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• Microsoft launches Avatar Kinect on Xbox Live
• New BlackBerry phone to arrive today?
• RIM begins layoffs, 10 per cent of workforce to go
• Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 5 Encore music hub unveiled
• LG's smartphone line-up 2011 leaked
• Nintendo 3DS pulled from Amazon
• Nokia N9 UK release date: 19 August?
• Review: Apple Mac OS X 10.7 Lion
• Dixons takes over Harrods' electronics department
• Review: Apple MacBook Pro 17-inch 2.2GHz
• Tutorial: How to install Mac memory
• Photobox merges with Moonpig.com
• Bose launches small but mighty Companion 20 computer speakers
• id Software on the future of mobile gaming
• Buying Guide: 10 best 42-inch HD TVs in the world today
• Currys gets Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 head start
• Review: Olympus ZUIKO DIGITAL 14-54mm F2.8-3.5 II
• Review: Nikon AF-S DX 16-85mm F/3.5-5.6 G ED VR
• Review: Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
• Review: Sigma 18-50mm EX DC OS HSM
• Review: Tokina AT-X 16-28mm F2.8 PRO FX
• Microsoft Director bets $1,000 on Windows Phone success
• Sony A77 DSLR pictures leaked online
• Apple named top UK smartphone brand
• Review: Olympus PEN E-P3

Microsoft launches Avatar Kinect on Xbox Live Posted: 26 Jul 2011 01:20 AM PDT Microsoft has launched Avatar Kinect - the latest addition to its Kinect Fun Labs on Xbox Live. The Kinect has proven to be a massive hit for Microsoft, and Avatar Kinect picked up plenty of attention when it was shown off at CES. Microosft describes Avatar Kinect as a 'new social entertainment that brings your avatar to life' - and presumably goes a very, very tiny way to justifying the actual real money spent by some in decking out their Avatar. "Avatar Kinect captures your facial expressions and voice so when you smile, nod or speak, your avatar does the same," explains Microsoft. Virtually fun "Invite up to seven friends to join you in 24 imaginative virtual stages – discuss the latest celebrity gossip or news on the Talk Show Stage, try out your hysterical comedy routine on the Performance Stage, or wager who will win the big game in the Sports Party Stage," it adds. It's basically a chat room for the 21st century, and is available Xbox Live Gold subscribers, although a trial until 8 September means that everyone can have a go. Oh, and just in case that's not enough scintillation for you, Kinect Sparkler launches this week - we'd explain what that is but we reckon you'll work it out fairly quickly yourself. Related Stories Star Wars Xbox 360 given UK price of £350

New BlackBerry phone to arrive today? Posted: 25 Jul 2011 11:55 PM PDT A new BlackBerry handset is likely to be unearthed on Tuesday following a post on the company's Facebook page. The post late on Monday alerted Blackberry fans to the arrival of something new, shiny and social. "Hey Team BlackBerry, what's shiny, new and social all over? We want to tell you all about it. Can you guess what it might be? Tune in tomorrow for details!" read the post on the social networking site. The smart money is on the revelation of an official launch date for the BlackBerry Bold 9900, which was unveiled at BlackBerry World back in May. Thinnest The Bold 9900 is the thinnest BlackBerry smartphone yet, is the first Bold to boast a touchscreen and features the brand new BlackBerry 7 OS. Other reports suggest the release could be the Torch 2 or the yet-to-be-announced BlackBerry Bold 9790, codenamed Bellagio, which emerged in a leaked video last week. RIM CEO Jim Ballsillie promised that there would be seven new smartphones boasting the BlackBerry 7 coming over the coming months. Layoffs RIM will hope whatever is on the agenda for Tuesday will give the company and its fans something to cheer about following a horrible first half of 2011. Just yesterday the company began laying off 2,000 staff as part of a "cost optimisation program" at the company's headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Related Stories Nokia N9 UK release date: 19 August? RIM begins layoffs, 10 per cent of workforce to go

RIM begins layoffs, 10 per cent of workforce to go Posted: 25 Jul 2011 12:44 PM PDT Research In Motion has confirmed that it is to begin making 2000 redundancies this week as the company faces the reality of falling BlackBerry sales. The cuts, which equates to over 10 per cent of the company's workforce, arrive following a 12 per cent drop in revenue during the last fiscal quarter. RIM will also reshuffle the deck at the top of the pile, with a number of executives moving around as part od the "cost optimisation program." Prudent The Canadian smartphone giant says that the speed at which the company grew in the previous five years meant that staff has swelled to a bigger-than-necessary numbers. In a statement, RIM says the cutbacks are "believed to be a prudent and necessary step for the long-term success of the company. "[They follow] an extended period of rapid growth within the company whereby the workforce had nearly quadrupled in the last five years alone." Despite maintaining a strong grip on the business-phone market, RIM has struggled to keep pace with the iPhone and Android handsets. Recent iterations of the Bold brand haven't caught the imagination, while the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is still thought to be a work in progress. Related Stories Nokia N9 UK release date: 19 August? New BlackBerry phone to arrive today?

Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 5 Encore music hub unveiled Posted: 25 Jul 2011 10:35 AM PDT Bang & Olufsen has unveiled the latest tech in its BeoSound range, the BeoSound 5 Encore - a home music hub that can organise your sprawling music collection. The new music hub is a plug and play system that allows you to instantly access your digital music collection, playing music from a hard drive, computer, wireless device and network server all from the same hub. You can have up to eight of the BeoSound Encores connected to a single server, so you can ensure that each room in your home has access to your whole music collection. Encore, encore Simply connect a pair of speakers to the music hub and you are able to control your music and playlists on the 10.4-inch display, ending disputes over who is handling DJ duties. The Bang & Olufsen hub allows you to access internet radio stations as well as being able to automatically generate playlists using B&O's MOTS system that chooses similar music from your collection using just one anchor track. The BeoSound Encore 5 is available now, with a UK price of £2,900 - one for each room of the house? You'll need a small lottery win.

LG's smartphone line-up 2011 leaked Posted: 25 Jul 2011 10:17 AM PDT The rest of LG's 2011 smartphone line up has been leaked to a tech site, complete with renders of four upcoming Android handsets, a Windows Phone phone and mention of a the mysterious LG K. First up is the LG Prada K2 – another tedious fashion phone? Perhaps not, as it's rumoured to come with a dual-core processor, Android 2.3, dual cameras (1.3MP on the front, 8MP on the back) and a 4.3-inch display. The LG Univa (a code name, we hope), is a little lower in the smartphone gene pool, with an 800MHz processor, 3.5-inch HVGA screen and a 5MP camera – basically the LG Optimus One bumped up a grade. LG Hyperbole It's all gone a bit HTC in the phone name arena, with the LG Fantasy supposedly LG's next Windows Phone handset. It should come rocking the juicy Mango OS and Microsoft's minimum hardware specs – 1GHz processor, WVGA screen and dedicated hardware keys, among others. Back to Android, the LG Victor is a Gingerbread-powered handset with a mooted 3.8-inch OLED display and front- and rear-facing 5MP cameras. The LG E2 is set to be a fairly basic entry-level handset – it's thin on the ground, spec-wise but it certainly looks like a small-screened, cheap and cheerful handset. K – great letter And finally, the mysterious LG K, the only handset to come without a render and with a model number – P930. Could it be the first smartphone to come with a true 720p HD display? The rumours, which point to a second-gen NOVA display, suggest so. It's clear that LG has plenty up its sleeve for the second half of the year, and, although names and specs can change between now and launch, it seems to be a good spread of low- to high-end handsets. We'd expect the bulk of these handsets to launch in September, just in time for the lucrative Christmas market – and maybe just in time to go head-to-head with the iPhone 5. It's certainly shaping up to be an interesting autumn in the smartphone world. Related Stories BlackBerry Bold 9790 gets video debut Apple named top UK smartphone brand Microsoft Director bets $1,000 on Windows Phone success

Nintendo 3DS pulled from Amazon Posted: 25 Jul 2011 09:38 AM PDT The Nintendo 3DS has been pulled from Amazon's US website and been placed 'Under Review'. This means that customers won't be able to purchase the console direct from Amazon.com, although some marketplace sellers are still offering it. It's not clear exactly what the problem is, but it seems that a large number of customer complaints have prompted the temporary (for now) sales ban. 3DS under review Amazon.com visitors looking to pick up a 3DS see the following message: "While this item is available from other marketplace sellers on this page, it is not currently offered by Amazon.com because customers have told us there may be something wrong with our inventory of the item, the way we are shipping it, or the way it's described here. "We're working to fix the problem as quickly as possible."

Nokia N9 UK release date: 19 August? Posted: 25 Jul 2011 09:36 AM PDT The Nokia N9 UK release date may be set for 19 August after it was spotted on websites based in Kazakhstan and Russia. The colourful handset is to be the first from Nokia to run the Linux-based Meego operating system. The N9 has a 3.9-inch OLED screen and is built for multitasking using screen swipes instead of using dedicated buttons. Meego, you go It also features an 8MP Carl Zeiss camera capable of filming in 720p HD, a forward facing VGA camera and will be available in 16GB and 64GB versions. This will definitely be the first phone from the Finnish giants to run Meego, and it has said that it will "support Meego for years". There has been no confirmation from Nokia that it will be sold in the UK yet, however, given that TechRadar was given early access to the swish new swisher it seems pretty likely it will do. Related Stories RIM begins layoffs, 10 per cent of workforce to go New BlackBerry phone to arrive today?

