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Zotac Zbox ID89 Plus Review

Manufacturer: Zotac
UK price (as reviewed): approx. £425 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): approx. $519 (ex Tax)

The mini-PC market can hardly be described as a big one. With the Mac Mini, Apple largely has the high end corner to itself, with only a few names putting their weight behind less expensive devices. Zotac is one such name, and today marks the launch of some new additions to the Zbox range, specifically the ID89 and ID89 Plus (the Plus indicates that the system comes with a HDD and RAM). At £425, the ID89 Plus is hardly cheap, but Zotac has managed to cram a desktop Ivy Bridge CPU into its tiny frame, so it will be interesting to see what it can do.

The ID89 Plus uses the same tiny chassis as the ID42 Plus that we looked at recently with the same external connections too. The glossy black plastic lends it a home theatre look, but feels cheap and light and accumulates finger prints and dirt in no time. The soft blue glow of the ring that lights up when the system is on is a nice touch, but it’s difficult not to feel let down by the reliance on plastic in a device that exceeds £400. By comparison, it’s only £50 less than the cheapest Mac Mini model, which looks gorgeous thanks to its brushed aluminium shell.

Click to enlarge – The Zbox ID89 Plus certainly lives up to the name mini-PC
The system is powered by a single laptop-style power brick, which naturally helps to reduce its size. It can be stood horizontally on its four rubber feet which provide a little grip, or vertically in the supplied plastic stand. It can also be mounted directly to the rear of compatible displays thanks to a provided VESA mount, enabling you to keep it entirely out of sight should you wish.

The front panel has foregone the touch button of the ID42 Plus in favour of a traditional power button, although there’s still no reset one. Two LEDs are also used to represent hard drive activity and wireless connectivity. The 4-in-1 card reader is a handy addition to the front panel, while the usual pair of analog audio jacks can also be found. The system features two easily accessible USB 3 ports; one on the front and one on the side (or top, depending how you stand it), which has its own rubber cover.

The ID89 Plus also comes with a pair of screw on antennas (one for Bluetooth, one for WiFi), which is sure to please fans of the wireless router look. Zotac is also generous enough to supply a media remote control, which works with the IR receiver on the front of the unit, or the supplied USB extension receiver in case you prefer to keep the unit itself out of sight.

Click to enlarge – A pair of antennas and a Media Centre remote are supplied
While there’s no operating system supplied with the ID89 Plus, you’ll still need a USB optical drive to take advantage of the supplied driver disc. The requisite software can also be downloaded from Zotac’s website, but as you’d need either ethernet or wireless drivers beforehand the best method is to obtain everything on a different computer. This is a potential oversight on Zotac’s part (especially when the Mac Mini runs OS X out of the box), but equally we don’t feel it’s unreasonable to expect people buying a mini-PC with no operating system to be able to manage this.

Ventilation on the chassis allows the single fan to pull and push air around the hardware. There’s nothing in the way of dust filtering material, but the case is joyfully simple to open thanks to just a single pair of thumbscrews holding it shut. Let’s open it up and see what awaits us on the inside.

Specifications

• Chipset Intel H61 Express
• CPU Intel Core i5-3470T (dual-core), 2.9GHz (max Turbo frequency 3.6GHz), 3MB L3 cache
• Memory 2 x 204-pin SO-DIMM slots (1 x 4GB DDR3-1600 included)
• GPU Onboard Intel HD Graphics 2500, 650MHz (max dynamic frequency 1.1GHz)
• Audio Realtek ALC892 HD audio
• Networking 2 x Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n/g/b WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0
• Storage 1 x SATA 3Gbs (1 x Toshiba MQ01ABD050 500GB 5,400rpm drive included)
• Video Output 1 x DVI-D, 1 x HDMI
• External Connectivity Power, 2 x USB 3, 2 x USB 2, stereo, microphone, 1 x S/PDIF, 4-in-1 card reader (MMC/SD/SDHC/SDXC)
• Operating System None (user installed)
• Dimensions (mm) 188 x 188 x 51 (W x D X H)
• Warranty Two years

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Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes looks console-quality on a Retina display.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET)

I have unabashed love for the Lego series of video games, which have adapted a wide range of movie series — “Star Wars,” “Indiana Jones,” “Lord of the Rings,” and more — into improbably excellent action-adventures.

Alas, only two of them have been ported from consoles to iOS: Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7. Great games, both, but with limited appeal unless you’re a Harry Potter fan.

