SanDisk Clip Sport Review

What is the SanDisk Clip Sport?

The SanDisk Clip Sport is an MP3 player with an integrated belt clip, which turns it into a pretty handy gadget for runners and gym fans. It’s also small, light and fairly cheap. It’s not all that much different from the previous SanDisk Sansa Clip Zip, but a doubling of battery life makes it a better player.

SanDisk Clip Sport – Design and Features

Convenience and portability are two of the main aims of the SanDisk Clip Sport. Its footprint is smaller than an iPad nano’s, and it is almost completely free of gimmicks.

There’s no touchscreen operation, no weak internal speaker, no Bluetooth or NFC. A no-nonsense approach is something that might be considered a side effect of being made by a company that doesn’t need to make music players that ‘stand out’. It offers a cheaper, mostly-reliable alternatives to Apple’s players. That’s it.

The SanDisk Clip Sport is an all-plastic player with six clicky buttons on its front and a volume rocker on the side. It feels fairly well-made, although nowhere near the level of the simpler, metal iPod shuffle.

It’s a little bit slimmer than the Zip Clip we reviewed two years ago, but otherwise they’re very similar. There’s a chunky belt clip on the back and an exposed microSD slot on the right edge. There’s no worrying flexing, but the plastic screen cover is likely to get scratched fairly quickly if you’re not careful.

Although SanDisk labels the Clip Sport as an MP3 player for active types, there are just two features behind this. One is obvious – the belt clip. The other is a pretty basic pair of Sport ‘apps’. You get a timer and a stopwatch. These were present in the Clip Zip too, pretty much confirming that this player has only been conspicuously labelled a ‘sport’ gadget to aid sales and marketing – it's the same as the other Clip players really.

Adding Bluetooth would have made this more convincing (headphone cables can get in the way when you’re running), but would have doubtless have upped the price too. The 8GB version of the player costs £49.99, the 4GB £35.

The SanDisk Clip Sport’s design is pretty handy. When held single-handed the buttons are easily accessible with a single thumb, and the side volume rocker is heavily contoured so you don’t need to look at the thing while changing volume.

There’s one clear hardware feature missing – a lock switch. We complained about this last time we reviewed one of SanDisk’s players, and nothing has changed. If you’re using the Clip Sport as a sporty player it’s not a deal-breaker. However, it’s not so great if you want an everyday player – changing tracks accidentally while it’s in your pocket is common and clipping it on your clothes in a busy city environment is a sure way to get your player nicked.

There are also none of the neat extra bits you get in one of Apple's players. The Clip Sport won't work with earphone remote controls, it won't remember where you were navigating in your music library should you leave the player for quite a while, and it won't pause music when you unplug your earphones.

It's cheap and cheerful, and suitably comes in a bunch of colours. We only tried the boring black version, but there are five additional shades. They’re not all available in both storage sizes, though. This is another pretty common criticism of the Clip line-up that remains unfixed.

SanDisk Clip Sport – Screen and Interface

Aside from the buttons, a lead hardware feature is the SanDisk Clip Sport’s screen. Some MP3 players at the price don’t have a screen at all.

It’s a 1-inch 128 x 128 pixel LCD display. That’s slightly higher-res than the 96 x 96 pixel screen of the Clip Zip, but it’s still pretty low-res compared with today’s phones, and the 240 x 432 pixel screen of the iPod nano. As we saw with the Clip Sport’s build, it’s not quite Apple-grade. The panel quality is just OK, with pretty severe contrast shift should you turn the screen at the wrong angle.

But it’s not bad. It’s a full colour display, and the interface makes good use of the colour palette. It’s bright, it’s colourful and quite simple too, with none of the fiddliness of some other budget players.

However, during playback the artist and track names get severely sidelined in favour of album art. We’d prefer to see clearer track details, especially as the album covers don’t look great on such a tiny, low-res screen.

Extra beside the stopwatch include an FM radio, a file browser and a document reader, which isn’t much use thanks to the small screen size.

SanDisk Clip Sport – Sound Quality and Battery Life

These days a small cheap player doesn’t need to mean a compromise in sound quality. The SanDisk Clip Sport offers decent sound quality and – as long as you don’t select Europe as your region – masses of volume.

You’re asked to select your region upon start-up, and if you select Europe the player is subjected to extremely aggressive volume limitating that effectively ruins the player with any earphones that are remotely hard to drive.

To get a proper view on the SanDisk Clip Sport’s sound quality we compared it with an iPod Classic – a benchmark of reasonable, but not staggering, sound. Maximum volume on the SanDisk is greater, and the width of the soundstage is quite similar.

However, presentation of the mid-range is different. The Clip Sport has much more up-front, harder mids, making vocals sound closer to your ears. The softer, more diffuse mids of the iPod Classic are a little easier on the ear, and the Clip Sport can sound a little harsh at times. However, in pure sound quality terms they are roughly comparable – not great, but decent.

A big sound quality win for the Clip Sport, though, is codec support. As well as the usual AAC and MP3, the player supports FLAC and OGG files. These aren’t supported by iPods, or Sony’s low-cost ‘sporty’ MP3 players.

There is an EQ to hand too, but it’s pretty poor. The presets are rather crude, and the custom ‘user’ mode isn’t sophisticated enough to be particularly useful.

It’s the same setup we saw in the Clip Zip. However, battery life has been improved hugely since that model. It has gone from 12 hours to 25. These numbers relate to playing 128kbps MP3s on loop, so actual performance will be a fair bit worse. However, it means the difference between charging once a week and every couple of days – a huge improvement. We got through a week's use off a charge.

