Sponsored
Techradar |
- Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar
- Google and Spotify discuss joint US streaming service
- Speed Week on TechRadar
- Exclusive: Microsoft: Windows Collection is not biased by OEMs
- Speed Week: 24 hours back on 56k dial-up: what's it like?
- Big Grips launches childproof iPad cases
- Developers get the latest 'iPhone 4S' from Apple
- Review: Apple Smart Cover
- Speed Week: How the UK could get the world's fastest broadband
- Nintendo details and dates Super Mario 3DS
- Warner considers Harry Potter 3D re-makes
- Samsung hits back, sues Apple in patent case
- Review: Kymera Magic Wand
- Week in Tech: Is the Digital Economy Act now unstoppable?
- New iPhone game appeals to blind gamers
- Review: Ross 22300HD-R
- News.me app arrives for Apple iPad
- The tech behind Wii 2: latest details on 'Nintendo Stream'
| Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar Posted: 23 Apr 2011 01:00 AM PDT This week we got our full look at LG's Optimus Pad, which stands alone in being the only tablet to take 3D photos and video. We also got a review with the 12.1-inch Windows 7 Asus Eee Slate EP101 tablet - essentially a full PC with touchscreen that packs 4GB RAM and a Core i5 CPU. The bad news? It's £999. Below are the top reviews we've published this week as well as the full listing of our reviews below that. Top five reviews on TechRadar Android 3.0 is coming to a town near you, and there's nothing you can do to stop it. The latest Android tablet to grace TechRadar Towers is the LG Optimus Pad. It's a dual-core Tegra 2 powered device like most of the other Honeycomb tablets, but it's got a bit of a USP – it can shoot video in 3D. Yep, it's got twin 5MP cameras on the back, meaning it can record 3D home movies. There's no 3D screen though, so unless you've got a 3D TV, you'll have to watch your footage back in re-cyan anaglyph – ick! Who needs a desktop PC when you can get a 12.1-inch Windows 7 tablet packing 4GB RAM and a Core i5 CPU costing £999? Yep, the Eee Slate EP121 dwarfs tablets such as the iPad, and while Windows isn't exactly what we'd describe as a touch-friendly interface, this isn't a tablet designed for iPad users.It's designed for business users, graphic designers and the like. And for them, this is the kind of tablet that's been a long time coming. The main problem here though is that this tablet has woeful battery life, and it's a touch heavy at 1.2Kg, which basically rules it out as a portable device. Smartphones have being getting cleverer and more powerful in iterations ever since they were conceived, but the Optimus 2X is something else. It's the world's first dual-core mobile phone, and is consequently faster than a bounding hare on a summers day. What's more, it's got a fantastic screen, a decent price and it offers amazing HDMI output for watching videos on your telly. It's a brilliant phone, so it's a shame that it's slightly let down by a poor camera and a lack of polish. Nikon is aiming the D5100 at novice photographers who want to take their hobby more seriously and want a versatile camera that will enable them to take more creative images. The Nikon D5100 is a great choice for these users, but it is also worthy of consideration by more experienced photographers as well. There's plenty of control available over the appearance of images and the 16.2Mp sensor is a higher performer in average low lighting conditions. With a compact chassis and up to six hours of battery life, the VAIO VPCZ13M9E is a great machine for anyone who needs to stay productive on the go. The speed/stamina switch means you can prioritise between longevity and performance. If you're a regular traveller who needs a highly portable laptop that has enough power to run all of your applications, the VAIO VPCZ13M9E is a great option. Providing you can afford it, that is.
This week's other new reviews on TechRadar Blu-ray players Palicomp Phoenix Hydro-X review Graphics cards Asus GTX 560 Ti DirectCU II review Hard disk drives Sony VAIO S Series VPC-SB1V9E review Toshiba Satellite Pro S500 review Packard Bell EasyNote TS13 review HP PhotoSmart Wireless CN245B review
Projectors Receivers Software Apple GarageBand for iPad 1.0 review Canton Vento 800 Series review Tablets Archos 28 Internet Tablet review TV tuner cards TVs 
| ||
| Google and Spotify discuss joint US streaming service Posted: 22 Apr 2011 12:12 PM PDT Google is reportedly in talks with Spotify about the possibility of co-launching a music streaming service across the pond. The link-up would appear to make sense for both companies, with Spotify desperate to break the US and Google keen to get its long-awaited cloud-based tunes portal off the ground. Spotify has proved one of the biggest success stories of the tech world over the last couple of years with its premium subscription model bringing in bundles of cash and fostering a market valuation of £1bn. Google has so far struggled to pin down a definitive solution for a music service, most observers expected to arrive some time ago, and has also failed to reach any deals with the major US labels. Arms race Both companies have failed to comment on the speculation, which arose from a CNET source. Google is entrenched in arms race with Apple to get a cloud-based music service to market first. Yesterday we reported that Apple has completed work on its online music storage project but is not yet ready for launch. While a link-up would be great for those Spotify-less folks across the Atlantic, we can't say we'd be so enamored with the prospect of Google swallowing our favourite music streaming service. Source: CNET 
| ||
