Review TechRadar: Phone and communications news 11-14-2013

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Interview: How Motorola made the Moto G so cheap Nov 14th 2013, 13:19, by John McCann Motorola piqued the interest of many a mobile buyer when it announced the rock bottom price for its latest smartphone, the Moto G, which sports a relatively attractive feature set. TechRadar spoke to Magnus Ahlqvist, Motorola's Vice President for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) about the new handset and how the firm went about keeping costs low without seriously denting the spec list. "We're keeping it very simple," Ahlqvist explained, "we believe a lot in speed. When you look at the clean, clear Android experience that's obviously one major factor for keeping costs down." Motorola has done very little in terms of tinkering with Android, with changes made behind the scenes to improve speed, while keeping the same Google interface. There are no Samsung TouchWiz or HTC Sense style overlays in play here. You want a big screen "We've tried to be very disciplined in terms of the feature set and really looked for what consumers really value the most," Ahlqvist told us. "They value a big and bright screen, but we have looked at all the different things. Where we've been able to save some money we've reinvested it into the Moto G, to make it even more attractive for the consumer." The same question is always raised when a manufacturer offers such a cut-price device, such as the Google Nexus 5 or Amazon Kindle Fire HDX, are you making a loss on the hardware? Apparently not with the Moto G, and Ahlqvist was clear on the fact "we're making money on the phone, but obviously we also have a very clear ambition to make it accessible for as many people as possible around the world." So every Moto G sold will bring in cash for Motorola, but only marginal amounts - that's hardly a surprise though. Not another Nexus Even though the Moto G is a cut price Android handset and the company is owned by Google, Motorola hasn't just churned out a low-end Nexus - it believes it's still very much a standalone handset manufacturer. "We operate as a mobile phone company and it just happens that we're owned by Google," Ahlqvist explained. "The Nexus is more of a reference design for the latest version of Android and in terms of the OS we have no specific advantage what-so-ever. Motorola's mission is to make exceptional devices which are available to as many people as possible." Small and nimble Motorola has under gone tremendous change over the past 18 months, with the size of the company significantly cut, but that has apparently helped with development of the Moto G. "Motorola is smaller, more nimble and faster today and by sticking to very clear consumer concerns which we're trying to address it enables us to be very quick to market." There are some clear concessions on the Moto G however. The 5MP rear-facing camera isn't exactly going to set the world on fire, while the lack of a microSD slot and the choice of just 8GB or 16GB of internal storage shows how some of the costs were cut. Motorola has struck a deal with Daddy Google to offer 50GB of additional cloud storage for Moto G users and even if it's not making a huge amount off each handset sale, it could just put the firm back on the map. In Depth: iPhone 5S' M7 chip is a 'big step in the right direction' Nov 14th 2013, 13:00, by Patrick Goss The prospect of actually knowing just what activity you are doing on a day to day basis is clearly an attractive one, with the likes of Nike and Jawbone's wristbands making wearable tech a familiar sight. But developer ProtoGeo is hoping that its Moves App and the new M7 Apple processor can rid you of the unsightly bands and make your phone the go-to fitness tracker. You might not have heard too much about the M7 processor, but the addition of this chip in the iPhone 5S, iPad Air and iPad mini 2 with Retina could make a fundamental difference to your device. In simple terms, the M7 coprocessor works alongside the much-discussed A7 processor that is the beating heart of your Apple device and takes over running the accelerometers, gyroscope and compass sensors in sleep mode - essentially the bits that monitor your movement - and recording that data. Crucially it does this constantly while being significantly less of a drain on your battery than you'd find if the main processor was doing the work. Moves up The arrival of the M7 is something of a mixed blessing for ProtoGeo; the company previously dedicated a huge amount of time to develop the Moves app to track your daily movement before the M7 technology arrived. But ProtoGeo CEO Sampo Karjalainen insists that he is thrilled by the arrival of the new technology ahead of the launch of an overhauled Moves app for iOS 7 this week. "What Apple has done with the M7 is definitely the right approach," he told TechRadar. "By using a second processor it allows the main processor to go to sleep which obviously helps greatly with battery consumption. "With Moves we want to monitor your very first activity of the day and then through the whole day - we launched in January of this year on iPhone after spending a long time developing our own