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Techradar |
- Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar
- Skype for iPad finally on the way
- Review: Samsung Chromebook
- Hacking movie WarGames set for remake
- Finger-powered phones coming within 3 years?
- Apple files another lawsuit against Samsung
- Google Wallet coming to iPhone 5?
- Batphone app turns you into Batman
- In Depth: 15 iPhone and iPad games like Bejeweled
- iPad, iPhone top UK mobile web traffic chart
- Travelodge customer database hacked
- Winklevoss twins file new lawsuit against Facebook
- Electronic Arts linked to $1bn PopCap purchase
- Review: Kaleidescape Blu-ray system
- Google to be investigated over web monopoly
- Tutorial: Handy Facebook shortcuts, tips and tricks
- Review: Paradigm SUB1
- Review: Quadral Chromium 5.1
- Week in Tech: Nokia's N9 and the shape of smartphones to come
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 UK release date announced
- Team Fortress 2 goes free to play
- Review: Gefen TV Auto Volume Stabiliser
- Dolby unveils 3D glasses for kids
- LulzSec denies attack on The Sun
| Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar Posted: 25 Jun 2011 01:00 AM PDT This week we got our hands on the Nokia N9, the first MeeGo handset from Nokia, and quite possibly the last. We also spent some time looking at HTC's Android-toting Salsa, while in the TV world we sat down to watch the rather excellent Sharp LC-46LE831E and the Panasonic TX-P55VT30B. Read on for this week's hottest reviews on TechRadar. The N9 is the first MeeGo smartphone from Nokia and so far we think it's a rather lovely piece of kit. The MeeGo 1.2 iteration on the Nokia N9 is a real departure from the maddening confusion of Symbian, with the 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 OMAP 3630 processor, PowerVR SGX530 graphics and 1GB of RAM all working together to deliver a fluid response under the finger. This is how a phone is supposed to work, with a rapid response to swiping and movement. Symbian Anna had better be as good, otherwise we'll be very disappointed in Nokia. The full review is on its way but in the meantime check out our hands-on review. The HTC Salsa is yet another impressive Android phone from HTC, with its polished Sense interface as smooth, reliable and feature-packed as ever. The only flaws here are the phone's puzzling lack of internal memory and a camera that occasionally gets itself awfully bogged down. If the camera worked a little more smoothly and if there was a touch (well, a lot) more app storage space, it would be the perfect mid-sized Android phone. It's a well-made phone that's enjoyable to use and a breath of fresh air in a world of bland black slabs - but today's app-hungry smartphone users will find its lack of onboard memory a daily frustration. By adding an extra colour - yellow - to the usual RGB mix in every pixel of its Quattron range of TVs, Sharp was trying to take picture quality up to another level. After a few years struggling to compete at the lower end of the market, it's good to see Sharp returning to its roots by concentrating on thoroughly high-end screens such as this LC-46LE831E. Sharp has always championed LCD and the technology's evolution continues - this is a rather special home cinema screen that's surely the finest edge LED-lit screen around, but it won't appeal to those after a user-friendly living room TV.
Believe it or not this is Panasonic's first ever 55-inch TV. It usually releases 50 and 60-inch versions of its high-end TV ranges but this set changes all that. The screen starts establishing its flagship credentials right away by being exceptionally slim for a plasma TV. It's also absolutely brilliant, and packs some of the best (if not the best) picture quality in town. Samsung has grabbed the rest of the netbook-producing market and turned it upside-down with the NC110, setting the bar high in a market that already seemed to be saturated to the maximum. It's often hard to be hopeful about something that far down the price bracket, because it almost seems destined to fail. But we've genuinely been surprised by the Samsung NC110's abilities.
AV accessories Gefen TV Auto Volume Stabiliser review Digital SLRs/Hybrids General input devices Graphics cards Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 Dirt 3 Edition review
Home cinema systems Kaleidescape Blu-ray system review Laptops Toshiba Satellite C670D review Toshiba Satellite P755-113 review
Motherboards Sapphire Pure Platinum H67 review Projector accessories 3D Experience PolaRotator review Projectors
Software Niftybrick Heads Up Navigator review Speakers Tannoy Definition 5.1 System review
Tripods TVs
Hands on review 
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| Skype for iPad finally on the way Posted: 24 Jun 2011 07:39 PM PDT The Apple iPad is finally going to get its own Skype application and, on first impressions, it looks every bit like the app we've all been waiting for. The news, which was officially confirmed later, came in the form of a leaked promo video showcasing the iPad iteration in all its beautifully-designed glory. Following the leak, TUAW called-up Skype VP of Consumer and Product Design Rick Osterloh who said the app was coming soon and is currently in the test phase. No release date has been confirmed. Similar success Osterloh says the Skype app would offer the same functionality as the iPhone iteration, which experienced "a userbase that doubled in just a month's time." He expects the iPad app to "experience similar success." Until now iPad owners have been able to access the iPhone version of Skype, blowing it up to full the screen and dealing bad resolution and an over-sized iPhone keyboard. An official Skype app, complete with video calls, voice calls and IM with a tablet-optimised design will be a massive bonus for the legions of Skype users who also rock and Apple iPad. You can see the audio-less promo video, that some quick-on-the-draw YouTube user ripped from the web, below. 
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| Posted: 24 Jun 2011 11:00 AM PDT Cloud computing is a term we've heard with increasing frequency recently. It's the idea that our usual computing tasks are not run by the hardware in our computers, but instead on powerful servers connected to your machine via the internet. Operating systems on netbooks and laptops are still firmly tethered to the hardware, with Windows 7 and Linux distros being the OSes of choice. Into this fray comes Google's Chrome OS, an operating system designed to drag laptops and netbooks into the cloud. The machines that run Chrome OS are known as Chromebooks, and Samsung is ahead of the pack by releasing the first Chromebook in the UK – the Samsung Chromebook Series 5. For more information on what Chrome OS is all about, check out our guide: Google Chromebooks - what you need to know.
As the first of its kind with no immediate competitors - an Acer Chromebook has been announced by Google but Acer has yet to confirm if we will see it in the UK - the Samsung Chromebook faces some interesting challenges.
While it launches with no other competition from Chromebooks, it's currently solely responsible for persuading consumers to move from the more familiar Windows operating system to Chrome's browser-based interface, and to encourage early adopters to embrace the new technology. The Samsung Chromebook Series 5 also needs to set the bar for what we can expect from this new breed of computer.
