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- In Depth: Apple iPad 2: 12 things you need to know
- Steve Jobs speaks out on the iPad 2
- iMovie and GarageBand for iPad announced
- Exclusive: O2 confirms it won't be offering iPad 2
- Video: iPad 2: Apple's official videos
- Hands on: Apple iPad 2 review
- iPad 2 coming to Orange and T-Mobile in March
- iPad 2: official pictures
- Updated: Apple iPad 2: our first impressions
- Spielberg to make Wikileaks: The Movie?
- Spielberg to make Wikileaks: The Movie?
- Review: HIS Radeon HD 6850 IceQ
- International BBC iPlayer to cost around £6 a month
- International BBC iPlayer to cost around £6 a month
- Review: HIS Radeon HD 6850 IceQ
- Review: Nikon Coolpix S2500
- Review: Nikon Coolpix S2500
- iPad 3 is the one to watch, says Apple insider
- iPad 3 is the one to watch, says Apple insider
- Facebook 'will look different in a year'
- Facebook 'will look different in a year'
- Intel 510 Series SSDs go on sale
- Intel 510 Series SSDs go on sale
- MSI launches new Android 3.0 WindPad
| In Depth: Apple iPad 2: 12 things you need to know Posted: 02 Mar 2011 01:00 PM PST  So Apple's latest worst-kept secret is out – it's released a new iPad to keep the Android pack at bay. And while it's a stunner visually, you'll see that iPad 2 is an iteration in terms of its core specs. Here's everything you need to know about the new iPad 2. 1. iPad 2 is lighter and thinner Apple called it an all-new design. And it is. The main physical thing is that the new iPad is thinner - 33 per cent thinner, clocking it at 8.8mm. Incredibly, that's thinner than the iPhone 4 which clocks in at 9.3mm. It's also 15 per cent lighter, which is welcome. You wouldn't want it to be completely lightweight, but a bit less weight is good. It's also available in white as well as the original black.
2. The iPad 2 has FaceTime The new iPad has the expected front-facing VGA camera (as well as one on the back). What's the point of the one on the back? Like the iPhone 4's rear snapper, it takes 720p video. And that's enough for us.
3. The iPad 2 battery life stays the same The iPad 2's battery life is apparently not limited by the new design - it has the same 10 hour battery life as before, with a month of standby time (tsk, real-world figures please). Still, that's quite impressive when you think about the reduced size of the unit. 4. As does the iPad 2 display The new iPad has a 9.7-inch display which, yep, is exactly the same. So the large-scale retina display wasn't ready as we suspected. iPad 3 should sort that one out.
5. iPad 2 goes dual-core A few months ago, a dual-core processor would have made headlines. Now they're 10-a-penny and in many an Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet. The new processor is called the Apple A5 and is based on ARM's Cortex-A9 design. And it's probably clocked at 1GHz again. 6. iPad 2 graphics will be awesome All Steve Jobs said was that the graphics capability would be 9x that of the current iPad. WOW! All he said? That promises serious gaming awesomeness (and it helps that the device now also has the gyroscope from the iPhone 4 and latest-gen iPod touch). The graphics will still be some version of Imagination Technologies' PowerVR SGX graphics technology.
7. iPad 2 has iOS 4.3 The latest version of iOS ships with the iPad and will be available for iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch on 11 March. There's faster Safari browsing performance; iTunes Home Sharing and thankfully an enhancement to AirPlay. Let's hope it works now. (By the way, iPhone 4s can act as Wi-Fi hotspots too). 8. The stupid button problem has been fixed When the first iPad came out, the switch on the side locked the orientation. Super cool, everybody thought. Except Apple did a typical Apple thing and changed it become a mute button. When there was already a volume control on the other side of the device. iOS 4.3 gives you the choice about what to do. That's what happens when you listen to your customers. Thanks, Apple.
9. The iPad 2 has HDMI out It will set you back around £30 for the cable, but you can connect your iPad up to the TV and charge it while doing so. What's more you can have HDMI Video Mirroring that lets you mirror your iPad screen on an HDTV. Cool for presentations and the like – or just playing movie content. 10. The iPad 2 features HSUPA The iPad 2 also features HSUPA support. That means faster browsing and downloads over 3G. Like mobile broadband. It's only available on the iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G, naturally. Expect this to come to the iPhone in the next update too.
11. The iPad 2 UK release date is 25 March Apple has announced that the Apple iPad 2 UK release date is 25 March. T-Mobile and Orange told TechRadar they are stocking iPad 2 "when it becomes available later this month". O2 told us it wouldn't be selling the new tablet but would be offering data plans for it, while Vodafone offered a stern "no comment". Thanks for the clarity there, As iPad 2 costs the same in the US as the original iPad, expect the models to start at £439 here. 12. iPad 2 sees Apple come out fighting As well as some serious gnashing of teeth at competitors during Steve Jobs' keynote, even the press release gets nasty. "While others have been scrambling to copy the first generation iPad, we're launching iPad 2, which moves the bar far ahead of the competition and will likely cause them to go back to the drawing boards yet again." Unfortunately though, it's just not true. In terms of specs – if not looks – the latest Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets are a match for the new iPad.
