The Xperia XZ gives me hope that Sony can turn things around in the U.S.

Quickly after the disappointing Xperia X series, the Xperia XZ gives a glimmer of positivity for the future.

Just a couple of months ago, I received a Sony Xperia X Performance for review. It was the first Sony phone I’ve used in well over a year, and I was excited to give it a try. Just a few days in, I was pained to write about it — it was a frustrating experience I hadn’t endured in years. Our own Daniel Bader wrote a great review that encapsulated my thoughts perfectly. Sony’s decisions throughout the phone didn’t make sense, and the price made it irresponsible to justify.

Only a few months later, we have the new Sony Xperia XZ. It is legitimately a great phone — a flagship that outdoes Sony’s phones that aren’t even six months old — despite still having a couple head-scratching issues. And though that situation is annoying in myriad ways, the reality is that Sony has made something that actually has me excited about its phones again.

Using the Sony Xperia XZ

Hey, it turns out Sony can make a good phone! I’ve been using the Xperia XZ for roughly a week since I received it at IFA in Berlin, and unlike the Xperia X Performance it hasn’t urged me to throw it into the ocean. Going a step further, it’s even quite nice to use.

The coated metal body is sleek and understated, and in typical Sony fashion is perfectly manufactured. It’s a little slippery and a bit of a fingerprint magnet, but that’s something I can look past — the important part, the feel of the phone, is on point here. And even though it’s a bit blockier and larger than the Galaxy S7 I appreciate the design elements that help it stand out from other phones out there. Sony still has its unique design sense. It also seems to be pretty tough — while writing this I dropped the XZ from chest height onto a solid wood chair, continuing down onto a concrete floor, and it looked no worse for it.

The Xperia XZ feels like any other flagship Android out there … with a couple odd changes

When you’re using it, the Xperia XZ feels like any other flagship Android out there. Performance is good and the software is quick and relatively unencumbered by manufacturer customizations. You still get a good number of useless bloatware apps, but interface-wise there’s nothing extra to configure here if you’re happy with a basic Android experience like I am. Longevity is just average from the 2900 mAh battery inside, but I made it through a typical day with a little to spare — though Stamina Mode helped near the end of some heavier days. The display is also really good; I don’t care that it’s “just” 1080p. It also has water resistance, USB-C, Quick Charge 3.0 and stereo speakers (though they’re a bit on the quiet side).

Perhaps most importantly of all, Sony actually finally did something substantial with its camera setup. Yes, we’re still looking at a 23MP sensor that we’ve seen before, but it has brand new five-axis stabilization that seriously improves low-light performance. Indeed, the camera takes much better photos in low light, and daylight photos are quite good — whether you shoot in full 23MP or downsampled 8MP (by default). The important thing to note here is that the camera isn’t a weakness anymore — it’s good, even though it’s just a couple steps short of “great.”

The real issue left in the camera is speed and in some ways software. It’s just slower to open and capture each photo than the competition. The “Superior Auto” is more like just “auto” nowadays, as it really doesn’t seem to do anything great — perfect example being that you have to switch into “Manual” mode just to get HDR. But, at least the end product is there.

Bringing it back to earth a bit, there are still a few puzzling things about the Xperia XZ.

Chief among them is the lack of a fingerprint sensor in the U.S. There is just no way to justify selling a phone of this stature without one, and you can’t explain it away. Phones as inexpensive as the Moto G4 Plus and Honor 5X have great one-touch fingerprint sensors — and heck, the Xperia XZ has it in other markets. Give it to us in the U.S., Sony. Don’t keep doing this.

Then you have little annoyances like the NFC antenna being located on the (completely nonstandard) front of the phone, thanks to the metal back, making Android Pay a little awkward to use. And the seemingly random decision to put the volume rocker in a super unfriendly place low on the right side of the phone. A handful of little things that are just curious decisions — you’d love to be a fly on the wall in those design meetings.

Sony’s future, a little brighter

It’s a good sign that the worst parts of the Xperia XZ are some of the “easy” (in the grand scheme of building a complex smartphone) things to fix. A little better battery life, a fingerprint sensor, more attractive pricing — these things don’t require landslide changes to the phone or design process. They’re a few key points and features that, if improved, will let potential buyers stop focusing on the small issues that turn into deal breakers and instead actually consider buying a Sony phone again.

