In Depth: Why augmented reality is the future of mapping
After only being launched in late January, Ovi Maps has had well over three million downloads to date.
TechRadar caught up with Michael Halbherr, Head of Ovi Experience and Services at Nokia, to talk about the future of mapping, pedestrian navigation and how augmented reality will bring together our physical and virtual lives.
Before working at Nokia itself, Halbherr was at Gate 5, a mobile mapping and community provider. This experience clearly informs his view of the future of mapping. "[It's about] where the real world meets the virtual world. You go to the virtual world… or you go to where your friends are, the physical world.
"It's taking the static internet and contextualising it. It happens on two indexes, the map index and the social index. One is where and the second one is when. That's why we call this whole thing social location. That's the whole thing. This device could become the gate to the next six or seven miles of your life – or 50 if you drive! All the social networks are adding location."
"Mapping today is very car-centric. Mapping will become more granular – in the building – and three dimensional." Halbherr says Nokia are taking such new technologies very seriously: "Huge investments. How soon? Soon.
"You see 3D being used already for landmarks but it's not really in proper 3D." Halbherr says this is something Nokia are working on alongside Navteq, the Chicago-based mapping provider that the company wholly owns.
Going on foot
And pedestrian navigation? "I'm convinced it's huge. You need to take pedestrian guidance a little bit more literal in the sense that I'd like to call it 'on foot'.
"In the car you answer and make phone calls, you navigate and you listen to music. On foot [it's different]. Where is my friend? You'll just switch the phone to 'on foot' mode, hold the phone up and augmented reality will tell you your friend is two miles away. It's a lot more than just left and right, that's why we call it 'on foot' rather than just pedestrian guidance.
"Augmented reality is big because at the end of the day it's core to what I'm saying between the real world and the virtual. The real image overlaps the virtual stuff. It's just beginning. I hope mixed reality is going to be much bigger than virtual reality."
"In Second Life or whatever, it's fun for a while, but I have a real life! The mixed reality – pulling your Facebook friends into a mobile context– is [where it's heading]."
Halbherr says he is pleased with the popularity of Ovi Maps so far. He talks about the release of free mapping as "navigation [becoming] a functionality not a product".
Map development has also moved up a gear, according to Halbherr. We have moved from yearly cycles to three month cycles.
"I have a very good feeling about where we stand, let's be clear. I'm more happy about the elements we haven't released… people are using maps three or four times per day [as opposed to old maps] where they were using three or four times a month.
"Some people are actually moving to using the product daily. At the end of the day it's about use, you know?"
At last month's Mobile World Congress Nokia revealed there are more than one million downloads a day from the Ovi Store, with the number of people shopping on the store doubling every month and "daily highs of over a thousand downloads per minute".
The top five devices installing Ovi Maps are the 5800 XpressMusic, N97 mini, E72, 5230 and N97. It's now available in 74 countries and 46 languages, with a map downloaded every second.
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Microsoft UK starts Facebook fan page for Bing
Microsoft has launched the official Facebook fan page for its Bing search engine.
Following a first post on Friday, the site has picked up 22 fans at the time of writing, although the first attempts at publicising it have only just started in earnest.
"The official Bing UK fan page has launched," tweeted the official Bing UK Twitter account.
A US fan site for Bing has more than half a million members, so the UK Bing Facebook fan page has some way to go
Google dominance
With Google hugely dominant in UK search, Microsoft will be pushing hard to win back market share.
The Bing search engine has won praise, but faces the difficult task of converting the UK public.
Will a Facebook fan page help? Only time will tell.
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Gordon Brown announces digital 'domesday book'
Prime Minister Gordon Brown delivered his Building Britain's Digital Future speech in London today, outlining how the UK is preparing itself for a digital future.
One of his biggest proposals focused on the freeing up of government-held data to the public, something which he hopes will "break down the walled garden of government" and "provide greater transparency on the workings of Whitehall."
One way he hopes to do this is by offering more information for free on the data.gov.uk, including transport information, ordnance survey details and creating what he calls "a domesday book for the 21st century."
"Public transport timetables and real-time running information is currently owned by the operating companies," says Brown.
"But we will work to free it up - and from today we will make it a condition of future franchises that this data will be made freely available."
He continued: "I can confirm that from 1 April, we will be making a substantial package of information held by ordnance survey freely available to the public, without restrictions on re-use.
"And I can also tell you today that in the autumn the Government will publish online an inventory of all non-personal datasets held by departments and arms-length bodies - a "domesday book" for the 21st century."
Freedom of information
The digital domesday book will be managed by the National Archives and is said to be the first time that the general public will be able to access information on departmental data which includes: size, source, format, content, timeliness, cost and quality.
The unleashing of all this data sounds like a call to arms for website creators and mobile phone app manufacturers as it will all be able to be used for free.
This is good news for those who used to get free up-to-date train information from My Rail Lite on the iPhone, only for the app to be culled in favour of the paid-for National Rail Enquiries version.
By making this data available for free to anyone, app manufacturers will effectively be able to use this information however they choose.
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T-Mobile offering HTC Desire ahead of schedule
T-Mobile appears to have offered the HTC Desire for sale ahead of even its own schedule.
When HTC announced the Desire last month, networks were quick to announce they were stocking it, with T-Mobile at the front of the queue.
The network promised the phone would be released on 26 March, but customers are now getting emails proclaiming "The HTC Desire has arrived!".
The web page allowing consumers to purchase the phone has also gone live, with a seven-day delivery time for those wanting to pick up the mobile.
All about the price
If you're wondering about price, that's there too: £35 a month on a two-year deal will nab you the phone for free, with 1,200 minutes, 500 texts and free internet to boot.
However, there appears to be confusion over whether this phone has actually gone on sale or not, as T-Mobile's support Twitter feed is claiming that this is pre-order only.
Phone calls to outlets directly have resulted in TechRadar being told there won't be any in store 'for a week or two after launch'.
T-Mobile will be joined by Vodafone, O2, 3, Orange and Virgin Media in the next month in offering the HTC Desire - but even if T-Mobile doesn't offer the phone until 26 March that's still ahead of the game.
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Switzerland poised to ban violent videogames
Switzerland looks likely to ban any game with a PEGI 16+ or 18+ rating after the country passed a law that bans violent games outright in the country.
The ruling is similar to the one in place in Australia and could mean that any game not suitable for children will be banned from sale in Switzerland.
The minutiae of the legislation has yet to be written, but now the ruling has been passed new titles like God of War III may not see the light of day in the country.
Gaming rules
The ruling states that any title that "requires cruel acts of violence against humans and humanlike creatures for in-game success" will be banned – which sounds like every FPS around. Oh, and anything that involves a Wii-mote and a competitive partner.
The argument against violent games shows no signs of abating, even in the UK.
Recently CVG editor Tim Ingham went on the Alan Titchmarsh Show to defend the videogame industry, only to be shouted down by the likes of Julie Peasgood, who said videogames "promote hatred, racism, sexism and reward violence."
A mantra the Swiss also seem to worryingly have adopted.
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Samsung's iPad rival packing 4G and Android?
Samsung's fabled iPad rival looks like it might be packed to the gills with the latest technology as the Koreans take on Apple.
The Apple iPad has yet to launch, but already has been criticised for lacking a number of key hardware and software features.
