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Techradar |
- Video: Apple iPhone 5 - what we want to see
- Angry Birds arrives for Windows Phone 7
- Nikon shows off four concept cameras
- Video: Google+ project explained
- Google+ project goes after Facebook
- BlackBerry Bold Touch UK release date revealed
- Vodafone nabs exclusive red Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo
- Hands on: Sony VAIO Z Series review
- Office 365 debuts from £4 a month per user
- Opinion: Violent videogames protected by US Supreme Court
- Google faces fines over app refund row
- Review: HP Compaq Presario CQ62-220SA
- Slinky Sony Vaio Z Series unveiled with media dock
- Pentax launches orange version of WG-1
- Sony Vaio E and C series laptops announced
- Competition: WIN! One of three Chromebooks from Google
- Acer Iconia Tab A500 gets the snip down to 16GB
- In Depth: Will Windows, OS X and Android go 3D?
- Twitter for Newsrooms: tweeting gets media savvy
- Accused LulzSec hacker bailed but banned from the internet
- LG DM50D 3D monitor arrives
- Review: Asus N53SV-SX303V
- Google rolls out What Do You Love? for unified search
- Review: Toshiba Satellite Pro C660-15z
- Opera 11.50 adds Speed Dial extensions to the mix
| Video: Apple iPhone 5 - what we want to see Posted: 29 Jun 2011 01:33 AM PDT TechRadar has been following the iPhone 5 rumours for some time now, and it's fairly clear that we are only going to get a selection of the things that we are hoping for in the next Apple handset. However, that's not stopped us from assembling a video wish list of the things that we desire in the iPhone 5, including the likes of NFC and the odds-on inclusion of the A5 chip that has wowed us on the iPad 2. So, check out what TechRadar is looking for in the new iPhone 5, and feel free to drop us a line telling us what you would like to see in the next-gen Apple handset in the comments below. 
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| Angry Birds arrives for Windows Phone 7 Posted: 29 Jun 2011 01:23 AM PDT Windows Phone 7 users can now buy perhaps the most famous mobile game, with Angry Birds making its debut for the operating system. Microsoft is desperate to show that its Windows Phone 7 can attract the quality of apps that proliferate on Android Marketplace and Apple's App Store, despite starting significantly later than its rivals. Angry Birds represents a key arrival, as one of the most popular all-time hits for mobile, and a chart topper on both Android and iOS. Hunker down "At last. Angry Birds is now available in the Windows Phone Marketplace—a few hours ahead of schedule and so fresh it hasn't even been rated yet," blogged Microsoft's Michael Stroh a few hours ago. "Be the first—or just hunker down with your phone and get dem pigs. The game, the last in Xbox'sMust have Game series for Windows Phone, is free to try and $2.99 to buy." The Must have Game series is Microsoft's attempt to highlight the key offerings for mobile gaming, and includes other hits such as Doodle Jump Plants v Zombies and Sonic the Hedgehog. 
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| Nikon shows off four concept cameras Posted: 29 Jun 2011 12:47 AM PDT Nikon has shown off its ideas of future cameras, with the camera giant showing off four prototypes at the French 'Hello Tomorrow' show. Although concept designs are a common sight in the automative industry, a glimpse into the wacky minds of tech RnD labs is rarer - presumably because of the fear of giving the best ideas to competitors. However that hasn't stopped Nikon from showing off four designs at the show, including an i-Ball (see what they did) and the multi-ball.
Atmospheric The latter, with its multiple lenses offers "multi-views that can capture the atmosphere of a scene," whilst the i-Ball's only explanation is that it's shaped like a rugby ball (and, an eye, obviously.)
Of the other two designs, one comes with a big viewing screen and two adjustable handles, perhaps so you can play some ARG X-wing in between shoots and last but not least is a camera on a stand with a joystick that the rumour-mongers are already suggesting could be for panorama shots.
Of course, there's no guarantee that any of these prototypes will be coming to market, but we reckon Nikon will now be feverishly working on its 'ball of rugby' concept as we speak. 
