Updated: EC and Microsoft reach browser agreement
The EC has dropped its long-running antitrust case against Microsoft.
The corporation has agreed to offer users a choice of rival web browsers and the Commission has accepted the proposal. As a result of the agreement, users will be offered up to 12 rival browsers.
The "ballot screen" has been given a typical Euro-jargon name - the "choice screen" is what it will now be known as.
Reaction from Microsoft
In a statement Microsoft said it was "pleased with today's decision...which approves a final resolution of several longstanding competition law issues in Europe. We look forward to building on the dialogue and trust that has been established between Microsoft and the Commission and to extending our industry leadership on interoperability."
The screen will appear to every user of IE in Windows XP, Vista and 7 - though when it will roll out via Windows Update remains to be seen.
The agreement ends the possibility of a second EC vs Microsoft court battle. "Today's resolution follows years of intensive examination by the European Commission of competition in computer software," continues the Microsoft statement. "The measures approved today reflect multiple rounds of input from industry participants relating to competition in Web browser software and interoperability between various Microsoft products and competing products."
Reaction from the EC
The EC also seems happy that the action is over. "Millions of European consumers will benefit from this decision by having a free choice about which web browser they use. Such choice will not only serve to improve people's experience of the internet now but also act as an incentive for web browser companies to innovate and offer people better browsers in the future," said European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes in a statement.
The EC goes on to say that "Microsoft commits to offer European users of Windows choice among different web browsers and to allow computer manufacturers and users the possibility to turn Internet Explorer off. Microsoft is also publishing today an undertaking whereby it commits to make far-reaching interoperability disclosures."
Computer manufacturers will also be able to install competing web browsers, set those as default and turn Internet Explorer off.
The EC says that PC users, by means of the Choice Screen, "will have an effective and unbiased choice between Internet Explorer and competing web browsers... this should ensure competition on the merits and allow consumers to benefit from technical developments and innovation both on the web browser market and on related markets, such as web-based applications."
Interestingly, Opera points out in its response that the browser choice agreement will have a term of five years and includes a semi-annual review of its effectiveness.
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Updated: The ultimate portable PC troubleshooting toolkit
It's a hard life when you're the family PC expert. Visit any relative at Christmas and you've barely time to get through the door before they're telling you about the PC crashes, the unreadable CD, the forgotten password, and all the other computer problems they've saved up since your last visit.
There's no way to stop this, unfortunately, but you can at least solve their issues quickly by building the perfect portable troubleshooting toolkit, a collection of problem-solving utilities that you can take anywhere.
It's easy. Just grab one USB flash drive (any cheap 4GB model will do), add our selection of free tools and you're ready to tackle just about anything.
Find out more
Your first task when investigating any strange PC is to find out more about it. What's the operating system, which CPU is installed, how much RAM, how many hard drives? Speccy is a helpful system information tool from Piriform (the people behind popular system tools like CCleaner and Defraggler), and it'll quickly tell you everything you need to know about your target system.
Get antivirus help
When a family member's PC is behaving strangely then it's wise to check for malware, especially if they've no antivirus protection. Get your USB toolkit started with portable copies of ClamWin and McAfee Avert Stinger and you'll be equipped to deal with the most common threats.
If your family member has installed one of those annoying malware specimens that pretends to be an antivirus tool, then you could also try to kill it with Remove Fake Antivirus.
This tiny program comes in a single portable executable file and completely removes most of the biggest dangers.
Meanwhile Norton's free Security Scan will only detect threats, not remove them, but it's still worth including, if only for extra reassurance. Visit the Security Scan page, download and install it on your PC. Copy the Norton Security Scan folder from the Program Files folder to your USB drive, and you should then be able to launch the program (nss.exe) to check your target PC.
Explore software problems
If the faulty PC doesn't have a virus then maybe there's a problem with its configuration. FixWin is designed to fix all kinds of common Windows issues, covering Explorer, web and connectivity issues, Media Player and more - just find your problem and click Fix to solve it.
If there's a deeper issue then you'll want to find out more about how this PC is set up. Use AutoRuns to see what's launched when the PC boots, then turn to Process Explorer to discover exactly what's running now.
Fix your codecs
If the PC you're visiting won't play videos or audio files correctly then it may be because there are broken references to codecs or filters in the Registry.
You could try to solve this by installing a new codec pack, but that's risky, and may cause more problems than it solves. A better idea is simply to run the Codec Tweak Tool, a stand-alone version of the troubleshooting utility that comes bundled with the K-Lite Codec Pack. The program will scan for various codec and filter problems, then report on and try to fix anything it finds.
Restore hard drive data
Your relatives are panicking as they've deleted something important, but fortunately you're here to save the day. With a copy of Recuva (grab the portable version) you'll be able to restore data from hard drives, memory cards and MP3 players, and its deep scan mode can recover files where other undelete tools will fail.
Get to grips with file formats
You'll often hear inexperienced PC users complain that they've received an important file, but can't view it. Why? They don't have the necessary software, usually, so every troubleshooting toolkit needs applications that will help you read and work with common file formats.
Add OpenOffice.org Portable to your toolkit and you'll be equipped to deal with Word documents, spreadsheets, presentations and more - very handy.
Grab a copy of the PDF-XChange Viewer or SumatraPDF and you'll be able to view PDF files, too.
