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Techradar |
- Hasbro offers up Transformers 3D masks
- Google sees great potential in our speech
- Hands on: Sony Vaio L review
- Hands on: Sony Vaio C Series review
- Hands on: Sony Vaio S Series review
- Amazon launches Prime Movie Streaming service
- Apple to hold iPad 2 event on March 2nd?
- Hands on: Samsung Wave 578 review
- Minor Windows Phone 7 update hits, bricks Samsung handsets
- iPhone 5 also hit by delays, says analyst
- In Depth: 17 best Twitter apps for 2011
- Higher quality music downloads may be on their way
- Argos opens up deal for Orange San Francisco
- iPad 2 release could slip to June, says Taiwanese source
- iPhone 4 dips out of USwitch top five UK mobiles list
- Review: Shure SE535
- Flash not coming to Motorola Xoom until after launch
- Exclusive: Panasonic CTO: 3D is out of geekdom and into mass market
- Updated: LG Optimus Pad: what you need to know
- Updated: LG Optimus Pad: what you need to know
- Sony Ericsson Xperia Play UK release date and price revealed
- Apple planning massive battery life boost for iPhone 6?
- Review: Cyberlink Media Suite 9
- £8.2m Sex.com sale was a Guinness World Record
| Hasbro offers up Transformers 3D masks Posted: 23 Feb 2011 12:57 AM PST  Hasbro has unveiled RealD 3D glasses-toting masks in the shape of Transformers characters – allowing you to stand out from the Blues Brother throngs at the local multiplex. With the spate of novelty and designer 3D specs hitting the market harder than a late 80s Mike Tyson it takes a lot to impress TechRadar, but we can't help but admit out inner child is warmed by the concept of turning up to a film in an Optimus Prime mask. Bumblebee masks are also currently being produced between RealD and Hasbro to tie in with the next Transformers film titled Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
We are currently trying to find out if there are any plans for a UK release, and just how much we'll have to fork out for one. We'll be sorely miffed if the masks aren't big enough for our adult-sized heads, but we are hoping the movie industry can go one better in the future. Because we are already looking in the direction of George Lucas and suggesting that if nobody is already assembling Stormtrooper and Darth Vader masks for the 3D remakes of Star Wars then we'll be banging on the doors of Skywalker Ranch and asking why. 
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| Google sees great potential in our speech Posted: 23 Feb 2011 12:39 AM PST  The man in charge of speech technology at Google is looking to a future where what we say can be searched, translated and transcribed in the blink of an eye. Google's Mike Cohen has explained that after working on projects like automatic YouTube captioning, voice search and speech to speech translation the spoken word has become increasingly important to the search giant. Cohen believes that Google is the ideal company to create tools that will break down barriers – meaning that the things we say can be instantly transcribed, searchable or even made available in other languages. Lots of power needed "Speech technology requires an enormous amount of data to feed our statistical models and lots of computing power to train our systems—and Google is the ideal place to pursue such technical approaches," blogged Cohen. "We envision a comprehensive interface for voice and text communication that defies all barriers of modality and language and makes information truly universally accessible. And it's here at Google that I think we have the best chance to make this future a reality." It's a dream of TechRadar's journos to have a programme that accurately writes up audio interviews, and we can't help but think that being able to search through your own conversations would settle the "you said…no I didn't" arguments. And, no doubt, create a whole new set of arguments in its wake. But that's progression. 
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| Posted: 22 Feb 2011 12:30 PM PST  Sony's latest entry into the all-in-one market may be super-thin but it isn't hugely remarkable in terms of its looks, but it does have some snazzy features worth taking a closer look at. Aside from the multitouch-capable screen, he key feature is the L Series' glossy black bezel which features something Sony calls Edge Access. We call it "being able to control some stuff from the bezel". Essentially, you can perform tasks such as zooming in and out simply by moving your finger up and down the edge of the bezel as if moving a physical slider.
While this worked reasonably well on a first attempt, it took a few tries before we could get any kind of proper control and, even then, things were sporadic. This handy help chart appears on the screen to tell you what you can do.
While control systems like this help with the navigation of touchscreen PCs, it would be a lot better if the OS was more touch friendly in the first place. The main problem is that Edge Access simply isn't intuitive enough. But then you could say that about the touch control in Windows 7 as a whole.
A touch button in the top corner of the bezel also launches Media Gallery so you can browse through your photos, videos and music easily. Elsewhere, this is no low-end all-in-one – as well as the 24-inch Full HD LED touchscreen, you also get an HD webcam and Blu-ray drive in selected models as well as S-Force Front Surround 3D.
And, as with the other new Vaio PCs, there's a fast-access Linux-based Web mode so you can boot up in around 15 seconds and begin browsing the web.
The Sony Vaio L Series UK release date is March 2011.
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| Hands on: Sony Vaio C Series review Posted: 22 Feb 2011 12:22 PM PST  The Sony Vaio C Series glows even when the laptop is off. That's because Sony has used a special material that transfers light through it without power. That makes it look rather odd, but it's certainly distinctive. The 14-inch C Series is aimed squarely at family use and is available in a variety of colours. However, only two of them – in green and orange – use the new special material. Everything else has standard non light-emitting plastic.
