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OpenDNSSEC service goes live

Shaun Nichols in San Francisco — 2010-02-09T22:25:00.000Z

Shaun Nichols in San Francisco, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 22:25:00

Security service encrypts site queries

A collection of security and infrastructure management groups have launched a new project to help secure DNS queries.

Dubbed OpenDNSSEC, the new project will provide a way for service providers and hosting vendors to encrypt DNS traffic.

A fundamental part of everyday internet use, DNS (or Domain Name System) servers allow the text URL addresses to be linked with the machine address of a site's host server.

Though largely unnoticed in the past, security researchers have been paying increased attention to the DNS service and its fundamental weaknesses. Many worry that by compromising DNS servers, attackers will be able to redirect traffic without user knowledge.

The new service will allow hosts and service providers to securely transmit DNS requests and prevent attackers from intercepting and redirecting information.

"OpenDNSSEC ensures that the domain name system is not tampered with, and that Internet users are directed to a preferred web site without intervention," said Lesley Cowley, chief executive of development group member Nominet.

"The collaboration in evidence, shows that the internet community is committed to forging a safer, more trusted internet for all."

Google moves into social networking with Buzz

Iain Thomson in San Francisco — 2010-02-09T21:08:00.000Z

Iain Thomson in San Francisco, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 21:08:00

Facebook gets opposition in consumer and enterprice spheres

As expected, Google today announced a move into the social networking sphere with a new platform for Gmail users called Google Buzz.

Buzz uses Gmail contacts to build a social network and which interacts with YouTube, Flickr, Picassa, Blogger and Twitter to share media. A mobile version of Buzz also interacts with GPS to allow geotagging information to be shares, and users can see if anyone on Buzz has made a comment about a place or business nearby.

The company said that an enterprise version would be pout very shortly and Google was already using a version internally, which co-founder Sergey Brin said was very compelling and a real boost to productivity.

“Social services on the internet have evolutions,” he said.

“This is another very compelling evolution, a meeting of social networking and productivity. Past services have focussed on friends and entertainment but we’re seen a huge amount of productivity from using Google internally.”

Social networking was a great platform but the amount of information users needed to process to heavy and some was getting lost as networks get too large said Tod Jackson, product manager for Buzz.

“Organising social information on the web is a Google-sized problem, a problem of the type Google likes to solve,” he said.

Google will apply its search technology to the data generated by social networks and will filter and refine it Jackson said. It will also recommend material and use the user’s acceptance or rejection of posts to refine what data they get in the future.

Users can also set up more private custom groups to suit different needs, and post to one or all. All posts will be recorded on a user proifile hosted by Google.

On the mobile side Buzz has been integrated with Google’s existing location applications and the interface with GPS phones allows users to show where they are online and post up comments directly from other users locally.

“Maybe you’re at a concert and want to know other attendees feelings, going out for dinner and want feedback on a restaurant, you can find out which has the most interesting buzz by be able to see what people around you are saying,” said Vic Gundotra, vice president of engineering at Google.

Google stressed that Buzz as it stands is very much a work in progress and there will be numerous upgrades and revisions based on user feedback. In particular Google Voice and Wave platforms could be added.

Invitations to join Buzz will be rolled out to all Gmail users over the next few days.

Juniper touts new tools to ease network pressure

Dan Worth — 2010-02-09T17:41:00.000Z

Dan Worth, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 17:41:00

Company claims products will help service providers free up bandwidth

Juniper Networks has announced a series of network tools designed to help service providers better manage the rising tide of mobile data.

The first product, Traffic Data, will help providers free up space on networks by moving mobile data traffic across to the fixed internet, without having to wait for Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, the firm said.

"We think it's important that networks evolve to handle LTE in the long term, but in the short term service providers need to ease the pressure on their networks and Traffic Data is designed to monitor and then offload data to the relevant channel," said Gijs van Kersen, head of mobile and convergence marketing at Juniper.

