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Modern Warfare 2 twice as popular as GTA IV

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:16:00 GMT

Not content with hammering pre-sale records, Modern Warfare 2 has broken all sales records to achieve the best opening day sales for a game ever – selling 1.2 million copies in just 24 hours.

Backed by an extensive advertising campaign and the sort of word of mouth that only Apple can aspire to, Activision have produced a sure-fire hit in Modern Warfare 2, a game that is selling copies as fast as blockbuster movies sell tickets.

Price war

Back in April 2008, GTA IV set a new record of one-day sales bringing in – according to MCV – 609,000 sales. Modern Warfare 2 in the same time frame sold 1.2 million.

While the amount of money the launch has brought in hasn't been revealed, when GTA IV sold 926,000 units in its first five days on sale it took in around £40 million in the UK. Worldwide, this figure was more like $500 million.

One of the big reasons the game has sold so well has been put down to a supermarket price war. With the likes of Sainsbury's selling the title at a cut-price £26 (RRP is £59.99) many gamers have picked up a bit of a bargain.

WIN! The ultimate Nvidia Vision 3D monitor and graphics setup

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:16:00 GMT

We've teamed up with Nvidia and MSI to give away the ultimate Nvidia 3D Vision setup. Not only will you get a MSI GeForce limited edition Harley Quinn graphics card from Batman: Arkham Asylum plus a copy of the game itself, but you'll also get an Nvidia 3D Vision glasses kit and Samsung 22-inch 3D Vision compatible monitor – all worth a combined total of £600.

The full prize is:

Samsung 22-inch 3D Vision compatible monitor
Nvidia 3D Vision glasses kit
MSI GeForce N260GTX-T2D896 limited edition Harley Quinn graphics card
Copy of Batman: Arkham Asylum

MSI's N260GTX-T2D896 Batman: Arkham Asylum Edition Harley Quinn card uses Nvidia's GeForce GTX260 GPU with 896MB of GDDR3 high-performance memory.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is developed by Rocksteady Studios. Its story continues from the movie Batman: The Dark Knight. After the Joker is defeated by Batman, he has been sent to the Arkham Asylum. Therefore, with Harley Quinn's help, the Joker controls the asylum and releases those caged prisoners. Batman must find the way to beat all evil challengers.

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Acer debuts 24" LED monitor with 'distinctive design'

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:06:00 GMT

Acer has unveiled it latest LED monitor, the snappily-monikered S243HL, featuring an 'unprecedented' 8,000,000:1 contrast ratio.

The 24-inch monitor features LED backlighting, and uses a dynamic backlight to only illuminate the portions of the screen necessary.

The means richer colour reproduction with a longer lifetime, as well as providing cost savings through up to 63 per cent energy savings.

Right of the middle

The S243HL also has a 'distinctive' base, with a brushed metal base supporting an off-centre stand, as well as space to store a keyboard.

It's full 1080p resolution with a 16:9 display, with two HDMI ports to connect up other high-definition sources, as well as a speaker in the monitor stand.

It's not the most expensive in the world either at £249 (although some might think that's a ludicrous price for a monitor). But if you want a massive screen with decent colour reproduction, then you could find a lot worse out there for the money.

Go to www.acer.co.uk for more details.

Review: Vodafone 360 Samsung H1

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:00:00 GMT

Vodafone's new 360 service is designed to make social networking a lot easier, and to kick off that campaign it's launched the Samsung H1, the flagship phone of Vodafone 360.

The phone is actually a decent model with some nice hardware on the spec sheet. Vodafone clearly wants to design 360 in its own image, and to that end it's developed its own operating system, based on Linux Mobile (the basis for Google's Android).

This means a phone with a new take on elements like contacts display and application interaction, as well as a strong leaning on cloud-based use too – but will it be too much for consumers to be bothered with?

The Samsung H1, in its own right, is a decent model which would be competing at the sharp end of the Koreans' handset range.

The 3.5-inch OLED screen dominates the front of a phone that takes design cues from a lot of other devices in the Samsung range – if you've got an i8910HD or Tocco Ultra Edition, then you'll see how they're similar.

The phone is available in a variety of colours, but the brushed metal version looks pretty classy – the plastic back detracts from that impression when held in the hand, but overall it feels like a more premium phone.

Samsung has a tendency to go overboard with buttons on its phones, but whether it's had a change of heart or Vodafone has had a word in its ear, that's not the case with the H1.

The phone has a power button on the top (which also doubles as a screen lock key, something that has been missing from a number of other Samsung phones, like the i7500 Galaxy) as well as a headphone jack.

The right-hand side has the search button (weirdly in metallic red – we're not sure of the significance there. We just assume Vodafone wants you to know that you can flick through the phone with ease on the H1).

Below it is the camera shutter button, which has a pleasant action to it like so many other Samsung phones. It manages that difficult balance of easy to press but also lets you push halfway to auto focus without accidentally taking a picture, which is impressive.

The bottom of the phone looks like nothing very interesting, but look closer and you'll see a thin layer of plastic that glows white when receiving a message – very cool.

On the left-hand side there's a microUSB port with a little slide down cover to protect it from dust and the like. Above that is the volume/zoom switch, which is once again easy to press.

The front of the phone is, as we mentioned, mostly about the screen. However, above it is a proximity sensor and that dying breed – a video calling lens.

The front buttons of the phone are also nothing like you've seen before – there's a phone, contacts and applications key, and nothing else. This means no menu or terminate key, with these moving to the touchscreen instead.

The battery cover is a simple plastic affair, holding nothing more than a Vodafone logo, the 5MP camera lens and single LED flash. It's jolly hard to remove as well, with some people probably needing a leverage tool to get it off.

Under the hood is a pretty standard affair – the battery needs to be taken off to slot the SIM card in, and the microSD card is hot swappable, living just below the SIM.

It's a well put together device, and you can see why Vodafone chose Samsung for the job – the H1 has taken a lot of cues from previous models and feels very nice in the hand.

In the box

And continuing with the Samsung theme, the H1 comes with the standard range of accessories in the large and chunky cardboard box.

There's the microUSB charger and lead, a hands-free 3.5mm headphone adaptor (as well as some decent Samsung buds) and a miniature user manual and quick overview of the 360 service.

There's no CD containing the PC software in there – this is because it's on the whopping 16GB internal hard drive of the phone. However, such a big amount of flash memory seems to mean that Vodafone doesn't deem a microSD card necessary, despite there being a slot for one.

If you're a mobile phone connoisseur (which we doubt anyone would admit to being) then you're in for quite a surprise with the Vodafone 360 Samsung H1. There's no home screen as such, with the three buttons at the bottom giving options to move to the calling and messaging, contacts or applications functions.

When you first turn the phone on, there's an option to sign up to Vodafone 360 – it's pretty imperative you do so, else you'll miss out on a lot of functionality from the H1 (and any future Vodafone models you'll have).

This is a simple sign-up process which you can either do online, or through the phone itself – we would recommend doing it on the PC (at www.360.com) as that way you can add in social network and email accounts with greater ease.

From here you simply log into the likes of Facebook, Google or Windows Live (with the option of Twitter in the near future) and then see those contacts on the phone itself.

The touchscreen is pretty good on the H1, with the capacitive display responding very nicely to touch. It has the annoying Samsung 'springy' haptics inside, meaning that touching the phone, even when off, has a weird rattling feel to it.

However, these are a help in general use as they help to signify inputs, and if you're one of those dead against them then haptic feedback can be turned off.

Turning on the phone takes an oddly long time – not only does booting it up last for around 30 seconds, but then the Samsung H1 needs to parse through all the cloud-based information it needs, meaning that it will hang for a while before you can begin using it.

The lock system is also a little odd – as we mentioned before it's on the power button, but this is so small and recessed that it can be really hard to hit. It also doesn't work the first time you try and lock it either, meaning multiple hits.

However unlocking the phone is a breeze – like the iPhone the H1 requires you to hit any key to awaken the phone from sleep mode, and then a simple swipe across the screen and you're away.

This is a welcome change from the convoluted 'smart unlock' screens found on the likes of the LG Crystal or Samsung Jet, and something we're willing all touchscreen phone manufacturers to offer.

It's almost impossible to know where to begin when trying to describe how the interface works – there are so many different options for each of the three 'home screens'.

For starters, we'll take the left-hand button: calling, messaging and history of the two (it's the best way we can think of to describe it.)

Here's where you'll get your first taste of the 3D UI, and it's really something rather cool. There was a demo video of how Firefox might look in the future which was released a while ago, and one of the notions is a 3D view of all the web pages you've looked at, allowing you to move backwards to observe them chronologically.

That's the same idea that's been used here – on pressing the calling button (that's the shortened name we're giving it) you can see all the messages and phone calls you've made and received.

And swiping the finger up will see the tiles of information cascading forwards as you traverse through time itself, allowing you to see who you called in order.

OK, we admit that a list might be a more efficient way of doing this, but we don't care about that – this is much, much cooler.

And if you don't want to see it all at once, you can filter it by email or text or phone call, making it easier to see the relevant information.

Of course, if you're desperate to see things in a list formation, that's easily achieved by pressing the calling button again – but that just seems to lack a sense of adventure.

The same principle is used on the contacts button as well, with the 3D view used to let you scroll through the people you want to communicate with (we'll get on to that in the next section).

And in a tip of the hat to the iPhone, the third section, Apps, is basically a list of tiles that can be scrolled through, with all the options available in one handy screen.

The cool thing about this is certain tiles have a small triangle in the corner, which means they can be expanded to show more information. This means updates from things like weather or football scores can be seen from the Apps screen without the need to open them up (which obviously takes a little time).

You can also re-order these little tiles by pressing the picture of the pen in the top right-hand corner – this is the universal symbol for editing things throughout the phone.

And don't worry if you don't know what an icon means on the H1 – you simply need to hold your finger over it, and a small pop up will tell you.

The navigation system through menus and applications has been re-tooled somewhat in Vodafone's new version of Linux Mobile, whereby you have to navigate forwards and backwards using icons at the top of the screen.

This means having to stab at little crosses or ticks with your thumb, which is a little hard to do. We've no idea why Samsung persists with this method, as it uses a similar system on other phones, but it very much handicaps one hand operation.

Vodafone has also cocked a snook to Android with the 360 OS, as pulling down a menu from the top of the screen (achieved by simply sliding you finger from the alerts bar at the top) will bring a list of running programs, which is handy when you get a message or a new chat – you don't have to exit the program you're in to check it out.

