PC Pro [Jul 2012]

Few of HTC�s offerings have threatened the smartphone industry�s top table of late, with its somewhat bland offerings largely overtaken by fancier phones from Samsung and Apple. But HTC�s latest flagship handset, the One X, looks set to take back lost ground.

It isn�t a phone we�d ever accuse of playing safe. The white rear, with its protruding silver camera lens, looks and feels superb, and we can�t fault HTC for build quality either. The One X is sturdy despite its 8.9mm-thick, 130g frame, and while there have been reports of the screen flexing when gripped tightly, that�s very fine indeed. The solid build can be put down to the construction, the One X is milled from a single block of polycarbonate, just like the Nokia Lumia 800.

It�s that screen that steals the show. It�s a 4.7in IPS panel with a resolution of 720 x 1280, that gives a pixel density of 312ppi not for behind the iPhone�s 330ppi and makes for consistently stunning experience. There�s plenty of space for full sized web pages, and text is pin sharp.

It isn�t only the increase in resolution; the quality is great, too. Its 490cd/m² maximum brightness can�t math the iPhone�s 581cd/m², but it�s far ahead of the Samsung Galaxy S II�s 300cd/m², and it�s matched with a contrast ratio of 1138, lending images a real solidity and depth.

Processing power comes from Nvidia�s 1.5GHz quad-core Tegra 3 chip, partnered with 1GB of RAM. Is has 32GB of storage, of which 26GB can be used for data and apps, but there�s no microSD card slot to add more. For communications you get the choice of 3G, 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth 4, and it has NFC.

The specification makes the One X the most powerful smartphone we�ve tested. Its Quadrant benchmark score of 4927 streaks ahead of the 3460 scored by the Galaxy S II, and it completed the SunSpider benchmark in 2071ms. that�s a third quicker than the Samsung, and just ahead of the iPhone 4S.

No game stretched the HTC�s GPU. High octane shooter Shadowgun ran flawlessly, 3D adventure title Dungeon Defenders was similarly slick, and Reckless Racing 2 also delivered rock solid frame rates. A word of warning, though: while things were fine away from the mains, running  these games while charging saw the handset grow unbearably hot. That aside, battery life was decent, with 60% of the 1800mAh power pack left after the 24 hour rundown test. Just don�t expect such longevity when gaming: a 30 minutes sting during a train commute saw the bar fall by almost a third.

The One X comes with Android 4 onboard, partnered with the latest version of HTC�s Sense UI. HTC has ditched the curved graphics at the bottom of each homescreen, replacing them with square icons, but it looks and functions as well as ever, with the usual line up of handy widgets.

HTC doesn�t bundle Beats branded headphones with this device, but the Beats audio kit inside the One X serves up bass heavy, a good quality sound.

It isn�t all good news, though. The Notification drawer has vanished, and virtually every app has a separate menu button that takes up a 96 pixel chunk across the bottom of the screen.

These are small complaints, however, with the 8 megapixel camera more than making amends. Quality is excellent, with sharp detail and accurate colors, and a flash is included. Shots are taken almost instantly, and there are panorama and burst modes too; the latter takes up to 99 shots as quickly as possible, and even picks the �best� one out for you. The camera also shoots 1080p video and, again, quality is excellent, autofocus is quick to lock on, and detail is extremely sharp.

The best camera & performance result, shown in this video clip.

It�s a fine all round package, then, but it�s impossible to ignore the shadow of Samsung�s impending Galaxy S III, It�s also said to have a 4.7in, 720 x 1280 screen, a 1.5GHz quad-core processor and Ice Cream Sandwich. If past standards are any indication, it may be the phone to beat.

For now, though, no other phone can match the HTC One X. It offers stupendous speed, a stunning screen, and a strong, attractive design, all of which combine to make it the best smartphone on the block. After something of a barren patch it�s good to see HTC back.

5 Most worthy and stylish Digital Cameras review this year, you can gift someone | PC Supporter

Digital cameras are set to be the most beautiful and popular gifts this Christmas. As photography is a very common interest, selecting a perfect budget camera to gift someone, is still a hard work.

Here we shortly reviewed some of the best cameras of the market, which stands very worthy in the gift markets specially. Prices of all the cameras are taken from PC Advisor magazine of this month.

So here we select 5 digital cameras, most worthy in the market to date, for this review.

