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Thursday, March 17, 2011

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Twitter offers HTTPS secure sign-in

Posted: 16 Mar 2011 02:53 PM PDT

Twitter users have been given the option to log-in to the site using the same security protocol that protects online banking and shopping sites from hackers.

The HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) sign-in option, which Twitter has been trialing for some time, can be selected from the security settings page.

Twitter hopes that the introduction of HTTPS will reduce the chance that its users' accounts will be hacked by third parties who can exploit unsecured wireless connections.

Recommended

While the switch to the new system is not compulsory, Internet security firm Sophos is also recommending that Twitter users switch the the new system to protect their account.

"What has happened in the past is that high profile people have had their account snatched," said Sophos' Graham Cluely.

"When that person is someone like Ashton Kutcher who has six million followers, then someone can send a message from them that might be spam or phishing or malware," he said.

HTTPS offers users a secure channel to check the authenticity of a website with approved certificate authorities to give users more safety.

Facebook revealed in January that it also plans to make the switch to HTTPS.

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TomTom puts HD Traffic service on web for free

Posted: 16 Mar 2011 11:03 AM PDT

TomTom has launched a free version of its excellent HD Traffic service on the web, allowing you to check for delays in your area before leaving the house.

The live traffic service, which is available on your favourite web browser in Europe, South Africa and New Zealand, updates the traffic picture in your area every two minutes.

Brought to the web in an easy-to-use interface, the TomTom HD traffic service lets you know what's causing hold-ups in your area with icons placed at certain areas of the map.

Clicking on the icon will provide details of how many incidents there are, how long you'll be delayed and how far the each of the traffic jams stretches back.

"Perfect starting point"

"You won't find a more accurate or reliable source of live traffic information anywhere," boasts Ralf-Peter Schäfer, the Traffic Director at TomTom.

"The live traffic map is the perfect starting point for anyone planning a journey or who needs the most up-to-date view of the traffic on the road.

"By giving more drivers access to TomTom HD Traffic, we hope that we can start to make better use of the road network and start to reduce traffic congestion for everyone."

The new web-based service, which has been a massive hit on TomTom's mobile devices, should give drivers ample opportunity to plot new routes if there is evidence of long delays.

With the free Google Maps Navigation app for Android phones is providing a great GPS service, it's good to see TomTom respond by putting some of its satnav expertise out there for the world to make use of.

Microsoft and RIM to launch free hosted BlackBerry service

Posted: 16 Mar 2011 09:42 AM PDT

Microsoft and RIM could be about to unveil a free Hosted BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES), similar to Apple's MobileMe consumer service for business users.

The new service will be available to BlackBerry business customers using Microsoft's hosted email service, Exchange 2010 Online.

Currently, Exchange users can use a Microsoft-hosted BES for $10 a month; this is set to be replaced by the new collaboration which will be free for existing users – it's not clear if new users will be charged or not.

Cloudy with a chance of suits

The existing software incorporates wireless access to email, calendar, tasks and contacts with global address list integration, as well as allowing users to remotely wipe and reset their handsets.

There's no indication yet on whether the new, free version will include any additional features though.

Microsoft's cloud platform, Office 365, is also rumoured to be launching in June and may cause issues for the new hosted BlackBerry Enterprise Service, according to one source.

This source told ZDNet, "RIM is only mobile OS that doesn't use (Microsoft) ActiveSync-aware devices and has a separate device management platform - the BES environment. Most large enterprise customers run an on-premise BES server to get the advanced device management."

Live TV streaming on iPlayer at all-time high

Posted: 16 Mar 2011 09:31 AM PDT

The BBC has just released its latest stats for the iPlayer, which reveal that more people than ever than are streaming live content through the service.

The BBC is putting this down to sport being available on the site – mainly American football, Six Nations rugby and Premiership football.

There's good news on the iPad front, too, with 2.1 million requests delivered to the iPad in February, up 22 per cent from January.

