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Techradar |
- AT&T buys T-Mobile USA for £24bn
- Firefox 4 arrives ahead of official release
- Google fined by France over Street View data
- Sony Ericsson Xperia Play and Arc hit Vodafone pre-order
- iOS 4.3.1 on its way to end your iPad 2 jailbreaking fun
- iOS 4.3.1 on its way to end your iPad 2 jailbreaking fun
- Ford to put DAB radios in all its UK cars by 2012
- Ford to put DAB radios in all its UK cars by 2012
- New Xbox 2015 release date sort-of confirmed by designer
- New Xbox 2015 release date sort-of confirmed by designer
- Best Buy: 48% think 3D is too expensive
- Best Buy: 48% think 3D is too expensive
- In Depth: Tips and tweaks to upgrade your laptop for gaming
- In Depth: Tips and tweaks to upgrade your laptop for gaming
- Tutorial: Add tabs to the OS X Finder and find files more easily
- Tutorial: Add tabs to the OS X Finder and find files more easily
- Samsung Galaxy S II Mini outed by leaked slides
- Samsung Galaxy S II Mini outed by leaked slides
- BlackBerry PlayBook UK release date leaked
- BlackBerry PlayBook UK release date leaked
- WIN! 1 of 15 Antivirus products from G Data
- WIN! 1 of 15 Antivirus products from G Data
- Alacatel launches Royal Wedding themed phone
- Alacatel launches Royal Wedding themed phone
| AT&T buys T-Mobile USA for £24bn Posted: 21 Mar 2011 08:50 PM PDT  AT&T has purchased T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom in a deal which establishes the network as the single biggest carrier in the United States. The $39bn (£24m) agreement, which is still to be approved by regulators, would see AT&T overhaul Verizon Wireless as the most dominant network stateside with a 43 per cent share of the market. AT&T will retire the T-Mobile name in the USA, when the takeover is completed in 2012, and take full advantage of the T-Mobile network infrastructure to improve its own over-burdened network. The deal is the second T-Mobile sell-off German giant Deutsche Telekom has made in the last couple of years, with T-Mobile UK merging with Orange to form the Everything Everywhere network. Less choice? T-Mobile USA had offered customers cheaper contracts and better contract-less, pre-pay options than the big two and it's now expected that AT&T will eventually raise those rates in line with its own fees. Analysts stateside also believe that the deal could push the lower placed Sprint network "into the arms" of Verizon Wireless, lessening the options for the consumer even more. AT&T had gained an advantage during the latter part of the last decade thanks largely to an exclusive deal with Apple to sell the iPhone. But the carrier has struggled to keep pace with Verizon's inventory of top Android handsets and better 3G coverage, while it took a further hit when Verizon also gained the rights to sell the iPhone last month. 
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| Firefox 4 arrives ahead of official release Posted: 21 Mar 2011 02:59 PM PDT  The full version of Mozilla's Firefox 4 browser has slipped-out a day before it is officially released. The new and improved web browser will arrive on the Mozilla website tomorrow (Tuesday) but it can now be downloaded in full from the Mozilla Releases ftp server for Windows, Mac and Linux. This last weekend saw some unexpected developments with an unanounced release candidate arriving on Friday followed by the final release build soon after on Saturday. The full edition arrives on the scene after a whopping 12 beta versions, which saw the official outing continually pushed back from the planned November 2010 launch. IE9-beater Firefox 4 promises a new, streamlined design with tabs on top of the URL bar, support for new web standards HTML5 and CSS3 and automatic syncing across your machines. There's also a new JavaScript engine, improved hardware acceleration, restart-less add-ons and a new tab management system called Panorama, which allows users to organise their tabs into logical groups. Last week we reported that the launch of Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 logged 2.3m downloads in the first 24 hours. We expect Firefox 4 to smash that figure and possibly eclipse the 8-million day-one downloads achieved by Firefox 3. 
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| Google fined by France over Street View data Posted: 21 Mar 2011 02:19 PM PDT  Google has been fined a whopping €100,000 (£87,000) in France for gathering personal data from open Wi-Fi networks, while taking pictures for Street View. The penalty, handed out by French privacy watchdog CNIL, comes after Google admitted that it had scoped the information by accident while filming with its controversial Street View cameras. Google has apologised for the mistake and says that it will delete the personal data in question. Google's global privacy counsel Peter Fleischer said: "As we have said before, we are profoundly sorry for having mistakenly collected payload data from unencrypted wi-fi networks." More fines? The fine represents the first penalty imposed on Google following a series of similar offenses around the world, including the UK, and could lead to more action being taken. The online search giant claims that an engineering error led to data like passwords, log-in names and email messages being collected in 30 different countries during the Street View set-up operation. It has since stopped collecting data from open Wi-Fi networks. 
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| Sony Ericsson Xperia Play and Arc hit Vodafone pre-order Posted: 21 Mar 2011 09:42 AM PDT  Vodafone has opened pre-orders on both the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play and Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc today. The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play will be available for free on a £35 per month 24-month contract, just as we suspected. The network will throw in 900 minutes, unlimited texts and 750MB of data each month, and the first 1,000 people to pre-order will get a free Sony Ericsson dock too. On to the Arc Meanwhile, the Arc comes in a little cheaper; free on a £30 per month 24-month deal, which gets you 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB of data a month. Anyone who pre-orders either handset in March will also enjoy free Vodafone-to-Vodafone calls for the life of the contract. Both Android Gingerbread-running handsets are set for launch very soon – the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play UK release date is 31 March, while Vodafone says the Arc will hit on 1 April. 
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| iOS 4.3.1 on its way to end your iPad 2 jailbreaking fun Posted: 21 Mar 2011 09:12 AM PDT  Apple is currently readying iOS 4.3.1 for release in the next couple of weeks, if information sent to one tech site is to be believed. iOS 4.3 only went live earlier this month, but Apple is looking keen to stamp out any iPad 2 hacking action. Sources told BGR that the minor update will include a number of fixes, including closing the door on iPad 2 jailbreaking 'vulnerability'. Tweaks Other tweaks include fixing issues with third party apps recognising the gyroscope on the iPad 2, a couple of memory issues and baseband updates for the iPhone 3GS and original iPad. It's looking unlikely that the update will hit before the UK gets its hands on the iPad 2, set to launch on 25 March (Friday). No doubt most of us will be happy to have the new tablet safely in our possession before we start complaining about minor problems, though. 
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| iOS 4.3.1 on its way to end your iPad 2 jailbreaking fun Posted: 21 Mar 2011 09:12 AM PDT Apple is currently readying iOS 4.3.1 for release in the next couple of weeks, if information sent to one tech site is to be believed. iOS 4.3 only went live earlier this month, but Apple is looking keen to stamp out any iPad 2 hacking action. Sources told BGR that the minor update will include a number of fixes, including closing the door on iPad 2 jailbreaking 'vulnerability'. Tweaks Other tweaks include fixing issues with third party apps recognising the gyroscope on the iPad 2, a couple of memory issues and baseband updates for the iPhone 3GS and original iPad. It's looking unlikely that the update will hit before the UK gets its hands on the iPad 2, set to launch on 25 March (Friday). No doubt most of us will be happy to have the new tablet safely in our possession before we start complaining about minor problems, though.