It was a long wait — almost a year to the day — but finally there’s another Lego game for the iOS crowd: Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes. From the opening menu, which blasts Danny Elfman’s rousing soundtrack from the Tim Burton-era “Batman” movies, you’re in for a treat.

What’s so special about these games? For starters, they’re funny, combining broad slapstick with lots of clever jokes — many of which only adults and/or die-hard fans would get. What’s more, although they’re heavy on combat, it’s totally bloodless, and no more violent than a Nerf sword fight. Plus, there’s a definite emphasis on puzzle-solving. As a parent, I’d much rather see my kids playing these games than scoping out head shots in Call of Duty.

Lego Batman delivers old-school superhero fun, meaning you start off playing as Batman or Robin, but later get to unlock other Justice League characters like Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Superman. Your foes include old favorites like the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler, and Catwoman. The aforementioned musical score notwithstanding, it’s a lot more Adam West (look him up, kids) than Christian Bale.

Like Lego Lord of the Rings before it, Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes (a port of the Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes game that debuted for consoles last year) marks a departure for the series by incorporating voices. Much as I always liked how much exposition the games could milk just from character expressions and cute little “huh?” noises, this definitely makes for a richer, more cinematic experience.

It’s not clear from the description whether the iOS version is a full port, with all the same levels and extras, but it’s definitely a big game — 1.33GB just for the download — and does offer a whopping 80 playable characters. That’s 20 more than the original console version had.

I can also attest that it looks terrific on a Retina screen (I played it on an
iPad 3). And you can’t beat the price: $4.99. The console versions all sell for $20. The only hitch: There’s a freemium element at work here in the form of gold bricks, which you need to unlock certain characters. You can collect some in the game, but ultimately you might end up buying more.

As with the Lego Harry Potter games, the controls can be a little tricky, especially if you’re playing on a smaller screen. But Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes is still a blast to play, and highly recommended for kids, Batman fans, and game lovers alike.

Note to developer TT Games: More, please!

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Introduction

While a 750W power supply is overkill for the average home computer, it’s a reasonable capacity to opt for if you’re touting more enthusiast level hardware. A rig with a fast Ivy Bridge CPU and a pair of Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 2GBs or AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GBs would be well suited to a 750W model, for example. Thus, while we wouldn’t recommend a 750W PSU for every new build, if you have an eye on adding a second powerful GPU to your set-up in the future, it’s useful to have this type of capacity.

Choosing the right wattage for your PSU isn’t the end of the story, however, as there are other factors to consider. Primarily, your power supply needs to be able to supply voltage to your hardware as stably as possible to avoid damaging it, and you want it to run as efficiently as possible too to save you money in the long run. Other things to consider are its noise output and the number and type of connections it has.

With these things in mind, we bring you our latest PSU round-up, featuring eight power supplies, each from a different manufacturer, that are rated at or around the 750W mark. There’s about an £80 difference between the cheapest and most expensive models, so plenty of price points are covered, and as it’s been a while since our last round-up, we’re using a new testing methodology too.

Click to enlarge

How We Test

A PSU’s ability to supply stable voltages across its rails, even under heavy load, is its most important asset. It sounds simple, but cheaper and poorly made PSUs often miss the mark, especially under heavier loads. Unstable voltages can cause your hardware to exhibit instabilities or even to become damaged, so the closer they are to what they should be, the better.

Intel’s desktop PSU design guidelines specify the physical and electrical characteristics that ATX PSUs are required (in theory, at least) to adhere to. It states there can be a maximum of 5 percent variation above or below the nominal voltage on the +12V, +5V and +3.3V rails. These are the rails we test, as they’re the most relevant to modern systems. The +12V rail is tested using Stratron 3229 load generators, while the lower voltage ones are tested with on a Stratron 3227.

Beginning at 200W of load, we test each PSU in 100W increments recording the output voltages on each rail at every step, thus measuring a PSU’s capability to provide stable voltages across various workloads. For the all important +12V rail, we take two measurements. 12V1 is the PSU’s +12V connection with the lowest reading for each test setting, while 12V2 refers to the connection with the highest. As voltage output falls under heavier loads, 12V1 is the more crucial of the two.

We also use a Zes Zimmer LMG95 power meter to determine how much AC power a PSU draws from the grid to output the appropriate DC power level. From this we calculate efficiency at each step, as well as an overall average efficiency. Efficiency is important not just because wasted energy is bad for your wallet and the environment, but because it’s dissipated as heat which can reduce the lifespan and effectiveness of your components. Intel specifies that PSUs must be at least 70 percent efficient under full load, but 80 percent is recommended. We also use our power meter to test leakage levels by leaving the PSU on under no load.