One of the biggest selling points about the Chromebook is its simplicity. Where other laptops would boast of their specifications, cramming in powerful components wherever space allows, the Series 5 is proud of its pared-down simplicity. Google's aim with Chrome OS is to offer as uncomplicated a computing experience as possible, ideal for people who just want to use their computers with little fuss. Google wants you to 'just use' the device, rather than have to tinker with and maintain it. While this back-to-basics approach could seem limiting and frustrating in the wrong hands, Samsung has created a remarkably accomplished machine that offers simplicity without being patronising. It might be inevitable that the focus is going to be on Google's new operating system, but it would be a shame to ignore what Samsung has achieved with the Series 5 Chromebook. On the outside it appears to be a standard Samsung netbook, although the Chrome logo that's displayed underneath Samsung's name hints that this is no ordinary device.
Opening it up shows what both Google and Samsung are trying to achieve with Chromebooks. The keyboard has larger buttons and greater spaces between them than you'd find on other netbooks. The usual 'F' function keys are dispensed with in favour of Chrome OS-specific buttons for changing volume and flipping between tabs. We found that even though this gives the Series 5 Chromebook a slight air of a Fischer Price 'My First Laptop', it feels very comfortable to use.
The mouse track pad is a lot larger than on most laptops, and you click with one finger for a left mouse click, and with two fingers for a right mouse click. It's quite an elegant solution that works well. The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook comes in two versions, one that's Wi-Fi only and a 3G version which costs £50 more. Because Chrome OS is web based, the Series 5 Chromebook needs to be connected to the internet for it to work properly - one of the very first things it asks you when you turn it on for the first time is to connect to a wireless network. Whilst the Wi-Fi only version works fine around the home, the 3G version is recommended if you are going to be using it while out and about. The constant need for an active internet connection is a good example of how you need to think differently when using a Chromebook, and if you're unwilling to commit to a 3G contract just to use your computer, then you're going to find the Series 5 Chromebook very limiting. With other laptops the biggest worry is running out of battery – with the Chromebook it's losing your internet signal. Talking of the battery, the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook has a very decent lifespan of eight to nine hours between charges, mainly due to the fact that Chrome OS is so light to run. It comes with just 16GB of internal memory, the idea being that you'll be saving your work in the cloud. While this is all well and good in areas where you can easily get an internet connection, if you're stuck in a 3G blackspot, you're not going to be able to access your work. You can also plug in external storage to load media and documents using the Chromebook's file browser. A file-browser opens as a new tab as soon as you plug one in. Ports
The right-hand side of the Chromebook is where the SIM slot is for your 3G USIM card, and that sits next to one of the two USB ports and the developer switch.
Front left sits the SD card slot for plugging in the memory card from your camera, for instance.
And on the left is the second USB port and the display output port- you can plug the chromebook into a monitor using the bundled VGA adapter - alongside the charging port and a 3.5mm headphone/microphone port. If you buy the 3G version, in the box you'll find a Three SIM card with 3GB of free PAYG data on it - so you'll be able to get yourself online straight away before sorting yourself out with a contact. Alternatively, you can wait for your free data to run out and then simply top it up.
Cutting the bloat that can often be associated with the more complicated Windows operating systems for the simpler and lighter Chrome OS has resulted in one area where the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook is leagues ahead of its Windows-based brethren – startup speed. While computers such as the Acer Aspire One 721 and Samsung NC110 take around three minutes to fully load and allow you online, the Series 5 Chromebook takes less than 10 seconds. Open the lid after some downtime and it'll resume from sleep and get you online instantly. Media playback on the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook is more hit and miss. Clicking on JPEG photos, a small thumbnail was displayed on the right-hand side of the screen, with options to view the photo or send it to a Picasa online album. We selected a number of images and clicked on 'View'.
This opened up a new tab and we were able to scroll through each photo using the arrow buttons. Admittedly the photos were quite large, but the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook showed noticeable signs oflag when flicking between the photos. Not something we'd expect to see in a new machine straight out of the box. We tested a variety of video file formats and were rather disappointed with the results. Out of the box, we managed to get .mov and .MP4 videos to work just fine, but more exotic formats like .wmv, .mkv and a basic DivX .AVI were not recognised by the OS.
We looked online to try to find an extension or plug-in to allow us to play the wmv file type, but with little luck. This is hardly the pick-up and use simplicity that Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Chrome at Google, promised when we talked to him earlier this week. The files that worked showed off what the 12.1-inch display is capable of, with colours looking bright and vivid. However, when playing in full screen the limits of the hardware again made themselves known, with choppy playback when we tried HD content on the BBC iPlayer site. However, 720p video on YouTube played without much of a hitch though the framerate again was ever so slightly lower than we've been used to with other devices. Web browsing
For day-to-day web browsing the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook is good, with Chrome feeling just as fast a browser as its always been. However, when we ran the SunSpider 0.9.1 JavaScript benchmark tool it took a surprisingly bad 1452.1ms to complete the tests, compared to 351.7ms using Chrome on a desktop PC.
As soon as Chrome OS was first demonstrated we had a feeling that its much vaunted simplicity would be a defining element that it would succeed or fail on. And so it has come to pass. We liked: In the areas where the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook's simplicity works well, the machine really benefits. The keyboard and the mouse work well, and the almost instant startup time is fantastic. For people who don't want to mess around with operating systems, worrying about installing anti-virus software and having to deal with Window's crashes and quirks, then the simplicity of just opening up the Chromebook, signing into a Google account and then getting straight into browsing the internet is certainly attractive. We disliked: Unfortunately on many other aspects the simplicity of the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook works against it. Its Intel Atom CPU and integrated graphics card just doesn't have enough horsepower to play back demanding videos with optimal spoothness, and while its ability to play media might not be its main selling point, when you're paying £350 to £400 you'd expect it to be a bit more competent. Compatibility issues with some file types will no doubt be ironed out in future updates, but at the moment performance is limited, so early adopters should approach with caution. Final verdict It is very early days for both Chrome OS and the Chromebooks that run it. The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook gets enough of the basics right that we can see the potential of the new operating system. However it is not the strong start we'd have hoped for. We can see the logic in keeping the hardware simple when it keeps the performance streamlined and costs down. However in this case the hardware is just a bit too weak for any tasks more strenuous than viewing a website, and for a price that rivals more powerful and more feature-rich laptops. With a few choice upgrades and a lower price, Chromebooks could be a hit. But at the moment, on the evidence of the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook, they still have a way to go. 