According to Tweakers, the new Samsung tablet will be running the latest version of Google's Android system, as moving to Microsoft's Windows 7 will slow things down too much.
Better hardware
It will also have a greater number of input and out put ports, which will presumably mean USB and memory card expansion, something the iPad sadly lacks.
The final point that might give the Samsung Android tablet a significant advantage over the iPad is the use of 4G connectivity, enabling blinding wireless speeds well in advance of today's 3G.
However, this hints at a more Asian-centric focus if true, as the proliferation of 4G networks around the rest of the world has yet to take off.
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Government wants free net access in libraries
A new Government review recommends all UK libraries should offer free internet access, Sunday opening and a promise to provide any book in the national book collection.
Culture Minister, Margaret Hodge, has warned this week that "the context in which libraries operate is changing starkly and at speed" and that British citizens should get library membership entitlement from birth.
The new government review also suggests that commercial partnerships with companies such as Starbucks should be investigated further and that libraries should not be allowed to charge for ebooks.
The review states that libraries are "valuable communication tools and part of our cultural infrastructure" and that "changes in the market such as the mass digitisation of content by Google and others, Web 2.0 technology and the advent of ebooks are changing how people want to receive and engage with information."
Free ebooks for all
As far as access to ebooks goes, the review adds: "Although media commentators are fond of setting up an opposition between printed and digital books, there is no suggestion that ebooks will drive out our nation's passion for printed books or that libraries will be delivered only in the online space.
"Ebooks will enable library services to remain relevant in a market where people are using mobile devices to access information and entertainment."
"With more branches than McDonald's or Boots, and more visits to libraries than shoppers in London's West End, the public library network is a triumph of infrastructure and branding," Hodge notes in the review.
"As every good librarian knows, public libraries are not about sitting back and passively waiting for people to borrow your books," the Minister adds.
"They are about active engagement with the community, making links to other public services and responding to the policy imperatives of the day."
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Bollywood and Hollywood vow to stop piracy 'menace'
A coalition has been formed by Indian Studios and the MPAA, which hopes to stamp out DVD piracy in India.
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, piracy cost the movie industry in India $959 million in 2008 – making it one of the worst countries in the world for creating DVD knock-offs.
Speaking about the coalition, MPAA chairman Dan Glickman said: "Free is great and everybody likes things for free. [But] in a civilised society, we need to pay for products and services.
"I believe that as an industry, if we offer people products at reasonable prices in a hassle free manner, people will not steal."
Glickman also noted that piracy was costing the industry jobs, saying: "The menace of copyright theft jeopardises a movie's ability to make money – if at all.
"This affects the level of investment available for new films and the ability to create new jobs for workers throughout the country,"
Non-bailable offence
Another person vocal in India's anti-piracy plight is Bollywood film-maker Yash Chopra, who said about the problems: "The Indian film industry loses millions of dollars every year due to piracy. India is also among the top 10 countries in the world when it comes to this crime.
"We need government support to implement stricter rules to prevent people from going to watch movies in cinemas with camcorders for copying purposes. If someone is caught, it should be a non-bailable offence."
We're hoping that the alliance will solve the piracy problem by challenging the pirates to a massive Bollywood dance-off. But, for some reason, it looks like the courts and police will more likely deal with the problem.
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Review: Aspara HL6
Many enthusiasts love horn-loaded speakers, with their inherently high sensitivity, good control and vigorous dynamic expression. They originate from the mono era, when only one speaker was needed and valve amps had very low power. The trouble with this is full-size horns are simply too large for modern lounges.
Aspara's designers are both enthusiastic horn loudspeaker fans. Both were closely involved in the cult impulse horns during the '70s and '80s, but recognise that most people find full range horns altogether too bulky. Which is why the Aspara HL6 – effectively a successor to the earlier, obsolete but still highly regarded impulse H6 design – features quarter-wave loading, a technique that goes some way towards horn-loading, albeit in a more compact form.
The end result is not unlike a transmission line, the main difference being that the quarter-wave line expands towards its exit and is relatively lightly damped, whereas the transmission line usually narrows towards its exit and has rather more damping.
Staggered tuning
This is a simple two-way speaker, mounting a nominal 160-millimetre bass/mid drive unit with doped-paper cone in a necessarily complex, but very elegantly finished enclosure. Most floorstanders tend to look depressingly monolithic, largely one suspects because joining four planks together and adding a top and a base is the easiest and least costly solution.
However, it may not be the best way to add quarter-wave loading and this Aspara incorporates some interesting details to enhance both performance and appearance. These are best seen from the rear, with most of the back panel being vertical, but about 22 centimetres above the floor the sides start to widen progressively, the enclosure becomes steadily deeper and the back panel not only takes on a tilt to match, but also has a shaped cut-out that extends a little way up the back.
This is part of the quarter-wave 'mouth', along with a carefully controlled slot between the rear part of the enclosure and the plinth, creating an effective exponential exit. By these techniques, the length of the quarter-wave horn or pipe is subtly 'staggered' in order to 'spread' the tuning of its resonance across a wider frequency range than a straightforward quarter -wave pipe.
Internal damping seems to be confined to Deflex pads – a visco-elastic polymer with a corrugated surface – strategically placed internally on some panels.
The main driver has a lightweight 115-millimetre doped-paper cone and a PA heritage, which means a powerful motor well suited to quarter-wave loading. It's substantially modified by Aspara, by removal of the 'whizzer' cone to improve upper range integration with the 28-millimetre soft-dome tweeter.
After extended listening tests, including working with electronic musical instruments, the design was finalised with Duland silver cable feeding the main driver and cryogenically treated copper cable for the tweeter. The crossover network has a second order roll-off on the main driver, using Claritycap and Mundorf components, while a solitary top-of-the-line Claritycap feeds the tweeter.
Signal is applied to a single pair of high-quality terminals and physical stability is ensured by considerable depth and well-founded spikes fitted to the separate plinth. Last, but by no means least, a screw head in the middle of the terminal/crossover block allows the tweeter's relative level to be easily adjusted.
Hearts of oak
The slim front view shows an attractively figured oak plank – not the best material for a front panel perhaps, but it's mostly there for decoration. it covers a carcase built from tougher and much less acoustically transparent 18-millimetre birch plywood and this is the surface onto which the drivers are mounted. The internal partition needed to create the folded quarter-wave line further serves to stiffen the enclosure sides.
The closer one examines this speaker, the more its innate class, quality and elegance impresses. it looks a rather pricey proposition at £4,300, considering the relatively simple basic ingredients, but the fine detail shows a number of neat touches.
No grille is provided, but the two drive units are neatly rebated to keep the front flush and an attractive silver trim ring, embossed with the Aspara name, around the main driver frame. It's also nice to see the way the edges of the plinth have been chamfered and shaped, to avoid sharp corners and edges. These blend in with the base of the enclosure and increase the footprint.
Much of the remaining value is hidden, but detail ingredients like Claritycap and Mundorf components, as well as Deflex damping panels are all highly regarded and don't come cheap, especially when production volumes are modest.
Laid back, but lively!
This loudspeaker is something of a sonic paradox. Although the underlying character of its quarter-wave-loaded main driver is unquestionably lively through most of the bass and midrange, there's also significant lack of output in the upper presence and lower treble. As a result, vocal sibilants and consonants are somewhat suppressed, to the degree that speech sounds distinctly laid back. Some might even describe it as 'shut in' or even 'muffled' and certainly it's necessary to increase volume somewhat higher than one might expect in order to maintain good intelligibility.
