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Thursday, May 17, 2012
RIM Blackberry Bold 9790 review
With the RIM BlackBerry Bold 9900, RIM tried to combine the best of both worlds: a top-notch keyboard and a touchscreen interface. With the Bold 9790 RIM has taken the same idea, but in a smaller, slimmer body that's arguably easier to carry around with you.
In addition to the keyboard and touchscreen, there's an optical trackpad button. It's a little sensitive at first, but once you get used to it, it's a great way to scroll through a large list of emails and select menu options.
One of the big changes from the Bold 9900 is that the 9790 has a slightly slower single-core processor: 1GHz versus 1.2GHz. It's fine for most uses of the OS, but we found that pressing and holding the menu button to bring up BlackBerry 7's task switching could bring the phone to halt. This was particularly true if a busy application is running in the background, such as the app update process, brings up the clock icon halting you from doing anything else.
Build quality is great, as we'd expect from a BlackBerry. The matt, rubberised back feels tough and secure, but it's easy to slip off if you need to get to the battery compartment and SIM card slot. The rear also houses the lens for the 5-megapixel camera.
This takes crisp shots with little noise. It's nice to see an LED flash, which can help illuminate dark areas, letting you use the Bold 9790 to take shots in pretty much any conditions. A dedicated camera button sits on the side of the phone underneath the volume rocker switch. It's useful if you turn the phone on its side, although the screen orientation means that you're taking pictures in portrait mode. For landscape shooting we found it easier to hold the phone normally and use the trackpad button, particular as swiping up or down on this zooms in and out.
Fitting a keyboard means that there's less room for a screen than on a traditional smartphone. However, with a resolution of 480x360 the pixel density is pretty high, and text and images look sharp and clear. There's no getting round the fact that web browsing demands a lot of scrolling around, so this is a handset that's better suited to text-based applications.
That's where this phone really starts to shine. Thanks to the famous BlackBerry keyboard it's incredibly easy and fast to type long messages. The keyboard's moulded keys are small but shaped in such a way that you rarely manage to miss-hit or press two keys at once.
BlackBerry OS has improved drastically over the last couple of years, and now includes more social aggregation as standard. You can now add Facebook and Twitter feeds to your inbox, along with text messages and emails, and in addition to BBM you get Google Talk and Windows Messenger clients built-in.
Of course, email is the thing that you're most likely to want to use this handset for. It arguably works best in corporate environments where the RIM server is installed, but the phone will connect to an Exchange account with Outlook Web Access enabled, as well as standard email accounts, such as Gmail. However, it's a little fiddly to setup and BlackBerry OS lacks the simple menus of Android and iOS.
Hardware wise, the Bold 9790 is bang up-to-date, with NFC and 5GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi built in. There's little support for NFC at the moment, but 5GHz wireless may be useful if you've got a posh router and want the best wireless speeds.
Where the Bold 9790 falls down, though, is with App support. BlackBerry App World has got better, but it lacks official apps from a lot of big companies, there are fewer apps than available for Android and iPhone and less quality control.
Given the small screen and lack of apps, the Bold 9790 is only of interest for corporate environments or if you want its excellent email handling and keyboard. We'd rather spend the money on a phone with a larger touchscreen, such as the excellent Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S.
HTC One X review
The huge 4.7in screen's IPS panel is bright and colourful, if not quite as punchy as the OLED screens on the Motorola RAZR or Samsung Galaxy Nexus. The screen's contrast also can't match that of its rivals. Blacks weren't as deep and whites not as bright in our side-by-side tests with those phones. Colours were on the vibrant rather than accurate side, although you may prefer this for gaming and reading websites. The 720p resolution is ideal for web browsing; we could easily read headline and summary text on the BBC News homepage in landscape mode, and then double-tap to zoom in to individual stories.
The One X's screen is rounded at the edges and sits proud of its white surround. There's very little space around the screen, except at the bottom where three touch-sensitive buttons handle Back, Home and the new Open Tasks function, which shows which apps are currently running. The handset is light and comfortable to hold, with the matt-white plastic providing adequate grip.
The phone's 1.5GHz quad-core processor makes it run smoothly, although we still noticed some jerkiness and lag when under heavy load - swiping through the home screens still isn't as buttery smooth as on the iPhone. The One X has no problems coping with heavy loads - we tested a few games and they all played smoothly, although the phone can get hot at the rear. In the JavaScript Sunspider benchmark it scored 1,746ms, that's around 100ms quicker than the Tegra 3-equipped Asus Transformer Prime, probably due to a higher clock speed.
With the Android 4.0 operating system comes HTC's own Sense 4.0, a collection of apps, widgets and customisations designed to improve on Android's own interface. We've mentioned previously how manufacturers and network operators often load phones with software that can't be uninstalled, and which duplicates or even removes Android's own functions, but Sense has always been one of the less intrusive examples. Sense 4.0 adds features that complement Android's own software.
For a start, Sense beefs up the camera app, adding plenty of extra features that take advantage of the One X's dedicated imaging chip. There's a fast multi-capture mode which you access by holding down the shutter button, and it saves these pictures as a collection so you can browse for the best one. Pictures can be snapped in 0.7 seconds, with a 0.2 second auto-focus, and you can go straight to the camera from the lock screen to speed things up.
This may be the first phone that gives compact digital cameras a run for their money. It's got more options that we're used to seeing on a smartphone camera: face detection, auto smile capture (which works quite quickly), manual ISO settings and continuous shooting. You can adjust exposure, contrast, saturation and sharpness using sliders from the options menu, and you can even snap a quick shot while recording video.
Sense also beefs up the music player, although here we're not so keen on its changes. It adds HTC's own Beats Audio processing and changes the default music player, adding links to the 7digital music store, the Soundhound music recognition service and the TuneIn internet radio app. You can click the Soundhound icon while listening to a song in TuneIn Radio to identify it, which is useful.
Beats is less impressive: sound quality was good enough without it, and we found it made the bass too boomy, although it also did a good job of brightening up mid-range sounds. As well as Beats, you can choose from a list of more traditional effects, such as Bass Boost or Live, and unlike on previous Beats-branded phones, you can use non-Beats headphones and still take advantage of the Beats effects. However we would have preferred more fine control over the effects rather than this all-or-nothing approach.
Another Sense addition is the Car app. This interface shows the functions you might want while driving - phone, music player, internet radio and navigation - in a large format that's easy to access whilst keeping your eyes on the road. All menus and text are in a larger font for visibility, and there are larger icons and buttons too. The phone interface is designed for ease of use, with a large photo of the caller that you can swipe either left to decline the call, or right to answer. You can even customise which navigation app and music player to use.
