Sponsored
Techradar |
- Hands on: BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900 review
- BlackBerry OS 7 is not coming to older handsets
- Brit Week: Dyson: UK must start producing more engineers
- RIM launches BlackBerry Bold Touch
- In Depth: 16 things we'd change about Ubuntu
- Brit Week: Britain has led the world on 3D, says Sky
- Buying Guide: Best camcorder under £350: 6 tested
- Review: Trend Micro Online Guardian
- Brit Week: 10 years of Sky+ - the EPGs
- Brit Week: Brit Week: Why UK tech cannot be ignored
- Review: Fedora 14
- Review: Ubuntu 11.04
- Competition: WIN! Media streamer, TV & LoveFilm subscription
| Hands on: BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900 review Posted: 02 May 2011 09:09 AM PDT It's been a long time coming, BlackBerry's touchscreen Bold handset. While the BlackBerry Torch offered both a touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard, it wasn't perfect for keyboard aficionados; that annoying edging, the cramped keyboard… although the touchscreen was nice to have, typing was a bit of a pain. But with the launch of the BlackBerry Bold Touch, its first proper touch and type hybrid, has RIM finally cracked it? RIM has made a bit of a song and dance about the new handset's looks; it's a fair shout. With aluminium highlights it has a nice, solid feel about it, and the woven glass back panel is very sharp and lightweight too.
It's so nice to pick up a BlackBerry and it not be a bit brickish. The Bold Touch is RIM's slimmest handset to date, and if you're a regular BlackBerry user you'll really notice the difference.
It's rocking a number of buttons around the edge of the handset, including media controls and the camera shutter button. On the front panel, the touch buttons around the trackpad include back, menu, call and end.
The back plate is very stylish, and comes off to reveal the small, lightweight battery - which is removable, despite rumours that RIM may opt for a permanent battery. While we love the look and feel of that back plate, we can't help but worry it may be a bit fragile; we'd be wary of taking it off and replacing it too many times lest it become loose and eventually get lost.
The screen is just 2.8-inches, which is just a cat's whisker larger than the Bold 9780's 2.4-inch non-touchscreen affair. When we first got our hands on a BlackBerry Bold 9700, we found we automatically went to hit icons on the screen as though it were a touchscreen phone, so it feels really natural to switch between input with the keypad and touch buttons and the touchscreen. The only thing is, 2.8-inches is really a bit too small to function as a touchscreen all the time; we didn't encounter any major problems like tapping the wrong icons, but we did have to make more effort to aim our fingers than we do on the Torch with its larger display. Plus we occasionally encountered issues swiping between screens where the handset was a little slow to respond, so we'd end up swiping again and skipping the screen we actually wanted. But touchscreen woes could be seen as a minor gripe, given than you still have a trackpad and a full on QWERTY to play with. When it comes to actually displaying things, the screen is lovely; the super-sauce GPU and sharp screen resolution really come into their own. The sharp graphics are also highlighted by the new look of BlackBerry OS 7. While you may be sobbing into your Torches at the news that the new OS won't be coming to your handset, its worth taking a look at the Bold Touch. The icons have been slightly redesigned, bringing them more up to date and giving the whole OS a classier feel.
Everything is very crisp and smooth, but familiar enough to be easy and comfortable to use. With a 1.2Ghz processor behind it, the BlackBerry Bold Touch is generally quite nippy. The Bold 9780's was 624Mhz, so it's a huge leap for the Bold family. While we didn't have a chance to make it do anything massively strenuous, the only gentle lag we encountered was when swiping the touchscreen, and we'd be prepared to bet that was down to the touch-responsiveness more than anything else. The web interface is also quite pleasant and seems speedier than we were used to over Wi-Fi - RIM says that the BB OS7 browser is 1.6x faster than that on BB OS6 - and while the small screen size means its not as nice to use the browser as it is on the larger-screened Torch, it's not unusable and the zoom function is very smooth.
