Android Advisor Issue 2.pdf

LATEST SMARTPHONE, TABLET AND APP REVIEWS

ANDROID

ISSUE

02

ADVISOR

ULTIMATE

TABLET
BUYING GUIDE

Every major tablet tested

BEST
CHILDREN’S

TABLETS

REVIEWED

NEW TO ANDROID
All you need to know about Google’s mobile OS

Welcome...
W

elcome to the second edition of
Android Advisor, in which we present
our ultimate guide to buying a tablet
(page 58). We’ve not only looked at the best 7- and
10in Android tablets you can buy, but also a selection
of kids’ tablets and, for comparison’s sake, the best
of what else is out there, including the iOS-based
Apple iPad Air and Windows Nokia Lumia 2520.
If you are new to Android, we’ll also show you
exactly how to get started with your new phone or
tablet, with advice on everything from making video
calls to customising your handset, importing contacts
and playing music. Get up to speed on page 122.
MWC was kicking off as we went to press, and on
page 19 you’ll find our list of what we’re hoping will
be announced. Hopefully it won’t be more curvedscreen smartphones, which our experts have found
to be little more than a gimmick (see page 30).
Rather, wearable tech is expected to be the big
trend for 2014. Samsung is gearing up to take on
Google with its own Galaxy Glass smartglasses, as
we learn on page 21. The idea is pretty cool, if you
can afford them – but the same can’t be said for
smartwatches. We present the case for and against
this expensive tech arm candy on page 37.
We hope you enjoy this issue of Android Advisor,
and feel free to send us your feedback via Facebook
(facebook.com/AndroidAdvisorUK) or email us at
[email protected].

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MediaTek chip will allow
powerful budget phones
MT6595 SoC brings Octa-core, 4G LTE, 4k video
and more to budget smartphones

M

ediaTek has announced its new MT6595
system on a chip (SoC) which will pave the
way for budget smartphones with a high-end
specification. Here’s why the processor will lead to a
sub-£200 iPhone rival.
The firm has announced its latest chip, bases on
ARM technology, will give smartphone makers the
chance to offer a premium device at an affordable
price. MediaTek said that it expects devices with

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the advanced SoC to arrive at between $200 and
$300, or sub £200, meaning these devices will rival
the iPhone 5s and other flagship devices. The firm
expects devices with the chip to be available in the
second half of this year.
Jeffrey Ju, general manager of the MediaTek’s
smartphone business, said: “MediaTek is focused
on delivering a full-range of 4G LTE platforms and
the MT6595 will enable our customers to deliver
premium products with advanced features to a
growing market,”
That’s quite a big claim and here’s how the
technology involved in the new chip will achieve this.
The MT6595 is powered by ARM’s freshly
announced Cortex-A17 CPUs. It’s got four of those
cores, but also has four Cortex-A7 ones too. Put
them together and you’ve got eight cores, or an
Octa-core processor.

Octa-core, battery life and graphics
Furthermore, ARM’s big.LITTLE architecture means
that the processor is efficient, waking up the more
powerful cores for bigger tasks and the lower power
cores to keep things ticking over. This not only helps
performance, but battery life too.
Here’s how MediaTek sums that up: “A scheduler
algorithm with adaptive thermal and interactive
power management delivers superior multi-tasking
performance and excellent sustained performanceper-watt for a premium mobile experience.”
Sounds pretty good and things get better with a
PowerVR Series6 GPU for high-performance graphics.
This is the same GPU as found inside the iPhone 5s,
and it’s coming to affordable devices.
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More 64-bit processors
coming to mobile devices
Intel and Qualcomm announce their first 64-bit
processors and software for mobile devices

vs
Q

ualcomm has announced that the
Snapdragon 410 is its first 64-bit chip for
smartphones and tablets. With the iPhone
5s holding the title of first 64-bit smartphone, it was
never going to be long before others followed suit.
The product number may cause some confusion
as it’s lower than the current Snapdragon 600
and 800 chips, but the 410 is aimed at budget
smartphones in emerging markets.
A major feature is integrated 3G and 4G LTE
with multiband and multimode support, which it
is aiming mainly at China. Qualcomm said it aims
to bring this functionality to its entire Snapdragon
range of processors.
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“By offering 4G LTE variants to its entry-level
smartphone line-up, Qualcomm Technologies
ensures that emerging regions are equipped for this
transition while also having every major 2G and 3G
technology available to them,” said Qualcomm.
“We are excited to bring 4G LTE to highly
affordable smartphones at a sub-$150 price point
with the introduction of the Snapdragon 410,” said
Jeff Lorbeck, Qualcomm’s senior vice president and
chief operating officer. “The Snapdragon 410 chipset
will also be the first of many 64-bit processors as
Qualcomm helps lead the transition of the mobile
ecosystem to 64-bit processing.”
The Snapdragon 410 is manufactured using a
28nm process and features an Adreno 306 GPU.
Qualcomm said the chipset can handle up to 1080p
video playback and a 13Mp camera, plus Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth, NFC, FM, GPS, Glonass and BeiDou.
The chip also supports major operating systems,
including Android, Windows Phone and Firefox OS.
Qualcomm said the Snapdragon 410 will be
available for sampling in the first half of 2014 and
will appear in devices commercially in the second
half of the year.

Intel
Intel has completed work on a 64-bit version of
Android OS for x86 smartphones, and the software
will be ready to load on handsets with its upcoming
Atom 64-bit chip codenamed Merrifield.
Intel has been making code contributions to
the 64-bit version of Android 4.4 ‘KitKat’. It has
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completed the kernel work, which will ensure the
OS is compatible with smartphones, said an Intel
spokeswoman at CES 2014.
But 64-bit Android could reach tablets first.
Intel said 64-bit Android tablets powered by its
Atom processor codenamed Bay Trail will become
available in the first half of this year. The tablets are
expected to sell for as little as $150 (£91).
The code completion paves the way for device
makers to load 64-bit Android and their own user
interfaces on devices. A full 64-bit Android is not yet
available on smartphones or tablets. Intel also hopes
developers will start writing 64-bit applications for
Android smartphones running on Atom chips.
Intel is expected to shed further light on 64-bit
Android and the Merrifield chip, which is targeted at
high-end smartphones, at February’s Mobile World
Congress tradeshow in Barcelona. Intel didn’t talk
about smartphones at CES, instead focusing on
tablets, hybrids and wearable electronics.
Intel is still trying to find its bearings in the
smartphone market, which is dominated by ARM.
Intel has adopted Android as the OS of choice for
smartphones running on its chips, and getting to 64bit could give the chipmaker a head start over rivals.
Chip makers such as Qualcomm, STMicroelectronics
and others have announced ARM-based 64-bit
chips, and Samsung is not far behind.
Merrifield will be made using the 22nm
manufacturing process. Intel in November updated
its roadmap to include new smartphone chips that
will start shipping in the second half of this year.
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Why Lenovo has
bought Motorola
What the Motorola acquisition means for Google,
Android and the smartphone market

L

enovo has agreed to buy Motorola from Google
for US $2.91bn. On the face of it that’s a big loss
for Google given that it spent $12.5bn buying
Motorola only in 2011. So what’s going on? Here I’ll
take a look at why Lenovo has bought Motorola, why
Google has sold it, and what it means for Android and
the smartphone market.

Why Lenovo has bought Motorola
Lenovo has operational scale, access to
components, and a strong brand name in the
important emerging markets of Asia and Africa.
Motorola makes great products like the
Moto X and Moto G, and brings a
very close relationship with Google.
Lenovo is buying the soft- and
hardware engineering expertise
required to make great phones,
and bringing the ability to punt
them out cheaply and at scale.
Then there is the sympathies
between the brands. Motorola
is a strong brand in the US and
south America, Lenovo in Asia. The
joint venture could be a potent mix,
as the two brands are quickly merged.
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“

Motorola’s engineers can design great phones,
and Lenovo can make sure they reach
every corner of the world
With the capture of Motorola Lenovo just became
the third biggest smartphone maker in the world.
According to Strategy Analytics the combination of
Lenovo and Motorola accounted for 6 percent of
global smartphone shipments in 2013. Lenovo alone
shipped 45 million smartphones last year according to
IDC. Furthermore Lenovo is huge in China, which is a
major source for smartphone growth. And it has that
ability to manufacture and roll out products on a huge
scale (did we mention that?).
Motorola’s engineers can design great phones, and
Lenovo can make sure they reach every corner of the
world. Motorola has a full version of Android that is
full-featured and easy to use, and as a huge PC- and
laptop vendor Lenovo can access all the components
it needs. It has one of the biggest channels to market
of any tech company, and the scale to make cheaply
the great things Motorola designs.
This matters because there are only two ways in
the which the global smartphone market will grow.
Number 1, first-time purchasers in Asia and Africa.
And secondly: budget smartphone purchasers in the
saturated Western markets. A combined Motorola/
Lenovo will be able to make cheaply great handsets,
and ship them to every market. That’s great news for
them and for consumers, and poor news for the likes
of Huawei, ZTE and LG.

”

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Why Google has sold Motorola
In the short term Google has divested itself of a
loss-making division. Moreover running Motorola
was a distraction from Google’s core business of
getting consumers to use Google services and
then using the data generated to sell advertising.
Running Motorola never sat easy with Google’s other
Android partners, who must have felt like they were
competing with their partner.
Of course, buying something for $12.5bn and then
selling it for $2.91bn isn’t great business. But it’s also
not the full story.
You’ll read a lot about how Google has kept hold
of Motorola’s patents, which will generate revenues
in the future. Many analysts are arguing that Google
only ever wanted Motorola’s patents – the vast
majority it is keeping for itself and licensing back to
Lenovo. The value of those patents to Google
is known only to Google.
More hard news is that Google in fact divested
of Motorola for $5.3bn, as it sold the set-top part of
Motorola to IBM for $2.4bn some months ago. That
leaves a $7bn loss on a loss-making business offset
only by some patents of dubious value. It starts to
make more sense, but what’s the real game here?
Ultimately a strong Lenovo/Motorola hybrid selling
large volumes of Android phones can only be good
news for Google. The African and Asian markets
are dominated by Android, but mostly by cut-down
flavours of Google’s ‘open’ OS that don’t generate
the data, or media and app sales, via which Google
monetises Android. A successful Lenovo will sell
Android handsets in western markets, too, increasing
Android market share there.
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Motorola’s expertise could ensure that those
people who get new Android phones spend money
on using them, too, and use them for all the webbased activities via which Google generates data
and therefore ad revenue. The Android market
is hopelessly fragmented right now, but it will
consolidate around a few big brands. Samsung and
Sony have the high-end sewn up, albeit in a fight with
an ailing HTC. Lenovo/Motorola could hoover up the
bottom end of the market.
In the long run fewer, better Android manufacturers
is good for Google. So the strategy of selling Motorola
to the right company makes sense.
Then there’s the Samsung question. Samsung
is the most successful Android phone maker,
but famously never mentioned ‘Android’ when it
launched the Galaxy S4. Using a Samsung phone
is very much a ‘Samsung’ rather than a ‘Google’
experience, complete with Samsung stores and
services. Samsung has even hinted at moving away
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from Android and on to the Tizen platform, which
would be disastrous for Google. Should Lenovo and
Motorola perform as expected Samsung becomes
less important for Android. It would be a blow to lose
Samsung, but it would no longer be a terminal blow.
The purchase and sale of Motorola could be seen as
a $7bn insurance policy agains the big phone makers
jumping from the good ship Android.
Finally, it’s worth looking at the economics of
Google buying Motorola in the first place, and then
selling it for a loss.
Google is incredibly cash rich. In this period of
the company’s history it has money to spend, and
strategic goals to fulfil in a rapidly developing market.
We won’t know for a while if buying and selling
Motorola makes sense, but it certainly doesn’t put
Google in financial difficulty. It’s prepared to buy its
strategic goals.
Google bought Motorola to keep an important
Android player in the smartphone- and tablet market.
It bought it for its manufacturing and design expertise,
for its patents, and to ensure Google had a stake in

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the nascent Android hardware market. It certainly
didn’t buy it to make money – although I doubt it
expected to lose as much money as it has.
Given that the Nexus products Google sells in
partnership with other hardware vendors have
continued to sell in great numbers during Motorola’s
entire time in the Google fold it seems highly unlikely
that Google ever looked to run Motorola as a going
concern. Which is good because it never did.
No. I think Motorola has served its purpose for
Google. By selling it to a strong manufacturer such as
Lenovo Google will calculate that it stands to make up
its losses in future market share and revenue, as well
as shoring up the future of Android in a smartphone
world that at least hints at further fragmentation. And
it is taking up a small amount of shares in the new
Lenovo/Motorola business to indicate exactly that.

What this means for the market
Lenovo/Motorola means good, cheap, full-Android
smartphones, at scale in all corners of the world. It
means a powerful large-scale budget phone maker
dedicated in the long-term to Android. Already the
third-biggest smartphone company on the planet,
combined Lenovo and Motorola will be able to
rapidly increase market share by offering quality
to first-time smartphone buyers in Africa and Asia,
as well as the West. It has the brands to do so, the
expertise and the manufacturing clout. And it has
a visible brand in every corner of the world.
In the long term this is good news for Google,
Lenovo and Motorola, and potentially bad news for
the smaller commodity phone makers and those who
wish to see a more fragmented budget phone market.
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Microsoft tipped to bring
Android apps to Windows
Microsoft could be following BlackBerry’s lead
by bringing Android apps to Windows Phone

W

indows Phone 8 is fighting an uphill battle
to catch up with its rivals, but Microsoft’s
mobile operating system could be getting
a boost in the form of support for Android apps.
There’s plenty of good hardware out there in the
Windows Phone market, but software has been its
downfall for a long time. Developers continue to
prioritise iOS and Android and will continue to do so
until Microsoft’s mobile OS has a bigger market share.
However, sources familiar with Microsoft’s have
revealed to The Verge that the company is “seriously
considering allowing Android apps to run on both
Windows and Windows Phone”.
Planning is reportedly in the early stages and
there are mixed feeling as to how Microsoft should
go about the move. Some at the firm simply believe
that enabling Android apps inside the Windows and
Windows Phone Stores is the answer while others
think that could signal the death of the platform.
The company wants to control the store from which
consumers download Android apps, but it’s unlikely
that it will want to handle the tricky task that comes
with supporting an additional platform. If the move
goes ahead, it will likely involve a third-party ‘enabler’. 
Software firm BlueStacks is one possibility, since
it has been enabling Android apps on Windows for a

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long time. Meanwhile, sources familiar with
Intel’s plans have indicated that the chip maker has
been pushing Microsoft to provide Android apps in
its Windows Store.
The move could well be make or break for
Windows Phone, depending on how Microsoft goes
about the process. Customers would need a very
simple way of understanding how to run Android
apps on their device and a way of developers porting
apps over would need to be created. The potential
risk is reducing developers’ desire to make native
Windows Phone apps if their Android version will
be available anyway.
It’s something BlackBerry introduced to its mobile
operating system without much success, so we’re
very interested to see what Microsoft decides. The
firm could make an announcement on the subject
at its Build conference in April.

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HTC rumoured to be
behind new Nexus 10
Samsung made the original Nexus 10, but will Google turn
to one of its other hardware partners for a new model?

S

martphone maker HTC has been tipped to
partner with Google on a new Nexus tablet,
possibly the Nexus 10 2.
2013 brought an update only to the Nexus 7 tablet,
not the Nexus 10, but this year could be a different
story. It has been rumoured that Samsung or Asus
would make the second version of the Android tablet,
but now there’s a third horse in the race: HTC.
That’s according to Focus Taiwan, which says HTC
has won orders for a “high-end model of the Google
Nexus tablet line”. The device is expected to launch
in the third quarter of the year.
HTC first worked with Google on the original Nexus
smartphone back in 2010.
Although no product names were mentioned, it
seems more likely for the tablet to be the Nexus 10,
which is overdue an update. However, it is still
possible that it will be a new model of the popular
Nexus 7, or maybe even both tablets.
HTC tried its hand in the tablet market with the
Flyer, which launched in 2011. It struggled to make
the device a success and has since focused on
smartphones, such as the popular HTC One.
Rumoured specs of the Nexus 10 2 include
a 10.1in 2560x1600 screen, an 8Mp camera and
a whopping 9500mAh battery.

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4G mobile broadband
free on Tesco Mobile
Tesco has removed the £2.50 premium for 4G data from
its mobile contracts, making 4G free for subscribers

T

esco Mobile has announced that 4G LTE
mobile broadband is now free for new- and
existing customers.
After being the first virtual network to offer 4G in
October last year, Tesco Mobile is now following in
the footsteps of Three by making 4G free. The deal
applies to all pay monthly and SIM-only contracts.
The move means customers can get a 4G SIM-only
tariff for just £7.50 per month, including 250 minutes,
5,000 texts and 500MB data. Tesco Mobile uses O2’s
network in the UK.
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Simon Groves, chief marketing officer at Tesco
Mobile, said: “After giving customers the chance to try
4G at their own pace with our flexible 4G tariffs, we’ve
seen people really benefit from what it has to offer.
“Customers should be able to expect more
from their mobile network, so as we see demand
for 4G become more widespread, we wanted to
take a different approach. Introducing free 4G is a
clear example of our intention to provide all of our
customers with the very best at no extra cost.”
Tesco Mobile said that in the coming weeks is
plans to launch data bundles for pay as you go
customers and aims to expand its range of 4G
capable smartphones. It will launch the Sony Xperia
Z1 Compact and Motorola Moto X.
“As a network we hope that this move will
challenge others in the market and encourage the
industry to follow suit. We want to see 4G with no
extra cost become the norm and networks making
the very latest technologies accessible for all,”
added Groves.
Since the £2.50 4G premium has been lifted,
existing customers will receive credits on their
monthly statements.

