BBC Radio blog launches on website
The BBC has launched the BBC Radio blog allowing the department to keep the public informed about some of the UK's most popular radio programmes.
The BBC Radio blog launched with a blog from Tim Davie – the director of audio and music at the BBC.
"Welcome to the new BBC Radio Blog where I and others will be making regular posts on a wide range of topics affecting the national radio stations and music programmes across the BBC," blogged Davie.
Hear directly
"It is a chance to hear directly from myself and the team, and, like the some of the best speech radio, we hope to provoke debate and reaction."
The opening blog posts deals with a range of topics, includinf the proms and the latest PRS for Music Economics report.
So if radio is your thing it might well be worth a quick look at http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/radio/.
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Windows Phone 7 backed by 'all UK mobile operators'
Microsoft has announced that Windows Phone 7 handsets will be available on the five biggest mobile carriers in the UK.In a release, Microsoft has revealed that Windows Phone 7 devices will come to Orange, O2, Vodafone, T-Mobile and Three customers, although there is no mention of their subsidiaries like Tesco and Virgin Media.
Mobile push
The announcement is all part of Microsoft's latest push into the mobile phone market, with Alex Reeve, Director, Mobile Business Group, Microsoft UK, explaining: "Following our announcement at Mobile World Congress that Orange will be our lead partner, it is wonderful now to have all of the UK's network operators supporting the launch of Windows Phone 7.
"This means we can provide network choice and also a range of phones across networks for customers to choose from, all with the power of Windows Phone 7."
Microsoft will be hoping that its mobile OS has enough - like Xbox and Zune integration - to steer consumers away from the slickness of the iPhone and Android.
Microsoft has also revealed that The Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4u will be stocking Windows Phone 7 devices as soon as the OS' October UK release date appears.
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In Depth: How to buy a gaming PC
At the heart of every good gaming system is a good graphics card.This 3D powerhouse generates the images you see on the screen. In basic terms a 3D game holds the information required to generate a 3D world and it's the graphics card that takes this information and turns it into an on-screen image.
Two companies make the only gaming cards worth considering: the AMD Radeon and Nvidia GeForce cards. Currently AMD has its HD5000 range and Nvidia its GTX 200 and 400 ranges.
The short rule is the more you spend the higher the resolution, the more effects you can use and importantly, the smoother the latest games will play. Read our graphics card reviews to see which cards offer the type of performance you need.
Generally you'll want at least an AMD Radeon 57xx or better, and from Nvidia at least a GTS250 or better yet a GTX460 model.
To complicated the situation both AMD and Nvidia offer systems that enable you to connect more than one of their own cards together. AMD calls it CrossfireX and Nvidia called it SLI. Your motherboard has to support this feature and provide enough PCIe slots to add more than one card. But it's a useful way to improve performance either straight away if you buy two, three or four cards, or at a later date by adding in a second.
To work efficiently graphics cards require their own special memory that comes built-in. Lower-end cards will provide around 256MB to 512MB of memory, higher-end cards start with 768MB moving up to 1,024MB and higher. This memory enables the card to store high-detailed models and textures, helping make the 3D world look even more realistic.
Cards with less memory have to make do with less detailed models and textures. It sounds too simple but with a gaming PC it pays to spend as much as you can on the graphics card. It's important not to skimp on the processor but a good graphics card is the cornerstone for any decent gaming system.
Our article 15 best graphics cards in the world today is a great shortlist of cards for gaming PCs.
Motherboards for gaming PCs
A gaming PC doesn't have to be a high-end system every time but generally it's going to be running the latest processor technology and therefore it'll need an up-to-date motherboard.
For AMD processors this is the AM3 socket technology with DDR3 memory. On the Intel platform this is socket 1156 for its Core i3 and i5 processors or the higher-end socket 1366 for Core i7, both again running DDR3 memory.
You will still see plenty of AMD AM2(+) and Intel Socket 775 motherboards on offer and if you're after a more modest gaming PC, these will suffice though with a weaker selection of dual-core processors such as the AMD Athlon X2 and the Intel Core 2 range.
Unlike the home PC and media centre PC systems that can make do with onboard 'integrated' graphics, a gaming PC has to use a dedicated plug-in graphics card to get any decent level of 3D performance.
These are added using a PCIe slot, confusingly these come in various speeds with x16 being the fastest, along with x8, x4 and x1. The x16 slot is important as this is also a size requirement for PCIe graphics cards. Confusingly an x16 sized slot can run at x8 or other speeds but that's fine, as long as it's physically an x16 size then you can plug-in a graphics card!
All motherboards will offer at least one x16 slot. If you're planning on running an AMD CrossfireX or Nvidia SLI multi-graphics card set-up then the motherboard will require two or more x16-sized slots and be certified suitable for CrossfireX, SLI or both.
Besides the graphics all motherboards will provide suitable six- or eight-channel surround sound that will enhance your gaming experience. Alongside a suitable number of internal SATA hard drive connections and external USB ports.
To choose a new motherboard, take a look at our motherboard reviews.
Processors for gaming PCs
As we've covered you'll be looking at one of the latest AMD or Intel sockets and therefore processors. Either a strong dual-core or multi-core processor should be on your shopping list. AMD offers a number of affordable triple-core and quad-core Athlon II X3/X4 processors, but ideally look to its Phenom II X4 range which is a strong but affordable quad-core offering.
From Intel its new Core i3 socket 1156 processors tend to best the AMD Athlon II X3/X4 processors, whilst being a little more expensive. Its Core i5 socket 1156 processors are delivering very fast performances matching the best AMD Phenom II X4 models.
If you can afford it the high-end Core i7 socket 1366 processor is unmatched, but there is a large price premium for effectively a small boost in speed. But there's a wide selection of good gaming processors on offer ranging from £50 all the way up to £500.
Our processor reviews will help you choose the right processor for your money.
Memory for gaming PCs
A good gaming PC will need a reasonable amount of memory. We've already covered that it's likely the processor and motherboard will be DDR3. The price of DDR3 has fallen enough that it's comparable to DDR2 and it does offer a speed advantage, especially on the Intel Core i3/5/7 platforms.
Ideally 4GB is a base level for a gaming PC and this will be made up from two sticks of 2GB DDR3 memory, so you gain the benefits of dual-channel memory. If you're lucky enough to afford a Core i7 system with triple-channel memory, you'll want three 2GB DDR3 sticks of memory to make up a total of 6GB.
The issue this raises is you'll need a 64-bit installation of Windows. Until now most installations were 32-bit and only allowed access to around 3.2GB of memory, any more installed would be ignored. A 64-bit installation can take full advantage of 4GB and more. If you're buying Windows 7 it comes with both a 32-bit and 64-bit install disc.
Check out our memory reviews for a selection of RAM for your PC.