Well, very smooth when it actually worked; the handset seemed to struggle a little with zooming. The model we tested didn't allow us to scroll or zoom using the touchscreen, and when we used the trackpad to zoom instead, it took us all over the page instead of training the zoom on the area we had chosen. At that point we had to scroll all over the place to find what we'd intended to zoom in on in the first place. Hopefully this annoying bug will be sorted out before the Bold Touch gets its retail launch this summer. The contacts menu remains largely unchanged from previous BlackBerry iterations.
Likewise, the camera app and media galleries which were all very familiar.
The QWERTY keyboard on the BlackBerry Bold Touch is really excellent. It feels much more spacious than even the Bold 9780 and makes tapping out search terms and short messages really quite dreamy. We weren't able to pen any full length documents, though, so we can't vouch for prolonged comfort.
BlackBerry OS 7 comes with an updated Facebook app, which looks much more modern than the older version, although navigation was a little trickier; things like notifications and searching friends were not immediately obvious.
As an overall experience, we enjoyed using the BlackBerry Bold Touch; it seems a natural progression for the Bold family and offers what we reckon is one of the best QWERTY keyboards on the market. It's just a shame we can't compare it to the BlackBerry Torch 2, which we were hoping would also launch at BlackBerry World this week but is sadly nowhere to be seen. 
| ||
| BlackBerry OS 7 is not coming to older handsets Posted: 02 May 2011 08:11 AM PDT RIM has confirmed that the newly launched BlackBerry OS 7 will not be coming to older phones. So that means the BlackBerry Torch and older Bold models won't be getting the snazzy new icons and nippy web browsing of the Bold Touch. Is this the end for older BlackBerry's upgrade cycles? If so, Torch owners will likely feel a little bit miffed. Seven month span After all, BlackBerry OS 6 was only launched in August 2010 so while it's time for an upgrade, it's a bit harsh for Torch owners whose phone was only up to date for a number of months. The reason behind the new-models-only approach is the 1.2Ghz processor that the Bold Touch is rocking; the extra power means a better OS, and older BlackBerrys simply couldn't handle it. For our thoughts on BlackBerry OS 7 and what Torch and older users will be missing out on, check out our hands on BlackBerry Bold Touch review. 
| ||
| Brit Week: Dyson: UK must start producing more engineers Posted: 02 May 2011 08:00 AM PDT Sir James Dyson has told TechRadar of his frustration that the UK is not encouraging enough of its brightest kids to pursue engineering at university. Dyson is considered one of the biggest innovators in UK technology - with the likes of his vacuum cleaners and fans hitting the headlines globally. But in an interview for TechRadar's Brit week, Dyson told us that he believes that Britain is simply not turning out enough graduates in engineering, admitting his own company has struggled to bring in the calibre of post-university students it needs. Great universities "We have great universities, but not enough young graduates to show for it," said Dyson. "In the UK, there are 37,000 engineering vacancies every year, but only 22,000 graduates. "Many British companies have potential but a lack of skilled people can hold up invention and export. "At Dyson we are trying to double our engineering team to 700. It is taking longer than planned. "Britain's recent 'budget for making things' is promising but green shoots take a long time to develop; training in university must reflect that, in line with support for business." Encourage innovation Dyson is keen to help encourage youngsters to innovate, and has embarked on projects to achieve this. "My Foundation works in schools to show young people how things are made, what materials are used and how to take them apart," he added. "We also try to inspire young people through the James Dyson Award - http://www.jamesdysonaward.org- which is run in 18 countries and calls on young people to come up with problem-solving inventions. "Automist, the 2009 winner, is a device that detects a fire and puts it out; it's now on the market." 
