July, 2010
Acer Aspire One D255 With Dual Core Atom CPU For Release Soon
July 7, 2010
Acer may have only just released their Aspire One D260 netbook last month, but an update has already been planned to the older model.
Essentially, it’s the same netbook as we saw last month, but with one (significant) difference: the CPU. Instead of coming with a single core Intel Atom processor, the D255 sees an upgrade to Intel’s dual core Atom N550 processor – the Acer Aspire One netbooks have certainly come along since we first reviewed them here on Zath.
Continue reading »2010 Smartphone Roadmap Revealed For Blackberry, HTC, Nokia, Samsung And Sony Ericsson
July 7, 2010
It’s a good day to live in the UK! Mobile phone website Omio has uncovered a plethora of devices making their way to our shores before the end of this year from major phone manufacturers. Leaks include Android devices, phones from Nokia, and even a Windows Phone 7 device from HTC. Interested? I thought so…
Nokia
Some of the content that’s been covered here has already been known for a while now, but we have a complete release roadmap to confirm a lot of our previous suspicions. The first Nokia device mentioned, the E5-00, is actually due to hit the shelves this month, so Nokia fans don’t have to wait long for this one. If you’re not familiar with the E5-00, it’s a messaging-centric device with a full QWERTY keyboard.
Arriving next month is the X6, which concentrates on being a good media phone with particular emphasis on music. Its capacity has been slashed down to 8GB to make sure it’s affordable for users, meaning it could prove popular amongst the teenage market. The X2 is due to arrive on September 1st, again offering a music based experience with dedicated music player buttons.
Continue reading »Mozilla Firefox 4 Beta 1 Download Released
July 7, 2010
Firefox fans, get yourselves over to the Mozilla website to pick up the newly released beta 1 version of Firefox 4! The new version of the popular web browser has been in development for quite a while now, and the beta version marks the release of a build stable enough for the average Joe to use.
Quite a lot has changed since in the development of the new version, so here’s a quick run down of things that you’ll want to look out for when using the web browser.
Continue reading »EU Capping Mobile Phone International Roaming Data Charges
July 6, 2010
That’s right, in a story that really ties in with our recent article about mobile phone contract users paying too much for their tariffs from what we’ve seen from the results of a recent survey, along with the fact the impending summer holiday season, the European Union (EU) have today introduced regulations that aim to help the more confused customers by placing a cap on the amount that users can spend whilst roaming abroad.
This has been introduced in an attempt to stop users unwittingly running up bills of hundreds or even thousands of pounds (as has been the case in recent years) due to increasing use of international calling and internet data usage – although some mobile networks do have promotional deals sometimes, such as Vodafone’s cheap roaming promotion last summer, but obviously these are just special offers and you can’t normally rely on these kind of cheap deals always being available when you travel.
Continue reading »Mobile Phone Contract Users Wasting Money By Paying Too Much On Tariffs?
July 6, 2010
Something that has become an increasingly large part of peoples’ monthly expenditure is their mobile phone, and as its use becomes more frequent and contracts become increasingly longer, people are starting to spend more and more…especially when it comes to the latest must-have smartphones such as the iPhone 4 and the HTC Desire – however as a recent survey shows, when people consider their actual tariff usage, they could well be wasting a lot of money.
Whilst the 2000 people that Top10.com surveyed is hardly a massive number, the information gained makes for very interesting reading and could well (as will the EU roaming charges directive which I will look at later) save you money.
Continue reading »Scrivener Review For Mac OS X (Writing Software)
July 6, 2010
Scrivener is a software application that is essentially a writing tool, developed by Literature and Latte, that allows you to keep organised whilst working on a large project. Whether it’s a novel you’re working on or just a report, Scrivener allows you to store all of your research and sources in one place – in some ways similar to that of the Evernote online “remember everything” service.
Unlike quite a few of the applications we review here at Zath, Scrivener is part of quite a niche market, with few programs aiming to provide the user with a similar experience. How does it perform for academic and professional users? Well let me explain…
Continue reading »White PS3 Slim Console Arriving In Japan July 29th
July 6, 2010
Not to be outdone by the impending slim Xbox 360 console competition, Sony has decided to spice up their console line with the introduction of a new, white Playstation 3 Slim console.
