wow. almost twenty minutes without a new patent suit

The lawyers aren't working hard enough! I blame the good weather.

Good strategy, for a device to carry around ALL THE TIME

Yes, Sony did good to make it water-resistant. It is a good feature to have (unlike a bullet point, like eye following scrolling that only works in special circumstances).

Maybe not many of us will take a dip with our phones, but they do get laid on bar tables quite often. It is nice not to be bothered with the occasional beer spill (or a toddler's wet burp, as one commenter pointed out).

This version of Xperia may be preferable to some people, who found the the Z a bit unwieldy (due to the rectangular design and the size). And 720p resolution quite frankly is more than enough.

Me? I got the water-unresistant HTC One. And keep it in my trouser pocket at a bar (and quite frankly can hear it when it rings even there, if a band is not playing).

Horses for courses, again..

Well well. Current top-of-the-hill contenders are (without order) Sony Xperia Z, iPhone 5, LG Optimus G Pro, Nokia 920, Nexus 4, Htc One and this, the Samsung GS4.

All have their ways, all have their pluses and niggles. I agree with the reviewer that this is an incremental upgrade of the GS3, but almost on all specs. It is a very good device, but for me, it is does not have the instant "appeal" of, say, the iphone5 / Nexus 4 / HTC One. I deem the spec sheets represent the brute force approach - put every bell and whistle on, and consider it a job well done. I mean is, it is good, but it does not stand out in any way -by way of comparison the Z has the waterproofing (and the almost stock UI), the One has the design and the speakers and the good bar-camera etc.

IMHO all-round the best Android device Samsung made was the Galaxy S2. If I was going for a new Samsung device, I'd pick the Note line over this - the size difference is no longer significant and it does have the bigger battery and the stylus.

Some time ago I did consider the GS3, and found it to be unnecessarily complicated UI-wise, and surprisingly laggy on occasion. I am sure the GS4 is lag-free now with the upgraded internals, but UI I personally don't like remains still. It may indeed be a good device to go AOSP, but then I'd get the cheaper Nexus 4. After 720x1280 resolution, 1080x1920 is mostly bragging rights.

The devotion to removable battery I can understand paying off two-three years down the line, but the expendable memory doesn't hold much water anymore. Almost all new devices have decent storage now, and almost all support USB OTG so you can use a USB stick if needs be, and nobody I know changes their microsd cards. People just stick one in and be done with it. I do get the big expendable storage thing on a tablet where you are more likely to carry around big .mkv files, but not a phone. Even if the display is 1920x1080, the things are still pocket sized.

Anyway. If you like your Samsung, I'd recommend a GS3 and installing a decent launcher on it, or the bigger Note - for the bigger screen and the greater stamina, and the fun-and-nice-to-have stylus.

or maybe contractors hire mediocre programmers

hence the magnitude of performance difference.

Fart? OK. Art? Not OK.

And the stupidity of protecting "children" from breasts, but serving them graphic or implied violence.

The more the merrier!

Nokia running Android would be a nice addition to an already strong Android stable:

Samsung, Sony, HTC, LG, Huawei etc all have their strengths.

But WP landscape isn't as fiercely competitive - yet. So who knows?

Suuure!

To begin: I like GNU/Linux, and I do have a machine running it. It is my tinkertoy for some time, at least until I get around to ordering a Raspberry Pi. I also have an elderly laptop running XBMCbuntu, but that doesn't really count, being an appliance after all. But I still do my work on Windows. It is more reliable, has better drivers and has a much better selection of professional software (I do VFX).

Anyway. Linux has yet again failed to take up the world by storm - and I seriously doubt shoehorning a desktop/touch interface onto a handset will improve its marketshare.

Also, it has toothier competition:

WebOS was beautiful and wonderful - but it's not around anymore, not really. Meego was also mighty fine, but it was pretty much stillborn (outside the few still-faithful). Even ye mighty Microsoft is fighting tooth and nail for relevancy (I think WP7/8 interface is very sleek, with few downsides)

Ubuntuphone? Let's wait and see.

