Covering World: Gadgets

Showing posts with label Gadgets. Show all posts

Outsource your empathy with life prediction tool

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 An Israeli designer wants to squash your digital fingerprint into one algorithm that can predict when your friends are about to be sad or the best time to propose to your girlfriend.<br />
Predictables is a design concept by Dor Tal, crafted to provoke debate over the potential consequences -- good and bad -- of our reliance on big data.<br />
He imagines the front end will be a kind of pico projector, which maps your life onto any surface. It's a predicative calendar that makes handy suggestions to make your life run smoother. In a video depicting the technology, for example, your life is portrayed as a series of coloured blobs in a kind of floating calendar of potential future happenings. A green blob activates and catches your attention, so you point to it and flick your wrist (the future is entirely gesture-enabled as well, of course). A warning appears that says it's three days till an important meeting, before asking if you'd like to reschedule because your team is probably ill-prepared.<br />
How does it know this? It's using data gathered by an app you've downloaded onto your phone that scrapes your social media, email, Google searches, GPS data, photos, credit card transactions -- anything with a digital trail. Maybe it spotted a few ropey looking photos of your friends on a night out earlier that week, or recognised that their Facebook posts were actually coming from a beachside bar, not an office.<br />
So far, so intrusive. But the system wouldn't make any decisions for you. In the video, the subject's response is to text his team to see if its ready for the meeting. Later the same man's watch projects the same calendar onto the palm of his hand, warning him his girlfriend's probably about to be sad, so he buys her some flowers.<br />
"It is clear that today we are leaving our digitals fingerprints everywhere," Tal tells Wired.co.uk. "We can also see how these fingerprints are being used in order to create a precise profile of us for commercial uses. I suggest to return that data to the user."<br />
The technology does not exist yet, but we're not a million miles away. Summly scrapes the news so you don't have to, and Google Now scrapes your life in much the same way Predictables is now proposing -- though for the more mundane things in life that feature in your calendar.<br />
"The biggest challenge in this project is to create the forecasting algorithms," says Tal. "However, the further I advance in my research and the more I meet with specialists, the more I believe it will happen sooner than expected. For just one example, I have been in contact recently with Kira Radinsky who has made a lot of advancement in this field and recently even founded a start-up company that uses this kind of forecasting-algorithm application."<br />
Radinsky, last year named one of MIT Technology Review's 35 Innovators Under 35, has been working on predicting real world events using algorithms that take in data from millions of news items and web searches, billions of tweets and much more. With it, she predicted riots in Sudan, Turkey, Syria and Egypt, a cholera outbreak in Cuba and the outcome of a drug dealer's trial. Although these kinds of systems take in billions of data points, it's argued many of these predictions could easily be done by humans. In an interview, Radinsky explains, "You can see a recurrent pattern in the riots: The price of a staple begins to climb -- in Egypt it was bread, in Sudan it was cooking gas -- and this sparks riots."<br />
But the point is not always to come up with novel predictions a human could not have otherwise. But to have a machine always working in the background as a backup, as a reminder of where your attention should be focused and as an early warning system.<br />
The individual in Tal's video could surely have put two and two together and realised his girlfriend was probably having a bad day -- she texts him about how much she hates her boss and starts job hunting. He could have decided to do something about it, but of course the majority of people might not take immediate action. The proposed service is simply cutting corners and prompting you to do something you should probably do anyway.<br />
Suggesting you propose to your other half soon -- as the system does in the video -- is quite another matter, though. And allowing the app access to every corner of your digital world just to encourage you to take the time in your busy life to do the things you should be doing anyway (be nice to your girlfriend, not necessarily propose to her) sounds like quite a stretch for even the least privacy conscious among us.<br />
"I think that the world that we live in today, and even more so the world of tomorrow, doesn't leave any room for privacy," Tal says. "And I am saying it with a lot of sorrow. I believe that if we won't stop and ask ourselves some serious questions about the role of technology in our personal lives, we will find ourselves in a world in which Facebook or Netflix suggest us when and who to marry."<br />
So he has not necessarily developed what is a rather Silicon Valley-like promo for his concept to say this is what we should be doing. He tells us he's more interested in the user interface and user experience side of technology, and "presenting the cultural consequences deriving from an up-coming technology". He calls Predictables his "answer to the new emerging issues of big data".<br />
Tal wants us to question where this kind of all-encompassing data sharing could lead us. And it sounds like it will lead us to become some pretty lame, lazy humans that need prompting to be nice.

