Exclusive: O2: users need to be told about lack of coverage
The Communication Consumer Panel has found that UK phone buyers are being given false information regarding contracts and cancellation policies.
The study found that some high-street stores were not even aware of the correct cancellation policies, and called for standards to be put in place for consumers wishing to cancel their contract, especially when networks offer poor signal in their area.
O2 has responded to the study with a statement, telling TechRadar that all networks need to be transparent:
"It is crucial that customers are encouraged to use operators' coverage checkers before they buy to check coverage in their area," says Gavin Sheldon, head of networks for O2.
No questions asked
"We have a 'no questions asked' 14-day money back guarantee if customers are unable to get the service they need from their mobile and whole-heartedly back the Consumer Panel's call for greater consistency in this area.
"But we'd go further to say that as an industry there needs to be greater transparency about mobile coverage, so customers are equipped with the information they need to make good purchasing decisions from the outset," adds Sheldon.
"Using messages that focus solely on geographical reach only serve to confuse and mislead. No operator can guarantee a perfect experience to their customers. But what we can and should guarantee is that they have been given honest and accurate information.
"In light of this, we are investing heavily in our toolkit to ensure customers and our retail staff have access to up to date and detailed information about network coverage in specific regions of the UK."
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Denon unveils 3D Blu-ray player line-up
While 3D broadcasting is still some time away, those of you with shiny new 3D televisions will soon be able to watch Blu-rays in the third dimension, thanks to Denon.The high-end Hi-Fi manufacture has added two new Blu-ray players to its range, both of which are 3D compatible.
The £399 DBP-1611UD and £599 DBP-2011UD house 1GB memory for BD Live content and will also link up to YouTube so you can watch streamed content through the machines.
Anything goes
As with all Denon kit, audio technology is at the forefront of the 1611UD and 2011UD, with Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio HDMI output.
The two new models also feature an Ethernet port to take advantage of internet services like BD live, as well as networking capabilities and a high quality 24-bit/192kHz audio digital to analog converter inside.
The DBP-2011UD and DBP-1611UD have a UK release August and September respectively.
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Samsung announces new fashion MP3 player, the Tic Toc
Samsung has announced the arrival of the Tic Toc, a fashion-themed MP3 player with motion control, aimed at "young women who want the latest fashion gadgets"Announced this week, the Tic Toc is a palm-sized MP3 player and will be available in pink, blue, black and – in case you're still not sure who it's aimed at – a Hello Kitty theme.
Samsung really are pushing the Tic Toc at fashion fanatics, with the promise of a 'fashion case' and 'fashion earphones' aimed at "trendy fashion lovers".
Motion control makes a prominent showing on the Tic Toc, with the ability to skip songs by holding the device horizontally and shaking it left or right, volume is changed by holding the player vertically and clicking up or down, and three clicks skips to the next album on your playlist.
Up the tempo
The Tic Toc can recognise the speed of tracks and will play either fast or slow songs when asked to, depending on whether you want fast tracks for running or a slower beat for relaxing.
Georgina Franklin, Head of Channel Marketing says, "The Samsung Tic Toc is perfect for young women who want the latest fashion gadgets. With so many features on such a small MP3 player, it really is the latest must have colourful and fun accessory for music fans."
Due to the lack of a display, the Samsung Tic Toc will read out song names – just like the iPod shuffle – using Samsung's Digital Natural Sound Engine.
The Tic Toc has a UK release date of September with a choice of 2GB or 4GB of storage, with prices starting at £39.99.
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Microsoft Bing reaches 12% of search market
In its first year Microsoft's Bing search engine has claimed 12.7 per cent of the internet search market, according to figures released by ComScore.Market leader Google fell slightly through June, dropping one per cent to 62.7, while Yahoo was up to 18.9 per cent.
ComScore said about its findings: "Both Yahoo! Sites and Microsoft Sites have experienced gains due in part to the continued utilisation of contextual search approaches that tie content and related search results together."
Satya Nadello of Microsoft told BBC News: "There is something that we are doing that is clearly resonating but that said we are a low share player"
Greg Sterling from Search Engine Land also told the BBC that: "Google is very entrenched in the culture and in people's behaviour and that is a tough nut to crack.
"If Bing takes a long-term view they can make greater inroads than they have but I don't know if they can get beyond 30-40 per cent. If they get to 20 per cent plus that would be a big win for them."
Bing while you go
Microsoft is keen to take Bing mobile, and launched an iPhone application in December which has seen been downloaded 4.3 million times in the US.In the future, Microsoft is hoping to use location to deliver better search results.
Senior vice-president for mobile Erik Jorgensen told the BBC: "Location is key," and that Microsoft is focused on helping users "type less and do more".
Bing – branded as a decision engine – was launched just 12 months ago and here at TechRadar we liked the quality of its search results.
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In Depth: iPhone 5: 10 things Apple should fix
The iPhone 4 is here, and despite some well-publicised problems (most of which have simple solutions), it's a big hit. The same largely goes for iOS 4, which provides great new features, both on the iPhone 4 and when installed on to an older iPhone 3GS. (iPhone 3G owners should perhaps steer clear, unless they want the experience of an iPhone dipped in treacle.)
