TechRadar: All News Feeds

Fibre connections make telecommuting a reality

J Mark Lytle — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:57:00 GMT

Swapping a business suit for pyjamas is likely to become a lot more common as internet connection speeds improve and properly productive telecommuting takes off.

One of Japan's largest telecoms firms, NTT East, has invested in fibre-optic networking to such an extent that it is now able to offer its entire staff of 50,000 the option of working from home.

Thin clients

The company will give its workers thin-client laptops without hard drives to minimise the chance of data leaks (nothing can be stored on them) and conduct the majority of its business online.

That's possible because its 100Mbit/s fibre network to employees' homes is configured to act as a walled garden with gateways that prevent outside access.

Work the focus?

NTT hasn't released the technical details of how this differs from normal domestic FTTH connections, but it has verified its effectiveness in trials running since May this year.

Now, without the opportunity to meet up in pubs to bitch about colleagues' salaries and plan obsequious ways to further their own careers, one has to wonder if staff will finally get on with working for the greater good.

Hitachi sued over HD TV complaints

Mark Harris — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:40:00 GMT

"Green blobs, red blooms, green haze, blue dots and yellow lines." It might sound like an interesting afternoon spent consuming illegal substances but owners of Hitachi 50V500A televisons aren't smiling inanely - a lawsuit filed in Texas alleges that the High Def TV simply couldn't display colours properly.

Plaintiff Anthony Partida of Dallas says he and other owners experienced such wobbly colours when using the rear projection LCD television that it was useless for its intended purpose. According to the lawsuit, 'tens of thousands' of people could have been affected by the 'design defect'.

High Def hoo ha

"Hitachi has been more than willing to take people's money for these TV sets and they should be more than willing to fix them," says attorney Eric D. Pearson, representing Mr Partida. "In some cases, people paid $3,500 or more for these TVs. You can't take that kind of money and deliver a defective product."

Could this be the start of a flurry of lawsuits against electronics manufacturers? Should Microsoft be worried about its Xbox 360's blue ring of death? Or Apple about 3G hiccups with the new iPhone? Let the courts decide! We are confident that, as ever, justice will prevail.

CES 2009 keynote speakers announced

Mark Harris — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:57:00 GMT

Before IFA is even half finished, eyes are turning to next year's Consumer Electronics Show. It was announced today that the CES 2009 keynote speakers will be Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Sony chairman and CEO Sir Howard Stringer and Ford president and CEO Alan Mulally.

Ballmer will kicking off the biggest electronics' trade show in the world with a pre-CES address on Wednesday 7 January, followed by Stringer and Mulally on Thursday on the show's first day proper, all from the Venetian's gargantuan ballroom.

Speech speculation

It's far too soon to start predicting what their big stories will be, of course, but that's never stopped us before so here goes. We trust Ballmer will unveil a new beefed-up Microsoft console (possibly the 'Xbox 720', although we're holding out for the 'Xbox 361' or the 'Ybox'), along with a jaw-dropping Halo 4. Windows 7 will get a teaser and possibly more on Microsoft's move into retail, following its acquisition today of price comparion site Ciao.

Sony will keep pushing the OLED message with a concrete release date (probably mid 2009) and price for a usefully sized TV in the 20- to 24-inch size range. Expect more affordable Blu-ray players and at least one bonkers Bluetooth gadget.

Finally, Ford boss Mulally will be shouting loudly about the next generation of its in-car Sync system, integrating navigation, entertainment and communication, and if the word 'hybrid' isn't mentioned at least 20 times, we'll eat our famously indigestible CES breakfast. More CES news as it breaks.

Army Experience Center gives shoppers a virtual taste of military life

Mark Harris — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:23:00 GMT

Fancy a ride in a cutting-edge Apache or Black Hawk helicopter simulator? Or how about taking the wheel of a virtual Armoured Humvee?

Well, get yourself down to Franklin Mills Mall in Philadelphia, where you can try out the US Army's latest digital goodies at its new 14,500 square foot Army Experience Center (AEC), opening today.

The 'non pushy' recruitment base is hoping to dazzle shoppers with three military-grade simulators, running 'authentic battle scenarios' with plenty of gunfire and explosions.

Buy the numbers

A replica command-and-control centre allows potential recruits to pilot drones and missile systems in complex operations, using 20 workstations and 9 large-screen displays.

If that's not enough to get your signature on a tour of duty, there's a bank of 80 custom-made over-clocked Alienware PCs and Xbox 360s hosting Ghost Recon, Call of Duty 3 and America's Army: True Soldiers, the official game of US forces. There's no sign of a virtual water-boarding ride, however.

Special events at the Army Recruitment Centre include multi-player gaming tournaments and demonstrations of Army's robot and other high-tech equipment.

Military marketing

Naturally, there will be plenty of real-life soldiers on hand to explain more about how life in the US Army is basically one big video game with lots of exciting foreign travel.

The Army's chief marketing officer Edward Walters told AP that the AEC is "a marketing and sales experiment" that could be rolled out nationwide. He's hoping that its interactive career centre will encourage recruits into the Army's range of over 175 careers, from 'water purification specialist' (toilet cleaner?) to 'intelligence analyst'.

