iPhone 5s allegedly bending in people’s pockets all by themselves

You may remember, when the iPhone 5 was still a new device, reports surfaced online claiming that there was an issue with devices somehow bending. Of course, the users swore blind that they hadn’t placed them in back pockets or sat on them. Apparently, the iPhones just did it themselves. There are claims that the same issue plagues the iPhone 5s. Nowhereelse.fr has a few images showing one iPhone that’s particularly bent.

 

Having worked in retail, and used iPhones for years, I can quite happily state that I don’t believe them. You wouldn’t believe the number of people that used to walk in to my store claiming that their phone’s screen had cracked “all by itself”. I just can’t see how a solid and well-made piece of aluminum can bend that way without any force whatsoever. Unless it’s been placed near something really warm and expanded as a result (as most metals will) and than contracted when it got cool again. Simple truth is that the user has indeed applied considerable physical force to it, either accidentally or on purpose. iPhones don’t “just bend” on their own. Saying that, it is quite odd that the glass on the display looks completely unharmed. Perhaps I’m too cynical.

 

Via: NowhereElse

MSI AMD R9 280X Twin Frozr Gaming OC 3GB Video Card Review & Benchmarks

AMD jumps back in the gaming ring.

It’s that time again. Time for some new blood to be put into the video card market and this time it’s AMD’s turn at the wheel. The hype surrounding the new R9 and R7 series video cards will now be put to rest as the actual testing results get in on all the new cards.
We take a look today at the MSI Twin Frozr Gaming Edition video card that is priced at $299.99 and aimed to compete with the GTX 760-770 cards from NVIDIA. The new R9 280X is a mid level gaming solution that is not the Titan killer that many were expecting, but still something from AMD that will help lower the pricing of cards all around.




Many of you have already surfed the net and have seen that the new R9 280X shares many things in common with the HD 7970GHz Edition video cards and that basically it is a rebranded card with a few new technical twists. AMD is planning on having their next level of card up the R9 290X be the so-called Titan killer, but for those wanting to save money and still get a solid card I think the R9 280X will find a nice home in todays market. AMD really wants to get your cash and even though many things have remained the same lets see what is different and how this card stacks up against the competition.

5 Useful Features Hidden in VLC

You probably be using VLC for playing media files, and if you are doing the same, you are using only a small fraction of VLC player capabilities. VLC player is considered as a Swiss Army Knife for digital videos and music, filled with more useful features and interesting tools.





So, if you are using VLC player for just playing your media files, here are the 5 most useful and hidden features that can make your experience of using VLC more fruitful.

#1. Convert Media Files

Do you know that you probably need no additional software for converting media files if you have VLC player? Yes, VLC player can be used to convert media files from an unsupported format. You can even extract audio from the given media files and can save it as a separate file.

For that, just hit the Media menu button located at the top left corner of VLC player and select Convert/Save. Simply load the media file you want to convert and select the format you want the output file in, set the destination path and hit Start.

#2. Recording Your Desktop 

You can use VLC player to save the video of your Desktop. Yes, no need of any additional video recorder. You can capture the video of anything and can stream that particular video online with no additional software.


For doing that, just navigate to Media-> Convert/Save and locate the last tab named as “Capture Device”. Set the capture mode to “Desktop”, set the desired frame rate (15-20fps recommended), set the destination path and bamm!!! Your video is ready in minutes.

#3. Control VLC from Browser

You can control VLC remotely from the browser. VLC has an integrated server which can be accessed via browser remotely. By enabling this, you can control the playback options, volumes, media files, etc. When coupled with Smartphone, it can be turned as remote for VLC player.




For doing this, click on Tools –> Preferences. Navigate to Main interfaces located under All Options. Finally click on Web checkbox. All done, you just need to enter the local IP address of VLC (http://localhost:8080/)

 

#4. Watch YouTube Videos

Want to watch YouTube videos on VLC player without downloading it? Yes, you can do that. Just copy the URL of the video you like to watch in VLC and hit the Media menu button, select Open Network Stream. Simply paste the YouTube Video’s URL in here and you are ready to watch the video directly on your VLC player.

#5. Playing Internet Radio

If you are not a very big fan of Spotify or Pandora, you can play internet radio directly from your VLC player. Just open Playlist and navigate to the Icecast Radio Directory, perform a search for the music you will love to listen, browse the list and play what you want.



