To some, the terms “high performance” and “fuel efficient” might seem oxymoronic when applied to sports cars, but that’s not necessaril...
OnePlus X First Look: How Good Can a $250 Smartphone Be?
News flash: smartphones are expensive. Market leaders like the iPhone 6s start at $650, and even relatively low-cost handsets like Googl...
Toyota Auto Body Alphard Hercule Concept
Toyota Auto Body Alphard Hercule Concept If vans have a reputation for being land yachts, why not make one into a literal rolling boat fo...
The 9 most sought-after tablets of 2014
This holiday season will see the sales of tablets soaring as most families are expected to buy the gadget as a gift. Amazon Fire HD : T...
How to Set Up Your Sweet New iPad
How to Set Up Your Sweet New iPad Whoa! You got a new iPad for [insert religious/secular observance here]? That’s awesome! Have yo...
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Sunday 8 November 2015
Fast And Frugal: 15 Quickest Sports Cars With The Best Fuel Economy
To some, the terms “high performance” and “fuel efficient” might seem oxymoronic when applied to sports cars, but that’s not necessarily the case.
Sure, some of the quickest cars on the planet get dismal fuel economy, like the 691-horsepower Lamborghini Aventador Roadster that’s rated at just 12 mpg in combined city/highway driving and roars to 60 mph in just 3.1 seconds. On the other hand, a base Porsche 911 Carrera that gets to 60 in a sufficiently swift 4.6 seconds and is rated at a combined city/highway 28 mpg, which is equivalent to what a far more passive compact crossover SUV attains these days.
We combed through the Environmental Protection Agency’s posted fuel economy ratings and compared them against the published acceleration times for all makes and models to identify 15 sports cars that can leap from 0-60 mph in less than six seconds, yet maintain a combined city/highway rating of 20 mpg or better.
1. Alfa Romeo 4C
Like all the cars presented in this slide show, the Alfa Romeo 4C is estimated to attain 20 mpg or better in city/highway combined driving, yet can reach 60 mph from a standing start in under six seconds. 4C: 24/34/28 mpg city/highway/combined; 0-60 mph in 5.3 seconds; MSRP (2015) $53,900.
2. Audi S5
18/28/21 mpg city/highway/combined; 0-60 mph in 5.2 seconds; MSRP $53,100.
Sunday 1 November 2015
OnePlus X First Look: How Good Can a $250 Smartphone Be?
News flash: smartphones are expensive. Market leaders like the iPhone 6s start at $650, and even relatively low-cost handsets like Google’s new Nexus 5X will set you back a not insignificant $380.
That’s where the new OnePlus X comes in. Starting at $250, this handset is designed to provide you with the kind of performance you’d expect out of more expensive phones at a ridiculously low price.
According to OnePlus, the X will be available in two different styles. One features a polished black glass rear panel, while the other gets a hardened ceramic panel. Both phones are built around aluminum frames to give them a more premium feel.
Watch More: Google Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X Review: Google’s Best Smartphones Yet
The OnePlus X has a one major similarity to the pricier OnePlus Two ($329), which is the special Alert Slider found on the X’s left side. By moving the slider you can switch between receiving all notifications, receiving priority notifications, or silencing all notifications.
To lower the cost of the OnePlus X, however, OnePlus has a omitted a slew of the OnePlus Two’s features. First, the phone’s screen is smaller —5 inches versus 5.5 — than its more expensive sibling’s. The OnePlus X also lacks a fingerprint scanner and doesn’t include a USB Type-C connector; the OnePlus Two has both.
Still, the OnePlus X is no slouch. That AMOLED display, while relatively small, still offers a 1920-by-1080 resolution, which means images should be colorful and sharp. The handset also gets a 13-megapixel rear camera, as well as an 8-megapixel front camera, which is a slight step up from the OnePlus Two’s 5-megapixel front camera.
Inside, the OnePlus X features a 4-core processor and 3 GB of RAM. Onboard storage is limited to 16 GB, though a microSD card slot means you can increase the phone’s memory by an extra 128 GB.
The OnePlus Two, on the other hand, gets a more powerful 8-core processor with 3 GB or 4 GB of RAM, which means the older OnePlus Two will be faster than OnePlus X. The One Plus Two also gets your choice of 16 GB or 64 GB of onboard storage. Unfortunately, the phone doesn’t include a microSD card reader, so you can’t increase the phone’s storage space.
Like the OnePlus Two, the OnePlus X runs on a modified version of Google’s Android OS that the company calls its Oxygen OS. That means you’ll still be able to run your favorite Android apps on the phone, but will get features and updates specific to OnePlus.
