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HP TouchPad review: webOS super sized
Fox News hack claimed by group close to Anonymous
World’s biggest eating contest goes live online
HP recruits Russell Brand, Apple hacked, and PS4 getting Kinect-style controls: Lunchtime Lowdown
Mr. T, Chuck Norris and Andy Warhol: the 10 oddest tech adverts ever
Sony PS4 with Kinect-style controls arriving 2012?
Kinect iPad hack makes Star Wars holograms real
BBC Twitter ban planned to stop spoilers
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1: Touchwiz Honeycomb update incoming
HP TouchPad meets Russell Brand: the oddest tablet ads yet

Posted: 04 Jul 2011 10:12 AM PDT

It seems like ages since HP announced the TouchPad alongside the Veer and Pre 3 in February. Over the past five months we've seen RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook, Apple's iPad 2 and a full-scale Android Honeycomb assault. Faced with fierce competition can the HP TouchPad carve out a niche in the crowded tablet market?

Hardware: components and build quality

The HP TouchPad looks solid on paper. Highlights include a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, an iPad matching 9.7-inch 1024 x 768 pixel display, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera and Beats Audio technology. Unfortunately a great spec sheet rarely translates into a perfect device. Such is the case for the HP TouchPad.

In the hand the TouchPad is noticeably heavier and thicker than the Galaxy Tab 10.1 or iPad 2. At 1.6 pounds, the slate is closer to the original iPad than the 1.33 pound iPad 2 or 1.24 pound Galaxy Tab 10.1. In terms of thickness the TouchPad is just over a half inch thick (0.539 in) versus the .34 inch thickness of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and iPad 2.

However, weight and thickness alone are far from deal breakers. The real complaint we have with the TouchPad is the plastic materials. Like the Galaxy Tab 10.1, the back casing is genuine plastic. The glossy black finish is a finger print magnet.

Software: webOS

We love webOS. Cards is without question our favorite multi-tasking solution. Swiping your finger from the bottom to top of the screen turns an active application into a "card". A second swipe closes out the app. Holding your finger down on the card allows you to arrange the application or "stack". By stacking similar applications you are able to organize dozens of open apps much easier than on iOS, Android or BlackBerry Tablet OS.

Another area where webOS excels is its tight integration of services into the OS core. When setting up the TouchPad you can add more than a dozen accounts such as Facebook, AOL, Yahoo, Skype, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Dropbox. Once an account is added it becomes baked into the OS.

While webOS is both intuitive and polished, the TouchPad's dual-core 1.2 GHz processor fell short of our expectations. The interface was sluggish, taking several seconds for applications to open. Once an app is clicked, a large version of the icon flashes in the center of the screen while it prepares to load. Having to wait for an app to load goes against everything we love about tablets.

Check out our best tablet Top 5 now

Apps and services

Apps have become the lifeblood of smartphones and tablets. In order to differentiate itself from a smartphone, a tablet must offer improved versions of apps tailored for the larger display. The HP TouchPad faces the same dilemma as Android Honeycomb tablets and the BlackBerry PlayBook — there's not enough apps. As of writing this review there are just over 300 apps optimized for the slate.

Despite a small app library, the TouchPad comes preloaded with several standout apps. QuickOffice integrates seamlessly with your Google Docs account. The Facebook app is a dream and Skype is built into the "Phone & Video Calls" section. The Skype and Facebook apps are the best we've seen on any tablet — there's no question iOS and Honeycomb users would be jealous.

Skype is more than just an app. The TouchPad treats Skype as a primary service, routing all voice and video calls as though the slate had a cellular connection. Voice calls are crystal clear over Skype, but video calls proved problematic. In testing we were able to initiate video calls with an iPhone 4, Nexus S, Mac and PC. The video quality was excellent, however the audio was delayed or in some cases downright unusable.

Palm Pre 3 integration

The TouchPad and Palm Pre 3 work in unison similar to the way BlackBerry Bridge carries over services from a BlackBerry smartphone to the PlayBook. HP adds a unique twist with the ability to touch the Pre 3 against the TouchPad (or vice versa) to share a website.

