Techradar

Tutorial: How to create Photoshop panoramas in Elements 9
CES 2011: In pictures: Alienware M17x
CES 2011: Hands on: Motion tablet review
CES 2011: The best gadgets and tech at CES 2011
CES 2011: The best gadgets and tech at CES 2011
CES 2011: The best new mobile phones at CES 2011
CES 2011: The best new mobile phones at CES 2011
In Depth: The best Linux distros you've never heard of
Review: HP Envy 17 3D
Tutorial: How to use One-Step Effects in iMovie 11
Review: Asus N73J
Catch up: this week's most popular posts

Tutorial: How to create Photoshop panoramas in Elements 9

Posted: 09 Jan 2011 12:00 AM PST

Photoshop Elements 9 comes with enhanced Photomerge tools that make creating high-quality panoramas easier than ever.

All you need is a series of overlapping images taken with the same zoom setting and exposure, and Photomerge will do the rest. (Many compact cameras have panoramic modes designed to do this, and display guidelines to help you frame each overlapping shot.)

It is possible to line up panoramic images manually using layers, but it's almost impossible to get them to line up perfectly because of differences in brightness values, tilt, perspective and distortion. Fixing this manually using the Transform and Lens/Camera Correction tools can take an age, but Photomerge takes care of all this automatically.

But all these corrections produce panoramas with jagged edges, and usually the only solution is to crop these off and lose a significant percentage of the image area in the process. So the new Content-Aware technologies in Elements 9 take a different approach – Photomerge can now fill the gaps, which means you don't lose any of your panorama.

The repairs aren't always perfect, but most of the time they'll go unnoticed unless you examine the image closely. And if there are areas that have obviously gone wrong, Elements 9 has another enhanced tool which is perfect for putting them right – the Spot Healing Brush.

Its Content-Aware mode can produce perfect repairs with a single stroke, whereas before you might have been faced with some tedious and tricky manual cloning.

The other thing you'll notice with Photomerge panoramas in Elements 9 is that they include all the images used to create the panorama as separate layers. You don't need these if the finished image (the top layer) is fine as it is, but they can be useful if you want to see how it's been assembled or make some manual adjustments yourself.

Each layer has an editable mask, which is another new feature in Elements 9. Layer masks are one of the key tools for creating complex montages out of several different images, and their inclusion here brings Elements 9 a big step closer to the abilities of Photoshop itself.

How to create panoramas in Photoshop Elements

01. Start Photomerge

step 1

Open your sequence of individual images. Here they are lined up in the Project Bin at the bottom of the window. Now choose File > New > Photomerge Panorama (as you can see, there are a number of different Photomerge technologies on offer now).

02. Choose layout

step 2

It's possible to create panoramas in a number of different layouts, which will vary according to the subject matter and the type of 'projection' you want to create. We can leave the setting on Auto in this instance, and click the Add Open Files button.

03. Align images

step 3

Now Photomerge returns to the main window, where it sets about blending the images. First it combines the separate images as layers in a new composition, then enlarges the canvas and adjusts the position and perspective of the frames so that they overlap perfectly.

04. Blend images

step 4

Here you can see the adjusted frames in the Layers palette. Next, Photomerge blends the individual images together, and it does this by creating layer masks which selectively hide parts of each layer without actually deleting any of the image data.

05. Clean edges

step 5

The panorama that Photomerge has created has gaps at the edges (sometimes you can get gaps between frames, too). This is normal with merged panoramas; usually you've got no choice but to crop the photo. Elements 9, though, has a new feature – Clean Edges…

06. The 'auto-filled' result

step 6

This is the result after Photomerge has filled the edges. It's preserved the full image size (previously we'd have had to crop them). You do have to look closely to see where detail has been 'filled', and the repair is good enough that you don't need to do anything else.

07. Spot Healing Brush

step 7

One area where the auto-fill function has produced a poor result is at the top of this tower, where Photomerge has picked up some of the detail from the grassy hillside. Use the Spot Healing Brush, and its new Content- Aware mode (selected on the options bar).

08. 'Invisible' repairs…

step 8

And Spot Healing Brush fixes the problem. The Content-Aware mode is excellent at finding matching details in the surrounding areas and blending them in. The detail it has substituted here has been 'invented', but the match is so good that no-one's likely to notice.

CES 2011: In pictures: Alienware M17x

Posted: 08 Jan 2011 06:21 PM PST

The new M17x is Alienware's first 3D-capable gaming laptop. And, as you'd expect, it's huge.

The 3D bundle is a build-to-order option as you'll need to upgrade the standard 17-inch display to the 120Hz w/3D Bundle WideFHD WLED LCD display – and you'll also need a Nvidia graphics card.

Under the hood, there's Core i7 and up to 8GB of memory. At CES Alienware also introduced new models of its Aurora desktop systems, Alienware's first MicroATX desktop.

Alienware m17x

CES 2011: Hands on: Motion tablet review

Posted: 08 Jan 2011 05:38 PM PST

You can drop it from chest height onto concrete multiple times. You can spill coffee over it. You can read it outdoors (even in the bright sunlight of a Las Vegas winter day) and keep it out in the desert heat (or indeed a much colder temperature than the desert winter).

But when you look at the 10.1-inch Motion CL900 tablet PC it doesn't look like it belongs on a building site or strapped to a tank; it's a rather stylish black case with sleek, rounded corners that looks just as appealing as tablets you can't kick around like that.

the motion cl900 is another next-generation atom tablet but the design stands out more than the spec

Being rugged doesn't make it unusually heavy; it's 2.1 pounds, and while 16mm isn't as thin as an iPad it doesn't feel bulky for a tablet PC. Gorilla Glass keeps the touchscreen from getting scratched.

Motion has been making tablet PCs for years, switching to industrial and medical markets as mainstream tablets failed to take off. We think the CL900 is the best of both worlds.

Motion told us they wouldn't consider it to have a true outdoor screen, but it was easier to read and (thanks to the Vertak coating) had less glare than any of the notebooks we compared it to.

the motion cl900 is another next-generation atom tablet but the design stands out more than the spec

The Ntrig touchscreen gives you the combination of responsive capacitive multitouch (with four points of touch, so you can enjoy multiplayer games or type fairly fast on the Windows 7 on-screen keyboard) and an active pen (tucked securely away behind a pop-out door) with smooth ink for handwriting (and the pen turns off touch so your hand doesn't act like a giant crayon if you rest it on the screen while you write).

Motion is 'experimenting' with the circle-based ExoPC user interface we've seen on the ExoPC Slate, which works just as well on here. The screen rotates automatically thanks to the accelerometer, but you can turn that off if you want.

the motion cl900 is another next-generation atom tablet but the design stands out more than the spec

The dual core 1.5GHz Oak Trail Atom processor, 30 or 62GB SSD , micro HDMI, SD card slot, GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 3G specification is similar to many of the upcoming Windows tablets, as is the slightly sub-$1,000 price.

There's only a single speaker but it sounds surprisingly good and the dual microphones will be good for Skype calls.

the motion cl900 is another next-generation atom tablet but the design stands out more than the spec

Oak Trail is one reason for the 8 hour battery life Motion is claiming; the other is the fact that fully half the case is taken up by the battery. It's a fast-charging battery; plug in for 15 minutes and you get an hour out of it.

