Top 10 announcements from Sony, Samsung, Intel and others

So CES 2015 has come and gone for another year. It leaves behind a mountain of announcements ranging from new laptops and wearable gizmos to all kinds of weird and wacky inventions from firms that may well not exist by 2016.
With so many products being unveiled and announcements being made it can be hard to keep track of it all, especially coming in the first week of the new year.
So V3 has put together a top 10 of what we think were some of the biggest announcements from major companies at the show.
10. Samsung

The Galaxy S6 predictably failed to make an appearance, and the firm disappointed many with the lack of a major product launch, but Samsung still made a few interesting announcements. Here are our top picks from the Vegas show floor.
Samsung Portable SSD T1Samsung unveiled the Samsung Portable SSD T1, a solid state drive (SSD) available in 250GB, 500GB and 1TB storage capacities. The Portable SSD T1 will launch globally in 15 countries across the US, Europe and Asia later this month, including the UK.
Samsung said that the Portable SSD T1 is ideal for business travellers, creative professionals and content creators who need secure local storage that they can take on-the-go and use to quickly transfer large amounts of data.
Built with the same technology as Samsung's internal SSDs, the drive has sequential read/write speeds of up to 450MB/s with a USB 3.0 super speed interface and random read/write speeds of up to 8,000 inputs/outputs per second and 21,000 IOPS respectively.
Depending on the file size, the Portable SSD T1 has a data transfer speed four times faster than an external HDD. It takes only eight seconds to transfer a 3GB movie file and 27 seconds for a 10GB movie file compared with an external HDD, which takes 26 seconds and 85 seconds respectively.
The Portable SSD T1 comes with a three-year limited warranty, and is available in 250GB, 500GB and 1TB models with a starting price of £154.79.

SUHD televisions
Samsung revealed a new standard in UHD content, which aims to elevate the viewing experience in its new range of TVs.
The SUHD standard aims to offer a better colour quality in TV displays and Samsung claims it to be the most colour efficient available.
"For the most accurate colour display, we achieve this from a combination of hardware and software to make TV look as good as on the big screen," said Samsung.
SUHD is a proprietary nano-crystal technology, which uses an engine to remaster picture quality. Samsung will use it to improve curved TV products.
Internet of Things fundingSamsung chief executive BK Yoon used CES 2015 to promise more than $100m in funding for developers and to create an open system to kickstart an Internet of Things (IoT) revolution.
Samsung sold 665 million devices last year, many of which already have internet connectivity. But Yoon promised that by 2017 90 percent of those devices will plug into the IoT ecosystem, and 100 percent in five years.
"I've heard people say they want to create a single operating system for IoT, but these people only work with their own devices," Yoon said in his CES 2015 keynote.
"We can deliver the benefits of IoT only if all sensors can talk to each other. I'm making a promise that our IoT devices and products will be open. We will ensure that others can easily connect to our devices."

Galaxy E5 and E7Samsung went for the mid-range and low-end phone market with the launch of the Galaxy E5 and E7.
Offering 5in and 5.5in screens respectively, they cost a good deal less than Samsung's other large-screen phones.
The Samsung Galaxy E5 and E7 have been announced only for the Indian market at present, but their INR19,300 and INR20,500 prices put them around the £200/$300 mark.

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CES 2015: LG G Flex 2 hands-on review

LAS VEGAS: LG announced its latest curved smartphone at CES this week, the G Flex 2, and we managed to spend a short time with the phone at the firm's booth at CES ahead of its release.

Like its predecessor the G Flex, which was announced in October 2013, the G Flex 2 lacks physical buttons on the front or side, relegating the home and volume buttons to just below the rear-facing camera. But it also brings some new features in a smaller form factor.
Design
The G Flex 2's curved display means the phone sits more comfortably than most when held in the palm of the hand and up against the curved contour of the face.
LG claims that the shape is "optimised for the average face", offering better voice quality as the microphone is closer to the mouth when making calls.

The problem we had with its predecessor was that the handset's large size meant that you're still likely to look pretty odd holding it up against your face when making voice calls.
That's probably why LG has shrunk the size of the G Flex 2, although only slightly, as it now features a 5.5in plastic OLED (P-OLED) screen as opposed to the 6in display on the G Flex.
The device is truly flexible too, meaning that you can push down on the handset's screen, and the phone, as its name suggests, easily flexes itself back into shape. We can't see a practical use for this, but it's likely to get heads turning nonetheless.