Gaming PC monitors
To get a thrilling gaming experience a big-screen with a high-resolution is the order of the day. Old-style CRT displays aren't available any more and it's lovely flatscreen LCDs all the way.
Resolution should be your key concern: there's no point spending hundreds of pounds of an amazing graphics card, just to buy a monitor that can only display 1280x720 pixels.
At the high-end 27- to 30-inch monitors can hit 2560x1600 resolutions and this is the maximum currently available but these displays tend to top the £1,000 mark. More affordably there's a wide selection of 24-inch monitors that provide a good 1920x1080 resolution that can start as low as £140.
The step below this are the 20- and 22-inch models, however you tend to find they're not significantly cheaper and the drop in resolution and screen size doesn't really offset the savings.
Beside size and resolution response rate and contrast ratio are important for clarity of moving images and colour reproduction, but stated figures can be somewhat misleading and the subject is something of a gray area, so read our monitor reviews to get a better idea.
Our monitor reviews feature plenty of choice for your games machine.
Cases, cooling and power
With the need for housing large PCIe graphics cards your average gaming PC tends to be a little on the large side. The other consideration is that all those heat-producing, power-hungry graphics cards and processors good cooling is the order of the day.
So it's wise to take some time picking a large, attractive case that comes with plenty of ventilation and pre-installed with case fans. Besides this is a cooler for your processor, a higher-end model will generate less noise as it'll cool it more efficiently, so be less distracting.
A suitable power supply unit will also be on your shopping list. For gaming one that's at least 700 watts and comes with enough PCIe connectors to power your graphics cards, if you're planning on using more than one, it what you need to shop for. Some cases do come with these but they will tend to be cheaper units that you will simply have to replace.
To help you further, we've rounded up the best coolers and fans for gaming PCs.
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Microsoft: Blu-ray 'to be passed by as a format'
Microsoft has re-iterated its non-Blu-ray stance this week, explaining in an interview that the hi-def disc format favoured by Sony and its PS3 is 'being passed by'.Microsoft has always vehemently defended its decision to not add a costly Blu-ray drive to the Xbox 360 system.
While it did have a brief-but-doomed affair with HD DVD, it seems that the company is sounding the death knell on HD discs altogether and bigging up downloads as the future of how we consume our entertainment.
UK Xbox boss Stephen McGill, in an interview with Xbox Achievements, said about Blu-ray: "I think people may have spoken about [Xbox's lack of a Blu-ray drive] originally, but that's long gone.
"I think people now recognise what a smart decision it was to keep the pricing low, and actually Blu-ray is going to be passed by as a format.
"People have moved through from DVDs to digital downloads and digital streaming, so we offer full HD 1080p Blu-ray quality streaming instantly, no download, no delay. So, who needs Blu-ray?"
HD streaming
Considering the question put to McGill was about the Xbox 360 still packing an old-school DVD drive and how this is effecting the console in terms of lifespan, the Xbox boss managed to spin a rather cutting riposte about the state of the Blu-ray market.
It's clear that Microsoft is sticking to its guns and not going to add Blu-ray functionality to its consoles.
But Full HD 1080p quality streaming available to all in the UK is still something of a pipe dream, regardless of what McGill says – and won't be a reality until our broadband infrastructure is given a much needed kick-start.
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Get DirectX 11 graphics for less than £90
Get DirectX 11 graphics for less than £90 Mid-range wonders show that now's the time to upgradeIf you're a gamer, one of the key advantages of Windows 7 is DirectX 11, Microsoft's latest-gen graphics tech. It's the successor to DirectX 10, Microsoft's home grown API for software developers to interact with graphics hardware.
DirectX 11 is available to users on both Windows Vista and Windows 7 and is supported by the latest generations of graphics cards from both AMD and Nvidia available on Dabs.com. DirectX 11 boasts big advantages when it comes to the GPU pipeline and, what's more, the new technology won't break the bank and decent cards are available for less than £100 on the site.
The GTS 450 is the latest card from Nvidia's DX11 graphics stable. Coming hot on the heels of the superlative GTX 460 this new card has got a lot to live up to, while there's also competition from AMD's HD 5770 too.
Great prices on DirectX 11 graphics
With the release of this latest GF106-based card, the GTS 450, Nvidia is tackling the mid-range with its lowest-priced Fermi card yet. Nvidia has pedigree in this area - the likes of the 6600GT and especially the phenomenal 8800GT have been close to the heart of many a PC gamer.
And, what's more the GTS 450 is available from less than £90 from Dabs.com. And when you drop a couple of these cards into an SLI setup you're talking about a system which will happily dish out a good thrashing to Nvidia's own GTX 480 and AMD's top card, the dual-GPU HD 5970 too.
But Nvidia won't have everything its own way – AMD has had the sub-£150 graphics card market sewn up for a good while. This area sees some of the biggest sales of graphics cards and the HD 5770 is a particular favourite here. But Nvdia's GTS 450 is certainly a serious competitor.
The AMD Radeon 5770 cards have received mixed reviews but it certainly packs in a huge performance at a great price point – check out the full range of these cards at Dabs.com starting at £94.98!
XFX has just released the single-slot card variant of the Radeon 5700 - Dabs.com has a special offer on two of the cards, so you can combine them for dual graphics card gaming power using CrossFire X.
Dabs.com has also teamed up with the EA Store this week to give away £2,000 worth of Game Downloads. All you need to do to qualify is spend over £200 on Motherboards, Processors, Graphics Cards, Hard Drives and Memory on dabs.com and you can claim.
You can also get a free copy of Mafia II with any Nvidia GTX 465 or above, while you can also get a copy of Just Cause II or a free trial of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty with any qualifying Nvidia card, too.
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Guild Wars 2 to tap into iPad's potential
The maker of MMO Guild Wars 2 has revealed that users with iPads and iPhones will be able to use their devices to track their friends, as well as perform basic functions. Although the Guild Wars 2 'extended experience' functionality is far from offering a full MMO experience, ArenaNet's concept is to allow people to keep an eye on what their friends are up to – sort of a Google Latitude or Facebook Places for fantasy lands.
The technology was showcased at PAX and shows a top-down map which contacts the Guild Wars 2 server and allows you to keep an eye out on friends and enemies.
Downloadable
The feature is to be offered through a downloadable iPad/iPhone app.
Blizzard's MMO giant already allows out-of-game functionality through its armoury and auction house app, but this takes that concept a stage on.
The prospect of a game that fully scales to whatever environment you are in (and connection you have) is obviously an exciting one, although the reality is not quite in place yet.
But it will be interesting to see if other MMOs follow Guild Wars 2's suit.
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In Depth: Are Google's partners ruining Android?
