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- Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar
- HTC looks to the cloud with Dashwire acquisition
- Harry Potter ebook site hit by scammers
- Flickr reaches 6 billion photo uploads
- New camera kit releases expected at Bird Fair
- Apple to merge iOS and Mac OS in 2012?
- Pentax sale to Ricoh: update
- BlackBerry QNX superphones 'delayed' until late 2012?
- US price drop hints at next-gen Kindle launch
- Review: Gossen Digisky Meter
- Review: HTC Evo 3D
- Google funding Bletchley Park restoration
- OpenFeint prioritises Android gaming over iOS
- Motorola XT531 Fire announced for Europe
- Explained: 3D TV: your questions answered
- HTC hits record sales in July
- Sony: slow 3D uptake 'not a concern'
- Ricoh announces Leica M-mount unit for GXR
- Review: Asus RoG Crosshair V Formula
- Nokia N9 countdown literally begins
- Review: IcyDock MB982SPR-2S
- Review: In Depth: Epson Stylus Photo R3000
- Gary Marshall: Happy 20th birthday, World Wide Web
- Review: Logitech Driving Force GT
- Week in Tech: Is Google being two-faced over patents?
| Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar Posted: 06 Aug 2011 01:00 AM PDT The summer period is traditionally a quiet time for tech. All the big hitters are preparing their big launches for the end of the year to hopefully pull in lots of Christmas sales. However, that doesn't mean there aren't still boat loads of awesome products flowing in and out of the TechRadar testing labs. This week we've been testing cameras, lots of laptops, motherboards and all sorts of lovely items. Read on for this week's hottest reviews on TechRadar. Canon PowerShot SX30 IS review Canon's PowerShot SX30 IS bridge camera is capable of producing some excellent images, but it's best to keep to the lower sensitivity settings if you want to make A3-size prints. It's a shame that images cannot be recorded as raw files to allow experienced photographers more control over the noise reduction that is applied to their high-sensitivity images. Canon has added raw capability to its bridge cameras with a firmware update in the past, and we wonder if it will do so this time? Generally, though, it is very easy to use and although the focusing can be a bit slow, the incredible focal length span makes it a great choice for family day trips to the zoo. If you want to be bombarded by brainy network-based functions and other cutting-edge tricks currently en vogue in the AV market then the UE32D5000 is not the set for you. If you want a TV with Freeview HD, then again give this set a miss. But if you want a stylish, easy-to-use TV that delivers superb pictures with Blu-ray and Freeview, then the very likeable UE32D5000 is well worth investigating. The UE32D5000's status as a showpiece living-room TV is undermined by the lack of features, but if you want to bring full HD into the kitchen or bedroom – where HD pictures and fancy functions might not be as essential – then the it's a terrific choice, particularly at such a knock-down price. Hands on:BlackBerry Torch 9810 review The new 3.2-inch screened smartphone from RIM is running the latest BB OS 7 platform, and comes with the same QWERTY keyboard/ touchscreen combo as seen on other phones. The phone features the same 1.2GHz processor as that used in the BlackBerry Bold 9900, as well as a 5MP camera capable of recording 720p video footage. 8GB of internal storage is supplemented by 768Mb of RAM, and comes with the expected Wi-Fi, GPS and 14.4Mbps HSDPA connectivity. We'll await our full BlackBerry Torch 9810 review before giving your our definitive verdict, but we don't think there's a lot here to get too excited about at the moment. Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 review The world's number one Android tablet is now on sale in the UK. It's slimmer than an iPad 2. It's lighter than an iPad 2. But is it better than an iPad 2? Asus RoG Crosshair V Formula review If Bulldozer is top notch performance at a bargain price, it'll be worth buying a high end motherboard like this to get the most out of it. Also reviewed this week...
LaptopsAcer Aspire 5742G-384G64Mnkk review Dell Inspiron 15r N5110 review Toshiba Satellite L755-13F review Media streaming devices
Motherboards Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3-ISSD review
Desktop computersCyberpower Liquid i7 High review Graphics cards Asus Matrix 2 GTX 580 RoG review Memory A-Data XPG Gaming V2.0 Series DDR3 2000G review PC cases CoolerMaster HAF 932 Adanced review Controllers Logitech Driving Force GT review Storage 
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| HTC looks to the cloud with Dashwire acquisition Posted: 05 Aug 2011 12:40 PM PDT Smartphone manufacturer HTC has indicated that it tends to step-up its presence in the cloud by purchasing Dashwire. Dashwire offers Android, Windows, Symbian and BlackBerry users the chance to syncs contacts, make easy file transfers and "seamlessly connects your users across the screens and services they use." HTC says it plans to use Dashwire and its services will give its customers an comprehensive level of cloud-based services to bring remote access to files and apps. Delivering the promiseIn a statement Fred Liu, president of engineering and operations says: "Cloud services are key to delivering the promise of connected services to our customers. "People want access to all of their important content wherever they are on any device. "The addition of Dashwire's cutting-edge sync services and deep mobile cloud experience strengthens our ability to deliver these services in a more powerful way." HTC's new acquisition comes on the same day that the Taiwanese giant released its latest record-breaking sales figures. Sales totaling $1.56bn are 83.3 per cent up on July of last year. 
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| Harry Potter ebook site hit by scammers Posted: 05 Aug 2011 11:56 AM PDT The Pottermore website, through which J.K. Rowling will sell Harry Potter ebooks, has been hit by conmen selling fake accounts. The scammers are trying to entice Potter fans by selling invitations which claim to offer early access to the portal, which doesn't go live until October. Avid Harry fans can gain beta access to the service, but only by competing in daily challenges on the Pottermore website, which run until tomorrow (Saturday). Up to a million accounts will be given away to the public. eBay fakerySecurity researcher Chris Boyd reckons that the cyber con-artists are selling the false accounts for up to £60 on eBay and gaining access to the personal details of users in the process. Apparently, some genuinely obtained accounts are also being sold via the site. Eager fans are also being instructed to be wary of searching for the Pottermore service on the internet. Scammers are thought to be using search engine poisoning entice fans to click on malicious links. Pottermore will be the exclusive digital seller of existing Harry Potter titles, while Rowling plans to pen more stories from the world of wizardry which will also be sold on the site. Link: GI Labs Blog, BBC 
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| Flickr reaches 6 billion photo uploads Posted: 05 Aug 2011 09:28 AM PDT The popular photography network, Flickr, has reached 6 billion photos. Flickr was established in 2004, before being sold to web giant Yahoo! a year later. Over the past five years, uploads to the site have increased 20% year on year, with the 6 billionth photo uploaded on Monday by user eon60. The photograph was taken on a Panasonic Lumix LX3, a premium compact. The picture shows a Montbretia flower which was taken on the same day as it was uploaded. The LX3 was a popular compact camera, which saw an update in the form of the LX5 last year. Since featuring the photo in the Flickr blog, it has been viewed over 10,000 times and attracted more than 150 comments. EXIF dataFlickr allows users to give uploaded photos titles, tags, geotags. EXIF data, which shows information about the camera, including camera brand, lens and any post-processing, is automatically uploaded, while other users can favourite or comment on images. A pro Flickr account gives uses unlimited uploads and storage, unlimited sets and collections and the ability to see stats about your account. The most popular camera on Flickr is not a dedicated camera, but the Apple iPhone 4, with the 3-year-old Nikon D90 coming in second. The pro-level Canon EOS 5D Mark II makes it into third place. 
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| New camera kit releases expected at Bird Fair Posted: 05 Aug 2011 09:19 AM PDT Park Cameras has announced that it will be attending this year's Bird Fair in Rutland in August, offering photographers money off camera kit and accessories. The Bird Fair is attended by key players in the bird watching industry, including photographers, camera manufacturers and distributors. Park Cameras will be offering up to £250 off selected tripod kits, selected half price gadget bags and further discounts on Canon DSLRs and lenses. New productsThe company has also revealed that it will also be launching some "exciting new products" that can only be revealed on the first day of the show. Other companies attending the fair include Canon, Nikon, Sigma, Tamron, Lowepro, Manfrotto and Gitzo who will be showcasing products on the Park Cameras stand. Exclusive show deals, the opportunity to try out new kit and the chance to see the latest products will be available to photographers attending the show. Expert advice will be on hand from the Park Cameras team and brand representatives. The Bird Fair in Rutland runs between 19 and 21 August. For more information, visit the Bird Fair website. 
