Sony outs new single-lens 3D camera
Staying true to its 3D word, Sony has created a revolutionary new camera, called the HFR Comfort-3D, which allows the recording of 3D images using just a single lens.
This is a breakthrough, as it may mean that viewers may be able to watch the same piece of footage in both 3D and 2D, giving the format more universal appeal.
The new imaging system works by using two separate image sensors and one lens. Essentially footage is recorded through the one lens, then the images are split via mirrors to two CMOS sensors – one which captures what the left eye will see and one which the right eye will see.
Smooth shooter
In a Japanese press release, Sony says that this way of shooting 3D offers a much smoother image. This is essential when shooting things like sports, where the action is fast-moving.
Although there is little known about the exact specifications of the camera, it is thought that images will be shot in 240fps and that the camera will weigh around 18Kg.
A prototype of the HFR Comfort-3D is to be unveiled at Tokyo's CEATEC show, which takes place as of 6 October.
Both Sony and Panasonic announced their intention to bring 3D to homes in 2010. Panasonic is also working on a new 3D camera, but the company has decided to rely on a traditional two-lens system.
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In Depth: 8 tech changes the Tories plan to introduce
The Sun doesn't like to back losers, so if it's backing the Tories - and of course, it is - then only a fool would bet against Dave Cameron becoming our next PM.
That means it's probably a good idea to look at what they're planning.
Will the Tories bring better broadband, or will they snuggle up with The Man and make things even worse for The Kids?
Here's what we know - although of course these are all pre-election promises, which means they could be as realistic as our pre-wedding promises to cut down on the booze and spend less time on the Xbox.
1. They'll open up BT's network
In January, shadow media secretary Jeremy Hunt MP slagged off Labour's endless broadband studies and promised action.
In particular, he wants fibre-optic cables to be laid while the roads are being dug up for other things, he wants local authorities to ensure fast broadband is standard in new homes and he wants to completely change the way broadband is provided, making next-generation broadband available to pretty much everyone within five years.
"We should not rely solely on BT to build [the] new network," he said, promising to open up the broadband infrastructure for anyone to compete. "The nimbleness of competition will be far more effective at stimulating investment than top-down strategies by ministers or regulators."
2. They'll take Ofcom's teeth out
In a move that's not even vaguely connected to News International and Sky TV owner Rupert Murdoch's sudden support of the Tories, the Conservatives will keep the telecoms and broadcasting watchdog but take away all its teeth. "It will no longer play a role in making policy," Cameron said in July.
3. They'll censor internet TV. And possibly the internet
In a consultation document posted on the Conservatives website, the Tories propose working "with ISPs to develop a responsibility contract regarding common filtering technologies that would allow parents to block unsuitable programmes and websites from television sets as internet TV becomes a reality in the next five years." Websites? WEBSITES?
4. They won't keep the three-strikes law, but they might ban BitTorrent
Speaking to the Financial Times, Jeremy Hunt asked "Do we really want to prosecute someone that does a video of their cat with a Beatles soundtrack behind it and posts it on YouTube? A legal threat to disconnect users could have the unintended consequence of stifling innovation in areas such as video games, where the UK has a strong creative base."
So no file sharing crackdown? Not so fast. David Cameron told music industry execs that "Copyright theft has to be treated like other theft" and that "ISPs can block access and indeed close down offending file-sharing sites."
Describing the Internet Watch Foundation's role in blocking illegal porn, Cameron said that ISPs "should be doing the same when it comes to digital piracy."
5. They'll run OpenOffice
Criticising the Government's record of budget-busting IT projects, David Cameron has been bigging up Linux.
No, really: he argues that open source software and a more modular approach to government IT systems could save the taxpayer "hundreds of millions of pounds per year". He seems keen on open standards, too: not only has he pledged to publish details of all government spending over آ£25,000 online, but he says it'll be "in an open and standardised format".
6. They'll put burglars on Google Maps
Not really. But we'll get crime maps which, once again, will be "published online in a standardised way."
7. They'll build a Super Electric Internet. We're not kidding.
The Conservatives aren't using the word "super", sadly, but they do want an electric internet. "We will add computing intelligence to electricity networks by introducing a smart grid and the use of smart meters in homes," they say. "This will allow demand and supply to be intelligently managed, and pave the way for large-scale use of renewable energy sources."
The same policy also calls for a nationwide network of recharging points for electric cars, or "plugs" as such stations are often called. Presumably they mean fast recharge points rather than standard 13-amp sockets. Although they might not.
8. They'll protect your privacy. Probably.
On the one hand the Tories propose to give the Information Commissioner more power, to restrict surveillance only to things you can be sent to prison for, to carry out a "privacy impact assessment" on the Home Office plans to spy on everything everybody does and to bin both the ID card scheme - not just the cards, but the whole thing - and the controversial ContactPoint children's database.
On the other, they want to give your medical details to Microsoft and Google.
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Britain in the Third World of broadband
The UK's broadband infrastructure has been voted a mere 25th best in the world, prompting fears that we are falling behind when it comes to the world wide web.
Research carried out by Cisco (the list included 66 countries) has found that South Korea is by far the most advanced country when it comes to broadband, with Japan and Hong Kong taking second and third place.
The UK has hit a lowly 25th with countries like Latvia, Lithuania and Bulgaria ahead in terms of broadband quality.
Good enough
It's not all doom and gloom, however, with Joanne Hughes, Cisco's communication manager, telling the BBC: "It can be a bit misleading to look at the rankings. The important thing is whether the broadband quality of a country is good enough for today's needs and the UK falls well within this category."