Another interesting feature of the LG G Flex 2's design is that, like the G Flex, the handset's main hardware keys are on the rear of the device and these seem to fall into a natural position when the phone is held in the hand.
Measuring 7.1mm thick and weighing 152g, the G Flex 2 is much thinner and lighter than its predecessor, which measured 8.7mm thick and weighed 177g. Like the original, it doesn't seem bulky or unwieldy either, and feels really natural to hold.
Screen
While the design of the G Flex 2 is impressive, the screen is its most impressive feature. Measuring 5.5in with a full HD 1080p screen, the updated display beats the previous model's 1280x720 resolution and it looks stunning.
The curved P-OLED display, despite our doubts, does match LG's claims that viewing images and video on the device is more immersive than on regular smartphones.
Blacks are really black and whites appear exceptionally crisp and bright. The OLED technology really does make colours look vibrant and natural, too, while the slightly concave curve of the screen offers an immersive viewing experience.
Performance and software
Under the bonnet, the LG G Flex 2 is the first smartphone to boast Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 processor, touting a 2.0GHz CPU speed alongside 2GB RAM. It also runs the latest Android 5.0 Lollipop mobile operating system.
Although we have yet to benchmark the phone, we found the device impressively nippy, and despite putting it thoroughly through its paces - opening apps, browsing the web and multitasking - the phone showed no sign of stuttering.

LG has left the Android mobile operating system largely untouched on the G Flex 2, which we liked, offering a clean, almost vanilla user interface. However, it has added a few software features to the bendy smartphone, including a light beam notification feature, which lets users preview incoming notifications while the phone's screen is off by swiping down from the top, and saving battery life by not using the phone's whole screen real estate.
LG hasn't quoted battery life, but said that the G Flex 2 will go from zero to a 50 percent charge in under 40 minutes.
Since its unveiling, Vodafone has announced that it will be exclusively offering the LG G Flex 2 for six weeks in the UK. Pricing details have not yet been revealed.

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iPhone 6 Plus vs Nexus 6 review Battery

Battery performance hampers most smartphones. Despite advances in other areas, most handsets still struggle to offer more than two days of moderate use from one charge.
The iPhone 6 Plus and Nexus 6 don't radically change this, but they are both fairly impressive by today's standards.
Our test involved burning the iPhone 6 Plus 2915mAh battery and Nexus 6 3220mAh battery by constantly looping a video file stored on the handsets. Both performed fairly well, but the Apple phone had a definite lead.
The iPhone 6 Plus lasted an average of nine hours before dying, while the Nexus 6 made it to a still reasonable eight hours.
The burn scores rang true when we gave the iPhone 6 Plus and Nexus 6 power intensive tasks like 3D gaming.
For example, when playing Grand Theft Auto 3 the iPhone 6 Plus generally lost 12 to 15 percent of its charge for every hour played. The Nexus 6 lost 20 percent every hour.
The Nexus 6 doesn't last as long as the iPhone 6 Plus, but it's important to note that it charges significantly faster than the Apple phone thanks to the inclusion of Motorola's Turbo Charger.
Turbo Charger is based on Qualcomm's Quick Charge 2.0 technology and can load the Nexus 6 with six hours of power from a 15-minute charge.
Winner: iPhone 6 Plus
Storage
The iPhone 6 Plus features a more storage options than the Nexus and is currently being sold with 16GB, 64GB or 128GB of internal space. Google is currently offering the Nexus 6 with 32GB or 64GB.
We'd like to have seen a 128GB option for the Nexus 6, but the wealth of cloud storage services for both devices mean that space shouldn't be much of a problem for either handset.
Disappointingly, neither smartphone features microSD card slots, meaning that buyers will not be able to upgrade the physical storage after purchase.
Winner: iPhone 6 Plus
Price
The Nexus 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are not cheap. However, the Nexus 6 is the less expensive option, starting at £500 for the 32GB model and £550 for the 64GB.
The basic 16GB iPhone 6 Plus is currently retailing for a hefty £620, while the 64GB and 128GB models will set you back a whopping £700 and £790.

