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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.

In Depth: 20 Mac apps you can't live without

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:10:00 GMT

The selection of great free or inexpensive Mac programs on offer has never been better. You can now get amazing software designed by small or independent developers to cover practically anything you could ever want to do on your Mac.

Since the mass adoption of OS X, Apple has made it easier than ever for people to build their own applications, and as a result there's a flourishing community making everything from games and novelties through to office applications, web design software, video compression and iPod tools and much more.

Thanks to the developer tools provided by Apple, OS X shareware programs, unlike Windows versions, tend to be slick, well designed, stable and a pleasure to use so there's really never been a better time to be a Mac user on a budget.For every big, expensive program like Office or Photoshop, there's almost always a smaller alternative with a great feature set that costs a fraction of the price, or even costs nothing at all.

Read on to discover Mac Format magazine's 20 great Apple gems!

1. OpenOffice.org
Microsoft Office for the Mac is ironically regarded as being better than the Windows version, but it still costs more money than most can afford to pay. From the MacFormat disc this issue, you can download OpenOffice.org 2, and it's a remarkably accomplished program. The result of many years of open source development, it includes advanced word processing, spreadsheet, multimedia presentation, graphical planning and database applications. In short, everything that you get with Office, only for free. It is compatible with leading document format standards so exchanging files with people who are using Office won't be a problem.

2. VisualHub
iPods and iPhones both support video playback, but first you have to get your movies into the correct format. A cheaper and faster alternative to QuickTime Pro is VisualHub at $23 from www.techspansion. com. Not only will it crunch a movie to the right format much quicker than you expect, it will let you convert pretty much any video format into any other video format, complete with size and crop options. There are also handy presets for converting for specific devices. Even for video professionals, it's a very handy tool to have.

3. VLC media player
There are lots of video codecs in use across the web, and since many originate from the world of Windows, QuickTime isn't always able to play them back properly, even with something like Perian installed. VLC Media Player is a free video player that has support for just about any video you're ever likely to come across. It's usually able to open and play back videos that no other application that's currently around can do. In addition, it has advanced network features for playing streams and will get you out of a fix when you're struggling to open movie files.

4. Cyberduck
Transferring files to and from web servers over FTP can be a little hit and miss using Finder. A great free solution is Cyberduck, which is a powerful but easy-to-use program that supports all leading file transfer standards and protocols and makes transferring files as easy as dragging and dropping. With support for Spotlight, Keychains and iDisk, it integrates perfectly with OS X and is the perfect companion for iWeb if you're using your own domain. You can even bookmark and store settings to manage multiple FTP accounts easily.

5. OnyX
There are many parts of OS X that you can normally only access using the command line. Unless, that is, you use OnyX, a free system cleaning and maintenance utility. It's able to perform important system maintenance and cleaning tasks like clearing out logs, caches and temporary files that build up over time, can become corrupted and can even slow down your Mac. It also gives you access to hidden OS X settings via the Parameters tab, including customising the appearance and behaviour of the Dock, Finder, Dashboard, Safari and Exposé amongst others.

6. iStat Pro
iStat Pro is a great free system monitoring widget for OS X, comprising nine sections which can be hidden or shown. It will display detailed information about your Mac's CPU, RAM, hard drives, network addresses and data transfer, battery, current uptime and the temperature inside various parts of the Mac. It does this by hooking into the many sensors that your Mac has but doesn't allow access to through Finder. It's a good way to keep an eye on your Mac's insides and troubleshoot any problems.

7. AppCleaner
Removing unwanted applications from your system is rarely quite as simple as dragging the app to the Trash. Programs tend to place library and support files in other places you may not know about. AppCleaner is able to find the small files deposited around the system by apps during their install and remove those at the same time as the main app. It's possible to protect some apps from being deleted so you can use it with confidence and stop your Mac becoming cluttered with unwanted support files.

8. Chocoflop
This curiously-named image and photo editor from www.chocoflop.com is an interesting alternative to Photoshop and iPhoto. Well designed, it is able to work with RAW files and export and import in many file formats. It also has tools to retouch images and paint on them, and dozens of filters, layer support and more. Unlike iPhoto it can work with rich text layers, and has a feature-set that is significantly more advanced.

9. AppFresh
Software Update handles OS X and Apple programs, but keeping track of updates for your many installed applications can be tiresome. Some have check for updates options but they all work separately from one another. AppFresh checks osx.iusethis. com to notify you of new versions of all your programs, widgets and preference panes. It lets you download them, too, though as it's currently in development you could simply use it as a notifier until it's thoroughly tested with all applications.

10. Adium X
iChat is a great instant messaging program but not compatible with all the many instant messaging account types in use around the world. Adium supports just about every protocol in existence and is available for multiple platforms, so however obscure someone's setup, you should be able to talk to them. It's also highly customisable so you can change its appearance in minute detail. With great features like tabbed chats and file transfer, it can manage multiple account types in a single window so you'll never miss an online chat again.

