Blizzard announces Hearthstone expansion

Blizzard has announced the first expansion pack for its virtual trading card game Hearthstone at BlizzCon 2014 in Anaheim, California.

The new Gnomes Vs Goblins expansion pack will be released next month and will include 120 "explosive" new cards for players to use in games against each other. BlizzCon attendess, however, will be able to play the new expansion this weekend as it's being demoed on the convention floor.

Hearthstone's Production Director, Jason Cheyes, unveiled the expansion and showed off a couple of new cards in the virtual deck.

Since they're based on the steampunk tinkering races in World Of Warcraft - the Gnomes and the Goblins - most of them sound suitably chaotic. One card, Explosive Sheep, deals 2 damage to all enemies in play. Another, the Annoy-O-Tron, is a Taunt that disrupts the in-game action.

Players will be able to earn the new Hearthstone cards by competing in arena matches or they can buy them with either in-game gold or real-world money. No prices for the new cards were announced at BlizzCon, but they're expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Reyes said that the unqualified success Hearthstone had become on PC and iPad had prompted Blizzard to bring the game to Android devices next year. However, there were no announcements concerning a possible iPhone version, which industry pundits say they expect will be released in 2015.

Hearthstone is also fast becoming a fixture on the gaming eSports circuit, with the first championships being played out at BlizzCon this weekend.

readmore »»  

Sony PS4 Remote Play now available on Xperia Z2 range

Sony has lived up to its promise to roll out the PS4 Remote Play feature for some of its older Xperia mobile devices.

The company has released software update for the Xperia Z2 smartphone and Xperia Z2 Tablet, which enables PS4 owners to stream games directly from their console to the mobile device.

The tool relies on the PS4 and smartphone/tablet being on the same Wi-Fi network and works by pairing a DualShock 4 controller to the secondary device via Bluetooth.

It is perfect for gaming away from the living room television, or when another member of the household is watching something on the main TV.

Remote Play was previously available on the PS Vita as well as the Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact and Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact. It’ll also be available on the new PlayStation TV set-top box, which goes on sale on November 14.

Sony has claimed Remote Play will not be available on devices outside of the PlayStation and Xperia range, but has hinted it will will continue rolling out to previous generation Xperia smartphones and tablets.

The unique feature could potentially become a calling card for Sony Xperia devices, which have struggled to make themselves heard in the packed Android market.

For Sony PS4 owners, the chance to continue gaming even when their significant other switches over to Corrie means an Xperia handset is certainly worth consideration.

Will your next handset by a Remote Play-packing Xperia? Or are the handsets still not good enough to tempt you? Let us know in the comments section.

Read more: Everything you need to know about PlayStation TV

Via: Engadget

readmore »»  

Free Microsoft Office soars to summit of App Store charts

iOS users have reacted to Microsoft’s decision to make its Office apps completely free to use by sending Word straight to the top of the App Store charts.

The ascent comes just 24 hours after the software giant announced Word, Excel and PowerPoint would be unlocked for all, without the need for an Office 365 subscription.

Word now sits at the very top of the Free apps charts, while Excel is sitting pretty at number four.

{pullquote]The Office apps are sandwiched between Facebook and Facebook Messenger, while they sit above popular apps like Instagram and YouTube{/pullquote}.

The free apps give users access to the full suite of features, allowing users to create, edit, save and share documents, while also accessing content from Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage portal.

The decision to drop the subscription requirement represents the new era at Microsoft where the firm is more willing to embrace users on other platforms.

Previously the company had been unwilling to make Office available on iOS, so as not to cannibalise the Windows platforms.

However, under Satya Nadella’s leadership the company has released the Microsoft Band, which is compatible with iOS and Android.

Just this week integrated Dropbox within the Microsoft Office apps despite boasting its competing cloud storage platform OneDrive.

The free Office apps will soon become available on Android tablets too



Read more: Office for iPad review


Via: Slashgear

readmore »»  

Nexus 6 vs Nexus 5: What's different?

How does the new Nexus compare to the LG Nexus?

Google has finally revealed the UK pricing for its new flagship smartphone, the Nexus 6. With the 32GB model costing £160 more than the equivalent Nexus 5, is it a worthwhile upgrade?

Until we get our hands on the Nexus 6 we can’t be certain, but we can take a look at how the two phones compare on paper.

Nexus 6 vs Nexus 5: Design

Nexus 6: Aluminium frame, polycarbonate body, 10.06mm thick, 184g

Nexus 5: Plastic construction, 8.59mm thick, 130g

What’s immediately clear about these two phones is that they share surprisingly little beyond the Nexus name and access to stock Android.

While the Nexus 5 was made by LG, the Nexus 6 is made by Motorola, and that really tells in the final designs. While the Nexus 5 is the plainer device, its unadorned blank slate looks actually mark it out as quite different from anything else on the market.

The Nexus 6, by contrast, is more striking to look at, but it’s essentially just a larger version of the Moto X 2014. Original it ain’t.

In terms of the quality of the designs, however, the Nexus 6 is way out ahead. It’s got a classy metal frame, and a polycarbonate body coated (on the back) with a soft-touch plastic finish. Its curved back, which tapers to almost nothing at the sides, is distinctive and aids grippiness.

Of course, it needs that latter attribute, as the Nexus 6 is one chunky customer. It’s a good millimetre-and-a-half thicker than the Nexus 5, and a whopping 54g heavier.

The Nexus 6 is the more attractive design, then, but the Nexus 5 is the more practical.

SEE ALSO: iPhone 6 Plus vs iPhone 6

Nexus 6 vs Nexus 5: Screen

Nexus 6: 5.9-inch 2560 x 1440, QHD AMOLED (493ppi)

Nexus 5: 4.95-inch 1920 x 1080, IPS LCD (445ppi)

The reason the Nexus 6 is so much larger than the Nexus 5 lies with its screen, which at 5.9-inches is pretty much a whole inch bigger.

While the Nexus 5’s 4.95-inch display sports a still-decent 1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution, the Nexus 6 takes things to the next level of sharpness with a 2560 x 1440 QHD resolution. That makes for an even more pixel-dense display, with 493ppi comparing favourably to the Nexus 5’s 445ppi screen.

Both can be said to be nice and crisp for the their respective sizes, though.

Another major difference here is in the type of screen used. While the Nexus 5 has an IPS LCD display, making for a nicely balanced picture with accurate colours and decent visibility in all conditions, the Nexus 6 has a more advanced AMOLED display.

AMOLED screens feature superior colour contrast and deeper blacks than their LCD counterparts, but struggle to get the same crisp edges and colour accuracy. Over-saturated colours are the most common complaint here.

Samsung has managed to bring AMOLED’s wilder tendencies under control, but it remains to be seen if Motorola can do the same with the Nexus 6. It’s got the potential to be a stunner, though.

Nexus 6 vs Nexus 5: Camera

Nexus 6: 13MP, OIS, 1/3.06-inch sensor, f/2.0 aperture, dual-LED ring flash

Nexus 5: 8MP, OIS, 1/3.2-inch sensor, f/2.4 aperture, LED flash

Nexus cameras have always proved to be pretty weak. It seems as if this typically pricey component has been one of the first to be compromised in a bid to bring the final phone in at a decent price.

Last year’s Nexus 5 camera was the best yet - an 8-megapixel example with OIS. However, it was still arguably the weakest component of the whole package, and it certainly didn’t trouble the Android smartphone elite for image quality or consistency.