Review: Apple Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Posted: 25 Jul 2011 09:00 AM PDT This eighth release of OS X brings us around 250 new features, many of which are inspired by Apple's mobile-device operating system, iOS. Unlike previous versions of Mac OS, it isn't delivered on a disc (though Lion flash drives are due in August, for £55). Instead, it's purchased, downloaded and installed from the Mac App Store. The App Store was introduced with OS X 10.6.6, so if you're running Leopard or earlier on a Mac that's capable of running Lion, you must install Snow Leopard before upgrading to the latest version of the operating system. But as Snow Leopard only cost £25 and Lion is a penny shy of £21, their combined price is less than half the usual going rate for a Mac OS. NEW LOOK: Mission Control and Launchpad are two of Lion's key features To run Lion, you must have an Intel Mac with a Core 2 Duo, Core-i series or Xeon processor. The new operating system won't run on PowerPC Macs, or very early Intel models with Core Duo chips. You also need 2GB of RAM, where its predecessor only demanded 1GB. Thankfully, upgrading your computer's memory is a fairly painless task, and as long as you buy from a third-party vendor instead of Apple, it's relatively inexpensive too. Lion drops support for Rosetta, the dynamic translator used to run applications written for PowerPC processors on Intel machines. This means a Mac running Lion can't run PowerPC applications, so before you install, check whether any of your must-have apps are PPC. INTEL ONLY: Lion is the eighth release of OS X, and the second that only runs on Intel Macs Installing Lion is incredibly easy. You just open the Mac App Store, buy the software and download it. The installer is downloaded to your Applications folder and added to the Dock. It runs automatically, but the installer disappears after it has run, so if you want to keep hold of it to upgrade other Macs or create a boot disc, quit the installer and copy it to an external drive before running. The downloaded installer is around 3.76GB, which is about the same as a hi-def movie from iTunes. After buying it once, you can install it on all your Macs, so the £21 you paid for the operating system is an even bigger bargain. INSTALL: After downloading the Lion installer appears in your Applications folder Installing Lion usually takes between ten minutes to half an hour, depending on your Mac. The first thing it does after restarting using the new operating system is to index your Mac for Spotlight, which usually takes longer than the install. This is done in the background and is hardly a problem. Some applications take longer to open the first time you run them in Lion too, most notably Mail, which has to reindex your emails to take advantage of the app's new features. Again, this is hardly problematic, but it's best not to switch to Lion if you've something urgent to do straight afterwards. Overall, installing Mac OS X 10.7 Lion is a speedy and straightforward task requiring very little user intervention. There's very little that can go wrong here, but make sure you clone your hard drive beforehand just in case. EASY PEASY: Installing OS X 10.7 Lion is a relatively painless task Like all new versions of OS X, Lion brings a host of minor cosmetic tweaks, some of which are proving more popular than others. The gumdrop buttons in the top-left corner of a window are now smaller and less intense. The Finder window's side bar icons have lost their colour, and the font used to name them is larger. Your boot drive doesn't appear in the Devices section, but you can change this in the Finder preferences, under the Side Bar tab. By default, new Finder windows open in a new Side Bar option, All My Files. This arranges your personal files in Cover Flow-like rows that can be scrolled and viewed, and ordered according to criteria such as date, kind, size and name. Unfortunately, it only shows files you keep inside your Home folder. If the majority of your data is stored outside your boot drive, this feature is likely to be of limited use. We hope Apple makes it more comprehensive in time, especially considering how many Mac users have an SSD for a boot drive and an HDD for data. The Sidebar search folders based on kind and when a document was last opened are gone, but you can recreate them if you wish. COULD DO BETTER: The All My Files feature isn't as useful as it could be You can now expand and contract windows from any side or corner, not just the bottom-right. Constraining with the Alt key also resizes from the opposite edge, and Shift-Alt preserves the aspect ratio as it resizes from all four sides. Less welcome is the removal of the pill-shaped button in the top-right corner, which previously minimised the window. One of Lion's most controversial changes is its scrolling behaviour. Previously, scrolling controlled the window's scroll bar pellet, so scrolling up moved the pellet upwards, and the window's contents downwards. This has been reversed in Lion; scrolling directly interacts with the window's contents, so scrolling up moves the page up, like in iOS. While it's difficult to get used to at first (and can be changed using the Mouse or Trackpad system preferences), it's actually more logical. Find a friend or relative who's never used a Mac before and get them to scroll a window; chances are they'll instinctively go for the Lion method. The first time you open a Java application, you find Lion doesn't provide a Java runtime by default. Go to http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1421 to download and install it. UP OR DOWN: Vertical scrolling behaviour is reversed in Lion, but you can change it back if you wish With Lion, Gestures are a much more integral part of the operating system. So much so that desktop users should consider buying a Magic Trackpad to get the most out of the new OS. Activating new features like Mission Control and Launchpad using Gestures is much quicker and easier than clicking on their Dock icons, and new Taps, Pinches and Swipes give you a much greater degree of control over your working environment. What was previously a useful asset for notebook users is now such a fundamental part of the Mac experience that people who don't use a trackpad are missing out. That's not to say you can't use Lion with a Magic Mouse, or even an ordinary, third-party mouse. But after a few weeks with a Magic Trackpad, going back to a mouse feels like stepping out of a sports car and into a family saloon. Like the new scrolling behaviour, Gestures can take a little getting used to. You might trigger multi-fingered gestures accidentally through resting your fingers on the trackpad while trying to move the pointer, for example, or move through your Safari browsing history when you were trying to scroll. But they soon become instinctive, and a real asset to the way you interact with your Mac. CHANGE TOUCH: You can configure your gestures in the Trackpad system preferences, and watch short animations showing them in action While applications with full-screen modes have been around for years, Lion brings the feature natively to OS X, standardising their behaviour. Apps written to take advantage of Lion's Full Screen feature have an icon in the top-right corner of the window. With a single click they fill the entire screen, cutting out borders and distractions. This is especially useful when using small-screen notebooks. Even the menu bar at the top of the screen (which offers a button to exit full-screen mode) only appears when you drag your pointer to it. You can have more than one application open in this way, using a three-fingered swipe to navigate between full-screen apps, your desktop and the Dashboard. Naturally, Apple's native OS X apps are already full-screen compatible, and the API has been made available to developers, so third-party software should soon make use of this excellent feature. Unfortunately, Lion's Full Screen feature is currently single-display only. If you have a two-monitor set-up and go full-screen on your main display, the second screen is covered with the grey linen wallpaper used in several places in Lion OS (for example, for the background in Mission Control). You could argue this is all part of the no-distractions philosophy that underpins the Full Screen feature, but surely it should be optional? We hope it becomes so with the first Lion update. COMPLETE VIEW: Full Screen does away with distractions, but is incompatible with multiple monitors Mission Control unifies Snow Leopard's Exposé, Spaces and Dashboard functions into a single feature. And it's magnificent. Accessed through a function key, a Dock icon or (best of all) a simple three-fingered gesture, Mission Control gives a birds-eye view of everything that's running on your Mac. Open windows are grouped according to application, so you can quickly and easily navigate to the one you're looking for. Across the top of the screen, your Dashboard, Full Screen applications and Spaces desktops are shown. In effect, the top section of the screen replicates Snow Leopard's Spaces function and the lower half becomes Exposé. And integrating them on a single screen enhances both. If your desktop is getting cluttered, it's really easy to open Mission Control, add a second desktop and drag windows from your main work area to the secondary one. Individual Exposé functions such as Application Windows and Show Desktop are still available, and can be accessed through the function keys as before, or through Gestures. You can configure the keys through the Mission Control preference pane, and the Gestures through the Trackpad pane, but the default settings are more than comfortable. BRINGING IT TOGETHER: Mission Control is a useful and comprehensive fusion of Spaces and Exposé Our only criticism of Mission Control is its aesthetics. It's far from attractive, and definitely not up to Apple's usual design standards. Perhaps the means for adding a second desktop could be clearer too; you hover over the right-hand side of the Spaces row until a plus sign appears. If you didn't know, you would never guess. Even so, Mission Control is an exciting addition to OS X, and significantly simplifies the way you interact with your Mac. The Mac App Store was introduced with OS X 10.6.6, but is now built into Lion, and brings a handful of new features. In-app purchases are now catered for, as are delta updates, whereby when updating an application bought from the Mac App Store, only the sections that have changed are downloaded. Push notifications allow developers to bring you important information about their app, even when it's not currently open on your machine. For security, Lion also greatly enhances OS X's sandboxing function, something Mac App Store downloads will soon be required to use. APP IT UP: Lion's Mac App Store offers new features A feature that's clearly made its way to OS X from iOS is Launchpad. A convenient and versatile application launcher, Launchpad is activated from the Dock or with a gesture and behaves very similar to iOS's home screen. Applications bought from the App Store or kept in your Applications folder are present automatically, and programs kept elsewhere can be added by dragging them onto the Launchpad Dock icon. Launchpad can display 40 app icons per page, and like iOS's home screen, you can swipe between pages. Applications can be reordered and moved from page to page, and also grouped into folders by dragging one icon onto another. A folder can contain up to 32 applications, and is automatically named according to their type, though you can change the suggested title if you wish. IOSESQUE: Lion's Launchpad feature is instantly familiar to anyone who has used iOS Of all the major features in Lion, Launchpad seems to have generated the least enthusiasm among long-time Mac users. Yet while it's clearly designed to make life easier for those who bought their first Mac because they liked iOS, it could prove more useful than you expect over time. After you've used it for a while, and the apps you need most often but not quite often enough to keep in the Dock are easily accessible on the front page, it might become a useful alternative to typing the name of the app in the Spotlight field for quick access. Some users have found a bug where applications can display incorrect icons in Launchpad. We hope this is fixed soon. Resume (as in 'pick up where you left off', not 'résumé', the American term for a CV) is arguably the most useful addition to Lion. If you quit a Resume-compatible application, when you reopen, it launches in exactly the same state as it was in when you closed it. Windows are reopened, palettes and panes restored and even highlighted text and cursor positions are kept just as they were before. Safari tabs and web pages are also restored, as long as you weren't using its Private Browsing feature. The feature also works when you shut down or restart your Mac. A new option in the confirmation pop-up asks if you want to reopen windows when you log back in. If you leave this checked (as it is by default), Lion takes a snapshot of your system as it shuts down, restarting in exactly the same state it was in when you closed it. Applications are relaunched, windows reopened and documents arranged exactly as they were when you shut down. This is especially useful if you want to install an application or upgrade the system software while you're working on something else; there's no longer any need to put off restarting until you've finished what you're doing. It's important to note that not every Mac application currently takes advantage of Resume. If you use Google Chrome as your main browser, for example, don't expect your currently-open web pages to return after a quit and restart. We hope third-party developers aren't slow to take advantage of this extremely useful feature, but until they do, be careful when shutting down or restarting; don't simply assume everything will reappear. START AGAIN: Leave this box checked to restart using Resume There's nothing worse than losing work to a crash or application freeze when you haven't saved for a while. You've only got yourself to blame, of course, but that just makes it even more galling. With Auto Save, tapping CMD-S every couple of minutes might become a thing of the past. Applications that have this feature are saved automatically, during pauses in your work or every five minutes if you don't take a break. To cut down on wasted disk space, Auto Save preserves changes rather than creating additional copies of the entire document, and does so wholly in the background, so there's no spinning beach ball or progress bar. Apps designed to take advantage of Lion's Auto Save feature include Preview, TextEdit and Apple's iWork suite. Documents created using one of these apps have a pull-down menu for a title, giving you the chance to lock it against further automatic saves, duplicate it and keep the original as a template, revert to the last saved version to undo changes, or browse the document's states saved in another of Lion's key feature, Versions. SAVE IT: In apps that take advantage of Auto Save, the title bar becomes a menu Lion's new Versions feature creates a history of your document as you work on it. A new version is recorded every hour, whenever you make a significant change and when you email, duplicate, lock or revert it using the Auto Save pull-down menu. You can also create a new Version manually using CMD-S; it seems this trusty old keyboard command still has its uses. Selecting Browse All Versions from the title menu sets the current document against its previous versions in a Time Machine-like interface. You can revert to an older version if you wish to abandon changes made since, or copy and paste pictures and text; just the thing if you've accidentally cut something you wish you'd retained. Auto Save and Versions won't reach their full potential until third-party developers include these new features in their own applications, but given their huge potential for making life easier and more productive, they should be quick to do so. Previously, if your Mac suffers a crash from which it can't recover, you had to boot from your operating system disc and restart. Obviously, this is impossible in Lion – as the new OS is downloaded from the Mac App Store, there is no operating system disc. Thankfully, Apple has thought of that. Lion reserves a small portion (about the size of a CD) of your boot drive as a recovery partition. If you can't start your Mac using your usual account, power up holding CMD-R to boot straight into it, or hold ALT and select it from the list of bootable drives. Booting in the recovery partition lets you reinstall Lion, fix a damaged drive using Disk Utility, check email or Apple's support site in Safari or restore from a Time Machine backup. While the lack of a boot disc makes many users nervous, restarting from a recovery partition is certainly simpler than using an OS disc. LOOK BACK: Versions uses a Time Machine-like interface Another new feature appearing in Lion's Finder window Side Bar is AirDrop, a handy but limited means of sharing files between Wi-Fi-enabled Macs. Click on AirDrop and your Finder window turns into a radar-like image, with your own Mac at the foot of the window. Any Macs within a ten-metre range that also have an AirDrop window open are also shown. To transfer a file to another Mac, you just drag and drop it onto its image in your AirDrop window. There's no setting up or configuring to be done, and as transfer is peer-to-peer, you don't even need to be on the same Wi-Fi network. It really is that simple. Sharing with AirDrop is secure. After dragging a file onto another Mac's icon, you're asked to confirm you want to send it. The receiver can accept or decline – you can't drop files onto another person's Mac without permission. Transfer is encrypted, and neither party ever sees the files on the other's hard drive. But although secure and convenient, AirDrop is also very limited. It can only transfer files between Macs running Lion; it's not available for earlier versions of Mac OS, and there's no Windows or Linux version for PCs. It's a useful feature if you regularly transfer small files between up-to-date Macs, but if you're in a mixed Mac and PC environment, or not every nearby Mac has been upgraded to Lion, you'd better not throw away that USB stick just yet. TRANSFERS: AirDrop is a secure and convenient means of transferring files between Macs, but only if they're both running Lion OS X's bundled email client has undergone some radical changes. A new widescreen view gives you a full-height window to view your mail, with received messages listed and previewed in a column on the left. Mailboxes and other folders aren't shown by default, but can be opened in another column at the push of a button. A favourites bar gives access to commonly-used folders, and you can customise it by adding new ones. Messages can be flagged in seven different colours now, not just red, and the new Conversation feature threads on-going exchanges in chronological order, making them easier to follow. The search engine has had a radical rebuild, making it much easier to find what you're looking for. Mail is now compatible with Microsoft Exchange 2010 too. Like Finder and iTunes, the button icons in Mail have gone stylishly monochrome, sometimes to the detriment of clarity. How, for example, are you supposed to know that a thumbs-down image means junk mail, or a square icon that looks like a washboard gives you a new note? When you first start using the revamped app, you might have to hover your mouse pointer over the buttons just to see what they do. Perhaps it's strange that as the rest of Mac OS X becomes more tailored to the novice user, Mail gets more complicated and less instinctive. But Lion's email client is undoubtedly more capable than its predecessor, even if it isn't always as intuitive. NEW MAIL: The new release of Apple Mail is more powerful, but less intuitive The switch-over to Lion has been relatively free of problems, but a few minor maladies are worth mentioning. Fans of Apple's elegant but limited Front Row application will be disappointed to find it's been removed in Lion. We can't understand why. It's quite capable of running under the new operating system. So much so, in fact, that a Mac user has taken Front Row and its associated components from Snow Leopard and bundled it into an installer. Entitled Front Row Enabler, you can download it if you wish. It worked for us, but install it at your own risk. Something that won't be returning to Lion is Rosetta, Apple's dynamic translator used to run applications written for the older PowerPC architecture on Macs with Intel processors. To see if you're still running PowerPC apps, open the System Profiler found in Applications > Utilities, click on Applications and sort them according to Kind. If you're planning to upgrade to Lion, PowerPC applications must be upgraded or abandoned. Some people who use a NAS drive for Time Machine backups find it no longer works after moving to Lion. This is apparently because Apple used a new version of Netatalk that's incompatible with the protocols used by most third-party network-attached storage devices. If you're in this position, all you can do is check the support site for your NAS drive and wait for an update. Finally, the new-look iCal and Address Book applications have not been well received. In yet another nod to iOS, they've been made to look like their real-world counterparts, with iCal sporting a stitched leather finish and a tear where the previous month's calendar was ripped away, and Address Book looking like a physical volume, with a bookmark ribbon used to switch from viewing groups on the left page and contacts on the right, to contacts on the left and individual contact cards on the right. It's totally unnecessary. NASTY: Do digital productivity applications really need a real-world metaphor in 2011? In 2011, people are used to using digital calendars and address books – we no longer need a real-world metaphor to remind us what we're doing. And in Address Book's case, the aesthetics actually detract from its usability, with Snow Leopard's handy three-column view abandoned to make way for two facing pages. We hope Apple addresses this very soon. The eighth release of OS X takes features developed for iOS and brings them to the Mac, and adds some excellent enhancements of its own. Scrolling now follows iOS protocols, with the user interacting directly with the window's contents instead of moving the window itself, and compatible applications can be viewed in Full Screen, with no distractions in your peripheral vision. A trio of related features make saving and restarting a simple task. Auto Save means you should never lose work to a crash again, Versions lets you switch back to or take material from an earlier version of a document and Resume means you can close an application or even your whole system and have it reopen in the same state it was in before it closed. Again, these features require compatible applications. We liked £21 for a new operating system is an incredible bargain, especially considering you can install it on all your Macs; no family licences here. The Recovery Partition is an excellent idea, and is certainly handier than having to find your install disc, restarting with the mouse button down to eject the optical disc drive and then again to boot from the DVD instead of your hard drive. OS X's new Gestures are extremely useful. They take a while to learn, but after a few days with Lion, they transform the way you interact with your Mac. You might well want to switch to a Magic Trackpad to make sure you get the most out of them. Finally, fusing Spaces, Dashboard and ExposÈ into Mission Control is a masterstroke, which again makes it much easier to interact with your Mac. We disliked Switching back to a real-world metaphor for iCal and Address Book seems a really odd decision. It might make sense on an iOS device, where you hold it in your hand like a paper calendar or address book, but there's no need for it on a Mac. Address Book is actually less usable now, with a useful three-column interface giving way to a two-page view. We're not convinced that dropping the colour from in-app icons was a good idea either. There were many complaints when iTunes did it a few months ago, and now Finder's monochrome sidebars are equally poorly received. In Mail especially, the colourless icons are unclear. A button showing a yellow page, for example, was clearly there to produce a new note, but robbed of its colour, we had to hover over it with our mouse pointer until a pop-up told us what it did. Verdict Lion is a significant step forward for Mac OS X, but it's not without its problems. Features such as Mission Control, Resume, Auto Save and Versions will prove incredibly useful over time. Launchpad may prove its worth, but even if it remains unused, it's not in the way. Many Mac owners will miss Rosetta, but its demise was inevitable. Not so Front Row, which didn't need to be dropped at all. Maybe Apple will put it in the App Store as a free download. Despite a few teething troubles (most notably breaking third-party NAS compatibility and a few questionable interface decisions), Lion is definitely worth the upgrade. Like most OS upgrades it will probably really shine after its second or third update, but unless you're running PowerPC applications you can't be without, there's no need to wait.