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| Steve Jobs speaks out on the iPad 2 Posted: 02 Mar 2011 01:00 PM PST  Steve Jobs surprised the world by turning up to unveil the new iPad 2 - so we've brought you all the CEO's thoughts from the Apple event. So, here is Steve Jobs in his own words explaining what he thinks of the iPad 2... "Most other tablets aren't even catching up with first iPad, but we're not resting on our laurels - so we're bringing you the iPad 2. "It's not a tweaked design - it's completely new. It's packing an A5 chip, with dual core processors, two lightning fast CPUs, and we've really gone all out on the graphics performance, delivering a nine times improvement. "We also think we'll be the first dual-core tablet to ship in volume." Google jibe Despite talking up the power of the new iPad 2, Jobs still felt the need to point out Apple's superiority in this area: "We have 55,000 apps tuned for the iPad; compare that to our competitors, who at most have 100 apps at launch, and I think we're being a little generous there.
"All of this stuff, built in, yet it's dramatically thinner, a third thinner in fact, down to 8.4mm thick. "For those that have iPhone 4, the new iPad 2 is thinner than that. It's incredibly thin, feels totally different - especially when you consider that all the other tablets that are coming out are mostly thicker than the original iPad. "With all this new technology onboard, surely something's got to give. But we're managed to maintain our legendary iPad battery life, giving 10 hours of battery. "A lot of [our other tablet competitors] are coming out with substantially lower battery life, but the iPad 2 has been tried and tested and every reviewer has confirmed the 10-hour life." The year of the iPad 2 Jobs was keen to evangelise the 'magic' of this new tablet (no shock there) but was surprisingly humble when outlining how Apple sees itself steering through the burgeoning tablet battlefield: "This is worth repeating. It's in Apple's DNA that technology is not enough. It's tech married with the liberal arts and the humanities. Nowhere is that more true than in the post-PC products. Our competitors are looking at this like it's the next PC market. That is not the right approach to this. These are post-PC devices that need to be easier to use than a PC, more intuitive. "The hardware and software need to intertwine more than they do on a PC. We think we're on the right path with this." "We've got the organisation to build these types of products, and we stand a great chance of being competitive in this market. "And thank you very much to our fans out there, who make it possible to work out tails off making great products for us." "It's an amazing product; faster, lighter, thinner, comes with cameras and gyroscope, the new iOS 4.3 with built-in Facetime and Photobooth, and iMovie and Garageband for only $4.99 each in the App Store. "It has the same 10 hours battery life, same prices, starting at $499, will be offered in black and white, we've got smart covers - overall, we think 2011 is the year of iPad 2." 
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| iMovie and GarageBand for iPad announced Posted: 02 Mar 2011 12:47 PM PST  Apple has announced that there will be new editions of iMovie and GarageBand for the iPad and iPad 2. Both apps were shown off at the iPad 2 event in San Francisco, where Steve Jobs noted that these apps, alongside others Apple is creating, "set the bar high for developers". The new iMovie for iPad app includes precision editing tools, multi-track audio recording, new themes, AirPlay to Apple TV, and the ability share your videos in HD. There's over 50 sound effects available on the new iMovie, as well as new sharing options to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo and more video-upload sites. It will be available from 11 March for the princely sum of $4.99 (likely around £4.39). Instru-mental GarageBand also gets an iPad makeover, with touch instruments, guitar amps and effects, 8 track recording and mixing, 250+ loops, the ability to email an AAC file of your songs and it is also compatible with the Mac version. The touch instruments (like some other apps you can get) turn the iPad into a musical instrument, which is pretty neat, and you can also play with the tone of the music by touching heavier or lighter on the screen. "This is no toy," explained Steve Jobs about GarageBand for the iPad, and who are we to argue? Again, this app will be out alongside the iOS 4.3 UK release date, which is 11 March. 
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| Exclusive: O2 confirms it won't be offering iPad 2 Posted: 02 Mar 2011 12:16 PM PST  O2 has confirmed to TechRadar that it will not be selling the Apple iPad 2, but will still offer competitive data bundles for the tablet. The iPad 2 was today announced by Apple, offering nine times more graphical power than its predecessor as well as a 33 per cent thinner chassis, front and rear cameras and the revelation that it also comes in white. In a statement, O2 explained its reasons for not selling the iPad 2, saying: "We continue to offer great value, flexible data tariffs for iPad 2 and the unique ability to manage these tariffs on the device itself." Great value It continued: "Although we will not be selling iPad 2 with subsidy, O2 microsims with our great value iPad tariffs are still available for customers who have purchased the device elsewhere. "In addition to our award winning mobile broadband service, customers also benefit from unlimited Wi-Fi at thousands of The Cloud and BT Openzone hotspots" TechRadar also contacted Vodafone about whether or not it was intending to sell the iPad 2, with which they replied: "No comment". So far, the neworks confirmed to stock the iPad 2 are Orange and T-Mobile. The iPad 2 UK release date is 25 March, with pricing to be the same as the original iPad. 
