iHeartRadio (Android)

Think of iHeartRadio as a sort of Pandora-TuneIn-Radio hybrid. It lets you stream live radio from more than 1,500 stations around the country and create custom stations based on a song or artist. And did I mention that the custom stations are all ad-free? Just sign in with an e-mail address or Facebook account to get started.

Similar to TuneIn Radio, iHeartRadio offers live streaming of AM/FM radio stations from all over the U.S. If you're searching for your favorite local station, chances are good that you'll find it. The app includes everything from pop, country, rock, electronic, and hip-hop, to talk and college stations. From the Live Stations tab, you can browse by city or genre, or look at a list of only stations that are located near you. The Talk Radio section also presents options including News and Talk, Public Radio, and Sports stations. While you're listening to a live station, you can hit the scan button to have the app jump to a similar offering, even from other parts of the country. Think of this as a more targeted version of the Scan button on your car stereo.

And then, of course, there is the Pandora-like functionality that iHeartRadio offers. To use it, simply hit the Create tab at the top of the main dashboard, and use the Search bar to find a song or artist, just as you would on Pandora. From there, iHeartRadio will create a completely ad-free station based on your selection. Its library consists of more than 15 million songs and 400,000 artists, which means iHeartRadio is fully capable of putting together an enjoyable playlist with both popular hits and more-obscure tracks. And conveniently, all of your stations get saved under the My Stations tab on the main dashboard.

With iHeartRadio, you won't be able to choose your song directly (the way you can with a subscription to Slacker or Spotify), but you can certainly help the service get to know your musical preferences. First, with the familiar Thumbs-up and Thumbs-down buttons, you can let iHeartRadio know which songs you do and don't like. This means that the more songs you rate, the better it gets at playing only what you want to hear. Also, there's the Discovery Tuner, which you can use to adjust the amount of lesser-known music that gets pushed into your custom station. You can set this tuner to Familiar, Mixed, or Less Familiar, the last of which fills your playlist with a variety of songs that aren't so mainstream.

The Discovery Tuner lets you decide how much mainstream music to mix in with more-obscure tracks.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jaymar Cabebe/CNET)

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Samsung Galaxy Admire 4G (MetroPCS)

At just $100, the Samsung Galaxy Admire 4G has a number of things going for it. It delivers a consistent 4G LTE experience, it has an attractive, compact build, and it's ideal for customers looking for a simple, no-contract smartphone.

Unfortunately, one huge oversight with the device is that it runs on the Android 2.3 operating system. In the smartphone world, this is ages old (after all, there have been two updates since then). And the fact that MetroPCS carries plenty of other devices with Android 4.0 for about the same price, if not cheaper, doesn't help the Admire 4G look any better.

Design
Interestingly, the Samsung Galaxy Admire 4G is reminiscent of the second-generation iPod. Coming only in white, it has a thick 0.47-inch profile, but it's extremely compact. It's easily maneuverable with one hand, and it has a dense construction that weighs 4.34 ounces. It measures 4.52 inches tall and 2.46 inches wide.

On the left is a thin volume rocker, and up top is a 3.5mm headphone jack. The right edge houses the sleep/power button, and on the bottom is the Micro-USB port for charging.

The Admire 4G's back plate has an attractive wood-grained texture that gives the device a more premium feel.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

The 3.2-megapixel camera and LED flash are on the back, along with two small slits on the right for the audio speaker. Using an indent at the very top of the back plate, you can pry the cover off and gain access to the microSD card slot (which takes cards of up to 32GB) and battery. Though the device looks simple, I found the back plate to be attractive. It features a subtle wood-grain texture that adds a premium feel to an otherwise inexpensive-feeling product.

The 3.65-inch HVGA TFT touch screen is made out of Corning Gorilla Glass. Because this is a mid- to entry-level handset, it doesn't have the crispiest of screens: it has a 320x480-pixel resolution and can display up to 262,000 colors. Color gradients, such as those that appear on default wallpapers, look streaky and spotted. However, the touch screen is responsive, and doesn't require much hard pressing for it to register touches.

Above the display are an in-ear speaker, a VGA front-facing camera, and sensors. Below it are four hot keys that light up when in use: menu, home, back, and search.

Software and features
One of the phone's biggest faults is that despite coming out a little more than a month ago, it ships with the severely dated Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS. Later Android versions Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean have already been released, so if you're looking for an up-to-date unit, this isn't it.

Having said that, the Admire 4G does have a handful of Google apps you come to expect, such as Gmail, Latitude, Maps with Navigation, Places, access to the Google Play Books, Music, and Store, Search, Talk, and finally YouTube.

For basic task management apps it has a calculator, a calendar, a clock with alarm functions, a native e-mail client and browser, a memo pad, music and video players, a to-do list, and voice services like a dialer, recorder, and search.

Unfortunately, the handset ships with the dated Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

MetroPCS included a few of its own apps, including a 4G mobile hot-spot app; M Studio, which stores media files like ringtones; Metro's own app store; Metro Block-it, which allows you to block calls and texts from unwanted persons; Metro411, which searches and locates for nearby businesses and restaurants; MetroPCS Easy Wi-Fi; the carrier's native browser; an entertainment and media app called MyExtras; a handset locator called Total Protection; and MyMetro, which lets you check your account balance and plan.

Other goodies are AllShare, which lets you play media across several devices; the always intelligent and dependable Yahoo Answers; Desk Cradle, which lets you launch a static home page that shows just a few apps, the weather, and the time; Yahoo Movies; a mobile media suite called Pocket Express; the Quickoffice suite; the streaming-music service Rhapsody; and another note-taking app called Write & Go.

Camera and video
The 3.2-megapixel camera surprisingly holds a lot of photo options, such as touch, auto, and macro focuses, an LED flash, an exposure meter, six shooting modes, a whopping 14 scene modes, a timer, six photo sizes (ranging from 640x480 to 2,048x1,536), five white balances, four color effects, three metering options (matrix, spot, and center-weighted), three image qualities, meters to adjust contrast, saturation, and sharpness, compositional guidelines, and geotagging.

The video camera has the same flash, exposure, timer, compositional lines, white balances, color effects, quality, and adjusting meter options. But you can also mute audio, and shoot in four sizes (from 176x144 to 720x480), and there are two shooting modes (normal and MMS).

The front-facing camera has fewer options. The only features that are retained are the exposure meter, image quality choices, and geotagging. In recording mode, you only get access to the exposure meter, video quality, and audio muting.

For such a low-megapixel camera, photo quality was respectable. In bright, outdoor scenes with even lighting, close-up images were generally sharp. Even though objects outside the center focus point were a bit blurrier, they weren't rendered unrecognizable. In addition colors, like whites, were accurate.

Understandably, photos taken in dimmer indoor lighting did not look as clear. Colors looked duller, images looked blurrier, as if painted on with a broad brushstroke, white lights were washed out, and dark hues were hard to distinguish. However, in general, images did not look over-pixelated and were still easy to make out.

In this outdoor shot, the white hues in the petals are true-to-form, and the orchids are sharp.

(Credit: Lynn La/CNET)

This shot, taken in dimmer indoor lighting, is noticeably blurrier and duller in color.

(Credit: Lynn La/CNET)

In our standard studio shot, the flash caused a tinge of blue to appear on the white background.

(Credit: Lynn La/CNET)

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Asus Taichi

One of the most unusual Windows 8 systems seen to date is the Asus Taichi. And that's saying something, as we've already seen laptops with screens that flip, fold, rotate, slide, and separate completely from the bottom half of the clamshell.

Available in both 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch ultrabook-branded models, both versions of the Taichi share one notable feature: a double-sided LED-backlit IPS display. That means there is a standard clamshell laptop screen, and then a second screen pointing out from where the back of the lid would normally be. The model we tested was an Intel Core 7 version with 11.6-inch displays that costs $1,599 (a Core i5 version is available for $1,299).

While you can choose to use one screen or the other, you can also use both in tandem, with the outer screen acting as a secondary display, able to either duplicate or extend the interior display. That could be useful for sharing a presentation, for example, or for putting some distracting video content on the outer screen for the kids, while you're working on something productive on the interior screen.

