, slides, a train of encased smartphones...Google's MWC 2012 booth was a feast for the eyes and a treat for techies. You can see all the fun in the clip below:
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Sky announces 'world first' 3D F1 broadcasts during test weekend
Sky has announced that the first live broadcast of Formula 1 in 3D will take place during the final testing weekend, prior to the start of the season.
The broadcaster will show all four days of the event at the Circuit de Catalunya, in Barcelona, from February 28 to March 3.
The event, which will be the last chance for teams to prepare for the F1 curtain-raiser in Australia on March 17, will be broadcast simultaneously on Sky Sports F1 HD and the Sky 3D channel.
Sky hasn't announced any further plans to show a live race in 3D during the 2013 season, so at this stage we'd assume this proof-of-concept broadcast will pre-empt a live race in 2014.
Immersive experience
"This is a special moment for Formula 1 fans and exactly the kind of innovation and access that Sky Sports F1 promised," said Sky F1's commentator and starting-grid stalker extraordinaire Martin Brundle. "3D will show us the real challenges of the race track with added depth and perspective. It will be a new, immersive experience for viewers and I can't wait to see what F1 action in 3D will reveal." Sky 3D is free for all subscribers to the Sky World HD package.
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Twitter mobile update takes the kitchen sink approach to content discovery
Twitter has updated its official mobile app on iOS and Android with features that should make it easier for users to discover new content.
The most major addition comes from the Discover tab, which now consolidates tweets, activity, trends, and suggested users to follow in a single timeline, which sounds useful and not overly cluttered at all.
To bring a little more clarity to the Discover tab there are also now previews for user activity and trends at the top of the tab, which users can tap to see those lists independently.
Users can also now click on URL links in tweets directly from the timeline, rather than going through the extra step of expanding a tweet before opening links.
Streamlining search
Continuing the theme of consolidating features, the search option has also been updated to now return search results for tweets, photos, and user accounts in a single stream similar to the Discover tab. Search offers a bonus treat for iPhone users with the latest update, offering a persistent search icon next to the compose tweet button at the top of the app. The search button was already part of the Android and iPad Twitter apps, but Twitter has seen fit to let the iPhone app catch up with the other versions. The Connect tab is the last update recipient, now showing all interactions including new followers, mentions, and retweets in a single stream by default. However, users will still have the option to change the Connect tab to only show mentions in the app settings. Twitter's latest mobile update pack more features into each tab to make it much easier to find new content, but it may consolidate things too much so that it is harder to find the content you are actually looking for in the shuffle.
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Whiff of future Surface charging peripherals caught during Reddit AMA
Microsoft revealed during an online Q&A on Wednesday that new peripherals are in the works for Surface tablets, hinting that charging accessories are on the horizon.
Microsoft General Manager Panos Panay led the ask-me-anything session on Reddit, the self-proclaimed "front page of the internet," with the Surface Pro engineering team on hand to answer questions as well.
Panay responded to a question about new connectors found on the Surface Pro's bottom dock in first person, writing, "Wow - I'm pumped you caught that!"
"We haven't announced what they are for but they aren't an accident!" he continued. "At launch we talked about the 'accessory spine' and hinted at future peripherals that can click in and do more. Those connectors look like can [sic] carry more current than the pogo pins, don't they?"
Can you repeat that?
That's an interesting tip, but it's pretty vague. Luckily the Surface team revealed more hints in response to another question about the possibility of an external battery or a charging keyboard cover: "That would require extending the design of the accessory spine to include some way to transfer higher current between the peripheral and the main battery," wrote the Reddit account named SurfaceTeam. "Which we did…" Well that's pretty blatant. So when can we expect an official Microsoft charging dock for the Surface Pro? Hold your horses - the Surface team ruled that out. "We don't have a dock in the plans, but there are USB3.0HUBS that offer viable solutions," they wrote.To reiterate
So while Microsoft apparently does not have a new charging dock in the works for the Surface, other types of tablet-charging peripherals are likely on the docket. Charging keyboard covers and portable external batteries were mentioned by Redditors, and the Surface team didn't rule those out specifically. But they did manage to remain admirably vague despite confirming that the Surface Pro's enhanced bottom connector is capable of transmitting more current than the Surface RT's could. So far no Surface peripherals take advantage of that, but we're guessing that's going to change soon. TechRadar asked Microsoft for further clarification of the statements made during the AMA and we'll update this story when we hear back.Regarding battery life and storage
The team also addressed users' concerns with the Surface tablet's battery life and storage. On the Surface Pro's battery life, they went on the defensive: "This product is optimized in every way to take advantage of the full third generation Core i5 it runs, yet give the best battery life," SurfaceTeam wrote. "If you compare it to say a MacBook Air, you will quickly see that pound for pound in battery size vs battery life, you will find optimizations that puts Surface best in its class." "That said," the team continued, "we picked a smaller battery to be sure we were able to give you the same performance and to keep it thin." Regarding storage: "We designed Surface Pro (and the allocation of disk space on our systems) to have the power of full Windows 8, the ability to have a simplified and fast upgrade to full Office and the confidence of a recovery image already available on your device." The team described the multiple ways the Surface's storage can be extended, including via microSD, USB drives and Microsoft SkyDrive. And they clarified that reports in January of the OS taking up around 40GB were exaggerated - though only slightly, by about six or 7GB. Finally, the team addressed why the hefty Windows 8 recovery image is included by default: "Ideally, you will never need your recovery image," they wrote, "however this is a choice we would prefer the customer to make vs having the customer need the recovery image not realizing they needed to create one themselves."
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BT launches new phone to eliminate unwanted sales calls
It's not very often we get calls on our landlines these days, but when we do, it's usually along the lines of: "You may have been mis-sold Payment Protection Insura...." at which point the phone goes down again.
After 50,000 complaints BT has finally recognised that there's nothing worse than a nuisance call while you're enjoying a bit of dinner and The Chase, and has launched a new phone to handle the problem.
The BT6500 landline phone is available to buy from today and promises to eliminate 4 out of every 5 of those infuriating, unwanted, Bradley Walsh-interrupting calls.
It costs £44.99 from BT, Argos or Amazon (you can get four for £109) and can be directly configured to block calls from international and withheld numbers, as well as from 10 user-specified numbers.
Parental controls
Blocked calls will be diverted to an answer phone so important callers, who may have their number withheld for genuine reasons, can leave messages. The handset also features a do-not-disturb mode as well as parental controls to allow outgoing calls to mobiles, premium rate lines and international numbers to be easily blocked. Up until now, families had relied on the free-to-join Telephone Protection Service in order to cut out unsolicited sales calls, but the TPS cannot block withheld numbers or those initiated from outside the UK. John Petter, managing director of BT's consumer division, said: "We know from talking to our customers that nuisance calls cause huge frustration and even anxiety at times. When people feel as though they are being harassed in their own homes they need to be able to take action and block the offending callers."
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Vine cuts fight against porn, puts 17+ age restriction up instead
Vine, Twitter's micro-video posting app, received an update today with its most notable feature the banning of minors from using the service.
New users and those trying to update Vine will be greeted with a new warning message informing them that the app in question is intended for users 17 years of age and older.
Along with the warning, Vine's App Store description has been updated to cover all bases, saying Vine may contain frequent or infrequent drug use or references, sexual content, profanity, violence, mature and suggestive themes, and gambling.
Perhaps it's a simple typo, but it seems to be telling that "intense sexual content or nudity" is the only item listed as occurring frequently when all other situations are said to be infrequent.
Vine sprouts thorns
It didn't take long for users to start posting their 6-second smut on Vine, which Twitter at first tried to shrug off using terms of service that placed responsibility solely on users. The porn problem didn't go away, and Twitter started to intervene by censoring pornographic search terms from the service. While Twitter will continue to monitor and remove pornographic searches, imposing an age restriction for Vine appears to be the social media giant's way of admitting there is only so much it can do to stop smut outright on Vine. Twitter is still trying even though it may be futile, as today's Vine update also adds the ability to report objectionable videos using a "…" icon in the corner of each video post. In reality, the age restriction is not much of a hurdle for a motivated youth, but the cautionary warning is at least enough to keep Vine getting pulled from the App Store. It seems that the pursuit of a porn-free Vine will be one punctuated by little victories rather than really penetrating the issue.
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BlackBerry Z10 busting down launch sales records in UK and Canada
Thorsten Heins and Co. are having an awesome Wednesday, which happens to be one week after the BlackBerry president/CEO and some of his cohorts introduced the world to the completed BlackBerry 10 OS and Z10 and Q10 handsets.
According to Heins, the touch-only Z10, launched last week in the U.K. and yesterday in Canada, is off to a better start than phones past.
"In Canada, yesterday was the best day ever for the first day of a launch of a new BlackBerry smartphone," Heins said in a statement released today.
"In fact, it was more than 50 percent better than any other launch day in our history in Canada.