The interface from Vodafone with the Samsung H1 is interesting, and for the most part works – it clearly takes cues from other operating systems, most notably those from Samsung.

The phone, with its 600MHz processor, might not be the best suited to all the cloud data it needs to pull down to function properly, but it rarely falls apart and is certainly a decent effort.

So we get into the nuts and bolts of Vodafone 360, and this is sadly where it gets a little confusing.

If you've read our review of the INQ Mini 3G then you'll understand the problems of a phone trying to do too much – it's a similar problem here.

Only this time, it isn't the phone itself that's at fault – it's the mission statement Vodafone is now giving out with the new 360 service.

The first thing that's key to point out is that the H1 is not the Vodafone 360 phone – it's just the one that embodies all the principles of it, such as internet chatting, Facebook integration and location updates, in the cool 3D interface too.

Vodafone is working on different versions of the 360 application for other phones – some (like the little brother to the H1, the M1) will have a similar OS, while others (such as those based on Symbian) will have a download that basically updates the contacts list on the phone to offer additional information, like Facebook pictures and updates.

With that brief update out the way (which hopefully gives you some clue to what's going on here) we'll get onto the way Vodafone wants you to interact with contacts on the H1.

As we mentioned earlier, the main selling points for those buying a Vodafone 360 handset are the 3D contacts view and the ability to synchronise with the cloud.

We'll deal with the latter option first, only because it's the more confusing. Once you've set up your user name and password on Vodafone 360 and logged into all you social networks and email addresses (which Vodafone promises us it will help users do when they buy the phone) then you can see all your handset, social network and email contacts in a big long list.

The idea is simple – all your friends in disparate groups should be linked together instead, so no longer will you have to email and Facebook and call from different places.

So now comes the laborious bit – you have to find the person you want to condense (not literally) and then find their various profiles, then click on 'merge'. Once completed, the contact will show up with all the relevant information including their Facebook picture, on the contact tiles in the 3D view.

However, while you think this may be instant, you'd be very wrong. Once completed, the phone won't update for hours, or until you restart it. And annoyingly, we couldn't find a way to manually synchronise, which meant having to just sit and wait.

But once it is all sorted, then it does make a big difference to proceedings, with contacts looking more rounded when filled with information.

And Vodafone wants you to go one step further – linking up with others on Vodafone 360. Voda says that in the future it will offer a 360 application that can be downloaded to phones regardless of the network, but for now this only applies to other Vodafone H1 users.

As you can imagine, the scope for this is going to be pretty small initially, but as the 360 service is rolled out further, more people will be involved.

And those that are will be much more versatile on your H1 phone, as you'll be able to chat with them over the likes of Google Chat, or send them nudges to where you are, by giving them your GPS details, making finding one another a cinch.

But we're unsure over the point of the Facebook integration – yes, you can see status updates, but that's it. There's no built-in Facebook application, and (as you'll see later) there's not even an option to message them either. Essentially it just adds a whole load of new people into your phonebook, but with only status updates available to see.

These online contacts (be it just for chat, or the full 360 experience) will be marked by a green circle, rather than a foreboding red dot, so you can simply see which of your buddies is online and ready to chat.

What's strange about something like the chat function is that it works both on the phone and the 360 website, so if one of your pals is online, you can chat to them through both mediums.

However, this service is very erratic, meaning that you will only get certain messages sent to you, and not all – with some appearing online, and some only on the phone.

Back in the 3D view and you can see how it gets confusing to see all your friends offered in this scrolling fashion. If you'd rather, you can switch to list mode by pressing the contacts button again, or you can sort them into groups.

Grouping your contacts means you can easily slide left and right thanks to the sensitive screen, and see different sets of coloured tiles. For instance, green might only be relevant to work, and perhaps you won't have Facebook accounts linked in, but you will have chat.

And family might be in purple and exclusively Facebook and phone numbers. These contacts, each having their own colour of tile, make it easier to sort through the 3D view when you look at them all at once (under the 'All' tab, unsurprisingly).

And if you don't like the picture someone has on Facebook (or they don't have one) then you can assign them one through the 360 page too, by uploading through the PC, or by taking a picture with the camera or from the album.

And once you've managed all this, and set up the contacts menu, then the H1 will do something rather clever – it will show you the people you speak to the most at the front of the 3D list.

This is a nice touch that makes it much easier to see who you regularly talk to – we quickly didn't go much further back than three screens after a few days.

Calling on the phone almost becomes an afterthought with the plethora of contact information on offer, although it's perfectly acceptable as a phone (shockingly).

The dialler doesn't support smart dialling, so you have to manually look for the contact rather than entering the name via the number keys.

But call quality is pretty good, and coverage is not bad either – we've had better, but it will probably work in all the places your old Vodafone handset would have got a signal.

Picking up and cancelling calls is a little irritating too, with three sliders being presented to you for accepting the call, sending a message or rejecting it out of hand. We like the fact the rejecting and accepting sliders went different ways, but we'd rather have just had dedicated keys instead.

As you can see, once set up, 360 isn't the worst service in the world – we just worry that not many customers will actually be bothered to merge all their contacts in order to be able to see someone's status or updated profile picture.

Vodafone will need to keep finding compelling reasons to visit the 360 home page, otherwise customers will have a lot of redundant tiles on their contacts screen.

In the same way as contacts, messaging is also overhauled in the 360 view, although this time it's a little easier to explain thanks to the likes of the HTC Hero and Motorola Dext offering similar options.

Basically all of your emails, texts and chats are available to be seen grouped together in one place, along with your calling log and history with that person too.

So if you enter their contact profile on the Samsung H1, then you can see all the messages you've exchanged through an easy to scroll through system, along with the web accounts you have linked with that person.

This means you can easily send a message or chat to that person from the contact page – but there's more on offer in the dedicated email and messaging tiles on the applications page.

Email

Vodafone's making a big deal about email as part of the 360 service, and it's another element that you can aggregate into the experience on the website.

However, it's not quite up to speed as yet, and the elements that are working are pretty convoluted at the moment.

Once you set up your accounts from the webpage, they eventually appear on as part of the email inbox – however, we set up our Hotmail, and Googlemail accounts, and only Hotmail started receiving emails instantly.

Gmail waited a day before deciding to play ball (although we could send email, we could not receive it), but instead of just sending us the messages, it decided to give us all our Googlemail folders (Bin, Spam, Sent, and so on, as well as Inbox) which made the list look cluttered.

And we're still waiting for Yahoo to activate – no word on whether that will ever happen as yet.

Of course, you do get your own '@360.com' email address as well – you'll probably be unsurprised to learn that this works just fine right out the box.

Another annoying element is that there's no 'download all' element to the mails, meaning that whenever you want to read a message you have to wait for the phone to download it, which often takes up to seven or eight seconds.

Also deleting emails, using the checkbox to select those we wanted to get rid of, was annoying, as trying to select more than five meant that the application crashed and we had to exit it to keep using the phone.

Texting

Messaging on the Samsung H1 is a pretty natural experience, with threaded messages, options to directly send messages from a contact's profile and simple options to turn an SMS into a fully fledged MMS.

However, it would be fair to say we're underwhelmed by the on screen QWERTY keyboard – HTC level of intuition it is not, with fairly inaccurate typing recognition and only word suggestions, not auto correction.

This means that you have to move the finger to select the word you're looking for, rather than being able to type freely, safe in the knowledge that whatever you write is being checked over.

The same is true when it comes to punctuation, as the comma and full stop keys are hidden within the symbol section, meaning another two button presses are needed to be grammatically correct.

However, one thing we do like is the integration of text messages into the history when pressing the phone dialler – as we've said we're big fans of the 3D interface and it's nice to not only look at a boring list of phone calls we've made and missed.

This leads us back to the obvious question we raised in the earlier section – why is Facebook limited to just a list of statuses, with the aggravation of having to link them all together?

Surely, like the Motorola Dext and INQ Mini 3G you should be able to send a message to your buddies directly from the contact screen – or at the very least from somewhere on the phone.

When Twitter is added in, what will happen then? Will it just be a list of people that you follow and the odd thing that they say? We hope this is something that Vodafone/Samsung updates with a future firmware release.

While messaging wasn't great (worryingly, for a social networking phone) at least the internet browser was a decent effort.

We'll get the major gripe out the way first - Vodafone's My Web (which is where you use the Vodafone 360 internet home page to choose web widgets to show your favourite content on the mobile browser's landing screen) didn't work on our device, simply stating that it wasn't compatible with our handset.

This is fairly worrying given the Samsung H1 is supposed to be one of the phones that display the My Web service better than any – however, we've spoken to Vodafone at length about this, and they have confirmed to us it's a one off instance with the service just starting up – so other customers shouldn't have the same problems.

And with that out the way, it's nice to be able to say that the responsive touchscreen works well with the internet browser.

There are two main features we like the most, the first being a 'hold-to-zoom' function, where a brief tap or swipe on the screen will bring up a +/- icon on the left-hand side, which you can grab to resize the screen.

It takes a little getting used to the first few times you use it, as it's pretty sensitive – but once that's done it's a cinch to do.

Also, Samsung has whacked its one-touch zoom option on there – simply hold your finger down on the screen and you can re-size. We've never been convinced of the efficiency of this system, but at least it's a lot less sensitive than the same option on the Samsung i8910HD.

And when using this method, you can press the screen again to bring up a mini window, like those seen on the contacts menu. This allows you to send the URL in a message or email, and also to open it in a new window too, which is pretty nice.

Another feature we appreciated was the way links, when you attempt to press one, would hover above the screen in much larger font, so you made sure you struck it correctly. It might be annoying having to click twice, but when you're trying to hit a certain hyperlink in the middle of many, this is a godsend.

Spinning the phone into landscape isn't the greatest experience however, with the phone taking a while to shudder and realign everything.

Most of the other necessities are there too – double tapping to zoom, the ability to save pages to look at when offline or can't be bothered to look them up again.

And one of the best things: history either arranged in a list view when in portrait mode (with a little thumbnail next to each one) or in a larger thumbnail mode when using landscape.

We're not saying that Vodafone and Samsung have re-invented the internet browser on a mobile phone here, and we would have liked to see pinch and zoom, because it's the most efficient way of doing it in our opinion.

But overall, the browser works well without being spectacular, and that's all we're looking for in phones like this.

Anyone that's picked up a Samsung phone recently, especially the higher end models, can't help but notice that the cameras are pretty good on them nowadays.

That tradition has continued into the Samsung H1, although perhaps not in the same league as the likes of the Tocco Ultra Edition or the Pixon12.

What we do like though is the range of options for taking photographs – and the good news is most of them actually work.

