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Techradar |
- Orange expects 1.6m picture messages on Xmas day
- 1.5 million Windows Phone 7 handsets sold in 6 weeks
- Microsoft launches HTML5 Labs for developers
- Apple TV to hit a million sales this week
- Tutorial: How to run Android on your PC
- Exclusive: ExoPC claims exclusive Microsoft slate retail deal
- Gary Marshall: Why banning porn won't protect children
- PSP Phone will arrive in April, unnamed sources claim
- Orange UK to 'revolutionise' mobile payments
- Samsung's Bada 2.0 brings top-end tech
- Samsung's Bada 2.0 brings top-end tech
- Tutorial: Tips, tricks and downloads for better working on the move
- Buyer's Guide: PlayStation 3 3D – the definitive list of games
- Updated: Android 2.3 release date: when will you get it?
- Updated: T-Mobile starts HTC Wildfire Android 2.2 update
- Tosh to show off autostereoscopic screens at CES 2011
- Sony Ericsson 16MP cameraphone snapped and detailed
- Playbutton launches wearable music albums
- Adata Releases 6Gb A Second SSDs
- Review: Panasonic TX-L37V20E
- Review: Sony Bravia KDL-55NX813 (KDL55NX813)
- Review: Furutech PC-2 optical disc cleaner
- Google Nexus One getting Android 2.3 'in the coming weeks'
- Review: Blue Horizon Clean-IT
- Gulliver's Travels 3D star hits out at 3D
| Orange expects 1.6m picture messages on Xmas day Posted: 21 Dec 2010 08:28 AM PST  Orange UK has predicted Christmas Day will see 1.6 million picture messages on its network – and a record 159 million texts will be sent in to celebrate New Year. The network operator believes that the snow will make us even more inclined to send people snowy pictures for Christmas – with snowmen likely to feature alongside the dodgy jumpers and unexpected novelty cracker prizes. 27 per cent New Year texts – probably the ones you don't get until 4am in the morning – have increased hugely in the past few years and 2010 should see 159 million sent though Orange. That's a 27 per cent increase on last year's not insignificant total of 125 million. "With the prospect of a white Christmas now looking stronger than ever, we expect to see a bumper number of picture and text messages being sent as customers share their perfect white Christmas moments," said an Orange spokesperson. Santa must be getting a bit worried; with all those picture messages being taken and surely he's going to get snapped some day. 
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| 1.5 million Windows Phone 7 handsets sold in 6 weeks Posted: 21 Dec 2010 07:27 AM PST  Microsoft has revealed that more than 1.5 million Windows Phone 7 handsets were sold to retailers in the first six weeks following the mobile operating system's launch. The information only states how many phones were purchased by the retail chain rather than are in the pockets of consumers, but gives a rough idea of the numbers we're talking about. Windows Phone 7 represents Microsoft's major push into consumer mobiles – with the company desperate to get back on track with a completely redesigned mobile OS. Word on actual sales had been thin on the ground until Achim Berg, Microsoft's vice president of business and marketing for Windows Phones, gave out the information. "We are pleased that phone manufacturers sold over 1.5 million phones in the first six weeks, which helps build customer momentum and retail presence," said Berg. Sales ramping well "Sales are ramping well as our reputation is growing for offering users a unique experience and are in line with our expectations – especially when compared to other new platform introductions, he commented. "With a new platform you have to look at a couple of things, first of all customer satisfaction. As I mentioned before, we've seen great response on the complete mobile phone experience. "Another is phone manufacturer sales – phones being bought and stocked by mobile operators and retailers on their way to customers." Berg is aware that Microsoft has a tough task in competing with the likes of Google and Apple but insists that the company is 'in the race'. "We know we have tough competition, and this is a completely new product. We're in the race – it's not a sprint but we are certainly gaining momentum and we're in it for the long run." 
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| Microsoft launches HTML5 Labs for developers Posted: 21 Dec 2010 07:12 AM PST  Microsoft has launched HTML5 Labs – aiming to give developers a 'stable foundation' to build applications for IE9. The arrival of the latest Internet Explorer this year marked a significant move from Microsoft as it looked to arrest the decline of its browser. The positive reviews of the latest arrival have buoyed the company, and it is now keen to get developers making 'experiences' for modern browsers using HTML5. Interoperability "As the Web is evolving faster than ever before the challenge of interoperability is growing with HTML5," said Microsoft's release "A critical challenge for developers in this new environment is to ensure that they are writing to stable specifications that will continue to work. "Unlike some other browsers, Internet Explorer 9 takes a site-ready approach to HTML5, ensuring that you can use the capabilities of HTML5 today without worrying about what is stable and unstable. "This gives developers confidence that their sites will continue to work in the future." More information on HTML5 Labs is available on http://html5labs.interoperabilitybridges.com/ 
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| Apple TV to hit a million sales this week Posted: 21 Dec 2010 06:10 AM PST  Apple has announced that its Apple TV will hit its millionth sale this week – despite lukewarm reviews for the company's media streaming offering. The new Apple TV was announced on 1 September by Steve Jobs, but the UK offering was let down by a lack of content and the pricing of shows available. However, that has not hampered global sales – with one million units sold according to the Cupertino-based company. 1 million units "Apple today announced that it expects sales of its new Apple TV to top one million units later this week, stated Apple's press release. "The new Apple TV offers the simplest way to watch your favorite HD movies and TV shows, stream content from Netflix, YouTube, Flickr and MobileMe, all on your HD TV for the breakthrough price of just $99. "iTunes users are now renting and purchasing over 400,000 TV episodes and over 150,000 movies per day." The $99 price tag translated to £99 in the UK – a significant hike considering the service on offer was considerably less rounded. TechRadar's Apple TV review gave the product just three stars – criticising the lack of a 1080p Full HD output, but praising the reduced size of the set top box. 
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| Tutorial: How to run Android on your PC Posted: 21 Dec 2010 06:00 AM PST  Android phones may boast more features than you can shake a stick at, plus a wide range of exciting software, but they're still a serious investment. If you get one and subsequently find that you don't get on with the operating system, it could be a costly mistake. It would therefore be a good idea to experiment with and learn to use Android in a safe environment first, rather than messing up the configuration of an expensive smartphone. The solution is to run Android on your PC. You can do this with a version that runs from a live CD or USB drive. No changes are made to your PC, so you get a reasonable crack of the whip without serious commitment. There's a Google project called Live Android that does just this. Live Android The project home is http://code.google.com/p/live-android. Here you'll find basic information about the project, as well as download links for the two-part ISO file. Select the 'Download' tab to find further versions of the release, including a torrent file for the full ISO download. If you opt to download the two-part file, you'll need some software to knit it together. HJSplit will do the job nicely and it's free to use. You can get it from http://www.hjsplit.org/. When the file has downloaded, install it and choose 'Join' from the initial screen. Click 'Input file' and browse to the first of the two files that make up the ISO image. If they're saved in the same folder, HJSplit will identify the other file and won't display it here – just select the first file and click 'Open'. Click 'Start' to join the two together. Close HJSplit and browse to the folder where you saved the files. You should find a file called 'liveandroidv0.3.iso'. This is the ISO image that you can burn to CD or DVD. Bootable disc Use a CD or DVD burning program that supports burning discs from ISO files, such as CDBurnerXP. Most burning applications support ISO burning, but it's important to remember to select the option to create a disc from the image rather than burning a standard data disc. The resulting disc can be used to boot any PC that supports booting from CD, which is pretty much every laptop, desktop and notebook around. You may need to enable booting from disc in the BIOS if you restart your computer with the Live Android disc in its drive and it isn't detected. Check the boot sequence before entering the BIOS – some machines display a boot menu key during boot, which enables you to select the boot device. Otherwise, press [Del] repeatedly as the PC boots, or substitute this with whatever key is displayed during boot to enter the Setup utility. In the CMOS utility, opt to change the boot sequence and ensure the optical drive comes before the hard drive. Save and close the BIOS. USB booting You can also set up Live Android to run from a USB drive. To do this, your PC needs to support booting from USB. Most do – it's simply a matter of setting the correct BIOS boot option. You also need to download a slightly different version of the ISO, which you can find here. Choose the files 'liveandroidv0.2usb.iso.001' and 'liveandroidv0.2usb.iso.002' to download. As with the live CD version, you'll need to use HJSplit to join the two files. Copy the ISO file to your USB drive, ensuring that it's bootable. As with the live CD, you can't simply copy the ISO file to the drive; you need to use a dedicated utility to make bootable USB sticks. The simplest option is UNetbootin. You can download a Windows version from here. Launch UNetbootin and connect your USB drive, then select 'Disk image' and browse to your USB ISO image. With this opened, ensure that your USB drive is selected correctly and click 'OK'. Once all the data is written to your USB drive, you'll be able to use it to boot a PC.