"In the U.K., we have seen close to three times our best performance ever for the first week of sales for a BlackBerry smartphone."
BB Booyeah
Actual sales numbers are hard to come by, but the sentiment from Heins is encouraging for the phone, the OS and the company's future fortunes. The Canadian figure is crucial not only for the launch numbers sold but as an emotional win for the company. BlackBerry, formerly known as Research in Motion, is based in Waterloo, Canada, so for the Z10 to get such a good reception in its homeland has to be a spirit booster. RIM-now-BlackBerry's struggles are well documented, especially in the U.S. where use of its phones has shriveled to nearly nothing. Neither the Z10 nor Q10 are on sale south of the Canadian border yet, so how the phones are received here will be critical to whether we're even talking about BlackBerry a few years from now. U.S. carriers Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T are confirmed to start carrying the Z10, while Sprint has made no announcement regarding whether it will carry the phone. Though there's no exact release date, March looks like the month when U.S. customers can start buying up the all-touch BB10 handset. Will it be just as rousing as the U.K. and Canadian starts? Time will tell.
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March 15 tipped as debut date for Samsung Galaxy S4
A new rumor pegs March 15 as the launch date for Samsung's fourth generation Galaxy S smartphone, with retail availability kicking off in Europe first a few weeks later.
SamMobile reported Wednesday that Samsung is planning to announce the Galaxy S4 handset at an event tentatively scheduled for Friday, March 15.
While Samsung has yet to confirm such an event on that date, an unnamed "trusted insider" has spilled the beans on the company's internal launch plans for the S4.
Should this rumor pan out, it means Samsung is likely to skip launching the smartphone at Mobile World Congress later this month, instead choosing to focus on its own solo event.
Worldwide debut
Samsung fans may have to wait just a bit longer than mid-March to actually get their hands on the Galaxy S4, rumored to be powered by an eight-core Exynos 5 Octa processor with Mali-T658 GPU. The report claims the Korean manufacturer will first roll the handset out across Europe in early April, followed by Asia later in the month and continuing on to America, Australia and Africa in May and June. Samsung's next-generation handset is said to come in black or white, sporting a 4.99-inch Super AMOLED Full HD display, 2GB RAM, 13MP rear camera for 1080p video at 30fps and a 2MP front-facing camera capable of shooting 720p HD videos. Curiously, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is expected to arrive running the current Android Jelly Bean 4.2.1, rather than a newer 4.2.2 update Google is reportedly rolling out soon.
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iTunes sells enough songs to give everyone in the world four tunes
iTunes has reached another landmark - 25 billion songs have been bought through the service, according to Apple.
On average, it's selling more than 15,000 songs a minute, Apple's latest stats say.
The lucky fellow who downloaded the 25 billionth tune was awarded a 10,000 euro iTunes Gift Card as a reward. That man was Philip Lupke from Germany, and the milestone song was Monkey Drums (Goksel Vancin Remix) by Chase Buch. Us neither.
26m song catalogue
iTunes now has a catalogue of more than 26 million songs and is available in 119 countries, since it expanded at the end of last year. Just before Christmas, the service rolled out to another 56 nations. iTunes 11 launched just a few days earlier. iTunes Match, Apple's cloud music storage service, is available in all countries where you can get the music software. And all this despite iTunes' much criticised clunky, non-intuitive interface and processor-sapping performance.
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Review: HP Envy Sleekbook 6-1126sa
Introduction
AMD is enjoying something of a resurgence in its laptop fortunes lately. The HP Envy Sleekbook 6-1126sa is the second computer we've seen recently that employs the 'other' manufacturer's processor, the other being the Samsung Series 5 NP535U3C-A02UK. The question is, despite these design wins, can AMD hold its own against intel's third generation Core processors that seem to dominate the laptop space? And if it can, why aren't we seeing more of its mobile processors in the wild? The first question isn't so easily answered, simply because Intel doesn't quite have a processor in the same price bracket as the CPU that can be found inside this machine. In fact it is more than a CPU, but we'll come back to that shortly.
The point is, the HP Envy Sleekbook 6-1126sa is priced at budget levels, £500 (around US$790/AU$757) at launch, but on the face of it, it hasn't had to cut all of those traditional corners in order to achieve that price.
In fact, at a quick glance it appears to be more of the Ultrabook school of thought, rather than something born out of a manufacturer trying to shift as many boxes as possible.
Key to the HP Envy Sleekbook, and the fact that it has managed to hit that price tag, is the AMD APU that can be found at its heart. AMD has termed such chips APUs, which is short for Accelerated Processing Unit, because they offer more than the traditional CPUs (Central Processing Units) name would suggest, mainly in that they also pack a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) into the same packaging.
You could argue that there's nothing particularly new here, since Intel's chips have boasted graphics capabilities for a couple of generations now.
To be fair to AMD, though, the term CPU doesn't really cover such capabilities, plus this graphics core should in theory pack a much greater punch than Intel's CPUs, since AMD is as well known for its graphics business as it is for its processors.
Back to the laptop in question - here is a machine packing a new APU from AMD, in a full-sized, yet sleek 15.6-inch form factor that boasts some impressive looks for its budget price tag. Surely some corners have had to be cut in order to achieve that affordability, and can it really deliver on its promise?
Specification
The 15.6-inch display defines the form factor of the machine, and to some degree it defines the function as well. Measuring 37.4 x 25.28 x 1.98cm (14.72 x 9.95 x 0.78 inches) and weighing 2.15kg (4.48lbs), a laptop this big requires a little more forethought than something you simply drop into your bag as you head out. On the positive side, the HP Envy Sleekbook 6-1126sa does a far better job of handling media than a smaller, more nimble laptop might. And this is something that HP has picked up on, giving the system the Beats Audio treatment, or in other words installing a pair of speakers and a subwoofer into the system's tight frame. We're not entirely convinced that this takes the computer into a different realm of audio greatness, but it does a fine turn of giving impact to your movie soundtracks and music.
We're not sure you'll want to throw away your headphones quite yet, since laptops do tend to be used in more social locations, but it does give you options when watching films in private.
The rest of the specification hides no great surprises, neither particularly good nor bad. Alongside the aforementioned AMD A6-4455M APU you'll find 4GB of DDR3 RAM, which is pretty much a bare minimum these days, and a 500GB traditional hard drive.
We'll admit that having been won over by SSDs, particularly in laptops, it is difficult to go back to these slow platter spinners, but at this price the money that gets you the 500GB 5,400rpm drive here wouldn't stretch to a fifth of that capacity in SSD terms.
There are times when this lack of speed shows, particularly and unfortunately, when you first use the PC, but overall the amount of space on offer just about outweighs the lack of speed.
A 7,200rpm drive would have been better, and importantly faster, but again it would have added to the cost, pushing it over the £500 (around US$790/AU$757) mark.
One of the reasons for using the AMD A6-A4455M APU is the access to the 7500G graphics core, which means you don't need discrete graphics.
This doesn't mean you're missing out on the feature list front, though, with the HP Envy Sleekbook 6-1126sa managing to offer DirectX 11 support, as used by the latest games. And 512MB of video RAM gives plenty of space too.
There's plenty on offer in terms of ports and expansion too, including HDMI, a single USB 2.0 port and two USB 3.0 ports.
You will of course find 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support as standard, with a collapsable Gigabit Ethernet port providing faster wired access when you need it.
Performance
Benchmarks3DMark06: 3634 3DMark11: P561 Heaven 3.0: 11.7fps Sleeping Dogs (high): 7.7fps Sleeping Dogs (medium): 15.1fps Sleeping Dogs (low): 18.6fps Max Payne (high): 5.55fps Max Payne (low): 10.33fps Cinebench 10 (1 CPU): 2601 Cinebench 10 (x CPU): 3558 Cinebench 10 OpenGL: 3632 Battery Eater: 4 hours and 16 minutes
If this all sounds like the HP Envy Sleekbook 6-1126sa is shaping up to be the best machine ever built, then there is a small problem, and that is in the performance stakes. The finger of blame can be squarely pointed at AMD on this front, since while its A6-4455M APU may offer up a smorgasbord of features and capabilities, it doesn't quite pack the punch that it needs to.
This is most clearly demonstrated in raw CPU performance tests, and here Cinebench 10 shows that AMD's chip can't compete with Intel's Core i3.
The figures we garnered from this chip were a third of that from Intel's CPU in the multi-threaded test, and while it's a slightly unfair comparison because Intel's Core i3 can handle four threads concurrently and the A6-4455M can only manage two, the single-threaded performance was just as uninspiring.
The raw processing power on offer isn't great then, but it's actually the gaming prowess of the machine that is the biggest hit for HP. Despite the promise of great things, there simply isn't enough silicon on offer in the GPU core to handle the demands of modern games.
The synthetic benchmark, 3DMark06, had a result of 3,634. This indicates that it's capable if you aren't looking for anything too exacting, but when we turned to two recently released games, the HP Envy Sleekbook 6-1126sa really showed its colours.
