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Jay Lenos Garage is back to its tried-and-true formula this week with Jay taking a close look at a seriously cool vehicle with a guest. This time he invites in Adam Gaspic from Gasser Custom to take a look at a highly customized 1975 Honda CB750.

The bike is really an amalgam of styles from different eras and various Honda parts. Its looks are inspired by 50s hot rods with its white-wall tires and satin, metallic fuel tank, but there is a little British café racer in there, as well. A digital instrument panel and LED turn signals lend an air of modernity to it, too. Mechanically, the bike rides on a modified 75 frame with the front and rear suspension from an 80s Honda. However, the pièce de résistance is its engine, bored out to 836cc with additional head work and a custom exhaust.

Once on the road, the bike really sings. It sounds just the way a classic Japanese motorcycle should with a mix of whine at high-revs with rumble down low. A cycle that mixes this many styles should probably be a mess, but this fuses it all together perfectly. Scroll down to take a look at this motorcycle mixing classic and modern in Jay Lenos Garage.

The sky was falling last week when it emerged that there was a major security hole that could mean 900 million Android devices could be vulnerable to hack attacks - but Google has now rolled out a patch.


It was quite a dramatic state of affairs, with security firm Bluebox reckoning that 99 per cent of Android handsets were vulnerable - there was the potential for nefarious devs to modify app update code.

That would mean that users could be merrily installing what appears to be a legit app update, but is actually riddled with nasty code courtesy of nefarious developers.

Patchwork

However, Google has been working to close the hole since February and has now succeeded.
Exactly when youll get the update will depend on your phone make, with individual manufacturers responsible for rolling out the update.

Samsung owners are quids in though, as Google confirmed to ZDNet that "a patch has been provided to our partners" with "some OEMs, like Samsung… already shipping the fix to Android devices".

Google says that its been a bit of a storm in a teacup though, adding, "We have not seen any evidence of exploitation in Google Play or other app stores via our security scanning tools. Google Play scans for this issue - and Verify Apps provides protection for Android users who download apps to their devices outside of Play."

Nokia Lumia 1020 was officially unveiled just last week and understandably caused quite a lot of excitement. Its the long awaited 41MP PureView Windows Phone-powered smartphone that had been in the rumorlands since Nokia 808 PureView came around.


Nokia Lumia 1020 will hit the USA on July 26 exclusively via AT&T. It will cost $300 with a two-year contract and the carriers pre-order campaign is going live tomorrow. Lumia 1020 will hit the shelves worldwide before the end of September.

Meanwhile, the retailer Negri Electronics is taking pre-orders for the unlocked version of the cameraphone. You can book your unit for $735.50, but there is no specific shipping date. We guess youll receive it shortly after the official premiere on AT&T.

Yesterday, we also saw the Lumia 1020 go on pre-orders in Germany, but users there will have to wait longer to get their units. The European version of the device that is supposed to launch by the end of Q3.

Europeans will also need to pay quite a lot more to own the Lumia 1020, with pre-orders going for the hefty €800 (we suspect final price will be a bit lower, though).

The Windows Phone operating system will soon be capable of being run on existing Android hardware, Microsoft has confirmed.


Teasing upcoming Windows Phone 8.1 features during MWC 2014, Microsoft has revealed that the forthcoming platform update will see system requirements for the Windows Phone OS changed. As such, manufacturers will be able to port the Windows Phone OS to existing Android hardware.

With Microsoft having recently offered Windows Phone 8.1 update hints, Greg Sullivan, Microsoft’s Director of Windows Phone has discussed in further detail with TrustedReviews the effects this will have on the platform, not just for consumers but manufacturers too.

Detailing some of the upcoming improvements, he revealed that the Windows Phone 8.1 update, which is still to be officially named, will see “support for Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 and 400 chipsets” added.

On top of this, the reworked OS will allow “support for soft keys so that you don’t have to have physical hardware buttons.”

Looking to the larger benefits of these seemingly small changes, Sullivan stated: “One of the important things there is that an OEM can now take a device – an existing device that they are shipping with Android on it today – and install Windows Phone on it.”

He added: “They can leverage and get scale with their investments, they don’t have to go and build a separate thing that costs more, it’s going to eliminate a lot of barriers and make it more efficient and economically feasible for more OEMs to get into that business.”

The Director of Windows Phone went on to tell us: “There is a change in how we are engaging our OEM partners.

“With Windows Phone 8, we shrunk the number of OEMs we worked with relative to Windows 7.5. That was intentional as we knew we were going to the new Kernal underneath and we wanted to focus our engineering resources on fewer OEMs to make sure that we got it right.

“Now we can turn our attention to growing the ecosystem, growing the install base, and having a wider range of support for new devices.”

Despite claiming big things are in store for the future of Windows Phone, the third OS as it has widely become known, was scarcely represented at Mobile World Congress this week.

With a mass of Android handsets and a fleet of Firefox OS devices unveiled, Microsoft’s mobile OS was completely overlooked by leading manufacturers.

We live in a world where the tablet or smart device dominates - both on the high Street and online. Instead of people going out at Christmas to buy a shiny new laptop, they opted for one of the many 10-inch tablets that appear to be everywhere at the moment.