Van Kersen claimed that the company's research had shown that almost 70 per cent of bandwidth could be freed up by pushing 2G and 3G traffic to the landline infrastructure via Traffic Data.

The second tool, Juniper Media Flow, is the first result of the firm's partnership with Ankeena Networks. The product will provide a content delivery network for different types of data, including voice, SMS and video.

"Our partnership with Ankeena allows us to provide wireless carriers with dedicated networks able to cope with the increasing rise of videos being watched and downloaded on the networks," said van Kersen.

The final product is an evolved packet core platform called Mobile Core Evolution, which will allow providers to gradually prepare networks for LTE. The system forms part of Juniper's Project Falcon to develop routers able to meet the needs of evolved packet core and future cellular networks.

The announcements form part of the company's attempt to keep pace with Cisco, which recently acquired wireless technology company Starent Networks to address the market for mobile services.

Juniper will officially launch the products at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week. Media Flow and Traffic Data will be available in the second quarter, and Mobile Core Evolution in late 2010. No pricing details were released.

Google readying social updates for Gmail

Rosalie Marshall — 2010-02-09T16:25:00.000Z

Rosalie Marshall, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 16:25:00

Search firm expected to add social networking capabilities today

Google is about to make a number of social networking updates to its Gmail service, according to reports. The company declined to confirm any specific updates, but did say that it will be unveiling some new product innovations this evening.

The reported enhancements include a real-time contact update stream, similar to those provided by Facebook and Twitter, as well as photo and video sharing capabilities.

Google users can already post status updates to Google Chat, which is connected to Gmail, but it is unclear whether Google will aggregate the chat updates or create an entirely new add-on for users to access real-time information about contacts.

Additionally, while some reports hint that Google will include add-on video and photo sharing capabilities specific to Gmail, others suggest that the web giant plans stronger ties between Gmail, YouTube and Picasa.

Google has had limited success in providing social networking services. The firm's Orkut social site is popular in Brazil, for example, but virtually unheard of elsewhere.

Analyst firms such as Gartner predict that social networking services will replace email as the primary vehicle for communications for many business users by 2014, and Google is likely to be feeling under more pressure to compete in this area.

Other email providers, such as Yahoo and AOL, have already made moves to become more social, while Facebook is rumoured to be updating its private messaging capabilities to better compete with email providers.

Web domains remained big business in 2009

David Neal — 2010-02-09T14:42:00.000Z

David Neal, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 14:42:00

Major sales kept market afloat through the recession, says Sedo study

The domain name industry has emerged unscathed from the economic slowdown, according to new figures released today by domain name marketplace Sedo.

The Sedo Domain Marketing Study 2009 (PDF) found that keyword-related .co.uk domains remained big business in 2009, highlighting the sale of software.co.uk for £150,000, and horseracing.co.uk and onlinecasino.co.uk for £100,000 each.

The report said that all of the top 10 domains registered in the UK last year were keyword related.

However, while .co.uk domains are popular, they were beaten into second place in the list of country code Top Level Domains by .de, the extension for Germany.

The top selling domain names overall were russia.com, which sold for £904,319, and brazil.com, which went for £302,489. The .com extensions were the most popular overall, accounting for just under 50 per cent of all registrations. The .net domain accounted for just six per cent.

"We expect to see ongoing demand for premium virtual real estate in 2010, with geo, descriptive, .org and .com domains leading the charge as domain investors and marketers from organisations of all sizes continue to leverage domains to meet their business goals," said Jeremiah Johnston, chief operating officer at Sedo.

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.

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."

Safer Internet Day highlights online threats

Phil Muncaster — 2010-02-09T12:07:00.000Z

Phil Muncaster, V3.co.uk, Tuesday 9 February 2010 at 12:07:00

Annual initiative warns of phishing, ID theft and social network attacks

Security experts have used the European Union's annual Safer Internet Day initiative today to renew warnings about online fraud and malware, particularly on social networking sites.

