Sony claims PSP Go is better than the iPhone
Sony's pocket-sized PSP Go is finally out in the UK this week, with SCE ditching the unpopular UMD disc format in preference of digital downloaded games from its online store.
And while Sony has come under fire for not making the entire PSP back catalogue available to PSP Go gamers, the new machine is certainly a looker and has the huge advantage over its bigger, older brethren in the PSP family in that it pretty much fits in most pockets.
And yet while some traditional retailers bemoan the fact that they cannot make money from downloads and that small (yet vocal) hardcore PSP gaming community mocks the fact that their favourite games are still only available on physical discs, Sony is sure to make a splash in the run-up to the busy Christmas gift-buying season with the new PSP Go.
Sony's Claire Backhouse, product manager for PSP in the UK is quick to point out the differences between the new PSP Go and PS3 Slim, telling GamesIndustry.biz: "the Slim is actually taking over from the old PS3, whereas with PSPgo we're not taking over from the PSP 3000, it's very much a console that's going to sit alongside the PSP 3000."
Movies, Facebook, Skype
Sony is aiming to take a slice of the older gaming market, those, "16 - 34 year olds... like iPhone users who watch films and want high quality downloadable games on the go... that suits their lifestyle."
As for non-games download plans for the PSP Go, the Sony exec admits that, while at launch they are "very much focusing on the gaming part of it... in the next couple of months you'll get other people that are interested in just general entertainment and things like Skyping - you can Skype on the console really easily - and going on the net, checking Facebook, that sort of thing."
Perhaps most controversially, while she admits that Apple's iPhone has opened up the casual "social gaming on the go market" Backhouse thinks that "PSPgo is...even better than an iPhone" when you consider the range of gaming and entertainment services on offer.
A bold claim indeed and one which only time and the ever-changing whims of the mass market consumer while bear out.
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CES 2010 highlights and coverage
Welcome to TechRadar's CES 2010 page, where we'll be hosting all our CES 2010 coverage when the show kicks off on January 7th. In the meantime, make a note of these important dates:
Key dates
Opening keynote: 6th January 2010 (Microsoft's Steve Ballmer)
Show dates: 7th January - 10th January
Free registration: closes October 1st 2009; costs $100 until January 2nd, and $200 on-site thereafter.
Contacts
Recent news
CES 2010: MSI's new touchscreen, Pine Trail powered Wind
CES 2010: iLounge snags Macworld exhibitors
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TalkTalk plans film rating system for broadband
TalkTalk has announced plans to implement a ratings scheme for broadband connections to give parents tighter control over their kids' online habits.
Charles Dunstone, CEO of TalkTalk, says the ratings would mean parents wouldn't need to install blockers on computers, thus making the whole process easier.
"We are working on introducing parental controls within our network, so your household can decide whether you want to be a U, 14 or 18 certificate or unclassified," he told the Financial Times.
Helping customers
"This is something that we are going to do anyway, as a service to our customers," he added. "But through doing it we can also help the content industry by blacklisting sites that have BitTorrent files on them."
The Government is keen to clamp down on online piracy in the UK, in a bid to stop the rising amount of illegal downloading.
However, talk of shutting off the internet accounts of persistent downloaders has angered a number of users, and moves such as this by TalkTalk would move the control back to the consumer.
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OnLive cloud gaming service launching 'winter'
The boss of cloud gaming company OnLive has said that the service is set to launch sometime this coming winter and that the service is already valued in the region of $500-$750 million.
OnLive CEO Steve Perlman has not specified an exact date for the final release to consumers, as the cloud gaming service is still in its beta testing phase.
Perlman has, however, hinted to VentureBeat, that the service – originally slated for a 2009 launch – may well slip into early 2010.
Goodbye gaming discs...
"Over the last decade, we've seen an enormous upheaval in the media business as the written word, photos, music, and video have been steadily moving away from physical media to online delivery," said the OnLive man on his blog.
"One major category that still remains largely based on physical discs is fast-response interactive media — in particular, video games. And, of course, OnLive's goal is to enable that last remaining transition."
US telecom giant, AT&T doesn't think so and Silicon Valley venture capital firm, Lauder Partners LLC have both handed over oodles more venture capital cash to OnLive.
This prompted games analyst Michael Pachter to comment: "It establishes Onlive as a real player. This is not just some goofy video game delivery company.''
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In Depth: Has Apple lost the plot?
2009 has been one of the trickiest years in Apple's recent history - lawsuits to the left and right, Steve Jobs' enforced hiatus and rumbling of discontent over the App Store and much, much more.
We're going to put forward the evidence for the prosecution and defence in TechRadar's kangaroo court.
Is Apple guilty of losing the plot? These arguments for the prosecution and defence can help you decide.
1. Mac clones
The prosecution
Apple is currently embroiled in a bitter courtroom battle with Psystar - a Mac clone maker which argues that the Mac operating system should be set free to run on any platform - and that anyone should be able to make a Mac, not just Apple.
PSYSTAR: When is a Mac not a Mac?
A free and fair market for Mac clones would deliver better value for money for consumers, and would make the Mac software available on a wider variety of computers – addressing demand among some PC users for a high quality, low cost alternative to Windows.
Apple would also benefit from opening up the Mac platform to third-parties. It would be able to grow market share for the Mac, it would spur innovation and competitiveness and would satisfy demand for cheap Macintosh computers, leaving Apple to retain its status as a premium computer maker.
The defence
Apple is not now, and never has been, a software company – it's a hardware company.
The software it makes, good as it is, is really a means to an end. Customers get hooked on the user experience and so buy the hardware – Mac, iPhone, iPod and so on.
In doing that Apple has been able to carve out a small, but growing niche for itself as a premium computer and consumer electronics maker. And it's very happy to keep on doing so. The last time it licensed Mac clones in the mid-1990s, it proved disastrous for the company – it leeched hardware sales away to lower cost rivals and was one of the reasons Apple nearly went to the wall.
If Psystar wins, it could well be the beginning of the end for Apple as a hardware company and everything than follows from that. Hardware companies like Dell may have expressed interest in Mac OS X in the past, but Apple's vertically integrated business model works very well – it doesn't have to support a bewildering variety of third-party and legacy hardware like Microsoft does.