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| Hacking movie WarGames set for remake Posted: 24 Jun 2011 09:48 AM PDT With those scamps at Anonymous and LulzSec dominating the tech headlines, there surely can be no better time for Hollywood to green-light a WarGames movie remake. The 1983 cult classic stars Matthew Broderick as a hacker who nearly kick-starts World War III when he starts a virtual chess game with a government supercomputer. Now, 18 years on, a remake is on the table with Seth Gordon, who directed the excellent The King of Kong documentary about obsessive Donkey Kong players, scheduled to take the helm. However, far from being a shot-for-shot remake in the mold of every bad Horror redo of the last twenty years, Deadline is reporting that Gordon will have a "wide scope to create a new take" on the original. Terrorism based You have to wonder whether the recent activities of the high-profile hacking groups have convinced studio movie MGM to get their skates on with getting this remake commissioned? The US and UK governments have also been talking up the threat of cyber terrorism in recent months, with the Pentagon looking to reclassify cyber attacks as an act of war. We're interested to see in which direction Gordon takes the much-loved original. The Deadline report says it's likely to focus on terrorism. If Green could somehow get get mid-eighties club lovely Ally Sheedy to reprise her role in her original youthful guise, then we'd really be in business. 
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| Finger-powered phones coming within 3 years? Posted: 24 Jun 2011 08:31 AM PDT You could soon be able to extend the life of your laptop or mobile phone simply by typing on its keyboard. That's according to a group of boffins from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology who've been attempting to harvest electrical currents from special materials that react to pressure. The idea is that piezoelectric films could be placed underneath each key of a keyboard or keypad in order to generate a charge every time the key is depressed. The tech is still in its infancy and is currently only able to extend the battery life of a laptop by about 10 per cent, but it is thought that they will eventually be able to make a real contribution to battery life in mobile devices. The tech was originally developed to harness the physiological processes inside the human body, for example to use a person's blood pressure to power implants like pace makers. However, it soon became clear that the same technology would suit the world of consumer technology. Pity, then, that the humble keyboard is fast being replaced by entirely static capacitive touchscreens. Via Telegraph 
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| Apple files another lawsuit against Samsung Posted: 24 Jun 2011 07:32 AM PDT Apple has fired-off another lawsuit against Samsung, once again claiming the manufacturer copied the iPhone and iPad designs for its own products. In the latest round of the tit-for-tat legal battle, Apple has taken the fight to Samsung's home turf by filing suit at the Seoul District Court in South Korea. The writ reiterates that it is "no coincidence that Samsung's latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging. "This kind of blatant copying is wrong, and we need to protect Apple's intellectual property when companies steal our ideas," it read. Escalating war The disagreement focuses on Samsung's range of Galaxy smartphones and Galaxy Tab tablets, which Apple claims are blatant iPhone and iPad rip-offs. The new lawsuit replicates one already filed by Apple in San Francisco, which saw Samsung counter sue, alleging 5 patent infringements on its products by Apple. The latest round of the escalating war saw Samsung fail in its bid to unsheathe the yet-to-be-announed iPhone 5 and iPad 3 to back up its case in court. Despite the ongoing patent tussle, the pair actually have close business ties. Samsung is a major component manufacturer for the iPhone and is the Korean company's second largest client. 
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| Google Wallet coming to iPhone 5? Posted: 24 Jun 2011 07:13 AM PDT The Google Wallet mobile payment platform could feature on the new iPhone after Eric Schmidt admitted that Google is looking to port the software to other manufacturers. The executive chairman says that if Apple develop their own version of the NFC tech that features in the Google Nexus S then his company will be looking to integrate Google's new payment infrastructure. When asked about moving the tech to other platforms Schmidt said that "most vendors" will have the necessary "near field communications" chip in their devices by next year. iPhone 5? Speaking at the Cannes Lions Advertising festival, the former CEO said that Google would bring the tech to Apple, which is rumoured to be adding an NFC chip to the iPhone 5. Other OEMs like LG and Sony Ericsson have already committed to adding NFC chips to their Android phones. Within a year Schmidt also predicted that the 'tap and pay' revolution will be in full swing within 12 months, with over a third of shops and restaurants accepting payment by mobile. He says Google is pushing payment processors to crack on with upgrading the in-store tech. He reckons they, and not Google or phone manufacturers, will be paying for the switch as the credit card company's have the motivation of lower fraud rates through NFC-based payments. "I judge that based on how long I think it takes, because the terminals are available now, the software is available now or this summer," he said. "How long does it take an infrastructure player to upgrade a significant percentage of their infrastructure? It's on the order of a year, it's not a week, it's not a month but it's also not five years. 
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| Batphone app turns you into Batman Posted: 24 Jun 2011 06:35 AM PDT A new smartphone app has been developed to help enthusiasts capture the ultrasonic chirps of local bats. The iBats app, which for the purposes of pretending to be Batman, we're going to call the batphone app, can record the sounds of 900 different bat species from around the world. Once you've downloaded the free iPhone or Android app, you need to plug in an ultrasonic microphone and the app will record the calls that are inaudible to the human ear. The app is designed for the 700 global members of the volunteer bat-tracking website iBats. Any recordings will be uploaded to the database, where specialist software will identify the species. Heart monitor for wildlife iBats project manager Kate Jones says: "Bats are like a heart monitor for wildlife. "Their presence can tell us a lot about the health of the environment because they have an important role in terms of eating insects and acting as pollinators for many different plant species." "We hope the iBats app will encourage more people to monitor their local bats and make a contribution to the global conservation of wildlife." We don't know about you, but that's our weekend sorted. Just enough time left on Friday to perfect that vastly over-exaggerated Christian Bale Dark Knight voice and we're ready for a weekend of bat-tracking. 
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| In Depth: 15 iPhone and iPad games like Bejeweled Posted: 24 Jun 2011 06:00 AM PDT Simple, compelling videogame concepts can provide familiarity along with a foundation for innovation. This means you can pick up and play a game that's largely based on a concept you know and immediately figure out how to play, even if the changes result in a radically different experience. One such concept is tile-matching, popularised by PopCap's Bejeweled series. Although other tilematching/swapping games preceded it, Bejeweled's online distribution, polish and game design ensured it cemented itself as a leader in its field. It therefore follows that if you're on the hunt for a match-three game for iOS, you should first go back to the source. With Bejeweled 2 + Blitz (59p, iPhone) , you get four modes, including the traditional Classic and Attack (swap gems, wait for the grid to refill and continue until there are no more matches or, in Attack, you run out of time), Endless (a casual, stress-free mode lacking a timer and ending) and the frenetic, exciting Blitz. The last of those ties in with the Facebook Flash game, and you have one minute to get as many points as possible. Unlike Bejeweled's other modes, Blitz doesn't force you to wait until gems have settled before you make another swap - instead, you rapidly switch gems and create chains as more jewels fall into the well. Given Bejeweled's relative simplicity and the fact that PopCap's game is so polished, there's little point in considering the myriad clones that litter the App Store.
