Almost a year later we are getting the second generation Moto E, which improves on the basics established by its affordable predecessor. The Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen) continues the legacy of a lag-free Android system provided by a powerful...
Kamis, 30 April 2015
Lenovo A3900 with 5-inch display now official
Just over a week before the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge launched in Canada, Samsung had said that the Gold Platinum variant will be released in the country "in the coming weeks. through major carriers." Looks like the wait is over. The model is now available for purchase from Rogers, Fido, Telus, Videotron, and SaskTel. Everything else, including the specifications as well as the price, remains the same. For those who aren't in the know, Samsung's latest flagship smartphones were only available in the Black Sapphire and White Pearl colour options at launch in...
Platinum Gold Galaxy S6/S6 Edge arrives in Canada
Just over a week before the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge launched in Canada, Samsung had said that the Gold Platinum variant will be released in the country "in the coming weeks. through major carriers." Looks like the wait is over. The model is now available for purchase from Rogers, Fido, Telus, Videotron, and SaskTel. Everything else, including the specifications as well as the price, remains the same. For those who aren't in the know, Samsung's latest flagship smartphones were only available in the Black Sapphire and White Pearl colour options at launch in...
Android 5.1.1 factory images arrive for Nexus 10 and 7 (2013)
Google has quietly posted the Android 5.1.1 Lollipop factory images for select Nexus 10 and Nexus 7 tablet variants. Since this is an incremental update, the new firmware mostly brings bunch of bug fixes and improvements. Android 5.1.1 with build number LMY47V is now available for the Wi-Fi editions of the Nexus 7 (2013) as well as Nexus 7 (2012). Nexus 10 Wi-Fi model got firmware with the same build number as well. Google has been actively working with smartphone and tablet markers for successful rollout of the Android Lollipop to existing devices. It is a thumb rule that the Nexus devices are the first to get any new updates. The OTAs are usually meant for everyone. Factory images on the other hand, are targeted at Android developers and enthusiasts who want perform a clean install of the firmware. Source |...
Android Lollipop with Flyme OS 4.5.1 arrives on Meizu MX4 Pro
As expected, the high-end Meizu MX4 Pro began receiving Android Lollipop. Sized 650MB, the new firmware is seeding to the smartphone over-the-air. After the update, the smartphone will boot to Android 5.0.1 with Flyme OS 4.5.1A. Meizu MX4 Pro launched with Android 4.4.4 with Flyme OS 4.0. Reportedly, Meizu MX4 Pro has become significantly more responsive thanks to the new ART runtime in Android Lollipop. The update is also said to improve the accuracy of the device's home button, as well as partially address its heating issues. If you are a Meizu MX4 Pro owner, head over to the device's settings to check if the new firmware is available....
Build 2015: Why Windows 10 may not arrive until fall
Forget Microsoft's "mobile first, cloud first" strategy. It appears that the company is going against that vision by launching Windows 10 first for PCs this summer, with the operating system available to other devices in the months following.
Microsoft Corporate VP Joe Belfiore of the Operating Systems Group described the rollout of Windows 10 as a "wave of benefit that starts in the summer and increases throughout the fall," noting that PCs will have access to the new operating system first, with staggered launches in the following months for phones, Xbox One, Arduino, and HoloLens.
Additionally, after it was leaked that Windows 10 would arrive in July, the launch timeframe is now confirmed by Gizmodo.
Some features will have to wait
According to Belfiore, users may not get all the features of Windows 10 immediately at launch. It appears that Microsoft will launch the core operating system first and add features after the launch.
Belfiore did not give specifics on the features that may not make the July launch window for Windows 10.
This isn't surprising given all the changes that Windows 10 will bring, including an updated user interface and Start menu experience, Universal apps, support for Continuum to switch between different screens and form factors, support for IoT and wearables, the addition of Cortana and a new Microsoft Edge browser.
Insider Preview available now
For those eager to get their hands on Windows 10, Microsoft is making the OS available in rough form in a Technical Preview. The Windows 10 Technical preview program has recently been renamed to Insider Preview to match the Windows Insider program.
As this is preview software, bugs and glitches are likely part of the experience at this time for early adopters.
- Read our coverage of Windows 10
May 01, 2015 at 05:25AM
Chuong Nguyen
iPad fatigue creates opportunity for Windows hybrids
Even as the consumer tablet market is contracting, there is still growth in the business tablet market with devices like the Surface Pro 3 and two-in-one hybrid slates.
