The Apple Watch is on sale but Apple doesn't want you to buy one yet - here's why

The Apple Watch officially went on sale Friday  but if you've been trying to get your hands on one you'll probably have realised by now that it's not that simple. In fact, it almost seems like Apple doesn't want you to buy one. So read on to find out why it's currently so difficult to get your mitts on an Apple Watch.

Back at the beginning of March, Apple told the world that the Apple Watch would be hitting the shops on April 24, today, with prices starting at £299 and getting towards a mind blowing £14000 ($18000 USD). And while that's technically the case, with the Watch popping up in six designer boutiques spread over London, Paris, Milan, Tokyo, Los Angeles and Berlin, it's a lot more difficult getting hold of Apple's latest gadget if you live somewhere slightly less salubrious.

Before you start furiously knocking on the doors of Apple Stores up and down the country, begging for the must-have wearable, it's worth considering the fact the Apple Watch is unlike anything else Apple has previously sold. It's not just a piece of tech, it's no longer about what the Watch can do, but this time Apple is hinging its success on the Watch being fashionable, selling on its looks and desirability. The Apple Watch is a whole new ballgame for the company, and as it’s something more personal, it needs to take a different approach - and of course, Apple doesn’t know what the demand is going to be like, so taking a limited approach makes more sense.

Just look at the people Cupertino brought in when designing the Apple Watch, with ex-Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts and ex-Nike designer Ben Shaffer lured to Apple, and the company has been since driving interest in the Watch by making sure it's seen on the wrists of the influential and famous, including fashion designer Karl Largerfeld, Katy Perry, Beyoncé and Pharrell Williams. Make no mistake, Apple really wants people to lust after its Watch, and part of that means making it trickier to get hold of one.  

And let's face it, if you spend money on a fashion accessory, the last thing you want to see is everybody in the room wearing the same thing. You want to stand out, you want to feel special, and that means Apple needs to carefully control how many Watches are out there - at least for starters.  

So while you can buy the Apple Watch if you ring up and make a reservation at one of the top six fashion boutiques, it'll certainly be a while before you can hand over cash and take one away from a regular Apple Store, or even other designer shops like Selfridges. The limited approach is certainly more likely to appeal to fashionistas, and it's a world away from seeing thousands of people queue round the block for regular Apple gadgets - there's nothing cool about desperately queuing up, right?

Of course, there are other ways you can get hold of an Apple Watch - and rather than battering down the doors of Apple Stores, Cupertino would much prefer you to pre-order its wearable. The first batch of Watches reportedly sold out in hours, but it's only a matter of time before you can get your hands on a Watch from the next batch. This is actually a far more pragmatic approach from Apple, with batches making it a lot easier to judge demand.  

And with people buying the Watch either online or in specific fashion boutiques, it means there will be more time to make sure you get the right fit if you do go and try one on - something that's more important than ever, particularly if you're splashing out for the mega-pricey Apple Watch Edition.  

The limited approach certainly helps to make the Watch feel more special if you do get your hands on one, but can you imagine pre-ordering and waiting, or heading to a dedicated boutique, or is it simply a step too far?  

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Forget the Android Auto Alliance and Apple CarPlay: Get a connected car now!

 

Google, Apple and Nokia have spent the past few years working on the ultimate connected car, but you don’t need to wait years to kit your car out with gadgets and apps. There are loads of things you can do to make your journey better, from stereos that sync effortlessly with your smartphone to apps that turn your phone into music streaming sat-nav device. Read on to find out how to get CarPlay-like tech here and now!

Oxygen Audio O Car head unitThere are loads of car stereos out there that hook up to your smartphone wirelessly, but not many ditch a screen completely in favour of your handset. The Oxygen Audio O Car stereo does just that, with your iPhone clipping into the head unit and a companion app letting you control the stereo from the phone’s touchscreen. It may not be quite as elegant as CarPlay or the Google Auto Alliance, but it’s not far off!

The in-car personal assistant

Last year we showed you ways you could control the tech in your car by voice alone, but things have come on in leaps and bounds since then. If you want to use your smartphone, you’ll now be able to choose from other digital assistants as well as Siri, with Cortana on Windows Phone and Google Now on Android both letting you make searches, send text messages and a whole lot more all without touching a button on your phone.

The perfect Car App

If you have a Windows Phone, there are few apps better suited to driving than Nokia Car App. One of the simplest and easy to use apps we’ve ever tried, Nokia Car App removes all the clutter, setting up a faux Start Screen with just three buttons on it. Even when you’re driving along, it would be easy to tap a button to launch Spotify, HERE Drive or any other Windows Phone app, without worrying about hitting the wrong one or needing to take your eyes off the road for precious seconds.