Sony Xperia S Highlights
| Generals | Date Announced | January 12, 2012 (1st Quarter) |
| Status | New Model | |
| Network Technology | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 HSDPA 900 / 2100 - LT26i HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100 | |
| Processor/ Memory | CPU | Dual-core 1.5 GHz |
| RAM | 1 GB RAM | |
| Internal Storage | 32 GB | |
| External Memory | - | |
| GPU | Adreno 220 | |
| Chipset | Qualcomm MSM8260 Snapdragon | |
| Body | Dimensions (mm) | 128 x 64 x 10.6 |
| Weight (g) | 144 | |
| Available colours | Silver, Black | |
| QWERTY Keypad | No | |
| Display | Screen Size, Resolution | 4.3 inches, 1280x720pixels,)342 ppi pixel density), Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine |
| Screen Color | LED-backlit LCD, 16M colors | |
| Design | Candybar | |
| Screen Protection | Scratch-resistant glass | |
| Multitouch | Yes | |
| Software | Platform / OS | Android OS v2.3.7 (Gingerbread) |
| Java (J2ME) | via Java MIDP emulator | |
| Messaging | SMS, MMS, Email, Push Email, IM | |
| Others | MicroSIM card support only,TV launcher,SNS integration,HDMI port,TrackID music recognition,Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk,Document viewer | |
| Sound | Alert | MP3, Vibration |
| 3.5mm Jack | Yes | |
| Extra Feature | MP3/eAAC+/WMA/WAV player | |
| Battery | Battery Type/Capacity | Li-Ion 1750 mAh |
| Stand-by | Up to 450 h (2G) / Up to 420 h (3G) | |
| TalkTime | Up to 7 h 30 min (2G) / Up to 8 h 30 min (3G) Musi | |
| Entertainment | FM Radio | Yes |
| TV Receiver | No | |
| Others | - | |
| Connectivity | HSPDA | HSDPA, 14.4 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.8 Mbps |
| WLAN | Up to 237 kbps | |
| EDGE | Up to 237 kbps | |
| GPRS | Yes | |
| WiFi Hot Spot | Yes | |
| GPS | Yes | |
| NFC Support | Yes | |
| Bluetooth | Yes, v2.1 with A2DP, EDR | |
| USB Port | Yes | |
| Sensor | Accelerometer, Compass, Gyro, Proximity | |
| Camera Specifications | Capacity | 12 Megapixel |
| Max. Resolution | 4000x3000 (Secondary Camera 1.3 MP, 720p@30fps) | |
| Flash | Yes | |
| Video Recording | - | |
| Secondary Camera | Yes, 1.3MP | |
| Extra Features | autofocus, LED flash,Geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, 3D sweep panorama, image stabilization |
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Wednesday, May 16, 2012
HTC claims One X multitasking is working as intended
We have actually noticed the behavior on a few of the Sense 4.0 equipped devices that we have been testing, as it seems that heavy apps like the Chrome Beta browser close out of background processes much quicker than we would expect.
HTC's statement on the matter is as follows:
"HTC is aware of some questions in the enthusiast community about how the HTC One X handles multitasking and memory management for background apps. We value the community's input and are always looking for ways to enhance customers' experience with our devices. That said, right now multitasking is operating normally according to our custom memory management specifications which balance core ICS features with a consistent HTC Sense experience."
That may not sit all that well with power users, but them's the breaks, and HTC has decided to prioritize its Sense user interface experience over extended background multitasking. Of course, those who wish to tinker with their devices are free to attempt to fix the matter with various tweaks and custom software, but the rest of us will just have to live with it for now.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
court revives Apple claim on Samsung tablets
WASHINGTON — A U.S. appeals court ruled on Monday that Apple Inc could press its bid for an immediate block on the sale of some tablet computers made by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd based on allegations of infringement of one patent.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said the judge in a district court in California had erred in deciding that Apple failed to show that it was likely to succeed on the merits.
The dispute over that one patent is part of a larger legal proceeding in California. In mid-April, Apple and Samsung agreed that their chief executives would participate in settlement talks to try to resolve the dispute, according to a court filing.
Apple sued Samsung in the United States last year, saying the South Korean company’s Galaxy line of mobile phones and tablets “slavishly” copies the iPhone and iPad. Samsung then countersued Apple.
Samsung Focus 2: Can a $50 Windows Phone Steal HTC, Nokia Thunder?
While Samsung just created serious buzz around its latest Android phone, the Galaxy S III, the company clearly isn’t giving up on its Windows Phone line. In fact, Samsung’s new Focus 2 is aggressively priced to steal sales from Nokia and HTC.
Revealed Monday, the Focus 2 follows the original Focus, the Focus S and the Focus Flash. The latest Samsung Windows Phone, running Windows 7.5 Mango, will be available exclusively on AT&T starting May 20.
The Focus 2 is Samsung’s first LTE Windows Phone device. AT&T offers two other LTE Windows Phones — HTC’s Titan II and Nokia’s Lumia 900, both released in April. But unlike the Lumia 900 at $100 and the Titan II at an even more pricey $200, Samsung’s Focus 2 is incredibly affordable at $50 with a two-year contract.
With such a low price point, the Focus 2 could appeal to users transitioning from feature phones to smartphones.
“We’ve seen that so much of our sales are smartphones now. But there’s still a large population has hasn’t transitioned yet,” Mike Woodward, AT&T’s VP of Mobile Device Portfolio, told Wired. “Windows Phone has an OS that really speaks to simplicity, and the lower price point [of the Focus 2] is certainly something else that can help with that transition.”
The Focus 2 specs are on par with other thin smartphones, measuring at 10.98mm thick and weighing 4.3 ounces. By comparison, Samsung’s Galaxy S III is 8.6mm thick and 4.7 ounces.
The device harkens back to the rounded edges of the original Focus, and features a 4-inch, 400×800 Super AMOLED display. It packs a 1750mAh battery, 8GB of memory, and a 1.4GHz single-core processor. A 5-megapixel camera can shoot video in HD 720p, and a front-facing VGA camera facilitates video chat.
Colors? There’s only one choice: “pure white.”
Windows Phone adoption has been slow to pick up — Nokia is even facing a lawsuit from shareholdersclaiming that Windows Phone failed to save the mobile handset company’s flagging position in the smartphone market. But Woodward says that AT&T fully supports Windows Phone and has seen positive feedback from customers.
“We see Windows Phone as a delightful end-user experience. Our own internal surveys show that [the OS] has great customer satisfaction,” Woodward said. “From the beginning we saw this as an opportunity to offer consumers something new and innovative. We’ve now just hit a point of maturation where it makes sense to offer more choices [for Windows Phone].”