Both Android Honeycomb and iOS could benefit from similar integration. Having to pull out your smartphone while using your tablet has become increasingly frustrating. Apple has partially addressed the issue with iOS 5 Messaging on the iPad, but the software is still in beta.

Battery, display and accessories

Logic tells us that the faster the processor, the quicker it will eat up the battery. This couldn't be further from the truth with the HP TouchPad. Upon receiving our review unit we used the slate without charging the battery. Using just the existing charge we were able to leave all of our messaging services active and browse over WiFi for several hours before turning off the display. After 24 hours of standby the TouchPad still had over 30 percent of its battery.

The 9.7-inch 1024 x 768 display offers great viewing angles and color accuracy. In terms of sharpness, we prefer the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and in brightness, the iPad 2. However, we'd place the TouchPad display ahead of the Motorola Xoom despite its lower resolution.

There's three optional accessories being offered with the HP TouchPad: Touchstone charging dock, HP wireless keyboard and an official HP TouchPad case. The case, like the iPad's smart cover, folds in a variety of ways to both protect the screen and transform into a stand. The keyboard is a black version of the Apple wireless keyboard. The real differentiator is the Touchstone charging dock.

For anyone familiar with Touchstone, you'll be at home in the wirelessly charging capabilities. The TouchPad can be placed either vertically or horizontally on the Touchstone charging dock to receive its charge.

Verdict: wrapping it all up

The HP TouchPad is a mixed bag. The OS is gorgeous and the integration of services is unparalleled. If the hardware and performance were on par with the iPad 2 or Galaxy Tab 10.1 we'd have little hesitation owning the slate despite its modest app collection. However, there's plenty of tablets on the market which offer better performance and build quality for the same price.

Value is crucial in deciding whether to take your basic computing services from a notebook to a tablet. In its current state, the HP TouchPad falls short of being considered a compelling alternative. Hopefully HP is able to iron out the performance issues.

Fox News hack claimed by group close to Anonymous

Posted: 04 Jul 2011 08:40 AM PDT

It's not just Apple who had a taste of life being hacked this morning: the official Twitter feed for Fox News was also hacked, falsely reporting that Barack Obama had been assassinated. Well now those responsible have stepped forward, and it's a group affiliated with Anonymous, them of the hack that brought down the Sony PlayStation Network a couple of months ago.

Read on to find out more about this group, as well as to see the official Fox News response.

A number of tweets went out this morning from @foxnewspolitics, saying president Obama had been shot in the head while campaigning in Iowa, and that vice president Joe Biden had taken his place. They were sent at about 10am BST.

The group claiming responsibility is called 'Scriptkiddies'. A representative told Stony Brook University's Think Magazine, "Fox News was selected because we figured their security would be as much of a joke as their reporting." He also claimed to be a former member of Anonymous, and said he hoped to work with the hacking group soon.

A statement went up on Fox News' website, saying, "FoxNews.com's Twitter feed for political news, Foxpolitics, was hacked early Monday morning.

"Hackers sent out several malicious and false tweets claiming that President Obama had been assassinated. Those reports are incorrect, of course, and the president is spending the July 4 holiday with his family at the White House.

“FoxNews.com alerted the U.S. Secret Service, which is declining public comment. Jeff Misenti, vice president and general manager of Fox News Digital, said FoxNews.com is working with Twitter to address the situation as quickly as possible.

"”We will be requesting a detailed investigation from Twitter about how this occurred, and measures to prevent future unauthorized access into FoxNews.com accounts,” Misenti said.

"FoxNews.com regrets any distress the false tweets may have created."

At time of writing, all the original tweets are still there; you can see them here.

Via The Guardian

World’s biggest eating contest goes live online

Posted: 04 Jul 2011 04:37 AM PDT

Now the Wimbledon final and the David Haye fight are out of the way, it's time to get on with some proper sporting action. Yes, we're talking about Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, taking place this afternoon, live online for the first time.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, we caught up with Pete Davekos, one of the competitors, to see how his training was going. Click through to find out how he prepares, what it takes to be a champion eater, and why being fat is a disadvantage.