Both Max Payne 3 and Sleeping Dogs can only be deemed unplayable, even when we dropped the settings to their lowest settings. Max Payne 3 in particular barely crept above 10fps, even with everything set as low as possible. This isn't a gaming machine, regardless of how it's pitched.
It's not all bad, though. Actually using the machine for day-to-day tasks and enjoying movies is a positive experience, thanks in part to the roomy, responsive keyboard and large touchpad. HP has left off the number pad to accentuate this feeling of space still further, but it's a cost that seems reasonable to pay.
The final matter of performance worth noting is the battery life, and unlike the Samsung Series 5 NP535U3C-A02UK, this PC doesn't suffer from poor stamina.
Indeed it's fairly impressive for a 15.6-inch laptop, racking up a decent 4 hours and 26 minutes of use when playing back video. You can expect even better battery life in less demanding tasks.
Verdict
The HP Envy Sleekbook 6-1126sa is a laptop of contradictions. It looks like a expensive Ultrabook, but costs the same as a budget PC. The performance promises so much, but doesn't quite deliver where it needs to. At the same time, it's a great media machine yet, but one that boasts the stamina you would expect from a far more agile and sober laptop.We liked
The styling of the Sleekbook is to be commended, since it looks like a far more expensive system than it actually is. The curving of the chassis hides the true thickness of the machine well, and given it isn't that thick anyway, this only adds to the general air of svelteness. The fact that you can enjoy a couple of movies without having to have it plugged in is also impressive, and despite its large form factor, that does mean that it makes for a good companion if you need a machine to travel with. Best of all though, the fact that this computer costs just £500 (around US$790/AU$757) is impressive, and shows that AMD does indeed bring something worthwhile to the market. You can get cheaper machines running Intel chips, but they simply won't look this good or be anywhere near this big.We disliked
The main problem with the HP Envy Sleekbook 6-1126sa is that it simply doesn't have the raw processor performance or the gaming prowess that it promises. Yes it supports the latest DirectX 11, which is used by the most recent games, but it doesn't have enough raw grunt to actually render those games as playable frame rates. The 5,400rpm traditional hard drive also slowed down the machine, and while 500GB does give you a lot of space for data, it's a shame a small SSD can't be installed alongside this for use as a system cache. It wouldn't add much to the cost, but would make a notable difference to the speed.Final verdict
Overall, despite the obvious performance anxiety that this machine suffers from, the HP Envy Sleekbook 6-1126sa is a system that anyone looking to buy a budget laptop should look at. Its large screen and decent audio subsystem make it great for enjoying music and movies, while the comfortable keyboard and strong battery life make it a joy to use for more mundane tasks. Admittedly we would have preferred more raw power for our money, and the lack of real gaming performance does annoy, but in almost every other respect this is a tempting computer. It's worth considering - or at least it is until Intel upsets the market once again when it release its next-generation processors, and their powerful graphics cores.
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Review: Acer Iconia W700
Introduction
Windows 8 has seen a host of fresh designs for tablets and laptops, with many manufacturers trying their hardest to build a device that's capable of doing both jobs. That has led to some innovative thinking, such as the screen-spinning Dell XPS 12 and the Microsoft Surface and its detachable keyboard. However, the Acer Iconia W700 has a slightly simpler take on the hybrid design. The Iconia W700 differs from other hybrid tablets by not having a keyboard that attaches to the body of the tablet to create a laptop-style device. Instead it looks like any normal tablet, albeit bulkier and 11.6 inches across. It docks into a stand that props it up at a usable angle and acts as a charging stand and USB hub. The idea is that you keep the dock and keyboard at work or in your home, and use it like a full PC. The added HDMI means you can connect it to an external monitor so you'd have no idea you were using a tablet at all. When you leave, just pull the tablet out from the dock, for games, apps and browsing on the move.
We actually prefer this set up to the jack-of-all-trades and master of none form factors of some other Windows 8 hybrids, such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 and Toshiba Satellite U920T, which are too large to be used as tablets yet suffer from reduced usability in 'laptop-mode.'
However, don't think you'll get the same svelte stylings as those of the Apple iPad. When you pack a laptop-grade processor into a tablet, you have the same thermal headaches as laptop makers have, but the added issue of how to dissipate it.
The Acer Iconia W700 measures 11.9 x 295 x 191mm (0.5 x 11.6 x 7.5 inches) and weighs 925g (33oz), making it one slab of slate.
The only problem with the Acer's way of working is that when you do need to take the dock on the move with you, it's one of the most awkward pieces of equipment to transport.
The square dock is made from flimsy white plastic and is propped up by a white plastic stand, which is a single piece of angled plastic that slots in the back.
It seems as if it's designed to take up the maximum room in your bag, and due to the plastic, feels that it could emerge in two pieces after you've shoved something on top of it. Add the power supply and any extra peripherals and your bag will be filled to the brim.
The plastic flimsiness of the dock is completely at odds with the tablet itself, which is adorned in aluminium, which along with Microsoft Surface, is easily one of the best-built tablets on the market.
Acer has seriously upped its game in terms of build quality, and along with the Acer Aspire S7 Ultrabook, is producing some seriously covetable kit.
Priced at around £590/US$799.99 (64GB, Core i3 version, not available in Australia) or £740/US$999.99/AU$1,299 (128GB, Core i5 version) the Acer Iconia W700 does represent decent value, when you consider that you're getting dual functionality, top specs and Ultrabook power. However, how does it fare in use? Read our review to find out.
Specifications
The Acer Iconia W700 features the full version of Windows 8, with all the same components you'd expect from an Ultrabook laptop. Inside there's an Intel Core i3-2365M processor, clocked at a pedestrian 1.4GHz, meaning there's enough power for standard programs and apps, but not much more. Unlike other dual-use hybrids such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11, Microsoft Surface RT and the Asus VivoTab, you get the full version of Windows, rather than the cut-down Windows RT. Aside from the processor, you'll also find 4GB of RAM and all the 3D graphics are handled by the Intel HD 3000 core built into the Intel Core i3 chip. It won't handle advanced games, but you could play any casual title easily, although we are concerned about the impact of heat under long periods of stress.
There's also a 64GB SSD included on the version we tested, which is in danger of being filled, so investing in some external storage too would be wise - or buying the 128GB version.
Of course, a tablet or laptop is nothing without its screen, and we've seen some fantastic 1080p panels on the likes of the Sony Vaio Duo 11 and the Dell XPS 12, which produce stunningly vibrant and sharp pictures.
We were delighted to see a gorgeous 1920 x 1080 LED panel included on the Acer Iconia W700. It makes a huge difference when working, with its pin-sharp text. It's great for browsing the web, with more of the web page displayed on screen, and for using apps and playing games, with jaw-dropping visuals. The Windows 8 interface looks brilliant, and certainly catches people's attention.
The downside of the pin-sharp screen is that Windows 8 is almost unusable in classic mode. The menus are so small thanks to the monstrous resolution that's packed into the 11.6-inch panel, we were squinting to make out navigation options. However, the Acer Iconia W700 rarely registered a wrong press, showing that the panel's sensitivity - coupled with improvements to Windows 8 - is top notch.
As we mentioned, the Acer Iconia W700 is at its best when connected to peripherals, such as HD monitors, but the connectivity options are a mixed bag. Without the comfort of its dock, there's just one USB port, a HDMI port and Bluetooth, which we'd recommend for peripherals.
When attached to the dock this is upped to 3 x USB 3.0 ports, and there's also a dongle in the box that converts micro HDMI to VGA. With its dock, the Acer Iconia W700 is one of the best connected tablets out there, but we worry that when on the road, the single USB port might be limiting.
While the dock is too cumbersome to be carried around comfortably, Acer supplies a fetching leather-look case to protect the Iconia W700 on the move. We were mightily impressed, not only by the stylish look of the brown leather case, but the way it grasped hold of the W700, protecting it from all bumps and scrapes.
What's more, it (precariously) stands up the W700 like an Apple SmartCase, for movie watching and working away from the dock.
Performance
Benchmarks Battery eater: 284 Cinebench: 3716 3D Mark: 1785 In terms of performance, the Acer Iconia W700 struggled, and we were disappointed to see less power from it than from Ultrabooks in the same category. High-end Ultrabooks packing an Ivy Bridge-based Intel Core i7 processor would produce a score of around 9,000 in Cinebench, which is ideal for heavy image editing, dealing with video and multi-tasking full Windows apps such as Photoshop and Microsoft Word.
With its Intel Core i3 chip, the Iconia W700 stuttered to a disappointing score of 3,716.
This makes it hard to recommend for people who plan to use this hybrid device for heavy grunt work, which is a shame, since the point of the W700 seems to be to replace your existing Windows machine and solve the need for a separate tablet.
With an Intel Core i3 processor handling all the processing and the graphics - remember there's no discreet solution here, folks - our 3D Mark produced a pretty derisory score as well.
