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BetaNews.Com (7 non lus)

iPhone 5 is now available off-contract

Publié: novembre 30, 2012, 8:34pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

Well that was fast. Little more than two months after Apple launched the iPhone 5 in nine countries, the Cupertino, Calif.-based software corporation offers its latest smartphone free of any carrier obligations. Pricing starts at $649 for the 16GB model and tops $849 for the 64GB version.

The models that Apple offers are actually unlocked GSM units, meaning that using either of the three available versions on a CDMA network such as Verizon Wireless is not possible. For the advantage of owning a carrier-free iPhone 5 prospective buyers have to shell out an additional $450 for the equivalent version available at major US carriers such as AT&T, Sprint or Verizon.

How does Apple's Pricing stack up to the Competition?

The obvious choice for a cheap and unlocked smartphone is the Google Nexus 4. By comparison the LG-made device is available for purchase for $349 in 16GB trim, a whopping $300 less than the equivalent iPhone 5. Does it make sense to purchase Apple's device instead? After the Nexus 4 ships again, around the start of 2013 that is, no.

The unlocked Samsung Galaxy S III in 16GB trim is available for purchase for under $600, and it comes with a microSD card slot as well. Capacity can be extended by 64GB for less than $50. By comparison Apple charges $849 for the 64GB iPhone 5.

On the Windows Phone 8 front there is one major option worth considering -- the HTC Windows Phone 8x which runs for little more than $650. The handset can be purchased at a similar price as the iPhone 5, yet it is only available in black and in 16GB trim. The Nokia Lumia 920, although a better choice on paper, is not available except locked on AT&T.

However, Apple has internal competition from Verizon Wireless which also sells an unlocked iPhone 5, albeit at lower cost. Over at the big red the smartphone runs from $199.99 for the 16GB model and goes up to $399.99 in 64GB trim.

Add the cost of the Early Termination Fee into account, which equates to $350 for what Verizon labels as an "Advanced Device", and you've got yourself a global 16GB iPhone 5 for $549.99 (add $100 for the 32GB model and $200 for the 64GB one). That's a BetaNews top tip!

Who wants It?

By nature unlocked, carrier-free, smartphones target prepaid users rather than postpaid customers, the latter of which have the advantage of subsidized devices. In the United States there are more than 100 million prepaid subscribers, and with the carrier-free iPhone 5 Apple simply taps into the large userbase. The sole limitation, however, is the GSM connectivity which may hinder the smartphone's success with CDMA prepaid subscribers.

In Europe prepaid and postpaid are almost neck and neck, an even more favorable scenario for an unlocked iPhone 5. But locally smartphone fans have an even wider selection of unlocked high-end devices compared to the United States. Pricing will surely not help the iPhone 5 as Cupertino, Calif.-based corporation sells it for EUR679 for the base model in Germany or EUR729 in Italy, whereas Android and Windows Phone devices are cheaper.

Personally I could purchase a Galaxy S III for two-thirds of the unlocked iPhone 5 price. Add a few more Euros and instead of buying Apple's device one could get two Nexus 4s. But for prepaid Apple fans it might just be the perfect smartphone.
Best Windows 8 apps this week

Publié: novembre 30, 2012, 7:47pm CET par Martin Brinkmann

Fifth in a series. Welcome to this week's look at some of the best apps released over the past seven days for Windows 8. Before we start, I'd like to quickly explain how you can browse the newest applications in Windows Store as the question came up recently.

All you need to do is open Windows Store, type * to search for all apps, tap on the enter key and change the sorting for relevance to newest. This displays all apps sorted by date they have been added to the store starting with the newest entries.

ESPN

The official ESPN application for Windows 8 brings news, videos, scores, photos and podcasts. Please note that it is location restricted so that you may not be able to access it if not living in the United States.

The application covers NFL, NBA, NCAAB, MLB, NFL, NCAAF, Golf, Auto Racing and Tennis news, which all have their own subsection that you can access to access news, videos and commentary.

ESPN subscribers can sign in with their account for extra information like live tile alerts, real-time updates, exclusive contents and favorite team, league and player relates news.

ESPN CricInfo

The official ESPN application for Windows 8 does not feature Cricket at all. Cricket, the second most popular sport in the world after football (that is soccer if you are from the United States), is popular in Asia, Australia and United Kingdom.

