iPhone 5s finger scanner

Apple’s big-thinkers have patented a new twist on fingerprint recognition technology, which could see future devices doing away with custom fingerprint readers in favour of having the phone’s display able to scan their owners’ prints.
The patent, which is based around biometric technology designed by Authentec — a company bought by Apple in 2012 — suggests the new sensor tech is small and thin enough to be sandwiched in between a smartphone’s usual layers of display components, meaning holding your thumb on the screen of your next iPhone (or your iPhone after that), may be enough to unlock it.

HTC One Mini

It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that the HTC One Mini is real. After all, we've been seeing it for months now, and wanting it to exist for even longer. But, unlike other manufacturers (HTC itself has been guilty of this in the past) who strip away most of the top-notch features for their smaller handsets, HTC made a conscious decision to retain as much of the grunt as possible, while keeping the price (and size) down.

That does however mean that instead of a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor and 2GB of RAM, as seen in the full-sized 4.7-inch One, there’s just a 1.4GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 with 1GB of RAM, which is disappointing news, but hey — could been worse? Internal storage is 16GB, and no, there’s no microSD card slot.

However, I can’t say I’m too bothered by the disappearing act of the NFC — anyone out there grumbling over that omission?

On the hardware side, the display is a 4.3-inch Super LCD screen with 720p resolution (in comparison to the One’s 1080p rez), and it measures up at 132 x 63.2 x 9.25mm, with a 122g weight. I had a brief play with a sample, and can confirm you get much the same hardware aesthetics as the One, save for the addition of a piano gloss bezel — either white or black, depending on which colour you plump for. I would’ve liked for the full look and feel of the One to be ported over, but understand HTC would’ve been looking at the bottom line where possible.

Unfortunately (and here’s where, again, the size issues came into play) the 2,300mAh battery of the One has been swapped over to a 1800mAh, which is the same capacity HTC used for last year’s One X. Funny how just a year on, we can desire so much more when it comes to batteries.

Otherwise, it’s very much the same as you’ve come to expect from HTC following its flagship One — dual front-facing speakers offer up the same BoomSound audio, and the very same Ultrapixel camera sensor is packed in.

While HTC didn't mention women or the younger users when referring to the One Mini, they did say that the colourful flip cases that will be available for this new model (see the gallery above for a view) will help draw in a new market for them, which they missed with the One. 

Availability and pricing hasn't been confirmed yet for both the black and silver models, but I’ll update you when I hear more. In the meantime, cop a load of the “glamour red” edition of the HTC One, which is now available to buy, should you want to be a little more glamorous. Some people say it’s one of the
nicest paint-jobs they’ve seen in a long time.

Windows 8 LG Smartphone

Korean tech company LG Electronics are reportedly developing a Windows smartphone using the Windows Phone 8 OS

According to a report, LG currently has a Windows 8 smartphone in the research and development stage.

LG India's Manging Director Kwon Soon spoke with Light Reading India to say, "At home (S. Korea), we are actually working on our Windows Phone 8 OS powered smartphone."

The company has not decided on a launch for the device with Kwon stating that the company is currently checking out the opportunity for it in the market to decide whether they will sell it.

LG's next-gen Optimus G Android smartphone, the Optimus G2, is expected for to launch in Q3.

Kwon has said focus will remain on Google's Android OS, "Android is the major platform globally, given its acceptance and penetration. Although, we believe that Windows will pick up going ahead, as Microsoft is pumping efforts into it,"

Nokia currently has a Windows 8 smartphone range, Samsung offer Windows OS under its ATIV portfolio, and Huawei and ZTE both offer Windows smartphones globally with HTC offering the HTC 8S and HTC 8X.

Earlier this year, The Korea Time reported LG's plans to create a number of Windows 8 phones over the course of 2013.

