TV prices rise, TV ownership falls

Reports tell us that fewer TVs are expected to be sold this year than last, and that fewer homes in the U.S. have sets at all. But that doesn't mean that TVs are getting cheaper. In fact, recent research from IHS iSuppli indicates that LCD and plasma TV prices have risen by 11.4 percent since this past December. And if you had your eye on those big-screen OLED TVs previewed at last January's Consumer Electronics Show, new information hints that the expected price of around $8,000 was a little, um, optimistic.
OLED gets real, and really expensive
The OLED TVs revealed by LG and Samsung at CES floored almost all observers -- yours truly included. The picture was that stunning. No pricing was released at the time, but there was no doubt that these sets were going to be expensive, at least to start. That certainly has proved to be right on the money.
Bloomberg reports that 55-inch OLED TVs will indeed become available in the U.S. later this year. Though not officially confirmed by the company, the article says that two sources with knowledge peg the price of LG's version at over $9,000. Bloomberg adds that pricing for Samsung's version will be double what the most expensive 55-inch flat screen sells for in South Korea, or at around $9,400 (U.S.).
If that early-adopters' "tax" is a bit too much to stomach, PC World quotes an NPD DisplaySearch forecast that says that prices for OLED TVs could drop by 50 percent by the end of next year, and to as cheap as $1,500 by the end of 2015. Increased competition could help that prediction come true as The Wall Street Journal reports on a joint effort between struggling TV makers Sony and Panasonic to hop aboard the OLED train before they are left at the station.
Features fatten the bottom line
The rise in TV pricing can be attributed to a couple of factors. For one, the unilateral pricing programs (which forbids authorized retailers from selling specified products below a manufacturer-set price) promised by some makers is beginning to be felt in the marketplace. However iSuppli's research indicates that the spread of formerly high-end features into what were once lower-priced TVs is also playing a significant role. "Feature-rich TV models are responsible for the ongoing surge in prices, especially as consumers clamor for capabilities such as Internet connectivity and LED-backlighting technology," said iSuppli's Tom Morrod.
That doesn't mean bargain hunters are out of luck, however. If you can live without things like Internet connectivity, fast refresh rates and LED backlights, basic LCD TVs with cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlights and standard refresh rates (60 Hz) continue to drop in price -- about 6 percent since the end of last year for 40- and 42-inch sets from top brands, iSuppli says.
Fewer homes have TVs
Meanwhile, The Nielsen Company reports that its latest survey of TV ownership revealed that for the first time in 20 years, the number of American homes with TV sets has decreased, says this article in The New York Times. Granted, that doesn't mean that TVs are suddenly disappearing from living rooms as you'll still find a set in 96.7 percent of U.S. homes (down from 98.9 percent).
Nielsen says two different demographics contributed to the decline. One is low income households that were left behind in the digital transition. The other is households populated by those that have become accustomed to getting their TV from online sources and watching programming on laptops, tablets, and even mobile phones. A survey by the Consumer Electronics Industry reports that while TVs remain the most popular device for watching TV programs, computers (laptops and desktops) aren't that far behind. Smartphones and tablets are gaining in video-watching popularity as well, with 30 percent and 17 percent of consumers, respectively, using those devices for that.

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Symbian Carla cancelled according to Nokia official

All Symbian fans and users might want to sit down while reading this. According to the Product Marketing Manager for Nokia South Europe Mathias Fiorin, Symbian Carla has been cancelled.
Nokialino, an Italian Nokia fan site, claims to have spoken with Mathias Fiorin, so the infomation should be pretty accurate.
He says Carla is now known as FP1. But it is not just a name change - both upcoming Feature Packs won't bring major updates, HD screens and dual-core CPU support. Basically Belle is the last major Symbian release the world will get.

If all of this is true then Symbian is as good as dead. There is no better way to put this ? there will be no Carla or Donna. The final update will be Belle?s upcoming Feature Pack 2 and, as you can guess, that will hardly be a game changer.
We have to wait for an official announcement, though it does makes sense ? as the Symbian market share diminishes rapidly, Nokia is putting all its efforts into Windows Phone.
Source | Via

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Vertu announces the new Constellation Candy phones

As things go with Vertu, when they announce a new collection of phones, it usually means they are only releasing a new trim or, as is the case this time around, new colors.
Today Vertu is introducing some fresh new colors to liven up the established line-up.
The collection comprises of three colors, all combined under the Candy moniker. There's the Candy Raspberry, the Candy Mint Green, and finally, the Candy Tangerine.
Vertu claims these are "this summer's must-have colours" and they all come adorned with highest quality alligator skin and natural gem stones.

The Constellation series is not new, it was announced back in 2006. Around that time touchscreens were not as popular and the phones relied on the dated (yes, even back then) S40 user interface and it was all looks, no wits.
In October 2011 Vertu lift the curtain of their revamped Constellation series. The phones came complete with a full touch display and a smart OS. It's Symbian, if you've gotta ask. Unfortunately, the mobile OS was again, already dead in the water, even at launch. We guess prospective owners of the ultra-expensive phones didn't mind.
Actually, it's not a secret that the touch-enabled Constellation series is based on the popular Nokia C7. The phones share the 3.5-inch AMOLED screen, the 32GB of built-in storage, the 8 megapixel fixed focus camera with enhanced depth of field and the 720p video recording.

 Vertu Constellation Candy collection
All fashionistas that shell out the cash for one of these exquisite mobiles will also get invitations to the most influential Fashion week shows. Of course, each phone comes with Vertu's customary services such as (and we're quoting) Vertu Concierge, Vertu Concierge Live, Vertu Club Access, Vertu Select, Vertu City Brief and Vertu.Me, all designed to make the owner's travel and social life a bit easier.
The Constellation Candy phone collection is available in the UAE, China, EU, Hong Kong, India, Macau, Russia, Singapore, Switzerland, Ukraine, and Vietnam.
Whatever the color, one thing is for sure, the chances of any of us buying a Vertu phone are as slim as it gets. Nevertheless, the luxurious segment represents a small, but entertaining part of this business, which seems to be ruled by 4+ inch big slabs of phones. We hope those rumors about the company being prepared for selling are not true.
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Samsung Galaxy S III hits Dubai a week early, costs $680

The Samsung Galaxy S III has arrived in Dubai a week earlier than expected and is already on sale for $666.
This has been confirmed by a vigilant Reddit user who noticed an "Available Today" sign under the S III name in a mall store in Dubai. Speaking to an employee he gathered that the store has plenty of Galaxy S III units in stock and all being white variants (no word on which internal storage version it was but we're guessing 16GB).
Other users have also found the phone available (and purchased it) but for around $680. We guess a hefty bunch of people who pre-ordered the Galaxy S III will be less than impressed right about now.
One of the visitors of such a store sent us the pic you see on the left. Unfortunately, the store has already ran out of stock when he got there, but reportedly, more units are on the way, due in the next few days. He confirms the phone was priced at 2500 AED or about US$680.
And hey if you're still on the fence about getting an S III, you might find this useful.
Source | Via

