| Roundup: Best of TechRadar: this week's best features and hottest reviews Aug 23rd 2014, 08:00, by James Rivington 
How Dolby is bringing Atmos into the home
Atmos is homeward bound Since Dolby Atmos arrived on the cinema scene in 2012, the technology has set a precedent for movie sound. The intricate but sparse sonic landscape of Gravity, Godzilla's guttural roar, the rain-soaked urban jungle of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes... all of these have benefitted from the Dolby Atmos Cinema Processor and its support of up to 128 discrete audio tracks. Given its use of over 60 speakers in the cinema, particularly overhead ones, it was a surprise when Atmos technology was announced for the home back in June. But Dolby's engineers believe they have created the right atmosphere for Atmos to work in a home environment. How Dolby is bringing Atmos into the home Build your first gaming PC: 5 tips from a first-time builder
Experts often overlook these tips for building a gaming PC "Hey everyone, my name is Joe, Reviews Editor for TechRadar, and I've never built a PC. Until now. Yes, I work for a technology media outlet and have never tangled my fingers in SATA cables. This is my shame. But recently all that changed." Continue reading... Why live TV and sports in 4K will not work over the internet
Netflix needs 15.6Mbps but live TV is another matter Netflix has described 4K as "the format for the Internet" and with precious few other outlets for Ultra HD it's pretty easy to agree. Slowly but surely, the SVoD giant is adding UHD content to its line-up, most recently a couple of movies and box-set poster boy Breaking Bad. However, the BBC's recent live Ultra HD trials during the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games have highlighted an inconvenient truth: live sports coverage is a bandwidthosaurus. Read all about it... You'll be able to charge your car wirelessly from 2017
Say no to cable constraints Electric cars certainly have potential, but it's a pain having to plug them in to charge - give it three years though and you'll be able to ditch those annoying cables. Wireless car charging technology is already up and running on the safety cars of the new Formula E championship - the world's first fully electric racing series - and from 2015 even the race cars will charge wirelessly. Continue reading... The world's 1000 must have gadgets
It's our mission at TechRadar to help you find the tech products that are best for you. That's why we review the specific products we do, while offering a veritable smorgasbord of helpful buying guides and product round-ups to help you find the cool gadgets, perfect play things and workplace wonders. Whether it be an ideal camera phone for your mum or a kick-ass Blu-ray player to pair with your new TV, we've got the experts on hand to offer the very best buying advice on the internet. Here you'll find a comprehensive repository of all that expert knowledge. With buying advice and specific product recommendations, look no further for your best chance of finding all the cool gadgets available today. Read: Cool Gadgets Best TVs 2014: choose the right TV for you
Buying Guide There has never been a better time to buy a new TV. Gone are the days when 32-inch TVs weighed 16 tonnes and cost £1,500. These days you can pick up a 50-inch LCD TV for closer to £300. LCD panel technology has well and truly matured, and while brands like Sony and Panasonic push the boundaries of performance, you'll also find names like Toshiba doing very exciting things in the budget TV sector. The practical upshot of this is that no matter what you're after, how big you want to go or how large your budget is, there's a perfect TV out there for you. TV Buying Guide Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini review
Smaller isn't always better If you're taken with the Galaxy S5's design, fingerprint scanner and heart rate monitor, but can't afford its lofty price tag - or want a handset that's more manageable in the hand - then the Galaxy S5 Mini is a strong replacement. Shop around a little more though and the likes of the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact, HTC One Mini 2, iPhone 5C or OnePlus One make for some tough competition. Samsung may have created this sector of the mobile market with the Galaxy S3 Mini, but it no longer rules the roost and unless you're wedded to the firm's ecosystem there are better options available at this price point. Read: Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini review HTC One E8 review-200-100.jpg)
