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Techradar |
- Catch up: this week's most popular posts
- Sony releases PS3 firmware update to foil hackers
- Review: Asus RT-N56U Dual Band Wireless-N Router
- Video: BBC's 1923 silent newsreel piracy warning unearthed
- Sky 3D video gives glimpse behind the curtain
- Is Nokia considering an Android phone?
- Review: TP-Link TD-W8961N 300Mbps Wireless N ADSL2+ Modem Router
- Klipsch ProMedia InEars for gamers are announced
- Goal-line technology heads to meet Fifa next week
- Windows 7 hits 300 million mark
- The Daily for iPad to launch on 2 Feb
- BlackBerry Curve Touch picture and specs leaked
- BlackBerry Curve Touch picture and specs leaked
- Early View: Motorola Xoom vs iPad vs PlayBook
- Sharp Quattron TVs to get Pioneer Elite branding
- Google promises Nexus S reboot bug fix soon
- LG Optimus 2X gets March UK release date
- Kinect and Office boost Microsoft as Windows sales fall
- Nokia: sales are up but profits are dropping
- Updated: 40 best iPhone games - paid apps
- Weird Tech: Doctors to predict how they will hurt patients
- Sony NGP won't cost the same as the PlayStation 3
- Amazon Kindle ebooks outselling paperbacks
- Review: Denon AVR-1611
| Catch up: this week's most popular posts Posted: 29 Jan 2011 12:00 AM PST  Good news for iPhone and iPad owners – an official BBC iPlayer app is (probably) on its way. And the treat for Android fans is that the HTC Desire 2 has leaked ahead of Mobile World Congress 2011. This was also the week where the successor to the PSP2 – codenamed the Sony NGP – was announced. Read on for this week's most popular stories on TechRadar… Top five news stories Has Nintendo really blown its Wii 2 strategy? While Nintendo has recently announced its plans for the 3DS release across Europe, there are still questions to be answered about its – still to be revealed - strategy for 'Wii 2', with some observers questioning whether a 'two console strategy' could work in the future. One analyst in particular that seems to be gunning for Nintendo is Wedbush Securities analyst Micheal Pachter, who thinks the company should be focussing on Wii 2 right now. BBC iPlayer iPhone app imminent The BBC iPlayer app for iOS devices, including the iPod, iPad and iPhone, is nearing launch and should be in the App Store for February. This is according to PaidContent who have been given the nod by an unnamed source that Apple users will soon be able to watch the iPlayer on their portable devices without having to go through the laborious task of viewing content through a web browser. It's been a long time coming for the BBC iPlayer app to enter the App Store. HTC Desire 2 sneaks out ahead of MWC HTC's Mobile World Congress announcements are not going to be much of a surprise, with its latest premier Android handset being papped on a Taiwanese subway. Along with an Android tablet and one, possibly two, HTC Facebook phones, we can now expect to see this sultry little number make an appearance in Barcelona. This could well be the Desire refresh we predicted; it certainly looks the part with that high-end HTC look. Kryten's Twitter fear after new Red Dwarf show's announced Red Dwarf has been commissioned for a new series that will hit TV screens in 2012, but it seems Twitter and other social-networking sites may scupper plans to film the show in front of a live audience. Robert Llewellen, who plays Kryten in the show, is a massive advocate of Twitter but he fears the site will fuel spoilers and the like if the show is shot in front of a live audience. Star Wars Blu-ray: UK release date and price announced Star Wars is to finally be released on Blu-ray in 2011, with the entire sextet given the high-definition treatment for the first time in the home. Now purists will be a touch annoyed to hear that the original prints of the movies (no Greedo shooting Han etc) will not be the versions given the HD treatment. Instead George 'the tinkerman' Lucas has decided his updated and restored version which came out in the late '90s will be the ones heading to Blu-ray. Top five in-depth articles Sony NGP: everything you need to know It's here! And by "here!" we mean "announced, but not out for months!" After much rumour and speculation, Sony has unveiled the PSP2, which it has dubbed the NGP (and looks nothing like the far out mockup pics). So what are the specifications, when will the UK release date be and how much will it cost? Let's see what Sony's been saying. There are now well over 250,000 apps available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and, surprisingly, many of the best are free. The following list showcases our pick of the 40 best free iPhone apps, and includes iPhone applications for social networking, travel, news, photography, productivity and more. 10 mobile phones that changed the world You can trace the history of the newest smartphones right back to the early 1990s, where cutting edge technology was a two-line LCD and phones weighed as much as a pack of beef mince. Since then, several phones have changed the world, introducing new technologies or new approaches that have altered the path of mobile communications. But which ones stand out? Here are 10 handsets that we think deserve their place in history. Maybe you owned one of them? 15 best Android tablets in the world If you're looking for a tablet and don't fancy an iPad, then Android is the way to go: while Windows tablets are on the horizon, Android ones are here, they work and they've usually been tweaked to include finger-friendly interfaces too. We've gone from zero Android tablets to stacks of the things in a very short space of time, and inevitably some are better than others. Some have ten-inch screens, others seven and some just five, and there are big differences in battery life, processing power and on-board RAM. So which tablets are the most tempting? Let's find out. 12 essential system recovery tools Computers fail, hard disks crash and memory chips fry, irrespective of the oodles of money you've spent on surge protectors, SMPS and state of the art power backups. That's the dark side of computing. When it's time to go, it's time to go, and it usually happens at a bad time. There's no point fretting over the loss, though. Instead, use the plethora of tools out there to minimise the damage. Have you accidentally deleted your anniversary photos? Installed a new OS that's botched the partition table? Can't read data from an old CD? Don't panic. We'll point you to the free tools that'll help you get out of a tight spot. Top five reviews This laptop has issues which conspire to work against an otherwise beautiful and well thought-out laptop. Not a howler by any means, but just not good enough. The Nintendo 3DS will live or die by the 3D – and despite a lacklustre launch line-up, the early indicators are that this will make sure the entire platform is alive and kicking for some time to come. Hands on: Humax TV Portal review The long-awaited update to Humax's Freeview HD offerings is finally here. It adds the likes of BBC iPlayer and Sky Player into an already attractive set-top box package. Foxconn is back in the motherboard market, and it's good timing what with Intel's Sandy Bridge launch, so here's its high-end board, the originally-named P67A-S. ECS P67H2-A Black Extreme review Everybody's doing it and so is ECS, releasing its top-end Sandy Bridge motherboard, the P67H2-A Black Extreme. Also reviewed this week... AV Receiver Cases and cooling Graphics cards Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti review Laptops Memory Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 1600MHz review Monitors Motherboards ECSP67H2-A Black Extreme review Projectors Speakers Televisions 
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| Sony releases PS3 firmware update to foil hackers Posted: 28 Jan 2011 08:28 AM PST  Sony hopes to foil hackers' and pirates' designs on its software by pushing out firmware version 3.56 to PlayStation 3s. The update includes a patch intended to stop hackers from executing unofficial code allowing illegal programmes and pirated games to run on the console. Unfortunately for Sony, web-based hackers cracked the new update in a matter of hours and have circulated the necessary codes online for anyone who cares to search for them. One step forward, two steps back Sony recently launched legal action against hackers who published security codes for the PlayStation 3. Earlier today, the company won a restraining order that stops the cyber-renegades from posting the codes online. That hasn't stopped the myriad other tech-literate PS3 users from sharing the codes and hacking the latest firmware though. Piracy poses a real problem for the games industry. But with speed-demon hackers cracking security fixes as quickly as companies can develop it, will a solution ever be found? 
