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Electricpig digital music poll: can a new service carve out a chunk of the market?
Apple Store Covent Garden selling store-specific MacBook and iPhone cases
Best camera
New iPod touch wait frustrating you? Buy this iPod 3G camera prototype
New iPod Touch: will you upgrade?
Ken Livingstone: texting Londoners for support, getting thumb strain
Back To The Future coming back to the cinema
Scott Pilgrim interactive trailer: play the future of film promos!
Best laptop
No Beatles on iTunes: Yoko Ono blames Steve Jobs

Electricpig digital music poll: can a new service carve out a chunk of the market?

Posted: 06 Aug 2010 11:19 AM PDT

We’re asking you, our readers, how you download music, and after opening the polls yesterday by asking what you use we now wonder if there’s any room for another service.

It seems a new one arrives every week, each with some incremental improvemtn, or tiny difference to the rest of the market, wit small specialist sites carving out a market in the face of the giants of the download space, iTunes and Amazon.

There’s also the question pf whether downloading will be pushed out of the mainstream, with cloud based services on up, and being variously pushed and promised by Apple and Microsoft.

So, with more on the way next week, and some recent additions to digital music services, do you think there’s room for a new one? If so, drop us a line in the comments, and let us know what it would have to do differently…

Apple Store Covent Garden selling store-specific MacBook and iPhone cases

Posted: 06 Aug 2010 09:10 AM PDT

Do you love the new Covent Garden Apple Store as much as we do? Then you’re in luck. Apple’s just tipped us off to two very special products gracing its shelves: MacBook and iPhone cases designed to commemorate the store’s opening, and its iconic arched architecture.

Created by Incase, they carry Apple Store Covent Garden branding, and a design that echoes the arches of the new store. You can gawp at those arches in our video tour of the Covent Garden Apple Store, or see it in our liveblog of its official unveiling.

The iPhone case is for 3G and 3GS models, made from plastic, while the MacBook case is created from plastic-coated canvas. They cost £29.95 and £34.95 respectively, and are a limited edition, so don’t expect them to be available for long.

What do you reckon? Do you love the Covent Garden Apple Store enough to slap its effigy all over your iPhone or MacBook? Shout up in the comments section below.

Best camera

Posted: 06 Aug 2010 08:32 AM PDT

The best camera is the one you have on you at the time, so they say, but we tend to be a lot less mystic, and just tell you instead. We’re always on the hunt for the best new shooters, and and we’ve got the very top models lined up for you right here in our Best Camera Top 5 list.

Here at Electricpig we’re on a 24/7 mission to find the best gear, be it a cheap and slim compact, the ultimate bridge camera or a hefty DSLR for prosumers, and we don’t stop. Every time we find a new number for our Best Camera Top 5 list, we stick it in the chart you see over on the right hand side there, and it stays there until something more impressive, something better value comes along.

Take a look at our Best Camera Top 5 list right now, and if you find one that fits the bill, (Trust us, it’s there), click through to read more and buy it – it’s recommended by us.

New iPod touch wait frustrating you? Buy this iPod 3G camera prototype

Posted: 06 Aug 2010 08:02 AM PDT

The new iPod touch is due to drop in September and we're expecting front-facing and rear cameras slotted in there. But if you can't wait until next month, one of the camera-packing iPod touch 3G prototype models from last year (canned because of supply problems) has hit eBay. The bid stands at $305. We know you’re tempted Apple fans…

An eBay user called TheBestCowboy has listed the 32GB iPod touch 3G camera prototype. But you may have to wait until the new iPod touch arrives to actually get your hands on a working camera in an iPod touch. The model listed on eBay has a working OS and all its music and video playing skills are present and correct but there's no camera app on board.

TheBestCowboy doesn't explain how he got hold of the iPod touch 3G camera prototype but other examples have appeared on eBay in the past. Usually they get pulled at Apple's request but perhaps the folks in Cupertino are too busy working on the new iPod touch to be so bothered this time. We

If you do throw your hat in the ring to snap up the iPod touch 3G prototype, you'll get a pretty unique bit of Apple history – a product that never reached its Steve Jobs keynote destiny. Or to be a little more practical: a slightly scratched iPod touch with only 76 songs on board.

Out now | £TBC | eBay (via 9to5Mac)

New iPod Touch: will you upgrade?

Posted: 06 Aug 2010 07:24 AM PDT

It's an understatement to say there's a lot of interest around the new iPod Touch. Speculative photos of cases for the new iPod Touch, plus patents, vital statistics and more have been popping up every day, but what does it mean for those of you wanting to buy a new iPod Touch?

It is starting to look a lot like the iPod Touch will be getting a camera, and a hi-res screen, but is this enough for you to upgrade? We want to know. Will the iPod Touch have to be madly upgraded to attract cash poor iPhone 4 owners, or is is Apple's best selling product line set to reach new heights?

Click and tell…

Ken Livingstone: texting Londoners for support, getting thumb strain

Posted: 06 Aug 2010 06:59 AM PDT

Have you had a text from Ken Livingston? If so, you're one of 16,000 London Labour members to have received Ken's text plea today, an effort to reach out, and harvest volunteers for his upcoming campaign…

The text reads almost like a note passed in class: "Hi it's Ken Livingstone. Hope you don't mind me texting about your choice of candidate for Mayor. Can I count on your support? Reply Y or N"

If members text 'Y' they receive another text asking if they'd be interested in volunteering, to which they must respond with a mysterious V, which summons a phone call from Ken HQ.