Get Unstoppable Copier
When a friend complains that he can't read some files from a few ancient CDs then there may be nothing you can do. But it's worth trying Unstoppable Copier, just in case. This excellent data recovery tool that will grab every readable sector of your files and do its best to put the pieces together.
Just in case that doesn't help, make sure your toolkit has a copy of Greenfish DataMiner, too. It comes in a tiny 300KB ZIP file, yet still has detailed knowledge on the structures of more than 70 different file formats, which it uses to help recognise and recover your lost CD or DVD data.
Sort out the browser
When diagnosing a complicated PC problem you'll probably want to look for help online. But what if it's the browser that isn't working? Add the portable versions of Firefox and Thunderbird to your USB toolkit and you'll be covered.
Recover passwords
Your most clueless friends have lost several product keys and forgotten all their passwords, and of course it's up to you to make everything right. That's why your USB toolkit needs WinKeyFinder or Vista Key Finder to recover Windows and Office product keys, along with IE PassView and Password Fox to recover the user names and passwords stored by IE and Firefox.
Save your drivers
The first rule of PC troubleshooting is to ensure that your tweaks never make a problem worse. So if you decide to update any drivers on a PC then it's a very good idea to make a backup first, just in case you need to restore the previous versions, and Double Driver is the ideal tool for the job.
Totally Free Burner
Add a portable CD/ DVD burner to your USB toolkit and you'll be able to copy data from most PCs, even if its own mastering software isn't working properly. Total Free Burner and InfraRecorder are both packed with features for such small apps, and well worth a closer look.
Scan the network
Network issues are tricky to diagnose, especially with portable apps, but a few tools are up to the challenge. TCPView displays all your open TCP and UDP connections, along with the processes using them; SmartSniff captures and displays network packets on some PCs; and Angry IP scanner quickly checks IP addresses across a specified range and builds up picture of your network from the systems it finds.
Retrieve important files
If all your troubleshooting efforts fail then you'll probably want to retrieve the most important files from this PC. Portable backup tools aren't common, but we find Zback, which despite its small size (a 174KB zip file) still manages to support filters, preview modes, scripting support, manual, batch or command line operation, and more.
Going further...
You'll find more great portable tools at Pendriveapps.com and PortableApps.com. Unfortunately these all rely on your host PC being bootable and recognising USB connections, so for real emergencies you might also want to carry around a copy of UBCD for Windows.
It's a bootable CD that comes packed with powerful troubleshooting tools, and is just what you need to get a broken PC booting again.
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Now read 10 sneaky ways crapware gets onto your PC
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Microsoft offers cut-price PC Games on Demand
Microsoft has launches its Games on Demand service for Windows, offering a range of PC games for download and some tempting special offers for Xmas gaming fun on the PC.
The Games for Windows 'Games on Demand' service is very similar to the Games on Demand offering on the Xbox 360.
Don't leave your chair
The following games are all now available for you to buy without even leaving your chair: Fallout 3, DiRT 2, Resident Evil 5, Street Fighter IV, Battlestations Pacific, FUEL, Viva Pinata, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, Shadowrun, Section 8, Juiced 2, and Red Faction: Guerrilla.
The new PC gaming service has had some teething problems as outlined on Major Nelson's blog which offers some troubleshooting suggestions for getting started.
As a carrot to incentivise gamers to download the Games for Windows client, Microsoft is offering a free game called Tinker. No, we'd never heard of it either.
Free though! Hurry up. Get it while you can. Download the client right here.
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Viewsonic launches ViewBook notebooks
Viewsonic has announced the 13.3-inch ViewBook Pro and 12.1, 13.3 and 14-inch ViewBook notebooks in the UK.
The six new ViewBook Pro and ViewBook ultra slim notebooks all come with Windows 7, Intel Ultra Thin or Ultra Low Voltage processors and LED backlight technology.
The flagship ViewBook Pro is available in black or silver and has a 1.7cm slim chassis forged from magnesium alloy and weighs only 1.6kg. It has a cited battery life of up to 12 hours.
The ViewBook 130 and ViewBook 140 have 16:9 13.3 and 14-inch LED backlit displays plus digital HDMI and analog VGA ports. 8 hours of battery life is cited.
The 12.1-inch ViewBook 120, available in black or white, offers an Intel Celeron SU2300 dual-core processor, VGA output and 7-in-1 card reader.
Suggested pricing from Viewsonic:
- ViewBook Pro - آ£699 / آ£729
- ViewBook 140 - آ£629
- ViewBook 130 - آ£499 / آ£569 / آ£649
- ViewBook 120 - آ£469
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Channel 4 and Talk Talk join Project Canvas
Project Canvas has announced that UK public service broadcaster Channel 4 and ISP Talk Talk have joined the project.
The six partners involved in the project are now seeking "expressions of interest" from any other companies who want to get involved. The BBC, ITV, BT and Five are also members.
If the BBC's involvement is rubber-stamped by the BBC Trust approval, the next step for Canvas is that the formation of a technical specification for devices with standards body the Digital Television Group (DTG),
The new platform would bring together linear TV and internet-based applications – creating an upgrade for the UK's existing free-to-air TV platforms Freeview and Freesat, and giving TV audiences open access to a wide range of internet-based services.