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| Review: Asus RT-N56U Dual Band Wireless-N Router Posted: 28 Jan 2011 08:17 AM PST  Asus has done the unthinkable with its RT-N56U Dual Band Wireless-N router, it's made it look beautiful. As a dual-band 802.11n Wireless-N router the RT-N56U is designed to provide a complete Wireless-N networking extension to your existing wired network for both the standard 2.4GHz and newer 5GHz wireless ranges. Asus has spared nothing in the design both technically and aesthetically, and you should be struck by both the shiny exterior case design and the shiny specification lurking below it. Of key importance to the RT-N56U is the 5GHz 802.11n; AKA Wireless-N networking. The theory being that using twice the frequency should boost speeds by two times too. The practical outcome however is far from that simple. Despite the 5GHz range being far less crowded, along with the the availability of more free channels, the 5GHz frequency is hampered by being absorbed far more readily by objects. Back it up with MIMO to compensate for that though and perhaps you'd hope for a 50 per cent increase in throughput over 2.4GHz. Couple these abilities with its Gigabit LAN, cable-ready WAN port and full complement of security, management and easy-to-use web interface, this should be a winning combination. So, is it? We tested the wireless performance in various scenarios to see how the Asus RT-N56U performed in typical real-world situations for both its 2.4GHz and 5GHz modes. The first was a same-room configuration transferring a large file from the router to the laptop. The second involved the laptop being placed one brick-wall and a standard wooden floor away. Finally we ran a distance test at 30m with a direct line of sight, to see how it coped with distance. Same room transfer speed
One-room, one-floor away transfer speed
30m line-of-sight transfer speed
At the heart of the Asus RT-N56U are two sets of 802.11n wireless antennas. These create the distinct spatial streams for the 2.4GHz and 5GHz radio frequencies. Typically better 2.4GHz will offer three or four distinct antenna, as more spatial streams increase the MIMO effect, so increasing speed and workable distance. The RT-N56U comes with two internal antennas for the 2.4GHz range and three for the 5GHz range. Two antennas is something we'd expect to see on more modest Wireless-N-class routers, though we can understand the need to concentrate on the 5GHz performance. Even so, same-room and medium-distance tests were excellent. In some respects besting wired 100BaseT Ethernet speeds, with an average of 12MB/s and peaks just over 13MB/s. One room and floor away and speeds were maintained at 10MB/s. It wasn't until we tried at distance that things tailed off to 1.1MB/s, which was our only disappointment with the RT-N56U, but at 5GHz its three antenna maintained a decent 3.8MB/s transfer speed. Unusually for a router it manages to pull off the twin design goal of looking aesthetically pleasing and offering an aesthetically pleasing web interface. In fact its interface feels more like a standalone app than a web-based interface. It's slick, well presented, easy to navigate and speedy to use. This makes setting up what in effect are two routers in one an easy and quick job. It also includes a WPS fast-setup button that ties into Windows 7 which can eliminate entering WPA keys. If you trust that sort of thing. A barrage of status LEDs is tastefully implemented, while the USB ports can handle storage, printers and compatible 3G adaptors. That USB storage ties in beautifully with the UPnP capabilities so it doubles as a media streamer, bittorrent, FTP and HTTP download server too. We liked:There's an awful lot to like about the ASUS RT-N56U from the aesthetic design of both the chassis to the slick web-based interface to its actual performance. There's a confident air about every aspect of it and you really feel the engineers have the designed knowhow to squeeze every drop of performance from their hardware. The Ai Radar technology certainly overcome any limitations of the 2.4GHz twin antenna to provide leading-class performance and 5GHz speed are equally impressive. We disliked:With only a question mark over its long-range performance, at this price it's certainly full-steam ahead for this ASUS router. Related Links
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| Video: BBC's 1923 silent newsreel piracy warning unearthed Posted: 28 Jan 2011 08:16 AM PST  Forget the latest government's attempts to wheedle out pirates with a three strikes and you're out policy, the BBC had more effective methods back in 1923 – and it involved a chimp and a radio transmitter. Footage posted on to YouTube from the BFI archive features an original silent newsreel shown to cinema-goers (and time travellers) that begins with the card: 'Have You Got your License Yet? Broadcasting Company's Warning To Pirates." What follows is some eerily quiet footage of a chimp in a bed, waking up from his slumber and tuning into a radio transmitter. Monkeying around As threats go, it is probably the cutest we have seen. But we're guessing that being called a chimp for not buying your radio license back in 1923 was pretty insidious. To put the clip into context – the BBC only began broadcasting radio in 1922 and just a year later it was already trying to battle 'pirates' who were listening to the company's received pronunciation illegally. 
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| Sky 3D video gives glimpse behind the curtain Posted: 28 Jan 2011 07:57 AM PST  Sky has put up a behind the scenes video of how it films 3D, as it celebrates getting the Sky 3D channel into 70,000 homes. Aside from major movies, Sky is also producing sports, entertainment, documentary and arts content for Sky 3D, as the company looks to become the home of 3D in the UK. The latest video gives customers a glimpse behind the curtain, showing filming at the MEN Arena and the Emirates Stadium. Public scrutiny "This is the first time we have talked publicly about the number of subscribers taking up this exciting new service, and, even more encouragingly, around half of all the 3D TVs sold so far in the UK have subscribed to Sky 3D, with thousands more joining every week," said Sky Sports director of operations Kevin Long. "As we approach our 100th live sports 3D broadcast, we are further cementing our position as a world leader in the 3D sports production. But producing live 3D coverage of major sporting events is not child's play. "Three dimensions adds a whole new layer of complexity to live broadcasting, and providing world class live 3D coverage relies on the dedication, skill and cutting-edge technological know-how of scores of Sky production staff. "This exclusive behind-the-scenes video – shot on location at the MEN Arena and the Emirates Stadium – shows just how much work goes into delivering the best possible 3D experience for our customers." 
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| Is Nokia considering an Android phone? Posted: 28 Jan 2011 07:45 AM PST  Could 2011 be the year we see Nokia make an Android handset or hop on board the Windows Phone 7 bandwagon? CEO Stephen Elop set online tongues a-wagging with a passing comment about the manufacturer's plans after disappointing Q4 2010 financial results. While discussing the financials, Elop said, "In addition to great device experiences we must build, capitalise and/or join a competitive ecosystem. "The ecosystem approach we select must be comprehensive and cover a wide range of utilities and services that customers expect today and anticipate in the future." Like Fern Gully, but with phones When Elop says 'ecosystem', we can safely assume he means 'operating system' or even 'app platform', with Symbian^3 dividing opinion and failing to ignite US success for the Finns. Nokia is already working with Intel on MeeGo, a brand new OS set to hit the market at some point early this year; but that 'and/or join' phrasing offers a tantalising hint that the company is considering other existing platforms. This isn't the first time that rumours of Nokia working on an Android handset have surfaced, with Nokia flatly denying any Android involvement back in 2009. Nokia is staying tight-lipped on the matter today, however, refusing even to comment on the rumours. Read into that what you will. 
