size
Latest
iPad vs. TouchPad... Fight!
Spec sheets are one thing, but we know what you really want to see -- two tablets going mano-a-mano in the ring. Here they are, your Apple iPad and HP TouchPad slates, sized up side-by-side each with their own sizable black bezel and 9.7-inch screen -- and incredibly similar in both size and weight. See how they literally stack up in the gallery below! %Gallery-116125%
Jawbone Jambox vs. Soundmatters foxL v2... fight!
Two portable speakers clamber into the ring, each boasting big, beautiful sound for their diminutive size. Both cost $200. Both have the same technology inside. The Jawbone Jambox and the Soundmatters foxL v2 with Bluetooth each want to be your wireless audio wunderkind, blasting music and taking Bluetooth calls. At best, you're only going to buy one. Which speaker should you choose? Following our Jambox review, we got our hands on a foxL and put the two head to head, and after the break you'll see which one came out on top -- both literally and figuratively. %Gallery-111933%
Panasonic Lumix GF2 vs. GF1... fight!
If yesterday's preview of the GF2 wasn't enough for you, here's a little more eye candy to feast upon. We paired up Panasonic's all-new Micro Four Thirds shooter with the GF1 that preceded it and collected a nice little gallery for your perusal below. The major difference between the two is in their dimensions -- the GF2 feels a lot closer to your typical compact camera -- though there are plenty of smaller modifications as well, such as the refashioned grip on the camera's right side, the replacement of the jog dial up top with a stereo mic array, and the introduction of a luminous iA button for switching on the intelligent auto mode. The back of the GF2 is also quite a bit tidier, which has been achieved mostly by eliminating some buttons in favor of the touchscreen interface. Check it all out below or jump past the break for some video action. %Gallery-106820%
Samsung Omnia 7 takes on HTC's HD7 and 7 Mozart in battle for WP7 supremacy (video)
The alternative headline for this post was "a visual tour of the phones Americans aren't getting," but alas, the HD7 spoiled our macabre fun with its T-Mobile plans. All the same, there's no disguising our disappointment at having to settle for Samsung's Focus and LG's Quantum in the US, while the rest of the world gets to enjoy the delights of the far prettier Omnia 7 and Optimus 7 from each manufacturer. Even HTC, which is also bringing the 7 Surround Stateside, is sending its aluminum-clad 7 Mozart to other, presumably sunnier, climes. Sadly, we can't force these phones' makers to bring them to you, but we can certainly live up to that promised visual tour. Check out the gallery below plus video after the break. If there's one thing that really stood out to us, it was the quality of the Omnia 7's Super AMOLED display. It should be no surprise anymore that it delivers stellar black levels and eye-twisting viewing angles, but it still managed to take our breath away set against its WP7 contemporaries. The 7 Mozart doesn't do too badly for itself, but the HD7 ended up a distant third in our eyes. Closeup video of all three displays follows after the break. P.S. -- LG's Optimus 7 was too late in arriving to join the fray for this post, but rest assured that it, along with the other WP7 handsets featured herein, will be getting a full review in the coming days. If you're curious about the (admittedly small) differences in specs between these phones, don't forget we've broken them all down in our comparison from launch day right here.%Gallery-105422%
HTC HD7 vs. Desire HD: battle of the 4.3-inchers
Come October 21, European smartphone buyers will be faced with the enviable choice of having to pick between two 4.3-inch handsets from HTC bearing the latest and greatest OS from their respective camps. The HD7 will be one of the flag-bearing Windows Phone 7 devices, whereas the Desire HD -- which is already sneaking out into retail in some small quantities -- offers the finest Froyo dessert Google has yet cooked up, replete with some extra sprinkles of Sense-ible enhancements. We'll have full reviews of both in the coming days, but for now, we thought we'd whet your appetite with a tour round their oversized bodies, both in pictorial form below and on video, right after the break.%Gallery-105307%
HTC Desire family portrait (video)
So you own a Desire and want to know whether its new brandmates -- the Desire HD and Desire Z -- will represent an ergonomically appealing upgrade? We've got you covered with both a gallery of shots below and a neat video after the break encapsulating the size differences between the three models populating Desireland. Okay, we couldn't resist, we threw in an iPhone 4 for comparison's sake as well.