Although my Japanese is a little rusty, Google Translate has come to the rescue and assured me that the new model will come in two flavours, with one sporting a 160GB hard drive, and the other a 320GB hard drive as standard. Of course, the models will still be available in the current ‘charcoal black’ colour, but the new white option is certainly nice to have if you’re tired of looking at your original model.
Continue reading »webOS 1.4.5 Released, Palm Pixi Gets 3D Gaming Support
July 6, 2010
webOS users, check your device for an update! You’ll probably find webOS version 1.4.5 waiting for you, which on the surface may not seem very exciting. However, if you happen to own a certain Palm Pixi, you can look forward to some 3D gaming support, as the update has provided the device with full PDK (that’s Plug-In Development Kit) support.
If you’re a Palm Pre owner on O2, you’ll probably agree that this update isn’t huge – after all, you’ve had 3D gaming for a good few months already – but hey, an update is still exciting news, right?
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Apple iPad Stylus Input Device – Pressure Sensitive Drawing App Possible?
July 5, 2010
Due to the nature of the Apple iPad’s impressive touch-screen display, up until now it has been impossible to do any real free hand drawing on the device, as its display isn’t pressure sensitive. However, thanks to the guys at Ten One Design and their incredible iPad software development, by using their Pogo Touchscreen Stylus they have enabled such a feature and intend to share it with developers around the world.
So OK it is never going to be in the same bracket as the likes of the Wacom Graphics Tablet range, but never the less this is a fun, if not necessary inclusion in the development of apps allowing users a lot more freedom in the way they interact with the iPad with a pressure-sensitive drawing tool.
Continue reading »Facebook Adds Facial Recognition To Simplify Photo Tagging
July 5, 2010
One of the best parts of Facebook is the way in which it has become a home for all of the photos from the nights out, holidays away and Christmas spent with family and in fact I am one of probably many that has more photos of me on there than actually on my PC – so to say that photos were an important part of the online phenomenon would be an understatement.
So those of you that use this part of Facebook a lot will be glad to know that there are plans in the pipeline for a whole new range of improvements and new features to make using the system easier, starting with facial recognition which is being trialled.
Continue reading »3M’s Post-It Shopping Genius Widget Released
July 5, 2010
To mark the 25th anniversary of the original Post-It note, 3M are introducing a new online service called the Post-It Shopping Genius Widget.
It pretty much combines two of our recent favourite online applications here on Zath; Evernote allows you to simply quickly take notes and clippings on various places around the web and you may remember, we covered a brilliant web browser add-on called InvisibleHand, which compares prices from popular online stores and gives you details on the lowest.
Continue reading »New LG Optimus Range – ‘One’ & ‘Chic’ Android 2.2 Smartphones Announced
July 5, 2010
Whilst almost the entire tech world has been fixated on Apple of late, first with the the chance to buy an iPad tablet device and now their latest iPhone 4 and iOS 4 update, and the rest probably looking to the likes of HTC or Motorola for their latest ‘Droid’ smartphones, manufacturers such as LG have held tight and taken a back seat other than their first attempts at an android phone; LG GW620.
Whilst the afore-mentioned manufacturers are still keeping their customers in waiting for the much desired upgrade to Android 2.2 (Froyo), LG have come steaming in with a new range of smart devices named ‘Optimus’.
It is intended that the company have ten devices lined up for the coming year which not only vary in operating system but form factor too, with news that they also plan to enter into the tablet market later this year.
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Camtasia For Mac Review (Desktop Screen Capture Software)
July 5, 2010
Apparently, I’m becoming quite the TechSmith fan lately. After reviewing Camtasia for Windows, and Snagit for both Windows and Mac OS X, I was left with a very positive opinion.
I was therefore expecting great things from Camtasia for Mac. I predominantly use Macs for most things that I do, including any screencasting. I’ve used products such as ScreenFlow in the past to record desktop clips, so I was interested to see how Camtasia would hold up against the competition.
Continue reading »HP TouchSmart 600 Multi-Touch All-in-One PC
July 5, 2010
The HP TouchSmart was the first multi-touch all-in-one PC released to the consumer market, so it’s only fitting that we give it a great deal of respect when dealing with the latest upgrade, despite a number of other All-in-One PCs being released recently such as the Sony Vaio L Series and the Sony Vaio J Series.