The ESPN CricInfo application features live scores, series news, headlines, features, fixtures, leagues, commentary, in-depth analysis, player profiles and photos.

Holiday Inn

Regular Holiday Inn customers may like the application that has just been released for Windows 8. It enables you to find and book rooms, make reservations and find the nearest hotel using GPS.

Customers who sign in can see a list of upcoming reservations and use their corporate ID to get special rates.

The hotel details view needs some reworking, the photos are for instance only available as thumbnails and not full screen.

Wonderwall

If you like to follow celebrity news, Wonderwall may be the application you waited for. It displays a wall full of celebrity photos in all shapes and sizes on start and a small tag line beneath.

A click displays a larger version of the photo along with news or commentary. The application features news, photos and videos.

What I like about it is that you get lots of cross-references that you can follow automatically in the application.

Office Depot

The official Office Depot application features a store finder, either by entering a zip code or using the device's GPS to locate the nearest store near your location.

Weekly deals and hot offers are displayed for each store individually, which you can browse to see if there is anything of interest available this week.

Each product is listed on a details page with photos, description, customer reviews and ratings, and a details sheet. There is an add to cart button as well, but that will load the Office Depot website in the default system browser after confirmation.

TuneUp IncrediLock

This application makes available a collection of high-quality wallpapers that you can use for the system's lock screen. Browse available wallpaper categories such as animals, around the globe, comic and art or technology, or select one a wallpaper from your local picture library instead.

The application makes available a set of widgets that can be displayed on the lockscreen of the system. Only the sticky note widget is currently available for selection, the weather, calendar and picture frame widgets are only available as previews.

Great Windows Apps

Windows Store has its issues, as I pointed out earlier this year. One of them is that the rating system does not take the number of ratings into account that an application has received. This means that an app that has been rated once with five stars, the highest possible rating, may be listed before an app with hundreds of ratings and an average of 4.8.

Great Windows Apps tries to resolve that by making available "true" listings in the application interface. What this means is that it takes factors into account that Microsoft does not currently.

The application features a top developers group on top of that which lists developers by accumulated ratings.

All apps link to their Windows Store profile page so that it takes the same amount of clicks to install them on the system.

iCookbook

Cooking applications seem to be highly popular in Windows Store, if you judge by the amount that get posted.

The iCookbook application features thousands of recipes that are sorted into groups such as Dish, theme, occasion or brand. Each recipe is listed with a high quality photo, information on preparation time and the number of servings, a difficulty, a detailed list of ingredients and how it is prepared.

Home Shopping Network

The HSN application offers a live stream of what is currently airing on the HSN channel. It does not appear to be restricted to users from a specific country, unlike other TV or video applications available in the store.

The HSN shop is integrated into the app as well. This includes options to search and browse all products, read customer reviews and shop right from within the application.

Music Maker Jam

A music creation application that puts you in control. It offers access to four free music styles, jazz, dubstep, tech house and rock, as well as additional music styles that cost $2.49 each.

Once you have selected a style you are interested in you are taken to the DJ control panel where you can add, remove and manage the music samples.

Songs are created using multiple parts each with its own set of music samples. You can record your songs right from the application window and save the resulting track as an mp3 song on your system.
Google posts Android 4.2.1 factory images for the Nexus 4, 7, 10 and HSPA+ Galaxy smartphone

Publié: novembre 30, 2012, 4:49pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

Just three days ago Google released the Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean update which now recognizes that December and Santa Claus do exist. Today the Mountain View, Calif.-based corporation updated the factory images for the Nexus 4, 7, 10 and HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus with the latest version of the green droid operating system.

Using the factory images the four Nexus devices can be directly upgraded to Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean, build number JOP40D, without waiting to receive the over-the-air update. In similar fashion, green droid modders can take advantage of the factory images to restore the devices to stock after previously using a custom distribution such as AOKP Jelly Bean Milestone 1 or CyanogenMod 10.

Considering the the relatively insignificant size of the upgrade pushed by Google earlier this week, the currently available Android 4.2.1 factory images do not include any other major changes. The Verizon and Sprint Galaxy Nexus are yet again left in the Android 4.1 zone, as neither of the two devices receive updated factory images.

