ANDROID 4.1 ; ANDROID JELLY BEAN

ANDROID JELLY BEAN 4.1

We've all seen the new Google Nexus 7 - but what about the new phone and tablet software that's coming your way?

We've spent some time with the new version of Android - dubbed Android 4.1 or Android Jelly Bean to its friends - and while it's not a massive overhaul by any means we've still taken a good look at the improvements.

Project Butter

The first thing we wanted to try out was the speed of the interface, as Project Butter is supposed to really push things along. We'll lay it out now: we were using a non-final version of Google's Nexus 7 tablet as a trial device, so it may not be the perfect experience.

However, the under the finger response improvements were definitely tangible; we noticed an much faster response on unlocking, for instance, than we're usually accustomed to on the likes of the Asus Transformer Prime, which is rocking the same Tegra 3 CPU architecture.

The idea is that the CPU, GPU and display all 'lock-step', and while this isn't necessarily the most ground-breaking feature of the whole OS, it will make future Android devices that much more impressive when poked - and that's a Good Thing.

Interface

When it comes to moving things around the home screen, Google really was true to its word - it's so much easier to mess around with widgets now.

However, let's not get ahead of ourselves - Google giving users of Jelly Bean the ability to move icons around when a widget is chucked on top of them is not new; just look at the Motorola Razr if you don't believe us.

But the interface is very neat in action, and especially seeing the widgets resize themselves when you plop them down in a space they can't fit - we can't tell you the amount of times this has gone wrong for us and caused untold frustration.

Flicking icons and widgets off the top of the screen feels highly intuitive as well, although very PalmOS like - we're sure there's some litigation to be had in there somewhere.

Chrome browser

Android 4.1 will generally come with the Chrome internet browser pre-installed, which is another Good Thing in our books, as it means more cooperation across the desktop and mobile phone and generally leads to better functionality on the phone.

On the Google Nexus 7, the browser is as good as we've come to expect - namely, fast and slick operation when flicking through sites.

We did notice copious amounts of slowdown on more that one occasion - but the ease of which we could flick between tabs at the top of the screen, coupled with the fact we were faced with a pre-prodcuction unit, soon allayed those issues.

Google Now

Now here's an interesting one - the idea of making search just that much more intuitive using the power of your voice.

You have to hold down the home button to activate it - which begs the question how this will work when it comes to phones like the Samsung Galaxy S3, which uses the same action to call up the task manager interface.

However,the interface is neat, and you can simply turn on the voice recogntion by saying Google (cool, but pointless as you have to touch the device to activate the app) or touching the voice icon.

In use, you still have to be careful what you say. Asking 'How old is Barack Obama?' will give you the relevant card with all his details (not ALL of them, it's not got his email address or anything) but saying 'show me pictures of the Queen' won't give you anything back.

However, stating: 'pictures of the queen' will get you up and running with an image search. And here's where the plan falls down slightly: if you need to tailor your speech to make it work, something like this need to be more intuitive.

The voice recognition was generally very good though, and you could sense the speed update to word guessing thanks when put in offline mode.

The typing was also noticeably better when using the keyboard - we've never been totally unimpressed with Google's overall efforts here, but the next word prediction particularly caught our eye - it was Swiftkey levels of intuition, but it still managed to help us on more than one occasion.

Notifications

The last area we want to talk about is the notifications bar, which has been upgraded for this Android 4.1 release. It's a nifty change, as it's got more information crammed into the drag-down menu than ever before.

For instance, if you're on a call, you can hang it up from the drop down menu now - although this has been a feature of Samsung's TouchWiz for a while.

But there's so much more - you can snooze a meeting, be told when to leave for an appointment based on your location and search history collated by Google, and even send a message to tell people you're going to be late with a quick tap.

We couldn't properly try this whole system without having media on the device to play music, or a boatload of other apps to interact with the notifications bar - but the notion of simply double-finger dragging down on any alert to expand it worked really well, and this is an update people will really like.

Early verdict

Google has made something decent here - the chance to get some cool features for your phone or tablet, but nothing that ground breaking that you'll miss it if you have to wait for your brand to roll it out.