The actual real-world usefulness of this feature is admittedly a question mark, and nearly everyone I've shown the system to has expressed doubts about its practicality, especially with so many high-quality thin, powerful, ultrabook-style laptops available for less. The truth is that it's probably only really useful in a handful of very specific situations, but if you happen to find yourself in one of those on a regular basis, it may feel as if Asus has been reading your mind.

While the dual-screen setup does indeed work as advertised, the system as a whole suffers from one nearly fatal flaw. The outer 11-inch screen is a standard Windows 8 touch screen, but the interior screen, where you'll likely spend most of your time, is not touch-enabled. It's a hugely frustrating oversight, especially as nearly every new Windows 8 system we've seen has a touch screen, and certainly everything in this price range. Even after several days, I still found myself trying to swipe and tap on the screen, making the Taichi much less fun to use than it should be.

Price as reviewed / Starting price	$1,599 / $1,299
Processor	1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U
Memory	4GB, 1600MHz DDR3
Hard drive	256GB SSD
Chipset	Intel HM77
Graphics	Intel HD4000
Operating System	Windows 8
Dimensions (WD)	12.0 x 7.8 inches
Height	0.6 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	11.6 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	2.8/3.2 pounds
Category	Ultraportable

Design and features
At first glance, the Asus Taichi 21 looks and feels a lot like other 11-inch ultrabook-style laptops, with a relatively thin body, an interior tray dominated by a large touch pad, and a surface dominated by brushed metal and glass.

While the idea of having a second screen built into the back of the lid may seem like the kind of thing that would be hard to miss, when the screen is off, it's virtually invisible. The only difference between this and a laptop such as the 11-inch Asus X202E is that the back of the lid appears to be made of shiny glass. That's a look we've also seen in the original HP Spectre and the more recent Acer Aspire S7, so it's not as visually jarring as one might think.

That external screen is actually the nicer-looking of the two, feeling like an upscale Windows 8 touch screen covered by edge-to-edge glass. When the lid is closed, it operates like a thick Windows 8 tablet (but a powerful Core i7 one at that).

The interior screen, where you'll be spending most of your time, is less impressive. It's surrounded by a thick black bezel and feels a bit too small for the chassis. But the biggest problem, and the Taichi's fatal flaw, is that this is not a touch screen. That's right, you've got a dual-screen laptop, with one touch display and one non-touch display.

Needless to say, this can get confusing pretty quickly. Even after several days of heavy use, I kept reaching for the main screen to scroll and swipe, a problem exacerbated by the fact that nearly every new Windows 8 laptop has a touch screen, and the OS itself is unambiguously a pain to use without touch.

With Intel's new rules for next-gen ultrabooks including a touch screen requirement, I'd bet that the next iteration of the Taichi will include dual touch screens, and frankly, that one small change will make this a much more useful system.

You control the two screens, both of which have a 1,920x1,080 native resolution, via an Asus app, which is itself controlled by a button just to the right of the F12 button on the keyboard. From the Taichi control app, you can monitor free hard drive space, adjust power settings, and control what happens to the outer screen when you close the lid. More importantly, you can scroll through the four different screen modes: interior screen only; exterior screen only; mirror image on both screens; or dual-screen mode, which treats the outer screen as an external monitor.

A favorite parlor game at our office has been inventing scenarios where the dual-screen Taichi would be useful. These include sharing a video or presentation without flipping your entire laptop around to show someone; playing media content on one side while you work on another; or maybe an excellent dual-screen version of the classic game Battleship.

There are definitely a handful of promising scenarios, but I'm not sure how many potential Taichi owners encounter these specific situations on a regular basis. All that said, the dual screens work as advertised, and it's an impressive tech demo, if nothing else.

Fortunately, the input tools provides help make up for the lack of an interior touch screen. The island-style, flat-top keyboard is similar to what you'd find on most ultraportable laptops, with keys that are large enough for comfortable typing, and especially large Shift, Enter, and Tab keys. The touch pad is of the large, button-less, clickpad style that's become popular in the past year or so. For an 11-inch laptop, it's a good size, and multi-touch gestures, such as two-finger scrolling, worked well.

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2013 Infiniti M56 sedan

The Infiniti M37 sedan starts at $48,700, but our 2013 M56 sedan starts at a base price of $63,700. What do you get for the extra $12,500? About 1.9 extra liters of displacement that's about a Honda Civic's worth of engine size and power. That's an impressive little source of bragging rights there, but does it really make this flagship sedan better than its more modest sibling?

420 horsepower V-8
The 5.6-liter V-8 engine that spins its crank under the M56's hood outputs 420 peak horsepower and 417 pound-feet of torque. The engine is mated to a seven-speed automatic transmission, the only gearbox available on the M56, which sends power to the rear axle. Users have the option of upgrading to an all-wheel-drive system, but our vehicle was not so equipped. The transmission features a manual shift mode that is activated by moving the shifter to the left and rocking the lever back for rev-matched downshifts and up for upshifts.

On the center console, drivers will find the Drive Mode Selector knob, with which you can select one of four different driving modes. Sport puts the gearbox into its most aggressive mode, holding each gear longer for peak power and blip-downshifting when braking in preparation for a corner. Eco slightly detunes the output and throttle map and short-shifts each gear for smooth, economical driving. The Eco mode also activates an optional feature called the Eco Pedal, which we'll return to momentarily. Normal is, of course, the baseline performance mode, and Snow optimizes output for maximum traction in slippery conditions.

Our M56 was equipped with a $5,650 Sport package, which bumps the standard 18-inch wheels up to 20-inch, five-spoke rollers shod in stickier, performance tires. Nested in those wheels, you'll find four-piston sport brakes up front and two-pot stoppers on the rear axle along with upgraded sport suspension components with stiffer springs. The Sport package also adds a feature called 4-Wheel Active Steering.

The 4-Wheel Active Steering system adds a few degrees of steerability to the wheels on the rear axle, working automatically and in tandem with the front wheel's steering. At low speeds, the rear wheels' angle counters the direction of steering to reduce the turning radius and required steering-wheel effort. At high speeds and during lane changes, the rear wheels angle in the direction of steering to increase vehicle stability. At any speed, you probably won't notice that the seamlessly integrated system is actually doing anything.

Finally, the Sport package finishes up with magnesium paddle shifters for easier shifting, sport seats with deeper bolstering, and a number of styling upgrades inside and out to complete the "sport sedan" look.

On the road
If you're looking at the specs -- 420 horsepower, Sport package, 4-Wheel Steering -- and thinking that the M56 is a brute in a suit, think again. I found the M's performance to be largely understated, almost to a fault.

You pay a lot of extra dough for the M56's larger, V-8 engine.

(Credit: Antuan Goodwin/CNET)

The engine doesn't impose itself on the driving experience, most of the raw power being smoothed out by the automatic transmission's smooth shifts -- even in the sportiest mode. The sport-tuned suspension is remarkably smooth and well-damped despite its big ol' wheels and the handling is well-composed and planted. If the 4-Wheel Active Steering system is doing anything, you wouldn't be able to tell from the driver's seat; it's that seamless in its operation.

However, the M56 just doesn't reward the sort of spirited driving that its bright red "S" badge would seem to encourage. The vehicle doesn't hide its size at all and doesn't seem to enjoy being hustled around a corner. Matt the go-pedal and your ears will be treated to a remarkably wheezy engine note -- this does not sound like a 5.6-liter V-8.

I'm not saying that the M56 can't handle itself at high speed, but I found myself having a hard time reconciling paying a base price of over $60,000 for a car that didn't feel more special than a G37 (ahem, Q50) sedan. At the end of the week, I realized that I'd not spent much time driving the M56 fast. With the M37 sedan offering the same level of luxury, I figure that if I'm going to drive slowly, I'd rather skip the V-8 and do it with an extra $12,500 in the bank.

The Eco Pedal
With its Drive mode selector in the Eco position, our Technology package-equipped M56 was able to take advantage of a feature called the Eco Pedal. This feature adds a small motor to the accelerator that can add resistance and movement to the pedal travel. Like most cars' efficiency modes, the M56's Eco mode is able to slightly detune the engine output, adjust the throttle map, and adjust the shift points of the automatic transmission to squeeze a few extra miles per gallon out of the power train. However, with the Eco Pedal active, the M56's computer is able to add resistance to travel to discourage lead-footedness. Give it too much gas and the Eco Pedal will even push back on your foot, recommending haptically that you take it easy.

