One of the top-selling games of all time for the PlayStation 2 is heading to Android and iOS later this year. Rockstar Games on Friday announced Grand Theft Auto: Vice City will be coming to mobile devices in honor of the game’s 10 year anniversary on October 29th. Vice City was originally released in October 2002 for the PlayStation 2 game console as the sixth game in Rockstar’s controversial cop-killing and chaos causing open world Grand Theft Auto series. Along with featuring native high-resolution graphics, both ports are said to contain several enhancements unique to the iOS and Android platforms.
“Grand Theft Auto: Vice City gave players the freedom of a massive open-world in one of the most iconic and vibrant settings ever realized in a game,” said Sam Houser, founder of Rockstar Games. “It was a defining moment in the series and we’re delighted to be celebrating its 10th anniversary this year with a stunning, updated version for phones and tablets.”
Rockstar did not announce a release date or say whether the game will be available for Windows Phone 8 devices in the future.
Just hours after the iPad mini became available to preorder at Apple's online store, the white and silver model is now advertised to ship in two weeks.
While the white model in all capacities is now sold out, as of Friday morning the black and slate version is still advertised to deliver on next Friday, Nov. 2. Cellular-capable models do not ship until mid-November.
Announced this week, the iPad mini is available in sizes of 16, 32 and 64 gigabytes. Like the iPhone 5, it's available in black and slate, as well as white and silver.
Market watchers have big expectations for the iPad mini, with millions expected to be sold this quarter. Though many expected an entry price lower than $329, Wall Street analysts believe the iPad mini will justify its price to consumers with superior build quality, strong software, and a huge range of third-party applications available on the iOS App Store.
After the recent release of Skype v6.0 for Mac and Windows, Skype is now offering free international calling for a month. In addition to making free Skype-to-Skype calls, you can also call offline contacts on their mobiles and landlines. Skype states that the free calling offer is worth 10.49 Euro, which roughly translates to Rs 726.
Mobile calling through Skype is only available in some countries, including Canada, Guam, Hong Kong S.A.R. China, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Thailand, and United States. Calls to landlines through Skype are available only in 40 countries, which do not include India. The free worldwide calling trial must be redeemed before November 15, 2012, and you will be required to give valid payment details. Each account will only be eligible for one free month of worldwide calling, and only accounts created at least 29 days ago are eligible.
Skype is giving users one month of free worldwide calling
Skype had released the latest version of its voice-calling software – Skype v6.0 – recently. The update has brought to the table Microsoft and Facebook Account Integration. Users can now sign into Skype using either their Microsoft or Facebook accounts. In Skype v6.0, users can send instant messages to their Windows Live Messenger, Hotmail and Outlook.com contacts via Skype. Users with Microsoft accounts can merge the Microsoft account with Skype. All they have to do is sign in to Skype with their Microsoft accounts.
Skype v6.0 for Windows desktop users has been updated with new localised versions of Skype in Thai, Croatian, Slovenian, Serbian, Catalan, and Slovak languages. With this, the total number of languages that Skype supports has gone up to 38. Skype 6.0 has undergone a facelift on Windows desktop. The Skype user interface (UI) now bears a simpler and less cluttered look. Instant messaging and SMS areas have been refreshed as well. The online user counter at the bottom of the Skype Contacts list has been done away with for Windows desktop in a bid to unclutter the UI, offering more space for the user’s contacts in the list. Also, now if users want to change their profile pictures, they will be shown all their previous profile photos to choose from.
The latest version Skype for Windows desktop users comes with additional 'opt-in' telemetry reports for users who choose this option: "Tools>> Options>>Advanced>>Tick Help improve Skype...". The reports may contain the user’s Skype ID and or Microsoft Account ID, but Skype clarifies that it will not use the information to identify or contact the user.
For Mac desktop users, the latest version of Skype brings open chats across multiple windows, while also introducing support for Retina Display.
If you are an android user sometimes you would get irritated with the speed performance of your android device and this happens as it reaching its limit on memory space, to get rid of this problem make use of this Super speed android app. Below you will see a very quick simple but to the point review about this app, at the bottom you will also see what rating we have given it.
This super speed app comes under the tools category, which has the size of 1.5 MB, and it applies to smartphones and tablets with android OS installed, please remember that this app requires android 2.1 and above version.