AMD names second Bobcat APU Zacate, shows off Ontario die size
AMD might still have no actual Fusion product to sell us, but it's added a fresh new codename to the stable of future CPU/GPU hybrids. The Zacate Accelerated Processing Unit is a Bobcat derivative, much like the Ontario, but it operates at a higher TDP of 18W and is intended for ultrathin and mainstream laptops along with power-sipping desktops and all-in-ones. Both it and the Ontario APU will offer two Bobcat cores allied to Radeon graphics capable of performing DirectX 11 instructions, though the Ontario dips all the way down to 9W with the stated aim of punching up netbook and small form factor pc performance. Just for reference, that'll have to compete against Intel's own dual-core solution, the 1.5GHz Atom N550, which scrapes by on just an 8.5W TDP... though, of course, it doesn't integrate the same graphics processing prowess that Ontario promises. The two chips, Ontario and Zacate, will ride AMD's Brazos platform when they finally debut early next year. Until then, enjoy the technicolor die shot after the break.
Mirrorless camera shootout: DSLR alternatives get sized up and ISO-examined
It all started with Micro Four Thirds, but now just about everyone is jonesing to play along in the mirrorless camera game. The crew over at Serious Compacts managed to get ahold of quite a few contenders (Samsung's NX10, Sony's NEX5, Olympus' E-P2 and E-PL1, and Panasonic's GF1, GF2 and GH1), and rather than taking 'em apart one by one, they've decided to size 'em up in a fantastic size comparison piece. From lenses to bodies, all six cameras are shown from various angles, and even if you've convinced yourself to not be in the market for one of these bad boys, the eye candy alone is worth a peek. Furthermore, the group has been entered into a telling ISO comparison test, but if you came here looking for a spoiler, you'll be sorely disappointed. Tap those links below to get your study on, won'tcha?
128GB BDXL Blu-ray disc specification finalized... and fabulous!
Looks like the Blu-ray Disc Association has published the final specs for the monster BDXL disc, opening the way for manufacturers to start introducing the technology in their optical drives. Not too much here that we don't already know: aimed at institutions and folks who need to archive lots and lots of... stuff, BDXL discs are available in either triple layer 100GB (re-writable or write-once) or 128GB quad layer write-once flavors. Of course, with all these layers (or layuhs in Brooklyn) the laser in the Blu-ray drive you already own won't be able to do the trick, so start saving your change for a hardware upgrade once these things become commercially available. PR after the break.
Blu-ray Discs expand to 128GB under new BDXL spec
This probably isn't a response to the 3D onslaught or even "superbit" releases like the upcoming Avatar 2D disc, but just in case the standard 50GB Blu-ray discs were beginning to feel a bit -- how do you say... cramped? -- the Blu-ray Disc Association's rolling out a new BDXL format capable of holding up to 128GB (write-once) or 100GB (rewriteable). Before you get too excited, you should know that you'll need a new player to access these -- even a firmware update won't save the PS3 this time -- since they go up to three or four layers deep and will likely need a more powerful laser. While our home movies can be compressed just fine, corporations currently still using other mediums for archiving might appreciate the extra space, as well as the new IH-BD discs, designed with one 25GB read-only layer, and one 25GB rewritable layer on the same platter. If you're looking for a place to permanently back up that super high-res "amateur photography," take heart -- a consumer version is in the works, though it will first be aimed at markets where Blu-ray Disc recorders are popular, or available at all (read: maybe Japan, definitely not the US). No word when the new hardware will actually hit the market, but final specs are due "in the next few months." In the meantime, check out the full details after the break.
Case-Mate's Hug allows induction charging on the iPhone
There are a few features that I'd love to see added to the iPhone's hardware (an IR transmitter would be nice, for one thing), but first and foremost among those is probably an induction charger. It's a little lame to have a device that so easily goes wireless, and then have to come back and plug it in again after usage. Of course, Apple will take their sweet time adapting new technologies, so until then, I might have to make do with Case-Mate's Hug solution. It's a $100 case that slides on the back of your iPhone and allows the unit to charge without ever plugging in a cable -- just stick it on and wait. Which sounds good, but then you notice that the case actually blocks the iPhone's dock completely, so you have to take the case off anyway to do your regular syncing. And of course it also adds size and heft to the phone, which is probably more than you want to pay to just have a phone you can stick on a charger. Looks like Apple's reasoning in leaving the technology out of the hardware is pretty solid. Nevertheless, if you can't wait to "give your iPhone a Hug" (clever but cloying), the case is available now.
