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BBC iPlayer comes to Nokia phones

Gareth Beavis — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 23:01:00 GMT

Nokia and BBC have announced a partnership deal that will allow users to watch the iPlayer on the Finns' mobile phones.

From 1 October this year Nokia N96 owners will be able to watch all the programming over 3G or Wi-Fi.

Considering this is the release date of the handset as well, it's a pretty big selling point for the official vendors.

The iPlayer will be available via an application downloaded to the phone, though will come pre-loaded on most N96s.

Raise the bar

Simon Ainslie, Managing Director at Nokia, said: "The Nokia N96 is going to provide a gateway to quality viewing on the move and will raise the bar for mobile screen and audio entertainment.

"The enormous success of iPlayer has demonstrated the desire audiences have for accessing programmes at a time and a place that suits them."

Erik Huggers, BBC Director of Future Media and Technology, said: "Over the past eight months we have worked tirelessly to ensure BBC iPlayer is available on as many platforms as possible, from the PC and TV to games consoles and mobiles.

"This partnership is critical to ensuring we continue to reach out to audiences wherever they are and allow them to catch-up on their favourite BBC programmes."

The iPlayer is unlikely to use any data from a data plan, as the BBC has pledged to make all its mobile services exempt from such charges.

CEDIA 08: Belkin Flywire vs JVC wireless HDMI

Mark Harris — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 21:57:00 GMT

It's typical. You wait the entire span of human recorded history for a wireless transmission technology that can handle High Definition video, then two come along at once.

CEDIA 2008 saw the unveiling of rival wireless HD systems from Belkin and JVC. Belkin's FlyWire box is closest to launch, using the Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI) developed by Amimon, Motorola and Sony.

Engadget saw the FlyWire AV69003 beaming jaggie-free Blu-ray video across the show floor. The AV69003 can connect to up to six sources (three HDMI, two component and one S-video) and should sell for around $1500 (£860) when it launches in the US this October.

High wireless act

JVC's 'High Definition Wireless Transmission' system won't be decluttering living rooms until next year at the earliest. It claims to be able to handle a 3Gbps data connection, allowing for uncompressed 1080p transmission via a single HDMI socket. There was no suggestion of pricing yet.

Both seem to work fine but we're finding it difficult to get too excited about them. For wireless HD to really take off, three things need to happen. Firstly, the price needs to come down. Way down, if this 51p HDMI cable (plus shipping) on Amazon is any guide.

Secondly, the technology has to standardise - connectivity is no place for a format war. Finally, the technology needs to come built in to a critical mass of players, consoles and TVs. And all of those are long way off right now....

LG and Prada team up for second touch-sensitive phone

Mark Harris — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:12:00 GMT

Fed up with skeletal Size Zero mobile phones prancing about on catwalks? The new Prada fashion phone from LG should be more reflective of real-life figures, with a waistline that has swollen from its svelte original 12mm to a lardy 17mm, according to Boy Genius Report.

The cause of all this bulk? A slide-out Qwerty keyboard that all but admits the 3-inch 240x400-resolution touchscreen isn't really up to proper typing.

Full fat features

The Prada phone has grown up more than just a couple of dress sizes, though. It's now home to a Infineon MP-EH + M180 chipset, dual-band HSDPA, wi-fi and a motion sensor (though not an actual GPS receiver).

As befits as a phone that's largely about image, the on board camera also receives an upgrade, from a paltry 2MP in the first handset to a rather smart 5MP snapper.

Expect an imminent official announcement at a price that compares favourably with Apple's strokable touch phone.

YouTube videos to get spring clean?

Mark Harris — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:36:00 GMT

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications have come up with a way to make YouTube videos cleaner.

Don't start flaming them about censorship just yet, though, as their efforts have nothing to do with reducing the number of nipples on everyone's favourite home-made naughtiness showcase.

The Berlin scientists have come up with a way to reduce the numbers of digital stutters, glitches and hiccups in YouTube videos and other clips based on the H.264/AVC MPEG-4 format - such as Apple's iTunes movie downloads and BBC HD satellite broadcasts.

Important packets

Digital video clips get jerky when packets of data are lost, when an internet node is overloaded or terrestrial transmissions are interrupted by a thunder storm, for example. T

he Fraunhofer Institute has developed a new encoding technique for H.264/AVC called Scalable Video Coding (SVC) that adds additional data packets to just the important parts of the data stream, allowing video players to recover critical packets of lost data and give fault-free viewing of even High Definition signals.

Interruptions and internet bottle-necks will still degrade the quality of the signal but the video should never freeze up completely. Even better, the new SVC encoded clips will run automatically on all current players and devices.

Fraunhofer boffins will present the new technology at the IBC conference in Amsterdam next week.

Samsung set to buy SanDisk?

