Computeractive! Latest updates

Microsoft issues patches for 26 flaws

Shaun Nichols in San Francisco — 2010-02-10T02:53:00.000Z

Shaun Nichols in San Francisco, V3.co.uk, Wednesday 10 February 2010 at 02:53:00

February update includes five 'critical' fixes

Microsoft has released the February edition of its Patch Tuesday security update. The latest release includes 13 bulletins addressing 26 vulnerabilities.

Five of the vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to remotely execute code on a targeted system.

The five 'critical' fixes include patches for the Windows SMB client and the Windows Shell and TCP/IP components. Other 'critical' fixes include an ActiveX killbit update and a fix for the DirectShow component.

The severity of each bulletin varies by Windows version, but the update includes one or more 'critical' fixes for Windows XP, Server 2003, Vista, Server 2008 and Windows 7.

Also included in the February update are seven bulletins rated 'important'. These include fixes for flaws in Windows and Office which, if exploited, could allow elevation of privilege, denial-of-service and remote code execution attacks.

The 13th bulletin, rated as 'moderate', addresses a remote code execution flaw in Microsoft Paint for Windows XP and Server 2003.

Consumers blame retailers for online fraud

David Neal — 2010-02-09T12:35:00.000Z

David Neal, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 12:35:00

CyberSource report identifies 'hardcore' of people who never shop online

Consumers place the blame for online fraud squarely on the retailer, rather than themselves, according to the UK Online Fraud Report 2010 from payment processor CyberSource released today.

Almost a quarter of UK adults believe that it is the responsibility of retailers to ensure a safe and secure online shopping experience, the report found, while just 12 per cent acknowledged that an incidence of fraud may be down to the shopper.

Sixteen per cent of respondents blame the banks, 12 per cent blame their ISP, 12 per cent blame the government and card schemes, while five per cent believe that the police should do more about online fraud.

However, more consumers are taking their own measures to ensure the safety of their transactions. CyberSource said that 85 per cent of respondents are wise enough to look for signs that a web page is secure, for example the green address bar or padlock logo, and the same percentage will only shop on stores that offer extra measures such as Visa's Verified by Visa and MasterCard's SecureCode. Card readers are used by just under 30 per cent of shoppers.

"Consumers say they feel that retailers are primarily accountable for making online shopping safer. But consumers themselves have a role in this effort, and they should be encouraged to play it," said Simon Stokes, managing director at CyberSource.

"Never divulge personal information on social networking sites, for example, and never respond to requests for personal information from banks or government agencies that should already have that information.

"And, of course, those of us in the e-commerce industry need to do more to help educate consumers on ways in which security can be boosted."

CyberSource has identified a hardcore of people who refuse to shop online, which Stoke described as a huge untapped market. Just over a third of these people do not have internet access, but the majority are put off by security fears.

"With the right strategies in place, online retailers can provide a safe and secure environment for their customers. However, the public perception may differ," said Stokes.

"Retailers should clearly inform consumers not only about the anti-fraud methods they employ, but the efforts they take to secure sensitive payment data. This is particularly important as companies look to grow their internet sales channel and tap into the high proportion of consumers that are yet to embrace online shopping."

Computeractive saddles up for Computer Aid

Paul Allen — 2010-02-09T15:39:00.000Z

Paul Allen, Computeractive, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 15:39:00

Sponsored bike ride from London to Paris in aid of recycling charity

A member of the Computeractive team is limbering up to raise more than £1,000 for one of our favourite charities.

Natalie Forsdike will take part in a sponsored bike ride from London to Paris, covering more than 200 miles in just three days.

The money raised will be donated to Computer Aid International, which recycles unwanted computers for reuse in education, health and not-for-profit organisations.

Computer Aid has provided more than 150,000 PCs to where they are most needed in more than 100 countries across Africa and South America.

To find out more or lend your support, visit Natalie's sponsorship page at the JustGiving site.

Microsoft denies Windows 7 battery problems

David Neal — 2010-02-09T11:55:00.000Z

David Neal, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 11:55:00

Replacement warning functioning normally, claims software giant

Microsoft has denied recent claims that Windows 7 may be affecting battery performance in laptop computers, maintaining that any problems lie with the batteries themselves.

The company explained in a blog post yesterday why the operating system is recommending a battery change for some laptop users, and describing the reasons behind the alerts.

Many people have reported a notification in Windows 7 that allies itself with the battery meter icon, and informs users if the system senses that the battery needs replacing.

Some users have suggested that this is the fault of Windows 7, or is an error caused by the new operating system, but Microsoft has denied these assertions.

"Several press articles this past week have drawn attention to blog and forum postings by users claiming that Windows 7 is warning them to 'consider replacing your battery' in systems which appeared to be operating satisfactorily before upgrading to Windows 7," wrote Windows president Steven Sinofsky on the Windows engineering blog.

He stressed that the failing batteries are not the fault of Windows, and that the warning correctly identifies the need for a new battery.

"To the very best of the collective ecosystem knowledge, Windows 7 is correctly warning that batteries are in fact failing, and Windows 7 is neither incorrectly reporting on battery status nor in any way whatsoever causing batteries to reach this state," he added.

"In every case we have been able to identify that the battery being reported on was in fact in need of recommended replacement."

Sinofsky explained that PC batteries degrade over time, and lose their ability to hold a charge.

"A quick check of mainstream laptops will show that batteries usually have a warranty of 12 months, which is about the length of time when statistically we expect to see noticeable degradation (meaning that you start to notice the need to charge more frequently)," he said.

Microsoft estimates that by the time a laptop is a year old it will hold its charge for just two hours, as opposed to the five hours it would have provided when new.

Windows 7 has a threshold of 60 per cent battery degradation, so any laptops performing at 40 per cent of designed capacity will cause the message to appear.

