IT-Code-News: IT News HeadLines (Techradar) 10/03/2010

Exclusive: Dell insists that Adamo XPS is 'still available'

Dell has explained to TechRadar why its Adamo XPS laptop is increasingly difficult to get hold off, insisting that the 'engineering marvel' should be considered a special edition.

According to the company, reports that the XPS had been axed just three months after launch are not entirely accurate, with Dell insisting that the high-end laptop should not have been considered a normal piece of stock, but a limited release.

Dell also confirmed that most of the supply of the laptop 'has been accounted for' and people still keen to buy one will need to look hard.

Selected stores

"In the UK, Adamo XPS will continue to be offered through select John Lewis stores and on johnlewis.com," said Dell's statement.

"The Adamo XPS is an engineering marvel and a decisive proof point to Dell's design and engineer capabilities.

"As such it is similar to a limited edition product, and most of the supply has been accounted for.

"The original Adamo is still available on adamobydell.co.uk with a starting price point of Â£1,099."

The US will also be able to get hold of the Adamo XPS with the statement confirming that it is "still available in the US at select Best Buy Stores and on bestbuy.com."

Of course, you can read into this what you will - spin or truth - but XPS lovers had better start raiding their piggy banks to buy one because special or not, this laptop is now a limited edition.

Sony announces 3D glasses and emitter price

Sony has unveiled the prices of its 3D glasses and emitter package â€“ an add-on which will make the latest batch of Sony Bravias 3D Ready.

Sony's latest Bravia TVs will be 3D compatible but only one of these will be 3D Ready, and that is the LX900.

The LX900 is Sony's flagship model of the company's Monolithic range, one which will have an emitter inside. The television will also come with two Sony active-shutter glasses.

The active shutter glasses can also be bought separately, although this is currently available in Japan.

3D add-ons

Each pair of glasses will set you back 12,000 Yen, which is around Â£90. Even though this is around about the price that we thought for the specs, it does mean that a family of four will have to fork out an extra Â£180 when buying a 3D TV.

As for the emitter, this will cost 5,000 Yen, which is Â£33. The emitter can be added to Sony's NX900, HX700, HX800 and HX900 to make the 3D-capable TVs 3D compatible.

Sony hasn't officially announced when its 3D TVs will be coming to the UK market. But, with Samsung and Panasonic's launching this month, we can only assume that a launch is imminent.

Two per cent rise for UK TV licence fee

The television licence fee will go up by three pounds, with Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw laying a Parliamentary order to approve the increase from next month.

The rise in the licence fee, is just the latest in a six-year plan approved back in January 2007, but arrives in an inevitable storm of criticism and brings the cost of a colour television licence to Â£145.50.

The Department for Culture Media and Sport argue that the January inflation figure stood at 3.5 per cent, which means that the Â£3, or two per cent, rise is actually below the increase to cost of living.

Hard times

But with the country still reeling from the economic crash, and government departmental cuts, the increase has drawn disapproval.

The whole idea of a licence fee remains controversial, with advocates pointing to a uniquely funded public service broadcaster like the BBC that is the envy of the world, and critics pointing to a 500 pound gorilla that holds too much power and is funded by what, in essence, is another tax.

The debate has raged for years, and with a general election looming it seems likely that the debate over the fee will soon become a political hot potato once again.

For now, however, the opposition party - the Conservatives - decided not to contest the increase, although they have not ruled out a cut to the fee should they win the election.

SXSWi 2010: South by South West Interactive 2010: what to look forward to

The 'Interactive' part of the annual South by South West conference in Austin, Texas kicks off this Friday.

Known as SXSWi, and running through until Tuesday 16 March, the event brings together web designers, developers, content creators and more, to share ideas, network, announce new products and services, and then hang out in the evenings over barbeque and beer.

The conference features around 200 panels and evening events covering subjects such as social media, interface design, real-time web, and much more. The evenings see parties such as the Bigg Digg Shindigg, events hosted by Microsoft, Mozilla and Mashable a tonne of film showings, since the SXSW Film Conference and Festival runs at the same time.

TechRadar will be reporting from SXSWi, bringing you the latest news, and in-depth interviews with the web's biggest players.

Here are some of the events to get excited about, but there are many more. The full schedule is on the SXSWi site.

Friday 12 March

The UX of Mobile â€“ 2pm
This panel examines design principles for the creation of apps for iPhone, Android, and mobile websites.

Long Distance UX â€“ 3:30pm
Alex Cook and Lisa Camm from Google explain how Google works with teams split across multiple locations.

Securing Web Behemoths â€“ 5pm
Security engineers from Microsoft, Facebook and Twitter talk about the challenge of securing web apps.