The power supplied to each PSU in testing is 230V AC, the same as UK household mains electricity. It should also be noted that at each load interval, we draw 50W of power across each of the +3.3V and +5V rails, using the +12V rail to draw the remainder. This is different to the 80 Plus initiative’s test protocols, whereby rails are loaded proportionally based on their individual rated DC output current. However, we’re not testing whether each PSU deserves its 80 Plus rating, and our procedure still reflects the marginal role played by the lower voltage rails in today’s systems.

For each load scenario, we also carry out a ripple test on the +12V line with an EasySync DS1M12 oscilloscope. Ripple refers to the tiny fluctuations in the output voltage of a power supply: an unavoidable result of converting AC to DC. A PSU’s ability to suppress ripple is important, as high levels can damage your hardware, specifically the electrolytic capacitors found on motherboards and graphics cards, and reduce your overclocking potential. The maximum ripple permitted by Intel’s specifications on the +12V rail is 120mV (peak-to-peak), but PSUs should be able to manage at least half this value to be considered excellent.

Click to enlarge
Finally, we also measure the noise output of each PSU under three different loads (100W, 300W and 500W) with a Brüel Kjær 2238 decibel meter. This is done by isolating the power supply in a sound-proof box (where noise levels are 17 dB(A)). Measurements are taken from a distance of 10cm after five minutes of operation for the low power tests, and after twenty minutes for the 500W one.

How We Score

The voltage stability tests take pride of place in the scoring box and accounts for 40 percent of each PSU’s overall score. The score is worked out as a percentage of the voltage measurements that are within the limits of Intel’s specifications. We only recommend that you buy a PSU with 100 percent stability.

The Design score factors in the average efficiency across each of the load scenarios (as well as leakage level under no load), the highest amount of ripple exhibited by the PSU and the amount of noise produced at the highest load level. As well as this, it also incorporates the number, type and quality of cables supplied with the unit. Finally, the Value score is simply a combination of the Stability and Design scores and the total rated output (in watts) divided by the price.

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Introduction

While a 750W power supply is overkill for the average home computer, it’s a reasonable capacity to opt for if you’re touting more enthusiast level hardware. A rig with a fast Ivy Bridge CPU and a pair of Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 2GBs or AMD Radeon HD 7970 3GBs would be well suited to a 750W model, for example. Thus, while we wouldn’t recommend a 750W PSU for every new build, if you have an eye on adding a second powerful GPU to your set-up in the future, it’s useful to have this type of capacity.

Choosing the right wattage for your PSU isn’t the end of the story, however, as there are other factors to consider. Primarily, your power supply needs to be able to supply voltage to your hardware as stably as possible to avoid damaging it, and you want it to run as efficiently as possible too to save you money in the long run. Other things to consider are its noise output and the number and type of connections it has.

With these things in mind, we bring you our latest PSU round-up, featuring eight power supplies, each from a different manufacturer, that are rated at or around the 750W mark. There’s about an £80 difference between the cheapest and most expensive models, so plenty of price points are covered, and as it’s been a while since our last round-up, we’re using a new testing methodology too.

Click to enlarge

How We Test

A PSU’s ability to supply stable voltages across its rails, even under heavy load, is its most important asset. It sounds simple, but cheaper and poorly made PSUs often miss the mark, especially under heavier loads. Unstable voltages can cause your hardware to exhibit instabilities or even to become damaged, so the closer they are to what they should be, the better.

Intel’s desktop PSU design guidelines specify the physical and electrical characteristics that ATX PSUs are required (in theory, at least) to adhere to. It states there can be a maximum of 5 percent variation above or below the nominal voltage on the +12V, +5V and +3.3V rails. These are the rails we test, as they’re the most relevant to modern systems. The +12V rail is tested using Stratron 3229 load generators, while the lower voltage ones are tested with on a Stratron 3227.

Beginning at 200W of load, we test each PSU in 100W increments recording the output voltages on each rail at every step, thus measuring a PSU’s capability to provide stable voltages across various workloads. For the all important +12V rail, we take two measurements. 12V1 is the PSU’s +12V connection with the lowest reading for each test setting, while 12V2 refers to the connection with the highest. As voltage output falls under heavier loads, 12V1 is the more crucial of the two.