If Sony can pull together a few small remaining parts of its smartphone experience, and combine them with its recent propensity to sell phones direct to consumers unlocked through various popular retailers, all of the components are here for a mini resurgence in the U.S. The hard parts are done — now it’s time to bring the whole thing together with a few small tweaks, and Sony will start to win back some mind share, if not market share.

CBeebies Playtime Island now available for free for iOS, Android and Amazon Fire tablets

After huge success with its last collection of games for pre-schoolers, the BBC has launched a second CBeebies Playtime app for iOS, Android and Amazon Fire tablets with all-new games and experiences to keep young kids amused.

Like the original, CBeebies Playtime Island features games based on characters from the the channel’s TV shows. To begin with, children can play Peter Rabbit: Hop to it, The Furchester Food Game, Topsy and Tim: At The Farm, and Andy’s Prehistoric Park.

The games and style have been chosen by parents and their children during the development phase.

More games will be added in time, as will new features and surprises. A Christmas theme will appear in December and Children will be able to build their own Playtime Island, adding specific games they want to play, in a future update.

A game library and downloads will be added.

“CBeebies Playtime Island is an exciting environment for our games that can evolve based on the interests and needs of our youngest audiences – it can develop and grow with them,” said Kay Benbow, controller of the channel.

“It also gives them a greater range of choice and control all within one safe and beautifully designed landscape. And it’s not only designed for little ones but with them too, as the wonderfully creative buildings and vehicles came directly from them.”

CBeebies Playtime Island is a free download and available now.

SoundCloud Go promo gives you 3 months of music for 99 cents

SoundCloud’s Go streaming service is barely half a year old, but the company is already determined to attract hesitant listeners. It’s launching a week-long promo that will give you 3 months of unlimited, ad-free music for 99 cents (or 99 pence in the UK) if you subscribe by September 19th. That’s similar to offers we’ve seen from the likes of Google and Spotify, of course. However, it’s more important here. While there’s a real chance that you have at least a passing acquaintance with Google Play Music or Spotify, SoundCloud Go is relatively new and untested — this is your chance to give it an extended try without dropping $30/£30. And when SoundCloud hasn’t had much success getting customers to bite, a good deal like this could go a long way toward improving the company’s bottom line.

Source: SoundCloud

Dropbox Responds to Mac ‘Security Risk’ Accusations

Dropbox has said it needs to do a “better job” of communicating its OS X integration, after claims emerged online that its Mac app was phishing for user passwords and even “hacks” the operating system on installation.

Developers of the cloud storage service were forced to reply to accusations which appeared on Hacker News that the client app was a security risk and “couldn’t be trusted”, because of the way it takes control of system features without asking for permission to do so.

Dropbox gains access to Accessibility features without requesting access.
Concerns were raised after it was demonstrated that Dropbox appears in the Security & Privacy tab for Accessibility, despite the fact that users are never prompted to grant access to the features.

Let’s assume for the sake of argument that Dropbox never does any evil on your computer. It remains the fact that the Dropbox process has that ability. And that means, if Dropbox itself has a bug in it, it’s possible an attacker could take control of your computer by hijacking flaws in Dropbox’s code. Of course, that’s entirely theoretical, but all security risks are until someone exploits them. The essence of good computer security and indeed the very reason why OSX has these kinds of safeguards in place to begin with is that apps should not have permissions greater than those that they need to do their job.

Responding to the accusations, Dropbox said it only asks for the permissions it needs and uses the Accessibility features for certain app integrations like Office, although the permissions aren’t as “granular” as the company would like.

Dropbox, like other apps, requires additional permissions to enable certain features and integrations. The operating system on a user’s device may ask them to input their password to confirm. Dropbox never sees or receives these passwords. Reports of Dropbox spoofing interfaces, or capturing system passwords are absolutely false. We realize that we can do a better job communicating how these permissions are used, and we’re working on improving this.

Dropbox said it was working with Apple to reduce its dependence on elevated access in macOS Sierra, and will respect when people disable Dropbox’s Accessibility permissions. In the meantime, Hacker News wants the firm to more explicitly outline why it needs the permissions it does.