Dixons takes over Harrods' electronics department Posted: 25 Jul 2011 08:45 AM PDT Harrods, the legendary Knightsbridge department store, has delegated its electronics department to Dixons, the high street electronics chain. Despite its mass market credentials, both companies say that the Dixons outlet, due to open in 2012, will be much more to the taste of the discerning Harrods regular. To this end, it'll be selling some more exclusive, high-ticket-price brands that you won't find at Dixons stores on the high street, like Leica, Bang & Olufsen and Loewe. If it's an 85-inch Plasma TV you're after, Harrods will be the place to be. Not for the chavs Dixons reckons this is the perfect time to reposition itself as a more up-market brand, with David Lloyd-Seed, Dixons Retail's Group Communications Director, saying, "This gets the message across we have changed as a business and have a different level of customers service and product than you'd associate with the old Currys." However, it remains to be seen whether or not the concession within Harrods will be branded Dixons, Currys, PC World or something classier. While it may be all sweetness and light between Harrods and Dixons now, the department store once sued Dixons for its advertising campaign in 2009, in which Dixons advised customers to visit "the discerning shopper's fave department store" for a product demo then go to Dixons.co.uk to buy it. Harrods was not amused. However, a spokesperson said today, "We are under completely different ownership now. That is all water under the bridge."