The most notable feature in the app is it optimizes android smartphone performance and it increases android speed and functioning, overall this super speed app works as a process manager for memory cache
You will be noticing a pop up message for confirmation whereas by clicking once the activation button, as this app works internally you wouldn’t find any working process on your device, though you can find the app as a widget in your android device. This widget includes a handy process manager, which will simultaneously manage unwanted phone memory.
The over flow of unnecessary memory cache results in huge amount of internal memory, leaving you with less apps to download for the future and to overcome with these kind of problems this super speed app makes your money worthy.
With photos, out-of-focus used to be a permanent condition. Not any more. De-blurring algorithms, written by people who paid lots of attention in math class, reduce and sometimes almost eliminate several kinds of blurring: incorrect focus, motion blur, and Gaussian blur.
Moscow-based image processing guru Vladimir Yuzhikov has created SmartDeblur, a Windows application that does a remarkable job of making blurry images less blurry. Basically, the blurred bits in an image follow patterns that can be traced backwards mathematically. Deliberately blurred signs, serial numbers, and licenses can be adjusted enough to make them legible again. If you thought you used enough Photoshop Gaussian blur to mask your car’s front plate before Facebook-posting “Me driving at speed on Cannonball Run,” think again. It also has the potential to make smartphone cameras perform better.
“Many people think that blurring is an irreversible operation and the information in this case is lost for good, because each pixel turns into a spot, everything mixes up, and in case of a big blur radius we will get a flat color all over the image,” Yuzhikov says. “But it is not quite true — all the information just becomes redistributed in accordance with some rules and can be definitely restored with certain assumptions.” In other words, the sharp image isn’t dead, only sleeping.
The before/after samples here look pretty good considering how out-of-focus the before originals were. These are Yuzhikof’s samples. “The result is impressive… but in practice not everything is so good,” Yuzhikov writes on his site. Try it yourself and you’ll see improvement but not necessarily as much as the man who wrote the (code) book got. You may find out of focus images work better than images blurred by camera shake (low exposure speeds, shooting from a moving vehicle).
Today Microsoft stepped on stage and released its Windows 8 and Windows RT to the tech world in what was largely conceived as the biggest Windows release ever. Availability starts today and active Windows 7 customers can upgrade starting from $39.99.
Microsoft talked OS features, integration along a wide variety of devices, the services that are launching alongside the OS and demoed all of them.
Windows 8 is released with a couple of services in tow. Those are Xbox Music, Videos, Games and also Skype. All Windows 8 users will get unlimited streaming of music via Xbox Music free of charge.
Microsoft’s speakers (CEO Steve Ballmer included) were keen tp repeating that the Windows 8 PCs are the “Best PCs Ever”. There are around 670 million PCs currently, which are compatible with Windows 8 and Ballmer expects around 400 million to come out with Windows 8 out of box.
The Windows 8/RT store was also a big part of the event. Currently there are around 7000 apps available, which isn’t as good as Apple’s numbers but Steven Sinofsky pointed out that the Windows Store has the most number of apps for an app store on its launch day.
A big part of the Windows 8/RT release was the emphasis on touch – the fact it can support a mouse and hardware keyboard but that it was ultimately designed to work as a touch-only OS. pre-Win8 ultrabooks as well as post-Win8 tablets and notebooks were used to demonstrate that.
Finally Windows 8 is much faster than its predecessor in every way, has the new Modern UI but still retains the familiar but slightly refreshed Windows 7 look.
Mr. Nexus 4, you're early. Carphone Warehouse just couldn’t wait until next week and decided to put the next Google purebred droid on pre-order right now, complete with specs, price and delivery date.
Here come the specs - the LG Nexus 4 has a 4.7" LCD screen with 768 x 1280 and a Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset with quad-core processor at 1.5GHz and 2GB of RAM. In other words, it's based on the Optimus G, just as expected.
The camera is listed as "8+MP", though it's really a 8MP camera and not 13MP. It shoots 1080p@30fps video, though you might want to be careful with that as you only get 8GB of non-expandable storage. Yep, unfortunately the rumors were true. This doesn’t mean there won't be a 16GB version later on, so keep your fingers crossed.
On the connectivity side, the LG Nexus 4 has quad-band 2G and tri-band 3G (no LTE in sight), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC.
There's the question of the OS - the specs page doesn’t seem to be finalized and lists it as both 4.1 and 4.2, but invariably calls it 'Jelly Bean'. This would mean that the 4.2 update isn't major and is not Key Lime Pie (as you might remember 2.0 and 2.1 were both Eclair, while 3.0, 3.1 and 3.2 were all Honeycomb).