That might sound comical, but there have been far too many instances of manufacturers putting arbitrary features on their cameraphones that essentially do nothing.

The Samsung H1's camera is fired up by pressing the shutter button on the side, sending those used to Samsung phones into a familiar camera UI.

Basically, it's well laid out, and the necessary functions such as auto-focus and anti-shake are all laid out ready for you, so all you need to do is point and shoot.

However, should you want to get a little bit more classy then you can press the SCN icon (which is an abbreviation of 'Scene'; you can see what they did there).

This gives you 12 options to choose from, including night view, landscape shots and firework capture (with the latter actually proving useful this time of year).

And the nice tweak on the H1 is when you have the list of scene icons, no longer does pressing them activate them.

Now you have to enter it to activate it, making choosing what you're after a lot easier.

We can vouch that the fireworks and bright light options worked very well on the camera, and although night mode was physically incapable of shooting anything without making it look a smeary mess, we've yet to find a phone that can do this well.

The single LED flash is bright without being overly so, although trying to take a picture of a group of your friends in dark situations is nigh on impossible.

Shutter speed is good, although saving the picture takes a bit too long. And if you're into a bit of post production then you can activate the image manager to draw squiggly lines or write text all over your lovely and clean picture.

We're of the opinion that 5MP is a perfectly reasonable number for a phone, and that appears to be the case here. We can't help but feel that a better lens would have been nice on this camera, as is the case with other Samsung phones.

Video

Are you ready for a shock? This phone can record in 720p HD. We were completely unaware of this fact, which begs the question – why wasn't this a key spec when the phone was announced?

The Samsung i8910HD has similar functionality (with possibly the same 24fps recording) and that was huge – it even made it into the name of the phone.

And we're glad to say video appears to be of a comparable quality, even on larger screens. We're not sure why it's on here, as a 5MP camera without even the usual Samsung bells and whistles is hardly the best advert for top notch video capture, but we're still glad it's there.

One of the higher points of the Samsung H1 is the fact it draws from the Koreans' pretty good media experience.

Not only is the OLED screen beautifully crisp, but navigating through media is a simple enough task. It might lack the speed and slickness of other handsets like the iPhone, but it is still more than workable.

Music

Music sits apart from its photo and video brethren on the Samsung H1, making it seem somehow more important.

Well, you can see that Vodafone considers it to be, as it's not only given the option to recommend the track you're listening to to a friend (something we can see all of seven people doing) but there's also the chance to log into Vodafone's unlimited music service, which appears to be the equivalent of Nokia's Comes with Music.

The latter is pretty sensational – pay £7.50 a month and get as much music as you like, downloaded to your PC and phone. It actually takes less than 10 seconds to get a track over 3G, which is pretty amazing too.

We had a real issue working this when we first used it, the H1 telling us there was an internal server error every time we tried to download a song – however Vodafone said that it had some problems with the Real networks platform, but believes it has now fixed the issue.

The music player itself is pretty basic; album art is displayed prominently along with the navigational buttons and options to shuffle or repeat the track.

When starting up the music player you're presented with the chance to see which songs you've recently played, those upcoming on the music store or all of your library, which is sorted by album, artist, song, and so on.

It's a good music player without hitting any heady heights, but is a perfectly acceptable option if you're looking to make use of the generous 16GB allowance.

One gripe we have is that Bluetooth headphones don't seem to work – we tried to pair some Jabra Halo cans with the H1 but while it said the headset was connected, whenever we tried to play a song it said 'connection failed'. Most disappointing.

Galleries

Like so many other Samsung phones, the video and photo galleries are overlooked, with a bog standard 'grid view/flick through' option put in place instead.

Pictures are grouped into camera shots, those on the memory card and albums, with little thumbnails showing you what's what.

When looking at a pic directly, you can choose to send or share it, with all those on Facebook or those connected on Vodafone 360 (or via email or message). You can also make comments on it, or even view in Vodafone's mapping function if it's been geotagged.

Video is pretty similar, and it's so annoying to see it grouped into 'Gallery'. Why would you have a huge storage of 16GB on a phone with a crisp OLED screen, then dump it into a big hole with a load of photos too?

Would it be so hard to get some dedicated movie playing software on the phone, letting you choose your videos with ease? Currently, the grid system means you can't even see the title of what you're watching.

Granted it can let you view both AVI and MP4 (which were the clips we tested), but the video was slow to respond at times and could look a bit grainy, which is a shame for an OLED experience.

Radio and YouTube

The radio on the Samsung H1 is a basic, if pretty good effort. A huge dial can be swept across the screen to get to the frequency you're after, and saving the stations (as well as radio station information) is all easy and effective to access.

YouTube, which gets its own icon on the Apps menu, is laughable though. Why don't manufacturers realise that linking through to mobile YouTube is the equivalent of Volvo asking customers to push their feet through the car floor and push?

With the amount of amazing YouTube applications out there now, we're left sorely disappointed by this 'application' from the Samsung H1.

The Shop on the Samsung H1 is well laid out – but the selection of applications currently available is a little bit poor – as is the fact you have to enter the application and then ask for more information to find out whether you have to pay for the option or not.

Downloading is quick, and the cool thing is in the future this application store (which is co-developed by three other massive networks worldwide) will see apps running on a much wider range of handsets than other competing application stores.

That doesn't mean those on offer now are adequate – there's no decent Twitter client on there, and the best thing we could find to play with is a version of Connect-4 (which they've recently updated in real life – what's happening to our childhood games?).

The gaming options on the H1 are average – we like Kroll because it's an odd platform/RPG that is very difficult to play. Asphalt 4, which seems to be licensed to appear on every phone in the world, is less of a good option – anyone that's played ANY car game on the iPhone will be bitterly disappointed that this is the only option for racing.

Maps

Of course, Vodafone has included its own version of mapping software, which is crucial to the success of 360 - allowing your friends to send you nudges of where they are, and those to be seen on the map is pretty cool.

However the mapping software itself isn't that great – it only allows you see things in a weird cartoony font.

It is cool that you can see where your contacts are using the map (providing they've sent you information on where they are) and you also get the chance to look at user generated content, with other 360 users telling you about cool places or routes to look at.

We're sad that it doesn't have a satellite route and the navigation software is a bit clunky – plus the GPS also takes a while to get a fix.

Battery life on the Samsung H1 is a mixed affair – it will stay pretty strong for quite some time with light to moderate usage, but start to hammer the phone (not literally – that's guaranteed to run the battery down in a second) with a bit of music and messaging and internet use and the bars will begin to drop off.

The battery life is pretty consistent with a 1500mAh option, and even when down to one bar of power it will still hang on for a pretty long time.

In terms of connectivity, the H1 has all the usual suspects. 3.5G/HSPDA is startlingly quick at times (for instance, when downloading music) and Wi-Fi is similarly stable (with a cool tethering graphic for when you connect up).

However, one annoying feature is that it doesn't auto connect – when you turn the phone off and on again, Wi-Fi is disabled and you then have to re-search for your network, which gets irritating.

GPS is average, although works quickly when in an open field with nothing to block its view of the sky – use it in the city and it takes a bit longer. Not as long as Windows Mobile phones, but it's a bit sluggish.

Bluetooth we've already covered – connecting via A2DP is no picnic and the connection constantly failed on us, which was irritating to say the least.

And speaking of irritations, while the PC studio installed quickly and easily, there seem to be some driver errors, as the phone wouldn't synchronise no matter how many times we connected it up.

It's a bold move from Vodafone, releasing this new OS and phone to go with the new 360 service. It's certainly a differentiator from the other networks out there, but if we're honest, we not sure it's going to become integral to people's lives.

We liked

There's a lot to like on the Samsung H1, with the bright and vivid OLED screen and the huge internal memory.

We like being able to deal with our friends online and not have to worry about setting things up on the phone – but whether others will be so bothered to organise all their contacts online to do so, we're not sure.

The 3D view is really cool, and the touchscreen nice and responsive too, flanked by a decent camera with 720p HD recording.

We disliked

We're not convinced by 360 – to us, it seems like a nuisance at times. No Facebook messaging, an erratic email system and a dodgy keyboard all add up to something that doesn't make us instantly fall in love – and we think that's what Vodafone's going to need to make the service a success.

Verdict

The Vodafone 360 Samsung H1 is a phone that would be OK if released by itself, an it's boosted by the presence of the new interactive service.

Kudos have to go to Vodafone for developing a whole new OS to go with the phone – but good luck trying to explain to people how 360 is not just on the H1 and is a wider service.

An overly complex setup might put some customers off too, especially if they're not getting more than a few Facebook updates and some emails as a reward for being an early 360 adopter.

A vibrant screen and generous storage are let down by a ropey media player and a few too many bugs in the system – Vodafone needs to iron these out quickly to make 360 a success.

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Times Online pay wall erected next spring?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:18:00 GMT

The Times website, Times Online, could find itself behind a pay wall as early as spring 2010, despite owner Rupert Murdoch not confirming whether the site will hit its original pay wall target of June.

The NMA is reporting that it is full steam ahead for Murdoch's plans to turn his UK newspaper websites into subscription sites.

This is a model which is already in place for the Wall Street Journal, which charges an annual subscription of £72, and has done so since 1996.

Wall-nuts

According to a source close to the Times, the charging of content will be part of the site's scheduled revamp in April next year.

This week, Murdoch was interviewed about his stance on his newspaper content being aggregated on sites like Google.

In the interview he mentioned that all of News International content may disappear off the search engine in the near future.

Although the future of the Times as a paid-for site looks to be written, the source did note that the dates for the building of pay walls for both the Sun and the News of the World sites were not yet finalised.

We'll fill you in on the 'boobs for bucks' pay walls if and when the dates are set.

Samsung to drop Symbian for Bada?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:45:00 GMT

Samsung is apparently set to drop the Symbian operating system in favour of its new platform, a Samsung exec has revealed.

According to Digitimes, Samsung's senior VP Don Joo Lee has stated that the company is looking to quit the Open Symbian Foundation in favour of its own open OS, Bada.

This is especially odd news considering that Samsung is one of the main proponents of the Open Symbian Foundation and was considered one of the leaders given Nokia (the owner) has a dual focus on that and Maemo.

Positive steps

However, Samsung has now apparently stated that it will be only looking at its own OS along with Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows Mobile for future phones, presumably to streamline its efforts and not support multiple systems.

Samsung obviously believes this to be a positive step as it's looking to increase shipment volumes by 20 per cent in 2010 (to around 240 million units), which it believes will be through the use of new technologies such as HD screens and more powerful CPUs under the hood.

