HTC One may get a Windows Phone 8 reboot this year

Windows Phone 8 fans: listen up. You could be getting a new toy to play with this year in the form of the HTC One.

Launched earlier this year running Android Jelly Bean, rumours are now suggesting HTC's flagship smartphone - and the best phone in the world today - could get an OS reboot before the year is out.

According to the folks at Neowin, an inside source has revealed that the Taiwanese firm is working on a handset which will look similar to the HTC One, with a screen somewhere in the region of 4- to 5-inches.

One plus 8

The unnamed source stressed that the device in question wouldn't be identical to the One, although you should expect a metal chassis, Beats Audio technology and, obviously, Windows Phone 8.

It's thought that the handset will also borrow the UltraPixel camera technology found in the Android flagship, although specs are far from confirmed.

HTC has already dipped its toe in the Windows Phone 8 water with the HTC 8X and 8S which were launched alongside the platform last year, with the former hand-picked by Microsoft to be its signature WP8 device.

However it's been all quiet since then over at HTC, so it's not a huge surprise to learn that the manufacturer may be planning its next onslaught.

Apparently we could see the Windows Phone 8 smartphone announced this Autumn, with a release date close to Christmas - this is definitely one to watch.

Hands on: Samsung Ativ Tab 3 review

What's that? Another Samsung Windows 8 tablet running atop an Intel Atom Z2760 CPU that uses polycarbonate for a chassis and looks a lot like the Galaxy Tab 3 range that was recently announced?

Yes, indeed: that's what Samsung has just unleashed on the unsuspecting public with the Ativ Tab 3, most thinking they were safe from the deluge of tablets that the South Korean firm was throwing onto the market.

It's not fair to disparage the new Windows 8 tablet just because it looks so similar to other devices from the mothership - it's actually a decent device in its own right.

• Best Windows 8 tablets: all the tablets reviewed

For a start, it's the thinnest Windows 8 tablet in the world and has 2GB of RAM to power things along.

It's not running Windows RT either, so you'll have a full whack of OS power to play with when it comes to programs to use - the Windows 8 interface works effectively on the 10.1-inch screen and, while the 1366 x 768 resolution looks a little grainy, it's acceptable because Samsung tells us is going to be skewed more towards the 'affordable' end of the market.

The 550g weight is also another real selling point, as while its Ativ Q sibling is a rather chunky unit that may cause your arm to fall off on the train, this comes in with a much more sprightly mass (yes, we know mass isn't technically the right word there).

The battery life is another of the Ativ Tab 3's selling points, tagged to last for 10 hours, which is good enough for 'most' long haul flights, according to Samsung's official press materials. It's always good when these things are absolute, isn't it? Lest a slew of returns occur at Hong Kong's airport, with disgruntled Ativ Tab 3 owners annoyed at the lack of power they encountered whilst watching Van Wilder: Party Liaison for the fifth time on the flight.

The ports are much less generous than on the Ativ Q or the other Windows 8 laptops, with only a microUSB, microHDMI and microSD slot showing that you can connect to other devices. In fact, it's actually the same as the Samsung Galaxy S4 - so if you own one of those, you'll be set. Actually, no, that's not true as the HDMI and USB ports are combined on the smartphone. Sorry about that.

The S Pen makes a lot of sense on the Ativ Tab 3 as the 1024 levels of sensitivity can be applied to a wide number of applications throughout the device, which makes it really easy to annotate text or direction, which we can see many using this device for thanks to the ultra-light weight on offer.

Microsoft Office Home and Student edition is pre-installed on the Tab 3, meaning out of the box it's going to be a useful addition to those looking for a more simple laptop substitute, and if the price isn't too destructive, we can see this turning a few heads in your local computing emporium.

Side Sync can be used here too: this allows you to pop a Galaxy S4 (as well as other Android-based smartphones) next to the unit, connected through wires or wirelessly, and the mouse cursor will be able to use the smartphone as a second screen, giving you the ability to drag and drop files across from one device to another.

As you can see at the event itself, the Galaxy Tab 3 will come with its own natty cover, that works via magnets to provide a stand AND A KEYBOARD for anyone that doesn't want to preserve the super-thin frame of the Ativ Tab 3, and instead wants to stop it getting smashed in a bag.