| ||
| RIM launches BlackBerry Bold Touch Posted: 02 May 2011 06:30 AM PDT RIM has unveiled the BlackBerry Bold 9900, a touchscreen candybar handset replete with BlackBerry's trademark QWERTY keyboard. The new smartphone is also known as the BlackBerry Bold Touch as per the many leaks of the past months. It offers what RIM is calling a "lustrous exterior", thanks to a brushed stainless steel frame and a glass-weave back panel. Under the hood, we're looking at a 1.2Ghz processor (although it's not dual-core like the Samsung Galaxy S2 and HTC Sensation are), built-in NFC connectivity, compass and 720p video playback. Slim jim RIM is also honing in on the slim-set with its boast that the Bold 9900 is just 10.5mm thick – it's the slimmest BlackBerry yet, but doesn't quite compete with the iPhone 4's 9.3mm. The handset is also launching with BlackBerry OS 7.0, which boasts improved browsing, voice-activated universal handset search and support for HTML5 when browsing the web. RIM's co-CEO Mike Lazaridis is pretty pleased with the Bold Touch. He said, "The new BlackBerry Bold smartphones and BlackBerry 7 OS are inspired by millions of customers around the world who want the ultimate combination of performance, functionality and style. "These fully-loaded and beautifully crafted smartphones offer a highly refined user experience with blazingly fast performance, a brilliant touchscreen and an outstanding typing experience." "We think we've built the ultimate hybrid here," said a RIM spokesperson at BlackBerry World, where the company also unveiled a CDMA version of the handset, known as the BlackBerry Bold 9930. While the BlackBerry Bold Touch UK release date is set for some point this summer, pricing is TBC. While you're waiting for that, let's get a bit more in depth with out our hands on BlackBerry Bold Touch review. 
| ||
| In Depth: 16 things we'd change about Ubuntu Posted: 02 May 2011 06:00 AM PDT Ubuntu is a popular Linux-based distro but, like everything in life, it isn't perfect. There's plenty that could be improved, both in terms of software and the way it goes about doing things. Here's what we think would improve it. 1. Show how it helps This was doing the rounds recently: "What many people don't understand about Linux development is that it's truly a team effort: Red Hat develops the kernel, Novell develops the applications, Debian does the packaging and Ubuntu takes the credit!" It's a little unfair on Ubuntu, but maybe that's because it doesn't get credit for what it does contribute - such as making Linux more accessible for the masses. It should blow its own trumpet more. 2. Make better colour choices What is it with Ubuntu's colour schemes? It's not just the drabness of some of the palettes - all the pretty colours were taken by the older distros - but the way it changes with each release. Ubuntu seems to have used every possible shade of brown, from the darkest to ochre, with no apparent pattern, before switching to a strange aubergine shade. Some sort of consistency would be nice. That way, even if we didn't like the colour, we'd have time to get used to it. 3. Set up a home partition I've complained about this in reviews before and got a quick response from Ubuntu, but nothing has ever convinced me that lumping your data files in the root partition is a good idea. Kludging the installer to delete parts of the root filesystem instead of formatting it to preserve /home shows why /home should be separate in the first place. 4. Lengthen the release cycle The six-monthly release cycle, set for release by the last day of April and October each year, is a hindrance. Sure it builds anticipation, but it also forces developers to release code before it's ready. This affects commercial software, because companies have to plan marketing and advertising to coincide with the release. It also seems that Ubuntu is desperate to make each release distinct from the previous one in some way, be it with the colour scheme, button positions or default software choices. Free software should be more flexible. Releasing when it's ready works for Debian. Now that the distro is so much more mature, a longer break between releases would enable Ubuntu to make the new additions it desires with more time for testing. It could even find itself releasing early, instead of frantically fixing ISO bugs at the eleventh hour. 5. Explain changes Change for its own sake is pointless, and if you don't explain why you've changed something it'll be perceived as such. An upgrade installation, or a full installation over a previous Ubuntu, should open a list of changes and the reasons for them in a browser when first booted. Don't just move the buttons and hope we like it. 6. Try more user testing of new ideas It's great to see a major distro experimenting with alternatives to established software, such as Wayland and Unity, but is a full distro release the place to try these out? Maybe Ubuntu should have some sort of testing branch, where users can get these changes before they make it into the full distro release. This isn't the same as trying an alpha or beta release; this should be done before an idea even makes it into that branch. 