Using the "How to install Jelly Bean on Galaxy Nexus" guide the Google Nexus 4, 7, 10 and Galaxy Nexus can be upgraded to Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean by replacing the filenames from the guide with currently applicable ones found in the respective factory image.

Photo Credit: Joe Wilcox
The curious case of Windows 8 sales numbers

Publié: novembre 30, 2012, 4:38pm CET par Wayne Williams

Every time Microsoft launches a new operating system there’s one phrase you’re guaranteed to hear: "This version of Windows is outselling its predecessor". Microsoft claimed Windows Vista got off to a fast start, shifting more than 20 million copies in two months -- some three million more than XP sold in the same time frame. Windows 7 of course comfortably outsold Vista, and recently Tami Reller, finance and marketing head of the Windows business, announced that Microsoft sold 40 million licenses for Windows 8 to date, adding, "Windows 8 upgrade momentum is outpacing that of Windows 7". Of course, of course. The message here is clear: every version of Windows is a success. But how successful is Windows 8, really?

We don’t know. That’s the bottom line. When Apple says it’s sold X billion apps we know that’s true because sales go through the App Store and are counted. When Microsoft says it’s sold 4 million copies of Windows 8 in the first few days, or 40 million licenses to date, we have no idea what that means in terms of actual sales. Consumers activate Windows when installing it, so Microsoft will know how many activations it's had, and yet that figure, the one we know to be trustworthy, has yet to be revealed. There’s a lot of talk about how poorly Windows 8 is doing. An activations figure, if decent, would silence the critics. But there’s no sign of it.

Microsoft tells us it’s sold 40 million licenses to date, but as Rob Helm, managing vice president for research at Directions On Microsoft says: "Microsoft hasn't explained how it's counting licenses. Without that information, it's a little hard to tell what that 40 million figure really means."

What the number definitely doesn’t mean is 40 million sales to users. It’s likely a mix of pre-orders, discounted upgrades, and bulk licenses sold to PC manufacturers like Lenovo, Dell or HP. Hardware partners buy the licenses and then sell them to consumers and businesses. Or don’t sell them on, if no one's buying. And NPD says they aren’t. The PC sales figures are so bad it’s not unreasonable to suspect at least one-third of those 40 million licenses have yet to reach end users.

So how many people use Windows 8? We don’t know. How many people have activated it? We don’t know. And the fact we don’t know doesn’t look good for the new OS. Tech research firm StatCounter estimates about 1 percent of the world's PCs (1.5 billion) run Windows 8. If that’s the case, it means around 15 million users have the new OS.

"Windows 8 upgrade momentum is outpacing that of Windows 7" Microsoft says. What does that mean? Users are upgrading? From what? Windows 7? From XP? Users were desperate to upgrade to Windows 7. XP was years old, Vista was poorly received. Consumers aren’t anywhere near as desperate to upgrade to Windows 8. They might want to, but they don’t need to, so that statement seems a little suspect. The upgrade offer is incredibly cheap right now though, so it’s perhaps that which drives the numbers. Whatever those numbers might be.

Microsoft hasn’t revealed any solid sales figures for apps yet either. It crows a "number" of apps "have crossed the $25,000 revenue mark" (when Microsoft's cut drops from 30 percent to 20 percent) but doesn’t say which ones, or how much they are selling for. An app retailing for $5 dollars would only have to sell 5,000 copies. Hardly big sales numbers.

Anyway, does it really matter if Windows 8 isn’t outselling Windows 7? No. We’re in a global recession, a lot of people are more than happy with their older OS, touch-screen devices are still rolling out, so even if Windows 8 isn’t doing well now that's more than understandable, and the OS still has a good chance of picking up sales in the new year. Microsoft doesn’t have to front it out. Even if the number of current activations is low, it can’t be as bad as analysts are beginning to speculate.

Can it?

Photo Credit: Joe Wilcox
Microsoft Surface Pro won't break battery-life records

Publié: novembre 30, 2012, 3:21pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

Yesterday Microsoft officially unveiled the price of Surface with Windows 8 Pro. Shortly after the Redmond, Wash.-based corporation revealed another bit of key information which was previously missing from the spec sheet -- battery life.