The key specifications aren't shabby – there's an Intel Core i5-241M processor, 320GB of storage and 4GB RAM alongside Windows 7 Home Premium.
If you order the C Series online you're also able to opt to have switchable graphics so you can toggle between performance and power saving modes. The main dedicated graphics are provided by AMD with the Radeon HD 6470M.
Elsewhere, the C Series is nothing special from a tech perspective – though it does include Sony's Exmoor image processing tech behind the HD webcam. But this is an unadulterated family notebook and we can see it selling shedloads.
And we genuinely think it's a fun notebook. When we first used it, we thought it was really spongy and horrible to type on. But it quickly becomes apparent that this is a rubber keyboard overlay to protect the laptop from young fingers. Taking this off reveals the standard new Sony Vaio keyboard which actually seems great to type on.
There's also HDMI out, a USB 3.0 port and Bluetooth as well as a Linux-based instant on web interface that you can access via a Web button above the keyboard. The keyboard is also automatically backlit for use in a darkened room. The Sony Vaio C Series UK release date is March 21 and it will be available from John Lewis, Sony Centres and sony.co.uk initially.
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| Hands on: Sony Vaio S Series review Posted: 22 Feb 2011 12:04 PM PST  Let's make no bones about our thoughts on this one – it's probably the best power portable laptop Sony has produced for a while. The Vaio S weighs in at 1.75Kg. Not light, but light enough and has a 13.3-inch display. But wait until you see these specs. There is serious power here with the Sandy Bridge Intel Core i5-2410M under the hood. We had to check twice to make sure that it was actually Sandy Bridge inside this laptop, as Intel has changed its branding for the new so-called "second generation" Core processors and what you see here is actually the old branding. Elsewhere, you get Windows 7 Professional, a whopping 500GB of storage/4GB of memory and AMD Radeon HD 6470M alongside the Intel HD Graphics on the Core i5. These are power specs, so expect a serious price as a result.
The model we saw also had a Blu-ray drive, though this will surely be a high-end addition only - normally you only get a DVD SuperMulti drive. Indeed, we were told that the specs in this display model were not final. In terms of the screen, the definition of the Vaio Display Plus panel looks impressive and resolution clocks in at 1366x768.
If there's one thing we'd criticise, it's the general appearance. While it's smart, it's not quite a match for several other portables in terms of look – the back of the screen, for example, has a rough feel to it that we really don't like. But in feel, it's a different story.
Sony calls the design of the Vaio S "fully flat" and, while that's just marketing bluster, we can see where it's coming from. Overall thickness checks in at less than 24mm – plenty thin enough for slipping into a bag. However, nothing is lacking in terms of ports and controls.
There's a switchable graphics system so you can turn the dedicated graphics on or off. The graphics switches between the integrated Intel GPU and AMD Radeon HD graphics (which, coincidentally, you can spec with 512MB or 1GB of RAM).
Sony promises a seven hour battery life with this model if you put the laptop into stamina mode, while there's a fully flat second battery you can buy as an extra and charge independently of the main unit. There's also a new flat-design port replicator that can dock with the Vaio S, allowing you to work while the attached BPSC24 battery charges.
Sony's new laptops also have the possibility of booting into a Linux-based OS for quick web access. While this happens in just 15 seconds, surely you're more likely to sleep your Windows install instead? The Sony Vaio S is a terrific power portable, though we await the presumably high price. The Vaio S UK release date is March 2011.
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| Amazon launches Prime Movie Streaming service Posted: 22 Feb 2011 11:43 AM PST  Amazon is offering US subscribers to its Prime delivery service the chance to stream movies and TV shows from the site for no extra cost. Prime subscribers, who pay $79 (£48) a year for unlimited two-day delivery on items purchased from Amazon.com, will now get access to a portion of Amazon's Instant Video library. The Prime eligible library features 5,000 movies and TV shows that can be streamed instantly to a range of devices. No UK love? While Amazon also offers Prime subscriptions to UK users, there's no news yet on whether it'll be offering UK customers the same perks. Amazon doesn't offer VoD on Amazon.co.uk at present, but with the entire LOVEFiLM library now at it's disposal, perhaps it's something the company will look at in the future. Netflix-baiter The US-only offer is aimed at battling the all-conquering Netflix streaming service, which has apps on Xbox 360, PS3, Apple TV, iPhone, iPad and pretty much every connected TV or set-top box. Netflix offers unlimited streaming and a massive library of titles for just $8 a month - that's $96 (£60) a year. Amazon's Prime-eligible library is smaller, but will hope that the lure of fast-free delivery on all items in its inventory will be enough to pinch a few customers away. 
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| Apple to hold iPad 2 event on March 2nd? Posted: 22 Feb 2011 11:00 AM PST  It might be time to start lining-up outside the San Francisco convention centre again, because the word on the popular-wine-making-fruit-vine suggests that Apple will announce the iPad 2 next week. While the traditional invite is yet to be send to media outlets, AllThingsDigital is reporting that 'multiple sources' have confirmed the event will take place on Wednesday 2nd March, a week from tomorrow. While we've been waiting eagerly awaiting the moment when Apple would summon to the iPad's second coming, nothing is yet official. We'll let you know as soon as the invite lands in our inbox. Earlier today we reported on rumours emanating from Taiwan that the tablet might be delayed until June thanks to a bottleneck in production. The plot thickens. 