FujiFilm FinePix X100 | � 999 inc VAT

The FujiFilm X100 is expensive, but there are enough committed camera fans out there for FufiFilm to have judged it worthwhile investing development resources in this fixed-lens camera.

The fully manual 12.3Mp camera is built from magnesium-alloy and has an APS-C sensor crammed in. The aperture, shutter speed and exposure compensation settings can all be checked before you switch on the X100. A 2.8in LCD offers an alternative viewing and composition option. There�s also a dedicated RAW button, which lets you switch between uncompressed shooting and processing mode.

The camera weighs 445g and is chunky 54mm thick, so you won�t want to take it out and about on the off-chance it will get used. It�s anything but a point-and-shoot model, and has plenty of quirks.

A less complex (and less expensive) model, the � 560 FujiFilm FinePix X10, is also available in the market, but because of better output results, the FujiFilm X100 amply rewards.

Canon lxus 230 HS | �200 incl VAT

The Canon lxus is as beautiful a compact camera as you�re ever likely to searching for. It comes in black, silver, purple, brown or red colors, and physically is very slim, given the mechanics inside.

The follow-up model to last year�s popular 220 HS, it�s a 12.1Mp compact with a 28mm wide-angle lens and an 8x optical zoom. Compared with the zoom range of some of the compact cameras, the Canon�s is modest. However, the HS in its name refers to its combination of high speed and high sensitivity something that wouldn�t work well over a 15x zoom. The 22mm thick body would be hard pushed to accommodate a larger lens anyhow.

Controls are geared towards point-and-shoot photography, with a simple dial to adjust the zoom and an onscreen indicator if your hands are shaking. Video can be taken at 720p and has a dedicated record button. A switch that lets you change from automatic to manual operation resides on the right-hand side, while flash and macro options can be adjusted via a navipad on the rear. Other settings are changed via the onscreen menu.

As with other HS cameras (Canon offers lxus and PowerShot models with this feature), the 230 is capable of capturing blur-free photos under challenging low-light conditions, so you can take party shots without blinding everyone with the flash. Canon cites 210 shots before the battery needs to be recharged. Expect around 40 minutes of video footage to deplete the battery.

Kodak EasyShare Touch M5370 | �129 inc VAT

Not everyone wants to spend hundreds of pounds on a digital camera. The Kodak EasyShare M5370 packs in plenty for its �129 price tag. You get a 16Mp CCD, video capture, support for direct uploading to a range of photo-sharing websites and social networks, plus in-camera editing to finesse your images.

EasyShare software can automatically recognize that there�s someone in shot that looks a lot like a person in a pervious photo and suggest they might be one and the same. If so, the face detection and tagging beloved of Facebook form a formidable alliance and pre-tag your photos ready for uploading. When you next turn on the camera, it�ll group photos in the gallery by subject, making it faster to find the best photo of a particular person.

A 5x optical zoom, image stabilization and 20 scene presets all features on this likable budget and worthy and stylish camera.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 | �360 inc VAT

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 is a great-value 12.1Mp Micro Four Third camera with a tilt-able 3in LCD touchscreen for image composition. This makes it easy to specify what you�d like the focal point of your photo to be.

A good range of scene presets and an intelligent Auto setting make for a shallow learning curve, while advanced options span aperture priority � from f3.5 to f5.6 � and adjustments to light levels. ISO settings from 100 up to 6400 are supported. For unusual compositions, in-camera effects can be applied.

The DMC-G2 can record video at 720p to the Blu-ray-compatible AVCHD format. The standard camera kit includes a 14-42mm lens.

Sony Cyber-Shot HX9V | �250 inc VAT

The best of the advanced compact cameras crop, the Sony Cyber-shot HX9V eschews manual settings, such as aperture priority and user controlled shutter speeds, and doesn�t support RAW file formats. Nonetheless, it produces excellent digital photographs the most important factor in any camera.

The Sony�s 16Mp CCD promises plenty of detail (we don�t advise buying a camera based on megapixel count alone, but this model is a safe bet) and there�s also a 16x optical zoom so you can capture extreme close-ups even from over the road. Dual-image stabilization helps ensure shots are crisp.

All that zooming in ought to pound the batter but the CIPA rating for the HX9V is an outstanding 410 shots between charges. Really, though, it�s the 3D capabilities of this camera that will astound.

Rounding this off are support for geo-location tagging and some clever in-camera trickery to make the most of your photo artistry.