Its funny really - 15 years ago the only tablet device was Captain Jean-Luc Picards DataPad on the Enterprise: the old axiom of science fiction becoming science fact has never been more true.

Were now almost midway through 2013 and the tablet is still growing, in numbers and in strength, and regardless of whether its an Android or Apple device. So, as the old saying goes, if you cant beat them, join them.

We had a clever idea (which just proves that it does happen now and then): why not get hold of an x86 tablet, and install Linux on it? After all, if its x86-based then we can install pretty much anything on it, right? So, heres our roundup of tablet-ready distros.

How we tested...

We managed to get our hands on a rather nice Acer Iconia W500, with a dual core 1GHz AMD-C50 CPU, 2GB DDR3 RAM, a 1280 x 800 10.1-inch WXGA capacitive screen, an AMD Radeon GMA 6250 and a 32GB SSD. It all comes with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, dual cameras (front and rear), USB ports and MicroSD - so in essence its not a bad little bit of kit.

In addition, theres also the accelerometer function which, among other things, allows the tablet to flip the screen when it is turned on its side.

We wanted an all-out distro to satisfy the needs of every function the tablet has to offer, preferably straight out of the box, so we picked five recent releases - Ubuntu, Android x86, Fedora, Kubuntu Active and OpenSUSE - and put them through their paces, as either a live USB, or installed, to see just how far we could go with this interesting little endeavour.

Installation 

Did everything actually work? 

Were fairly sure you dont need to be told how to install a Linux distro - most now use an identifiable and easy-to-navigate installer - but we thought it would be interesting to see how well they coped, first as a live image, via a bootable USB, then secondly as a fully installed OS.

Ubuntu doesnt need much introduction. Its the most popular Linux distro and you probably already know that Canonical is releasing an Ubuntu for smartphones, so the latest edition of its desktop OS seems like a pretty good place to start.

The boot up into a live session went well, as did installation onto the Iconias SSD. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, both sets of cameras, the touchscreen and sound all worked out of the box. Unfortunately there was no onscreen keyboard access when we tapped in a text box, but we solved this by fiddling with the Onboard settings (opened from the Dash) and the keyboard then appeared when we started typing.

The x86 Android port wouldnt install (it kept rebooting the Iconia), but the live session went very well. Everything worked, including the flip-screen, but there wasnt an onscreen keyboard, so we had to plug in a wireless version. Within minutes, though, we were logged in and playing games.

Kubuntu Active was the first of the Plasma Active environments, and although it looked impressive, not much worked in the live environment. The installation went pretty smoothly - everything worked apart from the flip-screen - but after less than a minute it ground to a halt. The same thing happened after a reboot.

Fedora 18 runs Gnome 3.6.3, which in some ways makes the touchscreen look and behave better than earlier versions of Gnome. The hot corner is easily activated, scrolling is as good as anything Android has to offer, and the program icons are big enough to launch without hitting everything else around them. Sound, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and the cameras worked out of the box, and we could activate the built-in onscreen keyboard by touching the Accessibility icon on the top of the desktop (it also appears when you tap in a text box).

The live session of OpenSUSE 12.2 KDE worked perfectly, with the usual hardware running out of the box. The touchscreen, although it responded, didnt rotate, but when we selected the TabletPC installation pattern, after installing to the SSD from Yast, it opened up a whole new level of usability for Linux. The multi-touch capabilities of the touchscreen worked, as did the rotation, and when we tapped inside a text box the default virtual keyboard launched and we were able to use the tablet as well as any Android or Windows 8 version.

Verdict
Ubuntu - 4/5
Android x86 - 3/5
Fedora - 4/5
Kubuntu Active - 3/5
OpenSUSE - 5/5

Default software 

What do you get, out of the box? 

This is a bit of a difficult test to judge - full desktop distros create a complete package of default software - however, there are differences. Again, we dont need to say too much about Ubuntu: you get what you get and we all know what that entails.

Kubuntu surprised us most here: we imagined that the Kubuntu Active image would be fairly sparse, concentrating its size on the Plasma Active stuff, but we were pleasantly surprised to be proved wrong.

Kubuntu comes packaged with the Calligra Suite, and with Krita and Kexi for images and database use.

It was a far bleaker picture with regards to Android x86s default software. There were a few games, a video player and a picture manager, but other than the usual settings, maps, Gmail and so on, it was little more than a development testbed.

As you would expect, Fedora and OpenSUSE were as jam-packed as Ubuntu, which made the tablet a more useful device out-of-the-box. However, we came across an issue with Fedora: whenever we opened Writer it crashed almost instantly, as did Impress. We reinstalled a few times, but it still didnt work. In all fairness, though, it could have been an issue with our install, as both tools worked fine when used in a Live USB environment.

Verdict
Ubuntu - 5/5
Android x86 - 3/5
Fedora - 4/5
Kubuntu Active - 5/5
OpenSUSE - 5/5

Looks and usability 

Lets face it, we all like that sexy tablet look, right? 

Tablets look flash, sleek and shiny. They come with cool animation and eye-catching icons. Whether they work or not is another matter - they look nice.

