LG Optimus G (AT&T)

ABC Reiew Slide 2 Slide 3 Slide 4 Previous Next CNET Editors' Rating 4.0 stars Excellent CNET Editors' Rating 4.0 stars Excellent

• Overall rating: 8.0
• Design: 8.0
• Features: 8.0
• Performance: 8.0

Set price alert Review Date: 10/12/12 Average User Rating 0.0 stars No reviews. Write a review
The good: AT&T's LG Optimus G has Qualcomm's lightning-quick quad-core processor, supports 4G LTE, and has a gorgeous display.
The bad: The Optimus G's camera has a harsh flash and some of its photos fell flat, it has a short battery life, and its speaker audio quality was tinny.
The bottom line: With its speedy internals, LTE data speeds, and stunning screen, the LG Optimus G is one of the phone-maker's best handsets so far, but it can't escape its weak battery and camera.
Editors' Top Picks

• 1 Apple iPhone 5 (AT&T, Sprint, Verizon) 4.0 stars
• 2 Samsung Galaxy S III (S3) (T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, U.S. Cellular) Starting at$49.99 4.0 stars
• 3 HTC One X (AT&T) Starting at$99.99 4.0 stars
• 4 LG Optimus 4X HD (Unlocked) 4.0 stars

For the last several years, LG has struggled to create a compelling, high-quality phones that outsell competing models. With the Optimus G, LG aims higher than ever before...and mostly nails it.
With its large, bright, and beautiful display; Android 4.0; LTE speeds; and Qualcomm's first, very fast, very impressive quad-core processor, AT&T's version of the Optimus G is one of LG's best-ever phones.
Yet even though LG reaches for the top, the Optimus G still fails to offer anything truly innovative or wowing, apart from the chipset. The Optimus G's design is pleasant and functional, but uninspired; its 8-megapixel camera is weaker than that of the top-tier competition, and its battery life can't meet the phone's bright screen and performance demands. (Sprint's Optimus G version is arguably the better device, thanks to its crisper 13-megapixel camera.)
There's very little that's actually wrong with the device, but even with the bulging processing muscle, the Optimus G won't sweep aside the Samsung Galaxy S3 or iPhone 5, and we expect the forthcoming HTC One X+ and Nokia Lumia 920 to put on the pressure.
Design and build The LG Optimus G, which comes in black and white, has a familiar square slate design. The corners round ever so slightly, but the edges of the phone face drop in steep cliffs that create a noticeable edge. The spine then slopes more gently into the back, creating a more comfortable handhold than if you grip the phone by its face. While pleasant-looking and functional, it certainly isn't pushing boundaries, defining your personality, or wowing you with standout machining. In fact, it reminds us of the unlocked Samsung Galaxy S II.
Standing 5.01 inches tall by 2.8 inches wide by 0.37 inch thick, the Optimus G comes in slightly wider and thinner than LG's international quad-core phone, the Optimus 4X HD (which measures 5.19 inches by 2.69 inches by 0.38 inch). Its 5.44-ounce heft makes it solid, but also on the heavy side. Still, it's a smidge lighter than the 4X HD as well.

The LG Optimus G sports a unique polarized Gorilla Glass backing.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)
Like other jumbo phones, you won't be able to squeeze the Optimus G into smaller pockets, and this is no one-handed device. However, tossing it into a bag or larger back pocket works just fine. We were able to tote it around in a stretchy back pocket. It didn't look very attractive protruding from the material, but ambulation was possible.
LG calls its 4.7-inch Optimus G's peeper a True HD IPS+ display; that translates to a 1,280x768-pixel resolution (WXGA). The Optimus G's 15:9 aspect ratio is a little off the 16:9 standard, but that hasn't bothered us so far. Pixel density comes in at 320ppi. For reference, the Nokia Lumia 920 has 332ppi, the iPhone 5 has 326ppi, and the Samsung Galaxy S3 has a 306 pixel-per-inch density.
The absolute pixel density, by the way, only indicates clarity, but suffice it to say that this beautiful screen did not disappoint, giving bright and crisp edges and vivid, appealing color.
There's more to know about the dominating screen as well. LG boasts that its "Touch Hybrid Display" technology makes the screen 30 percent slimmer because it removes the air gaps separating the cover glass from the touch layers -- and light source -- below. LG isn't the only company to do this; the iPhone 5 and HTC One X advertise a similar process. In addition, using Corning's Gorilla Glass 2 on the front and back panels contributes to the weight, but could also lend strength. However, we're not interested in smashing the phone on concrete to test durability against cracks.
Below the display are touch-sensitive buttons to go back, go home, and pull up the menu. Press and hold Home to also open your list of recent apps. Do the same to the menu button to pull up a Google search bar.
Above the screen, you'll find the 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera. The volume rocker hangs out on the left spine, along with a covered bay that holds the SIM and microSD card slots. The power button is on the right. (We not-so-secretly wish this is also where the hardware camera button would be, but its absence doesn't earn any black marks.)
You'll charge the Optimus G through a Micro-USB charging port on the bottom of the phone, and you'll push in your headset into the 3.5mm jack up top. Nestled into the polarized (and patent-pending!) back panel are the 8-megapixel camera lens and LED flash.
A better look at AT&T's LG Optimus G (pictures) 1-2 of 6 Scroll Left Scroll Right

