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Samsung reveals 6.3-inch and 5.8-inch Galaxy Mega
Samsung has finally lifted the veil off its mythical, supersizedGalaxy Mega, which will be arriving in both 6.3-inch and 5.8-inch versions.
Taking the crown from the Galaxy Note II for Samsung's biggest smartphone, the 6.3-inch Mega sports a HD screen for landscape support, while the handset itself is powered by a 1.7GHz dual-core processor with 1.5GB of RAM.
Meanwhile, the 8 megapixel rear camera and 1.9 megapixel frontfacing snappers bring the twin-camera love, though they don't quite match up those found on the Galaxy S4.
Phabulous
The 5.8-inch model, on the other hand, takes an expected step down in power, pushing the resolution down to qHD (960 x 540), while running on a 1.4GHz dual-core processor.
The Mega runs on Android 4.2, along with LTE and HSPA radios and GPS functionality. As for when you can get your extra-large hands on it, the phone is set to launch in the US and UK in May.
Update: It has been confirmed that the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 will not be coming to the UK, so those of you who are in Britain will have to make do with the massive 6.3-inch version.
There's nothing on pricing yet, though one unofficial EU retailer has the larger Galaxy Mega 6.3 listed for €699 (around £600/$900/AUS$865).
We've had a scout around but so far there's no sign of retailers putting up pre-registration pages. We expect that will change very soon.
O2 Refresh brings a new way to pay for your phone
O2 has decided to separate the talktime and phone costs in its new handset plan, designed to give users more flexibility.
In reality, the bubbly network is now offering SIM Only deals and the chance to pay for the phone over the course of the contract.
This isn't that different to how things work with the network now – consumers will still pay £37 a month for the HTC Onewith unlimited texts, calls and 1GB of data – but allows them to end the phone part of the contract earlier by just paying the balance of the phone, rather than having to fork out for the unused minutes as well. Of course you'll still be tied into the two year airtime contract.
There will be three O2 Refresh talktime plans on offer, mimicking SIM only deals, so for £12 a month, customers get 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 750MB of data; for £17, customers will have unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of data and for £22 they receive unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 2GB of data.
One and one, on and on
So the same HTC One plan would cost £17 per month on a two year deal for the talktime and data, and on top of that the user would spend £20 per month paying for the phone (with a £49.99 upfront cost).
And when the iPhone 5S comes rolling out, you can pay off the balance you've got left to buy the phone from the network and upgrade whenever you like. O2 is claiming that the One would normally cost £600 to buy outright, and on this deal you'll only shell out £529.99 over the two years to own a fancy new handset.
Although don't forget, you won't get a charger...
The full list of phones that you'll be able to get all 'Fresh on is: theSamsung Galaxy S3, S3 Mini, Note 2 and Ativ S, Blackberry Bold 9900 and Z10, HTC 8X and One, Sony Xperia T and Z, iPhone 4, 4S and 5,Nokia Lumia 820 and LG Nexus 4, although we don't know how much many of these will actually cost.
If you're literally salivating at the thought of such a price plan, don't rush out the door just yet. Mop up that flob on the desk and wait until April 16 – you'll be able to get O2 Refresh nationwide then.
Is Nokia considering a keyboard-equipped tablet?
It look as though Nokia has been considering a tablet in the vein of Microsoft's Surface, filing a patent application for a very similar device of its own.
The patent, which was filed months before Microsoft announced its Surface RT tablet, outlines an "apparatus cover with keyboard" that is clearly outline in the accompanying pictures.
As well as a kickstand feature, the tablet could supposedly be folded up in several different ways like some sort of tablet transformer.
Bubbling under the surface
However, we know that Nokia has been working on a Windows 8 tablet of some form for some time, the state of which is currently unknown.
However it's unlikely that Windows RT was in mind when Nokia filed the patent back in 2011 as Microsoft had not released information about that OS at the time.
As the old saying goes, never trust a patent to materialise when a swallow dips beneath the bush... or something. But while Nokia has so far failed to deliver a Windows tablet so far, something could still be bubbling under the surface.
Motorola X phone apparently delayed until late August
The hotly rumoured Motorola X phone still hasn't been made official, but its expected release date has apparently already been pushed back.
Initial reports suggested the handset, tipped to run Google's next version of Android dubbed Key Lime Pie, would arrive in stores in around June/July after a May announcement at the search giant's annual I/O conference.