You can even listen to radio that aren’t listed on VLC player. Just head over to the specific website and find the “listen” button there. You can listen to them directly from your local VLC player on computer or from VLC player on Android.
With all that being said, there are still hell lots of things you can do with your VLC player. So, if you are still using the VLC player to just play the normal media files, explore it more and change the way you use it. VLC player is the most widely used media player and being available for almost every device out there including Smartphones, it can be used for different purposes.

Samsung Officially Announces Galaxy Round Curved Phone

Remember that awkward Samsung device that leaked earlier today? The one shaped like a taco and we thought was the Samsung Galaxy Round? Turns out, it was. Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy Round this evening, and it’s essentially a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 that’s lost its S Pen stylus, and is….. well, bent.
Under the hood, we’re looking at a very capable device. Notable specs from the Samsung Galaxy Round include:

• 5.7-inch 1080p OLED curved display
• 2.3GHz Exynos quad-core processor
• 3GB RAM
• 13MP camera
• 2,800mAh battery
• 7.9mm thick, 154g
• Android 4.3 Jelly Bean

So what separates the Galaxy Round from one of Samsung’s other “flat” offerings? Aside from giving the Korean manufacturer the pleasure of claiming “firsts”, Samsung has also tweaked their Touch Wiz/Nautre UX software to feature a UI that is better suited for the Round. This is done in a variety of visual changes to make things appear “rounder” on the device, as well as featuring something Samsung is calling “Round Interactions”.
Tilting the phone while on a flat surface will allow users to quickly peak at the time and notifications on the device, something that sounds neat, but not as intuitive as LG’s knock feature found on the LG G2. Samsung has also added the “Round Interactions” into their other apps like music and photo apps, although it’s unclear how it will be implemented.

Pre-Orders Open for Tegra 4 Mad Catz M.O.J.O. Console

Android gamers can pre-purchase the M.O.J.O. console slated to arrive in December.

 

Android gamers waiting impatiently for Mad Catz Interactive's M.O.J.O. console can now pre-purchase the device for $249.99 USD. The console will begin shipping on December 10, 2013, packing a Tegra 4 SoC, 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage. That's $50 less than Nvidia's Shield handheld, which has its own built-in 5 inch touch screen, mini-HDMI output and can be played anywhere.

"The M.O.J.O. Micro-Console for Android has attracted strong interest due to its high-performance hardware, open software platform and the ecosystem of accessories," said Darren Richardson, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. "M.O.J.O. is the center piece of our GameSmart mobile initiative and brings core gaming experiences to the mobile platform."

As previously mentioned, the M.O.J.O. sports a Tegra 4 quad-core chip clocked at 1.8 GHz, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal storage, Wireless N and Bluetooth 2.1/4.0 connectivity, one USB 2.0 port, one USB 3.0 port, an Ethernet port, HDMI output (full, not micro), a 3.5 mm headphone jack, and a card reader supporting SDXC cards up to 128 GB. Although Google nuked the apps2SD feature in Android a while back, this extra storage can be used to locally store photos, music and video (Play Movies doesn't support SD storage).
Android 4.2.2 "Jelly Bean" is the OS of choice, and that's good news for Android gamers who already have a large library of purchased titles stocked on Google Play. The console will ship with Google's storefront intact as well as Nvidia's TegraZone app, which lists Android games offered on Google Play that takes advantage of Tegra hardware. By comparison, the OUYA Android console launched this summer doesn't support Google Play games, and instead forces owners to purchase their games again through the console's "closed" marketplace.

The M.O.J.O. Android console also comes bundled with a GameSmart C.T.R.L.R. Wireless Gamepad that provides three different gaming modes. The device is based on Bluetooth Smart that promises lower latency, extended battery life and compatibility with other Bluetooth devices. The device even plays well with touch-focused games, allowing users to control an onscreen cursor with the left analog stick.
For the price, Android gamers are getting a console/streaming media player and a gamepad, whereas the similarly specced Nvidia Shield crams both into one form factor and adds a 5 inch touch screen for $50 more. Unfortunately, the M.O.J.O. arrives during the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 season, so even if Android gamers take notice of the Mad Catz gadget, they may be saving up their money for the shiny new mainstream consoles, and plan to continue to play their favorite Android titles on a phone or tablet.
To pre-purchase the M.O.J.O. Android console, head here.

UPDATE: Here's what Mad Catz had to say about streaming PC games from Nvidia Kepler-based PCs:
"The plan is indeed for M.O.J.O. to enable streaming from compatible PC's, allowing gamers to play their PC titles on the living room TV. However, we have not yet confirmed when this functionality will be enabled.  For PC streaming to work, M.O.J.O. will require a simple update which we hope will be available shortly after launch."