Saturday 13 March

Can the real-Time Web be Realised? â€“ 11am
A panel including spokespeople from Microsoft, Google, ReadWriteWeb discuss what is needed to make the real-time web achievable.

iPad: New Opportunities for Content Creators â€“ 11am
Experts in the interactive, book publishing, magazine, and video gaming industries talk about the impact of the iPad in regards to design and distribution of content.

Mozilla party - 6pm
Mozilla is getting some attendee love this year â€“ the Mozilla happy hour, which kicks off at 6pm at Cedar Door, is limited to the first 250 guests, and over 5,000 people have confirmed their attendance on the Facebook group.

Bigg Digg Shindigg â€“ 7pm
Free to attend (you don't even need a SXSW badge), which means it'll be packed, so get to Stubbs BBQ early and expect to queue. Hosted by Digg and Revision 3.

Sun 14 March

Trials and Tribulations of the Pirate Bay â€“ 12:30pm
The Pirate Bay's Peter Sunde reflects on the Pirate Bay's recent trial, its $7.8 million acquisition and looks to the future of peer-to-peer.

Gmail: Behind the Scenes â€“ 5pm
Gmail engineers, user experience, and product managers talk about how they work together and how they see online communication evolving.

Mashable's MashBash â€“ 10pm
Mashable, Cliqset and Sony host the second MashBash SXSWi.

Mon 15 March

Evan Williams Keynote Interview â€“ 2pm
Hear from Evan Williams, co-founder of Pyra Labs (creator of Blogger) and web 2.0 darlings Twitter. Follow the hashtag #evwilliams if you want to join in remotely.

Android: What We've Learned About Mobile in the Last Two Months â€“ 3:30pm
In January 2010, Google launched the Nexus One in the US. This phone marked the first time Google had started selling its own consumer electronics. Senior Product Manager Erick Tseng talks about what Google has learned from the experience.

Tues 16 March

Is Canvas the End of Flash? â€“ 12:30pm
HTML5 Canvas-based graphics, animation, and interaction have some people claiming that it's a Flash killer. But is it really? Panel members include spokespeople from Palm and Adobe. We can pretty much guess what Adobe's response will beâ€¦

Daniel Ek Keynote Interview â€“ 2pm
Now why would 26-year-old CEO and co-founder of online music service Spotify be in the US? Could it be that Spotify is announcing its US launch at this very time? Ek has previously said that a US launch is on the cards: "A Spotify launch in the US is absolutely part of our plans," Ek told TechRadar in February 2009.

SXSW Interactive Closing Party â€“ 8pm
After a busy week, we'll be heading over to The Mohawk for the official closing party.

SXSWi 2010: South by South West Interactive 2010: what to look forward to

The 'Interactive' part of the annual South by South West conference in Austin, Texas kicks off this Friday.

The conference features around 200 panels and evening events covering subjects such as social media, interface design, real-time web and much more. The evenings see parties such as the Bigg Digg Shindigg, events hosted by Microsoft, Mozilla and Mashable, and a tonne of film showings, since the SXSW Film Conference and Festival runs at the same time.

TechRadar will be reporting from SXSWi, bringing you the latest news, and in-depth interviews with the web's biggest players.

Here are some of the events to get excited about, but there are many more. The full schedule is on the SXSWi site.

Friday 12 March

The UX of Mobile â€“ 2pm
This panel examines design principles for the creation of apps for iPhone, Android, and mobile websites.

Long Distance UX â€“ 3:30pm
Alex Cook and Lisa Camm from Google explain how Google works with teams split across multiple locations.

Securing Web Behemoths â€“ 5pm
Security engineers from Microsoft, Facebook and Twitter talk about the challenge of securing web apps.

Saturday 13 March

Can the Real-Time Web be Realised? â€“ 11am
A panel including spokespeople from Microsoft, Google and ReadWriteWeb discuss what is needed to make the real-time web achievable.

iPad: New Opportunities for Content Creators â€“ 11am
Experts in the interactive, book publishing, magazine, and videogaming industries talk about the impact of the iPad in regards to design and distribution of content.

Is WordPress Killing Web Design? - 3:30pm
Join magneticNorth's Brendan Dawes, Shane Mielke of 2Advanced Studios and others for a lively discussion hosted by our colleagues on .net magazine.

Bigg Digg Shindigg â€“ 7pm
Free to attend (you don't even need a SXSW badge), which means it'll be packed, so get to Stubbs BBQ early and expect to queue. Hosted by Digg and Revision 3.

Sun 14 March

Gmail: Behind the Scenes â€“ 5pm
Gmail engineers, user experience designers and product managers talk about how they work together and how they see online communication evolving.