The theme of this year's event is 'Think B4 U Post' and is mainly targeted at the online threats facing young people, but Phil D'Angio, online security expert at VeriSign, warned that all web users are potentially at risk.

"Most people have their name and date of birth on social networking sites like Facebook. Many also post their mobile phone numbers and email addresses," he said.

"If you throw a party and invite your friends online, criminals can then retrieve your postal address. Additional data like your mother's maiden name and your place of work are easy to find. Before you know it, you're a prime target for identity theft."

Andrew Brandt, malware researcher at security firm Webroot, also used the occasion to warn about the "myriad dangers" threatening the safety of everyone online.

"Key-logging software disguised as 'updates' are everywhere, fake security alerts pop up when you least expect them, phishing web pages are more cleverly designed than ever to steal your passwords, spam is choking email, worms stalk social networks, and even your mobile phone is at risk of malicious software designed to steal valuable information," he wrote in a blog posting.

"The big question on everyone's mind is what do you do to protect yourself?"

Brandt's advice is that users should update their machines, and switch from Internet Explorer to the Firefox browser, which he argued has two of the most effective plug-ins for security.

"NoScript blocks nearly every type of browser exploit from working, which can save your behind if you click something you shouldn't," he said.

"Web of Trust uses feedback from participants to rate the safety of web sites, and will warn you before you visit a dangerous page."

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.

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.

Review: MSI Wind U135 netbook

Lawrence Latif — 2010-02-08T12:19:00.000Z

Lawrence Latif, V3.co.uk, Monday 8 February 2010 at 12:19:00

A decent netbook incorporating the latest Intel technology in a stylish design

Tablet PCs garnered the majority of headlines in 2010, and Micro Star International (MSI) decided to start the year by launching the U130, U135 and U160, its first models based on Intel's Pine Trail platform.

However, the end of the decade saw people fall out of love with the netbook form factor that had revitalised sales for a number of OEMs and brought others into the public consciousness.

Netbooks were introduced to serve a simple purpose, but were being edged towards machines that could do it all, both in terms of physical characteristics and price. MSI seems to have gone back to basics with the Wind U135, using a redesigned chassis to accommodate the new silicon from Intel.

The Pine Trail platform was Intel's Centrino-like solution for netbooks, moving the memory controller and graphics into the processor package. One of the well-documented problems with the Diamondville platform was the use of the power-hungry 945GC/GSE chipset. The lower power consumption could have been used in two ways: clocking the processor higher or for better battery life. Thankfully, Intel chose the latter and it shows.

MSI chose this year's CES to unveil its first major update to the hugely popular Wind netbook series with the U130, U135 and "high-end" U160. The new chassis not only brought the Pine Trail platform, but added other key features like 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, a quality webcam and a new Chiclet-style keyboard.

Effort has been taken to make the U135 a little less bargain basement with an exterior available in dark colours and even a pinstripe. The attention to detail is quite admirable, with stylish, not garish, touches found when the device is opened up.

The trackpad has a sandblasted look, the single mouse button isn't from Apple's reject bin - it actually has two buttons underneath - and there's even a fancy asterisk light on the power button should you forget that your Wind is running.

Overall, the build quality is good and, while it's undoubtedly plastic, it feels a whole lot tighter than a Macbook, which is not bad for a machine which costs almost 75 per cent less.

Specifications

These Wind models are based on the Atom N450 processor running at 1.66GHz with HyperThreading enabled. The chip can support 64-bit but, as MSI decided to include Windows 7 Starter Edition, you're left with 32-bit. This is coupled to 1GB of DDR2 memory and a 250GB WD Blue Sata disk which showed an average 57MB/s read rate in tests.

The specification is very similar to Asus' Eee PC 1005PE except for the higher quality webcam. Intel's N450 does have DirectX 9 support, but drawing the frames by hand would provide a better gaming experience. The 10in 1,024x600 screen first championed by MSI is now pretty much standard across the board, but this particular unit is more acceptable than most.

