First look: Google versions of HTC One, Galaxy S4

NEW YORK: Two new Android phones will look and sound familiar to those who have been paying attention to phones. That's because these two devices are replicas of Samsung's Galaxy S4 and HTC's One, except they lack most of the bells and whistles added to the original models. 

And that's a good thing. 

The modifications Samsung and HTC apply to Google's Android software are meant to be improvements. But I've complained before about how the changes actually make phones more complex to use. The S4 even has an easy mode for first-time smartphone users, an admission that the normal mode is too confounding. 

Google worked with both Samsung Electronics and HTC to come out with "Google Play" editions of the hit phones. Instead of customized softwareSamsung and HTC, the Google phones run a pure version of Android, just as it was developed by Google. 

Google lets any phone maker use its Android operating system for free. To set themselves apartcompetitors, phone makers often add their own touches to devices. They rearrange the menu or load additional apps. Wireless carriers alsoto add their own apps. Before you know it, phones are bloated with features and apps you don't want and can't get rid of. 

Consider my experience with the original S4 over the weekend. As I tried to adjust the camera's flash setting, I inadvertently made some postage stamp icon pop up. That activated the camera's dual-shot mode, which snaps a shot of you with the front camera to superimpose over whatever you're shooting with the camera on the back of the phone. I didn't want that, but I couldn't figure out how to get rid of it. My friend couldn't either. So we bagged the shot. Taking photos with a phone is supposed to be fun, not a chore. 

With Google's version of the S4, I get a no-frills camera that is easy to figure out. It lacks gimmicks such as dual shots and the ability to combine several images of motion into a single shot. It offers about a half-dozen shooting modes, such as night, action and panorama, rather than the dozen or so on the original S4. But a half-dozen is about a half-dozen more than I need and use. 

Google's S4 also lacks the original model's ability to pause video automatically when you look awaythe screen or to scroll down an article when you tilt your head. Those features may sound cool, but they often don't work properly. 

The Google version of the S4 also has alarm sounds that I can actually wake up to. Samsung had substituted those sounds with soft, soothing melodies that I end up incorporating into dreams. I've overslept a few times as a result. 

As for Google's version of the HTC One, you don't get a busy home screen filled with news articles and Facebook status updates your phone thinks you want to read. Instead, you get a clean page with few apps. It's up to you to add the ones you want to see and use. 

Both Google phones feel spare and minimal, which is great because it makes me feel in control. If I want to constantly know the weather, it's easy to add a weather widget to the home screen of either phone. But it's not forced. 

The same goes for apps. I get basic functions such as text messaging and the clock and a range of Google services such as Gmail and YouTube. If I want other apps, I can easily tap the Google Play icon to get them. With the original S4, Samsung tries to steer you into its own app store, as well as its own music and video players. You end up with too many ways to do the same things. 

You might think it takes a lot of work to add the apps you want to Google's phones, but it actually takes more work to hide or turn off everything you don't need - that is, if you can at all- with Samsung's and HTC's versions. 

Now for the bad news: The Google edition of the S4 sells for $649, while Google's HTC One goes for $599. You can typically get the original models for $100 to $200 through your wireless carrier with a two-year agreement. And unless you're on T-Mobile, your monthly bill won't go down just because you pay full price for the phone elsewhere. 

In addition, both Google phones are compatible only with T-Mobile, AT&T and other carriers that use GSM cellular technology, not the CDMA networks used by Sprint and Verizon Wireless. The Google edition would have been great for Verizon customers who still have unlimited data plans. Verizon no longer lets you stay on that plan if you buy a subsidized phone, so you'd have to pay the full price anyway. 

The Google phones are also ideal for people who want the latest Android system that Google has to offer. You'll be able to update your phone as Google releases new versions of Android. Normally, phone makers and wireless carriers updates by weeks or months, so you can only read about those new Android features. 

There are a few useful Samsung and HTC add-ons that Google does bring to its versions of the phones. 

Google's S4 is compatible with Samsung's S-View flip cover. Using a magnetic sensor, the phone detects when the cover is closed and switches to a special mode that gives you the current time and details about who's calling through a small window in the cover. You can answer or reject a call without flipping over the cover. 

