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Amazon Appstore for Android - live in the US; UK, not so much

Amazon launched their "Appstore" (Apple suing - no surprises - for similarity to "App Store") today, although you'll only actually have any luck in the US as far as downloading an application - as here in the UK you'll be met wit a lovely pop-up telling you that it "isn't available in your region yet".

HTC Smartphone and Tablet roundup

Co-authoured by Ollie Ford and Patrick Beavis

HTC recently announced a mountain of new devices, including five smartphones that are subject of this article.

They've updated the Desire range with an extra model, refreshed the Wildfire and announced some Facebook dedicated phones - which can only loosely be called "smartphones" - and refreshed the Incredible too.

There's a bunch of fantastic new devices, really exciting stuff, so head past the break for a comprehensive list of the latest devices, pictures, and links to our posts with more information on each individual mobile.

HTC Incredible S

Co-authored by Ollie Ford and Patrick Beavis

Not too long ago, this new 4"; 1GHz Android smartphone was announced, along with it's carrying networks, which includes 3.

It's got some pretty good features too, including a smooth 4" capacitive touch screen and a massive 8 megapixel shooter; along with HD video recording of course. And some virtual surround sound to boot. 768MB RAM, front facing camera, discrete GPU and 1450mAh battery - it's a decently specced device, however with new devices launching with 1+ GHz dual core CPUs, 3D, bigger batteries, and RAM measured in the GB; it may not quite by the flagship device that HTC had planned for.

Since the announcement, HTC have said it will receive Android updates in Q2 so that doesn't lag behind.

We hope to have a full, in-depth review up soon, but until then, take a look at the HTC website for some more details on all of their handsets.

HTC Pyramid and EVO 3D

HTC Pyramid

HTC EVO 3D

These two flagship "superphones" (I'm gonna go ahead and stick with smartphone) are very similar; the reason for their dual existence is pretty much just down to the USs carrier model. Sprint will get the EVO 3D as you'd expect, with T-Mobile bagging the HTC Pyramid (AT&T too, depending when you upgrade, thanks to the recent buy-out).

Both smartphones pack 4.3" qHD (960x540) capacitive touch displays, dual core 1.2GHz processors, and 5MP cameras on the back, with 1080p video playback.

Then, however, they start to differ. The EVO 3D has two 5MP cameras on the back, for some nifty 3D snaps/recording. It also plays back 3D on it's glasses-free 3D display (at 720p, 1080p is 2D only).

4G support is also on offer, which does make it tricky to predict whether or not we'll see these devices n the UK - our 4G spectrum isn't even being auctioned off to the mobile networks until after the Olympics, since it's being used for low latency raw footage transmissions.

We can always hope though! Keep your eyes peeled, and browsers firmly pointed toward our site for more info soon on pricing, release date, and UK availability.

Mozilla Firefox 4.0 - up for your taking

That's right, Firefox 4.0 here on an internet near you...

As far as i can tell its the same old, faster, safer, stronger that all of the software updates normally are. But it does include some nice new features too, such as the App Tab.

After releasing a final Beta a few days back, we've got the real thing, so I downloaded and installed it, giving it a run for its money. It does seem to be up to standard with the new IE9 I posted about not too long ago.


Check it out for yourself, here.

Look out for our head to head comparison between IE9 and Firefox 4.0.

Amazon Kindle Review

Amazon Kindle. I've got to admit I don't read much so haven't found much use for it. But this thing is incredible, the screen is just the most bizarre thing ever - it does look exactly like paper; unbelievably thin.

The battery life is amazing - I have had it for around 3 months and have only charged it once; currently on around 60% battery. OK, I haven't used it much but then I don't use my phone excessively either, which barely lasts a day.

HTC Desire Z (G2) - Review

At last, I have my HTC Desire Z review to post. It's my only phone, I don't switch at all, so I use it 24/7 and it takes a lot of use...


First things first, whoa! Spec wise, it's not the greatest thing going, in the ever growing selection of HTCs, but it's not the worst, by a long shot. It looks the part too, it could be up there in the top ten for smartphone looks.

Hit the read on for the full review:

Internet Explorer 9 has arrived

That's right - available from the 14th of March, the new Microsoft Internet Explorer: Version 9.

From the recent downloads, it looks like its here to stay - topping 2 million downloads in the first day - 2.3 million if we're being precise.

