Month: January 2007

Genius! Internet App For Palm Treos: Review (83%)

If you’ve ever needed information fast from the Web when you’re on the move, Genius! by Hobbyist Software could be just what you’re looking for.

Genius! Internet App For Palm Treos: Review (83%)Designed for Palm Treo 600/650/680/700p users, Genius! gives you fast access to mobile-optimised sites, via a tabbed interface offering, ‘information,’ ‘shopping’ and ‘translation’ categories.

So if you’re out shopping and wondering if the pushy salesman really is offering you a bargain, you can just type in the product name (or product code, title, ISBN or brand) into Genius! and choose a price comparison site from the dropdown menu.

Pressing ‘go’ will open up a page full of results from the appropriate mobile optimised Website, saving you the hassle of opening up the Palm’s browser, looking for the right site, typing in the product name and then waiting for the results to download.

Genius! Internet App For Palm Treos: Review (83%)Devious cheating pub quizzers will like the ‘information’ tab which will quietly send your question to fact-filled sites like google, wikipedia and answers.com and bring up a Webpage with the answer already showing.

The interface also offers nippy, direct access to translation Websites, stock quotes, weather, directions and local info, with downloadable ‘plugins’ letting users customise the program to their preferences.

A bookmark management tool lets users edit and delete bookmarks with the option to select Google Optimiser to return results in a format enhanced for small screens.

Genius! Internet App For Palm Treos: Review (83%)Although it’s not one of those programs that is likely to change your life, power users regularly accessing the Web via their Palm Treos may find this an invaluable addition to their handheld – and at around a fiver ($9.99), it’s well worth a punt.

Features: 80%
Ease of use: 80%
Value For Money: 85%
Overall: 83%
Genius! by Hobbyist Software

Fujifilm Finepix F31fd Review (85%)

Now on the shelves in the UK, the Fujifilm FinePix F31fd represents a fairly minor update to last year’s F30 zoom, sporting the same impressive low light performance, courtesy of Fujifilm’s 6th-generation Super CCD and RP Processor II.

Fujifilm Finepix F31fd Review (85%)As with the F30, the 6.3 megapixel F31fd comes with a 3.0x optical zoom, super-high ISO 3200 sensitivity at full resolution, long-life battery (up to 580 shots), VGA movie recording up to 30 frames per second and Aperture & Shutter priority shooting plus a shedload of scene modes.

Sporting a redesigned, curvier body than its 2005 predecessors – the Fujifilm F10 and F11 snappers – the F31fd also adds a hardware-based Face Detection technology and infrared connectivity for sharing photos.

Boat race recognition
First seen in the company’s FinePix S6500fd’s bridge camera, Fujifilm’s Face Detection system is claimed to be able to identify faces, optimise settings and fire off a photo within just 0.05 seconds.

Fujifilm Finepix F31fd Review (85%)Capable of handling up to ten grinning faces in a frame, the technology should put an end to out of focus pictures, even when documenting a heavy night of quaffing in the old Bull and Bush.

To be honest, we weren’t exactly convinced of the benefits of the technology and would suggest that anyone used to focusing and reframing shots might as well buy the cheaper F30.

No looker
As with previous models, the Fujifilm is something of a plain, bulky fella unlikely to find favour with camera aesthetes, but behind those ordinary looks lurks some impressive picture taking capabilities.

Fujifilm Finepix F31fd Review (85%)
Along with the astonishing battery life – rated at around 580 shots per charge – the F31fd comes with a crisp and sharp 230,000 pixels, 2.5-inch screen LCD screen but, sadly, no optical viewfinder.

The 3x zoom lens covers a respectable 36-108mm (35mm equiv), with the aperture starting quite brightly at F2.8, closing down to a not-so-hot F5.0 at the telephoto end.

We would have preferred a bit more at the wide angle end, but at least Fujifilm have junked the annoying ‘terminal adaptor’ seen on the F10 and F11 cameras and fitted a proper DC port for the (supplied) mains adaptor.

Fujifilm Finepix F31fd Review (85%)
Unfortunately, the company has stuck with the XD card format, something that may put off potential buyers who have already aqcuired a collection of the more common SD card.

View from the top
On the top of the camera is a rather fiddly mode dial offering Movie, A/S (aperture and shutter priority), Rec-Manual, Rec-Auto, Scene and ‘anti blur’ (which simply ramps the ISO rating up rather than providing any proper optical stabilisation).

