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The best standing desk converters
By Kevin Purdy This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and Engadget may earn affiliate commission. Read the full guide to standing desk converters. If you want to incorporate standing into your work routine but a full-sized adjustable standing desk isn't an option, the Kangaroo Pro Junior is the next best thing. After building, testing, and comparing 15 standing desk converters, we found our pick of more than five years offers the most stable, ergonomic, and adjustable standing setup while taking up less room than most converters. All standing desk converters are an inherent compromise, an attempt to make one part of your non-moving desk move for your work. The Ergo Desktop Kangaroo Pro Junior makes the fewest ergonomic compromises of the converters we've tested without being too annoying to use. That's no small feat for this category, believe us. Being able to control the height of your monitor and keyboard tray separately makes the Kangaroo Pro Junior a better fit for more people. The monitor mount means your display is more stable and takes up less room than a monitor standing on a platform. And because you work on a flat, deep surface, rather than a narrow tray, you can use whatever combination of keyboard, mouse, and other tools best fits your work. The Kangaroo Pro Junior makes you do a little bit more work than some converters—turning knobs and gently lifting with your hands—but that pays off in ergonomically superior arm and neck angles. If you don't have a monitor you can mount to a VESA bracket or you want to use your laptop screen but still stand at your work, the VertDesk Standing Desk Converter is the best fallback option, and we mean that as a compliment. It's more stable than many other two-tier converters, especially its keyboard tray. It's smooth to raise and lower, it rises mostly straight up instead of lurching out like many converters, and it has some built-in cable routing that make it easier to create a good monitor setup. If you've got a sizable desk to dedicate to standing (that you don't want to trade out), and you know you won't need to switch out your setup for other work, the E7 by Uplift gives you the most convenient standing setup short of buying a standing desk. It weighs nearly 100 pounds and takes up 26 inches of desk depth (nearly 40 with an overhanging keyboard tray), but it's quicker and quieter than other electric converters we tested, looks better than most converters with a bamboo or rubberwood desktop options, and lets you use either a lowered keyboard tray or a flat work surface. If you only use your laptop to work and want to start standing, the Cora gives you a lower-cost, less-permanent way to do so. Using your laptop alone whether sitting or standing isn't a great ergonomic setup, and the Cora cannot fit a monitor. But it also works great with a laptop on a stand, a small keyboard, and a small mouse, making your sitting and standing angles ergonomically better, if not ideal. It's also the quietest, easiest to adjust, and best-looking laptop riser we tested.
LG's OLED TVs now pack loss-free 3D audio
There's a dirty secret to listening to Dolby Atmos sound on LG's current OLED TVs: all the audio is compressed, so you're losing a little fidelity for the sake of immersive 3D sound. You won't have to make that sacrifice before long. LG is trotting out an update later in October that will add support for lossless Dolby TrueHD audio to all its 2017 OLED sets. If you're watching a 4K Blu-ray movie (the most likely candidate for TrueHD support), you can hear jets soaring overhead at maximum quality.
Gionee Elife E7 boasts most sensitive 16MP camera, 2.5GHz Snapdragon 800
Gionee isn't exactly a name that you'd come across in the Western market every day, but this time, the Chinese company has big global ambitions. The latest proof is its Elife E7, a 5.5-inch 1080p Android phone that boasts two titles: it's the first known phone featuring the 2.5GHz flavor of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 chip (MSM8974AC); plus it has the most sensitive 16-megapixel camera, courtesy of its Largan M8 lens (though the aperture is still unknown) and 1/2.3-inch sensor with large 1.34µm pixels. Compared to the competition, Gionee believes this particular OmniVision sensor has the best balance between resolution and pixel size, and the phone maker even went as far as claiming this already beats the 1.12µm, 16-megapixel counterpart on the yet-to-be-announced Galaxy S 5. Of course, we'll believe it when we get to properly test the E7's camera ourselves.
Nokia rolling out Symbian Belle Refresh with new web browser, home screen widgets
Good news for Nokia owners, as the company has begun the phased rollout of Symbian Belle Refresh. First and foremost, the OS update brings a new web browser with support for HTML5 web apps. Users will also discover new home screen widgets, and for those who've yet to snag 'em, Microsoft Office and Nokia Maps Suite 2.0 are also made part of the update. Symbian Belle Refresh is supported by the Nokia N8, E7, C7, C6-01, X7 and Oro, and will also include new imaging apps that are specific to the N8. The vanilla version of the software is now available, and Nokia expects that operator and country specific updates will be up for grabs in the coming weeks.