Naturally, with Apple happily selling loads of iPhone 4s, we're already getting itchy feet and dreaming of iPhone 5 and iOS 5. We're not too fussed about overtly niche technology, like turning an iPhone into a Wi-Fi hotspot, and have instead thought of ten things that Apple could do to improve the iPhone experience for everyone.
1. Eradicate grip-of-death problems
Arguments continue to rage regarding the truth behind the iPhone 4's much-reported reception issues. There's definitely a problem when users bridge the gap between the external antenna at the bottom-left of the device, but its severity is unclear.
Some users are unaffected (and Apple claims all phones suffer to some extent); others find they can pretty much stop reception at will. Whatever the reality, Apple has narrowly avoided a PR disaster, and so the company must rethink this aspect of its device's 'revolutionary' design next time round.
QUICK FIX: Bumpers alleviate grip-of-death problems, but a hardware fix won't happen until the iPhone 5
2. Add more storage
This is a bit of a no-brainer, since the storage capacity of Apple devices rises with every other major release at the very least. However, storage is increasingly going to be a major issue for iPhone users.
The current generation can shoot HD videos, which take up a lot of space; the Retina Display screen lends itself to more detailed apps and games, which take up a lot of space; the iPhone 4 camera now takes much larger pictures, which… you get the idea.
Now think about iPhone 5: it'll probably have the same screen, but an improved camera and enhanced video recording. Without the storage to deal with these things, iPhone 5 just won't fly.
3. Improve the iPhone battery
Although the iPhone 4's battery beats the one in the iPhone 3GS, iPad owners will know how much better it is when an iOS device has a battery display that barely updates, because the battery offers so much more life. Unlike some people, we don't think the iPhone battery should be removable (that'd cause problems with the case design), but it needs to last longer.
BETTER BATTERY: Use it for calls alone and your iPhone will get through the day. Play music, video and games and it'll be thirsty before the afternoon's out
4. Better iPhone speakers
Since day one, iPhone speakers have been weedy. This is a pity for a device also touted as a portable media player and games system. Sure, you can wear headphones, but it would nonetheless be great to see iPhone 5 perhaps offer two speakers with a little bit of oomph.
5. HD output via HDMI
The iPhone 4 can record HD video but can't output it - for that, you need a PC or Mac. With luck and a following wind, this restriction will be eased, and someone at Cupertino will also realise that people would like an iOS-device-to-HDMI-lead, preferably in the box.
6. Better back-ups
Apple talks a lot about iOS being great for games, but things go horribly wrong when it comes to settings. Delete Peggle by mistake and, to use a Steve Jobs term, 'boom': all your progress is gone. iOS 5 needs to provide an intuitive way to restore game settings during an app reinstall (which would also benefit non-gaming titles).
It's also about time for Apple to enable cloud-based back-ups, so iOS can start detaching itself from being so heavily reliant on iTunes.
BACK-UP SETTINGS: Delete an app and its settings are gone. In iOS 5, Apple should enable users to optionally restore them
7. Make file-sharing non-hateful
iOS remains reliant on email as the most intuitive means of getting content on and off your device, and some apps also enable file-sharing through a tiny iTunes pane.
We're not sure what the solution is to make iOS file-sharing non-hateful (and we don't want a return to a desktop metaphor), but Apple hasn't found it yet. Hopefully it will in iOS 5.
8. Improve the lock screen
Apple likes minimalism, but this can be to the detriment of usability. The current iOS lock screen enables you to define a background and shows the date and time. In iOS 5, Apple should provide the means to add more information, such as the subjects of recent emails, recent contacts that have called you, and upcoming calendar appointments.
MORE INFO NEEDED: We admire Apple's dedication to elegance, but the lock screen could and should be more useful
9. An intelligent call blocker
If you find yourself inundated with calls from undesirables, wouldn't it be great to provide a suitably realistic 'block' or 'this number was eaten by wolves' error message? Carriers might not be keen on this, but Apple does something similar in Mail for Mac OS X (a 'faked' bounce), so it's at least a minor possibility for iOS 5.
10. Biometric security
You can lock your phone using a pass key, but how about using your finger or thumb? Apple has related patents, so presumably we're waiting for affordable technology to catch up—and perhaps it will when iPhone 5 and iOS 5 arrive.
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BBC's social-network integration arrives
The BBC's long-awaited social network integration has arrived, as well as new-look chanels for the website. The BBC's internet site is among the most visited in the UK, where the company has established itself as a key player, and one that is not afraid to innovate.
Integration
Outlined earlier in July, the integration of Facebook and Twitter into the site has now been rolled out, allowing people to share the content that they like among their social contacts.
"We have focused on design and navigation, looking to see how we can make all the existing content we produce each day easier for you to find, use and share," said Steve Hermann, editor of BBC News, in a blog last week.
So you can now Facebook Like or Tweet a story, and also see which stories have been liked or tweeted by your friends.
Also of note, for technology fans, the BBC Technology news page is among those given an overhaul.