What is the open alternative to Activesync?

I really would like to know.. Activesync is proprietary. But what is its alternative, that can sync contacts, calendars as well as mail?

I myself use Android, but was thinking of getting a WP8 phone for a family member..

Take a page out of Google+

It may be totally different in its execution, but the Google+ app works like a charm (should you wish to use it, that is).

Apple was supposed to get it right the first time, right?

Apple devices are supposed to work right, right out of the box. That's one of the justifications for the markup in price, and short-sell on the options (and extras).

At least, that's the company line. It took them ages to get copy&paste, video chat etc on their highest-tech devices, but at least (with quite a lot of restrictions) they got it, with cute UI effects.

It's decent, it's good

It's not an ipad. It is not supposed to be an ipad. It's an alternative to the ipad.

It is good enough to stand on its own. It is not too compromised if you are avoiding an ipad, for some reason or the other (mine has always been the accessible file system).

It is well made, easy to use, speedy, has a wonderful screen, easy to hold, has good sound. You can connect USB flash drives with a simple OTG cable too (works wonders at meetings).

It'll do the light document editing, web, chat, video etc things very well. Very usable for remote desktop thing too. Very good battery life. Has good selection of software. What more?

I think it is well worth over 80%.

Bloatware + bad UI + underperformance

Brands are more interested in the bullet points - also called feature bloat. Usability is apparently low on their priorities.

Since almost all TV's are roughly the same, it boils down to design and price.

Solution:

Get a good looking TV with a nice display. Forget about the SmartTV thing. Use XBMC.

I use an old laptop as my XBMC server. It works beautifully. You could use XMBCbuntu or even the wonderful Raspberry Pi if you are up to a bit of tinkering.

There are other alternatives too, of course. Windows Media Center is quite decent, and some people love Plex for instance..

How hard could it be? Doesn't Apple have QC?

Apple, unlike its competitors, have very few (and tightly controlled) number of devices.

And the issue has been around for some time it appears.

So.. what gives?

-------------------

On another note, I remember being told by a tech savvy and Apple faithful friend "never to buy any Mk.I (or rev A) of any Apple kit".

I hate to agree, but I do

Apple's target demographic is the "common man", looking for an appliance instead of a computing device.

iDevices are lookers, and their "computing device"ness is well hidden, below the simple (or simplistic) interface and between the high walls of the Garden of Apple. So they sell. and sell.

The ipad has become the word for this type of computing device, the fondleslab, if you will. I can attest to having overheard phrases such as the Samsung iPad, the Google iPad, etc.

Anyway. Target demographic will buy the minipad, it's got the Apple logo on it, after all. But it will mostly be the wallet decision kind, rather than a "shiny shiny me want one" kind. After all, it'll probably be stacked next to, and shadowed by, the real deal. It won't be the runaway success of the iPad 9.7, but it definitely won't be the flop like the Apple G4 Cube.

As for me, I prefer the honest, inexpensive, unassuming yet well made Nexus 7. But then I'm not in the target demographic.

crossovers do exist

I've seen iphone users switching to HTC One X / Samsung GS3 for screen size, I've seen android users switching over to iOS for the clean simplicity of it.

It's a shame this demographic is hard to quantify.

Cutting off your nose to spite your face

In almost all respects the iphone5 is a marked improvement over the 4s - faster, better screen, non-glass back, etc etc. And a non-shatterprone back too.

One of the best uses of a modern smartphone is the GPS navigation. You might not need it very often, but when you do it is quite a lifesaver. So it is a stupid decision to deprive your own customers of a working solution, just because it was made by a rival, and replace it with something this half baked.

Sad tale

Post-production/VFX people are arguably the longest-hardest working (and least credited) people in the movie industry. It is not their fault that the eye candy they can produce is used as a substitute for a decent story.

(Creating a single VFX shot in -say- Avengers requires orders of magnitude more skill and work than -say- all the work and skill expended to all Transformers scripts)

So it is a shame such a team has to be disbanded. Though I am pretty sure none of the artists involved will remain jobless for long.

go proprietary!

