Review TechRadar: Phone and communications news 03-08-2014

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In Depth: 10 best Android launchers: amazing ways to supercharge your phone Mar 8th 2014, 13:01, by Chris Mills Spend more than three minutes with any Android fanboy, and you'll quickly learn that the real beauty of Google's operating system lies in the potential to customise it. Any problem can be solved by downloading enough apps. Nowhere is that more true than for Android's homescreen – so we've rounded up the best alternative Android launchers for your modding pleasure. On an Android phone, the launcher is the app responsible for the home screen, the app 'grid', and launching the aforementioned apps. Phones generally come with either the stock Google launcher, or more commonly, a launcher whacked on top by a hardware manufacturer like Samsung. But, if you don't get on with your phone's default launcher, installing a new one just takes a quick visit to the Google Play Store. 1. Google Now Launcher Google's very own stock Android launcher is now up for grabs – but just because it's the Android standard, doesn't mean it's boring. For your money (well, actually, it's free), you get easy access to Google Now, button-free voice controls, and enough transparent window-bars to make you think you're back in Windows Vista. It's compatible straight out of the box with all Nexus and Google Play Edition devices, and two minutes with a computer will get it running on all Android 4.x handsets. Just be careful what you say around it – the Big G's always listening, probably. 2. Nova Launcher Nova and Apex (below) are the two standout Android launchers – both strike an excellent balance between having enough features to customise things, without bogging you down with unfeasibly long options lists and 17 levels of sub-menu hell. Nova's arguably the better of the two, with a few more options available in the free version (there is also a Prime version), and slightly better performance – but really, we're splitting tiny Android hairs trying to find a difference between the two. 3. Apex Apex Launcher, just like Nova, blends smooth performance and ease-of-use with a good level of customisation to create a genuinely appealing alternative to most standard Android launchers. Standout features on Apex include a superb tablet mode (finally allowing Nexus 7 owners to rotate the home screen); and the Pro version has the fantastic Apex Notifier service, which pushes notifications to a widget on your home screen. (Although, Notifier requires running an extra app in the background, which is a small drain on battery life.) Once again, the Pro version does cost money, so it's worth downloading the free version first. 4. Launcher Pro Launcher Pro is aimed at users with phones that are yet to taste the frozen goodness of Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, and are still stuck with Gingerbread. Although it lacks some of the bells and whistles of its more advanced stablemates, Launcher Pro is a solid upgrade from the stock launcher, with much faster scrolling and more customisation options, and even some sleek tricks like unlimited widget resizing in the full-fat, paid-for version. 5. Buzz Launcher Buzz Launcher packs the standard set of customisation options, but with a killer advantage: a user-created library of thousands of themes and widgets you can browse, download and tinker with. Whereas other launchers feel like masterpieces of efficiency – trying to find you the app you want, with minimum hassle – Buzz is all about the aesthetics. There are certainly more powerful launchers out there, but if you're all about matching the colour of your shoelaces to your cravat (and don't have an iPhone), then this is probably the launcher for you. 6. Action Launcher Pro YouTube : www.youtube.com/embed/_Aj-PRdU7xA Action Launcher has some nifty, unique features – stuff like a quick-access set of shortcuts (all customisable, of course), special gestures for launching apps from within folders, and a cool one-touch method of creating widgets from apps. Sadly, you have to pay the requisite couple of quid for the premium version if you want to get your hands on the goodies. 7. ADW Launcher ADW's probably the ultimate modder's launcher – anything you want to tweak is tweakable, from the particular shade of Gmail red, to the precise gesture needed to open an app. Sadly, it all comes at a price – ADW is complicated to use and sluggish compared to other offerings. More worryingly, development has ground to a halt, with no new releases to support versions of Android after 4.1. 8. Facebook Home YouTube : www.youtube.com/embed/MKHCQyuPj-U Facebook Home is Mark Zuckerberg's mess of a Facebook takeover for Android. It serves a single purpose: making sure you share every waking moment of your life with your 639 closest friends. As such, Home turns your lock screen and home screen into a torrent of Facebook statuses; whether or not that's an improvement depends on how witty your friends are. On the upside, though, it's a beautifully designed app, with slick graphics and user interfaces, provided your handset's got the horsepower to run it. 9. Next Launcher YouTube : www.youtube.com/embed/g2KNJTZ_mhk Some will consider Next Launcher jaw-droppingly cool – a 3D launcher that's completely different to the standard grid-with-some-widgets-whacked-on-top. Of course, it's insanely impractical and a complete battery hog, but it might just impress a girl at the bar on Friday night. However, it costs more than a Blu-ray, which is money that could be better spent buying drinks at the aforementioned bar instead. 