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Google invests in UK academic research
Google has awarded two UK academic projects with funding, as it aims to use its database to try to help scholars identify trends over selected periods of time, by language, by geography and by topic. 12 project were awarded nearly $500,000 to pursue projects, with the chance of another year's renewal, including a joint project between the Open University and University of Southampton and a separate one at Oxford University.
"Digitisation means that scholars can now use quantitative techniques to analyse large amounts of literature and identify trends over selected periods of time, by language, by geography and by topic," said Google
"The awards will fund 12 research projects that help answer questions such as: Can we better characterise Victorian society by quantifying shifts in vocabulary - not just of a few leading writers, but of every book written during the era?
"Or can we see and compare every version of the opening line of a work like Virgil's Aeneid, analyse every place where the line is cited, and examine every instance where it is quoted?
"In total, these 12 projects will receive $479,000 in the first year, with the possibility of renewal next year. In addition to financial support, the recipients will also be able to access Google data, tools, technologies and expertise, plus relevant subsets of the Google Books corpus such as histograms, book scans and text."
UK Projects
The two projects in the UK are 'Google Ancient Places' (GAP) which is aiming to aid in the discovery of historical geographical entities in the Google Books Corpus, and will be run by the OU, Southampton and the University of California-Berkeley.
Secondly the Bibliotheca Academica Translationum led by Dr Alfonso Moreno, Tutorial Fellow at Magdalen College, Oxford aims to produce an Index based on a computerised union catalogue of all known translations of classical scholarship into the major European languages during the 18th and 19th Centuries and to use this database to research the changes in the transmission of knowledge in this period.
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150 million flock to mobile version of Facebook
Facebook is no stranger to posting big numbers but its latest stats for those who check Facebook on a mobile phone are more-than impressive.At the MobileBeat 2010 conference in San Francisco, Eric Tseng, head of mobile products at Facebook, revealed that there are now 150 million people who log on to the site from their phones, up 50 million in just three months.
Growth lever
The social-network site knows the importance of on-the-go Facebook checking and is calling it the key platform for the future, with Tseng explaining: "Mobile is fast becoming our growth lever" and that in just six months the mobile platform should "catch-up" with its PC counterpart.
If it does, then the growth will be phenomenal, considering Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that Facebook has around 500 million members overall.
In June, Facebook told TechRadar that it now has 26 million members in the UK, which equates to more than a third of the population.
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New: TechRadar launches new TV reviews channel
TechRadar, the UK's leading tech news and reviews site, has launched 'TVs@TechRadar', a new channel for buyers of plasma, 3D and LCD TV hardware.Aggregating all of TechRadar's existing TV-set related content into a single easy to use channel, it also provides improved access to information about TV brands and makes it easier to search TechRadar's TV reviews.
There's also a new 'hottest TVs' component which shows the most read TVs, either across the site or specific to a brand, helping our readers find the best TVs for them.
Editor-in-Chief Nick Merritt said, "this is just the latest in an ongoing programme of upgrades to TechRadar to help our readers find the right hardware to buy, with a lot more on the way."
Visit TVs@TechRadar now and see the changes
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Canon announces touchscreen Legria HF M32 camcorder
Canon has unveiled the latest camcorder to join its Full HD range – the Legira HF M32.Boasting 64GB Flash storage, a 3.3 Megapixel Full HD CMOS sensor and 18x Advanced Zoom, the camcorder features a decent compact design and a number of intuitive features to keep its head above the moviemaking crowd.
Memory master
These include: advanced faced detection (for those who have advanced faces), AF technology and an optical image stabiliser which can be altered through the camcorder's touchscreen controls.
Although the camcorder has 64GB in-built memory, there is also the inclusion of an SDXC memory card slot which means that you can have up to 2TB of capacity.
This is the first camcorder in the Legria range to support SDXC.
On-board is also the ability to send your movies direct to YouTube and you can playback your content on the HF M32's 2.7-inch touchscreen LCD.
The LEGRIA HF M32 has a UK release date of September, with pricing still to be announced.
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One Bejeweled game is sold 'every four seconds'
Dave Bishop of online games outlet PopCap has disclosed Bejeweled's incredible success story in a talk at the Develop conference.Over 50 million copies of the gem-matching game have been sold across all formats, and it's now one of the top ten best-selling game franchises of all time, selling a copy every 4.3 seconds.
Bejeweled is now available across most platforms, from PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360, to iPod and iPhone.
Not bad considering Bejeweled was valued at just $60,000 in the year 2000 and at the time no publisher was interested in it.
Facebook Blitz
PopCap's Facebook version, Bejeweled Blitz has over 25 million users and three million players every day.
It wasn't always so easy; PopCap initially had no way of making money from the game but now it doesn't seem to have that problem considering it now has one of the biggest game franchises ever.
PopCap is also behind the incredibly popular and worryingly addictive game Plants vs Zombies.
A sequel to Plants Vs Zombies looks set to be on the cards, with PopCap teasing us all with news that something is happening 2 August with the game.