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| Video: iPad 2: Apple's official videos Posted: 02 Mar 2011 11:45 AM PST  Apple may have only just announced the iPad 2, but the official videos have already been uploaded to the internet for Apple fans to gawp over. The new iPad is dual core, front and rear facing cameras (the latter able to shoot in HD video), an all new A5 dual core CPU and nine times more powerful GPU. The new iPad is also 33% thinner, with the 8.4mm frame even sleeker than the iPhone 4, and is down to 1.3 pounds (590g) in weight, which is around 15% lighter than the first version. What's more, Apple is promising to keep the same 10 hour battery life, as well as maintaining the same UK price when it launches. Apple has also outlined all the new accessories you can get for its brand-new iPad 2, including a HDMI out lead and some apparently smart cases. Check out the videos below to see the fancy new tablet in action: 
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| Posted: 02 Mar 2011 11:38 AM PST  The Apple iPad 2 has been unveiled, and TechRadar has spent some time with the hottest piece of kit so far in 2011. Make no mistake, this is a seriously cool piece of kit, bringing a whole host of improvements that, individually, may not sound like much, but put together take the iPad onto a whole new plane. First up – the new chassis is an immediate and clear improvement; and the primary thing of note is that it is much flatter on its backside - and therefore more capable of sitting on a flat surface. It's a minor improvement, but it makes a big difference to how comfortable the device actually feels in the hand as well as when you have it on a surface.
Of course, another difference is the weight – and although 0.2 of a pound (90g) sounds infinitesimal, it makes a considerable difference. The original iPad often found itself accused of being uncomfortable to hold for any length of time, and although its successor does not entirely solve the problem (this is still weighty for one handed use) it's a massive step in the right direction. Another element of major note is the reduced thickness of the device.
Apple has somehow managed to shave off an extra third of the original iPad's thickness and it certainly shows.
Indeed, the Apple iPad 2 is just 8.4 mm thick; for people with the iPhone 4, that means that the latest tablet is actually thinner than your phone. Thickness never really felt like a major problem with the original iPad, but that doesn't mean that this isn't welcome on a thinner, sexier device. Yes, sexier. That's the overriding impression of the iPad 2. You thought the original iPad was desirable, but its successor makes it look like a dumpy girl next door with its supermodel good looks and a size that suggests a diet of Diet Coke and cigarettes.
Another key addition is cameras - front and back - and you'll be pleased to hear that the addition does not mar the looks at all. In fact the front camera is subtle, as it is on the iPhone 4, and the rear one (whcih can record in HD) certainly doesn't turn the device into an ugly cyclops.
We can't help but question the need for cameras at all; it's rare that you will actually want to take out your tablet to take a picture and we're yet to be convinced by the merits of Facetime. But, the cameras function as you would expect - and we're sure hours of fun can be had with PhotoBooth and the video calling function.
But, it isn't just in the looks department that Apple has sprinkled its magic; this beauty is also a bit of a tablet beast under the hood. That's largely due to a new A5 dual-core processor from Apple – an all-in-one offering with heavily beefed up graphics capability and twice as fast as a CPU.
In fact, Steve Jobs promised us that the new Apple iPad 2 is nine times more powerful in the graphics department that its predecessor – which should give games app developers something to get their teeth into. The extra boost of speed is noticeable in the time it takes to open apps. There is still a delay, of course, but it's much reduced – and the already responsive touchscreen seems a little zippier as well. We tested a couple of programs that gave the new chip a thorough bashing - namely the brand spanking new (and rather lovely) GarageBand and Infinity Blade.
Starting with the latter, Infinity Blade was a real test for the iPad original, but the discernible lag that affected it is definitely much reduced on the iPad 2. That makes for a completely different feel to the game - it's spritely and impressive. We can't wait to see more graphically intense games of this ilk really pushing the boundaries.
Keen musicians are going to love GarageBand, which gives you the chance to make music to your heart's content. It's an environment where lag and waiting time would crucify the experience. But fortunately from a speedy loading time right the way through to instant responsiveness to our ham-fisted efforts to drum, this was a pleasurable experience.
iMovie also felt quick and responsive; and although this isn't going to be competing against a quad-core gaming beast, we do think that you will appreciate the stride taken from the iPad original's A4.
It's impossible to go much further without discussing one of the things that did not make it onto the iPad 2 - namely the Retina display that is found on the iPhone 4. We're big fans of this hi-res display on Apple's flagship phone, and we were hoping that we would see it arrive on the iPad 2. But, be it through cost or manufacturing, the display does not appear to be changed much at all. Which frankly is a bit of a shame.
It may be an added extra, but it's also well worth talking about the Smart Cover. The iPad 2 has magnets built in that mean the Cover – at $39 (plastic) or $69 (leather) - will latch on and protect the screen. It's actually really cool – although maybe not quite as simple as Apple make it look in the video. The cover curls underneath to make a stand and peeling back one corner wakes the device.
