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• iPhone 5 and iPad 2 set for massive graphics boost
• China's eBox gaming console hit by delay
• Review: Updated: Google Nexus S
• Exclusive: 3DS might permanently damage children's eyes
• Exclusive: Humax: Never say never to Google TV
• Android 3.0 Honeycomb to offer music syncing
• Swiftkey to use Facebook and Twitter to learn how you think
• Swiftkey to use Facebook and Twitter to learn how you think
• Samsung Galaxy Ace to hit Mobile World Congress 2011
• Rumour: Microsoft Kinect PC beta test soon
• Sapphire's Pure Black X58 board to cost £210
• Exclusive: British psychologists trash latest 'videogame addiction' study
• Steve Jobs takes medical leave of absence from Apple
• In Depth: Google TV vs Apple TV vs Boxee vs YouView
• Nike+ iPhone app now lets you play virtual tag
• Nike+ iPhone app now lets you play virtual tag
• Exclusive: Facebook: users have 'absolute control'
• In Depth: Around the floor: the hidden gems of CES 2011
• Samsung TV apps reach 2 million download barrier
• Latest Firefox 4 Beta available to download
• Latest Firefox 4 Beta available to download
• Tablets won't hurt smartphone sales, reckons RIM
• Ballmer: Why Microsoft didn't bid for BlackBerry's RIM
• Updated: iPad 2 rumours: what you need to know
• Microsoft CEO: 'Bing is growing like a weed'

iPhone 5 and iPad 2 set for massive graphics boost Posted: 18 Jan 2011 01:04 AM PST Apple is set to boost the graphical processing capabilities on its new iPhone 5 and iPad 2, bringing higher resolution to the iPad and better gaming and video to the iPhone. AppleInsider is reporting that the new devices will be packing next generation graphics cores – finally upgrading the tech that's been present since the iPhone 3GS days. This means the iPad will be able to run more pixels on its large display, lending weight to the recent rumours of a much higher-res screen on the forthcoming iPad 2. Keeping up with the phoneses For the iPhone 5, this means better gaming due to improved polygon drawing speeds, as well as the possibility of 1080p output thanks to the phone's more powerful video decoding abilities. Given the advent of 1080p video on the recent Apple TV release, such a feature is feasible, especially since the likes of the new LG Optimus 2X are capable of such output. Apple is apparently planning to use the new SGX543 graphics and video core, but use two in tandem with its upgraded multi-core CPU to allow a massive boost in power and processing, as well as (hopefully) a reduction in overall battery strain too. How Apple uses this extra power will remain to be seen though –will the iPhone 5 have an HDMI output? Will we see a new slew of games with incredible graphics appearing on the app store? We'll hopefully have our answers by June. Related Stories Nike+ iPhone app now lets you play virtual tag Nike+ iPhone app now lets you play virtual tag Samsung Galaxy Ace to hit Mobile World Congress 2011 Android 3.0 Honeycomb to offer music syncing Review: Updated: Google Nexus S

China's eBox gaming console hit by delay Posted: 18 Jan 2011 12:47 AM PST A Chinese rival to the Xbox and PlayStation 3 that is being part-funded by laptop giant Lenovo has been delayed. The Eedoo eBox was pencilled in for an imminent release, but will now not make an appearance until after Chinese New Year in early February. With the Nintendo 3DS launch this week and the expected announcement of the PSP 2 soon, it is a busy time for gaming hardware, although replacements for the Xbox 360 and the PS3 are some way away. Not decided Eedoo spokesman Zhang Zhitong. "The exact release date has yet to be decided." The Eedoo eBox – which is only slated for a release on home territory at the moment – will bring motion control sensing like Microsoft's recently released Kinect for Xbox 360. This, along with the fact that it is made by a Chinese company, should circumvent a ban on the likes of Xbox and PlayStation in China – where the authorities are worried about the impact that gaming will have on its youth. The Chinese market is considered one of the ripest potential markets for console makers –and both Microsoft and Sony will hope that the previous hard-line is beginning to soften. Related Stories Microsoft: Windows Phone 7 is our portable Xbox console More Xbox 360s sold in 2010 than year before Ballmer: Xbox is for boys, Kinect is for girls

