| Will Apple's first Beats headphones strike at the lightning port? Jun 4th 2014, 15:04, by Hugh Langley 
Apple has sneakily introduced a specification that will let manufacturers make headphones that connect to an iOS device via a lightning connector instead of the 3.5mm headphone jack. What this means, as 9to5mac points out, is that said headphones would be able to receive lossless stereo 48 kHz digital audio, and mono 48 kHz input for microphones. Connecting through Lightning, manufacturers will be able to give headphone users remote controls for iOS playback. The beat goes onThe other big benefit is that the headphones could draw all of their power from the Apple device, removing the need for headphone makers to worry about internal batteries in noise-cancelling headphones. Apple has specified two types of configuration here: Standard Lightning Headphones, with a digital/analog converter supported by the Lightning module; and Advanced Lightning Headphones, whch include those with active noise cancellation. This could all just be very conveniently timed with the Beat acquisition, but it's not absurd to suggest that this could be an indication of what an Apple/Beats collaborated pair of headphone might end up looking like.        |  | Sapphire screens for mobiles were branded impossible 15 years ago Jun 4th 2014, 13:00, by John McCann 
Internet chatter surrounding Sapphire screens on smartphones has really hotted up in 2014, with the iPhone 6 heavily tipped to sport the super-strength glass, but it's something the industry initially thought wasn't even possible. First up Sapphire screens aren't actually a new commodity in the mobile world. You may know that it features on the iPhone 5S, covering the TouchID scanner on the front and camera lens on the rear, but it goes back much further than that. What you may not know is luxury smartphone manufacturer Vertu has been developing and using Sapphire screens for 15 years and it's currently on its fifth generation of the technology. During the late 90s Sapphire glass was already being heavily used in the watch industry, and Vertu wanted to harness its high levels of durability on its lavish devices. "You can't do it""When we first went to the watch industry and said 'look, we like what you guys do [with Sapphire glass], but we want it this [mobile phone screen size] big' they said 'it doesn't happen, you can't do it'," explained Jon Stanley, Head of PR at Vertu, in an interview with TechRadar. This meant the Hampshire-based British firm had to go out and find its own Sapphire source and create its own supply chain, one that was capable of creating crystals large enough to meet its requirements. "We found one or two suppliers in the late 90s who we then started working with to get the bits we wanted." Back to the present day and Vertu now has Sapphire suppliers around the world who are capable of making single sheets of glass large enough to cover the 4.7-inch full HD screen of the firm's latest flagship device - the Signature Touch. 
It's not just a simple case of getting the glass shipped over - that's easy, as Vertu CEO Max Pogliani told us. "When we receive the finished Sapphire screen we have a special room, a chamber, where we put the Sapphire together with the display. The tricky bit"This is the most difficult part of the process because you need to ensure you don't get any dust trapped between the layers. "It's a process we do by hand, one by one, with a single person doing each phone." Vertu also adds an anti-reflection coating to the diamond cut and polished Sapphire glass before installing it, by hand, into a handset. Sapphire screens aren't exactly easy to produce and Vertu experiences very low yields from its supply chain, which isn't a big issue for a small firm, but it's something which could spell trouble for the likes of Apple who will be looking to mass produce it. John Stanley, Head of PR at Vertu explained, "Until we know what people's approaches will be to Sapphire crystal its almost impossible to judge from a supply chain viewpoint the impact it may have on Vertu. "It Sapphire did get widely adopted you'd naturally imagine the price would come down," but mass production probably won't see much change in Vertu's production as it's set up a supply chain which caters perfectly for its needs, and its needs only. "From our side we know how long the journey can be and how little yield comes from each crystal grown to know we'd have trouble timings production for the stuff that we do by 10. "We are a niche brand, we have lower production runs and it suits us very nicely." So while Vertu continues merrily on its way churning out low runs of 5.1-inch Sapphire glass to cover a 4.7-inch display the likes of Apple and co. have a potential headache to tackle when it comes to mass production.        | | Vertu CEO bans 'nice phones with lousy technology' Jun 4th 2014, 12:35, by John McCann 
Vertu has admitted that in the past it's produced handsets which not only had an over-the-top design, but were also rather limited when it came to specs. TechRadar sat down with Vertu CEO, Max Pogliani, who explained that since taking over a year ago the Hampshire-based British firm has seen a dramatic shift in its dynamics. "I don't want to see any more nice phones with lousy technology inside" Pogliani told us. "The luxury world has changed, having a showy object to display your wealth is no longer key. There's now a more discreet and understated approach to luxury." This rings true in the company's latest handset, the Vertu Signature Touch, which dials down the crazy we've seen on previous devices while still retaining premium features such as Sapphire glass, a titanium frame and a hand stitched leather rear. Bum-clenchingly expensiveThe Signature Touch is still bum-clenchingly expensive at £6,750 (around $11,000, AU$12,000), but with a 4.7-inch full HD display, 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, 13MP rear camera, NFC, 10 band 4G and Android 4.4 KitKat it means those who can afford to drop several grand on a mobile are getting a slightly better deal than before. It does of course come with a one year subscription to Vertu's concierge service, providing you with your own dedicated Lifestyle Manager ensuring you always speak to the same person who gets to know what you do and don't like and thus can provide better recommendations as well as reminders. Basically it's a living, breathing version of Siri you can hold a proper conversation with. 