iPad devsugar: Three lessons from the iPhone
In pixel-terms, the iPad offers a much larger workspace to develop on than the iPhone but in terms of the human experience, it's not that very far away from iPhone programming. The two share an underlying operating system and a large overlap in human interaction realities. Here are just three of those overlapping iPhone development realities. Consider taking these ideas into account as you're building your new and updated applications for the iPad. Human fingers are big. Although the iPhone has a much smaller screen than the iPad, the size and shape of the typical human finger does not change between the two devices. Do not design interaction elements for the iPad smaller than, say 40-by-40 pixels in size. When in doubt, design larger rather than smaller. The iPad with its larger screen is more likely to be held further away during use than the iPhone, which is often raised fairly close in during use. Build your on-screen objects accordingly. With its 1024x768-pixel screen, the iPad has the room for clean, large interaction elements. Use that space to better compliment the human finger. Attention spans are short. Like the iPhone, expect your users to approach the iPad in a sporadic netbook-style fashion. Design your applications around short interaction periods and prepare for your application to be cut off as a user stands up to grab his next Orange-Cranberry Frapaccino. Always save your application state between sessions, as much as you possibly can. A well designed app should relaunch quickly and, upon relaunching, approximate the same task your user was performing the last time the program was run. This can demand diligence on the part of the programmer, but is worth the time investment due to the payoff in user satisfaction. One more tip after the break! Thanks Scott Lawrence, |Agent
Drag and drop your windows into tidiness with Cinch
I'd never heard of Cinch, just mentioned over at Cult of Mac, but it's such a great idea I thought I'd check into it. Basically, Cinch does what all great Mac software does: it works in the background and lets you do what you want to do, skipping completely all the usual nonsense you usually have to do in between. Basically, it's a window helper -- all you have to do is drag any window on your desktop to a side of the screen, and it'll put the window maximized in that space. Drag it to the top, and it'll maximize it across the screen. When you're done, drag the window away, and it returns to its original size. There's a great screencast on the Irradiated Software website that shows some of the possibilities. One idea that really appeals to me is dragging two Finder windows quickly to either side of the screen to both browse two folders at the same time, and then pass files back and forth between them. Cinch reminds me of this old chat by Quicksilver creator Nicholas Jitkoff, where he talked about software that didn't worry about what you wanted to do and just let you do. Cinch serves its purpose in that same way. It's available over on the website for US$7.
iMac benchmarks and review say it's a beast
People have had their chances to put their grubby hands on those "incredible" iMacs that got released a few weeks ago, and the results are in. And they're great, apparently. First up, MacRumors has a collection of a few sets of benchmarks on the new machines, and the Core i7 processor (a $200 upgrade from the still very powerful Core i5) especially kicks up the speed to a place where it's competing with even the Mac Pro. In fact, in the second comparison, when pitted up against the single CPU Mac Pro, the iMac is virtually identical. Not only is it slightly cheaper depending on options, but you get that nice monitor for free. Electronista has a much more qualitative analysis, but they still love the new machine. Their "biggest" problem (aside from the usual complaints about the glossy screen and a lack of easy-to-reach ports) seems to be just the size of it. The 27" iMac is a big machine no matter how thin it gets. But they agree: with the i7 in there and all of the extra options, the iMac is a monster, matching up to the Mac Pros sitting in the lower atmosphere. Good stuff. I'm not personally in the market for a new computer, but man -- if I was ready to spend $2000 on a quality machine, it's tough to consider anything else a better purchase than the new iMac. UPDATE: Chart graphic is from Timon Royer, we regret the omission.
DSi XL FAQ: Sized up
Early yesterday, Nintendo of Japan announced the DSi XL (DSi LL in Japan), a larger, larger-screened version of the DSi. It's a big system, and kind of a big mystery, given that the only advance notice we had of the thing was a Nikkei blurb two days prior. While we can't answer the big questions, like how long this idea has been in the works, and whether a bigger handheld is a good idea as an alternative to the DS's continual miniaturization, we can round up what we know and can reasonably speculate about the DSi XL -- right after the jump. %Gallery-76864%
Samsung's WiMAX-packin' Mondi sized up against brothers, cousins and enemies
It's one thing to see a Samsung Mondi and just imagine how sweet it'd feel between your palms, surfing on the blazing WiMAX superhighway whilst providing an almost dangerous level of satisfaction. It's another to see just how chunky / slim / ostentatiously lofty it is when sized up against its greatest competition. The good folks over at Pocketables took the time to disconnect for a few brief moments in order to photograph the 4G-capable MID alongside a few other mobile internet devices, smartphones, UMPCs and defunct wannabes. Heck, there's even a side-by-side with a stapler. Yeah, it's a can't miss piece, and it's all there for the taking in the read link.