Sinofsky claimed that an internal Microsoft investigation had proved that the messages were not false positives, and were not incorrectly warning about perfectly healthy batteries.

Google launches dedicated Nexus One helpline

Dan Worth — 2010-02-09T12:48:00.000Z

Dan Worth, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 12:48:00

Web giant finally appeases angry users

Google has finally bowed to pressure from frustrated Nexus One customers by setting up a dedicated telephone helpline for users of its new smartphone.

Customers had complained in January of problems with the 3G connections on their phones, saying that Google, T-Mobile and HTC all seemed unsure over which was responsible for providing user support. Others bemoaned Google's reliance on the online channel to interact with customers.

However, Google explained in a new statement that, while it had previously hoped to address customers' questions via online support, it will now provide a dedicated phone line.

"Our approach with our new consumer channel is to learn fast and continue to improve, and we have been developing our capabilities to provide a number from Google, 888-48-NEXUS (63987), for live phone support," the firm said.

The phone line will currently offer advice only on purchasing inquiries for customers with existing orders, but the company plans to add technical support for device and software inquiries and pre-sales support in the future.

Google also said that HTC, which manufactures the handset, will provide Nexus One support for troubleshooting, repairs and returns, while T-Mobile will continue to offer phone support for service plan inquiries.

However, Google said that it remains committed to using online support where possible.

"We focused initially on providing the best possible customer support through our online channel, and our experience in the one month since the Nexus One launch enabled us to enhance that online support offering significantly," the statement said.

Google issued an over-the-air update last week for the Nexus One that fixed the 3G problems and added several new features, including Google Maps 3.4.

Microsoft launches version of IE8 for families

Dinah Greek — 2010-02-08T14:47:00.000Z

Dinah Greek, Computeractive, Monday 8 February 2010 at 14:47:00

Police and software giant want families that surf together or alone to stay safe

A customised version of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 web browser has been developed to promote online safety for families.

Internet Explorer 8 Click Clever, Click Safe was developed with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) after research from Microsoft revealed almost seven in 10 under 18-year-olds have been contacted online by a stranger.

More than a third admitted to responding to these contacts, but almost six in 10 (58 per cent) said their parents do nothing to limit or control their use of the internet.

Jim Gamble, the chief executive officer of Ceop, said: “Internet safety advice needs to be at your fingertips and not hidden away. Parents and children should not have to go searching through numerous web pages to find the help they need.”

The customised browser, launched as part of Internet Safety Day, aims to help raise awareness of the potential dangers the internet poses including bullying, malicious software, cyber crime and hacking.

The new browser has a 'Web Slice' in the toolbar that provides access to a web feed (or news feed).

This allows people to access frequently updated data from certain websites. Relevant advice is also broken down by age groups so families can understand what is appropriate for their children.

Other features include a favourites bar, which links to useful sites such as Ceop. The Click Ceop button allows people to report concerns and possible online child abuse directly to the UK agency, which works both nationally and with international partners to combat online child abuse.

Other features available include information on parental controls so that parents can restrict Internet use by their children.

Microsoft's research shows that 41 per cent of parents do not know whether their child has privacy settings enabled on their social network pages.

Matthew Bishop, Business and Marketing Officer at Microsoft, said: “As a father, online safety is an issue very close to my heart, which is why I am personally committed to making sure we develop the right tools to help make the internet a safer place.

"Internet Explorer 8 Click Clever Click Safe has been designed with the sole purpose of providing young people and parents with easy ways of finding information on how to stay safer online.

"As more and more young people are learning, playing and communicating online, it is vital we provide the appropriate safety information as we know this is one of the most effective ways of helping to protect people.”

Barnes & Noble Nook reader back in business

Shaun Nichols in San Francisco — 2010-02-09T06:23:00.000Z

Shaun Nichols in San Francisco, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 06:23:00

Retail giant restocks e-book device

Publisher and bookseller Barnes & Noble has resumed sales of its Nook reader tablet, confirming that the device will be on sale online and at retail locations. Customers who purchase in-store will receive special content online.

The devices will be the first offered by Barnes & Noble since the firm was forced to halt shipments during the Christmas rush. The company said that it is stepping up supply and should have Nook units in stock at most of its stores.

Barnes & Noble also said that it will offer a number of new features, such as exclusive books, recipes and feature articles.

"Demand for the Nook continues to be very high, and we are pleased that our customers will be able to buy in our stores and online," said Barnes & Noble president William Lynch.

"In Barnes & Noble stores, Nook owners will enjoy exciting Nook-only content from their favourite authors and other valuable offers, along with fast and free in-store Wi-Fi, which Nook customers have been accessing in droves over the past few weeks."

The Nook will return to a market poised for a major shift since the company first announced the shortfall. Tech heavyweight Apple is preparing for the roll out of its recently unveiled iPad, while Google is also said to be looking at releasing its own tablet system.

Google Earth presents historical photos

Dinah Greek — 2010-02-08T17:16:00.000Z

Dinah Greek, Computeractive, Monday 8 February 2010 at 17:16:00

View aerial images of European cities bombed during WWII

Google Earth has made historical aerial images available that show the devastation of European Cities caused by bombing raids during World War II.

The Historical Imagery feature shows the effects on more than 35 towns and cities in Europe and lets viewers compare the destruction with images of the same areas from the present day.

Google said imagery from 1935 and 1945 for Warsaw in Poland is particularly compelling. The city, a UNESCO World Heritage site was amongst those most badly damaged in the war.

The comparisons then and now of the city, described by UNESCO as an 'outstanding example of a near-total reconstruction of a span of history covering the 13th to the 20th century' are striking.

The Royal Castle of Warsaw for example was burned to the ground and subsequently reconstructed, between 1971 and 1988.