We also use a Zes Zimmer LMG95 power meter to determine how much AC power a PSU draws from the grid to output the appropriate DC power level. From this we calculate efficiency at each step, as well as an overall average efficiency. Efficiency is important not just because wasted energy is bad for your wallet and the environment, but because it’s dissipated as heat which can reduce the lifespan and effectiveness of your components. Intel specifies that PSUs must be at least 70 percent efficient under full load, but 80 percent is recommended. We also use our power meter to test leakage levels by leaving the PSU on under no load.

The power supplied to each PSU in testing is 230V AC, the same as UK household mains electricity. It should also be noted that at each load interval, we draw 50W of power across each of the +3.3V and +5V rails, using the +12V rail to draw the remainder. This is different to the 80 Plus initiative’s test protocols, whereby rails are loaded proportionally based on their individual rated DC output current. However, we’re not testing whether each PSU deserves its 80 Plus rating, and our procedure still reflects the marginal role played by the lower voltage rails in today’s systems.

For each load scenario, we also carry out a ripple test on the +12V line with an EasySync DS1M12 oscilloscope. Ripple refers to the tiny fluctuations in the output voltage of a power supply: an unavoidable result of converting AC to DC. A PSU’s ability to suppress ripple is important, as high levels can damage your hardware, specifically the electrolytic capacitors found on motherboards and graphics cards, and reduce your overclocking potential. The maximum ripple permitted by Intel’s specifications on the +12V rail is 120mV (peak-to-peak), but PSUs should be able to manage at least half this value to be considered excellent.

Click to enlarge
Finally, we also measure the noise output of each PSU under three different loads (100W, 300W and 500W) with a Brüel Kjær 2238 decibel meter. This is done by isolating the power supply in a sound-proof box (where noise levels are 17 dB(A)). Measurements are taken from a distance of 10cm after five minutes of operation for the low power tests, and after twenty minutes for the 500W one.

How We Score

The voltage stability tests take pride of place in the scoring box and accounts for 40 percent of each PSU’s overall score. The score is worked out as a percentage of the voltage measurements that are within the limits of Intel’s specifications. We only recommend that you buy a PSU with 100 percent stability.

The Design score factors in the average efficiency across each of the load scenarios (as well as leakage level under no load), the highest amount of ripple exhibited by the PSU and the amount of noise produced at the highest load level. As well as this, it also incorporates the number, type and quality of cables supplied with the unit. Finally, the Value score is simply a combination of the Stability and Design scores and the total rated output (in watts) divided by the price.

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AMD Radeon HD 7990 6GB Review

Manufacturer: AMD
UK Price (as reviewed): MSRP £860 (inc. VAT)
US Price (as reviewed): MSRP $999 (ex. Tax)

When AMD hinted that it would be focussing on adding new SKUs to its product line-up in 2013 rather than replacing its current South Islands GPU architecture, we strongly suspected the arrival of the long awaited dual-GPU HD 7990 was on the cards. In fact, a number of AMD’s partners couldn’t wait this long; in the past we’ve already looked at Club 3D’s triple slot 7990 and the Asus Ares 2, both of which featured a pair of AMD’s top-end Tahiti XT GPUs in CrossFire on a single PCB. While those humongous, exotic-cooler equipped cards might have been AMD’s illegitimate children (to the Night’s Watch with them!), today sees the legitimisation of the 7990 SKU with an official AMD PCB, cooler design and set clock speeds.

The pair of GPUs at the heart of the 7990 are identical to that of the Tahiti XT GPU we first encountered way back in December 2011, although AMD has re-named the chips Malta for the multi-GPU SKU. This means they’re still built on the 28nm production process and South Islands architecture, with each offering the maximum of 2,048 stream processors. These are sub-divided between 32 compute units (AMD refers to them as GCNs), which are then further divided between four SIMD (single instruction, multiple data) engines of 16 stream processors each. Using the same GPU as the HD 7970 also means that each GPU boasts 32 ROPs and has access to a quartet of 64-bit memory controllers for a combined 2 x 384-bit memory interface with which to communicate with the 6GB of on-board (3GB per GPU) of GDDR5.

Put the two Malta GPUs together and you’re left with an 8.6 billion transistor 4,096 stream processor, pixel stomping beast, but AMD has made a couple of compromises to keep the heat (and power consumption) down. Whereas most HD 7970s now on sale will be the 1,050MHz core frequency GHz editions, the HD 7990’s GPUs run at 1GHz. The 7990’s 1.5GHz (6GHz effective) memory frequency matches that of the 7970 GHz Edition though, and means the card packs 2 x 288GB/sec of memory bandwidth (as with all multi-GPU cards, each GPU only has access to its own memory pool).