The phone measures 133.9 x 68.7 x 9.1mm, but its weight is yet to be confirmed. The only color available is Black.
Carphone Warehouse lists deals from Vodafone and O2. You can have the LG Nexus 4 for free on a £31/month 2-year contract (slightly pricier than a Galaxy S III, which currently can be had for free with a £28/month contract). The phones will be delivered on October 30.
Fusion Drive is a new storage option for Mac mini (Late 2012) and iMac (Late 2012) computers that combines the performance of Flash storage with the capacity of a hard drive.
Products Affected
Mac mini (Late 2012), iMac (Intel-based)
Presented as a single volume on your Mac, Fusion Drive automatically and dynamically moves frequently used files to Flash storage for quicker access, while infrequently used items move to the hard disk. As a result you'll enjoy shorter startup times, and as the system learns how you work you'll see faster application launches and quicker file access. Fusion Drive manages all this automatically in the background.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to configure Fusion Drive? When ordered with a Fusion Drive, your iMac or Mac mini is pre-configured.
Can external USB, FireWire, or Thunderbolt hard drives be added to Fusion Drive? External drives cannot be added to Fusion Drive.
Can I add a partition to the hard disk with Fusion Drive? Using Disk Utility, you can add one partition to the hard disk on Fusion Drive. Once you add the partition, the "plus" symbol in Disk Utility to add additional partitions will be grayed out. You cannot partition the Flash storage.
If I create a hard disk partition is it part of Fusion Drive? The additional partition is not part of Fusion Drive. The new partition is a separate volume that is physically located on the hard disk drive.
Can I add a Windows partition? You can create one additional partition on the hard disk with Fusion Drive. You can create either a Mac OS X partition or a Windows partition.
If creating a Windows partition, use Boot Camp Assistant to create it, not Disk Utility. From the Go menu, chooseUtilities. Then, double-click Boot Camp Assistant and follow the onscreen instructions. For more information on Boot Camp see the Boot Camp support page.
Note: Boot Camp Assistant is not supported at this time on 3TB hard drive configurations.
I receive a "disk is too small for this operation" message when creating a partition. Why? The partition you are trying to create has a larger size than free space available on the hard disk drive. Reduce the size of the partition you are trying to create and try again.
Can a Fusion Drive be mounted on another system in Target Disk Mode? Yes, but the system attempting to mount the Fusion Drive in Target Disk Mode must have OS X Mountain Lion version 10.8.2 or later. A Fusion Drive will not appear as a Target Disk Mode volume or startup disk on earlier versions of Mac OS X.
Can third-party disk utilities be used with a Fusion Drive? Third party disk utilities may or may not work with a Fusion Drive. Check with the third-party software vendor to check for compatibility with a Fusion Drive.
I'm using video capture software and it reports frame drops during sustained captures. What could be wrong? Your project's capture requirements may exceed the sustained capture rate available to your Fusion Drive. Try capturing a smaller segment of the source or reduce its resolution.
I've recently reset NVRAM (Non-Volatile Random Access Memory, also known as PRAM) and now my Fusion Drive is starting up more slowly. How can I fix this? The reset removed your Startup Disk setting from NVRAM. To access the setting, choose System Preferencesfrom the Apple () menu. Then, click Startup Disk and then Macintosh HD. Note: You may have to click the lock icon at the bottom of the window and enter your system administrator password to manage this setting.
The morning of Apple’s iPad mini event earlier this week we told you there was a handful of new accessories coming including four new Lightning adapters and a 12W USB power adapter. We didn’t hear much about them during the event, but the new cables and adapters have hit Apple’s online store now, including a Lightning Digital AV adapter and Lightning to VGA adapter, with most shipping in 2-3 weeks. On the product page for the new 12W USB charger, Apple confirmed it will indeed ship with Retina iPads, and with the new 4th-gen replacing the third-gen iPad, that would essentially cover just the iPad 4. It is, however, selling the adapter by itself for $19.00 online and listing compatibility with iPad 2, iPhone 4S, and iPod touch 5th gen and up. Many readers have wondered whether or not the adapter would allow for faster charging with the iPad 3 and 4th gen iPad, a big complaint among third-gen iPad users that found the device took up to several hours longer to charge than previous generations due to its larger battery. Also, on Apple’s discussion forums some users asked if a software update would be required for the iPad 3 to draw additional power. When we asked Apple about the 12W adapters, we we’re told the following:
“We don’t have an exact percentage of how much faster it would charge but you should see an increase in speed.”