You get a pair of earphones in the box, and they’re of reasonable quality. They’re IEM-type isolating earphones – a bit bassy and with just entry-level sound, but not terrible.

Should I buy the SanDisk Clip Sport?

The SanDisk Clip Sport is a pretty practical MP3 player at a reasonable price. You get storage expansion, a colour screen and good file support for £40. And that’s not bad. You can save even more money if you go for a 'no-brand' option like the Kubik Evo, and aside from better battery life there’s hardly any benefit over SanDisk’s older players. Still, battery life matter.

The MP3 player market is in such a diminished state that we’ve learnt not to expect much ‘innovation’ in new products, and you don't find it here either. However, it's a good budget alternative to an iPod shuffle.

Verdict

The SanDisk Clip Sport is a small, fairly cheap MP3 player. It doesn’t have the gloss of Apple and there are few improvements over old models, but it is better.

Next, read about the best non-Apple MP3 players

readmore »»  

Google launches Project Tango smartphone with 3D motion mapping

Google's Project Tango smartphone concept

Google has launched the Project Tango smartphone prototype that is capable of mapping the 3D world around it.

The current prototype is a 5-inch Android smartphone equipped with special advanced 3D sensors developed by Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) hardware group.

“We are physical beings that live in a 3D world. Yet, our mobile devices assume that physical world ends at the boundaries of the screen”, explained Johnny Lee and the ATAP Project Tango Team. “The goal of Project Tango is to give mobile devices a human-scale understanding of space and motion.”

Due to its advanced sensors, the Project Tango smartphone can build a 3D visual map of any room.

“Our current prototype is a 5-inch phone containing customised hardware and software designed to track the full 3D motion of the device, while simultaneously creating a map of the environment. These sensors allow the phone to make over a quarter million 3D measurements every second, updating its position and orientation in real time, combining that data into a single 3D model of the space around you.”

Developers can sign up for access to the Project Tango prototype phones, but initially only 200 developers will be hand-chosen by Google.

If you’re interested, you are required to outline a clear idea of what you would build with the device by March 14 2014.

Handsets will be allocated to developers who want to build apps for “indoor navigation/mapping, single/multiplayer games that use physical space, and new algorithms for processing sensor data.”

Developers can write apps using Java or C/C and use help from the Unity Game Engines. However, Google reminds you that the Project Tango APIs currently remain a work in progress.

However, the possibilities with Project Tango are very exciting.

“Image playing hide-and-seek in your house with your favourite game character, or transforming the hallways into a tree-lined path. Imagine competing against a friend for control over territories in your home with your own miniature army or hiding secret virtual treasures in physicals places around the world.”

Read more: Google Nexus 5 review

readmore »»  

Nvidia Tegra Note 7 LTE coming next quarter with Android KitKat

The Nvidia Tegra Note 7 LTE is arriving next quarter running the latest Android 4.4 KitKat mobile OS.

The existing Tegra Note 7 tablet is getting a 4G LTE update due to the company fitting the 7-inch slate with its Nvidia i500 LTE modem.

From Q2 2014, you’ll be able to purchase the Note 7 with 4G LTE and HSPA plus cellular connectivity, enabling it to be compatible with the major network providers across the world.

To enable this, the Tegra Note 7 is now fitted with the fifth-generation Nvidia i500 LTE modem chipsets, while still maintaining the powerful Nvidia Tegra 4 processor with quad-core Cortex-A15 CPU and 72-core GeForce GPU.

“Our Tegra Note 7 is getting a new family member – one that comes with great connections”, explained Nvidia Product Marketing manager Mithun Chandrasekhar. “We’re adding our i500 LTE modem – and it’s 4G LTE cellular connection – to the world’s fastest 7-inch Android tablet.”

Along with a 4G upgrade, the Tegra Note 7 LTE will ship with Android 4.4.2 KitKat, with the latest Google mobile OS also already available for the other member of the Tegra Note 7 family including the Advent Vega Tegra Note 7.

The Tegra Note 7 features a 7-inch 1280 x 800p HD IPS display and a 5-megapixel rear camera coupled with a front-facing VGA webcam.

Offering 16GB of internal storage as standard, the Tegra Note 7 also comes equipped with microSD card support up to 32GB.

You’ll also get a stylus bundled with the Tegra Note 7 and a micro HDMI connector to allow you to connect the tablet to your TV.

Despite the updates, the Tegra Note 7 will still retail from $299 (£180).



Read more: Best Android tablets 2014

readmore »»  

HTC One 2 dual-sensor camera to be used for background customisation

The HTC One 2 dual-sensor camera is the real deal, according to “sources familiar with the matter”.

HTC is introducing a dual-sensor UltraPixel rear camera in the All New HTC One in order to enable you to customise the background of your images.

According to Pocket-Lint sources, the HTC One 2 will feature the same 4-megapixel UltraPixel sensor as the HTC One but with an additional 2-megapixel UltraPixel sensor.

This secondary sensor will be responsible for introducing the ability to adjust and replace the background in your image.

You may well even get some bokeh action going on in your HTC One 2 shots, also known as the aesthetic quality in out of focus areas of an image. It’s actually been defined as “the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of lights”.

The ability to change and remove the background will be offered via a special HTC app the company is working on for its 2014 flagship.

Toshiba has already launched a dual-camera module for smartphones that makes it possible to take images and record depth data simultaneously.

Unlike the HTC model, the Toshiba alternative features two sensors with the same resolution, but allows users to manipulate their images after they’ve been taken.