This Eco Pedal's push-back is easy enough to simply press through for those moments when you genuinely need to get up and go, such as during highway merges or when making a passing maneuver. However, the feeling that the car simply doesn't want to do what you tell it to is unnerving. The driver can adjust the Eco Pedal between two levels of resistance (standard and a reduced setting) and totally defeat it using the touch-panel interface.

Place the Drive mode selector into Eco and the optional Eco Pedal will push back on your lead foot.

(Credit: Antuan Goodwin/CNET)

I forced myself to stay in the Eco mode for about half of my driving in an attempt to fully test the system, but at the end of the week with the M56, I still found the slight hesitation that the Eco Pedal system can cause and the pedal push-back to be quite annoying. I can understand wanting to eke a few extra miles out of every gallon of fuel, but this technology seems a bit out of place on a 420-horsepower sport sedan with an EPA-estimated 19 mpg combined average. City and highway estimates are 16 and 24 mpg, respectively, but we were unable to crest 13 mpg, even with a heavy emphasis on highway driving for our testing. If you really care about fuel economy, the 5.6-liter variant is probably not the M sedan for you -- instead, take a look at the Infiniti M Hybrid.

Driver aid tech package
The $3,050 Technology package that adds the Eco Pedal also adds an array of other driver aid features.

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Kobo Mini

Those of you out there who are e-reader scholars may remember that a couple of years ago, Sony was offering a 5-inch e-reader with no Wi-Fi, the Pocket Edition PRS-350. You can still find that model for sale for $99, but Sony has since moved on to its T-series, releasing the $129.99 PRS-T2 in late 2012.

Some people actually liked the smaller e-reader, and now Kobo is selling the Mini, a 5-inch model (with Wi-Fi) that's smaller than a mass-market paperback book, and sports a touch screen. It retails for $79.99.

I've used it for a couple of weeks and think it's a decent-enough little e-reader, cute in its own way despite its somewhat generic styling. Yeah, it could be slightly zippier (it has an 800MHz processor, compared with the 1GHz processor found in the step-up Kobo Glo), but my only real gripe is that I wish it were even smaller. There's a lot of bezel and the 4.7-ounce Mini is about as thick as larger e-readers, so you're left with a device that's fairly compact but would be cooler if it were trimmed down even more and able to fit in a shirt pocket, not just the pockets of baggy jeans.

The Kobo Mini is the lightest available e-reader at 4.7 ounces.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

For some, of course, the Mini's more compact size may be a problem. A lot of folks like to blow up the font size on their e-readers, and when you're dealing with a smaller display, you can end up with only a few lines of text per page. But if you're willing to read using a medium to small font, the Mini is quite usable, though you will end up turning pages more often.

Entry-level specs
From a specs standpoint, The Mini is something of a 2011 model -- it sports an older 800x600 Vizplex V110 e-ink display along with the aforementioned 800MHz procesor. The Kobo Glo and Amazon Kindle Paperwhite both feature a higher-resolution 1,024x768-pixel e-ink display.

The Mini uses the same IR-based touch technology that's found in the Nook Simple Touch, the Sony PRS-T2, and the discontinued Kindle Touch (the Paperwhite uses capacitive touch technology). It works well; the screen was generally responsive to my touch.

At the top of the device you'll find a power button, and there's a Micro-USB connection at the bottom of the device for charging (you get a cable in the box but no AC adapter) and transferring files. Unlike the Kobo Glo, there's no microSD expansion slot for adding more memory beyond the 2GB of internal memory, 1GB of which is usable for storage.

It's also worth mentioning that there's no headphone jack, since the Mini, like all of the latest e-readers, doesn't have any sort of audio option.

Cosmetically, the device comes in white or black, and Kobo sells interchangeable back covers that come in red, purple or teal, if you feel like swapping out the one that shipped with your device.

The back cover is removable.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Features
Kobo's done some interesting things with the fonts on the device. You can really customize how the text is displayed on the screen, with the ability to change the margins and justification, as well the sharpness and "weight" of particular fonts. I didn't find the contrast incredibly good -- the letters aren't inky black but more of a dark gray -- but after some adjustments, the text looks quite decent, even without the benefit of the higher-resolution display found on the Kobo Glo.

The other unique customization feature is the ability to adjust how often the screen refreshes -- that is to say, flashes -- to clear the ghosting inherent to e-ink. You can have it refresh every page turn or less often, down to every six page turns (the setting is found under "Reading Settings"). For those who don't like the flashing, you'll want to stick with six. But if you don't mind the flashing and are more irritated by the ghosting artifacts, you can set it to refresh more frequently.

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Samsung Ativ Odyssey

The price of entry for Windows Phones has never been extremely high. The new Samsung Ativ Odyssey which is available on Verizon for just $49.99, however, pushes the upfront cost of Windows Phone 8 down even further. This very capable device provides many of the compelling features Microsoft's latest mobile software has to offer. Still, with a less than stellar camera, a boring design, and a small screen, it faces stiff competition from Motorola's sleek Droid Razr M Android that sells at the same price. For just $50 more, the HTC 8X offers a premium Windows Phone experience.

Design After picking up the Samsung Ativ Odyssey for the first time, it became immediately clear that Samsung didn't pull out all the stops when designing this phone. Indeed the Odyssey's plastic construction and bland oval shape plays it safe and won't help it stand out from the legion of other midrange smartphones. Its surfaces feel slippery too, and dare I say, even cheap. I prefer the metal or even higher grade polycarbonate materials used in other more premium Windows Phones such as the HTC 8X and Nokia Lumia 920.

On the left side sits a thin volume key and a micro SD Card slot.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Measuring 4.8 inches tall by 2.5 inches wide, however, the Ativ Odyssey isn't overly large, and I didn't have problems stuffing the phone into jeans or jacket pockets. One tradeoff to the Odyssey's compact size, however, is the device's 4-inch AMOLED screen. It's on the small side and offers a relatively low 800x480-pixel resolution. That said, the display offers very high contrast with deep blacks and eye-popping colors which some screen purists will no doubt disparage as being oversaturated.

Above the display is a 1.2MP front-facing camera, while below it are three capacitive buttons for primary Windows Phone functions. On the left side of the Ativ Odyssey is a thin volume rocker and a flap covering the micro SD Card slot. Sitting on the right edge is a key for power and one to engage the Odyssey's camera system. Pressing that dedicated shutter button also kicks the phone into camera mode even when the handset is in standby, a nice touch.

Around back you'll find the Ativ Odyssey's main 5MP camera and LED flash. Here, too, is a large curved grill that contains the phone's speaker. Placed underneath the smooth plastic back cover is the phone's removable 2,100mAh battery.

The back of the Ativ Odyssey is made from cheap-feeling plastic.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

OS and apps As a Windows Phone 8 device, the Samsung Ativ Odyssey features a clean and clearly arranged home screen, what Microsoft calls the Start screen. Instead of widgets or app icons as you'd find on Android or iOS products, the start screen consists of square tiles that wink and flicker at you with pertinent information updated in real time.

For instance, you can quickly see the number of unread e-mails sitting in your in-box, any missed calls, or check the weather at a glance. I find it a refreshing approach and very efficient for digesting what you need to know without having to muck around within excessive menu screens.Of course tapping a tile launches its associated application. You can also remove, resize, and rearrange tiles to suit your tastes.

The Start screen features tile-like icons that flash with info in real time.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Windows Phone trails behind iOS and Android in terms of the depth and breadth of apps available, 125K (WP) compared with 700K (Android) and 775K (iOS). Microsoft certainly has some catching up to do. For instance there still is no smash hit news aggregator for Windows Phone on the level of Flipboard or Google's own Currents. Even so, apps such as Weave and Newser are compelling alternatives.

Other mobile staples are either already installed on the Odyssey or available for download a click away. For example the phone can connect to multiple Gmail accounts right out of the box. It also links to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn data to display social updates via the People app (essentially a fancy contacts list). For a deeper dive into the full experience these social media platforms offer, I had to take the additional step and download their corresponding applications individually.

Install apps from the Windows Phone store to the Ative Odyssey.

(Credit: Brian Bennett/CNET)

The Samsung Ativ Odyssey does have tight integration with numerous Microsoft services such as Office, Xbox games, and Xbox music storefronts. That's certainly a boon if you're a fan of these platforms.

