While Samsung has dominated the headlines with the launch of its Galaxy S3 device this week, V3 also managed to get its hands on the eagerly awaited Lumia 900 from Nokia set to be released in the UK later this month.

The firm will be hoping that the device can help turn its fortunes around, as it faces a tough financial future and sales of its first high-end device, the Lumia 800, have proved lacklustre, particularly in the UK.

One of the V3 team is an active user of the Lumia 800, though, and so with the 900 arriving in the office, it was the perfect opportunity to compare the two devices and give the 900 a once over.

The first thing you notice about the Lumia 900 is its size, both compared with the 800 and on the market as whole, with its 4.3in screen in the same category as the HTC One, the recently launched Galaxy S3 and dwarfing the 3.7in screen of the Lumina 800 (as shown below).

This helps make text input for emails, texts and web browsing easier than the Lumia 800, although as users of the world's millions upon millions of iPhone users know, smaller screens don't make it that much harder to input text either.

While it certainly feels sizeable in the hand, it weighs just 160g, only 18g more than the 800 despite the huge difference in size.

Anyone upgrading from the Lumia 800 or a similar sized device, such as the iPhone, will take some time to get used to the larger size, but in time is likely to enjoy the increased display area for web browsing, gaming and photos.

Another notable difference to the 800 is the inclusion of a front-facing camera with a 1.3-megapixel lens - a feature not available on the 800 - allowing full use of the recently launched Skype app to make video calls with contacts on other devices.

For taking pictures, the phone has the same 8-megapixel camera as the Lumia 800, which is more than adequate for taking high-quality images under various conditions.

The 900 also comes pre-loaded with the Tango version of the Windows Phone operating system, which offers a number of tweaks designed to improve the speed performance of the system, although the Lumia 800 is hardly slow either.

Beyond this, though, there is little notably different about the device, boasting exactly the same design of button placement and volume controls as the 800, just expanded over the larger size unit.

This isn't a bad thing, though, as the Lumia design is nice to look at, sits comfortably in the hand, and is certainly no worse than any Android device, which are all fairly identikit in their design, and offers a nice alternative to the iPhone's style.

The issue for Nokia is not the hardware, really, it never has been, it's convincing the average member of the public to put aside their lust for iPhones or Android devices, and getting them to realise the Windows Phone software is worth the plunge.

To do this, it's going to take some serious marketing spend, combined with word of mouth from the small pool of Lumia users convincing their friends of the benefits of the system's live tile functionality, to show there is another way from the iOS and Android two-horse race disappearing into the distance.

Check back next week for a full review of the Lumia 900 on V3.

There's been a lot written about the new iPad, a lot. So as soon as we got our hands on one of the Wi-Fi-only 16GB models on launch day, we were eager to see how it would perform, particularly the apparently world-changing retina display.

And it seems fair to say that, like every other publication, V3 was highly impressed by the improvement Apple has brought to the device, with images, web pages and text all displayed with a crispness that is noticeably better than what was possible with the iPad 2.

The 5-megapixel camera that Apple has included is another notable improvement on the iPad 2.

The two pictures below, featuring several different colours, show just how much better the camera in the new iPad is - and while it's hard to replicate on a web page, the Retina display shows the improvements off to its full effect.

Below: the camera in the new iPad gives images a crisper, clearer display.

Below: the same photo taken by the iPad 2 lacks the sharpness of the new device.

Another major improvement that Apple has touted with the new device is its quad-core graphics processor, offering faster speeds and better displays for games, and certainly in the short play we had on the device there was a clear speed improvement when using the device.

Loading Google Maps, for example, is rapid, with Street View also loading smoothly.

However, in many ways there is little about the new iPad to separate it from the iPad 2, with the device looking identical and boasting almost identical features.

For some this won't matter at all, as the iPad is still a thing of beauty and unquestionably the best tablet on the market by some distance, and the improved features Apple has added are a significant upgrade.