10. Zeam Zeam is at the other end of the spectrum to the rest of these launchers – all the developers seem to care about is speed. It's the stripped-out racing version, ditching pretty much all the customisation options or swanky floating menus of the other versions, in favour of a minimalist code-base. The upside of course is super-smooth performance, even on the oldest, crummiest phones around. If you're looking for a speed boost for a handset running Gingerbread (that's Android 2.x to you and us), Zeam fits the bill pretty well, and it's also free. Best Android games: 50 of the greatest games in a handy list Roundup: Best of TechRadar: this week's star features and hottest reviews Mar 8th 2014, 08:00, by James Rivington The Oscar-winning effects of Gravity In space, no one can hear you pee? It is hard for a blockbuster nowadays to deliver the all-important 'wow' factor. Audiences in the 21st century have been conditioned to expect expensive special effects - so much so that they are only usually noticed now if they fall short of being exceptional. When it comes to Gravity, though, it was not the audience's expectations that had to be met but that of the director's. Continue reading... Godz and Monsters: the making of Godzilla Godzilla director talks about bringing the monster to life When making a Godzilla movie, the conclusion you are going to come to pretty quickly is that size matters. For director Gareth Edwards there was only one way he wanted to go with the size of his Godzilla and that was upwards. Continue reading... Apple CarPlay: Everything you need to know iOS in the car is finally here Finally announced at the start of March 2014, Apple CarPlay is the much-mooted and long-awaited 'iOS in the car' project finally coming to fruition. With our digital tech barely having made a scratch on the largely analogue in-car experience, the automobile is considered by many to be the next great tech battleground. Because the lifespan of a car is so long compared to the lifecycle of digital technologies like phones and the software they run, the challenge is to create a smart in-car infotainment system that can stay up to date even as your car ages. Here's everything you need to know about CarPlay Why internet speed should determine your next home Don't bet the house on a crap connection What's a decent broadband connection worth? According to some reports, it could account for as much as 20% of the value of your home. Never mind homes built on flood plains, homes on fire or homes next door to Piers Morgan: it seems that the thing that scares homebuyers more than anything else is a crappy connection. Continue reading... Google vs Apple CarPlay Maps, Glass, driverless cars - Google is miles ahead already With the launch of CarPlay, Google and Apple are on collision course in the contest for car tech supremacy. But in my view, Google already has Apple well beaten. Both Apple and Google have now unveiled plans to get their mobile operating systems, usually found in phones and tablets, running in cars. The first skirmish in what is likely to be a drawn-out battle will be all about mapping and navigation. And Google Maps is miles ahead of Apple Maps. Factor in Google's broader track record in automotive tech, including driverless cars and the promise of Google Glass and a very strong case for favouring it over Apple in the contest for in-car supremacy emerges. Read: Google vs CarPlay PlayStation Games are too expensive, here's why Valve has the right idea It's time for PSN pricing to reflect digital values Did you miss the biggest games story of the last seven days? If you play your games on PlayStation, you probably did. PC developer Valve Software has told its dev partners they can now freely discount the prices of their games on the Steam download store. So why does this matter to PlayStation? Because Valve has just triggered a downhill sales race on Steam. Many developers, understandably eager to seize the spotlight in front of an audience of more than 75 million PC gamers, will give in to the temptation to go low, driving others to go even lower. Read: PlayStation Gamer Why The Walking Dead makes triple-A video games look like zombies In the new world of games, story counts more than size With the release of The Walking Dead Season 2 Episode 2 this week, studio Telltale is continuing to do things differently. Instead of focusing on one full-length retail title, Telltale launches its games in episodes, with one 2-3 hour instalment of a series being released every couple of months. It's a great approach to development and marketing, and it works. The result is a fresh, reactive game with a fanbase who are constantly hungry for more. Frankly, more studios should be sitting up and taking notice. Shorter games could be the future of gaming. Read: Xbox Gamer Spying smartphones could save your life Never mind the NSA - we need iPod nannies There's a big problem with wearable health tech: the people who need it won't buy it. With the obvious exceptions - people who have conditions that mean they need to keep a close eye on what their bodies are up to - the kind of people who'll embrace wearable health gadgets are the kind of people who don't really need them. If you care enough about your health to drop hundreds on health kit, you're probably not the kind of person who runs screaming from salad