| Posted: 22 Apr 2011 07:55 AM PDT With the advent of dual-core mobiles and tablets, the recent launch of Intel's fastest ever processors, and the rollout of fibre broadband, we thought it was high time we celebrated the tech that gives our gadgets the speed we crave. So throughout this week, we've beeen publishing articles looking at various speed-related technologies, looking at what we have now and what we'll be enjoying in the future. In the PC world, we revealed the fastest computers in the world, showed you how you can build a super-speedy desktop PC for yourself, and took a look at the upcoming high-speed connections that will make Thunderbolt look sluggish. We also delved into the AMD vs Nvidia graphics card speed race to see where this battle is headed, and revealed the amazing possibilities that future processors will offer. In the mobile phone arena, we broke through the jargon to explain the technologies that make your handset speed along, and then moving onto internet tech, we examined the state of the UK's broadband and talked to experts to find out what Britain needs to do to get up to speed with the countries that make us look as though we're still on 56k modems by comparison. And talking of 56k modems, we spent a day using one instead of our broadband connection to see just how far we've come over the last 15 years. We also chatted to Google to discover how the internet giant handles millions of searches and returns accurate results so quickly. And moving from online to offline, we paid a visit to the design team behind the Bloodhound SSC to discover the mind-blowing tech in the car that hopes to break the land speed record by reaching around 1,000 miles per hour. Speed Week is brought to you in association with LG Optimus 2X 
| ||
| Exclusive: Microsoft: Windows Collection is not biased by OEMs Posted: 22 Apr 2011 06:16 AM PDT Microsoft has told TechRadar that its choice of laptops for its recently launched Windows Collection has not been biased by commercial pressures. The Windows Collection includes 10 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), with Sony, HP, Acer. Toshiba, Dell (and Alienware), Packard Bell, Asus, Lenovo and Samsung joined by Scan. Of the 30 laptops only three have AMD processors, and some of those included – the Toshiba Satellite C660 for instance – have not garnered particularly good reviews. Cynicism But, UK MD of consumer and online, Ashley Highfield, has insisted that the inevitable cynicism over the process of choosing the laptops is misplaced, with Microsoft's focus on selling more Windows PCs generally and raising the profile of good machines. "The proof of the pudding will be in the eating," Highfield told TechRadar. "We want to sell more machines so picking ones that aren't the best in their categories would be a strange thing to do. "The consumer may well be somewhat interested in the specs but they often just want to know 'is this the one that will suit my needs'. "I think we may well have gotten too obsessed, along with the OEMs about the spec which is a bit nerdy – and not enough about aesthetics, what it's designed for and how does it work." Say for certain Microsoft's UK head of Windows, Leila Martine, insisted that corporate benchmarking and then the UK team's opinions were what brought the choices. "I can certainly say that the way we have chosen these machines are not based on any commercial agreements," she stated. "It doesn't matter to us because any one of these that sells over and above we get the same licence fee across any of those." "Part of whole process is what OEMs are sharing with us in terms of innovation. Obviously, we have to actually see the machine in order to consider it. "I think we have a pretty good range everything, not everything is right at the top of the price range." 
| ||
| Speed Week: 24 hours back on 56k dial-up: what's it like? Posted: 22 Apr 2011 06:00 AM PDT This article is brought to you in association with LG Optimus 2X It seems ridiculous now, but there was a time when you watched the clock when you were online. The early days of the internet seem archaic now – a single Acorn Archimedes computer at my school was able to go online – but in that age before Google we just didn't know any different. Using the internet actually seemed a special, rare privilege. And you went on for a purpose. Usually it was for research, but the age of mass information was a fledgling idea and the internet was pretty sparse. The BBC website, for example, started in 1997, but you could only find out very basic information. And the idea of the web as a place for news was hardly existent. As it's TechRadar's Speed Week, the powers that be decided I should spend a day using a modem and document how I got on. The main question I wanted to answer was whether today's internet would work on it. When I told my father that I'd be spending a whole day going back to using a modem, he said it would be "painful." That's coming from someone who hardly uses a computer. Of course he was right. I looked on a couple of forums, including one on Money Saving Expert, to see if people in general were still using dial-up. The responses? Actually surprising. This was typical: "Quite a few people around here (Mid Wales) have to use dial-up. Broadband from the local exchanges is rationed to a fixed number of connections and phone/dongle coverage is very patchy." So although such people are in the distinct minority, it was worth bearing in mind that my experience would be akin to how some people in the UK have to use the internet. Some of the other, flippant recollections of dial-up from the forums are also worth mentioning:
So with those wonderful recollections in mind, I had to decide how I was going to get online. I do own laptops old enough to have modem sockets in, but they are pretty creaky, so I decided I'd procure a new USB modem and use it with my Windows 7 laptop. I contacted US Robotics who duly sent me a USR5637 56K USB Fax Modem. That's right, you can also use it to send a fax – does anybody send faxes anymore? Oh, and in case you're wondering (you probably weren't) you can use this modem on Mac OS X and Linux as well as Windows. I duly installed the drivers and connected up my modem, but then I didn't really know what to do next. Then I was a bit stuck. I'd completely forgotten how to create a new internet connection in Windows. This hasn't changed a lot since Windows 95 or 98 and in Windows 7 you get to it via the Set up a new connection or network link in the Network and Sharing Center.
NOT WIRELESS?: Choosing how to connect to the net I selected dial-up with a heavy heart, after which I set about entering my ISP details. There are still shedloads of numbers available, and a quick Google on my phone showed me a bundle of cheap dial-up details. All you need is the number, username and password. I clicked Connect.
