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Sony Alpha a33 and a55: Sony promises to “vastly exceed anything on the market”
Archos 32 Android iPod touch rival up for pre-order
Archos launching 5 new Internet Tablets at IFA Berlin
HTC Desire HD Mobiles.co.uk listing pulled
iPhone 3G: Steve Jobs promises iOS 4 speed fix
Best iPod dock
Red Dead Redemption: hammering hackers from tomorrow
Koreans treating StarCraft addicts with anti-smoking drugs
Facebook Places: Mark Zuckberg tested it in London?
Windows Phone 7: LG E900 handset video hits YouTube

Sony Alpha a33 and a55: Sony promises to “vastly exceed anything on the market”

Posted: 23 Aug 2010 09:01 PM PDT

Sony has announced two additions to its Alpha range of cameras this morning, the a33, and a55. Sony reckons it’s really hit the jackpot this time, and has some pretty big things to say about the HD video on these new Sony Alpha cameras. Read on for a full breakdown, and stay tuned for hands-on first impressions…

The big selling point of the Sony Alpha a33 and a55 cameras is their video capabilities, and something Sony calls 'translucent mirror technology'. But first: the video. Sony is claiming the Alpha a33 and a55 have the "first ever quick AF HD movie with continuous autofocus during shooting".

In normal speak, this means that Sony has sped up and improved the speed and accuracy of its AF. How much it's done this we'll see later today, when we get hands on with the camera, but specs wise, the Sony Alpha a33 and a55 are packing a 15 point AF system, to track fast moving objects when shooting video, which is 1080i HD video in AVCHD, with a maximum recording time of 29 minutes.

Translucent mirror technology means that the Sony Alpha a33 and a55 have a fixed, translucent mirror that splits the optical pathway and feeds it on the one hand to the main image sensor, and on the other, a separate phase detection autofocus sensor. This means the camera body can be more compact, but it beefs up the live view system.

Paul Genge, technical marketing manager at Sony, had had some pretty big things to say about the new Sony Alpha DSLRs, before we've even seen one in the flesh. He said: "It's quite phenomenal what a big step we're making… the a33 and a55 will vastly exceed anything on the market, no matter what the price."

Sony seems to be feeling just a little positive about the Sony Alpha a33 and a55, and we can't wait to have a go later on today. The Sony Alpha a33 has 14.2MP, and a top shooting speed of 7fps. The a55 has 16.2MP, and can push out a max of 10fps. The cameras weigh in at 433g and 441g respectively, without batteries.

What do you want to know about the Sony Alpha a33 and a55? We'll be getting hands on in just a few hours, so be sure to drop your questions in the comments before lunchtime!

Out September 2010 | TBA | TBA

Archos 32 Android iPod touch rival up for pre-order

Posted: 23 Aug 2010 09:12 AM PDT

There she blows! The Archos 32 Android PMP has popped up on Amazon’s US site, just as soon as the French gadget company announces its plans to bring a bunch of new Android tablets to IFA. The Archos 32 is most definitely an iPod touch rather than iPad rival at 3.2-inches: its 400×240 resolution doesn’t sound like it’s going to cope well against a new iPod touch with a Retina Display, and there’s no sign of Google’s core Android apps in the imagery, but at least you’ll get FLAC audio support, and AVI, MP4, 3GP, WMV and even MKV video support. There’s no release date for the Archos 32 just yet, but look for it to cost around $149 (£94) if it ships to the UK. Needless to say, we’ve contacted the company for more details, but Archos declined to comment.

Archos launching 5 new Internet Tablets at IFA Berlin

Posted: 23 Aug 2010 08:45 AM PDT

Archos is heading to the IFA show in Berlin laden down with new Internet Tablets. The media player specialist has devices ranging from a dinky 2.8 inches to a 10-inch iPad competitor.

Archos has been producing portable Internet Tablets since the iPad was a mere twinkle in Steve Jobs’ eye. Earlier devices have run on Linux and Windows 7, but of late the company seems to be leaning heavily in the direction of Android to power its media players and tablets.

When Archos rolls up at this year’s IFA Conference in Berlin next month it will be bringing five new tablets, all running the Android OS. The devices are all described as Internet Tablets and will all feature touch screens ranging from a titchy 2.8 inches (which stretches the definition of ‘tablet a little, we reckon) to a 10 inch device that must have the iPad in its sights.

Archos describe the range as featuring “computing, communications and apps” and showing off “Archos' legendary video quality”.