Installing desktop distros on our x86 tablet gives us the wealth of good looks, gadgets and widgets that you find on any flashy PC, but they still need to work on our lesser-powered tablet. As with most systems where graphical splendour outweighs functionality, theres a trade-off.

So although we wanted our distros to look good, we also didnt want to stretch the tablets resources so far that the device became unusable. With a bit of work, we managed to find a balance so we could give each of the five distros a good run for its money.

Ubuntu - 4/5

Unity still has most peoples backs up, doesnt it? We added LiveWallpaper from launchpad.net/livewallpaper and enjoyed a nice swirling galaxy effect on our tablet. This gave us a very high looks rating but it did make the system crawl.

Other environments can be installed, but in all fairness to Unity, despite the animosity it receives, it worked very well indeed and it doesnt look all that bad. The usability of Ubuntu, and consequently Unity, on the tablet is perfectly adequate. With a little tweaking you can get the on-screen keyboard up, and theres nothing to stop you from having it as the full-time OS on an x86 tablet.

Android x86 - 3/5

Android x86 is not as well covered as the ARM version, obviously - it is just a port after all. And before we get into the whole Android isnt Linux debate, its worth mentioning that in this instance we regard it as such and since it is the most popular tablet OS, wed be remiss in our duties if we didnt include it.

When it comes to appearances, Android did the job nicely. The available wallpapers stood out, the icons for the apps and the widgets looked the part, but we couldnt get the live wallpapers to work - they just seemed to stop the tablet dead.

The number of apps available in Android is enormous - for the ARM version. For our version, the x86 project, applications were sparse; what was available had a nasty habit of crashing everything but the core installed apps worked okay.

Fedora 18 Gnome - 4/5

Fedoras use of Gnome 3.x prompted about as much animosity as Unity, but its weaknesses on the desktop could be strengths on the tablet. Gnome 3 looks really nice - we didnt even bother with anything as fancy as live wallpaper. The animations, such as the hot corner, were smooth and fluid, the scrolling looked great and the icons were nicely animated.

If you ever fancy giving it a go on another distro, Gnome 3 is a very nice looking tablet environment. As far as usability goes, Fedora is as good as you would expect a desktop distro with this many years of service to be. The only issue we have with it is the awful installation process.

Kubuntu Active - 5/5

Weve already said how surprised we were with Kubuntu Active and its Plasma Active environment. In this instance, we used Kubuntu Active 12.10, which uses - as far as we know - Plasma Active 2. Although its basically a joint project by the KDE team, its appearance differs significantly.

Its intended for use on tablets and smartphones, so its hardly surprising that it looks really nice, especially with the Peek&Launch bar and the Plasma Widgets. When it comes to usability, once you get over the initial boot into the live environment (which starts off slow but then fires up to speed), and once the grinding to a halt issue is fixed (we installed a new image), the OS really opens up, becoming one of the best examples of a touchscreen system that weve used. A grand claim, maybe, but a well-deserved one.

OpenSUSE 12.2 KDE - 4/5

You could regard OpenSUSE KDE as the poorer cousin of the Plasma Active environment - what with Active being the new kid on the block, as it were. But while it may not look the most tablet friendly, it makes up for that when it comes to usability.

OpenSUSE 12.2 is a great OS on the desktop, but when used on the tablet, and especially after using the Plasma Active environment from Kubuntu, it and KDE look a little worn. Its true that you can customise it significantly, and introduce a more tablet look, but Start buttons will soon be endangered species. Its usability, however, is wonderful and, as we mentioned right at the start, installing the TabletPC pattern really makes the operating system come to life.

Tablet features 

Screen rotation and handheld connectivity? What makes tablets so popular?

Its actually quite a good question. Ease of use perhaps? The ability to simply pick them up and surf the web? Maybe its the wealth of free apps that are now available?

We think its more to do with the features that a tablet offers. Features such as handheld connectivity, GPS location functions and the ability to turn the device on its side and use it as an eBook reader.

The screen rotation in Ubuntu was a little problematic at first, but after following these instructions we managed to get it working properly and it became nice eReader; likewise for the media and connectivity.

With Bluetooth, HDMI and two USB ports it was easy to watch movies and play games.

The same can also be said for OpenSUSE after you have installed the TabletPC pattern, as that too adds the screen rotation function.

Kubuntu, sadly, was a different matter. The fix for the screen rotation didnt work, and for some reason the video output via HDMI was so distorted that we couldnt read it. In tablet mode the screen was fine.

Android x86s screen rotation worked perfectly adequately, but the USB ports and HDMI didnt. Fedoras fix for screen rotation actually killed the installation. Other than that, though, everything else worked as expected.

Verdict
Ubuntu - 5/5
Android x86 - 2/5
Fedora - 3/5
Kubuntu Active - 4/5
OpenSUSE - 5/5

Gnome vs KDE vs Unity

Which desktop environment works best on a tablet?

When we use the different desktop environments on a PC, they work as they should, even if we dont like them. On a tablet, though, we use swiping, tapping and pinching to navigate the desktop and if those dont work properly, it can be incredibly frustrating to carry out even simple tasks.

