TechRadar: All News Feeds

Crunch forces Samsung to reduce TV production

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:32:00 GMT

Samsung has confirmed that it will 'adjust' production after sales of televisions slumped in recent months.

Television has been a massive growth industry in the past few years, with the inflated world economy pushing up sales, but the credit crunch has hit hard and Samsung has been forced to respond.

"As demand is weakening, we are responding in a flexible manner through output control," James Chung, a company spokesman told Reuters.

Figures

Samsung is the largest producer of LCD panels, but rumours that production will be reduced by as much as five per cent have been downplayed.

The Korean company is only the latest manufacturer to cut production in the financial downturn, with LG – the second biggest LCD producer - already slashing its output ahead of the latest quarterly reports.

Some analysts are suggesting that the average price for LCD panels fell by as much as 20 per cent in the July-September quarter.

PS3 v2.5 and PSP v5 firmware details emerge

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:23:00 GMT

Sony has unveiled the contents of its forthcoming firmware updates for both the PSP and the PS3, with a whole raft of improvements including power saving and support for the bluetooth headset.

On the official PlayStation blog, Sony revealed details about the updates – but have yet to confirm the precise date on which the roll–out will happen.

The headset improvements will enable 'High-Quality (HQ) mode, which delivers clear and wide-band online voice chat. On top of that, an added on-screen indicator shows battery status, volume level and use of HQ mode.'

Trophy life

Some changes to the Trophy interface and friend status will come as welcome changes as will the introduction of in-game screenshots – allowing PS3 owners to post up pictures of that time they accidentally fragged their team-mate whilst driving over a cliff backwards.

A SceneSearch feature is being added for both the PSP and PS3 in the video functionality but it is the power save options that will have green campaigners looking slightly more mollified.

Power save settings can now be enabled to turn off controllers and the console when it has been inactive for a period of time, and you can now choose to turn the console off automatically at the end of a download.

PSP

The PSP will now have PlayStation Network functionality – allowing management of accounts through the handheld and a sleep function for when the device is being used as a music player.

"We've been listening to all of your feedback about the PS3 and PSP, and with these next firmware updates (coming soon), we've added a number of new features and improved some existing functionality to make your PS3/PSP experience even better," said Sony's Eric Lempel.

Windows 7 to be called 'Windows 7'

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 07:46:00 GMT

For those looking forward to the funky new name for the forthcoming Windows 7 operating system the wait is over – and Microsoft has called its replacement for Vista 'Windows 7'.

Following XP and Vista, many believed that Windows 7 was merely the codename for the OS as it went through the development process.

But Microsoft has decided otherwise and will call perhaps what will prove the most pivotal Windows version in decades Windows 7.

Simply put

"Simply put, this is the seventh release of Windows, so therefore "Windows 7" just makes sense," wrote Microsoft general manager Mike Nash as he unveiled the 'new' name.

Nash explained that the company did not want to put a year in the name, because a new version is not shipped every year, and that it was not being given an 'aspirational' name like Vista or XP because it was not an 'entirely new release' but an incremental improvement on its predecessor.

"Over the years, we have taken different approaches to naming Windows," Nash wrote. "We've used version numbers like Windows 3.11, or dates like Windows 98, or 'aspirational' monikers like Windows XP or Windows Vista.

"And since we do not ship new versions of Windows every year, using a date did not make sense. Likewise, coming up with an all-new 'aspirational' name does not do justice to what we are trying to achieve, which is to stay firmly rooted in our aspirations for Windows Vista, while evolving and refining the substantial investments in platform technology in Windows Vista into the next generation of Windows."

No frills

It's a move that perhaps indicates the no frills approach the Redmond company is taking as it looks to put the failings of Vista behind it.

The failure of XP's successor to take off as well as competition from the likes of Apple's OS X and several versions of Linux – which are proving popular in netbooks – has put massive pressure on Windows 7 to prove a success.

With analysts openly asking if the time of the ubiquitous Windows PC is coming to an end, Microsoft needs to prove that it is still the best option for consumers and businesses.

Windows 7 is expected to arrive at the very end of 2009 or early 2010, but it remains to be seen if the marketing campaign proves to be as low key as the name.

Google's thumbnails breach German law

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 07:20:00 GMT

The German court has told Google that the thumbnails it displays on its popular image search database breach copyright.

