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Techradar |
- In Depth: PS4 rumours: what you need to know
- In Depth: PS4 rumours: what you need to know
- Wii rules living room, 360 owns bedrooms
- Wii rules living room, 360 owns bedrooms
- Review: Exclusive: Acer Iconia Tab W500
- Review: Exclusive: Acer Iconia Tab W500
- Google adds voice recognition to Chrome
- Google adds voice recognition to Chrome
- Review: Ebode Take10
- Review: Ebode Take10
- Tesco slashes Nintendo 3DS price to £175
- Tesco slashes Nintendo 3DS price to £175
- Exclusive: Motorola: Exciting things ahead in 2011
- Exclusive: Motorola: Exciting things ahead in 2011
- Review: Epson EH-TW3600
- Review: Epson EH-TW3600
- P2P use drops, are pirates abandoning ship?
- P2P use drops, are pirates abandoning ship?
| In Depth: PS4 rumours: what you need to know Posted: 24 Mar 2011 04:17 AM PDT  When it comes to rumours about the next Xbox, there's some wild speculation to get your teeth into. Over on the PlayStation 4 rumour mill, things are turning much slower. As Kaz Hirai said recently, "we're not deliberating on a PS4 or a next generation machine, whatever you call it." Instead, Sony seems to be concentrating its efforts on the PS3 and forthcoming NGP, while extending the PlayStation brand into the mobile phone market with the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. But if Microsoft is now hiring engineers to spec the next Xbox, what could we expect from the PlayStation 4? The PS4 specs could abandon the Cell processor and return to x86… In February, there were rumours of a failed Sony/IBM research project to develop a PowerPC chip for future PlayStations. Going forward, Sony will surely stick with the advanced, multi-core, bitch-to-develop-for Cell processor that it dropped $3 billion on. Here are three reasons why: 1. Easy backwards compatibility with the PlayStation 3 2. A familiar development environment. By 2015 (or whenever a PS4 comes out), games developers will have had much more experience working with Cell and its software tools 3. Toshiba recently sold its Cell factory in Nagasaki back to Sony for £400 million. Sony is hardly going to abandon the chip now it owns the means to manufacture it in bulk What are the PS4 features we'd most like to see? PS4info dreams of a next-gen PlayStation with a 32nm Cell processor an up to 16 SPEs, double the number in the PlayStation 3. While over on gamrConnect, there's talk of a greater partnership with Google. Sony's new fondness for Android on the Xperia Play is an interesting strategy. Blu-ray on the PlayStation 4 is a dead cert. While digital distribution is undoubtedly the way forward, not every PlayStation owner has access to a fast broadband connection. As Kaz Hirai told Develop, "we do business in parts of the world where network infrastructure isn't as robust as one would hope. There's always going to be requirement for a business of our size and scope to have a physical medium." As for the PlayStation 4 controller, Dr. Richard Marks (Sony Computer Entertainment's US R&D manager of special projects) says that "anything that lets us get the player's intent into the system more" is technology they'll be looking at. No brain wave gaming just yet. Tricky. If you side with the likes of ITProPortal, you might believe that "the whole concept of a single lounge-bound gaming device may become obsolete". The future of gaming may well lie in a more portable device/controller that you can play on the move or plug into your TV. Epic's Mark Rein has some interesting thoughts on this here. Sony claims that the PS3 will have a 10 year lifecycle, suggesting the next PlayStation will arrive by the end of 2016 at the latest. Or we might not get a PlayStation 4 at all. Developers haven't yet maxed out the potential of the PS3, while the release of PlayStation Move has given it an extra dimension… "Where we go after this is an interesting one," says Sony Computer Entertainment UK boss Ray Maguire. "The online side is very interesting and is a big part of our business going forward. But in terms of what sort of technology we'll be using, it's far too early to say yet because we're only half way through the lifecycle of PS3 - there are many years to come on that machine." Long live PlayStation 3. 
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| In Depth: PS4 rumours: what you need to know Posted: 24 Mar 2011 04:17 AM PDT When it comes to rumours about the next Xbox, there's some wild speculation to get your teeth into. Over on the PlayStation 4 rumour mill, things are turning much slower. As Kaz Hirai said recently, "we're not deliberating on a PS4 or a next generation machine, whatever you call it." Instead, Sony seems to be concentrating its efforts on the PS3 and forthcoming NGP, while extending the PlayStation brand into the mobile phone market with the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. But if Microsoft is now hiring engineers to spec the next Xbox, what could we expect from the PlayStation 4? The PS4 specs could abandon the Cell processor and return to x86… In February, there were rumours of a failed Sony/IBM research project to develop a PowerPC chip for future PlayStations. Going forward, Sony will surely stick with the advanced, multi-core, bitch-to-develop-for Cell processor that it dropped $3 billion on. Here are three reasons why: 1. Easy backwards compatibility with the PlayStation 3 2. A familiar development environment. By 2015 (or whenever a PS4 comes out), games developers will have had much more experience working with Cell and its software tools 3. Toshiba recently sold its Cell factory in Nagasaki back to Sony for £400 million. Sony is hardly going to abandon the chip now it owns the means to manufacture it in bulk What are the PS4 features we'd most like to see? PS4info dreams of a next-gen PlayStation with a 32nm Cell processor an up to 16 SPEs, double the number in the PlayStation 3. While over on gamrConnect, there's talk of a greater partnership with Google. Sony's new fondness for Android on the Xperia Play is an interesting strategy. Blu-ray on the PlayStation 4 is a dead cert. While digital distribution is undoubtedly the way forward, not every PlayStation owner has access to a fast broadband connection. As Kaz Hirai told Develop, "we do business in parts of the world where network infrastructure isn't as robust as one would hope. There's always going to be requirement for a business of our size and scope to have a physical medium." As for the PlayStation 4 controller, Dr. Richard Marks (Sony Computer Entertainment's US R&D manager of special projects) says that "anything that lets us get the player's intent into the system more" is technology they'll be looking at. No brain wave gaming just yet. Tricky. If you side with the likes of ITProPortal, you might believe that "the whole concept of a single lounge-bound gaming device may become obsolete". The future of gaming may well lie in a more portable device/controller that you can play on the move or plug into your TV. Epic's Mark Rein has some interesting thoughts on this here. Sony claims that the PS3 will have a 10 year lifecycle, suggesting the next PlayStation will arrive by the end of 2016 at the latest. Or we might not get a PlayStation 4 at all. Developers haven't yet maxed out the potential of the PS3, while the release of PlayStation Move has given it an extra dimension… "Where we go after this is an interesting one," says Sony Computer Entertainment UK boss Ray Maguire. "The online side is very interesting and is a big part of our business going forward. But in terms of what sort of technology we'll be using, it's far too early to say yet because we're only half way through the lifecycle of PS3 - there are many years to come on that machine." Long live PlayStation 3.