READY: This box has hardly changed since Windows 95 All was quiet, there was none of the kerrrrchsssss noise that you used to get with older serial modems. It seemed like it wasn't working and then, suddenly it was there. First a message appeared from my Livedrive backup software to say the connection to their servers had been restored – my uploads were quickly paused so my PC didn't try and squeeze a batch of MP3s down the phone line.
DIALING: The iconic dial-up noise has gone Then Dropbox kicked in and tried to upload the screengrabs and text I had already written for this feature. It's slow enough when you try and do that on mobile broadband, but this was excruciating. It was apparently happening at 686kbps, but Dropbox was obviously lying to me. I was actually achieving speeds of around 25-30kbps using my modem. Skype logged in without issues, though it didn't connect a video call when I tried it – somewhat understandably – and you'd struggle to even make a Skype voice call on dial-up. Windows Live Messenger didn't even bother to log in automatically. So I went through the usual services I check every morning. First Twitter – I started TweetDeck. The columns looked to be refreshing for absolutely ages and took over a minute to appear. At the same time (more fool me) I tried to load Facebook – which didn't load at all. TweetDeck then loaded a solitary tweet while still attempting to refresh the other two columns.
FREEZE: TweetDeck was more like a lame duck on dial-up Giving up, I decided to look at Twitter on the web. Unfortunately the website didn't even work properly. Loading Twitter.com was staggeringly slow and it didn't even to bother log me in automatically as it does usually. Either this is some security thing as I'm using a different connection on this PC, or I'm pretty second class as a dial-up user.
WHO: Twitter refused to remember me on my second-class connection I left Twitter open and decided to do some work. I often use Google Docs but this time decided to work offline. When I tried to access an – admittedly large – spreadsheet in Google Docs, loading was very slow. But I wasn't surprised – if there's a web app dial-up wasn't designed for, it's Google Docs. However, it's not all doom and gloom; Gmail wasn't too bad and loaded fine on the simple HTML view for slow connections. One of the main problems I had with dial-up while trying to do work is that I use Google all the time to look up various stats and other information. I was surprised that Google searches took an age to appear – Google Instant didn't work, while non-text search results like the images and videos didn't really appear! I was surprised that Google doesn't seem to adapt for slower connections as I thought it might – aside from the lack of Google Instant the page looked identical. The most painful thing was that at various points it seemed like I was slowing to a total crawl, so I had to disconnect and reconnect. After hours, I looked at Facebook. The service works OK on dial-up – but only if you're patient. It loads pretty sluggishly and the Top News column expands constantly as you start to browse it, because new elements are still loading. The norm for some It's no wonder we all used to rely so much on magazine cover CDs for programs to install; downloads are obviously super slow on dial-up and can take many, many hours. Something as bloated as Apple's iTunes takes around 8-10 hours to drip through your connection. But there are some sites that work extremely well on dial-up – the BBC text-only or mobile sites have all the same great information and the plethora of sites specially adapted for the iPad, such as http://touch.facebook.com, are great examples of sites that are great on a dial-up connection. So, by the end of my day, I'd actually got rather used to being on a slow connection. That's not to say I really enjoyed it of course – at times it was extremely difficult. It's just that I was able to adjust what I was doing. Instead of listening to stuff on Spotify or Last.fm I just used iTunes. Instead of looking at Facebook several times a day I just looked at it once. And downloading files? I didn't bother doing that at all. But, of course, this was a single day for me. A lot of people have no choice. The Government's 2009 Digital Britain report said that "Up to 10 per cent of homes are still in not-spots, not-a-lot spots or not-at-all good spots" for broadband. A sobering thought for those of us so used to fast access. 
| ||
| Big Grips launches childproof iPad cases Posted: 22 Apr 2011 04:58 AM PDT If you regularly let your kids use your iPad or iPad 2, or happen to be incredibly clumsy yourself, you will be keen to invest in this new child-proof Big Grip case for Apple's tablet. The Big Grips Frame is currently only available in the US ($35, plus international shipping costs from www.biggrips.com) but it would be a wise investment for anybody who is concerned about dropping their beloved Apple tablet on a stone floor and seeing it smash into a million tiny pieces in front of their horrified eyes. Clumsy iPad user? It is made from a high density foam and comes in a range of bright, childish colours. Importantly, while it gives you maximum tablet protection (oo-er!) it doesn't get in the way of the touchscreen or any of the ports on the iPad or iPad 2. The iPad is already proving to be particularly popular with some lucky school kids, and parents can check out our recent top ten iPad apps for kids feature if they want to know more about the best educational and entertainment apps on offer on iTunes right now. Big Grips is also selling a separate chunky, rubbery stand in which you can safely sit your highly-protected Apple tablet, safe in the knowledge that not even the most angry pre-school child could possibly destroy it… could they? 