The historical images also include shots of the location of the Warsaw Ghetto, supposedly the largest ghetto in Europe between 1940 and 1943.

To access the historical imagery feature, download Google Earth and click the clock icon in the status bar (the top-level toolbar) to activate a time-line.

Move back in forth in time by dragging the time slider from left to right or by clicking the back/forwards arrows.

OpenOffice for Mac 3.2

Lee Collins — 2010-02-09T15:17:00.000Z

Lee Collins, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 15:17:00

Mac version of the comprehensive office suite

OpenOffice is a free fully fledged office application suite, complete with a word processor, spreadsheet, database and presentation graphics program.

OpenOffice is a suite of office software, including a fully featured word processor, spreadsheet, database and presentation graphics program that are all compatible with Microsoft Office, along with an HTML editor, a maths and a drawing package. You can also export as the free open office document format, which is compatible with other office suites such as Lotus Symphony Suite.

This is the official release of OpenOffice 3. The most immediately visible change to OpenOffice.org 3 is the new "Start Centre" , new fresh-looking icons, and a new zoom control in the status bar. Other highlights include Notable Calc improvements, including a new solver component; support for spreadsheet collaboration through workbook sharing; and an increase to 1024 columns per sheet. Writer has an improved notes feature and displays of multiple pages while editing. There are numerous Chart enhancements, and an improved crop feature in Draw and Impress.

The download here is for the Mac version. The latest OpenOffice 3.1 contains a wide number of new features and improvements, including improved support for the rendering of graphical images using anti-aliasing.

OpenOffice for Windows 3.2

Chris Wiles — 2010-02-09T14:48:00.000Z

Chris Wiles, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 14:48:00

Minor update to the comprehensive office suite

OpenOffice is a free fully fledged office application suite, complete with a word processor, spreadsheet, database and presentation graphics program.

This is the official release of OpenOffice 3. The most immediately visible change to OpenOffice.org 3.0 is the new "Start Centre" , new fresh-looking icons, and a new zoom control in the status bar. Other highlights include Notable Calc improvements, including a new solver component; support for spreadsheet collaboration through workbook sharing; and an increase to 1024 columns per sheet. Writer has an improved notes feature and displays of multiple pages while editing. There are numerous Chart enhancements, and an improved crop feature in Draw and Impress.

The download here is for the Windows version. The latest OpenOffice 3.1 contains a wide number of new features and improvements, including improved support for the rendering of graphical images using anti-aliasing.

Ashampoo Snap 3.31

Lee Collins — 2010-02-09T11:03:00.000Z

Lee Collins, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 11:03:00

Take a screengrab from your desktop

This is the software publisher's description.

The new Ashampoo Snap 3 can capture and store anything on your computer screen, including video. If you can see it on your screen, Ashampoo Snap 3 can turn it into a snapshot or movie and save it to a file. And with its amazingly simple editing functions you can produce results that you will be proud to share in no time.

The new motion capture tool has two different modes: Video mode for full-motion movies and Application mode for capturing Windows programs - for example for demos and walk-through tutorials showing how to use a new application. You can also add your own voice with a microphone to comment on or explain what is being displayed.

Ashampoo Snap 3`s integrated graphics editing tools are powerful and easy to use. Add arrows, drop shadows, text and text bubbles, highlight areas in different ways and much more to turn simple screenshots into great-looking images in seconds.

Uniblue SpeedUpMyPC 2010

Paul Rowlingson — 2010-02-09T00:00:00.000Z

Paul Rowlingson, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 00:00:00

Boost, optimise & tweak your PC

SpeedUpMyPC is designed to optimise a PC's performance by reallocating and freeing resources where possible.

Initially you are presented with an overview, informing you of such details as the OS, memory, CPU type and clock frequency. A few simple actions are recommended which will immediately improve your PC's performance.

The CPU usage of your PC can be monitored, with time/usage assigned to specific applications. Physical memory usage can be viewed, and Ram freed at the click of a button. Automatically free Ram when usage exceeds a specified percentage. Monitor your bandwidth usage, and optimise both internet and browser settings for faster browsing. Remove background tasks and applications from Startup for improved performance.

Its automatic options make it ideal for the beginner, yet its flexibility will satisfy the experienced user.

This is a relatively major update to SpeedUpMyPC. The latest 2010 ships with a brand new user-interface, support for Windows 7 (inc 64-bit), an improved quicker optimisation engine and much more!

WindowBlinds 7.01

Chris Wiles — 2010-02-09T00:00:00.000Z

Chris Wiles, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 00:00:00

Customise your Windows desktop

This is the software publisher's description.

Customise the look and feel of Windows XP or Vista with WindowBlinds. It's a Windows utility that enables users to personalise nearly every aspect of the Windows graphical user interface.

It can 'skin' your title bars, push buttons, Start bar, radio buttons, and nearly every other part of Windows.

There are thousands of freely available skins to choose from. Use WindowBlinds to make Windows look like another operating system (Mac, Linux, etc.) or give it your own unique look and feel. You can also create your own skins using the freely available SkinStudio.

WindowBlinds eliminates the need for any stay-resident program making it use virtually no extra memory. It also makes use of hardware acceleration found on most nVidia and ATI cards resulting in an overall performance increase.

The latest v7 now supports Windows 7.

UltraISO 9.3.6

Lee Collins — 2010-02-09T00:00:00.000Z

Lee Collins, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 00:00:00

Manage ISO distribution files

This is the software publisher's description.

UltraISO is an ISO CD/DVD image file creating/editing/converting tool and a bootable CD/DVD maker, that can directly edit the CD/DVD image file and extract files and folders as well as directly make ISO files from your CD/DVD-ROM or hard disk. At the same time, you can maintain the ISO bootable information, thus creating your own bootable CD/DVDs. You now have the power to make and edit your own ISO files, and then burn them to CD/DVD for your own needs.