Review: Updated: Google Nexus S Posted: 17 Jan 2011 10:20 AM PST The Google Nexus S wasn't supposed to happen according to Schmidt. However, the phone that we never expected has now landed in our laps and so we can use it to highlight how the latest tech can and should be used in phones. But has Google packed enough tech into this Samsung creation to prompt a resurrection of the Nexus brand, which started with the Google Nexus One, after proclaiming the project was over? The Nexus S is more than a handset – it's a state of mind (if you believe the way Google is describing it). It's being called 'Pure Google', which is a way for the search giant to distance itself from the kerfuffle surrounding the delays encountered by network-issued updates. But in reality, the second you pick up the phone you realise it's leaning very heavily on the design aesthetic from the Samsung Galaxy S. Only a shade heavier at 129g, the Google Nexus S feels light in the hand, and with that lacks the 'premium' feel the iPhone 4 and HTC Desire HD both bring through their metallic chassis. The curved nature of the frame is nice though – it helps the Nexus S sit well in the palm (with the small lip at the bottom helping it fit correctly, the same as on the Galaxy S) and there's also a curved screen on the front to look at with an interested expression. Well, interested or bemused – we're sure this ever-so-slight curve added to the price of the Nexus S, and it's so minimal that we're sure it's nothing more than a gimmick. It doesn't feel any different on the face (it feels nice, just no more than a perfectly flat phone does). The headphone socket is at the bottom of the phone, rather than the top, next to the micro-USB slot – we're not big fans of that, because it feels weird taking it out of the pocket that way. However, some people love it, and there seems to be a definite trend of phones moving towards that design (the HTC Desire HD for example). The touch-sensitive keys at the bottom of the four-inch screen have some nicely strong haptics underneath them – a brief touch will be met with a solid confirmation buzz. We thought the touch-sensitive buttons (which will light up and down under your caress) were actually scratched when we did our first hands-on with the Nexus S, but as you can see our test model has the same imperfection. We're not sure why this imperfection happened, but it makes the phone look a little less premium, on top of the already plasticky feel. One thing we're very disappointed with Samsung and Google about on the Nexus S is the lack of external microSD expansion. Yes, 16GB of internal storage is good-ish, but we want to be able to transfer stuff across without using a PC connection, or add in extra video storage space as and when we want it. Overall, we think the design of the Nexus S is fine. It's a shade light and there's no metallic feel to enjoy, but we were fans of the Galaxy S design so we're relatively impressed with this too. As we've already heard about 27,000 times, the Google Nexus S is rocking Gingerbread (or Android 2.3). What does this mean in terms of an update? Not that much, if we're honest. It's especially true when it comes to the Nexus S, which is more ready for future technology than anything else. But it's still the same old Android interface essentially, with a slick feel under the finger and the notifications bar you drag down from the top to see email, text and music updates as and when they land. Another feature of the new Android 2.3 operating system is an improved efficiency around power management. This is achieved by Android keeping an eye on which applications are running in the background and shutting them down if they step out of line. Given the Google Nexus S is also rocking a Samsung 1GHz Hummingbird processor in the background (which offers up some fantastic speeds) we weren't surprised to see judder or freezing kept to a minimum. However, they weren't completely eradicated – there were times when background applications could still bring the phone to a halt, be it on the lock screen or swiping around the Home screens. We know that the root of this was often applications we downloaded messing about in the background, but still – we expected an iPhone-like flawless experience. Another big problem - our review unit was subject to some random shutting down for no reason at times - be it in the music player, making a call or just sitting on the desk. Google is aware of this problem and promises an imminent fix, but overall we're not impressed by this fundamental flaw. Other than a few improvements, there's not a lot more to talk about in the new Android OS. The user interface has been tweaked slightly – things like a black and green notifications bar (which changes to grey on the odd occasion, seemingly depending on which app you're in) are a nice touch, as are menus that 'bleed' into the main display – but overall it's nothing special. We're still treated to the cool 3D scrolling menus, which the dedicated GPU handles with aplomb, and five Home screens aren't that much to write home about. The amount of widgets on offer from Google needs to be improved – the power control offering is the only one we really care about. The music widget is tiny and ultimately terrible compared to the ones you can download from alternative players, although the news and weather offering isn't too bad provided you've set up your RSS feeds correctly. Being able to rate places such as restaurants and businesses is cool though – it's a new offering we haven't seen yet and allows a quick star score to be put through about nearby vendors. One thing that everyone is talking about though – the 'TV Off' style animation for the lock screen, where the image shuts down to a thin line then to a small point, in the same way as CRT televisions of old. Is it useful? No. Is it a real crowd-pleaser that epitomises what makes modern smartphones so cool? Yes. And for that we love it. But overall, we're not as impressed with the Google Nexus S interface as we have been with other phones. The lag aside, the offering from the Galaxy S is much better (with pull down power control and music control from the notifications bar) and HTC's Sense is just as slick with more widgets and the awesome Leap View too. Something we were keen to test on the Google Nexus S is the ability to integrate contacts seamlessly across a multitude of accounts. On one hand, we were impressed with the offering from Google – you can add in Twitter, Facebook, Google and more to the account list, and have them all synchronised to one person's account. On the other hand, the process of said linking was laborious and difficult at times. Setting up the Facebook and Twitter accounts to include contact synchronisation took some time to start with – the Nexus S wouldn't sync contacts to the phone for a while. After that comes the long, long task of putting them all together. Some, with the correct phone numbers or email addresses, would link together automatically, but if you've got a list of around 200 people this is a very small number. So the process is this: open the contact, choose to edit, choose to join them with another name, then choose the relevant one. If the correct person isn't suggested (which, in fairness, it mostly was) then you have to scroll through the list to find them. If they have a Twitter account, then the same must be done all over again. It's not easy to set a default account either - so people with different names in your phone and on Facebook will sometimes default to one you don't really want, and it takes a lot of deleting and editing to get it back to the right one. When you compare this to the power of the HTC Sense offering and the sheer ease of use it offers (when you start the contacts menu for the first time, the phone will suggest a long list of potential matches and you simply need to confirm them, for example) blows this integration method out of the water. The contact menu view was good though – the WVGA Super AMOLED screen is massively clear and allows downloaded profile pictures to show up nicely on the side of each name. The tab that allows you to shoot through the list alphabetically is large and easy to hit, and a quick press of their picture will bring up quick options, such as calling or messaging the person. One thing we did like was that the Nexus S will allow VoIP calling as standard for enabled accounts, so that will be a decent upgrade when enough people get their head around such a service. If the N900, released a year ago, can manage Skype calling, then the Nexus S, designed to show what technology can do, should be able to do it as well out the box from this service, so we're annoyed off the bat that Skype isn't supported (although you can download and use Skype as a separate application). The addition of video calling is pretty galling – it's like an iPhone 4 was held up as the bastion of smartphone creation (which, in fairness, it is to many people) and its features all integrated into the Google Nexus S. Having to install third party software to perform the function is equally stupid in our opinion – video calling is never going to take off, let's be honest, and to not support it out the box begs the question of why an extra video camera was added, bringing the cost up further. Call quality was much better than we expected though – the noise cancelling worked pretty well in most cases, although when speaking on the bus (don't worry, we made sure nobody else was around) we were asked if we were using a handsfree kit, because there was 'significant echo'. But we did like the fact the speaker was nice and clear, and more importantly, easy to find on the ear when placing the phone to the head. Going back to the earlier point about freezing on the Nexus S – we had a slight problem when trying to call someone with another call coming in at the same time. The phone wouldn't let you answer the call or hang up the old one, meaning it was terribly frustrating to watch as you left a pointlessly long voice message. You can just pull the battery out, of course, but we wanted to wait and see what happened. This wasn't a frequent occurrence, but one that we still didn't like to see. The dialler doesn't come with smart entry unfortunately, so you can't quickly access your favourite people with a few dabs of the number keys. There are tabbed options at the top of the phone screen – these are consistent across the phone and contacts options, so it's easy to speak to the people you need to. The call log is also mercifully intuitive – if someone phones you a few times in a row, the entries are grouped together, rather than sitting in separate rows and clogging up the screen. The Google Nexus S is probably above average in terms of the calling experience on a smartphone, but the fact that the reason it's decent is that it's possible to find your contacts easily and they can actually hear you is indicative of the state of the smartphone market. Messaging for Android as a whole has been impressive since the start of the OS – well, once a keyboard was added to the touchscreen, anyway. That's obviously been improved upon in the Nexus S – not in terms of the messaging options, of which there's very little difference, but in terms of the ease of text entry. Some reviews have put the new Android keyboard far behind the iPhone's in terms of overall accuracy, but we reckon it's on a par, despite the deceptively small keys. We managed around 95+ per cent accuracy at full typing speed from the off, and that was about where we stayed for the duration of the review. Despite the smaller size, we managed to fire off messages with ease – and while the world seems to be going gaga for Swype, we hate it a little bit for its inaccuracy when you realise how much faster keyboards like this can be. One little tweak we liked: holding down the symbol key made the numbers available at the top – releasing it jumped back to the letters. This is a really good use of multi-touch, and one we're impressed with. One thing we didn't like is there's still no comma on the main keyboard, meaning you have to go through the symbols menu to open it up. Why, we don't know, but it's an essential symbol and the omission is noticeable. Of course, the new Android keyboard is still there (technically just 'the Android keyboard' now, we suppose) which means that when you press space, the phone will offer up a question mark, a full stop, a comma and so on, which somewhat mitigates the problem. But when the voice text input key is on the main keyboard screen, we can't help but wonder why these two weren't switched round. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't speak a text message that didn't need at least two corrections, so it seems a little pointless to have in our eyes. In fairness to Google, you can change the system layout - you'll have to drop out of the messaging app and head into the phone's keyboard settings from the main menu though. It's a case of simply putting the voice icon in with the symbols, and the comma magically reappears where it should have been from the start. Many people won't realise this though and get frustrated, so we can only assume this is Google's way of pushing the voice service to as many people as possible. Another VERY annoying thing with the message entry - the Google Nexus S will often double tap a letter when starting a word, so 'I nibbled the waether vane' becomes 'I nnibbled the wweather vane'... which clearly makes no sense. Copy and paste now comes with easier to grab start and end points, but all this is a little moot when you consider HTC has managed to implement an excellent keyboard and well-worked copy and paste for ages now. The system is easy to use, with a simple long-press activating the cursors, but at the same time you can only Cut or Copy from the menu – whereas with HTC's system you can search for the word or phrase on Google or Wikipedia or translate it too. If these brands can implement it effectively, why can't Google? The messaging options are plentiful on the Google Nexus S. There's SMS, MMS (with a conversion from SMS by simply attaching an item), webmail and Exchange email, Google Talk for messaging and you can easily integrate Twitter and Facebook by downloading the official apps from the Market. Email was particularly easy to set up, because for all types of account we only needed to input our address and password. Most phones have learnt this trick by now, but we were worried Google might not have managed to put this in the 'stripped down' version of the OS. In Gingerbread there are enough tweaks to bring the stock Android experience up to speed with the likes of HTC and Samsung in some areas – not completely, but there is a definite feel that the Android OS in its native form is finally pushing itself to its limits. The internet browser on Android phones has always been impressive, and that was before features such as Flash video integration and multi-touch zooming were included by default. The good news is that the Google Nexus S is in the same vein, making it very much an internet-friendly smartphone. The fast 1GHz Hummingbird processor kept the internet spinning past at an impressive rate, and web pages loaded very swiftly, no matter how 'heavy' they were - although some sites needed a little longer 'thinking time' than others. There was still an element of juddering in scrolling around a loading page, and even when the text and images had fully loaded, it was still a little laggy at times. It's only slight, but the iPhone manages to be smooth nearly all the time, and that's where we want Android to get to. The same can be said for text reflow (where the words re-jig to fit the screen). This is in effect on the Nexus S, but you need to tap the screen once zoomed in to make it work. Sometimes you only need to tap once; other times you have to hit it a few times. It's highly irritating – why can't we just zoom in and the words will resize? That's clearly what we want to do, and the Google Nexus S should be intuitive enough to know that. When we clicked on a link in the web browser, it sometimes took a long while for the loading bar to begin, meaning we clicked again and again before realising that we'd already done it. It wasn't a big issue, but meant loading times were severely compromised. Flash video seemed to load quickly enough in nearly all instances – pages such as BBC websites and their embedded videos were a little choppy, especially when the 3G signal was low, but others (including full flavour YouTube) managed to jump to full screen with aplomb. However, it still wasn't the smoothest experience we've ever encountered, merely acceptable. Similarly, HTML5 YouTube was in effect, and depending on the type of video you're looking at, you'll sometimes be able to play embedded files in the web browser and sometimes only through the dedicated YouTube application (which is admittedly great). The other features of the Android internet browser we've raved about before are still all present and correct on the Google Nexus S, such as being able to share web pages easily via a whole host of portals. If you've got elements such as Twitter installed, you can share links with your friends with no problem, and they'll come up looking pretty good too, especially on Facebook, where the links are nicely expanded for all to see. The camera on the Google Nexus S has come in for some slight criticism, with some detractors calling it underpowered and feature-light. While the specs do support this theory, the only slight problem we encountered with it was the slightly longer shutter speed and autofocus (and a tap to focus feature would have been nice too). The features on offer are slightly reminiscent of Nokia phones of yesteryear: Scene modes, including Beach and Firework shots, Macro mode focus, exposure correction and White Balance alteration. But just because the features have been around for a while means they're bad - most of them had a genuine use, and often altered the quality of the shot. Although we still don't see the point in Sepia, and we never will. But as you can see, the photos we captured were perfectly acceptable, and a little tinkering with the settings gave us some really great pictures: Click here to see the full-res shot Balanced: General scenes are captured adequately enough, although the background of the shot is mostly lost to glare Click here to see the full-res shot Sharp: The black and white mode adds a clear and arty nature to shots Click here to see the full-res shot Why?: We still don't get Sepia mode - unless you're shooting a wild west mock up Click here to see the full-res shot Why again?: Negative mode - is it included just to show what alien worlds may or may not look like? Click here to see the full-res shot Click here to see the full-res shot Focused shooting: As you can see, the difference between Auto and Macro focus modes is marked - there's a real reason for using both Click here to see the full-res shot Snappy snaps: Fast movements can be captured pretty well, and detail is preserved Click here to see the full-res shot Click here to see the full-res shot Adding the light: The exposure settings do have an effect - although turned down too much can damage shots slightly Click here to see the full-res shot Night so good: Even slight motion can affect the night mode, and the colours all blur together Click here to see the full-res shot Click here to see the full-res shot Flash flop: The single LED flash is OK for taking pictures of close items, but extend the throw and its gets lost in the velvety night Click here to see the full-res shot Snow joke: Snow mode is relatively effective, taking most of the glare from this shot, although it has become a little dark Click here to see the full-res shot Settings win: Tinker about a bit and you can get some really nice shots - this was snapped using Snow Mode, Infinity focus and Black and White mode The video camera on the Google Nexus S is something of a dissapointment - and not only because it cannot record in HD, unlike its Nexus One brother. 720 x 480 resolution isn't high enough in our opinion, but the framerate seems to be acceptable (apart from in the first shot) and the autofocus doesn't feel the need to constantly operate during the shot. The monkey's eyes are what scare us the most though. The approach for Android has never been one that focused heavily on the media side of things, and that's not really been upgraded for Android 2.3. There are a couple of tiny tweaks, but if you're looking to get a dedicated media phone, this handset (screen aside) isn't going to give you pause compared to something like the iPhone 4. Music Remember the stock Android music player from the T-Mobile G1? Well, not a lot has changed since then, although the UI is a little more attractive now. The main music display is still mostly album art and easy-to-press buttons for music skipping, but there's not a lot more to talk about than that. We're not seeing an equaliser (although they do drain the life out of your battery) and there's nothing more exotic than a party shuffle mode to get excited about. Sonically, the Google Nexus S holds its own – bass levels are, at times, non-existent, but for the most part it's eminently usable as a music player. One irritating thing the Android OS will do to your music: if you've gone through and sorted out your iTunes collection, downloading artwork from Apple's server and the like, the Nexus S won't recognise the picture (because it doesn't tag in the metadata). Instead, it will choose a file with a picture on it, and tag every single song that doesn't have a picture embedded with that image instead, leading to a very amateur-looking media player. Video Video on the Google Nexus S looks superb thanks to the WVGA Super AMOLED screen, rocking a full 800 x 480 resolution count. At full power, the brightness is definitely acceptable for viewing in most situations – we pulled it out on the street and managed to watch footage no matter what the conditions (although we wouldn't recommend it for safety's sake). Under a lamp and in bright daylight the Google Nexus S' screen was just about visible; that 1.5x brightness increase seems to be correct. Video format support is something more of a worry though, because we weren't able to view the full range of our movie test selections by a long way. We were told that DivX was supported, but our movie simply wouldn't play. Neither would AVI files, although MP4 seemed to be just tikkity-boo, as you'd imagine, as were 3GP formats. However, don't go thinking WMV will be an option. It's not, unless you download another media player. The same can be said for video aspect alteration – if something is showing up in 4:3 in the standard Android Media player, it's staying that way, which is irritating for (legally) ripped DVDs that may have gone slightly wonky in encoding - you'll need to get separate software to sort it out. Photo The Google Nexus S has the same media playback gallery as before – namely it looks awesome, but is pretty much useless. Don't even think about using this for finding your videos, because the grid view will only show you thumbnails, so working out the names is nigh on impossible unless you head into the file and check the details. Photos are a little better, since you can see the one you're after with a minimum amount of fuss, and in a nicely scrollable view as well that tilts into a third dimension under your finger. However, if you've got a few folders in the Nexus S, you'll have trouble tracking down your pictures at the start because every repository will load up. We'd rather the Nexus S came with a proper file manager or a very simplistic gallery – this is too halfway-house for our liking. We had a good play with the Google Nexus S in real conditions to see how the battery lasted – and the good news is that Android 2.3 seems to be pretty darn good at holding up the power management. We'd usually last about 10-11 hours with an HTC Desire or Desire HD before thinking about finding a charger, but the Nexus S managed to push right through from one day to the next without hitting the red zone. This means that while you'll still need to charge every night (as with most smartphones) you can easily get to two days' use if you're only a little more judicious on use, which is good if you go away for a weekend or something. Google is quoting talk time of up to 6.7 hours on 3G connections (14 hours on 2G) and nearly 18 days of standby time in 3G mode, which moves up to nearly a month on 2G signal. The 1500mAh battery manages to get pretty close to this in real use – we measured talktime on 3G at around 2-3 hours before seriously depleting the battery. We also like the addition of this nifty battery meter, which can be found by tapping the top of the screen in the 'Battery Use' section of 'About Phone'. If we were to create the perfect conditions where that standby mode could be achieved (ie nothing updating in the background, no apps running and a 3G mast with no data coming through – perhaps if we stood on Mars) then the number is feasible. But standby time for a normal person could probably be stretched to 3.5 days if you're desperate to keep a lid on the consumption. And a little bonus FYI – the battery meter has turned 90 degrees to be resting on its base, rather than sideways on. We know. Earthshattering. Connectivity Ah, the old favourite of Android lovers the world over – the PC synchronisation software. The sheer detail with which you can process your information, back it up, restore it whenever... we're only kidding. There is no such thing on offer. You basically get one offer when hitting the phone with a USB lead – the chance to turn on USB storage or not. It's not going to change your world, but it's a great way of getting data onto you phone. No fancy pants media player to worry about, just dragging and dropping. Like our forefathers did. Debugging mode gets a little Android bug icon now, which is pretty cute, but that's the biggest change on that front. Other connections are all pretty stable. Bluetooth transfer times over 2.0 were fine, A2DP didn't bounce about and cut out randomly as it does on other smartphones, and the Wi-Fi hotspot mode (where you can share your 3G signal with other devices) worked first time, with the ability to specify a WPA key a nice touch, too. We did have problems with the Wi-Fi connection at times, though – it's very poor, even when we were near the router the phone could only muster three out of four bars. Curiously, the range seemed the same as other phones, so perhaps it's just the way it's being read rather than anything more sinister. 3G connectivity was perfectly acceptable too, although gone is the HSDPA icon to signify the faster speeds – it's 3G or nothing here, my friend. Good news everybody! The Google Nexus S is compatible with the newest version of Google Maps thanks to the integrated GPU. This means vector graphics and 3D imaging to make you really feel like you're in the picture. This will mean 3D versions of 300 cities and gesture controls that allow you to swipe or move the phone to reposition the map. Offline mode is also supported, so you won't need to worry about losing your 3G signal when out and about using the GPS - and Google's new maps can even cache the places you visit most for offline mode. Although, if you go there a lot, will you need a map? Hmmmmmm.... The mapping application is fantastically fast. We managed to keep up with whatever we were looking for easily, and the maps loaded a lot faster than we're used to on other phones. The good news for those looking to upgrade from the Samsung Galaxy S – the GPS issues have been resolved, in that you can actually now get a signal with no problem. In a busy area, you're looking at about 11 seconds for a fix from cold, with an almost instant approximation of your location through cell tower triangulation. If you're in a car with a clear view of the sky, this drops to around 4-5 seconds for a fix... really nice to see and showing that Google is serious about navigation. Car mode is also included with the now-normal line up of Google Maps Navigation, so the large four-inch screen will be decent for using the Google Nexus S as a dedicated sat-nav device. This performed well in real time use, although we didn't use a dock or anything - instead preferring to chuck the phone in the redundant ash tray. The voice commands came over loud and clear though, making it easy to drive through unknown territory without looking like a chump. Apps The Google Nexus S comes complete with a wide range of applications out of the box, including an enhanced download centre, Google Earth and the aforementioned Google Maps Navigation. Google Earth simply sped along with the integrated GPU, and found our location and resized the images very quickly indeed, in the same vein as the pre-installed maps. Spinning through the application was easy as well, and really feels like a next-generation piece of kit when doing so – it will be something to show off to your friends down the pub, assuming they haven't already seen the same thing on the iPhone, of course. Looking at another of the headline technologies: the near field communication (NFC) technology was demonstrated to us at Google HQ using a sticker with information built right in. It worked instantly, taking us to information on an address in London, and in the future can be used to stream trailers, pictures and text. It's all very theoretical at the moment because it requires others to get on board – and we're miles away from being able to use our phone as an Oyster Card. Google told us that the Nexus S can't write information via NFC yet, meaning it will only be useful for reading info from smart-enabled objects, and that's not as exciting when you realise a QR code can do pretty much the same thing. One of the first things we did was turn off the functionality in the settings – we have no idea how much power it would use in real life if it's not scanning things, but for a good few months at least it will be a completely unnecessary feature. The Tags application was cool too, because it kept a history of everything you've scanned on the NFC chip and also let you bookmark your favourites. So if a tequila model comes past and offers to let you scan their T-shirt for a voucher, you won't have to keep doing it multiple times if you lose it... wait, that doesn't sound like an advantage. App managment Google has also included a menu option to help you manage applications from the Home screen, where you can click in and see what's running, what's installed and whether there's some boring application you want to jettison. Other applications of note include the new YouTube application (which has to be downloaded when the phone is first turned on to get the new fancy version) which offers up portrait viewing of your videos and an improved search engine. A dedicated downloads section is also in effect – meaning you no longer have to skulk through the back alleys of your internet browser to find the files your slurped down from the cloud earlier that day But more noticeable are the absences here; we want things like a dedicated file browser, an improved music and video player and support for Office documents out the box – it's insane that you have to go and get the right tools from the Android Market as soon as you turn the phone on. Google – we hope you step this up in the future, as these additions would make Android phones around 72 per cent better straight away, and avoid taking some of the well-deserved shine from the slick UI. Gaming Google has promised better gaming with the Nexus S – a top end GPU complete with three-axis gyroscope mean it could take on the iPhone 4 in some respects as the top gaming handset. However, the Android Market is pretty bare when it comes to decent games beyond the awesomeness of Angry Birds – even Flick Kick Football doesn't play as well on this phone as on the iPhone. There could be a big gaming future for the Google Nexus S if the major names properly offer their wares for the Android ecosystem – but the power hasn't been realised yet. We've always been impressed by the trajectory of Android, and with each passing iteration it's got closer to being a bit less for the hackers and more for the mainstream (although its open source ethos has remained). The Google Nexus S is designed to be the device that showcases the power of Android 2.3 and comes without the constraints of network upgrade delays – if Google updates something, the Nexus S community will be the first to know. Don't be fooled by all the hype, though: the Nexus S is pretty much just a hopped-up Galaxy S. Sure, it's got the fancy screen and NFC chip inside, but once the Samsung model gets beefed up to Android 2.3, there won't be a huge amount to choose between the two (as long as the terrible lag is fixed). We liked Android is an OS that's going places, there's no doubt about that. It bridges the gap between iPhone and Symbian^3 phones such as the Nokia N8 very well, giving open source opportunities with a very well-done UI. The operation is virtually judder-free, the GPU under the hood pushed the animations along at a wicked rate, and the burgeoning Android Market app store makes the Google Nexus S a very well-specified phone. The Google Maps and Navigations offerings are still superb, with easy to use software and a dedicated Car Mode making locating yourself a very simple task. Things like the beautiful screen are obviously a stand-out joy to use, and we're of the opinion that the bulging bottom and plastic cover is nice to hold rather than a poor version of the metallic phones out there. We disliked The lack of a comma on the keyboard might sound like a little issue, but to us, it's massive and could quickly get annoying. Sure, you can download another keyboard to solve the issue, or tinker with the settings, but that's not what you should have to do out the box to make the phone a decent proposition. The text wrapping on the internet browser was hard to get right too, and sadly hasn't got better with time – is it too much to ask for that we get a phone with the ability to zoom in and out of text and show it all at once? The lack of microSD slot is terrible as well. Samsung prides itself on being a media-centric company, so we think it must have been removed at Google's request, although for the life of us we can't think why. The price of the Nexus S is ridiculously high for the average gadget lover. Sure, it has some neat features but we reckon that slightly curved display added a few quid to the cost of manufacturing, and had it been flat the world wouldn't have simultaneously wept and cursed the ground the Android development team walked on. UPDATE: Google has slashed the price of the phone just before launch, making it a lot more palatable at a little over £400 - much better, and just in time. The constant restarting is an issue as well, plus that double letter thing from the keyboard is insanely annoying. Verdict It's a tricky one to rate, the Google Nexus S. A good place to start would be the obvious: it's a cracking phone, with a lot to be excited about. For instance, the NFC chip is going to be a real boon in the future we reckon – Google's got plans for that tech, and that's partly why the Google Nexus S was created, to highlight what can be done on a handset. From the moment you pick up the phone (assuming you don't hate the plastic feeling) and turn it on, you know you're getting something special – even the booting screen looks amazingly sharp. The stuff Android gets right is all here on this phone – widgets, an easy-to-access notifications bar, easy-to-use applications and a dearth of openness about the underlying system make this attractive to both the man on the street who wants the latest phone and the modder who wants to root and play and customise to his or her heart's content. Android is certainly maturing at a fantastic rate – you can do so much now, and the incremental improvements to features such as the keyboard show that there's a lot of potential with this OS to iron out any bugs. But it's not a five -star experience on the Google Nexus S for a number of reasons: the ever so slight jumpiness and lagging, while very much not a big issue, take the gloss off the Android effect. The sub-par media player needs updating badly, and the lack of a microSD slot is bound to irk some. You've also got the benefit of being the first to receive the updates to Android version xx whenever it arrives – no more kicking your heels and waiting for your network to service your needs. In short, there's nothing wrong with the Google Nexus S. In areas, such as the internet browser and improved battery life, it shines, and the overall feeling is one of a great phone that's going to grow with you as you discover little tweaks, tricks and the best new apps. But while there's nothing to anger you about this phone, there will be times when it irritates you slightly, when the screen freezes momentarily or when a call scrambles its brain. If you love Android in its purest form, then the Google Nexus S is the phone for you. If you like it a little more feature rich, check out the HTC range. And (whisper it) if you're agnostic and can afford it, the Nexus S is still not an iPhone beater, so make sure you check out all your options first. Related Links TechRadar's Reviews Guarantee Phones@TechRadar - our new dedicated mobiles channel How much is your old mobile phone worth? Mobile phone reviews Related Stories Nike+ iPhone app now lets you play virtual tag Nike+ iPhone app now lets you play virtual tag Samsung Galaxy Ace to hit Mobile World Congress 2011 Android 3.0 Honeycomb to offer music syncing iPhone 5 and iPad 2 set for massive graphics boost