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| Apple to merge iOS and Mac OS in 2012? Posted: 05 Aug 2011 09:18 AM PDT Some analysts are suggesting that Apple will fully merge Mac OS and its mobile operating system iOS at some point in 2012. A note to Apple investors from analyst Peter Misek suggests that Apple might use the A6 quad-core processor to unify its iOS and computer platforms. He notes: "We believe Apple is ready to start sampling the A6 quad-core app processor and will be the first to such multi-device platform capable of PC-like strength." All about the A6With several iOS-like features already present in Mac OS X Lion, it's fairly obvious that Apple wants to encourage users to work and play in the same ways on an iPhone, iPad and Mac. "Users want to be able to pick up any iPhone, iPad, or Mac (or turn on their iTV) and have content move seamlessly between them and be optimized for the user and the device currently being used," adds the analyst. "Apple can use a 32-bit ARM architecture to address the vast majority of the OS X ecosystem's needs in 2012-13 except for high-end professional devices. When 64-bit ARM is available in 2016, we believe Apple will have a single OS and hardware architecture." VertigoOther Mac experts are less convinced, however. "At the 'Back to the Mac' event in October last year, Steve Jobs said quite famously that "touch surfaces don't want to be vertical", says Graham Barlow, editor-in-chief of MacFormat and Tap! The iPhone and iPad magazine. "After a lot of ergonomic testing Apple decide that a vertical touch screen was a bit of a disaster, which is why we haven't seen a touchscreen Mac. "And all the new gestures in Lion are done on a trackpad. For this reason I can't ever see the same OS being run on a desktop computer with a vertical screen and a keyboard and on a tablet device like an iPad - you use the two devices in fundamentally different ways." 
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| Posted: 05 Aug 2011 09:12 AM PDT Since Pentax announced it was to be sold to Ricoh back in June we have been chasing updates to the story. Now, we have been told by Pentax that they will not be able to offer any clarification about how the merger will affect lens production until the takeover is complete. One particularly curious phrase in the original release stated that Hoya, the current owners of Pentax, would continue to manufacture 'Digital camera modules'. We have been pushing to find out exactly what this phrase referred to, but interestingly Pentax is also refusing to comment on exactly what this means. PlansIn an exclusive interview in July, Marilyn Dixon from Pentax UK told us how excited the brand was to be working with its new owner, who had plans to develop Pentax into a billion Euro brand within the next few years. When asked about potential worry current Pentax users might have about the upcoming merger, Marilyn said it was a positive move that would lead to more collaboration and cameras from both Ricoh and Pentax. Speaking to us earlier this week, Ricoh told us that its would be continuing to develop its GXR interchangeable unit camera. This morning it was announced that a new Leica M-mount lens unit would be available from September. 
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| BlackBerry QNX superphones 'delayed' until late 2012? Posted: 05 Aug 2011 08:43 AM PDT An analyst has suggested that RIM's range of QNX-loaded smartphones has been "delayed" until the tail end of 2012. Peter Misek, an analyst at Jefferies and Co, has begun telling clients to expect the QNX range to launch late in 2012, describing this as a delay despite the fact that RIM is yet to announce an official timescale for the new line-up. In a note to investors, Misek wrote, "We continue to believe the story hinges on QNX, which we believe will be delayed to [the second half of 2012] vs. guidance of early CY12. "Channel checks indicate that in spite of RIM's best efforts, QNX handsets are still likely to arrive in [the second half of 2012]." Good try This supposed "delay" means that we could be stuck with the current crop of BlackBerry OS 7 handsets, including the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and BlackBerry Torch 9810, for over a year – which would be far easier to swallow had the OS update been a more major event. As it is, we're not seeing any massive improvements other than some speed increases, a better browser, some redesigned icons and an improved notifications system. RIM has stayed very quiet on the subject of exactly when its next generation QNX-running superphones will launch, a line it is developing alongside its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet offerings. But when we spoke to Carlo Chiarello, VP of RIM's GSM business unit, in May this year, he hinted that it'd be around 18-months before the QNX handsets hit the shelves – pegging a November release that's right in line with these new 'delays'. Whether the late 2012 launch is a real delay or not, RIM's next gen phones are certainly a good while off. The question is, will consumers wait that long? 
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| US price drop hints at next-gen Kindle launch Posted: 05 Aug 2011 08:01 AM PDT Amazon has dropped the price of refurbished Kindle ereaders in the US, sparking speculation that a new next-gen Kindle is set to be released soon. Slashgear reports that Amazon has cut the price of refurbished Kindles in the US to $99 ($129 for the 3G version), although UK pricing and retail models remain untouched. But it does suggest that Amazon is clearing stock in preparation for an influx of a new, as-yet-unreleased model of the popular ereader; we've put a call in to Amazon for its response to the story but we won't be holding our breath for a response. Kindling for the firesAmazon has updated its Kindle e-reader a number of times since the original launch back in 2007 in the US. The latest Kindle 3 model has proven popular with UK readers, as anybody who regularly uses the London Underground will no doubt already know. So what might we expect to see in the Kindle 4; A better e-ink screen? Touchscreen control (and dropping that physical keyboard)? An even more competitive price-point? Improved book publisher support? All of the above? The other possibility is that Amazon is readying its tablet offering, which is expected to incorporate Kindle ebook reading; the timings could fall quite neatly into place, given that the Amazon tablet release date has been pegged as October 2011. It's all certainly possible, but we wouldn't get too excited until we get word from Amazon itself.
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| Posted: 05 Aug 2011 07:45 AM PDT The Gossen Digisky marries a standard lightmeter with current technological trappings, promising to be the first of a new generation of compact and lightweight multi-function exposure meters . In place of the usual numerical LCD, for example, is a 2.2in monitor, which displays graphics and menus in colour, while a USB port on the underside not only allows the meter's firmware to be updated as it becomes available, but also charges the internal battery while connected. The device supports up to four flash groups over eight radio frequencies, and three presets may be defined at a time in addition to a single preset menu for movie settings, which includes options for frame rates and shutter angle in addition to more standard exposure-orientated controls. At the top of the unit is a retractable diffuser head which is encircled by a ring; turning this serves the dual purpose of moving the head in and out for incident and reflective light metering and also powering the device up and down.
Underneath the LCD screen a measurement key is joined by menu and data buttons and a control ring for navigating the menus, while a flash sync socket at the unit's base allows the unit to be connected to external lighting sources. It'd be unreasonable to expect the Digisky to boast the same build quality and durability of a magnesium-bodied SLR, although those shelling out £330 for one may nevertheless feel a little short-changed by its build. The body is constructed from a matte-finish plastic, only differing with its glossier front fascia; the two could easily be found on a budget compact camera.
There's less to complain about with handling, though. The M button used for taking readings is large and presses firmly into the body, and it's positioned so that the thumb naturally falls onto it when handled. Measurements themselves are carried out within the second, which is on a par with similar exposure meters. Aside from the ring around the diffuser head all functions may be accessed using just the thumb, making speedy one-handed operation is a doddle, although the diffuser head ring itself can be a little awkward to operate with precision.
All preset menus and options are segregated with tabs within a simple menu system, and repeated presses of all the camera's controls show it to be generally responsive and with little lagging when moving from one screen to the other. The main screen presents all its details clearly, and changing shutter speed or aperture is easily done with repeated presses of the control ring. It'd be helpful for these to keep changing as the control is being held down, though, as this would make moving through the values even more effortless.
Measuring sensor Reflected light measuring angle Incident light reading diffuser characteristics Shutter speeds
Flash sync speed Aperture range (flash) Aperture range (ambient)
EV correction range Battery Operating temperature range Dimensions
The Digisky is already catering to a small market, but a sky-high price tag and a mediocre build quality risks narrowing that further. True, it does what it sets out to do well, and its colour LCD is both pleasing to use and brings with it a practical benefit, but if its build quality was as futureproof as the promised software updates photographers may be more likely to view this as a worthwhile investment. We liked Simplicity coupled with some neat technology makes for a winning combination, and the addition of movie presets brings it in line with current camera technology. We disliked Basic build quality coupled with a dear asking price. If you can live without the colour display you can save yourself a lot of money by opting for one of the many cheaper lightermeters around. Verdict There are upsides to the Digisky, but ultimately it just doesn't feel like the luxury price you're paying gets you a luxury item. 
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| Posted: 05 Aug 2011 07:33 AM PDT This is our review of the US version of HTC's latest phone. Our full UK HTC Evo 3D review will be coming in the next few weeks. It seems like there are a bazillion Android phones on the market, which means any phone with a brand new feature seems like a colossal improvement. The latest of these big steps forward was the 'glasses-free' 3D screen on the LG Optimus 3D. Now splashing down is HTC's Evo 3D, with 3D features intended to be less alarming those on the Optimus 3D. In fact, at first glance, you might mistake the Evo 3D for any other slightly chunkier Android phone with a bright screen and HTC's Sense user interface. The problem is that the Android line-up has recently moved on to greener pastures, with the super-thin and light Samsung Galaxy S2 widely considered the best Android phone ever made, and our phone pick of the year thus far. That leaves the Evo 3D in a quandary. The 3D features are remarkably entertaining, especially for a full-length Hollywood feature film in 3D, yet the overall design aesthetic is so early 2011.
As it stands, the phone definitely feels a little chunky – and outdated. It measures 126.1mm x 65.4mm x 11.3mm, which is just a hair thinner than the LG Optimus 3D (11.9mm), but not even in the same league as the Samsung Galaxy S2's 8.5mm. The HTC Evo 3D also feels a bit hefty, with a weight of 170 grams – two grams heavier than the Optimus 3D.
In display terms, the Evo comes out on top, though, with a 4.3-inch screen running at 540x960, surpassing the Optimus 3D's 800x480. With a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, the Evo 3D is also the faster of the two models. LG makes a big deal of the tri-dual technology on the Optimus 3D, since it uses RAM on the TI OMAP processor and Infineon chipset at the same time. But, having run tests on both models, the Evo 3D proved to be faster for most activities – especially 3D gaming.
