Infomania.co.uk

Raspberry Pi $25 computer to launch around Feb 10?

admin — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:20:33 +0000

The Raspberry Pi bare board Linux computer being launched by the charitable Raspberry Pi Foundation looks set to appear around three weeks from now. It is designed to help people learn computing in the same way that the Sinclair Spectrum and BBC Micro did in the eighties. At $25 or $35, it is very basic – you have to buy the ‘luxury’ ‘B’ version to get an Ethernet socket – but it the board does provide a USB interface (for mouse, keyboard, printer etc), HDMI and phono/RCA video sockets and an SD card slot. The basic ‘A’ version comes with 128 Mb RAM compared with 256 Mb for the ‘B’.

Upgrading to a 3D PC monitor

admin — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:58:17 +0000

Here at Infomania Towers we’re always keen to try something new. So when one of our PC monitors started playing up and Ebuyer had an offer on the LG LED-backlit D2342 23″ PC monitor it just seemed like a sign…

The LG monitor connects via VGA, DVI or HDMI. We opted for DVI on the basis that a digital interconnect would give a sharper image and the HDMI would be left free for connection of video products and digital cameras.

We’re not into gaming but the monitor ships with a free copy of a 3D game, Assassin’s Creed. It also comes with a pair of regular passive 3D glasses and a pair of clip-ons. The installation disk contains 3D driver software with sample 3D photographs and 3D video clips.

The results are pretty good. We were able to view 3D photos and video shot with a Fuji W3 3D camera as well as 3D YouTube videos. The BBC also helpfully transmitted a 3D film on BBC HD, which was recorded using Windows Media Center and an HD tuner stick. WMC can’t drive the display properly for 3D but it was possible to view the programme in 3D using the supplied TriDef 3D player.

For 3D, the viewing position is quite critical, particularly the vertical viewing angle, but the monitor stand is easy to adjust to the right degree of tilt.

3D is overall very impressive and the display works fine for regular 2D material, with no hint that it is anything other than a reasonable quality LED-backlit LCD monitor. The display is pleasingly matte, unlike the earlier Zalman 3D PC monitors which were distractingly reflective. The only hint of a problem is that the monitor is very bright, even when wearing the 3D glasses!

Nokia launch Lumia Windows Phones

admin — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:59:00 +0000

Nokia have been very open about their need for a successful line of smartphones. Microsoft are also in need of a partner who will really push the new Windows Phone platform – have you looked for a Windows phone in a retail store recently? So the launch of the Lumia 800 and its cheaper brother, the Lumia 710, is a major step for both companies.

The Nokia Lumia 800

Both phones have 480 x 800 pixel 3.7″ displays and 1.4 GHz processors but the stylish Lumia 800 is the one to have. Not only does it look great but it is better specced. The display on the 800 is AMOLED comared to plain old TFT on the 710. The 800 boasts an 8 Megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, compared to the 5 Megappixel camera of the 710. Finally the 800 has twice the user memory – 16 GB compared to 8 GB in the 710.

The Nokia Lumia 710

Both phones include GPS. Nokia don’t seem to be able to make up their minds about Nokia Maps though. These give the full satnav experience and, according to the specs, they only come with the 800. Elsewhere though, Nokia Maps are listed as a feature of the 710 too.

WikiLeaks suspends publication in a fight for its life

admin — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:01:22 +0000

WikiLeaks has been hit hard by the withdrawal of banking facilities and the refusal of VISA, MasterCard and PayPal to process payments. The limitations make it hard for supporters to make donations but WikiLeaks do still list seven different ways supporters can help. According to its website, WikiLeaks needs over $2m to cover its costs, the biggest chunk being for $1.2m legal fees.

WikiLeaks claim that they are victims of “a concerted US-based, political attack”. They further claim that the US government has said that there are “no lawful grounds to add WikiLeaks to a US financial blockade”.

Electric car charging network starts

admin — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 18:09:55 +0000

Ecotricity and Welcome Break have launched the first of a planned 27 electric car charging points in motorway services. The charging point, at South Mimms services, may not sound like a major leap forward but it will mean that electric car drivers finally have a way of moving their vehicles further than a single charge or a tow truck allows.

The charging points can charge at either 13A or 32A. A full charge at 13A is likely to require an overnight stay but charging at 32A takes a more reasonable 2 hours.

Spotify to slash functionality of free music service

admin — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 21:45:43 +0000

Spotify have announced a number of changes to Spotify Free (now known as Spotify Open) which will seriously impair the service for many users. After the first 6 months users will only be able to play individual tracks a maximum of 5 times and will only be able to use the free service for a maximum of 10 hours a month.