While that is a significant criticism from the point of view of absolute neutrality and doesn't really suit this particular listener's preferences, I suspect that some may well like this degree of presence restraint. One advantage, for example, is that the volume can be turned up high without causing the sound to become in any way aggressive or edgy.
Another bonus – particularly enjoyed with classical material – is the fine stereo image airiness and spaciousness that this very restrained tonal balance seems to bring to the party. This isn't a smooth speaker, nor an even one, and it doesn't do deep bass either, but that seems to go with the quarter-wave territory.
Happily, another characteristic of the breed is crisp clarity and a freedom from thickening through the bass region, which many will regard as more than fair compensation. This agility and lack of overhang through the bass region seems to distinguish the quarter-wave approach from other bass loading techniques. And if it means such speakers lose out somewhat in terms of absolute weight and welly, the rewards are clearly audible in the natural realism heard when playing choral or other essentially acoustic material.
Percussion too has a delightful dexterity and lightness of touch. The effect of the treble control is easily heard. It only operates above the presence zone, so doesn't dramatically alter the speaker's character. While the mod-point seemed about right, the best settings ought to be determined according to individual system and room characteristics.
Controversial
It took quite a while to adjust to this speaker's very restrained presence, but the effort ultimately paid off, because in other respects the HL6 has an inherent liveliness and a freedom from overhang and thickening that's particularly persuasive with acoustic material.
The sound of orchestral instruments such as violins has the genuinely realistic texture that is often glossed over by more conventional speakers. This is an unusual and somewhat idiosyncratic loudspeaker that tries to hide its presence under a bushel, but ultimately wins through with its crisp dynamics elsewhere. It has its limitations, for sure, but also strengths that will easily win friends.
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In Depth: How to detect and remove rootkits
There's now a threat to online life that's so potentially potent it requires a new form of defence. Rootkits hide inside the operating system, actively defending themselves and hiding their presence.
To arm your system against rootkits, you first need to understand them. So, where have they come from, how have they evolved and how, crucially, can they be stopped?
A rootkit is a program that allows a hacker to come and go as he pleases, unhindered by your computer's defences. No firewall will stop him and no antivirus program will detect his activities. Rootkits subvert the way the operating system works to make it lie about the processes, files, Registry entries and kernel modules that might give away the rootkit's presence to humans and antivirus software.
Unlike viruses, rootkits have had a low profile for the past 20 years, but that's changing as their methods merge with those of mainstream malware to produce a threat that requires dedicated software to deal with it.
The name 'rootkit' comes from the 'superuser' account in Unix (and Linux). This is called 'root', and logging into it gives the user complete control over the computer, arguably even more so than an administrator account does in Windows. Normally, only a system administrator has access to root because it's so powerful.
For a hacker, simply gaining access to the root account isn't enough. He must also keep his tracks hidden from alert system administrators. Because of this, rootkits modify system files to remove evidence of the hacker's presence and make it look as if nothing is out of place.
The history of the idea behind rootkits stretches back to the late 1980s, when the first log cleaners began to emerge. After gaining root access by hand to Unix computers, hackers would upload a log cleaner program to manually delete entries in the operating system's event log, and in some cases to reset the timestamp on the log file to before the intrusion.
In the early 1990s, Sun Microsystems' SunOS (a type of Unix) became the focus of attempts to create the first true rootkits. In 1990, hackers Lane Davis and Steven Dake produced a proof-of-concept rootkit that effectively set the mould for future rootkit functionality.
Launching an attack
Twenty years on, it's still recognised that rootkits have three functions to perform. First, they must compromise the target computer to gain and maintain control for their owner. This is thought to be the origin of the term 'to own' a computer.
In order for a hacker to gain remote access, the rootkit first needs to establish a secure communications channel. To stop the computer's firewall preventing this, it may hijack a port over which legitimate traffic already flows rather than opening its own. It's not unusual for a rootkit to take advantage of port 80, which is usually open to allow the user to surf the web.
The list of techniques for establishing a foothold and the number of communications channels available grows as the sophistication of rootkits develops. It's this ease with which access can be gained, maintained and hidden that has researchers very worried about the rise of this particular form of malware.
The second function of a rootkit is to attack the local system (or others on the local network) to create an environment for the hacker that's safe from detection. One approach is modifying the system's kernel or libraries to replace system calls with its own.
This is important because the rootkit needs to make calls that return information about the state of the running system while leaving out anything to do with the rootkit itself. Because they rely on standard kernel system calls, it's almost impossible for most antivirus software to detect rootkits without using special techniques that check the integrity of the data the system provides.
Hidden threat
The attack functionality in some rootkits is as impressive as it is sinister. Some actively launch denial of service attacks against other systems on the local network if they suspect them of harbouring intrusion detection systems, for example.
They can do this by interrogating the network cards on other computers to see which are in 'promiscuous' mode. That means that they're set to read all data that goes past. This is a good indication that software is running that reads and analyses such network traffic for signs of intrusion.
Rootkits sometimes also sample data on the local network to find usernames and passwords that they can collect for the hacker to download later.
The third crucial element to a rootkit's functionality, and the part that makes them particularly stealthy, is the way they cover their tracks. This is where the programs have become incredibly ingenious in a very short space of time.
Part of this rapid growth in functionality is down to how modern kernels work. Operating systems contain a central kernel that sits between the running applications and the computer's hardware. It's the job of this kernel to govern access to peripherals and allocate system resources, such as time on the CPU and memory space. If the kernel consisted of a single monolithic lump of code, it would be very inflexible.
If you were to add a new peripheral, for example, you'd have to install a new kernel with support for that peripheral. In the early days of Linux, this meant that you had to recompile the kernel to contain the modules you required to run all your hardware.
Modern operating systems (including current versions of Linux and Microsoft Windows) use a system of loadable kernel modules (LKMs). If a certain type of hardware is detected when the operating system boots up, the kernel loads the specific module required to run it. This keeps the size of the running kernel as small as possible, saving RAM, and it means that individual modules can be upgraded without having to recompile the whole kernel.
Because of the advantages offered by LKMs, even central but potentially optional kernel functionality has become modular. However, this has arguably made the job of the rootkit writer easier. If he can replace an LKM with his own version of the kernel module, then he can make it do whatever he wants.
A Windows kernel module subroutine designed to return a list of running processes, for example, might be made to return all but those connected with the running rootkit. Detection methods that rely on spotting unusual system processes to identify malware will fall for this.
Another method of detecting rootkit activity is to spot system files whose permissions have changed unexpectedly. Subvert the module that returns these permissions and a rootkit can fool anti-malware packages.
There's now a shift in focus for rootkit developers from Linux and Unix to Microsoft Windows. Windows rootkits are gradually morphing into stealthy versions of other forms of malware. Today they may contain keyloggers that collect information for selling to identity thieves or botnet clients. Because kernel modules and other code can be made to return incorrect results by a rootkit, any detection utilities must be careful to only use their own subroutines and to check their integrity before use.
One method of doing this is calculating checksums from the running detection routines that only come out right if just the original code is present. Change one byte and the checksum is wrong. Despite these difficulties, easy-to-use antirootkit software for Windows is becoming available – and much of it is free.
