Not every ultrabook was worthy of praise, but there were a few that stood out from the crowd. Some were notable for their build quality – others, for their unique design.

Dell XPS 13

Of all the ultrabooks that I was able to see and handle at CES, the Dell XPS 13 was my favorite. It is not the lightest, thinnest or quickest, but it’s the one I’d be most likely to buy with my own money.

Why? Build quality and design is one reason. Unlike many ultrabooks, the XPS 13 restricts the use of metal to the lid and some of the chassis. The underside is made of carbon fiber coated in a soft-touch material, while the interior is soft touch plastic. All of this adds up to a laptop that feels rock solid but also pleasing to handle.

Portability is another strong point. Dell’s use of high-strength materials has allowed them to reduce display bezel size and, in turn, reduce overall width and depth. Though it has a 13.3” display, the physical footprint of this laptop is closer to a 12.1” laptop. Battery life is estimated at nearly 9 hours by Dell, and while that’s likely a best-case scenario, it’s better than the life quoted by nearly every competitor.

Pricing of the XPS 13 starts at $999. Units start shipping in mid-February, but you can reserve one of the first units today.

Lenovo ThinkPad T430u

Lenovo already has an ultrabook available, but it is part of the consumer IdeaPad line. The T430u is the first ThinkPad to fit the specifications, which is news by itself in the eyes of some hardcore enthusiasts. I’m sure that some buyers will prefer the rugged, simple design of this ThinkPad to the flashier but less sturdy construction of consumer ultrabooks.

What I find most interesting, however, is inside the T430u – Nvidia discrete graphics will be optional on this laptop. This is the only ultrabook to promise a discrete graphics option so far. Ironically, the product made for work could provide better 3D gaming performance than any of its peers.

You’ll have to wait for the T430u, however. Lenovo isn’t going to offer it until Intel releases Ivy Bridge, so look for a summer release date.

HP Envy 14 Spectre

The HP Envy line has hit its stride as of late. The new Envy 15 and 17 laptops are both excellent, even when compared to the MacBook Pro, which usually stands in a class of its own. And at CES a new addition was revealed – the Envy 14 Spectre.

Besides the name, which is awesome, the Spectre offers a unique black glass lid design that sets the laptop apart from the crowd. The interior is also coated in glass, providing a slick surface for your hands to glide across. Specifications are impressive, as well – though it uses the same Core i5/i7 ULV processors as any other ultrabook, the Spectre includes a brilliant 1600×900 display, solid state drives and a battery life of up to 9.5 hours.

All of that kit is standard – but you’ll have to pay at least $1,399 for it. As with the XPS 13, retail availability is expected to be mid-February, but you can reserve one now.

Lenovo Yoga

Although most of the ultrabooks coming into production over the last year are conventional laptops, Intel and many laptop manufacturers were eager to show concepts that could be the future of the laptop.

One of these concepts is the Lenovo Yoga. At first glance, it’s a normal laptop – but bend back the display and it just keeps going. And going. And doesn’t stop until you’ve made your ultrabook into a 13.3” tablet. The Yoga is designed for Windows 8, so it would utilize the Metro UI when in tablet mode.

Lenovo wasn’t the only company to short a convertible tablet, but the Yoga’s design sets it apart from most convertibles, which usually use a single rotating hinge. The Yoga is also closer to production than many other concepts. Lenovo says it will be available in the second half of 2012.

Intel Nikiski

One of the most outlandish concepts shown at CES 2012 was made by Intel itself. It’s called Nikiski, and it has a transparent touchpad and palmrest.

The idea is that when the laptop is closed, some of the display (the portion that shows through the transparent touchpad) will still be visible. This part of the display can be used to show notifications. Like the Yoga, it’s designed with the Windows 8 Metro UI in mind.

Of course, Intel doesn’t make laptops, so this particular concept may never see the light of day. But like any good concept, the Nikiski drops a few clues about the future. It shows that touchpad surfaces using alternative technologies are possible, that ultrabooks may be squeezed into very small physical dimensions, and that Windows 8’s Metro UI is easily able to handle a display area with an unusual size.

Conclusion

Although I covered several popular ultrabooks in this article, I also left some out. The Samsung Series 5 and Series 9 did not impress me, at least not in the short time I had to play with them. I also wasn’t taken by the new Lenovo U310 or the lineup from companies like Toshiba and LG.

Do you disagree? Did you see or hear of an ultrabook that could be the best thing since sliced bread? Let us know in the comments.