In terms of hardware design, the Evo 3D closely matches the HTC Sensation, except that the front layout is a bit different. Each has the same four buttons – Home, Menu, Back, and Search – but the HTC logo has been shifted above the Evo 3D's screen, so it looks like the display is bigger (they're both 4.3 inches). On closer inspection, you'll see the Evo 3D has a large switch on the lower right side for changing the display to work in 2D or 3D.
Essentially, the stereoscopic technology works the same as a home 3D TV in that, in a game or movie, there are actually two images being presented at the same time – one image being perceived by each of your eyes. Both Samsung and Nokia had 3D phones in Europe several years ago, but they didn't use such sharp, vibrant and massive screens (for mobile phones). Otherwise, the Evo 3D has standard ports for microUSB (on the left), a large shutter release button for the camera (on the right), and the power and 3.5mm headphone jack up top.
You remove the case to access the innards by creaking the slot on the bottom. On the back, there is a red Darth Vadar-like camera staring at you: a red oval that protrudes slightly with two camera lenses for recording 3D photos and movies. The overall impression here is that the extra 54g of weight compared to the Samsung Galaxy S2 could be a death knell. The main reason to carry this phone around is for the 3D features, so we'll make sure we take a good, hard look at that feature.
Oddly, the HTC Evo 3D does not make as much fanfare about the 3D features as the LG Optimus 3D. There is no dedicated 3D interface (on the Optimus it is called 3D Space) and the Evo 3D doesn't even group 3D apps together. This could be because HTC rushed the production a bit, and maybe there is a software update waiting in the wings. A more likely guess is that HTC wants the phone to stand on its own and made the 3D features a bit more secondary. It is not a 3D phone, it is a 2D phone that also does 3D. That means the HTC Sense interface is intact. You can flip easily between the well-design widgets on the home screens, accessing weather and the social networking streams of friends and mild acquaintances, staring at their visage in 2D only.
Our test phone came equipped with Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread, which is a maintenance upgrade for speed and fixes a few bugs in the last release. Android is a solid OS these days. We experienced precious few force close messages in daily use of the 2D features. With 2.3, you do get a few new interface tweaks, though. You can select words and copy/paste faster in a paragraph of text, and the soft keyboard is spaced a bit differently with rounded characters. The release supports near-field communication (NFC) for buying goods, but only if the phone has the chip popped in during manufacture – which HTC didn't do for the Evo 3D. Unlike the Optimus 3D, when you press the power button, there is no delay at all to see the home screen. Like most HTC phones, you drag a wheel up to access the phone. None of the home screen features are in 3D – which is unfortunate. It means the 3D features are really accessed using apps; Android itself seems blissfully unaware of the screen tech.
The screen is bright and clear – in a side-by-side comparison to the LG Optimus 3D, it is obvious that the HTC Evo 3D has better resolution, but the screen is actually a touch more washed out and not as colourful. Comparing the Evo 3D to the Samsung Galaxy S2 is not even advised: there is such a stark difference in brightness and colour that the Evo 3D looks outdated, even if that top smartphone can't do any of the 3D tricks. As with most HTC phones, you can move widgets around and drop icons onto the home screen with slick ease. It's a bit jarring to realise that none of the widgets run in 3D, and most of the apps for 3D games and content are actually not even on the home screens. There is one app for accessing a store for 3D games that's run by Gameloft.
One quick note at this point about the 3D switch: it is best to leave it off when you can. The switch actually enables 3D capability on the screen, which then drains the battery more. If you're not actually using 3D, it makes sense to keep the phone in 2D mode. Another reminder that the 3D features are merely an add-on is that the YouTube app takes you to 2D videos by default. You can easily search for 3D content, but there is no portal into the 3D section of YouTube, and no interface section for 3D apps and content. However, that is not necessarily a detriment to the phone. For those who want to use the many 2D features and switch over to 3D mode as needed, it's handy to have less clutter. There are no 3D features on the HTC Evo 3D that make the mugs of your friends pop off the screen when browsing through contacts, even though that would have been cool. There are no 3D phone icons, and no 3D video chats between Evo 3D models, which could probably have been expected. Instead, the Evo 3D is a fairly typical HTC phone. Call quality sounded about the same as the LG Optimus 3D, without any distortion or other audio problems. We had one call where the person on the other line complained about not hearing us on the speakerphone, showing the microphone might be a little underperforming, but every other test call worked fine with the speakerphone.
To access contacts, you use the People app located on the main screen. The same contacts appear when you press the Phone button at the bottom of the touchscreen. If you add a Facebook account, those contacts are listed with their photo and phone number. This approach is similar to other HTC phones, such as the Sensation and the Desire HD, and the social networking aggregation features of many Motorola models, such as the Atrix. It's straightforward and logical. You can quickly search for a name by typing it into a search box at the top of the screen, or use the keypad as a smart dialler by pressing the numbers that correspond with the letters... you know, like on phone keypads of old.
That said, the HP Veer and upcoming HP Pre3 do a better job of making contacts more searchable right from the main home screen. Meanwhile, adding a contact is simple enough. You click a large plus sign and fill in the contact details. There's a camera icon you can use to snap a photo. You can also add a photo from your gallery (say, one you shot earlier of the contact), and this photo can be in 3D, but the thumbnail is so small that you can't see the 3D effect. Messaging on the HTC Evo 3D also doesn't make use of any 3D features, which isn't that surprising. There are no 3D chat sessions where icons loom out of the screen. The Messages app handles text messaging only. There is a dedicated Gmail app and one generic app called Mail that you can use for Microsoft Exchange and other accounts. Your Facebook messages aren't integrated into these apps, which is a shame as unified inboxes should be everywhere in our opinion.
Adding email accounts works the same as with other HTC phones: press Menu and select Account List, then Add an account. With the Evo 3D and its dual-core 1.2GHz processor, many of these tasks works quickly. The phone also supports a 4G connection up to 12Mbps or so, which helps you receive emails as speedily as you'd hope on the go - we're waiting to see if we can manage decent speeds on boring old 3G connections in the UK.
There's a cool "conversations" button that shows you recent email threads. Select a thread, and you will see all of the messages in that conversation. Typing on the Evo 3D is acceptable, but not great, and you must rely solely on the touchscreen keyboard since there is no slide-out or hard keys. With Android 2.3 there's a bit more roundedness to the soft on-screen keys, and the touchscreen is responsive enough. The haptics – which provide a slight buzzing sensation when you type – are quite minimal compared to the more obvious buzz on the Samsung Galaxy S2. There is also something to be said for the crisp, bright screen on the Galaxy S2, which makes soft keys stand out and easier to read.
Another small issue is that there are no new innovations here. On a phone that has a 3D screen, we wanted a bit more flash beyond the basic Android messaging functions. There is an opportunity here for a third-party developer to create 3D apps (if HTC gives them access to the technology required) for messaging that shows 3D icons or text.
Finally, after a so-so experience using the HTC Evo 3D that mimics that of most recent HTC models, the phone started to reveal some of its power when we jumped online. As a 4G device (in the US, where 4G tech's in place, as opposed to the UK, where it's still in the pipeline) speeds run as high as 12Mbps for fast access to content, and this is first and foremost a content phone. The smartphone also uses Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and the standard 3G service, as expected.
An important note: these games are all so new that every one of them requires a fairly massive update before you can even play them. For example, HTC includes Spider-Man 3D with the handset, but there's a mandatory 200MB update which will kill the standard data plan over here.
In some cases, these downloads required that we connect to a Wi-Fi connection first. For YouTube 3D content, the 4G service meant smooth streaming for many 3D trailers, including older ones for Alice in Wonderland 3D and Avatar 3D. The browser on the HTC Evo 3D is fairly standard for HTC's Android range, and does support Flash content, like most newer Android phones.
On GamesRadar.com, graphics looked clear and colourful, but we didn't find any web pages that rendered all content in 3D. Pages looked colourful and clear when zoomed in tight. Text flowed correctly when we zoomed in, filling to the borders of the screen and re-jigging depending on how much we zoomed. Navigation follows the basic Android rules: press Menu, choose an icon to go forward and back. To bookmark, press Menu and then Add Bookmark. There are no brilliant 3D innovations here for browsing, so the main advantage on the Evo 3D is that you can expect fast browsing and fast downloads for media.
The HTC Evo 3D starts revealing its claim to fame once you start using the camera. In some ways, it is a bit of a finally realisation, especially compared to the Optimus 3D, which trumpets many of the 3D functions in a more obvious way.
When you start the Camera app, you can flip the switch on the side of the phone from 2D to 3D. When you do, the screen flickers just a bit as the stereoscopic tech takes over. When holding the phone, you have to position the device at arm's length – about 12 inches or so from your eyes. Further away, and the 3D effect is not as obvious. Closer, and you go bug-eyed.
