Review TechRadar: Phone and communications news 03-21-2014

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iPhone 6 won't go after Galaxy S5 and Xperia Z2 with its camera Mar 21st 2014, 11:05, by John McCann We have the 16MP Samsung Galaxy S5, 20.7MP Sony Xperia Z2 and the 41MP Nokia Lumia 1020, so surely Apple has to respond in 2014 and give that 8MP camera a bump? Well, apparently not. The folks over at Apple Insider have spoken to "people familiar with the matter", and they're saying that the Cupertino firm will stick with the 8MP lens on the iPhone 6. You've got to go all the way back to 2010 and the iPhone 4 to find an Apple handset which doesn't sport an 8MP camera, with the 4S, 5, 5S and 5C all donning the same megapixel rating on their rears. More than just megapixel However, as budding photographers will tell you, the quality of a camera isn't purely decided on its megapixel count. Apple's iSight Camera technology and the firm's boosting of pixel size has seen significant improvements in each iteration of the iPhone. See the difference: iPhone 5S vs iPhone 5C If Apple was to keep with the 8MP lens we can be relatively confident that the iPhone 6 will still take better snaps than the iPhone 5S, which in turn takes better photos than the 5C (which has exactly the same camera tech as the 5). The iPhone 6 is expected to launch in the second half of 2014, with numerous rumours tipping a larger screen, unbreakable display and possibly a 13MP rear camera - which clearly clashes with this latest report. Find out more: the iPhone 6 story so far HTC One M8 release date: where can I get it? Mar 21st 2014, 09:43, by Hugh Langley The HTC spring has been leaking like nobody's business these past few months, with just about every feature of the new HTC One (M8) phone seemingly making its way onto the web. But now it's just around the corner – HTC will officially unveil it on March 25 – you'll want to know who's stocking the device and how much it's going to cost. We expect we'll see quite a lot of retailers offering the phone, and so we're busy rounding up a lot of all the places you'll be able to buy the new One from - although it's a little sparse right now, given only one outlet has jumped the gun ahead of launch. Keep an eye on this page as we update it with more information. Carphone Warehouse Carphone got out ahead of HTC and confirmed the name of the new flagship as the HTC One (M8). It also told us that it will be selling the phone at 4pm on March 25 - just moments after HTC makes the big unveil. We're yet to get a confirmed price, but we're told that seven London stores -Westfield Stratford, Westfield White City, Oxford Circus, Centrepoint, Tottenham Court Road and Sefridges - will have the phone available. These stores will be hosting special launch events for the new phone, so it won't be hard to spot them - they'll be the ones making the most noise. EE, O2, Vodafone, Three We expect most of the networks will be stocking the M8 when it arrives, and we'll update this as soon as we find out who has it and how much each will be charging. Everything you need to know about the HTC One (M8) Wallets and NFC tremble in fear as PayPal intros new ways to pay by phone Mar 21st 2014, 00:02, by Hugh Langley Britain may have a shiny new pound coin to look forward to, but the real future of currency lies in digital payments. PayPal is one of the major driving forces behind that shift and it's just added some new ways to get people paying with their phones, not their wallets. 'Order Ahead' and 'Pay at Table' join existing services on PayPal's app, both of which aim to make the process of ordering and buying much faster and easier. This means people can now use its smartphone app at over 2,000 high street shops and restaurants in the UK. TechRadar took the new features for a spin, and we found the experience to be straightforward and enjoyable to use. More importantly, they saved a lot of time. Diner dash We started by using the Pay At Table feature which let us split the bill between three people easily (of course, they'll also have to be using PayPal's service) as well as giving the option to each add a tip. Once the payment was confirmed, that was it - we were free to go, even if it still felt like we were pulling a 'diner dash'. Order Ahead, meanwhile, lets you do exactly that. Once you've selected the participating restaurant, you can peruse their menu while in the app and make your selection. Then you pick what time you want to pick it up and you're all done. PayPal also offers a picture payment feature, something it's been trailing since last year. This lets the app share your profile picture with the restaurant (currently just the Gourmet Burger Kitchen in the UK) once you've 'signed in' to