Microsoft desperately needs a "thing"—a big thing that transcends the nerdy world of consumer electronics and achieves hero status among mobile-hardware wonks and civilians alike. The iPad is a thing. The Kindle Fire is a thing. Each tablet is a shared cultural experience that's practically effervescent in mainstream consumer appeal.
And now, with its Surface RT tablet, Microsoft is trying to create a thing of its own.
Surface RT must fulfill Microsoft's bid for relevance in a world gone hopelessly mobile. Surface RT must demonstrate that Microsoft can compete with Apple, Amazon, and Google in marrying hardware to software to credit card numbers in perfectly stacked ecosystems. And Surface RT must validate a splendiferous marketing spend, estimated by Forbes in excess of $1.5 billion, every dollar dedicated to making people really, really excited about, oh my God, have you seen this, it's Surface RT!
When Surface RT was unveiled in June, hands-on reports were unanimous in their praise of the tablet's hardware innovations. With a magnesium chassis, an integrated kickstand, and clever keyboard accessories, Surface RT flouts the standard rules of tablet design and defiantly declares, "There's a better way to build these things. The other guys have it all wrong. We have made things right."
The unveiling was four months ago. Today, Surface RT must prove itself against a barrage of new questions: Just how difficult are the Windows touch gestures? Just how competent is Windows RT, the feature-limited version of Windows 8 that gives Surface its name? And what about the $499 price tag of the entry-level Surface RT offering? Is it low enough to compete with the iPad, let alone other Windows tablets?
I've been using Surface RT every day for the past week, and I can testify that it's a fresh, fun reinterpretation of the basic tablet experience. But does Surface RT have enough, and do enough, to reach "thing" transcendence? Let's dig in deep to find out.
Industrial design
Most tablets are simple slabs of glass and aluminum devoid of moving parts. But not Surface RT, which dares to explore its own physicality in a very showy, public way.
IMAGE: ROBERT CARDINSurface RT's integrated kickstand looks great. It even sounds great. But it's not adjustable. And notice how the Touch Cover lacks actual keys.
The integrated rear kickstand props up the tablet at 22 degrees. That's just the right angle for some viewing positions, but the kickstand is not adjustable, and I often found myself drifting out of the angle’s sweet spot depending on my table height. Made of the same injection-molded magnesium that's employed throughout the Surface chassis (Microsoft calls the material "VaporMg"), the kickstand opens with a faint metallic ting and closes with a confident click. Both audio cues are satisfying—and they better be, considering that Microsoft specifically engineered the kickstand to not just work but also sound good.
The point of the kickstand, of course, is to turn Surface RT into an effective productivity machine, and to varying degrees that promise is fulfilled via the system's Touch Cover and Type Cover keyboard accessories. Regrettably, neither cover is included in the tablet's entry-level package, but all Surface RT versions are preloaded with a soph-frosh version of Microsoft Office that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, helping users realize the tablet's productivity promise.
At 3mm thick, the Touch Cover lacks physical keys, and instead uses pressure-sensitive touch pads to record keystrokes. The Type Cover features real keys with actual key travel, but extends the thickness to 5.5mm. Can the Touch Cover possibly offer rewarding typing? I answer that question in the section titled "Surface RT as a workstation" below. For now, I can share that the tablet's keyboard docking system is as sweet as Microsoft wants everyone to believe.
You never need to worry about aligning finicky connection points. In fact, you don't even need to look at the tablet and keyboard when snapping them together. Just move them toward each other, and magnetic attraction will attach the two sides—perfectly, every time. The connection interface also provides the data link between tablet and keyboard, and just like the kickstand, it comes with its own mechanical soundtrack that Microsoft expressly designed to push emotional buttons.
IMAGE: ROBERT CARDINYou must carefully finagle the proprietary power connector into the side of the beveled chassis.
The build quality throughout Surface RT is sturdy and confident, and exudes the same kind of austere precision we find in German performance cars. VaporMg is silky to the touch, yet inflexible when torqued. And at 0.37 inch thick and 1.5 pounds, Surface RT is essentially identical to the iPad in thickness and weight—this despite the fact that it supports a slightly larger, 10.6-inch, widescreen display.