One such application is Sophos Anti-Rootkit. After downloading the executable, run it and accept the licence agreement. On the next screen, click 'Install' and then 'Yes' to run the installed application.
The user interface is simple. First, decide on the parts of the system you'd like to scan. This includes the running processes, the Registry and files on local hard drives. If you have Sophos Anti-Virus installed, then the 'Extensive scan' tickbox will become available. This enables the program to scan all files on the disk, rather than just hidden ones.
Click on 'Start Scan' to make the software get to work. The full scan can take a long time, mostly due to the number of files it must scan on the local hard disks. Don't be alarmed if the upper pane starts to fill with files. In the majority of cases, these are listed just because they're files that have their hidden attribute set so that users can't accidentally delete them (for example, an uninstaller file for an application).
Click on an entry in the upper pane and its details are displayed in the lower one. One of the bits of information is whether the file is removable. For files that Anti-Rootkit doesn't recognise but doesn't consider dangerous, you'll see the text: 'Yes (but cleanup not recommended for this file)'. For those you should clean up, this text will be: 'Yes (cleanup recommended)'.
Once the scan is complete, select the files, processes and Registry entries that Sophos recommends you delete by clicking on the tickboxes to the left of their entries in the left-hand pane. Now click the 'Clean up checked items' button. A warning box will ask if you're sure you want to remove the items.
Cleaning up
If you confirm that you want to delete the items, they'll be removed and Anti-Rootkit will prompt you to restart your computer. Once rebooted, you should immediately re-run Anti-Rootkit to make sure that the suspected rootkit infection isn't clever enough to heal itself and recreate the file, process or Registry key.
When you run Anti-Rootkit, the user interface will give you a summary of the actions it took and whether they were successful. If everything is now clean, you're OK; if not, Sophos itself can help.
Go to this secure website, fill in your details and a contact method, and click 'I want to submit a | Sample file' on the dropdown menu. Click on 'Continue', fill in the operating system and version details and enter a note about your suspicions in the textbox. Click 'Continue' again.
You'll be asked to upload three files. Click the 'Browse' button and navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\
Once the uploads are done, click 'Submit'. Sophos support will look at the files and advise you by the contact method you chose.
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Review: Philex SLX Gold digiTop 27768R
Very much out of the old school style of indoor TV aerial design, the 27768R has a translucent fin coupled with telescopic VHF antenna rods. The latter can be used for picking up radio signals so long as your receiving equipment has a coaxial input.
Assembling the aerial is a one-step process whereby the column supporting the UHF antenna blade is slid into two slots on the base until it clicks into position. A diagram in the instruction leaflet unambiguously shows how to do it.
There's no amplifier included, and hence no power cord, which means greater freedom in positioning although this is tempered by the fact that at just over 1m long the aerial cord is a bit short.
To aid tuning, the base of the column can be rotated through 180° and the blade can be positioned horizontally, vertically or any angle in between.
When adjusting the blade the aerial feels a tad unsteady especially as the column rocks about, but overall it sits steadily enough on a flat surface.
How it fares
Described on the box as a 'high performance' aerial, the warning about a strong signal being needed is buried in the instructions leaflet.
Despite lots of adjusting, reception in our test home was very poor with no channels picked up except BBC1 and BBC2, which were fine.
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Review: Nokia X3
The Nokia X3 is a slim, budget offering from the Finns. With no touchscreen and modest memory, it still has pretensions of being an attractive music device with a low cost to boot.
While the recent Nokia X6 touchscreen topped the rebranded X-series music phone bill with smartphone functionality and a heavyweight 32GB of onboard memory, the Nokia X3 is a much more modest affair.
It works the signature Nokia XpressMusic design look again, sporting bright red or blue music player controls down the side of the display, and comes with a 2GB MicroSD memory card in-box, a standard 3.5mm headphone socket, in-ear earphones and an FM radio.
However, there's no high-speed 3G connectivity, let alone Wi-Fi or GPS functionality, and its onboard camera is an average 3.2MP shooter.
Initially available for around £90 with various pay as you go deals (or £129 SIM-free), the Nokia X3 is clearly aiming for the cash-conscious music phone buyer after a smart-looking device, pitching it squarely against the likes of the Sony Ericsson W395.
Design and handling
The Nokia X3's bodywork is tidily proportioned, measuring 96(h) x 49.3(w) x 14.1(d) mm closed and weighing 103g.
It has an average-sized 2.2-inch 262K-colour QVGA display dominating the front that's reasonable for this sort of handset.
There are no touchscreen controls – under the display is a regular navigation D-pad flanked by a standard issue quartet of soft key and call end buttons on a flat glossy black front control panel.
These buttons are adequately spaced for hassle- and error-free navigation, although the glossy front is a touch plasticky.
But the metallic red or blue music controls and trim bordering the display and the matt black bodywork used around the rest of the phone add a sharp look to the design – not HTC Legend levels of design, but not bad for 90 of your English pounds.
These three thin music control buttons (forward, rewind, play/pause) enable users to operate the music player when it's playing in the background, although they're aren't essential for controlling the phone - the navigation D-pad can take care of that too.
The slide-out keyboard is a bit of a throwback to Motorola RAZR styling, with a flat brushed metal pad separated by illuminated ridges. It's sufficient for texting at decent speeds, though it doesn't have the super-light touch of the best texting phones, and larger-fingered users should be wary of straying thumbs.
Around the sides are routine camera key and volume buttons plus a MicroSD card slot, covered by a fairly tight plastic bung.
The standard 3.5mm headphone socket sits correctly on top of the phone, next to a microUSB data connector and thin-pin charger socket.
All-in-all, it feels slim in the hand and pocket, and is comfortable to handle – what more do you really expect from a £90 handset? LG is doing the same thing with the LG Pop – so we're glad to see Nokia is playing in the right area as well.
The Nokia X3 user interface is Nokia Series 40 rather than the S60 smartphone platform, so is standard issue, uncomplicated and straightforward to operate.
It's based around the usual type of grid main menu, which drills down into basic sub-menu option lists – all of which should be very familiar to anyone who's packed a Nokia mobile before.
The home screen setup is standard stuff too; in fact, there are two home screen set up options you can choose between.
The out-of-the-box default home screen has a row of five scrollable icon shortcuts towards the top of the display and additional lines on the screen for media player and radio status and info, calendar and message updates plus other information.
These home screen shortcuts and info/content options can be user-defined – as can further D-pad shortcuts – with dozens available to select as shortcuts including functions, applications and even any bookmarked web pages – intuitive for a cheaper handset like this.
Alternatively, you can de-clutter the home screen by switching that mode off in the settings menu and sticking with a simpler setup that utilises the D-pad and softkeys only for shortcuts.
It's up to you, although the default home screen does provide more immediate information.
Within the menus, the Nokia Series 40 6th Edition user interface is easy to navigate and operate. The functionality isn't such that the menus are overloaded with confusingly laid out options, so it should be undemanding for any Nokia newcomers too.
We found call quality on the Nokia X3 not quite up to the usual high standards we expect from Nokia handsets.
Outgoing calls were often muffled and audio sometimes ropey even in areas where signal strength was good.
It was surprising on our review sample, as we usually have no problems with Nokia's high standard calling performance. For instance, the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic is not that much more expensive, but has a much higher level of call quality.