7. Consider rolling releases Fixed-point releases are good for marketing and promotion of a distro: awareness and interest each increase as a release date approaches. Plus they provide agreat excuse for Ubuntu release parties. But once your system is installed, fixed releases are more of a pain. Yes, you can do a dist-upgrade with apt-get or Synaptic once the new release is out. But that's not the same as rolling releases where the latest packages are always available when you need them, not just after a new version release and not again until the next one. 8. Make Lubuntu official LXDE is a fabulous lightweight desktop and far better than Xfce - even for coverdisc editing - but Lubuntu still remains an unofficial respin. It's now time that Lubuntu was given the same recognition as Xubuntu and officially endorsed by Ubuntu as a true alternative for lower-powered machines, or for netbook users who still want a standard desktop experience. 9. Partition LVM If it really wants to avoid partitioning hassles, Ubuntu should consider partitioning the disk with LVM as an installer default. Not the way Fedora does it, filling the whole volume group, but a sensible allocation of space for root and home, and a graphical tool for rearranging and resizing volumes. Needs change, so let the users change their systems to suit. 10. Use RPM Everyone knows that RPM is a superior package format to Debian - why else would the Linux Standard Base (LSB) have chosen it? Ubuntu is now well enough established to not need to depend on Debian any more, and has shown that it's willing to make major changes in other areas (such as Wayland and Unity). It's time that it dropped Debian packages and upgraded to RPM. 11. Give us a minimal/network install For those who have a fast connection, downloading a full CD with live desktop is unnecessary. Debian (I'm pretty sure the Ubuntu guys have heard of it) has a small CD that boots the installer and then downloads only the packages that are needed. It's a good idea and actually speeds up the complete installation process, because you don't have to wait for 700MB to download before you can even boot up the installer. 12. Don't be greedy
The switch from Rhythmbox to Banshee may be a good one, but the insistence that 75% of the revenues that come from any Amazon MP3 downloads go to Ubuntu instead of the Gnome Foundation is scandalous. After all, where would Ubuntu be without Gnome? Yes, it may have its own Ubuntu One Music Store, but asking for virtually all the commission in order to let users buy from a rival store is the sort of heavy-handed approach that even Apple would think twice about. 13. Simplify codec installation This is a grey area, but people will try to play a DVD and complain that "Linux is broken" when it can't be done. Including libdvdcss in the Ubuntu repositories isn't an option, but searching out and adding repositories such as Medibuntu is a chore - worse if you don't know about them. If Ubuntu offered to install third-party repositories during installation, by downloading a setup package from elsewhere, users would be able to play their media without hassle. 14. Don't use disk UUIDs There's no doubt that the fstab file on Ubuntu looks a mess. Disk UUIDs may work well for automated installations, but they're much harder to maintain. Can we have filesystem labels, if not by default, at least as an option? Labels give a completely human-readable fstab and leave the user in no doubt as to what goes where. Of course, using LVM would make this point irrelevant. 15. Fix more paper cuts I know developers like experimenting with cool new features, but the minor niggles continue to annoy long after the wow (or WTF) reaction to the new stuff. Eye candy may attract new users, but reliability and usability keeps them. No one really wants to fix these minor (but numerous) bugs, so more effort needs to be made to encourage fixing them. The 100 paper cuts initiative was good, but it needs to go further. 16. Embrace the games market One of the reasons why so few companies decide to develop games for Linux is that there's nobody to demonstrate the market potential to them. Ubuntu is in a position to do that. With so many home users, a commercial organisation backing it and its own online store, if any distro can convince the games developers to consider Linux, Ubuntu/Canonical can. 