Find your way home

Whatever phone or tablet you go for, you’ll be spoiled for choice when it comes to sat-nav apps from Android, iOS and Windows Phone. Go for a smartphone like the Nokia Lumia 930 and you won’t even need to download additional apps – HERE Drive is included as part of the package, and you can add free offline mapping for anywhere in the world. Both Apple and Android offer free turn-by-turn navigation apps as well, in the form of Apple Maps and Google Maps, respectively, and there are also plenty of paid for options too. If you don’t mind paying, apps don’t get much more comprehensive or easy to use than TomTom’s smartphone packages.

Apps apps apps

Connected tech like CarPlay promises to bring a host of prominent apps to the big screen in your car, but they’re all apps you can already get for your smartphone and tablet. All you need is a universal cradle to hold your device in place, a suitable means to charge your phone or tablet on the go, and a regular car stereo with Bluetooth or an Aux-in lead. Once you’ve connected your smartphone to your stereo, you’ll be able to stream music using Spotify and other services, listening to your favourite tracks through your car’s speakers! With audio streaming through your speakers, it’s even easy to set up a mini cinema in the back of the car for the kids, with apps like iPlayer and YouTube perfect for watching video on the move. Who needs CarPlay now?

Smartphone breathalyzer

Turning your car into a mobile tech fest doesn’t have to be restricted to entertainment either, with loads of cool gadgets out there that can help to keep you safe. Like the MobaBlow Bluetooth Brethalyzer, a Kickstarter gadget that works alongside your smartphone to help tell you when you’re OK to drive, or if you had a couple too many the night before and need to put the keys away for another couple of hours. And if you have drank too much, the accompanying app offers some nifty features like ‘Call a Cab’, ‘Call a Friend’ and even a ‘Find me’ feature!

Turn your iPad, Windows or Android tablet into a desktop PC replacement!

 

The Microsoft Surface Pro 3 may seem like the perfect tablet when it comes to actually doing work, but if you don’t have one, there’s loads you can do to turn your Android, Windows or iPad into a replacement for your desktop computer.

We’ve already looked at different ways you can turn your tablet into a laptop, but tablets these days are a lot more powerful. With quad-core processors and stacks of memory, gadgets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S can be ideal replacements for your desktop PC. So read on for some of the accessories and apps you’ll be needing if you want to ditch the desktop.

The big screen!The size of the screen is one of the biggest barriers to getting work done on your tablet, and nobody want to hammer out long documents on a tiny eight or 10-inch display. Thankfully, following a recent announcement at Google’s IO conference, it’s now possible to mirror the display on your Android tablet to your HDTV with a little help from the Google Chromecast, meaning you’ll no longer be left squinting at work you’re trying to do.

Apple’s iPad offers a handy solution when it comes to wirelessly streaming content from tablet to the big screen, in the form of the Apple TV. Meanwhile, the Windows 8.1 RT-based Nokia Lumia 2520 may not offer wireless screen mirroring, but it does cram in a micro HDMI-D port, making it easy to hook up to a big screen via cable.

Beating the Surface at typing

There’s no point in viewing content on your TV if you still have to resort to typing on a tiny touchscreen keypad though. Thankfully, there are loads of Bluetooth keyboards out there that are perfect for your tablet. Check out the Archos Ultrathin Bluetooth Keyboard for the Apple iPad, for example, or the Ultrathin Keyboard Folio from Logitech for your Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Productivity apps

If you’re serious about replacing your desktop computer, one of the first bits of software you’ll be needing is an office suite. Few are more accomplished the Microsoft Office, and the app is free for your Android tablet.

It’s just as easy to add Microsoft Office to your Apple iPad, but unfortunately, unlike your iPhone, you’ll still need to pay if you want to edit documents in addition to simply reading them. How much? Prices start at $70 (£43) for one computer and one iPad.

The Nokia Lumia 2520 goes one better, and it already has everything you need to start editing documents the second you take it out of the box. A full version of Microsoft Office – including Word and Excel – is pre-installed on the Lumia, so you’ll be good to say goodbye to the desktop as soon as you hook up to a proper keyboard and screen.

Add some tunes

If you’re working in a home office, the chances are you’ll also spend plenty of time listening to music. You’ll be needing speakers for your tablet then, letting you get the most out of Pandora, Spotify or your local music collection. Check out the NudeAudio Move L Bluetooth speaker as a great wireless solution for your iPad, Windows or Android tablet. We also loved the Creative Sound Blaster Roar SR20, which is another compact yet powerful wireless speaker.

You can print too…

Just being able to work on your tablet sometimes isn’t enough, and there’s a good chance you’ll want to print something every now and again. Thankfully there are loads of wireless options around, letting you connect straight from your tablet and print all without the need for cables.

The HP Envy 5530 e-All-in-One printer is a great example, offering integrated Wi-Fi to let you connect to a home network, or even letting you use Wireless Direct to let you beam data straight from your tablet to the printer. Perfect for the home office!