AT&T has the largest portfolio of Windows Phone devices, and plans to add more as Microsoft’s platform gains momentum.
Samsung recently surpassed Nokia in mobile handset sales, largely due to its support of the Android platform. It will be interesting to see whether Samsung’s investment in the Windows Phone platform — especially with such an affordable device like the Focus 2 — will undercut Nokia’s Lumia sales.
“If you look at the momentum of Windows Phone, Nokia coming into it was a very strong endorsement. I think the fact that Samsung, who is now the world’s largest cell phone maker, continues to invest heavily in the category provides significant momentum,” Woodward said. “This is a marathon, not a sprint. For sure, Windows Phone will be one of the strong competitors.”
Review: Sony Xperia S
Design
These days all smartphones tend to look like large black slabs and few of them actually stand out from the crowd. At first glance the Xperia S looks like just another one of these slabs but Sony has put in enough detail to keep the design interesting.
The design is pretty slab-like, with a perfectly rectangular shape and
flat sides. It’s just the back that has a gentle curve. The front has a
large sheet of glass spanning almost the entire surface. The glass
deftly conceals the display below and it’s hard to see its boundaries
once it gets switched off. Near the top you will find the earpiece with
the classic Sony logo, along with a camera lens on the right and a
notification light on the left.
Below the display is one of the most interesting design element, not
just on this phone but on any phone we have ever seen. It’s a thin strip
of see-through glass that separates majority of the phone from a thin
plastic chin at the bottom. Floating within the glass you can see icons
for the three main function keys – Back, Home and Menu – but you don’t
actually press the icons to actuate them. The actual pressure points are
placed above the glass strip and below the display and indicated by
three tiny dots.
Being see-through, the glass can be seen from the back of the phone as
well. When you press one of the keys, the glass strip lights up in soft
white light, with three LEDs near each of the key icons within the
glass. Lit up or otherwise, the glass strip is absolutely beautiful to
behold and an amazing design detail. It just lifts what would have
otherwise been a dull design to something truly special.
Unfortunately, there are some issues that mar this beautiful design and they are concerned with the functionality of the three keys below the display. First of all, it is absolutely baffling why Sony would make us press above the glass when the icons are actually on the glass. It would have made a lot more sense if the glass itself was touch sensitive and you had to press right above where the icons are situated.
Secondly, the points above the display are notoriously difficult to use. The actual pressure points are slightly above the tiny dots (which are sometimes very hard to see) and just below the bottom edge of the display. In the dark it becomes practically impossible to spot the exact location of these keys and the fact that the pressure points are so narrow does not help. The LEDs in the glass strip briefly stay on but are always in a great hurry to switch off and there is no way to customize this behavior.
Also, the keys are far too close to the display. Often when you are trying to press something at the bottom of the display, like the space key or the notification drawer when it is pulled down, you end up pressing the Home key. This can be quite infuriating, especially while playing games.
It’s extremely odd how Sony could have let such terrible arrangement through their testing phase and makes us wonder if anyone actually used the phone before they started shipping it.
Moving on, turning the phone around reveals an HDMI port below a flap,
volume control buttons and camera shutter key on the right. On the left
is another flap with the USB port underneath. We wish Sony had just gone
with open ports placed on the side. Not only do the flaps spoil the
design of the phone with large text and icons printed on it, they also
make it a pain every time you have to connect a cable.
On the bottom of the phone is a hole for attaching a lanyard (no one
really does that these days but they have provided one anyway) along
with a microphone. On top is the power button with the 3.5mm jack right
next to it. The jack is so close to the power button that when you plug
in an L-shaped connector to the jack, such as the one that comes with
the phone, suddenly the power button becomes terribly difficult to use.
This is just another one of the things that shows the poor attention to
details by the designers.
On the back of the phone we find a tiny Sony Ericsson logo near the
bottom. This does not come as a surprise because underneath this is a
Sony Ericsson LT26i and many of the manuals that come with the phone
refer to it as such. The phone was obviously in development long before
the two companies decided to part ways and thus Ericsson would have had a
lot to do with this phone, and the logo on the back signifies that.
The camera lens is located right at the top and it is so close to the top edge that at times it is difficult to keep your finger holding the phone from appearing in the frame. A whole has been cut into the cover for the lens which makes the dust easy to settle on the lens but not easy for you to clean it unless you remove the back cover. Below the lens is the single LED flash and below that is the loudspeaker. There is a small bump below it that keeps the loudspeakers raised sufficiently enough to not be blocked when the phone is kept on a flat surface.
The entire back side above the glass strip is actually the back cover,
which is a thin piece of plastic that can be slid up to remove. There is
not much to see here other than a micro SIM slot. The battery is sealed
and non-removable. You will find lots of dust here though that tends to
accumulate over time thanks to the holes in the cover for the lens,
flash and loudspeaker. We wonder why Sony bothered with a battery cover
at all and why didn’t just provide an external SIM slot like on the
iPhone 4S, One X or their own Xperia P.
One of the things we loved about the design of this phone is the build quality. Sony Ericsson phones in the past weren’t known for their great build quality and some of them have been quite plasticky. The Xperia S on the other hand feels great and thanks to the matte plastic doesn’t feel cheap or kitsch in any way.
Another great thing about it is the ergonomics. This is the only phone with an HD display that fits perfectly in our hands. Thanks to the narrow display and flat sides, we had no problem gripping the phone between our finger tips and the base of our finger even when lying in bed with the phone upside down. Bigger phones such as the HTC One X make you hold the phone between your fingers and the base of your thumb, which severely restricts the thumb’s movement, something that does not happen at all with the Xperia S.
We also liked how the volume control was placed in the middle of the phone on the side instead of right at the top on most phones, exactly where your thumb would be when you hold the phone normally or during the call. We wish this level of attention was shown towards the design of the keys below the display, the power button and the camera lens placement.
DisplayThe Xperia S has a 1280 x 720 resolution, 4.3-inch LCD. The high resolution, coupled with the size makes the display on the Xperia S one of the densest around, with a pixel density of 342 PPI, greater than even the iPhone 4S’ Retina display.
The display on the Xperia S does look pretty good. It’s sharp, has natural colors, good contrast and is visible even under bright sunlight. Unfortunately, the display doesn’t have the same appeal as the Super LCD2 on the HTC One X. Imageslackthe vibrancy and the wow-factor of the One X or even the Galaxy Nexus display. The viewing angles are also quite poor and the display washes out considerably at off angles. There is also a bit of motion blur, mostly noticeable in games. We think Sony decided to cut some costs and went for a cheaper TN panels instead of the better quality IPS panels found on the One X or the iPhone 4S. Don’t get us wrong, the display does look quite good but we expected better from a flagship device.
