Review: LG G Watch R

Introduction and display

The Motorola Moto 360 was hotly anticipated as the first circular Android Wear device, but its screen isn't actually a full circle. The display on the LG G Watch R however, is.

The G Watch R finally sees the fusion between the new wave of smartwatches and the tried and tested design of traditional wristwatches - but does the combination work?

It's still relatively early doors for the smartwatch revolution, and Android Wear is certainly still in its infancy. This has been clear as the early wave of devices we've seen have been a little half baked.

At £220 (around $300, AU$280) the G Watch R isn't cheap, it's comfortably more expensive than the square-shaped LG G Watch (£159, $229, AU$250), Sony Smartwatch 3 (£189) and Samsung Gear Live (£169, $199, AU$250), so if you've just splashed the cash on a new handset it's a considerable additional payment.

That said the price has dropped slightly since launch, and you can now get it for £199.99 if you shop around a little in the UK.

As with all the Android Wear devices the LG G Watch R will work with any Android handset running Android 4.3 or above - and there's even rumours suggesting Google may open up compatibility to iOS devices too, so watch this space.

In terms of specs the G Watch R is relatively well equipped with a 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage and a 410mAh battery.

Compared to the Moto 360 that's a better processor and larger battery, plus you also get a barometer, heart rate monitor and 9-Axis (which includes a gyro, accelerometer and compass).

Display

The LG G Watch R sports a full circle P-OLED display measuring 1.3-inches in diameter, making it slightly smaller than the 1.56-inch offering on the Moto 360 - but did I mention, it's an circle!

While the 360 only has a resolution of 320 x 290, the smaller G Watch R is slightly higher at 320 x 320, giving you a clearer, crisper display.

Putting the two round watches side by side there's a clear difference between them and the G Watch R certainly looks better.

There's no question that the circular displays are more aesthetically pleasing than the square design of the Gear Live and G Watch, but those have the advantage of working with a wider array of apps, as some aren't built for round devices.

The always-on screen means there's no waiting for it to wake when you check the time, and the fully circular design can be mistaken for a traditional timepiece from afar if you've selected a watch face which suits.

During my review time with the G Watch R I never had an issue with the screen in direct sunlight, and I tended to keep the brightness on its lowest setting, which seemed to suffice in most lighting conditions.

That's good for battery life, as I rarely needed to raise it up, and I never required the full brightness setting.

Design and comfort

I've not been the only person to bemoan the design of smartwatches and the fact that they generally don't have the style of a traditional timepiece - so much so you'd question even slapping the Samsung Gear Live or LG G Watch to your wrist.

Thankfully though with the introduction of the LG G Watch R and Moto 360 there's a sign manufacturers are cottoning on to the fact that a device with subtle, stylish design will be looked on more favourably in this market.

The Moto 360 is certainly an attractive piece of kit, and it's probably the nicest looking smartwatch currently on the market, but the G Watch R takes the award for looking most like a traditional watch.

If you're already accustomed to wearing a normal timepiece - and I'm not talking about a slimline Casio digital affair - then the size of the G Watch R will be natural.

It measures 46.4 x 53.6 x 11.1mm, making it slightly thinner than the 11.5mm Moto 360, and at 62g it's lighter than the majority of mainstream analogue watches.

The LG G Watch R only comes in the one size, there's not a series of sizes, colours and straps like Apple Watch, so if you're not a fan of black and your wrists are on the more slender side this may not be for you.

It doesn't look quite as premium as the Moto 360 either, with the watch bezel looking like plastic rather than metal which cheapens the appearance of the device.

There is a crown on the right side of the G Watch R, but it doesn't spin round, instead it acts as the power/wake button. You're unlikely to really use it after initially turning the watch on, but its inclusion provides the illusion that this is a watch rather than a mini computer strapped to your wrist.

Then there's the leather strap which, when you first take it out of the box, neither looks nor feels like leather. It appears cheap and doesn't feel particularly nice.

After a good week or so of use though the leather softened up and the strap felt more natural to the touch and on the wrist.

Luckily you can swap the strap out for any other 22mm offering, allowing you to bring some customisation to the G Watch R, and possibly some class as well.

On the rear of the watch itself you'll find a centralised heart rate monitor and five gold connector pins to one side which connect with the charging dock. While the main case of the G Watch R is metal, there's no mistaking the plastic backing.

It's not an issue and against the wrist it feels fine, plus with IP67 dust and waterproofing you'll be able to hop in the shower with the LG G Watch R without having to worry. In fact the G Watch R can be dunked into fresh water (no swimming in the sea or a pool, then) at the depth of up to one meter for 30 minutes.

Interface and performance

The LG G Watch R runs Google's Android Wear platform, and the on-screen experience is pretty much identical to all the other smartwatches using the same software.

The G Watch R has been upgraded to Android Wear 5.0.1 since launching, bringing it inline with Google's Lollipop update for phones and tablets.

It comes with an emphasis on watch faces, so you get a couple of extra stock ones and the ability to download a host of others, from Pacman to Santa.

The choice will grow as more and more developers get behind the platform, and you can now change the watch face from the Android Wear app on your phone - something I found easier than having to cycle through all the options on the G Watch R.

There's not a lot manufacturers can tweak here to give you a unique experience, so you're stuck with the familiar information cards which appear as and when Google Now decides.

For example, travel times and routes to and from work will display in the morning before you leave the house and before you finish at work in the evening, while the step counter is one of the most persistent cards available.

You can swipe vertically from the bottom of the screen to flick through the available cards, a swipe from left to right will remove a card from the list while moving you finger in the opposite direction will take you to more options.

The G Watch R provides you with an easy to follow tutorial when you first fire it up, and it shouldn't take you too long to get used to the basics.

'Settings' has been made easier to access with the 5.0.1 update, with the option being moved to the top of the list when in Google Now mode - saving you from having to scroll all the way to the bottom.

In settings you can access screen brightness, power off, restart, reset and about - the latter of which has an option to check for software updates, although you'll usually get notified with a card on the watch if there's a new version of Android Wear available.

The 'Start' menu meanwhile shows you all the applications installed on the G Watch R, but more about them on the next page.

There are a welcome number of watch faces pre-installed on the G Watch R, with some traditional timepiece lookalikes mixed in with some modern designs too.