“

We want to see 4G with no extra cost become
the norm and networks making the very
latest technologies available for all

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”
18/02/2014 15:00

5 things we expect to see
at Mobile World Congress
MWC was taking place in Barcelona as Android Advisor
went to press. Here’s what we were hoping to see
Samsung Galaxy S5
This one is a bit of a surprise, but it looks almost
certain that Samsung will announce its new flagship
smartphone at MWC in Barcelona.
Samsung usually announces new Galaxy S phones
at specific events outside of tradeshows. We were
treated to the Galaxy S3 in London and the Galaxy
S4 in New York. However, a suggestive ‘Unpacked 5’
invite has been sent out (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

Nokia Android phone
This might sound absurd, but Nokia is expected to
launch an Android-powered smartphone at MWC.
It’s currently known as the Nokia X, and codenamed
‘Normandy’. This is despite Nokia’s mobile business
being taken over by Microsoft, which wants to push
its own Windows Phone 8 operating system.
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As far as we’ve heard, the device will be a budget
handset with no access to the Google Play store.

Wearable tech
2014 is set to be the year of wearable tech. We saw
plenty of new devices at CES in Las Vegas at the
beginning of January. Many of them came from firms
that are not normally associated with fitness, such as
Razr, which makes gaming accessories.
MWC is focused on smartphones and tablets, but
we’re sure there will be a number of new wearable
devices to check out.

Flagship smartphones
We’ve already mentioned the Galaxy S5, but MWC
could be where we see a number of flagship
smartphones from rival manufacturers. All the big
names in the smartphone market will be out in
Barcelona with the media, analysts and industry
buyers, so it’s a great platform to show off products.
All all rumours for now, but we could see the Sony
Xperia Z2, LG G3 and HTC One 2, among others.

In-car tech
In-car technology is on the rise, and a fair bit of it
was on show at CES 2014. We’re certain there
will be more to come at MWC.
We expect new connectivity
technology to be demonstrated,
and big names such as Ford
to make announcements
on the future of in-car
technology and
entertainment.
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Samsung to rival Google
Glass with Galaxy Glass
The South Korean tech giant hopes to unveil its Galaxy
Glass smartglasses at September’s IFA tradeshow
GOOGLE GLASS

S

amsung is planning to take on Google Glass
with its own Galaxy Glass smartglasses.
The smartglasses market is expanding, with
many devices on show at this year’s CES. Samsung
will reveal its own smartglasses at IFA 2014 in
September, according to The Korean Times.
“The market potential for smartglass is huge. It
will be used in trucks, cars and has a greater impact
on related industries such as glass- and coatingsmakers,” said an official at Samsung Electronics.
It is thought that the Galaxy Glass gadget will pair
with a smartphone to display alerts on a transparent
or translucent lens, and allow users to take phone
calls and listen to music. The device will provide
similar functionality to the Galaxy Gear smartwatch.
“The smartglass to be introduced by Samsung is
a new concept of wearable device that can lead to
an exciting culture of communication. The smartglass
will present our aim to lead the market with proven
capability,” added the official.
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The future of Android is...
healthy
Code for an Android Fitness API suggests Google is
looking to jump on the activity-tracking trend

S

martwatches, -glasses and other wearable tech
dominated much of the talk coming out of CES
2014. While it’s still unclear how much of that is
post-CES hype, activity trackers such as fitness bands
have emerged as one of the few wearable categories
that people are actually buying.
Hoping to pick-up on the fitness band craze,
Google will reportedly expand the activity tracker
functionality of Android. The Google Operating
System website recently uncovered code for an
unannounced ‘Android Fitness API’. The purported
new developer feature would likely allow apps to view
and edit activity data tracked by the Android OS and
then stored with your Google account in the cloud.

First steps
The search giant already added basic walking
and cycling tracking to Google Now in late 2012.
There’s also new step detector and step counter
functionality in Android 4.4 KitKat, but it’s currently
available only on the Nexus 5.
So further enhancing Android’s activity-tracking
chops is no surprise. Especially since Apple will
inevitably get into fitness tracking in a big way
thanks to the M7 motion co-processor in the iPhone
5s. Apple’s M7 measures motion data from the
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iPhone’s onboard sensors. Apps can then access that
information more efficiently than if they had to rely on
the iPhone’s main processor for motion data.

Google’s gameplan
For Google, however, an Android Fitness API isn’t
just about making its mobile platform competitive
with the iPhone. Fitness trackers and the
accompanying websites and apps are all about
storing, parsing and maintaining personal data.
And if there’s one thing in which Google is very
interested, it’s storing and maintaining personal data.
The reported fitness API could be part of an overall
goal to make Android the underlying platform for
future fitness bands and activity trackers. Google is
already trying to broaden Android’s reach by getting
into cars, and its recent Nest buy suggests it also
wants to return to smart home projects.

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Will the UK ever get
Google Chromecast?
The UK is still waiting for Chromecast, but is it worth
importing from the US or should you just wait?

T

he Chromecast HDMI dongle launched in
the US in July 2013, and feedback has been
overwhelmingly positive. Google promised it
would launch in other countries soon, but there’s still
no hard news on dates or pricing.
However, Google has released its SDK to the
world. Until now, Google has kept Chromecast as a
largely closed system, allowing only a few developers
to distribute apps. Now, everyone is free to build
Chromecast support into their apps.
The official Chromecast app launched on the UK
Google Play Store in December, so we’d be surprised
if the hardware doesn’t go on sale in the UK soon. 
It’s also promising to see that imported Chromecasts
have disappeared from Amazon’s UK website.
Nevertheless,
when Android
Advisor spoke to
Google about a
2014 launch date for
Chromecast in the
UK, we received the
standard “We have
nothing to share
at the moment”
response.

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Should I import Chromecast?
You can buy Chromecast from eBay if you’re
prepared to pay around £60. Imported from the US,
these models are set up to work with US streaming
services that may not work in the UK. We’ve
confirmed that YouTube, Netflix, Play Movies & TV
and Play Music work over this side of the pond,
but you won’t find UK catchup TV services.
There’s also a risk that a US Chromecast may
not have the same firmware as UK models, or that it
might not be possible to load a UK firmware on a US
model, meaning you’d be stuck with the selection of
streaming providers available to US users, and not get
access to iPlayer or other UK services.

What else should I know?
Google added TV shows to the UK Play Store at
the beginning of August. It already offered movie
streaming in SD and HD, but the lack of TV shows
put it at a disadvantage compared with the iTunes
store and Apple’s own Apple TV streamer.
Now TV shows including ‘Mad Men’, ‘Breaking Bad’,
‘Homeland’, ‘The Walking Dead’ and other popular
series can be streamed from £1.89 per episode.
The Chromecast can stream video directly from
Google Play, YouTube and Netflix, but it can’t currently
stream personal content from a smartphone or
tablet – a common misconception. Such capabilities
might be added down the line, but the Chromecast
is not the equivalent of Apple’s AirPlay. Instead, your
smartphone or tablet acts as the remote control.
It’s probable that the UK launch is being delayed
because of content licensing deals in the UK.
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Blackphone promises
extreme mobile security
The Blackphone, from Geeksphone and Silent Circle,
is designed specifically to protect your privacy

F

ace it: we’re living in an age where we’re being
watched. It’s an unfortunate circumstance of
how technology has progressed throughout
the decades, and even when we think we’re taking
the right steps by adjusting our privacy settings,
another news story comes out that suggests all that
information is freely available, anyway.
What if you could use a phone that was completely
untethered to any company? One that promised that
it would keep all of your info strictly in your hands?
That’s the idea behind Blackphone, an unlocked
GSM handset from Geeksphone and Silent Circle, that
runs a custom version of Android dubbed PrivatOS.

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The software includes support for secure voice
calls, text messages, emails, and file sharing. It’s the
same Android that you know and love, but with extra
added security features. It even comes with Google’s
full suite of Android apps.
We don’t have any hardware
specifications or any indication of what
version of Android it’s running. The
companies claim that benchmarks tests
show the Blackphone to be “among the
top performers from any manufacturer”,
but we’ll believe it when we see it.
The tools installed on Blackphone
give you everything you need to take
ownership of your mobile presence and
digital footprints, and ensure nobody else
can watch you without your knowledge.
The teaser video, however, uses fear
mongering to appeal to that specific
subset of users who are afraid of what
companies are doing with their data.
However you look at it, it’s smart
marketing, but it doesn’t do much to
illustrate what the phone is like. Even if
it does turn out to be the most secure
phone a consumer can buy, that won’t
necessarily translate into a nice-looking chassis
and an easy-to-use interface. And without true
marketing power behind it or carrier backing, how
would a phone like this succeed out of the niche of
technology enthusiasts?
The company will show off the Blackphone at
Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. We’ll let you
know what we think.
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Flappy Bird creator pulled
app for “your own good”
Flappy Bird creator Don Nguyen says he pulled Flappy
Bird from Google Play because it was addictive

W

e’ve all heard of the nanny state, but
apparently there’s also such a thing as
the nanny developer. Flappy Bird creator
Dong Nguyen says he decided to take down his
super-popular game several days ago, because it
was “an addictive product.”

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“Flappy Bird was designed to play in a few minutes
when you are relaxed,” Nguyen said. “But it happened
to become an addictive product. I think it has become
a problem. To solve that problem, it’s best to take
down Flappy Bird. It’s gone forever.”
But Flappy Bird isn’t truly gone forever, since
rip-offs of the game such as Flappy Fish and Ironpants
still abound. Android users who search hard enough
will probably find the original in alternative app stores
as well – just watch out for malware. (We’ve produced
a guide on how to do this here: tinyurl.com/Lqn7rqa.)
If you’re really desperate and have some money
to burn, a few opportunistic hucksters are also selling
phones and tablets preloaded with Flappy Bird on
eBay. Prices range anywhere from cheap to ridiculous
because, hey, it’s eBay. (Wait, wasn’t Flappy Bird a
free game?)
Although Nguyen says he took the game down for
our own good, the events that have occurred since
suggest otherwise. It may have had more to do with
Nguyen’s difficulties dealing with his new found fame
than anything else.
“I can call ‘Flappy Bird’ is a success of mine. But
it also ruins my simple life. So now I hate it,” Nguyen
said on Twitter. He later followed up that comment
with his announcement that Flappy Bird would be
pulled from iTunes and Google Play.
Nevertheless, Nguyen won’t let Flappy Bird’s
success dissuade him from following his passion.
Nguyen says he plans to continue making games,
and he still has two top 20 apps in the iOS App Store.
He just might be hoping to avoid another Flappy
Bird-sized success.
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Are curved screens really
more comfortable to use?
Are curved screens just a gimmick? We ask the experts
to test both flat- and curved smartphones

S

martphones can’t get any bigger. Talking on
today’s 5in-plus models borders on trying to
hold a tablet up to the side of your head. So
what’s a phone maker to do to differentiate its phones
from all the others? Bend them! These new curved
phones might seem gimmicky, but if early models
catch on, they’ll become the next hot commodity.
LG and Samsung are first to market with their
curved mobile devices, the G Flex and the Galaxy
Round, the latter of which is available only in South
Korea. While we’re glad they’re not evangelising

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even bigger phones, we’re still left pondering the
practicality of a phone with a curve in it.
So what is the deal with these new phones? Does
their unusual shape make the phone better to use,
or is it all just a marketing ploy to sell more devices?
We talked to the experts to find out whether curved
smartphones really have a place in your pocket.

Two phones, both curved
Samsung and LG are currently the only mobile
manufacturers that sell smartphones with curved
displays, and they have entirely different design
approaches. LG’s 6in G flex is curved vertically, while
Samsung’s 5.7in Galaxy Round is curved horizontally.
Also, while both display components are technically
flexible displays, they’re actually placed underneath
a curved panel of glass.
If you delve into the specifications, you’ll notice that
the Galaxy Round is basically a tuned-up version of
Samsung’s phablet-sized Galaxy Note 3, while the G
Flex is a rounder LG G2 smartphone, complete with
volume and power buttons on the backside. Both
displays are OLED.

Do curved phones fit your face better?
Remember what talking on the phone was like?
Smartphones have been long advertised as appbased mini computers, with the voice functionality
taking a backseat, but LG says it curved the G Flex
specifically to fit the shape of the average person’s
face – just like a regular phone.
“The average length of a person’s cheek is
107.97mm,” wrote Kwan-woo Park, team leader
for the G Flex Product Planning team. “We curved each
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end of the phone to suit this measurement
and reduced the distance between one’s mouth
to the microphone.”
The bend in the phone also helps solves the
problem that many large-sized phones have: being
too big to talk on. Rather than position the mouthpiece
against the side of the chin, which is what usually
happens with a smartphone larger than 5.5in, the
curved body is meant to help position the mouthpiece
by your mouth.
For comparison’s sake, the G Flex is 22mm longer
than its predecessor, the G2. I held the G Flex up to
make a call and while the bottom of the handset was
technically closer to my mouth, it shot past my chin.
It’s possible that my head size isn’t the one that LG
intended for its handset, but the G2 felt much more
comfortable to hold, regardless.

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The Samsung Galaxy Round appears to have
been designed for a better viewing experience.
Some early reviews of the device mention that
call quality is only sub-par, but it’s unclear if that’s
because of its shape or because Samsung didn’t put
much emphasis on that feature of the phone.

Do curved phones look better?
One of the most persuasive arguments in favour of
curved smartphones is that they simply look better.
It may be difficult to imagine why, considering a curved
display is in essence just a flexible OLED panel, but that
gentle curve helps reduce the amount of ambient light
reflections off the screen, which in turn makes it easier
to see the display.

Reflections from bright lights around you may
prompt you to turn up the brightness on your screen,

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but by doing so you’re also using up more battery
power. With less screen reflectance, you won’t have
to worry so much about the ambient lighting around
you, or crank up the brightness just to read a text.
The Samsung Galaxy Round is curved specifically
to help with this particular scenario. Dr Raymond
Soneira, the president of DisplayMate Technologies,
explains: “The concave screen shape on the Galaxy
Round cuts down on reflections from the surrounding
ambient light two ways: first, by reducing the
screen’s 180 degree opening angle, which eliminates
reflections from some ambient light coming from the
sides. Second, from specular mirror reflections off
the concave screen, because the curvature directs
reflected ambient light coming from behind away
from the viewer’s line of sight.”
LG added that it also curved the display for a “more
natural viewing experience” and the G Flex’s shape
is meant to reduce glare and distortion. It certainly
helps – I found it pleasurable to peruse my Instagram
feed and read an e-book with the curved screen in a
variety of lighting situations. But its screen is glossy,
and it doesn’t completely negate reflections – if
there’s an overhead light up above you, you’ll still
have to turn the phone so you’re not staring at a
reflection of it. 

Do curved phones feel better?
There’s a reason old landline phone handsets were
curved – they were easier to hold. “A curved phone
such as the Galaxy Round is more comfortable to
hold because the hand nicely fits the entire curved
back instead of just holding it along the left and right
edges,” said Dr Soneira. “It also improves screen
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privacy because the curvature makes it harder for
other people to see the screen.”
Kevin Costello, a Certified Professional Ergonomist
(or CPE) and president of US Ergonomics, a firm
that focuses on workplace ergonomics, hasn’t had a
chance to use either of the devices himself, but he
appreciates the new form factor.
“If you look at an iPhone or a lot of these ‘bricks’,
they’re square, rectangular and the body is not
necessarily square and rectangular.”
Costello added that a device that is a little softer
in appearance and is formed to fit the body more
naturally offers some advantages, and “demonstrates
some sensitivity to the fact that we’re not all robots”.
Indeed, the G Flex felt more comfortable to type with
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two-handed, and despite its large size, wasn’t as
difficult to grip as other large handsets. 

Still a few kinks to work out
As is often the case with new technology, it takes a
couple of iterations to get all the kinks worked out.
Curved smartphones are so nascent that there are
mixed opinions on the actual quality of the plastic
OLED displays.
Although the LG G Flex is comfortable to hold,
reviewers have complained that its plastic display is
wrought with issues – most notably the worst-in-class
245ppi resolution.
There’s also the matter of whether consumers are
interested in using a curved phone. Ramon Llamas,
a research manager with IDC’s Mobile Phones team,
doesn’t think there’s much of a demand for it in the
current smartphone landscape.
“I don’t hear too many people out there saying
I can’t hear or be heard very well on my smartphone,”
he said, citing LG’s marketing take on its G Flex.
Llamas added that rather than highlighting the
hardware, companies should try shifting the focus
on the media that can take advantage of the new
screens. “Having the curved screen face you is a
much more immersive experience... that to me is the
silver bullet that vendors are still trying to figure out.”
If manufacturers can’t get consumers onboard,
curved smartphones will likely go the way of the
dodo. Remember 3D smartphone displays? “They
went over like a lead balloon,” recalled Llamas. “That
just goes to show that not every display is intended
for everybody, or to last long. For this curved display
stuff, it’s going to take some time.”
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The case in favour
of smartwatches
Smartwatches could be great: because right now
we are all using pocket watches

W

earable tech is the big buzz phrase of the
moment. Alongside headline-grabbers
such as Google Glass you may have
noticed people starting to wear activity trackers such
as the Fitbit, Misfit Shine or Nike Fuelband. Gadgets
that sit on your wrist and quantify in how much activity
you have partaken. Meanwhile, phone makers in
particular are keen to sell the idea of smartwatches:
in effect smartphones that sit on your wrist.
Samsung launched its Galaxy Gear watch to
great fanfare (and no great success), and even
Apple is rumoured to be launching an Apple iWatch.