The problem with the Ice Cream Sandwich delays was users were aware their phone would discernably different post update - here, Google has focused on a few new features and made the UI ostensibly the same.

A good move or one that didn't deserve such a hurrah? We'll side with the former argument - after all, this is still new functionality that doesn't cost you a penny, and with it comes extra reasons to buy an Android device.

You won't go out of your way to get Android 4.1, but when it does land you'll likely notice a refreshing boost throughout your handset.

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HTC ONE X REVIEW, HTC ONE X VERDICT

HTC One X review

New flagship brings quad core power – but is that enough to boost the brand?

The HTC One X brings the best processor, an HD screen and a sublimely thin chassis as the Taiwanese firm looks to recreate the success of the original Desire.

The One X is a phone that's had us intrigued for a while – running a quad core CPU (Nvidia's Tegra 3) plus one of the largest screens on any HTC… and that's without being given a gargantuan name like the Titan.

It's clear from the outset what HTC is trying to do with the One X: shake off the slight doom and gloom surrounding the brand's fall in profits, and bring out a slick, powerful and, more importantly, useable handset that only costs £36 per month (about $57) on a two year deal.

Check out the HTC One X video below to find out the main features it's packing in that slim body.

With Ice Cream Sandwich running from the outset, this is the phone that really takes HTC to the next level – but is it a case of too much, too soon for a brand that's still really just over a decade old?

Design

HTC's phones have been slowly moving towards sleeker design ever since the purchase of One & Co (which may have had more than a little to do with the new naming strategy) and the release of the HTC Legend.

Since then, unibody designs and smooth lines have been a feature of its devices, and that principle has been evolved with the HTC One X.

However, before you read any further, a note of caution: if you're not willing to accept a pretty large mobile, then you're better off waiting for the likes of the HTC One S – the One X is a large piece of phone estate in your hand.

But it's that large 4.7-inch screen that is such a stunning feature of the One X – it's a 720p HD display packed into a chassis that's only 8.9mm thick. Plus it's also using the Super IPS LCD 2 technology that, while it lacks the vivid colour reproduction of Samsung's Super AMOLED range, really brings games and movies to life.

We're not going to get into the pros and cons of OLED vs LCD – suffice to say, it's a matter of choice whether you prefer improved contrast ratios or a more true to life colour reproduction. In our opinion, both are excellent and the One X will certainly not disappoint.

Like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, it's got a pixel density (screen sharpness) that rivals the iPhone 4S, but does it on a screen that's over an inch larger. It's one of those devices that you have to see to really believe, but there's a good chance you'll confuse it with a shop model with a static image Sellotaped onto the front.

The rest of the phone design is, again, pretty subjective. For the large size, it's very light indeed at 130g. That's quite a bit heavier than the likes of theSamsung Galaxy S2 (14g, in fact) but in reality you'll consider it to be almost impossible to feel in the pocket.

See how the HTC One X fares against the S2 in our speed test video:

The rest of the phone is pretty minimal in design. Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, we're offered some physical (well, touch sensitive) keys on the front of the HTC One X, meaning the display won't need to jump up and down to show the contextual versions.

There's an expected volume rocker switch on the right-hand side, a power button on the top (accompanied by a 3.5mm headphone jack) and a microUSB slot on the left-hand side – which also doubles a Mobile High-Definition Link to hook up to a TV.

It's a very sparse offering on a phone that's so expansive in its design, and leads to a very minimalist feel, which will likely appeal to many.

That effect is compounded by the microSIM slot on the back of the phone, which requires an Apple-esque device to open it up – and there's no microSD support to be found here either, with the battery locked into the unibody design.

While the smaller SIM will be a slight annoyance to those upgrading from the full-size version, the lack of a microSD slot will be a big worry for many, especially as HD movies and large games will play very well on a phone like this.

There is 32GB of onboard storage, but that's not going to be enough for the ilk of smartphone user that wouldn't buy an iPhone until capacity was raised to 64GB.

The rear of the phone features the 8MP camera, which protrudes quite a lot from the handset, but thanks to the slightly curved nature of the chassis, doesn't affect the phone too much when resting on a table.