Despite this optimism, the UK just scraped 31st place when Cisco tested broadband speeds only (via speedtest.net). The final ranking of 25th came about when broadband penetration was added to the mix.
Worryingly, South Korea hopes to have broadband speeds of 1Gbps by 2012. Compare this with Digital Britain's plan for UK speeds to hit a minimum of 2Mbps and it seems that the on average the UK is lagging way behind its Far Eastern counterparts.
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Offline mode comes to Spotify desktop
Spotify on iPhone was one of the biggest mobile stories of last month, with many of us still quite enamoured with what the Swedish music streaming service has to offer on our Apple-branded mobile internet devices.
So the news that the Spotify desktop client is now also to offer an 'offline mode' to listen to your tunes while away from your Wi-Fi warms our cockles.
Spotify has just announced the following:
"We're proud to announce that later today we will be extending the popular 'Offline mode' that is available on Spotify Mobile and bringing it to the desktop version of Spotify.
"Beginning later today, Spotify Premium subscribers will be able to select their playlists and set them to be 'Available offline'. Those playlists will then be synced to the computer so you can listen to your favourite tunes even if your internet connection goes down or if you're at summer house with no connection at all."
The Spotify blog adds: "In addition to offline mode, we've also added Paypal to the list of available payment methods this week for users in the UK."
If you have yet to experience the joy that is Spotify's offline listening mode, then you will need to sign up to a آ£10 a month premium account to see what you have been missing.
Is it worth it? If you like music, yes.
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Digg founder praises Twitter's A-list spokespeople
Digg co-counder Kevin Rose has expressed his admiration for Twitter and the way in which it has turned celebrities into spokespeople by giving them an ego-driven platform.
Twitter's phenomenal growth has been well documented, and Rose, whose own Digg.com also has a huge audience, is full of admiration for the way in which having followers is what he terms 'a one way communications platform'.
"Followers is an amazing feature for them because you've essentially turned every single celebrity into a spokesperson for your service and that's virtually unheard of," Rose said at the Future of Web Apps conference in London.
"Never in the history of time have I heard of a service where you have tier one celebrities that aren't paid that go out there and promote your service on every single media outlet."
Social currency
Rose believes that the central reason for Twitter's success has been the way in which the number of followers you have has become a form of 'social currency'.
"Twitter has created a one way communications platform, meaning they don't have a complex friending mechanism ," asserted Rose
It's not like I have to be your friend in order to follow what you say and so follower count takes up the form of a social currency so it means something to the person to increase their follower count.
"They understand that the more followers the better, it gives them a larger platform it gives them more people to speak to and they turn it into a contest into who has more."
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In Depth: How SuperFetch makes Windows faster
SuperFetch is a system of RAM management that preloads your installed memory with your most frequently used programs.
It's designed to improve performance, though some gamers and specialist users have claimed to notice speed gains after disabling it. As the technology adapts to your usage patterns, though, it's more likely that disabling SuperFetch will make your system feel more sluggish.
SuperFetch was introduced in Windows Vista and has been retained in Windows 7. It manages the use of data cached in RAM to ensure quick access to it when needed, thus reducing the amount of times that data is loaded directly from the hard drive (which has significantly longer access times).
SuperFetch reduces boot times by tracking which files need to be loaded at which times during the boot process. This information is stored in a trace file so that it can be used in future, enabling it to use your RAM to make these files more accessible at these times.
It also works with Windows' defragmenter – the utility that maintains your hard drive's efficiency by reuniting fragmented files and putting commonly used files in more accessible parts of the drive. This ensures that files used during boot are stored on your hard drive in the order in which they're needed for easy access.
You can examine this order in the file 'Layout.ini', which is in the Prefetch directory within your Windows folder. To ensure that your apps launch quickly, SuperFetch preloads the most popular ones into memory based on your patterns of use. It takes into account the order that you generally load applications to try and anticipate your routine.
SYSTEM LAYOUT: The 'Layout.ini' file contains details of the files accessed during boot time and the order in which they are used
It also examines differences that occur at different times of the day, so the preloaded applications for morning use may be quite different to those that you launch for some evening recreation.
Just as it does during boot, the service takes note of which files are accessed in which order when each application is launched, making sure that these are available in RAM when called upon.
If you still want to, you can disable SuperFetch in the same way that you disable any other service. Click 'Start', enter services.msc into the Start menu Search and press [Enter]. This opens the Services utility on a console. Scroll through the services until you find SuperFetch. Double-click it and click 'Stop' to stop the service.
To permanently disable it, select 'Startup type: Disabled' and click 'OK'. Think carefully before you take this step, though, because SuperFetch is a somewhat misunderstood service.
Despite the fact that it's been tipped as a candidate for disabling in online articles, doing so could have the reverse effect to the one desired.
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Batmobile replica packs some wonderful toys
A Swedish amateur mechanic has created the ultimate boys' toy – a replica of the Batmobile.
Taking his inspiration from the Batmobile which ferried round Michael Keaton's Batman in Tim Burton's 1989 version of Batman, the replica is full-sized and equipped with more gadgetry than you can shake a batarang at.
Holy perfect replica, Batman
Included within the Batmobile's uber-cool chassis is a plasma TV, DVD player and a video camera so you can see Joker's goons coming at you from around the corner. Oh, and did we mention it also houses some machine guns and voice recognition? Well, it does so this is one car not to be messed with.
And when it comes to actually driving the thing, the car – which is designed around a Lincoln Continental – packs an engine with 700 horsepower, which is the equivalent to a BMW M 536.
This has been a labour of love for the unnamed owner, who apparently spent $1 million and 20,000 hours building the thing.
