Last October I was knee deep in SSD technology. Drives here, drives there, drives everywhere, and 2012 is looking to be no different! Today we bring to you OCZ’s well known and critically acclaimed RevoDrive Hybrid, and their enterprise level RevoDrive 3 x2.

Testing Rig:

Motherboard: ASUS M4A89GTD PRO USB3
CPU: AMD Phenom x4 955 Black Edition @ 3.8Ghz
RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz G-Skill Ripjaws X (9-9-9-24)
GPU: GTX 580 (1.5GB)

Note: All drives were benchmarked as is, out of the box.

Testing Programs:

AS SSD – 1.6.4237.30508
ATTO Disk Benchmark – 2.47
HD Tune Pro – 4.61

As I mentioned above today we have the high priced and even higher performance 480GB RevoDrive 3 x2, and the consumer orientated RevoDrive Hybrid, boasting 1TB of traditional HDD space with a 100MB SSD.

Both drives were wiped before having Windows 7 64 bit installed on them. We then took the drives through a series of tests and benchmarks using common tools, the data and results of which have been provided below for review.

We’ve also included data from the RevoDrive x2 to compared alongside the newest iteration. It is however important to remember that both storage devices are PCI-e, and as such you shouldn’t expect to get similar performance from a SATA based SSD.

Test One: AS SSD

A common tool used to benchmark traditional Solid State Drives as well as having the ability to benchmark other drives and devices, AS SSD is a great piece of software. We ran all three drives through AS SSD’s extensive tests and compiled the raw data into easy to read graphs.

The sequential read and write test of AS SSD provides valuable information into the writing and reading mechanics of any drive. How fast the drive can write large amounts of data reflects how suitable the drive may be for tasks such as video rendering that reward faster dumps.

The RevoDrive Hybrid boasts a traditional SATA based 900 GB HDD connected to the 100GB PCI-e connected SSD. Through a caching program that OCZ supplies, the drive is able to perform the actions of a normal hard drive with the speed benefits of an SSD. The 390 MB/s read that the Hybrid’s SSD posted is quite impressive, while the 149 MB/s write failed to impress me.

Posting huge results, the 480 GB RevoDrive 3 resulted in a thud echoing out through my house as the drive managed to hit over 750 MB/s and 534 MB/s in the read and write tests respectively.

The 4K-64 Thrd read and write tests give us an insight into the SSD’s ability to load programs, and fast. So if you had a program that needs to load 80MB into RAM, and your 4k-64 result is 80MB/s, it would take two seconds to load said program.

The RevoDrive 3 x2 shot out ahead smashing tboth records that the x2 set last year. While the results for the Hybrid’s SSD look miniscule they’re actually quite good, and only just fall behind the Crucial m4 256GB SATA SSD we tested back in September.

The titular access time test does exactly that, test how quickly AS SSD can access the read and write functions of your drive.

Neither the Hybrid nor RevoDrive 3 x2 managed to best the writest test of the older RevoDrive, however the Hybrid managed to beat both with an impressive 0.042 ms response in the read testing. Talk about a surprise!

The German flag colouring returns once again and with it the AS SSD Overall Score. This final AS SSD test provides a final representative score that depicts the total performance of each drive.

The RevoDrive 3 x2 excelled in the overall score, posting not only the highest score in techAU history, but also the highest score I have ever seen. The Hybrid’s SSD posted an accumulative score just lower than the 240GB Agility 3. Quite impressive for such a small sized drive, but a testament to the impressive hardware OCZ produces.

Test Two: ATTO Disk Benchmark

ATTO Disk Benchmark (ATTO from here on out) is one of the most reliable disk storage benchmarking tools available. The freeware tool is widely accepted across the internet for providing accurate figures and results.

OCZ RevoDrive 3 x2 480 GB PCI-e SSD

The RevoDrive 3 x2 lived up to the hardware promises both on the packaging and on the internet.

Max reads of 1.5 GB/s and max writes of 1.25 GB/s are simply amazing, and definitely show the enterprise targeted usage of the 480GB model. We saw almost maximum speeds in both read and write from halfway through the test.

It’s good to see the speeds were maintained throughout the far end of the ATTO testing, proving that the drive can maintain high speeds and not just hit them occasionally.

OCZ RevoDrive Hybrid 100 GB PCI-e SSD

The 100 GB SSD on the Hybrid performed incredibly well and outperformed and even managed to outperform the RevoDrive x2 PCI-e SSD.

Maximum reads and writes of 995 MB/s and 824 MB/s respectively really show the performance the sensibly priced drive is able to output. It’s also worth noting that with the caching software that OCZ provides the drive performs even better over time, so you could probably expect to just break the 1 GB/s mark after a few days.

