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Microsoft confirms it will cut 5,000 jobs


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Microsoft has confirmed that it is to cut 5,000 jobs, with 1,400 staff going immediately and the rest staggered over the next 18 months.
Cuts at the Redmond giant have been mooted for some time, but the confirmation has finally been made, with Microsoft's Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell announcing the news.
"Economic activity slowed beyond our expectations in the quarter, and we acted quickly to reduce our cost structure and mitigate its impact," said Liddell.
Economic uncertainty
"We are planning for economic uncertainty to continue through the remainder of the fiscal year, almost certainly leading to lower revenue and earnings for the second half relative to the previous year," he added.
The news arrives as Microsoft announces an 11 per cent fall in profits for second quarter net income – with the company making $4.17 billion (£3 billion).
Microsoft has a significant presence in the UK, but no announcement has yet been made as to where the jobs will be cut globally.


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Apple iPhone firmware update 2.2.1 arrives


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Apple has released the 2.2.1 firmware upgrade for the iPhone, which brings a host of bug fixes and much-needed stability to its Safari browser.

The changes for 2.2.1 had been widely leaked, but the expected tweaks for Google Street View, alterations to email and fixes for Safari are present and accounted for.

It's the latter that will cheer iPhone users most, especially those who have been dismayed by the instability of the phone's default Safari browser.

Safari default

Apple has recently allowed a few third-party browsers to appear in the App Store, but Safari remains the way that most users interact with the internet through their iPhones.

And the phone's browser has been beset with stability issues, often crashing back to the home menu mid-surf.

The latest update appears to have fixed this issue.

Also listed in the change log is a fix for a bug that meant some images saved from email didn't show up in the camera roll.

Note: jailbreaking or unlocking is not supported on this firmware yet



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Do leaked photos show new aluminium MacBooks?


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Apple may abandon its plastic MacBook design in favour of aluminium, a source close to the production of the notebook case claims.

An assembly worker at a Taiwanese case manufacturer said in a forum posting that his employer has received orders from Apple to produce aluminium enclosures for new versions of its MacBook and MacBook Pro.

More fuel for the fire

Soon after the worker violated his non-disclosure agreement and posted information about the aluminium MacBooks, a promotional picture surfaced on the web showing the possible redesigns.

First published by MacRumors, the image shows aluminium MacBook and MacBook Pros featuring what looks like a substantially altered design.

Since the site first published the pictures, it has denied any claim that they are real and said that the legitimacy of the designs can be put into question considering how similar they look to current versions.

Apple has yet to comment on the leak, but look for much more on this as we get closer to the Worldwide Developer’s Conference this summer, where Steve Jobs is expected to announce updates to the company’s current product line.



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14-hour batteries, gaming graphics and Windows 7


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The next generation of netbooks will have a 14 hour battery life, far better graphics and be Windows 7 ready. That's according to MSI's Sales Director Andy Tung, who adds that his company will look to experiment with different screen sizes – although he believes netbooks should "keep things simple."

Battery life is a key area that Tung says will certainly improve: "We've tried to fine-tune the battery from three cell (2.5 hours), to six cell (6 hours). That causes some weight problems. By using Intel's Menlow [platform] we're getting 8.5 hours. With SSD it's even better. The flight to Taipei is 14 hours. With Intel Menlow we can achieve that."

Better graphics

Better graphics will also follow, making HD playback possible. But as for gaming, Tung isn't sure that people will take to it. "Netbook gaming is pretty interesting concept; will people play games on a 10-inch screen? However, instead of talking about netbook gaming, let's talk about [the] netbook virtual experience." Tung cited Nvidia's 9200M graphics chip (from the recent MacBook line) as being of particular interest. "There will be a better [graphics] experience [on netbooks]."

We also asked Tung about moving on from Windows XP. Will the plan be to move straight to Windows 7? "So far we haven't really got confirmation yet. Last time they did a Windows 7 demonstration [at WinHEC] they used a netbook. That gives a sign to the market that Windows 7 will be ready for netbooks. I'm not sure about the segmentation, though." Is it scalable and adaptable? "Yes definitely."

Dual-core on the way

And what else is in store for netbooks during 2009? "Intel's plan [is to move the] single core Atom to dual core – even though dual core might not happen [in the] first quarter. AMD has the Neo processor."

"In terms of direction, [the push will be] very similar: thin and light. The netbook category will be even more exciting in 2009 and 2010 because everybody is trying to fine tune the user experience. There are three ways [we can do this]. The first is an appropriate screen size, second a comfortable keyboard size, then better battery life. MSI will always go in those three directions."

"Of course we will add extra spice like a touchscreen, that's for Windows 7. All of our products will be Windows 7 ready before they're released."

Are netbooks to complex and expensive?

So how does the new X320 fit into MSI's plans? "We always try to find the best user experience. The new X line is one of our new series. In terms of product branding, we figured there are a lot of people that like thin and light. [People] are inspired by many different companies such as Apple and Samsung."

"So thin and light will be one of the directions for MSI. And 13.4-inch is just the beginning. We have other plans for bigger screens or even a bit smaller screens. We will have a full line of products."

We also asked Tung if he believes netbooks are getting too complex and expensive. "For the netbook market, personally I don't want it to be too complicated. "They should have easy design, easy features and then there's the economy, I don't want to talk about that! If we add too many features, we'll make it too complicated."



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10 seriously useful Photoshop tutorials


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Improve dull stock images, create striking portraits and more

Our colleagues over on Computer Arts magazine have been handing down Photoshop wisdom for over a decade.

Their website is a mine of information and not just for Photoshop tips, but for llustrator, InDesign, web design apps and much more.

We've had a poke around and chosen 10 of our favourite Photoshop tutorials. You can download free PDFs and accompanying files for every single one of these guides from the links in the article below.

1. Transform a dull stock image into great looking artwork
A series of techniques for coping with boring stock art that you're supplied with for ad design. Discover how to give the images some life, but still leave room in the composition for copy and logos.
Read more

2. Boost your images with Lab colour
Lab colour is a useful colour space in Photoshop that enables you to separate luminance information from colour information. This allows you to achieve amazing colour treatments that aren't possible in RGB, all without compromising the luminance, contrast or detail of the image.
Read more

3. Create striking portraits
This tutorial shows you how to compose a portrait so that the viewer's attention is directed onto the subject without being distracted by the background. It also demonstrates how to define the light source, which ties the whole image together. These principles apply to landscapes and still life as well.
Read more

4. Retouch mediocre photos
Using just the standard filters and tools in Photoshop, with no add-ons or plug-ins, you can make a photo look however you want it to. The techniques demonstrated here will help you get the best possible result from any image. As the tutorial notes, "in Photoshop there are no rules to break - just different ways to accomplish your goals."
Read more

5. Combine textures with vectors
Vector art can sometimes appear a little too crisp and that's where Photoshop comes in. Blending modes, masks and Alpha Channels can give a convincing distressed effect to your vectors. This guide uses a number of real-world image resources as a basis for the effect, achieving a tactile imperfection.
Read more

6. Combine photos to create surrealist landscapes
One trend in photo manipulation is to use several stock images to create a composition. But to make your efforts convincing, you'll need to understand how lighting, colours and shadows work in the real world. This project will show you how.
Read more

7. Create fake photo-real scenes
Remember the Smirnoff 'bottle as lens' ads? Now you can make your own. In this guide, you'll learn how to compose an image using three photographs shot in different places at different times. The result is a rhino in a bottle!
Read more

8. Dress up fashion photography
If you're working on a fashion project, you can have some real fun. In this project, you'll use Photoshop, plus raw materials such as card and paper, to develop a strongly themed result.
Read more

9. Create graffiti stamp art
To create cool graffiti stamp art, you need to go against the conventional idea of how to use the Brush tool. Using a piece of artwork as your brush tip can produce some stunning results.
Read more


10. Defringe hair
Selecting fine strands of hair in order to cut out a model from a background is enough to drive most Photoshop users mad - but there is a solution. The answer lies in using channels to make a detailed alpha mask for your image, as well as in harnessing the Layer Matting features to refine your final extraction.
Read more



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10 top tips for Windows 7 power users


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We've been using Windows 7 for a couple of weeks now, yet it continues to surprise.