Nathan's Famous is the world's most renowned hotdog eating competition. Held every July 4th since 1916, it's where the world's best eaters come to chow down. If you just want a salad, you’ve come to the wrong place.

For the first time ever, there's a women's competition, which you can watch live on ESPN3.com this afternoon, half a hour before the men's.

So how does a champion eater prepare? We caught up with Pete Davekos, who's in his fourth consecutive year of competing, to find out…

"I'm heavily in training right now, I'm only 72 hours away from greatness. I’ve been eating nothing but fruit and vegetables the last 12 days, with tons and tons of water with each meal, but that's about it. I'm hitting the gym, I'm doing a five mile jog every single day, I'm out in the heat, wearing sweatshirts and sweatpants, almost like a boxer preparing for a fight. Except I don't punch, I bite.

"I like to stay healthy. I'm a professional eater, I just don't want to look like a professional eater. They call me Pretty Boy, that's my stage name, so hopefully I want to live up to my reputation. But it's not that difficult to be a pretty boy in the world of competitive eating. Not with these 400 pound-plus behemoths around.

"I'm six feet one, 215 pounds, and I'm probably slightly bigger than the average eater now, but there's a philosophy behind being in shape. First of all it's a professional sport. And when you're eating eight, nine, 10 pounds of food at once, the less fat you have on your stomach, the less resistance the body will have when it's expanding. Because your stomach will push out, and your fat almost acts as a blocker, so the less fat, the further your stomach will be able to push.

"Growing up, I'd always been able to eat a lot, then I got into competitive body building. And with the intense workouts, and the dieting and everything, you develop these massive cravings. So when I get to the table I just think it's natural for me to tap into those cravings and that mindset where I've been starving for so many weeks and this my only opportunity to eat, and I just go after it like a savage animal.

"Nathan's Famous is the Superbowl of competitive eating. This is my fourth consecutive year. I qualified in my hometown on Boston to get to the final in Coney Island, New York. I travel all over the world, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Guantanemo Bay, I've been to entertain the United States military… we do all types of food, but Nathan's Famous is really our Superbowl, it's our Masters, it's the World Cup, you know, however you want to look at it. There are 14 contestants in the final, the top 14 eaters in the world will be on stage. There are 12 qualifiers all over the country, you have to take first place in one of the 12 to get to Nathan's Famous. Second place gets you nothing.

"How it works is simple: you have 10 minutes to eat as many hotdogs with buns as possible. My personal best is 29 in 10 minutes. The world record right now is 68, by Joey Chestnut. I think this year he's hoping to break 70. It'd be a lot easier if they were bangers and mash, let me tell you."

You can watch the women’s final live today at 4.30pm BST on ESPN3.com. The men’s final will follow live at 5pm on ESPN.

Follow Major League Eating on Facebook and Twitter.

HP recruits Russell Brand, Apple hacked, and PS4 getting Kinect-style controls: Lunchtime Lowdown

Posted: 04 Jul 2011 04:30 AM PDT

The week's just begun, the sun is out, and it's time for a sandwich. But before you break out the Hovis, make sure you chow down on the tastiest tech morsels, with Russell Brand promoting HP's Touchpad, Apple being hacked, BBC banning Twitter, and PS4 news.

HP has Russell Brand promoting its Touchpad – strange, yes, but not as strange as some of these tech pairings of the past.

Apple's been hacked! Don't worry, it's nothing that'll reach Mac owners just yet, but it doesn't bode well for the future.

Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 is getting an update to Android Honeycomb, which is great news, as it's optimised for tablets. So what'll be new? A new keyboard that lets you copy and paste pics and vids as well as text, a livepanel homescreen widget, and the latest version of Swype, that's what.

The BBC's considering banning stars and production staff tweeting about upcoming projects, after a series of leaks. Good luck enforcing that one, Auntie.

In other news, you can now recreate the Princess Leia hologram scene from Star Wars using a Kinect hack, and the PS4 will feature Kinect-style controls and land next year, according to component manufacture sources. Let the console battles begin.