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| Video: Google+ project explained Posted: 28 Jun 2011 02:05 PM PDT Google has this week revealed that it is to try and crack the fickle social network market once more, with the launch of its Google+ project. Part Facebook competitor, part instant messenger, part social hangout, the service is still shrouded in some mystery, given that it is currently in the midst of a 'limited field test'. The good news is, that Google has created a number of videos to try and explain just what Google+ and its +you button actually does. As these are Google-made videos, however, don't expect to understand fully what Google+ is about, as some of the logic has been replaced with whimsy. The videos do give a fair idea of just what to expect if you decide to bring Google+ into your already packed online social life. Google will be hoping that Google+ captures people's attention more so than its ill-fated Buzz service, which unsuccesfully merged social networking with IM. Google+ Circles Google+ Hangout Google+ Sparks Google+ Huddle 
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| Google+ project goes after Facebook Posted: 28 Jun 2011 01:30 PM PDT Google has announced it is taking another leap into the social space, with Google+. This new project is a social network of sorts, which allows you to hook up with other people from around the web and share information with them. Google has already tried once to get in the lucrative social game. Buzz ultimately failed in bringing social networking to IM, but Google+ is quite a bit different. In a blog post, Google has tried its hardest to explain just what the Google+ Project is and believes it takes the awkwardness out of online sharing. "Today, the connections between people increasingly happen online. Yet the subtlety and substance of real-world interactions are lost in the rigidness of our online tools," said the blog post. "In this basic, human way, online sharing is awkward. Even broken. And we aim to fix it." +you and +you too So, how does this 'social net' work? Well, Google has broken Google+ into four interlinking 'projects'. These are: Circles, Sparks, Hangouts and mobile. Circles allows for you to put your online friends into a number of 'circles' and then you simply choose what circles you want to share information with. Sparks is a place where you can share content quickly and easily. The way Google explains this part of Google+ is that it's "kind of like nerding out and exploring a subject together". From the brief look we have had at the service it is a convenient and quick way to share links, images, videos with your Circle friends. This brings us on to Hangouts. This is where you can link one to one or as a group with friends from your Circles collective, and speak to them through web cam. As you can do group video conferencing, this is definitely a feature that has Skype and MSN Messenger in its sights but looks to take the awkwardness out of instant messenger and add the "subtlety". Deep mobile integration This is all rounded off with mobile. Google has tried to make all of the above as mobile friendly as possible and this is perhaps the key to Google+, as it wants to perfect social networking on the go. If you allow Google+ to, then every picture you take on your mobile will be uploaded to a cloud server, so your images are instantly available to your Circle clique. Things like location awareness and also something called Huddle, which is a group messaging service that links into Google+. Google is admitting that its new leap into social networking is a little rough around the edges but the service has been made available as a limited field trial, so if you want to try it out, then go to https://plus.google.com and wait for an email to say that you have been invited to the social party. Although Buzz was a massive disappointment for Google, it will be hoping that Google+ will be the true rival to social networks like Facebook. 
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| BlackBerry Bold Touch UK release date revealed Posted: 28 Jun 2011 10:33 AM PDT Three and Carphone Warehouse have both estimated BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900 UK release dates, suggesting that the touchscreen BlackBerry will arrive this summer. Three has listed the hybrid QWERTY handset as arriving in September, while Carphone Warehouse is a bit more optimistic, expecting the Bold Touch to land in August. RIM is yet to release a smartphone into the market this year, concentrating its efforts on the QNX-running BlackBerry PlayBook tablet instead. Potential The company's fortunes have not fared too well in the meantime, with its stock dropping like a lead balloon after poor financial results and the threat of job cuts imminent. The BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900, though, is not a bad little handset, with the small-but-crisp touchscreen and physical QWERTY combo proving a bit of a winner. We'd like to see the handset land a little bit sooner, if we're honest – and while we're making demands, where's that BlackBerry Torch 2, eh RIM? 
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| Vodafone nabs exclusive red Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo Posted: 28 Jun 2011 10:23 AM PDT Vodafone is set to be the only network to offer the Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo in fetching cherry red. The handset, unveiled by Sony Ericsson at Mobile World Congress 2011 in February, will be available on other networks in blue and is yet to receive its official UK release date, with Vodafone simply listing it as 'coming soon'. Not soon enough That means there's still a bit of a wait ahead for fans of the Xperia Neo, which seemed likely to go on sale way back in April. Unfortunately, supplies have been restricted by manufacturing delays caused by the earthquake in Japan earlier this year, and the Neo is yet to launch in the UK. The Android 2.3-running Neo shares a lot of specifications with its stablemate, the Xperia Arc – 1Ghz Snapdragon processor, 4-inch reality display and HDMI-out, so it'll be interesting to see how the UK pricing of the two handsets differ. We've already spent a bit of QT with the red-hued handset, marvelling at how it's not blue like the original model, with which we also nabbed an early hands on. 
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| Hands on: Sony VAIO Z Series review Posted: 28 Jun 2011 09:13 AM PDT Top of the list in Sony's summer launch list is the Sony Z Series, a 1.2kg ultra-portable Intel Core i7 powerhouse with SSD storage (although, as you'll see from our pics, the display model we tried had a Core i5). The Sony VAIO Z Series UK release date is scheduled for late July 2011. The nippy VAIO Z does have a little trick up its sleeve in the shape of add-on accessory Power Media Dock, featuring Intel's Light Peak tech – marketed by Apple and Intel as Thunderbolt. But the actual port doesn't look the same – Sony is just using a standard USB port rather than the DisplayPort implementation used by Apple. We've got far more on that for you further down this piece.
This isn't so much of a surprise, considering a DisplayPort connection would seem rather odd on a laptop such as Sony's Z Series, and that USB finds its natural home in such a lightweight machine. It's an angular laptop that's just 16mm deep, but there's power to burn – we like the cut of its jib and, as with the VAIO S Series, think it'll shape up as one of the power ultra-portables to beat.
Although we didn't get chance to test it in the hustle and bustle of the demo room, Sony also claims its Quick Boot tech loads Windows 7 Professisonal up to 50 per cent quicker than rival machines.
Other power features are 8GB of DDR3 memory, as well as a 256GB SSD. And there's also a slot for the 3G SIM of your choice.
The only disappointments are the extremely tappy keyboard and trackpad – with little give – as well as the on-board graphics. There's no dedicated GPU, so you're stuck with Intel's reasonable Sandy Bridge HD 3000 graphics chip. However, the system also has extra expandable options.