Exclusive: 3DS might permanently damage children's eyes Posted: 17 Jan 2011 09:44 AM PST Following news last month that Nintendo warned its forthcoming new 3DS handheld is unsuitable for young children, a British eye specialist claims the latest gaming tech could permanently damage children's eyes. Nintendo recently issued health and safety warnings on its own website that the forthcoming auto-stereoscopic (glasses-free) 3DS is unsuitable for under-sixes. "One possible explanation for the safety advice issued by Nintendo could be something to do with children's 'critical eyesight period,' British eye expert and optician, Richard Pakey from The Eyewear Centre told TechRadar, when asked about the potential dangers of the Nintendo 3DS. "This is arguably between the ages of 2 to 6 and at this stage children are very much in the developmental process visually, and any persuasions optically could indeed have a negative impact permanently." Permanent eye damage? "There is a grey area surrounding the potential eye health issues caused by 3D, this is concerning ALL age groups, not just under 6 year olds," Pakey added. "Our own Professional body - the General Optical Council (GOC) cannot issue clinical guidance for 3D eyewear until the release of 'prescription' 3D eyewear which is due later this year. Pakey also added that some children might not be able to achieve the 3D view due to "reduced binocular vision, rendering the 3D effect useless." Nintendo's original statement was published on its Japanese website said that under-sixes' eyesight might be impaired by use of its new 3DS console. Nintendo is set to officially unveil the plans for the UK 3DS launch at a press event in Amsterdam later this week. Related Stories Nintendo hints at 3DS 3D video cam Government confirms delay for PEGI game ratings Like Angry Birds? Then you'll love these games Exclusive: British psychologists trash latest 'videogame addiction' study Rumour: Microsoft Kinect PC beta test soon