| ||
| Brit Week: Britain has led the world on 3D, says Sky Posted: 02 May 2011 05:00 AM PDT Sky's Brian Lenz believes that Britain has led the world in 3D, with the entire UK media industry helping adoption by its production and adoption of the technology. Speaking in an interview for TechRadar's Brit Week, Lenz – the director of product development – insisted that the UK ahs not just led Europe, but carried the torch for 3D on a global level. "10 years ago, we might have judged success in Britain by being the first European nation to do something that has happened in the US, but now, a decade later, with something like 3D the UK has led the world," said Lenz. "That's not just Sky, but the entire UK media industry leading the world because of the acceptance, adoption, the notion and the interest. "That shows the receptiveness and forward thinking nature of the UK - and not just in our segment." Cambridge Lenz, who also discussed the rise of the companion device for our televisions and Sky's role as an innovator, believes that the UK has "untapped potential". "Ten years ago the UK was not in a position to lead, but more recently things like ARM and what is coming out of Cambridge are doing just that, and there are an increasing number of times where we look at innovation that there are British alternatives to consider rather than automatically looking to Asia or Silicon Valley," he added. "I think the vibrancy of this market is incredible compared to a lot of places." 
| ||
| Buying Guide: Best camcorder under £350: 6 tested Posted: 02 May 2011 04:30 AM PDT With most phones, compact cameras and of course SLRs offering video recording, you have to wonder if there's still a place for a dedicated camcorder; even more so when you consider that in most cases these devices shoot HD video. Fortunately for the camcorder, in most cases the design and primary use of these other gadgets means either that they're lacking in features or need a high level of skill to turn out even mediocre results. So the purpose-made camcorder really is the way to go if you want to film decent-quality footage with minimal fuss. When it comes to buying one, the first thing you'll notice is that unlike the flooded compact camera market your choice is pretty limited, and once you've had a good think about features, price and of course looks, you'll normally only have a couple of choices left. But is there a great deal of difference between a camcorder costing £250 and one at £350, especially when the specifications and features of those two models seem surprisingly similar? We're looking at camcorders around the £300 price mark, which include full HD, stereo audio, memory card recording and direct playback through HDMI; some offer features that will enable the most novice filmmaker to create professionally styled movies. Canon Legria HFR18 - £360 Test one: Recording
When someone says HD then you instantly think cinematic, high-quality video footage with big sound. But in the more realistic world HD only refers to the resolution of the device. All six camcorders here feature full HD at 1920x1080. The Panasonic SD80 and Sony HDR-CX115E both record good natural colour, with fast auto-exposure and focus. Sound quality captured from their front mounted microphones is good and picks out vocals while limiting the ambient noise. Both the Sanyo and Toshiba record vibrant footage, although quality was noticeably less when compared with the others in test. These two cameras also take longer for the exposure and focus to settle when moved around. The Canon Legria HF R18 and Samsung H200 both perform well visually, and focus and exposure adjust swiftly, but audio for both don't match that produced by the other two. The Canon's sound can be marred by wind noise.
Test two: Features
The most notable features of these cameras are their touch screens and shooting modes. The Panasonic SD80 comes in top of the group, including iA (intelligent Auto) and built-in video lamp. Footage for all camcorders is stored on SD HC or SD XC cards, while all but the Toshiba, which uses H.264, capture their footage in the AVCHD format. The Canon features an automatic lens cover, cleverly protecting from dirt. The quality of the LCD screens varies - the Canon is a disappointment for the price, while the Sony's, on the other hand, gives a good representation of what you're capturing. All camcorders have the ability to shoot stills and the quality of the images produced is better than you'd expect from a camera phone. But due to the lack of flash or control, quality is less than you'd expect from a good compact camera. When it comes to viewing your footage, all cameras feature a standard HDMI cable link that fits into your TV.
Small and lightweight - but comfortable to use?
All the camcorders are small, with the Toshiba Camileo SX900 just beating the Sanyo Xacti for smallest status. Worries about the ultra-compact size making them difficult to handle are dispelled in use, with both the Toshiba and Sanyo shaped in a way that makes their handling comfortable to manoeuvre and zoom. The larger models are easier to keep steady, especially when using the zoom feature. The slightly bulkier size and shape of the Canon, Samsung, Panasonic and Sony means they fit comfortably in the hand while still enabling easy adjustment over features and settings. Navigation for all camcorders is easy, but the carefully thought-out design of the menu screens make both the Panasonic and Sony the easiest to adjust. Using a more traditional joystick-style of navigation, the Sanyo is well-thought out. The Canon, using a similar joystick for navigation, is actually quite tricky to use in comparison.