Google's HTC One, meanwhile, shares the original model's front-facing speakers, giving you great sound when you're watching a movie or listening to music. Both models also have cameras with larger sensor pixels for better low-light shots. Our tests show that the HTC One produces low-light images with less distortion than other Android phones, though images aren't particularly crisp because the resolution is lower. 

There are a few things I wish Google would have brought to its phones and to Android in general.

In the original S4, the on-screen keyboard has a row of numerals to type in. With the Google S4, you have to hit a button to get another screen with numerals, then toggle back for the letters. The original S4 also has the ability to run two apps side by side in a split window. That's gone in Google's S4. 

Meanwhile, the original HTC One has the ability to make calls, send texts and take photos by sliding iconsthe lock screen. With the Google version, you have to unlock the screen before getting icons to those functions. 

On both phones, Google also adds one feature I could do without: a 360-degree panorama known as Photo Sphere. Neat as it is, it detractswhat is otherwise a just-the-basics camera. It would have been better as a separate app for those who want it. 

But that's no reason to shun the Google phones. The minimized feel of Google's versions underscores how busy software can detractgood hardware. Take away that clutter, and you have excellent phones. 

It's a bummer that you can't get the simplified phones through regular channels. You can get them only through Google's online Play store - for hundreds of dollars more. 

About the Google phones

The new phones are existing Samsung and HTC phones loaded with Google's version of the Android operating system. That's the version that Google makes, before phone makers and phone carriers load Android up with their own features and apps. 

These phones are good options for those who don'tall the bells and whistles in the original models. They are cleaner and easier to use. But they are also more expensive, as you have to pay full price through Google's online Play store rather than a subsidized price that wireless carriers offer with two-year agreements. 

These phones aren't compatible with Verizon's or Sprint's CDMA networks. If you're on AT&T, you'll be paying more for the phone without any reduction in monthly phone bills. If you're on T-Mobile, though, expect to save $20 a month, or $480 over two years. You're still paying about $70 more overall for Google's S4 and $20 more for Google's One, but it's not the hundreds of dollars you'd be paying on AT&T. 

The one-time, upfront cost is $649 for Google's S4 with 16 gigabytes of storage and $599 for the One with 32 gigabytes. Both phones are available in the US only through Google's online Play store, with shipments expected by July 9. 

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Yahoo! Hack India to be held in Hyderabad

NEW DELHI: Programmers, developers, designersacross the industry and studentstop technical universities in India will gather at Hyderabad for a two-day hacking event. 

Over 1,000 developersacross 20 states had signed up to participate in the sixth edition of "Yahoo! Hack India"July 13, of which 250 best hackers have been selected after an entry-level coding challenge. 

"These hackers will now participate in the two-day event which brings forth a series of technical workshops, followed by a nonstop 24-hour coding Hackathon on July 13 and 14," a statement said. 

For the first time, Yahoo! Hack India is being organised in cyber city Hyderabad. This will be Yahoo!'s first hack event in India hosted outside Bangalore,Yahoo! has its second largest research and development centre. 

Due to overwhelming responsedevelopers across India in the last five years, Yahoo! had decided to expand this hack events to cover more Indian cities over the next few years. 

"This year will see two external hack events by Yahoo! in India, one in Hyderabad and another in Bangalore later in this year. The event brings together programmers, developers, designersacross the industry, start ups and studentsthe top technical universities," it said. 

"Hackers team up to turn their ideas into a working prototype, or hack, as it's called in just 24 hours. It gives developers a chance to work together and build applications and product ideasscratch using market-leading technologiesYahoo! as well as other technologies, to develop something cool that can potentially solve a real-world problem that impacts Internet users," it said. 

The two-day event involves a hacking competition using a great collection of new web tools, services and APIsBSE 0.00 % ( Application Programmable Interface), as well as dataaround the web. 

Yahoo! Open Hack was started as an internal event in 2006 at Yahoo! headquarters in Sunnyvale, US with an aim to bring the Yahoo! developers together. So far, Open Hack has been hosted in seven countries with representationover 30 countries. 

The first Open Hack in India was hosted way back in 2007, which was attended by 180 developersin and around Bangalore.