It can deliver a complete platform where every component (hardware and software) has been designed to work well together. If you don't like it, don't buy a Mac. There are plenty of other PC makers out there.
2. The App Store
The prosecution
It's a mess. Apple appears to be making policy on the hoof, approving some apps, while denying others - the current row over Google Voice being a case in point. All of this would be avoidable if Apple stopped insisting on being a monopolistic gatekeeper and enabled anyone to develop software for the iPhone and iPod touch - and then let them sell those apps on the open market.
Instead, Apple insists on taking 30 per cent of anything developers make, and coming up with an arcane approvals process only it understands.
Apple uses open source when it suits its own business practices, but denies access to those who want to do the same. Result? A thriving hacking community that Apple has to play a pointless game of cat-and-mouse with.
The structure of the App Store also makes it difficult for developers to get their apps under customers' noses - many simply vanish without a trace unless you know to ask for it by name using the Search option.
The defence
Some of the arguments presented by the prosecution are fair, but let's look at it another way. From the moment the iPhone was launched in January 2007, Apple CEO Steve Jobs argued that the iPhone should be a 'closed' platform, chiefly so users wouldn't have to put up with badly programmed apps that stopped their phones from working properly.
Since then Apple has made several concessions to developer and consumer demand - first by opening up the iPhone to third-party web apps, and then by enabling developers that could be developed for the iPhone under a strict approvals process that tries to ensure standards, while delivering a good user experience.
ALL GO: Spotify is one of many third-party apps that Apple has approved for the iPhone
Apple didn't have to do this. The overwhelming success of the iPhone – and the enthusiasm of developers and customers for it has inevitably caused some problems, but Apple is learning fast.
Last week it approved 1,400 apps for use on the iPhone in a single day, and it has granted approval to apps that compete, in some cases, with its own business offerings.
This way of working has been so successful, it's already been copied by RIM with its BlackBerry store, Palm and Microsoft. Google's business model for Android is different. If you don't like the way Apple works, don't complain about it – go get a Google phone instead.
3. Build quality
The prosecution
Exploding iPhones. iPods and Macs that catch fire, dodgy marketing claims that can't be met by the real world demands upon the product.
Apple isn't the BMW or Mercedes or computer makers - some days its products would make a five-year-old blush. If the company continues to demand a premium for its products, it had better make damn sure its products are up to snuff. In a great many cases, it doesn't.
MACBROKE: Some MacBook Pros suffered a faulty graphics card
Apple is guilty of placing too much emphasis on the demands of its marketing and design arms, and not enough on quality engineering. Apple's obsession with secrecy also stops its products – both software and hardware – from being rigorously tested in the field, which is why you end up with problems – from blue screens of death on Leopard to oily palm marks and faulty video cards on MacBooks.
The defence
A lot of the claims about hardware 'failure' actually have dubious merit, which is why Apple investigates them. Firstly to establish that fraud isn't taking place; secondly to ensure that if there are real problems they can be investigated and a remedy found.
Where problems have been found in the past, Apple has issued recalls and fixed them for free, but often the problems aren't of Apple's making – remember the dodgy laptop batteries of a couple of years back? It affected a wide range of PC makers, not just Apple, and the problem was laid squarely at Sony's door.
It's also true to say that when you have a product as successful as the iPod, iPhone or even the Mac, there are inevitably going to be a few rogue examples that don't measure up – it's something all manufacturers have to deal with.
Apple has a 14-day returns policy, offers a free 1-year limited warranty and offers an extended 3-year warranty called AppleCare. All Apple products are subject to continuous assessment and improvement – which is why Apple's latest MacBook Pros offer a unibody enclosure, designed to make them more robust.
4. Innovation
The prosecution
The world's 'most innovative' company simply doesn't innovate any more. It's been two years since the launch of the iPhone, and all we've had since then are some unexceptional software and hardware updates.
TV FLOP: Apple TV hasn't been Apple's finest hour
In many cases Apple has actually fallen behind the market – it still doesn't offer a netbook or tablet PC, you can't buy a Mac with a built-in Blu-ray drive and even the iPhone has stalled – Apple still only offers one form factor, when surely it should have come up with a variety of different models – and at different price points by now.
The innovations it has introduced have flopped: Apple TV being a prime example. Even Microsoft has more interesting hardware these days – just take a look at Courier.
The defence
Wow. Let's take a look, shall we? Most companies would struggle to come up with one true innovation in a lifetime let alone several – Apple has the Mac, the iPod and the iPhone for starters.
Apple continues to lead, while other PC makers – hardware and software – follow. It has come up with a raft of innovative features in the last couple of years, from the unibody construction of the MacBook Pro, to Grand Central Dispatch and Open CL in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Snow Leopard also sets the stage for future OS innovations.
Apple has also had a hand in helping Intel develop a simplified, multi-protocol interface for high-def displays with Light Peak. There's also more to innovation than just being first – there's also being right. Apple didn't invent the portable MP3 player; its innovation was doing it better than everyone else. It didn't invent the smartphone, but the iPhone solves a lot of the problems rival smartphones created.
Apple argues that it's not interested in making a netbook, chiefly because it already has the iPhone – which is powerful, pocketable PC. It doesn't follow that Apple is completely immune to the idea – and there's plenty of evidence to suggest that it is prepping a consumer tablet PC for launch early next year. But it'll only do so when it can offer something truly innovative to users, and that it can charge a premium by doing so.
5. Security
The prosecution
Apple is complacent about security, despite increasing evidence that hackers are now targeting the Mac with malware, worms and other threats.
Its apparent security strength is more of a result of the Mac platform's obscurity than anything else. The Mac operating system still switches off the built-in firewall by default and the latest version – Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard – actually shipped with a vulnerable version of Adobe Flash that left Mac users who installed the software open to attack.
Additionally, the malware 'protection' Apple offers in Snow Leopard is laughably poor. It doesn't even address all the current threats to the Mac platform. Oh, and the iPhone's anti-phishing protection doesn't work.
The defence
Of course it's right that Apple should take malware threats seriously – and there's plenty of evidence it does.
It offers regular security updates for its operating system and associated software. It's actually taken a great deal of trouble in Snow Leopard to beef up security at the ground level; and to warn users against installing unverified applications.