Test Three: HD Tune Pro

We used HD Tune Pro in our testing to determine a number of factors in the read only division. Firstly, the program shows the IOPS performance of the drive on both the 512 bytes level, the 1 MB level and when used in a random fashion. We were then able to find out the average speed of the drive across all three size levels, as well as the access time.

The random test of HD Tune Pro showed off an impressive speed of 971 MB/s, which not only shows us something we’ve already seen, but proves the drive can perform impressive all the time.

Although high, the IOPS count was lower than that of the RevoDrive x2 by almost 6,000 operations per second. The max access time was also quite long during the 512 byte testing, posting up 32 m/s.

The Hybrid basically tops everything we have on record here at techAU. Despite understandably posting slower speeds than the RevoDrive 3, it wiped the board in everything else, posting the highest IOPS scores we have, and the fastest average access times too.

I can’t help but wonder how fast and powerful the Hybrid would be with a 256GB SSD as opposed to the smaller 100 GB model, but I guess OCZ’s hardware engineers found the perfect balance between performance and cost.

Conclusion

RevoDrive 3 x2 - If I was asked to use any SSD (Whether PCI-e or SATA based) I would without even pondering the question choose the RevoDrive 3. Insane performance up and over the 1 GB/s mark, more than enough storage, and low power consumption make this the leader when it comes to benchmarking.

Unfortunately the just price puts this out of reach for many consumers, and ultimately cements it a spot as an enterprise level piece of hardware and storage technology.

RevoDrive Hybrid - The RevoDrive Hybrid is the sensible install point for someone who wants SSD technology and performance but doesn’t want to sacrifice speed, storage, or their savings.

As you saw in the results above, the Hybrid kept up with higher capacity performance based drives, however whether that is due to the great caching software or PCI-e interface remains to be seen. Either way, the Hybrid is a product I highly recommend to anyone and everyone.

Gaming on you’re Xbox with the surround sound cranked may be fun, but will likely piss off your neighbours. Either that or the other people in your house. To solve this problem, you should consider some gaming headphones, particularly if you live in an apartment complex with thin walls.

Solving the volume out issue is one thing, but what about the volume in problem, you know, for those Xbox LAN sessions you have in the street.

Over the past month I’ve spent some time with the Sennheiser X320 gaming headset for the Xbox 360. It features a stylish and comfortable design with green accent, which matches the black / green design of the console. Weighing in at just 280grams, they become like a watch after a while, in that you forget you’re wearing them. Other headsets I’ve used become really uncomfortable after a long gaming session, but the X320 over-the-ear design worked great.

The headset also features a microphone that turns on when you flick it down, and off when you flick it up. It may not sound like a big deal, but its a hell of a lot easier than fumbling to find the mute switch between rounds.

The sound quality of the headset is really good, in fact I even picked up some engine noise intricacies in Forza 4 that I hadn’t noticed before. This is likely due to the low noise amplifier built into the X320.

Issues

While the sound quality is solid, there are a few issues with this headset. The first is the connections are overly complex. First there’s the USB cable connection, then there’s the red and white audio pass-through connectors, then there’s the microphone to controller cable. For such a stylish headset, this is a really ineloquent solution. Maybe it’s a technical limitation of the Xbox, but a simply USB cable to carry audio both ways would dramatically simplify the setup.

Like most users, I connect the Xbox 360 via HDMI these days, this means I had to go find the component cable to use these headphones.

The microphone level is adjustable via the in-line control (along with headphone volume and bass boost), but quickly introduce line noise. This is a pretty big flaw in the product, but if you can keep it low and talk louder, you can work around it.

Price

The Sennheiser X320 Xbox gaming headset sells for around A$199. Shop around and you could find it on sale as cheap as $179.

Gallery

Overall

There’s no way around it, these are expensive, but as a premium headset its not unexpected. The biggest issue is the limitation of Xbox-only. I tried plugging the X320 into the PC but they do not work as a regular headset. The only way I could swallow $200 for a headset is if I could use them for absolutely everything from the mobile phone to the TV. Sadly these are Xbox-only. There’s a bunch of gaming headsets in this space, so look at other options but if your after audio quality, keep the X320 in mind.

The Nixeus Fusion XS is an Android-powered set-top-box. Running Google Android 2.2 (Froyo), it’s certainly a few steps behind the latest 4.0 version. But does running a custom build of a mobile operating system on your HDTV make any sense? We spent some time with the device, so get ready for the breakdown.