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| Wii rules living room, 360 owns bedrooms Posted: 24 Mar 2011 04:09 AM PDT  The Wii rules our living rooms, while the 360 takes pride of place in gamer's bedrooms, according to Nielsen's latest annual report on gaming habits. The new Nielsen survey claims that the Wii is found in 59 per cent of all US living rooms that have games consoles, while the PS3 is in 45 per cent and the Microsoft Xbox 360 is in 42 per cent. Gaming on the patio The Xbox 360 dominates gamers' bedrooms, however, with the console to be found in 28 per cent of all console-owning households, followed by the PS3 at 16 per cent and the Wii at 14 per cent. "Today's video game consoles offer many entertainment options beyond gaming, including DVD/Blu-ray playback, Netflix, ESPN3, Pandora, Facebook and YouTube on some or all platforms," reads Nielsen's intro to the new survey. "As part of understanding the potential audience for services like these across the entire family, it is important to think about the household location of gaming platforms." 10 per cent of console-owning households keep a console in the master bedroom and, somewhat weirdly, 1 per cent of them keep it on the patio! 
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| Wii rules living room, 360 owns bedrooms Posted: 24 Mar 2011 04:09 AM PDT The Wii rules our living rooms, while the 360 takes pride of place in gamer's bedrooms, according to Nielsen's latest annual report on gaming habits. The new Nielsen survey claims that the Wii is found in 59 per cent of all US living rooms that have games consoles, while the PS3 is in 45 per cent and the Microsoft Xbox 360 is in 42 per cent. Gaming on the patio The Xbox 360 dominates gamers' bedrooms, however, with the console to be found in 28 per cent of all console-owning households, followed by the PS3 at 16 per cent and the Wii at 14 per cent. "Today's video game consoles offer many entertainment options beyond gaming, including DVD/Blu-ray playback, Netflix, ESPN3, Pandora, Facebook and YouTube on some or all platforms," reads Nielsen's intro to the new survey. "As part of understanding the potential audience for services like these across the entire family, it is important to think about the household location of gaming platforms." 10 per cent of console-owning households keep a console in the master bedroom and, somewhat weirdly, 1 per cent of them keep it on the patio!
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| Review: Exclusive: Acer Iconia Tab W500 Posted: 24 Mar 2011 04:00 AM PDT  Tablet or notebook? It's a question not only for the new Acer Iconia Tab W500, but for anyone looking to buy a new portable PC at the moment. Tablets are clearly all the rage; you only need to look at the excitement surrounding the launch of the Apple iPad 2. Many perceive these tablets as holding the key to moving mobile computing forward. The problem is, tablets aren't particularly productive devices. They're about watching movies or listening to music. They're about surfing the web on your sofa, or reading a book in a hammock. Tablets are about entertainment. They're rarely about actually creating the content that they are consuming. Anyone looking to do work or create content on the move is generally limited to using a standard computer.
There is a place for showing reports using a tablet, or for extreme working conditions where a keyboard isn't practical, but in the most part, we're limited to netbooks and notebooks. This is something Acer is looking to challenge with the release of the Iconia Tab W500. Here is a machine that bridges the gap between the aesthetics of a tablet and functionality of a netbook. This 10.1-inch tablet not only ships with a keyboard dock (which costs £80 extra - £529 with keyboard, £449 without it) to afford it more sensible working credentials, but it also comes with Windows 7 Home Premium, which means you can use all the applications that you use on a normal desktop on the Iconia Tab W500 without any more fuss.
There's no need here to learn how to fight your away around an unwieldy app store full of unknown names. This machine will handle the applications, utilities and tools that you know and love - the likes of Microsoft Word and Excel, Paint.net as well as media players such as VLC, and security programs like McAfee AntiVirus Plus. There are no worries about whether it supports Flash or Java either, as they just work. It has no problems running with system specific plug-ins either, as the likes of Unity simply install and run flawlessly too. And while Apple may be crowing about the capabilities of the new PowerVR graphics engine in the iPad 2, there are still slim pickings when it comes to actual games that fully exploit the machine.