Both the Mac and iPhone have nothing like the legions of hackers lined up against them that Windows has – Microsoft's own December 2008 security report showed that millions of PC worldwide are infected with malware.
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Resident Evil: Extinction movie being shot in 3D
Shooting has started on the next Resident Evil movie, which is set to star Milla Jovovich and be filmed in 3D and is currently being shot in Toronto, Canada.
The Czech beauty reprises her role as Alice, with Paul W.S. Anderson returning to the director's chair, shooting a script that he also wrote himself.
Zombie apocalypse 3D
A quick gander at IMDB informs us that in addition to Jovovich returning as the zombie-fighting heroine Alice, Ali Larter reprises her role as Claire Redfield from Resident Evil: Extinction and Spencer Locke, who played K-Mart in Extinction is also returning.
Wentworth Miller is set to play Chris Redfield , while Shawn Roberts will play the role of Alice's nemesis Wesker. Boris Kodjoe and Kim Coates have also been cast.
Paul WS Anderson shooting (his new wife) Milla in glorious 3-D. This is one game-to-movie we are now really looking forward to seeing next year!
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Nintendo Wii Fit Plus out in October
Wii Fit is perhaps the only form of physical exercise that many of us get these days, purely because – unlike going to the gym - it is fun and it is in our front room.
So this week's announcement that the new Wii Fit Plus UK release date is 30 October is a welcome one indeed, particularly if you are planning on getting in shape before the heavy-drinking and over-eating session that is the month of December!
Wii Fit Plus packs in 15 new balance games and six new strength-training and yoga games, along with the option to customise your exercise routines to work on specific parts of your body. Like that belly you've been meaning to flatten out for the last ten years...
"For example, Lifestyle routine gives you exercise combinations to help train muscles and boost flexibility or even warm your hands and feet to ease tension," Nintendo informs us. "In Health routines you can work your tummy and fat burn, Youth routines help you train body and mind and work your lower body."
Daily calorimeter check
The game also has a calorimeter to help you keep up with your daily progress which cleverly "estimates the amount of oxygen used by the body during physical activity and so estimates your calories burned on each activity during gameplay".
Nintendo claims that a person with a 70kg body weight carrying out the games' Hula Hoop exercise for half an hour burns off the equivalent of 140kcal.
Multiplayer options are also included, with the option for up to eight players to compete against one another in the balance and training games, or in running across the virtual floating platforms of the obstacle course, or in just having a lark by throwing snowballs at your mates or watching them flap their arms to land a hilarious chicken character as close to a series of targets as possible.
Roll on Christmas!
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Review: LG 22LU4000
With its dazzlingly glossy white finish, 'glittery' black rear end, funky desktop stand and seductive combination of gentle curves and dramatic angles, this 22-inch LG set really is a sight for sore eyes.
Thankfully the 22LU4000's beauty is more than just skin deep. Its roster of connections includes two Scarts, two HDMIs, and a PC input. In an ideal world, the provided USB port would play JPEGs and MP3s rather than just being for 'service' use, but when is the world ever ideal?
The 22LU4000's HD Ready panel, meanwhile, claims a contrast ratio of 8,000:1 that's streets ahead of most rival small screen TVs. And pictures should further benefit from the set's unexpected carriage of LG's XD Engine video processing system, designed to boost sharpness, contrast, motion handling and colour response.
Yet more good news finds the TV providing far more picture tweaks than most people will ever need.
Examples of the less common stuff include a gamma adjustment, a black level booster, a dynamic colour processor, and even the facility to shift to a Wide Colour Gamut if the standard colour setting isn't bold enough for you.
Despite having so many features, though, the 22LU4000 remains a doddle to use thanks to some attractive and clear onscreen menus, plus an unusual Picture Wizard system that helps you calibrate your image settings via a series of test signals.
Performance
Immediately impressing us is the image's clarity, in terms both of the detail reproduced with HD sources, and the lack of motion blur.
The 22LU4000's black level response is in a different league to that of most small televisions, too, delivering dark scenes with a sense of genuine depth and naturalism.
The lack of unwanted greyness in the picture also helps the television produce decently vibrant colours, given added appeal by some subtle blends and natural tones.
Or at least, that's the case with high-definition material. When it comes to standard-definition content, colours start to look less natural and a touch softer than we'd ideally like, but then that's a common failing of Freeview.
Even at their worst, though, the 22LU4000's pictures are never less than watchable. And when they're at their best, this set is undoubtedly one of the best small screen picture performers around.
It's a pity, then, that its sound is so flimsy. The underpowered speakers, hidden away somewhere in the cutesy bodywork, struggle to make The Jeremy Kyle Show sound convincing, never mind a decent action movie soundtrack.
Related Links
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Review: Cello C1973F
To call the C1973F a mere TV seems rather unfair. The fact that it can show telly broadcasts is just the start of its talents.
A slot on its top, for instance, turns out to be a built-in docking station for all types of iPod and iPhone, enabling you to play stored music, video and pictures through the set while also charging the device. You can even control it via the television's remote control and onscreen menus.
Meanwhile, another slot down the TV's right side can accept DVD, CD, CD-R/-RW, HD-CD, SVCD and VCD discs, smoothly pulling them in as soon as a disc is presented.
The C1973F is thus essentially a one-stop multimedia home entertainment centre that's potentially perfect for the teenage market or for older folk.
Despite its modest price tag, the set hasn't skimped on resolution, with 1,440 x 900 pixels crammed into its 19in screen. This equates to a PC-focused 16:10 aspect ratio, rather than the normal 16:9 one used for widescreen video, but the TV does well at tweaking 16:9 images so that they don't look excessively trimmed or distorted.
So far, so good, but things start going pear-shaped with the TV's onscreen menus, which feature text so small that you'll struggle to read it from more than a metre or so away. This is particularly annoying when you're trying to browse your iPod content.
The set's connections aren't perfect either, since while you do get an HDMI and a dedicated PC port, you don't get a USB or any component video inputs – the latter absentee calling into question the set's claims to HD Ready status.
Performance
Picture performance is pretty uninspiring. Particularly galling is the backlight seepage along the top and bottom edges of the picture that leaves a grey, misty line of between 1cm and 2.5cm wide over any dark content.