Instead, go further afield, exploring games that expand the basic concept. Piyo Blocks 2 (£1.79, iPhone) appears similar to Bejeweled but has enough innovation to warrant purchase. Gameplay is based solely around Blitz-style mechanics. Piyo mode has you match a quota of each tile type to advance, while Hyaku levels up when you acquire 100 of any tile. You also get Time Attack, Endless, Three Seconds (make a match within three seconds or your game is over) and Disco (regular board refreshes) modes. Piyo and Hyaku's timers are too lenient, making those modes easy for match-three aficionados, but the game's fun nonetheless. Avoid the HD version for iPad though - instead of blowing up the seven-by-seven grid, it adds more slots, unbalancing the gameplay.
Rather than including extra modes, many match games offer depth through quests. Paradise Quest(£1.79, iPad) tasks you with matching tiles that represent resources that can be used to restore the Galapagos Islands. As you make a match, the board lazily scrolls in that direction, enabling you to explore the large levels and uncover objects required to progress. For a pseudo-educational game, the tiny wildlife photos collected and static viewable environments are disappointing, but the gameplay's interesting, despite a lack of help regarding how to use objects. (Hint: tap on the map and tap where you want to go when using the vine.)
Around the World in 80 Days: The Game (59p, iPhone) is similar, if a mite simpler, with you completing the famous voyage by moving objects to the bottom of the grid for collection. Plenty of variation in board layouts, special tiles and the game's polish and responsiveness make it a great purchase for match-three fans. Some quest-oriented games ramp up the role play side of things. Puzzle Quest Chapter 1 and 2(£2.99, iPhone) and Puzzle Quest 2 (£2.99) task you with completing numerous quests in a fantasy world of goblins, spells and demons. The match-three mechanics are used for one-on-one battles; skulls represent attacks and coloured gems are Mana, which can be used to power spells that inflict further damage on your opponent. Both games have their fans, but we feel they're a bit grind-orientated rather than outright fun, and the sequel is hugely weighty and badly optimised, although it does offer plenty of depth and game time. If we're honest, we'd sooner settle down with Dungeon Raid (£1.79, iPhone), which distills Puzzle Quest down to its essence. Instead of swapping gems, you match by drawing lines through objects: shields to power up your defences; money to buy new kit; potions for health; and weapons and skulls to attack the latter. Strategy comes from positioning pieces so you can attack skulls, and the role-play mechanics add a touch of extra depth to keep you coming back. As a bonus, there's no tedious traipsing around maps.
Alternate match mechanics are the other major way in which games inspired by Bejeweled have made their mark. Azkend (£1.79 for iPhone or £2.99 for Azkend HD for iPad) uses Dungeon Raid-like line-drawing, but in a rather more sedate, thoughtful setting. Devil Invasion (59p, iPhone) boasts a hexagonal grid and uses somewhat similar combat ideas to Dungeon Raid but as a means of fending off, castle-defence-style, a string of monsters attacking you at the top of the screen. Crystal Soul (59p, iPhone) has each match move a character around the grid, forcing you to use limited moves wisely.
Chop Sushi! (59p for iPhone or £2.39 for Chop Sushi! HD for iPad) makes the single change of having you move pieces to the edge of a board to shift all the others inwards (a simple difference that rapidly made our brain hurt - but the game's fun cartoon graphics kept us hooked). Some games deftly emphasise the gravity aspect within match games. Toy Balls! HD (£1.19, iPad) has balls bouncing around the place, which you must save from getting zapped by stringing together matches, Dungeon Raid-style.
Linkoidz (£1.79) has you grab an alien from the pile atop your shield and fling it back to make a match. Take too long and the shield fails, resulting in your spaceman becoming a snack for the ravenous aliens.
The extremely pretty, superficially relaxed Liqua Pop (59p, iPhone) brings you more down to earth, dragging together coloured bubbles of liquid that encourage a frog to climb a stem when they burst.
Finally, the amusing Greedy Bankers (£1.19, iPhone) emphasises gravity within match games by doing away with a well-orientated play area entirely - instead, the grid is viewed from above, and you drag like-coloured gems together to create larger, far more valuable ones, with the aim of making enough cash before the timer runs out. It's amazing to see how the basic concept of match-three games has been expanded and tinkered with to create so many familiar yet varying games - and the indie-friendly nature of the App Store ensures many more will arrive over the coming months, which is sure to make even the most ardent match-three fan happy. As for the games covered here, they're all worth considering, but because we've mentioned more than usual this issue, our shopping list only features the cream of the crop. 
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| iPad, iPhone top UK mobile web traffic chart Posted: 24 Jun 2011 05:30 AM PDT New data released by ComScore shows that Apple's mobile devices, including the iPad and iPhone, are dwarfing other handsets in terms of web traffic in the UK. Just as they proved top for connected apps, Apple's iDevices are used to access the mobile web in the UK far more than Android and other equivalents. In the tablet sphere, the iPad accounts for 21.3 per cent of mobile web traffic, while Android tablets, which are arguably yet to take off in the UK, prove a weak contender with just 0.3 per cent. iWeb The iPhone takes the lion's share of the UK's mobile web traffic, providing 29.9 per cent of the computerless mobile traffic; that's twice the amount that Android does (15 per cent). It's a ratio that's echoed around the globe, with the iPad and iPhone dwarfing mobile web traffic of Android and other devices in Canada, France and Japan, among other countries. But, while the iPad is proving the most web-connected tablet in the US, in the smartphone space Android accounts for 35.6 per cent of non-computer web traffic as opposed to the iPhone's 23.5 per cent. 
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| Travelodge customer database hacked Posted: 24 Jun 2011 04:52 AM PDT Travelodge is the latest company to fall prey to the recent spate of hack-attacks, with its customer database having been compromised. A spokesperson has confirmed that "a limited number of people" were affected and that no financial data was stolen. However, it has sent out a letter to its customers warning that their email addresses may have been stolen. Spam attack The letter, signed by CEO Guy Parsons, reads: "Our main priority is to ensure the security of our customers' data, which is why I wanted to make you aware that a small number of you may have received a spam email via the email address you have registered with us." "Please be assured, we have not sold any customer data and no financial information has been compromised. "The safety and security of your personal information is of the upmost importance to us and as a result we are currently conducting a comprehensive investigation into this issue." Although stealing email addresses isn't exactly on the scale of something like the Sony PlayStation Network breach, it's becoming ever clearer that most businesses need to up their web security game. Whether or not Travelodge will be siccing that gangster teddy bear on the hackers remains to be seen. 