Vertu isn't trying to compete with the mainstream manufacturers, instead it's content with leading in the niche of luxury smartphones - a market it basically created on its own. "We don't want to be the phone for everybody. We don't want to be in the hands of everyone. We don't want to sell millions of smartphones," Pogliani said. "We want to satisfy a specific category of people who never settle for ordinary in their lives...We are not comparing ourselves to others and thus we're not better or worse, we're just different." Still a bit pricey though. - The Android running Vertu Ti was disappointing on the tech front
       | | ITV channels arrive on Sky Go in time to stream the World Cup Jun 4th 2014, 11:03, by Patrick Goss 
With the World Cup looming large, Sky subscribers will be delighted that the ITV channels have been added to the Sky Go service - allowing streaming action as England et al face off in Brazil. ITV and Sky have announced a partnership which will see ITV, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 and CITV join the line-up on the popular Sky Go service, and the new Sky-exclusive ITV Encore service will also arrive when it launches. That will allow people to stream games from the World Cup to their devices and computers, and then seek out back episodes of some of Britain's most watched programmes including the critically acclaimed Broadchurch. This brings the total number of channels available on Sky Go to 63, with E! Home and Lifetime also coming this summer.   | | The LG G3 Mini could be gearing up for a release very soon Jun 4th 2014, 09:22, by Hugh Langley 
Anyone who's anyone is pushing out a "Mini" these days, and it seems LG's not one to be left out. It looks like the LG G3 Mini has just been spotted making its way through Indian import/export site Zauba, which means it's currently undergoing testing. The information for this "LGD722" device reveals a 4.5-inch display, 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 8GB of internal storage and a 5MP camera. Micro machinesThat camera sounds suspiciously low-spec for the G3 Mini, especially as an earlier leak pointed to an 8MP snapper, so it's perhaps best to not take any of this as gospel. However Zauba has historically been a good indicator of things to come (and indicative that they're close) so the LG G3 Mini is beginning to look more of a case of when, not if. - We went hands on with the LG G3 and this is what happened
       | | Apple code pretty much confirms new sizes for iPhone and iPad Jun 3rd 2014, 21:22, by Michael Rougeau 
There's been no shortage of rumors about the iPhone 6 and the next iPads (from the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 to the rumored iPad Pro), and by most accounts those devices might come in new sizes and even shapes. Now a hint has been uncovered in Apple's just-released beta code for Xcode 6 that reveals we're in for some new looks with the forthcoming hardware. French blog Mac4Ever was first to report that two new hardware configurations have been added to the list of iOS devices that can be simulated in the coding environment: "Resizable iPhone" and "Resizable iPad." These additions don't point to anything specific, but do suggest Apple will release new smartphones and tablets of previously unseen dimensions, possibly in time for iOS 8's release this fall. 
Minor and major updatesThe latest rumors pertaining to the iPhone 6's size suggest there might actually be two new iPhones in the works: a 4.7-inch iPhone and a 5.5-inch "iPhablet." The latter is rumored to be so thin that Apple is actually having trouble finding batteries for it. We're expecting to see these devices, and likely new iPads as well, at Apple's customary September unveilings in the fall.        | | Is this short and square phone really the BlackBerry Q30? Jun 3rd 2014, 21:15, by klee 
Blackberry has been awful quiet about releasing new smartphones since the Z30, but we may have finally caught our first glimpse of its next entry, "Windermere." New pictures of Windermere have surfaced on the tech blog N4BB and to be honest, the smartphone is surprisingly square. No, it hasn't been cropped, if you're wondering. This is the phone's square body, one that's reminiscent of a playing card, if you ask us. Windermere, or the Q30 as it has been unofficially codenamed, is BlackBerry's most box-shaped handset yet. 