At the right distance, you can use the camera in 3D mode for long stretches, but we found that after about 30 minutes the headache will start. Part of the skill of 3D photography is knowing how to set up the shot. For example, in photographing a car, the best results came when we angled the phone to capture a foreground object like a rear-view mirror and made the rest of the car look as though it is farther in the background. For straight-on people shots, 2D mode is best. Oddly, the 3D camera, which consists of two lenses on the back of the phone, captures footage at 2MP per camera, even though they snap at 5MP for 2D shots. Presumably, this is to save on processing time and disk space. However, the Optimus 3D shoots in full camera-spec resolution. That said, the final 3D photos and videos look convincing and clear. We also had no trouble with fuzzy images resulting from the phone moving around too much, since the auto-focus tends to work quite well.
CAR: The best 3D shots came after clever angling Click here to see the full-size image
CLEAR: Shots are clear and convincing in 2D Click here to see the full-size image
LAYERS: 3D images need to be considered for depth Click here to see the full-size image
INDOORS: Colours are realistic in indoor shots Click here to see the full-size image
LOW LIGHT: Colours are almost black-and-white in low light conditions Click here to see the full-size image In 2D mode, the Evo 3D offers many of the same features as any other HTC phone. You can apply digital effects such as a grayscale look or vintage. You can set manual white balance, use a timer, and add a geo-tag to any image. ISO speed runs from 100 up to 800.
For video, the HTC Evo 3D becomes a powerful mobile 3D videocamera that shoots clean, clear movies. You can record 3D videos using up to 720p quality. Our test videos looked clear as a bell, but the 3D effect was more convincing when we tried to position a foreground object for greater visual perspective. Interestingly, the 3D video feature seems to work best at setting foreground and background objects on their own plane. This is the mastery that James Cameron developed on Avatar, and it means fewer headaches. When we tried throwing an object at the camera in 3D video mode, the Evo 3D recorded the movement in less convincing fashion. Presumably, this is because we're not talking about Hollywood-quality optics that can keep up with a ping-pong ball. The ball moves as a fuzz of motion and not realistically, despite what the US commercials suggest. In 3D video capture mode, you have a few options available. You can use the MPO or JPS file format. A grid option helps you line up distant and near objects in the frame. You can adjust sharpness level, saturation, and other settings to improve the quality.
Content is king on the Evo 3D. If you have a hard time making your own movies and still shots in 3D (in terms of making them look convincing and interesting), or get bored with that creative endeavour, there are quite a few options for viewing 3D content. One of the best ways to view content is on YouTube. The service uses a 3D emblem to indicate that the video in in 3D. You can search for the term "YT3D" and see hundreds of 3D videos. The Optimus 3D does a better job here, though. In the 3D Space interface section, you can select a link to YouTube 3D, which essentially performs the search for you. Still, the end result on both phones means the same bounty of trailers, home-made videos, and some longer 3D videos – but no complete feature films. Our test phone came with The Green Hornet 3D stored on the microSD card. This disappointing film is more of a comedy than a serious superhero movie, so the 3D effects are a bit dull. During the course of this review, the app you'd normally use to rent 3D content, called Watch, did not actually return any results for 3D feature films, so the Green Hornet movie was more for show.
Still, it's quite thrilling to see a glasses-free 3D movie on a mobile device. In some ways, the immediacy of turning on the phone and selecting the movie, then seeing the results in 3D, beats out a full 3D television for spontaneous entertainment. On a larger 3D screen, there are a few more steps involved, including setting putting television in 3D mode. The Evo 3D comes with an 8GB microSD card, which inserts next to the battery. (There is no slot on the outside of the case for adding additional storage.) The standard Music app, which can play music stored in the Google Music cloud, worked smoothly. This app is available as a widget as you'd expect on any HTC phone. The Evo 3D supports most common file formats for music, such as AAC and WAV, and a few extra formats for video, including the common BitTorrent format XVID. Other than the Watch app, there are no stores we've found that contain any other 3D movies, and even the Watch app doesn't offer any content yet. (On the LG Optimus 3D, Sanctum 3D is listed in the mSpot service, although we were not able to successfully rent the movie and download it – LG is looking into the issue.) Sound quality on the Evo 3D is just average – there are no extra sound technologies such as Dolby Surround to add extra punch to movie-watching. Some forums suggest that the phone supports Dolby SRS, but we did not see a setting to enable this feature, and movies did not have any extra surround-sound effect that we noticed.
The Evo 3D does not have a kickstand for propping up the phone, which is a shame because it would have been a smart idea for this model. The 4.3-inch screen is bright enough for movies and viewing 3D pictures, although the Samsung Galaxy S2 is more vibrant and brighter for 2D content. We also prefer the lightness of the S2 for holding onto the device for long movie sessions. For editing features, you can trim movies for size and cuts, but not much more. Our test phone did have a digital radio app, and does support DLNA streaming to and from a device like the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3D. The included app, called Connected Media, walks you through the setup process and, over an 802.11 router, streamed both music and movies smoothly to a large screen TV. Games look amazing on the device. Spider-Man, NOVA 3D and Asphalt 6 3D all presented compelling game environments that looked realistic. There is a toss-up between the Evo 3D and the LG Optimus 3D. The Evo 3D is faster, so some gameplay looks smoother. However, the Optimus has a brighter and more colorful display, so a game like NOVA 3D actually looks a bit more believable because of the colour contrast.
The Evo 3D is not going to set any records on battery life. One issue is that 3D playback tends to drain the 1730 mAh battery faster (although the extended power is a plus). In our tests, watching the entire Green Lantern movie in 3D, then checking email and browsing a few Web sites, the phone only lasted about three hours. Importantly, we set the brightness level at a mid-point. The battery life for most activities, though, is much greater – up to 14 hours for making a few calls, checking email, and occasionally playing a short video. Talk time on the phone is rated at about 8 hours with a stand-by time (non-use) of 355 hours. Overall, if you make frequent use of the 3D features, the Evo 3D does not stand up to the 2D competition. In fact, after a day or testing, where we used the phone frequently to shoot 3D videos of a car, the Evo 3D drained down very quickly. Worse, once the battery level starts getting low, you cannot use the 3D functions of the phone any more.
The news is not all bad, though. We also tested the phone for only 3D playback versus frequent 3D recording on two separate days. You might think the phone would drain the battery in equal measure, but 3D recording used up the battery faster. That means, if you stick with 3D viewing for YouTube videos and movies, the phone will last longer. The Evo 3D has the standard offerings for connectivity: Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, and 4G service. A simple switch in the pull-down menu bar allows you to enable 4G and search for 4G service. The phone also lets you enable a Wi-Fi hotspot mode. Adding media is a breeze. You can connect the phone to your computer using a USB cable and drag and drop content onto the 8GB microSD card or use a dedicated PC program to add it in with a little more finesse.
Our test phone included the standard Google Maps app and the TeleNav GPS Navigator. Both services worked perfectly for wayfinding around town, at least after we downloaded a large update file for the TeleNav app. The disappointing finding here is that the mapping apps do not take advantage of the 3D screen tech in any way. That means, there are no road signs jumping from the screen as you drive to help you check speed limits or upcoming intersections, and there are no 3D effects for buildings or other objects that could make the mapping features more interesting. Thankfully, the dual-core 1.2GHz processor did make mapping speedy enough for most tasks. We zoomed in quickly to a city locale, even with the satellite mode enabled in Google Maps. There was none of the typical blocky fill-ins and wait periods. The Evo 3D is bright and clear, but does not match the quality of the Samsung Galaxy S2 by any means, so maps tended to look a little washed out compared to that superior phone.
GPS locked quickly in a variety of settings, including driving in a car, walking around town, and standing next to an office window. HTC includes several extra apps on the Evo 3D. One is the game Spider-Man from Gameloft, which looks convincing in 3D even if you can only play in short spurts before the migraine starts. There's a cool Car Panel app that is for use in a docked position in the car and shows large easy-to-click icons for nav and voice search. There's a Connected Media app for streaming content, an FM Radio app, Polaris Office for opening Word docs and spreadsheets, and a Twitter client called Peep. Many of these apps add functionality, but we'd prefer to see more 3D-related apps.
The HTC Evo 3D is a stand-out phone – and we mean that literally. The graphics jump off the screen in games, and you'll notice a sleek 3D effect for movies and still photos. Some might complain about headaches and eye-strain, while others might question whether this is a vanilla smartphone with a 3D gimmick tacked on. We're not saying the HTC Evo 3D is the best phone ever made, but the 3D features are compelling enough to warrant serious consideration. Unfortunately, we also think the LG Optimus 3D is the better device, mostly because the screen looks a bit more convincing and life-like. And, the Evo 3D tends to hide away the 3D features while the Optimus puts them into a 3D Space interface enhancement that makes the options much easier to find. Plus, the Optimus records better 3D video. We liked The Evo 3D is a remarkable phone if you want to explore new technology. Shooting 3D video is a blast, and the 3D games are convincing enough considering the screen size. We disliked The headaches start after about 30 minutes. The phone shoots 3D video at only 2-megapixel quality. Plus this is a heavy and bulky phone compared to new models. Verdict A decent contender for the best 3D phone crown, but this can't quite make it to the top spot. The idea has potential, but it's not as good for overall smartphone use as the Samsung Galaxy S2. 