| ||
| Developers get the latest 'iPhone 4S' from Apple Posted: 22 Apr 2011 04:26 AM PDT Apple has begun shipping a souped-up so-called "iPhone 4S" to games and app developers, in preparation for the forthcoming launch of the new iPhone 5. A select few games devs have received the new Apple iPhone, to help them prepare the best titles possible for the iPhone 5 launch. A5 chip in iPhone 9to5Mac reports that the new handsets feature Apple's super-nippy A5 chip, allowing developers to create the fastest and best-looking mobile phone games yet possible. The A5 chip powers the Apple iPad 2 and is considerably faster than the A4 chip in the iPhone 4 and first-gen iPad. 9to5Mac's source claims that the "iPhone 4S" is almost identical to the current iPhone 4, apart from the inclusion of the newer, faster processor. The "iPhone 4S" also apparently runs a specially adapted version of iOS4, created to work with the A5 chip in the iPhone. The iPhone 5 is rumoured to be launching later this year, with no official word, as yet, from Apple. 
| ||
| Posted: 22 Apr 2011 04:00 AM PDT The Apple Smart Cover is aptly named: it looks great, and the way it works is so clever that we can't think of a better way to describe it. It's got smooth polyurethane or leather on the outside. We prefer the £35 polyurethane version, which comes in brighter colours: blue, green, orange, pink or matte grey. The £59 leather version comes in more muted, 'executive' colours of tan, black, navy, off-white and red. Apple claims the microfibre lining keeps your screen clean, but it really doesn't move around enough to wipe fingerprints away. Magnets in the hinge keep it attached to the iPad 2, and only the iPad 2 (iPad 1 owners aren't invited to this party). It auto-aligns with magnets in the iPad 2's frame, so it's impossible to put it on incorrectly. Another magnet sleeps your iPad when the cover closes, and automatically wakes it up when you open it, so there's no need to press the Sleep/Wake button. You can lift the iPad 2 by the Smart Cover as long as you do so gently. To remove it completely, just be a bit firmer. The cover folds back into a triangular shape (also held together by magnets), which works great as a stand in landscape mode. It can hold the iPad at a comfortable angle for typing, or upright for watching videos. The typing angle is quite stable, but when it's upright and you tap an on-screen button, it does wobble a bit, albeit less than last year's £31 Apple iPad Case. The Smart Cover keeps the iPad upright in portrait orientation, but it feels a little less stable than in landscape. Our main complaint is the price, which seems a little on the steep side. It comes in at £35 for the polyurethane version and £59 for the leather option. And it only covers the screen, not the whole iPad, although that also keeps everything slim. An iPad 2 with the Smart Cover is still slimmer than the iPad 1. However, of the dozen or so iPad 2 cases we looked at, the Smart Cover is still at the top of the class. 
| ||
| Speed Week: How the UK could get the world's fastest broadband Posted: 22 Apr 2011 04:00 AM PDT This article is brought to you in association with LG Optimus 2X Last month, BT made Cornwall a little bit faster: it gave fifty people internet access at speeds of up to 40Mbps as part of a roll-out that will reach 80% of UK homes by 2014. 40Mbps sounds impressive, and it was - in 2005. That's when Asian ISPs were upping speeds to 40 and 50Mbps or higher, and it's taken quite a while for us to catch up. By the time the average UK consumer gets 40Mbps broadband many other countries will be on 100-plus - and because BT's fibre doesn't reach our homes and offices we'll still have the same "up to" nonsense that makes the UK's broadband adverts so confusing. British broadband is rubbish. The average UK broadband speed is just 6.2Mbps, Ofcom says, and while faster options do exist they aren't widespread - so for example Virgin's 100Mb service is only available to one million homes, and BT's roll-out can't deliver 100Mbps until we have fibre-optic connections from the cabinets in our streets to the sockets in our homes. Akamai's most recent State of the Internet report rated us 17th in the world for broadband. Akamai reckons our average speed was even lower than Ofcom's number - it says we're averaging 4Mbps - while the world leaders, South Korea, averaged 14Mbps. Hong Kong was second with 9.2Mbps and Japan 8.5Mbps. These figures are averages for the entire country, taking into account both urban broadband and slower rural services: when it comes to cities with fast broadband, the UK didn't make the top 100.