Mr. T, Chuck Norris and Andy Warhol: the 10 oddest tech adverts ever

Posted: 04 Jul 2011 03:47 AM PDT

Russell Brand and HP? Considering it's targeting business customers for its Touchpad, you might think Brand is a pretty odd choice of frontman for its adverts. And you'd be right.

But it's far from the strangest pairing, as our rundown of the 10 oddest tech adverts ever shows. Click through to see what brings together Mr. T, John Cleese, Andy Warhol, Chuck Norris, Quentin Tarantino and Nicolas Cage.

10 Russell Brand and the HP Touchpad

HP has enlisted Russell Brand to promote its Touchpad. Shame it wasn't BlackBerry, with its PlayBooky-Wook. Or Barnes and Noble, with its Nooky-Wook. Anyway, here he is, espousing all the benefits of using a Touchpad, including the advantages of true multitasking. Now there's something we didn't think we'd ever write.

9 Andy Warhol and TDK

Crazy guy, crazy ad.

8 Bill Cosby and Texas Instruments Home Computer

Cosby was at the height of his fame when this ad aired in the mid 80s. "With 16k memory it can take you a long way." Simpler times, clearly.

7 John Cleese and the Compaq 386

Remember when John Cleese was funny? Well here he is in an advert for Compaq in the mid 80s, comparing a computer with a fish, which is pretty inspired. Or more inventive than most PC ads nowadays, anyway. The bit with him laughing is a bit awkward though.

6 Mr. T and Hitachi Data System Virtualization

Fresh from his Snickers adverts, T rocks up in this ad for Hitachi's corporate IT arm in 2007, and from the outfits and set, it's clear where the budget went. Altogether now: "Intelligence in the network is for suckers."

5 Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Atari Video Computer System

Nineteen seventy eight, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar was one of the most famous basketball players on the planet. Then he made this ad, and a couple of years later he starred in Airplane! Well at least he had a sense of humour about himself, which is more than we can say for most footballers.

4 Nicolas Cage and Sankyo Pachinko

Nic Cage has had an odd career, from testosterone-fuelled blockbusters like The Rock to the remake of The Wicker Man. But perhaps none weirder than this ad, which sees him answering questions at a press conference before… well, see for yourself.

3 Quentin Tarantino and PerfecTV

This is how you do an ad. Have someone famous jumping around in a fight scene, and keep it short, too. Bravo Tarantino, and strange Japanese TV service we've never heard of.

2 Kevin Bacon and the Logitech Revue

Kevin Bacon talking about Kevin Bacon? Yes, you read that right – Bacon plays a fan obsessed with Kevin Bacon, with only a token mention of the Logitech Revue at the end, powered by Google TV. Strange? Yes. But oddly hypnotic, if only for the lack of product placement.

1 Chuck Norris and T-Mobile

In the Czech Republic last year Chuck was seen advertising T-Mobile, playing up to his tough guy persona. In this one, he can't stand seeing a carp being hit with a mallet. Remember, his tears can cure cancer, but he has never cried.

Sony PS4 with Kinect-style controls arriving 2012?

Posted: 04 Jul 2011 03:39 AM PDT

While Sony has long said that the PS3 will have a 10-year lifespan – which would take us through to 2016 – chatter around the arrival of the PS4 has been picking up recently. Back in May, Sony CFO, Masaru Kato, confirmed that a big chunk of the company’s R&D budget is focused on building the next console.

Now DigiTimes has gone all out with claims that the PS4 will hit production at the end of 2011 in time for a 2012 launch. That would set Sony up for a head-to-head battle with the Nintendo Wii U. And that’s before we even consider the claim that it’ll come with motion control built in…

Citing its usual (and ever unreliable) component manufacturer sources, DigiTimes says the PS4 will pack full-body motion controls similar to Kinect, leaving the PlayStation Move behind.

It goes on to claim that Foxconn and Pegatron Technology are already onboard to build the PS4 with the aim of pumping out 20 million consoles in 2012. The two firms currently assemble the PS3.

While it’s certainly possible that Sony could have pushed forward its plans for the PS4, it would be a big change in strategy. It’s worth noting though that the company continued to support the PS2 long after the PS3 launched.

