PlayStation 4 should go all-in on cloud-streaming games

The technology for live-streaming gameplay is still imperfect, but the era of physical media is ending.

Based on the steady stream of rumors about Sony's upcoming next-gen living-room console, it's widely expected that gamers will be spending at least part of their time playing games streamed directly over the Internet.

According to the Wall Street Journal and others, Sony's acquisition of streaming-game provider Gaikai in 2012 set the stage for streaming-game content, and the new Sony console, whatever it's called, will offer both streamed games and games played via traditional optical disc, purportedly older catalog titles for the former, and newer games via the latter.

A move to streaming games is a far-thinking idea, and one that would reduce the need for large amounts of local storage for fully downloaded games, as well as the need to manufacture, transport, and store physical game discs -- with games joining music and movies as media types moving away from being distributed through retail stores on disc.

The idea of streaming game content is one we've been playing with for some time. The best-known player in this space is OnLive, a PC-based service that runs game software on a remote server farm and then streams the action, in real time, to players interacting via a controller or mouse/keyboard combo. Since that service launched in 2010, we've been reasonably impressed with it, although it works better for some games than others (for example, casual or third-person action games work better than first-person games, which are more sensitive to even the slightest lag).

A visual history of the Sony PlayStation (pictures)

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The biggest pushback (besides the fact that OnLive has struggled to succeed) is that streaming games are far too reliant on your broadband Internet connection, which can be flaky, slow, or sometimes out altogether. This, coupled with the lag already built into live cloud game delivery, is enough to potentially turn off consumers.

Legitimate concerns, to be sure, and I have no illusion that today's A-list games could all be converted to cloud streaming right now and deliver the same high level of visual quality. But, the discussion about Sony and Gaikai reminds me of a conversation I had at the 2011 E3 video game trade show with John Carmack, a PC gaming legend and the lead programmer behind classics such as Doom and Quake. I asked him about streaming games in general, and OnLive specifically, and this is what he said:

I've played the On Live stuff and a lot of people have just enough technical knowledge to count it out for the wrong reasons. When you talk about having a 50ms ping, that does not invalidate the process. One of the points that I make is that if you take a lot of the console games out there, and you're playing with your wireless controller, going through your post-process TV, the games themselves often have multiple frames of latency.

You get an event, you pipeline an animation, and it goes to the render thread and the GPU. A lot of games have over 100ms of latency in them right now. Now it's true that adding latency is always bad, and with OnLive, you're adding a compression step and two transmit steps.

But the laws of physics do not guarantee this to be a bad idea. I don't necessarily think any of the current players will live to see the pot of gold at the end of this rainbow, but I'd say it's almost a foregone conclusion that five or ten years from now, that's going to be a significant marketplace.

From a raw technical standpoint, it has too many positives going for it. There are negatives, but a lot of times, people will accept a big negative for a much bigger win. And the win for convenience and managing your library is huge. And the win for publishers and developers -- zero piracy, instant patching, all that data gathering -- are strong advantages. I don't think it's the big thing next year, but I think it's coming.

Even if the next-gen PlayStation kicks off with only a nod to streaming games, the era of the physical disc is still winding down. The current Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii U all offer full game downloads (even if many of these consoles have limited onboard storage for full games), and a whole generation of media consumers already thinks of video and music as streaming products from Netflix, Spotify, and others, as opposed to something you get on a plastic disc.

The game publishers themselves would like nothing more than to kill disc-based gaming. Think of the fixed hard costs associated with manufacturing an optical disc, putting it in a box, loading it in a gas-guzzling truck, driving it to a store, placing it on a shelf, and waiting for a consumer to march in and buy it (to say nothing of the resale of used games, something game publishers hate). Many of these costs can be reduced in the future by digital distribution, both download and streaming -- not that gamers can expect to see any of the savings passed along to them.

Whatever new hardware is being announced by Sony later this week will surely include an optical drive, as will the inevitable Microsoft Xbox upgrade expected later this year. But if we take a look at the current state of laptops, there's something similar going on. Many popular models, from the MacBook Air to almost every ultrabook, omit the once-ubiquitous DVD drive. Taken to its logical conclusion, this may be the last generation of living-room consoles that include support for physical game discs.

Sony's PlayStation event will be held in New York on February 20, starting at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET.

HTC One looks great. But will anyone care?

analysis CNET looks at the fundamental problem plaguing the company: the lack of marketing muscle.

The HTC One.

As sexy as the HTC One is, it is doomed to failure if the company doesn't quickly shake things up.

