CobaltTech

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Return to Windows Phone I briefly used a Nokia Lumia 800 when WP7 rolled around and it was... OK. Underwhelming. A nice idea that lacked polish in some areas and features just about everywhere else. The build quality was top notch. But then that was all Nokia. I've recently acquired a Nokia Lumia 1020 and I must say that I'm impressed with how far the platform has come. The phone itself is great (more on that in a full review) but the platform is still clearly evolving. That's not to say that it's undeveloped like its previous iteration though. It's getting there in terms of functionality, but it still lacks a few basics that would put some people off the platform. You still can't use your own text tones for example, or change the media volume independently of the tiger volume. But for all its flaws, there are some great inclusions that often get overlooked. The biggest of these is the fantastic social networking integration. I'm not the highest Facebooker in the world, but it's still great to see updates available in virtually every nook and cranny of the OS without them cluttering up the place and pushing content out of the way. The integration with Xbox is also something to be noted, especially with the new Xbox One SmartGlass app waiting to be unfurled come November 22nd. It's actually made paying for Xbox content easier as well since the Wallet app integrates with Xbox Live and the Microsoft Store. The only real downside so far has been the lack of app populating the store. It's not that it's barren in there by any stretch, but a lack of key apps can put a brake on your workflow from time to time. Most notable holes have recently been filled, like Vine for example, but the absence of Dropbox has had to make me rethink how I'm doing things more than once. Usually it involves substituting SkyDrive (which is actually pretty good), but it's still a bit of a pain. For those who don't like the idea of making the change, but are worried about moving from Android or iOS, don't be. Pop into a shop and have a play, if you don't like it within 10 minutes, you probably never will. But if you do, you might be missing out.

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Why people need to calm down about the iPhone 5S fingerprint scanner There's been a lot of talk recently about how the fingerprint scanner on the iPhone 5S isn't very secure and can be hacked with a few household objects. While this is certainly the case, does it really make it poor security? After all, the locks on your front door can be picked open with the right tools and a bit of practice. The thing that is constantly overlooked is how compares to rival security measures currently in place on mobile phones. A PIN or passcode can be observed by a stranger when entered and rendered useless. Pattern unlocks can be broken by looking at the grease marks left on screen after it's been unlocked. Face unlock just needs you to look enough like the owner to let you in. Apple's new security requires you to lift a fingerprint, then cast a replica before you have a chance of breaking in. Another point many seem to gloss over is that your phone is not a bank vault. It's contents are not coveted by every person you pass on the street. Only a handful of people would care to do anything malicious with the digital contents of your phone. Even if you left the thing completely unlocked, the activation lock in iOS7 prevents anyone from removing your Apple ID, Find My iPhone settings or wiping the handset without access to your Apple password, TouchID just adds another layer of security. Unless you work for MI6 or are the President of a G8 country, I would worry about people plotting to lift your fingerprints so that they can steal your phone and hack into its secrets. Frankly, if you are, just make sure you remote wipe your phone once it's missing and change all your passwords and you won't have anything to worry about. Also, on the not that someone could cut off your finger and use it to gain access to your device (this has been a genuine concern for more than a couple of customers); if someone cuts off one of your fingers, getting your phone hacked should be the least of your worries.

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CAPS Handset Review - Blackberry Z10