New users will get the current full functionality for the first 6 months. Existing users will have the new rules applied 6 months after they signed up. For those who signed up more than 6 months ago the new rules kick in on May 1.

The cuts to the service mean that although Spotify Free will still be a good way of exploring new music, users who have relied on it as a free online jukebox will be disappointed. They will have to consider whether to subscribe to the £4.99 a month ‘Unlimited’ or £9.99 a month ‘Premium’ services.

You couldn’t make it up – Japanese grid can’t solve nuke power loss due to 50/60 Hz split

admin — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 18:46:23 +0000

Despite the West of Japan having a power surplus it can’t help the East, which is short if power thanks to the post-tsunami nuclear power problems.

Incredibly Japan is split by a 50 Hz/60 Hz incompatibility. The West based its power generation on 60 Hz American standards while the East uses ‘European’ 50 Hz. There are few interconnects and they can handle little power.

Neither choice explain Japan’s unique decision to standardize on 100 volt power rather than US 110 or EU 240 volts.

PCTV nanoStick T2 290e Freeview HD DVB-T2 tuner stick

admin — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:08:15 +0000

Regular DVB-T tuner cards and tuner sticks will allow your PC to receive and record regular Freeview TV and radio programmes. Things are a bit more complicated if you want to receive Freeview HD, as it uses a new broadcast standard, DVB-T2. This is an improved version of DVB-T which can deliver 40 Mbps in a single channel, compared to a maximum of 24 Mbps from the original version. Another benefit is that it is far less susceptible to electrical interference, such as from tumble driers, heating thermostats or even Christmas tree lights.

The good news is that there are now a couple of DVB-T2 tuner products for PCs. Here at Infomania Towers we’ve been testing the PCTV nanoStick T2 290e. This is a single-tuner USB tuner stick which can tune in both regular DVB-T transmissions as well as DVB-T2. It comes with a software disk, remote control, a short USB extension cable and a puny stick aerial which will be of little use unless you happen to live right next to a TV transmitter.

Rather than install the software we decided to see how far we could get with Windows Media Center on a Windows 7 PC. Tuners for Media Center need to work with BDA drivers, which the PCTV stick does. Happily there was no need to do anything other than connect a TV aerial to the stick and plug it into a USB port. Windows got to work finding the stick and sorting drivers out. All we had to do was to start Windows Media Center, tell it our postcode so it knew which region to get TV listings for and set it up to tune the channels in. Although everything worked fine, tuning was a very slow process – far slower than any TVs we have come across. In fact we thought the software might have crashed except that occasionally the progress indicator did actually increment.

The HD signals in this part of the world are a little weak, as the region has not switched to digital yet. Fortunately the stick seems to be quite sensitive and we receive all the HD channels without a problem. Programme guide listing are another issue however. Microsoft haven’t yet added listings for the HD channels to the EPG. It is possible to get listings to show up for BBC 1 HD, ITV 1 HD and Channel 4 HD by editing the guide setup for those channels and telling the EPG to use the listings for the regular versions of the channels. No solution for BBC HD as yet but we are investigating.

So our experience to date is quite positive except for the missing BBC HD listings. We have been able to successfully view, record and replay HD programmes, although sadly Microsoft seem blind to the benefits of Blu-ray DVD drives so it doesn’t appear possible to transfer HD recordings to Blu-ray disc.

HTC Desire secret menu

bill — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 14:21:30 +0000

The HTC Desire has a secret menu, which can be accessed by entering a special code as if you were dialling a phone number. The menu shows a wealth of interesting information including IMEI, phone number, usage statistics, wifi information, accurate battery voltage and signal strength (the latter being useful to see if you are suffering the ‘smartphone grip of death’).

The code for the secret menu is:

* # * # 4 6 3 6 # * # *

As mentioned above, enter this into the phone keypad as if entering a phone number. There is no need to press ‘Call’.

NB The menu includes a number of tests and configuration options. DO NOT USE THESE as there may be a risk of misconfiguring or damaging your phone.

ASA to regulate website marketing from 1 March 2011

bill — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 13:57:15 +0000

The UK print, broadcast and display advertising regulator is soon to expanding its online activities. Up to now the only online adverts the ASA have regulated have been display ads such as banner ads. From 1 March 2011 they will start regulating the content of advertisers’ own websites and in non-paid-for space ‘under their control’. So if you find you have been misled by the information on a company’s own website or on their Facebook page you will now have somewhere to complain to.

The ASA are offering support to website owners who need to understand the new rules. It is worth noting that the rules are not limited to websites with .co.uk domain names. The ASA are also launching a Website Audit service on Feb 1.

For more infomation, including some useful FAQ, see the ASA website.