In the release of the Samsung GALAXY S 4 you’ll have noticed the look and feel of the device to be largely similar to what we’ve experienced before with the Samsung Galaxy S III and the Note series after the Note II. This is done to keep you in the Samsung natural-feeling aesthetic, one that’s proven itself to be monumentally successful over the past year in many products.

This device works with a 5-inch display and has had its bezel minimized – it’s smaller than it’s been on any Samsung device before. This minimized battery creates a feeling that you’re using one massive display rather than a display embedded in a smartphone. Covering the display you’ll find the most advanced reinforced protection with Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3.

This viewing experience is enhanced to the max with Full HD Super AMOLED display technology. You’ll be working with 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution, that’s 441 PPI across the 5-inch display and by far the sharpest smart device display offered by Samsung thus far. This is also one of the sharpest displays on a smartphone in the industry today, right up next to the HTC One (468 PPI) and the DROID DNA (440 PPI).

As for photography and videography equipment, you’ll be starting with a 13 megapixel rear-facing camera and a 2 megapixel front-facing camera. These cameras work with a set of new software outlined in the timeline below, specifically in the “Enjoyment” section – a must-see!

Inside you’ll find that the battery is more powerful than before (2600 mAh, mind you) while the overall device is thinner than the Galaxy S III. The GALAXY S4 weighs in at 130g and is slim as ever with just 7.9mm to its name.

The GALAXY S4 is lighter than its predecessor and it’s more powerful “in all ways” as Samsung notes. This device works with a Qualcomm quad-core processor clocked at 1.6GHz as well as a Samsung Exynos 1.6Ghz “Octa” processor depending on where you get the device – you’ll know final location and hardware when release information is final in your area of the planet.

You’ll also be backed up by 2GB RAM per the standard fare in essentially every top-tier smartphone on the market today. The GALAXY S4 will be released in three different internal storage capacities, 16, 32, and 64GB, each of these coming with a microSD card slot for 64GB memory expansion. Depending on the carrier you’re working with, one, two, or all three versions will be available to you starting in early April, 2013.

As the GALAXY S4 supports HSPA+42 Mbps as well as 4G LTE, you’ll find this device released on many – if not all – of your favorite carriers around the world. Inside the USA we’ll see the device released on each of the top four mobile carriers as well as Cricket, the cutest of the USA carriers.

Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean will be coming with the device right out of the box with the company’s newest version of TouchWiz integrated for a fully Samsung-friendly experience. For more information on the software side of this device, you’ll want to check out the four pillars of excellence mentioned in the first paragraph of this post. Each of these four pillars can be found in the timeline below – check it out!

Facebook speaks up on the changes

What you’ll want to see first is Facebook’s designers speaking up about the changes they’ve made themselves. They’re always good at making the case for a positive forward movement, and today’s video is no exception. They’ll speak up here about each of the three main points this change is pushing before we go through them one by one.

Rich Stories

Design choices throughout this new iteration of the News Feed on Facebook show the company to be coming to terms with the idea that images are king. If you post a photo, you’ll find that you’ve got the largest preview showing in your News Feed that Facebook has ever shown before – along with Like, Comment, and Share buttons right below in newly smoothed-out sections. If two people become friends, you’ll see one of them in a tiny icon and the other represented by not just their icon, but their header image as well.

When you see a link being shared, you’ll also see a short list of icons associated with the people who have shared it on Facebook as well. Hovering over one of these icons expands the rest – this element is in place to have people finding new friends with similar interest, of course. Along those same lines you’ll find Upcoming Events appearing next to single dates – Fridays, for example, will be of particular interest.

Finally you’ll see newly revamped posts from pages – this will be great for pages such as SlashGear (http://www.facebook.com/SlashGear) for appearing in your News Feed in a newly sleek setup. As with the rest of the feature updates, this redesign is much more simplistic than it’s been in the past.

Choice of Feeds

With a new pull-down menu that reads “News Feed” until you switch it, you’ll be able to select from any of the following to syphon your feed down to just the items you want: Most Recent, All Friends, Photos, Music, Following, Games, or Groups. This filter will be working in both the desktop (web browser) and mobile user interfaces soon – simple and smooth.

This filter will not be the first time you’ll be seeing a page that only shows photos and videos, but it is the first time we’re seeing Facebook push the “Following” aspect in a completely separate way. You can follow people on Facebook without friending them – this is good for “famous” users and the like – with this filter you’ll be able to see things that they share with the public and nothing else. This is much closer to what we see on Twitter on the daily – not so much the personal friendliness of Facebook.

Mobile Consistency

Both the desktop and the mobile editions of this change-over are going to be pushed almost at the same time. The desktop version will be coming first – with a limited roll-out starting today, the day of the update’s announcement. The mobile version – for iOS and Android at once, mind you – will be out in coming weeks.

The “Mobile Consistency” title refers also to the idea that the design for both user interfaces are now much more close to one another than they’ve ever been before. The biggest addition to the desktop end of things is the left-hand sidebar – get anywhere you need to from any Facebook nook or cranny, no more need to go all the way back to the News Feed every time!

UltraPixel Sensor

HTC is bringing what it calls its first UltraPixel sensor to the market with the HTC One, showing off the full setup in the image you see below. This image shows the HTC ImageChip architecture (not unlike what we saw with each of the HTC One models in the past), the UltraPixel Sensor itself, an f/2.0 Aperture, and the HTC One’s lens. With the UltraPixel sensor, you’ll now be working with larger pixels than the average camera.

With the UltraPixel Sensor collecting UltraPixel-sized pixels, you’ll be getting the ability to capture “300% more light than many of the 13 megapixel cameras on the market.” Each pixel contains more light and more data than ever before, all this with a sensor whose size is equivalent to that of a standard 8MP or 13MP smartphone camera. This UltraPixel Sensor is a CMOS BSI and is classified as having a 1/3′ sensor size.

Each photo you’re going to be taking will be 2688 x 1520 pixels in size on the HTC One at a 16:9 aspect ratio, and you’ve got a 5 piece lens element setup with a focal length of 3.82mm. Each one of the pixels you’re picking up here is a 2.0 micrometer UltraPixel. These pixels have “effectively” twice the surface area of the standard pixels you’re working with on 8MP and 13MP setups, those being generally 1.4 micrometers and 1.1 micrometers respectively.

In effect, you’ve got the same size photo, but instead of creating smaller pixels to fill the area as larger megapixel cameras are doing, HTC is creating larger pixels to fill the area. This results in the HTC One’s camera being 4MP strong, but creating photos that are the same size – and better quality – than the larger megapixel solutions. File sizes are smaller for the HTC-taken photos here as well.

HTC ImageChip

With the newest edition of HTC’s own ISP (Image Signal Processor), you’ll find that the HTC ImageChip feature collection has expanded since the HTC One X arrived on the scene right around a year ago with ImageSense. The first big innovation is a rather speedy 200ms full distance scan for use with Continuous Auto Focus. That’s quicker than a human blink – you’ll have a harder time being out of focus than you will getting instant focus.

Next you’ll find Real-Time Video HDR – with a dynamic range that can be cranked up to a lovely -92dB, you’ll be able to “match the human eye capability” as you capture interlaced frames at 60fps. You’ve what HTC notes is “always on” HDR here for video, even at HD 1080p. Due to the nature of the curved lens, darker spots appear near the edge of your photos almost no matter what – HTC has compensated for this with an algorithm designed specifically for the HTC One’s hardware.

This newest HTC ImageChip also works with de-noise processing on both the front and the back-facing camera on the HTC One. With this simple concentration of effort, HTC says noise is cleanly removed at all times.

f/2.0 Aperture

HTC shows quite simply how the HTC One uses the largest of three apertures available in some of the best selling smartphones on the market today, with the Galaxy S III working with an f/2.6 and the iPhone 5 utilizing an f/2.4. With the HTC One’s f/2.0 size, one whole heck of a lot more light is able to be let in, this resulting in better results in low-light photo conditions.

Optical Image Stabilization

The HTC One’s camera setup allows its camera to capture a full sized photo as fast as 1/48 of a second. This compares with the current market standard of 1/30 of a second, that speed also the best the HTC One X can do currently. Along with this you’ve now got a real-deal physical optical image stabilizer (OIS) on the HTC One working with the smartphone’s dedicated imaging gyroscope.

With its own OIS, the HTC One’s lens physically moves according to what the dedicated imaging gyroscope tells it, this countering the inevitable shake that happens when someone takes a photo without a tripod. This OIS is different from the more common digital stabilization used on many competitor model solutions, those solutions opting to cut out shaking bits of the photo, reducing the resolution of the photo in the process.

The HTC One’s OIS works at an “unprecedented” frequency of 2000Hz and has been made small enough to fit inside the HTC One’s relatively thin chassis. Working on two axis, this OIS detects pitch and yaw movements and counters them at 2000 times a second. Video quality is also significantly improved over past solutions as the OIS effectively removes background shakes and mimics smooth panning, top to bottom.

More on the HTC One

Below you’ll find a timeline of HTC One hands-on or otherwise in-depth explorations from SlashGear. We’ll also have a full review of the HTC One up sooner than later, so be sure to stick around for the big drop! Seeya then!

Tegra 4i vs Tegra 4

While the Tegra 4i (codename: “Grey” up until this week) is handling massive amounts of smartphones across the market across the world, NVIDIA’s Tegra 4 (originally called codename: “Wayne”) will be handling Tablets and what NVIDIA calls Superphones. This is a term NVIDIA has been using since all the way back when the original Motorola ATRIX was introduced to define their forward-looking approach to mobile computing. With Grey, NVIDIA retains a power greater than that of the Tegra 3 and gives it a boost while an i500 modem is integrated in with it.

The Tegra 4i works with R4 ARM A9 CPU architecture, this still employing 4-PLUS-1 technology with a fifth battery-saver core that works with low-power tasks for battery conservation. This is compared with the Tegra 4 which works with four ARM A15 cores (plus a fifth with the same technology onboard). The Tegra 4i also works with a 60 Core GPU arrangement rather than the 72 Core setup the Tegra 4 has.

Sizing up Tegra 4i

This little beast known as the Tegra 4i is what NVIDIA calls the “highest performing single chip smartphone processor [in the world]” when this article is published. While we’ll only be able to test this for ourselves when we’ve gotten our hands on the hardware, it would appear that their first show of power relies on the power per millimeter squared results from NV R&D, as you’ll see in a press deck shot here:

NVIDIA also shows a comparison between the S800 Krait CPU (used in some key competitor processors, mind you) and the CPUs of both the Tegra 4 and 4i. You’ll see here that the max Perf and Perf / clock are superior on the Tegra 4, while the size of the core is smallest on the Tegra 4i’s R4 A9 CPU, as is what NVIDIA says will be the raw ability to conserve battery power. It’s the Perf per millimeter squared, again, that shows the intense power of the Tegra 4i, working at more than double the ability of the Tegra 4 (based on size ratio, of course).

With Tegra 4i you’ve got a a new quad-core architecture with ARM R4 A9 cores clocked at 2.3GHz each. You’ve got your integrated i500 (Icera, that is) modem, and 60 GPU cores. Inside you’ve also got an integrated video engine, image signal processor, optimized memory interface, and some fabulous computational photography architecture (going by the name “NVIDIA Chimera”) as well.

NVIDIA Chimera

With the NVIDIA Tegra 4i we’re seeing another revelation in the abilities of the Tegra 4 family (including Tegra 4 and 4i at this point) to shoot great photos. With the reveal of the Tegra 4i, we’ve been shown (in brief) not only that this processor will enable phones to work with NVIDIA Chimera’s “Always On HDR”, but “Tap to Track” and “HDR Pano” as well. This is also the first time we’ve heard the brand “NVIDIA Chimera” attached to the suite of computational photography architecture features.

With Tap to Track you’ll be able to tap on your device’s viewfinder to keep focus and lighting based on a single object – and not just a person. Tap to Track is able to lock on to any kind of object and will retain a sensor on that object as long as it (or they) remain in view. This will be fabulous for tracking a soccer ball, for example.

With HDR Pano you’ll be working with panographic photos that collect multiple exposures instantly – not unlike the Tegra 4′s previously announced Always On HDR. Here you’ll get vibrant and wonderfully thick-colored panographic photos every time you shoot.

Phoenix Reference Phone Platform

With the Tegra 4i, NVIDIA begins creating reference platforms for each new processor. In this case it means you’ll be seeing a 5-inch display-toting smartphone with 1080p resolution across the front, an 8mm thin body, and 4G LTE connectivity. This device also works with PRISM 2, DirectTouch, and the full-on Tegra 4i build for NVIDIA Chimera Computational Photography Architecture use – snap away!

Wrap-up

In the end with the Tegra 4i you’ve got the second wing in a flying processor bird that is NVIDIA’s next-generation Tegra 4 family. With the NVIDIA Tegra 4i the company has presented their solution for entering the mass market in a way they’ve not attempted in the past. With this release, the Tegra smartphone floodgates can officially be opened.

Have a peek at the timeline below to gain more insight into what the Tegra 4 family is bringing to the market in the coming weeks and months. Expect the NVIDIA Tegra 4i to be in smartphones within the next few months and mass adoption to be on the market around the start of 2014.

This structure also works for the Mac App Store. If you head to http://appstore.com/mac/osxmountainlion/, you’ll be taken to the Mac App Store’s listing of OS X Mountain Lion, also launching the Mac App Store as the iTunes App Store links launch the iTunes app. This shortened link structure includes both names of apps and names of companies. You’ll be able to link to link in three different ways to two different kinds of final locations as follows:

http://appstore.com/companyname/

http://appstore.com/appname/

As the iOS Developer Library lets us know, each of these also works with the “mac” inserted to head to the Mac App Store instead of the iTunes App Store. The Mac App Store, for those of you that don’t know, is made for desktop apps rather than mobile apps – while your iPhone apps come from the iTunes App Store, your MacBook apps come from the Mac App Store.

http://appstore.com/mac/companyname/

http://appstore.com/mac/appname/

The way you’ll get the correct app or company name for this structure is to remove all whitespace, make sure all letters are lower-case, and make sure all copyright, trademark, and registered mark symbols are taken out. You’ll be replacing the ampersand with the word “and”, and all of the following punctuation must be removed: “!¡”#$%’()*+,\-./:;< =>¿?@[\]^_`{|}~”. You’ll need to replace all accented and “decorated” character with their most basic form (elemental character) while all other characters are left as is. So make your title as basic as possible and it should, by all means, link easily.

Above: Star Trek Into Darkness trailer displays first-ever appearance of an AppStore.com/ vanity url.

If you have trouble finding the correct structure for your app or company on either app store, be sure to let Apple know at http://developer.apple.com/bugreporter. There you’ll want to tell them the full current or desired URL you’re hoping to work with, the countries your app or company works in, and the iTunes-generated long URL you’ve been working with up until now (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app…). You can get this longer URL by right-clicking or control-clicking the little triangle next to the app’s price in your respective app store and selecting the “Copy Link” option.

Sound all good to you? Let us know if you’re pumped up about this simple yet powerful measure Apple is taking to keep links to their app stores clean and quick!

First off, make sure your iOS device is compatible with the iOS 6.1 jailbreak before you go any further. By this point, you might already know, but if not, a majority of iOS devices will be compatible. The ones that won’t be supported are the iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G, first- through third-generation iPod Touch, first-generation iPad, and the third-generation Apple TV.

If you’re still running iOS 5.1 and are jailbroken, it’s a good idea to make sure all of your Cydia tweaks are compatible with iOS 6.1 before you upgrade. Open up the Cydia app and start listing out the tweaks that you use, skimming through each tweak’s description to see if it’s compatible with iOS 6.1. Most of the time, the developer will mention some sort of warning if it’s not compatible.