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| Google funding Bletchley Park restoration Posted: 05 Aug 2011 07:01 AM PDT Bletchley Park, the home of Alan Turing's World War II code-breaking team and the museum of computing, is set to get funding from Google to revamp some of its dilapidated buildings. As the home of Turing's wartime code-breaking and a leading centre of computing history, Bletchley Park is a vital site for anybody interested in the history of British technology. Wartime computer operator JeanValentine, told The Telegraph at an event to celebrate Turing's memory this week that: "Looking around, you can see why we need Google. Some of the huts are just dilapidated, there's no other word for it. "With their help we'll get things restored so people can go into these places and get a sense of history. I spent my youth in Hut 11, doing what I could for my country, and it badly needs refurbishing." "The most inspiring and uplifting achievement"Peter Barron, Google's head of communications, said that his company had put up money to buy Alan Turing's papers earlier this year because: "The point is that all of us have heroes. At Google our heroes are Alan Turing and the people who worked on breaking the codes at Bletchley Park. "It was probably the most inspiring and uplifting achievement in scientific technology over the last hundred years. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that without Alan Turing, Google as we know it wouldn't exist.' Turing's Colossus computer successfully de-encoded the Nazi's wartime messaging, and is now celebrated as one of the first examples of the modern day computer. Bletchely has faithfully recreated Turing's Colossus, in one of the original Bletchley Park huts, which visitors to the centre can now see. "More than 10,000 people worked here and half of them were women," said computer scientist Dr Sue Black. "Today's a celebration of Bletchley Park in all its wonderfulness," the academic added. "Google loves Bletchley Park and Bletchley Park loves Google." 
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| OpenFeint prioritises Android gaming over iOS Posted: 05 Aug 2011 06:58 AM PDT Online smartphone gaming service OpenFeint looks to be prioritising Android gaming over and above iOS gaming. OpenFeint does face considerable competition on the Apple iOS gaming front from Apple's own Game Center service, which could explain why the company seems to be switching its focus to Android development. 700 Android game updatesThat said, OpenFeint has recently added online gaming features to 700 Android games - features that won't reach the iOS versions of the same games until later this autumn. The new mobile gaming features are attempting to increase the player's engagement in the online experience of their games, with new status updates and message walls. OpenFeint's Ethan Fassett explains further: "Free-to-play games require an engaged social graph to succeed. With new features like these going every couple of weeks, OpenFeint is rapidly activating its userbase for game developers." Android titles including Halfbrick's Fruit Ninja, Godzilab's StarDrunk, Gray Fin's MiniSquadron, and Glu Mobile titles such as Gun Bros., Contract Killer, and Bug Village are all being treated to an online overhaul by OpenFeint. "Game developers want to join the social gaming network that reaches the most global users," said Eros Resmini, OpenFeint's senior vice president of marketing. "As OpenFeint games have taken over the top Android charts, our developers are also benefitting from additional distribution channels we've launched with AT&T in the US and The9 in China." 
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| Motorola XT531 Fire announced for Europe Posted: 05 Aug 2011 05:46 AM PDT Motorola has unveiled a smoking new Android smartphone in the form of the Motorola XT531 Fire. Billowing on to the scene with a 3.5-inch touchscreen, the handset will launch running "the latest version of Android", probably an iteration of Gingerbread (Android 2.3). With an 800Mhz processor, the Fire isn't intended to set the high-end market alight, but it does come with dual cameras (5MP with flash on the back, VGA on the front) and 512MB of onboard memory (expandable via microSD). Hello ambiguous MotoMotorola tells us that this adds up to a phone that is "simply better", but fails to clarify what it is simply better than – we can only assume it means better than its last mid-range handset, the rather uninspiring Motorola Defy. The company also claims that "typing text and email messages is faster and easier with the touch-screen keyboard" – which could mean anything from faster and easier than carving your correspondence in stone, to faster and easier than transmitting your messages via telepathy. It also comes pre-loaded with social media apps, and Moto Switch which should help you keep your work and personal lives nice and separate. The Motorola XT531 Fire will wing its way to Europe in autumn, and, although Motorola promises that it will be "affordable", a UK price is yet to be announced. 
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| Explained: 3D TV: your questions answered Posted: 05 Aug 2011 04:45 AM PDT 3D TV, or stereoscopic TV, is an effort at mimicking reality. It's an optical illusion, a trick to make our brains think something's got depth, when it hasn't - to make something look real, when it's not. That may sound a tad dishonest, but it's not different to adding extra detail with high definition cameras. 3D has broadly the same aim; though technically speaking it's completely different to HD. With 3D glasses on, each eye sees a slightly different image; your brain does the rest in creating the illusion of both depth and 'front' effects in what is obviously a completely flat image. Which 3D TV should I buy?That depends on what you want it for - and how much you can afford. First, decide why you want a 3D TV, and finalise your budget. Is it for 3D Blu-ray movies, gaming or sport? For 3D Blu-ray movies, you'll find an Active Shutter 3D TV that can show every pixel of a 3D Full HD formatted film will best suit - and that's a plasma from either Panasonic or Samsung. All Active Shutter 3D TVs use bulky 3D glasses that are expensive - most 3D TVs of this kind come with only one or two pairs of 3D specs. Here, it's not about saving money, but ultimate picture quality. If you're more interested in watching Sky's 3D channel - a mix of mainly sport and movies - and you're not after high definition, demo LG's 'Cinema 3D' line-up that use Passive 3D tech, which is similar to the system used in 3D cinemas (hence the name).
FULL GLASSES: LG's new line-up of Passive 3D TVs include a stunning seven pairs of 3D glasses with each TV Meanwhile, broadcast 3D pictures are sent over Sky's satellites (and occasionally Virgin Media's cable network on Eurosport 3D or BBC HD) in two standard definition halves, which when sewn together by the human brain - goes the theory - creates an image that's both 3D and HD. In practice it's not as impressive a 3D effect, because it's not as convincing, but it's far cheaper. For starters, the 3D specs used on Passive 3D TVs cost £2 each. 3D gaming generally looks good on both Active Shutter and Passive 3D TVs. Normally rendered in 720p rather than Full HD 1080p, the amount of detail isn't so important and nor is the onscreen action required to mimic reality. Which is the best 3D TV?The best 3D TV is the biggest 3D TV. We'll start with the premise that you don't have squillions to spend on huge - and hugely expensive - 3D TVs from Bang & Olufsen or Panasonic and work backwards, but if you want a fighting chance of total immersion then we'd recommend that you don't go smaller than 50 inches. 3D is all about immersion and replicating a human being's stereoscopic field of vision; it's about fooling your brain into thinking it's watching reality, not fiction, and if a TV is too small it just doesn't convince. As much as possible of your field of vision has to be filled, but finding the best 3DTV for you is not just about size. Panasonic's VT30 Series are the best 3D TVs around, though the more affordable GT30 and ST30 Series plasmas are also worth looking at. Samsung's 3D plasmas aren't bad, either, while Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Panasonic and LG all make some notably good 3D LED TVs using Active Shutter tech. These tend to come in a variety of sizes, though it's worth recognising that a 32-inch 3D TV is designed largely for convenience, not effectiveness.
TOP QUALITY: Panasonic's VT30 Series are regarded as the best mainstream 3D TVs around - and they all use plasma panels Although LG makes Active Shutter 3D TVs, it now concentrates on Passive tech for its mid-range 3D TVs, as does Toshiba - and soon Philips. The TVs use a special polarised screen, and are basically an effort to cut the price of 3D TVs, though it also cuts-out flicker. Find out which is best - Active Shutter or Passive – in our Active Shutter vs Passive 3D article, but remember that this isn't a 'format war'; both types of 3D TV can display all sources of 3D - including Sky's 3D channel, Virgin's 3D VOD, 3D Blu-ray and 3D gaming. 3D TV with glassesActive Shutter 3D TVs uses battery-powered glasses that need to sync with the TV to ensure each eye is getting the correct image. It does this by polarising the image into two, with each eye getting a slightly different feed; the illusion of depth in a flat image follows. They're expensive and uncomfortable, and they're often marred by annoying reflections from nearby windows, especially if there's a light source behind the sofa. Our main problem is having to sit bolt upright to get the 3D effect; lean back in a sofa and the 3D glasses point to the ceiling, while lying down sideways kills the image completely.
LOOKING IN: Despite this image, 3D TV is more about depth perception than about objects leaping from the screen 3D TV without glassesWith the arrival of glasses-free - or auto-stereoscopic - gadgets like the Nintendo 3DS, 3D TVs are bound to follow suit. Some pour scorn on the idea as a mass market, affordable product, but the broadcast TV industry wants it and such TVs do already exist in Japan. But how do 3D TV without glasses work? Instead of glasses being used to differ the image seen by each eye, an auto-stereoscopic TV has a lenticular lens in its glass panel to do the job instead. There are two catches. The first is that the lens cuts-down on resolution really quite massively, meaning that the actual 3D panel needs to have a '4k2k' resolution, which makes the loss of detail less crucial. A bigger issue (4k2k TVs are destined for mass production) is the number of 'views'. There are only so many 'corridors' or 3D 'sweet spots' on such screens, with a noticeable visual 'blip' between them; moving your head from side-to-side in front of an auto-stereoscopic 3D TV is headache inducing. The challenge for TV engineers is to increase the number of views, and eliminate the gaps between each; the current form is nine views, with around 15 needed to make such TVs comfortable enough to watch. Another factor is the viewing angle; the 3D effect is ruined outside of a 40-degree area in front of the screen, so there's no chance of a crowd gathering around to watch an auto-stereoscopic 3D TV. As well as a glass-free 3D laptop, Toshiba plans to bring 12-inch and 20-inch auto-stereoscopic 3D TVs to market next year. Others are bound to follow; this 3D tech - like Active Shutter and Passive 3D TVs - is likely to grow-up in the consumer market, making gradual improvements with every generation. Early adopters, beware. 