Exclusive: Humax: Never say never to Google TV Posted: 17 Jan 2011 09:29 AM PST With a reputation for high-quality set-top boxes and digital TV recorders in the UK, Humax is moving into the connected-TV space in 2011 with the launch of its Humax Portal and a YouView device. When asked if Humax was interested in partnering with Google on a Google TV product for the UK, Graham North, Commercial Director of Humax UK, responded coyly, "Never say never." He continued, "If the market opportunity was right, we'd be interested. But for the UK market, our feeling at the moment is that other propositions are stronger – services like YouView and our internet-connected Portal. But if the market desired Google TV, then we'd look into it." The much-delayed Humax Portal promises to bring web services like iPlayer and YouTube to Humax Freeview HD set-top boxes, and is on track to launch at the end of January. We all view together Meanwhile YouView development continues but North doesn't anticipate the service launching until at least the middle of the year. He said, "I believe YouView have an update statement coming soon, but the key selling season for us will be the second half." Users will require a good Freeview signal in order to use YouView's on-demand services, however North told us that there's likely to be both a Freesat and IP version in the future too. Although other platforms have criticised the new service, North says it's going to be the strongest web-connected TV product when it hits the market: "YouView has the backing to succeed and there are more key content providers in discussion; it's going to be content that drives consumers to buy." Meanwhile, Freeview HD battles Freesat It has been almost three years since Freesat launched in the UK and demand is still high, according to Humax, with the company struggling to keep supply up to meet continuing public desire for Freesat HD DVRs and standard receivers. The news comes despite the launch of Freeview HD in 2010, which all but obliterates Freesat's USP of HD television content without the need for a contract deal. While Freesat devices have been selling great guns, Freeview HD sales have been disappointing. Related Stories BBC on-demand should be iPlayer only, says BBC Trust

Android 3.0 Honeycomb to offer music syncing Posted: 17 Jan 2011 09:27 AM PST A syncing button which allows you to add entire music libraries to Android 3.0-based devices has been outed. Doing the rounds on the internet at the moment is a leaked version of the upcoming Honeycomb music player that holds within it some syncing secrets. Those who have installed the Android music player on to their 2.3 handsets have found that new syncing options appear, including the addition of a 'sync music option'. Music potential This could mean that various cloud-based music sites use this opportunity to tout themselves as being an 'iTunes for Android' service that works seamlessly with Android devices. There's also a 'cache streamed music' setting that is encroaching on what Spotify offers Android users at the moment (for a fee) and this is nestled next to a 'stream music settings' option. The Achilles' heal for Android devices at the moment is the lack of a decent media player – unless you go fishing for one on the Android Market. All signs are suggesting that the eventual arrival of Android 3.0 - which was heavily shown off at CES 2011 - will remedy this situation. Related Stories Nike+ iPhone app now lets you play virtual tag Nike+ iPhone app now lets you play virtual tag Samsung Galaxy Ace to hit Mobile World Congress 2011 Review: Updated: Google Nexus S iPhone 5 and iPad 2 set for massive graphics boost

Swiftkey to use Facebook and Twitter to learn how you think Posted: 17 Jan 2011 09:07 AM PST The second generation of Swiftkey, a popular text-input app for Android, is set to be launched at Mobile World Congress 2011, and will use your Facebook, Twitter and Gmail accounts to learn how you type. The app offers a different kind of text prediction to T9, the traditional predictive text, learning your writing style and suggesting phrases that you're likely to use in context. It has proven very popular with Android users, garnering over 120,000 downloads over the past year. The new function will see Swiftkey become, er, swifter at learning your style, as well as studying how you make errors based on the way you type. An app that scours your social networking profiles to learn how you think is a slightly scary concept but, on the plus side, it should make texting quicker. Getting in on the tablet action The first licensing deal TouchType has struck will also be announced at Mobile World Congress 2011, seeing the software come bundled with a series of Android devices in much the same way as the Samsung Galaxy S comes with Swype pre-installed. The company is now working on a tablet edition of Swiftkey, which should be released some time in Q2. "Android makes it very easy to port the software across because it's so open, but because usage inputs are quite different on tablet screens, we're doing more than simply porting the mobile keyboard over," said Reynolds. Related Stories Review: Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2011 Spotify teams up with Shazam Swiftkey to use Facebook and Twitter to learn how you think

Swiftkey to use Facebook and Twitter to learn how you think Posted: 17 Jan 2011 09:07 AM PST The second generation of Swiftkey, a popular text-input app for Android, is set to be launched at Mobile World Congress 2011, and will use your Facebook, Twitter and Gmail accounts to learn how you type. The app offers a different kind of text prediction to T9, the traditional predictive text, learning your writing style and suggesting phrases that you're likely to use in context. It has proven very popular with Android users, garnering over 120,000 downloads over the past year. The new function will see Swiftkey become, er, swifter at learning your style, as well as studying how you make errors based on the way you type. An app that scours your social networking profiles to learn how you think is a slightly scary concept but, on the plus side, it should make texting quicker. Getting in on the tablet action The first licensing deal TouchType has struck will also be announced at Mobile World Congress 2011, seeing the software come bundled with a series of Android devices in much the same way as the Samsung Galaxy S comes with Swype pre-installed. The company is now working on a tablet edition of Swiftkey, which should be released some time in Q2. "Android makes it very easy to port the software across because it's so open, but because usage inputs are quite different on tablet screens, we're doing more than simply porting the mobile keyboard over," said Reynolds. Related Stories Review: Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2011 Spotify teams up with Shazam Swiftkey to use Facebook and Twitter to learn how you think

Samsung Galaxy Ace to hit Mobile World Congress 2011 Posted: 17 Jan 2011 08:35 AM PST Product shots of the Samsung Galaxy Ace have leaked, seemingly confirming a name change for what was previously thought to be the Samsung Galaxy S Mini. The handset will join the Samsung Galaxy range running Android 2.2 (Froyo), presumably at Mobile World Congress 2011 next month. The Ace also goes by the product name Samsung S5830 and looks suspiciously like an iPhone 3GS. The ace of spades With an 800MHz Qualcomm processor, the handset promises to be small by today's standards but not particularly powerful. With a 3.5-inch display, the Samsung Galaxy Ace also features Samsung's TouchWiz 3.0 user interface running over the Android OS. Other goodies for the small-handed to look forward to include a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, a 2GB microSD card already installed, Wi-Fi, HSDPA, A-GPS and all that jazz. We have very little doubt that we'll be seeing the Samsung Galaxy Ace get all official at Mobile World Congress 2011, with a UK release date soon to follow. Related Stories Nike+ iPhone app now lets you play virtual tag Nike+ iPhone app now lets you play virtual tag Android 3.0 Honeycomb to offer music syncing Review: Updated: Google Nexus S iPhone 5 and iPad 2 set for massive graphics boost

Rumour: Microsoft Kinect PC beta test soon Posted: 17 Jan 2011 08:33 AM PST Microsoft is rumoured to be preparing official drivers and a software development kit to enable its motion-controlled Kinect hardware to hook up to your PC. Following comments at CES from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, dropping serious hints that Kinect PC would be officially announced at some point soon, website Winrumors claims that we should see such an announcement in the very near future. Kinect PC beta soon? Microsoft is apparently readying an official SDK and Kinect drivers for Windows 7, with a Kinect PC beta test to be announced very soon. Unnamed sources apparently familiar with Microsoft's Kinect PC plans add that Microsoft wants to incorporate the support into a forthcoming "Community Technical Preview" of its XNA Game Studio tools. It's no surprise that Microsoft wants to extend Kinect support to PC gaming and other applications, with the company having sold over 8 million Kinects to date, considerably more than the initial sales target of 5 million by the end of 2010. Eager enthusiasts on the PC have already shown a number of interesting ways in which the Xbox 360 Kinect hardware can be hacked for use with your laptop. However, the question remains, if you are wanting to use Kinect with a standard laptop PC, do you really have the required six to eight feet behind your desk to get the full benefit of Microsoft's new motion-controller? TechRadar has contacted Microsoft UK for further updates on this story. Related Stories Nintendo hints at 3DS 3D video cam Government confirms delay for PEGI game ratings Like Angry Birds? Then you'll love these games Exclusive: British psychologists trash latest 'videogame addiction' study Exclusive: 3DS might permanently damage children's eyes

Sapphire's Pure Black X58 board to cost £210 Posted: 17 Jan 2011 07:30 AM PST Sapphire's eagerly awaited Pure Black X58 will cost around £210, with the much-anticipated motherboard landing in the next couple of weeks. Sapphire's mobo builds on the company's graphics card expertise, and is pitched firmly at the enthusiast. The board supports the Intel Core i7 processor, as well as all the modern bits of kit that are making enthusiasts a bit weak at the knees. Stick it in That includes USB 3.0, SATA 6Gbps, six dual channel DDR3 memory slots, 3 gen 2 and one gen 1 PCI-E expansion slots and all the ports you could shake your USB stick collection at. Hell, it's even got an ol' school IDE port for those legacy HDDs in your collection. With Sapphire's ATI/AMD heritage though don't expect any SLI certification... Of course, overclockers are set to be catered for as well – with stable power sections, solid capacitors and Sapphire's Diamond Black chokes. The price tag is obviously pretty high, but Sapphire has brought in experts from EVGA's old motherboard team to try and make it worth your while. If you're looking for a top-end Intel board then this may just be for you. Keep an eye out for TechRadar's imminent Sapphire Pure Black X58 motheboard review. Related Stories Carmack backing Nvidia ARM core OCZ quits DRAM business, focuses on SSD Opinion: The art of Geek Feng Shui explained KFA2 shows off world's first wireless graphics cards The PC rare metals crisis

