Apps revolutionized the things that
we do on our phone… this year we’re giddy about the hardware smarts that take
its power to the next level
4k And Console-Quality Gaming
Nvidia may have its own handheld console
(above, and see p14) but its new Tegra 4 chip will also pop up in plenty of
phones before long. It has six times the oomph of Tegra 3, plus support for 4K
movies too. Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 800 chip is similarly meaty, with enough
grunts to power a 55MP camera, process 7.1 audio and pump out 4K video.
Nvidia
may have its own handheld console (above, and see p14) but its new Tegra 4 chip
will also pop up in plenty of phones before long.
Wireless Charging
Wireless charging didn’t send cables the
way of the Broad-faced Potoroo, but its use in Nokia’s Lumia 920 is the start
of the uptake. Qualcomm and Intel plan to bring the tech to their gadgets,
while Apple has filed a patent for Near Field Magnetic Resonance, which works
over up to 1m. The makers of WiTricity - an existing system which works on the
same principle – might have a thing or two to say about that, though.
Wireless
charging didn’t send cables the way of the Broad-faced Potoroo, but its use in
Nokia’s Lumia 920 is the start of the uptake.
Higher-Than-Hi-Res Screens
The phone once known as the Droid DNA will
likely emerge on this side of the pond as the HTC Butterfly and what a
beautiful butterfly it is. HTC’s squeezed a full HD 1080p display into the
phone’s 5in screen, giving it a whopping 440PPI. It won’t be the last, either.
We’re on the eve of a ‘density arms race’ to see who can squeeze the most dots
into a slab of LCD. Sony and ZTE are hot on its heels.
HTC’s
squeezed a full HD 1080p display into the phone’s 5in screen, giving it a
whopping 440PPI.
Ar Gaming
Waving your mobile around to find the
nearest Cafe Nerbucks might sate your caffeine craving, but it’s not reason
enough to drop $900 on a phone. But what if you could use it to throw cupcakes
at an AR beaver wearing a strap-on shark fin? It’d change everything. The
latest game for the iOS-controlled Sphero robotic ball ($150, gosphero.com)
uses AR to turn the sphere into a cupcake-loving semi- aquatic rodent called
Sharky. Totally worth it.
But
what if you could use it to throw cupcakes at an AR beaver wearing a strap-on
shark fin?
The Internet Of Things
The internet isn’t on the internet anymore.
It’s in your everything and your mobile is the control hub. Get a Belkin WeMo
Netcam (belkin.com) and you can see if there’s someone in your house. Or get
the motion sensor kit ($120) and use it with If This Then That (ifttt.com) to automate
your gaff. Also Google “Ninja Blocks” and “Twine” for inexpensive trinkets to
power up your life.
Get
a Belkin WeMo Netcam and you can see if there’s someone in your house.
NFC
NFC might not be the newest thing you’ll
find inside your phone but until recently it’s been about as useful as a bike
helmet made of uranium. With more accessories toting the wireless tech and cheap,
customizable tags readily available, it’s finally starting to get
useful...FOUND IN: Samsung Galaxy S III, HTC One X, Google Nexus 4/7, Sony
Xperia S, Nokia Lumia 920, etc…
NFC
might not be the newest thing you’ll find inside your phone but until recently
it’s been about as useful as a bike helmet made of uranium.
Sony Xperia Z
Price: $795
With a screen that’s just 0.2in bigger than
a Samsung Galaxy S III, the Xperia Z only just qualifies as a phablet but when
it’s capable of showing 1920x1080 video on a 440ppi screen, you realize that
size isn’t everything. On the back you’ll find a 13MP camera, while a quad-core
Snapdragon processor and 2GB RAM keep it purring along very nicely.
With
a screen that’s just 0.2in bigger than a Samsung Galaxy S III, the Xperia Z
only just qualifies as a phablet
Samsung Galaxy Note II
Price: $795
Website: samsung.com
Samsung’s Note didn’t invent the phablet
(that honor goes to Dell’s 5.3in Streak in 2010, even if it hardly set the
world alight) but the Note II is the category’s biggest hit so far. With its
stylus you could be forgiven for thinking the Note II was a throwback to the
PDAs of yesteryear but the ‘S Pen’ does help you get the most from the screen.
Samsung
Galaxy Note II
Huawei Ascend Mate
Only the large of trouser should try to
make Huawei’s whopping 6.1in Ascend Mate their everyday mobile: but if screen
real estate is what you’re after, you’ll have trouble seeing past it (almost
literally). For its size the 720p screen is slightly disappointing, but the
huge 4050mAh battery should keep it going all day.
For
its size the 720p screen is slightly disappointing, but the huge 4050mAh
battery should keep it going all day.