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| Review: TP-Link TD-W8961N 300Mbps Wireless N ADSL2+ Modem Router Posted: 28 Jan 2011 07:35 AM PST  TP-Link's TD-W8961ND is an unapologetic budget, no frills 300Mbps Wireless N ADSL2+ modem router. This basic box seemingly provides everything a home or SOHO user might need to get ADSL broadband over a landline and share it around the home with Wireless N networking. If you're looking to upgrade from an existing out-dated BT Home Hub 1.0 or other 802.11g wireless equipped ADSL modem router, then this could be an ideal low-cost solution. The TD-W8961ND is squarely aimed at the entry-level market, yet still features a ADSL2+ modem router with 300Mbps Wireless N. So coming in at under £40 it certainly succeeds on the value front. It comes with a number of ease-of-use features that should help even the basic user through setting up their broadband connection, along with securely connecting wireless devices to the ADSL2+ modem router. Alongside these are a host of far more complex features that add greater interest to this otherwise somewhat dull budget ADSL2+ modem router. We tested the wireless and WAN performance to see how the TP-Link 300Mbps Wireless N ADSL2+ modem router TD-W8961ND performed compared to a similar model, in this case a standard BT HomeHub 2.0. Compared with the BT box the wireless transfer speeds were shockingly bad, but things did pick up. The ADSL matched the downsteam and beat the upstream by a substantial amount, both in physical connection and tested transfer speeds. The TP-Link router happily performed at 100BaseT levels on the LAN connection Wireless transfer speed
ADSL connection speed
ADSL transfer speeds
Primarily the TD-W8961ND has to be a good ADSL2+ modem router, and it at least manages that in two parts. First is a set-up wizard that tries to help configure the modem router for a long list of UK ISPs. The second is good broadband performance and, after fighting with the configuration, it matched our standard ADSL connection downstream and offered an enhanced upstream speed. Less impressive is the wireless performance. It uses dual antennas for two spatial streams and claims to be 300Mbps, though performance is unlikely to go beyond 130/144Mbps. To do that the router would need to use 40MHz channels, which is unlikely except in Wi-Fi free areas. Performance even in the same room was somewhat dismal and erratic, peaking around 1.9MB/s and averaging a very poor 391KB/s. This doesn't get any better with distance and, as we'd imagine this is the primary way people will be connecting to the modem router, it's a huge turn off for the TD-W8961ND. Equally unattractive is the web-based interface. In its defence it covers a lot of complex options and features, but that can't excuse a sluggish response and a bizarre half-finished look to the page design. This does cover one positive area of the ADSL2+ modem router in that there are a number of advanced feature hiding inside, such as port binding for specific services, wireless bridge options, Annex M to double upstream rates and full QOS abilities. It feels like a rushed product and at the time of writing the latest firmware dated 17/6/2010 lists one of its key updates as "Fix the low rate of wireless connection." Which doesn't fill us full of confidence. We liked:It has a no-nonsense design that even comes with a power button. It knows it's a budget modem router and tries to play to that strength offering some ease-of-use features for novice users, but still offers a raft of more advanced options. We disliked:Wireless performance was something of a disaster and taints the main way you'll be using this router. It's bad enough that it could be performing worse than your broadband connection. It doesn't help that the web-based interface has an unfriendly look, is slow to use and despite its best effort to be easy to use still baffles with a range of technical features that most will not want. Related Links
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| Klipsch ProMedia InEars for gamers are announced Posted: 28 Jan 2011 07:27 AM PST  Audio specialists Klipsch has unveiled £90 ProMedia InEars which it claims takes its "intense sound philosophy and applying it to in-ear head phones for gaming." The ProMedia InEars offers noise cancelling design, hands-free mic and a VOIP/Gaming adaptor. The high-end headphones also feature patented oval ear-tips, durable tangle resistant cables and come in black with red accents. Gamers "Primarily intended for computer gaming, the ProMediaIn-Ear headphones add a new dimension to today's highly sophisticated online entertainment," explains Klipsch. "The single-button microphone offers crisp, clear communication for talking to enemies or collaborating with teammates during online gaming, and also makes these headphones a great solution for internet Skype calls and mobile phone usage." The gaming headphones certainly aren't on the cheap end of the range at an RRP of £89.99, but do come with a two-year warranty and a fair whack of audio credibility. 
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| Goal-line technology heads to meet Fifa next week Posted: 28 Jan 2011 07:12 AM PST  Goal-line technology could well be on its way to the Premier League, with 13 companies meeting up with Fifa next week to vie for their tech to be used. While the idea is still in the proposal stage, there is a lot of heat on Fifa at the moment to implement the technology and do away with controversial refereeing decisions. If one of the 13 companies – Hawk-Eye and Cairos are two of the more famous ones attending – can convince Fifa that goal-line technology can be used and not impact the flow of the game, then it is likely that it will be used for major football tournaments. Spot the ball The current method of goal-line 'technology' being tested out by Uefa's president Michel Platini is to have to assistant referees stand behind the goals and make a decision as to whether the ball went over the line or not. These additional refs have been roundly criticised due to the fact that for the majority of a game they have absolutely no involvement. Companies such as Abatec, Tag Heuer and Longines will be running up against Hawk-Eye and Cairo but, according to the Guardian, it may well be a UK-based rival that pips the rest to the post. Goalminder is the brainchild of ex-footballer Harry Barnes and uses cameras to see if the ball goes over the line. Within seconds a high-def image can be shown on TV of the ball, which will please the likes of Sky - famous for using technology to spruce up its broadcasts of matches. Delayed decision Even though this, albeit significant, meeting is taking place it is doesn't mean that any of the 13 companies will be chosen to develop their technology for football matches. Sepp Blatter has always been coy over the use of goal-line technology and it will be him who has the final say if the technology will be used. The International Football Board (IFAB) said back in October that it would look at the technology and make a decision in March, which means that Blatter and co will take its time to make its decision. 
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| Windows 7 hits 300 million mark Posted: 28 Jan 2011 06:59 AM PST  Microsoft's latest financials not only brought better than expected results, but also the news that the company has now surpassed 300 million licenses sold for Windows 7. The software giant's key operating system ahs been a critical hit, and has also proven to be hugely popular with consumers. That's shown by the latest announcement, with Brandon LeBlanc confirming the 300 million total in a blog post. 300 million licenses "Today as part of our Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2011 earnings release, we announced that Windows 7 has sold over 300 million licenses to-date," said LeBalanc "To put that in perspective, 300 million is roughly the combined number of households in North American and in Europe! Or, to put it another way, if you lined up 300 million Windows 7 product boxes, they would stretch nearly 1.5 times around the Earth! "As of today, over 20 per cent of Internet-connected PCs worldwide are running Windows 7 according to Net Applications." It's a key landmark for Microsoft, and will be a key boost to the company, although Windows 7 sales inevitably suffered as PC sales slowed in the last quarter. 