The CL900 should be on sale in the spring; because it's aimed at business there will be peripherals like fingerprint scanners and credit card readers, but Motion is also planning a keyboard that fits into a portfolio case so you can use it like a notebook. That will give it a little extra protection – not that it really needs it.

CES 2011: The best gadgets and tech at CES 2011

Posted: 08 Jan 2011 08:06 AM PST

Every year at CES, you'll find a small cluster of super-gadgets that stand head and shoulders above the crowd.

This is the kit that draws the biggest crowds, has the greatest potential and keeps the weary tech-heads talking long after they've left the convention centre and ordered their first mojito.

If the exhibitors at this year's show would let us walk off with ten products, no questions asked, we'd stuff our suitcases with the kit below and UPS the rest…

1. Motorola Xoom

How do you out-iPad the iPad? Simple, you have to beat it on both the hardware and the software fronts. So the Motorola Xoom boasts a bigger 10.1-inch display with a higher 1280x800 pixel resolution. Under the hood there's a superior dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 250 chip; 32GB of storage plus an SD card expansion slot; plus 5MP and 2MP front and rear cameras.

In terms of software, Android 3.0 is looking very tasty. All of which means that the iPad is rudely dethroned. Time for the iPad 2.

2. Blackberry PlayBook

Blackberry playbook

Of course, while the Xoom satisfies our lust for an iPad-beater, we've developed a real soft-spot for the Blackberry PlayBook. The combination of a 7-inch (1024x600 pixel) display, BlackBerry Tablet OS and 1GHz Cortex-A9 dual core processor is a definite winner. Can we have both? A Xoom for the living room, a PlayBook for the long plane ride home.

3. Motorola Atrix

Motorola atrix

A few years ago Motorola had fallen on hard times and just couldn't produce products that anybody wanted. Now, the historic company is riding high on the back of a successful phone business that includes the Milestone/Droid family, Dext, Defy and now the stunning Atrix.

Dual-core processing power points the way all top-tier smartphones are heading. The fact that you can plug the Atrix into a laptop dock proves that Motorola is thinking beyond your pocket.

4. LG 31-inch OLED TV

LG 31-inch oled tv

Yes, it's still a prototype. But this 2.9mm-thick OLED telly is the desirable shape of TVs to come. It's the world's slimmest OLED model, although the competition isn't that fierce. If we managed to run off with it, we'd enjoy 1920x1080 HD visuals with passive 3D functionality built-in. Photos just don't do it justice or capture the fact that watching it is like a free spa day for your retinas.

5. Sony OLED 3D headset

Sony oled 3d headset

Looking like a prop from the set of Tron: Legacy, Sony's 3D headset concept banishes the need for a wall-mounted TV, OLED, Plasma, LED or otherwise. The headset itself packs two 3D OLED displays, both with a high-definition resolution of 1280x720 pixels. The resulting 3D image is incredible and given the choice of wearing Active Shutter specs or this futuristic telly-headband, we'd opt for the latter every time. If you're going to look stupid, go all the way.

6. Razer Switchblade

Razer switchblade

Every once in a while you see a gadget and think: "Of course! Why didn't somebody think of this before?" Like the Sony headset, the Razer Switchblade is a concept rather than a finished product. By replacing the traditional mouse and keyboard with a multi-touch screen, dynamic tactile keyboard and 'intelligent user interface', this natty little gadget offers anywhere video gaming. What could you play? Well, all of the promo screens show World of Warcraft…

7. Samsung BD-D7500

Samsung bd-7500

Proclaimed as the "world's slimmest 3D Blu-ray player", the Samsung BD-D7500 instantly appeals to our inner geek. It's a mere 28mm tall, which is about the height of three iPhone 4s carefully stacked on top of each other. Into this teeny-tiny chassis Samsung has packed in 2D-to-3D conversion, HD up-scaling, Wi-Fi connectivity and a super-speedy three second start-up.

8. Star Wars on Blu-ray

It's Star Wars. On Blu-ray. First the Beatles back catalogue landed on iTunes, now you can pre-order the complete Star Wars saga in HD for around £90 RRP.

Of course, if you're not fond of episodes 1-3, you can avoid the jumbo box set and go for the original trilogy, which is available on Amazon for £34.

9. Sony Bloggie 3D

Sony bloggie 3d

Touted as the world's first HD 3D pocket camera, the newly announced MHS-FS3 Bloggie 3D has two lenses, two image sensors and a stereo microphone for amateur 3D movie-making. It will be cheaper than the more advanced 3D camcorders shown at CES too. Although you do have to factor in the additional cost of a 3D telly to watch what you've recorded.

10. Lenovo IdeaCentre A320

As mentioned previously, we're suckers for technology that claims to be the 'world's first/biggest/smallest'. So if you see us nonchalantly whistling while we stuff the Lenovo IdeaCentre A320 into a bag, don't be surprised. It's arguably the world's thinnest desktop all-in-one PC, measuring just 18.5mm at its thinnest point. A 21.5-inch display and Intel Core i5 CPU provide the beauty and the brains respectively.

That's our pick of CES 2011. What have you seen that's caught your eye and tugged at your wallet? Let us know in the comments.

CES 2011: The best gadgets and tech at CES 2011

Posted: 08 Jan 2011 08:06 AM PST

Every year at CES, you'll find a small cluster of super-gadgets that stand head and shoulders above the crowd.

This is the kit that draws the biggest crowds, has the greatest potential and keeps the weary tech-heads talking long after they've left the convention centre and ordered their first mojito.

If the exhibitors at this year's show would let us walk off with ten products, no questions asked, we'd stuff our suitcases with the kit below and UPS the rest…

1. Motorola Xoom

In terms of software, Android 3.0 is looking very tasty. All of which means that the iPad is rudely dethroned. Time for the iPad 2.

2. Blackberry PlayBook

Blackberry playbook

3. Motorola Atrix

Motorola atrix

Dual-core processing power points the way all top-tier smartphones are heading. The fact that you can plug the Atrix into a laptop dock proves that Motorola is thinking beyond your pocket.

4. LG 31-inch OLED TV

LG 31-inch oled tv

5. Sony OLED 3D headset

Sony oled 3d headset

6. Razer Switchblade

Razer switchblade

7. Samsung BD-D7500

Samsung bd-7500

8. Star Wars on Blu-ray

It's Star Wars. On Blu-ray. First the Beatles back catalogue landed on iTunes, now you can pre-order the complete Star Wars saga in HD for around £90 RRP.

Of course, if you're not fond of episodes 1-3, you can avoid the jumbo box set and go for the original trilogy, which is available on Amazon for £34.

9. Sony Bloggie 3D

Sony bloggie 3d

10. Lenovo IdeaCentre A320

That's our pick of CES 2011. What have you seen that's caught your eye and tugged at your wallet? Let us know in the comments.

CES 2011: The best new mobile phones at CES 2011

Posted: 08 Jan 2011 04:45 AM PST

If tablet devices and Android 3.0 are hogging the limelight at CES 2011, new mobile phones aren't far behind.