Unlike it's Windows RT sibling, which actually manages to deliver relatively decent battery life, Surface with Windows 8 Pro only lasts roughly half as much according to Microsoft. Prospective buyers can expect between four to five hours of cordless operation if the former's results are of any indication. The reason for the unimpressive performance is undoubtedly the Intel Core i5 processor and high-definition 1080p display.

Microsoft targets the opposite ends of the tablet spectrum with the two models. On one end there's Surface RT, which provides adequate battery life, while at the other the software giant pitches Surface Pro with full-fledged hardware for better performance.

Yesterday my colleague Joe Wilcox provided an in-depth analysis on the role that Microsoft's more powerful tablet can have on the market. He says that Surface Pro targets Apple's MacBook Air rather than the Cupertino, Calif.-based corporation's iPad tablet. In this regard performance makes sense over battery life, and the sacrifice is less damaging.

However, there's a third way with a wider tablet selection.

Intel recently released the Z2760 "Clover Trail" processor. It aims to provide a balance between performance, portability and battery life, without sacrificing either of the three in a noticeable manner. Intel quotes up to 10 hours of HD video playback and over three weeks of standby time in a form factor as small as 8.5mm thick and 1.5lbs (680 grams) in weight.

So prospective buyers can choose a model that might better suit their needs of performance and battery life. Because the Z2760 is designed to utilize the x86 architecture it can run Windows 8 Pro, meaning users have access to a large app selection as well as a more mature ecosystem. Legacy programs are not out of the question either. Basically similar to Surface Pro, but without the poor battery life.

The Intel Z2760's performance will not rival that of the Core i5 found in Microsoft's Windows 8 Pro tablet, but does it have to? Tablets are supposed to be mobile devices that best traditional solutions in all-around usability, and from this point of view the former might be a better match.

Photo Credit: Kheng Guan Toh/Shutterstock
Free Image Printer saves documents as PDFs

Publié: novembre 30, 2012, 12:35pm CET par Mike Williams

Virtual printers are a popular way to create PDFs, and with good reason. If a particular application doesn’t support exporting as PDF, that’s no longer a problem: just print it, send the job to your virtual PDF printer, and it’ll create the file for you – very convenient.

If you like this idea, though, you don’t have to limit yourself to saving PDFs. Free Image Printer also adds a virtual printer to your PC, but takes the next logical step of supporting more formats, allowing you to also save your print jobs as HTML, XLS/ XLSX, MHT, RTF, and a host of image types: JPEG, PNG, TIFF, GIF, BMP, WMF, EMF and more.

While this sounds great, the program earns itself a major black mark immediately by sneakily trying to install a couple of browser addons during the setup process. It doesn’t make this clear in the slightest -- all you’ll see is an item “Billiger.de & Complitly” on the “Select Additional Tasks” screen, checked by default – and if you do nothing about this then the addons will be installed. So if that’s not what you want, pay close attention during setup and make sure that box is cleared before you click Next.

With that out of the way, though, Free Image Printer proved straightforward and easy to use. Just open a file in your application of choice, click Print, choose the Free Image Printer driver, and within a second or two your document will appear in a simple multi-page viewer.

To save your document, all you then have to do is choose the relevant format from the Export To list, and fine-tune it by configuring whatever options are available. So if you choose PDF, say, you can decide whether you want to convert images to JPEG, and what their quality could be, as well as setting a password, applying other security restrictions, setting metadata and more.

If you want to email that document, though, you can alternatively click “Email As”, choose the same format and options, and your email client’s “New message” dialog will appear with the file already attached.

And you get a Print button, too, useful if you’d like a real printed copy of the document as well as an electronic version.

Free Image Printer won’t be for everyone, of course. The program doesn’t offer as much control over your finished PDF file as more specialist tools, for instance. And actually creating the file requires several more clicks. You’ll need to dismiss an ad for another one of the author’s programs, select the export type you need, and then choose the configuration options, each and every time (the program doesn’t save your preferences beyond the current session, so if you select Image output, say, PNG will be displayed as the default, even if you selected JPEG last time).

Still, the program’s wide file format support is a definite plus, and if your applications could benefit from a few more export options -- and you can look out for, and forgive the initial browser addon sneakiness -- then it’s definitely worth a try.