Gareth Beavis — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:17:00 GMT

Samsung and SanDisk are apparently in talks over a possible takeover, with the Koreans looking to buy the market-leading memory card manufacturer.

According to an online Korean newspaper, Samsung is aiming to take over the company, though neither party will confirm or deny the story.

"We are considering various opportunities regarding SanDisk but nothing has been decided," Samsung spokesman James Chung said.

Unconfirmed

"SanDisk periodically has conversations with multiple parties, including Samsung, regarding a variety of potential business opportunities," SanDisk said in released statement.

"We evaluate all of these opportunities, but maintain a policy of not commenting on market rumours or speculation."

Samsung has long been a supplier of NAND flash memory to SanDisk, the material used to store the info on the memory card.

Samsung is heavily investing in flash memory at the moment, as it sees it as the obvious successor to HDDs used in computers and hand held devices.

Sony's DSC-G3 cyber-shot on horizon

Gareth Mason — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:00:00 GMT

The successor to Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-G1 is heading our way. The Sony DSC-G3 will be 802.11b/g Wi-Fi capable like its 6MP predecessor. This allows it to share photographs with other DNLA applicances, both computers and similarly specified cameras.

The 3.5-inch LCD is expected to carry over from the DSC-G1 including the use of a touchscreen. Other expected changes are an increase in the storage capacity above 2GB and a more powerful sensor – probably moving up from 6MP to something in the range of 10MP.

The sneak view we have had of it suggests that elegant and svelte will still be words left undisturbed in the thesaurus, while meaty and substantial will still be very appropriate.

Updated: Dell Inspiron Mini 9 comes with 3G

Marc Chacksfield — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:47:00 GMT

Finally the rumour mill can stop churning, as Dell has officially announced the launch of its entry into the increasingly popular netbook market, the Inspiron Mini 9.

As we notified you in August that the Inspiron Mini 9 houses a 8.9in – quoted as glossy – LED display (1024x600), Intel Graphic Media Accelerator 950 and a webcam. Wi-Fi is also included as is built-in Bluetooth.

Other specs include: 1GB 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory, an Intel 965PM / GM Express Chipset,
16GB Solid State drive.

Connections coming in the form of 3 USB 2.0 ports, VGA video connector and mic-in, line-out audio jacks. There's also 3-in-1 Media Card Reader.

All in all, this package weighs in at a rather light 1.035 kg.

Is the price right?

What has been getting people excited is the fact the notebook comes with Ubuntu 8.04. And while this is the case, the Linux version of the Dell won't be shipping for a few weeks. Good news, however, is that it is the cheaper option at £269.

It will cost you £299 for an Inspiron Mini 9 with Windows XP Home, but this netbook is available immediately, available in black only.

Price might be a sticking point for some people when it comes to buying, especially as Dell is looking to take on the likes of the cheaper Asus Eee PC.

When we spoke to Michael Browne, editor of What Laptop, a few weeks ago, he said to us that how much it will cost will determine the Inspiron Mini 9's impact on the market.

"If the Dell Netbook is to be a real Eee PC killer it'll need to do more than just deliver on time – it'll need a great price, which means being under £200," said Browne.

Looking at it, though, the Dell certainly beats Asus in the style stakes.

UPDATE: Dell has revealed, strangely after it released its press release, that its Inspiron Mini 9 will come with built-in 3G, trumping other netbooks on the market. This has just made the laptop a whole lot more appealing.

Dell has also teamed up with Vodafone as well, so you will be able to grab yourself a Mini Inspiron 9 when you sign up to certain Vodafone packages.

Police question BT about secret Phorm trials

Peter Gothard — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:39:00 GMT

Following the fallout earlier this year over BT's deployment of the Phorm online targeted advertising technology, a full investigation has finally been launched by police.

The probe follows a July protest at BT's Annual General Meeting at the Barbican, when an anti-Phorm group gathered to show their disapproval at the two trials the telecommunications giant carried out in 2006, supplying Phorm with access to thousands of London BT customers' browsing history without telling them. At the time, reports The Register, BT insisted that the secret trial was entirely legal, even though it appeared to breach wiretapping laws.

Internal documents

In the time since, the protesters have put together a dossier of evidence to try and prove BT's skullduggery, apparently including the internal documents detailing the 2006 trial itself, which apparently state that the two week operation's specific aim was to track BT's 18,000 LOndon customers without them knowing.

While there's no indication at the moment that formal proceedings will take place, BT has said it took legal advice when running the trials, and was told that it was not breaking the law. Data law experts still apparently maintain that it broke several criminal statutes.

The European Commission continues to pursue its own investigation into Phorm and specifically BT's trials of its technology, so it's not looking good for the communications firm right now.

Games ratings: Byron review consultation

Adam Hartley — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:08:00 GMT

The games ratings row between the UK games industry and the BBFC rumbles on this week, with latest salvos fired from both sides of the fence.

