iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c vs. iPhone 5: What has Apple changed?

Apple today announced the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c , both successors to the iPhone 5. After all the rumors and leaks, Apple’s seventh and eighth iPhones are finally official.

Yet before you run out and buy one of these gadgets, assuming you’re not interested in Android or Windows Phone, it might be wise to see what you’re getting for your hard-earned cash. As such, we’ve put together two tables to show you what’s new.

There you have it. So which iPhone is for you?

See also – iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s will both ship on September 20, iPhone 5 discontinued, and iPhone 4s goes free and What the iPhone 5S ’64-bit’ processor means, in plain English

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Nintendo partners with O2 to give 3DS owners free Wi-Fi access at over 8,000 hotspots in the UK

Playing online is a huge challenge for handheld gamers. Unlike smartphones or tablets, where the user already has a data plan setup with the mobile network operator, many dedicated gaming devices are restricted to Wi-Fi only. It means that connecting to the Internet is a tricky business for almost anywhere outside of the player’s home.

To this end, O2 has partnered with Nintendo to offer free Wi-Fi access to Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL owners across the United Kingdom. Players will be connected to the service automatically whenever they enter one of the “thousands” of available hotspots.

High-street chains such as McDonalds, Costa Coffee, Toby Carvery and Pizza Hut will be covered by the service, as well as prolific public venues such as The O2, Twickenham, Bluewater and the Central London boroughs of Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea.

Nitnendo 3DS owners will need to have the latest system update – no surprises there – and will be notified whenever they’re in a Wi-Fi area via the system’s built-in Hotspot finder. A ‘Nintendo Zone’ icon will then blink to notify the player that free Internet access is available, thereby enabling all of the system’s online functionality.

Competitive and collaborative multiplayer is an obvious draw for the service. Mario Kart 7 and Mario Tennis Open – the French Open is on right now, after all – are just a couple of titles which allow players to compete with one another across the globe.

The functionality of the Nintendo 3DS goes farther than that, however. Owners will be able to access the Nintendo eShop to buy and download new games, as well as receive software updates while they’re on the go. They’ll also be able to browse the Internet, download movie trailers or receive SpotPass content – exclusive content doled out based on the user’s location – almost immediately.

“Nintendo is a leading brand in the gaming world and have shown real innovation in the industry, making them an ideal partner for O2 Wifi,” Gavin Franks, MD of O2 Wifi said. “With the popularity of online multiplayer gaming continuing to rise, customers are looking for a fast, free accessible Wi-Fi connection when they’re on the move – something that we know is becoming perceived as a right, rather than a privilege.”

O2 Wi-Fi launched a little over two years ago and now has over 8,000 hotspots in the UK. The partnership with Nintendo is now live in selected hotspot areas, but will continue to roll out over in additional areas.

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Panasonic unveils the ELUGA P-03E in Japan, a 4.7” 1080p Android smartphone with air gestures

Panasonic has strengthened its range of Android smartphones today with the ELUGA P-03E , a new handset with a 4.7-inch full HD display (1920×1080) and a 1.7 GHz Snapdragon quad-core processor.

The high-end device is just 10.9mm thick and leans on 2GB of RAM, coupled with 32GB of internal memory for downloading apps and multimedia content. It’s equipped with a 13.4-megapixel rear-facing camera, alongside a low-resolution 1.3-megapixel snapper on the front. It weighs roughly 146 grams and is powered by a 2600 mAh battery.

The ELUGA P-03E comes with a new “touch assist” feature which, similar to the Air Gestures found on the Samsung Galaxy S4, can detect swipes before the user has touched the screen. This proximity-sensitive touch screen can detect movements from up to 15mm away and is designed to stop users from selecting apps or menu options accidentally. For instance, if the user hovers over the camera menu or a supported app, the device will provide a description of the software before asking them to confirm the action.

Likewise, hovering over an image will show an enlarged preview, and it’s also possible to access a zoom slider through the Internet browser without using the traditional pinch-to-zoom gesture.

Panasonic says the ELUGA P-03E has a user interface built specifically for one-handed use. Swiping up from the bottom will bring the top half of the screen further down, making content and apps much more accessible. The size and position of the keyboard can also be adjusted to fit small hands, as well as the position of the padlock on the lockscreen.

The ELUGA P-03E is only available from the Japanese version of the Panasonic website, so it’s unclear whether this smartphone will ever see an international release. The product page says it will be released in late June, and pricing is yet to be confirmed.

Image Credit: TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images