Samsung Windows Phone 7 phone outed as Cetus
Samsung is on a good run with phones at the moment and this is all down to the Android-toting Galaxy S.
The company will be hoping this form continues with its latest handset which has sneaked on to the web. It's packing Windows Phone 7, and it has been named Cetus.
Unless you are no au fait with the stars, Cetus is a constellation in the sky. It's also a Greek sea monster, but given that Samsung has some weird obsession with space we think it's named after the former.
Samsung specs
The handset has a 4-inch OLED screen, 5MP camera, front facing camera, GPS, Bluetooth and all the other gubbins you have come to expect from a smartphone.
There's not much word on what else we are to expect on the phone – other that it will probably be given the SGH-i917 tag in America. And as this is a leak, there is no UK release date or pricing available for the Samsung Cetus.
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In Depth: 20 best laptops in the world today
Our continually updated list of all the best laptops available today.Choosing the best laptop computer for you can be a tricky business, and the level of choice can be overwhelming.
There's no shortage of cheap laptops out there to choose from, but with new models bring released and almost immediately replaced by manufacturers, the choice is no easy task.
The lure of netbooks and the rise of the mini laptop are also huge factors for those looking for a new notebook, but each has their downsides.
That's why we've proured over our huge database of laptop reviews and picked out the best notebooks money can buy. We've picked out five of the best cheap laptop computers in each of four categories - the sub £400 and sub £600 price ranges as well gaming laptops and lightweight notebooks.
We've also picked out the most important information from each laptop review to help you choose at a glance - just click through to the main review to read more.
Think about your needs and your most important factor, be it laptop battery life, and the features which aren't worth spending money on. The most important part is to be honest about what you need, and you could save a fortune on getting the best laptop for you.
Acer Aspire 1410-74G25n - £299
Acer's Aspire laptops represent the company's consumer range, and the Aspire 1410-74G25n is a CULV (Consumer Ultra Low Voltage) laptop that offers fantastic value for money.
Performance isn't this laptop's strong point, but it isn't meant to be – the laptop offers superb portability instead. At only 1.4kg, it's a pleasure to carry around. The small form factor makes it very easy to fit into almost any bag, but if you're after th slimmest machine possible, go for the Elonex Sliver instead.
The Aspire 1410-74G25n is put together well, and will provide good durability on the road. The shiny screen lid does quickly attract fingerprints and grime, but the mock brushed-aluminium palmrest inside doesn't, and looks and feels great.
The keyboard is very firm, but is also flat and therefore easy to get lost on when typing at speed. Unfortunately, the proximity of the touchpad to the keyboard makes it all too easy to brush against it while typing, causing irritating and erratic cursor behaviour.
The Aspire 1410-74G25n has the latest 802.11n high-speed wireless networking technology – making it well suited to connecting to a router or hotspot at home or in a cafe – and it's also the only laptop here to boast both VGA and HDMI out ports, offering good flexibility when connecting to external analogue and digital monitors.
The Acer Aspire 1410-74G25n sets a very high bar for the other laptops on test, and the excellent battery life will be a clincher for many buyers.
Read our full Acer Aspire 1410 review
Advent Modena - £339
Advent is PC World's in-house brand and comprises a range of affordable entry-level machines and the Advent Modena is a usable option for the first-time buyer and includes a bright and vibrant screen, but performance is poor.
The slim chassis carries the same basic design scheme we've come to expect from the Advent range, but its patterned glossy lid and matt-plastic interior create a nice contrast.
The plain black design is a little uninspiring, but doesn't detract too much from the sleek consumer styling.
At 2.5kg, the Advent Modena is easy to use around the home or on shorter journeys. With a depth of just 33mm, it slips easily into a carry case, so it's disappointing that the battery runs for just over two hours .
Surprisingly at such a low-price, high-speed wireless connectivity is provided by 802.11n Wi-Fi. An integrated camera is also in place, fitted above the screen, and lets you capture snapshots and even record video for easy online video messaging use.
Offering good usability, a great screen and ample storage at such a low price, the Advent Modena is sure to please first time buyers looking for an affordable and portable bargain.
Read our full Advent Modena review
Lenovo ThinkPad X100e - £355
Lenovo's ThinkPad range is known for offering arguably the best business laptops you can buy, but prices have traditionally been quite high. The ThinkPad X100e remedies this and brings effortlessly high-class corporate usability to the entry-level market.
The first thing you notice is how small the Lenovo ThinkPad X100e is. Weighing just 1.5kg, it easily fits into even the smallest luggage for regular travel use. The 226-minute battery life is bettered by the eMachines G525-902G16Mi but provides basic mobility.
Despite the low price, none of Lenovo's famed build quality has been lost. The matt plastics and rigid chassis provide ample resilience and will easily withstand the knocks of life on the move, while the plain black design is sleek and stylish.
ThinkPad keyboards are rarely bettered and the Lenovo ThinkPad X100e is no exception. Unusually for Lenovo it uses the isolated-key style – with each key cut through a hole in the chassis. The board is also spill-resistant and is both spacious and responsive, making it by far one of the best at this price point.
While its mixed levels of power and small size make it more akin to a netbook than a laptop, there's no denying the sheer quality of the ThinkPad X100e. By offering the key strengths of more expensive machines at a cheaper price, this is a truly great ultraportable for the price.
Read our full Lenovo ThinkPad X100e review
eMachines G525-902G16Mi - £397
While eMachines is not the best-known brand, it provides a good range of entry-level laptops ideal for those on a budget.The eMachines G525-902G16Miis a highly likeable big screen laptop, but is unfortunately flawed by limited power and features.
With its striking 17.3-inch screen, this is a great choice for viewing movies and photos. As well as its size, the screen on the eMachines G525-902G16Mi is far brighter and more vibrant than its rivals, making it comfortable to view in all conditions. We found the Super-TFT coating inevitably reflective, however.
Disappointingly, graphics performance is very low, with only the most basic multimedia use possible. The integrated Intel graphics card quickly struggles with demanding video editing tasks, but basic photo editing is possible.
Where the eMachines G525-902G16Mi truly stands out is its solid build quality and great usability. While the matt-black chassis and textured lid provide a conservative appearance, they also make the laptop very resilient, ensuring you can let the family loose on it without too much fear of damage.
In short, the eMachines G525-902G16Miis very much a mixed bag. While its stunning screen and great usability are easy to like, the limited power and features mean many users may quickly outgrow this machine as their skills develop, so be sure to consider your future needs before buying.
Read our full eMachines G525-902G16Mi review
Acer Aspire 5542-304G32Bn - £399
The Aspire 5542-304G32Bn is a budget machine that packs in some unexpected features at a low price point. One of the stand-out features is the inclusion of a Blu-ray drive, a rarity for laptops at this price.
While the 1366 x 768-pixel screen resolution is not enough to take full advantage of the high-definition visuals, images are still crisp and the 15.6-inch LED backlit Super-TFT display provides rich and vibrant colours.
Other features also impress, including the 5-in-1 memory card reader and four USB ports, letting you easily connect external storage and peripherals.
The 320GB hard drive is enough for storing a large number of songs and videos, while leaving space for essential applications.
The only downside is the gaps between each key, which lets in dirt and other debris. The touchpad is one of the largest in this group, although easy to brush while typing. Thankfully there's a button for disabling the pad when not needed.
Overall, the Aspire 5542-304G32Bn is a feature-packed and highly usable laptop that is only let down by limited power and portability.
Read our full Acer Aspire 5542 review
Samsung R530 - £389
Not only is the Samsung R530 a great looking laptop, it also boasts great usability, performance and portability - and all at a very competitive price.We very rarely see laptops that have exciting designs at this price point, but the Samsung took us by surprise with its moody red and black lid and mock brushed-aluminium palmrest – this is the sort of styling we would expect to see on a laptop costing significantly more.