While the specs aren’t too unsurprising, AMD’s ability to cram both GPUs, with a 1GHz core frequency, into a dual-slot card is seriously impressive. What’s more, it requires just a pair of 8-pin PCI-E power connectors to run. In comparison, the Club 3D 7990 we looked at in December ran at a core frequency of 925MHz, required three 8-pin power connectors and used an enormous triple-slot cooler. Asus’ Ares 2 didn’t compromise on frequency, running its pair of Tahiti XTs at 1,050MHz but also needed a trio of 8-pin power connectors, not to mention a dual-waterblock water cooler to keep temperatures under control.

The official HD 7990 is a much more subtle beast (if you can call a 12in/305mm card subtle) and finished in AMD’s red and black livery looks suitably smart. The card is dominated by a trio of 80mm down-draft fans that blow air down through an enormous 8-heatpipe equipped heatsink that covers almost the entire area of the PCB. Beneath the heatsink is a further ridged aluminium plate that covers power circuitry and memory modules, with a back-plate cooling the memory modules on the cards under-side. It’s all encased in a plastic shroud that’s perforated on all sides to allow hot air to be exhausted on all sides. This will mean a significant amount of the card’s 375W TDP of heat will be deposited into your case, so needless to say decent ventilation is key. The fact that AMD has crammed a pair of its biggest GPUs onto a single PCB, dual-slot card remains a highly impressive feat though, and the engineers behind it should feel suitably pleased with themselves.

In another change from the rest of the 7-series, AMD has chosen to fit the HD 7990 with five display outputs rather than the usual four. However, it’s dropped HDMI in favour of Dual Link-DVI and a quartet of mini-DisplayPort connectors.

While its specs and existence aren’t too surprising, the HD 7990’s price may catch some off guard. When we looked at Club 3D’s model last year it was selling for around £700, whilst a pair of HD 7970 GHz Editions will currently set you back around £660. In comparison, AMD has set an asking price of £860 for the HD 7990 6GB, seeing it topple even Nvidia’s GTX Titan as the current most expensive GPU on the market. This price does include AMD’s opulent Never Settle 8-game bundle, but a £200 premium for placing two GPUs onto a single PCB goes well beyond Nvidia’s pricing of the GTX 690 last year. Can the HD 7990 justify its price tag, and earn the big gold belt of Fastest Card In The World™? Let’s hit the benchmarks and find out.

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The Geeksphone Keon and Peak are the first phones to run Firefox OS.

The first phones to run the open-source mobile phone operating system, Firefox OS, have gone on sale, promptly sold out and crashed the company’s website.

Geeksphone – a Spanish startup – is the company producing and selling the first Firefox phones but its online shop, http://shop.geeksphone.com/en/, struggled under the weight of interest so has been taken down while the company sets about improving its performance – we’ll update you when we know of it being back online.

The phones themselves – called the Keon and Peak – are of the budget persuasion, costing €91 (£78) and €149 (£130) respectively. The Keon features a 3.5-inch screen, single core Qualcomm Cortex-A 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM and Firefox orange case. Meanwhile the Peak packs in a 4.3-inch screen, a dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm 8225 processor and an 8-megapixel camera, and it comes in a white finish.

Geeksphone Keon specs

• CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 1Ghz
• UMTS 2100/1900/900 (3G HSPA)
• GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (2G EDGE)
• Screen 3.5″ HVGA (320×480) Multitouch
• 3 MP Camera
• 4GB ROM, 512 MB RAM
• MicroSD, Wifi N, Light and proxmity Sensor, G-Sensor, GPS, MicroUSB
• 1580 mAh battery
• Over the air updates
• Unlocked, add your own SIM card

Geeksphone Peak specs

• CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 1.2Ghz x2
• UMTS 2100/1900/900 (3G HSPA)
• GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (2G EDGE)
• Screen 4.3″ qHD (540×960) IPS Multitouch
• Camera 8 MP (back) + 2 MP (front)
• 4 GB (ROM) and 512 (RAM)
• MicroSD, Wifi N, Light and proxmity Sensor, G-Sensor, GPS, MicroUSB, Flash (camera)
• Battery 1800mAh

Firefox OS is an open source operating system that is inherently designed to be tinkered with by manufacturers, networks and users. Although only currently available on Geeksphone products, larger manufacturers such as Alcatel, Huawei, LG, Sony and ZTE have all shown interest in producing Firefox OS products.