Break out your tinfoil hats and stock up on tinned food, because we've uncovered a conspiracy that makes a Dan Brown novel look like a big load of badly written crap. It's global in scale, affects millions of people and involves some of the world's most famous firms.
We're talking, of course, about the conspiracy to bring down Google's Android OS.
Google's enemies aren't the people or organisations that you might expect. They're not the Apples and Microsofts of the world or their supporters, and they're not anti-competition regulators.
They're Google's partners, the very firms who make, market, sell and support Android devices. Between them, they're doing their very best to ruin Google's mobile OS.
When Google announced its Nexus One phone, it threw away the rulebook. Instead of selling phones with contracts attached, it would sell them directly to us.
Instead of letting manufacturers decide what features to include, Google would control the experience.
Instead of letting networks stuff the phones with proprietary software, Google would keep it clean.
Unfortunately it seems that the manufacturers and networks promptly found the rulebook and beat Google around the head with it, because the Nexus One is no more and Google's partners are doing their very best to do what they've always done - that is, make mobile phones as confusing and as closed as possible.
Let's take the manufacturers first. Some, like Dell, happily ship brand new devices with ancient versions of Android; others believe that what the world really needs is yet another proprietary Android interface, so we've got Motorola's Blur, HTC's Sense, Samsung's TouchWiz and others.
The selection of interfaces has become so confusing that Google has already said that with Android 3, aka Gingerbread, it will kill off third-party interface skins.
DATED: Dell's Streak - a brand new gadget with a not remotely brand new version of Android
But that's nothing compared to what the networks are up to. Around the world they're holding on to system updates, stuffing smartphones with unwanted apps and even replacing key services.
To take just a few recent examples, many UK users are still waiting on the Froyo (Android 2.2) update that Google released way back in May; O2 tried an update earlier this month but recalled it after it froze some customers' phones.
Networks add software that's difficult or impossible to remove, and they're messing with the Android Market, too: US operator Verizon is preparing its own Apple-style App Store, which you can be sure will be more prominent than the Android one.
ANDROID 2.2: Froyo, has been out for months - but many UK users are still waiting for it
Verizon is attracting particular criticism: in addition to the issues mentioned above it's done the unthinkable and dropped what many people might see as core Android services. If you buy Samsung's Fascinate, the Verizon version of its Galaxy S, Google search is replaced by Bing search and the navigation app is the proprietary, $10 per month VZ Navigator. According to The Droid Guy, the same policy will apply to future Android devices on the network.
Verizon has also signed an exclusive deal with Skype: if you want to run it on an Android phone in the US, you need to be with Verizon.
The result is something like James Kendrick describes: "The hardware partners are putting their own spin on the interface to make the phones stand out. Then you have carriers also involved who are quick to change the features on a given phone to fit their own purpose."
He also describes the problem of updates that are delayed by carriers or blocked altogether. Is he writing about Android? Nope. Windows Mobile.
Things got so confusing that Microsoft has effectively had to bin Windows Mobile and start again with a new platform and a new name, Windows Phone.
ALL NEW: Windows Mobile became so fragmented and confusing that Microsoft has started again with Windows Phone
Android has been one of the main beneficiaries of Microsoft's mobile mis-steps, but it doesn't appear to have learnt any lessons from it; while it's been gaining market share at Microsoft's expense it seems to be making the very same mistakes that got Microsoft into such a mess in the first place.
The problem that faced Windows Mobile, and the problem that is starting to face Android today, is fragmentation: the more different interfaces and version numbers and restrictions there are, the more confused consumers become.
When you buy a phone expecting to run Skype but find it blocked, or to get over the air updates but your network won't provide it, it may permanently dent your faith in the platform.
Will Android suffer the same fate as Windows Mobile? Perhaps not - the decision to kill off third party interfaces in Android 3.0 is a good sign - and definitely not in the short term, because (with the exception of Apple) Android's rivals are so far behind in the smartphone space that Google would have to do something truly awful to stop Android eating their lunch.
But sooner or later they'll get their act together, and when they do Google may come to regret losing control over its mobile OS.
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Microsoft Wireless Desktop 800 package unveiled
Microsoft has announced the new Wireless Desktop 800, a £30 mouse and keyboard package. The Wireless Desktop 800 package uses 2.4GHz wireless technology and offers a range of 'up to 15 feet'.
The setup also boasts Microsoft Optical Technology in the mouse, offering 1,000dpi and a snap in transceiver that 'stows conveniently in the mouse'.
Keyboard
The keyboard has easy-access hot-key shortcuts to calculator and the usual media controls (volume, mute, play/pause).
The battery life is given by Microsoft as 'up to 15 months for the keyboard and eight months for the mouse'.
The Wireless Desktop 800 is now available in the UK with a price of £29.99.
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HTC Mozart and Trophy Windows Phone 7 handsets detailed
HTC Mozart, an as-yet-unannounced phone from HTC, has been caught on video with confirmation that it is running Windows Phone 7 as its OS.Set to be a streamlined version of the HTC Desire HD (hardware-wise), the HTC Mozart comes with a 1GHz Qualcomm processor, with 512MB ROM and 8GB storage. The screen is set to be a 3.7-inch WVGA Super LCD display and there is a 8MP camera on board.
Other than that there is little information to go by, except that the HTC Mozart uses a Xenon flash and supports audio DSP with SRS and Dolby Mobile.
The folks who got hold of the video were WMPoweruser and while the video is not the most gripping we have seen, it does show off just how swift Windows Phone 7 looks on the handset.
HTC 7 Trophy
In a day of leaks from the HTC camp, another Windows Phone 7 handset has been spotted in the wild – the HTC 7 Trophy.
This phone, which was picked up by PocketNow, looks like it is running the HTC Sense Hub and is set to have 8GB of internal storage.
It's unclear whether 7 Trophy is the codename or the actual name of an upcoming Windows Phone 7 device by HTC.
What is known, though, is that HTC is fully committed to bringing devices with Windows Phone 7 to the market – and they are looking every bit the rival to Android.
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Review: TVonics DTR-HD500
Aside from the curved and tilted design that recalls some of Samsung's Blu-ray players, this Freeview+HD recorder from British company TVonics has a unique feature in that it also works as a hi-def hub. On its rear you'll find not only a HDMI output to send hi-def pictures to your TV, but also a brace of HDMI inputs. They're labeled for 'games console' and 'DVD player', though anything that uses a HDMI cable can be switched, typically a Blu-ray player.
Other connections include two USB inputs – one on the side and one on the rear – both of which can accept memory sticks or external hard drives stuffed with digital media.
If that's useful, so too is its 500GB hard disk that's able record around 70 hours of HD programmes, or around 255 hours of regular standard definition fare. It's not quite up to the standards of the latest Sky+HD box, but it's as big as they get in the Freeview HD market.