As you can see, the material is a plastic, but it has a certain heft to it that's pleasing. As mentioned, it makes your Ativ Tab 3 so much thicker, but given you get protection (and the option to magnetise on a keyboard) we'll accept it.

Early verdict

It's fashionable to bash Samsung tablets due to the fact they don't seem to have a dedicated purpose half the time: they're either made with low specs or offered for far, far too much money.

In the case of the Ativ Tab 3, we get the feeling that could be about to change. The Windows 8 market is quietly gaining traction, and the sheer number of extras on offer here make it an attractive proposition.

We're awaiting a price before making any rash calls but we were quietly impressed with the Ativ Tab 3, despite the cheap feeling plastic and flexible chassis.

Samsung needs to start pushing down into the lower end of the tablet market when it comes to price, and this could be the device to do it.

Intel vs AMD: which processor is best?

Buying a desktop computer can be a lengthy process involving many complex decisions, but none come with quite as much jargon as figuring out the best CPU.

Before you know it, you're drowning in talk of cores and clock speeds, socket types and memory controllers, Bulldozer, Piledriver and more.

While you'll need to consider at least some of these issues, there's an easier way to approach your purchasing problems. And that's to ignore the technical detail, just for the moment, and focus first on a more fundamental question: Intel vs AMD, which processors are the best for you?

You'll probably find that answering this is much more straightforward. And once you've made your choice, many other decisions about your new PC will fall into place, saving you plenty of time.

Intel vs AMD: Intel CPUs

If you're after performance above else (and you can afford the price tag) then Intel processors are generally a good choice. As our "Best CPU" benchmarks showed, strong single core performance means they generally outperform the competition.

In our benchmark tests, Intel outdid the competition

The difference can be marginal, though. It may be even less significant if you're planning to spend time overclocking your chosen CPU, or if your target applications make good use of multiple cores - especially as AMD chips are generally priced much lower, which means you can sometimes get extra cores for less money.

Even opting for Intel's very latest Haswell CPUs won't deliver a major leap forward in desktop power, unfortunately. Haswell processors come with the same default clock frequencies as their predecessors, the same four cores (with the mainstream sockets). Performance might edge up by 10 per cent or so, but you're most probably not going to notice any difference.

It's not all bad news, of course, particularly if you're interested in mobile computing. As our guide to Haswell explains, Haswell CPUs have new sleep states and enhanced power management which promise a major leap forward in battery life.

For instance, you should be able to leave a Haswell system on active standby, regularly grabbing emails, downloading social media updates and more, for a whole seven days on a single charge: very impressive.

The design of Haswell CPUs brings advances to power management

But on the desktop, even the top-of-the-range Intel Core i7-4770K really doesn't deliver much new (beyond requiring another new socket, meaning you can't drop it into an existing system). As our Intel Core i7-4770K review points out, it's "just barely any better than the processor it replaces", not good news when it also comes with a significant price premium - as we write, it's priced at US$350 (about AU$380, £228).

Intel's latest could make a big difference for mobile

Intel's latest technologies could make a real difference to mobile devices, then. But if you're looking for a desktop solution then the company's older Ivy Bridge products currently deliver the best mix of price and performance, and that's where its best deals are still to be found.

Intel vs AMD: the AMD competition

If you're wondering how it is that Intel can get away with desktop processors which have changed so little in previous years, the answer is simple: they just don't have much competition.

Partly that's because AMD has been trailing behind Intel for some time now, especially when it comes to desktop performance. While the company has promised a lot, they've singularly failed to deliver, and just can't compete with the best that Intel has to offer.

AMD has trailed Intel's best, but still has its strengths

When there are new products, then like Intel, AMD are generally more focused on the mobile space. As we explained in our report on AMD's new A4, A6, A8 and A10 CPUs, for instance, the headline news is the 21 per cent claimed increase in graphics speed. More general desktop performance only edges up by perhaps 8 per cent.

With lower prices plus the option to overclock, AMD processors can be great value

This isn't quite the end of the story, though. While AMD's desktop CPUs generally lag a little behind the Intel competition, there are a few exceptions. Overclocking can reduce the gap still further, and low prices ensure that there are still some great AMD deals to be found.

What's more, AMD has a particularly interesting new technology, in the shape of its Kaveri chip. This uses a heterogeneous system architecture (thankfully better known as HSA) to not only combine a CPU and GPU in a single die, but also allow both processors to access the same areas of memory without waiting for the other to finish first.