If everything is working correctly, your PC will boot from the CD or USB drive and display the list of available screen resolutions. Select one and press [Enter]. At this point your PC will then go through the Android splash screens and you should end up at the Android desktop. If you haven't managed to get this far and the CD/USB stick doesn't appear to be damaged in any way, there's a chance that the hardware you're using won't support Live Android. In theory it should work with any 32-bit PC, but in practice it can be a lot pickier. It typically hangs during boot on incompatible hardware, and you might end up stuck at one of the splash screens. If this is the case, restart your computer, remove the CD and go into Windows. You can try again using some standardised hardware. Virtual machine
The simplest way to standardise your hardware is virtualisation. Get a copy of VMWare Player from www.vmware.com/products/player. You need to register, but it's free. Download and install the program. Launch it and opt to create a new virtual machine. Choose to install from an installer disc file and browse to your ISO file for Live Android. Choose 'Other' for the guest OS and select 'Other' from the dropdown list. Give your machine a name and stick with the default hard disk size. Opt to start the machine and it will boot from your ISO file. Select the screen resolution and it will boot to the Android desktop. You may get a warning notice telling you that the battery is running low; click 'OK' to ignore this or press [Enter] if you can't see a pointer. There isn't a version of VMWare Tools available for Live Android, so you'll need to capture the mouse pointer whenever you want to switch focus to the guest machine. You can do this by clicking anywhere in the guest window. To switch back to your host PC, press [Ctrl]+[Alt]. Simple exploration You should now be able to find your way around Android. The OS is optimised for touch screens, so you may find navigating using the mouse and keyboard a little clunky, but you should soon get used to it. The mouse pointer, if present, appears as a slightly darker triangle onscreen, which means you may have difficulty following it. If necessary, you can use the arrow keys to move around instead, and press [Enter] to select items. You can also use two shortcuts to enter and leave the command line. [Alt]+[F1] turns off the graphical interface and drops you at a command prompt. [Alt]+[F7] returns you to Live Android's graphical interface. You may need to use these to make configuration changes. If you're using VMWare Player, it should share your host computer's internet connection with Live Android, so you'll be able to run Google searches from the search bar or launch the browser to get online. You'll need to configure the email client and any other internet-based programs that you want to use, though.
Bear in mind that any new settings you enter here won't survive a reboot, because the live CD isn't writeable. Network connection On some hardware, you may find that the internet connection isn't up and running straight away. If this is the case, you need to configure it before you can continue. Live Android doesn't support DHCP yet, so you'll need to set up its IP address manually at the command line. Press [Alt]+ [F1] to exit to the command line and enter the following: ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.4 netmask 255.255.255.0 Substitute '192.168.0.4' for the static IP address that you want to use in Live Android, and make sure that it's in your network range. Windows has a similar command – 'ipconfig' – so try not to get the two confused. You'll also need to set the internet gateway and DNS server details if you're going to browse the web in Android. Start with the gateway. This is the IP address of your router, which is typically 192.168.1.1, but it can vary so check your documentation if in doubt. In Live Android, at the command line, enter: route add default gw 192.168.1.1 dev eth0 Replace '192.168.1.1' with your router's address. Your domain name server details are usually set by your ISP. They may be stored in your router's configuration, or your ISP documentation. Most ISPs also provide these details somewhere on their support pages. You need the IP address of one of its domain name servers. At the command line, enter: setprop net.eth0.dns1 127.54.225.228 Enter your DNS server address in place of '127.54.225.228'. Press [Alt]+[F7] to return to the GUI and launch the web browser. You can now take the opportunity to explore Live Android. Click the tab to bring across a screen full of applications, then select one to launch it. Some, including Dialler and Messaging, won't do very much without a phone and SIM installed, but there are several other programs that can keep you amused while you get used to how Android works. There are several games preinstalled, or you could explore Android VNC, which could give you the recursive experience of connecting to another desktop while emulating Android on a PC. You can set up email accounts, add contacts and change phone settings. You can install other Android apps with a little ingenuity. Live Android won't connect to the Marketplace, but there are ways to get apps working so you can test them out and get a feel for what's possible. You're unlikely to choose Live Android as a substitute OS at this stage, but it's a useful way to take the mobile OS for a test run. 
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| Exclusive: ExoPC claims exclusive Microsoft slate retail deal Posted: 21 Dec 2010 05:29 AM PST  ExoPC has told Techradar that it has been chosen as Microsoft's "only Windows 7 slate partner" in their retail stores for the foreseeable future. We don't yet know whether Steve Ballmer will use his CES keynote to push the rumoured Windows Embedded slates or a possible Windows 8 tablet interface, but the ExoPC Slate will make an appearance. The ExoPC Slate features a finger-friendly interface of circular icons and it seems Microsoft is a big fan. Only one at CES 2011 It will be the one of the Windows slates on the Microsoft stand at CES 2011 and the only one to be sold in Microsoft Stores. "We have been chosen by Microsoft as their only Windows 7 Slate partner," Kevin Dark of ExoPC told TechRadar. "We are currently, and for the foreseeable future, the only Windows 7 slate available in Microsoft stores across the US." Microsoft is selling the 64GB model for the same $699 price as a 64GB iPad and, says, Dark "sales have been going very well and some stores will need to re-stock before Christmas." 1,500 ordered The initial order from Microsoft is for 1,500 slates (with more to follow) and some of the stores have already sold out: the Microsoft Store in Scottsdale says "ExoPC is selling faster than we can restock". It's not on the same scale as the iPad, but it's not bad for a small Canadian company and, like HP increasing the production run for the business-only HP Slate, it suggests there's demand for Windows tablets if they're done right. EXOPC keeps updating its user interface with more features but Dark promises hardware developments at CES as well: "we're demonstrating a new slate with our UI on it". The UI could potentially be the much-expected touch-friendly OS being rumoured to be a part of Microsoft's opening keynote at CES 2011, although that would be a disappointment to those who have hinted at Windows 8 being shown off. 