Watch More About: One Plus X
Friday 30 October 2015
Toyota Auto Body Alphard Hercule Concept
Toyota Auto Body Alphard Hercule Concept
If vans have a reputation for being land yachts, why not make one into a literal rolling boat for the wealthy? The Alphard Hercule from Toyota Auto Body (a Toyota subsidiary) offers a yacht-rock take on the family hauler. From the cowcatcher grille to the folding canvas roof to the wraparound bench seats and crystal champagne flutes, the Hercule comes off as a minivan for Lex Luthor’s kids.
If vans have a reputation for being land yachts, why not make one into a literal rolling boat for the wealthy? The Alphard Hercule from Toyota Auto Body (a Toyota subsidiary) offers a yacht-rock take on the family hauler. From the cowcatcher grille to the folding canvas roof to the wraparound bench seats and crystal champagne flutes, the Hercule comes off as a minivan for Lex Luthor’s kids.
Two years ago, Honda showed off the “Omni Traction Drive,” a wheel with special bands that could allow a vehicle to move sideways. The Honda Wander Stand envisions how Honda could put such an idea to use in the cramped alleys of Tokyo, with a two-seat self-driving vehicle that can scamper diagonally and park itself in tiny corners.
Several new cars have vanes that open or close at speed to improve aerodynamics, but what if a car could change its entire shape? Hence the Flesby, a project by Toyota satellite supplier Toyota Gosei that features several green air bags in place of bodywork. Depending on the driving situation, the bags change shape to look sportier or sleeker, like a Transformer made of Play-Doh.
A quarter of Japan’s population is 65 or older, and the Tokyo show had a whole section devoted to personal scooters and powered wheelchairs. The Daihatsu Norioriwas designed to haul all those mobility solutions around, thanks to huge side doors, a sliding ramp, minimal ground clearance and self-driving features.
“Noriori” is Japanese for “getting on and off.” Inside the van-let, the seats fold away so that wheelchairs can be parked in place.
No automaker has ever recaptured the magic of the original Volkswagen bus, but the Suzuki Air Triser comes close. With a two-tone paint and airy cabin that can be reconfigured, the Air Triser was one of the few concepts that had some grounding in reality.
When parked, the seats of the Air Triser can be folded several ways, like this near-camper effect.
All of the autonomous driving vehicles unveiled by automakers in Tokyo lacked two things: menace, and a robot body. Into that gap rushed Yamaha, which revealed the Motobot, a robot it says it’s developing to ride any given sport bike up to 124 mph on a racetrack. No word on when automakers would give their self-driving car systems the power to feel jealous.
Every auto show has a few obsessive answers to the question of “how do we get today’s tech-obsessed youth interested in cars?” Nissan’s exploration was called the Teatro For Dayz, and imagines a world where “share natives” expect to post every moment to social media
The Teatro For Dayz uses several projectors to cover the interior of the vehicle in video, patterns and incoming Snapchats. Of course, all of this overwhelms the actual act of driving, which the car takes care of on its own. Given today’s trends, Nissan may have a point.
Of all the concepts at the Tokyo show, the Kikai was the sole representative of the spirit of hot-rodding. In some angles it looked like a moon buggy, in others there were hints of Ford hi-boy roadsters. While other concepts overflowed with tech, the Kikai doesn’t even have a radio
Toyota said the Kikai was designed to show off the engineering usually hidden by bodywork. It seats three with the driver in the center—a move that was especially refreshing at this Tokyo show. The next Tokyo show two years from now will have even more robotic, high-tech creations; one only hopes there’s still room for the machines meant to make driving exciting.
Friday 6 February 2015
The 9 most sought-after tablets of 2014
This holiday season will see the sales of tablets soaring as most families are expected to buy the gadget as a gift.
Amazon Fire HD: The perfect budget device for those that want to browse and consume rather than get overly creative or productive. Amazon’s tablets are getting better every year and, at $99, even though you’ll be locked into Amazon’s smaller ecosystem of apps and services and the fact that the screen is just 6 high definition inches in size, the Fire HD 6 is hard to beat in terms of price and performance.
The Nexus 9: This is the best Nexus tablet ever built which means it’s also one of the best Android tablets ever created. Its squarer screen makes it better than past devices for multitasking and for doing things other than watching films and the build quality and attention to detail are also a serious step up. It’s also incredibly fast thanks to a phenomenal processor. The only criticism is that there’s no SD card expansion slot.
New Lenovo YOGA Tablet 2 Pro: Developed with help from US actor Ashton Kutcher, the Lenovo is as focused on entertainment as much as working on the fly. It actually has a 'hang’ setting which means the device can be fixed to a wall like a small TV so that everyone can see the 1-inch QHD screen. What’s more it also has an integrated projector for creating a mini cinema. It’s also the world’s first tablet with an integrated subwoofer for better sound.