In a word, it's neat; and that's not a term you'll find far away from your thoughts when you first pick up an iPad 2. Conclusion People who suggest this is an incremental upgrade are simply not looking at the bigger picture; the Apple iPad 2 feels and acts drastically differently from its predecessor. The plethora changes - some cosmetic, some under the hood - have boosted a device that felt like a luxury, to a device that is head and shoulders above its competitors at the moment. The lighter, thinner iPad 2 is nicer to hold, nicer to use and nicer to look at - and if that's not an important upgrade then maybe we're missing the point. More images
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| iPad 2 coming to Orange and T-Mobile in March Posted: 02 Mar 2011 11:33 AM PST  Everything Everywhere has told TechRadar that it will be offering the new iPad 2 as soon as it debuts on our shores later this month. In a standardly vague statement, the network told us that it couldn't confirm any price plans but is going to be part if the first wave of operators to bring the spangly new tablet to UK shores: "We can confirm that Everything Everywhere will be offering the iPad 2 when it becomes available later this month on both Orange UK and T-Mobile UK. "More details regarding price and data plans will be announced in due course." Price freeze However, given Apple confirmed that the price will be the same for the iPad 2 as it was with the original version, we can expect that it will come at £199 on a two year deal, with price plans up to £30 likely with a few gigabytes of data thrown in here and there. The new iPad 2 coming at the same price point as the first iteration is a decent move from Apple, especially with the likes of the Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 costing the same, if not more, when they're released later this year. 
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| Posted: 02 Mar 2011 11:27 AM PST  The Apple iPad 2 is here. After all the build up, the speculation, the pondering, more speculation, the fan-boy flaming and the speculation, Steve Jobs took the stage today in San Francisco to unveil its second-generation iPad. To get you in the mood before the iPad 2 is officially in the shops, below are some of the official pics, alongside some specs peppered here and there for good measure.
The new iPad is also 33 per cent thinner, with the 8.4mm frame even sleeker than the iPhone 4, and is down to 1.3 pounds (590g) in weight, which is around 15 per cent lighter than the first version.
You can buy a Smart Case for the iPad 2, which has magnets inside that wake the tablet and also put it to sleep.
The new iPad has Photobooth, alongside iMovie and an all-new GarageBand.
There's a front and rear camera and the iPad 2 can also do FaceTime. The iPad 2 UK release date is 25 March and is priced from £499. 
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| Updated: Apple iPad 2: our first impressions Posted: 02 Mar 2011 11:24 AM PST Apple may have sold 15 million first-version iPads, but the company isn't resting on its laurels. Steve Jobs has just announced the iPad 2 in San Francisco and there will be a white version as well as a black one. But what do we think of it at first glance? However, iPad 2 isn't the extreme makeover many were expecting. The device costs the same as the current iPad ($499 in the US) and comes with the same 16, 32 and 64GB memory configurations. The iPad 2 UK release date is 25 March, so expect it to start from £439 as before, unless we're really going to get done over in the UK. The main physical thing is that the new iPad is thinner - 33 per cent thinner, clocking it at 8.8mm, or thinner than the iPhone 4 (which clocks in at 9.3mm). Wow. It looks incredible and has the expected front-facing camera (as well as one on the back). It's also a bit lighter, which is welcome. Jobs said the new iPad "feels totally different" - we can't wait to get our hands on with one.
But while the looks are certainly changed, performance is more evolution than evolution. With the same low power as the Apple A4 processor, the new iPad 2 utilises an all-new Apple A5 dual-core processor, presumably based on ARM's Cortex-A9 design. Apple isn't saying anything on clockspeed for the moment, but we reckon it will stick at 1GHz. But graphics performance will seem markedly better. Apple says the graphics have nine times the performance of the original iPad - that will still be some version of Imagination Technologies' PowerVR SGX graphics chip. This will propel gaming onto another level, as will the gyroscope that was previously in iPhone 4 and the iPod touch.
iPad 2 battery life remains the same Thankfully, the battery life is apparently not limited by the new design - it has the same 10 hour battery life as before, with a month of standby time. That's quite impressive when you think about the reduced size of the unit. In the US, the tablet will be available on both Verizon and AT&T - so CDMA and GSM, which is again a new move. There has been speculation that this could be achieved by using a Qualcomm chip that can handle both types of wireless signals, although we're now hearing these will be separate models. In the UK, there will be Wi-Fi and 3G + Wi-Fi as before. In terms of extra features, there's also HDMI out, again welcome, but hardly surprising. The mirrored input will be cool though - imagine the possibilities for presentations there. Or even for video editing on your big screen TV with the new iMovie app - very cool. Although, the cable is naturally an added extra that we reckon will clock in at £30 in the UK. Smart Covers and iOS 4.3 We also like the Apple Smart Cover idea - these are covers that go on the front of your iPad but aren't a case. They can be used as a stand, but automatically awaken your iPad when you take it off. Clever stuff, but they look a bit rubbish.
iOS 4.3 also promises much improved Safari performance and iTunes Home Sharing is a great addition too. We also really want to believe Apple when it says that AirPlay is also improved, but we remain to be convinced on that one - the initial release was extremely annoying. FaceTime support for the iPad 2 is also cool, but we remain to be completely convinced on that one, especially when Skype is so good for the iPhone 4 and presumably will be for the iPad 2. Finally, we're really glad Apple has enabled us to choose whether we want the switch to be a mute or rotation lock. The latter function was something special, and it was sad when it was taken away.