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Meet the man who would make BlackBerry apps cool

The fate of Research in Motion rests on the success or failure of BlackBerry 10.

(Credit: Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

LAS VEGAS--Alec Saunders needed a little bait.

Soon after Saunders took over the developer relations team, he asked Research In Motion's then co-CEO Mike Lazaridis in October 2011 for 25,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets. When Lazaridis asked why, Saunders said he intended to give them away.

"His jaw just dropped to the floor," Saunders told CNET. "He stood there flabbergasted."

Lazaridis ultimately agreed, and Saunders began giving PlayBooks out to developers. He followed that up by giving away more than 8,000 units of RIM's Dev Alpha devices, which ran an early version of BlackBerry 10.

Saunders knew he needed to get the long-ignored BlackBerry developer base excited again. In 48 out of the last 52 weeks, he has been on a plane circling the globe in an effort to drum up interest in every corner. Combine the mileage he and his team of nearly 100 evangelists have logged for RIM, and there would be enough to travel to the moon and back five times over, or 2.5 million miles.

"I took December off and took the time to get to know my wife," he quipped.

Saunders has embraced a concept that RIM had long ignored: that developers and a healthy app "ecosystem" can make or break an operating system. He's tried to make it more accommodating and responsive to developers. It's the touchy feely stuff RIM execs never thought was important.

"Development sentiment is crucial," he said. "Developer interest is a leading indicator of success for any platform."

There's a lot riding on BlackBerry 10, which after a series of delays is expected to be unveiled on Wednesday in New York. Having had no significant new product in more than a year, RIM needs a hit. Badly. Simply put, the BlackBerry operating system is in free fall. In the third quarter, the BlackBerry OS accounted for 5.3 percent of the market, a tick above Samsung Electronics' homegrown Bada OS (little more than a glorified experiment for the Korean handset giant), and less than half the 11 percent share it held a year ago, according to a Gartner study. In the same period, Android's market share surged to 72.4 percent from 52.5 percent a year ago.

Now RIM has has to win back consumers who have long abandoned their BlackBerrys for iPhones and Android devices. It's planning a media blitz, complete with Super Bowl commercial. At the same time, BlackBerry has to compete against another upstart mobile operating system, Windows Phone by Microsoft, which is also seeking to be the No. 3 platform behind Google's Android and Apple's iOS.

Indeed, RIM has a long, tough road ahead of it, but credit Saunders for connecting with the developer community. When the operating system is unveiled, it will have 70,000 applications, which the company boasts is the most apps for a mobile platform at launch. Android had a little more than 50 apps at launch, but that was before the explosion of app development.

"I can't describe what (Saunders) achieved in one and a half years," CEO Thorsten Heins said in a recent interview. "I can't speak highly enough of him."

Of course, RIM will be going up against two ecosystems with an entrenched following. Apple, for instance, boasts of more than three-quarters of a million apps for iOS, while Android has more than 700,000 apps in the market. The Windows Phone Store has 125,000 apps, having doubled in size after the launch of Windows Phone 8 late last year.

Fresh start
I sat with Saunders earlier this month at the Consumer Electronics Show to talk about his efforts to convince skeptical developers to give BlackBerry another chance. I had arranged to meet with with him in the Rojo lounge of the Palms Place hotel, an extension of the Palms Casino Resort.

Alec Saunders, vice president of developer relations.

(Credit: RIM)

Rojo is a small, dark, and smoke-filled bar awash in red-neon accent lighting. A downed air-conditioning system meant a stiflingly hot environment, despite the windy and cold weather outside. It looked like hell, and that night, it felt like it too.

When I finally met up with Saunders and his entourage, which included a few public relations representatives and another developer evangelist, Tom Anderson, the heat in the bar forced us out to the minimalist and slate-dominated lobby for our sit-down chat.

Saunders wore a black suit jacket, button-down shirt, and blue jeans, and had just come in from a flight from Ottawa, Canada.

Saunders, a family man who leads a scout troop in his off hours, can't help but to come off as a nice, normal guy. He spoke in a calm and even tone with a slight Canadian accent. But his jovial and seemingly laid-back manner gave way to enthusiasm when talking about RIM's developer efforts.

"We're building a good head of steam behind us," he said. "Good things are happening."

Saunders had roots at RIM even before he joined the company in June 2011. He had previously worked at QNX before leaving to run his own start-up, a Web conferencing provider called iotum. QNX was eventually bought by RIM in April 2010, and its software forms the foundation for BlackBerry 10.

So it was a homecoming of sorts for Saunders when he joined RIM, right about when its market share started to collapse.

"It seemed like a good challenge to me," he said.

He made it clear he was a different sort of RIM exec. At one of his first public outings as vice president of developer relations, Saunders made the highly unusual move of posting his e-mail address while on stage at one of the company's many developer conferences.

"That was huge," said Jeremy Wall, a part-time BlackBerry developer who was in attendance at that conference and dabbled with the platform for the past decade. He, like everyone else in attendance, immediately grabbed his phone to update his contact list.

The result: a flood of e-mail that occupies a good chunk of Saunders' time. He received 14,793 e-mails -- in the last quarter alone. More recently, he's also taken to Twitter to answer questions, where he tweets under the user name @asaunders.

"My wife wasn't too happy with me," he joked during an interview with CNET shortly after that conference.

Fixing a broken system
The old RIM wasn't exactly friendly to developers. From complications signing up to fragmentation in the different versions of the BlackBerry operating system, creating an app for the platform could be a nightmare. One developer politely called it "rough," and said the company previously had the tendency to drop or ignore questions or concerns.

At the same time, iOS was beginning to generate interest from app developers. RIM executives, meanwhile, clung to the idea that e-mail and security were more important to users.

"Sometimes a good (butt)-whoopin' is what you need," said Michael Nowlin, who works for a cable set-top box manufacturing company but is an enthusiast and part-time developer known as "BlackBerry Hank."

"We're building a good head of steam behind us. Good things are happening.""
--Alec Saunders.

When Saunders joined, he knew RIM had big problems. So he made his pitch to the most loyal BlackBerry developers first before expanding to a broader audience.

Saunders laid out a model of responsiveness for which developers have expressed appreciation. When Wall, a part-time developer who also works at a manufacturer of weather stations, was setting up a local meet-up between BlackBerry developers and a RIM executive, he had hit a wall with the usual company contacts. When he e-mailed Saunders, he got a response back in 10 minutes and had an executive on his way to the meetup.

"I'll sing the praises of Alec Saunders all day for that," Wall said.

That new-found enthusiasm also attracted Nowlin, who is a relative newcomer to the BlackBerry ecosystem. He hopped on the bandwagon after seeing the kinds of tools and support available to him during a developer conference in June.

He likewise praised Saunders for his responsiveness and willingness to listen.

"He made me feel like he really cared, and he showed it," said Nowlin, a San Antonio native who works support for a set-top box manufacturer and develops BlackBerry 10 apps on the side.

The BlackBerry PlayBook wasn't exactly a hot seller.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

While relations between developers and RIM improved, it was largely moot. With the older BlackBerry platform showing its age and the company moving to an unproven next-generation operating system, developers weren't too keen to take a chance, especially with the exploding potential coming from iOS and Android.

It was Saunders' idea of the PlayBook giveaway that got developers taking a more serious looking at RIM again.

Looking back, the PlayBook was ultimately more valuable as a relationship-building tool than a product. The much-hyped tablet launched in early 2011 with a thud, with only modest sales coming after heavy discounts and several software updates. To be fair, the PlayBook continues to sell, and the company shipped 255,000 units in the last reported quarter.

Early in the giveaway, RIM wasn't terribly choosy when handing over the PlayBooks -- a move Saunders said bought a lot of goodwill. But more recently, the company raised its standards and sought out developers with a genuine interest in the platform. At the last SXSW conference, developers were pitching RIM execs with half-finished apps before they were rewarded with a PlayBook to complete their work.

"RIM has done an astonishing job of getting developers to back a company which many people have completely written off," said Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis.

Time and money
While both the iOS and Android platforms can boast of massive user bases, RIM could only point to the PlayBook, a few thousand developer units and some fleeting glimpses of actual BlackBerry 10 products, which have faced multiple, frustrating delays.