Image Credit : PC Perspective

The usual wisdom coming from salesmen and the “experts” among your friends is that Android or iPhone are the way to go, especially with the current decline of BlackBerry. However, a third choice is becoming more popular day by day: Windows Phone 7. But why should you ignore the endless screens of shortcuts and widgets on an iPhone or Android in favour of a platform that is centred on you, the user, rather than the apps?

10 Reasons To Choose Windows Phone 7

10: Slick User Interface

You can find it on Windows 8 and Xbox 360 but the original and best use of the Metro UI is here on Windows Phone, where it is ideal for finger-based interaction. There is more to Metro than tiles, incidentally – the type face, the convention of “hinting” at additional screens to the right and the simple switches to enable and disable features are all part of the deal.

9. Fast

When I purchased my first Windows Phone I was astonished at how fast particular tasks could be performed. By far and away the most impressive was the speed with which I could snap a photo and upload it to Facebook, but the speed of the keyboard was almost as astonishing, making it very easy to send emails and messages, leave notes to myself and update social networks.

8. Office Integration

It’s not for everyone but the integration with Microsoft Office on offer with Windows Phone is second to none. Exchange email accounts and SharePoint servers can both be accessed while Word documents, PowerPoint presentations and Excel spreadsheets created on your phone can be sent by email or uploaded to either SharePoint or Skydrive.

There are none of the compatibility issues that you will find with Android, BlackBerry or iPhone.

7. Social Networking

Key to the early interest in Windows Phone was its integration of Facebook into the contacts list and the latest release sees Twitter and LinkedIn added. You can disable this feature if preferred – standard apps are also available – but this is an excellent way to keep everything updated at once.

6. Nokia Music

The main Zune media player on Windows Phone is excellent and allows you to integrate third party media apps such as Last.fm (free on Windows Phone) but the whole idea of music on a WP7 device has taken on a new life thanks to Nokia Music. Available only on Nokia Lumia handsets this system allows you to stream music from the cloud to your phone and keep a number of your favourite tunes from the selection.

5. Nokia Drive

Again courtesy of Nokia and their joint partnership with Microsoft, Nokia Drive is a sat-nav application that uses cellular positioning and GPS to instruct you along the correct route to your destination. Nokia Drive offers a good alternative to the sat-nav apps available in the Windows Market as well as those on other platforms.

4. Xbox Live Integration

If you have the urge to unlock gaming achievements while at work or on the train, what better way to do so than with your existing Xbox Live Gamertag? Top titles such as Angry Birds, Assassin’s Creed and PES 2011, are available, and there are many non-Xbox Live games available from the Market.

3. Fast Growing App Store

In fact the Market is one of the crown jewels of Windows Phone, reaching 10,000 apps faster than any other mobile phone marketplace and reaching 50,000 apps quicker than all of the competition except iPhone. Best of all, the vast majority of apps in the Market are free.

2. Email & Internet

Naturally Windows Phones offer the ability to connect to any type of email account. Meanwhile the phone features what is probably the best iteration of the Internet Explorer browser, which features such fascinating innovations as placing the address bar at the foot of the screen in the so-called “dead space” area.

1. Skype

The popular voice over IP, cam and text chat service has been purchased by Microsoft and is set to arrive on Windows Phone in the next few months. If none of the other reasons for buying a WP7 device have tempted you so far then surely the presence of the Internet’s primary multi-function messaging service will.

Need More Reasons?

Actually, there is an 11th reason why you should buy a Windows Phone, specifically the Nokia Lumia 800. By doing so, you get the opportunity to be there at the start, be an early(ish) adopter and grab a stylish new mobile phone running the most stunning and efficient mobile phone platform currently available.

Make no mistake; while the phone isn’t set to be released in the USA until later in 2012, the Nokia Lumia 800 adds the necessary physical hardware style to Microsoft’s mobile platform. It’s already become the top selling phone in the UK and the pattern is set to be repeated around the world. Remember when everyone started buying iPhones? This is one of those moments.

Let us know what you think in the comments.  Is Windows Phone set to become the next big thing?

Image Credits : Windows Phone Newsroom

Our generation has grown up believing everything should be instant access. Yet for the most part the industry hasn’t provided for us. They just don’t get it – they’re slow to adopt new technologies and just want to keep things the way they are ticking along right now. So naturally people have turned to torrents and piracy. Not because they particularly like the idea of scamming actors and producers out of money for their products, but because DVDs are overpriced and outdated, cinemas are overpriced and sticky, cable TV is overpriced and inconvenient, and it’s all so damned slow.