"The potential for innovation goes far beyond bringing video-on-demand to the TV set and there's a huge opportunity for a wide range of new commercial models to thrive," says Project Canvas Programme Director Richard Halton.
"We always wanted all the UK's public service broadcasters and at least two ISPs to be involved in the venture at launch, so we're delighted that Channel 4 and Talk Talk have joined the project."
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Review: Canon PowerShot S90
The Canon S90 is the latest compact DSLR replacement from Canon - the little brother to the successful Canon G11.
Profits are squeezed to the point of asphyxiation in the compact camera market at the moment; tough economic times mean your typical 'point and shoot' compact owner doesn't feel the urge to upgrade as often as makers would like.
There's also a bewildering range of new cameras to choose from. And of course, camera phones keep getting better and better.
Hence the rebranding of some compacts as 'SLR backups'. The term's a bit vague, but basically it refers to a compact camera which offers better optical quality and more sophisticated imaging options than your typical point-and-clicker - while still being very compact and easy to carry around.
The kind of compact, in other words, that SLR owners would be happy to take as a backup, or use as their main camera when the SLR is just too big and indiscrete.
The Canon PowerShot S90 certainly falls into this category. It weighs in at a slimline 175g and is only about three inches deep with its 28-105mm lens fully extended.
At the same time, it shoots in RAW as well as JPEG and comes with Canon's Digital Photo Professional RAW-processing software, just as you get with Canon EOS SLRs. As well as SLRs, the Canon PowerShot S90 has a lot in common with Canon's flagship compact, the PowerShot G11.
You get the same 10-megapixel sensor, for instance, which as well as offering a very respectful resolution, does a sterling job of keeping digital noise down at higher ISO settings.
And while the Canon PowerShot S90 only has a 3.8x optical zoom lens compared to the 5x zoom on the PowerShot G11, the difference is not that huge.
The lesser zoom range will be less of an issue for PowerShot S90 owners when they discover they get a very handy maximum aperture of f/2.0 at the wide-angle end, a big advantage in a camera in this price range.
Something else the PowerShot S90 has in common with the PowerShot G11 is innovative ergonomics.
Although the S90 lacks the cleverly combined exposure/ISO dial you get with the G11, it has a unique ring mounted around the lens.
Using the Ring Function button on the top of the camera, this can be configured to adjust aperture and shutter speed, ISO, exposure compensation, white balance compensation, or operate a 'step zoom' feature that sets the lens to a series of specific focal lengths. Just like a 'pro' camera.
Rotary club
The PowerShot S90 also has a bigger rear LCD than the PowerShot G11.
It's a full three inches in size and is very easy to read with its 461,000 pixel resolution. All it lacks is the PowerShot G11's articulation, but as we mentioned in the G11 review, this does make the latter rather fat.
Another of the PowerShot S90's innovations is a rear rotary wheel, used to adjust key settings in a similar way to the ring around the lens.
So, you can set the front lens ring to change aperture, for instance, while the rear ring adjusts exposure compensation. The rear ring is a good idea, but can be a bit fiddly. It's not as well engineered as the ring around the lens, and it's frustratingly easy to activate the nearby four-directional controller by mistake.
Making the rear ring a tad stiffer would have really helped here, and we suspect Canon will fix this on the next iteration.
Another slight quirk is the placement of the shutter button; it's quite small and you find yourself fingering the PASM dial every time you want to take a shot until you get used to it. The zoom lever, which is connected to the shutter release button, is also quite fiddly if you have big fingers.
These are not major problems though and the PowerShot S90's build quality is pretty good. This is clearly a compact that is built to last, although you should be aware some owners on the Canon USA site have already complained that that lovely rear LCD has a tendency to scratch quite easily. Since we have to send our review sample back, we weren't going to put this to the test!
Let's talk more about the lens. It's really fast and bright, as you can open the aperture as wide as f/2.
So it's ideal for blurring the background in close-up portraits, and being able to whack the aperture right open is obviously very handy in low light.
The lens itself is of outstanding quality and we found there to be minimal distortion – a great performance for the money.
The zoom is a bit limited at 3.8x, but you quickly get used to it, and there's optical image stabilisation to keep things nice and sharp at the telephoto end. The other advantage of a limited zoom is that it gets you into the good habit of getting closer to your subject, rather than relying on telephoto trickery and suffering the inevitable distortion you get on cheaper compacts.
Camera performance
The PowerShot S90 is a very discrete camera, so it's great for candid street photography, where you don't always want your subject to know they are being photographed. As mentioned, it's very easy to compose shots on the generous, well-lit rear LCD.
When it comes to speed and performance, it's a mixed bag. The PowerShot S90 takes about three seconds to save RAW images, which is quite good for a compact, so we're not quite sure why it still takes a second or two to work through much smaller JPEG files.
The camera can only manage 0.9fps in continuous shooting mode, too, which limits its appeal for action and sports photography.
On a related note, it's advisable to hold the camera quite firmly when you take the shot, as it's so light, we sometimes found ourselves moving away before it had actually finished processing.
The exposure and metering on the S90 cope well with every-day photographic tasks, though we did notice in a couple of situations that the camera had a tendency to blow out highlights and err on the side of overexposure, forcing us to dial down the exposure compensation when it shouldn't have been necessary in the lighting conditions.