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(With Apple the rumours are almost as important as
the facts – if people are talking about an iWatch it
means there is interest.)
Such hype doesn’t necessarily mean that
smartwatches are a good thing. Hype-withoutsubstance usually means that someone is trying to
sell you something. And so it is with smartwatches.
Almost everyone who wants one owns a
smartphone. What growth there is lies at the lessprofitable bottom of the market, with budget phones
such as the Lumia 520 and Motorola Moto G. So the
makers of high-tech portable devices would like to
sell you a new device. A new device that ties you
even more to the smartphone they already sold you.
But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t some value in
smartwatches. In fact, I think a wrist-based computer
that offers broadly the same functionality as a
smartphone could be great – especially if it pairs
with your phone.

Feature-filled pocket watches
Consider this: smartphones have largely replaced
watches. You carry them with you at all times, and
they tell you what hour of the day it is. But they
also connect you to the world around you and offer
myriad features your watch simply can’t replicate.
But in taking us forward, smartphones are also a
retrograde step. Because unlike your wristwatch you
have to pull your smartphone out of your pocket to
view it. The ergonomic brilliance of placing the face
of your watch on your wrist has to date not been
replicated by your smartphone. So, as great as
they are, smartphones have taken us back to the
era of the pocket watch.
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E-book readers became
popular only when they could
offer an experience as good as
that of reading a paperback book.
Smartphones blew straight past
that phase because they offer
so much more useful and fun
functionality. But the ability to
add in wristwatch convenience
to the functionality of your
smartphone would be a good
one. Great, even.
I wouldn’t expect a smartwatch
to replace a smartphone. That’s
not what I’m saying. It’s unlikely
you’d ever want to type out an
email on your wrist. But consider
the benefits if you could pair
your phone’s functionality with a
wristwatch: you’d never have to
fumble in your pocket to answer
a call or change tracks. You could
tell the time without opening your
bag or reaching for your inside
pocket. And you could do it all
without draining your phone’s
battery by using the display, or
advertising the presence of £700
worth of mobile hardware, just waiting to be stolen.
The price will have to be right, and the user
experience as good as using a smartphone itself.
But smartwatches could well prove to a hit, because
they will take us out of the pocket watch era of
smartphone usage.
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The case against
smartwatches
Smartwatches might take us out of the pocket
watch era, but they’re still stupid devices

T

here’s been a lot of hype about smartwatches
over the past year or so, not least because
of the rumours that Apple was developing
an iWatch. Sony, Samsung, Archos and many more
manufacturers are falling over themselves to release
a ‘smart’ watch, but keep your wallet firmly closed:
none of these devices are worth your cash.
For a start, none of the smartwatches that you can
currently buy even remotely live up to their name.
They all rely on your smartphone to provide the
information and internet connection; in reality these
wristbands are – if anything – dumbwatches.
Notifications, text message alerts, music control
and more: none of it is any use at all if you don’t have
your smartphone about your person. And that being
the case, what’s the point in a second, tiny screen to
relay information that you could get simply by taking
your Nexus 5 out of your pocket.
It’s easier to read a message, email or see the
full details of a meeting (including a map) on your
smartphone’s large screen. And while it may be
convenient to skip to the next song via your wrist,
I can already do that as well as adjust volume using
the in-line remote on my headphones.
You might even be able to reply to a text or email
from your smartwatch, but using only predefined

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phrases. On a smartphone you can comfortably type
on the screen or – better still – use voice recognition.
Most people don’t bother with this, but little do they
realise that not only has the likes of Siri and Google
Voice come on in leaps and bounds in the past
couple of years, but also that it’s far faster to say
“Text my wife to say I’ll be home in an hour” than to
find and launch the messages app, type the message,
make corrections and then send it.
As far as I can see, smartwatches are an answer to
a question that nobody is asking. All the people
I know who’ve bought a smartwatch – all two of them
– did so for its novelty value, not because it met a
particular need they had.
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“

They were disappointed by the watches’ limited
capabilities, and the poor battery life that can be
measured in hours rather than days, particularly if
used heavily. Even the new breed of activity trackers
– including the Fitbit Force – lasts nearly two weeks
and is more of a smartwatch than anything we’ve
seen from Sony, Samsung or Pebble. There are also
dedicated fitness watches that can monitor your
heart rate and track your progress via GPS – arguably
smarter than displaying a meeting reminder.

Smartwatches are an answer to
a question that nobody is asking
Really, a smartwatch needs the internals from
a smartphone to succeed. As well as an internet
connection, it needs a GPS receiver to tell you where
you are and how to get where you’re going. That’s
only a partial description of what a smartwatch should
be, yet today’s devices lack even those fundamentals.
The ability to install apps on a smartwatch also
seems dumb. It’s much like the situation with apps on
the latest generation of infotainment systems in cars:
most are duplicates of those you already have on your
phone. All you need is for your smartphone’s audio
and visuals to be replicated on a second screen.
But even if a ‘dumb’ infotainment system in your car
makes sense, it doesn’t on your wrist.
The only real excuse for buying a smartwatch right
now is because you want to own something that noone else has. But just like Google Glass, all it’s going
to do is make you look like a freak.

”

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Android apps need to
be more expensive
We all like a freebie, but sometimes it’s worth
remembering that you get what you pay for

I

was recently involved in a Twitter discussion with a
couple of tech fans. Twitter User A recommended
an Android game. Twitter User B tutted that it
“looked expensive”. The game cost £1.49.
Is it possible that smartphone and tablet users,
of whom Twitter User B is a typical example, have
developed something of an entitlement problem? It’s
hard to think of a time when good-quality software
has been more widely available or cheaper, but this
has made misers of us all, skinflints who purse our lips
when asked to cough up the price of half a pint for an
app that took months to create.

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The race to the bottom

“

When did we get so tight with money? Or, to
approach it from another angle, when did software
developers get so generous?
It hasn’t always been this way, and in certain
segments prices have remained relatively stable.
During the console wars of the 90s, it was normal
to spend around £40 for a brand-new game for the
SNES, and we’re in the same ballpark today: Super
Mario 3D World for the Wii U costs £39 on Amazon.
Desktop software varies wildly, and far more
software is now distributed for free – Apple, for

It’s not as though we’re afraid to spend
money on software, but when it’s called an
‘app’ the wallet shrinks with fear
example, lets Mac users upgrade to Mac OS X
Mavericks for nothing – but there are still plenty of
higher-priced exceptions. Adobe charges more than
£1,000 for the latest version of Creative Suite. And
triple-A PC games cost £30 or so when they first come
out. It’s not as though we’re afraid to spend money
on software. It’s just that when it’s called an ‘app’, the
wallet shrinks with fear.
App stores weren’t always the bargain hunter’s
paradises they are today. But as the number of apps
has rocketed and supply outpaces demand, market
forces cast their spell, and prices have dropped.
Other than insane competition between hundreds
of thousands of apps, developers are encouraged to
pitch their prices low by the importance of the charts;

”

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if you can get to the top, success becomes selfperpetuating. For this reason it makes more sense
for devs to aim for a huge number of low-margin
sales than a sensible number at a sensible price.
But for every Flappy Bird there are thousands of
zombie apps that are never downloaded. It’s a brutal
and unforgiving environment.

How much does it cost to build an app?
We asked some developers about current prices
on the various app stores, and if they are enough to
make back the costs of an app project.
Garry Partington, CEO of Apadmi, stressed that app
development shouldn’t be viewed as a ‘get rich quick’
scheme. “With app productions costs averaging at
£30- to £60k it takes a lot of downloads at £1 to £3.50
to recoup the costs,” he pointed out. “Hit apps recoup
their costs and more, but there is an enormous
number of apps that will never make a profit.”
Is the answer to cut corners in the development
process? “Developers in Silicon Valley/San Francisco
are known to be notoriously expensive,” Partington
added, “but the counter argument is that you get what
you pay for with app development.”
The truth is that, despite the much-heralded lower
barriers to entry that accompanied the rise of mobile,
creating quality software is just as costly as ever. And
lower development spending is likely to result in a
drop in quality, as we will see later.

A risk-averse market
Bargain-basement prices may not be good news for
developers, but why should we care? I could have
written a column about fairness – and I don’t see
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how anyone could seriously argue that 69p is a fair
price for a fully realised game – and the effects on
small development companies of the brutal price
wars on the App Store and Google Play. These are
legitimate concerns. But this affects all of us. It’s a
question of the sort of apps market we’re creating.
Dino Patti, the CEO and co-founder of Playdead,
believes that developers are pricing their wares about
right, but argues that pricing trends in the mobile
market make its games unlikely to ever match the
experience you can get on PC and console.
“The lower pricing is causing most developers to
do projects with a low financial risk,” Patti explains.
“And the result of that is what we see now in the app
stores. I hate to be a judge, but the fact is that I have
never had an experience which are even close to the
experiences I’ve had on a PC or console. These two
things are almost not comparable.
“Is this sustainable? If you are making free-to-play
and small games suitable for mobile devices it’s
very sustainable. If you are trying to make a quality
experience on a bigger budget you wouldn’t aim for
this market in the first place.”

Bad games
Making good software is expensive, and hard, and
above all risky, because you don’t know if anyone
is going to like what you’ve created. And when the
returns are so thin, there’s little incentive to innovate.
The mobile games market is notoriously prone
to cloning, with a tendency to unoriginality that runs
the gamut from respectable homage to outright
plagiarism, and this is at least partially attributable
to the low margins in the app market. Developers
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DUNGEON KEEPER

such as Zynga and most recently King.com churn out
carbon copies of existing games, because making
groundbreaking software isn’t worth the effort.
Unoriginality afflicts PC and Mac software, too, but
the scale of the problem on the App Store and
Google Play is unprecedented.
And the mobile games that aren’t thinly veiled
copies of previous successes are free-to-play
abominations. Freemium is the logical endpoint of
a market in which nobody is allowed to charge a
realistic price up front. If you won’t spend money on
app downloads, you force software makers to find
other ways to get your money. And in the case of
freemium, that means games that totally subvert the
very idea of gaming in the name of profit.
Let’s take an example. The current (and deserved)
punching bag for mobile gamers is EA’s desecration
of the beloved 90s classic Dungeon Keeper. Dungeon
Keeper on mobile is free, but absolutely everything is
done to hamper and slow down your experience until
you crack and pay for in-app purchases.
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Instead of trying to make the game as fun as
possible, so that you buy future releases by the
designers, and tell your friends how good the game
is so they buy it too, freemium designers aim to make
your life as unpleasant as possible. It’s gaming as a
chore. This is what we get if we don’t pay. We get
crap, and we end up paying anyway.

Porting
One solution to the lack of adventure among
developers is porting. Take Playdead’s Limbo,
for example – an astonishing artful and visually
ambitious game that couldn’t be further from the
world of Candy Crush Saga. Limbo made its name
on the PC, a market where prices are higher and
innovation is more likely to be rewarded. Once it
succeeded in that environment, Playdead made the
transition to mobile at a price of £2.99.
That is also where Curve Digital pitched Stealth Inc,
another superb PC game that appeared in iOS form.
Rob Clarke, Curve’s PR and marketing manager,
comments: “Stealth Inc started life as a PC game,
moved to the PlayStation and came to iOS most
recently as a premium game with a single piece of
IAP. We’ve always priced the game differently in
different markets, but as is ‘expected’, the iOS version
works out about half the price of the PC version.
“We’re new to the App Store as a publisher, but
I think we got the price right. We stuck with a premium
model because we feel that freemium games only
work if that’s your goal from the design stage, and
we’re glad to see that there’s a healthy appetite for
premium titles that have a fairly ‘hardcore’ appeal
on the store.”
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The upward curve
What’s the future of app pricing? As Garry Partington
puts it, “consumers have now been conditioned to
expect the current price point for mobile apps and
will, most likely, not be prepared to pay prices more
commonly associated with desktop software”. Is this
a market that can only go downward? Once the price
drops, will anyone pay a ‘fair’ price again?
Well, maybe they will. Trent Oster, director of
business development at Baldur’s Gate publisher
Beamdog, believes brand recognition helped his
games, but his story makes us feel optimistic.
“We’ve been lucky,” he says. “By bringing such well
known games as the Baldur’s Gate series to the iPad
we managed to get a great deal of attention despite
our ‘premium’ price of £6.99 for the first game and
£10.49 for the second. We’ve moved down in the
standings since our launches, but the initial attention
got us into the top 10 and was very positive for sales.
“Our subsequent sales were strong and now we’re
settling down. Our daily numbers are wonderfully
stable as fans, old and new, continue to discover
our work. When you look at it from the big picture,
between the two apps, we’re offering a massive
package of more than 200 awesome hours of RPG
entertainment, for less than you pay to go a few
movies or a decent dinner out. I feel we represent a
great and clear value to game fans.”
It baffles me that gamers would rather put up with
intrusive adverts or a hobbled user experience rather
than cough up a few quid. But as long as we continue
to pick the free alternative, even when it’s horribly
flawed, app designers are going to be motivated to
race to the bottom.
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10 best free games for
your phone or tablet
We compile 10 of the most popular titles for phones and
tablets running Google’s mobile operating system
1. Hill Climb Racing: Hill Climb Racing
may look basic, but what it lacks in
eye-popping graphics it makes up
for in pure addiction. To start you
get a jeep, one level, an accelerator
and a brake, but you’ll quickly unlock
more cars and levels. Coins – used
to upgrade cars and buy new items
– are collected by driving over them,
reaching checkpoints and performing
flips. You’ll find yourself coming back
again and again to get further, an
upgrade, a new car or level.
2. Temple Run 2: Temple Run is the
crème de la crème of endless runners
and the second version is not only
better than the original, but free.
Temple Run 2 combines easy controls
with a simple objective and
a graphically stunning design. You’ll be
jumping, dodging and sliding to beat
your friends and unlock achievements
and new characters. You might not
escape with the precious idol, but
you’ll definitely have fun trying.
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3. Bad Piggies: The first Angry Birds to
put the evil green pigs in the spotlight
is Bad Piggies, and we love it. Getting
your pig (or pigs), from A to B might
sound simple, but you’ve got do it
by building an increasingly complex
contraption out of available parts.
Various objectives and the desire to
win three stars will keep you coming
back for more. Probably the most fun is
the sandbox levels, which let you build
almost anything you want from a vast
inventory of parts.

4. Plants vs Zombies 2: The original
Plants vs Zombies was a smash-hit
and the sequel is a must-have for any
Android gamer. This exceptional towerdefence game expands on the original,
while taking you in new directions.
A level structure takes you through
themed worlds, complete with new
objectives to complete. As you would
expect, there are new plants with
which to get to grips and, although inapp purchases make an appearance,
you can ignore them.

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5. Cut the Rope: A classic mobile
game available in various editions, Cut
the Rope has superb level design and
makes great use of a touchscreen.
Physics-based gameplay lets you
interact with many different objects
as you try and try again to win three
stars in each level. There’s loads of
levels to keep you going – and keep
you coming back for more. And let’s
not forget how adorable is the main
character Om Nom.

6. Real Racing 3: If you find Hill Climb
Racing too basic, and have a spare gig
of storage on your device, check out
Real Racing 3. You’ll be blown away
by its highly detailed graphics. Real
Racing 3 features real cars, tracks and
people. Time Shifted Multiplayer lets
you compete against friends, even if
they’re offline. A good selection of race
types includes cup races, eliminations,
endurance challenges and drag races.
All this and, amazingly, it’s free to
download.

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7. Triple Town: Bringing an innovative
concept to puzzle games, Triple Town
is a great free download and the kind
of game you can pick up at any time.
The idea is to build the best city you
can, and this is done by combining
three items to form a better one.
Bushes become trees, trees become
huts and so on. Some cute but pesky
bears will get in the way of your
progress. We’re also big fans of the
gorgeous and charming graphics and
animations.

8. Tetris Blitz: This is no ordinary
version of Tetris. In Blitz you get just
two minutes in which to score as many
points as you can. A Frenzy mode
adds a fresh element to this classic
game. Rather than moving around
blocks, you simply tap on the screen
where you want them to go. This
removes some of the skill, but is in
keeping with the game’s fast-paced
nature. Although Tetris Blitz tries to
tempt you to buy power-ups, you can
get high scores without opening your
wallet.

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9. Candy Crush Saga: Topping
the games charts since its release,
you’ve probably heard of Candy
Crush Saga. It’s a variation on the
classic match-three puzzler, whereby
gems are swapped with sweets and
other tasty treats. The ease with
which you can continue your game
on multiple devices is a huge plus
point. Objectives must be completed
before you can progress through the
seemingly never-ending supply of
levels. In-app purchases are avoidable,
but irritating.

10. New Star Soccer: This footie game
puts you in the boots of a penniless
up-and-coming footballer. You have
to complete flick-based challenges,
such as passing, shooting and timing
interceptions. The better you get the
more money you earn, allowing you to
buy vehicles, clothes, property... and
a whole string of girlfriends. The more
you train your player the better you
get. So while you start your career at
Torquay United, you can flick your way
to the World Cup.

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5 best fitness apps for
your Android device
Use your smartphone or tablet to help you get
in shape with these health and fitness apps

F

itness gadgets are all the rage with wearable
tech booming, but your smartphone can do a
lot of it already. Here are the best five apps for
fitness on Android.
Thanks to all various sensors, wireless connectivity
and GPS, your smartphone (or even a small tablet)
can help you keep fit and lose weight. There are
many apps on the Google Play store that are free but
require gadgets to go with them. Fitbit and Withings
are just two examples. These devices are great, but
you don’t necessarily need to splash on hardware.