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| Posted: 05 Aug 2011 04:32 AM PDT HTC made record sales in July, posting its highest ever monthly results of $1.56 billion (£957 million). Sales of HTC products are up 83 per cent compared to July 2010, with its well-respected Android line-up proving as popular as ever. The company has also branched out over the past year, with Windows Phone 7 handsets like the HTC 7 Pro, and its first tablet effort in the form of the HTC Flyer. Head in the cloudAs well as celebrating its mammoth sales, HTC announced how it's going to spend some of its hard-earned profits: by acquiring Dashwire, a "mobile-web services platform". After spending $18.5 million (£11 million) on the company, HTC will use Dashwire's expertise to bolster its cloud services, as well as strengthen its patent portfolio for the seemingly endless court battles with other manufacturers (particularly Apple). HTC has promised that it has a host of new phones still to launch this year and, after countless record breaking result announcements already, it is no doubt looking forward to a very happy Christmas indeed. 
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| Sony: slow 3D uptake 'not a concern' Posted: 05 Aug 2011 04:32 AM PDT Sony does not appear to be worried about slow uptake of 3D TV and 3D games, according to comments from a Sony Computer Entertainment exec this week. According to Sony 3D gaming is so easy for its games creators to achieve that it will continue to produce stereoscopic 3D versions of PS3 games regardless of demand levels. "It's certainly not a concern for us on the game side, the major reason being it's not like when we're adding 3D features to a game, it's not a significant overhead for us," Simon Benson, SCEE's senior development manager and 3D chief, told GI.biz this week. "It's not like we have to justify being able to sell millions more games because of it, it's just another feature of the game." Games are cheaper than 3D moviesBenson added: "The developers that we've worked with adding 3D features to the games, it's typically been done through passion of the development teams and interest of the designers to deliver new experiences. "It's not often about the financial side of things. Because it isn't a huge overhead. It's not like in 3D live production where someone has got to make the decision about hiring cameras that cost twice as much and doing post processing that costs ten times more and it's a significant overhead, there you really have to look at the numbers. "What we're talking about here is, in some cases we've had titles where 3D has been half a per cent of overhead. It can literally be the render programmer spending a couple of weeks manipulating it. "Particularly if a game already has split screen in it, just take that mode of the game and re-author it to deliver really high quality 3D. So often it's the case of it doesn't even hit the radar of whether we should or shouldn't, it can just be done." 
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| Ricoh announces Leica M-mount unit for GXR Posted: 05 Aug 2011 04:13 AM PDT Ricoh has announced a new unit for its GXR compact system camera which is capable of accepting Leica M mount lenses, as well as other brands when used with an adapter. The GXR system was introduced in 2009 and it comprises a back with the controls and LCD screen, and a separate, interchangeable camera unit. This camera unit is made up of a lens, sensor and image processor. The new GXR MOUNT A12 doesn't have a lens, instead it has a lens mount. Featuring an APS-C size CMOS sensor and newly developed focal plane shutter, the GXR MOUNT A12 makes it possible to mount Leica M lenses and provides a variety of compensation and correction functions. Other lenses can be used with the unit if a conversion adapter is used. A checking device is included for confirming whether or not other lenses are physically compatible with the unit. FunctionsThe GXR MOUNT A12 is capable of independently correcting colouring at the corners of a frame. Colour shading correction is also possible, along with peripheral illumination correction. A distortion correction function is also on board, with photographers able to set the correction to "strong," "medium", or "weak". To help with accurate manual focusing, a focus-assist function is also included. Users can select from two modes and check the focus by strengthening outlines and contrast. Magnifying the image on the back of the screen while shooting can be done throughout the image, and quality of the image at 4x and 8x magnification has been enhanced. Two shutter methods can be used with the unit. First a newly developed focal plane shutter, which can achieve shutter speeds of 1/4000 sec to 180 seconds. An electronic shutter can shoot from 1/8000sec to 1 sec. The GXR MOUNT A12 unit will be available from September 9, 2011. Price is yet to be confirmed. 
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| Review: Asus RoG Crosshair V Formula Posted: 05 Aug 2011 04:09 AM PDT With the Asus Republic of Gamers Crosshair V Formula it has produced a board that makes us almost want to recommend it regardless of whether or not Bulldozer is much cop. We've looked at a few motherboards based on AMD's 9-series chipsets now, and so far the general impression has been that they're OK. Unfortunately it all really depends on the forthcoming FX (aka Bulldozer) processors to make them worthwhile. Like other Crosshair, Rampage and Maximus motherboards in the RoG series, it's a stupidly over specified board that just makes you want to grin. It's unlikely most people would even know what to do with half of the features included, let alone actually use them. So being able to say you own a motherboard that features them carries its own form of geek cache. What sort of things do we mean? There's the optional remote for overclocking, for a start, and the power out points for taking manual volt readings of the main motherboard rails. There's the plethora of diagnostic LEDs, the inclusion of two full 16 lane graphics ports for two way SLI or Crossfire... the list goes on. There's clearly not a lot of performance difference between the 990FX and the 990X chipsets from AMD, and even the lower spec 960 isn't far behind. What's more interesting than the performance benchmarks, perhaps, is the power usage. Playing around with ASUS' EPU settings can lower this even further.
What's nice about the Crosshair V is that despite being so well equipped it isn't intimidating. Having said all that, the Crosshair V Formula isn't the most highly specced motherboard ASUS has ever made. Some of the extras that you'll find in the Extreme range of motherboards like Bluetooth – which is useful for overclocking via a mobile phone – are noticeable by their absence. But there is a host of ways the Asus RoG Crosshair V Formula makes things easy for the user. The new UEFI graphical BIOS, for example is well laid out and simple to use. And while the ASUS software utilities are hateful if you ever try to uninstall them, so long as you leave them doing their own thing they're a straightforward gateway to controlling not just the CPU clock settings but also ASUS' Push-me-pull-you chips, TPU and EPU. These automatically undervolt or overclock other motherboard components depending on current system load. It's the little things that make the biggest difference though. Things like the inclusion of an X-Fi chip for sound (this isn't a full blown X-Fi, mind, but it is better than normal on board audio) and one touch overclocking buttons. There's an extra couple of USB 3.0 ports over and above the norm too. Sadly, though, as fun as the Crosshair V is, value for money does have to come into play at some point. It's not terrible in this regard – ASUS own Sabertooth 990FX is almost identical but has a worse soundcard for £10 less – but it'd still be unwise to shell out for a top spec motherboard without knowing how good Bulldozer is going to be or how much it's going to cost. And that last point is critical – because if AMD's next CPU can undercut its Intel rivals significantly, it's going to be worth buying a premium board to make the most of it. And they don't come much more premium than this. We likedThe Crosshair V has got just about everything you could wish for to build a high end system around. It's fast, endlessly teakable and even has a decent on board sound chip. The price isn't terrible either, unless you're a die hard bargain hunter that it. We dislikedAs we said this is a board with everything, except that is for a good CPU to go with it. Phenom II is yesterday's news, and to make the Crosshair V worthwhile, Bulldozer has to be good. So like every other AMD 9-series motherboard at the moment it's just a warm up to the main event. Final wordIf Bulldozer is top notch performance at a bargain price, it'll be worth buying a high end motherboard like this to get the most out of it. 
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| Nokia N9 countdown literally begins Posted: 05 Aug 2011 03:56 AM PDT Nokia has launched a timer counting down to the Nokia N9 release date. Cleverly interpreting Nokia's ticking clock, we can look forward to seeing the MeeGo-running handset hit the shelves on 23 September 2011. You may have noticed that the web page is in Swedish; so it's not definite, but there's a good chance that this countdown relates to a Europe-wide release date. Tick tock, tick tock So, there's only 48 days, 23 hours, 15 minutes and 36 seconds to go (at time of writing) before the Nokia N9 wings its way into our pockets, bringing a 3.9-inch OLED screen, 1Ghz processor and 8MP camera with it. The handset is the first (and possibly only) to come with the MeeGo OS, fruits of a collaboration between Nokia and Intel. TechRadar went up close and personal with the Nokia N9 and declared the design to be "beautiful" with a good chance of the handset proving an underground hit – if Nokia can get its UK pricing right, that is. 