Online stats

As February was a shorter month than January, the total number of hits on the service was down from 162 million to 148 million, with 23 million of those coming from Virgin Media iPlayer TV requests.

Hits for the service purely through the iPlayer online portal totalled 125 million – 94 million for TV, 32 million from radio.

Interestingly, the BBC has drilled into the oodles of stats it gets from the iPlayer and found that the service is used for TV at roughly the same time of day as linear TV viewing, although "there is proportionally more daytime and late-peak use."

Oh, and if you are over 55 and using the iPlayer then you are one of the few, as the demograph seems to err towards younger users, more so than TV or radio listeners.

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Sky launches affordable HD multiroom box

Posted: 16 Mar 2011 08:44 AM PDT

Sky has launched what it is calling an 'affordable' HD box for multiroom subscribers.

The satellite giant has been a leading advocate of HD in the UK, and is keen that its multiroom subscribers can have a second HD option to complement a Sky+ HD box.

The box will come at no extra cost for new Sky Multiroom subscribers, although there is a £30 set-up charge for completely new customers and £60 for current subscribers extending their packages.

For those who already have multi-room, the box will cost £99.

Not a PVR

Sky has chosen not to go for a PVR option, so you won't be able to record, and there is no way to stream your recordings from your main box.

And, of course, you will need a secondary television that's big enough to get some real advantage out of an HD feed (and HD ready, obviously).

Hilary Perchard, Sky's Director of Product Management, said: "We want to offer customers as much choice as possible, both in terms of content and innovation.

"Therefore, as the appetite for HD viewing grows we want to make this service available to customers throughout the house so they are always able to watch great content in high definition."

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Samsung video offers glimpse of Galaxy Tab 8.9

Posted: 16 Mar 2011 08:43 AM PDT

Samsung has released a video showing a tantalising glimpse at its upcoming Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9.

The company has already announced that the tablet will be officially revealed at CTIA on 22 March, but we're yet to see a complete picture of it.

The video shows off a little more than the last static teaser – not much more though, with most images still centring on that 3.5mm headphone jack.

Sizabezel

We can see a sizable bezel on the front panel of the tablet, a faint calendar widget and that's about it, although we'd be surprised if it didn't launch with Android 3.0.

Of course, there's also a bunch of very enthusiastic and questionably-dressed people (who we're sure a real and not on Samsung's payroll) enthusing about their 'tab lives'.

Careful Samsung, you're beginning to sound a lot like a Windows 7 advert…

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Updated: Android 3.0: all the latest updates

Posted: 16 Mar 2011 07:49 AM PDT

Information about Android 3.0 - Android Honeycomb - is coming thick and fast now as a raft of Android 3.0 tablets are lined up for release this year.

Here's what we know about Android 3.0 so far.

On 20 October, we reported that Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets were rumoured to be heading out to engineers in time for Christmas. This resulted in a huge range of tablets arriving at CES 2011, with UK release dates later in the year, but none of the tablets on show were actually running Android 3.0.

Android 3.0 release date

Android 3.0 release date is looking like early 2011.

In a video on All Things Digital posted on 7 December 2010 Google's Andy Rubin showed off a prototype Motorola Android 3.0 tablet and confirmed that the Android 3.0 release date will be "some time next year".

As of mid-February 2011, we've seen Android 3.0 running on a wide range of tablets which are all due out soon, which means Android 3.0 is very nearly ready for launch. We're guessing on a release date some time in March/April.

Android 3.0 features and specifications

UPDATE: As we reported on 9 March 2011, Google is working on integrating Google Voice into Android 3.0. The announcement was made by a Google employee called Zeke who posted on the Google Voice forum: "As you've noticed, Google Voice isn't available for Honeycomb yet. We're working on it, and I'll update this thread as more info is available."

As we reported in July 2010, a Russian podcast detailed how Android 3.0 Honeycomb will be restricted to high-end handsets and tablets. The podcast explained that Android 3.0 phones will require at least a 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM and 3.5-inch or larger displays.