Archos Ultrathin Bluetooth Keyboard for iPad

The Archos Ultrathin Bluetooth Keyboard for iPad aims to do for your iOS slate what Microsoft did for its Surface tablet with its smart keyboard cover: give you a screen protector that also doubles up as a physical QWERTY keyboard and laptop-replacement. Can it rival the current favourite from Logitech? I grabbed an Apple tablet and popped it on the stand to take a look.



                 PROS
The Archos Ultrathin Bluetooth Keyboard for iPad is as handsome as the case is solidly designed: it clamps neatly down using magnets, and though it moves slightly, this has the advantage of stopping it coming away easily as could happen with a more brittle connection. (One thing to consider though - that aluminium backing is easy on the eye, but won't stay polished if you're going to chuck your iPad in a bag using this to protect it. If that's your concern, you're probably still better off with one of Apple's polyurethane smart covers).

Pairing with your iPad is easy, and there's a simple switch and LED light to make it clear when Bluetooth is on: when you're done, just drop your iPad in and begin typing away. Though it's only 5mm thin, there's just enough space to fit a micro USB port on the side to charge it up, and Archos has somehow managed to minimise the amount of flex while typing - an impressive feat everyone wishes laptop manufacturers could pull off on bulkier machines.

                   CONS
Archos says the stand for the iPad is adjustable: in practice, it's anything but. When it's not locked into the steep default setting - which is secure - people found it more than a little distracting to type with: the iPad bounced in its cradle depending on the surface, and even fell down on the hinge, shutting it, leaving me longing for a laptop. Combined with the tiny henpeck chiclet keys - and a space bar that's bizarrely angled downwards, forcing you to push into the lip of the cover - you're left with a thin-yet-durable add-on that's not quite as productive as it really ought to be.



                  CONCLUSION
While Archos never fails to impress with its willingness to make anything and everything, as it so often seems to, it falters slightly in the execution. This keyboard does not cope well with multiple angles, and the keys are small enough that typing on them isn' a great deal faster than on the touchscreen itself, unless you've had years of training with a netbook. If you really want to get some work done on the go, consider a Chromebook - or even the new MacBook Air.

Ouya - new gaming system!

  

Ouya. No, that's not an exclamation of alarm - it's the name of a new kind of open-source gaming system which runs Android and connects to your TV, offering the value of mobile gaming on a large screen. For just £99, it's priced well below modern consoles, but can it really be considered a challenger? Ahead of its high street release in just a few weeks time, we plugged on in to find out. Has this Kickstarter sensation been worth the wait?

                         PROS

In purely physical terms, Ouya is a hit. Famous designer Yves Bachar came up with the casing, which exudes a subtle yet appealing charm. The wireless Bluetooth controller is also decent, offering a comfortable button layout and responsive dual analogue sticks. Spin the diminutive Ouya console around, and you'll discover an impressive range of connections, including HDMI, USB, Micro USB and Ethernet. Add Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to the mix, and you've got one seriously well-connected gaming platform.

Because it's running Android, Ouya can potentially play all of the best games Google's mobile OS has to offer. Titles like Final Fantasy III, The Bard's Tale and Canabalt are available right now, and look amazing on your LCD TV. Future games like Sonic CD, Shadowgun and Dead Trigger are expected to arrive soon, and will most likely play much better on Ouya than on your phone or tablet, thanks to that effective joypad. It also runs emulators, which means you can turn it into a retro gaming monster.

For those of you sick of spending £40 on games for your Xbox 360 or PS3, Ouya's pricing structure will be of interest. Every game on the Ouya store can be downloaded and sampled for free - developers use in-app purchases to make their cash. Some will ask you to pay a flat fee to unlock the full game, while others adopt the free-to-play approach and tempt you with in-game items or currency.

                    CONS

A games console is only as good as the games available on it, and at the moment Ouya doesn't really offer anything that's likely to get hardcore gamers excited. Many of the titles on the store are shallow mobile offerings adapted to use the controller, and few will keep your attention for more than a ten minutes. Ouya needs killer software, and hopefully that will come as 2013 progresses.