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Five of the best apps to fix iOS

 

Apple’s iOS 7 update is still a few months away, along with its new looks and under-the-hood-tweaks, and if you feel like iOS 6 just isn’t cutting it on your iPhone or iPad anymore, we wouldn’t blame you. If you’re tired of the inaccuracies of Apple Maps or you just need a better email client than Apple Mail, we’ve got just the apps for you. Read on for our top five picks that will give your iPhone a much needed refresh.

Maps – Google Maps

Apple Maps is still a sore app for many iPhone users, but Google has stepped up to the plate and delivered an even better Maps application than it originally provided on previous iOS versions. It comes complete with local Google search, voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation, public transport directions, Street View, traffic updates and even more. Who needs Apple Maps?

Browser – Google Chrome

There are a few different options to Safari in the app store for all your browsing needs, including Opera and Mercury, but Google Chrome is easily the best alternative you can find in the app store, especially if you use it as your main desktop browser too. Sync your Google account across your Chrome browsers, and you’ll get all your bookmarks and history in one place, plus you can sync over currently open tabs on each device letting you pull up a website super quick instead of hassling about – absolutely perfect if you do a ton of browsing on your mobile.

Five of the best social reader apps

Mail – Mailbox

Stylish email app Mailbox edges out Sparrow and the official Gmail client as our top pick for an Apple Mail replacement, thanks to its simple and fast way to get through countless emails in a particularly slick way. Mailbox plugs right into your Gmail account, and once you’re set up you can start to slide away emails with a flick of the thumb to delete or archive them, while you can rearrange your mail how you like in your inbox and even “snooze” nagging emails to a later date for when you want to get around to them. There’s push support too, so you’ll never be away from your mail.

Notes – Evernote

Some people love the simplistic nature of Apple’s Notes, but some dislike the fake notepad style of it and lack of power user features. While it might do the job for a quick list for when it comes to doing the shopping, you might want to sync your notes to your computer for future reference or for a project. Enter Evernote, an extremely powerful note app that lets you chuck in anything you want, ranging from full resolution photos, rich text and multiple ways of arranging all your notes. Evernote’s killer feature is that syncs over to the desktop application through the cloud so you’ll always have your notes handy, and you can even clip items from your web browser to dunk into your Evernote collection. A bit of power comes in handy, even when you’re doing the shopping, right?

Camera – Camera+

Forget the filter-focused Instagram, ditch Hipstamatic and toss away Apple’s own Camera, as Taptaptap’s Camera+ rules supreme in the photo snapping department, packing in a myriad of features including a self timer, manual controls, plus a stabiliser function to let you get the best shot. While it does come with filters, some of them enhance your photos in ways that Instagram could only dream of, plus you can add borders, effects and even share straight to your social network of choice. Even if you don’t need to make use of any of the effects or filters, the extra additions Camera+ adds to your phone’s snapper makes it a better pick than Apple’s own Camera app.

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Vodafone Smart Mini gives you Android Jelly Bean for just £50!

Outside the excitement of E3 and Apple’s WWDC conference, Vodafone has had its busy worker bees hard at work, and this week, the company is launching a low-priced mini-marvel that’s packing a lot of software goodies under its pint-sized hood, all at a similarly small price too. Say hello to the Vodafone Smart Mini, a £50 handset that’s armed with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Is this your next budget phone?

The Vodafone Smart Mini won’t cost you much, but that doesn’t mean the phone’s potential is as small as its price tag. Far from it: it might just be the perfect phone for the younger ones in the family, or if you need a temporary, yet capable smartphone, as the Smart Mini is an extremely effective mini handset that comes complete with a 3.5-inch touchscreen, a two megapixel camera and a 1GHz processor that’ll keep things humming along nicely.

There’s also 4GB of internal memory to get you started, but you can upgrade your storage options up to 32GB with a microSD card, and you’ve also got access to all of the hundreds of thousands of apps on the Google Play store. It also comes with the usual 3G, Wi-Fi and GPS connections to keep you connected, and while it might not be a HTC One superphone, you can’t go wrong for £50 on Pay as you go if you need a solid, cheap handset right now.

Is the Smart Mini the budget smartphone you’ve been looking for, or would you rather shell out for an expensive phone? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below www.tell-me-first.com

Five of the best social reader apps

 

Need to keep up on your reading? Need help just deciding what to read? You’ve come to the right place. While tablets and mobiles with internet connections have made it easier than ever to read the news or even a novel on the bus, it can be tough to know where to even start with so much to choose from online.

That’s where social readers, apps that pull together the must read articles from your friends on social networks and other sources, come in. Grab one of these and you’ll never be bored when you’re stuck on the train again. Here are five of the best social readers for your mobile or tablet that will keep you on top of all your feeds.