On the one side we have the European Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) that issued a press release today clearly headed, "Computer Games Industry Tells Margaret Hodge There Is Consensus On Age Ratings."

"The computer games industry has today responded to calls from Culture Minister, Margaret Hodge, for the need to work together to find the best solution to computer games age ratings," reads the release.

Government wants consensus

The ELSPA release adds: "While discussing the findings of the Byron report during an interview in the latest issue of In Stock Magazine, the Minister, said: "What I would love to get to is a consensus from the industry as to how best we protect the interests of children.""

Mike Rawlinson, managing director, ELSPA, adds: "The computer games industry takes its responsibility to protect children and educate parents very seriously and we hope that the Minister will recognise this and agree to support PEGI as the primary ratings system in the UK."

Nintendo, Codemasters and Mastertronic bosses are quoted in the ELSPA release all backing the PEGI system.

Give PEGI 'legal teeth'

Andy Payne, chairman of Mastertonic, notes: "But such a system must be legally enforceable. To that end, PEGI fits the bill in terms of its approach and delivery, it just needs some legal teeth in the UK to make it the obvious choice over and above all other options."

ELSPA's so-called consensus, it seems, doesn't extend to independent ratings board, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) currently the only organisation with the 'legal teeth' Payne refers to (ie the ability to fine renegade retailers that flout the law and sell 18 rated games to minors).

BBFC hits back

In response to ELSPA's press announcement, a BBFC rep told TechRadar

"Like the Government, the BBFC accepts Dr Byron's recommendations in full. Dr Byron spent several months listening to evidence from many people, including consumers as well as games publishers. The BBFC believes that her recommendations are based on a very sound analysis. If implemented, they will be effective in protecting children without putting a disproportionate regulatory burden on the industry."

The rep added: "The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee also looked at who should classify video games, and took evidence from the games industry and ELSPA and came out in favour of the BBFC having a greater involvement with the classification of video games because the PEGI system was not up to it.

"If, following the present consultation, the Government chooses to accept Dr Byron's recommendations, then the BBFC, with 24 years experience of classifying games, looks forward to working with all those involved - games publishers, developers, retailers, PEGI, Government, and most importantly gamers and parents, to ensure an effective classification system which protects children from harmful or otherwise inappropriate content both online and offline; and which meets the requirements of the video game industry."

The Byron review consultation continues, so stay tuned for further news updates as we get them.

In Depth: Five wacky jobs you never thought would exist at Google

Dan Grabham — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:03:00 GMT

OK, so we haven't quite got Google's baker. Or the butcher. And it doesn't quite scan right. But we do have an exclusive interview with a Google chef among other Googlers in jobs you wouldn't necessarily associate with Google's usual mission to bag up the world's information.

We've interviewed people working for Google in London and Bangalore as well as spoken to the chap responsible for Googlifing the search giant's European offices; you'll even find out what part of the office is made from faux leather leiderhosen! And then there's the chap who founded meditation classes at the company. It's all in a day's work for these people…

Adrian Evans – top chef

"It's a really diverse role and that's what attracted me to join the party at Google really. We have a lot to do with sustainability and the environment. Day to day we've got to keep the Googlers happy, producing a diverse and varied menu for them – breakfast, lunch and dinner. We also have a [special lunch] on a Friday, which is a little bit of a celebration and get together, and introduction for new Googlers.

"We're looking at providing a really nutritious, healthy diet to encourage the Googlers to live that sort of lifestyle. We run the café, we've got the deli and we've six micro-kitchens with grab-and-go food. We're looking at where we're sourcing the produce from, making sure we're only providing free range eggs and poultry, local farmers, supporting the local community. We don't add salt or sugar at all. Everything is cooked with fresh produce.

"We have a wide variety of dishes to cater for the people that work at Google from around the globe. Before I worked for Google I worked in fine dining restaurants and hotels. In all honesty, there aren't many kitchens around London – even in five star hotels – that get to work with the type of produce that I do every day. It's so diverse. Different from where I've worked before? Massively."

Ben Kott – the green guy

"I've been at Google almost three years now and I moved into this role at the beginning of the year. The role is called Green Business Operations. I'm looking at everything in our European operation apart from data centres; they're working over in Mountain View to make our data centres more efficient.

"So I look after office buildings, recycling and waste management and also how employees can get involved. It's quite a varied role and I'm full time on this (100 per cent green!). We have green officers in each office. I'm looking after London and coordinating things across Europe. I'm in a lucky position as I'm very passionate about these things."

Omid Ashtari – the meditator

"I started four years ago in Dublin in our sales team there and worked for two years. And then about one and a half years ago I came to London. My day job role is strategic partnership development manager – quite a mouthful. I license content for Google, so that product managers can use that content to make our products better. So, for example, some of the satellite imagery in Google Maps.