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| Hands on: Samsung Wave 578 review Posted: 22 Feb 2011 10:29 AM PST  Samsung's pledge to make NFC (near field communication) a technology that actually goes widespread in the UK has been moved up a notch with the announcement of the new Samsung Wave 578. The phone is pretty basic stuff - the chassis is very light indeed, and comes with the Bada 1.1 OS that Samsung is shoving on all it's lower-end smartphones. We're not sure why the name '578' part of the name is warranted, but at least it's in keeping with the oddly-monikered Wave 723. The plastic chassis hopefully brings with it a budget price tag, as we can't see the Wave 578 being a phone you'd be happy spending £35 a month on, with the large touch sensitive buttons a little hard to activate successfully.
The large central key is nice to hit though, and despite its dinky dimensions, the Wave 578 sits nicely in the hand (for the average size palmed among us), although it will be more interesting to note how easy it can be ripped out of the pocket when we realise the Oyster card barrier is coming up (assuming the technology will support it). Samsung didn't have any details about what the new tech would look like in the Wave 578 - for instance, we're not sure whether it will be both read and write capable at launch, a key factor in using the phone as a mobile payment unit.
The thickness isn't too bad either, and we can imagine this will be a compact unit NFC fans on a budget will really get on board with. There are actually a few little design tweaks we don't see that much any more on today's smartphones, and that includes the camera key present on the Wave 578.
The lock/power key is a little harder to hit since the dimensions of the phone (107.9 x 54.9 x 12.5 mm) mean a lot finger wiggling in the hand, and the 100g weight makes even that a bit tricky without being ridiculously fearful of dropping the little unit. The Wave 578 has apparently been developed in response to calls from the networks to bring NFC to masses via a budget handset, (not just on the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S2 and Google Nexus S) and TechRadar got a little more info on the result: Jim Powell, head of product management for Samsung Mobile UK, told TechRadar that networks were deeply interested in pushing the technology and had asked Samsung for products to satisfy that: "We're seeing NFC across an increasing number of devices. The Galaxy S2 and the new Wave 578 won't be the end of our involvement in the technology," said Powell.
"In the UK the drive is coming from the networks, as they see a real opportunity with the technology which is why they come to us and ask for a specific product - like the Wave 578. "NFC is coming in a big way, and the change is going to be enormous over the next 12 months."
We're going to keep an eye on the new Samsung Wave 578 - usually these low end phones disappear below the mobile horizon, but we get the feeling we might see this handset on the side of one or two buses in the future. 
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| Minor Windows Phone 7 update hits, bricks Samsung handsets Posted: 22 Feb 2011 09:22 AM PST  Microsoft has announced that its first Windows Phone 7 OS update has begun rolling out, but it doesn't bring all the juicy copy and paste goodness that we've been waiting for. The update is designed to improve the update process itself – how meta – so while it doesn't directly offer you copy and paste, Microsoft hopes you'll be happy in the knowledge that it will help you get the copy and paste update in the future. Once they have received the update notification, Windows Phone users will have to connect their handsets to a PC or Mac and follow the onscreen instructions to install it. Update upsets Unfortunately, it hasn't been smooth sailing for this incremental improvement; a number of Samsung Omnia 7 users have experienced problems installing the handset. These range from the back-up freezing to completely locked-out handsets, with some users finding their handsets have been utterly bricked and are unusable. The Windows Phone support team is aware of the issues and is looking into what's going on; one support worker named Diego T. posted that a battery pull reset should at least return the phone to a usable state, with a hard reset to factory defaults as a last resort. Hang tight This may help some users whose update process becomes stuck, but those whose phones are completely unusable are still at sea. Diego T. also writes, "I wouldn't really worry about not being able to update right now. We are working on it, and yes, we are finding some patterns that we are expect to solve soon "This is a minor update, you are not missing any new features, so if you can't update now don't stress. "Please revert phone to original state (no need to hard reset) and wait couple of days until potential issues are solved, and you will be able to get the update "If you had troubles updating I wouldn't really mess with it... in this unexpected state you might end with a brick phone and that would be a bigger problem." 
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| iPhone 5 also hit by delays, says analyst Posted: 22 Feb 2011 08:43 AM PST  Apple may not launch the iPhone 5 until September 2011, according to a note from an analyst who cites components and late orders for the hold up. It's a bleak day for Apple fans, with the iPhone 5 delay rumours coming hot on the heels of a similar report of delays to the iPad 2. The iPhone 5 had been anticipated to launch in June/July this year, following Apple's previous product upgrade cycles. Summer days drifting away However, Craig Berger, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets, has heard otherwise. He said in a note today, "For the iPhone 5, we continue to hear that a July launch is unlikely, with various casing suppliers and touch suppliers still ramping up, with some chip vendors not having yet received firm iPhone 5 orders, and with other sockets like the image sensor… still in flux. "Given these factors, we think a September launch is more likely, off from Apple's traditional iPhone launch schedule, but giving the firm more time to enhance its next-generation instant communications on the phone." Whether there's any real truth to these suppositions is anyone's guess, but since Apple's found it nigh on impossible to reproduce the iPhone 4 in white, we suppose that anything is possible. 