The Microsoft Surface Pro 3: It’s third time lucky for the Surface Pro. The latest version comes the closest yet to really combining all of the best elements of a notebook with those of a tablet. It’s phenomenally well made and can run desktop applications. The pen input brings an extra dimension to design and graphics work. But that flexibility comes at a premium – the entry-level model is over $700 and comes with some limitations, it can only run Windows apps
Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2: Like the Surface Pro 3, this huge 12-inch plus Samsung tablet takes productivity to another level thanks to all of that screen space. However, it’s an Android tablet so has access to pretty much every app out there as well as Samsung’s own growing ecosystem of apps and services. The only problem is build quality, it’s a bit plastic.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5: This device, available with an 8.4-inch or 10.5-inch screen, has one of the best displays found on any tablet made by any company and under that AMOLED screen everything else is equally high-specification. So much so that if it weren’t for the lack of attention to design and choice of construction materials, it really would give the iPad Air a run for its money.
The iPad Air 2: The original iPad Air, launched last year, was hands down the best full-sized tablet money could buy and the new model extends the gap between it and everything else even further. It has a reflective coating on its screen to make it easier to use outdoors and it also gets a biometric fingerprint sensor for extra security and for making online payments. And at 437g it is also one of the lightest and (6.1mm) thinnest tablets on the market as well as being ultra powerful
Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet: The only tablet here that’s waterproof, it is probably the best Android tablet that Sony has ever built. Despite a 10.1-inch screen and a pretty large bezel, it only weighs 426g. The company has paid as much attention to how it looks as to how it performs and so it feels like a quality product and one worth the price tag even if the display isn’t quite as impressive as those on Samsung or Apple tablets.
iPad Mini 3: Like its bigger brother, the iPad Mini is in a class of its own. If you are looking for a premium quality tablet where the only compromise is on size then there really isn’t anything on the market that can compete. It has a 64-bit processor, a great 7.9-inch Retina display and an integrated fingerprint scanner for extra security and online payments.
Amazon Fire HD: The perfect budget device for those that want to browse and consume rather than get overly creative or productive. Amazon’s tablets are getting better every year and, at $99, even though you’ll be locked into Amazon’s smaller ecosystem of apps and services and the fact that the screen is just 6 high definition inches in size, the Fire HD 6 is hard to beat in terms of price and performance.
The Nexus 9: This is the best Nexus tablet ever built which means it’s also one of the best Android tablets ever created. Its squarer screen makes it better than past devices for multitasking and for doing things other than watching films and the build quality and attention to detail are also a serious step up. It’s also incredibly fast thanks to a phenomenal processor. The only criticism is that there’s no SD card expansion slot.
New Lenovo YOGA Tablet 2 Pro: Developed with help from US actor Ashton Kutcher, the Lenovo is as focused on entertainment as much as working on the fly. It actually has a 'hang’ setting which means the device can be fixed to a wall like a small TV so that everyone can see the 1-inch QHD screen. What’s more it also has an integrated projector for creating a mini cinema. It’s also the world’s first tablet with an integrated subwoofer for better sound.
The Microsoft Surface Pro 3: It’s third time lucky for the Surface Pro. The latest version comes the closest yet to really combining all of the best elements of a notebook with those of a tablet. It’s phenomenally well made and can run desktop applications. The pen input brings an extra dimension to design and graphics work. But that flexibility comes at a premium – the entry-level model is over $700 and comes with some limitations, it can only run Windows apps
Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2: Like the Surface Pro 3, this huge 12-inch plus Samsung tablet takes productivity to another level thanks to all of that screen space. However, it’s an Android tablet so has access to pretty much every app out there as well as Samsung’s own growing ecosystem of apps and services. The only problem is build quality, it’s a bit plastic.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5: This device, available with an 8.4-inch or 10.5-inch screen, has one of the best displays found on any tablet made by any company and under that AMOLED screen everything else is equally high-specification. So much so that if it weren’t for the lack of attention to design and choice of construction materials, it really would give the iPad Air a run for its money.
The iPad Air 2: The original iPad Air, launched last year, was hands down the best full-sized tablet money could buy and the new model extends the gap between it and everything else even further. It has a reflective coating on its screen to make it easier to use outdoors and it also gets a biometric fingerprint sensor for extra security and for making online payments. And at 437g it is also one of the lightest and (6.1mm) thinnest tablets on the market as well as being ultra powerful
Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet: The only tablet here that’s waterproof, it is probably the best Android tablet that Sony has ever built. Despite a 10.1-inch screen and a pretty large bezel, it only weighs 426g. The company has paid as much attention to how it looks as to how it performs and so it feels like a quality product and one worth the price tag even if the display isn’t quite as impressive as those on Samsung or Apple tablets.
iPad Mini 3: Like its bigger brother, the iPad Mini is in a class of its own. If you are looking for a premium quality tablet where the only compromise is on size then there really isn’t anything on the market that can compete. It has a 64-bit processor, a great 7.9-inch Retina display and an integrated fingerprint scanner for extra security and online payments.