HTC's design and software teams did their jobs in creating an attractive, unique, and premium-feeling phone, taking Apple's love for metal construction and taking it to the next logical progression.

But guess what? HTC's One family of phones met with similar critical praise last year, yet failed to reverse its flagging revenue and profits. While HTC has had a history of showing off buzz-worthy products, dating back to the first Android smartphone in the G1 and the first 4G phone in the Evo 4G, the company has more recently shown a troubling trend: the tendency to get ignored in the marketplace.

It's the reality of the smartphone business and a key dilemma for a company like HTC, which lacks the marketing firepower that larger rivals Apple and Samsung enjoy. This year will be a critical one for HTC, which needs to prove that it can still compete in the increasingly duopolistic market. History has already shown that a sexy, new product just enough anymore.

"HTC is going up against two of the biggest spenders in the world with intensely loyal followings," said Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis.

So HTC needs to do a few things it hasn't been comfortable doing in the past. For one, it'll need to get more proactive with its own marketing. It's something the company has always half-heartedly done in the past, but it will need to work harder to develop both the One brand and the HTC name. Apple and Samsung are household names, and while HTC was seemingly on its way to becoming one just a few years ago, it lost its way.

"I think they need to invest a tremendous amount in marketing," Greengart said.

The company will also need to break from its traditional reliance on the carriers for support, and stop kowtowing to all of their needs. That's a particularly difficult one because that had been HTC's tentpole strategy for so long. But as Apple and Samsung have moved beyond carrier exclusives and customizing phones, HTC must do the same.

HTC appears to be on the right track. The company plans to roughly double its global marketing budget from a year ago, as it embarks on a new campaign, according to Erin McGee, vice president of marketing for HTC's North American business. The company plans to be the second or third largest advertiser in the industry during the launch period.

But in acknowledging the relative limits of HTC's marketing resources when stacked against its rivals, McGee said the company would target tech-savvy adults aged 18 to 34 through digital advertising and social media. While the company wouldn't talk about the details of the campaign, McGee said that in the U.S., HTC would run its promotions alongside music events it plans to organize through its Beats partnership.

HTC executives also conceded that they had relied too much on the carriers in the past, and vowed to take more of a direct role in the purchasing experiencing. McGee said a lot of the advertising would focus on generating awareness and demand before the consumer went into the store, so there would be less reliance on a carrier salesperson.

"This is by far our best device, and it's our job to make sure people know about it," she said, noting that the campaign would be much more focused than before.

HTC plans to get some support from Best Buy, which it mentioned as being another distribution outlet beyond AT&T, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile USA.

Best Buy plans to jointly run some national commercials featuring the HTC One, according to Alistair Jones, head of marketing for the big-box retail chain's connectivity business group. He added this was the most resources that Best Buy has put behind HTC in at least 18 months.

Likewise, the HTC One will be featured prominently in Best Buy's stores, occupying one of the coveted "end caps" of the mobile area, where the latest and greatest are displayed.

Jones conceded that he was really worried about HTC's products over the past few years, but said he was excited about the One.

Hands-on with the sleek, gorgeous HTC One (pictures)

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"This is a real serious contender," he said.

All of HTC's attempts may be for naught. While the company was smart to get its phone out ahead of the noisy Mobile World Congress conference next week, it will still need to brace for the looming announcement of Samsung's Galaxy S4, which is slated to be unveiled in less than a month, likely a few days before the One hits stores.

But HTC is off to a better start than last year, having more carriers than ever committing to a single smartphone. It also features a design and user interface that some believe will set it apart from the Android pack.

But HTC's bet on a single flagship phone means a lot is riding on its success. If the One doesn't turn out to be the one, the company isn't going to have a lot of options.

Dell Latitude 10 review

07 Feb, 2013, 5:23 pm IST | by Jamshed Avari | Tablets

PRICE IN INDIA

35,990

TECHNOLUVERZ RATING

7.0

Dell’s Latitude 10 tablet is a fascinating creature. It’s the only tablet we’ve come across so far—and most likely the only one that exists—with a removable battery. It isn’t trying to be the slimmest or lightest model around, which sets it apart from everything else on the market. It uses an Atom CPU and doesn’t bother much with multimedia bells and whistles. It’s built for business, although it isn’t clear how many of its target users would willingly trade their laptops in for tablets.