Flipboard

Flipboard is one of the most jam-packed reader apps available right now: it takes your social feeds and favourite sites and turns them into a gorgeous digital magazine that’s tailored just for you to flip through. A recent update to the app now lets you even curate your own magazines, through either saving articles within the app or through a bookmarklet on your desktop browser, plus you can share them with friends too and subscribe to other people’s magazines.

Pulse

While it’s similar to Flipboard in that it takes your news feeds and spruces them up, Pulse is a little bit different in that it’s just for reading news and not pulling things into a magazine. Pulse stacks up your feeds in a visual, mosaic layout that’s consistent throughout the mobile apps and the online site. Sharing is a doddle on the mobile apps, with Instapaper, Pocket and Evernote functions, but it’s a bit limited on the desktop, with only Facebook and Twitter sharing.

Feedly

Feedly is great alternative to Google Reader, boasting slick mobile applications and sharing functions across the board. It’ll even suggest articles to you based on what you’ve been reading, and you can share anything you like by a single tap to Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pocket, Instapaper, Buffer plus e-mail too. The mobile apps are slick and responsive, and the desktop versions are the next best thing once Google’s beloved news reader app shuts up shop on 1 July.

Reeder

One of the most powerful news reading apps available on iOS, Reeder takes you through your news feeds with ease and looks good doing it too with its simple interface and easy to use gestures. Tricky pages can be rendered easily through Readability, and it syncs in well with all the sharing options you could possibly need, from Twitter, Facebook, Evernote, Pocket, Quote.FM and more. The Mac and iPad versions are currently free while they play catch up to the latest 2.0 update on the £1.99 iPhone version.

Zite

Zite is available on both Android and iOS and boasts a clean, newspaper style view as well as a straightforward news feed view too that looks slick and helps you get through your news quickly. It also packs in decent sharing options through Twitter, Facebook and email.

iPhone App Store hits 50 billion downloads!

 

Apple’s hit a huge milestone today: it’s passed a staggering 50 billion downloads on the App Store for iOS devices, and one lucky winner’s picked up a massive prize along the way.

Since it launched in June 2008, more than 50,000,000,000 apps and games have been downloaded on the iTunes App Store for iPhones, iPads and iPod touches. That’s a staggering statistic: spread out over five years, that’s around 7,600 apps downloaded per second, averaged out over that time. And with the number of iOS devices out there far higher now than at launch, that number’s likely far, far higher now.Apple’s made a tradition out of awarding a big prize to the person downloading the milestone app, and it’s upping the ante in this respect once again: Brandon Ashmore from Ohio, who downloaded the app Say The Same Thing this week, has scooped a $10,000,000 App Store gift card for his troubles – that’s a lot of games of Candy Crush Saga.

While Apple’s App Store was not the first download store for smartphone apps, it was the easiest to use at the time, radically changing our expectations of what we use phones for, and turning applications and services into easy to access, easy to use apps available anywhere. Judging by the rate it’s going at in 2013, it’s still going from strength to strength.

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US military approves Android phones for soldiers

 

US service personnel will soon be using many different mobile gadgets

Samsung phones running a secure version of Android have been approved for use by the US Department of Defense.

The approval is the start of a process that will see many different types of mobile devices used by US soldiers.

Approval for other Android devices as well as Apple phones and tablets is expected in late May.

Before now, ailing phone maker Blackberry was the only firm whose products were approved for use by US service personnel.

Fast growth

The approval of Samsung phones was the first step of a strategy that would let soldiers use many different types of devices, both smartphones and tablets, during their tours of duty, said DoD spokesman Lt Col Damien Pickart.

The approval would not necessarily result in orders for gadgets, he said, but meant different groups within the DoD could now buy the devices most appropriate to their needs.

The US DoD has about 600,000 smartphone users, said Col Pickart, about 470,000 of whom were using Blackberry handsets. The remainder was split between people using both Google Android and Apple phones in a series of trials to assess whether the devices could be used securely.

According to one report on Federal News Radio, the approval of other handset makers is part of a US DoD plan to more than double the number of secure mobile devices used by its armed forces by 2014. Alongside this will be built a secure system to manage all these devices and their associated app stores. Commercial bids to provide this are currently being assessed.

Blackberry handsets dominate within the US military because, before now, it was the only make to meet the Department's stringent security demands.

Samsung phones were among the first to win approval because of work done on a hardened version of the Android operating system called Knox that also met those security requirements. Gadgets that run Apple's iOS 6 operating system as well as other Android phones are currently undergoing testing by the Defense Information Systems Agency and are expected to be approved by the end of the month.

At the same time Samsung won approval, Blackberry 10 smartphones and Playbook tablets were also ruled safe to use on military networks.

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iPhone 6 to pack a 12-megapixel camera?