Outsource your empathy with life prediction tool

An Israeli designer wants to squash your digital fingerprint into one algorithm that can predict when your friends are about to be sad or the best time to propose to your girlfriend. Predictables is a design concept by Dor Tal, crafted to provoke debate over the potential consequences -- good and …

10Mar2014

Next for health tech? A smart toothbrush that connects to your phone

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDOC_8xYc22JOTgMzY82DTWBCflvAjXYYw1uLCfHcCv6Ws60VQ5xGslq1Asa905UlM0pS6i8ghDF9Bjp6ivIh84xdlH4rAoBcFWbXtC-ktniAKmagkSmda0aWBbebrfHz5McQUAR8FhKk/s1600/IMG_9837.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDOC_8xYc22JOTgMzY82DTWBCflvAjXYYw1uLCfHcCv6Ws60VQ5xGslq1Asa905UlM0pS6i8ghDF9Bjp6ivIh84xdlH4rAoBcFWbXtC-ktniAKmagkSmda0aWBbebrfHz5McQUAR8FhKk/s1600/IMG_9837.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Every year at least one company at CES showcases something "smart"
that you insert into your mouth. This year it's the <a href="http://www.kolibree.com.myinstapage.com/">Kolibree smart electric
toothbrush</a>, which connects to your phone via Bluetooth, tracks your
brushing with an app and helps you improve oral hygiene by highlighting areas
of your mouth you're neglecting.<br />
Speaking to Wired.co.uk at <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/ces">CES in Las
Vegas</a>, inventor Thomas Serval -- ex-Googler and also a former Microsoft
developer -- explained that he began creating the device just over a year ago
after realising his daughter wasn't cleaning her teeth properly, which resulted
in gum disease.<br />
"I talked to my dentist and he explained that people need to use an
electric toothbrush but don't know how to -- kids and adults," Serval
said, before demonstrating (on a set of plastic false teeth, thankfully not in
a mouth at the time) the ways in which people wrongly use an electric brush.
"I wanted to gamify the experience of brushing your teeth."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibirgC-7pQq3pm-KHscEruB9_X9J4fT5EDccA-8-i6E_u1VuqUOoqqRakVoF63rMb5f2ihSBh_dEPCkCONoJSHwAiFQzI81lqi0FhTvIza7tqzI6y3Tyf3-wI5heiVFuTZrefLs21v3kA/s1600/IMG_9840.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibirgC-7pQq3pm-KHscEruB9_X9J4fT5EDccA-8-i6E_u1VuqUOoqqRakVoF63rMb5f2ihSBh_dEPCkCONoJSHwAiFQzI81lqi0FhTvIza7tqzI6y3Tyf3-wI5heiVFuTZrefLs21v3kA/s1600/IMG_9840.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The Kolibree brush includes several sensors, such as an accelerometer,
gyroscope and digital compass (magnetometer). This helps the app develop an understanding
of each user's mouth and which areas are getting too much or too little
attention, or if the brush is simply being used incorrectly.<br />
Serval said he has worked with dentists to make sure the type of data the
brush acquires is not only useful to users immediately while brushing, but to
healthcare professionals who can use the information to advise patients on
better brushing techniques. The brush's software has an API available for
third-party developers to build apps and tools for the hardware as well.<br />
It's an interesting concept, although not wholly new as companies such as
Oral B have been developing electric brushes that connect to dedicated
monitoring devices for a few years. But by using a strong visual app, this is
an implementation of the idea that could well gel with health-conscious users,
particularly those now familiar with devices like the Nike Fuelband or Fitbit
for exercise tracking.<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A working model of the Kolibree smart brush was
demonstrated at CES and is hoped to launch in the second half of 2014 in the UK
as part of a Kickstarter campaign. A number of models will be developed,
ranging in price from €99-200 (around £83-165).</span>