The display has a scratch resistant glass surface but it’s not being listed as Gorilla Glass, neither by Sony nor on Corning’s website. Annoyingly, the glass does not have oleophobic coating, which means fingerprints and smudges tend to stick to the display and are hard to wipe off.
We have one bit of warning regarding the display on the Xperia S. Our review unit came with several faint yellow spots near the bottom and along the right edge of the display.
They would appear yellow on a white background and light gray on a dark background. A quick Google search revealed that this was a common issue with the Xperia S and the only solution is to get the phone replaced under warranty. We are also hearing that this is not a problem anymore with newer devices but we would still advise you to open the box and check the phone in the shop itself if your device has this issue and then return it on the spot. If purchasing online, ask the retailer about the issue in advance or read user reviews to confirm.
Hardware and Software The Sony Xperia S has a Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8260 SoC with a dual-core 1.5GHz Scorpion CPU and Adreno 220 GPU. This is the third generation Snapdragon processor and not the recently released S4 and is the same processor found on the HTC Sensation XE. In terms of memory, the phone has a 1GB RAM, 1.8GB phone memory and 32GB internal memory. The 1.8GB memory is inaccessible by the user and is only used for installing apps. Out of the 32GB, approximately 26GB is available for everything else.
Unfortunately, the phone uses Media Transfer Protocol instead of Mass Storage Protocolfor transferring files. The difference is that in MTP the memory is not mounted on your computer and remains accessible even when connected, unlike in MSP. Due to this, every time you need to open a file, the PC will first copy the file from the phone to the computer’s memory and then open it. There are some other drawbacks as well, which makes it less preferred compared to MSP but if you are just going to transfer files to and from the phone it shouldn’t make much of a difference.
The Xperia S does not have a microSD card slot, so the 26GB is all you get for storage.
On software front, the Xperia S comes with Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread. It’s distressing that even though we are halfway through 2012 we are still getting phones with Gingerbread on them. Sony has even fewer excuses compared to other companies because their phone was launched after Android 4.0 was announced and it’s been six months since it has been released by Google. All we have for now is a promise that Android 4.0 will arrive some time later this year with no concrete dates. This gives us even less hope of the phone getting future updates on time.
Running on top of Gingerbread is Sony’s custom UI. This is quite similar
to what we see on previous Sony Ericsson phones such as the Xperia neo
V. It’s a very clean and simple skin that doesn’t feel as bloated as
Sense or as garish as TouchWiz. The phone comes with some third party
apps pre-installed but the good thing is that you can uninstall all of
them. They do unfortunately return when you update or reset your phone.
Sony has updated some apps such as the music player, which looks a lot
better and the browser, which is a lot smoother than stock Gingerbread
browser. Overall, we like what Sony has done with the software and
although it does take some of the pain out of using Gingerbread, it is
no cure.
One nuisance is that the phone does not download software update over the air. It will only inform you about an available update, at which point you have to go through the song and dance of installing the desktop client, if it isn’t already, connecting the phone, downloading the update and then updating the phone, a process not unlike what you had to do for Sony Ericsson phones a lifetime ago. It’s sad that even after all these years this process hasn’t changed. The strange thing is Android itself supports OTA updates, as seen on Nexus devices but manufacturers like Sony and Samsung go out of their way to make your life difficult by requiring a desktop client.
PerformanceDespite being decidedly last year, the hardware performs very well. The dual-core CPU is pretty powerful and even the Adreno 220 GPU manages to keep up with today’s 3D games at 720p resolution, which is no small feat. It might not be as powerful as the Tegra 3 on the One X but is definitely faster than the TI OMAP 4430 on the Galaxy Nexus, as we found out through benchmark scores.
Unfortunately, the spoil sport here is Gingerbread. Sony has done some optimizations to make the UI feel smooth but you can still see it stutter due to a lack of hardware acceleration introduced in Android 4.0 for smartphones.
This makes the phone a lot less pleasant than you expect from a flagship phone and even the two year old Nexus S seems smoother in comparison. Like the Motorola ATRIX 2 we reviewed last week, the Xperia S simply begs for Android 4.0 and we think it is a major drawback that the phone does not have it already. Considering the flagship status of the phone, we would say that it should be a higher priority for Sony than the 2011 Xperia handsets that it is currently updating.
CameraThe Xperia S has a 12 megapixel camera with LED flash and 1080p video recording. It’s been quite a while since someone made a 12 megapixel camera. The N8, it seems, was the last of its kind and Nokia did such a great job with the camera on that phone that everybody else sort of just gave up and started concentrating on 8 megapixel cameras.
The camera software on the Xperia S is simple and well laid out. By
default the camera opens in the Auto mode, which automatically adjusts
every parameter depending upon the scene. You can switch to Normal mode,
at which point you can adjust camera settings such as focus mode,
metering mode, white balance, ISO settings, etc.
There are three different kinds of panorama modes on the Xperia S. First
is the standard sweep panorama, in which you simply move the camera
from left to right. Second is 3D sweep panorama, where the do the same
action and then the camera takes the images and combines them in a 3D
image that can only be viewed on a 3D TV by connecting the HDMI cable.
Lastly, there is the sweep multi angle, where you move the camera the
way you do in panorama, the phone captures multiple images and then
shows you the 3D image result which consists of multiple images. You
have to tilt the phone side to side and as you tilt you see the subject
from side to side, which is supposed to create the illusion of depth. In
practice, all of this is gimmick and of no real value to anyone.
The camera has a physical shutter button, which is very rare in the world of Android phones. You can press and hold the shutter button when the phone is locked and the camera starts, focusses and takes a picture. We timed to see how fast the phone does all of this and it did it in a very impressive 1.5 seconds. However, because the camera takes a picture before you could even frame the shot, the subject is often not in the center of the image or where you’d want it to be. For this, a better solution is to set the camera in ‘start only’ mode, so instead of starting and taking a picture the shutter key will only start the camera from locked state.
Now, coming to the actual image quality, we were impressed by the quality of the camera on the Xperia S. The camera takes some lovely pictures with good colors and contrast that look great on the phone’s display as well as on the computer screen. If we had to complain, we would say the camera tends to over-sharpen images and that there is some noise in the dark areas but this is only visible when you zoom right into the image.
We decided to compare the camera on the Xperia S to the one on the Nokia N8 to see if the N8 still holds on to its crown as the current camera champion. As it turns out, it does. The advantage N8 has here is due to its camera sensor, which is still the largest around, with only the upcoming 808 PureView having a bigger sensor. This lets the camera capture more light and details, which is evident in the N8’s images.