Also on the top plate is the shutter release button and power on/off control.

As with previous models, the F31fd is very quick to start up, with the camera ready to shoot in under 2 seconds.

On the back
Next to the LCD screen on the back is a 4-way controller for navigating menus, surrounded by four additional buttons with a zoom in/out rocker switch above.

Fujifilm Finepix F31fd Review (85%)
Sitting in the bottom right hand corner is the button to activate the Face Detection system, which also doubles up as a useful exposure +/- control when in manual mode.

Using the F31fd

Once again, the Fujifilm excelled in low light and high ISO output, producing usable images when most of its rivals would be churning out grainy snowstorms of digital noise, making this an ideal camera for nights out.

We were able to get excellent results up to 400ISO, with even ISO 800 images remaining usable, although the built in AF illuminator didn’t stop us suffering quite a few out-of-focus grabbed shots in low light.

Daytime shots featuring lots of contrast could sometimes throw up the occasional over-exposed picture, but with a bit of care the F31fd was capable of excellent results.

Fujifilm Finepix F31fd Review (85%)The lack of real manual controls was a bit frustrating and we continue to find Fujifilm’s interface a little less intuitive than some of its rivals, but point’n’shooters should have no problem getting to grips with the camera.

However, all these minor niggles don’t stop us highly recommending the F31fd, with the camera offering class-leading low light performance, fast start up times, good flash performance and a sturdy build that should last for years.

Features: 80%
Ease of Use: 65%
Image Quality: 85%
Overall: 85%

Specifications
Number of effective pixels 6.3 million
CCD 1/1.7″ Super CCD HR
Image sizes: 2,848 × 2,136, 3,024 × 2,016 (3:2), 2,048 x 1,536, 1,600 x 1,200, 640 × 480
File format JPEG (Exif)
Storage media Internal memory (approx. 26MB) xD-Picture Card
Lens focal length 36-108 mm
Sensitivity AUTO / Equivalent to ISO 100/200/ 400/800/1600/3200
LCD 2.5″ Amorphous silicon, TFT 230,000 pixels
Movie Recording 640×480 / 320×240 pixels, 30 frames / sec with monaural sound
Voice memo Yes
Video output NTSC & PAL
Digital interface USB 2.0 (High-speed)
Power source NP-95 Lithium-ion battery, AC Power Adapter
Dimensions (W x H x D) 92.7 x 56.7 x 27.8 mm
Weight (approx./excluding battery and memory card) 155g
Fujifilm F31fd

IGF: Independent Games Festival 2007

Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA

The CMP Game Group established the Independent Games Festival in 1998 to encourage innovation in game development and to recognize the best independent game developers. They saw how the Sundance Film Festival benefited the independent film community, and wanted to create a similar event for independent game developers.

The competition, now in its 9th year, awards a total of over $50,000 in prizes to deserving indie creators in Main Competition, Student Competition, and Mod Competition categories at the IGF Awards Ceremony, which will be held the evening of March 7, 2007 at the Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA, and is one of the highlights of the Game Developers Conference.

Link

Games Gone By: A history of video games – GameOn

Game On exhibition, Science Museum, London

Most people think that video gaming starting in the 1970s and 1980s with classic games such as Pong, Space Invaders and Pac-Man, but the real story of video games goes back even further. Come along and discover the machines, the people and true stories behind the birth of the games industry as speakers from the International Game Developers Association delve deep into gaming’s past.

Link

Video Games: Look of the future – GameOn

Our computers and consoles have an amazing amount of processing power, creating realistic lighting, textures and characters. How is this done and are there limits to what can be re-created on a screen? Discover, with Dr Chris Doran of Geomerics, what the games of the future will look like.

Held at the Science Museum.

Link

BT Broadband Hits 10m Connections

BT Broadband Hits 10m ConnectionsIt may only be a few days after the New Year, but the party poppers and drinks cabinet have been rolled out at Chez BT as the company is poised to rack up its 10 millionth broadband connection this week.

Way back in the distant dial-up days of 2002, BT had set what seemed liked a wildly ambitious target of 5 million connections by the end of 2006, so with the target doubled we reckon there’ll be a fair bit of a-whooping at the top of the BT Tower (and, no doubt, some fattening pay cheques).