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Samsung Focus 2 review: Feeling no pressure

The Samsung I667 Focus 2 for AT&T is the third LTE addition to the carrier's impressive Windows Phone lineup. However, in order to avoid clashing with the platform heavyweights - the Nokia Lumia 900 and the HTC Titan II - the Korean offering undercuts both in terms of specifications and price.
As you can probably guess, Samsung's approach towards its latest product to run Microsoft's mobile OS differs significantly than the aspirations of some of major its competitors. The Focus 2 is not meant to sell by the millions - Samsung has its perfectly established Android lineup up to this task. Instead, the white clad Focus 2 aims to offer an entry to the smartphone realm to all those people, who are still in the dark ages of feature phones.

Samsung Focus 2 official photos
Save for the LTE radio on board, there are hardly any surprises regarding the specifications of the Samsung Focus 2. Microsoft's strict Windows Phone hardware requirements, coupled with Samsung's large parts bin have resulted in a device, which despite being new to the market, is hardly unfamiliar.
Here is the full list of key features, which the Samsung Focus 2 has to offer.
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE supportTri-band 3G with HSDPA 21 Mbps and HSUPA 5.76MbpsCat 3 LTE connectivityWindows Phone 7.5 Mango OS1.4GHzQualcomm MSM8255Snapdragon CPU, Adreno 205 GPU, 512MB of RAM4" 16M-color Super AMOLED display with WVGA resolution (480 x 800 pixels); Gorilla Glass5 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash and dedicated hardware button Front-facing unit for video calls720p video recording @30fps8GB of built-in storageStandard 3.5mm audio jackStandard microUSB port (charging)Wi-Fi b/g/nStereo Bluetooth 2.1Mobile Office document viewer/editorSocial network integration and cloud servicesBuilt-in GPS receiver, A-GPSStereo FM Radio with RDSComes with a Video call app and other custom Samsung appsNon-expandable storageNo mass storage mode; Zune-only file management and syncNo Bluetooth file transfersNo Flash (nor Silverlight) support in the browserNo DivX/XviD video support (automatic transcoding provided by Zune software)
As you can notice above, the spec sheet of the Samsung Focus 2 is business as usual. You get the standard Windows Phone 7.5 Mango fare, which, on this occasion, is wrapped in a good looking and compact package. Samsung have been careful to differentiate the handset from its competitors by outfitting it with 4" display.
The situation is no different with the list of the smartphone's disadvantages. They are almost entirely related to the limitations of the OS on tap. Surely, the built-in memory could have been more, but, we suspect, that the price tag of the I667 would have suffered as a result. Besides, the potential users of the device are not likely to care about many gigabytes of storage available to them.

 
Samsung I667 Focus 2 live shots
As always, we are going to begin this review with a look at the retail package of the Samsung Focus 2, followed by a design and build quality inspection.
Editorial: You might notice that this review is shorter than usual and doesn't include all of our proprietary tests. The reason is it has been prepared and written far away from our office and test lab. The Samsung Focus 2 for AT&T is a US-only phone and it's unlikely it will be making rounds on the Old Continent. Still, we think we've captured the essence of the phone in the same precise, informative and detailed way that's become our trademark. Enjoy the good read!

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New OmniVision camera sensor shoots 16MP stills, 4K video

If you haven't heard of OmniVision, you should know make some pretty good camera sensors (the one in the iPhone 4, for example). Today they outed the OV16820, a 16MP sensor intended for use in digital cameras and the high-end smartphones
The sensor measures 1/2.3" and uses OmniVision's OmniBSI-2 technology with 1.34 micro pixel pitch. It's capable of outputting 16MP (4608 x 3456) photos at 30fps in burst mode and 4K2K (3840 x 2160, four times the resolution of 1080p) video at 60fps.
The new OmniVision sensor also supports on-chip pixel binning (2x2 and 3x3) and resampling. Pixel binning is a popular way to improve quality when the needed resolution is lower than the sensor resolution (so, it will work for 1080p and 720p, videos but not 4K2K).
All this sounds pretty awesome - burst shot mode is becoming more important (as the HTC One phones and Samsung Galaxy S III will tell you) - and 16MP cameraphones are already on the market (HTC Titan II).
As for the 4K2K video, it's a nice dream but we don't think we'll see it in a phone soon - processing four times as many pixels as FullHD (especially at 60fps) is too much burden even for the current smartphone chipsets.
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Leaked iPod Touch parts indicate a 4.1 inch screen

An electronics manufacturer released a set of pictures showing the front panel of what is supposedly the next generation iPod Touch. And as you know, the iPod Touches and the iPhone of the same generation usually share the same screen size and resolution, so it's an easy guess the next iPhone would have the same sort of screen.

Alleged iPhone 5 front panels
This roughly coincides with yesterday's report of a 3.95" screen on the iPhone 5, but seeing how the viewable portion on the iPhone 4S is slightly smaller than the opening provided by the front panel, the slight discrepancy in sizes is understandable.
Also leaked are some shots of the (alleged) iPhone 5 camera modules.

Not much is currently known about the camera besides that it is the same size as the one found on previous iPhone generations.
Source

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'Battleship' Movie Review (2012)