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Nokia Lumia 521 Review

If you thought the Nokia Lumia 520 was good, boy are you going to have a great time with the Nokia Lumia 521. Essentially the same device as you’ll be getting internationally, this T-Mobile iteration of the entry-level Windows Phone 8 device brings the same package (with slightly different radio connections and a few extra apps) to the USA, here with the same bright white back cover as we saw across the sea (one of three, as it were).

Hardware

With the Nokia Lumia 521 you’re rolling with a 4-inch display (running at WVGA) which, if you’re using anything sharper at the moment, will be just a bit more pixely than you’ll want to live with. This machine is, instead, made for those users upgradingfeature phones – and it’ll do a fine job of it.

The handset measures in at 4.9 x 2.5 x 0.4 inches and weighs just 4.4 ounces – it’s lighter than it looks. You’ll connect to this machine with a microUSB cord (included in the box) and a microSIM for data, and both the back cover and the battery within are removable. There’s also a microSD card slot under the hood for an additional 32GB of space if you do so desire – you may want to pick up a microSD card when you purchase the smartphone since the 521 works with just 8GB of internal storage.

Inside you’ve got a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor at 1GHz paired with 512MB of RAM. Again, this is meant to be an upgrade for the feature phone crowd and not a battle-ready beast for the top-tier entrants in the Windows Phone 8 world. That said, this machine is swift as much of the Windows Phone 8 crowd simply because the processor paired with this screen – small and low-res as it is – makes for hot-tapping and access to the basic collection of apps available to the whole Windows Phone 8 smartphone collection.

You won’t be set up for future implementation of T-Mobile’s LTE network, instead kicking it up to today’s fastest data speedsthe network at HSPA+ 21. We’ll be bringing you “top speed” results as soon as we can kick out speeds above the general average – for now you’ll take comfort in knowing we’ve not have a dropped signal anywhere inside the metro area in Minneapolis / Saint Paul, Minnesota.

  

The back of this machine is replaceable – compatible with the international edition of the handset as well, so finding even 3rd-party offerings in the wild-and-wacky case-making environment will work. Or SHOULD work – always be cautions if you’re buying 3rd party gear. Nokia brings the heat with this machine in white (seen here) as well as yellow, blue, and red.

Software

It should be made clear that this device brings Nokia’s unique collection of Windows Phone apps to the show – the same as each other Lumia both here in the USA and overseas. While you’ll get a limited number of these on the device right out of the box, you’ll have Nokia’s app portals to keep you busy.

At this point in history it’s difficult to find a smartphone running Windows Phone (Windows Phone 8 and forward, that is), that isn’t able to work with every app in Microsoft’s official app store. Nokia also provides such unique offerings (available to Lumia devices only) as Nokia Music, HERE Maps, HERE Drive, and HERE Transit. It’sHERE, you could say.

All except – notably – app abilities such as the augmented reality bits of City Lens (as seen with the Nokia Lumia 920 demo we gotthe way back in September of 2012, courtesy of Nokia) inside HERE Maps. This doesn’t exist on this machine due to the lack of a digital compass in the 521. With A-GPS and Glonass you’ve still got turn-by-turn navigation throughout the USA

Camera

While there’s no front-facing camera on this machine, the back-facing 5-megapixel shooter is more than enough for the standard social networking sharing and general photo-taking activities you’ll be inevitably taking part in. While Nokia’s real industry-leading efforts in the camera world rest with devicesthe Lumia 925 (internationally) and the Lumia 928 (here in the USA with Verizon), the Lumia 521 brings a decent “that’ll do” sort of setup – which you’ll see in example photos and video here.

       

Battery

While Nokia rates this device at 7.5 hours talk time with standby at 12.5 days, we’ve found the 1430mAh battery to be standing up to a full days’ standard use without issue. If you’re a heavy user, on the other hand, expect to knock this battery out in a matter of hours – especially if you’re streaming videosomethingT-Mobile TV (also built in to the device, courtesy of the carrier.)

Wrap-Up

The Nokia Lumia 521 isn’t the nicest Windows Phone 8 device on the market – and it’s certainly not the hottest Nokia machine out today – but it’s not meant to be. Working to be the cost-cutting entry level to the Windows Phone 8 universe with the good ship Nokia – that’s the aim. That’s what this machine will do, too – expect quite a few upgrades to higher-powered Lumia devices once the 521 is paid for in full by users on T-Mobile.