Pinnacle launches TV-sharing teleScope

Mark Harris — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:36:00 GMT

Before you splash out on a fancy standalone PVR, take a peer through Pinnacle's new teleScope digital TV hub, time-shift recorder and streaming station.

This 70 Euro (£60) USB gadget combines a pivoting, detachable antenna and high sensitivity digital TV tuner with an impressive suite of applications to let you watch, pause, rewind, record and even distribute your favourite shows throughout your home.

Like other tuners, the teleScope can pick terrestrial TV broadcasts (it's HD Ready, too), using your PC as an EPG to time-shift and tape programmes to its hard drive. However, it can also burn shows straight to DVD, with VideoSpin software to let you edit your recordings.

Broadcast news

The teleScope's most interesting feature, though, is its ability to distribute incoming TV shows easily over a home wi-fi network.

Pinnacle's DistanTV software streams live TV to as many as three other computers using your existing wi-fi set-up, supposedly with 'just a few clicks'.

Given the hassle of previous wireless TV systems (I still shudder when I hear the word 'Slingbox'), we're a little skeptical, but we'll have a full review of the teleScope as soon as possible. It's due to hit the retail channel in mid-September.

Hands-on: Pure Evoke Flow

Gareth Beavis — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:33:00 GMT

It seems the chaps and chappettes over at Pure have decided that the old 'wood and brushed steel' look of old is so last year, and have reinvented the device with a pure black, glossy finish.

Admittedly it's not the usual reason to start writing about a device, but Pure has made itself synonymous with DAB radio thanks to its usual design, and the recent addition of internet radio has clearly brought about a rethink.

As far as internet radios go, you could be forgiven as thinking 'seen one, seen them all.' And you'd be right to a degree.

They all allow you to listen to cabaret music in Australia, or listen to the latest Afrikaans garage podcast.

The Evoke Flow has made an attempt to distance itself from the pack by adding in more search options, including audio quality and name.

Scroll bore

However, and this is a gripe common to many devices, in practice using a knob to scroll through the whole list is tiring and makes you want to give up and just turn on the TV.

Another problem with internet radio is it can take a while to connect; despite being promised industry-leading connection times, the Flow still struggled with some radio stations. Though in fairness, a crowded trade show like IFA is hardly the place to get uninterrupted WiFi coverage, so it probably would be a lot better in your own home.

And the addition of The Lounge portal helped a lot to overcome the annoying scrolling, where you can search for your favourites and set them up on your PC much more easily.

The Flow also comes with the ability to stream files from your home network or use an aux in to play an MP3 player, so there's no lack of choice for sound from the little piano-black box.

However, for £150 there might be some that struggle to justify the device; DAB and internet radio just aren't 15,000 pennies important.

GEAR4 launches iPod FM transmitters

Peter Gothard — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:40:00 GMT

GEAR4 has unleashed a couple more of its FM "Follow Me" transmitters – the dongle-based AirZone FM Follow Me and the CarDock FM Follow Me.

The Airzone plugs "discreetly" into the iPod to transmit its music to any nearby radio tuned to the same frequency, while the CarDock does exactly the same thing in a four-wheeled vehicle, plugging into the 12v cigarette lighter and hijacking the radio. An added benefit of the CarDock is that it charges the iPod from the car battery, too.

Now with ClearSearch

The enhancement for these two handy devices is GEAR4's new ClearSearch tech which promises to adjust the dongle's FM transmitter, or the car radio itself if using the CarDock, to a clearer local frequency with a simple press of a button.

The new AirZone will be winging its way into Europe in September, priced at £40, while the CarDock will be parking up at the same time, selling at £50.

Harman-Kardon unveils ice-cool see-through speakers

Adam Hartley — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:11:00 GMT

Harman-Kardon has unveiled these see-through speakers for fans of high end audio equipment that is not black and, as an added bonus, looks like it's been designed purely for Superman's dad.

These cut glass beauties/monstrosities will "integrate beautifully with home and office décor", according to the press blurb.

TechRadar has already argued over the relative merits of Harman-Kardon not sticking with the dominant trend in speaker design with these new 56 Watt GLA-55s, which are ideally sized to plug into your PC on your desk or jack into your iPod, wherever you so desire.

You basically either love them or hate them. There can be no in-between here.

And while we have yet to test them out, we are pretty sure they will sound 'the business' if Harman-Kardon's brand reputation is anything to go by.

Samsung's 1080i Full HD flash camcorder

Peter Gothard — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:05:00 GMT

Samsung announced its new HMX20C camcorder in Berlin today, which features 1080i Full HD flash recording at 30fps.

The flash-based design, videoing at 1920x 1080i resolution, offers, says Samsung, "quick start-up, great battery life and one of the smallest bodies in the industry", with a swivel hand grip for multiple angles and a wide-aspect 2.7in LCD touchscreen for "editing on the fly".