A Korean electronics firm then claimed that Android 3.0 will actually require a dual-core processor to run. Google's Dan Morrill scotched the rumours in a tweet, saying "there's no hard minimum processor requirement for Honeycomb. Trust me, if there were I'd know."

According to the Google Mobile Blog, Android 3.0 has had a huge amount of user interface refinement, and is designed specifically for large-screen devices (so, tablets). Widgets have been made more interactive, and the Home screen has received a snazzy 3D makeover.

The new Chrome browser in particular has received some major polish, with the addition of tabbed browsing, auto-fill, syncing with desktop versions of Chrome and private browsing all bringing it closer to the browsing features of a PC.

Android Market is now also web based and it's designed for the tablet - you can purchase directly from here and finally search more comprehensively for applications.

'Bubbled' widgets are also being introduced - they can present multiple stories, videos, emails or books without you having to enter the application, giving easy access to your important information without entering any apps.

Also, all applications will be able to use the fragmentation mode, meaning that, like Gmail, things like Twitter will be able to have side by side information in the same app. Support for in-app purchases is coming too.

Google has detailed more of the new features in this video:

Android 3.0 is also set to offer music syncing, as we reported on 18 January 2011.The 'sync music' option could enable Android 3.0 devices to sync local music with cloud-based services.

Android 3.0 phones

One of the first Android 3.0 phones could be the Samsung Galaxy S2 if another rumour is to be believed. However, in our hands on Samsung Galaxy S2 review from Mobile World Congress the S2 was confirmed as having the 'latest generation of Android on it', with the current iteration running Android 2.3.1.

On 27 October 2010, reports appeared that Google was planning to release an Android 3.0 powered Nexus Two with Carphone Warehouse, although we now know that the next Nexus - called the Nexus S and available through Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy - is running Android 2.3. Check out our Google Nexus S review for the lowdown.

It's also been claimed that the PSP Phone will be running Android 3.0, but again, the version we got hands on with - now officially called the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, was running Android 2.3.

So where are the Android 3.0 phones? After a chat TechRadar had with Google in January 2011, it seems quite possible that Android 3.0 is a tablet-only OS and will never be coming to mobile phones.

On 16 March 2011, a leaked picture of the HTC Pyramid surfaced on XDA.cn, a Chinese site. XDA also claimed that the phone would launch with Android 3.0, but we'd take that rumour with a large pinch of salt as Android 3.0 is increasingly looking to be tablet-specific.

Android 3.0 tablets

Acer has announced 7- and 10-inch Android tablets which are slated for release in April 2011. They'll be running Android 3.0. The two tablets are the Acer Iconia Tab A100 and the Acer Iconia Tab A500.

Asus announced a range of tablets at CES, including the 7-inch Eee Pad MeMO, which comes with a capacitive stylus for use with a dedicated note-taking app.

Pansonic has announced the Viera Tablet for use with the company's connected TVs, though it's unclear whether it will use Android 3.0 or an earlier version.

The Motorola Android 3.0 prototype that Andy Rubin showed off last year surfaced as the Motorola Xoom, now confirmed to be sporting a dual-core processor 10.1-inch screen, front- and rear-facing cameras and HD video recording. We were able to get some time with it at CES, and at MWC 2011 we brought you our Hands on: Motorola Xoom review.

LG also got in on the Android 3.0 game at CES, launching the T-Mobile G-Slate. The LG Optimus Pad is on its way too. We played with the Optimus Pad at MWC 2011 for our Hands on: LG Optimus Pad review.

android 3.0 screenshot

We're also going to see a Honeycomb tablet in the form of the HTC Flyer (see our Hands on: HTC Flyer review) and the Dell Streak 10.

We got hands-on time with the Android 3.0 Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 at Mobile World Congress. The new Tab features a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 CPU and a luxurious 10.1-inch (1280 x 800 pixel) touchscreen.

In a separate event back in the UK, Toshiba let us get hands on with its as yet unnamed Toshiba tablet which will be running Android 3.0 when it goes on sale.

We'll bring you more Android 3.0 details as they emerge.