CobaltTech Arbitrary Point System (CAPS) Finish 1 - 5 Look and feel, build quality and finish Glass on the front, plastic everywhere else. It feels pretty solid considering the plastic they've chosen, but the back cover is thin and flimsy. The USB and HDMI ports look like they've just been slapped in there and might come loose if mistreated. Score - 2 Screen 1 - 5 Size, resolution and quality The 4.2 inch screen feel a good fit in this handset and its coupled with a resolution to match coming in just a little over 720p. Colours and viewing angles are good, as is the brightness. This is certainly one point where the Z10 doesn't excel, but does get things right. Score - 4 Camera 1 - 5 Picture quality, depth of settings and features, ease of use I've not had a chance to take it out in low light yet, what I've seen is pretty good. Standard pictures deliver a decent enough result too. Colours and contrast are surprisingly good for such a basic camera, but the lack of adjustable settings means pictures will often fall a little flat. You do get a handful of scene modes, HDR, two aspect ratios and some control over the flash, but the control over the auto focus is a little clunky. The Time Shift mode is pretty nice, but competitors have released similar modes with far more functionality. Score - 3 Performance and Usability 1 - 5 Processing power, smoothness of user interface, usability of interface The figures on paper are pretty impressive - 1.5 GHz dual-core processor from Snapdragon's top line (at the time) S4 range. 2GB of RAM means all that multitasking is pretty smooth. The problems don't lie in the hardware however, everything seems to be tuned to hit benchmarks, but not actually function well in your hand. Blackberry boast the fastest web browser on mobile (when they're used to having the slowest) and bechmark test support this, but in my experience, you'll wait a good few seconds for the browser to process a shortened URL before it actually tries to load any content. The browser will frequently crash as well and need reloading to get a response. The actual OS is generally pretty slick, but the gesture control, even when you've had time to get used to it, does more harm than good. I'll often find myself quitting apps when trying to avoid the autocorrection on the keyboard, or getting lost in a text message on the hub as the back button isn't visible when the keyboard is showing. The hardware specs are the only thing saving this score from the toilet. Score - 3 Memory 1 - 5 Built in storage and expandability 16GB built in plus a card slot. Only one set of internal memory though means this can get filled quite quickly by apps (if you can find any). Score - 3 Apps 0 - 5 In-built apps and features, platform app availability It doesn't actually do too badly for built-in apps. You get most of the major social site apps preinstalled plus a basic office suite and file manager. The good news pretty much stops here though. App support for BB10 is terrible, despite Blackberry throwing money at developers to attract them to their platform. You'll find Whatsapp on here, but no Instagram, nothing from Sky, not even Google Maps. The BBC news and iPlayer apps are present, but it turns out all they do is open up the browser and point it at the relevant web pages. It is possible to side-load Android apps, but considering >95% of users will never do that (and Blackberry offer very little instruction on it) I'm going to have to score them down. Score - 1 Extras -5 - 5 Value for money, special features or significant design decisions Straight away I have to give it -1 for value for money. It's priced up with the big boys, but doesn't feel like its delivering a top-end experience. They've ticked a lot of boxes, but it just feels cheap. I'm giving it another -1 for a couple of design decisions; You can power off the handset by holding the power button when the phone is locked, no gestures required. I've caught it powering itself off without any interaction from me as well. The camera has adjustable auto focus, but you have to drag the reticule to adjust it. Given that there's no separate capture button, it's easy to tap the screen and take a picture rather than moving the focus reticule. Also, the USB and HDMI ports are right next to each other and not labeled or covered, so Blackberry have had problems with people getting the (very similar looking) ports mixed up and trying to force the USB cable in the HDMI port. I will give it a +1 for the excellent hub integration but I'm going to take it away for the awful gesture control. Anything that requires users to watch 4 tutorial videos before they can even use it is probably a bad idea. Sometimes the gestures get in the way of the actual interface as well which immediately disconnects you from thruster experience. Lastly, I will mention the PC suite as well. It's a visual improvement on the old Desktop Manager software, but it's actually a lot harder to use and offers far fewer options, so it's neutral marks on that front, just worth a mention. Score - -2 Overall 0 - 35 The tally of the above scores, converted to percentage A final score of 14 out of 35 is not exactly great, but it reflects why this handset hasn't been selling in stores quite how Blackberry would have liked. It comes across as a pretty average handset with some pretty major shortfalls overshadowing a few genuinely good points. BB10 feels like a first generation operating system and this is probably the most damaging aspect of the handset. If it had the build quality of the Q10 and a better stocked app store, it might have been able to achieve mediocrity. Score - 40%

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CAPS Handset Review - Apple iPhone 5

