Tech Digest

MSI has the same idea as Asus, a little bit after Asus - reveals its Neton "all-in-one" Intel Atom desktop

Gary Cutlack — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:48:04 GMT

MSI's been doing a bit of tech blog espionage again, launching three "all in one" PCs with touch screen powers that appear extremely similar to the ones Asus showed off recently. Three alternate MSI Neton models have been revealed - the M16, M19 and M22. I'll now give you a bit more information about all three, as you can't work much out about them from those boring model names. All three run XP Home and have touch screens so you can get fingerprints over the bit you look at all the time. Touch screens on desktops are a terrible idea. The M16 is the smallest model, with its Intel Atom processor stuck into the case of a 15.6" 1366 x 768 monitor. The M19 features...

Vodafone Live Guy: Day 4 - Liverpool

Daniel Sung — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:59:42 GMT

Know where this is? Yep, me too. The only problem is that by the time I catch the 11:37 from Euston, Live Guy's going to be elsewhere and I still won't own a Dell netbook. However, if you happen to be up in the 'pool, last I heard Vodafone's running rabbit is heading for the old cathedral...

SHINY VIDEO REVIEW: BlackBerry Storm Part One

Duncan Geere — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:59:42 GMT

Here's Susi's initial thoughts on the Blackberry Bold. On the model we got sent, there's a bug with the browser, so we can't give it a proper proper review until that's fixed, but in the interests of keeping you lot as informed as possible, Susi filmed some thoughts on the build of the handset, and her initial impressions. Want one? More than an iPhone? Really? Personally, I'm not convinced just yet. Let us know your thoughts on the Storm in the comments. BlackBerry Storm Related posts: Technology Deathmatch - Apple iPhone 3G vs BlackBerry Storm | Vodafone taking pre-orders for BlackBerry Storm, still no release date

eBay Nutcase of the Week: Person pays $10,000 for digital picture of a "seven legged spider"

Gary Cutlack — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:44:12 GMT

The beginning of this story is mildly amusing. An Australian man called David Thorne attempted to pay an outstanding bill of $233.95 by sending the utility company a drawing of a spider he made on his computer - which he valued at precisely $233.95. The utility company replied to his email in a very serious manner, saying it was "unable to accept drawings as payment" and a whole heap of internet hilarity entailed as the conversation between David and the poor admin assistant was beamed around the internet. Then things start to officially go TOO FAR. David Thorne gave his spider...

Emtec S800 HDD Movie Cube - an all-in-one digital media set-top-box

Duncan Geere — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:27:21 GMT

If you want to pump your television viewing experience up to the next level, you might be considering some sort of PVR, or set top box. It's called a Movie Cube, but I've no idea why, because as you can see in the picture above, it's clearly not a cube. Still, I can overlook that because the specs are surprisingly impressive. It contains a 500GB hard drive, which will hold 600 or so feature-length movies. It'll record TV, like a PVR, as well as convert your old videos and DVDs into digital formats - useful for people who don't like maintaining a vast library of DVDs. Best of all, it's networkable, with Ethernet and Wi-Fi built it. That means you'll be able to stream your content over the network from your Windows or Mac computer. You'll be able to enjoy all those episodes of Heroes that you've downloaded off Bittorrent on your big-screen TV, rather than your little laptop screen. In terms of formats, it'll play back MPEG, DivX, XviD, MP3, WAV, and JPG. It's got a lil' screen on the front in case you're streaming stuff to a stereo without your TV on. It'll upscale video to 720p, has extensive subtitle support, even on DivX files, and has upgradable firmware. All-in-all, a tremendously useful little box. I'm getting one in for a proper review, so keep an eye out for that. If you're convinced just by the above, however, then it'll be available to buy from Dixons in December. It'll cost £230. Seems, on paper, to be a decent price for a decent device. I'm looking forward to playing with it in person. Emtec Related posts: Emtec Gdium Liberty 1000 - a netbook with an OS on a stick | Emtec launches Movie Cube-R multimedia centre

eBay Nutcase of the Week: Anyone who played a part in the "seven legged spider" viral shame

Gary Cutlack — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:27:21 GMT

UPDATED: BlackBerry Javelin (Curve 8900) coming exclusively to Carphone Warehouse

Andy Merrett — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:40:03 GMT

Details surrounding the UK debut of the BlackBerry Curve 8900 (code name Javelin) are still a bit sketchy, but the latest news suggests that it's coming exclusively to the Carphone Warehouse later this year. Price, network, and contract terms are still to be announced, but in the meantime you can reflect on its specifications: EDGE but no 3G, Wi-Fi, standard BlackBerry email, TFT LCD screen, wide range of video and audio format playback, Bluetooth, GPS, and BlackBerry maps.

GMail adds themes

Duncan Geere — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:40:02 GMT

There's a Firefox extension called Better GMail which Gina Trapani from Lifehacker has put together. It's a compilation of Greasemonkey scripts that enhance various aspects of the service, from its looks to its functionality. Google has a history of taking the best bits of the extension and adding them officially to GMail, and now they've added the popular 'themes' functionality. The themes look damn good - there's giraffes, ninjas, the themes can change over time, or with the weather, and there's even an old-skool ASCII theme. The themes will be rolling out across GMail over the next few days. They're not enabled on my account yet, sadly. Have they shown up on yours? Which is your favourite? Let us know in the comments. Official GMail Blog) Related posts: GMail adds voice and video chat | GMail adds yet more functionality - this time it's SMS

iPhone to get MMS support?

