Still need somewhere to store your music online? BT has joined the cloud locker party with BT Cloud, complete with iOS and Android apps.
The digital locker service allows BT Broadband users to store photos, videos, music and other digital bits and bobs for access from their smartphones on the go.
There are two packages available as part of your BT Broadband deal: a 2GB option and a 50GB one. BT says that's enough for 500 or 12,500 songs respectively.
Bits and bobs
If you're more of a film fan, the 2GB option only has room for (approximately) two films but the 50GB should store around 70 - probably not HD films though.
You'll have to log in to the My BT user site to find out which you're automatically entitled to, but you do have the option to upgrade to 100GB, 250GB or 500GB of storage - we've asked BT what sort of prices it is charging for these upgrades.
While it doesn't explicitly address the issue of pirated music and film files, BT is clear about how it "doesn't support activities which infringe the copyrights of the holder".
But whether it'll be checking up on you in this regard is another story.
The Asus 10-inch Android tablet has resurfaced with leaked press shots and a new name.
Now called the Asus MeMo Pad 10, it looks to be the same tablet as the ME301T model hinted at earlier this year.
Based on previous information, the Pad 10 should sport a 10.1-inch 1280 x 800 resolution display, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and Nvidia's Tegra 3 quad-core processor.
If earlier reports still hold true, inside of the tablet is a mere 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, though at least the latter can be expanded through a microSD card slot.
A 10-inch alternative tablet
The MeMo Pad 10 is hardly a powerhouse by any stretch of the definition, but that may work in the tablet's favor.
After CES, Asus announced the similarly underpowered 7-inch MeMo Pad with an attractive US$149 price tag to offset its specs.
Asus could use the same strategy to position the MeMo Pad 10 as a budget-friendly 10-inch tablet. Early reports from smaller European shops disagree though, with listed prices ranging from €329 (US$449, UK£286, AU$431) to €386 (US$526, UK£335, AU$506).
The leaked press shots look like the genuine article, and show the tablet in gray, white, and pink, but there is still no official word from Asus confirming the MeMo Pad 10.
The tablet may make its official debut at MWC 2013 later this month, though Asus seems just as keen on announcements the day after a big event these days.
Proving there's nothing cooler than an HTC party, the company's CEO broke out the firm's unannounced upcoming handset, the M7, at a Taipei soiree today.
Set to debut on Feb. 19 during dual events in New York and London, the M7 is said to be HTC's new flagship phone. By the looks of it, it's ready and raring to go.
While leaks and rumors have surrounded the M7 for weeks, Chou used a silver version of the M7 (though also reportedly showed a black one) to snap pictures of the crowd during the company's year-end party.
"This event today is a great opportunity for testing [the camera]," Chou, as translated by Engadget, said. "I was still testing it just now."
Happy days
HTC Chairwoman Cher Wang also took the stage to rally the crowd and oozed enthusiasm over the phone's later-this-month launch.
Aside from the fact that he was so juiced he had gave the world its first real look at the M7, Chou's excitement came pouring out as he led the room in spirited chants of "HTC" and "M7." You can watch Chou let it all out in the clip below:
Although we see the phone, it's only the back, leaving many hard and fast specifications for the device amorphous for now.
What we have heard is that it will house a 4.7-inch 1080p display, a 13-megapixel camera, and Android 4.2: Jelly Bean, but Chou didn't get into the nitty gritty (clearly).
TechRadar will be at both Feb. 19 events, so settle in for comprehensive coverage when the day arrives.
That's not all folks
Though there's buzz building for the phone, HTC isn't stopping with the M7, not by a long shot.
According to leaked info picked up by Unwired View via @evleaks, HTC has two other phones in the works: one referred to as the M4 and the other the G2.
The M4 is described as a step under the M7, in much the same as the One S is related but junior to the One X.
On the spec side, the M4 is said to come with a 4.3-inch, 720p display and loaded with 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage and two cameras - a 13MP one mounted on the back and a 1.6MP facing front.
Its battery should be 1,700mAh while Android 4.2 Jelly Bean will course through its system. As for the processor, a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon looks to fill those duties.
