Getting started with eBooks

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

If you’re in the market for an eBook reader and are baffled by the dozens of models on offer then hopefully I can help. Having reviewed a good number of the eBook readers on offer in the UK, I’m well placed to help you wade through the morass of marketing terms, claims and sheer nonsense that comes with every launch.

The first thing to note is that the UK eBook market isn’t actually as packed as it first appears. In fact it can be boiled down to the Sony PRS 505, the iRex range and the rest. And when I say “rest” I’m talking about the BeBook, Cool-er, Cybook Gen 3 and the Elonex eBook now on sale through Borders. Don’t be fooled by the slight modifications to their cases; beneath the exterior they’re all essentially the same device.

Basically, manufacturers buy the reference design from US-firm Netronix, tweak the hardware and software, slap their name on the case and sell them on. Currently at the top of this pile of identi-books is the Cool-er which is based on Netronix’s latest spec and so boasts double the RAM of its compatriots, a nicer screen and a faster processor making it noticeably nippier than the rest. If the Cool-er’s lurid colours and dedication to sexing up reading aren’t to your taste, then I suggest you take a gander at the elegant Sony PRS 505 – which sits at the top of our A List.

(more…)

Microsoft’s Project Tuva: physics made fun

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

Under the title Project Tuva, Microsoft has posted a series of classic physics lectures by Manhattan Project collaborator Richard Feynman for free on the web, and in the space of an hour they’ve become one of my all time favourite things.

They’re brilliant. Feynman has a lovely delivery that sweeps you along, together with a depth of understanding that allows him to strip a difficult concept down to its simple foundations, without needing to dumb it down. He just knows the right door to open in order to usher you quickly into his world.

Even if you’ve little interest in the topics under discussion, it’s well worth spending a few hours in Feynman’s company for the entertainment value. He’s a genuinely funny man able to express his science with a poet’s turn of phrase.

(more…)

Microsoft Office 2010 screenshots

Monday, July 13th, 2009

Microsoft has unveiled the first details of its forthcoming Office 2010 suite. Read our news story to find out what you can expect, and scroll down for a sneak peek at the changes. You can also read our complete preview here. Remember to click the image for the full-size view.

Square ribbon

After the complete visual overhaul of Office 2007, it’s not surprising Microsoft’s playing it a little more conservative with Office 2010. The controversial ribbon remains and has been rolled out across all applications including Outlook, but it’s now blockier – bringing it in line with the design of Windows 7.

(more…)

Gaming-gem Daggerfall is now free

Friday, July 10th, 2009

This is slightly off the PC Pro beat but given that a great, big slab of gaming history is involved I decided to stretch my legs. Bethesda (that’s them who made Fallout 3 and Oblivion) have just released the Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall for free in order to celebrate fifteen years of the series. It’ll happily rattle around in a 150MB corner of your hard drive and needs only hugs to make it happy. You’ll need that gaming-gateway-to-the-past DosBox to get it running – that’s right chums Daggerfall really is that ancient – but if you’ve never gazed upon this gem I suggest you do so now.

You see, Daggerfall wasn’t coded so much as assembled out of dark matter. That 150MB contains a huge landscape filled with thousands of towns, dungeons and happenings. It’s randomly generated meaning that after a few hours you’ll inevitably find yourself wandering down the same section of corridor for the eighth time, but it’s still quite an incredible sight when you first clap eyes on that immense game map.

(more…)

Microsoft Office 2010 trailer kills Clippy

Friday, July 10th, 2009

It’s official. Microsoft’s marketing department has relocated to a smoky cafe in Amsterdam and is enjoying the special muffins. The company’s just posted its promo advert for Office 2010 and it’s madder than a hatter in an electric chair.

Filmed by a Michael Bay enthusiast and featuring some gravel-throated voiceover – they’ve turned Office 2010 into a summer action blockbuster. Whatever was cracking in Microsoft’s collective head has now quite obviously snapped to superb effect. Expect explosions, car chases, shouting and the kind of crazy usually reserved for US Michael Jackson fans.

At the heart of this nonsense is the death of Clippy – the rubbish Office assistant who so blighted our lives 10 years back, though our favourite moment arrives at the end of the trailer when the reviewer’s quotes flash up. Bonkers, bonkers, wonderfully bonkers.

Those Internet Explorer 8 ads? They were just the beginning it turns out. Hoorah.

Should I buy an iPhone 3GS?

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

I’m not normally an indecisive person. For proof of this fact, I offer the following example.