Firstly, there's a battery slice that can add seven hours of extra life, making 14 in total, just like that on the Sony VAIO S Series. Then there's the Power Media Dock. It connects to the VAIO Z using Intel's Light Peak tech, known as Thunderbolt to Apple fans.
Really very strangely, Sony isn't shouting about this at all and it wasn't attached to the machine we looked at here. In fact, when we asked Sony representatives about the advance, we were told that the information in the press release was all that was available to tell us. Pressing still further, Sony sent us this info, confirming Light Peak. "What makes the VAIO Z series really unique is the Power Media Dock. Power Media Dock links to the VAIO Z via a high speed optical cable. This proprietary data connection was created in collaboration with Intel and is based on the architecture codenamed Light Peak. "Power Media Dock contains a powerful dedicated graphics card, an optical drive and boosts connectivity options. Power Media Dock means you have less to weigh you down when you are on the move and have ultimate performance in the office when doing the most demanding tasks." So it's a little odd that the press release says the Power Media Dock links to the Z Series via what Sony calls a "proprietary port" – why not have just come clean in the first place? The USB 3.0 port can also be used for standard USB devices when not being used for the dock. The dock also features a Blu-ray drive (or DVD if you don't want to pay as much) and extra display options boosted by the AMD Radeon HD 6650M. The 13.1-inch anti-reflective display seems clear and crisp, but while it's obviously not HD (1,600 x 900), the additional media dock can output at Full 1080p HD resolution over HDMI. Here's the laptop with the (unattached) Media Dock.
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| Office 365 debuts from £4 a month per user Posted: 28 Jun 2011 08:59 AM PDT Microsoft has announced the launch of its pro web services – all brought together under the snazzy title of Office 365. The headline feature of the suite enables collaborative working on Office docs in the cloud, but in reality that's just the tip of the iceberg. Microsoft SharePoint Online and Microsoft Exchange Online enable online document and email, while the suite also includes Microsoft Lync, the voice, IM and presence suite that's the successor to Office Communication Server. It may also incorporate Skype services in the future. But at the launch presentation attended by TechRadar, Microsoft faced questions over where users data would flow. To comply with EU regulations, Microsoft's data centres are located in Amsterdam and Dublin. However, Microsoft UK's Gordon Frazer could not guarantee that data would not leave the EU "because we are a US company and we need to comply with US regulations." The launch was positive otherwise, with Microsoft trotting out various examples of users already well acquainted with the suite. Office 365 is now available in 40 countries and works via a monthly user subscription – from £4 per month per user in the UK. The idea is that it can grow as companies do. However, there are different versions that could be potentially confusing, some including standard Office 2010 and some not. "Like signing up for electricity" "Office is the pilar of productivity," said Gurdeep Sing Pall, head of Microsoft's voice and Lync group. "500 million people use Office every day. In the last decade, we started looking at how we could make people more productive. "But there was a problem – these back end servers were only available to large enterprises. It's great, but what's happening is that these enterprise-grade capabilities are now available for small businesses. It's really like turning on or signing up for electricity and water. From signing up you pay for the users. You hire more people, it scales with you." With Office 365, people can stay can collaborate with instant messaging, virtual meetings and work on files and documents at the same time. Over 200,000 organisations have beta tested the suite and big names already signed up to bring Office 365 to customers include Vodafone and Telefonica. "Great collaboration is critical to business growth, and because it's so important, we believe the best collaboration technology should be available to everyone," added Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in a statement. "With a few clicks, Office 365 levels the playing field, giving small and midsize businesses powerful collaboration tools that have given big businesses an edge for years." 
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| Opinion: Violent videogames protected by US Supreme Court Posted: 28 Jun 2011 08:21 AM PDT The US Supreme Court has afforded videogames the same free speech protection as the First Amendment grants to literature and the movies, refusing to let California ban the sale of violent games to children. For the most part, this was an expected victory. The surprising part is just how overwhelming it was, with five out of seven judges ultimately backing gaming. In short, games are now officially integrated into modern society, and no longer have to fear being treated as a special case by the law. That's a hell of a jump from the 90s, when (usually inoffensive) games like Night Trap were officially being dragged over the coals and treated as if Satan himself was listed as the Executive Producer. It's also notable just what the points of dissent actually were. One dissenting justice simply didn't believe the law under review, as proposed by California, violated the First Amendment and was therefore fine. The other, Justice Thomas, objected on the grounds that... wait for it... children don't count as people, and the Puritan thought fathers should have absolute power over their children. "It would be absurd to suggest that such a society understood 'the freedom of speech' to include a right to speak to minors without going through the minors' parents," he wrote in his dissent, presumably by candlelight, somewhere in the 17th century, before classifying games along with "Vain Books, profane Ballads, and filthy Songs", as well as "fabulous Histories of Giants, the bombast Achievements of Knight Errantry, and the like." Good grief... UK implications As is often the case, what makes this an interesting legal battle from a UK perspective is how much of it revolves around the constitution, rather than whether or not the law itself would actually be a good idea. After all, here the situation is usually reversed - the standard complaint is that it's too easy for a 13 year old to walk into a store and emerge with a copy of Grand Theft Auto. We're used to our games - along with movies - having age ratings, and to those ratings being backed up by the weight of the law. It works, largely because there's no stigma attached to the 18 rating in the same way as the dreaded Adults Only mark in the US. At the same time, it's not hard to see why people are up in arms. We accept movies and games being rated by the BBFC (and in the case of games, PEGI) largely because of precedent. Would there be outcry if books and similar were suddenly given the same treatment? Absolutely, and with good cause. Classification is far from censorship, but it's a slippery slope from one to the other, and any new step down that slope is best avoided. If the Supreme Court had ruled in favour of legislation to protect children, the games industry might have ended up with a system like ours... which generally works, except for the occasional facepalm moment like the fuss over Manhunt 2... or one that evolved into the hyper-paranoid German system, where even games like Bulletstorm that get an equally enforced 18+ rating often end up hitting the shelves stripped of their blood and gore. Nobody wants that. The free speech debate clearly isn't over. The Supreme Court has a way of stripping First Amendment protection from works it deems obscene - the Miller Test (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_test). Likewise, games will still suffer the standard prior restraint of having to worry about what shops will be willing to sell, regardless of what kids can buy. Officially, though, it's a win. The playing field is even. Games have as much protection as any other entertainment, at least in the US, and where the US leads, the rest of the world tends to follow. That's a triumph worth savouring, even as we wait for the next big game that feels the need to put it to the test. 