Looking at the same subject captured through both the Xperia S and the
N8, the N8 images have actual detail with practically zero sharpening,
whereas the Xperia S images look severely sharpened. Noise is also all
but absent in N8’s images whereas you can see it in some areas in Xperia
S images. In low-light Xperia S’ flash does a decent job but is not as
good as the N8’s xenon flash.
But it’s not a complete loss for the Xperia S. One of the areas where the Xperia wins over the N8 is in macro mode. The N8 needs to be put in a dedicated macro mode before you shoot close subjects but even then it has trouble focusing when you go too close. The Xperia S does not require you to use a macro mode (it doesn’t even have one) and can still go a lot closer to the subject. The Xperia S also doesn’t have trouble focusing in the dark like the N8 and doesn’t over expose subjects shot with the flash at close distance. It also starts and shoots quicker than the N8 and the display is a lot better to look at.
Then there is also the 1080p video recording, something that the N8 cannot do at all, capping out at 720p. Although the N8’s video looks very good, at 1080p, the Xperia S’ looks even better.
Overall, we really liked the camera on the Xperia S and although it isn’t perfect it is one of the best camera phones currently out there, easily beating the ones on the One X and the Galaxy Nexus.
Music and VideoAs mentioned before, Sony has changed the music player on the Xperia S, which is much better than the stock Gingerbread player. There is some confusion initially in terms of navigation as the Now Playing screen is in a different tab from the library, so pressing back in Now Playing screen makes you exit the player instead of going back to the track list but otherwise it’s a fine player.
The Now playing screen shows you the album art and generates a colored background for it that matches the color of the album art. There are also a five band custom equalizer with Sony’s Mega Bass feature, presets and surround effects (tacky, best avoided). There is also an xLOUD feature for boosting the loudspeaker volume, another “feature” for something that should be available by default. What’s the point of restricting the audio volume and then claiming to “boost” it using a setting?
The audio quality through the headphones is excellent. Sony continues to provide the best in-class headset with their phones, a tradition Sony Ericsson started all those years ago with Walkman phones. These simple black earphones sound several times better than the overhyped garbage that HTC ships under the Beats Audio badge. The loudspeaker on the phone also sounds good.
The phone does not have a dedicated video player, which is a shame. You have to play videos through the Gallery app and that’s not exactly a great experience. We tested the phone using the DicePlayer app and it handled every video we threw at it, including 1080p ones. This coupled with the good quality display and the great headset means watching videos, movies or TV shows is an absolute joy. Too bad Xperia S, like all Android phones, does not support files over 4GB.
Battery LifeThe Xperia S comes with a 1,750mAh non-replaceable battery. With a fixed internal battery like that, you’d want the battery life to be great. Unfortunately, it isn’t but it’s not too bad either. In our testing, the Xperia S managed to last for up to 22 hours on a full charge with normal usage. Heavy usage such as gaming or HD video playback drains the battery a lot faster, with the phone barely lasting half a day. In our video playback test, the Xperia S lasted for five hours while playing a 720p video in the stock player with stock headset at 75% display brightness, which is again decent but not great.
VerdictWe really enjoyed our time with the Xperia S and will miss it when it goes back, and that’s not something we say often. One of the things that bother us about this phone is that Sony had come really close to making the best Android smartphone on the market, but squandered the opportunity by making some novice mistakes. The phone should have had Ice Cream Sandwich at launch, the display should have been of better quality for a flagship device and the capacitive keys below the display should not have been so frustrating to use. These three things are the ones that stick out when we look back at our experience with the handset. Had Sony taken care about these we would have readily ignored all the other issues, which are pretty minor, to be honest.
And it would have been easy to do that with all the good things about the phone. We loved the design, especially that glass strip at the bottom and the way the phone fit our hands perfectly, and we loved the camera and the general multimedia performance of the handset. At Rs. 30,990, we even like the price, which is significantly lower than all the other Android phones with HD displays.
With the release of Android 4.0 update, one of the major issues should get sorted out. By then the price would have dropped as well. The Xperia S would then be an even better buy than it is today. Too bad the keys and the display would still be holding it back.
Samsung Galaxy S III versus the world
Although the chassis is mostly plastic, their new Hyperglaze coating gives you a good grip and feel of the phone. No one’s going to be looking the back though when you have such a gorgeous 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED upfront. Samsung has managed to squeeze a massive screen into form that’s just a little larger than the S II, which is quite a feat.
Beating inside, is their latest Exynos 4 Quad SoC which is giving many smartphones a run for their money. More than the specifications though, it’s new special features that make phone unique like the S Voice, Smart stay, etc. If you don’t feel like waiting till the end of the month though, then here’s some very good options in the market right now.
HTC One X
The One X was the first quad-core smartphone is arguably one of the best built phones in the market. The polycarbonate shell makes is very durable and super light as well. One of the unique features of the HTC One X is the new Burst mode in the camera interface. This lets you capture photos in rapid succession which means you can get some really good action shots. The One X also boasts of zero shutter lag which means capturing a photo is almost instantaneous. The phone is great if you game a lot as it’s powered by Nvidia’s Tegra 3 SoC, which has one of the best GPUs in any phone till date. For Rs36,000, it’s currently the best Android in the market.
Apple iPhone 4S
Apple’s iPhone is always an option when money is not a constraint. The 4S takes all the goodness of the iPhone 4 and adds some more as well. It now packs in a beefier dual-core CPU from the iPad 2, giving it 1080p recording capabilities. The new 8MP BSI sensor improves on the already good sensor of the previous one for better low light photography. And then there’s Siri, your personal assistant to answer your every beck and call. The 4S sits at the top end of the price bracket at Rs45,000.
Sony Xperia S
Compared with the other handsets, the Xperia S may not come across as a serious contender but it has one of the best cameras and display right now. The plastic and chrome finish have been ditched for a classy, matt finished chassis. The HD resolution, 4.3-inch screen makes everything super sharp and crisp so reading eBooks and web pages is a dream. It also has one of the best cameras for outdoor shooting. The 12MP sensor can snap up some really detailed pictures, making it a joy for Instagram enthusiasts, especially macro shots. The phone is also slated to receive an ICS update. If a camera is off high priority, then at Rs31,000, this is your best bet.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone
A gorgeous, polycarbonate block
The Nokia Lumia 900 is basically a larger Lumia 800.
The Lumia 800 is one of the best looking smartphones on the market and
the Lumia 900 is no different. The phone is again constructed from solid
polymer, the same material often found in ice hockey helmets. The Nokia
Lumia 900 will be available in black, white, cyan and magenta colours,
though its not yet known what colour variants will be sold in Australia.