“With the housing, a dedicated image processor measures and appends depth data to objects in the image,” explained Toshiba when launching its camera module. “Used in combination with customers’ applications, the module supports new photo functions, including focus and defocus, and even allows objects in photographs to be extracted and erased.”

HTC’s new camera tech should allow you to remove the background of images and replace them with something totally different.

The dual sensor will not allow the HTC One 2 to shoot 3D images or video though.

The sources were also able to confirm that the front-facing camera of the HTC One 2 will be upgraded to a 5-megapixel option from the original 2-megapixel.

Read more: HTC One 2 vs HTC One – What to expect

readmore »»  

PS4 stock shortages could last until April, Sony suggests

Sony has revealed that due to continuing high demand for the console, PS4 stock shortages could continue until April.

Having launched back in November, PS4 stocks remain hard to come by, with Sony’s latest console offering still listed as ‘sold out’ with a number of major retailers.

Now, Fergal Gara, Head of PlayStation UK, has warned gamers that the console could remain in short supply for another couple of months yet.

Questioned on when the Xbox One rival will be readily available to consumers and in strong supply, Gara told MCV: “Based on what I’ve seen so far, I think it is going to be tricky until around about April.”

He added: “You might get a fortnight or a week here or there where it is more available, but we should be back to free supply by about April.”

Although suggesting the PS4 should be filling retailer’s shelves come April, Gara cast shadows over his own predictions with a little caveat.

“That’s our best guess,” he said. “It might be a little earlier than that, or it might be a little later. But we’ll get there.”

With PS4 sales widely reportedly to have eclipsed those of the Xbox One, a trend that is said to be continuing in Sony’s favour, Gara has claimed that unexpectedly high demand has affected stock availability.

“PS4 pre-orders were obviously a strong indicator of what was going to happen, but they were so big that we were pinching ourselves and wondering if people we pre-ordering in more than one place, and if some of these pre-orders were real.

“We were getting numbers we never imagined, let alone seen before. But it proved to be real.”

Offering his views on why the PS4 has proved to be so much more popular than the company expected, the PlayStation UK boss has suggested are becoming more used to high-price technology upgrades.

“I think the world has changed since we launched PS3,” Gara stated. “The price differential between PS3 and PS4 is not nearly as big as it was between PS2 and PS3.”

He added: “You are also talking about a public that has become used to regular technology upgrades on reasonably expensive devices, like tablets and smartphones.

“There is a comfort level with upgrading that meant consumers were ready earlier and there was a pent-up demand that we couldn’t anticipate.”

Are you happy to wait for a PS4 or are stock shortages pushing you towards the Xbox One? Let us know via the comments boxes below.

Read More: PS4 vs Xbox One

readmore »»  

Xbox One tips, tricks and secret features

The Xbox One is a console anyone can use. However, there are loads of little hidden extras and secret features you might have missed so far.

Here are our Xbox One tips and tricks, to help you uncoverall those extras and make the most of your new console.

Install the Xbox One Blu-ray player app to watch Blu-ray discs

In order to play Blu-rays on a new Xbox One, you need to install an update. As long as you’re connected to the internet, the console will prompt you to download the update when you insert a Blu-ray disc.

However, you can also install it manually – useful if you’re planning on taking the Xbox One somewhere where you’ll be without internet. Go to the Store from the main menu, then head to the apps section. Type in ‘Blu’ or ‘blu-ray’ in the search bar to find the app. Then simply select it to install.

Xbox One Fitness

A mysteriously hidden part of the Xbox ecosystem is Xbox Fitness. It’s an app that any Xbox Live Gold subscribers can use for free. However, it’s not that easy to find on the Xbox One store. Try searching for Xbox Fitness using the Bing search and you’ll root it out, though.

Xbox Fitness gives you workouts to perform, which you can tailor to your own needs. There are lots of different training types too, each available to download for free as long as you’re signed up for Live Gold.

It uses the Kinect sensor to monitor your pulse too, giving a two-way interactivity. It's surprisingly good.



What is SmartGlass, how to I get it?

SmartGlass is one of the most poorly-explained parts of the Xbox world. It’s the Xbox companion app, available for phones and tablets. It was originally only available for Windows phones, but you can now download it for iPhones and Android phones too.

There are separate apps for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One, so if you already have SmartGlass, make sure you give the Xbox One version a download. Its most basic functions just let you check out your achievements and so on, but if you use it while connected to the same network as your console, you can use your phone or tablet as a ‘second screen’.

The most useful function is as a keyboard. You can use your phone or tablet’s touchscreen to type in URLs in the Xbox One’s browser, making it far, far more enjoyable to use. You can also load apps using your phone, and setup a load of ‘favourite’ apps on your phone to make using your Xbox even quicker.

How to get cheap Xbox Live credit and Xbox Live Gold

The Xbox Live Gold subcriptions for the Xbox One are the same as those used with the Xbox 360. So if you already have one on the old console, it’ll carry over to the Xbox One.

Occasionally Microsoft offers sales where you can get pretty cheap Xbox Live subscriptions. However, most of the time you’re better off buying a redeemable code online. CDKeys offers 12-month subscriptions for £26.29 at the time of writing, down from the recommended price of £39.99. There are a few other sites like CDKeys on the web, but it is generally the cheapest of the lot. ‘Like’ them on Facebook and they’ll send you a 5 per cent off code too.

Getting money of Xbox Live credit is a bit trickier, but once again CDKeys offers a quid or two off vouchers.

Using Xbox One Snap

Xbox Snap is one of the neatest new features of the Xbox One. It’s the console’s multitasking feature, and it lets you open up another app on the side of the screen while playing a game.