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| Gary Marshall: Why banning porn won't protect children Posted: 21 Dec 2010 04:40 AM PST  Maybe it's because I'm the father of a wee girl, but my reaction to the government's ISP porn-blocking plans wasn't an immediate cry of "Nanny state! Nanny state!" There's some awful stuff out there, and I don't think kids should see it any more than I think The Human Centipede should be shown on cBeebies. I think I'm pretty consistent on this. I don't think seven-year-olds should play Call of Duty: Black Ops, and I don't think Frankie Boyle is the best choice of entertainer for your four-year-old's birthday party. If reports are correct, the government wants ISPs to adopt a scheme rather like the ones mobile phone networks already have. My mobile phone operator, Orange, has an adult content filter. I didn't know it was there until I tried to access that notorious cradle of filth, Boing Boing. To see the blog post I'd requested, I had to call Orange and ask for the adult content filter to be lifted. It wasn't a big deal. The girl in the call centre didn't ask why I wanted the bar removed, and if she thought I was calling from inside a bin bag full of ball gags she didn't let on. So there you go: a porn filter is no biggie. Maybe that's true on mobile, where you don't generally share your phone and you probably PIN-lock it too. Shared connections are different. A firewall for filth won't work, and it could easily be a force for ill. It's all pointless The first and most obvious problem is that sites will find ways around it, and sites that shouldn't be blocked will be. The second problem is that it sets a precedent. If ISPs filter legal pornography – they already filter the illegal stuff – then what other legal things can we get them to block? Sites that include bittorrent links? Places where people plan anti-government protests? Places offering advice about drugs, or sex, or anything else tabloids and lobby groups might disapprove of? And of course, there's the biggest problem of all, the hole in the digital dyke nobody can plug. Other parents. As a parent, I'm well aware that it's my responsibility to keep my kids away from filth. The problem is that I can't ensure that you keep your kids away from it. At the height of the GTA IV controversy, I was on a radio phone-in show when a bloke called in with a Ban This Sick Filth rant. "I think it's terrible that my grandson plays this stuff," the man said. How old was the kid? "Seven." Who'd bought him GTA IV? "Me." How do you filter idiocy like that? Research into kids' experiences of online porn find that most of the stuff younger kids see is shown to them, or sent to them, by somebody else – usually other kids. If one parent doesn't filter, if one parent couldn't care less what his or her little darlings do online, then sooner or later those little darlings are going to share what they see; if one child finds a way to get round the filter, that information will spread faster than nits. I can censor my computer. How do I censor your kids? 
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| PSP Phone will arrive in April, unnamed sources claim Posted: 21 Dec 2010 04:24 AM PST  The PSP Phone – aka the Sony Ericsson Z1 – will be available in shops in April after a launch at February's Mobile World Congress. Pocket-Lint reportsthat they have spoken to 'sources close to the matter' who have confirmed the arrival of the gaming handset. A MWC release always looked the most likely, despite suggestions that CES 2011 in January would see a launch event. Anon Of course, as with all anonymous sources, it is difficult to consider the statements as concrete at this juncture – although the timing sounds credible. The source is quoted as saying that Sony Ericsson is throwing its weight behind the launch in the hopes of winning a larger share of the smartphone market. "Sony Ericsson is going big on this one", said the source, "but although it will get a Feb launch, it won't be in shops until April". However, TechRadar has spoken to many within the gaming industry who have reacted enthusiastically at the prospect of the PSP Phone, although key doubts remain. The line between gaming on your mobile and on your console have become steadily thinner – and the arrival of a PSP Phone is likely to be seen as a critical juncture in the evolution of portable gaming, even if it fails. 
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| Orange UK to 'revolutionise' mobile payments Posted: 21 Dec 2010 04:02 AM PST  Orange UK (and therefore likely T-Mobile, given the Everything Everywhere affiliation) has told TechRadar that it is planning big things for mobile payment technology in 2011. After the CEO of France-Telecom Orange promised half a million contactless-enabled phones to Europe last week, TechRadar contacted the UK branch to see what we Brits have in store: "In line with the strategic partnership objectives we outlined last year, we are currently working together with Barclaycard to develop new technology which will revolutionise the way people pay on the high street," confirmed an Orange spokesperson. "Rest assured consumers can expect some great products and services from us in this area and more will be announced in due course." Different to the Nexus S? It's still a bit woolly at the moment, but it seems Orange plans to press ahead with contactless-enabled SIMs - meaning the tech used might not be the same as the NFC seen on the Google Nexus S. Orange has been an advocate of contactless payments for a while now, with trials run with the likes of Barclaycard (on an independent credit card) and contactless tickets with Manchester City. 2011 is likely to be the foundation year for contactless payments in the UK - if it takes off, then beeping our phones all over the place will likely become a common site in time for the Olympics. 
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| Samsung's Bada 2.0 brings top-end tech Posted: 21 Dec 2010 03:45 AM PST  Samsung has shown off the future of its Bada platform, with Bada 2.0 promising a whole raft of smartphone updates. The headline grabbers include NFC technology, seen in the Google Nexus S, and HTML5 and FlashLite 4 compatibility to make its Wave range more like their Android and iOS market brethren. With Samsung's Bada OS currently at version 1.2, this is going to be a big leap from the early Samsung Wave days, and developers will be licking their lips (if they're that into Bada) at the prospect of improved simulation and emulation tools, as well as better advertising models and operator billing included. Improving your life through the phone For the user, it will mean a better home screen experience through 'smart home screens' and better UI personalisation - hopefully bringing more than just widgets to the large amount of home screens. Push notifications will also help propel the Samsung Bada range of phones to the next level of smartphone, meaning features like the Facebook application will be much improved making the whole line-up of phones more attractive. The new Bada 2.0 release date is set for 'some time next year' but it's likely to be sooner rather than later as Samsung plans to achieve sales of 10 million by July 2011 for its Bada line up. 
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| Samsung's Bada 2.0 brings top-end tech Posted: 21 Dec 2010 03:45 AM PST Samsung has shown off the future of its Bada platform, with Bada 2.0 promising a whole raft of smartphone updates. The headline grabbers include NFC technology, seen in the Google Nexus S, and HTML5 and FlashLite 4 compatibility to make its Wave range more like their Android and iOS market brethren. With Samsung's Bada OS currently at version 1.2, this is going to be a big leap from the early Samsung Wave days, and developers will be licking their lips (if they're that into Bada) at the prospect of improved simulation and emulation tools, as well as better advertising models and operator billing included. Improving your life through the phone For the user, it will mean a better home screen experience through 'smart home screens' and better UI personalisation - hopefully bringing more than just widgets to the large amount of home screens. Push notifications will also help propel the Samsung Bada range of phones to the next level of smartphone, meaning features like the Facebook application will be much improved making the whole line-up of phones more attractive. The new Bada 2.0 release date is set for 'some time next year' but it's likely to be sooner rather than later as Samsung plans to achieve sales of 10 million by July 2011 for its Bada line up. 