Two weeks ago, we kicked off our series of Windows 7 tips and tweaks with an initial 10 Windows 7 tips. And last week, we followed up with a second batch 10 Windows 7 tips, tricks and secrets.

We're still uncovering small tweaks, interesting Registry settings, new programs, and fascinating hidden features that you'll want to explore.

This week we reveal our 10 tips for Windows 7 power users.

1. Automatic PC cleanup
If inexperienced PC users sometimes access your system then you'll know that, well, this can cause problems. Leave them alone for too long and they'll mess up your settings, install dubious programs, delete important files and cause all kinds of havoc.

But Microsoft feels your pain, and Windows 7 will include a possible solution: PC Safeguard. This lets your less technical users log on, play games, use the browser or chat on an instant messenger, say, just as normal. But when they log off, any settings they've changed are undone, and any files they've saved are deleted. Which means it's much more difficult to mess up your PC.

This isn't a new technology. Microsoft has made its Shared Computer Toolkit (aka Windows SteadyState) freely available for years, and this does exactly the same thing (it's more configurable, too). This is the first time it's been fully integrated with Windows, though, which makes it much easier to use.

To give PC Safeguard a try, go to Control Panel > User Accounts and Family Safety > User Accounts > Manage another account > Create a new account. Enter an account name, click Create, then click the account, select Set Up PC Safeguard > Turn on PC Safeguard > Apply. Log on as that user, try downloading and installing a program, then restart and log on again to confirm that the software has gone.

2. Search everything
Windows 7 can now try to search the contents of just about any file type, useful if it's not currently finding the data you need. The problem? Searches can be much, much slower. If you'd like to try it anyway, then launch Explorer, click Tools > Folder Options > View and check "Try to search the content of unknown file types".

3. Find bottlenecks
From what we've seen so far Windows 7 is already performing better than Vista, but if your PC seems sluggish then it's now much easier to uncover the bottleneck. Click Start, type RESMON and press [Enter] to launch the Resource Monitor, then click the CPU, Memory, Disk or Network tabs. Windows 7 will immediately show which processes are hogging the most system resources.

The CPU view is particularly useful, and provides something like a more powerful version of Task Manager. If a program has locked up, for example, then right-click its name in the list and select Analyze Process. Windows will then try to tell you why it's hanging - the program might be waiting for another process, perhaps - which could give you the information you need to fix the problem.

4. RSS-powered slideshows
If even international wallpaper isn't enough, then you can always create a theme that creates a desktop slideshow based on images extracted from an RSS feed. This isn't fully implemented in the beta yet, but Long Zheng has created a few sample themes to illustrate how it works. And Jamie Thompson takes this even further, with a theme that always displays the latest BBC news and weather on your desktop.

5. Restore the Quick Launch Toolbar
The new Windows 7 taskbar essentially works like a giant Quick Launch taskbar that can hold all the shortcuts you need, and that's just fine with us. But if for some reason you prefer the old Quick Launch Toolbar then it only takes a moment to restore.

Right-click the taskbar, choose Toolbars > New Toolbar, type "%UserProfile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch" (less the quotes) into the Folder box and click Select Folder.

Now right-click the taskbar, clear "Lock the taskbar", and you should see the Quick Launch toolbar, probably to the right. Right-click its divider, clear Show Text and Show Title to minimise the space it takes up. Complete the job by right-clicking the bar and selecting View > Small Icons for the true retro look.

6. Calibrate your screen
The colours you see on your screen will vary depending on your monitor, graphics cards settings, lighting and more, yet most people use the same default Windows colour profile. And that means a digital photo you think looks perfect might appear very poor to everybody else.

Fortunately, Windows 7 now provides a Display Colour Calibration Wizard that helps you properly set up your brightness, contrast and colour settings, and a ClearType tuner to ensure text is crisp and sharp. Click Start, type DCCW and press [Enter] to give it a try.

7. Multi-threaded Robocopies
Anyone who's ever used the excellent command-line robocopy tool will appreciate the new switches introduced with Windows 7. Our favourite, /MT, can improve speed by carrying out multi-threaded copies with the number of threads you specify (you can have up to 128, though that might be going a little too far). Enter robocopy /? at a command line for the full details.

8. Custom power switch
By default Windows 7 displays a plain text "Shut down" button on the Start menu, but it only takes a moment to change this action to something else. If you reboot your PC a few times every day then that might make more sense as a default action: right-click the Start orb, select Properties and set the "Power boot action" to "Restart" to make it happen.

9. Remove "Send Feedback"
Microsoft has released Windows 7 to get feedback from the public, so it's important to take advantage of that. If you don't like something, or have a good idea, then click Send Feedback and tell Microsoft what's on your mind. You really could make a difference.

Once you've done all that then you might want to get rid of the Send Feedback links on your windows, and this is very easy to do. Just launch REGEDIT, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop, set the FeedbackToolEnabled value to zero and restart your PC. (Set it to 3 if you'd like the Send Feedback links back again.)

10. Use Sticky Notes
The Sticky Notes app is both simpler and more useful in Windows 7. Launch StickyNot.exe and you can type notes at the keyboard; right-click a note to change its colour; click the + sign on the note title bar to add another note; and click a note and press [Alt]+[4] to close the note windows (your notes will automatically be saved).



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10 ideas Apple should steal from Windows 7


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Popular wisdom says that Apple invents and Microsoft copies.

In reality, though, it's not quite that simple.

Over the years both firms have liberally borrowed from one another - and while Windows 7 draws plenty of inspiration from OS X, it's also added some nifty things that we'd love to see Apple improve upon.

Here are 10 neat Windows 7 features that can teach Apple a thing or two about building a must-have OS.

1. Taskbar thumbnails
Windows 7's new Taskbar is clearly inspired by OS X's Dock, but its taskbar thumbnails - little images that show you all open windows when you hover the mouse over a program icon - take the idea a step further. The OS X dock gets awfully cluttered when you've got lots of apps open and windows minimised; if Apple were to nick this one it'd make things much more straightforward.

2. Touch-screen input
In some respects Apple is way ahead of Microsoft when it comes to touch input - it's already shipping touch-enabled kit - but Apple's approach is to use touch on the trackpad. Multi-touch screens are much more fun.

3 and 4. Libraries and Homegroups
Libraries are a bit like search folders. Simply create a library for a particular topic or project, drag the files and folders you want from your local storage and any connected devices or PCs, and you can then view and access them all from a single location. It's a good way of managing content on multiple machines, especially when you team it up with Homegroups. Best described as networking for people who don't know anything about networking, Homegroups make it easy to share the aforementioned libraries in a home network.

5. Device Stage
If third parties don't ruin it, Device Stage is handy. Each device - MP3 players, printers and other peripherals - gets a nifty selection of buttons to do sensible things such as managing the device, checking for firmware upgrades, opening the manual and so on.

6. Media Center
Front Row is great, but it's really just a front end for iTunes and the iTunes Store. Windows' Media Center, on the other hand, is a proper home entertainment system that uses TV tuners to deliver live TV and personal video recording.

7. Jump lists
Jump lists are context-sensitive menus that appear when you right-click on a program icon, providing quick access to common tasks and to recently opened documents. OS X has this to an extent, but only when the application is actually running.

8. DirectX
Once again, Microsoft makes games developers happy with a new version of its Direct X media API. Apple? As ID Software's John Carmack said in 2008, "The truth is Steve Jobs doesn't care about games." The success of iPhone gaming suggests that perhaps he should.

9. BitLocker
Windows 7's version of BitLocker drive encryption makes it easy to protect external drives and even USB flash drives. OS X's FileVault, while easy to use and very secure, only encrypts your home directory.