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| Ford to put DAB radios in all its UK cars by 2012 Posted: 21 Mar 2011 08:51 AM PDT  Ford has announced that it will be integrating DAB technology into all of its car ranges by 2012, a full three years ahead of the radio digital switchover in 2015 and one year ahead of the proposed plan for the car industry. The new Ford Focus comes equipped with a DAB radio but the company will make efforts to equip all of its cars with a digital radio over the next two years. Looming issue Nigel Sharp, managing director of Ford of Great Britain, said about the plans: "[The digital switchover] is a looming issue, and we want to be well placed. The fact is that the Focus's radio is future-proofed now, whereas those in our competitors' cars aren't. "The plan is to extend that across every Ford model in the next 18 months or so. There are technical issues to overcome because, for instance, traffic alerts are broadcast only in FM at the moment, but we are confident we can achieve our goal." Getting rid of FM radios and replacing them with DAB is said to be energy efficient, with the digital signal using 7 per cent less electricity than an analogue one. Plus you get to listen to 6Music, which has got to be a bonus. 
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| Ford to put DAB radios in all its UK cars by 2012 Posted: 21 Mar 2011 08:51 AM PDT Ford has announced that it will be integrating DAB technology into all of its car ranges by 2012, a full three years ahead of the radio digital switchover in 2015 and one year ahead of the proposed plan for the car industry. The new Ford Focus comes equipped with a DAB radio but the company will make efforts to equip all of its cars with a digital radio over the next two years. Looming issue Nigel Sharp, managing director of Ford of Great Britain, said about the plans: "[The digital switchover] is a looming issue, and we want to be well placed. The fact is that the Focus's radio is future-proofed now, whereas those in our competitors' cars aren't. "The plan is to extend that across every Ford model in the next 18 months or so. There are technical issues to overcome because, for instance, traffic alerts are broadcast only in FM at the moment, but we are confident we can achieve our goal." Getting rid of FM radios and replacing them with DAB is said to be energy efficient, with the digital signal using 7 per cent less electricity than an analogue one. Plus you get to listen to 6Music, which has got to be a bonus.
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| New Xbox 2015 release date sort-of confirmed by designer Posted: 21 Mar 2011 07:43 AM PDT  A designer who has worked with Microsoft has implied that the next generation Xbox is slated for a 2015 release. In his online portfolio, Ben Peterson posted scant details of a collaboration with Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business design group. Alongside an angled image that doesn't give much away, he wrote: "Microsoft Xbox. Confidential / Collaboration with Microsoft's IEB design group investigating future user experiences and hardware for 2015. *Work samples only permissible in person.* (March 2011)." The mysterious Ben Peterson Question marks hang over such information; who is Ben Peterson? Didn't he sign an NDA when working with Microsoft? Why is there no contact information on his online portfolio? Will he be allowed to live after such a faux-pas? Or is this all a traffic-mongering lie? It's not the first time that 2015 has been mooted as the year of the new Xbox – Microsoft has already said that it sees the Kinect peripheral extending the life of the already-aged Xbox 360 through to 2015. Perhaps – just perhaps – the company is putting those four years to good use and working on something incredible that will blow us out of the water in 2015 – after all, it islooking for hardware engineers for the Xbox platform and Ben Peterson certainly makes it sound as though R&D is underway. We guess we'll find out for sure in 2015. 
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| New Xbox 2015 release date sort-of confirmed by designer Posted: 21 Mar 2011 07:43 AM PDT A designer who has worked with Microsoft has implied that the next generation Xbox is slated for a 2015 release. In his online portfolio, Ben Peterson posted scant details of a collaboration with Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business design group. Alongside an angled image that doesn't give much away, he wrote: "Microsoft Xbox. Confidential / Collaboration with Microsoft's IEB design group investigating future user experiences and hardware for 2015. *Work samples only permissible in person.* (March 2011)." The mysterious Ben Peterson Question marks hang over such information; who is Ben Peterson? Didn't he sign an NDA when working with Microsoft? Why is there no contact information on his online portfolio? Will he be allowed to live after such a faux-pas? Or is this all a traffic-mongering lie? It's not the first time that 2015 has been mooted as the year of the new Xbox – Microsoft has already said that it sees the Kinect peripheral extending the life of the already-aged Xbox 360 through to 2015. Perhaps – just perhaps – the company is putting those four years to good use and working on something incredible that will blow us out of the water in 2015 – after all, it islooking for hardware engineers for the Xbox platform and Ben Peterson certainly makes it sound as though R&D is underway. We guess we'll find out for sure in 2015.
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| Best Buy: 48% think 3D is too expensive Posted: 21 Mar 2011 07:26 AM PDT  Best Buy has been looking into the UK's perception of 3D ahead of the launch of the Nintendo 3DS, and has found a mixed response to what Britain knows and thinks about the technology. Out of the 2,000 people surveyed, Best Buy found that 48 per cent still think that the technology is too expensive, but at least 70 per cent have had experience with the technology and enjoy using it. Most of this experience is not in the home, however, with less than one in five (16 per cent) having watched 3D on a TV at home or at someone else's house. 3D experience "Advances in technology can make our lives easier, more fun, more productive and better connected," said Rob Wilkins, Head of Home Theatre and Entertainment at Best Buy UK. "We want to demonstrate to customers that everyone can get the most out of their technology to live a fuller, richer, faster, digital life." Best Buy is hoping that it can change the perception of 3D being too expensive, notes Wilkins: "With the popularity of big blockbusters such as Avatar, people may believe that to achieve an effective 3D experience they need to spend thousands of pounds on 3D TVs and equipment. "We have looked at all of the entertainment products we offer and actually found that prices are very similar to HD TVs, we encourage consumers to take this on board when thinking of buying a new TV so that they get the most out of their technology investment." The Nintendo 3DS UK release date is 25 March. 
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| Best Buy: 48% think 3D is too expensive Posted: 21 Mar 2011 07:26 AM PDT Best Buy has been looking into the UK's perception of 3D ahead of the launch of the Nintendo 3DS, and has found a mixed response to what Britain knows and thinks about the technology. Out of the 2,000 people surveyed, Best Buy found that 48 per cent still think that the technology is too expensive, but at least 70 per cent have had experience with the technology and enjoy using it. Most of this experience is not in the home, however, with less than one in five (16 per cent) having watched 3D on a TV at home or at someone else's house. 3D experience "Advances in technology can make our lives easier, more fun, more productive and better connected," said Rob Wilkins, Head of Home Theatre and Entertainment at Best Buy UK. "We want to demonstrate to customers that everyone can get the most out of their technology to live a fuller, richer, faster, digital life." Best Buy is hoping that it can change the perception of 3D being too expensive, notes Wilkins: "With the popularity of big blockbusters such as Avatar, people may believe that to achieve an effective 3D experience they need to spend thousands of pounds on 3D TVs and equipment. "We have looked at all of the entertainment products we offer and actually found that prices are very similar to HD TVs, we encourage consumers to take this on board when thinking of buying a new TV so that they get the most out of their technology investment." The Nintendo 3DS UK release date is 25 March.