Do you want to watch a movie? The local PirateBay has a great selection, it’s open all hours, and you can have that downloaded in half an hour, sir!

So why am I convinced Netflix is the ultimate answer to all this video piracy?

Reasonable Pricing

This point really shouldn’t be underrated. Physical media and existing streaming solutions are too expensive. A single one-night rental from the Zune marketplace or the UK cable on-demand streaming channels (which you have to purchase an additional TV package to get access to anyway) cost anywhere from £3-5 ($4.60-$7.70). A trip to the cinema is £8 ($12.40), not including the £7 ($10.80) popcorn. You’re not even guaranteed a good experience – the movie might suck, after all. The idea that you might go out and buy a DVD or Blu-Ray for £10-30, of something you’ve never seen before is simply ludicrous! I used to do that!

It just doesn’t represent value for money, and consumers are sick of it. You want to support the movie industry that you enjoy so much, but not at prices that will cripple your household budget. Netflix is the answer. It’s not pay-per-view, it’s just a huge catalogue of content from which you can watch anything, all included in one reasonable monthly subscription. This is how entertainment should be done.

Broadcast TV Sucks, Digital or Not

I don’t know how the situation is in the US, but in the UK most TV’s have gone digital – and analogue signals will start to be shut down from April this year. You’d think that with the 50 channels provided by the technological advances of digital broadcasting that some new and interesting content might appear. You’d be wrong though. 10 of those are adult video chat; 10 are shopping channels; 10 are re-runs; and another 10 are just +1 versions of the same basic channels we had before (for those of you who don’t know, that means they show everything again an hour later).

Sure, the BBC and Channel 4 has some good stuff on occasion, but to get the big name shows from the US, you need to subscribe to pricey Sky or cable TV.

I’ll admit, I was seriously considering getting Sky TV last month – that’s £20 a month ($31) though just for something half decent to watch, and you’re still paying for 500 channels of crap with only 2 channels you actually want (and don’t even mention the Discovery channel – you need the Entertainment Extra for that, another £5 - HD quality? Another £10).

It’s just yet another shining example of an industry not adapting to our generation – we don’t want every channel, we want those 2. We don’t want the whole album, we just want those two tracks. Apple understood that with the iTunes store, and look what a difference that made in rescuing the entire struggling music industry.

Even then, with extra broadcast TV services you’re stuck with either watching it when they want you to, or buying a pricey DVR add-on to record with. ARGGHH.

Enough! It just doesn’t add up. You see why Netflix is going to win here. The core business model may not be the same as Sky, with a lot of customers signing up purely for the live football – but as an alternative to piracy, Netflix wins out over broadcast TV easily.

Convenience

Subscribing to Netflix took me about two clicks, and I paid with Paypal. It’s available on a lot of devices, as well as any standard Internet browser. It’s instant – even more convenient than torrents. It’s not locked down to any one device like recorded broadcast TV or single pay-per-view rentals; if you want to instantly pick up that movie where you left off – in bed with your iPad – you absolutely can.

A Personalised Experience

If pricing and convenience weren’t enough to pull you away from piracy, Netflix adds value that can’t be found elsewhere. If you go the cinema, they can’t personally recommend a movie for you. If you watch TV, the TV doesn’t automatically suggest you watch the science documentary on BBC based on previous viewing habits.

Netflix on the other hand not only creates a list of top movies it thinks you’ll like, it also takes your preferences from previously rated movies, and creates another set of lists based on that – “Wacky Underdog Comedies”. It’s a fantastic way to present a back catalogue and make it seem like new content – and it works!

The fact is that until today, pirates had it so much better than the rest of us paying schmucks. We got screwed with DRM-ed low quality streams and ludicrous costs, while pirates had it all for free and the best quality out there (and subtitles too). I truly believe Netflix has changed that. It’s not going to get any better than this boys and girls – now is your chance to make it right. Get a Netflix account, and stop pirating right now.

How about you? Has Netflix made you stop pirating movies? Give us your feedback in the comments.

Image Credit : xkcd

The New Dashboard

The dashboard layout has gone all Metro, and I’ll be the first admit it’s quite nice. While I’m not a fan of the style for a general computing experience, it does look beautiful on a 50″ HDTV. The previous incarnation of confusing and hidden layers has been broken down into clear sections that you can switch through effortlessly. Additional functionality is provided by apps.

