Look and feel

Elegantly designed with an aluminium chassis and the clean, minimalist Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS, this is the classiest, best built Android tablet around.

Ease of use

Email, web and media is all easy to set up and use, and once you load on your email and social accounts, the tablet is your ultimate one-stop hub for anything that happens online.

Features

From its quad-core chip to eight-megapixel camera, the Transformer Prime is packed with top of the line specs and comprehensive email, browser and media apps.

Performance

Though current software isn’t stretching the quad-core chip to the limits of what it can handle, multitasking and general program performance is noticeably fast and smooth.

Battery life

With an 11-hour battery life topped up by another 11 in the charged up keyboar dock, the Transformer Prime will easily last you the day.

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We take a look at the rumours surrounding Apple’s iPad 3 and Samsung’s next 11.6-inch Galaxy Tab

We compare two of the most exciting tablet prospects of 2012 – speculatively. But which, out of the iPad 3 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 11.6, will be worth your cash in 2012? 

We make an educated guess base on current rumours and leaked information below: 

Form
The iPad 3’s form factor has been the subject of fairly intense debate online. On the one hand, you have the camp which says it will be a highly distinctive complete revamp worthy of the new iPad 3 label.

The more probable result that is supported by a number of reports, suggests that it will very closely resemble the iPad 2’s form factor. We’ve also heard extensive reports about it being 1mm thicker as well.

Other external changes are supposedly minimal, prompting some commentators to brand it as the iPad 2S. Based on these claims some case manufacturers in China have even begun production of slightly thicker cases for the ‘iPad 2S’.

It’s a tough call to make, but we’re inclined to believe reports from those who’ve actually been to see Apple and had a hands-on with the device, and such reports indicate it’s not a huge change in terms of visual design.

Reports of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 11.6 suggest that, despite it’s larger 11.6-inch touchscreen it will not, in fact, be much bigger than the existent Galaxy Tab 10.1.

That’s not to say that it won’t be bigger at all – surely it must be – but the implication is that the larger screen simply takes up more of the front of the device, resulting in a smaller bezel around the outside.

A few mock-ups based on first hand accounts of the device look very nice indeed, we generally approve of narrowing the space around a touchscreen as much as possible and this would appear to be the direction that Samsung has chosen to go in with the Galaxy Tab 11.6.

Apart from this the 11.6-inch tablet looks remarkably similar in shape and design format to its smaller predecessor.

Winner – Samsung Galaxy Tab 11.6

Display
For starters, the rumour mill has long suggested Apple’s iPad 3 will bring the iPhone’s acclaimed Retina display to the tablet format.

Claims from those who’ve had contact with the device and from analysts keeping an eye on the display supply chain seem to support this idea.

This will mean double the resolution of the iPad 2 at 2048×1536 pixels on the same 9.7-inch slab of IPS (potentially IPS+) LCD glass.

You can expect the iPad 3’s display to be just about the most impressive ever seen on a tablet, pushing out crisp, bright and colourful visuals.

According to reports the massive 11.6-inch glass sheet on this latest Galaxy Tab will clock an even more impressive 2560×1600 pixel resolution at a 16:10 aspect ratio.

It’s not clear whether Samsung has managed to introduce its excellent AMOLED display technology but if so that would be a considerable boost to picture quality and display performance too.

Unless Samsung has really pushed the boat out we expect Apple’s Retina display to be the better offering here.

Winner – Apple iPad 3

Storage
Storage isn’t actually something which has been extensively discussed for either tablet but we think it’s fairly likely both will have similar setups based on their predecessors.

This would mean each would have 16GB, 32GB and 64GB variants.

Frankly, we’d be shocked if the iPad 3 had micro SD card storage but it seems likely the Samsung Galaxy Tab will – up to 32GB is a fair bet.

In terms of RAM, the iPad 2 had 512MB while the Galaxy Tab 10.1 had twice this at 1GB.

We’re not sure if Apple will up the stakes to 1GB, but this seems like the minimum to expect from Samsung’s new device and it could feasibly push things further to 1.5GB or even 2GB if we’re lucky.

Rumours suggest that next Galaxy S handset, the Galaxy S III will have this much RAM so we wouldn’t be too surprised if the Tab 11.6 did as well.

