Tech
New Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch Laptop: A Closer Look At The Hardware Update
February 24, 2011
Apple’s new 13-inch MacBook Pro models for 2011 were revealed today, with upgraded processors, new ports and, well, downgraded graphics…
Apple has decided to drop NVIDIA graphics from its MacBook Pro laptop computers altogether, instead moving to AMD graphics in the 15 and 17-inch models. The 13-inch model, however, seems to have lost its NVIDIA GPU and traded it in for an Intel one, which is sure to annoy Steam loving Mac gamers around the world.
Continue reading »New Apple MacBook Pro Laptops With Thunderbolt I/O & AMD Graphics Hardware Released
February 24, 2011
It turns out that those MacBook Pro related rumours we’ve been seeing in the past few days are all true!
Apple has just announced its new line up of MacBook Pro laptops with Thunderbolt I/O, brand new Sandy Bridge processors and AMD graphics to replace the NVIDIA chips found in the last generation of Apple’s portable line.
There are updates to the 13-inch, 15-inch and 17-inch models, but no iMac updates that were rumoured a few days ago.
Continue reading »Apple Renaming Light Peak to ‘Thunderbolt’? New MacBook Pro Specs Revealed?
February 23, 2011
With Apple’s new MacBook Pro line set to arrive tomorrow, images have been flying all over the internet today, supposedly showing off the new models.
German website fscklog (no points for the name, although I suppose it may mean more in German than English…) has released what is apparently a specs sheet for the new models, which includes a mention of “Thunderbolt High-Speed I/O”.
With an Intel event also planned for tomorrow, it’s safe to assume that Thunderbolt is Apple’s naming scheme for Intel’s Light Peak technology, and that we will indeed see it on notebooks being released tomorrow.
Continue reading »Official: Apple Holding iPad 2 Event On 2nd March!
February 23, 2011
Yesterday, we told you that Apple may be holding its iPad 2 event next Wednesday, on March 2nd. Today, this has been confirmed as Apple contacted a number of technology websites to alert them to the event.
There is lots of speculation over what this new update will bring. Many people are suggesting that we will see a dual core processor, as well as front and rear cameras on the device.
Continue reading »HTC Wildfire Review
February 23, 2011
HTC has gone through somewhat of a surge in terms of success in the last couple of years with phones like the HTC Desire and the Desire HD impressing many of us and setting great standards in terms of Android-based smartphones and now have they done it again with the HTC Wildfire?
As we saw in the announcement of the HTC Wildfire is very much a budget Android-based smartphone aimed at those who want the more out their phone for a smaller price tag than the likes of the iPhone 4, HTC Desire or Nexus One, and the £160 that you will have to shell out for one is certainly that. But have sacrifices been made for this price?
Continue reading »Will Apple Launch New iMacs Alongside Updated MacBook Pros On Thursday?
February 22, 2011
Last Apple rumour of the day, I promise! With MacBook Pro stock dwindling at Apple stores up and down the country and it is nearly a year since its last update, it seems that estimates of a refresh this Thursday seem to be fairly accurate!
What hasn’t been discussed as much in the past week is the potential iMac refresh that could accompany the Sandy Bridge boost for Apple’s line of portables.
Continue reading »Will Apple Unveil The iPad 2 On March 2nd?
February 22, 2011
The Apple rumour mill has certainly been working overtime today; we’ve already heard reports of the iPhone 5 release date being potentially delayed, and got the hopes up of audiophiles around the globe (what can I say, we’re ambitious people) when we told you that Apple may soon be selling 24-bit audio tracks in the near future on their iTunes store.
The latest rumour to make its rounds today? Oh, just a little something about an iPad 2, no big deal. More specifically, All Things Digital is reporting that Apple may actually unveil their new tablet a week tomorrow on March 2nd.
Continue reading »
Xbox Kinect Sensor Review – Should I Buy The Xbox 360 Motion Controller?
February 22, 2011
I was quite excited when I first starting reading about Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect. A motion controller gaming system without the actual controller sounded like futuristic stuff and ever since it was first announced to the world as Project Natal, it was something I just had to have, it really came across as actual future technology that until then you’d only seen in sci-fi movies.