As BlackBerry and Microsoft have both found out, though, the key to a successful mobile phone eco-system is good app support and Firefox is going to face this very same challenge if it’s to succeed in making in roads into iOS and Android’s market share. To this end, the Geeksphone products are actually being aimed at developers, with Firefox hoping they will be used to accelerate app support for the platform in advance of other Firefox phones being released.

If you want to learn more about Firefox OS, head over to the Mozilla Developer Network Firefox OS page. You can also install the OS or use the online simulator to preview it.

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(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET)

Anyone needing proof that the post-PC era is real need only consult the recent sales figures: traditional PC sales are down 14 percent year over year, even as sales of tablets and smartphones — mostly using Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android — become more ubiquitous.

But even as
Android adoption continues to flourish, Google has another horse in the race: Chrome OS. Chrome’s mission statement is simple: With everything moving to “the cloud,” why have a heavy, expensive Windows or
Mac operating system acting as a middleman? Why not just have the browser be the OS? And that’s precisely the reason it shares a name with Google’s increasingly popular Web browser.

It’s a clever enough idea, and one that plays to Google’s strength: search, Gmail, Google Docs, Maps, Picasa, and nearly all of the company’s other products don’t require traditional software — just a browser and a live Web connection. Still, when we last looked at it in the fall of 2012, we found Chrome OS to be promising, but ultimately not up to the level of a full-time OS. In other words, it was generally fine for a “second computer,” but not quite ready to run your one and only go-to PC for every task.

However, Google’s pace of improvement for the OS (and the browser) is ambitious, to say the least. The company updates it on a six-week schedule, and — again, because it’s all based on a remote server — the changes are instantly available to users. With the advent of new Chromebook laptops — from HP’s $329 Chromebook to Google’s own flagship, the $1,600 touch-screen Chromebook Pixel (and also the Samsung Chromebox compact desktop) — we thought it was time to take a longer look at Chrome OS.

(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET)

For me, the real test is not a dry comparison of specs on paper, or even a handful of short-haul benchmark tests. No, the real test of the Chromebook as a real-life device is this: can I survive for a week or more with a Chrome OS device as my primary computer?

Haven’t we seen this before?
A great many $300 Netbook laptops, running Windows XP and Intel Atom processors, were sold several years ago under a similar premise — that laptop shoppers had for years simply been buying too much computer. Why spend $1,000 or more when $300 would do for the everyday computing tasks of e-mail, Web browsing, social media, and video consumption?

Back during the 2007-to-2010 heyday of the 10- and 11-inch Netbook, many people bought into that argument (myself included, to a degree), but the long-term Netbook experience was less than satisfactory, in part because we were asking these low-power processors to run a full version of Windows. What you ended up with was a lot of people who thought they were getting a great deal, but then found themselves sitting and staring at a rotating hourglass as their Netbooks struggled to load multiple Web pages or load up
Microsoft Office or Adobe Photoshop.

The ‘offline’ apps available in the Chrome OS Web store.

The Chromebook aims to solve that problem, albeit in an extreme way. Much like what we used to call a dumb terminal, the Chromebook is just a window to the online world. What Google calls the Chrome OS is essentially the same Chrome Web browser you might already be using on your Windows or OS X computer. Nearly everything you do is within the browser, and Chrome OS users are encouraged (practically required) to work via cloud-based tools, from Google Docs to Netflix.

A fairly basic file system allows files to be kept and accessed locally, for example through no-frills media player apps for video and music, or through a rudimentary photo editor. But for the most part, a Chromebook is meant to be used exclusively online — that’s why the first wave of Chromebook hardware included 3G connections as key hardware components.

Later Chromebooks backed off on that claim a bit, and some models, such as the HP Pavilion 14 I’m writing on right now, don’t even offer a 3G option, requiring you to be within range of a Wi-Fi signal, unless you use one of a handful of “offline” apps that offer limited offline functionality for Chromebooks disconnected from the hive mind.

Setting up the hardware
For this experiment, I’m using a slightly unusual Chromebook, but one that is perhaps better suited for all-day, multiday use. The HP Pavilion 14 has the largest screen we’ve seen to date in a Chromebook, eschewing the 11- and 12-inch displays we’ve seen from Samsung and Acer for a midsize 14-inch screen. That, coupled with a decent-sized keyboard and touch pad, makes it a device that could easily be mistaken for a run-of-the-mill plastic laptop. Except, instead of costing $550 to $700 or so, the Pavilion 14 Chromebook starts at $329.