Brightness and contrast in the U135 are above average for netbook screens, thanks to the LED backlighting. There's also good connectivity with three USB 2 sockets, Ethernet, headphone and microphone jacks, and VGA output. Removable storage comes in the form of an SD Card slot.

The Pine Trail platform enticed us with the ability to go all day without charging, and MSI has tried to push this home by including a bulging six-cell battery causing the U135 to tip the scales at 1.3Kg. The upshot of this is good stamina and a gentle tilt helping typing posture.

Using the CPU at 100 per cent and running a graphics and disk intensive test we managed just two minutes shy of four hours. Obviously this is far from typical use, and we managed closer to seven hours in a work-like setting with web browsing, email, viewing videos and occasionally getting in some real work.

The cooling of the U135 held up well during our intensive tests, and the fan, although audible, still produced a less annoying noise than many an X-Factor contestant. It also helped keep the underbelly merely lukewarm rather than skin searing hot.

Video playback

Watching videos is one area where MSI's faith in Intel is misplaced. Thanks to Adobe's announcement that GPU-accelerated Flash will be available, albeit in the second quarter of this year, the Pine Trail platform will be left for dead by Nvidia's ION GPU in this important netbook task.

Viewing BBC iPlayer or YouTube streams at full screen on the U135 consumes all the N450 has to offer. Aside from mediocre video playback performance, the two speakers positioned underneath the wrist rest produce acceptable sound for such small drivers. While your other netbook tasks may be dispatched with ease, viewing Flash videos won't be.

Those looking to upgrade the RAM or hard drive will be disappointed to learn that there are no one-screw hatches that open up the innards of the U135. Access can be had only by completely removing the base plate held with nine screws, one of which is covered by a warranty sticker.

MSI decided to stick Windows 7 Starter Edition on all its new Wind units and, even with the perceived benefits of Windows 7 over the previous Windows XP incarnation, it's hard not to believe that more could be done with Linux installed.

Thankfully MSI didn't load the U135 with a load of useless software, and Norton Internet Security is the only real blemish on an otherwise clean preload. However, software to enable multi-touch or even screen scrolling on the touchpad is absent until you pull them off MSI's web site. With such a large hard disk, there's nothing to prevent dual booting Windows 7 and one of the many specialist netbook Linux distributions.

Price

If this all sounds tempting, the Wind U130 and U135 have almost identical specifications. It's therefore surprising that the U130 costs £50 less, coming in at £230 with the only perceived difference being that it's devoid of the design flourishes that adorn the U135.

The U135 represents a maturing of the MSI netbook platform. We're starting to see grown-up features coupled with a genuinely useful chassis design that can sustain a long haul flight or an entire work day. It packs good connectivity, a decent screen and an even better keyboard in a case that doesn't look like a child's drawing board.

The U135 is priced at £280, which is nearing the upper-end of netbook pricing, but you're getting a decent chunk of machine for that money. Would it take our money? Maybe, but with the similarly kitted out U130 offering similar functionality and performance at a more netbook-like price, we'd rather take the £50.

Review: Toshiba Satellite Pro T130 laptop

Daniel Robinson — 2010-02-05T17:16:00.000Z

Daniel Robinson, V3.co.uk, Friday 5 February 2010 at 17:16:00

The T130 has an impressive display and plenty of grunt for office tasks

Toshiba's Satellite Pro T130 is a slimline business laptop designed for mobile professionals who want a stylish, portable system with a decent battery life at a price that doesn't break the bank. The T130 arguably meets all these needs, the only compromise being its somewhat lacklustre performance.

Announced last year and available now, the Satellite Pro T130 is a compact laptop with a 13.3in wide-screen display based on Intel's 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo ultra low voltage processor, to which Toshiba attributes its longer than average battery life. It ships with Windows 7 Professional as the operating system.

We found the T130 pleasant to use thanks to its large keyboard and impressive screen, with the slight drawback that the screen does not push back very far, so that it tends to face towards your chest if you are sitting with the system on your lap. At 1.76kg, it is also fairly light for its size.