Like both the N9
and the Lumia 800, the Lumia 900's polycarbonate casing is coloured all
the way through in the manufacturing process so scratches, dents or
marks from everyday use will not show up. The construction and build
quality of the Lumia 900 is first class with no creaks, rattles or
moving parts. Combined with a weight that is light enough not to be a
burden, yet heavy enough to provide a premium feel, the Lumia 900 is the
near perfect balance of size and weight. In a mobile world where many
smartphones look like identical plastic slabs, the subtle curves and
vibrant colours of the Nokia Lumia 900 are a welcome breath of fresh
air. This is without doubt one of the best looking and most elegant
smartphones on the market today.
Windows Phone: The good, the bad and the ugly
Using
the Lumia 900 is an almost identical experience to every other Windows
Phone on the market. This isn't such a bad thing as the Windows Phone
platform is slick, modern, user friendly and smooth. We didn't
experience any lag during general use, applications opened swiftly with
no delay and most core tasks are easy to access and use on a daily
basis. As Windows Phone devices are very similar when it comes to
software, you can read our full review of the Windows Phone 7.5 operating system here.
Due
to Microsoft's strict hardware and software requirements,
vendor-included apps are the main differentiators between Windows Phone
devices. One of the biggest selling points for Nokia's Windows Phone
devices is Nokia Drive, a free turn-by-turn GPS navigator. The app is
completely free and allows you to install street maps for most
countries. Once installed, you can use the map without the need for a
mobile Internet connection. The Australian map we downloaded was a 200MB
file, while the English UK voice was 4.1MB. The Drive app is basic, but
it's easy to use and effective. The larger screen of the Lumia 900
really makes a difference during navigation compared to the Lumia 800.
The Lumia 900 also includes a free 25GB of SkyDrive storage, but this is
a feature available on all Windows Phones, not just Nokia ones.
Nokia Music and Nokia Maps are other apps that are
available on the Lumia 900. We particularly like the MX Radio feature in
the music app that allows you to listen to free music streams sorted by
genre, and we prefered to use Nokia Maps over Microsoft's own Bing Maps
solution. A cool feature in Nokia Maps is the ability to quickly access
popular places around your current location. You can view a basic
"about" description from TimeOut and WCities, explore places by specific
category and even see nearby places appear on a map around you, clearly
denoted by a categorised icon.
Disappointingly,
the Lumia 900 offers less than stellar mobile Internet performance. The
browser feels slick and has all the features we've come to know and
love on smartphones including pinch to zoom capability, smooth scrolling
(still far better than any Android phone) and the ability to open
multiple tabs. However, it loads Web pages slower than the Galaxy Nexus and the iPhone 4S
when compared directly over the same Wi-Fi network, it doesn't render
pages as well as most of its rivals, and opening a new tab is buried
three screen taps deep in the settings menu. In addition to text being
hard to read unless zoomed in, the Lumia 900 also struggled to display
some fonts on various Web sites we frequent.
Speaking of the Galaxy Nexus, the Lumia 900 (just
like the 800 before it) shares an issue with Android's flagship: the
volume of its speaker is quite low. This is particularly telling when
using the hands-free speakerphone during a phone call, but it also
affects the volume of ring tones, too. Even with volume turned all the
way up, we often missed notifications when the phone was in our pocket.
The
Windows Phone platform has plenty of popular, third-party applications
like Facebook, Twitter, Skype, WhatsApp, Rdio, eBay and Evernote.
However, the number of apps is low when compared directly with its
rivals, Apple's iOS platform and Google's Android OS. We have no doubt
the Windows Marketplace will satisfy most users and will only continue
to grow, but at this stage it is somewhat limited compared to its
competitors.
Perhaps the biggest disadvantage of
the Windows Phone platform is the reliance on Microsoft's Zune software
for file management. While the same criticism can be aimed at the iPhone
and iTunes combination, at least Apple has iCloud to fall back on.
Windows Phone has no such backup option that will save important content
like your messages, call logs, settings and app data. Thankfully,
Microsoft's SkyDrive service does work well for documents and photos and
$11.99 per month for an unlimited ZunePass subscription is a nice option if you regularly listen to music on your phone.
Average camera but decent battery life
The
Nokia Lumia 900 has an 8-megapixel camera with a dual LED flash and a
Carl Zeiss lens. The image quality won't match the quality of the
unrivalled Nokia N8
but the Lumia 900 definitely takes a decent photo, provided you are
backed by good lighting. Image noise is an issue with many of our test
photos appearing grainy and washed out, though the level of detail is
sharp. The camera doubles as a 720p HD video recorder and will record at
30 frames per second.
The Nokia Lumia 900's polycarbonate design means
the phone doesn't have a removable battery, uses a micro-SIM card rather
than a full-sized one and doesn't have a microSD card slot for extra
storage. The Lumia 900 only has 16GB of internal memory, which could be
an issue for those who desire lots of storage space.
The
Nokia Lumia 900 is a dual-channel HSDPA phone, which means it offers
theoretical maximum data speeds of 42 megabits per second (Mbps) when
using Telstra's Next G network in Australia. Though you'll never see
these speeds in real use, our Lumia 900 review unit regularly managed to
achieve download speeds of up to 15 megabits per second (Mbps).
The
Nokia Lumia 900's battery life is about average for a modern day
smartphone, so you should be able to use it for almost a full day before
needing a recharge. With heavy use we managed to drain the battery well
before the end of the day, though battery performance will depend on a
number of factors including usage patterns and 3G network performance
and coverage.
Nokia is expected to launch the Lumia 900 in the coming weeks. The Lumia 900 can also be purchased outright through Australian online store MobiCity.
Van Nistelrooy quits football
The former Holland international has suffered a difficult year since arriving in the south of Spain from Hamburg last summer, scoring just five times in 32 appearances.
However, he did help guide Malaga to their first ever top-four finish and thereby ensure Champions League football for the first time in their history.
Van Nistelrooy told a press conference today: “Yesterday was my final game as a professional footballer. I wanted to play in the Champions League, but it is the moment to leave.
“I have arrived at my physical limit and I can’t play at the maximum level. I couldn’t have had a better send-off than this.
“I feel happy that I am the one taking this decision. I would like to thank Malaga, the technical and medical staff for an unforgettable year.
“I am proud to have won collective and individual titles, but my greatest satisfaction was to be able to work day after day, year after year.”
Van Nistelrooy also paid tribute to those people who supported him during his career, which included spells with PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United and Real Madrid.