Mashable's MashBash â€“ 10pm
Mashable, Cliqset and Sony host the second MashBash SXSWi.

Mon 15 March

Tues 16 March

Is Canvas the End of Flash? â€“ 12:30pm
HTML5 Canvas-based graphics, animation and interaction have some people claiming that it's a Flash killer. But is it really? Panel members include spokespeople from Palm and Adobe. We can pretty much guess what Adobe's response will beâ€¦

SXSW Interactive Closing Party â€“ 8pm
After a busy week, we'll be heading over to The Mohawk for the official closing party.

Predicted sales for Nexus One reduced by 70%

Google's plan to release its own mobile phone - the Nexus One - seems to have backfired as sales estimates have been slashed.

Such was the hype around the search giant's own phone that some analysts predicted that the Nexus One would sell 3.5m units in its first year.

But the lack of marketing around the phone (coupled with the fact the HTC Desire is essentially the same device with greater functionality) means that investment bank Goldman Sachs has dramatically reduced its estimates.

"We previously estimated that Google might sell 3.5 million Nexus One units in 2010," said the firm, according to ZDNet.

Disappointing data

"Initial data-points were disappointing, possibly due to limited marketing and customer service challenges. Flurry estimated (based on mobile traffic) that Google sold 20,000 in the first week, and 80,000 in the first month, both annualizing to 1.0 million.

"We forecast that Google sells 1.0 million Nexus One units in FY2010, benefiting from US carriers other than T-Mobile, and non-US carriers such as Vodafone, promoting the device too, but suffering from limited marketing activity."

Google is predicted to add to the Nexus range with companies like Motorola coming on board to create the devices - but even then the estimates only go up to two million phones per year.

The decision by Google to only offer the Nexus One online is an odd one - we're all waiting to see what tricks the company has up its sleeve to make this online portal into a real money spinner.

Exclusive: LG Cookie Fresh GS290 gets UK release date

LG has announced the new Cookie Fresh GS290, another budget mobile phone to appeal to the masses.

We brought you news of this phone last week, when it was first shown off at CeBIT - and now it's been made official, which may not be the right way round for a new release.

But the good news is we've managed to sniff out a UK release date - it will be landing on our frosty shores at the start of April.

The LG Cookie Fresh will sport some basic specs - we're talking no 3G and a 2MP camera bolted on the back.

All about the media

However, there is a three-inch touchscreen and social networking integration to get excited about, and the UI seems to be large and easy to use.

And media is also catered for - despite likely coming with a sub Â£100 price tag, there's still a 3.5mm headphone port and an FM radio too.

The LG Cookie sold fantastically well two years ago when it was released - it still was top of the pay as you go charts in the UK last year.

Check out the Korean press release if you're into translated announcements - there's a picture of a girl holding some phones as well, if you need a reason to click.

HTC Supersonic shows up on video

While the world is going gaga over the HTC Legend and Desire pair, the cogs at the Taiwanese HQ haven't stopped turning - and the HTC Supersonic seems next up.

A blurry web video has leaked out of the phone, which apparently boasts a 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen and Android 2.1.

The video is pretty basic - all we learn is that it comes in white and has a dual LED flash to go with the unknown megapixeled camera.

Snappy power

Previous reports have stated that the HTC Supersonic will be packing the same 1GHz Snapdragon processor we've seen in umpteen phones these days - which we like for a phone with this size of screen.

After the HTC HD2 was launched, we've been waiting for an Android version to pop up, and this could be it.

The only downside - it's apparently going to be using 4G WiMax, which is very much a US-focused feature at the moment.

Here's hoping that changes before release and we get out own HTC Supersonic UK release date in the near future.

Google prepping search for TV?

Google is testing its search algorithms for television, it has been revealed, with the trial of a new service in association with the Dish Network

The trial uses a Google search engine inside a set-top box, which helps users to find show on the web.

According to the WSJ, testing has taken place since last year and has been limited to people within Google.

Although unknown in the UK, the Dish Network has 14 million subscribers in the US. It hasn't commented on the trials and neither has Google but set-top box search would certainly be a viable option for Google â€“ considering a similar technology has been employed in new TiVo boxes in the US.

Internet on the big screen

Web-enabled set-top boxes and TVs are becoming more and more present in homes and it with Project Canvas in the UK set to bring IPTV to the masses, some sort of organised search for programmes via a set-top box, which broaches satellite, terrestrial and internet would be more than welcomed.

You only have to look at the primitive search options of Sky's HD boxes to know that this is one are that could be greatly enhanced.

