Best things to use the iPhone 5 for

One of the best things about the iPhone 5 is its camera. If you are a keen photographer and videographer, then this is the phone for you for those moments on the go. It is much faster which means that you now do not have to wait between shots. The speed is a great asset and in situations like photographing children, you can get lots of frames, ensuring that you don't miss that vital expression! It also has an interesting panorama feature. As you take pictures and turn the camera, it stitches the pictures together. 

It has on screen directions which tell you to slow down if you are moving too fast and an arrow also helps keep you on the same horizontal line so that at the end you will have a full rectangle sized panoramic image.  The front facing camera is a 1.2 mega pixel, 720p camera and massive improvements have been made to this. It means that your face time calls will be much clearer, and your front facing pictures are of a much higher quality. It doesn't match up to the quality of the camera on the back, but that's still a great quality camera. 

Video on the new iPhone is shot at 1080p, so the quality of your video is much higher than ever before on smartphones. Stabilization is much better too, so you won't have as much of the unsteady guerrilla style filming you will have encountered before.

Another fantastic feature is that you can snap pictures while you are recording video. Although the improvements between the iPhones 4s and iPhone 5 are small, if you are someone who spends your life capturing a lot of photographs and video, then this alone would be a good enough reason to upgrade to the iPhone 5.

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Valve opens Steam for Linux beta registration, wants pros only

Right on schedule (ahem), Valve has begun requesting applications for the first Steam for Linux beta test. There are only 1,000 spots available, but the company is looking for "experienced Linux users" only -- presumably, ones that will be better at debugging than spilling zombie brains. So, if you've got a rig running Ubuntu 12.04 or above and decent Linux knowledge, head to the source link to register your interest.

[Source: Engadget]

Schiller says not to expect Blu-ray from Apple

In Time's interview with Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller, he addresses the long-standing question of whether or not Apple will ever jump on the Blu-ray bandwagon. It seems that barring any unforeseen circumstances, you'll likely never see a Blu-ray option from Apple on any machine.

"Blu-ray has come with issues unrelated to the actual quality of the movie that make [it] a complex and not-great technology," Schiller explains. "So for a whole plethora of reasons, it makes a lot of sense to get rid of optical discs in desktops and notebooks."

[Source: TUAW - Click here to read the full story]

Evernote 5 for Mac announced, beta coming week of October 29

Evernote has become something of an indispensable tool for compulsive note takers, a group that will no doubt be happy to hear that a major update to the Mac version of the app has been announced. Evernote 5, as it's called, has been in the works for more than a year according to its developers and will feature a refreshed UI in addition to more than 100 new features.

[Source: TUAW - Click here to read the full story]

Google postpones October 29th event over Hurricane Sandy worries

We hope you weren't basing your calendar around Google's big Android event on October 29th. The company has confirmed to us that it's postponing the event to an as yet undetermined point in the future due to Hurricane Sandy, whose East coast arrival will follow so closely before the New York City gaterhing that Google isn't willing to take the chance on its big day. If you're experiencing a sense of déja vu, you're not alone -- Google delayed last year's event revealing the Galaxy Nexus out of respect for the late Steve Jobs. While it's not what we'd call an auspicious start to Google's holiday launches, we can at least hope for an abundance of riches when the company is ready once again. The full statement waits below.

"We are canceling our Monday morning event in New York due to Hurricane Sandy. We will let you know our plans as soon as we know more."

[Source: Engadget]

Ubuntu lands on Nexus 7 slates with Canonical's one-click installer

If you'd rather not let your Nexus 7 live out its life as a Jelly Bean-toting device, Canonical's freshly minted Ubuntu Nexus 7 Desktop Installer can help. Instead of allowing Ubuntu to ride shotgun with Android, the installer requires unlocking the device's bootloader, which wipes the slate clean. Once the Nexus 7 is unlocked, started in fastboot mode and connected to an Ubuntu machine, the one-click installation software takes care of the rest. Roughly 10 to 15 minutes later, your tablet will be running full-blown Ubuntu. Since development is currently focused on getting the core of the desktop OS up and running, there's no tablet-specific Unity UI to see here. However, Raring Ringtail is set to flesh out the mobile experience with an emphasis on sensors, memory footprint and battery life, among other features. Those who regret ousting Google's confection-themed operating system can simply reload their device with stock Android. For the entire walk through, hit the first source link below.

[Source: Engadget]

Nexus 4 priced at £390 by purported Carphone Warehouse in-store display placard

Oh, Carphone Warehouse -- it just can't seem to keep what it knows about the LG / Google Nexus 4 under lock and key. Just days after briefly listing the phone on its website, purported in-store displays for the yet unannounced device have leaked out to Android Authority. While essentially of the details are the same as what we saw last (1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 SoC, 8MP cam, 12-hour talk time rating, etc.), the listing reveals that the "sim-free" phone itself will sell for £390 (about $504) -- previously we'd only seen the per-month pricing at 31 euros, which is also found here. There's no mention of that October 30th sale date this time, and it would seem unlikely now given that Google's had to indefinitely postpone its NYC-based Android event for the 29th due to hurricane Sandy.