IDC reported that the tablet market is in decline for the second consecutive quarter in the first quarter of this year. This isn't surprising given that Apple had announced slumping iPad sales in its most recent earnings call, with CEO Tim Cook admitting that the company's tablet sales have been cannibalized by the introduction of larger iPhones - like the iPhone 6 Plus - and by the MacBook.
The study noted a 5.9% year-over-year decline in the tablet market, with 47.1 million units shipped during the quarter. Apple is still the tablet leader with 26.8% of the market as it shipped 12.6 million iPads.
Growth of more powerful tablets
Despite declines in the consumer space, more productive two-in-one tablets are seeing an increase in adoption.
"Although the tablet market is in decline, 2-in-1's are certainly a bright spot," said Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst, Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker. "While 2-in-1, or detachables, still account for a small portion of the overall market, growth in this space has been stunning as vendors like Asus, Acer, and E-FUN have been able to offer products at a fantastic value; and vendors like Microsoft have been able to drive growth at the high end with devices like the Surface Pro 3."
These devices, as Microsoft's marketing for its Surface line plays up, compete not only against consumer-grade tablets, but are also powerful enough to replace Ultrabooks and notebook computers. With a keyboard dock, two-in-ones are great for content consumption and creation.
Examples of two-in-one hybrids include the Dell Venue Pro 11, Acer Aspire R13, Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro and Asus Transformer Book Chi T100.
Hybrid convertibles, as they're sometimes referred to, allow consumers to save on costs as they only need to buy one device instead of two. Executives benefit in that they only need to carry one device when traveling, saving on weight and management of data.
Additionally, there is also growth in cellular-enabled tablets. With a 4G or 3G radio on-board, tablet owners can access data and information from anywhere, even outside the reach of a Wi-Fi network.
Is Windows leading the tablet charge?
With the growth of two-in-one devices in the market, Windows may also be a contributing factor. Although there are a number of two-in-one Android tablets on the market today, the IDC report mentions the Surface Pro 3 and the Asus Transformer Book Chi line, both powered by Windows.
For enterprise users, Windows tablet offer more flexibility, security and performance than an iPad. Support for TPM cards and access to legacy Win32 programs may make these tablets more attractive to business users. Additionally, with the upcoming release of Windows 10, Microsoft is making the Windows experience better between different screens and form factors with Continuum.
Continuum allows the OS to optimize the user experience for touch input in tablet mode, but if it senses that the tablet is docked into a keyboard, it can switch to a desktop mode for optimized keyboard and mouse control.
Windows hybrids give users the flexibility of having a tablet or the productivity of a notebook depending on how users use the device. Despite falling sales in the general tablet industry, Microsoft reported a 44% revenue increase in its Surface business.
By the numbers
After Apple, Samsung hold its second place position with 19.1% of the market after a 16.5% year-over-year decline. Lenovo's 5.3% of the market secures it a third place finish, while Asus and LG round out the top five with 3.8% and 3.1%, respectively.
Tablet lifecycle
One factor that wasn't mentioned in the IDC report is the tablet lifecycle. Unlike smartphones, tablet owners may hold on to their devices longer and may not follow the annual or bi-annual upgrade cycles.
As the consumer tablet market gets more saturated, sales may be more dependent on upgrades. Additionally, as in Apple's case, the growth of phablets, or smartphones with larger screen sizes, may mitigate the need to have a tablet as users may not have to compromise on productivity or usability with a slightly smaller display compared to smaller tablets, like the iPad mini 3.
- Read our picks for the top business tablets
May 01, 2015 at 04:55AM
Chuong Nguyen
Build 2015: With Microsoft's DirectX 12, Final Fantasy looks like real life
For anyone that isn't a developer, the second keynote during Microsoft's Build 2015 conference was a bit of a snoozer. But Square Enix, the game studio behind the acclaimed Final Fantasy series, swooped in to save the day with a stunning game demo using DirectX 12.
Don't be surprised if you're forced to do a double take upon watching this demo or looking at these screenshots – I did exactly that. Once the video, titled simply "Witch: Chapter 0 [Cry]," was through, Microsoft Corporate VP and Chief Evangelist Scott Guggenheimer took direct control to show that these graphics were not pre-rendered but served up in real time.
Simply put, it's jaw-dropping how realistic these visuals look – Square Enix is quickly approaching Uncanny Valley territory here. From the texture of the woman's skin to how her tears refract the light on her face, what DirectX 12 can do is already stunning.
DirectX 12, referred to often as "DX12", is the Redmond, Wash. firm's latest collection of gaming APIs, or application programming interfaces. In short, this is one of the many tools that PC game developers use to make their games, directly dictating how those games look through what it offers.