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| In Depth: 17 best Twitter apps for 2011 Posted: 22 Feb 2011 08:37 AM PST  From deposing dictators to slagging off X Factor contestants, Twitter is everywhere The microblogging service has become a very big deal very quickly - so big, in fact, that Google and Facebook have both been making goo-goo eyes at the firm. Mobile app stores are stuffed with Twitter clients, but what about when you want to tweet from your PC or your Mac? In our opinion, these are the best Twitter clients to use. Chromed Bird (Chrome) - Free Installing Chromed Bird adds a little birdie next to Chrome's spanner icon; click on it and you've got Twitter. It covers the essentials: timeline, mentions, DMs, favourites and even lists. It's very customisable and unlike most Twitter clients, it hides away when you're not using it.
DestroyTwitter (Windows, OS X, Linux) - Free Written in Adobe's AIR, DestroyTwitter is a multi-platform client which promises ultra-low memory usage, support for additional services including Foursquare and Gowalla and handy filters to get rid of unnecessary tweets. The default interface is a bit hard on our ageing eyes but themes enable you to completely customise DestroyTwitter's appearance.
Sobees (Windows) - Free The desktop version of Sobees is written in .NET so it's a Windows-only job, although if you're running the Silverlight plugin you can access a browser-based version too. Sobees supports Facebook. MySpace and LinkedIn as well as multiple Twitter accounts.
Blu (Windows) - Free This very pretty Windows client doesn't do anything particularly spectacular but if you want a good-looking program that covers the Twitter basics, then Blu does the job.
Mixero (Windows, OS X, Linux) - Free Multiple accounts, inline image previews and lots of options for organising and filtering Tweets make Mixero one for the power-Twitter crowd. Don't use the Mac theme, though: it's vile.
Buffer (Firefox / Chrome) - Free A clever idea brilliantly implemented, Buffer stores your tweets in its titular buffer and sends them at the pre-defined times you specify. The free account gives you a ten-tweet buffer that can post three tweets today; paid accounts dramatically increase the buffer size and tweets per day, support multiple accounts and start at $5 per month.
Echofon (Firefox, OS X) - Free The excellent, minimalist Echofon for iOS and Mac is joined by an equally excellent Echofon for Firefox add-on (formerly known as TwitterFox) that floats above your browser window, which is particularly useful if you're constantly clicking links in people's tweets or posting links yourself. If you need more features, the desktop version handles multiple accounts and easy file attachments and is free if you don't mind the odd ad. $20 gets shot of them. Both desktop and Firefox versions sync with the iPhone version, which is clever.
Tweetdeck (Windows, OS X, Linux, Chrome) - Free In addition to its popular iOS and Android apps, Tweetdeck is also available as desktop software for Windows and OS X or as a Chrome extension. The desktop version is the prettiest but the Chrome extension hasn't exactly been bashed with the Ugly Stick either, and the multi-column layout makes it easy to stay on top of not just Twitter, but Facebook, Foursquare and Google Buzz too. If you like the new Twitter website, you'll like this.
Twidget (OS X) - Free Twidget is simple and straightforward: it's an OS X dashboard widget that shows your timeline, enables you to post and can automatically link replies together to form conversations. Er, that's pretty much it.
Seesmic (Windows, OS X, Linux, Chrome) - Free Seesmic is available in several forms: as a desktop Adobe AIR application, as a web application and as a Chrome App. The latter has a few bugs - text rendering went crazy a few times on our Mac - and it's not the prettiest, but there's support for multiple accounts and multiple services including LinkedIn, Foursquare, Facebook and Google Buzz together with integrated translation and the option to schedule tweets for later posting. Given the choice between the Chrome/web apps and the desktop version, we'd go for the desktop one: it's a nicer place to spend time in and integrates with more services including Google Reader, Formspring and Gowalla.
Twitterrific (OS X) - Free / $9.95 A typically elegant multi-platform offering from the Icon Factory, Twitterrific comes in OS X and iOS flavours. The updated desktop app is free for single-account use, while $9.95 zaps the ads and enables multiple accounts and windows. Version 4 brings a redesigned interface, inline picture viewing, the ability to view conversations and integrated picture and video uploading. It can also translate tweets from other languages. Some of the best Twitter apps have been for iOS and Android, but now the Mac App Store has launched it's already filling up with Twitter software. The current crop includes the following interesting offerings - and Twitter's own official OS X client.
Twitter (OS X) - Free The app formerly known as Tweetie is a bit of a Marmite affair, with a non-standard OS X interface and, on our machine at least, a tendency to crash every time we retweet something. It's a very polished client, though, and it's particularly good at displaying Twitter conversations.
Tweetings for Twitter - £1.79 Multiple accounts, image uploads, inline images and keyword/user filtering.
Heltweetica for Twitter - £0.59 Multiple accounts in a love it or hate it interface for the price of a packet of sweets.
Hibari for Twitter - £7.99 Very minimalist OS X client with a clever temporary mute-user feature - handy if they're banging on about some TV programme.
Kiwi - £0.59 Tabbed windows for multiple accounts, easy and powerful filtering and customisable themes.