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| In Depth: Tips and tweaks to upgrade your laptop for gaming Posted: 21 Mar 2011 07:00 AM PDT  Time then to lift the lid on your laptop and delve into its inner sanctum. The juicy technology sandwiched between its chassis is simply ripe for tinkering, and while manufacturers say you shouldn't, we're going to look at how opening up the case can reap rich performance rewards. Figures show that we've all been buying more laptops than desktops over the last few years and it's predicted that desktop sales will remain flat while laptop sales continue to post double-digit increases. In other words, we'll all be buying laptops while upgrading the one main desktop at home. So it's time we took a close look at how you can overhaul and game on a tired old laptop. The biggest single disappointment when attempting a laptop upgrade is the steadfast, single-minded blocking the industry and manufacturers put in your way as the owner and user of that laptop. They might use industry standard components and connections but that doesn't stop them creating parts that simply cannot be removed, or BIOS locks that construct a virtual Stasi, imprisoning your device and only allowing it to work with permissible components. While this might sound like the ravings of a cirrhosis sufferer at a beer festival, knowing if a laptop can have its parts upgraded, if at all, is not only useful for the laptop you already own, but can help form future purchases. Choosing a laptop that you know can be upgraded at a later date is invaluable because it'll extend its useful life. Hacked drivers Starting off with a few useful software tweaks is the first step; using hacked drivers can help squeeze more from the hardware. Options to add memory and a fresh hard drive can hugely increase performance as well, as the base installed options can be poor. The more exotic processor and graphics upgrade routes are substantially more complex, but for many it's a clear-cut case of you can or you can't. Even here, there are other alternatives that can get even the lowest-end options on the gaming platform, as we'll see… Is upgrading a laptop something you should seriously consider? Well, it's not impossible to do but by the time you've scraped out the inside of your wallet for upgrades you could very well have enough to spend on a similar or better performing new laptop. Take a look at the Acer Aspire below. It's an example of what £500 will buy; an entry-level gaming laptop. If the cost of your upgrade comes close to or is more than this, a new laptop is probably a better option. (You could level the same accusation at desktops but with laptops you're more constrained to the upgrade options and some manufacturers actively block upgrade routes by locking the BIOS down).
Negativity aside, though, there's no reason you can't drop in a new mobile processor that provides a bump in clock speed. Start by searching online to see if anyone has managed to upgrade the CPU. This will effectively tell you the single most critical point: is the processor soldered or socketed? If it's soldered that's a deal breaker (some people, who probably like playing with liquid nitrogen, mention hot-air soldering but it's another layer of complexity and expense on an already complex and expensive procedure). Under the hood If your search turns up good news, you need to get a little intimate with your laptop and tease out of it the model of its processor. The best generic tool for this would be CPU-Z; AMD and Intel also supply their own processor ID tools. Grab the AMD OverDrive tool from here or the Intel Processor Identification Utility from here. These should be able to inform you of the processor model, speed, voltage, socket and stepping. Take this back to Intel or AMD and look up the processors in the same family line, so Core 2 Duo, Pentium or Turion. To upgrade you'll need a list of processors based on the same socket, same voltage range and within the same thermal profile, which is the power dissipation. The last point is important, because your laptop's thermal module will be tuned for a specific heat output; swapping in a processor with a much higher thermal rating could lead to it shutting down or being throttled. Even with all of this gathered, the laptop's BIOS may simply not recognise the new processor, either refusing to boot or running it at a lower spec. You can do yourself a favour at this point by doing some more research and searching for your laptop model online. If you can find the processors it supported on release then you should have a better idea of what range of processor speeds and models it should support. It would also be wise to update the BIOS to the latest version, to make sure that it has the latest CPU ID information in place. We've gone as far as we can without breaking anything or spending money. Before you start, disconnect the laptop from the power supply and remove the battery. At this point we need to at least locate (and establish we can remove) the old processor. Ideally, a large service panel on the back of the laptop – not used for the hard drive or memory – will provide access to the thermal module and internal components. Hopefully you can see a socket and fixing screw without the need to remove this. However, depending on the design you may have to, along with the discrete graphics unit. Remove keyboard The alternative laptop design will require you to remove the keyboard and access the thermal module from the top. Typically you'll need to remove a service cover from around the screen hinges, remove fixing screws you find here, and unclick the keyboard. It's also likely you'll need to disconnect the display data cable and power to get full access. Actually installing the processor is very similar to doing the same thing in a desktop unit, as the processor is a socket design but instead of the standard ZIF lever it's usually a screw. Just make sure you align the processor keying arrow with the same arrow on the socket. You'll need to add the usual pea of thermal paste before replacing the thermal module. Rebuild the laptop and you'll be ready to restart it. Here's how to upgrade and enhance your laptop's pixel performance The Achilles heel of portable gaming is the lack of any realistic graphics upgrade route. That's not to say there are no options available to you – but all of them have their own pros and cons. The problems start with the utterly feeble abilities of laptop integrated graphics. The drive to cut costs not only cuts any possibility of an upgrade path but also the starting performance. For an older laptop struggling with integrated graphics, the easiest solution for gaming is to know your limits and simply explore games that are suitable for its abilities. Before you scream "Cop out!' it is genuinely useful to know the limitations of integrated graphics, while the PC has a vast and varied back catalogue containing archetypal and genre-forming games, many now rereleased on digital download. The two main generations of Intel integrated graphics (IGPs) are based on the GMA 9x0 (this includes the 3x00 line) and the GMA X3100/4500HD. The distinction between these is important because Intel did a major overhaul for the GMA X3100 architecture that remains right into Sandy Bridge – but we'll get to that shortly. The GMA 900 and 950 are found in the mobile 915 and 945 chipset: confusingly for N4x0 netbooks, it was re-branded as the GMA 3150 but shouldn't be confused with the GMA X3100. It's an incredibly weak IGP for a couple of reasons. Firstly it has no actual Transform & Lighting or Vertex Shader hardware: it's all emulated in software on the processor. Cleverly, Intel in later hardware will spin this as enabling the driver to choose to use the CPU or IGP to process vertex instructions for greater efficiency. It also uses a 'Zone Rendering Technology', which sounds suspiciously like PowerVR to us and could also explain the horrible lack of optimisation for it. Despite all of this, it still supports DirectX 9 and Shader Model 2.0. Thankfully, for its next generation graphics Intel got with the programme. The GMA X3100 and onwards use a unified shader model with single Execution Units that handle all operations. The X3100 line (in the 96x chipset) has eight of these, the 4500HD (the GL/S/M4x chipset) has 10, while Arrandale (Core i3/5/7) has 12, all sporting DirectX 10 and Shader Model 4.0 support. Additionally, Intel in recent years has been pushing for developers to optimise games for its IGPs, which can certainly help them reach playable levels. One example was with STALKER seeing a threefold increase in frame rate when switched from a hardware vertex routine to a fully optimised SSE2 implementation. It's an admission that its own Vertex hardware is weak, but running those routines on the processor frees up the execution units to do the Pixel Shader work, making the best of a bad situation. Benchmarking But what does all of this mean when it comes to playing games? This is where the benchmarking comes in. We've taken a selection of games that represent different generations of DirectX development and benchmarked these against standard Intel hardware. The somewhat dumfounding truth is that the GMA 900 IGP seems about as powerful as the GeForce 2 GTS released over a decade ago. Or to put it another way, it'll play the original Unreal Tournament and similar DirectX 8 games. Its lack of T&L and Vertex hardware, coupled with a weak processor, kills all performance. The more accomplished GMA 4500HD provides a good deal more graphics hardware with real unified shaders and sure enough it's just about capable of playing early DirectX 9 games with three to four times the power of the previous GMA 900 and seems the equivalent of the higher-end GeForce 4, released in 2002. Finally, Arrandale doubles the base DirectX 9 performance and is on-die, boosting memory bandwidth and putting in a performance similar to the GeForce 5 or Radeon 9800 from 2003. All of this bodes well, with Sandy Bridge using the same 12 Execution Units but increasing the maximum clock rate by a substantial amount and opening access to the L3 cache, making existing games playable at HD resolutions. So you've tried everything possible with your existing hardware or there's a game you want to play that it simply can't manage. What solutions are left? There are two avenues you can pursue and neither is perfect or guaranteed. The first one involves using an external PCI-e adaptor and PCI-e graphics card to replace the existing hardware. Available from www.hwtools.net, the PE4H costs less than £65, including shipping and enables you to plug in and use an external PCI graphics card using an Express Card slot on the laptop.