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| Tutorial: Tips, tricks and downloads for better working on the move Posted: 21 Dec 2010 03:30 AM PST  When you spend a lot of time moving between meetings and conferences, most of your work probably gets done away from the ideal office environment. You find yourself catching odd moments to work in waiting rooms, stations, departure lounges and, more often than not, hotel rooms. Your productivity can be slashed unless you plan your time and resources carefully. Most hotels provide access to Wi-Fi, usually via a paid hotspot or an unencrypted connection. These services are begging to be abused by hackers sniffing the data packets flowing between business laptops and the wireless access point. If you handle any sensitive data at all, you need to ensure that it's encrypted. All direct communication between your browser and the access point using unencrypted web pages can be easily accessed and read. Encrypted pages with URLs starting with 'https' are safer because the encryption exists between your browser and the destination site. Anyone sniffing out the communication would need to crack the encryption in order to access the data transferred. Pay close attention to encryption messages from your browser and reject the insecure portions of mixed pages. It's also vital to ensure that potential hackers can't access shared resources on your PC. Be sure to identify any public networks as such so Windows doesn't enable sharing automatically. Also check that your firewall doesn't permit incoming data from anything other than your allowed programs. Windows Firewall isn't ideal, but you can tighten its security significantly if necessary. Click 'Start', type firewall into the search bar and select 'Windows Firewall'. Here you can verify that your connection is correctly identified as a public one. Click 'Allow a program or feature through Windows Firewall', then disable all unnecessary programs in the 'Public network' column. You should also consider installing a third party firewall such as ZoneAlarm or Comodo to replace Windows' offering if you use public networks frequently. Both tools are available as free downloads, and they're pretty easy to set to a lockdown mode, blocking all but web traffic. Check your connection Make sure you check your connection details with the hotel or hotspot provider. A classic hacker trick is to set up a network with a similar SSID to a nearby hotspot, or to provide a honey pot connection called 'Free internet'. These can be used to harvest hotspot passwords and any insecure data you have. Make sure the SSID matches that provided in the hotel's details exactly. Most cloud-based applications use 'https' encryption, but there are some that don't. For example, the free version of Humyo's online storage removes encryption. It goes without saying that you should avoid using these applications for anything other than files that you're completely happy to share with the world. Even those apps that support encryption may not use it as standard. Google Docs does, as do Zoho and Gmail, but it's a good habit to check that your connection is secure by ensuring the URL starts 'https' and your browser indicates that you're on a secure page. Unencrypted data that's transferred from your browser can be picked up easily by another hotspot user. You should also consider the physical security of your laptop. A simple Kensington lock enables you to secure it to your desk or another permanent fixture. Most laptops include a compatible slot to attach the lock so that it can only be removed by damaging the casing if you don't have the key. It's not foolproof – locks can be picked – but it reduces the chances of opportunistic theft. If your laptop were to fall into the wrong hands, how easy would it be for someone unscrupulous to harvest useful data? Are all your passwords stored in your browser? Use a password manager such as Keepass, protected by a strong password and a key file that's not stored on your laptop. Encrypt sensitive files using TrueCrypt, or enable BitLocker Drive Encryption if your version of Windows supports it. If you're going to be travelling for some time, you may not be sure when you'll next be able to charge your battery, so take the opportunity to do so while in your room. Consider buying a second battery for your laptop to extend your working time when you're away from power. They're often available on eBay much more cheaply than from the manufacturer. Alternate your batteries to keep them in good condition. Some hotels disconnect the power when you're out of your room; the electronic key card used for unlocking the door needs to be docked in a wall slot for the lights and power sockets to work. It's a good way to ensure you don't leave the air con blasting while you're out, but it also snookers your chances of recharging your laptop while you're having dinner. Try the simple hack of putting a loyalty card or other low value plastic into the slot while you're out so you can keep charging your battery. Maximise your battery life When you're away from a power socket, every second of battery life counts. It therefore pays to keep your laptop's battery in good condition, letting it discharge fully at least once a fortnight to keep its capacity high. Also make use of Windows power plans, and remember to switch to 'Power Saver' whenever you're working from the battery to make each charge last longer. You can make tweaks to the current plan to get more from it, or opt to use a plan manager, which will change the plan automatically to conserve power. 1. Power Plan Assistant
You can make switching between plans quick and easy by installing Power Plan Assistant, which you can download from powerplan7.com/home.htm. Once installed, it runs in the system tray and shows the current plan in its coloured icon: red for 'Power Saver', yellow for 'Balanced' and green for 'High Performance'. Click the icon and select the plan you want to change to. 2. Assistant settings
Right-click the 'Power Plan Assistant' icon in the system tray and choose 'Power Plan Assistant Settings'. Select 'On unplugging automatically switch to… | Power Saver'. Return to these settings and then choose 'Save' to confirm them. Alternatively, you can opt to switch to 'Power Saver' mode if your battery's charge drops below a minimum level – say 20 per cent, for example. The emergency plan You might be forced to stay somewhere without usable internet access. If you don't have a 3G dongle, consider enabling internet tethering on your mobile phone. Android phones and iPhones are well suited to tethering – see below for details. Symbian phones with Wi-Fi can use Joikuspot to produce a personal hotspot, which you can connect to with your laptop. Lengthy use of 3G and Wi-Fi together can make your phone hot and draw heavily on its battery, so disconnect it when not in use 1. Android tethering
Install the PdaNet phone software (the free version blocks secure sites) and download the PC component. Connect your phone to charge and launch PdaNet. Choose 'Enable USB tether'. On your PC, click the PdaNet icon in the system tray and choose 'Connect'. 2. iPhone tethering With an iPhone running iOS 4, tethering is simple, although you'll need to check that your network supports it. On your phone, go to 'Settings | General | Network | Internet tethering | On'. Choose 'USB only', then connect your phone to your laptop and select the new network. 
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| Buyer's Guide: PlayStation 3 3D – the definitive list of games Posted: 21 Dec 2010 03:23 AM PST  If you are lucky enough to be the proud new owner of a 3D TV this Christmas holiday season, then Sony has kindly listed all of the 3D gaming and Blu-ray movie content you can enjoy via your PlayStation 3. Leading TV manufacturers including Samsung, Philips, LG and Sony are all heavily promoting their new 3D TV sets, with further new 3D TV announcements expected at CES 2011 from Las Vegas next month. Sony is obviously very keen to promote the fact that you can play plenty of decent 3D games on your PlayStation 3 – either right now, or in the very near future – releasing the definitive list of 3D games, which you can see below this news story. 3D on the PS3 The PlayStation Blog notes that there are already 19 3D PS3 games out now, with a further nine confirmed for 2011 to date. Sony rep Sid Shuman adds: "Expect to hear quite a bit more in 2011." If you fancy playing some of this year's greatest PS3 titles in 3D, including games such as Gran Turismo 5, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and the high def eye-candy that is WipEout HD, then Sony has your back. Of course, PC gamers have been enjoying stereoscopic 3D gaming courtesy of nVidia's 3D Vision kit for some time now, with over 400 3D compatible games available on PC to date. Here's Sony's full 3D games and Blu-ray list: Out now Coming in 2011 Blu-ray 3D Movies 
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| Updated: Android 2.3 release date: when will you get it? Posted: 21 Dec 2010 03:15 AM PST  Android 2.3 has been announced by Google, and now owners of smartphones such as the Nexus One and the HTC Desire are eagerly awaiting the update. There's very little news on when Android 2.3 will roll out at this early stage, although we do know that the first phone to go on sale with Android 2.3 is the successor to the Nexus One, the Google Nexus S. Google Nexus One Android 2.3 updateThe Nexus One has already been confirmed as getting the Android 2.3 update in early Q1 2011. The following announcement over on the official Google Nexus Twitter page confirmed the upgrade: "The Gingerbread OTA for Nexus One will happen in the coming weeks. Just hang tight!" HTC Desire Android 2.3 update We've contacted HTC to find out when Android 2.3 will be coming to the HTC Desire (and the HTC Desire HD and the HTC Desire Z). HTC responded on 7 December to confirm that a number of its phones will be receiving Android 2.3. "We are excited about the OS update coming for Android, and while HTC will definitely have some phones running this OS, we do not have a specific timeframe for new phones or updates at this time. Please stay tuned for more details," said an HTC spokesperson. Still no official word on the Desire, but we have to wonder whether the smartphone star is included in "some phones". Samsung Galaxy S Android 2.3 update We've also contacted Samsung to ask about the Samsung Galaxy S Android 2.3 update. Samsung replied with the following statement: "In case a new version of Android operating system is publicly announced and released, Samsung will review the possibility of implementation of such new version to the existing Samsung products with Android operating system ("Update"). "Such a review will be based on various factors including, without limitation, the overall effect of such Update to Samsung products, the system requirements, the structural limitations, and the level of cooperation from the component suppliers and the software licensors. "If Samsung decides to make the Update available to the users after such consideration, Samsung will use its efforts to develop such Update, which may be released to the users upon successful completion of such development." In other words: we'll check it out and make a decision then. LG Optimus One and Optimus Chic Android 2.3 update At first it looked like this one wasn't going to happen. In a post on Facebook, LG said: "The Optimus line won't be getting the Gingerbread update because they have a 600MHz processor, and the minimum requirements for Gingerbread require 1 GHz processor. In other words: it's not possible to update the processor, unfortunately." However, on 10 December, LG changed its mind, saying: "LG will upgrade all Optimus One smartphones currently using the Froyo OS to the next version of the Android OS, Gingerbread. Details of the upgrade schedule will be announced locally in due course." LG Optimus 2X Android 2.3 release date The 2X has been officially announced as a UK release, and while it will ship with Android 2.2, the Android 2.3 update will be winging its way to the handset soon. Stay tuned. We'll bring you more release dates as we get them. 