We never quite got to the bottom of this, but it's easy enough to adjust the exposure compensation upwards and downwards via the rear wheel.
COLOUR: The 'My Colours' menu option lets you really boost the primary colours in JPEGs, as here
Generally though, the metering is accurate for a compact camera. The ISO performance is very impressive, as you'd expect from a camera which has the same sensor as the much-lauded PowerShot G11.
It's combined with Canon's Digic 4 image processor to create a 'Dual Anti Noise System' and we're sold on it.
Keep the ISO below 800 and the performance is exemplary; beyond it obviously gets much more noticeable, but is not a major problem until you ramp up the ISO to reckless levels. The other advantage of higher ISOs is faster shutter speeds, further adding to this already versatile camera's flexibility.
METERING: The metering system is generally reliable, save for an occasional tendency to overexpose, and the Digic 4 image processor delivers smooth, well saturated shots
The heavyweight ISO performance is obviously a big bonus in low-light conditions. It also helps to keep images natural-looking, as we found the pop-up flash to be pretty harsh on Auto settings.
Your options are limited – off, on, slow synchro – so it's worth finding out how to dial the flash down a bit using the Function Setting button at the rear of the camera. On a more positive note, the pop-up flash is well built and stylish, and zips out of the top with impressive speed.
ZOOM: Shot with the lens zoomed right out, this is a great telephoto performance for a compact camera. Edges are sharp and there's minimal distortion. The optical stabilisation technology works well
Exposure widgets
Canon has provided a few other exposure widgets worthy of mention.
The i-Contrast feature has been overhauled so it does more than just apply a quick and dirty shadow 'fix'. Now, the camera increases the 'gain', or sensitivity, in darker areas as the image is processed, to produce a much subtler enhancement of high-contrast scenes.
FLASH: The S90's flash is a bit harsh by default, but doesn't do a bad job in preserving the skin tones here. Flash options are limited, but you can adjust flash compensation in a matter of seconds
Meanwhile Smarter Scene Detection claims to automatically select the best camera settings for a particular scene by selecting it from 22 options.
It works well enough for the 'auto everything' user, but shouldn't be used as a substitute for getting to grips with the PASM dial and taking full creative control over your camera. We also found the range of built-in colour options to be useful.
HIGH ISO: Shot at ISO 800 in a near-dark garden centre, this shot shows the powerful noise reduction technology in action. There is noticeable speckling when you zoom in on Santa, but it's still a credible performance for a compact
Lighter and Darker Skin Tones are self explanatory, but more intriguing is Positive Film, which recreates the vivid tones of film.
You can also boost Red, Green and Blue, or further customise colour options to your preference. It's no Photoshop killer, and you'll still need to tweak the colours after the shot if you shoot in RAW, but still, this is another nice widget to have.
On the subject of RAW, Canon's Digital Photo Professional software is arguably the best RAW processing tool to be provided by camera makers in the box. It uses a logical slider system similar to Adobe Camera RAW, and while obviously lacking the latter's mind-boggling array of possibilities, Digital Photo Professional does a more than respectable job of processing and saving your RAW images.
If you want to get more from Digital Photo Professional, check out the regular tutorials written by our colleagues on PhotoPlus magazine.
Shooting video - not possible
Although the PowerShot S90 has an HDMI mini port for viewing images on a decent TV, you can't record HD video. This will inevitably raise questions for some prospective buyers when they can get the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 for about the same price.
The Panasonic can record at 720p HD in movie mode at 30fps, and is a further indication of how Panasonic is currently leading the pack when it comes to implementing HD movie recording in budget cameras.
To be fair to Canon, the movie mode on the Panasonic is still quite basic, so we wouldn't necessarily say this is a deal breaker – and if you use the PowerShot S90 as a backup for your SLR, chances are you now have HD movie recording on your main camera anyway.
At around آ£370 if you shop around, the PowerShot S90 makes a lot of sense as a backup for Canon SLR users, or as a versatile, high performance compact that you won't outgrow quickly.
Being able to shoot in RAW and process the files in Digital Photo Professional will obviously be a big advantage for Canon SLR users, but the PowerShot S90 is also very easy for photography novices to get to grips with.
We liked:
The biggest attractions are the fast, sharp lens, with an impressive f/2 maximum aperture, combined with an exemplary ISO performance (remember, you are getting the same sensor as the PowerShot G11, the jewel in Canon's compact crown).
The layout and design of the PowerShot S90 is generally good too, and the generous rear LCD beyond criticism.
We disliked:
The downsides are the occasionally fiddly ergonomics, the rather harsh flash, the restricted zoom, and of course, the lack of HD video recording.
We suspect it'll be this that determines whether the target market goes for this camera or buys an HD movie-enabled competitor like the Panasonic LX3 instead
Nearly آ£400 might not seem a lot in SLR terms, but we can't help thinking that Canon have been a bit stingy on the video front…
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Opera responds to EC browser decision
Opera says that consumers are the winners upon the completion of the European Commission's decision to present Internet Explorer users with a "Choice Screen".
Opera was instrumental in instigating the antitrust case after complaining over Microsoft's bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows.
"This is a victory for the future of the web. This decision is also a celebration of open Web standards, as these shared guidelines are the necessary ingredients for innovation on the web," said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software.