The W700 managed just 1,785, and the cycle of tests resembled a PowerPoint presentation on 90s gaming rather than an exploration of 3D rendering.
It means we have serious doubts about the ability of the W700 to handle any types of gaming, beyond anything from the Windows Store.
Of course, there is an Intel Core i5 version of the W700 available, which would improve on these worrying results, but you can expect to pay a premium of £150/US$100 or more.
The pay off of such basic performance is excellent battery life, which matches some of the best performing laptops such as the Dell XPS 13. This will suit anyone who intends to work away from the mains electricity.
Our harsh tests, which involve looping HD video and simulating office tasks, produced a cycle of 284 minutes, and under less extreme conditions one could easily expect five to six hours of use.
Verdict
The Acer Iconia W700 is certainly a step forward for full-fat Windows tablets, and one of the few we've seen that can genuinely offer the experience of a full laptop and a tablet as well. Devices like the Sony Vaio Duo 11 or Toshiba Satellite U920T have erred too much towards the laptop form factor, while the current crop of Windows RT tablets suffer from usability issues, a limited ecosystem and are far too expensive. The Acer W700 has found a useful niche, and we can genuinely imagine having it docked into a desktop type set up at work, before watching a movie and using the increasing amount of Windows 8 apps on the way home.We liked
The dock setup works, as long as you don't want to take it with you, and the range of connectivity means it's easy to hook the tablet up to an HD screen. The pin-sharp screen is a joy to use when in the new Windows 8 UI mode, and it's just as good for media consumption as work. The price is also exceptional, when you consider that the Samsung Ativ Tab, which runs Windows RT, comes in at £549/US$649.99 (around AU$836). For roughly the same price here you get full fat Windows, Intel Core power, the dock, a high quality leather case and a mobile keyboard.We disliked
The docking system doesn't have the same quality feel as the rest of the Acer Iconia W700, and while it does make it lightweight for when you do need to travel, it ruins the premium experience. We also feel that very little thought as been put into the dock's design, and the bizarre design is a nightmare to carry. Of course, for £590/US$799.99 you won't get high-end Ultrabook power, especially when Acer has been so generous with extras, build quality and that gorgeous 1080p screen. However, we have serious reservations about whether there's enough grunt here to future-proof the Acer W700 for all kinds of PC use, from graphics-heavy applications to multitasking large numbers of programs. Finally, while we loved the usability of the Acer Iconia W700, we feel there's little flexibility in its use. It works if you're regularly in one place, such as your home or office, where the dock can be set up and left. Taking the whole package of dock, stand, case and charger will be a drag, so think about how you'd use it before buying it.Final verdict
The Acer Iconia W700 comes the closest of all the tablets we've seen to being able to replicate the experience of a laptop, in a true tablet form. While you certainly get a lot for your money here, we worry that the poor performance limits the life of this hybrid PC, and would push those looking for a rich Windows 8 experience to look at the Intel Core i5 version.
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Will Xbox 720 stop you playing secondhand games?
You won't be able to play second-hand games on the forthcoming Xbox 720, according to Edge's sources.
The next-generation console will have an always-on internet connection, they say, meaning every single game will be verified as you fire it up. So bad luck if you were looking forward to borrowing, lending or reselling your boxed games.
Undoubtedly Microsoft would market this persistent connectivity as a great boon for gamers, letting them stay in touch with friends and receive instant updates.
But games publishers have long criticised the resale market for taking a bite out of their profits, and any move to tie games to one machine will be welcomed by them.
Embracing Blu-ray
The sources say games will come on 50GB Blu-ray discs, which will be the first time Microsoft has embraced the format after its ill-fated dalliance with HD-DVD. Games are said to come with activation codes, thwarting anyone hoping to get some second-hand thrills. One source even went as far as to confirm the next Xbox's specs. According them, the console will pack an AMD eight-core x64 1.6GHz CPU, a D3D11.x 800MHz graphics card, and 8GB of RAM. We're also expecting a new incarnation of Kinect, Microsoft's motion-controlled interface. The console is expected to be announced at E3, while Sony's PS4 could very well be revealed in just a couple of weeks. Via Edge
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LG teases new phone range ahead of MWC 2013
LG has what could potentially be a whole new line of smartphones up its sleeve, just in time for MWC 2013.
The company posted a teaser image of a present wrapped in a bow on its Facebook page, along with the tagline "New series will be unveiled".
"See what surprise LG has in store for you this time, with an unexpected distinction," reads the picture credit.
A European Optimus G Pro?
So what could it be? Unlike HTC, there's been no news of what LG could have in store. But Mobile World Congress just around the corner, LG is bound to have something big ready and waiting. The tagline suggests a whole new range of smartphones, instead of just one or two. The LG Optimus G Pro, spotted previously, is a beefed-up version of the Optimus G, but LG has said it won't launch outside Japan. It's a shame, as the G Pro packs a 5-inch screen and 1.7GHz quad-core processor - which might not be quite as much grunt as some handsets set to be unveiled, but is still no slouch. Mobile World Congress is scheduled to kick off on February 24, so we've not long to wait. What do you think LG will unveil? Let us know in the comments. Via Facebook
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Review: Updated: Motorola Razr i
Introduction
Eight years ago, when the Android 4.0, Intel inside-toting Razr i wasn't even a glint in Motorola's eye, something revolutionary happened in phone land. Motorola launched the Razr line. This was a time when Nokia ruled the phone world; an age where Ericsson and Motorola were the other big boys, Samsung was a bit of an also-ran trying to compete but struggling, and Apple... well, it had not long launched the iPod, which "put 1,000 songs in your pocket." Indeed, Apple teamed up with Motorola to launch the first iTunes enabled phone, the ROKR (which was a dismal failure) before deciding that it could do the whole thing better itself.
Apple's iPhone line has now arguably become the most successful of all time - five million iPhone 5 handsets sold in the first three days. Which puts Motorola's 130m Razrs in four years into perspective.
Motorola's Razr line never really died. It just fell into a coma, with the occasional slumber of consciousness across various iterations. And now, under the ownership (although, perhaps not the hands-on stewardship) of parent company Google, the Razr is being given another more high profile outing.
With the above in mind, it's ironic that when we opened the box and pulled the Motorola Razr i out, the first thing we thought was "wow - it looks like an iPhone 5". We know that will have some diehard Apple fanboys clutching their pearls - and we'll probably go to iHell for saying it - but hold the Motorola Razr i in your mitts and you'll see what we mean.
Firstly, the size. At 122.5 x 60.9 x 8.3mm (4.8 x 2.4 x 0.3 inches), it's about the same width and height, albeit a little fatter and slightly heavier, than the iPhone 5.
It also feels similar - the mixture of Kevlar and glass instead of aluminum and glass gives it that premium feel, and Motorola has gone down the same industrialised route as Apple.
Yes, the lines are not as precise - there's the odd bit of metal thrown in there on the front and there are lots of screws (six! Yes, six screws on show ,with no attempt to hide them) plus various buttons. It's not as 'clean' or minimalist as an iPhone, but we can definitely see what Motorola is trying to do here.
Clearly, it wants the Motorola Razr i to look tough, yet chic; to take that "I'm the man" but also "I'm beautiful" approach in the same way an iPhone does. Like a warehouse conversion apartment in a scruffy part of London, inhabited by somebody elegant and wealthy. It's a perfect mix and blend of two worlds that works together.
Up top, there's not much to report apart from a headphone jack, while the right-hand side has two metal buttons (power/standby and camera).
The Motorola Razr i tapers off around the bottom, while the left-hand side holds the micro USB sync/charging port and a little plastic flap that enables you to slot in your SIM and microSD card, so you can expand the 8GB of provided storage by another 64GB.
And those screws... Those damn screws that we've looked at over and over again, unable to decide if they look cool or terrible.
A brief mention of the SIM tray - and we would recommend removing children from the area when inserting it, since this phone will make you utter many profanities. The simplest of tasks - inserting a micro SIM into a Motorola Razr i - was, unfortunately, one of the most laborious things we've ever done. In fact, we'd go so far as to say it is hideous.
There's no spring, no real guidance there, and we spent 45 minutes trying to do it. The tweezers were out at one point. We'll never get those minutes back. Awful.
Around the back, you've got that Kevlar coating just beneath the 8MP rear camera, which is accompanied by a flash.
Speaking of cameras, you'll find another around the front. It's VGA, so you're not going to win any photography awards with it, but it'll do for checking for stray nose hairs when you're on the bus. Oh, that's just us? Moving swiftly on...
The big selling point for Motorola is the screen. It's an edge to edge display, meaning there is no wasted space at the side taken up by an annoying bezel.
Apart from an annoying black bar at the bottom of the screen that eats into the display. It's obviously there for a reason, but it takes the gloss off the experience ever so slightly.