The iPad 2 announcement was preceded by a long video looking at the iPad's benefit to society but more disappointingly Apple decided to dig deeply into rivals such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab and rival OS Android 3.0 Honeycomb.This is pretty harsh. Indeed, one slide branded 2011 as "the year of the copycats" - rather unfairly when many Android tablets have bettered the iPad on spec - until now of course. Another slide poked fun at Android app numbers. Finally, Apple also claimed the iPad 2 is the first dual-core tablet to "ship in volume", but we'd disagree with that - the Xoom is already around, if not in really huge volumes. So the iPad 2 isn't a huge advance over its predecessors, but it does keep Apple on the same wavelength as the chasing Android pack. And while we've used Honeycomb and it's brilliant, we're sure Apple doesn't care - it will sell at least another 15 million new iPads in 2011 with this unit. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
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| Spielberg to make Wikileaks: The Movie? Posted: 02 Mar 2011 07:31 AM PST  DreamWorks could be starting work on a fictionalised Wikileaks movie directed by Steven Spielberg having bought the rights to two books about the organisation and its founder, Julian Assange. Steven Spielberg's production company, DreamWorks, has secured the screen rights to both WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy, written by two Guardian journalists, and Inside Wikileaks which was penned by one of Assange's former colleagues. Reports suggest that the film will be an "investigative thriller in the mould of All the President's Men", which would certainly be pacier than the drip drip drip of news regarding Assange and his flight from the law in recent weeks. Just make The Internet: The Movie and have done Deadline Hollywood has pointed out a parallel between Dreamworks' book acquisitions and the way that The Social Network was penned, suggesting that the Wikileaks film will also be fictionalised with some parts taken from a number of sources and some parts simply made up. This approach would also allow the movie to be made without a rights deal with Assange. The success of David Fincher's The Social Network has made the internet seem like hot property in Hollywood this year, no doubt we'll see a number of cut-price dot com movies hoping to ride its wave of success. But with Spielberg at the helm and plenty of intriguing source material, Wikileaks: The Movie could end up being worth a watch. 
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| Spielberg to make Wikileaks: The Movie? Posted: 02 Mar 2011 07:31 AM PST DreamWorks could be starting work on a fictionalised Wikileaks movie directed by Steven Spielberg having bought the rights to two books about the organisation and its founder, Julian Assange. Steven Spielberg's production company, DreamWorks, has secured the screen rights to both WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy, written by two Guardian journalists, and Inside Wikileaks which was penned by one of Assange's former colleagues. Reports suggest that the film will be an "investigative thriller in the mould of All the President's Men", which would certainly be pacier than the drip drip drip of news regarding Assange and his flight from the law in recent weeks. Just make The Internet: The Movie and have done Deadline Hollywood has pointed out a parallel between Dreamworks' book acquisitions and the way that The Social Network was penned, suggesting that the Wikileaks film will also be fictionalised with some parts taken from a number of sources and some parts simply made up. This approach would also allow the movie to be made without a rights deal with Assange. The success of David Fincher's The Social Network has made the internet seem like hot property in Hollywood this year, no doubt we'll see a number of cut-price dot com movies hoping to ride its wave of success. But with Spielberg at the helm and plenty of intriguing source material, Wikileaks: The Movie could end up being worth a watch.
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| Review: HIS Radeon HD 6850 IceQ Posted: 02 Mar 2011 07:30 AM PST  Lower mid-range graphics cards are easy to lose in the clamour about higher-end cards but not the HIS Radeon HD 6850 IceQ X. Like its IceQ X predecessors this Radeon HD 6850 is treated to an enhanced cooler that HIS claim can run the card 13ºC cooler than the reference design and produces 7dB less noise. Taking the HIS Radeon HD 6850 IceQ X in relation to its nearest rivals though we're going to end up comparing it to the Nvidia GTX 460 and the Radeon HD 6870. The question is whether it's worth spending the additional outlay on the faster AMD card or choosing the Nvidia alternative. Partly your monitor could already hold the answer as the HD 6850 performs best at around the 1,680 x 1,050 resolution, it'll also cope with 1,920 x 1,080 adequately as well but you'll need to start turning off anti-aliasing and the more demanding effects. In comparison to the slightly cheaper GTX 460 the HIS Radeon HD 6850 IceQ X generally out performs or equals it. When it comes to this specific HIS IceQ X card the cooler is worth the outlay alone, putting overclocking aside it makes the fan-noise levels (once it's inside a case) drop to a negligible point. The card comes with a reasonable overlcock already in place and you can squeeze plenty more from it, we happily took it to the limits imposed by the Catalyst driver with a core of 900MHz and a memory clock of 1250MHz, which rivals its HD 6870 big bro. The difficulty for the vanilla HD 6850 is the plummeting price of the GTX 460. The factory OC is a bonus and that cooler helps you do even more with it. The stock HD 6850 itself isn't as strong as we might have hoped but this overclocked card is speedy and comes at a good price. There's also a fair bit of headroom too. Related Links
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| International BBC iPlayer to cost around £6 a month Posted: 02 Mar 2011 07:30 AM PST  BBC director general Mark Thompson has revealed that the international version of the iPlayer will cost a snip under $10 (£6.14) when it is released this year. Although Thompson has repeatedly told the media that the iPlayer will soon be available outside of the UK, his latest speech at the FT Digital Media & Broadcasting conference in London is the first that he has talked price. BBC fee To put the cost of the international iPlayer into context: currently the BBC's online offering costs the UKjust 67p per household (compared to £7.85 a month for TV). This means that those watching the iPlayer in, say, the US for a year will have to pay the equivalent of half what the UK pays in total for the television licence fee. The BBC already has massive international reach as a brand. Shows like Top Gear on BBC America are some of the most watched in the world, so the arrival of an international version of iPlayer will be much welcomed, even if its pricing is a little steep. 