This does work on a wide range of laptops, the biggest problems being overall performance and Express Card implementation. With a basic 1x Express Card slot, the best performance you can get is around 50 per cent that of the card. If you're lucky enough to have a 2x Express Card laptop this will increase to around 75 per cent, making this a viable if not fully portable solution. Streaming solution Nothing in this world is going to help a netbook get CoD: Black Ops up and running. But then, as we've seen, that netbook is going to struggle playing the original Unreal. To get sad cases like this onto the 3D playing field we're going to have to use a little lateral thinking; get something else to do all the rendering. One option is to use a streaming service. The highest profile is Onlive.com, which has a wide selection of games to choose from. Many of these offer a 30-minute free trial along with three-and five-day passes. Gaikai.com is a relatively new one that's going through beta testing at the moment. Using their own servers you just need to provide the broadband connection to connect to the server to get gaming. There's a reasonable DIY option available from streammygame.com. This clever system uses your desktop PC to do all the 3D donkey work and streams it over your local network. The free version is limited to 640 x 480 and your local network. A paid version costs just $9.99 a year and enables streaming over the internet and with 1,280 x 720 resolutions. It requires you to create an account and install a server on the main gaming PC. Playing a game on the laptop is a case of opening the web page and choosing which game you want to stream. This fires up the game on the server PC and away you go. We found the streaming worked well with only a scant amount of lag but it's certainly not as well supported as it could be – with a little more polish it would certainly be a winning solution. It's an oft-overlooked option but upgrading a laptop hard drive will reap greater performance rewards than you might think. In fact, it could be the solution to two big problems we have with using laptops. The first of these problems is that laptops only have one drive bay and using external storage means you've got to get up out of your comfy, warm chair (the one with the perfect buttprint) just because you've left the USB cable upstairs. The second problem is that once you start running out of space you can find the drive is moving about as fast as a pensioner browsing a supermarket meat counter. At this point, the thought of a drive upgrade might fire in those neurons. Most laptops ship with what we might describe as a 'British Rail' class of drive, when you're after 'Deutsche Bahn'-style service. Smaller capacity 5,400rpm drives are never going to perform anywhere near as well as the upgrade alternatives. The most obvious pick would be an SSD: 64GB models are now available under the magic £100 mark, with 128GB versions under £150.
While we're not here to extol the virtues or pitfalls of these devices, we are here to try and see where best you'd be spending your hard-earned, recession-weary money. Would a faster but lower-capacity 7,200rpm drive be ideal? How about a larger but slower 5,400rpm drive? Or as a further option, should you choose a hybrid drive that packs flash-memory for the best of both worlds? All of these spinning disk options come in under the £90 mark, making the question of which is best for you a tough one to answer. Even if you already know you want capacity, thus ruling out the SSD option, two drives here are 500GB and the Toshiba is a massive 1TB. With 2.5-inch drives, simply opting for a larger capacity drive will increase performance, as the 'areal data density' of the platter means more data can be read and written per second on a disk that spins at the same speed. That neatly brings in the second way of boosting drive performance; just make it spin faster. Unfortunately that introduces its own set of problems. Firstly, reading the magnetic field at that speed becomes increasingly difficult, so you need to start reducing the data density for reliability. Getting warmer Increasing speeds to 10,000 or 15,000rpm is possible but this introduces heat and these 2.5-inch devices are designed only for servers that can provide adequate cooling. So are the options a slower, more efficient but larger 5,400rpm drive or a faster, less efficient but lower capacity 7,200rpm drive? Well, there is a third way that drives can help improve performance: by utilising a data cache. Desktop drives can get away with 32MB and 64MB-sized cache while the physically far smaller 2.5-inch drives top out at 16MB, or more commonly 8MB, which is a fraction of the total capacity size but can help smooth out performance on more complex write scenarios. This does also overlap with the option of hybrid devices, of which we have the Seagate Momentus XT. 
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| In Depth: Tips and tweaks to upgrade your laptop for gaming Posted: 21 Mar 2011 07:00 AM PDT Time then to lift the lid on your laptop and delve into its inner sanctum. The juicy technology sandwiched between its chassis is simply ripe for tinkering, and while manufacturers say you shouldn't, we're going to look at how opening up the case can reap rich performance rewards. Figures show that we've all been buying more laptops than desktops over the last few years and it's predicted that desktop sales will remain flat while laptop sales continue to post double-digit increases. In other words, we'll all be buying laptops while upgrading the one main desktop at home. So it's time we took a close look at how you can overhaul and game on a tired old laptop. The biggest single disappointment when attempting a laptop upgrade is the steadfast, single-minded blocking the industry and manufacturers put in your way as the owner and user of that laptop. They might use industry standard components and connections but that doesn't stop them creating parts that simply cannot be removed, or BIOS locks that construct a virtual Stasi, imprisoning your device and only allowing it to work with permissible components. While this might sound like the ravings of a cirrhosis sufferer at a beer festival, knowing if a laptop can have its parts upgraded, if at all, is not only useful for the laptop you already own, but can help form future purchases. Choosing a laptop that you know can be upgraded at a later date is invaluable because it'll extend its useful life. Hacked drivers Starting off with a few useful software tweaks is the first step; using hacked drivers can help squeeze more from the hardware. Options to add memory and a fresh hard drive can hugely increase performance as well, as the base installed options can be poor. The more exotic processor and graphics upgrade routes are substantially more complex, but for many it's a clear-cut case of you can or you can't. Even here, there are other alternatives that can get even the lowest-end options on the gaming platform, as we'll see… Is upgrading a laptop something you should seriously consider? Well, it's not impossible to do but by the time you've scraped out the inside of your wallet for upgrades you could very well have enough to spend on a similar or better performing new laptop. Take a look at the Acer Aspire below. It's an example of what £500 will buy; an entry-level gaming laptop. If the cost of your upgrade comes close to or is more than this, a new laptop is probably a better option. (You could level the same accusation at desktops but with laptops you're more constrained to the upgrade options and some manufacturers actively block upgrade routes by locking the BIOS down).