"Opera has long been at the forefront of web standards, which ensures that people have equal access to the Web anytime, anywhere and on any device. We see the outcome of the EU's investigation as a testament to our mission."
Interesting, Opera points out that the browser choice agreement will have a term of five years and includes a semi-annual review of its effectiveness.
"The days when companies could use poor standards support to tie down users are over," said Hأ¥kon Wium Lie, Chief Technology Officer, Opera Software. "The browser choice screen will give users access to better browsers with better support for Web standards."
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iFixit offers tech repair manuals for free
If you enjoy taking computers and gadgets to bits in an attempt to fix them when they break (or you just like taking things to bits for the hell of it!) then iFixit is giving you an early Christmas pressie – all of its repair guides from 2004-2009 are now being made freely available online.
iFixit began offering its detailed repair guides back in 2004 and has become a favourite amongst Mac fans in particular for its tear-downs of every single new product released out of Cupertino since that time.
Creative Commons license
iFixit is now offering its guides to anybody who wants them under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license, so users are free to share and adapt the work for their use.
"To our knowledge, this is the largest free release of repair documentation ever," writes iFixit.
"We are committing to make our repair manuals available to everyone in the world, forever, for free."
The news was announced over at the iFixit blog.
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BBC defends HD service against criticism over quality
Despite complaints from viewers, the BBC has defended the broadcast quality of the BBC HD channel.
The corporation has revealed that viewers have been complaining about the HD service since a change in the way the pictures are encoded took place in August.
Writing on the BBC's Internet blog, head of BBC HD Danielle Nagler, says that despite investigation into the problems, no technical fault can be found, adding that "the majority of viewers watching in normal situations in their living rooms are happy with the picture quality on the channel has shown that as a group, they are."
But many comments on the blog disagree with Nagler's views, talking of "fuzzy and grainy images" and one even saying "even my wife can see a reduction in picture quality and she's got cataracts."
Defending BBC HD
Defending the service, Nagler said "our BBC HD service is optimised to deliver to typical viewing set ups - it is not designed to be perfect at very close quarters, or on a 90-inch projection screen for example.
"There are programmes which some feel look disappointing, and others which are generally felt to look great. There have been no changes to the bitrate (of 9.7Mbps) over this period."
However, the BBC changed the encoders to process its HD images in August from 16Mbps encoding and that's where the issue lies.
"We did extensive testing on the new encoders which showed that they could produce pictures at the same or even better quality than the old encoders at the higher bitrate," a BBC HD spokesperson told BBC News.
"Some concerns"
However, Nagler does admit there have been some issues with this: "As we have indicated, there are some concerns that we have about picture handling in very specific circumstances by the new encoders. These are being addressed and will be fixed through software releases over the coming weeks."
Nagler does say she does want to "lay some myths to rest" over this issue, saying "these are actions that we would have taken in any case…the reduction in bitrate is not specifically related to Freeview HD - and to us it is absolutely critical that HD in general, and the BBC's HD service in particular, is available to everyone in the UK who wishes to watch it, whether that is through a subscription or a non-subscription route, or indeed on demand through BBC iPlayer.
Nagler also goes on to say that just like SD, HD programming does not all have a consistent "look". "HD from the BBC does deliver in a range of styles - and that is not always the bright, crisp look which for some is synonymous with HD."
"There are a number of programmes that we make where that kind of appearance would feel very odd indeed. Different types of cameras used in different ways, with different techniques in post production, will deliver different outcomes.
"The challenge for those of us overseeing that progression is to take a view on the outcome of those experiments, to embrace those that deliver advances and to kill off those that don't."
Nagler also denied the corporation would launch BBC One HD on Freeview early in 2010.
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Microsoft caught stealing code for Chinese blog
Microsoft has admitted that it stole some code to create its microblogging service MSN Juku in China.
Microsoft China launched Juku back in November. The service has been immediately suspended, pending further investigation.
Caught red-handed
A Microsoft-contracted coder was caught red-handed lifting code from rival Canadian start-up, Plurk, with that company claiming that as much as 80% of the basecode was "stolen directly" by Microsoft to make MSN Juku.
Microsoft has held its hands up, admitting "we are obviously very disappointed but we assume responsibility for this situation.
"We are a company that respects intellectual property and it was never our intent to have a site that was not respectful of the work that others in the industry have done."
Shock, outrage, rip-off
In response Plurk issued the following statement: "We were shocked and outraged when we saw with our own eyes the cosmetic similarities Microsoft's new offering had with Plurk....Microsoft China's offering ripped off our service."
"On closer inspection we found that much of the codebase and data structures... are identical snapshots of our code," Plurk added.
"That it is Microsoft doing the copying in broad daylight makes it even more incredulous.
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False start for Namco's Ridge Racer on iPhone
Namco has released its classic Ridge Racer on iPhone, although be warned that the game will only currently work with the latest iPhone 3GS.
Namco has not optimised the lower spec 3G version for the moment, but promises us that it should be arriving soon.
Riiiiiiiiiiidge etc
Ridge Racer Accelerated is now live on the App Store, priced at a mere آ£1.79. Drift across there to buy it, should you be packing a 3GS.
The game evokes memories of the early PlayStation days, when Namco's arcade-style driving game really did bring (at the time) arcade-quality gaming into our lounges.