"Although we're a large company now, we strive to keep the startup spirit, so if people see something they like, we can bring it up. I saw this article about meditation in The Financial Times from [London meditation and self development centre] Inner Space about meditation at work.

"If thought it was a good idea, spoke to them and talked to HR. They really liked the idea. We got them to come over and started these sessions. People really got involved and it's a popular thing to go to in the lunch break. It starts with a meditation facilitator giving you a guide to meditation. When you get used to it and embrace it, it has a lot of benefits."

Lalit Katragadda – map maker

"I'm a software engineer at Google in Bangalore, the technical lead for the team that I'm on right now. I've been [here] for the last six years in various roles as at Google you're not really restricted. Google MapMaker was launched about a month ago and since in 58 countries. We're creating high-quality map data for parts of the world where local maps and information is missing.

"[Google's] mission is to organize the world's information and if people don't have rich local information we don't have much to organise! That's the problem we're solving. Three years ago we talked to the founders, they liked the idea and we built the technology for it. It's like a startup environment where you build a prototype and if everybody likes it we use it internally.

"The object is to capture deep and broad information that's also fresh. The only way you can do this is by involving people, but you also need technology for high quality geodata. Is it just for countries with poor map data? That's not true. We want to focus on places like Africa. We've just launched maps of Kenya.

But for the UK, US and so on, there's a need for fresh local content. What's there currently is mostly like a phone directory. If I search for a pub in London, I'm also interested in what the events on are, as well as the menu. That's the other dimension of MapMaker."

Jason Harper – office Googlifier

"I'm based in Hamburg, though I've been responsible for several different locations. What makes [my role] very different is that we've had so much growth over the years that we have to be very creative in the use of space.

"There's always something going on, always something that needs to be changed or modified. We have a lot to do with design. I call myself the 'design police' in the German offices! We have to make sure that when you walk through the door that you recognize two things. Firstly that you recognize you're in a Google office, and secondly, that you recognise you're in a Google office in Zurich or wherever it may be.

"One thing we've learned is that teamwork works well, and people need to sit together. We always have open offices so there's a lot of communication. We also try and counterbalance with comfortable and cosy breakout spaces. The pictures are true! There might be somewhere you can have a massage or play [table football].

"By providing comfortable spaces, people can go back [refreshed] to the open office spaces. As far as the local aspects go, in Munich the reception desk is made out of faux-leather leiderhosen and in Hamburg we've got photos of container ships and we use faux containers as projection screens. It starts off as a wacky idea!

"One of the things I'm most proud of is having proved that things really do work. I'm actually American, but I didn't come from Google US – I'm married to a German. I came from the design and construction side of things. I stumbled across the ad and it's one of those things where you think, "that can't possibly be true" but the next thing you know, there you are. I'll have been here five years in October."

Heathrow becomes UK's largest Wi-Fi hotspot

Marc Chacksfield — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:01:00 GMT

Heathrow's controversial Terminal 5 building has been given a web-based boost, thanks to T-Mobile. The newest of the airport's terminals has been turned into a massive Wi-Fi hotspot.

The Wi-Fi coverage is so big that it is said to be the size of 50 football pitches – making it the UK's largest Wi-Fi hotspot.

Speed-wise, users can expect to get up to 8Mbps, when they log their laptops on.

When is a hotspot not?

There is a price to pay, however, unless you are lucky enough to be a T-Mobile customer.

If you haven't signed up to T-Mobile, then expect to pay £5 for an hour's surfing or £10 for the whole day – just in case that essential bit of luggage never quite makes it.

If you are a T-Mobile user and log on via the company's High-Speed Uplink Packet Access, then you will also be given faster broadband at the airport – 5x faster.

In Depth: Tech Choice: The tech-head's university survival kit

Reviews team — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:00:00 GMT

There's no question about what you should do with that lump sum when your loan comes through at the beginning of term – squirrel it away to pay for text books, stock up on cans of baked beans and top up your library photocopying card.

1. Advent 4211

There's also no question that in the first flushes of independence, and with a monumental sum of 'free' cash suddenly appearing in the bank account, priority number one is going to be tooling up with some tasty tech.

If you can tenuously justify it to "help with your course" then all the better. Because you're inevitably going to treat yourself (probably to your parents' chagrin).

Here are the ten items you should be buying, with a total budget of under £850 – you still need to eat, you know...

While plenty of the items on this list could be dismissed as spurious luxuries, a notebook is genuinely an essential for university.

Striking a brilliant three-way balance between size, performance and price, the innocuously-named Advent 4211 is portable enough to sling in a rucksack before a lecture, but has plenty of room for MP3s to drown out the lecturer if it all gets too dull.

Best of all you can grab one in PC World the day the cash appears in your account.