10. Netbook compatibility
Windows 7 has been designed to run on the humblest hardware and install from a USB drive, because people really like netbooks. Apple could easily produce a cracker, but we're not convinced Snow Leopard is the place to start: the iPhone's OS X is already optimised for modest hardware.



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Rumour: Google to buy Skype


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Is eBay looking to offload its VoIP cash-cow?

Leading VoIP service Skype goes from strength to strength, with revenues rising by 26 per cent last quarter. Yet despite this success, parent company eBay is rumoured to be looking to offload its cash-cow to none other than Google.

The rumours seem credible when you consider that eBay's latest financial results were pretty poor (revenue down 7 per cent to $2.04bn), well below the market expectations for what is traditionally retail's busiest quarter.

No eBay/Skype synergy

"Even eBay has now admitted that its $2.6bn purchase of Skype in 2005 was too much. With still no logical integration between the telephony service and the auction site, speculation over a potential sale is again intensifying," says Jemima Kiss in The Guardian.

According to The Times, eBay's Chief Executive, John Donahoe, told analysts earlier this month that: "synergies between Skype and the other parts of our portfolio are minimal." He also said that Skype is "a great standalone business".

The Times report mentions US telcos AT&T and Verizon as potential buyers, while Jemima Kiss speculates in The Guardian that: "Google was rumoured to be interested as far back at November 2007, and that would fit with just one of the many pies in which Google has its fingers."

TechRadar has contacted Skype's UK press office for further information on this story, so stay tuned for updates.



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30 Google Chrome tips, tricks and shortcuts


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1. Create desktop and Start menu shortcuts to web apps such as Gmail - go to Gmail.com and then select Create application shortcuts... from the Page Control menu (in the top-right corner of your browser - it looks like a page with the corner folded over). Now choose where you want to place your shortcut. This works for other Google apps such as Calendar and Documents, and other services such as Windows Live Hotmail.

2. Control + Shift + N opens an 'incognito' window - sites you view in this window won't appear in your history and cookies served by sites in this window will be deleted when the window is closed.

3. You can open a link in an incognito window by right-clicking the link and selecting Open link in incognito window.

4. Alt + Home loads your Google Chrome home page, with thumbnails of your most visited sites shown in the active tabbed window.

5. Control + T opens a new tab. You can drag tabs around to change their order or drag a tab out of the window into its own window.

6. Control + Shift + T opens your most recently closed tab. Press the key combination again to open the tab closed before that one. Google Chrome remembers the last 10 tabs you've closed.

7. Jump to different open tabs using Control + 1, Control + 2, Control + 3, etc. Control + 9 takes you to the last tab.

8. Control + Tab lets you cycle through your open tabs in order.

9. Control + Shift + Tab cycles through your tabs in the opposite order.

10. As with Firefox 3, you can drag a link onto a tab to open it in that tab, or drop it between two tabs to open a new tab in that position.

11. To bookmark a site click the star on the left of the address bar and then select a folder to add it to.

12. Control +B hides the Google Chrome bookmarks bar. Press Control + B to bring it back again.

13. Right-click or hold down the back button and you'll get a drop-down list of sites to go back through. Show Full History, at the bottom of the list, opens a new tab with your full browser history.

14. Control + H is a faster way to bring up the History page.

15. You can delete history for chosen days by scrolling to the day you want to delete and clicking Delete history for this day on the right-hand side of the window.

16. Control + J brings up your Downloads page.

17. To clear an item from your Downloads page, right-click an entry and select Remove.

18. Press Control + K or Control + E to search from the address bar. Once pressed, you'll see a ? symbol appear in the address bar and you can simply enter your search query and hit Return.

19. Right-click the top of the browser window and select Task manager to see how much memory different tabs and plug-ins are using. Highlight one and click End process to stop it running.

20. Shift + Escape is a quicker way to bring up the Google Chrome Task manager.

21. To see what plug-ins are installed, type about:plugins into the address window.

22. You can also type the following commands into the Google Chrome address window: about:stats, about:network, about:histograms, about:memory, about:cache, about:dns.

23. Type about:crash to see what a crashed tab looks like.

24. A three-second diversion: type about:internets. (Only works in Windows XP.)

25. Edit any web page - right-click a page and select Inspect element. Now edit the HTML source code and hit Return to view the changes.

26. To make Google Chrome your default browser, click the Tools button (in the right-hand corner of the browser window - a spanner icon). Select Options, click the Basics tab and then click the Make Google Chrome my default browser button.

27. To delete cookies, go to Tools > Options > Under the Hood. Scroll down to the Security section, and click Show cookies. Now you can click Remove all or remove individual cookies.

28. To clear more data such as the Google Chrome browsing history and cache, click the Tools icon and select Clear browsing data...

29. To clear the most visited web sites that appear on your Google Chrome start page, you must clear your browsing history using the method above.

30. Clearing your Google Chrome browser history will also stop matches from previously browsed sites appearing as suggestions in your address bar.



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Google week: 101 tips, tricks and hacks


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The ultimate collection of Google tips


1. The best way to begin searching harder with Google is by clicking the Advanced Search link.

2. This lets you search for exact phrases, "all these words", or one of the specified keywords by entering search terms into the appropriate box.

3. You can also define how many results you want on the page, what language and what file type you're looking for, all with menus.

4. Advanced Search lets you type in a Top Level Domain (like .co.uk) in the "Search within site of domain" box to restrict results.

5. And you can click the "Date, usage rights, numeric range and more" link to access more advanced features.

6. Save time – most of these advanced features are also available in Google's front page search box, as command line parameters.

7. Google's main search invisibly combines search terms with the Boolean construct "AND". When you enter smoke fire – it looks for smoke AND fire.

8. To make Google search for smoke or fire, just type smoke OR fire

9. Instead of OR you can type the | symbol, like this: smoke | fire

10. Boolean connectors like AND and OR are case sensitive. They must be upper case.

11. Search for a specific term, then one keyword OR another by grouping them with parentheses, like this: water (smoke OR fire)

12. To look for phrases, put them in quotes: "there's no smoke without fire"

13. Synonym search looks for words that mean similar things. Use the tilde symbol before your keyword, like this: ~eggplant

14. Exclude specific key words with the minus operator. new pram -ebay excludes all results from eBay.

15. Common words, like I, and, then and if are ignored by Google. These are called "stop words".

16. The plus operator makes sure stop words are included. Like: fish +and chips

17. If a stop word is included in a phrase between quote marks as a phrase, the word is searched for.

18. You can also ask Google to fill in a blank. Try: Christopher Columbus discovered *

19. Search for a numerical range using the numrange operator. For example, search for Sony TV between £300 and £500 with the string Sony TV £300..£500

20. Google recognises 13 main file types through advanced search, including all Microsoft Office Document types, Lotus, PostScript, Shockwave Flash and plain text files.

21. Search for any filetype directly using the modifier filetype:[filetype extension]. For example: soccer filetype:pdf

22. Exclude entire file types, using the same Boolean syntax we used to exclude key words earlier: rugby -filetype:doc

23, In fact, you can combine any Boolean search operators, as long as your syntax is correct. An example: "sausage and mash" -onions filetype:doc

24. Google has some very powerful, hidden search parameters, too. For example "intitle" only searches page titles. Try intitle:herbs

25. If you're looking for files rather than pages – give index of as the intitle: parameter. It helps you find web and FTP directories.