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| Google faces fines over app refund row Posted: 28 Jun 2011 07:53 AM PDT Google has been fined Tw$1,000,000 (£21,620) by officials in Taipei after refusing to change its app return policy. Taiwan has a stringent consumer protection law in place, specifying that customers must get a seven day cooling off period after buying any product online during which they can return it for a full refund. Google, however, only gives customers fifteen minutes to return an app after buying and deciding they don't want it. App-athy On 8 June, the city government ruled that Apple, as well as Google, had contravened the law, but while Apple amended its rules in accordance with the law, Google has not. And we can see why – giving people a week to use an app as much as they want and then return it for a full refund a week later is the equivalent of buying a dress, wearing it to a party then returning it to the shop the next day. Such behaviour could damage Android developers' profits, as well as Google's own. Although refusing to comment on the situation, Google is reportedly sending US execs over to Taiwan to discuss the matter, but it faces similar subsequent fines if it doesn't change its ways by 1 July. 
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| Review: HP Compaq Presario CQ62-220SA Posted: 28 Jun 2011 06:21 AM PDT Manufacturing giant HP has its own entry-level Compaq Presario range, which offers home and business machines at unbelievably low prices. The Compaq Presario CQ62-220SA is a cheap and perfectly serviceable budget portable. An Intel Celeron 900 processor provides basic performance, but good enough for browsing the web and running simple office applications such as word processors. However, if you think you'll need to run several applications at once, you'd be better off with the Acer Aspire 5741Z. The HP Compaq Presario CQ62-220SA has simple integrated graphics to cut costs. Unfortunately, it scored low in our benchmark tests, proving good enough only for viewing your photos and playing standard-definition movies. HD movies are unplayable, displaying more like a slideshow, while only the most basic games, such as Bejewelled, will run well. Benchmarks Battery life: 215 minutes Standard storage
Most users will be satisfied with the 250GB of storage offered by the HP Compaq Presario CQ62-220SA, which offers enough room to store around 50,000 photos or MP3s. If you need to install a lot of software or have a large media collection, you'll be better served by the Acer Aspire 5741Z's 320GB hard drive. Despite the boring black design, we were impressed by this laptop's build quality. The firm chassis proved resistant to knocks and scuff marks, and it's easily portable at 2.5kg, even if it is rather bulky. The battery lasts 215 minutes between charges, which isn't great compared to its rivals in this price point, but isn't the worst either. The keyboard is just as firm as the body, with slightly bevelled edges to distinguish between the keys. It's comfortable to use, but annoyingly has a row of shortcut buttons along the left edge which we kept hitting by mistake when we wanted the Ctrl or Shift keys. The touchpad is integrated into the palmrest, and is spacious and sensitive. The 15.6-inch Super-TFT screen is reasonably colourful, although not as vibrant as the eMachines G627-202G25Mi's display. However, if you want to enjoy movies or music on your laptop, the integrated Altec Lansing speakers put out impressively strong sound considering the price. If you have a wireless network at home, you can connect to the internet using 802.11n Wi-Fi. An alternative option is 10/100 Ethernet, which allows you to network by plugging the laptop directly into a modem. Other ports are standard, with three USB ports and VGA and HDMI connections available. Verdict If your needs extend only as far as browsing the web and your photo collection, the HP Compaq Presario CQ62-220SA is a cheap and cheerful laptop that does the job. It's well built and portable, with only a few dodgy niggles. 