that location, meaning they can verify your face before running your order through the till. However, the payment is still made completely digitally. All in all, it's a strong start, but PayPal still has a long way to go before mobile payments become the norm. However PayPal told TechRadar it still believes the high street will be wallet-free by 2016. If PayPal has its way, by the time the new pound coin rolls in in 2017 we may no longer have a need for it. RIP for NFC? Apple patent points to an advanced extendable stylus (for iPad Pro?) Mar 20th 2014, 19:37, by Michael Rougeau Apple's latest patent is titled simply "Input Device Having Extendable Nib," but don't let that fool you - this may be the long-awaited iStylus. Apple's been rumored for months to be cooking up an iPad Pro, and word in January was the company might double back on one of Steve Jobs' most strident convictions and release it with a stylus. Apple being Apple, though, this "iStylus" would be no mere plastic doodad, and judging from this patent the iPhone maker might really have something special in store. And the key to the Apple stylus's power seems to be in its nib. It's all in the tip The tip of this iStylus is portrayed as both extendable and possibly even flexible. As the nib gets longer it could become more bendy - more like a paintbrush than a pen - so that it touches the screen on more points. Those multiple points of impact could have different results, like creating a wider swathe of "ink" in a painting or drawing app. The nib itself might be made of metal, doped rubber, mylar, or even fiber optics to transmit light to the iPad's surface, while a special aperture in the tip could cause a nib composed of multiple filaments to assume different shapes. Sensing disturbances You'd extend the nib and/or change its configuration by pressing a button or other mechanism higher up on the stylus. In addition some versions in the patent have a gyroscope or other sensors that could relay its position back to the tablet to, for example, create a wider stroke when you hold it at an angle. Of course this is just one possible design for an Apple stylus - previous reports have counted as many as 20 different Apple-held patents related to similar apparatuses. So who knows what shape it might eventually take? Here's TechRadar's take on the new iPad mini Samsung Galaxy S5 price and release date revealed for the US Mar 20th 2014, 17:45, by klee Update: US carrier T-Mobile has also release pre-order information for the Galaxy S5, revealing it plans to let customers place their orders starting March 24. Through the company's Simple Choice plans, customers can order one for $0 and pay the cost of the phone off over 24 months. The phone will launch in T-Mobile stores April 11. Original story below... Samsung fans eager to get their hands on the Galaxy S5 will be able to start pre-ordering the phone from AT&T starting tomorrow. The big blue carrier plans to have pre-orders for Samsung's new flagship handset starting at $199.99 (about £121.09, AU$221.09) with a two-year service contract. AT&T didn't say exactly when the S5 will be in stock at its brick-and-mortar stores, but web pre-orders will start shipping in early April. Alternatively AT&T customers can pick up the smartphone for $25 (about £15, AU$27) per month for 18 months with AT&T Next or 12 monthly installments of $32.50 (about £19.67, AU$35.92). The full retail price for the device with no contract commitment is $649.99 (about £393.56, AU$718.57). Small refinements We got our hands-on with the Galaxy S5 back at MWC 2014 and the phone was a quiet overall upgrade to the Galaxy S4. The new Galaxy features a slightly larger 5.1-inch 1920 x 1080 HD Super AMOLED screen than its predecessor. Inside the phone is powered by a 2.5GHz quad-core processor paired with 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage. Slotting in a microSD card will expand the memory with 128 more gigabytes, and the phone comes running Android 4.4 KitKat. Samsung typical new little additions to the Galaxy phone also include a fingerprint sensor embedded into the screen and a built-in activity-tracking app called S Health. On the back there's a 16-megapixel sensor paired with an improved phase detection autofocus system, which finds focus detecting if the light coming through the lens is in phase. The HTC One 2, the Samsung Galaxy S5's big rival, is on its way Samsung Galaxy S5 price and release info revealed for the US Mar 20th 2014, 17:45, by Kevin Lee and Farrha Khan Samsung fans in the US eager to get their hands on the Galaxy S5 users will be able to start pre-ordering the phone from US carrier AT&T starting from tomorrow. While the telco didn't post an exact date on when the Galaxy S5 will begin