Not much else is known about the new tablets. In particular, what version of Android they will be running. We would love to see five new Froyo tablets on the market but so many manufacturers fall at the last fence by shipping with Android 1.6 (or even earlier – you know who you are) that we aren’t going to get too excited until we see them in action.

We will be attending the IFA this year, so you can be sure we will have the full story on Archos’ new tablets as soon as they are unveiled.

Out TBC | £tbc | Archos

HTC Desire HD Mobiles.co.uk listing pulled

Posted: 23 Aug 2010 08:23 AM PDT

The HTC Desire HD listing we saw for the rumoured monster Android phone on Mobiles.co.uk last week has been quietly pulled, as we expected. In a slightly surprising turn of events however, a spokesperson told us that the phone, along with the now removed HTC Desire Z, was listed based purely on “speculative details” online. If you’re holding out for an HTC Desire HD though, don’t get too down: there’s nothing speculative about a lengthy video leak of the phone, shot in high definition. Stay tuned, we expect more leaks before 15th September.

iPhone 3G: Steve Jobs promises iOS 4 speed fix

Posted: 23 Aug 2010 08:02 AM PDT

Occasional Apple Genius bar stand-in Steve Jobs has emailed to give solace to iPhone 3G owners who've been frustrated by slow performance since iOS 4 arrived. As usual, Jobs has kept his response to a very economical number of words – four in fact. We've transcribed his iPhone 3G iOS 4 response after the break…

Apple previously acknowledged reports of iPhone 3G issues after the iOS 4 update. However, one user wasn't happy with that and fired off a message straight to Steve Jobs. He said:

"I've waited patiently through 4.0.1 and 4.0.2 looking for a fix that will make my phone work again. I've read the forums that advise me to jailbreak my phone…[but] I'm not prepared to use a method that is not supported by Apple."

And lo, the user's loyalty to Apple and unwillingness to grab the iPhone jailbreak did please Steve Jobs. And the message came down from the mountain. And Steve Jobs did say:

"Software update coming soon. Sent from my iPhone."

Though Steve Jobs didn't see fit to include a timescale in his email, it's likely he was referring to the iOS 4.1 update. Beta testers have already indicated that it goes some way to perking up iOS 4 performance on the iPhone 3G.

If you've found your iPhone 3G has slowed down to a crawl since you installed iOS 4, let us know what you think of Steve Jobs's response.

Out TBC | £free | Apple (via Mac Rumors)

Best iPod dock

Posted: 23 Aug 2010 07:17 AM PDT

The best iPod dock can be a tough call to make, especially when it sometimes seems like there are more different types of iPod accessories in the world than Apple’s manufactured iPods. Luckily, help is at hand: read our Best iPod dock top 5 list to the right of the full post and you’ll find the tune chucker for you.

Whether you’re after a portable player for anti social songs in the outdoors, or the best all in one speaker station for the audiophile in your life, we’ve got something for you in our Best iPod dock top 5 shortlist, over to the right of the page.

Our best iPod dock Top 5 is constantly pored over with a fine toothcomb, and we consider every new machine that comes our way – if it earns its stripes, it gets a place here.

That’s quite enough small talk however. You came here to see the Top 5 Best iPod dock models you can buy right now, and we’ve got them for you. Just start clicking to Read More about them, or tap Buy It to jump straight to Amazon.

Red Dead Redemption: hammering hackers from tomorrow

Posted: 23 Aug 2010 07:01 AM PDT

Red Dead Redemption hackers will be banned from tomorrow. If you've hacked a save to up your score, and haven't got around to deleting it yet, Rockstar Games knows who you are, and will be chucking you out of Red Dead Redeption multiplayer in under 24 hours.

Rockstar Games is going zero tolerance, and says it will be "swiftly and indefinitely banishing from the world of Red Dead Redemption multiplayer all Gamertags and PSN IDs we've detected with hacked game saves. Such cheating is a clear violation of our code of conduct, and punishable at our sole discretion". This means that anyone playing Red Dead Redemption with hacked saves will be removed from leaderboards, and players will be ejected.

If you're planning to cave and delete hacked Red Dead Redemption saves in the next few hours, then Rockstar has a few things to tell you. The cull will apply to any hacked saves, single player or multiplayer, and while everything is wiped, trophies, achievements, cheats earned through Social Club and preorder items can be kept. After deleting your hacked saves, you then need to go online again, for Rockstar to give you a shakedown and check that you're clean.