Exclusive: British psychologists trash latest 'videogame addiction' study Posted: 17 Jan 2011 07:01 AM PST A new two-year study charting the gaming habits of over 3,000 Singaporean school kids claims that nearly one in 10 were 'addicts', suffering from increased levels of depression and anxiety and a noticeable drop in performance at school. However, a number of leading British psychologists and videogame researchers have questioned the basis of this latest 'videogame addiction study' from Singapore. Reuters reported on the latest 'controversial' new study, quoting Douglas A Gentile, from Iowa State University, one of the researchers behind the latest research. "When children became addicted, their depression, anxiety, and social phobias got worse, and their grades dropped," said Gentile. "When they stopped being addicted, their depression, anxiety, and social phobias got better." Addiction versus preoccupation Leading British academic Dr Mark Griffiths, director of the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University has raised some important questions about the new research, telling TechRadar: "The [latest] study is important because it is a longitudinal study and has followed a cohort over a two-year period and because of the range of measures used shows what sorts of other comorbidity (eg, depression) may have associations with video game playing. "Unfortunately, the study does not conclusively show the existence of video game addiction as the measure used to assess pathological gaming may in fact be measuring preoccupation rather than addiction. My own research has shown that excessive video game play is not necessarily addictive play and that many video gamers can play for long periods without there being any negative detrimental effects. "If 9 per cent of children were genuinely addicted to video games there would be video game addiction clinics in every major city! Almost all screening instruments used to measure video game addiction are likely to significantly overestimate 'pathological' or 'addictive' gaming." That said, Dr Griffiths does think that "video game addiction exists in a small minority of individuals based on the many studies I have carried out myself," adding that, "in the most extreme cases, video game addicts display many of the signs and symptoms found in more traditional addictions. "Many people would argue that video games cannot be addictive because it doesn't involve the ingestion of a psychoactive drug such as alcohol or nicotine. "However, gambling is one behavioral addiction that has been studied in depth (and is my own speciality), and there is lots of evidence that gambling can be genuinely addictive. If a behaviour like gambling can become addictive there is no theoretical reason why video game playing can't be seen similarly." What does gaming addiction mean? Back to the Singaporean study, Dr Nigel Holt, a psychologist from Bath, thinks that the study appears not to address the problem properly. "When we do research with people we use tools, like questionnaires that are valid for the task we are doing. Just as a hammer is a valid tool for making nails go into walls – we have to ensure that the method we choose to collect data is valid. In this case, I would question the validity of that particular questionnaire. "We need now to question what addicted means. It seems to me that a few hours a day gaming is reliably different from 17 hours a day gaming, so when is there an addiction? If these kids spent three hours a day with their dog in the garden would you say they were addicted to their dog? Would you say that because kids in the 1950s spent most of their time outside playing in the fresh air that they were addicted to playing in fresh air?" Finally, internet psychologist Graham Jones questioned the fact that this latest study was based on self-reporting questionnaires. "They can provide some useful insights, but unless the questionnaire was extremely well-designed, or there were some counterbalancing aspects to the study, the chances are people do not accurately report their true level of activity." "There is often a popular assumption that playing video games for hours on end is a problem. Frequently the problem has arisen before the game playing begins; the game playing is a symptom, not a cause." Related Stories Nintendo hints at 3DS 3D video cam Government confirms delay for PEGI game ratings Like Angry Birds? Then you'll love these games Rumour: Microsoft Kinect PC beta test soon Exclusive: 3DS might permanently damage children's eyes

Steve Jobs takes medical leave of absence from Apple Posted: 17 Jan 2011 06:36 AM PST Steve Jobs has announced to Apple employees that he is taking another medical leave of absence from the company, but will be staying on as CEO. According to Business Wire, a memo was sent to all at Apple today regarding Jobs' decision to take some time out, with day to day responsibilities being left to COO Tim Cook. This echoes a similar situation in January 2009, when Steve Jobs took a medical leave of absence from the company to sort out a "hormone imbalance". Continuing as CEO The full memo reads: "At my request, the board of directors has granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health. I will continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company. "I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for all of Apple's day to day operations. I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011. "I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy." The news of Steve Jobs taking a backseat at Apple comes just a day before the company releases its first quarter results. Related Stories Amazon Kindle comes to Mac App Store In Depth: Does the Mac App Store allow commercial use? Updated: iPad 2 rumours: what you need to know