“Sir would you like the chicken or the fish?”

“Fish please.”

You see, no hesitation whatsoever. However as my trusty, old (in fact, so old I don’t know what kind of phone it is – a Sony Ericsson K700i possibly) wanders drunken into obsolescence I have to face the fact that I need a new phone. Like an ageing secretary, it now ignores the majority of my calls, completely ignores text messages and naps at random times. It also has a battery life based entirely on who’s calling. If it’s family, friends or somebody else important then it’ll run for about 12 seconds. If it’s my bank manager, or a mentalist who refuses to believe they’ve got the wrong number then I can count on a solid 30 minutes (extra if they threaten my life with a carrot).

I also need a new MP3 player. It’s finally got to the point were the experience of pushing my finger through the fifteen layers of sweat and grime and Stumanity that coat my old one is too much to bear. It would also be nice if it played videos and stuff.

With all this in mind, the iPhone 3GS arrived in the office the other day and golly it’s brilliant. It’s faster than a leopard being shot from a cannon, sexier than Megan Fox halfway up a ladder, and houses a bunch of genuinely useful features. The compass and maps could very well save my life on a daily basis and the iTunes App store could keep my notoriously short attention span cowed. I also quite like the games. (more…)

Microsoft goes mad with new IE8 ads

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

Whatever the Microsoft marketing department is on over at its Redmond HQ, long may it continue. The company’s just released its latest ads for Internet Explorer 8 and while I’m not a big fan of the browser, I’m a massive fan of these web-only ads.

Obviously inspired by the television series Mad Men the campaign features a wonderfully terrible Dean Cain hamming it up as he eulogises on the browser’s best features. Surreal doesn’t even cover the humour, which is well … odd and clearly straight out of the same camp as those Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld ads which I loved and everybody else hated because the world is wrong. If anything though, it’s seems clear there’s a renewed confidence within Redmond following those Laptop hunter ads which did so much to sting the cool Apple exterior.

The videos are posted below for your gratification, though we’ll warn you in advance that the O.M.G.I.G.P features projectile vomit. On the bright side, the G.R.I.P.E.S video will teach you where Dean Cain lives. Really. We know… Microsoft, what’s the world coming to.

(more…)

Switching from Hotmail to Gmail

Monday, June 1st, 2009

Last week I decided to take the plunge and switch from Hotmail to Gmail. I’ve been flirting with the idea for a while, tempted by the never-ending upgrades and conversation-view email layout. The thing that had always held me back was that I’ve been a Hotmail user for over ten years. There were a lot of emails in that account that I didn’t want to lose, so I procrastinated. Which was daft, because switching is incredibly easy and you don’t have to lose a thing. It goes a bit like this.

(more…)

The brilliance of Gnome Do

Friday, May 29th, 2009

It’s great being an Ubuntu dabbler, as every time I come back to it I find a new app to play with. Or something old that’s had an interesting overhaul. This time around it’s Gnome Do – which just keeps getting better every time I revisit it.

The basic premise of Gnome Do is to reduce the entire desktop experience to natural-language text commands. So instead of opening the browser, heading to Gmail and typing your email, you just type “email mum” and your message into Gnome Do and away it goes.

Want to update your Twitter status? Install the Twitter plug in for Gnome do, and just type “Twitter” and your message into the application. Anybody’s who played with Ubiquity will be on familiar ground, but instead of being hedged in by the browser, Gnome Do’s tentacles stretch into all aspects of the desktop – allowing you to search, run apps and set preferences. In fact, pretty much anything you can do on the desktop is accessible through Gnome Do assuming somebody’s written a plug in, and given that it’s an open-source project they’re appearing at a rate of knots. (more…)

Living with an eBook reader

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

As PC Pro’s resident book fiend I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing nearly every eBook reader released on these shores. I popped my eBook cherry reading “Farewell, My Lovely” on the Sony PRS-505. This was followed by “Moby Dick” on the Cybook Gen 3, “The Jungle Book” on the BeBook and “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” on the Cool-er – which takes the award for most disturbing book I’ve ever read.

I know some people are sceptical about this technology, but while I love paperbacks, eBook readers perfectly suit my reading habits. Just to establish those habits, I read two-to-three books a week and probably buy six or seven every fortnight. About half of those books I’ll give away, lose, or destroy while the other half slowly take over whatever house I happen to be living in. The ability to stick 850 books on a device smaller than a single paperback means that when I finally do buy a house I won’t need to worry about hiring the Royal Navy to ship my entire library for me.

(more…)