However, if the idea of a super-sharp display and a better camera don't really appeal to you that much, you may find yourself happily ticking along with your iPad 2 for a while yet before you feel the need to upgrade.

Check back next week when we'll have a full review of the new iPad.

Apple has released the developer preview of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, just seven months after the acclaimed launch of Lion.

The latest version of the Mac OS will port a number of key features from the iOS platform to Apple's desktops and laptops, bringing all devices a step closer to unification in terms of user experience. We take a look at the top five features that are set to be included.

5. Twitter integration
The popularity of Twitter has already led to Apple integrating the social networking site into its mobile OS. This will now be extended to Macs and make it quicker and easier to share posts. Users will be able to tweet from native apps such as Safari, Quick Look and Photo Booth and a host of third-party apps are also expected to include this functionality. Anything that removes extra steps is always a good thing.

4. iCloud syncing
Apple has noted that Mountain Lion has been developed with the iCloud in mind and users will find it easier to set up and sync content between devices using their Mac. No details have been given about how this will be made easier, but we expect Apple to remain true to its word.

3. Gatekeeper
With the increased use of apps on Apple desktop OS, the firm is keen to plug any potential security holes. Apple will launch the Gatekeeper app, a security feature that allows users to monitor apps that have been downloaded and installed on a Mac.

Users will be able to install apps from any source if they wish, or lock down their system so that only vetted apps from the Mac App Store will be usable.

2. Messages and Notifications Center
The Messages app will replace the iChat client and enable Mac users to send unlimited messages, photos and videos to any other Mac or iOS device over the net. Messages will also retain support for other popular IM clients including AIM, Jabber, Yahoo Messenger and Google Talk. Lion users can download a beta version of Messages from www.apple.com, and give it a test-drive.

Mountain Lion also introduces the Notifications Center to the Mac interface. This dropdown menu will include alerts such as emails and friend requests. It will be interesting to see exactly how this dropdown bar is triggered on Mac devices, though. On the iPhone and iPad it is activated by a swipe of the touch screen. The inclusion of the Notification Center could be an indication that Apple may be planning to add touch screens to its OS X-based devices.

1. Airplay streaming
OS X Mountain Lion will bring AirPlay Mirroring to the Mac platform. Users will be able to securely stream 720p video streams over wireless from a Mac to an HDTV using Apple TV. This will be particularly convenient for users who are using MacBooks and want to view multimedia content on larger screens, and is likely to boost sales of Apple TV.

Siri?
We'd like to point out that Siri, the voice activated personal assistant that debuted on the iPhone 4S, is not going to be included. It is still officially in the beta phase, so we're not too surprised it hasn't been included. But stranger things have happened and it could still be added to the final release of Mountain Lion.

Apple has spent the last decade successfully reinventing content distribution models in the music, TV and film industries, and is now focusing on the education market.

Although it has probably taken longer than Apple would have liked, publishers such as Pearson, McGraw Hill and DK Publishing have released interactive books on the iPad, which can be accessed via iBooks 2. At present the textbooks are only available in the US market, but we've managed to get a sneak peek at the apps courtesy of our colleagues over the pond.

Our first port of call was the Life on Earth book, which is available for free and aims to showcase the benefits that the tablet form factor can bring. Upon opening the book you are greeted by a fantastic video introduction by the author E Wilson. Although relatively short, it has extremely high production values and gives a taste of things to come.

Everything about iBooks scream high-quality and the presentation makes you want to continue reading the book. The 50-page textbook we looked at was very easy to navigate and aside from the nclusion of multimedia content, we saw many other benefits over the traditional book. Tapping near the top of the screen at any time will bring up options to go back to your Library, access the contents or glossary, bring up study cards, adjust brightness, search the book and bookmark pages.