[Source: Engadget]

Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky: Windows 8 PCs are better value than Apple

AllThingsD's Ina Fried was on hand for Microsoft's full day of Windows 8 fun yesterday, and she reports that Microsoft exec Steven Sinofsky enjoyed pointing out how the new Windows 8 PCs deliver better value than Apple's products.

Sinofsky said that there are "full-featured Windows 8 laptops that sell for $279. These are fantastic machines. At that price, you can get a computer good enough to last a student through college."

Microsoft is betting its future on Windows 8, an OS designed from the ground up to run both on desktop and laptop machines as well as tablets. Windows 8 now features a built-in software store, something that Mac users have had since January 6, 2011.

Sinofsky told the assembled press that there were "tons of thin, light, touchscreen Ultrabooks that sell for hundreds less than a MacBook Air," noting that it was "engineering work that drives the cost down." Apparently low price isn't a factor for consumers, who were responsible for FY 2012 sales of Apple's Mac line being 1 percent higher than last year's sales, while the PC market in general saw a drop in sales of 8 percent.

During yesterday's Apple earnings call, Apple's Tim Cook managed a good retort at Microsoft's Surface tablet. In pointing out that the device makes compromises by trying to be both a PC and a tablet, he said "You could design a car that flies and floats, but I don't think it would do either of those things very well."

[Source: TUAW]

ZAGG offers keyboard cases for iPad mini

That didn't take long. Accessory manufacturer ZAGG is now taking pre-orders for iPad mini keyboard cases, hoping to turn the wee iPad into a business powerhouse. The ZAGGkeys Mini 7 (US$89.99) is an exact match to the dimensions of the iPad mini and uses "island-style keys in a sleek and unique layout provide maximum finger space in a compact Bluetooth keyboard, perfect for accentuating the utility and convenience of iPad mini."

If you decide that you'd actually like a keyboard with some room for your fingers, the ZAGGkeys Mini 9 (also $89.99) may do the trick. According to ZAGG, it features "island-style keys with a carefully engineered layout to provide the same spacing as ZAGG's traditional tablet keyboard."

Although the Mini 7 is a tiny keyboard, it still provides special function keys for "volume control, play, pause, screen lock, home, search, slideshow, copy, paste and more." No word on if it's actually large enough to type on, but we'll hopefully get a review keyboard in the future.

[Source: TUAW]

iFixit opens up new Mac Mini, has no trouble putting it all back together again

iFixit's been on something of an Apple tear lately -- just a day after ripping into the barely-repairable new13-inch MacBook Pro (not to mention the new nano and touch), the site has gotten its hands on -- and into -- the new Mac Mini. Unlike like the shiny new notebook, however, the diminutive desktop was apparently a pleasure to open up and put back together again, scoring an eight out of 10 on the repairability front and altogether forgoing the site's use of adorable kittens. The Mini gets good marks for upgradable RAM and drives and a general lack of glue and proprietary screws. Click on through the source link below to see the Intel 2.5 GHz dual-core i5 in all its glory.

[Source: Engadget]

Surface pre-order deliveries delayed in the UK and Canada, Microsoft offers coupon for the inconvenience

We began hearing grumblings of delayed Surface deliveries in the very early hours of this morning, and it seems it's not an unlucky few that are suffering, but an unlucky many. There were reports of delays to shipments in the UK and Canada less than a week ago, but Microsoft was quick to dismiss the claims as an error and put minds at rest. Now, it seems, the white flag has been waved and blame acknowledged. Eager to appease disgruntled customers, the company is offering a £50 or $50 Canadian coupon (depending on your accent) to spend in the Windows Store as recompense. While it provides little relief to those who had a shut-in weekend planned, at least you can trick out your new toy when it finally arrives, at Microsoft's expense. And, if you've received neither a Surface nor a coupon, we suggest you reach out for the freebie -- if your fingers aren't hitting tiles, they might as well be hitting keys instead.

[Source: Engadget]

Google Nexus 10 leaks: Android 4.2, Exynos 5250 (1.7GHz), 2,560 x 1,600 resolution

Unless we're looking at one of the most elaborately photographed fakes in the world, this is the Nexus 10. With the Nexus 7 apparently going over quite well at just $199, it was only ever a matter of time before the Nexus family expanded to house a 10-incher. With Google's own Vic Gundotra posting images from a unit that he's using at some exotic locale, it seems that another unit has slipped beneath the camera at BriefMobile. The site has managed to apprehend one of the 10.1-inch slates, and in turn has discovered quite the bounty of information.

[Source: Engadget - Click here to read more]