In a case that could now be replicated across the European Union Google has lost two cases on breach of copyright over the thumbnails displayed, with other image search engines such as Microsoft's Live search also likely to be hit with lawsuits.

Google has already fought and eventually won copyright claim from Perfect 10 over the thumbnails in the US, but the German law courts have decided that the search giant has broken the law.

Step backwards?

A Google spokesperson told paidContent, "Today's decision is very bad for Internet users in Germany, it is a major step backwards for German e-business in general, and it is bad for the thousands of websites who receive valuable traffic through Image Search and similar services."

You'd be forgiven for wondering if Google is considering abandoning Germany altogether after also failing to win a case over the use of the term Gmail in the same country.

With a legal challenge in Belgium over the snippets used in Google news also rumbling on, these are troubled times for Google – whose quest to host all the world's information has caused many to question whether copyright is being rendered an archaic notion.

Two weeks left to vote in Golden Joysticks

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:00:00 GMT

There are only two weeks left to vote in the Golden Joystick Awards 2008 together with Virgin Media.

A massive 710,000 people have already voted for their favourite games of the year plus the most anticipated games to come in the next 12 months.

Whether you're a Nintendo, Xbox, Playstation or PC fan you can have your say, as well as voting the Virgin Media Ultimate Game of the Year. Still up for grabs is a Sony Bravia TV and loads of Blu ray DVD's plus magazine subscriptions to your favourite gaming titles.

There's also £3,400 worth of ultimate gaming kit to win in our Virgin Media Time Trial. Simply visit www. goldenjoystick.com to play.

Complete four tasks online, record the fastest time possible and see where you're placed on the leader board.

The time trial closes at the end of November.

Microsoft to release Silverlight 2 tomorrow

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:13:00 GMT

Silverlight gets an upgrade tomorrow, with Microsoft hoping its content delivery system can start to gain ground on Adobe's all-conquering Flash software.

Silverlight 2.0 boasts changes across the board, including powerful new built-in controls, advanced skinning and template for customisation and - shudder - Silverlight DRM content protection based on Microsoft's PlayReady for mobile devices.

Deep Zoom, for example, makes navigating and examining high resolution images much smoother and faster.

There are also a host of new networking and developer tools (including some open source resources) to make it easier for third party companies to create applications.

Silver-tongued techy

"We launched Silverlight just over a year ago, and already one in four consumers worldwide has access to a computer with Silverlight installed," said Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of the .NET Developer Division at Microsoft.

Microsoft claims that Silverlight penetration in "some countries" is as high as 50%. The USA, for instance, saw a 30% bump in Silverlight uptake during the Olympics, thanks NBC's website serving 70 million video streams and 600 million minutes of video.

Microsoft is well aware that consumers don't really care what mechanism they use to access their content and is actively targeting big business to drive Silverlight's growth. It reports that CBS, Blockbuster, Hard Rock Cafe, Yahoo! Japan, AOL and Toyota are all working on significant Silverlight portals.

Anyone already using a previous version of Silverlight will be automatically upgraded to Silverlight 2, possibly by the light of the silvery moon, sometime Tuesday.

The new software includes support for Mac, Windows and Linux in Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, as well as Chrome (on PC at least).

Exclusive: Microsoft Equipt to launch in UK next week

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:53:00 GMT

PC World customers will be the first in the UK to be offered Microsoft's cloud computing Equipt office software package, from next Monday.

A £60 annual subscription buys a combination desktop/online service that includes: Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 (with Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote); Windows Live OneCare, the all-in-one security and PC management service; and Windows Live tools, such as Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Photo Gallery.

If Equipt here follows the US version (which is sold through Circuit City stores for just $70 (£40) a year), it will also come with Office Live Workspace, a dedicated online workspace where documents can be shared with friends and classmate.

Upgrade ease

Whenever a new version of Office or Windows Live OneCare is released (probably 2009 for Office), Equipt customers will get free upgrades as part of their subscriptions.

While Equipt represents a saving over the cost of buying Office (£100) and OneCare (£25), it looks pricey when compared with the free options out there.

Desktop users who don't require the power and polish of Word or Excel might prefer the open source OpenOffice software, while the established cloud services of GoogleDocs and Zoho have wooed many mobile workers.

DSGi, owner of PC World, Currys and Dixons, is currently the sole partner in the UK and will carry the Equipt service through PC World stores nationwide from 20 October.