Review: Apple MacBook Pro 17-inch 2.2GHz Posted: 25 Jul 2011 08:32 AM PDT Apple's most expensive MacBook Pro offers very similar specifications to the high-end 15-inch model. Both have a brand-new, second-generation 'Sandy Bridge' quad-core 2.2GHz Core i7 processor with integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000. Both bring us an AMD Radeon HD 6750M discrete graphics processor with 1GB of GDDR5 memory, a 750GB, 5400RPM SATA hard drive, 4GB of 1,333MHz RAM and an internal seven-hour battery. And both have a single FireWire 800 port as well as a Thunderbolt port, Intel's exciting new I/O technology offering up to 10Gbps transfer speeds in both directions. Apart from the screen sizes, the only significant differences between the two high-end off-the-shelf MacBook Pros is that this 17-inch model has three USB ports instead of two, and an ExpressCard / 34 slot instead of an SDXC card reader. The 17-inch MacBook Pro is aimed at people who need extreme performance as well as a larger screen. It's ideal for graphic designers who need all the screen space they can get and enough processing power to render complex images and artwork. Likewise, video editors need enough room to fine-tune their projects without losing sight of the big picture, and enough power to save them out in a reasonable time. The Mac isn't most people's choice of gaming machine, but this one is certainly powerful enough to handle current games, and people who need lots of windows open would welcome the extra screen space. Tech Labs Cinebench: Higher is better Doom 3: FPS: Higher is better iTunes encoding The days when notebooks played second fiddle to desktops are long behind us. Today's MacBooks – especially this new MacBook Pro – are powerful enough to use as a main computer, and ideal for those who want a desktop setup but with a Mac they can pick up and use on the move when necessary. But is picking it up and taking it away a problem? How portable can a notebook with a 17-inch screen actually be? This is where Apple's 17-inch MacBook Pro really shines. Its unibody aluminium construction lends it strength, but keeps it light. At 2.99kg, it's only 18% heavier than the 15-inch model, and only marginally more bulky. As long as your notebook bag is big enough to fit it, portability isn't a problem. It's good that the new 17-inch MacBook Pro enjoys parity with the better of the two 15-inch models brought to us by the early 2011 refresh. Before, it had the same specs as the middle of three 15-inch MacBook Pros, which seemed wrong. But now, Apple's new top-of-the range notebook is hard to beat. It's incredibly powerful, has an excellent screen and is beautifully portable for a 17-inch model.

Tutorial: How to install Mac memory Posted: 25 Jul 2011 08:30 AM PDT Unless you put the maximum RAM in your Mac when you bought it, chances are you can add more, which is what we're going to help you do. Remember, new memory is an affordable way to get your Mac running faster. Depending on what Mac you've got, you may need to take out the existing RAM to put more in, so bear this in mind when you're buying. If your MacBook Pro already has two 1GB chips (one in each slot) and you want to upgrade to 4GB, you can't simply buy an additional 2GB. Check System Profiler for what you've got now. The best place to get memory from is Crucial, which has a simple guide to ensure you buy the right RAM for your Mac. To prevent static charge damaging your equipment, ground yourself before you begin by touching something metal. Unplug all power sources before you open things up. Get an anti-static wristband from an electronics shop for peace of mind. When handling RAM, hold it by the edges and don't touch the gold connectors. And remember that components may be hot if the Mac's been running recently! How to upgrade the RAM in your MacBook (late 2009 model and later) 1. Open up your MacBook Undo the eight screws on the underside of your MacBook and lift off the back case – gently pull free the clips at either end. Two RAM chips are in the middle on the right-hand side one above the other; remove one or both. 2. Take the chips out Find the clips at either end of the existing RAM stick and press these outwards with your thumbs. The chip will pop up so that you can grip it at either end. Gently slide the chip away in the direction it's pointing. 3. Pop in the new memory Line up the connectors of the new RAM with the RAM slot – it'll only fit one way round. Gently push it in at the angle you removed the old one. Press the upper end down to clip it into place. Then put the case back on and reboot! How to put more RAM in a MacBook Pro (2009 model and later) 1. Open your MacBook Pro With the screwdriver, take out the screws from the back plate – they're not all the same length, so note where each came from. The two RAM slots are located fairly centrally, one above the other. 2. Out with the old… At either end of the existing RAM, press the clips outwards with your thumbs. It should pop up at a slight angle. Grip it at either end and slide it out in the direction it's pointing. If it doesn't come away, check the clips are undone. 3. …In with the new Get your new RAM and line the gold connectors up with the slot. Press it in at the same angle the old sticks came out at, then push the upper edge down to clip it in place. When you're done, screw the case back on. How to max out a Mac mini (Mid 2010 model and later) 1. Open up your Mac mini Lay your Mac mini upside down and twist the circular black disc anti-clockwise a short distance. When the white dot on the disc aligns with the outlined circle on the casing, lift the disc off and lay it somewhere to the side. 2. Remove what's there At either end of the existing RAM, you'll see little clips. Use your thumbs to press these outwards and gently pull the stick out. Align your new memory's gold connectors and notch with the slot – it'll only fit in one way round. 3. Clip in your new memory Slide it into the slot at the same angle you removed the old chips, and when it's seated, you'll be able to press the top edge downwards to clip it in. Repeat for the second slot if necessary. Pop the black disc back on. How to add memory to your iMac (any aluminium model) 1. Operate on your iMac Lay a towel on your table, then lay the machine on its front with the bottom facing towards you. Lift up the stand to get at the panel on the bottom that covers the RAM slots. Undo the screw and take the panel off. 2. Pull out the RAM On the chips you're going to replace, untuck the tongue and pull it towards you, being careful not to slide your Mac off the table. Take the old RAM and lay it to one side, then unwrap your new memory, ready to put in. 3. Insert the new chips RAM will only go in one way round – the gold connectors go in first, with the notch closer to the right-hand end of the chip. Press the memory into the slots and tuck the tongues back in. Then screw back the cover plate. Done! How to boost your Mac Pro (Early 2009 model and later) 1. Get inside your Mac Pro Hold the side of the Mac Pro case and lift the latch on the back. The side will flip down; then lift it away. Now find the two latches on the horizontal bar towards the bottom. Push the outer ends slightly. 2. Remove processor tray With the latches' inner ends loosened, pull them out to release the tray carrying the memory. Slide it out and lay it on a towel on a desk. There may be four or eight slots. Check the manual for the order in which to fill them. 3. Pop in the RAM Press apart the clips at either end of the empty slots. Align the RAM with an empty slot, with the notch at the correct end. Press it down so the clips snap into place. Then slide the tray back, push the latches in and replace the panel.

Photobox merges with Moonpig.com Posted: 25 Jul 2011 07:57 AM PDT Digital photo printing service Photobox has announced a merger with the personalised greetings cards manufacturer, Moonpig.com. The deal, which is reported to be worth £120m, will see senior management from both companies retain positions in the newly created group. More than 12 million personalised greetings cards are sold by Moonpig each year, and they have recently expanded to include mugs, t-shirts and bottles. Photobox provides a range of photo print products, including standard prints, photobooks, posters, photo mugs and other personalised gifts. The company already offers a range of greetings cards including Christmas, birthday and thankyou cards. Earlier in the year, Moonpig chairman Nick Jenkins denied the rumours that the company was about to be sold to Photobox, saying the media had "jumped the gun" with reports. Profits In 2010, Moonpig delivered 8.2 million cards, boosting their pre-tax profits from £6.7m to £11.2m. Speaking to the BBC, Nick Jenkins said the merger would allow the company to "take our core greeting card product to countries which would be difficult to access as a standalone business." On Photobox's Twitter feed earlier today, a company spokesperson commented that the merger would mean "we can use our collective experience and talent to continue to create easy to use and innovative products while better serving our customers." Related Stories Sony announces world's thinnest compact camera Sony Cybershot TX55 is 'world's thinnest compact camera' Review: Olympus PEN E-P3 Sony A77 DSLR pictures leaked online

Bose launches small but mighty Companion 20 computer speakers Posted: 25 Jul 2011 07:52 AM PDT Bose has unveiled a new set of computer speakers, dubbed the Bose Companion 20, which claim to offer natural sound throughout the room, without the need for a separate subwoofer. The Companion 20 set brings with it a new driver and an advanced port that reproduces music across the full frequency range, which should deliver than natural sound. With Bose's proprietary electronics and amplification, Bose reckons you'll enjoy the deep low notes and volume levels of larger systems from the speakers that are around as deep as an iPhone 4 is long. Like a Bose The speakers may be small, but Bose's computer speaker product manager Lino Pucci says that this "doesn't compromise the audio quality or power it delivers." Coming with Bose TrueSpace stereo digital signal processing, the Companion 20 speakers apparently offer a wide and spacious sound even though they're intended to sit either side of a laptop or PC screen. The speakers also come with a small, circular control pod for easy-access volume and mute control, as well as a headphone jack and an input for portable music devices and smartphones. Available to buy from today in silver, the Bose Companion 20 UK price is set at around £199.