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now | ||
| Winklevoss twins file new lawsuit against Facebook Posted: 24 Jun 2011 03:51 AM PDT Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who yesterday settled a long-running court case against Facebook for a not-too-shabby payout of £48 million, have filed a new lawsuit against the social network and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. The new case, filed in Boston, suggests that Facebook and Zuckerberg "intentionally or inadvertently suppressed evidence" in the recently-settled lawsuit. The Winklevosses and their partner Divya Narendra have long maintained that Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea for a social network while at Harvard University, repurposed it into Facebook and became the mega multimillionaire that he is today. It's not over 'til it's over The filing claims that Facebook and other parties withheld evidence from the Winklevosses and their lawyers, including a bizarre twist in which the twin's new legal team are having trouble getting files from their old legal team. Having been immortalised in David Fincher's The Social Network, the Winklevoss twins' never-ending quest for justice has not done much to endear them to the Facebook-using public. If the courts rule in favour of the Winklevii in this new case, it could give the twins the fuel they need to re-open the previous case. Lucky for the Hollywood franchise - that should be enough fuel to take it up to The Social Network 5 or 6, by our reckoning. 
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| Electronic Arts linked to $1bn PopCap purchase Posted: 24 Jun 2011 03:49 AM PDT PopCap has denied that it is the target of a $1 billion (£624m) takeover, but rumours that gaming giant EA is set to snap up the casual gaming company are not going away. PopCap is the name behind hits like Plants v Zombies and Bejewelled, and has been a major player in the rise and rise of both mobile phone gaming and games on social networks. According to TechCrunch sources, EA is the company that is looking to buy PopCap, and continue its move into casual gaming. Chillingo EA has already invested heavily in this area – buying Chillingo for a reported $20 million, and rolling out key properties such as the FIFA football games for mobile devices. The massive sum of money being discussed would represent a huge risk for EA, but the US games giant is well aware that the growth of the casual gaming market means that this is an area it cannot afford to not be a major player in. PopCaps most popular title is Bejewelled, which has apparently sold more than 50 million copies across various platforms. 
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| Review: Kaleidescape Blu-ray system Posted: 24 Jun 2011 03:30 AM PDT In previous reviews, I have extolled the virtues of the impressive Kaleidescape networked AV system. Although highly expensive and intended for professional installation (bar the one-box Mini, since renamed the Cinema One), there's nothing to beat its smoothly presented and intuitive method of selecting DVDs and CDs for playback. And now Kaleidescape has added Blu-ray to the mix... With the exception of the Mini/Cinema One, a Kaleidescape system consists of two types of component. The first is a powerful media server, located in an equipment room or basement, that contains a number of high-capacity hard drives. Your movies and music are copied bit-by-bit and stored on these during the importation process, and RAID-K technology minimises the chance of losing anything in the event of a drive fault. One or more players are connected via the network, located in the rooms where playback is required. Everything is built from high-end hardware, and has the same levels of performance that can be expected from top-flight AV gear. Kaleidescape has two new players that offer Blu-ray compatibility, the compact M300 and the M500 tested here. The latter includes an in-built Blu-ray/CD/DVD drive for direct playback and importation. Although the importation service offered by Kaleidescape dealers now caters for Blu-rays as well as CDs and DVDs, it is advised to have at least one M500 so that you can easily import new discs into your system as and when they are acquired.
And servers? All existing and current models will work, but the newer ones boast the capacities needed to accommodate a decent collection of Blu-ray content. There are two types of server. One, which is 1 rack-mount unit ('1U') high, contains four cartridge-loaded 2TB drives and can accommodate up to 900 DVDs, 150 Blu-rays, approximately 10,000 CDs or a mix of the three. The higher-spec model is 3U high and its 14 cartridges basically quadruple the storage capacity of the 1U server. The 3U model's fourteenth cartridge is a 'hot spare', provided for extra protection. If even greater capacity is required, multiple servers can be used. For Blu-ray playback, a third component becomes necessary. This 100-disc Blu-ray carousel, referred to by Kaleidescape as a Modular Disc Vault, is the key to how the company has managed to placate the studios.
Any Blu-ray disc that has been imported onto the server has to subsequently be loaded into this vault, which is connected to one of the players via a USB. You cannot play a previously imported Blu-ray if the physical disc is not present – its entry in the various movie lists is greyed out. Mercifully, there's no clunking from the vault when a Blu-ray is selected for playback; indeed, the only time there's any vault activity is when the disc is loaded (or being imported). And it's perhaps just as well that it's so quiet. As the vault is connected to one of the players – rather than the server – it will, by definition, be located in one of the rooms where movies and CDs are required. Unfortunately, the vault is rather ugly sporting a black trunk with a blue LED display. Stylewise, the vault couldn't be more at odds with the sleek-looking Kaleidescape player if it tried. It needs to be tucked away out of sight, for it is almost guaranteed to clash with the plush furnishings of the room in which this sort of system will be installed. Kaleidescape acknowledges this, explaining that the vault was essentially a bought-in solution intended to speed up the readying of its systems for Blu-ray. Work is also underway on a combined M300-class player and 320-disc carousel, which could be on sale later this year. This 'Integrated Disc Vault' will be a whopping 5U high. That may cause problems for those upgrading older systems based around the KPLAYER-6000, especially if custom cabinets are involved. Kaleidescape suggests installing one Integrated Disc Vault in the equipment room alongside the servers. Fair enough, but this does mean that you're wasting a player! As far as I'm concerned, it's a pity that Kaleidescape didn't consider a rack-mounted vault that interfaces with the rest of the system via Ethernet. Under normal circumstances, after all, little data traffic is involved. Having said that, the current vault can also be used to import Blu-rays en masse. The forthcoming Integrated Disc Vault will import DVDs and CDs too. Performance
With my demo system plumbed in, importing a recent Blu-ray (Toy Story 3) took just under an hour. DVDs are, however, much quicker and you can watch previously imported media while the task proceeds. Your system must have a valid internet connection, otherwise the unique Kaleidescape metadata cannot be obtained. In addition to cover art, this includes information about the movie or CD. For some concert Blu-rays, the tracklists even include material that was included in one of the special features rather than the movie itself. On the subject of music, I discovered a useful feature when configuring the system for 1080p24 via its web interface. A program stored on the server, known as 'Conductor', will export your Kaleidescape music collection into iTunes so that it can be experienced on an iPod. Not got an iPod? The albums are placed on your computer's hard disk in a series of folders. Three quality levels are available, but none of them is an uncompressed (PCM) option. A pity, considering that CDs are held on the servers in this raw form. But the main reason for taking the Kaleidescape route is the sheer ease with which it will allow you to enjoy your movie and music collections.