I decided to take a look, and it is a very modern; minimalistic look, with squares and sharp edges. But I'm sceptical as to whether it lives up to being, as it claims, "Clean", "Fast" and "Trusted"...

But figures surely speak for themselves, so it must be worth a look -

Hit the following link for the Bing Page, with Download options.

Google release date guesser, live in a search bar near you

Try it now; searching for games or movies in Googles awesome search box should give you a "best guess" for the release date of that item.

It even quotes the sources (via an expandable menu) - which is pretty awesome. It works by crawling the net and finding dates mentioned next to products, the more it gets the more accurate and "best" it rates it - certain websites are also weighted favourably - such as IMDb, and Wikipedia.

Motorola Xoom WiFi model up for grabs

The WiFi only Xoom is for sale at last - as part of a questionable strategy, Motorola first launched the 3G + WiFi (4G as a later software update) variant of their Android 3.0  (Honeycomb) tablet.

Just as the 3G version, the newly launched WiFi model packs a 10.1" WXGA (1280x800) display, supporting 1080p playback. The rear-facing camera captures 720p video, to be played back on the devices own screen, or your TV via the HDMI out.

Inside, it's housing a dual core Tegra 2 processor, clocked at 1GHz, along with up to 32GB flash storage.

For more information, find the Amazon store link below:

iPad 2: Everything you need to know

It comes in white. It comes in black.

It's made by Apple, looks as good as ever.

It's the iPad 2.

The original iPad was a fantastic device. Completely blew up the industry and tablet market. Never before had so many people been in such a rush to get hold of a tablet. Apple sold more iPads in year one than there ever have been tablet PCs sold.


Should such monstrous success be left continue, eventually dwindle, and finally be awed at in the history books - or be followed up by a sequel, risking the image and recognition built up for further success?


Apple are banking on the latter; read on for more info on exactly what their following up the biggest success of 2010 with.

How-To: Installing a new CPU Cooler/Heatsink and Fan (Thermaltake Frio)

Second in what hopes to be a long and fruitful series of How-To guides, I'll be explaining in full pictorial form how to install your latest CPU cooler, HSF, heatsink, fan, call it what you will.


Click the read on to chill your PC to dizzying new depths...

Android Market packed full with new features

The Android Market now features a web store, where you will be able to freely browse the wondrous collection of free and paid apps.

Should you decide that a particular app is worthy of your hard-earned - go ahead and purchase, and the app will be remotely installed to your phone/tablet over the air (OTA).

Perhaps, however you want to try out the free version first. But "Oh what a pain" you cry, realising you will have to then un-install the free and download the full. No more! Google has freed you of such hindering tasks; the in-app purchases SDK was released today, allowing developers to include support for buying full versions, or add-in packs from within the app itself.

No more themes littered throughout the Market!

Intel Recalls Sandy Bridge Chipsets Due to Faults

Intel has issued a press release stating that they will be recalling "Cougar Point" (That's the codename for 6-series chipsets, as found on Sandy Bridge motherboards) chips due to an issue with the onboard SATA controller, it appears that it "degrades over time" causing poor I/O performance in the longer term.

Those of you with H67/P67 'boards need not worry - it's perfectly safe to go about your day to day computing - just be on the look out for recall notices.

Intel are expecting a $300m hit to their revenue for the first quarter as a result.

Fixed chipsets should roll out in April, giving AMD ample time to launch it's own Bulldozer line of CPU's and enjoy some domination.

This is all vaguely reminscent of Intel's problems way back in 2004, with the 915 and 925 chips' PCI-e controllers.

Motorola Atrix pictured and videoed

You remember the Motorola Atrix, right? My favourite thing to come out of CES?

Of course you do, well, today Motorola has launched it, in the consumer orientated sense. Nerds are all for CES releases, but the consumer at large tends to be unaware until the more public launches.

However, these consumer launches are good for us too, because we generally get some prettier pictures, and some really feature descriptive videos.

Catch said video after the read more link.

Sony announces PSP 2, aka NGP

Sony has unveiled a new addition to the PlayStation franchise. Coupled with the Xperia Play it looks as though they really want to push mobile gaming still.

The new PSP (codenamed NGP - Next Generation Portable - although as above, branded PlayStation) will not feature a UMD drive - but unlike the PSP Go which relies purely upon downloaded games, the NGP will use micro SD cards, preloaded with games, and space reserved for save game data.