Build quality is also decent and, although the chassis doesn't feel as substantial as the Acer Aspire 5732Z-443G32Mn, it's quite a bit lighter, making it a better travel companion.
Its battery life is also decent - at 244 minutes - and will keep you productive on the road for quite a while.
The keyboard is excellent, with the typing action proving surprisingly firm and the travel smooth. The touchpad is fast and responsive, and also features Samsung's now trademark lighting effects round the edge, which make it easy to use in low light conditions, such as the cabin on a plane.
The more we used the Samsung R530, the more we liked it. Performance is above average and the design and usability of the machine really endeared it to us.
If that wasn't enough, there's also decent portability chucked in for good measure, making this machine a good choice indeed.
Read our full Samsung R530 review
Dell Vostro V13 - £409
The Dell Vostro V13 us arguably the most handsome Dell has ever produced and what's more, you can buy it for under £500.
The Dell Vostro V13 feels great. It's eminently portable at 1.6kg, but the low weight, which edges it towards ultraportable territory, doesn't equate to a flimsy-feeling laptop. The back of the screen feels solid and shock-resistant, and the aluminium casing gives the Dell Vostro V13 a truly premium feel. We're also fans of the all-in-one case design, which looks both lovely and tidy.
The V13's portability isn't all encompassing, though. The battery is a clear weak point for anyone who spends a lot of time away from the mains, or would rather leave the charger behind. With the V13 loaded down by applications, it survived barely two hours on battery power alone; left with the screen on and nothing happening it managed four hours. Fairly respectable, but far short of what's frequently being achieved by cheaper netbooks.
But, performance issues aside, it's stunning to see such a good looking, well-made, cleverly designed laptop available for under £500. Indeed, if you have only the most basic computing needs, you could bag the lowest-end Dell Vostro V13 for a mere £359. Just don't forget to lie about how much it cost.
Read our full Dell Vostro V13 review
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge - £499
Lenovo's ThinkPad range has traditionally been aimed at the highend business market, but with a lower price and more accessible style, the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge now opens the brand to a wider market of consumers.
A choice of Intel and AMD processors are available, with the unit we tested being powered by a dual-core AMD chip. Performance of the LenovoThinkPad Edge is in line with the majority of CULV laptops on the market, suiting basic home and office use, but struggling with more demanding multi-tasking.
Graphics performance fares slightly better. The integrated ATI GPU delivers enough power for running complex multimedia presentations, as well as basic photo and video editing. Both VGA and HDMI ports are in place for connecting to larger screens at home or in the office.
The use of a glossy Super-TFT screen shows the consumer leanings of this laptop, as business machines traditionally use less reflective matt-finish panels. The 13.3-inch screen is suitably vibrant, with strong brightness levels, but is not quite as sharp as we would have liked.
By combining the quality and usability of more expensive models with the style and features of a consumer machine, the LenovoThinkPad Edge is another strong addition to the Lenovo range. The low-performance won't suit all needs, but this is a great machine for frequent travel use.
Read our full Lenovo ThinkPad Edge review
Acer Aspire Timeline 5810T - £560
Although the Acer 5810T boasts a large 15.6 inch screen, its light and thin build means that you won't be bogged down by this laptop when you're taking it out and about. The 5810T's body is an attractive metallic grey made out of plastic that while sturdy, is light enough to keep the weight of the laptop to around 2.4 kg.
The big feature of the 5810T is the large battery life. Acer is keen for this laptop to be used for 'all day computing'. Whilst it won't manage a whole day of heavy use away from a power supply, the 5810T can manage around seven hours – which is still a fantastic length for a laptop's battery life.
Video playback, both standard and high-definition was very good, with the images reproduced clearly on the decent screen. The 5810T comes with a HDMI output, so if you have a high-definition TV you can play your video files though that. Although this is hardly an essential feature, it's certainly a nice one to have, and adds to the overall value of the laptop.
Overall this is a nice, reasonably powerful laptop, whose light weight and large battery life means it is a great companion for working on in the great outdoors.
Read our full Acer Aspire Timeline 5810T review
Dell Inspiron 1564 - £587
Dell has had an impressive track record over the past year, delivering one stunning consumer laptop after another. The Dell Inspiron 1564 continues this run of success by implementing cutting-edge technology in this powerful and well-rounded machine.
Built around a processor from Intel's Core i3 range, the Dell Inspiron 1564 among the most powerful entry-level laptops we've seen to date. Effortlessly outperforming all but the similarly specified Samsung R580, multi-tasking with even more demanding software is possible.
Despite using an integrated GPU – a graphics technology traditionally associated with limited power – Intel's latest onboard chip provides surprisingly powerful 3D performance, allowing high-definition (HD) video and even less demanding games to run with little effort.
The stunning 15.6-inch screen adds to the multimedia usability on offer. It is a very bright panel, and delivers fantastic colour reproduction and sharp images, ensuring movies, photos and games are shown with impressive clarity and vibrancy. While some rivals provide high-speed wireless and fixed access, an older and slower technology is used here. Speeds will suit basic home use, but it is worth bearing in mind before buying.
More pleasingly, storage is excellent. The 500GB hard drive will hold all your family's data with ease. Comprehensive support for flash storage cards is also provided. Continuing Dell's recent run of success, the Dell Inspiron 1564 is an impressively powerful and portable machine. While its limited network connectivity is disappointing, it excels in all other areas, making it one of the best entry-level laptops we've seen this year.
Read our full Dell Inspiron 1564 review
MSI GX740 - £999
We're big fans of the MSI GX740. By making sensible and realistic cuts – think Core i5 instead of i7 processor, no Blu-ray drive, lack of full HD screen – MSI has managed to deliver a laptop that boasts serious graphical prowess at a very competitive price.
The GX740 also looks great, and we're told by MSI this is the last model to feature the famous style, with the inbound GT660 demonstrating the way of things to come, so if you like the design we'd suggest you get stuck in before it's too late.
The graphical power here is formidable, and the latest games run as smooth as you'd like with settings up high.MSI has been using this design to great effect for quite a few years, it's neither garish nor boring, and we'll be sad to see it go.The relatively low weight and form factor of the GX740 make it very easy to carry around, not something often said about gaming rigs.
The lack of a Full HD screen may bother some, and images may not be sharp enough for the hardcore. The laptop maybe easy to carry, but realistically you'll be sprinting between power points thanks to a truly shocking battery life.
However, the MSI GX740 is one of the best priced, best looking gaming notebooks around. There's plenty of power under the hood for the avid gamer, while the Intel Core i5 processor provides plenty of performance for your average consumer.
Read our full MSIGX740 review
Alienware M11x - £1,184
TheAlienware M11x was launched as the world's smallest gaming laptop,offering a unique blend of graphical power and portability. A dedicated Nvidia GeForce GT 335M graphics card has been used – featuring 1024MB of video memory – and proved stunningly powerful in our benchmark tests.
A 256GB Solid State Drive provides ample space for your content, as well as very fast access to your data. 802.11n Wi-Fi is included and connectivity is comprehensive with VGA, HDMI and a DisplayPort connection all in evidence.
Processing power is courtesy of a Consumer Ultra Low Voltage Intel chip, which is especially resource light on the machine's battery – resulting in an impressive 414 minutes of mobile use. The downside is that everyday performance isn't particularly fast.
However, we found the laptop a pleasure to use and certainly fast enough, and we had no issues multi-tasking with various applications.
We are seriously impressed by the Alienware M11x. Not only is it the first of its type, but it succeeds in combining great 3D performance with everyday portability and usability at a competitive price.