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| International BBC iPlayer to cost around £6 a month Posted: 02 Mar 2011 07:30 AM PST BBC director general Mark Thompson has revealed that the international version of the iPlayer will cost a snip under $10 (£6.14) when it is released this year. Although Thompson has repeatedly told the media that the iPlayer will soon be available outside of the UK, his latest speech at the FT Digital Media & Broadcasting conference in London is the first that he has talked price. BBC fee To put the cost of the international iPlayer into context: currently the BBC's online offering costs the UKjust 67p per household (compared to £7.85 a month for TV). This means that those watching the iPlayer in, say, the US for a year will have to pay the equivalent of half what the UK pays in total for the television licence fee. The BBC already has massive international reach as a brand. Shows like Top Gear on BBC America are some of the most watched in the world, so the arrival of an international version of iPlayer will be much welcomed, even if its pricing is a little steep.
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| Review: HIS Radeon HD 6850 IceQ Posted: 02 Mar 2011 07:30 AM PST Lower mid-range graphics cards are easy to lose in the clamour about higher-end cards but not the HIS Radeon HD 6850 IceQ X. Like its IceQ X predecessors this Radeon HD 6850 is treated to an enhanced cooler that HIS claim can run the card 13ºC cooler than the reference design and produces 7dB less noise. Taking the HIS Radeon HD 6850 IceQ X in relation to its nearest rivals though we're going to end up comparing it to the Nvidia GTX 460 and the Radeon HD 6870. The question is whether it's worth spending the additional outlay on the faster AMD card or choosing the Nvidia alternative. Partly your monitor could already hold the answer as the HD 6850 performs best at around the 1,680 x 1,050 resolution, it'll also cope with 1,920 x 1,080 adequately as well but you'll need to start turning off anti-aliasing and the more demanding effects. In comparison to the slightly cheaper GTX 460 the HIS Radeon HD 6850 IceQ X generally out performs or equals it. When it comes to this specific HIS IceQ X card the cooler is worth the outlay alone, putting overclocking aside it makes the fan-noise levels (once it's inside a case) drop to a negligible point. The card comes with a reasonable overlcock already in place and you can squeeze plenty more from it, we happily took it to the limits imposed by the Catalyst driver with a core of 900MHz and a memory clock of 1250MHz, which rivals its HD 6870 big bro. The difficulty for the vanilla HD 6850 is the plummeting price of the GTX 460. The factory OC is a bonus and that cooler helps you do even more with it. The stock HD 6850 itself isn't as strong as we might have hoped but this overclocked card is speedy and comes at a good price. There's also a fair bit of headroom too. Related Links
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| Posted: 02 Mar 2011 07:07 AM PST  Nikon Coolpix S2500 Nikon's Coolpix S2500 has point-and-shoot simplicity, but houses clever technology such as Smart Portrait mode, Vibration Reduction, Best Shot Selector and Blink Detection to help you get the best results in a wide range of situations. Nikon Coolpix S2500: Image quality and resolution
ISO 80: score 20/22 ISO 100: score 20/22 ISO 200: score 20 ISO 400: score 20 ISO 800: score 20 ISO 1600: score 16 ISO 3200: score 12 Nikon Coolpix S2500: Noise and dynamic range These graphs were produced using data generated by DXO Analyzer. We shoot a specially designed chart in carefully controlled conditions and the resulting images are analysed using the DXO software. Signal to noise ratio
Dynamic range
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| Posted: 02 Mar 2011 07:07 AM PST Nikon Coolpix S2500 Nikon's Coolpix S2500 has point-and-shoot simplicity, but houses clever technology such as Smart Portrait mode, Vibration Reduction, Best Shot Selector and Blink Detection to help you get the best results in a wide range of situations. Nikon Coolpix S2500: Image quality and resolution
ISO 80: score 20/22 ISO 100: score 20/22 ISO 200: score 20 ISO 400: score 20 ISO 800: score 20 ISO 1600: score 16 ISO 3200: score 12 Nikon Coolpix S2500: Noise and dynamic range These graphs were produced using data generated by DXO Analyzer. We shoot a specially designed chart in carefully controlled conditions and the resulting images are analysed using the DXO software. Signal to noise ratio
Dynamic range
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| iPad 3 is the one to watch, says Apple insider Posted: 02 Mar 2011 06:32 AM PST  An anonymous Apple staff member has described the iPad 2, due to launch today, as 'a ho-hum update', while tipping iPad 3 as the tablet to watch from Apple. While we're counting down the hours and minutes until Apple whips the cloak of mystery off the new iPad 2, which we're expecting to feature a super-skinny screen and more processing power than its predecessor. The Apple employee told CultofMac, "For the iPad 2, don't get your hopes up too high. That's all I'm going to say." It's not quite all he's going to say… Immediately going against his previous statement, he then went to clarify, "They've had a number of problems along the way, and the third-generation iPad is the one to make a song and dance about." There have been rumours that we'll see a third iPad hit the stands later this year, and this particular source told the website that the iPad 3 is indeed on track for a launch later this year. Hopefully we'll see all the rumours we were hoping for on the iPad 2 - like the higher resolution screen and SD slot - which have seemingly been cast aside from the new iteration. The Apple staffer also 'confirmed' that we'll see a relaunched MobileMe this afternoon, complete with cloud storage for your iTunes music and videos. All in all, you could say it's not looking too brilliant for the iPad 2 right now – we all love a good gadget bashing session, but let's reserve judgement on the iPad 2 until it's officially revealed by Apple, shall we? 