CobaltTech Arbitrary Point System (CAPS) Finish 1 - 5 Look and feel, build quality and finish Metal and glass, what more can you say. Thinner and lighter than much of the competition and built out of the best materials on the market. It only loses a point as the black anodised finish is chipped fairly easily. Score - 4 Screen 1 - 5 Size, resolution and quality While the screen isn't exactly market leading in size or even pixel count these days, it's among the best in class in terms of colour viewing angle and, brightness and contrast. Apple screens always deserve a solid score. Score - 4 Camera 1 - 5 Picture quality, depth of settings and features, ease of use While the camera on the iPhone 5 punches well above its weight in terms of picture quality compared to newer handsets, it's not the best out there. In an effort to keep the interface clean it also lacks a lot of the extra gizmos and adjustability that many other manufacturers build in. This makes it a decent point-and-shoot which can get some great results in the right conditions, but it's missing some of the refinement of many of its competitors. Video quality is actually surprisingly good thanks to a high capture quality and clever image stabilisation. Score - 3 Performance and Usability 1 - 5 Processing power, smoothness of user interface, usability of interface This is where the iPhone excels. Apple may keep quiet about processor clock speeds, but it doesn't mean they're lacking clout. The iOS interface is always clean and responsive and this 6th generation model is packing pretty much all of the features you'd expect. Score - 5 Memory 1 - 5 Built in storage and expandability Good range of storage options starting at 16GB and working up to 64GB if you have the bank. A lack of SD card support means whichever memory size you buy, you're stuck with until you upgrade though. Score - 3 Apps 0 - 5 In-built apps and features, platform app availability Not much from Apple in the way of preinstalled apps, but arguably the best range of apps available to download through Apple's App Store. Score - 4 Extras -5 - 5 Value for money, special features or significant design decisions Despite me actually liking the Lightning connector, it has to lose a point for being the only manufacture on the market using this proprietary plug. It gains a point for being best-in-class in terms of usability and another for extensive use of premium materials. The iPhone 5 loses a point for being one of the most expensive handsets on the market though, particularly if you cough up for the higher memory models. One final point is awarded for iCloud seeing as it stands out as the best integrated backup and sync solution on the market. It's not without its flaws and it is lacking in cross platform compatibility, but it does a great job of keeping the data safe for the masses. Score - 1 Overall 0 - 35 The tally of the above scores, converted to percentage An overall score of 24 out of 35 is the benchmark Apple is setting for its competitors. It isn't the best at everything, but it's all delivered in a slick and easy to use package. iOS has really come of age in the last few years and this solid hardware offering is a great vehicle for it, if a little out of many people's budgets. Score - 69%

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An introduction to the CobaltTech Arbitrary Point System - CAPS

CAPS has been designed to look at the key selling points of any modern smartphone and rate it against its competitors. Only best-in-class handsets should be scoring 5, while only worst-in-class should score 1. The extras section is a chance for a handset to show off its unique features or clever engineering to earn extra points, or to showcase its terrible operating system and ridiculous design decisions to dip their score even further. I try to be harsh but fair. Every handset I review is one I've either spent a good amount of time using myself, or talked through with an owner to get a real users opinion. I won't go every feature with a fine-tooth comb, but I will deliver a balanced opinion. Don't let a middling score put you off either. 50% is average so most handsets should score around this mark. Anything significantly above that is a bit special, anything even slightly below is probably worth avoiding. Finish 1 - 5 Look and feel, build quality and finish Screen 1 - 5 Size, resolution and quality Camera 1 - 5 Picture quality, depth of settings and features, ease of use Performance and Usability 1 - 5 Processing power, smoothness of user interface, usability of interface Memory 1 - 5 Built in storage and expandability Apps 0 - 5 In-built apps and features, platform app availability Extras -5 - 5 Special features or poor design decisions Overall 0 - 35 The tally of the above scores, converted to percentage

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A quick though on the upcoming Apple event

I've been saying for months that the next iPhone won't have a fingerprint scanner. It'd be too expensive and serve no real purpose when a passcode can make your lock screen just as secure. It'd be very un-Apple-like to put that kind of gimmick on a device for a single function. It just hit me that iOS 7 has a password keychain as one of its new features, including the ability to auto-generate secure passwords for new websites and serve them up as needed from the keychain. This is where a fingerprint scanner would come into its own, allowing a user to easily and securely log onto websites without remembering passwords or risking having their master password compromised. Microsoft already tried it with a USB fingerprint scanner (I got one for free) and HP did the same for some of their laptops. I'll concede, it looks like we might be seeing biometrics finally it the mainstream tomorrow evening.