The plastic twin to the all-conquering M8 I always say: buy the best phone you can afford, as you'll be thankful in a year's time when you've still got 12 months left to run. With this handset, if you can, jump up to the full-fat One M8 to get the best experience, both aesthetically and spec-wise. This is a phone that's in the weird situation of being bettered by a device that came out months before. That said, if you can't (or don't want to) afford that, then the One E8 is a really great entry point into the higher echelons of the HTC ecosystem. Read: HTC One E8 review Sharp Aquos Crystal review
A sophisticated budget smartphone – from a distance At first glance, Sharp has made, well, a sharp smartphone for its first entry into the US market. The Aquos Crystal, borrowing the naming convention of the Japanese vendor's HDTVs, isn't your everyday mid-range handset. Sporting a nearly bezel-less, 5-inch display, the Aquos Crystal looks like it would fit right in next to the Samsung Galaxy S5, LG G3 and other flagship Android phones, at least from a distance. When holding one of these in your hand, it becomes almost immediately clear that this is a budget-friendly device, albeit a greatly upscaled one. Hands on: Sharp Aquos Crystal review HTC One M8 for Windows Phone review
A familiar phone with a totally different twist How does the HTC One M8 for Windows Phone feel in the hand? Well, exactly like its Android counterpart. It's the same phone. Same dimensions, same cameras, same internal parts, same everything. The only difference is Windows Phone 8.1. It's a beautiful piece of hardware. HTC took great care in making sure the design gives a seamless experience in handling the phone. It's weighty, that's for sure, but not so heavy that it would annoy you when it's in your pocket or purse. Hands on: HTC One M8 for Windows Phone review        |  | Developer discovers iPhone apps can be forced to place expensive calls Aug 23rd 2014, 00:08, by Michael Rougeau 
Ideally tapping on a phone number on your iPhone will prompt a pop-up asking whether you want to place a call, but one developer says he found a dangerous vulnerability in apps that don't ask first. This security hole could let attackers force your phone to make a call when you click on a website link, potentially connecting your phone to expensive numbers without warning. Developer Andrei Neculaesei of Copenhagen company Airtame described the issue on his blog, demonstrating how he created a web page with a link that opens a phone call automatically when accessed from certain native iOS apps. It reportedly works because these apps, including Facebook Messenger, Apple's Facetime, Google+, Gmail, and others, don't issue a pop-up when users tap a phone number within them. Hello Pretty!Neculaesei says he used "some sneaky-beaky-like JavaScript" to make links embedded in websites click themselves. When those sites are accessed through apps other than Safari, the links automatically activate and the calls are placed. He imagines even more severe dangers than being charged for expensive calls, like users accessing a link through Facetime and automatically transmitting a live video feed to attackers - a tactic he's named "Hello Pretty!" "Facetime calls are instant," he writes. "Imagine you clicking a link, your phone calls my (attacker) account, I instantly pick it up and (yes) save all the frames. Now I know how your face looks like and maybe where you are. Hello pretty!" He also warns that although this applies to far more apps than the four he mentions, it's not only Apple's fault, since third-party app developers can configure their software to prompt users when a phone number is tapped. Many, including big names like Google and Facebook, simply choose not to, but that could very well change in light of this discovery. We've asked Google, Facebook and Apple for comment, and we'll update here if we hear back. Facebook forcing us to download Messenger is a brilliant move        | | Nokia Lumia 830's Brazilian certification photos tell a strange tale Aug 22nd 2014, 23:29, by Michael Rougeau 
Now that Microsoft has killed any hope for more Android phone from Nokia, the companies can focus on making more Lumia handsets - like the rumored Nokia Lumia 830. The Lumia 830 hasn't been officially announced, but it apparently has gone through certification in at least one country, if these photos and details from Brazil (via Windows Phone Central) are legit. Like the Federal Communications Commission in the US, Brazil's Anatel certifies phones that come into the country, and just like the FCC, Anatel also occasionally spills the beans about them. These photos match up fairly well with the alleged Lumia 830 images that appeared in July, although that metallic-looking frame is looking decidedly more plastic in these shots. 