I was excited when I did finally got my hands on Kinect after we’d already seen a Xbox Kinect/Project Natal Preview, even more so through the setup as it felt strange not to be using a controller apart from my very own hands to lead the way.
Continue reading »iPhone 5 Release Date Might Be Delayed Until September 2011 – A Long Summer Of ‘Apple Waiting’?
February 22, 2011
If you were holding out until June to bag yourself an iPhone 5, then you may be out of luck for this year. Business Insider has reported that FBR Capital Markets analyst Craig Berger is predicting that the upgrade of the iPhone 4 may launch in September of this year, rather than the usual time of June or July.
If the predictions are accurate, it would be the first time since the launch of the first iPhone back in 2007 that we haven’t seen a refresh of the popular smartphone in either June or July. So instead of us being able to get our hands on Apple’s latest mobile phone for the summer, we’d end up having a whole summer of “Apple Waiting” until we can get the next upgrade!
Continue reading »Higher Quality Music Downloads Could Be Coming To iTunes Later This Year
February 22, 2011
If you’re a regular reader of Zath, you will probably have read a rant or two about how I can’t stand compressed music, and how I feel the vast majority of digital downloads should be in a lossless format.
Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. Despite our ever increasing broadband speeds and huge amounts of storage, we are still downloading tracks at a paltry 256kb/s from the iTunes store or similar outfits such as the Amazon MP3 Store. If you’re somewhat of an audiophile like myself, you will no doubt be encouraged to hear about the latest rumour to land itself at CNN of all places.
Continue reading »Best Broadband Internet Provider Deals For 2011 (UK)
February 16, 2011
Choosing your ISP can be an incredibly difficult task: not only is the choice very wide and the use of language very liberal (and confusing), but it is something that will effect you every day, and given how much we rely on the internet when it goes wrong it can be fairly catastrophic.
However, here on Zath we’ve previously covered the Top UK Broadband Providers Awards 2010 and now ISPreview.co.uk have gone some way in helping you make that decision. They’ve had a look at the reviews and experiences they’ve had over the last year to come up with some of the best broadband provider deals for 2011 and some advice on who to go to for your internet needs.
Continue reading »
Sony Ericsson Live View Software Update Review
February 15, 2011
Last month we had a look at Sony Ericsson’s watch-cum-phone accessory ‘Live View’ and although we had some initial reservations we found it was quite a fun device to use and that it could be even better if it wasn’t held back by a few simple flaws; however just as was promised in our Sony Ericsson Live View Review, they’ve now brought out an update which hopes to eradicate the worst of these and make the product even more attractive.
For those of you that already own one you can wander over to www.sonyericsson.com/support to get hold of the update, but for everyone there are a few additions to the Live View that are worth pointing out as they will probably make the device itself a lot more appealing (and a lot less frustrating!).
Continue reading »Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Play Officially Announced With Full Specs!
February 14, 2011
Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Play has been the subject of much speculation in the past year or so. Some thought it may replace the PSP entirely, whilst others doubted its existence at all. As it turns out, the PSP lives on and the phone does indeed exist, in fact it’s been officially announced at Mobile World Congress this week, so let’s take a closer look at it!
The phone / console runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the same operating system which runs on the new Samsung Nexus S phone, and is powered by Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon CPU. The graphics are powered by Qualcomm’s Adreno 205 chip and will power a host of games which will be available to Android users for the first time on a mobile device.
Continue reading »Nokia & Microsoft Enter Strategic Partnership For Windows Phone 7, But How Will It Affect The Smartphone Market?
February 13, 2011
Nokia has been rather violently, and brutally, shoved out of the limelight in recent years, when it comes to the mobile phone market. There was once a time when it was top dog, but those days are sadly over. But perhaps not for good; in the latest attempt to revitalise it’s position in the industry, it’s entered a potentially enormous partnership with Microsoft. Both are companies in transition when it comes to the mobile market, as Microsoft has recently launched its own Windows Phone 7 platform for mobile devices. Nokia, though, has been struggling along with outdated operating systems, such as Symbian, for a number of years now, and it just hasn’t cut it as the likes of iOS and Android have stolen it’s thunder.
