Apple unveils iPhone 5: Thinner, lighter, 16:9 4-inch display, LTE, and available Sept 21

Apple CEO Tim Cook and vice president Phil Schiller have unveiled the iPhone 5. In most major markets, the phone will be preorderable on September 14 and will begin shipping on September 21. In December, the iPhone 5 will be made available in 100 countries on 240 carriers. The iPhone 5 will cost the same as the iPhone 4S (starting at $199 in the US with a two-year contract).

The iPhone 5 looks exactly as the leaks suggested — longer and narrower than the iPhone 4 — but we now know that the iPhone 5 is also considerably thinner (7.6mm, the thinnest smartphone in the world, apparently) and much lighter (112g, 20% lighter than the iPhone 4S).

The iPhone 5 has a 4-inch 1136×640 (326 PPI) Retina display — so yes, Apple has finally moved from the 4:3 aspect ratio to 16:9. As far as we can tell, this new space will simply be used for another row of icons on the home screen — and other important apps, iPhoto, iMovie, Keynote, etc. have all been updated to use the additional real estate. In the case of apps that haven’t been updated, the new iPhone will simply display the app at standard resolution (960×640) with black bars above and below (yes, I can hardly believe it, but there you go).

The new 16:9 display also ups color saturation by 44%, bringing its color gamut to full sRGB — “the most accurate display in the industry,” according to Apple. The touchscreen assembly is apparently built into the display, making it more accurate — but we don’t have any more details on that yet.

The Apple A6 SoC

Powering the iPhone 5 is the new Apple A6 SoC, which is apparently twice as fast as the A5, both in terms of graphics and computation. Apple wheeled out some EA executive to tell us that the A6 is capable of “full console quality” graphics, but we remain dubious. Battery life is apparently slightly improved from the iPhone 4S, too.

We don’t have any more details to share at this point, but given the doubling in speed the A6 is probably a dual-core Cortex-A15 design — similar to Samsung’s Exynos 5.

LTE support, no NFC

Beyond the new chassis, the other “big” feature is the addition of a cellular radio capable of HSPA+, DC-HSDPDA, and LTE. Details weren’t given, but we believe this modem is the Qualcomm MDM9615, a single-chip 28nm solution. A large number of supported carriers were listed, including AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon in the US, and a bunch of European and Asian providers. We will have much more details on the iPhone 5′s radio capabilities later.

Perhaps surprisingly, there is no NFC support on the iPhone 5 — indicating Apple still doesn’t believe that NFC is ready for prime time.

iSight camera

The iPhone 5 features an 8-megapixel shooter, with a backside illuminated CMOS sensor, f/2.4 aperture, and other fancy tricks to improve image quality and low-light performance. The new A6 SoC also has some new hardware in it that will improve image quality. Apparently the iPhone 5 is 40% faster at capturing an image (presumably we’re talking about processing time here, rather than shutter speed or something else). There isn’t any optical image stabilization like the Lumia 920, though!

Apple did show some amazing sample images during the presentation, but we’ll have to get our hands on some real sample images before we can decide if Apple or Nokia will be this generation’s camera king.

Rounding out the camera, there’s a few other neat features (face detection, panorama mode), and the front-facing camera can now do FaceTime calls over cellular networks (unless AT&T stops you, of course).

Die, 30-pin connector, die

With the iPhone 5, Apple is debuting a new 8-pin connector called Lightning (to go withThunderbolt, get it?). Other than being a lot smaller, the most exciting aspect of Lightning is that it’s reversible; you can shove it in whichever way you want. There is of course an adapter ($29!) if you need to connect your new iPhone to some old hardware (such as, you know, your car).

Rather than being related to Thunderbolt, though, Lightning is probably based on USB 3.0. Again, we don’t have any specifics to share (seems to be a recurring theme, for some reason).

Thursday, September 13, 2012 | 0 comments | Read More

Microsoft Surface RT vs Apple iPad first impressions review

Microsoft has now unveiled its latest device, the Surface Windows RT tablet, which it hopes can make up lost ground on Apple's iPad. Microsoft's tablet won't be hitting the shelves until later this year, but we've poured over the available details to see how it measures up against Apple's ubiquitous tablet.

Design

It's hard to compare the design of the Microsoft Surface and latest Apple iPad, and we'd be lying if we said that the two devices don't look almost identical. We must say however, that although the Surface has clearly taken design cues from the Apple-branded tablet, it's boxy metal trimmed edges look pretty robust and add a touch of class to the Microsoft tablet. However, its lack of dedicated home button might peeve those considering switching to the Microsoft tablet, as Apple's trusty physical key is now synonymous with tablet devices.