Based on what was shown off today on the Build stage, DX12 offers game creators quite a lot. "Each of these scenes is over 63 million polygons," Microsoft Technical Fellow John Shewchuk said during Guggenheimer's live run-through of the demo. "That's about six to 12 times more than we could do with DX11."
"Just to give you an idea on the textures that you're seeing here," Shewchuk continued, "those are 8K by 8K textures. Again, significantly more than we were able to do [before]."
If those numbers sound like nonsense to you, that's because the demo was running on a Digital Storm gaming PC with four Nvidia Titan-grade graphics cards working together.
"I think where it gets really interesting, though is – look at the hair," Shewchuk said. "Every piece of hair that you're seeing is being rendered as a polygon. This isn't surface map stuff. And as those polygons are running through the pipeline, they're running over 50 different shaders to generate that level of clarity on this."
Of course, keep in mind that this demo doesn't consider even half of the graphical elements that a game released to the public would have to. You can clearly see in some scenes that the "63 million polygons" are confined to a pretty small surface area. So, I wouldn't expect the next Final Fantasy game to look exactly this good on PC, but it should be mighty close.
- This has us pretty psyched for E3 2015
May 01, 2015 at 01:55AM
Joe Osborne
Build 2015: With Microsoft's DirectX 12, Final Fantasy looks like real life
For anyone that isn't a developer, the second keynote during Microsoft's Build 2015 conference was a bit of a snoozer. But Square Enix, the game studio behind the acclaimed Final Fantasy series, swooped in to save the day with a stunning game demo using DirectX 12.
Don't be surprised if you're forced to do a double take upon watching this demo or looking at these screenshots – I did exactly that. Once the video, titled simply "Witch: Chapter 0 [Cry]," was through, Microsoft Corporate VP and Chief Evangelist Scott Guggenheimer took direct control to show that these graphics were not pre-rendered but served up in real time.
Simply put, it's jaw-dropping how realistic these visuals look – Square Enix is quickly approaching Uncanny Valley territory here. From the texture of the woman's skin to how her tears refract the light on her face, what DirectX 12 can do is already stunning.
DirectX 12, referred to often as "DX12", is the Redmond, Wash. firm's latest collection of gaming APIs, or application programming interfaces. In short, this is one of the many tools that PC game developers use to make their games, directly dictating how those games look through what it offers.
Based on what was shown off today on the Build stage, DX12 offers game creators quite a lot. "Each of these scenes is over 63 million polygons," Microsoft Technical Fellow John Shewchuk said during Guggenheimer's live run-through of the demo. "That's about six to 12 times more than we could do with DX11."
"Just to give you an idea on the textures that you're seeing here," Shewchuk continued, "those are 8K by 8K textures. Again, significantly more than we were able to do [before]."
If those numbers sound like nonsense to you, that's because the demo was running on a Digital Storm gaming PC with four Nvidia Titan-grade graphics cards working together.
"I think where it gets really interesting, though is – look at the hair," Shewchuk said. "Every piece of hair that you're seeing is being rendered as a polygon. This isn't surface map stuff. And as those polygons are running through the pipeline, they're running over 50 different shaders to generate that level of clarity on this."
Of course, keep in mind that this demo doesn't consider even half of the graphical elements that a game released to the public would have to. You can clearly see in some scenes that the "63 million polygons" are confined to a pretty small surface area. So, I wouldn't expect the next Final Fantasy game to look exactly this good on PC, but it should be mighty close.
- This has us pretty psyched for E3 2015
May 01, 2015 at 01:55AM
Joe Osborne
Xiaomi Mi 5, Mi 5 Plus get rumored specs, launch time frame
Xiaomi may have unveiled the high-end Mi Note and Mi Note Pro this January, but those are both phablets. When it comes to a 'normal size' flagship offering, the Chinese company still relies on the Mi 4, which was announced in July 2014. So a new top of the line device from Xiaomi (in a more pocketable form factor) is clearly going to arrive in the next few weeks or months. In fact, according to some new rumors out of China, we may see two Mi 5 flagships instead of one - the Mi 5 and the Mi 5 Plus. Both of these are to be outed sometime in July, so around twelve months after their predecessor. As for specs, the Mi 5 is said to sport a 5.2-inch touchscreen, 3GB or 4GB of RAM, a 16 MP rear camera, a 3,000 mAh battery, and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset at the helm. As we told you a few days ago, the Mi 5 might get a fingerprint sensor too. On the other hand, the Mi 5 Plus will be a 6-inch phablet coming with QHD (2,560x1,440) screen resolution, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a 16 MP rear camera with optical image stabilization. It will sport a 'bezelless' display design. It's odd that the Mi 5 Plus will be even bigger than the two Mi Notes, but stranger things have happened in the mobile world. As for SoC choice, the Chinese sources haven't said anything, but since it's going to be a high-end offering it should also come with the Snapdragon 810. Other details, such as pricing, haven't been revealed yet. Obviously you need to take all of this with a healthy dose of salt, since at this point it's nothing but unconfirmed information. As we get closer to July we should hear...