The PC however is awash with great games, including some of the finest titles ever created on any platform - Half Life 2, Diablo and Civilization to name but a few. And all these games will run on the Iconia Tab W500. This makes the decision to side with Microsoft for the operating system compelling, although this isn't the only option out there. Apple's iOS isn't about to appear on a third party machine, but the imminent release of Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) for tablets must surely have tempted Acer as well. While it lacks the straight compatibility that Microsoft Windows OS offers, it does potentially make for a more suited OS for day-to-day tasks.
The keyboard cum docking station of the Iconia Tab W500 is an interesting idea. The chiclet-style keyboard is comfortable to use and roomy. The inclusion of standard notebook function shortcuts is welcome, and if you're going to be doing any extended typing, it's a far more comfortable experience that using the onscreen keyboard - which under Windows 7 never quite seems to be the right size to be easy to use. You'll find a pair of USB ports either side of the keyboard, along with an Ethernet port on the left-hand side of the machine.
We're less convinced about 'nipple' mouse though, and you'll be more tempted to tap the screen to get what you want. This does highlight a problem with the docked Iconia Tab W500 though, and that is it's back heavy in place, and rocks easily with the slightest touch.
There is a temptation with this design to fold the screen forward on top of the keyboard, but the holding mechanism doesn't support this, and will actually break the connectors if pushed.
The actual connection mechanism is fairly basic - the keyboard plugs into the Iconia Tab W500's single USB port and is held in place by a pair of prongs either side of this port. It's a simple design, but lacks the finesse of the Asus Eee Pad Transformer. You can clip the keyboard in place on top of the screen for transportation, although this does add to the bulk considerably, so is unlikely to be something you'd want to do often.
The keyboard dock and Windows 7 installation aren't the only shout out feature features for the Iconia Tab W500 though, as this is also the first outing for a new processor from AMD. Specs The blandly titled AMD T-50 may not sound like much, but it's actually a new member of the AMD Fusion processor family. This is a dual-core processor running at 1GHz. The CPU is a little underpowered compared to most normal notebooks, managing a score of 0.33pts in Cinebench 11 and 1.97fps using the X264 HD benchmark.
ACER RING: Acer includes its own software overlay, called Acer Ring, to access your media. It kept crashing for us though Raw processor power has been sacrificed in order to keep the power usage down, and AMD claims a thermal design power (or TDP) of just 9W for the T-50. That said, we only managed four and a quarter hours of battery life (258 minutes to be exact), out of the Iconia Tab W500 when playing back HD movies. You'll get up to twice that with less demanding tasks, but we would have expected more from the machine.
This is only part of the story for this Fusion chip though, as aside from the traditional processor core, AMD has also squeezed a Radeon HD 6250 graphics core into the processor as well. This is a DirectX 11 GPU, which means that in theory at least, it can handle all of the latest games. In practice it lacks the raw power to do so, but it does produce reasonable enough performance to handle slightly older games at lower settings. 3DMark06 managed a score of 1,589, while the older 3DMark03 produced a result of 3,991. We even tried running a recent game on the Iconia Tab W500, Rift, which was playable at the minimum settings, which isn't to be sniffed at. The Acer Iconia Tab W500 has a huge bezel, but does boast a beautiful 10.1-inch screen with a native resolution of 1,280 x 800 pixels.
This is fine for watching back HD video, something that the Fusion T-50 processor ably coped with. Images are bright, colours vivid and the viewing angles are excellent (something that the Advent Vega can't claim). The sound quality is merely passable meanwhile, although there is a headphone jack if you want to listen to music or watch a film. The rest of the specification is reasonable - there's 2GB of RAM as standard, along with 32GB of storage space for Windows and your files - not exactly a lot. WiFi support is integrated into the main unit, and wired Ethernet coming from the docking station.
We did find that the Wi-Fi connection was more prone to disconnects than other devices we've used though, and it kept dropping the connection as we moved around. It was much more stable in the dock. When we first used the machine, there was a notable lagginess to every operation - even pressing the Windows Start button instigated a 3 second wait before the menu appeared. After a few updates, this behaviour disappeared and the machine was a lot more responsive in every area bar one.
Redrawing the display to accommodate a change in the orientation of the Iconia Tab W500 takes at least five seconds to redraw, which is infuriating. This will have you reaching for the orientation lock on the base of the unit, which does negate the usefulness of its tablet form factor somewhat. A far more fundamental problem for Acer though, is that Windows 7 simply isn't designed for tablets. Yes it supports four touch points, but icons are too small, double-clicking isn't so easy, and the default Windows menu system is simply unworkable. Acer has had a good stab at the hardware, but much of this is completely undermined by its choice of OS. Yes it offers great compatibility with your existing applications and data, but at an unsuitable cost to the end user experience. With Windows 7 installed, the keyboard dock is the only real way to use the Iconia Tab W500, which negates its tablet leanings. After using the machine with Windows 7, it simply makes us lust after a Honeycomb version.