Text is usually wrapped around pictures, animations or videos. All transitions are instantaneous, so whether you're swiping between pages or activating a video, the performance is as smooth as can be. Almost all non-textual content is interactive and a tap usually expands pictures to full size (see below). After you have viewed the image, you can then pinch it to return to the original page.

Pinching any page will bring up a preview of chapters and pages. You can highlight text and add notes throughout the book.

It is also possible to add notes to your iBook. When a note has been added, a little symbol will appear next to the text and you can expand it whenever you require. This will no doubt be used as a useful revision tool.

iBooks are viewable in both portrait and landscape mode. We prefer the latter as each page is viewable in its entirety and you can swipe away to the next page. When using portrait mode the iBooks simulate traditional books. Text takes priority and videos and images are shown up as thumbnails along the left hand side. At present, it is not possible to change the font, but this could change in future additions.

Books typically cost around $14.99, but it is possible to download a free sample, usually in the form of a chapter, before buying. Considering the wealth of interactive content included, the price point is more than reasonable.

There is a limited amount of content, with around a dozen or so books available at present. But we expect the App Store to be populated very quickly, especially as Apple allows anyone to create a book via the iBooks Author app.

The only concern that we have is the size of books. The larger textbooks are around 3GB each so storing around three or four will fill up a 16GB entry-level iPad rather quickly.

From what we have seen so far, iBooks have plenty to offer and it looks like they are on course to replace the traditional textbook. 

The format also looks to be highly transferable from the classroom to the business environment. Interactive books could be used by businesses to create guides for employees and customers - and we are likely to see them packaged with existing products instead of traditional user manuals.

We look forward to the interactive books being available in the UK.

Apple may not have made the major hardware upgrades to the iPhone 4S that some fans were waiting for, but Cupertino has introduced some very interesting and useful software that shows just how far artificial intelligence has come.

We're talking about the Siri 'personal assistant', which is able to understand natural speech and come up with a response to pretty much any question you can think of.

From demos circulating the web we expected Siri to be a softly spoken American chick and were disappointed to find that as UK users we were lumped with a rather snooty sounding English gentlemen.

We managed to ditch him for the softer tones of the American lady, though, by changing the language settings to US English. We did have to start speaking with a slight American twang for our speech to be recognised, but the female version of Siri is far less irritating and worth switching to.

We also experimented with Australian English and were greeted by an equally likable Sheila answering our queries.

In terms of actual speech recognition, Siri is very impressive. The software is able to compute questions in microseconds and deliver answers almost instantaneously.

Really useful business features also include the ability to dictate emails and text messages as well as set appointments and reminders.

When configuring the latter two, it really is like having a conversation with a personal assistant as Siri asks "when is your appointment?" and "what time?" before confirming the details and activating a reminder.

Unfortunately, in the UK it is not possible for Siri to provide maps, directions or suggestions for locations such as restaurants as Apple has not yet signed a deal with any local information firm, like Yell in the US. It can surely only a matter of time before this feature is made available in the UK, though.

In terms of factual answers, Siri sources information from Wolfram Alpha, Google, Bing Answers and Cambridge-based firm True Knowledge. No Wikipedia in sight - perhaps Apple don't consider it accurate enough.

We also asked Siri some fun questions just to see the responses. Of course answers may vary, but we received the following smart aleck replies:

V3 : "Which is the best smartphone?"
Siri: "There are other smartphones?"

V3: "What is your favourite colour?"
Siri: "My favourite colour is well, I don't know how to say it in your language. It's sort of greenish, but with more dimensions."

V3: "Do you like Samsung?"
Siri: "I really have no opinion."

Finally, we got a rather creepy response when we asked Siri if it was self aware. "No comment", is not the answer we were looking for.

Siri's database will continue to grow and its usefulness will no doubt increase as Apple continues to amass more partners. It's also likely to spawn many copycat pieces of software, just the same as the iPad led to a slew of imitation devices being launched.