The new partnership aims to incorporate Windows Phone 7 into Nokia devices in the coming years, and Nokia has already informed it’s staff that there will be massive reductions in employment as a result. Moving away from Symbian has obviously been a wrench on the company as a whole, as thousands of mourning workers left the Symbian offices today in a non-violent protest against the move. Of course they won’t be too happy about it but, perhaps selfishly, the rest of us will be.
Continue reading »Samsung Galaxy S II & 10.1″ Galaxy Tab Confirmed For MWC
February 13, 2011
Well there has once again been a lot of rumour and speculation circling the web in the last couple of weeks, particularly, focussed on Samsung and what it is going to unveil at Mobile World Congress (MWC). Well, we now have it on good authority that a pair of devices, both succeeding products already in circulation, will be appearing.
The first is the Galaxy S II, obviously the second flagship Samsung Galaxy S device, and it will feature a 4.3″ 480×800 Super AMOLED plus display, still a meagre resolution but a great quality display, as well as being powered by a dual-core processor clocked at 1GHz. In the US, the device will carry on board HSPA+ connectivity, though no such infrastructure is in place as yet in the UK to support the theoretical 24mbps network, which remains a shame.
Continue reading »First Nokia Windows Phone 7 Concept Revealed
February 12, 2011
Well, it was said that both Microsoft and Nokia have been collaborating, and working hard for a long time now on Windows Phone 7 concepts and ideas, and already we have proof of the first concept device thought up by the great minds at the two firms.
In an Engadget exclusive, the images of the devices display an ergonomic design, fitting in similarly to Nokia’s recent hardware designs in the N8 and C7, which obviously run Symbian. The device, which appears in a variety of electric colours, seems rather large on first inspection and features the customary set of three buttons aligned along the bottom, below the screen.
Continue reading »Is Apple Preparing To Redesign iOS Notifications?
February 12, 2011
The notifications system on the iPhone has long been criticised, and reports emerging this afternoon suggest that the Cupertino company is finally going to redevelop the system. But, the question is more who will actually do it than how will it be done.
You see, the reports continue to claim that Apple is going to employ a third-party developer, who has previously developed apps for the iOS App Store, to develop the notification system. Of course, Apple has a history of buying small companies and incorporating the functionality, so it wouldn’t be a huge surprise. The question is, who?
Continue reading »Samsung Galaxy S II Coming 4th March, Pre-Order Is Available!
February 12, 2011
Well, we reported earlier on today that the Samsung Galaxy S mark-2 will be officially unveiled at MWC, and now the pricing and availability has become all but official in the UK, thanks to a leak on the retailer MobileFun’s website.
The site is allowing you to pre-order your Galaxy S II i9100 for £545.95 sim-free. As I already said, the release date is expected around 4th March, which isn’t actually that long to wait. Not like Palm (HP), who force customers through a agonising 6 month wait for it’s devices to hit the market.
Continue reading »Samsung Galaxy Tab 10″ Tablet To Be Announced This Weekend?
February 11, 2011
The 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab wasn’t exactly the greatest success. Yes, it’s probably the best Android tablet around, right now, but in truth it is not great, and it’s grossly overpriced. Almost criminally so – especially its initial launch price.
So, why are there rumours circling, originating at Pocket-Lint, that they’re prepping a 10-inch version? Is it really the diminutive size, when compared to it’s undisputed superior, the iPad, that has caused it’s relative failure?
Continue reading »HTC To Introduce A Physical Facebook Button To Smartphones? Do We Really Need That?
February 10, 2011
Well we heard a load of rumours a couple of months back that the ‘Facebook phone’ was on the way, and I guess this is probably what they were talking about, but of course it’s not quite in the capacity we might have expected (if we actually did expect anything)
Anyway, HTC is expected to introduce a new Android device next week at the Mobile World Congress, which could of course be the follow-up to one of our current favourite handsets; the HTC Desire, or indeed not, but it is expected that it will feature a physical Facebook button for quick access to the front page of the world’s favourite social network!
Continue reading »