Analyze your swing

It has a 6.4 megapixel CMOS with image stabilization, and can also take stills up to 8 megapixels through "pixel-rising technology". Also, fast motion 300 frames per second recording for up to 10 seconds is possible, with the ability to slow down the playback afterwards – useful, says Samsung, for analyazing your golf-swing or other things too fast for the human eye to detect.

The HMX20C sports built-in flash memory weighing in at 8GB, and the option of recording onto high-capacity SDHC/MMC+ cards via the card slot should you run out of space.

No release date or price has been specified at IFA, and Samsung's PR couldn't shed any further light on the matter when Techradar asked today. As ever, watch this space.

Samsung's Litmus and Diamond MP3 players

Peter Gothard — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:08:00 GMT

Samsung has announced two new MP3 players today, calling them the YP-U4 Litmus and the YP-Q1 Diamond.

The Litmus, the design concept of which is "inspired by color gradation on litmus paper" focuses around the same glossy panelling effect which is used on the company's TVs and monitors.

"Through this emotional design factor," says Samsung's rather interestingly translated press release, "U4 enriches user's susceptibility." You have been warned.

Recordable hot keys

The Litmus offers DNSe 2.0 sound technology, a 1in grey OLED display at 128x64 pixels and three LED lights, as well as recordable hot keys.

Samsung boasts a playtime of 16 hours for the 27x83x13mm, 27.5g machine, and says the unit will play MP3, WMA and OGG files as well as FM radio.

It comes in 2GB or 4GB sizes, and is available in rose, purple or blue. No release date has been stated as yet.

Diamonds are a girl's best MP3

The Diamond hopes to be the "World Best Sound Quality", and as such offers DNSe 3.0 over the Litmus' measly 2.0.

It's got an "audio upscale function", says Samsung, which "restores missing sound range". At the same time,the player canapparently analyse your MP3 file's mood and genre, and apply the appropriate equalising effect automatically.

The 2.4in TFT LCD, 320x240 QVGA screen, with its dimming lighting effect, will "awake the user's emotional feelings", as well as support 4 hours of movie playback in WMV or MPEG4 format, as well as view JPG images.

Samsung claims the 49.9x97.8x10.9mm black, white or silver beauty can cope with 30 hours of music in MP3, WMA, OGG and FLAC format, and will arrive in 4, 8 and 16GB varieties at an as yet unknown date.

Hands-on: Samsung's new X360 notebook

Adam Hartley — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:42:00 GMT

It would be remiss of those looking at the Samsung X360 notebook to ignore the comparisons with the Apple's Macbook Air. But similarly it would be stupid to directly compare them as well.

The X360 is a lovely looking piece of kit, and what's more: it handles Windows Vista like a Ferrari on rails.

Beyond the glamorous exterior (which, being shiny, is an absolute Mecca for fingerprints and greatly devalues the glossy shell) is a 128GB SSD and a decent processor and RAM set too...and despite TechRadar trying to break it, the thing just kept on running.

Bananas

In fact, when we picked it up and loaded everything on the desktop (over 13 icons) and cowered far away in case it caught on fire or something, they all sprang up like monkeys that ate curry bananas.

The thing is so light we even considered throwing it across the room to see if it floated...but decided against this in case we hit one of the children thronging around.

We'll be publishing a much more detailed review soon, but for those that want a PC that can last six hours in real time usage and weighs less than 1.3kg (and have at least £1400 to spend) then we can't see a better device.

But just make sure you wear gloves when you use it...nobody wants fingerprints all over a grand and a half machine, eh?

Hands on: Dolby Volume

Gareth Beavis — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:38:00 GMT

TechRadar has been scurrying around IFA 2008 like a mousehigh on caffeine-flavoured cheese, and landed itself in the lovely Dolby roomto check out the new technology on offer.

Dolby Volume (bear with us, it’s more exciting than itsounds!) is the new technology from the home theatre folks, and it’s somethingof a humdinger in audio terms.

Given it’s only available in two high-end Harman Kardon AVreceivers and a Toshiba TV in Japan, it’s best not to speak too much of theprice right now (we’re talking over £2,000 at least).

But having chatted to the Dolby and Harman Kardon chaps itappears this could be appearing in the sub £800-zone soon, so it’s well worth alook.

Adverts: too loud

Firstly, it controls the volume of your audio equipment tokeep it all at the same level no matter what you throw at it. This, says HarmanHardon, is the reason they’ve taken it on board, because so many customers ask:"Can it stop adverts coming on so loud in between programmes?"

"But loads of companies offer that!" you might cry (thoughdon’t; you’ll get strange looks). And true, they do.

But the difference is Dolby can work with surround soundchannels too. Where a normal volume equaliser might just keep the whole soundat a normal level, Dolby Volume works with the each channel, lowering some(i.e. background sound) and raising others (speech and bass) to keep thesurround effect even at low levels.

In action, it worked pretty well, and certainly kept the‘home cinema’ feel no matter what volume was being used and whichever sourcewas thrown at it (we saw a spurious Spanish gameshow for some reason).