bars. We don't need health sensors for healthy people, we need them for everybody else. We need smartphones that will spy on us. How Spotify dealt a huge blow to its rivals Swedish streamer just got a lot more powerful Spotify just bought The Echo Nest - a music intelligence engine. If you're a Spotify user, you should be happy about the move - the company has inherited a treasure-trove of music data, which can only make Spotify's products better. "With The Echo Nest joining Spotify, we will make a big leap forward in our quest to play you the best music possible," said Daniel Ek in the company's statement. But if you're not, you might find the musical rug being whipped out from underneath you. This week's hottest reviews LG 55EA980W It's OLED. It's curved. It's bloody brilliant! The long, long wait is over and vaguely affordable big-screen OLED entertainment has finally arrived. And what style it's arrived in, with the 55EA980W imperiously rising to the challenge of living up to all the hype OLED has built up around itself over the past three or four years. Apparently OLED screens remain prohibitively difficult to make, leading to everyone bar LG seemingly withdrawing from the OLED market again for the time being. But that loss looks set to be LG's gain, for if it can continue to make OLEDs as outstanding as the 55EA980W, there will surely always be people out there desperate to buy them. Read: LG 55EA980W review Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 Samsung throws everything into the fledgling maxi-tablet category As the first significant manufacturer to step forward with its vision of a super-sized tablet, Samsung has quite a job on its hands to convince the world that there is a genuine need, and that this isn't just a gimmick. If nothing else, the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 successfully answers that question to the affirmative. It's not a tablet you'll want to lug around with you or whip out in public, and it is dauntingly expensive. But if productivity is foremost in your mind as you shop for an Android tablet, the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2's combination of huge HD display and S Pen interactivity is a compelling combination. Read: Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 review Nokia Lumia 1320 A capable phablet, but is it already obsolete? The Nokia Lumia 1320 is positioned as budget alternative to the all-powerful Nokia Lumia 1520, but there's a problem. The Nokia Lumia 1520 has dropped in price significantly, making the 1320 seem surplus to requirements. Comparisons aside, it's an extremely hefty phone that lacks Nokia's usual design flair, with a workmanlike plastic construction that's prone to creaking. This middle-of-the road feeling continues with its underwhelming processor, average camera, and lack of any stand-out software that really marks the Lumia 1320 out as unique. You'll be getting a strong Windows Phone 8 experience here, but that can be had for less money and in a more desirable package these days. Read: Nokia Lumia 1320 Pentax K-50 A weather-proof all-rounder well-suited to beginners This is a good purchase for those looking for their first DSLR and want something a little bit rugged that can cope with a wide variety of different shooting conditions. If you have no particular affiliation to the Canon and Nikon standards here, definitely think about the K-50, if for the weather-sealing alone. Read: Pentax K-50 review AlcoSense Digital Breathalyser Lite An affordable and reusable tool for testing your blood-alcohol levels There are two conundrums facing the Alcosense Digital Breathalyser Lite. Firstly, is it accurate? On that subject we can't be sure thanks to the disappointing lack of co-operation from Avon and Somerset Constabulary. That said, we've seen enough to think the device works well and would function in its intended role. In other words, we think the Alcosense Digital Breathalyser Lite will indeed give you a good guide as to whether you are risking driving over the allowed limit. Read: AlcoSense Digital Breathalyser Lite review Philips Fidelio E2 A decent two-speaker setup that offers sound far above its paygrade Slight sound niggles aside there is a lot to love with the Philips Fidelio E2 speakers. Coming in at a price point that (literally) sounds to good to be true, they will be hard to beat in their category. The only issues you may have are with styling - the wood finish won't fit all living rooms - and an occasional low dirge but these are slight complaints when the overall package is such a multi-faceted delight. Read: Philips Fidelio E2 review Follow TechRadar on Twitter... @TechRadar @TechRadarGaming @TechRadarPro @TR_CarTech @TR_Phones @TR_Cameras Pebble watch app store finally opens up to Android Mar 7th 2014, 20:41, by Michael Rougeau The Pebble Android app has been updated to version 2.0, which adds several important features, including access to the Pebble smartwatch's watchapp directory. Now users on Android can browse apps with ease and install them on their Pebble watches with a single tap. In TechRadar's Pebble review we suggested that the inexpensive and highly customizable wearable is "the Linux of smartwatches," and having access to the app directory on your phone makes it even easier to make it your own. Available apps include Foursquare, Yelp, eBay, Plex and Runtastic Pro, among others. Users can browse categories like essential apps and popular watch faces. Better late than iOS-exclusive These