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In Depth: Sony PlayStation Move: what the future holds
Sony announced a total of 16 PlayStation Move games at this year's annual E3 gaming show 'n' tell in LA back in June to show off what was, for many attendees, the most impressive new motion-tech for gamers and games developers alike.Arguably, while Microsoft's skeleton-scanning 3D Kinect camera is technically more advanced than Move's iteration on the Nintendo Wii Remote, Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) clearly hopes that the PlayStation strategy of putting games and gamers first will pay dividends in the long run.
TechRadar's Mike Jackson was lucky enough to get some hands on time with all the latest hardware on show at E3 this year, and was adamant that PlayStation Move was simply "the most impressive motion-tech" on show.
MOVE: one of the most impressive new technologies at E3 2010
"We left reassuringly convinced of its rock-solid motion detection abilities," said Jackson. "As with all technology, someone creates something good, and then competitors evolve it, make it better, [which is] exactly what Sony has done with the PlayStation Move wand and accompanying Navigation controller."
Intrigues the most ardent naysayers
Dan Dawkins, Editor of PSM3 magazine is another member of that small group of British journalists that has already had a good deal of hands on time with Sony's new gaming tech and someone who is equally as excited about the possibilities opened up by PS Move.
"Irrespective of your feelings about Wii, there's something about PS Move's 1:1 response that intrigues the most ardent naysayers," Dawkins told TechRadar. "You're not just intimating a motion with clumsy brush strokes, where the game reads your intent, but expressing it directly; your every motion reflected on-screen.
"In the PS Move ping pong game, your wrist's flicks and rotations, however minute or subtle, are reflected in your character's on-screen posture and grip. When you bust out a forehand top spin; it feels - and looks in real life - just like a forehand top spin. And there's a Jenga-style puzzle game that had three relatively grouchy grown men on the PSM3 team barking "Use the rubber block! No, vertically… God, let me do it", as another team member crouched, leant forward and inched a vertical building block into a teetering stack."
EASY: The Move controller design is deceptively simple
Dawkins is keen to stress the fact that the PS Move's form factor is, typical of a Sony product, "deceptively sexy, and smaller than you'd think," adding that, "playing games in HD is a blessing - the initial wave of casual titles really show off the tech, but the 1:1 control offers genuine hope of challenging, and innovative, 'core' games to follow.
"Move is easily responsive enough for a first-person shooter; ideal for RTS troop movement and – in the hands of an innovator like Hideo Kojima - potentially a revelation. Playing a disguised agent and having to evade detection by shaking a guard's hand without wobbling? Signature forgery? Micro-precise bomb defusal? Okay, these might be bad ideas, but you get the gist. After my initial scepticism, I think PS Move's near essential for £34.99."
We could, of course (and many will), argue about the relative merits of Kinect versus Move in gaming forums over the coming months. However, until both new systems are on the market and available for us to buy and try out in our own lounges later this year, this seems little more than a fruitless exercise in console fanboy point-scoring.
After all, you can't really knock something until you've tried it. And in addition to a few lucky games journalists the other people we know who have test-driven the new tech extensively are games developers. So we decided to ask them what they thought of PlayStation Move and the 16 new motion-controlled PlayStation games that were on show in La La Land back in June.
From EyeToy to Move
Sony pioneered motion-control in gaming with its PlayStation EyeToy camera, which original launched back in 2003, following 'father of PlayStation' Ken Kutaragi's remit to broaden the PS2's demographics. The whole idea of EyeToy was to remove the controller which was seen as a potential barrier to a large section of the market that would be new to games.
"Very quickly we realised that the experiences that worked best were the ones that mimicked real-world activities," says Richard Groves, Technical Director at games developer StikiPixels, who, with his partner (and Design Director) Jonathan Alpine, have 14 years of combined experience working with EyeToy and, more recently, PlayStation Move. "Activities like window washing or boxing needed no instructions. Most of the time people didn't even need to ask how to play."
PLAYSTATION MOVE: Buttons provide familiar control
With their long history of working closely with Sony and making games for the PlayStation, Groves and Alpine are well-placed to offer some valuable insights into where these new interfaces fit in the gaming landscape. The developer also reminds us about some of the issues that arose with EyeToy development that have since been addressed by PlayStation Move, such as:
- 'Background subtraction' (removing the player image from their background) – "Which keeps coming up in game design but was previously not possible without massive compromises."
- Lack of button input – "Which meant user interfaces had to be quite clunky and slow to use due to the requirement of making them robust enough to not be triggered accidentally."
- Improvement in low light response from EyeToy to PSEye – "Which opened up better fidelity motion sensing and wider lighting environments where the camera could be used. Image quality improved massively too and we got the data at 640x480 @ 60fps which hadn't been possible with the PS2 EyeToy."
- Lag issues due to image processing pipeline – "Which have been solved through software iteration and improvements in understanding."
"The extra fidelity of the data in Move just means you have to make less compromises, and the addition of accurate 3D positional data for the controller makes gesture and movement analysis easy," adds the Move developer.
Compromises and limitations
However, this is not to say that Move isn't without its own compromises and limitations. The number of peripherals required for multi-player means that the costs to the gamer soon escalates for those that want to get a full set of handsets and navigation controllers.
