HTC One X review

HTC One X review
The HTC One X is a welcome return to form for HTC, says Matt Warman

HTC’s flagship new phone is big and beautiful – but at £35 a month or more on a two-year contract, it’s aiming to compete with top of the range handsets from Samsung and Apple and it needs to impress.
Even before you’ve turned the device on, it does. A scratch-resistant ‘Gorilla Glass’ 4.7” screen runs seemingly over the edges of a matt plastic back, and the 130g device is just 8.9mm thick. Switched on, the screen is the best currently available on an Android device and arguably even better than the iPhone. Colours are warm and images are sharp.
Key to using the phone, however, is the software rather than the hardware: so the fact that the One X has a processor that’s also faster than any other currently on the market is somewhat academic. Indeed, fast as the device is the main noticeable impact of that technology is its detrimental effect on battery life – heavy smartphone users will need to charge this during the day, perhaps even more so than the X’s rivals.
Of the features that stand out, however, first is the device’s excellent camera, which takes some of the sharpest images I’ve yet seen on any mobile phone and also offers easy editing features. Second is the integration with online storage system Dropbox – 25gb come free for two years, so you can store all your music, documents and photos without fear of ever losing them again. This may not be innovative but it’s certainly impressive and useful.
In a way, however, it’s the smaller features that make the One X so impressive – it runs the latest version of Google’s operating system, called Ice Cream Sandwich, but it’s been enhanced by HTC’s newly streamlined Sense interface. So Google offers users the chance to reject an incoming phone call and simultaneously send a text message saying ‘I’ll call you right back’. HTC adds an automatic reminder to actually do so. Users who also purchase the driving kit will find that the phone is the best satnav they’re likely to have used, thanks to big on screen buttons and live traffic information. Again, not innovative but beautifully done.
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Clever additional touches include building in a host of widgets, to add contacts, social media feeds or just simple access to document editing. There are even apps to turn your phone into a mirror or a torch, as well as excellent audio from Beats.
Is the One X as instantly intuitive as an iPhone? No. But does it offer more power and more possibilities? Yes. It’s the first phone of its generation and as such it’s the phone I’d buy right now because it's (arguably) the best phone on the market. It remains to be seen how long that will be the case, but it’s more than likely to hold its own against the coming competition.

HTC One X Specifications

Dimensions (mm)134.36 x 69.9 x 9.29

Weight (g)130

TouchScreen1280 x 720 HD resolution

Processor1.5 GHz quad core

Screensize (inches)4.7

RAM1GB

Internal memoryUp to 28GB

Operating systemAndroid 4.0 with HTC Sense 4.0

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/htc/9187899/HTC-One-X-review.html

Playstation Vita ready for Europe launch

Playstation Vita ready for Europe launch
By Daniel Emery
Technology reporter, BBC News

Over half a million Playstation Vitas have been sold in other markets so far

Sony's new handheld console - the Playstation Vita - is set to launch in Europe on Wednesday.

The device launched in Japan last Christmas and Sony say more than half a million units have now been sold.

It will be a rival to Nintendo's 3DS, boasting a quad-core processor and 5in (12.7cm) OLED touch screen.

However, it is entering a competitive market as mobile casual gamer space becomes increasingly dominated by game applications for smartphones.

Two different versions of the device will go on sale: a model with wi-fi connectivity for £229 and an enhanced version that also uses the 3G mobile network.

Johnny Minkley, from video gaming website Eurogamer, said the Vita was "the most competent handheld gaming system ever made", but he believed price would be an issue.

"It is a high-end device and Sony has shot itself in the foot with the proprietary memory cards, which is an added expense which everyone needs to make on day one," he added.

Launch line-up
When Nintendo launched its 3DS system last year, sales were poor, forcing the company to slash 40% of the price, despite critical acclaim.

It was not until games such as Mario Kart were launched that sales of the 3DS started to pick up.

In contrast, the Vita will have 30 different games available at launch. Some will be full-price commercial titles, while others are third-party downloads priced at under £10.
Some gaming industry pundits have questioned Sony's use of proprietary memory cards

The device has had mostly positive response from the gaming media. Tech Radar gave it four-and-a-half stars out of five and said it took "gaming to a new level".

However, CNet gave it an distinctly average three out of five stars and said it was "bulky with an unimpressive battery life".

The site added: "All but the most hardcore gaming nuts would be better served by something like the iPod touch."

Jim Ryan, president and CEO of Sony Europe, told the BBC the device would stand out among smartphones and tablets.

Viva PS Vita or death to all its friends?
"Gaming on the smartphone and tablet is a reality and it would be foolish to stick our heads in the sand," he said.

"We have to demonstrate that our device and the gaming experience is differentiated and we provide great value to justify the financial outlay they have to make to buy into Vita."