We've seen a flurry of new handsets that, technologically speaking, outclass the iPhone 4, Samsung Galaxy S and HTC Desire HD. Which one of these do you fancy?

Dell Venue

Also available in a Windows Phone 7-powered 'Pro' version, the new Venue keyboard-less Venue brushes the big screen/aged Android silliness of the Dell Streak under the carpet. This good-looking Android 2.2 phone features a 1GHz processor, a sensible 4.1-inch AMOLED/Gorilla Glass display and an 8MP camera.

Hands on: Dell Venue review

LG Optimus 2x

The Optimus 2x was actually announced pre-CES, but we've had a chance to play with this ground-breaking dual-core smartphone on the show floor. It's the first phone to feature Nvidia's Tegra 250 processor, which incorporates ARM's Cortex A9 CPU. With a 4-inch WVGA touchscreen display, 8MP digital camera and 1080p video capture, what's not to like?

Hands on: LG Optimus 2x review

LG Optimus Black

LG optimus black

LG also unveiled the Optimus Black handset at CES, which lacks the dual-core grunt of the 2X but makes up for it in other areas. For example, this handset is a mere 9.2mm thick, beating the iPhone 4 for skinniness. It also features what LG calls a NOVA display, a 4-inch touchscreen that claims to be more efficient than Super AMOLED.

Hands on: LG Optimus Black review

Motorola Atrix

While Motorola has grabbed CES headlines with its Xoom tablet, its Android 2.2-powered Atrix smartphone could be a pocketable force to be reckoned with. Like the LG Optimus 2X, the Atrix is a dual-core handset with 1GB of memory, up to 48GB of storage, front and rear cameras and a stunning qHD (960x540 pixel) display.

Hands on: Motorola Atrix review

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc

Sony ericsson xperia arc

While we wait for some more solid information about Sony Ericsson's 'PlayStation phone', the new Xperia Arc looks to challenge the smartphone elite. Forget the ho-hum X10 and X8 models, because the Arc features Android 2.3, 8.1MP digital snapper and an eye-catching 4.2-inch 'Reality display' with pixel processing courtesy of Sony's Mobile Bravia Engine.

Hands on: Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc review

ViewSonic ViewPad 4

Despite ViewSonic's attempts to call it a 'pad', with its 4-inch screen the ViewPad 4 is small enough to act as a smartphone. The problem is this: ViewSonic has equipped it with technology from 2010 rather than looking ahead to 2011. So you get a 1GHz processor rather than a dual-core one; a 5MP camera, not an 8MP lens. Excitement factor? Very close to zero.

New HTC handsets for the US…

Along with Samsung, Apple and Motorola, HTC is one of the hottest mobile manufacturers on the planet and it's unveiled several new Android 4G phones for the US market at CES.

There's the unremarkable Evo Shift 4G, which features an 800MHz CPU, 3.6-inch display and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The LTE-friendly HTC Thunderbolt sounds more impressive. It boasts a 4.3-inch WVGA screen, Android 2.2 and Skype video calling built-in.

Lastly there's the HTC Inspire 4G, which features Android 2.2, a 1GHz Snapdragon chip, 4.3-inch WVGA display and an 8MP digital camera.

Motorola Droid Bionic

Although never released in the UK, the Motorola Droid X has long been one of the best (and biggest) Android phones around. The new Droid Bionic model ramps up the specification with Android 2.2, a dual-core CPU and a 4.3-inch qHD display, 8MP camera and 4G/LTE connectivity.

Samsung Infuse 4G

This is another 4G phone for the US, but notable for its brand-spanking-new 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus display that blows Super AMOLED right out of the water. It might not be a dual-core monster, but the 1.2GHz Hummingbird chip is still nippy. Add to this an 8MP rear camera and front-facing 1.3MP lens for video chat and you've got an impressive mobile on your hands.

So what about iPhone 5?

The launch of the dual-core LG Optimus 2X and the Motorola Atrix make the iPhone 4 feel a little… well, a little oudated if we're honest. And if the iPhone's speediness is being eclipsed, its Retina Display is being challenged by Samsung's Super AMOLED Plus, Sony Ericsson's Reality Display, not to mention the qHD displays on the Droid Bionic and Motorola Atrix.

Time for an iPhone 5? Absolutely. Find out what it could feature by reading TechRadar's iPhone 5 rumours.

What new mobile phone are you most looking forward to in 2011? Has one of the new dual-core Android phones caught your eye? Let us know below.

CES 2011: The best new mobile phones at CES 2011

Posted: 08 Jan 2011 04:45 AM PST

If tablet devices and Android 3.0 are hogging the limelight at CES 2011, new mobile phones aren't far behind.

We've seen a flurry of new handsets that, technologically speaking, outclass the iPhone 4, Samsung Galaxy S and HTC Desire HD. Which one of these do you fancy?

Dell Venue

Hands on: Dell Venue review

LG Optimus 2x

Hands on: LG Optimus 2x review

LG Optimus Black

LG optimus black

Hands on: LG Optimus Black review

Motorola Atrix

Hands on: Motorola Atrix review

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc

Sony ericsson xperia arc

Hands on: Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc review

ViewSonic ViewPad 4

New HTC handsets for the US…

Along with Samsung, Apple and Motorola, HTC is one of the hottest mobile manufacturers on the planet and it's unveiled several new Android 4G phones for the US market at CES.

Lastly there's the HTC Inspire 4G, which features Android 2.2, a 1GHz Snapdragon chip, 4.3-inch WVGA display and an 8MP digital camera.

Motorola Droid Bionic

Samsung Infuse 4G

So what about iPhone 5?

Time for an iPhone 5? Absolutely. Find out what it could feature by reading TechRadar's iPhone 5 rumours.

What new mobile phone are you most looking forward to in 2011? Has one of the new dual-core Android phones caught your eye? Let us know below.

In Depth: The best Linux distros you've never heard of

Posted: 08 Jan 2011 04:00 AM PST

Just because we can do something doesn't mean we should. Before this wisdom dawned on the Linux community, Red Hat, Debian and Slackware had spawned several dozen distros. Some died a single-release death, but a lot survived and a vibrant community grew around them.

That, along with all the distros designed to meet specific needs, means there's a lot of variety in the Linux world. While community is key to a good desktop distro, it also needs thorough documentation on wikis and blogs, and ample support.

In addition to community-based channels, such as mailing lists, user forums and IRC, some distros also offer more traditional paid-for support packages.

What's more, the most talked-about distros – including Ubuntu, Fedora and OpenSUSE – aren't necessarily the most friendly for new users. They make installing non-free codecs simple, but there are others that – at the expense of some flaming from the free software community – ship with non-free packages, enabling you to play all sorts of online and offline media, and even games designed for Windows.

Which distro you should use depends on what you need. Moreover, despite their thriving communities, most distros – aside from the popular ones – are developed by a one-man team. These limited staffing levels explain why they don't make releases at fixed intervals. This might be a turn-off for some, but it does make for stable releases.