              

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Review: Panasonic TX-P60ZT65

Introduction

With its beloved plasma technology still besieged by wave after wave of LCD upstarts, Panasonic has decided to pull outthe stops and launch a plasma TV built with no other thought in mind than producing the absolute best picture quality a consumer plasma TV can deliver.

In fact, as we'll discover, there's a very real sense with the limited edition 60-inch Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 that it's genuinely the last word in plasma excellence - a final blaze of defiant, money's-no-object glory before Panasonic settles back to gradual annual improvements to its more mainstream plasmas or even (though hopefully not) puts plasma to bed for good.

Unsurprisingly, such a screen doesn't come cheap. The Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's £3,999 (around US$5,990 / AU$6,540) full asking price makes it comfortably the most expensive 60-65-inch TV we've seen bar Sony's Ultra HD/4K-resolution KD-65X9005A. But also unsurprisingly it boasts a pretty monstrous feature and specification list.

Highlights include a new Studio Master panel design complete with 'Air Gapless' panel technology to boost contrast well beyond even anything Panasonic has managed before, and a European Broadcasting (EBU) mode for optimised picture quality when watching broadcasts.

Plus there's full endorsement by the THX quality assurance and ISF pro calibration organisations and the most comprehensive site of picture calibration tools and options the consumer TV world has ever seen.

Ifthese high-falutin' features pay off as well as we hope they will, the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 could finally lay the ghost of Pioneer's legendary Kuro plasma TVs to rest. Indeed, based on the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 vs Kuro head to head Panasonic had set up during its main product convention earlier this year, this very aim seemed to be at the front of Panasonic's mind as it was conceiving its new plasma flag-waver.

If you can't make the hefty financial step up to the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65, Panasonic has its also brilliant VT65 plasma TVs, available in the 65-inch Panasonic TX-P65VT65, 55-inch Panasonic TX-P55VT65 and 50-inch Panasonic TX-P50VT65 sizes, with the 65-inch costing around £3,500 and the 55-inch costing around £2,200.

Where other rivals are concerned, the 55-inch Sony KD-55X9005A brings UHD/4K resolution to the table for the same £4,000 price, while the Samsung PS64F85000 delivers unprecedentedly bright 64-inch plasma pictures for £2,800.

Features

The first thing to consider here is the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's design. Plasma TVs generally suffer aesthetically versus LCD TVs, thanks to their need for much wider bezels than the latest generation of Edge LCD TVs. The Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 certainly doesn't do anything to counter the bezel-width issue.

But it does still achieve a degree of style, by covering both the bezel and the screen in a single sheet of glass and by mounting the screen on a gleaming, open-style 'V' neck that attaches to a surprisingly small and beautifully finished metal plinth stand.

If you look at the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65an angle, you'll notice that its pictures don't suffer with the 'double imaging' issue you see with every other Panasonic plasma TV when viewing them off-axis. This is because Panasonic has managed to remove the usual air gap between the plasma panel and the front glass. It's something that's only been possible by manufacturing the ZT65 screens in autoclaves - rare, high-precision heated compression chambers required to make sure the panel layers bond together correctly.

This manufacturing requirement is enough in itself to start justifying the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's price - so long as the end results in picture quality terms justify the effort, of course.

With this in mind, it's important to stress that the removal of the off-axis double imaging is not the only benefit of the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's 'Air Gapless' design. Removing the air layer stops light refractions and reflections affecting the image, resulting in a greatly enhanced contrast performance - especiallyblack level response is concerned.

To a home cinema fan, the thought of Panasonic going even deeper with the TX-P60ZT65's black levels than it has with its previous plasma televisions is nothing short of mouthwatering. And it's this step, of course, that is most likely to help the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 overleap the contrast of Pioneer's legendary Kuro plasma TVs.

The Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's panel also boasts, of course, the very highest level of the filtering technologies Panasonic uses to stop ambient light negatively impacting the contrast performance of its plasma TVs.

Also, the processing power and number of calibration tools Panasonic has then applied to its innovative panel design are so extensive, it almost feelsPanasonic's engineers couldn't believe their luck at having so much flexibility and capability in the core panel to play with.

