Interesting Information

Your smartphone is the one thing that never leaves your side because it can do it all. But the best smartphones do everything well. A great handset takes amazing photos, offers a bright and crisp HD screen and has enough speed to help you multitask with ease. There’s also plenty of variety out there when it comes to software and the overall user experience. That’s where we come in. Once you’ve decided on your platform of choice - Android, iOS, Windows Phone or BlackBerry - then it’s time to pick a device. At LAPTOP we test every major smartphone on the market and rate each one based on design, features, performance and battery life to help you make the right call. Here are our top 10 smartphones, ranging from the most sleek and compact handsets to the biggest phablets. Samsung Galaxy S4 The Samsung Galaxy S4 takes Android phones to the next level with an awesome camera, innovative gesture controls and best-in-class multitasking.

Not everyone wants an iPad. In fact, many Apple haters would argue no one needs an iDevice, when there are so many other great options. Happily, if you’re looking for an alternative there truly are plenty of compelling options - many that cost less than Apple’s slates. Google and Amazon offer full-featured slates for US$199. Newcomer Hisense even comes in at a very compelling US$149. Those willing to spend more will find a host of versatile tablets, from models with detachable keyboards to those that offer pen input. There are even kid-friendly specific options for parents who want to raise a tech-savvy child. And while all of those options are Android options, there are Windows 8 tablets hitting the shelves that might worth a second look. Here are our top 10 iPad alternatives. Hisense Sero 7 Pro Hisense Sero 7 Pro features a rear-facing 5-MP camera with a flash and a front-facing 2-MP camera, plus it comes with a microSD card slot for expandable storage up to 32GB. I...

Getting into your house, protecting your data, and finding your stuff gets help with sophisticated devices new to the market. Here are eight security products that will help get you indoors, safeguard your valuables, and help you find things. Goji The Goji Smart Lock is a lock for your front door that replaces your deadbolt, and that you can control with your smartphone. Via the Goji app, your phone can receive a picture, text, or app alert whenever someone is at your door. You can schedule access via the app, text, or email, if you want to let a friend inside while you're away. And for people in your life who don't own smartphones, Goji comes with old-fashioned keys and programmable Bluetooth Low Energy fobs. The lock runs on batteries, though, so make sure you have spares on hand.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new winner. Clocking in at the remarkable processing speed of 30.65 petaflops without breaking a virtual sweat, it’s our pleasure to introduce the Tianhe-2, a Chinese super computer that is quite comfortably the fastest computer on Earth. The Tianhe-2, also known as the Milky Way 2, is the creation of China’s National University for Defense Technology. The device was built to “provide an open platform for research and education and provide high performance computing service for southern China,” according to the University of Tennessee’s Jack Dongarra. Dongarra helped compile a list of the Top 500 supercomputers in the world, and wrote a report on this latest machine.

PC sales fell 4.3 per cent in the fourth quarter despite the release of Windows 8, the latest independent figures have shown. In further bad news for the industry, which is struggling against growing smartphone and tablet sales, Gartner said worldwide PC shipments declined to 90.3 million units in the last three months of 2012, indicating that the sector was suffering from a shift in consumer habits as much as a weak global economy. The figures roughly agree with those released by rival analyst house IDC at on Friday. If said fourth quarter sales were down 6.4 per cent on 2011, the first slip for five years. "Tablets have dramatically changed the device landscape for PCs, not so much by 'cannibalizing' PC sales, but by causing PC users to shift consumption to tablets rather than replacing older PCs," said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner.

A new Microsoft Office app will allow users to edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents on iOS. Microsoft's app is available free for subscribers to Office 365, a web-based platform that allows users to access Office via the cloud. The company released the app in the US today and will continue to launch Office Mobile across 136 markets in 29 languages over the coming days. Apple will take a percentage of subscriptions purchased from the iPhone, though neither company has said how much. The announcement, which follows news from Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference that the default search engine for Siri will be Bing instead of Google, suggests the two companies are working closer together.

The US has eased restrictions on the sale of mobile phones and other communications devices, software and services to Iranians. The move is intended to promote Iranians' political freedom, countering what the US describes as Tehran's efforts to "silence its people". The US treasury department move comes weeks before the Iranian election The shift marks the first time Apple's iPhone can be exported legally to Iran. The US had toughened sanctions in recent years in an effort to force Iran to curb its nuclear programme. The US believes Iran is enriching uranium to levels that could be used in a nuclear weapon, but Iran insists its programme has peaceful objectives. "The people of Iran should be able to communicate and access information without being subject to reprisals by their government," the US treasury department said in a statement. 'Positive step' It said it would allow sales of equipment and software to Ira...

Eye and face-tracking technology that aims to prevent accidents caused by fatigue is being rolled out by the world's biggest mining equipment maker. The firm's software monitors the driver's eyes and face direction Caterpillar is to sell a package of sensors, alarms and software which detect when a truck driver is about to fall asleep. BHP Billiton and gold producer Newmont Mining have already carried out trials. The firms believe it out-performs earlier systems that needed workers to wear special equipment. Driver Safety Solution (DSS) also benefits from the fact it does not need to be recalibrated when one worker swaps shift with another. The product was developed by Australian firm, Seeing Machines, which secured the tie-up with Caterpillar after a panel of experts selected it over 21 rival technologies. It will cost up to $20,000 (£13,260) to install on each vehicle, although a discount applies if it is bought in bulk. According to the ...