Although it's priced attractively at £99, Ouya seems less appealing when you consider you can now pick up a PS3 console for just £40 more - and that has a massive library of amazing titles, including The Last of Us and Gran Turismo 5. Although I'd love to be proven wrong, it's unlikely that titles of that standard will ever appear on Ouya. Mobile prices mean mobile experiences, and they don't tend to translate very well to the big screen.

                 CONCLUSION

Ouya has plenty of potential, and it's great to see a new company entering a competitive marketplace - and getting plenty of attention in the process. However, at the moment Ouya feels like it's just putting mobile games on your TV. These games have been designed to fill a few spare minutes on the bus to work, not to keep you entertained for hours at a time.

If the console can score some notable exclusives then it could change things forever, but many developers are likely to play it safe and merely port their existing Android games to the console.

Another issue is raw power - Ouya's Tegra 3 processor is about to be surpassed by Tegra 4, and with the PS4 and Xbox One hitting store shelves this Christmas, dedicated gamers are unlikely to be satisfied with what Ouya currently offers. Having said all that, I sincerely hope that Ouya can carve itself a niche in the market: the more competition the merrier, especially with pricy new next-gen consoles around the corner.

BlackBerry Q5 review

With the BlackBerry Q5, the Canadian smartphone company is returning to its bread and butter: affordable, keyboard-equipped messaging phones for the masses. This time though, the Curve series successor packs the new BlackBerry 10 operating system and a touchscreen to boot: can it kick it with the low price Android and Nokia Windows Phones knocking around in 2013? Is it worth £20 per month?

                         PROS

Say what you will about the software, the BlackBerry Q5 packs something few rivals do these days: a physical keyboard. If you've been reared on QWERTYs and BBM, you'll be right at home here: though the isolated Curve-style keys are now in perfectly straight lines to make space for the larger screen above, they're just as easy to race along on as ever. Touchscreen keyboards have come on in leaps and bounds since the iPhone's debut in 2007, but if tactile buttons are what you're used to, the Q5 has you covered.

                  CONS

Speaking of the screen, the 3.1 inch display is crisp and clear, with roughly the same pixel per inch resolution as many other rivals with HD displays on the market. Its boxy aspect ratio means it's not ideal for watching films on, unless you've got a weird thing for letterboxing, but it's otherwise just fine for browsing the web and reading long articles. If only there were apps like Pocket to do that on BlackBerry 10.

The new OS does have its positives too however: courtesy of the 1.2GHz processor, it's zippy and easy to use, with intuitive gestures to swoop home and go back, plus access to the excellent universal inbox from anywhere in the OS - Apple could probably learn a few things from it if it really wants to fix Notification Center in iOS 7.

I hate to say it, but while the BlackBerry Q5 is being billed as the affordable way to join the BlackBerry 10 party, at £320 SIM-free, it's still not very cheap. You can get an app-packed Samsung Galaxy S3 for only £20 more these days, or a solid Android phone for as little as £50. For the money, it's just not very well built. The five megapixel camera is completely mundane, and the plastic feels creaky, and frankly, a little childish. It's a long way from the premium feel of the BlackBerry Q10 or a new Nokia, that's for sure.

Really though, the problems lie with the operating system. Dig beneath its friendly veneer and you'll find it's not that powerful, simply because it lacks the apps of Android and iOS - it's the problem Windows Phone suffers from, but multiplied. You have to watch out for the ones it does have too: you can download and run some Android apps on it, but they run like maple syrup down the side of a tree. Why put up with this when you could buy into an eco-system with more apps that work instead? It's a question BlackBerry is still struggling to answer.

               CONCLUSION

The BlackBerry Q5 is a reasonably well constructed smartphone with a productive keyboard and a sharp screen. That’s the issue though: it's only reasonably well made when you should expect excellence, and the problems with BlackBerry 10 remain, especially the dire lack of apps. That said, there are few options with a physical keyboard left these days, and BlackBerry’s fancier Q10 is eye-wateringly, wallet-empytingly expensive. Unless you really need those buttons though, the BlackBerry Q5 has little to offer