EDITOR'S NOTE: After a four year hiatus, Laremy makes a return guest appearance on RopeofSilicon. Treat him kindly, after all, his first review back is Battleship.
Battleship, as you would probably guess, is a complete nightmare. Devoid of all logic, the film feels exactly like a mash-up composite of every alien invasion movie you've ever watched — only that's too kind. A mash-up has its own art to it (see Girl Talk) whereas Battleship most clearly does not. This is what happens when "product" is made, with the goal of commerce coming far before dialogue, story, logic or any semblance of intelligence. This isn't the hero we wanted or needed, but it's the one they are throwing at us. Make sure you duck!
"Battleship" is a Universal Pictures release, directed by Peter Berg and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, action and destruction, and for language.
The cast includes Taylor Kitsch, Tom Arnold, Alexander Skarsgard, Rihanna, Hamish Linklater, Brooklyn Decker, Liam Neeson, Josh Pence and Jesse Plemons.
For more information on this film including pictures, trailers and a detailed synopsis choose from the following menu.
Before the film even starts Hasbro has been credited twice, provoking insta-laughter from my screening audience. It's sort of a chest poking gesture that says, "Well, if you take this seriously that's YOUR problem, bub." If Battleship is to be a joke, why is everyone taking it so seriously on-screen? Can you be both ironic about "creation" and also hate your audience for affirming you? Battleship won't answer these questions, heck Battleship won't answer ANY questions, but it will play ACDC over the top of guided missile cruisers attempting to destroy aliens. Regardless, let's plunge on. We're introduced to Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch), a 26-year old rebel with a heart of gold. His big bro (Alexander Skarsgard) wants him to shape up his life, but Alex (who's referred to only as "Hopper" even though his brother is also a "Hopper," and an elder, but is somehow not worthy of the single-name/last name nickname) goes through life with a wink and a smile.
At the outset of the film Alex is hitting mightily on Brooklyn Decker, who, truth be told, is lovely in every way possible. Her huge features and golden smile convey at once she's something to be pursued, even while remaining classically unattainable. These opening scenes are handled with — and there's really no another way to say it — a stylish beauty that's befitting of a Peter Berg film. The man has visual and pacing talent, which is why most of what comes next is so dispiriting. To consciously use one's talents for pure mediocrity is a little death, which just might make Battleship his cry for help. But I digress.
We find out Brooklyn is THE ADMIRAL'S DAUGHTER, and why wouldn't she be? Taylor gets himself in trouble, but it's for a girl, so it's OKAY, and then WHOOSH he's in the US NAVY as a Lieutenant. It's interesting that the film paints Kitsch as a ne'er-do-well, but one with a college degree, and one who was promoted past Lieutenant Junior Grade very quickly. To make Kitsch a leader, as he must be for the film to work, he's got to be in a leadership position, even though the first 15 minutes of the film take great pains to show he's an idiot. Question is, will his idiocy "pay off" so he can save the world? Well — have you ever seen a movie?
RIMPAC is set to begin; it's a gathering of 14 Navies from around the world in the largest war games exercise on the planet. "Cool," I can hear you thinking, "we'll get to see 14 Navies team up!" Uh, no you won't. Battleship has problems with the scale of the story already, the whole Aliens vs. the World angle, so they pretty much contain the action to three ships TOTAL. Because how are you going to find time to weave India's Navy into the story when you're busy showing Alex is totally unprepared to lead??!! C'mon guys, let's keep it focused on the things people truly desire, such as cliched and hackneyed hero mythologies.
Alex gets in a fight right before RIMPAC, and he's scheduled to be in big trouble once the weekend is over. Hopefully an opportunity will come up that allows him to redeem himself. Do you think it will?
It's at this point I should take a brief break to acknowledge that Battleship does have many slick moments. Comedy is pervasive, and the techniques used generally work over the opening half of the film. As a comedy, Battleship is fair to middling'. As a tragedy, it's absolute perfection, though more as a metaphor to the state of the industry. As a dramatic actioner, which Battleship so desperately wants to be, it's a complete and utter failure. But still, yes, it has a gloss and sheen that great-grandpa Top Gun would delight in. You will get your shots of The American Flag waving beautifully over awesome music with Rihanna in the background delivering quips. There's a "25 Lighters" cover by ZZ Top that is absolutely perfect for the scene, and it's a prime example of when crowd-sourcing a production makes sense, a solid marriage between hip-hop and rock-funk, setting the mood with verve. So that's something, I suppose.
Speaking of marriage, Decker has coupling on her mind, and she needs Taylor to talk to Poppa Admiral, played by Liam Neeson. There are scenes of Neeson's where you can actually see the check waiting for him juuuuust off-screen, all hail Battleship for using such a talented actor in such pitifully written material. Stop me if you've heard this one, Admiral Neeson isn't so hot on his daughter Brooklyn marrying a stubborn idiot who is "wasting his skills!" Again, if only there was SOME WAY for Kitsch to prove his mettle.
For a moment, we should discuss the aliens, whom you will most likely cheer for against the Earthlings. They're great. They've got these little death wheels that cut up anything in their path, they look like a much bigger version of Ghost Rider's scooter. The aliens have far superior weaponry overall, and for at least the first half hour of "battle" it seems like they might moon walk into the end zone, spiking the ball on our head, and doing that dance where their knees and hands alternate positions. My notes feature a line that reads: "They would win SO HARD." Which is true, and I have no idea why alien invasion films must always go the "David vs. Goliath" route. Why not just make it seem somewhat even? Luckily, these aliens have a fatal flaw, as laid down by the "Gospel According to Signs," which I wouldn't dare spoil for you. The journey is the destination.
Early in the film, Kitsch is kicked in the face during a soccer game by an opponent. Thankfully, due to "movie magic" everyone grows up and the gents come to know and respect each other. Battleship is clearly hoping for a similar result here, but I can't see most of us making it through that initial bloody nose. Even if the first 100 minutes are tolerable, it's near the end that things get completely out of hand. Bonk-bonk, even.
The way in which the final battle is set up is so unbelievably cheesy that one wonders if someone lost a bet to include it in the third act. It drunkenly screams "AMERICA!!" at you, teetering on the edge of consciousness, before finally slipping into (and on) a pool of its own spittle. The inference seems to be that ANY action with explosions, slow-mo, and a hard soundtrack should be enough to captivate you, even as your intellect looks for any logical foothold to contextualize the maelstrom. Brother, you can look all you like, but it's not there.
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Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free

Malwarebytes Antimalware Free 1.61 is a supplemental free product that can help bolster your existing security software. The makers of Malwarebytes Antimalware pitch it as a tool for detecting and removing brand-new "zero-day" malware, and it uses a number of different technologies to accomplish this task.

The software did perform decently compared with other freebies in PCWorld's 2012 free antivirus roundup when it came to stopping new malware. In our real-world tests, Malwarebytes fully blocked 78.6 percent of samples--slightly better than average--and partially blocked an additional 14.3 percent. It's also reasonably fast: It had the lightest overall impact on system performance of any free antivirus product we tested.

Malwarebytes isn't something you'll want to use as your primary antivirus software, though, as it isn't great at stopping known malware: It detected a scant 57.1 percent of known malware samples collected from the past four months--far and away the worst result we saw from any of the freebies tested.

The software has a fairly no-frills interface, but it's straightforward. One clever feature is Chameleon, which lets the program run even when a particularly evil piece of malware attempts to block it.

Malwarebytes' makers don't see its product as a front-line antivirus de­­fense, and frankly, neither should you. But it's something to consider adding to your security toolbox.