improvements were added to the iOS app in February, and Android users have had to wait almost a month to enjoy them fully. But the smartwatch's app directory isn't the only improvement in the Pebble 2.0 app. Android users' Pebble notifications are now stored on their phones as well so they can scroll back through prior alerts, and they can also now browse their downloaded and installed Pebble apps in the watchapp locker. In addition the UI design has been "completely revamped and improved." Pebble's Android app store beta got off to a rocky start, but it sounds like the latest update might be exactly what it needed. Here's TechRadar's assessment of the Pebble Steel The Tip Off: TechRadar Tip Off: Moto X student discounts, plus Galaxy S4, iPhone 5S, 5C deals Mar 7th 2014, 20:00, by TechRadar Tip Off This Tip Off is a doozy because we've got quite a few phones lined up with GREAT deals. First up, that beauty known as the Moto X is now $339 off-contract and only $49 with a two year contract. Simply register at motorola.com/college with a valid .edu address for the discount to apply. Not a college student? Motorola will still hand over over the phone for the same $49 price on-contract but off-contract, it'll cost you $399. Show your school spirit with the Moto Maker's new College Collection while you're at it. Nine new back colors and three new accents have been added plus clear cases with 40 school logos and team names (with more coming) too. Get the Moto X and use the Moto Maker now! Apple caught your eye? Most likely prepping for the advent of the iPhone 6, several stores are practically throwing out the current-gen iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C models. The best deal we've seen is from Walmart; you can pick up 16GB versions of the 5S for only $119 and the 5C for a whopping low price of $29. To give you an idea of how much the cost has dropped, Walmart was previously selling the phones for the already low prices of $145 and $45 respectively, while the Apple store has maintained the original $199 and $99 respectively. If you've been holding out on the latest Apple greats, now is definitely the time to upgrade. Agreed! Take me to the iPhone 5S and 5C deal Can't forget Samsung Speaking of making way, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is seeing hefty price cuts thanks to the impending arrival of the Samsung Galaxy S5. If the Moto X isn't your thing, the Galaxy S4 is another top Android device that's only $49 instead of $99. With such an array of phones to choose from, you're probably antsy to get browsing so don't let us keep you any longer. Check out the Moto X deal here, the iPhone deals here and the Galaxy S4 deal here Got the feels? Google Glass app can recognize emotions Mar 7th 2014, 19:56, by Chris Smith A new prototype Google Glass app looks set to reignite the privacy debate thanks to its purported abilities to recognise human facial emotions and facial expressions. San Diego start-up Emotient has announced its sentient Sentiment Analysis application, which it claims can identify positive, negative and neutral emotions of anyone who happens to step into Glass' field of vision. It can also identify deeper emotions such as surprise, joy and disgust (that's when the person realises they're being ogled by Google Glass). The software can also tell if you're elated, confused or frustrated, according to Emotient, which claims none of the data will be stored, only used by the wearer in real time. Getting Glassed The app comes amid a flurry of controversy surrounding facial recognition on Google Glass. The company itself has banned them for the time being. Google wants strong privacy measures in place before the Glass camera can be utilised to pick out individuals, but that's likely to be a while in coming. Emotient claimed retailers looking to improve customer service may be among those finding its app more useful. Because that's all we need isn't it? A bunch of snooty Abercrombie and Fitch lackeys judging reactions to every overpriced item. We wonder whether if the Sentiment Analysis app can recognise our, 'You're about to get a slap, mate!' face? "Don't be a Glasshole," says Google Samsung pours a tall glass of ad-free streaming with Milk Music app Mar 7th 2014, 18:45, by Kevin Lee Samsung is taking another crack at the streaming music business with its new release, the Milk Music app. The app is situated in for free the Google Play Store and exclusively for Galaxy Devices, like the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 3. The Korean device maker claimed users can jump into any genre within a few seconds. Samsung said there are no ads whatsoever to interrupt users from listening to the curated music library of over 13 million songs. However, an asterisk in the app description reveals Milk's ad-free-ness is only for a limited time. There's no word on when ads will start to appear. From a large porthole-shaped control users can tune into over 200 genre stations. Along with the nifty interface, the dial lets users to switch between stations without having to wait for the music to buffer. Milk Music can pull this trick off because it downloads the first eight seconds of every song from the nine selectable genres shown on the interface. From the basic genres users can drill down into sub-genres, such as post modern and grunge from "rock." Rock it out While Milk Music doesn't currently have any ads, users are given a limited number of skips. Six to be exact, putting it right in