Read our full review of the Alienware M11x
Alienware M15x - £1,422
The Alienware M15x is another fantastic gaming system which boasts very strong graphics power, excellent styling and fast everyday performance - and offers it all at an affordable price.
This isn't a laptop you'll want to travel regularly with, however. It weighs a hefty 4.3kg and offers just 164 minutes of battery power with a 9-cell battery on board, and so is much better suited for use as a desktop replacement system.
The 15.6-inch screen features a 1600 x 900-pixel resolution. It is very sharp and provides vivid colours. It isn't the brightest panel we've seen, however, and a shiny Super-TFT coating has been used, creating noticeable reflections in bright light.
The M15x is one of the best gaming laptops we've seen. Its great design is perfectly complemented by decent performance and it's also very reasonably priced – not something we can say very often about gaming systems.
Read our full Alienware M15x review
Asus G73JH - £1,780
The Asus G73JH is an aggressively and uniquely styled machine that looks fantastic and boasts great performance for gamers. The laptop's striking design – with angular lines and tactile matt finish – is inspired by the F-117 Nighthawk Stealth Bomber, but there's more purpose to the design than looks alone
Where this machine justifies its price is in gaming performance. The DirectX 11-compatible ATi graphics card provides stunning 3D power for running the latest games and multimedia applications.
The 17.3-inch screen adds to its abilities. It's not the brightest panel around, but colour reproduction is excellent, with contrast especially impressing. Blu-ray movies – using the integrated Blu-ray drive – and games look great in particular.
We like the G73JH a lot. It's a great looking and uniquely designed machine that provides stunning performance, but for those who are watching the pennies at the moment – a lot of us – a similar experience – albeit with not quite as much style – can currently be found for cheaper elsewhere
Read our full Asus G73JH review
Rock Xtreme 790 - £1,990
UK-based Rock is well known for its high-performance gaming laptops and offers the latest components housed within generic chassis designs. The Rock Xtreme 790 brings Intel's Core i7 technology to the range and provides truly stunning levels of quad-core power.
Powered by an Intel Core i7 920 processor, performance goes beyond what you would expect from a laptop. Running at 2.66GHz, the CPU is backed by a staggering 6144MB of high-speed DDR3 memory and vastly outperforms every laptop that we've ever tested.
Graphics are provided by a top-of-the range Nvidia GPU for impressive gaming power. In a chassis this large, it is a shame that Rock hasn't used two cards in an SLI configuration, as the extra performance would have perfectly complimented the high-powered quad-core CPU.
The 17-inch Super-TFT screen has a 16:10 aspect ratio, rather than a 16:9 true widescreen design. Quality is excellent nevertheless, with sharp and vibrant images on offer. The panel is not as bright as we'd have liked, but it is still ideal for gaming and home entertainment use.
Overall, the Rock Xtreme 790 is a mixed bag. While performance is outstanding and is backed by strong usability and features, the lack of SLI-graphics is an odd omission considering the machine's size and price.
Read our full Rock Xtreme 790 review
Acer Aspire 1825 - £585
2010 is already proving to be the year of the tablet PC, with Apple's iPad leading the charge. The Acer Aspire 1825PTZ-413G25n is the latest such convertible, and while the bright and responsive touchscreen adds a fresh layer of usability, this hybrid is unlikely to tempt any iPad fans to convert.
With the screen in a normal upright position, the Acer Aspire 1825PTZ is a typical compact laptop. With a weight of just 1.7kg and a thickness of 35mm, this is an ultraportable laptop that can easily be slipped into a bag.
The chassis itself is firm in all areas, which gives the Acer Aspire 1825PTZ a semi-rugged feel. This laptop likely wouldn't survive a tumble from a desktop, but it can bounce around inside a rucksack all day with little complaint.
3D performance is provided by an integrated Intel graphics card, which lacks its own dedicated video memory and so leeches from the main system memory instead.
As a result, graphical performance is very basic. Watching video and simple photo editing is no problem, but more complex multimedia jobs such as video editing and gaming are beyond the Acer Aspire 1825.
Read our full Acer Aspire 1825 review
MSI X600 - £594
The MSI X600-055UK is the second machine we've seen from MSI's ultra-slim X-series range, following on from the smaller X340.
With a 15.6-inch screen, this machine is a more rounded package, while still providing excellent mobility. The 15.6-inch screen features a glossy Super-TFT coating, which is reflective in direct sunlight.
You'll find a mid-range ATi Mobility Radeon HD 4330 graphics card supporting the display. It provides the MSI X600-055UK with enough performance to handle basic graphics tasks with ease and you'll even be able to play older games.
As with the smaller X340, this machine uses an Intel CULV (Consumer Ultra Low Voltage) processor, but this is the first system we've seen to feature a CULV Core 2 Duo chip.
Running at 1.6GHz, and backed by 4096MB of DDR2 memory, performance is akin to regular Core 2 Duo processors, proving easily able to carry out intensive tasks and run multiple programs smoothly. Battery life is also good, letting you work for 248 minutes.
Providing excellent performance in a large yet thin and light chassis, the MSI X600 offers a great compromise between size and power. As with much more expensive systems, you'll be able to work on the move without resorting to a smaller and slower form factor
Read our full MSI X600 review
Apple MacBook Air - £1,174
The MacBook Air is an enigma. Its key strength is its lightweight, ultra-thin design making it ideal for carrying around with you. Yet it makes significant sacrifices to achieve this degree of style and portability.
Despite an inevitable speed boost, the Air is still the slowest machine in the Mac range. The entry-level model, with a 120GB hard drive and 2GB of RAM, has a processor running at only 1.86GHz. The high-end version boasts a 128GB solid-state drive instead of a hard drive and a 2.13GHz processor.
A welcome price cut brings the 1.86GHz model down to £1,149 from £1,271, and the 2.13GHz Air reviewed here is now £1,349, down from £1,761.
Although Wi-Fi is still its main means of connecting to networks or the internet, you now get a USB Ethernet adaptor in the box, should you need a wired connection. Trading power for portability and connectivity for convenience means the MacBook Air will never be a machine for everyone, but improved specs at a lower price can only be welcomed.
In short this is a refreshing update for the Apple MacBook Air that just oozes style.
Read our full Apple MacBook Air review
Fujtsu Lifebook P770 - £1,378
The Fujitsu Lifebook P770 is one of the first laptops we've seen with this new technology and we eagerly tested it out to see what difference the new low-voltage Core i7 processor would make. With a weight of just 1.5kg, the Fujitsu Lifebook P770 is an ultraportable laptop that is almost as light as a netbook. It's just as compact too, with a 12.1-inch screen and a chassis that's only 30mm thick. The Fujtsu Lifebook P770 can be slipped into a bag or case and carried around all day without weighing you down.
Intel's new ULV Core i7 processor is a hybrid of the two, which offers buckets of power, but also vastly improved battery life.The Fujitsu Lifebook P770 is powered by this Core i7 620UM processor and the results are truly stunning.
This is easily one of the most powerful low-voltage chips currently available, comparable in performance to Intel's standard Core i3 and top-end Core 2 Duo chips, and we could comfortably multi-task with a number of resource-intensive applications thanks to the dual cores and 4096MB of speedy DDR3 memory.
This is easily one of the most powerful low-voltage chips currently available, comparable in performance to Intel's standard Core i3 and top-end Core 2 Duo chips, and we could comfortably multi-task with a number of resource-intensive applications thanks to the dual cores and 4096MB of speedy DDR3 memory.
Read the full Fujtsu Lifebook P770 review
Toshiba Portege R600-149 - £1,526
Toshiba's Portégé R600 range has been a favourite of ours for quite some time, thanks to its great usability and resilient, lightweight design. The Portégé R600-149 is the latest model and it's hard to imagine finding a better business machine at this price.
