Wired Today

Apple's rumored 12-inch MacBook Air could start shipping in the second quarter of the year, according to a new report.

A second quarter ship date could put the release of this alleged product anywhere between April and June.

Of course, an April release date could mean that we see the new MacBook Air during the Apple Watch event the company is holding on Monday. Still, it seems more likely that Apple would save a full MacBook Air redesign for an event not as tied to a singular product, such as WWDC in June. 

• Intel Core i5 processor, 128GB SSD, 4GB RAM, full HD display — $899.99
• Intel Core i5 processor, 256GB SSD, 8GB RAM, full HD display — $999.99
• Intel Core i7 processor, 256GB SSD, 8GB RAM, full HD display — $1,149.99
• Intel Core i7 processor, 512GB SSD, 8GB RAM, Quad HD display — 1,399.99

As far as other specs go, Sony continued the practice of cramming every possible top-notch feature into its flagship devices. The Xperia Z4 Tablet has an octa-core, Snapdragon 810 processor, a 2K display, 32GB of built-in memory, and is wateproof and dustproof up to IP68 specifications.

BARCELONA — Bicycle enthusiasts who are also gadget lovers got their fix of excitement Monday at Mobile World Congress, as Ford brought a pair of smart e-bike prototypes to the show.
Called MoDe:Me and MoDe:Pro, the bikes connect to your smartphone and offer navigation feedback via the handlebar grips, which vibrate when you need to turn left or right. The bikes can also alert you of any hazards lying ahead or behind, communicate with other vehicles and even charge your smartphone, which is placed in a cradle on the handlebar .

Both bikes are actually e-bikes, offering electric pedal assistance which is adjustable. When pedaling becomes too hard, the bike makes it as easy as you like, without completely taking over. In terms of specs, both bikes have a 200-watt motor with a 9-amp-hour battery, providing pedal assistance for speeds up to 25 km/h.























The main difference between the two prototypes — and they are really just prototypes at this stage — is the size. The MoDe:Me is a very compact, foldable city bike, while the MoDe:Pro is bigger and primarily aimed at urban commercial use (think: bike messengers). Furthermore, the bigger bike was built by a Ford team, while the smaller version was built with the help of bicycle manufacturer Dahon.
Of course, for all of this to work, you'll need the MoDe:Link smartphone app which, besides providing the location data for navigation, also enables you to control certain aspects of the bike. For example, with it you can turn on the signal lights, located in the handlebars.

Ford is not the first company to offer such a concept. Croatian startup Visiobike already has a commercial product, an e-bike that can connect to your smartphone, offering features such as rear camera, GPS tracking and security controls. Visiobike's offering is a full-sized mountain bike, however, while Ford's prototypes are much more compact.

In the days leading up to Apple's big event next week, which is rumored to be focused on the Apple Watch, a new detail about the company's first wearable has been leaked. 
Along with all other features mentioned during Tim Cook's unveiling of the smartwatch in September, the device will also come with a feature called Power Reserve, according to The New York Times.

The report, which cites an anonymous Apple employee, claims that the unannounced feature will allow the watch operate in a mode that only shows the current time on its display, presumably to preserve battery power for other functions.

A standby mode for a wearable isn't particularly innovative, but given the questions surrounding the battery life of the Apple Watch (about a day, according to Apple), a Power Reserve feature dedicated to preserving battery life could be the device's saving grace. (Particularly when figures like $5,000 are being tossed around the rumor mill as the price for the top tier model.)

Another surprising detail revealed in the report is that during field testing of the Apple Watch, engineers disguised the device with a fake casing to make it look like a Samsung smartwatch. So if you've seen Apple employees walking around with what looks like a Samsung Gear and wondered why, you now have an answer to the mystery.

That last detail will probably come as a surprise to Samsung, a company often accused of following Apple's lead when it comes to mobile devices. But it also highlights the fact that Apple is entering a space already packed with smartwatches, so the success of the Apple Watch isn't a foregone conclusion, solid battery life or not.