1. Zombies, Run
If the collection of fitness apps on
the Play store seems a bit boring
to you then check out Zombies,
Run for something a bit different.
Here, a clever combination of a
fitness app and a game has been achieved. Once
you’ve got your shoes on and your headphones in
you can select a playlist of music, and you’re given
story and missions while you run. You collect items
and have to build a base. A small down side is that
you’ll have to pay for the app, but it’s only £1.49 and
hardly going to break the bank.
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2. RunKeeper
RunKeeper is a great free app that
uses your smartphone’s GPS and
Google Maps to record and chart
your jogging activity. Simply set up
a profile with your age and weight,
log in, press go and start running. Providing you are
outside, the app with then lock on to satellites and
plot your route. You can easily check your pace, see
calories burned and set goals for specific runs or
weight loss. If you’re wearing headphones, there is
even an optional female voice that lets you know
how far you’ve gone every five minutes.

3. MapMyRide
So you hate running but love
getting out on your bike. Well
there’s a great app for you, too.
Using a combination of GPS
and Google Maps, MapMyRide
turns your smartphone into a cycling computer
with which you can track your route, speed, distance,
calories and time to start with. Audio alerts update
you on your progress as you pedal. MapMyRide
tracks in the background so you can still listen to
music or use other apps. You can also optionally
compete on local courses, receive automatic
achievements and overall rank on leaderboards,
which adds a nice competitive element.

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4. CalorieCounter
A huge part of fitness is
your diet and MyFitnessPal’s
CalorieCounter offers a great
way to keep track. It can help
you keep a healthy diet and also
lose weight. A database of food contains more than
three million items. A handy barcode scanner lets
you quickly and easily enter what you’re eating.
You can track calories, fat, protein, carbs, sugar, fibre,
cholesterol and more. Tell the app what exercise
you’re doing and set goals, connect with friends
and get reports on how well you’re doing.

5. Instant Heart Rate
Gadgets such as the Withings
Pulse can measure your heart rate,
but don’t be fooled into thinking
you need specialist hardware for
the task. Your smartphone is also
capable of monitoring your pulse. The app uses your
phones built-in camera and LED flash to track colour
changes in your fingertip, which are directly linked to
your pulse. Within a few seconds you’ll get a display
of your heart rate. It works best on devices with a
flash; other devices need good lighting. The app is
free, but an ad-free Pro version that costs just £1.24
usefully lets you store more than five measurements
in your timeline.

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Tablets mega-test
Thinking of buying a
tablet, but bewildered by
the choice? Our mega-test
will help you decide which
one is right for you

W

ith so many models of
tablet now available it can
be a complicated business
trying to work out which one is the
best for you. In this test we take 20 of
the most popular models – including
those running alternative operating
systems to Android for the sake of
comparison – and put them through
their paces.

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S

uch is the huge growth in popularity of tablets
over the past couple of years that there are
now vast swathes of possibilities for a wouldbe buyer. In this test we’ll try to make things a bit
simpler by taking many of the top models in different
size categories and exploring what makes them worth
your hard earned cash. The test is broken down into
three sections, which focus on large, around 10in,
small, 7in, and dedicated children’s tablets. Before we
begin, though, here are a few helpful tips that could
make deciding on your tablet a little easier.

Why are you buying one?
Tablets are fantastic portable devices that sport
long battery life and easy-to-use interfaces. We love
them. But they’re not necessarily for everyone in
every situation. Like any computing device, the first
question you need to ask yourself is what you want
to use it to do. If it’s a case of checking Facebook,
surfing the web, email, reading and playing a few

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games then a tablet is a superb choice – arguably
better than any other type of computer.
If you’re intending to replace your laptop with a
lightweight productivity unit, things are not quite so
clear. Typing on a tablet is fine in short bursts, but
you’ll quickly get a pain in your neck if you want to
work on it all day. Also the files systems are a little
less accessible than on a traditional computer.
It’s worth checking if the software you like to use
is available in the relevant app store for your device.
You certainly can work on a tablet, but it might
involve buying a Bluetooth keyboard and adjusting
your workflow a little to achieve this.

What size do you need?
The tablet market has settled into two main size
categories: 10in models, including the iPad, Samsung
Galaxy Tab and Microsoft Surface; and 7in, including
the Nexus 7, Amazon Kindle HD, and iPad Mini
Retina. Both run exactly the same software and apps
as their differently sized siblings, and increasingly
we’re seeing the internal specifications beginning to
reach parity, too. This means that now the choice is
simply the size of the screen rather than power.
If you want something that you carry everywhere
with you and is primarily a consumption device, the
smaller devices are an excellent choice. 10in tablets
are hardly gargantuan, but they don’t easily slip into
a coat pocket. What they do offer, though, is more
screen space to display sites, films and documents.
One important spec to look for is ppi (pixels
per inch), which shows how detailed is the display
and how clear is the text. Anything over 200ppi is
decent, but HD screens are available.
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How much storage do you need?
Storage space is a very important consideration
when buying a tablet. Most popular models offer no
way to increase the onboard capacity, so you need
to decide how much you need before you buy.
If you want to store all of your music collection
and videos on the device then you’ll need to get the
biggest model you can afford. Check the reviews for
tablets with microSD slots, as these do give you the
option of additional storage, sometimes up to 64GB.
You’ll need to buy a memory card, of course, but
these are a great deal cheaper than the upgraded
storage options on a tablet.
If your needs are more modest, a lower-capacity
model should be fine. We wouldn’t happily
recommend going lower than 16GB, and bear in
mind that the operating system and preinstalled
apps will usually take up a few of those precious
gigabytes before you even start.

Which operating system is the best?
There are three main flavours of tablet operating
systems: Android, iOS and Windows. Each has pros
and cons. Android is the most popular mobile OS
and boasts an excellent choice of apps and devices.
It’s arguably not as simple as Apple’s iOS to use,
although you get the hang of it very quickly. Google
Play has fewer apps optimised for tablets, but more
are appearing all the time.
iOS has the Apple App Store on its side, which
is still the best, albeit by a much lesser margin than
in the past. Apps often come out on iOS first, some
exclusively, and the interface is incredibly easy to
use. iPads are wonderful, but they do restrict how
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you use files and share data with other applications.
This can lead to frustration if you want to do more
than simply consume content.
Windows is more confusing. There are currently
two versions: Windows RT and Windows 8.1. The
former is Microsoft’s tablet-specific platform, which
looks pretty but prohibits you installing traditional
Windows software. Instead you are behoven to the
Windows App Store, which is bereft of many useful
apps. Windows 8.1 is a full-blown version of Windows
running on a tablet – no small achievement there –
but the models that run it are expensive. If you want
Windows on the move then these are worth a look.
One plus for Windows RT is that it comes with
a stripped-down version of Office, but the
non-optimised nature of the software negates
some of the advantages.

Warranty
If you like to tinker with technology then you’ll be
disappointed to find that your screwdrivers are
useless on a tablet. Most models are sealed and
have no user-serviceable parts. This means when
they go wrong you’ll need professional help.
Apple has its own high-street stores, which will
often repair its devices for free while in the first year,
it also sells an additional two years of support.
Android and Windows devices are covered by
the manufacturers’ one-year warranty, which usually
entails you sending the device to it for maintenance.
Shopping around for deals on warranties is a
good idea, with companies such as John Lewis
offering two-year warranties on any device
purchased from its store.
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Children’s tablets
Kids love using tablets, and often work out
the operating system faster than their parents.
Remember, though, that these devices are fully
fledged computers, with access to the internet and
your bank account.
When buying for children you want a tablet that
has the option of separate user profiles so you can
restrict their access to certain types of web content
and stop them buying £200 worth of in-app extras.
You could go for a dedicated kids’ tablet that has
parental controls built-in, or even one that has a
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specific OS written for children, such as the Leapfrog
devices. These restrictions might make the device
redundant quicker than a traditional model as they
grow up, but it will keep them safe now.
Of course, you’ll want a hardy device too, as
little hands have a habit of dropping those shiny,
glass units. Protective tablets are available for most
tablets, but kids’ tablets are often supplied with
them as standard.

How we test
We fully charge each tablet and loop an HD MP4
movie to test and compare battery life. The volume
is set to 50 percent and brightness to 100 percent.
Wi-Fi is turned on, but Bluetooth and GPS (where
applicable) are disabled. This test also allows us to
assess the quality of the screen and speakers.
We use Sunspider Javascript to compare each
tablet’s web-browsing speed (a lower score is
better here) and Geekbench 2 for general system
performance (a higher score is better). GFXBench’s
Egypt HD test allows us to assess the graphics.
We also note the responsiveness and accuracy of
the touchscreen with general typing and navigation,
especially with text-heavy sites that require more
precision when selecting options and clicking links.
In terms of screen quality we inspect the brightness,
contrast, colour accuracy, clarity and viewing angles,
and make comments in response to our subjective
assessment within each review.
We also test each device’s camera(s) by taking
pictures and videos in a range of environments, both
indoor and outdoor, examining the speed and fidelity
of the focus, colour and audio quality.
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LARGE TABLETS
Apple iPad Air
£399 • apple.com/uk •

T

he iPad Air is all about lightness. If you’ve used
any previous full-size iPad, you’ll immediately
notice the transformation from that circa-650g
weight down to 469g. It also seems much smaller,
despite the same-size screen.
At only around 170mm wide, those with larger
hands can even span and grip the unit in a
unidextrous fashion. Holding it thus you can really
appreciate just how light it is, helped by the reduced
thickness of just 7.5mm against the previous model’s
9.3mm. It feels solid enough, or rather sufficiently
stiff, despite its light weight.
The body has the same style and construction as
the iPad mini, with a thinner bezel along the sides
when held in portrait mode. This might be a problem
with accidental finger touches on the screen when
gripping the edges, although when tried with at least
the iBooks app, the iPad Air seems to intelligently
ignore touchscreen input here.
To reduce weight, and to squeeze into that smaller
space, Apple has shrunk the size of the battery from
42.5Wh to 32.4Wh. This has no adverse effects: we
found with occasional but steady use it could last
the best part of a week between charges. Savings
in efficiency may be coming from the new Apple A7
processor, complete with the M7 motion processor.

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Unlike the iPhone 5s, which also uses this chip,
the Apple iPad Air does not receive the Touch ID
fingerprint sensor, which is a disappointment. No
doubt this will be the star feature of next year’s model.
The screen is in essence unchanged since the
first iPad with Retina display – a 9.7in capacitive
touchscreen using IPS technology which delivers
rich, faithful colours and clear viewing from any angle.
We’re a little troubled though by the sometimes
unsmooth interface. This is a criticism of iOS 7, but
one we didn’t expect to see on the best iPad yet.
The cameras front and back are almost the same
as before, with a full-HD-capable main camera on the
back, like the iPad 4, which also takes 5Mp stills; and
720p video camera up front for FaceTime and Skype,
which also takes 1.2Mp still images. Sadly there’s no
upgrade to slo-mo video, despite the faster Apple A7
processor that we were told enabled this feature on
the iPhone 5s.

Verdict
In many respects a triumph, the iPad Air also
introduces compromises to trim the weight.
Minor gripes aside it’s still a wonderful device.

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LARGE TABLETS
Google Nexus 10
£319 • play.google.com •

L

ike most larger Android tablets, the Nexus 10 is
designed in a landscape orientation. The plastic
casing is covered in a rubberised material
that’s soft and grippy to the touch, making the unit
comfortable to hold.
Google has partnered with Samsung on this
device, which has equipped it with its own 1.7GHz
Exynos 5250, a dual-core CPU based on the ARM
Cortex-A15 architecture, alongside 2GB of RAM. This
combination results in excellent performance, with
the Nexus 10 snappily responding to any input or

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command. Apps open quickly and pinch zooming
in the Chrome browser is silky smooth.
There are two storage options to choose from
– 16GB or 32GB – and Google has decided not to
include a microSD card slot for additional storage.
One standout feature on the Nexus 10 is its
beautiful 2560x1600 resolution screen. A pixel
density of 300ppi is nothing short of incredible, and
everything displayed on the screen looks supersharp and detailed.
Touch is also very responsive and viewing
angles are astounding, with the 16:10 aspect ratio
particularly good for watching films. There’s also the
bonus of front-facing stereo speakers.
The Nexus 10 runs a vanilla version of Android
4.4 KitKat, without the clutter and bloatware that
other manufacturers can so often add on. The
user interface is fluid and has the familiar set of
home screens, permanent Google search bar,
customisable app tray, and Google Now.
If you don’t mind looking a bit odd when taking
photos with a 10in slab of glass and plastic then the
Nexus 10 has a good-quality 5Mp rear facing camera
with an LED flash, which can shoot video footage up
to full-HD 1080p quality.
We also found the battery life to be outstanding;
even with moderate to heavy use, the device was
often able to go a solid few days between charges.

Verdict
It might be starting to show its age, but the Google
Nexus 10 is still one of the best 10in Android tablets.
A fantastic screen, decent cameras and software
features, all for a more than reasonable price.
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LARGE TABLETS
Kobo Arc 10HD
£299 • kobobooks.com •

I

t’s hard to fault the Kobo Arc 10HD in the looks
department. It’s understated, dark and incredibly
stylish. The device also feels assuredly solid in
your hand, especially for a £300 device. The only
drawback is that this solidity comes at a price, and
that price is weight – at 627g it’s a heavy tablet.
Internally the Arc 10HD features with a 1.8GHz
nVidia Tegra 4 quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM,
16GB storage and an impressive 10.1in 2560x1600
(300ppi) display. The device doesn’t have a microSD
slot, which makes the limited option of 16GB storage
a bit of a flaw, and even though taking pictures with
a tablet looks ridiculous, the fact that the Kobo has
only a single front-facing 1.3Mp camera isn’t ideal.
In terms of real-world performance there is
nothing remarkable to report here. The device
functions with a reasonable amount of zip, and
switching from app to app isn’t lightning fast, but
acceptable. Software-wise Kobo has opted for an
almost partitioned OS, which gives you full access
to the Google Play app and media store, while also
presenting you with its own Kobo store and apps.
With the brand being synonymous with reading,
it’s not surprising that the Kobo store offers pretty
much any mainstream book or magazine you can
imagine, boasting over 3.5 million titles.

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For the serious bookworms there is also a handy
Reading Mode button, accessible via the pull-down
mini-setting menu that turns off all your tablet’s
alerts so you can immerse yourself into a book with
no distractions. Certain words/phrases in popular
books also have links that open a Wikipedia popup for further information on the subject. In Phillipa
Gregory’s The White Queen, for example, you can
learn all about The House of Lancaster at the click of
the button. Cool, eh?
If you’re hoping the Kobo Arc 10HD will have the
impressive battery life of the Kobo E Ink e-readers
then you will be disappointed, as the 6550mAh
non-removable battery is only average for a tablet.

Verdict
The Kobo Arc 10HD is a good-looking tablet that
offers a lot for its price tag. The only real down side
is the weight, which makes it less tempting to carry
with you everywhere.
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LARGE TABLETS
Microsoft Surface Pro 2
£719 • microsoft.com •

M

icrosoft’s Surface Pro 2 is designed to be a
laptop and tablet in one. It’s a very compact
device, given these ambitions, but coming
in at 13.5mm thick and nearly 1kg in weight it feels
far better suited to use on a desk than on a lap or in
the hand. The new two-stage kickstand helps when
using it as a laptop or for watching videos, but the
device still feels clunky compared to other tablets.
Although the Surface Pro 2 is a bit of a beast, we
can’t knock it on build quality. If anything, the weight
makes it feel reassuringly sturdy, with the rest of the
unit well put together and superbly finished. There’s
built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0, plus two HD cameras.
It’s perfectly feasible to do ‘real’ work on the Pro
since it runs a full version of Windows 8.1, however,

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it’s a compromised experience. For starters, the
screen is quite small at 10.6in, so tasks other than
word processing can be difficult, especially if you
don’t use a mouse. The trackpads on the optional
Touch and Type Covers are also tiny and awkward.
There is, of course, the touchscreen, but for desktop
applications you’ll need a mouse pointer or the
included digital pen to avoid getting frustrated with
such things as drop-down menus.
The IPS screen looks gorgeous in terms of
viewing angles, colour saturation and contrast.
It’s also nice and responsive to touch input, and
supports 10-point multitouch. As a tablet, though,
it’s just simply too big and heavy, plus the moderate
six-hour battery life is less than we’ve grown
accustomed to in this category.
The Surface Pro 2 is an arguably better desktopthan laptop-replacement, with the full-size USB port
and Mini DisplayPort connections meaning you
can easily attach your traditional monitor, mouse
and keyboard. The internal 1.6GHz Core i5-4200U
Haswell chip, paired with 8GB of RAM, is powerful
enough for most general PC duties, and it’s only the
limited internal storage (the 64GB model has only
27GB free) that hampers this, but you can always
hook up external storage reasonably cheaply or
use the microSD card slot.

Verdict
The Surface Pro 2 crams a serious amount of power
into a compact frame, but we can’t help feel that
instead of being the best of both laptop and tablet
worlds, it’s neither.