id Software on the future of mobile gaming Posted: 25 Jul 2011 06:09 AM PDT John Carmack, one of the most innovative and tech-savvy games designers of our generation, thinks that mobile smartphone gaming is the future. Carmack has recently released the critically-acclaimed Rage for iPad and iPhone and iPod touch, a game that has caused many gamers and hardcore games developers to take a long, hard look at the potential of "proper" games on iOS devices. The overwhelmingly positive response to Carmack's first iOS game from QuakeCon last year clearly shows that there is a market for proper non-casual games amongst adult smartphone owners. Rage on mobile Jason Kim, producer on the forthcoming PC and console version of id's Rage – out this coming October – told CVG recently that Carmack knocked the iOS version of the game together in almost no time. "It's really been interesting to see our mobile development team work on that compartmentalised piece of Rage content," Kim told CVG. "It's another one of those great things working at id with John Carmack and those guys that are able to take some idea and turn it into a whole product that people can actually play and get in their hands. "John went away and literally in a couple of weeks, came back with an engine that works on the iPhone," he added "When he was walking around the office with it working on the iPhone, he would show it to people and their jaws were dropping like, 'Oh my God is that running on iPhone? Is that real time or is that a video?' "He was moving things around in real time and this is just him going off and making something that runs on a little mobile device. "That's him being able to analyse the hardware and understanding how to create rendering technology and maximises the opportunities within that piece of hardware and what he can program to make it work. More to be done Kim continued: "I think there's a lot more that could be done there but we don't have it all planned out, it's actually nice not to know how different things are going to be. Mobile devices are changing very quickly, some people are changing their phones every year. I think it depends on what really happens with these mobile devices, what happens on the Apple Store, how Android works and what kind of store front they have and how popular those apps become. "There are so many different ways that this could go and it's not totally clear to us but we put something out there and I think it's done really well for us. It's a foray into uncharted territory and it begins with John saying, 'I want to get a game working on that little device'.'" See the full interview with Rage producer Jason Kim over on CVG

Buying Guide: 10 best 42-inch HD TVs in the world today Posted: 25 Jul 2011 06:00 AM PDT Our constantly updated list of the top 10 best 40-inch, 42 and 46-inch plasma and LCD TVs in the world today. Once known simply as 'plasma screens' in the collective consciousness, the 42-inch size is where the flatscreen dream started in the late 1990s – and where it's still at its most innovative and best. Now a lot more varied, with plasmas rubbing shoulders with (and quickly being outnumbered by) LCD TVs and their ultra-modern LED TV makeover, 40-46 inches is still the sweetspot for anyone not overly concerned with ruining the interior design of their living room. As well as being the fastest growing sector of the TV market, this size is also great value. Serious home cinema addicts have moved on to 50-inch and bigger screens, leaving this category a swarm of slashed prices. That's truer than ever right now; the market is divided between brand new sets with built-in Freeview HD tuners, and those with standard digital tuners. Also read: 10 best sound bar systems for your HDTV Whether you need a Freeview HD tuner is a choice you'll have to make (and it depends on where you live), although we expect them to become a default feature very soon. Nevertheless, if you're considering buying a TV without a Freeview HD tuner, demand a discount! Arguably the minimum size where Full HD makes most sense and where a Blu-ray player is a must, the 42-inch size hasn't lost its allure, despite becoming affordable. Samsung UE46D7000 Authentic second-gen 3D TV with advanced online capability Is this the poster boy for a new generation of TVs? There's nothing about this 46-inch set that isn't cutting edge and, as such, Samsung sets the bar dizzyingly high for other brands. The Samsung UE46D7000's design is stunning, thanks to a skinny, mostly transparent bezel that is as 'invisible' as any we've seen. There's also a radically advanced new online portal of apps that even cover 3D downloads, which joins with a terrific new content management menu system to deliver one of the UK's first genuinely 'smart' TVs. In design, connectivity and features this TV won't be beaten in 2011. And, although 3D isn't perfect, this is an otherwise stellar package. Read: full Samsung UE46D7000 review Panasonic TX-L42E30B Not bothered by 3D? Panasonic's 42-inch LED TV is a 2D legend Panasonic might reign unchallenged as the King of plasma, but the LED-powered TX-L42E30B proves that its commitment to LCD is no less fierce. This sub-£600 set is a strictly 2D effort, is sleeker and slicker than in previous years, offers a quality, high-definition picture that retains the cinematic, naturalistic tone of the brand's plasma panels and adds an above-average audio performance. Usability is first-rate, too. The set's additional features – including the Viera Connect portal – broaden its appeal, and USB recording means you may decide you can throw away your clunky PVR once and for all. Good-looking, well connected and a top performer, it's definitely worth auditioning. Read: full Panasonic TX-L42E30B review Panasonic TX-P42ST30B Ugly yet affordable 3D plasma TV delivering impressive pictures The Infinite Black Pro-toting TX-P42ST30B is one of 2011's most affordable active 3D plasma screens. It has been shorn of one or two fancy features that Panasonic reckons the mass market won't feel deprived of, but is still crammed with the latest plasma technology, including faster-switching phosphors, reduced power consumption and a new screen filter. The set's overall image performance with 2D and 3D sources is highly impressive, as is the lack of artefacts with the frame insertion anti-blur tech and the virtual absence of 3D crosstalk. Add a dramatically improved Viera Connect service and we've got a rollickingly good visual experience. Read: full Panasonic TX-P42ST30B review LG 42LW550T Excellent value passive 3D TV with useful multimedia options Is passive 3D the answer? With a stunning seven pairs of lighter, far cheaper glasses shipping with this 42-inch LED TV, it just might be. After some hit-and-miss passive 3D TVs from LG thus far, the 42LW550T turns things around with a barnstorming performance. Using FPR (Film Patterned Retarder) 3D technology, this set offers relatively relaxing passive 3D pictures, absolutely no 3D flicker and all-round bright and punchy images for under £800. We love its fabulous Smart TV online content platform, too, although this is first and foremost a user-friendly and comfortable way into 3D that helps makes the new technology an affordable and much more social event. Read: full LG 42LW550T review Panasonic TX-P42GT30B Freesat HD and Freeview HD star on this 3D-ready 42-inch plasma More affordable than the brand's headline VT30 models, this GT30 Series plasma set shares much of the same technology, oozing enticing functionality. With both Freeview HD and Freesat HD, this Full HD plasma TV also manages clean 3D that suffers from no crosstalk whatsoever, stunning 2D pictures imbued with profound black levels and some nifty networking. Even file compatibility is generous; there's network streaming support for AVC HD, AVIs and MKV-wrapped content, as well as MP3, AAC and WMA music files. If you're looking for a 'smart' 3D TV with superior performance, this is definitely one to shortlist. Read: full Panasonic TX-P42GT30B review Panasonic TX-P42VT30B Sophisticated 3D plasma TV with superb pictures and multimedia skills The 42-inch plasma TV improves on Panasonic's exceptional GT30 Series by adding an extra filter to the screen structure to improve black reproduction. It also ships with two pairs of active shutter 3D glasses, plus a USB dongle for Wi-Fi. It's got beefier sound that its sibling, while the set's 3D performance is vastly entertaining, thanks to the near-elimination of crosstalk noise. This leaves us free to appreciate the excellent clarity and detail of full HD 3D Blu-rays – with much more brightness, shadow detail and colour richness than we witnessed in Panasonic's 2010 3D plasmas. A real step forward. Read: full Panasonic TX-P42VT30B review LG 42PW450T Bargain 42-inch HD-ready plasma that scores well with Blu-ray This 42-inch plasma TV is actually 3D-ready, surprisingly using active shutter technology rather than the cheaper, flicker-free – but less detailed – passive 3D system on most of LG's 3D TVs. Still, that's not why we like it. From the nicely sculpted handset to the polished onscreen menu system, this is a lovely TV to operate. It also boasts an attractive, cutting-edge frame that belies the screen's price and plasma-based platform. The sound quality is superb and, despite minor issues with resolution and clarity, the LG 42PW450T is no mug when it comes to serving up highly engaging HD images, especially Blu-ray pictures. Forget its sometimes disappointing 3D pictures and revel in its 2D performance par excellence. Read: full LG 42PW450T review Samsung UE40D6350 Samsung brings elegance and 2D excellence to the LED mainstream A high-performance 3D LED TV with a come-hither price tag, Samsung's latest is clearly a step-up screen for budget-watchers who want a designer telly with smart TV capability. Complete with active shutter 3D compatibility (although there are no 3D glasses in the box), the screen sports smooth, detail-rich 2D HD images, excellent motion resolution, Samsung's content-rich Smart Hub apps and Video on Demand portal, media playback support from USB, and even Wi-Fi. 3D suffers from some crosstalk, but at under £800 this great-looking and well-equipped Smart TV – which is an excellent performer with 2D HD – is hard to resist. Read: full Samsung UE40D6350 review Sony KDL-40EX524 Is a decent online hub this year's hot TV ticket? If so, Sony is smokin' Freeview HD will tempt some, but this 40-inch Edge LED TV's ace is Bravia Internet Video, Sony's online hub. It's evolved into an altogether different animal versus offerings from Samsung or LG, and is all about streaming video and audio from sources such as BBC iPlayer, YouTube and Sony's own Qriocity service. It works a treat, too, thanks to an all-new user interface. Yes, the set suffers from less-than-perfect motion picture resolution, and for some reason doesn't like MKV files (virtually all others play via a network and USB), but it's versatile with both HD and SD – and a great value addition to any living room. Read: full Sony KDL-40EX524 review Samsung UE40D7000 With a slender bezel and 3D compatibility, this Edge LED TV is a set to stun A mighty stylish TV, this Samsung D7000 Series screen sports a bezel that's so slender (barely a centimetre wide) that it's hardly there at all. It upscales SD material with real aplomb – adding detail and sharpness, while simultaneously suppressing noise without compromising colour tones. HD footage, meanwhile, enjoys immense sharpness and clarity, underlined by one of the most expansive contrast performances we've seen from a 40-inch LCD TV. From 3D there's little crosstalk during dark scenes – a huge improvement on 2010's efforts – and the UE40D7000 suffers less from dramatic brightness reductions in 3D mode than most active shutter televisions. Read: full Samsung UE40D7000 review