In a world rapidly filling with hybrid Ultrabooks, the Latitude 10 is just a tablet—there’s no keyboard dock and no twisting or transforming body. A plastic stylus is included in the box, for scribbling notes and drawing diagrams. A docking stand, available separately, adds four USB ports, Gigabit Ethernet and a full-sized HDMI port, but you’ll have to add your own monitor, keyboard and/or mouse to turn it into a desk-bound workstation.

The removable battery is the most notable feature of this tablet.

Design and Features

While most phones and tablets these days look like they were designed to win beauty pageants, the Latitude 10 is staid and sober. The bezel around the screen is surprisingly wide, and the sides and back are encased in rubberized plastic for a good grip. There’s a lone USB 2.0 port on the right edge, along with a mini HDMI output and a 3.5mm stereo headset port. The top edge houses the power button, rotation lock button, SD card slot and twin stereo microphones. There’s a volume rocker and Kensington security slot on the right edge, and two options for charging—the proprietary dock connector and a standard micro USB port—are all you’ll find on the bottom. That’s it for physical input and output, but of course there’s Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for wireless connectivity. Cellular data isn’t supported on the unit we tested.

The all-glass front panel is broken only by the mandatory Windows 8 Start button, which is a physical button rather than a touch-sensitive point. The bezel around the screen is over an inch thick on each side, detracting somewhat from the unit’s looks. You won’t be able to see the front-facing camera and its LED indicator above the screen unless you look quite hard. The most interesting side of this tablet is the back, thanks to the removable battery. The 30 Watt-hour battery which came with our test unit fits flush with the rest of the rear panel, but an optional 60 Watt-hour pack will stick out around 5mm. The retention mechanism is surprisingly and reassuringly tough. Above the battery, you’ll find the 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash.

We’re getting used to seeing Windows 8 on devices of all shapes and sizes, and there’s nothing new or unique about how the Latitude 10 does things. The, 16:9, 1366 x 768-pixel LED-backlit IPS screen has truly excellent viewing angles but is just far too low-res at 10 inches to look good enough next to competitors with 1080p or better screens. 16:9 is also pretty awkward for anything but watching videos, so it’s surprising that Dell didn’t outfit its business-centric tablet with something better. The screen can detect 10 touch points and has an active digitizer, which works with the bundled stylus and Windows’ on-screen input panel to enable handwriting recognition. You can also use pressure-sensitive pens (such as those from Wacom) for more accurate sketching.

The Latitude 10 comes with a simple plastic stylus.

Built-in storage tops out at 64 GB and there’s 2 GB of non-upgradeable DDR2-800 RAM. Dell’s Latitude line is targeted squarely at business, and products such as the Latitude 10 come with options for specialized on-site service, inventory management, data recovery or secure deletion, remote management, etc. The device also uses Intel’s Trusted Platform Module 1.2 architecture for encryption and security in corporate environments.

Performance and Usability

The Latitude 10 is basically hamstrung by the Atom CPU running it. The Clover Trail generation processor has two cores and integrated graphics, but is still nowhere near as powerful as even previous-generation Core CPUs. What it does well is run at low power, so the Latitude 10 never feels too hot to handle, even with heavy benchmarks running.

A view of the USB port, headset socket and rubberized buttons

Windows 8’s Modern interface and apps are easy enough to use on the touchscreen, although some of the new OS’s quirks do take a bit of getting used to. We sorely missed the ability to clip this tablet into a keyboard dock. With only a single USB port and no easy way to prop the tablet upright, it doesn’t allow for much flexibility in connecting peripherals. Things aren’t as easy in the Windows 8 Desktop environment, so you’ll want to keep that stylus handy for handwriting input and using most common programs. Oddly, there's no slot or silo in the tablet’s body to store the pen, which makes it easy to misplace it.

Performance was predictably low-end, with benchmark scores revealing roughly one-third the raw power of today’s low-powered Ultrabooks. You shouldn’t expect to do any heavy lifting on this device—you’ll be fine surfing the Web, watching movies and editing documents in Microsoft Office, but not much else. The cameras are good enough for video chatting but nowhere near the quality of even some of today’s better smartphones. Here are the benchmark scores in comparison to those of the HP Envy x2, which uses the same Atom CPU and has virtually identical specifications, but costs a lot more and comes with a keyboard dock and extended battery.

