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• Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar
• Razer Blade gaming laptop announced
• Google TV UK launch confirmed
• Exclusive: Boinc: Film service being considered
• Hands on: Sony Alpha 77 review
• Video: A rollercoaster period for Apple
• Apple TV to get subscription service?
• Review: Logitech Wireless Speaker Z515
• IBM building 120 petabyte storage

Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar Posted: 27 Aug 2011 12:00 AM PDT This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar This week has been a bumper week for kit on TechRadar - it's hardly been a slow week for news, either. We've got the pocket 3D camcorder, the Sony Bloggie 3D, the Panasonic DMC-FZ48 with a super 24x lens. Also from Panasonic is the 65-inch Panasonic's TX-P65VT30. And then there's the updated Sony Xperia Mini - a diminutive Android handset, HTC Evo 3D plus much more besides. Sony Bloggie 3D review The Sony Bloggie 3D MHS-FS3 certainly isn't cheap, but then this is a distinctly premium point-and-shoot video recorder. The obvious draw is simple, hassle-free 3D recording and playback, with an easy way to trim and upload the footage. But it's not just a one-trick, three-dimensional pony; there's a good range of 2D recording options too, including 1080p, so Sony's camcorder ends up as something of an all-rounder. Whether this 3D camcorder is worth £200 is up to you, but for anyone wanting to create some 3D video for minimum cost, this is surely one of the best options out there. Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ48 review The Panasonic DMC-FZ48 is very similar to the previously released Panasonic FZ45. It has the same 24x lens, providing an angle of view equivalent to a 25-600mm lens on a 35mm camera and the same 'Sonic Speed AF' system, which promises fast and accurate focusing. The major differences lie in the sensor, which is a modest 12.1-megapixel CCD in the FZ48, while its predecessor sports a 14.1-megapixel sensor. But although priced competitively at around £320 and comes sporting some excellent features, the Panasonic DMC-FZ48 falls short of many of its peers in one important area… noise. Panasonic TX-P65VT30B review One unexpected side effect from the growing take-up of 3D gadgets like the Bloggie, is that folks are migrating to larger screen sizes. This means a warm welcome should await Panasonic's TX-P65VT30. This 65-inch iteration of its top-of-the-line NeoPlasma range is a glorious extravagance. The sheer size obviously poses a challenge. It takes three people to get it out of the box and the 56kg weight means wall-mounting will require some serious planning. It's a good thing then that the supplied pedestal is smart and substantial. This is without doubt one of the best plasma TVs on the market, if not the very best. But can you afford one? Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini review Before the arrival of Sony's Ericsson's new Xperia Mini, the X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro were an odd little couple, launching in mid-2010 with Android 1.6 and a bespoke and heavily customised user interface on top. They weren't amazingly powerful phones and their 2.55-inch screens were shockingly small - but Sony Ericsson did a good job of maximising the available space with its corner-based interface. The same system has returned in 2011's updates, albeit improved thanks to Sony Ericsson's developers having another year to fiddle with the interface and add more new layers of social integration. HTC Evo 3D review Once a passing gimmick, 3D seems to be here to stay. HTC is heralding the move from the cinema screen to the handheld with the launch of the HTC Evo 3D, sacrificing svelte light-footedness for a dual-camera wielding chunk of a handset. HTC's first 3D phone is also its first Evo-branded handset to reach the UK's fair shores. A decent contender for the best 3D phone crown, then, but this can't quite make it to the top spot overall. The idea has potential, but it's not as good for overall smartphone use as the Samsung Galaxy S2. Other reviews Blu-ray players LG BD670 review Sony BDP-S380 review Cambridge Audio Azur 751BD review Compact cameras Samsung WB700 review DSLRs Leica M9 review Hard disk drives Corsair Force 3 120GB review Crucial M4 256GB review OCZ Agility 3 240GB review Headphones Tritton AX Pro Dolby 5.1 Headphones review Headsets Plantronics Voyager Pro UC v2 review iPod accessories iLuv iBA200 review Keyboards Logitech Wireless Keyboard K360 review SteelSeries 6Gv2 review Laptops MSI FX720 review Panasonic ToughBook CF-C1 review Toshiba Tecra R840-11E review Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E520 review Samsung RV720 review Toshiba Satellite L730-10G review Asus Automobili Lamborghini VX7 review Asus Eee PC 1008P Karim Rashid review Mice and trackballs HP Wi-Fi Direct Mobile Mouse review Genius Micro Traveler 900BT review Monitors Fellowes Office Suites Monitor Riser Plus review Samsung Series 9 TA27950 review Projectors SIM2 3DX Lumis 3D-S review Receivers Yamaha RX-V471 review Speakers Panasonic SC-HTB520 review Acoustic Energy Neo Max review Lenco SB-100 review PSB Image 5.1 review Storage Western Digital My Book Live review Tablet accessories Logitech Tablet Keyboard for iPad review review Logitech Speaker Stand for iPad review Tablets Fujitsu Stylistic Q550 review Packard Bell Liberty Tab review TVs Toshiba 42RL853 review Toshiba 37RL853B review Sharp LC-40LE831D review Hands ons Mobile Phones Hands on: BlackBerry Curve 9360 review