In terms of size, the Surface is 0.1mm thicker than the latest iPad, although it's heavier than Apple's tablet, weighing 676g compared to Apple's 652g. While people probably won't notice the 0.1mm difference in thickness, they are likely to notice the 24g weight difference.

Although Microsoft's tablet has a classier look than the iPad it would be unfair not to award this point to Apple, as without the iPad the Surface probably wouldn't look this nice.

Winner: Apple

Screen

When it comes to screens, Microsoft trumps Apple in the size stakes, fitting its Surface tablet with a 10.6in Cleartype HD resolution display. Although Microsoft has yet to announce specifics, we're pretty certain that the resolution doesn't quite match Apple's 1536x2048 Retina display touch-screen, which in our opinion, is the most gorgeous display in the tablet market.

Winner: Apple

Software

This is the big issue. Whereas Apple's iPad arrives running the firm's well-known, popular and easy to use iOS operating system, the Microsoft Surface tablet will run Windows 8, an operating system that's yet to be unleashed on the general public. Designed for touch-screens, Microsoft's Metro interface does look great on a 10.6in HD display, and will no doubt offer up a slicker experience than it will on clunky non-touch-screen Windows 8 laptops.

However, there's one big issue here: apps. We all know it's more about an ecosystem than a specifications sheet now, and with Apple boasting almost 300,000 dedicated iPad apps, Microsoft has some serious competition. If it can woo developers to produce apps for Windows 8, however, Microsoft might perhaps trump Apple with its more personalised interface of updating Live Tiles.

Winner: Apple, for now

Cameras

This is a hard area to compare, as Microsoft has yet to announce the megapixel counts of its cameras. What we do know, however, is that the Surface's rear-facing "Lifecam" is angled to 22 degrees for recording meetings and events hands-free, which is a nice touch.

On the latest Apple iPad, in comparison, there's a 5MP rear camera, complete with autofocus face detection and the ability to shoot HD 1080p video at 30 frames per second. There's also a VGA Facetime camera on the front of the iPad, which - admittedly - isn't the clearest of cameras on the market.

Of course, it would be unfair to make a decision without specifications, so we'll call this one a draw for now.

Winner: Draw

Accessories

Microsoft, much like Apple, was keen to push accessories at the launch of its Surface tablets. One feature Ballmer got really excited about was the 3mm thin add-on keyboard, also known as the Surface 'Touch Cover'. This adds a full Qwerty keypad and trackpad to the Microsoft-branded tablet, bringing us truly into the post-PC, er, PC era. However, on first impressions the keyboard looks uncomfortable and a little like a child's toy, but we have yet to get our hands on the device.

The Surface also comes with a built-in kickstand, Microsoft's take on the iPad's Smart Cover. One major plus point is that you don't have to fork out an additional £30 for a tablet prop, but the kickstand doesn't offer any protection for the tablet's screen. Even so, money saved is always a plus point in our books.

Winner: Microsoft

Conclusion

Right now, we can't help but think that Microsoft will struggle to compete against the Apple iPad, mainly due to its lack of an app ecosystem that just doesn't match up to the iTunes Store. However, if Microsoft can woo developers to create apps for Windows 8, it might get close to matching the Cappuccino company in the tablet sweepstakes. 

Thursday, June 21, 2012 | 0 comments | Read More

HTC One X vs Nokia Lumia 900 head-to-head review

REVIEW( carried out by Tech-TG Team)

As competition heats up over which big-screen smartphone delivers the most bang for your buck, TG-Tech pits the latest Windows Phone and Android handsets, the Nokia Lumia 900 and the HTC One X, against each other. 

Design and build 

In terms of design, both handsets are unshamedly big, with the One X measuring in at 135x70x8.9mm and the Lumia 900 at 117x61x12.1mm.

When it comes to weight and screen size, the One X does have the edge.

Despite housing a larger 4.7in 1,280x720 pixels, 312ppi resolution display, the One X only weighs 130g. The Lumia 900 by comparison packs a 4.3in 800x480 Amoled display and weighs 160g.

Visually the two devices are about as different as you can get. The Lumia 900 has the same square edged, colourful unibody design seen on its predecessor the 800, while the One X has a more rounded, curvaceous design.

Picking which is prettier is difficult, though we found the One X to be slightly more comfortable in hand. This is largely due to the device's button placement. The One X has three physical buttons along its sides, and three capacitive buttons on its front.