As we’ve touched upon already, the Nexus 6 isn’t being made with any such mid-range price point in mind. It’s a full-on flagship phone, and as such promises to provide the first truly decent Nexus camera yet.

It looks to be better than the Nexus 5 camera in every single way, with more pixels (13-megapixels, to be precise), a larger image sensor, a wider aperture, and a dual-LED flash arranged in a neat ring formation around the lens.

Nexus 6 vs Nexus 5: Performance

Nexus 6: 2.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor, 3GB RAM, Adreno 420 GPU

Nexus 5: 2.26GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPU, 2GB RAM, Adreno 330 GPU

Another area in which the Nexus 6 is clearly superior to its predecessor is power. Eschewing the minor upgrade over the Nexus 5’s Snapdragon 800 CPU that is the Snapdragon 801 (as found in the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the HTC One M8), the Nexus 6 skips straight to the Snapdragon 805. It might not sound like it’s very different, but this chip offers a considerable step forward in performance.

This is aided by a much better Adreno 420 GPU, so games and and HD video should be even smoother and more responsive - although of course, there’s all those extra pixels to push around on the Nexus 6’s QHD display, which should take a slight edge off its performance advantage. But only a slight one.

Finally, the Nexus 6 has 50 percent more RAM than its older counterpart, which should make it more future proof and more capable when it comes to intensive tasks and multitasking.

Nexus 6 vs Nexus 5: Software

Nexus 6: Android 5.0 Lollipop

Nexus 5: Android 5.0 Lollipop

There’s really not much to say here, as both Nexus phones will be running the same software soon. The Nexus 6 ships with Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the box, but the Nexus 5 will be one of the first phones to get the update from November 12.

Android 5.0 represents the biggest update for the Android OS in quite some time. It brings the gorgeous new Material Design, which treats UI elements almost like physical objects with their own mass and depth.

This results in a tactile experience where general navigation makes intuitive sense - and looks pretty to boot.

There’s also a new, more powerful multitasking system on board that allows for multiple tabs from within the same app - such as the inbox and an message draft in Gmail - and a new, more customisable heads-up notification system.

Nexus 6: Storage

Nexus 6: 32GB, 64GB; no microSD slot

Nexus 5: 16GB, 32GB; no microSD slot

Given that the Nexus 6 is positioned and priced as a premium phone, you’d jolly well hope that it would improve on the Nexus 5’s meagre storage.

While there are still only two storage options, they’re a step on from the 16GB and 32GB choices of the older phone. Here you get either 32GB or 64GB.

Given that there’s still a lack of microSD expansion (why, on such a large phone?), we’d have liked to have seen a 128GB option, but this is still a step forward for the range.

Early Verdict

We haven’t reviewed the Nexus 6 yet, but we’re pretty confident it’s going to be good. How do we come to that conclusion?

Because we’ve already reviewed the Motorola Moto X 2014, of which the Nexus 6 bears more than a passing resemblance.

Yes, it’s been expanded to borderline tablet dimensions. But the Nexus 6 also appears to bring an improved camera (perhaps our biggest criticism of the Moto X) and a significant step forward in power.

Still, there’s no getting away from the fact that this is a crazily big phone. It will undoubtedly be too big for some people, in much the same way as the iPhone 6 Plus or the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 have proved to be.

That, along with the Nexus 6’s premium price point, is why we can’t declare it the outright winner here. The Nexus 5 remains just powerful enough and cheap enough to present a viable alternative for those who want a more discrete stock Android 5.0 experience.

MORE: iPhone 6 vs Samsung Galaxy S5

readmore »»  

Moto X now available with ‘football leather’ rear

The Moto X is now available with a ‘football leather’ back-plate, courtesy of Verizon.

The pigskin handset is the latest addition to Motorola’s bespoke blower strategy, although it’s only available through Verizon’s own wireless network.

The Moto X already ships in a smorgasbord of design options thanks to Motorola’s Moto Maker tool.

The ‘football leather’ is another such variant, although it’ll lump an added $50 onto the cost of the handset should you choose it.

Motorola has talked up the customisability of its latest flagship to no end, so it’s an unsurprising move, especially as Verizon is also known to offer its own unique smartphone variants.

It’s important to note however Verizon hasn’t influenced specs anyway, so the network provider-stamped smartphone will run exactly the same as your usual Moto X. The same can’t be said for the modified Sony Xperia Z3v, Verizon’s take on the Xperia Z3.

Other options available for the Moto X include various leather and wooden rears, with a host of colour choices also on offer.

Unfortunately, should you choose Verizon’s sporty smartphone, you’ll be giving up Motorola’s raft of customisation offers, meaning you’re stuck with a black front.

The Moto X launched earlier this year, offering up a 5.2-inch 1080p display, a 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 processor, and a 2300mAh battery to boot.

Verizon revealed its new fare via Twitter, revealing the device would price up at $119.99 on contract, albeit only on US soil.

Read More: Sony Xperia Z4 release date

readmore »»  

Samsung Galaxy S6 might land with double-edged screen

The Samsung Galaxy S6 might still be a ways off, but the rumours have already started rolling in.

The latest crystal-ball gazing tips the oddball idea of the handset landing with a dual-edged screen.

Tech analyst Jerry Kang reckons the Galaxy S6 will riff on the Note Edge, but reproduced the over-edge screen curving on two sides of the upcoming handset.

According to Kang, the display would carry over both the left and right sides of the device.

It’s not as crazy as it might sound – Samsung has already said the Note Edge is an experimental device, which could mean the Galaxy S6 will see a more refined version of the tech should its oddball forebear see some market success.

Kang also revealed that Samsung was originally planning to make use of a dual-edge display with the Galaxy Note Edge, but binned the idea before it went public.

Samsung announced the Galaxy Note Edge on September 3 at its Unpacked event.

The Edge’s screen curved around the right side of the device, with the quirky side-panel boasting a notification bar, camera controls, and information display.

We’re expecting Samsung to announce the Galaxy S6 at next year’s MWC in March.

The spec sheet is tipped to read as follows: a Snapdragon 810 processor, with an Exynos 7420 chip variant on offer, 32GB built-in storage, a 16-megapixel snapper, and Google’s Android 5.0 Lollipop OS.

Read More: Sony Xperia Z4 release date

Via: GForGames

readmore »»  

Lenovo to launch cheap Chromebooks next year, reports say

Lenovo might be gearing up to launch a range of Chromebook models, all pricing up at under £110.

A new report from Digitimes reckons the Chinese tech firm will flog the low-cost notebooks in early 2015.

Citing Taiwan-based supply chains, the site reckons Lenovo’s Chromebooks will run off CPUs designed by Rockchip Electronics, another China-based firm.

Rockchip will also head up the supply chain integration for Lenovo, while ODM Bitland Information Technology will be responsible for actually building the processors used.

Digitimes also says Lenovo will ship 1.5 million Chromebooks next year, up 212% from this year, which signals that the firm could be planning a fresh influx of Google-powered kit.

Chromebooks are typically a cheap alternative to Windows-based notebooks, so the rumours of bargain-basement price tags for upcoming Lenovo wares could be on point.

Lenovo already sells Chromebooks, with this year seeing the release of the Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 11e and the Lenovo N20p.

Chromebooks usually price up somewhere between £150 and £250, so a Lenovo coming in with a potential double-figure price tag could eat up low-end market share.

Google launched its Chrome OS back in 2011, with Acer and Samsung signing up as the first brands to launch Chromebooks later that year.

Since then, a raft of other OEMs have joined the fray, including Hewlett Packard, Lenovo, and Google itself.