Just hold down on the clock face to see the selection on offer and tap on the one that takes your fancy.

You can download more watch faces, I was particularly partial to 'Secret Agent', which will be familiar to anyone who's played Goldeneye.

Flick your wrist and the dimmed display with light up, alerting you that the G Watch R is ready and listening for an 'Okay Google' command from you.

The voice activation works pretty well, from setting alarms and taking notes to sending emails and making calls - the G Watch R had little trouble understanding what I said and putting my words into action.

It's no perfect though, and on several occasions the G Watch R didn't service me with the right words, which adds considerable delay to your message composition and makes you wish you'd just got your phone out and typed it.

It also still feels rather odd talking to your wrist, and I rarely found myself barking at the watch in public places.

The voice commands certainly come in handy when you're driving or if you're out on a run. At home I used the voice recognition more, but it's still quicker to pick up your phone and bash out a text if you're hands are free.

The Moto 360 disappointed in its full review when it came to performance, but the good news here is the LG G Watch R sports a 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 processor, providing a decent slug of power to your wrist.

It comes with 512MB of RAM, the same as the other Android Wear devices, and I was able to move around the interface easily. Performance seems to have taken a bit of a hit since the 5.0.1 update though, with load times noticeably longer every now and then.

I'm hoping another quick update will solve this, but for now it's a little annoying.

Apps and fitness

Before you can get to grips with your LG G Watch R you'll need to visit Google Play on your smartphone and download the Android Wear app.

You'll then be instructed on the watch face and within the app on pairing the two devices together, once paired you're good to go.

There's nothing particularly ground breaking pre-installed with Android Wear, the standard compatibility with Google's apps (calendar, Gmail, Hangouts, Maps etc) is present along with the likes of Weather and Fit - the latter of which you'll use to monitor your steps and heart rate.

Unlike the Moto 360, LG hasn't provided its own management app for the G Watch R and there's no dedicated heart rate application which monitors your pulse throughout the day.

You have to manually navigate to the app on the watch and have it check your heart rate that way, which is a little clumsy.

If you can't be bothered to navigate with your fingers you can always just say "Okay Google, show me my steps/heart rate" which does make the process easier.

For those of you who want you text messages on the G Watch R your phone's stock SMS client will ping new message notifications to your wrist, but for full functionality including the ability to reply and read message chains you'll need to use Google's Hangouts app.

That's not a huge issue, Hangouts works pretty much the same way as any other SMS app, and you won't have any trouble getting to grips with it.

Being able to read a message stream on your wrist is useful, as is the ability to reply with a pre-determined stock message such as "Yes", "I'm running late" or "I'm in a meeting" - or for a more personal touch you can speak your response.

The Google Maps integration is handy, giving you turn by turn directions on wrist - I found this particularly useful when walking round London looking for an office, as I didn't have to get my phone out and hold it in front of my face as I strolled down the road.

As part of the Android Wear 4.4w.2 update Google enabled a Play Music function which allows you to store music files directly on your smartwatch.

Fire up Play Music on your smartphone and enable 'Download to Android Wear' to get your tunes sent across to the G Watch R.

You can then pair a set of bluetooth headphones with the watch and listen to your tracks without the need for a smartphone.

You've got to keep in mind that G Watch R only has 4GB of internal storage, so it may not be able to store your whole music collection, plus you'll want to keep some space to download other apps.

The number of available apps for Android Wear is increasing, and you can jump to a selection via the Wear app on your phone.

This will take you to a dedicated are of the Play Store where most of the big names who have committed to the platform so far (Facebook, Twitter, RunKeeper etc) can be found.

There are many more ready to go though. Download the Wear Store app and it gives you access to hundreds of apps and games which have been crafted for your wrist wearable.

You'll need to check that the app you're downloading has been built with the G Watch R's circular screen in mind, as a fair few have only been developed for the square screens of the Smartwatch 3, Gear Live and G Watch.

Quality varies wildly, and there's a fair amount of duplication, but expect the selection be become more varied and increase in quality as more and more developers jump aboard the wearable wagon.

When it comes to fitness the LG G Watch R is relatively rudimental in its functionality. The step counter is handy for a quick glance at your daily progress, but the lack of any real analysis makes it difficult to gauge performance over weeks and months.

You can adjust your step goal from 1000 all the way up to 20000 per day and there's a bar chart to show you your weekly steps, but that's it.

LG decided against including GPS in the G Watch R, so Sony's Smartwatch 3 remains the only device with the location function which has just been unlocked in the 4.4w.2 software update.

The heart rate monitor adds another metric to the fitness side of things, but like the pedometer there's little functionality for analysis with a history of readings the only insight you get.

There's certainly the chance to expand these functions and we could always see Google build on them in future software releases, but for now they'll be little use to those serious on tracking their fitness.

Battery life and connectivity

One of the biggest sticking points with smartwatches is battery life, and unfortunately things are no different with the LG G Watch R.

First up, the good news. The G Watch R sports a 410mAh battery which is bigger than the 320mAh power pack stuffed into the Moto 360.

The G Watch R then, delivers better battery performance over its rounded Motorola rival as well as the square faced options, but don't get too excited. I found that the G Watch R could last two days on a single charge, but no longer than that.

So while the nightly charging ritual isn't required, having to charge it every other night is just as frustrating.

I still look in envy at the likes of the Pebble and Pebble Steel which can get seven days from one charge, but that's understandable with black and white displays and fewer functions.

Still, having to charge your watch as well as your smartphone on a bi-nightly, if not nightly, basis is counter productive and it will put off a number of people.

LG provides a similar magnetic charging cradle to the one bundled with the original G Watch, only this time it's round to fit the shape of the G Watch R.

It's easy to plonk the G Watch R down on it at night, but there were a few times I forgot and then had the watch die on me in the middle of the day with the charging cradle back at home.

Without that there's no way to recharge the watch and thus it's ultimately useless if you go away and forget this vital piece of kit.

The Qi wireless charging cradle for the Moto 360 is a lot more stylish in its implementation and useful as it doubles as a bedside/desk clock while it sits on the stand, but again you're constrained by the need for the cradle.

The Sony Smartwatch 3 has a microUSB port on the side, allowing you to charge it using a standard smartphone cable which is far more practical, but adds additional bulk to the device.