Black levels generally are a little foggy, too, and colours lack sparkle and suffer a few rogue tones. There's evidence of motion blur during fast-moving footage, too, and the Cello doesn't have the sharpness to really highlight the differences between HD and standard def.
The C1973 isn't bad at rescaling SD pictures cleanly to fit its native resolution, though. While it's merely average in every other picture department, this is arguably good enough to satisfy the sort of 'utility' buyer likely to want a set with an integral DVD and iPod dock.
The same situation applies to the sound. For while it lacks the bass and range to make its musical sources sound particularly enjoyable, it is at least functional.
Related Links
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Facebook Connect adds website translation tool
Facebook has added a ground-breaking new translation application to Facebook Connect – making it easier than ever before to change the language of a website.
Using a solution developed in-house which quickly helped the social-networking site change the language settings on Facebook, the Translations application has now been rolled as a free tool for any developer who fancies making their website that little bit more bilingual.
Web driven by people
The reasons for adopting this tool are myriad: it could be used for tourist boards and travel sites, basically anybody who wants to attract non-English speaking visitors to their website.
Speaking about the tool, Cat Lee of Facebook said: "we're excited to see what you can do with this tool. As a technology and platform company, we believe services like this can serve as building blocks for a web driven by people, where you can connect with anyone or anything you care about, anywhere you choose and now in many different languages."
So, when we were all laughing/frowning at Facebook adding English (pirate) and more recently English (upside down), it seems the site was actually showing off how effective its Translations tools is.
Demo available
If you are a website developer and want to try the tool out, Facebook has issued a handy demo of how the app will work. Be warned, though: you will have to be handy with HTML to use the tool
Translations uses XFML – Facebook's own mark up language, which is an extension of HTML. Essentially this means, that when you have created a translated version of your website, it will be accessible to users after they log into Facebook Connect.
The Translations for Facebook Connect app is to be announced officially at this year's Future of Web Apps (FOWA) conference in London.
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Thermaltake Level 10 concept PC case unboxed
Thermaltake's announcement that they would be bringing a PC case to market that completely changed the way that computer chassis worked certainly caught the attention of modders worldwide, and now Maximum PC has got its hands on the Level 10 concept.
Thermaltake's design – in conjunction with BMW designworks – brings a central pillar with individual compartments for the various components.
MaximumPC – one of Future Publishing's US sites – got its mitts on the new design this week, and managed to do a complete unboxing of the product.
"As you can see, the production Level 10 is nearly identical to the concept shots we've seen earlier," say MaximumPC
"Each compartment on the Level 10 has its own ventilation. The large panels on the lower left cover the motherboard mount, PCI-E cards, GPUs, and so forth.
"The six slots on the right are hot-swap SATA bays, connected to a large vertical heatsink. The bays have mounts for 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch drives. The top right box holds three optical drives, and the upper left box holds the power supply."
You can find out more – and see a whole host of piccies over at MaximumPC. We're hoping our one is in the post…
Via MaximumPC
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In Depth: 8 bits of everyday tech we won't use in a decade
Who'd have thought a decade ago that portable music wouldn't mean a cassette Walkman or Discman? Or that the VCR would be all but obsolete? That nobody would use fax (or even dial-up modems) any more? Or CRT?
An awful lot has changed over the last 10 years, but what technology of today will become redundant over the next decade?
We got our future-gazing hat on and came up with these eight. Don't agree? Let us know in the comments below.
1. Keyboard and mouse
How quaint! The keyboard and mouse you use every day will not exist in ten years, replaced by highly-detailed touch interfaces – think: the iPhone on a big screen – multi-touch systems that support highly complex gestures, such as circling a group of photos, tossing them around, and clicking to remove smudges.
As Jon Peddie, a consumer analyst, notes, "you" will become the interface. The computer will respond to your movements, eye-tracking, head gestures, and -- one day – your very thoughts.
2. Public Wi-Fi
802.11n may have just been ratified (finally), but it's probably too late. WiMax networks that run in major cities will negate the need for a local hotspot.
More importantly, as cities develop smart grids that allow citizens to see their power usage in real-time, electric cars report mileage and traffic info over wireless, and streaming video systems replace telephone networks, a widespread wireless network won't just be an emerging tech idea – it will be a requirement.
3. Landline phone
Pundits have predicted the death of the landline phone for years, but – according to noted analyst Michael Gartenberg – in ten years they won't exist anymore, mostly because smartphones will finally take over.
Companies have already switched almost entirely to IP based telephony, so an analog line to the home will become a distant memory. Jon Peddie says even the cell phone might not exist in ten years, replaced by a personal heads-up display that actually works and doesn't make you feel sick – tied into the cloud, snapping a live stream of photos and videos.
4. Optical discs
It's amazing that current notebooks and desktops come with an optical drive, and that we're still buying Blu-ray discs. Yet, we can't blame Microsoft and Sony.
It's really the pathetic speed of broadband, running only about 3-5Mbps in most areas. In the future, more ubiquitous fiber networks – even in rural areas – will make broadband faster.
Companies such as Akamai and Limelight are figuring out how to route traffic more effectively, and we're relying more and more on web apps. The result: software video distribution networks will finally negate the need for optical discs.
5. Standard game controllers
The Xbox 360 controller you use today will morph into something more radical, a combination of the Nintendo Wiimote with accelerometer sensors, video systems that scan your body movements (ala Microsoft's Project Natal), and various hardware add-ons such as Guitar Hero controllers and nunchucks.
Gaming will change from a singular activity with one controller to group gaming where the console senses who is in the room and lets them control more fluid interfaces.
6. Desktop PCs
All hail the mighty desktop! Your reign is coming to an end. OK, for engineers, developers, video production artists, and gamers, maybe not. For most computer users, the desktop already is dead, according to IDC reports showing that desktop sales have stagnated and netbooks and notebook sales are rising fast.
The reason: Intel and AMD processors and graphics chipsets in notebooks can now compete with desktop equivalents. And, portability is no longer just a market segment – every computer user has realised the benefits.
Gartenberg claims even the notebook has a precarious love affair and will be replaced by an as-yet-unknown information appliance, some kind of morph between a netbook, booklet, smartphone, and notebook.