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Features and OS The LG Optimus G runs on Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich. Although we'd prefer to see Android 4.1 Jelly Bean on this device, we can't really fault LG for not being more current. With Ice Cream Sandwich, the Optimus G receives all of Google's services, like Chrome, Car Home, Gmail, Maps with Navigation, Search, and YouTube. Google's line of Play Book, Magazines, Movies and TV, Music, and Store are included as well.
AT&T also loaded some of its apps, such as a code scanner, a family member locator, a storage cloud, AT&T Ready2Go, which lets users set up their phones through their computers, a hot-spot manager, its own brand of navigation and messaging, a live TV portal with a weeklong trial, and an app that enables users to check their AT&T account and data balance.
Other goodies include two file-sharing apps (SmartShare and FileShare), Amazon Kindle, Facebook, the mobile office suite known as Polaris Office 4.0, Twitter, a video editor, and the Yellow Pages. And of course, there are basic task-managing apps, such as: a native browser and e-mail client, music and movie players, a clock with alarm functions, an address book, a notepad, and voice command.
Furthermore, LG packed its flagship device with tons of interesting features. Some we've seen before, like the Optimus 3.0 user interface. We're internally divided over the UI. On one hand, LG has done a nice job of adding some functionality without imposing too much of its own personality on top of Ice Cream Sandwich. On the other hand, it's not as sleek and elegant as Google's vision of the OS, and certain widgets come across looking dated. However, users can customize certain app icons with four differentlyvthemed choices for completely new icon looks. Rest assured, however, that the OS doesn't get in the way of using the phone.
LG's signature note-taking app, QuickMemo, is packaged with Optimus 3.0, so it's no surprise that it's loaded in this handset too. It lets you jot down with your finger or stylus, quick notes or sketches directly over screen images, which you can then save and share. You can also customize the color and style of your pen tip.

Like most recent higher-end LG phones, the Optimus G includes QuickMemo.
(Credit: Lynn La/CNET)
In addition, Dual Screen Dual Play lets you mirror screen images between the phone and another TV or monitor. And what's displayed doesn't necessarily have to be the same content. Other extras include pinch-zooming during recorded video playback; Wise screen, which keeps the screen on when it detects someone's face staring at it; an aspect ratio corrector that corrects how downloaded apps display in case of screen distortion; a battery saver that helps to conserve power and battery reserves; LG motion gestures so users can control certain functions (like pausing video or turning off an alarm) through physical gestures; and an eco mode module that optimizes the Optimus G's quad-core performance.
The phone has the usual connections of Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth. There's also NFC support, but unfortunately, the AT&T version won't include LG Tag+ stickers, which enable lets users activate customizable phone settings with NFC (the Sprint model, however, will). You'll be able to access system settings from the notifications pull-down, and pinching and zooming on the home screens gives you a bird's-eye view.
Camera and video AT&T's version of the Optimus 4G comes with an 8-megapixel camera that sits flush with the phone backing. If you're looking for the version with the 13-megapixel camera though, head on over to Sprint. You can check out the 13-megapixel camera quality here.
Back at AT&T, the Optimus G has all the same camera software as its Sprint counterpart. There are controls to choose among seven scene modes, five white-balance modes, and four color effects. You can choose resolution that goes from 8-megapixels down to 1-megapixel. Geotagging, brightness, and flash are other settings. While you can select your favorite of four shutter sounds, we weren't able to turn the sound off. LG gets a slight demerit there for the lack of a stealth mode.
For fancier shooting options, you're able to turn on HDR mode (high dynamic range), or take a sweeping panorama. There's also continuous shot mode, which takes a burst of six photos. There are also some fun things you can do with the camera: Time Catch Shot takes a series of six shots around an event, so you can choose the best single image to keep.
You can also use a voice trigger that will take photos if you say one of five programmed words: cheese, smile, whiskey, kimchi, or LG. Just beware that you may snap unwanted shots when instructing people to say "cheese."
Continue to next page 1 2 Editors' Top Picks

