News

The Wireless Mouse X4000 is HP's latest laser sensor mouse, sold at an affordable price, and as such has earned a place in our reviews.


Here's our review of the HP Wireless Mouse X4000, a mouse that fits nicely in the hand and that glides easily and smoothly across the table. What are its true capabilities?


> Review: HP Wireless Mouse X4000

> Reviews: Computer Mice

In spite of the enduring global success of Angry Birds, Finnish games developer Rovio clearly knows that users could one day start to tire of the game's multiple incarnations (Rio, Seasons, Space, etc.). But Rovio could have another hit in the pipeline with its cunningly recycled Amazing Alex game.

This latest game is actually a reworked version of Casey's Contraptions, which Rovio recently bought from Snappy Touch and Mystery Coconut.

 

Gameplay basically involves building a mini Rube Goldberg machine which carries out a simple task via a series of complex actions. You therefore have to play around with the physics and mechanics of the machine and its various parts in order to achieve several pre-defined goals.

The trailer below illustrates the concept pretty well:

In the first quarter of 2012 Samsung and Apple collectively garnered 55% of the world's sale of smartphones and 90% of the profits, according to ABI Research.



Samsung sold 42 million handsets in this year's first quarter, with Apple trailing just behind at 35 million. While Cupertino's strategy has been to bet the farm on value, its Korean competitor has been focusing on volume, selling a much wider range of smartphones, with refund offers galore. Both strategies have paid off.

Next in line are two brands that have been labouring to keep their products lines afloat: Nokia, who Samsung has dethroned as leader of the mobile phone market, sold just under 12 million units (-40% compared to the final quarter of 2011), and RIM sold 11.1 million of its BlackBerries. Only four years ago the Finnish manufacturer held 40% of the market share...

So the question is, who, according to ABI Research, is in a position to catch up to these two colossuses? Here's a hint: it's ZTE and Huawei. For one thing, they both happen to be headquartered smack-dab in the largest market in the world, the People's Republic of China. For another, both brands have already demonstrated that they know how to make good products at low prices. While the big names all started at the top end of the market, both ZTE and Huawei began by selling entry-level phones, then rapidly moved on to the middle range before stabbing into the high-end market. At prices that beat the competition.

The OfficeEdge Pro5500 is an all-in-one inkjet colour printer for small and medium-sized businesses with printing volumes of 500 to 1,500 pages per month.


It is the mid-range instalment in Lexmark's OfficeEdge series. With new printheads and cartridges, Lexmark is advertising professional-quality prints, high speeds, half the cost per page and lower ink and paper consumption.


> Review: Lexmark OfficeEdge Pro5500

> Reviews: Multifunction Inkjet Printers