In short the charging solution for the G Watch R isn't terrible, but it's also not the best and the fact it can't go more than two days on a single charge is still a huge irritation.

Connectivity wise Android Wear smartwatches are still pretty limited. The LG G Watch R sports Bluetooth 4.0 and that's about it.

There's no GPS, NFC or cellular connections available and as I've already mentioned it's also devoid of a microUSB port.

You also can't build on the 4GB of internal storage with a memory card, but hey, at least it has a barometer.

Verdict

The LG G Watch R has got one thing right, it actually looks like a watch. While it may not appear as premium as the Moto 360, it's personally my favourite looking smartwatch to date.

There's still a long way for Android Wear to go to become truly useful, and justifying the G Watch R's price tag is difficult.

We liked

The design will always be subjective, and while some people told me the G Watch R looked a bit cheap and plastic, I am rather taken with it.

It's unassuming and that's what I want. People catch it out the corner of their eye and instead of recoiling in horror at the ugly computer strapped to my wrist, they gloss over it thinking it's nothing more than a simple time piece.

The display is also worth shouting about. While the Moto 360 had a larger screen which made text a little larger and easier to read, the higher resolution display of the G Watch R is easier on the eye, while the P-OLED screen delivers strong colours.

Performance wise the Watch R holds in own in the market, and it bests the 360 which suffers from an underpowered chip inside.

We disliked

At two days the battery life is better than most of the Android Wear competition, but considering you don't have to charge a normal watch ever, every two days is still pretty annoying.

Add to that the fact you have to have the charging cradle with you to charge it and things can get very frustrating if you've left it at home.

The price is very steep. The LG G Watch R doesn't really offer anything additional over the G Watch, Smartwatch 3 and Gear Live - all of which are a good chunk cheaper.

Android Wear in its current form is still limited. I'm sure more functionality will be added in future software updates, but for now it still feels rather half baked.

There are certain use case scenarios which highlight the benefit of a smartwatch, but most of the time it really isn't that much effort to pick up your phone and check your notifications.

Verdict

The LG G Watch R is one of the best smartwatches on the market, but it's still far from a polished device.

Android Wear needs more work, it still feels odd talking into your wrist - especially in public places - and the price tag is a hard one to swallow - especially if you've just bought a new handset.

It's difficult to really recommend any of the smartwatches currently on the market as they're yet to carve a path which makes them really a nesscessary addition to your day to day life.

Sure the G Watch R is fun to show off to your friends, and its unassuming design means it blends far better into your wrist, but should you buy one?

Only if you really, really want to.

First reviewed: October 2014

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Your Kindle could be damaging your health

Reading that e-book in bed may seem like the perfect way to relax before sleep, but it might actually be harming your health.

Researchers from Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA claim that reading back-lit ereaders before bed leads to poorer quality sleep. The is due to our natural body rhythm, which uses light to tell the time.

The blue light emitted from tablets, smartphones and LEDs disrupts this pattern, meaning we experience poorer sleep, less deep sleep, and awake in the morning feeling more tired.

Circadian

Researchers analysed the production of the sleep hormone melatonin in the 12 test subjects, discovering that the amount was reduced by reading an e-book.

"Overall, we found that the use of portable light-emitting devices immediately before bedtime has biological effects that may perpetuate sleep deficiency and disrupt circadian rhythms, both of which can have adverse impacts on performance, health and safety," Read the report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

So if you want to nod off faster, you're probably better off using an ereader that isn't back-lit, or just sticking with a paperback.

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How businesses can deal with the issue of employees surfing for pornography

Introduction

The reality of the workplace today is that employees are sometimes free to browse on any website, surf from the cafeteria or a private cubicle, and consume megabytes of data off the corporate Wi-Fi network. But what if they abuse that in one of the worst ways possible?

Surfing for pornography at work is one of the most controversial, least understood (in terms of actual data about the problem), and most technologically challenging issues facing IT admins.

Controversial matter

It's controversial because not everyone has the same definition of what constitutes "not safe for work" material, laws protect the freedom of speech, and it can be difficult to address web surfing violations in business (i.e. whether the employee really visited inappropriate sites).

The problem is severely misunderstood because most companies do not share any data about those who have been "caught" surfing for pornography. And, it becomes a technical challenge when web filtering products weed out malware and block sites commonly known to disseminate pornographic material, but don't prevent access to seemingly innocuous blogs.

Eric Cowperthwaite, the vice president of advanced security and strategy at Core Security (and the former CISO of Providence Health and Services), says the issue is multifaceted and IT admins, company heads, and other leaders have to be smart about their approach.

"There is a legal issue, a management and productivity issue and a security issue," he says. "Each one of those can, and should, be dealt with differently."

Blocking strategies

Of course, the best solution in any company is to deal with the problem of employees surfing for porn by blocking access to well-known sites entirely. This is mostly a security issue. Interestingly, most of the security companies who block malware and other harmful agents declined to discuss blocking strategies related to pornography because of the free speech issues and how people define the topic.

At the same time, many products exist that will block sites and filter harmful (and inappropriate) content, from the Cisco Web Security Appliance to products from companies like FireEye, Symantec, McAfee, and Sophos.

"It is a fairly well understood reality that many of the internet systems serving up pornography don't have good security themselves," says Cowperthwaite. "They are low margin operations run in locations and by organisations that really aren't overly concerned about good security. Their servers are often compromised by bad guys and are serving up malicious software, man-in-the-middle attacks, credit card breaches and the like.

"This is a significant threat to corporate security. However, the bottom line is that you deal with this sort of issue just as you would any other security issue. You put controls in place to prevent users from accessing known bad internet sites, malicious software, their session data being hijacked, and so forth."

Management and legal issues

Management and employee retention issues

The reality for most companies is that security precautions are not always 100% effective. In some cases, a site might contain "not safe for work" images and videos that sneak through the corporate firewalls or may not always be deemed pornographic. Yet there are serious management issues related to blocking this material that could still be considered offensive.

"If your users are accessing pornography at work, then there are a bunch of policy and productivity issues," says Cowperthwaite. "Even, potentially, issues involving a hostile workplace. I once dealt with a senior manager looking at porn in ways where his junior female employees could see it. That's a pretty hostile workplace.