--Nick Mediati

Have you ever considered what makes an anti-malware application effective? We at Malwarebytes have created an easy-to-use, simple, and effective anti-malware application. Whether you know it or not your computer is always at risk of becoming infected with viruses, worms, trojans, rootkits, dialers, spyware, and malware that are constantly evolving and becoming harder to detect and remove. Only the most sophisticated anti-malware techniques can detect and remove these malicious programs from your computer. ptagep Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware is considered to be the next step in the detection and removal of malware. In our product we have compiled a number of new technologies that are designed to quickly detect, destroy, and prevent malware. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware can detect and remove malware that even the most well known anti-virus and anti-malware applications fail to detect. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware monitors every process and stops malicious processes before they even start. The Realtime Protection Module uses our advanced heuristic scanning technology which monitors your system to keep it safe and secure. In addition, we have implemented a threats center which will allow you to keep up to date with the latest malware threats.

Activating the full version unlocks realtime protection, scheduled scanning, and scheduled updating. For consumers and personal use, it is a one time fee of $24.95. For corporate and business customers, annual licenses are required, please see our Corporate Licensing program.

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Weekend Box-Office: ;Avengers; Crosses $1 Billion Worldwide and Continues to Crush Records

Guess what ended up in first place. Guess what film is already over $1 billion in just its second weekend. Guess what film dropped only 50.2% after becoming the first film to ever crack $200 million on opening weekend and managed to follow that up by becoming the first film to crack $100 million in its second weekend. You know the answer, so let's not delay any further…
Laremy predicted the #1 movie correctly 2 Weeks In A RowWhat's amazing about The Avengers is not that it's breaking records, it's that it's absolutely crushing records. When it made $207.4 million on its opening weekend it beat the previous record set by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 by $38.2 million. This weekend it broke the previous second weekend record of $75.6 million achieved by Avatar by $27.6 million. These were once thought impossible numbers, but I guess that's what inflation, 3-D and IMAX surcharges will do that for a film as it has already crossed the $1 billion mark with over $373 million domestically and over $628 million internationally. What more can you really say? Avengers is now the twelfth film to bring in over $1 billion, jumping over The Dark Knight for 11th place on the all-time worldwide box-office list.
Where things get tricky for the film is when Universal finally releases Battleship next weekend and Men in Black III the weekend after that, which will take away from not only its commanding 4,349 theaters, but its 3-D theaters as well.
I typically avoid discussing reader predictions for films in their second weekend, but considering the circumstances I think it's worth it.
If you listened to our podcast on Friday you heard me ask Laremy why he wouldn't go above $100 million just in case, but he was confident it wouldn't make it. After all, no film ever had and for a picture that grossed over $200 million to have such a small drop is unheard of. Oh well, he was still pretty close.
On the reader side of things, however, the closest prediction came early as Steve tossed $102.8 million on the board and was almost spot on. Nice work!
Weekend: $103.1 million (-50.2% drop)
Cummulative Total: $373.1 million
RottenTomatoes Score: 93%
Laremy's rank: Laremy picked it to finish #1 and his prediction of $96.5 million was $6.6m off for a percentage error of 6.4%.You almost have to feel sorry for any film that has to go up against something the size of The Avengers. No matter what the reviews said of Dark Shadows it didn't stand much of a chance as people were going to be drawn to see The Avengers if they missed it last weekend as it is all anyone can talk about. Where things get tricky for Dark Shadows, however, is with that $150 million budget. With only $28.8 million on its opening day it is going to need some serious help from overseas and I have no idea how anticipated this picture is elsewhere, but this number isn't going to cut it domestically.
On the prediction side of things, this one was tough as tracking was suggesting $40 million and Laremy went pretty far below that and still was too high. Closest among the readers was Bradley Badder with a $28.4 million. Nice job and like the name.
Weekend: $28.8 million / RottenTomatoes: 42%
Laremy's rank: Laremy picked it to finish #2 with $33.3 million, which is $4.5m off for a 15.63% error.One of the biggest successes of the year so far, and on top of that a solid film.Weekend: $6.3 million (-22.2% drop) / Cume: $81.9 million / RottenTomatoes: 52%
Laremy's rank: Laremy picked it to finish #3 with $4.6 million, which is $1.7m off for a 26.98% error.The Avengers still isn't the highest grossing domestic release, so The Hunger Games better milk that moniker for as long as it can, because by this time next weekend it will be down to #2.Weekend: $4.4 million (-22.8% drop) / Cume: $386.9 million / RottenTomatoes: 84%
Laremy's rank: Laremy picked it to finish #5 with $3 million, which is $1.4m off for a 31.82% error.If you managed to avoid this one in theaters you could be the star of your own version of The Lucky One, though the story would be a bit different.Weekend: $4 million (-24.5% drop) / Cume: $53.7 million / RottenTomatoes: 20%
Laremy's rank: Laremy picked it to finish #6 with $2.8 million, which is $1.2m off for a 30% error.Domestically this one didn't do so hot, but it's approaching $100 million internationally so that $55 million budget seems to be paid for.Weekend: $3.2 million (-41.8% drop) / Cume: $23.1 million / RottenTomatoes: 87%
Laremy's rank: Laremy picked it to finish #4 with $3.2 million and he was exactly right!Just one big miss and it's too bad, especially for a cast this strong.Weekend: $3 million (-40% drop) / Cume: $24.1 million / RottenTomatoes: 63%
Laremy's rank: Laremy picked it to finish #7 with $2.5 million, which is $0.5m off for a 16.67% error.The RottenTomatoes score says it's pretty good, but this isn't a film I'll soon be checking out.Weekend: $2.6 million / Cume: $3.7 million / RottenTomatoes: 75%
Laremy's rank: Not RankedI'm waiting to see the first movie directed by a chimpanzee and no, I don't count Transformers.Weekend: $1.6 million (-30.4% drop) / Cume: $25.5 million / RottenTomatoes: 74%
Laremy's rank: Laremy picked it to finish #9 with $0.9 million, which is $0.7m off for a 43.75% error.Look at Eva Mendes leading a low budget film into 322 theaters and finding herself a spot in the box-office top ten on her opening weekend. Granted, it's not like this film made much, but let's be happy for her anyway.Weekend: $1.3 million / RottenTomatoes: 31%
Laremy's rank: Not RankedNext week sees the midweek release of Sacha Baron Cohen's The Dictator followed by Battleship and What to Expect When You're Expecting. I wonder, can The Avengers win two weekends in a row against those three films? Let's say it drops 58% from this weekend, that's still $43.3 million and there is only so much money to be made at the box-office. Can Battleship beat that number? I'm not so sure.
Check out our complete Box-Office charts here and
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Generic &;Sin City ; and ;Machete Kills Posters