In any case, everything you need is included in the repository. The choice of distros available doesn't shrink as you move away from the desktop towards netbooks, either – you'll find spin-offs of the most popular desktop distributions. But there are also a bunch of other good options.

The best thing about netbook distros is their approach to helping you get the most out of the vastly decreased amount of screen space you have to work with. We can't ignore lightweight distros that don't tax old hardware incapable of running Windows 7, either. Their tiny size doesn't mean that they compromise on eye candy. So if you're tired of the brown or blue, perhaps it's time to give something new a try. Here's our pick of the best.

Using Linux needn't be tricky, as these distros prove.

PCLinuxOS

PCLinuxOS

This one-man distro, developed by an army of contributors, is available in several varieties depending on your choice of desktop.

The hardware detection prowess of the distro leaves no room for complaint; PCLinuxOS supports a wealth of video cards, including Nvidia, ATI, Intel, SiS, Matrox and VIA, and there are tools for working with HP, Epson and Lexmark printers.

You can configure these and other hardware from the easy-to-use administration centre. There's no dearth of apps in the distro, although AbiWord is supplied instead of OpenOffice.org.

For your convenience, however, there is a GetOpenOffice menu entry that will fetch and install the OpenOffice.org suite. Firefox is equipped with plugins to play files in formats such as DivX, RealPlayer, QuickTime, Flash and Java.

To enhance your multimedia experience even further, there's Gsopcast for watching P2P TV, Me TV for viewing DVB broadcasts, Imagination for creating DVD slideshows and the Floola iPod manager as well.

If you want to share files, there's the Dropbox client and Tucan Manager. For running a clean ship there's Bleachbit to remove junk, the Nixory anti-spyware client, and Dupeclean to remove older versions of apps. To give you easy access to your online accounts, there's the Pino Twitter and Identi.ca client. Synaptic does package management, plus there's an app for selecting the fastest repository.

PCLinuxOS has tons of documentation as well as active forums, IRC channels and several mailing lists, so it's easy to get some help if you need it.

SimplyMepis

SimplyMepis

If you think Ubuntu is the easiest desktop distro around, you've obviously not used this one. It has loads of custom tools and is stuffed with proprietary drivers, codecs and software to give you the smoothest Linux desktop experience possible.

SimplyMepis's polished interface is based on KDE. In the Linux world, stability comes at the expense of outdated packages, but this provides a good balance of the two, since it's built using the latest stable version of Debian (Lenny) and updates selected packages.

Depending on the timing of Debian, the next version will be synced with the final release of the current Debian unstable release (Squeeze). This is a quick distro off the blocks. When you boot the live CD, you get passwords for both the demo and root users.

With the Mepis Welcome Centre, you can quickly query the user manual (which is distributed in the image), plus the online wiki and forums. You can also install popular apps such as Gimp, Thunderbird and Wine.

Besides the official repository, the distro also has community-supported repos that can be activated from the Welcome Centre.

Another great addition to the distro is the Mepis Network Assistant for setting up wired and wireless interfaces, which has NdisWrapper – and about a dozen widely used proprietary Windows drivers – pre-installed.

The Mepis System Assistant is useful for system maintenance, enabling you to free up disk space by clearing logs and package caches. From here, you can also create bootable USB keys from ISO images. The User Assistant also enables you to copy and sync caches and directories between users, as well as restore configurations to default values.

Besides the usual stash of apps, there's also OpenJDK, and all sorts of multimedia content.

Pardus

Pardus

Pardus, developed by the Turkish National Research Institute of Electronics and Cryptology, is proof that good things can come out of government offices. It's only available as an installable image, but what an installer it is.

The partitioner can try to find partitions with suitable free space or, failing that, looks for resizeable partitions (ext3 and NTFS) and alters them to create room. Partitions are formatted as ext4, and graphics and sound cards are automatically detected at the end of the installation.

Kaptan helps you tune your Pardus installation. It'll cover the basics, including mouse setup, themes, and altering the number of virtual desktops. It also enables you to choose from three menu styles: Kickoff, Lancelot or simple.

Pardus includes the Strigi desktop search engine, and the hardware profiler, which can also upload and share your profile. On the software front, there's the usual suspects, plus Knazar, a virtual amulet to repel evil looks; SuperKaramba for eye candy; and Kleopatra to encrypt docs.

Besides the officially supported repositories, you can also enable the contributor software repos, and easily set the software update frequency. Pardus's package manager, Pisi, is newbie-proof.

Finally, Pardus can play all sorts of media files out of the box, including MP3s, AVIs and DVDs.

Sabayon

Sabayon

When your distro boots to Pornophonique's Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, you know a great user experience will follow. As well as booting into the KDE desktop environment, Sabayon gives you the option to run it as a media centre with XBMC, or use a special environment for an ultramobile PC (UMPC).

It's got the Clementine music player with presets to online radio stations such as SomaFM and Last.fm. There's VLC Media Player for MP3s, AVIs and so on, and Dragon Player too.

Meanwhile, Firefox is equipped with plugins to play Flash and Java, and there's also a PackageKit plugin for installing apps. The distro is adept at detecting and configuring hardware. There are tools that will automatically configure various system components, such as OpenGL, wireless cards and printers.

Sabayon also includes proprietary video drivers for both Nvidia and ATI hardware. Sabayon uses its own in-house developed Entropy package manager to install additional apps. You'll find loads of proprietary software on the repos.

The distro has an unusual development model. It releases images daily to testers, and to the general public weekly. Official stable releases are daily versions that have been tested thoroughly by testers and the community.

Brush the cobwebs off that old box and press it back into service.

Slitaz

Slitaz

Short for Simple Light Incredible Temporary Autonomous Zone, you'd expect something stellar from Slitaz, and it delivers.

For starters, it's just 30MB. Thanks to its minuscule size, you can boot the distro straight off the web into RAM. This is a wonderful way to regularly check out the current development version.

Due to its size, Slitaz takes an unconventional approach to apps. Traditional apps are replaced with lightweight equivalents, such as the Midori web browser. Slitaz also assumes you have a decent connection to the internet, which it relies on to fetch apps as you need them. For example, there's a basic text editor, but click Write Documents and the distro fetches and installs AbiWord.

You'll find lots of custom tools and apps here. There's BurnBox for writing DVDs, NetBox and WifiBox to set up wired and wireless connections, and Tazlito to remaster the Slitaz live CD. Slitaz can be installed to a hard disk or USB mass storage device. To generate a live USB system, you can use the Tazusb tool. You can install new packages via the mirrors, a DVD, or from a USB storage device.

Package management from the command line is handled via custom manager TazPkg. There's also Tazwok to configure and compile a package from source.

Zenwalk

Zenwalk

Care for a blast from the past? Then carve out a partition for Zenwalk. This distro is optimised for performance on older hardware and is available in various flavours.

The standard edition has Xfce, although there are versions that offer Gnome and Openbox desktops as well. Zenwalk used to be based on Slackware and is still compatible with its binary packages. Now, however, the distro uses its own Netpkg package manager, which adds dependency resolution capabilities to TGZ packages.