Couple this with Google's close ties with YouTube â€“ which already houses a number of TV shows â€“ and the potential for decent programme search is definitely there.

Asus shows off Cine5 all-in-one PC speaker

Asus has unveiled its Cine5 PC speaker, promising accurate 5-channel surround sound in small room.

The Cine5 is designed for what Asus terms 'personalized spaces' such as study rooms and to that end it is a all-in-one, compact speaker using Asus' "Embracing Sound Theatre HD" technology.

"This patented technology leverages on a discrete 5-channel output to deliver full audio surround, which users can experience whenever they are directly in front of the speaker," explains Asus.

FPS accuracy

"In a First Player Shooter game, the Cine5 provides precise sound location that improves shooting accuracy and heightens gaming thrills.

"The Cine5 also revives 5-channel audio from any down-mixed 2-channel sourceâ€”for a high-fidelity, multi-channel sound during PC gaming or movie sessions."

The Cine5 apparently offers 15dB more than speakers of similar size and the multi-driver configuration should aid higher-frequency responses.

Asus has yet to announce a price, but the Cine5 has a UK release date of the end of March.

In Depth: 10 of Wikipedia's wackiest arguments

The premise of Wikipedia is laudable. A knowledge depository written and edited by the people, for the people.

The glue that keeps the site together is an evolving set of policies and guidelines, but, these guidelines are open to much interpretation and debate.

Here are 10 of Wikipedia's daftest discussions.

1. What's in a name?

Some of Wikipedia's denizens don't like the way academic researcher and well-known blogger danah boyd (legally) spells her name - without caps.

"Why is it OK for her to impose her nonstandard styling and the costs that come with it on the rest of us?" said R27182818 on the subject's discussion page. The argument continues to this day, and the Wikipedia article on danah boyd is still titled "Danah Boyd".

2. Though shalt not edit thy own biography

Even danah's own intervention couldn't sway the most hardline opposers, because Wikipedia has a rule that discourages living subjects from editing their own entries. Carl Hewitt, an associate professor at MIT was rather notoriously banned in 2007 - according to The Guardian - for editing his own biography and promoting his works.

Wikipedians said his activities were "disruptive". Professor Hewitt countered that his page "significantly misrepresents both me and my work". He was inspired by the incident to write a paper entitled The Corruption of Wikipedia on Google's rival user-edited encyclopaedia, Knol.

3. Goodbye, Larry

While Carl Hewitt got the boot, Jimmy Wales, the guy who founded - sorry, co-founded Wikipedia - got away with editing his own entry with little more than a war of words.

He stood accused of removing references to his former partner Larry Sanger. Amusingly, the whole episode is now detailed on Wales's own Wikipedia page.

Jimmy wales

SELF-EDITING: Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales deleted former partner Larry Sanger from his entry. The ensuing edit war spread through Wikipedia like a forest fire

4. RIP Swells

Wikipedians love arguing about whether entries deserve to be on Wikipedia. Why was there an argument about the notability of Steven Wells, journeyman music journalist and famous broadcaster when he passed away last year though? Cultural ignorance we suspect.

In this case, one Wikipedia editor voted to delete the entry, 24 hours after Wells died. The argument that ensued was brief and one-sided, but definitely whacky.

5. Fictionally famous

The question of notability grows feathered wings of insanity when the subject in question is fictional. This was such a contentious issue that the folks editing the actual guideline have had had several meltdowns over wording.

First mooted in 2006, four years later the Notability (Fiction) guideline is stalled at "proposal" stage. Referred to in Wikipedia itself as "the mother of all notability disputes", the archived discussion currently runs for 56 pages - most of them tetchy.

6. Happy Birthday, Jimmy Wales

Another guideline that trips up new Wikipedia editors is that all information should be based on "reliable sources". But what's a reliable source? For example, another edit war involving Jimmy Wales sprang up when the Wikipedia co-founder decided to remove his date of birth - saying it was incorrect.

Plenty of friendly Wikipedians were happy to "correct" the edit he made citing secondary sources, including Encyclopaedia Brittanica. Mr Wales's entry currently says his birthday is 7 August - with a note at the bottom saying that this is wrong... by one day.

7. Chicken Kyiv

One of Wikipedia's Five Pillars is "Wikipedia has a neutral point of view" or NPOV. But is there such a thing?

One chap's reasonable belief is another's fundamentalism. For evidence see slanging matches like the ongoing battle about Ukraine's capital city. The Ukrainian name is "Kyiv", but the article uses the Russian name "Kiev".

Proponents of the latter spelling say that it's more common, while champions of Kyiv say it's a hangover of Soviet rule.