1. HP Black 15.6″ 15-f004wm Laptop PC with Intel Celeron N2830 Processor, 4GB Memory, 500GB Hard Drive and Windows 8.1  at $159 [Walmart]

• Intel Celeron N2830 processor
  2.16GHz (up to 2.41GHz via Turbo boost)
• 4GB DDR3 SDRAM system memory
  Gives you the power to handle most power-hungry applications and tons of multimedia work
• 500GB SATA hard drive
  Store 333,000 photos, 142,000 songs or 263 hours of HD video and more
• SuperMulti DVD Burner
  Watch movies and read and write CDs and DVDs in multiple formats
• 10/100Base-T Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN
  Connect to a broadband modem with wired Ethernet or wirelessly connect to a WiFi signal or hotspot with the 802.11b/g/n connection built into your PC
• 15.6″ HD BrightView WLED-backlit display
  Intel HD Graphics

2. Asus X205TA, 11.6″ HD Laptop at $99 [Staples]

• Intel® Atom Z3735F 2MB Cache, 1.33GHz, up to 1.83GHz Processor
• 2GB System Memory (DDR3L)/ 32GB Flash
• 802.11abgn + Bluetooth 4.0
• UMA Intel HD Graphics
• Inputs: 2x USB 2.0, 1x Micro HDMI port
• 11.6″ HD Display
• Windows 8.1 with Bing
• ASUS Webstorage with 500GB for 2 years
• OneDrive and ASUS Webstorage cloud storage
• OneDrive with 15GB of storage

3. Samsung Silver 11.6″ Chromebook PC with Samsung Exynos 5 Dual Processor and Google Chrome OS $199 [Walmart]

• Samsung Exynos 5 Dual processor
• 2GB memory; 16GB SSD hard drive
• 3-in-1 card reader, WiFi
• Google Chrome OS

4. Dell Inspiron 15.6 Touch Core i3 Laptop w/ 4GB, 500GB at $299.99 [Best Buy]

• 4th Gen Intel Core i3-4030U processor
• 4GB DDR3L memory
• 15.6″ LED-backlit high-definition touch-screen display
• 500GB hard drive (5400 rpm)
• Built-in 1.0MP high-definition webcam with digital microphone
• 1 USB 3.0 port and 2 USB 2.0 ports
• Built in high-speed wireless LAN (802.11b/g/n)
• Bluetooth 4.0 interface
• Weighs 5.3 lbs

5. Acer C720 Chromebook 11.6-Inch, 2GB at $199 [Amazon.com]

• 11.6″ Anti-Glare HD Widescreen LED-backlit Display
• Intel® Celeron® Processor 2955U (1.4GHz, 2MB L3 cache)
• Haswell micro-architecture
• Google Chrome Operating System
• 16GB SSD Drive
• 2048MB DDR3L SDRAM Memory
• Intel® HD Graphics with 128MB of dedicated system memory
• Acer InviLinkTM NplifyTM 802.11a/b/g/n (MIMO Dual-Band 2.4Ghz & 5GHz) Wireless LAN
• Bluetooth 4.0
• Built-in HD Webcam
• Two built-in stereo speakers
• 1- USB 3.0 Port, 1- USB 2.0 Port, and 1- HDMI™ Port
• Full-size Acer FineTip Keyboard
• Multi-Gesture Touchpad
• 3-Cell Li-Polymer Battery Up to 8.5-hours Battery Life
• 2.76 lbs.| 1.25 kg (system unit only)

6. Dell Inspiron 15 Celeron Laptop w/ 4GB, 500GB at $189 [Dell or Walmart]

• Intel Celeron Dual-Core N2830 processor 2.40GHz
• 4GB DDR3 SDRAM system memory
• 500GB SATA hard drive
• 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN
• 15.6″ HD Truelife LED-backlit display
• DVD/CD-ROM drive not included

 

The angry birds are now racing karts in this free-to-play 
game that’s both fun and frustrating, writes Jim Martin

Angry Birds Go is a fun new free game from 
Rovio. It’s much like Mario Kart and sees 
old and new characters racing against each 
other to earn coins and win gems. 
There are two main tracks, Seedway and Rocky 
Road, and each o ffers five racing modes: standard 
race, against the clock, Fruit Splat (hit enough 
fruit before the finish line), head-to-head (vs) and 
Champion Chase, where you have to beat the bird 
three times to unlock that character.