UltraISO is in sole possession of the intellectualized ISO document format analyzer, it can process at the present time almost all types of image files, including ISO and BIN, it may even support new image files which are yet to be created. UltraISO can extract files and folders, edit and convert other image files to the standard ISO format.

UltraISO uses the double window unification user contact interface, you have the choice to only use the quick buttons and/or the mouse Drag & Drops, and you can handle any CD/DVD image file easily.

Ashampoo Photo Commander 7.31

Lee Collins — 2010-02-09T00:00:00.000Z

Lee Collins, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 00:00:00

Organise, edit and share your photos

This is a software publisher's description.

Perfect example of a new generation of programs that are genuinely intuitive easy to use. It makes organizing your pictures and getting them to look great as simple as pressing the button on your camera. You’ll save time, have a barrel of fun and your friends and family will be really impressed.

Almost everything is done with a couple of clicks – adding picture frames, correcting your photos, making greeting cards, collages and slide shows, sharing your pictures on CDs/DVDs or your website and much more.

Ashampoo Photo Commander is a one-stop solution. You organize and view your photo collection, edit and enhance your photos and use creative editing and project tools all in a single program. And it also manages your audio.

iRiver Story

James Bennett — 2010-02-10T10:56:00.000Z

James Bennett, Computeractive, Wednesday 10 February 2010 at 10:56:00

Listen while you read with iRiver’s multi-tasking ebook reader

With Amazon’s Kindle still hard to get hold of in the UK (buyers need to import theirs using the company’s US website), several manufacturers such as Sony and now iRiver have leapt in to plug the gap in the ebook reader market.

With its slim, white design and full keyboard, there are few products that scream ‘Kindle substitute’ quite as loudly as the iRiver Story.

The Story has a sharp, easy-to-read 6in e-ink display that can be viewed in either landscape or portrait mode. Buttons on either side of the screen are used to turn the pages, in whichever hand the device is held.

It supports PDF, Epub and text formats for ebooks, as well some office documents (it will read Word, Excel and Powerpoint files), pictures and even audio files, so you can use the device to listen to audiobooks or play music as you read. It has both speakers and an earphone socket.

You can expect the iRiver Story’s battery to last for around 9,000 page turns on a single charge, which compares well with similar products (if you are just reading documents, it does not use any power unless you are turning the page).

An internal memory of 2GB is enough to store hundreds of books, but an additional SD memory card slot ensures that you will never run out of space, which is particularly handy if you choose to use the Story as an audio player too.

There are, however, a few pieces of the puzzle missing. Unlike on Sony’s Reader Touch, for instance, there is no touch-sensitive screen, so you cannot swipe to turn the page for a more book-like feel.

The Story does not feature any network capabilities either, so it cannot compete with the Kindle’s wireless book store, through which users can buy books directly.

At £200 we would have expected a case or sleeve but the Story comes without protection, leaving the large screen prone to damage unless you buy an optional accessory.

If you are looking for an ebook reader, the iRiver Story is worth considering. Its selection of multimedia and office-related extras make it an interesting product, although it feels less like a true replacement for a paperback book than an extremely basic tablet PC.

Village Tronic Vibook

Laurence Gunn — 2010-02-09T17:20:00.000Z

Laurence Gunn, Computeractive, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 17:20:00

Add up to six extra monitors to a PC using a USB connection

Most computers that have a separate graphics card can have two screens connected to them at once, but Village Tronic’s Vibook allows you to connect of up to six extra monitors to a computer.

The Vibook supports PCs that use Vista and Windows 7 as well as Mac computers and some earlier versions of Windows.

It enables the user to add extra monitors (as long as they have VGA or DVI sockets) to the computer, using a USB connection, so if your computer does not have two monitor outputs or you need an extra one, it’s a great idea.

Officially it supports screens with resolutions up to 1600x1200 pixels but it did a good job on our larger test widescreen models, with resolutions of 1920x1080 and 1680x1050.

The device is a smart way to get extra screen space when all of your computer’s monitor connections are in use. It’s capable of extending the desktop display up, down, left or right, or mirroring it from one screen onto many.

It is best plugged into a USB port connected directly to the computer, though it also operated effectively when it was plugged into a USB hub.

It worked perfectly for viewing a large spreadsheet all at once, or displaying multiple applications. Where it falls down is on video (watching films, for instance) and games, because of the limited amount of data that can be transferred using a USB connection.

The ViBook is beautifully crafted. It is smaller than most portable music players and has a 1.5m USB cable that plugs into the PC. The socket on the other side is a DVI connector, which plugs into a monitor.

Adapters are supplied for other DVI sockets and VGA connections, along with a cradle to mount the Vibook discreetly on the back of a monitor using the provided screws or adhesive strips.

An installation CD containing drivers and software, which allows users to configure the multiple displays easily, completes the package.

Village Tronic deliver the product from Italy, so expect delivery times of two or three days.

MSI Wind Top AE2020

Anthony Dhanendran — 2010-02-04T09:30:00.000Z

Anthony Dhanendran, Computeractive, Thursday 4 February 2010 at 09:30:00

Touch-technology at an affordable price

The AE2020 from MSI is an all-in-one computer – instead of having separate units for the screen and processing section, everything is built into one unit.

In this case it's roughly the size of a 20in screen, which is what this computer has, but it's deeper at the back to allow for the processing unit and the stand, as well as a transparent area around the bezel.

It was easy to set up with Windows configuring itself and only the mains power cable to plug in. MSI has supplied a so-so keyboard and a mouse, but it would be possible to control the computer without using either, as it has a touch-sensitive screen – dragging a finger across the screen moves the mouse pointer, and tapping equates to a mouse-click.