Sidebar Archives I saw these over the weekend but thought they might be fakes so I held off, but it would appear this pair of teaser posters for Robert Rodriguez's Machete Kills and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (aka Sin City 2) are legit.
As for production starts, Machete Kills is set to get underway soon with Danny Trejo back in the title role as Machete, this time recruited by the U.S. Government to battle his way through Mexico to take down a madman cartel leader and an eccentric billionaire arms dealer who has hatched a plan to spread war across the planet with a weapon in space. Machete takes on an army in an effort to dismantle a plan for global anarchy.
Joining Trejo are returning Machete actors Jessica Alba and Michelle Rodriguez with Mel Gibson, Demián Bichir, Amber Heard and Sofia Vergara. The film is expected to be released next year and I would assume Fox would again handle distribution, though I don't see their logo on the poster.
Next is a teaser poster for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, which Dimension Films is locked in to distribute with Mickey Rourke, Michael Clarke Duncan, Rosario Dawson, Clive Owen and Jessica Alba all expected to return.
The synopsis hasn't been made official yet, though the title makes it quite clear it will find its roots in Frank Miller's graphic novel "A Dame to Kill For" and it's said "Just Another Saturday Night" and an upcoming new installment in Miller's "Sin City" franchise, "The Long, Bad Night," is also said to play a role.
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The Grey;John Malkovich,; and ;Chronicle; Hit DVD and Blu-ray This Week

Being John Malkovich (Criterion Collection)I have seen this movie only once and I can't say I entirely warmed to it, but I'd also say it isn't necessarily a film that deserves too harsh a critique upon a one time viewing, there is a lot to swallow here and a Criterion edition may be exactly what it needs to help viewers explore the deeper corners of the film. Then again, has anything Charlie Kaufman written ever been a one-and-done kind of film?

This Criterion edition includes a featuring Michel Gondry, referred to in the Criterion supplements as director Spike Jonze's "friend and competitor", a new behind-the-scenes documentary, a conversation between actor John Malkovich and humorist John Hodgman, an interview with Jonze and more. Get all the details here.

The Grey led to a lot of conversation on this site and I'm sure with the new DVD and Blu-ray release the conversation will pick up again on my "Did You Hate the Ending to 'The Grey'? Why?" post, which seems to get several new comments each week. This new release comes with a commentary with Joe Carnahan and editors Roger Barton and Jason Hellmann and a few deleted scenes, one of which I have included just below.
Eh, this is a "seen it once and once was enough" kind of film for me.

Solid film, but wading into these waters more than once could prove treacherous. However, I bet this film looks amazing on Blu-ray. Along with Shame and We Need to Talk about Kevin, this flick had some of the best and most impressive cinematography of last year, a comparison I made last year with this post. You can read my review of Rampart from last year's Toronto International Film Festival right here.

You can keep this one, I'm still unclear on what anyone say in this film outside of Janet McTeer's feature-stealing performance.

I'm just not interested in this one, and considering the $40 million budget and $36.8 million worldwide take I would say not many other people were either. I'm sure Lionsgate is just hoping for decent enough home video earnings to break even.

The outrage expressed online over this film's ending was vastly more entertaining than the film itself, was on the edge of average at best.
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Cannes 2012: Poster for Tom Cruise&One Shot

One Shot banner from the Cannes Film FestivalClearly I'm giving a couple of banners a higher priority as I still have many more to share including an amazing set-up involving The Dictator over at the Carlton. But first there was the Django Unchained banner (see that here) and the other is the above banner for One Shot starring Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher, based on the Lee Child novel.
Set to hit theaters on December 21 of this year, One Shot centers on Jack Reacher, a former military policeman-turned-drifter. In "One Shot" Reacher investigates a case in which a lone sniper murders five victims before being captured. Reacher discovers it's more than a simple open-and-shut case.
The film is being directed by Christopher McQuarrie and co-stars Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins, David Oyelowo, Robert Duvall, Werner Herzog and Jai Courtney, the latter of which will be seen next year as Bruce Willis's son in It's a Good Day to Die Hard.
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The Amazing Spider-Man' Four Minute Trailer and Poster from Cannes

A new four-minute trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man aired during "America’s Got Talent" on Monday night giving fans an extended look at what the new Spider-Man feature has to offer and now it's available online for all to watch (though, admittedly, I DVR'd "America’s Got Talent" so I can watch Howard Stern's debut appearance when I get back from Cannes).
Additionally, as you can see above, yet another poster prominently featured here in Cannes atop the hotel rooftops is one for Spidey's 3-D return to theaters come July 3.
Directed by Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) and starring Andrew Garfield in the title role, the story focuses on Peter Parker (Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Sheen) and Aunt May (Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy (Stone), and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and secrets. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents' disappearance — leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors (Ifans), his father's former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors' alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero.
The Amazing Spider-Man is directed by Marc Webb. It will be released by Columbia Pictures and will hit theaters on July 3, 2012. If you enjoyed this post, help us out and share it on Facebook, Twitter or Google.~ PLEASE NOTE ~
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Hotspot Shield

Hotspot Shield is a private VPN service that will secure your wireless communications--for free. The fact that it's free is a major boon; however, you'll have to put up with some rather blatant advertising in your Web browser as non-monetary compensation. There's a pay version costing a mere $30 a year that foregoes the advertising--I recommend that one over the free version.

The rather colorful interface doesn't pop up very often. Hotspot Shield is self-configuring and easy to install.Hotspot Shield employs OpenVPN, which is a well-documented, stable piece of open source virtual private networking software. There's nothing wrong with that in this instance, as the value of Hotspot Shield and other VPN purveyors is in providing the server for the VPN connection. Kudos to OpenVPN for the public service.
Nicely, Hotspot Shield configures itself silently; there's no entering a user name and password or specifying a server location. Simply run it, and turn it on. To use the $30 Elite version you buy it and log on once at the Elite site, and the ads will disappear.
One perk that the Wi-Fi security companies don't seem to play up is that they are high-speed proxy services that hide your real WAN IP. When you use Hotspot Shield, your publicly visible IP address becomes that of the server you connect to. If you like to limit your exposure on the Web, this a great feature. Given the slow speed of most free proxy servers, you could consider Hotspot Shield for that alone.
Personally, I find that the $30 a year Hotspot Shield Elite costs is a better option than my browser bombarding me with more advertising than it already does. But free is always good, and if you're only in the coffee shop once in a while the ads are livable. By the way, $30 is relatively cheap; Private WiFi costs $85 a year, though their $10 monthly charge is great for short spans. Hotspot Shield Elite is available for three months for $14 and handily offers the service for OS X, iOS, and Android.
Note: Hotspot Shield and other VPN services rely on communicating with their own servers, which may or may not be nearby. Although it's not likely, you could be in a location where you have a slow path to the closest VPN server. Try it before you buy it.
--Jon L. Jacobi

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Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus

Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus is a reliable free antivirus solution, that constantly and rapidly scans your computer for malicious programs such as viruses, Trojans, backdoor programs, hoaxes, worms, dialers etc. Monitoring every action executed by the user or by the operating system and being able to react promptly when a malicious program is detected. Actions include repair, delete, block, rename and quarantine programs or files.