Shown onscreen is a carousel of covers, which you can whizz around via the backlit handset. An alternative is the category list (one is dedicated to Blu-ray). The system will even shuffle covers, so that titles similar to what you've just played are more visible. And although Kaleidescape will jump to a feature film – thereby skipping trailers and so on, you can still access the disc menu and explore special features. Performance is of the same standard as a high-end Blu-ray player. That means sheer visual involvement, especially from BD discs. An expansive depth, razor-sharp detail, complete freedom from streaming 'glitches' and unquestionable colour fidelity characterise what you'll see on a display of appropriate pedigree. They're accompanied by faithfully excavated soundtracks; naturally, HD audio is supported via HDMI. Upscaled DVDs are also deftly handled, but those with the highest-quality displays or top-notch scalers might want to experiment with the native (480i/576i) options that the Kaleidescape's web-driven configurator gives you for standard-definition content. Independent output modes for HD and SD content? An excellent idea, and one that should be adopted by other manufacturers. Successful step To sum up, Kaleidescape has successfully brought its superb system into the Blu-ray era. I do have reservations, though. Not only about where the vault is located, but its 100-disc limit (dedicated movie fans could easily have more than 100 BDs) and the lack of 3D Blu-ray support. The forthcoming Integrated Disc Vault will remedy the former, but will it also take Kaleidescape owners into the next dimension? 
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| Google to be investigated over web monopoly Posted: 24 Jun 2011 03:25 AM PDT Google looks set to be investigated for abuse of its web dominance, according to reports which state that the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is on the verge of issuing the search giant with subpoenas relating to an investigation. The Wall Street Journal cites 'people familiar with the matter' who confirm that the investigation will look at Google's core search business, having already made informal enquiries over the past months. There is speculation that the case could be as major as the long-running Microsoft anti-trust case launched in 1991, which took over a decade to reach its conclusion. Page rank controversy Google is no stranger to the anti-trust probe but, until now, they have been focussed on new business acquisitions and mergers, or been brought against it by competitors, rather than naturally targeting its main raison d'etre. The investigation seeks to confirm whether Google prioritises its own services in search results, putting competitors at a significant disadvantage. Other complaints against the search giant include the high cost of advertising on Google, ranking of its own services in the organic results list and using other companies' content without permission and buying up companies that pose a threat to its business. Europe: ahead of the curve In Europe, there is already an ongoing investigation by the EU seeking to decide if Google violates any of its competition laws, a stance that Google strenuously rejects. In a blog post penned as the European Commission review kicked off, Susan Wojcicki, senior vice president of product management at Google wrote, "Given our success and the disruptive nature of our business, it's entirely understandable that we've caused unease among other companies and caught the attention of regulators. "Answering users' queries accurately and quickly is our number one goal. We built Google for users, not websites." 
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| Tutorial: Handy Facebook shortcuts, tips and tricks Posted: 24 Jun 2011 03:15 AM PDT Do you have hundreds of friends on Facebook? Then it's a good idea to take the time to organise them into different groups, or lists as Facebook describes them. Lists can be used for privacy reasons - to exclude certain status updates, for example - or simply to simplify the sharing of links, photographs and status updates with a common group of people, such as your family members. When referring to other Facebook users in your status updates, you can create a link to that person's profile quickly and easily - just type @ followed by the first few letters of their name, and then select them from the list that pops up. While sharing the odd photo or movie through Facebook is easy enough, it can be time-consuming fiddling about with photo albums, particularly when all the functionality you need for sharing both photos and video can be found in Windows Live Photo Gallery and Windows Live Movie Maker. Prepare your photos or movies in these tools, then quickly upload them by clicking the Facebook button, which can be found on the Home tab in both applications. Spend too much time replicating blog posts or Twitter comments in your Facebook statuses? Just tie them both into your Facebook account - install the WordBook plug-in on your Wordpress blog to automatically update your Facebook status every time you post to your blog.
There's also an official Twitter app in Facebook that does the same with your tweets, but it doesn't allow you to choose which tweets filter through to your blog; instead, install the Selective Tweet Status app and then you choose exactly which tweets get posted to Facebook by adding the #fb hashtag to the end of your tweet. Facebook shortcuts The following Facebook shortcuts work in Chrome. If you are using Firefox, then you'll need to add Shift (eg Shift + Alt + 1). In IE, you'll need to hit Return after pressing the Alt key with a corresponding number. Note that not every shortcut appears to work in every browser - give them a try and see which ones work for you. Alt and 1: Show your news feed. Alt and 2: Switch to your profile. Alt and 3: View pop-up of any friend requests. Alt and 4: View pop-up of any messages. Alt and 5: View pop-up notifications. Alt and 6: Show account settings. Alt and 7: Switch to privacy settings. Alt and 8: View Facebook's own profile. Alt and 9: Read latest Terms of Service agreement. Alt and 0: Open the Facebook Help centre. 
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| Posted: 24 Jun 2011 03:00 AM PDT Paradigm's SUB1 is the smaller, more affordable version of the HCC award-winning Paradigm SUB2, although at £5,000 (rather than £7,250) it's still not pocket money. The SUB2 is so large and heavy that it became simpler for me to travel down to the Bristol Hi-FI show to test it – after all, it did pack six 10-inch drivers into its cabinet and 4,500W of amplification. This time, I made sure I got to play with the more manageable SUB1 in my listening room. With 'just' 8-inch drivers, albeit a small herd of them on a monstrously efficient and high power Ultra-Class-D amplifier of nearly 2,000W, the SUB1 is a cute clone of the Hexagonal Hell that its big brother embodies. It's still heavier than an average man-eating catfish (49.4kg, or 109lbs in old money) but is so very compact, it can take up no more room than some perfectly ordinary woofers of no more than one tenth the cost. So what's so special? Well, for one, those drivers are ridiculously clever – huge magnets, wide Aluminium voice coils, fully four layers deep, wound around magical Nomex formers. Meanwhile, the top surrounds are like a non-kink shower hose, or goose-neck microphone stand, so won't distort or collapse, due to their ribs. Perfect bass Mr. Paradigm UK helped with the install in my room, armed with the brand's PBK (Perfect Bass Kit) which SUB1 owners get as part of the package. We waited while a +/-1dB calibrated microphone listened to the room at ear level and fed data to a laptop. The resulting performance was amazing. It was as if an audio expert with a real-time analyzer and some serious time had hand-tuned the entire room. I revelled in that oh-so-hard-to-describe joy of bass that is seamless with the rest. Tight, snug and enveloping, with all the cinematic edge and tension, but without any woofly room overlay. The final part of the Bourne trilogy – well made but a bit tedious with all the flashbacks, if you ask me – was the chosen Blu-ray. There's a lot of use of deep throbs in the LFE feed to create tension as well as the de rigueur use of explosions and gunplay. It was exqusite. The SUB1 proved equally delicious with music. It offered polite aplomb and a lovely underpinning effect to tighten up the rest of a stereo sound stage – in this case supplied by a Canton Vento system on test at the time. And all while holding its own melodic grip. I did hear the 8-inch drivers struggle a little to get that flat bass response curve, to cope with the huge 50Hz to 80Hz suckout in my room at high levels. Thus, I doubt the value of using the PBK1 on lesser woofers. But that's the most minor of gripes and more the fault of my own room than the SUB1. In fact, I have no hesitation in recommending Paradigm's product to anyone hunting for a top-flight woofer. Especially if they like a bit of style to go with their substance. 