Recording functionality is relatively advanced, with its dual DVB-T2 tuners allowing you to record two channels at once. Recordings can be set from an eight-day electronic programme guide, while all the latest Freeview+HD specs are on board.
There's also a media player that shows only JPEG photos from a USB stick, and an Ethernet LAN port that's largely redundant – there's no media streaming here. And nor is there a Common Interface slot, so Top-Up TV is off the menu.
Despite its natty design and nifty extras, the DTR-HD500's strongpoint is picture quality.
Freeview HD channels are clear and easily befit a bigscreen TV. Recordings are identical to the broadcasts, with the same strong points of colour, contrast and detail holding-up.
Standard definition channels are a notch behind, but that's not the DTR-HD500's fault; it does its best to upscale, and it's best is pretty good – in fact it's as good as upscaler as we've seen in the Freeview HD market.
Ease of use
The box scans in channels quickly and orders them both in an EPG and a pop-up channel list – the only drawback being its lime green, yellow and black design that won't be easy for some to stomach. The EPG contains listings for nine channels across 90 minutes, with Fastext buttons used to scan downwards and forward eight days. It's an interface that covers all the bases, but is a touch too slow for our tastes.
Recordings are a two-touch affair; the red button to select, and either OK to confirm, or the blue Fastext button to set a series link.
Although the DTR-HD500 is fitted with 'recommendations', during our test we didn't see any evidence of suggested programmes – although if the programme you've selected to record is also being shown in HD that week, the DTR-HD500 tells you so.
Live TV can be paused and rewound, with functionality identical to the DTR-HD500's treatment of recordings; there are two scan speeds, one of which is of indeterminate speed – but incredibly fast.
Recordings, which can only be performed in high quality, are stored as a list, though accessed only via a tiny 'Lib' button that you'll do well to locate.
The remote's Fastext buttons then come into play, controlling options such as sorting (by length, newest, A-Z), editing (this is slightly misleading – it's only possible to lock or block programmes to preventing them being watched or deleted), and setting a numbered playlist. The latter feature could be useful if you want to playback several episodes of Pingu, for example, before abandoning the room to children.
Switching other HDMI kit proves a success, with the remote able to switch-off most major brands of TV – so there's no worry that the DTR-HD500 will bring yet another remote into your living room.
Slideshows via USB are clear and idiot-proof, though its USB limitations are surprising for a box this price – what no DivX?
What the DTR-HD500 doesn't have, either, is a Dolby Digital option. An upgrade will be made available, TVonics assures us, in October [www.tvonics.com/dolby], which seems par for the course for most Freeview+HD boxes.
The DTR-HD500 is one of the most expensive Freeview HD recorders around, and though it does include a few nifty features, it does seem a tad overpriced.
We liked:
The interface is easy to navigate and the 500GB hard disk, while not exactly huge, is about as big as it gets in the Freeview+HD recorder market. Its unusual sleek design works well and switching is equally unique, though it's the DTR-HD500's picture quality that really endears it to us.
We disliked:
The remote is a mixed bag, and the same goes for its interface – even if you like lime green, the box's menus and general operability are merely adequate. As for those USB slots, we're not sure why TVonics bothered, while the lack of a Common Interface slot could put some off.
Verdict:
The DTR-HD500 is all about easy recording, an unusual look, and its HDMI switching skills. Its interface is slightly too slow and largely identical to its rivals' efforts, and though there's a lot to like about TVonics' debut Freeview+HD recorder, it's a few features short of greatness.
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Report: Nintendo 3DS hardware specs detailed
Nintendo's 3DS should be arriving on UK shores some as-yet-unannounced time around spring 2011, with new reports emerging detailing the glasses-free 3D handheld's tech specs this week.IGN has published what it claims to be the tech specs for Nintendo's new 3DS console, although there is still no official word from Nintendo, with the company refusing to comment on rumour or speculation.
ARM 11 CPUs
For now, IGN alleges that the Nintendo 3DS has two 266MHz ARM11 CPUs, with a 133MHz GPU, 4MBs of dedicated VRAM, 64MBs of RAM, and 1.5GBs of flash storage.
The ARM 11 range of mobile processors are perhaps best known by consumers due to their use in Apple's iPhones and the latest Android smartphones.
An ARM11 processor also powers the the Zune HD. On which note, you may recall that Microsoft has recently announced the roll-out of Zune for the UK later this year.
1.5 GB flash memory
The 3DS' GPU has already been confirmed to be DMP's PICA200, with a maximum processing speed of around 200MHz.
The handheld is also said to feature 1.5GB of flash memory, which can also be expanded using the 3DS' SD card slot.
We've contacted Nintendo for comment and further information on this story. Stay tuned for updates.
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Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex is world's first 1.5TB portable drive
Seagate has announced the arrival of the FreeAgent GoFlex, the first portable external hard drive on the market which comes packing 1.5TB of storage.The drive is a mere 2.5 inches and has enough capacity to store 60 HD movies, 750 video games, countless photos or one Godspeed You! Black Emperor track.
To ensure that you can transfer files over in the fastest way possible, the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex comes with USB 3.0 connectivity and will play fair with both Windows-based PCs and Macs.
It also allows you to use the hard drive on both a Mac and PC without the need to reformat the drive.
While this type of interracial computer shenanigans may shock some of you, it's great that the GoFlex is equipped with a NTFS driver to do this.
Setting milestones
"Bringing this solution to market on the heels of our 3TB GoFlex Desk drive and the Momentus XT solid state hybrid drive is proof of Seagate's continuing technology leadership and tradition of setting storage industry milestones," explained Darcy Clarkson, vice president of Global Retail Sales and Marketing for Seagate, who has the uncanny ability to namedrop other products in quotes.
The FreeAgent GoFlex 1.5TB external hard drive is available now (and also comes in the less capacious sizes of 320GB, 500GB, 750GB, and 1GB) and will cost $249.99 (UK price is to be announced).
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In Depth: 10 better Apple TV alternatives for the UK
Apple's latest go-to strategy for Apple TV, its self-confessed hobby, has been to drop the size, drop the hard disk and drop the price to just £99, plus £3.49 a pop for high def (720p) movie streaming and £1.19 per SD episode for some TV programmes.Sounds great in theory, but the new Apple TV is just about as much as what you can't do as what you can - you'll look in vain for TV tuner, BBC iPlayer or LoveFilm functionality.
Even the iTunes movies you own now have to be streamed from your Mac or PC rather than stored locally.
Oh and, of course, you can't now - and have never been able to - just stick in a DVD or Blu-ray movie and watch your favourite movies and TV shows that way instead. There has to be a better way. And these 10 alternatives suggest there is.