 

The Apple iPhone 6, the iPhone 5S. Whatever Apple plans to call it, you can bet a next-gen model is coming, and we’re starting to hear whispers of what we can expect to find inside it. According to a new report, it’s packing camera tech to take on the likes of HTC and Nokia, including a 12-megapixel camera with added low-light super powers. Fancy that in your next iOS blower?

A source at Wonderful Saigon Electrics, the Vietnamese branch of a Japanese company that supplies cameras for the iPhone, has revealed to the leak gurus at Tinhte.vn that the next-gen iPhone will come packing an improved camera, upping the eight-megapixel sensor inside the iPhone 5 to a whopping 12-megapixels.

If the source is right, you can expect a few other added imaging features too, such as improvement in low-light performance and HDR video recording, a feature that’s making its way to some of the higher end Android phones and greatly improves performance in shots of extreme brights and blacks.

The Vietnamese site has been bang on the money before: it posted a hands-on video of Apple’s new Earpods before they came out, and correctly predicted that the iPhone 5 would have an 8-megapixel camera too. Of course, it’s worth taking the rumour with a pinch of salt until Apple unveils the next iPhone, but we’ll keep you updated on all the news along the way.

Are you wanting an improved camera in your next iPhone or do you think its current camera is good enough? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

So long cracked screens: Your next iPhone can shift its fall like a cat

 

Drop your phone often? Apple’s got a new bit of tech for you, that could see your next iPhone make like a cat and shift its centre of balance to save itself as it falls. Say goodbye to cracked screens and hello to a feline-esque phone!

AppleInsider’s spotted the recent patent application filing, which describes a tiny gizmo in the phone that can detect when an iPhone or iPad is falling, and then – incredibly – shift over its centre of balance so that it doesn’t land on any of its most fragile parts, like a corner of the screen.

Instead of it landing, say, flat out on its beautiful Retina Display, your next iPhone will shift itself mid-air and land on a stronger part that doesn’t have so many essential components, such as a strong edge or a reinforced backside.

Although dropping it will likely still damage the phone, its mid air shift will help save some of its more expensive parts, so if it does need emergency treatment in the Genius Bar still, fixing it up would cost a whole lot less.

As ever with patent applications, it’s never certain that the company behind the idea will ever actually use it in a finished product. But given just how many people are living with a cracked screen – and the many anecdotal reports of Apple exchanging cracked iPhones for fresh ones, it’d certainly be a moneysaver for the California company.

Would you be interested in an iPhone that can save itself, or would you rather keep it locked up its own safety case? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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Temple Run 2 dashes onto iPhone

 

Temple Run 2 sprinted onto the iPhone App Store , but Android users will be left waiting to get a dose of the sequel to the mobile gaming mega hit. But it looks like they won’t have to wait too long, as creator Imangi says the game is almost done and will hit the Google Play Store next week.

The sequel to the wildly successful running game cranks up the graphics and throws in bigger, more dastardly monkeys, along with new tricks straight out of the Temple of Doom like ziplines and mine carts. It’s still sporting the same fantastic price tag of the original game though: the low-low price of free.

While Android gamers only have a week to wait, Windows Phone owners are still left in the dry, with no sign of the original Temple Run in sight – despite promises from Microsoft.

Have you tried out Temple Run 2 yet? What do you make of it? Let us know in the comments below!