While it shares a similar shape to some of Nokia's stouter handsets, the Q30 looks like an odd peg in an increasingly elongated-phone world. It's also the first BlackBerry to have the barest of essentials for its QWERTY keyboard, which has been squished from four rows of physical keys to just three. Beauty is only skin deepDespite the unorthodox shape and height of this potential BlackBerry handset, Windermere might be the company's most innovative phone yet. As we reported previously, the Q30 features a physical keyboard that's also capacitive, allowing users to use the keyboard as a touchscreen surface. The phone also manages to find enough room to squeeze in a screen bigger than four inches with a 1440 x 1440 Full HD resolution (though the exact display dimensions are still unknown) . Underneath the small-statured frame is a quad-core Snapdragon MSM8974 processor backed by an Adreno 330 GPU and 3GB of RAM. Additionally, the battery supposedly has a healthy 3,450mAh charge that should be good for all-day use. All in all, these admirable specs for such an odd-looking phone, but we'll have to wait for the official announcement before we pin this item as the real Q30. Last we heard BlackBerry saved the Q30 from the chopping block along with the Z50, though just where in limbo these two phones live is unknown. - In other smartphone news, here's everything we know about the iPhone 6
       | | The iOS 8 lock screen is a portal to location-based apps Jun 3rd 2014, 19:41, by Chris Smith 
Apple detailed many of the new features for the forthcoming iOS 8 update at WWDC on June 2, but here's one neat little tool the firm left out of its keynote address. Judging by the iOS 8 beta, now in the hands of the Apple's army of app developers, users will be able to access relevant applications from the lock screen, depending on their geographical location. According to those testing the software, apps like the Apple Store and Starbucks are appearing in the bottom left corner when users enter the vicinity of a store, allowing them to open with a simple upward swipe. Other users tell MacRumors they've seen apps for train stations and even icons for apps they haven't yet installed appear. Swiping on those will take users to the location's App Store page. Easier purchasingThe function appears to be designed to make it easier to access applications that allow them to make purchases or access information on their surroundings, but many other potential uses spring to mind. Those who utilise the Passbook feature for digital store cards will notice location-based notifications will pop up on the lock screen when in the vicinity so this feature appears to be a useful, non-intrusive extension of that. Current iOS 7 users also are able to make use of the quick access feature to open the device's camera.        | | Buying Guide: The best Motorola Moto E deals Jun 3rd 2014, 16:05, by James Rogerson 
The Motorola Moto E is already one of the most affordable smartphones around, retailing for around £89 SIM free. But if you'd rather get it on a contract then it can still be worth hunting down the best offers as there are a lot of deals available. We've done the hard work for you and found the cheapest contracts along with some that aren't so cheap but come with generous allowances and 'free' gifts. Bear in mind that the Moto E doesn't support 4G so all the data allowances only refer to 3G data. VodafoneThe Moto E can be grabbed on a £29 per month Vodafone contract with 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB of data. There's no upfront cost but that still comes out at £696 over 24 months, which might not sound great, however it includes either a 43" HD ready Samsung TV or a pair of Beats by Dr Dre Studio Headphones. 
Or you can spend a little more per month and on the face of it get a little less, with 300 minutes, unlimited texts and 250MB of data for £39 per month. But that's a 12 month contract, so you're not tied in for as long and it comes out at a cheaper £468 in all. That deal nets you a free Playstation 3 Slim 500GB too. T-MobileOpt for a T-Mobile contract and you can get a slightly better deal. The Moto E is available for £27.99 per month with no upfront cost and for that you'll get 500 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited data, making it ideal if you plan to use a lot of mobile data. It also includes a free set of Beats by Dr Dre Studio Headphones in either black or white and comes out at £671.76 in total. Orange
If you'd rather spend less money each month then it's worth considering getting the Moto E on Orange with 500 minutes, unlimited texts and 250MB of data for just £16.99 per month. As there's no upfront cost that adds up to £407.76 over 24 months and it even includes a free Sony DSC-W830 black 20.1MP camera.        | | Instagram gets creative with a brand new set of editing tools Jun 3rd 2014, 16:00, by Patrick Goss 
Instagram is getting creative, with the photo app adding photo editing tools to its service. With competitors increasingly ramping up the ability to edit photos within the app, looking beyond the simple filters that have defined its meteoric rise is a necessity for Instagram. So the arrival of editing tools is a welcome one for its millions of users, who previously had to adjust their selfies and arty landscapes in other apps before adding them to Instagram. Filter onAs Instagram explains it in a blog post: "When you reach the filter selection stage, you'll now see a new wrench icon. Tap it and you'll find a tray of photo editing tools ready for you to explore. "You can also now adjust how much of a filter you apply to a photo by double tapping the filter icon." The new tools arrive on Android with the announcement, with the iOS version of the app expected to get the update in the coming days.        | | Buying Guide: The best Samsung Galaxy S5 deals Jun 3rd 2014, 15:30, by James Rogerson 
The Samsung Galaxy S5 is bound to be one of the best selling phones of the year, just as the Galaxy S4 before it was and the Galaxy S3 before that and...you get the picture. But it's available at a lot of different prices with a lot of different minute and data allowances, so if you're one of the many people that's planning on buying Samsung's latest super phone, don't just run to your nearest store. Instead, shop smart and get it on one of these deals, which are the best around at the moment. EEOn EE you can get the Galaxy S5 in black or white with unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 4GB of 4G data for £37.99 per month and no upfront cost. It's a 24 month contract so overall it will cost you £911.76. 