Price: £279.99
Buy: www.pcworld.co.uk
TechRadar review

2. OCZ Rally 2 32GB

Whether you're ferrying documents to and from the Uni computer rooms, or simply sharing photos of a debauched night out with your mates, a decent USB key is vital for a stress-free student life.

The Rally 2 32GB is capacious enough that even if your major is in the visual arts you'll have room for the resultant high-def videos. It's also lightning quick and small enough to be popped in a pocket.

Price £71.97
Buy: www.overclock.co.uk
TechRadar review

3. Sansa FUZE 4GB

Killing two birds with one stone, not only is the FUZE a capable MP3 player that will serve you well drowning out the drunkards on the night bus back to halls, it also boasts an excellent quality voice recorder.

That means you can record those vital lectures when you're too hungover to concentrate the next morning.

Price £68.95
Buy: www.memorycardzoo.co.uk
TechRadar review

4. HP PhotoSmart A526

A photo printer is ideal for university, not only because you'll want photos of family and old school chums dotted around your halls of residence, but also because you'll no doubt be taking photos of your friends on hedonistic nights out. And the student newspaper may want hard copies.

The PhotoSmart A526 is great quality, and is small enough not to clutter your bijou student accommodation.

Price: £56.07
Buy: www.microwarehouse.co.uk
TechRadar Review

5. Hercules Mobile DJ Preview Edition

No doubt you'll find yourself hosting your fair share of house parties and imposing your penchant for Mongolian folk/techno fusion on your guests.

If you're playing DJ, why not spin with style using the Hercules Mobile DJ unit. Best of all, it's wireless, so you can still mill around making friends as you mix.

Price £64.51
Buy: www.comwales.com

6. Shake To Charge Flashlight

Perfect when you're fumbling around for the key to your residence at 4am on a moonless November evening, this torch is charged with 30 seconds of vigorous shaking, and will then shine bright for up to five minutes.

It's an LED lamp and the batteries are built in so it never requires maintenance – perfect for students!

Price: £9.99
Buy: www.qfonic.com

7. Creative Vado

There will be some momentous events at uni where photographs simply won't do it justice, so having a decent handy camera that you can whip out at opportune moments is extremely useful.

The Vado's only 640 x 480, but that's almost certainly more than enough detail for putting your mate's naked dissertation dash on YouTube.

Price: £61.92
Buy: www.lambda-tek.com
TechRadar review

8. Logitech QuickCam for Notebooks Pro

Everyone gets homesick once in a while, so if you want to chat to friends and relatives from your university hundreds of miles away, a decent webcam means you can pester them face to face.

You'll even be able to show them the throne you've built from empty cans of Carlsberg. Logitech's QuickCam for Notebooks Pro will clip nicely to your laptop and can be slipped easily into a bag.

Price: £44.99
Buy: www.play.com
TechRadar review

9. PSP Slim and Lite

Long train journey home to see the folks on the cards? You could do much worse than picking up Sony's PSP Slim.

Not only is it a handy games machine, but the large, wide screen and comfortable shape makes it perfect for watching videos on public transport. If you're on National Express for the long haul north or south, it also includes W-iFi support and a built-in browser.

Price: £129.97
Buy: www.asda-electricals.co.uk
TechRadar review

10. Pure Siesta DAB Alarm Clock

Of course, in the middle of all this gadget fun there are going to be dry engagements, such as lectures and seminars that you'll be required to attend if you want /next/ year's loan.

A decent alarm clock is a good investment, and this offering from Pure has both DAB and FM radio, multiple alarms and low power consumption to save you a crippling electricity bill.

Price: £49.95
Buy: www.superfi.co.uk
TechRadar review

Scientists get death threats from idiots over possible apocalypse

Gareth Beavis — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:55:00 GMT

Although not from the criminal underworld, death threats are still being sent to scientists in Switzerland ahead of the turning on of a Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

The plan is to smash particles together at near light speed, helping to solve some of the universe's mysteries. But chinese whispers created a rumour that this could create a black hole, sucking the world and all existence into it. Next Wednesday, if you're wondering.

Death threats

Frank Wilczek, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has received death threats, said Prof Brian Cox of Manchester University to The Telegraph, saying in as frank a manner as possible: "Anyone who thinks the LHC will destroy the world is a twat."

The head of PR James Gillies, the public's contact for info on the £4.5 billion machine, apparently is inundated with people fearing for their lives.

"There are a number who say: "You are evil and dangerous and you are going to destroy the world."

"I find myself getting slightly angry, not because people are getting in touch but the fact they have been driven to do that by what is nonsense. What we are doing is enriching humanity, not putting it at risk."

Nature more of a danger

The whole issue has been validated as completely safe, with more dangerous cosmic rays constantly found in nature than could ever be produced by the machine.