What else can be gleanedBased on what Anatel published, it seems the Nokia Lumia 830 may be thinner than past Lumia phones and have a physical camera button and hardware-based capacitive navigation buttons, and that the charging port has been moved back up on top next to the headphone jack. 
In addition it's interesting that the 830 may carry the Microsoft Mobile label internally, though it will likely still be a Nokia phone as far as the public is concerned. This leak also outs the Lumia 830's removable battery and microSD slot, as well as its fairly large camera housing, suggesting some form of Nokia's PureView tech will make it in here too. Identity unknownAll in all the Lumia 830 is looking like a strange mix of mid- and upper-range specs and features, though until it's officially unveiled we won't know how to categorize it for sure. But this being the second Lumia 830 leak in less than two months, it seems a full announcement may indeed be coming soon. Hm, Microsoft is hosting an event prior to IFA 2014 - think there could be any connection?        | | Square screen aside, the BlackBerry Passport has decent specs Aug 22nd 2014, 22:25, by Michael Rougeau 
BlackBerry is taking a gamble on the square-screened Passport, but it's one that might pay off. Now the phone's alleged full specs have leaked, according to N4BB, and it's clear that BlackBerry wants to leave as little to chance as possible when it comes to the Passport's success. Even if users are initially put off by that boxy 4.5-inch 1,440 x 1,440 display, it's hard to argue with a pixel density of 453ppi, significantly more detailed than the iPhone 6 is rumored to be. And a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 chip with 3GB of RAM - count 'em, three - ain't bad either. Keep it comingThe BlackBerry site also says the Passport will have 32GB of storage with room for up to 64GB more via microSD, a 13-megapixel rear camera with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), LED flash and 1080p 60FPS video recording, a 2MP front camera, and a large (but non-removable) 3450mAh battery, plus NFC, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, HSPA+, LTE, and GSM. The BB Passport's hardware reportedly sports physical volume up/down, power and mute buttons, not to mention the physical QWERTY keyboard BlackBerry diehards will love. And that keyboard also doubles as a capacitive pad, letting users scroll, move cursors and more by swiping around on top of the physical keys. BlackBerry already confirmed that the Passport will launch at an event in September, so watch out for more info next month.        | | A Chinese carrier just let the iPhone 6 out of the bag Aug 22nd 2014, 20:04, by Michael Rougeau 
Normally it's best to not incur the wrath of Apple, but then again maybe China Telecom knows something the rest of the industry doesn't. Apple has yet to officially unveil the iPhone 6, but that didn't stop its Chinese carrier partner from posting to the Asian social network Weibo about the new iPhone, according to Sina Mobile News. The post included the image you see below, as well as a tiny bit of new info about the iPhone 6: that the new Apple phone will feature a multitude of radios and be compatible with wireless networks that include TDD-LTE, FDD-LTE, WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, and CDMA1X. In addition China Telecom confirmed that it will sell an unlocked iPhone 6 compatible with multiple Chinese carriers. The rumors were truePerhaps more interesting, though, is the image that came along with these details.  If this is the official branding that carriers will use to promote the iPhone 6 once Apple does announce it, then it looks like all the previous rumors about a rounded design and a side power/lock button were accurate.