Five pillars

THE RULES: Wikipedia's Five Pillars include "Wikipedia does not have firm rules" and "Wikipedians should act in a respectful and civil manner". Really

8. Hummus

Tasty chickpea dip or battleground for Middle Eastern politicking? On Wikipedia, it's both. Contributors couldn't make up their minds whether the dish was Israeli, Turkish or Lebanese in origin. Last time we looked at the discussion section, another six countries were laying claim to the garlicky entrÃ©e.

9. Big G

Religion and politics are perennial flamebait - but few arguments are as silly or circular as one in the discussion section of Wikipedia's Derren Brown entry.

It's not about the beardy mind fiddler - it is, rather, about whether the article should refer to God or god. Big G is, of course, the Christian God, Jehovah. In the context it was used, a TV special where Brown temporarily converted atheists into believers, there was an argument that the illusionist meant a generic god or gods. Small g. The argument raged for a good nine months. Just thinking about it makes our brains go "ouch".

10. Young Earth

Think that's whacky? You should have a gander at the discussion section of The Age of the Earth, where a battle between creationists and rationalists includes argumental gems like: "After reading the first paragraph, I nearly threw up. Since when were Creationist views on the age of the earth un-scientific?".

All in all there's plenty here to prove there are two sides to every internet argument, and both are usually wrong...

Review: Bose SoundLink

It's been a big month for one-box music streamers, with the Sonos S5 reviewed on page 76, but Bose's SoundLink offering is content to keep things simple.

Rather than connect to the internet, this wireless unit pairs with an included dongle/transmitter. That USB key then plugs into a separate PC or Apple Mac and syncs with iTunes in order to stream your entire music collection.

It doesn't even need a home network to operate, so it is ideal for those who shudder at NAS boxes and the like.

Beefy bass

Boy, if you're a fan of bass, the SoundLink won't let you down. Its adoption of the company's proprietary Waveguide technology allows for very accurate low frequency response.

The unit has a rechargeable battery, allowing you to carry it from room to room without having to plug it in each time.

The wireless dongle and receiver in the SoundLink can still communicate up to 60 feet away from each other. They also use a Wi-Fi tech that doesn't conflict with a conventional internet protocol.

A rear-mounted auxiliary input allows you to connect a separate audio source via a mini-jack.

Works with some online music streaming services (such as Spotify) as long as you have them set-up on your laptop or desktop computer.

However, its reliance on iTunes restricts the SoundLink's file type compatibility to an extent, and may put off Windows Media Player devotees.

Also, neither the unit nor the supplied remote have a screen, so it is hard to choose what you want to play from a computer if you haven't already set up playlists.

Related Links

Blizzard: World of Warcraft unlikely to appear on console

Blizzard has said that its massively popular MMO World Of Warcraft will likely never arrive on home console.

World of Warcraft is currently available on the PC and on the Mac and, according to the game's lead producer J. Allen Brack there are a lot of reasons why it won't appear on Xbox 360 or PS3 anytime soon.

"There's not one thing. One is [that] it takes a long time to develop an MMO. The lifecycle of consoles being what they are, you have to really time when your console's going to come out, what its projected lifecycle is going to be with when your game is going to be, which is challenging."

Technical issues, quality control

The Blizzard rep also noted that there were other technical issues â€“ for example, while all PS3s have hard drives installed, that is still not the case for the Microsoft Xbox 360.

"There's patching challenges," the Blizzard man added, "there's the quality controls that we have vs. the quality controls that say, a Microsoft or Sony or Nintendo has.

"All those things sort of raise the bar in terms of the challenges and then specifically in the case of WoW, WoWwas designed to be a keyboard game and its control scheme and its camera controls and the number of abilities that you have and the spells and how things work are very keyboard-centric. The idea of translating that to a gamepad is a very, very challenging proposition."

Overall he thinks that it is "unlikely that WoW comes to the consolesâ€¦it is something that we talk about on a pretty regular basis, but someone is going to figure out how to make an MMO on a console and they're going to be wildly successful. I have no doubt about that."

Google reveals reasons for data centre problems

Google has revealed the reasons behind the shut down of one of its data centres last month, citing power failure as the reason of the blackout.

Although Google's data centre was only down for a couple of hours, it did paint a picture of what it would be like if its centres failed more often.

The post-mortem of the power failure, which shut down the company's mobile apps service, showed that lack of human intervention and a failed backup server was to blame.

"The underlying cause of the outage was a power failure in our primary datacenter," explains the Google report.

"While the Google App Engine infrastructure is designed to quickly recover from these sort of failures, this type of rare problem, combined with internal procedural issues extended the time required to restore the service."