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| iPad 3 is the one to watch, says Apple insider Posted: 02 Mar 2011 06:32 AM PST An anonymous Apple staff member has described the iPad 2, due to launch today, as 'a ho-hum update', while tipping iPad 3 as the tablet to watch from Apple. While we're counting down the hours and minutes until Apple whips the cloak of mystery off the new iPad 2, which we're expecting to feature a super-skinny screen and more processing power than its predecessor. The Apple employee told CultofMac, "For the iPad 2, don't get your hopes up too high. That's all I'm going to say." It's not quite all he's going to say… Immediately going against his previous statement, he then went to clarify, "They've had a number of problems along the way, and the third-generation iPad is the one to make a song and dance about." There have been rumours that we'll see a third iPad hit the stands later this year, and this particular source told the website that the iPad 3 is indeed on track for a launch later this year. Hopefully we'll see all the rumours we were hoping for on the iPad 2 - like the higher resolution screen and SD slot - which have seemingly been cast aside from the new iteration. The Apple staffer also 'confirmed' that we'll see a relaunched MobileMe this afternoon, complete with cloud storage for your iTunes music and videos. All in all, you could say it's not looking too brilliant for the iPad 2 right now – we all love a good gadget bashing session, but let's reserve judgement on the iPad 2 until it's officially revealed by Apple, shall we?
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| Facebook 'will look different in a year' Posted: 02 Mar 2011 06:03 AM PST  As well as the news that Facebook is used by half the UK population, Facebook also laid bare its vision for the future of the social web in a keynote at the UK's largest digital marketing event, TFM&A. Stephen Haines, commercial director for Facebook in the UK, said that the site would continue to evolve. "There have been eight iterations of the [main] Facebook design over the last few years... [and] it will look different in a year" he said, clearly intimating that the site would continue to change to enhance its commercial succcess. The site has never been slow to change fundamentals of its design and approach, most recently with the redesign of the Like button. "The average Facebook user has 130 friends [and] the average time spent on Facebook is 28 minutes a day." Haines also showed impressive figures showing the effectiveness of brand pages. The official Starbucks page on Facebook boasts 21.1 million users compared to 1.8m website visitors. Coke's page is even more extreme – 20.5m users compared to 270,000 website visitors a month. He hailed the success of Facebook Deals, which had even crashed the Alton Towers website. Then Haines talked up the value of social advertising. "There's a 68 per cent increase in recall when an ad has a social context," said Haines. Ads with a poll are currently some of the most popular, he suggested. Haines also suggested the social network could look to keep users within its walls by offering branded stores for buying goods online. He also talked about the idea of "social by design", saying that GM was now even introducing Facebook streams within some of its car models. And Facebook also seems to be on the rise for display advertising. According to eMarketer research, the social network's share of ads will rise to nearly 22.6 per cent of its total revenue. From browsing to discovery Haines also surprised the audience by saying that "the fastest growing Facebook audience is the over-35s". However, we guess it's not so surprising when you consider that practically everybody younger than that has an account. Haines also explained that there are now more over 40s than 13 to 18 year olds on Facebook and talked up the opportunities for marketers within this demographic. A slide was shown, which Haines explained as the fact "the web is now organising around people and their connections". He explained this by showing the 90s as a "browsing" period, the 00s as the "searching" period and the current decade as a time to "discover". Messages boost? In a busy day for the social network, Facebook has also announced the purchase of private group messaging startup Beluga – it's a bit like Google Wave in that it's effectively private messaging inside a selected group. Indeed, the founders of Beluga previously worked at the Big G. Beluga could be incorporated inside Facebook Messages. The web is also rife with speculation that Facebook is pushing ahead with its controversial plan to allow developers access to users' personal information if permitted, such as their phone numbers. The plan was originally dropped after an outcry, but now appears to be back on the cards. Facebook now has 30 million UK users and boasts more than 500 million users worldwide. What's perhaps most impressive is the site's stickiness. Over 15 million of Facebook's UK users visit every single day. Amusingly, Haines confessed that he didn't use Facebook four years ago when he was interviewed for his current post. 