Nevertheless, this is a pretty great display. It's smaller than many these days, at 4.3 inches across, and with a 540 x 960 pixel display (256ppi density). Being a Super AMOLED panel, blacks are very black and colours are incredibly vivid. Whites can appear a little bit yellow, which we noticed on websites and in the Gmail app, but it's nothing too severe.
In fact, our only complaint with the screen is that pixel density. It shows just how much we've changed that we now think that's a little 'third world', but it just can't match something like the iPhone's Retina display or similar panels on the Samsung Galaxy S3 or HTC One X.
It's not bad - and regular users probably won't even notice. But spotting pixels has become a bit of a pastime for many of us as technology has moved on, and you can definitely see them when you zoom into text, which is a shame, because it's the only fly in a perfectly concocted ointment.
And of course, the other selling point is the chip inside. This is one of the first Intel Inside phones to hit the UK - and the first Motorola branded one - with a single-core 2GHz brain inside.
Add to that the 1GB RAM and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (which is now being beefed up to Android Jelly Bean as we speak) and this is a seriously impressive handset, on paper at least.
Price-wise, the Motorola Razr i is fairly reasonable. The European phone is being marketed at the higher end of mid-range and so, to pick one up SIM free in the UK, you'll need to fork out just under £400 (about AU$620, US$648).
You can get it free on two year contracts for £23-£31 (around AU$36-48, US37-$50) per month, which is actually quite reasonable, even though we think 24-month terms are the devil's work.
The Motorola Razr i is being pitched right alongside the likes of the Sony Xperia S and the HTC One S - both very capable handsets. However, they've been out for a while longer - and that may just be enough to edge the Motorola Razr i forward in your affections.
Interface
If you've ever owned a Motorola Android device before, chances are that at least once, you threw it deliberately under a bus or purposefully whacked yourself over the head with a frying pan repeatedly.
Only a previous Motorola user could appreciate the true pain of having to use MotoBlur.
But we're looking to the future, not the past, so we'll park Motorola's dreadful Android interface firmly where it deserves to die a slow, painful death and tell you that the skin atop the Motorola Razr i is actually a real pleasure to use.
As it ships, the handset comes running Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, but Motorola is pushing the Jelly Bean update out to the Razr i as we speak, so we'll update this review fully when it lands on ours.
Firstly, because Google owns Motorola now. And secondly, because this is a high-powered, brand new and flagship handset. Motorola will be super keen to make the most of it.
Motorola has kept the interface pretty basic. As with most Android phones, you get a dock at the bottom with shortcuts to preconfigured apps (which you can alter) and your app drawer.
Motorola's tweaked some of the icons for non-Google apps in its own style. We think they look a bit boring, but personal tastes will differ.
The main thing you notice on turning it on is the home screen on the Motorola Razr i has a rather nifty widget.
It's a simple idea - three interlinked bubbles that provide you with shortcuts to things such as clock functions, weather and battery levels. But it's really handy.
Of course, if you're not a fan, with this being an Android device, it's fairly simple for you to delete it and replace it with one of a gazillion other widgets - including one that counts down the sleeps left to Christmas. Yes, one does exist.
The default setup gives you two home screens and then when you swipe to the right, it brings up a page management system that enables you to create a blank home page or use a default template, which is a really nice touch.
We hoped we wouldn't be able to max it out, but once we got to seven, there was no way of adding more home screens - unless you go down the third party launcher route, that is.
Swipe to the left and you get a quick settings tab that enables you to toggle things that are all important, such as Wi-Fi and GPS.
It's exactly the kind of stuff other OEMs add to the top of the notification bar, and we wish Motorola had actually done that and followed the lead of Samsung and others.
Swiping to the left just feels a little more convoluted when you're in home screen number three or have to come out of an app to change something simple.
The notification bar itself is typical Android - no Motorola customisations there. And Motorola has elected to keep it blue, which we're big fans of.
It instantly identifies the operating system as Ice Cream Sandwich to users (or geeks like us).
One other thing that identifies the OS as ICS is the lack of physical home buttons.
Unlike Samsung and others, Motorola has obeyed Google and eschewed physical buttons for the ones you get on the screen instead.
Some like this approach, some hate it, but regardless, that's the way Motorola is playing it. Hardly surprising, considering who the daddy is.
Provided you don't put a lock on the home screen, it's pretty much untouched and has the ability to go straight into one of a number of apps, depending on which way you swipe it.
There's also a rather handy ability to toggle the ringtone on and off on here.
One thing we're not massive fans of is the way the phone vibrates when it unlocks. This is because the battery is sealed in, like on the Razr Maxx, and you get the feeling that there is a lot of hollowness in there.
As a result, every time the phone vibrates, it just ends up feeling a little cheap, rattling about and being a little too noisy.
The app drawer is standard Ice Cream Sandwich too, with your apps nearly laid out into rows and a widgets tab to the right enabling you to preview your widgets before you commit them to screen.
It seems an age ago that you had to view a list of widgets and actually install them on a home screen to see if you liked them. Thankfully you don't have to any more.
There is also another tab called Favourites, which enables you to access your favourites. Funny that.
While we're on the subject of the app drawer, we just have to point out, once again, the amazing colours of the Super AMOLED screen. You really notice it here, because apps are set against a black background.
It really has to be seen to be believed - they just seem to float on nothingness because the background is so black. Motorola has done very well here.
All in all, we'd say that this is a really intuitive system. Android gets a bad press in the Apple vs Google fan wars, with some saying iOS is so much easier to use for a novice.
And while we're inclined to agree, we think that the Motorola Razr i is a handset that anybody with a vague inkling of how smartphones work could pick up and easily get to grips with.
Contacts and calling
Calling
Although we appear to use our smartphones less for talking and more for other communications these days, they still need to be able to make phone calls satisfactorily. That goes without saying. And it doesn't need saying with the Motorola Razr i, because it's a very competent phone.
That's no surprise really - Motorola has been making phones since humans started making babies, and it has a long history of manufacturing other communication devices too, such as walkie talkies and pagers.
We'd be pretty shocked if the Motorola Razr i was a bad phone.
Calls were clear and succinct to listen to. If we have one criticism, it's that we'd have liked a little more bass, but that's being really picky.
Volume was loud via both the earpiece and the speakerphone, and connections were strong.
In fact, at times they looked a little too optimistic, but then the Motorola Razr i did deliver with a signal when we tried to catch it out.
It was also very good at maintaining a Wi-Fi connection in places we would normally expect the signal to dwindle.
Contacts
The contacts app is standard Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with a little adjustment.
When you go into it and look at your friends and acquaintances, it lists them with larger thumbnails of the numbers you call most frequently.
With photos in these contacts, it looks great. This is actually the Favourites section of the app.
You also get a Recent Calls tab and a dialler that looks phenomenal.
Again, that almost impossible black set against the cool blue ICS colour scheme just blows us away.
You can search through your contacts in a number of ways - by typing them in manually, by using smart dialling or by using the voice actions app.
We had low expectations of the voice recognition with names, but were very pleasantly surprised.
The only name it was thrown by was a friend of ours from Somalia who's name is hard to pronounce - let alone recognise - at the best of times.
Goodness knows what algorithms Motorola is using here, but we're fans.
You can also add widgets to particular contacts on your home screen, thanks to the way Android works.
That means you can call or text individual people with the minimum of effort or even send them an email or a WhatsApp. You can download third-party versions if you'd prefer a different look.
Other than that, the contacts app is pretty standard Ice Cream Sandwich fare. We had few complaints with it - it does what it is supposed to do well.
Our gripes were more cosmetic - for example, it does a good job of downloading contacts' profile photos, but we ended up with loads of duplicate entries that the system couldn't seem to combine.
In our opinion, nothing has ever come close to the sorcery that is HTC Sense, here.
Messaging
This being an Android handset, you're not limited by anything other than your imagination when it comes to sending messages.
Texts, emails, Skype, WhatsApp, ICQ, the list goes on and on.
Download whatever you want from Google Play and you'll find yourself able to communicate on everything but the astral plane.
The actual messages app is the standard Ice Cream Sandwich one that handles text messages and MMS very competently.
There isn't a massive amount you can say about it, other than it does what it's meant to and leaves you (or certainly, it left us) with no room for complaint.
Email can be handled in one of two ways. If you have a Gmail account, you can use the excellent official Gmail app.
If you've not used an Android phone since before Ice Cream Sandwich, take it from us - the Gmail app is light years ahead of what came before. You have amazing search capabilities, labelling facilities and an all round brilliant push email app.
There's also a fantastic widget to accompany it. In fact, our only complaint is Google's complete lack of ability to sort out HTML emails. When you get them, you have to pan around with your finger. There's no way of pinching in to zoom out and show an overview.
The default iOS client has had this nailed since day one. Then again, to this day, that same Apple client is absolutely appalling when it comes to Gmail search, so it's horses for courses.
For all other email clients (so, POP3, IMAP and Exchange), Motorola gives you its take on the Android email client. It's a pleasing affair that enables you to handle messaging with aplomb, and has some nice hidden gems.