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| The Daily for iPad to launch on 2 Feb Posted: 28 Jan 2011 06:56 AM PST  Apple and News Corp. have announced a press conference on 2 February to launch The Daily, the media conglomerate's long-awaited iPad-only newspaper. The weekly paper is set to launch for 99c per issue, which should translate to a 79p UK price tag. The Daily's launch is expected to coincide with that of Apple's new iTunes subscription service, which explains the joint press conference. Subscription controversy It's Apple's iTunes subscription service that is believed to have caused The Daily's delays. Whispers of dissent have been heard from publishers who are unhappy with Apple's vice-like control of user data and greedy 30 per cent cut of subscription sales. With rumours of Google looking to launch a competing Android newsstand, we could see a digital publishing format battle about to commence. 
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| BlackBerry Curve Touch picture and specs leaked Posted: 28 Jan 2011 05:17 AM PST  Phone companies just can't keep their documents from falling into internet-friendly hands, and RIM has been particularly clumsy this year. After a host of handset leaks earlier in the month, the company's product roadmap has now made its way to BlackBerry blog Crackberry. Some of the products are old news – the Playbook, for example – and some are merely the CDMA versions of the leaks we've already seen (the Sedona is the Curve Apollo, the Montana is the Dakota and the Storm 3 is the Monaco). Pacific Coast Highway But the handset code-named Malibu is a mysterious new one, clarified in a further slide as the Curve Touch, an "accessible all-touch BlackBerry". The touchscreen is a 3.25-inch job, with 480x360 HVGA resolution and an 800MHz Qualcomm processor. Like most new and current BlackBerrys, the camera offers a 5-megapixel sensor with HD video recording. Sad times for physical QWERTY fans Although there's no physical QWERTY, the familiar optical trackpad and navigation keys from the likes of the Bold 9780 are present and correct. Interestingly, the handset will also feature NFC connectivity, although by the time it's released at the end of the year NFC may be fairly old hat. The Malibu's OS will be "BlackBerry 6 Evolution" – which means it will focus on the digital compass and augmented reality, NFC, HD video and HTML 5. This information all comes from RIM's CDMA roadmap, which suggests that the handsets are intended for the USA and Canada; still, there's a good chance we'll see a GSM version of the Malibu meant for the European market. We will keep you posted. 
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| BlackBerry Curve Touch picture and specs leaked Posted: 28 Jan 2011 05:17 AM PST Phone companies just can't keep their documents from falling into internet-friendly hands, and RIM has been particularly clumsy this year. After a host of handset leaks earlier in the month, the company's product roadmap has now made its way to BlackBerry blog Crackberry. Some of the products are old news – the Playbook, for example – and some are merely the CDMA versions of the leaks we've already seen (the Sedona is the Curve Apollo, the Montana is the Dakota and the Storm 3 is the Monaco). Pacific Coast Highway But the handset code-named Malibu is a mysterious new one, clarified in a further slide as the Curve Touch, an "accessible all-touch BlackBerry". The touchscreen is a 3.25-inch job, with 480x360 HVGA resolution and an 800MHz Qualcomm processor. Like most new and current BlackBerrys, the camera offers a 5-megapixel sensor with HD video recording. Sad times for physical QWERTY fans Although there's no physical QWERTY, the familiar optical trackpad and navigation keys from the likes of the Bold 9780 are present and correct. Interestingly, the handset will also feature NFC connectivity, although by the time it's released at the end of the year NFC may be fairly old hat. The Malibu's OS will be "BlackBerry 6 Evolution" – which means it will focus on the digital compass and augmented reality, NFC, HD video and HTML 5. This information all comes from RIM's CDMA roadmap, which suggests that the handsets are intended for the USA and Canada; still, there's a good chance we'll see a GSM version of the Malibu meant for the European market. We will keep you posted. 
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| Early View: Motorola Xoom vs iPad vs PlayBook Posted: 28 Jan 2011 04:50 AM PST  When the Motorola Xoom and BlackBerry PlayBook hit the market, we'll have two serious challengers to the iPad. And, perhaps most interestingly, all three will be running different operating systems. So let's compare how the two newcomers stack up against the hottest tablet yet released. In terms of releases, Motorola won't say anything about the Xoom's UK release date, though it is pencilled in for the first quarter of 2011 in the US. However, it depends on when Google is planning on getting Honeycomb out the door. Likewise we should be seeing the PlayBook arrive in the Spring or early Summer. And, of course, around that time we'll also be expecting iPad 2, so we'll be updating this piece when we know more about that new device. OS This is the biggest difference between the three tablets. The iPad runs Apple's own iOS, the Moto Xoom Android 3.0 Honeycomb and the BlackBerry PlayBook runs RIM's own bespoke Tablet OS. The Xoom was the main unit used to demo Android 3.0 Honeycomb, at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, though we only saw videos of OS features running on the new device. There will also be no Motorola MotoBlur interface overlaying Android 3.0 – this could be part of a bigger move by Google to stop having so many variants of Android. We've got a proper hands-on with the PlayBook at CES a few weeks ago and it's a serious threat to the iPad's dominance of the sector. TechRadar's Reviews Editor James Rivington says the PlayBook "could well be the tablet that changes the game. In a word, it's a triumph."
ANDROID 3.0: This Xoom was just running a video, but the real Honeycomb looks special Processor All three units use ARM-based silicon. The iPad runs Apple's own A4 processor clocked at 1GHz (it's less in the iPhone 4), while the Xoom plumps for a dual-core Nvida Tegra 2 processor, capable of 720p video or sending 1080p full HD to your TV via HDMI. The PlayBook is also running a dual core 1GHz Cortex-A9-based processor, though there are no more details on who has manufactured it. It's probably an Nvidia Tegra 2. Touchcreen The Motorola Xoom has a 10.1-inch, 1280 x 800 display. The PlayBook is only a 7-inch tablet and to us it can feel small. The touch on the PlayBook does extend right across the bezel though, which is a nice touch and pretty important for navigating around the OS. The screens on both the PlayBook and Xoom look pretty spectacular even under the bright show lights where we checked them out. The PlayBook's size gives it an advantage though, as we said in our hands on: "The PlayBook's 1024 x 600 resolution isn't far off the 9.7-inch 1024x768 iPad, but because of the Playbook's 7-inch display, the increased pixel density makes all the difference. It's sharp and crisp, and 1080p HD video looks fabulous."
CRISP: The PlayBook's screen is quite pixel dense - largely because it's only a 7-inch tablet Storage The Xoom has a Micro SD slot, but Android 3.0 doesn't yet support it (apparently). However, Moto says that as soon as the OS permits it, you'll be able to use up to 32GB of removable storage. As you'll know, the iPad doesn't have any kind of slot – though it has 16 or 32GB on board flash storage of course. Memory The PlayBook has 1GB of RAM, as does the Xoom. Remarkably, the iPad lags behind in this department, though you'd scarcely notice it. It has 256MB of system memory. Camera While the iPad doesn't have a camera, the iPad 2 will change this. The Xoom has two cameras front (2MP) and a 720p capturing back 5MP camera with a dual LED flash. The Playbook packs two cameras – a 3MP front-facing camera and a 5MP rear-facing one. Connectivity All three are designed for use with 3G networks. However, we may well get a Wi-Fi version of the PlayBook before we see a 3G-enabled variant – obviously this is speculation currently. The base iPad is also Wi-Fi only of course. It looks like there will also be two versions of the Motorola Xoom. Another version will work on 4G networks in the US, though we'll only get 3G here of course. All have 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi. The Xoom and PlayBook also support HDMI output to a TV – the iPad supports AirPlay for wireless streaming via Apple TV. All have Bluetooth 2.1 plus GPS support. The Xoom and PlayBook also have Micro USB which the iPad sticks with the trusted Apple dock connector. All three tablets have 3.5mm headphone jacks. The PlayBook can be paired with a BlackBerry phone via Bluetooth for full interaction with its Email, Calendar, Docs and BBM. Location and sensors All three also have an accelerometer and compass and Assisted GPS in their 3G variants. The Xoom also features a gyroscope as well as a barometer for measuring the atmospheric pressure. Details seem sketchy on whether the PlayBook will have a gyroscope, so we're keeping an open mind.