The race to get hold of an iPhone 4S is on, but for the millions of existing iPhone users, the last couple of days has seen a different challenge to overcome – successfully updating your device to iOS 5.

As someone who has just attempted the challenge on an iPhone 4 this week, and ended up with a completely wiped device with no files or contacts saved, I thought it would be useful to share my tips on how not to carry out the update.

BACK UP EVERYTHING before attempting the update
This is the most important lesson I’ve learned, and the best tip I can pass on. When I updated my phone on Thursday, I did so without manually copying all my content onto the PC, rather than just relying on iTunes. During the process, iTunes posted no alerts or warnings that its backup had failed and went ahead with the update – a real failure on Apple’s part. I had hundreds of photos and videos, along with all my contacts and messages, stored on the device itself, and nowhere else.

When the update had finished, I tried to restore the content, only to find that the original backup of all my photos, contacts and other files had failed before the iOS 5 upgrade, and so my iPhone was completely wiped. When I tried to restore them, I received a message telling me: "iTunes could not restore the iPhone because the backup session failed."

When I checked the backup file, it had saved nothing apart from one voicemail.

I’d never got round to copying my content or contacts off the iPhone onto external or online storage, partly because Apple doesn’t make this easy, and partly because it had never occurred to me that those files were only stored in one place. I prefer to blame Google, for getting me so used to its world of online storage and instant access to any emails or documents I’ve ever created through Gmail or Google Docs, rather than my own lack of foresight. But that doesn’t help bring back all my lost files.

Don’t rely on only iCloud for backups
Apple’s new online storage system launched officially with the iOS 5 update, but there have already been issues with iCloud. A few of us on the V3 team tried to access iCloud on Thursday from iPhones and iPads but had no success, so we’d still advise saving all your media, content and other files on an external hard drive or other storage, as well as via iCloud.

Only have one iTunes account
Over the years, I’ve set up three different iTunes accounts and have managed to store purchases from each of these on my iPhone. Before the iOS 5 update began, I received an alert that some of the apps I had purchased from the App Store hadn’t backed up in iTunes, and when I checked these apps were from a mix of my iTunes accounts. Seeing as the iOS update seems to be so fraught with potential problems, I’d definitely advise downsizing to one iTunes account, in case Apple is unable to cope with backups from multiple accounts.

Only use one machine to connect your iPhone
Similarly, I’d advise using just one machine to hook up an iPhone to iTunes. My iPhone was originally used by somebody else, and when they passed it on to me, I didn’t do a full system wipe. So my current device has been hooked up to their PC and iTunes account, along with my work and home systems. If I was buying a new iPhone 4S today, I’d advise you stick to one machine to connect to iTunes – and I’d make that a Mac if possible, as you’ll see from my next point.

Use a Mac rather than a Windows PC
I use iTunes on a Windows PC and every time I connect my iPhone this causes problems. Sometimes it’s as minor as wiping all my music from my iPhone, meaning another hour dragging individual albums back on to the device. Other times it’s crashed the PC and meant a whole restore is required.

I’ve heard from one user that he managed to upgrade to iOS 5 successfully from a Mac, but when he tried another iPhone from a Windows PC, that process wiped everything. Anecdotally it seems there are more complaints from Windows users than Mac fans, but this could be down to the higher numbers of the former group overall.

Switch to Android
I had to add this one in, as every time I mention problems with my iPhone, I just get raised eyebrows – a knowing ‘I told you so’ look – and comments about how Android is the miracle pill around all these issues. All great points, except many iPhone users are stuck in a long-term contract or too tied to their devices to want to make the leap, with music, photos and so on stored on the device. I don’t have that excuse not to switch anymore, so hopefully I’ll be brave enough to make the change from Apple to the little green alien soon.

Final thoughts
I hope these tips will prevent anyone else from losing all their content and contacts when they attempt the iOS 5 update. I now have a fun weekend ahead trying to find some recovery software that will let me get access to my media and contacts again, the other option being the jailbreak path, which could end up with a bricked iPhone.