Instead of running the vanilla version of the Firefox browser, the distro uses GNU IceCat with plugins for Flash, QuickTime, DivX and more. There's no Java Runtime Environment, but it can be easily installed via Netpkg.

Zenwalk plays media files of all kinds out of the box and, for a wholesome desktop experience, there's Brasero, OOo, Gimp, Pidgin, Gftp, Thunar File Manager, Firestarter, NdisWrapper, the WiCD network manager, Grsync for backup, and lots more.

Zenwalk's installer brings back fond memories of the Ncurses-based Slackware installer. It uses cfdisk for partitioning, and includes an auto-install option that creates a dedicated partition and installs packages.

Zenwalk is also one of the few mainstream distros to still use the Lilo bootloader, and displays the GNU GPL before booting the desktop. Classic!

When you first boot into the distro, you're required to set up a password for root, after which you can add or view users and groups. There's good news if you like to be in command of your installations, too: Zenwalk gives you control over the groups a user belongs to.

More advanced users will also appreciate the convenience of the included kernel module configurator, kernelconfig, which enables you to select which kernel modules to load.

CrunchBang Linux

CrunchBang

Plenty of distros that attempt to cater for older hardware just switch Gnome or KDE for a lightweight desktop environment and call the job done, which is why they aren't as actively developed as CrunchBang Linux.

CrunchBang developers go the extra mile to ensure you don't just have a distro for older hardware, but a nippy one at that. The live CD boots quickly to a minimal desktop with a right-click menu, and application launch shortcut keys are displayed on the desktop.

The latest stable release is based on Ubuntu, but subsequent versions will be based on Debian Squeeze sources.

Besides the Openbox and Xfce desktops, the developers have painstakingly chosen lightweight alternatives to regular desktop apps, such as Claws Mail, gPodder podcast grabber, AbiWord, Gnumeric and their ilk. There are also lots of terminal-based apps, such as Rtorrent, Vim, Mutt for email and the Irssi IRC client.

The distro also includes links to online tools such as Colour Hunter to create and find colour palettes from images, Vector Magic to convert bitmaps to vector art, and a tool to create favicons from pics.

There's no lack of multimedia apps either, including VLC, Rythmbox and libraries to play all types of media files. Kino and Pitivi video editors are on board too, as are RecordMyDesktop for creating screencasts, WinFF video converter and more.

You also get the option to enable compositing, set window transparency, choose wallpapers and select appearance settings. The developers have made smart use of the menu as well. Instead of having to hunt for config files for various components, they're all neatly placed inside it. There are links to lots of documentation too.

Puppy Linux

Puppy linux

Puppy Linux is great. It isn't just featherweight in size, it's also packed with custom tools for tweaking almost anything about it you can think of. The minuscule live distro loads completely into the RAM and brings up a welcome screen on the lightweight JWM window manager.

Puppy detects graphics cards and recommends the driver to download and use. In addition to ATI and Nvidia cards, Puppy is also aware of the VirtualBox graphics card. You can download and activate a driver in just a couple of clicks. It's also got NdisWrapper to work with wireless cards that have Windows-only binary drivers.

Those custom tools we mentioned earlier can help with configuring the X server, sound, printers, firewall, backup, mirroring and file encryption. Most tools have a wizard to guide newer users through the setup before using the app too.

Just because it's 130MB doesn't mean you're short of apps either. Besides the usual slew, there's an alarm clock, a unit converter and scientific calculator, plus tools to stream audio, grab podcasts and much more.

While you're at it, make sure you check out the Quickpet utility, which gives you access to oft-used apps such as Wine, Google Earth, Pwidgets, Firefox and Java. This is in addition to the tons of apps in the fully fledged Puppy Package Manager.

By default, the puppylucid repo is enabled, but you can enable and pull in packages from others too, such as ubuntu-luciduniverse and ubuntu-lucid. Puppy can be installed to a variety of removable media, as well as inside a Windows partition. There's detailed documentation on the website, and help is just a forum post away.

Want it your way? These distros are flexible.

Yoper Linux

Yoper linux

If customisation is what you crave, then Yoper is the distro you should go for. The name is even a shortened form of Your Operating System.

Spec-wise, the distro is optimised for PCs with i686 processor types or higher. Yoper isn't based on another Linux distribution. Instead, the binaries it includes have been built from scratch. What's more, its goal is to be the fastest out-of-the-box distro around.

Yoper's package manager, Smart, is custom-written for inclusion here. You'll also find various copies of the same software, each optimised for a particular hardware setup. For starters, try one of the streamlined kernels to go with your hardware.

Yoper is distributed as a live CD, which gives you the option of running the installer without booting into the distro. Inside, it's got a clean KDE install with no desktop icons. Yoper includes a pre-release of Firefox 3.6 called Namaroka that's equipped with plugins for Java, RealPlayer, QuickTime and Windows Media Player.

You won't find tons of apps here, though – Yoper's clearly aimed at experts who wish to build their own distro. It's got the Kleopatra certificate manager – which can sign, encrypt and decrypt, and verify files – as well as development tools such as the Qt 4 interface designer, and the KDE Template Generator.

Crux

Crux

This one is for the old-timers out there. Crux is a minimal distro that's optimised for i686 machines, but it's got everything you'd want in modern Linux, including a dependency-resolving package manager. The overall philosophy here is "keep it simple", reflected in the package system choices, init scripts and the streamlined tool collection, but this isn't for newbies.

The reason you'll need hardwon experience is that Crux puts you in charge. By that, we don't just mean partitioning your disks manually or creating users and groups, but also compiling your own kernel. As a result, Crux is all about being hands-on.

It has an Ncurses-based setup, which you have to initiate manually after creating and mounting the installation and swap partitions. Once the packages have been transferred to your partition, you'll have to compile your own kernel and edit the boot loader to boot into your newly installed system.

For package management, the distro relies on the dependency-resolving Prt-get package manager. But where's the fun in that? Build your own packages using the Pkgmk utility, which relies on the Crux ports system.

If you get lost, don't sweat. The Crux project has extensive documentation on its wiki, including a detailed handbook, and lots of support options.

SYS Linux

SYS linux

Not to be confused with the popular bootloader, this is a distro that's stuffed fuller than a teddy bear at an eight-course meal. Sure, it's easy to red-flag SYS Linux as a flop, since its website is an FTP mirror and the only documentation to speak of is its Wikipedia page. Yet it's probably got the most comprehensive set of open source tools and utilities you'll ever find.

That's because SYS uses the LZMA compression algorithm to cram about 18GB worth of apps onto a single DVD.

SYS is targeted at the relatively inexperienced computer user. The installer searches for a partition with 18GB of space, automatically formats it, and installs the packages without any user intervention. You don't even get the option to create a user.

Due to its size, SYS requires CPUs with the PAE extension. Since it doesn't let you choose a language, you'll have to use your best guesswork to navigate to the KDE Control Centre in Portuguese to switch to English.

It's pointless to try to list SYS's many apps in the limited space here, but note that you'll really only need the package manager to uninstall apps you won't use. Package management is taken care of by a mix of Pkgtools, Gslapt and Kpackage.

