Apple iPod Touch 2011 (32GB, black)

The good: Apple's iPod Touch comes with a new color, a new price, and feature-packed OS. It records HD video, chats over video or iMessages, checks your e-mail, keeps your appointments, connects to the cloud, rents movies, plays music, takes pictures, and plays more games than any of its competitors.

The bad: Photo quality doesn't hold up to the iPhone 4's; there's no GPS, and no option for 3G data service.
The bottom line: The iPod Touch is the best iPod yet, offering all the fun of the iPhone experience without a carrier contract or monthly bill.

How to, uh, turn Windows 8 off

With the Start button disappeared, shutting down Windows 8 can be a challenge. Here's how to coax the OS into turning itself off.

(Credit: Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET)

Shutting off Windows used to be a simple matter of clicking the Start button and choosing the "Shut down" option. But the Windows 8 beta has no Start button. So how do you shut it down?
Microsoft has concocted a series of manuevers and keyboard shortcuts to shut down the new OS. Though slower and clumsier than going through the Start button, the new steps at least let you fully turn Windows 8 off.

HP Envy 14 Spectre review

The HP Envy 14 Spectre is the latest and best-named Ultrabook to hit the shelves, and with the combined draw of HP's premium Envy range, and Dr Dre's urban cool Beats brand, it's going to be very hard to ignore.

We're well into the Ultrabook race by now and we've already been impressed by the Asus Zenbook UX31, Acer Aspire S3 and most recently by the Dell XPS 13, perhaps the toughest rival that the HP Envy 14 Spectre faces in the battle for our hard-earned pennies.
And HP's newest baby is taking an interesting approach to the competition by being less concerned with a size zero frame. The HP Envy 14 Spectre is 20mm thin, and weighs 1.8kg - hefty for an Ultrabook.
But the slight bulk enables it to throw around some extra connectivity and features that other Ultrabooks, perhaps save the Toshiba Satellite Z830, can't match.

Samsung Galaxy Y review

We've now updated our review to reflect our findings with a fully working version of the Samsung Galaxy Y - including a price drop to under £90.

Samsung wants to cater for a range of users, not just those wanting the biggest, fastest and most media hungry phones and the Samsung Galaxy Y looks to bring functionality to the low-end range.

The 'Y' stands for 'Young', which clearly signals the market this phone is targeted at. The Galaxy Y sells itself as a budget Android device which allows you to keep updated on the go, from poking your friends to tweeting what you had for lunch.
The Samsung Galaxy Y replaces the Galaxy Mini at the bottom of the Galaxy range and this puts it head to head with the Orange San Francisco 2, HTC Wildfire S and Alcatel One Touch 990.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 announced

Samsung has decided to get in just before MWC 2012 kicks off and has unveiled the next in its second-generation tablet range: the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1.

Following on from the Tab 2 7.0, the new larger-screened device features the likes of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich to you and me) a 1GHz dual core processor and a 3MP rear-facing camera.
A 7000mAh battery promises to keep you going through the day, and there's a VGA front-facing camera for video calling should the wind take you.

Sony apologises as PlayStation Vita glitches spread

Sony has released  an apology and software update after a number of complaints about its new gaming console.

The PlayStation Vita went on sale in Japan at the weekend but  users have described such problems as unresponsive touchscreens, crashes and freezes.
Glitches in new consoles are not unusual, but experts have been surprised by the number of related postings sent to Twitter and YouTube.

PSP E1000 Review

With the new Ps Vita coming out this year it would seem to be stupid to get the E1000, But in the long run its very worth it we will explain why now.

The E3000 the older version is now £149.99 at argos, Does not seem to dear really does it? But in todays world its alot to many familys in the UK and the rest of the world, So Playstation thoughtbring out somthing thats affordable. So at £89.99 at Argos its the best choise for familys not dont have much money.