Sunday 18 January 2015
How to Set Up Your Sweet New iPad
How to Set Up Your Sweet New iPad
Whoa! You got a new iPad for [insert religious/secular observance here]? That’s awesome! Have you set it up yet? No? Why not?
Oh, you need some help? No worries; that’s kind of our thing here. So go grab your iPad (Air or mini, it doesn’t matter) and let’s rock.
Getting started
1. Power it up.Once you unwrap your iPad, and breathe in the wonderful scent of fresh electronics, the next thing you’ll want to do is to give your new best friend life. To do that, you’ll have to find the power button on the iPad’s top edge.
Hold the button down for a few seconds until the tablet’s screen lights up with the Apple logo. Don’t get too excited, though; we’ve still got a few more steps ahead of us before your iPad is ready to go.
2. The setup.First things first: Let’s configure your iPad. When the onscreen Apple logo disappears, you’ll be greeted by a screen that says “Hello” in a variety of languages. Swipe from left to right, and we can get started.
On the next few pages, you’ll be asked to select your language and country. Next, you’ll want to select your Wi-Fi network.
Up next, Location Services. If you’re going to be doing things like checking the weather in your area, or using Apple Maps, then Location Services is worth turning on. If not, keep it switched off, as it will put a serious drain on your iPad’s battery.
Next you’ll be asked if you want to set up your iPad as a new iPad, or if you want to restore it from an iCloud or iTunes backup. If this is your first iPad, then go with New iPad.
If this is a replacement for an older iPad, then you can restore it with an iCloud or iTunes backup to automatically load all your previously purchased content and personal data onto your new iPad.
3. Using Apple ID.Let’s talk Apple ID. If you’ve used an Apple product before, chances are you already have one of these. It’s the username and password combination you use to purchase things from the iTunes and App stores. If you have one, just tap Sign In with Your Apple ID so you can use your existing account on your new iPad.
Don’t have an Apple ID? Then you’ll want to tap Create a Free Apple ID and follow the instructions on the following pages to make one.
4. iCloud and Find My iPad.Next up, iCloud. Apple’s iCloud lets you save your photos, contacts, music, and other data to the cloud, so that it’s accessible on all your other Apple devices, as well as your Windows PC. Most people will want to enable this feature.
When you enable iCloud, you also automatically turn on Apple’s Find My iPad feature, which can help you locate your tablet if you misplaced it or it’s stolen. If your iPad is pilfered, Find My iPad will also let you lock it and erase it remotely. You definitely want this turned on.
5. Securing your iPad.Passcode and Touch ID are up next. Both features provide you with a means to lock your iPad without anyone else getting in. Passcode is a simple four-digit code that you enter on the iPad’s lock screen to gain access to the slate.
Touch ID is the fingerprint reader built into the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3’s Home buttons. But Touch ID isn’t just about locking down your tablet. It can also be used to make secure online purchases.
If you got an Air 2 or mini 3, you’ll definitely want to set up Touch ID. To do so, you’ll have to press the finger you want to register on the Home button multiple times at a variety of angles until the iPad is able to easily read it.
Don’t have an Air 2 or mini 3? Then set up a passcode to secure your iPad.
The next few pages will ask if you want to use Apple’s Siri voice assistant and if you want to send diagnostic information about the iPad to Apple and analytics to app developers to help them improve their apps. Make your selections, and you’re all set to use your new iPad.
Some quick housekeepingOnce your iPad is ready to go, there are a few things you’ll want to know how to use. The first is the Control Center, which is accessible by swiping one finger up from the bottom of the screen toward the top.
From here, you can quickly toggle your iPad’s Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Airplane mode, and Do Not Disturb mode. You can also adjust the screen brightness and volume, as well as control music playback and open the Camera app.
If you’re worried about your iPad’s battery life, it’s important to remember that the brighter the screen, the more power it will use. What’s more, if you aren’t using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or Location settings, then it’s best to switch them off, as they will all leech your battery’s power. All of that can be accomplished from the Control Center.
Beyond Control Center, you’ll also want to know how to use the Notifications Center. Accessible by swiping down from the top of the iPad’s home screen, Notifications Center is home to all your app notifications.
From here you can see who’s been messaging you on Facebook and Twitter, as well as check the day’s schedule. And, with iOS 8, you can add app widgets to the Notifications Center that provide you with a snapshot of your favorite apps.
That’s about all you need to know to get started. Want to know more about your sweet new tablet? Check out our guide to iOS 8, and don’t forget to check out our favorite iPad apps for some suggestions on what to download.
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