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LARGE TABLETS
Nokia Lumia 2520
£399 • nokia.com/gb-en •

A

t £399 and with 4G LTE as standard this
is a lot of tablet for the money. It’s also
pretty powerful for a Windows RT device.
Fuelled by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon
800 chip and 2GB of RAM, the Lumia is noticeably
responsive, even when undertaking multiple tasks.
There’s a nominal 32GB of storage onboard, with a
microSDHC card slot letting you add up to 64GB.
The 10.1in IPS display is covered with Corning
Gorilla Glass 2, and sports a 1920x1080 resolution
(218ppi). This is good for a tablet, and the display is
certainly sharp enough. Viewing angles are wide,
and the Lumia fares well under bright light. There are

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front- and rear cameras (1.2- and 6.7Mp respectively),
both of which capture video at 30fps, 1080p.
Windows RT, like Windows Phone 8, is famously
kind on hardware, so it should be no surprise that
the Lumia 2520’s impressive specification leads to
superb performance. But it does quantifiably so.
Power management is also good: we gave the
Lumia a good hammering over a day or so and it still
had plenty of juice left in the battery.
In the hand the 2520 feels slim and light, and
running your fingers over it finds only smooth edges.
The overall impression is that of a premium tablet,
although the lack of a full USB port makes it a
difficult device to move your data on and off.
One thing to bear in mind is that Windows RT is
an OS for the consumption and display of media,
rather than a productivity OS like Windows 8. The
app store might include over 190,000 offerings, but
how many are optimised for this size of display is a
point for debate. Skype, Vine and Instagram are now
available, though, so things are at least moving in
the right direction.
Given a straight choice we’d still choose iOS
or Android over Windows RT for a consumption
device, but there is one big plus point for RT, and
that’s the inclusion of a version of Microsoft Office.
The ability to load up, edit, then display PowerPoint
presentations via the built-in HDMI-out port gives
Lumia 2520 a potentially unique calling card.

Verdict
Some caveats still apply to Windows RT devices, but
if you want an alternative to iPad and Android for a
consumption device, the Lumia 2520 is that.
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LARGE TABLETS
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1
£450 • samsung.com/uk •

T

his latest Samsung offering joins the
esteemed ranks of the Note series, which
has been largely responsible for the phablet
craze of the past two years. The main thing that
distinguishes this 10in tablet from its brethren
Galaxy Tab 10.1 is the inclusion of the S-Pen stylus
and accompanying software. To save you losing the
S-Pen Samsung has included a neat slot in the upper
right side of the case. Nevertheless, the Note 10.1 is
decidedly slim in the hands. It’s reasonably light, too,
thanks in part to its mostly plastic construction.
An excellent 10.1in 2560x1600 IPS screen adorns
the front, surrounded by slim bezels and the now
standard three-button controls. Framing the chassis
is a grooved metal band, which also holds the
volume and power buttons, dual speakers, S-Pen,
microSD and Micro USB slots. On the rear is a
plastic/faux leather cover with pretend stitching
around the edges. You’ll love this or hate it: we think
it cheapens the device, making it look dated.
There’s nothing silly about the internals of the
Note 10.1, though. Samsung has installed its beefy
1.9GHz Quad-core Exynos 5 and 3GB of RAM. This
results in a speedy tablet that loads and runs apps
quickly. We did see some lag in the interface, but on
the whole it’s a very nice unit to use.

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The Touchwiz interface that Samsung layers on
top of Android 4.3 still feels overly complicated when
compared to vanilla Android, but it allows the Korean
giant to promote its various services. These include
the Samsung Hub, through which you can purchase
various media, although the Google Play Store is
also included. There are also plenty of default apps,
from calendars to a magazine-style news feed.
The S-Pen is a lot of fun for doodling or annotating
notes. Excellent palm cancellation means you can
rest your hand on the screen while you do so. How
useful you’ll find this is questionable, but if you really
want a stylus then this is the one to buy.
The cameras are very good. They capture
impressive images and have a raft of cool modes.
A battery life of nearly nine and a half hours
makes this a solid performer.

Verdict
Touchwiz and fake stitching aside, the Note 10.1 is
a very good tablet with the added S-Pen feature for
those who want it.
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LARGE TABLETS
Sony Xperia Tablet Z
£399 • sony.co.uk •

T

he Sony Xperia Tablet Z feels extremely good
in your hands. It’s astonishingly thin and light
at just 7mm and 495g, and screams ‘Sony’ in
terms of its design and build quality. It’s one of the
best-looking Android tablets on the market.
One feature that helps the device stand out from
the sea of other black, glass and plastic slates is its
dust- and waterproof casing. Now you can finally
fulfill that lifelong ambition of watching BBC iPlayer
and checking Facebook in the bath – no selfies.

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The Xperia Tablet Z is powered by a 1.5GHz
Qualcomm quad-core processor and packs 2GB
of RAM. The user experience is good, but saw
occasional lag even when simply swiping between
home screens. Browsing the web was the worst
for us; the device just couldn’t keep up with our
scrolling and zooming on content-heavy sites.
The 10.1in display has a 1920x1200 resolution,
with a pixel density of 224ppi. Sony’s Mobile Bravia
Engine 2 delivers great-looking colours and contrast.
The two onboard cameras are very good, with a
forward-facing 2.2Mp option for video chat and a
rear 8.1Mp camera that takes super-sharp images.
The device also comes with 16GB of internal
memory, and has a microSD slot for expansion.
Battery life is respectable, with the unit still having
a little bit of charge remaining after a weekend of
web browsing, gaming, social media and watching
video content.
Running Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, the Xperia
Tablet Z is nearly up to date when it comes to the
software. It features a nice balance of vanilla Android
and Sony’s stylish overlay. As well as the expected
collection of Google apps, there are also some of
Sony’s own, but many of them double up on what is
offered by the Play Store. We don’t mind the extra
choice, but would rather they were combined into
one app so that it’s less confusing.

Verdict
Sony has made a very desirable tablet in the Xperia
Tablet Z. However, its slightly lacking performance
is a disappointment.
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LARGE TABLETS
Zoostorm Playtab Q6010
£150 • zoostorm.com •

T

he Playtab is a large-format tablet along the
lines of the Nexus 10. Its plastic casing is
sturdy, exhibiting little flex, while looking quite
smart in the process. In landscape mode each side
of the chassis is slightly raised, which makes the unit
comfortable to hold in spite of its hefty 620g weight.
The right edge houses various connections,
including Micro-USB, miniHDMI, microSD and
a proprietary charging socket. The latter is
disappointing when so many Android tablets now
use universal Micro-USB. The left edge incorporates
a 2W speaker, which sounds barely audible.
The 10.1in IPS display is bright and spacious,
but has a low 1280x800 resolution, which gives it
a pixel density of just 149ppi. This means text and
icons look blocky and jagged. Video is decent,
though, making good use of the wide screen, and
web pages render reasonably well, with images
appearing sharp and colourful. For many people
the display will be perfectly adequate, but if you’ve
grown used to an HD screen the lower quality will
be immediately apparent.
Under the hood is a 1.5GHz quad-core A9 CPU
and 2GB of RAM. This is a good spec for a low-cost
tablet and should deliver enough power for web use,
social-media activities and less demanding games.

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It’s somewhat of a surprise, then, that the Playtab
had a tendency to stutter occasionally. Downloading
updates to apps in the background reduced the
operating speed to almost zero, while games
such as Temple Run had a noticeable hesitancy in
executing movements.
Android 4.2.2 is the OS of choice, and it remains
mostly vanilla. The only real obvious deviations from
the norm are two additional software buttons for
volume control, which are useful. There’s full access
to the Google Play store for all your app needs.
The Playtab does contain front- and rear cameras,
but they are utterly useless, with the focus slow,
inaccurate and producing images of such low quality
that it’s not worth the effort.
At least battery life is decent, lasting well over
eight hours in our looped video test.

Verdict
An adequate tablet for basic tasks, but the poor
speakers, cameras, spotty performance and
low-resolution screen make it feel far from a bargain.

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SMALL TABLETS
Advent Vega Tegra Note 7
£130 • adventcomputers.co.uk •

C

urrys/PC World has waded into the tablet
arena with the nVidia-based Tegra Note 7.
Actually, calling the Vega ‘nVidia-based’ is a
little misleading, as this is really nVidia’s tablet with
Advent branding. The highlight is the quad-core
Tegra 4 processor, which is immensely fast, but
nVidia hasn’t forgotten about the rest of the tablet.
There’s a passive stylus for writing or sketching,
GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11n Wi-Fi, a micro HDMI
output and a microSD card slot for adding to the
16GB of internal storage.
There are also front-facing stereo speakers,
plus front- and rear (decidedly average) cameras.
Everything runs on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and
there’s access to the Google Play store.
Android has been left mostly untouched, but
nVidia has added a few apps and tweaks. One is the
DirectStylus launcher, which pops up when you pull
out the stylus. There’s a choice of two related apps:
Tegra Note Draw and Stylus Labs Write. Both are
relatively basic, but do a decent job.
If there’s one weakness, it’s the 7in IPS display.
The problem is the 1280x800 resolution, which
is nothing special. A low pixel density of 215ppi
also means that the Advent Vega doesn’t possess
the sharpness of full-HD tablets. In other respects

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it’s a good screen with wide viewing angles and
respectable brightness levels and vivid colours.
On the plus side the Tegra Note 7 is fast. It loads
apps faster than just about any other Android tablet,
and browsing the web is extra enjoyable because
there’s no waiting around for Google suggestions to
appear, nor web pages to load.
nVidia, of course, is better known for graphics
and the 72-core GeForce GPU is great for games.
There’s also support for Tegra gaming controllers.
The Tegra Note 7 should count battery life among
its strengths, mainly because of its fifth, low-power
core, which is all that’s needed for most tasks,
including video playback and web browsing. Using
our usual video-looping test, the Vega Tegra Note 7
lasts just over 8 hours.

Verdict
For the price, the Advent Vega offers an awful lot.
If you’re after a budget Android tablet, the Tegra
Note 7 is a great choice.

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SMALL TABLETS
Amazon Kindle Fire HDX
£199 • amazon.co.uk •

T

he 7in HDX has the same design as the Fire
HD, with angular chamfers at the back. Build
quality is excellent – at least on a par with the
Nexus 7 – and we love the soft-feel back.
The HDX has a fantastic 1920x1200 display that’s
able to reproduce 100 percent of the sRGB gamut.
Photos look almost hyper-real, with vibrant colour.
It’s very bright, too, and has great viewing angles.
However, in order to get that sRGB coverage and
not compromise battery life, Amazon has used blue,
rather than white, LEDs. Therefore any screen with a
white or light-coloured background at the edges has
prominent blue strips. If you’re thinking of buying the
Fire HDX as an e-reader, this might put you off.
Equipped with a Snapdragon 800 quad-core
processor running at 2.2GHz, the device is an
outstanding performer, feeling supremely fast. We
saw no hesitation or stuttering at any point during
testing, and the dual-antenna Wi-Fi also appeared
to be paying dividends with snappy app downloads
and quick web-page-loading times.
Storage-wise, there’s a choice of 16-, 32- and
64GB models, but you can’t add storage via a
microSD card. Battery life is reasonable, with
our usual video-looping test draining the HDX in
6 hours 38 minutes.

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The updated Fire OS software is a triumph. A lot
of niggles that tarnished the older versions have
been addressed and it’s even easier to use. Good as
these improvements are, the Fire HDX does lock you
into Amazon’s world due to its proprietary app store.
It’s no hardship being limited to buying e-books and
audiobooks from the well-stocked libraries, but the
choice of apps lags plain Android devices.
Exclusive to the HDX tablets is the Mayday button.
If you need help with your Kindle, you press the
Mayday icon and it puts you in a queue to speak
to one of Amazon’s Tech Advisors. We tried out
the service and were impressed that our call was
answered in under 10 seconds.
Freetime mode is another useful feature, as it
allows you to create user profiles for your children.

Verdict
A great choice for undemanding users who will
benefit from the closed, safe, easy-to-use ecosystem
and the free tech support via the Mayday button.
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SMALL TABLETS
Apple iPad Mini Retina
£319 • apple.com/uk •

T

he first-generation iPad mini’s display was
a bit of an embarrassment for Apple, at just
162ppi. The iPad mini with Retina display takes
care of this issue, with an updated resolution to
match the iPad Air at 2048x1536 pixels and a higher
density of 326ppi. It’s the best iPad screen we’ve
seen to date. Colours are superb and, with the extra
resolution, photos look amazing.
The device uses the same A7 chip as the iPad
Air. That means it’s a 64-bit device, which makes

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it more future-proof than had it stuck with a 32-bit
processor. It also gets the M7 motion co-processor,
which should help prolong battery life when you’re
using fitness or activity-tracking apps. Apple hasn’t
disclosed the amount of RAM, but the second-gen
iPad mini is very quick and feels slick in general use.
Storage options range from 16GB (£329) to 128GB
(£559) but, as ever, this isn’t expandable. You get
dual-antenna Wi-Fi and support for MIMO, which
Apple says doubles the theoretical transfer speed
compared to the original iPad mini (300Mbps versus
150Mbps). There’s also Bluetooth 4.0, but only the
cellular version (which supports more LTE bands
than ever) has a GPS receiver.
Battery life remains as impressive as ever, with the
new Mini lasting 10 hours 42 minutes in our lab tests.
There’s no major change in the camera
department, with a 5Mp iSight snapper on the rear
(capable of 1080p video) and an improved FaceTime
HD webcam on the front. In our tests, we found
precious little difference between shots taken on the
original mini and the new version. In low light, using
the front webcam, the slightly updated camera in the
new iPad mini meant there was less noise in photos.
Video quality was impressive and – thanks to the
new second back-mounted mic – audio recording
was also much improved over the original iPad mini.
The new mini comes with iOS 7, which also
entitles you to download a selection of Apple’s apps.

Verdict
The new iPad mini is a fabulous tablet. The price
may be frustrating, but if you can afford it you won’t
be disappointed.
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SMALL TABLETS
Google Nexus 7 (2013)
£199 • play.google.com •

T

he original Nexus 7 was hugely significant in
popularising Android small-form tablets. Now
with its successor Google and Asus have
upped the stakes construction-wise. It’s slimmer and
lighter than the original, at just 8.7mm and 290g.
This makes the device comfortable to hold for long
sessions, which is aided by the smooth, rubbery
surface on the rear casing.
Stereo speakers are placed at either end,
delivering good quality audio; and excellent build
quality has been maintained throughout, with no
signs of unwanted gaps or wobbly buttons.
The highlight is the amazing 7in IPS display, which
has a 1920x1200 resolution and a mammoth pixel
density of 323ppi. It’s stunning and without doubt
one of the best of any 7in tablet around.
Google has equipped the Nexus 7 with a 1.5GHz
Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core Krait processor and
2GB of memory. This, combined with the fat-free
vanilla version of Android, means the device feels
super-slick and responsive. Storage options are
either 16- or 32GB, but there’s still microSD card slot.
In our tests the Nexus 7 lasted 8 hours 47 minutes
on a single charge while looping an HD video.
Two cameras are included, with the front an
acceptable 1.2Mp and the rear a 5Mp snapper with

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autofocus but no flash. Photos from the rear camera
are better than we expected, with generally crisp,
nice-looking shots. The device is also small enough
to make taking photos and videos with it feel more
appropriate than when using larger tablets.
The slightly older 4.3 (Jelly Bean) version of
Android ships on the Nexus 7, but you can update
to KitKat – an advantage of plumping for a Nexus
device. The existing interface is simple, uncluttered,
and everything is snappy and enjoyable to use.
There’s also has the ability to create multiple user
accounts on one device, which is great if you want to
share the Nexus 7 with your family.

Verdict
It might not be the cheapest premium tablet any
more, but with its amazing screen and clean
software the Nexus 7 remains one of the very best.

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SMALL TABLETS
Lenovo Yoga Tablet 8
£199 • lenovo.com •

T

he Yoga 8’s design is its main selling point,
partly because it’s something a bit different
and partly since the specs aren’t anything
special. Lenovo’s innovation comes in the shape of
a cylindrical barrel that adorns one side of the tablet.
This makes it much easier to hold because the vast
majority of the weight is on one side and therefore
in your hand. The barrel also angles the display
towards you when placed on a surface, where you
can also make use of the built-in kickstand.

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The Yoga Tablet’s kickstand is made from
aluminium, as is the side edging. However, the
remaining parts, bar the glass screen, are plastic.
If you want a good-looking and versatile tablet
then the Yoga Tablet will suit, especially when you
consider its reasonable price tag.
While the Yoga Tablet has an impressive and
innovative design, its hardware doesn’t match up. It’s
got an adequate 1.2GHz quad-core processor and
1GB RAM, plus 16- or 32GB of internal storage and a
microSDXC card slot.
It’s nippy when navigating the home screens, but
with more demanding tasks the Lenovo show signs
of lag. Scrolling through the Play Store, for example,
is often jerky, and switching between open apps can
take a couple of seconds.
The screen is 8in, but has a uninspiring resolution
of 1280x800 (187ppi). It offers great viewing angles,
but we found it occasionally temperamental.
While the cameras are good but not great, we did
like the front-facing stereo speakers. If you’re going
to watch video these will be a real boon. Battery life
is also impressive at around 12 hours in our tests.
The Yoga Tablet 8 is preloaded with a tweaked
version of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. A Smart Side Bar
provides access to app shortcuts and media content.
However, this is switched off by default and doesn’t
work unless you’re on the home screen.

Verdict
The Yoga Tablet 8 is one of the best-designed
Android tablets we’ve seen and costs a reasonable
amount. However, it’s let down by mediocre
hardware and performance.
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SMALL TABLETS
Tesco Hudl
£119 • tesco.com •

T

he Hudl feels nice in the hand with its softtouch plastic casing. You can pick from four
colours (black, blue, red and purple), and
there’s a range of accessories including cases and
headphones. For kids there’s also a rubber cover
(£15) and headphones that limit volume (£12).
The Hudl is a little chunkier and heavier than the
latest Nexus 7 at 9.9mm and 370g, but it doesn’t feel

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unwieldy. It’s also very well built for a cheap tablet,
with a solid and durable construction.
Despite the budget price, the Hudl has a decent
specification. As well as dual-band Wi-Fi and
Bluetooth, there’s also a built-in GPS receiver.
The resolution of the 7in display is good for a
budget tablet at 1440x900, with decent viewing
angles. It isn’t perfect, though. We found the screen
occasionally unresponsive and it’s also relatively
dim – using it at maximum brightness will drain the
battery in around 5 hours, according to our tests.
The 1.5GHz quad-core A9 processor copes well
with most apps. Navigating Android is nippy enough,
but it does suffer from occasional slowdown.
Cameras are under par with 3Mp at the rear and
a 2Mp webcam. The results from both are of low
quality and the tablet has problems focusing.
The Hudl comes in one variant of storage, 16GB,
of which around 12GB is available. There’s also a
microSDHC card for adding up to 32GB more, and a
Micro HDMI slot allows you to connect it to your TV.
Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean is almost vanilla, but
Tesco had added a few of its own bits and pieces.
Preloaded widgets give first time users a helping
hand, and other things such as Clubcard status at
a glance. These can be removed if they are of no
use to you. With Jelly Bean onboard users can also
create multiple accounts, meaning the Hudl will suit
families who want to share the tablet.