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| Slinky Sony Vaio Z Series unveiled with media dock Posted: 28 Jun 2011 05:54 AM PDT Sony has revealed its latest Vaio laptop in the form of the Vaio Z Series; a 13.1-inch notebook complete with special media dock. Every notebook and its USB cable is being lauded as super thin, super stylish and super light these days, and the Vaio Z Series is no exception. But it actually is pretty slim with its 'full flat' body just 0.05mm thicker than the fattest point of a MacBook Air and weighs in at 1.2kg, which is about half the weight of the 15-inch MacBook Pro. And styling… well, it's made from carbon fibre, that's got to count for something? And now the actual tech… What it lacks in eye-catching looks, it makes up for in grunt – what with its Intel Core i7 processor, DDR3 SDRAM and up to 256 SSD RAID storage plus built-in 3G connectivity on selected models. The 13.1-inch high-res anti-reflective screen clocks up 1600x900 resolution in a 16:9 aspect ratio, perfect for displaying all that HD video you're going to shoot with the, um, webcam. There's also a rather snazzy-sounding optional extra in the form of the Power Media Dock. As well as offering extra USB, VGA and HDMI ports, the dock offers high speed Light Peak data transfer – that's the same thing that Apple is calling Thunderbolt, only Sony doesn't want you to call it that, we can't think why. Shipping with Windows 7 Pro with service pack one, the Sony Vaio Z Series UK release date is scheduled for the end of July 2011, with pricing to be confirmed. And now another laptop… Also announced today is the Vaio Y Series, a tiny 11.6-inch notebook with an ergonomic touchpad, six hours of battery life (or so Sony reckons) and an HDMI-out for showing media content on a big-screen TV.
And if that wasn't enough, there's also the bright and perky Vaio E and C series to revere as well. 
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| Pentax launches orange version of WG-1 Posted: 28 Jun 2011 05:45 AM PDT Pentax has announced an addition of a new shiny orange version of the PENTAX Optio WG-1 GPS waterproof digital compact camera range. The Optio WG-1 has unique GPS functions such as the recording and storage of positioning log data during travelling and is waterproof, shockproof, coldproof, dustproof and crushproof. The new Shiny Orange version was designed in response to demand from outdoor enthusiasts. Featuring a high-quality finish in brilliant-orange with an aluminium-alloy front panel, a gunmetal-grey rubber coating has also been applied to the edge of the camera body. Along with its rugged characteristics, the WG-1 GPS has a 14 megapixel sensor, 5x wide-angle optical zoom lens, a 3 inch LCD screen, HD movie recording, macro shooting from 1cm and AF tracking. The Shiny Orange Optio WG1-GPS will be available from the beginning of August 2011, with an RRP of £299.99. To find more information, visit the Pentax website. 
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| Sony Vaio E and C series laptops announced Posted: 28 Jun 2011 05:43 AM PDT Sony has taken the wraps off its latest laptop range, announcing updates to its Vaio E and Vaio C range. Although not in the same league style wise as the Sony Z series, both the E and C range add some texture and colour respectively to the laptop market. The Sony E Series consists of two screen sizes: 15.5-inch and 17.3-inch. The laptops have been given a textured finish - while we presumed this was so that you can find your laptop in a darkened room, Sony believes that the new texture makes the laptop easier to hold while on the go. The Vaio E series has a number of features, including Blu-ray playback, a Quick Web button, HDMI output, Bluetooth 3.0 and a keyboard which has a separate numerical keyboard, so all you number crunchers out there can breathe a sigh of relief.
If you prefer colour over texture, then the Vaio C range is the one for you. The C series offers up laptops in 14-inch and 15.5-inch screen sizes and also gives you a choice of fashion colours. Essentially this means colours so garish, that you need to fashion sunglasses to shield your eyes. If you want to be really trendy, like Shoreditch circa 1998, then you can also choose to have your laptops emblazoned with LEDs which will give your computer a 'glow' apparently. Be warned, this glow may light up your life but it is no substitute for a real-life person. If you opt for the larger size, then you can have a Blu-ray drive, there's also USB 3.0 on board and Bluetooth 3.0. The laptops are also 3D capable – well, the HDMI port is, so you can play 3D Blu-rays through the laptop. The new Vaio range UK release date is July, with the C series pricing from £599 and the E series from £469. 
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| Competition: WIN! One of three Chromebooks from Google Posted: 28 Jun 2011 05:30 AM PDT Last month at Google I/O Google unveiled the new Chromebooks from Acer and Samsung. We've teamed up with the folks at Google to offer you the chance to win one of three Chromebooks from Google. The new machine features Google's new browser-based Chrome OS – all your details and apps are stored in the cloud so you'll never be without your files or settings. Google has worked with their expert puzzle master to design a puzzle that should keep you busy for a while. If you're up to the challenge and are one of the first three to come up with the correct solution, you can win a new Chromebook! It's pretty tricky, though, so follow us on Twitter for some helpful hints and clues over the next couple of days.
Click here to enter the Google Chromebook competition The Samsung Chromebook 5 series has a UK release date of 1 July, but you can pre-order it already - it's priced at £399 for the 3G version and £349 for the Wi-Fi only flavour. Note that this is only available to UK residents and you have to be 18 years or older to enter. Please see the Official Rules.
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| Acer Iconia Tab A500 gets the snip down to 16GB Posted: 28 Jun 2011 05:01 AM PDT Acer has unveiled a new version of its Iconia Tab A500, coming with 16GB of internal storage as opposed to the original model's 32GB. It also comes with a shiny new price tag, available for £350 – that's undercutting the 16GB iPad 2 by £50. The Iconia Tab A500 is an Android Honeycomb tablet, and the new iteration still comes with a 10.1-inch display, 1080p output, HDMI port and aluminium casing. Bulky bear With a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, it should still provide the solid 3.5 star performance that we evaluated on the 32GB model in our official TechRadar review. Sadly, the tablet's bulky design, which we weren't very impressed with, will also be present and correct in the memory-light model. But if you're after a bargain Android tablet that can still deliver the goods, the 16GB Acer Iconia Tab A500 could be a goer. 