Negativity aside, though, there's no reason you can't drop in a new mobile processor that provides a bump in clock speed. Start by searching online to see if anyone has managed to upgrade the CPU. This will effectively tell you the single most critical point: is the processor soldered or socketed? If it's soldered that's a deal breaker (some people, who probably like playing with liquid nitrogen, mention hot-air soldering but it's another layer of complexity and expense on an already complex and expensive procedure). Under the hood If your search turns up good news, you need to get a little intimate with your laptop and tease out of it the model of its processor. The best generic tool for this would be CPU-Z; AMD and Intel also supply their own processor ID tools. Grab the AMD OverDrive tool from here or the Intel Processor Identification Utility from here. These should be able to inform you of the processor model, speed, voltage, socket and stepping. Take this back to Intel or AMD and look up the processors in the same family line, so Core 2 Duo, Pentium or Turion. To upgrade you'll need a list of processors based on the same socket, same voltage range and within the same thermal profile, which is the power dissipation. The last point is important, because your laptop's thermal module will be tuned for a specific heat output; swapping in a processor with a much higher thermal rating could lead to it shutting down or being throttled. Even with all of this gathered, the laptop's BIOS may simply not recognise the new processor, either refusing to boot or running it at a lower spec. You can do yourself a favour at this point by doing some more research and searching for your laptop model online. If you can find the processors it supported on release then you should have a better idea of what range of processor speeds and models it should support. It would also be wise to update the BIOS to the latest version, to make sure that it has the latest CPU ID information in place. We've gone as far as we can without breaking anything or spending money. Before you start, disconnect the laptop from the power supply and remove the battery. At this point we need to at least locate (and establish we can remove) the old processor. Ideally, a large service panel on the back of the laptop – not used for the hard drive or memory – will provide access to the thermal module and internal components. Hopefully you can see a socket and fixing screw without the need to remove this. However, depending on the design you may have to, along with the discrete graphics unit. Remove keyboard The alternative laptop design will require you to remove the keyboard and access the thermal module from the top. Typically you'll need to remove a service cover from around the screen hinges, remove fixing screws you find here, and unclick the keyboard. It's also likely you'll need to disconnect the display data cable and power to get full access. Actually installing the processor is very similar to doing the same thing in a desktop unit, as the processor is a socket design but instead of the standard ZIF lever it's usually a screw. Just make sure you align the processor keying arrow with the same arrow on the socket. You'll need to add the usual pea of thermal paste before replacing the thermal module. Rebuild the laptop and you'll be ready to restart it. Here's how to upgrade and enhance your laptop's pixel performance The Achilles heel of portable gaming is the lack of any realistic graphics upgrade route. That's not to say there are no options available to you – but all of them have their own pros and cons. The problems start with the utterly feeble abilities of laptop integrated graphics. The drive to cut costs not only cuts any possibility of an upgrade path but also the starting performance. For an older laptop struggling with integrated graphics, the easiest solution for gaming is to know your limits and simply explore games that are suitable for its abilities. Before you scream "Cop out!' it is genuinely useful to know the limitations of integrated graphics, while the PC has a vast and varied back catalogue containing archetypal and genre-forming games, many now rereleased on digital download. The two main generations of Intel integrated graphics (IGPs) are based on the GMA 9x0 (this includes the 3x00 line) and the GMA X3100/4500HD. The distinction between these is important because Intel did a major overhaul for the GMA X3100 architecture that remains right into Sandy Bridge – but we'll get to that shortly. The GMA 900 and 950 are found in the mobile 915 and 945 chipset: confusingly for N4x0 netbooks, it was re-branded as the GMA 3150 but shouldn't be confused with the GMA X3100. It's an incredibly weak IGP for a couple of reasons. Firstly it has no actual Transform & Lighting or Vertex Shader hardware: it's all emulated in software on the processor. Cleverly, Intel in later hardware will spin this as enabling the driver to choose to use the CPU or IGP to process vertex instructions for greater efficiency. It also uses a 'Zone Rendering Technology', which sounds suspiciously like PowerVR to us and could also explain the horrible lack of optimisation for it. Despite all of this, it still supports DirectX 9 and Shader Model 2.0. Thankfully, for its next generation graphics Intel got with the programme. The GMA X3100 and onwards use a unified shader model with single Execution Units that handle all operations. The X3100 line (in the 96x chipset) has eight of these, the 4500HD (the GL/S/M4x chipset) has 10, while Arrandale (Core i3/5/7) has 12, all sporting DirectX 10 and Shader Model 4.0 support. Additionally, Intel in recent years has been pushing for developers to optimise games for its IGPs, which can certainly help them reach playable levels. One example was with STALKER seeing a threefold increase in frame rate when switched from a hardware vertex routine to a fully optimised SSE2 implementation. It's an admission that its own Vertex hardware is weak, but running those routines on the processor frees up the execution units to do the Pixel Shader work, making the best of a bad situation. Benchmarking But what does all of this mean when it comes to playing games? This is where the benchmarking comes in. We've taken a selection of games that represent different generations of DirectX development and benchmarked these against standard Intel hardware. The somewhat dumfounding truth is that the GMA 900 IGP seems about as powerful as the GeForce 2 GTS released over a decade ago. Or to put it another way, it'll play the original Unreal Tournament and similar DirectX 8 games. Its lack of T&L and Vertex hardware, coupled with a weak processor, kills all performance. The more accomplished GMA 4500HD provides a good deal more graphics hardware with real unified shaders and sure enough it's just about capable of playing early DirectX 9 games with three to four times the power of the previous GMA 900 and seems the equivalent of the higher-end GeForce 4, released in 2002. Finally, Arrandale doubles the base DirectX 9 performance and is on-die, boosting memory bandwidth and putting in a performance similar to the GeForce 5 or Radeon 9800 from 2003. All of this bodes well, with Sandy Bridge using the same 12 Execution Units but increasing the maximum clock rate by a substantial amount and opening access to the L3 cache, making existing games playable at HD resolutions. So you've tried everything possible with your existing hardware or there's a game you want to play that it simply can't manage. What solutions are left? There are two avenues you can pursue and neither is perfect or guaranteed. The first one involves using an external PCI-e adaptor and PCI-e graphics card to replace the existing hardware. Available from www.hwtools.net, the PE4H costs less than £65, including shipping and enables you to plug in and use an external PCI graphics card using an Express Card slot on the laptop.