The 10 most disappointing gadgets of 2012

We’ve looked at the best gadgets of the year that was: now it’s time to look at the most disappointing ones. Read on for our list of the gear we’re most bitter about from the last twelve months. Do you agree? Now it’s worth pointing out that these aren’t necessarily the worst gadgets of 2012. They’re just the ones that didn’t live up to their potential. Without further ado, here’s our list of biggest offenders: Amazon Kindle Fire HD It took Amazon more than a year to bring one of its Kindle tablets to the UK, and when it finally did, it was too late. The similarly priced and sized, faster Google Nexus 7 from Asus was already on sale, with more apps and absolutely no adverts getting up in your grill. If you’re going to tweak Android, Amazon, at least make it better than what Google has to offer to start with. Sony PS Vita Sony’s hoping for a long tail success with its turbo-charged gaming handheld, in the same way the Nintendo 3DS is now enjoying. But right now, it’s just lacking the top notch games to tempt us – threatening to lock it into a terrible death spiral of no customers – no games – no customers. Nokia Lumia 900 Nokia was supposed to blow the doors off with this monster-sized Windows Phone, but the poor screen and lack of apps meant it just couldn’t compete against the Samsung Galaxy S3 which arrived at the same time. To cap things off, it went on sale just a few months before Windows Phone 8 was announced – and it’ll never, ever taste it because an update isn’t possible. PS3 Super Slim Even after a few months of use, we still don’t see the point of the new look 500GB Sony PS3. It’s not really any quieter, it’s barely any smaller, and the lack of slot-loading tray for discs is just plain fiddly. Why bother? Luckily, the 12GB version now brings the Sony PS3 under £150 for the first time ever, making it a much more tempting offer if you can cope without the storage space. Nintendo Wii Mini At least the new PS3 super slim doesn’t strip any features out from Sony’s current PlayStation. The Nintendo Wii Mini does: inexplicably, it lacks Wi-FI and internet of any form. That means no multiplayer Mario Kart, no Netflix movie streaming, no software updates, and no Virtual Console for retro gaming. Way to cripple the world’s most popular console, Nintendo. Thankfully, it’s only on sale in Canada for the moment. iPod nano 7G Don’t get us wrong. As a gym accessory, the new iPod nano is cheap, beautiful and easy to use device, and it’s nice to have the option to watch video on it once more with the seventh generation model. But as we said in our review, Apple could do so much more with the iPod nano. Why doesn’t it have Wi-Fi? Why doesn’t it connect to your iPhone? Why doesn’t it read your emails to you? With iPhone sales on the up, and iPod sales on the down, it feels like a missed opportunity, and more of the same. Orange San Diego The chances are, the computer you own is powered by an Intel processor. But the silicon giant’s been a non-player in the smartphone explosion. The Android-powered Orange San Diego was supposed to prove that it could play with the big boys of mobile hardware, but with a weird screen resolution and out of date OS, it was as tepid an entry as they come. Luckily, the Intel-powered Motorola RAZR i that followed was much more promising. BlackBerry Curve 9320 What’s this? Another low end BlackBerry with the same software and design of the three year old Curve 8520? Yawn. Microsoft Surface It looked gorgeous in press pictures and promised to be a true iPad killer. But the Microsoft Surface is deceptively large, thick and long, and Windows RT is more than a tad confusing: why is there even a desktop mode on it at all when you can only use it for Office? It’s just weird. Here’s hoping Microsoft can fix things for a follow up as it still has lots of potential – not to mention an amazing keyboard cover. iOS 6 The new version of Apple’s software for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch is unquestionably the most poorly received of any update in iOS history. Sure, it’s still bleeding fast, and Siri is smarter than ever. But Apple Maps remains a disaster – it’s shouldn’t come as a surprise that iOS software boss Scott Forstall and the man in charge of the Google Maps replacement was pushed out of Apple just a few months after the release and bad headlines. And in the meantime, Google has raced ahead with Android “Jelly Bean” – only Jony Ive can fix things for Cupertino. What were your most disappointing gadgets of 2012? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments below! www.tell-me-first.com

It’s here! Google Maps brings free satnav to iPhone

 

It’s here, it’s here! The Google Maps iPhone app we’ve all been waiting for has arrived on the App Store. It’s everything we’ve been hoping for and more, bringing all that rock solid data, and even turn by turn navigation, to any iPhone released in the last three and a half years.

Google Maps for iPhone appeared as a free download on iTunes overnight, and will run on any iPhone 3GS or higher with iOS 5.1 and up. On first impressions, it’s been worth the wait: it’s clean, shockingly fast thanks to vector graphics and filled with all the data that Apple Maps was woefully missing. It even offers free turn by turn satnav directions, just like on Android.

The only things missing? Offline mapping you can download in advance as you can on Android, and support for iPad, coming later. Oh, and adverts, but we doubt you’ll be too upset about that.

For those who missed the furore earlier this year, Apple began using its own data and animation for its Maps app in iOS 6, ending a partnership with Google since the original iPhone. It didn’t work out: the pretty, woefully inaccurate Apple replacement was heavily criticised, forcing Apple CEO Tim Cook to make a rare public apology. The man in charge of iOS software, Scott Forstall, was subsequently forced out of the company, allegedly over Maps and other missteps.

Free apps for all! Apple’s 12 Days of Christmas hits iOS by

 

Apple’s much loved 12 Days of Christmas app has once again touched down on the iTunes App Store, bringing surprise freebies to iOS users every day throughout Advent.

The application itself is free from the App Store, and features an array of songs, music videos, apps, books and TV episodes that are all available onwards from Boxing Day.

Each download is only available for 24 hours, so keep an eye on the notifications that pop up and claim your first free download on 26 December. Perfect for those who get a brand new iPhone, iPad or iPod touch this Christmas.

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Nook e-reader app hits iPhone and Android in the UK to take on Kindle

 

Barnes & Noble’s new tablets, the Nook HD and HD+, have hit the UK, and right on cue, the bookseller’s app for smartphones has arrived too. Download the free e-reader app and you can keep all your books and magazines in the cloud, accessible from anywhere. Will this kill the Kindle?