Once you know which tweaks will and won’t work, decide at that point whether or not it’s worth it to upgrade, and be sure to keep in mind if iOS 6’s new features are also worth it. If any of the new features introduced in iOS 6 aren’t personally pleasing to you, it might be a good idea to just stick with iOS 5.1 anyway if you have an older iOS device.

If you’ve made it this far, then we’re assuming you’re ready to upgrade to iOS 6.1 and jailbreak your device. Go ahead and update through iTunes — DO NOT update OTA. One of the dev team members confirmed that the OTA iOS 6.1 update will have some issues with jailbreaking. Once you’re updated, you’ll then want to make sure you have an up-to-date backup using iCloud or iTunes. Not only will this backup save your butt when the jailbreak goes wrong, but it’ll also be useful when you need to restore apps and settings back to your device after you jailbreak. You’ll also want a backup of all your Cydia packages if you’re currently jailbroken, for which OpenBackup is perfect for this. Make sure you backup these Cydia tweaks before you upgrade to iOS 6.1, because you’ll lose your jailbreak once you update.

Once the iOS 6.1 jailbreak hits, you’ll then want to decide whether to do a clean jailbreak install, or jailbreak your device while keeping all your apps and settings intact. A fresh install will be quicker, and it’s a great way to start with a clean slate if you have a ton of clutter, but you can also use those backups to restore apps, settings, and Cydia tweaks. On the other hand, jailbreaking with your apps and settings intact takes longer, but you won’t need to restore any backups if everything goes smoothly. Be sure to decide which route you want to go before you start the process.

The Evad3rs dev team plans to release the iOS 6.1 untethered jailbreak sometime on Sunday. We’re not sure what time exactly the jailbreak will become available, but we’ll make an announcement when the time comes. You can head to the dev team’s website now and read through the FAQ and other notices they have posted. Hopefully, we’ll see the jailbreak earlier in the day before the Super Bowl, that way we can enjoy the game with our brand-new jailbroken devices, but we’ll simply have to wait and see. However, thanks to your preparations, you’ll be ready to go right away.

Vine is an app that allows you to record videos from your smartphone or tablet device (though it’s optimized for smartphones) in segments or all at once. You can hold your finger down on the screen (also a viewfinder) to record one long 6 second video, or you can hold it down in bursts, recording as many short moments as you like inside 6 seconds total. These videos are processed extremely rapidly and are able to be uploaded to the internet (hosted by Vine) quickly as well.

Once you’ve created a video in Vine, you have the option to do several things with it, the first being absolutely nothing at all:

1. Save only to your device, a 6 second video existing on your smart device on its own.
2. Upload to Vine only.
3. Upload to Vine and share on Twitter.
4. Upload to Vine and share on Facebook.
5. Upload to Vine and share on Twitter and Facebook at the same time.

At the moment unless you exit the Vine app and upload the resulting video through some other non-Vine service, you’ll need to upload to Vine in order to see your video shared anywhere else. Also at the moment the two services you’re able to share with (besides the app-centric Vine itself) are Facebook and Twitter. Vine is very similar to the app Instagram in that you’re able to create media and share it only with your other friends in-app, but unlike that environment, Vine makes no effort to hide the fact that everything you upload to the web is, indeed, entirely public.

If you upload anything you record with Vine to the internet, it will be public. That’s the long and short of it. According to Vine’s Privacy Policy, anything you choose to share with Vine is considered information (and media) that you choose to be made public. This includes data of all kinds, video, location information, the profile you create, and everything in-between.

If you like Vine but you’d rather create your miniature moving images in gif form (that’s less like a video and more like a moving photo file), you may want to check out Cinemagram. They’ve been open for business for many months at this point and have just (this week) revealed a new way to create media called “Shorts” which combine several of their own “cine” clips to create a mini movie – that’s not a coincidental release at all – no way!

You’ll be able to download Vine from the iTunes App Store right this minute for free, if you feel the urge to jump in on this mini movie party – it’s optimized for iPhone and iPod touch, but you can use it on your iPad too if you don’t mind the tiny layout. This app will almost certainly be coming to Android very soon, and we wouldn’t be surprised if Windows Phone 8 got a taste of the joy before Summer rolls around.

In a Nutshell

The Facebook Graph Search bar will be appearing (or already exists) at the top of your Facebook page and works with instant suggestions based on what you type. You can search for people, photos, places, and interests – that’s what Facebook suggests – but your imagination can run wild with keywords. Example searches include the following:

• Photos of my friends in Minnesota
• People who like SlashGear and live nearby
• Tourist attractions in England visited by my friends
• Photos before 2005
• Italian restaurants in Montana my friends have liked
• My Friends who work at SlashGear

Use Cases

Those of you who just started using Facebook in the last few years – or even the last few days – probably have been frustrated that there’s not a single search bar that’s been able to do what Graph Search is suggesting here this week. With such a massive treasure trove of information in Facebook, it was only a matter of time before the developers on Facebook’s team revealed something such as this.

You’ll be able to use this tool to discover restaurants – search for restaurants in your area that your friends have liked (or have just been to). Use this tool to find friends who may want to go cycling with you in the Spring (friends of friends or friends you never knew liked their bike!) If you’re heading to a new city you’ve never been to before, search for photos of your friends in that city and ask those friends for advice on what to see!

This is an exploration tool as Facebook presents it. We’ll have to see later this year what it’ll become in the hands of the public.

Privacy

Your privacy in all of this remains the same, or so Facebook notes – this being true so far as your privacy settings are still in place, and nothing you’ve made private is able to be searched for or seen. If you’d rather not have someone realizing you’ve been to Italy 20 times over the course of 10 years and are only able to hide this fact due to the difficulty someone would have putting together all your albums at once before Graph Search exists, you might want to do something about it.

Facebook took the time (above) to show you how Privacy works with Graph Search, publishing the video you see here before the special event revealing Graph Search was even complete. Make sure you watch the whole thing and put your mind at ease! For those of you that want to go through your history piece by piece to take out the old connections you’re not proud of or otherwise want to destroy, hit up your [Activity Log] and chop away!

When Graph Search will be available to you

At the time of this article’s publishing, there’s a website at http://www.facebook.com/about/graphsearch where you can hit a button that’ll add you to a waiting list. This waiting list will be addressed person by person, giving each of them an invite to Graph Search beta. Zuckerberg himself noted that the service would be rolled out to users over the coming weeks and months at a speed relative to the interest they see in its use and any problems they encounter as it rolls out.

Be sure to check our our full collection of SlashGear 101 posts in our lovely SlashGear 101 tag portal right this minute – get educated!

Television Shows

With TVii you’re going to be able to look up your favorite television shows with the Search function, keep the programs you like and check for new episodes with Favorites, and look for new programs with the “TV” section on your GamePad. Like the rest of the media you’ll be accessing with TVii, you’ll be accessing all of your favorite TV shows with the GamePad.

Once you find a show you want to watch, TVii brings you out to several optional connected services including your existing cable or satellite channels (if you have them connected through your WiiU), Netflix, Hulu Plus, or Amazon Instant Video. You can also work with your TiVo DVR – again, if you have it connected through your WiiU.

You can either connect through a show – picking it and watching it on-demand – or you can select from a collection of channels which includes MSNBC, Animal Planet, Fox News, ESPN, and more.

Movies

Selecting and working with Movies is extremely similar to working with your TV shows interface save the fact that you’re not working with TV channels, just movies with in-demand services. Movies are generally found only with Hulu Plus, Netflix, and Amazon Instant Video. It’s important to note that though TVii is a free service, you still need to pay for Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, and your internet data where applicable.

Sports

It may seem a bit odd that next to TV and Movies you’ll find a button for Sports – a category that anywhere else would be included under the TV roof. Nintendo has this category up out in the open because they’ve got deals worked out with the providers of the sports programming they’ve got on-hand that goes above and beyond what’s offered with Movies and TV shows.

When enter the Sports category, you’ll be able to select from Football, Baseball, and Basketball – and we’re sure that someday the Nintendo family will recognize the most played and popular sport across the planet: Soccer (or Futball, as it were). For now you’ll be working withe the American egg tossing sport and will have interactive action at your fingertips the likes of which you’ve never seen before with any other television console.

Inside of a game you’ve got the ability to see the game with plays on a flat “gameboard” sort of interface, you can see statistics as they happen, player ranks, and scores. This information comes in a user interface on the GamePad that you’re able to access separate from the game playing on your big screen, here giving you the ability to interact with the game and share the bits you like while you’re watching. You can connect with friends who also work with a Wii U live, chat, and share replays.

Perhaps most oddly of all, you’re able to see related content to the game when you’re in it including offers to purchase items and services. One fabulous example is what you see above: a Football Stadium Chip and Dip Serving Set – buy it from your couch!

Favorites

You’ve got connections to each of your WiiU profiles in Favorites, each of them showing which shows and Movies that have been seen by each of the people using your device. In the future we’re expecting more interaction with Mii profiles across the web as well. Watch out for Grandma’s favorites and hope she’s not watching Texas Chainsaw Massacre again.

Remote

Of course there’s the standard remote control as well – from here you’re able to control your live TV as well as change the volume, switch through channels and episodes, and control basically everything from a collection of spin-dials.

Have a peek at the Nintendo-made hands-on presentation here and get pumped up about the release – WiiU’s Nintendo TVii is coming down as an update to your console this week!

Instagram itself recommends one tool, Instaport, which allows users to download either all or a subset of their photos. Currently that’s as a ZIP file, though Instaport says RSS options and Flickr imports are in the pipeline too. It’s also possible to download based on tags (up to a maximum of 500 shots) and download those photos shared by friends that you’ve favorited.

OpenPhoto takes a slightly different approach, and is a far more flexible tool than Instaport. It allows users to extract their Instagram shots – as well as those from other sites – and upload them to a personal gallery on Amazon S3, in Dropbox, or on your own computer. Mac users wary of web services can turn to InstaBackup, a free app that runs on OS X and saves a local copy of all images onto your computer.

Finally, Copygram is more about getting real prints of Instagram shots, but also includes a back-up option that allows you to create a ZIP download of all your content on the service. It’s possible to save all the shots you’ve ever taken, or the most recent (from 10 to 10,000).

Once you’ve actually pulled your photos, you’ll then need to delete your account using Instagram’s tool. Head over to the account deletion page - log in, if you’re not logged in already – and follow the steps there to wipe your digital presence from their servers. Be warned, though, not only can Instagram not restore your data should you have a change of mind, you also won’t be able to re-activate your old username:

“When you delete your account, your photos, comments, likes, and friendships (everything) will be removed permanently and will not be recoverable. We cannot reactivate accounts. Additionally, you will not be able to sign up with the same username again” Instagram

Most of the Instagram data-extraction tools are getting hammered amidst the rush of people hoping to leave the service, so it’s worth noting that the new terms of service don’t actually come into effect until mid-January 2013. There’s still plenty of time to close down your account before then, so if you’re struggling to do it now, you could always add a reminder in your diary to check back when things should have quieted down in a few days time.

Of course, rather than ditching Instagram altogether, another approach is to recognize that a little flexibility is the price you pay for a free service. Instagram – and new owners Facebook – are arguably unlikely to make a fortune licensing out those heavily-filtered Starbucks mugs you’ve got into the habit of snapping; is the risk of having one of your shots used worth being able to take advantage of all Instagram’s other features without a monthly subscription?

There are several segments in the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use posted this week that will take effect starting on the 16th of January, 2013. The first of these bits of text is right up at the start of the Privacy Policy with “User Content” attached to it. This is where Instagram/Facebook tells you what you must understand from the moment you log in to Instagram:

By using our Service you understand and agree that we are providing a platform for you to post content, including photos, comments and other materials (“User Content”), to the Service and to share User Content publicly. This means that other Users may search for, see, use, or share any of your User Content that you make publicly available through the Service, consistent with the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use (which can be found at http://instagram.com/legal/terms).

This means first that you, by signing into Instagram, agree that you’re posting your content publicly. The follow-up clause there simply states that users other than yourselves also have the right to access the content you share “consistent with the terms and conditions” of the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use – this is vague enough to fit many, many different models as the rest of the Privacy Policy text as well as the Terms of Use say many different things about your content that, taken alone, could mean very different things. Next is a piece of the 1 INFORMATION WE COLLECT segment of the Privacy Policy, right under “Information you provide us directly:”

“User Content (e.g., photos, comments, and other materials) that you post to the Service.”

This means, basically, that Instagram acknowledges the fact that they host the photos you post. Also in the Privacy Policy is a rule about what Privacy actually means, hinging it on the ability of an app (whichever app you’re using) to make it “private” and leaving it at that – this alleviates Instagram from fault should the app you’re using make your photo public on accident – or if Instagram prefers, public because the app in question hasn’t agreed with them on what “private” really means.

“Any information or content that you voluntarily disclose for posting to the Service, such as User Content, becomes available to the public, as controlled by any applicable privacy settings that you set.”

Added in this privacy section is a note on how your photos will likely live on forever, no matter what you do:

“If you remove information that you posted to the Service, copies may remain viewable in cached and archived pages of the Service, or if other Users or third parties using the Instagram API have copied or saved that information.”

Then there’s the big doozy: in the Rights section in Instagram’s new Terms of Use, number one on the list essentially grants Instagram (and Facebook) rights over your photos from top to bottom. Note the vagueness of the limits and the pointing back toward the Privacy Policy which, again, is vague in and of itself enough to have you speaking in legal circles.

“Instagram does not claim ownership of any Content that you post on or through the Service. Instead, you hereby grant to Instagram a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide license to use the Content that you post on or through the Service, except that you can control who can view certain of your Content and activities on the Service as described in the Service’s Privacy Policy, available here: http://instagram.com/legal/privacy/.”

Then there’s the lovely pointed length of text guaranteeing the Instagram and Facebook team the right to use not only your photos, but your own likeness, name, username, and metadata as well to sell to “a business or other entity” of any kind “to help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions.” That’s the part where Instagram and Facebook own (and can sell) all of your photos.

“Some or all of the Service may be supported by advertising revenue. To help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions, you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you. If you are under the age of eighteen (18), or under any other applicable age of majority, you represent that at least one of your parents or legal guardians has also agreed to this provision (and the use of your name, likeness, username, and/or photos (along with any associated metadata)) on your behalf.”

And just for good measure, Instagram has made it clear that they don’t have to tell you when they’re working with paid services, sponsored content, or anything of the like:

“You acknowledge that we may not always identify paid services, sponsored content, or commercial communications as such.”

What do you think? Sound like a set of rules that might have you thinking twice about taking photos of your prized unique napkin drawing? Or do you just take photos of objects and people you don’t mind being sold without your consent and for profit with no monetary compensation given to you for the work?

The two craft still flying above the heavenly body as this article is published have reached a point at which their usefulness is no longer greater than their potential for giving us information on remaining fuel supplies. At the moment its also true that the exact amount of fuel that either craft has inside it is not known precisely, this knowledge being part of the endgame of the crash.

The image you see above is of the moon (surprise!) showing “Lunar Heritage Sites” as well as the final mile the GRAIL team will be flying along – starting down there at the South of the moon and crashing right up near the top, circled in red. Below you’ll see just about as detailed a look as you’re going to get of the impact site – the actual crash won’t be visible as it’ll be in relative dark as it happens. Images from NASA/GSFC.

The crashes will occur in order with Ebb reaching solid moon surface at approximately 2:28:40 p.m. PST. The craft known as Flow will reach the surface right around 20 seconds after Ebb has landed. Both craft have been flying “in formation” according to NASA since January 1st, 2012.