Test Four: Value for money
All camcorders in the test are available for around £350 or less, which for the features and quality of footage is exceptional value. The Panasonic at the top end of the price bracket shows that spending a little extra does buy you more features and better quality. But this can't be said for the Canon, which features a low-quality LCD, and during the test consistently had issues with picking up wind noise. The Sony is the one camera where design and features seem to meet perfectly, with its small compact size making it easy to use and carry, yet still retaining features you could want for a small point-and-shoot. Although the image quality of the Sanyo and Toshiba is lacking compared with the others, their small size makes them ideal as an everyday camera. The Samsung, similar to the Sony, does the job it was designed for; the only downside is the boxy design. When it comes to value, the real winner is the Sony at just under £300.
The best camcorder under £350 is: Sony HDR-CX115E
While the Canon and Samsung both perform well, their extra bulk weighed against them. Size-wise, the Sanyo and Toshiba win favour by easily slipping into a pocket, with the Toshiba just taking the edge, purely for its no-fuss ease of use. At the top of the test are the Panasonic and Sony, with similar features with touch screens and iA; image and audio quality from both is also exceptional. But the Sony's smaller size and build quality just take the top spot. Although the Sony doesn't have a video lamp, it does have a maximum aperture of f/1.8, which helps it cope with low light. In the end, the Sony has all you could want from a point-andshoot camcorder with build, features and quality putting it ahead of the rest.
| ||
| Review: Trend Micro Online Guardian Posted: 02 May 2011 04:00 AM PDT Computers (and the internet in particular) are a huge part of children's lives, and parents are increasingly concerned about them accessing unsuitable or dangerous material. These fears aren't completely without basis. In an arresting study by BitDefender, out of 1,570 parents questioned, 95 per cent reported that their children had accessed pornography online. The same study also found that children are becoming more tech savvy – 12 per cent of teenagers were able to uninstall or otherwise get around parental control tools. Trend Micro has been in the internet security business for a long time, but Online Guardian is its first product aimed at concerned parents. The software includes social network monitoring and internet filtering, and like a lot of parental control software products, it attempts to tread the fine line between keeping kids safe online without betraying their trust or curbing their freedom too much. Thankfully, Online Guardian offers a lot of scope for controlling what it monitors and blocks, so you can tweak it until you feel more comfortable. This is worth doing, because the settings err on the conservative side, and may block sites that you don't mind your kids seeing. You can also use sliders to set times when children can use the internet, and how long for. There's no software to install during the initial setup process – everything is done through the web browser. Once you've finished, you download a small program that then applies the settings to whichever computer you run it on. The software's web filtering tool caught most sites belonging to banned categories, but some did slip through. While straightforward adult sites are easily banned, Online Guardian sometimes missed more complex and vague sites that feature a mix of content – some which could be deemed unsuitable. User reports are easy to read and understand, but there is a noticeable impact on internet speeds when using this service. 
| ||
| Brit Week: 10 years of Sky+ - the EPGs Posted: 02 May 2011 04:00 AM PDT Ten years ago, Sky decided that it was about time it brought a key new bit of kit to its satellite offering, and it could be suggested that the introduction of Sky+ was one of the most pivotal moments in the satellite giant's history. Sky had established itself as a major force in television through its football and film coverage, but the company was keen to appeal to more and more homes and the decision was taken to introduce its own version of a PVR to the UK. Now PVRs were nothing new, indeed a partnership with US company TiVo was ended shortly before Sky+ arrived, but as Britain was slowly educated on the way it could pause and rewind live television, set whole series to record at the touch of a button and not have to worry about changing discs or tapes, it became a phenomenon. Now, to Sky Plus something is a common saying, and the likes of Freeview and Freesat have both leaped on the humble + sign to denote their own PVR offerings. As TechRadar celebrates Brit Week, we are also looking back at a decade of Sky+ - and we will start with a look at the way the episode guide has evolved (very little) in the product's lifetime. The early years: 2001-2005
The launch version of the EPG was a simple blue offering, offering a route into the television grid, but with the addition of a personal planner where you could see what you had recorded.