REVIEW: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Elite)

Describe Call of Duty: Elite, in a sentence. Well, a decent stab at that request would be "a war-themed Facebook with heatmap-kill-ratio-infographics instead of drunken snaps of your old school pals". A new digital service that launches with Modern Warfare 3 (but is backwards compatible with Call of Duty: Black Ops, and will be supported by all future Call of Duty/Modern Warfare titles), it's designed to keep you playing the online component of Modern Warfare 3 even longer than you were planning to by teaching you ways to improve your online shooting techniques, connecting you with other like-minded players and challenging you to compete for real world prizes.

.Sony KDL-55NX813 3D TV review

Sony has bet the bank on 3D, but there are still plenty of non-believers that need convincing. And to sway the 3D skeptics, two new 3D-ready sets have been added to the stylish NX range, including this stunning flagship model. Thinner, faster and now 3D ready, it even has an updated version of the minimalist soundbar stand to go with it. Oddly, the 3D transmitter and glasses are an optional extra this time, so is Sony in fact hedging its 3D gamble?

Cowon iAudio10 MP3 player review

The big question is, when your phone can offer a media player with 32GB and more storage, and very likely a perfectly good syncing software with your computer, why oh why would you want a standalone Flash MP3 player? Cowon's new iAudio10 wants to be the answer.

Design
Cowon's iAudio10 device won an award from the Japan Institute of Design earlier this year, which can't be bad; and sure enough, it's a sleek piece of kit. It's slim, flat on the screen side and gently curved on the back, which is covered with a tactile rubberised plastic -- it's a nice looking sliver of tech.
On the sides are a volume rocker and power/sleep button, with a neat 3.5mm headphone jack on the bottom. There's also a plastic cover hiding a proprietary power/sync port that links to standard USB or analogue TV out, and a microphone for recording conversations or music at up to 256Kbps.
The 3-inch screen itself isn't touch sensitive, but the panel below it is, operating as a seven-way D-pad and allowing you to scroll to find your way around. Start it up and you're treated to Cowon's Colour Therapy animated UI, which looks pretty, despite the relatively low resolution of 400x240 pixels and offers a few customisation options such as changing the colours.

iPad 3 to have 8-megapixel camera?

The iPad 3 will have an 8-megapixel camera. That's the latest rumour anyway, according to Next Media. The site also claims to have pictures of the device, showing off the larger camera hole.

But I'm skeptical. While there are bound to be plenty of rumours and purported leaks ahead of a new Apple launch, we sort the wheat from the chaff here at CNET UK.
For a start, it's highly unlikely Apple would let an early model slip out early. Yes, it's happened before, but that was a one-off, and Apple will have tightened its security since that embarrassing leak. I can believe certain parts might fall into bloggers' hands, like with the purported retina display yesterday, but a whole device? It's doubtful, to say the least.
Then there's how Next Media has treated it. If it was the first website in the world to get an iPad 3, surely it would go to town with as many pictures as it could, as it'd be quite the exclusive -- not the rather low-quality shots accompanying its article. Of course someone may have only leaked it these snaps, but why wouldn't the source send all of them over?
And would Apple bother fitting an 8-megapixel snapper to the iPad? How many people do you see taking pictures with the unwieldy device? It didn't put in a 5-megapixel camera until the iPhone 4, so it's doubtful it would go to the trouble and expense of fitting an 8-megapixel effort to the iPad. That would bump up the price of the device too, and it's already pretty pricey.

iPhone 5 complete guide

The iPhone 4S left Apple fans divided. It might have been a new phone on the inside, but after 15 months of rumours and longing, many expected a genre-smashing design too.

Fortunately, the next iPhone will almost certainly enjoy a fresh look from Apple design guru Jonathan Ive. It's shaping up for an autumn release again, but if you look hard enough, cross your fingers and make a wish, there are already some clues as to what the new model might offer.