Not sufficiently trained

Explaining why there was a delay between the power failure and the system being restored, the report notes: "Recent work to migrate the datastore for better multihoming changed and improved the procedure for handling these failures significantly.

"However, some documentation detailing the procedure to support the datastore during failover incorrectly referred to the old configuration. This led to confusion during the event.

It concluded: "Although we had procedures ready for this sort of outage, the oncall staff was unfamiliar with them and had not trained sufficiently with the specific recovery procedure for this type of failure."

So, Google is human after all. For some reason this is a strangely comforting thought.

Google reveals reasons for data centre problems

Google has revealed the reasons behind the shut down of one of its data centres last month, citing power failure as the reason of the blackout.

Although Google's data centre was only down for a couple of hours, it did paint a picture of what it would be like if its centres failed more often.

The post-mortem of the power failure, which shut down the company's mobile apps service, showed that lack of human intervention and a failed backup server was to blame.

"The underlying cause of the outage was a power failure in our primary datacenter," explains the Google report.

Not sufficiently trained

"However, some documentation detailing the procedure to support the datastore during failover incorrectly referred to the old configuration. This led to confusion during the event.

So, Google is human after all. For some reason this is a strangely comforting thought.

HP Slate video demo: 'No watered-down internet'

HP has released a new video demonstrating how its forthcoming slate PC device is set to run 'hardware-accelerated' Adobe Flash.

HP's video demos that the Slate will feature a 10-inch display, a full capacitive touchscreen and will run Windows 7 and fully support Flash, taking a sideswipe at Apple's iPad.

Full web browsing experience

"With this slate product, you're getting a full web browsing experience in the palm of your hand," posted Phil McKinney, vice president and chief technology officer for HP's personal system group on the company's blog.

"No watered-down internet, no sacrifices."

HP's Slate is set for release later this year, which gives Apple a head-start in the tablet PC market.

"Chip and screen advancements have given us the ability to create a product that can hit a size, weight, battery life and price point that will make this product a mainstream offering," wrote the HP rep.

Google: Oscars brought lots of 'cathartic spooning'

Google has announced what were the most-searched for results while the Oscars were on, with some interesting phrases popping up.

The information, posted on Google's blog, shows some obvious surges in search traffic for The Hurt Locker, the Best Picture winner, which garnered the most searches for an Oscar-nominated film.

Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock and Kathryn Bigelow also caused traffic spikes, but perhaps the most interesting was the rise in searches for the words 'spooning' and 'catharsis'.

Unusual words

"As we've seen in presidential debates," notes Google, "unusual words also generate great interest."

"The Oscars led to spikes in searches for [catharsis] (from Robert Downey Jr's presentation with Tina Fey) and [spooning] (Colin Farrell talking about Jeremy Renner)."

So, there you have it â€“ the Oscars brought with it lots of cathartic spooning.

Who needs a dictionary, when you have Google, eh?

Video: High definition trailer of new Tron movie

Disney has finally released a high-def trailer for its forthcoming movie Tron Legacy.

The Jeff Bridges movie is directed by Joseph Kosinski and is the highly-anticipated sequel to the 1982 film Tron.

You can download the HD Tron Legacy Trailer online right now.

3D version

Disney has also been showing 3D versions of the same trailer in cinemas. The company is also set to release a videogame version of Tron Legacy later this year.

Tron was of course one of the defining movies of the 1980s, introducing new CGI special effects that completely revolutionised film-making in Hollywood.

Tron Legacy releases on December 17. So at least we have something to look forward to at Christmas this year.

Onkyo adds 3D update to home cinema range

Onkyo has refreshed its budget/mid-range home cinema products, equipping them with features for a 3D world

Its receivers, speakers and Blu-ray players have all been given an update, but prices have stayed more than reasonable â€“ with nothing announced creeping above the Â£400 mark.

3D ready receivers

First up is the company's TX range of receivers. The entire range is equipped with handling HD audio codecs, such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, and the flagship model (TX-SR608) is also THX certified.

The SR608 is a 7.1 setup, offering seven x 160 watts power output, HDMI 1.4 connectivity (for 3D-enabled TVs, something that is on all the range) and is the first in its class to be given THX's Select 2 status.

The SR608 can also cope with Dolby Pro Logic IIz and now Audyssey DSX, and comes with five rear-mounted HDMI inputs and one at the front.

Other models released include the TX-SR508, which is also a 7.1 system, but with seven x 130 watts output, and the TX-SR308 which is a 5.1 setup, which outputs at 100 watts.

Home cinema system

When it comes to home cinema systems, Onkyo is releasing the HTX-22HDX and an optional add-on, the SKS-22SX speaker package.