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| Facebook 'will look different in a year' Posted: 02 Mar 2011 06:03 AM PST As well as the news that Facebook is used by half the UK population, Facebook also laid bare its vision for the future of the social web in a keynote at the UK's largest digital marketing event, TFM&A. Stephen Haines, commercial director for Facebook in the UK, said that the site would continue to evolve. "There have been eight iterations of the [main] Facebook design over the last few years... [and] it will look different in a year" he said, clearly intimating that the site would continue to change to enhance its commercial succcess. The site has never been slow to change fundamentals of its design and approach, most recently with the redesign of the Like button. "The average Facebook user has 130 friends [and] the average time spent on Facebook is 28 minutes a day." Haines also showed impressive figures showing the effectiveness of brand pages. The official Starbucks page on Facebook boasts 21.1 million users compared to 1.8m website visitors. Coke's page is even more extreme – 20.5m users compared to 270,000 website visitors a month. He hailed the success of Facebook Deals, which had even crashed the Alton Towers website. Then Haines talked up the value of social advertising. "There's a 68 per cent increase in recall when an ad has a social context," said Haines. Ads with a poll are currently some of the most popular, he suggested. Haines also suggested the social network could look to keep users within its walls by offering branded stores for buying goods online. He also talked about the idea of "social by design", saying that GM was now even introducing Facebook streams within some of its car models. And Facebook also seems to be on the rise for display advertising. According to eMarketer research, the social network's share of ads will rise to nearly 22.6 per cent of its total revenue. From browsing to discovery Haines also surprised the audience by saying that "the fastest growing Facebook audience is the over-35s". However, we guess it's not so surprising when you consider that practically everybody younger than that has an account. Haines also explained that there are now more over 40s than 13 to 18 year olds on Facebook and talked up the opportunities for marketers within this demographic. A slide was shown, which Haines explained as the fact "the web is now organising around people and their connections". He explained this by showing the 90s as a "browsing" period, the 00s as the "searching" period and the current decade as a time to "discover". Messages boost? In a busy day for the social network, Facebook has also announced the purchase of private group messaging startup Beluga – it's a bit like Google Wave in that it's effectively private messaging inside a selected group. Indeed, the founders of Beluga previously worked at the Big G. Beluga could be incorporated inside Facebook Messages. The web is also rife with speculation that Facebook is pushing ahead with its controversial plan to allow developers access to users' personal information if permitted, such as their phone numbers. The plan was originally dropped after an outcry, but now appears to be back on the cards. Facebook now has 30 million UK users and boasts more than 500 million users worldwide. What's perhaps most impressive is the site's stickiness. Over 15 million of Facebook's UK users visit every single day. Amusingly, Haines confessed that he didn't use Facebook four years ago when he was interviewed for his current post.
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| Intel 510 Series SSDs go on sale Posted: 02 Mar 2011 05:52 AM PST  Intel is now selling the 510 Series SSD – with the latest solid state drive coming in 120GB and 250GB versions. The latest drives bring the SATA 6Gbps interface – which delivers read speeds of an impressive 500MB and write speeds of 315Mbps. The benefits of SSDs are becoming increasingly well publicised, with the drives providing much faster read and write times than traditional HDDs. Faster There is, of course, still la huge difference in price per GB of storage, with SSDs still primarily used as boot drives and either the cloud or HDDs used for mass storage. The drives are already on sale – with a UK price of £224.54 for the 120Gb version and £426.30 for the 250GB version. 
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| Intel 510 Series SSDs go on sale Posted: 02 Mar 2011 05:52 AM PST Intel is now selling the 510 Series SSD – with the latest solid state drive coming in 120GB and 250GB versions. The latest drives bring the SATA 6Gbps interface – which delivers read speeds of an impressive 500MB and write speeds of 315Mbps. The benefits of SSDs are becoming increasingly well publicised, with the drives providing much faster read and write times than traditional HDDs. Faster There is, of course, still la huge difference in price per GB of storage, with SSDs still primarily used as boot drives and either the cloud or HDDs used for mass storage. The drives are already on sale – with a UK price of £224.54 for the 120Gb version and £426.30 for the 250GB version.
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| MSI launches new Android 3.0 WindPad Posted: 02 Mar 2011 05:48 AM PST  MSI has released yet another flavour of its new WindPad tablet, featuring Android 3.0 Honeycomb OS and powered by Nvidia's Tegra 2 processor. MSI has still to announce UK pricing and release plans for the new WindPad 100A, which we expect to hear about very soon, suffice to say that the specs of MSI's latest tablet PC have finally been unveiled at CeBit 2011 in Hanover this month. Tegra 2 and Android 3.0 So what do you need to know about the MSI Wind Pad 100A? Firstly, it will be powered by Nvidia's dual-core Tegra 2 processor, so it should run quicker than Usain Bolt (if he were a touchscreen-controlled computing device instead of a fast-moving human male). Essentially, it will be a superb device for playing the latest high def 3D Android games. Secondly, the MSI Wind Pad 100A tablet will have the Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system, specifically designed to help users get the best experience from their tablets. Stay tuned for further hands-on impressions, as well as pricing and release details on the new MSI Wind Pad 100A tablet as and when we hear more. 
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