AMD Radeon R9 290 and R9 290X Specs Revealed

Final specs for AMD's newest cards have been leaked ahead of schedule.

Ever since AMD announced its new Hawaii generation of GPUs, the leaks about the new cards have been pretty regular. Last week we heard about the release dates as well as the price for the R9 290X. Now, we've got supposed full specs for the R9 290 and the R9 290X thanks to online leaks.

  

TechPowerUp reports that Japanese retailers have leaked the specs for the high-end R9 290X and its little brother, the R9 290. As far as the 290X is concerned, you're looking at 2,816 stream processors, up to 1GHz engine clock, 5.6 TFLOPS compute performance, 4 GB GDDR5 / 512-bit memory config, 5.0 Gbps memory speed, 1 x 6-pin and 1 x 8-pin power connectors, PCI-E 3.0, AMD TrueAudio Technology, and DirectX 11.2, OpenGL 4.3 and Mantle support. The R9 290 boasts 2,560 stream processors, up to 947 MHz engine clock, 4.9 TFLOPS compute performance, 4 GB GDDR5 / 512-bit memory configuration, 1 x 6-pin and 1 x 8-pin power connectors, PCI-E 3.0, AMD's TrueAudio Technology, and DirectX 11.2, OpenGL 4.3, and Mantle support.

Newegg last week priced AMD's upcoming Radeon R9 290X at $729.99 before tax, though official pricing and release dates are not yet known. If you missed out on our coverage of AMD's GPU14 Tech Day, hit up our recap here, watch the full presentation here, or scroll through our live blog for the most important moments.

GTA Online Details: Game Day Access Info and More

With just hours remaining until the initial launch of Grand Theft Auto Online, here’s some more information to share to help get everyone ready for tomorrow. You can also look forward to plenty of GTA Online game tips and other community support features to roll out at the Rockstar Games Social Club website tomorrow as well  – expect tutorial tips to be updated regularly as new content is added to GTA Online.

 

Access to GTA Online

• Access to Grand Theft Auto Online is free with your copy of Grand Theft Auto V. On October 1st there will be a small downloadable Title Update released on PlayStation Network and Xbox LIVE. Upon installation of that Title Update, direct access to begin GTA Online will be unlocked in your GTAV game menu. You will be able to jump right into GTA Online via the 4th (bottom) slot in your GTAV character wheel. We’ve received many questions asking for a specific confirmation of what exact time GTA Online will be available but of course this is contingent on both Title Updates becoming available on each console’s network. As a general timeframe, we do expect the Title Update to become available on PSN and Xbox LIVE starting around 7AM ET tomorrow morning, and your best bet is to stay tuned throughout the day here at the Rockstar Newswire and by following us on Twitter and Facebook where we will be keeping everyone updated.
   

When does GTA Online Take Place?

• Some people who’ve been playing through Grand Theft Auto V’s Story Mode have been inquiring how the narrative of GTA Online correlates or crosses over. Grand Theft Auto Online is set a few months prior to the events of Grand Theft Auto V’s single player story.
   

 

Home and Garage Security

• There’s plenty of havoc and treachery you can cause out in the open world of course, but in order to prevent some really annoying “griefing”, we’ve designed house party invitations specifically to be a friendly social affair where players can visit each other’s pads without fear of having them ruined or losing their hard-earned vehicles in the process. If someone invites you into their property, then it is considered a friendly visit and you will not be able to shoot up their place or steal their cars from their garage. By the way, in any given lobby, if you and another player own the same piece of property, you will each be able to enter your own personal instance of that property at any given time. You will also be able to enter each other’s instance of that property if you exchange and accept an invite. This way, multiple instances of ownership of the same property within a lobby can co-exist.
   

 

GTA$ and Fair Play

• To allay some concerns we’ve heard on this subject, we can assure you that the game is designed such that the option of purchasable GTA$ should not disrupt the playing field – and there are a few mechanics in place to help ensure that. All players still have to rank up with Reputation Points (RP) in order to get access to purchase high-end items.  No one can begin GTA Online and simply spend a lot of money out of the gate to get a leg up. You will have to earn your stripes and play to unlock access to the aspirational clothes, guns and other items. Please also remember that in GTA Online, hustling to afford the finer things by earning GTA$ doing robberies, stick-ups, winning races and other profitable activities is a fun gameplay experience rather than ever being a ‘grind’. As we mentioned on Wednesday, we will constantly tweak all areas of the game to make it play fairer and iron out any balancing problems (while fixing all the other problems we encounter!), but we really need your help in figuring out what those issues are. So please work with us on that!
   

