Source : mobilemag[dot]com

We’ve kept our eye on Leap Motion’s gesture control system ever since the company first unveiled the tiny device less than a year ago -- and apparently so have “hundreds of thousands” other people among developers and early adopter who’ve pre-ordered it. Today, the San Francisco-based announced it will begin fulfilling those orders starting on May 13th, with retail availability set for May 19 at Best Buy stores across the US.

The launch price will be $79.99, up $10 from the introductory pre-order price. Pre-orders are still available from Leapmotion.com, for U.S. and international orders, while BestBuy.com will begin taking U.S. pre-orders today.

Leap Motion also revealed the name for its curated app store, Airspace, along with a handful of software titles that will be available at launch. These include a Wreck-It Ralph-themed racing game from Disney, Double Fine's music game Dischord, ZeptoLab's Cut the Rope, plug-ins for 3D modeling software Autodesk, a Leap-native paint program from Corel, and a Weather Channel app. Earlier this week, Realmac Software also revealed plans to support Leap Motion with the Mac version of its to-do list app, Clear.

This first group of apps should provide a solid base to get things started, but a big part of Leap Motion's plan is to get independent third-party developing for its motion controller system. According to the company, 52,000 developers have applied for Leap Motion developer kits, and 12,000 have already been sent out.

Airspace will launch with full support for Windows 7 and 8, as well as Mac OS 10.7 and 10.8. Apps sold through Leap Motion’s app store will mirror the same 30/70 revenue split model popularized by Apple’s App Store.

Source : techspot[dot]com

Let's get something straight first. We really like Windows Phone 8. It's not for everybody, but it's a great mobile phone OS and Nokia and Microsoft have made great strides with it.

It's also very easy to use - and that's why we think the 4-inch Lumia 520 could do rather well, as a low budget handset for those who don't want an over-complicated or over-equipped smartphone.

It isn't a slouch, with a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4, but most of the other specs have been trimmed from the higher end Lumias to reach its price point - it has an estimated starting price of €139. The 5MP camera has no flash, for example, while the display is 800 x 480, the same as the 620's 3.8-inch and the 720's 4.3-inch displays.

Nokia does, however, say the 520 uses the same digital camera lenses found on the flagship (and rather heavy) Nokia Lumia 920. That's hardly a big deal, but the fact Nokia said it shows that this new handset has very little in common with its top-end brethren.

You get 8MB of storage, but you can expand thanks to a microSD slot.

It is slightly thinner than the Lumia 620, matching the Lumia 720's 9.9mm thickness, while at 124g it's a pleasant weight.

There is a small speaker on the bottom rear of the device, a headphone jack on the top and the standard microUSB on the bottom.

In terms of look and feel, the 520 feels as good in the hand as any other Lumia, thanks to the now-familiar monoblock casing. And there's are also familiar controls - the sleep/wake button, camera shutter control and volume controls are on the right side of the device.

In terms of apps, you get all the standard Windows Phone stuff including Office, plus Nokia Music for free music and Nokia's Here location apps as you'd expect.

The handset, which comes in five colours, will launch over the coming months in Hong Kong and Vietnam, before "expanding broadly" (Nokia's words) to Europe, Asia - including China and India - Latin America and Africa.

The handset maker also says the 520 will roll out in the United States with T-Mobile.

Early verdict

We rather like the Lumia 520 - Nokia clearly has a market in mind for the device and has given it a price point to match. It's not a handset for those who really want a Windows Phone, but rather it's one for those who want a budget smartphone. For that type of purchaser, the cheap and cheerful nature of the 520 will surely appeal.

Source : techradar[dot]com

Clearly not stung from previous experience, HP wants to lead in tablets and smartphones.

That's the bullish message from HP's Head of Mobility Alberto Torres, who told TechRadar that it was a key aim for the corporation: "The mission in my area is to make HP a leader in the tablet space and eventually smartphones."

However he warned that it wouldn't be soon: "Certainly it's not a short term aim [to lead in phones]. It's not something we're looking at for this year. Without looking at specific dates, we're actively looking at our options in that market."

Alberto Torres joined HP five months ago from Nokia, where he was responsible for the ultimately unsuccessful MeeGo project - he was behind the design of the N9 that became the foundation for the colourful Nokia Lumia range. He was keen to show us the Android-based HP Slate 7 here at MWC 2013, as well as the business-orientated ElitePad 900, which runs Windows 8 Pro.

We asked Torres if it was possible for HP to have a noticeable share of the tablet market in 2013. "Yes, I would say this year that's realistic, but over time we are looking at a leadership position. We want to be up in the charts. I think it's possible. Also you have a little bit of a phenomenon where about a third of tablets are built by no-name vendors and most of them are very poor products.

"Those will continue to exist but I don't think it will be a third of the market. We really are intending to become a leader in this space. It's not going to happen overnight, it's going to be a journey. Over the next three years we're going to make big strides. And this year I think we'll get some significant volume on some of these products."