For example, swiping over your messages will carry out one of a number of preconfigured actions of your choice (such as marking as unread, for example) without you having to delve through reams of menus.
Unfortunately, when you turn the Motorola Razr i on its side, you don't get it automatically going into a split screen view like you do with, say, the Samsung Galaxy S3.
Social networking is easily added, but it isn't included out of the box. It seems that Motorola has gone in completely the opposite direction to previous iterations here.
When you compare it to the MotoBlur we lambasted before (which required sign ins and sign ups galore on setup), it's quite a liberating experience.
It's much easier to just download the networking apps you want, install them, and sign in. Doing it that way rids you of the clutter, and you'll find that all of the major solutions are available for download.
Having said that, that's because we know what we're doing, and we wonder how Dad would manage when he just wants to read his Facebook or "do a Twitter" as soon as he turns the thing on.
Typing a message is easy enough, but we're not huge fans of the keyboard. It's standard Android, and the keys are far too small for this screen.
It's not a problem though, since one of the big advantages of an open OS is the fact that you can install alternative input methods. We recommend Swiftkey or Swype, which are both very advanced. But there are dozens of others too. Again though, a novice may not realise this.
Internet
For web surfing, Android phones give you a fantastic experience. Would you expect less from an operating system built by a web giant?
The browser on the Motorola Razr i is the standard Android app that, in itself, is very good.
Pages look great zoomed out and in, and you have added extras such as the ability to request the desktop version of a site from within the apps's menu, which can make a huge difference.
There are still some sites that are arrogant enough that, even when you tell them you want the desktop site, they still force the mobile version on you (*cough* Twitter *cough*) but, by and large, the browser manages to get around this.
You also get Flash. Yes, we know it's not relevant. Google itself is stopping support for Flash as of Android Jelly Bean, and Adobe has removed it from the Google Play store (well, it removed it, then re-added it as a temporary measure so punters could still use BBC iPlayer).
But even though the world is moving to HTML5, some sites still use Flash, and it will take a long time for the whole internet to be updated.
With that in mind, it's nice to know you'll still be able to visit pages that aren't necessarily future-proof.
Pages are quick to load over Wi-Fi and 3G/HSDPA internet, and that Intel chip in the Motorola Razr i gives them an extra shove.
We'd say it loads them at a similar speed to our Samsung Galaxy S3, but it's just a tad slower than the iPhone 5, which is lightning fast.
We loaded the Daily Mail home page (don't ask!) and it took more than 10 seconds over Wi-Fi.
That is a data-heavy page, and we could actually scroll around after two seconds and do all we needed to do. It doesn't get much quicker than this.
3G only added a marginal amount of time on top. Unfortunately, the UK version doesn't appear to be 4G ready, unless we're missing something, so you won't be getting something future-proof here.
Text reflow works and pages can be resized by the usual methods: tapping and pinching.
And if you aren't a fan of the browser, one of the great things about Android is the presence of so many reputable alternatives.
Our favourite is Chrome, partly because of how easily it syncs elements such as your history and desktop bookmarks. The whole experience is pretty seamless.
In fact, Google clearly thinks so, and when this handset is presumably upgraded to Jelly Bean 4.1, you'll find that Chrome replaces the standard browser.
As for bookmarks on the included browser, they're OK. Standard Android fare, really.
They're displayed as thumbnails but have to be entered manually. There's nothing earth shattering there.
Camera
The camera on the Motorola Razr i is 8MP. Granted, that's hardly cutting edge. But it's certainly the favoured spec among manufacturers these days, and as our readers remind us every time we bemoan the lack of megapixel numbers in reviews, it's just as much about the lens, aperture and so on, anyway. We hear you.
Firstly, the interface. It's neither overly complicated, nor so bare that it's a nuisance. You have access to standard features such as timer or single shot mode, exposure settings, pointless effects (seriously, does anyone actually take photos in negative mode?) and the option to flit between portrait and landscape and so on.
The quality of the camera is OK. We can't really say much more. In good light, pictures come out well.
Photos are passable, but you can tell they came from a camera phone, which is a line that is becoming more and more blurred as technology advances.
Click here to see the full resolution image
Click here to see the full resolution image
Check out the outdoor photo we took in Covent Garden on a bright day. Colours are well represented, and when you turn the HDR mode on, they look even better.
Click here to see the full resolution image
Indoors with good light gives pleasing results.
Click here to see the full resolution image
Click here to see the full resolution image
Black & White and Negative modes are both pretty run of the mill these days.
Focusing is done automatically, but if you don't trust the camera, you're welcome to have a go yourself and refocus by tapping. The shutter speed is very good in the right conditions.
Click here to see the full resolution image
This shot of the dog in the park was captured as she was running, and while most other phones (including even the Galaxy S3) would have blurred, the Motorola Razr i put in a stellar performance.
Click here to see the full resolution image
Sadly, when the light starts to dim and you use the flash, it starts to go a bit more downhill. It's not that pictures look bad - but more that the focus isn't as sharp, and the light doesn't look as nice.
Click here to see the full resolution image
The flash works well in pitch black conditions, though colours are not very warm.
Click here to see the full resolution image
The front facing camera is VGA only. It's a bit of a disappointment, since it means lower quality images, but then again, the idea behind these cameras is that they're used more for video calls than vanity. And since bandwidth issues mean you're not going to be sending the most high definition video around, it's all passable enough.
Video
Getting into video shooting mode is easy enough - as with most phones, on the Motorola Razr i, you enter through the camera mode and then just toggle on. You can shoot in a number of different resolutions - ranging from QVGA, all the way up to HD+ (1080p), which is the standard resolution and selected by default.
The Motorola Razr i's HD+ videos look fantastic - especially when you view them back on the screen of the phone. Again, this is because of that amazing Super AMOLED colour quality that made our video of the traffic near Harrods in London look almost like it was 3D - so good was the clarity.
Alas, this is where we managed to stump the Intel chip. We thought it was unbeatable. It's not. Playing that HD+ video back on the phone led to some serious stutter every few seconds. We were really shocked.
One thing we will say for the camera though, is that it is one of the best we have tested for going from pitch black to bright light with minimal fuss. In this video, you can see how well it copes between two extremes where many other (more expensive and advanced) devices have struggled.
Again, there are a smattering of filters (such as that useless Negative effect) and there is the opportunity to record an MMS video or full video. The only problem with this is that you have to decide before you film your clip how you'll be using it.
You can zoom in during a video and even mute the sound, but bizarrely, you can't toggle the light on and off. This is annoying, because it means that if you are walking around and move into a darker area, you have to stop filming and start again to turn it on and off.
It's a silly omission, and one we hope Motorola will fix at some point with a software update.
Media
Some would say Android devices such as the Motorola Razr i are closing the gap on iPods and iPhones.
After all, storage-wise, you can now make an Android device far larger for all of your HD video and music content.
With 64GB cards available, add that to whatever your internal storage is and you can see why.
Plus, there are various apps for both Windows and Mac that enable you to sync your content easily enough via cable or Wi-Fi.
One other benefit is sound quality. Apple users are almost completely stuck with the Apple music player software, though they can change their headphones to make things sound better.
But on the software side, there are so many Android music players that enable you to play around with equaliser settings, enabling superior sound quality before you even plug your cans in.
You don't find many pre-installed on the Motorola Razr i. Out of the box, you just have the standard Music app, which is a competent music player, but won't set your world alight.
Our advice would be to download a third-party one pronto. PlayerPro, Double Twist, Rocket and Winamp are all great alternatives we'd recommend.
We found that when transferring music across from a Mac using the excellent iSyncr software, we synced across everything aside from individual playlists.
Considering we didn't encounter an issue with third party software, we assume it was a problem with the Google app.
Albums are displayed with their artwork intact, and it all looks visually pleasing.
Should you wish to play around with the settings, there is an equaliser in there, but it made very little difference to our ears.
Sound quality is very much controlled by the individual app - which again reiterates why you should explore third-party solutions. You can control the playback from the app itself or by using a widget.
Two come as standard, but remember the Google Play store is your friend, and is a treasure trove of goodies for things such as this. You'll find all major formats are accepted. We certainly had no issues.
Onto video, and those of you who remember the first Android device - the T-Mobile (HTC) G1 - will recall the horror that it didn't come with a video player onboard.
We almost had the same heartbeat-skipping moment when we realised there was no app installed on the Motorola Razr i called 'movie player' or anything like that.
Thankfully, there is one - you just have to look for it. Aside from the cruder method of watching movies from the gallery, Motorola has elected to follow Google's lead and consolidate all videos in the Google Play app.
Your rented movies and those you've purchased through the service are in the same part of the phone as your personal videos, separated by tabs. It makes sense when you think about it.
Watching videos on the device is a pleasure because of that Super AMOLED screen - yes, the one we keep banging on about.
The rich contrast between the black and other colours makes videos look fantastic.