Quibbles? I frequently worried that the kickstand would scratch wooden tables, and I found the proprietary power connector difficult to insert. But overall I became a quick fan of Microsoft's take on industrial design. The magnesium chassis really does feel like something special, and it's a welcome change from the standard combinations of aluminum and plastic we see throughout the tablet competition. Surface RT is a manifestly tactile device, from its generous (if initially confusing) catalog of touch gestures to its actual moving parts.
Display
I won't mince words: Surface RT's 10.6-inch, 1366-by-768-pixel display doesn't match the clarity and beauty of the iPad's so-called Retina display. Microsoft has provided excruciatingly detailed data that explains why a great tablet display doesn't need a resolution of 2048 by 1536, but my eyes don't lie.
IMAGE: ROBERT CARDINSurface RT's image clarity can't match that of the iPad, but you'll appreciate its widescreen aspect ratio when you're running two apps side by side.
In side-by-side comparisons, the Surface RT suffers from a tangible degree of pixel blur, whereas the iPad makes all content look like a continuous-tone photographic print. The difference in resolution is particularly noticeable in text rendering, despite Microsoft's use of ClearType (a technology that enlists a display's subpixels to smooth out character edges) and optical bonding (a manufacturing process that provides for greater visual clarity and reduces screen reflection).
That said, within the context of the greater tablet market, the Surface RT's display is actually quite nice. With a 16:9 aspect ratio, the 10.6-inch screen provides an HD video window that's 42 percent larger than what you'll see on the iPad's 4:3, 9.7-inch display. The Surface's widescreen proportions also accommodate Windows' new "snap screen" multitasking feature, which lets you run two apps side by side.
As for color reproduction, the Surface RT screen doesn't quite have the richness and accuracy of the iPad, but this drawback is noticeable only during A/B comparisons, and I don't think it's a big problem for Microsoft. The company is positioning Surface RT as a consumer-grade tablet that's great for the more pedestrian aspects of productivity: writing long email messages, setting up monthly calendars, creating documents in Word and Excel, that sort of thing. I would never use Surface RT for serious image editing, and that's just fine since the tablet currently doesn't support any apps for serious image editing (though that's a problem in and of itself).
Performance
No news is good news when it comes to any discussion of mobile device performance. In other words, a tablet or smartphone should just work, delivering a user experience that never, ever reminds you a processor is locked inside, chewing up its gears to keep pace with what's happening on screen.
The Surface RT's 1.4GHz quad-core Tegra 3 processor and 2GB of system memory handle their workloads without drama. Gesturing through the OS itself is fast and fluid. Ditto browsing in Internet Explorer. Websites load extremely quickly, and when you scroll rapidly down pages, screen redraws have no trouble keeping up.
During benchmarking, Surface RT more than held its own against other tablets in the 10-inch hardware class. With a frame rate of 6.9 frames per second, it took first place in our run of the WebVizBench HTML5 benchmark, besting the Asus VivoTab RT (another Windows RT tablet), which achieved a rate of 4.8 fps. And in posting a time of 10.4 seconds in PCWorld's own punishing webpage loading test, Microsoft's tablet trounced the VivoTab RT (which required 23.3 seconds to load the same page) and even squeaked past the iPad (which clocked in at 10.8 seconds).
Behold! The Windows RT desktop. You can use it for Office apps and file management... but not much else.
Surface RT meets the demands of modern Web browsing, but what about performance in more hard-core applications? It's almost impossible to tell, because the Tegra 3 is an ARM processor, and our full PC benchmarking suite runs only on x86-based silicon. When working in the preinstalled Office apps, I never encountered any bad hiccups or undue lag, but these programs have already been tuned—or perhaps the more accurate word would be detuned—to work within the limitations of ARM processors.
Regardless, performance in hard-core applications probably won't even matter, because the Windows RT desktop is locked down: You will never be able to install Photoshop, traditional PC games, or any other code we typically define as "PC software."
As for the new Windows 8 apps you purchase in Microsoft's Windows Store, they'll be vetted and qualified to run on Windows RT and ARM (last week, Gizmodo reported that 6 percent of all apps in the greater Windows Store inventory lack Windows RT certification). Will the more processor-intensive apps perform without fits and starts on Surface RT, or will they make you wish your first Windows tablet was running Clover Trailor a Core-class CPU? That's the big question, and it should have a direct bearing on what type of Windows device you buy.