GYRO: Will the PlayBook have a gyroscope like the Xoom? Cost Rumours abound that the Motorola Xoom price is £720 and we shouldn't expect to pay much less: the firm's VP of international marketing, Andrew Moreley, says "the Motorola Xoom is clearly a premium device with premium prices inside. This will show in the cost." All of which makes the iPad look like a steal. The Wi-Fi version was £429 at launch of course, but the VAT rise has seen this increase to £439. Bulk The 7-inch PlayBook is 9.7mm thick and weighs just over 400g. The weight of the 10.1-inch Xoom has been reported to be around 730g, with a 13mm thickness. That's the same weight as the Wi-Fi + 3G iPad, which is 13.4mm thick. Compatibility As most of the world's population knows, the iPad doesn't support Flash. Android 3.0 does though, as does RIM's Tablet OS, with full Flash 10.1 and Adobe Air. All have HTML 5 compatibility. Will Android 3.0 and RIM's new OS really lay down the gauntlet for iOS and the iPad? Time will tell. 
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| Sharp Quattron TVs to get Pioneer Elite branding Posted: 28 Jan 2011 04:19 AM PST  Sharp and Pioneer have announced that they will jointly be resurrecting the Eite brand of TVs for the American market. Elite was known in AV circles as being one of the top TV brands around, but this came to an end in March 2010, when Pioneer stopped making televisions and in the process waved goodbye to both Elite and Kuro branding. But now Elite is back and will be the name of a new line-up of Sharp Quattron TVs which both companies hope will become part of the lucrative custom install market. High-end brand "As a leader in large-screen LCD TVs, we are excited to collaborate with Pioneer to bring a high-end LCD TV to the Elite consumer," explained John Herrington, Sharp's president of marketing in the US. "The Elite brand is highly respected in the high-end market, and Sharp can deliver the quality and innovation that Elite customers demand." It will be interesting how well received the new line of TVs will be. For a start, Pioneer is synonymous with plasma technology, so seeing the Elite branding on an LED TV may irk some. And then there's the fact that neither Pioneer or Sharp will have their names on the sets, they will simply be called Elite. What this news does mean, though, is that there could be a slim chance that the Kuro brand may well be next to be dusted down. 
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| Google promises Nexus S reboot bug fix soon Posted: 28 Jan 2011 04:13 AM PST  Google has got to the bottom of the Google Nexus S reboot issue and promised a fix in the near future. The Nexus S has been a relative success in its first weeks of launch, but certain devices (including TechRadar's own) have been hit with a random reboot problem, where the phone would shut down and restart of its own accord. Our experience found that the music player was often the cause, but others experienced the same thing with calling, or just doing nothing at all. Google's acknowledgment of the problem has been sporadic, with the official forums seeing the issue 'declined' as a real problem on some threads. Glad Ry Guy ain't Shy But Ry Guy from the Android team has now not only confirmed Google has found the issue, but has also come up with a fix: "The initial results of our tests look very promising. At this rate we will most likely be rolling out an OTA to resolve this issue within one to two weeks. "We really appreciate your patience as we do our final verifications on this fix before sending it out." So it seems that the bugs prowling around the coloured corridors of the Nexus S will be vanquished fiery lance of development steel - or something. 
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| LG Optimus 2X gets March UK release date Posted: 28 Jan 2011 04:10 AM PST  The LG Optimus 2X is the latest to hit pre-order on Play.com, with UK pricing of £469.99. That figure exactly the same as that of a Swedish retailer which popped the LG Optimus 2X up for pre-order just before Christmas, which means the Brits aren't losing out in the exchange rate cross-over, for a change. The much-lusted-after Android handset is also listed with a UK release date of 18 March. Dual-core As the world's first dual-core smartphone, the LG Optimus 2X is rocking an Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, promising full HD playback and supersonic speed operation. The price puts it in the same bracket as the Google Nexus S, although there's not yet any confirmation on whether the Optimus 2X will be running Android 2.3 like the Google-branded handset. The March release date will also see the LG Optimus 2X competing against the promise of all the newly announced super-phones from Mobile World Congress 2011. 
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| Kinect and Office boost Microsoft as Windows sales fall Posted: 28 Jan 2011 03:31 AM PST  Buoyant sales of the hugely successful Kinect for Xbox 360 and Office were enough to keep Microsoft's last quarter financials looking healthy, despite the expected drop off in Windows sales. With PC sales suffering as tablets and consoles rose in the traditionally busy holiday season, analysts has pointed to a likely major drop for Microsoft income. However, although net income did drop, it was only from $6.63 billion to $6.6 billion – and the results were enough to push the software giant's share price up slightly. Windows sales suffered – with a 30 per cent reduction year on year; not surprising considering its launch date. Kinect growth However, 8 million Kinect's sold 'far exceeded Microsoft expectations' and Microosft's Buseinss Division grew 24 per cent year on year on the back of Office sales. "We are enthusiastic about the consumer response to our holiday lineup of products, including the launch of Kinect. The 8 million units of Kinect sensors sold in just 60 days far exceeded our expectations," said Peter Klein, chief financial officer at Microsoft. "The pace of business spending, combined with strong consumer demand, led to another quarter of operating margin expansion and solid earnings per share growth." 
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| Nokia: sales are up but profits are dropping Posted: 28 Jan 2011 03:22 AM PST  Nokia has revealed its financial results for the last quarter of 2010, and it's not looking too rosy for the Finnish phone manufacturer. Although sales increased in 2010 compared to 2009, the company's operating profits fell by 9 per cent for the entirety of the year, with a 22 per cent drop in Q4 profits compared to 2009. Sales of regular mobile phones fell by 5 per cent but smartphone devices more than made up for the dip with a 13 per cent increase in sales year on year, thanks in part to recent high-profile launches like the Nokia N8 and Nokia C7. Faster changes ahead Stephen Elop, Nokia's CEO, admitted that Nokia is facing a tough year: "Nokia faces some significant challenges in our competitiveness and our execution. In short, the industry changed, and now it's time for Nokia to change faster." Some might say it was time for Nokia to change faster about, say, three years ago when the iPhone was launched, but hey, better late than never. Nokia is forecasting a weak start to its year, with estimated sales well over a billion Euros lower than Q4 2010's €8.5bn performance. On the plus side, Nokia reckons the affordable C3 helped it become the leader in QWERTY devices during the fourth quarter of 2010. BlackBerry might have something to say about that, but we suppose that Nokia needs to take the good news where it can find it. 