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Those who know me from before I started this blog will know that I have a bit of tradition of making predictions for upcoming iPhone launches. Seeing as Apple have confirmed an event for 10th September, it seems like as good a time as any to get something in writing. I don't think the main launch is going to be very exciting this year. The odd numbered years are typically the "S" launches and it doesn't look like this year is going to be much different. As far as I can tell, Apple will be going for a finish upgrade to try and distinguish the S models, something they've not done up to this point. I'm not seeing much chance of a screen size or resolution bump, but the camera and processor will inevitably get their usual upgrades, especially as the camera didn't get much attention last year. The most highly anticipated part of the launch is the so-called "iPhone 5C" - a budget iPhone with colourful plastic casings. This has been a long time coming and has been anticipated for the last 3 iPhone launches without materalising. This time around we have plenty of leaked shots to back up these claims, so it's looking fairly likely to show up. Market pressures from competitors like the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One, both of which have mid-range "Mini" versions, mean this is the perfect time for a cheaper iPhone to emerge. We've seen plenty of shots of both potential devices, but I'd like to talk possible internals. iPhone 5S: Camera - Sony supplied their last two camera modules, so we can expect the 13MP sensor from the Xperia Z and Galaxy S4 to make an appearance in the 5S. The key will be in the extra software, processing chip and interfaces that Apple implement. This made the iPhone 5 perform differently to the competition last year and it will make a difference this year too. Processor - A7 maybe? No matter what they call it, expect a bump in power and Apple to peg it along the lines of "2x faster". Screen - While I'd love them to move to a 4.5" screen with a bit more width, I'd expect no change here this year. Memory - Hopefully this year will finally see the 128GB version, but this won't work unless they make the smallest memory 32GB rather than the usual 16GB. Not enough people buy the 64GB as it is to make another high end handset worth the extra money. Price - At most, £50 more than the 5 sells for currently. Hopefully they'll keep a cap on it and make it cost the same, coupled with a £50 discount on the 5 though. Either is historically possible. iPhone 5C: Camera - I would expect the 8MP module from the 4S and 5 to make an appearance here. The 5MP from the iPhone 4 is a possibility, but is a bit too low compared to the competition to make sense. Processor - This will certainly be a current gen processor, the A5 from the iPhone 4S is a fairly good candidate as they'll probably still want to sell the iPhone 5 sat in-between the new offerings. Screen - The iPhone 4/4S 3.5" retina display is a dead cert here. Cheap enough to make and plenty of app compatibility, plus it makes the 5 and 5S stand out with their larger screens. Memory - I would imagine we'll see 8GB as the only SKU, but 16GB might make an appearance. They'll likely release a shed load of colours though, so more memory sizes would put a strain on availability and price. Price - £250-300 is probably the best target to aim for. Baring in mind an iPhone 4 still sells for £320 new, the alleged polymer construction of the 5C would give them a significant drop in the production and material costs associated with all that metal and glass. The lower they manage to get this price, the greater a success it will be though. This kind of price point would be the kind of coup that the iPad mini is at it's £270 base price. I'll be back with full analysis after the announcement on the 10th and let you know what I think. It looks like it's going to be fairly by the numbers, but Apple are masters of the curveball and could easily drop something unexpected like they did with Siri two years ago or the App Store three years before that.