Much like Amazon’s Kindle app, which is available on just about every platform you care to shake a stick at, the Nook app for iPhone and Android phones and tablets – launched in the UK today – lets you buy and choose from more than 2.5million titles, read on one device, and pick up where you left off on another. It’s free, and runs on Android phone running version 2.1 or up, and every iOS device from the iPhone 3GS upwards.

Barnes & Noble’s Nook app tries to stand out from the crowd with a big focus on magazines and comics – which you can view pane by pane. Your purchases will also run on the Nook e-reader and Nook HD and HD+ Android-powered tablets – we’ll have full reviews of those for you shortly

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Sky+ iPhone app gets remote control skills

 

The Sky+ iPhone app just got even smarter today, with the addition of a killer new feature that puts it on a par with the iPad app: remote control. Starting now, you can boss your Sky+ HD box about with your Apple blower – read on for all the details.

You could already manage your recordings and set them from afar with the Sky+ iPhone app, as well as browse an easy to use TV guide. But you can now bark orders to it with your iPhone, pausing live TV and rewinding it, and letting you view and edit your planner while watching a show on the big screen at the same time.

The Sky+ iPhone app update is a welcome move, especially since many more people own an iPhone or an iPod touch than an iPad still. But it’s not the only game in town. If you caught our Virgin TV Anywhere review yesterday, you’ll know the service mixes in both the recording and remote control skills of the Sky+ iPhone app with the TV streaming abilities of Sky’s separate Go app.

Still, it’s more than you could do yesterday, and that’s something: let us know how you get on with it in the comments below.

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Nexus 7 versus Apple iPad: what you need to know

 

Google’s Nexus 7 Android tablet has been getting high praise and rightly so. It has plenty of features, is well-built, and offers great value for money. It’s the worthy new iPad alternative many have been crying out for. But how do the two compare? Let’s take a look.

Look below, and you’ll see the two compared on some of the key criteria to consider when purchasing a tablet. Which would you go for?

Screen size and portability

A trend for smaller tablets is brewing. That’s where the Nexus 7 comes in. Its 7-inch screen offers slightly more portability than the new iPad, which at 9.7-inches across, just about errs on being portable. You could easily stuff either into a small bag. But for a lighter load, the Nexus 7 is much lighter than Apple’s new iPad. It weighs just 340 grams, compared to the new iPad’s 652 to 662 gram lumber.

Power

The Nexus 7 and new iPad are built for handling all that can be throw at them. That means games, apps, music, movies, web browsing, social networking. To get things ticking over smoothly, the Nexus 7 relies on a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, proven to deliver smooth performance throughout. The same can be said for Apple’s new iPad. It uses Apple’s dual-core A5X chip, also capable of loading web pages in seconds. Quad-core graphics make even the latest App Store games look their best.

Apps & games

The Google Play store doesn’t have quite the same library of apps and games as Apple’s App Store, but it’s getting there. Both stores will leave owners of either tablet spoilt for choice. Some of the best are even free. And increasingly, we’re seeing video game console developers bring games to tablets, raising the standard of tablet gaming on both tablets.

Photography and video

The Nexus 7 doesn’t have a rear-facing camera. Instead it makes do with a 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera to be used for video calls. Google, and manufacturer Asus clearly believe such a feature to be unnecessary. Apple thinks otherwise. The new iPad gets a 5-megapixel camera suitable for taking photos users would happy share over Facebook and Twitter. It features autofocus, face detection, and full HD video recording. A VGA-quality FaceTime camera lets iPad users make video calls over apps, and for free to other compatible Apple gadgets. If photos and videos are important to you, the iPad is the way to go.

Storage

Out of the box, the Nexus 7 has a lot less storage than an iPad. It comes in 8GB and 16GB variants. An iPad on the other hand, is available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB editions. The good news is that both tablets can take advantage of cloud storage – iCloud for the iPad and Google Drive for the Nexus 7, combined with the on board storage deliver all the storage owners of either tablet could ever need. But if we’re talking out of the box, the iPad has more storage.

Battery

Owners of either tablet can look forward to a long-lasting battery. The Nexus 7 offers 8-hours, compared to up to 10 hours on an iPad when watching video, or surfing the web. Those planning to use either device continually might want to knock an hour or two off, if playing games.

Price

At just £159 to £199 – the Nexus 7 is a bit of a bargain. Its array of features, a refined Android interface and high quality build make it the best affordable iPad alternative yet.

By contrast you’d have to pay a lot more for an iPad, which in today’s tablet market remains a premium purchase at Apple’s top dollar prices. New iPad prices start from £399 for a Wi-Fi only tablet with 16GB of built-in flash memory, rising to £659 for 64GB of storage.

Nexus 7, or new iPad? Have you decided yet

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iPhone 5 to get NFC: will change the way we use smartphones

 

The iPhone 5 is likely to have NFC (Near Field Communication) technology built-in, letting its users use the smartphone as a digital wallet for paying for goods. NFC already exists in smartphones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Nokia 808 PureView, but with backing from Apple the technology could really take off.