Things you can open up include Xbox Music, the Internet Explorer browser, the video player and the Xbox Party chat interface. It’s a handy extra that’ll stop you having to open up your laptop should you get stuck in a game.

To use Snap, you can either say ‘Xbox, snap’ while you’re playing to bring up the Snap menu or go to the menu by pressing the Home button and then select the Snap tile. This brings up the Snap menu too.

How to change your Xbox One avatar
Your avatar is the little character than represents you within the Xbox Live ecosystem. You had better make sure you like how he/she looks.

To customise your Xbox One avatar, go to the Home menu then select My Games and Apps. Now select Avatars > Customise > My Style. Here you’ll be able to choose what your avatar looks like.

Xbox One Kinect commands

Unless you’re clued up, Kinect can seem a bit of a mystery. However, there is a fairly concrete list of commands it will understand. Here are the main ones (each needs to be prefixed by ‘xbox’ for the command to be understood) –

• Go Home – head to the home menu


• On, turn off – power toggle


• Snap, unsnap – switches the Snap feature on and off


• Bing – Perform a web search


• Sign in – Signs in when on a sign-in page


• Use a code – lets you redeem a code or scan a QR code


• Play – play a video


• Next song, previous song – easy voice commands when listening to music


• Mute, unmute – silence your Xbox One


• Volume up, volume down – control the volume of your console


• Invite (insert name) – invites a selected contact to play or chat

Next, check out of round-up of the best Xbox One games

readmore »»  

Windows Phone 8.1 Action Centre screenshots leaked

Screenshots from the Windows Phone 8.1 Action Centre have leaked online showing off the incoming notifications centre.

A slide from an official Microsoft presentation has been leaked showcasing the Windows Phone 8.1 Action Centre notification hub.

The leaked slide calls the Action Centre a “central location to surface missed notifications.”

Microsoft is preparing Windows Phone 8.1 as the first major update to the Windows Phone 8 mobile OS, and this genuine Microsoft PowerPoint presentation slide suggests the notification centre is one of the main features.

According to the screenshots there will be two layers to the Windows Phone 8.1 Action Centre. The first level, revealed by a short swipe from the top of the screen, offers access to four basic quick settings. These will be shortcuts to settings like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Airplane mode and something that’s called Driving mode.

All four of the basic shortcuts are customisable, so you can cater them to your most used settings toggles.

The secondary level to the Action Centre offers access to the full list of toasts and notifications from apps, similar to that offered by the notifications centres in Android and iOS devices.

Apparently, “apps can intelligently manage notifications [to] silently add, update and delete notifications”.

We’re not quite sure how this will function, but we guess that if you go into a related app manually the notifications will disappear accordingly.

Earlier this month, icons for the Windows Phone 8.1 Cortana voice assistant were leaked online, revealing some of its upcoming features.

The icons suggest that Cortana will be able to complete tasks ranging from basic ones like alarms, sending messages and searching the web right the way through to more complex tasks like alerting you to heavy traffic on your route, giving directions and even taking notes for you.

Windows Phone 8.1 is set to be officially unveiled during the Microsoft Build Conference in April.



Read more: Windows Phone 8 tips and tricks

Via: The Verge

readmore »»  

PS4 virtual reality headset unveil set for GDC 2014

Sony will unveil its PS4 virtual reality headset during GDC 2014 in March, according to an “inside source”.

According to a new source who claims to have spent some time with the PS4 virtual reality headset, Sony is preparing to launch the Oculus Rift rival next month.

Originally, Sony’s virtual reality headset was expected to make an official appearance at the Tokyo Game Show, but sadly never surfaced.

However, apparently Sony made the decision to delay the VR headset deliberately in order to launch it as a final prototype, rather than releasing editions of the device like with the Oculus Rift.

“Sony has deliberately taken its time to tweak and polish the headset before revealing it,” said TechRadar’s anonymous sources.

So now the plan seems to be to launch the PS4 VR headset at GDC 2014, which is held in San Francisco from March 17. This will be ahead of some VR software announcements at E3 2014 in June.

From what the source has seen so far, it seems Sony has quite the VR headset up its sleeve.

“The quality and resolution are really, really good. People will definitely be impressed with what Sony’s built.”

Sony obviously has a lot of exciting announcements planned between now and E3 in June.

According to industry insider, Ahsan Rasheed, Sony will have some news on brand new PS4 IPs to share with us in the near future.

Apparently, incoming PS4 announcements will feature new Drive Club footage, Uncharted 4 and The Last Guardian as well as a new IP from Killzone: Shadow Fall developer Guerrilla Games.



Read more: Best new games of 2014

readmore »»  

Vacuum cleaner curling gives the Winter Olympics a techy twist

Dyson curling, the sport of the robot Olympics

If, like us, you’ve been getting into the Winter Olympic spirit and become something of an instant expert on all things related to snow and ice sports, you might want to give this a watch – or even a try.


Dyson has jumped on the nation’s new found love of shoving a big stone down a sheet of ice, throwing a bit of tech into the mix with this light hearted curling video (below).

Much like regular curling, the new – and might we say improved – sport of vacuum cleaner curling has two sweepers clearing the ice in front of the gliding stones.

In this technologically advanced edition of the game, however, the brooms have been replaced by a pair of Dyson DC59 digital slim vacuums.

With the vac’s V6 digital motors spinning the carbon fibre bristle equipped brush bars at 4000rpm, who knows, the British-based company might even be on to something.

As fun as the game looks though, we can’t help think the company missed a trick.