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| Posted: 05 Aug 2011 03:30 AM PDT Linguist and psychologist Noam Chomsky refers to the phrase 'cellar door' as the most linguistically pleasing in the whole English language. We do wonder if he's heard the phrase 'icy dock'… We digress. Icy Dock's MB982SPR-2S allows up to two 2.5-inch hard storage drives to be converted to 3.5-inch form factor. Handy for saving space inside smaller cases, keeping your storage bays nice and neat, and especially useful if you want to use two SSDs in a RAID setup. Inside the MB982SPR-2S, two 2.5-inch drives can be connected simultaneously, the Icy Box itself connecting to the SATA and power connectors. Using a dial on the back, you can choose from RAID0, RAID1, BIG and Port Multiplier modes in hardware and software modes. And here's where the problems start. We found setting up any RAID array in hardware mode impossible, as the Icy Dock won't reset properly even with updated firmware. With the third party software that we had to track down ourselves, the process is still riddled with crashes and disappearing drives. For £56 this should be much easier. Avoid. 
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| Review: In Depth: Epson Stylus Photo R3000 Posted: 05 Aug 2011 03:12 AM PDT For many enthusiast photographers Epson's Stylus Photo R2880 is the printer they use, or aspire to using. Though it produces excellent prints, it suffers from two often cited problems, both of which the new R3000 addresses. The first of these is that although the R2880 is capable of using nine inks, it only has eight cartridge bays and the Matte Black and Photo Black ink tanks are interchangeable. This means that if you switch from printing on glossy media to matte, you must remember to swap the ink cartridges. It's not difficult or messy, just a pain having to remember. Epson's new R3000 has nine cartridge bays to accept the Matte black, Photo Black, Light Black, Light Light Black, Cyan, Light Cyan, Vivid Magenta, Vivid Light Magenta and Photo Yellow tanks and it switches between the Matte and Photo Black inks as required. Just as the print media is selected via the print driver, the user can tell the R3000 whether to use the Matte or Photo Blacks. We were originally told by Epson UK that the R3000 has 9 ink channels, one for each cartridge. This would mean that printer doesn't have to purge and recharge the black ink lines when swapping between the Matte and Photo Blacks. However, the full specification of the R3000 has subsequently been released and mentions the ink usage when swapping between the Matte and Photo Black inks (approximately 3 ml when switching from Matte to Photo Black and 1ml when swapping from Photo to Matte Black) suggesting that they share a channel. I have checked this with Epson UK and it has confirmed that, like the R2880, the R3000 actually has 8 ink channels. Another issue with the R2880 is part of a wider concern about the cost of inks. A cartridge capacity of just 11.4ml can also mean that keen A3+ printers are also likely to become anxious about the frequency with which the cartridges need replacing. Epson has addressed this with the R3000 by fitting it with cartridges that contain 2.27x more ink, 25.9ml. As well as reducing the frequency with which the cartridges have to be replaced this allows some economy of scale. The list price of compatible cartridges is £24.35 (inc VAT) each, which means a complete set of nine cartridges will cost users £219.15. As each R3000 cartridge contains 25.9ml of ink, a unit cost of £24.35 means that every millilitre of ink cost around 94 pence. This compares with 97 pence per millilitre for the R2880's ink which is supplied in cartridges with a volume of 11.4ml. Some users may be disappointed that increasing the ink volume by 2.27x only reduces the ink cost per millimetre by 3 pence - though wastage is reduced as one cartridge is used for every 2.27 of in the R2880. The Stylus Photo R3000 is set to retail for £699.99.
There are many similarities between the R3000 and the older R2880, but we are told that the new printer doesn't replace the old one, they are to continue in tandem, at least for the time being. Just like the Stylus Photo R2880, the Stylus Photo R3000 can be used to produce prints of up to A3+ size or 13-inches wide, or smaller. The inkset is also the same, Epson UltraChrome K3 Ink with Vivid Magenta and three black inks (or two grey and a black) being available for enhanced tonal control, especially with monochrome prints. Although the Micro Piezo print head with 1440 nozzles (180 per colour) is the same in the R3000 as it is in the R2880, and it lays the ink down at the same maximum resolution of 5760 x 1440 dpi, the minimum droplet size is significantly smaller from the newer printer at 2pl rather than 3pl. This is the smallest droplet to date achieved with Epson UltraChrome inks and it should enable the R3000 to reproduce the very finest details more accurately and ensure that tonal gradations are smooth. Wireless connectivity has been a feature of less specialist, multi-functional printers for a while now, but the R3000 is the first of Epson's enthusiast or semi-professional focussed printers to have Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b/g/n) as well as High-speed USB 2.0 capability. This puts an end to trailing USB leads for photographers who like their workspace to be uncluttered. As usual there's more than one way to load media into the R3000, largely depending upon its thickness. For many, the majority of paper can be loaded via the rear automatic sheet feeder, but there's also a front fine art paper path, a front thick paper path and a roll paper feed included (though there's no trimmer built-in). It is also possible to print onto compatible CDs and DVDs using the supplied disk feed. A 2.5-inch colour LCD screen is another new feature since the R2880, it displays ink levels and operating instructions.
As with Epson's other printers, the R3000 arrives with the print head installed so after removing the blue packing tape all the user has to do it click the ink cartridges into place (their position is clearly labelled and their shape prevents any mix ups), connect the printer to the computer and install the software. It takes just a few minutes. Printers don't tend to be the most attractive objects in the world, but the R3000 is very smart. Unlike the R2880, it has a flat rather than sloping top which gives it a cleaner look and makes a convenient resting place for prints. When the paper trays are extended ready for action the R3000 has a footprint of around 616mm x 814mm x 424mm, it's not excessive for an A3+ printer. With a minimum droplet size of 2pl I wondered if Epson's R3000 might take a long time to make prints, but when the highest quality mode is selected an A3+ prints I takes around 8min 35sec from drawing the paper in to ejecting the finished article. Setting the driver print quality option to 'Quality' rather than 'Maximum Quality' reduces the A3+ printing time to around 3min 15sec and has a barely discernable impact on the result. As the R3000 was positioned out of sight there were several occasions when we had to go over and check the printer was working because it is almost silent in operation once the paper has been drawn in.
The first prints we made with the Epson Stylus Photo R3000 were of our printer test chart. This chart has a series of solid colour and gradation blocks as well as resolution lines and bars to test a printer's ability to reproduce colour and detail. When colour management is assigned to the printer via the printer driver the R3000 produces very impressive results. There is always a little difference between the transmissive on-screen image and the reflective print and with prints from the R3000 the green and cyan solid colour and gradation bars look slightly less vibrant. The gradations are very smooth with no banding, but the two darkest sections of the grey scale wedge on our chart cannot be separated, they both look black. With the naked eye the resolution lines look very close to perfect, even the diagonal lines. Using a loupe to give a magnified view reveals slight stepping in both the diagonal lines and the concentric circles. It is also clear that the one and two pixel wide spaces between the one pixel lines are not completely clean. Prints of photographic images (rather than test charts) from the R3000 are a very good match for the on-screen picture. Colours are vibrant and details are faithfully recorded. The days of dull pigment based colour prints are now gone and even the prints made on glossy media look superb. Skin tones are also accurate. With three black inks at its disposal the R3000 doesn't need to mix colours to produce monochrome prints so the results are neutral with deep rich blacks. In some instances the blacks are a little too deep however, as some very subtle details can be lost in the darker areas. I suspect, however, that this could be rectified by calibrating the printer.
As printed on the Epson Stylus Photo R3000 (Click for high-res version)
As printed on the Epson Stylus Photo R2880 (Click for high-res version)
As printed on the Epson Stylus Photo R3000 (Click for high-res version)
As printed on the Epson Stylus Photo R2880 (Click for high-res version)
According to Epson UK the Stylus Photo R3000 is based upon the Stylus Photo R2880, but it doesn't replace it and they are to continue in tandem. The main improvements that the Stylus Photo R3000 offers over the R2880 are the larger ink tanks, the 2pl minimum ink droplet size (instead of 3pl) and the additional cartridge bay, so that both the Matte and Photo Black tanks can be installed simultaneously. In addition, the print engine has been updated, as the R2880 has a cartridge on-head system, whilst the Stylus Photo R3000 has an off-head system. The latter point means that the cartridges stay still while the Stylus Photo R3000 is printing and they are located towards the front left of the printer. Viewed in isolation the prints from the R3000 and R2880 straight from their boxes with no calibration are very impressive. Either printer would satisfy most enthusiast photographers. However, prints from the R3000 have more punch with more vibrant colours, especially the reds. Skin tones are also more pleasant, lacking the cool note that the R2880 exhibits in some instances. Even when inspecting the finest resolution lines on our test chart with a loupe it is very hard to distinguish much difference between the results form the R2880 and the R3000. However, the smaller minimum droplet size does appear to lend the newer printer with a very marginal advantage. It may also partly explain the slightly higher micro contrast or 'bite' that the R3000's image have. While the colours from the R3000 are a little closer to matching those on our test chart, there is a smoother gradation from green to yellow in the rainbow band of the R2880's test chart print. In addition, every step in the grey scale wedge is visible (only just at the darkest end) from the R2880. The last two are indistinguishable in the R3000 print. Although a wider range of tones are visible in monochrome prints from the R2880, the slightly higher contrast results from the R3000 are closer to the on-screen image.