Additionally, Groves adds that: "Bringing back buttons is also a potential barrier to entry. I'm tempted to refer to the classic "if you build it, they will come" quote. Give developers lots of buttons and they'll tend to use them all which isn't necessarily a good thing, for non-gamers in particular."
The developer compares this with Microsoft's Kinect system, which is one peripheral that offers the player "direct interaction without the 'middleman' of a controller."
Both Kinect and Move also really need decent sized playing areas and large screens for the gamer to get the full experience which means, as Groves points out, that, "they are not suited to most bedroom/box-room environments where a lot of consoles still are.
PLAYSTATION EYE: The camera sits on or near your TV
"This also impacts development environments: you need a lot more space for each developer to be able to properly test what you are working on, most developer environments (and QA areas) are just not setup for testing multi-player movement games right now.
"Studios with Wii experience will have already had to deal with this to some extent, but Kinect/Move are going to put more pressure on space. For games using the camera image you also need to be able to control the lighting in a test area to see how the game reacts to differing amounts of light in the play area. In general, testing the game for control method robustness becomes a major area that just doesn't exist when using a standard controller."
Those few criticisms aside, PlayStation Move undoubtedly opens up a number of new opportunities for developers to create some interesting new forms of gameplay in PS3 games.
Groves thinks that the availability of the camera image married with the depth data should allow for, "reasonable 'background subtraction' which opens up all sorts of game designs where the player can be taken out of their living room and fully immersed into the game environment.
"Even better is the skeleton tracking that allows the player to directly control the in-game avatar. Once developers get used to this there are a huge amount of direct interactions with the game that can be enabled - but we'll have to be careful not to put things in for the sake of it - do you really want to reach out and open every door in an FPS rather than just press a button?
"We've worked on things before where a direct player movement is cool when you first develop the mechanic, but gets really tiring and dull after the 20th time they've had to do it in a game."
IN CONTROL: Core gamers will be familiar with the Move controller
PlayStation Move, while an incremental step from EyeToy/PSEye, still represents a huge step forward for developers such as Grove who thinks that: "Once developers have had time to get used to the data coming from the depth camera and improvements in the tracking and analysis software work their way into the development community there will be new game experiences emerge: there always are with new input tech.
"Kinect, Move and 3D are all potential components of a future system of physically immersive game worlds and totally organic interactions."
Shoot and Move
One of the most interesting games we've seen to date for PlayStation Move has been Cohort Studio's The Shoot. What initially looks like a straightforward light-gun game that works with Move seems to promise quite a bit more depth when you dig a little deeper.
TechRadar spoke with Cohort Studios' Technical Director Gordon Bell to find out more about what it was like to integrate Move into his latest project.
"Working with any pre-release hardware can be a real challenge, so we were all very anxious to get our hands on the new controller and SDK as early as possible and make a start on integrating the controller into The Shoot," Bell informed us.
Cohort was one of the first teams to work with Move hardware, (with the "legendary 'ping pong ball on a stick' version that [Move designer] Richard Marks has since shown in interviews," Bell reminds us) and were instantly impressed with the performance of the hardware and the supplied drivers.
SHOOT AND MOVE: the laser-gun attachment is a must
"Even in these early iterations, and it was clear that the controller was going to give us everything we needed and more," says the developer. The Shoot was initially designed as a pure light-gun game, and as the Move offers great 'laser pointer' support, this was easy to replicate.
"We were then free to look at the other possibilities the new controller's positional and directional support gave us, and design and develop the motion play (ducking and dodging) and gestures/acting (for activating power-ups and boss fights) to make the most of the Move hardware. Initially we were concerned about the possible performance impact of the controller, but this has turned out to be negligible."
Cohort says the support from Sony has been "great" and that they have worked closely with SCE's internal team developing the controller, "including direct contact with their hardware and SDK developers on a daily basis. They've fed back a great deal of ideas into The Shoot, and we've had a similar input into the development of the controller and software."
The learning process for developers has also been remarkably simple, according to the Cohort dev. "In even the earliest versions of the drivers, Move was easy to implement. We can query the controller for its absolute angle (as a quaternion) and position in 3D space directly through theSDK, with no further interpretation of the results needed on our side (although the raw data is available if we wish to perform our own analysis on it).
"Any learning required by dev staff was minimal on the technical side, certainly no more than with a regular DualShock controller, and our time was spent refining our gesture system instead of worrying about the controller itself."
Design challenges with Move
While the technical issues with implementing Move control into games have been fairly straightforward, the real challenge to game developers is going to be over on the game design side.
"The Shoot is Cohort's first motion controlled project so we've had to learn the hard way about which gestures and actions are rewarding for the player, and which just cause frustration and fatigue," says Bell.
"Players are used to pressing a button and seeing the results in game, so reliable gesture and motion detection is a must or the player will become frustrated. The number of different ways people can interpret even simple instructions, such as 'punch at the screen', has been a real surprise and something we've had to take into account throughout the development, but we think we've come up with a great set of fun actions for the player in the final product."
One thing is for sure, Sony has already announced a fairly solid-looking line-up of games that will tempt us into buying PlayStation Move when it arrives on shelves later this autumn.