WHERE'S WALLY? And by "Wally", we mean "Britain". We don't feature in the world's top broadband table The undisputed leader of fast broadband is South Korea, whose cities enjoy peak broadband speeds of around 57Mbps. So why are they so far ahead, and what could we do to catch up? Fixing our broadband "The Korean question is an easy one," says Trefor Davies, founder of communications provider Timico and council member of the Internet Service Providers Association, ISPA. "Most people live in densely packed multi-tenant dwellings such as apartment blocks, which makes it easy and far more cost effective to serve them with high speed, fibre-based connectivity. A 1-gig fibre connection to an apartment block can easily be distributed as 100Mbps or more to each apartment." Oliver Johnson of broadband analysts Point Topic agrees. "South Korea is a little unusual," he says. "Dense population concentration and relatively high numbers of people per household mean that it would be theoretically easier to make a return for a commercial deployment - although that said, it's unlikely it would be quite so ubiquitous today without government intervention." Given that BT is already rolling out Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC), couldn't it do the last mile to homes and businesses while it's at it? The technical answer is yes, but the economic one is no. "This is a straightforward business case issue," Davies says. "It is cheaper to supply Fibre to the Cabinet than Fibre to the Premises, especially in rural areas where the cost of digs and wayleaves can be very high. BT is in the business of making money... this is quite unfortunate for UK PLC, because I think it is in the national interest to go 100Mbps everywhere rather than the - initially - more cost-effective 40Mbps." Long wait Don't think of 40Mbps as a step towards 100Mbps, Davies warns: think of it as BT telling you not to hold your breath. "The people who are now euphoric because they're getting FTTC will have to wait a very long time before they get 100Mbps," he says. "BT will want to wait for that investment to be repaid before spending any more money in a specific area." Could someone else jump in and do what BT won't? Fujitsu would like to, but there are two problems. The wayleaves - rents paid to locate ducts and poles on private land - negotiated by BT are often so low that rivals can't possibly hope to pay similar prices, and Fujitsu and several other network providers claim that BT's charges for access to its own network are ridiculous. Fujitsu wants Ofcom to force BT Openreach - BT's network arm - to provide access to telegraph poles and cable ducts on "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms". The government could also help by changing the way it taxes network operators. The coalition government abandoned its promise to review the rates levied on fibre optic networks, so - excepting BT and Virgin - firms are taxed according to the length of their networks. That taxation, which makes things particularly difficult in rural areas, is "an active disincentive to competitive, next-generation access roll-out". Who said that? Ed Vaizey, our communications minister. Of course, he wasn't in power then. "It cannot be right that a network operator might have to pay rates on a specific length of cable whilst BT does not," Davies says, noting that whenever the rates have been challenged in court, the courts have found in favour of the status quo. "Operators should be getting together en masse to oppose the rating system - but they are not." In the current climate, local authorities won't be keen on giving up this particular cash cow. Broadband subsidies What about South Korea-style subsidy? Oliver Johnson isn't convinced that it would work. "It would be very difficult to transfer the model to Europe without affecting or compensating the market... we're already too far down the commercial deployment road to make significant intervention meaningful for most of the population. Where government can make a difference is in the commercially marginal - or flat-out impossible - areas and population." That's an issue that applies to BT and to Virgin: large parts of the UK are sparsely populated, which makes rolling out any kind of broadband prohibitively expensive. The operators are private businesses, not charities. As Trefor Davies explains:, "the investment case really doesn't exist for BT to roll out services [in rural areas]," he says. "Even where there is substantial EC aid as was the case in Cornwall, this only just brought the business case return on investment to an acceptable time frame - 13 years or so, I am given to understand."
SURFING THE NET: Thanks to BT, these ordinary businessmen can now SURF THE NET! [Image credit: BT Plc] There's more to broadband than the operators' return on their investment, though. South Korea's investment in broadband and related technologies saved its economy. Reeling from the collapse of the Asian financial markets in the 1990s, its government saw technology as a lifeline and spent billions on infrastructure, subsidies and investment in IT firms. In the 1990s, South Korea was an economic basket case. Now, it's one of the world's more successful economies. Given that our economy is apparently a basket case too, could broadband help us out of the hole? There are certainly economic benefits, Oliver Johnson says. "Broadband increases the tax base, increases GDP - by up to 2% from the first period of broadband... and even more today, reduces government expenditure in the medium to long term and improves the quality of life and access to services for the population." It turns out that the biggest obstacle to super-fast broadband may be that the benefits take too long to arrive - for MPs, that is. As Johnson points out, "you don't get much benefit in the five-year lifespan of a Parliament." Why invest in something if you might not be around to get the credit? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
| ||
| Nintendo details and dates Super Mario 3DS Posted: 22 Apr 2011 03:36 AM PDT It was, of course, inevitable that Nintendo's chubby Italian plumber would grace the company's new 3DS handheld, with the company revealing the latest game details and plans for the upcoming Super Mario 3DS. The main thing you need to know is that feted game designer Shigeru 'father of Mario' Miyamoto says his latest game is a cross between Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario 64, and – most importantly – will be releasing later in 2011. 3DS launch missed It is a shame that Nintendo couldn't have timed the release of the new Mario game to coincide with last month's launch of the new 3DS console, though fans will still be celebrating the fact that they will be able to play the new title later this very year. Miyamoto told our sister site Edge that the game is "a combination of Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario on N64" and that it will be playable at E3 2011 in June. In terms of 3D gameplay, Miyamoto added: "For example, the floors floating in space: in 2D it's difficult to judge the distance, but in 3D it's really easy." Miyamoto confirmed that his new game is "completely original, and coming this year." E3 2011 runs from June 7 to 9 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. TechRadar will of course be bringing you all the biggest gaming hardware and tech news directly from the show, as it breaks. New Mario Olympic title
Expect that title to arrive at some point early 2012. 
| ||
| Warner considers Harry Potter 3D re-makes Posted: 22 Apr 2011 03:18 AM PDT The last movie in the hugely popular Harry Potter series is due to arrive in cinemas later this year, with Warner Bros. now considering re-making all the films in 3D. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is currently set to be the first movie in the series to be produced in 3D as well as 2D for its theatre release later in 2011. 3D Potter-thon Not one to give up on one of its main movie franchises, Warners is now rumoured to be looking to remake all of the past Potters for 3D cinema and Blu-ray re-releases in the future. The news follows recent announcements from George Lucas' camp, who is planning to re-release 3D versions of the entire Star Wars series in cinemas in the near future. Warners is yet to officially confirm or deny the rumours, but it is looking increasingly likely that all the past flicks in the series will get a new 3D airing at a cinema near you over the next year or two. Or if you happen to be a massive fan of the boy wizard and his oh-so-smashing pals, plus have recently invested in a new 3D TV and Blu-ray player, you might want to start looking forward to a 3D Potter-thon in the comfort of your own home soon. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2, arrives in 3D in cinemas later this summer, on July 15. 