Next for health tech? A smart toothbrush that connects to your phone

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06Jan2014

Existential metronome: vibrating watch messes with your sense of time

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"Time flies when you're having fun." It's a cliche, but it's true.
So is its inverse proposition. Just like we've all been to parties that passed
in a blink, we've all sat through interminable work days where seconds seemed
like hours, too. Time may march on objectively, but our minds play all sorts of
tricks on us when it comes to how we perceive it.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggIQ1hZPXO3iXYG3vl_eTL5hmCdc4csTROld4K5wjUlsk7sCmRYLs4LQqKC9e3kMb4jw0AFAa9bntUlOnyQHMI3VWGhFrsPMyCZutqpsABlb10eo4eJk4JcUnggAf8QzJgErEhywPgUuY/s1600/vibrating+watch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggIQ1hZPXO3iXYG3vl_eTL5hmCdc4csTROld4K5wjUlsk7sCmRYLs4LQqKC9e3kMb4jw0AFAa9bntUlOnyQHMI3VWGhFrsPMyCZutqpsABlb10eo4eJk4JcUnggAf8QzJgErEhywPgUuY/s1600/vibrating+watch.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Durr is a watch designed to draw attention to that slippery disconnect
between time as it passes and how we perceive it passing. Instead of hands or
numbers, it's just a solid, colorful disk. Every five minutes, it vibrates.
Think of it as a metronome for your day-to-day life.<br />
The watch was designed by Theo Tveterås and Lars Marcus Vedeler, a Norwegian
duo who work together as <a href="http://www.skrekkogle.com/">Skrekkøgle</a>.
The idea came from an observation one of them had about how fast it seemed like
their days were going by when they were especially busy in their studio. They hacked
together a quick and dirty prototype for a buzzing wrist piece, strapped it to
their arms, and headed out for some beers. Immediately, the effect was
noticeable. "We were surprised and excited about how tangible time
suddenly seemed," Tveterås says.<br />
They came back to the studio the next morning and started work on a more
refined piece of hardware. For the final product, Arduino guts hide inside a
number of colorful housings, all attached to a thin leather strap. (<a href="http://skreksto.re/products/durr">You can buy one from the duo for €90.</a><a href="http://skreksto.re/products/durr">00 [£74.75].</a>)<br />
The simple hardware was about staying true to the essence of the original
concept. "We like the idea of single-purpose objects," Tveterås
explains. "It has a calmer, more specific purpose than, say, a smartphone
or a smartwatch." He was happy to see that some friends had kept on
wearing their Durrs as decoration even after their batteries died.<br />
At this point, the designers have been wearing their shivering watches for
six months. Tveterås says it adds an undeniable "rhythm" to the day,
chopping it into chunks small enough to let you look back and consider what
you've been doing (vibrating any more often than every five minutes, they found
was annoying; any longer than 10 and it became hard to remember when the last
interval started).<br />
Of course, giving people an existential metronome can have the opposite
effect. In some cases, it hasn't led to the wearer noticing the passing of time
but rather time passing away. "We've gotten feedback from other people
using it that it acts a little like a countdown for life, which wasn't the
intention at all," Tveterås says. "But the memento mori aspect is
very fascinating too."