As soon as you pick it up you're struck by just how light it is. At just 820g it feels as if there is nothing inside this machine. With slightly slimmer dimensions than the equally small Fujitsu LifeBook P770, this is a machine built for frequent and comfortable mobile use.
Performance is more pleasing. While this is the only laptop to use Intel's older Core 2 Duo technology, rather than the latest Core i5 and i7 processors, there is ample power on offer for most business use. Only more complex multitasking shows the limits of the older CPU.
The screen is driven by an integrated Intel graphics card, so performance is in line with the Fujitsu LifeBook P770 and falls far behind the Lenovo ThinkPad T410s. Image quality is strong and while colour and contrast are slightly muted, this is a very comfortable screen to work with.
Unless you need the latest cutting-edge features or the longest battery life, this is a fantastic travel partner and we like it a lot.
Read our full Toshiba Portégé R600 review
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Humax HDR-FOX T2 UK release date made official
Humax has announced the official launch date for its HDR-FOX T2 Freeview+ HD recorder, which comes with a 500GB hard drive.Last time we told you about the FOX T2 we left you hanging with the rather vague date of 'end of July' for a release. Well it turns out that this isn't the case anymore, as the Fox T2 will hit shops mid August.
Free HD
Not only does the HDR-FOX T2 Freeview+ HD recorder come with a 500GB hard drive, it also boasts twin tuners, two USB ports and compatibility with MP3s and JPEGs, so you can listen to music and playback photos straight from the box.
The biggest pull for most, though, will be the inclusion of Sky Player on the box. This means that you will be able to get a number of Sky channels for a monthly fee, without the need of a satellite dish.
So, that all important UK release date is 16 August. But Humax has told us that you may see the box in the shops from 14 August.
Price-wise, you are looking at £329.
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O2: HTC Desire Android 2.2 update 'several weeks' away
O2 has told TechRadar that it will be 'several weeks' before HTC Desire owners on its network will get the Android 2.2 upgrade, with tests on a service provider specific version ongoing. The eagerly awaited upgrade to the Android OS brings a host of new features and functionality, but its arrival for phones locked to networks will be weeks and not days away.
An O2 spokesman indicated to TechRadar that any update would be 'several weeks' away, although the network is well aware that Desire owners are champing at the bit for Android 2.2 - nicknamed FroYo.
ASAP
"We're working with HTC to bring the latest version of Android, 2.2 FroYo, to our HTC Desire customers as soon as possible," said the spokesman
"We expect this to take several weeks and we will update our customers once the new software is available."
The update follows HTC's revelation that people who own unlocked handsets will be able to get the Android 2.2 upgrade from this weekend.
T-Mobile has told TechRadar that it is expecting to upgrade its Desire customers in September, which tallies fairly closely to O2's timeline.
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Apple iPad fridge magnet mount announced
A British design company has unveiled a novel iPad fridge magnet mount – putting your gadget at the centre of your kitchen. The FridgePad from Woodford Design, is as you have probably gathered by now, an iPad mount that magnetically sticks your Apple tablet to your fridge.
"The FridgePad magnetically mounts your iPad to your kitchen fridge so it's at the heart of your home and in a perfect location for all the family to use," explains the company's release.
Clipped in
"The FridgePad can be used in landscape or portrait mode, allows the iPad to be simply clipped in and out for fast access and provides a great safe and secure place to store your iPad," it continues.
"The FridgePad is an accessory to make the iPad work better for you. This really is one of those products that once you have tried it you'll love it."
Woodford points out that the design offers replaceable corner clips – meaning you can change it for the iPad mark II or your Windows 7 tablet.
Oddly, TechRadar had called for a magnetic iPad fridge dock back at the beginning of June.
And it's certainly handy for those people who need to look up recipes but don't want their iPad sitting on their work surface.
The FridgePad has a UK release date of Autumn 2010 and will cost £49.
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Wolfram Alpha Widgets announced
Wolfram has announced a beta release of Wolfram|Alpha widgets, bringing the computational engine to your Facebook or Twitter accounts. The widgets offer the chance to build a mini-app on top of Wolfram Alpha queries – so you can do those oft-repeated computations more quickly.
The Wolfram Alpha widgets given as a examples include the 'essential kitchen unit converter' which, as you may expect deals with units and measures and a mathematical derivative solver.
Free mini-apps
"Wolfram Alpha Widgets are free, personalised mini-apps that leverage the depth and breadth of the Wolfram Alpha computational knowledge engine," explains Wolfram's release.
"Widgets can do almost anything, from calculating calories in a recipe to solving complex equations.
"If Wolfram Alpha can answer your query, you can use it to create a widget."
When you are done creating your widget you can then share it on Facebook, Twitter or via email.
You can check out the beta at http://developer.wolframalpha.com/widgets/ and even make your own.
TechRadar has already come up with an 'not a valid input, please try again' app with virtually no effort whatsoever.
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T-Mobile: HTC Desire Android 2.2 update coming in September
T-Mobile has confirmed the release of Android 2.2 for its HTC Desire customers, telling TechRadar "we are aiming to roll out in September," adding that the network is unable to give a specific date at this stage.HTC itself earlier today announced that the over-the-air rollout the Android 2.2 update to HTC Desire phones would begin this weekend for unlocked phones.
"Operator specific versions of the update are undergoing testing and we expect to make them available in several weeks' time," said HTC.
And T-Mobile seems to be first out the gate with confirmation that it'll be bringing it to its handsets.
New features
Android 2.2 - or Froyo to its friends - brings a host of new features and functionality, including making your mobile a WiFi hotspot and support for Flash.
The HTC Desire is one of the flagship Android devices, a close brother to Google's own Nexus One, and the latest firmware will be very much appreciated by owners of the handset.
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Opinion: Social networks need more social, less network
Feeling lonely on the internet is an odd sensation, but a survey suggests it's a growing problem. At the click of a mouse, you can connect with millions of people – and not just random members of the smelly flesh-army that is humanity, but people who share your interests, actually want to talk and may even type 'LOL' at your jokes.
It's just not the same, though. A whopping 60 per cent of tech-savvy people aged 18 to 35 are apparently complaining of often feeling lonely, as opposed to just 35 per cent of the traditionally isolated over-55s. This is the age group for whom services like Facebook have supposedly done wonders for staying in touch.
Obviously, all surveys of this ilk should be taken with a pinch of salt capable of melting a glacier, but this one wouldn't surprise me.
For starters, if you're feeling down, sometimes a social service is the last thing you want to be plugged into. Either you're one click away from seeing what a much better day everyone you know is having, whether they're splashing on the beach or preparing for a party you'd have been blissfully unaware of not having been invited to, or it's the interactive equivalent of a grey weekend in Norwich – everyone complaining of how much they're sitting around in the rain, breaking up with their former loved ones, drowning in a treacle sea of underpaid work and just generally having a lousy epoch.
Gaming separation
It's a wider issue than just Facebook, though. Take gaming. Back in the day, you had just one console and friends would come round to play things like Mario Kart with you on a split-screen display. People would get together for LAN parties and head to cybercafés.
Now, multiplayer gaming's primarily done online, with players sitting alone and communicating on headphones. Not only are we separated by distance, we're separated by our characters. Nobody ever called their friend 'Yoshi' during a Mario Kart race, but play something like World of Warcraft and if it's not a character name you go by, you simply become 'the tank' or 'the mage' – just one cog out of 25.
Obviously, there are exceptions to this rule. Rock Band is a great example of a game where people still get together to play, as are a number of Wii games. In general, though, as online games get more social, they're getting lonelier. Even lonelier than single-player games in many ways, thanks to providing a weak, unsatisfying experience rather than an alternative.