This does work on a wide range of laptops, the biggest problems being overall performance and Express Card implementation. With a basic 1x Express Card slot, the best performance you can get is around 50 per cent that of the card. If you're lucky enough to have a 2x Express Card laptop this will increase to around 75 per cent, making this a viable if not fully portable solution. Streaming solution Nothing in this world is going to help a netbook get CoD: Black Ops up and running. But then, as we've seen, that netbook is going to struggle playing the original Unreal. To get sad cases like this onto the 3D playing field we're going to have to use a little lateral thinking; get something else to do all the rendering. One option is to use a streaming service. The highest profile is Onlive.com, which has a wide selection of games to choose from. Many of these offer a 30-minute free trial along with three-and five-day passes. Gaikai.com is a relatively new one that's going through beta testing at the moment. Using their own servers you just need to provide the broadband connection to connect to the server to get gaming. There's a reasonable DIY option available from streammygame.com. This clever system uses your desktop PC to do all the 3D donkey work and streams it over your local network. The free version is limited to 640 x 480 and your local network. A paid version costs just $9.99 a year and enables streaming over the internet and with 1,280 x 720 resolutions. It requires you to create an account and install a server on the main gaming PC. Playing a game on the laptop is a case of opening the web page and choosing which game you want to stream. This fires up the game on the server PC and away you go. We found the streaming worked well with only a scant amount of lag but it's certainly not as well supported as it could be – with a little more polish it would certainly be a winning solution. It's an oft-overlooked option but upgrading a laptop hard drive will reap greater performance rewards than you might think. In fact, it could be the solution to two big problems we have with using laptops. The first of these problems is that laptops only have one drive bay and using external storage means you've got to get up out of your comfy, warm chair (the one with the perfect buttprint) just because you've left the USB cable upstairs. The second problem is that once you start running out of space you can find the drive is moving about as fast as a pensioner browsing a supermarket meat counter. At this point, the thought of a drive upgrade might fire in those neurons. Most laptops ship with what we might describe as a 'British Rail' class of drive, when you're after 'Deutsche Bahn'-style service. Smaller capacity 5,400rpm drives are never going to perform anywhere near as well as the upgrade alternatives. The most obvious pick would be an SSD: 64GB models are now available under the magic £100 mark, with 128GB versions under £150.
While we're not here to extol the virtues or pitfalls of these devices, we are here to try and see where best you'd be spending your hard-earned, recession-weary money. Would a faster but lower-capacity 7,200rpm drive be ideal? How about a larger but slower 5,400rpm drive? Or as a further option, should you choose a hybrid drive that packs flash-memory for the best of both worlds? All of these spinning disk options come in under the £90 mark, making the question of which is best for you a tough one to answer. Even if you already know you want capacity, thus ruling out the SSD option, two drives here are 500GB and the Toshiba is a massive 1TB. With 2.5-inch drives, simply opting for a larger capacity drive will increase performance, as the 'areal data density' of the platter means more data can be read and written per second on a disk that spins at the same speed. That neatly brings in the second way of boosting drive performance; just make it spin faster. Unfortunately that introduces its own set of problems. Firstly, reading the magnetic field at that speed becomes increasingly difficult, so you need to start reducing the data density for reliability. Getting warmer Increasing speeds to 10,000 or 15,000rpm is possible but this introduces heat and these 2.5-inch devices are designed only for servers that can provide adequate cooling. So are the options a slower, more efficient but larger 5,400rpm drive or a faster, less efficient but lower capacity 7,200rpm drive? Well, there is a third way that drives can help improve performance: by utilising a data cache. Desktop drives can get away with 32MB and 64MB-sized cache while the physically far smaller 2.5-inch drives top out at 16MB, or more commonly 8MB, which is a fraction of the total capacity size but can help smooth out performance on more complex write scenarios. This does also overlap with the option of hybrid devices, of which we have the Seagate Momentus XT.
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| Tutorial: Add tabs to the OS X Finder and find files more easily Posted: 21 Mar 2011 05:55 AM PDT  There have been many attempts over the years to expand on Finder, which some Mac users consider too basic or just too awkward to use when many windows are involved. Cocoatech's Path Finder is the most famous example, offering tabs, dual-pane file-browsing and additional list sorting options; however, Path Finder is essentially a standalone application, and so if you use it you'll find yourself switching between it and Finder proper. TotalFinder isn't nearly as advanced as Path Finder, but it takes the most important components and brings them to Apple's native Finder minus any extraneous interfaces. Tabs, TotalFinder's dual-pane mode and the system-wide Visor are explored in the walkthrough below, so here we'll cover some of TotalFinder's smaller features. Most of these are easily accessible by going to Finder > Preferences, selecting TotalFinder and then clicking the Tweaks tab. Here, you'll see checkboxes and user-definable shortcuts for: showing otherwise invisible system files; Folders on Top, which places folders above files in list views; and Always Maximise, which makes a Finder window full-screen when you click the green 'zoom' button. There's also a Freelance Windows checkbox. When checked, this retains Finder's default behaviour of opening a folder in a new window if it's Command-clicked; if you don't check this, TotalFinder opens Command-clicked folders in new tabs. The tutorial starts by assuming you've installed TotalFinder and have launched the application. On doing this, Finder will restart, so TotalFinder can integrate itself into Apple's file browser. For more information about TotalFinder, including any possible future developments, visit http://totalfinder.binaryage.com. Note that if you work through the tutorial and decide that TotalFinder's not for you, click TotalFinder's menu extra and select Restart Finder to revert to Finder or Uninstall TotalFinder to remove the application entirely. Of course, you could always read our review of the latest version of TotalFinder before you install it – simply turn to page 100. How to master TotalFinder 1. Work with tabs
When TotalFinder is running, new Finder windows start life with a single tab, which replaces the title bar. The tabs are akin to those in Google Chrome, so click the + icon (or use Command+T) to get a new tab, click × to close a tab, and note that each tab displays the folder's icon. 2. Manage your tabs
Tabs are managed like tabs in modern web browsers. You can click-hold and drag left or right to reposition a tab within a window, or tear one free to create a new window once you let go of the mouse button. You can also drag tabs between Finder windows. 3. Drag content to tabs
TotalFinder makes it simple to move content between tabs. Click-hold a file and drag it over a tab. When the arrow appears, let go of the mouse button and the file will be moved. Alternatively, pause for a second to switch to the destination tab and go further in the folder. 4. Activate dual-pane view
Select View > Toggle Dual Mode (or press Command+U) to activate dual-pane mode. If you've only one tab open, it will be cloned; if you've more than one tab, your selected tab will join to the one to its right (if available) or to the one to its left. (Command+U also reverts.) 5. Work in dual-pane mode
When in dual mode, tabs 'link' in the tab bar and are managed as one. A dual-mode's window is split, providing a Finder window instance (including sidebar) on each side. Set both sides to list view to get an efficient file management workspace akin to an FTP client. 6. Activate Visor
Go to Finder > Preferences and select the TotalFinder section. Click the Visor tab and check The Visor Feature. Visor is a system wide Finder window that slides up from the bottom of the screen when you activate it using the shortcut (Command+' by default). 7. Work with Visor
Visor is handy for stashing regularly used folders, which can be accessed with a single keyboard shortcut from any app. When Visor is deactivated (using Command+' or Esc if you check the option in the Visor preferences), the app you were in is automatically refocused. 8. Pin Visor
At the top-left of Visor, you'll see a non-standard blue button. This is not a close button – but, it pins Visor open when clicked (you can also use the shortcut Shift+Command+P) and therefore stops Visor from automatically closing when you switch to another application. 