The 10 million wholesale connections are split between BT Wholesale and BT Openreach, with 8.7 million customers connecting through BT Wholesale.

BT Broadband Hits 10m ConnectionsThe remaining 1.3 million lines are supplied to big names like Carphone Warehouse and BSkyB via BT Openreach.

When the 5 million target was set back in April 2002, less than 150,000 DSL connections existed in the UK, with broadband availability in the UK pegged at just 66 per cent – a figure now standing at a near-complete 99.8 per cent.

Purring with delight, Ben Verwaayen, chief executive of BT Group, claimed that the UK is now the most competitive broadband market in the world, offering customers a choice of over 200 service providers

“That means fantastic choice and value for consumers, and a constant stream of new and innovative applications,” he enthused.

“There are still many, many areas in the market where you can see people really looking for new applications and it’s the applications that drive people to broadband. Look for example at the way people want to make and share their own content, on a narrowband basis that’s almost impossible,” he continued.

“As social networking becomes more and more a thing of today, this presents fantastic opportunities for broadband.”

It wasn’t all backslapping and cigar-puffing at BT though as their rival BSkyB passed the 2 million subscriber milestone, with sales of the Sky+ box increasing by more than 50% last year.

BT
Sky

Samsung Introduces One-Month Laptop Battery

Samsung Introduces One-Month Laptop BatteryThe boffins at Samsung have developed a super long life fuel cell expansion dock that will keep laptops powered up for over a month.

Scheduled for commercial production by the end of this year, the company managed to get one of their Q35 ultra portable notebook computers to run for an astonishing 5 weeks using the dock, with the machine powered up for 8 hours a day.

The uber-battery runs on Methanol, a form of alcohol (no, you can’t drink it if you fancy a bevy) and can deliver a maximum output of 20 Watts, with a maximum storage capacity of 1,200Wh.

Samsung Introduces One-Month Laptop BatterySamsung’s dock clips on the back of the laptop and measures up around the same size as a regular laptop docking station.

Apparently, fuel dock designs traditionally make a bit of racket (we’re not sure why) but Samsung say that their beefy power cell will be no noisier than regular laptops.

Samsung say that a miniature version of this fuel cell is in the pipeline too, with just a teacup’s worth of fuel managing to notch up a massive 15 hours of life.

For those of you who like the ‘science bit’ on shampoo adverts, we can tell you that the technology goes under the name of DMFC (Direct Methanol Fuel Cell) and does it stuff by oxidising liquid methanol on a catalyst to form carbon dioxide.

Or something like that.

Samsung UK
Methanol (Wikipedia)

Xbox 360 outsells Wii And PS3 in US Over Xmas

Xbox 360 outsells Wii And PS3 in US Over XmasIt truly was a battle of the consoles this Christmas, with big-hitters Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony all looking to set the Yuletide cash tills ringing.

According to analysts at the US research firm NPD, Santa’s bags were mostly straining with Xbox 360’s over the festive period, closely followed by the Nintendo Wii, with the PS3 trailing in third place.

Preliminary findings from NPD revealed that the Xbox 360 outsold both the Wii and the PS3 in the US, with around 2 million Xbox 360s shifted between the start of November 2006 and Christmas.

Xbox 360 outsells Wii And PS3 in US Over Xmas
Not far behind was the eagerly awaited Nintendo Wii which registered 1.8 million sales, while the PS3 could only muster a mere 750,000 Stateside sales.

According to NPD, these figures represent a huge leap from November’s figures which saw 511,000 Xbox 360s, 476,000 Wiis and 197,000 PS3s flying out of the stores.

It’s worth noting that Nintendo’s Wii didn’t launch in the US until 19th November – nearly three weeks behind the Xbox 360 – with the first batch of stock reported as selling out in hours.

Xbox 360 outsells Wii And PS3 in US Over Xmas It was a similar situation in the UK, with Nintendo Wii’s near-impossible to find in the shops (yes, we were looking too and someone’s still waiting for their Christmas present!).

One of PC World’s flagship stores in the West End told Digital Lifestyles that their consignment of Wii consoles went almost as soon as they came through the door, although we noted no shortage of XBox 360s in the store.

NPD is expected to release the complete figures for December later this month.

NPD