Weet - £2.99 Clean and attractive Twitter client with support for multiple accounts, Instapaper and ReadItLater.
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| Higher quality music downloads may be on their way Posted: 22 Feb 2011 06:54 AM PST  Several digital music retailers, including Apple, are in discussion with record labels about increasing the audio quality of music downloads. Executives involved in the talks have reported to CNN that the companies may move to 24-bit files in order to offer songs at a fidelity that is more in keeping with the original recording. Digital music files have traditionally been compressed to lower bit rates in order to keep download times as low as possible; however, there's a trade-off in terms of music quality. High cost fidelity The talks between retailers and labels may result in higher quality audio being offered by retailers at a more premium price point. But it's going to be no quick jump to the higher quality files, with manufacturers like Apple having to "retool" future iterations of its music players in order to handle the larger, better quality files. Although iTunes, Apple's music store, is able to handle the 24-bit files, but most PMPs don't currently support the format. Jimmy Iovine, a music executive and chairman of Universal Music Group's Interscope-Geffen-A&M record label, told CNN: "Apple has been great. We're working with them and other digital services – download services – to change to 24-bit. "And some of their electronic devices are going to be changed as well. So we have a long road ahead of us." 
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| Argos opens up deal for Orange San Francisco Posted: 22 Feb 2011 06:31 AM PST  Argos has shaved another tenner off of the price of the popular and thrift-friendly Orange San Francisco, bringing it below the £90 mark. The Orange San Francisco has been a big hit for Orange, offering a decent Android phone at a good price – and the latest deal from Argos is already proving popular. The phone – offered in grey and white – is apparently only available in stores, and comes with £10 of credit bundled in to get you started. Bundled microSD There's a 2GB microSD card thrown in to boot, which gives you somewhere to store the snaps you take with the handset's 3MP camera. With a WVGA screen, capacitive touch and 600MHz processor, we loved this cut price gem in our Orange San Francisco review - if you're in the market for a budget handset, then this is one to get. So, if you're going for San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair on the way down to Argos. 
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| iPad 2 release could slip to June, says Taiwanese source Posted: 22 Feb 2011 06:05 AM PST  The eagerly-awaited Apple iPad 2 launch could now be delayed until June, according to a Taiwanese source. As reported by Reuters, Yuanta Securities have sent out a note about iPad manufacturer Hon Hai suggesting that there are bottlenecks in the production that will delay the second coming (of the iPad, at least). The follow up to the huge hit that was the original iPad is perhaps the most anticipated, and certainly most hyped, launch of 2011, with Apple keen to build on the success of its first foray into the tablet market. New issues Yuanta Securities' note suggests that 'new issues' will mean that the wait for the device will be delayed into the summer. "Our checks suggest new issues are being encountered with the new production process and it is taking time to resolve them," Yuanta's head of downstream tech equities, Vincent Chen, wrote in the note on Tuesday. The iPad 2 rumours include some fairly strong suggestions that the device will feature cameras and have a better resolution screen. 
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| iPhone 4 dips out of USwitch top five UK mobiles list Posted: 22 Feb 2011 05:05 AM PST  Online comparison site, USwitch.com, has released a chart suggesting that the British public is falling out of love with the iPhone 4. USwitch compiled the list of the "nation's" top ten mobile phones by tracking searches and sales for mobile phone handsets on USwitch.com, meaning that we can't exactly take it as gospel that the list accurately represents the mood of the British public. Seemingly enamoured of HTC at the moment, USwitch users sought and bought the HTC Desire, HTC Desire HD and HTC Wildfire more than any other handsets in February. Bad apple Apple's iPhone 4 has apparently slipped three places since January, coming to rest at the sixth spot in the site's chart. Over in Cupertino, alarm bells will be ringing. They'll be running around like headless chickens, tearing their hair out and calling emergency meetings to work out how to once again appeal to USwitch's user base. Perhaps by launching a new handset? The next in the range, perhaps the iPhone 5? No doubt the looming spectre of the next iPhone is putting people off investing in the shiny, slippery iPhone 4 for now; after all, it's a silly time to buy a new iPhone or iPad given that refreshes are imminent. Grudgingly, we'll admit that USwitch may have a point about lower HTC pricing, marketing pushes and enticing PAYG deals adding to the popularity of the top five handsets - despite its own forthcoming launches. But we still don't think Apple has too much to worry about; it sold over 46 million handsets last year and appetite for the iPhone shows no sign of abating if the abundance of iPhone 5 rumours are anything to go by. 
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| Posted: 22 Feb 2011 04:40 AM PST  There are three types of earphones; those that look good, those that sound good, and those that look and sound awful. The Shure SE535 earphones sit firmly in the second category. Stylish and good-looking they are not, but they do sound utterly fantastic. At £350 they're certainly not cheap. If you're looking for some iPod-replacement earphones these probably aren't for you. They're bulky and can be a tad fiddly to put in your ears. But if you're an audiophile or at the very least someone who appreciates well-rounded, natural-sounding high-bitrate music, these earphones are brilliant. The units themselves are fairly chunky. They need to be – each one contains three separate drivers - two woofers and a tweeter in each one. This makes music played through the SE535's shimmer with crystal clarity. The highs are crisp and clean, the bass is deep and silky smooth, while the oft-forgotten midrange is full-blooded, meaty and wholesome.