11. Carbon Copy Cloner
For those without Apple's Time Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner is a great free way to create byte-forbyte copies of your hard drives for backup and restore purposes.

12. MacLoc
MacLoc activates Leopard's Fast User Switching function, making it look like you have logged out when you leave your Mac, even though all apps and documents will still be active.

13. coconutWiFi
Use coconutWiFi for free to scan for wireless networks when out and about with your laptop, and see if they are password protected or open.

14. Dock Spaces
Use the fabulous Dock Spaces to store up to five different Dock configurations and switch between them from the menu bar.

15. Pingus
Pingus is a free clone of the ultra-addictive classic Lemmings game, available from the Apple website games section or from this issue's disc.

16. SnapNDrag
SnapNDrag is a simple but useful screenshot utility that lets you click and drag to take grabs and select different image formats as you do so.

17. NeoOffice
NeoOffice is a port of the excellent and free OpenOffice.org suite of office applications that runs natively on OS X and can exchange documents in Microsoft's Office format.

18. Hide Folders 2008
Use Hide Folders 2008 to conceal your files and folders from others to keep them private. If you do wish to share them, they can be made visible again by setting a password.

19. Skim
Skim is a free PDF reader and editor with advanced functions like the ability to annotate and edit PDFs and extract data with more flexibility than OS X's own Preview application.

20. YouControl: Tunes
This program sits in the menu bar and gives you quick access to all aspects of iTunes playback, including artwork without you having to leave your work.

First published in MacFormat, Issue 200

Microsoft in DHL rift

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:03:00 GMT

Microsoft is suing the US arm of courier service DHL after a vast quantity of its consoles were damaged.

In total 21,600 Xbox 360s were allegedly damaged, due to a train derailment in the US state of Texas. The train was carrying two containers filled with Microsoft stock.

In total, Microsoft is looking to recoup $2 million of damages because of the crash, citing that the consoles were subject to "impact damage, wetting, pilfering and shortage".

Negligent

The incident occurred last August, but it has taken over a year to land in the courts. This is because DHL is refusing to take the blame for the damages.

According to court papers, DHL "negligently breached its duties as a common carrier, handler, bailee, warehouseman, agent, or in other capabilities." The case continues.

Hackers account for just 1% of data loss

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:25:00 GMT

Hackers account for only a measly one per cent of companies lost data according to a survey in the United States – with negligence bar far and away the largest problem.

Although it is the ability of hackers to steal important data from companies that attracts the most media attention, a Compuware survey found that it was the smallest contributor to data loss.

In fact malice, including insider action (26%), accounted for only just over a quarter of the problem, with social engineering garnering another two per cent

Human error

Given the amount of civil servants who have hit the headlines for leaving laptops, discs and USB sticks on public transport or flogging old computers with the HDDs still crammed with important info, it was negligence that topped the survey.

An extraordinary 75 per cent of those surveyed pointed to human negligence as the biggest contributor to data loss.

So there you have it, why bother with all that hard work hacking into somebody's system when you could just wait for them to hand you the keys to the company database?

Nokia confirms N-series touchscreen phone

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:43:00 GMT

Nokia has sprung something of a, well, obvious statement by announcing that it will be bringing an N-series branded touchscreen phone in the coming months.

Devinder Kishore, director marketing, Nokia India, said: "We will have lot of touchscreen phones coming up,including an N-series device very soon."

Speculation about what the device might be has led to the inevitable belief the new phone will be the N97, with an 8MP camera truly making it the flagship device to bring Nokia into the touchscreen fight.

Losing appeal

But it's more likely that Nokia will look around the N85 mark, not wanting to cannibalise the N96 handset's appeal after releasing it so recently.

Word is the new handset will be launched in the latter part of Q4 2008, but given the delay on the 5800 XpressMusic until 2009 in developed markets, don't be surprised if nobody has heard anything by February.

CBS starts broadcasting on YouTube

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:42:00 GMT

CBS has become the latest US broadcaster to offer full length programmes over YouTube – but UK viewers will not be able to beat the crowds as the service is limited to over the pond.

With HBO and CBS already experimenting with the popular video site, CBS are now content to offer classic shows like Star Trek and more modern fare like Ghost Whisperer online.

UK broadcasters have certainly been no slouch in this area, with a huge array of online content available – including the hugely popular BBC iPlayer, but those viewers hoping to skip the wait for new American series by watching them legally are out of luck.

Blocked

The YouTube channels currently filter by geographical location and block non-US visitors accessing the programmes – leaving people with a long wait or moral decision on whether to access the content illegally.

This is obviously because of the huge revenues generated by selling the programmes to foreign broadcasters.

However, the writing appears to be on the wall for lengthy waits for television series, with stations catching on to the fact that the longer they leave it, the more people seek alternative options.

Many UK broadcasters are now airing programmes on our televisions just days or weeks after they are first broadcast in the US, such as the new series of Heroes, which has less than a month's lag on our stateside friends.