LG’s flagship smartphone hasn’t even landed in Australia but the company is already working on a Full HD followup.
Tony Ibrahim
FBI Raid Anonymous Members, Arrest 14
Last night the Federal Bureau of Investigation launched collaborated raids throughout different US states and arrested at least 14 people suspected of being members of the hacking-activist group Anonymous.
Arrests were made in Florida, California and New Jersey, with computers and equipment also being confiscated in New York with the procurement of 35 search warrants.
Other Anonymous members have been raided in Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey, with more than 30 people linked to the group being arrested, reported the Guardian.
With ‘hacktivists’ joining together under the Anonymous name, government organisations and national security departments have had the security systems of their websites compromised, at times leaking private information to the public.
The hacking organisation rallied behind WikiLeaks founder Julian Asange after various companies severed ties and stoped donating, making it difficult for Asange to raise the money needed for the WikiLeaks operation. In retaliation, Anonymous attacked the websites of donators MasterCard, Visa and Paypal in protest, believing that Asange’s WikiLeaks operation promoted freedom of information: an ideal at the very core of their efforts.
The next hacking gig was a step up for some of its group members, attacking the CIA, Sony’s PSN, Fox News and the Arizona Department of Corrections, with the latter an angry response to their little tolerance of illegal immigrants.
The cyber-terrorists claim responsibility for their attacks through their twitter account, boasting of their successful online conquers.
Despite using various forms of hacking, Anonymous do have a common method known as a “distributed denial of service.” It is an illegal form of hacking that involves the creating of a computer network, which is bombarded by information requests, eventually overwhelming the server with traffic crippling it, or even causing it to crash.
Read: Hacktivist Group Anonymous Targets Google+ And Facebook here
The arrests come days after the announcement Anonymous is planning to launch its own social network in retaliation to Google banning several of its members from its Google+ social network, and even its Gmail service. Their take on the social network promotes uncensored and safe disclosure of information.
AirPlay For All: Onkyo Modernises Legacy Receivers
Onkyo is bringing AirPlay wireless music playback from Apple’s devices to older receivers with their new gadget.
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It can connect to home networks by jumping on a WiFi connection or through a direct Ethernet connection. Alternatively, it can be plugged in directly to a receiver’s DAC, connected through analogue stereo and video component connections.
Onkyo deserves credit for releasing a device that equips legacy receivers with current technology, as most companies would rather drive sales through upgrades at the consumer’s expense.
Onkyo’s DS-A5 will be available from retailers in October with a $199 recommended retail price.
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Review: Pioneer’s Wireless Speaker Is A Wonderful Glimpse Into Future Sound
Pioneer is entering the modular speaker market with their wireless XW-SMA range. On paper, these speakers impress with their varied connectivity options, but has Pioneer covered all their bases at the expense of sound quality? To find out, we tested the company’s introductory XW-SMA1.
New Plantronics Bluetooth Holds Charge For 5 Months
Plantronics has launched two new Bluetooth headsets that can hold charge for five months.
Plantronics’ M25 and M55 Bluetooth headsets put to work DeepSleep technology in order to hold battery life for an impressive 5 months. DeepSleep technology is activated when the paired phone has been out of the headset’s range for 90 minutes, and can be reactivated by simply pressing the call button.
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Plantronics’ National Sale Manager Peter Petrides said “the M25 and M55 are quite simply the easiest headsets to use if you’re transitioning from wired to a wireless and don’t want to be charging your headset all the time.
“We understand it can be inconvenient at times, having to remember to charge so many devices, and for a novice user, the built-in intelligence surrounding power-management makes the M25 and M55 headsets ready and charged when you are.”
The M25 and M55 are available now for $49 and $69 respectively. Following is the spec sheet as detailed by Plantronics.
M25 and M55 Benefits:
? DeepSleep mode that extends battery life for up to five months
? Voice Alerts that whisper talk time, battery level, and more
? Lightweight, compact design, weighing 8 grams
? A2DP, wideband and multipoint technologies
? Digital noise reduction for improved call quality and built-in echo cancelling
? Up to 11 hours of talk time, 16 hours of standby or 150 days in DeepSleep hibernation mode app for a battery headset meter
How The New Budget Affects Businesses: Commbank
Less than 24 hours after Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan release 2012’s budget, the Commonwealth Bank has introduced a micro-site that educates businesses on how the changes affect them.