26. The modifier inurl only searches the web address of a page: give inurl:spices a go.

27. Find live webcams by searching for: inurl:view/view.shtml

28. The modifier inanchor is very specific, only finding results in text used in page links.

29. Want to know how many links there are to a site? Try link:sitename – for example link:www.mozilla.org

30. Similarly, you can find pages that Google thinks are related in content, using the related: modifier. Use it like this: related:www.microsoft.com

31. The modifier info:site_name returns information about the specified page.

32. Alternatively, do a normal search then click the "Similar Pages" link next to a result.

33. Specify a site to search with the site: modifier – like this: search tips site:www.random-tech-stuff.blogspot.com

34. The above tip works with directory sites like www.dmoz.org and dynamically generated sites.

35. Access Google Directory – a database of handpicked and rated sites – at directory.google.com

36. The Boolean operators intitle and inurl work in Google directory, as does OR.

37. Use the site: modifier when searching Google Images, at images.google.com. For example: dvd recorder site:www.amazon.co.uk

38. Similar, using "site:.com" will only return results from .com domains.

39. Google News (news.google.com) has its own Boolean parameters. For example "intext" pulls terms from the body of a story.

40. If you use the operator "source:" in Google News, you can pick specific archives. For example: heather mills source:daily_mail

41. Using the "location:" filter enables you to return news from a chosen country. location:uk for example.

42. Similarly, Google Blogsearch (blogsearch.google.com) has its own syntax. You can search for a blog title, for example, using inblogtitle:

43. The general search engine can get very specific indeed. Try movie: to look for movie reviews.

44. The modifier film: works just as well!

45. Enter showtimes and Google will prompt you for your postcode. Enter it and it'll tell you when and where local films are showing.

46. For a dedicated film search page, go to www.google.co.uk/movies

47. If you ticked "Remember this Location" when you searched for show times, the next time you can enter the name of a current film instead.

48. Google really likes movies. Try typing director: The Dark Knight into the main search box.

49. For cast lists, try cast: name_of_film

50. The modifier music: followed by a band, song or album returns music reviews.

51. Try searching for weather London – you'll get a full 4-day forecast.

52. There's also a built-in dictionary. Try define: in the search box.

53. Google stores the content of old sites. You can search this cache direct with the syntax keyword cache:site_url

54. Alternatively, enter cache:site_url into Google's search box to be taken direct to the stored site.

55. No calculator handy? Use Google's built in features. Try typing 12*15 and hitting "Google Search".

56. Google's calculator converts measurements and understands natural language. Type in 14 stones in kilos, for example.

57. It does currency conversion too. Try 200 pounds in euros

58. If you know the currency code you can type 200 GBP in EUR instead for more reliable results.

59. And temperature! Just type: 98 f to c to convert Fahrenheit to Centigrade.

60. Want to know how clever Google really is? Type 2476 in roman numerals, then hit "Google Search"...

61. You can personalise your Google experience by creating a Google account. Go to www.google.com/account/ then click "Create Account".

62. With a Google account there are lots more extras available. You'll get a free Gmail email account for one...

63. With your Google account, you can also personalise your front page. Click "iGoogle" to add blog and site feeds.

64. Click "Add a Tab" in iGoogle to add custom tabs. Google automatically populates them with suitable site suggestions.

65. iGoogle allows you to theme your page too. Click "Select Theme" to change the default look.

66. Some iGoogle themes change with time..."Sweet Dreams" is a theme that turns from day to night as you browse.

67. Click "More" under "Try something new" to access a full list of Google sites and new features.

68. "Custom Search" enables you to create a branded Google search for your own site.

69. An active, useful service missing from the list is "Personalised Search" – but you can access it via www.google.com/psearch when you're logged in.

70. This page lists searches you have recently made – and is divided into categories. Clicking "pause" stops Google from recording your history.

71. Click "Trends" to see the sites you visit most, the terms you enter most often and links you've clicked on!

72. Personalised Search also includes a bookmark facility – which enables you to save bookmarks online and access them from anywhere.

73. You can add bookmarks or access your bookmarks using the iGoogle Bookmarks gadget.

74. Did you know you can search within your returned results? Scroll down to the bottom of the search results page to find the link.

75. Search locally by appending your postcode to the end of query. For example Indian food BA1 2BW finds restaurants in Bath, with addresses and phone numbers!

76. Looking for a map? Just add map to the end of your query, like this: Leeds map

77. Google finds images just as easily and lists them at the top, when you add image to the end of your search.

78. Google Image Search recognises faces... add &imgtype=face to the end of the returned URL in the location bar, then hit enter to filter out pictures that aren't people.

79. Keeping an eye on stocks? Type stocks: followed by market ticker for the company and Google returns the data from Google Finance.

80. Enter the carrier and flight number in Google's main search box to return flight tracking information.

81. What time is it? Find out anywhere by typing time then the name of a place.

82. You may have noticed Google suggests alternate spellings for search terms – that's the built in spell checker!

83. You can invoke the spell checker directly by using spell: followed by your keyword.

84. Click "I'm Feeling Lucky" to be taken straight to the first page Google finds for your keyword.

85. Enter a statistics-based query like population of Britain into Google, and it will show you the answer at the top of its results.

86. If your search has none-English results, click "Translate this Page" to see it in English.

87. You can search foreign sites specifically by clicking "Language Tools", then choosing which countries sites to translate your query to.

88. Other features on the language tools page include a translator for blocks of text you can type or cut and paste.

89. There's also a box that you can enter a direct URL into, translating to the chosen language.

90. Near the language tools link, you'll see the "Search Preferences". This handy page is full of secret functionality.

91. You can specify which languages Google returns results in, ticking as many (or few) boxes as you like.

92. Google's Safe Search protects you from explicit sexual content. You can choose to filter results more stringently or switch it off completely.

93. Google's default of 10 results a page can be increased to up to 100 in Search Preferences, too.

94. You can also set Google to open your search results in a new window.

95. Want to see what others are searching for or improve your page rank? Go to www.google.com/zeitgeist

96. Another useful, experimental search can be found at www.google.com/trends – where you can find the hottest search terms.

97. To compare the performance of two or more terms, enter them into the trends search box separated by commas.

98. Fancy searching Google in Klingon? Go to www.google.com/intl/xx-klingon

99. Perhaps the Swedish chef from the muppets is your role model instead? Check www.google.com/intl/xx-bork

100. Type answer to life, the universe and everything into Google. You may be surprised by the result...

101. It will also tell you the number of horns on a unicorn



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Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 8 RC1


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Microsoft has unleashed its first release candidate (RC1) of Internet Explorer 8 – the software that it's hoping will dominate the internet browser food chain for years to come.

Although Internet Explorer remains the most used browser on the planet by some margin, Mozilla's Firefox has slowly eaten into IE's dominance and has now taken more than 20 per cent of the market.

With the use of Apple's Safari and Opera also up, and Google Chrome lurking menacingly, Microsoft is well aware that IE8 needs to deliver, so it's hoping that the browser's improved functionality and a number of key new features can help its cause.

All about the experience

"IE8 [is] focused on how people really use the web," said Microsoft's IE General Manager Dean Hachamovitch on the IE8 blog.

"Consumers want a browser that makes the tasks they do every day faster and easier. The activities people spend their time on define real-world performance: navigating to websites, working with tabs, searching, keeping track of changing information (like traffic or an auction), and using the information from one site with another (as in getting a map).

"Everyone wants a trustworthy browser that keeps them in control and protects their safety. Developers want great developer tools, great interoperability and a powerful platform that enables them innovate.

"For some people, accessibility is crucial; for some organizations, policy, administration, and deployment are essential."

The changes from the beta version to this release candidate have been described as 'mostly polish at this point'.

Comparison

TechRadar compared the major players back in September and we were most impressed with the additional privacy features integrated into the then-beta version of IE8. These include the now de rigeur private browsing, anti-phishing and pop-up blockers, but its Adblock Pro also scored well.

Although concerns were raised ahead of RC1's release over IE8 being resource hungry and less quick to load pages than its rivals, Internet Explorer's place as Microsoft's Windows – the dominant OS by far – default browser means that it has an instant edge.

Internet Explorer 8 is available from http://www.microsoft.com/ie8, but it should be noted that it won't work with the Windows 7 beta, even though it will be the default browser for Vista's successor when it arrives.