Existential metronome: vibrating watch messes with your sense of time

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06Jan2014

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014) review

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<div class="adavoidedbutflowable">
The latest version of Samsung's biggest Galaxy
Note has a bigger processor and better screen than its predecessor, and a whole
range of other improvements too.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7TUexde4hPECToiXpqSG2ybcckTkqzJldXtoRs79pBswhITEiDRFeitqHewFnFyI154Dvrd14Ketu32JGwRFP-X_PvZXRGE6VKT86CNeQSJzQPGkJuUJnb3y1_OkEVzu_340uVnqRifQ/s1600/samsung+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7TUexde4hPECToiXpqSG2ybcckTkqzJldXtoRs79pBswhITEiDRFeitqHewFnFyI154Dvrd14Ketu32JGwRFP-X_PvZXRGE6VKT86CNeQSJzQPGkJuUJnb3y1_OkEVzu_340uVnqRifQ/s640/samsung+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="adavoidedbutflowable">
<strong>Design</strong><br />
The glossy plastic casing of the previous model has been replaced by an
odd-looking faux leather effect on the back complete with fake stitching, which
isn't fooling anyone, but at least it gives a bit of grip. It's no super
lightweight at 540g but it's slim at a sliver under 8mm and no chore to carry.</div>
<div class="adavoidedbutflowable">
There are slimline stereo speakers on each side,
plus a covered microSD slot (up to 64GB to add to the 16GB of onboard storage)
and an infrared blaster so you can use it as a remote control. There's no HDMI
port to transfer content straight to your TV though.</div>
The 10.1 inch screen's resolution has been bumped up to 2,560x1,600 pixels
(299ppi) which is equal to the <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-10/31/nexus-10-hands-on">Google
Nexus 10</a> and just about as sharp as you'll find on any tablet (technically
the Nexus 10 is slightly sharper because its screen is a little smaller but
that's a minor quibble).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpzCSAOElwvI8NJHIHO2roJ43Zv3tIOPnHFN4K8nAVERi_8Yyybf7pNU3uMHZ3iBU5-WcTXImBZl5YUjW8JZGUdqHlF4xKQqFoOBqCFYk_nOinKOY3YiIUFX8bbu9NtGGAcQoXBmu0YVQ/s1600/galaxy_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpzCSAOElwvI8NJHIHO2roJ43Zv3tIOPnHFN4K8nAVERi_8Yyybf7pNU3uMHZ3iBU5-WcTXImBZl5YUjW8JZGUdqHlF4xKQqFoOBqCFYk_nOinKOY3YiIUFX8bbu9NtGGAcQoXBmu0YVQ/s640/galaxy_2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<strong>Android and processor</strong><br />
It's running the latest Android 4.3 Jelly Bean (and expected to upgrade to 4.4
KitKat early in 2014) but as usual Samsung has overlaid its TouchWiz interface
over the top. It's a busy and distinctive UI that some will find unnecessary
but extras like the shortcut tray you pull out from the side don't distract
from basic Android, only enhance it.<br />
You also get a lot of extras, including Multi Window (two app windows on one
screen), Polaris Office 5, dual-screen media sharing app Group Play, plus S
Note and Sketchbook, which make good use of the S Pen stylus hidden away in a
neat slot on the side and the generally reliable handwriting recognition
software.<br />
The 1.9GHz quad-core processor is backed by a full 3GB RAM which puts it
right up there with some of the best we've come across. Our AnTuTu benchmark
test gave it a score of 32,395 -- a little behind the <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/reviews/mobile-phones/2013-10/samsung-galaxy-note-3-review">Galaxy
Note 3</a> but still among the highest we've yet seen. But even so, the
processor didn't seem to perform quite as well as it should do, considering the
spec, and there were occasional instances of slight lag. It's not terrible by
any means, this is still a very fast and powerful device, but the fact that it
happened at all came as a surprise.<br />
<strong>Photography</strong><br />
There's now an 8-megapixel camera on the back with autofocus and an LED flash,
plus a good range of Samsung settings. Picture quality is pretty good, making
it almost seem worthwhile having a quality camera on a tablet for once. There's
also a 2-megapixel camera on the front for video calls.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHLTJPZZKqctSGu2af8CI0xEweBHHMCAleg-moyak4Hyfx8InPr3BbSUhSUrwXemH6UQ18MNNF1YCzz6nyQm213j5jvy5fYkc733W9V3y2L-AiTkwTq7_cpIXG8_h8Q52FUae58bwk1SY/s1600/dave+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHLTJPZZKqctSGu2af8CI0xEweBHHMCAleg-moyak4Hyfx8InPr3BbSUhSUrwXemH6UQ18MNNF1YCzz6nyQm213j5jvy5fYkc733W9V3y2L-AiTkwTq7_cpIXG8_h8Q52FUae58bwk1SY/s640/dave+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
The large 8220mAh battery held up well, seeing us comfortably through around
a day and a half of steady use.<br />
<div class="adavoidedbutflowable">
<strong>Conclusion</strong><br />
The Galaxy Note 10.1 is one of the best-specced and most powerful tablets
available. It's not cheap, and it doesn't have the high-quality metallic casing
of the iPad Air, but it has a feast of features and the ability to handle them
all very well indeed.</div>
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Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014) review

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24Dec2013

Sony Xperia Z1 review

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdJdz92sHXLe3D131Brz2WCFQ4XgnIxO5xWK1vyf6h71Ytfw8Cv3jxMAbqA9YCg-lc7AmcOrA4vME5AvmsonHnhz-B6FvDSHhkPoU65RE0xhJs3MvnAb-i0rfLtmPATB7xtOVZ_MzrE8/s1600/sony+x+final+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdJdz92sHXLe3D131Brz2WCFQ4XgnIxO5xWK1vyf6h71Ytfw8Cv3jxMAbqA9YCg-lc7AmcOrA4vME5AvmsonHnhz-B6FvDSHhkPoU65RE0xhJs3MvnAb-i0rfLtmPATB7xtOVZ_MzrE8/s640/sony+x+final+2.jpg" width="640" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9qnUfBE4iXdWQijUaR3dWvT-obLmc1JAV9oF1aq-dI_Z7o743YntU0IhjJYuD9JW-2auNT-CuWWGoHR5N4vKxTva3Xkp3RSt1a-ZrxR_7XZ1A0M4l7H52uQ2QoWdf0IECHBX2YGwN2qM/s1600/xpera11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9qnUfBE4iXdWQijUaR3dWvT-obLmc1JAV9oF1aq-dI_Z7o743YntU0IhjJYuD9JW-2auNT-CuWWGoHR5N4vKxTva3Xkp3RSt1a-ZrxR_7XZ1A0M4l7H52uQ2QoWdf0IECHBX2YGwN2qM/s640/xpera11.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>