The power button on the top of the phone can be quite hard to hit with the phone resting in the palm if you've not got the largest hands in the world, although the travel is such you'll hit it pretty accurately most of the time, which is something some phones fail to manage.

The size is the main design issue we can see for most people – this sleek-looking, lightweight phone will appeal to both men and women, but those with smaller hands will struggle to use the HTC One X effectively without doubling down on their digits

We reviewed the white version of the One X, and it's worth noting that in a few hours it was quite dirty with fingerprint smudges and the like, so be warned you might want to fork out for a case too.

HTC One X review: Verdict

New flagship brings quad core power – but is that enough to boost the brand?

When we got our hands on the HTC One X, it was a mix of trepidation and excitement. How would our first quad core phone on test fare? Could HTC make an HD screen fit well into a phone? Would we get annoyed at the lack of a microSD slot?

We've answered all those questions and more in this in-depth review, and it's clear that the HTC One X is a top-notch phone - but one that just, justmisses out on being the third member of the five star phone clan due to having a substandard battery compared to its peers, even with the recent update to try and rectify the issue.

Oh, where do we begin? The super-thin chassis. The HD screen. The beautiful graphics. The next-generation Android platform, all rolled into one.We liked

Essentially, this is EXACTLY the kind of phone we want to see at the top end of its range if it wants to stay relevant in the smartphone business. Fusing top level CPU power with a beautiful screen (and a whopping one at that) and really thinking about how it wants to strip back its skin on top of the latest version of Android without compromising its identity.

Then there's the likes of integrated DropBox storage, Beats Audio enhancements and the upgraded music player. Plus the improved lock screen, the speedier internet browser and the camera that's among the most feature-rich on the market.

We disliked

We say this is EXACTLY the phone HTC needed to make, and while the One X battery issues have been looked at, we're still not massive fans when a phone manages to power down regularly before bedtime.

The battery life is such a shame here - all the other niggles, like the touchscreen sensitivity and apps failing to register a press, have been eradicated by HTC.

But that battery is a key thing to so many users, and for that reason we have to be hard on this otherwise superb device. Sure, in idle mode the HTC One X survives just fine... but we don't buy a phone to not use it.

Oh, and we nearly forgot the criminal oversight that constitutes the lack of a microSD card slot. Sure, 32GB is plenty, but Android users love to be able to hotswap. Apple has just about managed to get away with it thus far, but we know the lack of said storage slot is going to put off a number of buyers.If we have a GPU with 12 cores, then we want to have a gaming session that lasts more than 2 and a half hours. If you give us an HD screen, make it so downloading a movie then watching it isn't the only thing the phone can do before we need to charge again.

Verdict

Let's not beat around the bush here: we love the HTC One X. You can see how we feel about the battery life, but it's not an insurmountable problem... it's just frustrating that you'll have to be frugal at times with your smartphone usage to get through the day.

But beyond that the HTC One X is a beautiful piece of kit. It's stylishly designed, light, has a cracking screen and comes with enough future-proofing to make us believe our grandchildren may still have one.

The fact it's rocking the latest version of Android will appeal to many too - except those that don't want to get involved with the complexity of Google's OS.

It's not a tricky system to learn, but whether you buy the HTC One X will come down to two things: do you want a phone that rewards you the more you explore its features? And do you mind having to keep a bit more of a strict eye on that battery level throughout the day?

If the answer is yes to the first question and no to the second, then we have good news: you've just found your new phone. The HTC One X is feature-rich, well designed and not another clone in the smartphone market - plus it's got a fancy CPU, gorgeous screen and grand design.

In short: the rivals better step it up in 2012 if they want to stop the HTC sparking a big revival for the popular smartphone brand.

GOOGLE NEXUS 7 REVIEW ;;GOOGLE NEXUS 7;;

Google Nexus 7 review

GOOGLE NEXUS 7 SPECS

GOOGLE NEXUS 7 VERDICT

GOOGLE NEXUS 7 VS. KINDLE FIRE

Getting up close with the latest tablet challenger

We nabbed a good chunk of hands on time with the Google Nexus 7, the new challenger in the tablet market.