PhoneArena is reporting that's no longer the case, with its sources claiming the Motorola X smartphone will arrive in "August or later".
Failing to impress
The unnamed source went on to reveal the handset it due to sport a 4.7-inch, full HD display and a slender bezel - which would fall in line with the likes of the Motorola Razr i and Razr HD.
No reason was given for the supposed delay, but it's been suggested that Google wasn't particularly impressed with the early prototypes, resulting in Motorola having to go back to the drawing board to impress its parent firm.
It's not clear how well connected the source is, so we're not taking what's been said as gospel, but it may mean we won't see the Motorola X at Google I/O next month - we're just going to have to wait and see.
Why it's a great time to be a gamer
It's a great time to be a gamer: as if BioShock Infinite, the rebooted Tomb Raider and, er, another Army of Two game weren't enough to get your joysticks jiggling, 2013 is bringing some brand new hardware to get excited about. Whether you prefer hefty handhelds or cutting-edge consoles, there's no shortage of competition for what's in your purse or wallet.
Fancy a new Xbox? You'd better start saving: all the indications coming out of Seattle suggest that the Xbox 720, which may just be called "Xbox", is going to come with ahefty price tag.
We're hearing a launch date in May, a price tag starting at around $500 (£326/AUS480) and a November ship date, and it seems that the console won't be backwards compatible: its AMD processor means it'll have more in common with the PS4 than the Xbox 360.
Getting smaller
Still want to play old games? Well, you could always keep your existing Xbox - or you could splash out on the new Xbox Mini, which is apparently designed to take on Apple's Apple TV and will support downloadable Games On Demand - but not your existing Xbox collection, as there won't be a disc drive. The device, dubbed Stingray, is expected to appear alongside its bigger sibling in May. And the Surface 2 may yet be the Xbox Surface.
One of the big worries over the new Xbox is its always-connected requirement: if you can't get an internet connection, you won't be able to play. Not only does that rule out playing a quick game because your net connection is down, but it might well mean the new Xbox won't play pre-owned games either. We don't like the sound of that.
One thing we do like the sound of is Microsoft's rumoured TV takeover. It seems that the next Xbox is doing a Google TV and putting its own goodies on top of your existing content, so for example you might connect your Sky+HD box or Virgin Media TiVo to it and then control them via the medium of dance using the Xbox's Kinect sensor. Microsoft is taking TV seriously - so seriously that it's offloaded its IPTV platform, Mediaroom, to Ericsson.
Microsoft's giving Mediaroom the boot so it can devote "100% of its focus" to Xbox TV. That's good news for the likes of Now TV, Sky's pay-per-view service: as head Simon Creasey told us, consoles "are definitely the ones that people are currently streaming on... as Smart TVs proliferate, then the market will change but right now the big players are the connected consoles."
The Xbox tablet rumour seems to have gone quiet for now, but that doesn't mean gamers can't get a dedicated tablet: the Razer Edge is here, and it's a "blast". That's what Alex Roth says, and while the tablet isn't the cheapest it's built like a tank and delivers serious gaming fun. "Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Batman: Arkham City and Far Cry 3 are now tablet territory," Roth says, and although it's really "something of a rich man's toy" you should "go out of your way to give it a try."
While the incoming consoles are exciting, don't throw away your existing kit just yet: you might need your Xbox 360 to play your current collection, and you might end up using your DualShock 3 controllers with your phone. That's what Sony would like you to do, anyway: it's created a new bit of software that enables you to use a DualShock 3 with the Xperia SP smartphone. Could the feature be coming to other Xperias, such as the Z and T? "One would hope so, mate," says Sony's Tom Randall.
Best CPU: 10 top processors reviewed and rated
This is it, boys and girls. We're nearing the end of days for the PC processor as we know it. There are storms of change on the horizon and it's anyone's guess what the PC will be like in hardware terms when it blows over.
Right now, things are much as they've always been. You pays your money, you takes your choice. In other words, you get to choose any CPU you like and match it with a motherboard and a graphics card. You've got both AMD and Intel options. And in many cases, you've still got full control over the chip you buy. You can overclock it, underclock it, swap it out and generally mess about with it.
Trust us on this - much of that could begin to disappear within the next 18 months, so enjoy it while it lasts.
If you're wondering why, there are a number of trends at work. Firstly, AMD's position is pretty precarious. We'll come to that in more detail later, but AMD is truly teetering on the edge of oblivion. Then there's the market's obsession with all things ultra-mobile and the technological trend towards greater feature integration that entails.