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Review: Sharp HT-SB200
Sharp's debut effort is definitely at the budget end of the spectrum, a fact reflected in its comparatively limited feature list, but if you want a no-frills way of boosting your TV's sound quality then this might fit the bill.
The Sharp doesn't offer any built-in audio decoding for Dolby Digital and DTS, but it does provide 32W of built-in 2.1-channel amplification and some sound processing modes.
With its modest, low-key looks, the HT-SB200 doesn't dazzle, either, but the all-over black finish should complement any TV it's coupled with. It's also light and slim, which makes hanging it on a wall easy, but you can also attach the supplied feet and place it on your AV stand.
Sandwiched between the two strips of speaker mesh on the front is a rudimentary display that shows the selected input or the volume.
Around the back is a sparse selection of sockets that are not particularly helpful if you want to connect lots of components directly to the unit. You could hook up the audio output from your TV and channel everything through your display, but that means you'd have to turn on the set every time you wanted to listen to a CD.
The feature list boasts a couple of interesting additions. Sharp's High Definition Sound Standard (HDSS) and SRS WOW HD team up and try to replicate a surround sound effect, plus you'll also find four sound presets for different types of content: Standard, Cinema/Game, Sport and News.
Using the unit is simple. The supplied remote is small but the minimal button count and helpful placement stops it from being too fiddly. You get dedicated buttons for each sound preset and for altering the level on all four of the subwoofers. Bass and treble levels can also be adjusted, but that's as sophisticated as the tweaks get.
Performance
At this sort of price we weren't expecting miracles, and sure enough there are some tell-tale signs of the Sharp's low-cost leanings. Fire up a frenetic action movie with lots of loud top-end effects and they can sound thin and abrasive through these speakers, lacking the level of control and smoothness offered by high-end soundbars.
It also lacks any powerful bass. While those four subs make a decent contribution to the overall depth of the sound, low-end effects still lack the punch and solidity offered by other soundbars.
As a result, epic action scenes don't have the necessary sense of scale. The limited reach of the pseudo-surround processing doesn't help matters, either.
In the 'Cinema' mode, all of the action is confined to the front of the soundstage and none of the rear effects came near our seating position, let alone behind it. But then, an analogue stereo signal isn't exactly ideal for surround sound.
But despite its lack of refinement the Sharp's sound is generally loud and gutsy, and it certainly offers a more exciting listen than any flatpanel TV we've ever heard. Plus, the same over-emphasis on treble that causes harshness on loud effects actually helps the Sharp to excavate lots of sonic detail from background ambience and effects during quieter passages.
And although we bemoaned the lack of surround presence, SRS WOW HD does offer a pleasingly wide soundstage across the front with any type of material, giving it an open, expansive feel.
Overall, the Sharp is an inessential budget performer.
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BumpTop brings 'Minority Report style control' to PC
BumpTop is one of the first bits of software that is really starting to show off what Window's 7 touchscreen features are going to be capable of, with a 'Minority Report' style 3D multitouch gestural interface looking increasingly less like Sci-Fi fantasy and more like achievable near-future reality.
Of course, you are going to need a PC with a touchscreen monitor in order to be able to play around with Windows 7 touchscreen when the new OS from Microsoft finally officially launches on 22 October.
But we imagine that when you see the kinds of human-computer interfacing developments that BumpTop is at the cutting edge of you are soon going to realise the value of that new monitor investment!
Remember Vista?
If you were still (seriously) looking for a reason to upgrade to Windows 7 from clunky old Vista then surely BumpTop is it?
A wide range of multitouch gestures is included in the paid version of the software BumpTop Pro.
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Updated: Is Apple's new iPod nano advert misleading?
One of the biggest criticisms of the new camcorder-equipped iPod nano is that the lens isn't placed where you'd expect it to be.
It's not on the back at the top behind the LCD screen like a mobile phone or a Flip Video. It's actually on the back, at the bottom behind the clickwheel.
The practical upshot of this is that if you hold the iPod nano like normal, with your thumb on the clickwheel, the rest of your hand ends up obscuring the camcorder sensor.
See here:
Despite this inconvenient design, Apple's new TV advert makes out that you can casually hold the nano, while filming with no problems at all. And in fact, the back of the iPod nano is not shown at any point in the 30-second ad.
If you look closely, all the iPods in the advert are being held with just a thumb and an index finger. And while it is absolutely possible to hold the nano like this, it isn't comfortable. Not at all. And it's also worth a mention that you don't even have to cover the lens in order to obscure it.
If your finger rests within 5mm of the lens, it will be in shot. See here:
We contacted the Advertising Standards Agency in the UK who told us that they have had one complaint about the iPod nano advert - but it was about the quality of the video shown in the ad, rather than the way the nano was being held.
The ASA has not yet decided whether to further investigate this complaint.
It's pretty obvious that the lens would work better at the other end of the device. Shouldn't the back of the nano appear in the ad in order to be more clear?
Or is it just that everyone in the advert is extremely dextrous and able to skilfully avoid covering the lens by holding their fingers behind the iPod in a set position?
Watch the ad and decide for yourself:
Read: Apple iPod nano review
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Pinnacle's new editing kit banishes shaky cam
Shaky camera footage is the bane of any video editor's life. It is a good job then that Pinnacle's latest piece of editing software banishes bad camerawork forever.
Using some software technology that's usually associated with high-end Avid editing suites, Pinnacle Studio Ultimate HD uses something called a stabiliser effect which means even the shakiest of footage comes out the other end like it's been shot on SteadiCam.
TechRadar was privy to a demo this week and it does look as if the folks at Pinnacle have tried to cram as many high-end features as possible into the software, but still making the editing suite easy to use for those getting into video editing for the first time.