Kinect

Voice control is now across the board without needing to jump into a separate Kinect area. Say “Xbox” and speak whatever’s on-screen, or jump to a specific tab. I found it works well – it’s responsive and accurate. It stays in a listening state for a while, so you needn’t preface everything you say with “Xbox”.

The cross-media Bing voice search also seemed to work pretty well, pulling up a liberal torrent of content from all areas of the system – the Zune marketplace, live TV, movie contents, game tie-ins, videos – they’ve really worked on getting the Kinect stuff down and done well.

Gesture control is very much as it was before – clunky in my opinion – and unless you’ve got your Kinect set up in just such a way, you will find that your gestures will bounce all over the place making fine control for any kind of useful selection almost impossible. That’s obviously specific to my setup too – but I prefer voice control anyway.

Movies

In the UK, the streaming movie service is supplied only by Lovefilm, but I gather it’s basically the same thing as Netflix. After downloading the app, you enter your credentials and everything seamlessly integrates – voice control, Bing search, pulling content into the main dashboard – it’s nice, and best of all it doesn’t feel like an app – it just feels like part of the complete XBox dashboard experience.

I think with a little more choice in the way of apps and integrated services, this could really become the ultimate family media environment. As it is now, it’s a premium on top of your Xbox Live Gold membership (LoveFilm starts from about £8/month), but there are more free options like Crackle coming out soon also.

Unfortunately, there’s no full integration with media centers – it’s just running the same old tired Media Center Extender experience as before. Rumor has it that we may see some tighter integration with a Windows 8 Media Center, but that has yet to surface in the real world – and Microsoft has gone so far as to say that fewer than 6% of it’s customers even use Media Center.

Live TV

I’m afraid I’m not able to test this in the UK as the only option is Sky TV – and that’s at least £20/month. If you’re able to test this out in either the UK or US, do leave a comment and let us know how it works out for you. We’ve been promised both BBC iPlayer later this month, and 4OnDemand next year, so hopefully this is one area that will really improve with time as more services come on board.

Lack of Customization

As far as I can tell, the content displayed on the various tabs is not customizable at all. I am therefore destined to see Zune crap on the videos screen, despite the fact that I have deleted the app and would never pay to rent a movie when I have LoveFilm.

What I would like is for the LoveFilm app to give me multiple views on the video tab, one for a highlight movie, maybe one that suits my favourite genre, or trending this week – instead, the app is limited to one ‘tile’, and that one single tile will display whatever the LoveFilm developers want it to.

I can’t even access the LoveFilm app from the videos tab without saying the name of the highlighted movie – instead I have to go via Apps – LoveFilm. A minor irritation perhaps, but the lack of any real tile customization is very disappointing.

Advertising? Seriously?

On every single tab, in the bottom right, is a small video advertisement that rudely starts playing if you hover your selection there.

Frankly, I’m kind of disgusted that this is even here is the first place. Since when is it ok to randomly insert advertising onto my console? Remember – I’m already a paying XBox Live Gold Member. The live TV feature requires a paid Sky license; the Lovefilm service is paid too; everything on the Zune marketplace needs to be purchased; when they eventually add BBC iPlayer that’ll be paid for by my TV license money – so why the hell are you showing me advertisements Micro$oft? What additional content are you providing me with that warrants advertising on every screen?

Verdict

In summary – it’s a fantastic update that really demonstrates Kinect voice control done right, even if the gesture based controls are still sketchy. For accessing media content, I don’t think we could ask for more at this point and the choices will only improve with time.

Has it made me rethink my opinion that Metro UI sucks and will be removed from Windows 8 faster than you can say “desktop gadgets”? Not in the slightest – what works for my TV is very much not going to work for my personal computing experience.

I also think including advertising was really a low blow, considering that making use of all the functionality provided would already mean upwards of £50+ ($100) per month anyway for various services. And yes, I realise the Xbox already had advertising before, but it was fairly hidden away in the multitude of menus – now it’s on every damn screen.

Have you upgraded yet? What do you think of it? Let us know in the comments, if you can pull yourself away from Skyrim for long enough.

Both of these tablets are from retailers, both will have built-in stores, both have seven-inch touch screens and both run modified versions of Android. They’re very similar products for consumers with similar needs – so which should you buy?

Hardware Showdown

Barnes and Noble has been quick to trump the RAM and memory specifications of the Nook Tablet. It will have 16 gigabytes of storage and 1 gigabyte of RAM, and both specifications are double what the Kindle Fire offers. Better still, the Nook Tablet’s maximum memory capacity – counting the microSD card slot – adds up to a whopping 48GB. That’s almost as much as the SSD in my desktop!