The new tablet, which weighs in at just 340g, packs a 7 inch screen with 1280x800 screen and comes complete with a quad core Nvidia Tegra 3 CPU, plus a 12 core GPU too.

What's more, the tablet costs just £159 or £199 (depending on whether you want an 8GB or 16GB variant) and will be $199 in the US.

However be warned: there's no microSD card slot nor a rear-facing camera… although we're not sure many people will miss the latter.

It fits nicely into the hand, and although the back is encased in plastic it still doesn't feel as cheap as the price tag would suggest.

Oddly the headphone port is placed at the bottom of the Google Nexus 7 rather than at the top or the side - this creates something of a lop-sided feel when you're playing with the tablet, and we can see wireless headphones being a real boon here.

The overall design is very nice indeed - we wouldn't be upset to pull this out of our bag (or indeed pocket, such is its size) and for the sum of £159, we certainly can't fault it on that front.

As we've mentioned there's no microSD slot to be found, which is really irritating with a tablet like this. There's maybe a very slight financial reason not to put one in (although a lot of budget phones happily pack a dedicated slot) so we suspect this is more cloud-based.

Think about it: 16GB isn't going to be enough to download a cornucopia of movies and store them locally. No, you'll be forced in and out of the Google Play Store, all the while being tantalisingly tempted with all manner of games and shows to watch.

And Google has also got the music element too - while not available in certain territories, the notion of being able to store 20,000 songs in a digital locker is the way forward, according to Google. Not being able to listen to them all locally, apparently.

The battery life is a big talking point too, with a very decent nine hours of video playback or up to 300 hours of standby if you promise to be really lean with your tablet.

It's rocking Android 4.1, the latest version of the OS (codenamed Jelly Bean) which adds in a few minor updates to the OS - namely better voice recogntion and the likes of Google Now, which will display cards in a contextual manner when you ask questions of the tablet through your voice or some tippy-tappy typing.

The interface is interesting - on the Google Nexus 7 we tried, the UI was super-zippy in some places, and in other lagged a bit too much to be a simple mis-step.

Opening and shutting apps seemed to be the hardest task - although navigating through the Chrome browser wasn't without its pitfalls either, it seems.

There were frequent instances when trying to browse that rendered the interface frozen for a second or two - and then trying to zoom in and out was quite difficult to achieve smoothly.

However, let's be fair here: although the Google Nexus 7 release date is less than a month away, there's still plenty of time to iron out a few kinks, and that's what we felt like we were playing with here.

We should give a big 'shout out' to the new notifications bar though - we really enjoyed the extra informaiton on offer, and are looking forward to giving that a go in real life, especially being able to see which apps are able to make the best use of the extra space and the additional buttons you'll get.

Typing on the Nexus 7 was a decent experience, and we found we quickly preferred doing so in portrait mode.

The suggestions that came up weren't always exact the mot juste but more often than not we were pleased with the accuracy - and the wealth of special characters no more than a long-press away was enticing too. We know, get out more, we should, etc etc.

Early verdict

Do we like the Google Nexus 7? Yes, without a doubt. For the money you're getting so, so much: a quad core Tegra 3-powered device with a 12-core GPU and a HD screen.

Then there's the most advanced version of Google's Android, and the fact you can get a wealth of new content in the shape of magazines and an ever-growing library of content in the video department.

Google Now, while not really an exclusive to this tablet, is a neat feature and one definitely worthy of being further explored - get it right and we may have an actual Siri competitor, which would be amazing to see.

Yes, the lack of storage and no camera is underwhelming, but possibly only from a gadget snob's point of view - do we need a camera on the rear of the device? No. Do we need local storage when the cloud is there, ready and waiting? Yes, we still do - and Google's entry into the tablet market could be marred by such an error.

People want media on tablets - they perhaps aren't as bothered about the phone as a personal movie theatre, but when users can only download two or three HD movies onto their device before it's maxxed out - well, that's a cause for concern.

But speaking of concern, there will be some panicked brands out there who have carved out a living making cheaper tablets with low-end specs; the Google Nexus 7 has just blown all of them out of the water.