Despite its application wowfactor, this distro could use some polish. A good start would be cleaning up the plethora of icons spread across its desktop. A menu redesign to segregate popular apps from lesser-used ones would be welcome too, and we're not really sure we need multiple control panels either.

These distros know how to make the most of KDE 4.

Slax Linux

Slax

Slax looks like any other KDE distro based on Slackware, but looks are definitely deceiving. Don't get us wrong – you can run Slax as a normal distro. There are the regular apps for productivity, it's got multimedia players that play MP3s, AVIs and DVDs, and it includes Firefox with plugins for Flash. It's rock solid and quick off the blocks.

However, the distro wanders off the beaten track with its package management. Indeed, there's no package manager as such. To install apps you need to head to the Slax website, search for and then grab compressed LZM modules. Once they're downloaded, just activate them via the Slax Module Manager and you're good to go.

The Slax drive is worth a mention too. Similar to Ubuntu One and Dropbox, it's a network drive for online storage and synchronising files between various computers. In addition to Slax's drive client, there's one available for Windows as well.

The real advantage of Slax, though, is its ability to create a custom distro. For that, head to the website, click on Build Slax, then review and choose the suggested modules, such as Slax Core, Slax KDE and Slax Apps. Next, click on Add More Modules to find anything else you need.

When you're done compiling, simply download the collection as an ISO or a TAR archive. It's a fairly simple process, but if you manage to confuse yourself, drop by the Slax forum for some helpful advice.

Kanotix

Kanotix

Kanotix is a KDE-running lightweight Debian Sid-based distro with tools from Knoppix. It was pretty popular several years ago, but momentum slowed due to a lack of installer.

Released just in time for LinuxTag (German for "Linux day", not a computerised variant of the childhood game), the latest version of Kanotix has its very own custom installer, AcritoxInstaller. The automatic installer option in AcritoxInstaller is useful for both new and experienced users alike.

It analyses the partitions on your disk and enables you to choose between several partitioning schemes. Even if you pick an automated scheme, you get the option to alter the default values of the partitions.

Once you're all set up, the distro has the regular set of apps on offer. There's IceWeasel instead of Firefox, with plugins for Java, QuickTime and DivX. There are also several proprietary apps here including Skype and Wine, and the distro plays MP3s, AVIs and DVDs.

Two apps of note are the ScreenTube app for recording screencasts with audio, which you could then upload to YouTube, and the Umtsmon tool to control and monitor a wireless mobile network card.

Any distro is about more than just installed apps, though. Here, the developer has written and maintains scripts that will install the proprietary drivers for Nvidia and ATI cards. There are also scripts for installing Flash, the latest version of MPlayer, XBMC, VLC and so on.

Note that the Kanotix website is in German and English. Though most of the documentation is in German, Google Translate does a nice job of turning it into understandable English. Look out for the extensive hardware information on the wiki too.

Take Linux on the go with these optimised distros.

EasyPeasy

EasyPeasy

The best thing about netbook distros is their approach to the user interface. EasyPeasy builds on top of the Ubuntu Netbook Remix interface to help you get the most out of the limited physical resources your tiny machine can provide.

EasyPeasy is touted as a social operating system, so if you live to tweet, or want to keep up on the latest from Facebook and Flickr, this could be a handy addition to your arsenal.

It's also designed to keep power consumption low, so you won't constantly be running out of juice and thus start missing the latest news from your friends or those you follow.

To get hold of EasyPeasy, you'll need to transfer it on to a USB drive, which can easily be done using several tools, including Wubi, Unetbootin or MultiBoot. The distribution includes Picasa for organising images, Skype, and the Gwibber microblogging client.

Despite being tailor-made for netbooks, EasyPeasy also includes OpenOffice.org, and Evolution too, although both of these programs have been tweaked to perform well on Intel's Atom processors. There's Ubuntu One for online storage, and the distribution can play a wide range of media, including MP3s, AVIs and DVDs. It comes with Firefox and the Flash plugin as well. You can also pull in more apps using the included Synaptic package manager.

On a Lenovo Ideapad S10-3s, the distro worked flawlessly. Cheese worked with the built-in webcam, and the distro also detected the proprietary Broadcom wireless.

EasyPeasy relies on the standard Ubuntu installer in order to transfer itself onto the your machine. Make sure you partition the disk carefully, since most netbooks actually have a dedicated partition for recovering the default OS. If you need any help, head towards the EasyPeasy forums. There's also a lot of information to be found on the distro's wiki, including tips on how to save power and thus get the most out of your battery. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend this one.

MeeGo

MeeGo

You'd think the limited physical resources of a netbook wouldn't leave enough room for developers to innovate, but you'd be wrong. The MeeGo user interface is a continuation of the Moblin platform. It's slick and the distro is quick to get going.

App switching is pretty fast too, regardless of the number you have open. Apps in MeeGo are automatically minimised when you bring up the panel by dragging to the top of the screen or using the Windows key. You can customise the panel to add Gadgets and a Pasteboard. Except for a proprietary Broadcom wireless card, Meego found and set up all other hardware on our test netbook, including the Bluetooth radio and the built-in camera.

Before you update packages, check for system updates. Once the required updates have been installed, head to the Garage to install popular apps, such as GCompris, Marble, AbiWord, Thunderbird, Gimp and more. For yet more apps, head on over to Manage Apps.

Out of the box, MeeGo plays a host of media types, and includes the Flash plugin for Chromium. Besides the browser, there's Empathy for messaging, Gedit for text editing, a few games (including FrozenBubble), Evolution for email, and the Banshee media player.

Then there's the Status panel, which enables you to quickly update multiple web service accounts. Note that these are currently limited to Twitter and Last.fm, but we hope more are to come. The distro also helps you sync your calendar, contacts, tasks and emails, either via Bluetooth or by using one of the supported web services: Funabol, Memotoo or Mobical.

Support-wise, go online and you'll find a detailed, illustrated guide, as well as a wiki, forums, and mailing lists.

Review: HP Envy 17 3D

Posted: 08 Jan 2011 02:00 AM PST

HP has updated its Envy 17 laptop to include ATi's latest 3D technology, a direct competitor to Nvidia's 3D Vision, and the result is a desirable media machine that is perfect for keeping the family fully entertained.

ATi has used the same stereoscopic system as Nvidia's 3D Vision, with glasses that use active shutters to produce the 3D image. There's no external dongle to clutter your USB ports, as the 3D technology is built into the chassis.

ATi's technology is currently not as widely supported as Nvidia's, with just over a dozen games currently compatible, including major titles such as Modern Warfare 2 and World of Warcraft. We suffered no discomfort wearing the glasses for extended periods, although they're not flattering.

However, we were highly impressed watching 3D video as the picture is a lot brighter than with Nvidia's technology, as well as pleasingly crisp.

Credit for the great picture goes to the 17.3-inch widescreen display which, along with the Acer Aspire Ethos 8943G, features a Full HD resolution.

The Envy's speakers feature HP's Beats technology and they also impress.

The Intel Core i5 580M processor may not be quite as powerful as the Acer Aspire Ethos 8943G and Samsung RF710-S03UK's Core i7 CPUs, but is still capable of multi-tasking with resource-heavy software.