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| Updated: 40 best iPhone games - paid apps Posted: 28 Jan 2011 03:11 AM PST  There are now tens of thousands of games on the App Store, covering every genre. Huge studios battle it out with bedroom coders, providing iOS gamers with a mix of blockbuster titles and novel creations full of innovation and personality. Below we list our 40 favourite paid-for games for iPhone and iPod touch; if we've missed your top game, let us know what it is in the comments! Don't forget that universal apps also work natively on the iPad. 1. Angry Birds - £0.59
The moral of Angry Birds is that if you're a hungry pig, don't steal eggs from crazed birds with a death-wish, who also happen to own a massive catapult. If you're one of the 17 people who've not yet sampled this artillery classic, you fling angry birds at ramshackle structures, aiming to dispatch the pigs lurking within. Ingenious level design and varied bird 'powers' make this a classic iOS game. 2. Bit Pilot - £0.59
Avoid 'em ups are commonplace on the App Store, but none offer the polish, charm and addictive qualities of Bit Pilot. The aim of the game is simply to survive, avoiding asteroids and lasers, and grabbing sporadic shield power-ups. Lovely graphics and crunchy chip-tunes round off a first-class title. 3. Drop7 - £1.79, universal
The concept of this puzzle game is straightforward: drop numbered discs into a grid; when the number on a disc matches the amount of discs in its row or column, it explodes. Grey discs need an adjacent explosion before they reveal a number. Drop7 is brilliant and addictive, and it is to the iPhone what Tetris was to the original Game Boy. 4. Pix'N Love Rush - £0.59
Here's platform gaming for the low-attention-span generation. Doffing its hat to WarioWare, Pix'N Love Rush flings retro-platforming action at you at a blistering pace, switching between Mario-style horizontal scrolling, vertical levels, and static Bubble Bobble-oriented affairs. Dressed in Nintendo-style graphics, this is a frantic, exciting game that's an insane bargain at 59p. 5. Dark Nebula - Episode 2 - £1.19
Dark Nebula - Episode 2's developer undersells it as a 'labyrinth' game, but it's really a fast-paced top-down arcade game, albeit one with occasional puzzles and that seriously challenges your dexterity. You guide your orb through sci-fi installations, unlocking doors, defeating traps and battling foes. The aesthetics are wonderfully atmospheric, and the game offers a well-judged difficulty curve with new elements in each level. 6. Flight Control - £0.59
Firemint kick-started the path-drawing genre, and Flight Control remains the best game of its type. You guide aircraft to landing areas by drawing paths, taking care to avoid the single collision that ends the game. For extra challenge, try the navy level with a lazily rotating aircraft carrier and super-fast jets. 7. Orbital - £1.79
In Orbital, you fire orbs into the play-area; when an orb stops, it expands until it reaches an obstacle. An orb's number dictates how many times it must be hit by subsequent orbs until it explodes. Strategy therefore relies on you carefully picking your spot, aiming to create chain reactions and take out several orbs with one shot. Both beautiful and absorbing, Orbital is a textbook iPhone game. 8. Run! - £0.59
Canabalt and Mirror's Edge are glossier, but Run! combines the auto-running mechanic and swipe-based gestures of those more polished titles, and then adds falling meteors, evil wizards, UFOs, a shoulder-mounted bazooka, and the ability to karate-kick leaping sharks in the head—for 59p. It might look a little rough, but Run! is best-in-class by some margin. 9. Minigore - £0.59
If you go down to the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise: it's infested with ravenous 'furries'! To survive, you merely have your wits, trusty weapons and the means of temporarily transforming into an unstoppable beast-like killing machine. Minigore is dual-stick Robotron-style action with modern cartoon graphics and a dollop of gore. It's also excellent. 10. geoDefense - £1.19
At the last count, there were about a million tower defence games for iOS. Most of them are slow and ugly; geoDefense is neither. Instead, it's a sleek, challenging, intense game, dropping you into a neon nightmare where creeps come thick and fast. 11. Real Racing - £2.99
Firemint never got the "there are no games with any depth on iOS" memo, and so they went ahead and created Real Racing. 48 cars, 12 tracks, five game modes with 76 events, multiplayer, several control methods, different cockpit views… like hell the iPhone isn't a 'proper' games console. 12. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars - £5.99
Rockstar Games didn't get the memo either, so they went ahead and shoved a grubby, violent city full of gangland warfare into your iOS device. Matching the same game on PSP and DS, Chinatown Wars has you trying to survive turf wars, shoot-outs, high-speed chases and drug deals. But if it all gets a bit much, you can steal a taxi and earn a semi-honest living carting fares about Liberty City. 13, Zen Bound 2 - £1.79, universal
When you describe Zen Bound 2, it sounds rubbish. "You wrap rope around wooden sculptures." See? However, there's an oddly mesmerising, almost hypnotic quality to this game. Its tactile nature and fluid controls draw you in, and you soon rise to the challenge, trying to complete each level with the minimum amount of rope. 14. Squareball - £0.59
AAARRGGGHH! That's an exclamation you'll hear a lot of (from yourself) if you take on Squareball. This unforgiving mutant offspring of Pong, Breakout and a horizontally scrolling platform game is frustratingly tough, despite 'merely' tasking you with not hitting red blocks or flinging your 'square ball' into space. Soon, you realise the weak spot is in fact you, since the swipe-based controls are perfectly tuned - and by that point you'll be addicted. 15. LilRacerz Pro Rally - £1.19
Older gamers may remember Super Sprint in the arcades, Super Cars on the Amiga, or the original NES Micro Machines by Codemasters. LilRacerz Pro Rally is a top-down racer. And it's just as much fun as those classic titles (and for £1.19!), and boasts 34 tracks, ten unlockable cars, and four different environments. The controls are great - the cars drift but there's some weight to them - and the subtle 3D graphics are a nice touch. 16. Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck's Revenge - £1.79
Yo-ho-ho! This be the classic game ye scurvy dogs have been waiting for! A classic point-and-click adventure from way back in 1991, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge has been dusted off, turned into a 'Special Edition' (new graphics and audio, hints system, updated controls), and fashioned into a thing o' beauty. Arrrrrrr! 17. Soosiz - £1.19
Boasting a gravity mechanic akin to Super Mario Galaxy but side-on gameplay closer to the Nintendo mascot's 2D adventures, Soosiz is a cracking platform game. You must search 66 levels over seven worlds to find your friends, battling foes and gravity along the way. 18. WestBang - £0.59
WestBang's tap-based gameplay mechanics go back to the dawn of videogames, in that it's ultimately a simple reaction test. Doors open, and you have to shoot bad guys (but only after they draw—after all, good guys play by the rules) and avoid dispatching innocents. It's reminiscent of Sega's classic Bank Panic, but offers better graphics and more characters, along with added fun and depth. 19. Parachute Panic HD - £1.19, universal
It's tough for the parachutists in Parachute Panic HD. They leap from planes towards boats that won't stay put, and hazards range from UFOs and deadly helicopters to sharks only too happy to eat anyone who's careless enough to fall into the sea. The swipe-based gameplay is compelling, the controls are intuitive, and the soundtrack is both charming and funny. 20. Azkend - £1.79
Azkend eschews the typical match-game grid; instead, you drag paths to match shapes housed in hexagonal spaces. Along the way, a story unfolds that reveals talismans and power-ups to help you clear boards. Faster and prettier than Bejeweled, Azkend is perhaps a little easy to complete, but it still offers many hours of entertainment. 21. Rat On A Skateboard - £0.59