After installing a complete set of fresh cartridges we were able to make 71 A3+ prints (50 colour, 21 B&W) before one cartridge (Vivid Light Magenta) had run out and the printer refused to make any more colour prints. We estimated the remaining level in the other cartridges as: Yellow -1/5th As a complete set of nine ink cartridges for the R3000 costs £219.15 from Epson, the average cost per colour print is £4.38 (£219.15/50) for the ink alone. Epson charges £25.54 for 20 sheets of its Premium Glossy Photo Paper, so we can add another £1.28 per A3+ print for this, or £0.90 for the Archival Matte, which is £45.07 for 50 sheets. This gives us a total of £5.66 or £5.28 respectively, which compares favourably with the £6.59 plus £2.99 for postage charged by Photobox for an A3 print. Bearing in mind that the black inks are also used for colour prints, it may be a fairer assessment to also take the monochrome prints into account. This works out at £3.09 for the ink. We printed a variety of different images, with a variety of border sizes on a mixture of glossy (Epson Premium Glossy) and matt (Epson Archival Matte) media as this most closely reflects how photographers use a printer. This isn't intended to be a perfect scientifc assessment, but we think it reflects how most photographers will use the R3000 and gives a reasonable guide price. Extended use would enable us to revise the printing costs.
Few photographers can fail to be impressed by the prints from the Epson Stylus Photo R3000, the colours, contrast and detail are superb. This plus the convenience its new cartridge arrangement makes it an excellent choice for enthusiasts. Some may be disappointed that the larger ink cartridges don't offer the same economy of scale as those in Epson's professional level printers such as the Stylus Pro 3880, but it is a significant step in the right direction. 
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| Gary Marshall: Happy 20th birthday, World Wide Web Posted: 05 Aug 2011 03:00 AM PDT At 2:56pm on 6 August, 1991, Tim Berners-Lee launched the very first website, setting in motion a chain of events that would ultimately end with Nyan Cat. Here are 20 things we'd never have seen if it weren't for his invention. 1. Extreme Japanese pornography Rule 34 states that if you can imagine it, somebody's made pornography about it - and that means most of us have seen things we'd rather we hadn't. 2. Web celebs Tron Guy, Star Wars Kid, Afro Ninja, Leave Britney Alone, Angry German Kid, Numa Numa... each one immortalised for eternity, or at least until Google shuts down YouTube. 3. Tea bagging We genuinely didn't know what this was until we played multiplayer online games. 4. Conspiracy nuts Like an online dating service for crazy people, the web has enabled birthers, truthers and people who think Prince Philip is an evil alien lizard to find one another. 5. Lots of cats Whether they're Nyan Cat, LOLcats, Keyboard Cat, Ceiling Cat [language may offend] or just endless pictures of cute kittens, it's clear that cats are the web's favourite creatures. 6. Dancing Matt A man called Matt dancing badly around the world is just the kind of quirky thing the web was invented for. 7. Funny Amazon reviews The song Hot Shot City is particularly good. 8. Ok Go Have you ever bought an Ok Go record? Can you even hum one of their songs? Us neither. But everyone online has seen at least one of their videos. 9. Beedogs 10. Hacktivism Hacktivism is a broad church that encompasses satirists, coders, Wikileaks and groups such as Anonymous and Lulzsec, and we're only beginning to see what it's capable of. 11. Fakes Fake websites, fake images, fake products, fake news reports, even fake deaths of fake people: the web is a dangerous place for the gullible or quick to click. 12. Memes From All Your Base to Emo Dad [language may offend], you never know what the web will decide to find funny. 13. The Flying Spaghetti Monster Originally created in response to humourless Creationist school boards, the FSMhas unfortunately since been adopted by many equally humourless atheists. God finds that funny. 14. Taiwanese animated news 1-Apple News takes world events and animates them poorly. The result is, of course, comedy gold, whether it's Tiger Woods' marital difficultiesor Gordon Brown's alleged bullying. 15. PostSecret There are very few websites that can make us cry, but PostSecret's little postcards are often like punches to the solar plexus. 16. Unhappy combinations Some things really don't go together. iPhones in blenders. Mentos in Diet Coke. Beauty pageant contestants and video cameras. 17. A shrimp running on a treadmill to the theme from the Benny Hill show Still funny five years on. 18. Slash fiction Adding a whole new meaning to the term "Harry Potter's magic wand". No, we're not linking to it. 19. The Onion America's finest news source has been widely imitated, but never bettered. 20. The fundamental decency of humanity Not many laughs in that one, we know, but despite lots of evidence to the contrary - most of it listed above - it's true. People on the web are brilliant and we love you all. 
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| Review: Logitech Driving Force GT Posted: 05 Aug 2011 03:00 AM PDT Have you felt the sting of Sunday afternoon envy watching F1 drivers frolic in their hydraulic simulators like giddy children on priceless corporate bucking bronco rides? 'I could probably go quicker than that' you whisper through gritted teeth, 'if only my dad had spent all his money on karting licences instead of bourgeois nonsense like mortgages and food'. But until Red Bull Racing spot you executing perfect doughnuts in Homebase car park and decide to offer you a racing contract, the closest you'll get to the pro race driver life is getting a decent force feedback steering wheel and loading up an unforgiving racing sim. Logitech's Driving Force GT is such a wheel. Decent. It'll work on PC or PS3, and the Gran Turismo logo on the front hints it's better suited to the latter, where expectations are lower. Right enough, there's convincing force feedback, but compared to the superlative G27 in Logitech's arsenal it hardly compares. Gear shifting is the Driving Force GT's real bogey, though. Lacking paddles, the wheel-mounted buttons feel stiff and unsatisfying and the flimsy stick offers little relief. It's capable then, but at £100 it's not worth the money and dangerously close to the greatly superior G25, also in the Logitech camp. Consider only if you want cross-platform driving. 
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| Week in Tech: Is Google being two-faced over patents? Posted: 05 Aug 2011 03:00 AM PDT Tape up your monitors and put on your tin hats: a tech war is brewing, and your gadgets could be caught in the crossfire. Google's on the warpath, Apple's in its sights and Microsoft is already fighting back. The battle has been brewing for a while, and it's all about patents: if your device or program does something that another company has patented, your device manufacturer or software creator needs to pay the patent owner some money. As we reported earlier this month, that poses a particular problem for Google's Android: "Google has a relatively low number of Android-related patents", which some observers believe makes Android a "suit magnet". For example, "Apple has just been granted a patent that effectively means it owns the multitouch gestures it pioneered, which means it could demand licensing fees from its rivals." Google's chief legal officer David Drummond says that Google's rivals are waging "a hostile, organized campaign against Android" via "bogus patents". "A smartphone might involve as many as 250,000 (largely questionable) patent claims," he says, "and our competitors want to impose a 'tax' for these dubious patents that makes Android devices more expensive for consumers." "We asked them to bid with us"That may be true, but one of Google's biggest other claims isn't: in the same blog post, Drummond says that "they're doing this by banding together to acquire Novell's old patents... and Nortel's old patents... to make sure Google didn't get them." That's not how Microsoft legal boss Brad Smith remembers it. "Google says we bought Novell patents to keep them from Google. Really? We asked them to bid jointly with us. They said no," he tweeted. To make things worse, Microsoft head of communications Frank X Shaw tweeted a photo of an email from Google's Kent Walker, which said "after talking with people here, it sounds as though for various reasons a joint bid wouldn't be advisable for us on this one... we're open to discussing similar opportunities in the future". Clearly Google isn't an innocent victim here - it moans that the Nortel patent portfolio went for $4.5 billion, "nearly five times larger than the pre-auction estimate", but neglects to mention its own bid of $4 billion; it accuses rivals of ganging up on it, when it clearly considered teaming up with Microsoft to gang up on others - so what on earth is going on? Google provided the answer back in April, when Kent Walker blogged: "as things stand today, one of a company's best defenses against [patent] litigation is (ironically) to have a formidable patent portfolio". Google would bid for the Nortel Patent portfolio, Walker wrote, because "we hope this portfolio will not only create a disincentive for others to sue Google, but also help us, our partners and the open source community... continue to innovate." In other words: "If we don't get ourselves some decent patents, we're stuffed." Google on the back footGoogle missed out on around six thousand patents when it didn't get the Nortel portfolio; now, it's eyeing the even bigger InterDigital portfolio at the same time as Apple, Samsung and "other potential bidders". The winner stands to get "about 8,800 patents on inventions used in devices ranging from the iPhone to Google's Android-based handsets and RIM's BlackBerry," Bloomberg reports. Google has repeatedly been criticised for its apparent disinterest in patents - its portfolio is tiny compared to Apple's and Microsoft's - and it seems that the search giant has belatedly woken up: Android's key competitive advantage is that Google gives it away for free, undercutting Windows Phone and helping firms compete with Apple. Other firms' patent portfolios could threaten that by forcing Google or its partners to pay hefty licensing fees for Android. "Google hinted in its blog post that 'these deals are likely to draw regulatory scrutiny', which suggests that it has its legal teams raring to fight any patent claims tooth and nail," we reported on Thursday, and its somewhat misleading blog post suggests it wants to try patents in the court of public opinion too. Google already appears to be playing dirty, and we suspect things are only going to get more heated. As Kate Solomon puts it: "Who can really be the winner in this great patent war? Not, we suspect, the buyers of phones." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
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