We think the likelihood is that Samsung will win this as it’ll keep the internal storage on a competitive level offering card storage the iPad will lack and likely more RAM than Apple’s device will bring too.

Winner – Samsung Galaxy Tab 11.6

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Apple’s up-coming iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S III will be coated with Liquipel’s impressive waterproof coating

The Apple iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S III will feature a waterproof coating, according to reports.

That’s right. Apple and Samsung’s latest handsets will feature a Liquipel coating that will make them impervious to water. Liquipel was apparently being shown off at CES 2012 last month. Unfortunately though we didn’t see it.

Today’s news comes via Cult of Android, which reports that a reliable source has claimed that Liquipel will be present on both the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S III.

‘The source,’ reports Cult of Android, ‘for Today’s iPhone, is said to be “well-placed” within one of the U.K.’s top independent phone retailers, and reportedly provided the correct release dates for the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S before their launch. However, he provides the “latest whisperings with a side of caution,” the report notes.’

HzO – yet another waterproofing company – has also reportedly been in talks with both Samsung and Apple about getting its technology onto their respective handsets. According to an official statement from HzO, Samsung was ‘very excited’ by the product.

Either way, it looks like waterproof mobile phones are something we’ll be seeing plenty more of in 2012.

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Allegedly a ruling has forced Apple to remove the iPad 3G, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 from its online store in Germany

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The cat is out the bag when it comes to Windows Phone 8, as a video intended for Nokia partners has been leaked online

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Microsoft, according to reports, will debut its Windows Phone 7 Skype application at MWC 2012

Microsoft is reportedly gearing up for the first official airing of its Skype application for Windows Phone at MWC 2012.

The news comes via The Verge, which reports that ‘at least one source indicated that it could launch at Mobile World Congress later this month.’

Microsoft acquired Skype in 2011 for around $8 billion and has been beavering away behind closed doors ever since. We’ve heard plenty of rumblings from inside Microsoft’s Skype division but this is the first time we’ve heard talk of an official launch.

Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore originally promised that Skype would arrive on Windows Phone in late 2011, reports The Verge – a date that has since passed without any sign of the application.

So while a MWC 2012 launch would be ideal, it’s not yet concrete. Either way Skype will definitely be a feature on Windows Phone handsets from Tango onwards.

Slowly but surely Microsoft is bolting on USP after USP to its Windows Phone platform, especially after hearing what’s going to be inside Windows Phone 8 Apollo earlier today.

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A survey shows iOS apps are less stable than Android apps

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A survey shows iOS apps are less stable than Android apps

A report from mobile app analysts Crittercism suggests that, contrary to the commonly held belief that Apple’s iPhone runs apps more reliably, it’s actually Android which features more stable applications.

Crittercism surveyed crash reports on both operating systems for fifteen days from the beginning of December 2011 including data from 23 versions of iOS and 33 versions of Android.

The biggest chunk of crash activity clocked in at 28.64 per cent for iOS 5.01.

No big deal in and of itself perhaps, but the survey goes on to show that many other versions of iOS have unfavourable results also – version 4.2.1 accounts for a not insubstantial 12.64 per cent, while 4.3.3 is at 10.66 per cent.

Overall the numbers show that iOS accounts for around 75 per cent of all crashes recorded by the survey.

It’s also interesting that despite iOS being regarded as a non-fragmented platform compared to Android many people are still using older and out-of-date versions.

There is, of course, no need for this with the way in which Apple rolls out updates universally.

It comes down to individual user activity, lack of information or motivation to update might mean many users stay on old builds unnecessarily and this is sure to have an impact on compatibility and stability which would go some way to explaining these damning results. In other words, it’s not Apple’s fault.

Another factor is that the main offender was version 5.01. At the time of the survey this was a brand new release and an uncharacteristically buggy one at that, which means not only were there the expected kinks to iron out but a massive bundle of extra ones on top.

One of our main stumbling blocks with the results is also the short period of the survey time. We think a much longer period of analysis would be necessary to get an accurate view of things.