Fortune

And if you’re forking out a fortune on a home theatre, thenthis is exactly the kind of thing you want to make it worthwhile; there’s nopoint having a great system that you can’t always hear properly.

But the price needs to drop for the average Joe to reallyfeel the benefit of this tech; so fingers crossed the info we’ve been toldabout price drops in the next couple of years prove to be true.

Microsoft takes aim for Google's Froogle

Dan Grabham — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:24:00 GMT

Microsoft has bought Ciao, one of Europe's biggest price comparison engines. Designed to boost its Live Search offering, it seems Microsoft will position its new toy right up against Google's Product Search, formerly known as Froogle.

There's no getting away from it – Microsoft is still loosing badly when it comes to the search market. But instead of growing the Windows Live Search business organically, dear old Microsoft seems determined to buy elements which it thinks make sense, hence the hovering up of Multimap and now Ciao.

It's not a small wedge of cash involved, either. The deal is worth approximately $486 million. According to analyst comScore, Ciao currently has more than 26.5 million unique visitors per month across seven countries.

Intregration with Live Search

Microsoft says Ciao's technology platform, online community and extensive merchant relationships will be integrated with its Live Search platform. The corporation says it wants to make Live Search "the premier destination for consumers looking to research and purchase goods and services online."

"Integrating Ciao's capabilities into Live Search will provide a strong launchpad for our commercial search offer in Europe and enhance our e-commerce offering on MSN, " says John Mangelaars, head of Microsoft Consumer and Online in Europe.

Microsoft's search strategy is focused on three key areas it says: "delivering the best results, simplifying key tasks and innovating in the business model." The corporation has also recently launched a European Search Technology Centre to enhance its results.

Exclusive: Samsung to launch OLED TVs at CES 2009

Gareth Beavis — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:21:00 GMT

Samsung has revealed it will release 14.1 inch OLED TVs at CES 2009 in a bid to keep Sony from running away with the nascent market.

Young Joong Noh, developer of OLED parts at Samsung, confirmed to TechRadar the sets will be coming next year, with a similar £1,000 plus price tag.

However, he was keen to point out the superior panel they Koreans will be releasing:

"Sony's TV is only standard definition; in our case we'll have a HD OLED TV with 120Hz capability," he said.

"Our plan is to try and release it at CES 2009."

Bigger and better future

Noh also claimed the technology was well in place for the larger sized screens, like the 31inch OLED screen on display at the Samsung stand, but the amount of TVs that make it through production is too low, as the larger size means they contain too many defects.

As reported earlier this year, Samsung is going to create a new company that will exclusively develop OLED displays, and Noh believes this will be announced as a new entity at the end of the year.

"When we make OLEDs, we have to modify existing LCD lines," he said. "The company is now developing production lines just for OLED, which will cater for mobile to the larger sizes we provide for LCD.

News Feature: Weird Tech: Vacuum your home with latest Wii Balance Board hack

Julia Sagar — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:58:00 GMT

If you're in need of a few brownie points at home – er, or just can't get down to the beach this weekend? – the Wii Balance Board/Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner mod could be your solution.

Using said Balance Board, hacker "Ron" Tajimahas found a way to control the circular vacuum through physical movements on the board. What a hero. No matter that the vacuum capabilities of the Roomba are frankly laughable, and probably won't leave your floor much cleaner: it's the thought that counts, right?

Race across Azeroth

If you've played World of Warcraft recently, you'll know there's a lot of running involved. For some reason, the chaps over at Mana Energy Potion decided to investigate what it might be like to run the same distance in real life as their avatars this week.

So they hooked up treadmills to their PCs, donned wigs (naturally), and embarked on their chosen route. Suffice to say, it soon transpired that pressing 'w' is not the same as actually running…

Gadget therapy

Bored of standard fog machines? Why not try your hand at the Smoke Turret: a 5-foot tall, 6-barrelled monster of a smoke machine – perfect for the imminent Halloween season.

Able to blast out smoke for an impressive 15-metres, it even has strobe lights concealed in the gun sight. It's not cheap, mind, at a wallet-wringing $2,400.

Speaking of oversized tech, this week also brought Martin Montesano's giant 'Walking Beast', a 6-ton walking robot spider.

It took Montesano three years and a tidy $50,000 to realise his vision. The 23-foot long arachnid can carry a number of passengers. Don't be expecting a rollercoaster ride though, the Beast maxes out at around 5mph. Although each step does shake the ground up to 500 metres away…

We also liked Vivien Muller's photosynthesis Solar Tree concept. With 54 mini photovoltaic panels posing as leaves, the idea is that you plug your gadgets in and let them soak up some sun-energy. It's better than a plant; you don't even have to water it. Ideal.

And finally…

Star Wars Landspeeder, anyone? This full-sized fibreglass replica landspeeder was built from the ground up by Daniel Deutsch, and boasts a periscope, smoke machine (sadly not the Turret) and DLP video projector.