The 22HDX is a 2.1 setup comprising Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio encoding, four dedicated game modes (Rock, Sports, Action and RPG) and the addition of HDMI 1.4 to make it 3D Ready.

There's also one coaxial and two optical outputs and the system can be upgraded to 5.1 if you so wish.

This is where the 22SX speaker package comes in. Purchase this and you get a centre and two surround sound speakers to beef up the sound.

5.1 setups

For those who want 5.1 surround setups without the fuss of adding upgrades, Onkyo is also offering the HT-S6305, HT-S5305 and HT-S3305 range.

These setups all come with HDMI 1.4 connectivity, with all of them decoding Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.

Interestingly, the receiver used in the S6305 range is the already mentioned TX-SR508, which means you will be able to upgrade to a 7.1 setup if you feel the need.

The S5305 is a more modest 5.1 setup, piping out 100 watts of sound.

The final piece of the home cinema system puzzle is the S305 range which also offers 5.1 sound at 100w but uses a more entry level receiver.

Budget Blu-ray

Last but not least, Onkyo has pimped up its Blu-ray range with the BD-SP308. Although it is an entry level model, it offers HDMI 1.3 (shame it's not 1.4), upscaling to 1080p, BD-Live connectivity and compatibility with AVCHD.

There's also a HDMI slot on board and, again, it will decode Dolby TruHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.

The TX-SR308 receiver has a UK release date of March, costing Â£250. Both the TX-SR608 and TX-SR508 receivers have a UK release date of April and cost Â£450 and Â£350 respectively.

The HTX-22HDX home cinema system and SKS-22SX speaker package our out in May (Â£300 and Â£100). While the receiver/speaker packages are all out in April, costing Â£500, Â£400 and Â£300.

Finally, if you fancy nabbing a budget Blu-ray player, then the BD-SP308 has a UK release date of May and costs Â£200.

Steam launches for Apple Mac in April

Valve has been teasing us with the suggestion that its game download service Steam was on the way for the Apple Mac and the company has finally confirmed that Steam will launch for Macs in April.

Additionally Valve's top games â€“ including Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal and the mighty Half-Life series â€“ will also be made available in April.

"As we transition from entertainment as a product to entertainment as a service, customers and developers need open, high-quality internet clients," said Gabe Newell, President of Valve.

"The Mac is a great platform for entertainment services."

Simultaneous PC and Mac releases

"Checking in code produces a PC build and Mac build at the same time, automatically, so the two platforms are perfectly in lock-step," said Josh Weier, Portal 2 Project Lead.

"We're always playing a native version on the Mac right alongside the PC. This makes it very easy for us and for anyone using Source to do game development for the Mac."

Portal 2 will be released simultaneousy on PC and Mac later in 2010.

Ubisoft apologises after DRM server fail

Ubisoft has issued an apology about the recent spate of attacks on its DRM servers which has blocked thousands of players out of its games this month.

PC gamers began to report problems with the French publisher's games, including the recently released Assassin's Creed 2 over the weekend. Ubisoft admitted that its servers had been taken down by attacks from hackers.

Players are required to log-in online via Ubisoft's DRM system, to prove that they have bought a legitimate copy of a game. The attackers flooded the anti-piracy servers with web traffic, forcing it to collapse.

Gamers are understandably slightly miffed at being locked out of games they have shelled out for, with some claiming that Ubisoft's DRM system - which requires PC gamers to be online at all times, even for single-player gaming - is too draconian and needs to be reviewed.

Ubi apologises

In a statement on Monday, Ubisoft said it "would like to apologise to anyone who could play Assassin's Creed 2 or Silent Hunter 5 yesterday.

"Servers were attacked and while the servers did not go down, service was limited from 2.30pm to 9.30pm Paris time. 95 per cent of players were not affected, but a small group of players attempting to open a game session did receive denial of service errors."

Ubisoft also subsequently confirmed via Twitter that "our servers are under attack again" and that "we're working on it" on Monday.

Assassin's Creed 2 has sold over eight million copies worldwide since release in November.

And despite the company's assurances that only a handful of players were affected, however, it appears that the problems may not yet be over.

US opens up web communications with Cuba, Iran and Sudan

The US is set to allow instant messaging, web browsing and other communications tech in Cuba, Iran and Sudan, in a move to help promote freedom of speech.

The US Treasury department follows last June's elections in Japan which saw anti-regime protestors using Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

The same anti-regime organisations have continued to use new communications technologies to organise demonstrations against the government and to communicate the news from inside Iran with western journalists.

Opening up lines of communication

"The issuance of these general licences will make it easier for individuals in Iran, Sudan and Cuba to use the internet to communicate with each other, and with the outside world," Deputy Treasury secretary Neal Wolin said.