Verdict
The Tesco Hudl is a budget tablet with a nice design
and good build quality. Impressive specifications for
the price make it easy to recommend.
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CHILDREN’S TABLETS
Amazon Kindle Fire HD
£119 • amazon.co.uk •

U

nlike regular Android tablets, the Fire HD
runs a highly customised version of the OS
with one clear aim: to let you get at Amazon’s
digital content. That means all your apps, books,
videos, music and magazines come from Amazon
rather than the Google Play Store. This is primarily
a content-consumption device, although the Fire
OS 3.0 does bring email and web browsing into the
foreground more than the earlier Fire tablets.
The angular design matches the more expensive
Fire HDX models, but this sibling doesn’t get the
‘X’ suffix as its screen has a 1280x800 rather than
full-HD resolution. It’s perfectly good for reading,
watching videos, playing games and browsing the
web. The stereo speakers are decent, too.
The Fire HD has a beefier processor than
its predecessor which, along with the updated
operating system, makes the unit feel a bit speedier.
Accoutrements are sparse: there are no cameras,
no cellular capabilities and a fixed amount of internal
storage that can’t be expanded. Bearing in mind that
the 8GB model has less than 5GB of usable storage,
you’d do well to consider the 16GB model for £139.
A new feature in Fire OS 3.0 is Freetime. This
turns the Kindle into a kids’ tablet. You can create
separate user profiles, choose which apps and

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content is available in each profile and set time limits
for activities. Freetime also makes text and icons
larger, helping kids to navigate more easily. There’s
no worry about them seeing inappropriate websites,
since there’s no web browser in this mode.
The only snag is that you don’t get Google apps
such as Maps and YouTube, and Amazon’s Appstore
is missing some apps you’ll find on Google Play –
particularly UK-specific ones such as ITV Player, 4oD
and other TV catchup services.
Battery life wasn’t as good as we were hoping
at 6 hours 11 minutes, but turn down the screen
brightness and you’ll eke out at least an extra hour.

Verdict
Apart from the lack of cameras, this is a great kids’
tablet with access to lots of appropriate books, apps
and games. It can also double as an adult tablet, has
a decent screen and is quick to boot.
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CHILDREN’S TABLETS
Fuhu nabi 2
£150 • nabitablet.com/nabi2 •

T

he nabi 2 has a design that we can’t help
thinking looks a bit like an Etch-A-Sketch.
Much of the similarity is caused by the red
silicone bumper enveloping the chassis, which
should do a good job of protecting the unit.
A quick look at the specs reveals that the nabi 2
has a quad-core nVidia Tegra 3 processor, 8GB of
storage, a microSDHC slot, plus micro USB and mini
HDMI ports. You also get a front-facing 2Mp camera,
which can be used for video chats and self-portraits,
and a pair of speakers on the rear.
The 7in screen is the first sign of weakness, with
its 1024x600 resolution. In practice it’s good enough,
but it feels cramped when browsing the web. This
isn’t an IPS panel, so viewing angles are poor in
landscape mode.
In terms of performance, though, the nabi 2 is
great. It’s fast for gaming and browsing websites,
plus the battery lasted just over 8 hours in our tests.
Fuhu asserts that the nabi 2 comes with £120 of
software, and while there are plenty of preloaded
games, including educational titles, too many are
‘lite’ or ‘starter’ versions that nag you to upgrade. It
doesn’t feel as if you’re getting £120 of value, but
you’d have to spend a fair bit to replicate the apps
and other features on a Nexus 7 or iPad.

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As well as the full versions of Angry Birds and
Fruit Ninja HD, you also get eight games optimised
for the Tegra graphics chip, which are sure to appeal
to slightly older kids.
MeeGenius is another suite that includes 30 kids’
e-books with audio so they can be read out loud.
There’s also a Chore List app, in which children can
earn nabi coins (which you buy from the nabi store)
for completing a chore. These can then be spent in
the companion Treasure Box app to buy apps, books
or anything else they fancy.
It’s also relatively easy to access Amazon’s
Appstore on the tablet, but not Google Play.

Verdict
It’s not without its faults, but the nabi 2 is currently
one of the best Android kids’ tablets around.

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CHILDREN’S TABLETS
Kurio 10S
£200 • kurioworld.com •

T

he Kurio 10S is one of few children’s tablets to
possess a 10in display. With 1280x800 pixels
it’s of a lower resolution than we’ve come
to expect these days, but the screen is a bright
IPS panel with decent viewing angles. Loud stereo
speakers at the front also promise good audio.
Other ports and connections include a potentially
useful mini HDMI output and a microSD card slot for
adding to the internal 8GB. (Note that there’s only
around 2.5GB of free storage out of the box.) You
also get front- and rear-facing 2.1Mp cameras.

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Build quality isn’t great, and the Kurio is similar to
budget Android tablets from a couple of years ago.
Press the screen too hard or squeeze the tablet from
the back and the screen discolours in protest.
There may well be a quad-core processor inside,
but the 10S was often frustratingly slow to respond
to taps and sluggish in launching apps. Once the
apps were running things were generally smooth,
but performance is unimpressive. That includes
battery life, which was a paltry 3 hours in our testing.
Web browsing is unacceptably slow. Websites
regularly take over 30 seconds to display, and
embedded videos often wouldn’t play at all.
The Kurio starts on the solid foundation of
Android Jelly Bean (4.2.2) and adds a dedicated
kids’ interface. You can create up to eight user
profiles, allowing you to customise which apps are
available to each child. There are a lot of bundled
apps, including some decent Disney titles and big
names such as Cut the Rope HD, Fruit Ninja, Angry
Birds Space and Where’s My Water?
Kids have access to the standard Android web
browser, but it can be locked down via a Parental
Area where you can manage kids’ profiles and
decide which websites they can access. There
are predefined lists of sites based on various age
ranges, but all are US-specific, so you’ll have to add
UK sites such as Cbeebies and Milkshake yourself.

Verdict
Although the Kurio 10S has good child-friendly
software and decent parental controls, it’s slow
in general use and has mediocre battery life.
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CHILDREN’S TABLETS
Leapfrog LeapPad Ultra
£119 • leapfrog.com •

T

he LeapPad Ultra is the successor to the
phenomenally successful LeapPad 2 tablet
for kids. The new device feels robust – a lot
more so than adult tablets – and should be able
to withstand even the clumsiest, or should we say
careless, kid. Aimed to cater for four- to nine-yearolds, the LeapPad Ultra’s (albeit limited) web access,
Wi-Fi, peer-to-peer gaming and bundled MP3 player
should make it a little cooler for the seven- to nineyear-olds than its predecessor.
The Ultra boasts a 7in (1024x600) screen
that LeapFrog calls Duo Tech, as it’s resistive for
stylus use and also capacitive for finger-swiping
friendliness. There are front- and rear-facing 2Mp

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cameras, capable of 480p video recording, plus 8GB
of internal storage, and the internal battery promises
around nine hours of use.
As standard the Ultra comes with 11 apps,
including ones for art, photography, chatting with
other Ultra users, and a utilities suite. One standout
feature for parents is LeapSearch, the kid-safe
web browser. Give your child unrestrained access
to a regular tablet and you can’t guarantee that
little Johnny or Jane won’t browse into the web’s
rough stuff. With LeapSearch’s new parental tools,
including a four-digit security code, parents are in
control of what their child is able to access.
LeapSearch is a closed environment of approved,
white-list YouTube video and site content. On other
supposedly child-friendly web browsers we have
been able to quite quickly browse to inappropriate
content, but LeapFrog’s closed-environment
approach removes this element of parental worry.
Our child testers (aged three- to seven) loved the
Ultra, and enjoyed playing with the cameras and
chatting with other users with Pet Chat.
Pet Chat allows kids to message each other via
the Wi-Fi connection. It’s not quite texting, though,
as they can use only supplied salutations, questions
and replies. LeapFrog explains that not allowing
typed chat protects the children from inappropriate
or hurtful language – as well as aiding correct
spelling and grammar.

Verdict
The Ultra isn’t cheap, and you can’t use it as an adult
tablet, but it has great educational value and the
child-safe internet is also going to reassure parents.
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CHILDREN’S TABLETS
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Kids
£199 • samsung.com/uk •

T

he Galaxy Tab 3 Kids is a Galaxy Tab 3 7.0
finished in yellow rather than white. It comes
with an orange silicone bumper case and,
in a separate package that is often bundled free,
a combined case and stand with built-in stylus.
The 7in screen IPS panel is bright, vibrant and has
great viewing angles. The low 1024x768 resolution is
a disappointment, but your kids won’t complain.
At just over 300g, the tablet on its own feels
sturdy, yet even with the case attached it’s not too
heavy for kids to handle. In terms of storage, there’s
8GB internally (4GB usable) and a microSDHC slot.
In looks and simplicity, Samsung’s child-friendly
interface is excellent. Once set up by a parent, a
swipe anywhere on the screen unlocks the tablet
and a series of scrollable ‘cards’ makes it easy for
even young kids to launch the app they want.
A parental area, which is protected by a PIN,
lets you set limits on screen time.
Samsung’s Kids’ Store is populated with apps,
Peppa Pig titles and Fireman Sam, as well as Lego
and Disney games. It’s considerably better than
the stores on other kids’ tablets, and prices are
reasonable. You can also download apps from
Google Play and make them available in Kids mode.
No web access is available in this mode.

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Performance doesn’t impress, however. Apps
can take an age to load, which leads to frustrated
children. Fortunately, gaming is fine, so once a
Peppa Pig or Toca Boca app has launched, things
run smoothly. Video playback is also good, with even
HD videos on YouTube playing fine, and battery life
is fine at around 8 hours.
For a modern tablet, the Galaxy Tab 3 Kids has
diabolical cameras. Photo quality is poor and the
same goes for video – it’s a real shame as other
Samsung devices often have excellent cameras.

Verdict
This is one of the better children’s tablets
we’ve seen, but it’s not cheap and the sluggish
performance and poor cameras make it hard to
justify the cost.

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CHILDREN’S TABLETS
Vtech Innotab 3S
£99 • vtechuk.com •

T

he Innotab 3S is Vtech’s take on a children’s
tablet. The device looks and feels very much
like a toy. That’s no bad thing, as younger folk
can find precision-milled aluminium a tad dull, plus
the rugged plastic casing looks like it might survive
the odd fall or two.
It’s a chunky tablet, mainly to accommodate
four AA batteries, alongside a cartridge port for
dedicated games. There are also more buttons than
normal, with controls for power, navigation, volume,
and a D-pad for games all on the front panel, which
is topped off by a cool swivel-mounted camera.
Due to the bespoke nature of the software we
weren’t able to run our usual battery tests, but the
unit kept going for several days of light use.
The 5in screen is bright and colourful, featuring
both resistive and capacitive responses. Using your
fingers is a painfully frustrating experience, so its
best to stick with the supplied stylus. There are a
variety of apps installed, but you’ll need to connect
the tablet to your PC and download the Learning
Lodge software to activate many of them.
Once up and running your child can access
an art app, camera, some fun utilities and a few
gently educational games. One cool feature is Kid
Connect which, coupled with the corresponding

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app on your smartphone, allows the child to
exchange text messages with you.
Additional apps can be bought from the Learning
Lodge. These average £3, but the Disney/Pixar and
other premium-brand content in cartridge format
costs around £20.
The unit also features a child-friendly web
browser, which has several preset, educationally
focused sites. Scrolling through the list is ponderous
in the extreme, the screen updating only one line
at a time, but once at the destination site things
improve. Only marginally, though, as the poor
resolution can make text hard to read.

Verdict
It may be a slow and potentially costly system,
especially if you go down the cartridge route, but
the children we gave it to really liked it. Kids, eh?
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Motorola’s Moto X can’t
keep up with rival phones
After months of being on sale in the US, Motorola has
brought the Moto X to the UK. But is it worth a look?
£314 • motorola.com •

T

he Moto X is a pretty standard-looking phone
from the front. With no logo and a chunky
plastic bezel, it’s not off to a good start. The
front is also made worse, on our white model at least,
by an obvious camera, sensors and a drilled hole for
the microphone below the screen.
However, turn over the Moto X
and things improve dramatically.
The handset features a curved back
that better fits your hand and a
nice woven effect. At 10.4mm at its
thickest point, the Moto X isn’t the
thinnest of phones, but that curve
offsets this and the device has a
nicely balanced weight.
Its construction is a ‘composite
blend’, which Motorola denies is
plastic. The Moto X doesn’t feel
particularly premium, and we found
the back of our white sample got
consistently grubby. A black version
is also available. If Moto Maker
arrives in the UK, you’ll be able to
choose from various rear cover

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colours and accent colours for the
camera ring and buttons. There
are also wooden options, which
look stunning.

Hardware and performance
Unlike most flagship smartphones,
the Moto X doesn’t come with a
quad-core processor. Instead,
it wields a 1.7GHz dual-core
Snapdragon S4 chip backed by
2GB RAM. You may sniff at this
spec, but the firm has implemented
software optimisation.
This doesn’t show in our
benchmark results, but it’s evident
in use. The Moto X feels just as
nippy as its quad-core rivals,
navigating to the home screen
and opening apps happens
without hesitation.
Games also run smoothly, proving you don’t need
a quad-core processor to gain top performance.
The Moto X scored 1263 in Geekbench 3,
25fps in GFX 2.7 and 1037ms in Sunspider.
A 4.7in screen means the Moto X sits at a happy
medium for smartphone sizes – large enough to
carry out tasks comfortably, but not so big that’s its
unwieldy. AMOLED technology means colours are
rich and punchy and viewing angles are great.
However, it’s a shame that Motorola has opted
for a standard HD resolution of 720x1280. The
screen looks good, but it’s a little way off the market
leaders here. A pixel density of 312ppi means
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graphics and text aren’t as crisp compared to those
of full-HD displays.
Storage options are limited, with 16GB onboard
(12GB usable) and no expansion slot. A 32GB model is
said to exist, but we can’t find it for sale.
It’s good to see some of the latest wireless
standards onboard, including 802.11ac Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth 4.0 LE and several sensors we’ll come on
to later, but the Moto X doesn’t come with an infrared
transmitter or wireless charging.

Cameras
The Moto X is armed with a 10Mp camera and,
although the quality is clearly better than that of
mid-range handsets, it’s not as good as the number
of megapixels might suggest. Indoor shots look okay,
but are sometimes overexposed. Head outdoors and
you’ll get sharper results in good lighting conditions.
Its main camera has an RGBC sensor, which
features a fourth, clear pixel. This is supposed to
help out in low-light situations, but we weren’t very
impressed with the performance in this area. Like a
lot of smartphones, the Moto X has HDR, burst and
panoramic modes, plus it offers slow-motion video.
The HDR mode is particularly good and has an
unusual auto mode, so it uses it only when it thinks it
will improve the shot.
Strangely, there’s no way to adjust the photo or
video quality, so you’re stuck with 10Mp stills and
1080p video. The front-facing camera offers excellentquality 2Mp stills and 1080p video.
A camera feature we like is Quick Capture.
Switch this on in the Camera app and you can
launch the camera by flicking your wrist twice.
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It’s cool, but we’d rather have a dedicated shutter
button that can also launch the app.

Software
Software is the main reason to buy the Moto X over
other smartphones. This handset has a few tricks up
its sleeve that might just win you over. The phone
ships with up-to-date Android 4.4 KitKat in the UK.
Those sensors we mentioned earlier help the
Moto X to know what you’re doing so it can give you
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relevant and useful information. For example, the
time is automatically displayed when you pick up the
phone – no more having to push a button. This is
not only convenient, but helps to save battery power
because only a small number of pixels are used.

Active Display
Active Display is an interesting feature that lets
the Moto X give you notifications without using a
typical flashing LED. Instead, notifications appear
on the lock screen, pulsing softly. More information,
such as the beginning of an email, can be brought
up by tapping the middle of the screen. Active
Display works with any Android apps that support
notifications, but you can specify which apps are
allowed to use the feature.

Moto Assist
Motorola’s SmartActions has been replaced by Moto
Assist. Instead of letting you automate the phone
with a wide range of actions, Moto Assist offers basic
settings for when you’re driving, sleeping or in a
meeting. We preferred the original.
A neat feature is that the Moto X knows when
you’re driving and can read out text messages, inform
you who is calling and let you select music – keeping
your hands free for driving. You can also keep the
phone quiet when you’re in meetings or at night.

Touchless Control
Enable Touchless Control and you can control the
Moto X with your voice, avoiding having to physically
interact with it – even if the screen is turned off.
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The feature is built on
top of Google Now,
and is triggered
by saying “Okay
Google Now”.
We’ve often
found Google
Now to be
better and faster
at processing
my speech than
Apple’s Siri.

Motorola Connect
This Chrome browser
extension lets you send and receive
text messages and pick up other notifications on
your computer. It’s pretty easy
to set up and use.