 

An Ever-Growing Collection of Jobs

• Grand Theft Auto Online is a long-term GTA experience that you can expect to be built-upon, to grow and to evolve in many ways in the coming weeks, months and beyond. As part of that, there will be a massive amount of Jobs available to play over time as we will be regularly adding new ones for you to enjoy. Additionally, you will soon be helping to add content to the game world yourselves, by creating custom Race and Deathmatch Jobs through the Content Creator tool which we plan to release this fall. Grand Theft Auto Online is a collaborative project between Rockstar and all GTA players worldwide, so expect that we’ll effectively be working on it together from day one. As a very small example, the Crew Hierarchies feature that was introduced a few weeks back on Social Club was a direct result of popular fan feedback from last year – and we’ll be looking at the GTA Online community’s feedback, input and ideas constantly to help inform how the game itself will grow and evolve. As mentioned last week, we’ll be looking closely at your feedback emails sent to GTAOnline@rockstargames.com and in the GTA Online Suggestion Box board at the forthcoming Social Club Forums. We’re very much looking forward to welcoming you as active participants in the world of GTA Online starting tomorrow.
   

 

The Character Creation System

• The hereditary-based character creation system of Grand Theft Auto Online allows for a multitude of options to create your avatar that will then inhabit the online world of Los Santos & Blaine County.  Choose your gender then decide on your mother and father.  From there, you can choose to give one parent genetic dominance or leave them more evenly matched. The choice is yours. Next, you adjust a set of lifestyle variables which help determine your character’s appearance and starting stats. Decide how much sleep he/she gets, how much partying they indulge in, how much honest work versus illegal activity, and more. Essentially, you can adjust the genetics to wind up with a fresh faced lad or lass or a grizzled, haggard degenerate or anywhere in between! You’ll also be able to preview your end result in real time all throughout to ensure you’re satisfied before putting your character on a direct flight to LS. Of course, once you’re out and about in the open world, you can further customize your character with haircuts, clothing and accessories to suit your tastes.
   

Exclusive Social Club Features

 

 

• In Grand Theft Auto Online, Social Club members get access to weaponry and vehicular unlocks, a whole new suite of Crew features to represent and coordinate with your squad, and special tools to get the most out of Rockstar Jobs and user-created Jobs when the Content Creator tool launches this fall. Check out the updated www.rockstargames.com/V/socialclub for an overview of GTA Online Social Club features including new Crew customization possibilities like Crew colors and Emblem vehicle decals, Crew messaging options, and Open or Closed Crew Sessions. Plus unlocks like the Sawed-Off Shotgun, the Annis Elegy RH8 and the John Marston Parent option to do the Marston family proud in the modern day West. Also stay tuned for info later in October about the very first GTA Online Social Club Events which will have special Event Playlists curated by Rockstar, reserved in-game license plate awards for top players, and more. So, if you haven’t joined, we recommend doing so!

Expect that we’ll be keeping you up to date here at the Newswire tomorrow as the Title Updates become available on PSN and Xbox LIVE. We’re very much looking forward to seeing you and your Crews hit the wide open world of Los Santos and Blaine County in GTA Online tomorrow.

Movie Review: Besharam | Suhani says even Ranbir can't save the film

Besharam
Director: Abhinav Kashap
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Pallavi Sharda, Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Kapoor
Rating:
With Barfi! And Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Ranbir Kapoor has had two back-to-back Rs.100 crore hits. But Besharam is the only one of his films which screams, or should we say begs, for that tag. Kapoor so far has stayed clear of loud action comedies which has kept Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar in the top league. This year, Shah Rukh Khan took to the genre with Chennai Express. Shahid Kapoor gave it a shot with Phata Poster Nikhla Hero. One succeeded, the other tried but couldn't. Like these two films, Anubhav Singh Kashyap's Besharam is a formulaic entertainer with humour, romance, little drama and plenty of action. Unfortunately for Ranbir fans, it only succeeds in being formulaic and not entertaining.

It is a crass and vulgar film, says Faheem
It's a pity because does Ranbir give it his all, stooping to levels we have never seen before. This is Ranbir as Babli playing to the gallery, trying to strike a chord with audiences in small towns and those who frequent single screen cinemas. It's Ranbir's way of saying that he is not a hero solely for the urban populace in metros but has mass appeal. He can punch guys and perform high-flying stunts. His energy, verve and commitment to his character are noteworthy. Ranbir's face is always animated as he essays the role of Babli, an uncouth car thief, who frequently adjusts his underwear in public and even stuffs a sock in it to give his crotch an enhanced effect. Yes, there is a healthy dose of crude humour but credit goes to Ranbir who manages to make the cringe-worthy often amusing.