2005 brought a minor change - with the colours getting a small refresh
It's surprising just how little Sky had to tweak the UI; the company had introduced a major new technology to the mass market, and, largely got it just right. But big changes were afoot - and it was technology changes, rather than complaints, that prompted a move to a whole new look and feel. The HD years In May 2006, Sky began broadcasting in HD for the first time, but uptake was not quick enough to force a change of EPG, so we were stuck with the now ageing old look for just under another three years. Then in March 2009, Sky began to roll out the first major change to its Sky+ EPG since its launch, and it saw a complete overhaul.
Finally, a mini TV was offered in the menu, and a middle ribbon for getting major options. For convenience the green button remained the planner shortcut and the push Anytime service was on the red button.
Anytime+ After 9 years of very little change, we then got a second key change in as many years, as Sky finally rolled in their extended IPTV fed Anytime+ feature. The on-demand programming was given a whole new look, with a much more graphical offering to make it easier to work your way through the content.
| ||
| Brit Week: Brit Week: Why UK tech cannot be ignored Posted: 02 May 2011 03:00 AM PDT There's no mistaking the fact that the UK is in love with technology. We are a nation of early adopters, enthusiasts and technophiles. We love playing with the latest kit, snooping out the biggest bargains and, thankfully for TechRadar, reading about it. Britain is, after all, responsible for some of the greatest engineers, designers and innovators of all time; Babbage, Faraday, Watt, Davy, Bell and Brunel, to name but a few, are people who have changed our world beyond all recognition. The climate and the conditions may be held responsible by many historians for making Britain the starting point of the industrial revolution, but the genius of the inventors and scientists cannot be discounted. And that tradition has not dulled in the last century – with the likes Christopher Cockerell, Frank Whittle, Tim Berners-Lee and Ian Wilmut, and, of course, John Logie Baird all making our lives very different. Slipping away? Yet, there is a suspicion that the nation is slipping from greatness; ask people in the street where the greatest inventions of the 21st Century stem from and the UK is not often among the answers. Silicon Valley, Japan and Korea, it seems, have stolen ahead of the UK as the perceived centres of innovation on the planet. And yet, in a week when TechRadar will be bringing you interviews with some of the true giants of the British technology world, it remains clear that there is still optimism, still hope that Britain can once more establish itself as the centre of innovation for a new generation.
Green shoots Some would suggest that the green shoots are already showing – that companies like ARM and Dyson are showing that British technological design cannot be discounted as a world leader, that companies like Virgin Media and BSkyB are ensuring that Britain is not a poor cousin in home entertainment technology. Even more would argue that prominent figures like British Apple designer Jonathan Ive, games legend Peter Molyneux and inventor of the web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee have played their part in shaping modern life. TechRadar's Brit week will be bringing you a week of celebration of the UK's technology stars – touching on chip design, computer games, high-end audio, the internet, broadband and television. We'll be looking at how the UK has led the world on the adoption of 3D, how some of the most famous videogames ever made have hailed from these shores, and how the nation's enthusiasm for technology has never waned. In a year of Olympic build up and of Royal Weddings, the Union Jack has been flying high, and in a world where technology is the most dynamic and fascinating market we'll be asking how we can raise it even higher. So keep an eye out for a week of celebration and introspection as we talk to two Knights of the realm, a gaming legend and the man behind the iPlayer along with some of the most familiar names in UK tech. Welcome to Brit Week. Brit week articles 
| ||
| Posted: 02 May 2011 03:00 AM PDT Fedora is a traditionalist distribution. That means its packages and desktop are as close to the default as you might expect from a distribution that isn't Gentoo. Its KDE desktop is particularly interesting, because there are none of the niceties like a customised menu or re-themed panel that you'd expect from a more KDE-centric distribution. You get the original KDE experience, which isn't always a great thing. If you're coming from the world of Windows, KDE isn't all that easy to pick up. It may look familiar, with a launch menu, widgets and virtual desktops, but it takes some serious re-adjustments. The system control panel, for example, is a mess of OS X backwards/forwards panels, hidden windows and dozens of checkboxes. Fedora makes no attempt to tame this complexity, whereas openSUSE brushes over some of these cracks with its own configuration panels. The default desktop environment is equally uncompromising. Most users will only persevere with this desktop if they know what to expect. Default values On the desktop, Plasma is unadulterated – you get just the basic file widget. This is the virtual representation of what's in your 'Desktop' folder, or any other folder you'd like it to point at. This is one of the big ideas behind what KDE used to call the Plasma desktop – a brave attempt to tie the internet and the world of social networking to your OS. Fedora's default gives none of this away. Instead, you'll need to click the Plasma cashew icon, adding widgets to your desktop and panel. Only then does the desktop start to feel more advanced and progressive than a Windows 7 installation. The addition of Activities is the best example of KDE's innovation, and it would be great if a distro like Fedora was brave enough to realise its full potential. 