The Acer Iconia Tab W500 is a frustrating tablet. From a hardware perspective it ticks a lot of the right boxes, and apart from the surprisingly large bezel, it's an attractive enough machine - although not in the same league as the Apple iPad 2 by any means. The decision to go with a keyboard dock isn't the most logic thing to do with a tablet, but it does work to a certain degree - and means you'll get a bit more life out of this tablet than you would many others. We liked: The familiarity of Windows 7. There's no need for an app store, specific builds or worries about whether it supports Flash. Everything you know and use on a daily basis simply works - including your games catalog. The screen is bright, clear and vivid and offers great viewing angles. The native resolution of 1,280 x 800 makes watching HD video a delight as well. The AMD Fusion processor is powerful enough for simple tasks, and the inclusion of a DX11 graphics core is impressive We disliked: Windows 7 is horrendously frustrating on tablets. The icons are too small, menus are unworkable, the soft keyboard is cramped and there's so much that is simply bloated and unnecessary that even the simplest of tasks is difficult. Windows 7 is great on desktops and laptops, but it shouldn't go anywhere near a tablet. The screen refresh on turning the screen around is woeful. You'll lock the tablet in landscape mode and never want to change it. This hardly plays to the strengths of the tablet design. The keyboard dock is a little light and flimsy, so that when the tablet is in place, the whole unit is back heavy and is prone to tipping. Verdict: The problem for Acer is its choice of operating system - Windows 7 wasn't designed for use on a tablet, and it really shows. You only need look at a tablet running Android or an iPad running iOS to see how it should be done - and it's nothing like this. We understand the sentiment, but if you need this level of compatibility, you should really be using a notebook, or a desktop and uploading your files onto a cheaper, more usable tablet than this. Related Links
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| Review: Exclusive: Acer Iconia Tab W500 Posted: 24 Mar 2011 04:00 AM PDT Tablet or notebook? It's a question not only for the new Acer Iconia Tab W500, but for anyone looking to buy a new portable PC at the moment. Tablets are clearly all the rage; you only need to look at the excitement surrounding the launch of the Apple iPad 2. Many perceive these tablets as holding the key to moving mobile computing forward. The problem is, tablets aren't particularly productive devices. They're about watching movies or listening to music. They're about surfing the web on your sofa, or reading a book in a hammock. Tablets are about entertainment. They're rarely about actually creating the content that they are consuming. Anyone looking to do work or create content on the move is generally limited to using a standard computer.
There is a place for showing reports using a tablet, or for extreme working conditions where a keyboard isn't practical, but in the most part, we're limited to netbooks and notebooks. This is something Acer is looking to challenge with the release of the Iconia Tab W500. Here is a machine that bridges the gap between the aesthetics of a tablet and functionality of a netbook. This 10.1-inch tablet not only ships with a keyboard dock (which costs £80 extra - £529 with keyboard, £449 without it) to afford it more sensible working credentials, but it also comes with Windows 7 Home Premium, which means you can use all the applications that you use on a normal desktop on the Iconia Tab W500 without any more fuss.
There's no need here to learn how to fight your away around an unwieldy app store full of unknown names. This machine will handle the applications, utilities and tools that you know and love - the likes of Microsoft Word and Excel, Paint.net as well as media players such as VLC, and security programs like McAfee AntiVirus Plus. There are no worries about whether it supports Flash or Java either, as they just work. It has no problems running with system specific plug-ins either, as the likes of Unity simply install and run flawlessly too. And while Apple may be crowing about the capabilities of the new PowerVR graphics engine in the iPad 2, there are still slim pickings when it comes to actual games that fully exploit the machine.
The PC however is awash with great games, including some of the finest titles ever created on any platform - Half Life 2, Diablo and Civilization to name but a few. And all these games will run on the Iconia Tab W500. This makes the decision to side with Microsoft for the operating system compelling, although this isn't the only option out there. Apple's iOS isn't about to appear on a third party machine, but the imminent release of Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) for tablets must surely have tempted Acer as well. While it lacks the straight compatibility that Microsoft Windows OS offers, it does potentially make for a more suited OS for day-to-day tasks.
The keyboard cum docking station of the Iconia Tab W500 is an interesting idea. The chiclet-style keyboard is comfortable to use and roomy. The inclusion of standard notebook function shortcuts is welcome, and if you're going to be doing any extended typing, it's a far more comfortable experience that using the onscreen keyboard - which under Windows 7 never quite seems to be the right size to be easy to use. You'll find a pair of USB ports either side of the keyboard, along with an Ethernet port on the left-hand side of the machine.
We're less convinced about 'nipple' mouse though, and you'll be more tempted to tap the screen to get what you want. This does highlight a problem with the docked Iconia Tab W500 though, and that is it's back heavy in place, and rocks easily with the slightest touch.
There is a temptation with this design to fold the screen forward on top of the keyboard, but the holding mechanism doesn't support this, and will actually break the connectors if pushed.
The actual connection mechanism is fairly basic - the keyboard plugs into the Iconia Tab W500's single USB port and is held in place by a pair of prongs either side of this port. It's a simple design, but lacks the finesse of the Asus Eee Pad Transformer. You can clip the keyboard in place on top of the screen for transportation, although this does add to the bulk considerably, so is unlikely to be something you'd want to do often.
The keyboard dock and Windows 7 installation aren't the only shout out feature features for the Iconia Tab W500 though, as this is also the first outing for a new processor from AMD. Specs The blandly titled AMD T-50 may not sound like much, but it's actually a new member of the AMD Fusion processor family. This is a dual-core processor running at 1GHz. The CPU is a little underpowered compared to most normal notebooks, managing a score of 0.33pts in Cinebench 11 and 1.97fps using the X264 HD benchmark.
ACER RING: Acer includes its own software overlay, called Acer Ring, to access your media. It kept crashing for us though Raw processor power has been sacrificed in order to keep the power usage down, and AMD claims a thermal design power (or TDP) of just 9W for the T-50. That said, we only managed four and a quarter hours of battery life (258 minutes to be exact), out of the Iconia Tab W500 when playing back HD movies. You'll get up to twice that with less demanding tasks, but we would have expected more from the machine.