That’s great. But when it comes to performance, the two tablets will likely be similar because they use the same SoC architecture, which is known as OMAP 4. This is a very quick part – the same used in the iPad 2, in fact – so it’s not as if these two tablets have lowered prices by offering sub-par processors.

Claimed battery life for the Fire is eight hours of reading with Wi-Fi off, while the Nook supposedly offers 11 hours. However, manufacturer battery life claims mean little. I encourage readers to look at reviews of both devices for real-world numbers.

Neither product offers a camera or GPS.

Ultimately, the winner in the hardware arena is obviously the Nook. Though it is $50 more, the massive increase in memory and storage capacity more than compensates for the difference.

Design Desires

Though it’s a new product, the Nook Tablet has old bones. It uses the same chassis as the Nook Color, which has been around for some time.

I’ve handled the Nook Color before. While it’s not a bad product by any means, I felt the design matched the price point. The masses of dull silver are not attractive, and the little loop in the bottom left hand corner still strikes me as odd. B&N is offering the Tablet with aluminum trim, however, which will class it up a bit.

Kindle’s Fire, on the other hand, is all new. And it looks all-new. Like the Nook Tablet, the design is more utilitarian than luxurious, but I think cladding the device in black does a better job of obscuring any material cheapness – from afar, at least.

There are other advantages, too. While the Fire and the Nook Color both have 7-inch displays with a resolution of 1024×600, the Fire is not as wide, not as tall, and just a bit thinner. On the other hand, the Nook Tablet is a tad lighter.

Personally, I think the Fire wins, but it’s close enough to be considered a toss-up.

Storefront Warfare

Comparisons here require some long-term speculation. The value of a tablet’s marketplace depends on the support for it, both by the original manufacturer and by developers. Just ask BlackBerry PlayBook users, who still lack an email app for their device, despite it being promised as “coming soon” when the device was launched.

On this front, Amazon has given us much more to go on. The company already provides a wider selection of services. It has a gigantic library of digital books, streaming video, cloud music and file storage, and its own Android app store. Many of the new services that Amazon has improved or debuted over the last year are applicable to this new tablet. On top of that, Amazon is offering a custom web browser that is promised to be smoother than anything seen before.

That’s not to say the Nook offers nothing. It will come with Netflix and Hulu Plus installed and has an app store of its own. What’s not clear is how many apps will be available on that store, and how strictly separated the device will be from the rest of the Android eco-system.

Given how much we already know about Amazon’s offerings, the Fire is the clear winner. If Barnes and Noble has any tricks up its sleeve, it had better announce them soon. Amazon already has a head start.

The Verdict

Now you know about both devices. But which should you buy?

That depends on how you plan to use your device. The Nook, with its larger storage capacity, seems to be a better choice for users who aren’t excited about cloud storage or streaming video. Barnes and Noble will be offering sales and service at its stores as well, an advantage Amazon can’t match.

If you’ve had your head in the clouds already, and like the view, the Fire is probably the better choice. It has a wider range of services available, a more mature app store, and an interesting custom browser. Sure, the storage is less – but that’s only an issue if you are going to fill up the Fire’s eight gigabytes. If you aren’t, the Nook’s only advantage is RAM, which may not be worth the additional $50.

If it were my money, I’d choose the Fire.  I think that the software and service advantages do outweigh the Nook’s hardware specs. I can see the Nook’s appeal, however. It may be the better choice for users who don’t care for cloud services and need the extra storage capacity.

Image Credit: LEDFrog

If you’re shopping for certain items, you may need to go elsewhere for the best selection and prices. That causes another problem, however. How can you trust smaller online businesses that you’ve never heard of?

Google It

Search is one of the best ways to arm yourself against potential scam websites. There are places set up for people to post if they feel they were ripped off, or given generally poor customer service. If you Google the name of the business, followed by the word “scam”, you’ll often find the complaints – if any – against it.

Please keep in mind that a single nasty report about a website may not be representative of a business, but when a illegitimate site appears, it rarely takes advantage of one person and then fades away forever. There will likely be many complaints from many sources. So keep things in perspective.

One issue with doing this, however, is time. If a site is new, there may not have been time for complaints to surface. That’s why you should use at least one other means of checking for a legitimate online business.

Use Retailer Search

Besides looking for scam reports, you can also use Google to check for general reviews through Google Shopping. A large number of retailers are found on this service, and users can rate their experiences. In addition, Google lists reviews from some major review sites.