Alternatively you can get it in blue with 1GB of 4G data, 1000 minutes, unlimited texts and a one year membership to the Gourmet Society for £29.99 per month. Overall that will cost you £719.76. As you only get a quarter of the data though it's probably not as good a deal. VodafoneWith Vodafone you can get the gold version of the Samsung Galaxy S5 with 1GB of data, unlimited minutes and unlimited texts for £33 per month, with no upfront cost. In all that comes to £792. It's also eligible for £48 cashback, bringing the price down to £744. Data may be pretty limited, but it's also quite cheap. 
Or you can get it in white with 2GB of data, unlimited minutes and unlimited texts for £38 per month with no upfront cost. That's £912 overall but then you get twice as much data as on the previous deal, plus this one is eligible for £96 cashback, bringing the price down to £816. If you want even more data you can get the Galaxy S5 in blue with 3GB, along with unlimited minutes and texts for £38 per month, but this time there's no cashback, so it will cost £912 in total. Don't fancy committing to two years? Then get the Galaxy S5 in white, blue or black on a 12 month deal for £47 per month with a cost of £109.99 upfront. That will give you allowances of 1GB of data and unlimited minutes and texts and come out at £673.99. O2On O2 you can currently get the white and black versions of the Galaxy S5 for £33 per month, with 1GB of data, unlimited minutes and texts and no handset cost. That amounts to £792 over 24 months, making it identical to the first Vodafone deal, except without the cashback. 
For a little more data you could always opt to pay £38 per month and get 5GB along with unlimited texts and minutes, though there is an upfront cost of £29.99. That amounts to £941.99 in total. Oh, and that's for the black version of the Galaxy S5. ThreeHere's a deal for data fiends. You can get the black Galaxy S5 on Three with unlimited 4G data, unlimited texts and 600 minutes for £41 per month and no upfront charge. In total that comes out at £984 over 24 months, which puts it on the pricey side, especially given that it doesn't include a huge amount of minutes, but if you use a lot of data then not having to worry about limits should make it well worth the asking price. The good news is that this deal comes with £15 cashback, taking the total cost down to £969. 
Alternatively you can get the S5 with the same 600 minutes, unlimited data and unlimited texts for a slightly lower £36 per month, but that does also carry a £19.66 upfront charge. It's worth it in the long run though as it comes out at just £883.99. But the best deal on Three is for the S5 in blue with unlimited everything for £39 per month, with a £19.66 upfront charge. All in all that comes out at £955.66. T-MobileYou can get the black or white version of the Samsung Galaxy S5 for £37.99 per month on T-Mobile with no handset cost. For that you'll get unlimited texts, unlimited internet and 500 minutes, though bear in mind that as this is T-Mobile you'll only get 3G data. Over 24 months the handset comes to £911.76. 
If you'd rather have a lower monthly charge you can get it in blue with the same allowances and a monthly cost of just £27.99. However you'll have to pay £119.99 up front. It still saves you money over the life of the contract though, coming out at £791.75. OrangeOne of the best tariffs at Orange right now is for the phone in black, blue or white with unlimited minutes and texts but only 1GB of 3G data for £37.99 per month, with no upfront cost. As that amounts to £911.76 overall it's hard to recommend as other networks have it either cheaper or with more and faster data. Tesco MobileWith Tesco Mobile you can get the Samsung Galaxy S5 in black for £38.50 per month and that includes 3000 minutes, 5000 texts and 3GB of 4G data. There's no cost for the handset, so over 24 months that amounts to £924. 