Don't buy Christmas pressies says tech shop

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:33:00 GMT

Worried about the effect that electronics have on the environment? Or perhaps you're just counting your pennies while banks are tumbling?

Then make this a regifting Christmas, says Nigel of online green gadget emporium, Nigel's Eco Store.

He's launching a regifting forum that lets tree huggers and Scrooges swap unwanted techy presents instead of chopping down plastic forests and harvesting LCD fish to make this year's sought-after gizmos.

Bah, humbug

Nigel says, "People might think regifting makes you cheap, but I think it shows you have top green values. A study by the WWF revealed that in the last three decades, we have consumed a third of the world's natural resources, so we need to be more thoughtful about the way we use everything."

If you've got high tech gifts to shift and have never heard of Craigslist, eBay or Amazon Marketplace, you can log on to the new forums at www.nigelsecostore.com/forum and post details of your unwanted gift, or of an item you are trying to get hold of.

Unsuprisingly, Nigel goes on to say, " Can't find what you need on the regifting forums? Try Nigel's Eco Store top five Christmas gift ideas...", which include such disposable, luxury nonsense as cardboard iPod speakers and solar-powered fairy lights.

As we type, there are currently zero items in the regifting forum.

Digg users: Kevin is cooler than Alex

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:25:00 GMT

Thousands of Diggers crammed into the Excel business centre in London on Friday to watch the second live episode of Diggnation to be held in the UK.

The event took place at the Future of Web Apps (FOWA) Expo in London, a geeky Mecca where web developers flock annually to showcase their own tools and to learn from others. FOWA was headlined by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who spoke about the trend towards sharing more personal information online.

After Zuckerberg left the stage, the Digg fanatics began to arrive in their masses, forming a snaking queue around bemused conference attendees.

Our survey said...

TechRadar caught up with some of the fresh-faced Diggers, who had travelled huge distances just to be at the show. Despite being held in a disgustingly inaccessible part of London, we spoke to people who'd come from the dark corners of Europe just for the show. Slovenia, Ukraine, Belgium, Manchester...

We didn't speak to many Diggers at all who'd come from less than 200 miles away - and many had come from far further afield than that. We didn't meet many Diggers from London, either - they must have been hiding somewhere. And there were even a few girls in attendance.

But while the US media is obsessed with the US elections, TechRadar asked the questions that really mattered. Who's the coolest, and who'd win in a fight? Kevin came out on top for the cool factor, although the majority of diggers reckoned Alex would comfortably see Kevin off in a fight, citing Alex's kickboxing skills as a deciding factor.

Hit the photos at the top of the page to see diggers out in the wild.

Blizzard launches WoW mouse

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:03:00 GMT

Blizzard, in cahoots with peripherals specialists, SteelSeries, is launching a dedicated World of Warcraft gaming mouse, with an impressive (or ridiculous, dependent on personal POV) fifteen buttons.

Yes. FIFTEEN (see the pic if you doubt us).

There are more gamers in World Of Warcraft than actual human beings in Greater London, with fewer of the actual human beings in Greater London area slay each other on a daily basis (*except in certain areas of Hackney, Streatham and Brixton).

Blizzard's new World Of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse pretty much means that WoW players (addicts) will no longer have to bother fiddling around with a keyboard each time they wish to cast a spell or slaughter an elf with your shiny new broadsword.

Which is a good thing, we suppose.

The WoW mouse features macros for up to 160 characters with 130 pre-defined commands which you can drag and drop into the macros you create.

If you like lights, this mouse is going to blow your tiny mind with "16 million illumination choices with 3 intensity and pulsation levels".

What else? Oh, hell, its a mouse. If you like WoW then pre-order one right now, right here for $99 (£58).

AC/DC: "iTunes is going to kill music"

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:44:00 GMT

It's been well-documented that Ozzie rock granddads AC/DC have snubbed Apple's iTunes Store in their latest bid for music supremacy, by not allowing the Store to stock their latest album Black Ice in digital form.

But the long-in-the-tooth rockers showed off their Luddite nature even more this week, when, in an interview with Reuters, they warned that iTunes could well be the death of music as we know it.

"Maybe I'm just being old-fashioned, but this iTunes, God bless 'em, it's going to kill music if they're not careful," said lead singer Brian Johnson.