Razer Blade gaming laptop announced Posted: 26 Aug 2011 01:52 PM PDT Peripheral manufacturer Razer has revealed the mystery behind its "PC gaming is not dead" campaign by launching a new high-end gaming laptop, the Blade. The company has brazenly declared the 17.3-inch Blade the "world's first true gaming laptop", which comes complete with a 2.8GHz Intel Core i7 processor and 8GB of DDR3 RAM. The laptop comes with the innovative Switchblade User Interface, which features a multi-touch LCD screen and 10 dynamic keys, both positioned to the right of the laptop. Passion Razer, which is more famous for its range of gaming peripherals, has lambasted the current roster of PC gaming laptops from the likes of Alienware and VoodooPC for a lack of innovation. Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan told Ars Technica: "Today,there hasn't been a single PC laptop that anyone has been passionate about for the longest time. "It's not because there's no innovation, but [because] the big PC guys just don't want to innovate anymore." Specs The laptop, which weighs in at just 6.9lbs, also boasts an NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M graphics card, 2GB video memory, a built-in HD webcam and an integrated 60Wh battery. The Blade laptop will launch before the end of the year and the US price is a staggering $2,799. A UK price is yet to be confirmed. Link: Ars Technica

Google TV UK launch confirmed Posted: 26 Aug 2011 01:15 PM PDT Google has confirmed that the Google TV connected television platform will be launched in the UK in early 2012. Google TV, which has enjoyed a less than stellar start since the US launch in October 2010, provides subscription and free on-demand content through set-top boxes and branded TV sets. Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt officially announced the European invasion "within the next six months" during a speech at the Edinburgh International Television festival, confirming earlier rumours. New medium The UK platform, which Google says is "priority", is sure to feature free on-demand portals like the BBC iPlayer and ITV Player, with a host of other services likely to be confirmed before the service launches. Schmidt says that he hopes the platform, which also bring a full web browsing experience to your TV set, will enable traditional broadcasters to experiment with the newer on-demand medium. "Some in the US feared we aimed to compete with broadcasters or content creators. Actually our intent is the opposite," he said during his MacTaggart keynote speech. "We seek to support the content industry by providing an open platform for the next generation of TV to evolve, the same way Android is an open platform for the next generation of mobile. "We're agnostic when it comes to whether free or paid content models are best," he added. "It's up to content owners to decide if they want to charge, and it's up to users to decide if they want to pay." Flop The service has widely been regarded as a flop since the promising US launch (check out our Google TV review), mainly due to a lack of content and a heavily-criticised user interface. Logitech, the exclusive provider of the Revue set top box, recently slashed the price to just $99 (from $299) in order to get more viewers on board. Sales of the licensed Sony Internet TVs, with Google TV built-in, have also been poor. Google will be hoping its European expansion will be more successful. On UK shores it'll have the likes of the long-delayed YouView service plus existing on-demand portals from Sky, Virgin and BT Vision to compete with.