"The issue is that security often gets pulled into (or puts itself into) the position of being the enforcer of behavioural policies that have nothing to do with good security. If an employee is surfing pornography at work there are productivity, policy, management problems. And that is who needs to deal with the issue. Security teams should run from being an HR enforcer if at all possible."

Outright violation of well-established guidelines for surfing the web should be enough to terminate an employee, says Rob Enderle, a well-known tech analyst. "Generally the best practice is that if someone is caught viewing porn in the workplace their employment is terminated and they are visibly walked out of the building," he says.

Privacy and legal issues

Lastly, companies have to deal with the legal ramifications of viewing pornographic material in the workplace. There's the more obvious violations – such as surfing for child pornography – and other issues related to surfing in a workgroup setting in front of other employees.

"The inherent problems of porn in the workplace are well-known and documented," says Charles King, an IT analyst. "It's disrespectful and divisive, often sparks and contributes to employee hostilities, and can also expose the employer to legal liability in a variety of forms. In other words, it's inappropriate on virtually every level so employers have the right and responsibility to protect themselves and their employees.

"Creating clear policies on the subject would be the first order of business, followed by ensuring that every worker understands the issues and consequences. Finally, it's critical for companies' HR and legal departments to develop fair, objective methods of enforcement in cases where employees violate those policies."

Cowperthwaite adds: "There have been cases, mostly not ever discussed publicly, where corporate resources have been used by people dealing in child pornography. This is one of the CISO's worst nightmares. The systems the CISO is entrusted with safeguarding have been compromised (usually by an insider) and then used to break the law. To make it worse, it is one of the worst forms of law-breaking in our society.

"The solution is straightforward, however. If you have good security controls that protect against your networks being breached and exploited by bad guys, then you have the right controls in place to deal with this issue."

In the end, technology can help, but most of the experts agreed the issue is really one that IT leadership has to confront and manage on a case-by-case basis.

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First USB 3.1 products to launch at CES 2015

Taiwanese company Adata will be releasing a number of USB flash drives that will use the brand new USB 3.1 technology (Type C OTG) at CES 2015.

There are no details about the storage capacity, but we can expect Adata to offer anything between 128GB and 1TB models. Adata also mentioned that it will leverage Bluetooth pairing with your smartphone to enable protection at user level by using Bluetooth as an additional security level.

Announced back in July 2013, the new interface promises to deliver up to 10Gbps, twice the transfer rate of USB 3.0 and on par with Intel's Thunderbolt.

Other notable advantages include universal reversible ports (replaces both USB and microUSB) and the ability to deliver up to 100W of power, which should be enough for a laptop and a couple of monitors (like the AOC E1759FWU which uses only 10W).

USB 3.1 will be backward compatible with current USB devices. It will be interesting to find out how swift will the rest of the market adopt USB 3.1 as it seeks to federate both mobile and desktop audiences.

• Will USB finally kill the desktop?

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Microsoft confirms Onedrive will keep files 'forever' if users want it

Microsoft has confirmed to TechRadar Pro via its OneDrive Twitter account that its cloud-based storage service will save files on OneDrive forever or until the user decides otherwise.

To the question "are the files on OneDrive saved forever?", OneDrive's team answered "You'll still be able to view, share, and download files, but you won't be able to upload files until you buy more storage."

This means that you can upload as many files as you want over the course of a year, allow your subscription to lapse and still access them later without limits.

Google also allows you to do that on Google Drive although if you're over the free storage limit, incoming messages to your Gmail account will be returned to the sender.

Will Box and Dropbox follow?

Microsoft removed the 1TB storage limit on all Office 365 subscriptions, although the rollout has been staggered and likely to reach non-business users early next year.

A 10GB limit on individual files and a 20,000-file limit for OneDrive for Business still hold although you will be able to upload as many files as you want if you compress them.

The cheapest way to get unlimited OneDrive storage is to get a one-year subscription to Microsoft's Office 365 Personal which costs less than £50 at CCL.

Check out our review of Microsoft Office 365.

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Downloads: Christmas crackers: Skype

Christmas is all about family and friends, but it is often not possible to get together with everyone you would like. If you're missing someone and want to keep in touch over the festive season, there's no better way to do it than with Skype.

The program shows just how far communication tools have come in recent years, making it possible to conduct not only text-based chats online, but also phone calls and video calls.

The best experience comes when you connect with other Skype users, as this opens up the opportunity to conduct multi-user video chats; this gives family spread around the world the chance to get together in a single conversation window.

But Skype can also be used to place calls to regular landlines. Whether you want to chat with a friend in the next town, an uncle at the other end of the country, or a sibling on the other side of the world, making calls through Skype is usually significantly cheaper than placing a regular landline call.

With versions of the software available for desktop Windows, Windows 8 and a host of mobile devices, Skype makes it easier than ever to keep in touch with the ones you love.

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Critical flaw forces Apple to push automatic Mac update for first time ever

Vulnerabilities in the ubiquitous Network Time Protocol (NTP) service have forced Apple to issue its first-ever automated security update for Mac OS X, a process that is common on Microsoft's Windows platform.

Apple has included that mechanism in its last three operating systems and is using it as a last-resort intervention.

The weaknesses were unearthed by Google researchers last week and have since been published by the US Department of Homeland Security as well as the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute.

The Mac OS X update, which a spokesperson said is seamless and doesn't require a restart, will roll out on 10.10 Yosemite, 10.9 Mavericks, and 10.8 Mountain Lion.

Time splitters

NTP is used primarily to synchronise time on devices across networks and is a fundamental component of any connected operating system.

While there is no risk of data being compromised, it allows any remote attacker that uses a particular payload to execute malicious code, something that might be particularly useful to mount DDoS attacks.

NTP-based attacks usually cause more havoc because of a so-called amplication factor where a query sent by a device gets a response that's 1000x larger.

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Oracle acquires offline marketing specialist Datalogix

Oracle has announced that it has acquired offline marketing specialist DataLogix which will become part of the company's Data Cloud offering, improving its CRM portfolio.

Details of the transaction were not revealed although it has yet to close; the Denver-based company has raised more than $87 million (about £55 million, AU$107 million) since its inception and counts Pepsico, Ford, Twitter, Facebook and Google as its clients.

Datalogix allows marketers to link offline purchasing data to digital media, allowing them to deliver purchase-based targeting, thereby increasing the opportunities to sell across channels (digital, mobile, offline and TV).