The latest news comes at a sensitive time for the cloud storage outfit. Two weeks ago, it was revealed that over 68 million Dropbox accounts were successfully targeted during a hack that took place in 2012.

Due to a password hack connected to other websites, hackers were able to sign in to “a small number” of Dropbox accounts, said the company, including an employee’s who had access to a document listing an array of user email addresses. But when Dropbox announced a preventative password reset measure, it made no mention of the extent of the users touched by the four-year-old hack.

Earlier this year, Dropbox was also forced to defend a feature called Project Infinite, which allows users to access all of the content in their account as if it is stored on their own machine, regardless of how small their hard disk is. The feature requires kernel-level access to computers in order to function, which critics suggested could leave it open to serious vulnerabilities.

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TomTom Via 62 review: Gets you there, but not without a hiccup

Of all TomTom’s satnav offerings, the Via appears to make the most sense. It offers Traffic, meaning it’s a full head and shoulders above the entry-level Start model, but it’s slimmer and much more affordable than the Go models.

Available in two sizes: on review here is the 62, meaning it offers a 6-inch display; the 52, following logic, offers a 5-inch display and comes in at £20 cheaper, although the feature set is otherwise identical.

So it sounds like a winner. But is this latest TomTom PND the one to choose? 

TomTom Via 62 review: Design

There hasn’t been a huge variety in design in personal navigation devices over the past years. Based around a central display, there’s a fairly wide bezel and some bulk. Compared to the latest smartphones it is certainly a big lump, measuring 162.5 x 104.8 x 23.8mm. It weighs 280g, but as you’re not supposed to carry it around in your pocket, this might not matter.

The big differentiator in design between the top-of-the-range Go model and this mid-range Via is the mount. The slimline mount of the Via attaches to your windscreen with a twist to lock the suction cap in place and then the display unit can clip into it.

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Although the TomTom Go’s magnetic cradle mount is pushed as a feature, it’s less useful, as it’s much bulkier. When you disconnect the Via, the suction cap folds down against the back meaning it’s easy to stow the complete unit in a door pocket or glove box. The TomTom Go, by contrast, often needs stowing in two parts, so this is an immediate win for the Via in our books. 

As for the unit design, there’s little to say, except we found that the chamfered edge to the bottom bezel had the nasty habit of catching the light and reflecting in bright conditions. It might look neat, but a softer finish might have been better for when out on the road.

TomTom Via 62 review: Features and connectivity

We mentioned TomTom Traffic in the intro and there’s a good reason for that: it’s one of TomTom’s top features, and the biggest lead that it offers over built-in satnav systems and rival standalone devices, including smartphones. 

Systems like Google Maps, Waze or the satnav in your BMW all offer traffic, but we’ve never found any of them to be quite as accurate and useful as TomTom’s Traffic. That’s certainly a reason to buy the a Via, as it will find traffic, calculate alternatives and find you the best route to your destination.

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In this case, however, unlike the Go 6100 with its own data connection, it relies on a connection to your smartphone. That means you’ll have to pair via Bluetooth and enable Bluetooth tethering on your phone for that connection to work. You’ll also have to have a data allowance on your smartphone, although the data the Via uses is very small, as it’s only for updating Traffic data, not downloading maps like some smartphone-based systems. 

The Via’s other trick is that it offers calling functions and voice control. The former uses that connection to your smartphone to examine your phonebook and let you make and receive calls, using the TomTom’s own speaker and mic. That’s a handy addition if your car doesn’t have Bluetooth. 

The second function is voice control. Using the trigger term “Hello TomTom” you can speak various voice commands, which are also displayed on screen so you can see them. This makes it easy to use, as there’s very little learning curve to worry about, unlike with most car voice control systems.

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Finally, the Via 62 is compatible with TomTom’s MyDrive system. Using the account you’ll need to activate TomTom Traffic, you’ll be able to find and save locations via the website or app and send those to your satnav. That means you can plan a route before you get in the car, so as soon as your device is connected, it will offer to take you there. 