The One X's power button is located at its top, while its volume control sits at the top of its right-hand side. Nokia's Lumia 900 has its physical buttons all located along its right-hand side.

The 900's volume control sits on its top right-hand side, with the power button sitting just below. At the very bottom the device also has a camera button. We aren't very fond of the 900's power button placement, with its central position making it all too easy to accidentally press when using the phone.

In terms of ports neither device is particularly generous, both only featuring micro-USB and 3.5mm headphone inputs.

Winner: The One X
The HTC One X manages to remain lighter than the Nokia 900 while packing a bigger screen.

Performance

In terms of performance it's pretty clear cut. The Lumia 900 runs on Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system, which still doesn't have multi-chip processor support. This means that the 900 runs on a 1.4GHz single-core processor backed up by 512MB RAM. This compares to the One X which runs on a muscular 1.5GHz quad-core chip backed up by 1GB of RAM.

This means the One X is insanely fast, currently being in our mind the quickest smartphone on market - though it's important to note that there isn't currently too much need for quad-core technology in smartphones. Apart from a handful of games there aren't that many apps or services that really require a quad-core processor to work.

Winner: The One X

Packing quad-core technology, the One X outperforms the Lumia 900.

Operating system

The biggest difference between the One X and the Lumia 900 are the two devices' operating sytems (OS).

The Lumia 900 runs on Windows Phone's Mango operating system (OS) while the One X runs using Google's latest Ice Cream Sandwich OS.

Mango uses Microsoft's Metro titled interface, which we believe is significantly more intuitive for new smartphone users than Android's daunting widget-heavy display.

The OS also packs some nice social features, with its People hub letting users centralise their social network accounts into one central information source, meaning you can quickly see all your contacts Facebook and Twitter activity on one screen.

That said, Windows Phone isn't without its flaws, with the OS still housing significantly fewer apps than Android and charging more for the precious few it does have.

Another major annoyance is the fact you actually need to have Zune to connect the device to a PC, a problem as Zune really isn't pleasant to use.

The One X also has its share of annoyances, thanks largely because HTC has loaded its own Sense 4.0 user interface onto it changing pretty much every element of ICS.

Sense adds a host of new animations and widgets to the ICS, which all add up to make the UI feel a little cluttered.

The custom UI is also guilty of several other small annoyances, like having to specify you want to allow access to the disk drive, after already clicking the connect button when linking the device to a PC.

Winner: Tie

Both operating systems have their strengths and weaknesses.

Battery and storage

The One X packs an 1,800 mAh battery while the Lumia 900 packs a slightly larger 1,830mAh component.

Neither device's battery life is particularly impressive, though of the two the Lumia 900 shades it. The One X's battery life is its worst feature, sometimes lasting as little as six hours with normal 3G use. The Lumia 900 by comparison regularly lasts a full day off one charge.

In terms of storage the two are fairly identical, both packing 16GB of internal storage. Neither feature a micro-SD card slot, meaning that you won't be able to expand the devices' storage.

Winner: The Lumia 900

Neither devices' batteries are particularly good, though the 900 is slightly better.

Camera
Both the One X and Lumia 900 feature an 8MP rear-facing and 1.3MP front-facing camera.

Even though the two devices have the same specifications on paper, during our tests the One X consistently outperformed the Lumia 900, with its photos having better colour balance and being far crisper.

This is mainly thanks to the One X's upgraded camera components, with the device including a new image chip, f2.0 aperture, 28mm lens and backside-illuminated sensor to improve snapping in low light, autofocus and LED flash.

HTC has also tweaked the camera's software, so that the One X can shoot in rapid bursts, taking up to 99 continuous pictures holding down the device's shutter button and allowing you to take photos while recording video - which the device can shoot at full HD 1080p.

Winner: The One X

The Lumia 900 doesn't do the basics nearly as well with the One X, with its photos regularly appearing washed out.

Overall winner: The One X

At £500(#125,00), the One X is slightly more expensive than the Lumia 900 which sells for around £450(#112,500). But this is offest by the number of perks you get for the extra £50(12,500), including a quad-core processor, lighter more user-friendly design and a significantly better camera.

For these reasons we have to say that unless you're particularly interested in trying out Microsoft's Windows Phone OS, the HTC One X is currently the best large handset on the market. Though this may change this week when Samsung releases its new Galaxy S3 handset.

Check back with TG-Tech later in the week for a full Galaxy S3 review.

Friday, June 01, 2012 | 0 comments | Read More