This is only part of the story for this Fusion chip though, as aside from the traditional processor core, AMD has also squeezed a Radeon HD 6250 graphics core into the processor as well. This is a DirectX 11 GPU, which means that in theory at least, it can handle all of the latest games. In practice it lacks the raw power to do so, but it does produce reasonable enough performance to handle slightly older games at lower settings. 3DMark06 managed a score of 1,589, while the older 3DMark03 produced a result of 3,991. We even tried running a recent game on the Iconia Tab W500, Rift, which was playable at the minimum settings, which isn't to be sniffed at. The Acer Iconia Tab W500 has a huge bezel, but does boast a beautiful 10.1-inch screen with a native resolution of 1,280 x 800 pixels.
This is fine for watching back HD video, something that the Fusion T-50 processor ably coped with. Images are bright, colours vivid and the viewing angles are excellent (something that the Advent Vega can't claim). The sound quality is merely passable meanwhile, although there is a headphone jack if you want to listen to music or watch a film. The rest of the specification is reasonable - there's 2GB of RAM as standard, along with 32GB of storage space for Windows and your files - not exactly a lot. WiFi support is integrated into the main unit, and wired Ethernet coming from the docking station.
We did find that the Wi-Fi connection was more prone to disconnects than other devices we've used though, and it kept dropping the connection as we moved around. It was much more stable in the dock. When we first used the machine, there was a notable lagginess to every operation - even pressing the Windows Start button instigated a 3 second wait before the menu appeared. After a few updates, this behaviour disappeared and the machine was a lot more responsive in every area bar one.
Redrawing the display to accommodate a change in the orientation of the Iconia Tab W500 takes at least five seconds to redraw, which is infuriating. This will have you reaching for the orientation lock on the base of the unit, which does negate the usefulness of its tablet form factor somewhat. A far more fundamental problem for Acer though, is that Windows 7 simply isn't designed for tablets. Yes it supports four touch points, but icons are too small, double-clicking isn't so easy, and the default Windows menu system is simply unworkable. Acer has had a good stab at the hardware, but much of this is completely undermined by its choice of OS. Yes it offers great compatibility with your existing applications and data, but at an unsuitable cost to the end user experience. With Windows 7 installed, the keyboard dock is the only real way to use the Iconia Tab W500, which negates its tablet leanings. After using the machine with Windows 7, it simply makes us lust after a Honeycomb version.
The Acer Iconia Tab W500 is a frustrating tablet. From a hardware perspective it ticks a lot of the right boxes, and apart from the surprisingly large bezel, it's an attractive enough machine - although not in the same league as the Apple iPad 2 by any means. The decision to go with a keyboard dock isn't the most logic thing to do with a tablet, but it does work to a certain degree - and means you'll get a bit more life out of this tablet than you would many others. We liked: The familiarity of Windows 7. There's no need for an app store, specific builds or worries about whether it supports Flash. Everything you know and use on a daily basis simply works - including your games catalog. The screen is bright, clear and vivid and offers great viewing angles. The native resolution of 1,280 x 800 makes watching HD video a delight as well. The AMD Fusion processor is powerful enough for simple tasks, and the inclusion of a DX11 graphics core is impressive We disliked: Windows 7 is horrendously frustrating on tablets. The icons are too small, menus are unworkable, the soft keyboard is cramped and there's so much that is simply bloated and unnecessary that even the simplest of tasks is difficult. Windows 7 is great on desktops and laptops, but it shouldn't go anywhere near a tablet. The screen refresh on turning the screen around is woeful. You'll lock the tablet in landscape mode and never want to change it. This hardly plays to the strengths of the tablet design. The keyboard dock is a little light and flimsy, so that when the tablet is in place, the whole unit is back heavy and is prone to tipping. Verdict: The problem for Acer is its choice of operating system - Windows 7 wasn't designed for use on a tablet, and it really shows. You only need look at a tablet running Android or an iPad running iOS to see how it should be done - and it's nothing like this. We understand the sentiment, but if you need this level of compatibility, you should really be using a notebook, or a desktop and uploading your files onto a cheaper, more usable tablet than this. Related Links
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| Google adds voice recognition to Chrome Posted: 24 Mar 2011 03:37 AM PDT  Google has added a speech recognition feature to the latest beta version of its Chrome browser. The voice recognition tool works via the new HTML5 speech input API, allowing users to talk to their machines in order to input text. Software engineer Satish Sampath outlines the latest Chrome developments over on the Chromium blog, outlining how the Chrome beta channel has been updated for developers who might want to make use of speech input in Chrome. The latest beta release of Chrome also offers a sneak peek of GPU-accelerated 3D CSS, for developers that want to apply 3D effects to web content using CSS. HTML Speech Incubation Sampath notes that the latest developments in voice recognition come from the work of the HTML Speech Incubator Group. "With this API, developers can give web apps the ability to transcribe your voice to text," said Sampath. "When a web page uses this feature, you simply click on an icon and then speak into your computer's microphone. "The recorded audio is sent to speech servers for transcription, after which the text is typed out for you." Intrigued? Give it a go yourself by testing out Google's demo. 