And you will need to unlock them, since each 

bird gets ‘tired’ after five races and has to recover.
At which point you can switch to another bird or
pay 10 gems to ‘revive’ the one that’s worn out.
This is just one of many ways that Angry Birds Go
will make money, since you can buy bags of gems
from £1.99 to £70. Gems can then be used to buy
coins within the game.

Coins are used to buy kart upgrades, and you’ll
need these not simply to remain competitive but also
because races have ever-higher ‘cc’ requirements:
you won’t be able to enter certain races unless your
kart meets the minimum rating.
You can buy some karts, too, with prices again
ranging from £1.99 to a whopping £35 or more
(see above). However, you can also buy real toy
versions of the karts, called Telepods, which are
recognised (and unlocked) when placed over
your device’s camera. Each character has a unique

power-up which can be used once per race, with
extra uses costing gems. Certain race types have
coins to collect, while others don’t. Within each main
course is a variety of di erent courses, some of
which are in the air and others involving stunts.
To start a race, you catapult your kart when the
countdown clock says ‘Go’, thereby adding a bit
more fun and retaining a link back to the traditional
Angry Birds games. You’ve a choice of tilt or tap
to control your racer and although tilt is more fun,
tapping o ffers more control.

iPad & iPhone User buying advice

Kids and adults alike will enjoy Angry Birds Go,
but you’ll definitely want to disable in-app purchases
and set a strong password to ensure that your
children don’t spend hundreds of pounds buying
gems and karts.

Nick Spence looks at the best apps for travelling

Travelling around the UK and beyond can be 
problematic at any time of the year, but the 
winter months are particularly vulnerable 
to the weather, especially with the promise of 
rain, snow and floods. Delays to your journey are 
stressful, so here we round up some of the best 
apps, to hopefully ensure your journey is as speedy 
and safe as possible. As well as checking travel 
arrangements, we’ve also picked our favourite apps 
for bagging a bargain, including cheaper flights and 
train journeys. We also highlight some of the best 

travel companions, including language tools and
currency convertors, although you are best to stick
to free Wi-fi spots then get hit by excessive roaming
fees. Feel free to add your favourite travel related
apps in the comments below, we’ll likely add them in
a future update. In the meantime, happy travelling.

Airbnb 

Price: Free 
For the slightly more adventurous traveller, Airbnb
o ffers a: “trusted community marketplace for people
to list, discover, and book unique accommodations
around the world.” These are essentially B&Bs,
flats, homes and even long-term sublets potentially
undercutting the cost of staying in a hotel. The app
uses a message style system so that guests can chat
directly with hosts, along with host supplied photos
so that you can gauge the quality of the let before
your visit. Airbnb provides a
hospitality standards section,
but a system like this could be
open to abuse so it’s a good
idea to read user feedback.

Citymapper 

Price: Free
Former Apple Editors’ Choice,
Citymapper takes a variety
of available data including
information from Transport for
London (TFL), and combines it
seamlessly to ensure speedy
travel in major cities - currently

London, New York and Paris.
The app includes an impressive array of features
including A to B journey planning, real-time travel
information, weather forecasts and much more.
Crucially, Citymapper is great to navigate on the go,
with an interface which is unfussy yet stylish. The
app consistently receives five star reviews, and we
are impressed enough to suggest this is a must have
app not only for travellers, but for anyone living and
working in those locations.

Hipmunk Hotels & Flights

Price: Free
A relatively recent arrival, Hipmunk was launched
in 2010 backed by some high profile, hip founders
and investors, including actor Ashton Kutcher, who
played Steve Jobs in the 2013 biopic of the former
Apple CEO. Hipmunk essentially compares travel
sites to hopefully find the best
deals on a range of services,
including flights, trains and
accommodation.
It does this visually to great
e ffect, which is particularly
easy on the eye for iPad
users and makes searching
and planning a trip much
more simple and pleasurable.
Reviews provided by
TripAdvisor are also available
to browse, while flights can
be sorted by ‘agony’ to best
avoid long journey times
and layovers.

iTranslate 

Price: Free 
Impressive translation tool o ffers support for a
wealth of languages, currently over 80, as long
as you have an internet connection. Free users
type in words or phrases for fast and seemingly
accurate translation, while you can listen to the
translation being played back to help perfect your
pronunciation. iTranslate comes with ‘Top In-App
Purchases,’ which essentially removes ads and
unlocks the voice recognition function, an extra well
worth investing in. Rather than type users speak,
which is turned into text without the need for voice
training the app and then translated. iTranslate Voice
(tinyurl.com/p37r5va, from the same Sonico team,
is also worth considering promising the ability to
‘instantly speak another language.’