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Offline Gmail rolled out by Google


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Another step forward for Google's webmail

Offline Gmail is being rolled out with Google, allowing people to access their web mail even when they are not connected.

Available in the 'next couple of days' to all those who use Gmail in US or UK English, Offline Gmail uses Google's Gears to download a cache of mail which is synchronised.

Offline mode

When there is no connection Gmail switched to offline mode and uses the local data rather than looking online. And, for those people on flaky connections (on a train for instance) there is also a hybrid solution.

"…if you're on an unreliable or slow connection (like when you're "borrowing" your neighbor's wireless), you can choose to use "flaky connection mode," which is somewhere in between: it uses the local cache as if you were disconnected, but still synchronises your mail with the server in the background, explains the Google Gmail team blog.

"Our goal is to provide nearly the same browser-based Gmail experience whether you're using the data cached on your computer or talking directly to the server."

Experimental feature

A seamless/offline online experience will certainly be welcome, with Gmail simply waiting until it has a connection to send the mails that you write while offline.

"Offline Gmail is still an early experimental feature, so don't be surprised if you run into some kinks that haven't been completely ironed out yet," adds the blog post.

"We've been using offline Gmail internally at Google for quite a while…Now we're ready to have a larger set of people try it out, so we're making it available in Gmail Labs for those of you who want to test out Gmail's latest and greatest."

For those who want to try out the feature (when available, and it isn't for anyone in the TechRadar offices as yet), go to Labs in Settings, select Enable next to Offline Gmail and Save Changes.



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How green is Apple?


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Macs are built to last – but even Apple kit can and does die.

If it's beyond repair, that means you need to dispose of it. You wouldn't dump an old computer in landfill, but many people do.

Every year, mountains of electronic waste are shipped to Asia where they're broken down to their component parts in shocking conditions, with heavy metals and hazardous chemicals leaking into the Earth.

Back in 1997, the average lifespan of a computer was six years. By 2005, that had dropped to two years – and the lifespan of a mobile phone is even shorter, with many people upgrading or replacing their phones every 18 months.

In an ideal world, everybody who buys an iPhone or switches to a Mac will send their old phone to Oxfam and give their old PC to the Apple Store for recycling. Sadly we don't live in an ideal world, and Greenpeace estimates that up to 50 million tonnes of electronic waste is dumped each and every year.

However, the good news is that things are slowly getting better. Apple has unveiled its greenest Macs yet, it's cut down on bulky packaging, it's removed some of the worst nasties from its products and it's now happy to take old computing kit when you buy new Apple kit.

So how green is Apple – and is there anything we can do to make it greener still?

Biting Apple

In 2004, environmental campaigners including Greenpeace began publicising the problem of electronic waste. Some firms were more sympathetic than others – in 2005 Steve Jobs described criticism of Apple's green record as "bullshit" – campaigners decided to put as much pressure on Apple as possible. The Green My Apple campaign urged Apple customers and shareholders to put pressure on the firm to clean up its act.

Tom Dowdall is the co-ordinator of Greenpeace's Toxic Tech campaign. "The most important factor was probably the huge, enthusiastic response of Mac fans," he recalls. "The site received over 690,000 visitors, 50,000 people wrote directly to Steve and thousands of Mac-related blogs, from the biggest to the smallest individual Mac user blogs, linked to the campaign." As Dowdall explains, campaigners felt that Apple would listen to Mac owners. "Apple customers did speak up, and that's maybe what changed Steve's mind."

Was Jobs' cry of "bullshit" justified? Were campaigners picking on Apple unfairly? To an extent, yes. Campaigns need to generate publicity, and "Green My Apple" generated headlines that "Green My Acer" simply wouldn't.

Then again, Apple wasn't entirely blameless. While Apple was gradually becoming greener, it was only doing so when and where laws compelled it to – and as Ted Smith, chair of the ComputerTakeBack Campaign pointed out, "They [were] out there lobbying against recycling bills supported by Dell and HP, they have a limited takeback programme that they don't promote and that's hard to use, and they refuse to commit to a timeline for phasing out toxic materials… maybe 'think different' really means 'don't think about it'."

There was also an inconvenient truth. While other technology firms might have poorer environmental records than Apple, they didn't have Al Gore on the board of directors. The firm's board voted "unanimously" against two shareholder resolutions on environmental issues in 2007 – which means Gore voted against resolutions that the TakeBack Campaign described as "very mild". As campaign vicechair Robin Schneider put it: "how can he be against making improvements in recycling and phasing out toxic materials? We expect more from someone who is such a strong leader on global warming."

In May 2007 Steve Jobs posted an open letter – A Greener Apple – on the Apple website. In typical Jobs style, he took swipes at the competition and showed some frustration at the way Apple had been singled out, but he made some key promises. Jobs pledged to eliminate the use of arsenic in displays by the end of 2008 and to eventually switch to LED backlighting, eliminating the use of mercury from displays.

He also pledged to remove PVC and Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs) from the entire Apple product line by the end of this year. Most importantly, Jobs said: "Apple is already a leader in innovation and engineering, and we are applying these same talents to become an environmental leader."

Since then, Jobs has stuck to his word. Unnecessary packaging has been eliminated, Macs are more environmentally friendly than before and the new MacBooks are the greenest laptops Apple has ever made.

In his 2008 environmental update, Jobs notes that Apple's recycling has increased 57%, that the firm offers "takeback" recycling schemes in 95% of the countries where Apple products are sold, that the firm is making efforts to reduce not just the carbon footprint of its manufacturing processes but the energy consumption of its products too.

What you can do

Apple could make the greenest electronics on the planet, but if its customers don't go green too then it's all pretty pointless. As you'd expect, being a green Apple owner isn't particularly difficult: keep stuff that works, pass it on if you don't need it, and recycle it when it dies.

Apple has two kinds of recycling programmes in the UK. If you buy online – or if you haven't bought anything and just want to recycle old kit – then the UK distributor takeback scheme means you should take your hardware to a council recycling point. You can find the nearest one at www.recycle-more.co.uk.

Alternatively, when you buy something from an Apple Store you can recycle your old kit by taking it to the Store within 30 days of purchase. In some cases you'll even get a discount, so for example if you recycle an old iPod (except the shuffle) you'll get 10% off a new one.

Apple Stores won't just recycle Apple hardware: if you're buying a Mac to replace an old Windows box, you can recycle that. However, the Apple website is a little bit confusing, because it says that you can recycle "one equivalent piece of electronic equipment" by taking it to the Apple store. But what does "one" mean? Is it one item, such as the CPU, or is it one system, which would include cables, keyboard and monitor? We have no idea and the Apple website doesn't say – so we decided to ask our friendly neighbourhood Apple Store.

Nicola was happy to help. We told her that we'd like to buy a shiny new iMac and dump a decrepit Dell desktop, but we were not sure what we could actually recycle. Is it the whole kit and caboodle, cables and all, or can we only recycle the actual PC bit? Nicola wasn't sure, so she double-checked. Bring in the whole thing, cables and all, she told us. Can we bring the monitor? Yep, that too. Bring everything!

Inevitably, there are limits to what your local Apple Store will take. Cracked monitors, extra batteries, uninterruptible power supplies and nuclear waste are no-nos, and Apple's definition of "equivalent" doesn't include "microwave ovens or washing machines".

Everything's gone green

Apple has delivered exactly what Greenpeace asked for: a greener Apple. So the protesters have stopped protesting, the emailers have stopped emailing, and every time you buy a Mac a polar bear bursts into tears of joy.

Well, not quite. Apple has made huge steps, but going green is a long process – and like all PC manufacturers, Apple can do even more to lessen the environmental impact of its products. One of the problems is that the electronics industry thrives on making us buy new stuff, and Apple is particularly good at it – which is why people with perfectly good first-generation iPhones were queuing outside Apple stores to get the iPhone 3G on the day of release.