We've contacted Samsung to get further confirmation over it Symbian plans, and also to find out more about Bada, which still is confusing some people at the moment as to what Samsung plans to do with it.

BBC iPlayer bags Royal Television Society award

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:03:00 GMT

The BBC iPlayer has been awarded the prestigious Judges' Awards at this year's Innovation awards, hosted by the Royal Television Society.

The online media platform has been a runaway success since it launched on Christmas day 2007 and this accolade shows just how far the service has come in changing people's perspectives of web-based TV.

Worth waiting for

Speaking about the win, Jeff Henry, Chair of RTS Innovation Awards, said: "[The impact of the iPlayer] was certainly both immediate and profound. After a number of trials and delays and even criticism that no finished product had been released after four years, it finally had arrived. But wow, was it worth waiting for!"

"The roll of honour of great British innovation now has a proud new addition. For all the hardwork, commitment and belief shown by the BBC and its staff (with particular recognition of Anthony Rose's contribution), the RTS Innovation Awards proudly presents the Judges Award to the BBC iPlayer, proving that it is not just a gift for Christmas, but for life."

Sky News was also a winner of at the RTS' Innovation awards ceremony, winning the On The Move Award for its iPhone app.

In Depth: 20 essential free apps for your new Windows 7 PC

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:31:00 GMT

The world feels like a better place when developers work hard to create amazing free software that does the job just as well, or even better than the paid versions.

Here are 20 free Windows 7 applications that stand out in terms of quality of results you get of them. Ninite is a quick and easy way to download most of these applications into a single customised installer.

1. GIMP

The Paint application got a much needed improvement in Windows 7, but it doesn't cater to the needs of professionals and by no stretch of imagination can it be considered a Photoshop replacement.

GIMP, a diamond of freebies, is simply remarkable in terms of quality and quantity, with an array of options. From 3D perspective tools to eye-popping render effects, GIMP impresses throughout. (For a less professional based image editor, Paint.Net is a good alternative).

2. VLC Media Player

VLC Media Player is not about the cool menu colours or the glow of the play button seen in its rivals. The developers of this fantastic piece of software have focused on the core aspects of a media player, and it succeeds by being able to play virtually any video and audio format with impressive quality. Great ease of use makes this media player a must-have.

3. Handbrake

Converting video from one format to another is child's play with Handbrake, which accepts practically any format as a source. Handbrake also includes chapter selection, basic subtitle support and audio embedding. With tree diagrams and tabs in the interface, Handbrake is a pleasure to use.

4. Firefox

The browser war is pretty fierce and everybody has their favourite browser. However, the star of open-source development is undoubtedly Mozilla Firefox. Does your browser look dull? Then download one of the many themes from the Mozilla website. Increase functionality and productivity with add-ons such as Sxipper and Firegestures.

5. Picasa

Created by Google, Picasa gathers and organises all your photos to make them easily accessible. Adjusting and fixing your photos, posting them online or viewing a timeline are just a few clicks away, and amateurs will appreciate the simple yet very effective layout in Picasa. Included with Picasa is the excellent Picasa Photo Viewer to preview pictures in Windows explorer folders.

6. Fences

Windows 7 might bring a brand new taskbar, but it doesn't do much to improve upon the main desktop itself. Fences is a great way to make your desktop organised, by arranging and sorting icons into various 'fences' or labelled shaded areas in a well-presented manner. Fences make life a lot easier.

7. CCleaner

Like its predecessors, Windows 7 will tend to run slowly on lower end computers. One way to speed up a slow computer is to clear up unnecessary junk files that pile up in your hard drive, and CCleaner does just that. And with an added uninstalling feature that removes annoying programs that refuse to leave your computer, CCleaner is strongly recommended.

8. Enhancemyse7en

From Cleaning up registry problem to detecting system clutter, Enhancemyse7en notifies you about improvements that could be made on your computer. However, the supreme aspect of this program lies in the insane amount of data and tools provided, including hard drive monitors that measure 'Work Time' and 'Temperature' and helpful options such as 'Time to wait when a program hangs'.

9. Adobe Reader

Adobe Reader might be an unnecessarily larger download than its rivals, but it manages to keep a constant footprint on resources (unlike Foxit PDF Reader that has a constantly increasing footprint) and with a browser plug-in included, it's a good idea to stick to the software provided by the creators of the PDF format themselves.

10. Notepad ++

Unlike Paint, Windows 7 makes absolutely no improvement to the Notepad application. Fortunately, the freebie, Notepad ++, expands on the functionality of the default notepad by including tabbed windows. It's a programmer's dream, with support for various programming languages. This program justly deserves the name 'Notepad++'.

11. Ditto

Since Windows 7 doesn't improve upon one of the most common used techniques used on a PC - copy-paste - the freebie Ditto enhances copy-pasting by placing a universal clipboard storing every single object that has been copied, to be pasted in whatever order that is required.

12. Defraggler

The creator of CC Cleaner has also created the Defraggler, a defragmentation tool for Windows. The stand-out feature is, however, the ability to defragment individual files or a specific portion of a drive. Defragmenting only what is needed saves a lot of time instead of defragmenting a whole drive that could take a few hours.

13. Recuva

Recuva is a freeware app that recovers files that have been accidentally deleted from the Recycle Bin, MP3 Players and memory cards, claiming to recover files that have also been corrupted by viruses or damaged disks. The slick Recuva Wizard at Startup appeals to both amateurs and professionals, and with no price tag, it can be priceless when you find those important photos or documents.

14. 7Stacks

Stacks is a fantastic addition to the Mac OS X Dock. Wouldn't it be great if you could do that on a Windows taskbar? 7Stacks does exactly that, providing an insight into your documents quickly with a few clicks, and with a matching aero theme effect, there is no reason not to have a great Mac feature on your PC.

15. Switcher

Another great Mac OSX feature is Exposé, the ability to view all running windows in various thumbnails in full screen. Switcher mimics this feature, allowing you to decide which mouse or keyboard shortcut you would like to activate the Switch.

16. 7-Zip

Compressing files has many advantages since they take up less space and are therefore quicker to download from the internet. Featuring a host of compression formats, 7-Zip lets you uncompress almost any compressed data, and with the unique 7z format, files can be compressed up to 40% smaller than Zip formats.

17. Supercopier

Apart from being a tad faster than the standard Windows Explorer, Supercopier also allows you to edit the copy-list while copying. It also includes an error log and allows you to decide the speed of the copying.

18. Windows Live Essentials

Live applications such as Windows Photo Gallery, Movie Maker and Live Messenger are not installed by default with Windows 7. Most of these applications could sell if they were given a price, and there is a lot of effort put into developing them, so it's worth downloading them.

19. Eraser

Most people store some sort of important personal information such as passwords or bank statements on their PC. Files deleted from the recycle bin are not necessarily lost forever, and it could be a disaster if someone managed to retrieve sensitive information. Eraser erases by overwriting the selected file several times in 'carefully selected patterns'. This means that the file is not just deleted, but its left-out counterpart is overwritten to make sure it's gone forever.

20. OpenOffice

OpenOffice, a popular open-source suite, is an immensely powerful set of applications considering the fact that you don't have to dish out a single penny. OpenOffice is very similar to MS Office, and advanced techniques like macros and built-in templates will please advanced users.

Indie filmmakers embrace web piracy

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:56:00 GMT

A film production company has decided to approach online movie piracy in the most diplomatic way possible – by embracing it.

Double Edge Film, the makers of low-budget sci-fi flick Ink, have contacted their fans via email pointing out that their movie hit bit-torrent sites earlier this week and revealed that this is a good thing for the movie as it has raised the popularity of the film to unprecedented levels.

This is unlike the stance Paramount is taking on web pirates, who believes the arrival of better online technology "poses an immediate threat to the motion picture industry".

Ripped off

"Over the weekend something pretty extraordinary happened. Ink got ripped off. Someone bit torrented the movie (we knew this would happen) and they posted it on every pirate site out there," explained the email sent by writer/director Jamin Winans and producer Kiowa K Winans.

"What we didn't expect was that within 24 hours Ink would blow up. Ink became the number 1 most downloaded movie on several sites having been downloaded somewhere between 150,000 to 200,000."

Unprecedented exposure

The letter continues to say: "Knowing there's absolutely nothing we can do about it, we've embraced the piracy and are just happy Ink is getting unprecedented exposure."

Because of the leak, the movie is now number 16 on IMDB's 'movie meter'. Not bad for a film that was without distributor or advertising budget.

With Ink expected to hit iTunes and other download stores this week, it seems that this word of mouth buzz – brought on by piracy – has been nothing but positive for the movie.

Catholic Church getting lessons from Google

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:54:00 GMT

The Catholic Church is going to be given lessons on modern communication by experts from Facebook, Google, YouTube and Wikipedia.

A four-day conference attended by Catholic officials from across Europe will aim to school them in spreading God's word – 21st Century style.

It's not the first time that the Catholic Church has shown willing in looking to modern technology, and the powerful religion has already taken major steps into modernising its message.

A new message

But the conference will aim to give officials more information on how to take their message that little bit further with the younger, more computer savvy, generations.

And there will even be talks from a Swiss hacker and an Interpol cyber-crime expert, as well as the internet's information big hitters.

And maybe it will stop Archbishops accusing Facebook of dehumanising kids.

Orange promises not to cut off data abusers

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:43:00 GMT

Orange has performed something of an about face by stating that it won't cut off users breaching the 750MB 'fair use' data limit on the iPhone.

Orange has said to T3 that it doesn't "call [the limit] a cap, we don't restrict the service, and we don't charge them any more if they go over 750MB. It's just an indication of where we'd prefer people to be."

According to T3, the network is, like O2 did, offering a different set of rules for iPhone users, with no daily data charge as other subscribers are forced to bear:

"Our standard data package for other phones is £1.47, but that does not apply to the iPhone. When people reach 750 they're free to use as much as they want after that. If we see customers using loads more than that though, then we'll send them alerts by SMS or phone call, to tell them they're using more than they should be."

When is unlimited not unlimited?

Orange has also put a block in to stop users downloading files over 10MB in size, in order to maintain data loads on its networks, meaning customers will have to jump to Wi-Fi to get the larger Apps.

The carrier hinted at O2's problems with data use after launching the iPhone, and it would be unfair to label the network as stingy as it s trying to make sure it doesn't suffer the same outages, which as we've seen, riles customers considerably.

But it once again calls into question the legitimacy of 'unlimited' data plans - most networks tout the fact that most customers will never reach the 'limits' they set, so why set them at all?