1. Apple Mac mini
For Apple fans this is a no-brainer. For £649 you get a fully-fledged computer that's slim enough to slip under your TV and it even comes with a built-in DVD drive, 320GB of storage and an HDMI port for hooking up to your TV.
You can still download - and keep - movies and TV shows you've bought on iTunes (handy if you broadband connection is too slow to handle video content streams). And you use it to store other video content you've (ahem) acquired along the way.
Add a digital terrestrial TV or digital satellite tuner like the Elgato EyeTV DTT Deluxe (£79.95) or Elgato EyeTV Sat (£179.95) and you'll even gain PVR functionality, enabling you to record standard def and high def Freeview content without having to pay again and again for the privilege.
2. LoveFilm
With over 67,000 of movies and games to chose from, LoveFilm is a great choice for UK users. Sign up for a monthly subscription and your choice of DVD or Blu-rays will be delivered direct to your door.
LoveFilm also has a growing range of titles that can be streamed to your computer - either completely free or on a Pay Per View (PPV) basis. The company has even done deals with Sony and Samsung so you can watch movies on their TVs or other internet-connected devices.
3. Sony PlayStation 3
Comparing Apple's Apple TV to the Sony PlayStation 3 is a like pitting a G-Wiz against a juggernaut. The PS3 not only gives you the opportunity to play state-of-the-art games, but also includes a Blu-ray player, BBC iPlayer functionality and a 120GB hard disk for storing your video content.
There are hundreds of movies available to rent or buy from the PlayStation Video store, including a choice of high def or standard def downloads.
And, of course, you can also play games against friends and strangers using PlayStation Network, with a whole world online content available to enjoy using the PS3's built-in web browser.
UPDATE: You can also buy a PlayTV box for your PS3 which turns it into a Freeview PVR.
4. Microsoft Xbox Live
Stream, download, watch, play. Microsoft's Xbox Live brings a whole world of entertainment possibilities to your TV, from Sky Player to HD streaming movies, downloadable games and much, much more.
The price of entry is a little steeper than the Apple TV: £199.99 for the console plus £4.99 a month for an Xbox Live Gold account - but, boy, is it worth it.
5. Sky + / Sky + HD
The elephant in the room. It's no wonder Steve Jobs moans that Apple TV can't get a foothold in the TV market, when it's up again behemoths like this. For just £19.99 a month (plus £30 setup charge) you'll get Sky's basic TV package, a free Sky+ box, free broadband internet and monthly line rental.
Pay an extra £10 a month (the same price as just three Apple TV HD streams) and you'll be able to take your pick from dozens of Sky HD channels, plus a free Sky+HD box to record them all on. You'l also get access to Sky Player - Sky's live TV streaming and On Demand service.
You can watch some content completely free on your Mac or PC. Access to other content depends on what level of Sky TV subscription you have - you'll need a Sky Movies subscription to get watch movie content, for example.
6. BBC iPlayer / ITV Player / 4OD / Demand Five
OK, you can't watch
7. (cough) BitTorrent
OK, so most of the content is pirated and you could end being told off by your ISP or sued for your life's savings. But it's out there and it's widely and freely available. You can always blame your kids when the cops batter down your door - although pleading ignorance is not a defence that will stand up in a court of law.
8. SeeSaw
This 100% legal site has hours of free UK TV to choose from, with content sourced from the BBC, 4OD, Five, MTV and Universal. Some content is available on a per episode basis, with 'Premium' content starting at just 99p.
Like most other streaming TV services, you'll need Adobe Flash Player to make it work, which throws up a whole new cans of worms for iPod touch, iPhone and iPod users who want to get access to content.
9. Virgin Media
Although it's not available everywhere, Virgin Media digital cable TV service offers a great range of content from just £6.50 per month for standard def content or from £11.50 a month for high def content.
HD subscribers will also need to pay a one-off fee of £49 for the Virgin V+ HD box plus a monthly fee of £5 for the company's TV M+ and TV L packages, although the free if waived for TV XL subscribers.
All kinds of bolt-ons are available including TV Choice On Demand (£7 per month) and Music And Movies On Demand (£5 per month) as well as Catch-Up TV content. You can also add broadband and phone bundles so you only get one bill.
10. BT Vision
Like Apple TV, BT Vision delivers video content to your home using a broadband internet connection, which could be a problem if you live in an area with no or low speed coverage.
The rest of us can take advantage of the fact that you can choose from hundreds of TV programmes for just £14.99 per month (£7.50 for the first three months) as well as bolt-on bundles like Sky Sports 1 and 2. Pay Per View movies cost £1.99 a pop, with individual TV shows pegged at 79p.
To get BT Vision you'll also need to be a BT Total Broadband and BT phone line subscriber. TV, broadband and call packages start at just £17.99 a month, plus £9.49 line rental on a 24-month contract. You'll also need to a pay a one-off £60 fee for the Vision+ set-top box.
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Review: Asus VG236
This is the future right now and it's not even 1983. There's no red/green outlines here, no the Asus VG236 23-inch LCD monitor represents 3D in all it's active-shutter glasses, Nvidia 3D Vision trim. Okay, 'future' might be pushing it a bit considering Nvidia has had stereoscopic drivers for years, and the test app is still the same spinning eye logo that's been in the driver set since the beginning.
But still, you may have noted a certain effusive tone in my opening gambit that was entirely lacking from our previous looks at the world of 3D. And that's because we are finally seeing things coming together in a more coherent way, more so in fact than the supposedly burgeoning 3D cinematic experience.
Partly that's down to smart, well-made displays such as the VG236 coming on the scene for a more reasonable price, but mostly because the drivers, and the way the hardware and software work together, is maturing.
Discounting the 3D gubbins for a second, the VG236 is a great little monitor. It's sharp, clear, offers fantastic definition on colours and boasts an impressive viewing angle. Especially for a TN panel.
The best part about it though is intrinsically linked to its 3D raison d'etre, namely that 120Hz refresh rate. But it's the 3D performance that really counts.
Now that the driver sets and the games are maturing to an extent that 3D now does make a difference to the experience, a bundle like this is starting to be worth a look. Bizarrely the most impressive 3D game I've played has been the RTS RUSE.
Its table-top battles are given a huge amount of depth thanks to the 3D effects, and despite the odd lost mouse pointer in 3D it was hugely disappointing going back to the traditional flat display. It really adds another level of immersion onto the game itself, and with other impressive titles such as Bad Company 2 and the awesome-looking Formula 1 from Codemasters, it's making a case for itself.
3D included
Now at nigh-on £400 for a 23-inch monitor it does still seem rather pricey to upgrade to a 3D monitor right now, but the saving grace here is that you're getting the full 3D vision kit in the box. That's still got a retail price of over a ton on its own, making the VG236 start to sound more appealing a proposition.