That’s a clever function, but the TomTom MyDrive app is a little primitive, especially compared to things like Google’s smart searching offered through Maps. Still, if you have an address or postcode, it’s pretty easy to plan where you’re going.

TomTom Via 62 review: Performance on the road

We’ve long been fans of TomTom’s mapping and navigation. The use of live Traffic means you can avoid long delays on your route for an accurate arrival time. The Via 62 neatly shows the current time and the arrival time on its right-hand side so you can always check progress.

TomTom’s display on its satnavs hasn’t changed hugely in the past few years, but there has been an effort to refine what’s offered without adding confusion. Some systems have a huge range of detail, constant points of interest and distractions that perhaps don’t matter. With that in mind, we think TomTom’s system offers the best solution for drivers, but perhaps not for explorers who want lots of information along the journey.

Navigation is generally sound, and through lots of driving experience we think that TomTom does a good job of finding the best route – and we’ve driven all over the UK and Europe using TomTom navigation.

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There are some weaknesses, however, especially when it comes to picking a direct route on small roads versus a longer route on bigger roads. Driving on A roads or motorways is usually preferable to B and C roads, especially if the time difference is only 10-minutes, and TomTom often takes you on smaller roads to get you there faster, if not in the most relaxed state.

You can change the preferences to take the most eco-friendly route, which aims for the most consistent approach and avoids some more direct routes. But this isn’t quite the best compromise – we’ve had it choose a longer motorway route for more consistent speed instead of a dual carriageway selection, which would have been equally fast but more direct.

The TomTom Via is fairly accurate in finding locations, with full postcode searching available. Sometimes you might appear on the wrong side of a fence or something, given that postcodes cover large areas in the UK. If you’re driving into the unknown it is handy to check what your destination looks like before you drive off into oblivion. This is the obvious downside compared to Google Maps, which will show you a photo of the building you’re driving to in many cases.

However, with good signage, accurate and timely voice instructions and a clear display, about the only remaining limiter in the TomTom is the lack of pinch zooming. That’s a feature that’s reserved for the TomTom Go; on the Via you’ll have to tap the buttons to zoom in and out, which is a little painful in today’s tech world.

TomTom Via 62 review: So what’s the problem?

The TomTom Via 62’s biggest problem appears to be stability. We spent over two weeks driving with the new PND fitted and found that restarts were common. We’d be driving through deepest Cornwall, about to make a turn on a minor road, to seek out that hidden staycation wonder, and the Via 62 would restart.

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On longer road journeys we saw the Via restart about four or five times. Whether this is something that affects all Via models and needs a software update, or is particular to our review unit, we can’t say – but it might be worth reading some other reviews to see if similar was experienced elsewhere, before you part with your cash.

Then we come to the Bluetooth connectivity. Although the Via 62 connected with no problems, it would regularly go through a cycle of connecting and disconnecting to our phone – the HTC 10 in this instance – during the first 30-minutes of driving. That means that Traffic would be patchy, which is a shame, because it’s one of our favourite features.

Verdict

The TomTom Via provides a good mix of features for the price. Opt for the smaller Via 52 and you’re looking at around £150 for a full package – accepting that you’ll have to supply your own data connection. The Go 6100 might give a more seamless experience, but there’s a huge price difference and the navigation experience at its core is very much the same.

The navigation fundamentals are great, with good clear mapping that’s easy to follow. But our concern remains over stability. The number of restarts we encountered was frustrating; the Bluetooth fluctuations compound this, making the Via 62 difficult to recommend as it stands.

How to sign up for Reliance Jio and get free data

Reliance finally launched Jio earlier this month, making the 4G service available to everyone in India. Jio is offering fast data speeds and voice calls through VoLTE, but the main attraction is the Welcome Offer, through which everyone who signs up for the service gets free data until the end of 2016. Considering the SIM itself is being given away for free across retail stores across the country, you should absolutely get on the Jio bandwagon right away.

Here’s how you can register for a Reliance Jio SIM and avail free data until the end of the year.

How to register for a Reliance Jio SIM card

If you own a 4G-enabled handset from any of the brands listed below, you can download the MyJio app from the Play Store and get started.