It's a young market, we suggested. "Exactly. People forget that. It is a really very young market. It's changing dramatically. The opportunities for us to play are really fantastic. [The phone market] is mature but it's a very dynamic market. Everybody says the market is dominated by two players but then you go back two years and it's a different two players. At least one of them is not there!

"You are just beginning to see the effects of mobility and how it will transform computing. We're going to see innovation across all kinds of devices including PCs. I think it's an exciting time"

Part of HP's strategy is to expand its product range: "We intend to have a bigger portfoilio. With [Slate 7 and ElitePad 900] we're almost bookending the portfolio with an entry level small tablet to a large tablet. You'll see a number of products filling out our range this year and next."

Future possibilities

We asked whether there was any possibility of HP having its own OS again after the offloading of WebOS. Is it all about Android and Windows for now? "Correct. You can never say never, we're obviously open to different alternatives over the years but at this point we're going to play to the ecosystems that have traction. That's what we're doing."

And is it just as simple as saying that it's Android for consumer use and Windows for business as far as HP is concerned? "It's fair to say that Android has a lot of traction and Windows has more traction in the commercial space, but lines will become blurred.

"We're not trying to create distinctions, just what our customers want. There will be opportunities for Windows in the consumer space and over time there will be more opportunity for Android in the commercial space."

And what about Windows RT? "It's something we're considering. We did not participate on the first [cycle] and that probably worked out well for us, but with RT there is potential as well and when the timing is right and the opportunity is right we'll participate."

We asked Torres where he was aiming the Slate 7 and the reasons for launching this device first: "It's our first Android device, very much targeted at the consumer entertainment segment, the fastest growing segment at the moment.

"I think it's a good combination of features including the rear camera, which is quite unusual for this type of product. Which is surprising as they move around with people, and people take photos with 10.1-inch tablets. All 10-inch tablets have cameras where the 7-inch tablets sometimes don't."

Crucially, Torres believes HP can leverage its existing success in PCs to succeed in the tablet space. "Obviously we are going to look at more premium segments, but here we need to be price competitive. What attracted me to join HP is that when you look to win in tablets, it's not a great leap.

"You need to understand [the technology of tablets] but the other thing is a game of brand and service and channel reach, and those are things that HP is quite strong on. You're going to see developments in differentiation with connectivity, security and leverage of our expertise."

Source : techradar[dot]com

This phone is almost certainly not for you, but it could be the life-changing device you give your elderly relative for Christmas this year.

It's an Android device designed from the ground up to give older people the opportunity to use a smartphone without being bamboozled by complex operating systems and fiddly features. It's way more than a re-skin of Android though, as we'll see.

First, the basics. This is a 4-inch handset running Ice Cream Sandwich with 800 x 480 display, 8MP camera, 1.4GHz single-core CPU, 4GB expandable storage and it's waterproof and dust proof too. So if you drop it in the toilet, you've got three hours to fish it out before it drowns (do remember to wash it though, yeah?)

The body has been designed to be easy to hold and hard to drop - the edges have a grippy feel to them.

Android has been completely redesigned, with a far more basic user interface existing on one scrollable vertical pane. The idea is to make it impossible to get lost in the menu structure, and to make everything easy to find. Every sub-screen has a green question mark which gives guidance on how to use whichever page you're on.

This addresses the main problem that elderly people encounter when buying a phone – featurephones are totally last decade but even budget Android handsets are tough to get to know if you're not tech-nically inclined. They also tend to be small and fiddly, a nightmare for older people.

This is a great way of making a touchscreen phone easier to use, and you can still install all the same apps that you could on any other ICS smartphone.

To that end, the way the capacitive touchscreen responds to input has been completely changed. Instead of designing the phone to be as responsive as possible, Fujitsu has taken on board the fact that elderly users tend to dawdle and take things a lot slower. So instead of responding to the slightest touch, the capacitive screen behaves more akin to a resistive display in that you need to actually push it to get a response.

This does not apply when scrolling through menus, which is smooth as silk like any other decent smartphone, but when making screen selections and typing phone numbers etc, you have to actually push a bit harder and the screen gives haptic feedback to let you know you've made a selection. If you're just gliding your finger across the screen, you're given a visual cue to show you which button will be activated when you press.

Age concern

When you set the phone up, you tell it how old you are and it customizes certain features to compensate. One of these funky customisations is to change the frequency range of the call so that it's easier to hear what's being said on the other end. The phone can even slow down the speech of the caller if you're talking to someone who speaks particularly quickly.

The phone also has a personal alarm built into it, which when activated can sound an audio alert as well as automatically contact up to three separate people to let them know you're in trouble.

In our brief test at MWC, we were really impressed. It's a great device and we can really see it having an impact on the lives of elderly people who need smartphone features without all the hassle of finding them. What's more, it's a good size - not too fiddly-small - and everything zips about quickly, without any lag.

Early Verdict

This phone is going on sale through Orange in France in the summer and should be launching in the UK soon after. It's unlikely to be a huge seller, but it's definitely a device we can see being used and loved by older people who want a fully featured phone that's made specifically for them. We certainly can't wait to give one to our Grandaddy to see how he gets on with it.

Source : techradar[dot]com