Android Honeycomb: 10 things you need to know

Google unveiled its tablet-specific Android 3.0 OS at CES to a flurry of excitement thanks to some pretty exciting new tablet-focused additions to the already impressive OS.

But, with a preview of the SDK only just released to developers, we won't be seeing Honeycomb on our Android tablets for a little while; in the meantime, whet your appetite with our round-up of the key new features.

1. There'll be 3D-effect graphics

You can't swing a cat without hitting something 3D (literally) in the tech world these days, and Google knows it. Honeycomb offers developers the opportunity to use high-performance 3D graphics which should offer no noticeable lag, even with the extra rendering required.

This means we'll see 3D creeping into our apps, wallpapers and carousels as the developers get to grips with the extra dimension.

2. The Android UI has been redesigned especially for tablets

The Android user interface had always been intended for smartphones with screens no bigger than around 4-inches - with the advent of tablet devices, displays have shot up in the size stakes. Lucky for us, they're not short of a brain cell or two over at Google and have re-designed the Android UI taking the larger screen into account.

The updated UI isn't a million miles away from what we're used to on Android handsets - there are still multiple, customisable homescreens, universal search box and widgets galore - but the small tweaks will make it so much better to use on the larger scale.

android 3.0 screenshot

An ever-present menu bar at the bottom of the screen will hold notifications, system status updates and on-screen navigation as well as a handy clock, with a "lights out" mode to dim the bar when you're watching a film and want the full screen.

Meanwhile, the action bar at the top of the screen is dependent on the app you're in; its look and feel are dictated by each individual app, as are the options available to compensate for the lack of dedicated menu button.

3. Recent apps will make multi-tasking a breeze

Multi-tasking is where we expect the dual-core Android tablets to shine, and Honeycomb gives it the tools to do so.

The 'recent apps' launcher lays out the last apps you used and the state you left them in, so you can quickly nip from one to another and straight into work. The tool lives in the system bar which is always onscreen, so there'll be no tedious navigation through menus.

android 3.0 screenshot

4. The keyboard will be tablet-friendly

Of course you could buy an external keyboard for your tablet but lugging a million accessories around defeats the object of having a sleek and handy tablet.

To save you the hassle, Google has put a bit of thought into the onscreen keyboard; the keys have been reshaped and repositioned to make typing more comfortable and the targeting more natural for the larger screen, instead of simply scaling up the keyboard.

We love the inclusion of a tab key, which makes the typing experience more akin to that of a desktop or notebook than that of a phone.

5. Better copy and paste than ever before

Ah, copy and paste. Such a small function and yet so universally adored. While regular Android does allow text selection, copying and pasting, the Honeycomb system has had a few tweaks.

Tapping a single word will select it while the bounding arrows either end make expanding the selection super simple - simpler even than the one used in Gingerbread.

Honeycomb copy and paste function

A menu in the action bar at the top of the screen then allows you to either cut, copy, copy to clipboard, share, paste, search the web for or find.

6. Connectivity upgrades include improved Wi-Fi and Bluetooth tethering

Google has improved Android's Wi-Fi connectivity with a new scanning system; it reduces scanning time across bands and filters, so you should be up, running and connected in shorter times.

Bluetooth connectivity has been updated too; more devices can now tether to the tablet and share its connectivity, while simple devices with no user interface (think sensors and the like) are also supported.

7. There'll be anonymous tabbed web browsing

If you fancy a spot of private web browsing on your Android tablet, then you're in luck; the new "incognito" mode lends an air of Poirot-era respectability to your secretive searching.

Google has also done away with the multiple-window browser, instead going for a tabbed browser system with your open web pages displayed in the action bar at the top of the screen.

android 3.0 screenshot

Google Chrome users can easily sync their bookmarks to the tablet browser too, thanks to Honeycomb's option to automatically sign in to all Google sites with one supplied account.