Besharam fails to impress, at all, says Rohit Khilnani

It's the reason why you are able to laugh off the cheap antics of Babli especially when he tries woo an educated, working girl, Tara Sharma (Pallavi Sharda). The first half of the film, like Kashyap's Dabangg, is spent with Babli persistently following Tara around in the hopes that she will return his affection. His approach involves making embarrassing, often vulgar, statements and being unapologetic about it. But his cheap demeanour and tacky ways and his job don't impress Tara one bit. You wouldn't blame her for spurning a guy like Babli. However, this is a formulaic Bollywood film and we know that the irritated and angry Tara will subsequently fall for him, even though they don't seem a match at all.

While Dabangg's emotional quotient came from a father-son conflict, here it comes from the absence of parental figures in Babli's life. Babli is an oprhan. The supporting cast includes a pair of police officers, Chulbul Pandey (Rishi Kapoor) and his wife Bulbul Pandey (Neetu Kapoor), who are married and constantly bickering. The few scenes in which the real-life couple are at each other's throat, making disparaging remarks and wounding each other's pride adds a fun touch to the proceedings. But Kashyap fails to make most of his trump card - having Kapoor sharing screen with his parents for the first time. There are only a handful of scenes, which are the highlights of the film.

It is a novel idea wasted, says Vinayak
 
Ranbir's earnest performance alone can't rescue a film which has a wafer-thin story and where the structure is predictable. It goes like this: a song, a scene with Chulbul and Bulbul Pandey, some banter between Babli and Tara, a scene with Babli and his sidekick (underused Amitosh Nagpal), back to a song, some more banter, some action, another song and on and on. The soundtrack is a huge disappointment with none of the songs barring the title track holding your attention. It doesn't help that Kashyap shoots all of them in a typical manner: a huge ostentatious set packed with an army of background dancers hopping about. We could hear the audiences sighing in the theatre whenever a song emerged especially in the second half.

Javed Jaaferi makes fleeting appearance as the antagonist and his menacing act fails to really inspire any sense of threat. With no real competition until October 16 when Akshay Kumar's Boss makes its way to cinemas, Besharam will hit the Rs.100 crore mark easily. But it lacks the ingredients to keep the audiences engaged. Only Ranbir's uninhibited performance makes Besharam worth a watch.

Blogger vs. WordPress.com: A Complete Comparison

Not long ago I wrote a two-part series about the main differences between a self-hosted blog and the other option of using a “free” blogging service. Opinions were split but there’s no arguing that the two undisputed kings of the free blogging sphere are Google’s Blogger and the content management system-turned-host WordPress.com.
While both offer what every free-thinking democracy-guzzling thought-cannon wants – a place to express themselves – there are some core differences in each service. Both WordPress.com and Blogger are workable free solutions, but which is the right one for you?
This detailed breakdown of each service should hopefully help you decide.

What You Get For Free

WordPress.com is a commercial venture. It’s a way for the kind souls who have put time, money and a whole load of effort into the open source and free-to-download WordPress blogging engine to make some money back. They do this by making it stupidly simple to set up and maintain a blog, while introducing some rather hefty limitations for experienced users.
A free WordPress.com account offers:

• A blog, which you can turn into a full-on static or hybrid (part blog, part static) website.
• 3GB of free storage for posts and media.
• Publicize, a tool for connecting your blog with social networks.
• Free statistics for tracking visitors.
• Access to hundreds of non-premium themes, many of which can be customised further.
• WordPress.com access from mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, Android and BlackBerry.

WordPress.com designates the following as premium upgrades:

• Custom Design ($30 per blog, per year) adds custom CSS (not PHP editing) and fonts.
• Custom Domains ($13 per domain, per blog, per year) removes the .wordpress.com part of your URL.
• Guided Transfer ($129 one-off payment) for transferring your WordPress.com site to your own web-host for greater independence and freedom.
• Ad-free ($30 per blog, per year) removes any possibility of WordPress.com showing adverts on your blog to non-logged in visitors.
• Premium themes (priced per blog for the lifetime of the blog).
• A redirect ($13 per blog, per year) for redirecting traffic from yourblog.wordpress.com to your new domain.
• Additional space (priced per amount) for storing more posts and media.
• VideoPress ($60 per blog, per year) for uploading, hosting and embedding your own videos on your WordPress.com blog.