Very likely, it won't be long before you can't buy a drop-in CPU. They'll come soldered onto motherboards. So while we've a few complaints about the current state of play in CPUs, there's a chance we'll soon be looking back on this as a golden age in terms of choice and flexibility. So get out there and revel in it, we say.
There are some great CPUs from both AMD and Intel that can still be enjoyed in true enthusiast fashion. They're fully drop-in-able. They're tweakable. They're fun. And the way the CPU market is going, they'll probably keep getting the job done for at least a couple of years.
During the making of this CPU roundup, it felt like we were living on borrowed time. The PC is in a transitional period and five years from now much of what you take for granted when you spec up a rig will either be gone or very different.
There are two major drivers here: the trend towards ultra-mobile and AMD's failure to really stick it to Intel at the performance end of the market, even if it produces good chips for tighter budgets.
But let's start with that ultra-mobile mania. It explains why all of Intel's mainstream PC processors now contain on-die graphics. With any generation of computer chip, you have a given quantity of transistors available. That transistor 'budget' increases over time as manufacturing technology shrinks individual transistors.
In the past, it was pretty much all spent on improving CPU performance. More complex execution units, more cache, more cores, added features to help the cores like an on-die memory controller.
Already, however, that process has slowed. Intel's latest Ivy Bridge processors are a great example. At around 1.4 billion transistors for the quad-core version, such as a Core i5-3570K, Ivy Bridge is fully 240 million transistors bigger than the Sandy Bridge quad-core chip it replaced, but it doesn't have any additional cores or extra cache. Okay, the execution units are slightly tweaked, but we're talking typically low single-digit improvements in per-clock performance. That's not a lot to show for a 20 per cent increase in complexity.
The logical explanation, of course, is that Intel chucked almost all those 200-odd million transistors at Ivy Bridge's graphics core. The same thing will apply next year when the new Intel Haswell chips arrive. They will still be four-core beasts at best, and most of the increase in transistor count will be blown on improving the integrated graphics.
The problem is that, to date, Intel's on-die processor graphics has not been gaming worthy. In a mobile PC context, the power efficiency of integrated is great, but on the desktop and if you're into games, it's dead silicon. Worse than that, it means Intel is compromising processor performance - performance you'll actually use - in favour of improving integrated graphics performance that you won't use from crap to merely mediocre.
Eventually Intel's processor graphics will come good for gaming, but we're still several years away from that happening. Anyway, all this is because mobile computing is driving CPU design. Actually, that's not entirely the case - it's also because AMD hasn't stepped up to the plate.
AMD can't compete with the sheer raw performance of Intel's fastest current four-core chips in the LGA1155 socket. And that means it's nowhere near Intel's high-end chips in the LGA2011 socket. LGA2011 chips, of course, don't have processor graphics and are entirely focussed on CPU performance. But without AMD keeping Intel honest, LGA2011 chips are intentionally hobbled and very expensive.
Put it this way: if AMD had a competitive CPU, Intel's six-core LGA2011 CPUs would probably be half the price they are today, and there would also be eight cores on top. Put it all together and the unavoidable, undeniable conclusion is that Intel's desktop CPUs are already nothing like what they would be if Intel was simply focusing on performance.
But what of AMD? Well, that's an entirely different problem. And it's all to do with execution. Put simply, everything AMD has launched in the past five years has been too late and too slow. That's a great pity because AMD is more likely to sell straightforward CPUs in the configurations that desktop PC enthusiasts want. Plus, if those CPUs were more competitive, Intel would surely be forced to do things differently, too.
On the bright side
At this stage, we've painted a pretty bleak picture of the state of PC processors. But actually, things are still pretty good. You can still buy CPUs separately and mix and match them with motherboards and GPUs, allowing you to get the performance balance just so.
And AMD's chips are still competitive at certain price points, which has a knock-on effect across the market. More to the point, while it's likely CPU performance would be even higher if AMD had played a better game in recent years, of course today's processors are still extremely effective bits of kit. Intel may not have actually added cores to its mainstream chips, but it has done a very good job of improving per-core performance.
Sandy Bridge was a huge step forward in that regard and the latest Ivy Bridge processors raised the game a little further. All of which means that these are still the good times, right now. Five years from now, it's hard to say, but it's extremely likely you'll have a lot less choice, and year-on-year CPU performance increases may have slowed to a trickle - AMD may be a goner, for instance, and it's likely you won't be able to buy a stand alone CPU and drop it into your motherboard of choice. A few years after that, you may have to swallow motherboard, CPU and graphics in one big pill.