7. Operating systems
For the hardcore computer science gurus, yes – an OS must always exist to manage memory and core functions. Yet, the bloatware of today will be replaced by an extremely thin OS that maybe doesn't have a name, and certainly is not run by a commercial entity.
Instead, computing will be pervasive, says Peddie, and hard to pin down to just one OS running on an LCD screen. "OSes will vanish and we'll have a monolithic browser that manages everything," he says. "We talk to it, it sees us and recognises our moods, clothes, and those around us to deliver the appropriate information."
8. Blogging
One reason blogging, and micro-blogging on Twitter, has become so popular has to do with the one-way nature of web communications. We post our thoughts, people read them.
In ten years, the web will become much more interactive, as proven by services such as Qik.com (where you can stream live photos and video) and Google Wave, which allows you to see what someone is typing. Also, crowd-sourcing will replace the pundits (ahem) and lead to better overall information sharing.
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Google Wave beta invites sent out
Google will be sending out 100,000 invites to its social media service Google Wave this afternoon, allowing people to trial one if its highest profile new arrivals.
The invites will be sent out to four broad groups; those that registered for the service back when it was announced, the developers who helped test it, some of Google's paying customers and, interestingly, those that are invited by the people who have been brought into the scheme. Each recipient will also be able to invite more people, so the total number will be over 100,000.
Anthony House, Head of Communications and Public Affairs at Google, told TechRadar what was going on.
"There's a steep learning curve on usage," he explains. "It'll be interesting to see how it works with consumers, because right now it's being tested by developers and Google employees.
"Most people use it like email – people write back or start writing back within messages. But because of the way Wave is architected, and because it's collaborative and it doesn't require you to do things at the same time, you can actually start using it in different ways."
"The functionality [of Wave] really lends itself to doing things that are asynchronous and so you end up creating tools that people can use in the ways they can't use email. One example is the RSVP widget."
Mobile waving
House says the idea of Wave is that everything is accessible through a flexible user interface and there's already a mobile version of it.
"I've started saying that I'm Waving at someone... it seems like a convenient verb to use," he jokes.
"The challenge is that there's so much going on at any one time – how do you communicate it to the user in a simple interface. Wee can close this and widen out the wave itself, but the idea is that you should be able to pop things out like you pop out your Gmail windows."
"Essentially because people are editing a single document and because it's both a process and an artefact, the way you get to what you get to is important but so too is what you end up with."
"You interact with a Wave in some form between an email and a shared document. But it ends up becoming more useful than both.
"The challenge I've found is what you then do with Waves. So you could imagine that we could all collaborate in some kind of document.
"The challenge going forward is how to have access permissions and versions that allow you to both collaborate and [allow others in] without ending up with 30,000 different Waves."
"Right now there are lots of things we built ourselves that you can implement in Wave. It essentially brings your Twitter into your Inbox so whenever someone tweets it pops up as an unread message."
What does access bring?
So what is Google planning to give people access to Wave?
"The plan with Wave right now is that we're expanding access to 100,000 people but it will still very much be a preview so for example the Insert gadget button doesn't work right now."
The service is currently moving from its testing area (wavesandboxes.com) to its permanent home (wave.google.com). "It won't just be 100,000 invites because it's not very useful if you don't have other people to do it with," he explains – 100,000 people may get 10 each, for example.
"The other interesting thing I see from Wave is that the goal is to create new platforms and to see whether new platforms will flourish or not rather than just building a product.
"For things like Wave that's obviously important since it's a communications platform and we don't expect that everyone who wants to use a Google product. It's important that it's open source... for it to be useful.
"The same tendency towards platforms is true to a lesser extent in Chrome, but certainly in Android."
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Review: Sony Bravia VPL-HW15
It's typical of Sony to shun the accepted wisdom of LCD and DLP projection and come up with its own – admittedly more expensive – technology. The good news is that its latest wave of sublime SXRD projectors pushes the picture quality to the next level by doubling the claimed contrast ratio and creating some of the darkest black levels in the business.
Features
Sony's sequel looks exactly like the outgoing HW10 that we reviewed so favourably, but its improved automatic iris and shortened light path promise dramatic increases in contrast and black levels
Under the shiny, 'cosmic black' hood lurks the unique SXRD chipset and a powerful 200W lamp, that's bright enough for curtains-open viewing. There's also horizontal and vertical lens shift, which enables you to position the image precisely on the screen by moving the optics, rather than by digital keystone correction.
As you might have guessed from the Bravia branding, this projector shares some of the features you'll find on Sony's TVs including the Bravia Engine 2 processor, which smoothes out and enhances the image before it hits the screen.
Ease of use
Being a member of the Bravia family means it's as easy to operate as the TVs. The long 'candy bar' remote is backlit, and offers shortcuts that enable you to alter the picture without delving into the onscreen menu. The user interface isn't the excellent Xross Media Bar from the PlayStation division sadly, but it's almost as accessible.
The new motorised iris is automatic and you can just hear it adjusting the aperture to suit the brightness of what's on screen. But don't worry, this is one of the quietest projectors we've heard for a while. Unlike the more expensive HW85, the lens isn't motorised, so you have to twist the large collars to correct the zoom and focus.
You can adjust the colour temperature and brightness, for example, as much as you like, while the three preset keys on the remote enable you to save your best efforts to suit a trio of viewing scenarios.
Picture
With the image calibrated, you immediately notice the clear cut blacks and whites and the impressive contrast in between.
The Advanced Iris system is more sensitive to small areas of white on a dark background, so it can deliver improved tone across the colour scale in dark scenes. In fact, Sony claims the contrast ratio has doubled on the previous model and it certainly performs much better in a head-to-head comparison. White clouds in a blue sky, for example, look as if they have been given the Persil treatment.
The Blu-ray release of Valkyrie provides an excellent example at the other end of the spectrum, by showing just how black the officer's jack boots can look.
Much of the film consists of uniformed Nazis standing around in dimly lit offices, which presents a big challenge for most projectors, but with its high contrast and impressive grey scaling, the Sony manages to pick out the lines of lapels and pockets against grey jackets.
To really see what this projector can do though, fast forward to the scene where Tom Cruise's character confronts one of the Nazi generals in the gentleman's rest room. The contrasting black and white dأ©cor is superbly contrasted.
