The Toshiba BDX1250 is a straightforward, no-frills Blu-ray player.  Part of the manufacturer's 1000 series, it doesn't have support for 3D, online services or DLNA.


That leaves us with nothing to test today other than the player itself.  Let's take a closer look.

> Test: Toshiba BDX1250KE

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After Huawei, the next big Chinese manufacturer to have a go at the smarpthone market is ZTE, whose new mobile, the Mimosa X, will have an Nvidia Tegra 2 processor has well as an Nvidia Icera modem.  As with ZTE's other handsets, it's set to be a bargain.  

The MWC trade show in Barcelona looks set to see a new 4.3'' smartphone.  The Mimosa X—we're not sure why it's called that either—from ZTE will be on display for the first time there.

With a capacitative 960 x 540 pixel qHD display at the front, the Mimosa X has a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor on the inside, as well a new networking chipset from the same manufacturer, the Icera 450.

The new hardware means that Nvidia can now offer networking capacities as advanced as those provided by its rival Qualcomm.

The Mimosa X will also have a 5 Megapixel camer, support for DLNA and the TegraZone gaming platform.  It will Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich at launch.

ZTE has announced plans to put it on sale in the second quarter of 2012, and although there is as yet no news on price, we're sure the firm will follow up the technique it used with the Blade and Skate smartphones, bringing advanced technologies to new customers with low prices.

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LG promised it would be more present in the smartphone market in 2012, and here the firm is already unveiling a whole new range, the Optimus L-Style, comprising the L7, L5 and L3 Android handsets.

After outing the Prada 3.0 phone (review coming soon) and unveiling the unusual and intriguing Optimus Vu, LG has now announced three more Android smartphones.

There's a screen size for everyone in this new mobile range too, as the Optimus L7 has a 4.3-inch screen, the Optimus L5 has a 4-inch screen and the Optimus L3 has a 3.2-inch screen. 

The L7 and L5 run on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich while the L3 sticks with Gingerbread 2.3. All three handsets have a similar design, with a slimline casing, metal edges and one of LG's 'Floating Mass' touchscreens, as seen in the Prada 3.0. This home-grown technology sets the screen closer to the upper panel to make it look as if the display is floating on the surface rather than set back from it. 

The entry-level Optimus L3 will use a 1500 mAh battery and is due to land in Europe in March. As yet, there's no word on release dates for the L5 and L7.

We can only hope that the L7, L5 and L3 will be a little bit more practical to hold than LG's lovely models seem to suggest.

For more information on LG's new Optimus L-Style range, stay tuned to our coverage of the Mobile World Congress, which kicks off at the end of February.

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A month after the arrest of Kim Schmitz/Dotcom, the founder of MegaUpload, the courts in New Zealand have granted him bail.

Judge Nevin Dawson had at first rejected Kim Schmitz's request for bail as he had previously fled to Thailand on being granted bail in Germany in a separate case. The other site executives were freed shortly after being arrested and Kim Schmitz has now also been allowed to leave prison. Accused of conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, new charges have also been made against Megaupload. Freed but confined to his house and required to wear an electronic bracelet, Schmitz is also banned from using the Internet and reserving any helicopter flights.

Schmitz has declared himself relieved to be able to return home to his family. Authorities in the US must now formalise their request for extradition by March 2nd at the latest. The case will be heard in August and will last for three weeks. The founder of Megaupload risks twenty years in prison.



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Following the Radeon HD 7970 that has been available for a few weeks in stores, AMD continues to unveil its new range of graphics cards with the Radeon HD 7950.


Second arrival in the AMD Southern Islands range, the Radeon HD 7950 is quite simply the next card down from the Radeon HD 7970. The clocks and number of processing units have been reduced to give a product that is well worth a look.


> Review: AMD Radeon HD 7950

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After unveiling the Ascend P1 and Ascend P1 S handsets at CES 2012, Huawei is now gearing up to present a high-end smartphone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at the end of the month. This mobile goes by the name of the Ascend D1 Q and boasts a large screen and a quad-core processor.

As it battles to become a brand in its own right—and a strong one, at that—Chinese manufacturer Huawei is gradually turning its attention towards the high end of the market. It's therefore no surprise to see the Ascend D1 Q emerge to pave the firm's way into the top-of-the-range mobile sector.

For the last six months (or more), Huawei has been trying to shake off its image as the sub-contractor and unbranded product maker, in an attempt to impose its name as a genuine brand with a good range of well-designed, well-made devices (aluminium casings, slim designs, powerful components, etc.). That's a very different strategy to its rival ZTE, another Chinese unbranded handset maker that's been trying to break into the market with its own-brand entry-level phones. 

Hopefully, then, we'll see this higher-end Huawei phone hit the market soon ... although we're still waiting for news on the Huawei Honor's arrival in Europe ... 

The Ascend D1 Q runs on a quad-core processor, but that's all we know about its CPU for the time being. The phone has been spotted in a pre-Mobile World Congress teaser, and is expected to be unveiled at the MWC event in Barcelona at the end of February. 

Following the slimline Ascend P1 and P1 S mobiles on show at CES in Las Vegas, this is the third higher-end smartphone Huawei has been seen flashing around in the first quarter of 2012 alone. This change in the brand's strategy is certainly ambitious, and we'll be keen to see what the phone's made of when we head over to Barcelona for the MWC next week. Stay tuned for updates!

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