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4G and Mobile Data If you spend more than 5 seconds pointed at a recent EE advert, you'll be aware that 4G is all about speed. The figure most networks are touting is "5 times faster than 3G" which is a fair measure given how variable 3G can be. The thing people will have trouble getting their heads around though is data consumption and how much is enough? With current 3G rates I see around 10-20% of users hit their 1GB cap and maybe half of those will want something closer to 2GB. When 4G comes around for the masses and services start taking advantage, I can see that 80% or so of people that were fine on 1GB still being fine on 1GB. This seems odd at first; surely more speed equals higher data consumption? Most web traffic (in terms of time spent online) will be directed at things like email, Facebook, web pages and Twitter. These will load faster on 4G, but that doesn't mean you're likely to look at much more content than usual. The 20% that need big allowances are usually spending a lot of time watching or listening to streaming video or audio content. This is the stuff that will change with 4G as the larger bandwidths will enable higher quality streams. Even so, it's likely to be around 2-3 times the data usage in most cases, so unless you're streaming content all day, you're not suddenly going to need to jump from a 2GB plan to over 8GB. Most of the major networks have set this as their upper data limit, so it seems like a reasonable jump for those that are already paying through the nose for a 2GB plan. As for everyone else complaining that they can't get unlimited data, you jut don't need it.

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Update

Apologies for the radio silence recently. I decided to take a break while I was interviewing for a couple of tech jobs and wanted to make sure I didn't put my foot in my mouth. I'll be back to a semi-regular schedule very soon!

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A thought on game reselling

Just a short one here. If the Xbox One and PS4 offered games without the ability to resell or trade but charged less for them, is that something you'd buy? And how low would the price have to be? I've never paid more than £39.99 for a new game, so would £29.99 be low enough to lose the ability to trade in? I know it would be for me. I've got around 80 games on my shelf and I can count less than 5 which are ore owned. It's not that I'm rich, most of those are picked up on Platinum or as cheap sales a few months after release. What do you think? With digital sales already exempt from reselling, do you think we'll see a drop in new game prices on download? I hope we do.

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Free-to-play and consoles. I'm not sure how I feel about this one yet. One lesson that the game industry has learned from the recent rise of social and mobile gaming is that free-to-play (FTP) games are a highly successful way of monetizing games. Scuttlebutt says that it wont be long before this model is the norm on games consoles. To many people this will seem insane, how can giving something away make more money than selling it? It comes down to a fairly simple formula: buy in, install base, hook and enhancements. A customer will see a free game and jump to install it if it's even slightly interesting. Any price other than zero will scare people off, so a free game almost guarantees buy in. A high likelihood of a given customer buying in means you're likely to amass a large install base. FTP needs a large install base as it only relies on a small percentage of users to generate its income. The hook is the most difficult part. You have to make a game fun, otherwise people won't play it. You also have to hold something back to ensure they keep playing it, but can't let it run too slowly, otherwise you risk users losing interest. Ideally, the higher tiers would only be accessible through either hundreds of hours of play, or through purchases. The best game enhancements don't actually give you anything that you couldn't attain through normal play, but they do let you get it much more quickly. Most games use a two part currency system to control this. The first currency, usually coins, are easy to obtain in moderate amounts, but are spent fairly quickly on small bonuses like more powerful moves or to gain an economic or time boost. The second currency is usually a lot harder to get and will have one of two effects. Some games use it to accelerate time, so players making purchases will move to the late game more quickly, while others will use it to restrict late game content entirely by not giving out this currency regularly and requiring large amounts to be spent on better items/characters. The games which allow the patient gamer to attain better items through hours of play usually do better than those which restrict these items entirely, as gamers will feel cheated if they are denied access to something by a pay wall. If you're spending real world cash on items to accelerate your game and get more enjoyment out of it, people will tend to feel like it's more their choice than a forced decision. Most people will either get bored and stop or play without spending though. This is obviously no good to the developers, but that's why you'll often see social media integration in these kind of games. A good example is how Candy Crush Saga requires you to "get help" from friends via Facebook to advance past a particular section. This is essentially an endorsement from you which some friends will pick up on and try the game out. Candy Crush actually forgoes the usual currency based system and opts for direct payment for power-ups to help you get through a level. It should be possible to clear every level without paying for bonuses, but often some of the time or move restrictions make it impossible without a lucky initial game grid, so power ups seem like a good way to make passing a level easier and users are more likely to buy. The Xbox 360 already has Doritos Crash Course 2 as a free to play game with a two part currency system. The original Crash Course was a free game with no catch, so it got played by lots of people, but only served as advertising for Doritos. The sequel makes you unlock each level with currency. I've looked through and there isn't enough currency available to unlock every level without using the ever present "get coins" option at the bottom of the screen. This is classic FTP and relies on users replaying levels to try and eek out more currency before moving on, thus extending play times with little extra development cost. It also encourages you to spend currency on power ups to make the game easier, which obviously makes it harder to unlock levels later. I've played more than a few FTP games and I'm still in two minds about them. Games like Doritos Crash Course 2 with its restrictive attitude usually only last a few minutes with me as I see though the thinly veiled attempt to drain your wallet, but something like Punch Quest or Middle Manager of Justice on iOS with their humour and fun gameplay have me coming back for more.