If anyone has any tips for me on how to do this, please get in touch at madeline.bennett@incisivemedia.com, or leave a comment below.

Fusion Garage will start shipping its Grid-10 tablet in October starting at £259, as the firm aims to provide a viable alternative to Android and iOS devices.

Chandra Rathakrishnan, chief executive of Fusion Garage, makers of the fabled Joo-Joo tablet, dropped by the V3 office to give us a sneak peek at the 10.1in device along with the Grid-4 smartphones due to ship later in the year.

With specifications including a 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 processor, 512MB RAM and 16GB of internal storage there's little to separate the Grid-10 from other high-end devices. It does come with a 1,366x768 resolution screen, which Fusion Garage claims to be the best on the market, but we didn't find it as bright as the iPad 2.

In terms of look and feel, the Grid-10 has a wedge shape but is of similar size to the iPad 2. It weighs 689g, however, so it is noticeably heavier than the Apple tablet.

The 10.1in tablet ships with the GridOS operating system, which has been built using the Android kernel. However, the interface bears little resemblance to Google's operating system.

As the name suggests, the interface consists of a grid where apps can be clustered together, and users can move between clusters to access applications. This unique design makes home pages redundant as it's possible to jump to any part of the grid using a little map in the corner.

The Grid-10 is virtually button-less, and navigation is performed with a swiping system very similar to the one on RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook.

Swiping from the top brings back the home screen, whereas a swipe from the right moves the screen back. A flick from the left brings up the notification centre, known as the 'heartbeat'.

We didn't find the gesture-based system as smooth as on the PlayBook, and we sometimes had to swipe a couple of times to trigger changes. However, transitions between applications are made interesting by the use of animations.

Web browsing also had some features not seen on Android and iOS devices. Words can be highlighted and clicked on to bring up a context-sensitive menu. The word 'inception' brought up reviews from Rotten Tomatoes and linked to Twitter, for example.

Pinch-to-zoom was also impressive, the text resizing almost instantly. Fusion Garage has also improved the stock Android keyboard to include secondary functions.

The tablet can also synchronise with other Fusion devices. We started and paused a movie on the device and were able to continue playing it on the Grid-4 smartphone from the same point.

However, Rathakrishnan explained that the Grid-10 will have access not to the Android Market but to the Amazon App Store for Android. There will be no native Google applications such as Gmail available, but Rathakrishnan tried to play this down, noting that the email client can be used.

Interestingly, Google search will also be absent as Fusion Garage has chosen to incorporate Microsoft's Bing instead.

The tablet is due for release on 24 October at £259 for the Wi-Fi-only model, rising to £359 for the 3G model, so buyers on a budget may be tempted.

Meanwhile, the Grid-4 smartphones will launch in the fourth quarter running GridOS, and it will be interesting to see how the operating system works on the smaller form factor.

Overall, it appears that Fusion Garage has learned from the mistakes of the Joo Joo which Rathakrishnan admitted was rushed to market. GridOS is unique and shows flashes of brilliance, but it remains to be seen whether Fusion has the support of retailers and the brand power to attract consumers.

HP failed to penetrate the market with the well-known webOS interface, and we think it could be very difficult for the Grid-10 to take a substantial slice of the market.

Apple unleashed the latest version of OS X Lion to the masses a little over two weeks ago, introducing a number of key features in the process. V3 has had a chance to get to grips with Lion on Apple's 11in MacBook Air and we've picked out some of the key features that will help you to get the most out of your Mac.

1. Use swiping gestures with multiple desktops
The trackpad has been redefined, allowing a number of swiping gestures using two and three fingers.

Scrolling and pinch-to-zoom are welcome features, and work remarkably well on the trackpad. However, we've found the most useful gesture to be the three-fingered horizontal swipe that allows you to navigate between full screen applications. A nifty way to use this is to create multiple desktops, which you can then cycle between.