Sony are calling it out as having great integration with the PS Suite for Android, which is flying along nicely with the Xperia Play - allowing non PS branded phones to get in on the action.

It features a quad core ARM CPU - the Cortex A9, along with a new and improved GPU: SGX543MP4+. Attracting most attention will be a 5" 960x544 multitouch OLED and dual analogue nubs, without the Go's silly slide out mechanism.

[More after the link]

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Google launches HTML5 Gmail notifications to Chrome

Chrome user? Within a couple of clicks, you too can have these slick notifications pop up for Chat and Gmail.

If you're not a Chrome user, however, you'll have to wait a while. Or you could just go get Chrome, you're need a new browser anyway, right?

Read on to see how to set it up.

Google censors filesharing searches

In a strange move, or a company generally favouring the "we provide whatever you want" model - and disputing with China over it, Google has taken the necessary steps to stop auto-completing and showing instant search results for your searches "bittorrent" and the like.

Humax HD-FOX T2 (Freeview HD) Review

Recently, I reviewed the Humax Freesat HD, but then I thought: what if I don't want a satellite fitted - what if I really want the plug and play functionality and ease of not waiting for the professionals come around and hook you up? 

So I took a good look at the market for these bad-boys and found that you can actually get a Freeview HD (DVB-T2) box pretty cheap from your local, Argos or from Amazon. So, off I trotted looking for the best deal, and eventually deciding that I could not be bothered with any hassle, so I nipped into Argos and parted with £149.99 of my hard earned cash, all in exchange for the HUMAX HD-FOX T2 HD receiver.

Humax FoxSat-HDR 320GB (Freesat HD Recorder) Review

This is the last of my Humax STB reviews for now, but I’ve probably saved the best until last. 


This little box is a combination of all that I’ve previously reviewed, it combines the pleasing aesthetics, a sleek UI, internal HDD storage and near perfect picture quality. To create a product which any AV rack would be proud to store, and any TV would be proud to offer a display of.

O2 launching nation-wide WiFi hotspot

Not so much a 'hotspot', as a blanket of general heat, O2 is intending to provide a technology and service to "enable a seamless customer experience", which will "at least double the number of premium hotspots currently offered by BT Openzone and The Cloud combined by 2013".


Bold claims, and to make such a service "free to customers" too, just why are they doing it?


Well, they worded it well, the service may be free "to customers", but you can rest assured they will be getting their pay cheques from the ad companies. The other benefit will be ease on existing 3G, and future 4G networks.

USB Connector whacks in whichever way up

Ma Xi Xuan has developed a concept for a USB connector, that connects, both ways up. Thus eliminating the never-ending frustration of many Serial Bus using dudes, Universally.

"DoubleUSB" works (or, conceptually works) by using a springy 'middle bit', which flicks over to the appropriate side when you ram it home inside a USB port.

To be of any use, though, it has to be widely adopted by hardware manufacturers. There's no way I'm buying a van load of these and replacing all my existing connectors.

AMD Radeon 6990 - The Dual GPU, 4GB GDDR5 Pixel-Punching Beast

The Dual GPU, 4GB GDDR5 Pixel-Punching Beast is pretty much the official name. I think.

The reference card (pictured above by 4Gamer.net) has been shown off by AMD (ATI) at the Asia Pacific tech event. The 6990 4GB will fill the slot of 6xxx answer to AMD's older dual-GPU card; the 5970 2GB.

It will likely be based on the 6970's GPU, of the Cayman architecture, giving it a total of 3,072 stream processors. It could, however have slightly less and be based on the 6950 - a move I don't think AMD would pull unless they intend to have two dual-GPU cards occupying the top spot (perhaps a dual-6950 based 6980?).

Round back, we can see four mini DisplayPort outputs, along with a single DVI slot. That's no Eyefinity 6 - but then MSI, Asus, Evga, XFX etc. love to handle that themselves. Of course, some crazy folk will chain a couple of these bad-enough-as-it-is boys up in CrossFireX.

Here's awaiting more info.

Sony's "Xperia Play" PlayStation Phone - impending launch!

The guys over at Engadget just nabbed themselves an exclusive preview of Sony's much talked about PlayStation Phone.

It's a very nice looking device - with a fantastic rear - and you should definitely check out their full impression.