In Depth: Google TV vs Apple TV vs Boxee vs YouView Posted: 17 Jan 2011 06:26 AM PST Online TV is here, and if it can deliver what it's promising, it looks like it may make the TV aerial a thing of the past, not to mention leaving other casualties including Blu-rays, DVDs and CDs at the wayside. Soon we won't just be watching TV passively, we'll be interacting with it, searching for our favourite content among the millions of offerings on TV and film-streaming services including YouTube, iPlayer and paid-for facilities. Those searches will inform our television about what we like, enabling it to highlight other programmes and services wemight be interested in. But it's not just TV and film that will change with the expansion of Google TV, Apple TV and newer startups, such as Boxee. Soon, internet-enabled TVs will become the hubs of our lives. Our PCs will live in the study while we listen to and browse our music collections and music streaming services using the TV remote, flick through photo albums and share them with friends during ad breaks, or check up on Facebook and Twitter from the sofa. Our TVs will be able to pull content from our laptops, PCs and phones wirelessly, and display it in high definition. It's an exciting time and the future is rosy, except for one problem: not everyone is playing ball. Already, competing factions are signing up for exclusivity deals, effectively freezing their content out of other services. Then there's the existing television industry to deal with, especially the more vocal companies such as BSkyB. The move to internet-streamed TV is a major shift in the way television broadcasters and advertisers are used to working, and there's some strong resistance to this change already. It's not surprising – companies are going to feel threatened if their subscription models suddenly have to compete with cheaper or free offerings with access to lots of searchable content. Perhaps more importantly, the biggest obstacle internet TV has to overcome is that it hasn't really penetrated into the consciousness of the masses yet. James McQuivey, Forrester's principal analyst on consumer products, thinks he knows why. "There is nothing exciting about web-integrated TV," he explains. "The idea means nothing to consumers." If that's the case, how do you get less tech-literate consumers excited? "What is exciting is more content options – more ways to engage the content they already love," explains McQuivey, "and the internet happens to be the best way to achieve that – far better than what cable and satellite companies can do on their own using their existing set-top boxes." So who is likely to become the brand that brings internet-enabled TV to the masses? McQuivey thinks it lies in offering genuinely new services without changing the way people already watch TV. "The names trying to get into the TV ecosystem are impressive, but so far only Google has really proposed something new," he says. "Others, like Apple with its Apple TV, and Boxee, are only providing a new device to add to your TV. You have to choose to watch it – it can't enhance what you're already doing with your television. "Google TV, on the other hand, is designed to act as your new program guide. It will be the easiest way to find shows that you want to watch, and the only way to go deeper into those programmes with apps or web-based content that complements what you already want to do with the TV. "In this business, if you think you're trying to fix TV, you're missing the point. You're trying to make TV better. Only Google appears to understand that." Samsung appears to have reached a similar conclusion. Like Google, it seems to understand that people don't want change; they want what they've got now, with extras. Smart TVs are just that – televisions with web functionality built-in via an apps menu, so any company can provide smart TV users with access to their services, with no need for a set-top box. We spoke to Samsung's TV product manager, Darren Peterson, who is excited about the future of the company's web-app assisted product. " Samsung launched the first Smart TVs back in 2008. What you are seeing on the market now has been years in the making," he explains. "TV is the last mass consumer electronics device to be plugged into the web. Just look at how that's changed the consumer experience with computers and mobile phones. As TVs become smarter and more connected, the way people navigate their way through TV content and interact with it will change dramatically." There is little doubt that a fully realised internet TV experience could revolutionise the average sitting room, but is that available yet? And if it is, which one is right for you? To find out, we've examined the myriad services already here or coming soon. Here's an explanation of what's on offer from the top web TV contenders. Google TV According to the company's official blurb, "Google TV will enable you to go from hundreds of channels to millions of channels by bringing the web to your TV, and will help you find what you want to watch. Now you can get what you want, when you want it, on the best screen in your house." Google TV puts the company's search algorithms to work to help you find what you want to watch based on what you've recorded, the traditional TV channels, catch-up services, web-streaming services such as YouTube and premium sport and film-streaming sites. It adds choices from the whole internet to your TV guide. Not only does Google TV let you find content and display it in 1080p full HD, it enables you to multitask using screen-within-screen technology, so you could browse Twitter while the match plays in the corner of the screen. You could carry on watching a film while using the overlaid transparent Google search to find out who that actress is and where you've seen her before. From the comfort of your sofa, you would no longer have to drag out your laptop or phone to check the cricket scores – it would all be there in one central device. So how will Google TV make money? That's easy: it provides an avenue for targeted advertising. If Google knows your viewing habits as well as your search habits, soon it will get a pretty complete picture of what products and services you're likely to be interested in, and serve you ads about them directly to the device many people spend the most time looking at. This is attractive to advertisers too, because Google's AdSense reporting will tell them exactly how many people have viewed their ad, at what stage someone clicked through, and which programme or service they clicked through on. This is a major leap forward in TV advertising, where audience figures have been inaccurate at best. Google TV will let advertisers target people in just one area, or people who have searched for a particular term, and they'll know that exactly the number of people specified will have been exposed to the advert. AdSense will also offer TV advertisers instant feedback on which areas are best for them, enabling them to change where they place their ads mid-campaign. Never before have advertisers been offered such control, and it may well turn the advertising industry on its head – not to mention the fact that it would make Google rather a considerable sum of money. So where's the catch? Well, sadly, it's only available in the US, and with a Google spokesperson telling us there is 'no timeline' for its appearance in the UK, this isn't one to hold your breath for. However, Rishi Chandra, lead product manager for Google TV told TechRadar that "next year you should expect us to roll out in multiple countries," so it may be coming to our screens at about the same time as YouView. Somewhat inevitably, there has been a few teething troubles, notably that some major broadcasters – including ABC, CBS and NBC – are currently refusing to let their more popular programmes be shown on the device. And the outlook doesn't look good – even more networks have signalled that they won't take part. Strengths Search your TV, PC, phone and every corner of the web for media, and have it presented to you as a recognisable TV guide. All watchable media (depending on quality) can be displayed in full 1080p HD. You can also pair your Android phone up with your TV and use it to swap content between the devices, as a remote control, or for voice search functionality. Picture services such as Flickr are supported to browse and upload your photos, along with music streaming services such as Last.fm for audio. You'll be able to browse the web and interrogate Facebook – all while still watching a TV show. Weaknesses The lack of any planned UK support. Without the backing of major broadcasters, some of which have stronger ties to companies such as Apple, your Google TV won't be able to stream their content. It also doesn't come with internal storage for downloads. Apple TV Apple itself describes Apple TV as "an easy to use and fun way to wirelessly play all your favourite iTunes content from your Mac or PC on your widescreen TV, including movies, TV shows, music, photos and podcasts." As you can see from the description, Apple views its product as an add-on for your existing setup – a peripheral device to enhance what you already do. Even Apple CEO Steve Jobs described Apple TV as a 'hobby'. Despite this, Apple TV is now in its second generation, with the new, much smaller iteration unveiled in September 2010. At a mere 4 x 4in, you can hold the device in your hand. It's silent too, with no fan or internal hard drive. This means you can't buy content and store it on the machine. Instead, it merely acts as a control device, gathering content from the internet, your Mac or PC, your iTunes installation, or your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, and then streams it to your TV. It can display HD content, but only at a maximum resolution of 720p. Apple TV is an impressive pieceof kit for £99, so it isn't too surprising to learn that it sold 250,000 units in the first week of its launch. Not bad for a hobby. So how does Apple intend to make money from Apple TV? Judging by the way the company is positioning the product, and by the price, the service seem designed to enhance your enjoyment of your other iOS products – it's not intended to be a main revenue stream by itself. Whatever will play on your iPhone will also play on Apple TV, and will appear there at the touch of a button. It will also encourage more people to use the iTunes video service. In the US, Apple has partnered with on-demand video streaming service Netflix. If it's able to organise a similar partnership in the UK via a company such as Lovefilm (whose movie-streaming service is now available on the PlayStation 3), there's definitely plenty more money to be made next to the TV. There is a further possible long-term strategy, although it's not one that's been confirmed by Apple so far. What if, one day in the future, the company added App Store functionality to the device, enabling third-party developers to provide their content for it? The Apple TV device certainly has the processing power for it, and the inclusion of TV applications could transform Apple TV from something of a one-trick pony to a real creative powerhouse. Strengths It's cheap (£99), quiet, very small, easy to install and energy efficient (it uses only a thrifty six watts of power). On top of that, the powerful A4 processor makes it very responsive, and may allow more app functionality in the future. Any video you can watch on your iOS device (H.264 video) will play on your Apple TV using Apple AirPlay. Weaknesses This is very much a companion product. There's no local storage fordownloaded files. It can't play Flash-based video and is only 720p, not 1080p Full HD. It's also tied to iTunes for content in the UK. YouView YouView's mission is simple: "YouView is a joint venture by some of the UK's biggest names in TV and broadband. Together, we're going to change TV in the UK for the better – forever." Lofty claims. The companies involved so far are the BBC, BT, Talk Talk, ITV, Channel 4, Five and Arqiva, and their plan is to bring users streamed video on demand via their broadband service. Previously known by its working title Project Canvas, it's rarely been out of the technology news of late due to a gaggle of broadcasters criticising it for anti-competitiveness. In October 2010, Ofcom published a response to complaints by 11 companies (including Virgin Media and BSkyB), announcing that it wouldn't be launching an investigation into YouView because it would be premature in the service's development. According to Ofcom, "Whether or not YouView and its partners will harm competition in the ways alleged will depend upon how this emerging market develops and how the YouView partners act, particularly in relation to issuing technical standards and providing access to content." YouView must still tread carefully – there may befurther challenges ahead. Another worry is that not even the people behind YouView seem to know how they will make money from the service, which wasn't an approach that worked especially well for past contender Joost. When asked about about this, Anthony Rose, YouView's chief technology officer, answered: "It's an open platform. Whatever you do on the internet, you can do here. We don't want to king-make any one payment service provider." Despite these worries, YouView is special, as James McQuivey, Forrester's principal analyst on consumer products, points out: "In the UK, YouView is intriguing because it essentially creates a single platform that any manufacturer can build for and any content provider can push content to. "That's a very open playing field and doesn't exist anywhere else in the world. If YouView gets into people's homes, it could be the new hotbed of innovation in TV." Strengths YouView gathers the free and paid-for content from numerous companies in one place, making it agenuinely unique, open platform that anyone can write applications for. In many ways, it picks up where Freeview and BBC iPlayer left off. Weaknesses You'll need to invest in another form of set-top box if you want to watch it on your television. It won't launch until at least the first half of 2011, and it's likely there may be more technical issues and legal challenges from competitors ahead, which could easily delay it again. Boxee Boxee Box is a device from D-Link that enables you to plug the Boxee internet TV streaming web app into your television. Like Google and Apple's services, Boxee Box gives your TV access to free entertainment on the internet – playback movies, TV shows, music and photos. It also lets you share movies, TV shows or YouTube clips with your friends on Facebook and Twitter with the push of a button. It doesn't have the clout of a big name like Apple or Google, but it does have the advantage of being available in the UK way before Google TV. At £200, it's twice theprice of Apple TV, but it isn't ring-fenced into that iTunes-based, Flash-less world. It also offers 1080p Full HD. There's no worry about a lack of power either, because it features the same Intel-powered chip you'll find in the first Google TV products. It also has a stylish QWERTY keyboard and remote. Boxee's revenue stream seems simple: it offers you access to every web-streaming service it can get its hands on, and plays all non-DRM-protected media. Boxee clearly hopes that not being dedicated to just one service is the key to its survival. If you want to try before you buy, you can download it to a laptop, then attach that to your TV. If you like it, you can buy the Boxee Box (and get your laptop back). Strengths Boxee boasts 1080p HD and can play almost every video codec. It's easy to use and displays your content along with other services. It also offers social networking. Weaknesses It's double the price of Apple TV, and you can't browse the internet as you can with Google TV. BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer was one of the first internet-streamed TV services, and in many ways it's paved the way for the others featured in this list – especially YouView. Launched in 2007, the UK-only iPlayer started out as a website-based catch-up service, which enabled you to watch any popular BBC TV programs that you missed earlier in the week. iPlayer was a success from the start, and has continued to adapt to keep up with the way people want to view television. Initially it was only accessible on your PC via the BBC website, but with three versions now under its belt, adding HD programming and social networking services, it can be found on games consoles, Blu-ray players, and Freesat and Freeview boxes. In fact, a large proportion ofthe service's traffic now comes from set-top boxes that are supplied by third-party companies such as Virgin and Sagem. So what's in it for the BBC? Well, it gets its content out there. As the corporation explains, iPlayer isn't about money, because the BBC isn't a profit-making organisation. Of course, this has upset numerous other organisations that do want to make profit, and believe the BBC should concentrate on making programmes, not developing new broadcasting methods. They need to check their history though, because the BBC has been at the forefront of broadcasting tech since its creation. Other criticism has come from ISPs, worried about the levels of traffic the service generates: in August alone there were 119 million requests for programmes. However, with the arrival of so many other services, this is unlikely to remain a problem caused only by the BBC for long. Strengths It's free, and a lot of the content is available in high definition. It's also supported by a major publicly funded corporation, which is unlikely to disappear overnight. New additions, such as social networking and programme reminders, help users find exactly what they want to watch. Weaknesses iPlayer only carries BBC content – although there are eight channels of it available – most of which disappears after seven days. High definition content is available, but requires a very good internet connection to stream correctly. Before long, iPlayer will just be one of numerous web apps available on other internet TV services from the likes of Apple and Google. Even if this doesn't happen, iPlayer will be eclipsed by YouView when it launches, due to the variety of extra content that will be available alongside the BBC's offerings. Related Stories Formula One to be broadcast in HD on BBC Immortality is having a gorge named after you, Highlander fans In Depth: Will polarised 3D TVs replace active shutter? Panasonic's £380k 152-inch TV selling well Samsung TV apps reach 2 million download barrier

Nike+ iPhone app now lets you play virtual tag Posted: 17 Jan 2011 06:04 AM PST If there's anything that can brighten up your morning jog, then a game of virtual tag with your mates using the latest updated version of the Nike+ GPS app for iPhone is surely it. While running around your local park is surely one of the greatest way to start the day while ensuring you stay fit and healthy, it can be something of a lonely and boring chore at times. The good people of Nike clearly understand this, which is why the new version of the company's iPhone app for runners includes a version of Nike+ Tag. If you have already invested in the Nike+ GPS App (£1.19 – via the UK iTunes Store ) then Nike's latest update is free. Faster, better, stronger The game is essentially a virtual version of schoolyard favourite 'tag' in which you have to compete with your mates to run faster, longer and earlier than them. After a run, a Nike+ GPS App user is prompted to Play Tag, which involves inviting your Nike+ friends and contacts into a game. The user can then set their chosen rules for the game of virtual tag, based upon distance (the one who runs the least distance is 'it'), time spent running or time of day that you head off for your jog (the earlier the better, essentially). The game continues until each runner has taken part, or up to three days after the initial invitation has been made, whichever comes first The Nike+ GPS software uses your iPhone's GPS to gauge your exact location, speed and distance ran. Related Stories Nike+ iPhone app now lets you play virtual tag Samsung Galaxy Ace to hit Mobile World Congress 2011 Android 3.0 Honeycomb to offer music syncing Review: Updated: Google Nexus S iPhone 5 and iPad 2 set for massive graphics boost

Nike+ iPhone app now lets you play virtual tag Posted: 17 Jan 2011 06:04 AM PST If there's anything that can brighten up your morning jog, then a game of virtual tag with your mates using the latest updated version of the Nike+ GPS app for iPhone is surely it. While running around your local park is surely one of the greatest way to start the day while ensuring you stay fit and healthy, it can be something of a lonely and boring chore at times. The good people of Nike clearly understand this, which is why the new version of the company's iPhone app for runners includes a version of Nike+ Tag. If you have already invested in the Nike+ GPS App (£1.19 – via the UK iTunes Store ) then Nike's latest update is free. Faster, better, stronger The game is essentially a virtual version of schoolyard favourite 'tag' in which you have to compete with your mates to run faster, longer and earlier than them. After a run, a Nike+ GPS App user is prompted to Play Tag, which involves inviting your Nike+ friends and contacts into a game. The user can then set their chosen rules for the game of virtual tag, based upon distance (the one who runs the least distance is 'it'), time spent running or time of day that you head off for your jog (the earlier the better, essentially). The game continues until each runner has taken part, or up to three days after the initial invitation has been made, whichever comes first The Nike+ GPS software uses your iPhone's GPS to gauge your exact location, speed and distance ran. Related Stories Nike+ iPhone app now lets you play virtual tag Samsung Galaxy Ace to hit Mobile World Congress 2011 Android 3.0 Honeycomb to offer music syncing Review: Updated: Google Nexus S iPhone 5 and iPad 2 set for massive graphics boost