He continued: "It just worries me. And I'm sure they're just doing it all in the interest of making as much...cash as possible. Let's put it this way, it's certainly not for the...love, let's get that out of the way, right away."

Black (market) Ice

His iTunes rant comes just days before the release of AC/DC's first album in eight years, Black Ice, which will only be sold in CD form.

Despite the lack of electronic release, however, MusicRadar is reporting that the return-to-form album has already been downloaded 40,000 times.

Where there's a will – or in this case, a BitTorrent – there's a way.

In Depth: Five easy ways to watch BBC iPlayer on your TV

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:38:00 GMT

The BBC's iPlayer is a wonderful thing, but its power is wasted if you're watching it on a titchy PC screen. From consoles to cables, here are five easy ways to put iPlayer on your plasma.

1. Stream it to your Xbox

You can stream downloaded iPlayer programmes to your Xbox 360 like any other video content via the Windows Media Extender service. For now, there's no live streaming available for Xbox - but we're keeping our fingers crossed that it's coming eventually.

2. Use your Wii or your PS3

If you've got the Wii Internet Channel (aka the Opera browser) then you can take full advantage of the iPlayer on your console, although sadly you can't use the Wiimote and nunchucks to smack annoying people on-screen. A PS3 version is currently in development, although there's a very unofficial version up and running at http://ps3iplayer.com.

3. Use Vista's Media Center

The iPlayer works quite happily in a web browser on Windows, Mac or Linux, but if you've got Vista and you'd like to access it from within the Media Center then the free and completely unofficial TunerFree MCE will be right up your street. Whether you use IE or TunerFree MCE, it's just a matter of connecting your video card to your telly.

4. Use your PMP

iPlayer works on the iPhone as well as pretty much any media player that supports Windows Media, so it's just a matter of connecting the appropriate TV out cable to your telly. If your device has Wi-Fi you'll be able to watch live streaming content, but if it doesn't you'll need to download to your PC and then copy the files to your PMP.

5. Use Cable

This one only works with Virgin Media: go to BBC1, press the red button and voila! Instant iPlayer goodness.

Firefox for Mobile: first screenshots!

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:36:00 GMT

No sooner do we break the news of the new Firefox for Mobile coming in just over a week for developers, we get some pretty pics to go with it too.

Running using Windows Mobile (presumably) 6.1, the shots show a full-HTML browser with the 'Fennec' logo, which is the codename for the new browser.

The Awesome Bar, which lets you search for pages intuitively and directly, is prominent, though can clearly be tidied away for a more screen estate for the web page itself.

Simple

A simple set of widgets help you navigate through the browser, with favourites, settings etc all present and correct, as you might expect.

It also seems Fennec has a weird fox / dog thing as its logo... whatever that's about, let's hope it stays in the alpha version.

Check out our original coverage of the FireFox for Mobile alpha release to learn all about the new browser for your handset.

Updated: London and Wales get BT's 40Mb broadband

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:31:00 GMT

BT Openreach has decided on two of its sites for its fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) pilot scheme, which is to take place next summer.

The two boroughs chosen are Muswell Hill in London and Whitchurch in South Glamorgan.

A BT spokesperson said about the fibre optic plans: "This is part of our £1.5bn investment in optical fibre deployments, and the sites were chosen in consultation with comms providers, ISPs, Regional Development Associations and because of the topology of the exchange. Basically they ticked all the right boxes."

Speed demon

To get the fibre optics into place, there will be a fair bit of digging to do, with approximately 15,000 homes to sort out with cabling, but it does mean that at the end of it, the lucky few who live in these areas will have "headline speeds of up to 40Mbit/s". Nice.

This comes after Virgin announced it is to offer speeds of up to 50Mb/s in London this year.

UPDATE

We spoke to Virgin Media about the BT news and here is the company's response: "As demand for on-line content and services grows, BT's announcement endorses Virgin Media's long-held view that super-fast broadband is what people want.

"Virgin Media is spearheading this roll-out by bringing a cutting edge 50Mb broadband service to some 12 million homes across the UK between now and the middle of 2009. Virgin Media's ability to do this is the result of a £13 billion investment in the UK's cable network."

Latest PSP and PS3 firmware updates detailed

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:11:00 GMT

Sony has added a number of new features and a few improvements on current PSP and PS3 features with its latest firmware updates, due for release in the very near future.