algorithms for collecting location and movement but minimising battery drain. "But when the main processor is awake it still drains the battery and approaches the level where to [keep the app on and] make battery life acceptable to many users was still a problem." So the arrival of the M7 makes the Moves app fundamentally more useful - simply because you can afford to use the app as it was designed without entirely killing your battery life. The data generated and stored by the M7 for seven days will obviously prove to be a boon for not only Moves but any app that wants to use this information, but Karjalainen believes the hard work done before the M7 should still give his app the edge. Not a complete solution "The problem with the M7 is that it's not a complete solution - so it will recognise walking but not recognise that you are cycling which we have recorded from very beginning," he adds. "What we have done is built a hybrid of the good bits of the M7 and our own technology. Putting these together means you get both our features but also the battery life saving." But just how much battery life does the M7 chip save, and does it make an always-on app practical? "It's difficult to stick a single number on it, because obviously things like network strength and the way people use their phone affects things, but our tests suggest that the saving is in the region of 40 per cent in the iPhone 5S [over the iPhone 5]," says Karjalainen. Karjalainen, who also cofounded Habbo Hotel, admits that having to make an App for devices that do not have the M7 adds a layer of complexity, although he believes the iOS 7 version of the App does still make it viable on the other devices. "There's a great battery saving mode for the other iPhone models which does make some compromises," he says. Band products? The obvious conclusion you may arrive at is that if you are going to use a separate processor to track movement, why not use a separate device like a fitness band or smartwatch? Karjalainen believes discrete technology is a valid option, but not necessarily good enough to be attractive to the mainstream user. "When we look at something like the FuelBand from Jawbone, the gadget's good if you have the motivation to charge it and synch it every day. "But that involves quite a big behaviour change just to track your activity so we think that it is smartphones that provide a more mainstream platform that people can keep on using which doesn't require a big change in motivation. "I would say that this can change and if people like Apple and Google develop wearable platforms that are hopefully more multipurpose and are part of our daily life then those platforms make a great deal of sense for movement monitoring." Karjalainen passionately believes that having everybody monitoring their activity will bring widespread health benefits, and that the M7 and similar technology on Android devices represent a real shift in mobile use. Moves is likely to be joined by a slew of similar apps in the coming weeks and months, and devices that are capable of tracking our movement all the time might sound like an Orwellian nightmare but also represents a significant step in tech evolution. Want to know more about Apple's flagship? Check out our iPhone 5S review Nokia adds Bluetooth 4.0 support to all WP8 Lumia devices Nov 14th 2013, 11:24, by James Rogerson Right now Bluetooth 4.0 low energy (LE) is sorely lacking from most Windows Phone 8 devices, but that won't be the case for long if Nokia has any say in it. The Finnish company has already added Bluetooth 4.0 LE support to the Nokia Lumia 520, 620, 625 and 720 with the recent 'Amber' update, but it now plans to extend that support to all Windows Phone 8 Lumia devices. That new support will be added with the 'Black' update and should include tablets as well as phones, though as yet it's not known when the update will land. Lower energy, longer lasting Once it does, Lumia devices will be able to make low energy Bluetooth connections with other devices, using a lot less battery power than a standard Bluetooth connection would. While it could be useful for any number of things, Bluetooth LE is currently widely used with fitness accessories such as heart rate monitors. The black update is also set to add new Glance (Nokia's always-on screen tech) screen color choices, along with extra Glance screen options, such as a pedometer and notifications. It also adds RAW camera support to the Nokia Lumia 1020 and 1520 and new camera algorithms. There's bad news for anyone still rocking a Windows Phone 7 Lumia device though, as this generation has been left out in the cold yet again. The Nokia Lumia 1020 is one of many devices that could benefit from this update. Blip: How Snapchat turned down Facebook's $3bn buyout offer Nov 14th 2013, 11:20, by Kate Solomon Snapchat reportedly rejected a buyout offer from Facebook. Here's an exclusive look at how it (may have) gone down: Facebook's five top lawyers smirk as they slide a slip of heavy weighted paper across a varnished walnut boardroom table. Overachieving 23-year-old Snapchat co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel leans forward, picks the paper up and casually unfolds it. There's a pause