Read More: Samsung Galaxy S6 release date

readmore »»  

Why musicians hate Spotify: The big streaming music debate

A Swift explanation

Everyone loves Spotify, right? Well, no. Anyone who's been following the news recently should know that this isn't the case. In fact, many musicians hate it.

The most recent example of this antipathy towards the world's biggest music subscription service is pop starlet Taylor Swift, who's removed her entire back catalogue from Spotify. Why would she do such a thing, given Spotify's immense popularity with 'da kids'?

Rebel music

Swift is only the latest in a series of high-profile artists to withdraw their support from Spotify. Her new album 1989 will almost certainly be this year's biggest seller, but her actions simply follow in the footsteps of the likes of fellow pop warblers Adele and Beyonce, as well as mopey sad-sacks Coldplay.

So what's made a bunch of millionaire musicians throw their toys out of the pram (before presumably throwing the pram out of a hotel window)?

Swift herself has equated music streaming with piracy and file sharing as a reason for record sales dropping, and believes that the price paid to artists for their music is too low. "It’s my opinion that music should not be free," she said in a WSJ article published back in July, "and my prediction is that individual artists and their labels will someday decide what an album’s price point is."

Radiohead killed the Spotify star

Perhaps the most eloquently vocal opposer of Spotify over the years has been Thom Yorke, whose band Radiohead has taken Swift's prediction to extremes in the past. Back in 2007, Radiohead released an album, In Rainbows, that asked listeners to pay what they felt it was worth to them.

Suffice to say, frontman Yorke is not the world's biggest Spotify fan. Last October, speaking to Mexican website Sopitas, he rather splendidly dubbed the service "the last desperate fart of a dying corpse."

The way Yorke sees it, Spotify (and its ilk) is anything but the future of the music industry that it paints itself to be. In fact, Yorke feels that it represents the dying embers of the old industry, existing and indeed thriving off the back of support from the major labels who have old stock to flog.

Put simply, in Spotify, major labels get another decent revenue stream for their back catalogues of classic material, which would otherwise simply sit there earning modest physical and MP3 sales over the years.

The artists themselves don't get quite such a great deal, of course. New music, particularly from emerging or niche artists, doesn't tend to get an awful lot of cash for the artists through the Spotify system, owing to the minuscule amounts paid per play – an average of between $0.006 and $0.0084 per song stream. With that kind of rate, you need to get an awful lot of people listening to your stuff if you're to generate a decent income from Spotify.

Swift return

Of course, those who are in the position to earn the most from Spotify, such as Taylor Swift, can largely dictate the broader terms on which their music is bought and consumed. In such cases, Spotify's payment system simply can't compete with strong physical sales.

Spotify argues that using such a metric to judge Spotify's value to an artist is overly simplistic and just plain flawed. It also claims that royalties – 70 percent of the company's revenue goes back to rights holders – will only increase as it gains more users, so supporting Spotify now in these relatively early years is an investment for the future for any artist.



There's also the argument that Spotify can grant increased exposure to smaller artists through its low-cost, suck-it-and-see structure. Listeners are more willing to take a punt on new music when it doesn't cost them anything extra – or so the theory goes.

But even more fundamentally than that – and completely contrary to Taylor Swift's view – Spotify sees itself as a force for good against the evils of music piracy. "We believe," says Spotify, "that our service and the lives of artists will both be best if the world’s music fans enjoy more music than ever before in a legal, paid manner."

Spotify has been called the last gasp of a terminally ill music industry, and the only logical solution to rampant music piracy. While we as consumers can certainly have our say in this argument simply by voting with our wallets, ultimately it's the most influential content providers, such as Taylor Swift, that will determine where our money goes.



SEE ALSO: What's the best music streaming service to download?

readmore »»  

Zuckerberg explains why Facebook forced Messenger app

Facebook’s founder has finally explained why the firm forces users to run a separate Messenger app.

Mark Zuckerberg talked through the thought process behind Messenger during a live Q&A session yesterday, saying the app offers a ‘better experience.’

“Asking everyone in our community to install a new app is a big ask,” said the CEO. “On mobile, each app can only focus on doing one thing well, we think.”

Zuckerberg went on to describe how Facebook’s primary purpose is the News Feed, which stifled messaging’s growing popularity.

“Messaging was this behaviour people were doing more and more,” Zuckerberg explained. “10 billion messages are sent per day, but in order to get to it you had to wait for the app to load and go to separate tab.”

The Harvard drop-out then compared the service to other apps that focus purely on messaging, describing Facebook’s previous messaging process as ‘a lot of friction.”

“Messaging is one of the few things people do more than social networking. In some countires 85 per cent of people are on Facebook, but 95 per cent of people use SMS or messaging.”

He then answered why the app became a mandatory install, rather than an opt-in roll-out, saying: “The reason is that we’re trying to do is build a service that’s good for everyone.”

“Because Messenger is faster and more focused, if you’re using it, you respond to messages faster, we’ve found,” he said.

“If your friends are slower to respond, we might not have been able to meet up.”

Read More: Samsung Galaxy S6 release date

readmore »»  

Snapchat to partner with Spotify and BuzzFeed for Discover feature?

The makers of popular messaging app Snapchat are reportedly in negotiations with a host of top media companies in order to procure top web content for its rumoured Discover section.

Digiday sources claim the company is talking turkey with the likes of Spotify, Comedy Central, BuzzFeed, ESPN, Vevo, National Geographic and others.

The report features a purported mock up of the feature, which would see Snapchat branch out from its roots as an ephemeral messaging service.

Alongside these top media brands already mentioned, the screenshot suggests CNN, the Daily Mail, Vice and Cosmo may also have been tapped-up as partners.

If the reported plans come to fruition, it would allow Snapchat to become a one-stop media consumption app, delivering wide-ranging content to users, rather than just a messaging service.

According to reports, the Discover platform would stay true to Snapchat’s roots, by showing the articles, videos, music tracks and photos briefly before they disappear. This, according to the report, would encourage users to keep checking back for new content.

Previous reports had suggested discover would launch in November, but it has apparently been delayed due to technical issues.

Read more: Snapchat 'our story' feature goes public

Via: The Verge

readmore »»  

Google Drive for iOS now supports Touch ID

Touch ID is now open to third party developers

Google has updated its Google Drive cloud storage app for iOS devices, allowing iPhone and iPad owners to protect their files with the Touch ID fingerprint scanner.

Once enabled, the update will require Drive patrons to use the sensor built into the iOS home button in order to unlock access to photos, documents and other items shared in the cloud.

Google had previously given users the opportunity to Passcode Lock the Drive app, so the integration of the safer and more convenient Touch ID tech is another step in the right direction.

Apple opened up Touch ID to third party developers with the launch of iOS 8 back in September and a large selection of app makers have already jumped on board.

The likes of 1Password, Amazon, Evernote, Mint and SkyBet have already integrated the security tech, while it also underpins Apple’s new Apple Pay mobile wallet.

The Touch ID bump isn’t the only Google Drive improvement within today's update. The Mountain View-based web and mobile giant has added the ability to save videos to Drive directly from iOS, while users can open files from Drive and save them back from other apps.

On its Google Plus page, the company explained: "Google Drive for iOS is now optimized for iOS 8, and includes some new security and convenience features we think you’ll love.

“You’ll see that Drive works better with other apps on your iPhone and iPad. You can now open files from Drive, and save back to Drive from other apps on your device if you’re using iOS 8.