Back in the here and now though, let's enjoy what's on offer. If you're gaming mad, like us, the good news is that you don't need to go right to the top of Intel's current catalogue to get great performance. Intel's mainstream quads are still outrageously good. For those on tighter budgets, there are some very compelling options, some of which come from AMD.
If you've got a ton of cash, of course, there are even more options. In fact, we've thrown an Intel Xeon chip into the mix to show both how things might have been at the high end and also how you can get round Intel's increasing tendency to sandbag.
It's also worth noting that from a PC performance and gaming enthusiast perspective, now is a really great time to buy. Next year's Haswell chips from Intel are highly unlikely to bring dramatic increases in CPU performance. On the AMD side, we had hoped to see the company really raise its game next year, but now that's looking unlikely before 2014. If ever.
So it's fair to say that a decent CPU bought today will still be competitive for several years to come. As Arnie says, then, do it. Do it now.
iPad mini 2 release date, news and rumours
The iPad mini has been on sale since November 2012, so when will we get the iPad mini 2?
It seems like Apple was surprised by the iPad mini demand - it sound three million of the new iPad 4 and iPad mini in three days.
The story goes that the iPad mini 2 will have an even sharper display of 2,048 x 1,536 pixels packed into the same 7.9-inch space.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Doug Freedman - who was in China visiting chip companies in mid-December 2012 said: "iPad Mini Gen-2: Apple's gen-2 iPad mini is getting pulled-in, and is likely to have several new suppliers, with TXN gaining content."
When retailers start to price cut that can sometimes mean they're making way for a newer model, and as Cult of Mac notes, in the US that's just what Wal-Mart, Best Buy and MacMall are did on Wednesday 3 April, reducing prices of the iPad 3 and iPad mini prices by about 30%.
And could the iPad mini 2 also have the A5X processor under the hood? It seems likely, but as GottaBe Mobile reports, it's unlikely that Samsung will be the manufacturer of whatever part appears in the device.
iPad mini 2 casing
Images of what could potentially be the casing for the new iPad mini 2 leaked online in February. The photos come courtesy of the Chinese Weiphone forum, showing a silver rear casing for an iPad mini.
Most immediately noticeable on the casing is that the Apple logo and text is a sky blue color, rather than the typical black.
After you get over the color distraction, the more important point is a more subtle difference from the current mini, in that the casing appears to indicate a thicker device that the existing model.
The iPad gained a little extra girth when Apple upgraded it to a Retina display, so a thicker casing in these alleged iPad mini 2 shots seem to point to some Retina presence in this model.
iPad mini 2 release date
With production of the sharper screens projected to start by the later half of 2013, the iPad mini 2 release date could be mid to late 2013? And could it be that April is the release date for a revised version as well as the debut of the iPad 5? It doesn't seem that likely.
Ming-Chi Kuo, a financial analyst with KGI Securities, has published what is believed to be a leaked roadmap of Apple products for 2013. That points at an iPad mini 2 being released late in the year.
BGR cites a pair of reports that agree with the late 2013 release date, in time for the Christmas rush.
iPad Mini 2 display
The grown up iPad 4 has a Retina display, and the next mini should either have that Retina tech or something similar.
The biggest criticism of the current iPad mini so far is its relatively low 1,024 x 768 resolution. Critics wonder why a Retina display wasn't incorporated into the first iPad mini to begin with, but it seems it was largely to do with the speed of the product's announcement.
Some said Apple went with a lower resolution so it had some low hanging fruit to grab for the next upgrade. Production problems surrounding the iPad mini might also be the culprit.
The forthcoming iPad mini 2's retina display is said to have a resolution of 2,048 x 1,536 pixels, doubling the current iPad mini's 1,024 x 798 screen and packing more pixels than the iPad 4's 264 ppi.
Anand Lal Shimpi and Vivek Gowri of Anandtech suggest that there are three things Apple has to do to bring a retina display to the iPad mini.
Reports in February 2013 suggested the iPad mini 2 retina display was already being manufactured. It's suggested that it will have a pixel density of 324ppi. As we saw with the iPad 4, could a better iPad mini 2 display also mean a bulkier product? Not it, as rumours suggest, the screen is a tough Sharp IGZO display.