Microsoft cuts Live for Xbox modders

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:34:00 GMT

Microsoft has moved to stop people using modified Xbox 360 from using its Xbox Live service, with reports that more than half a million people have been cut off.

The modded consoles can play pirated games, something that remains a major problem, and Microsoft has now taken action to limit services to those people who have taken this action and, of course, violated the terms and conditions of the console.

"All consumers should know that piracy is illegal and that modifying their Xbox 360 console to play pirated discs violates the Xbox Live terms of use, will void their warranty and result in a ban from Xbox Live," Microsoft has said in a statement.

Health of the video game business

"The health of the video game business depends on customers paying for the genuine products and services they receive from manufacturers, retailers, and the third parties that support them."

The BBC is suggesting that the total number of people who have been essentially banned from Xbox Live is around 600,000.

People affected will still be able to use their Xbox consoles to play games, but will not be able to access the Xbox Live service.

Nvidia shows off mystery Tegra tablet

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:20:00 GMT

A mysterious tablet PC is being shown off by Nvidia, apparently sporting the Tegra platform.

According to Engadget, the device is a Tegra prototype from an original design manufacturer called Innovative Converged Devices, and is being sent to carriers around the world.

The apparent target is for the device to ship in the first quarter of next year, and possibly with T-Mobile as well - although that would likely be in the US and doesn't mean it will hit the same network in the UK.

Running with Windows

The prototype is running Windows CE, according to the rumours, and is only coming with a sad resistive screen.

However, Android versions with capacitive screens are in the works, with the recent Android 1.6 update offering allowing larger screen sizes and resolutions to be supported.

We'd rather this was the fabled Apple tablet - not least because it would put to bed the rumours of the thing which are threatening to become more annoying the 'next year's iPhone'.

Project Natal release date outed?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:58:00 GMT

Microsoft has let slip the release date of its much-publicised Project Natal motion-capturing kit, according to reports, with the device set to hit shelves November 2010.

MCV were the first to bring the news, revealing that it has sources within the Natal camp that are gearing up for the launch of the motion-free controller for the Xbox 360 in a year's time.

Not only that, the device which is essentially a fancy camera is looking to retail at a budget-friendly £50 or under.

14 titles available

This latest batch of Natal news has come from the company showing off the product behind closed doors.

It's also been revealed that Microsoft is set to go all-out on the impending launch, lining up 5 million units for the first day of release and hoping to have at least 14 games out in time which are compatible with the Natal kit.

So far a number of games publishers have shown their support for the innovative technology, with the forthcoming Fable III looking more than likely to be the flagship game to herald in the technology.

Vodafone UK first to stock Nokia N900?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:36:00 GMT

The much-hyped Nokia N900 handset has finally started shipping, and it seems that Vodafone may be the first to announce it in the UK.

We've contacted all the UK networks, with all of them saying that there's nothing to announce - although O2 said is has 'no plans as yet' to stock it.

However, it seems likely Vodafone will be the first to announce the device, if its forums are anything to go by.

While stopping short of announcing it to the hordes of enquiring fans, the eForum team are constantly asking people to keep an eye on the 'Coming soon' page, which is a big hint the red network might be the first to announce it.

If it's good enough for the Irish...

Also Vodafone Ireland has confirmed it's bringing the N900 to its shores, making it very feasible that the same phone will land in the UK shortly too.

Add to that the fact that Maemo, the phone's OS, is based on Linux (much like the recently launched Vodafone 360 handsets, the H1 and M1) and it's not too big a jump to assume it will be Vodafone to launch the N900 first.

One network that is unlikely to be launching it, at least in the short term, is 3, after it emerged that the SIM-free device Nokia is shipping is incompatible with its SIM cards in the UK, although a software update to sort this is being released soon.

And if you want to know what the N900 looks like as a transforming man, well, you're in luck - check out the video below:

Related Links

Search for the best Nokia N900 deals at Omio

Bing Video hits UK beta

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:30:00 GMT

Microsoft has unveiled a new-look video site which touts itself as "a sophisticated online video offering".

Bing Video takes over where Microsoft Video left off, with the company looking to cement itself as 'market-leader'.

"MSN has been leader in online video for some time – we first launched video on our site in the mid-1990's and since then have pioneered the delivery of online video to offer hallmark events to our customers – such as the 2008 Summer Olympics and the Live Earth concerts in 2007 – which was the most watched live event at the time," says the MSN blog.

"Now, MSN is more committed to video than ever. With in-line, high-quality video integrated into its new MSN homepage, immersive video integrated through-out the MSN network, and with multiple links to the new Bing Videos experience."

High-quality clips

Although the UK gets a beta version of the service, we are not allowed a lot of the goodies which seem to be available on the US version of the site. This includes premium shows from snapped up from the archives of Hulu.

There are a number of high-quality clips on show, however, with a music videos, viral clips and a whole load of movie trailers for your perusal.

Each Bing Video also has a 'Dim The Lights' feature, which makes clip watching on a computer screen that little bit easier on the eyes.

To see what the Bing Video beta has to offer. Point your browser to www.bing.com/videos.

Review: Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:25:00 GMT

Asking photographers to fork out nearly £800 for a compact/SLR hybrid may seem a high-stakes gamble in our tough economic times.

After all, the same money will buy you a quality enthusiast D-SLR such as the Nikon D90 or Canon EOS 50D, or a very nice lens or tripod.

So what's Panasonic's game plan? The idea behind the Lumix DMC-GF1 is to appeal to well-heeled compact fans looking for a nice upgrade that's still cheaper than a Leica, or SLR users seeking a more convenient back-up camera.

Panasonic's also gambling on the sheer likeability of the Lumix GF1, particularly if, like our review sample, it comes with the wonderful 20mm pancake lens.

With a maximum aperture of f/1.7, this fast, bright lens will be revelation to anyone who's only used cheaper, slower glass… We described the Lumix GF1 as a hybrid, but a more accurate description is mirrorless interchangeable lens camera – so it comes with a choice of lenses.

This is possible because it's based on the Micro Four Thirds system. In essence, this technology enables smaller and lighter camera bodies and lenses by simplifying the convoluted optical path required by a conventional SLR.

Instead, it incorporates an electronic viewfinder displaying live view (a real time representation of what the camera 'sees'). As such, the Lumix DMC-GF1 is a simplified version of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1, but lacks the high-end viewfinder and articulated screen.

As for its rivals, the Lumix DMC-GF1 is going up against the charmingly retro Olympus Pen EP-1 (the new model, the Pen EP-2, was announced on November 5th.)

Panasonic must be cursing Olympus, as the new Pen addresses most of its predecessor's failings, namely sluggish AF, lack of built-in flash and lack of electronic viewfinder – the same weaknesses that the Lumix DMC-GF1 is designed to take advantage of.

Panasonic is also facing a tough fight from the new Canon G11, a powerful, high-ISO muscle compact, hampered only by its bulk and conservative megapixel count.

The Lumix DMC-GF1 is by no means a cheap camera, but it depends on your choice of lens. Buy it with the gorgeous 20mm f/1.7 lens, and the best price we could find was £712; opt for the inferior (but more flexible) 14-45mm zoom lens, and the price falls to £589.

So a budget choice it ain't, particularly when you also have to pay extra to get the slot-in optional viewfinder.

As mentioned, the Lumix DMC-GF1 has a lot in common with its bigger brother the G1, including a 12 megapixel sensor based on Micro Four Thirds technology.

So this means that live view is activated all the time (you can hear it and feel it when you're walking along with the camera, which is slightly disconcerting). It also means that smaller, lighter lenses are available, such as the 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens.

This Leica-manufactured lens is only 23mm deep but really fast and bright –fast in the sense of having a fantastically wide maximum aperture. What this means is that it lets in lots of light, which makes hand-held shooting in low light a lot easier, and also makes it very easy to blur the background on your portraits.

Indeed, crank the aperture open to f/1.7 and it's hard NOT to blur the background, so reduced is the depth of field. Panasonic claims that the aspherical lens design keeps things simpler and sharper, and this was borne out in our tests (see later).

The physically shallower lens also means that the Lumix DMC-GF1 is nicely compact and portable, though as with the Canon G11, you'll struggle to squeeze it into your trouser pocket.

Flash and movie mode

The Lumix DMC-GF1 is more than just a slimmed-down version of the G1 though, as it offers powerful HD video recording with stereo sound recording.

While the HD recording maxes out at 720p on the Lumix DMC-GF1, it's a very useful extra, enabling you to record in either M-JPEG or the proprietary AVCHD format.

You simply press the red movie button on the top plate to activate HD video recording. It's all very seamless, and although the lack of advanced video and exposure controls may get frustrating on a camera costing this much money, you can't fault Panasonic when it comes to sheer ease of use. Onto the built-in flash.

This would have been a big feather in the Lumix DMC-GF1's cap had not Olympus also squeezed one into the latest Pen, but still, it's great to have.

The flash is not particularly powerful, but can be incrementally adjusted from -2 to +2, and works well when used for fill flash effects in Aperture Priority mode. More noteworthy is the complicated looking pop-out flash mechanism.

At first glance it appears rather fragile and over-engineered, but is actually pretty sturdy, as is the camera as a whole.

Just remember that getting the flash back in requires you press it at just the right angle, so be stop and try again if you feel resistance!

On the subject of build quality, the Lumix DMC-GF1 is clearly built to last. While the camera lacks the retro charm of the Olympus Pen series, it's lovely to hold and is sturdy without being heavy. The buttons and dials really are beautifully engineered. There are a few design niggles, however.

If you add the optional electronic viewfinder and pop up the flash, this otherwise neat camera feels quite unwieldy and awkward to carry around. To be honest, we're not convinced it's worth getting the optional viewfinder, as the rear LCD is so large, bright and fun to use.

Our other gripe concerns the menus, which look and feel cheap compared to the Canon G11 or Olympus Pen. On a camera costing this much money, Panasonic should really push the boat out a bit and smarten up its navigation system.

The company redeems itself somewhat by offering a moveable histogram for checking exposure as you go along, and a nice bright grid to help with composition.

If you buy the Lumix DMC-GF1 with the 20mm pancake lens, you're bound to be really happy with the images you take.

This really is a fantastic lens, and far superior to the cheap and cheerful kit zooms you get with a budget SLR.

Some readers may wonder why we are raving about a fixed focal length lens, and there are times it gets frustrating that you can't zoom in, but such limitations actually force you to think before you shoot, and be more creative (and even though the lens is only 20mm, that's still equivalent to 40mm).