Not to be outdone, Tuesday saw an 1989 Batmobile up for grabs on eBay. Allegedly one of the five Batmobiles made for the original Michael Keaton film, the starting price was pegged at a whopping $100,000. Unsurprisingly, the reserve wasn't met…

Creative's new GigaWorks speakers

Peter Gothard — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:23:00 GMT

Creative has announced the launch of its new series of Gigaworks speakers – with a Series II incarnation for the T20 and the T40, and an all-new T3 system.

The T20 and T40 revamps are designed to build on the basis of the original models, but "refining their acoustic capabilities and design", says Creative. The BasXPort technology will combine "excellent dynamics with rich extended bass without a subwoofer", and the silk dome tweeters with glass-fibre drivers will apparently "produce crystal-clear highs".

The new T3 speakers are slated as high-end 2.1 speakers comprised of "compact and stylish" satellite speakers with audiophile-quality drivers for what Creative claims provide full mid-range and clear highs.

SLAMmin' subwoofer

The "SLAM" design of the subwoofer uses three drivers that are supposed to deliver "deep, refined" bass, while the wired remote has a volume control, aux-in, headphone out and the increasingly trendy power saving Low Standby Power tech for the environmentally friendly consumer.

The T3 system's out in Europe in September for about 199 Euros (£160), while the T40 and T20 Series II will be out in October and cost 129 Euros (£104) and 99 Euros (£80) respectively.

Hands on: Philips ambiSound

Gareth Beavis — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:20:00 GMT

Philips today gave TechRadar a sneak peek at its new ambiSound home theatre audio system, designed to give 9.1 channel surround sound from just six speakers.

The system, which is coming very soon and will cost around £800 (the same as the previous 5.1 channel system without ambiSound), is designed to provide a 'cinematic experience' rather than just a standard surround sound.

While the immersive feel was easy to hear, thanks to the ambiSound drivers in each of the floor speakers bouncing sound off the walls and curving it into the centre of the room, it was only when the 'normal' 5.1 system was turned on was the difference noticeable.

Light and sound

The floor speakers also carried lights at the bottom to give a more cinematic feel, but the sensation was one of the company trying to shoehorn awareness of it's 'fully-submersive' amBX system, where light, sound, feel and other senses will come together to offer a new home cinema experience.

The bass was rich and deep, but there was a slight sense of getting 'lost' in the noise...you feel this needs a little tweaking to get the absolute maxiumum out of a near £1000 system.

But if you're after a high-end set up without the extra hardware, this is a good virtual answer; good for those who have rooms a bit too big for the tiny CinemaOne also released this week.

Samsung serves up 'seamless experience'

Rob Mead — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:40:00 GMT

Samsung wowed attendees at the official opening keynote at IFA 2008 today with a slew of new product announcements.

The presentation by Jong Woo Park, president of Samsung's digital media business was focused on offering us a 'seamless experience', promising to make Samsung gadgets easier to use, while also offer better integration between devices

Park also talked up new technologies, with the company showing off an ultra high definition TV and the world's largest OLED TV with a 31-inch display.

New seamless tellies

One of the most obvious examples of the seamless experience is a new user interface in Samsung's 7, 8 and 9 series TVs. It combines regular TV viewing with the ability to access internet content using Mac-like widgets (or gadgets in Vista parlance).

Dubbed InfoLive the widgets offer the usual info like updated news and weather reports. It also includes its own database - like a kind of mini-encyclopaedia - containing content for every member of your family from games to recipes and yoga programs.

Samsung's 7, 8, and 9 series TVs also include WiseLink Pro, which works via a USB 2.0 connection.

It enables you to access content on plugged-in devices such as digital cameras and camcorders via a newly designed remote control. The TVs also include HDMI-CEC, enabling you control compatible devices via HDMI connections.

Other highlights of the Samsung keynote included news of a new 200Hz TV to rival Sony's , a 1-inch thin ultra-slim display and a 2,840 x 2,160 ultra high definition 82-inch TV... which is also on display on Samsung's stand here at IFA. We'll be taking a closer look at all of these this afternoon.

LG fires new netbook into crowded market

Jamie Carter — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:31:00 GMT

Despite a more muted presence at the IFA than in previous years, LG Electronics used the Berlin consumer electronics show to launch a new netbook, Bluetooth-equipped plasma TVs, a Blu-ray player and a DivX HD-compatible DVD player.

The Korean manufacturer also showed-off prototypes of touchscreens TVs, stretched displays and a 3D screen.

LG Netbook

Its X110 Netbook has an impressive 80GB hard drive and boasts embedded 3G HSDPA connectivity for accessing the internet, as well as both wireless (WLAN 802.11b/g) and wired (10/100 Ethernet).

"The 3G embedded and stylish X110 will provide customers with a totally new concept in mobile telecommunications," said LG Electronics PC division Vice President, Jeon Kwang Yung. The 1.19kg X110 has a 10-inch screen and a full-size keyboard. It will go on sale in October.

More unusually, wireless Bluetooth technology makes an appearance on LG's latest clutch of TVs. Primarily included to allow viewers to use cable-free Bluetooth headphones, the wireless connectivity can also be used to send photos and even music from a phone to the TVs.