The project has some other promising features, too, and while the end result might not immediately overtake the best Intel CPUs, the first Kaveri releases - due very soon - could bring back some real and much-needed competition to the desktop CPU market.

Intel vs AMD: which is best?

We've looked at the two product families, then - but which is best? It all depends on what you're looking for.

At the low end of the market, where price matters above all else, AMD offers some good deals. The AMD A4-5300 is available for under US$50 (you can buy an entire Socket FM-2-based PC for about US$300), and while its specifications don't impress - two cores only, a mere 1MB cache - if you'll mostly be using the system for email and browsing then it'll serve you very well.

Move up the price range and Intel begins to enter the picture with a product like the Intel Core i3-3225: dual core, 3MB cache, US$134 (about AU$146, £87). And if you prefer Intel and don't need a great deal of power then that might just about be enough.

The Intel Core i3-3225 is a strong choice, but the AMD option comes close

Once again, though, AMD offers better value. The Socket AM3-based AMD FX-4130 is a particularly good deal: it's a similar speed to the Intel Core i3-3225, but the two extra cores will help with multi-threaded applications, and at US$99.99 (about AU$109, £65) it's something like 25 per cent cheaper than Intel's offering.

If anything the AMD FX-6130 is even better, delivering 6 cores, with overclocking potential of 5GHz, and still at a very good price.

Excellent single core performance does mean that regular desktop systems will generally be better off with an Intel processor, though. If you don't need the flexibility of manual overclocking then we'd opt for the US$195 (about AU$213, £127) Intel Core i5-3470, which offers both excellent single and multi-threaded performance. Meanwhile, the US$235 (about AU$256, £153)Core i5-3570K is a speedy (and very overclockable) quad-core product with 6MB cache which still performs well today.

The Ivy Bridge Core i5-3570K performs well for desktop

Moving beyond this price level won't make a great deal of sense for the average user, as you simply don't get the extra performance to justify the extra cost. But if you have the money, then the Ivy Bridge Intel Core i7-3770K still delivers quality performance, hyperthreading and a fully unlocked CPU multiplier.

This could all change quite soon, of course, particularly with AMD's Kaveri technology. Can it help to bring some real competition back to the desktop CPU world? Just keep an eye on our reviews and news pages and we'll keep you up-to-date.

The end for plastic? Samsung teams with carbon fibre specialist

Samsung has announced a new materials partnership, which could signal a desire to move away from its reliance on plastic for Galaxy smartphones and tablets.

Following widepsread criticism of the build quality of recent handsets, the company has alligned with the SGL Group, which specialises in the much tougher carbon fibre material.

The 50/50 partnership, which will be known as Samsung SGL Carbon Composite Materials, will provide tech for use in the company's consumer electronics products, according to a press release on Monday.

"The cooperation is expected to provide a stable long-term supply of carbon fiber materials for Samsung and promote its use in various Samsung products and applications such as consumer electronics, medical devices and engineering applications," the release read.

Leading player

Samsung said the partnership is aimed at making the company a leading player in creating carbon fibre products, a sure sign that it plans to leave the plastic devices behind.

"Lightweight materials have become an important factor not only in industrial applications but also the consumer end markets such as digital media," Yoosung Chung, President & CEO of Samsung Petrochemical said.

"This partnership will position Samsung as a leading player in the development and application of carbon fiber-based products," he added.

The company had previously defended the use of plastic in devices like theGalaxy S3 and Galaxy S4, saying it allowed the company to produce the handsets faster and more efficiently.

However, the aluminium HTC One smartphone, along with the existingiPhone 5 device, left Samsung trailing in the wake of its rivals in terms of premium build quality. Is that about to change?

Samsung exits desktop business, dashes hopes of 'Galaxy S4 PC Edition'

Just a week after unveiling its new Ativ One 5 Style all-in-one, Samsung has decided to depart the desktop PC business citing the changing computing market and the rapid decline in sales of traditional machines.

In another nail in the coffin of the PC industry, Samsung said it was exiting to focus on profitable sectors like its smartphone, tablet and laptop business.

The Korea Times brought word from a Samsung official, who said the time was right reallocate company resources to money-making ventures.

The official said: "Tablets, all-in-one and hybrid PCs are Samsung's current focus. Samsung is speeding up its restructuring of its PC business via product realignment toward profitable variants."