Conversely, Blogger is not a commercial service. It was acquired by Google in 2003 who have since kept it ticking over, with a few redesigns and some recently-added new templates. The rather ancient Blogger features page (ancient because it explicitly mentions uploading to Google Video and easily accessing iGoogle, two of Google’s many dead projects) promises users access to all features. There are no upgrades, no fees for adding a custom domain, and all the customization options thrown in that Blogger has available.
Included features worth noting are:

• A template designer for customizing your blog’s appearance.
• Free hosting, free Blogger (or Blogspot) sub-domain and option of using a custom domain (either registering through Blogger or using one you already have).
• The ability to add media to your posts, with no quoted maximum storage space.
• Quick access to Google’s advertising schemes.
• Pages static content on your blog.
• Mobile access via iPhone and Android apps, as well as SMS or email blogging.

It would seem that despite WordPress having the plugins and themes markets sewn up, Blogger still offers more for those looking for a free service.

The Sign-Up Process

WordPress.com allows you to register for an account with an email address, username, password and URL. Blogger is a Google service, and just like YouTube, requires a Google account. If you already have a Google account then this makes signing up a painless affair, but if you don’t (highly unlikely, unless you have something against Google), you’ll have to register for the whole package. This also means if you do have a personal Google Account but want to distance yourself from the topic you’re blogging about you’re going to have to create a new account, and also deal with Google’s messy multiple-account management.


Google’s sign-up process doesn’t indicate that you do not need to supply a mobile phone number or an email address, despite asking for one. Conversely WordPress.com only asks to fill out four fields but will also run a check for the URL you enter and try to sell you a premium domain (which costs to register, and requires an account upgrade to use on WordPress.com) as well as pointing out the flaws in the free account
you’re about to register.


Once you’ve got yourself an account it’s time to start creating one or more blogs. With a Google Account you’re free to establish multiple blogs on the Blogger service. Each new WordPress.com blog you decide to create can also be linked to your existing account, so neither service will require a lot of user switching in order to maintain a stack of blogs.

Creating Your First Blog

WordPress.com users will be thrown into the blog-creation process as soon as they have confirmed their email address with the service. Click the Activate Blog link in your email and you’ll be invited to give your blog a name, subtitle, and language before choosing a theme. WordPress is famously customizable, earning much of its good name for the huge number of themes and plugins available in the standalone open-source release.

The WordPress.com team has definitely tried to retain that same feeling, with new customizable themes in the latest WordPress release making an appearance here allowing you to customize the theme you’ve chosen immediately.

This really helps to separate your blog from the rest of the WordPress world, so you should seize the opportunity to quickly stamp your mark on your patch of WordPress.com.

Google’s process is a little different and first requires you choose (or create) a profile. This is part of Google’s big push to get us all to start using Google+ and our real names on YouTube. If you’re not interested in Google+, a real name or picture, you can opt to create what Google is now calling a “limited Blogger profile” which is essentially a display name of your choosing, so go wild.

Once your profile is set (you can change it by clicking your name in the top-right) you’ll see the rather clean and attractive Blogger back-end. There will be a list of your blogs (which will be empty) and an area below for adding other blogs to follow. Create a blog by clicking New Blog.

The window that appears looks very similar to the WordPress.com variant, asking for a blog name and URL to be associated with the blog and offering a few templates to choose from. Click Create Blog! and you’ve just created your first blog – no more work required. Using this method you could set up a whole string of blogs in a matter of minutes.

Managing Your Blog

Both WordPress and Blogger have centralized areas from which to manage your blog empire, which are separate to the settings for the blogs themselves. The two areas are equally attractive and usable, with both services featuring an area to read blogs you follow as well as the various outlets under your control.

On WordPress this takes the form of a deep attractive blue theme with a tabulated layout that allows you to quickly switch between reading, overseeing blogs and managing analytics in addition to a quick post button.

Blogger houses all of this on the one page, with a quick compose button found next to the blog title itself. Beneath this are new posts from the blogs you have chosen to follow on the service. It goes without saying that you can’t follow Blogger blogs on WordPress.com and vice-versa, though it would be nice if we could all get along.