As if that wasn't enough, the M4 could come preinstalled with the new Sense 5.0 skin we saw leaked last week while also supporting LTE.
The G2, which is not related to the company's other phone with the same retail name, looks like an entry level device.
A 3.5-inch HVGA display, 1.0GHz ARM Cortex processor, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage plus a microSD card are the major specs here. The leak also points to a 5MP rear camera and a 1,400mAh battery powering the Ice Cream Sandwich phone, while a 1GHz processor gives the G2 some oomph.
According to the report, neither device will debut alongside the M7 nor immediately after Mobile World Congress, but rather sometime in the spring. What's more, we could see the M7 start to leave warehouses before February runs its course, though another report has the phone's release date as March 8.
Don't let the Acer Iconia W510 and its hearty hinge confuse you. It's a tablet, not one of those convertible laptops you've been seeing lately. It may transform into three different modes, but it's a Windows 8 slate with a keyboard dock, pure and simple.
Why? Because its 10.2-inch form factor and low-wattage Atom processor make it less than functional for all but the most basic computing tasks. Despite running the full version of Windows 8, it has more in common with the Microsoft Surface RT than a true convertible like Lenovo Thinkpad Helix.
The Iconia W510 in tablet, productivity and presentation mode
Our configuration of the Acer Iconia W510 packs a 1.8GHz Intel Atom processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 64GB SSD. It retails for $750, half of what true transformers like the HP Envy X2 go for, but don't mistake the W510 for a value. This is iPad pricing without iPad performance, and for just a $100 more, you could get a more functional, albeit heavier, Windows 8 laptop. Or you could get a sleek Surface RT, preloaded with Microsoft Office.
Though the thought of a full Windows 8 slate, keyboard stand included, might be tempting, the Acer Iconia W510 is not suited to be to the solo computing option for anyone but the lightest of users. It's meant to be someone's second or even third device. Portability and battery life are its only true selling points, but its that unfortunate device that's easy enough to haul, but barely functional enough to justify its presence in your bag.
Design
As we said, the Acer Iconia W510 is not a laptop or ultrabook, it's a tablet. You can even buy it sans keyboard stand for $500. We wouldn't want to though, since the stand provides extra battery life and the machine's only full size USB port.
A light build makes it easy to carry
On the tablet itself there's mini-HDMI and USB, a microSD port, headphone jack, volume rocker and charging port, so it really can fly solo without the keyboard dock.
The overall design of the Iconia W510 is defined by one thing: size. At just 10.2-inches and weighing less than two pounds, it's tiny, cute even. While this is an excellent form factor for a tablet, when you drop the W510 into its dock and start to type, you'll feel its limitation immediately.
Pops off the stand with the slide of a switch
In ultrabook-esque productivity mode, we found the W510's keyboard annoying and cramped to type on. 11-inches is as small as you can go and still fit a standard laptop keyboard on your machine. Since Acer went below that form factor, some sacrifices have been made. Keys are small, shallow and the touchpad is tiny too.
Banging away on this very review, we often missed keys and always felt as though we were hunched over the thing. Overall, we found the keyboard adequate for email, but not something we'd want to do any real word processing on. Just fifteen minutes or so of composing on the Iconia W510 had us dying to get back to our Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga or MacBook Pro, anything with a full, more functional keyboard.
Home and other keys have been relagated to FN commands
The touchpad is torturous. It's tiny and sensitive like a gnome with emotional issues. Mousing around, the arrow tended to flit all about the screen any time we applied our pointer finger with anything less than extreme precision. Unless you plan to stick with touching the screen, a wireless travel mouse is a must for the W510. Make sure its bluetooth or you'll be giving up your only USB port to a wireless dongle.
The touchpad is not also not multi-touch capable. This means no dragging two fingers to scroll a web page or slide the Start Screen. This is a corner that really shouldn't have been cut, since the shrunken keyboard makes Home, End, Page Up and Page Down keys into function keys. Make sure your travel mouse has a scroll wheel.
No multi-touch here
Finally, the whole thing is unbalanced. Though the hinge is sturdy and keeps the screen in whatever position you choose, the thing tends to fall overt backwards at anything other than a ninety degree angle. The tablet/screen houses all the internals, outweighing the dock, giving it a tendency to fall over backwards when placed on anything other than a flat desktop. That's a mighty flaw for a travel-oriented machine.