Social networking is increasingly following suit, with the sheer volume of content spewing out of the pipes. Recently, it's just mass shouting. Nobody really cares what your Spotify playlists are, any more than clicking a Facebook 'Like' button can replace actually telling someone that you liked something.
That's not to say that these things can't be useful in their own right – 'Like' buttons are fine for highlighting new content you might not otherwise have seen (seeing that someone's watching a new show is good for remembering that it's on), but it's not so much social as a replacement for it.
Meaningless sharing
The lack of effort means that people are sharing more, but also that it doesn't actually mean anything. It's the online equivalent of the ubiquitous 'Alright, mate?'
One of the most surprising things about all this social interaction is how little it focuses on actual real-world connections, especially given the sheer weight of information in the much-ballyhooed social graphs everyone wants to build up.
Take online dating for instance. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg claims that by looking at online profiles, he can tell who's going to hook up with whom, which is a good trick. Yet still Facebook lacks any real service that skips the usual questionnaires and glorified personal adverts in favour of just looking at your data and interests and saying 'You, call You'.
Foursquare focuses on checking into places and sharing that information, but only as far as making up silly games about mayors and meeting up with existing friends, not trying expand your real-life social network by suggesting: 'Why not say hello to these people next time you're there.'
There are so many things that social networking could offer if it focused more on the social side: actually meeting people and doing things, instead of just building endless lists of friends you hardly see any more.
As it is, it's providing endless ways of keeping us trapped at our PCs, making sure that our music choices and profile pictures say what we want them to, and that no friends will mock us for having an overgrown Farmville. No wonder so many of us are feeling lost in the cloud.
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HTC Desire Android 2.2 update coming this weekend
HTC has just sent us a statement - Android 2.2 is coming to the HTC Desire from this weekend. Though don't get super-excited just yet - if you've got an operator-locked handset, you won't be getting it straight away.
Why? The update will only initially roll out to unlocked HTC Desire handsets. HTC says "operator specific versions of the update are undergoing testing and we expect to make them available in several weeks' time."
Humph. So unless you paid out for an unlocked Desire, you'll most likely be waiting around for a little while.
"The Android 2.2 (Froyo) update for HTC Desire will start rolling out across Europe this weekend," said HTC in its statement. "As well as including the complete set of Android 2.2 features, the update will contain a few special additions of our own through the latest iteration of HTC Sense."
"The update will provide 720p video capture, HTC's App Share widget, as well as our enhanced HTC Caller ID, and improved multi-language keyboard. Also, though the update, HTC Sync will allow HTC Desire users to sync their music with iTunes."
If you've got an HTC Desire, you'll be notified the over-the-air update is available to download when your phone automatically checks for software updates - again that will depend on your network.
As for the upgrade, HTC says the update won't delete any of your phone's content. Due to the size of the update, the manufactuer also advises using Wi-Fi to download it. You don't say.
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Microsoft announces public Kinect shows
Microsoft is showing off its latest Xbox technology to the public with the Kinect Galleries in Covent Garden, London – offering consumers the chance to give the motion sensor gaming a try.The Kinect Galleries will open from Saturday for a six-week period over summer, and people can book their own personal space through Facebok or by turning up on the day.
Kinect is the next big thing for the Xbox 360 using an advanced camera to do away with the controller, offering Wii-like family gaming without the peripherals.
Dance Revolution
The likes of Dance Revolution are likely to prove a huge hit with the female demographic, while men will be catered for with launch title Kinect Adventures and the promise of integration into more traditional gaming.
There are also participatory demos being done on stage of Kinect Galleries that will enable visitors to get a quick tutorial before humiliating themselves by being scored on their dancing to Lady Gaga.
For those not heading to Covent Garden, Microsoft has also announced a roadshow – with a nationwide tour taking in Alton Towers, London Zoo, the Thames Festival, Chessington and Clothes Show Live at NEC in Birmingham.
Showcase
"Demonstration staff will be on hand to showcase the latest Kinect for Xbox 360 games, both at the Kinect Galleries and on tour, thus giving visitors the chance to take adventure to the next level with Kinect Adventures!, test out their moves with Dance Central, take to the race track with Kinect Joyride or making friends with cute big-cat cubs through Kinectimals," said Microsoft.
"Visitors to the Kinect Tour will also be able to have their play session filmed with a 25 second video clip created which can be accessed later through www.kinect.me and shared with friends and family and across social networks."
Bookings for both the Covent Garden Kinect Galleries experience or the roadshow can be made at www.facebook.com/kinectforxbox360.
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Apple iPhone 4 now available from T-Mobile and Three
T-Mobile and Three have finally started offering the iPhone 4, with a variety of price plans announced for the Apple handset.The plans in T-Mobile's case are all 24-month contracts and range from £30 to £60 (as we told you earlier in the month), with the iPhone 4 16GB version offered for free on the most expensive tariff.
Speaking about the news, Lysa Hardy, vice president of T-Mobile Propositions, said: "Bringing iPhone 4 to our customers in the UK is a fantastic move for T-Mobile.
"With a range of value plans we're making iPhone 4 more accessible to even more customers in the UK."
Three's numbers
When it comes to Three, you will be able to get a free 16GB iPhone 4 on the £45 monthly contract. There are also £30 to £40 per month contracts available.
Obviously the 32GB is also available, but you will have to fork out more on the handset – ranging from £89 and £189.
Now that T-Mobile and Three have opened the iPhone 4 floodgates, the circle is now complete for those offering the handset, with the pair joining O2, Vodafone, Orange and Tesco Mobile as networks that are offering the phone in the UK.
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Review: Dell Latitude E6510
With a range of rugged builds and heaps of features, Dell's Latitude series is geared towards mobile business users. The Latitude E6510 packs a huge amount of power and features into a reasonably solid chassis for excellent business performance. Power is provided by a quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with great results. We saw no slow-down when multi-tasking with several resource-intensive applications, and our every action was met with a speedy response.
And this is despite a 32-bit version of Windows coming preinstalled, which doesn't take advantage of the 4096MB of DDR3 memory.
3D performance comes courtesy of an Nvidia Quadro NVS 3100M graphics card optimised for professional design work. While multimedia business applications run smoothly, there's not enough power for more recent games.
Stunning screen
Creative designers need a sharp screen and Dell has expertly delivered a 15.6-inch Full HD (1920x1080) display. Not only is it perfectly crisp, it's pleasingly bright for those lengthy work sessions. Photos and video look fantastic and it's a shame there's no Blu-ray drive for watching HD movies.
Usability is strong, with tapered keys filling out a well-sized backlit keyboard and an excellent touchpad with individual scrollbar sections for quick browsing of documents and web pages.
A pointing stick commonly found on business laptops is available as a touchpad alternative with its own set of dedicated mouse buttons.
The chassis isn't too heavy at 2.9kg and should comfortably fit in most briefcases. Overall, it's a well-built machine, although there is some flex around the speakers and the right side of the laptop.
We managed 195 minutes of use away from the mains which is commendable considering the power on offer.
Features are another strong point. PC Card and ExpressCard slots can be used to attach peripherals, along with four USB ports, one of which doubles as an eSATA port for speedy transfer with external hard drives.
External monitors can be hooked up via VGA or DisplayPort, while a Smart Card port boosts data security for businesses that support it. Our only complaint is the measly 250GB hard drive, although file transfer is fast at 7200rpm.
Dell has also included its basic Latitude ON operating system, which can be accessed using a quickstart button. This is designed for simple tasks, such as web browsing, and uses less power than the Windows OS.
We were highly impressed by the power, features and excellent display offered by the Dell Latitude E6510. Business users with the cash to spare really have no need to look any further.