Our review system came with 4GB of DDR3 memory (upgradable to a maximum of 8GB) and a 250GB hard drive. It supports 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but does not have the option of a 3G mobile broadband connection and lacks an optical drive.

Battery life

While Toshiba quotes a battery life of up to 11 hours for this system, in reality it lasted for less than half this time in our tests. Using the Battery Eater Pro benchmark, the T130 ran for four hours and 28 minutes, which is still impressive but far below Toshiba's claims.

Toshiba's choice of a Core 2 Solo processor for the T130 means that its performance is not going to match that of a system with a dual-core processor. The overall Windows Experience Index score for the T130 is not actually too bad at 3.2, with the lowest score coming from the Intel graphics, but it feels somewhat sluggish when opening applications despite having a large 4GB of memory.

In design, the T130 has a wedge shape that slopes from 34mm at the rear to 22mm at the front. Our review unit appeared glossy black from a distance, but up close was revealed to be covered by an eye-twisting chequered pattern both inside and out.

We liked the keyboard of the T130, which has large flat keys that make typing a breeze, save for the cursor (arrow) and function keys that are about half the size.

Just in front of this, Toshiba's trackpad bears the same pattern as the rest of the casing and supports multi-touch, which enables gestures such as pulling apart with two fingers to zoom in. The mouse buttons are made up of a single bar which we found had a somewhat dead feel rather than a nice responsive click action.

The T130's 13.3in screen also impressed us with its brightness and clarity, making it easy to read in various lighting conditions. This is based on Toshiba's own TruBrite LCD technology with an LED backlight, and has a native resolution of 1,366 x 768 pixels. Higher resolutions up to 1,920 x 1,200 are possible on an external display.

Connectivity options

Toshiba has provided a typical range of connectivity options, including a VAG port and two USB ports on the left side of the case, one of which supports the charging of devices while the laptop is suspended or in sleep mode.

To the right side of the case is an Ethernet port, two more USB ports, audio jack sockets and what Toshiba calls a Bridge Media slot. This is a 5-in-1 Flash card reader supporting SD Card, Memory Stick, MS Pro, MMC and xD formats.

As well as Windows 7, our review unit came pre-loaded with the almost obligatory 60-day trial version of Microsoft Office 2007, plus McAfee Internet Security with free updates for 30 days.

There was also a bewildering array of Toshiba tools and utilities pre-installed, including Toshiba Assist to provide help and troubleshooting advice, plus a Toshiba webcam tool.

Several of these, including its HDD Protection monitor, Eco Utility, PC Health Monitor and Bluetooth Manager, also appeared to load and remain resident whenever the computer boots, which could help to explain the T130's apparent sluggishness and may also affect battery life.

Overall, we found the Satellite Pro T130 to be a decent enough system for office tasks, and it should appeal to users needing a full PC rather than a netbook.

Review: HP LaserJet CP4525 colour printer

Alan Stevens — 2010-02-04T10:37:00.000Z

Alan Stevens, V3.co.uk, Thursday 4 February 2010 at 10:37:00

An impressive and speedy printer capable of delivering professional colour results

Colour printers usually fall into one of two camps. They're either quick, but of little use for anything other than office documents, or capable of professional quality output, albeit slowly and at a price.

The latest member of the HP Colour LaserJet family, however, bucks that trend, delivering top quality colour prints at speeds to match monochrome printers. It's also much more affordable than a lot of the alternatives, making it attractive to enterprise workgroup and small business buyers alike.

Three models have been released, all based on the same single-pass A4 colour laser engine from Canon and all coupled to an HP controller with an 800MHz processor and up to 1GB of memory. Native resolution is 600dpi, rising to 1,200dpi using HP's ImageREt 3600 enhancement technology, with PostScript, PCL6 and direct PDF printing as standard, plus an integrated HP Jetdirect adapter with a Gigabit Ethernet interface for printing over the local area network.