See full-res sample

SAMPLE: The fast 20mm lens is a joy to use in challenging low light conditions and really gets your creative juices flowing

The lens is wonderful for portraits, as it's so fast and bright, and so easy to blur the background. At the same time, the sophisticated and flexible AF options means you can get the subject's face as sharp as you need it.

The Face Detection mode works really well, too, further narrowing the margin for error. You also really see the benefit when shooting hand-held in low light, so we found it great for creative close ups and macro work.

See full-res sample

SAMPLE: Some photographers might like the rather weedy flash as it doesn't overpower the subject, particularly when used for fill flash effects in Aperture mode

The only drawback to this lens is that it isn't stabilised, so you need to be aware of this when shooting at slower shutter speeds.

There isn't any image stabilisation built in the camera, either; a tripod, or mini tripod such as the Joby Gorillapod, is therefore a sensible accessory for this camera.

On the subject of ISO, the low-light performance of the Lumix DMC-GF1 is impressive too. Stay below ISO 800 and noise isn't too much a problem at all, and even at higher levels, you can get perfectly acceptable shots so long as you don't mind removing a bit of noise in Photoshop.

See full-res sample

SAMPLE: The iExposure tool claims to fine-tune the exposure settings for you, and did a good job here despite some underexposure – just watch out it doesn't ramp up the ISO and add noise

High ISO performance is not quite as good as the Canon G11, but it's a close run thing, as our test images reveal. The Lumix DMC-GF1's Micro Four Thirds sensor does a great job of resolving detail, and results are certainly as good as a budget SLR.

There are a few quirks, however. As mentioned, the flash is a bit weedy, and JPEGs are a bit bland-looking and washed out if you shoot them on default settings. After a while we selected the Dynamic or Vivid picture style, which does warm things up a bit (these effects can also be added to RAW images using the supplied software).

See full-res sample

SAMPLE: Shoot in 16:9 mode and you can images are smartly resized to fit a widescreen TV

Switch to RAW, and you really reap the benefits of the high-performance sensor and optics. Masses of detail can be recovered and enhanced, and although the RAW conversion software isn't the best we've seen, it does the job.

Metering and AF are smart, quick and easy to adjust. A couple of widgets help with exposure too.

See full-res sample

SAMPLE: The fast f/1.7 lens is a joy to use for portraits, making it easy to blur the background while keeping the subject sharp

There's a menu option called Intelligent Exposure, which claims to automatically work out the best exposure settings for you. It can be set to low, medium and high, and actually works well –just be aware though that on higher settings, it may raise the ISO, thereby increasing the risk of noise.

See full-res sample

SAMPLE: The lens is fast and bright enough to work well for macro and close-up shots too

Still, better a sharp and well exposed shot with a bit of noise than a noise free shot with poor exposure… Another neat feature is Shutter Speed Simulation.

ISO TESTS: Noise increases steadily above ISO 800 but even at 3200 the results are passable

This gives a preview of the shutter speed through live view, and is another cool example of how Micro Four Thirds technology can be put to work to help less experienced photographers.

The Lumix DMC-GF1 offers subject tracking too and the ability to record images in 16:9 aspect ratio so they fit your widescreen TV.

Anyone buying this camera with the 20mm pancake lens will be delighted, especially if you've only used the rather compromised zooms on a cheaper compact or budget SLR.

It's fast, bright and sharp, and an irresistible invitation to rediscover the timeless joys of fixed focal-length photography.

There are many other things to like about this camera too, though it's not without it quirks. And of course, you have to weigh up the relatively price, especially if, as we recommend, you buy the Lumix DMC-GF1 with the pancake lens. There's a risk here that Panasonic might price itself out of the market…

We liked:

The lens, the lens, the lens! Shoot at wider apertures than f/2.8 and the results are a joy to behold –go back to a camera with a narrower aperture range and it suddenly feels very restrictive.

We also like the stylish looks and quality build quality, the bright rear LCD and range of intelligent exposure controls. High iSO performance is fine, the metering and AF are smart and reliable and there are some genuinely useful extras, such as intelligent exposure widgets and shutter speed preview.

Meanwhile, being able to record HD at 720p in stereo sound is surely a good thing, especially as the movie mode is so easy to use.

We disliked:

While the pancake lens is great, the choice of other lenses is tiny compared to the Canon or Nikon SLR system.

The Lumix DMC-GF1 is a bit bland looking compared to the retro Olympus Pen and it suddenly gets bulky and awkward when you pop up the flash or add the optional electronic viewfinder.

While the pancake lens is great, it's not stabilised, and neither is the camera body. While there are more manual controls than you get with a compact, the options aren't as wide as you get with a similarly priced SLR.

The flash is weedy and JPEGs can look a bit washed out, too. Oh, and the menus look cheap and nasty compared to the competition.

Verdict:

We really like this camera, mainly because of the lens, superior sensor, intelligent design and handy exposure widgets.

Low light performance is good too. It might not be as chunky as the PowerShot G11 or as chic as the Olympus Pen, but it's definitely got the X factor. At the end of the day, this is quite a specialist camera considering the unique lens and relatively high price, so we recognise it's not going to appeal to everyone.

The price could certainly deter compact owners looking for a fairly cheap upgrade, or SLR owners who are reluctant to spend almost as much on a backup camera as they did on their main model. If you can afford it with the pancake lens though, the Lumix DMC-GF1 won't disappoint.

It'll rekindle your love of photography, and if that's not the hallmark of a fine camera, we don't know what is.

See more camera reviews on TechRadar

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Review: Acer K10

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:00:00 GMT

The Acer K10 data projector is referred to by Acer as a 'Travel' projector and it's easy to see why, as this unit can comfortably be held in the palm of one hand.

With an overall weight of 550g, this pico projector makes the perfect device for using on the move.

In order to hit this super-compact size, the K10 doesn't use a traditional bulb. Instead, light is cast by an LED light source that is controlled by a DLP processing chip.

While it only has an ANSI lumens rating of 100, you'll find it roughly comparable in brightness to a projector with a 1500 lamp rating. This means you won't need to exclude light in all but the brightest of rooms.

The controls on the top of unit consist of a decent focus ring, Power, Source and Menu buttons. We found setting up and sourcing the K10 very easy.

Cool runnings

The other real advantage of using LED technology is that less heat is generated. The projector still gets warm, but not as noticeably as other projectors we tested. With less heat, you will also find this a very quiet machine to run.

On the downside, the small size of the K10 does limit the effectiveness of the projector. For instance, you'll only find D-sub and Video ports for connecting to your laptop. However, in most instances this is more than sufficient.

Another negative aspect is the rather odd native resolution of 858 x 600 pixels, which means most laptop screens will need to be distorted to fit correctly.

When it comes to image quality we were genuinely surprised at how impressive the picture is. Movies were less impressive, but for text and presentations, it is more than usable.

The Acer K10 won't suit every user's needs, but if you need to travel light, hooking this projector up to a netbook, for instance, is possibly the best way to make a suitably big impression with a small projector.

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In Depth: 10 ways Big Brother is already watching you

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:00:00 GMT

Doors locked? Curtains drawn? Tinfoil hat in place?

Good. Just because the government's abandoned its 'Big Brother database', it doesn't mean they're still not watching you.

The question is who, and why - read on to find out more. It'll make your average CCTV camera look positively benign.

1. Loyalty cards

The next time you flash one at the checkout, just think for a minute about what your shopping habits say about you.

Retailers from Tesco on down can tell what you bought, when you bought it, whether you're a bargain hunter or a high spender, how many kids you have, what kind of car you drive (diesel or petrol) and how often you like to ply your body with alcohol.

In the US, loyalty card data is used to discover whether or not you can afford to pay alimony or even whether you're a potential terrorist - an innocent trip to the gardening section to buy some fertiliser can make sure of that.

2. Phorm

BT's tried and failed twice to introduce this particularly insidious method of monitoring your web surfing habits to fruition, but there's no sign of it going away.

Companies from Apple to Amazon already use web tracking to identify what you're looking at, and to offer you their 'recommendations' on more of the same. It can be convenient, sure, but it also runs the risk of turning you into a 'target market' stereotype, when you think of yourself as anything but.

3. Twitter, Facebook, and so on

You might think you're daily breakfast ritual is of no interest to anyone (in which case, why are you tweeting about it?) but your membership of social network sites often reveals far more about you than you realise.

Aside from the unintended consequences of giving away your date of birth, pet's names, home address and phone number (a gift to identity thieves) it also reveals the company you keep and can tell potential recruiters what you're really like outside the 9-to-5.

Are you sure you really want to post another pic of you lying drunk in a gutter, dressed in your skimpies or sorting out your social life while throwing a sickie? Think again.

4. Google Street View

There you are minding your own business vomiting into a pint glass outside a pub, when along pops the Google camera car, snaps the photo and then displays your distressed state, not just to your friends, but to the whole darn world. Do you really want to be a global laughing stock? Thought not.

5. iTunes

So you downloaded the DRM-free latest by Robbie Whatever and then decided to share it with friends? Doh! Every thing that you buy is tagged with your ID, so Apple or anyone else for that matter can identify you and potentially serve you with a writ when that file pops up on a file-sharing site for everyone else to download.

If that wasn't enough Genius actually scours the contents of your iTunes library to identify your viewing and listening habits and then targets you with more of the same. Customer service to some, downright intrusion to others. Thank goodness you can choose to switch it off.

6. Oyster Card

It might be a convenient way to pay for your Tube journeys, but think about what it says about your travelling habits. The Oyster Card can tell where started your journey, where you stopped off and what your final destination was and theoretically how long you spent in each place.

The police can already access the information and use it as evidence of wrong-doing. But what if the information fell into the wrong hands? Stalkers could have a field day.

7. GPS anything

The taxman's pursuing you for some money you owe. You claim you didn't earn any. So why are there photos of you enjoying holidays in the Algarve, the Bahamas and Brighton? How do they know? Blame your willingness to share your sojourns on Photo Bucket, etc and the fact that you left the GPS data, times and dates captured by your phone/camera intact.

Professional drivers and sales reps will already know that GPS data can be used to monitor your whereabouts in real time using readily available software and hardware. Just wait until insurance companies start insisting on having black boxes fitted to cars to identify culprits in accidents.

8. Itemised billing

Leave aside for the moment the prospect that any wrongdoing is likely to see your landline/mobile phone records displayed before the court. But how are you going to justify those calls to your lover/adult chatline/betting shop to your better half, when they can see exactly who you called, on what dates and at which times of day?