Winner: Nexus 6
Overall winner: iPhone 6 Plus
Offering a sleeker design, better performance, longer battery life and sharper display, the iPhone 6 Plus is currently the ruler of the phablet market, and the Apple device wins six of our rounds compared to two for the Nexus 6.
However, with the most basic 16GB model costing £120 more than the Nexus 6, which features a superior camera, the iPhone 6 Plus' perks come at a premium.
We'd wholeheartedly recommend the iPhone 6 Plus to anyone with a surplus of income, but we'd also recommend the Nexus 6 to those outside Apple's ecosystem unwilling to shell out more than £500 for a smartphone.

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iPhone 6 Plus vs Nexus 6 review Performance

Performance is a key factor on most buyers' minds when comparing smartphones. As a result, an important question is how the iPhone 6 Plus A8 chip with 64-bit architecture and M8 motion coprocessor compares with the Nexus 6 Qualcomm Snapdragon 805, 2.7GHz quad-core processor.
To answer this we used the Geekbench and Sunspider benchmark tools. Geekbench tests integer, floating point and memory performance to create single-core and multi-core performance scores.
Sunspider uses JavaScript to run a number of browser-based tests several times to determine the speed of the browser and processor. With Geekbench a higher score is better, while with Sunspider a lower score is better.
In our tests the iPhone 6 Plus had an impressive 1,619 single-core and 2,920 multi-core score on Geekbench and 350.0ms on Sunspider.
The Nexus 6 had 1,053 single-core and 3,178 multi-core scores on Geekbench and a 794.2ms on Sunspider.
With real world use we found that, for general purposes, both phones are very fast and will meet most users' needs. However, with prolonged use there are a few factors that tip the performance section in the iPhone's favour.
With extended use we noticed that the iPhone 6 was at times faster when it came to web browsing, and definitely performed better with demanding tasks such as 3D gaming. In these situations the Nexus 6 can begin to slow down and heat up.
Winner: iPhone 6 Plus
Camera
Imaging performance is one area in which Apple and Google have failed to impress in recent years, and both companies have attempted to rectify the situation with their latest offerings.
Apple has loaded the iPhone 6 Plus with an advanced 8MP with Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) rear and 1.2 Facetime front camera. Google has equipped the Nexus 6 with 13MP with dual LED ring flash and OIS rear and 2MP front cameras.
Testing the two rear cameras we found that both had their strengths and weaknesses.
In regular lighting conditions - when viewed on a display other than the Nexus 6's oversaturated screen - images shot on the Google-phone were crisper and generally featured more realistic colours than those on the iPhone 6 Plus.
White balance levels on the Nexus 6 were also more realistic, and the Google phone's ring flash component performed better than the iPhone 6 Plus dual-LED flash.

Taken on the Nexus 6

Ring flash modules are designed to create more constant lighting and contrast levels in photos by removing strong shadows. They can also be used when shooting up close to create a halo effect around the subject.
Dual-LED flash is designed to apply exactly the right colour combination to your photo's subject to create more consistent levels.
The Nexus 6 ring flash created more consistent shots when shooting in low light for a more diverse collection of subject matter than the iPhone 6 Plus could produce.
The combination of factors mean that, for general purposes, the Nexus 6 camera has a lead on that of the iPhone 6 Plus.
That said, turning the flash components off we found that the iPhone 6 Plus performed better in dim conditions. This is interesting as both handsets come with OIS components.
OIS reduces light alterations and degradations on images captured in low light
by compensating in real time for shaking and vibrating while shooting.

Taken on the iPhone 6 Plus

Shots taken in low light on the iPhone 6 Plus, while still far from perfect, were noticeably less noisy and pixelated than those taken on the Nexus 6.
The iPhone 6 Plus also boasts slightly faster shutter speeds than the Nexus 6, and is able to capture images a fraction of a second faster than its Google competitor.