Samsung Series 9 skinny laptop on sale Saturday

Samsung's Series 9 laptop will debut in the UK on Saturday, available to buy from floggers of fancy furniture, John Lewis.
The company confirmed to us that the super-skinny laptop would be on sale in our green and pleasant land on 25 February, with other retailers including Amazon and DSG retail (which more than likely means PC World, Currys and Dixons) selling the Series 9 later this year.
I've already had my paws all over the Series 9, which sports an alarmingly thin and light chassis, and a MacBook Air-style wedge design if you peek at it from the side.

PS Vita has Mini problem, Facebook app pulled

Its Japanese launch was beset with problems, with buyers complaining of cracked screens and faulty devices. Now the PS Vita has launched in the UK, it has problems of its own. Though these are software-related rather than hardware.
People have popped up on the PlayStation Forum complaining that they can't play PlayStation Mini games on their shiny new Vitas, SlashGear reports. Meanwhile, the Facebook app for Vita has been yanked due to issues, though these are all Facebook's fault, apparently.
PlayStation Minis are downloadable casual games that launched in 2009. Members of PlayStation Plus typically receive one PlayStation Mini a month. But those trying to do so on their Vitas are seeing the error code: C1-2858-3.

Apple Ipad 2

A year ago, nobody had an iPad. Then Apple sold 15 million of them in just nine months, creating a whole new category of technology product. The iPad may have become, in the words of Steve Jobs, “the most successful consumer product ever launched.”

It turns out that a lot of people saw the iPad’s appeal: it’s a supremely portable device that’s well suited for checking your e-mail, surfing the Web, playing games, reading books and other stuff you get off the Internet, and even for getting work done. Kids and the elderly have embraced it.
It’s awfully hard to follow such a massive success, but that’s the task set out for Apple’s new iPad 2, which goes on sale Friday. At least the iPad 2 has this going for it: the original model caught the technology industry so flat-footed that only now are true competitors beginning to appear.
Those competitors will now face a new iteration of the iPad, one that’s faster, smaller, and lighter than the model introduced a year ago—all while retaining the $499 entry price that has proven all but impossible for Apple’s competitors to match. It’s almost unfair.

A game of inches (and ounces)

Call it Jobs’s Law if you like: The latest version of any Apple product is likely to be thinner and lighter than its predecessor. And so it is with the iPad 2. The size difference between the original iPad and the iPad 2 may seem slight, but that’s only because we’re dealing with such small products to begin with. But for products this small, every ounce and fraction of an inch counts.
The iPad 2 measures 7.31 by 9.5 by 0.34 inches, and weighs in at 1.33 pounds (in the case of the Wi-Fi-only version, that is—the AT&T and Verizon 3G versions are .01 and .02 pound heavier). That means Apple shaved .17 pound off the Wi-Fi version and .26 to .27 pound off the 3G version. The iPad 2 is also .16 inch narrower, .06 inch shorter, and .16 inch thinner than the original iPad.
A matter of small degrees, to be sure, until you consider the percentage change: the iPad 2 is roughly two-thirds the thickness of the original iPad, and 88 percent of its weight (83 percent when comparing 3G models). Pick up an iPad 2 after handling an original iPad, and you’ll notice the difference right away. This is a lighter, thinner device.

ViewSonic ViewPad 10e review

Having already attempted to take on the Android tablet market with the ViewSonic ViewPad 7 and ViewPad 7e, ViewSonic is back with a cut-price device.

The ViewSonic ViewPad 10e pairs what, at face value, appears to be an acceptable array of entry-level specs with a cheap and relatively cheerful shell to appeal to those not convinced by the iPad's much higher price tag.
Looking to steal a couple of market share percentage points from Apple, ViewSonic has forgone a number of core Android values when adopting Google's operating system for the ViewPad 10e, most fundamental of which is the overlooking of the now standard 10.1-inch display in favour of an iPad-mimicking 9.7-inch offering.
With the unwritten rule of the tablet market seeming to be 'if you can afford it, plump for the iPad', ViewSonic has looked to dramatically undercut the market leader in an attempt to win favour with the masses, jumping in at a low price with a very impressive £199 retail tag in the UK, and $399 cost in the US.