Dive into the comments and let us know: should Sony push the PS4 out early? Or with the Sony Vita on the way at the end of this year, has it already got enough on its plate?

Out TBC | £TBC | Sony (via DigiTimes)

Kinect iPad hack makes Star Wars holograms real

Posted: 04 Jul 2011 03:02 AM PDT

Sure we’ve shown you plenty of Kinect hacks in the past but this lets you create your very own version of that nifty blue hologram Princess Leia used to cry: “Help me Obi Wan!” Yes, we know that wasn’t actually real but this is thanks to a clever combination of Kinect, an iPad and an augmented reality SDK.

The iPhone app creators at LAAN Labs (we reviewed their Tap DJ app way back when) also turn their hand to hacking hardware and put together this Kinect iPad hack. They used the String SDK to turn 3D data grabbed by Kinect into a AR image on the iPad. You can see it in action after the jump…

Out now | £free | LAAN Labs (via Engadget)

BBC Twitter ban planned to stop spoilers

Posted: 04 Jul 2011 02:45 AM PDT

The BBC is considering a Twitter ban to prevent actors, writers and crew from spoiling details of new shows. It follows a series of careless tweets that revealed secrets before the BBC press machine was ready to crank into action.

The campaign, allegedly being pushed by senior BBC executives, follows a rash of Twitter revelations from stars including Thick Of It creator Armando Iannucci and self-proclaimed iPod inspiration Sophie Ellis Bextor…

The BBC Twitter ban would change contracts to explicitly forbid people involved in BBC productions from discussing shows on Twitter or other internet forums. BBC sources told The Guardian that recent slips via Twitter have caused consternation inside the corporation.

Sophie Ellis Bextor revealed on Twitter that she’s appearing in Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s Life’s Too Short alongside Sting before the BBC announced the rockstar’s appearance.

Other Twitter slips include Stephen Mangan telling the world that a second series of Dirk Gently had been commissioned before an official statement was prepared and Armando Iannucci discussed the new series of The Thick Of It on Twitter ahead of time.

A BBC Vision executive told MediaGuardian that random tweets can genuinely have a major effect: “A random tweet can rob an artist of his or her potentially much louder fanfare.” The BBC already has Facebook guidelines to stop staff from revealing secrets to their friends on the social network.

Out TBC | £free | BBC (via MediaGuardian)

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1: Touchwiz Honeycomb update incoming

Posted: 04 Jul 2011 02:12 AM PDT

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is due on these shores this time next month and it looks like it’ll arrive with a new update in tow. Samsung has announced that a new Android Honeycomb version of its Touchwiz skin is in the works.

That’s likely to irk Android tablet fans hoping to get their hands on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 with the unsullied version of Android Honeycomb onboard. Hopefully some of the new features detailed after the break will ease their pain…

With the update, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 will get a new multimedia clipboard that will copy and paste pictures and videos as well as text, a Live Panel homescreen widget to pull in news, weather and social network updates and the latest version of Swype.

The new software adds remote and wipe features which could come in handy if you’re prone to leaving your gadgets lying around and unlocks the device’s USB, SD card and HDMI functionality with more accessories.

If you were planning on picking up a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, does the prospect of TouchWiz touching down on it put you off?

Out August 4 | £TBC | Samsung

HP TouchPad meets Russell Brand: the oddest tablet ads yet

Posted: 04 Jul 2011 02:03 AM PDT

Not sure about the HP TouchPad? Well, HP thinks the man to persuade you is Russell Brand. It’s wrangled the big-haired comic into filming a series of clips to promote the tablet and they’re fairly bizarre.

Perched precariously on a spectacularly ugly sofa, Brand dubs the HP TouchPad his “little robot butler” and compares the flicks and swipes of multitasking to dealing with boogers. Frankly, it’s quite difficult to get your head around the comedian seriously saying terms like “HTML5″ in his usual whimsically faux-Victorian manner.

Click through to watch the clips for yourself. Has HP got it right with Russell or are we right in thinking these ads are just too odd?

Due mid-July | From £399 | HP