• 1 Apple iPhone 5 (AT&T, Sprint, Verizon) 4.0 stars
• 2 Samsung Galaxy S III (S3) (T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, U.S. Cellular) Starting at$49.99 4.0 stars
• 3 HTC One X (AT&T) Starting at$99.99 4.0 stars
• 4 LG Optimus 4X HD (Unlocked) 4.0 stars

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Sony Vaio Duo 11

ABC Reiew Slide 2 Slide 3 Slide 4 Previous Next CNET Editors' Rating 3.0 stars Good CNET Editors' Rating 3.0 stars Good

• Overall rating: 6.5
• Design: 5.0
• Features: 6.0
• Performance: 8.0
• Battery life: 7.0
• Service and support: 7.0

Set price alert Review Date: 10/11/12 Average User Rating 5.0 stars 1 user review
The good: The Sony Vaio Duo 11 has a fine set of specs for an ultrabook and an excellent full-HD touch screen on which to take advantage of the Windows 8-style interface.
The bad: The Duo's design misses the mark for use as a tablet and a laptop, feeling like too much of a compromise.
The bottom line: While there are certainly things to like about the Sony Vaio Duo 11, the design gets in the way of enjoying them.
Sony is selling the Vaio Duo 11 as being the best of both worlds: a full-HD laptop and touch-screen tablet in one. And it is both of those things -- sort of.
It does have a full-HD 11.6-inch display. The display is a touch screen. The Duo can be used as a tablet and, thanks to Sony's Surf Slider design, the screen can be lifted and slid back to reveal a keyboard. It's the "best" part we object to, because while it sounds cool, the design is disappointing for several reasons.
Outside of the design, the rest of the Duo -- components, performance, battery life, Windows 8 usability -- all adds up to a good tablet/computer. But we expect there will be many more convertible tablets like the Duo coming soon, so you may just want to take a wait-and-see approach with this category for the time being.
Design No one we showed the Duo 11 to was impressed with the design. The idea, yes; everyone was in agreement that a device that works as a full Windows 8 laptop and a tablet is solid. But the Duo isn't it and comes off as a tablet cobbled together with a makeshift keyboard.
Used as a tablet, the screen -- while really nice and responsive -- is a little too big to hold comfortably, so it's best used on your lap or on a table. Certainly not the end of the world, but if you're looking for a tablet to use while walking around, you'll definitely want to lay hands on a Duo to try out before you buy.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
The real disappointment comes when you slide back the display, though. First, if you hand it to someone who's never opened it, they can't figure out how. And even if they do know how, it's not terribly easy. You need to lift up on the display from the back, but there's nothing really to pull up with and if you're not paying attention, it's all too easy to attempt to lift from the wrong side and potentially rip the screen off its hinges.
With the display up, you'll see a keyboard that looks not unlike the type made for an Apple iPad. However, because of the wide-screen display and the need to counterbalance it when up, the keyboard is wide and slim, resulting in some very small keys. Unless you're a very accurate typist, it's probably going to take a lot of practice to type efficiently on it. At least it's backlit.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
There's no touch pad, but instead there's an optical pointer. It's a little touch-sensitive nub between the G and H keys along with three mouse buttons at the bottom below the spacebar. Not having a touch pad mainly proved a problem when using the traditional Windows Desktop interface, since the Windows 8-style interface is designed more for touch-screen use. In other words, for one interface the Duo is great, for the other, not so much.
Sony includes a digitizer stylus, which can be used instead of the nub or for writing and drawing on the screen with certain applications, including a note-taking app called Note Anytime and the excellent ArtRage Studio Pro. The problem with using the stylus instead of a touch pad is that you have to keep picking it up and putting it down. Also, when you're not using it, there is no place on the body of the Duo to stash it.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
Lastly, the screen support mechanism itself is a bit of an issue for me. From the side, you can see two ribbon cables coming up from the body of the keyboard section to the display. You can also see its hinges and springs, the inside of the plastic back panel, and, well, it just generally looks unfinished. Plus, there's no adjustment of the screen angle, which makes some sense because the keyboard section has to balance the screen when upright. It also means, though, that if it's not at a good angle for how you're seated or your lighting, you're out of luck.
Features On the inside, the Duo 11's main components aren't different from those of other ultrabooks we've tested, including a third-gen Core i5 processor, 6GB of memory, and a 128GB solid-state drive (SSD). The display, on the other hand, is.
Price as reviewed $1,199.99 Processor 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U Memory 6GB, 1,333MHz DDR3 Hard drive 128GB SSD Chipset Intel HM76 Express Graphics Intel HD 4000 Operating system Windows 8 (64-bit) Dimensions (WD) 12.6x7.8 inches Height 0.71 inch Screen size (diagonal) 11.6 inches System weight / Weight with AC adapter 2.9 pounds / 3.5 pounds Category Convertible
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
Yes, it's a touch screen, but it also has a 1,920x1,080-pixel native resolution using in-plane switching technology for excellent viewing angles and color consistency. Many of the ultrabooks we've reviewed have used 1,366x768-pixel-resolution screens that wash out or invert colors off-angle. The glass goes edge to edge, too, which allows swiping in from the edge of the screen for Windows 8 features like quickly switching to previously used applications.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
Helping mark the bottom and top of the display are a Windows Start Menu button and a 2.4-megapixel Webcam with a Sony Exmor R sensor. The screen automatically -- and slowly -- changes orientation depending on how you're holding it, which can be irritating as it pops into different views. There were several times when sliding the display up that the picture would rotate upside down, forcing me to tip the computer forward to get it to right itself.
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Sony Vaio Tap 20