We tried the phone in a number of places with varying signal levels, and its performance was average at best.
Volume level was good enough, however – it can be cranked up enough to cope with noisy urban conditions.
The keyboard is perfectly manageable for tapping out numbers, and the typical Nokia Series 40 phonebook allows for numerous bits of contact information to be stored for each entry.
The Nokia X3 puts in a decent messaging performance, supporting the usual text and multimedia messaging plus email and instant messaging.
The flush, one-piece keyboard provides a reasonably responsive way of tapping in texts with some proficiency.
Texts can easily be upgraded to MMS messages, with a toolbar of icons ranged along the bottom of the screen for adding photos, sound clips, video clips, and so on. It's easy to operate and intuitive to use.
Messages are presented in 'conversations', with a threaded string of incoming and outgoing messages for each contact you've recently been in touch with.
The X3 uses the Nokia Messaging Mail email client, which enables you to set up email for a new Ovi Mail account or set up details from an existing POP3/IMAP4 email account.
Settings are pre-loaded for several services, including Windows Live Hotmail, Google Mail and Yahoo! Mail – you just need to tap in your email address and password - and you're away.
Other email provider accounts can be set up quickly and easily in a similar way – settings details are taken care of automatically.
The email user interface is reasonably attractive for a budget handset, and emails are sensibly ordered and headers viewable in lists on the screen.
Some attachments, including JPG images, can be viewed, but not all file types are supported (we couldn't view PDFs, Excel and Word documents, for instance). You can send documents from the phone though.
With no 3G, large attachment files can take some time downloading or uploading, but then again that's not really what the Nokia X3 is designed to do.
The email client has a fair selection of options to manage accounts, including the facility to send instant messages directly from your email account, and you can use the number pad keys as shortcuts for certain options.
You can also send quick replies to emails, with 9 preset messages available that can be selected and sent in a couple of key presses – useful for fast acknowledgements of incoming mail.
Multiple email accounts can be stored and accessed in the Nokia Messaging Mail application, and you can set the phone to regularly check email accounts automatically for new messages.
Instant messaging is supported on the Nokia X3, with Nokia's own IM application enabling you to use Ovi IM, and support for Windows Live Messenger in a separate IM app in the messaging folder.
You can send and receive short messages to other IM users online easily and speedily, and leave it running in the background.
Nokia once again doubles up on the browser front in the Nokia X3, including Opera Mini software as well as Nokia's own-brand browser.
Lacking 3G or Wi-Fi to fire up online speeds, the X3 relies on 2.5G EDGE/GPRS data connectivity.
On mobile-optimised sites the onboard Nokia browser goes along at an acceptable pace, rendering sites efficiently enough, with a useful progress bar running along the bottom of the screen.
As with other Series 40 phones, the Nokia browser operation is based on selecting from menu options rather than an on-screen toolbar or shortcuts, so it's not the slickest browser around compared with some of the budget touchscreen phone browsers now in play.
There's only one windows and no tabs. It does support Flash Lite though, and can render pages reasonably well, if a little languidly.
The Nokia X3 has pre-loaded bookmarks for a selection of online services, including Facebook, MySpace and YouTube, which take users to mobile-optimised versions of these sites.
However, streaming video clips from YouTube is hit and miss – and if you're out of EDGE coverage, forget it.
Opera Mini provides a more fluid and slicker non-touch browser experience that has a more desktop-style appeal.
It includes address and search bars and history on the home screen, plus a full web page overview when you land on a site and controls for zooming as a softkey option.
It's a more intuitive – and quicker – browsing experience, and pages render very well on the Opera app.
Other online applications on the Nokia X3 include Nokia's Ovi Store application download shop (the first Series 40 phone to support it), and a Web Search function that enables you to tap in and search via Google or Microsoft's Bing search engine.
A Flickr application is also included, which takes you to the Flickr mobile site, allowing users to view, upload and manage Flickr image accounts online – although this is woefully slow over EDGE connection.
You can upload images directly to Flickr accounts once you've taken shots too, or alternatively to Nokia's Share on Ovi service; settings for both services come pre-loaded.
The camera used on the Nokia X3 is a run-of-the-mill 3.2MP snapper, lacking a flash and autofocus system.
It has the typical sort of functionality you'd expect from a mid-to-lower end Nokia Series 40 handset, with nothing remarkable about the fixtures and fittings - or performance.
Pressing the side camera button, the screen flips sideways into viewfinder mode within a couple of seconds.
Nokia has set it up so that a long press of the camera key takes you straight into video mode, while a short press fires up the camera - a neat touch we're surprised more manufacturers haven't cottoned onto.
However, this does mean you have to be aware of how long you're tapping the button – something that's tricky with its almost flush position on the side – or you can find yourself starting to video record when you meant to snap a picture.
Although this can initially be disconcerting, if you are in the wrong mode the D-pad can be used to toggle sideways between camera and video recorder functions (an icon in the corner display's what mode it's in).
The on-screen user interface is somewhat basic, if adequate. Settings and effects can be chosen by opening up the Options menu and toggling through it.
You can adjust white balance to cater for lighting environments, add a few colour effects, use a timer and tweak image quality, but it's quite rudimentary by Nokia's high cameraphone standards.
The fixed focus camera produces reasonable snaps that can be colourful and bright, but they do lack the crisp sharpness you can get from some autofocus cameraphones in the same class.
Also, in subdued overcast conditions, the camera can produce murky images with flat tones and so-so colour.
Overall, its shooting performance is OK for quick snaps, but modest and limited in detail and quality.
Under low light conditions indoors, the auto metering adjustments mean images can be soft, although they're better if the camera is held steady.
Reasonable snapper: The Nokia X3's 3.2-megapixel camera is an average lower range shooter, offering limited detail and a fixed focus lens. It can take reasonable snaps in good lighting environments, however, although don't expect stunning clarity when printing out
Click and hope: The fixed focus camera means you can't choose which particular part of the subject you want in focus – you just press and see what comes out
Brighter is better: The camera performs best in bright lighting conditions, rendering colours in vibrant tones. There is though a lack of subtle detail in the background sky in the way the blue colours and clouds are reproduced
Patchy effort: The camera does reasonably well at close-in shots, producing some detail in the foreground, although the blue sky and clouds in the background are patchily rendered
Soft and noisy: This shot at dusk is soft and detail is limited with plenty of picture noise apparent
Its video recording performance isn't great. The low-grade camcorder option can record footage at maximum QVGA (320 x 240 pixels) resolution at 8 frames per second, so playback is stilted, or at lower QCIF (176 x 144 pixels) resolution at up to 15 frames per second.
That's a low quality budget effort. Should you wish to, these clips can be uploaded too to online video hubs.
Of course, the most upfront feature of the X3 is its music mobile credentials. The music player controls on the outside mark out this territory, while a 2GB memory card supplied with the phone provides a decent amount of in-box storage for a budget music phone.
Nokia's also boxed it with an above-average set of in-ear earphones and it has a standard 3.5mm headphone socket on top for music fans who want to upgrade their ear-ware.
The media player software inside, though, is low-key and functional rather than novel.
The X3 uses a standard Series 40 media player, so it has a familiar mid-tier phone look and feel: a list of regular media player categories (all songs, playlists, artists, albums, genres and videos) and a player interface that doesn't break new ground.