I’d be surprised if there are many people reading this who aren’t familiar with the screenshot above, which is the WordPress dashboard. Aside from a lick of paint and the odd facelift this UI hasn’t changed for years, and that’s because it’s great. Everything is compartmentalized, making it easy to find settings, compose a new post or page and mass-edit your content.
There’s one addition here that you won’t see on standard, self-hosted WordPress blogs and that’s the Store tab. Here you will find all those upgrades I mentioned earlier, as well as a few bundles that promise to save you money. This is another reminder of the big divide between the two services – one’s going to eventually cost you while the other will remain free (and probably slightly more limited).

Blogger’s back-end closely mirrors the WordPress look, with a similar menu bar floating to the left of the page. Straight up you’ll see statistics (this is also true for WordPress) and an overview of incoming posts, comments and new followers. Much like WordPress this is a very effective and responsive UI that does everything you could (probably) ever want.
The Blogger back-end hides a few features that might take a small amount of hunting to find – like adding users to your blog. On WordPress this has its own menu item, but on Blogger it’s hidden in the Settings menu. Both systems support widgets, though WordPress has a lot more to offer (with your theme dictating just how many widget areas you can use). This is a recurring theme, with WordPress feeling like the more mature blogging platform.

Customization & Themes

Both services offer a range of themes, though Blogger’s range is understandably more limited than that offered by WordPress which has benefitted from years of third-party theme development. With a free WordPress account you get access to hundreds of free themes which you can enable on your site in a click. Blogger’s limited range is split between fluid “dynamic” themes that will scale for larger and smaller screens, and older simple fixed-width blogs. You’ll probably want to choose one of the eight dynamic themes and their many different layouts which are highly adaptable depending on your content.

Each service comes equipped with a theme customizer for further fine-tuning your chosen theme. Oddly enough the Blogger customization options seem to run deeper than WordPress, allowing you to add your own custom CSS and edit the HTML without exchanging money first. You can even use a slider to change the width of your layout in pixels, at least for the dynamic layouts.

I was surprised to see that the WordPress.com theme customizer is different to that in the latest open source release. The new layout uses a touch-friendly sidebar that runs down the right-hand side of the screen and looks like it has fallen straight out of a Windows Blue developer preview. It looks good, but it’s really not that powerful, allowing you to change only a few variables like background, colors, header images but no additional CSS (that’s a premium feature) or the ability to change your site’s favicon.
The real difference here is minimal, after all if you really want to change your WordPress.com site’s look and feel you can choose from hundreds of ready-to-go themes. Blogger doesn’t have that depth, but instead favors those who are willing to take the time to carefully modify it. WordPress feels clipped by comparison, while Blogger isn’t dazzlingly complex it retains some advanced customization that WordPress.com sticks behind a paywall.

Both services also come with basic mobile theme support, which can be enabled or disabled as you see fit. WordPress takes the one-theme-fits-all approach, offering little in the way of customization while Blogger gives you a chance to choose a completely different mobile theme to your main blog theme, if you really want to.

The fact remains that both are effective and look great on my iPhone 5, scrolling fluidly and making excellent use of the limited space.

Expandability & Monetization

WordPress has traditionally been the blogging platform of non-bloggers the world over. By this I mean you can turn a simple WordPress blog into a static website, an ecommerce website, a photo gallery, promotional site and even your own microblog. It’s a workhorse that is adaptable in its open source, downloadable form.
This functionality does not carry over to the WordPress.com hosting service, and it’s a real shame. There are plugins, but they’re curated premium packages that are charged yearly for every blog you use. This means you might find yourself paying out more in upgrade prices per year than what it would cost you to host and manage the website yourself. This would be fine, but WordPress.com hosting severely limits you – there’s no direct editing of the code itself (even with an upgrade) and you don’t have webspace for other non-WordPress projects.

Of course, Blogger isn’t much better and has no plugin support whatsoever. Both services do however support pages, which can include HTML, text and various media. You can also redirect to a website of your choice using this method.
The only platform that will allow you to make a bit of money out of blogging is Blogger. You can choose to enable Google AdSense on your blog which will show targeted adverts based on your content. You’ll need to get some content up first, before choosing the option from the Earnings menu entry. This is in contrast to WordPress.com which has a “remove ads” upgrade to remove adverts shown to your non-logged-in visitors but has no option for opting into a monetization scheme of your own. This is not to say you can’t implement your own rudimentary adverts using widgets, but it’s far from an advertising scheme.

Free blog platforms aren’t the best way of monetizing your writing, particularly for WordPress users who will be interested in the many SEO and advertising-based plugins used by many successful websites. For more information download and read our detailed guide about monetizing a blog.