Unity, although tablet-orientated, soon got our backs up when we realised the effort required to simply close, minimise or resize open windows. It made up for it - partially - with swipes from the side bringing up the Unity Launch Bar. Switching between apps on the Android x86 desktop wasnt a problem, but it suffered from some particularly strange behaviour every now and then: some apps randomly closed and others launched, seemingly of their own accord.

Fedora and Kubuntu were an absolute joy to use: tapping, swiping and other tablet gestures made Gnome 3 and Plasma Active the best desktop environments we tested, despite the lack of screen rotation.

Poor old OpenSUSE proved to be a bit of a chore when it came to the Start button, however if you took the time to create an icon for the app, then a simple tap was all that was needed. Its worth mentioning again that OpenSUSE is dramatically improved with the TabletPC pattern installed. Once that fix has been added it becomes one of the best desktops for use on a tablet.

Verdict
Ubuntu - 4/5
Android x86 - 3/5
Fedora - 5/5
Kubuntu Active - 5/5
OpenSUSE - 5/5

Day-to-day use 

How do the distros cope with everyday tasks? 

Trying out various distros on an x86 tablet is certainly good fun. As far as this project goes, though, weve only been using each distro for a set amount of time before moving on to the next. But what about long-term? Which of the five distributions tested here would be best for everyday use?

We thought long and hard about this section, because it depends on what you will be doing with your tablet. We eventually narrowed down everyday use to the following: catching up with work emails on the daily commute; writing documents; playing the occasional game - nothing too strenuous; surfing the web and checking Facebook/Twitter; video calling; and using it as an eBook reader and media playback device.
Ubuntu kicks off with its usual default programs. Firefox, LibreOffice and games via the Software Centre all worked as they should, providing us with the basics. For video calling we installed Skype 4.1 for Linux, which worked well enough, along with FBReader for eBooks (after screen rotation was fixed), and VLC and the various codecs for media playback.

Fedora and Kubuntu worked with the basics, except Skype kept crashing under Kubuntu, and the lack of screen rotation on both distros was an issue when it came to reading eBooks.

Android x86 was pretty useless as an everyday-use tablet OS. There were no working word processors, and the web browser didnt even launch. Games were okay, but media also failed and again, no kind of video messaging. Anything we did find either didnt work, or froze the tablet.

OpenSUSE turned out to be the most useful. Everything worked perfectly: LibreOffice, Firefox and a few games were all up and running. Skype was also easily added via the RPM from Skype.com and again we used FBReader for OpenSUSE. The added benefits you get from the TabletPC pattern is the only reason OpenSUSE beats Ubuntu here - the gestures really help the OS to work properly.

Whats more, although OpenSUSE took slightly longer to boot than Ubuntu, it was faster attaching to Wi-Fi points, starting-up from sleep and it lasted longer on a full charge, making it the ideal long-term option.

Verdict
Ubuntu - 5/5
Android x86 - 1/5
Fedora - 3/5
Kubuntu Active - 3/5
OpenSUSE - 5/5

The future 

Crystal balls at the ready… 

Canonical is hoping to take over the mobile world in a few months time - and from what weve seen so far of Ubuntu Touch, its dreams could become a reality. And other distros are following suit, developing their latest, or soon-to-be released, versions for the tablet and mobile world. So, what do the developers have in store for our five distros?

The Android x86 project is going from strength to strength but theres lots to do still before its fully integrated with the ARM versions.

Fedora 19 (Schrödingers Cat) promises to offer an improved tablet-centric experience in the form of more support for a multi-touch screen via the kernel, and better-designed packages for tablet users - so waiting for Fedora 19 might be a better idea than starting with Fedora 18.

Plasma Active, under Kubuntu, is moving along steadily. More OpenGL usage is on the horizon, and Plasma Active 5, based on KDE Frameworks 5, is going to be pretty special this year. In fact, 2013 is looking rather tasty for Plasma Active, but theres still a lot of work left to do.

OpenSUSE is continually under development, but there arent any specific plans for a tablet version. Obviously the excellent TabletPC pattern will be developed further, but it wont be integrated into the core OS. Were not quite sure what the future holds for this distro - and those who do are keeping the details pretty close to their chests.

Verdict
Ubuntu - 5/5
Android x86 - 3/5
Fedora - 4/5
Kubuntu Active - 3/5
OpenSUSE - 2/5

The verdict 

Compiling this roundup gave us quite an insight into the world of x86 tablets. Increasingly, theyre looking like the long-forgotten, poor relations to the more successful ARM-based versions. Its a great shame really, as the potential for an x86 tablet is far better, in our view, than that of an ARM one.

For starters, theres a long history of developed software for x86 - the various tweaks, add-ons and extras that personalise our Linux desktops. The x86 tablet just has so much going for it.

Imagine installing the Linux Steam Client on a reasonably powerful i3/5 x86 tablet and getting to grips with the might of decent Linux gaming. Imagine still, your favourite distro, complete with personalised window decorations, heavily customised Conky, and DeviantArt wallpaper. An x86 tablet could be the bees knees, theres little doubt about that.

So, where does that leave us with our selection of x86 tablet distros? Well, Ubuntu came out on top, but only just - OpenSUSE was snapping at its heels. Kubuntu Plasma Active and Fedora 18 Gnome were in third and fourth place, and the Android x86 project brought up the rear in fifth.