The Red Dead Redemption slaughter will not apply to people who simply took advantage of temporarily available exploits to rapidly grind up XP a few weeks ago. Rockstar says: "We are able to tell who actually hacked their save to have impossible scores."

If you've got beef with Rockstar, then email all grievances to banhammer@rockstargames.com

Koreans treating StarCraft addicts with anti-smoking drugs

Posted: 23 Aug 2010 06:45 AM PDT

StarCraft is a pretty addictive game, fair enough. Is it really addictive in the same was as say, nicotine, however? Psychiatrists in South Korea seem to think so and have been treating afflicted gamers with an antidepressant normally used to treat smoking addiction.

A study has been carried out by the Department of Psychiatry at Chung Ang University which measures the effectiveness of the antidepressant Buproprion on eleven participants who were described as being addicted to Starcraft. We realise that ‘addictive’ is an adjective often thrown about when referring to games but several of the participants in this study had suffered severe real-world consequences as a result of their obsessive gaming including expulsion from school and even divorce.

Buproprion is an antidepressant that is often used to treat nicotine cravings. After a trial period the gamers reportedly experienced fewer cravings to play their RTS of choice and playing time reduced by around 35%. Under an MRI scan, subjects also reacted ‘less strongly’ to pictures of Zerglings (a StarCraft troop unit) than before taking the drug.

This is just one study, of course, and there is also plenty of research that disputes the idea that video games are addictive in the sense described by these researchers.

Available new | £30 | Blizzard (via Wired)

Facebook Places: Mark Zuckberg tested it in London?

Posted: 23 Aug 2010 06:32 AM PDT

You can trick Facebook Places to try it out in the UK but it looks like Mark Zuckerberg and the gang tested the location features during their trip to London earlier this year. A number of Facebook Places have been uncovered in the capital and they tally almost perfectly with Zuckerberg's trip itinerary…

Zuckerberg and a smattering of other Facebook folk descended on London in June for the Facebook Hack Day and Developer Garage. At the Facebook Places launch he admitted it’s been in development since December, it's not surprising that they seem to have put the feature to the test on their trip.

Arun Stephens was tinkering with Facebook Places while working at TechHub near Old Street and spotted Facebook Places nearby. One was the Barbican Centre (site of the Facebook Developer Garage). Elsewhere in London, Dare Digital, the agency that hosted the Facebook hack day, is also registered on Facebook Places.

Other London locations including two hotels (the Courthouse Doubletree Hilton and Le Meridian Hotel), The Southbank Centre and record label ArjunaBeats are also represented on Facebook Places. It's likely that they wouldn't be yet without Zuckerberg's visit back in June.

Sadly, though Zuckerberg visited Number 10 prior to his later toecurlingly awkward video chat with David Cameron, he didn't check in with Facebook Places there.

It certainly looks like Zuckerberg or one of his entourage was the first Facebook Places user in the UK. Now the question is: are you going to be joining him in using Facebook's new location features?

Out now | £free | Facebook (via Techcrunch)

Windows Phone 7: LG E900 handset video hits YouTube

Posted: 23 Aug 2010 06:02 AM PDT

With Windows Phone 7 launch just a couple of months away, we're bound to get a lot of leaks. The latest is a YouTube appearance by an LG Windows Phone 7 handset dubbed the LG E900. We got our hands on an LG Windows Phone 7 prototype but this is a new model out in the wild. Read on to see it put through its paces on blurrycam…

The mysterious LG Windows Phone 7 device (tagged as the LG E900 by the good folk at WMPoweruser) has been caught on camera by a YouTube user who claims to be in Romania. Unlike the LG Windows Phone 7 prototype we played with and the LG C900 which is headed for the US, the new phone doesn't have a sliding QWERTY keyboard.

Through the blur of the low quality video, it's hard to see too many details but the version of the OS running on the LG Windows Phone 7 handset seems to include a number of new tiles we've not seen before. The hardware itself doesn't exactly look stunning.

While the LG Windows Phone 7 prototype had a slide-out keyboard but the official Windows Phone 7 specs allow for totally touchscreen devices as we've seen demonstrated by the recent slew of HTC Windows Phone 7 rumours and leaks.

Besides the touchscreen, the mystery LG Windows Phone 7 device has the mandatory Home, Back and Search buttons at the bottom. It certainly looks like a genuine Windows Phone 7 handset but we just wish someone with a steady hand had got their mitts on it.

Tell us what you think. Is this a real LG Windows Phone 7 device? And, peering through the blur, do you like what you see?

Out TBC | £TBC | LG (via WMPoweruser)