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AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition was PCWorld's top pick in April 2012's Free Antivirus You Can Trust. It performed well in virtually all of the tests we ran.

In our real-world malware detection tests, which evaluate how well an antivirus package will block brand-new threats, AVG's freebie blocked 85.7 percent of the samples, tying for the best result among the programs we tested. It detected 98.7 percent of the more than 129,000 samples of malware from the past four months in our malware "zoo" test. That's a good score, although a bit short of the best results we've seen.

AVG was at the top of its class in disabling active malware infections: On our test PC, it de­­tected and disabled all malicious software, and removed all traces of malware two-thirds of the time.

AVG also scans a PC relatively quickly. When we directed it to check 4.5GB of data, it sped through the job in 1 minute, 35 seconds, the third-fastest time in this test and only 4 seconds slower than the fastest. Its on-access scanner--which runs when you open or save a file--took 4 minutes, 55 seconds to go through the same amount of data, about average for the programs we looked at.

I like AVG's main interface, though its advanced settings could intimidate some users. Apart from that caveat, if you're looking for solid, fast PC protection, look no further than AVG.

--Nick Mediati

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Prime95 (64-bit version)

Prime95 is a small and easy to use application that allows you to find Mersenne Prime numbers.
Mersenne numbers can be proved composite (not prime) by either finding a factor or by running a Lucas-Lehmer primality test.
Prime numbers have long fascinated amateur and professional mathematicians. An integer greater than one is called a prime number if its only divisors are one and itself. The first prime numbers are 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, etc. For example, the number 10 is not prime because it is divisible by 2 and 5.
A Mersenne prime is a prime of the form 2P-1. The first Mersenne primes are 3, 7, 31, 127, etc. There are only 40 known Mersenne primes.
There are two ways to use this program. The automatic way uses a central server, which we call the PrimeNet server, to get work to do and report your results. Anyone with Internet access, including AOL, CompuServe, and dial-up ISP users should use this method. You do not need a permanent connection to the Internet.
The second method is the manual method. It requires a little more work and monitoring. Recommended for computers with no Internet access or with some kind of firewall problem that prevents the automatic method from working.

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SlimCleaner

SlimCleaner 3.0 (free) is by far one of the more useful multi-utility tools I've run across. Aimed primarily at cleaning the junk out of your system, it has the capabilities of several popular programs, including Piriform's CCleaner and Trend Micro's HijackThis.

Colorful, but logical, the SlimCleaner interface is easy to use.SlimCleaner neatly divides its functionality over seven main tabs/tools: Cleaner, which removes detritus from the registry, temporary files, etc; Optimize, which lets you to edit startup items and services; Software, which lists and uninstalls programs; Browsers, which does the same for browser plugins; Hijack Log, which lists software which might be cantankerous; Disk tools which lets you optimize or wipe disks; and Windows where you'll find all the native Windows utilities in one place and in an arguably better arrangement.
Run any of the above tools and you'll most likely see a list of results: programs that are installed, registry entries that are obsolescent, plug-ins that are present, etc. Every item in every list generated by SlimCleaner has a More info and a CloudAV button next to it. More info tells you everything that SlimCleaner and its online database knows about the item, while CloudAV is an online database cataloging the safety or purpose of each item. I've used such catalogs for years in cleaning malware off of computers. You can easily add information to the databases from within SlimCleaner and the company awards you status according to how accurate and helpful your reporting is.
SlimCleaner worked extremely well in my tests. It found lots of outdated registry entries, accurately reported temporary files, and was aware of a vast number of programs. It's nice-looking, extremely logical in its layout, and largely easy to use.
I'm leaving SlimCleaner installed, and it's a rare day that I make that comment about a utility in a review. It's that handy.
Note: The download here is only 0.6MB but it downloads a lot more stuff; the full installation is about 32MB. Also, the program will install AVG and change your home page if you use the Express install. Choose Custom install to avoid this.
--Jon L. Jacobi
SlimCleaner is a cloud-enhanced Windows cleaner that uses crowd-sourcing to optimize PC performance. SlimCleaner combines all the essential tools for cleaning a PC with its stream of real-time community feedback and recommendations from the cloud. By accessing this contributive cloud, SlimCleaner obtains the latest information about software, services and toolbars, no matter how recent.
Using the SlimCleaner cloud, users can rate applications on their PCs and provide comments about the features, functions and usefulness of various pieces of software, browsers, toolbars and other items. SlimCleaner uses this community feedback to improve its own optimization features and let users see the community ratings for various items and settings on their PC.
The easy-to-use interface features tabs that let consumers clean their PC, analyze settings and disable or uninstall programs that are no longer useful, based on the choice of the consumer. With one click, users can run any SlimCleaner optimizing function, such as the cleaner, start-up and services optimizer, cloud-based uninstall manager, and others. In addition, by allowing users to scan suspicious files with its built-in cloud AV functionality, SlimCleaner helps facilitate detection of malicious code using information from several anti-virus engines or the public VirusTotal API.
SlimCleaner is the newest product in a suite of cloud-based PC utility software from SlimWare Utilities, makers of SlimComputer and SlimDrivers.

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Review: HTC Legend

Premier partnerSamsung

Excellent UINice battery input mechanismSpeedy browserResponsive keyboardStellar designAverage battery lifeFriendstream and Peep slow to updatePage 1 of 14HTC Legend: Overview, design and feel pt 1After the success of the HTC Hero, the Taiwanese firm is back again with the first of its duo of Android 2.1 phones, the HTC Legend.
Featuring a full aluminium chassis and high-res OLED screen, as well as the latest version of Android from Google, HTC is clearly looking to jostle its way to the front of the best-selling phone queue with the HTC Legend and Desire.
The HTC Legend features a sumptuous unibody aluminium chassis - taking more than a few visual cues from the MacBook range, and refining the lines of the HTC Hero to produce a sleek and very aesthetically pleasing phone.
Despite being one of the first mobile phone releases of the year, the HTC Legend is likely to end 2010 as one of the best looking devices, with the silver aluminium frame sitting very well in the hand.
Also read: 15 best mobile phones in the world todayHowever, there is one slight problem with aluminium chassis - if you leave it in your pocket with keys or coins, it scratches up pretty easily. We're not overly looking forward to having to mention this when we return the review unit...
If you're one of those that like to put a phone in a protective pouch, then there's definitely a case (sorry) for doing so with the HTC Legend.

