OS X 10 9 Mavericks review

TechRadar rating

4/5

For

• Tabs in Finder
• Useful new apps
• Enhanced performance
• Great multi-display improvements

Against

• Suboptimal tagging
• Some elements still pig-ugly
• Few moments of excitement
• Feels a bit unfinished

Apples newest OS is good news for power users

The tenth major revision of OS X, Mavericks, marks an attempt at a fresh start.
Oh yeah, and its available as a free download! Apple has decided it should treat the Mac community in the same way it has been treating iOS users and ship the update free via the Mac App Store.
Ratings in depth

Mavericks introduces new features that are aimed at professionals, updates major interface components, it overhauls the systems branding. Big cats are out, and California locations are in (Mavericks being a surfing hotspot).
The default desktop picture can be seen as a huge wave, washing away the overbearing textures most often attributed to Scott Forstall.

While Mavericks is designed to bring Apples desktop and mobile closer together, this isnt a radical iOS 7-style redesign. Its more a refinement of OS Xs existing design language that just happens to be simpler and cleaner.

Skeuomorphism is out, so youll see less fake wood and pretend leather (although it lives on in some applications, including the paper-themed Notes). Mavericks dials down the interface chrome so content can stand out, but its also suitable for the desktop in the way a stark, text-oriented iOS 7-style theme might not be.

New features

As with anything Apple-related these days, Mavericks wasnt an upgrade full of surprises. Instead, it was a case of getting our hands on features weve seen demoed earlier in the year, and for the most part these features are welcome - though not always.

Finder gains tabs, which are a genuine enhancement, and tags, which are less successful. Maps is, but you wont get the best out of it unless you have thoroughly embraced Apple for desktop and mobile.
Calendar has been improved with intelligent additions, but regrettably these havent been applied with perfect consistency. Safari, on the other hand, is unambiguously better in this release, and we hope it will stay that way.

Apple has also used Mavericks to give users more control over their own systems. Fullscreen is much better for multiple display setups and the App Nap function makes it easier than ever to see which applications are consuming power, so you can put them to sleep to preserve your battery life.
And there are also smaller enhancements which, while not exactly revolutionary, promise to make using your Mac a subtly simpler and more satisfying experience.

Installation is straightforward. The update is free to anyone running Snow Leopard, Lion or Mountain Lion, and shows up in brazen fashion at the top of the Mac App Store Updates tab so you really cant miss it.

Supported Macs

According to Apple, Macs back to 2007 are supported, as follows:

• iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
• MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminium, or Early 2009 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
• MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
• Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
• Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
• Xserve (Early 2009)

Any machines running the update must have 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB of disk space. Our primary test machine was a Mac mini i5 with 16 GB of RAM, running a 23-inch Apple monitor and the 27-inch display of a connected iMac.

We downloaded and installed during the peak rush, shortly after the Apple Event that announced the immediate availability of Mavericks.

Even when demand was highest, the entire process was painless and took under an hour, although the progress bars were typically comical, with "less than a minute" meaning something very different in the world of Apple. That means that anyone who comes after the early can expect a trouble-free installation.
Although our update was problem-free, do back up your Mac first just in case. Weve read reports (albeit very few) of data loss - a risk with any flavour of OS upgrade, and one its always worth taking sensible precautions against.

 

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Nokia X budget Android smartphone purportedly spotted in benchmark listing

With each passing day, Nokias yet-to-be-confirmed first Android phone, the Nokia X gets tipped in new leaks, fuelling speculation that the Finnish handset maker may actually unveil the device.

The new leak comes via Browsermark 2 benchmarks database, which lists a device believed to be the Nokia X (aka Project Normandy), running Android on top. According to the Browsermark 2 database, the alleged Nokia X device comes with model number RM-980, and scores 1885.88 in the test.

Unfortunately, the listing does not reveal any details about the device but includes an image that purportedly shows Nokia X wearing Nexus 5s wallpaper and home screen icons. However, the current image contradicts earlier reports that claimed that Nokia, following the lead of Amazon, has been working on a fully-tailored or forked version of Android, like the software on the online retail giants Kindle Fire tablet range.