The Safety Assessment Group, which has conducted an in-depth study into the potential impact of the machine, writes, "Each collision of a pair of protons in the LHC will release an amount of energy comparable to that of two colliding mosquitoes, so any black hole produced would be much smaller than those known to astrophysicists."

And we've seen mosquitoes colliding. Not a lot happened. Even they didn't seem to notice.

GTA coming to Wii?

Peter Gothard — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:11:00 GMT

After revealing storming third quarter finances in a conference call, Take Two CEO Ben Feder has hinted at a possible Wii iteration to join the in-development DS Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars game.

With GTA IV contributing heavily, Take Two's net income this year comes to £29 million, comparing favourably with a £33 million loss the year before. It's clear that the franchise is a rather lucrative prospect for the company, and a Wii GTA game is definitely something fans have been clamouring for since the console's launch.

"With respect to GTA Chinatown I will tell you that we've spent an enormous amount of time and effort working with Nintendo and developing that partnership," said CEO Feder.

Step it up

"We think we have significant value to add to that partnership and that's not a one-way relationship in any way. GTA Chinatown Wars is not even the first step but certainly an important step in continuing to develop that relationship."

So far, so cryptic, until somebody asked Feder directly about GTA and the Wii, and Feder said without commenting "specifically whether it is coming to the Wii or not, I will say that Nintendo and Take Two work very well together. Nintendo and Rockstar are beginning to work well together and we intend to continue to grow that relationship."

TechRadar contacted Rockstar, to be met with a firm and decisive "no comment", but keep checking back for more news on this.

New Michael Moore film released online for free

Marc Chacksfield — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:04:00 GMT

Political commentator Michael Moore is to distribute his new movie online for free as a "gift to his fans," according to the filmmaker.

The movie, Slacker Uprising, charts the lead up to 2004 Presidential elections, when Moore visited over 60 campuses to get the students to vote.

While the film won't be getting a theatrical release – this was never going to happen, according to Moore – it will be released on DVD, so you will only be able to watch the film for free for three weeks.

It will premiere on video-upload site Blip.tv in the UK 23 September.

What's up, Doc?

The film comes after his last documentary Sicko, which looked at the American Health Care system, was given an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature.

Slacker Uprising cost $2 million to make, and was originally going to be titled Captain Mike Across America.

Microsoft's new 'Seinfeld' advert launches

Marc Chacksfield — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:32:00 GMT

If we were to write this news story in txt speak, we would need just three letters to describe the new Micrososft TV ad: WTF?

Granted, it must have been hard to compete with the popularity of Apple's Mac Vs PC ads, especially as they, you know, kind of said something about what sort of computer you were going to buy, but Microsoft's left field effort, entitled Shoe Circus, is just plain ridiculous.

It stars one of the biggest figures in entertainment, Jerry Seinfeld, alongside Mr Bill Gates. We see them meet up in a discount shoe store.

The advert then unfolds and the pair discuss shoes and life. And, well, that's about it. Then we hear that the 'future' will be 'delicious'. Now we are sure that there's some hidden meaning in this, but it's a Friday and our brains aren't really working quite as well as they could be.

$300 million marketing push

What is clear, however, is the amount of money that will be spent on marketing by Microsoft, which is reportedly $300 million – with this advert just the start.

Speaking about the marketing push, Brad Brooks, a corporate vice president at Microsoft, said: "What the brand stands for, particularly in the case of Windows Vista, has been defined by the competitors. The time is now for us to get in and start telling our story."

Indeed, we're not really sure if that comes through in this 'shoe store' skit, but there you go.

Latest home security tech detailed

Gareth Mason — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:01:00 GMT

Point to point is no longer just a term for a day at the races to the more anxious members of the nation's country estates. It also refers to the digital technology used in a £180 wireless security camera and receiver from Swann Communications.

The ADW-300 promises better AV performance along with freedom of interference from both criminals and criminally nosy technophiles. It has a range of over 50m and can be easily hooked up to a VCR or monitor afterwards so you can easily catch up on what you missed in the hall or privet hedge while you were sleeping (or) at work.

The ADW-300 boasts better picture performance than its analogue predecessors – something we at TechRadar have no problem taking Swann's word for following the seismic shift in picture performance we have seen in digital cameras and camcorders in recent years. It automatically switches from recording in colour to black and white (with infrared vision) in low lit situations, such as night or the entire British 'summer'.

Resistance really is pointless

Its second major selling point is its claimed resistance to interference to and from established wireless products such as microwaves and cordless phones, whose burgeoning ranks are now swelled by bluetooth devices, internet routers and others.

But it's secure with a capital 'S' thanks to its mooted encrypted power to resist being tapped into from outsiders bent on fiendish wrongdoing.

Faz Colbhie, Swann Security's UK channel manager, comments: "Recent headlines have been filled with news of thieves intercepting analogue wireless signals as means to peer into the homes and businesses of unsuspecting individuals."