line with other services including Pandora, Last.fm and iTunes Radio. There's also an option to bookmark songs. Like Spotify and Pandroa, users can fine tune radio stations based on popularity, novelty and song favorites. It'll be intriguing to see whether Milk flies off the shelves or spoils given the over-flooding streaming music market. Samsung's app may face an extra challenge as it's particularly closed off, running exclusively the company's Galaxy devices and having availability only in the United States for now. Beats Music vs Spotify: which comes out on top? The phone show: Has Samsung done enough to make the Galaxy S5 a winner? Mar 7th 2014, 17:35, by Owen Hughes Regardless of what the naysayers may think, the Galaxy S5 marks another notable step forward for Samsung. The company has brought to the table a device that takes everything back to basics, stripping away unnecessary gimmicks and focusing solely on the core ingredients that make a top-of-the-range smartphone. There's been the inevitable outcry from some, bemoaning the lack of metallic gloss and similar iPhone-besting features. But once you really dig down into the S5 and take a look at what's new, what's improved and what's been chucked altogether, you begin to realise that it's actually a handset perfectly in keeping with the Galaxy ethos. In this week's Phone Show, Gareth Beavis and John McCann take an in-depth look at Samsung's latest offering, and explain why this is an Android handset worthy of your time. FutTv : 047061zey543G Week in Tech: Apple goes on autopilot, BBC 3 crashes out Mar 7th 2014, 14:08, by TechRadar This week, the internet was ablaze with rumours that Apple was buying electric sports car firm Tesla. The rumours were bobbins, but that doesn't mean Apple doesn't have some, ahem, wheely good ideas. Apple is making a dash for your dashboard, and it's doing it in the form of CarPlay - the technology formerly known by the duller but more descriptive name of iOS in the Car. As Kate Solomon explains, "Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo are the first three to sign on. The first CarPlay enabled cars will be shown off at Geneva this week and will ship sometime in 2014. You'll be able to use CarPlay to play iTunes music wirelessly from your iOS device through the cars' speaker systems, but Apple's also allowing use of third party music apps like Spotify and iHeartRadio too." What's the appeal? James Rivington knows: "Because the lifespan of a car is so long compared to the lifecycle of digital technologies like phones and the software they run, the challenge is to create a smart in-car infotainment system that can stay up-to-date even as your car ages." The car industry generally agrees that "smart in-car tech needs to be driven by our external devices" because, let's face it, tech firms are quite good at tech. CarPlay is too late, Jeremy Laird says. "Google already has Apple well beaten… Google Maps is miles ahead of Apple Maps. Factor in Google's broader track record in automotive tech, including driverless cars and the promise of Google Glass and a very strong case for favouring it over Apple in the contest for in-car supremacy emerges." While there's little difference between iOS and Android in the entertainment stakes, "Mapping and nav really matters in cars, and there Google will have a clear advantage." Apple is way out of its comfort zone here, and "Google is far, far better placed to do well in cars." New iPlayer en route Could we end up watching iPlayer on the move? We could, if our cars are willing to do the driving for us. It won't be the iPlayer we're used to, though, because a brand new iPlayer is en route. The new version gets a download store for those of us who want to own programmes forever, and it will feature channels that you won't be able to get offline. In a move that's caused a bit of controversy, BBC 3 will be one of those channels: it's getting the boot from the BBC's broadcast line-up to start a new life as an online-only offering. iPlayer is increasingly about viewing on mobile devices, and we've seen a whole bunch of new ones this week. Archos unveiled its music-focused 40b Titanium, leaks from the HTC camp suggest its new HTC One makes the Samsung Galaxy S5 look like a laggard, and the massive Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 could have been designed specifically for iPlayer sessions - especially if you team it up with a set of Philips Fidelio E2 speakers. HD tablets are pretty impressive, but of course PCs are way beyond that - and the latest card for the beyond-1080p graphics crowd is the AMD Radeon R9 280. It's designed for "monitors running 1600p and title settings turned up high," Michelle Fitzsimmons says, and it's almost as powerful as the ridiculously fast R9 280X. Expect to pay around $279 (about £167, AU$312) if you can find one in stock. AMD isn't just interested in high-end graphics kit, though. It wants to make all computing more awesome, and as part of that plan it's unveiled its new AM1 APU platform based around its Kabini architecture. The platform is aimed at the ultra-low cost market in Latin America, South-east Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and AMD hopes that when it comes to affordable computing manufacturers and hobbyists will base their designs on its itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny very cheap platform, Kabini. Everything you need to know about Apple's Carplay

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