With a decent set of specs, great looking design and HP’s own suite of media apps built in, the HP TouchSmart 600 pretty much earns that respect all by itself.
Hardware
At first glance, with a Core 2 Duo 2.13Ghz process the first thought that will cross your mind is ‘where’s the Core i5/i7?’ However, with this being primarily a media centre PC and packing 4Gb DDR3 RAM, a 1GB NVidia GeForce Gt230M graphics card, a Blu-Ray Player and a 750Gb Hard Drive, it will certainly handle all of your optical and digital high definition media with aplomb.
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SteelSeries Spectrum 5xb & 4xb Xbox 360 Gaming Headsets Announced
July 4, 2010
Just last week we heard news of the new StarCraft II keyboard and mouse mats from SteelSeries. But back at E3 in Los Angeles, the company have announced the Spectrum 5xb and 4xb Xbox 360 headsets.
SteelSeries gaming peripherals have proven very popular over the years with PC gamers with products such as the SteelSeries Siberia V2 gaming headset and the new Spectrum range for Xbox 360 games looks to extend the companies gaming pedigree even further.
Continue reading »Firefox Mobile Web Browser Download For Nokia N900 & N810 Released
July 4, 2010
Mozilla Firefox has finally gone mobile! Surprisingly, it isn’t the iPhone or Android which has the honour of being the first platform to house the browser, but Maemo for the Nokia N900.
Not familiar with Firefox Mobile? You should be! Its entry in to the mobile market will ensure that there’s as much variety on your portable devices as your computer, eventually directly challenging other browsers such as Opera Mini on Android and iPhone platforms.
We’ve got a complete run down of all the features for you below, so just take a look at why you might finally want a Nokia mobile phone again…or at least get a glimpse of what we can perhaps expect from the world’s newest mobile browser should it come to the Android and iPhone mobile platforms.
Continue reading »Sky Sports Subscribers To Get Sky Mobile TV and Sky Player Free Until 2011
July 4, 2010
Those of us who subscribe to Sky Sports (particularly on Sky HD) would no doubt have preferred to watch the World Cup on said channels.
However, from the 12th July subscribers will have access to bonus material via popular Sky Mobile services, Sky Mobile TV and Sky Player, through which they can access the majority of things aired on the Sky Sports channels.
Continue reading »New Sony Hi-Fi Speaker Systems
July 3, 2010
To say that the Hi-Fi/iPod Speaker dock market is competitive would be an understatement to say the least. Electronics manufacturers far and wide have given their all to dominate whichever particular end of the market they occupy. The devices range from portable twin speakers in a £20 package, right the way up to the offerings from the likes of BOSE in excess of £600.
Sony however, have always seemed to sit on the fence. They provide a huge range of products in this market which offer as close to the best of both worlds as you’re going to get. Good looks, reasonable and competitive price and a reputable name. So how does their new range stack up in comparison to its predecessors?
Well, this time around the Japanese giants have put out four new Sony speaker system products which I must say, provide an excellent first impression.
Continue reading »Apple Says iPhone 4 Signal Problem Is A Software, Not Hardware Issue
July 3, 2010
Well this is interesting! Apple has released a statement about the iPhone 4 signal issue that has been plaguing owners of the device since its release. They claim that contrary to popular belief, the issue is indeed a software issue, not hardware related as many suspect.
What’s even more interesting is the fact that they’ve gone in to detail about the issue, claiming that “upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong. Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength.”
Continue reading »Mozilla Firefox Hits 2 Billion Add-On Downloads, Which Are Your Favourites?
July 2, 2010
In November 2008, Mozilla’s Firefox web browser hit a whopping billion add-on downloads. Here we are, just a year and a half later, and Firefox has passed the 2 billion add-on downloads mark!
Firefox is still the second most popular browser in the world, and a lot of people who use it have multiple add-ons that they depend on in their day-to-day browsing. Mozilla have highlighted some of the best Firefox Add-Ons out there and I personally depend on various add-ons when browsing the web, here’s a few of my favourites…
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