“I would like to thank Malaga, my team-mates, the coaches, the physios, (sporting director) Antonio Fernandez, Fernando Hierro and the fans for this unforgettable year,” said the Dutchman.
“I would also like to thank the fans of Den Bosch, Heerenveen, PSV, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Hamburg.”
Van Nistelrooy’s career began in his homeland with Den Bosch before moves to Heerenveen and PSV Eindhoven, where he made his name.
After securing the Eredivisie Golden Boot in both the 1998/99 and 1999/2000 seasons, he seemed set to join Manchester United in a near £19m move.
However, United called off the transfer due to fitness concerns and within days Van Nistelrooy ruptured cruciate knee ligaments during a training session.
That injury did not dissuade United manager Alex Ferguson though, as he went back for Van Nistelrooy the following summer and was duly rewarded as the striker delivered 150 goals in 219 games in his five seasons in Manchester and guided them to the title in 2002/03.
However, Van Nistelrooy’s time in north-west England ended when he fell down the pecking order and was snapped up by Real Madrid in the summer of 2006.
He hit the ground running in the Spanish capital as 53 goals in two seasons saw Real capture back-to-back Primera Division titles.
But once again injuries took their toll as he missed almost the entire 2008/09 campaign with a meniscus problem and then found himself behind Raul, Gonzalo Higuain and Karim Benzema the following season.
An 18-month spell at Hamburg followed before returning to Spain and Malaga for his final season as a professional.
Van Nistelrooy also bagged 35 goals in 70 international appearances for Holland, including strikes at Euro 2004, World Cup 2006 and Euro 2008 and is the second highest all-time goalscorer in the Champions League with 54 from 81 appearances.
His final appearance for Malaga resulted in a 1-0 victory over Sporting Gijon.
Taylor Swift named top music money maker with $35.7M
Taylor Swift was the world’s highest earning music star on 2011, making $35.7 million.
The ‘Mine’ hitmaker grossed $88 million in the US - which amounted to a personal fortune of $29.8 million - from her ‘Speak Now’ Tour as well as touring across Asia and Europe, selling over 1.8 million albums and a further 7.8 single track downloads, and gaining income from song writing royalties.
Irish rockers U2 follow closely behind the 22-year-old beauty on the 2012 Billboard Money Makers List, with a fortune of $32.1 million, mainly drawn from their huge 360 Degrees shows, the highest-earning tour of 2011.
The ‘Sweetest Thing’ band grossed more than $293 million from 44 concerts throughout the three-year tour, which was watched by nearly three million people, and saw them beat a record set by The Rolling Stones for highest grossing tour ever, taking $763 million in total.
Kenny Chesney, Lady Gaga and hip-hop star Lil Wayne also made up the top five.
‘Lollipop’ hitmaker Wayne pulled in more than $23.1 million last year, while Sade, Bon Jovi and Adele - who has to curtail her touring commitments in October after suffering problems with her vocal cords - also made up the top 10.
2012 Billboard Money Makers list, Top 10:
1. Taylor Swift, $35,719,902
2. U2, $32,116,315
3. Kenny Chesney, $29,837,103
4. Lady Gaga, $25,353,039
5. Lil Wayne, $23,178,722
6. Sade, $16,382,809
7. Bon Jovi, $15,835,856
8. Celine Dion, $14,261,515
9. Jason Aldean, $13,409,011
10. Adele, $13,081,909
Bang Showbiz
The ‘Mine’ hitmaker grossed $88 million in the US - which amounted to a personal fortune of $29.8 million - from her ‘Speak Now’ Tour as well as touring across Asia and Europe, selling over 1.8 million albums and a further 7.8 single track downloads, and gaining income from song writing royalties.
Irish rockers U2 follow closely behind the 22-year-old beauty on the 2012 Billboard Money Makers List, with a fortune of $32.1 million, mainly drawn from their huge 360 Degrees shows, the highest-earning tour of 2011.
The ‘Sweetest Thing’ band grossed more than $293 million from 44 concerts throughout the three-year tour, which was watched by nearly three million people, and saw them beat a record set by The Rolling Stones for highest grossing tour ever, taking $763 million in total.
Kenny Chesney, Lady Gaga and hip-hop star Lil Wayne also made up the top five.
‘Lollipop’ hitmaker Wayne pulled in more than $23.1 million last year, while Sade, Bon Jovi and Adele - who has to curtail her touring commitments in October after suffering problems with her vocal cords - also made up the top 10.
2012 Billboard Money Makers list, Top 10:
1. Taylor Swift, $35,719,902
2. U2, $32,116,315
3. Kenny Chesney, $29,837,103
4. Lady Gaga, $25,353,039
5. Lil Wayne, $23,178,722
6. Sade, $16,382,809
7. Bon Jovi, $15,835,856
8. Celine Dion, $14,261,515
9. Jason Aldean, $13,409,011
10. Adele, $13,081,909
Bang Showbiz
Beyonce Writes Tina Knowles a Heartwarming Letter for Mother's Day
In the letter, which the 30-year-old "Love on Top" singer revealed on her website, Tina Knowles receives heartwarming words from her eldest child. "Everything I am is because of you," Beyonce writes to her mother at the opening of the note.
Read the rest of Beyonce's sentiments towards Tina Knowles below.
Country Music Hall of Fame Welcomes David Nail, Jana Kramer for 'Hot Nights'
One of Nashville's hot spots is getting hotter! The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is gearing up for Hot Nights at the Hall this summer. The popular concert series for museum members returns June 5 with a performance by David Nail. The series, which debuted last summer, will feature live music, food, autograph signings and exclusive access to the museum and Museum Store. Additional performers include Jana Kramer on July 13 and Love and Theft on August 31.Hot Nights at the Hall begin at 6:00 PM and admission is free to all museum members. Membership at the museum begins at $40 and includes admission to all three concert events as well as a year of free admission to the museum and more. Membership may be purchased at the event, by phone at (615) 291-8419 or by clicking here.
"Our members are a vital part of our museum family, and their contributions directly support our mission," says Museum Director Kyle Young. "We created Hot Nights at the Hall last year as a way to say 'thank you' to the members we have, and to encourage others to join us by providing them with a really great value and yet another benefit to museum membership. We're excited to bring the series back this summer and again offer members old and new a chance to hear some great music, meet the performers, and enjoy our exhibits after hours."
One of the not-to-be missed special exhibits currently at the Museum is "The Bakersfield Sound: Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and California Country." The exhibit spotlights the raw, electric sound that gained tremendous popularity in the 1960s and can still be heard today in the modern country music of acts such as Brad Paisley, Alan Jackson and others.