Colours are warm and natural rather than vivid, so that when the camera pans across Nazi flags, the red insignia is striking, but by no means lurid. DLP projectors tend to achieve a slightly bolder palette, but you couldn't accuse the HW15 of looking washed out.
The other striking aspect of this picture is its almost complete lack of visible image structure. You would expect to see individual pixels if you peer closely at a 100in screen, but not here. Put simply, SXRD uses radical advancements in manufacture: two million closely-packed pixels on a tiny chip give you a smooth, cinematic image.
Value
The only catch is that this technology still carries something of a premium, so while DLP and LCD projectors are tumbling in price, Sony's projectors are looking a little pricey. Clearly though, there are advantages and on contrast and black and white levels, this is the mid-priced projector to beat.
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Review: Panasonic DMR-BS750 Blu-ray recorder
Panasonic's DMR-BS750 is arguably the most sophisticated entertainment hub available in the UK.
Features
The BS750's capabilities include: twin Freesat tuners; DVD and hard disk recording; Profile 2.0 playback and compatibility with MP3s, JPEGs, DV, AVCHD, DivX files and audio CDs.
An Ethernet connection that enables BD Live playback, also allows ripped CDs to be named via Gracenote and it can access internet widgets, such as YouTube and Picasa. But the jewel in the crown is the DMR-BS750's ability to record HD on to Blu-ray. Or is it?
Not too long ago the world would have gone bananas for a machine that could make broadcast-quality recordings onto optical discs. Now, video tape is a fast-fading memory and even the role of DVD as an archiving medium is diminishing.
And yet if recording HD on to Blu-ray were as simple as recording everything that's broadcast in HD, the case for a Blu-ray recorder would be highly compelling.
With just two HD channels on Freesat (compared with more than 30 on Sky) there isn't the surplus of must-keep content that there should be. If ITV's HD output were greater than the paltry smattering of programmes it currently offers, the broadcaster's anti-copy measures would be a serious spanner in the works.
You can still record the likes of The Bill onto the hard disk in HD and down-convert to standard definition onto DVD and, of course, you can dub your AVCHD camcorder recordings to Blu-ray. However, Freesat desperately needs more HD channels, particularly as HD versions of the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and five will start to feature on Freeview soon.
While it's no work of art, at least the unit is inoffensive to look at. The fascia drops down to reveal an SD card slot plus USB, DV, S-video, composite and stereo audio inputs.
An LCD display panel uses large digits to show the channel number (but not the name), while there's a red recording light for each Freesat tuner.
The most notable rear connections are the HDMI and Ethernet, but there's no built-in audio decoder and hence no multichannel analogue audio outputs. Nor can it be plumbed into a home network via the Ethernet; all external files have to be fed in using memory cards or discs.
Ease of Use
Given the multitude of functions, Panasonic has done a commendable job with the menu system which is intuitive and graphically pleasing. The most grating niggle probably remains the minor delay that sometimes occurs when switching between some functions, notably when recording is involved.
Recording from Freesat is a cinch, with automatic programme tracking ensuring that over-running shows are fully recorded. Loading Blu-ray discs is a painfully slow process, but you can watch movies at 1080p 24fps, while DVDs can be upscaled, too.
Picture
High-definition recordings, retaining their studio-like quality on the hard disk, look every bit as sensational as you'd expect. The biggest test though is the quality of Blu-ray recordings and an archive recording of The Tudors shows just how amazing the system can be.
Every nuance of the splendid costume drama is beautifully preserved for good on our own optical disc. Even compressing the file using the lower quality HL mode yields excellent results, but take note: there's no guarantee that finalised discs will play in other brands of deck.
When recording onto DVD, or recording from external sources via the AV inputs, you have to use the regular XP, SP, LP and EP modes. The DMR-BS750 does an exemplary job with standard-def recording, which doesn't have to be made onto DVD.
Blu-ray's high capacity means that it can be used to store large amounts of SD material, about five times as much as a DVD on a 25GB BD-R, or 10 times on a 50GB disc. BD images are as good as you would expect from a top-end deck, as Panasonic's P4HD engine and PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus pay rich dividends.
Top-notch movie fodder such as Watchmen provides an excellent test of a player's black level capabilities with its heavy, dark shadows. These are fantastically rendered in all their inky intensity. Whatever the light level, detail and clarity are so well realised that the movie could be three-dimensional.
Sound
The DMR-BS750 doesn't fall down on the audio front, either. Its high-quality sound components do a fine job with stereo CDs and MP3/LPCM audio from the hard disk, and it can output DTS HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD as a bitstream or convert them into PCM.
This means you can get immaculate multichannel sound using an HDMI-equipped amplifier, although the provision of only one HDMI could prove problematic. Pleasingly, none of the subtlety of Watchmen's DTS-HD Master Audio codec is lost as some highly effective audio imaging complements a hefty LFE channel.
Value
The DMR-BS750 is the UK's most affordable Blu-ray recorder with its sibling, the آ£1,000 flagship DMR-BS850 doubling the BS750's 250GB hard disk to 500GB.
Given that it's the first deck of its kind and is an excellent product, the آ£900 tag doesn't seem overblown, but the lack of hi-def content on Freesat and uncertainty over copy restrictions of any future HD channels, mean it's designed for a market that barely exists yet.
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Samsung moves to fix fatal i7500 Galaxy flaws
Samsung has released a new firmware update for its i7500 Android Galaxy, helping to fix some of the inherent problems.
The new device has been roundly panned by reviewers as the battery life is woefully short, with an annoying lock system putting many off purchase.
However, the new I7500XXII5_VIAII5 firmware (say that three times fast) will apparently sort out the battery life and 'bring stability' to the phone.
Unlocking the problems
The lock screen will apparently also be reduced from around a minute (we're exaggerating, but the phone very much frustrated us in our review) to under 0.5 seconds.
And to make it look like it's not just fixing these problems, Samsung has also altered the compass settings to work more effectively with Google Maps and Sky Maps.
The update is available for users directly from PC software that comes with the phone, so we'll be testing it out later today and updating our review if the problems actually are sorted.
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Google aiming to solve hybrid car problem
Google has said it's working on software to solve the problem of hybrid cars overloading the power grid when the technology reaches a larger number of people.