Had a weighty Dyson Cinetic or two been pushed down the ice instead of standard curling stones, we would have been signing up to our local Sunday league division right now.

As it is, we’re off to polish up our kitchen’s laminate floor in the hope that it might do the trick nicely for our own curling expeditions of tablets vs smartphones.

If you’ve any ideas on potential gadget-based winter sports, let us know in the comment boxes below. So far our 2015 Games will consist of tablet luge and headphone ice hockey.

readmore »»  

Samsung Galaxy S5 teaser trailer points to waterproof handset

The new Samsung Unpacked 5 teaser trailer points to the Samsung Galaxy S5 being a waterproof handset.

Not only does the teaser trailer officially confirm that the Unpacked 5 event will be for the Samsung Galaxy S5 launch, but it also confirms the device will be waterproof.

Although the Unpacked 5 teaser trailer is only just over 30-seconds long, it gives us some official teasers as to what features the Galaxy S5 will bring.



The trailer flashes through some words like “together”, “explorer”, “curiosity”, “peace” and “dad” – all with a little superscript number 5 – before pausing on the word “wet”.

Combine this rather telling feature teaser with the previous Galaxy S5 camera specs leak and you have pretty concrete evidence that the device will be waterproof.

We believe Samsung may go the way of Sony and make the Galaxy S5 waterproof and dustproof, mostly because of the focus on the word “outdoor”.

There’s also particular focus on the word “speed”, which hints to the fact the Galaxy S5 is heavily rumoured to be home to the new Samsung Exynos Infinity CPU with a 64-bit architecture.

Samsung also seems to be a specific focus on “life”, which occupies the majority of the final portion of the Unpacked 5 trailer.

“Find out more on Monday 24 February at the Samsung Unpacked event in Barcelona”, adds Samsung’s YouTube blurb.

Other rumoured specs for the Samsung Galaxy S5 include a 5.25-inch full HD resolution display and a 16-megapixel rear camera.

Samsung’s Unpacked 5 event is scheduled for 6pm BST on Monday February 24.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy S5 vs Galaxy S4 - What to expect

readmore »»  

Finlux 40F8073-T TV Review

What is the Finlux 40F8073-T?

The 40F8073-T is a 40-inch LCD TV with LED lighting, and as you would expect given its Finlux branding, it’s remarkably affordable: just £320 at the time of writing. This price is especially impressive considering that the set has built-in Smart TV features and a Freeview HD tuner. So what’s the catch? It turns out there aren't too many.

Finlux 40F8073-T: Design and Features

For the most part the 40F8073-T looks exactly like the budget TV it is. Its frame is made from a pretty uninspiring black plastic, it’s slightly wider than that of most modern flat TVs, and its only attempt at style is a little centimetre wide 'grooved' section of plastic running along the bottom edge. Even the cross-shaped silver stand looks a bit cheap.

Connectivity is fair enough for the money, though, comprising as it does three HDMIs, a D-Sub PC port, a component video input, a coaxial digital audio out, a LAN port, a Scart (yes, some people still use these!), two USBs, a headphone jack and a component video input (yes, apparently some people still use these too!).

There’s also Wi-Fi, but only if you plug in a provided USB wi-fi dongle. However, the sensitivity/receptive powers of this dongle didn’t seem the best during our tests, so you’d be advised to hardwire the Finlux 40F8073-T to your router if at all possible.

The network connections are not just there as mandatory support for the set’s integrated Freeview HD tuner. Remarkably for a £320 40-inch LCD TV they also give you access to Finlux’s Smart TV service. Not surprisingly this is pretty lightweight in content terms versus the smart platforms you get with some of the latest big-name TVs; your useful options are limited to Netflix, YouTube, BBC iPlayer, Twitter, Facebook, ITN, iConcerts, tunein.radio, accuweather, Flickr, Viewster, Joomeo, Daily Motion, Playjam, a web browser and Skype -- and the latter feature is only available if you add an optional USB camera.

Still, we’d be inclined to argue that any online content at all is a bonus on such a cheap TV, and the smart interface is quite attractive in a no-fuss kind of way. Particularly welcome is the way a reduced version of what you were watching continues to play in the corner while you browse the apps.

Aside from managing to cling to a full HD native resolution, the Finlux 40F8073-T’s screen specifications are predictably basic. It’s a 50Hz model only, with no motion processing tools. There are one or two handy tweaks tucked away in its surprisingly well presented onscreen menus, though, including a multi-tiered noise reduction circuit, an auto backlight option, a dynamic contrast system that adjusts the image’s luminance based on the content being shown, a colour temp adjustment, skin tone and colour shift ‘sliding bar’ adjusters, and even the option to tweak the gain of the red, green and blue colour elements.

The last things to note in this section are that the TV doesn’t support DLNA file streaming, but it does support playback of video, photo and music files from USB storage devices, as well as timeshifting from the tuner to USB HDD.

Finlux 40F8073-T: Set Up

The 40F8073-T is fairly straightforward to set up, partly thanks to its no-fuss and cleanly presented menus but also because the set isn’t as overburdened with features as many that come our way these days.

Among the few recommendations worth making here are that you turn the set’s eco features off, and that you reduce the contrast and sharpness settings to around their 45 and 10 levels respectively. This greatly reduces the rather noisy look to pictures you see using the set’s preset values.

As a side bar to this point, don’t feel tempted to try and fight the noise by calling in the set’s noise reduction system, for this only results in pictures looking blurred and laggy.