As a result, there are still legions of developers who still veer away from RIM, considering it a risky bet next to the larger platforms. According to a June report by market analytic firm VisionMobile, the BlackBerry platform (old and new) is "very close to becoming an endangered species," with 41 percent of developers surveyed saying they were dumping the platform.

So Saunders and his team have shifted the conversation to address two other key concerns for developers: time and money.

A peek at BlackBerry 10 software on the pre-release developer device.

(Credit: Lynn La/CNET)

RIM promised a much easier development process with BlackBerry 10. Regardless of the code or platform, it could easily be moved over to BlackBerry.

"Bring your code, and we'll find a way to make it happen," Saunders said.

RIM evangelist Anderson said he had gotten use to getting greeted with looks of skepticism when he went to talk to developers about BlackBerry. Now, he said he can turn them around after just a few minutes by showing them the simplified process of development and porting.

Equally important was the potential monetary return on a BlackBerry app. RIM executives told developers at a conference in May that it would guarantee that an app would generate $10,000 in revenue in their first year, or the company would make up the difference. (The fine print is that the app would have to be certified and generate at least $1,000 from downloads).

RIM has argued that its platform is a deceptively lucrative place for developers -- if you exercise a little math. If you remove the top 5 percent of highest-grossing apps, then BlackBerry's platform actually generates the most revenue, Saunders said. So for little-known developers without big brands, BlackBerry may prove to be a better home, he argued.

While fairly negative on BlackBerry's prospects, the VisionMobile report did note that a BlackBerry developer made an average of nearly $4,000 a month, or 4 percent better than the next best performing platform, iOS.

"The developer community that's behind them now is organic. They built it."
--George McKinney, an independent app developer.

Beyond those factors, Saunders and his team has tried to directly talk to as many developers as possible. Since June, it has held 44 developer-focused BlackBerry Jam World Tour events and 11 Enterprise Jam events in more than 40 countries, hosting a total of nearly 10,000 developers. In addition to the launch on Wednesday, Saunders is preparing for BlackBerry Jam Europe next week.

There's little choice: These developers are essentially working on blind faith, with no actual products to work from and no proof that consumers will even buy them. Saunders and his team has had to apply a personal touch.

At least among its hardcore devotees, it's working.

"The developer community that's behind them now is organic," said George McKinney, an independent app developer based in Los Angeles. "They built it."

McKinney, who employs three people in a small development shop, primarily does work on iOS and Android apps, but said he works on BlackBerry 10 apps "because we have a lot of fun with it."

Singing a different tune
Saunders and fellow executives Chris Smith, vice president of application platform & tools, and Martyn Mallick, vice president of global alliances and business, were certainly having fun when they shot a music video set to REO Speedwagon's "Keep on Loving You."

When it was released on YouTube, the video -- and RIM -- became the target of ridicule from the press, who called it "awful" and feared it was a desperate and awkward attempt to woo developers.

Saunders' eyes lit up when I asked him about it, and it was clearly a labor of love. He said the developers enjoyed the video, and were captivated when it aired during its conferences. He said it was an attempt to break away from the usual "stupid energy clip" that precedes speeches and demos.

"We had a lot of fun with it," he said, teasing that one more music video was in the works.

Less light-heartedly, in the past few weeks, RIM has started to contact developers through e-mails and blog posts, pushing them to step up and get their apps ready in time for the launch this week.

In a last-minute scramble, Saunders earlier this month helped run an online "Portathon" that netted the submission of 15,000 apps for BlackBerry 10 after more than a day and a half.

"Well, there you have it...Feel like I've run a marathon," Saunders tweeted after the event.

For Saunders and the rest of RIM, the marathon to get the company back on track has just begun.

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Europe's space agency kicks off asteroid collision mission

Art rendering of the Asteroid Impact and Deflection Mission concept.

(Credit: European Space Agency )

Doomsday isn't far from many people's imaginations, whether it's the end of the Mayan calendar, the rapture, or a massive asteroid smashing into the Earth. Now, one of these far-flung scenarios may become even less likely.

The European Space Agency announced this week that it's in the beginning phases of an "Asteroid Impact and Deflection Mission" with its U.S. partner Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. The eventual goal of the mission is to verify whether scientists can collide with an asteroid that's hurtling through space -- so as to avoid any possible impact with Earth.

"Concepts are being sought for both ground- and space-based investigations, seeking improved understanding of the physics of very high-speed collisions involving both man-made and natural objects in space," the ESA wrote in a statement.

The eventual plan is for scientists to shuttle off two small spacecraft in 2020 in pursuit of a 2,625-foot binary asteroid named 65803 Didymos, according to The Verge. Didymos is reportedly traveling side-by-side with a smaller 500-foot twin asteroid.

Using the smaller asteroid as target practice, scientists will point one of the spacecraft at the flying rock and collide with it. The other spacecraft will be in charge of surveying the damage and seeing if the impact changed the course of the twin asteroids.

"Both missions become better when put together -- getting much more out of the overall investment," the ESA's Asteroid Impact and Deflection Mission study manager said in a statement about the benefits of using two spacecraft. "And the vast amounts of data coming from the joint mission should help to validate various theories, such as our impact modelling."

The possibility of an asteroid crashing into Earth isn't actually that far-out of an idea. In 2004, NASA scientists discovered a massive 22 million ton asteroid that was well on course to hit the planet in 2029. However, after copious research, scientists concluded Earth was safe from an impact scenario. NASA also recently ruled out another possible 2036 asteroid collision with Earth.

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The ultimate gall of a heartless iPhone thief

An object of desire?

(Credit: CNET)

One should never expect justice in life.

The best one can hope for is poetry.

And yet, just once or twice, both manage to collide with a deliciousness that moves the soul.

Here is the tale of a teenage girl who had her iPhone stolen.

As The New York Times composes it, the girl had her iPhone 4S ripped from her by a teenage boy in Brooklyn's notoriously difficult Prospect Park.

iPhone theft is rather popular in New York. Indeed, Mayor Bloomberg recently suggested that it's responsible for an increase in crime in the city.

Anyway, the iPhone-less girl collared a couple of policemen, but the miscreant was not to be found.

However, the thief then decided that he'd try to get some money for the phone. So he met a man on a Flatbush street -- as you do.

The man asked to take a look at the phone. Perhaps he wanted to see whether Siri was still inside.

Then, he ran off with it.

Yes, this is slightly poetic. But we've only just begun.

You see, the boy thief was not very happy. After all, he'd had his recently acquired property stolen. So he went off in search of a policeman to report the crime.

I pause for your sound effects.

Thank you.

More Technically Incorrect

The police reacted with unusual efficiency. They corralled both the boy and the man who had taken Siri from him. But they still assumed the boy was the victim.

Are you ready for verse three?

The phone rang. It was the girl trying to do a deal to get her phone back. The police realized something might be amiss here. This seemed to be a miss who actually owned the phone.

So they waited for her to arrive in Flatbush. She recognized the boy's sneakers. They were pink.

I pause for your further sound effects.

The police decided it was time to play Solomon. They would slice the phone in two if one party didn't renounce their claim to the phone.

No, wait. They asked both the girl and the pink-sneakered boy to unlock the phone with the PIN code.

You're already there, aren't you? Both the actual thieves were brought to justice -- the actual kind. And the girl got her phone back.

There are several morals to this story.

One, don't steal iPhones if you're wearing pink sneakers.

Two, if someone does unto you as you have done unto someone else, take it onto the chin. It will help you understand the feelings of others.

Three, if you're the kind of New Yorker who thinks they can always get away with it, well, you can't. Not always.

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Eating your own, Microsoft style

Microsoft is getting more aggressive with its Surface sales strategy.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Eat your own, or somebody else will. That's the new mantra in the device world.

Here's what Apple said this week on that topic.

In terms of cannibalization and how we think about this, I see cannibalization as a huge opportunity for us. One, our base philosophy is to never fear cannibalization. If we do, somebody else will just cannibalize it and so we never fear it. --Tim Cook.

This was said in response to an analyst's question during the company's first-quarter earnings conference call. Earlier in the call, Apple, in its prepared remarks, said that it sold 4.1 million Macs in the quarter, more than a million less than the 5.2 million sold a year ago in the same period.