The alleged Nokia X was recently listed at a Vietnamese online retailer that have revealed most of the specifications, including a 4-inch TFT display with a resolution of 480x854 (FWVGA) pixels; a 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon 200 processor; 5-megapixel rear camera; microSD card support and Android 4.4 KitKat.

Further, the listing seemingly confirmed that the rumoured Nokia X would come with dual-SIM support, while connectivity options include 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPRS, EDGE, AGPS and Micro-USB. Other specifications include 4GB of inbuilt storage and Adreno 302 GPU.

Notably, the listing claimed that the alleged Nokia X supports Google services like Google Play store, Google Search, Google Now, Google Maps, Calendar and YouTube.

The alleged Nokia X aka Nokia Normandy is said to get introduced in the upcoming MWC 2014 event held in Barcelona starting from 24 February.

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Fujifilm launches 16 megapixel X T1 mirrorless camera with weather sealing

Last week, Fujifilm, had released a teaser for a new X-mount camera, due to be announced on January 28. Come Tuesday, the Japanese camera and photo equipment manufacturer premiered its latest camera, the X-T1 mirrorless interchangeable lens camera. Boasting of a slew of impressive specifications, the X-T1s most exciting feature may be its Multi Mode Viewfinder, which according to Fujifilm, has the worlds highest viewfinder magnification ratio of 0.77x and is the worlds fastest display with a lag time of 0.005 sec.

The Fujifilm website mentions that the camera features weather, dust and water resistance and can work at temperatures as low as --10 degrees Celsius. It has a 16-megapixel, APS-C sized sensor. Fujifilm says the XF55-200mmF3.5-4.8 R LM OIS, XF35mmF1.4 R, and XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS are the three lenses which are compatible with the X-T1, and further improve the sealing and resistance of the device. In addition, the company recommends using the XF18-135mm lens and the Vertical Battery Grip VG-XT1, which have a compatible structure with the camera body, to further improve sealing.

The Multi Mode Viewfinder has three modes: Full, Normal, and Dual. The first offers a complete view of the scene, the second provides the most optimum shooting view, and the third is designed for manual focus, showing two screens with the normal area and the focus area. The X-T1 has five dials for manual shutter speed, ISO sensitivity (max of 51,200), metering, drive mode and exposure compensation. The various functions on the camera can be accessed with six buttons that are present next to the LCD screen. The tilting LCD is 3-inches in size and is comprised of 1.04M dots. It also has features like geo-tagging, wireless image transfer, remote camera shooting, etc. In addition the X-T1 can shoot movies in full-HD and HD

Fujifilm also claims that the X-T1 has the fastest autofocusing in the world (0.08s). The start-up time is said to be around half a second, owing to the EXR Processor II. In addition, according to the company, the shutter lag is 0.05s and the shooting interval is 0.5s. Fujifilm announced the X-T1 will be available for $1299.95 (roughly Rs. 80,761) for the body, and at $1699.95 (roughly Rs. 1,05,612) for the kit comprising of the body and the XF18mm-55mm F2.8-4 lens.

Fujifilms X-mount series cameras have always had a loyal fan base. Some of the other cameras in the X-series include the X10, the X 100 and the X-Pro1, all of which have found wide-scale acceptance across the globe.

• Fujifilm X-T1 specifications:

• Number of effective pixels: 16.3 million pixels

• Image sensor: 23.6mm x 15.6mm (APS-C) X-Trans CMOS II with primary colour filter

• Lens mount: Fujifilm X-mount

• Sensitivity: AUTO (Control available up to ISO 6400) Equivalent to ISO 200 - 6400 (Standard Output Sensitivity),

• Extended output sensitivity: Equivalent ISO 100, 12800, 25600 and 51200

• LCD monitor: 3.0-inch, aspect ratio 3:2, approx. 1,040K-dot, Tilt type color LCD monitor (approx. 100% coverage)

• Movie recording: Full HD (1920 x1080, 60fps/30 fps), HD (1280 x 720, 60fps/30fps)

The complete range of specifications can be found here

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