Bringing a whole new meaning to PSP, (as it is far more likely to be called that than "Xperia Play" by enthusiasts) the PSPhone is packing an upto 1GHz Qualcomm CPU, with an Adreno 205 GPU. 

It runs Android 2.3 and supports emulators for your old PlayStation and GameBoy games. That's pretty sweet backwards compatibility.

More info, including pricing should appear at MWC.

Apple Store goes down, rumours fly, excitement drains

The much anticipated (am I the only one who does not know why?) white iPhone 4 was once again 'sure to be launched' following the Apple Store's global downtime, earlier today.

This follows recent appearances in Verizon and AT&T inventories over in the US. The white version of Apples mobile phone was originally delayed, due to "unexpected manufacturing difficulties".

Not too sure how hard it is to switch out black pigment for white, but whatever.

Nvidia launches GTX 560 Ti

You know what day it is today?

Yup, that's right, 25th Jan - scheduled launch date for the 5xx series update to Nvidia's fantastic GTX 460.

Well it's happened. The GTX 560 Ti is here. The 460 was a very capable GPU (still is), very overclockable, and getting inredibly cheap now too.

So can the 560 live up to the hype? Read on to find out.

Amazon buy LoveFilm rental and streaming service

Amazon have agreed to buy all the remaining shares of the EUs favourite film and game subscription service. They used to run a service much akin to LoveFilm, which was absolved into LoveFilm in exchange for a 42% chunk of the company.

LoveFilm are assuring us that "the name of the service will remain as LOVEFiLM", along with the usual spiel about billing dates etc. remaining the same.

The most interesting aspect of the release is that they say there are "a number of exciting opportunities for the future", which, while a fairly bland way of saying "we have nothing to announce" - I can't help but feel a little excited for the future of LOVEFiLM with Amazon.

Head past the read more find out why.

Apple's AirPlay gets unofficial Linux support

First there were Apple products. Then there was XBMC. Third-party device manufacturers joined the party to, officially. A Windows hack was also created, to couple with the XBMC hack. And now, Linux. Good old Linux, without XBMC, has recieved the love, nice and simply, courtesy of a plug-in for Totem Media Player.

The plug-in will allow your Linux box to communicate with devices such as the iPad, iPhone, et al over Apple's 'AirPlay' protocol.

AirPlay now features some pretty nifty features - such as continuing video playback on your TV, once you arrive home and pick up WiFi. This kind of seamless integration is a rare treat, and one we're sure you iGuys will snap right up.

Video after the break.

Humax FoxSat-HD (Freesat) Review

Humax FOXSAT-HD - Review
After reviewing one of Humax's freeview plus DVRs, I’ve been lucky enough to get a good look and hands on with the similar, but very different, Humax "freesat HD" box. This product is slightly smaller than the 9150T, and has a few extra and also a few less features than the counterpart that I recently reviewed.


[Review after the read more]

Humax 9150T Freeview Plus Review

Humax Freeview Plus - Review

It took me a while to decide, but recently I purchased a new PVR. After a lot of thought and deliberation, I eventually decided upon the Humax Freeview Plus 9150T 160GB PVR. And to be frank, for the money, I couldn’t have done much better.

[Review after the read more]

Motorola Atrix - The Beast Phone

I thought the Asus Transformer tablet was my favourite CES announcement. I also thought that I would buy one. All has changed.

Introducing:

The aesthetic of Motorola phones isn't for everyone - and the Atrix certainly isn't one of their best.

However, that should be quickly gotten past, because this phone, really is a beast. There will no doubt be more and more talk as it approaches launch, and when it does, it may well be bigger than the Evo.

And for good reason, this phone is packing so much more in "tech specs" than a mobile device, let alone a phone, has any right to pack.

With functionality rare in desktops, laptops and certainly other mobiles, this phone looks set to bridge the smartphone and secondary device - tablet, netbook, or even laptop replacing.

What makes this phone truly netbook/laptop replacing, is the "Atrix Laptop Dock". A thin and lightweight 'laptop', essentially an aluminium chasis with display and chiclet keyboard, docks the Atrix, which then switches to WebTop - more on that and HD Multimedia Dock, as well as the Vehicle Dock, past the Read More link.