• Samsung
• Micromax
• Xiaomi
• Karbonn
• Lava
• Intex
• HTC
• LG
• Sony
• OnePlus
• ASUS
• Gionee
• Lenovo
• Motorola
• Huawei
• Oppo
• Vivo
• Xolo
• Panasonic
• Yu
• TCL
• Alcatel
• InFocus
• Celkon
• Itel
• LeEco
• Sansui
• Videocon

If you’re unsure as to how to download MyJio, here’s what you need to do:

Open the Play Store from the home screen or app drawer.
Search for MyJio.

Select the three dots at the top right next to the first search result and hit Install.

Once you install MyJio, it’s a straightforward process to register for a SIM. Here’s the breakdown:

Open MyJio app from the home screen.
Swipe left on the MyJio home screen to access the Jio Welcome Offer section.
Tap on Get Jio SIM.

Fill out your first and last name, enter your current mobile number, and hit the Generate OTP button.

Enter the OTP and tap Submit.
If your phone doesn’t have VoLTE, you will be directed to install Jio4GVoice (previously JioJoin), which lets you take VoLTE calls.
Once Jio4GVoice is installed, you’ll get a coupon with a unique barcode.

Head back to the MyJio home screen, and select Find a store to find your nearest Reliance Digital.

The preferred method for registration for a Jio SIM is through your Aadhaar card, but if you don’t have one, you can take any proof of identity and address. Know that the process will take slightly longer when registering with other forms of ID.

Once you submit your ID, you will receive your brand-new Jio SIM card. A note on availability: given the sheer amount of internet in Jio, SIM cards may not be in stock at all retail locations. Out of the three outlets I visited in my neighborhood in Hyderabad, two stores were already out of SIM cards. In such a scenario, you can still register for a SIM card, but you’ll have to wait a while before getting your hands on one.

How to activate Reliance Jio SIM

After you receive your Jio SIM card, you have to activate it. Just insert the SIM card in your phone, wait for the text message that says that the service is ready to be activated, and then dial 1977. You’ll hear a confirmation message on the call, and you can get started with using the network following that.

Usually, it takes about ten minutes from the time you’ve inserted the Jio SIM in your phone to receive the activation message. If it takes more than a day, head back to your local Reliance Digital store to get the issue fixed.

Using Reliance Jio

With your Jio SIM activated, you can enjoy free data and unlimited voice calls. As with all such services, there are a few caveats. Although data is unlimited, 4G usage is limited to 4GB a day, following which it is throttled to 128kbps. That’s still a generous offer, all things considered. If you like the content on offer with the Jio apps, know that all bandwidth consumed while streaming live television or viewing on-demand shows will be counted against your daily usage quota.

That said, the speeds offered by Jio are considerable faster than what you get with Airtel or Vodafone, although we’ll have to wait a few weeks to see how the network fares with million of new customers downloading content simultaneously.

What’s your take?

Did you manage to get a Jio SIM? What are your thoughts on the service? Let us know in the comments below.

Samsung refutes Note 7 ‘remote deactivation’ reports

Remote disabling of recalled Notes not part of official Samsung guidance.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 recall saga has been gathering pace in recent days. One of the reports doing the rounds over the weekend pointed to the possibility of Samsung remotely disabling devices affected by the battery issue causing some handsets to catch fire or explode. The story goes that one French Note 7 owner on Reddit was told that every “recalled” Note 7 would be remotely deactivated by Samsung after September 30, thus ensuring that no potentially dangerous handsets could be used after this date.

However the firm’s official line is that this isn’t happening. We’ve reached out to Samsung and been told that this is not something the company has stated, and that all official guidance will be published on its website.

In a fast-moving story like this, it’s easy for inaccurate info to quickly spread. True, the remote deactivation of defective phones would’ve been a sure-fire way to prevent any more incidents like the recent report from New York where a young boy was injured by a combusting Note 7. But it now appears a mass-deactivation is not happening anytime soon.

For more background on the Note 7 recall, hit up our guide to everything you need to know.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7

• Galaxy Note 7 recall: Everything you need to know
• Samsung Galaxy Note 7 review
• The latest Galaxy Note 7 news!
• Here are all four Note 7 colors
• Complete Galaxy Note 7 specs
• Join the Note 7 discussion in the forums!

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