Innovative new designs

Another unnamed company employee pointed out how the market for the conventional desktop PC is getting is shrinking at an alarming rate.

The official added: "Demand for conventional desktop PCs is going down. We will allocate our resources to popular connected and portable devices."

Despite only launching a desktop PC last week Samsung, has been cooking up alternatives for a while.

The company's high-end Ativ Q hybrid laptop/tablet device, also launched last week, can switch between Windows 8 and Android Jelly Bean and is the first device of its kind to perform such a task.

iOS 7 beta 2 brings kernels of steamrolled goodness to iPad, iPad mini

Siri may be learning how to say your name correctly thanks to iOS 7 beta 2, but the pre-release update of Apple's forthcoming operating system also carries with it extra device support.

This version of the still-baking OS contains iPad and iPad mini optimization in addition to the iPhone and iPod touch, meaning devs can get cracking on creating for Apple slates, though the rest of us will have to wait until the fall to get our paws on it.

You may recall that last week some developers stitched together a few emulated images of what iOS 7 could look like on the iPad, but now we have an actual, albeit still early, look at what to expect when the OS is ready for public consumption. And though Apple has shown iPads with an iOS 7 home screen, this is our first chance to see its inner avenues on a tablet.

ENTERTAIN ME (Credit: 9to5Mac)

9to5Mac put together a whole host of screenshots of the beta system for larger devices, and we've included a few grabs above and below, so take a gander.

Ooo, the numbers! (Credit: 9to5Mac)

That's not the only thing that's re-imagined (Credit: 9to5Mac)

New look, new feel for the iPad

More blips!

It's no secret - blips are where it's at.

Hands on: Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus review

Samsung has rolled out a new pair of Ativ Book 9 Ultrabooks that mark an evolution from the company's sleek Series 9 laptops.

Like its predecessors, the Ativ Book 9 Plus is still a smart Windows laptop that combines internal horsepower with high portability. Joining it is the Ativ Book 9 Lite, which is essentially a stripped down version of the same laptop aimed at buyers on a budget.

Ativ Book 9 Plus - Design

Chiselled with an aluminium, uni-body design, the Ativ Book 9 Plus is one of Samsung's slimmest offerings, measuring 13.6mm at its thickest edge. It's a sleek number that combines moody dark tones (it's only available in ash black) with metallic edges to give it an understated yet elegant appearance. Unless you're planning on picking up a certain desktop PC that Samsung unveiled recently, it would easily blend in with other machines in offices or homes.

It tips the scales at 1.35Kg, which makes it slightly heavier than its 13-inch MacBook Air rival, but it's unlikely you'd notice the weight difference between the two. The Plus's full metal construction gives it a noticeably more solid feel over its Lite sibling, and we're confident that it would survive a knock or two. We found no areas of noticeable flex in its solid chassis, and its trackpad and buttons produced satisfying clicks.

Display

One of the first things you'll notice about the Ativ Book 9 Plus is the display, which dashes beyond full HD into QHD+ (Quad High Definition) territory. With a 3200 x 1800 pixel resolution, the screen crams four times as many pixels onto the display over standard HD. It also packs more pixels than Apple's MacBook Pro with Retina's display, which possesses a 2560 x 1600 pixel resolution.

Simply put, the display looks fantastic. It renders text unbelievably sharp, while colours and images 'pop'. It features 10-point touch, giving users another method of navigating the tactile world that is Windows 8.

Both the Pure and Lite's displays can bend back 180 degrees to lie flat, which a Samsung representative told us is great for letting your friends also watch what's on the screen. Upside down. No, we're not sure why you would want to either.

Specs

Processors available in the Plus are Intel's fourth generation Core i5 and i7 offerings, and shared HD 4400 graphics, which is backed up by up to 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. Samsung claims the Ativ Book 9 Plus can boot up from cold in under 60 seconds.

Samsung is claiming 12 hours' battery life from the Plus, which falls in line with other Haswell Ultrabooks. Bear in mind that the display may eat up that longevity like a ravenous boar, so we'll take that claim with a pinch of salt until we've put the model through its paces.