9. RFID

Ostensibly used to track the movement of objects from factory to shop, Radio Frequency Identity Tags (RFID) have already been used for more controversial purposes - from identifying potential razor blade thieves in supermarkets to actively tracking customers around shops to find out what they're interested in.

Tesco is already rolling out RFID-enabled loyalty cards to its customers, and data gathered from RFID tag enabled trolleys in one US supermarket is being used to track shoppers around the store and deliver in-aisle offers to shoppers as well as money-off vouchers at the checkout. Sounds great in theory, but do you want to have your every moment tracked for the sake of a few pence off a tin of beans?

10. Your web history

Anyone with a proclivity to visit certain kinds of website already knows how to clear their web history so it's not chanced upon by others, but Apple's Safari web browser attracted the contempt of users earlier this year when it was revealed that its Top Sites website feature kept snaps of the pages users visited even when they'd tried to hide their tracks using Private Browsing mode.

Apple fixed that with the latest version for Mac and PC. Users of other browsers might not be so lucky.

Rovi hooks cars up to home media collection

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:50:00 GMT

A new 'automotive solution' has been announced which looks to bring all your home-entertainment needs to the humble car like never before.

Created by Rovi, provider of entertainment tech solutions, the company has come up with what it is calling Rovi's Lasso. Essentially it's a bundle of media recognition software that provides descriptive details on CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and digital files played in the car.

And not only that, the software can hook up to your home servers, "allows the transfer and sharing of digital content for enjoying on the go."

The system uses DLNA / UPnP (which works with Windows 7 'Play To') to sync the car to your AV setup.

Enhance the in-car experience

"With ever growing amount of content – music and movies – being played in the car, the vehicle is an extension of the digital home. As this trend continues, auto manufacturers are looking at how they can enhance the in-car entertainment experience," explained Corey Ferengul, Executive Vice President of Product Management and Marketing at Rovi Corporation.

"Rovi's world-class metadata and innovative connectivity capabilities simplify the design process and provides drivers an entirely new way to discover, manage and enjoy their content on the go."

Here is exactly what the new Rovi system is capable of:

Media Lookup: offers consumers the ability to utilise Rovi's vast metadata library to identify, tag and manage their digital content.
Rich Entertainment Metadata: provides extensive information on a variety of music and movies and supports multiple content types from CDs, digital files, DVD, Blu-ray Discs.
Software Update: provides periodic updating of embedded databases via removable media or home network connectivity.
Content Transfer: allows for transfer of audio files and metadata to the vehicle from standards-based devices on a home network.
Device Sharing: enables interoperability of portable devices via USB and standards-based connectivity.

There's no word when products featuring this system will hit the market-place, but the likes of Kenwood has already signed up and expect a whole bunch of automotive OEMs to follow suit.

Go to www.rovicorp.com/auto for more information.

Review: Novatech X1 GTX Pro

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:30:00 GMT

Novatech is a UK-based company that makes gaming PCs and laptops. The X1 GTX Pro uses a generic chassis also used by other gaming laptop manufacturers, but it also manages to pack in a high specification for the money.

The screen is excellent. Standing out from its rivals, it features an 18.4-inch screen with a wider 16:9 aspect ratio. It's still capable of playing Full HD movies – with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels – but there's not as much vertical space onscreen as there is on a 1900 x 1200 resolution panel.

While this does make a difference when gaming, it is better suited to watching films, with the black bars at the top and bottom of movies proving less intrusive.

Gaming power is fantastic, with two range-topping Nvidia GeForce GTX 280M graphics cards set up in an SLI configuration. With 1024MB of dedicated video memory in place, 3D performance is astonishing, even putting the similarly specified Alienware M17x in the shade.

We found the latest games ran with ease, even in HD resolutions, with high detail settings.

Office performance is also impressive, with one of the fastest processors for laptops in place. Running at 3.06GHz, the Intel Core 2 Duo chip offers excellent power, further helped by 4096MB of fast DDR3 memory and a 128GB SSD (Solid State Drive) from which you can run the operating system and your games.

For files that don't need to be accessed quite so quickly, there's a 500GB mechanical hard drive.

The chassis may not be unique, but it's still reasonably attractive. The glossy finish proves remarkably resistant to fingerprints and scratches, and build quality is very good.

Despite the high performance components, the chassis remains cool to the touch at all times.

Noisy keyboard

The keyboard is one of the noisiest, but offers excellent comfort. The laptop uses an isolated style keyboard – with the keys protruding through individual holes in the chassis. The extra space between the keys makes it easier to type at speed.

Touch-sensitive buttons let you launch applications and control volume, and a set of customisable gaming buttons are also fitted.

Unsurprisingly at this price, features are excellent, with a Blu-ray drive, fast fixed and wireless networking adapters and an integrated audio subwoofer. There's also a fingerprint scanner, letting you swipe your finger to log into your Windows account.

The X1 GTX Pro is a decent gaming laptop and much cheaper than the Alienware. Although it can't match its rival for quality, design and all-round usability, this is still a machine we can easily recommend.

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Review: Cyberpower Explorer X7-Xtreme S1

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:00:00 GMT

Cyberpower uses generic designs and fits the latest components, offering good value for money. However, while the Novatech X1 Pro uses a recent chassis, Cyberpower's Xplorer X7-Xtreme S1 features a design that's around two years old and looks boxy and cheap in 2009.

As with its rivals, the 17- inch screen is fantastic when watching films and playing games, with pin-sharp high-definition (HD) images on offer from the 1920 x 1200-pixel resolution. Colours aren't quite as vivid as they could be, however.

Nvidia's range-topping GeForce GTX 280M GPU handles the graphics, although, in this case, it's a single card rather than the two sported by the Alienware and Novatech. As such, it can't match the best around when it comes to high-end gaming power.

That said, we had no trouble playing the latest games – it just meant that settings had to be toned down slightly in more demanding titles. This is the first laptop we've seen to use Intel's cutting-edge Core i7 processor, and the results are frankly astonishing.

With the ability to change its clock speed, this processor is a lot more adaptable than previous Intel chips – running at lower speeds when power isn't required and upping the ante when serious performance is needed. It's also a quad-core chip, offering excellent multi-tasking abilities.

Windows 7

Backed by 6144MB of memory and running a 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium, this is a seriously fast laptop during daily use, running applications with ease. We found no sign of lag, even when running several demanding tasks.

The keyboard is quite poor, however, and is lacking in support. The board itself flexes and the keys rattle noisily during use.

Costs have also been cut in the rest of the chassis design, which uses low-grade plastics that bend under pressure, and it lacks the premium feel expected of a machine costing this much.

There's no Blu-ray drive, unlike the other laptops at this price point, although you do get an integrated TV tuner.

A comprehensive selection of ports include eSATA and HDMI. There are also four USB ports, although they're all clustered too closely together on the right-hand side of the chassis, restricting usefulness somewhat.

The Xplorer X7-Xtreme S1 is a capable machine, with the Core i7 processor offering amazing power.

The dated chassis and single GPU make it difficult to recommend over its rivals, however, and if you're seeking a Core i7 machine, you may prefer to wait for it to appear in a more modern chassis.

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Review: Asus G71Gx

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:30:00 GMT

We've seen several gaming laptops from Asus in the past year and the company hopes its G71GX will be its most complete machine to date.

It features a 17-inch screen and it has a 1920 x 1200-pixel resolution. Images are pin-sharp with vibrant colours, making it ideal for gaming and watching high-definition (HD) movies. This is something that's also made easier by the inclusion of its Blu-ray drive.

The glossy Super-TFT screen can be reflective, but we never found it overly intrusive – even in the brightest conditions.

A single graphics card is used– Nvidia's high-end GeForce GTX 260M. It doesn't offer the same levels of power as some rivals, but it's a reasonable compromise, with a much more affordable price tag. We were still able to play the latest games with relative ease, although the high resolution meant we did have to lower detail settings for more demanding titles.

Stylish chassis

Style-wise, the chassis is distinctive and colourful, although the glossy plastics lack the high-end feel of the Alienware's metal finish. That said, it's a robust machine that should easily withstand long gaming sessions.

Read TechRadar's Alienware M17x review

The screen is also firmly held in place, with no sign of movement when you're typing or frantically hitting the keys when playing games. The keyboard offers excellent comfort.

The sparkly finish won't suit all users, however, and it lacks the backlighting of the Alienware. A full numeric keypad sits to the right of the main board, aiding data entry and gaming.

The touchpad is large and responsive, although we still prefer a mouse when it comes to fast and accurate control during games.

Asus has opted for a Core 2 Quad chip – a quad-core processor offering excellent multi-tasking capabilities. Performance is held back slightly by the use of 4096MB of DDR2 memory – compared to the faster DDR3 memory used in other gaming laptops – but it's still a very fast laptop during daily use.

It also easily matches rivals when it comes to features. Storage is excellent with two 500GB hard drives to store your games, music and media collections. There's also an eSATA port – letting you transfer all your files to compatible external hard drives at high speeds.

Overall, the G71GX is an impressive laptop at a good price. It's not the ultimate gaming machine, but the custom chassis places it above the Novatech and Cyberpower when it comes to design. It can't match the style and quality of the Alienware, however.

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Review: Sharp LC-32LE600E

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:25:00 GMT

Flatscreen TVs increasingly come loaded with extras; four or five HDMI inputs are de rigueur, video-capable USB ports are becoming common, and it's even possible to bag wireless home networking and limited internet browsing.

Sharp has eschewed all of that on its latest LCD TV and continues to concentrate on keeping the price as low as possible in the belief that most TV buyers just want two things: a flat screen and a good price.

That's exactly what's on offer from the 32-inch LC-32LE600E, but it's also got something very special up its sleeve: an LED backlight. And here that new technology is going for a song.

Excluding the fact that it uses an all-new (certainly at this price) Full Screen LED backlight (more on how that differs from other LED backlight TVs in the Value & Ease of use section), Sharp's LC-32LE600E LCD is bereft of almost all distractions.

Selling on Sharp's website for £749, we spotted the LC-32LE600E for as low as £450 via a cashback deal. If that's a mighty tempting price, do allow for some surprising omissions that you may or may not be able to live without.

Just two HDMI inputs adorn the rear, with a third on a side panel – that's the fewest we've seen for some time. It also lacks a USB slot or any form of home networking (such as Digital Living Network Alliance, or DLNA), so it's just not possible to get MP3, JPEG or DiVX video files into the LC-32LE600E.