Mac 101: Supersize your icon views
Welcome back to Mac 101, our occasional series of tips for new and novice Mac users. Over the past 25 years, icons may have become ubiquitous almost to the point of fading into the visual background; still, the little pictures that began in 32x32 black and white format have grown up quite nicely into the massive 512x512 icons we enjoy in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Although the list and column views are more utilitarian for most file management tasks, there are times when icon view is the way to go. You can control whether or not a particular Finder window displays in Icon view via the View Menu ("as Icons," or ⌘-1), and then adjust the display size of the icons via the View Options inspector panel (⌘-J). You can get up to 128px square icons in Finder windows, which is plenty big, but what if you want to see all the graphical power of those fully operational battle icons? One way to see the full-size icons is via Cover Flow -- simply switch your Finder window to "as Cover Flow" (via the toolbar button, the View menu, or with a quick ⌘-4) and you can scale your icons at will by adjusting the window size. If you prefer not to have that black background around your icon, however, what is there to do? Thanks to Rob Griffiths at Macworld & MacOSXHints, here's a great tip for getting the maximum size out of your icon previews in the Finder without resorting to Cover Flow. To view icon previews up to 512x512, hit the Spotlight search field at the top right of the window; search for a null string (two quotation marks next to each other, no space in between, like so ""), then change the search target from This Mac to Current Folder and the search type from Contents to File Name. Switch to icon view and you'll see, at the bottom right corner of the window, a scaling slider. Push it to the right to maximize your icon size. It's just the thing for appreciating the fine detail on your bottle of unicorn tears. (If you're looking for the CHOCK LOCK and Rick Astley icons above, they're in the QuickPix 2008 pack from the Iconfactory.) Rob also hazarded a guess that we might see a more accessible version of this feature in future Mac OS X versions. If you watched the Snow Leopard stealth preview video posted earlier, you know he may well be right.
Breakfast Topic: Size does matter
I like Ulduar, I really do. I mean, the place is huge. I don't think we've ever seen a raid so massive. While it has about the same number of bosses as Naxxramas or Karazhan, give or take a few, the scale of Ulduar really dwarfs me. The very first encounter is epic -- it feels like some sort of Mad Max sequence, with throngs of enemies rushing at you. Despite my misgivings about vehicle fights, I thought the concourse to Flame Leviathan was a lot of fun. I think Blizzard outdid themselves with the scope of the zone. When they say that Titans built the place, you see and feel it. Sometimes the game really makes me feel small. Flying over Storm Peaks gives me a rush and a feeling of grandeur -- the mountains are so high! When I head over to Icecrown, the armies of undead can be truly intimidating, and it provides but a glimpse of the promise of Icecrown. When I first entered Hellfire Peninsula back when the Burning Crusade launched, it felt truly epic because I'd never seen anything so vast before. And who didn't shudder at the first sight of a Fel Reaver? Heck, even the humongous caverns of Maraudon still amaze me, and that flatulent little Princess will always be one of my most epic experiences.Blizzard has always put a few encounters that dwarf us. Dragons are certainly appropriately huge, and it works. It feels grand. It feels epic. That's why I thought Mount Hyjal was fun -- aside from being steeped in lore, everything was whimsically oversized! But the experience was just improved by it. Ulduar's size just reminded me that sometimes, big is better. What were your most epic adventures in Azeroth? What big things in the World of Warcraft have amazed you?
The Daily Grind: Big or small guild?
Let's face it - there are good and bad points to guild size, either big or small. In a small guild everyone pretty much knows everyone else and has a fairly good idea of everyone's skills. In a larger guild you're one of many. While this can be problematic when trying to keep up with what's going on with everyone (if not downright impossible) big guilds also can help greatly when you're looking for people to run an instance - either smaller or raiding group. Why bother looking around outside when you can just recruit from your guild? There's more, of course, but this morning we thought we'd ask you - which do you prefer? A small guild or large guild? Why do you prefer that guild size? What do you think are the biggest bonuses and drawbacks to your favorite?
Blow a kiss to Mojo and and watch your mount grow
My friends and I discovered a nice little "bug" the other day. We were sitting around Ironforge with nothing to do other than to give a friendly ribbing to our Shadow Priest friend over that fact that she didn't have her Amani War Bear yet. We had our Mojo's out hopping around the feet of our Bears, trying not to get squished. We found out that if we blew them a kiss, we turned into a frog and our mounts grew quite a bit.Obviously this is some kind of flaw in the model coding that allows this, but it's a fun enough and harmless enough bug that I can't stop myself from doing it every chance I get. More so, drink some Winterfall Firewater and pop Heroism for a real big frog on a bear mount.This is definitely hilarious enough that I suggest everyone goes out and tries it at least once. Just leave my Mojo alone. He's spoken for.