	HP Envy x2	Dell Latitude 10
PC Mark 7 (Higher is better)
Overall	1436	1442
Lightweight	963	1513
Productivity	608	1044
Creativity	2871	2894
Entertainment	1048	1052
3DMark Vantage - Entry (Higher is better)
Overall	NA	NA
GPU	NA	NA
CPU	NA	NA
CineBench R11.5 (multi-core)	0.56	0.49
Real World Tests(Lower is better)
File compression: 100 MB files to 7zip @ultra, 256-bit encry	116sec	331sec
Video encoding: 1 min MPEG to x.264 MPEG-4 (2nd pass)	321sec	378sec
Ray tracing: POVRay (800x600 AA 0.3)	195sec	299sec
CrystalDiskMark (Higher is better)
Sequential read MB/s	78.01	79.81
Sequential write MB/s	34.31	34.14
4k read MB/s	8.5	8.6
4k write MB/s	1.9	2.1

Battery life

The battery lasted 4 hours, 55 minutes in our Battery Eater simulation. This won’t get you through an entire day, but it’s still impressive for what is essentially a full-fledged PC that weighs as much as an iPad. Unlike other competing products, there’s no secondary battery in a dock or base. However the Latitude 10’s most unique feature is of course its removable battery, and with Windows 8’s ability to hibernate and restart within seconds, swapping batteries isn’t as much of a chore as it used to be.

Verdict and Price in India

The Latitude 10 we received for testing costs Rs 35,990. That’s a lot cheaper than most hybrid Ultrabooks and tablets that come with keyboard docks, and is even quite a bit cheaper than some of the Windows RT tablets in the market as well as the 64 GB fourth-gen iPad. A variant with 3G costs Rs 41,990, and both can be had with Windows 8 Pro instead of Windows 8 for Rs 3,800 more. The aforementioned desktop dock costs Rs 10,000.  You can pay Rs 1,300 extra at the time of purchase for a 4-cell 60 WHr battery instead of the standard 2-cell 30 WHr unit, and if you want a secondary 60 Whr battery at any time, it will cost Rs 3,600.

Interestingly, Dell will soon launch a "Latitude 10 Essentials" tablet which ditches the removable battery, digitizer, LED flash and HDMI output and should cost considerably less than Rs 35,990.

It’s very hard to imagine that an Atom-powered tablet like this one would ever be able to replace a desktop PC or laptop for any working professional. The cost might be low, but you're looking at an extra Rs 15,000 at least if you want to buy the dock and add a monitor, keyboard and mouse. The Latitude 10 is a thus definitely a supplementary device for those who can afford a tablet in addition to their main work PC. It can be used for taking notes, running presentations, and staying connected while travelling—but that's about it.

Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro Review

PRICE IN INDIA

75,490

Technoluverz RATING

5.5

A

Hybrid laptops seems to be the mantra for all laptop manufacturers these days. It’s inevitable to not come out with one to counter competition. That’s the reason why we’re now witnessing a sudden flow of these convertible devices. Samsung’s offering in this segment is the ATIV series, which currently comprises two models for the Indian market—ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T and Smart PC 500T1C. We got our hands on the former, which competes with premium offerings by other brands such as the Sony Vaio Duo 11 and Dell XPS 12. Let’s find out how much punch it packs.

Thanks to the detachable design, you don't need to tote around extra bulk

Design and features
Samsung has gone in with a detachable design for both the models in the ATIV series, just like the HP Envy X2. But there’s a difference; the keyboard dock that the ATIV bundles – a physical keyboard and a touchpad, plus you get two USB ports (one on each side). On the other hand, the dock of the Envy X2 is more utilitarian with HDMI output, card reader and a battery back that adds a couple of hours of battery life. That said, the detachable design makes the Samsung ATIV Smart PC primarily a tablet with an option to transform it into a laptop should the need arise—you want to use the tablet in “laptop mode” when you’re at your desk or if you need physical input devices to work efficiently. The Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro weighs 888 grams and the dock adds around 700 grams, which makes for a combined weight of 1.6 Kg—a tad heavy for an Ultrabook. Majority of the dock’s weight comes from the metal housing at the rear that supports the tablet. Samsung had no choice, as a plastic housing wouldn’t be sturdy enough to bear the weight and keep the screen steady.

A tablet that can transform into a laptop

The Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro uses the Ultrabook platform, similar to Dell XPS 12 and Sony Vaio Duo 11. In fact, it’s spec’ed very close to both. The core comprises a 1.7GHz Core i5-3317U processor, 4GB RAM and 128GB SSD. The most striking feature is the crisp 11.6-inch full HD display—thankfully, Samsung didn’t compromise by using a conventional 1366 x 768 pixel panel. As for connectivity, you have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Most of the buttons and ports are placed on the top side. The top panel of the laptop houses a headphone/mic combo jack, power button, screen orientation button and a USB 3.0 port covered by a plastic flap. Further, towards the right lies a microSD card slot. The left side has a micro HDMI port and volume rocker. All this is tightly packed in a slim 11.89 mm thick shell.

