Website: https://www.stuff-review.com
Email: alexis@stuff-review.com
Profile: Alexis is the founder of Stuff-Review and the primary editor. He's a blogger, an engineer and a web entrepreneur. Alexis has been building and managing websites for over 12 years. An eternal sufferer from gadget lust, he tries to keep his passion in check by writing overly lengthy pieces on technology and consumer electronics. Soft spots include digital cameras, high-end audio separates and portable devices. At times, his electrical engineering background peers out in technically convoluted articles, but otherwise he provides down-to-earth reporting.
This is absolutely hilarious and scarily discerning. A parody trailer of the “the social network 2” where Mark Zuckerberg deletes Facebook and then kills himself… forever. What would the world become without Facebook. How would people so used to broadcasting everything cope and how creepy our virtual interactions would seem in the context of the physical world. Head on after the break to find out.
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Although the actual release date of the Galaxy Nexus in the US has yet to be confirmed, the above holiday-themed ad has surfaced. The Verizon advertisement has the 4.65-inch Super AMOLED and Android 4.0 carrying Samsung Galaxy Nexus going for $199.99 with a two year contract on the company’s 4G LTE network.
The Galaxy Nexus has already been released in the UK, though a strange ‘volume bug‘ meant that the launch didn’t go as smoothly as Google and Samsung would have wanted. The UK HSPA+ version of the Galaxy Nexus has 16GB of built-in storage, whereas the Verizon LTE Nexus would have 32GB. More storage is always welcome, especially since the Galaxy Nexus doesn’t have a mircoSD slot.
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Fujifilm has just announced a companion camera to its X10 high-end compact, the Fufilm X-S1. It features the same 2/3 EXR CMOS sensor and a 24-624mm (35mm equivalent) lens with a f/2.8 maximum aperture at the wide-angle setting. Although many will lament the use of a small-sized sensor, Fujifilm more than makes up for it with the optics. The lens is made up of 17 glass elements, including four aspherical and two ED lenses. The lens offers and equivalent 26x zoom and can focus down to an incredible 1cm in super macro mode.
As is usual now for a Fujifilm X-series shooter, the X-S1 bridge camera features controls aplenty. There is a mode dial, of course, and a new command dial. The camera has a rubberized coating, but both dials are metallic. You also get a large variety of button controls, donning the top and the back of the camera, while the lens offers manual focus and zoom rings.
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By now you should be well briefed on the quad-core Tegra 3 powered 10.1-inch Android tablet by ASUS, also known as the Transformer Prime. We first looked at the keyboard dock-able tablet early this month and we know that it will hit retail channels in the coming weeks. You can actually pre-order it from Amazon.de for EUR 599.
One lucky fellow managed to get his hands on a sample Transformer Prime and has shot a nice overview video of the tablet. The unofficial review starts the tablet on the keyboard dock and ends with an obligatory thickness comparison to the original ASUS Transformer and of course, the iPad 2. The Transformer Prime ships with Android Honeycomb on-board, but judging by the video already released by Nvidia, it won’t take long for it to be upgraded to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Video is after the break.
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Though initial rumors mentioned that the new Grand Central Terminal Apple Store might open this Black Friday, it seems that there still is substantial work to be done on the site. Apple hasn’t officially announced an opening date, though it has sent around the photo you see above, with a non-committal “arriving soon”. Workers on the site have mentioned that the store would probably be ready by early December
As we’ve mentioned before, the new 23,000 square foot space will become Apple’s large retail location. Grand Central sees 750,000 people crossing its doorstep everyday, while the number goes up to 1 million during the holiday. As we’ve said, prepare for things to get even more crowded now. While waiting for the store to open its doors, head on after the break for a rendering of the retro-modern interior.
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It seems that Galaxy Nexus owners affected by the admittedly frustrating volume bug will not have to return their devices for a replacement just yet.
Google has responded to the issue, verified that they are aware of the situation and have a developed a fix that will potentially arrive as an over-the-air (OTA) update automatically. From Google’s lips:
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We’ve seen it time and time again. New devices generally have teething issues, though many of these can be patched with a software update, others have more serious hardware problems. The iPhone 4 had the infamous ‘antennagate’ issue, the HTC Sensation its own Wi-Fi deathgrip and it seems the Galaxy Nexus is now joining the ranks of not so smooth product launches.
The smartphone went on sale in the UK last week, and a number of users are reporting that the phone’s volume controls behave erratically when it’s transmitting on a 2G network at GSM 900 (900Mhz). This ‘volume bug’ could be a result of radio interference on the 900Mhz band and it has been replicated by placing another phone on 2G GSM 900 next to the Galaxy Nexus. The bug is quite serious because it can mute your phone’s ringer and notifications.
Most of Europe, Africa, Middle East, Australia and most of Asia use the GSM 900 band, so the number of users that could be affected is huge. Affected Galaxy Nexus devices behave normally when connected to 3G networks, so a temporary fix would be to force the phone to only connect on 3G, but that means you will be left without a signal where 3G connectivity is not available.
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If you’ve been wondering how Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) looks like on a tablet, then wonder no more. Once Google made the source code of ICS available, Nvidia and ASUS rushed to the challenge and got the new operating system working on the ASUS Transformer Prime tablet. As a reminder the Transformer Prime is the first device to run on Nvidia’s brand new quad-core Tegra 3 chip. We’ve covered the Tegra 3 here, and it’s an impressive piece of silicon, which promises not only awesome processing and graphics power, but also longer battery life through aggressive throttling and a frugal 500MHz companion fifth-core.