The company crunches data amounting to $2 trillion (about £1.3 trillion, AU$2.5 trillion) worth of consumer spending and delivers insights to more than 650 customers worldwide.

Its network include 1500 data partners across 110 million households. Eric Roza, CEO, Datalogix, said in a statement that the company's mission was to "help the leading consumer marketers connect digital media to the offline world, where over 93% of consumer spending occurs".

Shares of the company jumped by more than 11% on Thursday after the company beat estimates after releasing its earnings report for the second quarter of fiscal year 2015.

• Here's why Oracle could buy AMD tomorrow

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In Depth: Best Blu-rays 2014: 10 discs to hi-def your Christmas

Best Blu-ray movies 2014

The world may have gone streaming mad in 2014 but Blu-ray is still king when it comes to delivering home entertainment - at least for those who still like collecting real, malleable things.

With that in mind, here are the 10 best Blu-rays of 2014. These are the discs that offer up the best picture quality, awesome audio and extras that rival the main feature. There's a mixture of retro and new, fantasy and futuristic but they all have one thing in common - they are essentials for any movie lover's collection.

1. The Hayao Miyazaki Complete Collection

The announcement of Hayao Miyazaki's retirement early this year was a massive blow not just to cinema but to the future of Studio Ghibli, the most important animation house since the one run by a mouse.

This comprehensive retrospective is a fantastic showcase of the beautiful animated movies that Ghibli has made over the years with the boxset housing 11 feature films.

The transfers are impeccable, remastered and brought to life for a Blu-ray audience. Unfortunately the extras are moribund, but you won't care as you will be, ahem, spirited away by each and every movie regardless.

• View on Amazon

2. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Extended Edition

No, the Hobbit didn't need to be stretched over three movies but with director Peter Jackson at the helm he has at least made a(nother) movie trilogy that sparkles in high definition.

As with The Lord of The Rings, the Blu-ray release of The Hobbit movies has been given an Extended Edition. This means nine hours of special features, 13 minutes of extra footage, stretched over five discs. A phenomenal amount of love has been put into the creation of this edition, which is essential viewing for anyone who loves all things Tolkien.

• View on Amazon

3. Stanley Kubrick: 8-Film Masterpiece Collection

The movies of Stanley Kubrick have been well loved on Blu-ray, so much so that this is the second collection of his movies to hit the format. What you get is eight movies, 10 discs and a multitude of new documentaries. This is all topped off with a stunning 78-page hardcover book.

We do wish that some of the movies had a new transfer but these are the best-quality versions of Kubrick's classic movies that you can buy at the moment.

• View on Amazon

4. Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery

David Lynch's mesmerising television series has finally been given the update it deserves. It comes to Blu-ray with a 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, an HD picture upgrade to many of the shots and a whole host of new material.

Also included is a new transfer of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and an archive of deleted scenes. The only thing missing is your very own log... and screaming BOB.

• View on Amazon

5. Her

Spike Jonze divided opinion with Her. Some, including this writer, was wowed by the beauty of a movie that puts a human voice to the cold nature of technology. Others found the whole concept of a man falling in love with his computer's operating system a little too far-fetched - yes, even the ones who spend their lives glued to their mobile phone screen.

What won't divide opinion is this Blu-ray release. The visuals are crisp, while the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track performs extremely well. Given that Scarlett Johansson's voice is central to the movie, the audio track needed to perform perfectly - and it does just that. The disc also comes with an Ultraviolet digital copy.

• View on Amazon

6. Guardians of The Galaxy

Given that the Guardians of the Galaxy was a little-known Marvel comic, it's amazing just how well the story of a ragtag group of space cowboys actually transferred to the big screen. It's all down to the perfect casting, great script and putting faith into a director who started off his career knee-deep in B-Movie schlock.

You will be glad to know that Galaxy works just as well on Blu-ray as it does on cinema. The transfer is vibrant and the sound mix perks up the '80s soundtrack perfectly. A decent trough of special features rounds of this release nicely.

• View on Amazon

7. Gravity

Yes 3D is still a fad but Gravity proves that if you use the technology properly then you can create a brilliant immersive experience. The Blu-ray version of Gravity makes space look spectacular and the prolonged dread throbbing throughout the movie thankfully transfers well in the home.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track also puts your home cinema system through its paces, bringing to life the soaring score. A word of warning, though: if you really want to hear the movie in the home in Dolby Atmos, then maybe hold out until the Gravity: Diamond Luxe Edition which is set to released in 2015.

• View on Amazon

8. Dawn of the Planet of The Apes

While the Dolby Atmos track that was present in the cinema isn't on the Blu-ray release, this is still one of the best sounding and looking Blu-rays in recent years. The transfer is pitch perfect, meaning you will fall in love with Caeser and the rest of the ape ensemble all over again in the home.

The Blu-ray comes complete with a 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix, which nearly makes up for the lack of Atmos. Extras include a smattering of behind-the-scenes features and a captivating look at how the filmmakers brought these damned dirty apes to life.

• View on Amazon

9. Edge of Tomorrow

Edge of Tomorrow has gone through more name changes than Snoop Dogg - Live. Die. Repeat. seems to be the en vogue one at the moment. This usually signifies a movie that can't find an audience but it's simply not the case here. Edge of Tomorrow is a superb slice of sci-fi that's both funny and thought provoking - it's a mash up of Starship Troopers and Groundhog Day and is Tom Cruise's best film in years.

The Blu-ray edition houses a great production documentary focusing on director Doug Liman, as well as deleted scenes and some great behind-the-scenes tidbits.

• View on Amazon

10. Transformers: Age of Extinction

There's not much to say about this film other than it is yet another movie that massively fails because of Michael Bay being Michael Bay. But it needs to be on this list as it is the world's first disc to use Dolby Atmos, the audio encoding system for those who like their sounds to come from above.

It's too early to tell if Atmos will actually win in the home but it really is impressive - even if it doesn't quite live up to how the technology sounds in the cinema.

• View on Amazon

• Find more Christmas articles on XmasRadar. Supported by LG

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Tech Bargains: TechRadar Deals: Nintendo, TV, PS4, gadgets, games + more!

Saving you money is what TechRadar Deals is all about, and we've got some more bargains for you to consider here.