We couldn't bring ourselves to check the Daily Mail to confirm this claim, but a representative of The Truly Paranoid Householder backed it up to the hilt.

In Depth: Weird Tech: Terror in Liverpool as 50ft mechanical spider 'wakes up'

Julia Sagar — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:50:00 GMT

Arachnophobics: beware! If you're scared of spiders, Liverpool city centre is best avoided today, with French company La Machine's 50ft mechanical spider expected to "wake up" this morning.

The 37-tonne arachnid will descend from its current position near Liverpool Lime Street station, where it has been clinging to the side of a nearby office block, before sinisterly crawling the city's streets.

The £250,000 spider, which spans three storeys, has been greeting commuters to the station all week. The beast marks the beginning of a five-day piece of street theatre as part of the city's European Capital of Culture program.

Till death do us part?

In other odd tech-related news, a small Swiss company, Algordanza, is taking the concept of mourning jewellery to new levels. It's offering its clientele the opportunity to remember their dearly departed – as diamonds, Reuters reported Monday.

For a mere £4,000, you too could be wearing your nearest and dearest.

The company converts the ashes of donated corpses into artificial diamonds by subjecting the carbon to huge pressure and temperature.

Bobby Thurman decided to have a diamond made from combined samples of his own and his family's hair. "My family will cherish this diamond for generations, and I expect other families will want to do the same," Thurman said.

You can't argue with fact (although taste is questionable): the company is currently making around 60 a month.

Gadget therapy

Our intrepid search for the week's most pointless gadgets leads us to a pair of one-megabit cufflinks from Eprom. Could this be geek chic at its finest? We'll let you decide.

Meanwhile, the USB anion humidifier soda can does much of what you'd expect from a humidifier these days: it cleans the air around you, re-energises your work-weary body, and looks like a… you guessed it: soda can.

And finally…

Are you frightened by planes? Does flying make you fearful? If you're one of those people who can't even catch sight of a plane without dropping a few Valium, you'd better stock up… From the first quarter of this year, Avidyne will begin delivering its MLX two-way Datalink Transceiver.

This means that for the first time, pilots will be able to send and receive SMS messages directly through the multifunction display to mobile phones on the ground, Flight Global reported earlier this week. And you thought compulsive text-drivers were bad enough…

Exclusive: Finsbury Park grinds to a halt in EA's £20K free fuel frenzy

Peter Gothard — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:42:00 GMT

Since early this morning, the Last Stop garage in Finsbury Park, north London, has become a gridlocked nightmare as motorists queue to grab their share of £20,000 worth of free fuel, courtesy of EA and the launch of Mercenaries 2: World In Flames.

Allowing drivers £40 of gratis petrol each, EA appear to be attempting to recreate the kind of carnage that acts as the backdrop for the Venezuela-set game, in which fuel is a commodity worth killing for.

While there have been no fatalities as yet, things were getting pretty fraught around 7.30am, reported BBC News as the rush hour began, and snarled up motorists and local residents failed to recognise EA's generosity.

'Might be irresponsible'

An EA spokesperson told Techradar: "We've had a couple of calls, you always will with anything like this, but anyone who queues up to get the petrol doesn't seem to mind.

"From an environmental point of view it might be irresponsible, but it's not for us to get bogged down in it all – it's just meant as a goodwill thing."

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson told TechRadar that they were "aware of the event and monitoring the situation," adding, "we can't really say much more about the event right now, except our feelings about it are probably the same as yours."

TechRadar has contacted a number of other games publishers this morning, none of whom were willing to go on record criticising Electronic Arts' and its irresponsible PR stunt. We have also polled a number of self-styled 'PR gurus', so stay tuned for updates on this story throughout the day.

Wait almost over for Adobe CS4

Marc Chacksfield — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:40:00 GMT

Adobe's Creative Suite has been the package for media types, designers and videomakers and a new release is always much anticipated.

Well, Adobe has announced the release of Creative Suite 4 and it's 23 September.

The current Creative Suite bundle, CS3, comes in a number of variations, depending on what software you will be using the most. This iteration of Adobe's software package came out in March of last year.

Bundles included: Design Premium, Web Premium, Production Premium and Master Edition. Software in the bundles focused on special effects (After Effects); film editing (Premiere); photo editing (Photoshop); design (Illustrator) and web production (Flash and DreamWeaver).

Previews online

There's no actual new word on what CS4 will contain, except that Photoshop will come as a 64-bit version for PC users but only in 32-bit version for Mac users.

There are previews of bits of CS4 software online, which appeared back in May, when the company offered two-day trials.

These include looks at new versions of DreamWeaver, image-editor Fireworks and Soundbooth, the company's audio editor.

New device to hack the Nintendo Wii?