GottaBe Mobile believes that Apple will certainly "actively [move] away from Samsung for the next generation of mobile products." Apparently Apple sent out a request to parts manufacturers for estimates for the iPad 5 and iPad mini 2, Samsung was not a recipient of the request.
iPad mini 2 price
When the iPad mini was first released, reports said the steep price point of $329/£269/AU$369 was due to manufacturing difficulties. Indeed, well into early 2013, iPad minis were not shipping quickly.
The new GF DITO touchscreen technology that helps make the mini so small is reportedly one of many production hurdles.
AU Optronics (AUO), the company that produces the current iPad mini LCD panels, was also having yield issues with the mini screens at first, so a Retina-like display could have caused additional production headaches.
However, AUO claims it smoothed out production problems surrounding the current panels, already resolving the light leak issues that held up fabrication.
Would a retina display iPad mini 2 also push the price upwards? There may also be retina and non-retina variants to keep the basic price low.
Cheap iPhone release date, news and rumours
The iPhone. For many it's the hottest bit of tech you can own, a fashion statement and powerful travel companion all in one - but for others it's an overly expensive solution to a problem which is solved equally well by cheaper Androidand Windows Phone devices.
But perhaps not for much longer. Alongside the talk of an inevitable iPhone 5S and iPhone 6, we've noticed a rash of slightly more eyebrow-raising news suggesting a cheap iPhone could be on the way.
Word of a budget iPhone has been doing the rounds for the past few years, but the reports have intensified post-iPhone 5.
Apple itself has been hit-and-miss when it comes to talking about a cheaper iPhone, with Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller saying in January that the firm's focus will never be on low cost handsets, while CEO Tim Cook said "we are making moves to make things more affordable" in February - so make of that what you will.
We've perused all the leaks, claims, suggestions and "upstream supply chain" comments to bring you the latest vibe on the cheap iPhone and whether we will see one or not.
It's a (release) date!
Apple has stayed true to form and hasn't given any details away regarding its next smartphone(s), but we're expecting the next iPhone instalment to arrive in September, and thus this seems the mostly likely time for the budget iPhone to stride onto the scene.
Some sources have suggested the next fleet of iPhones could be with us sooner - around July/August time, which could mean we're in for a treat when WWDC (Apple's annual conference) rolls around in June.
How low can you go?
Price is the single biggest factor when it comes to a budget iPhone, but it's one part of the puzzle which has not seen much in the way of leaks.
A cheap iPhone needs to be able to challenge the cost effective Android and Windows Phone handsets which are currently populating the bottom end of the market, so really we'd like to see it rock up somewhere in the region of £200/$310/AU$300).
The only thing we've seen regarding the price of a cheaper iPhone is a rumour suggesting Apple is targeting the $330 (around £210/AU$310) price point - which would be nice.
No Retina for your retinas
There is some confusion over the screen size of the cheaper iPhone, with some reports suggesting it will pack a 4.5-inch display, while others point towards a smaller 4-inch offering - similar to the one found on the fifth generation iPods and iPhone 5.
If Apple are really looking at a more affordable iPhone we'd be surprised if it turns up sporting a screen which is bigger than the iPhone 5, and we reckon 4 inches or below is far more likely.
Don't go expecting the budget iPhone to pack the beautiful retina display of its brothers though, with the low-cost handset far more likely to land a lower resolution - possibly 1,136 x 640.
Plastic fantastic
We've become accustomed to the iPhone's premium design, with high quality materials oozing style and class, but things could well get a lot more plastic with a cheaper iPhone.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is looking to clad the budget iPhone in polycarbonate, instead of aluminium and toughened glass, in an attempt to keep the cost down.
These musings have be reinforced by Digitimes' famous "upstream supply chain sources", who also revealed the cheaper iPhone would rock up with a plastic body.
Apparently the budget iPhone won't just be a jazzed up iPhone 3GS, nor will it be a scaled down iPhone 5, with iLounge claiming the cheaper iPhone will be an absurd mash-up of the latest iPhone and iPod, plus the original iPod classic - retro!
Stop, colour time
What's this, an iPhone which doesn't just come in black and white? Well yes, that may become reality with a cheaper iPhone on the cards.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (who actually has a decent track record) reckons the budget iPhone will be available in a range of colours, with apparently between four and six choices.
This was followed by sources who spoke to Macotakara, claiming the cheap iPhone will be available in five colours - which could see it sport the same blue, red and yellow which accompany the black and white on the current range of iPods.
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