Ridge Racer Accelerated features a mere two tracks and two cars, with future downloadable content promised from the house of Namco.
Right now, you can also buy a pack of nine additional cars for آ£1.19 and six extra tracks for آ£1.99, once you get bored of the first ones.
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Online shoppers spending 94 per cent more than 2008
Figures from 150 top online retailers show that Brits are spending 94 per cent more per online order than in 2008.
The stats, from the Coremetrics Benchmark, found that the value of the average online order has increased 54 per cent since 2007.
However, it says the effect of the recession on consumer spending last year is clearly visible with the average order value decreasing 20 percent during 2007-2008, before rising 94 percent from 2008 to 2009.
"What's interesting about this year's benchmark data is how UK consumers are clearly feeling much more optimistic about the economy than last year," says Richard Shepard, VP EMEA at Coremetrics.
"The recession has had a huge impact on online sales, but the Benchmark figures demonstrate that more shoppers than ever are going online in search of great deals."
The number of goods that are purchased per transaction has also increased significantly, from 2.7 items in 2007 to 3.7 per order in 2009.
The figures provided by Coremetrics measured data from 150 participating UK retailers including Play.com, Net-a-Porter.com and Game, across the two weeks leading up to 7th December over a three year period.
Interestingly, UK shoppers follow a similar pattern to the US where online shopping really picks up following Thanksgiving, which falls on the fourth Thursday in November. During the last three years in the UK shoppers have chosen to spend most near the end of the week, usually on a Friday.
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YouTube reveals most- watched videos of 2009
YouTube has revealed its most-watched content for the last 12 months, so Susan Boyle haters had better look away now.
The site has also examined the "billions of queries" that people typed into YouTube search in 2009 to identify some of the fastest-rising search terms for each month.YouTube says this gives results similar to Google Zeitgeist, "revealing the interests, issues, and entertainment that connected the world throughout the year."
"From a new singer's debut on the world stage to newlyweds dancing down the aisle, YouTube offers everyone a way to experience and share in the big or small moments that touch millions of people around the world,"said Chad Hurley, CEO and co-founder of YouTube.
Top 5 Most Watched YouTube videos (UK)
1. YouTube Street Fighter - 6,604,675 views
2. How to say i love you - 1,927,530 views
3. Lego Star Wars - The New Guy - 1,812, 037 views
4. The Stig revealed - 3,035,197 views
5. Extreme sheep LED - 10,640,942 views
Top 5 Most Watched YouTube videos (Global)
1. Susan Boyle - Britain's Got Talent (120+ million views)
2. David After Dentist (37+ million views)
3. JK Wedding Entrance Dance (33+ million views)
4. New Moon Movie Trailer (31+ million views)
5. Evian Roller Babies (27+ million views)
Fastest Rising YouTube search terms by month (Global):
- January: inauguration
- February: christian bale
- March: the climb
- April: susan boyle
- May: pacquiao vs hatton
- June: michael jackson thriller
- July: michael jackson
- August: usain bolt
- September: kanye west
- October: paranormal activity
- November: bad romance
- December: tiger woods
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In Depth: 2009 tech predictions revisited: how did we do?
After decorating the tree and cooking the sprouts, the favourite task of every TechRadar staffer this time each year is to make their predictions for the year after. But first comes the slightly more uncomfortable bit – looking back at the predictions for 2009 that we made this time last year. So let's see what gold we predicted – and what myrrh we didn't.
If there was one thing that really blew up this year, it was the smartphone market. "I'm hoping to see a real fight in the mobile phone space to deliver what mobile phone users actually want," wrote TechRadar's Mobile Specialist Gareth Beavis a year ago, predicting that Android would really take the fight to Apple, though it's been more steady rather than explosive growth. "Nokia has been decidedly lacklustre in the touchscreen market," said Gareth.
"The N97 will hopefully be the precursor to the proper iPhone beater, and the INQ1 Facebook phone should set a decent precedent for what low-end phone functionality should be about." Nokia's N900 has finally appeared and while it isn't quite an iPhone killer, it's certainly shows Nokia is finally heading in the right direction.
TechRadar's Editor (Features) Paul Douglas correctly predicted that the Windows 7 beta would appear at last year's CES. But he was slightly off with his prediction of when Windows 7 would finally appear - 30 January 2010, exactly three years to the day from the launch of Vista.
To be fair, he wasn't alone in his prediction which was backed up by Deputy Editor Dan Grabham who thought that the next version of Office would also be out on the same day. Office 2010 hasn't yet hit, though we took a decent look at it earlier this year.
And then there's 3D. "I think 2009 is going to be a breakthrough year for 3D, at least in the sense of it building a head of steam as the next must-have tech upgrade," said Editor-in-Chief Nick Merritt. "The technology is closing in and it works: from Hollywood, with James Cameron blazing trails with Avatar and rapid installation of 3D in theatres."
That at least has happened. Indeed, TechRadar's Editor (News) Patrick Goss sums up many people's attitude to 3D, even if it has had success at the cinema. "Expect to see plenty of people publicly question if a tech that has been considered a gimmick since it hit cinemas more than 20 years ago has any real place in today's cinemas and living rooms."
Patrick correctly predicted a raft of 3D tech demos and 3D TV sets shown off during 2009. Sky has announced it will be launching a 3D channel during 2010.