As Dowdall points out, "The marketing approach… to always ditch the old and buy the latest new version of a gadget you already have is not sustainable. A greener approach would be to offer hardware upgrades to existing gadgets instead of a whole new model, or to change to a leasestyle arrangement where customers buy a service instead of a product."

Cutting down on packaging and removing hazardous chemicals is a big step in the right direction, but campaigners would like to see even bigger changes. "Apple is leading the way among PC makers in eliminating toxic chemicals," says Dowdall.

"However, they still have much to do on improving recycling, their climate change policy and energy use. Clear leadership on recycling would be offering a free global takeback scheme. Clear leadership on climate issues would be Apple committing to cuts in its greenhouse gas emissions – like HP has – and increasing the total amount of renewable energy it uses globally – like Nokia has."

We can play our part, too. "Don't be afraid to ask for continuous improvement on environmental policies," Dowdall says. "That's a powerful way to push for better corporate practice." Steve Jobs has already pledged to make Apple an "environmental leader". We can make sure he sticks to it.



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Could 'Vista capable' stickers cost MS $8.5bn?


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The ongoing case over whether Microsoft misled consumers with 'Vista capable' specifications could cost the company a staggering $8.5 billion (£5.9bn).

Figures released by US District Court Judge Marsha Pechman showed just how astronomic the claim is, with Microsoft claiming the figure is "absurd".

The case revolves around Microsoft's use of the 'Vista capable' sticker ahead of the launch of the successor to XP.

Aero - plain to see?

The company's argument is that computers labelled as 'Vista capable' were able to run Windows Vista Basic – but the claimants insist that Vista Basic should not be counted as a true version of Windows Vista, largely because it does not support aero graphics.

Microsoft insists that aero graphics are not an essential part of its OS, but it seems the Redmond-based monolith will have to prove that to the court.



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10 iPhone Games You Must Own


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For many gamers, the iPhone is the first mobile platform with videogames that are actually worth playing. The gadget's winning combination of touchscreen and motion controls means games can be much more intuitive and fun than if you were trying to play with a regular phone's tiny keypad.

Perhaps more importantly, Apple's unique approach to game distribution — allowing anyone to produce and sell games through iTunes for a nominal fee — has caused the App Store to virtually explode with software. Apple has sold more than 20 million iPhones, plus countless more iPod Touch music players, giving the devices enormous reach as a gaming platform.

We wanted to write a list of our favorite iPhone (and iPod Touch) games, but we knew it couldn't possibly be comprehensive or definitive. But these 10 games are the highest-quality ones we have played so far, the ones that are definitely worth downloading.

We're sure that you brilliant Wired.com readers have your own favorite iPhone games — probably some we haven't even heard of. At the end of this article, you can nominate and vote for your own favorite iPhone games.

Best Guilty Pleasure: Yahtzee Adventures ($3)

I am positively mortified to admit it, but I can't stop playing this. Yes, Yahtzee is a game of rolling dice and hoping that you land a high-scoring combination. Only the barest of skill is required, and playing against an emotionless machine should not be nearly as fun as playing against a roomful of friends. And yet somehow I haven't been able to stop. The fact that you can pass around the iPhone to play it with up to four friends makes it an ideal time-killer for groups, and new modes like Rainbow (with colored dice!) add variety. Oh, I am so ashamed.

Best Use of Space Ducks and Donuts: Newtonica 2 ($1)

I'm friends with this game's designer. I say that in the interest of full disclosure. Also to brag, because Newtonica 2 is really fun. You're a duck, adrift in space. You tap little circles that push the duck into the void, in hopes of pushing him into a safety vortex. And you collect donuts, which are usually placed in inconvenient spots that make it that much harder to find your way. It starts off easy, but gets quite tricky. Passed all the puzzles? Get the sequel, Newtonica 2 Resort, for another buck.

Best Indie Game Sensation: Crayon Physics Deluxe ($5)

The PC version of this game, in which you draw objects using a virtual crayon that comes to life and has real-world physical properties, took home the grand prize at last year's Independent Games Festival. The object of each level is to roll a red ball into a yellow star. How are you going to do it? You're limited only by your ability to draw. You can solve the puzzles with simple shapes, or draw elaborate ones. Draw one, draw 10. Drawing with your finger on the iPhone's screen rather than with a mouse takes a bit of getting used to, but it works quite well.

Best Game That Shouldn't Have Worked: SimCity ($10)

When Electronic Arts announced a port of SimCity for the iPhone, I was a bit scared. Not only is the series vastly more complex than most iPhone games, it has always required at least a gamepad, and more often than not a keyboard and mouse. Luckily, those fears were unfounded — EA managed to translate all the game's controls into an easy-to-learn series of finger taps and swipes. Everything from designing complex highway systems to destroying buildings with an impromptu alien attack is literally just a touch away. The complexities of running a virtual metropolis keep this title from being a casual, pick-up-and-play iPhone game, but for those looking for something to suck away hours of their life on long flights, SimCity is the perfect solution.

Best Game Clearly Inspired By Rez: Edge ($6)

If I didn't know any better, I'd say Edge was designed by the team that gave us Rez and Lumines. It's not. But the thumping techno soundtrack combined with the Tron-style graphics bring back that old feeling. Your job is to roll a cube through levels filled with peril, picking up gleaming pixels and reaching the exit of each level. You can choose between swiping the screen or tilting the phone to move — I found swiping to be much more accurate, especially considering that pitfalls await all over the place.

Best Game That'll Be Gone Soon: GW Helmet (Free)

Hey, remember the Game & Watch handheld, Nintendo's first big hit product? Those little LCD games oozed charm from their liquid crystals, and the cute graphics belied some occasionally maddening gameplay. GW Helmet is a pitch-perfect ripoff of one of the originals, where you have to guide an infinite number of unlucky hard-hat guys across a construction site where tools and buckets are raining from the sky. You'd swear somebody took an old Game & Watch and shoved it into your iPhone. You'd also swear that these G&W clones are likely to be the target of a C&D from Nintendo, meaning you should download these now — besides Helmet, there's Fire, Octopus, Chef and Parachute, although the latter titles cost $2 each. The very topical Bank Panic ($1) has the benefit of looking like a Game & Watch title but not actually infringing upon Nintendo's copyrights.

Best Game in an Inexplicably Crowded Genre: Field Runners ($5)

Simplicity is the key feature of the iPhone's best games, and what could be more simple than a game that is almost entirely described by its two-word title? Field Runners sees an endless stream of enemies running across a field toward your base. To ensure peace in your base, you strategically place deadly weaponry in their path. That's the entire game. The App Store is lousy with "tower defense" games, and with good reason: The balancing act of deciding whether your forces would be better served with a simple machine gun or the more expensive electric zapper as your enemies become more numerous and more tenacious is pure addictive fun. As an added bonus, no Field Runners level lasts more than a minute, making the game a perfect fit for short bus trips or waiting in line at the post office. If you prefer a Final Fantasy flavor with your tower defense, try Square Enix's Crystal Defenders ($8).

Best Game About Unrealistic Surgery: Dr. Awesome ($1)

Being a doctor is, in fact, awesome. Judging from this game, it mostly has to do with playing a motion-controlled version of arcade classic Qix. You're moving a cursor around the playfield, trying to section off segments of some unidentified part of a patient's anatomy while avoiding evil, killer bacteria. Once you slice away enough of the infected area, the infection can't go on living. Later levels up the challenge by introducing faster-moving foes that home in on your cursor, forcing you to get better at tilting your iPhone with surgical precision. Dr. Awesome even uses your phone's contact list to populate its cast of patients. Because it feels that much worse when your friends die on the table.