The D-pad can operate the controls in normal phone fashion, and there's a draggable elapsed time section to help navigation, plus album cover art (if available).
The music player controls on the side of the display aren't needed unless the music player's working in the background; if so, they're handy, but don't exactly redefine the mobile music experience.
Some settings can be tweaked, with equaliser presets you can assign as you're playing. In addition to shuffle mode and the like, you can also choose to have lighting effects on the D-pad to go with the music - snazzy if you're putting on a disco for mice.
The supplied in-ear earphones put on a fine show. They fit snugly, with extra plastic buds in-box to get a close fit, reducing outside noise interference.
They can deliver a surprisingly heavy-duty music performance, with plenty of bass presence coming through loud and clear, and good definition on high and mid frequencies.
It's not subtle, but it's impressive for a budget music mobile.
The media player automatically slots any new tunes loaded up or slipped in via a memory card. MicroSD cards up to 16GB will work in the phone's side-mounted memory card slot.
Tunes can be downloaded over the air, or copied over from a PC using the supplied Nokia Music software and USB data cable.
Nokia's PC Suite's Music Manager software can also be used to transfer tracks, and the phone can be synchronised with Windows Media Player on a PC.
Tracks can also be dragged and dropped in mass storage mode, or sent via Bluetooth to the phone - so to sum up, there's a variety of ways to bung your favourite tunes on to the Nokia X3.
Some mobile network operators will also be offering the Nokia X3 as one of Nokia's Comes with Music range, which enables unlimited downloads, although UK availability of this service on the X3 is still to be confirmed at the time of writing.
In addition to the music player, more free music and entertainment is available via the phone's FM radio.
Unusually for a mobile phone, you don't need to plug in headphones as an antenna to listen to tracks – you can simply switch it on and listen to it through the phone's loudspeaker.
The loudspeaker, which can of course also be used with the music player, is loud and clear and not too tinny. It does lack on the bass front, as usual with mobile speakers, but is better than most with its punchy delivery.
The radio interface is a doddle to set up and use, with automatic tuning taking care of station finding, and sound quality is pretty good if you plug in the earphones.
With a relatively small 2.2-inch display, the Nokia X3 isn't set up to be your ideal video-playing device. However, it's OK to watch clips in full screen mode.
The media player supports video playback and streaming in a number of file formats including H.263, H.264, MPEG-4 and WMV9.
Without stacks of potentially battery-sapping high-end 3G functionality, we found that the Nokia X3 delivered a handsome battery performance under regular conditions.
The X3 arrives with a standard 860mAh Li-ion battery pack that Nokia reckons can deliver (under optimum network conditions) up to 7.5 hours of talktime or up to 380 hours of standby time.
We managed to go a steady 3-4 days between charges with normal phone usage, though naturally if we used the music player heavily, this figure dropped accordingly.
Of course, the music player functionality is the key selling point of this phone, so users are likely to hit play often; Nokia estimates that using the music player alone (with the phone switched to flight mode), users can get up to 26 hours of music player power – which seemed to hold up pretty well in our tests.
A routine set of Nokia Series 40 organiser tools and applications are ready for action on the X3. These functional tools, which are standard fare, include alarm clocks, calendar, to-do lists, notes, calculator, stopwatch and timer apps.
A couple of convertor apps and a world clock function are also slotted into the phone's application folder.
Nokia X3: Connectivity
The Nokia X3 is a quad band handset, capable of running on GSM 850/900/1800/1900 networks. Without 3G or Wi-Fi the X3's data connectivity relies on lower speed EDGE or GPRS, which limits its online prowess.
USB 2.0 connectivity is supported, via a microUSB port on top of the phone and a supplied data cable.
The X3 has Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity too, with stereo audio profiles (A2DP and AVRCP) enabling streaming to wireless headphones, speakers and other suitably enabled Bluetooth gadgets.
Also included in-box is a Nokia Music software CD. This PC software (there's no Mac support) enables users to manage and synchronise music between the phone PC and other devices.
Nokia X3: Other
Although the X3 isn't kitted out with internal GPS gadgetry, Nokia does include its Maps software onboard the phone.
It can be used with a separate optional Bluetooth GPS receiver module, although we'd guess anyone that keen for satellite location finding is likely to choose a phone with GPS inside in the first place.
Although it doesn't use GPS – or the cellsite-based location approximation system of Google Maps – users can do searches for addresses, locations, businesses and services, get routing information and maps over the air.
Without GPS, the setup can feel a bit clunky as some menu options aren't available, as the Nokia X3 firmware appears to have been ported from a more generic version of the OS.
Mapping downloads can take a while too if you're in marginal coverage, and generally in its GPS-less truncated state, and without fast map updates, it's a far from compelling proposition.
Among its other features, the X3 also has support for over the air software updates, with 10 games included too.
The Nokia X3 is decently equipped as a budget music mobile without having that 'must-have' X-factor.
The music player software is standard issue Nokia, so functional rather than flashy, but it puts an impressive audio show for a low-cost phone, with enough in-box to make it an attractive slim-line slider package.
Elsewhere, the X3 has a low-key set of features – there's no 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS or smartphone gadgetry, and it has a limited camera – but if music is the focus, the X3 does the job fine.
The mediocre call performance on our review sample was a concern, however.
What we liked
The music player puts in a punchy audio performance, with decent sound quality through the better-than-average in-ear bud earphones supplied.
The 3.5mm headphone socket offers easy upgrading too, while the 2GB MicroSD gives decent tune room out of the box at this price.
Being able to use the FM radio without having headphones attached is also welcome.
The X3's design is slim and quite attractive, and the Series 40 interface is typically straightforward-to-use Nokia stuff.
We liked the additional Opera browser to enhance its online performance. The email client is easy to set up too. We were also pleased with the phone's sturdy battery performance.
What we disliked
The call performance was surprisingly lacklustre. The lack of 3G connectivity limits data speeds when using online applications, although the Opera Mini app pre-loaded does offer a speedier alternative to the Nokia software.
The camera put in a mediocre performance – image quality is limited and video recording is distinctly low-grade. Without GPS technology inside, the Maps software is limited too.
Verdict
The Nokia X3 is a tidy budget music mobile that concentrates on the audio performance and music player features.
Slim on other higher-end features and lacking 3G, it doesn't demand centre stage, though some will nab it based on its tune playing highlights alone.
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Review: Copland CDA825
For its CDA825 CD player, Copland has gone back to the drawing board and come up with a totally fresh machine, one that is top-loading and incorporates a new type of filter utilising psycho-acoustic findings as the basis for its operation.
Its styling is classic Scandinavian cool with absolutely no clutter nor inscriptions, save for the laser-cut lettering. This, combined with the circular top cover, makes it the best bit of design I've seen in ages.
But then Copland has a reputation for making high-quality, competitively priced audio electronics that often use valves alongside transistors. So when it brings a new CD player like the CDA825 to the market, we're always interested.
Unfortunately, that doesn't happen very often: the last time was five years ago and it cost less than half as much as its replacement. That model, the Hi-Fi Choice award winning CDA823, was a dynamic and involving machine and a tough act to follow.
Remake, remodel
Copland has not just put the building blocks of the CDA823 into a more contemporary case, it has totally redesigned the player from the ground up. There are some similarities however.