Canon EOS 7D v2 firmware tested: increases burst capacity, gives manual audio control
You don't get to unbox anything or have that new-camera smell, so how much does the Canon 7D v2 firmware really transform the now three year-old model? The answer depends a bit on what you do with it, but for most users the Japanese maker deserves kudos from bringing new functionality to the model. Two changes stand out in particular, the first being a bump in the number of burst RAW images from 15 to 25, a boon for action shooters. The other biggie is manual audio level adjustment, saving videographers from the whims of automatic audio levels. Other tweaks include in-camera rating, resizing and editing of images; a max auto ISO setting; GPS compatibility; file name customization; time zone settings; and faster magnification scrolling and control screen adjustment during playback. To test the burst and audio functions, we got our own mitts on the firmware. Prior to updating, we put the rapid-fire 8 fps camera it through the wringer and grabbed about 16-18 RAW frames in a burst. With the v2 firmware we caught exactly 25 frames before it halted, and did it again numerous times with only an occasional stutter. As for audio, the new manual setting is still a far cry from dedicated sound level dials -- on the 7D you'll need to preset the audio before filming, and are stuck with that level until you hit 'stop' again. Still, it beats the previous automatic way, which was so unusable that it forced many pros into buying external audio recorders to get anything decent. A quick test confirmed the new adjustment worked well, giving usable audio in most conditions with both internal and external mics while requiring just a little fiddling beforehand to set levels. While hardly turning your 2009-era beast into an all-new DSLR, the new functionality brings the software in line with newer models, and still keeps the 7D near the top of the APS-C heap in many categories. Swapping out the sensor would be the only way to bump the one area where it now lags, low-light performance -- but you can't expect everything from a $1,500 shooter.
Nokia Belle earns corporate street-cred with Microsoft Office apps
Looks like the corporate bromance between Microsoft and Nokia is stronger than ever. The Finnish handset maker has announced a suite of MS applications that is making its way to select Symbian handsets right this very moment. Users rocking a Belle device are being given access to a handful of apps from Redmond, which will include: OneNote, Document Connection, Lync and PowerPoint Broadcast. A second wave of Office-centric wares, including Word, PowerPoint and Excel, will be made available at an undisclosed date in the not-to-distant future. Nokia E7, C7, C6-01, X7, Oro, 700, 701 and 603 owners should see the goodies appear in Symbian's software update application; the phone maker has promised to add support for the N8, E6 and 500 "soon." For more information on the Microsoft software infiltration, check the press release after the break.
Symbian Anna update rolls out to compatible Nokia smartphones in the US
Nokia may be moving on to other things, but it's not leaving its existing smartphone lineup completely behind just yet. The company confirmed today that Nokia C6-01, E7 and N8 owners in the US are now finally able to download the Symbian Anna OS update, more than two months after it first rolled out elsewhere around the world. That brings with it a whole raft of changes, including a spiffed up UI, a new on-screen QWERTY keypad, a new browser, new Maps, new versions of the Ovi Store and QuickOffice, and a number of other "performance and usability improvements." Look for it in the software update client on your phone if you haven't downloaded it already.
Symbian Anna now available for download on Nokia N8, E7, C7 and C6-01
Just a day after popping up on NaviFirm, Nokia's Symbian Anna has finally arrived for download, right on schedule. Available for N8, E7, C7 and C6-01 users, the new OS brings a fresh new UI and a virtual portrait QWERTY keypad to Symbian smartphones, along with split-screen messaging, richer maps and speedier browsing. The update also brings NFC capabilities to the C7, in particular, allowing users to share contacts, photos and other goodies by simply tapping their handsets together. If you're interested in upgrading, you can download Anna using the latest version of Ovi Suite (3.1.1), or with an OTA update, though availability and method of delivery vary from market to market. Find more information in the full PR, after the break. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
How would you change Nokia's E7?
Hard to believe the last great Communicator was launched but a few months back, huh? In the time since, Nokia has bestowed upon us the first image of its forthcoming WP7 handset, rolled out the MeeGo-based N9 and flaunted the dev-only N950. That said, Symbian's still claiming a staggering piece of the market from a global perspective, and even though Elop and co. have largely given up on it for their future smartphones, we're pretty certain at least a few of you sprung for the oh-so-gorgeous E7. So, now that you've had a few months to put it through its paces, what say you? Would you change the keypad in any way? Is that panel dense enough for you? Would you have preferred a different OS? How's about a non-EDoF camera? Shoot the breeze down in comments below, but let's keep it civil, okay? It's Sunday, after all.