ABC Reiew Slide 2 Slide 3 Slide 4 Previous Next CNET Editors' Rating 3.5 stars Very good CNET Editors' Rating 3.5 stars Very good

• Overall rating: 7.2
• Design: 8.0
• Features: 6.0
• Performance: 7.0
• Service and support: 7.0

Set price alert Review Date: 10/11/12 Average User Rating 0.0 stars No reviews. Write a review
The good: By slapping a battery inside a 20-inch touch-screen all-in-one to make the Sony Vaio Tap 20, the company has given birth to a new PC category with great potential in tech-savvy homes.
The bad: The touch screen has some frustrating drag, and Sony made a few missteps among some otherwise reasonable sacrifices for portability and price.
The bottom line: A compelling experiment in tablet-desktop hybridization, the Sony Vaio Tap 20 is a great fit for home tech enthusiasts willing to try something new.
What, you thought desktops were immune from the tabletization sweeping over Windows 8 laptops?
You could reasonably feel skeptical about the Sony Vaio Tap 20. For a 20-inch all-in-one touch-screen desktop with no optical drive and a low-voltage Core i5 chip, $999 seems like a lot to ask. But thanks to a built-in battery and a semiportable design, the Tap 20 might be the most unique Windows 8-launch PC.
The appeal of this desktop-tablet hybrid is that it addresses a problem that has nagged all-in-one makers for years. Often pitched as a kitchen PC, a secondary home entertainment center, or some kind of family organizational kiosk, the all-in-one has always fell short of its ambition to elevate the humble desktop PC. A tablet or a laptop can do all of those things, often at a lower price, and more conveniently due to their smaller size. Those mobile devices also don't require a power cable.
By shedding the cord, at least in 3-to-4-hour doses, Sony's new PC can offer true short-range portability. It also brings with it a larger screen than you'll find on most current mobile devices. The Vaio Tap 20 won't be for everyone, but I won't be surprised if its in-home flexibility attracts an enthusiast niche.
Design One key to straddling the line between desktop and tablet is finding the right display size. If the screen is too small, you might as well just make a laptop. Go too large and you hurt usability. The Tap 20 measures 19.75 inches wide, 12.13 inches high, and, at the thickest point of its tapered back panel, 1.5 inches deep. It weighs just under 11.25 pounds.
You can imagine the Tap 20 or a competing product perhaps weighing less, or having a thinner display, but overall Sony appears to have achieved a reasonable balance between desktop size and power and tablet convenience.
The display itself is covered in glass, but the body is all soft, rounded plastic, with grip-friendly indents along the left and right edges on the back panel. You most likely won't carry the Tap 20 around in a backpack or a briefcase, but the average adult should be able to move it from room to room or up and down stairs with little difficulty. And while 11 pounds is almost eight times the weight of an iPad, the Tap 20 isn't so heavy that it's uncomfortable to use in your lap for an extended period.
When you set the Tap 20 on your lap like a tablet, or lay it down flat on a coffee table, the touch screen becomes the most natural way to interact with it. For general navigation and inputting single commands the touch screen feels as responsive as that of a typical smartphone. You might notice some physical drag on your finger in apps that require continuous contact, like air hockey or art programs. The drag isn't bad enough to spoil the entire experience, but it's annoying when you encounter it.
In desktop mode, with the stand fully extended from the back panel, the Vaio Tap 20 takes up about 7 inches of desktop real estate, front to back, and not counting the included wireless mouse and keyboard. The power cable plugs into a port on the right side of the system, and leads down to a laptop-size power brick. Anyone with an aversion to cables will welcome the small power brick, although you can imagine an opportunity for wireless charging if the battery-powered all-in-one idea takes off.