We tracked down one Londoner, Natalie Thomas, who'd received a text at the respectful time of 10am, and asked what she thought. "It was suprising," she said. "I'm not 100% sure how Ken got my mobile number (although I am a member of the Labour Party). It's impersonal and the wording is strange. It's a meaningless data experiment – "Ken got 3000 Ys!!" doesn't result in any discussion of what he stands for, why he's running again or why I should support him. It's all a bit 'X Factor'…"

Figures state that 300 people signed up in the first half an hour after the texts were sent out, and action on Ken’s #text4ken hashtag centres around people with Yes We Ken twibbons already adorning their profiles. Ken said: "The use of this technology means we have been able to reach thousands of people directly and instantly expand the army of volunteers who want to help the campaign."

Should Ken be building an app instead of texting? Have we had enough of engagement stunts like this? Do you agree with Natalie? Drop us a line in the comments…

Back To The Future coming back to the cinema

Posted: 06 Aug 2010 06:47 AM PDT

That Back To The Future hoax last month isn’t the last you’ve heard of Marty McFly. Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd will return to cinema screens this October, with the original Back To The Future movie re-released to commemorate everyone’s favourite gadget-packed trilogy being released on Blu-ray. There’s a new trailer too, check it out after the break.

The entire Back To The Future trilogy will hit Blu-ray on October 25, with new extras including a documentary, discussions on the “physics of Back To The Future” and a storyboard showing an alternate ending.

There’ll also be unspecified BD-Live features, letting the Back To The Future Blu-ray hook up to the web to nab more content, as well as “Mobile-To-Go” a new feature that’ll let some bonus features be saved to a portable device, or streamed over Wi-Fi to a mobile phone or PMP.

However, as whizzy as those new Back To The Future Blu-ray features sound, we’re most excited about the movie hitting the big screen again. We hear it’ll go on release at selected cinemas in October. Maybe it’s our nostalgia kicking in, but there’s nothing like seeing the Flux Capacitor, Delorean and Doc Brown in full size, as director Robert Zemeckis intended. Check out the new trailer below from Empire.

Scott Pilgrim interactive trailer: play the future of film promos!

Posted: 06 Aug 2010 06:35 AM PDT

Here's a gratifyingly geeky Friday afternoon distraction: the Scott Pilgrim interactive trailer. Rather than just show you footage from Edgar Wright's adaptation of Scott Pilgrim vs The World, the clickable, playable trailer crams in more facts, featurettes and commentary than the average DVD extra. Hop through to get clicking. Warning: it auto-plays and you may be some time…

We love the classic Atari-style look of the Scott Pilgrim interactive trailer which fits perfectly with the film's Street Fighter-meets-classic-Batman fight scenes. You can also compare drawings from Bryan O'Malley's original Scott Pilgrim graphic novels with the film footage.

If a song featured in the Scott Pilgrim interactive trailer takes your fancy, the currently playing track is shown in the bottom of the window. At the end of clip, you'll even get your score totted up to show how many hidden extras you've uncovered and you'll also get Xbox 360-style achievements.

Our favourite fact? Scott Pilgrim's band name, Sex Bob-Omb is a tribute to the Super Mario Bros baddie. Scott Pilgrim vs The World is out on August 25.

Out now | £free | Scott Pilgrim vs The World

Best laptop

Posted: 06 Aug 2010 06:22 AM PDT

Picking the best laptop out from the shop shelves is a tall order, with all those specs, clock speeds and fiddly ports confusing matters. Which is the best for you? Our crack team of computing obsessives is on hand to tell you, with our Best laptop Top 5 list right here.

Let your pupils follow that sign to the right, where you’ll see our Best Laptop 5 at any time. We’re constantly updating it, and have no compulsion about removing one when our reviewers find a new gem of a machine to take its place on the Best Laptop list, and on your desk – or thighs. When we do, we’ll stick it straight in the list, complete with options to read more about it, or even buy it straight from this page.

Take a look at our current Best Laptop Top 5 right now – whether you’re after a desktop replacement, an ultra portable for work or an all rounder, we have something for you.

No Beatles on iTunes: Yoko Ono blames Steve Jobs

Posted: 06 Aug 2010 06:02 AM PDT

The Beatles won't be appearing on iTunes any time soon according to Yoko Ono. Though Apple Corps and Apple resolved their longstanding trademark dispute back in 2007, she’s poured cold water on talk of the Fab Four's songs hitting digital stores and pointed the finger at Steve Jobs…

Around the launch of The Beatles: Rock Band last year, Ono indicated that The Beatles iTunes deal was almost done while EMI denied any plans were afoot. It seems negotiations haven't more on much since then.

Ono now says: "Steve Jobs has his own idea and he's a brilliant guy. But there's just an element that we're not very happy about, as people. We are holding out."

Paul McCartney previously indicated that issues with getting The Beatles back catalogue onto iTunes were down to their record company EMI. However, Ono says she, McCartney, Ringo Starr and Olivia Harrison (George Harrison's widow) are all agreed on the issue right now.

Beatles songs have into the iTunes App Store as covers on an officially licensed app The Little Black Songbook and the discography went digital on an Apple USB drive. But if you're waiting for Beatles originals, try not to turn blue. Ono says: "Don't hold your breath…for anything."

Let us know: are you bothered about the lack of Beatles songs on iTunes? Is there anyone left who hasn't snapped up the CD reissues?

Out TBC | £TBC | The Beatles (via Reuters)