The current scenario sees a limited number of people plugging in their hybrid cars, but Dan Reicher, Google's director of Climate Change and Energy Initiatives told an industry conference that the company is anticipating a shift.
"We got to be careful how we manage these things," he said, according to Reuters. "On a hot day in July when 5 million Californians come home, you don't want them all plugging in at the same moment."
Managing power
Google is working on software that would allow the consumption of such power to be managed as it could have a disastrous effect on the electricity supply infrastructure.
Reicher posited that in exchange for charge being switched off at the critical moment, users would receive a credit from the power supplier.
Another option the company is testing is using the plugged in cars as back-up power reservoirs, so at high consumption times they could actually transfer power back to the grid to help maintain smooth flow.
A number of brands, such as Samsung, Toshiba and VW are investing in hybrid technology for cars, and it looks set to become a more popular form of automotive transport in the near future.
These plans might look like Google being philanthropic, but we all know what the internet search giant is up to with a scheme like this: powering flying cars. We're onto you, Google.
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Ballmer takes آ£47k pay cut as MS sales fall
Steve Ballmer has taken a pay cut from Microsoft this year as the company posted its first ever fall in yearly sales.
The CEO has seen his salary fall from $1,350,834 (آ£847,289) to $1,276,627 (آ£800,744) in the last year, the result of a $100,000 reduction in bonuses.
His basic salary of $665,833 was actually up from the previous year, although Microsoft has said it will be freezing salaries for the financial year in 2010.
Declined compensation
To be fair to Ballmer, he declined compensation from his shares, which are worth around $10 billion (آ£6.3 billion), while Microsoft only said it was 'lowering' the amount it gave out.
According to Reuters, Microsoft's annual revenue dropped as much as nine per cent, in the 2009 financial year, falling to آ£12.8 billion and shares slipping 13.6 per cent in the same year.
Microsoft will be looking for a strong recovery through sales of Windows 7 in 2010, coupled with a thawing in the economic climate. Other areas of development for the company, including Windows Mobile 7 and the Zune HD, will also be looked at as game-changing options for the company as it looks to return to previous revenue levels.
And of course, there's always a chance Ballmer could turn up at CES 2010 and do another monkey dance, although this time he might charge to top up his salary.
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Britain urged to retune Freeview boxes today
Britain is being urged to retune it Freeview boxes on September 30, as changes are made to reorganise the platform and pave the way for the likes of Freeview HD.
From lunchtime onwards, people should retune their boxes (which will probably be a simple as clicking a button) in order to keep receiving Five and some other digital channels.
The changes are being brought so that Five is as available as the other major terrestrial channels in the UK and also as a major reorganisation ahead of the forthcoming roll out of Freeview HD.
Website
A special website at http://www.tvretune.co.uk has been set up to explain why and how you should go through the process.
"On Wednesday 30 September improvements are being made to the Freeview service to pave the way for the digital TV switchover," explains the site.
"You will need to re-tune your Freeview TV or box (including BT Vision and Top Up TV) from lunchtime onwards to ensure you continue to receive your available channels, including Channel Five."
There is also a handy list of manufacturers helplines if you run into trouble.
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Disney launches its first digital books for kids
Disney has opened its doors to digital children's books for the first time, marking a new era for the Mouse House in terms of how it distributes its classic tales.
The website, www.disneydigitalbooks.com officially launched today, with the onus very much being on browser-based reading.
Instead of utilising the current influx of e-readers, kids and adults will have to log on to the website and choose from the current 500 titles that are on offer.
Subscription service
Disney is certainly pushing the interactivity of the website. Each book will have sound effects, and there's even the option to hear words pronounced – great for younger kids who may be still learning to read.
All this technology comes at a price, though, with a monthly subscription to the service costing $8.95 (around آ£5.50). When you sign up, though, you will get seven books for free, including an interactive 'look and listen' book.
And if the kids are fed up with the stories, they can create their own with the in-built story builder.
Find out more by logging on to www.disneydigitalbooks.com.
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In Depth: 8 awesome augmented reality apps for iPhone
Augmented reality on the iPhone is really taking off. A load of apps have already surfaced on Apple's App Store, while many more are in the pipeline.
The reason? Everybody was waiting. Waiting for Apple to update the iPhone software to 3.1. That gives developers the ability to lay data over the camera viewer, and these apps can take full advantage of this new capability.
However, you will need an iPhone 3GS with its extra graphics grunt to take advantage of these apps - the old-skool hardware in the 3G just won't do. Right, on with the list. And we've even got video of all the apps in action, too.
1. Bionic Eye
By Presselite, this clever app makes use of the iPhone's camera to bring alive the area you are in like never before. It offers up a whole host of visual reference points (10,000 if you live in the US) like your nearest fast-food chain, coffee shop or underground stop, all with 360-degree functionality. It's available now from the App Store – check out our hands-on.
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2. TwittARound
This cool app isn't available from the UK App Store as yet, but it sure looks like fun, if limited in usefulness – you can 'see' the direction and distance of people currently tweeting. Pretty clever stuff – this video is definitely worth a peek.
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3. SREngine
Just at the prototype stage, this app is designed to recognise objects, such as the front of a house, shop or something on the street. The application can then offer you different actions depending on the type of object. For example, point the iPhone at a shop and it will tell you what it sells and give you its phone number.
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4. Nearest Tube
Acrossair, the dev behind the TVGuide.co.uk app, has produced various apps for underground systems in different cities. Nearest Tube is a آ£1.19 app for Londoners to see the direction of tube stations around them. On loading the app, you will see the Tube lines displayed in their respective colours and holding the phone up will show you the distance to the station and what lines they serve. Other cities are available, while the company also produces Nearest Places for the same price, enabling you to locate places of interest such as coffee houses, bars or banks.
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5. TAT Augmented ID
This one is very cool. In fact, it's our favourite. It utilises the clever Flickr face recognition tech from the guys at Polar Rose to recognise a face and surround them with their social networking profiles from sites like Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm. Really great stuff - though probably not great for anybody trying to keep their identity secret.