But iPad sales appear to be more than compensating: 22.9 million iPads were sold during the quarter compared with 15.4 million in the year-ago quarter.

So, how are PCs faring in comparison? Worldwide PC shipments totaled 89.8 million units in Q4, about 6 million less than the 95.9 million shipped in the same period last year, according to IDC.

Problem is, the PC industry doesn't have -- and didn't have for years -- something like the iPad to cannibalize (a word I use loosely, as its original meaning has been hijacked by analysts) old-school designs, so there is no net gain. It does now have Microsoft, though.

Microsoft (now a PC maker, by the way) isn't so much cannibalizing as trying to eat its customer's lunch. All in a very controlled, civilized way, of course. (And very necessarily, many would argue.)

Here's what Microsoft said this week during the company's earnings conference call about the Surface tablet (via Seeking Alpha).

With the broadening of the Surface lineup, we will continue to highlight the power of Windows 8 tightly integrated with fantastic hardware. --Peter Klein, chief financial officer

Translation: more Surface stuff on the way. More nibbling on partners' blue plate specials.

Meanwhile, Windows 8 PC purveyors are desperately trying to replace traditional PCs with designs that don't exactly cannibalize but straddle the old and new. Acer (which isn't fond of Microsoft the PC maker) has, for example, the Aspire S7, which is arguably one of the top, aesthetically speaking, Windows 8 touch-screen laptops out there right now. And it now has a pair of Windows 8 Iconia tablets that become laptops when attached to dedicated docks.

And then there's the No. 1 PC maker, Hewlett-Packard. It has a good Windows 8 touch-screen laptop in the Spectre XT TouchSmart and a low-cost touch alternative in the Envy TouchSmart Ultrabook.

And it also offers the detachable Envy x2 tablet and the ElitePad 900 business tablet.

But will those ship in numbers to compensate for the decline in conventional designs? Only future IDC quarterly numbers will tell.

And one final thought. I would suggest that Apple has kind of set up the MacBook as a straw man in its argument about cannibalization.

That is, it's made the MacBook line ripe for cannibalization. Let's see, a $1,099 MacBook Air or a $329 iPad? Or a $1,699 MacBook Pro Retina or $599 iPad 4? That's a pretty easy decision for a lot of people looking for a second computing device.

Just as importantly, Apple isn't trying to hybridize the MacBook. That would effectively stanch the flow of some buyers to the iPad. No twofer designs, i.e., no touch-screen MacBooks here.

And that could ultimately be an Apple weakness. PC makers will continue to improve their hybrid designs and, I suspect, eventually a few will nail it. And those will become big sellers that might eat Microsoft's lunch.

With the Acer Aspire S7, you get a laptop with the key attribute of a Windows 8 tablet, a touch screen.

(Credit: Acer)

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SoundHound Infinity (Android)

If you're having trouble naming that tune, just fire up SoundHound to speak, sing, hum, or type out a song for the music-identification service to identify. The app is available in both a free version and a paid, ad-free version dubbed SoundHound Infinity.

Right when you open SoundHound, you'll see the big orange button up top. This is the key to the app's primary function. Give the button a single tap, place your mobile device up to a music source (or as close as you can get), and watch as SoundHound searches its enormous database for a match. You can put your device directly onto a speaker or just drop it on your passenger seat while your radio is playing. In either scenario, SoundHound should be able to do its job so long as the volume of the source isn't too low or too loud and distorted. Typically, the app needs between 3 and 10 seconds of "listening" in order to bring back any search results.

Use SoundHound to identify songs, share them, read lyrics, and find other related information.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jaymar Cabebe/CNET)

In my tests, I found that SoundHound was impressive in its ability to identify both popular music and slightly more obscure tracks. In this respect, I would say it is more or less on par with competitors such as Shazam. Of course, when it comes to any extremely niche songs, though, either app would almost certainly have some trouble doing its job. One thing that does set SoundHound apart from its competitor is its ability to identify songs that you sing or hum, which is perfect for those times when you get an unidentifiable song stuck in your head.

The beauty of SoundHound is that once it identifies the song in question, it returns so much more than just a song title, artist name, and album. The results page -- while it may not be clean or attractive as I would like -- shows off an impressive amount of information, including similar artists, a list of albums on which the song has appeared, and even a link to tour dates for the artist. There are also options to play the song on Rdio or Spotify, search for it on YouTube, or purchase it through Amazon MP3. And the app keeps a running list of songs you have ID'd, in case you want to go back and access their details.

Perhaps the neatest thing about the song info page is the LiveLyrics. When lyrics are available, SoundHound will return them and actually keep them scrolling in real time, along with the music. Considering the music source is a radio or some other speaker that isn't connected to your phone, this synchronization seems almost magical.

More than just a namer of tunes, SoundHound is also good at helping users discover new music. For instance, from the Home screen, you can find the What's Hot button, which takes you to a valuable listing of trending music on SoundHound. This page shows you hottest songs of the week, most tweeted and most ID'd songs, and newly ID'd songs. It's nice to sift through this page to see what other users are listening to. And of course, any track you access can be shared with friends via Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, and other installed applications on your device.

One thing to note is that SoundHound does come bundled with an "ID Now" Home screen widget. I would highly suggest using this, as it automatically opens up the app and starts identifying ambient music in a single tap.

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Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere II (Verizon Wireless)

While the mid-tier Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere II doesn't have the chops to be a high-end flagship, its reliable performance and graciously spaced keyboard does make this 4G LTE device stellar (forgive me, but I had to).

All jokes aside, however, this handset is great for those looking for a keyboard handset on Verizon. Currently priced at $129.99 after users sign a two-year contract, the Stratosphere II offers up Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, an adequate 5-megapixel shooter, and respectable call quality. Not to mention, a few extra goodies like NFC give it that extra oomph to be a worthy mid-range candidate.

Design
The Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere II sports the familiar Galaxy aesthetic, complete with severely rounded corners and a long rectangular body. A chrome strip wraps around the edges of the device, and overall, it has a curvy, pebble-like shape.

It measures 4.97 inches tall, 2.58 inches wide, and due to its sliding keyboard underneath, has a thick 0.53-inch profile. At 5.43 ounces, it's on the heavy side, but it also has a dense, solid construction.

The Stratosphere II sports a five-row keyboard, which includes navigational arrows and shortcut buttons.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

On the left is a volume rocker. Up top is a 3.5mm headphone jack, and at the bottom is a Micro-USB port for charging. The right houses a sleep/power button that can be hard to feel for since it's small and flushed with the rest of the handset's surface.

The back, which has subtle diamond pattern, houses a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash. Below it are two small slits for the audio speaker. Using a small indent up top, you can pry off the plastic back plate and get access to the battery and microSD card that is expandable up to 32GB.

The 4-inch display is bright and responsive, requiring only light flicks and taps of a finger to register. However, as with most Super AMOLED displays, colors can appear oversaturated, especially with blue and green hues. It has a 800x480-pixel resolution, so don't expect the crispiest experience. I noticed that even default wallpaper images looked grainy.

Above the screen are an in-ear speaker and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera. Below are four hotkeys (back, home, recent apps, and menu) that light up white when in use.

Underneath the display is the 5-row keyboard. Though the snapping mechanism is sturdy, it does require a bit of muscle to push open. Also, the device itself is very slick and smooth, so you'll have to be careful that it doesn't slip out of your hands while you access the keyboard. The buttons are both generously spaced and sized and even though they sit flush with the surface, they're still easy to press. The keyboard includes four navigational arrows, and shortcuts for opening up messages, search, and web browsing.

Software and features
The phone runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and packs numerous Google apps such as Gmail, Plus, Latitude, Local, Maps with Navigation, Messenger, portals to Play Books, Magazines, Movies and TV, Music, and Store, Google Talk, Search, and YouTube.

Basic task management apps include a native browser and e-mail client, a calculator, a calendar, a clock with alarm functions, a memo pad, music and video players, and a voice recorder.

Verizon loaded some of its own apps as well. These consist of its app store, mobile hot-spotting, My Verizon Mobile (which lets you check your account and data profile), the carrier's ringtone store, voice mail, the media portal Media Hub, and VZ navigator for maps. There's also the voice assistant S Voice.