Currys gets Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 head start Posted: 25 Jul 2011 05:34 AM PDT Currys and PC World will be selling the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android tablet a day before anyone else, launching the slate at the Tottenham Court Road branch on 3 August. Londoners who simply cannot wait the extra sixteen hours to get their hands on the slim iPad 2 contender, should head down to the flagship store at 5pm on 3 August, when the tablet will go on sale for the first time in the UK. Other Currys and PC World stores, as well as non DGI-group owned retailers, will be selling the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 on its official UK release date of 4 August. Long time coming It's been a bit of a wait for the Samsung Galaxy Tab follow-up, given that Samsung decided to hold it back and slim it down after the release of the slinky iPad 2. Vodafone originally had the exclusive on the chunkier slate, dubbed the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1V, but that's now been axed and the Weight Watchers' edition will go on general release when it launches. The Honeycomb-running tablet comes with a front-facing camera, a 1GHz dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and full Flash capability; we branded it the best Android tablet yet in our 4.5 star review. With the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 UK price starting at just £399 (the same price as the lowest-spec iPad 2), it's expected to make tablet waves when it lands in August. Related Stories Tablet sales up 300% year on year

Review: Olympus ZUIKO DIGITAL 14-54mm F2.8-3.5 II Posted: 25 Jul 2011 05:29 AM PDT Designed specifically for the Four Thirds SLR system, the Olympus 14-54mm has a useful effective zoom range of 28-108mm. Better still, as one of the 'pro' level lenses in the Zuiko Digital line-up, build quality feels consummately sturdy, and the lens features dust and moisture seals, including a rubber o-ring incorporated into the metal mounting plate. It's similar to the arrangement that Canon uses on most of its L-series (Luxury) lenses. The Olympus isn't quite a constant-aperture lens, but the maximum aperture is a fast f/2.8 at the wide-angle end of the zoom range. This shrinks by only two thirds of a stop at the telephoto end. It makes it a good choice for low-light shooting or for when you want to minimise depth of field. Performance Olympus is well-known for its great lenses, but testing this one on a new E-5 body was a disappointment. Colour fringing was very noticeable and sharpness and contrast were poor throughout the entire zoom range, but vignetting and distortion were well contained. Autofocus proved fairly quick and quiet, and a full-time manual override option is available via the camera's menu system. The electronically linked focus ring is wonderfully precise, and an absolute joy to use. Even so, given the lens's below-average optical performance in our lab tests, we don't feel it does enough to justify its expensive price tag. Tech Focus… Lenses with pro aspirations need to be able to cope with inclement weather. This Olympus has a rubber sealing ring incorporated into the mounting plate to guard against the ingress of dust and moisture. Related Stories Review: Tokina AT-X 16-28mm F2.8 PRO FX Review: Nikon AF-S DX 16-85mm F/3.5-5.6 G ED VR Review: Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Review: Sigma 18-50mm EX DC OS HSM

Review: Nikon AF-S DX 16-85mm F/3.5-5.6 G ED VR Posted: 25 Jul 2011 05:28 AM PDT With an effective zoom range of 24-127.5mm on Nikon APS-C cameras, this lens is generous at both the wide-angle and telephoto ends of the scale. Despite this, it's surprisingly compact and sturdily built. Extras include a petal-shaped lens hood and soft pouch. Similarities between the Nikon and Canon lenses include fast, near-silent autofocus, but in our tests, the Canon was a little speedier and marginally quieter. Both lenses give the luxury of full-time manual override. Optical stabilisation is provided by Nikon's new-generation Vibration Reduction II, which proved true to its four-stop claim in our tests. Another neat touch is that the dual-mode VR has Normal and Active options Performance Nikon makes one of the best superzoom lenses on the market – the Nikon AF-S DX VR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED – so the 16-85mm has its work cut out to match it, given that it's only about £100 cheaper. Sure enough, there are none of the nasty, moustache-shaped distortions for which the 18-200mm is notorious, although the 16-85mm still has some barrel distortion at the wide-angle end. Unlike the bigger 18-200mm, there's no zoom creep so tripod-mounted use is much easier. We've seen razor-sharp images from several samples of this lens, but the review sample for this test was underwhelming. However, chromatic aberration was almost non-existent. Tech Focus… For shooting from an idling car, or if you're feeling adventurous, a helicopter, the VR II system's Active mode works a treat, delivering sharp handheld shots time after time. Related Stories Review: Tokina AT-X 16-28mm F2.8 PRO FX Review: Olympus ZUIKO DIGITAL 14-54mm F2.8-3.5 II Review: Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Review: Sigma 18-50mm EX DC OS HSM

Review: Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Posted: 25 Jul 2011 05:27 AM PDT The first step up Canon's ladder of standard zoom lenses, at least from the kit lens supplied with the 550D and 600D, is the EF-S 17-85mm. It's better built, with a much sturdier feel than the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS kit lens for those cameras. Improvements include a metal (rather than plastic) mounting plate for fixing the lens to the camera, a focus distance scale that's tidily positioned beneath a viewing window, ring-type USM autofocus and a non-rotating front element. On top of that, the more generous zoom equates to an effective 27-136mm instead of a mere 29-88mm. Despite its impressive credentials, the EF-S 17-85mm was originally Canon's official kit lens supplied with the EOS 50D, and it's starting to show its age compared to the newer lenses. For example, its older-generation Image Stabilizer only delivers a three-stop advantage, whereas the latest edition featured on the humble 18-55mm IS provides a four-stop benefit. Performance There isn't a major increase in image quality compared with Canon's relatively cheap EF-S 18-55mm IS lens, and we only noticed a marginal gain in sharpness. When it comes to chromatic aberration, this lens is actually inferior to the cheaper lens. The EF-S 17-85mm produces awful colour fringing especially at the wide-angle end of the zoom range. It's also the only lens in the group that doesn't come with a lens hood. Tech focus… Unlike Canon's basic version of USM autofocus, 'ring-type' USM enables full-time manual focus override, ideal for tweaking focus in One Shot AF, without the need to switch between AF/ MF on the lens. Related Stories Review: Tokina AT-X 16-28mm F2.8 PRO FX Review: Olympus ZUIKO DIGITAL 14-54mm F2.8-3.5 II Review: Nikon AF-S DX 16-85mm F/3.5-5.6 G ED VR Review: Sigma 18-50mm EX DC OS HSM

Review: Sigma 18-50mm EX DC OS HSM Posted: 25 Jul 2011 05:25 AM PDT It's not often that an independently manufactured lens costs more than some camera manufacturers' own-brand rivals, but this Sigma is a bit special. Unlike the Canon and Nikon lenses on test, the Sigma 17-50mm boasts a fast, constant aperture of f/2.8 that remains fixed throughout the zoom range. That's quite an achievement for a lens that also includes optical image stabilisation. Other finery includes two of Sigma's FLD glass elements, which the company claims provides the very best low-dispersion performance to reduce chromatic aberration while enabling maximum light transmission. Performance The HSM (HyperSonic Motor) autofocus system fitted to this lens isn't Sigma's best, because there's no full-time manual override. Unlike many Sigma HSM lenses, the focus ring rotates during autofocus, so you have to be careful not to foul the action of the focus ring in handheld shooting. A drawback of many fast lenses is that images lack a little sharpness and contrast when shooting at the maximum aperture, but the Sigma proved amazingly crisp at f/2.8 throughout. Distortion is well controlled, and while there's a little colour fringing, it's only really noticeable around very high-contrast edges. There's also a distinct lack of vignetting, with excellent peripheral illumination in the corners of even wide-angle images. Tech Focus… The optical stabiliser works well with most Pentax and Sony bodies, but you need to turn off the camera's own sensor-shift stabiliser to avoid the two systems conflicting with each other. Related Stories Review: Tokina AT-X 16-28mm F2.8 PRO FX Review: Olympus ZUIKO DIGITAL 14-54mm F2.8-3.5 II Review: Nikon AF-S DX 16-85mm F/3.5-5.6 G ED VR Review: Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

Review: Tokina AT-X 16-28mm F2.8 PRO FX Posted: 25 Jul 2011 05:23 AM PDT Much bigger than most lenses in the group, and at more than twice the weight of some, the Tokina is a chunky lens. That's because while all the other lenses in the group are designed solely for use on cameras with APS-C or Four Thirds sensors, the Tokina is fully compatible with full-frame cameras. Essentially, it's designed as a full-frame ultra-wide-angle zoom, so why would you want it on your APS-C camera? Image quality should be excellent, because you're only using the central region of the image circle produced by the lens. And if you're thinking of upgrading to a full-frame camera in the future, the lens will still be useful. Downsides include no image stabilisation, which is usual for ultra-wide lenses, and there's also no filter thread for attaching filters. Performance Autofocus is based on Tokina's new 'silent' DC motor, which proved fast, quiet and accurate, but not as quiet as the USM, AF-S and HSM competition. There's no full-time manual override, but the lens does feature Tokina's trademark push-pull focus ring for easily switching between autofocus and manual focus. Despite being a full-frame lens, we found a drop-off in sharpness between the centre and edges of APS-C format images. Even centre sharpness wasn't very impressive, especially at the maximum aperture of f/2.8. As expected, vignetting was less pronounced when used on an APS-C camera, but it was still noticeable. Tech Focus… Most ultra-wide lenses have a filter thread for attaching filters, or at least a gel filter holder at the rear of the lens. The Tokina has neither, making the use of filters tricky. Related Stories Review: Olympus ZUIKO DIGITAL 14-54mm F2.8-3.5 II Review: Nikon AF-S DX 16-85mm F/3.5-5.6 G ED VR Review: Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Review: Sigma 18-50mm EX DC OS HSM