8. Legacy apps will work seamlessly

Worried that you won't be able to make use of the thousands of Android apps already in the marketplace? Never fear, even though they were designed for a much smaller-screened device, Honeycomb is still compatible with apps developed for earlier Android iterations as long as devs add in a simple spot of code.

The menu key functions from Android phones are migrated to the Action Bar menu in Honeycomb, and there's the option for developers to create dedicated layouts for larger screens and add them to existing apps.

9. Two-pane email should mean easy inbox oraganisation

Two-paned email sounds a little familiar - oh yes, that's right. We've seen it before on the iPad where it works brilliantly. If it ain't broke, and all that.

The ability to select multiple messages in the inbox and move or delete them mean there's no excuse for a messy, disorganised inbox, while attachments can be synced to the tablet for you to view later.

10. Widgets are going to get interactive

Widgets saved to the home screen on Honeycomb tablets are going to have a whole new level of functionality available. Rather than passively relaying information to the user, they'll be interactive.

Gestures can be used to scroll through 3D stacks or lists of content, while touch gestures can also flip and move the widget's innards like never before.

android 3.0 screenshot

If you're still crazy for more, then check out the video Google has kicked out about the new Android 3.0 OS - it's like looking at pictures but a lot faster.

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iPad newspaper The Daily coming to the UK by June

Posted: 16 Mar 2011 07:41 AM PDT

A representative of The Daily has confirmed that the digital newspaper is on its way to UK iPad users in the first half of this year.

Rupert Murdoch launched The Daily, a digital newspaper solely for the iPad, in February this year but it has been a US-only publication ever since.

Jonathan Miller, chief digital officer at The Daily, revealed the timescales to Abu Dhabi Media Summit attendees.

iPad, youPad

"Western Europe is up first in not too long from now," he said, while the Telegraph reports that he went on to reveal that the launch will be in the first half of 2011.

Murdoch has not been coy about admitting that The Daily will eventually be ported on to other tablet OSes as well.

At the launch event he said, "As other tablets get established we will develop the technology to get on them. We expect to be on all major tablets. But we see this year and next year belonging to Apple."

Murdoch, whose News Corporation also owns a number of print newspapers, hopes that The Daily will make news gathering "financially viable again".

His valuation of that news gathering comes in at 14 cents per day in the USA (0.08p); but you can bet we'll see a higher price tag than that when The Daily launches over here.

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Buying Guide: SSD vs HDD: which is best?

Posted: 16 Mar 2011 07:40 AM PDT

Buying a hard drive used to be simple. You'd find the three or four highest capacity drives you could afford, pick the fastest, and, well, that was it - just a few minutes online would be enough to locate some great products.

These days, though, it's a little more difficult, as you've two very different technologies to choose from. And so before you go shopping, you need to consider a very fundamental question. Conventional hard drives (HDD), or solid state drives (SSD): which is best?

SSD vs HDD: HDD technology

Standard HDD drives contain multiple disks called platters, which are covered in a magnetic coating and then rotated at high speed. Drive heads then move across the platters, changing the magnetisation of the material beneath to record data, or reading its state to return the stored information.

While the core HDD ideas are simple enough, allowing manufacturers to produce high capacity drives at very low prices, they do pose several problems.

Both reading and writing data requires a lot of work, for instance. Heads must move around, and the platter must spin to exactly the right point before the drive can do anything. This all takes time, and is why hard drives are one of the major performance bottlenecks in many PCs.

Having to move all these components around also means there's a constant power drain, an issue with laptops and netbooks.

And the drive heads gets incredibly close to the platter - a tiny fraction of the thickness of a human hair - so if there's a shock at the wrong time then the two may collide, damaging the drive and losing data. Drive manufacturers employ a range of technologies to prevent this from happening, and as a result these head crashes are rare, but they can't be ruled out entirely - there's always some risk.

You don't have to live with these issues, though: SSD technology can address them all, though at a significant price.

SSD vs HDD: The SSD alternative

Solid state drives (SSDs) take a very different approach to data storage.