to be in stock at its brick-and-mortar stores, web pre-orders will start shipping out in April. US ustomers will be able to pick up the smartphone for outright for US$649.99, which is about AU$718.57, but for us folk living in Australia, we'll likely be slogged with a higher price when taxes are included. Small refinements We got our hands-on with the Galaxy S5 back at MWC 2014 and the phone was a quiet overall upgrade to the Samsung Galaxy S4. The new Galaxy S5 features a slightly larger 5.1-inch 1920x1080 HD Super AMOLED screen. Inside the phone is powered by a 2.5 GHz quad core processor paired with 2 GB RAM and 16 GBs internal storage. Slotting in a microSD card will expand the memory with 128 more gigabytes and the phone comes running Android 4.4 KitKat. Samsung typical new little additions to the Galaxy phone also include a fingerprint sensor embedded into the screen and a built-in activity-tracking app called S Health. On the back there's a 16-megapixel sensor paired with an improved phase detection autofocus system, which finds focus detecting if the light coming through the lens is in phase. The HTC One 2, the Samsung Galaxy S5's big rival, is on its way Windows Phone 8.1 briefly teased on Microsoft's own website Mar 20th 2014, 17:16, by JR Bookwalter Between updates leaking from the company's own servers and a cavalcade of details on its next mobile OS release, Microsoft apparently needs a plumber to plug all the holes, including one on its very own Windows Phone website. Ubergizmo spotted a curious mention of the rumored Windows Phone 8.1 update today from an unlikely source: Microsoft's own website portal dedicated to promoting its mobile smartphone OS. The leak was captured in a screenshot, where both Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 8.1 references were seen hanging out above a "four reasons to choose a Windows Phone" graphic. The Windows Phone 8.1 reference has since vanished from the US website, but its brief appearance lends credibility to rumors Microsoft will make the update official sometime during its upcoming Build developer conference, which kicks off April 2. 8.1 and lots of fun Windows Phone 8.1 rumors date back to last fall, and the mobile operating system update has already popped up on the radar with Bluetooth 4.0 certification and a variety of other leaked details. The forthcoming changes are said to include an Android and iOS-style notification center, a new Siri-like voice assistant codenamed Cortana and even support for removable USB flash drives. Rumors have also been swirling in recent months that Microsoft may absorb its underpowered, tablet-centric Windows 8.1 RT into the Windows Phone platform, although there are no confirmed signs that will be happening right away. Windows Phone 8.1 is expected to be unveiled at Microsoft's Build conference in less than two weeks, but an imminent public rollout appears less likely, at least until developers have time to put the update through its paces first. Check out our exhaustive review of Microsoft's new Xbox One! Samsung leak could be either the Galaxy S5 Mini or Neo Mar 20th 2014, 16:00, by Hugh Langley More evidence that Samsung is getting ready to roll out its Galaxy 5 Neo (or Mini) has surfaced, with the launch possibly coming soon after the Galaxy S5 flagship goes on sale in April. A user agent profile for a device named the SM-G750A has been spotted on Samsung's servers, pointing to a mid- to high-end smartphone. The profile also outed a number of specs, including a 2.3GHz quad-core processor - most probably a Snapdragon 800 - and a screen resolution of 720 x 1280, hinting at a smaller device. Are you The One, Neo? The profile also says the phone is running Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, but that'll probably be boosted up to KitKat come launch. However this may not necessarily be the Mini - we could be looking at the Galaxy S5 Neo here instead. Another recent leak outed a different coded device that looked more likely to be the Neo than the Mini, given its price difference to the S5. But even that wasn't definite. It's all still to play for, but it looks like a more affordable Samsung Galaxy S5 of some form could be in our hands quite soon. Our first impressions of the Samsung Galaxy S5 Updated: 'Best network in the UK' EE suffers major nationwide outage Mar 20th 2014, 08:55, by Chris Smith Update: The issue has now been resolved, with an EE spokesperson telling TechRadar: "Last night's technical issue that caused a small proportion of our customers to experience problems with their signal has been resolved and all customers are now receiving a normal service. "We apologise for the inconvenience caused to those customers affected." If you're still not seeing signal