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| Posted: 24 Jun 2011 03:00 AM PDT Quadral is not a UK household name. The German brand has been in business for nearly 40 years, but has only ever intermittently appeared in this country. Now the manufacturer is making a serious attempt on the UK market with its full range of products, of which the Chromium range is the second most pricey in the sizeable lineup. Tested here is a package comprising the £1,160 Chromium 50 floorstanders, £650 Chromium 30 standmounts, £410 Chromium 10 centre and £475 88DV sub. All parts are available separately. From the moment that you extract them from the (well thought out) packaging, the attention to detail is superb for the price. The black gloss finish is flawless and extremely attractive and the attention to detail in the fit and finish of the cabinets is of a very high standard, including the must-have feature of the moment, magnetic grille tabs. There are some interesting design details as well. The floorstanders have no provision for spikes to be fitted to the base. Instead a large, circular piece of glass attaches by screws. This base means that the Chromiums pass stringent German stability legislation and prove to be extremely hard to knock over. Another interesting feature is that none of the speakers can be bi-wired. All of them share the same terminal panel that sports a pair of hefty WBT plugs. For those keen on using bi-amp functions this might be a problem, but it suggests that Quadral do what they think will perform best rather than following the herd.
The Chromiums are described as a 'Style' system. In other words, much time has been spent making the product's looks live up to its sound quality. Quadral either didn't get this memo or decided to ignore it, as the insides of the Chromium's are far more interesting than the outsides. Most noticeable is the use of ribbon tweeters throughout. This isn't unheard of at the price, but rather than off-the-shelf units, the Quadral ribbons are bespoke and descended from the flagship Aurum units. The ribbon is folded inside the enclosure to increase the surface area, and the whole assembly is moved by a double magnet assembly. The main driver is also used across all the speakers. This is a 135mm unit that is once again proprietary. The dish is a polypropylene assembly coated in a specially mastered titanium mixture and that's not a combination seen anywhere else. As the cabinet enclosure is relatively small it is a long-throw design that manages to give the 94cm tall Chromium 50's an eyebrow-raising frequency response of 35Hz to 65kHz. An identical driver complement throughout bodes well for a seamless handover between the units. Burly chassis Amongst all this technical wizardry, the 88DV subwoofer is relatively conventional. In an area increasingly dominated by Class D and Class T designs, it uses a conventional class A/B amp with attendant heatsink on the rear panel. There is no additional EQ software or notch filtering, and we gained the best results leaving crossover and level settings to the AV receiver. The downward firing driver feels pretty burly and the front port made it easy enough to place in a number of different locations. Setup of the Quadrals proved relatively simple from the outset. They are rear ported so placement some way from rear walls helps, but otherwise they are unfussy. The ribbon tweeter gives a relatively large sweet spot so there is little sign of 'beaming' in their presentation, and it is possible to be in a variety of listening locations and not feel out of place. They are not hugely sensitive so will benefit from a reasonable power output to show what they are capable of, but the impedance seems to stay nearer the 8Ω mark than the 4Ω, which means they provide an easy electrical load. Ab fab Given this is one of the most keenly contested price points for speaker packages, why should you seek out the Quadrals over the countless other brands that can produce something similar? The answer is because the Chromiums sound absolutely fantastic. Set up and with a few hours under its belt, this is one of the most cohesive sounding speaker systems out there. Ribbon tweeters can occasionally have trouble integrating with conventional pistonic drivers, but the fact the Quadral has developed these drivers entirely in-house and in partnership with one another gives them incredible top-to-bottom cohesion. It is very difficult to determine where tweeter ends and mid bass begins and the use of the same driver everywhere makes for a superb handover from left to right and front to back. The awards magnet that is the The King's Speech is not an explosion fest, but the soundtrack is a feast of incidental details that combine to create a wonderful sense of atmosphere. The Quadrals are able to reproduce this detail with an effortlessness that is apparent only when you compare other speakers. What is simply background effect for many systems is a wealth of individual details. They manage to sound uncannily real, as well. Voices and sounds are rarely less than utterly believable. This combination of scale, realism and detail means the Quadral's are able to get the best from pretty much any soundtrack you throw at them. Switch to the more muscular mayhem of Unstoppable and the Quadrals maintain the same incredible insight into the soundtrack. They happily step up as the action does, too, going very loud indeed without signs of stress, while conveying the action with real vigour. Compared to some subwoofers, the 88DV trades absolute depth for speed and agility, not least because it needs to keep up with the loudspeakers. There are some designs available for a little more outlay that will go lower and drive harder, but you will need to make sure that they can match the speed and clarity that the 88DV possesses. In a typical UK lounge, the Quadrals manage to fill a room with sound without dominating or overpowering it. If you live on a diet of pure action you may want more low-end heft. If your preferences are in any way more varied than that, the Quadral's are supremely accomplished all-rounders. This extends to music, where the same smooth handover between drivers and excellent tonality puts them very near the top of the tree for two-channel work. Can't get wood There are very few negatives to this package. A dedicated effects speaker might best the Chromium 30 in a surround role and those seeking a wood finish will need to go elsewhere. But if you are looking for some of very best drivers available at the price in a beautifully finished, handsome enclosure, the Quadrals will take a huge amount of beating. There is no shortage of choice in the £2,500 speaker package category, but when a new arrival is this good, there is always space for one more. 