The final tip we’d give is that you set the backlight to its Low position for watching films in a dark room, but use the medium setting for daylight TV viewing.

readmore »»  

Alcatel to demo first tablet with iris recognition at MWC 2014

Alcatel has announced it will demo the first tablet with iris recognition at MWC 2014 next week.

The tablet concept will be demonstrated as a joint project by Alcatel Onetouch and InTech at the Barcelona technology conference.

“Ensuring a great user experience is at the heart of how we design software and hardware. We work closely with our partners to develop new approaches like iris scanning and are pleased to demonstrate a working example at Mobile World Congress,” said Dan Dery, CMO at Alcatel OneTouch.

The tablet has a small iris recognition camera embedded within the device, plus an IR LED. This is combined with InTech’s “highly accurate” iris matching algorithm in order to integrate iris biometrics into the device.

Using InTech’s technology, the iris recognition can be used to authenticate applications, lock and unlock the device and even encrypt sensitive data that’s for your eyes only.

The concept device should demonstrate how easy it would be to use iris recognition in a tablet or smartphone and how it can be used to make your tech more secure.

“There will be a myriad of applications derived from iris recognition enabled mobile devices. We are glad of this opportunity to prove its feasibility. Our goal for this prototype is to define a new era for iris recognition technology generally and a benchmark for Iritech’s product particularly”, said Daniel Daehoon Kim, CEO of InTech.

Apparently, Alcatel and InTech plan to introduce more features for its iris recognition technology including second factor authentication for money transactions made on your device, one-tiime-password generations and even remote vehicle control.



Read more: Samsung Galaxy S5 release date, rumours, specs and price round-up

readmore »»  

Huawei Ascend G6 and MediaPad X1 leaked ahead official MWC unveiling

The Huawei Ascend P6 and Huawei MediaPad X1 tablet have been leaked ahead of their official MWC 2014 unveiling.

So far, Huawei has only said in an MWC teaser that it will launch a duo of tablets, but the MediaPad X1 is hotly tipped to be the “slim” tablet mentioned first in the teaser trailer.

Some live photos of the Huawei MediaPad X1 have appeared on Chinese social media site Wiebo, revealing the 7-inch tablet’s design.

From the looks of it the MediaPad X1 will function in a similar manner to the Asus Fonepad, in that it will be able to offer at least 3G phone call capabilities.

It will also seemingly be available with a special case that strongly resembles the LG QuickView cases.

As for hardware, the MediaPad X1 is expected to feature a 7-inch 1200 x 1920p full HD display running on a 1.6GHz quad-core HiSilicon 910 processor with 2GB of RAM.

It will come with 16GB or 32GB of internal memory plus microSD card support, all powered by a 6,000mAh battery.

This will all come packaged within a body that is just as slim as the Ascend G6 and apparently for a price lower than $200 (£120).

Notorious tech tipster @evleaks has also published press renders of the Huawei Ascend G6 smartphone, which will come in a range of five colours – blue, gold, pink, white and black.

The G6 is expected to be a mid-range device to complement the Huawei Ascend P7 flagship that should launch later this year. It is tipped to feature a 4.5-inch screen of unknown resolution running on a quad-core 1.3GHz MediaTek MT6582 processor with 1GB of RAM.

MicroSD card support will be offered alongside an unknown amount of internal storage.

With an 8-megapixel camera in the rear and a 5-megapixel offering in the front, the Ascend P6 seems like a good mid-range all rounder.

What’s most impressive about the G6 is its slimline body, which apparently measures up at 130 x 65 x 7.5mm.

Read more: Best mobile phones 2014

readmore »»  

HTC One 2 passes through FCC with familiar specs

The HTC One 2 or the All New HTC One has just passed through the FCC with a familiar set of specs.

Following a wealth of leaks surrounding HTC’s upcoming flagship, the device has been spotted passing through the FFC ahead of its March 25 unveiling.

The mandatory FFC approval process comes with a sketched outlined design of the HTC One 2 that matches previously leaked press renders of the phone with its soft curve corners.

There’s nothing surprising about the FFC listing, with the phone said to feature a 5-inch full 1080p HD display running on a 2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor with 3GB of RAM.

It will also arrive with a dual-sensor Ultrapixel rear camera offering around a 5-megapixel Ultrapixel resolution.

This is expected to help depth of field, image quality and focusing abilities over the existing HTC One’s rear camera.

The FCC filing also confirms that it will have multiple band 4G LTE compatibility along with Bluetooth 4.0, dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity.

The All New HTC One was originally expected to launch at MWC 2014, but HTC has now released invites for a special launch event on March 25 in London.

Judging from previous leaks, the HTC One 2 will be available in three colours – black, silver and gold – from launch, rather than the original duo of colour option for the HTC One.

The 2014 flagship is also expected to ditch the soft touch navigational buttons in favour of on-screen alternatives thanks to Android 4.4 KitKat.



Read more: HTC One 2 vs HTC One – What to expect

Via: Engadget

readmore »»  

Lovefilm Instant set to turn into Amazon Prime Instant Video

Amazon has announced its intention to scrap the Lovefilm Instant brand and pull the underlying service into a new combined Amazon Prime Instant Video offering.

The change-over will occur on February 26, and it’s much more than a simple rebranding exercise.

Essentially, the current Lovefilm Instant video streaming service will become part of Amazon Prime, the internet retail company’s free next-day delivery service. Existing Prime members will get free access to more than 15,000 films and TV shows.

However, come membership renewal time, Prime users are in for a bit of a shock. Their current annual payment of £49 will be bumped up by £30 to £79 to cover the new service.