Photo Credit: Lilya/Shutterstock
Microsoft Surface Pro is NOT overpriced

Publié: novembre 30, 2012, 1:23am CET par Joe Wilcox

No sooner had Microsoft revealed the cost of self-branded tablets running Windows RT than doomsayers started crying pricing foul. The 64GB model will sell for $899, starting next month, and the 128 gigger for $999. I've seen several blog posts gleefully whack Surface Pro pricing as being way too high. They're wrong, in part by the Apple device comparison they make.

I asked Stephen Baker, NPD's vice president of industry analysis, about Surface Pro pricing, whether it's just right, too high or too low. "Interesting question though because most of what I have seen has compared it to the high-end iPad". But Microsoft has higher competitive ambitions: MacBook Air, and even Windows ultrabooks. That's the comparison I make and told Baker so. There, the tablet sits just fine. The company priced Surface RT against iPad. Surface Pro squares against Apple's thin-and-light laptop with 11.6-inch display.

Think MacBook Air

"With the cover price, Surface Pro is right in line with what people actually spend on the MBA", Baker acknowledges. Unlike Surface RT, where two models come with keyboard covers, people pay $120 or $130 more depending which click-on they choose. That's what Baker refers to by "cover price". Actually Surface Pro with cover sells for a little more than 11.6-inch MacBook Air, which is $999 or $1,099 for 64GB or 128GB storage respectively. That all assumes Microsoft won't offer a bundle at launch. I fully expect to see comparable MacBook Air pricing with keyboard cover included with the tablet.

Thinking about Surface Pro this way changes everything. Baker agrees: "Just helps reinforce the laptop? Tablet? Question around Surface. Here that is pretty crucial since it really defines where its opportunity lies".

I don't doubt where Microsoft sees the opportunity. Surface RT is more about the future, with the Modern UI and limited legacy desktop support. Users have the old motif, but they can only install apps purchased through the Windows Store that support the Start screen. Surface Pro is about the present, providing users benefits of the new while supporting the old stuff.

Stated differently, the lower-cost tablet available now is priced exactly to compete with iPad, and ARM-based Windows easily is viewed as an Android or iOS competitor. That's not true of Surface Pro, which runs Windows 8 Pro, an operating system in the same class as Apple's OS X.

From that perspective, Surface is a considerable value compared to MacBook Air and some ultrabooks because of the touchscreen and stylus that is included in the purchase price. Then there is increased portability and flexibility for a device supporting all Windows applications -- not just those designed for Modern UI -- and allowing users to switch between tablet (with touch) or laptop (with keyboard). That's what defines Surface Pro. It's a tablet and a laptop running a full desktop OS, just like MacBook Air.

Fair Comparison

You don't believe me? Look at the specs and how closely Surface Pro matches MacBook Air. Both come in the aforementioned 64GB and 128GB configurations, pack Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB RAM, Intel HD 4000 graphics, 720P Webcam, USB 3 port, Bluetooth 4, and Wi-Fi A/N. Surface's display is smaller, 10.6 inches, but considerably higher resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels versus MacBook Air's 1366 x 768). Both are thin-and-light portables. They weigh about the same when keyboard cover is attached to Surface Pro, which otherwise is 2 pounds compared to the Apple's 2.38 pounds. Additionally, Surface Pro uses ambient-light sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope and compass for orientation and packs a microSDXC card slot; these are all missing on MacBook Air.

Whether or not potential buyers accept Microsoft's hybrid tablet/laptop approach is another matter. That's a question for after sales start in earnest. Something else, small as it may seem: Microsoft prices Surface Pro to drive sales of the higher-capacity storage model, which says something about desktop OS ambitions, too.

Baker explains, regarding pricing: "Spacing is a little tight on the two. I think it argues that they want to drive people to the $999 product". He likes the price. "I think it is low in general though. I thought they would be over $1,000".

The point: Don't compare Surface Pro to iPad. That's what the RT model is for. Microsoft prices against MacBook Air, and there offers some compelling advantages, starting with that higher resolution display and continuing with the option of running real Windows apps on a sensibly-sized tablet.

Sorry, but Microsoft partners like Samsung that push 11.6-inch Windows slates need to think smaller. Surface's size is much more manageable in the hand, while offering benefits of dual tablet or notebook usage. Again, there's question whether the market will see the approach as best of both worlds, or worst of them.

You tell me. Will you buy Surface Pro?