The third outing for Donut Games mascot Ratty sees him ditching his uncool scooter and instead getting all 'gnarly' and 'rad' doing various skateboard tricks. Gameplay-wise, Rat On A Skateboard is ultimately another one-thumb survival game with a few twists, but its various modes and great character make it an essential purchase. 22. Pac-Man Championship Edition - £2.99
When Pac-Man creator Tōru Iwatani returned to his yellow hero in 2007, the result was the astonishing Pac-Man Championship Edition, which turned a tired (if still amusing) arcade game into a high-octane and brilliant Xbox Live Arcade title. The iPhone release retains the game's addictive qualities, but adds a ton of extra content. Here's hoping semi-sequel DX arrives on the iPhone, too. 23. Cut The Rope - £0.59
One of the few games to challenge the chart domination of Angry Birds, Cut the Rope proves to be prettier and better to play than Rovio's title. The aim is to get the candy into the maw of small green dude Om Nom. This is done by manipulating ropes, pulleys and other systems, combining action and puzzle-solving, but without the annoying randomness of Angry Birds. 24. Linkoidz - £0.59, universal
Linkoidz is reminiscent of cult classic Magical Drop, itself an 'evolution' of popular match game Puzzle Bobble. You destroy aliens by matching three of them, or their weight eventually crushes your guy's shield and he's devoured. The hook is that instead of switching aliens Bejeweled-style, you suck one into your gun and fire it back. Fast-paced and great-looking, this is a hugely enjoyable iOS action puzzler. 25. Super Mega Worm - £0.59, universal
Super Mega Worm brings to mind cult film Tremors and pixelated 1980s videogames as you 'become the worm', terrorising all on the surface, to rid the planet of polluting humans. The challenge is relatively slight, but the game's humour and Game Center support means you'll regularly come back to it - and it's a hell of a lot better than the similar but tedious Death Worm. 26. Castle Smasher - £0.59
Although it looks similar to a simplified and angular Angry Birds, Castle Smasher plays rather differently. The game's firing mechanism (for lobbing stones at castles) is more precise, and you also have to defend your catapult guys against attacking knights. Randomly generated levels provide limitless gameplay after you work through the well-judged challenge levels. 27. Osmos - £1.79
At once resembling intergalactic conflict and microscopic warfare, Osmos is one of the strangest and most beautiful iOS games. Your 'mote' is propelled by ejecting pieces of itself, and the aim is to absorb motes smaller than yours and avoid those that are larger. Varying level types and utterly gorgeous visuals and soundtracks make this one of the finest games on the platform. 28. Piyo Blocks 2 - £1.79
Bejeweled has spawned a number of clones, the best of which is Zoo Keeper on the Nintendo DS. Piyo Blocks 2 is very similar, offering a fast-paced match game with several modes, including time attack, target capture, and more. Essential if you're a fan of the genre. 29. Axe In Face - £0.59
If Plants vs Zombies and Flight Control were mashed into a sticky pulp and uploaded to the App Store, the result would be Axe In Face. This charming line-drawing/castle defence game has Red Beard desperately defending his daffodil field from other Vikings, mostly by chopping off their heads with his magical axe. Getting through the game won't take you terribly long, but you'll be hard pressed to get more fun from 59p. 30. Beyond Ynth - £1.79
Beyond Ynth is a puzzle-oriented platform game which tasks a bug with collecting gems to bring back light to his kingdom. Each level comprises a number of 'boxes' that must be entered and correctly rotated in order to proceed; grabbing gems requires some serious puzzle-solving abilities, and one wrong move often means death by lava, ice or fire. Mercifully, the latest Beyond Ynth update does away with the 'start the level for the 50th time' mechanic, enabling you to rewind progress past errors. Even so, it'll take you many hours to grab those gems. 31. Galaxy on Fire 2 - £5.99, universal
Doffing its cap to BBC Micro classic Elite and online MMO EVE, Galaxy on Fire 2 catapults you into an epic galactic adventure. You get to chart the course of your life, balancing trading, combat and other tasks. One of the few iOS games that can truly be described as epic, Galaxy on Fire 2 is well worth the entry fee. 32. Trainyard - £0.59
Trainyard is an innovative puzzler which will soon have you gnashing your teeth in frustration. The theory is simple: get each train to its like-coloured station, by drawing tracks. There's no time limit or score, so you'd think Trainyard would be a simple, relaxing experience. Soon, though, you're immersed in dealing with multiple trains, split tracks and colour theory, perhaps gaining a newfound respect for the British rail network when it's having problems. (OK, perhaps not that last thing.) 33. Infinity Blade - £3.49, universal
In screen-grabs, Infinity Blade visually resembles a free-roaming RPG, but it's in fact a block-and-parry beat 'em up, akin to Karateka or Punch-Out!!, but with glorious modern-day graphics and huge swords. Basic RPG-style levelling up provides a little extra depth, enabling you to gradually tackle stronger foes during each 'bloodline', and the gestural sword-fighting controls are great. 34. Bubble Pets - £1.19, universal
With iOS devices having glass screens and no tactile buttons a whac-a-mole game might seem a curious recommendation, but Bubble Pets is great. You prod pets to make them fly off the screen in balloons, taking care to avoid each level's 'bad' pet. Now and again, bosses appear, and each of the environments is colourful and vibrant. 35. Need for Speed Hot Pursuit - £2.99
Technically superior and smoother racing games are available on the App Store, but Hot Pursuit gets our vote, for sheer thrills and excitement value. This one's arcade racing all the way, with you aiming to flee from the fuzz; alternatively, you can 'be the man' and smash racing syndicate members into submission (or race your corrupt buddies through deserts, forests and along beachside towns). 36. Strategery - £1.19, universal
Although a superior experience on the iPad's larger screen, Strategery is also an essential purchase for owners of smaller Apple devices. It plays out as a stripped-down Risk, but where 'countries' have a maximum number of armies. Despite its simplicity, the game offers plenty of tactical depth, and you must learn to think several moves ahead, especially when playing human opponents in turn-by-turn online games. 37. Pizza Boy - £1.19
Mario-style platform games rarely work well on iOS devices, but Pizza Boy is a good effort. Despite there being some cheap deaths in later levels, the game offers plenty of charm, good humour and decent level design. The controls rarely let you down, and the unlock mechanism for 'bonus' levels is interesting, forcing you to explore as you play the game. 38. Scrabble - £1.19
EA's take on the world's most famous word game is a good one, with a great-looking board, a decent solo mode, pass-and-play and local network play. Scrabble has some minor dictionary niggles, and EA needs a slap for not providing turn-by-turn online games, but otherwise this is a first-rate boardgame conversion. 39. Tilt to Live - £1.79
A great example of a simple, addictive mobile game, Tilt to Live has you fleeing from evil red dots of doom. You tilt your device to fly around the screen, colliding with bonuses to fire heat-seeking missiles and glacial ice bombs at your adversaries, for a few moments' respite. The game's slightly demented sense of humour adds to the fun. 40. Helsing's Fire - £0.59
An original puzzle game is a rare thing indeed, which makes Ratloop's effort - Helsing's Fire - all the more worthy of praise. The idea is to use the careful placement of torches and coloured tonics to banish demons. Your main foes are objects that cast shadows, stopping your light reaching intended targets. It's an interesting dynamic, and the game's 120 levels take a while to beat, all the while charming you with great character design and beautiful graphics.