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Weird Tech: Pop star rages at game from beyond the grave
PopCap Games makes lovably low-grade entertainment for the common man and woman that appears on many mobile and web platforms. But the developer felt the full legal force of the Michael Jackson estate this week - which was officially Not Very Happy about a joke Jacko zombie that PopCap featured in its Plants vs Zombies game.
The "Dancing Zombie," complete with its early-80s Michael Jackson style sunken eyes and clothing, is but one of many comedy zombies that stumble around PopCap's PvZ universe, but Jacko's representatives did not see the funny side of things.
PopCap confirmed the removal of the Jackson-alike zombie to the MTV games blog, saying it had indeed received a complaint that the Dancing Zombie "too closely resembled" Michael Jackson. Maybe if Jacko wasn't actually fairly recently dead it might've been considered a bit less of a weird thing to have in your video game.
Objective emotionlessly achieved, my master
A robot built to do one very small, specific thing has met its objective. No other robots applauded this entirely expected outcome. The Cornell Ranger walking robot is a four-legged thing that looks like it's been crafted out of golf clubs by golfers, that was created solely to beat the robot walking distance record.
Which it did.
Ranger marched on for 14.3 miles, a task it achieved in ten hours and 40 minutes.
GO GO CORNELL RANGER: Each unit will come with a man to steer and a man to cheer
And it's big blue eyes aren't for seeing, or a joke - they're rubber bumpers in case Ranger has a fall. No serious medical use was even hinted at. It's just some men having a laugh with a budget.
iPhone SexyTime
Steve Jobs, look away now. According to reports online, Apple's new FaceTime video calling application could be about to open the real-time pornography floodgates on iPhone 4, thanks to the adult entertainment industry realising it's a totally super way of parting men from their cash in return for letting them engage with a top model for a few brief, unsatisfactory minutes.
NOT YOU: Put your mum on instead, mate
The Associated Press says ads in "five" US cities are trawling for women of ill-repute to work as FaceTime live chat operatives, coincidentally offering successful applicants a free iPhone 4.
At least they'll be able to put their mobile bill down as a legitimate work expense.
Transparent scheme
A major corporation has made a joke! The corporation in question is Mattel and its Hot Wheels toy brand offshoot, which has created this Wonder Woman Invisible Jet.
HOLY CON JOB: Great way to make your money disappear
Originally stuck up on the internet as an April Fool's joke, response from comic and toy nerds with way too much money to waste on rubbish was so high that Mattel decided to put the Invisible Jet into "production" so to speak.
It was selling the thing at the recent Comic-Con geek festival. It's one purchase that will definitely lose its value if the packaging is opened.
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Review: Asus U53F Bamboo
Asus released its first bamboo laptop featuring a tough wood-based chassis back in 2008, and now it has given us a peek at its latest plant-based portable, the Asus U53F Bamboo. The chassis is immediately striking with the entire lid and palmrest coated in bamboo. Not only does it look great with a natural, grainy appearance, but it's also pleasingly firm to protect the display. The chassis shows no flex at all under pressure and the wood covering reduces plastics usage by 20 per cent.
A weight approaching 3kg limits mobility, but the surprisingly thin chassis can be fitted into a briefcase if required.
The bamboo design even stretches to the touchpad, with the surface of the pad and the mouse buttons given the same textured finish. The pad is smooth, responsive and wide, and usability is further enhanced by an excellent isolation style keyboard with the keys pushed up through individual holes in the chassis.
The gaps between keys mean it's difficult to hit the wrong key by mistake, and we managed some impressive speeds when touch-typing. The separate numeric keypad is a little small, however – we would have preferred a keyboard that stretched the entire length of the chassis to give these keys some extra width.
The bright and colourful 15.6-inch widescreen display is a pleasure to watch movies on. This pre-production model sadly doesn't have a Full HD display to take full advantage of the built-in Blu-ray drive, but hopefully the final product will.
The screen is somewhat reflective thanks to the glossy Super-TFT coating, but it's not as noticeable at top brightness levels.
Core power
Our pre-production model came fitted with an Intel Core i5 520M processor, which provides more than enough power to comfortably multi-task with a number of resource-intensive applications. The final product will apparently offer a choice of Core i3, Core i5 or Core i7 CPUs, so performance should be assured.
Unfortunately, there's no dedicated graphics, just an integrated Intel GPU, but this may change in the final release.
Other features are standard for a machine like this, with VGA and HDMI connections for outputting to an external display, three USB ports for adding peripherals, and a memory card reader for backing up the 500GB hard drive.
Users can also boot up to a basic ExpressGate OS to browse the web or their photo library, which prolongs battery life.
We're looking forward to seeing the full release of the Asus U53F Bamboo, as this pre-production model is a slickly designed and solidly built home laptop.
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PlayStation 3 outsells Xbox 360 by 28%
Sony is celebrating today, with news that the PlayStation 3 is now outselling the Xbox 360 by 28 per cent, a complete turnaround from a year ago, when Microsoft's console was way out in lead.Between June 2009 and 2010, Sony managed to sell 14.3 million PS3s, compared to 10.3 million Xbox 360s sold, according to official figures released by both companies.
The main reason for the role reversal seems to be Sony cutting the price of its console and also offering a slim version.
Testing times
Although Microsoft is still in front when it comes to overall sales of the consoles, this lead has been trimmed significantly to just 3.6 million.
These are interesting times for the two gaming giants. Both are close to releasing motion-sensor gaming (PlayStation Move and Kinect) which should stretch out the life of the consoles and Microsoft has only just released its Slim version of the Xbox 360.
So it is not clear cut that Sony will actually ever overtake Microsoft in terms of console dominance - although it does have an extra card to play and that is 3D gaming.
It will be interesting to see what the next 12 months bring.
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Review: Samsung Q330
Over the past few years Samsung has impressed us greatly, releasing a huge range of laptops that pack in the latest technology at truly affordable prices. The Q330 is its most high-powered ultraportable and continues Samsung's recent legacy in stunning style. At 2kg this machine is built for life on the road. Measuring 32mm at its rear and tapering down to just 23mm at the front, the slim chassis is easy to hold and slips easily into hand luggage.
Running for 255 minutes on battery power, you can keep working for half a day on the move. While previous models in the Q-Series used glossy plastics throughout, the Q330 adds a brushed-metal interior for improved resilience.
The lid retains the use of glossy plastic, but feels far tougher than before, with the entire chassis feeling strong and looking fantastic.
Excellent keyboard
The keyboard uses the popular isolation style with each key cut through a hole in the chassis' top panel. The spacious design is a pleasure to use and all the keys respond well with a near-silent action – ditto the touchpad and mouse buttons.
The stunning 13.3-inch screen is one of the brightest panels we've seen on an ultraportable, offering vibrant colours and striking contrast. Our only complaint is that the screen only folds back 45 degrees from vertical, which can make it tricky to find the perfect viewing angle.
Using a high-powered Core i3 processor from Intel's latest entry-level range, this is one of the most powerful ultraportables we've seen. Backed by 3072MB of DDR3 memory, performance is stunning.
Graphics are less capable, but this is inevitable for such a slim and light laptop. Intel's cutting-edge GMA HD graphics card provides plenty of power for photo and video editing, however, and even a bit of light gaming.
An HDMI port lets you connect to your HDTV when back at home. Ample storage is provided by the 320GB hard drive. Unusually for such an affordable laptop at this size, a DVD rewriter is also in place for creating your own CDs and DVDs.
For transferring photos from your camera, an SD Card reader is fitted at the front of the chassis.
802.11n Wi-Fi lets you stay wirelessly connected at home or on the move at the fastest speeds possible. Fixed connectivity is provided by slower 10/100 Ethernet, but Bluetooth is in place for wirelessly sharing files with other devices.
Adding to its already impressive foundation of consumer machines, the improved performance, build quality and materials of the Q330 make it one of the best entry-level ultraportables you can currently buy. At this low price, it's a deal that's impossible to ignore.