Strangely, Google doesn’t seem to make any effort to organize these reviews, so you’ll usually have to find them by searching for the store’s name or by searching for an item the store sells, and then finding the merchant on the price comparison page.

If you don’t want to do that, or you can’t find the merchant, try BizRate.com. This site is another online shopping search website, and it does offer you the chance to browse and search retailers to find what others thought of them. If you still haven’t found what you’re looking for you might also try Reseller Ratings, which unlike Google Shopping or BizRate, exists only to rate online retailers.

You can also try older organizations, like the BBB, or local and national consumer affairs websites. Sometimes they have useful data, but usually you can find information about a retailer far quicker from BizRate or ResellerRatings.

Install Web Of Trust

Web of Trust is one of the most useful extensions for any browser, and it is available for all the most popular options. It catalogs user experience data to develop a profile for a site, which is then shared with all WOT users, giving every user access to the experience of all users.

After you install the extension, you will be able to see the rating of a website in Google search and when directly visiting the site directly.The extension has a specific “Vendor Reliability” section, and also ratings for privacy. If anyone else in the extensive WOT network has had a problem, they’ll downrank the site, and that will show up in your browser.

Better still, you can open the scorecard for specific sites which, in turn, will give you specific details about how well the site ranks and provide you with any reviews that have been written about the site. All of this information helps you determine not just how reliable the business is, but also how long it’s been around. If it is a new site, it won’t have many WOT entries, which will show up in the extension and in the site’s scorecard.

Conclusion

If you use the tactics above, you should have no trouble verifying a legitimate online business. The only sites you may need to be wary of are those that are new, since few people will have used them. If a site is new, ask yourself what you’re really saving by using it. $5? $20? $100? And is that saving worth more than the risk?

I could not be happier with the phone. I am coming from a 3GS so the improvements are leaps and bounds for me. I could see how someone coming from an iPhone 4 might not see the changes as profoundly as I do, but nonetheless, the changes are there, and they are noticeable. Either way, today I’m going to look at the reasons I love my 4S, and why it is the best phone I have ever owned.

Siri

This one is obvious, because Siri is the main feature touted on the new iPhone, but it truly is something special. I realize that other phones have incorporated voice control before, heck, even the iPhone itself had voice control in previous models, but none works as smoothly and easily as Siri.

Just hold the home button for a couple of seconds or simply put the phone to your ear as if you are making a call. This will wake your personal assistant from her slumber (I know it is an “it”, but it has a girl’s voice, so I call it a she). Siri is incredibly accurate, 99 percent of the time it knows what you want, and executes it post-haste.

Most other voice control applications are just that – separate applications. Siri is so well integrated into the phone that it puts other voice control services to shame.

Siri is another example of Apple being Apple. They do not always do it first, but in most cases, they do it best.

Speed

The iPhone 4S promised speed improvements in a couple of areas, and so far it has delivered on both. It promises an obscenely fast processor, and in that regard, it is ridiculous. As I said previously, I was coming from an iPhone 3GS, so the dual core A5 is much faster. The phone runs snappier than any phone I have owned. I have some friends that came into the 4S from a 4, and they said there was a serious difference, although not as earth shattering as it is from a 3GS.

Apple also promised improved data speeds on iPhone 4S, and while this difference is not nearly as noticeable as the improvement in the processor, it is there. While running a speed test, my download speed was about 1.5MB faster than my previous iPhone.  This is not a huge change, but faster is always better than slower.

Camera

I could not be more impressed by the iPhone 4S camera. When Apple talked about the improvements on the camera front, they were not just blowing smoke. It is really an exceptional improvement. The pictures look great, and the video quality is fantastic. As with anything iPhone, the camera is easy to use.

Even in low light situations, the pictures look clean and bright.

With the addition of the camera button on the lock screen in iOS 5 and the improvements in the processor, it is incredibly quick to take a picture. Now, you will not have to miss the photo op because it took too long to get the camera up and running.

It is the best camera on an Apple phone yet. In terms of cell phone cameras it blows most out of the water, but there are phones out there with better cameras. Still, eight Megapixels is very solid. The 4S actually outputs the same resolution as my point and shoot digital camera. It very well could be your only camera.

The Look

I am actually happy they did not change the look of the phone for this generation. I am very fond of the design of the iPhone 4, and I am glad they stuck with it. I would have enjoyed a bigger screen, but I can certainly live without it.