Anything and everything this pin layout can do, can be done using standards based connectors and protocols.

(mhl microusb, wifi-direct instead of airplay etc)

Maybe it won't be as neat and tidy though.

Apple can go for proprietary, because of the vast userbase. It is easier and way more profitable for them.

Me? I like microUSB. It is cheap and very durable - the male end of a cable can break, but important female connector at the device end is very durable. And cables are cheap and plentiful. I like HDMI, because it too is everywhere. I also have an expensive minidisplayport-DVI adapter languishing in my drawer, just because Apple didn't see fit to add a regular HDMI out to its now older generation notebooks, and subsequently took away minidisplayport too. And no, still no HDMI.

Anyway. If you are buying into the Apple Ecosystem, you are tacitly agreeing to pay more - that's the way the cookie crumbles. No two sides to it. It doesn't make you an iTard or fanboy, it just is what it is.

(A note to Lord Elpuss: microUSB is way more robust than miniUSB. It wasn't simply space saving)

Note I was a surprising hit, this will sell too. But the camera?

Strange enough, I see the original Note being used more by women than men - despite their (on the average) smaller hands etc. I think it has to do with (almost all) women carrying bags.

Not sure about the camera though. Nikon recently has a similar device too.

Microsoft can afford to lose (moneywise), and try again. It is also rich in patents, not a stranger to litigating the socks off anybody who infringes on its domain. That Microsoft is playing nice last few years (and not garnering ill will like Apple) does not change the fact it can take a beating, and dish it out in return - on the courtroom, of course.

Anyway. I sincerely hope WP8 does succeed commercially (and in mindshare). It is a beautiful interface, simple, fluid, fast and very much task focused (as opposed to app focused like iOS and to a lesser extent, Android). WP8 is the one I'll get for mom.

That said, I'm happy with Android for myself.

I want this - from HTC, or better yet, plain vanilla Android.

Specs sound good - LG's reputation : not so good.

If they could leave this machine plain "vanilla" Android, maybe I'd think about it.

Primary reason I don't go for Samsung is the awful looking Touchwiz. And I don't want to be forced to root and reflash a brand new phone just to be able to look at it.

Security vs Freedom

It's a very old choice.

You can pick the closely curated/censored and restrictive way, like WP and iOS. They are safe(r), but you are not allowed to stray from the usage scenario, get treated like a toddler.

You can also choose the looser model, like Android. It requires you to know a little bit about what you are doing, but you can do more. If you are ignorant/very careless, you can suffer more too.

Both have its ups and downs. It's the choice thing, really.

--------------

But Android *should* have better safeguards built in. You know - for the kids :)

usually the other way round

Clean, attractive design and good build quality have always been Sony strongpoints. (Software, not so much - but that's happily not relevant here. But I do remember Sonic Stage).

Apple used to gain inspiration/borrow ideas from Sony. But that's mainly in the past now, Apple does have a strong design language of its own.

Back to the device: The first Tablet S was a bit slow due to Tegra 2 not being all that fast and Honeycomb being not very optimised (at the time I tried it, ICS was not available). But the design was intended for a coffee table and the inclusion of a infrared remote is genuinely useful. It is also the easiest the hold tablet I have handled (including ipad).

So.. I think this will be one of the better tablets around.

Counting chickens before they hatch?

There are too many factors at play to make such a supposition.

Price

Availability

Ease of use

Design/appeal

Mindshare:

- Branding (a.k.a. "reality distortion field effect)

- Software support (productivity, games, specialist apps)

- The "ecosystem" (peripherals, extensions)

And eventually, momentum (the "everybody else is using it, so it's a comfortable choice" thing)

I am not rooting for any platform here, all have their ups and downs. The more the merrier though, competition benefits consumers.

in short

It is tough selling an expensive phone where there is economical troubles.

Especially if there are cheaper and arguably better alternatives.

Especially if your new "shiny shiny" is beginning to look dated. Both by itself and in comparison with the competition.

Stupidity, revisited

Almost as stupid as the rounded rectangle thing, but more sinister.