Bluetooth is the star feature on LG's new PG7000 plasma TVs and LG7000 LCD TVs, which are now on sale in the UK.

Flatscreen anomaly

IFA also saw the debut of a slight anomaly in the world of flatscreen TVs.

While most brands are making ever-bigger sets and increasingly relying on LCD technology, LG has just put on sale the 32PG6000, a uniquely 32-inch plasma. It sports a resolution of 1024x720 pixels and a 'frameless' design that uses one pane of glass across the front of the product.

The 32PG6000 also has four HDMI inputs, a USB slot, and 100Hz technology, although on LG's stand at IFA it could be seen in the experimental '600Hz' area.

Flatpack Blu-ray player

LG also announced the October release of its new BD300 Blu-ray player. This Profile 2.0 product is compatible with both BD Live and BonusView features on Blu-ray discs, as well as Dolby True HD and DTS-HD high bit-rate audio formats.

Able to play DVDs and DivX movies from either disc or USB memory stick, the BD300 can also handle MPEG4 video, JPEG, MP3, and WMA file formats.

Designed to be placed either flat, vertical or even mounted on a wall, LG's DVS450H DVD player takes versatility a step further by playing DivX HD files.

Its DVS400H DVD player also has something rather unique – audio CD ripping to MP3. Both players can upscale DVDs to Full HD resolution.

3D TV

At IFA LG also displayed its 3D M4210D, a no-glasses-required 3DTV that's designed for casinos and shopping centres.

It also forms the basis for a touchscreen TV that was being used at the stand to scan around Google earth maps.

LG also previewed a 'shineout' TV that's absorbs sunlight to power its own brightness, and a tripe view display that provides three different images depending on where you watch from.

News Feature: Everything you need to know about the next Xbox

Dean Evans — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:28:00 GMT

Will Microsoft launch its next-gen Xbox in 2011? There have been a couple of articles recently that have speculated on just that. We look at whether the 'Xbox 720' will feature a return to Intel chips, the inclusion of a Blu-ray drive, and more storage than you can ever fill.

A PlayStation 4 and potential 'Xbox 720' could arrive as early as 2011, estimates Crytek president and CEO Cevat Yerli. Industry analyst Colin Sebastian agrees, suggesting that "the general consensus amongst industry professionals is that a new generation of home consoles will arrive on the market in 2011 or 2012."

Terabyte storage for the Xbox 720?

We've already speculated about what Microsoft might be planning for its third Xbox – 16 or 32 processing cores (including onboard graphics), 8GB of DDR memory, broadband connectivity and a hard disk that delivers terabytes rather than gigabytes of storage space.

More storage is a given – Microsoft has recently launched the 60GB Xbox 360 Pro, while Sony has rolled out a 160GB PlayStation 3. Both consoles are trying to sell themselves as digital hubs and any future Xbox is going to need a huge amount of space to store downloadable movies and TV shows, demos and Live Arcade games. A 60GB hard drive is nowhere near big enough.

"One of the problems with the 360," Rockstar Games founder Sam Houser told 1UP, "is the fact that they don't have a significantly larger storage medium than the previous systems. It's a slightly bigger DVD disc... If we're filling up the disc right now, where are we going? It's not like our games are going to get any smaller."

The solution isn't just to add a Blu-ray drive to the next Xbox. The developers of Bioshock recently told videogamer.com that: "in terms of specific things, [Blu-ray] hasn't made much difference. The original game fits on a 360 disk so it wasn't like we were in need of room." The ability to run games from a massive hard drive renders the optical drive virtually redundant.

Xbox 720 to feature Intel processor?

Assuming that Microsoft isn't going to dumb-down the next Xbox in favour of a Wii-style family console, the next-generation of processors could give the Xbox 720 the muscle of a turn of the millennium supercomputer. A return to Intel technology might also be on the cards.

Because by 2012, Intel plans to have launched the 22nm die shrink of the Sandy Bridge architecture – that's the next architecture after Core i7 (aka Nehalem). According to TechRadar's resident chip-geek Jeremy Laird, this should see CPUs with at least 16 cores, each with two threads for 32 logical processors. We might even see chips with as many as 24 or 32 cores.

Graphics-wise, the current trend on the PC side is towards outsourcing more of the physics and AI work to the GPU. So a contender for Xbox 720 inclusion might be Intel's Larrabee processor.

With its multi-core x86 approach to graphics rendering, Larrabee is blurring the lines between traditional CPUs and GPUs. "It's not inconceivable that you might have a next gen Xbox with a relatively simple CPU," says Laird, "just a couple of biggish out-of-order cores, and then some Larrabee-like monster handling graphics, physics, AI and so on."

Why Sony's Cell might have got it right

Larrabee isn't just a graphics processor. It's a clever side bet by Intel on a possible future processing paradigm – highly parallel, massive floating point performance. Revolutionary? Not quite.

"The Cell processor was quite prescient," suggests Laird, "as it's philosophically similar to Larrabee. The problem is that the only workload on a console that is currently parallelised is graphics and that's the one thing the Cell doesn't do. Real-time physics and complex AI will become more important on consoles, as will more programmable graphics (ray-tracing is one example). So highly parallel and programmable Larrabee or Cell chips look like the way forward."