Pinnacle assured us that all HD codecs are catered for (even H.264), so those shooting on hi-def cameras won't have to worry about compatibility issues.
There's also the option to output your stuff to the PS3, Wii and Xbox – proving that games consoles are now being seen more and more as media hubs.
Interestingly, the editing software also now caters for a DSLR that likes to moonlight as Full HD video camera – the Canon 5D Mark II.
Out now, the software is Windows 7 compatible and also works on Windows Vista 32-bit and 64-bit.
There are three options available: Pinnacle Studio HD (آ£40), Pinnacle Studio Ultimate HD (آ£70) and Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Collection HD (آ£100).
If you already own a prior edition of Pinnacle Studio, then you can upgrade online for آ£40 (Pinnacle Studio Ultimate) or آ£70 (Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Collection).
Go to www.pinnaclesys.com/studio for more information.
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Review: Samsung HT-WS1G
Samsung's HT-WS1G is one of the few soundbars that comes with an external subwoofer. But if you don't like the thought of ugly wires trailing up the wall, fear not – this one is wireless, so you can place it anywhere in a room no matter where the soundbar is installed.
While build quality isn't the best, it's the most visually arresting system around. Samsung's platinum black finish and translucent edges are once again used to stunning effect, plus it's also incredibly slim and unimposing.
It's the same width as a Samsung 40-inch TV so they line up nicely when you wall-mount it, but you can also attach a plastic stand and place it on a table top.
The front of the unit is covered in features such as touch-sensitive controls and subtle lights at each end that indicate the volume, audio format and sound modes.
On the back is a limited array of sockets, but thankfully one of these is an optical digital audio input, which enables you to connect your DVD or Blu-ray player and take advantage of the built-in Dolby Digital and DTS decoding. In the unlikely event that your player lacks an optical output, you'll need to find a way of converting the signal. Joining this input on the rear is a minijack for hooking up an analogue source using an adaptor cable. A couple of HDMI ports wouldn't have gone amiss for Blu-ray hookup, but given the price and lack of HD audio decoding, they're not essential.
Setup is a quick and painless process. The sub detected the wireless transmissions from the main unit straight away and didn't lose connection once during our test.
There isn't a great deal to tweak elsewhere, apart from a range of soundfield modes, which are designed to enhance different types of content, such as music or news.
A remote handles all the crucial controls, all of which are sensibly arranged and clearly labelled. The handset itself fits in the hand nicely and can even control your Samsung TV with its dedicated controls.
Performance
On the whole, the HT-WS1G delivers a solid performance with DVDs. The sound is smooth and crisp, and it manages to convey top-end detail at high volumes without the harsh tone that you get from the Sharp and the Crystal Audio models.
Sudden transients like gunfire or smashing glass have the requisite sharpness, but won't have you wincing in discomfort. It also dredges up a decent amount of delicate detail, making key movie scenes sound atmospheric and multilayered.
The subwoofer, which won't pose a threat to your neighbours' sanity, does put in a respectable amount of effort for the low-frequency cause. It's nimble and responsive, able to pound out music rhythms and film explosions with equally good timing.
It also nails dialogue, making voices sound rich and life-like and allowing them to stand out when there's lots going on around them.
But the HT-WS1G's main drawback is volume. Despite an impressive-sounding power rating of 260W, the unit doesn't go loud enough for our tastes, even with the volume level turned right up. The result is a performance that feels restrained; compared with some of its rivals there's not enough punch. Another drawback is the ineptitude of the virtual surround in the 'Cinema' setting.
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Review: Monitor Audio Radius One HD
Monitor Audio's debut soundbar differs from the rest in that it's not designed to replace a 5.1-system, but to form part of one.
Inside this sleek, compact unit are left, right and centre speaker drivers, but no rear ones, sub or pseudo surround sound processing. To complete the setup you can buy other Radius speakers separately, including R45HD rears and the R360HD sub, but that sort of defeats the object.
The other difference is that it's not powered and features no built-in decoding, which means you'll need a separate AV receiver to prepare the sound before piping it to this unit with speaker cables. It's best to think of it as front and centre speakers wrapped up in a single unit, rather than a fully-fledged one-box system.
The luxurious styling comes in piano black lacquer, silver or white finishes with slightly protruding speaker grilles, all of which looks gorgeous when attached to the wall using the supplied die-cast metal bracket. Build quality is sublime, too, epitomised by the three pairs of robust binding posts on the back.
The unit is over a metre wide, but it can be mounted vertically.
Each of the three channels inside has a dedicated braced compartment, which keeps unwanted interference at bay, plus each one is magnetically shielded and has its own crossover. The centre channel uses twin MMP II mid/bass drivers and a 1in C-CAM gold dome tweeter capable of reaching frequencies over 35kHz – ideal for Blu-ray soundtracks – while the front channels use a single MMP II driver with a C-CAM tweeter.
Among the other technological innovations on board is an Anti-Resonance Composite baffle that reduces bothersome vibrations and a PTC auto-reset protection circuit that kicks in when the speakers are being over-driven to protect them.
Performance
The sound is simply fantastic, packed with plenty of detail and delivered with a smooth neutral tone that works well for movies and music alike.
Because it's passive and unrestrained by connections or audio formats, the Radius One HD will play whatever you feed into it, and the hi-res Dolby True HD soundtrack of I Am Legend on Blu-ray sounds stunning. High-frequency sounds are relayed with control and insight, not once sounding hard or bright. It's also able to eke out subtle background detail with total ease.