But I'll end the performance report on a happy note: In probably our most important tablet benchmark, PCWorld's custom-designed battery-life test, Surface RT came in second to the iPad, playing a looping HD video for more than 9 hours before pooping out entirely. If nothing else, Nvidia's processor is kind to battery life.
Surface RT as a tablet
With the Surface's full-size USB port, you can side-load movies and music directly into the Windows RT desktop.
Playing with Surface RT for a week is like eating Spanish tapas for the first time after a lifetime consuming only American food (iOS gear) or east-Asian fare (Android gear). Surface RT—and the Windows RT system it taps into—is zesty, zippy, playful, and different. But it also takes some getting used to, especially if you're not adventuresome.
The system is rife with powerful touch gestures, but none of them are immediately obvious if you pick up the tablet without any training. To evoke the Charms bar (a centralized control panel that taps into search, sharing, and settings functions, among others), you swipe inward from the right bezel. That gesture is easy enough, especially because it's explained when you first start up the device.
But what about the gesture that brings up the snap screen for side-by-side multitasking? Or the gesture that lets you cycle through open apps with a finger swipe? Or the gesture that produces all your Favorites in Internet Explorer?
These and other touch controls aren't self-evident. They're a blast to use once you know the full repertoire, and within a few hours of activating Surface, I found myself way more engaged with Windows RT than I've ever been with iOS or Android. Still, Microsoft doesn't include a freshman-orientation packet in the hardware box, and I suspect that many newbies will never take the time to do their homework. These are the people who will slander Surface RT as a confusing mess.
In addition to all the new touch controls, I appreciated Surface RT's ability to side-load media content through the preinstalled SkyDrive app and full-size USB 2.0 port. This arrangement is vastly more user-friendly than going through the kludge of iTunes just to get music or video onto one's tablet. Indeed, moving files in and out of Surface RT is a breeze because the tablet still employs a full Windows file system, complete with folder hierarchies on its desktop side. And it's nice to see something happening on the Windows RT desktop, which is otherwise a ghost town in terms of the software it runs.
Surface RT as a workstation
Between the kickstand, the keyboard covers, and the inclusion of a light version of Microsoft Office, Surface RT really does transform into a serviceable desktop PC.
A dearth of apps limits its full potential, but the workstation design—the size of the screen, the width of the key layout—isn't that compromised relative to, say, what you'll find in a small Ultrabook. Other tablets offer optional keyboard accessories to fulfill that elusive productivity promise, but they’re nowhere near as elegant or lightweight, or so well integrated with the greater tablet package.
IMAGE: ROBERT CARDINThe Type Cover provides actual moving keys with key travel—and much faster typing speeds.
The Touch Cover is so thin, it feels like the sturdy cardstock cover of a high-end paper notebook. Sadly, though, it’s the less rewarding of the two keyboard options. Lacking physical keys, this quasi-keyboard doesn't offer any tactile feedback, and throughout my testing I struggled to type with the right amount of finger pressure.
Now, granted, I'm not a touch typist. I'm an inveterate hunt-and-pecker who can type 52 words per minute on a full-size desktop keyboard. But every time I used the Touch Cover, I struggled to recalibrate my finger pressure to the sensitivity of its sensors. The end result was a lot of words with missing characters. To wit: On the Touch Cover, testingover a seven-day period proved that I could achieve an average typing speed of 30 words per minute, which is considerably slower than my admittedly gimpy average.
The Touch Cover is insanely light. It's spill-proof. It's also the cheaper of the two cover options at $120, and typing on it is faster and more natural than on any on-screen virtual keyboard I've ever used. But the Touch Cover is nowhere near as competent as the Type Cover, which is the better value for only $10 more.
The Type Cover's key action is lighter and shallower than what I look for in a full-size keyboard, and its thicker profile doesn't match the cool factor of the Touch Cover. But, you know what? The Type Cover is a keyboard. It's a real keyboard with real, moving parts. And it yielded considerably faster typing speeds, helping me achieve an average of 39 words per minute across a week's worth of typing tests. I also found the touchpad on the Type Cover to be vastly more accurate and manageable than the one on the Touch Cover, which oftentimes was frustrating to the point of uselessness.
And I'm not the only one who performed dramatically better on the Type Cover. For first-hand reports from real touch typists, check out our full test results here.
IMAGE: ROBERT CARDINYou can dangle, and even gently swing, Surface RT by its keyboard covers, and the magnetic connector won't fail you. Or at least it didn't fail PCWorld.