Tablet top 

As expected, all the distros had their good and bad points. Ubuntu is clearly leading the tablet march with its plans for the future, but at present its still a very desktop-oriented OS.

OpenSUSE came second mainly due to the mighty impressive TabletPC Pattern - without that it would have scored a lot less. Kubuntu Plasma Active is - obviously - designed for the tablet, and it was nice to compare the stock KDE of OpenSUSE with the Plasma Active KDE of Kubuntu, but both still need some work to get anywhere near the market equivalent of Android on ARM-based tablets and smart devices.

Fedora is bending its will towards tablets, and Gnome 3 came as a nice element to the tablet desktop. Look out for Fedora 19 and beyond, though - in the futue we think Fedora will embrace the tablet more than any other distro.

Last but by no means least we have the Android x86 distro. You could say its just a hobbyist project, but theres huge potential here and, with the right backing and development, Android could succeed in taking the x86 world by storm as well.

1st place: Ubuntu 12.10 

Web: http://www.ubuntu.com/
Licence: Free
Looks good and works well. Who knows what the future holds…
Score: 5/5

2nd place: OpenSUSE 12.2 KDE 

Web: http://www.opensuse.org/en/
Licence: Free
OpenSUSE with its TabletPC pattern came a very close second.
Score: 4/5

3rd place: Fedora 18 Gnome 

Web: http://fedoraproject.org/
Licence: Free
Fedora 19 could be the top x86 tablet OS - well have to wait and see.
Score: 3/5

4th place: Kubuntu Active 

Web: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu-active/releases/12.10/release/
Licence: Free
Still needs work, but Plasma Active 5 looks like it could be great.
Score: 3/5

5th place: Android x86 

Web: http://www.android-x86.org/
Licence: Free
Needs more work before its as good as its cousin for ARM devices.
Score: 2/5

If youve recently updated your smartphone to Android 4.4.2 KitKat and have noticed some abnormally high battery drain youre not alone - but Google is on the case.


Apparently some Android handsets are seeing battery life diminish at a rate of knots after opening the camera application as a result of the phones CPU maxing out.

While Googles fix will be able to alleviate the problem on the likes of the Nexus 5 and Nexus 4, those rocking a HTC, Samsung or any other Android device with a UI skin will have to wait for the relevant manufacturer to address the issue separately.

Reboot, for now

Theres currently no time frame on Googles fix to roll out to handsets, but its expected to arrive as part of the Android 4.4.3 package - so keep your eyes peeled.

In the meantime a quick reboot of your device is said to provide a temporary solution to the excessive battery drain, but it wont fix the problem.

Computers used to be all about expandability. Essentially you owned a box that could be tailored to your needs as your requirements evolved. A popular upgrade path was storage, adding new hard drives as your files grew in size and number. But with Apples touchscreen revolution, everything changed.


The iPhone, iPad and iPod touch are more like appliances than traditional computers - theyre sealed boxes that forever remain as they were the moment you purchased them. You can no more extend their storage capabilities than you can add a new compartment to your fridge-freezer.

A quick look at Apples modern hardware suggests its entire line-up is heading in the same direction, but iOS devices are more restricted than Apples desktops and notebooks. After all, if you need more storage for a MacBook Air, you at least have the option of offloading large documents to an external hard drive (and, of course, then sensibly backing up that data along with the internal drives, either locally or to an online service such as CrashPlan).

But iOS devices arent designed that way. They dont have a USB port or a user-accessible file structure. The intention is that you store everything on the device itself (well, almost everything - services like iTunes Match enable you to grab your music from the cloud).

Therefore, an important tip when it comes to better iOS device storage and management comes at the moment of purchase: buy the model with the most storage that you can afford, unless youre absolutely convinced you wont need it.

Even then, reconsider; be mindful that as technology evolves, demands for storage increase. Retina screens require larger applications, and iOS cameras can shoot HD video, which requires a huge amount of space.

Also, demands on iOS devices are increasing purely on the basis of what they can now do. People frequently shoot and edit video, work with photography, read magazines and compose music on iPads and iPhones. All these things require lots of storage.

If your device gets really full, it alerts you. Also, things stop working. You wont be able to install new apps or shoot video new footage. You may find that updating apps becomes problematic, because the device doesnt have enough space to download, unpack and install updates before deleting older versions.

We offer advice for dealing with such a situation, along with managing iOS storage in general. Note that this isnt intended as a start-to-finish walkthrough, more a series of ideas that can be utilised to free up space.
As ever, we should stress the importance of back-ups before making major changes to iOS devices. Even if youre backing up to iCloud, make the occasional local back-up (select your device in iTunes and click Back Up Now on the Summary page).

Local backups are also useful when it comes to dealing with app data, because you can later use iExplorer to fish out settings and other documents from such a backup, even if those things have long been removed from your device. Also ensure before making any major changes in terms of deleting content that you dont only have said content on your iOS device.

For music, sync your device with iTunes to transfer tracks to your Mac (although you can grab previous purchases from iTunes, if necessary). For photos and movies, transfer them across by attaching your device to your Mac via USB, launching iPhoto, selecting the device and clicking the Import button.