When you break the charges down, however, it looks like much better value. A Lovefilm Instant subscription currently runs to just under £72 on its own. Add that to the current Prime charge, and you’re looking at a saving of £42.

Of course, that’s only a positive thing if you currently maintain both a Prime and a Lovefilm Instant account.

On the flip side, if you sign up for Prime in the next four days, you’ll have a year of the new combined service for £30 less. Plus, if you’re not interested in Prime’s delivery or free ebook service, you can just sign up for the Amazon Prime Instant Video service at a typical £5.99 per month.

As for the Lovefilm brand, it isn’t being eradicated altogether. The DVD, Blu-Ray, and game rental service will continue to operate separately under the Lovefilm brand.



Read More: Netflix vs Lovefilm Instant

readmore »»  

Google Maps 2013 Software Review

This article was originally published in June 2013 during the beta period of the new Google Maps, which is now available for everyone to use.

The maps of the future...

Nexus phones, tablets and Android 5.0 were three things we didn't get at Google I/O 2013. What we did get, however, was something arguably of far greater significance: the vision of a company with unified core services and a grand master plan. It impressed us. And nowhere were we more impressed than the way in which a complete overhaul of Google Maps will sit at the heart of it.

So, having now spent some considerable time with the preview edition, does it live up to the hype?

The side panel is dead, replaced with just a search bar. How very Google.

Google Maps 2013 - User Interface

The most notable change to the new Google Maps is the interface. Gone is the longstanding side panel, replaced by a map that fills the screen and a seemingly innocuous search bar. Yet it is from here that the magic happens.

Google has built a dizzying amount of functionality into the search bar. It is now the gateway not just to specific addresses and categories (bar, restaurant, etc), but also to dynamic routing and contextual information wherever and whatever you click on the map.

Key to keeping things tidy is the introduction of Google’s increasingly ubiquitous ‘card’ design, as seen in Google Now and common Google search results. Cards sit under the search bar and split themselves into clear sections that can also be stacked to switch between different sets of information. Cards appear and disappear as needed again saving space compared to the old side panel.

Initially the system can seem transient compared to the permanence of the search panel, but as it is far more contextually aware it is also smarter, faster and more flexible. It brings you information with every click. Google tried to do this in the previous version of Maps, creating pop up windows above whatever you clicked, but the result simply covered up the immediate surrounding area.

The Street View 'pegman' has retired. In its place come thumbnail previews.

Another neat touch is the integration of Street View. Google has done away with ‘pegman’ and instead anywhere you click on the map will load a preview thumbnail in a card under the search bar. This is ingenious and saves a great deal of time dragging and dropping pegman around the screen. Increasing numbers of locations offer Street View inside the premises with the ‘See Inside’ option so you can check out the decor, not just the store front.

User generated photography is also neatly integrated into a scrolling gallery along the bottom of the map. Wherever you are clicking, the gallery automatically updates showing relevant photos and if one has a play icon a click will start a ‘photo tour’ that smoothly morphs between the best images of their subject (for example, the London Eye). Should the gallery get in the way it can be minimised.

One thing that cannot be minimised though, is a gallery thumbnail named ‘Earth’.

Google Earth

The Google Maps 2013 does away with the old Satellite view in order to integrate the mighty Google Earth. This was previously available in the old Google Maps via a plug-in, but the new version takes things to a whole new level.

Major US cities include 3D buildings

Most simply, Google is expanding the tilt view with three-dimensional buildings akin to ‘flyover’ in Apple Maps. This remains largely US focused at present, but what is there looks stunning and Google has promised to soon expand to other major cities around the world. That said there are occasional iOSapocalypse moments and we’re sure Apple will have something to say in court about infringements of flyover.

A limitation is Earth doesn’t allow you to zoom as far into the map as the old Satellite view, something we miss, but it does let you zoom much much further out. Zoom out far enough and Maps shows you the earth spinning in space with real-time Clouds.

Zoom out again and you see Earth amongst the stars and the sun, with the relevant time zones reflecting which parts of the earth are in day, night or twilight. Countries in darkness are beautifully lit up by lights at their major population points. We doubt this view will be useful for helping you plan journeys, but is a wonderful reminder to keep life in perspective.

Google's version of the Total Perspective Vortex

Aside from the limited ability to zoom in with Earth though there is another caveat and that is performance requirements. These are relatively meagre, but old systems with under 512MB RAM, 500MB of drive space and a DirectX9 GPU with 64MB of dedicated RAM will miss out.

readmore »»  

Dell prompts new wireless charging standard for laptops

An important step has been taken on the road to bringing wireless charging to laptops, as Dell became the first PC maker to join the A4WP.

The Alliance for Wireless Power is one of the major organisations working on standards for the wire-free charging of our devices today. It has more than 80 major companies signed up to its roster, including the likes of HTC, LG, and Samsung.

Of course, the idea of wireless charging in mobile devices has been established, but we haven’t yet seen this concept turned to larger devices. Dell’s freshly signed support, following that of Intel last year, signals a major move forward in this regard.

Sure enough, A4WP used the occasion to announce a new secondary specification of its Rezence wireless charging standard. This will be able to charge devices from 20 to 50 watts, which is the range your average laptop operates within.

"The development of magnetic resonance technology will improve the customer experience when it comes to wireless charging and bring the capability into more homes and businesses over the next few years," said Dell VP and CTO Glen Robson. "We are excited to work with other industry leaders in the A4WP to deliver on the promise of easy, flexible wireless charging across an array of mobile devices including smartphones, tablets and laptops."