Nokia's Live View AR app reveals what's nearby, how to socially ostracize yourself in public
Augmented reality junkie, Ovi Maps fan and S^3 fanboy? Nokia's got you covered with its Live View AR app. The most recent hatchling from Espoo's Beta Labs program brings selectable POI overlays to the camera inputs of a N8, C7 or E7. The Finnish firm also highlights the release's tight integration with Ovi Maps, with deep hooks for turn-by-turn navigation and sharing -- allowing you to spam friends as to your future whereabouts via SMS. Interest piqued? A video demoing the application and an interesting way to calibrate a compass awaits you beyond the fold.
Nokia shutters online and retail stores in UK, US web store
Nokia will be entering Q3 free of any direct-to-consumer sales channels in the US and UK. The Finnish smartphone maker shuttered its remaining UK retail stores earlier this month (with the exception of Heathrow Airport, which remains open), and also discontinued sales on its US and UK online stores -- joining France, Spain, and The Netherlands, which all went offline last month. We spoke to a former Nokia UK retail employee, who cited poor marketing, high prices, slowing traffic and a high product return rate as a few of the reasons that the stores closed -- returns of the N8 and E7 dominated other handsets, with customers complaining of device crashes and corruption, hardware failures, and usability issues. He reports that the stores were also only able to sell devices on Vodafone and T-Mobile, and only Vodafone allowed customers to upgrade in a Nokia store. The majority of customers came into the store for support, rather than to make a purchase. "The last two months were particularly quiet. Even if the shopping centre was busy, the Nokia store would have perhaps no more than 30 people through the door a day, usually for technical assistance. And that was that, all stores were closed abruptly on June 20th." We imagine pricing played a large role in the decision to close the UK and US online stores, just as it did with UK retail and online stores in other countries. Both country's online stores have been replaced with a closure notice, with the US store directing customers to Amazon, and the UK store referring visitors to eight retail partners, instead.%Gallery-127496% [Thanks, Karl]
Symbian Anna shipping on N8, E7, C7 and C6-01 in July, download set for August
We've already seen Symbian Anna begin shipping on the Nokia X7 and E6, but this little lady is about to become much more popular. Nokia has announced it will begin distributing its latest OS on the N8, E7, C7, and C6-01 -- all beginning next month. Unfortunately, if you're among the millions who already own one of these handsets, you'll have to wait until August for an OTA or PC-assisted update. Not like there's any rush, seeing that Symbian will be kicking until 2016 and all.
Nokia announces Symbian 'Anna' update for N8, E7, C7 and C6-01; first of a series of updates (video)
And now it's completely official: the new and freshened up version of Symbian we saw leak out over the weekend is indeed coming to Nokia's latest batch of handsets. The N8, E7, C7 and C6-01, the phones that ran what was formerly known as Symbian^3, will all be getting it "over the coming months," while the newly announced X7 and E6 devices will ship with it preloaded. The change list includes real homescreen scrolling, an overhauled browser, and yes, even a QWERTY onscreen keyboard in portrait orientation. There's also new iconography and heavily refreshed Ovi Maps, which now include predictive search. Nokia is resolute in its belief that Ovi Maps is the best mapping solution on the market, and Microsoft's decision to integrate it into Bing would suggest that's true. The "Anna" Symbian update will be the first of a series and has been driven almost entirely by consumer feedback. Nokia also shared some Ovi Store stats with us. There are now five million downloads per day going on from the company's app repository, which now includes more than 40,000 apps in total. 158 developers have passed a million downloads each. Full PR and video overview of the enhanced OS after the break.