Firstly, PSP v5.00 update adds the PlayStation Network icon on the XMB, enabling users to sign up, manage their account and access the PlayStation Store (and, more importantly, buy games and download free demos) directly from the PSP via Wi-Fi.

You can use your PlayStation Network account details on both your PS3 and PSP. Finally, PSP update v5.00 adds a sleep timer option to be used while you are playing music on your PSP and a full screen keyboard option for text entry. Stay tuned for release details on this directly from Sony very soon.

PS3 firmware version 2.5

Sony has also released details for the next PS3 firmware update - version 2.5, which will allow gamers grab in-game screens, then upload them to a server to show off to their mates.

Sony's PSN director, Eric Lempel, lists the full details of PS3 firmware update version 2.5 over on the PlayStation blog, which are as follows:

Support for the PS3 Official Bluetooth Headset

- we've told you about the upcoming Bluetooth Headset and SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation Bundle on the Blog. This latest firmware installment enables High-Quality (HQ) mode, which delivers clear and wide-band online voice chat. On top of that, an added on-screen indicator shows battery status, volume level and use of HQ mode.

PlayStation Trophies interface enhancements - I know that many of you are busy collecting trophies and raising your PlayStation Trophy level. This update makes sharing and comparing your trophies with your friends even easier. On 1st part of the profile page you'll see a symbol under level that represents level and the actual percentage towards the next level along with the existing level meter. The level symbol carries over to the trophy comparison screen where you will now be able to see your level, your friend's level and the percentage towards the next level for both users along with all of the game by game comparison information you see today.

Friend status - Offline friends on your Friends list will have information below their avatars that will indicate how long it has been since they were last online.

Video - This update adds the Scene Search feature similar to the feature on the PSP. Activating this feature while viewing a video on the PS3 will break the video up into scenes that you can quickly access by pressing the X button. You can break the videos into one, two or five minute intervals. In addition, you can now choose to have all of the videos under the video section of the XMB play in sequence. Go to Settings then Video Settings to turn this option on.

PlayStation Store - We've added a redeem codes option right on the store to make it easier to redeem your PlayStation Network Cards and promotion codes. In addition, PlayStation Network Sign Up and Account Management have been redesigned. Power Save Settings - You can now set your PS3 and wireless controllers to turn off automatically after set periods of inactivity. Go to Settings then Power Save Settings to turn on these features.

Background Downloading - You now have the option to set the PS3 to turn off automatically after a background download or installation of content has completed (at long friggin' last). This option is available when you turn off the system from the button under [Users] while content is being downloaded or installed.

In-game Screenshots - this tool will allow everyone to capture, share and in other words, immortalize their favorite gameplay moments. This will be supported on a game by game basis. Please check back to find out which games will support this feature.

Firefox for Mobile on Nokia first

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:44:00 GMT

For those of your craving more info on Firefox for Mobile, here it is: it's coming very soon for developers, and will land on the Nokia N810 internet tablet first.

Codenamed Fennec, it will also be released in an alpha version for Windows Mobile in the next few weeks.

Jay Sullivan, Mozilla VP of mobile, says an interim solution might be for an emulator running on a PC, so developers can learn what the news system will be capable of.

Alpha, alpha, alpha beta

Sullivan also adds there will be two or three alpha versions over the next few months, prior to the beta release later in 2009.

Using the same core HTML rendering tool as found in desktop Firefox, the mobile version will be fairly similar.

It will pack the 'Awesome bar', an innovation that has been universally popular among users, where a few choice keywords, such as 'BBC' and 'tech' will take you straight to the relevant page, rather than navigating through a search engine.

It will also support touch interfaces too, so it seems this will be a browser available for nearly all devices in the near future.

Virgin Media trials targeted TV adverts

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:43:00 GMT

Virgin Media is aiming to show targeted adverts in its video on demand (VOD) over a three-month trial period – dynamically altering what is shown depending on geographic location, programme type and time of day.

The trial – which will take place in North London – has already attracted interest from the likes of Kellog's, John Lewis and Royal Mail, who have signed up for the quarter.

The ads will be inserted using SeaChange's AdPulse system, and will only be on VOD content from Virgin Media, Channel 4 and Warner TV.

Pioneer

"Virgin Media has pioneered on demand TV in the UK and we continue to innovate with new content, interactivity and functionality, said Mark Schweitzer, chief commercial officer at Virgin Media.