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| Tutorial: Add tabs to the OS X Finder and find files more easily Posted: 21 Mar 2011 05:55 AM PDT There have been many attempts over the years to expand on Finder, which some Mac users consider too basic or just too awkward to use when many windows are involved. Cocoatech's Path Finder is the most famous example, offering tabs, dual-pane file-browsing and additional list sorting options; however, Path Finder is essentially a standalone application, and so if you use it you'll find yourself switching between it and Finder proper. TotalFinder isn't nearly as advanced as Path Finder, but it takes the most important components and brings them to Apple's native Finder minus any extraneous interfaces. Tabs, TotalFinder's dual-pane mode and the system-wide Visor are explored in the walkthrough below, so here we'll cover some of TotalFinder's smaller features. Most of these are easily accessible by going to Finder > Preferences, selecting TotalFinder and then clicking the Tweaks tab. Here, you'll see checkboxes and user-definable shortcuts for: showing otherwise invisible system files; Folders on Top, which places folders above files in list views; and Always Maximise, which makes a Finder window full-screen when you click the green 'zoom' button. There's also a Freelance Windows checkbox. When checked, this retains Finder's default behaviour of opening a folder in a new window if it's Command-clicked; if you don't check this, TotalFinder opens Command-clicked folders in new tabs. The tutorial starts by assuming you've installed TotalFinder and have launched the application. On doing this, Finder will restart, so TotalFinder can integrate itself into Apple's file browser. For more information about TotalFinder, including any possible future developments, visit http://totalfinder.binaryage.com. Note that if you work through the tutorial and decide that TotalFinder's not for you, click TotalFinder's menu extra and select Restart Finder to revert to Finder or Uninstall TotalFinder to remove the application entirely. Of course, you could always read our review of the latest version of TotalFinder before you install it – simply turn to page 100. How to master TotalFinder 1. Work with tabs
When TotalFinder is running, new Finder windows start life with a single tab, which replaces the title bar. The tabs are akin to those in Google Chrome, so click the + icon (or use Command+T) to get a new tab, click × to close a tab, and note that each tab displays the folder's icon. 2. Manage your tabs
Tabs are managed like tabs in modern web browsers. You can click-hold and drag left or right to reposition a tab within a window, or tear one free to create a new window once you let go of the mouse button. You can also drag tabs between Finder windows. 3. Drag content to tabs
TotalFinder makes it simple to move content between tabs. Click-hold a file and drag it over a tab. When the arrow appears, let go of the mouse button and the file will be moved. Alternatively, pause for a second to switch to the destination tab and go further in the folder. 4. Activate dual-pane view
Select View > Toggle Dual Mode (or press Command+U) to activate dual-pane mode. If you've only one tab open, it will be cloned; if you've more than one tab, your selected tab will join to the one to its right (if available) or to the one to its left. (Command+U also reverts.) 5. Work in dual-pane mode
When in dual mode, tabs 'link' in the tab bar and are managed as one. A dual-mode's window is split, providing a Finder window instance (including sidebar) on each side. Set both sides to list view to get an efficient file management workspace akin to an FTP client. 6. Activate Visor
Go to Finder > Preferences and select the TotalFinder section. Click the Visor tab and check The Visor Feature. Visor is a system wide Finder window that slides up from the bottom of the screen when you activate it using the shortcut (Command+' by default). 7. Work with Visor
Visor is handy for stashing regularly used folders, which can be accessed with a single keyboard shortcut from any app. When Visor is deactivated (using Command+' or Esc if you check the option in the Visor preferences), the app you were in is automatically refocused. 8. Pin Visor
At the top-left of Visor, you'll see a non-standard blue button. This is not a close button – but, it pins Visor open when clicked (you can also use the shortcut Shift+Command+P) and therefore stops Visor from automatically closing when you switch to another application.
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| Samsung Galaxy S II Mini outed by leaked slides Posted: 21 Mar 2011 05:49 AM PDT  Not content with simply revealing potential release dates for the BlackBerry PlayBook and HTC Flyer, Three's leaked slides also out the Samsung Galaxy S II Mini. The 'mini' version of the Samsung Galaxy S II comes with a 3.7-inch screen – not exactly what you'd call small given that it's the same size as the HTC Desire S's display. The processor isn't exactly tiny either, rocking 1.4Ghz as it does, plus there's Android Gingerbread and front- and rear-facing cameras to play with too. The latter comes in at 5MP with autofocus and an LED flash as standard. Prequel not sequel Three's slide lists the Samsung Galaxy S II Mini release date as April, which could see it putting in an appearance before its erstwhile brother, the Samsung Galaxy S II which some retailers have pushed back to May. Also getting a look in thanks to The Great Three Slide Leak of 2011 is the Nokia X7, of which we've heard hide nor hair since a sneaky video back in November 2010. The X6 refresh looks set to land in June running Symbian; which version hasn't been specified but we'd guess Symbian^3. 
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| Samsung Galaxy S II Mini outed by leaked slides Posted: 21 Mar 2011 05:49 AM PDT Not content with simply revealing potential release dates for the BlackBerry PlayBook and HTC Flyer, Three's leaked slides also out the Samsung Galaxy S II Mini. The 'mini' version of the Samsung Galaxy S II comes with a 3.7-inch screen – not exactly what you'd call small given that it's the same size as the HTC Desire S's display. The processor isn't exactly tiny either, rocking 1.4Ghz as it does, plus there's Android Gingerbread and front- and rear-facing cameras to play with too. The latter comes in at 5MP with autofocus and an LED flash as standard. Prequel not sequel Three's slide lists the Samsung Galaxy S II Mini release date as April, which could see it putting in an appearance before its erstwhile brother, the Samsung Galaxy S II which some retailers have pushed back to May. Also getting a look in thanks to The Great Three Slide Leak of 2011 is the Nokia X7, of which we've heard hide nor hair since a sneaky video back in November 2010. The X6 refresh looks set to land in June running Symbian; which version hasn't been specified but we'd guess Symbian^3.