One is the use of buffering in between the output of the transport and the DACs. Most players stream direct from the disc drive to the converter, but copland has isolated these elements with a two-second buffer, the purpose being to eliminate timing errors or jitter in the bitstream. By using a solid state buffer and re-clocking the data as it is sent out, the DAC is fed a signal that has no timing errors.
The top-loading transport was selected because in copland managing director Olé Möller's words "I find top-loading CD players to be the most sexy-looking CD-playing machinery."
Conveniently the Philips CDPro2LF mechanism he chose for the player was developed with this type of operation in mind: it sits under a large round lid that opens sideways on a chunky brass bearing and needs to be removed in transit.
The transport mechanism itself is suspended on springs which rest on brass bearings. It doesn't move a great deal when you press it, but there is clearly some compliance there and must help keep resonance at bay.
The chassis itself has been optimised to isolate the player from the low-frequency vibrations produced by loudspeakers. Tap the top and it doesn't seem all that solid, but this is because the damping system isn't designed for high-frequency resonance and doesn't use rubber or plastic. Instead, it has carefully placed fixings – you can see all six top-plate bolts – which tune out the sort of resonances it has to deal with in real life.
One surprise on the CDA825's spec list is the suggestion that a lot of players don't use full error correction because they aren't always implemented by chip manufacturers. Apparently cost considerations lead to decoder chip sets being used that do not include some key elements of error correction required for red-book CD replay.
On the digital to analogue conversion front, copland has used Wolfson's well-regarded WM8741 24-bit/192khz converter chips with two in each channel. This dual-differential approach produces a balanced output that is designed to eliminate noise. It's a tried and tested route in high-end digital sources that offers a benefit, whether you use the single-ended or balanced outputs.
The analogue output stage is devoid of op-amps, employing instead a total of nearly 300 components in a discrete dual-differential construction – unlike some of Copland's amplifiers, there are no valves in this player.
Going against the growing trend for offering digital inputs like USB on modern players, Copland has produced a dedicated CD spinner with only outputs, analogue and digital. It is therefore as committed to its task as the clarity of casework design would suggest and you have to wonder whether those into PC audio would be in the market for a player at this price.
Cutting edge
Our CDA825 is a pre-production example and therefore not entirely representative. That said only the back panel doesn't look like the finished article. It's cutting edge in terms of industrial design, the way that the silver top and bottom plates sandwich black side panels is a very nice touch and I'd challenge anyone to come up with a cleaner bit of fascia design.
The way that the button functions are described by backlit symbols is extremely well executed. The slight lack of solidity in the top panel may be down to the non-production nature of this sample, but it's not all that encouraging despite the logic of its approach when it comes to resonance control – you want a product that feels as good as it looks at this price.
The circular lid is very neatly executed and the swing action rather sexy and I like the way that in order to prepare it for transit you need to remove the knob at the rear so that the lid swings round 180 degrees and then lifts out. The gap between lid and case on our sample seemed a little high, apparently it will be two millimetres in production which would look better.
The remote handset is also very nicely designed and executed, it looks generic but that could be because ours isn't yet badged. It has an alloy front with a rubberised back and is ergonomic and tactile, something that's surprisingly rare with more expensive handsets.
In value terms there is some pretty stiff competition on the build front, Esoteric is one of the strongest in this department and its X-05 feels like a rather more expensive machine and one that also plays SACD for that matter. Naim's CDX2 CD player is a little less expensive (£3,325), but offers the company's high-build quality and enviable residual value.
Making an understatement
Understated in appearance and sound, this is a remarkably neutral and undemonstrative machine. Yet it becomes apparent after a few tracks that it has a hard to define appeal that stops you from pressing the next track button, let alone stop or pause.
A few more tracks and I realise that the appeal lies in what is absent rather than present, namely that this CD player doesn't exhibit grain or glare, something that the vast majority of digital sources produce when you play piano or female vocals. This is some revelation and I can't help thinking that it has something to do with the apodising filter that set out to eliminate a flaw in digital systems that has not been tackled before.
Whatever it is, it works like a dream and I stop thinking why doesn't this player sound super transparent and turn my attention to how I can get the system to be more revealing.
One question is why did PMC have to take back its FACT 8 speakers? Their incredible openness would have revelled in the calmness of presentation from the Copland.
The transparency is, to an extent, a factor of warm-up: two or three hours are not enough and a weekend later there is no shortage of resolution on offer. The player doesn't have a bright, super clean sound but it reveals an awful lot of harmonic detail right across the band – it's more of an analogue balance in fact.
Not warm or in any way smoothed off in the mid or treble but devoid of digital crispness, in practice this means that small bells have a pure, shiny ring to them and bass drums have weight and power while the midband lets you hear right into the mix.
With a great recording such as Tord Gustavsen's The Ground, this means that the speakers disappear and let the musicians or their sound inhabit the room in a very solid fashion. It brings out the shimmer of the cymbals, the woody resonance of the double bass and the body and mass of the piano to spectacular effect. In fact, I don't recall hearing this sound being so evocative of the live event. If only more discs were recorded this well.
One louder
Conveniently, even the less spectacular discs don't disappoint, they may not offer the same degree of realism but they have more going on in the mix than is usually apparent. Thanks to the aforementioned lack of grain you can play louder too, so the quality of musicianship is even more entrancing.
Inevitably, the copland is unable to filter out distortion in the recording and this comes through with the music. A CD-R of the Portico Quartet's Isla just doesn't cut-it – the real thing must be acquired.
Keith Jarrett's recent Testament disc is considerably more gratifying, the solidity of the piano and the stage it's sitting on is palpable thanks to the Copland's extraordinary control and speed in the bass. It doesn't seem like a fast player in the manner of a Rega or Naim but the bass is extremely well defined, yet delivered in a totally effortless fashion. There's no undue emphasis of leading edges, which is not something you often encounter in audio sources of any persuasion.
It's not as open, nor as tonally rich as the AMR CD-777, but it does have a more even balance and is more revealing at low levels. In the long term these qualities will make it a more engaging and exciting player to use, because you can hear more of the music and less of the hardware.
It's not as revealing as Moon's 750D (at twice the price), but has a slightly greater ability to engage your heart, mind and gut, especially if the latter enjoys killer bass. Even at sensible levels the bass has a weight and solidity that is thrilling. You may not be a bass head now, but once you discover what's lurking on your favourite discs I guarantee that you will be in future.
A thrilling experience
The CDA825 continues Copland's line of fine CD players. It's expensive, compared with its predecessor, but its sound and design are entirely in line with that price. In character it's not unlike an SME turntable: it doesn't seem particularly transparent, yet you can hear nearly everything about the recordings it plays.
At the same time as informing your head, this Copland lets the music play with your heart and it's a thrilling experience. The last time I encountered that sensation was with an £18,000 two-box CMM Labs, which puts things in context.
Don't buy this expecting an instant hit that will fade over time, buy it to find out just how beautiful, powerful and enthralling your music collection is. You don't need a better reason than that.
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Peter Molyneux: "gaming being reborn on PC"
Peter Molyneux, creative head honcho of Lionhead Studios and Microsoft Game Studios in Europe, has said that he thinks videogaming is being 'reborn on the PC'.
Molyneux told Switched that when he first started creating games for console it was similar to being imprisoned in a box and that lately games are being reborn on PC.