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In Depth: How cheap technology is costing us dear
It's a great time to be a gadget geek. From wireless routers to Windows PCs, smartphones to sat navs, our technology has never been smarter - or cheaper.The internet is a hardware heaven where you can pick up enormously powerful bits of kit for tiny amounts of money. It's just a shame about the whole economic damage, worker exploitation, environmental catastrophe side of things.
Cheap technology isn't as cheap as you might think. When something's designed to a particular price, compromises have to be made. Those compromises aren't just in the design, although of course you can't expect Porsche quality at Primark prices; they're in every part of the technology company's business from the factories it uses to the way it provides technical support. Typically, cheap technology means cutting every possible corner to make the price as low as possible.
What happens when you cut one corner too many? Let's ask Dell, the pioneer of ultra-cheap PCs, who managed to ship 11.8 million faulty - and potentially explosive - PCs between 2003 and 2005
The problem was with dodgy capacitors, manufactured from a stolen - and, it turned out, incorrect - formula. Writing in The Independent in 2003, Charles Arthur noted that Dell was aware of the compromised capacitors, and interviewed Dennis Zogbi of Paumanok Publications, who said: "People want Western quality and Chinese prices. Well, you can't have both."
Dell thought you could.
Dell's business was - and is - based on what the New York Times describes as "limiting its inventory and squeezing suppliers", but it's possible to squeeze too hard. Cheap technology is a balancing act between price and quality control, and it seems that Dell lost its balance: the NYT reports that Dell suffered far more from bad capacitors than its rivals.
Despite internal tests finding that Optiplex desktops might have a failure rate as high as 97%, Dell didn't want an enormous and enormously expensive product recall, so it had a brilliant idea: it would blame its customers for the faulty computers.
According to the NYT Dell told the University of Texas its computers were failing because staff were "making them perform difficult math calculations."
BAD CAPACITORS: This Dell customer's capacitors don't look too clever. In total, Dell shipped 11.8 million machines with capacitors likely to fail
Still, at least if your Optiplex exploded you'd be able to speak to somebody knowledgeable about it. Wouldn't you? Nope. Dell was one of the first tech firms to outsource its customer service and technical support to Bangalore, and while the results were so bad and unpopular that Dell very quickly reinstated US-based support for its lucrative corporate customers, the idea stuck. These days, cheap kit means outsourced or online-only, irritating and inadequate technical support. You get what you pay for.
Unemployment and unhappy workers
Decent wages, employee healthcare, pensions and other benefits aren't compatible with cheap kit.
Because of those costs, Western technology firms have been outsourcing assembly work since the 1980s. Incredibly, there are fewer people making computers in the US now than there were in the 1970s: writing in BusinessWeek, former Intel boss Andy Grove says: "manufacturing employment in the US computer industry is about 166,000, lower than it was before the first PC, the MITS Altair 2800, was assembled in 1975."
OUTSOURCED: There are fewer people employed making computers in the US today than there were when this was cutting-edge tech
People still make our gadgets, of course. They just don't do it in the West. From Xbox 360s to iPhone 4s, many of our devices are put together in China. China's biggest electronics subcontractor, Foxconn, has around 800,000 employees and adds 100,000 more every year; Grove says that Foxconn employs "more than the combined worldwide headcount of Apple, Dell, Microsoft, HP, Intel and Sony."
In total, an estimated 1.5 million people work in Asian assembly plants. For every Western employee a technology firm has, there are ten Asian assembly workers putting its products together - often on very low wages and in poor working conditions.
By outsourcing the assembly work, we're missing out on money that would otherwise be spent locally. With no factories here, there are no machines for local firms to service, no subcontractors providing key components, no armies of hungry workers for the local shops and take-aways to feed, no pay packets injecting cash into local businesses from cake shops to car dealers.
For now it's Foxconn's turn in the sun, but that won't last forever. The same things that eventually made the US too expensive for tech firms - rising wages, good working conditions and organised labour - are starting to happen in China, too.
After a wave of suicides led to unwelcome foreign attention, Foxconn massively increased employee wages; meanwhile, a wave of strikes in China is forcing other firms to pay more, too.
That's good and bad. It's good if you're getting a pay rise, but it's not so good if your employer decides to up sticks to somewhere cheaper. And there is always somewhere cheaper. Right now that's inland China, where living costs and therefore wage expectations are lower than in coastal regions, so firms are moving there.
In the longer term firms may leave China altogether and go where labour costs are lower: South America, perhaps, or Vietnam. They're already thinking about it.
Carcinogens, conflict and child labour
Tim Hunt is with Ethical Consumer magazine, which hopes to make us think again about cheap, disposable technology. As EC reports, the gadgets we dump often end up in places like Indonesia, where "those processing the waste are often overworked (up to 18 hours per day) and underpaid, and the use of child labour is common… often unprotected, workers use fire and mercuric acid baths to extract the precious metals. Burning releases dioxins - some of the most toxic compounds on Earth - while the acid residue contaminates drinking water."
"There are also problems around the mining of natural resources, from the Congo for instance," Hunt told TechRadar. "Here the trade in metals has been blamed for fuelling the conflict that has raged there for several years."
WASTED: Disposable technology doesn't always end up in recycling plants. E-Waste has become a global problem [image credit: CP on Flickr]
As technology becomes increasingly fashion-driven, this year's must-have gadget quickly becomes unwanted - and the move to mobile-based computing means things are speeding up. Where a PC has a useful lifespan of three to five years, we replace our mobiles every 18 months.
"It is clearly worse than it was 20 years ago because there is just more technology around and things are progressing so quickly," Hunt says. "If there is a closed loop where all products and materials are recycled then it shouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, even with the new EU regulations, much of the waste finds its way into the landfills of poorer countries."
Greenpeace wants to see tech firms eradicate toxic chemicals altogether. "The issue of toxicity is overarching," it says. "Until the use of toxic substances is eliminated, it is impossible to secure 'safe' recycling."
Perhaps the Electronics Industry Code of Conduct will save the world. The work of the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition, the EICC is a code of practice for electronics companies that prohibits the use of child labour, illegal working practices, dumping poison into duck ponds and so on.
It's been around since 2004 and signatories include Dell, who Greenpeace is currently attacking for its use of toxic chemicals and Microsoft, whose KYE subcontractor has been accused of child labour. So that's working well.
"Images of electronic waste in the form of discarded computers and other 'electro-scrap' dumped in Asia, other social and labour issues as well as pressure from civil society, prompted the electronics sector to develop an Electronics Industry Code of Conduct," Greenpeace says.
"However, despite this Code, the hi-tech sector continues to produce ever shorter-life, often superfluous products with inherently hazardous materials. Why are hi-tech corporations, which profess to be responsible corporate citizens, allowing this to happen?"
It's a rhetorical question. "One answer is that CSR [Corporate Social Responsibility] initiatives, whether they involve Codes of Conduct or reporting guidelines, are voluntary," Greenpeace adds. "At best, CSR can be a way for the best companies to lead the way. At worst, CSR initiatives can even be a diversionary tactic, used by industry to pretend that they are taking action and to avoid regulation."
BAD GRADES: Ethical Consumer grades firms on their Corporate Social Responsibility pronouncements. It's not a great result for HTC
Economic realities
Those iPhones you see being assembled in Foxconn factories have an estimated profit margin of 60 per cent. Could Apple still make money without using Foxconn? Absolutely. Could it still make money if its kit was assembled in the US? Probably. Will it try? No chance.
Apple, like every other corporation, must give its shareholders the best return on their investment - and the best way to do that isn't to get your products made in your own country, or to work only with firms whose assembly plants are filled with joy and laughter.