<br />
<div class="adavoidedbutflowable">
Following on from last year's Xperia Z, the Z1 is
just about as good as it gets in Sony's Xperia universe, with a super-powerful
quad-core processor, improved HD screen, 20-megapixel camera and waterproof
glass body.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbB2-rLq_NqWqm1bXuiWax2U2EdD6xkna_fhDzNyuRmsIrdhZm1dl76AOqWIpO73SVvgqM4q-CGFeo9Pcb__p7sVX_yKVai9BX183BzFfhyphenhyphen4mo-qE78afkFdwkwc8sexPx1I7b8kj0d8/s1600/xpera12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbB2-rLq_NqWqm1bXuiWax2U2EdD6xkna_fhDzNyuRmsIrdhZm1dl76AOqWIpO73SVvgqM4q-CGFeo9Pcb__p7sVX_yKVai9BX183BzFfhyphenhyphen4mo-qE78afkFdwkwc8sexPx1I7b8kj0d8/s640/xpera12.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="adavoidedbutflowable">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0S1stifuAtFNg2QD4s3W58CTuR2tPYbBXTJNE094fZu4zzFat0GVJDk6Ele3j38JsUS0pHcSA-x7YHR1vFB-cNErF11frI7FhnJqhUEJUVt738sCE3xMfKklgZj4hCGjAjgjuwWu_lJA/s1600/xpera13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0S1stifuAtFNg2QD4s3W58CTuR2tPYbBXTJNE094fZu4zzFat0GVJDk6Ele3j38JsUS0pHcSA-x7YHR1vFB-cNErF11frI7FhnJqhUEJUVt738sCE3xMfKklgZj4hCGjAjgjuwWu_lJA/s320/xpera13.jpg" width="320" /></a><strong>Design</strong><b><br />
</b>It's still fairly slim, at a sliver under 9mm, but glass is a heavy
material and along with the new aluminium banding, it weighs 170g. You know
this is a quality piece of kit as soon as you pick it up, but it feels heavy
and blocky in the hand and can still put a bit of a drag on the pocket.</div>
<div class="adavoidedbutflowable">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-8QaTYRd-kfezz_0pDIHek6QYpfucCsxPxj9JHmtbsngXypyxGr50fbRbt12RrPA_FkT9DQCLOylXlwseS1Ue3Rjc7YqVGaRfVZ-3VPtOku15SvDVLJYF-_CwTZKyAhGq_jUM4JQkW9o/s1600/xpera14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-8QaTYRd-kfezz_0pDIHek6QYpfucCsxPxj9JHmtbsngXypyxGr50fbRbt12RrPA_FkT9DQCLOylXlwseS1Ue3Rjc7YqVGaRfVZ-3VPtOku15SvDVLJYF-_CwTZKyAhGq_jUM4JQkW9o/s320/xpera14.jpg" width="320" /></a>It's waterproof, an area that Sony seems keen to
make its own, and SIM card, microUSB and microSD card slots (up to 64GB) are
all protected behind firm covers so that it can stay underwater to a depth of
up to 1.5 metres for half an hour. Interestingly, there's no cover for the
3.5mm headphone jack, but it's been internally sealed, so you can still listen
underwater, but without having to reseal every time you unplug.</div>
The five-inch screen has the same HD 1920x1080-pixel resolution as its
predecessor, with 441ppi and to be honest, it's hard to imagine how it could be
much better. It looks terrifically sharp and colours look natural (which isn't
always the case with ultra-vibrant Amoled screens for example). Still, Sony
reckons it has boosted performance with "Triluminos" technology
derived from its latest high-end TVs. Exactly how that makes is a difference is
unclear, but whether you're watching HD movies or loading up dense web pages in
a twinkling, it's a terrific screen.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIwG-2X1Sv9hnZR_eDY-rcXVuM1E8DTIfzzM-ylwfHjXSClF3yyCw15dq0C513fi3F_UAFjC3Y689k2TqFLJYle8uou0fiWP51rQwBLuRTLySiJI40mY5ZlU-vmyusvLZ6HIi48cD2cwU/s1600/xpera+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIwG-2X1Sv9hnZR_eDY-rcXVuM1E8DTIfzzM-ylwfHjXSClF3yyCw15dq0C513fi3F_UAFjC3Y689k2TqFLJYle8uou0fiWP51rQwBLuRTLySiJI40mY5ZlU-vmyusvLZ6HIi48cD2cwU/s320/xpera+1.jpg" width="320" /></a><strong>Processor and software</strong><b><br />