"As consumer usage of on demand continues to build, this trial will help us explore the best ways to reach a large and growing audience with engaging and relevant advertising."

Advertising is becoming increasingly targeted in modern society as it becomes easier to track what people are watching and likely to be interested in.

Unpopular

This has spawned unpopular scenarios online with Phorm becoming hugely controversial over its method of viewing surfing habits to serve relevant adverts.

But adverts that are based on geography, time and programme type would appear to be a little less invasive for the public (assuming no records are kept).

The viewers may, however,be more concerned that what was previously ad free will now carry sponsors' messages.

OLED lighting on the market in 2010

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:22:00 GMT

OLED lighting could be available on a commercial scale within two years if General Electric's recent manufacturing ideas go to plan.

Anil Duggan, head of GE's OLED research team, says the panels the company is creating using a printer could be ready for the market by 2010, though he agrees this is "very aggressive".

"We're trying to be as low-tech as possible," he added, highlighting one of the major problems of OLED manufacture.

Roll to roll

GE is currently working with roll-to-roll OLED printing, literally running the organic lighting material through a printing press in the same manner as a newspaper, a process which could lead to OLED lighting at around 60p per square foot.

However, sizes are currently limited to 8in panels, but GE will be building a machine over the next year that can run to much larger sizes.

"It's not going to be competitive with fluorescents in 2010," Duggal said, which added to the initial high cost of manufacture means the technology will be limited to high-end architectural areas.

But economies of scale will drive that down, as will improved techniques learned from display manufacture, where OLED is set to compete with LCD and plasma in the TV and monitor stakes.

"In the 1950s, people were talking about electroluminescence the way we talk about OLEDs today," Duggal said. "It's humbling."

Limited edition Olympus Crystal camera launched

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:19:00 GMT

Olympus has teamed up with Swarovski to bring you a camera with added bling factor.

Although the camera itself isn't new – it's essentially the Olympus mju 1040 – the model has been given a glamorous makeover, emblazoned with 98 Crystalised Swarovski Elements.

While these do absolutely nothing to improve images, they do, ahem, improve your camera's image.

Crystal clear

The crystals themselves have been placed on the protective sliding lens barrier, so shouldn't impede in shot-taking.

The Olympus Crystal comes with 3x optical zoom, shoots to a 10MP sensor, and has Intelligent Auto Mode. There's also face detection, so perfect for those with prosopagnosia.

The Olympus Crystal 1040 will be out at the end of October for £175.

Asus touchscreen Eee 'Top' pre-orders open

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:55:00 GMT

The touchscreen Eee PC rumours kicked off earlier this year way back in March, with Asus finally releasing information on the machine this month and Play.com in the UK already taking pre-orders.

A penny shy of £400 will get you Asus' cutting edge Eee 'Top' touchscreen-based desktop when it launches, later this year.

The Eee Top is by far the most advanced digital Etch-a-Sketch yet developed by humankind!

Eee Specs R Us

We expect to hear more on confirmed launch date for the UK from Asus later this very week.

Play.com claims that the specs on this white beauty include a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, 15.6-inch LCD, Windows XP Home, a 1.3-megapixel camera, built-in stereo speakers, WiFi and a bunch of ports and integrated graphics set.

It pencils the release in for November 20 (tbc, as noted above) at a price of £399.99 (again, to be officially confirmed later this week). TechRadar will, of course, have a full review of the Asus Eee Top as soon as we get one in for thorough testing.

RIM finally releases Pearl 8220 'Kickstart'

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:09:00 GMT

Reports are surfacing of the new BlackBerry Kickstart, aka the Pearl 8220, being released in the US, which means a UK launch can't be too far behind.

Berryreporter appears to be living up to its name, by reporting the new BlackBerry flip phone, the first of its kind, has been released in the US, two days ahead of the commonly believed schedule.

Over the pond

T-Mobile USA will be handling the device over the pond, which, as we know, brings Wi-Fi, microSD storage, dual-light sensing displays and the good old SureType keyboard.

The UK's official launch date is still 'autumn', so if you're holding your breath you won't have too much longer to wait it seems (though it's unlikely to debut in the next eight minutes, so if you are holding your breath we'd suggest you exhale in case you die.)