BlackBerry Bold 9790 review

BlackBerry may quietly (or perhaps not so quietly) be finessing its plans for world domination with its upcoming BBX handsets, but it's not letting the other operating system go to waste, with a stream of BB7 devices being churned out right now, among them the BlackBerry Bold 9790.

No longer are there just a few mobile phones to pick from, with RIM really saturating the market as it attempts to put the woes of last year's BBM outage firmly in the past.
Up until now, the cock of the school has been the BlackBerry Bold 9900, the premium BB offering that showcased the then new BB7 OS and replacing the tired Bold 9700 and 9780 lines.

Nintendo 3DS review

The UK release of the Nintendo 3DS on 25 March 2011 saw Europe welcome the latest offering from arguably the most innovative company in the gaming world.

Nintendo is responsible for iconic household names like Super Mario, SNES and Gameboy all of which have made a massive contribution to how we play today.

But the Japanese company has also been busy redefining the modern medium with its most recognised bit of kit - the Wii, dragging everyone from nine year old girls to 79-year-old grandaddys around the TV to wave a white remote in the air.

Nintendo's current handheld line – the Nintendo DS – has had a similar amount of pull on the public, creating a world where everyone's a gamer. You might be Brain Training on the bus or leaping over spike pits at lunch, either way you're a part of a video game boom (at least in terms of awareness) that's never been seen before, and that's largely thanks to Nintendo.

After such success you might forgive Nintendo for resting on its laurels and, indeed, since the UK release of the first DS back in 2004, the progression of the portable has been something of a slow evolution.
Sticking a couple of extra letters on the end of each edition, with devices like the DS Lite, the DSi and the DSi XL Nintendo made the common alterations; making things bigger/smaller/lighter, adding a camera here and a bit more power there.

PS Vita review

This is a brand new PS Vita review taking into account several firmware updates since our original assessment (launch firmware: 1.61)

The PS Vita is the most powerful, dazzling and impressive handheld games console ever built.
It packs not one but two quad-core processors, a sparkling 5-inch touchscreen OLED display, dual analogue stick controls and games that go way beyond what any other portable device is currently capable of.
That includes the Nintendo 3DS, which may wield 3D optics as its trump card, but nonetheless simply cannot compete with the Vita in terms of graphical fidelity. What the PS Vita offers is more akin to a home console experience on the move, and that puts it in an elite class of one.

Take a look at PS Vita gameplay footage, the new interface and touch controls in our video:

Disgo Tablet 7000 review

Catch a glimpse of the Disgo 7000 and you'd be forgiven for thinking that Apple had discovered yet another form-factor and wedged a product into that gap. It looks like a Kindle-esque, novel-sized tab squeezed inbetween the iPhone and iPad.

Given the company's impeccable sense of style, that a sub-£100 Android tablet could be mentioned in the same breath is quite a compliment to Disgo's budget gadget.
The resemblance is undeniable, though. Sitting idle it has the same seamless black bevel and glossy, fingerprint-attracting sheen as Apple's touchscreen devices. It's only when you flip the 7000 over to reveal the matt plastic reverse side that the disparity in manufacturing cost is revealed.

ViewSonic ViewPad 7e review

At £150, the ViewSonic ViewPad 7e is a low-priced 7-inch Android 2.3 tablet that some might find appealing if only for the flexibility it affords.
Similar to the BlackBerry PlayBook in size, with a passing nod to the upcoming, Amazon Kindle Fire, the ViewPad 7e is not nearly as user-friendly. Some apps, including those from Google, are noticeably not available.
At the same time, by offering only the basic smartphone version of Android without many extra frills, the basic mechanics of a tablet are all here: touchscreen display, Android apps, movie playback and ebooks. The ViewSonic ViewPad 7e is certainly better than the clunky, confusing ViewPad 10Pro.