Prices start at £779+VAT for the base CP4525n model, but it's worth paying a little extra for the CP4525dn we tested, as this comes with a built-in duplexer for double sided printing, hence the 'd' in the name.

Alternatively, for buyers looking for extra capacity, the CP4525xh (£1,899+VAT) comes with three additional 500-sheet paper trays, plus a stand fitted beneath the single 500-sheet tray on the cheaper models. The CP4525xh also has a full 1GB of RAM (the other two have just 512MB) plus an encrypted hard disk to hold downloaded forms and other documents, which would otherwise add £499+VAT to the price.

Speed and performance

A robust and well made printer, the CP4525 can be used to print up to 10,000 pages per month at speeds of up to 40 pages per minute (ppm) whether in colour or monochrome. That, of course, is a maximum, and actual throughput will depend on the kind of document involved. Having said that, however, we got pretty close to 40ppm when printing simple Word documents and spreadsheets, with good speeds too when printing more complicated PDFs and photographic images. Equally importantly, the first page put in an appearance in under 10 seconds on all of our tests. HP's patented Instant-on technology ensured that this happened even when the printer was in low-power standby mode, a feat rival vendors struggle to emulate.

Print quality

We were equally impressed with the quality of the output. The HP laser produced crisp black text and vivid, professional quality colour images with no discernible banding or other common distortions. HP puts this down to the uniform particle size of its recently introduced ColorSphere toner technology, leading to faster and more even distribution of toner on the page, and a much wider range of colours. The best results were obtained using coated paper, but reproduction was excellent even when we used photocopy paper, and we'd be more than happy to use the CP4525 to produce colour flyers, brochures and other professional documents.

Cartridges

As with other LaserJets, the cartridges contain toner and optical components, and you need four altogether: one for black, plus cyan, yellow and magenta. However, whereas the colour cartridges (£245+VAT each) are rated for up to 11,000 pages each, the standard black cartridge is limited to just 8,500, which seemed a bit odd. All the more so when we discovered a high-capacity replacement costing £214+VAT compared to £136+VAT for the standard size and giving double the page count. We can't imagine why anyone would want to pay extra for the smaller cartridges or have to change them more often.

On the plus side, if the high-capacity cartridge is used, running costs should work out at around 8p per page excluding paper, with very little extra that needs to be changed on a regular basis other than the toner cartridges. This job took us just seconds, with no fiddly catches or need to look at the manual to find out what to do. We simply pulled down the cover at the front, slid out the old cartridges and clicked the new ones in place.

Other plus points include support for HP's universal print driver, and a straightforward remote setup via the built-in web interface. This was just as well, given the tiny LCD display that would otherwise have to be used to configure the printer. Simple Network Management Protocol support is built in, and the printer can be managed alongside others using HP's popular Jetadmin software.

The CP4525 is A4-only, but a similar A3 model (the CP5225) is also available. At just 20ppm this is somewhat slower, but gives the same high-quality results. Both products are available direct from HP or its resellers, complete with a one-year on-site warranty.

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.

Review: Nokia Booklet 3G

Daniel Robinson — 2010-02-03T10:53:00.000Z

Daniel Robinson, V3.co.uk, Wednesday 3 February 2010 at 10:53:00

A sturdy mini laptop with mobile broadband but a steep price tag

Nokia's entry into the Windows laptop market is a radical departure from the firm's phone handset business, but the Booklet 3G is more than just a me-too product, combining a decent build quality with built-in 3G network access and GPS, plus a long battery life.

Announced in August 2009, the Booklet 3G will be available in the UK from February 2010 and can be pre-ordered now. It is effectively a netbook, with its 10.1in display, Intel Atom processor, 1GB memory and Windows 7 as its operating system.

While Nokia is a latecomer to the netbook market, it has made an effort to have the Booklet 3G stand out from the crowd. With its aluminium chassis, the system feels like one of the sturdiest laptops we have ever looked at, and its styling also makes the system pleasing to the eye.

However, unless you are prepared to pay for a 3G data connection as well, the Booklet is just that – a netbook, albeit a very well constructed one with a high price tag.