"Most companies are taking some steps," Tim Hunt says, "but as they all strive to generate more profit by producing more and more goods at the lowest possible price, they are clearly going to come into conflict with labour and the environment."
Perhaps the answer is to embarrass them. When Greenpeace wanted to draw public attention to the tech industry's environmental record in 2006 it picked on Apple, which was actually one of the more environmentally friendly firms; nevertheless, the Green My Apple campaign used Apple's high profile to great effect and Apple made more improvements. Apple now mentions its products' green credentials in its marketing.
POOR FORM: It's no coincidence that the firms low on Greenpeace's green electronics meter tend to be makers of low-cost kit
Could the same trick work with corporate citizenship? Probably not, because the way our economy works - essentially, shares are owned by large pension funds whose managers are paid by performance and therefore don't really care about the longer term or the bigger picture - means firms' number one priority is short-term profit.
Then again, perhaps the problem isn't the companies. Maybe it's us. Those pension funds are our pension funds, and we're the people who choose to buy cheap kit. Apple is atypical: the profit margin on a laptop is around 2%, while the margin on a netbook is less than one per cent. The aggressive pricing that makes netbooks so attractive also means manufacturers can be left with a margin of just twenty cents.
That means our buying choices matter: if we buy entirely on price, choosing our kit on the basis of who offers the most bang for the least amount of bucks, then we're helping to perpetuate the system.
If we want companies to care about the bigger picture, we need to show them that we care about it, too.
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Review: Intel X25-V 40GB SSD
Fancy Intel's second generation X25-V SSD tech at a third the price of its flagship 160GB? Yes please. After all, Intel's current controller chipset technology is one of the few proven to maintain decent performance over time. In fact, our test X25-V drive has been knocking about PCF towers for some time.
But, courtesy of support for the Windows 7 TRIM command, not to mention a quick buff-and-format treatment prior to testing, it's not far off box-fresh performance. It still churns through the sequential read test at nearly 200MB/s, for instance.
Likewise, the 4k random read and write numbers are impressive for a budget drive, which bodes well for real-world workloads. Sequential write performance of less than 50MB/s is less competitive, but with fewer channels than a full-fat Intel drive, raw write throughput has never been the X25-V's strong point.
Value for money
No, the real problem for Intel's value-orientated 40GB drive is, well, value. It may be less than a third the cost of the 160GB Intel X25-M, but it's also much less than one-third the capacity when formatted.
What's more, despite the promising synthetic performance results, it's a bit of stinker in our application tests. It's the second slowest drive in both our file decompression and software installation benchmarks.
When you factor in everything including performance, price and capacity, our all-round index places it second from last. That doesn't quite tally with our experience of the X25-V, but it's hard to ignore such poor results.
It's actually our favourite of the sub-50GB drives. Still, Intel's third generation SSDs can't come too soon.
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YouTube now gives users 15 minutes of fame
YouTube has made a significant change to its site this week, upping the time limit for videos to 15 minutes.This means that users can now upload longer videos to the site for free, instead of having to sign up for a premium account.
One of the main reasons YouTube has decided on now to up the limit is because of some back-end changes it has made to the site.
Content is king
This includes a massive refresh of YouTube's Content ID system, which means that now copyright on the site is more or less sorted, they have the cash from music labels and movie studios to make some significant improvements.
In a nod to Warhol, the site will be offering users a chance to get their 15 minutes of fame, by entering videos with the tag 'yt15minutes'.
If your video is chosen then you will be featured on the front page. We're sure the pop art master would have approved.
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Review: Acer Aspire 5553G
Acer has been extremely prolific of late, releasing a large number of laptops in its consumer Aspire range. The Acer Aspire 5553G is the latest and has a lot going for it, as it is one of the most affordable quad-core laptops you can buy. Initial performance test results weren't too encouraging, so supplementary benchmarks were run with very impressive results.
A quad-core AMD Phenom II X4 N9320 processor runs the show with ample power and is backed by an impressive 4096MB of DDR3 memory and a 64-bit version of Windows 7.
The 15.6-inch widescreen display has a 1366 x 768 pixel resolution and is perfect for watching movies or working on documents side by side and, while it's not the sharpest or brightest we've seen at this price point, it's adequate for working on for long periods of time.
A glossy Super-TFT coating has been used for extra vibrancy, but the increased reflectivity makes for uncomfortable outdoor viewing.
The 35mm chassis is surprisingly portable with a weight of just 2.5kg. It's also reassuringly durable with a brushed aluminium finish on the sturdy palmrests and an attractive lined pattern across the glossy lid.
The 193-minute battery life is average for laptops this size and means you'll need to carry the charger with you on long journeys.
The flat keyboard stretches the width of the chassis and is slightly raised for comfortable typing. All of the keys are a good size and perfect for touch typing, although not everyone will like the lack of definition. There's still plenty of space for a wide touchpad, complete with a scrollbar at the right edge for navigating documents or zooming in and out of photos.
Dedicated graphics
We found the dedicated ATi Mobility Radeon HD 5470 graphics card provided reasonable 3D performance, enough to play some older games and run multimedia applications, such as video editing software.
A PowerSmart button is available for switching between the ATi card and a basic integrated GPU. This is useful for preserving battery life when working on simple office applications, which have no need for high-quality 3D rendering.
Features are standard, with a 320GB hard drive providing enough room for hundreds of albums and films, with space to spare for your essential applications. Four USB ports are available which is one more than usual, although three of them are bunched together, so a single bulky peripheral could cover the others.
The Acer Aspire 5553G is a decent desktop replacement machine, offering impressive performance for such a low price. While there's nothing revolutionary, this is a well-built machine ideal for the demands of most families.
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Ballmer: Apple has sold more iPads than I'd like
Steve Ballmer has admitted that Apple has sold more iPads than he'd have liked, as he defended the lack of a credible Windows 7 tablet alternative. Speaking at a conference, Ballmer insisted that the Windows 7 tablets would not be rushed out, but that everybody was aware of the pressing need for options.
"They'll be shipping as soon as they are ready," Ballmer said. "It is job one urgency. No one is sleeping at the switch."
Apple
When asked about the popular iPad, which has sold well globally despite people's reservations about Apple's closed garden approach, Ballmer confessed that he was not enjoying the success.
"They've sold certainly more than I'd like them to have sold," added Ballmer.
The Microsoft chief executive has consistently pointed to Windows 7 tablets as a key part of the company's immediate future along with Windows Phone 7.
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Bioware: We aim to sell 10 million copies per game
Developer BioWare has revealed that its aim for every game it releases is to sell 10 million copies globally, showing the growing media might of the gaming world. Bioware is the developer behind hits such as Mass Effect and Dragon Age, but it is its forthcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic that is garnering the most interest, with the MMO widely tipped to provide a real rival for industry giant World of Warcraft.
But for those that doubt the growing power of gaming, the 10 million target should show the scale of the industry.
10 million copies
BioWare vice president and co-founder Greg Zeschuk revealed the figure in an interview with Video Gamer.
"We need to sell 10 million units. That's actually the new target, right?" he said.
"We do Top 10 games, our stuff is quite successful. I know Mass [Effect 2] is number eight so far this year, in North America.
"Sometimes I'm facetious when I say some of those things, knowing that we can sell a few million but seeing that someone else can sell 25. You're kinda like, 'Well, that's a hit!'"
WoW
Zeschuk jokes that managing to sell half as many subscriptions to the public as Blizzard have managed with World of Warcraft would be a major success.
"We always joke that if we only do half as well as Blizzard on Star Wars: The Old Republic, we'll be quite satisfied, he added.
" We've been very fortunate."
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Source: http://it-code-news.blogspot.com/2010/07/it-news-headlines-techradar-31072010.html
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