Gareth Beavis — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:39:00 GMT

A lovely little video has surfaced on YouTube of a device that forces the Nintendo Wii – notoriously difficult to hack – to play backup disks.

Not that we would ever advocate pirated disks, but this could feasibly be used to do just that if someone wanted to negotiate past the DRM on games.

Specially adapted

A GameCube memory card, specially adapted for the purpose, can be plugged into the port before boot-up, and forces the console into recovery mode, which means it will play anything you throw at it.

Obviously this means you can play games you've created yourself, or backups of games you might have lost...

There is some debate over whether this works on all Wiis, or whether it's just for certain bricked consoles, but at least the community is always out there trying!

Sims coming to iPhone

Peter Gothard — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:56:00 GMT

Electronic Arts has officially announced that it's developing nine new games for the iPhone.

EA Mini Golf, The World Edition, Lemonade Tycoon, Mahjong, Monopoly: Here and Now The World Edition, Need for Speed Undercover, SimCity, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09, The Sims 3 and Yahtzee Adventures were announced today by EA Mobile.

Spore Origins

Meanwhile, according to Gizmodo, EA are aiming to have Spore Origins in the Apple App Store by September 7, tying in fairly nicely with today's multiformat release of Spore itself.

"We're really excited to bring Spore Origins to the iPhone and iPod touch," said Travis Boatman, Vice President Worldwide Studios at EA Mobile. "By leveraging the unique capabilities of these devices, players can customize their own creatures and shape their destiny in an exciting evolutionary journey."

Spore Origins will be available globally from the Apple App Store on iPhone and iPod touch, or by visiting www.eamobile.com from an iPhone. Versions of Spore Origins are already available for the iPod and other mobile devices, but the iPhone version will, says EA's press release, make use of "the platforms' motion-sensing technology".

Typing? Pah...TRACING is now where texting's at

Gareth Beavis — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:52:00 GMT

US keypad innovator (we couldn't work out what else to call them) Digitwireless has announced a new way to input text into phones that it hopes will speed things up dramatically.

Instead of the standard typing using predictive text, or even (dare we say it) tapping each key multiple times to bring up a letter, you can simply trace your finger over a touch capacitive keypad.

Trace-tastic

Obviously used for touchscreen phones, the idea is to draw the words on the keypad, and the phone's inbuilt software automatically works out what you're trying to write in similar way to predictive text.

Apparently no manufacturers have picked up this new technology, but it's now available for license. So if you're reading this Jobs, have a look at the Digitwireless website.

Samsung prepares Omnia for US says FCC

Gareth Beavis — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:09:00 GMT

Samsung launched its Omnia phone in London last night, and now news has crept out it's designing variants to service the burgeoning US 3G market too.

Given one of the features of the handset is meant to be its startlingly brilliant internet capability, to only allow it to be 2G-capable in most of the US, a big market for Samsung, would be something of a faux pas.

The Omnia released in Europe only supports the UMTS 2100 MHz frequency, which means limited 3G capability in the US.

US-friendly

The i907 is available for 850/1900 GSM/WCDMA/EDGE networks over in the US, hinting it will make use of AT&T's 3G offering, which has improved greatly since the launch of the recent iPhone.

The i910 will work on the CDMA networks, so should be brought to Verizon failry swiftly as Samsung hopes to hit the market with a device it thinks is way better than the iPhone.

If it hopes to do that, then the US market will have to be a huge priority if it hopes to slow down the Jobs juggernaut.

Apple rejects apps it deems of 'Limited Utility'

Adam Hartley — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:58:00 GMT

Apple has rejected a new iPhone app called Pull My Finger, deeming it to offer "limited utility" for its customers, which has caused a minor outcry amongst iPhone users and developers alike.

MacRumors runs the following rejection letter to the developer of Pull My Finger from Apple's Victor Wang, of its Worldwide Developer Relations department:

"Hello Developer,

We've reviewed your application Pull My Finger. We have determined that this application is of limited utility to the broad iPhone and iPod touch user community, and will not be published to the App Store.

It may be very appropriate to share with friends and family, and we recommend you review the Ad Hoc method on the Distribution tab of the iPhone Developer Portal for details on distributing this application among a small group of people of your choosing.

Regards,

Victor Wang
Worldwide Developer Relations
Apple, Inc."

Gimmickry, advertising, gaming

Which of course, begs the question, how coms iPhone apps (and viral advertising gimmicks) such as iPint, iLighter or even games such as SEGA's glorious Super Monkey Ball and a number of the other iPhone Apps that we actually cannot live without - are deemed by Apple to offer enough 'utility'?

Where, for example, is the utility in directing a little cartoon monkey in a see-through ball around a maze in the sky encouraging him to pick up floating bananas on his way?

Surely, the consumer should be able to decide which apps they spend their hard-earned on? Or is Apple correct to offer some kind of quality control on what apps make it on to the App Store?