Duncan Geere — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:24:32 GMT

Well this is a turn-up for the books. It looks like the jesusphone might be getting MMS support after all. Swedish telecoms giant Telia has announced that it's planning to launch an application for the iPhone that will enable the much-missed feature. Of course, there are ways to hack the device to enable MMS support, but for those users who are (understandably) a little cautious about hacking something as tightly locked-down as the iPhone, there hasn't been a solution up until now. No details have been released on how the application will work, nor how it squares with Apple's 'why don't you just send it by email instead?' approach. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that the application will work outside of Telia's native market, but nor is it a given, so don't get all those picture messages queued up in your outbox just yet. Telia (via IntoMobile) Related posts: O2 puts unprotected MMS pictures on web, Google still caching phone numbers | Steve Jobs didn't mention MMS for the iPhone 3G, but will it actually support picture messages?

Google kills its 'lively' virtual world

Duncan Geere — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:49:58 GMT

Google has, this morning, taken the rare step of closing down one of the services that it runs. It's 'Lively' virtual world was launched earlier this year, but recently it's been anything but lively, with extremely low visitor numbers compared to its competitors like Second Life. Google is recommending that anyone who's created anything that they desperately want to keep should take some screenshots and capture video of their creations before they're rendered inaccessible at the end of December. All team members assigned to the project will be moved elsewhere. It's a pity but Google's foray into virtual worlds was, at the time, seen as a bit of a strange move. This shuttering is to be expected, considering the low population in the world, and the lack of synergy with any of Google's other offerings. Right now, Google's got more important things to focus on. Lively (via the Official Google Blog) Related posts: Google makes good on virtual world promises, launches Lively | World of Warcraft hits 11 million active subscribers worldwide

Microsoft to launch free antivirus product in the middle of next year

Duncan Geere — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:35:39 GMT

Hoorah! Another sign that Microsoft still knows what it's doing, and 'gets' it, despite evidence to the contrary. Microsoft will, as of the second half of next year, stop selling its ill-fated and unpopular OneCare security software, and instead offer a completely free security suite. The package will support XP, Vista and Windows 7, and will be 'suited to smaller and less powerful computers'. It's unlikely that it'll come installed by default on computers - Microsoft has learnt that lesson - but it should prove popular with technophobes worldwide, who normally struggle with security software and lapsed subscriptions.

Max out your Flash gaming habit with Flash Game Maximizer

Duncan Geere — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:04:42 GMT

Are you tired of squinting at a tiny screen for your lunchtime Desktop Tower Defence habit? Well, squint no longer with the Flash Game Maximizer Firefox add-on. Although some games have a built-in 'fullscreen' option, many don't, and this add-on lets you pump any which don't up to full 1920x1280, or whatever massive resolution you're running in. The add-on's still 'experimental', so you'll need to log in to Firefox's add-ons site to download it. When installed, you get a little box in the bottom right hand corner. When it detects flash, it'll turn yellow, and you can then click it to go fullscreen. Unfortunately it will reset any game currently in progress, so be careful of that. Still, it's a nice way of avoiding those annoying ads all around the game, and increasing the sense of immersion. Flash Game Maximizer (via Cnet) Related posts: Adobe still confident of Flash on iPhone, must pass Apple's tests | NASA celebrates its 50th Anniversary in style - with a Flash-based website.

Xbox Experience touches down today. Download it. Go on.

Daniel Sung — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:32:17 GMT

It's been a rather long, drawn-out release for what is nothing altogether ground-breaking in gaming terms about the the new Xbox Experience, but it has arrived...

Apple exec unintentially leaks new OS X 'Snow Leopard' release date

Duncan Geere — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:00:34 GMT

Apple hasn't made a public statement to this effect yet, but it appears that the new version of OS X 10.6 - a.k.a. Snow Leopard - will be arriving early next year. During a presentation recently, Apple's director of UNIX technologies, John Hubbard, revealed a slide with a list of OS X release dates, including 10.6 in "Q1 2009". Last June, Apple said that Snow Leopard would be arriving in 'about a year', so the timing makes sense. I wouldn't be surprised if we get an announcement at Macworld in January about exactly when the new OS will arrive. In the meantime, unless you want to shell out for the new OS in 3 months time, don't get a new Mac. Apple (via Obsessable) Related posts: OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard confirmed by Apple, will be GPU-friendly, optimised for multi-core processors | WWDC 2008: Snow Leopard, the next Apple operating system, announced by Steve Jobs

BlackBerry Javelin (Curve 8900) coming exclusively to Carphone Warehouse

Andy Merrett — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:00:34 GMT

BBC bringing live One and Two to the Internet

Andy Merrett — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:44:29 GMT

The BBC has announced that it BBC One and BBC Two will be available to watch live online from next Thursday, 27th November. BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC, CBeebies, and BBC News are already available. According to the director of BBC Vision, Jana Bennett, this "completes our commitment to make our portfolio of channels available to watch on the internet". Officially, the entire portfolio of channels is only viewable in the UK, thanks to limiting which IP addresses can access content to those believed to be in the British Isles, but we all know that it's possible to get around those kind of technical restrictions...