I had "global search" in all the Palm devices I used. My first one was made in 1996.

In my opinion Smart Dial (as seen in all Nokia dumbphones and all HTC dialers) and Global Search are the sine qua non of the phones I carry.

On a side note -if you are using Android- I would suggest the Aurora global search and (if it is a non-HTC phone) one of the numerous smart dialers apps in Google Play.

Goes against the philosophy

Even if the info in the app is not 100% accurate, it is also aptly named Clueful. Anyhow, an app's fitness for purpose is irrelevant to it's acceptance into the App Store (if this wasn't the case App Store would be a lot less populous).

But that would go against the unwritten rules about opaqueness. Apple must protect the illusion that App Store is Always Safe and Cuddly.

High stress/low fault tolerance work maybe, but hardly the worst.

Yes, it is a big IT challenge. Anything can go wrong, so you need calm, smart and experienced engineers on the job.

But it is not the worst job at all.

Because, the deadline is set in stone. The Olympics begin, and they end. It's make or break.

(Unlike many IT projects which never seem to end, getting new requirements, changing goal posts, accumulating cruft overnight, sapping the will to live)

Sounds right

Being a sucker on both Facebook and Google+, this kinda sounds right.

The G+ is quite less hectic, less minutiae and more content. Even if less active.

I think it may be the signal to noise thing.

(but in the long chance G+ gets more "popular", things would change I guess. More noise, less meat)

Darn! One of the most fun articles for some time

The title says "Bonkers", so no misleading going on here! And a breath of fresh air from the usual Crapple Shamsong Whatnot bandwidth fodder.

If you are insanely rich and don't know what how else to show off your bank balance (selfish, stupid, compensating for the tiny third leg, take your pick) this is one good guide. As for the rest of us who are less fortunate in dough (or more fortunate in body image/performance things), it is one heckuva laugh. Informative too, in a useless kind of way.

Yea The Register! More, more, more!

How hard could it be?

There are only two major (2) variants of the Macbook Pro line:

- The ones with Retina

- The ones without Retina

With 13" and 15", and maybe with i5 and i7 spec'ced subcategories Apple only has to test maybe 4-5 machines.

It's not like the Windows world. Hardware is tightly controlled, choice restricted.

This is a major QC screwup, on pretty expensive machines, no less.

But then you should never buy Apple's first versions of a new design. There have always been issues, for as long as I remember.

Keeping the name alive

Since consumers have acute A.D.D., they need to be constantly reminded, nay, bombarded with Brand Names. Whatever the half baked reason.

COMING ON NEXT:

One worker drops a spanner in Mercedes Factory - Insider Report. (cue newsflash infographics)

iOS fragmentation

iOS apps are not resolution agnostic.

This was the primary reason for the iphone going "retina" was that the older 320x480 wasn't cutting it anymore, but goint 480x800 (or similar) / changing aspect ratio of the screen would break the existing (and huge) app catalogue. Doubling (quadrupling) the res was the only solution for compatibility - iOS app GUI's were hard coded for the device.

Same holds for the ipad. Thus the ipad 3, with its brilliant "retina" screen.

I wonder if they will keep the 2:3 aspect of the iphone for iphone5, and the 3:4 aspect for a 7" ipad? And at what resolution?

Then - goodbye Opera

It has been my browser of choice since v3 days. Fast, clean, light, unhindered, safe. Big in features, small in footprint.

My distrust of Facebook will preclude me from staying on.

Opera, as a company, may need/want the cash. Opera as the idea will be tainted.

Lovely machine, shame about the drivers.

If it were running OSX you wouldn't be able to change the size of system fonts and title bars. Thankfully it's running Windows, you you don't have to go blind trying to read the small type - if your vision is not 20:20.

I learned this the hard way when I attempted to resize the fonts on the MB Air I had bought for mom , I could accomplish this only through some hacking.

But - as was mentioned earlier- the driver support on Sony laptops is Bad. Very little updates, and won't work fully-functional with the OEM drivers. As usual, Sony - brilliant hardware, lousy software support.