“Finally: people store a lot of videos in Google Drive, but until today, it wasn’t possible to add them to your iOS device. Now, no matter what version of iOS you’re using, you can save videos from Drive to your device’s camera roll. This feature is simple to use — just tap the File Info icon, then ‘Open In’, and choose ‘Save Video’."

Read more: What is Apple Pay: A guide to mobile payments

Via: The Next Web

readmore »»  

Nexus 6 UK price revealed

Google has finally announced the UK price tag for the eagerly-anticipated Nexus 6 smartphone.

The 32GB version of the giant Motorola-manufactured handset will cost £499, while the 64GB iteration will be £549.

The devices, available in Midnight Blue and Cloud White, are listed as ‘coming soon’ on the Google Play Store, with an official UK release date yet to be revealed. Pre-orders are also yet to open.

As a sweetener for snapping up the SIM-free handset, Google is offering six months of free access to the £9.99 a month, Google Play Music, if the Nexus 6 is purchased by the end of 2014.

The Nexus 6 is the latest own-branded handset from Google and will pioneer the new Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system.

It comes packing a massive 6-inch Quad HD, 493ppi screen and a 13-megapixel camera with image stabilisation and HDR technology. It’s also capable of shooting 4K video of 30 frames per second

The 2.7GHz Snapdragon 805 quad core handset also promises all-day battery life and fast charging via Motorola’s Turbo Charger, which brings an additional 6 hours of battery life after only 15 minutes plugged into the mains.

Now all that’s left is to discover when the device will actually be available. Recent reports have suggested the release date may come on December 1, but we’ll keep you posted.

Read more: Nexus 6 vs iPhone 6: Which should you buy?

Via: Engadget

readmore »»  

Moto 360 smartwatch gets new fitness features and metal bands

Motorola has announced some new features for its Android Wear Moto 360 smartphone, which boosts its functionality as a fitness tracker.

The new Moto Body features enables owners of the bulky, first-gen Motorola smartwatch to track their steps, distance, heart rate and estimated calorie burn.

Moto’s update also includes a “My Design” watch face option, which, as the name suggests, will facilitate the creation of custom watch faces.

The updates will go live to users via the Motorola Connect app and allows the firm to boost its offering before the Apple Watch goes on sale in ‘Early 2015.’

{pullquote]The company is also offering new light and dark metal bands, while it has promised a slim bands will be available in time for the busy festive season{/pullquote}.

On its official blog, the company wrote: “Moto 360 now comes with metal bands that are as durable as they are beautiful. Crafted from aircraft-grade stainless steel, these bands feature a modern, contemporary tri-link design that complements the round face of Moto 360. Starting today, Moto 360 with light and dark metal bands are available on motorola.com for $299.

“Coming soon, we will offer Moto 360 with new slim bands, which is an option for smaller wrists or for people who want a different look. Slim bands will be available in time for the holidays in light metal ($299) and a brand new champagne gold finish ($329).”

As well as the new metal editions of the Moto 360, Moto also began selling the Nexus 6 in the United States today. Previously it was only available at the Google Play Store.

Will the metal offerings entice you to snap up a Moto 360? Would you consider the device as a fitness tracker? Let us know your feelings in the comments section below.

Read more: Android Wear review

readmore »»  

Amazon announces voice-controlled Echo speaker

Amazon Echo moves voice assistants from mobile devices to a dedicated speaker

Amazon has announced a brand new piece of hardware, which aims to replicate the functionality of voice-controlled personal assistants like Siri and Google Now, in the form of a small, standalone speaker.

The Amazon Echo, which costs $199 (around £125), is an interesting home-centric, cylindrical speaker which allows users to call out commands using a custom “wake world”

For example, the cloud connected, Wi-Fi speaker can play music from Amazon Prime, it can search the web to answer questions, get daily news updates from NPR and can be used to set alarms, add items to shopping lists or get the weather forecast.

Users can issue commands like “Add make hotel reservations to my to do list,” while asking “Will it rain tomorrow”

Echo purchasers will also be able to beam music from apps like Amazon Prime, iHeartRadio, Spotify and Rdio from their smartphone to the Echo speaker using the build-in Bluetooth connectivity.

Amazon claims the Echo speaker can be placed anywhere in the room, has seven microphones and “far-field voice recognition technology” enabling owners to speak normally from anywhere in the room.

The plug-in speaker It is also able to hear commands, even when it is playing music, while it also leans to recognise the owner’s voice, speech patterns and vocabulary.

Naturally, there’s an Amazon Echo App to tie the experience together, which is available to download on Fire OS and Android devices, as well as desktop and iOS browsers.

This will able users to manage alarms, music, shopping lists and more.

The Amazon Echo is invite only for now, but Prime subscribers in the US can request an invitation now and snag one of the devices for a half-price $99 (around £60).

There’s no word yet on a potential UK launch, but given previous form, we wouldn’t expect this until well into 2015.

Read more: Amazon Fire Phone review

readmore »»  

Best Coffee Machines: The best espresso and coffee pod machines

Whether you have a religious devotion to quality, authentic coffee or simply want great-tasting coffee quickly and easily, there's no shortage of coffee machines to suit your needs. Our best coffee machine round-up picks out some of the the best espresso machines, best pod coffee machines and best bean-to-cup coffee machines around.

Coffee machines fall into a few broad categories, though there's plenty of choice within these in terms of features and design.

Pod Coffee Machines: These use branded 'pods' to produce coffee and often numerous other hot drinks. There are several brands of pods, such as Nespresso, Dulce Gusto and Tassimo, with different companies supporting different systems. The main pros of pod coffee machines are ease of use, consistency and convenience, the con is the higher cost from buying the proprietary pods.

Our picks of the best pod coffee machines:

• Nespresso Lattissima Pro by DeLonghi


• Nespresso Lattissima EN520 by DeLonghi


• Krups Dolce Gusto Oblo

Bean-to-Cup: The clue is in the name, these machines grind fresh beans to produce coffee straight to your cup. They're the 'purest' type of coffee machine, but they're also the most expensive and often the largest. If you're very particular about your coffee, however, a bean-to-cup coffee machine is a good bet.

Our pick of the best bean-to-cup coffee machine:

• Philips Saeco Intelia Focus HD8751

Traditional Espresso Machine: If you like using ground coffee, a traditional espresso machine is ideal. These are like the huge, old-school coffee machines you used to find coffee shops, but much smaller. They're harder to use than pod coffee machines and bean-to-cup coffee machines, but they're generally cheaper, give you lots of control and the good ones produce great tasting coffee.

Our pick of the best espresso machine:

• Krups XP5210 Espresso Coffee Machine

readmore »»  

LG: Android Wear adding iOS support would be great for us

Google is hoping to make Android Wear devices compatible with iOS, and now LG has suggested such a move would be a boost for the wider wearable space.

Although it is considered unlikely Google and Apple will be able to reach an agreement to make cross-platform support a reality – especially given the upcoming Apple Watch release – LG is keeping its metaphorical fingers crossed and looking at the potential positives of such a move.

“If it does happen, it’s great for us,” Shaun Musgrave, LG’s Product Marketing Manager said addressing TrustedReviews. “It would open the market up even more and it would definitely give Apple a bit of competition – if they would allow it.”

While the notion of such a move has been largely laughed off, Google’s Android Wear PM, Jeff Chang, surprised many last month by suggested the company’s wearable OS could sync with iPhones in the future.

If introduced, it would allow devices including the LG G Watch and Moto 360 to be used alongside the iPhone, not just Android-powered smartphones.