The iPhone 6 is expected to come in two variants, one with a 4.7-inch display and the other at 5.5 inches, and actually be announced by Apple on September 9. It's unknown whether Apple has any system of penalization in place for partners who jump the gun on massive announcements like this. But if China Telecom disappears from its home one night and is never seen again, we'll know the reason why.        | | Samsung Galaxy Alpha release date and price: When can I get it? Aug 22nd 2014, 15:07, by James Rogerson 
With the Galaxy Alpha Samsung is finally embracing metal and delivering a handset with a premium finish deserving of all the features that the company has packed in to it. It looks good and compared to phones of Samsung past it looks great. But phones aren't just for looking at, they're for buying and using, so if you want to get your hands on the Samsung Galaxy Alpha here's what you need to know. Samsung has announced that the Galaxy Alpha release date is pegged for September 12, but the price is currently unknown and will likely vary depending on network. Pre-orders are due to begin on August 28. EE
EE has confirmed that the Samsung Galaxy Alpha will be coming to its network and will be available on a range of 4G plans. Customers will be able to pre-order the handset, but just not quite yet. EE hasn't yet confirmed the exact price of the Samsung Galaxy Alpha but claims that these details will be announced 'in due course'. VodafoneVodafone has also confirmed that it will be stocking the Samsung Galaxy Alpha and it's even talked colours. You'll be able to buy the phone in Charcoal Black, Dazzling White, Frosted Gold or Sleek Silver on the red network, but the price is yet to be confirmed. ThreeThree has told us that the Samsung Galaxy Alpha will be available on its network, but for now we don't know the when or how much of it. Three could be one to watch though, as it's likely to offer Samsung's new handset with unlimited 4G data. O2O2 has confirmed it will begin selling the Samsung Galaxy Alpha in September on its range of O2 Refresh tariffs. Exact pricing (including both pay monthly and PAYG options) will be confirmed in the coming weeks. Carphone WarehouseCarphone Warehouse has confirmed that it will exclusively be stocking the blue version of the Samsung Galaxy Alpha at launch, as well as also having it in black, white, gold and silver. 
In terms of a release date all it says is that the phone is expected in September, but you can already register your interest on the site and Carphone Warehouse will get in touch once it's available to order. Phones 4uThe Samsung Galaxy Alpha is listed on Phones 4u's 'Coming Soon' page and you can register your interest in the device to receive updates on its availability. - The HTC One M8 is every bit as shiny as the Samsung Galaxy Alpha.
  | | Samsung Galaxy Alpha release date confirmed for September 12 Aug 22nd 2014, 14:57, by John McCann 
The Samsung Galaxy Alpha release date has been confirmed as September 12 by the Korean firm - potentially just three days after the iPhone 6 announcement. If you already have the Galaxy Alpha in your sights then you can be an eager beaver and pre-order the handset from August 28. The Galaxy Alpha sports a 4.7-inch 720p display, octa-core processor (1.8GHz quad + 1.3GHz quad), 2GB of RAM, 12MP camera, Android 4.4.4 KitKat and a 1860mAh battery. All about the metalIt's the metal frame that runs around the outside of the Galaxy Alpha that Samsung is really keen on telling us about, as it looks to produce a premium looking and feeling handset that's also just a svelte 6.7mm thick. Samsung has confirmed that the Galaxy Alpha will arrive in the UK in a number of colours - Charcoal Black, Dazzling White, Frosted Gold, Sleek Silver, and Scuba Blue - and it will be available from a variety of high street retailers including Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4 U.   | | The Archos 80 Helium 4G is an 8-inch 4G tablet for under £200 Aug 22nd 2014, 09:20, by John McCann 
Archos may not be the first name that springs to mind when you think 'Android tablets', but the French firm is looking to entice customers with the offer of 4G connectivity at a low price. The Archos 80 Helium 4G is your run-of-the-mill 8-inch 1024 x 768 tablet, boasting a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, microSD slot, 5MP rear camera and 2MP front snapper. It's only running Android Jelly Bean, which is now old news with KitKat the current breadwinner for Google - although even that's soon to be replaced by Android L - while under the hood you'll find a 3500mAh battery. Look at the priceWhat Archos really wants you to focus on though is the 80 Helium 4G's £199 price tag and the fact it comes with 4G connectivity (you'll need to source your own 4G SIM card and tariff though). 
At 430g the 80 Helium 4G isn't exactly light, the LG G Pad 8.3 weighs in at 338g and the original iPad Mini tips the scales at 312g - meaning this could be a bit of a beast to lug around. If you fancy splashing the cash on a low cost 4G tablet the Archos 80 Helium 4G is available now.   | |
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