As noted in our review of this laptop, that price requires certain sacrifices to cost-cutting. The keyboard and touch pad feel especially low-budget and clacky, and onboard storage is limited to a small 16GB solid-state drive (SSD), although there is an SD card slot for expansion.

Turning on the HP Pavilion 14 for the first time, I found setup was easy — you’re immediately prompted to enter your master Google account username and password, much as you might when installing the Chrome browser on any other PC. Once synced, that sets up your Gmail and Google Drive/Docs access, as well as your saved bookmarks, but the actual tile-based Chromebook menu is new — you’ll have to add, remove, and reorder the tiles to your liking.

(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET)

That easy portability of bookmarks, passwords, and online service access is what makes Chrome my current preferred Web browser, although I still use Safari and IE10 as well (Firefox, not so much these days). On the Chromebook, the familiar look and feel of Chrome are comforting. If you already use Chrome, then despite running an uncommon OS on a new laptop, having access to your personal bookmarks, preferences, and settings definitely makes the Chromebook experience less alien.

But does it actually work?
While there are many things about using Chrome OS on this HP Pavilion 14 that feel familiar, one has only to close or minimize the browser window to be in unfamiliar territory.

While there’s an Android-feeling app menu that pops out of the bottom-edge task bar, it’s largely an illusion. Most of the tiles lead to online tools or Web sites. You won’t find files, photos, Office docs, or anything else on the icon-free desktop. Unless you’re one of those anal-retentive “clean desktop” people, that can be very jarring to see.

The Chrome equivalent of the Windows Start menu.

Over the next installments of this series of posts, I’ll detail how Chrome OS worked, and didn’t work, for workplace productivity, entertainment, and social connectivity. If you’re considering a Chromebook because of the low price or simple interface, or just because it’s suddenly trendy, then this guide should give you a basic understanding of the rewards and challenges. But a Chromebook is so different from a Windows or Mac PC that I strongly encourage you to try one for yourself before buying, either at a retail store or via a Chromebook-owning friend or colleague, to get a better idea of the radically different environment you’d be committing to.

In a pinch, you can also sort of replicate what using Chrome OS is like through the Google Chrome Web browser on any Windows or Mac computer. The look and feel are similar, and even the Chrome app store works the same. Just keep all your work inside the browser, don’t download anything besides basic docs or media files, or use any offline programs (such as Photoshop or iTunes), and you’ll get a reasonably good feel for what it’s like to use a Chromebook — although keep in mind you’ll certainly be working with a much more powerful processor.

Next time
In my next installment, I’ll examine how a Chromebook works as a professional productivity tool. Is Google Docs (aka Google Drive) a usable replacement for Microsoft Office?

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An upcoming edition of Apple’s MacBook Pro may include support for 802.11ac.

(Credit:
Apple)

Macs of the near future may be able to tap directly into high-speed 802.11ac networks.

Code for the latest OS X 10.8.4 beta includes a string with the term “802.11ac channel,” according to 9to5Mac. This appears to be the first reference to 802.11ac in OS X since the term does not show up in the code for OS X 10.8.3, the current version of Apple’s OS.

Past rumors have suggested that Apple would be one of the early adopters of 802.11ac, equipping its laptops and
tablets with the higher-speed Wi-Fi standard. Apple’s Time Capsule, Airport Base Station, and other networking products would also support 802.11ac. Reports have suggested that Apple is working with chipmaker Broadcom to implement the new technology.

As the latest high-speed Wi-Fi flavor, 802.11ac is just getting off the ground and has yet to obtain ratification from the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). Such ratification is expected by the end of 2013 or the start of 2014.

In the meantime, several router manufacturers have already released products equipped with the draft version of 802.11ac. Some vendors, such as Trendnet, have also unveiled 802.11ac Wi-Fi adapters that can plug into a notebook to deliver the higher-speed connection.

As the successor to 802.11n and the 5th-generation Wi-Fi standard, 802.11ac offers a hefty bump in speed and performance. The new standard can theoretically deliver speeds up to 1.3Gbps, earning it the monicker of Gigabit Wi-Fi.

802.11ac uses only the 5GHz band, which isn’t as efficient as 2.4GHz at getting through solid objects such as walls and floors. However, the 5GHz band is currently less crowded and therefore less subject to interference.