Kayak

Price: Free
69p for Pro version Well reviewed, Kayak compares
hundreds of travel sites to seek out the best deals on
hotels, flights and car rentals worldwide. An attractive and
intuitive user interface helps improve the search function,
which does get a little muddy at times due to the amount
of information available and the diminutive iPhone screen.
Kayak also lets you book from within the app, track fl ight status, check baggage
fees and view and manage your trip itinerary with My
Trips. Kayak Pro includes airport terminal maps for
over 100 airports, which may be useful for those who
travel frequently and widely.

London Bus Live Countdown 

Price: Free
£1.99 for ad-free version
If you travel around London chances are you need
to use the buses, at the very least it’s a scenic way to
get around town and discover points of interest you
might otherwise miss. London Bus Live Countdown
uses data directly from Transport for London (TFL),
the local government body responsible for the
capital’s transport, to take the guess work out of
when buses are due to arrive at your stop. Users can
also find local bus routes using the iPhone’s GPS
function, explore maps and
check which routes may be
cancelled or delayed. For those
will Oyster travel cards, the app
also displays your balance, a
useful reminder for when you
need to top up.

National Rail Enquiries 

Price: Free
£4.99 for ad-free version
This o cial app provides
customer information for all
passenger rail services on
the National Rail network in
England, Wales and Scotland, promising detailed,
real-time train data including
delays and disruptions. As well as viewing live train
arrivals and departures, you can plan and save
journeys although you need to visit a third-party
website, or app, to actually buy tickets. National Rail
Enquiries has received mixed reviews from users,
not least because the rather cluttered design, for
now at least, isn’t the easiest to navigate on the go.

Yahoo! Weather 

Price: Free
Winner of an Apple Design Award, Yahoo! Weather
is an attractive, essential app not just for travellers
but for anyone ready and willing to step outside
and face Britain’s unpredictable weather. Yahoo!
o ers the usual locationbased reports, providing
hourly forecasts over a
24-hour period along with a
10-day daily forecast.
You can enter and
save further locations by
simply searching via ‘city
or ZIP code,’ which is ideal
when planning a journey.
Locations extend to the rest
of the world and generally
results appear impressive,
with accurate forecasts
complimented by stunning
photography provided by
participating Flickr users.

Karen Haslam puts Apple’s phones through their paces

Wondering whether to upgrade your 
iPhone and which new iPhone to choose? 
Here are our answers to some of your 
questions about Apple’s two new smartphones: the 
iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. 

Price

In the run up to Apple’s launch of the iPhone 5c and 
iPhone 5s the rumours suggested that the iPhone 5c 
would be a cheaper iPhone, but the price di fference 
is really minimal. In fact, when you look at the o  
contract prices of the iPhones, the new iPhone 5c 
isn’t much cheaper than the 
iPhone 5 was last year when 
it launched. A 16GB iPhone 
5c costs £469 while the 
16GB iPhone 5 was £529.
There’s not really much 
di fference between the 
price of the iPhone 5c 
compared to the iPhone 5s 
either. The 16GB iPhone 5c 
is £469. Pay just £80 more 
and you can get a 16GB 
iPhone 5s for £549.
If you want the 32GB 
iPhone 5c, the price is the 

same as for the 16GB iPhone 
5s, which is £549. The 32GB iPhone 5s is £629 and
the 64GB iPhone 5s is £709.
Wondering why Apple’s iPhone 5c isn’t cheap?
Read our article: Why Apple didn’t launch a
 lowcost iPhone 5C. However, Apple may have made a
mistake in pricing the iPhone 5c so high, the sales of
that iPhone were much lower than it had anticipated,
with the iPhone 5s proving to be the more popular
option. It may well be the case that Apple could drop
the price of the iPhone 5c in the future.
If you want to pay your cash up front, you will be
able to grab yourself an iPhone 5c or an iPhone
5s without a contract (aka unlocked) from Apple’s
online store, from its physical stores and, of course,
from mobile phone stores like Carphone Warehouse.
Some people who have an existing contract that
they don’t want to lose, or those who prefer
the payas-you go model may choose to do this.
Buying an iPhone 5c with a mobile contract is
a more complicated business thanks to the huge
variation tari s and networks on o er. However, it
is likely that the networks will start a war amongst

themselves to undercut each other on pricing.