LG G3 S starts receiving Android Lollipop update in Europe
The LG G3 has been running Android 5.0 Lollipop for quite a while now, but so far the same hasn't been true for the G3 S. This is the midrange handset that looks like the G3, but comes with lesser specs. It's probably the closest thing to a G3 Mini, as it were. And apparently LG hasn't forgotten about the G3 S on the software front. The Korean company has started pushing the Lollipop update to G3 S units, at least in Hungary. Since the new software is already out in Hungary, it might make it to other European countries very soon. After applying the update, the G3 S runs Android 5.0.2 Lollipop, and software version V20a. Since Android 5.0 is only now making its way to the G3 S, it's still unclear when (or if) this device will receive the update to Android 5.1, or LG's newest UI overlay on top of Google's OS. Source (in...
10 of the best apps you must install on your premium PC
Introduction
Premium PCs are far from all about gaming and given the performance on offer it's no surprise that a high-end rig takes on just about any task with consummate ease. Think of the 4K screens and other elements as a springboard that helps apps shine and deliver an experience that will have you asking yourself why you didn't buy a premium PC before.
The Windows Store makes it easier than ever to get hold of the very best applications for your machine, not to mention the best gaming titles your new powerhouse can show off.
Even with all that power, when you strip it down to the bare bones it's still the same old PC that can perform the same old tasks that were possible in the early days of Windows. PCs today can be used by the whole family and the wider adoption of the cloud makes it easier than ever to produce documents, edit videos, tweak photos and so forth.
What follows is the very best 10 applications and programs you can get for a premium PC, and the reasons why you need to get them now!
- In partnership with Microsoft, powered by the HP Spectre 360
Overclocking app
The chips inside a premium PC have a high level of potential power and downloading an overclocking app such as one of AMD or Intel's own offerings (like AMD OverDrive) is by far the best way to take advantage of the boosts that are on offer.
Overclocking apps do come with a caveat, however, and really shouldn't be played around with on a whim. Read through the instructions thoroughly to make sure you know exactly what you're doing as melting the insides of your new rig is far from the best way to extract more power.
An overclocking app is best used to get the settings to a level that's completely right for your individual machine, making for an improved and more fluid gaming experience all round.
Steam
One of the major reasons many people splash out a couple of thousand pounds on a premium PC is to get an unparalleled gaming experience that puts consoles to shame, and much of that is down to one service: Steam.
Launched by Valve in 2003, the app offers an absurdly large number of titles that cover everything from Football Manager 2015 to Grand Theft Auto V and a whole lot more besides.
A huge advantage of the app is that your purchases will always be available to you regardless of the PC, Mac or Steam Machine you are using, and the best part – so will those saved games you've toiled away for hours on. We're almost certain that if you're buying a premium PC you'll have heard of Steam, but if you haven't, download the free app and grab a few games. You won't regret it.
Netflix
Streaming has truly revolutionised the TV industry as a binge-watcher's paradise and any premium PC worth its salt needs to have Netflix installed for one major reason – it offers 4K streaming. There's no need to buy that expensive Sky TV subscription to get hold of 4K content. Hell, you don't even need to buy a 4K TV if your monitor supports the resolution as the Netflix app is here to take care of things.
Right now the selection available to subscribers that contribute a couple of quid extra for the 4K service isn't large, and currently the likes of House of Cards, Breaking Bad, Marco Polo and a handful of others are all you can watch.
This will change over time as more films become available in the new standard, though, and you can just imagine the envious looks on your friends' faces when you explain you've watched the latest season in 4K.
Microsoft Office 365
All PCs need some kind of productivity software beyond plain old Notepad and Microsoft's Office suite, the subscription version of which is Office 365, is still top dog in this department. It's a suite that offers a very different experience to what anyone still using Office 2003 is used to, and the cloud has changed it for the better.