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| Week in Tech: Nokia's N9 and the shape of smartphones to come Posted: 24 Jun 2011 03:00 AM PDT It's been a while since Nokia unveiled an exciting new smartphone, so we were delighted to see the new Nokia N9. Nokia's great at making mobile phone hardware, and the N9 is one of its very best designs. The specs aren't bad either: a tough polycarbonate shell, an 8MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics, a 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor with "PowerVR SGX530 graphics to help awesome-ize games and video" and up to 64GB of on-board storage. Our hands-on Nokia N9 review predicts that the N9 could well become "an underground favourite", while our N9 video preview (see below) shows that it's a nippy device with a really nice interface. It's the first Nokia phone to run the MeeGo operating system, and we think it's really rather good. Will more MeeGo models follow? Don't hold your breath, says columnist Gary Marshall, noting that the Nokia press release doesn't mention MeeGo at all. "I suspect that the reason Nokia's keeping schtum about MeeGo is because promoting it right now would be like urging you to bet on a horse that's already in the van on its way to the glue factory," he says. "The N9 is Nokia's first MeeGo phone, and I wouldn't want to bet on Nokia making many - or even any - more." That's because Nokia has jumped platforms: it's going to be running Windows Phone on its high-end smartphones and sticking with Symbian Anna on its other phones. "There simply isn't room for MeeGo any more - not in Nokia, anyway," Marshall says, arguing that Nokia's promise to focus on "exploration of next-generation devices" was "tech-speak for 'you're dumped. I'm seeing Simon now. Let's still be friends'". iPhone, Android, Windows Phone While Nokia works with Windows Phone, Apple's fifth iPhone is expected to ship in August or September. Our iPhone 5 rumour roundup provides a handy list of the latest speculation. Things we know for sure include cable-free updates and syncing, close integration with Apple's iCloud and the same processor as the iPad 2. Android's moving quickly too. With version 3 of Google's operating system making Android tablets more attractive, work is well underway on version 4. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich will work on smartphones and tablets alike, and it's expected to turn up around Thanksgiving in the US. That means Android 4.0 handsets and tablets should be shipping in time for Christmas. So what can we expect from the latest Android? It'll look a lot like Honeycomb - provided operators and manufacturers don't muck about with it too much - and you'll be able to use USB devices such as games controllers and even medical sensors. Bluetooth device support will follow shortly afterwards. Android 4.0 will also watch your face, using head-tracking technology to adjust the on-screen images to give the illusion of looking around a solid object. Google has also demoed videoconferencing that uses the feature to focus the camera on the person you want to look at, which is fine unless you're staring at someone good-looking while talking to somebody who's been hit with the ugly stick. Microsoft hasn't been quiet either: it's updated its Windows Phone operating system, and our Hands on: Windows Phone Mango review (the latest version of the OS) reveals some impressive improvements. With the UK first in line for Nokia's forthcoming Windows Phone handsets, the next few months are going to see some seriously impressive smartphones turning up on the shelves of your local phone emporium. 
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| Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 UK release date announced Posted: 24 Jun 2011 02:59 AM PDT Samsung has announced the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 UK release date, with the tablet arriving in stores on 4 August. It's been a bit of a wait for the iPad 2 contender, which was rushed through development days after Apple's slim new tablet was announced in March, displacing its chubbier predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1V. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, which will come in both 3G and WiFi-only versions, weighs in at 565 grams and is just 8.6mm thick. Dual-core The latest Tab boats a 1GHz dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and runs Android Honeycomb 3.1. "The Galaxy Tab 10.1 also has a 3 megapixel rear and 2 megapixel front camera with 1080p HD video and Flash playback and is available in both black and white," adds Samsung. TechRadar's Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 review awarded the tablet with four and a half stars, suggesting the 'outstanding' device is a 'major contender'. 
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| Team Fortress 2 goes free to play Posted: 24 Jun 2011 02:44 AM PDT One of the most popular online PC shooters has gone free to play, with the truly awesome Team Fortress 2 now being funded by micropayments. TF2 has been a massive hit for makers Valve since it arrived as part of the Orange Box – a collection of games that also included Half Life 2 episodes and Portal. The online shooter's cartoony graphics and focus on hats has kept gamers amused for years, and will now be opened up to anyone without a fee. Quirky The news crept out in the latest video, Meet the Medic, and has been confirmed by Valve in typically quirky style at http://www.tf2.com/freetoplay/. The game has been altered dramatically with updates since arriving, and the latest Uber Update is expected imminently. 
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| Review: Gefen TV Auto Volume Stabiliser Posted: 24 Jun 2011 02:30 AM PDT The Gefen TV Auto Volume Stabiliser uses Dolby Volume, which is a technology designed to intelligently 'normalise' loudness to avoid the annoying volume jumps familiar to late-night telly addicts, when broadcasters turn up the sound for adverts. The tech, which was modelled on psychoacoustic research conducted by Dolby, is integral to recent TVs, AVRs and this Volume Stabiliser. The device is compact and powered by a 'wall-wart'. It's also very easy to use. Remote control is also possible, courtesy of a simple three-button handset. Both digital coax and optical and analogue inputs and outputs cater for just about everything. You can also use it to convert between analogue and digital audio, with or without processing. It works very well indeed, especially with TV sources. No subjective distortion of any significance is added, and quiet details become more apparent at low listening levels because they're boosted by Dolby Volume. Some sources – eg. classical music, suffer from squashed dynamics, but you can engage the bypass mode if this is found to be too intrusive. It also doesn't work with 5.1 audio – it's two-channel stereo only. The addition of HDMI ports would have simplified connection to some applications. Naturally, only the audio would be processed here – any accompanying video would be passed through intact. It also costs more than many Blu-ray players, largely on account of all the support circuitry that's necessary. 
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| Dolby unveils 3D glasses for kids Posted: 24 Jun 2011 02:23 AM PDT Dolby Laboratories have launched low cost 3D glasses for kids, that should lower the cost of equipment for cinemas. The reusable passive glasses are apparently available for around $12 – that's around £7.50 – and should equate to a substantial saving. The glasses come in 'kid friendly green' and are equipped with sensormatic and RFID tags. "Dolby 3D kids' glasses are high-performance, environmentally friendly, passive glasses that require no batteries or charging," said Matt Cuson, Senior Marketing Director, Cinema, Dolby Laboratories. Premium standards "Dolby 3D kids' glasses are made to the same premium-quality standards as the adult-size Dolby 3D glasses and will be available to exhibitors around the globe in time for movies coming out in Dolby 3D this summer," he added. The glasses have arrived in time for one of the tentpole 3D films, Cars 2, with the movie world watching to see if a recent reported public apathy to 3D will be reversed. Cars 2 by Pixar is expected to be one of the biggest grossing movies of the year, and after other high profile films such as Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides did not perform as expected on 3D screens in the US, the pressure is on. 
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| LulzSec denies attack on The Sun Posted: 24 Jun 2011 02:03 AM PDT The Sun Online and other News International servers are reportedly the latest targets for hackers, although LulzSec has denied responsibility. Suggesting that The Sun's coverage of the arrest and subsequent charging of Ryan Cleary on hacking offences has painted a target on News International, the Telegraph report puts forward the idea that LulzSec are responsible. However, using its Twitter feed LulzSec denied that such an attack had been orchestrated by them. Framing fail? "Clearing up yet more failed attempts at framing: we didn't attack The Sun or The Times in any way with any kind of DDoS attack. Cheers," read the tweet. A later tweet read: "A shout-out to all the real journalists on the Internet; writing to give people the real facts, not writing to meet the evening deadline." Cleary was charged with five separate offences on 22 June, and stands accused of DDoS attacks on SOCA, the BPI and IFPI. 
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