In addition to those, we are sure to hear lots more from the company's internal studios and other third party developers about other new Move-controlled games and applications in the coming months leading up to release, because if there is one thing that the PlayStation company understands it is that good games (not impressive tech demos) sell hardware.
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Review: Paragon Volume Snapshot for OS X
Most safety-conscious people use Time Machine or other backup software. However, in the event of a full hard drive crash, getting up and running using Time Machine can be time consuming – you'll need to restore OS X first, then use Time Machine to restore the rest, since Time Machine can't access system and other files in use during backups.Alternative backup programs, such as Carbon Copy Cloner, can create copies of your entire hard drive, but require that you boot from another drive.
Paragon's Volume Snapshot for OS X claims to be the first Mac software to use snapshot technology to create a fully bootable image of your hard drive, even when you're running applications and software.
It will create a snapshot of each file on your hard drive and copy that to a DMG file that your system recovery DVD can use to restore your drive. It also claims it can do so at up to 1GB per minute.
Our first experience with Volume Snapshot wasn't pretty: the installer hard-froze OS X. However, once installed, it was very simple to use and created a bootable image of the hard drive.
The 1GB/minute speed advertised was nothing like what we got – it took two hours to create a 42GB backup of 60GB of data.
But that's it. It doesn't have any scheduling or incremental backup functions, or any of the other facilities of Time Machine and other tools.
Given the options available in other, cheaper tools, this shouldn't really be a first choice for backups.
Related Links
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Microsoft releases wireless Mobile Mouse 1000
Microsoft has this week released a new wireless mouse aimed at those who want a compact but high quality peripheral for their laptop.The Wireless Mobile Mouse 1000 uses a nano transceiver on the popular 2.4Ghz frequency and has a claimed battery life of 10 months.
Microsoft is also claiming the mouse will work around 30 feet away from your laptop which sounds great but, in reality, we can't see much of use for this.
Unless you are doing a presentation in a really long room.
Small but well-formed
Microsoft is boasting that the Mobile Mouse 1000 provides 'exceptional performance, is visually attractive and extremely reasonably priced'.
With an estimated retail price of £14.99, it's definitely reasonably priced, but we'll leave you to be the judge of the mouse's sartorial elegance.
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Sony NEX-VG10E: interchangeable lens camcorder announced
Sony has unveiled its latest moviemaking creation which brings high-end specs to the consumer camcorder market, the Sony NEX-VG10E.Adding an interchangeable lens system to a camcorder means that users can choose which lens to shoot footage on – with the system being compatible with E Mount lenses found on Sony's NEX-3 and NEX-5 and lenses from Sony's existing DSLR line-up, courtesy of a LA-EA1 mount adapter.
Image quality on the VG10E is Full HD 1920x1080, with the footage captured to AVCHD with a bitrate of 24 Mbps.
Specs appeal
Inside the VG10E is a14.2MP Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor (nearly 20 times bigger than your average camcorder sensor), 14x optical zoom and in-built Optical SteadyShot image stabilisation.
The sensor size will be a big draw for prosumers, as it means that you can achieve an extremely shallow depth of field, which will make your movies feel that little bit more cinematic.
At if that wasn't impressive enough, there is also a 'Spatial Array Stereo' microphone on board and a 3 inch-type Xtra Fine LCD.
Sony is keeping to its dual memory format for the time-being, so you have the choice of shooting to Memory Stick Pro Duo or SD card.
To make sure you will be able to edit all your footage, Sony is also adding a copy into Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 into the mix.
The NEX-VG10E has a UK release date of September with pricing to be announced.
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Sony NEX-VG10E: interchangeable lens camcorder announced
Sony has unveiled its latest moviemaking creation which brings high-end specs to the consumer camcorder market, the Sony NEX-VG10E.Adding an interchangeable lens system to a camcorder means that users can choose which lens to shoot footage on – with the system being compatible with E Mount lenses found on Sony's NEX-3 and NEX-5 and lenses from Sony's existing DSLR line-up, courtesy of a LA-EA1 mount adapter.
Image quality on the VG10E is Full HD 1920x1080, with the footage captured to AVCHD with a bitrate of 24 Mbps.
Specs appeal
Inside the VG10E is a14.2MP Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor (nearly 20 times bigger than your average camcorder sensor), 14x optical zoom and in-built Optical SteadyShot image stabilisation.
The sensor size will be a big draw for prosumers, as it means that you can achieve an extremely shallow depth of field, which will make your movies feel that little bit more cinematic.
At if that wasn't impressive enough, there is also a 'Spatial Array Stereo' microphone on board and a 3 inch-type Xtra Fine LCD.
Sony is keeping to its dual memory format for the time-being, so you have the choice of shooting to Memory Stick Pro Duo or SD card.
To make sure you will be able to edit all your footage, Sony is also adding a copy into Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 into the mix.
The NEX-VG10E has a UK release date of September with pricing to be announced.
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Review: VMware Fusion 3.1
With the eternal punch-up between virtualisation apps VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop in relative abeyance, Fusion re-enters the ring slightly fleeter of foot, this latest update largely intended to boost the application's performance. VMware's website throws exciting figures around with merry abandon: "35% better end-to-end application performance […] according to WorldBench 6," and "up to 5X better 3D graphics performance".