Meanwhile, A4WP itself speaks of its desire to "accelerate charging station installations" for a "no wires" experience. Whilst current mobile wireless solutions involve a bundled wired charging substation, proving useless when actually mobile, the ultimate aim here is to have wireless charging technology installed in public locations, much like Wi-Fi.

This would enable a wire-free future, where you only have to take your laptop and mobile device out of the house with you - not the bulky chargers.

We may see the first Rezence-equipped devices appearing this year.



Read More: Best laptops 2014

readmore »»  

Huawei smartwatch teased on Chinese social media site by company official

Official Huawei smartwatch teaser pic...

The Huawei smartwatch has been teased on Chinese social media site, Weibo, by a company official.

Tipped to launch at MWC 2014 next week, Huawei has released an official picture of its upcoming smartwatch on Weibo.

The picture was posted by an unnamed Huawei official with the tagline: “My new toy, do you like this colour?”

Now, existing smartwatches like the Samsung Galaxy Gear and the Sony SmartWatch 2 haven’t exactly been the best looking bits of kit, but this Huawei smartwatch looks like a bit of a monster.

Huawei has obviously taken some design cues from the likes of the Nike Fuelband SE and Fitbit Flex fitness trackers with its smartwatch design but has slapped a colour screen on it and a glossy plastic paint job.

We expect the Huawei smartwatch might come in a variety of colours when it is potentially launched at MWC next week. Hopefully, the specs and battery life will be more appealing than the design, which will probably be a huge turn-off to those looking for a business inspired look.

Earlier this month, WSJ sources suggested a Huawei smartwatch was on the way for MWC, saying:

“The latest to jump on the smartwatch bandwagon is China’s Huawei Technologies, which plans to unveil one at the Mobile World Congress later this month in Barcelona.”

So far, we’ve neither seen nor heard anything of Huawei’s rumoured smartwatch, until the above picture emerged that is.

Huawei released an MWC teaser trailer earlier this week, using an iPhone and Siri to teases a trio of announcements.

The Chinese company will use the Barcelona technology show to launch a “slim” tablet, new smartphone with “an amazing front camera” and a dedicated “multimedia” tablet.



Read more: Samsung Galaxy Gear vs Sony SmartWatch 2

Via: GforGames

readmore »»  

WhatsApp Alternatives: Six instant messaging apps

Facebook just annnounced its plan to buy WhatsApp for $19bn, leaving some users fearing the worse for the instant messaging service. Will Mark Zuckerberg take the best features from the hugely popular application and build it into its existing Facebook Messenger app or leave it relatively untouched? Only time will tell.

If you are not willing to wait to find out, and Facebook’s big spender attitude is enough to convince you to contemplate ditching the instant messaging service, here are six WhatsApp alternatives to try out instead.

Read more about why Facebook bought WhatsApp

1. Viber

Platforms: iOS, Android, Windows Phone 8 and BlackBerry, Mac and Windows

Viber was recently bought for £540m by Japanese company Rakuten, which also owns Kobo and Wuaki.TV. It offers free calls, texts and picture sharing across platforms. It even gets you free international calls as long as the other person has the app installed. You can use your phone number to ring other Viber users so there’s no need to set up a separate profile, and ViberOut is an additional credit-based service letting you make calls to non-Viber users.

Price: Free

2. Skype

Platforms: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Windows 8, Windows Phone 8

King of video calling Skype also supports a comprehensive instant messaging that works across most mobile devices. It is also deeply integrated into Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 smartphones and tablets. Instant messaging doesn’t currently work on TVs, although it does on the Xbox One where you can also use the SmartGlass mobile app to type out messages. Unlike WhatsApp it doesn’t use your phone number as your indentifier so you need a Skype profile to get the most out of it.

Price: Free

3. Line

Platforms: Windows, Max, iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, FireFox OS

The Japanese-based instant messaging and voice call service Line has recently added video call support. There’s also support for group chats and you can add new Line users by simply ‘shaking devices together’. To make chatting more playful, there are emoticons and stickers to insert into messages. When you get bored of messaging, you can also see who can rack up the highest score on the Bejeweled clone LINE game.

Price: Free

4. Samsung ChatOn

Platforms: Android, iOS, PC

Samsung’s answer to WhatsApp and BBM is all about instant messaging so there’s no voice calling or group video chats just yet. It does support texts, MMS-style messaging, video sharing, music sharing and location sharing. To make use of the trusty S-Pen you get with a Galaxy Note 3 you can also send handwritten notes and drawings. If you have a Samsung Galaxy S4 or any Samsung smartphone or tablet for that matter, ChatOn will import existing contacts to initiate individual and group chats.

Price: Free

5. Google Hangouts

Platforms: iOS, Android, Chrome, PC

Google’s own instant messaging service continues to improve, with recent support for SMS integration, animated GIFs and location sharing added. On top of that it also offers video calling, photo sharing, emojis and group conversations over voice or video. Unlike WhatsApp, using it is entirely dependent on a having a Google account so it’s not tied to your number. This lets it unify conversations across iOS and Android devices easily, making it a little easier to migrate to.

Price: Free

6. BBM

Platforms: BlackBerry, iPhone, Android

Last but by no means least is BBM. BlackBerry’s instant messaging service has recently introduced iPhone and Android apps to let it work across platforms. It also offers free voice calls that work via its BBM Voice service. BBM contacts can also see your location and you can share voice photos and voice notes too. Group chat is still a key feature letting you talk with up to 50 friends plus there are loads of emoticons to fill up the dead time in conversation.

Price: Free

Next, read the five reasons why Nokia is making an Android phone

readmore »»