“Our lunar twins may be in the twilight of their operational lives, but one thing is for sure, they are going down swinging. Even during the last half of their last orbit, we are going to do an engineering experiment that could help future missions operate more efficiently.” – GRAIL project manager David Lehman of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California

The final descent that these craft will be making will have depletion burn of their fuel reserves in a way that makes them skim the surface of the moon until “the elevated terrain of the target mountain gets in their way.” In other words, yes, they will literally be crashing into a moon mountain. Lehman continued, “We’ve had our share of challenges during this mission and always come through in flying colors, but nobody I know around here has ever flown into a moon mountain before. It’ll be a first for us, that’s for sure.”

Above: Ebb and Flow points of impact on both of their friendly moon mountain resting places. Image from NASA/JPL-Caltech/MIT/GSFC.

The original set of tasks set forth for Ebb and Flow included capturing gravity field maps of the moon, they having generated the highest-resolution gravity field map of any celestial body to date. Congratulations, Ebb and Flow! You did well! Now it’s time for you to crash into a moon mountain at 3,760 mph (1.7 kilometers per second) – have fun!

With Miracast being an “industry standard”, you can expect many brands to pick it up soon if they don’t already have it integrated now. Miracast is a technology that’s built in to devices – it’s not a device in and of itself. Miracast certification has begun for devices of many kinds, so you can expect not just displays to have it integrated, but receivers that will plug in through your HDMI port instead – this working for legacy displays.

Manufacturer Adoption

One of the companies that has adopted Miracast as their wireless standard is NVIDIA – another is Texas Instruments. Have a peek at this hands-on video from Texas Instruments showing off Miracast working earlier this year.

Devices out Now

With devices like the Netgear Push2TV PTV3000 you’ll be able to plug directly into whatever giant monitor you’ve got right now just so long as it’s got an HDMI port – it connects to wi-fi on its own. A lovely Broadcom 5G Wi-fi chip was introduced all the way back in July of 2012 that set up for the wireless display future – that future being now, of course. The Nexus 10 (by Samsung) and the Nexus 4 (by LG) will both be released with Android 4.2 which will have Miracast capabilities built-in.

The Future

The future can actually be yours right this second if you have a way of getting ahold of a device with Android 4.2 on it – if it’s an official working build, of course – as well as a Miracast-capable display. They do exist on the market today and they’re in stores right this second. In the very near future – and throughout 2013 and forward, we must expect, Miracast will be adopted by many, many television sets as well as displays of all kinds. More wireless dongles will be created, and Android devices from all manner of manufacturers will be able to make use of this technology.

LG has dedicated themselves to Miracast for the future – that’s one brand guaranteed to have the technology in essentially all their sets throughout 2013. With the folks at the Wi-Fi Alliance backing this certification for the whole industry, we’ll see many more groups jump onboard soon. Doubly so now that Android is bringing support from the other end of the living room. Exciting times are ahead – no more getting up from the couch to plug your smartphone in to the HDMI cord for you!

But what does this all mean for you, the Starbucks user? It means that you’ll be able to pay for your drink (and your snack, if you’re into that), much quicker, simpler, and more digital than ever before – soon! While Square is already company that’s out on the market today, this meaning you can use the little square gadget they’ve made for smartphone and tablet users in stores already, they’ve got big plans for Starbucks.

First, with Starbucks investing in Square, development between the two will be advancing at a much faster pace. Once Starbucks is ready to adopt “Pay with Square” technology, they’ll be listed in Square’s system which uses GPS location technology to identify nearby Square-ready businesses. Starbucks giant investment will mean much more than likely that they’ll be featured – at least in the coffee section.

With this system, you’ll be able to “check in” at a Starbucks before you arrive.

If you are checked in, the barista has only to identify your face and match it up with the user they’ve got in the system – and there you have it. You’ll be able to order whatever you like and the cost will be charged to your account. No devices necessary outside the first check-in on your phone. No credit cards or cash needed, either, this perhaps the most important element of the whole system.

Square doesn’t currently provide businesses with purchase history, but with Square’s hopes for next-level personalization, it is possible that you’ll be able to walk in to your favorite store in the future and walk back out without even having to specify what you want.

The usual, coffee jerk!

And there you have it!

You’ll want to begin with the extremely entertaining and easy-to-understand video presented by NASA which shows how the landing will go down. This process starts with the organization that is running the whole show: the Mars Science Laboratory. This group will attempt to land the Mars rover Curiosity on the surface of the planet Mars on the 5th of August, 2012, the spacecraft carrying the rover having been launched back on the 26th of November, 2011.

Once the spacecraft is in the correct location near Mars, the lander will be launched and will be on the ground in 7 minutes. Entry, Descent, and Landing, is the sequence that will take place in 7 minutes, this sequence is also known as EDL and – in the video above – “7 minutes of terror.” This is because the signals that are being sent back to Earth telling NASA how far the landing craft has gotten take 14 minutes to arrive. In other words, the landing will take place in a span of minutes that NASA cannot see until 7 minutes after the landing -or crash – has occurred.

The sequence is marked by the following action points:

• Entry Interface
• Peak Heating
• Hypersonic Aero-Maneuvering
• Parachute Deploy
• Heatshield Separation
• Radar Data Collection
• Backshell Separation
• Powered Descent
• Sky Crane Rover Separation
• First Contact
• Touchdown

The capsule enters the atmosphere, a parachute deploys, a heat-shell separates from the craft, the backshell separates from the craft, the craft fires rockets to slow itself down, a crane lowers the rover, and the craft (minus the rover) rockets back upward and away, leaving the rover to live on Mars forever.

All of that make sense to you? It’s like a giant sandwich – the craft pulls off pieces of bread and filling as it reaches the planet, with the final component – let’s call it the pickle – being all that’s left in the end. Click the image here to see a larger version of the guide which will make it all clear – thanks NASA!

From here you’ll want to know where to watch it all go down live (delayed, of course, but just as live as you’re going to see it without actually being on Mars to watch it.) Our list of feeds can be found in the [NASA Curiosity Livestream post] created earlier this week.

Next have a peek at a collection of NASA promotions of this launch as set up and out over the past few weeks – all the way back to the first announcement of the mission back near the end of 2011!

NASA outlines obstacles to the mission while Star Trek legends all details are a go for the landing which will take place on Monday. Have a peek at William Shatner and Wil Wheaton demonstrating the sequence that will take place on Monday morning as well.

Those of you on non-PC machines will want to take a peek at the Xbox 360 Kinect game that’ll allow you to take part in the landing from your own own. On that note you’ll also want to see the iPad and iPhone apps created by NASA for at-home watchers as well. For collectors of oddities from events such as these, NASA has collaborated with Mattel toys to create a Hot Wheels rover so you can keep this Mars exploration with you on your desk forever.

After the launch is complete, you should know that NASA has confirmed that they won’t go to Mars alone when the first manned-mission takes place. And finally, for those of you that want to track this mission all the way back to our first mention of it, head to the posts on the launch, the waiting on the launch pad, and to James Cameron’s involvement in the whole project – hint: it has to do with 3D cameras – imagine that!

Also be sure to stick around here on SlashGear as we continue to cover this historic space mission with features and news bits throughout it’s on-Mars life as well!

Before you go too far, be sure to check out our [Mac OS X Mountain Lion full review] to make sure you know what you’re getting into. After you do, continue below if you still need a quick run-down of what you’ll be getting that’s above and beyond the previous version of OS X, Lion – without the Mountain.

iCloud

This feature was introduced several months ago to make connections between your desktop computer and your iDevices much simpler. Now with Mountain Lion you don’t just have to rely on your web browser to deliver your various bits of media between devices. Documents in the Cloud allows instant updating of documents between devices with this new update, these documents sitting kindly on your Mac, updating with ease.

Messages

You’ll no longer be using iChat, instead you’ll be working with the same message environment that the iPad and the iPhone use. Messages are now seamless between the iPad, the iPhone, and your Mac.

Reminders

You’ll now have the same convenient ability to leave yourself reminders that pop up whenever you want them to – these reminders also work between devices, so you can create one on one device and each of your devices will know to notify you when the time comes for your reminder to remind you.

Notes

Similar to the functionality of Reminders and Documents in iCloud, you’ve got Notes which also work in iCloud – it’s basically a very simplified version of the situation. You’ve got a stack of notes and they’re all synced no matter which device you’re on.

Notification Center

Just like your iPad and iPhone, you’ve now got a list of notifications from your apps and system. Calendar invitations will pop up independent of your email system, you’ll be able to get alerts from apps when they need or want an update, and you’ll have a quick overview of it all in the upper-right of your display whenever you want it.

Safari

Mac’s built-in standard web browser now includes a Smart Search Field with instant reaction to your typing of URLs or search terms. You’ve also got Tab View that shows off open tabs – and iCloud Tabs allow you to pick up wherever you left off in your web browser no matter which device you’re on.

Sharing

Safari is only one of several apps throughout OS X Mountain Lion that benefit from the system’s ability to instantly share a variety of elements. Built-in sharing allows you to use Mail, Messages, AirDrop, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and Vimeo to share.

Facebook

Just as it is in iOS 6 – coming to an iPad and iPhone near you soon – you’ll be able to easily work with Facebook throughout your Mac. Sign in once and you’ll have easy posting of links and photos forever more. Your Facebook friend will appear in your Contacts automatically and you’ll receive updates in your Notification Center as well.

Twitter

Like Facebook, you’ll be able to quickly access Twitter from locations throughout this updated operating system. Tweet from your apps, sign in once to be able to share with Twitter from many places throughout your Mac, and get instant integration between the people you follow on Twitter and your Contacts list.

Game Center

Just as it is on your iPhone and iPad, you’ve now got full integration with Apple’s Game Center for social networking in a purely gaming level. You’ll be able to track your achievements, connect with friends to play collaborative games, and interact with your friends using their iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

AirPlay Mirroring

This is the first version of Apple’s OS X desktop operating system that allows instant mirroring of your Mac’s display to your HDTV with your Apple TV. This wireless system allows high-definition mirroring of both your computer’s visuals and audio at once, seamlessly.

Note that AirPlay Mirroring requires that your Mac be one of the following: iMac mid-2011 or newer, Mac mini mid-2011 or newer, MacBook Air mid-2011 or newer, or MacBook Pro early 2011 or newer. Your Apple TV needs to be 2nd generation or newer as well for AirPlay Mirroring to function with OS X Mountain Lion.

Dictation

With Mountain Lion you can now speak out loud and have what you’re saying instantly typed up by the system. “Talk anywhere you can type” is their new motto, and no training or setup of any new system is required to make it all so.

Power Nap

While your Mac is sleeping, you’re now able to receive emails, software updates, calendar invites, and more. Where before if you wanted your computer to continue to keep up to date and synced with all things web-based, you’d have had to keep it awake – now you don’t. Simple as that. Note that Power Nap only works MacBook Air models mid-2011 and newer as well as MacBook Pro with Retina display.

Gatekeeper

You’ll have a new selection of controls for the entirety of your Mac, Gatekeeper giving you control over which apps are allowed to be downloaded and which apps are allowed to be installed as well. This feature has been implemented primarily to continue Apple’s battle against malware, and should very much be keeping the torch lit through the foreseeable future.

Download

You can download OS X Mountain Lion for your Mac right this minute through your Mac’s App Store for the cool price of $19.99. If you’re in need of instructions on how to do so or need guidance on what’s necessary to make the install happen, head to our post entitled Prepping for Mountain Lion: three steps you must take.

Also head to the timeline below to catch up on all things Mountain Lion while you stay tuned to our OS X Mountain Lion portal as well!

A bigger 3DS? What makes it so “XL”?

It’s all about screen size. Nintendo’s regular 3DS has a 3.53-inch top display and a 3.02-inch lower display, which the XL model enlarges to 4.88- and 4.18-inches respectively. That means a bigger casing to suit, with the 3DS XL measuring 6.1 x 3.7 x 0.87 inches versus the 5.3 x 2.9 x 0.83 inches of the 3DS.

Nintendo has a track record for making larger versions of its handhelds. The last-gen DSi spawned an LL/XL follow-up of its own, keeping the same clamshell aesthetic but boosting the size of the display. Nintendo’s target audience back then was adults and older users who might want the mobile gameplay convenience of a portable but find the regular DSi too squint-inducing.

This time around, Nintendo isn’t pointing directly at the elderly. Instead, it’s pitting the 3DS XL at anyone who wants “more real estate” for their gameplay, as well as for those who use the console for Netflx and Nintendo Video streaming. Of course, it also means you’ll get a more impressive glasses-free 3D experience.

Glasses-free 3D? How does that work?

Most people are familiar with 3D based on special glasses – whether they’re the flimsy pair you pick up in the foyer at the movie house, a more expensive active-shutter set for home use, or even the old fashioned red/blue-lensed cardboard pair – but the 3DS XL uses a different technology called autostereoscopics. A special lens on top of the upper screen, called a parallax barrier, basically splits the picture between the two eyes, allowing the 3DS XL to show each eye something slightly different.

A control on the side of the display adjusts the 3D effect to suit the viewer, and if you want you can switch it off altogether and use it in 2D mode instead.

Is it really better than the 3DS?

That’s a tricky one. Although the screens are larger – the top panel being slightly bigger than the display on the Samsung Galaxy S III, albeit in landscape orientation – the resolution of each hasn’t been increased over the regular 3DS. So, the upper still runs at 800 x 240 (though it’s effectively 400 x 240 per eye, since each eye only sees half of the pixel columns), and the lower runs at 320 x 240.

Although it ought to ensure broad game compatibility with existing 3DS titles, it does mean that 3DS XL gamers aren’t getting any more detail from the new model: they just see things bigger. If you have problems seeing regular 3DS games then that magnification might be everything you need for comfort, but if you were hoping for a more graphically-competitive challenge to Sony’s PS Vita then you’ll be disappointed.

Sadly Nintendo hasn’t used the extra chassis size to add in a second analog pad, and since the 3DS XL is bigger than the regular version, it probably won’t fit into the Circular Pro Pad accessory already on sale in some locations. Still, Nintendo does increase the standard size of SD card buyers get, bundling a 4GB rather than 2GB chip. Those in Japan or Europe won’t get an AC adapter bundled with the 3DS LL, though those in North America will.

Although the screens are larger and more power-hungry, that also means more space for a bigger battery. So, the 3DS XL is rated for between 3.5 and 6.5 hours of native 3DS games, or 6 to 10 hours of DS games. In contrast, the regular 3DS lasts 3 to 5 hours of native titles or 5 to 9 hours of DS titles.

Okay, so when can I get one?

If you’re in Japan or Europe you’ll be able to pick up the 3DS LL/XL first. The new handheld goes on sale on July 28, priced at ¥18,900 in Japan. That will be followed by North American availability on August 19, priced at $199.99.

Starting this week at the event which we’ve wrapped up last night, Microsoft is bringing on the Surface brand with more power than they’ve ever administered with their Windows 8 brand before – the operating system will be showcased here, with the touch abilities that are central to the “Metro” styling of the operating system shining best from this very forward-thinking touch interface.

As you’ll see above, the Surface Tablets revealed this week are being presented as ultra-sleek and futuristic, very much touted as material conscious pieces of hardware. Both devices have Windows 8 aboard – the lower-tier device having Windows RT, the more kingly device working with Windows 8 Pro, and both bring on a lovely 10.6-inch ClearType display. The RT version has an HD display while the Pro version has a Full HD display, and both device have the ability to work with either the new Touch Cover or the Type Cover.

Have a peek at our hands-on comparison between the two covers and note that one other difference between the two devices is the Pen stylus. The Surface for Windows 8 Pro is noted to be including the Pen with Palm Block as we learned about this week and the Windows RT tablet will be coming with Office 15 Apps.