| ||
| Samsung hits back, sues Apple in patent case Posted: 22 Apr 2011 03:03 AM PDT Samsung is suing Apple, claiming that the Cupertino computing firm has violated a number of its patent rights. The latest legal shenanigans between the two consumer tech giants follows on from recent accusations from Apple that Samsung was guilty of copying the designs of its iPhone and iPad with its Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets. Patent spat Samsung is one of Apple's major suppliers, providing the Cupertino company with chips for its iPhones and iPads, LCD screens and more. These latest patent lawsuits were filed in South Korea, Japan and Germany this month, with Samsung claiming Apple is guilty of infringing up to five of its patents. "Samsung is responding actively to the legal action taken against us in order to protect our intellectual property," reads a statement from the company. 
| ||
| Posted: 22 Apr 2011 03:00 AM PDT If the Kymera Magic Wand seems familiar it may be because it was featured on Dragon's Den, where it received the blessing of gruff Scot Duncan Bannatyne. To use a Hollywood term, it's very 'high concept' – potentially appealing both to Harry Potter/Lord Of The Rings/fantasy fans as well as to those technophiles who wish they could control their telly using, well, a magic wand rather than having to get to grips with sometimes confusing, button-heavy modern remotes. Light but sturdy Incorporating a three-axis accelerometer, it comes in a 'dragon skin' and silk presentation box accompanied by a cute instruction booklet with faux parchment-like stylings, and is made from lightweight (most heft comes from adding batteries) if sturdy plastic. There are no buttons, but a green indicator light sits at the bottom end. As you'd expect, the control method is gesture-based (you can incant 'spells' if you must) using pre-determined moves which can be mapped to replicate functions on an existing remote control. These include flicking the wand up and down, twisting it slowly left or right, jabbing it back and forth or tapping it on the lower end. These take some practice (and memorising) but are aided by a built-in feedback system where the successful completion of a move is rewarded by a set number of pulses assigned to each emanating from the lower end. Remote functions are learned by placing your zapper of choice in front of the wand, putting it in learning mode and carrying out a sequence of moves including performing the gesture you want to use and pressing the corresponding button on the remote you want to mimic. You are limited to using a maximum of 13 gestures/commands in all, which is just enough to gain a fair degree of control over a TV and PVR – particularly if you want full control of the latter's recording transport functions. Any more than that is pushing it and there's no macro functionality for controlling multiple devices at the same time to make life a little easier. Muggle-friendly The wand stopped short of turning on our Panasonic TV but controlled it otherwise alongside our Sky+ and Virgin V+ HD box. Pausing briefly between performing each move gives best results but using PVR functions proves frustratingly imprecise if you want to, say, quickly skip around a recording or timeshift – we reverted to using our trusty Sky+ remote instead. The Magic Wand isn't a 'just a toy' but it is best suited to quite basic TV setups and it is children – 'muggles' though they may be – who will be most likely to overlook its shortcomings in favour of its fun factor. 
| ||
| Week in Tech: Is the Digital Economy Act now unstoppable? Posted: 22 Apr 2011 03:00 AM PDT The High Court upset a few people this week when it rejected BT and TalkTalk's appeal against the controversial Digital Economy Act. As our very own Kate Solomon reports, the court rejected claims that the Act breached EU privacy laws and that its anti-piracy measures were disproportionate, although it did say that ISPs shouldn't pay towards the costs of setting up any anti-piracy measures. Our columnist Gary Marshall, who was railing against the Act long before it was even an Act, wasn't impressed. "It's nice that the review concluded ISPs shouldn't help fund the creation of a kangaroo court," he writes. "But it's still a kangaroo court." The Act became law in the dying days of the last government, despite enormous opposition from concerned voters. In what former minister Tom Watson called "a catastrophic disaster" the proposed legislation was rushed through in the "wash-up" period, a kind of last day of school when most MPs have already returned to their constituencies and the few who do turn up are allowed to bring in board games. Despite MPs of all parties promising to fight the legislation, it was passed with a comfortable majority and was granted Royal Assent last April. Three strikes and you're off Why does this matter? The Act's anti-piracy measures want ISPs to implement a three-strikes policy with possible disconnection for persistent copyright infringers, and they also allow blocking of infringing websites. There are several concerns about that. The first is the cost to ISPs, and the way it would change their role from independent third parties to copyright cops. The second is that infringers would be chosen by the entertainment industries, whose track record in correctly identifying pirates is hardly exemplary. And the third is that the legislation could potentially cripple the connections of innocent people or organisations whose home, office or public Wi-Fi connections were (ab)used by others, or of sites wrongly accused of copyright infringement. As one prominent politician put it: "It [is] far too heavily weighted in favour of the big corporations... it badly needs to be repealed, and the issues revisited." That politician promised that if he was elected, he'd campaign for repeal of the Act. Good news! He was elected! Bad news! He's Nick Clegg! Another key concern is that there could be a slippery slope here, and that things could get even worse. For example, in New Zealand apparently sensible people are demanding legislation to cut copyright infringers off from the internet altogether, without the ability to sign up with a different ISP. Closer to home, scoundrels of dubious legality have imitated the three-strikes letters to demand money with menaces from alleged infringers. Could sites be blocked? The government is currently consulting ISPs on plans to create a kind of Great British Firewall to block sites accused of copyright infringement. The Act permits such injunctions for sites where "a substantial amount of material has been, is being or is likely to be obtained in infringement of copyright". Could that mean a search engine, a whistle-blowing site like Wikileaks or a user generated content site such as YouTube? Maybe. It's enough to worry Google, certainly: when the Act was being finalised, Google expressed its concerns that the Act's site-blocking amendments were "introduced 24 hours before a crucial vote in the House of Lords, without a full debate over whether such a policy is right in principle," and argued that "blocking through injunction creates a high risk that legal content gets mistakenly blocked, or that people abuse the system." BT and TalkTalk are currently mulling over the verdict and whether they will appeal. If they don't, Gary Marshall has a suggestion: get Google to buy the entire music business. "Which would you rather see?" he asks. "Google-owned record labels, or an internet where you can only see what record labels say you can see?" 