News Writer Marc Chacksfield predicted that YouTube would cement its position as the online video destination by introducing much more feature-length content, with it and other movie-streaming sites making peer-to-peer sharing less important.
"There's been a plethora of illegitimate streaming movie sites pop up in 2008, which points to a move away from peer-to-peer for online pirates." While this hasn't quite happened, it's certainly been the case that official streaming services such as BBC iPlayer have gone from strength to strength and have also started streaming movies.
Reviews Editor James Rivington predicted what most of us were thinking – a boon in cheap imports caused by the credit crunch followed by OLED emerging onto the market at the high end. But aside from Sony's XEL-1, no other OLED sets are yet on sale in the UK. Can we expect this to change in 2010?
As James said last year, "Don't expect to see many of them anywhere other than in a John Lewis store window - the cheap mass-produced LCD panels are going to be the mainstay for a good while yet." That will still hold true for next year, so watch out for our 2010 predictions.
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Android Market crosses 20,000 app mark
The Android Market, Google's application store for its mobile OS, has passed the 20,000 app mark.
Given Android has only been on the market for just over a year, adding 20,000 new bits o' software in that time frame is a pretty good stat.
Admittedly, the App Store from rivals Apple has over 100,000 applications on its books, and had 50,000 in its first year alone.
But it shows that Google is quickly asserting itself as the second biggest application store in the mobile arena.
Different - or better?
And what differentiates the Android community from its iPhone counterpart is that while the Apple offering contains nearly 70 per cent paid-for apps, the Android version has only 37.8 per cent.
What that means - well, we're no statisticians, but we'd imagine that developers, given a freer rein in terms of acceptance to the Market, are happy to create apps for fun and throw them out to the wider community.
Of course, some will argue that other operating systems have a wider catalogue thanks to legacy apps (Symbian and Windows Mobile come to mind) but they're not in a nice, easy to get to central portal - and that's what the normal mobile user is looking for when adding to their shiny new phone gadget.
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Google brands Australian web filtering 'heavy-handed'
Google has branded the Australian Government's web-filtering scheme "heavy-handed."
Australia is planning on introducing filters to ISPs that will prevent web users in the country from accessing sites with criminal content.
As we reported yesterday, the move follows a lengthy seven-month trial of the new filter technology that found it to be 100 per cent effective.
Iarla Flynn, Head of Policy at Google Australia, says in a blog post that "moving to a mandatory ISP filtering regime with a scope that goes well beyond such material is heavy handed and can raise genuine questions about restrictions on access to information."
"Our primary concern is that the scope of content to be filtered is too wide," states Google's Flynn. "We have a bias in favour of people's right to free expression."
While we recognise that protecting the free exchange of ideas and information cannot be without some limits, we believe that more information generally means more choice, more freedom and ultimately more power for the individual."
An independent classification group will decide on which sites would be banned, and they'd act in response to complaints from the public. The new law will go to the Australian parliament next August. It's estimated that it will take a year to be fully implemented.
But Google believes some filtering is acceptable. "Some limits, like child pornography, are obvious. No Australian wants that to be available – and we agree."
"Google, like many other Internet companies, has a global, all-product ban against child sexual abuse material and we filter out this content from our search results," says Flynn.
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London to be 'electric car capital of Europe'
At the climate summit in Copenhagen, Boris Johnson pledged allegiance to the electric car and promised that by 2015, London will be the electric vehicle capital of Europe.
In his speech to the summit, Johnson announced that Londoners would be no more than a mile away from an electric charging point, which would mean 15,000 charging points in and around the city.
Hair-shirt abstinence
In all there would be 500 charge points in the streets and 22,500 in workplaces, with the remaining 2,000 to be found in public car parks.
"There is an urgent need to tackle the risk of serious and irreversible climate change, yet this does not need to be about hair-shirt abstinence," said Johnson.
"I want to pursue radical yet practical steps to cut energy waste. Electric vehicles are a clear example of how technology can provide the solution to the biggest challenge of our generation."
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Teletext departs screens after 35 years
Teletext ends its text info service today after 35 years on commercial television. The inevitable came after commercial profit and public interest fell sharply over recent years.
Owner Associated Newspapers said back in the summer that Teletext had been loss-making and no viable business model could be found.
Its competitor, the BBC's Ceefax service, has been supplanted by the BBC Red Button service on digital, while Ceefax itself will end when digital switchover is complete in 2012.
The service was started in the mid-1970s as Oracle on ITV but really came into its own during the 1980s, especially during the Falklands War when, according to The Times at the time "the public's appetite for instant information is being underlined by a sharp increase in sales of television receivers capable of [receiving Ceefax and Oracle]"
Not all the company's services are closing though; Teletext Holidays on Freeview channel 101; commercial channels on Freeview channels 102-107; and its travel websites are all continuing.
The service cut jobs and outsourced content in a bid to keep afloat, but despite revenues of آ£41m in the last financial year it was doomed.
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'Lord of the Rings' trilogy heads to Blu-ray
The latest blockbuster trilogy to appear on Blu-ray is set to be Peter Jackson's magnificent Lord Of The Rings trilogy which is set to be released on Blu-ray for the first time next spring.