We would easily guess that pairing such a chip with the latest and greatest version of Android would result in some smooth performance and now we’ve got the evidence to prove it. Nvidia has published a video of Android Ice Cream Sandwich running super smoothly on the Transformer Prime. If you would enjoy watching cool transitions, smooth 1080p playback and a demo of a quad-core optimized game called Riptide GP, head on after the break.
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Google has just updated its Search app for the iPad. The new version offers a complete redesign with much more visual appeal and new features. Interactions are designed to take advantage of the iPad’s large screen and touch interface.
As soon as you start typing in the input box, Google Instant starts to display relevant results so that you will be able to get better prediction of your intended search with fewer keystrokes.
You now have a choice between reviewing the search results as the classic list or switch to a visual slide presentation, navigable by swiping. When doing an image search you are now presented with a default image carousel, where you can swipe left or right between the images.
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I still wake up at nights running cold sweat from nightmares of past Windows setup experiences. Installing Windows was an extremely time-consuming and painful experience, especially if you wanted to keep your files or settings instead of doing a fresh install. Although the process has been improving with each new version of Windows, with Windows 7 making the experience much easier, it’s still very time-consuming and you need to keep a tech-minded person handy for help.
Microsoft has been keeping us deeply involved in the Windows 8 development process through an official blog, and their latest post deals with improvements made in the setup and upgrade process. Microsoft promises that the new install process will be easier, faster and extremely stable.
Microsoft faces a huge challenge when it comes to managing the install and upgrade process for a new version of Windows. Windows is designed to run on personal computers with millions of different configurations. Users’ demands may also vary widely, someone might want to do a clean and customized install whereas another would just want to upgrade a previous Windows installation with the least user interaction.
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The Samsung Galaxy Nexus, running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich currently ships without support for Adobe Flash. Although a ‘Flash-less’ future is in the horizon, since Adobe has declared that it will stop developing Flash for mobile devices, it has been officially confirmed that Adobe will provide a final Android 4.0 ICS Flash release before the end of 2011.
Apple has long declared its discontent with Flash and all iOS devices don’t currently offer support for the format. Google, on the other hand, has been touting that Android offers the “full web experience” since support for Flash had been continuously available on the platform since Android 2.2 arrived on the Nexus One. It’s ironic then that the latest Nexus, won’t support Flash, for a while.
Nevertheless, the Flash support argument has become much less relevant nowadays, since technologies such as HTML5 have been gaining popularity and adoption in mobile platforms.
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It was back in July when Apple signed a ten-year lease for 23,000 square foot space in New York’s iconic Grand Central Terminal. Apple has since been meticulously renovating the space of Grand Central’s east balcony that will become the company’s largest store worldwide, a position currently held by the Covent Garden store in London.
Around 750,000 people pass through Grand Central daily and the number goes up to 1,000,000 during the holidays. Apple is now putting the final touches at the new retail location and the store should be open just in time for the holiday season, with the store opening on Black Friday or shortly after.
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This review is part of our round-up of three active noise-cancelling (ANC) headphones. We’ve already covered the excellent Audio-Technica ATH-ANC23 in-ear headphones here, and I recommend that you read that review as well. This review centers on the Sony MDR-NC300D noise cancelling earbuds and the final review will be of the Panasonic RP-HC55-S. As we’ve mentioned before, this group test only deals with the more portable earphone variety; if you read Stuff-Review you will know how much we appreciate portability and I wouldn’t imagine adding bulky headphones to my daily load.
You might also want to brush up on the terminology and technology behind active noise-cancelling headphones. Our primer, which can be found here, covers the different types of noise reduction implemented in consumer audio headphones and the differences between active noise cancellation and passive sound isolation.
In simple terms, sound isolation works by stopping sound from reaching your eardrum through soundproofing, while noise cancellation through special circuitry which create a noise-cancelling sound wave. I’m more in favor of the latter kind, simply because they offer the most comfortable experience and are more effective in cutting out constant frequency noise. Most ANC headphones offer noise isolation as well, and when you load-up your music, turn the ANC circuit on and cut-out the outside noise you are transported to a different world.
If you use any form of public transportation, or frequent any public place you cannot appreciate how much ambient noise there really is until you cut it out.
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I’m sure you’ve read about Google’s online music service, appropriately titled Google Music. If you haven’t, it’s Google’s online music store and it’s also a free service which allows you to upload up to 20,000 of your own music files to Google’s cloud. Then, it allows you to listen to both purchased and uploaded songs from any browser (Windows or Mac PC) or through the Google Music app on Android devices. It’s Google’s answer to Apple’s iCloud and Amazon’s Cloud Player.
Unfortunately the service is currently only available within the US, and although Google will successively begin offering the service to other countries, if you reside outside the United States you will be out of luck for a while. Nevertheless there is a very easy way to sign-up and use the service from anywhere in the world, if you are willing to jump a couple of hoops. Note you still won’t be able to buy any music through the service, but you will have access to the free storage and streaming service for you own songs.
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Fujifilm X100S camera announced with fast AF and new 16.3MP X-Trans II sensor (hands-on video)January 6, 2013
Supposed Sony Nexus X images leakOctober 15, 2012
Asus 4.7-inch Padfone 2 demoed in video with new slimmer tablet dockOctober 14, 2012
Upcoming Google Nexus 4 smartphone by LG poses for camera in leaked picsOctober 11, 2012
Skype for Android with video chat official for some, unofficially for Galaxy S II, HTC Evo 3D, Thunderbolt, Sensation and othersJuly 1, 2011
Stuff-Review giveaway: win a B&N Nook Color, leather case and 4GB microSD cardOctober 12, 2011
Stuff-Review giveaway: win a PowerSkin silicon case with built-in batteryAugust 21, 2011
Connecting the Galaxy Nexus to your computer via MTP and the lack of USB Mass StorageDecember 10, 2011