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| Updated: T-Mobile starts HTC Wildfire Android 2.2 update Posted: 21 Dec 2010 02:50 AM PST  T-Mobile has confirmed to TechRadar that it has started rolling out the Android 2.2 update to its HTC Wildfire customers. UPDATE: It seems it won't be all users that will be getting an update instantly - some may have to wait weeks, according to this hot-off-the-press forum post from T-Mobile: "As you will have seen HTC have announced that Android 2.2 will begin rolling out for the HTC Wildfire this week. We are pleased to confirm that customers with T-Mobile branded handsets will be receiving this update at the same time. "As with all HTC updates this will be a phased release over the coming weeks and you will receive an alert on your handset when it is ready to update." HTC only announced the new update would be available yesterday, and almost instantly Vodafone announced it was available to its users. T-Mobile joining the party means it leaves Three as the only network in the UK that hasn't confirmed its Wildfire customers will be getting the Android 2.2 upgrade. Flash Lite: better than nothing The new update brings elements like Wi-Fi hotspots, improved performance and camera tweaks to the HTC Wildfire, but Live Wallpaper and Flash 10.1 are not included due to hardware limitations. However Flash Lite is being offered as a pseudo-substitute, so a fair few videos and animations should play to enhance websites. T-Mobile recently angered a number of its users with the promise of an Android 2.2 update for its Samsung Galaxy S, only to delay it over a week, so it's good news this upgrade is coming within 24 hours of the original announcement from HTC. 
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| Tosh to show off autostereoscopic screens at CES 2011 Posted: 21 Dec 2010 02:41 AM PST  Toshiba has confirmed that it will show off its autosteroscopic 3D technology at CES 2011, with hopes that the screens on display will be bigger than its previous 20-inch offering. Tosh showed off a 20-inch and 12-inch model at CEATEC – and queues of people wanted to see the glasses-free 3D televisions. And the company will hope for a similar response at CES 2011, although president of Toshiba's digital media network Masaaki Oosumi hinted that the screens may be bigger.
Three months of improvement "It has been three months, I think we should show [the TVs] with better technology," said Masaaki Oosumi. "Next year is the key year to extend development of the technology and extend the screen size," he added. The desire for glasses-free 3D is palpable, but the autostereoscopic technology has significant hurdles before it becomes a mass-market television proposition. Although the likes of the Nintendo 3DS will soon arrive bringing small 3D screens using the technology, finding the sweet spot for larger screens is tricky, and the viewing angle range is small. 
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| Sony Ericsson 16MP cameraphone snapped and detailed Posted: 21 Dec 2010 02:31 AM PST  Thought the megapixel wars were over? Think again - Sony Ericsson is releasing a 16MP cameraphone in the new year. Although only (initially) destined for Japan, the new handset has sashayed through the FCC and comes with a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, what looks like a touchscreen atop a slide-out portrait keyboard. However, despite the powerful processor on board, there's no Android OS on show here, merely a Sony Ericsson proprietary system, so hopefully that camera is the thing that will be sucking the CPU power. Cooler and meaner that ever Other little snippets about the phone - it's apparently waterproof, has a back-lit sensor (so a whopping ISO level of 12800 is possible) and comes with the usual Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth gubbins, as well as a microSD slot. You can check out the Japanese-English user manual over at the FCC, which also has some unattractive pictures of a phone that looks like it has hopped straight over from 2007. Is it coming to the UK? Probably not - the Bravia logo in the middle is a big hint that the Sony Ericsson Cybershot S006 is destined to remain on Japanese shores. But if the gadget-mental country tells us anything, it's what's coming next for our phones, so expect round 2,321 of the megapixel wars to start next year. 
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| Playbutton launches wearable music albums Posted: 21 Dec 2010 02:31 AM PST  Those that still like to buy their tunes on 'physical' media such as CDs or even good old vinyl will be intrigued to find out more about an innovative new music delivery format called the 'Playbutton' badge. Whether or not this intriguing new promotional tool will take off amongst music fans, many of whom now download their tunes (legally and illegally) from the internet, remains to be seen. The Playbutton is essentially an album in a badge, featuring promo artwork from the band or musicians featured. Wear your music The idea being that you simply plug your headphones or earphones into your new 'badge LP' and you can listen in straight away, with no need for an external MP3 player or hi-fi equipment. "It's a small object, perfect and immediate, that you can hold in your hand," Nick Dangerfield, founder of Playbutton, told BBC News. Dangerfield was aware that music buyers were becoming "tired with CDs" yet also that many still craved some kind of physical media and didn't like downloading. "I thought about giving a new use to digital files by putting them in a dedicated player. It's an iconic form that gives you the chance to show your affiliation," says the Playbutton founder. "It shows that you've purchased the music, so it shows your support for the band." An official launch is planned for February 2011, with eight initial badge LPs at lift-off, including cuts from German glitch-techno group Oval and "indietronica" band Javelin, who are signed to David Byrne's Luaka Bop label. The Playbutton contains a cheap 256MB memory card and the company's founder expects them to retail at around the £10 mark (with artists selecting what they want to charge for their own badges). Intrigued? You can see more on Playbutton over at their website. 
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| Adata Releases 6Gb A Second SSDs Posted: 21 Dec 2010 02:22 AM PST -200-200.jpg) Adata has come out with its S501 SATA 6Gb per second SSDs, available in a full range of sizes, just in time for the holidays. The SSDs start with 64GB storage and go all the way up to 512GB, with 128MB of DDR3 cache. They utilize the Marvell controller and NAND flash to achieve speeds of 480MB/sec read and 310MB/s write For High End Users The S501 series has a standard 2.5in form factor device and gives full support for TRIM technology. The new SSDs are aimed at the upper end of the market – not many are going to have SATA 6Gb/sec controllers – and the prices reflect that. No official British pricing has yet been announced, but with price tags running from €170 (£143) to €1099, (£930) the sterling equivalents will put a sting in the wallet. 
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| Posted: 21 Dec 2010 02:19 AM PST  Panasonic's edge-lit TX-L37V20B is one of its thinnest and most attractive LCDs to date. A metallic bezel and 45mm-deep cabinet house a fine feature count that includes both Freeview and Freesat HD tuners, plentiful multimedia options including HD video recording to USB and Panasonic's top-level picture processing suite. There's also a healthy suite of picture calibration tools, one area in which Panasonic has been rather miserly on previous LCD generations. If £1k price tag is a bit steep for you, Panasonic has a range of 'designer' edge LED models, the D28 series, available in 37-inch, 32-inch, 22-chin and 19-inch flavours, with the 32-inch and smaller models also available in a variety of colours, including purple and white. The more conventional D25 series still use edge LED lighting and include Panasonic's first 42-inch LCD TV. You can make the most significant savings, though, by heading further down Panasonic's range to its CCFL-lit LCD TVs, as represented in decreasing order of features by the G20s (which have Freeview and Freesat HD dual tuners), the S20s (Freeview HD only) and finally the X20s, which don't have Freeview HD or any significant picture processing.