The new Sony Xperia Z has turned a few heads with a top-end spec list…so how can you go about getting it?
The handset caused something of a stir at CES 2013, mostly because it saw Sony finally releasing a phone that wasn't a couple of generations behind the competition.
This means a massive 5-inch full HD display, which pushes closer to the edge of the screen so you're not left with a comically huge phone dwarfing your hand.
It's also water and dust resistant, comes with top-end Bravia tech and offers an impressive camera too – so which networks will be stocking it?
Clove is offering the handset with a SIM free price of £528 - putting it squarely alongside the low-capacity iPhone 5 and other top-end handsets, and it's joined by Expansys at that price point too.
Sony itself has jumped into the selling game with the Xperia Z, and you can pre-order it from its own website for £529 - although it's only stuck a 'coming soon' tag on the release date.
O2
The effervescent provider tweeted at stupid o'clock in the morning to confirm it would be bringing the handset to market, and it's confirmed the February release date from its "coming soon" page.
You can pre-order it now with prices for the phone starting from free at a high contract price, or paying £480 for the handset and getting it for £13.50 a month - although you do get those £300 Sony headphones if you sign up 'while stocks last'.
Oh, it is coming in "Exclusive Purple". That may mean it's only landing on O2 in that colour, or it's the actual name of the hue - you know, like Ranging Green or Megalithic Blue.
Three
The numerical network also confirmed it would be stocking the Sony Xperia Z and it's now given us a LOAD more information. You can pre-order the new phone from today although the cheapest contract price will start at £34 a month with a £69 upfront cost, and will be available from 28 February.
You can also buy it on PAYG though, and it's at a relatively cheap £449.99 if you want to go down this route. Three is also throwing in a pair of Sony headphones worth £300 for the first 1000 customers to nab one, but chances are that deal will be sucked up faster than a Dyson hopped up on Red Bull.
Vodafone
Big Red has done a blog post outlining some of the specs you'll have read about loads already, but it's also managed to confirm via Twitter that it will be stocking the phone from 28 February. You annoyingly can't pre-order yet, but we're sure it will pop up pretty soon.
EE / Orange / T-Mobile
Nothing from this tri-headed behemoth as yet, but we've asked the question and it has promised to furnish us with details as they become available.
Phones 4U
The independent retailer is already open for pre-registration on this top-end phone, and has now updated its listing to reveal prices and a special gift* for those that sign up.
The Xperia Z will be landing on 28 February (if you're not seeing the pattern here, shame on you) and will start at £36 a month on a range of networks.
* It's those blasted Sony headphones again. The electronics brand must have a surplus it can't shift.
Carphone Warehouse
We're going to get a little quote-y on yo' asses now: "Carphone Warehouse, has confirmed that it will be stocking the brand new Sony Xperia Z from launch in February." Saves us from writing that.
The retailer also confirmed that the Z will be available in later February to purchase, so it could beat Phones 4U to the punch of actually getting it into the hands of consumers.
We're going to be updating this piece with prices and any more definitive release dates as and when we get them (plus the inevitable offers of more headphones for EVERYONE) – stay with us during this difficult time.
An aggressive defender of online privacy, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chief Jon Leibowitz will be leaving his post later this month after vigorously battling everyone from generic drug companies to social networking giant Facebook.
The New York Times reported Thursday that FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz has resigned from his position, effective mid-February, ending a four-year battle for consumer online privacy protection.
Among them are alleged violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protections Act (COPPA) against social network Path, who reached a settlement Friday after addressing concerns over children under 13 being permitted to sign up for the service.
"I felt like this was a good time to leave because we got through a number of things that I wanted the commission to address," Leibowitz explained in an interview.
What's next
The FTC chairman's most recent high profile case put Google's search results under the microsocope, an effort which ultimately led to voluntary changes that fell short of what consumer advocates had been hoping for.
Advertisers claimed Google had been giving higher priority to companies whose interests aligned with theirs, at the same time reducing the presence of competitors.