Before you do rush out and drop the cash on a 3D monitor though, things still ain't perfect. There's still that initial discomfort when you first start using the glasses. You can recreate it for yourself by grabbing the nearest person with worse eyesight than you and borrowing their glasses for a minute. Uncomfortable, right? That stops after a fairly short while and it starts to feel natural.
Unfortunately that bell-curve of discomfort is still there as the strain does return after a few hours of gaming. And the level of disorientation going back into the real 3D world can be jarring…
But even without 3D Vision the VG236 stands up as a quality monitor. It's a little chunky compared to some more stylish displays, but when the display's this good you won't be looking around the panel.
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Review: Novatech Mini Ion
Maybe it's because we're massive geeks, but whenever we get our hands on a video streaming/telly box we're always wanting it to act a bit more like a proper media centre. Plucking those ephemeral TV waves out of the ether and streaming all our content from our desktop PC is all well and good, but sometimes you just want to quickly pop up a browser or switch over to Sky Player or 4OD. And that's where Novatech's Mini ION netbox is looking to make its mark.
It's one hell of a streamlined wee box and no mistake. It stands a mere 25mm tall and manages to pack in a fair amount of power into such a small chassis.
Essentially it is just a dual-core netbook minus a screen but that's not necessarily a bad thing, especially when you can stick a full version of Windows 7 on there without the netbook Starter Edition restrictions.
This £339 version includes the full OS, but you can also opt to pick up a box without the Microsoft loving for almost £100 less if you've still got an XP licence hanging around or want to take that step into the wonderful open source world of Linux.
There are a host of distributions specifically designed for the media centre work this box is likely to spend its life carrying out, and all for free. It depends though how much you are willing to get your hands dirty configuring all the necessary drivers and coping with the foibles of the free OS, and how much the ease of having a pre-installed, and familiar, Windows 7 means to you. Is it actually worth that £90?
Still, the flexibility such a choice affords you means that there is much you can do with this li'l machine. Plug him into your NAS drive and you've got a simple media streamer with net-ready capabilities. And if all you're after is the internet tubes without heavy reliance on video streaming then there's a Wi-Fi connection there with your name on it.If that's how you label your home network anyways…
Stick to 720p
That said the ageing Atom 330 at the heart of the Mini ION ain't too powerful. Dual-core and quad-threaded it is, but even propped up with Nvidia's ION graphics platform playing full 1080p video is a bit of a chuggy affair.
That, and the fact that you're going to have to have a keyboard and mouse plugged into the box, plays into the hands of those video streaming media boxes, like the AC Ryan PlayOn! DVR 1TB we've already looked at.
Unless you're willing to fork out a fortune on a decent remote keyboard/mouse setup then the traditional remote still has it.
So in the end it all comes down to what you're actually going to be using it for. The Mini ION is a decent little machine and will happily sit as a media centre if you're averse to the whole 1080p malarkey. A dedicated player though may be more worthy of your attention.
It still can't be missed that despite the ageing tech, being able to pack a full PC into a box this small is to be applauded and at £250 without an OS its ideal as a secondary, bedroom machine.
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Zuckerberg outlines the future of Facebook gaming
Facebook has outlined its plans to improve the quality and experience of gaming on the social network at a dedicated gaming event in Palo Alto this week.The event was led by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, with numerous game developers in attendance.
Zuckerberg outlined how, every day, around 300 million people come to Facebook.com and that while hundreds of millions of users love playing games on Facebook, there are equally hundreds of millions of users that HATE playing games, and (more likely) hate spam from friends who are playing games on Facebook.
Site Integrity team
Facebook has a team called the Site Integrity/Graph Integrity team, who are tasked with ensuring that the experience users have on the site is a positive one.
Zuckerberg claims that 'friend spam' – friend requests that aren't accepted – is down 40 per cent over the last two month, largely down to improving gaming on the network and eliminating those negative experiences some users were having connected to Facebook games.
"When we turn the weight of game stories in News Feed up— we get complaints," said the Facebook CEO. "Turn it down, get complaints. We want to build and enable anything that hundreds of millions of people want to use.
"The solutions are pretty simple: if someone is playing a game, and they want context about that game… then don't limit stories about that game. On the other hand, if you've never played a certain game, then you probably don't want to see context from a lot of friends who are playing that game."
New Facebook games team
Facebook now has a dedicated gaming team, headed up by Jared Morgenstern, who outlines how the top ten games on the network all have over 12 million active users each
Morgenstern notes on the Facebook blog this week how the company has "assembled a team of dedicated engineers and product managers who are focused exclusively on designing the platform you need to maximize the potential of your games."
He adds: "And we are game lovers, every last one of us. It is clear that games have been one of the most successful categories of Platform applications, but we've struggled in the past with how to optimize the games experience on Facebook."
As such Facebook has announced a series of changes which are "designed to lay the foundation for further games innovation on Facebook… the first step toward a new platform infrastructure and APIs that will provide you with the tools to reach and engage the growing number of people who play games, and drive discovery among their friends.
"With these changes, we're also simplifying our platform policies dramatically. We realise that detailed policies that spell out exactly what you can do and can't do are hard for developers and simply add friction to the process of building on Facebook.
"With the changes we are making today, we are in a better position to eliminate many specific policies in favor of broader principles to ensure that applications respect user trust."
See lots more on Facebook's new games experience here.
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Google releases latest censorship tracking tools
Google has released a new Transparency Report outlining censorship levels around the world.The report details how the US government asked Google for user information 4,287 times in the first six months of this year, while the UK government issued 1,000 similar requests to the search giant over the same period.
Removal requests mapped
Google's new maps and tools allow users to check on an individual country to see how many of these removal requests were either completely or partly complied with by the company.
Google has also included a traffic graph which shows its services around the world, along with details on traffic outages caused by individual governments blocking access.
Google's public policy head Scott Rubin said of the initiative: "Last year after the Iranian elections access to the internet was cut off and we saw a sudden drop in traffic to YouTube."
Civil liberty and censorship
Civil liberty groups have applauded the move, although want Google to go even further and provide more detailed data on the nature of government take-down request.
"I think it is a tremendous initiative and it would be helpful if other networks could do the same thing," said law professor and Open Rights Group representative Lilian Edwards.
"I think there will be some embarrassing data and it will vary from country to country. The UK is neither the best or the worst," she said.
"It would be interesting to see whether these take-downs refer to libel, surveillance and intercepts or the content industries. The more data we have the more useful it will be.
"It would, for example, be interesting to compare Google's data with published UK surveillance requests."
China absent from report
David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer notes on the Google blog: "When Google's services are blocked or filtered, we can't serve our users effectively. That's why we act every day to maximize free expression and access to information.
"Free expression is one of our core values. We believe that more information means more choice, more freedom and ultimately more power for the individual."