As noted in the introduction, the L37V20B is more attractive and slimmer than most of Panasonic's TVs, thanks to its use of edge LED lighting. It still manages to find the room for a healthy suite of connections on its rear, including four HDMIs, a component video input, a D-Sub PC input, an Ethernet port, two USB slots, and an SD card slot. As you would expect, this sort of connectivity opens up an expansive suite of features. Perversely, the TX-L37V20, alongside every other Panasonic LCD this year, is not 3D ready. What it does have, though, is plentiful multimedia support. The USBs, for instance, can play back video, photo and music files, make the TV Wi-Fi capable via a provided dongle or else you can use one of them to attach a Buffalo JustStore Desktop HD-EU2-UK HDD for recording video from either of the set's Freeview or Freesat HD tuners. The Ethernet port is just as flexible, enabling you to stream in files from a DLNA PC, use future interactive services associated with the HD tuners, and access Panasonic's decent – if unspectacular – Viera Cast online service. Highlights include YouTube, Skype video phone calling if you add an optional external camera, EuroSport, and the AceTrax on-demand movie service. The system is currently let down (compared with some rival online TV platforms) by its lack of any TV catch-up services such as the BBC iPlayer. Panasonic isn't currently showing much interest in app-style functions either, which may need to change if it wants to keep up with its rivals in 2011. The SD card slot, meanwhile, offers an alternative way of playing the same multimedia files supported by the USB ports. You can't record video onto SD cards, though. The TX-L37V20's screen is full HD and its edge LED lighting enables an extravagant claimed contrast of 2,000,000:1. Experience suggests, though, that such manufacturers' contrast ratio figures should be taken with even more of a pinch of salt than usual when applied to edge LED technology. Potentially more interesting is the amount of video processing Panasonic has thrown at the L37V20B. For a start, it's got the very top level of the brand's processing engine, Vreal Pro 5. On top of this there's the most powerful incarnation of Panasonic's Intelligent Frame Creation system, IFC Pro. Obviously, frame interpolation systems like IFC Pro aren't to everyone's tastes, but hopefully Panasonic's will prove at least persuasive. Video gamers alarmed by the sound of all this processing should note that it's mostly optional, and that a provided Game preset deactivates pretty much all of it to leave you with an acceptable input lag of around 30-40ms. As well as making most of the processing optional via its onscreen menus, the TX-L37V20B gives you a reasonably large suite of tools for fine-tuning pictures. Just choose the Advanced ISFCC option – found, rather unhelpfully, within an advanced features menu rather than the picture menu – and you'll be free to tinker with such niceties as the hue, saturation, gain and cut-off of the RGB colour elements and gamma settings via a series of presets. There's room for improvement in terms of both gamma and colour calibration, but the set is sufficiently flexible to an endorsement from the independent Imaging Science Foundation (ISF). Other key features of the L37V20 that help define it as a flagship model are picture in picture options, playback of Deep Colour sources if you find any, and its use of an IPS (In-plane Switching) LCD panel. Such displays are far less prone losing contrast and colour saturation than normal LCD panels when viewed from a wide angle, which is very handy to for anyone with potentially large audiences to cater to.
Even if the TX-L37V20B wasn't a flagship LCD TV from one of the TV world's biggest brands, its pictures would disappoint. There's one simple but unavoidable reason for this: backlight inconsistency; while watching predominantly dark scenes it's possible to make out areas of the picture that look brighter than the rest. The TX- L37V20 is hardly unique in this respect, particularly among edge LED TVs, but the problem affects a few disturbingly large portions of the picture, and as such is more distracting than usual. It is possible to reduce the aggressiveness/obviousness of the backlight issues if you take care to adjust the contrast and reduce brightness to around 35 per cent, but the point at which the backlight inconsistencies fade to the extent that a discerning eye will be happy with them leaves you with a picture that looks dull and, worse, is severely lacking in shadow detail. Some other reviews of the L37V20 have suggested that the TrueCinema preset delivers an unusually good picture for an LCD TV and while this may be true in terms of colours and sharpness, the setting suffers extremely badly with backlight inconsistencies until you work your way around them. The Cinema preset is probably the best starting point, but the bottom line is that no matter what mode you use, the backlight issues are never completely resolved. This is a pity, because there's no doubt that the TX-L37V20B has got some potent picture tricks up its sleeve. HD pictures are ferociously sharp, for starters, especially when Blu-ray is the source, picking up every last detail from the best discs. Crucially, the sharpness feels wholly natural, with none of the forced, gritty, edge-stressing nonsense produced by the circuitry of some rival sets. Colours are frequently superb at time; post-calibration the set produces a really startlingly wide tonal range and proves remarkably adept at combining intense saturations with blend subtlety, even within single frames. Skin tones in particular have seldom – if ever – looked more credible on an LCD TV and for this Panasonic deserves hearty praise. The TX-L37V20B also handles motion deftly. It's not as adept at spotting different video cadences as it perhaps should be for a flagship TV, but it handles judder nicely and the screen's fast response time irons out most motion blur. You might even want to give Panasonic's IFC frame interpolation processing a go, for provided you don't set it beyond its lowest level of power, it definitely can reduce judder without producing too many distracting side effects. Some may not like the way it makes 'film' sources look more like video, but it's certainly not the total no-go area found with some motion processing engines. The TX-L37V20 is also an above-average rescaler of standard-definition. The key to its success appears to be that it doesn't get too caught up with trying to make standard-def pictures look like HD in detail and sharpness terms, instead focusing adeptly on retaining colour tones and reducing noise. The unusually wide viewing angle is apparent during everyday use and overall there's no question that the TX-L37V20 can produce pictures of mind-boggling quality. It's just a shame that this quality tends to slump during the sort of very dark sequences that find their way into almost any film at some point.