I was hoping they would not make the phone any thinner. I like a little bit of meat on my cell phone, and based on some of those prototypes people were making, I was not happy. Thankfully, Apple stuck with the clean look and size of the iPhone 4 for at least another year.

iOS 5

I know this is available on most iPhones, but Apple really knocked it out of the park with this OS so I felt I needed to mention it. The improvements are everywhere you look in the OS. Many of the reasons I used to jailbreak my phone are no longer relevant, and I am even considering leaving my new 4S clean and jailbreak-free (we will see how long that lasts, since I have never had an unjailbroken iPhone).

Some of my favorite features of the new OS are custom vibrations, text shortcuts, find my friends, and iCloud. Overall, there is so much cool stuff in iOS 5 that it could make an entire article in itself. A great new OS nicely complements a great new phone.

Because it’s an iPhone

I will happily admit that I am something of an iPhone fan boy. It was unlikely there was anything Apple could have done with the new phone that would have upset me. In the end, it has everything I expect from my iPhone, and even though the improvements are more incremental than many people would have liked, I am completely happy with it.

Have you bought the new iPhone 4S?  If so, are you happy with it or not happy with it?  Let us know your reasons for and against in the comments below.

With Mac OS X’s latest release, Lion, it seems that the sceptics are feeling quite vindicated about now. In fact, many users are deciding that maybe “just waiting a little longer” is the best move after all. Sure, we’ll probably all upgrade eventually – but not just yet. Here’s why so many of us are still using Snow Leopard.

1. I Feel Like I Have Only Just Upgraded To Snow Leopard!

It’s hard to get excited about paying for a new OS release if you feel as if you only just paid for the last one. When the last release is still new and shiny to you, where’s the incentive?

2. There Are Far Too Many People Complaining About Lion Issues

One of the things Mac lovers really appreciate about Macs is that they just work. This is usually the Mac user’s final argument in any Windows/Linux/MacOS flame war – the Mac just works. So, when there are Mac fans all over the Internet complaining that Lion isn’t working for some reason, there’s a problem.

Why would anyone pay money and spend time to move from a perfectly usable, stable OS to one which isn’t yet stable? Okay, so some people might have their reasons, but for those people who just want their Mac to work with no worries, the point of upgrading to Lion just now is easily lost.

Most of the problems seem to occur around installation too, which is not something you want to be wasting your time on. Although it’s possible to prepare yourself well for the upgrade, make backup discs, follow all best practices for upgrading to Lion and even test drive Lion on an external drive before fully taking the plunge, you may still find that the online upgrade doesn’t work and you need to get the Lion thumb drive sent to you. And even if it does work, you’ll probably spend the best part of a day tweaking Lion to your liking.

3. I Don’t Have The Time To Get Used To The New Trackpad Gestures

Rumour has it that the new trackpad gestures are actually far better than the old ones, and it really is worth embracing the change. But personally, when I’m trying to work the last thing I need is to be yelling at myself for gesturing backwards. I just want to get the work done. Getting used to new gestures is just something I plan to deal with later.

4. Lion Has So Many Features I Will Never Use

While many of the new Lion features are fantastic and groundbreaking, there are plenty of new Lion features that many people know they will never use or appreciate. In the end, these users start to wonder why they should pay for something they won’t make use of.

New Lion features which fail to be universally loved include those inside Mail, Address Book and iCal, Autocorrect and Launchpad. Personally, I use web applications for calendars, email and contacts, I can type precisely what I mean to type and do not appreciate programs which change my words for me and I have far too many applications installed to even consider using Launchpad.

5. Conversely, There Are A Few Great Reasons For Upgrading

Some of the new Lion features are so universally loved that even the most reluctant Mac user might be tempted to upgrade to Lion. Mission control and Autosaving are two primary features which many users appreciate and love about Lion. But is it enough?

Remaining On The Fence

Lion continues to tweak and upgrade, fixing the problems people are complaining about. It may be a couple more updates in the future before these fence-sitters are ready to take the plunge and install Lion.

Have you upgraded to Lion yet? Will you? Why or why not?

Then again it could have just been the WebOS, without the line-up of apps that consumers go mad for, after all on hindsight very few sought a device that was built solely for web technologies.

Psst… there’s another tablet that’s probably gathering dust at your local electronic retailer, and it’s called the PlayBook.

BlackBerry’s tablet isn’t too dissimilar to the Touchpad, except the Touchpad could probably do more out of the box. Intrigued? Read on!