Colour options

The most striking di fference between the iPhone 5s
and iPhone 5c is colour. These new iPhones mark
the first time the iPhone has comes in anything other
than black and white.
The iPhone 5c is available in pink, yellow, blue,
green, or white. The colours are bright and vibrant.
According to a Macworld poll, the most popular
colour for the iPhone 5c is blue (43% of the vote).
The iPhone 5s looks a little more like the iPhone
5, but there is a new colour option: gold, along with
silver and gray (or Space Gray as Apple is calling
it). The silver is comparable to 2012’s White & Silver
option, and the Space Gray reminds us of the Black
& Slate iPhone 5 option in 2012. The gold isn’t
as ‘blingy’ as we expected and has proven to be
popular, although the Space Grey option is said to
be the most popular.

Size

Both the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c have a 4in
Retina display. However the dimensions and weight
of the two phones are slightly di fferent.
The iPhone 5c measures 124.4x59.2x8.97mm.
It weighs 132g. The iPhone 5s measures
123.8x58.6x7.6mm, and weighs 112g. This means
the iPhone 5c is slightly longer and thicker than the
iPhone 5s, and a little heavier.
The iPhone 5 measurements were identical to the
5s, so you may find that your existing iPhone 5 cases
are compatible with the iPhone 5c.

4G

The iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s will support more LTE
4G bands than any other smartphone in the world,
according to Apple. That’s support for up to 13 LTE
wireless bands. Initially there was some concern
when the information page on Apple’s website
suggested that only EE and Vodafone would be able
to provide 4G, however nearly all the networks are
o ffering the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s on their 4G
network (except for T-Mobile and 3 at present).
The iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c will run on the
following bands, in the following MHz according
to Apple’s notes: 1 (2100MHz); 2 (1900MHz);
3 (1800MHz); 5 (850MHz); 7 (2600MHz); 8
(900MHz); 20 (800 DD).

Camera

The iPhone 5s camera uses a new, five-element lens
that Apple designed specifi cally for the new iPhone.
This new lens o ffers an f/2.2 aperture, the sensor
has a 15 percent larger active area, and the pixels
on this sensor are 1.5 microns in size, larger than
the iPhone 5 and larger than other smartphones.
The iPhone 5s also includes a new dual-LED True
Tone fl ash that Apple says is the fi rst of its kind on a
phone or a standalone camera. One fl ash is cooler
white, while the other is amber with a warmer colour
temperature. The phone monitors ambient light and
then fires the two fl ashes together to match that
light. Together, Apple says, the two fl ashes provide
more than 1000 unique light combinations, for fl ash
lighting that’s brighter and more natural. The 5s also
includes improved image stabilization features, a
new burst mode and slow-motion video recording.
Like the iPhone 5s, and like the iPhone 5 before it,
the iPhone 5c o ers an 8Mp camera. However, this
8Mp camera is inferior to the camera in the iPhone
5s which o ers an f/2.2 aperture.

Battery life

Apple claims that both the iPhone 5s and iPhone
5c o er battery life equal to or greater than that
of the iPhone 5. Specifically, the company says
the new iPhones o er 10 hours of 3G talk time, 10
hours of LTE or Wi-Fi browsing, or 250 hours of
standby time. Compare that to Apple’s claims for
the iPhone 5 when that model was released: eight
hours of 3G talk time, 10 hours of Wi-Fi browsing, or
225 hours of standby time.

Storage options

There are two versions of the iPhone 5c available:
16GB and 32GB. The 5s is available in 16GB, 32GB
and 64GB versions. For many the extra storage
o ffered by the iPhone 5s will be the deal breaker.
However, with iCloud, and the potential o ered by
external storage devices, you may not need as much
storage as you think.