The Windows RT device will be marketed as a bit more of a mobile device, sitting more in the iPad realm, while the Win 8 Pro version of the tablet will be marketed at the Ultrabook world with a bit more power backing it up. The Pro version weighs in at 903g and is 13.5 mm thick while the RT version is 676g and is just 9.3 mm thin. Both devices are padded with the VaporMg Case complete with the kickstand you see in most photos of both.

The RT version of this tablet will be available in 32GB and 64GB iterations while the Pro version will be coming in 64GB and 128GB versions – and will undoubtedly be considerably more expensive. The RT tablet will be working with the NVIDIA Tegra platform – more than likely with the Tegra 3 quad-core processor, while the Pro version of the Surface tablet will be working with Intel Ivy Bridge at 22nm. Both devices have been noted to have exceptions to the rules as follows:

“Actual size and weight of the device may vary due to configuration and manufacturing process.” – Microsoft

This tips us off to the fact that not only might these devices change before they hit the market for real, but that also they might have the ability to be purchased with more or less power under the hood in addition to their storage sizes. Have a hands-on look at the RT version of the tablet here:

Both tablets have a full-sized USB port (more than likely 2.0) and will be able to work with printers as well as charge your phone (with your own microUSB cord, of course). Each device has a microSD card slot so you can add more memory at will, both tablets have cameras on both sides as well as dual-microphones and speakers for all kinds of Skype action (Skype coming standard with both devices builds of Windows 8).

Essentially what you’re seeing is Microsoft attempting to create something new, something not quite equivalent to Apple’s iPad and not quite the same as Google’s Android Nexus line of devices. Have a peek at the columns and rather relevant news bits below to see everything we’ve talked about thus far from an analysis perspective on this release, and stay tuned for more!

Who’s the MacBook Air for?

Apple avoided the netbook market but instead made a strong play in ultraportables, phasing out its cheapest MacBook range in favor of the slimline MacBook Air line-up. The 11.6-inch model, from $999, has the humblest specifications – you have to squeeze your data into just 64GB of drive space in the cheapest unit – but a combination of Ivy Bridge processors, a standard RAM bump to 4GB in 2012, and the use of speedy flash storage not sluggish traditional hard-drives keeps things moving with alacrity. Meanwhile, the 13.3-inch version, from $1,199, offers more screen space for those willing to accommodate a little extra heft.

Already, the Air has found itself a loyal and loving audience with road warriors. Its sturdy unibody aluminum construction and light weight – along with a battery that, in 2012 form, can be coaxed into delivering Apple’s promised 7hrs from the 13-inch version – makes it ideal for anybody who spends their time on the move and in their browser or Office apps, tasks the specifications are more than capable of handling.

The fly in the ointment is graphics. Space and power constraints mean the Air is left with only Intel HD Graphics 4000 to keep the pixels crunching. You can plug in a single external display, but not two like with Apple’s more powerful – and expensive – notebooks, and if you’re looking to do any serious gaming then the lack of a discrete GPU is going to seriously hold you back.

Why should I opt for the MacBook Pro with Retina Display?

If the MacBook Air is a compromise in portability and performance to meet a price, then the MacBook Pro with Retina Display skews that balance to emphasize portability and performance at the cost of a hefty price. Starting at $2,199, you could have two Airs for the same money, though the specifications reflect that hefty step up.

The instant appeal – so important it gets a specific mention in the unwieldy name – is the Retina Display. Apple’s panel offers a total of 2880 x 1800 resolution, but according to the settings can resemble a regular MacBook Pro display but with deliciously smooth icons, graphics and text, or even replicate a 1080p panel with up to a fourfold increase in detail over your HDTV. If you work on high-res graphics in Photoshop or process Full HD video – or, indeed, if you create new iPad apps, and need to see them full-resolution in their entirety – then the Retina Display will make a significant difference to your daily use.

However, by making some decisions about what to leave out of the MacBook Pro with Retina Display, not just what to include, Apple has produced its next-generation of Pro notebooks. The optical drive is gone, with the ensuing space used to slim down the chassis as a whole and tweak the ports. There are two Thunderbolt ports now, not one, though you lose the gigabit ethernet and will need a Thuderbolt-to-Ethernet adapter ($29) if you want to get online the wired way.

More shocking – for Apple – is the concession to include both USB 3.0 and HDMI. Neither are connections that Apple showed any inclination of adopting on its notebooks, despite frequent requests. A total of two external screens can be hooked up – though neither can actually be driven at Retina Display resolution – and of course Thunderbolt can be daisy-chained for extra peripherals.

I do frequent video editing, which should I go for?

The obvious option is the Retina MacBook Pro. It has both the Intel HD Graphics 4000 of the Air and a discrete NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M GPU with 1GB of its own memory, automatically switching between the two depending on graphical load. That means plenty of power for crunching through high-definition video or, indeed, playing the odd game.

Still, if you’re a casual video editor then there’s a workaround you could consider. We know more than a few technology writers – some on the SlashGear team included – who use an Elgato Turbo.264 HD Video Encoder dongle with the MacBook Air to speed up the process of exporting HD video from iMovie and other apps. In effect an external GPU that you plug into a USB port, it can near-halve the processing time and, at $99.95, is a darn sight cheaper than stepping up from the MacBook Air to the MacBook Pro with Retina Display.

What about the regular MacBook Pro?

Apple has left MacBook Pro buyers with a choice: the new, Retina Display equipped model with its thinner chassis and extra ports, or the previous design of the Pro, with the same Ivy Bridge Core i7 options but fewer ports, a bulkier design and the inclusion of a DVD burner. If you want a 13-inch MacBook Pro then the old design is your only choice – right now there’s no 13-inch Retina model – and similarly both the 13- and 15-inch original versions are the cheaper starting points to the flagship range.

The “old school” feel isn’t limited to the optical drive, however. As well as a “regular” display – 1280 x 800 or 1440 x 900, depending on size – the storage uses an old-fashioned HDD too, from 500GB. Platter-based drives have the advantage in capacity and price, and are definitely cheaper per-gigabyte than flash storage as Apple uses in both the Air and the Pro with Retina Display, but they’re also slower and more susceptible to bumps and knocks.

In short, if you still make regular use of an optical drive, with CDs or DVDs, or if you want to store a significant quantity of data on your notebook itself (and don’t have the budget for a vast SSD) then the regular MacBook Pro is worth considering.

I’ve heard bad things about repairability…

We left out one final, very significant difference between the two MacBook Pro variants in the last section: how easy they make it to repair or replace internal components. Both the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro with Retina Display sacrifice such factors in favor of reducing bulk.

So, both has memory soldered directly to the mainboard, rather than added using a more traditional clip like the regular MacBook Pro, meaning that if you don’t opt for Apple’s offer of a RAM upgrade at point of order, you’re stuck. Similarly, the flash storage – though removable – is of a proprietary design and, even, different between Air and Pro models. Don’t expect to simply drop in a newer, bigger SSD if you have an urge for more space.

Those are the common planned upgrades; there’s also the matter of repair. In the new Pro, Apple has opted to glue down the battery packs – sandwiching in the trackpad cable in the process – and the vast majority of the components are unique to the new Retina Display model. Even that eye-catching screen itself could present a real headache should something go wrong. Apple shaved away bulk by bonding together the glass and aluminum, meaning that any breakages will probably demand the whole lid be replaced.

The questions, then, are how many people actively upgrade their notebook and how many attempt to repair it themselves. Apple will undoubtedly be watching the buying patterns for the old and new designs very closely, to see what compromises the public is willing to make.

I just want a cheap Mac notebook, which is best?

If price is your sole guiding star, and you’re insisting on an Apple logo on your new notebook, the MacBook Air is the cheapest step onto the ladder. it’s priced from $999 for the 11.6-inch model; the 13-inch starts at $1,199, which is coincidentally the same as the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro (the last-gen design with an optical drive, not a new Retina Display version).

Deciding between those two depends on what you plan on doing with your laptop and how much data you think you’ll be saving on it. The Air has a slower, 1.8GHz processor, versus the 2.5GHz Core i5 in the Pro; the Air also gets a 128GB SSD, faster but smaller than the 500GB traditional hard-drive in the Pro. Both have 4GB of memory and Intel HD Graphics 4000, along with a battery rated for up to 7hrs. The Air is slimmer, lighter and more portable, while the Pro has the benefit of a built-in optical drive.

Of course, it’s also worth considering Apple’s refurbished MacBook range, available direct through the company’s online store. Offers there vary according to what stock Apple has on hand – all wiped clean, tided up and sold with a warranty – but at time of writing there are 11.6-inch 2011 MacBook Air models available from $759 and 13.3-inch 2011 MacBook Pro models from $929. They’re roughly 15-percent savings from list prices.

Wrap-up

If it’s a case of “needs” not “wants” then, for most users, the MacBook Air will be more than sufficient to do all they ask from a computer. The ultraportable has set the benchmark by which rivals are judged, and though we’d love some extra graphical grunt, the Ivy Bridge upgrade has kept the Air ticking along nicely for most of the general use-cases, albeit perhaps with some well-considered accessories.

Tech purchases don’t just come down to pure need, however, and there’s little denying the MacBook Pro with Retina Display’s capacity to inspire lust and admiration. It’s an expensive indulgence but, if you’re a video or photo editing pro, then there’s undoubtedly huge benefits in getting more detail on your screen at any one time. It’s also worth noting that, if you spec out the ostensibly cheaper last-gen design MacBook Pro to the same memory and storage, it’s actually several hundred dollars more than its Retina Display cousin.

If you can afford it – and you can accept that you’re unlikely to be tinkering under the hood any time soon – then the Retina Pro is a hugely potent machine with plenty of strengths. We’ve laid them all out, along with benchmarks, in the full SlashGear review. For the rest of us, the 2012 MacBook Air is a viable alternative while we wait for Apple to broaden its Retina applications.

So what’s the big deal?

Think not only getting more gamers to consider Xbox, but people who might not automatically think a console has a place in their living room. Xbox LIVE already has multimedia content – there are streaming client apps for things like Netflix and Pandora, for instance, and Microsoft is adding more all the time – and control with Kinect, but Xbox SmartGlass wants to link that up with more mainstream gadgets like phones, tablets and PCs.

Is it an app or a service?

A bit of both. Xbox SmartGlass will be offered as an app for Windows 8 and smartphones/tablets, turning them into companion devices that can offer a second screen for related content. So, you’ll be able to see gaming information – like menus, maps, highscores and other controls – on your phone or slate while your big screen TV takes care of gameplay itself.

SmartGlass also comes into play when watching TV. One of Microsoft’s demos put a Game of Thrones world map on a tablet while the show itself played out on the TV. You’ll also be able to use your tablet or phone as the controller for a web browser on the Xbox 360. Exactly what content is available will obviously depend on the game developer or the video provider.

What about Windows Media Center?

HTPCs have turned out to be even more of a niche market than consoles, and so Microsoft is betting that an Xbox 360 for a couple of hundred dollars will be an easier sell than a $500+ home entertainment PC. Xbox SmartGlass won’t support Media Center’s recording or place-shifting features: it’s more designed to bring together all of your mobile devices as you consume content in real-time.

Is it just for Windows Phone?

Microsoft might have been tempted to give its own smartphone OS a push by making Xbox SmartGlass only work with Windows Phone devices. Thankfully that nepotistic urge has been suppressed, and the company has promised versions of SmartGlass for “all major platforms” – which presumably means iOS and Android – when it launches.

However, there’s a good chance that those using Windows Phone might get the best overall experience. Microsoft hasn’t finalized features and specifications for Xbox SmartGlass yet, but the company has warned that functionality will “vary across devices.”

What about third-party developers?

Microsoft may be pushing a lot of its own features in Xbox SmartGlass, but the company is open to suggestions. Third-party devs will be able to use the framework to deliver their own functionality: turning a tablet or phone into a controller for their game, for instance. Those tweaks will work in tandem with Microsoft’s own existing peripherals, such as Kinect and the traditional Xbox controllers, similar to how Nintendo’s Wii U tablet works alongside the Wiimote.

Okay, sounds good – when can I get it?

Not long to wait. The Xbox 360 internet browser, Xbox SmartGlass apps for Windows 8 and mobile devices, and underlying technology is all set to be launched this fall. Microsoft hasn’t said when third-party developers will get their hands on the SDK, however. Still, as keeping the Xbox 360 fresh and relevant goes, SmartGlass is a strong play by Microsoft.

Google Drive is Google’s cloud storage service. It’s an expansion of Google Docs, Picasa, and Gmail, each of which already had some storage abilities available for free for you to use as you wished whenever you liked. Now with the launch of Google Drive, these systems are all much more a part of one system of Google storage than they ever were before, and all of your data stored with Google can be accessed from one point: Google Drive.

Google Drive exists through several portals – desktop, web browser, and mobile. Through your smartphone, tablet, desktop (when your computer is connected to the web), Chrome browser, or any other brand of web browser for that matter, you’ll be able to access Google Drive’s online storage space. You can either choose to work with 5GB of space, this amount given to you free right out of the box, or with a whole lot more than that via a monthly fee paid to Google.

5GB: Free
25GB: $2.49
100GB: $4.99
200GB: $9.99
400GB: $19.99
1TB: $49.99
2TB: $99.99
4TB: $199.99
8TB: $399.99
16TB: $799.99

Google Drive works with apps such as Google Docs so you’re able to edit documents inside each of your Google Drive apps, they automatically saving to the cloud for whoever else you’re sharing them with to see updates immediately. Simple stuff, seeming to be simply powerful.

Google Drive is a new service, but more importantly than its new amount of space you’ll be given to place anything you like, it’s an exercise in branding. As Google has been rumored to be offering cloud space for free for many years, it’s become time to bring that space, now a new competition for services like Dropbox, to the public. You can access Google Drive through these outlets:

Chrome Apps that work with Google Drive
Google Drive App for Android in the Google Play App Store
Google Drive for the web

We’re expecting an iOS application sometime in the future, but we’re guessing Google will have to battle their way past Apple’s own iCloud initiative to get in, if they ever do. Meanwhile utilize this system via your web browser on your iPhone and iPad if you’ve got one, and head to the timeline below to learn more!

What you’ll get if Apple does decide to expand its usage of Liquidmetal is a metal material that is extremely difficult to break and will cost Apple more to produce than the glass it uses now for the front and back of the iPhone. The iPhone 5 will not have Metallic Glass on its front because Metallic Glass is not transparent. Instead, if Apple does decide to expand their usage of Liquidmetal materials, they’ll use it around the edge of the iPhone 5 or will use it for part of the back casing.

Apple does already use Liquidmetal technology in the iPhone 4 and 4S – or should I say on it, since you’ll find a piece of Liquidmetal-made material in the box, not within the phone itself. It’s the SIM-slot opener you’ve probably used once or twice since you purchased your iPhone. It wont be breaking on you any time soon, I assure you.

Have a peek at our timeline below to see the many times we’ve spoken about Liquidmetal in the past, and see if you can put together the pieces of this Apple puzzle!

Windows 8 ARM will be available at retail at the same time as Windows 8 x86. Or at least Microsoft hopes to make this the case. No doubt about it, Microsoft understands that low-power and mostly mobile devices are critical to their future, and don’t want to waste any time making inroads into this section of the market. There’s no guarantees here, but even if the date for WOA slips, it shouldn’t be by more than a couple of months.

Windows 8 ARM will retain a standard Windows desktop interface and programs. Despite a focus on the new Metro interface, Microsoft has assured its current users that the Windows desktop and core experience apps like Internet Explorer, File Explorer and the like will remain a central part of Windows. Of course, they’re going to need a lot of tweaking, including a lot more of the Ribbon interface (love it or hate it) and possibly the complete removal of the Start button. The next version of Microsoft Office, which they’re calling Office 15, will work on WOA.