The site houses reports and videos characterised by “in-depth coverage and valuable insights,” acting as a forum populated by Commonwealth Bank’s analysts.
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Treasurer Wayne Swan released 2012’s budget yesterday. If adhered to, there will be a $1.5 billion surplus (0.1% of Australia’s GDP) for the 2012/2013 financial year, with further budgetary surpluses expected for the following four years.
If achieved, it will be the largest single-year recovery to the budget’s bottom line since 1952/1953.
“This is a clever budget, but it is by no means a horror budget,” said Savanth Sebastian, Economist at CommSec.
“The government has been able to achieve a surplus through policy decisions, which will see an increase to the budget bottom line of $5.8 billion in 2012/13.”
The budget details a few changes to superannuation concessions, with high income earners no longer receiving tax breaks and individuals over 50 with super balances below $500,000 benefitting from higher concessional contributions.
Savings are being skimmed from changes to living away from home allowances eligible to some workers, an $8 increase in departure tax when travelling overseas and a drop in the number of duty free cigarettes travellers are allowed to bring into the country – from 250 to 50 – ultimately lifting government revenue.
“Mr Swan has delivered on his promise to restore the budget to surplus, which will help to reduce the pressure of the mining boom and provide protection to the Australian economy if there are further shocks in the global economy,” concluded Sebastian.
Review: There’s A Lot Of Nexus In The Motorola Razr V
It was almost a year ago Motorola wowed audiences with its out-of-no-where flagship, the Motorola Razr. At 7.1mm, it managed to be insanely thin, all the while retaining features akin to thicker rivals.
Now Motorola has released a junior version of the Razr, cramming all of the best bits into a significantly cheaper price range.
The next generation Razr is called the Razr V. At 8.4mm, it’s marginally thicker, but at 128.5mm tall, it’s also a fair bit shorter. Although the shift in proportions renders the Razr V comfortable in the hand, it does tax some of the ‘Wow’ factor found in the original.
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Besides thickness, the Kevlar back, gorilla glass screen and top-heavy form factor does leave it resembling the previous Razr.
The screen is the same 4.3 inch qHD recipe served in the original, but whereas the Razr relies on capacitive keys for input, the Razr V has none of that, turning instead to the software keys popularised by Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus.
Inside is the same dual core 1.2GHz processor and 1GB of RAM combo; however, they’re joined by a discounted 8GB of internal memory. If that’s not enough, the Razr V can take a micro SD memory card.
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Where the Motorola Razr V comes into its own is its software. Recently Google acquired Motorola Mobility, and although they vowed to leave operations to Motorola, their influence is evident throughout the Razr V’s menu. Rather than bogging the Android software down with its own custom skin, the menu adopts the standard Nexus dressing and, as a result, the phone feels spirited, zipping through instructions and masking them in eloquent transitions.
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| The gallery features a thumbnail ribbon familiar to stock Android |
This neutral approach is so pervasive that the neutral blue background used for the predecessor’s gallery and music player has been ditched and replaced with the stock-standard Android affair. A few worth-while custom apps are the only sign that Motorola has tinkered with the software.
If you fancy this a criticism, think again. The original software is clean, fast and exceptionally versatile. The only reason manufacturers turn to their own custom skin is to differentiate themselves from the slew, and Motorola’s opting to use stock Google is a case of it valuing the customer over its own pride.
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| It might be the default Android music player, but it’s still incredibly versatile |
One area Motorola believes its own personal touch could be valued is with the camera. The interface used by its 8MP camera is reminiscent of the previous Motorola Razr and features various tints, in addition to burst and panoramic modes. The panoramic mode is particularly impressive as it stiches images according to the vertical and horizontal plane.
The Razr V will record videos in Full HD (1080p). These videos can be coloured with any one of the tints available for still images and apply either stereo, concert or wind reduction audio profiles.
As an inexpensive smartphone, the Razr V proves to be a worthwhile buy. It might not be the most attractive option, but it has the right hardware and even better software, and these critical elements will deliver a great user experience.