Sony Vaio Tap 20 Vizio CA27-A1 HP Pavilion 23-1000z Price $999 $1,149 $699 Display size/resolution 20-inch, 1,600x900 pixels 27-inch, 1,920x1,080 pixels 23-inch, 1,920x1,080 pixels CPU 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-3210M 3.6GHz AMD A-6 5400K Memory 4GB 1,600MHz DDR3 SDRAM 4GB 1,333MHZ DDR3 SDRAM 4GB 1,600MHz DDR3 SDRAM Graphics 64MB Intel HD Graphics 4000 1GB Nvidia Geforce GT 640M LE 512MB AMD Radeon HD7540D Hard drives 750GB, 5,400rpm 1TB, 7,200rpm 1TB, 7,200rpm Optical drive None None dual-layer DVD burner Networking Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n wireless, NFC Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n wireless Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n wireless Operating system Windows 8 (64-bit) Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Features Looking down the Vaio Tap 20's primary features list, you'll see that Sony made some very clear sacrifices for the sake of portability and price. The 20-inch display makes sense as a way to keep the Tap 20's size and weight down, and in order to manage heat and battery life, Sony chose an ultralow-voltage 1.7GHz Intel Core i5 mobile CPU. The absence of an optical drive is conspicuous, but likely helps keep the Tap 20's thickness in check, and it's not out of keeping with other Windows 8 PCs.
The cuts for price are another issue. Among those, I count the 1,600x900-pixel-resolution display, the 750GB hard drive, and the absence of an HDMI input. Sony can reasonably argue that keeping the price under $1,000 makes the Tap 20 easier to consider as a tablet or laptop alternative. The screen also looks good enough and the hard drive is large enough that they don't present huge stumbling blocks to the Tap 20's functionality.
The absence of an HDMI input hurts. With that port, you could have connected the Sony to any video source in your home and used it as a secondary display. You can expand the Vaio's video capabilities with a USB-powered optical drive, or even a USB TV tuner, but a true HDMI input would make it far easier to connect the Sony to a cable box, a game console, or other entertainment devices, and without the hassle of a Windows installation.
It also has a dubious feature in its Near Field Communication "capability." I use the quotes because the Tap 20's NFC doesn't seem to work. I tried sending photos from an NFC-equipped Sony laptop, a Sony smartphone, and smartphones from Nokia and Samsung. I got as far as the Tap 20 making an electronic trickling noise when it recognized the existence of another NFC device. With the laptop, I also saw a pop-up window asking for permission to receive the file. That's as far as it got.
I'll grant that the NFC experience could improve with the right software update. I'd still rather have an HDMI input.
Other features include a 800p/1 megapixel Webcam, an SD card slot, a pair of USB 3.0 jacks, and analog headphone and microphone inputs. Sony also boasts a video engine from its Bravia TVs in the Tap 20. The impact on video was the same as with the Vaio L-Series all-in-one I reviewed earlier this year. The Bravia engine can improve color vibrancy in some cases, but overdoes the sharpness in others. Overall the benefits aren't particularly game-changing. At least the Tap 20's Dolby-assisted audio output gets sufficiently loud, although you will need to dig into the settings to address some tinniness from the default setup.
Performance I mentioned the Tap 20's small power brick earlier. It can be small thanks in part to this PC's low-voltage variant of an Intel Core i5 mobile processor. Yes, low voltage means slower performance, and that's reflected in the Core i5's 1.7GHz core clock speed. Standard-voltage third-generation Core i5 mobile CPUs start at 2.5GHz. The lower voltage, which also reduce the speed of the embedded Intel HD Graphics 4000 graphics processor, improves the Tap 20's battery life, and also limits its heat output. Both benefits are important for the Tap 20 as a mobile device.
Despite its low-power CPU, the Tap 20 gives respectable performance running standard Windows applications. It even trades wins with the slightly more expensive Windows 7-powered Vizio CA21-A1 and its full-powered Core i5 CPU.
In a first for our desktop benchmarking regimen, we also ran our battery drain test on the Vaio Tap 20. It posted 3 hours, 42 minutes of battery life in our video-focused battery drain test, giving you plenty of time to watch a movie. Expect more time if you're just browsing around, less for 3D gaming. But since you're not meant to take the Tap 20 too far afield, chances are the power cord will be nearby if you end up needing a recharge.
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Google+ (Android)