Going through in detailthe picture options and fine-tuning tools that the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 puts at your disposal would take forever, and is actually pretty pointless. It's more important to simply stress that even if you're a professional calibrator with THX and ISF training, you will find every possible calibration trick you could ever reasonably want, tucked away inside the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's menus.

Just to give you an idea, though, there's Rec. 709, SMPTE and EBU video standard settings, Colour Remastering for boosting the colour gamut and multiple noise reduction systems. Then there's a 'Brilliance Enhancer' that makes pictures look more dynamic by applying localised contrast boosts, a resolution enhancer, gamma controls, comprehensive colour management tools and comprehensive white balance adjustments.

As if having so much set up flexibility at your disposal wasn't already groovy enough, Panasonic even enables you to call up the TV's calibration menus on its Viera Remote app for iOS and Android devices, so you can make your adjustments while looking at a picture on the TV that isn't hidden behind on-screen menus.

If you were paying attention a couple of paragraphs back, you may have noticed we mentioned an EBU video standard setting. This stands for European Broadcasting, and it's the first time such a setting has ever been seen on a TV.

This is because the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 is the first TV that's been able to meet the extremely demanding picture quality and setting standards defined by the EBU as being necessary to reproduce broadcast pictures that look exactly as their creators and broadcasters intended them to look.

The EBU's defined standards take in a huge range of picture quality facets, so the fact that the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 can exclusively meetthese requirements is a real testament to the quality and flexibility of Panasonic's premium TV.

Even the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's connections are a cut above the norm. Not in number terms, perhaps (actually the fact that the TV only has three HDMIs is a bit disappointing), but rather in their construction, since they use gold plating so that their contacts don't degrade over timenormal TV connections do.

With so much high-end finery, sophisticated manufacturing and, heck, old-fashioned AV love apparently ploughed into the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65, it's no surprise that Panasonic is really keen to make you feel special for owning one.

So as well as making the TV available on a limited edition basis, when you buy one you become an automatic member of a new Golden Club, complete with a card that shows the individual number of your TV and the signature of the engineer responsible for its construction.

On top ofits unique premium features, of course, the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 sports the full range of more 'normal' features found in Panasonic's other TVs. Dominating these is Panasonic's excellent My Home Screen smart TV interface, which provides the easiest to use and most customisable means of finding and organisingthe myriad content options you get with modern connected TVs.

These content options include playback of filesUSB sticks, SD cards and connected DLNA-enabled PCs, as well as media files on your smartphone or tablet courtesy of Panasonic's well designed and reasonably comprehensive Viera Remote 2 app. There are also apps and video streaming services on Panasonic's Viera Connect online platform.

The only problem with the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's Viera Connect platform is that it's a bit short of key video providers right now - there's no Lovefilm, and the only one of the main catchup platforms you get is BBC iPlayer.

Picture quality

And so we get to the moment of truth: has the still-revered Pioneer Kuro plasma TV technology finally met its match with the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65? Happily, very happily, we can answer this question with a resounding yes.

Obviously giventhe hype surrounding the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's contrast performance, it's here that we decided to focus the opening stages of our tests. And what we saw was nothing short of extraordinary.

Probably the best way to sum the situation up is to say that for the first time on any commercially released flat-panel TV, the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 delivers black colours that actually look black. Not black with a tinge of grey, not black because the screen's just turned offlighting in the darkest areas, but black in a completely natural, cinematic way that still enables you to see the tiniest shadow details and colour tone shifts in even the most pitch black parts of the image.

It's great to see, too, that this stunning black level perfection is achieved without the picture suffering heavily with the sort of dithering noise that plasma TVs can suffer with in dark areas. This is down, perhaps, to a combination of the Air Gapless design enabling the screen to produce a punchier picture without having to drive the plasma cells so hard, and some unprecedentedly fine controls over the voltage entering each plasma pixel.

If you're still not fully understanding what a big deal the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's unprecedented black level performance is, the point is that contrast and black level response, in our opinion, provide the foundation for any TV picture. So when a TV gets this sorted as perfectly as the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 does, it kind of follows that there's every chance that other aspects of the television's picture quality will be equally outstanding.

Plus, of course, being able to watch nearly pitch-black movie scenes without having your attention even slightly distracted by the sort of greyness, backlight clouding/inconsistency and crushed shadow detailing you have to suffer to some degree withother flat TVs is a revelation, totally transforming your relationship with what you're watching.