It's only when you treat yourself to a pair of earphones like this that you realise how good music can sound. That said, if you're listening to low-bitrate MP3s, you needn't bother. These earphones show up the inadequacies of compressed music more than any other earphones out there. Unless you're listening to decent source, the extra money you'd pay for these isn't worth it. Our test album for these earphones was a FLAC copy of The King of Limbs. It's a well produced album which does a great job of showing off the ninja audio skills of these high-end earphones. However, as we alluded earlier, they can be a bit of a fiddle to use. It takes a bit of practise to perfect the installation of each unit into your ear. And if you've got long hair, it's even more difficult. Like other Shure earphones, the bud is inserted into your ear drum and the cable is designed to go up and over the back of your ear. It's not as simple as popping them in and out like a pair of iPod headphones. That said, is the effort worth it? Of course it is. These earphones are brilliant, and if you can afford them they'll do your music justice in ways most earphones can only aspire to. Related Links
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| Flash not coming to Motorola Xoom until after launch Posted: 22 Feb 2011 03:55 AM PST  The Motorola Xoom is all set to launch in the US this week, but keen first-day buyers won't see Flash Player on their Honeycomb-toting tablet at launch. It looks like there's a bit of delay on the inclusion of Adobe Flash software, with a sneaky bit of small print on Verizon's website saying that it is "expected Spring 2011". Adobe has also confirmed in a blog post that its Flash Player 10.2 will be available via an OTA update within a few weeks of launch, having optimised the software for use on tablets. Flashy Motorola issued a statement offering no explanation for the delay, saying, "Motorola XOOM will include full support for Adobe Flash Player for accessing the rich video and animations of the web, to be available after launch." In a blog post, Adobe's Matt Rozen clarified the timings further: "Adobe will offer Flash Player 10.2 pre-installed on some tablets and as an OTA download on others within a few weeks of Android 3 (Honeycomb) devices becoming available, the first of which is expected to be the Motorola Xoom." It's no great shakes to us here in the UK; we aren't expected to get the Xoom until Q2 this year anyway. 
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| Exclusive: Panasonic CTO: 3D is out of geekdom and into mass market Posted: 22 Feb 2011 03:09 AM PST  Panasonic's CTO has told TechRadar that 3D has been taken out of "geekdom to an early mass market" with sales indicating that the technology has passed the "laserdisc threshold". In an exclusive interview with TechRadar, Eisuke Tsuyuzaki insisted that he has been thrilled by what he terms a "sea change" in the television world, with Panasonic at the forefront of not only 3D but also connected TVs. And the Panasonic man has little doubt that 3D has now become mainstream, with US sales indicating that this is a technology that is here to stay this time around. Laserdisc threshold "Within North America, the industry shipped some 2 million Full HD 3D enabled televisions after just nine months on the market," he said. "This is a significant milestone. It means we have already surpassed what I call the laserdisc threshold. We have already taken 3D from geekdom to an early mass market." "Compare this to the rollout of HD TV. The industry sold less than half a million HD sets in five years. Consumers who have purchased home Full HD 3D are not just the early and affluent videophiles, but also young gamers and (surprisingly) young families. "In our research we know that an equal number of male and females are actively involved in the purchase decision. 3D has to cater to all genders and demographics." 
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| Updated: LG Optimus Pad: what you need to know Posted: 22 Feb 2011 03:07 AM PST  LG makes some great smartphones, so it's hardly a surprise to discover that it's joining the tablet party with the Optimus Pad. It's a 3D-capable tablet that mirrors thespecifications of the T-Mobile G-Slate that LG has also built for the US market. Next, don't forget to check out our Hands on LG Optimus Pad review, but first check out how the new tablet stacks up. The LG Optimus Pad specifications are fairly tasty CES came and went with only the barest hint of G-Slate specifications, but Mobile World Congress 2011 brought a lot more news. LG's tablet runs on a 1GHz NvidiaTegra 2 dual-core processor for unmatched performance and power management. There's also 3G and Wi-Fi, as well as 32GB of storage.
The LG Optimus Pad runs Android 3.0 Honeycomb If you were wondering why LG used videos to show off its G-Slate tablet at CES instead of just letting people play with the device, the answer is software: the G-Slate software will be Android 3.0, aka Honeycomb, which wasn't finished in time for CES. But it was finished in time for Mobile World Congress last week. We think Android 3.0 is truly excellent – a real achievement by Google – though it tries to be flashy in a few areas where something clear and simple would do. The LG Optimus Pad display is 8.9-inches LG says: "The LG Optimus Pad sets a new standard for tablets by utilising an 8.9-inch display in a form factor that's comfortable to use one-handed. With a 15:9 aspect ratio and Full HD 1080p decoding, the LG Optimus Pad offers users an immersive multimedia environment on a 1280 x 768 WXGA resolution widescreen display. The LG Optimus Pad is a 3D machine The LG Optimus Pad has a built-in 3D camera - actually dual 5 Megapixel snappers - enabling users to capture vivid image and video content to be viewed on a 3D TV (which you will need ) or shared on the web via YouTube 3D. As well as the 1080p Full HD playback, while one of the cameras can record 720p – the 3D recording is not HD. You also get a 2 Megapixel camera on the front for video calling.