and all the carefully temperature-controlled air seems to go out of the room. Spiegel snorts quietly, stands up, buttons his smart-casual sports jacket the way he's seen lawyers do it on TV and strides through the heavy double doors, tossing the paper over his left shoulder as he goes. The paper flutters slowly down to the varnished table top and the number on it slowly comes into focus: $3,000,000,000 neatly printed in black ink, each 0 a smiling ghost. As the slip comes to rest, it bursts into a bright flame - just for a second - and then whoosh. It's gone. The lawyers shift uncomfortably in their pressed Tom Ford suits. Zuckerberg is not going to like this. More blips And now for other technology news stories represented in the style bad teleplays: Temple Run is going to be a film now No more hunting down autoplaying tabs with new Chrome Beta See the PS4 unboxed Daft Punk style Explained: 5 ways science will save your smartphone Nov 14th 2013, 11:00, by Andy Ridgway It's that heart-stopping moment when your phone tumbles from your hand and hits the floor, before refusing to switch on. Or when it falls into a puddle, its screen never to glow again. No one should have to suffer such traumas. Thankfully, there are a few bright sparks out there who agree, and who have dreamed up all sorts of ingenious ways to apply a bit of science to keep your phone up and running when the worst happens. Here's the best of them: 1. Bullet-proof coatings If you've developed a nasty (and expensive) knack for dropping your phone, having it shielded by a material capable of stopping a speeding bullet would come in handy. Researchers at MIT and Rice University in the US have developed polymer coatings which have a 'layer-cake' structure - rubbery layers providing resilience and glassy layers providing strength. So tough are these polymers they're being tested by firing glass beads at them using laser pulses. Though this super-thin material is being touted as the next big thing shielding military vehicles and satellites, there's no reason it can't end up protecting your mobile as long as a thin enough version can be developed. 2. Water resistance British firm, P2i has created what's being described as liquid repellant nano-coating technology. When water's spilled on a phone, the adhesive attraction between the water molecules and the phone are stronger than the cohesive forces within the liquid, so water spreads out on the mobile's surfaces, ruining it. But with the nanocoating, the phone's surface energy is reduced. It means the attraction between the water molecules themselves is stronger than between the water and the phone's surface, so the liquid simply forms beads and rolls away. A splash-proof version of the tech is already found on the likes of the Motorola Moto X and Moto G as well as the Alcatel One Touch. But P2i has also developed 'Dunkable' tech that would protect a phone even when it's submerged. It says its been proven in the labs and is working towards large-scale production. 3. Soft landings What if when you dropped your phone, an airbag shot out from the back of it mid-descent, softening the blow as it touched down on the pavemen? Well, that's what Amazon founder Jeff Bezos hopes will happen. He's patented a system which uses a phone's internal gyroscope, camera and accelerometers to determine it's gone into freefall, promptly releasing the airbag when it has. Whether an airbag can be packed into a mobile so it's not too bulky remains to be seen. 4. The ability to self-heal Our phones will increasingly have coatings on their surfaces to protect them from the worst we can throw at them. But what if these coatings are themselves scratched or gouged away, losing their protective abilities? Prof Bert de With at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands has found a way to attach 'hydrophobic', water repelling, molecules to the end of polymer 'stalks'. This means that any water-repelling molecules removed by scratches are replaced by a new, self-orientating layer. 5. Ultimate strength If you're a member of the military special forces and are likely to take your phone with you on an operation, or you're just an incredible clutz, you could do a lot worse than have it made out of carbyne - a material stronger than both graphene and diamond. It's made up of a chain of carbon atoms held together by double or alternating single and triple chemical bonds. In tests carried out at Rice University in Houston, it was shown to have a tensile strength greater than any other material. The trouble is, you might have to wait a little while for a carbyne-coated phone - so far, only small amounts have been made in the lab. Andy Ridgway is the Editor of a brand new science magazine, Science Uncovered, brought to you by Future Publishing, which also publishes TechRadar. Science Uncovered will be available in all good newsagents from November 21. Download a free sample issue at www.science-uncovered.com and follow them on Twitter @SciUncovered. Dual-screen YotaPhone launching internationally before Christmas Nov 14th 2013, 10:43, by James Rogerson Normally when it comes down to it a phone's a phone. Sure they have different screen sizes and some of them are getting a bit