Back down to earth
Unfortunately, our own tests dulled the buzz VMware's numbers provided. On the positive side, VMware Fusion 3.1 definitely and noticeably improves performance across the board.
Virtual machine suspension and Microsoft's Aero graphics under Windows 7 get particularly obvious boosts, and graphics in 3D games are often rendered more satisfactorily.
However, the app still regularly remains slower than its rival (especially when resuming suspended machines); and while 3D games might look better than in previous versions of Fusion, our perhaps slightly ambitious aim of getting the likes of Race Driver: Grid to run resulted in something more akin to stop-motion animation than fluid gaming on our test Mac.
Simpler and slower games fared better, but until something magical happens to virtual machines, anyone wanting to play PC games should definitely stick to Boot Camp.
The other improvements to Fusion in this update are mostly a mix of workflow-oriented changes and technological achievements. Fusion's already impressive USB device support is further refined with EasyConnect, which pops up a user-friendly dialog box when you plug something into your Mac, enabling you to assign it to your Mac or a virtual machine on a temporary or permanent basis.
Elsewhere, migration is faster, and Unity (Fusion's name for the technology that enables you to mingle Mac OS X and Windows windows) works better with Mac OS X – Exposé support is particularly impressive.
That said, full integration with the Mac remains a pipe dream, since application-hiding is still broken (either every Windows app hides or none do), while 'tearing' and general visual oddness remains evident when moving windows, especially when using translucent Aero windows.
On the more 'technical' side, there's now scope for larger virtual machines, with support for 2TB disks and eight-way symmetric multiprocessing. Fusion 3.1 also brings support for various recent flavours of Linux and Ubuntu.
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Review: Google Chrome for Mac
Chrome for the Mac has lost its beta label, Google considering it ripe for primetime. In market-share terms, the browser has also sped past Safari, largely due to its uptake on Windows. But how does the app fare on the Mac?
The answer is: very well. In fact, with one exception, Chrome hits a home run in every major area of importance for a web browser.
First and foremost, it's stable. Total crashes are incredibly rare, because each tab is a separate process. If a tab crashes, the rest soldier on.
WebKit
The browser is also standards-compliant and very fast, since it uses WebKit – the same core as Safari.
Chrome is extensible, with many useful plug-ins available, and it's simple to use. The interface is intuitive and efficient, notably the combined address and search bar (something we wish Apple would steal).
The browser's ability to define keyword shortcuts for search engines is another plus over Safari.
Although more Mac-like than Firefox, Chrome nonetheless has some poor interface elements, such as its skinny, hard-to-hit title bar, tabs that are just a few pixels wide when many are open, and a status bar that can't be made permanent and crops the address of the link you're hovering over.
But the good far outweighs the bad in Chrome, to the point that it's now the Mac's best browser.
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Opera Mini 5.1 perks up Android phones
Opera has announced its new 5.1 browser for Android phones - promising improved performance.The new release focuses on making browsing a better experience, especially with top end, high resolution devices, tinkering with the layout to make things easier to tap.
It's not a huge change, but it does make things a little slicker for those not completely happy with the on-board Android browser.
Upping performance
"Opera Mini 5.1 for the Android platform is the next step in bringing the world's most popular mobile web browser to all major platforms, offering improved performance and great web experience to almost any handset," says Lars Boilesen, CEO of Opera Software.
"Opera Mini is used by over 61 million people on more than 3000 handset models and with today's release Opera continues its mission to provide the best web experience on any device and on any platform."
If you want to get your hands on the new release, it should be ready and waiting at the Android Market - or you can take it old school and head over to m.opera.com and download it manually.
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Review: Binary Formations Home Inventory 2
There's little more stressful than a house fire or burglary. As if losing your possessions wasn't bad enough, you then have to work out what's been taken or destroyed for the insurance claim, and possibly file a police report. Home Inventory 2 can't extinguish the flames or keep the thieves at bay, but if you keep it up to date, it can make the inevitable form-filling so much easier.
With Home Inventory 2 you can log important information about your home's key possessions, including their make, serial number, purchase price and estimated current value.
You can attach photos of the item to this record, along with a scan of your receipt, warranty information, notes and digital files such as PDF manuals.
Recorded items can be displayed according to customisable product types or locations, and your home inventory database can be exported as a CSV file and backed up to a local drive or your MobileMe account – a home inventory database isn't much use for insurance if your computer was stolen or destroyed.
Barcode scanning is planned for a future update, but stock photos drawn from online databases aren't welcomed by insurance companies, who regard photos of the actual item in a home environment as a proof of ownership.
Home Inventory 2 is an excellently designed piece of software. As long as you have the self-discipline to keep it up to date, it's a boon.
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Bioware considering using Kinect in next Mass Effect
The next Mass Effect game could take advantage of Microsoft's Kinect technology, according to developers Bioware. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Bioware boss Greg Zeschuk admitted that the company was keen to explore the motion sensor technology in games like Mass Effect 3.
Zeschuk stated that, after the first generation of party games, true gamers would begin to feel the benefit.