'Pent-up demand'
Piers Harding Rolls, an analyst with Screen Digest, said CNet had highlighted a problem that, longer term, Sony may have to face up to.

"There are plenty of other devices out there offering games content, so the market is very competitive.

"Our sales figure prediction is not a small amount by any means, but if you compare it to smartphones, it is but a subset," he added.

Sony said that, for the first two years, it would be targeting its core demographic: 18 to 25-year-old males who were gamers first and foremost.

"When we get to year two and year three, we will try to broaden the demographic to bring in the younger consumer - the more casual consumer, perhaps," said Mr Ryan.

How Sony will achieve that remains to be seen.

"Many people have smartphones so already have games on the move," said Mr Minkley.

"The biggest questionmark is, who is it for, outside of gamers. Where does Vita fit in? Right now, I really don't know."

York Facebook hacking student Glenn Mangham jailed

17 February 2012 Last updated at 19:44 GMT
York Facebook hacking student Glenn Mangham jailed

A software development student from York who hacked into Facebook has been jailed for eight months.

Glenn Mangham, 26, had earlier admitted infiltrating the social networking website between April and May 2011.

Mangham, of Cornlands Road, York, had shown search engine Yahoo how it could improve security and said he wanted to do the same for Facebook.

Sentencing Mangham, Judge Alistair McCreath said his actions could have been "utterly disastrous" for Facebook.

Alison Saunders, from the Crown Prosecution Service, described the case as "the most extensive and flagrant incidence of social media hacking to be brought before British courts".

Prosecutor Sandip Patel rejected Mangham's claims, saying: "He acted with determination, undoubted ingenuity and it was sophisticated, it was calculating."

Facebook spent $200,000 (£126,400) dealing with Mangham's crime, which triggered a "concerted, time-consuming and costly investigation" by the FBI and British law enforcement, Mr Patel said.

Electronic footprint
The prosecutor told Southwark Crown Court in London how Mangham had "unlawfully accessed and hacked into the social media website Facebook and its computers in April to May last year from his bedroom in Yorkshire".

Mangham had ultimately stolen "invaluable" intellectual property, which he downloaded on to an external hard drive, said Mr Patel.

Facebook discovered the infiltration during a system check even though the defendant deleted his electronic footprint to cover his tracks.

Mr Mangham's defence lawyer Tom Ventham had said his client was an ethical hacker who had a "high moral stance" and Yahoo had "rewarded" him for pointing out its vulnerabilities previously.

He added that when Mangham was arrested he made "copious" admissions to police about what he had done.

Passing sentence, Judge Alistair McCreath told Mangham his actions were not harmless and had "real consequences and very serious potential consequences" for Facebook.

'Not harmless'
"You and others who are tempted to act as you did really must understand how serious this is," he said.

"The creation of that risk, the extent of that risk and the cost of putting it right mean at the end of it all I'm afraid a prison sentence is inevitable."

Mr McCreath said while he acknowledged that Mangham had never intended to pass on any of the information he had gathered, nor did he intend to make any money from it, his activities were "not just a bit of harmless experimentation".

"You accessed the very heart of the system of an international business of massive size, so this was not just fiddling about in the business records of some tiny business of no great importance," he said.

A spokesperson for Facebook said they "applauded" the work of the police and Crown Prosecution Service in this case, "which did not involve any compromise of personal user data".

They added: "We take any attempt to gain unauthorised access to our network very seriously, and we work closely with law enforcement authorities to ensure that offenders are brought to justice."


Source: BBC

LinkedIn quarterly profits send shares higher

LinkedIn quarterly profits send shares higher

Business-focused social networking website LinkedIn reported higher profits and said it added 14 million new members.

linkedin

It said net income for the fourth quarter was $6.9m (£4.4m), up from $5.3m in the same period of 2010. Revenue rose 105% to $167.7m.

Shares in the firm rose almost 7%.

Rival site Facebook, the world's largest social networking site with 800 million members, recently announced plans for a stock market flotation.

LinkedIn, which posts work biographies of individuals and lets them recommend friends and colleagues, had its own float last May.

"It was a fitting end to a memorable year in which we reinforced our position as the pre-eminent professional network on the web," said chief executive Jeff Weiner.

LinkedIn has more than 150 million members worldwide.

Meanwhile, shares in daily voucher website Groupon fell 14% after it reported an unexpected loss on Wednesday.

In its first set of results since listing on Nasdaq stock exchange in November, Groupon reported a net loss of $42.7m, when a small profit had been expected.

Sorxce: BBC

Bank of England injects another £50bn into UK economy

Bank of England injects another £50bn into UK economy

Bank of England

The Bank of England has agreed to extend its quantitative easing (QE) programme by £50bn to give a further boost to the UK economy.

When completed, it will bring the total amount of QE stimulus to £325bn.

The Bank started its QE programme, through which it buys mainly government-issued bonds from banks freeing up cash for lending, in 2009.