The LG Optimus Pad price could be around £250 As we reported on 20 January, there's been speculation that the Pad will be priced at around €299 (£250) - although that would be very cheap indeed for a Especially device that matches the specs of the Motorola Xoom, which may retail for north of £600. We believe that's a lot closer to the mark, especially with the 3D capability. The LG Optimus Pad UK release date As yet we don't know when the LG Optimus Pad UK release date will be - we think it will most likely be much later in the Spring after we've seen the Motorola Xoom. Indeed, TechRadar has been told that the LG Optimus PadUK release date is April or May, by Nvidia's technical marketing director Nick Stam, who we spent some time with on the Nvidia booth at Mobile World Congress 2011. What's more, the 3D-enabled tablet is going to be available through Carphone Warehouse, presumably on contract deals. Don't forget to check out our Hands on LG Optimus Pad review.
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| Updated: LG Optimus Pad: what you need to know Posted: 22 Feb 2011 03:07 AM PST LG makes some great smartphones, so it's hardly a surprise to discover that it's joining the tablet party with the Optimus Pad. It's a 3D-capable tablet that mirrors thespecifications of the T-Mobile G-Slate that LG has also built for the US market. Next, don't forget to check out our Hands on LG Optimus Pad review, but first check out how the new tablet stacks up. The LG Optimus Pad specifications are fairly tasty CES came and went with only the barest hint of G-Slate specifications, but Mobile World Congress 2011 brought a lot more news. LG's tablet runs on a 1GHz NvidiaTegra 2 dual-core processor for unmatched performance and power management. There's also 3G and Wi-Fi, as well as 32GB of storage.
The LG Optimus Pad runs Android 3.0 Honeycomb If you were wondering why LG used videos to show off its G-Slate tablet at CES instead of just letting people play with the device, the answer is software: the G-Slate software will be Android 3.0, aka Honeycomb, which wasn't finished in time for CES. But it was finished in time for Mobile World Congress last week. We think Android 3.0 is truly excellent – a real achievement by Google – though it tries to be flashy in a few areas where something clear and simple would do. The LG Optimus Pad display is 8.9-inches LG says: "The LG Optimus Pad sets a new standard for tablets by utilising an 8.9-inch display in a form factor that's comfortable to use one-handed. With a 15:9 aspect ratio and Full HD 1080p decoding, the LG Optimus Pad offers users an immersive multimedia environment on a 1280 x 768 WXGA resolution widescreen display. The LG Optimus Pad is a 3D machine The LG Optimus Pad has a built-in 3D camera - actually dual 5 Megapixel snappers - enabling users to capture vivid image and video content to be viewed on a 3D TV (which you will need ) or shared on the web via YouTube 3D. As well as the 1080p Full HD playback, while one of the cameras can record 720p – the 3D recording is not HD. You also get a 2 Megapixel camera on the front for video calling.
The LG Optimus Pad price could be around £250 As we reported on 20 January, there's been speculation that the Pad will be priced at around €299 (£250) - although that would be very cheap indeed for a Especially device that matches the specs of the Motorola Xoom, which may retail for north of £600. We believe that's a lot closer to the mark, especially with the 3D capability. The LG Optimus Pad UK release date As yet we don't know when the LG Optimus Pad UK release date will be - we think it will most likely be much later in the Spring after we've seen the Motorola Xoom. Indeed, TechRadar has been told that the LG Optimus PadUK release date is April or May, by Nvidia's technical marketing director Nick Stam, who we spent some time with on the Nvidia booth at Mobile World Congress 2011. What's more, the 3D-enabled tablet is going to be available through Carphone Warehouse, presumably on contract deals. Don't forget to check out our Hands on LG Optimus Pad review.
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| Sony Ericsson Xperia Play UK release date and price revealed Posted: 22 Feb 2011 03:04 AM PST  The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play price and UK release date have been unveiled on Play.com, ending speculation on pricing of the PlayStation phone. The PlayStation-certified handset will be available from Play.com on 28 March, with a price tag of £519.99, SIM-free and network unlocked. Although a glut of networks rushed to stick their names in the PlayStation phone hat, none have yet announced official availability or pricing. Playskool There's a good chance you'll be able to nab the handset on a subsidised deal from Vodafone, T-Mobile, Three, O2 or Orange, but ponying up the cash in one go could be the cheaper option as it will likely land on tariffs of around £35 per month. You'll be getting quite a swish handset for your money though, with the PlayStation certification seeing a number of PS games ported to the device, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and Android Gingerbread to boot - check out our hands on: Sony Ericsson Xperia Play review for our thoughts. Play.com also published a pre-order page for another MWC big hitter - the LG Optimus 3D UK release date will be 25 April with UK pricing of £515. But then again, you already knew that. 