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| Google adds voice recognition to Chrome Posted: 24 Mar 2011 03:37 AM PDT Google has added a speech recognition feature to the latest beta version of its Chrome browser. The voice recognition tool works via the new HTML5 speech input API, allowing users to talk to their machines in order to input text. Software engineer Satish Sampath outlines the latest Chrome developments over on the Chromium blog, outlining how the Chrome beta channel has been updated for developers who might want to make use of speech input in Chrome. The latest beta release of Chrome also offers a sneak peek of GPU-accelerated 3D CSS, for developers that want to apply 3D effects to web content using CSS. HTML Speech Incubation Sampath notes that the latest developments in voice recognition come from the work of the HTML Speech Incubator Group. "With this API, developers can give web apps the ability to transcribe your voice to text," said Sampath. "When a web page uses this feature, you simply click on an icon and then speak into your computer's microphone. "The recorded audio is sent to speech servers for transcription, after which the text is typed out for you." Intrigued? Give it a go yourself by testing out Google's demo.
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| Posted: 24 Mar 2011 03:30 AM PDT  The 2.2-inch screen on the Ebode Take10 ensures that it looks very similar to touch-screen rivals such as the Logitech Harmony. However, the screen on the Take10 isn't touch-sensitive, and is instead flanked by two additional sets of buttons that enable you to select your on-screen menu options. All buttoned up That design decision helps to keep the price down to a relatively modest £50, but all those extra buttons do mean that this model is larger and chunkier than most of its rivals. In fact, once you've installed three AA batteries into it, the darn thing is hefty enough to qualify as an offensive weapon. Nonetheless, the basic design works well. When you turn it on for the first time, the device displays a 'wizard' on its screen that helps you to set it up to control your TV and other kit. It's pre-programmed with control codes for most well-known electronics manufacturers but, as expected, it didn't initially recognize my FetchTV box. Fortunately, as per the OneForAll SmartControl, the Take10 can cycle through its entire library of command codes until it finds one that works. So, after pressing the Power button 318 times (out of a possible 407) I found a code that worked and was able to control the FetchTV box too. The Take10 also enables you to create a list of favourite TV channels for instant access, and to set up 'macros' that can issue multiple commands, such as turning on both your TV and Sky box and selecting a specific channel. This process is a bit long-winded, though, so another wizard that could speed things up a bit would be welcome here. Related Links
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| Posted: 24 Mar 2011 03:30 AM PDT The 2.2-inch screen on the Ebode Take10 ensures that it looks very similar to touch-screen rivals such as the Logitech Harmony. However, the screen on the Take10 isn't touch-sensitive, and is instead flanked by two additional sets of buttons that enable you to select your on-screen menu options. All buttoned up That design decision helps to keep the price down to a relatively modest £50, but all those extra buttons do mean that this model is larger and chunkier than most of its rivals. In fact, once you've installed three AA batteries into it, the darn thing is hefty enough to qualify as an offensive weapon. Nonetheless, the basic design works well. When you turn it on for the first time, the device displays a 'wizard' on its screen that helps you to set it up to control your TV and other kit. It's pre-programmed with control codes for most well-known electronics manufacturers but, as expected, it didn't initially recognize my FetchTV box. Fortunately, as per the OneForAll SmartControl, the Take10 can cycle through its entire library of command codes until it finds one that works. So, after pressing the Power button 318 times (out of a possible 407) I found a code that worked and was able to control the FetchTV box too. The Take10 also enables you to create a list of favourite TV channels for instant access, and to set up 'macros' that can issue multiple commands, such as turning on both your TV and Sky box and selecting a specific channel. This process is a bit long-winded, though, so another wizard that could speed things up a bit would be welcome here. Related Links
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| Tesco slashes Nintendo 3DS price to £175 Posted: 24 Mar 2011 03:15 AM PDT  British supermarket Tesco is set to sell the new Nintendo 3DS - launching tomorrow - for £175, the lowest UK retail price to date. While stores across the UK prepare for midnight openings and 3DS launch events later today and over the weekend, Tesco seems to be pushing hard to offer British gamers the best deal on Nintendo's new handheld. Midnight openings across UK Selected Tesco stores will be selling the Nintendo's 3DS for £175 from midnight tonight. Whether or not other high street retailers and supermarket chains will follow suit, slashing the price of the new 3DS any further, remains to be seen. Amazon UK is currently listing the Nintendo 3DS at £187. Should we hear of any other UK retailers looking to match or beat Tesco's £175 3DS deal then we will update this story immediately. Meanwhile, in other 3DS news, a slip by Nintendo Greece has confirmed that a new '3DSWare' online download store is on the way soon. An unsurprising name really, following on from the previous WiiWare and DSiWare branding of Nintendo's online download stores. 3DSWare store is apparently arriving at some point in 'late May'. Via MCV and Nintendo World Report 
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| Tesco slashes Nintendo 3DS price to £175 Posted: 24 Mar 2011 03:15 AM PDT British supermarket Tesco is set to sell the new Nintendo 3DS - launching tomorrow - for £175, the lowest UK retail price to date. While stores across the UK prepare for midnight openings and 3DS launch events later today and over the weekend, Tesco seems to be pushing hard to offer British gamers the best deal on Nintendo's new handheld. Midnight openings across UK Selected Tesco stores will be selling the Nintendo's 3DS for £175 from midnight tonight. Whether or not other high street retailers and supermarket chains will follow suit, slashing the price of the new 3DS any further, remains to be seen. Amazon UK is currently listing the Nintendo 3DS at £187. Should we hear of any other UK retailers looking to match or beat Tesco's £175 3DS deal then we will update this story immediately. Meanwhile, in other 3DS news, a slip by Nintendo Greece has confirmed that a new '3DSWare' online download store is on the way soon. An unsurprising name really, following on from the previous WiiWare and DSiWare branding of Nintendo's online download stores. 3DSWare store is apparently arriving at some point in 'late May'. Via MCV and Nintendo World Report