How to manage iOS device storage

1. Check device capacity in iTunes

Although iOS devices no longer require iTunes, Apples desktop app remains useful from a device management standpoint. Connect your device (via USB or over Wi-Fi) and select it from the Devices button. Across the bottom of the window, you see a chart detailing whats taking up room: audio, photos, apps, books and other.

If storage is an issue, you could free some up. For example, if youve lots of music or photos on your device, select the relevant tab, uncheck the sync box and then sync your device. The relevant media is removed. You can then perform updates and manage your apps, perhaps free up more space, and later restore your media by resyncing it.

Occasionally, you might find the other section becomes massive. In our experience, this is usually down to you having a lot of in-app data (see Step 3) or failed app updates, which can happen on trying to update without enough free space. Resyncing should help; if not, a restore from a local backup.

2. Discover app sizes 

Apps can be massive. Sizes are shown in iTunes and the App Store, but thats the size of the compressed download. Once installed, an apps size can balloon.

In iTunes, check app sizes by clicking on the Apps tab and selecting Sort by Size from the pop-up menu at the top of the apps list. Peruse the list, and if there are apps or games you no longer use, consider deleting them. You can do so by clicking Remove in iTunes; when youve done so for all apps youd like to delete, click Sync.

Alternatively, tap-hold an app on your device to make all the icons jiggle and, for each, tap the cross icon and then Delete to remove it.

3. Examine app data

Open the Settings app on your device and in the General category, select Usage. You see available and used storage and a list of apps. These are ordered by the total amount of space they require, including app data.

Newsstand and similar apps tend to be storage-hungry. Their containers might be small, but the actual magazines rarely are. If you want to see how much space an apps data is using, tap the app in the list and look at the Documents & Data figure.

If youve several such apps taking up loads of room you need, consider deleting data. For example, if you subscribe to magazines, delete old issues from within each app. You can usually redownload issues later if you need to. If you fancy taking a speedy option and dont have a capped broadband connection, deleting a Newsstand app takes all its data with it. You can then download a fresh copy from the App Store and the latest issue.

Magazine and book apps arent the only storage culprits, note. Dropbox can (optionally) store documents locally (by flagging them as favourites) and some video apps have download capability, so check those too.

4. Back-up app content

Should you no longer use a game or creative app, but think you might one day return to it, download its data to your Mac using the free version of iExplorer (macroplant.com/iexplorer).

Connect your device to your Mac via USB, select Apps from iExplorers sidebar and select the app in question. Select the Documents and Library folders, Ctrl-click and select Export to Folder. (Alternatively drag them to a Finder folder.)

The contents of these folders can later be sideloaded into a fresh install of the app, meaning you wont lose your progress in a game that doesnt support iCloud, or could get saved compositions from a music-app back to your device with a minimum of fuss.

5. Use last-chance folders

If you tend to frequently download new apps, chances are some fall out of favour, but you might not necessarily know which. Create date-based folders (07-2013, say) and place apps within that you dont think you use any more. If you find yourself using one, rescue it from the folder. Otherwise, delete the folders contents after a few months, first backing up app data as necessary.

(Note: if you dont download apps to iTunes on your Mac, sync with it before deleting the apps, so youve a back-up you can later install to your device. You can of course redownload apps from the App Store, but only if they are still made available to you.)

This is a fairly ruthless app-management method, but its useful for keeping installs current and ensuring you have space.

One of the most competitively priced handsets just got even cheaper, as Vodafone confirms it is to offer the Motorola Moto G for just £100 on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Its seemingly impossible to go a week without a new smartphone announcement, with manufacturers falling all over themselves to announce the "next big thing."


Some may be tempted to write off yesterdays reveal of the Nokia Lumia 1020 as just another debut of yet another Windows Phone 8 device, albeit one with a humungous camera, but the Finnish firm is hoping consumers will find that it actually enhances the mobile phone experience.

When CEO Stephen Elop took the stage to put the focus on the bombastic 41MP Pureview camera fitted into the Lumia 1020s frame, he showed the world the Nokia is ready to evolve beyond the traditional idea of a smartphone.

In addition to attempting to blaze a new path in the cellphone sphere, Nokia believes its latest flagship will offer prospective users true control and confidence in capturing their lives at the press of a button.

Two camera apps, one focus

That the Lumia 1020 has a better camera than most point-and-shoots, and low-end DSLRs for that matter, shouldnt intimidate potential users.

For Nokia, one of the core concepts of its latest phone is putting confidence back in the hands of the amateur photographer.

According to the companys research, consumers will take 7-10 pictures with a camera just to make sure they got the right image.

As Nokias reps explained to us, with the Lumia 1020, the first picture you take will hopefully be the picture you keep. Granted, it make take the phone a little longer to save the 15MB image, but the aim is that its worth the wait.

The phones Pro Camera app should alleviate some of the unease and uncertainty users might have about getting the shot just right, as well.

Useful features like Reframe allow you to craft multiple images from just one massive 41MP shot, while more experienced photographers will still find all the ISO, f-stop, and shutter speed options they could hope for, allowing them the same level of customization they have with a full camera in a device decidedly smaller. The features arent inaccessible to the non-photogs among us, either.