Microsoft Director bets $1,000 on Windows Phone success Posted: 25 Jul 2011 05:22 AM PDT Brandon Watson, the Senior Director of development at Microsoft, has wagered $1,000 with comic book author Scott Adams that he will favour the new Microsoft Windows Phones running the Mango update over the iPhone and or an Android offering. Watson left a comment on the Dilbert author's blog after noting the developers frustration with his current device, saying, "I'll send you a developer phone with the new Mango OS on it. Give it an honest run, and if you don't love it more than either of your iPhone or Android experiences, I'll make a $1000 donation to the charity of your choice," he said, touting it as a win-win bet. Mango Mango He also offered the same proposition to CNET reporter Molly Wood over Twitter after she complained about her experience of using a Motorola Droid X Android handset. Watson is obviously confident about the Windows Phone platform, having also given out his office phone number to developers on Twitter to get feedback straight from the horses' mouths, so to speak. Windows Phone 7 Mango OS will feature voice-searching, interactive Live Tiles and social media integration and is thought to be heading to handsets around September of this year. Related Stories BlackBerry Bold 9790 gets video debut Apple named top UK smartphone brand LG's smartphone line-up 2011 leaked

Sony A77 DSLR pictures leaked online Posted: 25 Jul 2011 05:07 AM PDT A new set of images of the highly anticipated Sony Alpha 77 have been posted online. The images, which appear on the Sony Alpha Rumors blog, show the front and back of the new camera, which includes what appears to be an articulated screen. A battery grip for the camera can also be seen in the pictures. Although the pictures don't show the a77 branding on the camera, the piece claims that a 'trusted source' has confirmed that the images are genuine. Earlier in the year, Sony's Japanese website hinted at the launch of a Sony A700 replacement in 'mid-year'. It's thought that the Japanese earthquake and tsunami may have pushed back production plans. Anticipated features of the Sony A77 include an APS-C format sensor and an ISO range from 100 to 102,400. The Sony a77 is also rumoured to use a new double Bionz processor, boast a 3-million-dot OLED EVF and shoot more than 10fps with 11 cross AF points. It was also reported earlier in the year that all future Sony Alpha cameras would feature translucent mirror technology, meaning that the a77 will have an electronic, rather than optical, viewfinder. The Sony Alpha a77 is expected by many to be officially unveiled next month - stay tuned to TechRadar to see if that happens. Image via SonyAlphaRumors. Related Stories Sony announces world's thinnest compact camera Sony Cybershot TX55 is 'world's thinnest compact camera' Review: Olympus PEN E-P3 Photobox merges with Moonpig.com

Apple named top UK smartphone brand Posted: 25 Jul 2011 04:53 AM PDT The battle over which brand has the biggest smartphone share in the UK is causing controversy, with RIM disputing the recent naming of Apple as the top manufacturer. Comscore has released new figures that show Apple has nipped past Symbian to become the UK's biggest smartphone provider with nearly 5.5 million registered users. Android is a close second, but while Apple has risen 46 per cent in the last year (still an impressive number given the already strong iPhone penetration) Google's Android has gone from far less than one million users to 5.4 million, showing a staggering 634 per cent increase year on year. No, WE'RE the biggest However, this seems to have angered RIM, which is still sticking to its Gfk-based numbers that show it has nearly double the amount of BlackBerry subscribers that Comscore is showing: "ComScore estimated that RIM had 3.591 million BlackBerry subscribers in the UK at the end of May 2011 when in fact RIM's UK subscriber base at the end of May 2011 stood at just under 7 million subscribers," said a spokesperson. "RIM is committed to providing its customers with the very best BlackBerry experience and is proud to be the UK's #1 smartphone brand. RIM has experienced strong international growth, with 67% of revenue in Q1 FY12 derived from international markets." Related Stories BlackBerry Bold 9790 gets video debut Microsoft Director bets $1,000 on Windows Phone success LG's smartphone line-up 2011 leaked