Battery life
Motorola touts 24 hours of mixed use from the Moto
X’s non-removable 2200mAh battery. This makes it
sound as though you’ll have to charge it most nights
and, in our experience, that is exactly the case.

Verdict
For a flagship phone the Moto X comes in at a very
reasonable price. Performance and software are
both excellent, but the device lacks that premium
feel and is a little way behind the leaders in some
areas. Unfortunately, Motorola spent too long
bringing it to the UK and without the Moto Maker.
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Sony Xperia Z1 Compact:
small but powerful
A top-spec smartphone that isn’t huge? We like the
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact already
£401 • sony.co.uk •

F

or a while now, 5in has been the typical
and standard size for a high-end flagship
smartphone. But what are consumers to do if
they want a top-spec smartphone without it being too
big to use in one hand and fit in a pocket?
Until now, our advice has been to opt for a decent
mid-range phone, which tend to have smaller screens.
But Sony has finally realised that some people want
top performance in a more compact handset.

Design and build
The Z1 Compact is a more manageable version of
the flagship Z1 from last year. Instead of a 5in screen,
it sports a 4.3in display.
It’s still dust- and waterproof (without the flap on
the headphone jack), so you can take it out in the rain
or use it in the bath without worrying about it getting
wet. And it still has an aluminium chassis with glass on
both the front and rear. There are metal contacts on
the side for docking station accessories.
As well as black and white colour options, the
Xperia Z1 Compact comes in lime and pink.
Sony has done a great job of making sure
this smaller device still feels every bit a premium
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smartphone. The phone is acceptably light at 137g,
but is a little thicker than you might expect at 9.5mm.
The design is almost faultless, but if we’re going to
be picky then the volume button rocker is a little too
small for our liking.

Hardware and performance
Bigger doesn’t mean better any more: the Z1
Compact runs the same 2.2GHz Qualcomm
Snapdragon 800 quad-core chip as many of its
larger rivals. This is paired with 2GB of RAM.
Performance is outstanding, both from a user
perspective and in our benchmarking tests.
Everything happens in a nippy fashion, with no lag
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when opening apps, launching the camera with the
dedicated button and so on.
The Xperia Z1 Compact hit 4107 points in
Geekbench 2, 2890 in Geekbench 3, 899ms in
Sunspider and 34fps in GFX Bench 2.7. That means it
beats our previous leader, the LG G2 (and the full-size
Z1), in all tests – impressive stuff. In the latest GFX 3.0
test the Compact managed 17fps.
As we’ve mentioned, the Z1 Compact has a 4.3in
screen. While the Xperia Z1 has a full-HD resolution,
Sony has opted for 720p for the Xperia Z1 Compact.
It’s lower resolution, but the screen is smaller so a
pixel density of 342ppi is still good. It still has the
Triluminos Display, X-Reality (Sony Mobile Bravia
Engine) display technologies – the latter enhances
photos and videos.
Although the resolution is lower than some flagship
devices, the screen still looks great and it’s not a big
downgrade considering the more affordable price.
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A well-rounded hardware line-up includes 16GB
of internal storage, a microSDXC card slot, NFC,
Bluetooth 4.0 and support for 4G LTE networks.

Cameras
The Xperia Z1 introduced the highest-resolution
camera to any Android smartphone, and there’s
no downgrade when it comes to the Z1 Compact.
It still has that brilliant 20.7Mp camera, complete
with Sony’s Exmor RS sensor. We’re also pleased
to report the two-stage dedicated camera button
remains and can be used to launch the camera app
and then take photos.
Although the camera can take 20.7Mp photos,
the default setting is 8Mp. You’ll have to switch from
Superior Auto mode to Manual to access all those
pixels. Sony’s additional shooting modes include
Info-eye, Timeshift burst and AR effect.

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Photos and video look very nice indeed, but the
jump from the Xperia Z isn’t as big as you might
expect. There’s plenty of detail and the phone is good
at focusing quickly and getting exposure correct.
However, it doesn’t outpace the Nokia Lumia 1020,
which is still the best smartphone for photographers –
you’ve just got to be happy with Windows Phone 8.

Software
Despite launching in 2014, the Xperia Z1 Compact
doesn’t come with the latest version of Android.
Instead of 4.4 KitKat it’s got 4.3 Jelly Bean, but uses
the same interface as the Z1. This isn’t the end of the
world and Sony plans to upgrade it soon.
Sony adds its own style to the user interface, while
keeping the traditional layout and look of Android.

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We like the additional widgets and classy wallpapers,
but the notification bar is limited with access to only a
handful of settings – a widget gives more control.
On the down side, Sony does install a lot of apps
alongside the usual Android selection. Not only does
it add its own content stores and viewers, it adds
standalone apps including TrackID, McAfee Security,
OfficeSuite, Xperia Lounge, Xperia Privilege, Box, Pixlr
Express and more.
We can’t say whether you’ll personally find these
useful, but we can say that they take up some of the
phone’s storage. Luckily, Sony gives you the option to
uninstall anything not to your taste.

Battery life
With a smaller chassis, it’s unsurprising that the Z1
Compact has a smaller-capacity battery than the fullsize Z1. Its 2300mAh rather than 3000mAh, but don’t
let those numbers put you off.
The Z1 Compact lasted two days with general use.
Sony’s Power Management software is excellent
and includes both Stamina and low-battery modes.
These help you to get the longest battery life possible
by doing helpful things such as shutting down
background data when the screen is off.

Verdict
We love what Sony has done with the Xperia Z1
Compact. Finally, consumers have the choice to buy
a high-end smartphone without being forced to use a
large screen. The fact it’s cheaper than most flagship
devices makes it one of the best phones around.
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Hands-on with the
curved-screen LG G Flex
We grabbed a quick hands-on with the LG G Flex
curved-screen smartphone at CES 2014
circa-£700 • lg.com/uk

A

t CES 2014 we grabbed the opportunity
to take a look at LG’s curved-screen
smartphone, the G Flex. One of only a
couple of curved-screen handsets, it goes up against
Samsung’s Galaxy Round.

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LG has opted for a 6in POLED screen for the
G Flex, putting it in the phablet category with devices
such as the HTC One Max, Nokia Lumia 1520 and
Sony Xperia Z Ultra. It makes the fairly large LG G2
look rather small, and feels rather unwieldy.
The display has only a 720p (HD) resolution, which
doesn’t look as crisp as the full-HD screen of most of
its rivals. On the plus side, it does mean you can run
two apps onscreen at once.
While Samsung has gone for a side-to-side curve
on the Galaxy round, the G Flex does things top to
bottom, creating a banana-like shape. LG says this
is all about improving ergonomics.
The G Flex’s shape is designed to fit your face
better when making a call, and sit more comfortably
in your hand. It’s also supposed to be more immersive
when watching a film or playing a game in landscape
mode. But does it? Read our thoughts on page 30.
The back of the G Flex looks at lot like the LG
G2, with a rear key for power and volume below the
camera lens rather than on the device’s side.
Also on the rear is a ‘self-healing’ cover, which
is claimed to repair light scratches caused by such
things as change jingling in your pocket, but not the
heavy-duty damage caused by key scrapes or similar.
Like the G2, the G Flex has a Qualcomm
Snapdragon 800 processor and a 13Mp camera –
what we’d expect from a top-end smartphone. It’s also
got an infrared transmitter for controlling devices such
your TV, plus NFC and 802.11ac Wi-Fi.

Verdict
The G Flex is an interesting device with which we’d like
to spend more time to see how it fares in daily use.
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Hands-on with
the ZTE Grand S 2
ZTE has launched a new high-end big-screen
Android smartphone at CES 2014 in Las Vegas
Price TBC • zteuk.co.uk

A

s Sony launched its small but powerful Xperia
Z1 Compact (see previous page), ZTE has
gone the other way and launched a 5.5in
beast of a phone at CES 2014.
On paper, the ZTE Grand S
2 looks like a solid high-end
Android smartphone, it ticks all
of the specs boxes and looks
great. The big 5.5in 1080p
(401ppi) screen is incredibly
bright and clear; the 13Mp rear
camera is plenty; the Qualcomm
Snapdragon 800 has more than
enough oomph to drive the
phone; 2GB of RAM is ample;
and 16GB of internal storage
is fine when coupled with a
microSD card slot. And, from
our brief time with the device,
we found the phone operated
smoothly for the most part,
with just the occasional moment
of lag when flicking through
home screens.

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The ZTE Grand S 2 felt good in our hands. It’s a
solid device, despite its removable plastic rear. As
with any 5in-plus smartphone there were areas of the
screen we found difficult to reach when used in one
hand, but ZTE has a nifty solution for this. Its software
lets you float a shortcut menu and back button
anywhere on the smartphone. This is a very useful
feature of its handsets.
Another piece of software ZTE was keen to show
off on the Grand S 2 is its Car Mode voice-recognition
feature, which recognises different individuals’ voices
and responds accordingly. The idea behind this is
that a driver can enable Car Mode when driving with
hands-free activated and still be in control of his/her
smartphone, all without other passengers interfering.
So how does the ZTE Grand S 2 measure up
when compared to already established big-screened
Android smartphones? On first impressions, it seems
to be only keeping pace with the market. The specs
and performance of this handset have no wow factor
and, if anything, are a little behind the front runners
such as Sony, LG and Samsung.
The one key feature that this phone as is Car Mode
and, unless ZTE gives this smartphone a budget
price tag, early signs suggest it is going to be hard to
recommend over its established competitors.

Verdict
This big-screen Android phone does little that we
haven’t seen before, bar its Car Mode. Its success
will most likely depend on ZTE’s pricing.
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Beginner’s guide to the
Android operating system
With Android smartphones and tablets offering better
value than ever before, there’s no reason not to take
the plunge. We’ll show you how to get up to speed

T

he Android operating system is by no means
new, but with the latest smartphones and
tablets providing such good performance
without breaking the bank, we anticipate yet more
people will soon be taking the plunge. However, to
get the best from these devices, you really need to
know your way around. If you are just starting out
with Android, this guide is for you.
To get you up to speed, we’ll show you how to set
up a new phone and use it
to do a range of tasks. We’ll
start with the basics such
as making a call, sending a
text or email and taking a
photo, and we’ll work our
way up to more advanced
stuff such as finding and
installing apps, navigating
using Google Maps,
listening to music and
watching videos.
We’ve chosen to
illustrate this guide using
the Moto G, which has
been hailed as one of

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the best budget smartphones and runs the latest
version of Android, 4.4 KitKat. However, if you decide
to invest in a different phone, or perhaps even a
tablet, much of what you’ll learn here will still apply.
The exact appearance of the screen may
be different – because Samsung and other
manufacturers like to change Android around,
tweaking the look of the launcher and keyboard, for
example – but the basic principles are the same.

Getting started
Before you can use your new phone you’ll need to
set it up via a straightforward procedure, similar to
that involved in setting up a new PC. In particular
you’ll be asked to choose your language and select
your home Wi-Fi connection so that you won’t pay
to use data over the mobile phone network when
you’re at home. Throughout the procedure, if you’re
unsure about something just
accept the default, since you can
always change things later.
Of particular importance is a
Google account. While you can
use the phone without providing
account details you’ll miss out
on so much of the Android
experience unless you do. Only
if you have a Google account, for
example, can you obtain apps
from Google Play, synchronise
your phone with online data in
Google Drive and so much more.
Quite a few of the instructions
later in this article assume you
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have a Google account, so this is
highly recommended.
If you already have an
account you’ll have to provide
your username and password;
otherwise you’ll have to set one
up. You can do this either on your
PC by going to accounts.google.
com or just follow the instructions
on your phone.
One stage of the setup offers
to migrate your settings from an
old phone. However, this works
only if your old phone was a
Android device. We’ll see later
how to transfer your contacts
from other phones.
To make you phone unique, how about picking
a new wallpaper? Hold your finger on the current
wallpaper for a second and, when ‘Choose wallpaper
from’ appears, touch ‘Wallpaper’. Drag across the
options at the bottom to see previews, and when
you’ve decided, touch ‘Set wallpaper’.
Another aspect of customisation is putting
frequently used apps on your home
page. Initially just a handful of
commonly used apps will be
on your home page but, to add
more, touch the apps icon (the
circle with six squares) and hold
your finger on any apps you want
to appear on your home page.
To quickly turn off features that
drain your battery when you’re
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not using them (and back on again later), hold your
finger at the top of the screen and drag down. Initially
you’ll probably see status information, in which case
you should touch the icon in the top-right corner. Now
you can turn on and off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS.
Finally, a few general points before we continue. If
you don’t do anything for a few seconds the screen
will blank to save power. Touching the power button
will bring it back but, unless you do this immediately,
the screen will be locked, as indicated by the padlock
symbol. To unlock, touch the padlock and drag it to
the edge of the circle.
Note also that the backwards pointing arrow at
the bottom left will take you back to the previous
page or menu, the house icon in the centre will take
you to your home page, and the icon that looks like
two sheets of paper shows, and allows you to select,
recently used apps.
As we now look at how to perform
common actions on your phone,
if the appropriate app is on the
home page by default we’ll say
so. Otherwise, you’ll find it by
tapping on the apps icon from
the home page, selecting the
‘Apps’ tab if the ‘Widgets’ tab is
displayed, and swiping left or
right until you see it.

Secure your phone
We’ve seen that your phone will
lock automatically so it won’t
inadvertently dial a number or
send a text by rattling around
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in your pocket or handbag. However, you can also
ensure that anyone other than yourself will be
prevented from unlocking it by requiring a PIN.
In the Settings app, scroll down to ‘Personal’,
select ‘Security’, then ‘Screen lock’ and finally ‘PIN’.
Now enter your chosen PIN, which must be at least
four digits long, confirming it when requested. In
future, whenever the screen locks and you press
the power button, you’ll see a keypad instead of the
padlock icon. To unlock your phone, enter your pin
and touch Enter at the bottom right of the keypad.

Import contacts from your old phone
There are easier ways of getting all your contacts on
to your new phone than typing them in from scratch.
Here, we’ll see how to do it if your old phone is not
running Android, although there are other options
available if you’re migrating from another device.
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Your old phone will provide some means of
uploading your contacts to a PC, and this should be
your first step. Generally they’ll appear on your PC as
either a comma delimited file (.csv) or as one or more
VCard files (.vcf). Google Play lists several apps from
importing contacts from .csv or .vcf files and you could
try these. However, your Google account provides
another option.
Before starting, though, if your contacts are stored
on your PC as lots of .vcf files, one per contact, you
first need to combine them into a single file. To do
this, start the command line interpreter (Cmd in the
Start Menu’s Search box), and go to the folder in
which your .vcf files are stored by typing, for example,
‘cd \phone\contacts’. Now type ‘copy /b *.vcf merged.
vcf’ to create a single file containing all your contacts.
Now, log into google.com/contacts, select import
contacts and provide the name of your .csv or
merged .vcf file. Next time your phone synchronises,
those contacts will automatically
become available on your phone.
Alternatively, you can
make your phone synchronise
immediately in the Settings app
under ‘Accounts’, ‘Google’.

Make a phone call
To make a phone call, tap the
telephone handset icon that will
be visible near the bottom left
of your home page. If you want
to call someone in your address
book, touch ‘All contacts’, scroll
down to find the person you
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want to talk to and select that name. Alternatively, to
dial someone who’s not in your address book, after
tapping the telephone icon, select the keypad icon
in the middle at the bottom. Now type the number
and touch the telephone handset icon in the bar
at the bottom. Whichever method you choose to
initiate a call, to end it just touch the red telephone
handset icon.

Send a text message
To send a text message, touch
the Messaging icon which is
the square green smiley face at
the bottom of your home page.
Initially no conversations will
be display so tap the icon at
the bottom left that looks like
a piece of paper with a plus
sign. A blank message and a
QWERTY keyboard will appear
– rotate the screen through
90 degrees if you want a
larger keyboard.
Initially the cursor will be in the
‘To’ area so start typing a name
and all the contacts in your address book that start
what you’ve typed so far will be shown. Make your
choice by touching the appropriate contact. Add other
contacts in just the same way if you want. Now type
your message, tapping on ‘Send’ when you’re done.

Select, edit, copy and paste
Just as selecting, editing, copying and pasting text
are invaluable techniques on a PC, these are also
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actions that you’ll find useful in
Android. To make a selection,
touch the text for a second and a
word will be highlighted in blue.
To change the selection, drag
the blue pointers at the start and
end to highlight more or less
text. Whenever text is selected
on screen, the copy icon (two
pieces of paper) will appear –
tap it to copy the selection text
to the clipboard.
If you’re in an application
where editing is permitted, for
example while composing a text
or email, several other options
are available. For a start, when you select text, in
addition to copying you can cut the selected text
using the cut icon (a piece of paper and scissors) or
replace it with the text in the
clipboard using the paste icon (a
clipboard). In addition, if you only
touch the text briefly the cursor
will appear at that point (and
you can move it using the blue
pointer), allowing you to insert
text from the keyboard, or the
clipboard, or delete text.

Take a photo or video
The Moto G has a both a main
and a front-facing camera – here
we see how to use the main one
for taking a photo or capturing
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a video. Touch the camera icon at the bottom right
of the home page. The screen will show a preview
and tapping anywhere on the screen will take a
photo. Alternatively, to capture a video, touch the
video camera icon at the bottom right. Recording will
start and a timer will appear at the top left. To stop
recording press the icon at the bottom right that will
have changed to a square in a circle.
To see your photos and videos while in the
camera app, touch the right hand edge of the screen
and drag to the left. Swipe left and right to move
between your photos and/or videos, touching a video
if you want to play it. The camera also has various
options that you can select by dragging right from
the left hand edge of the screen. We’ll leave you to
try these out. You can view your photos later using
the Gallery app.