Exclusive: Facebook: users have 'absolute control' Posted: 17 Jan 2011 06:02 AM PST Facebook updated its data policy for developers over the weekend, allowing them to use more of your information to build more efficient third party apps for the site. The new information that devs can potentially get their hands on, according to the Facebook developer blog, is your mobile phone number and address. That is if you have put this information into Facebook and you have given them permission to access it. With every Facebook data update comes the inevitable backlash and it was security outfit Sophos who was quick to point out the problems with this. Graham Cluely from Sophos called it a 'recipe for disaster', saying: "This change isn't as drastic as it might first appear, because users will need to give permission for third-party Facebook applications to access this data. "But it still sounds like a recipe for disaster, given the prevalence of rogue scam applications already on Facebook - all of which benefit from apparently being blessed by the Facebook name and brand." Going rogue The idea that 'rogue app developers' can use your information for malware and the like isn't a new one but it is a worrying one. With this in mind TechRadar contacted Facebook, where a spokesperson promptly told us: "On Facebook you have absolute control over what information you share, who you share it with and when you want to remove it. "Developers can now request permission to access a person's address and mobile phone number to make applications built on Facebook more useful and efficient." The spokesperson also noted: "You need to explicitly choose to share your data before any app or website can access it and no private information is shared without your permission. As an additional step for this new feature, you're not able to share your friends' address or mobile information." It's clear Facebook isn't oblivious to the idea that rogue app developers use the site – you only have to check its security pages to see this is the case – but it is asking its users to execute caution when handing over information. The question remains, though: does the everyday Facebook user, who lets apps use their details, understand quite how much information they are giving away on the site – and just how this information is being used? Related Stories Sony and Universal look to kill piracy with 'on air, on sale' policy Microsoft CEO: 'Bing is growing like a weed' Latest Firefox 4 Beta available to download Sony and Universal look to kill piracy with 'on air, on sale' policy Latest Firefox 4 Beta available to download

In Depth: Around the floor: the hidden gems of CES 2011 Posted: 17 Jan 2011 04:55 AM PST With the flood of new products at CES it's easy to miss the neat tech lurking on some of the smaller stands. So we've gathered together some of the stuff that stood out for us. The smartest of smartphones are getting HDMI connections to plug into your TV, but just about everything has a micro USB port. The MHL consortium including Nokia, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba and Silicon Image - if it doesn't stand for micro USB HDMI link, it ought to - uses a micro USB to HDMI cable that charges your phone when you plug it into your TV to play video (1080p with audio) or photos, which is such a neat and obvious combination we're surprised no-one has done it before. New devices from this summer will have the protocol built in and adapters will make it work for devices that already have the connectors – which should be the vast majority of devices. The equally impressive HDBaseT protocol won't be easy to retrofit, but it's already in professional video equipment and it should be in some TVs, projectors and AV receivers this year. Sony, LG and Samsung are the founding members of a spec we think actually deserves the overused 'revolutionary' compliment. You can already get power over Ethernet, or a network connection over power cables, or video and audio over USB (we saw demos of 1080p video at 60fps over USB 3), or USB over DisplayPort (look for USB 3 cables that are the 15m length of DisplayPort rather than 3m later this year when Icron's chipsets start getting built in to screens, PCs and USB hubs). DBaseT does it all, putting power, network, sound, video and USB connections over a single Ethernet cable that can be up to 100m long. Want your flatscreen TV on the wall? You don't need an electrician to put a power socket in the right place. Plug your TV, PC, PS3, Blu-ray player and the rest into the HDBaseT router and they all get power, 100Mbps network connections, full uncompressed HD video and HDMI 1.4 audio – and any USB peripherals you have plugged in work (so you can play Guitar Hero in bed even if your Xbox is in the living room). The demo we got had virtually no latency and the only drawback is the relatively slow network connection but 20Gb connections are already on the roadmap. (And if you're wondering how it works, it's an Ethernet connection with a powerful digital signal processor sorting the five signals out). Handy and healthy Among all the iPhone blood pressure monitors and Bluetooth pedometers and personal health gadgets at CES the ones we really like include the Zeo sleep tracker, a headband that measures how deeply you sleep the same way electrodes glued to your head do (but less stickily) – it actually detects your brain waves. If you want to know if coffee in the afternoon keeps you awake at night or if jet lag tips actually work or if your spouse's snores really wake you up all the time, you can measure it. When you stumble down to the kitchen in the morning, the new Simple Human kitchen bin will open as soon as your hand gets near it and close when you're done (six D cell batteries last up to a year because the sensor can tell it's you rather than the dog trying to get at the chicken bones you threw away). And if you're facing the indignity of bifocals, Pixel Optics digital lenses will be in the UK by the end of year; you get a single lens in your glasses with a button on the side you tap when you need to read something you'd otherwise need a second lens (or a second pair of glasses) for. This turns on liquid crystals embedded in the lens that switch it to correcting for long-sightedness instead of short. It will cost about a third more than the most expensive progressive lenses at first and you have to charge the glasses every two or three days, but if you hate bifocals you'll love it. Now we'd like to see them add Bluetooth and give us a jet-fighter style heads-up display. Better touch Synaptics doesn't just make the touchpads in most notebooks; their touch screens are already in phones like Nokia's N8 and HTC's top Android and Windows Phone 7 models. TRACK IT: If you like the trackpad on your notebook, how about one for your desktop? The textured base will stop it sliding as you swipe around They're working on a cheap single-touch-plus-pinch screen for budget smartphones, a cheap 8-inch five-finger touch screen for budget tablets and a 10" ten-finger touch screen we're looking forward to seeing in some iPad competitors in the next three months. All that multi-touch is going into touchpads too; expect notebooks with touchpads that have more gestures and no physical buttons (you can still click but you won't get dust, fluff and sesame seeds stuck underneath). You won't need to turn your touchpad off when you type either; the new pads will be much better at knowing when it's your palm brushing the pad in passing. And we like the look of the trackpad you can plug into a desktop PC like a mouse (or use wirelessly to control a PC or Google TV from the sofa); Synaptics is calling it a reference design PC and peripheral makers can licence but it might also make and sell one itself. If you've ever wished you could get an iPhone with a real keyboard, check out the 4i Thumbs2; it's a $30 screen protector with little ridges in to help you get your thumbs in the right place for the keys. I can barely type on the iPhone screen at all but with the Thumbs2 I could practically touch type. TOUCH 0 THUMBS 2:The screen protector that turns the iPhone screen into a tactile keyboard The iPhone 4 version comes out late February and slides into the bumper case; a sticky but removable version for other models is on the way too. SURC's $70 universal learning remote control fits onto an iPhone 4 like a case, weighs just 20 grams and uses an app to control just about any device; when it comes out this spring you can download control codes, learn them from any remote it doesn't know about and customise the interface to have just the buttons you want – plus you can use gestures like shaking the phone to turn the TV off. The next version of PowerDVD will have an Android app that turns tablets into remote controls for controlling the DVD or Blu-ray player on your PC. You can also use it to stream video and photos onto your PC and it uses PowerDVD's video tools to upscale it to HD, improve the lighting and colour and stabilise shaky video; Cyberlink is also working on a DLNA-connected Android media streaming app that will work even if you don't have PowerDVD. CONTROL: Use Android as a remote control for PowerDVD STREAM: Use a DLNA Android tablet to share pictures and video on a PC or DLNA TV But the remote control we really want lets you wave your hand at a PC with a webcam and use that to bring up a gesture interface where you move your hand to trigger the forward, backward, mute and play button – that one is still a prototype. More power more places There are plenty of modular universal chargers; the iDapt models work well and have tips that let you recharge AA and AAA batteries as well as most devices. On the way is a tip that will charge camera batteries, and an eco charger that has just one tip but comes apart to work in a car power socket as well as a standard power socket. Powermat wireless charging is going to be in cars to charge your phone soon; eCoupled wireless power technology can charge the whole electric car – we saw it charging a Tesla from a power ring the size of a manhole cover. That takes 1600W, 89 per cent efficiency and some fine control, but it's still safe to touch. At the other end of the scale, they can print a power receiver on a paper label in conductive ink that also transmits data; stick that onto a box of cereal and it can make an electroluminescent label light up to attract attention (handy to help you find what's on your shopping list or warn you which carton of milk is going to expire today). A capacitive sensor printed on the side of a bottle can let you know when it's almost empty or whether you remembered to take your pill today. A packet of soup could have a steel plate in the bottom; pop the safety tab to activate it, put it on top of a wireless power transmitter embedded in your kitchen worktop or your desk at work and it could heat itself up for the right amount of time – and when you take the soup off, you can pop something else on to charge. FROM A PHONE: Qi wireless charging built into HTC smartphones… TO A CAR: The same technology charging an electric car HTC is the first manufacturer to offer a Qi wireless charging back as an option you can buy with a new phone, Dell uses eCoupled for its wireless power laptop, Duracell uses it for its cases and charging mats and more laptop and tablet makers are promising Qi wireless chargers. Powermat and eCoupled use very different systems, but they're both signing up enough partners that we're close to having two wireless power standards that might (one day) interoperate. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Related Stories Weird Tech: The tweets are all reet Catch up: this week's most popular posts Opinion: What is going wrong with Intel's marketing? BAE to use E-ink to make tanks invisible The Social Network wins big at Golden Globes

Samsung TV apps reach 2 million download barrier Posted: 17 Jan 2011 04:33 AM PST The Samsung TV App Store has reached another landmark this week, with news that there have now been some 2 million applications downloaded from the store. Considering that it was only in December when we announced that the app store had surpassed 1 million downloads, this shows that the idea of accessing applications through TV screens is beginning to pick up pace. At CES 2011, Samsung showed off its latest Smart TV range to TechRadar, which comes complete with a redesigned app hub. The introduction of a 'search everything' bar means that the applications are easier to navigate – something that has been a stumbling block from TV apps. App-y days Samsung is betting big on TV apps, and there's a number of movie and social networking applications already available that have been integrated into the TV viewing experience. Having things like LoveFilm and Twitter on demand and through your TV is becoming common place and there's now even more companies adding other apps like Skype to connected television sets. As the Samsung Hub points out, it took Samsung 268 days to get to 1 million downloads and just 53 more to hit the 2 million mark. Considering 12 million connected TVs are set to be sold by the company this year, 3 million must be just around the corner. Related Stories Formula One to be broadcast in HD on BBC Immortality is having a gorge named after you, Highlander fans In Depth: Will polarised 3D TVs replace active shutter? Panasonic's £380k 152-inch TV selling well In Depth: Google TV vs Apple TV vs Boxee vs YouView

