Dear Sony, Samsung and every other tech company in the world: stop trying to be Apple

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

Given a choice, I can’t think of any technology company that wouldn’t like to have what Apple has. A proprietary system that ties people in every step of the way: the device in their pocket, on their desk, and pretty much all the content that sits within them. (more…)

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7: first-look review of the best tablet at CES

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

Tablets have come in many shape and forms at this year’s CES, but there’s only one that’s made us go “wow”. And that tablet is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7.

It is, quite simply, drop dead gorgeous. Of course we can reel off the specs – it’s 7.9mm thin and weighs 340g  – but that doesn’t do it justice. When you pick it up for the first time your arm jumps up too quickly; it expects to be lifting something heavier.

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Will your next camera be wireless?

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

The compact camera market is fascinating: on one side it’s being savagely attacked by smartphones and their ever-improving cameras, and on the other by affordable DSLRs and hybrids.

But there’s still a place for compacts – taking snaps indoors in low light being one obvious example – and companies such as Samsung continue to deliver fresh ideas.

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Forget innovation: why Lenovo leads the way for sheer fun at CES 2012

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

The most fun I’ve had in Las Vegas? Spending ten minutes with the Lenovo IdeaCentre A720. Sounds crazy but it’s also 100% true.

I played the piano, lost a strange game involving multiplying insects (don’t ask) and then showed my considerable skill at losing by being heavily defeated at an excellent multiplayer game in the mould of Guitar Hero. Who needs dancing girls, cocktails or casinos?

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Lenovo Smart Phone K800 with Intel inside: first-look review

Wednesday, January 11th, 2012

I’ll get one thing out of the way immediately: this is a blisteringly fast phone. Using it reminded me of moving from Windows Vista to Windows 7: everything just snaps into place, with no judder and no hesitation.

You might ask, “so what?” And that’s a fair argument. I’ve never heard an iPhone 4 owner moan about the speed of the interface, or anyone who’s bought a recent Android phone for that matter.

But there is something psychologically satisfying about using a phone that jumps in response to commands; going back to my usual phone afterwards, things seemed to be in slow motion.

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1 million volts, a hard drive and Dr Megavolt

Wednesday, January 11th, 2012

“Just put your signature there,” said the ioSafe rep. “It’s nothing to worry about. Oh, but one thing. Whatever Dr Megavolt says, do it.”

I didn’t argue, merely noted from the indemnity document I was about to sign that it would be a very, very bad idea to place my fingers outside the Faraday cage I was stepping into.

A few minutes earlier Dr Megavolt had explained what was going to happen: a million volts would be sent through an ioSafe Thunderbolt external hard drive, which was protected by a titanium cover.

Everything would be fine, right? Well, as we were about to discover, things weren’t necessarily that straightforward.

Samsung Series 9 15in: first-look review

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

A few months ago Engadget posted a blog about what people would like to improve about their Series 9. If the official line is to be believed, the 15in version was a very specific reaction to this.

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Samsung Series 9 13.3in: first-look review

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

There are some times when photos of laptops can fool you: they look beautiful when blessed with stunning lighting and clever angles of photography, but when you actually see them in the flesh it’s like going on a blind date with a “slim, athletic and handsome man” and ending up with Danny de Vito (sorry Danny).

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Video: Sony Phone Watch demo at CES 2012

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

The phone watch is an idea that just isn’t going away, with a different spin of the concept produced pretty much every year at CES. But this time, Sony assures us, it’s really going to happen and it’s really going to be fabulous.

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Video: Autonomy’s augmented reality technology in action

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

CES Unveiled is the traditional curtain raiser for CES, allowing a limited number of companies access to journalists for three hours on the Sunday evening before the show starts proper. Autonomy, the company that reportedly cost HP a cool $11.7 billion back in August 2011, was one such company, and we caught a demo of its augmented reality technology.

The video is streamed directly to the app once it recognises the image, and then saved locally so that it can be viewed without eating up your data on subsequent occasions. For people like me, who can’t recognise faces almost a minute after I’ve been introduced to someone, the business card application looks particularly interesting.