Best Port of a Game You Already Have: Bejeweled 2 ($3)

If Tetris is the videogame equivalent of Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9," the Bejeweled series is Abbey Road. Since debuting in 2004, the game's simple, newbie-friendly "match three gems" gameplay has addicted tens of millions of gamers by virtue of its gentle learning curve and subtle complexity. The latest iteration of the series, a port of Bejeweled 2 for the iPhone, perfectly re-creates the series' trademark gameplay with touchscreen controls. Unlike other games with glitchy, rushed iPhone versions, Bejeweled works perfectly. Whether you prefer the slow, methodical gameplay of Classic Mode or the tension of Action Mode's ticking clock, Bejeweled 2 translates perfectly to iPhone.

Best Improvement on Someone Else’s Game: Rolando ($6)

You don't have to say it: Rolando looks and feels exactly like Sony's PSP game Loco Roco, from the cartoony blobs of color to the very gameplay, which involves tilting the world around to roll said blobs of color to safety. But Rolando has more depth to its gameplay. Some blobs roll; others stick to the walls. Some bounce around of their own accord, and you must figure out how to save them from spazzing out into hazards. Tons of levels make this one of the few iPhone games that is more involved experience than casual diversion.

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Control a PS3 from your BlackBerry


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Game\Shadow takes convergence to a whole new level

Ever held your BlackBerry towards your PS3, wondering in desperation why you can't control the action on the screen? Well, your worries could soon be over thanks to a natty piece of new software.

No longer do you have to suffer the ignominy of multiple devices to control multiple things, as Unify4Life's Game|Shadow allows you to use a BlackBerry as if it were a PS3 control pad.

By connecting a little dongle to the PS3, you can work all your magic from the fun of your smartphone.

Not only that, but Blu-ray discs are also included too, so you could probably throw that controller out the window (though we advise you don't... you'll probably want it for actually playing games properly).

Eh? V?

In fact, add in another little program (AV|Shadow) and you'll even be able to change the inputs on your AV system as well!

If that wasn't enough for you (yes, there's more), you can also navigate to pre-defined bookmarked sites and you can even use the BlackBerry's keypad to input text (probably the most useful feature of the lot, as few people ever bother to plug a keyboard into the system.)

You should probably watch the video to decide for yourself whether it's worthwhile (you have to make a lot of button presses just to do something that takes usually one with a standard controller) but hey, everyone likes different things.

Anyway, it's available for $39.99 (around £29) and can be ordered over the internet from pretty much anywhere. So if you love your BlackBerry so much you want to use it for EVERYTHING, get on over to Unify4Life's website.



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Four new colours for the PSP


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Nothing says 'funky games console' like a host of colour options, which is probably why Sony's PSP has just been released in four bright hues in Japan.

The Japanese electronics giant has not had a good time of things of late, and it was its gaming division that took a lot of the heat for poor financial returns.

But if anything can turn things around, surely it's the arrival of the PSP in "Vibrant Blue," "Radiant Red," "Bright Yellow" and "Spirited Green".

Carnival

The so-called 'carnival colours' range is Japan-only for now and available in limited numbers, although should the home nation go wild for the new colours, then it's a fair bet they'll make a move west.

Currently the PSP is available with three outer coats – Piano Black, Pearl White and, more rarely, Mystic Silver.

But wait, there's more: Sony's also serving up a celebratory range of official peripherals for the handheld including a colourful 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo, an original PSP pouch, battery packs and, for completionists, even a wrist strap and cloth.

We'll keep you informed should there be any mention of UK availability.



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PlayStation 3 firmware upgrade tomorrow


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Media-focused v2.60 software boosts pics and vids

A snap announcement of an upgrade to the PlayStation 3 from Sony Computer Entertainment today has the v2.60 firmware arriving as soon as tomorrow.

The news broke on a US PlayStation blog - http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/01/20/upcoming-ps3-firmware-v260-update - where you can see a quick run-through of the update's new features.

The main feature is a new Photo Gallery application (a 100MB download), offering a suite of tools to view and organise images.

Smile, you're on PlayStation

Digital photos can now be sorted in lots of different ways. The default view is a scrolling timeline but you can also sort by the camera used to take the picture or the album it's in. So far so Photoshop.

The PS3 innovation is to also let you sort by colours in the photo, the number of people in it, their ages and even their facial expressions ('With Smiles' or the euphemistically named 'Other').

You can combine sorts to get a narrow range of images: such as Children With Smiles shot in 2008. Exisiting slideshow and playlist features are not affected.

Other additions with firmware v2.60 include guest access to the PlayStation Store to browse all the stuff you can't buy, and support for DivX video playback, which is apparently 'great for reliving hilarious home video moments'. And not illegal downloads at all.

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10 embarrassing moments in tech


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The people and products that made us cringe

Technology is sometimes a complex concept, such that it can lead to some embarrassing moments.

Whether it's an infamous presentation that went awry, a product that shipped long before it should, or just a goofy marketing gaffe, these low points in tech serve as a good reminder: make sure your stuff works.

1. Hot Coffee
Grand Theft Auto is not exactly a delightful kid-rated platform jumper. It's more like a violent shooter made for bored teenagers. Yet, when Take Two Interactive developers snuck in a secret sex mode -- called Hot Coffee - they caught the ire of the ESRB and had to do a major recall and re-branding.

2. Osborne 1 laptop
Here's a lesson for the marketing folks: when you release the first laptop ever made, don't immediately announce that you have the successor in the works. The Osborne 1 was killed by marketing, and ever since Apple has had a strict policy never to eat their own offspring for lunch.

3. Windows Vista
This might be first time an entire operating system has been listed as an embarrassing moment, but Vista qualifies - not for the fact that sales have been disappointing, because when you include an OS on a computer by default it is bound to be a big seller. But consumer perceptions are ultra-low. So low, in fact, that Microsoft faked people into thinking their new OS was not Vista to get them to like it.

4. Bill Gates at CES 2005
The golden boy of tech is not always on his game. At CES 2005, Bill Gates had trouble getting the remote to work with Windows Media Center. (Remember that technology? it is now more like an Easter egg that people find in Windows Vista Ultimate - and a far cry from a simple DVR.) What makes this gaffe memorable is that "co-host" Conan O'Brien kept making fun of him.

5. Monkey Boy dance
We're not just picking on Microsoft - okay, maybe we are. In 2001, Steve Ballmer did his famous monkey dance at an employee event. Since then, the media has alluded to his emotive behaviour and journalists like Fake Steve Jobs (who is now Real Dan Lyons) have called him Monkey Boy. Too bad because - in some ways - Ballmer was just trying to get people fired up.

6. EMC career day gaffe
Last year, EMC held a career day on Second Life. Polly Pearson, a vice president, participated - virtually - in the event, where EMC handed out trinkets and held mock interviews. Here's Pearson's own description of what happened next: "When it came time for my mock interview, I sat down behind a virtual desk and noticed that I was still wearing a hardhat with a miner-like light beam shining directly in the face of my interviewer. I thought, 'My goodness, you can't wear a hat during an interview,' so I right clicked on a menu that would allow me to remove my hat. My hat was removed all right. So were all my clothes! I sat there like a naked mannequin with my team circled around laughing."

7. BlackBerry Storm
Maybe it's too early, what with Verizon still hyping the BlackBerry Storm in commercials during American football matches in the US, but the Storm is a dud. A powerful device that supports music and video, has a 3 megapixel camera, and runs fast on Qualcomm 528 Mhz processor - but a BlackBerry is all about typing, and doing so on the Storm's clickable screen is woefully difficult. Critics have soundly panned the device, and we officially recommend that you try before buying.

8. Gizmodo banned from CES
Gizmodo thought it would be funny to roam around CES 2008 and randomly power down HDTVs, using something called a TV-B-Gone. Oh, those pranksters! Apparently, a staffer has been banned from future events, and quite a few readers posted harsh criticisms. Sometimes, pranks backfire on you.

9. Anything Jerry Yang does
The current but soon former CEO of Yahoo! has had his share of gaffes over the years, including a recent letter to employees explaining how some of them would be fired. You'd think a tech company would know that anything you transmit electronically can be re-transmitted widely on the web. Under Yang's leadership, the company stalled a Microsoft buy-out and sunk its stock price. Ouch.