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Used games - How consoles are becoming PCs With the current debacle surrounding the Xbox One and PS4 about used games and DRM, it's worth doing a little thinking. Sony have a lot of questions to answer after their conference was full of digs at MS and their DRM and Internet connection policy. It's great PR of course, but is it a good idea and is it accurate? It seems some parts will still be up to developers, so things can still go one of two ways. What many people seem to miss though is that pretty much none of this matters. Games are one of the few media formats still clinging in to physical media, and it wont last much longer. I've read two or three blogs recently that we're about the DRM on Steam and why it's great. If MS and Sony can get something close to what Steam has, physical media won't last very long at all. Lets break down what Steam does, good or bad, and how that might apply to consoles. Registration: Many new disc based games must be registered on Steam and require an Internet connection to play (similar to Xbox's outlined policy). Games downloaded from Steam don't require this connection because there's no risk of copying. I can see the Xbox One enacting something similar, but the PS4 doesn't need to. Downloading is easier than buying from a shop: Steam lets you download games easily, and it's simple to redownload games once you've uninstalled them. Xbox One will let you do the same thing, even if you bout the disc originally rather than downloading directly. But you can still download any new game on day one, which can be much simpler than trying to pick up a physical copy if you're busy and can't get to the shops or be around for a delivery. Sony have been quiet on this so far, but I'd imagine they'll make most games available online too. Preorder download: You can pay for a game and start downloading it before release on Steam, meaning you can play it right away on launch without even leaving the house or waiting for the postman. While not confirmed yet, this would be a great feature for next gen and push things away from physical media. Curation: This seems like an odd one, but it's actually pretty important. Steam will keep a record of all your purchases and make it dead simple to play them or redownload them if they're uninstalled. Xbox One will do the exact same thing, which is great. PS4 defiantly won't as it's still tied to discs, but it can of course for downloaded titles. Sales and Discounts: There are plenty of sales, bundle packs and discounts available on Steam and it's a great way of encouraging purchasing of older titles. MS and Sony both do this at the moment, but not to the extent of Steam. If they picked up on this and started pricing digital versions lower in the first place, it'll help drive sales away from used games. PC gamers have, after a difficult introduction, embraced Steam. Origin and uPlay aren't enjoying the same love though, and that shows how a similar product can do things slightly differently and mess up. Obviously the console based systems will have to look closely at these models and see what they need to do to make theirs work. Despite my love for physical media, after downloading a few games on demand on Xbox 360 and countless XBLA titles, I can see myself going all-digital come the next gen.