Colour performance

Having established the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's contrast performance as being the best in the TV world to date, it's not entirely surprising to be able to follow this up by marvelling at the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's colour handling. After all, good black levels usually lead to good colours, so it follows that awesome black levels lead to awesome colours.

The accuracy and incredible subtlety of the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's colourscape feels borderline miraculous at times, especially when the screen is dealing with particularly high-quality HD sources, such as the opening scene of The Dark Knight on Blu-ray.

What's more, the fidelity of the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's colours is joined by an engaging level of brightness and vibrancy by plasma standards, making the television more usable than might have been expected in a bright environment. Having said that though, we'd still recommend dark-room viewing if you want to get the maximum impactall the astonishing, cinematic colour nuancing and shadow detailing the TV has to offer.

The incredibly subtle rendering of colour on the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 helps it also deliver a sense of sharpness and detail that's nothing short of mesmerising - especially considering that you're witnessing it on a screen as big and immersive as this 60-inch one.

The TV doesn't benefita native Ultra HD/4K resolution, but there are times when the joint quality of Panasonic's image processing and uncompromising plasma panel design does make pictures look slightly higher definition than your typical HD TV.

Further help in this respect comesthe Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's freedomthe motion blurring problems associated to some degree with even the very best LCD TVs. This is one of plasma's biggest advantages as a technology, and the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 makes the most of it. Or at least, it makes the most of it if you take the plunge and activate Panasonic's Intelligent Frame Creation processing on its lowest setting.

Motion processing

Normally we wouldn't tend to recommend using motion processing systems on TVs. But the processing engine in the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 is so powerful and so thoughtfully defined that it goes about its business without leaving the picture looking too processed.

What's more, if you don't use the system, you lay yourself open to suffering with pretty much the only two flaws in the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's picture make-up: a little double imaging around the edges of moving objects and some fizzing noise over moving skin tones.

Without the IFC set to Low these issues can be quite distracting - especially with broadcast sources. But with the IFC on, they pretty much cease to be a problem.

Having been slightly negative about broadcast source handling back there, though, we need to stress that our only gripe with the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's broadcast images is the (ultimately avoidable) motion niggles.

In every other way the TV is unprecedentedly good with broadcast footage, thanks to the provided EBU preset. Simply activating this preset, without having to do any further calibration tweaks, is an absolute revelation, as the image's colour balance, noise handling, contrast and white balance revert to settings designed by broadcasters to make sure you're getting a totally authentic picture.

The THX modes are similarly astutely designed to give you instantly great images when watching films. This is significant, because we haven't always felt entirely comfortable with THX presets on previous plasma generations. But it seems on the TX-P60ZT65 as if Panasonic has got its plasma technology to a pointit can fully meet the vision and demands of the THX specification.

3D picture

So far we've just been talking about 2D footage on the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65, but rest assured that it's also brilliant with 3D. The amount of detail in its 3D images is sensational, reminding you in no uncertain terms why the full-resolution active 3D system is still a potent force, especially on large screen TVs.

The clarity with which this detail is delivered is outstanding too, with practically no noise to worry about. Even crosstalk ghosting noise, that perennial bane of active 3D playback, is practically non-existent. And thanks to the clarity of the 3D picture, you also get a superb and consistent sense of 3D depth and space.

The Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 does follow other Panasonic 3D plasma televisions by taking quite a lot of brightness out of its 3D images. But the pros far outweigh the cons, and if you can manage to watch 3D in a dark room wherever possible, the brightness reduction isn't a major blow by any means.

Usability, sound and value

Usability

For the most part the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 is laudably easy to use, considering what an exceptionally feature-heavy and sophisticated TV it is. Its My Home Screen smart TV interface is inspired, delivering the easiest to follow on-screen menus and simplest personalisation system we've seena TV to date.

The presentation is clear, the set-up system is comprehensive, and there's enough on-screen direction and help to ensure that not even the most technophobic user should ever feel confused.

The sheer volume of picture calibration tools could overwhelm the unprepared. But the technical stuff is sensibly tucked away out of sight of casual eyes, and even if you do seek the in-depth calibration tools out they're presented in quite a straightforward manner.

The way you can use the calibration menus via your iOS or Android device rather than on the TV screen is superb, too.