Considering that the next generation of processors could pack in several billion transistors, the next generation of consoles should be capable of some truly stunning high-definition games. Any new machine in 2012 will take full advantage of broadband for multiplayer and massively multiplayer gaming, social networking and media sharing.

But what if there is no next-gen console?

Acclaim boss Dave Perry recently suggested that Sony has "pretty much no chance of making money on the PS3" and will have to extend the console's lifespan. While Alex St. John, the CEO of games company WildTangent, predicts that: "we're looking at the last generation of consoles. There's not going to be an Xbox 720 or a PS4, I'll make that bet, not going to happen."

Sure, Microsoft can build a better, faster, more powerful Xbox. As Microsoft's Robbie Bach told 1UP: "people ask me how many people I have working on the next generation. On the one hand, it's everybody. On the other, it's nobody. People are continuously working on new technology."

The next question isn't necessarily 'what will the next Xbox look like?' but 'will there even be one?'

Doomed red phone boxes to be "adopted" by local councils

Peter Gothard — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:08:00 GMT

After deciding to start removing the good old red telephone box from Britain's highstreets in response to falling popularity of payphones, BT has rethoughtits strategies after an outcry from local communities who argued that the boxes give Britain's streets character.

Thus, the telecommunications giant has come up with two solutions to save our endangered auburn allies – the boxes can either be sponsored, or adopted outright.

Sponsor-a-Kiosk involves charging councils an annual £500 fee to run and maintain a phone box, preserving it as a fully functioning telephone. This scheme also applies to any and all BT boxes too, not just the classic red one.

Adopt-a-Kiosk, while cheaper, is also a little more sinister. For just £1, the council can buy the box, but BT will remove the telephone, effectively neutering the once-proud telecommunications device and leaving little more than a lifeless relic of the pre-mobile era. Aww.

Deadline

BT has agreed not to remove any of Britain's 12 thousand-odd red boxes until October 1, which is the deadline for local councils to submit their applications for sponsorship or adoption.

Shadow Secretary for Business Alan Duncan, who wrote to BT in June suggesting the scheme, told the Telegraph: "I'm delighted that BT has agreed to what was always a perfectly simple proposal to ensure that red phone boxes do not disappear into the great grey blur of modern British streetscape."

Dolby sounds off with volume control

Gareth Mason — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT

Dolby is using IFA to showcase Dolby Volume amongst other audio technologies. Dolby Volume will be available in two high-end AV receivers from Harman Kardon.

The feature's designed to keep volume levels at their optimum without the listener needing to keep the remote control within reach as the material they listen to changes. It will be available initially on Harman Kardon's AVR 755 and AVR 655 7.1 receivers and has been implemented on two ranges of Toshiba TVs currently selling in Japan — the Regza ZH500 and ZV500 Series of LCD HDTVs.

Jake Williams, editor of What Video and High-def TV, said: "This is the kind of technological improvement that will be welcomed by everyone who wants to get the best out of their movies and music not just those who buy the most expensive kit."

Mobile surround

More interesting new tech comes in the form of the company's Dolby Mobile which promises to bring: "a rich, vibrant surround sound experience to music, movies, and television programs on mobile phones and portable media players". A worthy aim, which we hope matches the publicity. We can only wish it could be available widely enough to cover the teenagers on the nightbus treating us to their tinny mono mobile music collection.

Other products flourishing the Dolby logo and on view at IFA will be the GameCom 777 gaming headset from Plantronics using Dolby Headphone virtual surround sound technology; Dolby Digital Plus technology in television as well as in digital set-top boxes; Dolby TrueHD and/or Dolby Digital Plus in a range of HD kit from receivers to Blu-ray players; and the inclusion of Dolby Home Theater and Dolby Sound Room in PC technology so you will never need to leave the bedroom again.

News Feature: Whatever happened to IRC?

Karl Hodge — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:00:00 GMT

Before MySpace and Messenger, we had bulletin boards and IRC. And in times before the web browser, we relied on Gopher. Which of these dead or dying technologies could you be found on?

IRC

Internet Relay Chat was – and still is – a server hosted instant messaging system that lets you talk with folks from around the globe in real time. Divided into "channels", in its heyday you could find live conversations about anything from Abba to Zappa – with lots of software swapping and Star Trekking in between.

Killed by: ICQ – the first popular desktop messaging client did away with the need to find and log into an IRC server. Later, Windows Messenger stole ICQ's crown. IRC lives on, but predominantly as a file sharing system.

Usenet

Akin to a global message board system, Usenet was host to thousands of themed "newsgroups" where folks could post messages and have heated debates about any topic. You can still post to Usenet and follow discussions using your favourite email client, but you'll be one of the few doing so these days.

Killed by: Web hosted message boards like phpBB, which offer users an easier way to meet like-minded people and be rude to them online. Google's acquisition of newsgroup search tool Deja News sounded the final death knell.