Hardware

The device itself is a small, compact unit, weighing about the same as an average smart phone. The device contains no fans, meaning operation is silent and wrapped in a glossy black finish to match the rest of your home cinema. From the back we get access to HDMI 1.3, 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11b/g, Optical Audio Out, and couple of USB 2.0 ports for accessing media.

There isn’t any SD or media card slots like some STB competitors, which means photos need to go via a PC before they reach your TV. Using one of the rear USB ports or over your network, the Fusion XS will display JPEG, PNG, GIF, Bitmap or TIFF, basically any common image format, minus RAW support.

Inside the components include dual Sheeva Processors running at 900Mhz and 512MB DDR2 RAM.

The remote is fairly typical, which is actually a negative. This device runs custom software, which means many of the remotes buttons go unused. I’m guessing it was easy to brand a control off the shelf that get one custom made.

Format support is pretty decent, supporting AVI, WMV, MPG, VOB, IFO, MP4, ASF, TP, TS, M2TS, MOV(H.264), MKV, M-JPEG, Rmvb, FLV, MPEG 1/2/4, AVI, H.264, WMV9 and VC1 on the video side. As for audio, the Fusion XS can playback MP3, WMA, AAC, Dolby Digital, DTS, FLAC, OGG, MPEG 1 Layer 2, PCM, WMA PRO.

A full list of specs is available here.

Software

With Google Android 2.2 on-board, the device streams a custom UI suited to HDTV’s. It’s an interesting idea, but sadly has many significant drawbacks.

First of all the interface is slow, at times taking 5-10 seconds to enter an app. Other times the device would freeze all together and require a reboot, not when performing an intensive HD video decode, but simply launching an in-built app. There’s a market available to download additional applications like IMDB, Google Reader and many more.

One of the issues is that many of the apps require a mouse to use. If you are comfortable having a mouse (and likely keyboard) in your living room, then you’ll need to source your own, none ship with the device.

Streaming video from online sources like YouTube worked well, but lacks the ability to control playback like skipping forwards or backwards. While the Fusion XS features solid language support, the videos displayed in YouTube, appeared to be Asia rather than Australian.

Jumping into the Settings, the system really breaks down, revealing raw Android UI where the custom skin ends.

To be fair the Fusion XS does support a Google Chrome browser with support for Flash 10.1 to playback movies on the web. It even supports HTML5, so most modern sites render decently, even at 1080p, you will need a mouse and keyboard to use it though, there’s basic operation possible via the remote, but it’ll make you want to poke out an eye and cut of an arm.

The idea of using Android to get apps to your television is a nice idea in theory, after all its a problem pretty much every TV manufacturer is trying to solve right now. The problem is that Android apps are made for phones, not TVs. Also at Android 2.2, there’s very little in the way of developer support, all the attention (rightly so) has turned to 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).

Gallery

Price

The device sells for A$199.99 inc GST. With the limitations mentioned above, it’s incredibly hard to justify that cost.

Overall

There’s much better set top box offerings on the market in the sub-$200 price range. Overall, I can’t recommend this device, go for a Boxee Box instead, which has is faster, has a custom remote, better app support, responsiveness and UI. Even at half the price the Nixeus XS wouldn’t be a good solution to your home local/online media streaming needs.

Consumers are wise to bad experiences, especially with a daily use device. For around the same price. the experience of an Xbox 360 with its new Metro apps is far better than this device. Although it lacks a browser, it’d be a better choice overall.

Available from Mwave.com.au

I remember holding 64 megabytes of thumbdrive glory in my palm and thinking "Wow, this is pretty amazing."

Fast forward a little bit down the track and now I’m holding 16GB of storage power in a much smaller, sleeker, and infinitely powerful more shell and thinking the exact same things.

Lexar recently released a new series of Triton USB 3.0 flash drives, offering 20x the speed of USB 2.0 with suggested reads of 155MB/s and writes of 150MB/s. Copying your favorite 4GB high-definition movie? Well it will only take 35 seconds on this drive, as opposed to 11 minutes on the outdated USB 2.0 band.

We were lucky enough to get our hands on the 16GB model no less than a day after launch and below is our complete review and thoughts on Lexar’s powerful push into USB 3.0 thumbdrive territory.

Testing Rig:

Motherboard: ASUS M4A89GTD PRO USB3
CPU: AMD Phenom x4 955 Black Edition @ 3.8Ghz
RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz G-Skill Ripjaws X (9-9-9-24)
GPU: GTX 580 (1.5GB)

Note: All drives were benchmarked as is, out of the box.