Actually, the Viera Remote 2 app that contains the calibration features is generally excellent, enabling as it does screen sharing of what's on your TV with your smart device's screen, and 'casting' of what's stored on your smart device to the TV screen. The app interface forthese features is brilliantly intuitive, too.

The only bum note in the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's interface, really, is the touchpad remote that Panasonic supplies alongside a more normal handset. The touchpad on this device is too small, too quirky in its responses and too circular to harmonise effectively with a rectangular screen.

Sound

Pictures as big and brilliant as those delivered by the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 clearly deserve to be partnered by some first-rate audio.

And while the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 doesn't scale quite the same audio heights as the Sony KD-65X9005A, its front-firing speakers supported by a rear-mounted bass speaker combine handsomely to deliver much more power, clarity and soundstage size than the vast majority of flat TV speaker systems.

Value

This is a tricky one. It's a plain and simple fact that the vast majority of people won't be able to even think about coughing up the £4,000 (around US$5,990 / AU$6,540) necessary to secure a Panasonic TX-P60ZT65. But that in itself doesn't make the TV bad value.

We guess you could also point to the outstanding qualities of Panasonic's VT65 series and ask if the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 is really so good that it warrants spending considerably more money on.

But in the end, for us the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's value situation simply boils down to this: it produces the absolute finest, most cinematic picture quality we've ever seena Full HD TV. And so far as we're concerned, this fact alone will make it worth every last penny of its £4k price to any serious AV fan who can afford it.

Verdict

The Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 is so uncompromising it almost feelsPanasonic getting mad - mad at the way people keep gravitating towards LCD TVs when plasma is capable of delivering astonishingly good picture quality.

Signs of Panasonic's uncompromising approach to its new flagship TV are everywhere. The set's build quality is incredibly robust. The connections are gold plated. The panel is built using new difficult-to-deliver, contrast-boosting Air Gapless technology.

The picture calibration options are almost endless, too, as you might expecta TV endorsed by the THX group, the ISF and - in a world first - the European Broadcast.

Yet despite its sophistication it's still very easy to use, not least thanks to Panasonic's inspired My Home Screen.

What most matters about the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65, though, is that the brand's unwillingness to compromise its construction to hit a price point has resulted in picture quality so good that it's hard to imagine how it will be bettered until OLED or UHD/4K go mainstream.

We liked

The Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's My Home Screen interface is gloriously simple and fun to use, its sound quality is excellent, and best ofits picture quality is unprecedentedly good - so much so that it makes us wonder if it will ever be bettered using current mainstream technologies.

We disliked

It would be good if Panasonic could add a few more of the mainstream video streaming services to its online platform. There are some minor motion issues unless you use the provided IFC processing, and obviously it would be great if the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 cost much less than it does. But if it did, then it's pretty clear it wouldn't be as good. It's called getting what you pay for, people.

Final verdict

If you're able to take in the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's £4,000 (around US$5,990 / AU$6,540) price tag without shaking your head in frustration, then you should be well on the way to getting one of Panasonic's groundbreaking TVs installed in your living room.

After all, the only other significant reason you could have for not bagging one is that Panasonic's online services don't include as many of the key catch-up TV services as we'd like.

But this is a puny downside, really, when considered against the fact that the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 delivers pictures so unprecedentedly good you don't ever want to turn it off.

Also consider

With no Full HD/2K TVs getting up near the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65's price or performance standards, the most direct rival would have to be an Ultra HD/4K-resolution model: namely Sony's identically-priced 55-inch KD-55X9005A. Based on the 65-inch Sony KD-65X9005A that we've reviewed, we predict stellar picture qualitythe 55-inch model too, especially when you're watching the amazing resolution of native 4K sources. However, the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65 massively outguns the Sony glamourpuss in the contrast department.

Otherwise you're essentially looking at cheaper but less spectacular alternatives to the Panasonic TX-P60ZT65. Which in our mind would include Panasonic's own hugely impressive P55VT65 plasma, Samsung's startlingly bright but slightly dither-prone PS64F8500 or, if you'd rather have an LCD TV for greater brightness and cuter looks (though reduced contrast), Samsung's gorgeous-looking and innovatively featured UE55F8000, and finally Sony's KDL-55W905A.

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