PS3 Keypad out in the UK at the end of the month

Daniel Sung — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:44:28 GMT

Well, it's been a long time in the coming but you can finally turn your PS3 into that wireless browsing machine, as Sony today announced the official deets on the PS3 Keypad. The page to scrawl on in your diary is 28th November and the amount to save

Psystar antitrust claim dismissed by judge

Duncan Geere — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:12:24 GMT

Mac cloning company Psystar has just had its antitrust case against Apple dismissed, meaning that its hopes of remaining in business are now miniscule. Psystar had argued that Apple was being anticompetitive to prevent other companies selling computers that run OS X. Psystar claimed that Apple's OS is so unique that it suffers no competitors, but the judge said that "the pleadings...fail to allege facts plausibly supporting (this) counterintuitive claim". Psystar has 20 days to come up with a better argument, or its countersuit will be formally dismissed and they'll be faced with Apple's lawsuit claiming that it infringes on Apple's copyright material and trademarks. Psystar (via Cnet) Related posts: PsyStar finally sees Apple lawsuit | Psystar: fact or fiction - the OpenMac traders have no premises

VIDEO: Energy & Efficiency, episode 9

Gary Cutlack — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:36:28 GMT

Winter. A terrible time for energy waste, thanks to women always being cold and needing the heating on, plus it's dark so the only things to do are watching TV and going on the internet. AND you have to have the lights on. It's a terrifying period of BIG SPENDING on utility bills. If only there was some way to SAVE MONEY and ENERGY during the winter months... There is! Allow me to introduce the concept of Human Hibernation. It's insanity that we bother being awake during the boring winter, so I propose a Human Hibernation period from November to March. It's worked successfully in the animal kingdom for decades - so let's follow their example and activate hibernate. Christmas will have to be moved to Easter to accommodate human hibernation, but that's the only downside...

BNP membership list leaks - Google map mashup created

Duncan Geere — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:36:28 GMT

Last night, a full list of the British National Party's members leaked out to the public at large. Obviously, that's a huge data breach, as a person has a right to privacy of their political beliefs, but many believe the BNP to be an extremist organisation. Members of the BNP are banned from the police force, and they're refused a platform in many students' unions. Aside from looking up family members, several enterprising geeks have been doing some scary stuff with the data. One of the most popular mashups is a Google map that displays where the BNP members near you live - though the map appears to have just been taken down. It was just based on postcodes, so it's not accurate down to the household - just the general area. Even so, the addresses are in the full list, so it doesn't take much effort to track down a particular person in your town.

HP's new TouchSmart tx2 notebook PC twists into a tablet

Andy Merrett — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:17:05 GMT

HP has introduced its latest notebook, the TouchSmart tx2. As the name suggests, it has touchscreen technology built in, allowing users to interact with various software using finger or stylus rather than the keyboard. Featuring capacitive touch, the display can distinguish between one or more finger presses, and can disregard accidental touches, making for more accurate and versatile input...

TD Tips: Gadgets to use on the toilet

Daniel Sung — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:17:05 GMT

Today is World Toilet Day! Didn't know that, did you? No, you probably won't meet many people who knew about it either. Not exactly the first one you pen into your diary at the beginning of the year. All the same, World Toilet Day is here, whether you're ready or not, to celebrate the humble, yet vitally important, toilet and make us consider its importance. Two and a half billion worldwide go without one which is more than an icky thought when you consider the amount of problems caused in the spread of parasites and disease. So, next time you sit upon your cool, comfy piece of porcelain remember how lucky you are. In the mean time, we at Tech Digest join in the World Toilet Day celebrations by considering what a wonderfully productive place the toilet can be. There's plenty you can get done, apart from the obvious, and so, here for your questionable pleasure are our tips for our favourite gadgets to use on the toilet.

Sky launches mobile TV service for 3 customers

Duncan Geere — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:00:34 GMT

If you're dead keen on squinting at a tiny phone screen to see watch TV, and a 3 subscriber, then you'll be excited by the announcement this morning that Sky's Mobile TV service will be coming to a handset near you in the near future. You'll get Sky Sports channels, Sky News, At The Races and CNN, for a monthly fee of £5, or a daily fee of £1. It seems that you'll need a data package to receive the content, too, which will set you back £2.50 a month for 10MB. I suspect, however, that you'll need substantially more than 10MB if you're going to watch the service for more than a few minutes.

Vodafone Live Guy: Day 3 - Newcastle

Daniel Sung — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:12:47 GMT

Way ay man! Day 3, Newcastle, and Live Guy's already been caught! The fool obviously didn't eat his Ready Brek this morning or drink his Brown Ale or whatever was on the menu. This lucky gent, whose name according to Live Guy's Blog is Dan Robins, has bagged himself a nice, new free Dell netbook but there are a further three to win from midday today...