| ||
| Posted: 02 May 2011 02:30 AM PDT This is a brave release from the team at Canonical. After several years making small enhancements to the Gnome desktop, like the unified messaging/logout menu and the onscreen notification system, it's going the full distance with Ubuntu 11.04. It's replacing the desktop with a product of its own creation, Unity, which started life on the back of the netbook Ubuntu version from a few years ago, a version that's now rolled into the main release. Unity replaces the metaphor of a desktop with a full-screen app launcher, file viewer and task manager. The unified messaging and system controls stay at the top of the screen, but everything else is new. You can switch between common folders and the entire file system using quick links, but here's the rub. Unlike other versions of Ubuntu, Unity requires graphical hardware acceleration. It doesn't need to be much, but it needs to be more than the stock VESA driver your system may default to if it can't install a native driver. In such cases, it looks like you'll be dropped to the Qt-based 2D version of Unity, which is functionally identical but lacks the eye candy. Free politics A more profound problem is that Unity is very similar in concept to Gnome's shiny new Shell. Like Unity, the Gnome Shell replaces the desktop with a full-screen file and application management interface. However, thanks to the politics of open source, the projects are fully independent. This means that while all other distributions forge ahead with Gnome Shell, Ubuntu has split itself from mainstream Linux distribution. While that won't affect the uptake of Ubuntu 11.04, it may affect its influence by the time Windows 8 is released. Add to this the community furore surrounding Canonical's switching of affiliate payments in its new music player, Banshee, and it seems likely that the distribution has a lot of patching-up to do if it's to maintain its momentum. 
| ||
| Competition: WIN! Media streamer, TV & LoveFilm subscription Posted: 02 May 2011 02:00 AM PDT Listen up movie lovers! Want to watch the latest films on your TV but haven't got the patience to wait for the DVD to land on your doormat? TechRadar has teamed up with Oregan Networks to offer one lucky winner the ultimate living room movie junkie bundle featuring a Digital Stream DPS-1000 powered by Oregan's Onyx media browser, Sharp 32" LCD TV and a year's subscription to LoveFilm for unlimited movie streaming. The Digital Stream DPS-1000 brings the best of the web direct to your TV. Not only can you watch the latest blockbuster on LoveFilm's WatchNow service, you can also catch-up with Eastenders on BBC iPlayer and watch the latest episodes of your favourite programmes via BlinkBox. Your favourite social networks have been included too! See the video below to see what it's all about. With adaptive streaming technology, the Digital Stream DPS-1000 optimises your internet connection giving you an uninterrupted streaming experience, with no dodgy buffering or pixilation. Check out our four-star review of the Digital Stream DPS-1000 for a full rundown of its features. To be in with chance of winning this movie junkie bundle, head over to our competition entry page. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note that this competition is only open to UK residents over 18 years of age. Enter more TechRadar competitions 
|
| 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