Social Media & Sharing

WordPress definitely takes the crown when it comes to social media integration, with the Publicize feature (found under Settings > Sharing) allowing you to connect to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Tumblr for automatic sharing. This menu also allows you to turn on and off sharing buttons, with big names like StumbleUpon, Pinterest and Reddit appearing alongside the option to email or print the article. These tools are very powerful and make up for a lack of plugins, as many WordPress users would add this functionality that way.

Blogger seems to only play nicely with Google+, which is a real shame because it’s the most deserted of the big three. Twitter and Facebook integration at the least would be nice, but you do get +1, Tweet and Like buttons on each post. There is luckily one workaround and that’s through the use of the excellent IFTTT web service.
IFTTT allows you to automate online tasks, like recording status updates and receiving notifications about new items on Craigslist. It can also be used with Blogger to trigger social media updates like Facebook statuses and Tweets when you publish new posts, and can even be used to create new blog entries from other actions, like Instagram photos saved or images added to Dropbox.
Check out what Blogger and IFTTT are capable of when paired together at the IFTTT website.

Writing A Post

WordPress uses two composers – the quick composer accessible from the main blog hub (above) and the traditional “everything including the kitchen sink” WordPress post editor which has always been a joy to use. I’m not overly impressed with the quick editor, but it’s a personal preference and probably works for quick posts that don’t need to be scheduled. The main editor (below) is as fantastic as ever, with a few extra features.

Here you can compose, edit HTML, add media, format text, add tags and schedule your posts. The WordPress composer actively scans your post and suggests tags to help you better categorize your content as well as the related content pane which suggests news stories and images based on the contents of your post.

You can also choose to categorize your post using WordPress custom post types and depending on the theme you have installed these various content types will appear differently on your blog. Choose Standard for text-heavy blog posts, Quote for a brief quote formatted accordingly or Image to post a photo that displays prominently. One thing you can’t add to your posts without paying is video. It’s fine to embed a video from YouTube but you can’t host the video file on your blog without a $60 per year upgrade.

The Blogger composer is also very dynamic and powerful, and actually looks like the Google Docs word processor with more orange. This allows you to edit HTML on the page, format text, upload and embed videos and other media as well as add tags, a location, edit the permalink and choose to schedule or not.
There’s no tagging help or related content to speak of in Blogger, and while it’s a nice feature on WordPress.com, for me it’s not really a deal-breaker.

Front-End & Mobile

The appearance of each blog, and each post, depends entirely on the theme and layout you end up choosing. For the purpose of this article I’ve left the default dynamic Blogger layout on and the Twenty Twelve WordPress.com default theme, neither of which have been tweaked at all.

Above is a WordPress.com blog, below is a Blogger blog.

Both will require a certain amount of work in order to get your blog looking sharp and unique, but both are also good to go from the beginning. Both look great on a mobile device, with dedicated mobile themes. Both allow you to build a static website. Both are visually quite pleasing, but only one is completely free to use.

In Conclusion

I could write another article to draw a conclusion from these findings, but the fact remains that each is suitable for different purposes. Blogger is highly attractive for its completely free model – there are no restrictions, if Blogger can do it, so can you. WordPress however will frustrate, particularly if you have used WordPress on a self-hosted blog in the past. The fact also remains that if your blog is the success that you probably hope it will be, that 3GB of space will eventually fill up, or you’ll want to add your own domain name or you’ll encounter another reason you suddenly need to upgrade. At this point you’d probably be better off with your own hosting package, at least in terms of value for money.
Blogger will scale – there will be no nasty surprise a year or two down the line when you suddenly need more space or decide to start hosting video on your blog. Blogger is arguably more customizable with its core template HTML editing abilities and the ability to add CSS. The result is more of a tweaker’s platform, something the standalone open source version of WordPress has long been but that the hosted WordPress.com variant avoids entirely. My only concern about Blogger is Google’s recent wave of closures including iGoogle and Google Reader. If they decide to pull the plug on Blogger then the service and its users will be forced to find new homes. It’s unlikely because Google is currently using Blogger for its own press purposes, but then again a switch to Google+ seems to be creeping ever closer.
Blogger is the platform to choose if you’re after a free product that might allow you to make a bit of money back. WordPress is there for those who are in love with its huge variety of themes, excellent UI and post composer and the user-friendly approach. Each is a viable blogging platform within five minutes of registering an account, but you are the person who will have to decide which one is right for you. That, or choose something different entirely.
Let us know what you think in the comments – are you a Blogger or WordPress.com user? Would you ditch it all and go for a standalone WordPress website? Add your input in the comments, below.