More surprisingly, given that the LC-32LE600E is aimed at mainstream consumers, is that it's not particularly slim. It measures just over 9cm in depth, but Sharp hasn't abandoned aesthetics altogether in its quest for the best possible picture/price equation.

A feather-light TV, from the front the LC-32LE600E sports a slim, gloss black screen surround and silver strip beneath that constitutes an interesting, though muted, new look for Sharp LCD TVs.

It's also worth mentioning that the LC-32LE600E has several 'eco' features. If used, Sharp claims that its 'standard' and 'advanced' power saving modes can allow the set to consume 40 per cent less power than normal LCD TVs.

If you like the sound of this LED TV, but would prefer a slightly more comprehensive version, head for Sharp's LE700E Series, which features 100Hz processing to rid the screen of any motion blur (although this can introduce other video nasties).

Like the LE600E Series, it's available in 32-inch, 40-inch and 46-inch sizes, and adds a 52-inch version.

As well as employing LED backlighting, Sharp has fitted the LC-32LE600E 32-inch LCD TV with its latest X-Gen panel, which, it claims, has a wider pixel aperture.

The evidence for that is in the sheer brightness of scenes in our test disc, Matrix Reloaded on Blu-ray, which features mixed brightness scenes aplenty.

The opening dream scene of Trinity falling out of an exploding building at night puts the LC-32LE600E's strengths at the fore; Trinity and Smith's black clothes are true black, but still contain plenty of detail.

In another key scene – Neo's all-put fight against a legion of Agent Smiths – motion is handled well; the movie's famous bullet-time shots are just as clear, though more rapid shots can produce some headache-inducing blur. It's not serious, but it is common.

Still or slo-mo shots of the busy crowd scenes on Zion are pin-sharp, colours are powerfully, though carefully, handled and well saturated, and the many shadowed areas of the picture are inky black most of the time – though in some scenes the brightness can seem uneven.

If the 'local dimming' of Full LED tech performs well in adding an extra dose of realism, there is a flaw in the LC-32LE600E's lack of any significant picture processing circuitry.

And it does cause a slight lack of high definition detail. That's noticeable during the faster camera work on Zion; as a shot pans quickly across an excitable crowd there is noticeable blur.

People are indistinct, while during a slow pan across, and into, the many levels of Zion, there's noticeable and distracting blur and judder.

50Hz processing

The LC-32LE600E could benefit from a 100Hz engine and a film mode that removes Blu-ray judder – common features on many TVs. The latter is included in the onscreen menus, and found on other sizes in this 600E range, but it can't be activated on the LC-32LE600E.

Put simply, this set doesn't render The Matrix Reloaded perfectly, but the LED lighting proves almost as good as higher-end sets and it creates a richness that's rare at this size – and particularly at this low price.

But in many ways the presence of Full LED backlighting on the LC-32LE600E without any significant picture processing is a bit like having the crown jewels – and then displaying them under clingfilm.

Freeview problems

Though DVD is treated well, digital TV pictures from Freeview can seem unrealistic, with artefacts creating a picture where objects seem a tad divorced from backgrounds.

Despite its myriad of 'missing' (but in reality rather minor) features, it is a decent 100Hz engine that the LC-32LE600E could benefit from most. It's not a crime; pay a few pounds more and you've got a choice between the various models in Sharp's step-up LE700E Series that all possess 100Hz engines.

Sharp has shaped the LC-32LE600E to hit a particular price point, but there's nothing wrong with that. In introducing LED tech – and Full LED, at that – at this price, it should catch-on in the mass market.

Videophiles after a good value slice of the latest screen tech should investigate, while those after something a little more versatile for the living room should look elsewhere.

In keeping with this set's rather basic specification, there's little to get excited about from its onboard audio.

You'll find the LC-32LE600E two stereo speakers on the set's undercarriage, and with a slim-ish frame there's no room for them to produce much in the way of bass.

That's the main problem, especially if you're going to watch a lot of movies, because with general TV, sound is acceptable.

The detail present in dialogue-based fare is impressive though background effects aren't, while the lack of low frequency sound makes treble thin and unconvincing. The size of the TV doesn't allow for effective stereo, of course, though Sharp has loaded on a Dolby Digital Plus Surround Sound module.

Sound issues

As usual, this quasi-surround mode isn't quite what's billed. It's designed to take the 7.1 channels of sound found on most Blu-ray discs and faithfully deliver them through 2 channels.

And although this clearly isn't as impressive as a home cinema (it's not even close and can even lessen the level of dialogue in the sound mix) there is an effective separation that does make sense during movies. Just don't expect real surround sound.

If you're after a home cinema sound proper, you'll have to use … well, you guessed it. Luckily, the LC-32LE600E's rear connections panel does include an optical digital audio output, so you can route sound from the set's integrated Freeview TV tuner (and every other source) from the TV straight into a home cinema amplifier.

Since being promoted throughout 2009 by the likes of Samsung as an all-new category of flatscreen TV, LED is starting to catch on.

But don't fall for the hype; LED backlighting is merely a tweak to existing LCD technology.

There's also a crucial difference between Sharp's LED system and those used by the likes of LG and Samsung, whose attempts tend to be much slimmer than has been achieved on the LC-32LE600E.

Those 'edge' LED TVs try to create much more dynamic and realistic brightening and darkening of video by lighting the screen only from the sides – an approach that also guarantees a product with a lot less depth.

Sharp's Full Screen LED backlighting is a lot more direct; it goes one stage further by placing hundreds of LEDs in rows behind the screen, which together provide more than 90 per cent of the light.

Able to switch light on and off in small areas of the screen depending on the needs of the video source, the realism it creates on the LC-32LE600E can be spell binding; the extra bulk is worth it. And here those LEDs output pure white light, different from the coloured light emitted by the LEDs in RGB Dynamic LED tellies from Sony.

As usual from Sharp, the TV remote is rather poor. The main body is ergonomic, but the buttons for even major functions are far too small.

Onscreen menus lack the pizzazz of other brands, and its PC-like drop-down menus prove uncomfortable and unnatural to work through, largely because the text on the screen is too small. That said, actions such as tuning in Freeview TV channels is simple.

There's not much going on in terms of features so the lacklustre onscreen menus and cranky remote are not a catastrophe, but everyday controls on the remote, such as the central navigational buttons and the main menu buttons, are hardly thumb-friendly – especially in a blacked-out room.

It's no good for cinema rooms, and neither is the LC-32LE600E suitable for the technophobic.

Usually a brand that concentrates on value rather than top-of-the-range technology and versatility, Sharp has continued that strategy with the LC-32LE600E.

With new tech at old prices creating an extra dose of realism, Sharp's smallest LED set is a step in the right direction, but it's no giant leap.

We liked

Mixed brightness scenes are rendered with some pizzazz; light and dark areas of the same image sit alongside each other to startling effect.

Deep blacks and eloquently presented colours that swim in realism are enough to convince us that Full Screen LED backlighting works well, though it perhaps needs to be combined with 100Hz – as it is on Sharp's LE700E models – to eliminate motion blur.

The LC-32LE600E is also a good looking TV on the outside, cleverly making up for its obvious lightweight build with an understated, if hardly ground-breaking, styling.

We disliked

Everything on the LC-32LE600E works well. Trouble is, there's little tech aside from LED backlighting to get stuck into.

We now consider four HDMI inputs to be the absolute minimum; three seems meagre. Similarly, some kind of nod to the age of multimedia would seem appropriate; a simple USB slot that could read photos and MP3 music would assuage us.

Picture-wise, the LC-32LE600E is in need of some decent picture processing to bring out levels of detail the excellent LED backlight deserves, as well as a 100Hz engine to rid the panel of blur.

Sound-wise, there's little to complain about aside from saying that the slightly fatter Full Screen LED tech – when compared to thesuper-skinny Edge LED tech – could accommodate some meatier speakers if designed differently.

Though simple enough to navigate, the onscreen menus are not slick enough and not helped by the fiddly remote control. It's not a disaster, but it does take the shine off this LCD in terms of its everyday user-friendliness.

Final verdict

Blu-ray and broadcast HDTV channels look great, and even DVDs are carried off with some aplomb. Freeview isn't quite so convincing, though it's the LC-32LE600E's lack of almost any other notable features that put it at a disadvantage when compared to other similarly priced LCD TVs.

None of its cons are so serious as to prevent this 32-inch LED set from representing something of a watershed; the moment when standard LCD died-off and was replaced by its souped-up LED version. And on the LC-32LE600E, at a remarkably low price.

This review was written in conjunction with:

What Video & Hi-Def TV magazine

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Confirmed: Latest OS X won't work on Atom netbooks

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:01:00 GMT

Apple's latest build for Mac OS X has been changed to not run on Intel's Atom processors, much to the dismay of the 'hackintosh' community that specialise in running the operating system on PCs.

Rumours of the change surfaced earlier in the month after the release of the developer build, and users have confirmed that this is the case.

One of the favourite tricks of the hackintosh brigade has been running OS X on netbooks, but Apple has now cut that off with build 10.6.2, which will not run on computers that use an Atom processor.

This rules out the majority of netbooks, with Intel's low-power chip the industry standard for the low-cost, small form-factor computers.

Anti-Atomic

According to Tom's Hardware, Atom powered PCs that try to run the latest Mac OS X either fail to boot or go into a reboot loop.

Obviously Apple would prefer nobody to put its proprietary operating system on anything but its own computers, and the company has fought for years to cut off non-official systems.

However, systems that use Intel processors that are not Atom will apparently not be affected.

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Modern Warfare 2 twice as popular as GTA IV

WIN! The ultimate Nvidia Vision 3D monitor and graphics setup

Acer debuts 24" LED monitor with 'distinctive design'

Review: Vodafone 360 Samsung H1

Times Online pay wall erected next spring?

Samsung to drop Symbian for Bada?

BBC iPlayer bags Royal Television Society award

In Depth: 20 essential free apps for your new Windows 7 PC

Indie filmmakers embrace web piracy

Catholic Church getting lessons from Google

Orange promises not to cut off data abusers

Microsoft cuts Live for Xbox modders

Nvidia shows off mystery Tegra tablet

Project Natal release date outed?

Vodafone UK first to stock Nokia N900?

Bing Video hits UK beta

Review: Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1

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Review: Acer K10

In Depth: 10 ways Big Brother is already watching you

Rovi hooks cars up to home media collection

Review: Novatech X1 GTX Pro

Review: Cyberpower Explorer X7-Xtreme S1

Review: Asus G71Gx

Review: Sharp LC-32LE600E

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Confirmed: Latest OS X won't work on Atom netbooks