bendy, but at the end of the day they mostly look similar and all have a single screen. But the YotaPhone changes all that. In late 2012 those crazy Russians at Yota Devices decided that one screen just wouldn't cut it, so they made the YotaPhone - which has two. There's a standard 4.3-inch 720p LCD screen on the front and then for some reason another 4.3-inch e-ink screen on the back - and it's finally about to go global. Black and white and read all over What's the e-ink screen for? Well it seems that its main purpose is to allow the YotaPhone to double as an ereader, but in any case it sure will make it stand out from the crowd and being e-ink it shouldn't be too battery hungry. Crazy dual-screen credentials aside the YotaPhone sounds a bit middle of the road. It runs Android 4.2.2, has a 1.7GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, a 13MP camera, 32GB of storage and an 1800mAh battery, so it seems to be relying on that second screen to make sales. There's not been a great deal of news since its launch in 2012, until now that is. If you've been longing for a phone with multiple screens then you won't have much longer to wait, as Yota Devices has confirmed to TechCrunch that the YotaPhone will launch internationally before Christmas. It's not known what the YotaPhone will retail for, but an earlier report from the Russian site hi-tech.mail.ru pointed to a price of 20,000 rubles, which translates to roughly $610/AU$660. Want more craziness from your phone? How about one that's also a full-fledged compact camera. Apple's spending billions on robots and lasers to get the jump on Samsung Nov 14th 2013, 09:51, by Kate Solomon Cupertino's been investing in some new gadgets, but nothing with an i-prefix for you to start queuing for: Apple is spending $10.5 billion on robots, lasers and other production line tech to get the jump on Samsung. The new gizmos are said to include a polishing machine specially for the iPhone 5C's plastic casing, lasers and million machines which are used to craft the MacBook body and camera testing equipment for the iPhone and iPad lenses. The anonymous sources told Bloomberg that Apple has also been working on a number of exclusive machinery deals, effectively cock-blocking Samsung from getting its hands on the same tools. While Apple's dropping $10.5 billion over the next financial years, Samsung has reportedly put $22 billion aside for the same purpose. Factory floor Apple is traditionally very protective of its manufacturing processes. The supply chain sources explained that most companies create a prototype and then send it to the (usually overseas) manufacturing plants to come up with the process for mass producing it. Apple, however, hires experts and sends engineers over to Asia to test and ensure the process runs smoothly, as well as inventing equipment to do jobs that existing machines can't do. It's not often that we get a glimpse into Apple's processes, but Bloomberg's chatty insider was very forthcoming with the production line anecdotes: when creating the iPhone 4 back in 2010, there was no machine to test certain gyroscope functions, so Apple engineers created one. Bloomberg's source explained: "The resulting contraption has a granite base and cubes that spin several iPhones around 30 degrees a second to test that the movement-tracking technology is functioning. Apple then had enough of the machines made to place at the end of suppliers' assmebly lines in China for iPhones to run through." Worth it? We named the iPad Air the best tablet so Apple must be doing something right Facebook Messenger app expands phone number integration to iOS, Android Nov 14th 2013, 01:10, by Matt Swider Facebook has announced that the Android beta testing of its refreshed Messenger app has come to a close and the new version is available to download on iOS and Android devices. It should come as welcome news as the limited beta had an appealing iOS 7-friendly look and added the ability to message real-life contacts who aren't on your Facebook friends list. "Now you can text your phone contacts, even if you're not Facebook friends," wrote the social networking company in today's release notes for the app. "It's easy to add new contacts - just enter a phone number." SMS may send an SOS Facebook's focus on a "reliable mobile-to-mobile messaging experience" means that users won't have to open up other chat programs like SMS and WhatsApp to message non-Facebook friends. The in-app ability to send a Facebook message, text, initiate a phone call, view previously sent photos and browse the contact's timeline puts a lot more information at a user's fingertips. The redesigned Messenger is also faster and feels more lightweight than its previous iteration. Although Facebook is no longer trying to completely co-op SMS conversations on Android, it still includes the convenient chat heads circles that can pop up throughout Google's mobile ecosystem. All of this makes for more instantaneous communication. With Google integrating SMS into Hangouts and Apple having done the same with those highly encrypted iMessages, costly SMSs may be sending SOS messages and not much else. Download the new PlayStation app on iOS and Android ahead of PS4's launch. Pocket