The handset features Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and Samsung's TouchWiz interface.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Other apps include Amazon's Store, Kindle, and MP3, Audible for audiobooks, IMDb, two games (Let's Golf 3 and Plants vs. Zombies), NFL Mobile, the mobile office suite Quickoffice, Slack Radio, and Zappos.

Additional features include NFC (and S Beam), Bluetooth 4.0, and 8GB of internal memory.

Camera and video
Camera features include a flash; a 4x digital zoom; four shooting modes, which include panorama and cartoon; four photo effects; 14 scene modes; an exposure meter; touch, auto, and macro focus; a timer; six photo sizes (from 640x480 pixels to 2,560x1,920 pixels); five white balances; four ISO options; three metering choices; compositional lines; three image qualities; and geo-tagging.

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Inrix Traffic (Android)

The latest update to the Inrix Traffic app for Android is a fairly large one. The app gets a visual refresh that makes use of Android's Holo design language. An updated and clearer Places screen makes it easier for drivers to estimate travel times and share those times with others.

Inrix is, simply, a traffic app. It will let you know how much traffic you'll encounter on your way home and to work, but it won't actually give you directions as to how tol get there. Can such an app be useful? Let's take a closer look at Inrix Traffic for Android and find out.

What does it do?
When you fire up the Inrix app, you'll be taken to the Places screen. Here you'll find estimated drive times for preset Home and Work destinations that can be set in one of the app's settings menus. Each of the destinations has two estimates for the arrival time and driving time for two potential routes.

The Places screen is where you'll find travel time estimates for Home and Work.

(Credit: Screenshot by Antuan Goodwin/CNET)

Clicking a Share icon to the left of each drive time allows the users to share the route and travel estimate with any of their contacts via e-mail or text message. Additionally, users can set a favorite e-mail or phone number for messaging to via the resulting Share menu.

At the bottom of the Places screen are icons that take the user to a Scorecard screen with interesting charts for traffic geeks, and a Community leaderboard that displays the most active Inrix community members who report traffic and incident data. There is also a Clock icon that reveals a timeline at the top of the Places screen. Swiping this timeline to a future time updates the drive and arrival times for Home and Work, with estimated future trip data based on historical and speculative traffic data.

Finally, clicking any of the estimated drive times (current or future) takes the user to the map screen, which displays an overlay of the chosen route and allows users to toggle between the two trip alternatives, but offers no turn-by-turn directions.

The Map screen features color-coded traffic overlays, incident icons, and trip data, but no turn-by-turn nav.

(Credit: Screenshot by Antuan Goodwin/CNET)

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Nikon Coolpix L610 (Black)

There aren't a lot of options if you want a compact camera with a long zoom lens and powered by AA batteries. Even fewer if you want that camera to be somewhat pocketable. In fact, outside of the Nikon Coolpix L610, there's really only one other current model, the Canon PowerShot SX160 IS.

The SX160 IS' advantages over the Nikon are that it has a lot more shooting options, including semimanual and manual modes, and a slightly longer lens (though the L610 starts wider). Also, the Canon can zoom while shooting movies; the Nikon is limited to digital zoom. But if you don't plan to leave auto mode much and the other two aren't deal breakers, the L610 might be the better choice.

Though picture quality isn't spectacular from either, the L610's backside-illuminated (BSI) CMOS sensor provides slightly better low-light results, and shooting performance is a touch better, too. It's also a smaller and lighter camera (though the SX160 feels better-constructed).

With both models currently available for around the same price of $150, it really comes down to what matters most to you in features and photo and video quality.

Picture quality
For its price and features, the Coolpix L610 shoots a bit above its class. However, that still means it does its best work outdoors under good lighting, especially if you're using the zoom lens. There's noise visible even at its lowest ISOs when photos are viewed at full size, but detail is very good up to ISO 200.

These are 100 percent crops at the camera's available ISO sensitivities.

(Credit: Joshua Goldman/CNET)

Color, white balance, and exposure are generally good, too, so, again, as long as you give it plenty of light, you'll get nice results. Going up to ISO 400 and above, photos get a little less usable at larger sizes because noise and noise reduction ramp up.

Though you can set the sensitivity up to ISO 3200, Auto ISO stops at ISO 1600 (and for good reason, since ISO 3200 looks pretty bad). However, the L610 will significantly slow shutter speeds before it starts to use ISO 800 or above. That means if you're shooting indoors or in low light, you may end up with blurry photos before you ever have to worry about noise or smeary details from noise reduction.

Video quality is good with results that are basically in line with its photos: the more light you have, the better the results. Expect more noise and softness the less light you have. Audio quality is OK, and again, the optical zoom doesn't work while recording.

Shooting performance
Editors' note: We recently updated our testing methodology to gauge slightly more real-world performance, so the results aren't necessarily comparable with previous testing. Until we're finished refining our procedures, we will not be posting comparative performance charts.

Most lower-end cameras as well as those powered by AA batteries aren't speedy, but the L610 fared better than most. The camera's CMOS sensor helps keep shooting speeds tolerable, but it can feel slow when shooting indoors or with the lens fully extended.

From off to first shot takes about 1.9 seconds, assuming you fully press the shutter release immediately after the power button. Shutter lag -- the time from pressing the shutter release to capture without prefocusing -- was 0.3 second in bright lighting and 0.7 second in dim conditions. Extending the lens slowed that time to an average of 1.2 seconds. Shot-to-shot times averaged 1.5 seconds without the flash and 3.3 seconds with flash. However, these times were under lab conditions, so depending on what you're shooting and in which mode you use, the camera may require more processing time before it's ready to shoot again.

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Yes, LG will continue to make cheap plasma TVs

CNET Editors' Take

January 24, 2013 1:00 AM PST

The 2012 PA6500 series (above) has similar specifications to the 2013 PH6500 series, one of two inexpensive LG plasmas.

LG's 2013 plasma lineup is smaller than last year's, but the company is still making the non-LCD TVs. In addition to the sole top-end plasma, the 60-inch 60PH6700, there will be a pair of step-down series that lack Smart TV and 3D. As usual pricing was not announced, but these are bound to be among the least expensive televisions in their respective classes.

One will encompass two sizes, the 50-inch 50PN6500 and the 60-inch 60PN6500. Its main features are 1080p resolution and a new "Hair Line" bezel, which we assume means a thinner frame around the screen. It looks like the direct descendant of the 2012 PA6500 series, an unimpressive example among budget plasmas.

The other also sports two sizes, the 42-inch 42PN4500 and the 50-inch 50PN4500, both with 720p resolution -- and little else. Its 2012 predecessor, the 2012 PA4500 series, was likewise not among our favorite inexpensive TVs.

Check out LG's full 2013 TV lineup here.

 

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Quick Specifications

• TV type Plasma
• Screen size 50 in
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By David Katzmaier

Senior Editor David Katzmaier has reviewed TVs at CNET since 2002. He is an ISF certified calibrator and developed CNET's TV test procedure himself. Previously David wrote reviews and features for Sound & Vision magazine and eTown.com. Full Bio

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Toshiba LX835-D3380 - Core i7 3630QM 2.4 GHz : LED 23"

Toshiba is best known for its laptops, but after entering the U.S. desktop market in 2011, the company has put out straightforward, attractive all-in-one PCs at a steady cadence. The $1,399 LX835-D3380 is no exception, offering a safe, fast, and slightly more expensive entry point to Windows 8.

The difficulty for Toshiba, and for every all-in-one in this price range, is the Dell XPS One 27, the $1,399 version of which has slower components than the Toshiba and no touch capability, but comes with a 27-inch, 2,560x1,440-pixel-resolution display. The Toshiba's 23-inch, 1,920x1,080-pixel screen can't compete. That makes the LX835-D3380 most appropriate for those who value speed and who are interested in the Windows 8 touch-screen experience.

The Toshiba's plastic case won't win any manufacturing awards, but there's something to be said for the way its curvy gunmetal bezel hugs the lower corners of the display and swoops around the bottom edge. Unlike other Windows 8 all-in-ones, the LX835-D3380 doesn't have extended screen-reclining capabilities, but you should find brief touch interactions, while either sitting or standing, comfortable enough.