BlackBerry Tablet OS

Much like the recently euthanized HP Touchpad, the BlackBerry PlayBook runs its own breed of operating system based on the QNX Neutrino kernel. What this means for consumers is that unlike Android and iOS which have spent years developing, maturing and growing in popularity – BlackBerry Tablet OS has very little in the way of apps.

The app situation was so bad at launch that several of the in-built “apps” were simply web links to mobile sites, including Twitter who have shunned the platform (there are still third-party apps, of course).

This will change in a few months (apparently) when the Android Player launches in the autumn, but even so – you could buy an Android tablet today if that’s really your thing. I’m not criticizing BlackBerry Tablet OS outright – I’m sure it serves as a decent platform from which to peruse all the apps that you unfortunately don’t have.

No Native Email & Calendar

This still hasn’t been fixed, and don’t let anyone pass it off as a “feature”. If you wish to access your email and personal calendar then not only will you need a Blackberry cell phone, but you’ll need to bridge it with your PlayBook.

So what’s the point? Your email’s already on your BlackBerry after all. Why go through the effort of pairing two devices only to read and reply to email on a larger screen with a touch-input keyboard (rather than the physical mini-QWERTY on your phone).

I’ve seen some trying to pass it off as being a useful safeguard – if your PlayBook gets stolen then your company’s inner workings are not available to the thief. This may be true, but Blackberry have already announced that the feature will be added at a later date. Which makes me think they never got round to it for the launch…

Sprint Cancels PlayBook 4G Plans, Other Carriers Shuffle Awkwardly

US service provider Sprint have already pulled the plug on the revised 4G version of the BlackBerry PlayBook, and (as of writing this) no other carriers have come forward either. According to Crackberry, Sprint reckon the PlayBook “just hasn’t caught on with business customers”.

The same source quotes Sprint’s reasoning: “There are so many tablets in the market, it creates confusion for the average customer” – bravo, so the carriers have caught on. This is pretty damaging for RIM as they’re already at a brand-level disadvantage since the rise in popularity of iOS and Android devices.

Who can blame the carriers when, as you can see in the screenshot above taken from the PlayBook website, reviews haven’t exactly been glowing. A handful of apps you say?

It Plays Flash

But wait! Surely that’s a good thing, right? Not really, no. Flash these days is more of an advertising tool than the be-all and end-all of rich online media. Apple’s anti-Flash policy is, on the whole, a good thing – even if you don’t use a single Apple product. It has forced many services to invest effort in new browser technologies, rather than revising old Flash projects.

HTML5 is the way forward, and whilst the PlayBook is HTML5 compliant, you’re still going to be bombarded with animated, singing, dancing Flash adverts. This might be more of a personal choice, but if I could get rid of Flash on my main PC and solely use HTML5 and Javascript then I would.

For this reason I’d certainly not want it eating up battery on a small, portable device.

A Rushed Launch

Nothing says “cares about customers” like rushing a product to retail, quite blatantly before it is ready for public consumption. RIM certainly aren’t the first company to do this, but even so it’s not the most sensible tactic in an already saturated market.

As previously mentioned: native email and calendar apps were left out and some in-built apps served only as web links. If you bought a PlayBook at launch, then you’ll be aware that the device wouldn’t charge unless turned on (this has now been fixed) – a major problem if your PlayBook fully discharged itself.

Another major issue for anyone using AT&T in the US was the carrier’s refusal to support BlackBerry Bridge (now resolved), the vital software required for reading email on your device. AT&T weren’t keen on free tethering – did RIM not try to work this one out?

The Price

It’s $499, for an unfinished tablet with 16GB of memory that has worse battery life and a less mature OS than comparably priced competitors. This is the same price that Apple is selling their 16GB iPad 2 for – and you’ll have access to thousands of tried and tested apps down that route.

Even the Android-powered Samsung Galaxy Tab can be picked up for around $300 if you look in the right places, making the BlackBerry PlayBook an expensive punt in the dark at just under $500 for the base model.

Conclusion

These are the reasons I personally wouldn’t buy a BlackBerry PlayBook. At the moment I wouldn’t buy another tablet either, the $500 mark is a lot of money for something less capable than a laptop yet too big to be ultra portable. If you do think a tablet would fit your lifestyle then I’d definitely recommend you consider the competition or wait a bit before shelling out for the BlackBerry PlayBook.

Do you agree? Do you like the PlayBook? Have you got an iPad or Android tablet? Are tablets worth the money? You’re probably dying to have a rant – get it all out in the comments.

Image Credits: PlayBook Apps (Henk-Jan van der Klis), Should Have Waited (Julian Ehrhardt)