We also admired its natural bass handling, even without adding the Radius 360 HD subwoofer (a آ£400 option). It does a great job with low frequency effects, making loud thumps and explosions sound taut and controlled, but it doesn't plumb the same depths as the dedicated subs inside other high-end soundbars.
Dialogue is forthright and full-bodied, making every word clear and intelligible even during the most complex action scenes. The lack of any virtual surround processing or EQ modes means there's very little width – the sound here is direct and focused, which many might see as a good thing.
But inevitably when listening to Radius One HD on its own, it does feel lacking. It's designed to be teamed up with other speakers in the Radius range, which bumps up the cost and means you'll have to hook everything up with cables – the very thing soundbars are normally designed to avoid.
It's not a criticism as such, it just means that the Radius One HD isn't aimed at your typical soundbar buyer.
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In Depth: The pros and cons of Twitter marketing
In July 2009, website building software firm Moonfruit celebrated its 10th birthday by giving away 10 MacBook Pros. To be in with a chance of winning, all you had to do was post a message on Twitter that included the hashtag #moonfruit.
Almost immediately, the word Moonfruit started climbing Twitter's Trending Topics, quickly reaching number one, and staying there for three days. The result was that Moonfruit trials rose 350 per cent and traffic to the Moonfruit website peaked at 12 times the normal daily average.
Moonfruit also had 2.5 per cent of all tweets on Twitter during the peak, and averaged around 1.0 per cent over the seven days with 2 per cent+ peaks every day. Not bad for an outlay of just آ£9,000.
FOLLOWER BOOST: Moonfruit's campaign sent followers skyrocketing
"We wanted to do something to celebrate our 10th birthday and we thought we'd try to use Twitter," says Wendy Tan White (@wendytanwhite), marketing director at Moonfruit.
"We call our target market 'design aspirers'. They want their site to look nice – it doesn't mean that they're necessarily graphic designers or photographers, but they're interested in things looking good, and people in that group tend to like Apple products. Apple had just released the new MacBook Pro, so the timing came together."
It wasn't an easy decision, White reflects. "We did umm and aah about doing it for a while because sometimes these campaigns can fall very flat. In the worst cases they can be totally vilified, but some have done very well. Importantly, we tried to add a bit of humour and creativity to it rather than just being 'spam your friends'."
Doing it wrong
In Habitat's case, jumping on Trending Topics was a disaster. @HabitatUK added popular hashtags such as #MOUSAVI, an Iranian election keyword, to messages such as "join the database for free to win a آ£1,000 gift card".
Following widespread outcry on Twitter, Habitat deleted the messages, blamed an unnamed intern for the faux pas, and apologised. "This was absolutely not authorised by Habitat," said a statement from the firm.
This debacle is "evidence many brands still don't understand social mediums and the influence and impact that they can have," says Tim Gibbon (@timgibbon), director of Elemental Communications.
"Many brands aren't publishing using social media guidelines and obviously should be. Particularly with digital channels, it can amount to brand suicide, especially if social marketing is managed by staff who aren't equipped to do it properly."
Dominating trends
Did Moonfruit set out to dominate Trending Topics? "We weren't actually trying to," says White. "Of course we wanted to do well, to create buzz, but we never actually thought 'Okay, let's dominate Twitter.' You can't actually guarantee that's going to happen. But obviously that helped fuel it."
Yet Twitter stepped in and the #moonfruit hashtag promptly vanished from Trending Topics. "They haven't really explained why, but I think we can make a judgement on that," says White.
"A lot of spambots follow Trending Topics, so people who followed us or Tweeted about us started to get followed by spambots, and that was creating a problem. Also, some people who weren't being creative were sending out a million [Moonfruit] hashtags to their friends."
But by this stage, the campaign had gained so much pace that Twitter's action had little impact, says White. But was it fair? "It's their game and it's their rules," White replies. "Most people on Twitter are promoting something in some way, whether it's themselves, their product or their company – so we're certainly not the only ones. They could argue they pulled it because it was commercial, but lots of things are commercial on Twitter. So kind of what they're saying is, you can do it as long as you don't get too big."
Perhaps Twitter needs to be more open about how it manages Trending Topics and what the rules are for those wishing to use it commercially? "I think it would be useful," agrees White. "The days of Twitter just being a pure fun platform are well gone."
Marshall Manson (@marshallmanson), director of digital strategy for Edelman UK, concurs. "There are a lot of people who have business voices, or are representing businesses, or are doing marketing on Twitter at the moment," he says.
"If Twitter would prefer that not to be the case, that's their choice, but they've suggested that they're happy for that to take place. If that's the case, and there are going to be ground rules about what sorts of activities they're going to allow, they need to help us understand exactly what those rules are."
So overall, was the campaign worth the time and cost? Absolutely, says White. "The prize cost in total was آ£9,000. In terms of return, the number of people building sites is up three-and-a-half times; the number of subscriptions is up 20 per cent; our SEO moved from around page four of Google for 'website builder' or 'free website builder' to number one.
"We had half a million visits during the campaign. Our traffic is still up over 50 per cent from what it was. And then there's brand awareness, the content creation – you couldn't pay people to do that for you. Even if you looked at pay per clicks to try to get the same visits, or an above the line campaign, you could pay up to a million pounds. So from an ROI perspective it's well beyond our expectations. But the thing I'm most pleased about was the engagement and the content creation."
Not everyone is so impressed. Marketing legend Seth Godin says the campaign was "certainly loud – but is making noise the way to grow your business and your brand? You can get 35,000 Twitter followers fairly easily, but then what? What's the point? How do you talk to people who don't want to be talked to? I'm a bigger fan of delighting a dozen people and having them spread the word."
