Ratings in depth

Smartphone newcomer Oppo arrived from nowhere to win the hearts of Android enthusiasts last year, with the Oppo Find 5 offering decent performance and selling for an impressive price. It was a good start for the previously unknown firm.

Now Oppo's gunning for the more glamorous, barn-door sized phone end of the market with the Oppo N1, an enormous 5.9-inch model with a full HD 1080p display and relatively high-end Snapdragon 600 series chipset.

It's an audacious, slightly bonkers, Galaxy Note 3 or Sony Xperia Z Ultra competitor, but with an RRP of €449 (around £370, or $615, AU$680) it seriously undercuts both Sony and Samsung's rival phablets.

Plus it has a mad swivelling camera, a touchpad around the back and a lean Android OS heavy on motion and touch gestures. It's innovative and cheaper than its peers. Back of the net, right?

What immediately sets the N1 apart from other phones of its size is the innovative rotating camera mount. This houses a fast and impressive 13MP sensor, one that you can rotate through 180 degrees to capture your own gurning face at a resolution unprecedented for a front-facing camera.

And it's a nicely built, sturdy mount, locking into place when it's facing backwards and automatically flipping the on-screen viewfinder image when you rotate it. It's no novelty, it's a super idea.

Oppo's also blowing the traditional phone-selling model apart by including an extremely nice flip case in the box, which is smart enough to automatically activate and deactivate the phone's display when you open and close it - like the world's most technically advanced fridge light.

It's a smooth, stylish case that you'd expect to pay a fair few quid for, so many big-ups to the Oppo team for bunging it in as a freebie.

This case also has a soft area around the back, where there's no padding, like the delicate soft spot on a baby's head.

This is so you can use the Oppo N1's other unique feature - the rear-mounted trackpad. Oppo calls this the O-Touch panel, an additional input method, albeit one that's not hugely useful in the N1's current software setup.

And there's more. There's also a tiny keyfob-size remote control called the O-Click included with the Oppo N1, letting you take photos using the swivelling lens while a short distance away from the phone. It's the ultimate 'selfie' device, no doubt about that.

It's a bit of a shame to see hardware capacitive buttons beneath the huge display, though, as many of today's newest Android models feature the more versatile on-screen software buttons that can pop themselves into and out of existence when the OS deems it necessary.

And it's not what you'd call thrilling to look at.

The LG G3 is now being tipped to sport a dust- and waterproof body as the rugged features make their way onto more flagship smartphones.

According to Korean site ETNews, a source has revealed that LG believes the waterproof features on the likes of the Galaxy S5 and Xperia Z2 are key for smartphones in 2014.

We already know that we'll see the LG G3 later this year, but in terms of specs the trail is still pretty cold.

LG will have to get shift on with the launch of the G3 though, as we've already seen Samsung's and Sony's efforts this year and HTC has lined up an event on March 25 for the all new One.

The G3 may be about to be left behind before it's even jumped in the pool.

• What we know about the LG G3 so far

We'd already seen various leaks suggesting the new HTC One is unlikely to drop the ultrapixel camera technology which adorned its predecessor and now the Taiwanese firm's latest teaser for the handset has confirmed just that.

The video highlights the ultrapixel camera on the HTC One was able to reduce the loss of dynamic range and sensitivity while allowing it to capture 300% more light than other high-end smartphones.

HTC is adding to this on the new One, but the video doesn't go as far as to say what those additions might actually be.

Double trouble

If you believe the plethora of rumours the big addition on the new HTC One appears to be the inclusion of a second camera lens on the rear of the handset.

This means the new HTC One should be a decent candidate for a low-light snapper - a selling point which Nokia currently prides itself on.

We'll find out for sure what the new HTC One is rocking on March 25, where the phone will be unveiled at a special launch event.

Marvel has bestowed some new superpowers on its Marvel Unlimited app for iOS, integrating the adaptive audio technology it has been working on in its secret evil lairs for over a year.

Starting with five issues of Captain America: The Winter Solder, the company is adding cover-to-cover soundtracks with the hope of upping the drama and improving the reading experience for fans.

The adaptive part comes through gauging how fast readers progress through the panels. If users spend a long time on a particular panel, the music will loop. Skip forward and it will seamlessly segue to the next part of the score.

Other changes to the new app, which is available now, sees Marvel shift from HTML 5 to native iOS code for faster transitions. The Android version of the app is close too.

More blips!

There's no adaptive audio with these blips, but they're still essential reading.

• Did someone just unmask the mysterious creator of Bitcoin?
• You could've bought Instagram with the $1bn pledged on Kickstarter so far
• The Minecraft movie seems to be happening

Google Now Launcher has arrived, but you will be forgiven if you don't know much about it.

We are scratching our heads as to why Google Now Launcher was actually launched with minimal fanfare and a low-profile Google+ post. All we can say is: don't let the low-key launch fool you as this is one of Google's most important apps in years.

Not only is the new Google Now Launcher a cracking bit of software, it's also the future of Android.

It is also a little bit of a secret - not much is know about Google Now Launcher and some are confused as to why you would actually need it on your phone.

That's why we have tried the launcher for ourselves and are here to tell you everything you need to know about the app that adds more Google to your Android phone...

What exactly is Google Now Launcher?

On an Android phone, the launcher is basically the maître d': it's the bit of software that welcomes you onto the phone, is in charge of the home screen, and does the behind-the-scenes launching of any apps. It's in charge of the layout of arguably the most important and frequently seen bits of the operating system, and as such is quite important.

It also tends to vary a fair bit between different Android-running phones. Vanilla Android, as released by Google, has a 'stock' launcher, but most third-party manufacturers like Samsung, Sony or HTC tend to use a software 'skin' on top of Android, which changes a bunch of things, including the launcher.

But, because this is Android, switching your launcher is pretty easy – hustle over to the Play Store, and there's innumerable free launchers just vying for your attention.

The Google Now Launcher, then, isn't a unique app – it goes in to bat against an already established market of other options, like the venerable Nova and Apex launchers that were around back when phones had trackballs and short trousers.

Where the Google Now Launcher is different is that it's the first time Google's released the stock Android launcher for download on the Play Store (with some caveats, which we'll mention later). This means that anyone with a device running Android 4.x can have the same experience that's previously only been available on the Nexus 5.

For those who need Google *Now*

The Google Now Launcher does pretty much what it says on the tin – it puts Google's personal assistant-cum-mind-reader, Now, front and centre on your phone. Google Now, in case you're not familiar, is the Google service that is meant to give you personalised information, without you even having to ask for it, in the form of 'cards' that pop up in your notification tray.

Now has existed on every Android device since July 2012 and Android 4.1, but to access it, you have to hold the home button, then swipe your thumb upwards: not exactly the most taxing gesture, truth be told, but it means that you only discover Google Now if you're specifically looking for it.

The Now Launcher changes that: your cards are now accessible through a simple left-swipe from your main homescreen page (which, by complete coincidence, is exactly how Spotlight search used to be accessed in iOS). It's a minor cosmetic change, for sure, but it makes Now far more prominent in the Android operating system, and is a clear sign that Google sees Now as being a tool for the general public, not the tech-blog-frequenting minority.

It's not all cosmetic changes, though. The biggest functional change the Now Launcher brings to the table is an always-on voice capability, like that found in the MotoX. Rather than having to tap a mic button to initiate voice command (as you had to do previously in Android), just preface your question with "Okay Google", and you can query the world's biggest search engine with whatever's bugging you.