Exclusive: Boinc: Film service being considered Posted: 26 Aug 2011 09:13 AM PDT Boinc, the all-you-can-eat music download service that launched earlier this week, could one day launch a similar service for film lovers. "Funny you should ask that," said Charlie Baillie, Marketing Director at Boinc, when TechRadar asked if a film version was in the works. "We're focussing on music right now but the technology we have lends itself to other media – video and even editorial, for example. "It's too early to say whether we'll release a product, but conversations have been had." Boinc: The Movie TechRadar has long been hoping for a kind of Spotify-for-films service, but studios' licensing rights tend to be more restrictive than record labels, and LoveFilm's subscription streaming service is the best that's come up so far. Boinc's music offering, however, is a pay-once affair, with unlimited music downloads available to any user once they have the player. But will Boinc work with our much-loved wireless home media streaming products? Sadly not right away, but it's definitely on the cards. "We've started having those wireless streaming, connected home type conversations, yes," Baillie told TechRadar. "You could even see Boinc on set top boxes too – but I think we're looking at next year for that kind of functionality, rather than this year." Which is fair enough, given that the service doesn't even go into public beta until October 2011.

Hands on: Sony Alpha 77 review Posted: 26 Aug 2011 08:56 AM PDT Electronic viewfinder, AF and continuous shooting On paper the Sony Alpha 77 can't fail to impress with its 24.3Mp APS-C format CMOS sensor, 2.4 million dot OLED electronic viewfinder, 19 AF points (11 cross-type), 12fps full-resolution shooting and translucent mirror technology. Enthusiast photographers, however, are more interested in how the camera performs than the numbers on its spec sheet and the question of everyone's lips is, is the Sony A77 is a serious competitor for the likes of the Canon EOS 7D and Nikon D300S? We only be able to answer this question properly after a full test, but our head of testing, Angela Nicholson, got her hands on a preproduction sample and spent a couple of days shooting with it to inform this hands-on review. Electronic Viewfinder For many experienced photographers the biggest stumbling block with the A77 is likely to be the electronic viewfinder (EVF), so let's tackle it first. Although there a few clues here and there that the viewfinder is an EVF, when you are shooting with the Alpha 77, it is actually possible to forget it and think you are using an optical finder. The 1.3cm 2.4 million dot OLED screen uses the same technology as Sony's OLED televisions, albeit with shrunk-down dots, and its detail resolution is impressive. Unlike most EVFs, which have a visible texture, the view in the A77's finder is smooth. As the EVF displays the scene as it will be captured, any colour discrepancies between it and real life can be taken care of by a white balance adjustment. That's the theory, we'll need to conduct more thorough testing to ascertain whether it is actually the case – but initial indications are good. Similarly, if the EVF is very dark or light, this indicates that the exposure settings are incorrect. Put simply, the EVF shows how the image will appear, it's even indicating the blurring of movement – something we have seen before with Panasonic Micro Four Thirds compact system cameras. It's all very logical, but those who have used an optical viewfinder for years will find this interpretation of the camera settings novel. When the Alpha A77 is switched on there is a short delay of around a second before the EVF springs to life and the image remains visible briefly after the camera is turned off, giving away its electronic nature. However, the refresh rate of the EVF has been improved to the extent that it is possible to follow even very fast moving objects in the finder – just as you would with an optical viewfinder. What's more, we didn't experience and distracting colour drag, so the viewfinder information and furniture aren't pursued by a rainbow of colours as the camera is moved around. We also really like the fact that its possible to have a magnified view (up to 11.7x) of the scene displayed in either the EVF or the main LCD screen and this makes focusing manually very easy in most situations. Autofocus One of the biggest benefits of having a fixed translucent mirror is the Alpha 77 and Alpha 65 have full-time continuous phase detection autofocusing whether the image is composed on the main screen or in the viewfinder. While the Alpha 65 has the same AF module as the Alpha 55, Sony has introduced a new unit for the Alpha 77. This has 19 AF points, 11 of which are the cross-type and sensitive at apertures as small as f/5.6 – great news for photographers without fast f/2.8 lenses. In use the Alpha 77's AF system proves to be fast and accurate in many situations. Provided you can keep the active AF point over the subject the camera does a good job of tracking focus with fast moving targets. That's not to say it is infallible, if the AF point strays over an area of low contrast, the lens may hunt and the subject goes in and out of focus. As soon as the AF point is back over an area with contrast, the lens snaps the subject back into sharp register. A few years ago 19 AF points would have been considered overkill, but with DSLRs having as many as 51, we are starting to become spoiled. The A77's AF points are arranged in groups around the centre of the imaging frame and it would be nice to have a wider spread. We also found that it wasn't always easy to spot which AF point is active because the black AF box becomes only a little bolder when it is selected. Continuous shooting In order to utilise its impressive 12fps maximum shooting speed the Alpha 77 must be set to its Continuous Advance Priority AE mode via the main mode dial on the top-plate. When this is selected the camera effectively operates in Program mode with the aperture set tof/3.5 or the lens's maximum, which ever is smaller. The shutter speed also set automatically. As the high sensitivity noise reduction system needs to be turned off to get the full 12fps rate, we will need to investigate the A77's noise performance before we can recommend a maximum sensitivity setting for the Continuous Advance Priority AE mode. Although the Alpha 77 uses an EVF, we found that it was possible to track a fast moving subject in the finder when shooting at 12fps. The sample we used was not yet ready for market and it proved impossible to shoot a faster rate than about 2fps in the normal continuous shooting mode. This is something we will explore when a full-production sample becomes available for full testing as it should be possible to shoot at 8fps. Build and handling Above: The Sony Alpha 77 is seen here with its optional grip One of the key differences between the Alpha 65 and the A77 is that while the A65 is made from plastic, the Alpha 77 has a magnesium alloy chassis and is sealed against dust and moisture ingress. It makes a notable difference in the feel of the two cameras, with the A77 feeling more rugged. There's plenty of opportunity to customise the A77 and A65, and it may take a while to find the perfect configuration. Those wanting to shoot action and sport should track down the option to turn off the image review so that the image isn't displayed in the EVF before the next one is captured – it makes it far easier to pan with the subject. It would be nice if it were possible to switch off the EVF review while retaining it on the LCD screen, but that is a step to far at this point. Articulated LCD screen An articulated screen is a great bonus for creative shooting, when implemented well it really encourages shooting from a range of angles. The Sony Alpha 77's screen is unusual because it's mounted on a rotating hinge on a tilting arrangement. This takes a little bit of getting used to, and it takes a while to work out which way to twist or lift the screen, but it means the LCD can be positioned in a much wider range of angles than usual. For viewing from above for example, it can be positioned behind the main body of the camera or just above the camera so that the protruding eyecup of the viewfinder doesn't obscure the view. In many situations it is more natural to shoot with a camera like the Alpha 77 held to the eye, but when the 921,600 dot LCD is used to compose images, it provides a clear view. Even in very bright sunlight it is still possible to see the main elements of the scene on the screen, however, some setting options become hard to make out. As you might expect, there are several display options available for the EVF and LCD screen. The digital level display is especially useful and extremely well implemented indicating the yaw of the camera as well as whether it is tipped up or down. It's very easy to work out which way the camera needs to be rotated to get the horizon level. The histogram is also useful, as is the 'Peaking' display which reveals which areas of the image are overexposed. They both make it easy to see when enough exposure compensation has been applied. GPS Sony has built a GPS (Global Positioning System) unit into the A77 so that images can be tagged with data that indicates where they were taken. Although the units draws power from the camera battery, we didn't find the battery drained unusually quickly despite having the GPS activated throughout the two days that we shot with the camera. Sample images The Alpha 77 we used isn't a final production sample and Sony's representatives say that the image quality could change as a result of firmware alterations. Nevertheless, Sony is happy for us to share the images that were captured during our time with the camera. THe AF system is capable of locking onto very fast moving subjects (see full image) Despite the bright conditions 1200-zone metering system has coped very well here (see full image) Miniature mode boost saturation and adds blur to give the popular model-like effect (see full image) An APS-C sized sensor means that depth of field can be restricted to emphasise subjects (see full image) 1 EV of exposure compensation was required to get these chimney pots white, but not burned out (see full image) Sony's Sweep Panorama is on hand and is easy to use (see full image) Taken with the Dynamic Range Optimsation and HDR modes deactivated (see full image) Taken with the HDR mode set to +6EV (see full image) The afst AF system is useful for capturing little moments like this (see full image) Colour and exposure are spot on here (see full image) The built-in level is invaluable for shots like this (see full image) Taken at ISO 16000, the level of noise may be different from the final production samples (see full image)

Video: A rollercoaster period for Apple Posted: 26 Aug 2011 08:47 AM PDT Steve Jobs' decisions to step down as CEO of Apple is just the latest dip in what has been a rollercoaster ride for the company over the past two years. The tech titan has cited ill-health as the reason behind Jobs' decision, but Apple has never been in ruder health, despite the health problems of its most identifiable figure. TechRadar has taken a look back at some of the key events in the past couple of years for Apple – including some massive highs and the odd low. brightcove : 1129855647001

Apple TV to get subscription service? Posted: 26 Aug 2011 07:50 AM PDT Apple is looking into adding some sort of subscription to Apple TV, in a bid to bring more premium content to the service. This is according to the Wall Street Journal, which has been speaking to undisclosed sources at Apple about what will be the next big move for the electronics giant now that Steve Jobs is no longer at the helm. Buried in a piece about the future of Apple, the WSJ explained that some sort of subscription is on the cards for Apple TV, noting: "Apple is working on new technology to deliver video to televisions, and has been discussing whether to try to launch a subscription TV service." Television vision A subscription of some sort makes sense. Apple already allows TV rentals in iTunes so if this was to come to Apple TV it would make it a much more enticing offer for those who are already linked into the Apple eco-system. With the news this week that Google is set to unveil Google TV in the UK, Apple knows that it needs to work fast to get a USP for its service – and offering premium TV rentals through Apple TV would definitely turn heads. The problem is that Apple already tried to do this back in 2009 but was scuppered by television companies which couldn't agree on rights. It will be interesting to see how good Tim Cook's negotiation skills are for getting the majors on board – it may well be his first big test.

Review: Logitech Wireless Speaker Z515 Posted: 26 Aug 2011 07:33 AM PDT Before Apple was touting integrating the AirPlay protocol into its iPad and iPhone range (and iMacs and, well, everything else) we got by just fine with Bluetooth, thank you very much. While small AirPlay speakers are still few and far between, little portable Bluetooth speakers are thriving, and though Logitech is aiming this at iPad users with the name, it's just a standard Bluetooth speaker, so anyone can use it. It packs a rechargeable battery, good for up to 10 hours of use, an aux-in slot for plugging in non-Bluetooth sources, and a mains port for charging. The front is all business, featuring a grille covering the drivers, and light indicating the battery level and wireless connection status. The back features a fold-out stand and a small receded area with the on/off button and two volume controls. The unit isn't super-light, but can be carried comfortably in one hand thanks to its concave shape. Getting it paired with your device is a simple matter: you turn it on and then hold the two volume buttons. It'll then appear as a device to pair to on your iPad, and away you go. The range is good; we took about 10 metres from the iPad with two thick stone walls in between the devices before the music started getting quite stop-start. The general responsiveness and speed of the connection is great, too – music played instantly when selected. We did have it mysteriously drop out on us after a period of time consistently when using one iPad with it, but it didn't have the same problem with others. The sound quality is pretty typical for this kind of device. It's generally shallow and lacking punch, especially for bass, but there's plenty of detail, and it can go pretty damn loud with very little distortion, which is impressive. Available for around £80 online (with an RRP of £89), this speaker is more expensive than the likes of the Creative D100, which also offers up to 24 hours of audio playback from a set of batteries, which you can just change when they run out (at more expense, though).

IBM building 120 petabyte storage Posted: 26 Aug 2011 07:33 AM PDT IBM are putting together the largest data drive on the planet, with some 200,000 hard drives working together to reach a whopping 120 petabyte total. Data storage is an increasingly valuable currency, especially with the computer world moving into the cloud and becoming less reliant on local storage on people's computers. IBM's drive project – headed up by director of storage Bruce Hillsberg – will create enough storage to store 24 billion MP3s, and probably the entire run of Coronation Street in HD to boot. Of course, all that storage means that the engineers at IBM have had to come up with a new backup mechanism to stop bits of data dying when a hard drive fails. Lunatic fringe "This 120 petabyte system is on the lunatic fringe now, but in a few years it may be that all cloud computing systems are like it," Hillsberg told the MIT Technology Review. Even this ridiculously large data drive would not be enough to soak up the world's data for even a day – with Eric Schmidt suggesting recently that the world is now producing five exabytes of data every two days. An exabyte – as you obviously already know – is 1024 petabytes; which means we'd better get working on even better storage fairly quickly or we won't be able to upload all those funny cat videos.

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