The dedicated ATi Mobility Radeon HD 5850 graphics card produced good graphical performance and is ideal for intensive photo and video editing software, and HP has even bundled a copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements to start you off.

Flawed touchpad

The Envy has a firm and highly usable isolation-style keyboard, but we found ourselves frustrated by the touchpad with its integrated mouse buttons. Pushing the corners of the pad to simulate left and right mouse button clicks is a stiff and irritating experience.

The HP's minimalist, all-metallic chassis is solid, although, at 3.7kg, it's not one to carry on a long journey. The 123-minute battery life narrowly beats the Asus N73J, but falls behind some other big-screen laptops.

A whopping 1.5TB of storage beats most other media centre laptops and should keep you going for the life of the laptop, while the Blu-ray drive can be used to watch films.

HP envy 17 3d

Plenty of ports are available, including a DisplayPort in addition to VGA and HDMI connections. Four USB ports, including a speedy USB 3.0 option, can be used to connect peripherals.

The Envy 17 is a fantastic 3D-ready media machine with incredible graphics and display. 3D compatibility may not match Nvidia's 3D Vision at present, but we expect the gap to quickly narrow.

Related Links

Tutorial: How to use One-Step Effects in iMovie 11

Posted: 08 Jan 2011 02:00 AM PST

The goal of iMovie has always been to make our video editing lives a little easier.

Compare it with the other members of the family, namely Final Cut Express and Pro, and you'll realise how hard Apple worked to simplify the process of cutting a short film and turning it into something that many will enjoy.

In fact, Final Cut's interface has remained practically unchanged for more than a decade. All the innovation and excitement currently lies with its smaller sibling, with ideas such as: mousing over a clip to scroll through it and see each frame you're currently over in the main preview section; creating versatile and complex titles with just a few clicks; seeing a preview of the effect you're about to use before actually using it; adding keywords to your clips and locating the exact one you need in seconds; or being able to see which part of the audio is peaking at a glance, without having to play the footage at all.

These make up just a fraction of the innovation that's coming out of iMovie. But Apple isn't resting on its laurels. It has come up with another way to speed up your work with iMovie '11: One-Step Effects.

The idea is simple: check which effects most people like to use, then find a way to create it even faster than the current method. Apple's engineers have applied this idea to, among others, slowing down or speeding up a clip and making it fade to black and white or sepia.

They've also added a few ideas that would have been time-consuming to create otherwise, such as Instant Replay and various editing options when cutting a film to the beat of a song.

But perhaps best of all, these effects are completely customisable, so you can fine-tune them once they've been applied. We'll take a look at how they work in this tutorial.

How to master the One-Step Effects in iMovie '11

01. The highlight

step 1

Let's start by slowing part of a clip down. Choose a suitable section in your project then drag on the clip itself to highlight a specific area. Mouse over either edge of that selection to turn your cursor into a resize tool. Then drag those edges to fine-tune the area.

02. Slow Motion

step 2

When you're ready, go to Clip > Slow Motion > 25%. This will slow down that portion by a factor of four. You can choose two other speeds, 50% and 10%, and can fast forward a selection by the same amounts. But the really interesting part lies in your Project pane…

03. Customisation

Step 3

Your clip has been cut in three and the slow-down effect has been applied to the middle part. Select that part and go to Window > Clip Adjustments (or press i) to reveal the Inspector. The Speed slider is editable and you can also fine-tune the setting manually.

04. Fade

step 4

You can do the same with a Fade to effect: select a part of another clip then go to Clip > Fade to > Sepia. Again, your original clip will be cut in three and the effect will be added to the middle. Double-click it for the Inspector, where you can change which effect is applied.

05. Transitions

step 5

By default, the transition from the normal clip to the one with the effect applied, is a standard cross-dissolve. Double-click on that transition to bring up the Transition Inspector. Click on the Transition menu and select any other one. You can also alter the duration.

06. Replay

step 6

Apple added a few new effects to iMovie, one of which is Instant Replay. Select a part of a clip, just as you did in Steps 1 and 4, go to the Clip menu and choose a percentage value from the Instant Replay sub-menu (by default, the replay will be slowed down).

07. Resizing

step 7

If you'd rather have the replay action at its regular speed, select the middle clip, open the Clip Inspector and type 100% in the Speed field. The Instant Replay text box will be too long, but you can resize it by double-clicking on it and changing its duration in the Inspector.

08. Editing

step 8

Click on the text box above the replayed portion of your clip to select it. Look in the Preview pane. Indeed, the text itself is editable; although you can't alter the font or manually change its size, you can edit the text to whatever you like.

Review: Asus N73J

Posted: 08 Jan 2011 01:30 AM PST

Although the Asus N73J is a well built media centre, it doesn't quite hold up to the other big-screen laptops.

Build quality is excellent, with a strong metallic finish to the firm chassis that is immune to scuff marks. We liked the design, although the 3.7kg weight might be a bit much for some. Portability is further impaired by the 103-minute battery – one of the worst results we have seen in a while.

The built-in Blu-ray drive can be used to watch films and create discs. Movies are this machine's speciality.

The 17.3-inch display doesn't have the Full HD resolution of the Acer Aspire Ethos 8934G and HP Envy 17 3D, but it matches the Samsung RF710-S03UK for sharpness. Images are bright and vibrant and films look great as a result.

Designer speakers

Dedicated speakers from audio specialist Bang & Olufsen take up a sizeable chunk of space above the keyboard. Although volume levels and sound quality are good for a laptop, we were a little disappointed when compared to other laptops here and the Acer's speakers have more power.

As with the HP Envy 17 3D, an Intel Core i5 processor has been used, although the Asus has just 4096MB of memory. We found performance lacking – enough to capably multi-task with various applications, but not enough to offer much future-proofing.

Graphical power is also slightly lacking. The dedicated Nvidia GT 420M GPU can run the latest games, with support for DirectX 11, but you'll have to turn down detail levels for a smooth frame rate.

Nvidia's Optimus technology allows a basic integrated graphics chip to take control when dedicated graphics aren't required. This is supposed to save battery power, but appears to have very little effect here.

This laptop also has limited storage for a laptop of this size, although the 640GB hard drive is still enough for a huge media collection.

Asus n73j

USB 3.0 is available for speedy data transfer with external storage devices, which we've found is roughly twice as fast as USB 2.0.

There's also a feature dubbed ExpressGate, which boots the laptop into a basic operating system in seconds for browsing the web or photos.

We found the keyboard was slightly more cramped than the others and we prefer the isolation-style design used elsewhere, although it's still comfortable to type on. The touchpad is a reasonable size and smooth to use.

The N73J is a well-built laptop that does little wrong, but it struggles to compete with its rivals here for power and features. However, its low price makes it ideal for those on a tighter budget.

Related Links

Catch up: this week's most popular posts

Posted: 08 Jan 2011 12:00 AM PST

This week saw a host of announcements from tech firms out at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

TechRadar has been there in force, bringing you the latest news and hands on reviews of all the hottest kit.