Send an email
with a photo
Android 4.4 KitKat is shipped
with two email apps: Gmail and
Email. If you use your Google
Gmail email account then you
can use either; if you use a
different service provider you
must use Email. Because it’s
more universal, we’ll use Email.
In particular, we’ll see how to
use it to send the photo you’ve
just taken.
The first time you use the Email
app you’ll have to go through
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the account setup process which involves providing
your email address and password plus selecting how
frequently you want your phone to check for emails
and other preferences.
If you accept all the defaults, you’ll be presented
with a list of your recent incoming emails that you
can read. To compose a new email, touch the icon
that looks like an envelope with a plus sign at the top
and then fill out the form with the address, subject
and message text. To attach your photo, tap the
menu icon (the three little boxes) at the top and select
‘Attach Picture’. You’ll be presented
with your recent photos from
which you can make your
selection. Having attached the
photo, send the message by
touching the icon at the top
that looks like a right-pointing
delta wing.

Make a video call with
Google Hangouts
The Google Hangouts app has
several uses. You can use it for
example, as alternative way of
sending text messages and it’s
also good for instant messaging.
Here we’ll see how to use it to make a free video
call, to up to ten people, all of who must have a
Google+ account.
When you use Hangouts for the first time you’ll
be asked various questions but, after this, you’ll be
presented with a page that says ‘Send a message or
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start a video call’. Touch to go to the ‘New Hangout’
page where you should type the name, email address
or phone number of the person you want to contact.
So long as the person is recognised you can then
start your video call by touching the video camera
icon at the top right. Initially you’ll see your own
picture, captured on your phone’s front facing camera
but once you’re connected, you’ll see a full screen
image off whoever’s talking, with your own outgoing
video, plus that of any others in the Hangout, as
thumbnails at the bottom.

Navigate with
Google Maps
Google Maps provides
navigation facilities comparable
to those provided by dedicated
in-car satnav units or paid-for
apps. When you start Google
Maps, so long as GPS is turned
on (if it isn’t turn it on as we saw
earlier), it’ll show your current
position on a map. To find your
way somewhere, touch the
icon at the top that looks like a
letter Y with an arrow. On the
next page choose your form
of transport and then tap on
‘Choose destination’. Enter your destination as a
postcode or address and you’ll be taken to a page
showing a recommended route in blue and possibly
several alternatives in grey. If you want to use one of
the alternatives, touch on it to turn it blue and, when
you’re happy with the route, click on ‘Start’ at the
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bottom right. Now simply
follow the verbal instructions
to your destination.

Use Google Now
Near the top of your home page
you’ll see the Google app which
we’ll use, later, to search the
Web and your phone. It’s also
the gateway to Google Now.
Touch anywhere in the Google
app except the microphone icon
to the right. The first time you
do this, it’ll prompt you to setup
Google Now and, to start, just
accept the defaults.
Google Now provides lots of up to date
information, much of it relevant to your locality, and
you’ll no doubt add to what’s displayed as you go on.
Initially, for example, touching the
Google app might show you the
local weather as well as providing
a search box. Scroll down to
see additional content and try
touching ‘More’. Tapping the
wizard’s wand icon at the bottom
offers you yet further options.

Use Google Search
Google Search provides a quick
and easy way to find stuff on
the Web and on your phone.
At first sight it seems much like
using Google in a browser on
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your PC but it goes beyond that. Touch the Google
app (but not the microphone) near the top of your
home page, type your search text and then tap
the magnifying glass icon on the keyboard (or a
suggested search term) to carry out the search. If
you type anything that matches with something on
your phone, an app for example, touching ‘Search
Phone’ lists those matches so you can open them.
Note also that you can search by speaking what you
want to find if you touch the microphone icon on the
Google app.

Play a song
You can play music that
you’ve downloaded from the
Google Play Store or one that
you’ve ripped from a CD and
transferred from your PC. Here
we’ll see how to do both.
In the Play Music app, touch
the Google Play icon (the
briefcase with an arrow on it)
to go to the Google Play store.
Here you can select some of the
tracks that will be recommended
or search for something you
particularly want. In most cases,
you’ll have to pay to download your chosen track.
However, to get the hang of this, try scrolling down
to and listening to the free song of the week. Usually
this will be a single track from an album – just touch
it to play it.
To download and play a track you’ve ripped from
your PC, connect your phone to your PC using a USB
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cable. Your PC will recognise
the phone and you’ll see it
as a new device in Windows
Explorer. Now, using Windows
Explorer, drag your ripped tracks
to your phone’s Music folder.
Your phone will now list those
tracks as recently downloaded
on the ‘Listen Now’ page. Your
downloaded tracks will also
appear under ‘My Library’ so you
can find them later.

Watch TV, video
and YouTube
YouTube has its own Android
app which you should use in preference to a Web
browser. When you start the app you’ll be offered
various suggested videos which may interest you
since, as time goes on, they’ll reflect your interests.
To start, though, you’ll probably want to find your
own video so touch the magnifying glass icon to
search. Type in what you’re looking for, and finally
touch the magnifying glass on the keyboard.
For TV or movies you’ll need to install the
necessary apps as described in the next section. All
the familiar services such as BBC iPlayer and ITV
Player are available for Android and some offer live
TV as well as catch-up. There are also pay-to-watch
services such as Netflix.

Find and install an app
In addition to music, Google Play is also your source
of apps to augment those that came preinstalled
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with your phone. Unlike music, lots of the apps you’ll
find are free although some charge a nominal fee.
In the Play Store app, select the ‘Apps’ tab at the
top. A few popular apps will be suggested but, in
all probability, you’ll be looking for something in
particular. So touch the magnifying glass icon at
the top and then search as we described for finding
a YouTube video.
All apps that match your search criteria will be
listed – scroll down and select any you think meets
your requirements to see more details. If you like
what you see, touch ‘Install’, and tap ‘Accept’ when
you’re asked for various permissions. The app will first
download (so connect via Wi-Fi if it’s large to save on
data use) and then install.
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10 Google Play tips and
tricks you should know
Google’s Play Store is the official portal for apps, games,
movies, TV, books and magazines – and so much more

G

oogle’s Play Store is your official Android
portal for apps, games, movies and TV,
books and magazines, and more. But Google
Play isn’t just about content; it’s also a valuable
tool for managing your various Android devices,
setting notifications for apps and services, enabling
automatic software updates, and personalising your
Android experience. Here are ten tips and tricks for
getting more practical value out of Google Play.

1. Manage your devices via the web
In addition to accessing the on-device app store,
you can reach Google Play via your web browser.
The web interface offers an array of options that
aren’t available through the Android-based app
store, including the ability to see and manage all the
devices associated with your Google account.
To see a list of all your Android devices, visit play.
google.com. Click a content option in the vertical
menu on the left side to see a Settings icon that looks
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like a small gear in the top-right of your display. Click
that icon to view a list of your registered devices.
To change the name of a device in the list, click the
Edit option, type the new name in the Nickname text
field, and click Update to save your changes.

2. Manage notifications
The Play Settings screen also lets you update your
email preferences and notification settings. Open
the web-based Play settings, using the process
described above, and then scroll down to the bottom
of the screen, where you’ll see two check boxes.
If you want to receive news and promotions from
Google Play, fill in the first box. If you want to receive
notifications from developers seeking feedback on
the apps you use, check the second box.

3. Review orders, report problems
and request refunds
To see a handy list of all of your paid transactions on
Google Play, first click the Play Settings icon – but
this time, instead of choosing the Settings option,
click My Orders.
The orders list provides details about the specific
content you’ve purchased or downloaded, including
the item’s full name, price, transaction date, content
type, and status (complete, cancelled, shipped, or
whatever). To filter your purchases by content type,
use the All Orders menu in the top left corner, above
the list of purchases.
To report a problem with an app, product or
service, or to request a refund, find the specific
purchase in the orders list and hover your pointer
over that name in the list. A set of three vertical dots
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will appear to the right of the name. Click the dots
and choose the Report a Problem option. A popup
box with a drop-down menu and a set of options
specific to the content type will appear. Choose the
appropriate option from the menu, and you’ll see a list
of possible resolutions. If the suggestions don’t help,
fill in the text field with appropriate details and submit
your request. You should receive some type of email
receipt after submitting a request.

4. Password-protect
your orders
It’s a good idea to passwordprotect your Google Play
account, to avoid unwanted
or accidental purchases –
especially if multiple people
(including children) frequently
use your device or devices.
To enable password
protection, open the Google
Play app on your Android
device, tap the three vertical
dots in the top right corner
of your display, and choose
Settings. In the User Controls
section, you’ll see a box next to
Password. Enter a password there, and then confirm it
to enable the setting.
After turning on password protection, you’ll be
prompted for your password whenever you make a
Play purchase. You can make additional purchases
without reentering your password for up to 30
minutes after your most recent purchase.
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Some devices enable password protection by
default. If the Password box is checked, your account
is already protected.

5. Automatically update Google Play apps
Google Play’s ‘Auto-update apps’ setting lets you
automatically update your apps and games so you
don’t have to update them manually. Activating
this option will reduce the number of (potentially
annoying) update notifications you receive, too.
To enable automatic app updates, click the Menu
icon (the three vertical dots) in the top right corner of
your Google Play Android app and choose Settings.
Under the General section, you’ll see an option for
Auto-update apps. Tap that option and confirm it in
the popup box.
You may still occasionally receive notifications
to approve app updates if permissions change, but
most of your apps will automatically update after you
enable this setting.

6. Automatically add widgets for new apps
Widgets are among the best things about Android
apps. They bring app features onto your Android
home screen for quick viewing. And Google Play lets
you automatically add a widget to your home screen
for any new app you download, assuming that the
app has a widget.
If you frequently download lots of apps, this setting
may be a bit much, because unlimited widgets can
become too much of a good thing. But it’s a good way
to quickly determine which apps have widgets and
whether they’re useful to you. And deleting widgets
you don’t want is quite easy.
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To enable the auto-widget option, open your
Google Play app, tap the three-dot menu icon in the
top right corner of your screen, and choose Settings.
Then fill in the box next to Auto-app widgets, in the
General section.

7. Filter content
Google Play offers a number of
content-filter settings that let
you restrict the types of apps
that you can download.
To view and modify your
content settings, open the
Google Play app, click the threedot menu icon and choose
Settings. Under User Controls,
choose Content filtering
options. You can customize
those settings by checking or
unchecking the boxes next
to the five filter options under
‘Allow apps rated for’, which include ‘Everyone’,
‘Low maturity’, ‘Medium maturity’, ‘High maturity’
and ‘Show all apps’.

8. Browse for new apps and send them
to your device from the web
Sometimes it’s easier to search for new Android
apps, games or media by using your web browser
than by using the mobile app. If you use both an
Android phone and an Android tablet – or various
Android devices – you can use the Play web
interface to send new apps and content to specific
devices quickly and easily.
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When you find an app or other download you’re
interested in while using the web interface, tap the
Install or Buy button on the download page. After
logging into your Google account, you’ll see a pop-up
box containing a list of the app permissions and, at
the bottom of the box, a drop-down menu listing all of
the Android devices linked to your account. Choose
the device you want to send the app to and confirm
the download.

9. Remove devices from menus
All Android devices you connect to your account
show up in your Google Play devices lists, but you
can remove them from menus by modifying your
Visibility settings. For example, if your last phone
was a Samsung Galaxy S3, but you recently updated
to a Galaxy S4 and no longer want the GS3 to
show up when you download new apps in the web
interface, you can remove the old GS3.
Using the web interface, open your Settings menu.
On the My Devices page, under the Visibility column,
uncheck the boxes next to the device or devices you
want to remove from your menus. Then refresh the
page and confirm that the boxes are still unchecked.

10. Filter tablet-optimised apps
Finding apps that are designed for tablets in Google
Play is simple, thanks to a ‘Designed for Tablets’
section in Google Play. Open the Google Play app
on your tablet and tap the Apps option at the top of
the page. Drag a finger to the left of your screen to
scroll from the home page to one of the following
pages, and choose Designed for Tablets from the
drop-down menu at the top of a page.
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Get the plain Android
look on any smartphone
We show you how to make any Android smartphone look
and work like a Nexus device: with plain vanilla Android

U

nless you’ve purchased one
of Google’s own-brand Nexus
devices, your Android smartphone
probably came with a heavily customised
look and feel determined by its maker.
Whether it be Samsung’s TouchWiz,
HTC’s Sense or one of many others, you
may prefer to opt for Google’s own Google
Experience Launcher, which brings with it
Google Now voice-activated technology
directly from your home screen. The below
method will allow you to do so, provided your handset
is running Android 4.1 or later.
The code to do this is contained within the latest
versions of Google’s Search app, which can be
downloaded from the Google Play store. Having
downloaded this, also download and install a small
launcher app from tinyurl.com/Lab2dud (you may
need to specifically allow it to run by adjusting the
security settings on your phone).
Tap the home button to bring up a selection of
Launcher apps, then choose the Google Experience
Launcher (named ‘Launcher’). Choose ‘Just once’ to
give it a try or ‘Always’ to make it the default launcher.
Uninstalling the app will give you the option to
return to your original launcher if you wish.
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How to locate a lost
Android device
We explain how to use Google’s Android Device Manager
software to locate and protect a lost or stolen device

A

pple users have long enjoyed the ability to
track their devices if they were lost or stolen.
The Find My iPhone option has been touted
as an anti-theft measure, with plenty of stories of
people recovering their iDevices by turning up at
the ne’er-do-well’s door with the police in tow. Now
Android has added a similar feature called Device
Manager for GPS-equipped units, which can not only
locate your lost handsets but also change passwords,
lock screen PINs and remotely wipe your missing unit.
Here we’ll show how to set up your phone or
tablet to use the service, so the next time your
Nexus 7 falls behind the sofa you’ll be able to
track it down.

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Go to tinyurl.com/m5p37as where you’ll be
prompted to accept Google’s request for location
data. Here you’ll see the current position of your
handset, along with the last time it was used.

To switch between devices, click on the name and
a menu will appear. Select another model and you’ll
be taken to the map screen for that one. You can
rename each device by clicking on the pencil icon.
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To step up a new device you’ll need to visit the
App Store on the handset itself, then search for
the Device Manager app. Look for the one with the
green circle and target in the middle.

Tap the install button and a Welcome screen will
request to use your location data. As before, you’ll
need to agree to this if you want to use the service.
Tap Accept and you’re ready to go.
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The Android Device Manager app uses the web
interface to run the service, so the two look very
similar. Once your device has found a GPS signal,
it should appear on the drop-down menu.

Beneath the device name are two icons: Ring and
Set up Lock & Erase. We’ll look at how each of these
work in turn, starting with Ring. You can also use
Google’s website to access these options.
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Selecting the Ring option will allow the app to make
your device announce itself at maximum volume for
five minutes. This is particularly useful if you’ve lost it
somewhere in the house.

Selecting ‘Setup Lock and Erase’ will open a dialog
box telling you that you need to send the device
a notification. Tap Send and you’ll see a message
appear in your notification bar. Tap this.
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You’ll now be taken to the settings for the app, and
asked whether you want to activate the device
administrator. Agree to this and your device will now
have access to all the security features.

The Lock option will let you remotely create a new
password for the lock screen, while Wipe is a last
resort in the event of a theft, as it is in essence a
factory reset.
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How to sync maps
between phone and PC
Getting directions before you go on a trip is always a
good idea. We explain how to sync a PC’s Google Maps
route with a smartphone or tablet

M

any people now use a smartphone to
navigate instead of a dedicated satnav,
and this offers more benefits than having
one less device to worry about. Now, with Google
Maps’ syncing feature, you can work out your route
in comfort before you leave using your laptop or PC’s
bigger screen. Then the directions can be quickly and
easily sent to your mobile device.
Here, we’ll take you through the simple steps that it
takes to get everything up and running. As these are
Google services, you’ll need to be using its Chrome
browser for the features to work, and in this example
we’ll be syncing to an Android phone, but it also
works with an iPhone or iPad.

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On your PC go to google.co.uk/maps and click ‘Get
it Now’, then ‘Click here to start exploring’. In the left
corner of the map screen you’ll see a search box.
Click the ‘Directions’ option below this.

When the route is calculated make sure that you
select the correct mode of transport from the icons
at the top. Next, review the directions. To do this,
click on the ‘List all steps’ option.
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You’ll see a breakdown of the route. If you want
to print this, select the print icon above the map.
There are also options here to avoid tolls, ferries or
highways, allowing you to fine-tune the journey.

Launch the Google Play store on your phone, then
search for Google Maps. It will most likely already be
installed, but this will prompt any updates that may
have been released. Then tap ‘Open’.
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You’ll need to find the history of your route searches
and ensure location services are turned on. To open
the menu bar, look for the stack of three small lines
on the left side. Tap these and choose ‘Settings’.

Select ‘Google location settings’ from the menu, then
ensure that they are switched on. The slider/button
at the top of the screen shows whether they are or
not. Next, tap the back button to return to the menu.
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Now tap on the ‘Maps history’ option and you’ll be
taken to a list of your recent searches on Google
Maps. Select the one you want and the app will load
up the route that you’d planned on your PC.

The route is listed at the top of the page. Tap on
the box below it to load up the step-by-step guide.
If you’re not at the start point, you’ll only be able to
preview the route.
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When you’re ready to leave on your trip, tap ‘Start’ to
be taken turn-by-turn to your intended destination.
Make sure your GPS is switched on in your phone’s
settings to improve accuracy.

When you’re returning home you can reverse the
route. Just load up the journey as before but, when
you reach the map page, tap the two arrows on the
right side of the origin/destination box.
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