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| In Depth: Will Windows, OS X and Android go 3D? Posted: 28 Jun 2011 05:00 AM PDT 3D is everywhere. It's in the movies. It's in TVs. It's in gaming PCs. It's even rumoured to be coming to the iPad 3, although we're taking that particular rumour with a huge pinch of salt. One place 3D doesn't appear, though, is in our desktop operating systems - or at least, it doesn't appear in operating systems yet. Could Windows 9 be Windows 3D? Three kinds of 3D In user interfaces, there are three kinds of 3D. There's 3D input, where sensors track an object - a mouse, or your hand - in three-dimensional space. There's simulated 3D output, where a two-dimensional display portrays a 3D environment: think Apple's Cover Flow, or Windows' Flip 3D, or Microsoft Photosynth. And there's real 3D output, where interface elements are displayed in three dimensions. 3D input is already here. 3D mice are used by architects, modellers and other professional types, and you'll find a 3D interface in millions of front rooms: Microsoft's Kinect, which can tell not only where you are and what you're wiggling, but how far from the sensor you're wiggling it.
ABOVE: 3D mice already exist: firms such as 3Dconnexion offer 3D mice for architects and other 3D specialists It's clever and great for gaming, but it's also imprecise, tiring and needs an enormous amount of space to work effectively. Nevertheless, the newly published software development kit means Kinect is coming to Windows - although from what we've seen so far, it'll be a while before we're controlling Excel charts by waggling our fingers. The 3D PC 3D PCs already exist - that's what Microsoft and Nvidia call their 3D technology for PC gaming - but will we ever see a 3D Windows? Phil Eisler is Nvidia's general manager of 3D Vision. "We believe that a 3D UI for Windows could work," he says. "Windows already has different UI options including Basic and Aero Glass mode, which already uses some 3D effects and would be much better if the desktop was actually rendered in stereoscopic 3D. Icons could be organised in a volumetric way. I've seen designs based on an office, or blocks of a city, for example... the volumetric space of a 3D viewing system provides more space for organising icons, applications and other desktop elements to make it easier to work with. 3D has been used for years in data visualisation and so it can help with the understanding and retention of 3D graphs."
BASIC: Painting with Kinect is cute, but it's hardly Minority Report. It'll be a while before useful Kinect apps appear One issue that may be preventing widespread use of 3D is the requirement for special glasses, and as Eisler points out, it'll be a while before that particular issue is addressed. "The problem with glasses-free is that is has trade-offs in resolution and viewing angle that are generally not acceptable," he says."The resolution is typically half or less, and the viewing angle can be as narrow as 10 degrees.Therefore, glasses will be required for the foreseeable future to get full resolution and a wide viewing angle that is required for an application like an operating system UI." Glasses are becoming more comfortable, but some people can't use them for very long. Manufacturers of 3DSes and 3D TVs alike warn us not to let under-sevens view 3D displays, and some adults may have issues too. As Larry Benjamin, Chair of the Education Committee for the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, explains: "Approximately 2-3% of the population can't see 3D because of early onset squint, or an eye problem that develops later in life - and you need good vision in both eyes to be able to see 3D." UK charity The Eyecare Trust reckons that as many as 12% of people may find 3D uncomfortable because of uncorrected vision problems. 3D that isn't 3D One solution that should work for everyone is pseudo-3D. The forthcoming Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich uses head-tracking to monitor the movement of your face, adjusting the on-screen image accordingly to give the illusion of looking around a three-dimensional object. That's not the only kind of 3D Google's looking into. In 2010, it acquired BumpTop, whose software turned a traditional PC desktop into something more like a three-dimensional desk. It makes navigation and organisation much more natural, and it isn't hard to imagine it working on an Android tablet or Surface system - anything with a touch screen or the ability to recognise hand movements. Apple is clearly thinking in similar ways. MacRumors uncovered an Apple patent, filed in 2007, for a "multidimensional desktop" where your desktop extends to the horizon - think Time Machine, but for the entire OS. It's quite possible that Apple merely patented an idea it has no intention of implementing, but the level of detail in the supplied images suggests otherwise.
OS X 3D: Could OS X 10.8 be in 3D? Probably not, but Apple's patents show a 3D OS that looks awfully familiar The Sun Microsystems-sponsored Project Looking Glass takes a similar approach on platforms including Linux and Windows. Rather than display objects that look 3D, future displays could actually change their shape. We already have prototype screens that you can feel with your fingers, and Microsoft is taking that idea even further. Late last year, Microsoft filed a patent application for what it calls a "light-induced shape-memory polymer display screen" that uses a light-sensitive polymer to change its physical shape. Your screen could "grow" a keyboard, or a gaming D-pad, or Braille lettering, or anything else developers fancy making. Don't get too excited, though: the patent is an idea rather than a working piece of technology, so - assuming it's even feasible - such screens are several years away.