Drew Benvie (@drewb), managing director at 33 Digital, feels the campaign went against the spirit of Twitter. "Creating a lasting and engaging presence on Twitter takes more than just expensive giveaways," he says. "What Moonfruit achieved seems to have jarred with the Twitter community. Almost nobody I've spoken to about the stunt sees Moonfruit in a favourable light. Most don't even know what the company does.
"By tapping into Trending Topics," he continues, "the marketer is playing with fire. Spamming the community is an increasingly common tactic. The way Twitter's system works enables content that's worth sharing to turn viral very easily. In the case of Moonfruit, that content was hand-waving in an attempt to get a free laptop. For many, though, viral spread comes from providing something that the community appreciates and wants to share."
Dan Griliopoulos (@GriddleOctopus), account manager at Bastion PR, feels that the campaign was "a good one-off viral campaign idea" but argues that "over the middle-to long-term, ideas like that will generate diminishing returns. They generate too much system noise and annoy serious users who just want to use the system to communicate."
White counters: "Most of our growth has been word of mouth only. We know that works. But in all honesty if you want a real burst without paying a million pounds for it, then you have to try different things, and for us this has been by far the biggest step-change in marketing that we've done. The conversation has very much moved now to 'What do you want from us and what can we help you with?' so it's not that I don't value the brand affinity and the engagement."
Other approaches
So how else can firms use Twitter to their advantage? "We think Twitter is a wonderful medium to help people engage, but engage with a focus on building relationships, engage with a focus on adding content and adding value beyond the transaction or beyond the brand as best you can," says Manson.
Benvie suggests using Twitter to collect and adapt to customer feedback. "One way brands could make better use of Twitter is through adapting their business behaviour in line with realtime feedback from the consumer swarm," he says. "From noticing product flaws early to rewarding great customer service, what companies can see when they look is insightful to more divisions than just PR and marketing. "
A company could change customer service tactics, tweak its business processes or improve on product design based on what they see. Treat Twitter like one big focus group and you'll tap into the pulse of the consumer." Matthew Watson (@mpwatson), account executive at Speed Communications also urges firms to join the Twitter conversation:
"Companies should listen to what is being said about their brand or about their industry, before taking the leap and engaging in conversations. Rather than just broadcasting news and hoping users listen, companies must be open to being challenged by users and actually follow people and enter into meaningful conversations with them."
"The beauty of Twitter is that as an organisation you don't have to set up a 'Twitter watch' department," adds John Cunningham (@johnpc), director of business markets at ntl:Telewest Business. "At our company, the customer issues are picked up by employees who spot 'stuff' when they're on Twitter as individuals. They are acting as 'real people' who want to help resolve customers, or at least point the right people at the problems.
Many other companies are starting to adopt this viral 'let's look after our customers and our brand' approach on Twitter." Might Moonfruit run a similar campaign in the future? "I honestly believe you can't do that many like this," says White.
"I think we were lucky with the timing. Our next campaigns will be mostly around our customers and our products, building on our engagement and brand affinity. But we're always looking for creative ways to do things, we always have done.
"That's the irony – we've done lots of other creative stuff in the past but it hasn't had the global impact. So the only reason everyone is asking us now 'What does it mean?' is because it's suddenly gone global."
Elemental Communication's Tim Gibbon gives his advice
1. Twitter is not a broadcast tool, it's about dialogue and community – become part of the community with your followers.
2. Don't gatecrash conversations: be respectful of the people you follow and initiate conversations yourself (ask questions of your followers).
3. Inject personality into your posts. If posting from a corporate that's managed by more than one person then consider identifying each poster by an initial or symbol so followers can get to know individuals (Twitter is a personal communication tool).
4. Use hashtags sparingly and thoughtfully. Never use more than two hashtags per tweet – it makes them harder to read.
5. There can be a fine line between posting frequently and spamming. Add value with each and every tweet.
6. Have a plan before diving in head-first. Who has overall responsibility of the Twitter account? Are you prepared to respond and act on a moment's notice (timing is key)?
7. Create a profile background that can display your products, brand identity and so on (if that's your goal). Include a balanced mix of personal and corporate information in the profile and make sure your URL is there.
8. Reach out to people that you and/or the brand has an interest in and follow them. A mistake many make is trying to collect followers as if the higher number of followers, the better. Again, it's about value. Is it better to have 10,000 followers that you know nothing about, or 1,000 followers who really love your brand and are interested in what you have to say? The reverse is true: don't follow people just for the sake of it.
9. Give something back. Offer something such as a discount or promotional offer, or even insight into news that hasn't been officially announced elsewhere. It shows that you appreciate your customers and value the relationship you're building.
10. There are many aspects to a company, not just the products you need to shift, so make sure this is reflected in your tweets. Post about customer service, post about the things you are doing well and also importantly, the things you're not doing so well. Use it as an opportunity to get honest feedback and learn.
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Red Bull to offer mobile phone network?
Energy drink maker and F1 car sponsor Red Bull is looking to get into the mobile phone business, according to reports.
T3 has managed to uncover some interesting information about something called Red Bull Mobile.
Although little is known about what it actually is, a website has popped up regarding Red Bull mobile with the tagline: "the latest handsets, competitive tariffs and a complete package of mobile communication features."
Two tariff types
Although the UK version of the site is a two-page teaser, there is a link to a German website which shows off some of what Red Bull Mobile has to offer. On it are images of phones from Sony Ericsson, including the G705 and C702, and Nokia's 5800, N97 and 5730.
It also looks like you will get to Red Bull networked SIM cards, with tariffs ranging from 19 Euro a month (1,000 minutes, 1,000 texts and 100MB of data) to 29 Euro (2,000 minutes and 2,000 texts, along with 2,000MB of data).