Denon’s New Receiver Range Is All ‘Content Content Content’
Denon has just launched a new range of receivers that focusses on simply delivering content.
Headlining the range is Denon’s AVR-2113 (7.1 channels), followed by the AVR-1713 (5.1 channels) and the AVR-1513 (5.1 channels).
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Before Denon started work on the new range, they asked themselves “What do today’s consumers want?” The answer: “content, content, content.”
Recognising a receiver is meant to make consuming content easy, they placed a USB and HDMI port on the front panel to streamline the sharing of content between smartphones, tablets, cameras and other compatible devices. They’ve also imbued them with webcentric sensibilities as they intuitively manage content from popular internet sources.
The receivers communicate with Apple devices fluently, employing an iOS compatible dock (iPhone, iPod touch and iPad) and Apple’s wireless AirPlay technology.
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Before you think Denon has thrown quality on the backburner, rest assured, the company has put to work superior hardware and software to ensure audio is clear, bodied and vibrant.
All receivers feature an efficient and straightforward short signal path circuit design that minimises signal degradation due to interference, ultimately ensuring optimal audio and video playback.
Denon’s 2113 and 1713 feature Audyssey MultEQ XT audio technologies which offers real time volume adjustment, and Audyssey’s Dynamic EQ to improve a system’s surround sound at low volumes.
These new receivers also feature Denon’s onscreen setup assistant, which aids in speaker set up, calibration, source setup and network configuration.
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The AVR-2113 (RRP$999), AVR-1713 ($699) and the AVR-1513 ($499) are available now.
A more detailed breakdown of each receiver’s feature set follows as per Denon’s press release.
7.1-Channel AVR-2113
95 watts x 7- 8? – 20Hz – 20kHz @ 0.08% THD, 6 HDMI Inputs, Analogue to HDMI Conversion,4K Video Pass Through and 4K Video Scaling, Full Network package including Internet radio, Spotify, AirPlay, DLNA and APP control form both iOS and Android devices plus Multi Zone
5.1-Channel AVR-1713
80 watts x 5 – 8? – 20Hz – 20kHz @ 0.08% THD, 5 HDMI Inputs, Audyssey MultEQ XT, Full Network package including AirPlay, DLNA, Internet Radio and APP control from both iOS and Android
5.1-Channel AVR-1513
75 watts x 5 – 8? – 20Hz – 20kHz @ 0.08% THD, 4 HDMI Inputs (1 Front), 3D Passthrough, GUI with Overlay, Discrete Amplification,
Is Google Really Asking YouTubers To Be Accountable, Or To Sign Up To Google+?
Google is asking YouTubers to leave comments under their real name, which will be linked to their Google+ account.
BenQ Launches A Projector World-First
BenQ is looking to go from the World #2 projector company to the World’s best with the launch of two innovative new projectors, the W1080ST and the W1070.
The W1080ST is the first 3D, Full HD short-throw video projector to be released anywhere in the world. It produces a 65 inch display from just a metre away and, as a result, can adapt to any room’s layout, size and ambient lighting.
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BenQ’s General Manager, Chee F. Chung, praised the W1080ST’s innovative feature set.
“The W1080ST home entertainment projector is an exciting release for us because it is a unique offering, packed with desirable features and showcasing full-HD content in sharp 1080p definition.
“It’s the world’s first Full-HD short throw home entertainment projector, creating a 65″ image when positioned at a distance of just one metre, preventing image obstruction and shadows on the screen which is particularly important when engaging in motion sensing games,” said Chung.
BenQ also released the W1070, a Full HD projector capable of 3D playback for less than $1,000.
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“Likewise,” continue Chung, “the W1070 is a quality home entertainment projector offering great bang for your buck – it’s our first fully featured 3D Full-HD projector with a retail price of less than $1000 and in this price category it is unrivalled.”
The W1070 and the W1080ST both 2,000 lumen brightness, a 10,000:1 contrast ratio, 2 HDMI connections and 10 Watt built in speakers.
Available now, BenQ’s W1080ST and W1070 retail at $1,799 and $999 respectively.
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