Headphone/mic combo jack, USB 3.0 port and screen rotation lock button

The digitiser is a bonus feature and you get a pen (called S Pen) that resides in the housing on the back. The bundled apps include apps is S Note with which you can draw or take notes using the S Pen. In addition to this, the S Pen comes in handy for editing photos and selecting text/objects. Samsung has bundled five additional tips and a tool to extract the tip.

The S Pen and its housing on the rear

Build quality
The biggest weakness of the Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro is the average build quality. The shell is made of plastic and the rear has a brushed metal-like finish. The device looks good, but it feels plasticky—it doesn’t have the feel of a premium product. The build of the keyboard dock is even worse. Except for the metal housing that holds the tablet firmly in place, the rest is made of plastic. Although the housing feels solid, its hinge didn’t feel strong enough to bear the weight of the tablet. The tablet tends to wobble when using the touchscreen and you have to be careful when you’re folding it down on the dock. After bringing the tablet half way down, it tends to drop automatically with slight force due to the bulk.

We found something strange while using the review unit that was sent to us by Samsung. When using the tablet while it was docked to the keyboard, we could repeatedly hear notification sound of a USB device being unplugged and plugged. We found that it was because of a loose connection between the dock and the tablet. And this was despite the connector of the dock locking tightly, making a "click" sound. We tried reinserting several times and even cleaning the contact points, but the problem persisted. It was disappointing to face such a serious issue related to build quality, and that too with a premium product.

Ergonomics
The keyboard is island-style with good amount of spacing between the keys, which is the only good thing. The keys don’t travel much, and the tactile feel is just about average; very similar to what you find in some entry-level notebooks. We found the placement of the touchpad a bit odd. It’s placed at the centre of the width and not centred to the home row (the second row of alphabet keys) or the space bar. So, if you use the touchpad with your thumb while your fingers are positioned on the home row, you reach the top corner of the touchpad. This isn’t the case with most laptops that have the touchpad aligned with the spacebar, wherein the thumb reaches the centre of the touchpad.

Well-spaced keys and a moderately large touchpad

We also found the placement of the USB port on top of the tablet very odd—imagine a USB flash drive or a USB cable sticking out from the top. It would have been better had Samsung placed the port on the side instead.

Performance
The performance of the Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro was close to that of the more-expensive hybrids with a similar configuration. It couldn’t log similar scores probably because of the slower read and write speeds of the 128GB SSD. If you compare the scores of the real world tests, you’ll find the ATIV Smart PC Pro at par with the others. The sequential read and write speeds of 439MB/s and 247MB/s are commendable but slightly slower than competition. The same goes for 4117 and 10017 points in PCMark 7 and 3DMark Vantage respectively. With a powerful configuration, you can rest assured that tasks such as full HD video playback, video transcoding and basic everyday applications will run butter smooth. The full HD display is a visual treat. The colours are vibrant and the viewing angle is very good. The only qualm we faced was the back of the tablet getting hot after prolonged used due to heat build-up. There are vents on the top that give way to the hot air spewed by the CPU cooler, but the tablet still heats up due to very little space inside the chassis for heat dissipation and air circulation.

Comparison of scores

The battery life is one area where the ATIV Smart PC Pro takes the lead. A full charge lasted for 2.5 hours with Battery Eater Pro running in Classic mode and Wi-Fi disabled. An average laptop doesn't survive for more than 1.5 hours in this test.

Verdict and price in India
At an MRP of Rs 75,490, the Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro is cheaper than Dell XPS 12 and Sony Vaio Duo 11 by more than Rs 10,000. Being better value for money is arguable because of the average build quality and ergonomics, but you get almost the same configuration for much less. Despite that, it’s still very expensive. The price would have been justified if it was priced only a few thousand rupees higher than an Ultrabook for the detachable design, SSD and full HD display. You can buy an Ultrabook with a similar configuration for around Rs 55,000. So, a price tag of around Rs 60,000 would have been sweet. But even then, just an iPad would be more practical if you don’t need the Windows OS. And if you do, a basic ultra-portable laptop should suffice. The combined price of an iPad and a laptop would be less than the price of this fancy machine.