You can’t run x86 or x64 software on Windows 8 ARM, but Metro apps will run on both. It’s a fairly obvious point, but bears repeating: with a shift to a completely different architecture, developers will have to work within the boundries of the ARM system-on-a-chip. Current programs just won’t work on ARM machines. However, applications built to Micrrosoft’s Metro standards (and published to the Windows Store) will work on both x86 and ARM-based hardware, and can access standard stored resources. And speaking of Metro…

New Windows 8 ARM software can only be downloaded from the Windows Store. Yup, Microsoft’s going full integrated in WOA, not unlike their similar moves with Windows Phone 7. In keeping with the integrated platform vibe, you won’t be able to just download an EXE file and install it – paid or free, every new app, Metro interface or not, will have to come through the Windows Store. By the way, expect this to be cracked and circumvented roughly twenty minutes after the first WOA machine is sold. Even new driver downloads will come through the Windows Store. x86/x64 Windows will still operate the way it does now.

Windows 8 ARM will be labelled clearly and separately from Windows 8 x86/x64. Remember the fiasco that was the “Vista Ready” program? Now imagine that with two separate code bases and a a dozen or so form factors. Microsoft doesn’t want to repeat that, so they plan on making the differences between W8 and WOA completely transparent. Of course, it doesn’t help that they’re both called “Windows 8″, and around the same time Windows Phone 8 may be coming out. So yeah, expect massive confusion from the Best Buy crowd, and lots of cries for help from your relatives.

You can’t buy Windows 8 ARM. Not as a consumer, anyway: the ARM division of Microsoft and Windows is going to focus on completely integrated devices, not unlike regular smartphones and tablets today. WOA will be sold as a consumer electronics device, not a traditional PC. If you want a WOA machine, you’ll have to buy one from a hardware partner. That said, keeping modders from doing their thing is nigh impossible, and various hacks from published versions of WOA and developer builds should make for some interesting projects. It should be possible, if not entirely practical, to run WOA on some current Android tablets. We can’t wait to see what comes out of the modder crowd.

Most of your peripherals will work with Windows 8 ARM. WOA includes basic plug-and-play functionality for most of the basic add-ons out there, so adding a mouse and keyboard, external hard dives, card readers, et cetera should work just fine.  As usual more esoteric hardware, like the shortcut buttons on your keyboard, will need specific drivers. These may be downloaded from the Windows Store if the accessory manufacturer supplies them. More complicated hardware add-ons, like TV tuners or graphics tablets, will probably need entirely new drivers. There’s no word on external displays, but most ARM licensees have at least some support for HDMI-out already on the market, so it’s probably coming along for the ride.

Windows 8 ARM will support DirectX 10 gaming. And hardware acceleration in the browser and general UI too, but what you want to know about is gaming. There have been some impressive gains in ARM-based graphics cards lately, and getting DirectX support in WOA is a major accomplishment. This doesn’t mean that your current Windows games will work with WOA (because of the architecture – see above) but the tools are there. Developers should be able to get some very impressive graphical oomph out of Windows 8 ARM hardware, and maybe soon after launch ARM downloads from indie and then major publishers will start appearing in the Windows Store.

Windows 8 ARM beta is coming soon, and you can’t have it. At the same time as the next milestone release for Windows 8 x86/x64, Microsoft will be starting a closed beta program for Windows 8 on ARM. A limited number of developers will be given access to WOA hardware and software. There’s no word of a public beta for Windows 8 ARM at all. For some good news, the Windows 8 x86/x64 Consumer Preview will be available in late February. The closed ARM beta will start at this time.

There you have it – just about everything we know about Windows 8 ARM from a consumer standpoint. Developers, you really should go and read the full post at MSDN – just make sure you don’t have anything else planned for this evening. If Microsoft is true to their word, manufacturers should have WOA devices hitting shelves in late 2012, with internals from Texas Instruments, Qualcomm and Nvidia. This is all very far out, as Microsoft keeps reminding us – nothing’s set in stone yet.

For appliances that are unable to connect to Wi-fi, the folks at Google have designed an open wireless protocol that allows Android devices to talk to them. This protocol is designed to offer low-cost connectivity to everything electrical in the home. Lights, alarm clocks, thermostats, and more are included in the first iteration of this connectivity protocol – Google wants to think of every single appliance in your home as a potential piece of the puzzle in this Android@Home framework, ready to work with Android apps.

Lights and Appliances

In the original presentation of Android@Home, an app with four off/on switches was presented with data flowing to the right on a Motorola XOOM tablet’s display. This app connected with a set of four lamps, each simply controlled by the app and connected with the protocol written for Android@Home. Very simple stuff. The next example was an app that connected to your alarm clock/stereo and your lights throughout a room – this app gradually raising the brightness of the lights and turning up the sound on your stereo as the time for your awakening in the morning approaches.

Another example given by Google was an app connected to your home’s irrigation system, this bringing you a “real world Farmville app” so to speak, watering your plants and grass whenever you tap a button or on a set schedule. A game connection was shown on stage at I/O 2011 with the game Quake being played on the Motorola XOOM Android tablet – as shots were fired and enemies were killed, the lights connected with the app flickered and dimmed – no more life, no more light.

Google has partnered with several industry groups on this project, one of these being Lighting Science – a leading LED lighting manufacturer. This group will be the first to sell LED lighting and switches directly tied to the Android@Home environment. You can check out the bulb held up and demoed at the event over at Lighting Science but good luck getting much information out of them on how they’re doing with the Android@Home project now – mum’s the word!

Project Tungston / Android@Home Hub

The Android@Home Hub is a “totally new kind of Android device” as they said at Google I/O 2011 and combines a standalone Google Music endpoint and a bridge to the Android@Home network. This project was code-named Project Tungston. At the first introduction to the project, they had a couple of Tungston devices – both of them ran the Android operating system as well as the Android@Home software framework. Both of these devices were “always powered on” and always connected to the cloud. They have Audio Out and can connect to either 3rd party speakers or your home stereo system (aka wirelessly or wired). These Tungston devices connected with what we now know as Google Music – all your music in the cloud and available for purchase on command.

The control device, aka the one that looks like a leaning box here with lights flashing in its seams, is controlled by your Android smartphone or tablet. In the interface on Google Music you’re able to see which devices you’re connected to, and in this case you’ve got “Stage Left” and “Stage Right”, the names of the two Tungston controllers connected to speakers.

All of this connectivity and functionality is, like Android itself, based on an open source code. Developers will be able to create their own apps based on the code freely and without cost. Another “Tungston” device was demonstrated on stage at I/O 2011 that looked more like a sphere than a box. This device was able to read NFC tags that were “activated when the packaging was taken off of the case” of a CD. When you opened your CD case up and tapped it to the sphere, it would read the tag inside and the music was immediately added to your Google Music library in digital form. Touching the sphere with the CD case once the music was added started playing the music from the first track instantly.

Google I/O 2011 Presentation

Head to about 43 minutes into the video here to see the entire presentation on Android@Home or watch the full video to see everything presented on the first day at Google I/O 2011 – it’s Ice Cream Sandwich fantastic!

What we expect soon

Android@Home is likely to pop up again here in the Spring of 2012 as the Google Home Entertainment Device we’ve been hearing whispered tips about for the past week. We’re thinking that the open protocol and codes galore for developers will be formally passed on soon, and that a device may well be developed by Google to show the functional power of Android@Home off to the world, much like an Android Nexus device would. Let’s get connected at home in 2012!

SOPA stands for Stop Online Piracy Act and its sibling bill is PIPA, or the Protect IP Act. Both bills are written in a way that makes them appear to attempt the killing of online piracy – the hosting of media like videos, music, software, and the like, and offering it for download when the hosts do not have the right to do so. What they actually would do, instead, is to put up a screen door to block a wave, this stopping all of the law-abiding fish when its the water they’re trying to get. SOPA and PIPA give rights to businesses and the government itself to stop and sue companies out of existence, even if they’re not actually doing anything illegal.

NOTE: Read the entirety of SOPA here and the entirety of PIPA here.

SOPA and PIPA work with non-US sites by attacking the sites inside the USA that work with them to bring their content to US citizens. Just to be clear, the US government already has the right to seize domains inside the USA (.com, .net. and .org) they believe are used for piracy, and have been doing so since 2010 through the “Operation In Our Sites” act with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) – having seized hundreds of domains thus far. The Pentagon has “Cyberspace” as an Operational Domain as well, if you want to know. What SOPA and PIPA do instead is to force US-based internet service providers, search engines, online payment groups (like Paypal), and ad services to stop working with, indexing, and paying groups outside the USA if they host illegal content.

Copyright owners will be able to write up a certain kind of letter under SOPA and PIPA to a media host such as YouTube or any manner of data host (like the ones that host SlashGear) demanding that if the group (like us) take down any little bit of content we have, without proof that it’s theirs. If we do no respond within five days, our host would have to either take us down entirely, or face themselves being sued into a corner as well. Can you see how this might be harmful to more people than just those who are “real” pirates of illegal content?

SOPA has a section (section 104, if you’re counting) which allows for a big bad conflict of interests that favors giant companies like Comcast. As mister Nilay Patel notes, legal immunity to ISPs like Comcast to block websites at will. Comcast owns NBC, and if they found a group from somewhere outside the USA that competes with them, they could claim, technically, that if they had “reasonable belief” that they were “dedicated to the theft of US property,” they could stop them from being shown to everyone under their Comcast umbrella.

That’s not an open and free Internet, and it will not stop piracy.

And this is just the beginning. The people writing up this bill are not alone, and they’re not going to stop just the same as the people pirating media are not going to stop, ever. You’re not going to get someone to stop looking at your painting if its out in public, you’re not going to stop someone from smelling the lovely smells your bakery gives off – the only thing you can do, media creators, is evolve.

These lawmakers are not protecting the interests of movie makers, they’re not helping out those who make music for a living. They’re attempting to control the free and open internet as it stands today so they can profit from a closed market. Plain and simple.

Get educated, do everything you can to stop this kind of outright evil.

[poll 25]

Zappos users here are the subject matter simply because it’s the most recent attack, but it’s true for whatever set of services you use on the daily. If you’ve got an eBay account, an account for your online bank account, and an account for Zappos, you need, need, NEED to have a different password for each of them. What you do when you keep the same password for each of these sites is to open yourself up to a MUCH wider array of hackers than if you change your password for each.

For those of you that live in a house, here’s a good example of what this is like: You’ve got a door that needs a key to open it. You keep that key on your person, but you also have a key hidden in the yard just incase you’ve lost your own key.

This is what it’s like to have one password for one site – someone could figure out where that key is, but they’ve only got one door they could open with it. What having the same password for all of your sites is like would be if that key was not only duplicated several times to be hidden in different areas of your yard, but also opened up your house, your garage, your shed, and your car.

Make yourself a different key for each of your buildings and vehicles. Make yourself a different password for each of the sites you access. It’s as simple as that.

BONUS: for those of you that have a difficult time remembering a ton of passwords, there’s always an app for that. Check out 1Password for desktop and mobile including iPhone and Android, LastPass 1.72 Premium as found at LastPass.com has the same benefits but also works on such platforms at Linux, symbian, BlackBerry, and more, and KeePass is your open-source free alternative, if you know how to make it work, that is.

[poll 25]

First here’s a couple of hands-on videos I’m sure you’ll enjoy, both of them filmed in Hong Kong at the formal release of both the Galaxy Nexus and the final build of Ice Cream Sandwich.

Ice Cream Sandwich hands-on demo

Galaxy Nexus Hands-on:

User Interface

You’ll notice a new look to the entire system compared to past iterations, but not more than on the home set of screens. There’s both an applications tray for all of your applications and a favorites tray made mostly for smaller displays that benefit the most from having a small selection of apps instantly. Instead of there being physical Android menu buttons on your hardware, there are now three buttons inside the regular display space: back, home, and recent apps.

This area at the bottom of your display is called the System Bar and the buttons are called virtual buttons. These buttons are present “across all apps” but are able to be dimmed (similar to Honeycomb) by each individual application should they look better at full screen.

There is also now an Action Bar similar to what we’ve seen in Honeycomb which sometimes comes in at the top of your display and sometimes on the bottom depending on the application, this containing each app’s contextual options.

Multitasking

Through the use of the recent apps button and the new notifications tray, you’ll be able to access any project or bit of media you’re currently working or playing with in only a couple of taps. The recent apps button has been lifted from Honeycomb, here showing each app with a thumbnail and the title of the app in text, these able to be tapped to reach that app.

Notifications have been improved first of all with more visually pleasing thumbnails and descriptions, and the whole notifications experience has been made more interactive. You can control your music player from the notifications screen and knock out notifications one by one if you don’t want to address them. If you’ve got what Google considers a smaller display, your notifications bar will appear on top of your display, while larger screens will display notifications in the System Bar at the bottom.

Arranging Apps

Your home screens are able to hold apps, widgets (which are now resizable as they have been in Honeycomb), and app folders. Apps can be placed in folders with one another by dragging one app on top of another. Inside your All Apps launcher, you can now access information about any app as well as uninstall it or, in the case of a pre-installed app, disable it. Disabling an app in Ice Cream Sandwich doesn’t mean you delete it, it simply means that the app isn’t active or visible – it still takes up space on your internal storage.

Lock Screen

Where before the stock Android lock screen only allowed you to unlock your device for further use, this new lock screen allows, first, both unlocking and accessing of the camera app. The notifications window is now also accessible from the lock screen, pulling it down from the top of your screen shows items like messages, phone calls, and music tracks complete with album art. When you get a phone call you can now respond by text message without unlocking the device. Responding to a call can be done with a pre-selected list of test responses, the tapping of one resulting in a send of the text and ending the call.

Face Unlock

The newest way to unlock your device is with Google’s newly revealed Facial Recognition software shown here in Face Unlock. If your face cannot be recognized, you cannot get in! There’s always the backup PIN or pattern, of course. Facial recognition is also mentioned earlier in this guide in regards to video editing and effects. We’re excited to see where this facial recognition project leads developers in the near future as well!

Keyboard

There’s a new soft keyboard in Android 4.0 that looks rather similar to what the Gingerbread keyboard looked like, the improvements mostly sitting on the inside. Spell-checking has been improved through an updated default dictionary, more accurate heuristics for items such as spaces, missed letters, and double-typed letters. Word correction suggestions have been simplified to only show three possible word alternatives as well. Spell-checker locates and underlines errors now and each word can be updated with a single tap on that word.

Right inside the keyboard is the microphone which leads the user into the updated voice input engine. There’s now an “open microphone” experience that features streaming voice recognition. Users can speak at length and have the test typed, complete with spaces, punctuation, and smily faces.

Data Usage

Inside your Settings there’s now a Data Usage function which allows the user to show total data use on each kind of network, mobile or Wi-fi, plus the amount of data being used by each running application. Users are able to set warning levels on their data usage, disable mobile data altogether, and control apps individually for data.

Interactivity

There are a whole new set of functions made specifically for those who are blind or visually impaired. New explore-by-touch mode allows users to move through Android without having to view the screen – haptic feedback and audible feedback. One touch identifies the UI component below, a second component activates the component with a full touch event. The web browser has been updated to support a script-based screen reader for both favorite web content and easier navigation of sites. Font sizes can be changed system-wide for increased readability.

To activate a tutorial on accessibility, a user has simply to use a touch gesture during setup (a clockwise square from the upper left). Once this accessibility suite has been activated, everything visible on the screen can be spoken aloud by the standard screen reader included with ICS.

Sharing and Communication

A new People app is included in the basic Ice Cream Sandwich build which allows social groups, profiles, and contacts to be linked together in one place. This is the first integrated app in the Android system to include workability with Google+ outside the Google+ app itself. You have your own “Me” profile here including all of your contacts (pulled from one phone to another with ease since they’re now connected to your profile, not your device), each profile photo tapped displays Quick Contacts, shortcuts to phone numbers and text messaging, and elements inside social networks.