When you're typing in Word, or using any of the other Office apps, you're exiled to Windows RT's spooky, barren version of the traditional Windows desktop. Nothing is happening here. You can use the desktop to shuttle files hither and yon, and it's also the locus of various system settings and tools. But because you can't install (let alone use) any legacy Windows programs, you're constantly reminded that Surface RT's productivity story begins and ends with Office, plus the scant selection of low-ambition-level productivity apps available in the Windows Store.
A rather un-appy conclusion
The Windows Store inventory is alarmingly short of high-profile apps. The U.S. version of the Store is still well below the magic 5000-app plateau, and at this point you won't find official apps for CNN, Dropbox, Facebook, Hulu, IMDb, Twitter, and YouTube, among numerous other big-name stalwarts of the mobile world.
This isn't just a problem because Microsoft needs a busy, buzzing software marketplace if it's to realize its greater goals. It's a problem because the features and operation of so many preinstalled Windows RT apps will make you yearn for third-party alternatives.
The Music app gives you access to a huge catalog of free, streaming music, and for some people it may eliminate the desire to download Rdio or Spotify (neither of which is available in the Windows Store, by the way). But as a file-management tool for your own music collection, the Music app is light on features and customization options, and inscrutable in how it works. At first glance it looks like a wrapper for Xbox Music, and users might take a while to grasp that it's Surface RT's only built-in music player.
The new Music app provides a killer catalog of free, streaming music, but as a file-management app for personal music collections, it's a confusing proposition.
And then there's the People app, a central depository for all social media associations. The app invites you to connect to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other buckets of humanity, but once all your social media is thrown together, it's disorienting to see your disparate contacts sharing the same space. Even worse, as a Twitter client, People is precious in design but completely lacking in power—at least as far as I can tell.
Can I tweet an image? Unclear. Can I get a collapsed, more space-efficient view of the tweets of all my follows? Unclear. Do I have a way to remove Facebook updates from my "What's new" stream without hiding Facebook friends in my contacts list? It's impossible to tell.
And that's the problem with many of the preinstalled apps: They seem to lack many standard features, but you're never quite sure if they're actually dumbed-down, or if you just haven't stumbled upon the feature you're looking for.
I synced Calendar with my Google account, but Microsoft's app doesn't show individual calendars that have been shared with me. Can I add those views? If so, the operation isn’t immediately obvious. Similarly, the Mail app wouldn't let me add my Gmail account. Is this because my account requires two-factor identification, and Windows RT doesn't recognize that? I don't know. The app simply reports, "That email address or password didn't work."
Bottom line
Microsoft desperately needs a hardware phenom to put a physical face on the ethereal trappings of its new Windows software. Hence Surface RT, the first personal computing device the company has ever created in its nearly 40-year history. But you can't simply buy your way into the "thing" club. You need to make a sexy, groundbreaking product that actually works—and then consumers assign it "thing" status through swarm intelligence, via social media and word of mouth.
Surface RT definitely covers the bases on the industrial-design front. When you set up your workstation at the local café—kickstand kicked, Type Cover snapped—your hardware will strike a pose unlike any other in the tablet space. And in many important ways, Surface RT does successfully redefine what a tablet can be. Its touch gestures rock (once you surmount the learning curve), and its built-in productivity features eclipse anything that the iPad or the Android competition offers.
IMAGE: ROBERT CARDINSimple. Elegant. But also a work in progress.
But Surface RT may not be the best new Windows device to purchase in the short term, and Windows RT definitely isn't the version of Windows you want to invest in. I doubt that any other tablet will be able to match the light weight and slim profile of the Surface RT/Touch Cover combo, but many people will be better served by waiting for a tablet that runs the full version of Windows 8 on x86 silicon. Such competing devices won't be quite as portable as Surface RT, and they'll almost always cost more. But they will grant access to the full Windows software experience, and battery life in Clover Trail tablets should even match the longevity of Surface RT.
One exciting option is Surface Pro. It's the big-kid version of Surface RT, and it should go on sale in three months. It will be slightly thicker than Microsoft's RT tablet, and about a half-pound heavier. But it will carry an Intel Core i5 processor, boast a 1920-by-1080-pixel display, and support the full breadth of Windows software, from desktop applications to every new Windows 8 app. All this, plus the Pro version supports the Touch and Type covers, and delivers all the other elements of Microsoft's nifty industrial design.