For the touch screen itself, the LX835 doesn't really stand out. It has reasonably sensitive, 10-point touch input, but as with its competition, you still get some tactile resistance that can make for a jittery experience when you're playing games or engaging with other apps that require extended input. The cost of making a large desktop touch screen as smooth as that found on a good smartphone or tablet might be prohibitive, but until that happens, PC-based touch will always feel a bit subpar.

Price at debut	$1,399	$1,249	$1,299
Display size/resolution	23-inch, 1,920x1,080-pixel touch screen	24-inch, 1,920x1,080-pixel touch screen	23-inch, 1,920x1,080-pixel touch screen
CPU	2.4GHz Intel Core i7-3630QM	2.5GHz Intel Core i5-3210M	3GHz Intel Core i5-3330
Memory	8GB 1,600MHz DDR3 SDRAM	6GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM	8GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
Graphics	2GB Nvidia GeForce GT 630M	32MB Intel HD Graphics 4000	1GB Nvidia GeForce GT630M
Hard drives	2TB, 5,400rpm	1TB, 5,400rpm	1TB, 7,200rpm
Optical drive	dual-layer DVD burner	None	dual-layer DVD burner
Networking	Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n wireless	Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n wireless	Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n wireless
Operating system	Windows 8 (64-bit)	Windows 8 (64-bit)	Windows 8 (64-bit)

Pricing for Windows 8 PCs has been higher than for their Windows 7 equivalents, so you're right to feel some sticker shock at the figures for each of these systems, most of which would have landed at around $1,000 or so with the equivalent components last year. The Toshiba comes in higher than the Vizio and Asus systems here, largely due to its Core i7 CPU and its dedicated GeForce GT 630M graphics chip with 2GB of video memory. Toshiba was also more ambitious with its hard-drive capacity and the speed of its system memory. If the Toshiba seems expensive even compared with the rest of the Windows 8 field, its higher-end components help justify its price.

If you're not interested in a touch screen, I'll point you toward HP's configurable Envy 23xt line of all-in-ones. I configured a nontouch version that was otherwise identical to the Toshiba system. Toshiba itself offers a Windows 7 version of this PC, the LX835-D3250, which has a slightly slower Core i7 chip than the D3380, but twice the system memory for the same $1,399 price.

Adobe Photoshop CS5 image-processing test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Toshiba LX835-D3380 (2.4GHz Core i7, November 2012)

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Apple iTunes encoding test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Toshiba LX835-D3380 (2.4GHz Core i7, November 2012)

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JSTOR says it mourns `tragic loss' of Aaron Swartz

As the Internet exploded with anger over news that online activist Aaron Swartz had committed suicide on Friday, the subscription-only archive he was accused of hacking said late today that it "regretted" having been drawn to "this sad event."

Swartz, a celebrated computer activist and programming prodigy, was fighting two-year-old charges that he stole 4 million documents from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and JSTOR, or Journal Storage, an archive of scientific journals and academic papers. If convicted, Swartz faced a maximum of $4 million in fines and more than 50 years in prison after the government increased the number of felony counts against Swartz to 13 from 4.

Federal authorities alleged that Swartz broke into computer networks at M.I.T. to illegally gain access to JSTOR's archive. But critics of the government said the Feds were unfairly trying to make an example out of Swartz. In a post today Prosecutor as bully legal scholar Larry Lessig wrote that "the government worked as hard as it could to characterize what Aaron did in the most extreme and absurd way."

Here is the text of the JSTOR release:

We are deeply saddened to hear the news about Aaron Swartz. We extend our heartfelt condolences to Aaron's family, friends, and everyone who loved, knew, and admired him. He was a truly gifted person who made important contributions to the development of the internet and the web from which we all benefit.

We have had inquiries about JSTOR's view of this sad event given the charges against Aaron and the trial scheduled for April. The case is one that we ourselves had regretted being drawn into from the outset, since JSTOR's mission is to foster widespread access to the world's body of scholarly knowledge. At the same time, as one of the largest archives of scholarly literature in the world, we must be careful stewards of the information entrusted to use by the owners and creators of that content. To that end.

Aaron returned the data he had in his possession and JSTOR settled any civil claims we might have had against him in June 2011. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service and a member of the internet community.l We will continue to work to distribute the content under our care as widely as possible while balancing the interests of researchers, students, libraries, and publishers as we pursue our commitment to the long-term preservation of this important scholarly literature. We join those who are mourning this tragic loss.

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ZTE Avid 4G (MetroPCS)

Despite its rather enthusiastic and optimistic name, the ZTE Avid 4G isn't a phone to write home about.

Other than simultaneously featuring Android 4.0 and LTE, this mid-range device doesn't have much else. In addition to its bland construction and low-resolution screen (which takes a few hard presses to register), its processor falls on the slow side and its call quality failed to impress.

Furthermore, while its $149 price tag falls right about in the center of MetroPCS Android lineup, the carrier has a handful of other LTE handsets that can give you a smoother, faster experience. Even better, some of these phones sport a smaller price .

Design
With its uninspiring, black-slab aesthetic, you won't turn any heads with the ZTE Avid 4G. Its sharply rounded top corners and curved, tapered bottom edge make it look like it's half the ZTE Score M and half the Anthem 4G. It measures 4.88 inches tall and 2.58 inches wide, and it has a trim, 0.47-inch profile. At 5.25 ounces, it is a bit on the heavy side, but it fits comfortably in front jean pockets, and you can maneuver it easily with just one hand.

On the left are a micro-USB port and a silver, easy-to-press volume rocker. Up top are a power/sleep button and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The back houses a 5-megapixel camera with an LED flash. To the right of it are two small slits for the output speaker. In the lower right-hand corner is an indent you can use to pry off the backplate. Inside, you'll get ahold of the 1,730mAh battery and expandable microSD card slot. The plate is made out of a lightweight plastic coated in a matte finish that limits the visibility of fingerprint smudges.

The Avid 4G has a 4-inch TFT display with a 480x800-pixel resolution.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

The 4-inch TFT display has a 480x800-pixel resolution. While text and icons rendered clearly, there were a few unfortunate things I noticed with the screen. First, there was an odd blue hue that overlaid the entire glass, and it was really obvious if you viewed a white image. Second, the display itself looked very speckly, and it was riddled with subtle but visible splotchy markings. Gradient patterns also looked streaky and the display had a narrow viewing angle.

Above the screen is VGA front-facing camera and an LED notification light. Below are three hot keys (back, home, and menu) that light up whenever they're activated.

Software and features
As previously mentioned, the device is MetroPCS' only ZTE handset running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. As such, it has the Google apps you come to expect: Chrome, Gmail, Plus, Latitude, Local, Maps with Navigation, Messenger, Search, Talk, and YouTube. There's also Google Play Books, Magazines, Movies and TV, Music, and Store.

Other apps include Yahoo answers, a media sharing app called Full Share, Facebook, a mobile office suite known as Kingsoft Office, and a media portal called Pocket Express.

The phone also comes preloaded with Rhapsody's music subscription service. For an extra $5 a month, on top of a $60-a-month unlimited talk, text, data, and e-mail plan, you can search and download thousands of albums and artists on major U.S. record labels. Despite the fact that you can't play songs offline unless you add it onto a playlist, the service is intuitive and easy to use.

The Avid 4G has a 5-megapixel camera and a front-facing VGA camera.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

There's a handful of MetroPCS apps as well, including M Studio, which stores media files like ringtones; the carrier's native app store; MetroPCS Easy Wi-Fi; Metro411, which searches and locates for nearby businesses and restaurants; an entertainment and media app called MyExtras; Metro Block-it that allows you to block calls and texts from unwanted persons; a 4G mobile hot spot app; the device locator called Total Protection; and myMetro, which lets you check your account balance and plan.

Simple task managing apps include a clock with alarm functions, a calculator, a calendar, a native e-mail client, a news and weather app, a notepad, a timer, a voice dialer, and a world clock.

Camera and video
The 5-megapixel camera includes a 4X digital zoom, geo-tagging, a flash, a timer, and compositional grid lines. There's also panoramic shooting, four color effects, auto and touch focuses, five white balances, an exposure range (-2 to +2), a brightness meter, and four photo sizes (1-megapixel to 5-megapixels).

Video options include the same flash, geo-tagging, white balances, zoom, and color effects. You also get a few time lapse options, five video sizes (from 352x288 to 1,280x720), a timer, and the ability to take photos while recording video.

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