The Calendar and Visual Voicemail have been improved to both organize events and alert you to events that are happening right at the moment. The Calendar now has the ability to take in events from 3rd party apps (with user permission), reminders included, and you’ve got a new integrated view across multiple calendar profiles from different providers. Personal and work calendars can be separate, make a calendar for your kid, one for your dog, whatever you like. Calendars are now color-coded and work with swipes left and right as well as pinch to zoom.

Visual Voicemail shows incoming messages, voice transcriptions, and audio files galore from as many providers as you need. Third party apps, again, are allowed to work with your phone app here to bring all of your accounts into one.

Camera and Gallery

The stock camera in Ice Cream Sandwich has been diversified alongside the gallery allowing you the ability to shoot photos and videos in a wide cross section of ways then display and edit media inside the gallery. There’s now continuous focus, zero shutter lag exposure, and stabilized image zoom for superior captures. Snapshots are also now allowed during full video capture, these photos taken at full video resolution — in effect they’re frames from the video.

Single-motion panorama has been included here in the basic build, starting a photo at one end and dragging the camera along a length of space creating one long photo. Sharing continues to be simple with one-tap access to sharing in the gallery through any number of third-party apps and the basic set of Bluetooth, email, and etc means in the basic build.

Gallery has been improved with a new album layout with more options on how to arrange said photos and videos including by time, location, tags, and people. Gallery now includes a photo editor inside it that allows users to rotate, change levels, remove red eye, add wacky effect (hipster effects if you were listening in on the Hong Kong announcements,) and do a bunch of general retouching. There’s also an improved Picture Gallery Widget that can now show photos from a single album, all albums, or show a single image.

Live Effects is a separate app built-in to Ice Cream Sandwich that allows users to edit video. You can change the background behind a subject in a video you’ve already made OR affect the way you’re seen in a video chat with Google Talk! You can also of course use things like Silly Faces which uses similar tech to what’s being used at the lock screen for facial recognition aside GPU filters that add effects to the face during video capture. Squish that face!

Screenshots are built-in to Ice Cream Sandwich so you’ll never have to seek out a screenshot app again, this time working with hardware buttons in different ways depending on the device. This ability has been built in to hardware such as the Galaxy S II with the home button combined with the power button, but hasn’t been pushed as a primary target by Android thus far. Here we go!

In the Cloud

The newest version of the Android web browser released here with Ice Cream Sandwich will continue to be cloud-connected as it ever was, first of all here with Google Chrome bookmarks synced from your account connected on your desktop. Desktop mode is now able to be activated at will where before only “mobile” view was available — many websites have a version of themselves that appear when they detect a mobile browser trying to access them, this moves past that as browsers such as Dolphin have been able to do for some time now.

Website preferences can be set separate for each browser tab, and users now have the ability to save entire pages for offline reading. A visual list (with thumbnails) is available for users to see saved pages, browser bookmarks, and history. Users may change how zoomed in to a webpage they are and the default size of text across the web for ideal visualization. Page rendering performance has been improved through updated versions of WebKit core and V8 Crankshaft compilation engine for JavaScript. Benchmarks have been done by Google showing vast improvements switching from the Gingerbread browser to the Ice Cream Sandwich browser on the Nexus S, then another just as dramatic improvement when switching to the Galaxy Nexus, aka the hero phone for ICS:

Email

Ice Cream Sandwich brings email to a new level with improved auto-completion of recipients, displaying boxes with their names in them for simply tapping, quick responses that can be stored in-app if you respond the same way to messages quite often, and a seemingly obvious upgrade in the ability to reply all or forward without changing screens. There are now integrated menus of things such as accounts and recent labels, email now supports nested email subfolders for easy organization of your IMAP and Exchange emails, and search works across all folders on the server for quick results.

Enterprise users can rest easy with support for EAS v14, this supporting EAS certificate authentication, providing ABQ strings for device modes and types, and automatic syncing disabling for when you’re roaming and don’t want to incur some large data costs. Attachment sizes can also be limited now as well as completely disabled. There’s also a new completely resizable email widget for your use that allows quick flicking through messages and access to the full app.

Android Beam

You can now work between two NFC-enabled devices to “beam” apps, contacts, music, and videos, amongst many other bits of data by simply tapping the two devices together. Apps do not move from one device to another directly, instead the data link that shows the app on the Android Market is shared, while the rest of the media can be sent from one to another. Android Beam is not an app, it’s a functionality, meaning you don’t have to open anything to make it work, simply tap two NFC Androids together, then decide what you want to send and send it.

Individual apps can use Android Beam in new and innovative ways, ways we’ve yet to see unfold such as trading game scores, transferring in-game data (like PokeMon!) and more. We’ll be trading Pikachus in no time.

Wi-fi Direct and Bluetooth HDP

You’ll be able to connect to nearby peer devices with Wi-fi Direct with Ice Cream Sandwich for much more reliable higher-speed communications, this done without the need for internet connection or tethering of any kind. You’ll be able to share files, photos, or other media such as streaming video or audio – and you can print with a compatible printer! Perhaps some walkie-talkie action is in order? Or perhaps I’ll never have to leave the couch again to transfer a movie I just downloaded to my Motorola XOOM that acts ad my media center for the TV. The possibilities are endless!

A similar situation is going on with Bluetooth Health Device Profile enabled devices. HDP support is built-in to Ice Cream Sandwich so that users can connect to wireless medical devices as well as sensors in places like homes, fitness centers, and hospitals. Ice Cream Sandwich connects with Bluetooth audio devices with Bluetooth Hands Free Profile 1.6.

Unification

Ice Cream Sandwich is built to combine the smartphone and the tablet – but more than that, it’s made for any device that can run Android. You’ve got a collection of Android 3.0 Honeycomb interface elements like the Action Bar and fragments for developers, but here the entire system is made for all sized screens. Developers have been encouraged with Ice Cream Sandwich to take part in new items such as pressure sensitivity and stylus input events to make this the most diverse and yet completely unified Android yet produced.

We’ll be following along with Ice Cream Sandwich, also known as Android 4.0, just as much as we’d follow along with any previous release because it is the new wave, the end of the two paths that’ve been tablets and handsets in Android over the past year, the way things will be from now on.

If you’ve been liked to this page from a review of a device that runs Ice Cream Sandwich, please feel free to comment below on how well you see ICS working in that device and/or what you see missing from the system in that device. Items such as the ability to take screenshots will be focused upon in each review as it’s something manufacturers will have to work with to make work correctly with their device. How well have they done it? We’ll see over the next year!

Meanwhile check out our full posts on the Ice Cream Sandwich hands-on and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus hands-on for a full look from Hong Kong back at the release on October 19th, 2011.

This service was announced, again, at WWDC, the full account of which you can access by hitting our [WWDC 2011] portal. More specifically you can check out our Apple WWDC 2011 Super Wrap-Up post or our iCloud Revealed and Detailed post. You’ll also be able to track everything iCloud in our [iCloud portal] on into the future.

Basic Service

The most basic iteration if iCloud is a free service with which you can store 5GB of data in the cloud. What the cloud represents here is an amount of server space hosted by Apple, accessible through several services including email, calendars, iTunes, the Apple App Store, and Photo Stream, amongst others in the future. The amount of space you have available to you is not reduced by purchased music, apps, books, and photos in your Photo Stream. For music this free service is currently limited to 10 devices. All you 20 device-having monsters will have to lay down some cash.

iTunes

All music purchased through iTunes is now automatically included in this iCloud service. What this means here is that any music purchased with your iTunes account can now be automatically downloaded to any registered device of yours, this including iPods, iPhones, iPads, and computers of all sorts. The same has been true of apps purchased for iOS devices for some time, and continues to be true here.

MobileMe

The MobileMe service of the past has, upon announcing the birth of iCloud, been killed off. Transitioning to the new service began immediately upon creating the iCloud service, Jobs noting at WWDC: “We threw away the MobileMe Contacts, Calendar, and Mail apps, and have rewritten them from ground up to be iCloud apps.” These three apps were initially at the core of MobileMe and service cost users $99 a year. Essentially the same service will now be offered for free with iCloud.

iTunes Match

What essentially constitutes as extended iTunes service within iCloud is iTunes Match, a service which costs users $24.99 a year at the start and allows users to “Match” their ripped music. What this means is that, upon signing with a whole mess of music labels, Apple will be providing you with access to your entire music library in the cloud, regardless of if you purchased that music from iTunes or not.

You’ll be able to do this via the following: upon hitting a single button, your entire music library (all of the music on your computer) is scanned, Apple then “Matching” every track to the equivalent in their official library of over 18 million songs. If there is no equivalent (aka if your track is rare or unique,) you can then upload that track to the cloud automatically. The difference between this uploading and the Matching is that when a track is Matched, it does not have to be uploaded to iCloud as it’ll be activated via the track Apple already has on their servers.

Magical! The $24.99 per year price, at the moment this post is posted, is a flat rate per year, even for, as Jobs put it at WWDC, “20,000 songs.”

Anything else you’d like to know? Ask in comments, we’ll do our best!

Mango is Windows Phone’s next step, Microsoft noting that they’d be working with a smarter approach to apps, a web experience that “goes beyond the browser,” and communication features that make it easier to connect to your contacts. The first item they’ve added is Internet Explorer 9 built directly into each of the newest devices. In the video you’re about to see below, they show off the speed of the internet browser on several phones competitors – something manufacturers are generally not so apt to do. A BlackBerry, an Android, an iPhone, and a brand new Mango phone are included.

Guess which one wins?

Check out this quick and easy breakdown of the key features, see the excellent videos below as provided by Microsoft, then head to the press release for any additional bits you may want to nitpick!

Bing Features

Next they work with “Local Scout,” Bing-powered feature that finds local businesses for you based on your actual physical location. Eat and drink, see and do, and shop help you to understand your surroundings. Favorites collect which items you like the best, and highlights are picked for you. This is closely related to the next big feature that makes your experience less about typing and more about working with your interests outside of the phone: Bing Vision. What this feature does is take, for example, a book- photographing the book, recognizing the book from the cover, and linking to everything that could possibly go with the book like prices, e-versions of the book, and locations you can purchase the book in real life.

A Smarter Approach to Apps

Inside the games hub, multitasking is shown off. Built-in multitasking, as they say, will allow you to play a game and switch back and forth between other games and apps by simply holding down the “back” button. A list is shown for you, easily available for you to be flipping back and forth at will. Another bit of this is the new ability to “pin” apps to your homescreen. This ability not only allows you to have a shortcut to the app, but a shortcut, for example, to a specific product in an app such as Best Buy whose app is made to work with this new feature.

Communications Features

Inside email, you’ll notice a whole new look compared to the older vision you’re used to. This new system allows you to see emails back and forth as a conversation – instead of having a giant list of emails to and from a single contact, they’re all collected in strings automatically. A new feature having to do with this is the ability to create Groups. This shows off not just when they’re emailing you, but when they’ve updated their Facebook, Twitter, and etcetera. This is like having a “best of” friends app. Threads is a new feature that ties together text, Facebook chat, Windows Live Messenger via PC or Xbox. Everything tied together.

We’ve got a whole lot more on Mango from the origin event of this Windows Phone 7.1 Mango update announcement so stay tuned to SlashGear for full coverage!

REDMOND, Wash. – May 24, 2011 – Microsoft today provided the first official look at the next release of Windows Phone, code named “Mango.” The new release includes hundreds of new features that will deliver smarter and easier communications, apps and Internet experiences.

See some of the features users can expect to see in the next major release of Windows Phone, code-named “Mango.”

“When we looked ahead to the next release, we wanted to stay true to the principles of Windows Phone 7 – that software should get out of your way and quickly connect you to the things that matter most,” said Greg Sullivan, senior product manager of mobile communications at Microsoft. “Mango builds on the work that we did in Windows Phone 7 and extends a lot of key scenarios around communications, apps, and Internet experiences – with even more capability and a deeper level of integration.”

Mango will enable Windows Phone to expand into new markets and extend global reach and scale through support for a host of new languages and new partnerships with Acer, Fujitsu Limited and ZTE Corp. Microsoft said Mango will be available for free to all eligible Windows Phone customers when it’s available in the fall.

Extending the App Experience

Sullivan said a key competitive differentiator for Mango lies in its smarter approach to apps. Today, he said, smartphones require that users rely solely on their brains to connect the dots between applications on their phones and any given scenario. Mango, however, relieves the burden on customers by assuming some of the burden itself. For example, the App Connect feature connects apps to search results and deepens their integration with Windows Phone Hubs – surfacing apps when and where they make sense.

For instance, if a user searches Bing for a movie, the search results, as you’d expect, provide information such as show times and theater locations. App Connect will take this further by anticipating the user’s need to buy a ticket and automatically surfaces the Fandango app to give him or her the option to buy a ticket right there.

“It’s like having a great butler or a valet that you’ve known for 30 years who can anticipate your every need instead you doing all the work yourself,” Sullivan said. “Windows Phone stitches all of this together for you and connects the applications you have on your phone, or that we have in the marketplace, to the rest of what you’re doing, in a way that’s much, much deeper than any other platform. So you can go from Binging to buying in seconds.”

A Smarter Smartphone

The predictive nature of Mango signals a more intelligent era for the smartphone. This intelligence doesn’t simply benefit end users who need the right app in the right situation. Mango’s improved functionality also benefits companies and app developers looking for a unique way to reach consumers and on the “buy” end of the “Bing to Buy” scenario Sullivan noted.

“We’re really excited to be taking advantage the next release of Windows Phone and the new developer tools,” said Howard Gefen, director of marketing and business development for mobile at Amazon. “We can continue to incorporate features that our customers will enjoy and use, and continue to get the best experience out of the device and the platform.”

Other app features in Mango include:

• Improved Live Tiles, which provides even more real-time information to the home screen. Live Tiles on Mango can be more dynamic and contain more information.
• Multitasking allows users to quickly switch between recently used applications and pick up where they left off by simply pressing and holding the back button.
• Live Agents, which enables developers to create a number of multitasking apps for scenarios involving media, communications, augmented reality and more – all without compromising battery life and performance.

“Our Friends Are People – They’re Not Apps”

For those who have seen the phone, you can see the light bulb go off. It’s like they suddenly realize they should be expecting more from their smartphones.
- Greg Sullivan, senior product manager of mobile communications at Microsoft

Microsoft said its next release of Windows Phone – available to consumers in early fall – was designed and organized around the person or group of people users want to communicate with rather than the various apps used to reach them.

Just like Windows Phone 7 was designed and organized to make communication easier, so too is its Mango update, Sullivan said. For example, Mango’s new People Hub will integrate all of the ways in which people interact. So, whether one is connected to a person on Facebook, Twitter, Outlook, LinkedIn, Windows Live Messenger or all of the above, these avenues to connectivity will be in one, easy-to-access location.

Additionally, if a user wants to send a message to someone, Mango will automatically detect if that person is online to the user can select the best method of communication. If the intended recipient is signed into Windows Live, Mango will provide the option to send an instant message (IM). If not, a text is sent instead.

The next release of Windows Phone also allows users to group and categorize people based on how they fit into their lives. This enables users to send group texts or IM conversations to entire groups of family, friends, coworkers and so on.

“Our friends are people – they’re not apps,” Sullivan said. “Mango makes it super easy to put people first then lets users chose the way they want to communicate.”