The TX-L37V20B does a better job with sound than the vast majority of edge LED TVs. There's more power and dynamic range than you would usually expect to find, enabling the soundstage to open up at least a little during the transition from a quiet to a loud scene. There's even a hint of bass in the soundstage, which is almost unheard of on modern flatscreens. While it's got the features and processing power to justify its price, the TX-L37V20B's performance isn't dazzling enough to make it a particularly tempting thing on which to blow the best part of a grand, especially when you can the superior, larger TX-P42V20 plasma TVs for around the same money. Ease of use The more other brands serve up vibrant, colourful menus able to handle huge amounts of features effortlessly, the more out of date Panasonic's current menus start to look. They're drab to look at, text heavy, prone to forcing you to scroll down long boring lists, and rather unintuitive with some of their organisation. The remote control feels plasticky for a unit supplied with a premium TV and, although Panasonic zappers used to have the best button layouts in the business, all those extra features haven't been accommodated particularly well and relegating the main Menu button to a small key in the top left corner proves problematic. The good news is that the onscreen menus are pretty free of jargon and the system feels like a first step towards a more sophisticated operating system. Panasonic has consistently struggled to achieve the same critical success with its LCD TVs that it routinely enjoys with plasma. But the TX-L37V20 is, on paper at least, unusually well equipped to put this imbalance right, given that it's Panasonic's most fully featured LCD TV to date, complete with that technology du jour, edge LED lighting. It even looks a cut above Panasonic's usually rather drab TV aesthetics, with its silver, vaguely metallic finish and slinky lines. It hits all the right buttons with its multimedia support, offering playback of most of the key video, photo and music file formats, enabling you to record from its twin HD tuners to USB drives and carrying DLNA support for PC streaming. However, while its pictures exhibit many strengths, familiar edge LED weaknesses rear their ugly head during dark sequences. If you have a very dark room and so can run the screen with its brightness dialled down, the TX-L37V20 is possibly worth considering if you don't mind a lack of shadow detail, but should you really have to accept such compromises with a TV that costs nearly £1,000? We liked The TX-L37V20B hits the ground running with its slender design and metallic bezel and builds on this with exceptional connectivity and an impressive feature sheet, complete with multimedia tools galore and some solid calibration aids. Its HD pictures are very sharp and colours are superbly well judged. It's no slouch sonically, either. We disliked The edge LED lighting's problems with achieving a consistent lighting level across the screen are at times excessive, and trying to calibrate around them results in a rather dull image devoid of shadow detail, which ends up making the L37V20 look rather expensive. Final Verdict The TX-L37V20B delivers considerable strengths in the sharpness and colour departments, but also suffers significant disappointments when it comes to black levels and, particularly, backlight consistency. The strengths of the TX-L37V20B arguably suggest that with a little more experience Panasonic might be able to use edge LED tech to deliver a truly excellent LCD TV, but it's not there yet. Related Links
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| Review: Sony Bravia KDL-55NX813 (KDL55NX813) Posted: 21 Dec 2010 02:05 AM PST -200-200.jpg) Sony has bolstered its line of 3D ready TVs just in time for Christmas with another handsome Monolithic Design. The KDL-55NX813 55-inch set joins the stylish NX range at the premium end and, as such, comes loaded with built-in Wi-Fi, a Freeview HD tuner, LED backlighting and online goodies galore. It's 3D ready, too, but you'll have to fork out again for the transmitter and glasses. It sounds like Sony playing Scrooge, but the (sound) reasoning is that not everyone wants to pay for 3D. Without the plastic transmitter perched on top, this set certainly looks like a slick, high-end proposition. It's not as thin as Samsung and LG's flagship models, but is significantly slimmer than other bulky Bravias, while the Monolithic Design, characterised by the flush-fitting glass screen, still looks stylish. This latest model has a narrower bezel, too, so more of that black expanse translates into picture. A smart glass pedestal stand is included in the box, but you've probably also seen the NX TVs advertised with a long aluminium plinth. The TV slots into this and reclines at an angle of 6° to suit fashionably low-slung TV tables, which is what gives this range its classic look. A new version with a powered 2.1 speaker system built in has just been released, and given the disappointing sound of the puny TV speakers, it's a logical upgrade. So instead of 3D glasses and fancy stands, the hefty price buys you a latest generation full HD LCD panel with dynamic edge-mounted LED backlight. Unlike the 'full array' LED illumination of Sony's flagship HX903, the LEDs are deployed at the sides, but, crucially, still enable local dimming, thanks to what Sony calls dynamic backlighting. The good news is that it works and the picture quality here is in the top bracket as a result.
The NX prefix indicates Sony's lifestyle-oriented 'network' models, which means Wi-Fi is built in. Joining your home network is very easy and it gives you the keys to Sony's ever-growing list of web apps. Nearly all of the big-ticket TVs have web access these days, but Sony is leading the way with genuinely useful content like BBC's iPlayer, Lovefilm clips in HD and its latest pay-per-view venture, Qriocity. All too often TV widgets are frustratingly slow to open and disappointing when they do, but things have changed. One thing that's different with Bravia Internet Video, as the suite of online content is called, is the way the on-screen menu enables you to see which apps are available without having to load new menu pages each time. YouTube opens quite quickly and although the compressed picture quality looks horrible on a 1080p panel of this scale, it means you'll never be stuck for something to watch. Given the premium price tag, it's surprising and a little disappointing to find that full HD 3D isn't built in. Instead, you'll need to buy an IR emitter to perch on top of the TV, thus ruining the sleek looks. The idea is that only those people interested in 3D then need to shell out for the extra kit, while regular 2D viewers are reassured with the option to upgrade at any point. The good news is that even this somewhat cobbled together arrangement works just as well as Sony's built-in option and creates an image that's more convincing than many of the other brands. The other key feature is the Freeview HD tuner, bringing four free-to-air hi-def channels including BBC One HD and Channel 4 HD straight to your screen in crisp 1080i resolution. Then there is a long list of added features that you may or may not use. The USB Media Player gives you speedy access to digital media stored on an external hard drive, while DLNA compliance means you can also stream wirelessly from a PC. PhotoMap is a new trick that displays your photos on a map, using their embedded GPS data (if they have any) to place them. The screen itself features a less reflective surface than usual, which is said to minimise glare and improve perceived contrast. Sony calls this an OptiContrast Panel and it is noticeably less mirrored than other sets lower down the model range, and the contrast is indeed impressive.
Sony's new OptiContrast panel has a clear surface layer that reduces reflectivity and also helps this achieve its claimed contrast ratio of 33,000:1. The screen is noticeably less glossy than previous Sony sets so there are less distracting reflections of yourself sitting on the sofa. The main advantage though is the improvement in contrast that goes with that. The black levels are deep and solid and the whites are particularly bright with the help of the LED backlight. The contrast level in between is strong enough to ensure detail remains visible even during the dark scenes. Using Coraline on 3D Blu-ray in 2D mode to begin with provides a good test of this as most of the film is set at night. While some TVs struggle to resolve the black figures against a black background, the image here is almost always distinct. Switch into 3D mode and it's a slightly different story. There's a significant drop in brightness when viewing though the 3D glasses, which makes it trickier to decipher the very dark scenes. Having said that, the brightness hit occurs in all 3D TVs due to the flicker of the glasses and it's actually less pronounced here. The other advantage this set has in terms of 3D playback is a rapid frequency response that prevents the dreaded crosstalk from ruining the effect. This is when echoes of the left and right images linger and overlap slightly to create a shadow and shatter the image. There are traces of crosstalk here, but that's all. There's also a perceived drop in resolution when you don the glasses, too. The alternating left and right images leave you seeing a slightly softer version of the image even though each eye is actually seeing a 1080p image. Again, it's a feature of frame sequential 3D, and this set is no more prone to it than any other. In fact, what you see here is a fairly convincing 3D image that stretches well back behind the screen, while objects in the foreground loom plausibly into the room. The bold colours, crisp detail and speedy processing all conspire to paint a particularly lifelike 3D picture. This set can also convert 2D into 3D with the push of a button - if you really want to. This mode adds some ,impression of depth, but it's not very realistic and of course, introduces all the negative aspects of 3D, like the drop in brightness and sharpness, so really it's a sure way to ruin a good film. Switching from Blu-ray to the TV's own Freeview HD tuner is a refreshing surprise. LCD panels of this size are usually very unforgiving of compressed standard-def material, but Sony's Bravia Engine 3 processing is clearly doing a decent job of tidying up the image in terms of clarity, contrast and colour fidelity. What you won't see here is any dreadful artificial sharpening of the image. All too often, TV manufacturers use video processing to attempt to make images appear smoother and less grainy and end up with glitchy and artificial results. Motionflow 200Hz Pro is the latest version of Sony's frame creation processor that uses backlight blinking to deliver four times the number of frames as a 50Hz set and a stable, non-jerky image. This it manages to do without creating a halo around fast moving objects. The important point is that you don't notice it and the picture always looks natural.