"The new motion controls are very interesting and quite powerful," said Zeschuk. "Phase one of those is the dancing, fitness and party games, the sword-swinging games.
"The next phase is where it gets really interesting when developers like us can tear it all down and ask: 'What can we actually do in a game like Mass Effect?' Can we create a greater sense of immersion during conversations by using gestures? I think we probably could and I think that's where we'll explore.
Positive impact
"We're not going to do a party game, we're not going to do Dance Dance Krogan for Mass Effect. The reality is it's going to have a really positive impact.
"There's that impediment of a controller but hardcore gamers are never going to give that up.
"It might be nice to see a hybrid of a controller used with additional gesture on the side for immersive elements.
"So we'll see it go from family entertainment and then broaden out."
And, in truth, if Bioware are thinking about adopting the technology, even the hardcore gamers could be set to follow.
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OCZ offers up world's fastest high-density 4GB memory
OCZ has announced what it claims are the fastest 4GB DDR3 memory modules, promising that the RAM offers 'an excellent blend of performance, density and reliability.' The latest memory from OCZ is clocked at 2,133MHz and is capable of CL 10-10-10-30 timings at full speed.
"Usually high speed and high density don't go hand in hand, but our newly introduced high density 2133MHz memory solutions are engineered to do exactly that," said OCZ's Alex Mei.
More than raw speed
"Designed for more than just raw speed, these new kits deliver an excellent blend of performance, density and reliability for a wide range of applications ranging from rendering video to smoother gameplay on the latest titles," Mei added.
OCZ promises that this latest release will ensure that memory will never be the bottleneck during 'intensive multi-tasking, gaming, or home server environments.'
Don't be too shocked if someone else comes along next week and claims the fastest title, but in the meantime you can get the fastest 4GB memory in either 8GB dual channel or 12GB triple channel modules.
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Intel records $2.9bn profit in record quarter
Intel has announced its best ever quarter, putting a $2.9 billion (£1.91bn) profit down to healthy PC and server markets and its own 'leading-edge' technology. The chip giant increased profits from the last quarter by a whopping $445 (£293m) and reporting revenue of $10.8 billion (£7 billion).
The Core ranges have proven to be popular in desktops and, perhaps more importantly, the still-buoyant laptop arena, while Atom has become the key player in netbooks.
Strong demand
But corporate customers were credited with the huge profits reported, in a 34 per cent increase in revenue.
"Strong demand from corporate customers for our most advanced microprocessors helped Intel achieve the best quarter in the company's 42-year history," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO.
"Our process technology lead plus compelling architectural designs increasingly differentiate Intel-based products in the marketplace.
"The PC and server segments are healthy and the demand for leading-edge technology will continue to increase for the foreseeable future."
Not bad, especially considering the company is still paying off the massive European Commission fine.
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Modu T: World's lightest touchscreen phone
Modu has announced the next generation in its modular mobile phone range, the Modu T – dubbed the world's lightest touchscreen phone.The new device will feature a widget-based touch interface, and multiple 'jackets' which it can slot into to boost functionality.
Modu expects a number of high end functions for the phone, including turning it into a full digital camera, photo frame, music player as well as linking it up with a larger PC, simply by slotting it into a new case.
Simple UI
It will have a simple user interface, with preloaded content and applications, although there's no price for the Modu T as yet.
The new touchscreen device is set for a UK release date of Q4 2010, according to the company.
In related news, Modu is releasing the Modu 1, the world's lightest mobile phone, in the UK – after a wait of nearly two years.
It will be sold SIM free from purelygadgets.com, and will cost £130, with the jackets costing extra. It packs a 1.3-inch OLED screen and 2GB of memory, with sports, fashion and camera cases to upgrade its function.
We first saw the Modu 1 back in 2008, and again in 2009 at Mobile World Congress – and it seems apart from a software overhaul, very little has changed about the device that's already launched in multiple other territories – so it will be interesting to see if the modular concept is enough to help this new sell in high numbers.
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Modu T: World's lightest touchscreen phone
Modu has announced the next generation in its modular mobile phone range, the Modu T – dubbed the world's lightest touchscreen phone.The new device will feature a widget-based touch interface, and multiple 'jackets' which it can slot into to boost functionality.
Modu expects a number of high end functions for the phone, including turning it into a full digital camera, photo frame, music player as well as linking it up with a larger PC, simply by slotting it into a new case.
Simple UI
It will have a simple user interface, with preloaded content and applications, although there's no price for the Modu T as yet.
The new touchscreen device is set for a UK release date of Q4 2010, according to the company.
In related news, Modu is releasing the Modu 1, the world's lightest mobile phone, in the UK – after a wait of nearly two years.
It will be sold SIM free from purelygadgets.com, and will cost £130, with the jackets costing extra. It packs a 1.3-inch OLED screen and 2GB of memory, with sports, fashion and camera cases to upgrade its function.
We first saw the Modu 1 back in 2008, and again in 2009 at Mobile World Congress – and it seems apart from a software overhaul, very little has changed about the device that's already launched in multiple other territories – so it will be interesting to see if the modular concept is enough to help this new sell in high numbers.
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