The 3.2-inch screen has been beefed up as well - while it's the same size and resolution (HVGA) as the one used on the HTC Hero, the bezel has been reduced to give the impression of a wider screen.
And the display itself is now an OLED, rather than LCD, screen. This not only gives incredible colour reproduction, but also displays stunning contrast ratio thanks to not needing a backlight (which also helps with the overall thickness of the phone).
After some reports of the Google Nexus One (also produced by HTC) performing poorly in direct sunlight, that's not the case with the HTC Legend.

As long as you don't have the screen brightness turned down to the lowest setting, it's perfectly easy to use the phone even in sunny climes.
The frame and display aren't the only aesthetic improvements either - the overall layout has been upgraded to make this phone stand out to those browsing prospective handsets in shops.
Page 1 of 14HTC Legend: Overview, design and feel pt 1

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Review: LG Chocolate BL20

LG has introduced a more sweetly priced slider phone – the Chocolate BL20 – to try and tempt style-savvy phone buyers not interested in the more feature packed (but higher-priced) Chocolate BL40.
Sporting a similarly sleek design, the LG Chocolate BL20 is the latest update of the original LG Chocolate phone (KG800) that first appeared in mid-2006.
Central to the chic look is a smooth, glossy piano-black casing that features hidden touch-sensitive controls on the front panel that glow red through the casing only when the phone is activated.

It's a more refined look than earlier Chocolates, echoing the BL40's design – although the Chocolate BL20 has fewer high-end features than its touchscreen range-mate.
The new Chocolate BL20 instead offers a more typically mid-priced mobile package – including HSDPA high-speed 3G data connectivity, a 5MP camera, media player functionality and an FM radio. But the real headline on this new phone from LG is certainly style.
Design
The minimalist bodywork of the closed Chocolate BL20 is certainly attractive. Its black bodywork is offset with metallic red trim on top and bottom and on the slide-down number pad, plus some subtle chrome edging.

Measuring 105.9(h) x 50.8(w) x 12.3(d) mm, it's a slimline slider that weighs a reasonable 115g and is nicely balanced in the hand.
However, all that glossy bodywork does mean it can be slippery in cold or damp conditions. Covered in a single plastic sheet, the front panel is also a finger-smudge magnet.
The display is a 2.4-inch QVGA (240 x 320 pixels), 262K-colour LCD, which is bright and zingy enough for most applications. It's not as big as a smartphone-style screen, but is acceptable for this type of mid-range device, especially with no touch control.

The original Chocolate phone was one of the first to introduce a touch sensitive navigation pad, and the BL20's similar digit-stroke control panel takes up most of the space under the screen.
A central select button surrounded by four direction arrows glows out from behind the black casing when the slider is opened or the phone activated, delightfully fading again when the phone goes into standby mode.
These buttons work conventionally to navigate around menus, albeit requiring light touching rather than pressing. They each also do typical phone shortcuts for calling up features, including text messaging, contacts, ringer profiles and a quick menu grid (you can select up to nine apps or functions for fast-touch access).

Other buttons include two regular softkeys, a button that shows active features as icons on a toolbar, and a widgets key.
This key pulls up five mini apps you can scroll between on screen, wherever you are in the menus. Functions include an alarm clock, memo writer, calendar, favourite contacts list and an online-based weather forecast app you can define for your preferred location.
A light finger glide is all you need to use the controls, like stroking a mobile phone version of a duckling. Dabbing around the menus is similarly effortless, although the sensitivity of the controls to even the merest of touches can cause accuracy issues if you're not handling it carefully.
A stray thumb or finger brushing the pad (generally your own) can accidentally activate a shortcut or the select button.
It's not particularly troublesome in most features but has potential for irritation in some, such as if you accidentally select send while composing a text.
LG has included touch activated volume/zoom controls around the BL20's side, plus a camera key and a screen lock button.

A single microUSB socket on the side takes care of charging, PC data connections and earphones; there's no standard 3.5mm headphone socket on the phone (boo), though an adaptor is provided in-box (slightly quieter boos).
The sprung slider mechanism revealing the number pad feels sufficiently robust. The pad itself provides large keys with plenty of finger room, and despite being flush against the surface are very responsive for fast, accurate texting. The metallic red finish is arresting too.

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Review: Acer Liquid S100

Fast processorSlim chassisVisual home screen bookmarksSpeedy internet browsingAwful battery lifeBuggy messaging systemConfusing contacts sortingConstantly crashing Android systemPage 1 of 13Acer Liquid S100: Overview, design and feel
By bringing the fastest Android phone on the planet to market, Acer has good reason to be proud of the Liquid S100. Packing a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and super hi-res screen, there's a lot to get excited about on this phone.
Acer might be a relative unknown in the mobile world, but that hasn't stopped it making an impression with first the Windows Mobile NeoTouch S200, and by bringing top-end specs and the Android OS, the Liquid S100 will be seen by some as even better.
But one constant problem with Acer phones from the past is that despite bringing some nice parts, they often fail to be anything more than average in general use. So can the Liquid change that?

The phone looks pretty basic out of the box, with a white plastic shell encasing a 3.5-inch screen, but with the large amount of plastic border around the display, it doesn't look anywhere near as big as the iPhone or Samsung H1.
The four touch-sensitive buttons at the bottom offer basic Android navigation, and the hieroglyph look is pretty neat.

The left of the phone houses the power/lock button, and the right has the volume and shutter buttons. Pressing the former is pretty easy one handed, but the chassis creaks a little from time to time.
Weirdly, Acer has decided to go for a miniUSB slot on the Liquid, which seems a little old fashioned. The slot is located on the bottom of the phone, and when charging, a little white battery indicator appears on the top of the chassis, next to the 3.5mm headphone jack, which was a neat touch.

The phone has a single speaker on the back, next to the camera, which is adequate but pumps out basic 'chav on a train' sound quality.
Pulling the battery cover off is a worrying experience – it seems digging your fingernails in at the top and pulling rather hard is the way to do it, and it feels very much like you're going to snap something off.
Overall, the feel of the phone is a little cheap – the plastic of the white chassis and silver buttons makes it feel a little toy-like.
In the box
Acer offers a simple range of accessories in the box – a miniUSB connection lead and separate charger are a nice touch, and the bundled ear phones are decent enough, doubling as a hands-free kit too (although without media control). We're still yet to learn how to use screen protectors on a mobile yet without adding a million bubbles to the screen, but you get a few of these in the box too.