Speaking in an recent interview, Chang stated: “We always want as many users as possible to enjoy our experience, so in terms of enabling more people to use Android Wear we’re very interested in making that happen.”

Despite hoping for the best, LG remains sceptical on any such coming together of bitter rivals Apple and Google.

“It will be down to Google to get it through the door and we will see if that comes about,” Musgrave told us.

Looking at the potential pitfalls he added: “The issue then is the apps, where would you get them from? Through iTunes or the Play Store? They would need to work that out and I don’t know how they’re going to do that.”

Would you buy an Android Wear watch if it was iOS compatible? Let us know via the comments section below.

Read More: Samsung Gear S review

readmore »»  

Microsoft Office now free on iOS, Android tablets soon to follow

Microsoft has just changed its strategy for the Office suite, now offering the services across iPad, iPhone, and Android completely free of charge.

From today, you will no longer need to shell out for a subscription to fiddle around with your word documents or store them in Microsoft’s cloud ether.

The announcement also revealed that Office would indeed be extending to iPhone, with upgrades also due for the iPad.

“It’s an extension of the strategy that we’ve got,” said Michael Atalla, Microsoft’s marketing lead for office. “It’s not a total strategic shift, as much of an extension of the existing strategy.”

“We want to make sure that our customers can be productive across all the devices they have.”

Microsoft also used the occasion to announce a new Office for Android tablets app, or at least a ‘preview’ program.

Users can now sign up to check out the service early, with the general roll-out expected in ‘early 2015’.

It’s the second Office-related announcement in as many days, as Microsoft only just announced tighter Dropbox-integration for the software suite.

Dropbox users will soon be able to edit Office documents directly through the Dropbox app, while Office users will be able to open up Dropbox files through the suite thanks to automatic syncing.

The changes should roll out across iOS and Android versions of Dropbox across the next few weeks.



Read More: Samsung Galaxy S6 release date

Via: The Verge

readmore »»  

Stuck for storage? How about a 1000TB DVD for your movie collection

Scientists over at Australia’s Swinburne University of Technology have managed to produce a DVD that can store 1000TB of data.

The media-hoarding disc should be good for somewhere around 40,000 high-definition movies, trumping current DVD fare that holds a comparatively paltry 4.7GB.

Dr Zongsong Gan and his team even won a Victoria Fellowship for their work on the super-saver disc.

With current technology, a single laser burns discs with bits of information 500 nanometers small – any teenier just isn’t possible.

Unless of course you use two lasers, in which case you can shorten the writing light all the way down to 9 nanonmeters.

The first beam writes the information at the usual thickness, but the second purple beam blocks the bonus light all the way down to a small 9 nanometer-wide point – voila, beastly storage in familiar disc format.

It all sounds great, but Dr Gan still reckons there’s a few hitches to work out before the discs will roll out for general public use.

“Putting so much information on a single disc makes it easier for people to destroy huge amounts of data and thus cost more to protect the disc,” he explained.

“Also, we are now working to speed up for data reading and recording. If we’re still using the current DVD speed, how long will it take to write 1000TB of data onto a disc?”

Despite data concerns, Dr Gan has high hopes for improved storage capacities in the future.

"In my mind, I have a vision for our society in the future where everyone will have a data bank account just like we all have a bank account today," Gan said.

"Well save all of our data in the data bank. Everyone no longer needs the same things today as phones, iPads or laptops. We only need a soft touch screen, any data processing, while storage is done remotely."

Read More: Samsung Galaxy S6 release date

Via: Fastcolabs, Pocket-lint

readmore »»  

Amazon Kindle eReader Gadget Review

Amazon Kindle eReader: First Impressions

With the Kindle Voyage covering the top-end and the Kindle Paperwhite now Amazon’s mid-range ereader, the basic Kindle is the entry-level option minus the frills. You don’t get the built-in light or sharper display, but you do now get a touchscreen, access to the core Kindle features and new, more portable design.

It has the same footprint as the Voyage, but lacks the same finesse or attractiveness. The back doesn’t use the same angular design opting for a charcoal grey matte plastic body where the back slopes inwards slightly and it definitely copes much better with those greasy fingerprints. You can still comfortably get one hand around it and weighing in at 191g it’s slightly heavier than the Voyage, but not in way where you would really notice.

At the bottom edge is where you’ll find the micro USB charging port alongside the solitary standby button. The bezel on the front is thicker at the bottom, but other than that this is as plain an eReader you are going to find. For £59, you can’t really complain, though. It's portable and the build quality is solid enough for something you want to sling into your hand luggage or keep in your pocket.

SEE ALSO: Kindle Paperwhite vs Nook GlowLight

Despite having the same size screen as the Voyage and the Paperwhite, sadly it doesn’t use the same innovative display technology. The basic Kindle still relies on the older Pearl e-paper technology, which delivers 167 pixels per inch (ppi) pixel density – considerably less than the 300ppi the top-end Kindle crams in.

While the older screen tech means you have tolerate the page refreshes common with e-ink displays, it’s still a solid display to read on and page ghosting has reduced compared to its predecessor. You won’t get the same levels of sharpness compared to a Carta display or brightness thanks to the lack of a built-in light, but at least you do now get touchscreen support for navigation, which in our brief time with it appeared to be nice and responsive.

Initial Verdict

If you are not all that bothered about reading at night and can live without the sharper display, the entry-level Kindle still holds up well and is a solid dedicated reading device. It’s portable, has access to arguably the most comprehensive store fronts and the screen still holds up well as place to tuck into your favourite ebooks.

Yes, you do miss out on some of the more attractive features of the new more expensive Kindles, but the core experience is still strong. There’s built-in Wi-Fi connectivity so you don’t have to hook it up to a computer to download content, a four-week battery life and there’s the 4GB matching the pricier Kindles for space to save your ebooks.

The Kobo Touch (£59) is its closest rival and there's very little to separate the two. They have very similar designs and both have plenty of storage. If you want that all important ePub file support, you will probably side with the Touch, but other than that the Kindle looks set to be the pick of the budget ereader bunch once again.

Next, read our Amazon Fire TV vs Apple TV comparison

readmore »»  

Zepp Multi-Sport sensor hits the UK to perfect your golf swing

The wearables market has a new sporting superstar as the Zepp Multi-Sport sensor hits the UK with detailed swing tracking in tow.

Having been available in the US for a little over a year, the Zepp sensor is an ideal training tool for any budding golfer or wannabe tennis star. Capable of capturing 1,000 data points per second, the device syncs with your smartphone or tablet to offer a detailed breakdown of your swings.

A compact, 1-inch square device which weighs just 6.3g, the unobtrusive Zepp sensor works with a family of accompanying apps – there are sport specific options for golf, tennis and baseball/softball – to show you how you’re currently performing and how to improve.

On the golf side of things, the little yellow square can keep tabs on your club speed, measure your swing tempo and track your hip rotation and the angle of the club. All this data is relayed into the app where you can watch your mapped swings back.

This data is worthless without a little guidance. Fortunately the Zepp platform has this covered. You are awarded a SwingScore for each shot, with handy tips and pro videos helping you work on certain points.

Tennis is a similar situation with your shot types – forehand, backhand, serve – applied spin and shot power all captured.

“We have seen huge success in our native US with Zepp and are very excited to properly introduce it into the UK,” Zepp CEO, Jason Fass said.

He added: “We’ve built a platform that delivers impactful data and instant feedback to athletes and coaches allowing them to analyse and improve their game like never before.