The Smart Camera app provides a range of "been there, done that" options at a slightly lower resolution, but is still capable of offering more creative ways to personalize your pictures.

Though you wont be able to take 41MP images with Smart Camera on, youll have much more freedom and flexibility for action shots and editing within Nokias built-in Creative Studio.

Technically, theres a third camera app in the default Windows 8 camera, but its not fine-tuned for the new Pureview lens like the other two Nokia-developed apps.

It will still take pictures just like youd expect, but it doesnt offer any of the bonus features found in either Smart Camera or Pro Camera.

Regardless of which app you use, all photos are taken with the new stabilization, multi-layered lens, and flash, which should help give even novices a chance at capturing the elusive "perfect" image.

The forest for the trees

Unless youve got an actual photographer in your family, most of your photo albums are probably full of either close-ups or wide-angle shots.

Your smartphone camera album is probably even worse, as most digital zooms end up looking awful and distorted.

Pro Cameras Reframe takes all the guesswork out of the equation, and lets you snap pictures now and decide what the story is later, without the loss of pixel density or fidelity.

To be fair, in our time with the Lumia 1020, we found zooming in all the way for the tiniest of details left things muddled, but the range of post-photo zooming is miles above whats available elsewhere.

Reframing works as soon as the photo is saved, giving you the choice of repurposing the still to your exact specifications quickly and easily.

While more savvy photo fiends are already doing these kinds of things in editing programs on their computers, having the option available instantly and on the go certainly helps the Lumia 1020 appear more flexible for the average consumer.

Simple and smart

Even if youll be losing some of the ridiculous pixel density by using the Smart Camera app, there are still some advantages to the secondary application.

Weve seen camera features like action shots, multi-shots, face-swapping, and the ability to wipe moving objects before, but that doesnt make them any less relevant for a phone like the Lumia 1020.

By including a wealth of options like those above, Nokia has effectively eliminated the hoping and praying typically associated with trying to get just the right shot.

In theory, users will be able to take solace that no matter what, theyre going to get the shot they wanted... with a little help from Nokias software.

Of course, theres something to be said for the lens and flash coming with the Lumia 1020 as well, as those components will do a lot of the heavy lifting in making sure photographs turn out the way you intended.

Intelligent design

The Xenon flash isnt as harsh as an LED flash, but it is brighter and faster, which means images taken in low-light will come out stronger, even if people are moving.

Outside of turning the flash on or off, thats not something youll ever have to manage; thats just the way the phone is built.

Additionally, the five lenses (one glass, four plastic) compacted together to create the Pureview design have stabilization measures built-in to ensure they all move in unison.

By ensuring the lenses will never be out of sync, you have a markedly lower chance of shaky cam happening with stills or with video.

Again, this should aid in taking all of the worry out of picture-taking, which in turn allows users have faith in their abilities, and should keep them snapping away without having to worry about standing perfectly still.

Point of sale

The Lumia 1020 is still a pricey piece of hardware (priced at $299.99 in the U.S. or about £199/AU$327) when compared to some competitors, but Nokia and its products appear set to take a different path than phones like Samsung Galaxy S4 or the HTC One.

The Lumia 1020 doesnt quite hold up to the screen and hardware power of its top rivals, but as the line between spec-heavy devices has blurred, Nokias phone is a bold statement about where it sees itself going in the future.

Based on our earliest impressions, every aspect of the Lumia 1020 has been fine-tuned to appeal to the snap-happy consumers that have flooded social networks with pictures of everyday life, while also offering power and performance that should impress pros.

As it will be arriving in just a few weeks in the U.S., we wont have long to wait to discover if consumers are willing to shell out premium prices for the convenience, and confidence, the Lumia 1020 provides.

HTC has confirmed that its 2012 mid-range handset, the HTC One S, will not receive any further Android updates.


The highly-rared device, launched in April last year, will not get Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean or Key Lime Pie after that, and will be stuck on Android 4.1 for ever more.

The 15-month-old handset also wont receive the latest version of HTC Sense, although thatll be of far less significant to most who recently snapped up the device.

In a befuddling statement, the company said it understood some users disappointment, but for some reason thinks the amazing camera and Beats Audio experience already present on the device make up for it.

HTC said: "We can confirm that the HTC One S will not receive further Android OS updates and will remain on the current version of Android and HTC Sense. We realize this news will be met with disappointment by some, but our customers should feel confident that we have designed the HTC One S to be optimized with our amazing camera and audio experiences."

Perhaps something was lost in translation?

It is a somewhat surprising move from HTC as it seeks to win back some of the customers it has lost to the Samsung Galaxy range of smartphones.

Those thinking of buying a new handset from the company may think twice if they believe the device will become practically obsolete after only a year on sale.

In somewhat better news for those already rocking the newest HTC One handset, the company has started rolling out Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean in some international markets today. The latest word we had was that itd be arriving in the UK sometime this month.

The Moto X handset may be able to out-sprint its rivals in a mobile data race thanks to the inclusion of not one, but two LTE antennas, according to rumours on Wednesday.


The device, which Motorola has been touting heavily over the July 4 holiday, will boast dual LTE MIMO (Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output) antennas, so says Taylor Wimberley, founder of Android and me.