Testing Programs:
ATTO Disk Benchmark – 2.47
HD Tune Pro – 4.61
CrystalDiskMark – 3.0.1

Test One:ATTO Disk Benchmark

ATTO Disk Benchmark (ATTO from here on out) is one of the most reliable disk storage benchmarking tools available. The freeware tool is widely accepted across the internet for providing accurate figures and results.

Lexar JumpDrive Triton USB 3.0 16GB Flash Drive

The first test in our review of the Lexar JumpDrive proved that the drive could in fact live up to the read promises that were made, and in fact ATTO even pushed it a little bit further than expected.

Unfortunately the drive failed to read the fabled writes of 150MB/s however the results shown were still quite good, and definitely not something to look down on.

Test Two: HD Tune Pro

We used HD Tune Pro in our testing to determine a number of factors in the read only division. Firstly, the program shows the IOPS performance of the drive on both the 512 bytes level, the 1 MB level and when used in a random fashion. We were then able to find out the average speed of the drive across all three size levels, as well as the access time.

Lexar JumpDrive Triton USB 3.0 16GB Flash Drive

When presented similar results to what we saw in our ATTO benchmarking segment, I wasn’t all that surprised. Access times were great across the board, with the Triton even registering access times both close to and better than the OCZ Agility 3 240GB SSD from my last review.

Test Three: CrystalDiskMark

CrystalDiskMark is the final program used for our review, and provides a swathe of results similar to that seen in AS SSD. Testing the drives across a number of fronts, CrystalDiskMark (CDM from here) is another comprehensive and widely recognised testing platform.

We were originally going to present the data and results in graph format however we felt it was easier to interpret the results of the singular product in their raw and original format.

Lexar JumpDrive Triton USB 3.0 16GB Flash Drive

The sequential read and write speeds were similar, if not almost identical to those seen in the ATTO benchmarking leg of our review. It’s good to see consecutive results, not only to reassure the customer, but also to prove the device can live up to its promises!

The 512k test of CDM shows each drives performance at writing data in 512k blocks, which not only offers real world insights, but also shows us valuable data you can use when purchasing any flash memory based device. The Triton performed admirably in the read section of the 512k test, however failed to above 10MB/s in the writing section.

The 4k test, as with the 512k test, shows writing and reading performance to the drives but with the tiniest of file sizes.

When it came to writing smaller files the Triton excelled, proving that it could do great work for people writing and saving number of word documents at once. You could also use it to compile code directly to, giving you security and piece of mind.

Conclusion

With impressive speeds that not only live up to the advertisements, but also exceed them, the Lexar Triton is an impressive piece of mobile data technology. On the same hand though I see it’s biggest speed drawcard also being the one thing that holds it back.

Being able to copy high-definition movies and large sized files is great, but if the PC you’re taking it to doesn’t have USB 3.0 then you’re out of luck.

With plenty of space, speed, and looks, the Triton should be your first contender when looking at purchasing a USB 3.0 supported flash drive.

Choplifter HD is a perfect conglomerate of various gameplay elements. A healthy mix of  awesome old-school platforming, highscore hunting gameplay, and current generation graphics that bring an old classic into the modern age for a new audience.

Set in a 2D side-scrolling universe, Choplifter puts you at the digital reigns of numerous varied helicopters to rescue or taxi people from a number of different environments and scenarios. It sounds repetitive, and at times it is, but there’s a number of different objectives to add some variety to the mix.

The basic back-and-forth nature of rescuing people is soon shaken up when you’re having to change directions, fight enemy combatants, and strategically airlift dying patients before others. When you throw in a rapidly depleting fuel gauge and armor levels into the mix, the deceptively simple game turns into a challenging experience.

Within Choplifter is a plethora of levels and varying objectives, so while the basic formula for each is the same, the core experience changes vastly.

Snipers stun your helicopter later in the game which leaves you vulnerable to rocket attacks, while AA and RPG emplacements wreak havock on thinly armored transport helicopters. Just when you think you’ve got a level figured out, you start second guessing yourself as you realise there are other ways to confront your objectives.

Even later in the game you’re still tailoring your skills and learning new maneuvers to accomplish the task at hand. Once you finish the missions you can then go back through them on higher difficulties, which then allows you to unlock increasingly better helicopters to take on harder missions.

Up there with the likes of Trials HD and Shadow Complex, Choplifter is an extremely rewarding experience once you figure it all out. The arcade gameplay roots are forefront to the whole experience and when combined with the great voice acting, sound, and visuals, Choplifter HD becomes an easy recommendation.

More info @ http://choplifterhd.com

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the flagship phone for Android right now, being the only device shipping with 4.0 on-board.

Hardware

Screen
The device features one of the largest screen sizes we’ve seen on a smartphone, supporting a Super AMOLED 4.65” display running a massive 1280×720 resolution. This screen is clearly made for content consumption, ideal for watching movies on a plane or train. There is one problem with a screen size that large, it takes a lot of battery to power it.

While the phone sounds huge in size, when you get it in your hand, its actually surprisingly manageable. This is likely due to it’s weight, only a measly 135 grams. The whole device is thin as well, with only the slightest tapering out at the bottom its dimensions are 67.94mm wide, 135.5mm tall,  and 8.94mm thick (or thin).

Cameras
The rear camera is 5 megapixel with an LED flash, pretty standard right now. The Galaxy Nexus does also have with continuous auto focus, making it great for shooting objects that are varying distance from your shooting position. Despite being able to fire off photos with almost no shutter lag, you will still need to keep the phone still as blurry photos are still very possible.

The camera can also record 1080p video, which looks gorgeous, particularly when played back on the 4.65” HD display. Naturally with smaller optics, you want good lighting and a stable hand to get the best out of it.

The front facing camera is a 1.3 megapixel standard camera, nothing ground breaking there. It would be great to see some innovation here, its a feature that’s moved from optional, to a requirement, so lets get some more quality up front. Then the photos might actually be useable for more than a postage stamp sized profile photo.

Storage
There’s only one size available, it’s 16GB and isn’t expandable. For most people this won’t be an issue, but enthusiasts with a large number of apps or media collection, this may create a problem.

Performance
Supporting a 1.2Ghz dual-core processor and 1GB RAM, it’s unlikely you’ll come across a phone with higher specs. Paired with Android 4.0, the speed of the device is impressive, although competitors achieve similar speeds with lower specs. The power really comes when delivering intensive 3D games at 1280×720 while running background processes. 

NFC
Also known as Android Beam, near field communication is in the Galaxy Nexus, but there’s not really anyone to test it with. Sharing files, applications will become easier, but will needs a wide proliferation of devices to support this before it is feasible. Some early adopters may have MasterCard PayPass or Visa Paywave setup, but right now, it’s early. There’s always a chicken and egg argument when it comes to new technology like this, so for the negligible cost of including an NFC chip and writing software around it, it’s a welcome inclusion for the future.

Networks
With pretty standard HSPA+/3G/EDGE/GPRS support, the Galaxy Nexus unfortunately can’t take advantage of Telstra’s shiny new high-speed 4G network. There’s also no support for Telstra’s HD voice calling, missing the critical WB-AMR (Wideband Adaptive Multi-Rate) support. The Galaxy Nexus does support Telstra’s HD voice calling, one of the few devices that do.

More info at – http://www.google.com.au/nexus/#/tech-specs

Gallery

Software

Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) has been long awaited by Android fans since it was shown off by Google back in October. There’s no carrier or manufacturer skin here, the Galaxy Nexus ships with a pure Google experience. To be honest, there’s really no need for any of them to customise it, Android 4.0 is a solid release. Let’s take a look at what’s new.

Folders
Applications can now be sorted into folders, this works much the same as iOS. Folders can also be docked to one of four positions on the favourites tray. With only 5 home screens available in the default ICS rom, folders will help you load up with a decent catalogue of apps.

Built-in apps
The device ships with a folder of Google apps, these include Maps, Gmail, Calendar, Google+, Music, Market, Talk, YouTube, Navigation and Messenger. This demonstrates the strength of the Google properties, with coverage of almost all core features. Despite these being included out of the box, there is always room for third party apps to innovate and improve on the default offering.

Multi-tasking
With capacitive hardware buttons gone, all operations are now done with software buttons. One of the buttons you quickly become familiar with is the app switching or multi-tasking button. The right-most button of the three displays a really beautiful list of previously run applications. Depending on the app, some of these may be still running, or alternatively paused until your switch back to it. By comparison to both iOS and WP7, this app switcher is the best in the industry right now.

Face unlock
One of the showcase features when ICS was detailed, Face unlock is a gimmick. The biggest problem here is the time taken for the phone to do the analysis and then unlock. The reality is that entering a pin code or swipe gesture is faster. With a task that will be done multiple times per day, fast always wins.

Updates
As a platform, Android 4.0 was supposed to solve the long-running, heavily criticised fragmentation issue, however it seems the issue still remains. The Telstra review unit is still running 4.0.1, despite 4.0.3 being available from Google. It may only contain some additional API changes and bug fixes, but I want the latest release, without delay from carriers.

Panorama stitching
There is a lot of solutions for on-device panorama creation, well thanks for playing, but Google has it under control now. To create a panorama, it’s a simple as firing up the camera app, switch to panorama mode and film left to right, just as if you were shooting video. After a bit of processing, you’ll have your nice landscape panorama. While occasional stitching errors can occur, this is a decent implementation. Like any other photos or videos shot with the phone, your panorama can be shared to your favourite social network right from the app.

Issues

HD app support
With all the extra pixels to play with, you’d expect to see a lot more content fitting on the display. The problem is that most apps are simply scaled up, meaning that you’ll still only see the same number of tweets, Facebook posts or news items. Naturally apps created by Google do support the HD resolution, so the browser, mail and others look fantastic. Over time, some application developers will update their apps to take advantage of the larger screen, but this will take time.

Battery life
Powering a 4.65” display doesn’t come cheap, add to that the power drain of running multiple apps and you start to get an idea of what the battery life is like on the Galaxy Nexus. The short answer is, you’ll struggle to get through a day. The problem exists in most smart phones these days, the more we can do with these pocket computers, the more we use them, the more battery we burn through.

The good news here is that the battery is replaceable, just peel off that flimsy plastic back and insert an extended battery (not included).

Browser
While the techAU website displays fine on most browsers (including older Android browsers) the Android 4.0 browser has a strange issue where the content text in posts was only half the width of the available space. This is by no means an extensive test of websites, but is interesting that it would render a page differently than any other browser, mobile or desktop.

Screen rotation lag
When rotating the device, particularly in the camera / photo apps the delay in response is severe. A pretty basic function, something you’ll likely do multiple times a day, can take a number of seconds to respond. With a dual-core processor, this just shouldn’t happen, there’s really no excuse for it.

Low Audio levels
It seems the speaker in the Galaxy Nexus could have done with some extra dbs. From the music player to incoming calls, the phone on maximum volume isn’t very loud.

Pricing

The Galaxy Nexus I reviewed was from Telstra, which offers the phone from $69pm month +handset repayment on a two year plan. With a phone that begs to be used for media creation and consumption, having good network performance is important. Try uploading a 1080p video on anything else and you’ll want to cry. One thing I was impressed with, was the speed at which multiple applications would download and install simultaneously.

Overall

The Galaxy Nexus is the best Android phone available today. If you’re in the market for an Android phone, this should be your first option. Take a look at the issues section, if none of these really concern you then your set, get the Galaxy Nexus. There is no perfect device, but the Galaxy Nexus is by far the best Android device I’ve used. If your needs dictate that you need something smaller, then wait, Android 4.0 should now be a requirement for your Android purchase.

The Galaxy Nexus stacks up well against competitors and I’d be happy to carry one in my pocket. As for Android, before version 4.0 it was hard for me to recommend Android, but with this release, all the important pieces to a smartphone ecosystem are in place and finally with some design consistency.

More information at http://www.google.com.au/nexus/#/index or buy it from Telstra.

Here in Australia we’re constantly faced with the 20 million problem. The relatively small population here leaves us distant in the minds of large tech companies, despite being well known for being early adopters of technology. This means that services (and products) often launch first and sometimes only in the US.

Content deals for movies and TV shows are almost always negotiated on a country-by-country basis, despite the international marketplace they sell to. The good news is, there is actually something frustrated users can do to work around these problems.

VPN is a technology that sends your internet traffic through a remote server, using that IP to access international services. While the legalities of doing this may seem a little grey, what you should know is that there are services out there to help you achieve this.

ibVPN is a paid VPN service that can connect you with locations in the US, UK, Netherlands, Canada, Ireland, France and many others. The US and UK are of particular interest as they are leading the way in the proliferation of IPTV. Services like Hulu, Netflix, Pandora and many more like it are still unavailable in Australia, years after their release overseas.

Performance
There are actually plenty of free VPN solutions available, however the quality of these vary wildly. Often connections are made to low-end servers, or servers with low-bandwidth, which means you’ll often experience buffering while streaming video. While there may be some scenario’s where a VPN would be used that doesn’t need a constant flow of bits, IPTV certainly does. Without good performance a VPN used for IPTV is useless.

By charging for the service, ibVPN is able to provide a reliable connection solid enough to stream movies and TV shows from the services mentioned above. It works well when you allow the service to set the video quality automatically, but I found if I set it to the highest quality, buffering did occur. Setting Hulu to the highest quality was more of a test than a real-life need, even set to auto, the video looked amazing on a 13” MBA.

Using Speedtest.net I was able to achieve 6.60Mb/s down, with a ping of 188ms, not bad for connecting to the other side of the planet.

Support
Setting up ibVPN is actually really easy. You can create a new connection to a VPN and use the credentials you receive when signing up. You can connect PCs, Macs, smartphones, tablets individually or configure your router to use the VPN and have all internet traffic use it. This opens up new possibilities for gaming consoles and set-top-boxes with geo-restricted applications now becoming available to you.

Naturally some of these international services still need you to have a US or UK address and often a credit card in that country, so just be aware, access is one thing, signing up and payment is an entirely different problem.

IBVPN also provides desktop applications for you to use if you’d prefer to avoid the networking configuration. Simply launch the app, put in the IP of the server you wish to connect to (locations and IPs provided by ibVPN), your username and password, then click connect. Clicking disconnect drops you back to your standard connection, this makes it easy for anything in your family to operate.

Cost
Starting at just US$7.95 per month, it’s hard to argue that this is anything other than good value for money. Considering the wide array of content you’ll get access to, ibVPN is really a bargain.

Overall
Sometimes reviewing products can be like visiting the dentist, and other times it can be a delight. With a service that actually works and provides real benefits, it was an enjoyable experience. While the copyright holders argue about how to nickel and dime you, the content is what we all want. ibVPN provides a way to get access to that IPTV content, so for that I have to recommend it.

More information @ ibVPN.com

Nothing beats laying back in bed or relaxing on the couch, putting a movie on, and getting warm under the blankets… until you realise you put the wrong movie on or need to adjust the audio. Thus begins the awkward clamour out into the cold lounge or bedroom, fiddling with some knobs, hitting some menus, and once again relaxing.

Well Logitech aims to alleviate the aforementioned problem with the introduction and release of the K400 Wireless Touch Keyboard, a fully wireless keyboard that manages to condense a high quality keyboard and touchpad into one tiny form fitting unit.

Aimed at lounge room and HTPC users, the K400 is a compact and stylish unit, capable of not only controlling all your general media needs, but also navigating your PC at ease thanks to the multi-touch supported 3.5" touchpad and traditional laptop-esque left and right mouse keys. In accoutrement to the wonderful touchpad is a set of well positioned multimedia keys giving you quick and easy access to volume and internet home controls.

Connection and setup is a literal breeze thanks to the included Bluetooth USB receiver which literally plugs in, installs its own Windows drivers, and is then ready to be used. The wireless connection reaches up to ten meters away, more than enough for pretty much every lounge area and bedroom you could have a computer in. Included within the packaging is a set of batteries for the keyboard and the pair of them last up to twelve months, and that’s with extensive use.

The wireless signal is heavily protected thanks to the Swiss-based manufacturers inclusion of critically acclaimed 128-bit AES encryption method.

I found it quite difficult to type on the device at first, primarily due to the fact I am accustomed  to using a full sized gaming keyboard for day to day application. However once I got the hang of typing on the K400, I came to find that the keys were quite responsive and operated flawlessly. While some may not like the small amount of force you need to use to suppress the keys, I like it and the reassurance it offers, as using a keyboard like this on your lap can at times cause problems as it slides around on your lap.

My only gripe and suggestion would be that a thin rubberised surface should be applied to the bottom of the K400, which would then alleviate any minor sliding issues, and allow the keys to have their pressure sensitivity raised slightly.

Thanks to the lightweight unit, well condensed keyboard boasting a full set of pliable keys, and an impressive multi-touch supported touchpad, the Logitech K400 is an easy and high quality recommendation for anyone looking to get a long distance grip on their HTPC from the comfort of their bed, couch, or floor.

Halo: Anniversary starts the Halo universe all over again, but this time, using today’s graphics engine. While the Halo franchise became a massive success with 2nd and 3rd editions, only the most hardcore Halo fans were there from the beginning with the original Xbox.

Halo Anniversary is the Halo we all know and love, but delivered in high definition with a current generation lighting and graphics engine. What a massive difference 10 years makes in video games. One of the best things to enjoy in the game is to switch between the original and current game engines.

That’s right, Halo Anniversary includes both game engines, to switch between the two just take a press of the Back button and a second to refresh. The difference is dramatic. Textures quality, polygon count, lighting effects, shadows, reflections, animations – everything is dramatically better.

Of course jumping 10 years is a massive leap, but what about the difference between Halo Anniversary and Halo: Reach? The answer, not a lot. At least not visually.

Original engine.

New engine

Single Player Campaign
The story begins from the very beginning, the start of Halo, where you begin with a calibration of the Spartan suit. This also doubles as a ‘how to’ tutorial and configures settings like look inversion. No matter where your Halo experience began, Halo Anniversary allows you to see the story unfold from the beginning.

Multiplayer
The best of the best multiplayer levels have been included in this release, along with a few new ones just for Anniversary. All of your favourite maps from across the Halo series are on offer. While everyone has their favourites, there are maps that rise to the top, working better in multiplayer matches and naturally become hits amongst the Halo community.

Kinect Support
Voice commands for games seems like the new flavour of the day, so get used to it now. Halo Anniversary actually uses voice in a pretty compelling way. There’s a plethora of commands available, everything from “change weapon”, to “reload”. Good news for Aussie’s, there is Australian voice support to cater for our accent (no bogan slang).

Windows Phone 7.5 integration
Those WP7 owners running Mango will be able to get an updated Halo Waypoint app on their phone. This can be used to intergrate with the Halo Anniversary game, get to know map layouts, weapon locations and even watch your team locations live on the device.

Overall
If you’ve never played Halo before, then this is definitely the game for you. If you already own every copy of Halo, then it’s hard to say this is a must-have for you, other than to complete your collection. There’s always new achievements to go after, so if that stat demon inside of you just begs for more, then you should also get the game.

Availability and Price
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary release date is November 15th, 2011 and will cost A$69.95 RRP.

The one thing I felt throughout all my experiences of playing Battlefield 3 was that it wasn’t quite sure what game it wanted to be. Rugged multiplayer, huge team battles, and one of the most impressive visual and audio engines in recent time were let down by a generic and half baked single-player campaign dotted with clichés and rehashed storytelling

The story within Battlefield 3 takes a more serious and gritty feel. The narrative of Sergeant James Blackburn is filled with storytelling devices we saw in Call of Duty: Black Ops, almost to the point where it ruins the immersion. WMDs? Yeah. Questionable Russian ally? Yeah. Dimly lit interrogation room? Umm, yes. While there’s definitely a palpable sense of tension throughout the whole single-player element, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before.

Admittedly the campaign does have some memorable scenes, namely the whole “Comrades” mission, it should not be seen as anything more than an interactive tutorial into the real Battlefield experience; which is arguably one of the best multiplayer experiences of all time.

From the tracer rounds arcing into the sky in Tehran City to the bullet riddled and echo filled subways of Operation Metro, Battlefield 3’s multiplayer does not run out of jaw dropping moments or fail to show you new tricks. Depending on the game type you play, each map has a select amount of area it will encompass, and this frontline changes throughout the course of your mission. A traditionally huge Conquest map like Caspian Border might only be a quarter of the size during Rush, and vice versa.

The sense of scale in these large and wide open sandbox maps promotes not only exploration, but also variety. Approach the hillside on Caspian Border from the creek, stealthily skulking in the shadows, or this time will you rush up the road in a jeep while your buddy lays suppression fire? You might play each map 100 times but I assure you that each play through will never be the same.

The biggest part of this constant refreshing feel is Battlefield 3’s in-depth progression system. Yes, we’ve seen ranking up to new guns and attachments countless times now, but Battlefield 3 really nails the rate at which you gain access to new weapons.

Soldiers, tanks, helicopters, jets, and even boats have their own unique unlock tier that you’ll always be trying to unlock “one more” piece on. It’s enjoyable, simple, and above all else easy thanks to the ever present team orientated nature of the Battlefield games. Reviving a fallen comrade nets you points, resupplying that Support gunner laying down suppressive fire will net you points, defending flags will net you points. Battlefield caters to how you want to play, and rewards you for doing what you enjoy most.

All of this is made even more amazing by Battlefield 3’s much marketed and anticipated Frostbite 2.0 engine. The lighting effects afforded by this are simply beautiful, and you will never see something else like this somewhere else. While it looks amazing on Ultra PC settings, DICE has also done an impressive job of scaling performance down for console hardware.

From the marvellous vistas to the sparks flying off your vehicle’s hull as bullets impact it, you’ll be visually impressed at every corner. Night-time environments also make an appearance and offer a barren contrast to the more vibrant and animated daytime missions as you fight under dim fluorescent light.

Although I’ve heaped praise amongst Battlefield 3, it’s not without its impurities or glitches, most of which arise with the new engine. Legs clipping through walls, characters rising off the ground and floating, soldiers running across water, and even bouncing hundreds of meters into the air upon death. While these are hilarious to look at, it’s far from the sense of realism and authenticity I’m looking for.

They cause frustration, blame, and most importantly ruin the sense of immersion developers often strive so hard to achieve.

Battlefield 3 is the ultimate first-person shooter and gift of love to Battlefield fans. When you put aside the easily forgettable watered down narrative and occasional glitches, Battlefield 3 offers a top-level multiplayer experience that will not only excite shooter fans, but also keep them happy for years to come.