“The sensor and dedicated sport apps aim to change the way people practice, play, and experience the sports they love.”

If you don’t fancy lugging your iPad to the driving range or tennis court, don’t worry, the Zepp sensor features enough flash storage to store up to 2,000 golf swings or a massive 200,000 tennis swings between syncs.

Although the sensor is the same, the required mounts are different so Zepp Golf and Zepp Tennis packages are available. They are priced at £129.99 and are available now through a number of online and high street retailers.

Read More: Jawbone UP24 Review

readmore »»  

WhatsApp update lets you see when your messages are read

WhatsApp will now reveal when your e-pals have read your messages.

The sought-after feature has finally landed on the cross-platform messenger, although it’s not actually part of a downloadable update.

Instead it appears the WhatsApp team have pushed the new feature over the air, meaning you won’t need to do anything at all to access read receipts.

Read receipts are definitely not a new concept – iPhone users will be familiar with it, as iOS has the feature built-in as an option for iMessages.

WhatsApp also now has an updated FAQ which explains how the new read receipts work with the old ‘tick’ system.

One tick and two ticks still signify the same things – the former shows when your message has successfully sent, while the latter signals when the message has landed on the recipient’s phone.

Now however, the grey check marks will turn a shade of blue once the recipient has read the messages.

Chatter of WhatsApp VOIP calling has also re-emerged, with the new feature expected to land sometime next year.

Voice-over-IP allows users to make and receive voice calls via an internet connection, meaning you won’t eat into your contracted minutes during extended tongue-wagging sessions.

Droidapp.nl has managed to find some VoIP app icons for WhatsApp, which could be the first concrete evidence of approaching IP-based calling.

Read More: Samsung Galaxy S6 release date

readmore »»  

Samsung UHD Video Pack Review

What is the Samsung UHD Video Pack?

The UHD Video Pack is a 500GB hard drive containing – whoop! – genuine Hollywood movies in 4K. It’s available free with the majority of Samsung’s UHD TVs if you buy before 14 December 2014, and it can also connect to some of Samsung’s 2013 models.

With native 4K content still in desperately short supply at the time of writing, the UHD Video Pack is a significant moment in 4K’s development, and a potentially key element in your 4K TV buying decision.

Need help choosing a new TV? Read our TV Buying Guide

Samsung UHD Video Pack – Design and Features

The UHD Video Pack looks pretty unassuming considering its importance to the burgeoning 4K story. It’s just a small, slim box with one rounded end and a glossy grey finish. But then, of course, for all the fanfare that might accompany its arrival, it is still ultimately just a hard drive with some AV files on it!

Intriguingly the Video Pack connects to Samsung TVs via USB, rather than HDMI like all the other not-publicly-available UHD/4K servers we’ve been using over the past few months.

Obviously using a USB connection raises some questions over what video and audio formats the Video Pack can provide. But actually USB 3.0 can carry films, documentaries and ‘showreels’ in the HEVC H.265 format at frame rates up to 60fps, accompanied by audio tracks that can vary from AAC on some of the included documentaries to Dolby Digital for the three key Hollywood movies the Video Pack currently carries.

You can choose to use the TV’s built-in speakers for playing the audio, or send it out to a surround sound receiver via your TV's digital audio output. Although the mixes are converted to legacy Dolby Digital when they pass through the TV.

Next up we ought to get into exactly who can use the UHD Video Pack. At the time of writing it’s available free, by redeeming a coupon, to anybody who’s bought a new (not second-hand) compatible Samsung UHD TV between 16 October 2014 and 24 December 2014.

The full list of compatible sets runs as follows: 85HU7500, 65HU7100, 55HU7100, 78HU8500, 65HU8500, 55HU8500, 65HU8200, 55HU8200, 75HU7500, 65HU7500, 55HU7500, 65HU7200, and 55HU7200. Plus the Video Pack can be used with 2013 Samsung UHD TVs that have been fitted with a 2014 UHD Evolution Kit.

SEE ALSO: Best TVs Round-up

If you were paying attention back there, you might be wondering why Samsung says the pack is compatible with 2013 TVs when it's currently only available with new 2014 TVs. The answer to this is that Samsung will shortly be putting the Video Pack on sale separately, for £149.99.

We’ve cunningly failed so far to namecheck the three big Hollywood movies contained in 4K um4 files on the UHD Video Pack. So let’s correct that now. They are: The Counselor, The Life of Pi, and World War Z. Which by our reckoning adds up to one good film, one decent film and one pretty poor film. (Sorry, Ridley Scott, but The Counselor really isn’t your finest hour.)

All three are, at least, exceptionally good-looking examples of their art – especially The Life Of Pi. So they’re great choices for showing off the joys of 4K/UHD.

It turns out, though, that these three film highlights are far from the end of the content on the UHD Video Pack. You also get a few of Samsung’s own short 4K demo sequences, plus a series of documentaries/travelogues: Grand Canyon Adventure, San Francisco Flow, Bailee Moore, Atmosphere, Khumbu Valley, Mix, Myanma (Burma), Vancouver City 2, Sojourn, Oregon, Let Me Know When You See Fire (Phantom Fire), Dive To The New World, and World Surrounds Me.

The menu system for accessing the content is a bit clumsy – all the UHD videos are lumped together rather than you being able to, say, separate out the three ‘proper’ movies. Though on the upside the interface is attractively presented, with extensive use of high-quality graphics, artwork and stills.

One of the biggest questions surrounding 4K is just how large 4K video files are. So you may be interested to know that World War Z, The Counselor and The Life of Pi come in at 33.81GB, 34.19GB and 37.73GB, respectively. Ouch.

SEE ALSO: What is 4K TV and UHD?

As well as being able to access basic technical information on each of the films – video codec, sound format, file size, running time and picture resolution – you can select different subtitle options for each, where such options are available.

We can’t help but reflect that it’s a pity there are only three big movies on the UHD Video Pack. When Samsung first discussed the possibility of such a product a few months back, there was talk of making as many as 50 UHD films available over the course of a year via downloads. So being now locked to just three full films is a bit of a come-down. Still, there are a good few hours' worth of content here overall, so while you'll eventually run out of stuff you haven’t seen before, at least you’ve got a decent amount of demo stuff for showing off your 4K TV to your mates!

Samsung UHD Video Pack – Setup

There’s not much to say here, really. Make sure your Samsung TV is running the most recent firmware by checking the Firmware Update section of the TV’s Support menu, then plug the Video Pack’s USB cable into the correct socket on the TV – it's coloured blue on this year’s Samsung TVs. For the purposes of this test we used a 65-inch 65HU7500.

Aside from that and being able to adjust the subtitles for each video, it’s just a matter of finding what you want to watch and hitting Select.

In case you were wondering, you control playback of the Video Pack using the TV’s remote control.

readmore »»  

LG G3 Lollipop update could land this month

An LG G3 Lollipop update is on the way, and now the Korean manufacturer has suggested its flagship phone could be bumped to Android 5.0 as early as this month.

With LG having previously promised an LG G3 Lollipop update before the year’s end, the company has now hinted the software patch could be rolled out within a matter of weeks.

Although failing to offer a precise launch date for the LG G3 Lollipop update, the company has narrowed down its previously broad ‘Q4’ timeframe.

“The G3 will be going to Android Lollipop,” Shaun Musgrave, LG’s Product Marketing Manager said addressing TrustedReviews this morning.

“This should be happening between the end of this month the beginning of December.”