10. Green computing Initiatives
Here's one that might gets us all riled up. "Green computing" is more of a concept than a reality for most companies. Google has led the charge by offering a handful of hybrids that employees can rent and installing solar panels on its roof. But many of the major initiatives in green computing are meant to bolster sales and raise your environmental cred, but often languish as a lame iconic gesture rather than real change. Microsoft is one exception: it has been building LEED-certified data centers.



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9 tech predictions for 2009 from Deloitte


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Get ready for smart grids, pro netbooks, 3D films and slow 3G

It's going to be a year of social networking, netbooks, smartphones and poor 3G connections, according to a series of prediction published today by consultancy firm Deloitte.

Yes, we know that sounds just like a round-up of 2008, but what do you expect from a world struggling to find spare change for a cup of tea, let alone fund major technological innovations?

1. The rise of the smart grid

In 2009, electricity is expected to account for over 16 per cent of all energy used, while the average efficiency of the world's electricity grids is just 33 per cent. Smart grids add computer intelligence and networking functions to boost efficiency and save up to a third more energy.

2. Netbooks flood the planet

Deloitte expects low-power, low-cost netbooks to be the fastest growing PC segment in 2009, with new models offering better processors and improved hard drives. We'll see the appearance of 'professional netbooks' and lots of subsidised products that lock users into 3G data bundles.

3. Facebook for the Fortune 500

2009 will be a breakout year for social networks as their irresistible chuminess woos the boardroom. Jargon to master: ESN (enterprise social networking).

4. UGC starts to cost

Hosting user-generated content could cost the largest sites over $100 million (£73 million) in 2009. But with advertisers being reluctant to place ads next to content that could damage their brand, sites might start charging users to upload or share content.

5. Mobile ads kick in

In 2009, campaigns will use the minimalism of mobile to powerful effect, copying the Obama campaign's successful use of text messaging.

6. 3D movies take over

Deloitte's bean counters reckon that 3D movies are on course to have their first billion-dollar year at the box office in 2009. Format confusion in the short term might force studios to choose between super high definition and three-dimensional entertainment.

7. Goodbye phone, hello wireless device

This year, mobile phonew will evolve out of being locked into traditional cellular networks. Instead they'll become devices using single wafer chipsets with five or more wireless technologies, from Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to 3G and faster. Just as radical, the cost of these multifunctional chipsets could drop below two dollars, meaning they'll pop up in gadgets from satnavs to cameras.

8. Application stores upset operators

In 2009, we're expected to download over 10 billion applications to our mobiles, the majority from sites managed by device manufacturers, CE firms and software houses. Faced with shrinking revenues, operators will concentrate on back-up storage, third-party link-ups and wholesaling location sensitivity into services.

9. 3G's slow-motion car crash

Think your 3G connection is slow today? Sales of dongles are expected to double to 8 million in 2009, creating massive data bottlenecks for operators already struggling with more data than voice traffic. The cost of upgrading their systems? Deloitte reckons it runs to the tens of billions (dollars or pounds, take your pick) - a real challenge in a year of decreased revenues.



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Self-driving cars set to cut fuel consumption


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Large-scale test seeks to put humans in the back seat

Back in the 1950s, boys' comics often featured utopian visions of a future world where cars variously flew, spoke to their owners or drove themselves.

Of course, armed with hindsight we all now know that such visions were nothing but fantasy apart, that is, from the very last one on the list – self-driving vehicles.

Tests in the open

The first such cars are part of a pilot scheme being run by Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) from early next year in a drive to cut cars' energy consumption.

NEDO says it will start testing several key technologies that allow for autonomous driving between 2010 and 2012. The group will use a public highway that won't officially open until 2020.

Hive mind

Chief among these are vehicle-to-vehicle communication and position recognition. The latter is to be used to equip car computers with an accurate sense of exactly where they are and what's around them, while the former allows for something even more intriguing.

NEDO's idea is that cars should communicate with each other so they can move together in a kind of swarm effect.

The upshot will be tightly packed vehicles moving automatically in convoys that reduce air resistance and, therefore, fuel consumption. What human drivers are supposed to do when the machines take over wasn't spelled out.



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Will Microsoft scrap fees for Xbox Live?


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Opinion: Or should Sony start charging for PlayStation Network?

Following a price promotion on Xbox Live Gold subscription packages through Amazon in the US earlier this month, TechRadar wondered if we might soon see the day when Microsoft decides to scrap fees for its online gaming service altogether?
It is an issue that's particularly pertinent to gamers right now, following aggressive PR moves from Sony to discredit Microsoft for charging for its Xbox360 online service.
So, what do the games industry analysts, editors and pundits think about all this?
Massive revenue loss
"As the majority of Xbox Live accounts are claimed to be Gold accounts by Microsoft, scrapping the fee altogether would result in the loss of a substantial revenue stream for Microsoft," said Industry Analyst Nick Gibson of gamesinvestor.com
"Assuming 51 per cent of the current 17m Xbox Live users pay $49.99 [for a yearly subscription], then gold subscriptions would gross over $430m per annum, of which Microsoft would get to keep at least 50 per cent. It is difficult to see Microsoft sacrificing this dependable revenue stream."
However, Gibson did add a word of caution, noting that "as PS3 and Wii's online services become more sophisticated (and remain largely free), it may reconsider this in the long term. Reducing the price is a more realistic option and would result in a higher conversion rate which may well offset the lower revenue per user."
Successful velvet rope approach
Piers Harding-Rolls, Senior Games Analyst over at Screen Digest is largely in agreement, and doesn't expect Microsoft to entirely drop subscription charges for Gold membership any time soon.
Harding-Rolls told TechRadar that, at present he was "unaware of any official reduction in the cost of a Gold subscription to Xbox Live". He also added that: "there have been retailer promotions before for pre-paid subscription cards and Microsoft points, so Amazon's move is not necessarily a prelude to a wider drop in RRP for subscription."
"Subscription revenue from the service represents a large majority of the more than $1bn Microsoft has generated from the service since its launch and aside from this revenue, which would be hard to relinquish, the current two-tiered membership approach appears to work well - much like the velvet rope approach for online games that are free to access, but then cost a subscription for premium features."
Movie downloads bolster Live offering
Additionally, the Screen Digest man reminds us that, "new Gold features, such as access to Netflix in the US, suggests that the premium subscription offer remains a concrete part of Microsoft's plans moving forward."
CVG.co.uk's editor Gavin Ogden is, like us, a big fan of Xbox Live, for the simple reason that "for the price of a game a year you get a great online service populated with plenty of content that's updated regularly."
Ogden is also aware that "cost of hosting all this content and maintaining the infrastructure of XBL must be absolutely huge to Microsoft, so they'll be keen to reap some kind of reward."
Could Sony charge for PSN?
The CVG editor turns our original question on its head, asking: "With this in mind, you've got to wonder how long Sony is prepared to foot the bill for the PlayStation Network?"
"Aside from the differences in functionality and sophistication between Xbox Live and PSN, and their cost implications, Sony's strategic approach has historically been fairly different to Microsoft's in being less prescriptive about how its publisher partners use the PSN," argues Nick Gibson, in defence of Sony's free-for-all strategy.
"To a great degree, this flexibility has reduced the financial burden of running the service for Sony. Despite new services and features being rolled out on PSN and PSN's growing user base, I cannot see Sony levying an Xbox Live Gold-style annual charge. Firstly, [because] its PSN revenues from PDLC and microtransactions are growing very rapidly, and secondly, it will want to continue using free network gaming as a competitive advantage over Microsoft."
So there we go. It's unlikely that Microsoft will slash its Xbox Live fees by much (if anything at all) over the next year. The Redmond giant will only need to make changes to its online gaming strategy when Sony and Nintendo's online services are seen by the majority of gamers to be a threat to the value proposition of Xbox Live.
Bah! And there we were thinking we might get something for nothing...


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