Interestingly, data on information requests from China is not contained in the current Transparency Report.
"Chinese officials consider censorship demands to be state secrets so we cannot disclose that information at this time," explained Google.
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Rumour: RIM tablet device next week
BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion (RIM) may launch a tablet device at a developer's conference next week, according to latest reports from the US.RIM recently registered the blackpad.com domain name, fuelling speculation that the company was readying a tablet computer to compete against the likes of Apple's iPad and a slew of new tablet PCs running Google's Android OS.
7-inch touchscreen BlackPad?
The Wall Street cited unnamed sources claiming to be familiar with RIM's plans to release a tablet who said the device will have a 7-inch touchscreen, one or two cameras, plus Bluetooth and broadband connections.
RIM's tablet will only be able to connect to cellular networks via a BlackBerry smartphone, the sources added.
The device will run on a new operating system built by QNX Software Systems, a company RIM acquired earlier in 2010.
QNX's open platform OS is currently used in a number of businesses including the car industry, and the medical, defense, telecoms and aerospace industries.
RIM's new tablet is said to be manufactured by Taiwanese outfit, Quanta Computers, using semiconductors from California-based Marvell Technology Group Inc, according to the Wall Street Journal's sources.
No official comment from RIM has so far been forthcoming.
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In depth: Hands on: VLC Media Player on iPad review
VLC Media Player is popular among Windows, Mac OSX and Linux users because it allows you to play back virtually any media file without the need to install additional codecs.It's free and open source, and has developed over the years into a very polished piece of software.
The one place we didn't expect VLC to pop up was on any of Apple's iOS devices - Apple has traditionally preferred to keep the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad somewhat locked down with regards to the media formats it can play.
Consequently it's been hard to get DivX, MKV and FLAC files, to name but a few, to play without first converting them.
And yet here it is - VLC Media Player on the iPad.
We downloaded for free direct from the App store using our iPad's W-Fi connection, although as per the norm you can also do it via 3G or using iTunes if you so wish. It's a speedy download which weighs in at 10MB.
To use VLC to play your files, you need to go to iTunes, click the Apps tab, and then in the 'File sharing' section, select VLC and then 'Add'. You can then browse the files on your computer to choose which ones you want to stick on the iPad.
See full-res imageYou can choose any file format you like, although as we found out, that doesn't mean for a second that they're all guaranteed to play, oh no (if you're an MKV junkie, look away now).
Once you've uploaded your files, it's a matter of opening the VLC app on the iPad, and all your files will be waiting for you, neatly lined up on a bookshelf not too dissimilar to the one in Apple's iBooks app.
We'll start with the good news. DivX/Xvid files work flawlessly. We tried a variety of different files using these formats and they all worked first time. Skipping through the vidoes is quick and easy, and video quality is bang-on too. There are no video artefacts that aren't present when viewing on a PC, and sound quality is fine too.
However, it's not all pink and rosey. Naturally, we also tried a variety of Matroska MKV files - the de facto HD file format of choice among internet dwellers.
They showed up in the app well enough - they were even recognised and labelled as HD files - but when attempting to play them we were given the message: "Warning - your iPad is probably too slow to play this movie correctly."
See full-res imageYou can choose to try to play it anyway, but all the MKV files we tried (at never a higher res than 1280x720) were unwatchable. The audio played mostly ok, but the picture was a mess. So alas, there was to be no playing of The Big Lebowski in 720p - The Dude does not abide.
If you pause the video and skip through using the progress bar you can see all the individual frames, so compatibility doesn't seem to be an issue. It seems like the iPad genuinely isn't quick enough to decode the files. Or maybe the app isn't quite efficient enough at harnessing the iPad's A4 processor? We'll probably find that out the answer to that soon enough.
There's bad news in other areas too. We tried to use VLC on iPad to play .MPG, .MOV and .WMV files too - they transferred across easy enough, but they didn't even show up in the app.
Can it play FLAC files?
We were also excited to see if the VLC iPad app would be able to play other media formats like lossless FLAC files. Unlike the desktop version, it can't, we're afraid. Again, our test files didn't even show up in the app, despite transferring over without a hitch.
We tested with a 320kbps MP3 file too - that didn't show up either. So it seems pretty clear that the VLC team has had to make some fairly hefty compromises in order to get this app through the approval process. A universal media player this is not - even MP3 and MOV files which the iPad natively supports, do not work in VLC.
Still though, the fact that it was approved at all is a good sign. And this is surely the best method yet of getting DivX files playing on the iPad - no more time consuming transcoding. It's just a big shame that MKV playback is so awful - we're sure the A4 chip should be capable of decoding those files.
VLC on iPhone
And if you're an iPhone or iPod touch owner looking on with envious eyes, worry not - word is there's an iPhone version of the app on the way, so stay tuned for that one.
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Update: Twitter 'onmouseover' security flaw hits site
UPDATE: Twitter has announced it has fixed the security flaw, explaining on its Twitter Status blog: "The exploit is fully patched."Twitter is blaming the hack on an XSS (cross-site scripting) attack.
ORIGINAL STORY
A security flaw has appeared on micro-blogging site Twitter, which allows third-party sites to open up in your browser when you simply hover your mouse pointer over a link.
The hack has targeted thousands of profiles and even redirected readers of Sarah Brown's Twitter feed to a Japanese porn site.
Mouse in the house
Security firm Sophos has outlined the potential problems with the flaw, which uses a piece of Javascript code – called onMouseOver – that allows you to be redirected to another site without even clicking on a link.
Although Sophos believes that the flaw is "innocuous" at the moment, it is recommending all users to use a third-party client to access Twitter and not go directly to the main site until the Javascript code has been blocked.
If you are using the site, then it is recommended you don't click any link with the 'onmouseover' command, or ones which contain blocks of colour (rainbow tweets) as these can hide their true content.
Go to www.sophos.com/blogs for more details.
If you are stuck on which third-party app to use, don't worry as TechRadar has compiled two lists: six of the best Twitter web apps and the 12 best Twitter apps to help you make a decision.
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Samsung Galaxy Tab UK price dips below £600
The Samsung Galaxy Tab has seemingly got a price reduction before it is even released in the UK, with e-tailer Amazon offering the iPad rival at a cheaper price than its initial listing.The Samsung Galaxy Tab originally turned up on Amazon with a list price of £799.99 SIM-free.
This brought a lot of criticism, mainly because the price was up there with the highest price of the Apple iPad (£699 with Wi-Fi and 3G), yet it comes with a smaller screen – at seven inches.
Amazon then reduced the price to £679.99 this week, only for the price to be slashed yet again.
Keeping Tabs
Amazon has now revised its pricing and has put the Tab at a much more reasonable £599.99.