With Android 5.0 Lollipop having been formally announced alongside the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 devices last month, Google’s latest OS is expected to hit a flurry of flagship phone in the coming months.

If LG can get Android 5.0 on the G3 this month, however, it will become one of the first devices to offer the upgrade - something not lost on the LG G Watch maker.

“That is one of the quickest updates for a top tier device,” Musgrave said of the planned patch release.

He added: “We will definitely be one of the first vendors to introduce Lollipop to our flagship device.

“Because we have a good relationship with Google – and bearing in mind we have two previous devices with them – naturally we would get the ASOP a little earlier than most.

“That’s one of the reasons [we’re able to get the update out so quickly].”

Android 5.0 Lollipop brings a number of new features to Google powered smartphones and tablets. From the new Material design to improved Gmail and notification options, the patch also adds battery life boons and 64-bit CPU support.

Read More: LG G3 vs Samsung Galaxy S5

readmore »»  

Battlefield 4 can run on iOS thanks to Apple Metal

The team behind the Frostbite game engine is testing Battlefield 4 out on iOS, and it’s been surprisingly successful so far.

EA made the announcement via the Frostbite blog, outlining the impressive feat of pushing a visually demanding game onto a mobile device.

Kristoffer Benjaminsson, Product Owner Mobile at Frostbite Stockholm, said: “Whatever you can do on console should be doable on mobile as well!”

According to Benjaminsson, running the game on iOS is only possible thanks to the addition of Apple’s new Metal graphics API.

“Together with the latest range of hardware, Metal has created possibilities previously out of reach and for the first time we can include both high visual fidelity and a large number of objects,” he said.

Benjaminsson has stressed that the Frostbite team hasn’t tested the entirety of the game just yet, only a few parts to see what the engine is capable of.

“To see exactly how far we could take the engine on mobile we set ourselves up for a real challenge: getting selected parts of Battlefield 4 running on iOS,” explained Benjaminsson.

“There is still much to do, but we’re very happy with the results so far,” he revealed. “It’s a great feeling porting a system, get it running, and discover that there’s actually performance left.”

“Even though we have much room for performance improvements on our end, we’re pleasantly surprised of the performance we’re getting from the hardware.”

While this by no means signals a definitive release of Battlefield 4 on iOS, it's at least a good sign that high-end graphics can be squeezed out of Apple fare for future titles.

Read More: Best games to buy 2014

readmore »»  

Apple devices targeted by hackers in China

A malicious software campaign called WireLurker is infecting Apple devices in China.

According to researchers from a security company called Palo Alto Networks, the campaign is specifically targeting Mac OS users in the eastern nation.

The Silicon Valley-based security firm says over 400 Mac OS X apps have been infected, although only if downloaded through the Maiyadi App Store.

Maiyadi is a third-party app store not officially sanctioned by Apple, which means that some 467 compromised apps have been downloaded upwards of 350,000 times.

PAN reckons Chinese iOS devices could also be at risk if users connect their iPhones or iPads to Macs via USB.

iOS devices are typically safe from malicious content, largely because Apple vets all software in its App Store.

Usually users would need to jailbreak their devices to actually be at risk from malicious software, but that’s not the case with WireLurker.

“WireLurker monitors any iOS device connected via USB with an infected OS X computer and installs downloaded third-party applications or automatically generated malicious applications onto the device, regardless of whether it is jailbroken,” said the firm’s research team.

The security researchers say WireLurker-infected devices can have important info nicked under the radar, including contacts and iMessages. The attackers can also update the malware remotely to make it harder to remove.

Obviously the best way to ensure your device stays safe is to not download software from third-party stores, or plug your iPhone into any unknown iMacs.

Apple began selling its iPhone in China for the first time this year, kicking off with the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Read More: Samsung Galaxy S6 release date

readmore »»  

EE TV streaming set top box now available in UK

EE TV is now available to buy in the UK, marking the firm’s first foray into in-house set top box devices.

The box was announced last month, and offers up Freeview, On Demand, and Catch Up services across multiple platforms in your home.

That latter tidbit on info is the most important – up to four devices in a household can stream different programs via EE TV.

Pippa Dunn, Chief Marketing Officer at EE, said: “Customers can now go into any EE store nationwide and sign-up for the UK’s most advanced TV service.”

“With EE TV, we have combined our expertise in mobile and home broadband to develop a game-changing home TV service that you can watch on your smartphone and tablet, as well as your telly,” Dunn explained.

“EE TV offers exceptional value for money, is simple to set up and use, and comes with market-leading features which really do allow customers to create a unique personal viewing experience.”

You can also simultaneously record across the four devices too, as the EE TV lands with 1TB of built-in storage good for around 600 hours of tele.

It’s also packing dual band Wi-Fi so you won’t need to clog up your living room with Ethernet cabling.

There’s upwards of 70 Freeview channels on offer, with the expected on demand fare available too – iPlayer and Wuaki, for example.

Unfortunately neither Netflix nor Amazon Instant Video made it into EE TV’s televisual roster, a dead cert to put die-hard TV nerds off.

Fortunately, EE promises north of 10,000 TV series and movies from On Demand and Catch Up, which should take even the most diligent popcorn-chompers a while to chew through.

There’s also the ‘touch and flick’ feature that lets you fling footage about between devices ‘with the simple flick of a finger’.

The EE TV box is apparently worth £300, but EE is bundling it with a bunch of plans that see the device start from £9.95 per month with a 17Mbps Broadband package.

You’ll also need to sign up to an 18 month contract, as well as shell out £15.75 a month for the required EE line rental.

Read More: Samsung Galaxy S6 release date

readmore »»  

Smart Thermostats in the UK: Nest and its rivals compared

As the temperature drops, here's the smart way to keep things heated

In 2014 smart thermostats have flooded the global market as the drive for ‘ecotech’ rapidly gains momentum. In the UK a number brands have launched their first smart thermostats and all claim to give us greater insight into our energy use, offer remote control of heating and make the promise to save us money. We've already seen Tado and Hive in the UK, as well as US trailblazer Nest, which went on sale in the UK in April for £179.

What are smart thermostats? They are the early poster child of ‘The Internet of Things’ – small, low power, web connected devices that use the Internet to become smarter and more efficient - but will anyone sign up?

The main barrier is price. As with all first generation technology, the cost of smart thermostats is high – between £100 and £200 – and they come during a period of economic uncertainty. That said they also come during a period when energy prices are also sky rocketing and if these devices can deliver savings, the question will soon become: can you afford not to have one?

Smart Thermostats in the UK: The Pacesetter

Nest Labs

Status: Now on sale in the UK

Price: £179

Much of the credit for the sudden rise of smart thermostats goes to Nest Labs, the company founded by iPod creator Tony Fadell. It started in 2010 after Fadell left Apple, and introduced the first mainstream smart thermostat (simply called ‘Nest’) way ahead of the pack in late 2011.

Despite a $250 RRP by January 2013 the company was shipping between 40,000 and 50,000 thermostats a month, equivalent to one million per year. Remarkably these shipments came solely from the US. Now the Nest thermostat is available in the UK for £179, following on from the excellent Nest Protect smart smoke alarm released last year.

Whether Nest’s international rivals can match its magic formula remains to be seen since its appeal is both visual and functional. Fadell transferred his learning from Apple and the Nest has beautifully designed hardware and software. The thermostat itself has an elegant, minimalist, touch-senstive LED display while the accompanying smartphone and browser apps are clean, intuitive and simple.