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Privacy in the modern age Many people take their privacy very seriously these days, locking off twitter accounts, hiding Facebook details or even turning of location services on their mobile. Obviously some of this is common sense, you wouldn't want a criminal to know when and where you're out of your house or where you keep your spare keys now, would you? But is it really necessary to lock down your information to such a degree that not even your closest friends or partner can can get your phone number from your Facebook profile? Personally, I'm fairly open with many of my privacy settings. As long as its nothing overly detailed like my Mother's maiden name, it's not really important. You're far better off making a secure password and avoiding password reuse. Turning off location services always seems daft to me. Half the functions on a smart phone are improved with decent location data, so why turn them off? Microsoft, Apple and Google don't care where you are right now and neither does anyone else. It's true that they may use that data to target advertising or make money off of it some other way, but it's not like they're stealing a piece of your soul. If some company feels the need to pay to know that you had breakfast at that little café around the corner, surely that's their problem, not yours. Many people seem to have a fear of cameras too. People are going crazy that the Xbox One requires Kinect to be plugged in to work, worried that Microsoft will spy on them playing Halo in their pants. If anyone of that opinion is reading this, I invite them to avert their gaze half an inch above the top of their screen. Most Internet enabled devices have a camera staring back at you these days and nobody worries about being caught cock-in-hand watching naughty movies in their laptop, tablet or phone. Is that not more embarrassing than a bit of trouserless gaming? What people don't seem to realise about data collection is that companies don't care what you're doing, they care what people are doing (unless you're a prince or baroness or something). It's all about group data and demographics, not individual details. Even if it were legal for these companies to spy on individuals (which it isn't), nobody would buy that data off of them anyway because it would be completely useless knowing that you had a Twix with your lunch.

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So, iOS 7 then... First impressions, I like it. It's cleaner and looks nice and smooth. Slickness isn't something to be underestimated in a user interface, it can mean the difference between feeling like you're telling a machine what to do (and waiting for it to listen) or interacting directly with content. A bad UI can feel like it's got a mind of its own or that the system doesn't have enough power to run itself. A good UI can make you forget it's there and let you get on with what it is you're trying to do. One thing I can't help but notice though is how copied a lot of the features are. This is always the care with operating systems these days, Blackberry seem to be the only ones innovating and doing things their way, even if their way is stupid and nobody gets it. Here's my list of what Apple have pinched for iOS 7 and how it's different, for better or worse. Control Centre: THANK GOODNESS! Finally, Apple bring fast function toggles to iOS. Stolen directly from many Android implementations of course, but separated from the notification area, so it has more space and can be more focused. They've added in functions that would traditionally be taken up by 3rd party apps to, such as the flashlight. Any way they can integrate that stuff is a plus in my book. Multitasking: True multitasking which has been copy-pasted straight from webOS. Yes, that's webOS from 2009's failed Palm Pre line. One of the few things they got right was the multitasking and Microsoft nicked it for Windows Phone 7. Then Google put it on Android. Then Apple came to the party after all the good beer was gone. iTunes Radio: Is LastFM. Or, if you prefer a more mobile comparison, Nokia Music. Photos: Those zoomed out views are nice. And the way it pulls events together automatically. Sort of like how Sony's Album does on the current Xperia range on Android. Very nice. Camera: Now with added Instagram. Transparency: Which is not at all like Aero on Windows Vista. Everybody loved Vista, right? Airdrop: ... You know what, I'm really glad they put Airdrop in there. I loved the idea when they added it to the Mac, but never actually got to use it with anyone. I can foresee that being able to Airdrop to my Mac or other iPhone users could be really useful. What's more, it seems to use WiFi Direct (by another name) which only today, I was saying is the future of file transfer. It's a shame I won't be able to use it with my 3rd Gen iPad though. My 3rd Gen iPad which I bought as soon as I could get stock, then was updated within 3 months of me opening the box. Not that I hold a grudge about that. Overall, it's not a complete blow out of the water, but it's going to be that design change that users will want to keep their new phones interesting and it's filled one of the biggest holes in the feature set with Control Centre. I call that a win for Apple users. Also, the home screen now looks 3D and that's neat, even if it will potentially kill the battery.