Once Windows had loaded we were presented with the option to install a 60-day trial of the Norton security software, with the stern warning that not doing so would leave the computer 'unprotected'. That's true, but it did feel a bit like scaremongering given that there are plenty of free anti-virus programs available, Windows includes its own firewall which offers some protection, and the Norton product will expire after 60 days anyway unless users enter their credit card details. We were then given a menu listing more software to install, with the instruction to tick the ones we wanted – the boxes were already ticked, though, and we couldn't change it. Still, the software was fairly innocuous (it included Microsoft Works for office tasks and the free Adobe Reader software for viewing PDF files).

The touchscreen worked well, although we were glad to have the mouse for more fiddly tasks such as when editing a photo. There's an on-screen keyboard available, which you tap to select letters, but typing with the keyboard, although it wasn't a particularly good model, was still more comfortable.

An Intel Pentium Dual Core T4300 processor lies at the heart of the computer – it's a relatively low-end model by today's standards but together with the computer's 3GB of memory, it's more than capable of dealing with office and internet tasks as well as watching DVDs (there's a DVD drive on one side) and editing photos. It uses the Nvidia Ion graphics chipset, which means it’s perfectly happy to play high-definition video at even the highest resolution.

More demanding tasks such as editing video or playing new games will be tricky and aren't what this computer is designed for. The 320GB hard disk is more than enough for most people, however.

In addition to the DVD drive there's a memory card reader, six USB ports, an eSata connection, standard and optical audio outputs and HDMI and VGA sockets for attaching screens, should the internal one not be enough. It can also connect to wireless networks – although it's not exactly portable this may be useful if you're placing it far away from your home's router.

Touchscreen computers we’ve seen have tended to be either cheap and flimsy or very expensive, so it’s good to see a computer such as this, priced in-between those two ends and with the processing power to match. If you want a decent touch-screen computer which won’t take up too much room, the Wind Top AE2020 is a good choice.

Microsoft Comfort Desktop 5000

Tom Royal — 2010-02-03T12:30:00.000Z

Tom Royal, Computeractive, Wednesday 3 February 2010 at 12:30:00

A functional keyboard and mouse set

Every computer user needs a comfortable keyboard and mouse, and it’s often cheaper and simpler to buy the two together in a set.

The Comfort Desktop 5000 pack from Microsoft includes a keyboard from the company’s Comfort Curve range and a matching mouse.

The keyboard doesn’t look particularly nice, especially given the rather high price, but works very well. Its slightly curved design is pleasant to type on, although the UK layout, with the backslash key to the left of Z, results in a ludicrously shrunken left Shift key.

A wrist rest at the bottom of the keyboard has a rubber-like coating that’s surprisingly comfortable when typing, and at the top of the keyboard is a row of huge buttons to launch common functions such as email. These are handy, but the row of function keys has been shrunk to make space for them, so it’s not a good choice for anyone who regularly uses those keys.

The included mouse has a symmetrical design, so it’s comfortable for both left- and right-handed users, with two small side buttons and a wheel that can also be used to scroll left and right. It uses Microsoft’s new Bluetrack technology, supposedly allowing it to work on more surfaces than a standard optical mouse – we had no problems on any surface we tried.

All in all, this is a perfectly good desktop set that’s more functional than it is pretty. The recommended price is too high, but it’s sold cheaper online.

Medion E4355 D

Anthony Dhanendran — 2010-02-02T16:48:00.000Z

Anthony Dhanendran, Computeractive, Tuesday 2 February 2010 at 16:48:00

Bargain desktop computer from Aldi

Medion's E4355 D is a desktop computer, available from Aldi stores from Thursday 4 February.

The computer comes in a 'tower' case, although that name isn't particularly appropriate as this one is fairly squat, not much more than 30cm tall. On the top of the case is the hard disk connector often found on Medion computers, allowing users to attach an external, portable hard disk, which is sold as an optional extra.

You can also do that using one of the eight USB sockets located on the computer. It also has a Firewire socket for connecting some camcorders, although fewer and fewer modern camcorders use this connection (most use USB), and there is a network socket.

It can connect to wireless networks too, which is handy if you're going to be putting it far away from your home's broadband router and you don't want to string network cable all over the place.

The hard disk is a huge 1TB (1,000GB) model, which should be more than enough for all but the biggest collections of music, video and pictures, and there's a DVD writer for watching or creating DVDs and CDs.

In terms of its processing power, the computer uses the new processor from Intel, the Core i3-530, which is combined with 3GB of memory and an Nvidia Geforce G210 graphics card. The processor is the lowest in Intel's new range but it's no slouch, and while the computer may not be able to play new games in perfect quality, if you turn down the detail levels a bit it should be fine. Also for video editing, likewise an intensive task, the computer should have no trouble.

The computer is supplied with a good keyboard and so-so mouse. A memory card reader is located under a plastic flap on the front panel. Another option extra, as well as the hard disk, is a 20in widescreen monitor, which is a decent Medion-branded model and comes in at an extra £90.

In short, this is an impressive computer at a very impressive price. It's great as a family computer, and offers more processing power for your money than a similarly priced laptop – don't forget that you'll have to add a screen or buy the £80 one.

Do remember that these Aldi deals tend to sell out quickly, so if you have your eye on it, try to get into the store as early as possible to take a look at the computer for yourself before buying.

Compro IP50W

Anthony Dhanendran — 2010-02-01T17:19:00.000Z

Anthony Dhanendran, Computeractive, Monday 1 February 2010 at 17:19:00

Effective but complicated network camera

Compro’s IP50W is a network camera – it’s a webcam, but instead of attaching to your computer it attaches instead to your home network router.

That means it can be switched on all the time – cameras such as this are best suited to monitoring a room or a house rather than to chatting over Skype. It looks good, with a black-and-white front and small body. A stand is supplied, as is a kit for mounting it on a wall.