The key selling point of the Nest thermostat is that it learns your heating preferences over time. This means it tracks when you reduce the temperature and to what level (either that it done via its Android and iOS apps, web browser or on the thermostat itself) so it can anticipate your needs.

Indeed, the Nest thermostat does so even better than before thanks to a recently released software update, which could save you a further 6 per cent on your annual heating bills. A refreshed UI and a new system test mode have also been added to the package.

Nest is also widely praised for its looks, easy installation and automatic software updates delivered via a permanent Wi-Fi connection.

On top of this Nest also has ‘occupancy detection’ which means it can tell when registered users are not in the house. It turns down the heating at these times and even learns to predict when you will return to home to turn it back up in advance. For homes in hotter locations the thermostat also works with air conditioning systems.

The main criticism is the Nest thermostat takes a fair bit of time to learn your preferences and you can’t pre-enter as many as you’d like. As such energy savings were reported to be between 10-25 per cent prior to the recent 4.3 update. Here the competition feels they can do better, quicker, while those with a separate hot water tank may find the Nest doesn't give them the control they need.

readmore »»  

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 may have 6-inch 4K display

Galaxy Note 4 with a mere 2K display

Samsung could fit its next phablet, the Galaxy Note 5, with a pixel-packed 4K display, if reports are to be believed.

The dust has barely settled on the Samsung Galaxy Note 4's launch - and a fine phone it is too - but the internet is already looking to the next big thing.

According to Phonearena, the next big thing from Samsung will sport a stunning display. The website has received a tip that Samsung will start producing a 5.9-inch Ultra HD Super AMOLED display next August, which would make it ripe for release with the Samsung Galaxy Note 5.

And yes, we mean the same Ultra HD standard that is currently being applied to 4K TV sets. The current Quad HD standard witnessed in the Note 4, LG G3, and the imminent Nexus 6, sports a mere 2K resolution.

The result of this new UHD technology, when applied to a 5.9-inch display, will be a pixel density of around 746ppi - well over double that of the iPhone 6.

Samsung itself has confirmed that it has a UHD 3840 x 2160 AMOLED display in the works for 2015, so this tip seems highly plausible.

Qualcomm predicted that 4K smartphones would be the next big thing way back in January, but it seems 2015 will be the year that puts UHD resolutions in your hand.



Read More: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 vs Samsung Galaxy Note 3

readmore »»  

Koss SP540 Headphone Review

What is the Koss SP540?

Koss has long had one of the most popular sets of portable headphones on the market in the shape of the Koss Porta Pro. With the SP540, though, it's stepping things up a gear, adding a luxurious build, over-ear comfort and a tough carry case to create one of the most travel-friendly sets of full-size headphones.

Koss SP540 – Design and Features

First things first, the SP540 certainly won’t be taking the pocketable portability crown from the Porta Pros. While compact for a full-size set of headphones, there's only so small you can make an earcup designed to fit all the way round an ear.

The nods to portability, then, come in the shape of fold-flat earcups that also employ a D-shaped design with a flat front edge. This reduces the overall size of the earcup while still allowing complete over-ear comfort. The earcups are also closed-back to keep noise leakage to a minimum, and use memory foam pads for as tight a seal as possible.

There’s a removable, lightweight, 1.4m cable, which thankfully just uses a normal – though recessed – 3.5mm jack socket. A carry case is also included. It’s of the stiff cloth-covered variety with a small zip-up pouch for any accessories. Measuring 220 x 220 x 53mm it’s certainly not briefcase-friendly, but it's compact enough to have minimal impact in a suitcase.

Another key consideration when it comes to wearing a set of headphones out and about is that they look good, and in our humble opinion we think the Koss SP540s look great. They’re covered throughout with a lovely soft-touch matt black finish, with accents of chromed plastic around the headband adjustment points, and polished steel hinges for the earcups. The backs of the earcups are also faced in a lovely anodised aluminium plate with Koss branding.

SEE ALSO: Best Headphones Round-up

The overall effect is one of understated class. They can’t compete with the sheer luxury-exuding might of the Bowers & Wilkins P5 for instance, but it’s a similar vibe, and for less than half the price. It's impressive stuff.

Build quality is good for headphones of their class, too. As mentioned, the earcup joints are steel, as is the headband core. The rest is plastic, but the whole lot held up well to our various twist-and-bend tests.

The earcup pads can also be removed, ostensibly for easy replacement, although it isn’t clear how easy it'll be to get hold of spares.

Koss SP540 – Comfort

A consequence of Koss’ attempts to keep the SP540 as portable as possible is that they're a little small, meaning we had to wiggle them about a bit to fit our ears in, while those with larger ears may find they have no choice but to have the padding sit partially on their ears – particularly just on the bottom edge of the lobe. The padding itself is also not quite deep enough, so our ears were in fairly constant contact with the fabric covering of the drivers.

However, what’s surprising is that this is still a very comfortable set of headphones. The memory foam moulds to your head, reducing any pressure points while creating that all-important seal, resulting in better bass response and noise reduction. The headband also uses a thin but very soft strip of padding that totally takes the strain off the top of the head.

The overall effect is of a comfort level that sits somewhere between a good on-ear and an over-ear pair. In other words, you still get the fairly noticeable pressure across much of your ears that you associate with an on-ear design, but it’s at a reduced level, making longer-term use more comfortable.

The over-ear design also makes these much more secure than most on-ear designs – something that’s also helped by them being very lightweight at 289g. All told, you shouldn’t have any problems with them flying off when you run for the bus.



SEE ALSO: Hi-Res Audio explained

Koss SP540 – Sound Quality

The most obvious first impression of the SP540s is that they have a decent bass kick. There’s a solid thump to kick drums and sub-bass lines rumble along nicely – bass extension is mighty impressive, too, dropping all the way down to 10Hz according to the official figures. In fact, it’s really in the sub-bass area that the SP540 hit hardest.

This bassy emphasis does inevitably give a slightly boomy vibe, particularly at lower volumes, which can muddy the waters a little, but nowhere near as badly as with some headphones.

Indeed, there's still masses of detail on offer here, with individual instruments being easy to pick out, whether it’s the oboes from the bassoons of Elgar’s Enigma variations or Kerry King from Jeff Hanneman.

A lot of this detail tends to be in the upper range, with a fairly modest mid-range response. This means there’s a slight lack of warmth to the overall tone, which can leave acoustic guitars – and vocals in particular – sounding just a little flat.

All told, the SP540s do a reasonable turn with most genres of music, but they definitely feel most suited to electronic dance music or hip hop. They’re also reasonably suited to anything that's predominantly in the upper frequencies, with modest levels of sub-bass.

However, anything with a thicker sound that spans right from the lowest lows to the highest highs – such as rock and metal – can expose the slightly uneven nature of the bass while also feeling just a little flat in the mid-range.

Should I buy the Koss SP540?

Those who value detail and a faithful sonic representation above all else should probably look elsewhere. But for those who prefer a more fun, bassy sound that still has masses of detail, the Koss SP540s are a great semi-portable set of headphones.

They look great, are well built and although not pocketable they're surprisingly compact for an over-ear set. At £129.99 they're about right in terms of pricing, too.

Comfort isn’t outstanding for an over-ear design, but it's still better than most on-ear efforts and the impressive noise isolation means these are a good option for regular commuters.

Verdict

If you like slightly bassier headphones and portability, the Koss SP540s may be right up your street. They’re compact for an over-ear design, stylish and have a gutsy bass response with plenty of detail.



Next, read more Headphones Reviews

readmore »»