If Red Bull is to offer mobile contracts in the UK, it will be following other mobile virtual network operators like Virgin Mobile.
Find out more, by pointing your browser to www.redbullmobile.com. And if you think your German is up to it, then check out www.redbullmobile.at.
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Apple shuns Google maps
Apple has quietly purchased its own mapping company, in a move which will almost certainly see the company rely far less on Google Maps on its iPhone and other mobile devices in the future.
Apple bought PlaceBase earlier this summer according to a report in Computer World, with no public announcements made about the deal.
Customisable mapping
GigaOm noted the various benefits of PlaceBase over Google Maps way back in the summer of 2008, with the Apple-owned geolocation specialists offering lots more ways of customising your maps and layering data sets onto them via a simple API.
As ever with new technology from Apple, nobody outside of Cupertino HQ really knows anything concrete about the company's plans for its future mapping applications making use of PlaceBase's technology.
But we cannot wait to hear (and see) more. Perhaps we'll see some interesting new mapping apps with the launch of Apple's 'iTablet' in early 2010.
Or perhaps not. Let the rumour mill grind on...
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Review: Crystal Audio SSB-1
Renowned speaker brand Crystal Audio joins the soundbar party with the SSB-1, which belts out 200W of home cinema sound from a single unit. Its debut effort sits at the budget end of the market, but steals a march on both with the inclusion of an iPod dock.
The unit is robustly constructed and the smart black styling should complement most flatpanel TVs beautifully.
At 685mm wide it's one of the most compact soundbars of the bunch, which makes it better suited to smaller TVs.
In between the two removable speaker grilles on the front is a display panel that shows the volume, current source and other key settings. Sitting just below that is a row of blue touch-sensitive buttons for up-close control of volume and source selection, plus a 3.5mm analogue minijack for connecting other MP3 players.
The selection of sockets on the back is the most generous of the group and includes a composite video output for viewing photos and videos from your iPod, which is a unexpected but useful feature.
However, the SSB-1 lacks built-in Dolby Digital and DTS decoding, so when connecting your DVD player via digital electrical you need to set it to output two-channel PCM.
Multichannel decoding would have made the SSB-1 even more of a bargain, but some sacrifices were inevitable at this price.
To make up for it, Crystal Audio has bunged an obligatory virtual surround sound mode into the mix. This particular technology has been developed by the company's dedicated audio experts and we're hoping for a bit more success than the usual pseudo-surround fare.
You'll also find a decent array of EQ modes on board that tailor audio to suit different types of material, plus EX-BASS, which boosts low-frequencies in three steps.
Some rudimentary sound adjustments are also available, allowing you to alter the left, right and subwoofer channels.
All of these functions are controlled with a credit-card sized remote, that features fiddly blister-buttons, but generally it's a pleasure to use. Dedicated buttons are provided for turning EX-BASS and EQ on and off, as well as playback keys for iPod playback.
Performance
Inside the SSB-1 are eight speaker drivers and a built-in 100W subwoofer, which combine to deliver a more open and powerful sound than we expected for the money. With a test movie such as The Lord of the Rings, for example, effects are delivered with force, while the built-in sub bellows out bass with more gusto than Brian Blessed at a karaoke contest.
We switched on VSS and were reasonably impressed by its capabilities. Swooping arrows and catapulted boulders are flung far and wide across the front soundstage, and you can certainly detect some surround activity buzzing around either side of the screen, but it doesn't sound like it's coming from behind you.
The SSB-1's sound quality occasionally betrays its price tag, particularly when high-pitched effects, screeching creatures or clashing metal are played at loud volumes. They have a tendency to sound overly hard.
Midrange frequencies are a lot more assured, as demonstrated by clear, crisp dialogue, while the subwoofer inside offers a surprising amount of depth and punch.
On a price-to-features ratio the SSB-1 wins hands down.
Related Links
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PSP Go gets internet tethering
Sony's new PSP Go handheld launches today in the UK, with the gaming giant announcing a new firmware update that introduces Bluetooth internet tethering and a raft of cool new music features for the PSP.
Firmware 6.10 will let you tether your shiny new PSP Go to your cellphone via Bluetooth so that you can piggyback your phone's Wi-Fi or 3G internet connection.
A very cool feature indeed, particularly seeing as the new PSP Go is UMD-free, with Sony bravely taking the plunge into a digital-download only future.
Mood music
If that wasn't enough to tempt you to shell out آ£225 on a new PSP Go, PSPs will also get a new XMB feature called SensMe with the latest firmware update, which basically lets you generate playlists from your music library based on different moods.
PlayStation Network's Eric Lempel outlines all of these new PSP features over on the PlayStation Blog
Lempel also notes that an update to the MediaGo software for your PC, to assist in moving PS Store items from the internets to you PSP, is also set to release this week.
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Updated: Google Wave: what you need to know
Google is today sending out Google Wave beta invites.
If you registered your interest back when Wave was announced, you may already have a Wave invite in your in-box.
If you didn't register, or you don't receive an invite, then you should track down someone who did: just like when Gmail first launched, those on the programme will have a limited number of invites that they can send out to friends.
It's likely that sites will spring up offering to share Wave invites, so don't pay the scalpers who are starting to offer them on eBay.
What is Google Wave?
Wave is designed to be a ground-up reinvention of the way we communicate and collaborate. Think instant messaging, but with the open platform potential for plugging in Twitter and other methods of communication, too. (See this video for Google Wave in action on the iPhone.)
For the moment, Google Wave isn't a full public launch but after it was made available to a small number of developers at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco earlier this year, Google is now sending out 100,000 beta invites.