Read on for this week's most popular stories on TechRadar…

Top five news stories

Motorola Xoom unveiled – Android 3.0 hits tablets

The new Motorola Xoom Android tablet has been announced in Las Vegas with a glut of next-gen technology stuffed inside.

After first being pseudo-debuted by Google, the new Motorola Xoom (odd name aside) features a 10.1-inch (1280x800 resolution) display along with Android 3.0 Honeycomb as well.

As expected, it's a dual-core beast, running the Nvidia Tegra 2 dual core processor meaning the Xoom can pump out 1080p video with aplomb, according to Motorola.

It also comes with a 5MP rear camera, and a 2MP forward-facing sensor for video chat, as it appears Apple seems to have actually re-ignited interest in video calling, although it makes far more sense on a tablet.

Toshiba reveals large-screen glasses-free 3D TVs

Toshiba will have a range of glasses-free 3D TV prototypes on show at CES, one of which clocks in at 65-inches making it the largest glasses-free 3D TV to date.

If that's a little large for your liking, there's also a 56-inch sample on show. Both employ an LED-backlit panel with a 4096×2160 pixel resolution.

These TVs will use Toshiba's Cevo-Engine, which allows for a high level of picture processing in order to run the glasses-free 3D on the enormous screens.

Google's Android text bug now dubbed 'critical'

Google has finally decided to up how seriously it is taking a flaw in its Android system that sends messages to the wrong person in a user's phonebook.

The issue was reported back in June 2010, but Google has now decided to move the problem up to 'Critical' status, meaning a patch is likely to be imminent to the Android system to resolve the issue.

The problem is virtually undetectable to the user until alerted by someone else, because though the message is sent to the wrong number, it still displays as being directed to the correct recipient in the inbox.

The Carphone Warehouse offering up mobile phones for 1p

The Carphone Warehouse is attempting to show how wallet-friendly the humble mobile phone has become – by offering one for just 1p.

It's not strictly as easy as finding a few pence in your wallet and equipping your family with new Alcatel OT-209's though, as you'll need to buy £10-worth of credit at the same time.

It's no iPhone-botherer, let's be honest; this is a feature phone in every sense of the phrase with a rounded plastic design, small screen and big buttons, although it does pack a colour screen and FM radio.

HTC's first tablet outed as HTC Scribe?

HTC's inevitable foray into the tablet market looks imminent after the Taiwanese firm trademarked the HTC Scribe name.

The trademark application was filed for a 'handheld wireless device, namely a tablet computer' and the assumption is that this device will see HTC joining the Android-powered iPad rivals' race.

The application doesn't give away much more than the name of the device and the date of the filing (Boxing Day, if you're interested) but we'd imagine it will be running Honeycomb and therefore have a high resolution screen and dual-core innards.

Top five in-depth articles

CES 2011 highlights: What you need to know

The Consumer Electronics Show is like a giant ice cream sundae – it's big, wildly colourful, takes some real effort to get through and is a delicious mix of different ingredients. All covered in a glitzy Las Vegas sauce.

So what's hot at this year's show?

The technology trends at CES 2010 included: 3DTV, ultra-skinny HDTVs, motion-controlled gaming (Kinect and Sony's PlayStation Move had yet to launch), not to mention early tablet prototypes, digital cameras, camcorders and iPhone-controlled Wi-Fi helicopters.

Many of the same key themes apply to CES 2011 and what you'll see here tends to dominate the technology year ahead. So here are our hand-picked highlights of this year's electronic expo...

The best tablets, pads and slates at CES 2011

The tablet-friendly Android 3.0 OS is one of the stars of CES 2011.

You'll find it running on a number of new tablet devices that hope to chip away at the dominance of Apple's iPad.

The tablet market is poised to explode. Here's a handy run-down of who is doing what…

How to make an external laptop graphics adaptor

Laptop graphics have always been something of a joke performance wise. Nvidia and AMD do try, but cramming all those millions of transistors into a low-power, compact package just leads to massive expense and an inability to upgrade.

Wouldn't it be perfect if you could simply use a standard external graphics card to power your laptop's 3D graphics?

The good news is that you can. The suitably technical-sounding PE4H is just that; a passive PCI-e x16 to x1 adaptor, which enables you to plug an external graphics card into a laptop's ExpressCard slot. Currently we're only aware of it being available from the Taiwanese firm www.hwtools.net for around $100 including shipping.

The school that gives every student an iPad

Fraser Speirs is talking about changes caused by his school's radical shift in technology deployment.

Every pupil at Cedars School of Excellence, in Greenock, Scotland, is now armed with an iPad, creating an environment a world away from the typical 'computer room', and providing the potential for seamless integration of technology and traditional teaching.

The iPad project arose from day-to-day demands within the school. As Head of Computing, a dozen iMacs were fixed in Fraser's classroom, and a dozen MacBooks were available for booking; but with teachers increasingly wanting to provide pupils with web access, pressure and demand grew.

How to tweak your laptop for gaming performance

With laptop sales continuing to rise – up by 43.3 per cent in the first quarter of this year alone, according to Gartner – it would appear that more and more of us are riding the technology wave.

Keeping up to date with the latest advances in laptop computing enables us to work longer, faster and, generally, for less. The good news for gaming is that this relentless march of technology means it's no longer necessary to own a dedicated gaming laptop to enjoy the odd game now and again.

Of course, PC gamers who are serious about their entertainment will still benefit from pricey GPU technology – particularly if they're going to be playing cutting-edge games – but these days even netbooks are capable of keeping you amused.

Top five reviews

Hands on: BlackBerry Playbook review

We've been talking about the Blackberry Playbook tablet for months now, but only now at CES in Las Vegas have we been able to have a proper play with it. And boy is it impressive.

Hands on: Google Chrome OS netbook review

Of course, we're no strangers to Chrome OS here on TechRadar, but this is the first time we've been able to play with a near-ready (or perhaps even ready) build on a netbook.

Hands on: Toshiba glasses-free 3D TV review

Toshiba's flagship lenticular 3D TV is a 65-inch model, and it's joined by a 56-incher and a 20-inch unit. With no glasses needed, you can view from almost any angle and still get the 3D effect.

Scan 3XS Vengeance review

We're not entirely sure who Scan Computers is aiming to exact its vengeance upon with this rig, but by the numbers the 3XS Vengeance is producing it's a pretty safe bet it's going to manage it.

This is the first full PC we've seen to actually put the new second-generation Intel Core platform into context. You'll have read just how good this Sandy Bridge platform is by now, but until you actually see it in a machine, it's tough to quantify

Motorola Milestone 2 review

The original Milestone certainly wasn't one of the prettiest or most elegant Android phones, but for those unable or unwilling to adapt to the touchscreen way of life, it provided a rare and welcome QWERTY option.

Things have changed over the last 12 months, with the arrival of Android powerhouse HTC on the QWERTY scene with its excellent HTC Desire Z. Has Motorola's design team got what it takes to compete?

Also reviewed this week...

Accessories

Vogel TwistDock review

AV receivers

Denon AVR-2311 review

Yamaha RX-V1067 review

Home cinema systems

Panasonic SC-BTT350D review

iPhone apps

ChillingoCut the Rope review

Laptops

Advent Quantum Q100 review