3D PC: Sun Microsystems sponsors Project Looking Glass, a 3D overlay for Windows and Linux To 3D or not 3D You could argue that Microsoft's ill-fated Microsoft Bob (1995) was an attempt to make Windows more three-dimensional, and in the 1990s VRML promised a 3D internet. As you might have noticed, we aren't using Bob and the web is still 2D. Are things different now? The hardware certainly is - 3D acceleration and technologies such as WebGL can deliver Doom in a browser - but 3D isn't just about technology: for it to become part of our operating systems it needs to address a specific need, and that means it needs to deliver something genuinely useful rather than the same old stuff with a 3D sheen. So far, it hasn't done that. Gord Kurtenbach is Autodesk's director of research. "Many people believe that because in the real world we navigate 3D physical spaces with ease, 3D navigation should make navigation of 3D virtual spaces easy as well," he says. "However, everything changes when the space is behind the piece of glass of the display monitor. Suddenly it becomes hard, like learning to fly an airplane using controls. So the old idea that your desktop will be easier to use if it's a 3D virtual space that you can navigate around hasn't really made things easier." Will future operating systems embrace both 3D input and output? Nvidia's Eisler thinks so. "Gesture recognition systems such as Kinect are a natural extension of computer vision and seem like a very promising input mechanism for the future of computing," he says. "They work very well with a stereoscopic 3D display system to create a more immersive and easier to use interface with your computer.Add voice recognition and a nice looking avatar and the computer may be able to replace the dog as man's best friend." 
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| Twitter for Newsrooms: tweeting gets media savvy Posted: 28 Jun 2011 04:34 AM PDT Twitter has revealed a new portal for journalists and newshounds called Twitter for Newsrooms. The media section of the site breaks Twitter down to make it easier for journalists to use the micro-blog more productively. It's split into four new categories: Report, Engage, Publish and Extra. From here you can check out the recommendations Twitter gives to those who want to use the site as a story source. Tools of the trade "We want to make our tools easier to use so you can focus on your job: finding sources, verifying facts, publishing stories, promoting your work and yourself – and doing all of it faster and faster all the time," said Twitter about the new site. Twitter is already a handy tool for journalists, given the amount of breaking stories that appear on the site first and the rise of citizen journalism. It's been an all-too-frequent occurrence to see unverified and untrue stories making Twitter's trending topics, so it is good to see Twitter offering a more formal approach to its media offerings. For more information, get yourself over to http://media.twitter.com/newsrooms. 
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| Accused LulzSec hacker bailed but banned from the internet Posted: 28 Jun 2011 04:04 AM PDT Ryan Cleary, the teenager arrested last week under suspicion of involvement with the now-disbanded LulzSec, has been bailed on the condition that he stays offline. As well as the internet ban, Cleary's internet-enabled gadgets have been confiscated, including his computer, iPhone and PlayStation 3. Cleary denies the five charges against him, which include using DDoS attacks to take down various websites. LulzSec, which has now called it a day, also denied that Cleary was involved in the collective at a high level, rather that his servers merely hosted some of its sites. Worthwhile pursuits His solicitor told reporters, "Ryan has last week at court been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, which is a form of high functioning autism. "He will now be provided with the professional support that he needs. His obvious intelligence can now be channelled into a worthwhile pursuit." Without any web-connected doodahs to play with, Cleary won't be doing any hacking, gaming or surfing the web while awaiting trial at the end of August. He will be wearing an electronic tag while on bail, however; there's got to be a bit on tinkering he can do with that... 
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| Posted: 28 Jun 2011 03:49 AM PDT LG has announced the DM50D 3D monitor, using its Cinema 3D TV technology in a desk friendly form factor. LG suggests that the size and weight of current 3D monitors and the lack of 3D content for PCs was limiting consumer interest in adding an extra dimension to their computing. The LG DM50D is billed, a little inevitably, as the 'perfect platform for 3D gaming and movie watching'. Consumer research "Our consumer research showed that while interest in 3D monitors was high, there were certain misgivings about the cumbersome glasses, reported health concerns and lack of 3D content," said Si-hwan Park, vice president of the monitor division at LG's Home Entertainment Company. "Through CINEMA 3D technology, the DM50D addresses all of these concerns, leaving users free to be completely immersed in the best quality 3D content and gaming on any monitor on the market today." The passive display also comes with 'flicker free' certification, brightness that is apparently twice as high as other 3D monitors and a promise from LG that the combination of these two things could cut down on "3D sickness". The LG DM50D UK release date is July, with other markets to follow. 
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| Posted: 28 Jun 2011 03:30 AM PDT Asus is best known for its dinky Eee PC netbooks, but also produces some excellent multimedia laptops. The N53SV-SX303V packs in an impressive specification for the price, making it a strong desktop replacement choice. If your needs are demanding – for instance, you wish to run complex design software that would make most computers weep – the Asus is a great solution. The Intel Core i5 Sandy Bridge processor can run several resource-hogging applications at once, backed up by 6GB of memory. Performance came very close to the Lenovo W520 and Toshiba Satellite L755-15R. Even with all this power, multimedia software such as video editing suites would struggle without a dedicated graphics card on board. The Asus packs an Nvidia GPU, like the Lenovo and Acer. This can easily run any creative software and features Optimus technology, which shuts the GPU down when not in use to conserve battery power. The resulting five hours is an excellent result.