ABC Reiew Slide 2 Slide 3 Slide 4 Previous Next CNET Editors' Rating 5.0 stars Spectacular CNET Editors' Rating 5.0 stars Spectacular

• Overall rating: 9.7
• Installation and Setup: 10.0
• Features and Support: 9.0
• Interface: 10.0
• Performance: 10.0

Review Date: 10/11/12 Average User Rating 0.0 stars No reviews. Write a review
The good: Google+ for Android has a stunning visual interface. Features are almost on par with the full Web version.
The bad: The file is around 30MB. There's no built-in button for sharing posts on Twitter and Facebook.
The bottom line: Whether you're a regular Google+ user or you're just interested in a few mobile features such as Instant Upload and Hangouts, Google+ for Android is a must-have.
Gone is the ugly dashboard of icons that once greeted you upon opening Google+ for Android. Now, you can zip around this stunning mobile app via a nifty sliding navigation ribbon on the left of the screen. This gives you easier access to your Stream, Profile, Messenger, Hangout, Photos, and Circles. Also, the updated app now lets you edit Google+ pages, which has been a highly requested feature.
Google+ is still smoking hot (pictures) 1-2 of 9 Scroll Left Scroll Right

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Home What used to be called Stream is now simply your Google+ Home screen. This is the lifeblood of Google+. With the little drop-down at the top, you can choose to show feeds from All Circles, Nearby, What's Hot (trending posts), or any of your individual circles. As of yet, though, you can't create a custom feed with more than one circle (Family & Friends, for instance). Visually, this screen absolutely blows Facebook's Timeline out of the water. Icons are sleek and the large photos are eye-catching. Also, landscape mode lets you scroll through your feed horizontally, which just makes sense.
From your Home screen, you can do almost everything you can in the full desktop version of Google+. You can easily comment on, Reshare, and +1 items, and, of course, you can create and edit your own posts with pictures, videos, and location tags. What's missing are the Facebook and Twitter share buttons found in the full Web version. Still, overall, the Home screen interface is attractive and incredibly well thought out.

Flip your device into landscape mode and you'll be able to scroll through your feed horizontally.
(Credit: Screenshot by Jaymar Cabebe/CNET)
Profile Here, you can see your Google+ public profile page, all of your posts, and all of your photos. Unfortunately, you can't edit any of your profile information (except for your photo) from the Google+ app, which is a minor letdown.
Photos As expected, this is the hub for all of your photos and videos. It provides a simple interface for viewing and commenting on items from your circles, items you're tagged in, and, of course, all of your own album items. You can also share, add tags to, or download photos.
One thing I love about the Google+ app is that it includes an Instant Upload feature, which automatically backs up pictures and videos taken on your Android device. By default, these items go into the private "From your phone" album, where you can easily access and share them at your convenience. Of course, you can disable Instant Upload if you're worried about battery drain, but I think it's a superconvenient feature that should be taken advantage of.
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