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| BlackBerry PlayBook UK release date leaked Posted: 21 Mar 2011 05:26 AM PDT  Some leaked Three-branded slides suggest that the BlackBerry PlayBook UK release date will be coming in June 2011. RIM, which revealed its first tablet efforts in September, is set to launch the PlayBook in April in the US. An official UK release date has not been revealed, and Three's slide states that it's the Wi-Fi only model that will be available in June. Three – it's a magic number We can also assume that Three will be ranging the RIM tablet, although talks may not yet be finalised if the release date is so far in the future. The leaked slides, which were sent to Engadget, also list the HTC Flyer for a May release and outs the Samsung Galaxy S II Mini, a variant of the Galaxy S II which is yet to hit the UK's shelves. A June launch will put the PlayBook a good three months behind Apple's iPad 2, as well as taking on competition from the bevy of Android tablets set to launch between now and then – including the highly-rated Motorola Xoom and HTC Flyer. 
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| BlackBerry PlayBook UK release date leaked Posted: 21 Mar 2011 05:26 AM PDT Some leaked Three-branded slides suggest that the BlackBerry PlayBook UK release date will be coming in June 2011. RIM, which revealed its first tablet efforts in September, is set to launch the PlayBook in April in the US. An official UK release date has not been revealed, and Three's slide states that it's the Wi-Fi only model that will be available in June. Three – it's a magic number We can also assume that Three will be ranging the RIM tablet, although talks may not yet be finalised if the release date is so far in the future. The leaked slides, which were sent to Engadget, also list the HTC Flyer for a May release and outs the Samsung Galaxy S II Mini, a variant of the Galaxy S II which is yet to hit the UK's shelves. A June launch will put the PlayBook a good three months behind Apple's iPad 2, as well as taking on competition from the bevy of Android tablets set to launch between now and then – including the highly-rated Motorola Xoom and HTC Flyer.
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| WIN! 1 of 15 Antivirus products from G Data Posted: 21 Mar 2011 05:00 AM PDT  TechRadar has teamed up with G Data to offer you the chance to win one of 15 anti-virus software products. With dangerous new viruses appearing daily and the all-too-real possibility of one striking at any time, a robust and responsive antivirus protection is a necessity to protect your precious digital data. For over 25 years G Data's antivirus solutions have been keeping computers protected; now you have the opportunity to win one of G Data's award-winning products. G Data Total Care 2011 offers award-winning virus protection, optimised user guidance and a 'silent' firewall for monitoring all online activities. In addition the software also offers efficient security tuning and the ability to backup data to a wide range of storage media. Alongside improved award-winning virus protection and optimisation of the intuitive user guidance, G Data InternetSecurity 2011 also protects all online activities by means of a 'silent' firewall. Operating invisibly without any loss of computing power or user-stressing querying, it successfully blocks hackers, viruses and spam. G Data AntiVirus 2011 offers antivirus, spyware and phishing protection without any loss of computing power. AntiVirus offers users a simple installation experience without compromising protection. Features such as increased scan speeds and reduced memory requirements make this a perfect solution. All G Data products are updated regularly as new threats develop, always keeping your PC protected. A 1 year subscription to TotalCare 2011 is worth £39.95, while InternetSecurity 2011 is £29.95 and AntiVirus 2011 is £24.95. The first five lucky winners will get copies of TotalCare 2011, the second five will get InternetSecurity 2011 and the third five will all win copies of AntiVirus 2011. To win, answer the following question: What is the name of G Data's flagship anti-virus product?
Click here to enter the competition 
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| WIN! 1 of 15 Antivirus products from G Data Posted: 21 Mar 2011 05:00 AM PDT TechRadar has teamed up with G Data to offer you the chance to win one of 15 anti-virus software products. With dangerous new viruses appearing daily and the all-too-real possibility of one striking at any time, a robust and responsive antivirus protection is a necessity to protect your precious digital data. For over 25 years G Data's antivirus solutions have been keeping computers protected; now you have the opportunity to win one of G Data's award-winning products. G Data Total Care 2011 offers award-winning virus protection, optimised user guidance and a 'silent' firewall for monitoring all online activities. In addition the software also offers efficient security tuning and the ability to backup data to a wide range of storage media. Alongside improved award-winning virus protection and optimisation of the intuitive user guidance, G Data InternetSecurity 2011 also protects all online activities by means of a 'silent' firewall. Operating invisibly without any loss of computing power or user-stressing querying, it successfully blocks hackers, viruses and spam. G Data AntiVirus 2011 offers antivirus, spyware and phishing protection without any loss of computing power. AntiVirus offers users a simple installation experience without compromising protection. Features such as increased scan speeds and reduced memory requirements make this a perfect solution. All G Data products are updated regularly as new threats develop, always keeping your PC protected. A 1 year subscription to TotalCare 2011 is worth £39.95, while InternetSecurity 2011 is £29.95 and AntiVirus 2011 is £24.95. The first five lucky winners will get copies of TotalCare 2011, the second five will get InternetSecurity 2011 and the third five will all win copies of AntiVirus 2011. To win, answer the following question: What is the name of G Data's flagship anti-virus product?
Click here to enter the competition
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| Alacatel launches Royal Wedding themed phone Posted: 21 Mar 2011 04:30 AM PDT  The wedding between Kate and Wills is not so much a celebration of the future of our monarchy and the joining in holy matrimony of two young people in love as an opportunity to peddle some 'interesting' memorabilia. Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy have unashamedly hopped aboard the bandwagon with a special edition Royal Wedding mobile phone. In accordance with the quality and prestige as befits the marrying of the Windsor line with the Middleton clan, the handset itself is an Alcatel One Touch candybar handset. It's really "nice" Emblazoned on the front is a Union Jack, while the red back features a very, er, beautiful calligraphic rendering of the couple's initials and wedding date. What's more, it comes with Mendelssohn's Wedding March as the ringtone, and the wallpaper is a photo of our balding future King and his bride. Mark Eastham, Commercial Director for The Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy, is pretty excited about the phone, saying: "We are delighted to offer this fun, limited edition, Royal Wedding – themed phone to our customers. It's great to offer a product which really taps into the national spirit over the coming months, and is still an affordable option for customers". Great indeed. Yours for £15 on pay as you go, the handset will be available from Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy. Well, that's TechRadar's wedding gift sorted anyway. 
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| Alacatel launches Royal Wedding themed phone Posted: 21 Mar 2011 04:30 AM PDT The wedding between Kate and Wills is not so much a celebration of the future of our monarchy and the joining in holy matrimony of two young people in love as an opportunity to peddle some 'interesting' memorabilia. Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy have unashamedly hopped aboard the bandwagon with a special edition Royal Wedding mobile phone. In accordance with the quality and prestige as befits the marrying of the Windsor line with the Middleton clan, the handset itself is an Alcatel One Touch candybar handset. It's really "nice" Emblazoned on the front is a Union Jack, while the red back features a very, er, beautiful calligraphic rendering of the couple's initials and wedding date. What's more, it comes with Mendelssohn's Wedding March as the ringtone, and the wallpaper is a photo of our balding future King and his bride. Mark Eastham, Commercial Director for The Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy, is pretty excited about the phone, saying: "We are delighted to offer this fun, limited edition, Royal Wedding – themed phone to our customers. It's great to offer a product which really taps into the national spirit over the coming months, and is still an affordable option for customers". Great indeed. Yours for £15 on pay as you go, the handset will be available from Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy. Well, that's TechRadar's wedding gift sorted anyway.
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