With Nokia's phone heritage, the inclusion of 3G/HSPA as well as 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi was to be expected, but sadly the Booklet only supports data on its cellular connection and does not provide the ability to make voice calls. Bluetooth is also available.

We evaluated the Booklet with a test 3G SIM provided by Vodafone, and we found that we could get reasonable access for web browsing from most places we tried, although obviously not as fast as when connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Thanks to Windows 7, which features built-in support for mobile broadband, getting connected was simply a matter of popping the SIM into the Booklet before powering it on, after which Vodafone's network appeared in the connection list on the taskbar. With earlier versions of Windows, users needed a software client, usually provided by and specific to the carrier, to manage the mobile broadband connection.

The built-in GPS hardware of the Booklet also only works when the 3G connection is active, and relies on this to download information from Nokia for Assisted GPS position calculations.

In our tests, the Booklet took a long time to establish our exact position, and did not seem capable of doing this at all when we tried it from our central London offices. Nokia does warn that GPS reception may be poor indoors or in built-up areas, but many smartphones with GPS that we have tested have performed much better.

One neat feature is a Windows desktop widget supplied by Nokia that shows your location, and this lets you click through to the web-based Ovi Maps for notable places and route finding, although it does not support turn-by-turn navigation.

Despite the aluminium chassis, the Booklet's weight is in line with many other netbooks, at about 1.25kg. It has styling that could be described as minimalist, with few features to detract from the brushed aluminium casing, save for a glossy coloured lid bearing Nokia's logo, in a choice of black, white and blue colours.

When opened up, the Booklet's keyboard takes up only about half the available space between the screen hinge and the front of the case, yet it does not feel cramped and is a pleasure to use. The keys are flat and set apart from each other, a style known as 'chiclet' in the US.

In front of the keyboard is the trackpad, which is a generous size for such a small system, with equally large mouse buttons that match the aluminium case.

Nokia's 1280x720 widescreen 10.1in display likewise does not use all the available area inside the lid, leaving a good centimetre or two of space on all sides. The screen itself is also set behind a glass window, presumably for protection, but we found this lent a slightly fuzzy quality to the screen image.

The I/O ports are restricted to the sides of the case, and consist of an HDMI video output in place of the usual VGA connector, three USB ports and a headphone jack socket. There is also a fold-down flap protecting an SD Card slot for Flash storage and the Booklet's SIM card slot, plus there are stereo speakers at the front left and right edges of the case.

In performance terms, the Booklet is no speed demon, which is only to be expected for an Atom-based portable. Although this is the first netbook we have seen with Windows 7, its performance seemed comparable with Windows XP netbooks we have seen and is ample for web browsing and basic office tasks, although it struggles noticeably when running more than one application.

The Booklet also runs Windows 7 Starter, which is the most basic edition of Microsoft's new platform. This lacks the Aero graphics and some other features, such as the ability to create a network Home Group or join a corporate domain, but this is largely in line with the limitations of XP on earlier netbooks and most consumers are unlikely to notice the difference.

Nokia quotes the Booklet 3G as having up to 12 hours battery life, and claims like this need to be taken with a hefty pinch of salt. Nevertheless, in our tests using the Battery Eater Pro tool, the system lasted for six hours and 16 minutes, even with Wi-Fi and 3G enabled, which suggests that users could even see a full day of use from its 57W lithium ion battery located in the base.

Our review unit included some Nokia tools, including Ovi Suite, which allows owners of Nokia phones to sync the handset with the Booklet, and a Nokia Booklet software updater, which is said to update all Nokia applications installed on the device. The latter simply said there were no updates when we tried it.

Nokia's Social Hub enables users to send and receive updates from social network sites such as Twitter and Facebook, and also text messages using the 3G connection.

Other software supplied with the Booklet includes the standard 60-day trial version of Microsoft Office, along with a 30-day trial of F-Secure Internet Security 2010.

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.

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.