Wolin added that these latest actions: "Will enable Iranian, Sudanese and Cuban citizens to exercise their most basic rights. As recent events in Iran have shown, personal internet-based communications like email, instant messaging and social networking are powerful tools.

"This software will foster and support the free flow of information - a basic human right - for all Iranians."

Congress is also considering banning government contracts with companies that sell snooping tech to the Iranian regime which allows them to monitor citizens' internet use.

Both Nokia and Siemens have sold such technology to Iran in the past.

Dyson's five-point plan to make UK tech great

British technology entrepreneur and inventor Sir James Dyson has laid out his plan for making Britain a great tech innovator â€“ after being asked to help out the Conservative party ahead of this year's general election.

Dyson â€“ perhaps best known for his vacuum cleaner â€“ was asked by leader of the opposition David Cameron to come up with a way to bring Britain to the forefront of technology, and his plan deals with five ways in which the UK can fight its way back to the cutting edge.

The report says:

Culture: The UK's science, engineering and manufacturing base has been neglected for decades. As a result they are undervalued and misunderstood. Government can change attitudes through encouraging research, delivering skills and backing significant infrastructure projects. It must make early and bold decisions on large scale engineering projects to demonstrate Britain's high tech ability.

Education: Science, Design and Technology in schools have been marginalised and the UK is not producing enough scientists and engineers. We need to encourage more people to take up these subjects - and produce the best teachers to inspire them. Government should make teacher recruitment more flexible and encourage independent schools to share their expertise and experience with state schools.

Universities: Globally, the UK excels at university based research, but a disjointed system means that little of our blue skies research is shared or used commercially by UK companies. Government should seek to reform how universities are funded and assessed to give them the flexibility to provide what students and companies want â€“ such as shorter courses with industry experience.

Financing start-ups: There is not enough entrepreneurial finance available to fund innovative UK companies. This has been exacerbated by the global recession. Government must use the power of government guarantees to encourage lenders to extend credit to small, inventive businesses.

Supporting high tech companies: If the UK is to compete and prosper as Europe's leading technology exporter, we need to increase R&D investment. Tax credits must be refocused onto high tech companies, small businesses and new start-ups in order to stimulate a new wave of technology. When the public finances allow, the rate should be increased to 200%. The claim process must also be streamlined. These changes need not necessarily lead to a higher overall cost to the exchequer.

Among Dyson's recommendations to the Tories are the need to back projects like high speed rail and nuclear power, a return to teaching the three sciences separately and changes to the way University research is shared and companies are backed through the research and design stage.

Exciting and ambitious

"James Dyson's report represents an exciting and ambitious step forward in our desire to make Britain Europe's leading generator of new technology," said Conservative leader David Cameron.

"In it are the ideas that will help us create new, high-paying jobs right across our country. Dyson is one of Britain's biggest success stories and Sir James Dyson knows better than any bureaucrat how you start a business, build it up and start selling to the world â€“ and he's put that knowledge into this blueprint for creating a generation of innovation and enterprise.

"And the bigger picture of these plans is a real gear change in the make up of the British economy. I want us to be the country that moves forward, that really starts making things again, that sees a world full of opportunity, a world covered in new markets for us to sell our goods and products and services to.

"I want us to be a country that stops just borrowing and buying from China and instead really starts selling to China.

"I'm excited about this future and I'm impatient to make it happen. From day one of a Conservative government we'll encourage the entrepreneurs who will start the businesses which will drive the industries which will create the high-paying jobs this country needs.

"The talent and the ideas are out there in Britain, the opportunities for trade are out there in the world â€“ now we just need to get Britain open for business."

JVC announced GZ-HM1 camcorder for the UK

JVC has showcased its latest camcorder range this week, highlighting the tech that makes the camcorder's tick.

Top of the range is the GZ-HM1. This is a Full HD camcorder which â€“ deep breath â€“ sports a 10.62MP back-illuminated CMOS, 10MP stills functionality, Optical Image Stabilisation, Advanced Image Stabilisers and 'Super LoLux' for brighter shooting in low light.

First shown off at CES 2010, the cam is equipped with 64GB Flash memory and if that's not enough, there is also a SDHC/SD memory card slot.

New range

The announcement of the Gz-HM1 comes a month after JVC released news of the rest of its camcorder line-up, which includes the following eight models: GZ-MS110, MS210, MS250, MG750, HM300, HM330, HD500 and HD550.

The range features a mixture of Flash and hard-disk drive memory and is out now in the shops.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

IT News HeadLines (Techradar) 10/03/2010

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