on your EE device, the network suggests switching your phone off and then on again, as that should sort everything out. Original story Everything Everywhere (EE) has suffered a major, nationwide outage, less than a week after it was trumpeted as the finest mobile network in the UK. The service problems began on Wednesday evening, continuing for several hours with users in unable to access voice, SMS and data services. The downdetector website identified problems in major cities like London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Newcastle, Glasgow, but users across the UK took to Twitter to register displeasure. The company acknowledged the problems on its official Twitter account claiming "Gremlins in the system," alongside a photo of one of the troublesome green monsters from the classic 80s horror movie. Tech glitch In a statement, an EE spokesperson told TechRadar: "We have an issue with the EE network at the moment which may be causing some problems. We're really sorry to anyone this is affecting, and we're working hard to resolve it as fast as we can." Later on Wednesday night, the company returned to Twitter to explain the tech glitch had been identified and then once again at around 10pm UK time to say the issue had been resolved. "While not all of our customers were affected, service has been resumed for many of those who were. Full service will be resumed soon," the company tweeted. Is your mobile service back in full working order? Let us know in the comments section below. LG LifeBand Touch and Heart Rate Monitor earphones fit for April UK release Mar 19th 2014, 19:47, by Chris Smith LG has confirmed its the LG LifeBand Touch wristband will be available in the UK from April. The company, which announced the wellness tracker at CES 2014 in January had only previously committed to a 'first half of 2014' launch window for its Nike Fuelband SE and Sony SmartBand rival. LG's first major play in the burgeoning fitness arena features an OLED touchscreen, tracks key workout stats and links up with iOS and Android apps. It'll also play nice with existing applications like MapMyRun and Runkeeper. The wearable also allows users to control their phone's music player, while altering the wear to any incoming calls on that touchscreen. HRM - fit for a king! Also coming in April are the LG's Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) earphones, also announced earlier this year. Those in-ear fitness buds are able to track the wearer's metabolic rate and maximum oxygen consumption and relay it back to an Android or iOS smartphone app via Bluetooth. The HRM earphones come with a medallion that attaches to clothing and can also transmit users' favourite tunes from their smartphone. They also allow users to physically hear how fast their heart is beating. Both devices can be used separately or together. LG is yet to confirm prices or exact dates of availability yet so stay tuned. Anatomy of Wearables: Our bodies covered head-to-toe in tech Yotaphone lands in the UK with not one, but two displays Mar 19th 2014, 12:06, by John McCann The Yotaphone has arrived in the UK, but this is no ordinary smartphone. Not only does it sport a 4.3-inch display on its front, it also boasts an 4.3-inch e-Ink display on its rear. Billed as the first "always-on" smartphone, the Yotaphone sports a relatively modest array of specs including a 1.7GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, 13MP camera and a 1800mAh battery. It's that black and white e-Ink display which is the main feature here, allowing you to read books comfortably while consuming very little power. Yota claims that the Yotaphone's battery life is 7 to 10 times better than rivals when reading books. The e-ink display isn't touch sensitive though, with simple controls hidden below the screen in a bar which you can swipe across to turn pages, flick to the next news article or scroll through your new notifications. Price and battery life At £419 SIM-free, the Russian-built Yotaphone isn't exactly cheap and the company admits that with moderate to heavy use of the colour screen on the front the phone's battery won't last a whole day. That said though, if you're more conservative with your usage then the Yotaphone can last more than a day, with notifications, news and updates popping up on the rear screen and using very little power. As a sweetener, anyone who purchases the first-generation Yotaphone will be eligible for a discount on the second-gen Yotaphone which is expected to launch later this year. The second generation sports a fully touchscreen e-Ink display, a better located rear camera, larger battery and more slender design. Yotaphone: 10 things you need to know

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