Yes, the screen is small so it will be a bit of an annoyance if you're planning on watching all of the Harry Potter films back to back (and if you are, please have a word with yourself).
But for watching an episode of The Thick of it on the train, you could do a lot worse.
The other advantage is that the Motorola Razr is so damn light. Holding it won't strain your arm, which is a distinct advantage if you spend time standing around and can't rest it on your knee.
We see enough iPad owners on the tube in the mornings with weak wrists who make our point for us.
There's also a nifty little video editing app that comes pre-loaded on the Motorola Razr i. It's not iMovie, but it's by no means a slouch, and enables basic editing with manipulation of tracks and enables you to add music.
And of course, you can watch YouTube to your heart's content. This Google-owned phone manufacturer has provided the great Google video service's app for you to stream. And as always it does the task well.
Photos are accessed via the standard Android gallery. It's cheap and cheerful and shows photos in a grid format, but again, we'd recommend a third-party app such as QuickPic.
It's a shame Motorola hasn't made more of an effort here and provided something like the Samsung Galaxy S3's gallery, which adds individual little tweaks, but we imagine it has its hand forced here by Google a little.
Also, we're sad to report there is no FM radio. Some may say they're less relevant these days on devices that store dozens of gigabytes of music compared to something like an old Nokia 7250i, but lots of us do listen to the FM radio habitually.
It wouldn't have been a big thing for Motorola to shove in, so we're sorry it didn't bother, but at least you can download something such as TuneIn Radio that (as long as you have a good signal) will furnish you with clarity, choice and the ability to record.
If you want to stream your footage, you're in luck. DLNA is fully integrated and supported. Better than some other devices we've used, in fact.
It's an understated feature on this phone. There's no big, grand DLNA app anywhere to signal its announcement and confuse novices - it's just quietly baked into the phone. Open a video, tap the icon that pops up at the top of the screen and the Motorola Razr i will instantly find devices to stream to.
In fact, we were shocked how quickly it did this. It found our Samsung TV instantly and offered to stream. We hit yes, assuming that it wouldn't work, only for it to knock us off our perch. And earn us a punch in the arm from the other half who was watching The Great British Bake Off at the time. Thanks Motorola.
Battery life and connectivity
Battery life
If you're after a work horse that won't let you down, we heartily recommend the Motorola Razr i. Yes, it's small - but it has a whopping 2000mAh battery inside.
OK, so 2000mAh may not be ginormous these days - but when you consider that the Samsung Galaxy S3 is powered by a 2100mAh pack and that has a much larger, sharper screen that itself is almost bigger than the entire Motorola Razr i handset, you can see how this phone is instantly going to be better off.
Motorola hasn't given exact estimates away for the talk time, but various sources point to claims of about 20 hours.
The fact of the matter is, talk time estimates are a load of baloney these days anyway, because we don't use our phones solely to talk. Screen time on is a huge drain, as is the fluctuating strength of internet connections.
In our usage, we took the Motorola Razr i off charge on Sunday morning at about 10am. We then spent about 45 minutes setting it up, downloading apps and so on.
We made about 20 minutes worth of calls over the course of the day, had Twicca checking our Twitter account every 15 minutes and had push email on via Gmail and Exchange. We sent about 25 emails between the two accounts. We also streamed some music over Bluetooth for a 10 minute journey and took a handful of photos.
By bedtime at 11pm, the battery was still showing 32%. The following day, we used it sparingly, making about 10 minutes' worth of phone calls, about 15 minutes of browsing and sending a handful of WhatsApp and text messages.
The phone cut out shortly after 6pm. That's 30 hours on one charge with moderate use. Pretty good going in this day and age, and certainly better than competitors.
Connectivity
And for such a small little fella, the Motorola Razr i really packs a punch when it comes to connectivity. All the usual suspects are there - Wi-Fi, GPS, HSDPA, NFC and Bluetooth. All work as well as you would expect them to, and we had no issues with any of them.
In particular, we were pleased with the speed of GPS to lock on indoors. It's still trumped by the Samsung Galaxy S2 and Samsung Galaxy S3 - but not far off.
When we connected the phone via a cable to our Mac, we were instantly prompted to install the Mac compatibility software. Which we did. It just keeps an eye on things and lets you know about software updates.
It's not the most exciting piece of software, but that said, it warms the heart to know that Apple owners are not being frozen out by Motorola in the way that they have by other manufacturers.
Maps and apps
Maps
For anybody toying between this and an Apple device, if you're in a hurry to get your hands on your new phone, we're sure even Apple fans will agree (reluctantly) that the mapping solution on the Motorola Razr i is the superior of the two.
Until it sorts itself out, iOS 6 maps is regarded as little more than a joke. While Google maps is the world leader. And rightly so.
The version aboard the Motorola Razr i is 6.12 - the very latest.
And that means that as well as all of the elements we know and love (incredibly sharp and accurate details, public transport advice, streetview, navigation), there is now one more killer feature: offline maps.
That means that you can zoom into a fairly large area spanning a good few miles and have the maps available offline.
For people who regularly visit the countryside where there is little or no signal, or those who are travelling abroad, this will make a massive difference.
Not least because Google maps eats data like a chav eats fried chicken.
Also, you get the Google Navigation software. This can never be underestimated, and we've been huge fans since day one.
You get a full, comprehensive GPS sat nav system free as part of the OS.
And what's more, it's very reliable. We use it all the time, and only fall back on Co-Pilot if we really have to. This in itself is a major selling point.
Apps
Other apps are downloaded via the Google Play store, which is much more comprehensive since it was rebranded from the Android Market. Apps are sorted into categories, and you can browse by free/paid or by genre.
It's always worth exercising a little caution on Android, because it is more susceptible to viruses or malware, since it lacks the control Apple enforces on its devices. But with a little caution, you can't go wrong.
Check reviews: if a device has been downloaded tens of thousands of times and there are hundreds of 4 star endorsements, you're more than likely going to be OK.
But a good virus killer/checker (of which there are many in there) will also serve you well.
You don't get that many exciting apps preloaded on the Motorola Razr i from scratch. Of course, you get the usual Google suite, which involves Gmail, Latitude, Music and so on.
But Motorola hasn't pushed the proverbial boat out too far. Aside from the movie editing app we mentioned before, a desk clock app and an Office document viewer, that's pretty much your lot.
It's not a massive issue, because Android has so many apps to offer in the store. But we would still like to have felt that we were getting something for free.
Hands on gallery
Official gallery
Verdict
Motorola's done a good job with the Razr i. It's taken a line that refuses to die quietly, injected it with a little bit of pizzaz and thrown it right out there for all and sundry. Is it revolutionary? No. Not in the way the original Razr was. Moto has almost exhausted the 'wow' factor there by releasing mediocre Razr phones over the years, so the Motorola Razr i has to work extra hard to get punters' attention. And the Intel inside selling point isn't going to make that much of a difference to your average Joe Bloggs. That said, it has a very impressive specs list - and it's not too expensive. What's not to like?We liked
The fact that you can expand the storage by up to 64GB makes this an attractive option. And it's an easy phone to use without too much customisation to confuse Android newbies. Plus, it works well as a phone, with good signal, and provides you with a top notch, fast internet service.We disliked
The camera performed well in good light, but we were left disappointed in anything other than perfect conditions. The Motorola Razr i isn't an LTE handset, so when that starts rolling out on EE this year and other networks in a few months time, if you've signed up for 24 months, you may find yourself feeling a little cheated and behind the times. Although Jelly Bean is now being rolled out, the handset still arrives running Android Ice Cream Sandwich for the time being, which seems a little lazy considering Jelly Bean is (sort of) made by the same company.Final verdict
Would we buy the Motorola Razr i ourselves? No. But that's because we strive for the best specs around, and for us, that means phones such as the iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S3 and HTC One X. Would we recommend the Motorola Razr i to friends and family? Yes, without a second's hesitation. Because not everyone wants a phone that will drop the kids off at school, bake you a cake and give you a massage in the evening. Some want a device with little pocket imprint, with fantastic specs at a reasonable - rather than stupid - price. And that's what you're getting here. If taking photos is your sole aim or you're OCD about pixels, look elsewhere. But if getting a top smartphone that leaves you enough change left over for a cod and chips on the way home - and with a battery life to put others to shame - is your goal, then we heartily recommend the Motorola Razr i. Hello, Moto indeed.
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Annoying friends and info burnout drive people off Facebook
Facebook may have more than a billion users, but quite a few of them aren't sticking around, according to a study.
42 per cent of 18 to 29-year-olds and 34 per cent of 30 to 49-year-olds are spending less time on the social network than a year ago, the Pew Research Centre's Internet & American Life Project says.
Furthermore, 61 per cent of current users say they've taken weeks-long breaks from the social network, and 20 per cent have stopped using it altogether. So why are they falling out with it?
Of those who took a break, 21 per cent said they were too busy or didn't have time to keep up with an online social life. 10 per cent said they weren't interested or just didn't like it, and another 10 per cent described Facebook as a waste of time or irrelevant.