Five FTC commissioners were unanimous in their decision that the company's actions actually benefitted users, even though some were considered less than helpful to the competition.
The departure of 54-year-old Leibowitz had been widely expected, and the chairman now plans a move into the private sector, where he'll continue his laser focus on privacy issues and anticompetitive practices.
We've got the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy Note 10.1, but there's a smaller sized tablet missing in this line up: enter the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0.
Apparently developed under the codename "Kona", the Galaxy Note 8.0 seems set to be the name the tablet will go to market with.
Although not yet officially confirmed there's an awful lot of talk on the web that Samsung is readying a new, S-Pen wielding slate to slip between the two devices currently making up the Note family.
In fact Samsung's Head of Mobile, JK Shin has apparently confirmed that the Galaxy Note 8.0 will indeed arrive at MWC 2013 in Barcelona.
Although Samsung already has the Galaxy Tab 7.0 and Galaxy Tab 7.7 on the market, it may be that the company sees the Galaxy Note 8.0 as it's best chance of directly competing against Apple's 7.9-inch iPad mini, given its unique styus-based spin.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 release date
Everything seems to point to an MWC 2013 unveiling for the Galaxy Note 8.0, with Samsung's Head of Mobile even reportedly confirming a Barcelona launch.
MWC 2013 kicks off during the last week of February, but don't go thinking you'll be able to lay your hands on the Galaxy Note 8.0 anytime soon, as it will probably take a month or two to reach stores.
That means we'll probably see the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 release date set for around April - watch this space.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 price
We'd expect to see the Galaxy Note 8.0 carry a healthy price tag as it will be competing more with the iPad mini than the likes of the budget focussed Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD.
The iPad mini starts at £269/$329/AU$369, so in true Samsung fashion the Galaxy Note 8.0 will probably look to undercut its Cupertino-based rival in an attempt to pull customers away from Apple.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 screen
Unsurprisingly the Galaxy Note 8.0 will sport, yes, you've guess it, an 8-inch display, with early reports suggesting it will pack Super Clear LCD technology and a decent 1280 x 800 resolution.
If true it would mean the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 would have an ever-so-slightly better display than the iPad mini, but there's not a lot in it.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 operating system
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 will almost certainly come running Android Jelly Bean out of the box, but whether it will be version 4.1 or 4.2 is still up for debate.
According to SamMobile the Note 8.0 will indeed ship with the very latest version of Jelly Bean - Android 4.2 - which would be excellent news for anyone interested in picking one up.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 specs
There have been a couple of specification leaks regarding the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 recently, both of which come via SamMobile.
As well as the 8-inch display and Jelly Bean OS the Galaxy Note 8.0 will apparently pack 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, microSD slot, 5MP rear camera, 3G option, 4,600mAh battery and of course the famous S-Pen stylus.
A second set of specs turned up a few days later claiming to be from Spanish marketing material for the Galaxy Note 8.0.
This leak revealed that the slate is likely to pack a 1.6GHz quad-core processor alongside the 2GB of RAM and 5MP camera, but this report suggests you'll only get 16GB of internal memory.
Samsung could well offer the Galaxy Note 8.0 in both 16GB and 32GB variants, as well as having the option to throw in 3G connectivity if you so wish.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 image leaks
The first glimpse we potentially got of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 came via SamMobile; the site was sent a snap of a Spanish listing for the tablet revealing some specs alongside photos of the front and back of the tablet.
In terms of looks the Galaxy Note 8.0 looks to be an upscaled Galaxy Note 2, instead of a down sized Galaxy Note 10.1.
Credit: SamMobile
The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 design is reinforced in our second set of photo leaks, this time showing the Galaxy Note 8.0 taking a ride on public transport.
Interestingly in these sanps the Galaxy Note 8.0 is sporting a physical home button flanked by touch sensitive back and menu keys, as found on the smartphone and it's something which didn't feature in the image above.
Credit: DDay
Credit: DDay
Credit: DDay
Last up, for now anyway, is a snap found by French site FR Android which sees the supposed Galaxy Note 8.0 sitting beside the Galaxy Note 2.
The famous Samsung button set up from its smartphone range is present once again on the front of Galaxy Note 8.0 making it look more like a phone than a tablet.