Gopher

Shortly before the web took off, Gopher was the only graphical way to access the internet. Gopher sites hosted data – image files, text, audio clips – using a directory based browsing system similar to Windows Explorer.

Killed by: Gopher was launched in 1991, just months before the World Wide Web. Though naysayers claimed it wasn't as intuitive to build or navigate web sites, history shows that web browsing won the battle. Amazingly, Mozilla Firefox still has Gopher capability built in. Check out gopher://gopher.floodgap.com for a list of live sites.

Anonymous FTP

The File Transfer Protocol's not quite dead, but we no longer have the abundance of anonymous sites that once littered the net. These gems helped distribute free and trial software – as well as material of more dubious origin...

Killed by: The web must shoulder most of the blame for bumping off anonymous FTPs legitimate usage, while BitTorrent and similar P2P initiatives are now the chosen method for less legal software distribution.

MUDs, MOOs and Talkers

Multi User Dungeons (or "Dimensions") were the Matrix made out of text. Virtual environments, where the landscape was described rather than displayed, these server based worlds enabled users to chat in real time, build their own environments and get up to all sorts of ASCII mischief.

Killed by: The old fashioned MUDs and MOOs (standing for MUD, Object Oriented) fell out of favour long before modern 3D equivalents like Second Life and World of Warcraft came along. Simply and sadly, the advent of the web and instant messaging enabled less fiddly methods of real time conversation.

Bulletin Boards

Before the web – before many of us even had internet access – bulletin boards allowed us to directly dial-in to the online world. Often hosted on bespoke software, Bulletin Boards combined real-time chat, file hosting and message posting.

Killed by: The BBS craze declined as accessibility to the internet improved. Bebo, MySpace and Facebook are their natural descendants. You can still access many old school BBS documents at www.textfiles.com – and surviving bulletin board system Monochrome can be found at www.mono.org.

Now over to you – which other forgotten net technologies belong in our hall of fame? Let us know in the comments.

DS and PSP rumour mill roundup

Peter Gothard — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:04:00 GMT

A couple of days ago we heard that Nintendo "might" be releasing a DS with two touchscreens next year. Then today, someone told someone else that the upcoming PSP 3000 will allow you to plug a PS3 controller in to play the games.

So, a "dual touch" DS? According to Kotaku, "several industry sources outside Nintendo" (read: drunken suits in a late-night karaoke bar) claim the company is working on a new DS, with screens that are not only a bit bigger, but both featuring touch control.

A Nintendo PR told TechRadar that a dual touchscreen DS was nothing more than "rumour and speculation".

DualShock for PSP?

As for the PSP 3000's DualShock 3 compatibility, it's not quite such an outlandish idea. Reported to Max Console by a "Best Buy insider", the premise is that you'll be able to hook up a controller to the machine to play your games. Good idea?

PSM3 editor Daniel Dawkins isn't sure: "While PSP has been crying out for dual analogue stick support – we've been banging on about it for ages on this very site – this 'solution' seems piecemeal at best. Are you really going to whip out your DualShock 3 and attach a PSP like some kind of teetering electronic top hat?" he said.

"The separation distance between the DualShock and PSP is deceptively large, requiring some kind of rigid USB connection 'ladder' to hold things in place. Well, that, or a flexible cable, creating a new problem: you'd need to mount the PSP screen to keep it stable. It 'would' make sense for playing PSP 3000 games on TV, mind, not through the LCD screen. Officially, we've heard nothing, so best to file this under the same category as the 'break apart' wii-style DualShock pad rumoured to appear at E3."

The "insider" also went on to suggest that composite 480i cables could be used to hook the PSP 3000 up to a TV, rather than having to use a component 480p, which would at least be sensible.

Expect updates as and when anything becomes official.

PlayStation 3 suffers production bottleneck

Peter Gothard — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:48:00 GMT

Sony's CEO Howard Stringer has announced that the PS3 is being purchased faster than it can be made.

In an interview with German news site Welt Online, Stringer said "Consumers are purchasing our PlayStation 3 video games console faster than we can produce them."

"We currently have a production bottleneck with the Playstation 3," he said.

He went on to say ""You also know, however, that our business model is not perfect, and that we make a loss on every console we sell," before commenting on the success of the Wii.

"The Wii is a well-made device that has found a new target group. For a while, we held the same target group with the Singstar karaoke game. But perhaps we neglected to pursue that avenue.

"Not hurting us"

"The major difference lies in the fact that Nintendo makes money with the hardware alone, which may be a superior business model. But the Wii is not succeeding at our expense – it is not hurting us. We decided years ago to build a game console that offers much greater functionality."

While the success of the Wii arguably rests on more than being a bit like Singstar, but Sir Howard's honesty is appreciated.

Welt also asked him when he thought the $3 billion (£1.64 billion) R&D costs of the machine might be recouped. "Not for as long as I live," laughed the 66 year old CEO, "It will certainly take some time."

He also refused to be drawn on the question of a possible PS3 price cut this year, simply replying "I think not". Well, it was worth a try.