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iPhone 6 Plus vs Nexus 6 review Operating system and software

The iPhone 6 Plus comes out of the box running iOS 8 but automatically updates to the latest iOS 8.1 version. Similarly, the Nexus 6 comes running Google's Android 5.0 operating system, but has an update to the latest 5.1 version available.
In past reviews we've found iOS slightly more future proof than Android. This is largely down to Apple's closed management of the OS.
Apple blocks developers making changes to the software. This means that Apple can deploy updates much more quickly than Google, as Android handsets usually feature custom skins and software additions.
However, this problem isn't present on the Nexus 6, which features a completely unskinned version of Lollipop.
Devices running unskinned versions of Android are able to receive updates from Google far faster than their skinned counterparts as Google doesn't have to worry about tweaking the skin's custom code to work with the update.
So the answer to which phone is best for you is determined largely by the wider ecosystem in which you, or your office, are already embedded.
For users embedded in Mac OS, or with existing purchases from iTunes and the App Store, the iPhone 6 Plus will be easier to set up and use. This is particularly true with iOS 8, which is full of iCloud and Mac OS X Yosemite synchronisation services.
For example, as well as letting you sync data, files and even open web pages between iOS and Mac OS X devices, the Continuity upgrade means you can answer calls and send texts from the iPhone using a Mac, so long as both are running the latest software versions.
For those embedded in Google's ecosystem, the Nexus 6 features its own set of advanced synchronisation features.
The handset can be instructed to mirror the settings and application portfolio of one of the user's older Android devices, making it equally easy to set up a new device and get all the same apps and settings.
Additionally, the inclusion of key applications such as Google Docs and Drive mean that users can synchronise the Nexus with their PC and do things like edit documents started on the PC using the smartphone.
Winner: Tie
Security
While 2014 was rife with reports of the first iOS malware and attacks on Mac OS, Apple has traditionally had a lead in the security space thanks to its closed management policy.
Looking to build on this from a hardware and software perspective, Apple has loaded the iPhone 6 Plus and iOS 8.1 with a number of hardware and software security services.
One of the biggest of these is the custom Touch ID fingerprint scanner debuted on the iPhone 5S.
The Touch ID sensor locks the iPhone 6 Plus to the owner's fingerprint and allows certain processes, such as NFC payments or in-app purchases, only when it has detected the fingerprint.
iOS 8 also comes with a number of software upgrades designed to improve its enterprise appeal.
Key additions include tighter password security, S/MIME features, VIP threads, support for Exchange out-of-office replies and busy/free notifications in the Calendar app.
Prior to Lollipop we'd have said that the wealth of security features in iOS makes it the clear winner in the security stakes.
However, things are a little closer to call as Google has made a number of key upgrades that radically improve Android's native security.
Three of the most important are Lollipop's enhanced SELinux enforcing mode, Smart Lock and the decision to turn Android's encryption powers on by default.
The SELinux enforcing mode is an anti-malware feature that protects the Nexus 6 from infection by continuously monitoring the phone and installed apps for suspicious behaviour.
Smart Lock is a nifty service that can pair a 'trusted' Android Wear watch with a Lollipop smartphone or tablet. Once linked, the feature lets the Nexus 6 know when it's near its owner and offers an easy entry mode that does not require physically logging in.
The encryption by default is a smart move by Google as it automatically instructs the Nexus 6 to encrypt stored data and offers an added layer of protection against physical and cyber threats such as man-in-the-middle attacks.
While we have to tip our hat to Google for improving Android's security - which means IT managers or users who know what they're doing can make it every bit as safe as iOS - the fact is that iOS remains the safer bet.
Thanks to Google's open management policy, Android is inherently more prone to abuse and makes it easier for criminals to target with malicious applications, a fact demonstrated by the ever increasing number of malware families targeting Google's ecosystem.

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iPhone 6 Plus vs Nexus 6 review