Also currently at the museum are exhibits dedicated to legendary guitarist and producer Chet Atkins and "Sing Me Back Home: A Journey Through Country Music." For more information, visit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's website here.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Capsule reviews of new movie releases
"Dark Shadows" -- Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are snuggled warmly in their comfort zone in this chilly horror-comedy, their eighth collaboration as director and star, respectively, and their weakest by far. You don't need to know a thing about the "Dark Shadows" TV series that provides the inspiration. Tonally, thematically, visually, you've seen this movie before, with its oddball characters, skies in varying shades of gray and a foreboding sense of gothic mystery. It's actually a wonder that Depp hasn't played a vampire before; still, his long-undead Barnabas Collins, who's been buried alive for nearly two centuries and suddenly finds himself back in his insular Maine hometown in 1972, fits squarely within his well-honed on-screen persona. He thinks he's quite the charmer, but he's actually a bit awkward, and that contradiction provides the main source of humor. Or at least, it's supposed to. The script from Seth Grahame-Smith ("Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter") allows its family full of weirdoes to shine, but too often is crammed with fish-out-of-water gags as Barnabas struggles to make sense of the time in which he's found himself. He struggles to understand modern romance as he courts the family's delicate, wide-eyed nanny (Bella Heathcote) and tries to fit in by smoking pot with the local hippies. Ho ho! "Dark Shadows" feels too languid, and bogged down as it is with an obsessive eye for costumes and period detail rather than offering anything resembling an engaging story. And by the time Burton finally puts his visual effects skills to their best use, in a climactic showdown between Barnabas and the witch who cursed him (Eva Green), it's too late. With Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter and Jackie Earle Haley. PG-13 for comic horror violence, sexual content, some drug use, language and smoking. 116 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.
-- Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic
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"The Dictator" -- In analyzing Sacha Baron Cohen and the array of offbeat characters he's created, it's clear that it's become a matter of diminishing returns. In 2006's "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," the observations of his bumbling, thoroughly inappropriate foreign TV journalist provided sharp, satirical insight into our prejudices and foibles. Three years later, "Bruno" felt like a one-note gimmick, with his flamboyantly gay Austrian fashion correspondent merely trying to shock everyone with his flamboyant gayness. Now, Baron Cohen is back with "The Dictator," his least-focused film yet, although it has an actual script compared with the guerrilla-style mockumentaries that preceded it. Baron Cohen stars as Admiral Gen. Aladeen, who has ruled the oil-rich, fictitious North African nation of Wadiya cruelly and cluelessly since he was 7 years old. Aladeen oppresses his people from the comfort of his opulent palace, sleeps with movie stars (including Megan Fox in a cameo) and orders the execution of his underlings for the silliest of perceived offenses. But when he travels to New York to make a speech before the United Nations, he finds he's been double-crossed by his right-hand man (Ben Kingsley) and forced to survive as a commoner. Stripped of his trademark thick beard, Aladeen is rendered unrecognizable and ends up working at an organic grocery store run by the androgynous, ultra-politically correct Zoey (Anna Faris, who's nearly unrecognizable herself). For a long time, it's hard to tell what Baron Cohen's point is in spoofing this type of despot: that torture and rape are bad? Could it really be that simple? A speech Aladeen gives highlighting the benefits of a dictatorship hits close to home, but it's a long slog through hit-or-miss gross-out gags to get there. R for strong, crude and sexual content; brief male nudity; language; and some violent images. 84 minutes. One and a half stars out of four."Girl in Progress" -- The strong, sexy presence of Eva Mendes and the girlish perkiness of Cierra Ramirez can only go so far to make this forced mother-daughter dramedy tolerable. It's a coming-of-age story that knows it's a coming-of-age story -- as in, our young heroine is well aware of the conventions of this kind of tale and goes out of her way to manufacture various rites of passage to expedite her transformation from innocence to womanhood. Ramirez's Ansiedad literally creates a flow chart in her bedroom and spells out her strategy with her only friend -- whom she'll soon cast aside, she declares, because it's a necessary step in the process. Breaking down and sending up a specific genre is fine if the script is strong enough to get away with such cutesy self-reference, as in "Juno" and "Easy A." Director Patricia Riggen and screenwriter Hiram Martinez don't go far enough, don't dig deep enough with these characters. They play it too safe, which makes "Girl in Progress" feel like a slightly racier version of an ABC Family show. And the flat, overly bright lighting further makes it feel like forgettable television. It certainly doesn't help that the two main figures are cliches. Mendes' Grace is the child in the equation, having given birth when she was just 17 and hopping from man to man and town to town ever since. Ansiedad -- which means anxiety in Spanish -- is the responsible one: Smart, studious and organized, she's left to scrub the sink full of dishes while her mom's out with her married gynecologist boyfriend (Matthew Modine, whose character doesn't have a single perceptible redeeming quality). Do you think it's possible that, by the end, they'll both have learned some lessons and assumed their rightful roles? PG-13 for mature thematic elements, sexual content including crude references, and drinking -- all involving teens. 84 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.
-- Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic
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"God Bless America" -- Bobcat Goldthwait's targets are many and easy and obvious in this satire of everything that's wrong with the world today, but he hits them squarely and in bold fashion. The former stand-up comic has carved out an intriguing career as the writer and director of dark, daring independent films. His last, 2009's "World's Greatest Dad," featured Robin Williams as a father who exploits his teenage son's freak-accident death for fame and fortune. Here, his anti-hero is a bit more familiar, a bit more of a cinematic type, but he still does some incredibly inappropriate things. Sad-sack Frank (Joel Murray) is divorced, he's recently been fired from his job as a cubicle-dwelling drone and he might be dying. With nothing to live for, nothing to lose and an anxious fire burning in his belly, he decides to take out his pent-up aggression on the shrill, selfish, narcissistic idiots out there, as well as people who are just plain mean. He gets some unexpected help from a similarly angry and disillusioned teenage girl, Roxy (Tara Lynne Barr), who becomes his sidekick on a bloody, multistate killing spree. "God Bless America" has a whole lotta "Taxi Driver" in it, and some "Network," and some "Heathers," and even some "Kick-Ass." But it still feels like its own entity through Goldthwait's specific voice. He makes us do something we may not even want to admit to ourselves: acknowledge that Frank is right, and that maybe we're even enjoying watching these people get away with the slaughter. Much of that sensation comes from Murray's performance itself. Frank isn't unhinged or off-putting. He's a reasonable, even-keeled and seemingly intelligent guy who's fed up with the deterioration of decency in society. R for strong violence and language including some sexual sequences. 104 minutes. Three stars out of four.
-- Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic
© Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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