Whether you're after something for the family or simply looking for bargains for your own good self, we've got some deals for you! And if you haven't heard about the deals bonanza that's going down on the 26th, check out our Boxing Day sales page!

Here's a great little deal to kick us off. If you're looking to pick up a kick-ass USB stick, you can currently get the SanDisk Cruzer Extreme USB 3.0 drive with 64GB capacity for just £24.99 .

Today's Hot Deals

Here's an exclusive deal just for you. Portable phone chargers are one of the most useful gadgets to own, and with the secret code TR14XMAS you can currently get £3 off the Omaker Premium portable charger with 10,000mAh of charge! That makes the price just £14.99 .

If you're looking for a big TV but want to pay as little as possible, Richer Sounds currently has a deal just for you. You can pick up the 40-inch Luxor 401080 LED TV for just £169.95.

Remember, if you're still looking to buy last minute gifts, you could use Argos' click and collect service to order online and pick up in store! And if a PS4 is what you covet, today's best new deal is indeed at Argos. There you can pick up a black or white PS4 console with copies of Minecraft, Little Big Planet 3, Driveclub and LEGO Batman 3 all for £349.99.

This is a great gadget and Amazon is running an excellent deal on it for today only. It's a digital laser rangefinder that allows you to accurately measure distances of up to 15m. Normally it's £49.99, but today the Bosch PLR 15 Ditial Laser Rangefinder is reduced to £33.99.

If you're a PC gamer and have never played some of Valve's all-time greatest games, you're in luck. You can currently pick up every game Valve ever made, including Half-Life 1 and 2, Portal 1 and 2 and Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 (full list on the website) - all for just £10 when you use the secret code WINTER-SALE20-GROGRE.

Struggling for Christmas gift ideas? If you need help finding the perfect present for that hard to buy for friend or relative, or you're just running out of time and need a great last minute gift, look no further - get up to 69% off magazine subscriptions to titles like T3, Digital Camera, MacFormat, PC Format, Total Film, SFX and more! Get 69% off magazine subscriptions

MORE HOT DEALS

Braun CruZer6 Face All-in-One original £35 @ Amazon

James Bond RC Aston Martin DB5 Car with lights and sound £24.99 @ Maplin

Nintendo DSi XL perfect Xmas gift only £59 delivered @ iwoot

Predator trilogy BLU-RAY boxset (6 discs ) £7 (+ more items in sale below) at play/fox direct

Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay Form 2i Limited Edition Headphones with In-Line Remote - Blue - £47.99 delivered at IWOOT

Sony Bravia KDL-42W829BBU Smart 3D 42" LED TV with Sony HT-CT60BT Soundbar £509 @ Currys

Yamaha RX-V377 5.1Ch 100W Output 4K Ready AV Receiver - £179 - Richer Sounds

Xbox One Console - £285.00 @ Amazon

Lenovo e50 Quad Core Desktop PC 25% off £149.99 (£119.99 after cashback) with free delivery @ ebuyer

Sony Xperia Z3 Sim Free £399.88 at unlocked-mobiles

From Dusk Till Dawn 1-3 Complete Collection Blu-ray £8.99 @ Zavvi

Habitat Kringle Small Colour-Changing LED Tree only £6 Argos

Seagate 5TB USB 3.0 (3.5 inch) external hard drive (Black) £119.99 @ Amazon

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Industry voice: What is 'digital' – and is it creating a new form of capitalism?

To use the words of Neelie Kroes, Head of the European Commission's Digital Agenda, "Nearly every business is a digital business now". I'd be tempted to drop Neelie's "nearly". We're all digital now. But what does that really mean? What is digital?

According to a recent MCA survey, 94% of UK senior executives see digital as important or very important to their business. I wonder what the other 6% are thinking. 93% of them say they understand digital very well. And yet, when pressed on what digital means, they each described it very differently.

Whilst digital has become the hot economic topic, many will feel that we have lived for some time in the digital age. Rapid transfers of data across the internet have vastly improved transaction speeds, enhanced organisations' knowledge bases, and empowered consumers. Why only now have we seen this explosion of focus on digital, on the rise of the Chief Digital Officer, and on the necessity of digital Transformation?

Collective mind-set

Digital is NOT a marketing campaign, a website, a mobile device, '1's and '0's, or about getting rid of paper. It is the collective mind-set of a connected world, a culture, an expectation of immediacy of service and access to information to which we have become accustomed with the arrival of ubiquitous connectivity.

Digital is an opportunity to improve. But it is also a disruptive threat that enables others to compete with you at a much lower cost of entry. To think digitally is to reimagine your business from the perspective of 'what the web would do', paying no heed to the legacy and accumulated years of experience. Digital operates at sprint speed rather than marathon pace.

The most obvious effect of Digital can be seen in the people around us. Globally there are now over four billion mobile phone subscribers. Many, even in emerging economies, have smartphones. Take the commuter train – twenty years ago, people would be reading the newspaper, a book, or possibly listening to their Walkman. Now, commuters play music, read a personalised media digest, watch a film, send emails, work, text, chat, and tweet – all on the same Android device.

So to some degree digital is an enabler. People could do many of these things before the digital age, or approximate them, but not all, and not as easily, and not necessarily on the train. Now digital gadgets allow them to. Businesses can respond to this. By recognising what consumers want to do, and what products or services they want to consume, they can secure competitive advantage by creating innovative business models that engage consumers individually, immediately, and intelligently.

Great expectations

But the fact that consumers can do so much wherever they are creates an expectation, a culture. All of our commuters can use their devices to find JFK's birth date, to get news as it unfolds, or to view page 96 of War and Peace. They can access tracks from their entire music collection stored in the cloud. Some can reprogram their domestic TV, their heating or their robot vacuum cleaner. Being able to do this in some areas of life creates an appetite to do it in others.

It also creates new appetites. People want to access services, their medical records, buy a car, keep tabs on their children, receive the best deals on insurance, holidays or oven chips, book a safari, arrange a mortgage, all at the touch of button. We can listen to music while travelling. But what about mixing it? We can play games in the back of the car. What about inventing them? And if I can network with people while sitting on the train, why should I commute at all to my dull old-fashioned, city-based workplace? Why shouldn't I work at home, or in the café, or on the beach?

If Digital has already become a key tool for creative professionals like musicians, visual artists, architects, movie makers, car manufacturers, and news providers, how will it impact others in enabling them to work without constraint?