To do this, you simply bring up Mission Control, add another desktop by hovering the mouse over the top right hand corner and then populate that desktop with specific apps. You can then keep internet windows in one desktop, word documents in the second, mail in the third and handily cross-reference between them with a single swipe.

2. Use Thunderbolt to transport data
Apple has been heavily promoting this feature over the past few months and it's now usable in the latest Mac devices. Thunderbolt allows high-speed transfer between two Apple Mac devices. We were able to use the port to transfer data from a MacBook Air to a Mac Mini.

To do this we had to set up the MacBook as an external hard drive by activating Target Disk Mode.

This was done by connecting the Thunderbolt cable and holding down the letter 'T' when booting up the Air. The Thunderbolt icon displayed on the screen of the MacBook and the device appeared as an external hard drive on the host - in this case the Mac Mini.

To give you an idea of Thunderbolt's speed, we transferred a 1.27GB file between Macs in just under two minutes. The same transfer took 15 minutes to load onto a USB stick and around 50 minutes to complete via AirDrop.

3. Sync revamped Mail app with Outlook
Apple has revamped its Mail feature, and the application now mirrors the iPad two-column interface. We like the conversation-style thread, which separates messages cleanly, and the full screen view.

However, the best feature by far is the dynamic search which automatically brings up suggestions when you start typing in a person's name or subject. This makes searching painless as relevant messages are instantly displayed. Finding the right email is considerably faster than using the search in traditional Outlook and Lotus Notes clients.

V3 also managed to synchronise corporate email from an Exchange 2003 server within the native Mail app. This was done by setting up an email account and choosing 'IMAP' as the account type. We then entered the IP address of the Incoming Mail Server, along with our username and password.

Alternatively, it is possible to download apps such as Mail Access 2003 from the Mac Store to get comprehensive functionality.

4. Multi-user screen sharing
Screen Sharing has been improved and now enables remote log-in to a separate account on another Mac.

Benefits include allowing IT admins to remotely troubleshoot problems and carry out upgrades without causing disruption. Business customers can also use the feature to work independently when using the same machine.

Screen Sharing still needs some tweaks, and browsing the web using the virtual desktop can be a bit ropey. But, for business users, it's good to know there is a tool available with which files on a Mac can be accessed in case there is an emergency.

   
5. Use the Apple Mac App Store
Although this has been out since January, the Mac App Store will prove a key feature for those using Apple's portable devices as they lack DVD drives. It's possible to get key software from the App Store, including vast numbers of productivity apps, and the importance of this store is only likely to increase as Apple puts more emphasis on cloud storage with the launch of iCloud.

 
6. Airdrop
This makes it possible to share files even when there is no Wi-Fi present.  A Mac will automatically locate any other AirDrop-capable device within 30 feet and allow an encrypted file transfer between them.

7. Resume
One thing that has always separated Macs from PCs is the impressive boot time. Apple has now added a 'Resume' feature which means that the Mac will automatically re-open all apps that were being used in the last session. This has been very useful as it allowed us to pick up right where we left off numerous times.

8. Autosave
Another invaluable feature that automatically saves files every five minutes, giving that extra piece of mind.

9. Mission Control
Among the noticeable visual tweaks are the Mission Control and Launchpad interfaces. Mission Control can be brought up by swiping three fingers upwards, and shows a bird's eye view of all applications being used on a particular desktop.

Windows from the same application are automatically grouped together, allowing you to keep track of what can otherwise become a crowded desktop. This is a great way of checking exactly what is running, particularly for those who may forget that they have left an app running in the background which they no longer need.

10. Launchpad
Apple has also brought the highly acclaimed iOS interface to the Mac for the first time. This shows applications in icon format, providing a quick way of accessing applications that are not stored in the dock.

It's possible to create folders, just like on the iPhone 4 or iPad 2, and anything downloaded from the Mac App Store will be located here.