Generally Apple is rather considerate when it comes to consumer issues, replacing or repairing MacBooks when problems arise that haven't been caused by the user. Recently Apple repaired MacBook Pros suffering from distorted or scrambled video. However, when offering the repair it claimed that only a "small percentage" of users were affected.Going by a petiton to help solve the issue, this "small percentage" was in the region of 38,000 users. It took nearly 4 years for Apple to solve the problem, a
More irksome than this, however, is Sling’s policy on pricing. The box itself isn’t cheap to start with. At £129, it’s more than four times the price of a Chromecast, but worse is that you have to pay for the apps on top. They're not cheap, either, at around £11 each. And while the Windows and OS X desktop software is free, it hosts irritating ads when the app’s not full-screen.All of which is a shame, because the hardware does the job as well as can be expected. Remote control is a touch laggy, but given a fast-enough internet connection, picture quality is perfectly acceptable.If you’re already paying for a comprehensive cable or satellite TV service, it’s a great way of making the most of that subscription, and it may be the only way for die-hard sports fans to get their fix when travelling.If you're tempted by the Slingbox M1, however, I'd advise you ask yourself one key question before you splash out: "How often would I use it?" The answer is likely to be not enough to justify spending £129.
That statement was always good advice - you're there to watch the game, after all - but now it's club policy, as Manchester United has banned tablets and laptops from its stadium on match days.Perhaps surprisingly, it's not because iPad photographers were blocking the view of other fans in the stands, but for security reasons."As a result of the latest security advice, large electronic devices including laptops and tablets will be added to the existing list of prohibited items for matchdays at Old Trafford," the football club's official website says. "We apologise for any inconvenience that this might cause but we are committed to putting the safety and security of all supporters as our number one priority."
The message said the changes followed security changes at UK airports, but aviation authorities recently said larger gadgets can't be brought on planes unless they have enough battery power to be turned on.Man United said it was "impractical" to have all game attendees prove their devices can be turned on before entering the stadium.
Man United will allow devices to a maximum size of 150mm x 100mm (5.9in x 3.9in) - but specifically said iPad minis don't make the cut. Mobile phones and "small lens cameras" are still allowed, however.The football club already bans items including canned drinks and glass bottles, prams, camcorders, large bags or suitcases, and even large umbrellas.There’s definitely something of the netbook in the new breed of Windows 8.1 with Bing devices, so it’s fitting that Asus has revived the EeeBook brand with its new example. On first impressions, it’s surprisingly glamorous, with a matte champagne finish applied to all the plastics bar the keyboard and the frame around the screen. For a £175 laptop, it's fair to say that the Asus is something of a looker. See also: The best laptops of 2015
The feel isn’t quite so luxurious. While the base seems solid enough, the screen is flexible and flimsy, even compared with budget rivals. Still, at just under 18mm thick and 980g in weight, it’s the thinnest and lightest Windows 8.1 with Bing laptop we've seen yet.The 11.6in, 1,366 x 768 display is a big step up from what we used to see on netbooks, too. It’s bright, at a maximum 288cd/m2, and the 414:1 contrast is nothing to sniff at. Unfortunately, it falls down on the depth and richness of its colours. Not only do they look flat, but the display gamut only covers 55% of the sRGB standard. The speakers are just as bad: very bright, twice as brash and frankly uncomfortable to listen to.Corners have been cut on connectivity, with no USB 3 ports, and just two USB 2. Asus has also gone for a microSD slot and a micro-HDMI connector when full-sized connections are arguably more useful. There isn't much storage, either, with only 16.9GB of space available once Windows, Asus’s apps and the recovery partition have had their share, although this is less of an issue with a cloud-focused machine. One year’s subscription to Office 365 Personal with 1TB of storage is included.
The X205TA’s biggest issue is performance. Its CPU is a Bay Trail-T Atom Z3735F processor with four cores running at 1.33GHz, which just can’t keep up with the faster Celeron systems we've seen.You’ll find speeds adequate for surfing the web or working on a Word document, but this isn’t as powerful or versatile a laptop as the similarly priced HP Stream 11 or Acer Aspire ES1-111M. On the plus side, battery life is superb, lasting over 14 hours in our light-use test. Even here, though, the Acer isn’t far behind.Building a competitive cloudbook is a tough ask in the face of such strong competition, and while Asus has done alot right, the numerous flaws make the X205TA hard to recommend. If you're looking for an ultraportable, affordable laptop, then sadly the EeeBook X205TA just isn't good enough to compete with the HP Stream 11 - that's the one we'd buy.Intel's presentations at CES never fail to impress, and this year is no exception with the company showing off connected technology that ranged from the amusing to the slightly unnerving.
A large portion of Intel's keynote presentation was taken up by demos of its RealSense technology, which allows cameras to process depth in a way similar to the human eye.RealSense is a semi-established product, having been incorporated into the Dell Venue 8 7000 tablet. However, the applications shown off by CEO Brian Krzanich during his keynote speech at CES aim to move the technology beyond just the mobile sphere."We're going from a two-dimensional world to a three-dimensional world. This additional dimension will change how we experience computing," he said.One of the ways in which Intel hopes to make its mark on this brave new "3D world" is replacing everything from touchscreens to door keys to recipe books, courtesy of RealSense.
In cookery corner, Chef "Chuck" showed how, normally, if you bring your laptop or tablet into the kitchen it gets covered in flour or other cooking materials because you touch it with "yucky fingers" (here at PC Pro, we take the time to wash our hands, but moving on...).Chuck demonstrated how RealSense can be used to enable 3D gestures, allowing the cook to move between recipe pages or videos on screen without touching it. Cooks around the world will surely rejoice.Next up was Jonathan (no, he has no surname either), who helped demonstrate how RealSense's technology can be used to create 3D projections from a specially adapted screen.Apparently, Intel's new three-dimensional world will help rid us of actual 3D objects, such as piano keyboards, so we can play in empty space, as Jonathan helpfully showed by playing chopsticks in mid air.While entertaining, we hope there will be more practical uses for this technology when it moves beyond the concept stage.
Perhaps a more useful application of the technology is smart home integration. Beautiful assistant Megan was joined on stage by a stunt door to demonstrate how RealSense, combined with Intel's facial recognition software, True Key, can be used to replace door keys.The system uses dual authentication to establish the person trying to enter the house is indeed someone who lives there. The person's smartphone, which is synced to the house's smart security system, is used for primary authentication. The resident then turns to face a smart panel on the wall containing a RealSense camera, which captures an image of the person's face. This image is then processed by True Key and, if the face is recognised, the door will automatically unlock.This is a clearer, more practical example of RealSense and Intel's ambitions in the Internet of Things space. It's also something we could perhaps see in wider use more rapidly than some of the other technology demonstrated.