In a conference call with TechRadar in May 2009, Lars Rasmussen, Software Engineering Manager, explained Wave: "It's a communication and collaboration tool we've been working on for a couple of years down in Sydney.
"A Wave is a single shared space where two or more users can exchange real time dialogue, photos, videos, maps and documents in what we call a Wave. Everyone can reply to a Wave, people can come and go and you can drag and drop information from all over the web."
PLAY GAMES: You can drag in information from the web and comment as you go
As well as running in a web browser, waves can be embedded in sites, while open source code means that you could even run your own Wave server. "Everything you're [can see in Wave] is an HTML 5 application built with the Google Web Toolkit.
"It does push the limits of the web and it does require a modern browser," adds Lars. It won't work in IE6, but it will work in later versions as well as Google Chrome, Firefox and Safari.
"Later when we show the demo [at May 2009's Google I/O conference] one of the new things we'll add is integration between Google Wave and Twitter which is an example application we hope will inspire developers to build things for real. You build an extension for Wave that users can install, similar to installing extensions for Firefox."
ACCEPT OR DECLINE: Meeting request or BBQ invite - you can collaborate with your mates or colleagues on events and chat about them in your Wave
Rasmussen has worked on Google Wave alongside his brother Jens. Both used to work for the mapping startup, Where 2 Technologies, acquired by Google in October 2004 – subsequently the brothers developed Google Maps before moving onto Wave, sparked by their own idea, originally code named Walkabout.
"We were looking at all the advances in technology that have occurred since email was invented over 40 years ago. We looked at how computers have improved dramatically and the many types of communication [that has come about] since then," explains Lars.
CHAT AND SHARE: Look at pictures, then talk about them - you can drop into the conversation at any point
"We tried to come up with a new form of communication, as simple as we could make it, which has functionality spanning as many of these existing tools as we could come up with. We're aiming to rethink what communication might look like if we try and rethink everything from scratch," continues Lars.
"After months holed up in a conference room in the Sydney office, our five-person "startup" team emerged with a prototype. And now, after more than two years of expanding our ideas, our team, and technology, we're very eager (and a little nervous) to return and see what the world might think."
EDIT CONCURRENTLY: You'll see updates appear letter-by-letter, while you can see everything happen in realtime
In Google's own words, Wave will "try out some new ideas" such as concurrent rich text editing – you can see on your screen almost instantly, letter-by-letter, what your fellow collaborators are typing into a message or document in a wave, unlike in instant messaging where you need to wait to see what someone is typing. (If you don't like this, there is a draft mode.)
You can also view 'playback' waves so you can see how conversations have evolved.
INVITE: You can add participants to a Wave at any time
Google is planning to open source Google Wave while any developer can build extensions to Google Wave using our open APIs.
"The way we think about Wave is that it's a communication system, a productivity tool as well where you can produce content but there's a very rich set of APIs that come with the tool and that of course is why we're releasing it to developers first," explains Lars.
"We intend for Wave to be an open system much like email where you can have an account with any provider. We would love to see a future where different organisations build their own Wave services. We want to make sure users can interoperate with each other.
"All of the underlying protocols and algorithms have been designed with this in mind. We are going to make the protocol openly available and we intend to… open source the lion's share of our code.
"We have built in some very important features, in particular anyone can run their own Wave server. This is particularly important for enterprises that would prefer to run their own Wave servers."
SET TO DRAFT: If you don't want people to see as you type, you can set to draft
Waves are also searchable "When a web crawler comes by a site with a Wave on it, our servers will serve up that Wave in static HTML so they can be easily indexed," explains Lars.
ADD AND SHARE: Drop in Google Maps to events, for example
Finally, we asked Lars whether Google had any current plans to introduce advertising into Wave. "We have no such plans, this again is a very early release and at Google we have quite a luxury that in the beginning of the life of a product we focus exclusively on technology and making a product successful.
"The question of monetising we deal with later, this was also true of our last product Google Maps – it was a year and a half in before we even started to discussing [monetising it].
"By then it was even easier to do it as our existing advertising customers had lined up around the block wanting to advertise on Maps. We're hoping a similar scenario with unfold," he explains.
If you're interested, Google Wave information for developers is available while you can opt to be notified when Google Wave is launched as a public product.
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Updated: Windows 7 available to students for just آ£30
If you are in the UK and about to go to university, you are in luck as Microsoft is offering a cut-price deal on Windows 7 for students.
Essentially this means you will be able to get the software for an extremely low price of آ£30.
Student discount
The offer is on until 3 January 2010. After this you will have to pay the normal price for Windows 7.
To be eligible for the offer, all you need to do is log on to www.microsoft.com/uk/windows/studentoffer/default.aspx, enter your a valid .EDU email address (an email address given by the college or university, eg name@leeds.ac.uk) and away you go.
آ£30 is a bit of a bargain for an OS which is compatible with touch screen technology. Other features of Windows 7 include remote media streaming, improved gaming experience, enhanced security and integration of Windows Media Centre for more central and convenient management of music, movies and photos.
To find out more about the software, point your browser to www.microsoft.com/windows. Windows 7 official release date is 22 October.
UPDATE
Microsoft has informed us that the student deal is live right now.
In a statement the company has said: "The offer gives students the chance to purchase either Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade OR Windows 7 Professional Upgrade from a special website (http://www.ultimatesteal.co.uk) with both versions available for the discounted price of آ£30 each.
"For those students requiring the full packaged product (FPP) they can opt to receive a boxed version, by post, for an additional cost of آ£9."
It almost makes you want to return to student life again. Almost.
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