Alternatively you can get it in black or white with 1500 minutes, 5000 texts and 1GB of 4G data for £34.50 per month with no upfront cost. Over the life of the contract that comes out at £828, so you can save yourself £96 over the above deal but you'll have to get by on a third of the data and half the minutes. Virgin MobileVirgin Mobile also has a competitive deal, where you can get the Galaxy S5 in blue with unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 2GB of data for £47 per month. However there is a £99 upfront cost so over 24 months it will cost you £1,227. That's on the pricey side, but if you're a Virgin Broadband, TV or home phone customer you can get the same tariff for £37 per month, bringing it down to £987.        | | Versus: HTC One M8 vs HTC One E8 Jun 3rd 2014, 12:02, by James Rogerson 
The newly announced HTC One E8 is a slightly odd prospect. At its core it's very similar to the impressive HTC One M8, just with a plastic build and a couple of other changes. The idea seems to be to deliver flagship specs at a lower price point, but when the two devices are so similar it's hard to imagine that they'll both be big sellers. Nevertheless, the HTC One E8 is here, so if you're wondering just what the difference is between it and the One M8 we've got the answers. DesignArguably the biggest and certainly the most immediately noticeable difference between the HTC One M8 and the HTC One E8 is the design. The HTC One M8 is carved from a single piece of brushed aluminium, which curves into your hand and there's barely a sliver of plastic in sight. It's 146.36 x 70.6 x 9.35mm and 160g. -420-90.JPG)
The HTC One E8 on the other hand is clad in polycarbonate so it looks far less premium than the HTC One M8. However from the front the appearance is similar, as both phones have BoomSound speakers above and below the screen and the sensors and ports are mostly in the same position. The power key has been shifted from the top right on the M8 to the centre of the top edge on the E8 though. 
At 146.42 x 70.67 x 9.85mm and 145g the HTC One E8 is ever so slightly chunkier than the M8, but not enough that you're likely to notice and it's also a little lighter. ScreenThere's nothing to choose between the screens. Both phones have 5.0-inch 1080 x 1920 Super LCD 3 displays with a pixel density of 441 pixels per inch. 
PowerThe two handsets are equally powerful too. They both have a 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor and 2GB of RAM, so it's safe to say that the HTC One E8 should deliver high end performance. Operating systemOnce again there's no difference here. Both phones run Android 4.4 KitKat and both are overlaid with Sense 6. That means you'll be treated to the likes of BlinkFeed and Motion Launch whichever handset you opt for. CameraWith the possible exception of the design, the camera is the biggest difference between the HTC One M8 and the HTC One E8. The M8 has a Ultrapixel sensor and a Duo Camera setup with a second sensor used to judge depth, allowing you to do clever things like changing the focus and blurring the background after a photo has been taken. -420-90.JPG)
The HTC One E8 on the other hand has a far more conventional 13MP snapper. It's debatable whether this is a change for the better or worse as the HTC One M8's Ultrapixel camera is somewhat divisive, but it should mean that the E8 will be able to take more detailed photos but will fare worse than the M8 in sub-optimal lighting. The HTC One E8 also misses out on the Duo Camera and all the features that come with that but both phones have 5MP front facing snappers and can shoot video in 1080p. BatteryBoth phones have a 2600 mAh battery. We were very happy with the performance of the HTC One M8's battery, finding that you could get two days of medium usage out of it and presumably given that the specs are mostly identical the HTC One E8 will have a similarly impressive battery life. ConnectivityBoth the HTC One M8 and HTC One E8 support Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and 4G along with smartphone staples like Wi-Fi, 3G and GPS. In fact seemingly the only difference between the connectivity options is that the HTC One M8 has an IR blaster which the One E8 doesn't appear to. When it comes to storage the HTC One M8 comes in both 16GB and 32GB flavours while the HTC One E8 comes with just 16GB, but both phones have a microSD card slot which supports cards of up to 128GB. Price
Right now HTC itself sells the M8 for £549.99, but if you shop around you can get if for just over £500 SIM free, so the most the E8 is seriously undercutting its metal clad brother, not to mention the One Mini 2. Early verdictIf you don't factor in the price then the HTC One M8 is clearly the superior handset thanks to its premium build. The camera differences may prove more subjective but wouldn't likely be enough to sway people towards the One E8 if it carried the same price as the M8. 
The thing is though, the One E8 isn't just cheaper - it appears to be much, much cheaper. If you can get by with a polycarbonate body and a 13MP camera there's little reason to spend an extra £200 on the One M8. Of course if it's the best of the best you're looking for in your smartphone, then the M8 is still the clear winner - and it's the only one actually available in the UK at the moment.   | |
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