Review: Olympus PEN E-P3 Posted: 25 Jul 2011 04:49 AM PDT Although from the outset Olympus's PEN series of compact system cameras had its fans, it also had its fair share of detractors. The E-P1 (launched in June 2009) for example, had no built-in flash or viewfinder, a dated and somewhat confused menu and a sluggish AF system. Subsequent cameras went someway to deal with these points, but to the casual observer the models had little to distinguish themselves from each other. With its recent announcement of the PEN E-P3, E-PL3 (L standing for Lite) and the E-PM1 (M for Mini), however, Olympus has attempted to deal with this identity crisis as well as make a few other improvements. While sharing the same basic specs, the three new models are designed to appeal to different users. The PEN E-P3 sits at the top of the range and caters for advanced users, the E-PL3 is in the middle for those perhaps looking to upgrade from a high-end compact model, while the E-PM1 (Mini) is for photographers who want a very a compact camera that accepts interchangeable lenses. The Olympus PEN E-P3, aka The PEN or P3, will be on sale at the end of August, but the Lite and Mini variants will be following in late early autumn. Features Like the PEN Lite and Mini cameras, the Olympus P3 has a Four Thirds type 17.3 x 13.0mm Live MOS (CMOS) sensor with 12.3 million effective pixels. Olympus has a working agreement with Panasonic and the sensor in the new PEN camera hails from Panasonic's factories – it is believed to be the same sensor as in the Panasonic GF3. As a compact system camera, the P3 has no reflex mirror, so it employs a contrast detection auto focus (AF) system that uses information from the imaging sensor. The Live MOS device inside the P3 has a fast read-out speed of 120fps, which helps to speed-up the AF. Olympus claims that the TruePic VI processing engine in the new PEN cameras is faster than Panasonic's Venus Engine VI FHD device, so it can get more speed out of the AF system. Consequently, Olympus believes that the P3 has the world's fastest AF when used with its MSC (Movie Stills Compatible) optics. Being a Micro Four Thirds model, the P3 can accept lenses with the Micro Four Thirds mount from Olympus and Panasonic. In another upgrade to the PEN AF system, the P3 has 35 AF points, which cover all but the outer edges of the imaging frame. Helpfully, Olympus has also added an AF assist light to improve focusing in low light conditions. In addition to the usual single and continuous AF options, the P3 has a Tracking Continuous AF mode (like Panasonic's) that allows the user to specify the subject for focus and then leave the camera to keep it sharp as it moves around the scene. Olympus clearly has faith in it TruePic VI processing engine's ability to control noise as the P3 has a sensitivity range that runs from ISO 200 to ISO 12,800, with ISO 3200 and above being listed as extension values. Touchscreen Touchscreens can be divided into two types, resistive and capacitive. Resistive screens have two electrically conductive layers that are separated by a narrow gap. When a finger or stylus presses these two layers together, the touch is detected and the device responds accordingly. Panasonic uses resistive touchscreens in its cameras. Capacitive screens have an electrically conductive surface coating and touching this with human skin, which is also conductive, changes the capacitance and triggers a response. Apple uses a capacitive screen in its iPhones. Devices with capacitive screens cannot be controlled by non-conductive styluses etc, but they tend to be more responsive to finger-touch than resistive screens as they require only a touch rather than a press. In a first for the Olympus PEN system, the P3 has a touchscreen. This is a 3in 610,000dot OLED device and unlike other cameras that have a resistive screen, the P3's is capacitive like the screen on an iPhone. Though it may seem unnecessary to some, when well implemented a touchscreen can really improve a camera's handling by allowing quicker access to features and more intuitive control. The E-P3 features touch AF, which instructs the camera to focus on the point in the scene chosen by a touch of a finger, and, like the Panasonic G3 and GF3, it also has a touch shutter. This sets the camera to focus and fire the shutter with a touch of a finger on the screen. Helpfully, Olympus has given the P3's screen an Anti-Fingerprint Coating that should reduce the amount of smudging on its surface. Although it doesn't have a viewfinder built-in, the P3 has an accessory port (see below) to accept Olympus's optional external electronic viewfinder (EVF). The Viewfinder slots into the P3's hotshoe, which means it can't be used with an external flashgun, but the P3 also has a flash unit built-in. Another welcome inclusion with the P3 is a two-axis electronic level, which is useful when it's essential to keep the horizon level and it operates when the camera is upright or in landscape format. While the P3 has lots to offer enthusiast photographers, there are lots of automated modes that help out less experienced photographers. Olympus's Live Guide, for example is on hand and works with the touchscreen. The popular Art Filters are also available and can be used completely automatically or in any of the advanced shooting modes. Video can also be recorded in AVCHD or Motion JPEG format. Like Olympus's earlier PEN cameras the P3 feels sturdily built, with its metal construction giving it a sense of durability. In its standard configuration the P3 has a shallow plastic grip on the front that provides just enough purchase for carrying it between shots, but the supplied shoulder strap is a more secure option. Those who prefer a sleeker look can remove the grip, using a coin to loosen the screw. Anyone who wants a deeper fingerhold can invest in the optional deeper grip, though at £69.99 it isn't cheap for a piece of moulded plastic. This flexibility is a great idea, but we noticed the anodised screw lost a little of its black finish after being loosened and tightened a few times. ABOVE: The Olympus PEN E-P2 ABOVE: Olympus's new PEN E-P3 The design of the new PEN E-P3 is very similar to that of the E-P2 and E-P1 with a few notable distinctions - including the pop-up flash. Firstly, the mode dial, which is rotated by the thumb of your left hand on the E-P2, has been moved to the right-hand side of the E-P3's top plate to make room for the pop-up flash - as on the PEN E-PL2. Meanwhile, the rear of the P3 is melding of the P2 and E-PL2, with a long control dial built into the thumbrest. The video activation button is to the left of the thumbrest (and small speaker), putting it within easy reach. ABOVE: Olympus's new PEN E-P3 ABOVE: The Olympus PEN E-P2 There has been a little further rejigging of the buttons on the back of the E-P3 since the E-P2. The auto exposure and auto focus lock (AEL/AFL) button has gone and the Menu, Info and Function buttons have been switched around. It doesn't take users too long to get used to it, but it will make a slight difference to existing users. There are two customisable function (Fn 1 and Fn2) buttons, which can be set to access two of the most commonly required features, including AEL/AFL. Oddly, the two lists of available features are very similar but not identical. Olympus has given its menu system a much-needed refresh for the P3. It looks much more modern and is easier to navigate, though advanced users still have to activate the Custom menu via the Set-up menu. Once the camera is set-up to the user's preferences, however, there is very little reason to visit the menu as the majority of camera settings can be accessed by pressing the OK button and scrolling though the onscreen list. The P3's touchscreen is also responsive and easy to use. We particularly like that the screen's touch-sensitive function can be controlled by touching an icon, which remains active even when the touch feature is deactivated. It's surprising that menu and settings selections can't be made using the touchscreen though. Ease of use Although most users will find that they can use the P3 straightaway without any reference to the manual, there are a few hidden features that take time to discover. The Highlight and Shadow tone adjustment control, for instance, is found by accessing the exposure compensation facility and then pressing the Info button. Once this is done the user can select whether to brighten or darken the shadows and/or highlights by up to 7 steps. Rather than physical filters the Art Filter are processing modes that set the camera to produces images with a particular appearance. They demand a lot of processing power so using them can make the LCD image can become jerky. In summary, the P3 has the best handling of any digital Olympus PEN to date, the buttons and controls are sensibly arranged, the OLED screen provides a clear view even in quite bright light and the menu has a successful makeover. As usual, there are plenty of opportunities to customise the controls and it is well worth experimenting with the various options. At the lower sensitivity settings the P3 is capable of resolving an impressive level of detail, on a par with some SLRS that have larger (APS-C sized) sensors. Noise also appears to be pretty well controlled in JPEGs taken at ISO 3200. Luminance noise is visible, but not objectionable and could even be described as the type of grain that you might occasionally want to add to enhance the atmosphere of a shot. Push the sensitivity to ISO 6400, however, and noise (and the camera's attempts to remove it) becomes more troublesome. Even when sized to make relatively small prints, these images taken with the Noise Reduction set to standard look soft and lack details. At 100% on-screen, there's a fair amount of blurring of detail and some image elements lack any definition. We would avoid using sensitivity settings of ISO 6400 or higher. To be fair to Olympus, every setting from ISO 3200 upwards is outside of the native range. At the time of writing Olympus had still not made its raw conversion software for the P3 available and it will be interesting to compare the JPEG results with the simultaneously captured raw files. Colour Our images reveal that the E-P3 generally handles colours well and photographs look natural, but have punch straight from the camera. The general purpose ESP metering system also takes most situations in its stride and the P3's wide dynamic range means that bright areas don't burn out unexpectedly. The tone adjustment facility proves useful in very high contras scenes, although not surprisingly, applying the maximum level of shadow brightening and highlight darkening results in flat images that have the typical HDR (high dynamic range) appearance. Auto focus Olympus's improved AF system is very fast in good light, but when light levels fall it goes the same way as most other contrast detection systems and becomes slower and hesitant. The tracking AF system can also only cope with relatively slow moving subjects and it isn't a viable option for sports photographers. Dynamic range Although the P3's tonal adjustment feature proves useful in high contrast situations, the P3 has an impressively wide dynamic range, especially for a Four Thirds camera. Highlights don't burn out too quickly and shadows don't block-up earlier than they should so that images have a full range of tones with subtle gradations. As part of our image quality tests, we shot our resolution chart using the P3 with the with the Olympus M. Zuiko 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II lens mounted. If you view our crops of the resolution chart's central section at 100% (or Actual Pixels) you will see that, for example, at ISO 200 the Olympus P3 is capable of resolving up to 24 (line widths per picture height x100) in its highest quality JPEG files. Examining images of the chart taken at each sensitivity setting reveals the following resolution scores in line widths per picture height x100: ISO 200, score: 24 (see full image) ISO 400, score: 24 (see full image) ISO 800, score: 24 (see full image) ISO 1600, score: 20 (see full image) ISO 3200, score: 16 (see full image) ISO 6400, score: 12 (see full image) ISO 12,800, score: 14 (see full image) We shoot a specially designed chart in carefully controlled conditions and the resulting images are analysed using the DXO software. Signal to noise ratio A high signal to noise ratio (SNR) indicates a cleaner and better quality image. At ISO 200 JPEGs from the P3 have a lower signal to noise ratio than the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Samsung NX11 and Sony NEX-5. However, our resolution tests indicate that the P3's images contain more detail than the G3's indicating that the camera's processing is calibrated to preserve data at the expense of revealing noise. Like the other cameras, the P3's signal to noise ratio drops steadily as sensitivity increases and at the highest values images lack definition. Dynamic range Generally, a higher dynamic range is better than a low as a greater number of tones can be recorded in a single exposure. Despite its Four Third sensor, the P3's JPEGs have very respectable dynamic range, generally trumping the Panasonic G3's, but not quite matching the Sony NEX-5's. Dramatic Tone Art filter with frame applied At f/5.6 the background is nicely blurred here Colours are bright and punchy straight from the camera Shot at f/4 to limit depth of field. Taken with the new M. Zuiko 12mm f/2.0 lens and manually focussed on the eyelashes The ESP system puts in a good performance and colours look natural, yet vibrant The transition from light to dark along the cobbles has been well handled here The automatic white balance system hasn't been fooled by the warm tones of this bloom, or the mixed lighting Compare with the image below The shadow and highlight adjustment feature has been pushed to maximum to darken the highlights and brighten the shadows to produce this HDR-like image Taken with the same tonal adjustment options as the image above, to produce another low-contrast HDR image The Grainy Film Art Filter in action Pin hole and Crossed Processed Art Filters combined In reasonable light using ISO 3200 produces a pleasant level of farily uniform noise When light levels fall, JPEG images taken at ISO 6400 have slightly oversharpened edges and lack fine detail. There's also some mottling of red, green and blue ISO 6400 Taken with the Pinhole art filter The art filters can now be applied in Aperture Priority and Shutter priority modes - allowing for more creativity. Cross process mode Black and white grain mode with frame applied Pinhole with grain applied Pop art with frame applied The super-quick autofocus allows for ultra quick focusing speeds Sensor Four Thirds type 17.3 x 13.0mm Live MOS sensor with 12.3 million effective pixels Focal length conversion 2x Memory SD/SDHC/SDXC Viewfinder Optional EVF Video AVCHD / AVI Motion JPEG AVCHD: 1920x1080 60i & 20Mbps, 1920x1080 60i, 17Mbps, 1280 x 720 60p & 17Mbps, 1280x720 60p & 13Mbps AVI Motion JPEG: 1280x720 30fps, 640 x 480 / 30fps ISO range ISO 200-12,800 Autofocus points 35 Max burst rate 3fps LCD screen 3in 610,000 dot OLED touchscreen Shutter speeds 1/4000-60sec plus bulb to 30 min Weight 321 g (without battery and card) Dimensions 122.0 x 69.1 x 34.3 mm (without protrusions) Power supply PS-BLS1 Li-ion battery supplied There is plenty to like about the Olympus PEN E-P3. Although at 12.3 million, the effective pixel count isn't the highest, the rest of the specification is impressive with all the current must have features, including sensor-shifting image stabilization, sensor cleaning, manual exposure control, automated shooting, Art Filters and Full HD video recording. The P3 is also well made and comfortable to hold with sensibly arranged controls and lots of opportunity to customize it to the user's preferences. All this means that while inexperienced users should be able to pick up the camera and start shooting straight away, enthusiasts have all the control they want and can set-up it up to suit their style. We liked The extensive range of control and the excellent quality output at low sensitivity. Although it is an expensive extra, keeping the electronic viewfinder (EVF) as an optional extra means that the camera is smaller and lighter than it would be with a viewfinder built-in. We disliked High sensitivity images lack detail and can only be used at a small size. The tone adjustment feature is rather hidden, but very effective. Verdict This is the first time that Olympus has used a touchscreen in a compact system camera and on the whole it has been well implemented, but it would be nice to be able to choose to make settings adjustments (other than the Live Guide options) using it. At around £200, the optional electronic viewfinder for the P3 isn't cheap, but by not including one in the camera body, Olympus has been able to keep the price of the P3 down and maintain its rectangular, compact camera-like form. It also means that when the new improved EVF that we have been promised comes along next year, users will be able to upgrade to a better unit rather than have to go to the expense of buying a completely new camera. Those who don't want a viewfinder, will find that the P3's OLED screen provides a very clear view in many situations. Provided the sensitivity is kept below ISO 3200, the P3 produces superb images, that are well exposed, have lots of sharp detail and pleasant colours. Related Stories Sony announces world's thinnest compact camera Sony Cybershot TX55 is 'world's thinnest compact camera' Sony A77 DSLR pictures leaked online Photobox merges with Moonpig.com

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