[cobalttech]

Xbox One Licensing (Again) and what it means for us? If you haven't already seen this: http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/license go read it now. It gives us some idea of how licensing will work with the upcoming Xbox One. There is a distinct whiff of "I told you so" in the blurb, but there are a couple of surprises, some bad, but mostly good ones. First off is the lending/relicensing issue. They've said you can lend once and once only, which I guess is better than nothing. They've also said that it means no rentals at launch which is sad news. I would hope this means there might be a subscription system which allows you to rent directly at a later date. Perhaps you could download digitally and only be allowed one digital rental at a time, perhaps once a month or every two weeks. Next is sharing games locally. At the moment we just hand over a disc and that's an end of it. One disc, one game. It appears that with the new Xbox One system, we will be able to share a game with anyone on the same network (called it), but without any restriction (didn't expect that)! That means you can have two consoles with one copy of a game, yet still play co-op without sharing a screen. Much better than the current system where something like Army of Two or Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City requires two copies of the game, even to play locally. Also announced was the family share system where you can share your collection with up to 10 family members, even online. Again, unexpected and very much a good thing. I would expect that you would somehow have to prove they are a family member, but it allows you to play at the same time on the same copy of the game, single player or online. Very good again for those wanting to co-op with family members. Lastly, Microsoft have said they won't force you to pay them for second hand activation, but they have said that developers could choose to make you pay. This seems somewhat akin to the online pass system already used and already shunned by EA. I'm actually OK with this for predominantly online games as it would help the publisher keep the servers alive. I'd rather see this system combined with free DLC than the system we have now. One thing developers and publishers will have to be careful of is looking like the bad guy by being the only one (or one of few) who charge these fees. I think it would make more sense to allow single player games through without fee, but charging for multiplayer functionality. If they stick to a system like that, at least it looks better than making second hand buyers pay for all of their games from that dev/publisher. There are still unanswered questions of course, like how exactly will these systems work? What constitutes a family member and how will they monitor this? Will I be able to share my collection with my brother who lives on the other side of the country? With it only being a few days to E3, I actually don't want answers to these questions at Microsoft's keynote, I want games there. But it wouldn't hurt to show us a bit more of how it works over the week.

[cobalttech]

Will the next iPhone have a bigger screen? This is actually a more complicated question than it sounds. There are a few things to take I to account. Phone size is a touchy subject for Apple, resolution has to be watched closely and they have to watch what it means for the App Store. If they make a screen too big, they risk contradicting themselves on their previous stance of keeping the screen usable with one hand. The iPhone 5 got around this by making it taller, but they need to fill it out sideways now if they want to make it bigger and Apple have always said they wouldn't change the width to keep it usable. They could get around this by reducing the bezel, but this is difficult to do and won't gain them much. Seeing as they've had a design team re-shuffle, it's entirely possible that they'll change their tack though. As for the resolution, Apple will have to keep that "retina" limit of ~326 ppi as they change size. If they want to compete on resolution with Samsung, Sony and HTC, they'll need to hit at least 1920x1080 which will be tough in a screen any smaller than the HTC One's 4.7 inch offering. My guess is that they'll try and go for about 4.5 inches if they do go bigger, but I'm not sure that they will be able to hit 1080p at that size Lastly is the App problem. So far we've had just 3 different screens for iPhone apps, plus another 3 for iPad. It took long enough for many developers to embrace retina, let alone the few measly extra pixels that the iPhone 5 screen offered, so another screen size change will take a while to take hold in the App Store. When Retina was introduced it wasn't a problem for old apps, as they just displayed as normal and looked a bit fuzzier than their high-res counterparts. The iPhone 5 screen added small black bars to old apps to hide the extra pixels without stretching the app. Even in the iPad, iPhone apps would just be doubled up to almost fit the screen. iOS apps have never had to stretch or squeeze to fit into something, only ever double pixels or ignore extra space with black bars. With a taller and wider display, those black bars could look nasty, so Apple will have to be careful how they implement a screen size change. I'm really hoping they do expand the screen. I don't mind big handsets, and the display is the most important part of any smartphone in my opinion. Many people do spend half their waking hours staring at them after all.

[cobalttech]

Errr...

No real blog, just an appeal today. I've got plenty to talk about, but no idea where to start. If anyone has any ideas for topics, send them in!