LG's hidden secret: The Prada II

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:40:00 GMT

It's not often a handset will be dubbed as 'almost identical' to the original, but that's the way LG has projected its latest Prada phone, the catchily titled Prada II.

Essentially, it's a Viewty with a metallic QWERTY keyboard bolted to its behind, and a bit of cosmetic surgery to the front three buttons, switching to metallic options rather than 'commoner' plastic.

Fashionistas

Phones like this, such as the Armani II from Samsung as well, are not designed to be innovative technology leaders, but still appeal to a mass market that doesn't really care how many megapixels the camera has.

Still, LG has decided to be generous and whack a 5MP sensor in there, along with 7.2 HSDPA. A full HTML browser and Wi-Fi connectivity are a step up from the Viewty as well, but pale in comparison to the 8MP KC910 Renoir also recently announced from LG.

This handset will be coming later in Q4 this year for selected European markets, including the UK, for around £475.

Five AIs fail Turing Test

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:24:00 GMT

Five computers competing in a Turing test at the University of Reading used tricks and jokes in order to fool the judges – but ultimately failed to win a pass mark.

The Turing test, created by Alan Turing, posits that for an AI to be recognised as such it must fool a human in a conversation into thinking that they are talking to another human.

The University of Reading attracted six contestants – reduced to five after one could not be set up in time – and although the most successful entrant walked away with a cash prize – its 25 per cent success rate was not enough to get the Turing seal of approval.

Elbot

The winner was Elbot – created by Fred Roberts – winning the Loebner Artificial Intelligence Prize's bronze medal for an impressive showing in which it convinced three of the 12 judges that it was actually the human.

How did it manage this? Well is appears that an impressive opening gambit of joking about being a machine lured produced a fine double bluff.

"Hi. How's it going?" one judge began. "I feel terrible today," Elbot replied. "This morning I made a mistake and poured milk over my breakfast instead of oil, and it rusted before I could eat it."

Genius.

UK games devs face potential market failure

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:05:00 GMT

A new market report of the UK games development industry claims that the government needs to offer a 20 per cent tax credit to help developers avoid bankruptcy.

The Games Up campaign's Games Impact report will make for interesting reading in the Treasury, as it claims that UK games devs compete "on uneven international playing fields" due to the lucrative tax breaks available to their counterparts in Canada, France, Australia and the US.

"As a result, global companies are beginning to look at subsidised territories for their next partners or studios despite Britain's reputation as an industry-leading talent pool."

Games to follow film industry?

Games Up wants a 20 per cent production tax credit for UK games developers from the government, along the same lines as moneys made available to the UK film industry.

There are over 10,000 games developers currently working in the UK, with the industry in total employing 28,100 people and contributing over a billion pounds per annum to the UK's Gross Domestic Product and £420 million for the Exchequer in tax revenues.

The report adds that the UK's games industry "invests 14 per cent of its turnover in R&D, some of which spills over into other sectors; games developers are clustered around eight hubs in the UK, the effect of which is to enhance productivity within the industry; and the video games sector generates cultural spillovers, including strengthening the UK's brand image, its record for technological achievement and the promotion of tourism".

Shoe-friendly airport scanner launched

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:49:00 GMT

Trying to get past airport security these days is akin to taking part in the Krypton Factor.

First you have to empty your gadget-filled pockets into a plastic tray (iPod, phone, watch), then half-undress by taking off your belt – there's usually a very good reason why you are wearing a belt – and finally you have to surrender your shoes, and with them your dignity.

The need to de-shoe is now a thing of the past in Israel, however, thanks to a fancy new scanner that lets you leave your shoes on.

The step-on X-ray machine allows you to be scanned for weapons and the like fully clothed. The only people likely to take of their shoes are the dodgy looking ones, as the machine can't yet scan for bombs.

MagShoe

Called the MagShoe, the whole shoe-scanning process takes just two seconds and is positioned next to the walk-through scanners.

Unsurprisingly, the machine has cut down on waiting times. Nissim Ben-Ezra, security technologies manager for Israel's Airports Authority, said about the machine: "This innovation brings enormous logistical value as it significantly cuts down the discomfort and delays associated with standard shoe searches."

And the best bit about is that MagShoe costs just £3000. This is a small price to pay to cut down the smell of cheesy feet up and down airports in the UK in an instant.

Let's just hope Britain cottons on to these machines sooner rather than later.