Latest Firefox 4 Beta available to download Posted: 17 Jan 2011 03:27 AM PST Mozilla has announced that the latest version of its internet browser, Firefox 4, has entered Beta 9 and is available to download and test. Firefox 4 offers users a swanky new look and features intended to make it quicker and easier for users to navigate internet. Speed is the name of the game for Mozilla, with start-up time, page-load speeds and web app performance all improved by enhancements in the latest version. Red pandas are ace Popular add-on Firefox Sync is now incorporated into the browser, which syncs your history, bookmarks, open tabs and passwords from smartphones to computers and vice versa. The browser offers full HTML 5 support and a host of new developer tools including WebM, HD video, 3D graphic rendering and Mozilla Audio API for sound design. Keen bean beta testers can download the new version from Mozilla now and report any bugs to Mozilla using the browser's dedicated feedback button. Related Stories Sony and Universal look to kill piracy with 'on air, on sale' policy Microsoft CEO: 'Bing is growing like a weed' Latest Firefox 4 Beta available to download Sony and Universal look to kill piracy with 'on air, on sale' policy Exclusive: Facebook: users have 'absolute control'

Latest Firefox 4 Beta available to download Posted: 17 Jan 2011 03:27 AM PST Mozilla has announced that the latest version of its internet browser, Firefox 4, has entered Beta 9 and is available to download and test. Firefox 4 offers users a swanky new look and features intended to make it quicker and easier for users to navigate internet. Speed is the name of the game for Mozilla, with start-up time, page-load speeds and web app performance all improved by enhancements in the latest version. Red pandas are ace Popular add-on Firefox Sync is now incorporated into the browser, which syncs your history, bookmarks, open tabs and passwords from smartphones to computers and vice versa. The browser offers full HTML 5 support and a host of new developer tools including WebM, HD video, 3D graphic rendering and Mozilla Audio API for sound design. Keen bean beta testers can download the new version from Mozilla now and report any bugs to Mozilla using the browser's dedicated feedback button. Related Stories Sony and Universal look to kill piracy with 'on air, on sale' policy Microsoft CEO: 'Bing is growing like a weed' Sony and Universal look to kill piracy with 'on air, on sale' policy Exclusive: Facebook: users have 'absolute control' Latest Firefox 4 Beta available to download

Tablets won't hurt smartphone sales, reckons RIM Posted: 17 Jan 2011 03:02 AM PST Tablet computers won't impact on the global demand for smartphones, Norm Lo, RIM's VP of Asia Pacific, has said. Despite major overlaps in functionality, tablets like the iPad and BlackBerry Playbook won't stem the public's desire for all-singing, all-dancing mobile phone handsets. "However, impact may exist on sales of notebooks and netbooks," said Lo. Which is all good news for RIM, maker of both BlackBerry smartphones, a BlackBerry tablet and absolutely no notebooks or netbooks. Well, duh Rather than a competitor, BlackBerry-maker RIM sees the tablet as a complementary device to the smartphone, with larger screens and greater power enhancing the smartphone experience. Detractors have suggested that the tablet is an unnecessary middle-man device, offering few new benefits over notebooks or smartphones other than being delivered in sleek new packaging. Tech manufacturers obviously disagree, with vast numbers of new tablet devices being unveiled at this year's Consumer Electronics Show and excitement for Apple's next iPad unabated. Related Stories Halo makers looking to mobile gaming New Asus Android tablets may not ship with Honeycomb Updated: New Asus Android tablets may not ship with Honeycomb RIM to ship 1m BlackBerry Playbooks in Q1

Ballmer: Why Microsoft didn't bid for BlackBerry's RIM Posted: 17 Jan 2011 02:40 AM PST Steve Ballmer believes that Windows Phone 7 has brought the 'best looking phones on the market' as he explained why the company did not look to buy BlackBerry-maker RIM. Ballmer insists that the company's recent decisions to develop its own products, like Xbox, Bing and Kinect, has proven that buying other companies is not always best. "When do acquisitions make sense? " he queried when asked by USA Today why no bid for RIM had been made. "That's a complicated subject." Competition "There's a lot of competition, but we've got the best-looking phones on the market," he added "We've got the greatest range of alternatives, the phones, the software, the craftsmanship. It is as good or better than anything out there. Ballmer conceded that there was still hard work ahead – especially in convincing the public that Windows Phone 7 was a viable alternative to BlackBerrys or iPhones. "We have a lot of work to do. But, we're in the game. We sold 1.5 million into the carriers." Via USA Today Related Stories T-Mobile backtracks on data allowance cut T-Mobile backtracks on data allowance cut iOS 4.3 beta out to devs, new features abound Google Translate update moves it closer to a babelfish Apple to do away with iPad and iPhone home button?

Updated: iPad 2 rumours: what you need to know Posted: 17 Jan 2011 02:32 AM PST The internet loves Apple and it loves ill-founded speculation, so it's hardly surprising that iPad 2 rumours were flying before the first iPad even reached the UK. With only weeks to go before its expected unveiling the iPad 2 release date, specs and price are still closely guarded secrets, but that doesn't mean there aren't some juicy rumours, inspired guesses and possibly even Apple leaks to consider. Reports suggest Apple is also expecting massive demand for the new device and has ordered six million units per month. Here's our pick of the latest iPad 2G rumours. iPad 2 specs: cameras and a gyroscope Gizmodo reckons that FaceTime support's a given, and that means a front-facing camera like the iPhone 4. BuzzBizzNews echoes the camera story, suggesting twin cameras. It also suggests that there'll be a three-axis gyroscope like there is in the iPhone 4. EETimes says Apple has been testing gyroscopes but decided not to put one in the original iPad. On 10 December 2010, images of a new iPad case appeared online, suggesting that the iPad 2 will feature a rear-facing camera. On 17 January 2011, we heard word of not only a rear camera, but a front one too... it seems more likely that FaceTime will be coming to the iPad 2 as well. iPad 2 specs: a USB port and SD card slot Rumours suggest that the iPad 2 will have a USB port, which BuzzBizzNews says will enable users to "upload movies, documents and photos". We're not convinced it's for that, because Apple is moving increasingly to wireless. The iPad prints wirelessly. The iPad streams media wirelessly. Why add USB? More likely, we think, is a MicroUSB port or adapter so the iPad meets new EU regulations on mobile device chargers. Images of a new iPad case have appeared online that seem to show space for an SD card slot. On 17 January 2011, we also reported on said SD clard slot - it would be a dramatic move for Apple to go with such expandable memory, but a clever one if true. iPad 2 specs: GSM and CDMA AllThingsDigital quotes analyst Brian Blair, who says that Apple may be readying a "world iPad" that uses both GSM and CDMA networks, enabling it to get online anywhere in the world. CDMA, incidentally, is the technology used by Verizon in the US. iPad 2 case: thinner and more like a MacBook Brian Blair also says: "the new iPad is thinner than the existing model and is essentially made from one piece of metal with no pins needed. We understand it requires a new type of manufacturing process as a result, similar to the company's unibody approach seen in MacBooks." iPad 2 specs: retina display Will the gorgeous screen from the iPhone 4 make its way to the iPad? The Apple Blog thinks so: "You can be sure that Apple's Retina Display, or something very close, will make its way to iPad". Then again, such a screen would massively increase the number of pixels, increasing the demands on both the iPad's processor and its battery, so a nine-inch Retina Display is a challenge. If Apple's solved it we'll see you down the Apple Store the second it goes on sale. iPad 2 specs: a seven-inch screen? All of Apple's rivals have plumped for 7-inch displays, which means their tablets are lighter than the iPad. Will Apple follow them into seven-inch territory? iLounge says prototypes exist, while earlier this year DigiTimes predicted not just a seven-inch iPad 2, but a 5.6-inch iPad 2. Apparently the smaller iPads would target ebooks while the current iPad would target multimedia entertainment, "sources stated". We're doubtful. Apple already does a mini-iPad with a retina display. It's the iPod touch. The idea of a smaller iPad 2 took another knock in November, when 9to5Mac reported that the iPad 2 adverts have already been shot - with current-generation iPads playing the role of iPad 2s. The iPad 2s will be digitally added nearer the time, and of course that's much harder to do if the iPad 2 is smaller than the iPads the actors are actually holding. iPad 2 specs: a faster processor KitGuru "has been hearing rumours from the Far East" that the iPad 2 will be a seven-inch job with a 2GHz processor and an HD video camera. It reckons the processor will be based on ARM's Cortex A9, the 1GHz dual-core processor that you'll find in the BlackBerry PlayBook. iPad 2 specs: more memory This is a no-brainer: the iPhone 4 has twice the memory of the iPad (512MB compared to 256MB), largely because the iPhone does multitasking. Since the iOS 4.2 release, iPads do multitasking too. 256MB already seems a little bit stingy. iPad 2 specs: no home button Boy Genius Report says a source has told it that Apple has employees testing iPads with no home buttons, but we're inclined to agree with ZDNet, which says "don't bet on it". iPad 2 features: Find My Friends On 13 January 2011 we reported that Apple seems to have a location-based tool called Find My Friends in the works for its iOS 4.3 iPhone and iPad update. The iPad 2 release date is probably in the Spring Rumours suggested that the iPad 2 would be rushed out in time for Christmas, but if that's Apple's plan they're being awfully last-minute about it. Early 2011 seems like a much better bet, and it fits with Apple's annual product cycle: the first iPad was announced in January and shipped in the spring. On 7 December we reported on rumours that Apple would be shipping iPad 2 units out to warehouses in February 2011. If that date is correct, it suggests an iPad 2 release date of some time around April. The iPad 2 price won't change much Unless there's a new seven-inch model we'll be amazed if the iPad 2 price is dramatically lower than the model it replaces: Apple isn't struggling to shift units and rivals are charging similar prices. Cheapo tablets do exist, but they're rubbish. Related Stories Amazon Kindle comes to Mac App Store In Depth: Does the Mac App Store allow commercial use? Steve Jobs takes medical leave of absence from Apple

Microsoft CEO: 'Bing is growing like a weed' Posted: 17 Jan 2011 02:31 AM PST Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has described the Bing search engine as 'growing like a weed', as it battled market giant Google. Ballmer told USA Today that the success of Kinect and Xbox has given renewed confidence in the company backing its own decisions. "We've made bold technology bets," said Ballmer. "We've bet on the Cloud and our Enterprise business; it's going fantastic. Bets "We made the bet on Xbox; we made the bet on Kinect," he added. "We bet on Bing and are growing like a weed in that business. So I feel pretty good about the bets." Bing has been gamely battling Google - but despite US growth in December is not making much of an impact on Google's dominance. According to ComScore's latest US figures last week, Bing put on a 4 per cent growth, but Google a 3 per cent growth in the same period. Related Stories Sony and Universal look to kill piracy with 'on air, on sale' policy Latest Firefox 4 Beta available to download Sony and Universal look to kill piracy with 'on air, on sale' policy Exclusive: Facebook: users have 'absolute control' Latest Firefox 4 Beta available to download

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