Is Surface RT a total nonstarter? No, it's definitely packed with utility, and that's why it earns 3.5 stars. In business-travel situations where I need only to write articles and respond to email, I can see throwing Surface RT and the Type Cover into my backpack, and leaving my Ultrabook (and iPad) at home.
But is this tablet a full-fledged "thing"? No, not yet. It's supposed to answer a host of problems, but instead it poses too many questions of its own.
Surface RT is packed with productivity potential, and finds a certain measure of success in reinventing the tablet form factor. But its hardware isn't perfect, and its Windows RT operating system lacks flexibility and app support.
*Price when rated
$499 for 32GB tablet alone; $599 for 32GB tablet plus Touch Cover; $699 for 64GB tablet plus Touch Cover
PROS
Inspired industrial design; nifty kickstand and keyboard options
Fun, fluid, powerful touch gestures
Delivers legit Microsoft Office support--on a tablet, no less!
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has announced the all new iPad Mini and refreshed its many other products at a special event at San Jose. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has made some interesting new announcements during this hour long event. If you happened to miss the important bits of this event, then here is everything that you need to know.
iPad Mini
As expected, iPad Mini is the star of the event. This is a new, smaller, and more affordable iPad that comes with 7.9-inch screen, and it will be available for pre-order from October 26 with WiFi models shipping November 2. The WiFi models of iPad Mini cost: $329 (16GB), $429 (32GB) and $529 (64GB), and the cellular (LTE) models cost: $459 (16GB), $559 (32GB), $659 (64GB).
The iPad Mini comes with an A5 processor, 1024×768 resolution, iOS 6, 5-megapixel rear camera, Lightning connector, and 10 hour battery. This smaller iPad will compete with Google’s Nexus 7 and Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD.
MacBook Pro
For those who were eagerly waiting for the 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina, it’s finally here.
This new laptop is 20% thinner than the previous 13-inch MacBook Pro models, it weighs 3.5lbs, it is 0.75 inches thick, and features a 7-hour battery. The screen packs 4,096,000 pixels, which is 4 times the number of pixels than you would find in the previous generation’s screen. It also packs a 720p FaceTime HD camera, dual microphones, and stereo speakers that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) claims “sound better than the previous generation.”
You can choose from either a dual core i5 or i7 processor, with 8GB of RAM and 768GB flash memory. This new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro is available beginning today for $1,699.
iMac
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has announced the 8th generation iMac with 80% thinner profile than the previous generation. The iMac is available in two sizes: 27-inch and 21.5-inch.
To buy this new iMac, you will need to shell out $1299 and the shipping will begin in November. The larger 27-inch model’s shipping will start in December. Now let’s take a look at technical specs.
The 21.5 inch iMac is a 2.7GHz Quad-core i5, with 8GB Ram, a GeForce GT 640M, and 1 TB HDD. The larger 27-inch model comes with 2.9GHz Quad-core i5, with 8GB RAM, a GeForce GTX 660M, and 1 TB HDD. Users will have a choice to choose up to 3TB of storage and Core i5 or Core i7 Bridge Processors. The new iMac also has the option to include a Fusion Drive, which is a hybrid of SSD and traditional hard drive.
iPad
The 4th generation iPad comes sooner than expected. It features an A6X processor, longer battery life, Lightning connector, and an HD version of its front facing camera. The new iPad also comes with LTE models and an improved WiFi performance (up to twice as fast). The pricing of this new iPad remains same as of the current generation, with $499 in its 16GB WiFi only model. The base model with cellular capabilities will start at $629.
Mac Mini
The new Mac Mini is now more capable and has received a specs bump. The Mac Mini will come with dual or quad-intel Core i5 or i7 Ivy Bridge, with Intel HD Graphics 4000, up to 16GB of RAM and three USB 3.0 ports. It starts at $599 for a 2.5GHz computer with 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive. Those who want a more powerful computer can opt for a server edition for $999 that has a pair of 1TB hard drives.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) last updated the Mac Mini in July 2011, but finally those who were waiting for a powerful Mac Mini, their dreams have come true. The shipping of Mac Mini starts today.
IMAGE: ROBERT CARDIN
IMAGE: ROBERT CARDIN
IMAGE: ROBERT CARDIN
IMAGE: ROBERT CARDIN
IMAGE: ROBERT CARDIN
IMAGE: ROBERT CARDIN