Sound It's impossible for flat TVs of this screen size to achieve sound of a similar scale. Speakers this small simply don't have the volume, especially when they're tucked away like Sony's 'invisible' speakers. Apparently, they're positioned for optimum elevation and powered by Sony's digital S-Master amplifiers, but they still lack sufficient projection to match the TV. The sound is clear enough, but it lacks any bass warmth, so it sounds thin and stretched when you turn it up. This is where Sony's optional SU-B550S soundbar stand comes in. The long aluminium plinth that gives the Monolithic Design TVs their characteristic 6° lean has just been redesigned to incorporate 2.1 powered speakers with a combined output of 40W, so it's the ideal partner for this set if you have the extra £349 to spare. Value The NX813 is almost in the top tier of Sony's extensive TV range, with only the HX903 being more expensive. The Sony brand name still commands a premium too, so at £3,000, this TV isn't exactly cheap. Thanks to keen competition, though, you do get a lot for your money. This is a stylish set with a smart glass stand for starters and it crams a lot into its narrow frame. Luxuries like Wi-Fi are built in, and the dynamic edge LED backlighting add to the cost. Given the price, however, it still seems off-putting that the 3D transmitter isn't built into the set as with the HX903, or at least bundled with the TV. Because of this, 3D fans will be able to find better value for money over at Samsung and Panasonic. Ease of use Sony's Bravia TVs tend to score highly in the ease-of-use stakes, thanks to the brilliant Xross Media Bar (XMB) menu system that has moved from the PS3 to just about every Sony product with an onscreen interface. With the two axis offering up all of your options without insisting you scroll through menu pages, you can access all of the features in no time. Even the channel names for the analogue and digital tuners now appear on the XMB. There's also a very clear eight-day electronic programme guide (EPG), which makes planning your viewing especially easy on this larger-than-life screen. As for the remote control, Sony has simply decided to supersize one of its regular handsets. The current concave remote with the addition power button on the flip side is very intuitive and could only be improved by perhaps making it a bit more ergonomic. Scaling it up to this size doesn't seem to bring any important new buttons, but it does mean you're less likely to lose track of it. In addition to the eight preset picture modes, you can tweak the brightness, colour temperature etc yourself. Other brands offer more in the way of test patterns and other calibration tools to help you fine tune the picture, but ease of use, rather than flexibility, is the name of the game here.
Sony's latest premium TV comes with a hefty price tag, but it justifies that with integrated Wi-Fi and a host of online functions. The handsome slick Monolithic Design inspires confidence, and you're all ready for 3D too, even though the transmitter and glasses aren't included. More importantly, the image quality in both 3D and old-fashioned 2D is excellent. Deep blacks, bold colours and powerful video processing combine for a highly appealing picture. We liked Thoroughly convincing in 3D and highly appealing in 2D, the picture quality is the main attraction, although the styling is spot-on, too. We disliked Not incorporating the 3D transmitter means ruining the minimal design and yet more expense. Final verdict This handsome set is a strong addition to Sony's lineup. The slimmer frame and narrower bezel are an improvement on the Monolithic Design, while the OptiContrast screen seems to improve the contrast and black level performance. Overall, the picture quality is very strong in 2D mode, which translates to a very plausible 3D output too. It's a shame the 3D transmitter isn't built into the set, but the reality is, you probably won't be watching much 3D content on it anyway. Related Links
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| Review: Furutech PC-2 optical disc cleaner Posted: 21 Dec 2010 02:00 AM PST  Furutech has been an increasingly familiar figure in the world of tweaks recently, thanks to a range that includes cables, mains connectors and more esoteric devices such as an LP flattening oven, a sort of Corby trouser press for vinyl. The PC-2 looks pretty ordinary and there are lots of bottles of fluid allegedly ideal for cleaning CDs, DVDs and other flavours of optical disc. This one, however, caught our attention because its makeup is unusual. Instead of using organic solvents (which do remove most contaminants, but are frequently bad for the environment, bad for the user and are alleged to induce or worsen static charge problems) this one uses a 'combination of enzymes and ions' – in other words it is a biological cleaner. We recall the good results we've had with a couple of those on LPs. Furutech packages this water-based fluid in a handy puffer bottle and throws in an exceptionally soft micro-fibre cloth to use with it. In terms of removing visible contamination it works as well as any, though when we tested disc error-rate we found it no more effective than a clean shirt-tail (!) – both restored error rates to the levels before (deliberate) contamination of the test disc. And yet we were convinced that discs both pristine and well-used gained just a little extra precision and lifelike immediacy after PC-2 treatment. It's not a major effect, but like so many tweaks it's the sort of thing one feels reluctant to forego, having once heard it. Application takes very little time and a bottle seems set to treat several dozen discs, making it inexpensive to use. Related Links
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| Google Nexus One getting Android 2.3 'in the coming weeks' Posted: 21 Dec 2010 01:54 AM PST  Like a family with the newborn baby, the Google Nexus S is overshadowing its older Nexus One brother - but that doesn't mean the upgrades are going to stop for the sibling. The Nexus One has already been confirmed as getting the Android 2.3 update at some point, and that time has been set for early Q1 2011. The following announcement over on the official Google Nexus Twitter page confirmed the upgrade: "The Gingerbread OTA for Nexus One will happen in the coming weeks. Just hang tight!" Hang tight? Hardly the most revealing Tweet ever Twotted, but at least Nexus One owners won't feel too upset at having to wait ages for the new Android update. The Google Nexus One is relatively similar to the Nexus S in terms of specs: 1GHz processor (although Qualcomm rather than Samsung's Hummingbird) and large high-res screen, so we should hope it's not too much of a jump to port the new platform to the original Nexus. 
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| Posted: 21 Dec 2010 01:30 AM PST  Blue Horizon is a fairly new arrival on the accessories scene and has probably made most impact with its 'ProBurn' cable burn-in device. Clean-IT is rather more mundane; a clear fluid intended to clean electrical contacts, specifically in audio systems. There are other cleaners around that claim to do exactly the same job, but this one seems different from those we've seen before. It has as a base, some organic solvent with a distinctive smell and you simply paint it on to connectors with the brush attached to the cap, then wipe it off with the supplied microfibre cloth. That it does something is evident from the dirty residue left on the cloth when wiping particularly elderly connectors! We tried it on various phono plugs and sockets, mains connectors and speaker terminals, with results that varied from nothing we could hear (on relatively new, but well-used speaker terminals) to well worth the expense and trouble (old and visibly tarnished phono leads). We weren't sure about the mains connections, in general: some older speaker terminals certainly benefitted a little. But it's small-signal connections that seem to benefit most, with the sound opening out a little in terms of space and gaining in detail and definition. It's not night and day stuff, but it's persuasive enough to make us want to give it a go every once in a while, to make sure the system's at its best. Incidentally, we also did some measurements which suggested contact resistance was halved, so it's certainly no Christmas fairy story! Related Links
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| Gulliver's Travels 3D star hits out at 3D Posted: 21 Dec 2010 01:26 AM PST  In what can hardly be seen as a glowing endorsement of the 3D in new movie Gulliver's Travels, star Emily Blunt has admitted to feeling uncomfortable in 3D glasses. Gulliver's Travels will arrive on Boxing Day, with 'star' Jack Black playing the eponymous hero/slacker. The film is, as you would expect, available in 3D, but Black's co-star Blunt has confessed that she's not a fan of donning the specs over her own glasses.
Uncomfortable "Do you wear your glasses and the 3D glasses? She asked South African site iOL. "Because that's what I have to do and I find it an uncomfortable experience!" Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but considering the early reviews have been less than delighted with the film itself, and even more scathing about the post-production 3D, then perhaps not too unexpected. The glasses over glasses question is unlikely to go away, however, but manufacturers are beginning to work out how to make lighter and stylish specs so things may improve fairly soon. And if not then you can always settle in for the long, hard wait for an autostereoscopic television. 
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