Head past the "Read More" for the full specification break down, along with the accessories which make this new Android smartphone pretty damn innovative.

nVidia to launch Quad Core Tegra 3

nVidia have announced the Tegra 2 replacement - Tegra 3. The chip is to contain four physical cores, and as before, high standards of graphics processing too.

This comes right after many products were launched or announced at CES in Vegas, using the soon-to-be old hat, Tegra 2 processor.

Nvidia entering desktop CPU market

At CES this year, nVidia announced their "Project Denver" plans to move in to the desktop and server CPU business.

They already have the Tegra line of mobile device CPU/GPUs - but in this latest stunt, nVidia will be launching Cortex-A15 based CPUs for the desktop market, with their ARM license.


This plays nicely in time with Microsoft's CES announcement to extend Windows compatibility into ARM architectures.


The A15 will be combined with a GeForce GPU to directly take on Intel's GMA enabled processors (H series chipsets), and AMD's "APU".

Microsoft embraces hackers and third party devs

ChevronWP7 dudes, who were the first to successfully jailbreak Microsofts new mobile OS - Windows Phone 7, were hauled in to the Redmond company's offices, to have a nice friendly chat and give out the above posted t-shirts.


The renowned Geohot then posted on his website that he is "going to buy a Windows 7 phone". A short while later, MS contacted him to ship one to him for free.

AMD Fusion embedded x86 platform

Nifty stuff, it has to be said. AMD have announced their forthcoming "G-Series" embedded platform, with a Fusion APU (Bobcat single or dual core CPU of up to 1.6GHz, with integrated GPU - but we can't call them that any more - this is, of course, an 'Accelerated Processing Unit') at heart, supporting DX11 and housing 2 DIMMs of your finest 1066 DDR3 RAM.

This will hardly be an upgrade for your current PC, and should you care to ask "But will it play Crysis?" semi-ironically, you would not get an answer in the affirmative.

Notching it down to SFF (Small Form Factor) PC's, in-car boxes, and STBs (Set Top Boxes) - well, this could be a winner.

Full press release, and videos after the break.

App Store nears ten billion -

The Apple App Store is nearing it's major landmark, ten billion downloads, proving it's success, and we all knew it was coming. Especially with the major success of the iPad and of course the more recent, Mac App store...

Apple CEO Steve Jobs takes medical leave

Vibrant and beloved CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, has been awarded - on his own request - a medical leave of absence. In a memo to employees he expressed plainly that he would still be involved in all the big decisions for the company, however he is confident in Tim Cook to handle daily operations.

UltraViolet Blu-Ray DRM; watching your films anywhere just got real.

Ringing a bell? You know you've heard of UltraViolet somewhere before, right?


UltraViolet is a DRM. Don't panic. It's the great kind. The kind of DRM that makes us all happy.


Imagine, you buy a BD disc. You scratch it. Game over - you want to watch again, you're gonna need to buy again.


What if you own a BD, but you're on holiday with you're 3G enabled device and you fancy watching said BD? Tough stuff. You're gonna need to buy again to download, or rent a stream.


Picture a world where you can watch you're bought films anywhere. If you buy a Blu-Ray disc, you can watch the disc, stream it online, download a copy to your laptop - get a smaller file for your mobile...


...Sounds great, doesn't it!


Head past the break if you'd like that particular dream to come true.

Asus' all new Eee tablet devices

Picture courtesy of Engadget

As you can see above, Asus are launching not just one, but four all new Eee form factors - and you can bet each one will have a variety of options and price points to suit your specific needs.


Head over the link below to see the full spec of these new products. I'll tell you now, it's pretty impressive stuff!

Samsung's DDR4 RAM has 140% efficiency of DDR3

Samsung has developed some new DDR4 memory, using significantly less power - a slated 40% less - during read and write operations than our current DDR3 stuff.

Sandy Bridge is a go!

Intel just thwacked out no less that twenty-nine shiny new CPUs, along with ten new chipsets.


Yep, the long anticipated Sandy Bridge has arrived, you can find the specific processors and features available after the break.


Prices range from $117 to $317 plus tax, no word on UK pricing just yet.

Sub $300 3DTV

Vizio, the US high-end-on-a-budget TV hit, is all set to release 3D TV's to the masses. Just ahead of CES 2011 they have announced a line of 3DTV's using passive glasses, as opposed to the active shutter tech we're accustomed to seeing at the moment, starting at below $300.