"Tired of stupid comments"
The anecdotal reasons hint at people tiring of social networking in general. They include: "I was tired of stupid comments"; "I took a break when it got boring"; "You get burned out after a while" and "People were [posting] what they had for dinner." Not that Facebook should be too worried. The study shows 69 per cent of American adults who are online (which is more than half the entire adult population of the US) use a social network, with Facebook by far the most popular. And most people in the study plan to use the social network just as much in the next year. Are you over Facebook? Let us know in the comments below. Via Pew
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Updated: Latest Samsung Galaxy S4 render is more fantasy than fact
A new render claiming to depict the hotly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S4 has popped up on Twitter complete with a spec list.
Posted by Twitter user @tamerallyy the image shows a possible metallic handset with front facing speakers below the display and a physical camera shutter key on the right.
Update: TechRadar contacted @tamerallyy to ask where the image came from and we were told: "on some android blog and there's a video on you tube as well" - we're working on finding both!
Design wise the phone in the shot doesn't match up with the previous Galaxy leaks we've seen, and we'd be very surprised if this was the Galaxy S4.
Wish list
In terms of the specs listed alongside the handset, there's nothing too mind blowing, with everything we'd expect from Samsung's next flagship handset present.
According to the image, the Galaxy S4 will sport a 5-inch full HD display, 2.0GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, the choice of 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of internal storage, 13MP rear camera, 4G, Bluetooth 5.0 and version 4.2 of Android Jelly Bean.
It's not clear where the image came from and how @tamerallyy got hold of it, so we're taking this with a huge pinch of salt and chalking it up as a chancer's fake instead of the real deal.
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Huawei Ascend P2 could steal MWC 2013 show with octo-core power
The Huawei Ascend P2 may end up being the show stopping device at MWC 2013 as details surface of its impressive features.
With HTC organising a pre-MWC event and Samsung seemingly biding its time with its next big smartphone announcement the door has been left wide open for another manufacturer to come in and steal the Barcelona-based show's limelight.
If the new report over at GizChina is true, then the Ascend P2 will be one of the front runners in the race for best smartphone at show, with sources suggesting it will sport an eight-core processor.
2, 4, 6, 8, who do we appreciate?
In a second leak to the same site more details appeared alongside a couple of images claiming to show the Huawei Ascend P2 in all its glory.
Apparently we can expect the smartphone to pack a full HD 4.7-inch display and 13MP camera alongside that huge processor.
Huawei is looking to compete properly with the big boys at the top end of the mobile market, and the Ascend P2 will fall in alongside at the Ascend D2 and Ascend Mate which were announced at CES 2013.
TechRadar will be at MWC 2013 to bring you all the latest from the Chinese firm and any new handsets it may have.
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In Depth: The lowdown on Ouya: is it your next games console?
The news that Amazon, Best Buy and Target will be selling the Android Jelly Bean-powered Ouya console means this little box could be a really big deal: it promises a very different gaming experience to the Xbox and PlayStation.
So what is it, and what does it want from us?
The Ouya console came from Kickstarter
Like many interesting things these days, Ouya was announced on Kickstarter: pledge $950,000, its creators said, and we'll make it. Backers pledged a bit more than that, and the final total was a massive $8,596,474 from 63,416 people. Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman says that pre-orders have exceeded 68,000.The Ouya release date is March for some, June for others
The Ouya release date is March, but only for the people who backed it on Kickstarter. The rest of us will have to wait until it ships in June, and you can pre-order it now. It's unclear whether Ouya will ship internationally then, or if we'll have to wait a little bit longer.The Ouya price is $99
That's for people in Americaland, of course, and it works out as roughly £60 plus VAT. The European price hasn't been announced yet, but it'll include a hefty shipping fee.The Ouya price includes one controller
A second controller will set you back $49.99. Pricey, yes, but the controllers do include touchpads, which obviously cost money to include. Touch controllers are officially A Thing this year: Sony is apparently prepping PS Vita-style touch controls for the PS4.
The Ouya designer created the Jambox
The Ouya team hired award-winning designer Yves Behar and his fuseproject company to design the device, and while it's very pretty it also has all the bits you'd expect: "fast buttons, triggers, laser-precise analog sticks, a D-Pad – and it will have a touchpad for any games making the trek from mobile or tablet to the TV."The Ouya console is much better looking than Project Shield
Then again, a huge horse's arse is much better looking than Project Shield.The Ouya controller has been given a tweak
Ouya says it's redesigned its controller after getting feedback from testers and developers. The D-pad has been redesigned, the thumbsticks have been made more grippy, and the battery bit has been changed too.The Ouya specifications are pretty tasty
Inside the Ouya there's a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, a gigabyte of RAM, 8GB of flash storage and Android 4.0. There's HDMI for up to 1080p HD on your TV, USB 2.0 and Ethernet connectors, Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) 4.0 and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi.The Ouya is a tellybox too, and a games streamer
The Ouya will launch with the Twitch.tv app and the OnLive streaming game service, but potentially anything built for Android should run on it. The device isn't region locked or coded, although initially it'll only use English, but developers can choose not to support particular bits of the world if they so wish.
All Ouya games will be free to play
That doesn't mean they'll be free, but the pledge is that "there will at least be a free demo, or you'll be able to play the entirety of the game for free but may have access to additional items, upgrades, or other features that come at a cost." Ouya won't tell developers how much to charge, won't make them shell out for a dev kit - every Ouya is a dev kit - and won't charge licensing or publishing fees.Ouya games won't just be lazy ports of mobile games
Many will be, of course, but Ouya "built this badboy to play the most creative content from today's best known AAA game designers as well as adored indie gamemakers." Square Enix says Final Fantasy III will be a launch title, and 23 other games are confirmed so far. That list doesn't include the hundreds of games available via OnLive.Ouya is open, and hackable
Ouya has been designed with openness in mind: you don't need any special tools to open it, they won't be upset if you mod it, and you can root it without endangering your warranty. Ouya provides a standard user interface and a curated store, but if you don't like them, the official word is "root the device and make it your own."Ouya means something awful in Swahili
But the manufacturers won't tell you what, and Google doesn't know.
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Sage report says e-businesses 'forget the basics' of security
British e-businesses are showing innovation but neglecting business fundamentals, according to a report from management software company Sage Pay.
Its third annual Sage Pay e-Business Benchmark Report shows that, while firms are investing more than ever in new apps and online technology to capture the growth in mobile transactions, it may be at the expense of basics such as data protection and fraud security.
Survey results show that 73% of the firms taking part in a survey are optimising their sites for mobile commerce and 22% have mobile apps.
But 18% of small businesses don't know if they comply with Payment Card Industry (PCI) regulations or not, and 58% don't understand it in the first place. Compliance to PCI standards ensures that consumer card data is secure.
Similar figures were recorded for larger companies.
Simon Black, Chief Executive Officer of Sage Pay, says: "Business simply cannot afford to ignore data protection. This means that consumer data is at risk and businesses face fines and reputational damage if there is a data breach.
"Fraud also remains a constant concern for consumers as well as businesses and should be high, if not highest on their agenda to address in 2013. The fact that some businesses aren't aware of whether they are PCI compliant is shocking."
Sage Pay, which is a subsidiary of The Sage Group, says the report reflects contributions from more than 1,500 small and large organisations in the UK. It defines a small e-business as one conducting fewer than 5,000 transactions per quarter and a large e-business as transacting over 5,000 transactions per quarter.
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Death Star Kickstarter raises £50k in its first day
The US government may have refused to build a Death Star, but that doesn't mean the project is dead in the water. One enterprising Star Wars fan has taken to Kickstarter to seek funding for a crowdsourced planet-destroyer. And despite making it clear it's a joke, he's raised more than £50,000 in just over a day.
Though that is still a bit short of its goal of £54,300,000,000,000,000 to actually start construction (that's 54 quadrillion, three hundred trillion - so quite a small number, then).
Open source
Costs will be kept down by using open source hardware and software, according to the Kickstarter page. Although if you're building something capable of destroying words, we reckon proprietary is the way to go. Seeing as the US has turned down the opportunity to get involved, we'd join calls to have the Death Star manufactured in the project founder's native Leicestershire (conveniently also home to the National Space Centre). Well the Death Star was populated mostly by British character actors in the films. Fancy chipping in? £1 gets you thanks and "the knowledge that we're one step towards a safer planet". Pledge £10 or more and you can have "your name etched onto the underneath of one of the MSE-6-series repair droids used on the finished station". At time of writing, 416 backers have pledged an average of £137 each (£137!) to make a total of over £56,000. Maybe they know something we don't. In other Star Wars news, Disney's CEO Bob Iger has confirmed some spin-off movies to join J. J. Abrams' next full instalment in the series. The spin-offs will focus on more minor characters, with Yoda rumoured to be the star of one, though Iger wouldn't be drawn on any more details. Via Kickstarter, Slashfilm
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