The new standard is also backward compatible with 802.11n, so it will support any wireless device released in the past few years. However, the device itself needs to be outfitted with 802.11ac in order to take advantage of the higher speed and performance. So, it’s likely Apple and other notebook makers will be ramping up support for 802.11ac throughout the year.

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EE was first to offer 4G in the UK – have you got onboard?

EE has confirmed it is to double the 4G speeds offered by its network across 10 of the 11 cities where it first launched its 4G service.

London, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield will all be receiving the speed increase by summer 2013.

“We are ensuring that the UK remains at the forefront of the digital revolution,” said Olaf Wantee, CEO at EE. “Having already pioneered 4G here, we’re now advancing the country’s infrastructure again with an even fast, even high-capacity network, and at no extra cost to our customers.”

The speed increase will, according to EE, see EE customers receiving up to 80Mbps downstream with an average of over 20Mbps. EE has been able to do this by doubling the amount of 1800MHz spectrum bandwidth dedicated to 4G from 10MHz to 20MHz, which provides increased overall capacity for its customers.

Apparently driving the need for a speed increase is an uplift in mobile video downloads. “Since we launched 4G, we’ve seen a huge shift in the way people are using mobile. Video already accounts for 24 per cent of all traffic on our 4G network – that’s significantly more than on 3G. Maps, mobile commerce, sat-nav tools and cloud services are all seeing a similar rise,” said Swantee.

Further to these speed increases, EE is also still planning to further the reach of its 4G network, connecting one million customers by Christmas 2013.

A list of the towns and cities that currently have 4G access is below:
Amersham, Barnsley, Belfast, Bingley, Birmingham, Bolton, Bradford , Bristol, Cardiff, Chelmsford, Chorley, Coventry, Derby, Doncaster, Dudley, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Harpenden, Hemel Hempstead, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Lichfield, Liverpool, London, Loughborough, Luton, Maidenhead, Manchester, Newbury, Newcastle, Newport, Nottingham, Preston, Reading, Rotherham, Sheffield, Shipley, Slough, Southampton, Southend-on-Sea, St Albans, Stockport, Sunderland, Sutton Coldfield, Telford, Walsall, Watford, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton.

While EE still has a monopoly on 4G services at the moment, all the other major networks are planning to launch competing services before the year is out.

Are you an EE 4G user or are you waiting for prices to drop before taking the plunge?

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A helping hand for seniors?

(Credit:
Silverline Mobile)

Here’s a crowdfunding project with a twist: instead of pledging a certain amount to buy a new gadget for yourself, an underserved senior citizen will receive said product instead.

The project in question is Silverline, which is seeking funding on Indiegogo to equip senior citizens with smartphones preloaded with essential apps.

Silverline Mobile’s Singapore-based creators, Jason Aspes and Lilin Phng, have developed senior-friendly iOS apps that provide useful information and keep them connected to loved ones. The five apps that have already been developed are:

• Discover: Snap automatically geotagged photos and add captions to document activities for the day.
• Well Being: Reminders to drink water, take medication and watch videos for health tips.
• Inspire: News stories delivered in the form of text, images and videos.
• Connect: Tap a contact’s photo to call him/her immediately.
• Emergency: Tap simple icons to call for emergency assistance.

A screenshot of the Connect app.

(Credit:
Silverline Mobile)

If you pledge $79, an underserved senior citizen will get a refurbished
iPhone 3GS with the Silverline apps installed, a yearlong data and voice plan, and one-on-one smartphone training. Plus, you’ll get a voucher to download the Silverline apps (even future apps) for yourself or a loved one.

A $19 pledge gets you Silverline’s suite of five elderly-friendly apps, which are optimized for use in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

If you’d like to get an unlocked 8GB or 16GB iPhone 3GS with the Silverline apps already preinstalled, there are 50 units available at the $149 reward level. Do note there are other elderly-friendly mobile phones on the market that are also more affordable.

So far, only iOS apps have been developed, but Aspes and Phng plan to develop
Android versions soon, as more used Android smartphones such as older Samsung Galaxy models become easily available. The apps will be launched in English and Mandarin.

The company is working on more Silverline apps, including one that will allow for easy sharing of photos. It also plans to develop special Bluetooth bracelets that can detect falls via an in-built accelerometer.

Aspes and Phng are aiming to raise at least $50,000, and they’re halfway to their goal with just over 10 days left to go.

(Source: Crave Asia)

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