There are other rogue elements which need addressing too, as Electricpig points out:

‘Though overall Android apps appear to be more stable on average (Crittercism also compared by crashes to launches, not just crashes, removing the potential skew of more iPhones being tested), the ‘best’ or most stable apps, those in the top quartile, for Android actually crashed more than those in the top quartile for iPhone.’

‘That suggests a level of polish is being applied to the very best iPhone apps that Android ones do not receive, but also that there’s an awful lot of poorly coded iPhone apps lurking within the depths of the App Store too – even more than on the Android Market.’

Business tech analyst site Forbes also commented on what factors might cause these results, writer Tomio Geron wanted to establish why iOS apps crash so much.

‘This can be due to hardware issues, such as the use of location or GPS services or cameras; it could be due to the Internet connection, that is, how a phone connects to 3G or WiFi, or that the device is not connected to the Internet at a certain moment, or that something happens during the switch between 3G and WiFi. There could also be issues with language support on certain devices. There can also be memory problems if an app uses too much memory,’ he said.

‘Problems can also occur with third-party services that developers use in their apps, from analytics to advertising systems. For example, there were reports that Apple’s iAds system gave some developers problems if they did not adhere to certain standards,’ added Geron.

Geron also focused in on version compatibility issues, that ever-present problem of user-error in not updating either the platform or the app regularly:

‘Developers also constantly create new updates to their apps to create new features or fix bugs. But again, people often don’t update their apps-just as they don’t update their operating system. (Android, unlike iOS, allows users to auto-update their apps, which can eliminate some of the problems.) So developers often test all previous versions of their apps with each version of the different operating systems.’

Crittercism CEO Andrew Levy noted that ‘the permutations go on forever.’

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The cat is out the bag when it comes to Windows Phone 8, as a video intended for Nokia partners has been leaked online

We now know a lot more about Windows Phone 8, codenamed Apollo, thanks to a video intended for Nokia partners.

The video, which was hosted by Windows Phone manager Joe Belfiore, is a treasure chest of details, most of which has now been backed up, PocketNow reported.

Let’s start with hardware: Windows Phone 8 will support multicore processors – not that Windows Phone really needs it at this time – as well as four new screen resolutions, removable microSD card support and near-field communication (NFC) technology for the ability to pay for goods with a swipe.

NFC will also mean tap-to-share capabilities will work with desktop and laptop computers, tablets and smartphones.

Considering the usual grumble when talking about Windows Phone is one of memory constraints, even though Microsoft offers 25GB of free cloud storage, the option to expand memory is excellent, although we do worry slower cards could slow down performance.

Considering this was why microSD support was never officially included with the release of Windows Phone, we aren’t alone.

The leaked video also confirmed the closeness of Windows Phone 8 with Windows 8. Besides sharing a similar user-interface (UI), both operating systems will actually share the same components, allowing developers to reuse code as they see fit when porting an app from one operating system to another.

Considering Windows Phone and Xbox Live is so closely linked, it looks as if developers get three for the price of one with little effort, as it were. Definitely a plus when it comes to maximising potential reach.

Though Microsoft wasn’t specific, it looks like a new sync client will be introduced as Windows 8 is scrapping the integration with Zune. As big fans of Zune and not just because it looks great, we hope it isn’t relegated entirely.

Rounding off the big hardware and software changes is the news Windows 8 will have an equivalent of the Xbox Companion app, a way of turning your Windows Phone smartphone into a DVD remote.

According to PocketNow, Belfiore says part of its use will be to stream your entire music collection from a phone to PC, without the need to sync to a computer.

Other changes include:

• DataSmart – allows you to keep tabs on data usage
• Data usage will become a live tile for quick glances
• Wi-Fi connection preference for improved speeds
• Proxy server use to compress website data by a claimed 30 per cent
• BitLocker encryption
• Cloud services will work across all platforms (SkyDrive?)
• Skype will be an improved app but not integrated
• Local Scout has personal recommendations
• Camera will feature ‘lens apps’ and a more powerful experience
• App-to-app communication

Perhaps the best news of all, besides learning that Windows 8 will be a significant update? Windows Phone apps will be backwards compatible, according to Microsoft insider Paul Thurrott. No need to worry about your current app collection, then.

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