Apple news site 9to5Mac claims to have pulled some information via an iPhone 5 prototype of sorts that suggests NFC will feature in the next iPhone.

The site has previously posted photos said to reveal the design of the next iPhone, with a taller screen, and a mini dock connector. The site also believes those models will use NFC, to possibly tie-in with Apple’s new PassBook app.

PassBook was recently revealed at Apple’s WWDC event. PassBook stores all iPhone owners tickets, passes, vouchers, loyalty cards and more in one place. PassBook will also display vouchers, that you can scan at various venues offering services and products to take advantage of the latest offers.

Apple developed PassBook with the ability to work without NFC. The app will be available as part of iOS 6, but it is thought that NFC will play a major role in the app going forward.

Jim Peters, CTO of communications specialist SITA claims it will have huge repercussions. on the way we all use our smartphones.

“Opinion is that Apple is going to incorporate NFC into Passbook,” he said. “There aren’t any transactions in it yet, but I think that’s how Apple is going to sneak up on the industry. They are going to get people used to using it and then all of a sudden they will allow credit cards to be used in there, on the next iPhone, which will include NFC.”

By the end of the year the majority of smartphones that you go and buy will have NFC on them. If in October the next iPhone comes out and it has NFC on it, it’s game over.”

In fact NFC can be available on any device. Barclaycard recently launched its PayTag scheme that sends NFC-enabled stickers to users to stick onto their smartphone, letting them pay for goods up the the value of £20.

Would you use Wallet services through NFC on your iPhone? Let us know your thoughts. After all, we could all be using NFC very soon.

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Gadget Digest: Jobs the movie, Siri changes her tune, an Android army, Max Payne 3 and more

 

It’s Friday, which is good news in itself. But it also means a chance to catch up on some of the gadget news that’s been bubbling under the surface over the past week – stories worth knowing about from the wide world of technology.

Our selection this week covers movies, phones, aliens and games – which is pretty much the perfect way to kick off any weekend, if you ask us. Enjoy!

Jobs: the movies

The Steve Jobs biography has proved a massive hit, selling by the truckload and giving gadget fans the world over an insight into the life of the late Apple founder and CEO. But there’s also an independent movie in the pipelines simply titled Jobs, and this week saw the first photos of lead actor Ashton Kutcher in character, bearing a surprising likeness to Jobs’ longer-haired 1980s look. Not only that, but we also heard that Sony has landed The Social Network writer Aaron Sorkin to pen the screenplay for the separate Jobs biopic that’s also in the works.

Siri back on the straight and narrow

While we’re on the subject of Apple, non-iOS devotees (and even a few fans) have been having a good chuckle at iOS voice assistant Siri singling out the Nokia Lumia 900 as the best smartphone on the planet. Well needless to say Apple has stepped in to put matters to right, and has done so in a way that for many sums the company up perfectly. Ask Siri the same question now and thanks to a software update she’ll now simply deflect the question with one of several pre-programmed responses, the pick of which has to be “wait… there are other phones?”

The Android invasion

At the other end of the scale is of course Android, which seems to have taken over the world by weight of sheer numbers. Most of us have a vague idea that the number of Android devices kicking around the place has steadily gone from “a few” to “quite a lot” to “I’ve lost count”, but this week a group of hardy souls presumably without much of a social life revealed the true extent of Android fragmentation: there are now officially 3,997 distinct Android devices in circulation around the world. At that rate, surely they could have waited another 20 minutes for it to hit an even 4,000?

Nintendo DS leads the way

For some reason, Japan tends to be the source of many of the stranger technology tales we come across, and here’s another: Toyota and Nintendo have created a service that turns the Nintendo DS handheld console into a portable GPS device. It’s not as daft as you might think, either: the screen size is about right, and if you’re on a family outing there’s every chance the DS will be in the car anyway. Of course, getting the youngsters to hand it over so you can commandeer their gaming gizmo to get you from A to B probably won’t be easy – plus there’s the $3,000 you’ll have to hand over for the compatible Toyota Smart Navi system and the $92 for the Kuruma de DS title itself. Is it just us or does spending a couple of hundred quid on a TomTom make way more sense?

Max Payne 3 out now!

It’s been quite a week for gamers, though perhaps Rockstar Games won’t be feeling too clever right now for going ahead with today’s Max Payne 3 launch given how soon it comes after Diablo III’s headline-grabbing emergence. Still, hardcore gamers will no doubt have cleared their schedules for the next few… months to make room for both, and there is an unexpected bonus waiting if you do snap up Max Payne 3: apparently tucked away somewhere on the game disc is a file containing a full list of vehicle names from Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V, which is set to arrive somewhere around the end of the year.

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