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| Weird Tech: Doctors to predict how they will hurt patients Posted: 28 Jan 2011 02:47 AM PST  What runs on a PC, requires serious amounts of skill and generates enormous amounts of smoke and gore? Nope, we don't mean the latest first-person shooter. We're talking about a doctor simulator. Thanks to Suvranu De at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, surgeons can now accurately simulate those precious moments when they accidentally cut through the wrong bit and set the patient on fire. Speaking to New Scientist, De explains: "Intra-abdominal tissue has a very high density of blood vessels. When a cauterising device cuts it, copious amounts of smoke are generated and bleeding may occur. These effects are hard to incorporate in a simulation."
BURNING UP: Surgeons! If your operating table looks like this, you're doing it wrong! [Image credit: wwarby/flickr] De's solution? Pre-programmed visual effects that make the simulators much more realistic and which hopefully prepare surgeons for any eventuality. Water good idea Remember the underwater Terminators in Rise of the Machines? Thanks to Professor Malcolm McIver, they might not be science fiction for much longer. Professor McIver's robot fish, Ghostbot, uses robotics to mimic the movements of real-life fish. The long-term plan is to develop incredibly manoeuvrable vehicles that are as agile as their aquatic inspiration. The colour purple You'd think that with all the woes in the world, turning gold purple would be fairly low on scientists' to-do lists - but it turns out that messing with precious metals could help develop green energy sources. Professor Richard Watt and his students found that by mixing citric acid with a common protein, they could change gold powder's colour; doing that proved that there was a transfer of energy, which could be used to power a battery or fuel cell.
NOT GOLD: Purple gold? Somewhere in Minneapolis, Prince is smiling [Image credit: drb62/flickr] Physorg.com reports that Professor Watt's family has form in this area: his father invented a fuel cell that ran on sugar and weedkiller. Sail of the century Good news for those of us who look at the sky and think "sheesh, what a mess!" - NASA may have found the answer to the orbiting junk left behind by countless satellite launches. This week, NASA's NanoSail-D spacecraft unveiled a solar sail, which is used to propel it around the Earth as lead investigator Dean Alhorn cried "We're solar sailing!"
HELLO SAILOR: NASA's solar sail could mean the end of orbiting junk [Image credit: NASA] Such sails could be fitted to satellites to stop them hanging around forever: when their time is up they'd unfurl their sail and let it drag them back to Earth. Crack dealing Blowing safes open with dynamite is so twentieth century. When Kyle Vogt wanted to know if an old safe contained "cool stuff like gold coins, ancient relics or even mummified body parts" the MIT student roped in a friend and built a safe cracking robot.
BANK BUSTER: This robotic safecracker can bypass human-proof locks [Image credit: Kyle Vogt] Rather alarmingly, the resulting robot was able to crack a supposedly uncrackable lock, the S&G 8400. When Skynet finds out about this, we're in trouble. 
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| Sony NGP won't cost the same as the PlayStation 3 Posted: 28 Jan 2011 02:40 AM PST  Sony has confirmed that despite the mountain of cutting-edge technology inside the Sony NGP it won't be in the same price league as the PlayStation 3. The PlayStation Next Generation Portable (PSP2) was announced yesterday, with Sony revealing that there will be a quad-core processor powering the device, alongside a 5-inch OLED screen, Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity. All of this technology sounds pretty phenomenal but at the same time rather pricey. And when you add in a rather loaded remark at the press conference that it is "as powerful as a PS3," what you get is a lot of journalists coming to the conclusion that it will cost the same as the console. Price point According to Sony's Shuhei Yoshida, who was interviewed by Game Informer, though, it is going to be cheaper than the console, with Yoshida explaining: "It's not going to be $599." While this could mean that it will retail at $598, Andrew House from Sony also remarked that it will be a bit above the Nintendo 3DS's US price $250. There is, of course, one way for the price to come down and that is giving the NGP to telcos to sell it at a discount, while loading it with a monthly 3G price. Whatever the price we will be queuing up to get our hands on with the Sony NGP when its reported UK release date of Christmas 2011 comes around. 
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| Amazon Kindle ebooks outselling paperbacks Posted: 28 Jan 2011 02:00 AM PST  Amazon has revealed that Kindle ebook purchases outsold paperback book sales in the US in Q4 2010. The trend continues this year, with 115 ebook downloads being sold for every 100 paperback books since the beginning of January, excluding any free book downloads offered by the multi-national retailer. Paperback good, digital better Eager not to shoot itself in the foot, Amazon insists that paperback sales are growing too. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said, "Last July we announced that Kindle books had passed hardcovers and predicted that Kindle would surpass paperbacks in the second quarter of this year. "So this milestone has come even sooner than we expected - and it's on top of continued growth in paperback sales." Amazon was recently crowned to be the king of the e-reader market with industry figures showing that its Kindle has taken 41.5 per cent of the market. The Kindle downloads no doubt also feature a significant number of purchases through Amazon's free Kindle smartphone, tablet and desktop apps. 
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| Posted: 28 Jan 2011 01:49 AM PST  This five-channel amp tries to bring Denon's legendary sound quality to a low price point without greatly compromising on cutting-edge features. As such, the AVR-1611 boasts 3D compatibility through its four HDMI v1.4 inputs, and chucks in a few other unexpected frills such as Dolby Pro-Logic IIz, which expands the soundstage to include front height channels – as long as you have another amp to run the signal into. What you also get is Denon's impeccable sense of style. The unit's stylish black finish cleverly camouflages the buttons on the fascia, which gives it a clean, uncluttered look and the large display panel provides a lot of information. The rear panel seems sparse at first glance, particularly when compared with the brand's pricier models, but it covers all the basics and, thankfully, the speaker terminals are all binding posts. Unlike the Yamaha, the AVR-1611 can decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA soundtracks, and offers seven DSP modes to spice up music and movie playback, including a Virtual surround mode. Installation is aided by Audyssey's auto setup mode, as well as a group of technologies (MultEQ, Dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume) designed to monitor the sound once optimised.
Operation is hugely simplified by the onscreen menus, although the graphics are so dated they make Pong look like Call of Duty. Still, at least they're easy to follow and cover all the essential audio and video tweaks. The remote features glow-in-the-dark buttons, most of which are intuitively arranged but the bank of keys at the bottom is a bit cluttered and many of the sound modes get lost in the crowd. The AVR-1611's power rating is quoted at 5x110W, and with movies it's certainly a powerful performer, taking huge dynamic shifts in its stride and handling the explosive carnage at the end of Avatar with neighbour-waking potency. It harnesses that power in a controlled and measured manner, too, and as a result the sound is mostly easy on the ear. That may not suit those who like a bit more bite and aggression to their home cinema sound but it makes for a smooth listen. Crank the volume up too high and a few cracks begin to show – one or two screeching creatures tip the sound into minor harshness – but on the whole, audio is remarkably refined for an entry-level product. It also rains down detail from every speaker, dredging up Pandora's gentle ambience and distant noises, while delivering speech with clarity and authority. All in all, the Denon AVR-2311 is a fine performer that gives its group test competition plenty to worry about. Related Links
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