The W in the camera's name indicates that, in addition to connecting to your network using a cable, it can connect to a wireless network too – this option appears once the software discovers the camera, so you have to connect using a cable initially (one is supplied). If you don't need wireless capability a cheaper wired-only IP50 version is available.

Setting it up was easy up to a point – the supplied software found the camera on the network and prompted us to update the firmware to the latest version.

The software can be used to set up email alerts and motion detection so that it will only record when it detects movement, which is handy for watching the house when you’re away. Quality was good, and the software is comprehensive with loads of options and settings.

That’s also the problem, though: it’s not a friendly interface and it’s not clear which buttons are used for which options.

This is a powerful network camera at a good price, but only if you’re fairly technically minded or prepared to put in the time to make it work.

Plustek Smartphoto F50

Tom Royal — 2010-01-28T15:20:00.000Z

Tom Royal, Computeractive, Thursday 28 January 2010 at 15:20:00

Scan old photo film and slides

Many people have an archive of film photographs stored safely away that they would like to get onto a computer.

Photo prints can be scanned with a standard flatbed scanner, but for those with collections of slides or negative film the process is a little trickier.

The area of a 35mm film exposure is very small so, in order to pull out all the detail it contains, you will need a scanner with high-quality optics to enable it to magnify the small area by a large amount.

Until recently this meant buying an expensive flatbed scanner with a special adapter, or a dedicated film scanner. Recently, however, we have seen a few devices like this one: a simple, low-cost device for digitising film.

Using the Smartphoto could not be simpler. You fit the film to be digitised into a plastic holder – here is one for strips of negatives and one for mounted slides. Then push that into the device and press a button. A few seconds later the photo appears on the computer screen.

Unfortunately the results were very poor. We tested the device using an assortment of standard colour and slide film and found that the Smartphoto tended to produce poor-quality images with inaccurate colours and, more annoyingly, detail lost from lighter areas.

Images from negatives fared slightly better than those from slides, but we were not happy with either, and adjusting the settings made little difference.

If the device was cheap – say £40 – this might be an acceptable trade-off, but for the cost of the Smartphoto you can buy a flatbed scanner capable of far superior results.

For more information on scanning old film and slides see our online feature.

Olympus Mju Tough 6010

Gavin Stoker — 2010-01-27T17:23:00.000Z

Gavin Stoker, Computeractive, Wednesday 27 January 2010 at 17:23:00

Drop it or dunk it – this camera will still work

Disposable film cameras are useful if you want to take pictures in locations where a standard camera might get damaged.

Since throwaway digital cameras are yet to arrive, the Mju Tough 6010 might be the next-best thing.

Its metal casing (in a choice of red, blue or grey) and watertight rubber seals ensure it can withstand a dive to three metres deep, accidental drops from 1.5 metres in height and temperatures as low as -10°C.

The pocket-sized 12-megapixel, camera has a 3.6x optical zoom lens (equivalent to 28-102mm on a film camera). It powered up in just a couple of seconds and felt solid when gripped in the palm despite weighing just 149g without its rechargeable battery. The shiny surfaces, however, meant that getting a firm hold on the camera’s body was sometimes difficult.

This is a shame, as one constant problem we found was the soft images caused by camera shake. It uses two kinds of image-stabilisation technology but this did not help much.

While it looks the part from the front, a set of disappointingly small, plastic controls accompany the 2.7in screen at the rear.

Luckily, then, for anyone operating the camera with wet fingers or gloves, it also offers something called tap control. Once this has been switched on using a menu option, it’s possible to tap the screen to retrieve or scroll through saved pictures as well as operate other important functions. It was fast and surprisingly responsive, and worked well for us.

Further user-friendliness comes in the shape of a mode that compares scenes with information the camera already knows about and adjusts the settings to suit. All the user then has to do is to point and shoot.

It can record video too: a pre-record mode allows action to be pre-empted, though the resolution is a standard and disappointing 640x480 pixels at 30 frames per second when we would have expected high-definition footage at this price.

In terms of still image quality we were disappointed by the camera’s unpredictable white balance and the noise visible on pictures taken in low-light conditions.

More positively, the camera was fun and easy to use, and image quality is still quite reasonable.

Blu-ray: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Tom Royal — 2010-01-24T20:42:00.000Z

Tom Royal, Computeractive, Sunday 24 January 2010 at 20:42:00

It's not up there with the Pixar classics, but the anarchic sense of humour of this computer-animated film from Sony Pictures puts it a cut above most

Computer animated films have tended, over the last decade, to fall into one of two groups: truly excellent works, usually produced by Pixar, and mediocre fare packed with notable actors providing voice work. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs doesn’t quite edge its way in alongside Toy Story, The Incredibles and Wall-E, but it’s far better than most star-studded nonsense.

The plot is fairly straightforward: a young man named Flint, faced with a life of boredom in the run-down town of Swallow Falls, invents a machine that makes it rain food, with unforeseen consequences. There’s also a romantic sub-plot concerning the arrival of a would-be weather reporter, Sam Sparks.

What lifts the film above mere multiplex-fodder, though, is not the quality of the animation or voice acting, although the former is superb and the latter fine with a notable turn from Bruce Campbell, but the sheer anarchic barrage of humour that surrounds the plot.

Like a good episode of the Simpsons, the story is assaulted with jokes from all sides, with one-liners and background sight gags everywhere. Even the most minor characters, such as the taciturn weather channel cameraman, get some good gags, and nothing is cast aside, as even incidental comments and objects from the first half of the film come back later to get laughs – witness, for example, the return of the television on legs during a looting scene.

Overall even this torrent of good-natured humour can’t quite lift Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs up to the standard of the very best animated films, but it is nonetheless a wonderfully creative film worth a watch.