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| Exclusive: Motorola: Exciting things ahead in 2011 Posted: 24 Mar 2011 03:04 AM PDT  Motorola has promised that there are exciting things coming for the company in 2011, following the critical acclaim for the Atrix smartphone and the Xoom tablet. Speaking to TechRadar at the IP&TV World Forum in London, Andy Hooper, Europe & MEA director of converged experiences and software for Moto expressed his excitement at how things were going for the company. Asked if 2011 represented a major new leaf for the company, Hooper answered in the affirmative: "There's exciting things ahead for Motorola in 2011," he enthused. Critical acclaim in 2011 Motorola has received critical acclaim for its recent products, TechRadar's Motorola Atrix review awarded the product four stars, praising the built in desktop OS which means that it can be plugged in to a special dock to function as a 'webtop'. And the Motorola Xoom tablet has also quickly earned its billing as a key competitor to the mighty Apple iPad in a burgeoning market. "We feel this year CES really showed we are absolutely back in the game in bringing compelling user experience to the market." Motorola Mobility Motorola made major changes to its setup recently, with Motorola Mobility formed to concentrate on the multi-screen experience. That means a greater concentration on the overall customer experience, as our devices become more converged, and the experiences more universal across them. "When home and mobile came together we did more than simply put the teams under the same corporate entity," explained Hooper. "We took the product teams and put them into a new business unit to work on a converged experience. "So you have a mix of people who have worked at the cutting edge of video delivery and some of the people who worked on our most iconic phones in a room together. "That's brought some really interesting developments and you will see more of those in the next six to twelve months." 
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| Exclusive: Motorola: Exciting things ahead in 2011 Posted: 24 Mar 2011 03:04 AM PDT Motorola has promised that there are exciting things coming for the company in 2011, following the critical acclaim for the Atrix smartphone and the Xoom tablet. Speaking to TechRadar at the IP&TV World Forum in London, Andy Hooper, Europe & MEA director of converged experiences and software for Moto expressed his excitement at how things were going for the company. Asked if 2011 represented a major new leaf for the company, Hooper answered in the affirmative: "There's exciting things ahead for Motorola in 2011," he enthused. Critical acclaim in 2011 Motorola has received critical acclaim for its recent products, TechRadar's Motorola Atrix review awarded the product four stars, praising the built in desktop OS which means that it can be plugged in to a special dock to function as a 'webtop'. And the Motorola Xoom tablet has also quickly earned its billing as a key competitor to the mighty Apple iPad in a burgeoning market. "We feel this year CES really showed we are absolutely back in the game in bringing compelling user experience to the market." Motorola Mobility Motorola made major changes to its setup recently, with Motorola Mobility formed to concentrate on the multi-screen experience. That means a greater concentration on the overall customer experience, as our devices become more converged, and the experiences more universal across them. "When home and mobile came together we did more than simply put the teams under the same corporate entity," explained Hooper. "We took the product teams and put them into a new business unit to work on a converged experience. "So you have a mix of people who have worked at the cutting edge of video delivery and some of the people who worked on our most iconic phones in a room together. "That's brought some really interesting developments and you will see more of those in the next six to twelve months."
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| Posted: 24 Mar 2011 03:00 AM PDT  Epson is one of the leading projector manufacturers in the world today and offers a five-strong home cinema lineup. The EH-TW3600 is its newest entry-level model, and some way off the flagship RH4000 in terms of specs. For instance, the brand's Reflective LCD technology is missing here. Still, at only £1,300, this PJ will certainly attract a few buyers. Design-wise, the TW3600 shares the same form factor as its 4400 and 5500 siblings. Connections include twin HDMI inputs, component and a 15-pin D-Sub PC jack. Installation is made easy by an optical x2.1 zoom and manual control of horizontal and vertical lens shift. A 100-inch screen size is achievable from just short of 3 metres. The TW3600 claims a dynamic contrast ratio of 50,000:1, but our Tech Labs only managed to elicit 16,467:1, and 4,593:1 natively. That said, I can vouch that this Epson is capable of producing an extremely bright picture, so it's well suited to those whose viewing environment isn't overly dark. Running noise, quoted by Espon at 22dB, was also pleasingly low and didn't prove a distraction even in quiet scenes. Colour burst In use, the TW3600 delivers a solid but not exceptional picture. With Toy Story 3 (BD), colours had great richness. Oddly, you should pick the 7,500K setting to get closest to 6,500K, but it looked natural nevertheless. Detail levels were good and motion was handled smoothly, without the juddering that can blight affordable projectors. Power consumption: Watts White screen 100IRE: 250W Standard energy consumption from a project of this size. Test footage: 250W Energy consumption was fixed no matter what footage we tested the Epson with. In Eco-Mode consumption dropped to 200W. Contrast ratio: Claimed: 50,000:1 (Dynamic) We have measured better contrast ratios from similar projectors. Dynamic contrast was better at 16,467:1. Luminance: Cinema Setting: 13.4fL Dynamic Setting: 49.4fL Colour accuracy: 6428K 5000K: 4729K The EH-TW3600 has a good variety of colour temperature options. We were unable to adjust the blue level in the manual RGB control menu, which hindered us from achieving the 6500K SMPTE Standard. Changing genre, I switched to the opening scene of Buried. The Epson's performance struggled a bit here, mainly on account of its rather average black level response. Some shadow detail was lost, as the TW3600 struggled with the low-lit confines of Ryan Reynold's submerged coffin. Trying to improve this by taming the brightness resulted in a less punchy image. With that in mind, it's hard to recommend the TW3600 for someone planning to build it into a dedicated cinema room (despite its provision of a 12V trigger). It's much more suited to living rooms, and will certainly be an impressive introduction to the world of full HD projectors, going up against models such as BenQ's W1000+ and Vivitek's H1085. But anyone hankering for top-notch home cinema performance should wait for the company's forthcoming RH models. Related Links
