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10 Best apps built on British soil
Best games console
Acer Liquid E Ferrari Special Edition Android phone unboxed: photos
Facebook in lockdown to prepare for Google Me?
Call of Duty Black Ops multiplayer trailer: 10 things to look forward to…
Motorola Droid 2 official: Android 2.2 and Flash 10 incoming
HTC Desire Froyo update will remove Vodafone 360 apps
BlackBerry Curve 3G review: Live Q&A!
Google to get virtual money?
Google, net neutrality and you: why the UK has to take a stand

Posted: 10 Aug 2010 10:05 AM PDT

We hear about the best iPhone apps, the best Blackberry apps, the best Android apps, all the time. But what about the people behind the apps? The developers? With a it of digging, we’ve found that some of the best apps on the market were built in our own back yard. So here at Electricpig towers we think it's about time that Britain's sterling crop of app developers got a pat on the back and some special mentions. Read on, for the best apps home soil has produced, from unknowns and startups to game changers…

1. Last.fm
That’s right, we can puff our chests out, and claim Last.fm for ourselves. The music recommendation service Last.fm is based in London, located around what has now been dubbed Silicon roundabout. The best way to show off your impeccable taste in music. Top five weekly artists anyone?

2. Shazam
Shazam is one of the oldest apps around, and has transitioned from SMS being the height of mobile technology to a fully fledged international app based service. Search 8 million artists, albums and tracks to find what you’re looking for, and hook it up with your social networking. From its humble beginnings it’s now grown into a portal for purchasing music in many forms, from tracks to gig tickets. Just don't play it live music.

3. Next Buses
One man band Malcolm Barclay has developed an app that tells you when your next bus will arrive. It pools info on 370,000 bus stops across Britain, by integrating the existing Traveline next buses service. It locates you, tracks your nearest bus stop, and gives info on scheduled bus arrival times, and expected arrival times if they're available. You can also search by postcode or area too. Shame it doesn't hurry the bus up as well.

4. Gorillaz Escape to Plastic Beach
British based developers Matmi built the Gorillaz Escape to Plastic Beach gaming app, and were winners of best mobile game of the year at the Roses awards last year. It’s an eight level game, with some elaborate graphics in good detail, with some animated between-level comic strips by Jamie Hewlitt. Obviously, it’s also got a cracking soundtrack and voiceovers to boot. A must for Gorillaz fans, and a top notch game nonetheless.

5. AudioBoo
How long until 'boo' makes it into general parlance? If you've never created a boo before, then now is a better time than any. AudioBoo records audio, has a pause and resume feature, and can be uploaded instantly online. It's become an essential part of any blogger’s digital toolkit, and has also been picked up by some major media organisations, including the Guardian. Its most recent funding round attracted some important backers, so expect big things from this UK startup.

6. Papa Sangre
Alright, so Papa Sangre isn't actually out yet, but this will undoubtedly be a stormer. It was supposed to be out by now, but Papa Sangre apparently received a couple of "iPhone 4 easter eggs". i.e., glitches with the iOS4 switchover. It's a video game with no video, built by digital creative studio Somethin' Else, and works via binaural sound. Translated, that means you play the game via 3D sound. And headphones, of course. This has been on our wish list for quite some time.

7. London Cycle
Two man team of recent London graduates Anirudh Sharma and Rishi Modha make up Fiplab (stands for Fascinatingly Interesting Proposition). Their app helps you make the best of Boris' new bikes with London Cycle, currently one of three or four apps in the App Store for locating the nearest cumbersome bike for hire. It will tell you how many free spaces, and how many bikes are available at each location. It’s free, and also has cycle routes, with the bonus of having maps available offline.

8. TweetDeck
Another app unexpectedly developed on these shores is cross platform TweetDeck, also based in the Silicon roundabout area near Old Street in London. Currently heading the pack of third party Twitter apps it's the best UI for updating and keeping track of multiple Twitter accounts at once. It’ll also keep track of your new followers, and makes it easy to find people. TweetDeck is free for iPhone, and was released in June last year.

9. Bloom
Brian Eno and Peter Chilvers developed this generative music app, which is still one of the best apps around for audiophiles. Play it, or watch it play itself, it's a digital music box of ambient sounds it translates touch into pretty ripples and calming soundscapes. Trivia: it’s based on a piece of music called Vexations by Eric Satie, that in theory, can go on indefinitely, although its first performance lasted just 18 hours.

10. TV Plus
Ed Lea developed the first app to control your Sky+ box back in 2008, before Sky managed to make their own. Now a little rusty, it still does the job. Lea is now co-founder of app software company Grapple, which builds cross platform apps using some nifty software.