For just £5.99 ($6.99, AU$9.00) per month users can have the Office 365 suite that contains Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook for a seamless productivity experience across all their devices, from premium PC through to tablet or smartphone.
Google Docs and Evernote may well be free but the level of productivity they boast is sadly lacking when compared to Office 365, and neither offers a desktop experience that comes close to Microsoft. For premium PC users that's enough in itself to splash out the money for Office 365.
Adobe Creative Cloud
Putting your creativity to good use with all the new tools at your disposal inside a premium PC is a given, and the best way to do that is to download the big daddy of them all: Adobe Creative Cloud.
Rebranded as a software-as-a-service product, the programs are the same set that were a part of the Adobe Creative Suite meaning that it includes Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Dreamweaver, After Effects and InDesign to name just a few.
It's true that Adobe's suite will make a huge dent in your wallet, but if you've spent big on that new PC and want to get the best out of all your photos and videos then it's definitely worth shelling out for this suite. Best of all is the fact that Adobe will constantly be releasing updates for the offering so that it's completely up-to-date at all times.
Serato DJ
DJs and sound engineers are another group that get a great deal from the power produced by premium PCs, and to truly harness that they should seriously consider getting a copy of Serato DJ.
Given the honour of 2014's best DJ software at the DJ Tech Awards, the program has support for four decks from the outset and benefits from Serato's trademark Virtual Decks that allow you to see all the key information on a track inside a slick interface.
It's true that you'll need to grab a pair of modern decks and various other pieces of kit to get the very best from this program, but wannabe mega-club DJs will already have the controllers, mixers and accessories they need. Granted, this program might not be completely essential for all premium PC users, but for budding DJs it's quite simply a no-brainer.
VLC Media Player
Downloading films and TV shows online or buying DVDs can often mean attempting to find a media player that brings all the various video formats under one roof whilst working seamlessly. VLC Media Player does that in spades and is an app that every premium PC user needs to download right now. The beauty of VLC Player is that it can quite literally play every video file on the planet with little fuss.
There's slightly more to this software than just an impressive array of formats, though, and it can also play DVDs, CDs, MP3 and FLV files. Another problem with some videos is the volume not being high enough on the original copy and thus rendering your premium PC's impressive new speakers useless. VLC handles this by boosting playback volume by up to 200% and blasting any sound problems out of the water.
All things considered this powerful program, which just so happens to be free, is an excellent way to play media on any premium PC.
Kodi
Premium PCs at the top of the market all come with a monitor that allows you to bring out the very best in what the PC can achieve visually. Even though watching TV shows and any other content is already second nature to any PC user, there is still one stumbling block that comes with watching media from different locations – it's a hassle having to flit between programs to view everything.
What if there was something that brought everything together into a polished framework that gets the very best out of the pictures, music, videos and streaming sites you use with your PC? Step forward Kodi.
Loved by legions of online TV viewers, Kodi can be a challenge to set up but the payoff at the end is more than worth it. The console takes over your screen and allows you to add streams from anywhere online and place them alongside the local content stored on your PC.
This means you can switch from looking at the photos you took at the weekend to BBC iPlayer for tonight's episode of EastEnders, and there are even plugins to include your Freeview TV as part of the package. This app also has the added advantage of PVR plugins so you can record content to view later on.
Google Chrome
Google has been building itself as the total web company from the outset and the jewel in its crown is the Chrome browser that delivers the best browsing experience on Windows or Mac – and by some way.
Chrome truly comes into its own in the amount of add-ons and extensions that come for free to embellish the experience. Everything popular on the web comes with an add-on that functions in Chrome, and the added syncing with other devices running Chrome is a little bundle of extra joy that just adds to it all.
Other browsers can also deliver the goods in the syncing and browsing departments, yet none of them feel anywhere near as polished as Chrome, and as such it's a must-have app for your premium PC.
360 Total Security
The last thing you want to happen to your brand new premium PC is for malware or viruses to wreak havoc. With its four antivirus engines and lack of any adware, 360 Total Security is the best option for all users seeking quality protection for their machine.
From the outset it offers anti-phishing support, online shopping protection, network threat blocking, hard drive clean-up tools, a Windows update checker and everything else you've come to expect from an antivirus program.
It's true that the four antivirus engines (there's one from BitDefender and Avira, plus a pair of Qihoo's own) can take a long time to complete scans of your PC, but considering the level of protection offered it's worth the longer wait. Especially if it saves your shiny new PC from a disastrous meltdown.
April 30, 2015 at 09:59PM
Jamie Hinks
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