Nokia E7 review
Over the years, we've seen a steady stream of business and messaging-centric landscape QWERTY smartphones come and go, with HTC arguably leading the pack via its collection of Windows Mobile, Android, and WP7 devices featuring sliding keyboards and tilt-out displays. But few of HTC's offerings are as iconic or memorable as Nokia's line of Communicator clamshell phones -- starting with the Nokia 9000 in 1996, continuing with Symbian S80 models, and culminating with the Nokia E90 atop S60v3. The Nokia E7 is the latest Communicator in this distinguished series and the manufacturer's current flagship device, dethroning the Nokia N8 which continues on as the company's media mogul. A lot has changed in the six months since the N8 was introduced, including Nokia's recent partnership with Microsoft and the stunning announcement that it will be adopting Windows Phone for future high-end smartphones. So, is the E7 -- which is finally shipping in the US -- the greatest Communicator to date? Can it carry the torch for Symbian in the immediate future? And more importantly, how does it fare in today's shark-infested Android and iOS waters? Jump past the break for our full review. %Gallery-120805%
Intel rolls out 10-core, 20-threaded Xeon E7s, shows everyone who's boss
Someone deep down in Intel's development dungeons must be laughing a haughty laugh of disdain at us mere mortals getting excited about dual-cores in smartphones. The old Chipzilla has just turned out its 10-core Xeon E7 processor family, which can work on 20 simultaneous computational threads courtesy of the company's Hyper-Threading knowhow. Needless to say, there aren't that many casual workloads that will ever properly harness such extremely parallelized prowess, but then Intel isn't really gunning for the Facebook crowd here anyhow. The new E7s are for those dealing with truly data-intensive tasks, meaning that Facebook itself would be a good candidate to buy up a few, provided it's tempted by such things as 40 percent performance improvements over the Xeon 7500 tied to dynamic power adjustment for increased energy efficiency. Pricing for the Xeon E7s starts at $774 and climbs up to $4,616 per 32nm chip, with the usual proviso that Intel won't sell them in batches of less than 1,000. More details follow in the press release and video after the break. [Thanks, Khan]
Nokia E7 now shipping from Amazon for $649
Well look here! You can have your cake and eat it too -- and by cake we mean that landscape QWERTY smartphone known as the Nokia E7. The latest and greatest Communicator has caught up with its European twin and is shipping unlocked and contract-free from Amazon right now. It can be yours for $649, which is somewhat cheaper than the $679 pre-order price we mentioned last month. This buys you a 4-inch 640x360 ClearBlack AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, an 8 megapixel EDoF camera with dual-LED flash, a pentaband 3G radio, and the coolest hinge mechanism on the block. So visit the source link, and get your Symbian on. [Thanks, Andrew]
Symbian UI overhaul scheduled for the fall?
While Symbian might be good as dead to most Engadget readers, Nokia must continue supporting the millions of S^ wearing faithful until it can fully transition to a Windows Phone smartphone shop in 2012. So we were interested to hear Marc Driessen, Nokia Benelux product manager, spill some details about a few previously unannounced Symbian updates for 2011. As you'll recall, S^4 as a product had been canned months ago, but the scheduled UI updates were still part of the Symbian roadmap. According to Driessen, Nokia is targeting a major UI overhaul in the fall, an update rumored to include a dedicated pull-down status bar up top; new iconography; new flexible widgets; a simplified navigation bar below; and better menus throughout that don't require a scuba suit to navigate. While Nokia HQ won't confirm the dates or details to us (we asked), the fall timeline does match with what we've heard elsewhere. Dutch site All About Phones is also reporting that a smaller update for N8 and E7 users might come as early as this summer. Of course, those owners are still waiting for the first real S^3 update that was promised for early 2011, so hopefully Nokia can squeeze in the split screen text input, portrait QWERTY, and improved browser before March is done.
Nokia E7 up for pre-order in the states with presumed April delivery
Dedicated stateside Nokia watchers, we have good news: the E7 is up for pre-order on the company's American storefront for a hearty $679. Set to ship in the beginning of April, this bad boy has been kicking around Amazon since late last year, and much to our surprise the price hasn't changed one penny since then. Of course, if you'd gone through Amazon Prime you'd have saved $4 on shipping (which you probably need after spending the better half of a grand on a handset). Get out your credit card and hit the source link! [Thanks, Evaristo]
Nokia E7 starts shipping to 'select markets'
"Better late than never" has been Nokia's rallying cry when it comes to releasing high-end devices, but we can't begrudge the delay we've experienced with the E7, this phone was gorgeous back in September and it's still a beauty today. The QWERTY-equipped sibling to the N8 brings a 4-inch Clear Black Display -- whose name is no exaggeration, it's as sharp and vibrant as any AMOLED screen we've seen so far -- together with the latest version of Symbian, an 8 megapixel camera round the back, 16GB of onboard memory, and a finely crafted aluminum body. The slideout keyboard on this device is easily among the best we've ever handled, although the same can't be said about the mechanism for opening it up. Nokia hasn't been specific about the markets the E7 will be arriving in over the coming days, but the UK seems a lock and distribution should expand rapidly from there. Jump past the break for Nokia's press release and a sweet little video promo. %Gallery-115811%
Nokia puts E7 up for pre-order in Finland, planning on delivering in February
One of the most delicious phones the consumer world hasn't had a chance to taste yet is firming up plans to finally make its way out to retail. Nokia's Finnish store has put the E7 up for a €599 pre-order, which is expected to get the all-business device to your door some time in February. That matches the last word from Nokia on the subject of the E7's release and should reassure anyone who's made use of Amazon's early pre-orders for this handset that the wait won't last much longer. [Thanks, Esko]