| ||
| New iPhone game appeals to blind gamers Posted: 22 Apr 2011 02:48 AM PDT The latest puzzle sensation for Apple iPhone is set to appeal to gamers who are blind or visually impaired, by using sound-based gameplay married with touchscreen control. Stem Stumper is based around a standard puzzle-game template, in which the player guides a funny-looking plant creature around various obstacles such as angry tree stumps or clouds of nasty weed killer, in order to find bags of fertiliser. Drag your finger along the screen to create a path and you will see and hear clues which let you know when you have come across something important or useful. iOS gaming for the blind "Come play Stem Stumper, a blind-accessible puzzle game for the iPhone and iPod Touch," reads the iTunes blurb. "A dynamic layered soundtrack guides Mimea the vine through 100 brain-teasing levels. Use sling shots, sprinklers and Angry Acorns to open paths for her to grow. Use the right combination to rack up points and prove once and for all you're smarter than a 6th grader. "The inaugaral game of Ananse Productions, Stem Stumper is built from the ground up to be enjoyed by both the iPhone's burgeoning blind community and fully sighted players around the world." The real innovation here is the option to play in "sonar mode" in which the visuals disappear from the screen and you are forced to focus and play the game exclusively via the sound effects emerging from your phone. Stem Stumper supports Apple's VoiceOver, which reads out the instructions for each stage, for those visually impaired or blind gamers. 
| ||
| Posted: 22 Apr 2011 02:30 AM PDT We're a nation of DIY enthusiasts, driven by the desire to save money (especially in these austere times) and indulge in practical creativity. B&Q is now selling satellite equipment with the same gusto as it does tins of paint and flat-packed kitchen units. Made by Ross, these range from a simple £50 SD kit to a £200 offering a single-tuner HD PVR and dish. We're testing the mid-range dish and the 22300HD-R HD receiver package, the latter of which can be upgraded to PVR operation via USB. Build and connectivity Despite the budget pricing, the receiver is fairly well specified. Dubbed the HDR-8130USB, this compact FTA-only receiver incorporates a single DVB-S/S2 tuner for reception of HD channels alike. A four-digit LED display for clock/channel number is complemented by front panel control of most receiver features. Front and rear-mounted USB sockets are provided for storage devices. In addition to recording TV programmes, they allow multimedia content to be fed into the receiver.
The single LNB is accompanied by a loopthrough output, while AV outputs consist of a single Scart and a HDMI port. Although there's an AC3-compatible coaxial digital output, no dedicated analogue audio feed is provided. The 65cm off set dish is fitted with a 0.3dB LNB, and supplied with a bracket that can be fastened to a wall or concrete floor with expanding bolts. Although this system is sold primarily for use with Astra/Eurobird's usual English channels on, its dish could also be aimed at other reasonably powerful satellites. Indeed, the receiver makes provision for DiSEqC (1.0/1.1/1.2/USALS), and so can be used with a motorised mount. Although a means of attaching the dish to solid ground or a wall is provided, mounting on an existing pole (up to 45mm diameter) is another possibility. Generously, 12m of LNB cable is supplied pre-fitted with crimp-type F-connectors. This means you cannot fit the protective LNB-connector boot and will need to drill a larger hole than is necessary to pass the cable through woodwork/brickwork. The dish is fashioned from thin pressed steel, and the construction of its mount makes for difficult adjustment – it has a tendency to 'flex'. But with care and patience you should be able to peak the dish for the desired bird – the receiver's signal/quality bars are a boon here. The instructions give you elevation/azimuth/skew tables, but although they refer to a compass none is supplied! Setup Once you've selected a satellite in 'Antenna setting' you can assign a DiSEqC 1.0/1.1 switch position (or access the 1.2/USALS positioner setup function) if needed and configure your LNB.