Digital matters to every sector of the economy, from financial services and retail to entertainment and utilities. A pork chop may be a pork chop, but buying it online, selecting your favourite retailer or even your preferred pig farmer, is a digital experience. Banks probably still have vaults. But the security of their online transactions, and the user-friendliness of their touch-free payment apps and self-managed accounts, are where their customers now really experience how good and secure they are. Furthermore digital technologies and behaviours enable disruption of established industries with a low cost of entry.

Consumers with the latest digital devices, and especially the digital "natives" who have never known anything else, have high expectations of service speed and utility. This creates an enormous demand that producers must respond to.

But even this is not the full digital picture.

Business matters

Digital facilitates business models that have long been valued but have existed more in theory than practice. Collaboration between businesses in alliances and networks has long been seen as a route to efficiency and value creation. The federated firm, with supple and loosely integrated centres of expertise, which combine to address emerging problems, overseen by an information-rich centre, is an ideal business model.

Removing tiers of bureaucracy within firms and reducing the "distance" between consumers and products by shortening supply chains have long been extolled as good practice. And of course understanding customers' needs is central to successful commerce.

Digital makes all these things more possible than before. Digital provides the agility that firms need to modernise. Digital facilitates collaboration through accelerated information and data exchange. It helps firms become confederations of expert centres that use digital to work together. It forces firms to think about their specialisms, and to identify how to access complementary expertise through virtual collaboration, either from partners or as likely their customers.

Digital is revolutionising the relationship between producers and consumers. Digital lets consumers buy straight from manufacturers and even specify product requirements, like customised Coke bottles.

Additionally, big data analytics can allow firms to understand the consumption patterns of customers and develop products accordingly. It can also help them gather consumer lifestyle information and so anticipate customer need, understanding a product requirement perhaps even before the customer does. We see this increasingly through prescriptive analytics, where expected behaviours drive operational decisions – for example, Amazon delivering your expected orders locally so that they can deliver same day.

The pace of digital

Digital is allowing all this to be done at incredible pace. The days of clunky, long-term IT contracts are gone. Now supple systems, cloud-based data storage, bespoke applications and off-the-peg, highly adaptable software, let firms react to new challenges quickly.

The effects of digital are wide-ranging, very evident and yet unpredictable. Digital enables old things to be done in a new way. It allows new things to be done. It creates new understandings of what economic value is by making novel purchasing and consumption patterns possible. Telecoms, retail and entertainment are all converging. High street supermarkets are becoming banks, banks are becoming coffee shops. Consumers expect their needs to be met in more holistic and integrated ways.

In short, digital is creating a new capitalism, with new opportunities and new challenges. Consumers' digital expectations drive innovation. Producers and vendors who do not adapt to these expectations will struggle. Supply chains will be shortened, leaving some parts of traditional distribution high and dry. Pace of change and innovation are creating opportunities for new firms and new products to emerge. But value is being destroyed just as fast as it is being created. No one is expected to survive forever, not even the biggest firms.

Digital onslaught

Digital is already destroying digital, as the death of the digital camera in the face of the smartphone/app combination is showing. Data-based business models create storage, management and security issues. For the dyed in the wool 50-something board members, this may all seem very alien. For school-leavers, the digital economy may present skills challenges which educationalists have not caught up with. What is the future of print media, journalism, the music industry, film? Can they survive the digital onslaught? Or is it simply the survival of what the consumer wants!

Yet Digital is exciting. Digital entrepreneurs even seem prepared for a model of capitalism where products and even firms rise quickly and fall quickly, solving problems that are temporary, while their staff and capabilities move onto the next challenge, even on to a new business, with low start-up costs and low barriers to entry. Fast-moving, the Digital economy may present the most accelerated, lubricated and even the most perfect form of capitalism yet.

• Rob Price is Head of Digital at Atos

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LG's new speakers start playing the tunes when your phone is nearby

LG has just announced a lineup of new Wi-Fi speakers that will be rolled into its Music Flow system at next month's CES 2015 show.

Included in the bunch are two new sound bars, a wireless speaker and a 3D streaming Blu-ray player, all of which can be mixed with one another - and hope to give Sonos reason to be frightened.

Kicking things off is the H4 Portable, LG's first wireless Wi-Fi speaker, which packs a built-in battery. So even when you have to leave the room and take a call, the tunes will keep pumping.

Then come the two Wi-Fi sound bars: the HS7 for seamless HD sound, and the HS9 for "deep acoustics".

Let it flow

In order to beam music to the speakers you'll need to use LG's Music Flow app, which will work with your Spotify or Deezer account. If you use any other streaming service then you'll want to check compatibility first.

LG also lets you control its Music Flow speakers via text with its LINE Messaging app, but more impressive is the system's ability to automatically play music when the speaker comes within a foot radius of a Music Flow Wi-Fi speaker.

LG's not saying anything on price just yet but expect to hear more at CES 2015. TechRadar will be there in full force to bring you all the juicy gossip.

• Everything else we're expecting at CES 2015

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In depth: Best fitness trackers

Best fitness trackers 1-5

Ah, the holidays. It's a time for family gatherings, gift giving and massive, massive dinners. The only thing that's not great about this festive time of year is what it does to your waistline.

Whether it's too much turkey or all that eggnog, the calories sure add up, eventually leading to gym memberships and New Year's resolutions to exercise more.

While it's easy to make promises, actually sticking with them can be hard. That's why a good fitness tracker can give you that extra nudge to go jogging, or even walking (you've got to start somewhere).

What's more, these health tracking wearables can help you keep an eye on your heart rate, calorie count, tally up your total steps and much more. With new devices coming out almost every month, there's no shortage of choices. To help you sort through the muck, here's a list of our take on the best fitness trackers out there.

1. Jawbone Up24

Are you in the market for a nearly weightless fitness tracker? Look no further than the Jawbone Up24. Ditching a built-in display makes it one of the lightest wearables available, weighing in at a scant 20 grams coupled with a comfortable soft exterior.

While the Up24 lacks a display of any kind, it syncs every step and your sleep data to a gorgeous smartphone app. All your biometric data is then displayed clearly with with bar graphs, line charts and all with so many colors. The Up24 will also periodically tug at you with reminders to get up, plus users can setup personalized challenges that go beyond burning more calories. For example, you can set goals to get more sleep or make sure to drink a healthy amount of water everyday.