The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) also said it would keep interest rates at their record low of 0.5%.

UK interest rates have been held at that level since March 2009.

The BBC's economics editor, Stephanie Flanders, said the £275bn of QE undertaken so far was an amount equivalent to nearly 20% of the country's gross domestic product.

Inititally, experts were predicting an extra of £75bn of QE, but this figure was reduced to £50bn when economic surveys released last week indicated that the manufacturing and service sectors had performed better than expected in January.

However, concerns remain over weak consumer spending and the eurozone crisis.

Inflation undershoot?
The Bank said in a statement: "The underlying pace of recovery slowed during 2011, with activity falling slightly during the final quarter.

"Some recent business surveys have painted a more positive picture and asset prices have risen. But the pace of expansion in the United Kingdom's main export markets has also slowed and concerns remain about the indebtedness and competitiveness of some euro-area countries."

It added that without another stimulus from QE, inflation was likely to fall from its current 4.2% to below its 2% target, as rising unemployment and falling import and energy prices fell away, and as the VAT increase from 17.5% to 20% last January also dropped from the annual comparison.

Official economic data also released on Thursday showed import prices fell by 1.3% between November and December.

Other figures showed that industrial production, which accounts for about 15% of the economy, grew by 0.5% on the month, against forecasts for a 0.2% rise.

"Despite overall signs that activity picked up in January after GDP contracted 0.2% in the fourth quarter of 2011, the economy is far from out of the economic woods and it continues to face major obstacles to developing sustainable, decent growth," said Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight.

Damaged pensions
The new QE was greeted with dismay by the pensions industry.

Joanne Segars, the chief executive of the National Association of Pension Funds, said while she could understand the need to boost the economy, QE was damaging the value of pensions: "Retirees who get locked into a weak annuity will find that the Bank's money printing leaves them out of pocket for the rest of their lives.

"For the companies that run final salary pensions, QE is a headache which pushes their pension funds further into the red. This means businesses have to put more money into their pension schemes, instead of spending it on jobs and investment. Our fear is that firms struggling with a weak economy will simply choose to close their pension schemes."

She called for help for pension funds from the Pensions Regulator.

Analysis

Simon GompertzPersonal finance correspondent, BBC News

It seems mind-boggling to most people that a tactic designed to get banks lending more would have the side-effect of knocking pensioners' incomes.

QE makes annuities shrink. You get 25% less now than you did three years ago.

The downward effect of QE on pensions happens because the annuity income you are promised tracks the interest rate the government pays on its debts. These interest rates are already low and QE pushes them even lower.

By pressing the QE button, it could mean thousands have to make do with a whole retirement on less money.

Source: BBC

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Extended warranty concessions offered by retailers

7 February 2012 Last updated at 08:29 GMT
Extended warranty concessions offered by retailers

Dixons, Comet and Argos have pledged to improve the way extended warranties for electrical goods are sold, the Office for Fair Trading (OFT) has said.

extended warranties

Measures include providing more information for shoppers and launching a price comparison website.

The actions come after the OFT carried out a study into the sale of extended warranties for electrical goods, which is worth £1bn a year.

The OFT is concerned that customers are not getting full value for money.

Dan Moore, project director at the OFT, told the BBC: "The key issue for us is that when warranties are sold they represent good value for consumers and that consumers get the best value when they purchase those products.

"There have been some important improvements in prices, however still some significant concerns remain. The market is still skewed towards the retailers too much and consumers still don't get full value for money when they purchase warranties."

In addition to more information and a price comparison website, the stores have also agreed to carry out mystery shopping exercises to ensure that shoppers are being given accurate information by sales staff.

"As a result of the OFT's concerns, Dixons, Comet and Argos, the largest retail providers of extended warranties, have offered undertakings which the OFT will now consult on whether to accept instead of referring the market to the Competition Commission for a detailed investigation," the OFT said.

The OFT said that it expected to reach a final decision on whether to accept the stores' proposals later in the spring.

Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus priced for UK

Posted 6th February 2012 at 12:27pm by GETbyU

The Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus has been priced for the UK, ahead of landing on contracts later this year.

Retailer Expansys is listing the successor to the original Ace for £249.99 when bought SIM free. That ought to equate to a monthly price point of between £15 and £20 per month plus a free phone on monthly contracts.

Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus

As it stands, Vodafone is the sole UK carrier to have confirmed it will definitely be offering the Ace Plus, but has yet to disclose price points or an availability date.

Touted as a tweaked version of the original Ace, the forthcoming addition to the Galaxy range teams Android 2.3.6 (Gingerbread) out of the box, a five megapixel camera and a single 1GHz processor to keep everything running smoother than Terry Thomas.

It’s also home to the built-in Swype touchscreen typing app, a 3.65-inch HVGA display and microSD card support to allow owners to boost storage space by up to 32GB.

Source:

Expansys