The tech, more commonly associated with high-speed Wi-Fi, means thered be two antennas pulling in and spitting out downloads and uploads at the same time, increasing speeds for owners of the device.

Of course, this is all a rumour at present, but Wimblerleys previous leaks info surrounding customisation of the Moto X phone, suggests that he may be onto something.

Motos amped

Motorola is yet to officially reveal the Moto X Phone, the first high-profile handset since it became a Google-owned company, but has been amping up the anticipation this week.

It took out adverts in major newspapers in the United States and launched a sign-up page for those interested in the device.

Both communications touted the device as the first smartphone to be designed by you, hinting at unprecedented customisation for users, which reports have since suggested will involve colour and engraving options.

The ads and webpage also boasted that the device would be designed, built and assembled in the United States, perhaps working in a little dig at Apples recent Designed by Apple in California PR blitz.

Opportunistic eBayers have started listing smartphones installed with app sensation Flappy Bird after the addictive game was removed from the iOS and Android app stores.


With Flappy Bird developer Dong Nguyen having pulled the app from sale last night stating “I can’t take it anymore,” those looking to earn a quick buck have attempted to sell their Flappy Bird hosting handsets, with some listed on eBay for as much as £20,000.

At the time of writing, a Flappy Bird hosting Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini is listed with a £20,000 Buy it Now price. According to the product listing page, one offer of a lower sum has already been rejected.

Amazingly, for this frankly farcical fee, you don’t even get a new, or indeed cared for phone. The product description states: “Samsung Galaxy 4 mini with the app flappy bird installed. Rare! Phone is white. I have Vodafone sim card in it I am pretty sure it is unlocked but cant be for certain! Happy bidding. Comes with box earphones and charger it is only 4 months old and has slight chips in corners which isnt noticeable.”

Far from the only overpriced Flappy Bird installed phone available, dozens of smartphones and tablets are currently available with the 8-bit inspired game on board.

As well as the S4 Mini, an iPhone 4S (£5,500) has been listed alongside a Flappy Bird hosting Samsung Galaxy S2 (£3,000), Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (£2,000) and a Google Nexus 4 (£2,000).

Having become the last app crazy, Flappy Bird was topping both the iOS and Android download charts at the time it was pulled, with reports claiming the app was generating a staggering $50,000 (£30,000) a day in ad revenue.

Revealing via Twitter that Flappy Bird was to be pulled, Nguyen stated: “I can’t take this anymore.”

He added: ““Press people are overrating the success of my games. It is something I never want. Please give me peace.

“It is not anything related to legal issues. I just cannot keep it anymore.”

Following the initial day one download success, BlackBerry has confirmed that its now cross-platform BBM service is to come pre-loaded on future Android phones.

Pebble has confirmed that the Pebble Appstore will be launching on iOS devices today, Monday February 3.

New budget iPhone leaks have claimed to show the much mooted mid-range Apple handset in a selection of pictures and a hands-on video.


Questionably appearing courtesy of a peddler of knockoff Android handsets, the latest claimed budget iPhone leaks, which should be taken somewhat lightly, follow a number of teases over the past couple of weeks which have suggested to show the plastic rear panel of the upcoming phone.

A phone which fits with past leaks, the latest claimed budget iPhone images show a 4-inch device with a plastic body and slightly rounded corners.

According to a blog post which accompanies the latest round of leaks, the premature outings have suggested the mooted device “will be made substantially from plastic (we can feel it’s actually polycarbonate materials). It will have a 4-inch screen, like the iPhone 5, and interestingly, the budget iPhone actually has a shape that’s similar to Apple’s original iPod.”

Techdy, source of the latest round of budget iPhone leaks, has failed to state how it managed to get its hands on what it is claiming is the currently unannounced budget iPhone.

Budget iPhone Rumours

Expected to be formally unveiled later this year, the budget iPhone has been tipped to land alongside the high-end iPhone 5S and iPad mini 2, with a September arrival for the trio of portable products widely anticipated.

With the budget iPhone rumoured to be heading to market in “6-8 colours”, recent leaks have seen green, yellow, red and blue iterations of the device make premature appearances alongside the standard black and white models.

The phone will reportedly run the latest iOS 7 operating system alongside a reduced array of specs over the iPhone 5, including a smaller camera sensor, slower processor and no Retina display.

Twitters Vine video app has graduated to a new platform this weekend and is now available to download from the Amazon app store for Kindle Fire tablets.


The app, which allows users to create and upload short, 6-second video clips, had only been available on Apples iPhone or Android smartphones.

Vines arrival on Kindle Fire is the first time the app has been optimised specifically for a tablet device.

The decision to launch on the Kindle Fire is somewhat surprising considering the questionable quality of the devices front-facing camera and the lack of any rear-facing camera.

Theres also no Vine app for Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10 at this time.

Instagram attacks

Vines expansion comes following new competition from Facebook-owned Instagram, which rolled out its own short video feature earlier this month.

Reports this week had suggested uploads to Vine had taken a hit as a result of Instagrams encroachment on its reason for being.

To combat the new rival, Twitter updated the Vine Android app earlier this week to include support for the front-facing camera, bringing it in line with the iOS app.