What did we miss? Are you a UK based app developer? Drop us a line in the tips email, and tell us what you’re building!

Best games console

Posted: 10 Aug 2010 08:43 AM PDT

The best games console is an argument that’s been raging in playgrounds and offices for decades now, and while the candidates and the big name players have changed over the years, one simple question hasn’t. Which should I buy? We’re here to cut the gaming Gordian knot and tell you, with our Top 5 Best games consoles list.

Whether you’re looking for a home arcade machine which doubles up as a media player, or the best pocket machine for idling away the time on the bus, we’ve got a gadget handpicked for you awaiting you over on the Best games console list you see to the right.

While brand new consoles come around less frequently than a general election, we’re seeing more and more incremental iterations of the machines, helping them to keep bang up to date with new features. So naturally, we’re keeping our Best Games console list up to date with them – the chart on the right will let you read about the very best models, new or old, and skip straight through to Amazon to buy them too.

What do you think? Is our Best Games console list in the right order? Does the PSPgo deserve a spot? Are we missing the Dreamcast? Pipe up with your thoughts in the comments below!

Acer Liquid E Ferrari Special Edition Android phone unboxed: photos

Posted: 10 Aug 2010 08:27 AM PDT

The Acer Liquid E Ferrari Special Edition isn’t for everyone, that much is clear the moment you clap eyes on its carton. But let’s be honest, there are plenty of Ferrari fetishists out there, and there’s a definite chill out spot on a Venn diagram with Android fans too. Fancy a mobile stuffed full of Ferrari branding and multimedia, and accessories to boot? We’ve got one – read on for the photos.

Acer and Ferrari’s relationship goes way back, so it’s hardly surprising that they’ve got together once more while Acer tries to crack the smartphone market. The Acer Liquid E Ferrari Special Edition is for a limited audience, sure, but if you know you’ll love something like this, you are going to love it.

From the box to the Ferrari red plastic back, the Italian car company is ingrained in the Acer Liquid E Ferrari Special Edition. Its badge pops up on start up, there are pit stop photos in the gallery – its logo is even on the sticker across the screen when you first open the box, and you’ll be sad to take it off.

The Acer Liquid E Ferrari Special Edition also comes with a Ferrari case, and a Bluetooth headset, branded properly too.

Read our Acer Stream review now

As a phone, the Acer Liquid E Ferrari Special Edition is fun to use too. The recent Acer Stream was disastrous, but the Android 2.1 skin here is pretty close to vanilla, complete with 3D menu scrolling. Why Acer didn’t use it on the Stream also is a mystery to us.

Have a look at the Acer Liquid E Ferrari Special Edition coming out of its box right here. Would you take a detour for one?

Out TBC | £TBC | Acer

Facebook in lockdown to prepare for Google Me?

Posted: 10 Aug 2010 08:02 AM PDT

Facebook is gearing up for a serious update according to rumours flying around Silicon Valley. The reason for its major overhaul? Google Me. Despite no official confirmation of the rumoured Google social network, Facebook head honcho Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly declared a "lockdown" – getting engineers in on the weekend and, curiously, sticking a neon sign on his office door…

Battle lines are clearly being drawn between Facebook and Google over gaming with Google's Zynga deal and Google virtual currency plans that could rival Facebook credits as well as whispers of the Google Me social network. It's not surprising that Zuckerberg might want Facebook to up its game to counteract the threat.

A "lockdown" is an Facebook tradition that meant no one could leave until the task in hand was finished. Presumably now Facebook is a major company rather than a struggling start up that doesn't still mean Zuckerberg slamming his fist on the table and stopping people going out for takeout as report in the recent book, The Facebook Effect.

The rumoured "lockdown" at Facebook will apparently last for 60 days and is focused on improvements the to Facebook Photos, Groups and Events features. Zuckerberg has allegedly hung a glowing "LOCKDOWN" sign on his office door for the duration. We hope that bit's true. It'd be up there with the Steve Jobs top hat.

If the two month lockdown is in effect, Facebook engineers will be finished just in time to see Zuckerberg on The Simpsons and sneak out to watch the Facebook movie, The Social Network.

Facebook responded to the rumours of the lockdown with a standard "we don't comment on rumours"-style statement. But if it is scrabbling to introduce improvements to the social network, what changes would you like to see? We're sure some of those lockdown Facebook engineers will heed you words if you sling them in the comments.