This Blu-ray edition is notably good value. As well as several short documentaries, all presented in HD, there are animatics (rough, sketch-like animations used early in the animation process), extended scenes and interactive games – although those with PC-based Blu-ray players might find, like us, that these interactive sections do not work on their equipment. The Blu-ray disc is also sold with a DVD in the packet, allowing those with DVD players to “upgrade” to the high-definition version later.

Nuance Paperport 12

Simon Williams — 2010-01-22T15:04:00.000Z

Simon Williams, Computeractive, Friday 22 January 2010 at 15:04:00

Turn paper documents into fully editable, searchable files

Converting paper documents into electronic ones needs two things: a scanner or camera, and optical character recognition (OCR) software.

Once you have a document as a computer file, though, it needs to be effectively editable for easy retrieval. Paperport is designed to do both these things and is just about the only document manager available at a reasonable price for the home or small business customer.

Paperport 12 offers a simple process in which each document you scan or load is shown as a thumbnail of its first page. It works with whatever scanner is connected to the computer, either a standalone flatbed model or the scanner section of a combined printer/scanner. Choose the type of scan that's needed – black-and-white or colour – and the software will automatically handle problems such as adjusting the contrast and straightening the final image.

That's only the start, though. At the bottom of the Paperport screen are a series of icons taken from the applications that it finds on the computer. If you want to convert the scanned documents into Word or PDF format, drag the document icon over the appropriate program icon and the OCR application converts it automatically.

Nuance makes the leading Omnipage OCR engine and the version included here did a very good job with the test documents we tried coming through looking very much like the originals, but with editable, searchable text. Having a searchable PDF file, where each page has text rather than being scanned pictures of pages, is a lot more useful and, as a bonus, takes up less room on the hard disk. A full version of Nuance’s PDF Reader software is included.

Paperport 12 works not only with scanned images but can also handle pictures of documents taken using a digital camera. The software can correct an image skewed left or right, forward or back in three dimensions. Using a camera can be a lot easier than carrying round a scanner so if you have to scan documents when away from a computer this is a bonus.

The program can be used for categorisation and filing of documents, offering 29 different colour tags to help organise the work. It can also create PDF files from mixed content, so you can put together a PDF containing, for example, a Word document, an Excel spreadsheet and photos.

Tomtom UK and Ireland for iPhone

Tom Royal — 2010-01-20T15:38:00.000Z

Tom Royal, Computeractive, Wednesday 20 January 2010 at 15:38:00

Use your iPhone as a driving aid

Like many modern smartphones, Apple’s iPhone 3G and 3GS have built-in GPS satellite navigation systems and can show on a map where they are located.

This Tomtom program, downloadable for £60 from Apple’s App Store, turns it into a full-blown satellite navigation system for driving.

The program includes everything you would expect to find in a mid-range satellite navigation system. You can find locations by address or postcode – it has a full seven-digit postcode search – or look for points of interest such as a nearby petrol station.

Also, conveniently, you can navigate to any addresses stored in the phone’s contact list. Once the destination is found the software shows a 3D map of your location and provides spoken turn-by-turn warnings. As usual these can be given in a selection of voices and languages, and there’s a night mode for the display.

We tried several journeys with and without the car kit, and found that the Tomtom software worked well, guiding us to our destinations without trouble and recalculating reasonably quickly when we were forced off-route.

There are, however, a few extras required. For one you’ll need some kind of cradle to prop the phone up in a suitable position near the windscreen. Equally importantly you’ll need a car charger for the iPhone, as using the GPS sensor drains its battery enormously.

You can buy both together in the form of Tomtom’s own Car Kit. This includes a windscreen mount, a louder speaker and a charger. It also has an extra GPS sensor, which makes the application available to iPod Touch users, since the device doesn’t have a GPS sensor built in. The kit costs £100, though, making the complete app-plus-car-kit system fairly expensive at £160.

If you already have a suitable cradle and power supply for long journeys, the £60 price makes this software a bargain, against the price of buying a standalone satellite-navigation device. Add in the cost of the car kit if needed, though, and it begins to look a bit steep.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game

Jonathan Parkyn — 2010-01-17T10:00:00.000Z

Jonathan Parkyn, Computeractive, Sunday 17 January 2010 at 10:00:00

A spiritual sequel to the action-comedy films

Few video games are based on a movie that’s over 25 years old, but that’s no bad thing when the movie in question is Ghostbusters, one of the most iconic films of the 1980s, and the game reunites all the key cast members from the movie.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game is a completely new episode of supernatural tomfoolery, set a couple of years after the events of Ghostbusters II.

The voiceovers are all provided by the film’s original actors: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson, and as with the films, the humorous script is penned by Akroyd and Ramis.

Unfortunately you can’t play as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz or Egon Spengler. Instead, the game sees you assuming the role of a new rookie Ghostbuster, just as another paranormal threat hits New York City. The plot involves the re-awakening of Gozer, the malevolent entity from the first movie, which is how the game manages to bring some familiar situations, environments and bad guys from the films, such as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, during the early levels.

Ghostbusters is essentially a third-person shooter with a slight twist; all the shooting involves using the famous proton pack, with a variety of different modes and as expected, the streams mustn’t be crossed. The game’s control system is easy to pick up, but those used to the pinpoint accuracy of most modern shooters will find wielding weapons like the Blast Stream and Slime Blower fairly clunky in comparison. This is the point of the game, though, and as with the movies, the best situations in Ghostbusters are the most chaotic and silly.

As a game, Ghostbusters is far from perfect. In addition to zapping ghosts as part of the plot, you also have to deal with the game’s irritating gremlins that pop up now and again to spoil the fun. For example, characters occasionally seem to get ‘stuck’ for no apparent reason. The game’s visuals are also inconsistent, with some noticeably bland textures.