Other communications features in Mango include:

• Personalized Live Tiles make it possible for users to easily access individuals or groups from the home screen. Individuals can be pinned to the start screen as Live Tiles, providing users with at-a-glance access to real-time updates from social network feeds and notifications without having to open multiple apps.
• Multiple email accounts can be combined and linked into one inbox.
• Built-in voice-to-text/text-to-voice functionality, which will allow for hands-free texting or chatting.
Smarter Internet

In Mango, Microsoft has added hardware-accelerated graphics and Internet Explorer 9 with HTML5. This, the company says, will enable a faster mobile Web experience that mirrors the desktop.

Unlike competing platforms, Sullivan said Web content in Mango doesn’t return as a list of blue links the user must comb through. Rather, content is integrated, aggregated and presented in a more useful way.

“We take the Web beyond the browser,” Sullivan said. “So you’re not manually spelunking through websites to find what you’re looking for.”

Web browsing now also has an added layer that allows users to take advantage of functionality such as location awareness, the phone’s camera and its microphone.

• Local Scout prioritizes hyper-local search results based on user preferences and recommends the closest restaurants, shopping and activities in an easy-to-use guide.
• Visual search enables users to initiate a Bing search by photographing barcodes, QR codes and Microsoft Tags (without using a third-party app).
• Music search allows users to search Bing and get detailed information about music (like song title, artist and album title) by simply holding the phone up to a speaker.

The addition of augmented reality in Mango – a technology that integrates computer-generated images and sounds on a user’s screen to enhance their experience – is an excellent example of a better Internet experience. It has allowed some of Microsoft’s partners to make significant improvements to their apps.

For instance, by utilizing Mango’s new motion and camera API, developers at The History Channel were able to build History Here – an app that combines augmented reality, GPS, and The History Channel’s multimedia content to create an interactive mobile travel guide. By simply pointing the phone at ones surroundings, the app will display an overlay of historic points of interest close by.

“The new real-time augmented reality view brings historical content to life in a whole new way,” said Dan Suratt, executive vice president of digital media and business development at A+E Networks Digital (which owns The History Channel, Lifetime, Biography and other properties). “People can experience history in an exciting way, whether they’ve just stepped outside their home or travelled across the country.”

“For those who have seen the phone, you can see the light bulb go off,” Sullivan said. “It’s like they suddenly realize they should be expecting more from their smartphones. I think we’re set up to surprise a lot of folks with how big a leap we’ve taken with Mango.”

Where did it all begin, and how did we get here?

To pinpoint when man actually had to the dream to “slip the surly bonds of earth and touch the face of god,”* one has to go back to the first early humans who looked up in the night sky and wondered what those bright lights were. But the first documented attempt of spaceflight took place in 1500, in China. A man by the name of Wan Hu stapped hundreds of fireworks to a wooden chair and strapped himself in. It didn’t work out too well for Wan Hu, as the chair exploded and Hu disappeared in a cloud. Legend has it he made it. But in the end, he became the first casualty of spaceflight.

But that didn’t stop others who dreamed someday of going into space. From Galileo, who invented the modern telescope, to Jules Verne, the father of science fiction, man has dreamed about traveling into space. Robert Goddard began experimenting on rockets even before the Wright brothers first flight at Kitty Hawk. But the first successfully rocket flew in 1926. Then, during World War II, Dr. Werner Von Braun designed and built the German’s V2 rocket, the first ballistic missile. It rained down explosives on London in the waining months of the war. Operation Paperclip spirited Von Braun and many of his scientists back to America along with several completed V2 rockets. Others were taken to Russia. And the space race was born.

Round 1 went to the Russians with Sputnik, the first satellite to launch in 1957. America followed up with a series of embarrassing launch failures before they finally made it with Explorer One. Round 2 also went to the Russians with Yuri Gregarin’s epic solo flight. Astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American into space a few weeks later. With round 3, it seemed the Russians couldn’t be stopped as Alexy Leonov became the first man to walk in space. Ed White followed up in Gemini IV.

But it wasn’t long before NASA’s efforts paid off and America’s space program leap-frogged the Russians. By the end of the decade, as promised by President Kennedy, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. Since then, 11 others took that one small step. Then man confined their space efforts to low earth orbit in space stations like Salyut, Skylab, and MIR. Then, in the 90s, in a joint international effort, the International Space Station established a permanent outpost in space. And with the final flights of the space shuttle, NASA will be going dark, of sorts, only relying on piggy back rides to the ISS from the Russian Space Agency.

Robotic probes have gone further, though, traveling to Mars, Venus, just about every planet in our solar system. And some have left our solar system for the dark reaches of the interstellar Void. And countries like China, Japan, and the European Space Agency all have their sites of going into space.

Isn’t it too risky?

Manned space flight is very risky. To date, over 450 astronauts have gone into space. 22 have died either in accidents related to space flight or in space itself. And that doesn’t include ground personnel who have died as a result of explosions and mishaps. Is it risky? Absolutely. Is it worth it? I’ll leave it to Astronaut Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, who said: “If we die, we want people to accept it. We’re in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life.”

Why is it worth the risk?

Some people think that man is wired for exploration. From the early humans who sought to cross vast expanses of Ocean for trade, to the Viking explorers who rowed across the Atlantic to settle in North America before Columbus. There’s even evidence that long before that, people were exploring our world, and looking to the stars. So perhaps we’re wired for exploration.

Apollo Astronaut Dave Scott said as he stepped foot on the moon during Apollo 15: “As I stand out here in the wonders of the unknown at Hadley, I sort of realize there’s a fundamental truth to our nature, Man must explore . . . and this is exploration at its greatest.”

It’s to seek knowledge, and discovery. It’s to learn where we’ve been and where we’re going. And it’s to better ourselves for it. In fact, the very mediums we enjoy today in the forms of the Internet, personal computers, wouldn’t be possible if we didn’t explore space.

Isn’t it too expensive?

It’s true that spaceflight is expensive. According to a recent survey, the Public believes that the Federal government spends 20% of it’s budget to go into space. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, compared to how much we spend and how much benefit we receive, it’s the best deal going.

By the numbers, it costs nearly $500 million to launch and operate the space shuttle on a mission. Now that seems like a lot of money. But it really isn’t. At it’s height of the Apollo program, NASAs budget represented 4.41% of the Federal budget that was only for one year. Immediately after it began to decline, even before we landed on the moon. Currently, NASAs budget is .60% of the federal budget. That includes manned spaceflight, robotic missions to deep space, research on aviation and even global warming. All for less than 1%. It amounts to about less than ONE CENT per tax payer.

And here’s what the world gets back for it’s investment: — $21.6 billion in annual sales and benefits; Over 352,000 (mostly skilled) jobs created or saved,and, $355 million in annual federal corporate income taxes. In addition, for nearly 50 years, NASA has facilitated the transfer of its technology to the private sector, benefiting global competition and the economy. Thousands of innovations in computer technology: Users wouldn’t have the Internet, wouldn’t have laptop computers, cellphones, and more without spaceflight. Weather satellites predict hurricanes, tornadoes, and other complex weather patters. Communications power telephone communications and television broadcasting. Airbags and steel belted tires make our driving safer. Automated flight safety systems in aircraft keep air travel safer. And even that LED HDTV hanging on your wall is all due to spaceflight research. There’s been innovations in dental care, farming technology, hundreds of medical breakthroughs including early cancer detection, and robotic surgery. Archeologists are even using satellites to detect lost civilizations. In fact, readers would be hard pressed not to find an innovation in their home that hasn’t benefited from the research and development done to accomplish spaceflight.

So the question isn’t “can we really afford to go into space with all the need there is on earth.” The question really is, with all the needs here on earth, can we really afford NOT to?

What’s a Jailbreak and why should I be interested?

Basically, it’s a way of modifying the software running on an Apple phone so that you can do things with it that Apple either didn’t envisage or isn’t keen on allowing. The most common reason to jailbreak your iPhone is to run apps that otherwise you couldn’t get. Apple is reasonably strict about what third-party software it lets into the App Store, and many developers have fallen foul of its rules.

An iPhone which has been jailbroken, however, can access unofficial app stores, the best known of which is Cydia. That works very much like the official App Store, with a range of free and paid applications, but it doesn’t have the same restrictions for inclusion. Apps range from themes that change the appearance of the iPhone’s icons and menus, to tools that allow you to wirelessly synchronize with iTunes or replace Apple’s standard apps with different versions.

Does it mean I can use my iPhone on something other than AT&T?

No, there’s a difference between jailbreaking your iPhone and unlocking it. A jailbreak is a way to modify the iPhone software to gain more flexibility in what you can do with apps, broadly speaking. Unlocking, however, is a way to use your iPhone on a network other than the one you bought it with. In the US, that might mean using the iPhone 4 which AT&T sold you on T-Mobile USA’s network. We’ll cover unlocking in a future SlashGear 101.

Is it legal or will Apple take its revenge on me somehow?

It’s legal, but Apple doesn’t like it. A court ruling last year found that jailbreaking your iPhone was considered to be “fair use” and not something Apple could prosecute you for. However, Apple responded by highlighting that it would void owners’ warranties should they require a repair. Basically, if your iPhone ended up a non-functioning brick in the process, Apple’s Genius Bar wouldn’t be interested.

Meanwhile, Apple has been working hard to close off each potential jailbreak hole as quickly as the hackers can discover them. Each iOS update generally shuts down one or more routes, though some are harder to block than others.

Okay, so how do I do it?

If you’re willing to take the risk, there are a few different methods to jailbreak an iPhone or other iOS-based device. Best known for their work are the iPhone Dev Team, an unofficial group of programmers who collaborate on modifications for Apple phones, tablets and other gadgets. Some of their jailbreak software is “tethered” but the preferred methods are “untethered.” With the former, every time you restart your iPhone you’ll need to have it plugged in via USB to your computer, or you’ll lose the jailbreak. An untethered jailbreak doesn’t suffer the same limitation. Usually it’s just a case of plugging in your phone, running an app and then restarting your freshly jailbroken iPhone.

We’ll cover the mechanics of jailbreaking in a future SlashGear 101.

What’s a “Next Generation Portable”?

Right now, it’s a codename. NGP, Sony has said, is the temporary name which it will use for the console until its official launch later in 2011. There’s been plenty of speculation as to whether it will end up the PSP2 or something else, but right now the only people who know for sure – if, indeed, the name has been settled on at all – work at Sony HQ.

Name aside, Sony has been upfront with the NGP’s specifications, and it’s an ambitious play for the mobile gaming market. Inside is a quad-core processor – twice as many cores as the current breed of high-end smartphones – paired with a high-speed PowerVR graphics chip, a 5-inch touchscreen which uses OLED display technology for brighter colors and inkier blacks, and twin analog joysticks with a D-pad, face buttons and shoulder buttons.

On the back, meanwhile, there’s a trackpad just like you’ll probably find on your laptop, which can be used to navigate through the NGP’s menus and games without obscuring the screen with your finger. However, Sony also expects to integrated the touchpad into games, using “touch, grab, trace, push and pull” gestures.

As for connectivity, the NGP has the same sort of wireless options as you’d find on a cellphone: WiFi b/g/n along with 3G (on some versions) for getting online away from wireless hotspots, together with Bluetooth for wireless headsets. Sensors inside will allow the NGP to respond to movement, so gamers will be able to navigate through compatible games simply by tilting or shaking the console. Cameras on the front and the back will allow for interesting “augmented reality” type games.

However, it’s worth noting that Sony is reserving the right to change any or all of these specifications in the time between now and the NGP’s launch, so the console’s capabilities could well change.

Can I bin my PS3?

The NGP is certainly shaping up to be the most powerful portable games console we’ve seen so far, but the demands of balancing battery life and usability mean Sony can’t set it to run at quite the speeds the PS3 can manage. Still, if gaming is your main priority, the NGP may well offer a compelling combination of portability and power.

What Sony hasn’t confirmed is whether the NGP will be able to connect up to your TV. The original announcement made no mention of HDMI, the current standard, though there is what looks to be a proprietary connection on the bottom of the NGP. That might work with a video-out dongle, like on the iPad 2, but we don’t yet know for sure.

Meanwhile, the PS3 also works as a home entertainment system, with Blu-ray playback, streaming media like Netfix and other functionality, and the NGP won’t be ticking many of those boxes.

What about 3D?

Nintendo has made a push for mobile 3D gaming on the Nintendo 3DS, but Sony hasn’t followed suit. The NGP’s display is resolutely two-dimensional, though that shouldn’t be too much of a concern for most gamers. 3D is yet to conclusively prove its worth and, by sticking with a 2D display, Sony has been able to use a high-resolution panel that packs far more pixels than the 3DS’ glasses-free 3D panel.

Will there be any games?

A gaming platform lives and dies by the titles available for it, especially when – as the NGP does – you break backward compatibility with PSP owners’ games. The NGP uses a new memory card system for games, rather than the UMD discs of before. Sony is intending to use a combination of traditional games and downloaded titles that should cover a range of price points.

Modifying PS3 games so that they run on the NGP is apparently straightforward for developers to do, so that should hopefully mean a healthy catalog of titles familiar from gaming in your living room. Meanwhile, Sony is encouraging game developers to use their PlayStation Suite development tools – which allows them to create games for PlayStation-branded smartphones like the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play – to produce titles which can also be run on the NGP, alongside ports of classic PS One titles that Sony itself will be adding in.

What we don’t yet know is game pricing. Regular NGP titles are likely to be the same as what you’d pay for a current PSP game, which means around $30 to $40 on release, though older content should be cheaper. Games downloaded from the PS Suit, however, will probably start cheaper again; on the XPERIA Play, for instance, PS One games are around $6, and developers will probably compete for the casual gaming market with games priced anything from $0.99 upwards.

Okay, I’m convinced, when and how much?

Sony has committed to launching the NGP in at least one region before 2011 is out, though it’s yet to say whether that will be the Americas, Europe or Asia-Pacific. Rumors suggest Europe may get the handheld first, but Sony is yet to confirm any specifics; the other two regions should get the NGP in early 2012.

As for pricing, that’s also being kept under wraps. The advanced spec sheet alone suggests a premium device, certainly higher than the $250 that Nintendo asks for the 3DS. Even in late 2011, the quad-core processor and other components will still be cutting edge, and have the prices to match. Sony’s WiFi-only NGP will be invariably cheaper than the 3G-equipped model, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see something around the $400 mark or potentially higher.

Android is for phones, isn’t it?

We’ve already covered the basic premise of Android in a previous SlashGear 101, Google’s freely-available phone software that has already taken a huge bite out of the mobile world. Although it’s best known for being on phones, manufacturers have already tried putting Android on bigger-screen devices, like the Samsung Galaxy Tab which used the same version of Android as from the company’s phones but on a 7-inch tablet.

Honeycomb, however, is Google’s attempt at software for tablets done properly. It uses the same sort of underlying code as the phones, but optimized for touchscreens around 7-inches or larger.

So it’s just phone software made bigger?

Not quite. Google has pretty much reworked the entire user interface of Honeycomb so that it takes advantage of tablet-scale screens. Not just a phone homescreen stretched out, but a new set of icons and widgets (tiny mini-apps that live on the homescreen and offer quick-glance updates for things like Facebook statuses and new emails) along with live thumbnail previews of apps running in the background.

Third-party apps can be coded to take advantage of the bigger displays too, though regular software intended to be used on Android smartphones – and which far outnumber tablet-specific titles in the Android Market – scale up to fit. Google has created a system called “Fragments” for developers to use, which allows them to make apps for both phones and tablets that juggle different parts of the interface, either showing them one at a time on a smaller cellphone screen, or several at the same time on a tablet screen.

Is it better than the iPad?

Like Android phones versus the iPhone, it’s not necessarily better, just different. Opinions on both platforms rage strong, and each has its strengths and comparative weaknesses. Again, as with phones running Google’s software, one of Honeycomb’s main advantages is in its flexibility: manufacturers can choose to modify the interface and other aspects of the software if they see fit, and there’s more room for third-party software to change the overall tablet experience.