Pressing the handset's green button gives you a satellite-dependent list of transponders to choose from – plus strength and quality meters. The editing or addition of new transponders involves a separate TP list menu; from here, it's possible to specify PIDs. Pressing red initiates searching – all/FTA/scrambled, either or both polarities, and with network scanning if desired. Add to this a blind search option. Channels can – with a 'channel manager' function – be organised into one of eight pre-defined favourites groups. Another setup menu covers audio-visual parameters. The resolution of the HDMI output can be changed from 480i/576i (standard-definition NTSC or PAL) to 1080i50/60. For Scart, you can switch between composite, S-video, RGB and component. Other menus look after standby mode (there's a low power-consumption setting), clock, USB drive-formatting, parental controls, firmware upgrades and the back-up or restoration of channel databases. Overall, it's pretty comprehensive for a receiver that B&Q sells on its own for around sixty quid. Basic use The default 'master list' covers all channels; thankfully, an 'advance' list mode facilitates the selection of satellites, and the sorting of channels alphabetically, by transponder or the encryption system employed. A powerful zoom function is available, courtesy of a dedicated button. Other such controls bring up info about the current programme, select subtitles or alternative audio soundtracks, swap between radio and TV, access two games (Tetris or Snake) and invoke LNB loopthrough USB port teletext. Red button digital services aren't an option here. Accessed via the 'EPI' button, the EPG – which supports seven-day schedules where available – focuses on one channel at a time.
The channel's EPG data is displayed in a box, outside of which is listed selectable options such as language and the desired date/channel. There's also basic programme information (which can be expanded) and a 'timer set' box. If you work down the EPG listing, its contents change to reflect the running time of the highlighted programme. PVR and multimedia Pressing the OK button on a programme in the EPG sends the relevant details to the timer screen for making a recording. You can't change channel while recording, even if you want to access a service that's carried on the same transponder. With storage attached, chasing playback is available. Oddly, you have to manually start recording and then press the timeshift button. The USB multimedia player is compatible with more varieties of content than many receivers with a much higher price. JPEG/BMP images and MP3/WAV/WMA audio, DiVX/XviD and x.264/MKV (1080p was handled with no problems) are supported. Pause and cue/review playback functionality is offered. Performance The dish and receiver were tried with Astra 1x, Hot Bird and Astra 2x/Eurobird, and reliable reception was obtained from all of them. Channel selection and menu access are responsive, and the standard scanning modes were faster than expected. Blind scanning is also fast, but it found fewer channels than a regular 'all-channels' scan. Picture and sound quality via HDMI were fine. HD images, particularly, are praiseworthy, given the modest price. We did note a few bugs, though. Occasionally, the menu system would lock up and during media playback the RGB Scart mode is disabled until you return to regular satellite TV reception – not an issue if you're using HDMI. 
| ||
| News.me app arrives for Apple iPad Posted: 22 Apr 2011 02:16 AM PDT The latest social news app for Apple iPad, News.me has finally arrived on the App Store this week, offering users one week free, after which they will then need to sign up to a 59p-a-week subscription. News.me has backing from the New York Times, and some high profile media partners including Forbes, Gawker, Business Insider, Gigaom, Mashable, Venturebeat and the Associated Press. Social news on the iPad The iPad app will also provide you with a list of news content that your friends on Twitter are currently viewing, very much like other apps such as Flipboard and Zite, with the developer promising a "seamless interface for immersive reading" which somehow "uses science" to provide you with the most relevant personalised content. News.me application's App Store description lists its features as follows:
If you have an iPad then you can test out the News.me social news aggregator for free right now, just head over to the iTunes App Store. If you like what you see, then you can pay 59p per week to keep using the app. Indeed, if you really like what you see, then you might even want to pay the annual subscription of £20.99 up front. 
| ||
| The tech behind Wii 2: latest details on 'Nintendo Stream' Posted: 22 Apr 2011 01:43 AM PDT Following earlier news that the Wii 2's controller is set to feature a 6.2-inch touchscreen, further details on the tech behind Nintendo's next console have been revealed. Nintendo is said to be considering "Stream" as a potential name for the new console, according to trusted sources at IGN. The Nintendo Stream? IGN's sources also reveal what they claim to be the tech details on Nintendo's rumoured Project Cafe console, as well as the estimated price, release date, design and lots more. The new Nintendo console is said to launch in the US at a price point between $350 and $400, with the final pricing still to be decided depending on manufacturing costs. The machine will actually be produced in Taiwan, by Foxconn, which also allays gamer's concerns about potential delays due to the recent (and ongoing) Japanese earthquake crisis. The plan is apparently for Wii 2/Project Café/Stream (or whatever Nintendo finally calls the new console) to leave the factory this coming October, potentially in time for a pre-Christmas release in November. Faster than PS3, 3D-capable IGN's source also claimed that the new Nintendo console is based on AMD's R700 GPU architecture "and not AMD's Fusion technology as previously believed, which will out-perform the PlayStation 3′s NVIDIA 7800GTX-based processor." The source also claims that the new Nintendo system's CPU will be a custom-built triple-core IBM PowerPC chipset, much like that inside the Xbox 360, but adds that the clocking speeds will be faster and that "the system will support 1080p output with the potential for stereoscopic 3D as well, though it has not been determined whether that will be a staple feature." Finally, in terms of form factor, Nintendo's new console is going to be considerably larger than the Wii, with IGN's source claiming that it will be more comparable to the Xbox 360 in terms of size and design. Wii 2, Project Café, Stream, or whatever else they decide to name it, we expect to hear lots more official details on Nintendo's new console from E3 in Los Angeles this coming June. 
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from techradar To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment