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• Tech Week: Call of Duty: Black Ops and iPhone gets Flash
• Macbook Air bugs confirmed by Apple
• Xbox Kinect not racist says Microsoft
• App Week: AR Star Wars game, iPlayer on BlackBerry
• Sony PS3 to beat Xbox in Christmas console wars?

Tech Week: Call of Duty: Black Ops and iPhone gets Flash Posted: 06 Nov 2010 11:00 AM PDT Posted by Luke Johnson on Sat 6 Nov 2010 Yet another busy week in tech has past us by, here are our highlight from the past seven days, enjoy.   News of the Week Despite not launching until next week, Call of Duty: Black Ops has been the week's top talking point as the gaming comunity readies itself for the year's biggest arrival and retailers enter into a battle of the prices. Coming out on top of the cut price offerings so far is HMV which has announced it will be offering CoD: Black Ops for just £7.99. A full roundup of prices can be found here. Concerns have also been raised around the game facing the censor's chop ahead of launch with a number of countries enforcing changes on the upcoming title.   Apple's iPhone is an undeniable leader in the smartphone market but has been plagued and ridiculed for its continued lack of Flash compatibility. The issue looks to have been solved, however briefly, as the Skyfire app launched enabling iPhone users to view Flash content on their handset's. The app was quickly removed from the App Store though following a phenominally popular run that crashed its manufacturer's survers. Apple's upgraded iOS for mobile devices is expected to arrive next week although will sadly not be Flash compatible.   Another gaming giant has been making headlines this week as the repeated delays to the arrival of Gran Turismo 5 look set to come to an end. After the game's head announced the upcoming racing sim had finally gone to the printers, Sony announced on one of its official websites that the game would be released later this month on November 30th.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ App of the Week | Reckless Racing There’s nothing like a bit of old-school racing to get the blood pumping on a morning commute T3 App Chart | Top 10 Android Apps | Reckless Racing Review ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Features of the Week Bonfire night might technically have now passed but with the Guy Fawkes festivities set to roll right across the weekend, what better time download the best bonfire apps for you mobile handset. We have seven of the top apps to help you enjoy and capture the firework fun whilst remaining safe in the process.   Oh the times there are a changing. Well, the time changed last weekend but like many iPhone users the clock alterations caught us unawares. If you too miss out on the clock switch maybe a new watch is in order. To help you out on your wrist accessory quest, here are T3's guide to the best watches: the top timepieces to buy.   You may know him best as the fearless, faceless white-clad mute from the BBC's Top Gear but the car loving mystery man removed his mask as we sat down with The Stig, aka Ben Collins, to chat all things gadget and gaming. Mistakenly we sat in the passenger seat of a supercar riding shotgun with one of the world's most famous driving characters, watch the video to see the fear.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ T3 Podcast - The web's biggest audio gadget show The T3 tech team discuss the weeks top news and their gadget of the week, the BlackBerry Bold 9780 T3 Podcast episode 155 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Reviews of the Week We have a trio of HTC handsets reviewed for you this week as the Taiwanese mobile powerhouse continues its strong run form of form.   First up the Windows Phone 7 touting HTC 7 Mozart dubbed a three-star mixed bag of tricks by the T3 reviewers who found themselves impressed by the device's attractive combination of compact form and slick user interface but dissapointed by its shoddy picture quality despite rocking an 8-megapixel snapper with Xenon flash.   Next up Android has its day with one of the follow-ups to the powerhouse that is the Desire, the HTC Desire Z. Touting a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard and Android 2.2, FroYo, with the HTC Sense UI, the Desire Z is a slick and impressive device worthy of a four-star review.   Completing the set of HTC handset reviews, a second Windows Phone 7 powered device in the HTC 7 Trophy which was dubbed "an odd sort of phone to review". A more wallet-friendly WP7 HTC offering than the Mozart, the Trophy is a gaming great with issues coming in the form of its lower end build quality.    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ T3 Game of the Week | WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 Our first glimpse of SvR 2011 with its polished graphics and new story left our spandex clan bodies excited WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 review | Win T3's Game of the Week with an Xbox 360 Elite ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Other stories from the week's News@8pm: Monday 1st November: News@8pm: Galaxy Tab lands and CoD: Black Ops trailer Tuesday 2nd November: News@8pm: Apple dominates but Android is the future Wednesday 3rd November: News@8pm: Gran Turismo 5 release and iPhone gets Flash Thursday 4th November: News@8pm: CoD: Black Ops priced at £7.99 and 3D phones Friday 5th November: News@8pm: CoD Black Ops cheap prices and Android 2.2   Coming Next Week: Call of Duty: Black Ops release | Microsoft Kinect UK launch | Samsung Android Phone unveiling   This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Macbook Air bugs confirmed by Apple Posted: 06 Nov 2010 05:28 AM PDT Posted by Richard Wordsworth on Sat 6 Nov 2010 Internal Apple memo offers temporary fix for new MacBook Air display issues. The latest incarnation of Apple's supermodel-skinny Macbook Air has a couple of technical issues squeezed into that size-zero body, according to early adopters. When waking from sleep, the new Macbook Air sometimes displays multi-coloured horizontal lines on the screen rather than showing the desktop, flickers or turns off altogether, rendering the laptop unusable. Related links MacBook Air pics: Unboxed up close video Apple MacBook Air battery loses 1/3 with Flash MacBook Air 11-inch teardown gets going Help is on the way, however, as while Apple have yet to publically acknowledge the problem (what did you expect?), an apparently leaked internal memo from Apple HQ shows that the company is at least aware of the problem, and advises employees to tell users experiencing the problem to "put the computer to sleep by closing the lid, wait ten seconds, then open the lid to wake it up. This should force a display to power-cycle, and the display should return to normal." So, no public admission as yet, but Macbook Air users can take comfort in knowing that Apple appears to be on the case, with the offending software glitches being "addressed in an upcoming software update", according to the memo. Now if only they could do something about the effect of Flash on the battery life... Via: BGR This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Xbox Kinect not racist says Microsoft Posted: 06 Nov 2010 04:35 AM PDT Posted by Richard Wordsworth on Sat 6 Nov 2010 Microsoft has a dream for Xbox Kinect It's not been an easy climb up the Christmas sales ladder for Microsoft's Kinect, what with reports of the motion-tracking peripheral needing its own unique feng-shui to work properly in your living room. But for all the little niggles, we'd never have gone so far as to call it racist. Related links How does Microsoft Kinect work? Xbox Kinect versus Playstation Move Xbox 360 Kinect bundle arriving in UK November 10 Microsoft Kinect official accessories revealed Microsoft Kinect grinds to a halt in Hong Kong Xbox Kinect: Ultimate guide The allegations first cropped up on GameSpot, which claimed that during their reviewing process the Kinect had trouble reading the facial expressions of two of its black employees. Kinect apparently recognised the first employee's face "inconsistently" and failed to recognise the second altogether, even though the device worked normally with other GameSpot testers. Prejudice, then? Well, no, just bad lighting conditions, according to Microsoft, who said in a statement: "Kinect works with people of all skin tones, and just like a camera, optimal lighting is best. Anyone experiencing issues with facial recognition should adjust their lighting settings". Phew. GameSpot, however, are standing by their statement, with an update to the original article saying that in further tests under different lighting conditions the Kinect still had problems identifying some of their darker-skinned employees. You can read their findings here. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

App Week: AR Star Wars game, iPlayer on BlackBerry Posted: 06 Nov 2010 04:00 AM PDT Posted by Chris Smith on Sat 6 Nov 2010 Every Saturday we round-up the week in mobile applications bringing you news of the biggest new releases across all major platforms and a host of reviews from T3's App Chart. Let's crack on... APP NEWS: Falcon battle in your own backyard Hands up who hasn't dreamed of shooting down TIE Fighters from the Millennium Falcon? Well now you can, with a little more reality than your average sim. Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner uses the iPhone's camera lens to stage the battlefield meaning the skyline of your hometown or the comfort of your living room.   Auntie lands on the BlackBerry It's always nice to see technological institutions join forces, and they don't get much bigger than the BBC and BlackBerry. The iPlayer's arrival on RIM's smartphones is a long overdue bonus for the platform as it continues to chase down the iPhone and the iPlayer-less Android stable.   Reinventing the touchscreen keyboard You get the sense that if the keyboard was being reimagined for the sole purpose of use of touchscreen phones, then QWERTY wouldn't cut it. Enter the new 8pen keyboard app for Android which works on a completely different, if rather convoluted, principal. Check out the video and see for yourself   Free Windows 7 apps with LG WP7 fans who opt for the LG Optimus 7 apps will be glad to hear that the companies have hooked up to offer 10 free apps for the platform every 60 days. LG is promising a host of the most popular paid apps to be downloaded on a bi-monthly basis. That's nice of them.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ App of the Week | Reckless Racing There’s nothing like a bit of old-school racing to get the blood pumping on a morning commute T3 App Chart | Top 10 Android Apps | Reckless Racing Review ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   APP REVIEWS FROM THE T3 APP CHART: Reckless Racing: A five star Android game It's not too often that an Android app earns the hallowed five star award from T3, but Reckless Racing is well worth the accolade. With awesome 3D graphics, an excellent control system and plenty of courses for you to tear up, what's stopping you downloading right now?   Share pretty much anything, anywhere The Nokia Ovi Store is another platform which is flourishing lately, and the PIxelpipe sharing app is another step in the right direction. With over 110 sharing services at your command, including Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, YouTube and Photobucket, the web is your oyster. Read the review and download today for free.   Kik'in it old school Sure it's a bit like BlackBerry Messenger started making out with the rest of the smartphone world, but it's still a welcome addition to the App World. It's a pretty basic IM app, but great for keeping in touch with your non-BlackBerry owning pals. Check out Kik Messenger for BlackBerry today.   Link: T3 App Chart     This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Sony PS3 to beat Xbox in Christmas console wars? Posted: 06 Nov 2010 03:17 AM PDT Posted by Richard Wordsworth on Sat 6 Nov 2010 Sony's PlayStation Move looks forward to a very merry Christmas. Of the estimated 1.8 million new games consoles set to be picked up this Christmas, a whopping 41% (750,000 units) will be Sony PlayStation 3s, according to a survey by Kelkoo and GameVision Europe. Related links PlayStation Move to outsell Kinect's "limited control" PlayStation Move a 3D game-changer PlayStation Move shifts 1.5 million Xbox Kinect versus PlayStation Move Sony PlayStation Move review Xbox 360 Kinect review If true this will mark the first Christmas season since 2006 where the yuletide gaming landscape has not been dominated by Nintendo's motion-tracking Wii console, which is predicted to make up just 36% of this year's sales after having its family-friendly territory muscled into by Sony and Microsoft's own motion-control technologies - the PlayStation Move and Microsoft Kinect. Over two thirds (520,000) of PS3 sales are expected to be in the form of PS3 and PlayStation Move bundles.The PlayStation Move is also expected to outsell Microsoft Kinect by some 150,000 units in the run up to Christmas, with the hand-held controller-based Sony product tallying around 850,000 sales and the camera-based Kinect some 700,000. Picking up the PlayStation Move or Microsoft Kinect this Christmas? Don't forget to vote in this week's poll: Kinect vs. Move vs. Wii This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

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