</b>The original Xperia Z had a quad core processor, but it's now been bumped
up from 1.5GHz to 2.2GHz and backed by a full 2GB RAM -- just about the highest
spec we've yet seen on a smartphone. And sure enough, in our AnTuTu benchmark
test it delivered a stonking score of 34,986 -- far ahead of the Samsung Galaxy
S4 and LG Optimus G2, which still languish around the mid-twenties. HD gaming
held no terrors and <em>Real Racing 3</em> played smoother and crisper than
we've yet seen.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMUECTs4w_WYu_qk_pUmC0I5SeysFL13E8W0pLTcD0T9qX4tgEvNYAa5-WzeItZI77MnhvFBVdkiKhZMy2fiv_Z-IDNVGksH2STQc4oObODZW09qXsVe3ymKJT8ipj0W__WPqlWkHujXQ/s1600/xpera1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMUECTs4w_WYu_qk_pUmC0I5SeysFL13E8W0pLTcD0T9qX4tgEvNYAa5-WzeItZI77MnhvFBVdkiKhZMy2fiv_Z-IDNVGksH2STQc4oObODZW09qXsVe3ymKJT8ipj0W__WPqlWkHujXQ/s320/xpera1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsfVJ_oQsfR_xhtNxsBrnI5UpJ0tZoK46tJSrIezqecSGbsAZtXELmr7MwP2aUB4gF5QoUfnSqKhwiENfDuNBUY8BnAf2ukFq6T71_3B57Lp3P_-uzKNmklB07lZOpF-q-oTqxVun_cr4/s1600/xpera5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsfVJ_oQsfR_xhtNxsBrnI5UpJ0tZoK46tJSrIezqecSGbsAZtXELmr7MwP2aUB4gF5QoUfnSqKhwiENfDuNBUY8BnAf2ukFq6T71_3B57Lp3P_-uzKNmklB07lZOpF-q-oTqxVun_cr4/s320/xpera5.jpg" width="213" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2_mCxanwGZJcVwUJWXjKWTTHlUtE43MAw8Tp5phforpJFTOZVUsurpvJYAPvw88_G9oatnnwdvaEjJw0BFcIx3dSejPMTaXzUHMhC2q3H1VbQ1IyUw5bq9zGW9GSs5tBkrS-lXPeM0cw/s1600/xpera2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2_mCxanwGZJcVwUJWXjKWTTHlUtE43MAw8Tp5phforpJFTOZVUsurpvJYAPvw88_G9oatnnwdvaEjJw0BFcIx3dSejPMTaXzUHMhC2q3H1VbQ1IyUw5bq9zGW9GSs5tBkrS-lXPeM0cw/s320/xpera2.jpg" width="213" /></a><strong>Photography</strong><br />
The camera has gone from 13 megapixels to 20 megapixels -- a considerably
higher spec than you'll find on most smartphones, with the exception of Nokia’s
Lumia 1020. There's a dedicated shutter button on the side, which wasn't
present on the Z and it's certainly a fine little snapper, with Sony's Exmor
light sensor to help improve low light pics, and a range of settings to play
with, including Smile Shutter, Face Registration and Burst. It isn't perfect --
it struggled a little to balance contrasting light conditions, and some shots
can look a bit washed out when using automatic settings -- but picture quality
was generally good.<br />
It has a large 3,000mAh battery, but it's a very powerful phone, and that
takes its toll -- we barely managed to get a full day's heavy use out of it.<br />
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<div class="adavoidedbutflowable">
<strong>Conclusion</strong><br />
The Sony Xperia Z1 makes a few improvements to what was already a cracking
smartphone. The screen looks great, the processor is the most powerful we've
yet seen and the camera is very fine indeed. It's not cheap, but it's waterproof,
looks great and it's extremely fast.</div>
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