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| Posted: 24 Mar 2011 03:00 AM PDT Epson is one of the leading projector manufacturers in the world today and offers a five-strong home cinema lineup. The EH-TW3600 is its newest entry-level model, and some way off the flagship RH4000 in terms of specs. For instance, the brand's Reflective LCD technology is missing here. Still, at only £1,300, this PJ will certainly attract a few buyers. Design-wise, the TW3600 shares the same form factor as its 4400 and 5500 siblings. Connections include twin HDMI inputs, component and a 15-pin D-Sub PC jack. Installation is made easy by an optical x2.1 zoom and manual control of horizontal and vertical lens shift. A 100-inch screen size is achievable from just short of 3 metres. The TW3600 claims a dynamic contrast ratio of 50,000:1, but our Tech Labs only managed to elicit 16,467:1, and 4,593:1 natively. That said, I can vouch that this Epson is capable of producing an extremely bright picture, so it's well suited to those whose viewing environment isn't overly dark. Running noise, quoted by Espon at 22dB, was also pleasingly low and didn't prove a distraction even in quiet scenes. Colour burst In use, the TW3600 delivers a solid but not exceptional picture. With Toy Story 3 (BD), colours had great richness. Oddly, you should pick the 7,500K setting to get closest to 6,500K, but it looked natural nevertheless. Detail levels were good and motion was handled smoothly, without the juddering that can blight affordable projectors. Power consumption: Watts White screen 100IRE: 250W Standard energy consumption from a project of this size. Test footage: 250W Energy consumption was fixed no matter what footage we tested the Epson with. In Eco-Mode consumption dropped to 200W. Contrast ratio: Claimed: 50,000:1 (Dynamic) We have measured better contrast ratios from similar projectors. Dynamic contrast was better at 16,467:1. Luminance: Cinema Setting: 13.4fL Dynamic Setting: 49.4fL Colour accuracy: 6428K 5000K: 4729K The EH-TW3600 has a good variety of colour temperature options. We were unable to adjust the blue level in the manual RGB control menu, which hindered us from achieving the 6500K SMPTE Standard. Changing genre, I switched to the opening scene of Buried. The Epson's performance struggled a bit here, mainly on account of its rather average black level response. Some shadow detail was lost, as the TW3600 struggled with the low-lit confines of Ryan Reynold's submerged coffin. Trying to improve this by taming the brightness resulted in a less punchy image. With that in mind, it's hard to recommend the TW3600 for someone planning to build it into a dedicated cinema room (despite its provision of a 12V trigger). It's much more suited to living rooms, and will certainly be an impressive introduction to the world of full HD projectors, going up against models such as BenQ's W1000+ and Vivitek's H1085. But anyone hankering for top-notch home cinema performance should wait for the company's forthcoming RH models. Related Links
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| P2P use drops, are pirates abandoning ship? Posted: 24 Mar 2011 02:38 AM PDT  Peer to peer site use has dropped significantly year on year in the US, according to the latest figures from market research firm NPD, which would suggest that piracy is also declining. P2P technology is the beating heart of piracy, allowing people to upload any file, including movies and music, and disseminate them across the internet. The technology is, of course, also used to transfer files that are not breaking any rules at all, and a good proportion of modern piracy uses streaming and downloads that are not shown in the figures. Marked decline However, with P2P sites seeing a marked decline, it follows that piracy should also be dropping away. NPD suggests that P2P use in the US has fallen from 16 per cent of all US internet owners to just 9 per cent in the past three years. The data, from Q4 2010, also suggests that the average number of downloads is falling – from an average of 35 per quarter in 2007 to 18 per quarter in 2010. It's not the most scientific way of analysing piracy levels, but it does appear to fly in the face of a report from music trade body the IFPI (PDF) which suggests the industry will "struggle to survive" unless something is done about it. 
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now | ||||
| P2P use drops, are pirates abandoning ship? Posted: 24 Mar 2011 02:38 AM PDT Peer to peer site use has dropped significantly year on year in the US, according to the latest figures from market research firm NPD, which would suggest that piracy is also declining. P2P technology is the beating heart of piracy, allowing people to upload any file, including movies and music, and disseminate them across the internet. The technology is, of course, also used to transfer files that are not breaking any rules at all, and a good proportion of modern piracy uses streaming and downloads that are not shown in the figures. Marked decline However, with P2P sites seeing a marked decline, it follows that piracy should also be dropping away. NPD suggests that P2P use in the US has fallen from 16 per cent of all US internet owners to just 9 per cent in the past three years. The data, from Q4 2010, also suggests that the average number of downloads is falling – from an average of 35 per quarter in 2007 to 18 per quarter in 2010. It's not the most scientific way of analysing piracy levels, but it does appear to fly in the face of a report from music trade body the IFPI (PDF) which suggests the industry will "struggle to survive" unless something is done about it.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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