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| Apple planning massive battery life boost for iPhone 6? Posted: 22 Feb 2011 03:04 AM PST  Apple - you know the company, the one with all the silver and black expensive gadgets - is looking at the age old problem of battery performance in phones. The new technology has been uncovered in a patent by AppleInsider, which looks at increasing the power density in batteries - essentially keeping the same volume while improving the amount of juice inside. This is achieved using a "multi-step constant-current constant-voltage (CC-CV) charging technique", which is science-speak for 'more sparky, same size-y'. Battery to the Future Such steps forward are pivotal if today's smartphones are to continue on the same path of more feature rich in a thinner frame, and Apple notes that this could be used for increasing the amount of tech in the same footprint, or making the phones even teenier. But it's not all good futuristic science news... the technology is susceptible to battery life degradation when temperatures fluctuate and if the charge in the unit is kept too high, this will also hurt the life-span of the power-pack. We hope Apple is feverishly beavering away at this new technology, honing and polishing until it gets it just right - there's no way we'll be seeing the improvements in the next iteration of the iPhone, so does the iPhone 6 suddenly make a lot more sense? 
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| Review: Cyberlink Media Suite 9 Posted: 22 Feb 2011 03:00 AM PST  Every time we see a new version of the Cyberlink Media Suite, we're amazed at quite how much they've managed to pack into it – and how many different programs it offers for relatively similar tasks. In fairness, one mammoth program capable of doing everything would be incredibly unwieldy, but let's be honest, there's little chance you'd actually buy all these applications individually, making the saving less significant than it first seems. Still, the most notable change from last year's release is in the price of the premium edition of the suite (the three versions have dropped to £50, £70 and £90). This is pretty reasonable considering the difference between the three packages is minor relative to what the average consumer uses. Despite that, it's worth noting that only the top-end Ultra package (£90) lets you play Blu-ray movies, and only the top two packages let you transcode video (for portable devices or social networks) and support 3D movies. The £50 Centra version is still good if you don't need any of these features. Multimedia heaven Taken individually, none of these programs is the best in its field except the highly polished and popular PowerDVD, but they're all solid tools that can handle pretty much everything you throw at them. Four of them – PowerDVD, MediaShow, PowerProducer and MediaEspresso – handle the majority of the functions that the package performs, while the rest are mainly filler, useful for minor tasks like making DVD labels, but not tools you'll use very often. PowerDVD is a solid DVD player, with excellent upscaling to HD and good support for 3D (which it can convert to on the fly, in a wide variety of formats) and Blu-ray.
This time around it includes social network integration that lets you review movies you're watching directly on Facebook or Twitter, along with a flash online front-end that updates to show you the latest DVD releases, offers tutorials on using the software. It also has separate tabs for playing movies in a wide range of formats and for handling music (if you need another music player in your life). MediaShow is another simple application, this time focusing on photos. It integrates with Flickr and Facebook, creates slideshows or gallery discs, helps you print them, and generally keeps all your pictures neat and tidy. Veni, video, vici Meanwhile, there's a triumvirate of applications to handle video production. PowerDirector is a good-tempered video editor, with a range of attractive effects and an easy drag-and-drop mechanic. It's still second to Premiere in terms of pure functionality, but it's definitely catching up, as demonstrated by the step up from the previous version's two video timelines to 16. PowerProducer is a solid little app for capturing content, editing it simply and then burning to DVD - the classic home movie production tool, but not capable of much more. Finally we come to the suite's newest tool, MediaEspresso. If you want to convert media for portable use or social networks, this should be your first port of call. It's fast and reliable compared to the open source encoders we've tried, it has a wide range of outputs and the movies it produced from our test video transferred easily to iPhone and were generally of good quality. Beyond these, the package includes label-makers, backup tools, DVD copiers, a sound editor, a fast photo clean-up tool and a variety of even smaller tools that all seem to replicate each other's functions, or at least seem to have overlapping areas of expertise. Over the years, it's been fun to see how Cyberlink has brought these programs closer together, hiding the rough edges separating them behind increasingly slick interfaces. In this version you can even add programs as favourites in the launcher, though this doesn't reduce the number of clicks needed to get to them. Sadly, this time round the suite seems to have become riddled with adverts, even at the Ultra level, ranging from ads for new videos in Power DVD to separate windows popping up in PowerProducer encouraging you to upgrade and (at the time of writing) annoying Christmas e-card messages on the interface. It's hardly the worst problem in the world, but is an irritating blemish on an otherwise great suite. Related Links
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| £8.2m Sex.com sale was a Guinness World Record Posted: 22 Feb 2011 02:57 AM PST  November's £8.2 million sale of sex.com has been confirmed as an official world record for the "most expensive internet address domain name". Brokered by Sedo, the sale on 17 November 2010 has now officially made Guinness' famed book of records over and above the likes of Vodka.com, Pizza.com and Russia.com. Just using those four domains alone you might never need to leave your room again. Team effort "The sale of Sex.com was truly a team effort. We spent about two years with the domain, establishing the relationships, researching and finding the right buyer and managing the domain's transfer," said Kathy Nielsen, director of sales at Sedo. "We're honoured that Sedo was trusted with such a high-value and high-profile sale, and we're ecstatic that it is now being recognized by Guinness World Records as a record-breaking deal." The story behind the Sex.com domain is a long and thorny one – with the name bought in 1994 by entrepreneur Gary Kremen but it was then wrested away from him illegally by Stephen Cohen. The courts found in favour of Kremen in 2000 and Sex.com was sold to Escom LLC for a reported $11.5 million, before the more recent $13 million sale last year. 
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