There's also a 2GB microSD card, as well as an adaptor to turn it into a full SD card too. This is pivotal, as the phone won't save any media or photos to the 512MB inbuilt memory for some reason.
Page 1 of 13Acer Liquid S100: Overview, design and feel

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Review: Samsung Galaxy Portal i5700

Samsung, the famed Korean jack-of-all-technologies, is having another go at mastering the Android phone scene, after making a bit of a mess of it with last year's original Galaxy.

The i7500 Galaxy was a brave first attempt, but Samsung threw it away, alienating early adopters by not bothering to update the phone past its basic Android 1.5 operating system.

Seriously, there are petitions all over the place. Some men are still very angry about it all.

And now, learning from past mistakes, comes the Samsung Galaxy Portal - which looks pretty much identical and features... Android 1.5. Oh well. Let's give it a chance.

First impressions of the Portal are good. Nobody's going to be won over by black plastic in this day of hyper-alloy unibody combat cases and NASA-derived coatings, but at least the Portal feels solid - and the grippy, rubberised-effect of the back cover should minimise dropping/pavement catastrophes.

In fact, the Portal manages to be thicker and generally chunkier than last year's Galaxy, measuring 13.2mm thick compared to last year's model's 11.9mm.

The OLED screen of the previous Samsung Galaxy i7500 has been dumped, in favour of reliable old LCD technology - coming in at a thoroughly middle-of-the-road 3.2-inch in size.

It's bright and big enough, and if you haven't yet used a modern smartphone you'll be staggered by the HVGA resolution.

The phone's button layout is a slightly tweaked version of the original Galaxy's control array, which sees acres of the finest black plastic bent into a curved, yet unintelligible collection of icons you might expect to see on the command console of an alien space vessel.

You don't get a trackball or optical pad - directional controls are taken care of by a clickable d-pad reminiscent of old video game controllers.

But this is actually fine - text editing is much easier with a reliable, clicky button.

Moving the cursor back three characters to correct a typo in an important, what-time-is-dinner-related text message is much easier when you can simply BASH-BASH-BASH a button three times, rather than fiddle about scrolling a little wheel into position - or even worse, trying to poke the screen at the relevant point.

The screen is also impressive to use - capacitive tech means it's solid and glassy, and it's every bit as occasionally patchy as most other touchscreens out there.

You'll soon get used to pressing a bit harder around the edges. Even Apple hasn't mastered that yet with the iPhone.

The standard Android buttons are all present, but there's no explanation of what they do. The 'Menu' button doesn't say 'Menu' - all you get is an icon that looks a bit like a tray with an arrow on it.

The Home button is easy to comprehend thanks to the little house illustration on it, but we can't help but pity some poor old dad who's going to get given one of these as a free upgrade and be left utterly confused by it all.

The handset also feels very 'bottom heavy' - trying to press back or home while holding it in one hand is fiddly, and worse still is the unintelligible approach to button placement - there's thousands of them. Metaphorically.

You get a separate 'lock' button on the top-right edge of the case to wake it up and send it to sleep, a camera button on the bottom-right side, and the volume up/down clicker to the left - picking the Portal up without accidentally pressing something requires forceps and a very steady hand.

If only Samsung would bite the bullet and copy HTC's idea (like on the HTC Hero) of having the power buttons also acting as your screen lock - it'd then be possible to do away with at least one plasticky button, shaving fractions of a penny off the manufacturing cost, too.

At least there's a dedicated key for taking photos, which removes the utterly awful concept of operating a camera using a touchscreen button.

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Review: Sony Ericsson Vivaz

Premier partnerSamsung

Nice feel and ergonomic designCrisp LCD screenCamera easy to useHD video recordingEasy to set upComfortable level of customisationCan be slow and glitchyResistive screenPoor app selectionInternet settings never rememberedExtremely unintuitive screen lockPage 1 of 11Sony Ericsson Vivaz: Overview

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz is the HD-video-shooting successor to the Swedish-Japanese firm's flagship Satio model.

With an 8.1MP camera that can also record 720p HD video, it is designed to thrill YouTube-rs with its easy video upload features as well as the bundled 8GB memory card for ample storage.

The touchscreen phone has been ergonomically designed to fit the contours of the hand and with social networking and multi-media features galore, the Sony Ericsson Vivaz is set to give the likes of the Nokia X6 and the LG InTouch Max GW620 a run for their money.

The handset itself has been ergonomically designed and does feel really nice to hold.

Also read:15 best mobile phones in the world today

The curve of the back fits nicely into the palm and although it's a light handset, the Sony Ericsson Vivaz doesn't feel insubstantial. It has an abundance of very smooth surfaces, so we did find we dropped it quite a few times.

Aside from the LCD display, the handset is very plastic-heavy and does leave something to be desired in the design department.

Available in four different colour combinations, we tested the Sony Ericsson Vivaz Moon Silver with silver back panel with dark blue sides.

The touchscreen is resistive, unfortunately, but it's probably one of the best we've seen and gives the LG InTouch Max GW620 a run for its money.

Although it's not as smooth or accommodating as the capacitive screens found on handsets like the iPhone and HTC Legend, it is still quite responsive and swiping through menus doesn't require much pressure on the screen.

There is a sensible number of buttons on the Sony Ericsson Vivaz. The call, end and menu buttons are on the front of the handset, with volume/zoom and two camera buttons on the right side panel, and power/lock on the top.

However, the latter can be a little fiddly to hit when holding the Vivaz in one hand, with some juggling needed - this means you run the risk of dropping it.

We're glad to see a 3.5mm headphone jack and microUSB port, given Sony Ericsson's previous love for its proprietary Fast Port connector instead of a basic headphone socket.

In the box

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz comes with the basics – a plug, separate USB to microUSB cable to connect to the plug or to your PC, a pair of Sony Ericsson headphones and a standalone stylus.

The headphones don't come with sponge ear buds, nor in-ear fittings to accommodate different sized ears, but do double as a handsfree kit thanks to the built-in microphone.

Given the HD recording function of the handset, Sony Ericsson has also seen fit to include an 8GB microSD card - we would have preferred some inbuilt storage too, but at least this is a generous addition.

Page 1 of 11Sony Ericsson Vivaz: Overview

See more mobile phones Model, Tariff & OfferMins & TextsHandset costContract lengthMonthly costAvailable from Sony Ericsson Vivaz

Ultimate Internet

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24 months

Sony Ericsson Vivaz

Ultimate Internet

1000 free minutes

5000 free texts

Unlimited internet usage

24 months

Sony Ericsson Vivaz

Ultimate Internet

500 free minutes

5000 free texts

Unlimited internet usage

24 months

Sony Ericsson Vivaz

Ultimate Internet

1000 free minutes

5000 free texts

Unlimited internet usage

24 months

Sony Ericsson Vivaz

Ultimate Internet

500 free minutes

5000 free texts

Unlimited internet usage

24 months

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