That should eventually lead to more personalized tablets, though right now the shortage of tablet-focused software is Honeycomb’s primary drawback. While the iPad has had more than a year to build a solid catalog of apps scaled perfectly to its screen size, Android apps aren’t yet up to the same speed. Still, many Honeycomb tablet buyers will do so with an eye on the incoming spoils, prizing Android’s versatility and the potential it offers.

What’s next?

More software, more tablets, and generally more choice. As we found in our Android Honeycomb review, Google is off to a solid start with its new platform; what it needs now is manufacturers putting it on new models and software providers coming up with compelling apps to run on it. That’s likely to take place as we move through 2011.

For more information on Android – in both phone and tablet flavors – check out our sibling site and the bustling forums at Android Community!

Google does search, what are they doing on my phone?

Google may be best known for its search engine – and its place as many people’s homepage – but the company has plenty of other side-projects going on. Android has grown to be one of the biggest, freely-available software for manufacturers to put on mobile phones, tablets, set-top boxes (such as for cable or satellite TV) and other gadgets.

The core Android technology was bought when Google acquired the company responsible – and secured the services of its co-founder Andy Rubin, who is now heading the whole project as a Google senior vice-president – back in 2005. Although rumors suggested the search giant was planning a so-called “Google Phone”, in actual fact the ambition was much bigger: a whole platform for phones cheap and expensive, as well as all manner of other electronics, to use.

“Today’s announcement is more ambitious than any single ‘Google Phone’ that the press has been speculating about over the past few weeks. Our vision is that the powerful platform we’re unveiling will power thousands of different phone models” Eric Schmidt, Google

Google’s argument is that by having a standardized, core platform, phones can be created quicker and manufacturers can spend less tinkering on software and thus make their handsets cheaper and more cost-effective. Meanwhile, those people creating apps – distributed through the Android Market, Google’s equivalent of the iPhone’s App store – have a much bigger target audience to appeal to.

So who’s involved?

Rather than go it alone, Google needed manufacturers (and the suppliers who provide them with components for cellphones) to sign up to the Android ethos. The end result is the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), a consortium of several companies including manufacturers, carriers, software providers, component suppliers and more.

Currently, Motorola, HTC, Samsung, LG and Sony Ericsson are perhaps the best-known handset makers involved in the OHA, while network operators such as Sprint, Vodafone and T-Mobile are all onboard too. While collectively they’ve agreed to help drive Android and promote its adoption, they’ve also agreed not to break its consistency by tinkering too much with the software, despite the fact that Android is considered “open”.

What do you mean, open?

“Open”, or “open-source”, means that the underlying software which Android uses is accessible to anybody interested in taking a look. If you’re a manufacturer, that means you don’t have to ask Google (or indeed pay Google) to use Android on your gadget; if you’re creating software, you don’t have to pay to get access in order to make your apps work. Google’s engineers take responsibility for each Android update, but they include public submissions deemed worthy of being made official, suggestions from manufacturers and others, and everything is documented and released (eventually) online for all to see.

In that way, Android differs significantly from most of the other major mobile phone software platforms popular today. Apple won’t let anybody else use iOS as on the iPhone, for instance, and RIM won’t let anybody use its BlackBerry software. Microsoft gets paid by manufacturers wanting to use its Windows Phone software, and limits what changes can be made to the code.

So the experience on every Android phone is the same?

Not at all. While the core software may be the same, manufacturers are free to make all manner of tweaks to Android as they see fit. Considering the fast pace of the mobile phone segment today, those changes are often done to better differentiate one handset from another. They can vary from a few minor amendments so that the homescreen – the main page of the phone – looks different from everyone else’s, to broad changes that dig deep into the underlying software and make the handset significantly different to use.

That act of changing Android to suit an individual company’s market intentions has led to what’s known as fragmentation, or divergences to “pure” Android as Google releases it. Google has certain limits it insists manufacturers abide by if they want to use its premium software – such as the Gmail app, or getting access to the Android Market of third-party apps – which include the minimum specifications of the phone and what tweaks to the software have been made.

Even within those limits, however, manufacturers have pushed their own ideas and left big differences in the overall Android experience moving from device to device. Pick up an HTC-made Android phone, for instance, and it’s a very different look and feel to, say, a Motorola-made phone. Experts disagree on how dangerous this fragmentation will be to Android’s progression, though a rough rule of thumb is that the more changes a manufacturer makes, the longer it takes for them to push out software updates when Google amends the underlying Android code.

What’s next?

Although manufacturers have experimented with putting Android on devices other than phones, Google’s next “official” push is tablets. These have bigger touchscreens and so lend themselves to a different on-screen layout and features. Google has begun a separate strand of Android development, known as “Honeycomb”, which is intended specifically for tablets, as manufacturers like Motorola, HTC, Samsung, LG and others attempt to take on Apple’s iPad. We’ll cover Android Honeycomb in more depth in a future SlashGear 101.

For more information on Android, check out our sibling site and the bustling forums at Android Community!

So Apple invented video calling, right?

No, not at all, though they did do a lot to make it easier to use – just as long as you have the right hardware. Video calling is actually a part of the 3G standard, which – if the carrier and whatever phone you’re using supports it, which isn’t the case in the US – has been available since around 2003. Unfortunately a combination of high pricing, poor understanding by users, mediocre quality and patchy reliability meant this form of video calling has never really taken off.

Apple’s FaceTime takes advantage of the company’s tight control over the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and MacBook software, which has allowed it to polish the video calling experience to the point where everyday use is possible. Now FaceTime is available to anybody at the touch of an on-screen button.

Do I need an Apple phone to use FaceTime?

Not necessarily a phone, but definitely something with the Apple logo. FaceTime was first supported on the iPhone 4, which was Apple’s first mobile device with a front-facing camera (i.e. one that looks at the user, rather than out the back of the handset). The latest iPod touch and iPad 2 both have front-facing cameras and FaceTime support as well, and Apple has released a FaceTime app for its Mac and MacBook computers so they can join in the fun as well. FaceTime comes free on the mobile devices and the very latest Macs, and is a $0.99 download from the Mac App Store for earlier Mac owners.

Okay, so how do I use it?

It’s pretty simple, just as Apple was aiming for. On the iPhone you make a voice call in the normal way and then tap the FaceTime button on-screen to switch to video. On the iPod touch and iPad 2, you start a video call in the FaceTime app. You’ll need an Apple account in order to make and receive calls, since that’s used as the “phone number” for devices other than the iPhone 4.

Currently, FaceTime video calls can only be made when you have a WiFi connection, not when you’re using the mobile network for data. That’s a limitation Apple has put in place itself, though the company has said it is working on removing it in the future.

I’m not into Apple, can I video call with something else?

You certainly can, though the process gets a bit trickier. Various apps are available for Android and other mobile phone platforms which promise video calls, sometimes over not only WiFi but the 3G mobile networks too. That means you can make video calls when away from your home network or a WiFi hotspot, as long as your signal is strong enough.

Skype, Fring and Qik are all among the companies offering video calling apps, though their effectiveness often varies on a phone-by-phone basis. Not all phones have front-facing cameras, either, though they’re becoming more common on the latest handsets. A future SlashGear 1010 feature will look at the best video calling apps if FaceTime isn’t your thing.

Apple has said it plans to open up FaceTime to other manufacturers, so that non-Apple phones can make and receive calls too, but so far there’s no sign of that actually happening.

More information at Apple’s FaceTime page.

I’ve heard of a CPU and a GPU, but what’s an APU?

An APU is an “Accelerated Processing Unit”, and at its most basic it’s a mixture of CPU – the core brain of your computer – and GPU – the chip responsible for graphics processing – on a single unit. Although Intel’s new 2011 Core processor range has a basic video chip living on the same core unit as the CPU, AMD has gone one step further and included extra intelligence in how the tasks you ask of your computer are worked on.

So, rather than the CPU being responsible for all general tasks, and the GPU only being called upon to handle what you see on the screen, a system using APUs can assign tasks to both. Some tasks are better handled by the CPU, as is traditional, while other tasks are better handled by the way the GPU can work on multiple problems simultaneously. Although GPUs have been used in this way before, AMD’s Fusion technology is special because it pulls everything together in one place, and so reduces the delay normally found as data shuttles from one part of your computer to another.

AMD calls this “Heterogenius” computing, processing that can take advantage of the best of both CPUs and GPUs, and has branded it AMD Fusion. The first Fusion chips began to show up in netbooks earlier this year, under AMD’s VISION brand.

So is it just for netbooks, then?

Not at all. The first range of Fusion APUs – the C- and E-Series chips – were targeted at netbooks, with relatively low processor speeds and frugal power consumption, but the APU concept ramps up in performance just like a traditional CPU. What AMD has announced today is that its mainstream range of Fusion chips are now in mass production and headed off to notebook and desktop computer manufacturers.

These new Fusion chips are the A-Series, which AMD internally calls “Llano”, and they work in exactly the same way as described before. The difference is, they contain more CPU and GPU power to handle trickier tasks like gaming and video processing, just as the sort of people looking for a mainstream laptop or desktop might be asking for. They also demand more power to run. AMD expects the first computers using these A-Series APUs to go on sale before the end of June 2011.

Why should I care?

AMD argues that, by using the combined brains of the CPU and GPU in everyday computing, users will see their software run quicker without needing a hugely expensive processor. That should mean cheaper netbooks, notebooks and desktop PCs which are still capable of playing games and doing video processing – as well as browsing the internet quickly and doing all the usual Office tasks. If a manufacturer decides to prioritize battery life, then AMD reckons its Fusion chips will be happy sucking just a little juice while still offering the option to play high-definition video.

It’s also important that AMD Fusion is based on open standards for software developers to use. That means more likelihood that your favorite applications will work properly with the Fusion APU’s intelligence, and take advantage of the two kinds of processing on offer.

What’s next?

“Faster” and “frugal” are the two keywords in processors these days, and AMD Fusion is no different. As you’d expect, AMD will be increasing the speed that the CPUs and GPUs in the Fusion chips can run at – that will mean a shorter time to crunch video and other tasks – with lower power consumption so that notebooks and netbooks can run longer on a single charge.

Next in line for release will be AMD’s Fusion chips for performance notebooks and desktops, which the company hopes will take a bite out of Intel’s Core i7 range.

More on Fusion at AMD’s site.

It’s those geeky red/blue glasses, right?

Not any more. Theater audiences decades ago were hooking flimsy cardboard glasses over their ears and settling in to watch cheap 3D movies, but the home technology has come on in leaps and bounds since then. The glasses themselves look more like a semi-fashionable pair of Oakleys than something you’d find free in a cereal box and, while the principles of 3D are the same, they don’t work in the same way.

3D content takes advantage of the fact that each of our eyes see things from a slightly different angle. Out in the real, naturally-3D world, those two angles are combined by the brain and so we get a 3D perspective; when you’re dealing with a flat, 2D display, you have to figure out some way of showing each eye a slightly different picture, preferably as close as possible to the same time.

Those cardboard specs – known as “anaglyph” glasses – did it by offsetting the red and blue colors of the movie slightly: the eye with the red lens couldn’t see the red part of the picture, and vice-versa with the blue lens. That meant two different views from one single onscreen image. Problem was, the colors got mangled in the process, and so film-makers could only use a limited palette.

Modern 3D TVs either use special passive (i.e. unpowered) or active (i.e. powered) glasses to create the 3D effect. Passive glasses use polarized lenses, like polarized sunglasses, which restrict the light reaching each eye; a filter layer over the TV splits the picture into the left and right eye channels, so that the brain gets two slightly different perspectives which it can combine into 3D.

Active glasses are more complex, with each lens being optically clear but in fact a sheet of liquid-crystal like a calculator display. Rather than the TV showing the left and right eye images simultaneously, as with passive 3D, it rapidly flips between the two images; at the same time, the glasses blank out the opposite eye, so that only one eye sees one image at a time. Basically, when the TV is showing what the right eye should see, the glasses make sure the left eye is obstructed. Thanks to the high speed that the images are switched, and that the active “shutter” glasses flick between the eyes, the brain actually sees a consistent picture from each rather than spotting the obstructions, and then builds those pictures into 3D.

What if I don’t want to wear glasses?

Doing away with 3D glasses – whether active or passive – is the holy grail for TV manufacturers. Usually known as “autostereoscopy” there are various methods by which it can be achieved, though none are really ready for a commercial launch in the living room.

Most common are “parallax barrier” and “lenticular”, both of which rely on a layer on top of the display to split the picture between the viewer’s eyes. The Nintendo 3DS, for instance, uses a parallax barrier system, where a layer with a series of slits is used to selectively block and frame different parts of the display for each eye to see. Lenticular systems, meanwhile, put a panel of tightly-packed lens rods in front of the display, splitting the light out to the viewer’s eyes.

The drawbacks of both systems are plentiful, but primarily it’s the limited “sweet spot” in which viewers must sit in order to see the 3D effect. In the Nintendo 3DS, for instance, the gamer’s eyes must be directly in front of the 3D screen; not so difficult when you’re working with a handheld console, but a different matter when you want a TV in your living room which multiple people can watch. Samsung and other manufacturers have developed large-scale glasses-free 3D prototypes, but the general consensus is that they won’t be ready for the market until they can support larger numbers of simultaneous viewers.

So what should I buy?

The choice between active and passive 3D comes, in part, down to cost. Passive glasses, because they have no electronic parts and merely rely on polarized lenses, are far cheaper; active glasses need batteries and to wirelessly synchronize to the TV they’re being used with (so they blank off each eye in correct time with the changing display), so tend to be more expensive. Most 3D TVs come with one set of glasses, but if you’re buying further pairs for the rest of the family, that can quickly get expensive.

There’s also the issue of compatibility, with active glasses from some brands not being usable with other manufacturers’ TVs. A universal standard is in development, but so far it’s a work-in-progress. Basically, the glasses you use with your 3D TV might not work with the 3D TV your friend chooses.

The nature of each technology also has its drawbacks. Because of the way passive 3D glasses work, with polarized lenses, you need to be looking at the TV straight-on or the effect won’t work. That means no lying down on the sofa and watching 3D at an angle. Active 3D glasses, meanwhile, can suffer from flickering problems with fast-moving films, sports and other content: that’s because the TV’s refresh rate – the speed at which the picture on-screen changes – is effectively halved since it’s having to show two image for each single frame (one for each eye).

In practice, the viewer limitations of passive glasses and the general improvement in TV refresh rates mean that active glasses are the best way forward for most living rooms. Still, it’s worth trying both systems in-store before you buy, since some people find the active 3D flicker issue more frustrating than others. A future SlashGear 101 buyer’s guide will look at which 3D TVs should be on your shortlist.

Okay, so what can I watch?

A 3D TV is only half of the story: you also need content to watch on it. Right now that’s limited, primarily because 3D films and shows are only appealing the minority subset of those who have upgraded to a compatible TV. In the US, DirecTV offers three channels with 3D content, including ESPN 3D, while Comcast plans to offer it in June this year alongside its “3D Events” channel of occasional programming. In the UK, satellite provider Sky offers the Sky 3D channel.

Pre-recorded 3D content is easier to find, and usually involves a 3D-capable Blu-ray player. An increasing number of titles, such as Avatar, are being released on Blu-ray in 3D versions. Meanwhile, Samsung and others plan to launch 3D video-on-demand services – which allow you to buy or rent digital 3D content, downloaded through your internet connection – over the coming months and years.

As for creating your own 3D content, manufacturers are gradually introducing 3D camcorders which will allow you to capture family memories in three-dimensions. In a future SlashGear 101 we’ll run down the 3D options open for the home videographer.