Casting an eye at its connectivity options, it features two USB 3.0 ports, a micro HDMI, mini VGA, an SD card slot, and headphone and microphone ports. Samsung has supposedly given the backlit keyboard a tweak over previous models to afford greater travel, though we didn't detect any noticeable level of sponginess; in fact, key presses returned fairly unsatisfactory feedback. It may be something that we would get used to over time, but we weren't overwhelmed with a sense of comfort during our short typing test.

SideSync

Samsung is packing its SideSync technology with both the Plus and Lite models, which allows users to drag files from the desktop onto a smartphone. It works by displaying the smartphone's interface on the desktop in a window with which the cursor can interact. Text and content can be copied and pasted from one device to the other, and vice versa.

The feature refused to work when we tried to pair the two devices over the venue's guest Wi-Fi network, which was more than likely down to the levels of congestion in the room. After switching to USB pairing, it took under a minute for the two devices to connect and mirror what was on their respective screens.

Hands On: Samsung Ativ Book 9 Lite

Samsung knows that not everybody will be able to cough up for the premium smarts found on the Ativ Book 9 Plus, so it's offering the model alongside the budget conscious Ativ Book 9 Lite.

First up, the Lite is no shabby customer. It's a little thicker (0.67 inches) and heftier (3.17 ounces) than the Plus and lacks its premium build quality, but it's still a good looking machine.

The Lite falls short at the screen, which has been reduced to a 1366x768 pixel-resolution. Predictably, its outputted visuals are a league or three below those found on the Plus, but should still be perfectly adequate for most users (and likely to make the model much cheaper).

It retains the same 10-point touchscreen and has a 'specially made' quad-core processor, in addition to shared graphics and a 256GB SSD drive. While most of the Plus's connectivity options are present, including Micro HDMI, mini VGA and USB 3.0, it lacks an SD card slot and security lock slot.

Battery life has also dropped to 8.5 hours in the model (for the non-touch screen configuration), and main memory is halved from the Plus down to 4GB.

Samsung is releasing both models later this year and the company has yet to reveal pricing details for the pair.

BlackBerry Q5 release date and price: who's on board?

The BlackBerry Q5 is here, and about time too as the Canadian firm launches its first "affordable" (the final price remains to be seen) BlackBerry 10 device.

Unveiled at the annual BlackBerry Live conference in Orlando the BlackBerry Q5 was almost completely leaked under the moniker BlackBery R10, so its design and specs come as no surprise.

There's a cheap plastic chassis, QWERTY-keyboard, 3.1-inch 720p display, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, 2MP front camera and 5MP rear facing snapper.

If those specs have whet your appetite then take a look below, as we've been around the town to find out who will be selling the BlackBerry Q5.

Phones4U

The first UK outfit to confirm it would be ranging the BlackBerry Q5 was Phones4U, storming out the gate a matter of minutes after Thorsten Heins announced the handset on stage in Orlando.

Update: It now has the Q5 up for pre-order with all the major networks apart from O2 featured. Contracts start at £21 per month over two years - and that gets you a free Q5 plus 100 minutes, unlimited texts and 100MB of data on Vodafone.

The BlackBerry Q5 release date is noted as July 3 on the pre-order page.

Carphone Warehouse

Not wanting to be left behind Britain's other major high-street phone retailer has also confirmed it will stock the BlackBerry Q5, and you can pre-orderon its website with stock expected on July 1.

Update: In terms of contract price things are pretty similar over at Carphone, with the Q5 once again free on contracts starting at £21 per month, although it's also offering it SIM-free at £319.95 - the cheapest we've seen so far.

O2

Bad news for anyone who's on O2, as the bubbly network has confirmed to TechRadar that it won't be stocking the BlackBerry Q5.

EE, Three and Vodafone

The other UK carriers are all staying quiet on the BlackBerry Q5 for now, telling TechRadar they were unable to comment on the handset at this time.

Rest assured we're chasing them all, along with the likes of Tesco Mobile and TalkTalk, to bring you all the deals and availability.

Online retailers

Update: Thanks to the folks over at Unlocked-Mobiles now have the black SIM-free BlackBerry Q5 in stock and ready to ship - the white version is expect on July 1.

If you fancy getting your mitts on the handset it will set you back £334.98 (£15 cheaper than the pre-order price) - which really pushes the "affordable" tag the Canadian firm has slapped on the smartphone.

Update: Clove has the BlackBerry Q5 listed for pre-order at £330, with the black version due to arrive in on July 1, while over on Expansys there's no word on release date or price.