2. Nike FuelBand SE

It's an oldie but a goodie. The Nike FuelBand SE was announced way back in November 2013 but it's still one of the most stylish and effective fitness trackers to ever come out. Sporting a hard plastic band, the FuelBand SE is small and discreet as a regular - if a bit stiff - wristband. The dot matrix LED display makes for an easy to read digital clock and lights up with rainbow colors whenever you've accomplished your goals.

The FuelBand SE is also one of the most goal-oriented fitness trackers, gamifying the act getting fit with fuel points awarded for every little completed workout. At the end of the day you can see how close you came to your fuel point target as well as your total calories burned and steps taken. Beyond traditional exercises like running, you can also set the Fuel Band SE to quantify activities like yoga and bowling.

3. Basis Carbon Steel

The Basis was one of the first companies to come out with a fitness tracker equipped with a massive array of sensors in order to track heart rate, perspiration and even skin temperature. While Basis has since introduced an all-new Peak smartwatch, it's still a bit of a mess, which is why we've included the older generation: the Carbon Steel Smartwatch.

One of the best features of the Basis Carbon Steel is that it can tell when you start exercising - completely on its own. This smartwatch will intuitively start tracking your activity whenever you start a run, set off on a long trek or take a nap then record all the data as soon as you finish. It's a seamless process in comparison with most fitness trackers where you have to press a button to mark the beginning and end of a session.

4. Samsung Gear Fit

Samsung has introduced plenty of smartwatches into the wearable world and now it has a fitness tracker with the Gear Fit. Despite a much more band shaped design, the Gear Fit still carries over many of the same features from Samsung's smartwatches including a beautiful AMOLED display and notifications.

Of course as an fitness tracker, the Gear Fit is also equipped with an accelerometer and gyroscope a to track your movements. Unfortunately it also comes with a very finicky heart rate sensor that picks up some rather unreliable data. It's not perfect, but the Samsung Gear Fit is one of the few wearables that tows the line between activity tracking and smartwatch features.

5. Garmin Vivofit

On the complete opposite spectrum of the Samsung Gear Fit, is Garmin's Vivofit fitness tracker. It doesn't do notifications, nor does it have GPS or a light up screen. In fact you won't even need to plug it in at night because the Vivofit comes with a battery rated to last an entire year.

For the most part, it does little more than act as a digital watch with a pedometer that counts your steps to estimate how many calories you've burned. There's also a little red growing line on the screen to remind you to get up when it's full and some very basic sleep tracking. Simplicity is the Vivofit's strength and its affordable $75 (about £47, AU$91) price also makes this a perfect way to get into fitness trackers on the ground floor.

Best fitness trackers 6-9

6. Misfit Flash

While most wearables can often look like cheap digital watch or a wrist-mounted computer, the Misfit Flash is a bit more stylish and fashioned as a piece of jewelry. On first blush the Flash does not even look like an electronic device. However, underneath this deceivingly plain plastic face there's a set of LEDs that light up to show you the time. This little quarter-sized puck also contains sensors for activity and sleep tracking, a six-month battery and it's entirely waterproof to boot.

We've yet to fully review the Flash, but given it's packing the same internals as the Shine it should be another home run device from Misfit. Currently priced at $49 (about £38, AU$73) on Amazon, the Misfit is another very affordable fitness tracker like the Garmin Vivofit.

7. Microsoft Smart Band

If you thought the Basis Carbon Steel had a lot of sensors, wait until you get a load of the Microsoft Smart Band. It has a whopping 10 biometric sensors: an optical heart rate sensor, 3-axis accelerometer, gyroscope, GPS, ambient light sensor, skin temperature sensor, UV sensor, capacitive sensor, microphone and a galvanic skin response sensor.

Microsoft is pulling out all the stops for its inaugural wearable with Cortana integration on Windows Phone 8.1 devices. Outside of the Redmond camp, users will also be able to pair the device and get notifications from both Android as well as iOS devices.

8. Samsung Gear S

The Samsung Gear S wins the award for being the biggest smartwatch or bracelet depending on how you look at it. Knock it for its excessive size, but the Gear S is one of the first self-sufficient wearables thanks to its built-in cellular radio. Add in the built-in GPS and this is one of the very few smartwatches that makes it possible to go on a run and not worry about leaving the smartphone at home.

The standalone smartwatch comes with the S Health app and a Nike+ Running app that work quite well when coupled with the smartwatch's own plethora of sensors - seven to be exact.

9. Fitbit Surge

The Surge is by far the biggest wearable Fitbit has ever made. It comes with a new watch-shaped design, a runner-friendly GPS feature and heart-rate monitor. The Surge also brings a few smartwatch features such as notifications for caller ID and SMS messages. Overall the Surge looks to be a beefed up version of the Fitbit Flex and its successor, the Fitbit Charge.

Honorable mention: Apple Watch

It had to happen eventually and Apple is finally getting into the wearable game with the Apple Watch. It's slated for an early 2015 release but we went hands on with it and felt like it will be a worthy fitness device. Though it might be classified as a smartwatch, there's a Sport model made specifically for athletes with a lightweight aluminum body and fluoroelastomer band (soft but durable plastic made to stand up to the rigors of a active life style).

Like many other smartwatches, Apple's has an optical heart rate sensor on the back and an accelerometer to count your steps. The smartwatch then shares these metrics with the companion Health app on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus that then can be shared with third-party health and fitness apps.

• Now that you've got the gear, check out the best fitness apps on Android

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Blip: What are you going to do now, Apple Pay? I'm going to Disney World!

Apple Pay is continuing its (slow) march towards mobile payment domination by arriving at one of the happiest places on earth December 24.

That's right - Apple Pay is going to Disney World! Specifically the Walt Disney World Resort, where it along with other NFC systems, like Google Wallet, will be acceptable forms of payment.

Starting on Christmas Eve, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and eventual Apple Watch users can tap to pay at places like stores, quick-service restaurants, bars and ticket sales booths, according to WDWMagic.com. Other spots, like table service restaurants, will join the Apple Pay brigade.

Eli Manning must be happy.

More blips!

The only things that'll make you happier than a trip to Disney World are our blips.

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