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6. Worksnug
This mobile working application from Worksnug uses the iPhone 3GS compass, camera and GPS to give you information about the best public places to park your laptop and work. The forthcoming app will overlay information about venues such as coffee houses, including a score based on availability of Wi-Fi, power sockets and even the quality of the coffee. Richard Leyland, founder of Worksnug, even told TechRadar that he wants it to be free. It'll launch in London first with San Francisco and other cities to follow.
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7. ARf
A prototype that's been around for a while, this augmented reality pet game enables you to hover your iPhone above specific cards and objects to do different things with your pet. Limited in use, but interesting nonetheless.
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8. Wikitude AR Travel Guide
Not yet available on iPhone, but currently on Android, the Wikitude AR mobile travel guide enables you to search for Wikipedia entries near your current location and show them on your screen as you pan around. Not quite as useful as being able to see the location of a nearby coffee house, but still worthwhile.
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Exclusive: Kaspersky: Security Essentials to impact malware market
Kaspersky's David Emm has admitted that Microsoft's free Security Essentials package will have a big effect on the anti-malware market but insisted that there is still room for companies to produce quality security software.
Microsoft Security Essentials is likely to have a huge impact, allowing people to install a free piece of software which will provide top-level security against malware such as viruses and Trojans.
This is likely to pinch the market for traditional PC Security companies such as Kaspersky, but Emm is upbeat about the new arrival and insists that people will still look for added functionality.
Not naive
"It would be naأ¯ve to say it doesn't have any implications," said Emm. "But it will depend, I think, on how significant the impact will be.
"We're not immediately concerned; if you look at the developments in the last 10 years or more in anti-virus software it has gone through several iterations.
"These days, protection for consumers is a lot more than merely signature recognition. It is a lot more than strictly anti-virus (AV), a specific AV offering doesn't encompass all of that and clearly there is still a market place for other people."
Beneficial
Emm is broadly supportive of Microsoft's decision to try to allow developing nations protection from malware – and therefore stamping out some of the serious viruses before they have time to propagate.
"One of [Microsoft's] aims was to put a product specifically into developing markets amd one of the key reasons for that is that there are areas around globe where epidemics can get a foothold
"Microsoft is saying that if they can get the product in on that market then maybe we can help out in the places where the malware bubbles up. It can only be beneficial.
"I don't see it as closing avenues for vendors. It might impact on sales of the purely AV portion and there is less scope to sell a vanilla AV product but I would see it as a positive thing and not one that will have an impact on security software."
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In Depth: Can soundbars challenge 5.1 surround sound?
Endless reams of untidy cabling are a mainstay of most multispeaker sound systems, whether they're 5.1 or the more space-hungry 7.1 specifications.
These setups aren't ideal for anybody without a capacious lounge that features a pretty standard layout.
Unfortunately, the whims of modern architecture mean that stereotypical retail showroom interiors are few and far between, making setting up surround sound systems accurately a difficult issue.
To get round this, manufacturers produced soundbars – devices incorporating five channels into one bar that can be placed above or below a television.
Many consumer electronics makers have spied the emerging market for clutter-free speaker solutions and jumped on the soundbar production bandwagon. There are two main solutions on offer.
The cheaper option simply provides stereo sound, which offers a clearer and more defined alternative to your television's standard built-in speaker.
These models are generally active rather than passive, which means that the amplification unit makes up a portion of the device's interior. As a result, there's no need for a separate receiver or amp, and you'll reap the rewards of improved sound in an eye-catching, streamlined setup.
More expensive soundbars dole out engaging aural effects with the sole intention of placing you in the centre of the on-screen action, whether you're watching a film or playing a game. We'll be focusing on a soundbar with a virtual surround sound feature-set here.
Surround yourself
The downside of their compact size is that soundbars are only able to offer frequencies at the higher end of the audio spectrum. The cabinets are simply too small to produce full bass. For a more complete full-range of sound, an additional sub-woofer is required.
While most products are sold without a sub, some do include one as part of the package. However, manufacturers don't just bundle an array of tweeters into the device's casing haphazardly. No, they're cleverly engineered so that the loudspeakers combine to give you the impression of an all-encompassing auditory envelopment.
Although the soundbar is more convenient for use within a compact room than a normal surround sound system, it still requires some form of uniformity in the layout. The devices are at their best performance-wise in a square room where the rear wall is closely behind the back of the sofa you're parked on. The system then beams sound around the room and deflects it off walls to create virtual surround sound.
In addition to this beaming, a more complicated method that harnesses some of the fundamentals in psychoacoustics (the study of how our ears perceive sound) is employed.
Tiny adjustments to volume, time difference and frequency mean soundbars can create effects that equate to noise sounding like it derives from a different direction. For example, when a sound originates on the right, it's louder in the right ear.
Our brains are able to work out where the sound comes from by the delay in it arriving at our left ear. The time it takes to travel the width of our skull is mere thousandths of a second, but it's enough. The psychoacoustics employed by soundbars simulate exactly this.
One of the reasons that we're able to pick out sounds emanating from the rear is that the outer-most part of the ear filters out a selection of frequencies and decreases the volume from sounds that are behind us.
When the integrated sound-processing encased in many soundbars removes those frequencies and also lowers the volume slightly, our brains are fooled into believing the sound is coming from behind.
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Samsung's unveils 12MP phone with 3x optical zoom
Samsung has upped the cameraphone stakes again by releasing the SCH-W880, a 12MP cameraphone with a 3x optical zoom.
The new phone is only going to be released in South Korea (where it will also have the crazy title of Anycall AMOLED 12M) despite having GSM capabilities, which are only for when users are roaming the globe
However, GSM Arena has published shots of a very similar device intended for other regions, including Europe, called the M8920. This is very similar to the W880, except it packs Wi-Fi and GPS.
HD video too
The phone in both guises has a 3.3-inch OLED screen, the aforementioned camera (but also with HD video recording at a very slick 30 fps and a double LED / Xenon flash) and a 1100mAh battery, which may struggle a little should you get all camera-heavy with the phone.
Essentially, it's as much camera as it is phone, and it isn't a smartphone either, just Samsung's proprietary OS with the standard widget-based TouchWiz on top.
Other than that, we've no idea on a UK release date, nor what sort of price it will carry.
However, given the Pixon12 was well over آ£500 at launch we wouldn't expect anything much less than that with all the extra technology, and there's a good chance we'll get a look at it at CES 2010.
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