They ditch the platters, the heads, all those fast-moving components which cause such problems, replacing them with something much simpler: memory chips. The exact type of chips vary, but most drives use flash memory (essentially the same technology that's used in cameras, MP3 players, memory cards and more) which is able to store data even without any power.

This technology can be expensive, and means SSD drives generally have low capacities and high prices.

But by way of compensation you do get excellent performance. A standard hard drive may take several seconds for its platters to reach full speed, for instance: SSDs are always ready to go immediately. And an SSD doesn't have to move its head around, or wait for the platter to reach a particular point before it can read data, so its access time can be 50 times faster than a regular drive.

SSD read and write speeds are much closer to HDD technology, though, so the overall performance gain won't be nearly so spectacular. Still, equipping a PC with a solid state drive could easily halve the time it takes to boot the system, and that's a benefit worth having.

Other SSD advantages include excellent shock resistance (you're not going to lose data just because you drop one). They're also silent, and lighter than their HDD cousins.

And SSDs have very low power consumption, especially when idle or reading data. The hard drive is responsible for only a small fraction of total power use, so this may only extend laptop battery life by 5 or 10 minutes, but, again, even that could be a benefit worth having.

HDD vs SSD

When you look at the two technologies, then, it's clear that solid state drives are technically superior in many areas. But there's a problem: they're also expensive, and with much lower capacities.

Right now, for instance, you can buy two terabyte HDD drives from as little as £87 (read our reviews of the five best 2TB hard drives).

Spend the same amount of cash on a solid state drive, though, and you'll get only around 3% of that capacity: 64GB, at best. Higher capacity drives are available, but they're prohibitively expensive: a 480GB model, say, might cost you close to £1,000.

Unless you have unlimited funds, then, your first drive for a desktop should always be a standard HDD model. Prices are incredibly low - you can buy a budget 750GB drive for under £30, say - and while the performance may not be up to SSD standards, it'll be adequate for most tasks, and the money you save can give you a more significant speed boost when used elsewhere (you might buy a faster CPU, for instance).

If you're looking to optimise an existing desktop, though, then an SSD can be very useful. The idea is that you buy a fast 40GB drive for under £100, where you'll install Windows, while your data and applications are then installed on a regular hard drive.

You'll then benefit from faster boot times, and a general speed boost as Windows components are loaded more quickly. And while your SSD is small, it'll still have the space to install one or two drive-intensive applications - games, say - to ensure they deliver the fastest possible speeds.

And of course SSDs can be particularly welcome in laptops, although this does depend on what you intend to do with them.

If you're planning to buy a laptop as a desktop replacement system, something that will run lots of applications, then again an SSD probably won't have the capacity to help.

But if you're building a simple laptop to satisfy only basic needs - browsing, email, word processing, say - then a 64GB SSD could be sufficient. And it actually begins to look like something of a bargain.

The drive will improve your system's performance, reduce noise and weight, and increase battery life, if only by a few minutes: not bad for something with a price tag of under £100. See our guide to the 12 best SSD drives to find out more.

EA dismisses the Wii as a 'legacy console'

Posted: 16 Mar 2011 06:16 AM PDT

Frank Gibeau, head of EA Games, has revealed that he believes the Nintendo Wii is now a legacy console and should be seen in the same league as the PlayStation 2.

Speaking about Nintendo's strategy with its consoles, Gibeau said: "Nintendo understands the dynamics and the fact that HD consoles is a booming part of business right now.

"Legacy platforms like PS2 and the Wii have dropped off significantly.

"They're not stupid. They're going to figure something out. They're going to come back at it."

Third-party focus

This "figuring something out" is essentially the Wii 2, something Gibeau hints at: "Now, they're coming back with a second act. I think they know that. They're very self-aware as an organisation and a very powerful brand."

Gibeau believes that third-party developers have to be an integral part of Nintendo's game plan for the Wii 2 and that the company shouldn't just focus on its own games franchises.

"It's something they need to think seriously about with their next gen - how serious is a third party development community for them on their next platform and their next bet?"



at 2:31 AM

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