Blu-ray continues to underperform as a format, when compared with the sales and revenue generated by the DVD format at a similar period in its lifecycle, although the big studios continue to support the format.
Tolkien-esque treat
Warner Home Video is certainly planning on giving Tolkien's legions of fans a treat with the Blu-ray special, with The Lord Of The Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy set to arrive in a nine-disc set that features all three original films and over seven hours of extra bonus material.
The set will be released in the UK on April 10, priced آ£74.99.
It is just a shame that Warner could not have released the Blu-ray discstravagansa in time for Christmas. Ah well. Roll on Easter 2010…
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Virgin Digital Help launches for UK technophobes
Virgin Digital Help has launched, promising to fix Britain's technology problems with a mixture of downloadable tools, call centres, online help and even home visits.
Although Sir Richard Branson's head is stuck firmly in Formula One clouds, it hasn't stopped the first new company launching under the Virgin brand in the UK for three years.
Virgin Digital Help is hoping to target a growing problem with the British public and its love/hate relationship with technology.
Vital part
"It's obvious that digital stuff has become a vital part of our lives," says Joe Steel, founder of Virgin Digital Help. "We've come to rely on it, so it's naturally devastating when it stops working."
"Most of us don't know where to turn when our technology breaks down. It's as though the digital industry hasn't kept pace with the interconnected nature of today's digital world.
"Often, the frustrations involved in getting something fixed are as much of an issue as the problem itself. We would rather spend hours slogging away trying to fix something on our own than get on the phone with technical support."
Virgin has inevitably chucked out a load of research results that show the need for its services, suggesting that nearly half of people have trouble with their computer (not a shock) and that slow PC speed is the biggest gripe.
Of course, we'd like to think you could solve a good percentage of the problems by simply looking at the range of guides on TechRadar of course – including speeding up your PC.
Emotional connection
"Our research shows that people now have real emotional connections with their gadgets," Steel continues. "When they work they're great, they make our lives better. But when they don't work or when they don't connect to each other properly, we just feel lost.
"It's really frustrating, stressful, or even scary - valuable stuff could get lost. This means that people are wasting a lot of time trying to get their digital kit to work, and certainly aren't reaping the full benefit of it."
"For far too long, understanding how to make digital technology work has been the preserve of a small, tech-savvy proportion of the British population. Outside of these power users, people either miss out or spend hours in fruitless frustration. We have launched Virgin Digital Help to get Britain's digital stuff to work. Now you don't have to get mad, you can just get help."
The service's starting point is a website at http://www.virgindigitalhelp.co.uk/ though if your computer has failed then you probably need the 0800 107 1175 number instead.
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Philip K Dick's daughter to sue Google?
Is the Google Phone, currently known as 'Nexus One' an unauthorised replicant?
Philip K. Dick's daughter certainly thinks so, with the Blade Runner author's estate having not been contacted or consulted over the use of the name 'Nexus One' – which Google seems to have lifted directly from Dick's sci-fi masterpiece Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Google's new smartphone device is called Nexus One in at least two government filings, although the name is far from set in stone and the company is likely to change it before the phone gets a commercial release later in 2010.
Dick's book features a bounty hunter asked to track down a number of rogue Nexus-6 cyborgs.
Out of basic courtesy, if nothing else, one would have expected Google to have discussed the use of the 'Nexus One' name with the author's estate.
Shock and dismay
The author's daughter Isa Dick Hackett, said she was "shocked and dismayed" and that the estate "were never consulted, no requests were made, and we didn't grant any sort of permissions.
"In my mind, there is a very obvious connection to my father's novel…My father was a big fan of technology," she added. "It's certainly something we would have been happy to discuss and interested in exploring. They only needed to reach out."
Google filed this application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the name "Nexus One" for use with a phone.
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Google considers charging for YouTube
Pay-to-view subscription packages could well be the future of YouTube, with the online video service considering charging users to access movies, TV shows and news, according to a senior Google executive.
Channels 4 and Five in the UK have already cut deals with Google-owned YouTube to show full-length shows online for free.
Yet now it seems that the ad-funded model that YouTube has been based on to date could well soon be married with a more traditional subscription-fee model for access to exclusive content.
PayTube
Google executive David Eun looks after such partnerships with broadcasters and movie studios – and has confirmed with Reuters that paid subscription was a viable option for the future of YouTube.
"We're making some interesting bets on long-form content; not all content is accessible to us with the advertising model," said the Google exec.
Despite its massive popularity, YouTube is estimated by analysts to lose as much as $470m (آ£288m) in 2009
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Facebook gets re-booted for Android
A new version of the Android Facebook application has been launched, and this time it works more as you'd expect it to.
The first Facebook for Android application was a little on the basic side, with elements like being able to see news and status updates being the main talking point.
But the new upgrade brings the ability to browse friends' profiles from within the application itself rather than having to jump to the browser, which obviously makes things a lot slicker.
Chat
You can also navigate through your friends' photos as well - something that makes obvious sense seeing as it was possible natively on the HTC Hero already through the Sense UI.
However, it's not the complete package as yet, as there doesn't appear to be any support for messaging or chat as yet.
The original application was only released in September (to much confusion) so it's good to see the rate of change is working at a decent pace.
However it's not in the same league as the iPhone Facebook application as yet, so we'll have to wait and see how long that takes.
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