2014 was a big year for Apple and Google, as both firms released their first phablets, the iPhone 6 Plus and the Nexus 6.
Even more importantly, unlike past years when Google shied away from directly competing with Apple in the top-end space, the firm chose to go head-to-head with its competitor and priced the Nexus 6 in the post-£500 bracket.
The price led many potential phablet buyers to wonder which plus-sized handset is the best for them, and ignited a fresh grudge match between Apple and Google.
Design and build
Visually the iPhone 6 Plus lives up to its name and looks like a blown up version of its smaller sibling, the iPhone 6.
This is no bad thing. Apple's 2014 smartphone design is one of the best we've seen in recent years.
Featuring a fully metal chassis, with a flat back and round corners and sides, the iPhone 6 Plus is one of the most luxurious feeling smartphones available.
The Nexus 6, which features a polycarbonate back that clips into metal sides, feels slightly less premium and not quite as solidly built.
We also found the Nexus 6's increased 159x83x10mm measurements and 184g weight made it slightly unwieldy compared with the 158x78x7.1mm, 172g iPhone 6 Plus.
That said, with prolonged use we soon found that the Nexus 6's increased size and weight was balanced by its more intelligent button placement.
The Nexus 6 places the power and volume buttons on the bottom side of the phone's right-hand side, while the iPhone 6 separates the controls, placing the power button on the top right side and volume on the top left side.
The placement means that the iPhone 6 Plus was slightly more cumbersome to use when doing basic things like waking the phone up or adjusting the volume of music when using it one handed or on the move.
But this isn't too big an issue as neither device is small enough for any regular sized user to sensibly interact with one-handed.
Winner: iPhone 6 Plus
Display
Screen technology is an increasingly competitive area in the smartphone arena. Originally Apple had a big lead thanks to the Retina display technology.
However, in recent years Apple has gradually been losing its edge here as competitors created their own equally, if not more, impressive display technologies.
As a result, we expected that comparing the iPhone 6 Plus 5.5in 1920x1080, 401ppi Retina HD display with the Nexus 6 6in, 1440x2560, 493ppi quad HD display was going to be tricky.
On paper both displays had their strengths and weaknesses. This is mainly due to the Nexus 6's use of Amoled and the iPhone 6's use of IPS technologies.
Amoled improves screen quality by letting displays produce deeper and richer blacks. It does this by electrically charging each pixel to generate colours, meaning that all the screen has to do is stop charging them to create black.
By comparison, IPS displays create more consistent and realistic colours by organising liquid crystals on a fixed plate that's charged at a consistent rate.
We found that the iPhone 6 Plus display had a definite edge on the Nexus 6. This is largely because, like many Amoled screens, the Nexus 6 display is slightly oversaturated.
The Nexus 6 has a tendency to slightly distort colours, particularly whites, when viewed from the side and can push reds far more than it should. This isn't a problem for general purposes, but it's particularly noticeable when viewing photos or images.
The iPhone 6 Plus also had superior brightness levels and a more reactive Auto setting that was noticeably more efficient in adjusting the screen settings when moving between different lighting conditions.

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Note 4 vs Nexus 6 review Camera

Camera
As if purposefully looking to make the decision tricky for buyers, the Nexus 6 and Galaxy Note 4 have a very similar camera set-up.
Google's handset touts a 13MP rear-facing camera with ring flash and Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS), while Samsung's has a 16MP sensor with LED flash and OIS.

Taken on the Google Nexus 6

Taken on the Galaxy Note 4
Both proved fairly evenly matched during our tests, providing crisp, detailed images, largely thanks to the OIS technology.
However, we did notice slight saturation issues on the Galaxy Note 4, which also struggled to match the Nexus 6 in low light.
This is mainly down to the ring flash on the rear of the Nexus 6, which provided more constant lighting and contrast levels.
Winner: Nexus 6
Battery
The Nexus 6 and Galaxy Note 4 both pack 3,220mAh batteries. Google and Samsung quote up to 24 and 20 hours of talk time respectively.
Despite Google's claims, we found that the Galaxy Note 4 managed to outlive the Nexus 6 during our battery burn tests. The Nexus 6 lasted eight hours, while the Galaxy Note 4 managed nine hours.
For those not watching video 24 hours a day, we found both smartphones easily offered a full day of use, and on average made it into a second day without any problems.
Both come with quick charge modes onboard. Samsung's custom Fast Charging feature enables the Note 4 to be charged from zero to 50 percent in 30 minutes, while Motorola's Turbo Charger juices the Nexus 6 with six hours of battery life in just 15 minutes.
Winner: Galaxy Note 4
Storage
The Nexus 6 is available in 32GB and 64GB capacities, with no room to expand via microSD.
The Galaxy Note 4, on the other hand, comes in a 32GB variant only, but with an onboard microSD offering an extra 128GB.
Winner: Galaxy Note 4
Overall winner: Galaxy Note 4 
There's barely a whisker in it, but the Galaxy Note 4 trumped the Nexus 6 in four out of seven categories.
Google's latest smartphone would be an obvious choice for those after a stock Android 5.0 Lollipop experience, but we found the Galaxy Note 4 more manageable owing to its smaller screen size and dimensions.
It also came out top when it comes to battery life and storage, offering the option to expand the 32GB internal memory via microSD.

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