"I was born on PC"
"It's like I was born on PC. I felt it was this thing that was completely open ended, and that felt great," said Molyneux. "When I skipped over to the console, it felt like being slightly imprisoned by this box. But know I have realized that it is set in stone – like, 'this is the box, that's it, you don't get any more or any less' – it was a nice experience.
"But now they keep on giving us this new hardware stuff. Natals, Moves, and input controllers – they kind of feel a bit more PC-ish.
"The surprising thing about the PC that's just starting to happen now, is that gaming is being reborn on the PC. You've got Facebook, everybody's talking about Facebook games and there's this company called Zynga and they make games with 88 million people [Farmville].
"It feels like the whole thing with gaming is changing radically… and I don't see why all those others like AAA blockbusters can't incorporate that sort of level of interaction."
In typical fashion, Molyneux goes on to promise that "in the next two to three years we are going to start seeing stuff, not just from Microsoft, but from everybody, that just changes our whole thought of what a game is and that is part of the problem.
"The problem is that the word 'game' just sounds so trivial compared to what we are trying to do. We are just now at the point to where were are smart enough to create a character that can meet you. Just imagine, a character on that screen who can meet you, engage with you, and see you, and has empathy with you.
"That changes everything because there is no narrative art or character development that is being defined in the movie industry – we will be something new and totally different."
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Sony announces two new E series Vaio laptops
Sony has made two additions to its Vaio E series of laptops, with a 14 inch and 17 inch version complete with Quick Web Access and ATI Mobility Radeon 5000 series graphics.
Sony recently launched the E series with a 15 inch laptop, but has chosen to add to the colourful range.
The computers are pitched as 'perfect for everyday browsing, blogging or simply enjoying your digital media collection'.
Specs
The 14 inch Vaio VPCEA1Z1E comes with up to 4GB DDR3RAM, 'supersharp' 1600x900, 16:9 screen and is available in white, pink, blue or green.
The laptop has a Blu-ray drive, ATI Mobility Radeon 5145 series graphics and Intel Core i3 processor, weighing in at 2.35kg.
The 17.3 inch can boast a full HD (1920x1080) 16:9 screen and is billed by Sony as the "ultimate HD entertainment machine for all the family."
Up to 4GB RAM, Blu-ray enabled and complete with an Intel Core i5 processor and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650, the Vaio VPCEC1S1E weighs in at 3.3kg.
Both of the laptops have been given a UK release date of May 2010.
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New tech promises DSLR quality pics from iPhone
A new cameraphone image sensing technology from Californian-based company InVisage increases sensor performance by over four times, promising DSLR-quality pics from your mobile phone camera.
InVisage Technologies' image sensor uses quantum dots instead of silicon. If widely adopted then we could well be taking professional quality pics from our fifth-gen iPhones in a few years' time!
I wish my iPhone was better
"We have all heard 'Gee, I wish the camera on my iPhone was better,'" says InVisage's President and CEO Jess Lee. "But the heart of the problem is in the heart of the camera, which is the sensor."
Lee adds that the silicon in current image sensors in mobile phone cameras has a light absorbing efficiency of only around 50 per cent, with efficiency further reduced by layers of copper or aluminum circuitry on top of the silicon.
InVisage use quantum dots instead of silicon – which are nanocrystals made of a special class of semiconductors that let phone camera manufacturers achieve 90 per cent light-absoring efficiency.
"This is entirely different from the type of image sensors that we have right now," notes Tom Hausken, director with market research firm Strategies Unlimited. "Usually you see incremental improvements in sensor design, but these guys have made a a significant change in the process."
InVisage says it will have samples ready for phone manufacturers by the end of 2010.
"Mostly people have looked to use it in displays, solar cells and as identification markers," he says. "So we will have to see how effective and reliable it is as a sensor."
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Chinese state media accuses Google of political agenda
Chinese state media outlets have accused Google of having a political agenda in 'groundlessly accusing the Chinese government' of supporting hacking attacks, it emerged this week.
In a commentary signed by three Xinhua writers, the Chinese state news agency attempted to defend the government's web censorship, which Google has cited as a reason it may quit China.
Google versus China
"Regrettably, Google's recent behaviors show that the company not just aims at expanding business in China, but is playing an active role in exporting culture, value and ideas," read the Chinese report.
"It is unfair for Google to impose its own value and yardsticks on Internet regulation to China, which has its own time-honored tradition, culture and value."
We expect to hear more news on whether or not Google will pull out of China in the coming days.
The Xinhua commentary added: "In fact, no country allows unrestricted flow on the Internet of pornographic, violent, gambling or superstitious content, or content on government subversion, ethnic separatism, religious extremism, racialism, terrorism and anti-foreign feelings.
"Whether it [Google] leaves or not, the Chinese government will keep its Internet regulation principles unchanged. One company's ambition to change China's Internet rules and legal system will only prove to be ridiculous.
"And whether leaving or not, Google should not continue to politicalize itself, as linking its withdrawal to political issues will lose Google's credibility among Chinese netizens."
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Prime Minister promises super-fast broadband for all by 2020
Gordon Brown pledges that the Labour Party will offer super-fast broadband to all by 2020 should they remain in power.
The Prime Minister is to promise super-fast broadband for all at a speech this week on the proposed Digital Economy Bill and is set to refer to fast internet access as "the electricity of the digital age" which "must be for all - not just for some."
Brown is set to warn of a "new digital divide" if super-fast broadband access is left to the free market to decide.
Brown is set to say the following: "We can allow the market to provide a solution on its own terms and according to its own timetable.
"The result would be super-fast broadband coverage determined not by need or by social justice, but by profitability. The alternative is our vision: ensuring, not simply hoping for, universal coverage."
Offering incentives
Jim Knight, the minister responsible for digital inclusion, told BBC Radio 5 live: "You offer incentives to the market to get to those areas that otherwise they're not going to be able to make a profit out of going to.
"By having universal access to this very high bandwidth which allows more streaming video, allows people to watch TV and listen to radio online, it means that we can also release the business and employment potential of this.
"If you just leave it up to the market it'll only go to into the cities, it won't get out into rural Cornwall for example without some form of public subsidy."
The government is still planning a 50p-a-month levy on landlines to ensure rural areas get equal broadband access in the long run.
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Review: One For All SV9310
The One For All SV9310 adopts an unusual approach to indoor TV aerial design with a tubular design that looks a lot less imposing than a lot of other models.
The concern is whether such a discreet object can successfully pick up signals when the antenna is so small.
One For All has a distinguished pedigree as a manufacturer of fi ne universal remote controls and the company's reputation for excellent build quality extends to its indoor aerials.
This model has a chunky base unit that feels a lot stronger than the plasticky coating suggests. To assemble the aerial you simply screw the 32cm-long tube to the base, connect the power supply and plug it in. A red LED lights up to indicate the 18dB booster is on.
The tube can be rotated and tilted in any direction including the horizontal position to help pick up the strongest signal. It boasts built-in filters to eliminate interference from wireless devices.
How it fares
Nice lengthy power and aerial cables provide good flexibility for positioning although the supplied power pack features a two-pin continental plug that's in need of a UK adaptor.
Unfortunately, despite trying numerous positions and locations we failed to get any channels other than BBC1 and a blocky BBC2. No doubt this aerial requires an excellent signal to work.
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