This is for an unlocked version of the slate device, so when the subsidiaries kick in, expect to pay a lot less.
According to Amazon, Samsung's own recommended pricing is a massive £799.99, so either you are getting a massive bargain by shopping online or the retail price is being inflated somewhat.
Either way you should be able to pick the device up – which packs Android 2.2 – 1 November, according to the listing's UK release date.
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Corsair announces new line of power supplies
Corsair has announced a new line of 600W, 700W and 800W PSUs to its gaming series range, the most powerful of the three priced at just under £80.The GS800, GS700 and GS600 expand the range of Corsair's Gaming Series PSU line, designed for gamers running multi-core, SLI machines that demand a lot of juice and low temps from a PSU.
"The Gaming Series PSUs feature a single +12V rail, providing up to 65A of reliable, continuous power for multi-core gaming PCs with single or multiple graphics cards," explains the Corsair release.
"The ultra-quiet, dual ball-bearing fan automatically adjusts its speed according to temperature, so it will never intrude on your music and games.
"Tri-color LEDs illuminate the transparent fan blades with blue, red, or white at your command; they can be turned off at the press of a button."
UK pricings look like this:
The headlining GS800 is priced at £77.23, with the GS700 at £70.80 and the GS600 £64.37
"The matte black finish and illuminated fans make the Gaming Series PSUs the ideal complement for your gaming rig," stated Ruben Mookerjee, VP and General Manager of Components at Corsair.
"Whether you choose the 600, 700, or 800 watt model, you'll have the clean, efficient power to create the best gaming PC — yours."
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Sky+ HD Anytime crash problem being investigated
Sky has insisted that it is working on a problem that has seen many customers' Sky+ HD boxes freeze when people tried to open the Anytime service.The problem is serious enough for Sky to stop adding programmes to Anytime while it is rectified.
"Over the last 48 hours, some Sky+ HD customers have experienced problems when using Sky Anytime," Sky told TechRadar.
"Because of a technical issue, some HD boxes would freeze or go into standby while accessing the Sky Anytime menu.
Working on the problem
"We're working to investigate the problem and we believe that we've now identified the root cause," the spokesperson continued
"This means that no further customers should experience the problem and there is no need to disable Sky Anytime on your Sky+ HD box.
"However, while our final checks are continuing, we're taking the precaution of not adding new programmes to Anytime for Sky+ HD customers.
"This is a purely temporary measure and we hope to be able to reinstate the full service as soon as possible. We're sorry for any inconvenience caused in the meantime.
"Please note that this issue relates to Sky+ HD boxes only and has not affected standard definition Sky+ boxes."
With Anytime+ on the horizon, as well as the launch of the Sky 3D channel, this is an exciting time to be a Sky+ HD customer, but it is not without the odd teething trouble.
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Whatever happened to mobile fuel cells?
Seven years ago we were on the verge of a mobile power revolution: hydrogen fuel cells were supposed to give us all-day computing and endless hours of energy for mobile gadgets from phones to cameras to MP3 players.And then, nothing happened... why?
Turn the clock back to 2003 and it's easy to see why hydrogen fuel cells seemed so appealing. They're already been used successfully to power hybrid cars (among other things) and the race was on to come up with a compact portable solution that would do the same for our mobile electronics.
The aim was to reduce or even eliminate the need for regular Lithium-Ion battery tech, which appeared to be fast reaching its limits.
The mobile power dream was no fly-by-night stuff, either. Intel invested money in Neah Power Systems, and tech giants like Toshiba, NEC and others tempted us with prototypes with the promise that the first products would appear 'next year'. Today that promise remains largely unfulfilled.
Hydrogen power
Hydrogen fuel cells are effectively mini engines that generate power using a chemical reaction. In Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC) oxygen drawn into the cell reacts with hydrogen - stored in liquid methanol, the same kind of alcohol used in car windscreen washer fluid - releasing energy with water and carbon dioxide as the only by-products.
The trick was to make the fuel cells small enough to fit inside a laptop, or other mobile gadget, and to find some way of easily replacing the spent fuel.
The effort was deemed to be worth it: even a state of the art laptop running full tilt would be able to last for up to 20 hours before the cell needed replenishing – a claim Toshiba made back in 2003.
Applications now
The intervening years since 2003 have held mixed fortunes for fuel cell technology. Early pioneers, like PolyFuel, have disappeared while prototypes such as 2008's NEC Flask fuel cell mobile phone never turned into tangible products.
The temptation to move into other more profitable markets have also proved tempting to some: Jadoo Power now principally makes fuel cells for military, humanitarian and industrial applications.
Obviously, the advent of more power-efficient processors and the development of lithium-polymer batteries haven't helped - just look at what Apple's done with its MacBook range. But it suddenly looks like the fuel cell's fortunes are changing.
Late last year Toshiba put its first truly portable hydrogen fuel cell – the Dynario – on sale in Japan, and now Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies is putting its first products on sale in the UK.
Its MiniPak kit (£67) comes with a fuel cell and two replaceable solid hydrogen HydroStik cartridges that can be used to deliver up to 2W of power to devices like mobile phones and portable games consoles.
Buyers can also pick up the HydroFill desktop refuelling station and solar PV (£POA) – a solar power charger that converts the the sun's rays into hydrogen. MTI Micro's Mobion fuel cell is also currently undergoing US government, US military and consumer testing.
The question now is whether the benefits of fuel cell technology still outweigh the problem of buying or refilling the hydrogen-filled cartridges which make them work.
Fuel cell technology also needs to be standardised so you don't get locked into a paying premium prices for a product because a cartridge from company A won't fit in a fuel cell from company B.
Until these issues are resolved, fuel cell technology adoption could take longer than the development of the tech in the first place.
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Leica M9 Titanium won't give you much change from £20k
Leica has unveiled a limited edition version of its M9 camera, which costs in the region of £20,000.Limited to just 500, the Leica M9 Titanium has been designed by Walter de'Silva whose day job it is to design cars.
Leica is calling the M9 Titanium "a unique camera with a new interpretation of the characteristic features of Leica rangefinder cameras, which lends precision engineering, unique style and solid titanium to extraordinary formal design."
We call it the perfect tool to give your bank manager a heart attack.
Do you Leica the price?
When the M9 was first announced back in September of last year it was being touted as the 'world's smallest full-frame sensor' camera in the world.
And its price wasn't exactly cheap then, with the M9 retailing for a whopping £4,850.
By recreating the whole thing in titanium and bathing the chassis in a saffron and truffle mix*, de'Silva and his team has a rather desirable and hugely expensive product.
The Leica M9 Titanium has a UK release date of November 2010 and will be available from authorised Leica dealers. It will cost £19,800 (VAT inclusive).
*this isn't strictly true, but it does have a trim made from leather usually found in high-end Audis.
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