However, Ghostbusters is witty, fun and captures the spirit of the films well, and that in itself is worth the admission price.

PEGI age rating: 12+

James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game

Jonathan Parkyn — 2010-01-15T17:17:00.000Z

Jonathan Parkyn, Computeractive, Friday 15 January 2010 at 17:17:00

An uninspiring game that's not quite as good as the film

No box office smash is complete without a low-quality video game tie-in. True to form, the story behind Avatar: The Game is wafer-thin and has little to do with the plot of the film itself.

You play a signals expert named Ryder who has just landed on the planet Pandora. For reasons that are not adequately explained in the game, Pandora’s human colonists are able to transfer their consciousness to ‘avatars’ of Pandora’s indigenous population, the Na’vi.

After a series of humdrum, run-and-fetch missions as both a human and a 10-foot-tall blue alien, you suddenly have to make a choice between siding with your own people or staying in the avatar and joining the Na’vi, effectively offering you two completely different games in one.

In either case, however, the game continues to drip-feed uninspiring, forgettable missions (most of which involve fetching something) until you either reach the equally forgettable conclusion or give up playing altogether – whichever comes first.

The only genuinely interesting thing about Avatar: The Game is that, like its cinematic sibling, it features support for stereoscopic 3D to further enhance its already vibrant visuals. However, to benefit from this, you will need to invest in a lot of specialised equipment, including a compatible Nvidia graphics card, special glasses and a 120Hz-capable display.

Its 3D capabilities aside, Avatar: The Game’s crowning achievement is the way in which it takes the astonishing spectacle of the movie and reduces it to an ultimately mundane gaming experience.

Cyberlink Media Suite 8

Orestis Bastounis — 2010-01-14T15:24:00.000Z

Orestis Bastounis, Computeractive, Thursday 14 January 2010 at 15:24:00

A Swiss Army knife for music and video files

Media Suite 8 is a collection of programs for viewing and editing media files and creating CD, DVD or Blu-ray discs.

It includes PowerDVD 9 and Powerdirector 8 for watching and editing videos, Mediashow 5 for organising photos, Wave Editor for editing audio and Power Producer 5 for capturing video from a camcorder. There are also tools for backing up data, copying discs, printing disc labels, converting audio to the MP3 format, ripping audio CDs and sharing media online.

The application launcher saves users from having to memorise what each application does and minimises time spent digging through menus. It provides a long list of tasks that users might want to perform, such as 'play a movie disc'. Select a task and Media Suite automatically loads the relevant application, most of the time with the correct window open and ready to go.

While you may not own a camcorder or a Blu-ray recorder, there are plenty of tools in Media Suite 8 for more general use, often with extras that aren’t usually found in free alternatives. For example the True Theatre HD feature of PowerDVD 9 can enhance the visual quality of DVDs by upscaling the video so it looks better on high-definition screens. Mediashow can automatically locate images on your hard disk by selecting one person’s face – the program will mark all the other photos it finds with the same face.

You can directly upload photos to Facebook or Flickr from Media Suite 8, with options to resize Flickr images or set the privacy options for your Facebook photos directly. Uploading video to Youtube was just as straightforward.

There are three versions of Media Suite 8 available, all containing the same applications. The basic Centra package omits such features as Blu-ray support (the Pro version in the middle can create such discs but can’t play them back while the highest Ultra one can do both). It also can't be used to view high-definition video files.

While these are nice to have, most of the rest of the package is intact, and despite the low price point, the Centra version is still full of tools to keep on top of your digital media, and is therefore outstanding value for money, especially for those who don’t use Blu-ray discs.

For a full comparison of all the versions, click here to see the comparison table on Cyberlink's website.

Some of the applications, for example Mediashow, may not have as many image editing options as more expensive dedicated programs such as Adobe Photoshop Elements, but the basic tasks used by most people such as cropping and red-eye reduction are all there.

It's hard to see what else could realistically be added at this price, and most importantly, all of the applications are easy to use.

Avanquest Partition Commander 11

Simon Williams — 2010-01-13T15:49:00.000Z

Simon Williams, Computeractive, Wednesday 13 January 2010 at 15:49:00

Take the sweat out of restructuring your hard disk

If your computer appears to have more than one hard disk, it may in fact just have a single physical disk that’s divided into two or more partitions.

Any disk can be divided into several partitions – they’re not physical divisions, but the computer sees them as completely separate disks.

Avanquest’s Partition Commander 11, as the name implies, lets users work with partitions, change their sizes, creating new ones, removing old ones and it can even help with installing different operating systems on each.

The program has been designed for use by both beginners and more advanced users, and includes a number of wizards to carry out the most common tasks. So, for example, if you want to change the size of a partition, select the disk in question and drag a slider on screen to choose the new size. It would be good to have been able to type in an exact figure, but this isn’t an option.

If you’re confident with this type of software, the full version of the interface is easy to use and well organised. Once you’ve set up what you want to do, the program restarts Windows to complete the process. You can also run it from the CD itself which is less pretty but makes for quicker operation.

Partition Commander 11 is compatible with Windows 7, as well as with Vista and XP, and can handle a variety of filing systems, including the Apple HFS system that’s found on current Mac computers. Although the program only runs under Windows, it can work on a Mac through the appropriate software. It can also help make a Windows computer into what’s called a dual-boot PC, so that it can load either Linux or Windows, for example, with the user choosing each time the computer starts.

The program can also handle backup of single partitions or full hard disks and Avanquest has included a basic version of its Autosave 2 backup utility, which automatically duplicates every file you save in a second backup location, such as on another partition.

The real snag with Partition Commander 11 is that you’re rarely likely to use it. While it’s very useful when you need to change the partitions on a disk, most people don’t need to do this regularly, if ever. The program is only good for one installation, too, unlike many utility and programs which come with licences to use them on three or five computers.