Benchmarks Battery life: 307 minutes Despite having a 15.6-inch screen like most of the laptops here, the Asus is one of the bulkiest devices in the group. At a whopping 3kg, it's almost as heavy as the 17.3-inch HP Pavilion DV7-6002sa, so the Asus is best left on a desk at home, despite boasting a durable build and an excellent five hours of battery life. Thankfully, that extra space is well used by the keyboard. The board is just as firm as the chassis and comfortable to type on for long sessions, with a dedicated numeric keypad for data entry. We also liked the smooth touchpad, which supports multi-touch gesturing.
Reasonable screen The screen is reasonably bright and produces colourful images, like most of the displays here. It does the job if you're editing photos or video and you can hook up an external monitor or television via VGA or HDMI if you need a bigger screen. When your creative juices dry up, you can kick back and enjoy a high-definition Blu-ray film. Movies sound surprisingly good, thanks to the Bang & Olufsen ICEpower speakers, which blast out music and explosions at an impressive volume. You can also play the latest games thanks to the dedicated graphics. The 640GB hard drive provides plenty of space for all of your files and applications, and is only narrowly beaten by the HP's 750GB of storage. Although lugging the N53SV-SX303V around with you isn't recommended due to the bulky and heavy chassis, it makes a great desktop replacement machine for the creative enthusiast. Tons of power and excellent dedicated graphics make short work of even the most demanding design suites. 
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| Google rolls out What Do You Love? for unified search Posted: 28 Jun 2011 03:14 AM PDT Google has snuck out a new service, dubbed What Do You Love?, which allows you to search for whatever you love across all of its various properties at once. So, telling Google that we love hats brought us images of hats, hat patents, nearby hats, news about hats and a quick and easy option to set up Google Alerts about hats or to email someone about hats. All this and more crammed onto one long dashboard-like page, with the various widgets changing order with every new search. 'Awesomely awesome' You can then click the Gmail icon and Google will create a slightly twee email for you to send your friends, which comes with the subject line 'Hey this is awesomely awesome' and describes the service as a 'wonderful things dashboard'. A wonderful things dashboard, perhaps – but it serves more as a tool for Google to point you in the direction of lesser-used products than just search. What's strange is that Google hasn't made much of a fuss about the new service, which seems to be completely up and running at www.wdyl.com. 
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| Review: Toshiba Satellite Pro C660-15z Posted: 28 Jun 2011 03:00 AM PDT Toshiba's Satellite range, like Acer's Aspire series, covers the entire spectrum of laptops, from good-value portables to powerful media machines. The Satellite C660-15z is one of the cheapest Toshiba laptops you can currently buy and proves to offer great value with very few flaws. Design is rather functional, but the plain black chassis is commendably solid. The lid is especially tough and can withstand some punishment, while the textured surfaces are resistant to dust and marks. While this laptop isn't as slender as the Acer, it's a shade lighter at just 2.4kg. We got just over four hours of battery life from a single charge, making this one of the most portable machines in the group. If you need a laptop to carry around often, the Toshiba will do the job. With an Intel Celeron processor and 2GB of memory on board, performance is near identical to the HP and better than the eMachines. You can browse the web and run all of your office applications, although trying to do too much at once will slow everything down. If you have more demanding needs, such as running resource-hungry editing suites, you'd be better off with the Acer Aspire 5741z. This is also true if you plan on playing with your media; for example, editing photos or watching high-definition (HD) movies. The Toshiba's basic integrated graphics are good only for browsing your holiday snaps and watching DVDs – any attempts to play HD films fail immediately.
Benchmarks Battery life: 246 minutes The 15.6-inch screen is reasonably sharp, bright and perfect for long sessions on the internet, while photos and movies are colourfully reproduced. Contrast levels are strong, but viewing angles are narrow with images darkening when you tilt the display. Toshiba has made the most of the chassis space, filling it with a firm keyboard and a dedicated numeric keypad. We could happily type on this laptop all day, thanks to the smooth key action. The touchpad is a little squat, but just as responsive with two mouse buttons positioned beneath. Limited ports
Ports are scant, with a mere two USB connections for attaching peripherals and a VGA port for hooking up monitors. The 250GB hard drive provides enough storage space for thousands of pictures and MP3s, and is only narrowly beaten by the Acer. There's no integrated camera, so if you want to chat online you should consider the Acer or eMachines instead. Verdict Overall, the Satellite C660-15z provides great value for money. Although both performance and design are lacking compared to the Acer, this is a well-built, highly usable and effortlessly portable laptop. 
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| Opera 11.50 adds Speed Dial extensions to the mix Posted: 28 Jun 2011 02:57 AM PDT Opera has announced a couple of new additions to its browser this week, with the launch of Opera 11.50. The updated browser now comes with Speed Extensions, which are essentially in-browser apps to make your web surfing that little bit swifter. Web apps made an appearance in Google Chrome so Opera isn't the first to use this type of browser app but it is hoping that its Speed Dial extensions will prove to be popular. "We think Speed Dial extensions are a smarter way of getting to the content you want and need," said Opera about the new service. Web app-reciation The list of Speed Dial extensions Opera highlights isn't exactly going to set your mind on fire, but you can check stocks at a glance (with StockTwits), a Webdoc extension that allows you to create interactive web posts and the Hype Machine, which offers up tracks from various music blogs. One of the more interesting is Read It Later – an extension that acts a bit like StumbleUpon, where it will give you random articles to read from your own archive of stories. Aside from web apps, Opera has added password synchronisation, fixed thousands of bugs and spruced up its HTML5 functionality. 
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