app gets updated, now better at organizing and discovering content Nov 13th 2013, 23:11, by Lily Prasuethsut Pocket held a press event in San Francisco Wednesday, November 13 where founder Nathan Weiner focused on unveiling an updated version of the popular bookmarking tool for the mobile platform. Freshly dubbed Pocket 5.0, the app holds two big changes to help streamline custom content for users, with the first being HIghlights. The tool essentially organizes content that it sees as the best and most relevant to you based on the items already in your Pocketed list of sites you frequent the most, tags you've created and authors you follow. New color-coded badges mark your Pocketed sites to help differentiate entries - those hundreds of items are now better organized into categories based on impact (Best Of), popularity (Trending) and length (Long Reads and Short Reads). The company also released a new developer tool called Pocket Preferences which allows third party apps to integrate topics, sites and authors you save most and lets you connect them to other apps using your Pocket account - making bookmarking on mobile devices much easier and quicker, plus content is now better curated to your interests. For iOS and Android, plus more? The app update also includes better side navigation allowing easier access to your List, Highlights, Tags, Favorites and Archive and quickly filter your content, much like the Facebook app. The update hits iPhones and iPads today and will be available on Android devices November 20. The company is also working to move the app to other platforms "soon." AMD has a bunch of announcements too! Motorola built Moto G to 'compete with iPhone 5S' at a fraction of the price Nov 13th 2013, 17:58, by Chris Smith Motorola chief executive Dennis Woodside says the company's new, affordable Moto G smartphone is ready to match up against the iPhone 5S, despite hitting the market at around a fifth of the cost. The new Moto G, announced today, touts a 4.5-inch 1280 x 720 display (329ppi), along with a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, 1GB of RAM and up to 16GB in storage. Although the specs aren't bleeding edge like the Galaxy S4s and HTC Ones of the world, the low asking price redefines budget smartphones, starting at just £135 ($179, around AU$215). Woodside said the Moto G, which will be fast tracked from Android 4.3 to Android 4.4 KitKat, ends the misery for those on tighter budgets who're forced to settle for a sub-standard experience. Tackling the big problems Woodside told the Telegraph: "It's really a poor experience [using cheap phones]. That's a big problem we wanted to go solve," he claimed. "The Moto G solves that problem for one fifth of the cost of an iPhone 5S," he said. "We really built this to compete with the iPhone: it's got a 25% bigger display than the iPhone 5S, Qualcomm's latest quad processor, 18 different combinations of backs and a guaranteed update to the latest Android experience." As well as touting the fiscal superiority of the the Moto G, Woodside also hinted that the Google-owned company may bring handset manufacturing to Europe, following the 'Made in the USA' Moto X experiment. "Our manufacturing strategy is to manufacture closer to the consumer in general," Woodside added, while pointing out that a move into European manufacturing would be dependent on the company improving its market share in the region. Is the Moto G ready to take on the iPhone 5S? We're not so sure yet, but anyway, here's how you can get one. Google all out of black 16GB Nexus 5 handsets (for now) Nov 13th 2013, 16:51, by JR Bookwalter Barely two weeks old, and already it's pulled a vanishing act! The most popular model of the latest Nexus-branded smartphone appears to have succumbed to the wallets of eager buyers. PhoneArena reported Tuesday that the black 16GB model of Google's Nexus 5 handset is now showing as unavailable, presumably the victim of insatiable demand from those looking to break off a piece of Android 4.4 KitKat. "We are out of inventory. Please check back soon," the black 16GB Nexus 5 product listing page on Google Play's Devices section currently reads. Of course, it's not the first time the Nexus 5 has sold out - the device quickly depleted available inventory when it was first launched nearly two weeks ago, with subsequent shipping times ranging from two to five weeks. Supply and demand Google's latest Nexus handset manufactured by LG continues to be available in other flavors, with the 32GB black and 16GB white variations showing two to three week ship times. The 32GB white model has an even more specific timeframe, with orders estimated to leave the warehouse by November 26. Google Play's "out of inventory" status comes on the heels of Sprint launching the Nexus 5 last Friday, with T-Mobile next in line for online orders kicking off this Thursday and in-store availability on November 20. Sadly, that's little consolation for those looking to buy direct from the source, but patience should be considered a virtue for those waiting until Google Play restocks its virtual shelves. It's heeere! Get a hands-on look at Sony's latest PlayStation 4!

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