Out now | £free | Facebook (via Valleywag)

Call of Duty Black Ops multiplayer trailer: 10 things to look forward to…

Posted: 10 Aug 2010 07:05 AM PDT

The multiplayer teaser trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops broke onto onto the web yesterday, and after having a quick peek, we’ve got ten reasons why we’re excited. Click through for the trailer from the guys at Treyarch, crash landing on September 1…

1. Remote viewing
Call of Duty: Black Ops lets you keep track of two places at once with remote CCTV cameras. That’s bound to be useful for snipers covering their behinds while prone to attack.

2. New death sequences and recording
After the Call of Duty logo at the end, there’s a sort of “bullet-time” effect after someone dies, complete with a video editor to save those Black Ops kills… but only if they’ve been recorded by that CCTV camera placed by the player. That’s new, and very cinematic – sure to be a boon to players pulling off dramatic kills.

3. New weapons
Call of Duty: Black Ops added weapons? exploding crossbow bolts and “ballistic knife” look hilarious.

4. New vehicles
Chinook helicopters dropping off rewards, and radio controlled cars with bombs attached are new bonus options after a killstreak.

5. New vulnerabilities
While driving that remote control bomb car, the map disappears. You might be able to sneak up on enemies while using a bonus weapon like that… but you’ll never know if they’re also sneaking up on you.

6. New aerial attacks
Right at the end of the Call of Duty: Black Ops trailer, there’s a massive missile that flies direct at the player – that’s new… before, the first you knew about being hit by an airstrike was when you died. Maybe, if you’re quick, you can dodge these.

7. Better missile piloting
That missile seems to be the same one that flies over the remote control car… if so, you can see it zips around corners, flies through buildings and is very manoeuvrable. That’s new – in previous Modern Warfare outings all you could do was aim it straight down from the sky and knock out whatever it hit directly from above.

8. In-level action
At around 20 seconds you see a gigantic rocket lift off… looks like Black Ops multiplayer levels actually do things, rather than just being a space for you to play the game. Wonder if it’s possible to stand on top of that rocket while it takes off, or knock a rival under its jets for a roasting?!

9. Air attacks shoot into buildings
In Modern Warfare 2 it was pretty much a safe bet to hide inside if a rival player called in an attack helicopter or Harrier jet… they couldn’t shoot through walls and would only usually take an open shot at you. Now it seems they can blast through windows and walls, to get you even if you cower indoors.

10. Flames are gonna get ya
After one of the airstrikes, there appears to be a gigantic fireball at 1:03 in the Call of Duty: Black Ops trailer below. That’s new, and it seems to toast players even if they’re not in the immediate blast radius for more widespread carnage.

Motorola Droid 2 official: Android 2.2 and Flash 10 incoming

Posted: 10 Aug 2010 06:25 AM PDT

The Motorola Droid 2, the successor to the Motorola Droid (aka Motorola Milestone), has officially broken cover on Verizon in the US after teasing us for months in shaky-handed rumour pics. With Android 2.2 Froyo onboard, the Motorola Droid 2 packs in a 3.7in touchscreen and sliding qwerty keyboard. But what else can we expect from the next generation Droid?The Motorola Droid 2 follows the Droid X which was unveiled last month. It boasts full Flash 10.1 support, Android 2.2's 3G mobile hotspot smarts to allow you to hook up five devices to feast on its internet connection and Swype for speedy typing with the onscreen keyboard.

There's also a 5MP camera with HD video capture and the Motorola Droid 2 also packs in DLNA connectivity for hooking up the phone to other compatible devices.

The Motorola Droid 2 arriving on Verizon in the US comes with 8GB of memory on board and an 8GB microSD card but will take up to a 32GB card to kick the capacity up to 40GB.

There's no news yet on whether the Motorola Droid 2 will hit UK networks. There was a pretty lengthy gap between the first Motorola Droid hitting the US and the European, Motorola Milestone bouncing into British hands.

We fear it's pretty unlikely that we'll get our hands on the limited edition R2-D2 Droid 2 which will trundle into view in the US in September but we've got our fingers-crossed tightly in the hope that we're wrong.

Let us know: do you like the sound of the second coming of the Droid? If the Droid 2 hits the UK, will you be snapping one up?

Out TBC | £TBC | Motorola

HTC Desire Froyo update will remove Vodafone 360 apps

Posted: 10 Aug 2010 06:02 AM PDT

The HTC Desire Froyo update is almost ready to touch down on Vodafone and its good news if you were left fuming by last week's largely-unwanted Vodafone 360 update. Vodafone has just announced that its HTC Desire Froyo update will be free of Vodafone 360-branding and will remove the apps added last week…

Having clearly noted the furious outpourings on its forums, Vodafone says: "We've listened to the feedback from customers on a number of points around the recent 360 Android 2.1 update and made some changes…" Boiling it down to the bare bones that means the HTC Desire Froyo update on the network will be HTC's version with Vodafone's network settings added.

