Product Reviews Net |
- HTC Thunderbolt’s release on Verizon, theoretically soon
- New Verizon iPhone Alarm Clock Glitch: 2011 Daylight Saving
- Apple iPad 2nd generation, Safari performance vs. iPad 1
- Apple iPad vs. iPad 2: Infinity Blade Review
- Tweet Confirms HTC Thunderbolt Release Date: Apparently HTC Rep
- iPhone 5 Release With Wireless iTunes Syncing
- Charlie Sheen Dead Rumor is New Facebook Virus
- Daylight saving time starts, did your tech change?
- Verizon iPhone 5 Potential, Insight After iPad 2 and iPhone 4
- Dragon Age 2, review and price compared
- LG Optimus 3D: UK Release Date Update
- Get Tsunami alerts straight to your iPhone
- Daylight savings time 2011, when gadgets fail
- New Apple Rumors, iPhone 5 Engineering Photo and Nano History
- Electronics companies start to feel affect of Japan earthquake
- Rainbow Moon: New Strategic RPG Game Coming to PSN
| HTC Thunderbolt’s release on Verizon, theoretically soon Posted: 13 Mar 2011 05:13 AM PDT We have been hearing a lot recently about finally getting that elusive release date for the Verizon HTC Thunderbolt. The CFO of Verizon promised the handset would be arriving soon, but would not reveal an actual date. More recently we had the launch of an app which will be installed into demo handsets to showcase the unit to potential customers. The release date could be finally drawing closer according to an article over at Engadget mobile by Chris Ziegler. He is reporting that a trusted source has told them the HTC Thunderbolt has recently received “conditional approval” from Verizon. Now in theory this could mean the handset may be released anytime now. But before that, the launch will require HTC accepting Verizon's requested alterations and fixes for the first and second firmware maintenance releases. This process is normally expected to take between two to four weeks. So with this in mind the handset could finally start reaching Verizon customers around mid April. Many people who want to purchase the Thunderbolt have commented on our pages that they are getting fed up with waiting for the device. It is not just the fact the handset is not yet available, but there has been no launch date announced. Are you tired of waiting for the Thunderbolt? Have you decided to get something else instead? For more coverage:
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| New Verizon iPhone Alarm Clock Glitch: 2011 Daylight Saving Posted: 13 Mar 2011 04:29 AM PDT If you use your iPhone to wake you up of a morning make sure you have a back up alarm, as there seems to be problems with some Verizon iPhones clocks and the daylight saving time. Brenna Ehrlich over at Mashable.com is reporting in an article that some owners handsets clock fell back an hour instead of going forward. If you didn't already know daylight saving time happened last night/this morning, so everyone gets one less hour sleep. But the trouble is some Verizon iPhones have fallen back one hour, and the problem hasn't been restricted to Verizon, as some AT&T owners have also reported problems. There are reports that some handsets behaving as they should, so it is not affecting everyone. There was a similar problem back in January where some users reported problems with their alarms on the iPhone. If you have noticed your iPhone showing the wrong time try restarting the device or go to the date time settings and turn the automatic setting feature to off. This problem is not affecting everyone with an iPhone, but it would be worth having a backup alarm just for tomorrow, unless you manually set the time on your device. Let us know if you have had problems with your iPhone clock. For more coverage:
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| Apple iPad 2nd generation, Safari performance vs. iPad 1 Posted: 13 Mar 2011 03:43 AM PDT The new iPad 2 has double the processor power than the original, so how does it perform compared to the original device in some of the tasks that it will be used most for? The new model comes with 512MB compared to 256MB of the original, so should be much better when it comes to web browsing. Andrew Wray over at TiPb has compared the two devices side by side when running Safari to see how they both compare. When using the original iPad having all nine tabs open really see's the device come to a virtual standstill. As you run out of memory the iPad switches off background tabs which can be very frustrating. Doing the same on the new iPad had none of the same issues, and the annoying lag which would occur before Safari could load the web page was thankfully nowhere to be seen. Scrolling with Safari is really smooth, and now when switching between tabs the whole page hasn't got to be reloaded. Check the video out below of the two versions of iPad running Safari. Web browsing is just one improved feature of the new iPad 2, watching movies and playing games will also prove to be a much better experience. But if you already have the original iPad is it worth upgrading this year? Have you upgraded? If so was it worth it? For more coverage:
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| Apple iPad vs. iPad 2: Infinity Blade Review Posted: 13 Mar 2011 03:42 AM PDT Epic Games and Chair Entertainment's hugely popular action-RPG title Infinity Blade received an update recently, enabling the iOS game to take advantage of the iPad 2's new hardware. By this we mean the 1GHz dual-core processor, which is said to have 9x better graphics performance. Eli Hodapp from the toucharcade.com website managed to get his hands on the new iPad 2 recently, and decided to compare the Infinity Blade game between the original iPad and the iPad 2. He's also provided a few screenshots, so readers can view the improvements for themselves. The first thing Eli says to look out for in the screenshots is how smooth the edges appear to be on the iPad 2. He also points out how high resolution the textures are compared to those of the original iPad. If you click through the images one by one, you will see how obvious the differences are. As Eli notes, if this is what the new iPad 2 is capable of with existing titles that have just received a quick update, then it will definitely be interesting to see what the games are going to look like when they have been built specifically for the iPad 2. What do you think of the graphics comparison between the iPad and the iPad 2? For more coverage:
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| Tweet Confirms HTC Thunderbolt Release Date: Apparently HTC Rep Posted: 13 Mar 2011 03:34 AM PDT There appears to have been a lot of confusion as to the exact launch date of the much-anticipated HTC Thunderbolt recently, with reports suggesting several different release dates. As Alan Ng recently mentioned, it was thought that the handset would be arriving on March 21st. However, as Kellex over at droid-life.com reports, a recent tweet from Imran Shahid – believed to be a HTC representative – appears to have confirmed a HTC Thunderbolt release date. The post claimed that the handset would be arriving on Verizon Wireless on March 17th. As Daniel Chubb noted, both HTC and Verizon Wireless appear to have followed in the footsteps of Apple, by being secretive in regards to the HTC Thunderbolt's release date. It now appears that the tweet was only available for a short while, as it has since been removed. The HTC Thunderbolt, Verizon's first 4GLTE smartphone, is powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, runs on Android 2.2 and features a 4.3-inch capacitive touch screen, an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and autofocus and a 1.3-megapixel front camera. Are you still thinking of purchasing the HTC Thunderbolt handset, or have you moved on and purchased another smartphone instead? For more coverage:
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| iPhone 5 Release With Wireless iTunes Syncing Posted: 13 Mar 2011 03:07 AM PDT Before the iPhone 4G launch, just over a year ago, we raised the question if the iPhone in 2010 would have Wireless syncing with Apple iTunes, following WWDC 2010 we learned that it did not. Now in 2011, we are a few One feature we hope will be included, once again, is Wi-Fi syncing between iTunes and the iPhone, there is no reason this technology shouldn't be built-in to the iPhone 5G. We have seen this feature with apps before, you can see a video showing iPhone wireless syncing in this post from last year. It's hard to believe we still have to use a cable for the iPhone 4 and iPad 2, when syncing to iTunes. Apple is moving things more into the cloud, so it only seems logical that they build an option for wireless syncing as standard Do you think it's time for Apple to release this feature into iPhone 5 hardware? For more coverage:
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| Charlie Sheen Dead Rumor is New Facebook Virus Posted: 13 Mar 2011 01:42 AM PST Facebook scammers are forever finding new ways to try and scam people into parting with their money, and using celebrities' names seems to be a common occurrence. In fact, 'Charlie Sheen is Dead' appears to be the latest virus/scam on the popular social networking website. As Paul Wagenseil over at msnbc.msn.com notes, Charlie Sheen, who was recently fired from the hugely popular sitcom Two and Half Men, has become quite popular among Facebook scammers. Just recently they've had the actor punching a reporter, starring in a sex tape and passing away! None of the said reports are true of course, they are just the latest scams aimed at getting gullible Facebook users to provide their personal details. Not only do these dodgy apps and bogus surveys scam people out of money, but also the videos can sometimes install malware onto the users' PC. Other Facebook scams to have surfaced recently include one that promised users free meals for one month at the Olive Garden, and another that pretended to be a video of a teenage girl committing suicide. Have you come across any other Facebook scams or viruses recently? Have you heard of any other celebrities' names being used for that purpose? For more coverage:
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| Daylight saving time starts, did your tech change? Posted: 13 Mar 2011 01:03 AM PST Some people forget about moving their clocks when daylight saving time starts, which being human is easily done although we wouldn't expect our technology to be so forgetful. Yesterday we touched on how gadgets can fail during daylight saving time, and the biggest tech problem of late was when the iPhone 4 alarm clock was an hour out of sync. Over 90 of our readers told their story back in November. Daylight saving time in 2011 seems to have gone more smoothly, although we've heard of a few problems in the last few hours, one user said "Great. My iPhone is one hour late!" Have you had any problems with your iPhone or other cell phone clocks? Sunday's can be seen as the lazy day of the week, but that's not the same for everyone and having the wrong time can still cause big problems, even on Sunday's. November 6 is when standard time returns. Today your tech should have set the clocks one hour ahead, now that daylight saving time has started, did your tech change? For more coverage:
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| Verizon iPhone 5 Potential, Insight After iPad 2 and iPhone 4 Posted: 12 Mar 2011 12:07 PM PST Yesterday saw the release of the iPad 2 and for the first time Verizon Wireless had a new Apple product on launch day. Apple quickly sold AT&T Wi-Fi only models, but it seemed couldn't give away the Verizon iPad 2. So with this in mind what will it mean for any Verizon iPhone 5? An article over at Beatweek is reporting that in one Apple Store once all the AT&T iPad 2's had run out, people didn't bother with the Verizon version and just went home. The people in line at the Apple store all had iPhone's on AT&T, and want the AT&T iPad as well. Basically its better the devil you know, as the AT&T users knew where they might not get any coverage, and wouldn't know where the Verizon dead spots would be. With the upcoming iPhone 5 this could mean that besides the users who already know that an AT&T iPhone will not meet their needs, the interest in the Verizon iPhone 5 from current iPhone users will be small. It looks like in the future customers who already have the iPhone with AT&T are happy to stay where they are. So when the iPhone 5 becomes available we may not see many AT&T customers jumping ship and switch to Verizon. The Verizon iPhone 4 has not been such a huge hit as Verizon would have hoped, but this could have been many consumers holding out for the next model. For more coverage:
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| Dragon Age 2, review and price compared Posted: 12 Mar 2011 08:18 AM PST Dragon Age II has now been released in Europe and the US, and for those of you who have yet to purchase the game we have some reviews for you as well as some prices. The game is not a direct sequel to the first installment according to Greg A over at the sixthaxis, instead it tells another story which is set close to the first in both location and time. This game tells the story of Hawke which spans a ten year period from which they work up from being a refugee to become The Champion. Unlike the first game the graphics in Dragon Age II range from good to really impressive, once you progress into the city section the graphics improve greatly. One problem with the game was the lack of variety with some of the locations. In this installment the game engine has been vastly improved over the original. The reviewer summed up by saying the game is engaging and well realized fantasy game, and gave it 9 out of 10. Evan Narcisse over at Techland has also reviewed Dragon Age II and liked the way you can tweak your player's abilities and equipment. He also liked the combat and squad control which was felt to be a big improvement over Origins. Not normally liking fantasy type games found his opinion changing thanks to Dragon Age II, and gave the game 9.7 out of 10. CVG have rounded up some prices for UK gamers and are reporting that Amazon and HMV have it on Xbox 360 and PS3 for £38.89. Slightly cheaper is Zavvi who are charging £37.85 for the console version and £27.85 for PC. In the US Walmart is charging $59.96 for both the Xbox360 and PS3 versions, while Amazon is offering it for $59.95. For PC and Mac it will cost you $57.99 with Amazon. Have you played the game yet? Do you know of anywhere where it is cheaper? For more coverage:
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| LG Optimus 3D: UK Release Date Update Posted: 12 Mar 2011 07:28 AM PST Back in February we provided our readers with a UK release date and pricing information for the LG Optimus 3D smartphone. However, things appear to have changed since then, and it doesn't look like we'll be seeing the highly anticipated handset until the end of May. According to Carly Page over at dialtosave.co.uk, LG has recently confirmed that the Optimus 3D handset will be released in the UK in "late May" instead of the predicted launch date of April 25th, which is the date that both Play.com and Expansys had expected it to arrive. However, if you take the impressive specs into account as well as the fact that it's the world's first fully 3D capable smartphone, I'm pretty sure it will be worth the wait. The Optimus 3D features a 4.3-inch naked eye display, and dual 5MP stereoscopic cameras. Besides the screen and the dual stereoscopic cameras, which are capable of recording three-dimensional footage, the Optimus 3D handset also comes with a dual-core 1GHz processor, 1080p video recording, DLNA and HDMI media sharing and a 1500mAh battery. As Carly notes, although it is currently available to pre-order SIM free, it will also be available on pay monthly deals with Three, T-Mobile and Orange. Are you thinking of buying the LG Optimus 3D handset? For more coverage:
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| Get Tsunami alerts straight to your iPhone Posted: 12 Mar 2011 07:00 AM PST With the terrible events that are happening right now in Japan, and the devastating affect the following Tsunami which can lead to disruption in a far wider area. Applications can give people warnings so they can hopefully avoid the affect areas a Tsunami can hit. iTsunami 1.0 is available for owners of the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. This application is the only one on the App Store which uses Push Notification for Tsunami alerts. The alerts come from any of the four alert feeds around the world. Users can actually view the broadcasted alert, and check the NOAA webpage. Alerts can be viewed on a map with their location indicated from within the app. Other features include the ability to email any alerts received, receive live feeds direct from NOAA of the most recent Tsunamis, and the ability to define Push Notification which will give you the latest news and information. iTsunami 1.0 is available worldwide on the App Store for only $0.99/£0.59. iOS 3.1.3 or later required. For more coverage:
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| Daylight savings time 2011, when gadgets fail Posted: 12 Mar 2011 06:57 AM PST You have to wonder why we still carry on with daylight savings time in 2011, there was a great need for it in U.S. and UK history, but today daylight saving doesn't seem such a good idea in our opinion. Feel free to disagree or agree. When it comes to your gadgets and home safety there is some good advice you should follow around this time of year, first up its recommended that you replace batteries in your clocks and smoke detectors every so often, and daylight savings is a good time to do that. Wired gadgets do not have this problem as they change the time themselves, normally via an internal calendar. More advanced gadgets like cell phones keep the process even simpler by keeping the correct time via the phone signal, so as you move between time zones and daylight saving time, the clock changes. Cell phones have their problems too, you only need to look at the iPhone alarm clock issues from last year, when people were waking up late (In the UK and Australia) after the iPhone alarm went off one hour later after daylight saving. Maybe keeping that old alarm clock is a good idea, just in case. What gadgets do you rely on for automatic daylight saving, and what do you think of the whole changing time thing? Have you ever been let down by gadgets during the daylight saving time change? For more coverage:
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| New Apple Rumors, iPhone 5 Engineering Photo and Nano History Posted: 12 Mar 2011 06:26 AM PST We touched on the potential launch lines for an iPhone 5 release earlier today, and chances are they will be the biggest yet, if we do not see advance preorders being allowed. We have some information on a new iPhone 5 photo now. One blog, Ideals China, has managed to get their hands on some engineering photos that they claim are for the new iPhone 5, and like all Apple rumors, they cannot be confirmed. Although the black photos do match up to claims of an edge-to-edge display being used for iPhone 5, which is also being claimed by some of the more solid news sites. Ideals China has listed a lot more photos than just the recent engineering ones, they also have a diary going back many months for iPhone Nano rumors as well, its nice to see all these rumors in one place, especially visually. Although the site was very slow to load when we tried moments ago. Have a look at the iPhone 5 photo diary, and let us know your thoughts. Do you expect an iPhone Nano in 2011, or an edge-to-edge display? For more coverage:
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| Electronics companies start to feel affect of Japan earthquake Posted: 12 Mar 2011 06:21 AM PST Following the terrible events that have been happening in Japan, which has sadly caused loss of life and damage, electronic companies have been revealing how it is also affecting them. Japan is home to some of the world's biggest electronic makers, and many European and US tech companies have operations in Japan. Last year Japanese factories produced $216 billion worth of electronic products according to a report on Cnet by Lance Whitney. These companies have only just started assessing damage and Sony has ceased production at six of its premises in the Tohoku region of northeastern Japan. The operations affected produced Blu-ray discs and players, magnetic tapes, and lithium ion batteries. Sony has one factory which was flooded on the ground floor, after it was hit by the tsunami in Miyagi. Meanwhile Panasonic has facilities close to the quakes hardest hit areas, and have reported that some employees suffered minor injuries following the collapsing of a ceiling. Other companies which have suffered major disruption to production include Sanyo, Sharp, and Mitsubishi. As Japan begins the clear up from this terrible natural disaster, it will be keen to get its economy back up and running so it can aid in rebuilding the great country. For more coverage:
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| Rainbow Moon: New Strategic RPG Game Coming to PSN Posted: 12 Mar 2011 05:59 AM PST If you own a PlayStation 3 and you enjoy playing Strategy-RPG games, then we may have some rather exciting news for you. Video game publisher eastasiasoft has just announced that a new SideQuest Studios-developed game called Rainbow Moon is coming to the PSN at some point. As Tyler Minarik over at playstationlifestyle.net recently noted, the Rainbow Moon game follows the story of a young man named Baldren who is cursed by his nemesis and teleported to Rainbow Moon. His arrival appears to open a dimensional gate, allowing monsters to come through and cause chaos. Baldren is then faced with the task of closing the portal, restoring order and hopefully returning home. The game's complex story mode provides players with around 25 hours of gameplay, but extends to over 100 hours when you include all the side quests and character development. The Rainbow Moon game features a grid turn-based combat system and over 15 different terrains, including mountains, mud, grassland, desert and snow. There are a total of six playable main characters in the game, all with upgradable weapons, armor and accessories. It also comes with detailed online stats, which keeps a track of each gamer's progress. Although we haven't got a specific release window yet, we do know that the game is expected to arrive in the Q4 of this year. Are you a fan of strategy-RPG titles? For more coverage:
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