Ofcom is looking to further improve the UK's 4G network by lifting restrictions on 2G and 3G spectrums.
The plan is to allow carriers more freedom to do what they want with their airwaves, meaning the 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2100MHz bands could be used for voice, data or super-fast data though 2G, 3G or 4G.
If the proposal is successfully pushed through than consumers will benefit from improved mobile coverage, and with more capacity available to networks we could see faster data speeds as well.
Hold ya horses
This proposal is still very much in its infancy and considering the shenanigans which surrounded the (ongoing) 4G auction don't expect it to come into force anytime soon.
It isn't the first time Ofcom has removed barriers on spectrum, as it allowed EE to swap its 1800MHz spectrum from 2G to 4G last year which led to the firm being able to launch its super-fast service early.
The likes of Three, O2 and Vodafone unsurprisingly kicked up a bit of a stink when EE was allowed to switch its spectrum usage, and it's this fuss which as led Ofcom to publish its latest proposal.
Still need somewhere to store your music online? BT has joined the cloud locker party with BT Cloud, complete with iOS and Android apps.
The digital locker service allows BT Broadband users to store photos, videos, music and other digital bits and bobs for access from their smartphones on the go.
There are two packages available as part of your BT Broadband deal: a 2GB option and a 50GB one. BT says that's enough for 500 or 12,500 songs respectively.
Bits and bobs
If you're more of a film fan, the 2GB option only has room for (approximately) two films but the 50GB should store around 70 - probably not HD films though.
You'll have to log in to the My BT user site to find out which you're automatically entitled to, but you do have the option to upgrade to 100GB, 250GB or 500GB of storage - we've asked BT what sort of prices it is charging for these upgrades.
While it doesn't explicitly address the issue of pirated music and film files, BT is clear about how it "doesn't support activities which infringe the copyrights of the holder".
But whether it'll be checking up on you in this regard is another story.
Plucky LG Optimus 4X HD owners may finally be treated to the Android Jelly Bean upgrade in the next month or so.
Italian site Caotic claims to have received an email from an LG representative who said the Jelly Bean update will hit "during the first quarter of 2013" on the Optimus 4X HD.
The update will apparently be pushed out to European handsets during this timescale, with no word currently on its availability for Optimus 4X HD owners in other regions.
Better late than never
The Optimus 4X HD doesn't have the best punctuality record arriving on the market several months after its closet rivals the Samsung Galaxy S3 and HTC One X.
It has since been beaten to the Android Jelly Bean punch as well by both handsets, with HTC also managing to squeeze out an updated version of its flagship device – the One X+.
And let's not forget the LG-made Nexus 4 which launched the Jelly Bean OS and sported a significantly cheaper price tag than the 4X HD when it launched.
It's a shame as we really liked the handset and in our LG Optimus 4X HD review it managed an impressive four and a half out of five stars, we just wish it had made an appearance at around the same time as the competition.
RIM has added a host of films, TV shows and new music content to BlackBerry World as it beefs up before the big BlackBerry 10 launch later today.
The entertainment content will only be available to those with BlackBerry 10 devices at first, and unless you live in the US, UK or Canada, then you'll be right out of luck.
The firm announced the raft of media bashing its way into RIM's app store earlier in the week, but it now seems the section has gone live on BB World already.
Still, if you fit that niche, then you'll be able to buy and rent films and television programmes through BlackBerry World for the first time.
Niche
The video sections have only gone live on the US BlackBerry World storefront so far, with prices ranging from $4.99 for Taken 2 to the serious investment of $19.99 for the terrible-sounding Mancation.
Television shows seem only to be available on an episode-by-episode basis, with shows like Modern Family and How I Met Your Mother proving the headliners.
RIM hasn't revealed just how many films and shows are on the 'World at present, but it doesn't seem to be the world's most comprehensive library right now - but in the absence of a Netflix or Lovefilm streaming app, it might be your best BlackBerry 10 bet in the short term.
BlackBerry 10 is to be officially launched at glitzy events around the world later today so stay tuned for more thrilling RIM-related developments - we'll be posting the news on TechRadar and bringing you the inside scoop over on the TechRadar Phones Twitter account.