If you installed the Vodafone 360 update, the HTC Desire Froyo release will kick those apps off your phone and leave your homepage and bookmarks as they are. If you want to get your hands on Vodafone 360 services again you'll be able to grab the apps from the Marketplace.

Vodafone says it'll be releasing another Vodafone 360 update after the HTC Desire Froyo upgrade has arrived but this time you won't be forced to grab it.

The current ETA for the Vodafone HTC Desire Froyo update is 7 to 10 days but we'll keep badgering the network and let you know as soon as it fixes a date.

Out TBC | £free | Vodafone (via Fonehome)

BlackBerry Curve 3G review: Live Q&A!

Posted: 10 Aug 2010 05:52 AM PDT

As promised, our BlackBerry Curve 3G review live Q&A session is about to kick off. From 2pm today, for one whole hour, we’re opening the floor up to you, and fielding every query, big or small, about this here new blower. Read on and join in!

To join in, just drop your comments in in the Scribblelive box below by hitting the Comment Now icon. We’ll endeavour to answer every question we get, so sit tight and enjoy the live pictures and text explaining the BlackBerry Curve 3G in full in the meantime!

Google to get virtual money?

Posted: 10 Aug 2010 05:32 AM PDT

Gaming is not just on the up on Facebook, as Google ups its preparations for muscling in on the action, adding virtual currency platform company Jambool to its social networking and gaming toolbox.

Google is reported to be acquiring Jambool, which comes complete with an in-game payment credit infrastructure, the transparently titled currency, Social Gold. TechCrunch tags the purchase at costing Google around $70m.

It's another sign that Google intends to square up to Facebook in the social networking gaming space, and brings them into a potential direct competition with Facebook's Facebook Credits. Facebook takes a 30 per cent cut of all currency exchanges, making gaming on Facebook a lucrative avenue for Facebook to be headed in.

Jambool has been hit hard by Facebook Credits, one of its founders has been critical of the economy behind Facebook Credits in the past. Word has it that the Jambool system is being added as a complement to Google checkout system already in place.

Do you use any virtual currencies? Which ones?

Google, net neutrality and you: why the UK has to take a stand

Posted: 10 Aug 2010 05:03 AM PDT

So Google and Verizon have gone into a huddle and emerged with a statement on net neutrality. They say they're committed to ensuring data flowing across the web is treated equally but want provision for new premium services where ISPs can charge more for the privilege. Does the future hold a two-tiered internet with a bog-standard public version and a souped-up private fast lane? And what should the UK do about it?

The vision put forward by Google and Verizon is of the current internet chugging along as is does now with a new set of premium services (including applications like healthcare monitoring, 3D video and gaming) running alongside it. The companies say: "This means that broadband providers can work with other players to develop new services."

In their proposal, Google and Verizon says that they want a situation with a "presumption against prioritization of internet traffic – including paid prioritisation". That would mean that broadband providers wouldn't block or degrade content and applications from rivals or favour their own content.

But by encouraging a two-tier internet with what Google calls the "public internet" and new premium services, we could quite easily see investment in the standard internet stagnate while providers focus on the faster lines. Providers wouldn't need to actively discriminate against ordinary internet users, they could simply drag their heels when it comes to investing in improving general broadband speeds and coverage.

The principle of net neutrality isn't as clear cut in the UK as Google presents it either. British ISPs already give priority to certain data. Some like Virgin Media admit to using traffic management but Ofcom says others are not so open about their policies.

Ofcom released a discussion paper in June on the issue of net neutrality. It raises concerns that ISPs could act to restrict content from their rivals. The regulator will reveal its conclusions next month and already has powers that could allow it to make ISPs more transparent about the way they treat data flowing through their networks.

While Google and Verizon may try to railroad regulators in the US into accepting their view of the internet future, the UK should take a stand and push back against a splitting the web in two. The best future for the web is one where the "public internet" remains simply the internet.

By allowing telecoms companies to split their focus and create a premium fast lane for data, it's likely that sufficient bandwidth won't be found for public networks. Big firms like Google and Verizon can never be neutrals in this kind of debate. If we don’t kick up a fuss about fair treatment of data, we’ll get even more barmy proposals like making the BBC pay for iPlayer traffic.

Let us know: Does net neutrality matter to you? And what do you make of Google’s alliance with Verizon?