Virgin Media XL broadband boosted to 30Mb

Speeds up 50 per cent

Virgin Media XL broadband customers, hold on to your mouses (yeah we said mouses, not mice), as you're in store for a 10Mb speed boost - taking your speed up to 30Mb.

The upgrade, which won't add a penny to the monthly cost, will cost you ?30 in an upgrade fee however, as you'll need a new "SuperHub", which is a combined DOCSIS 3.0 modem and router that is capable of Gigabit wired connectivity as well as dual-band n Wi-Fi.

The 30Mb service goes live on 1 February and if you take the XL plan with a Virgin Media home phone plan then you'll save ?1.50 on the usual ?20 fee.

Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin Media said: "As consumers continually demand more and more from their broadband, the unique power of our next-generation network means that we’re able to turn up the dial to meet their needs.

"With so many devices connecting to the internet at home these days, our new 30Mb service will give Virgin Media families that extra boost needed to make everything run smoothly, with speeds that don’t slow down depending on where you live."

Ernest Doku, technology expert at uSwitch.com, said: "At a time when household budgets are strained and the demand for fast and reliable web access is at its peak, this is a hugely welcome offering from Virgin Media.????

"With a growing number of people sharing an internet connection in the home, getting online via smartphones, laptops and games consoles concurrently, the offer of a super-fast 30Mb internet connection with an unlimited download limit for under ?20 per month is a great proposition.

"Virgin Media has raised the bar again in offering superfast connections at affordable rates. However, people should be aware that Virgin Media’s fibre-optic service does not presently cover the whole of the UK, so consumers need to ensure they check which providers and deals are available in their area."

Tags: Broadband Virgin Media Internet Online

Virgin Media XL broadband boosted to 30Mb originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 00:01:00 +0000

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Review: Dell Streak 7

Short Version: Here we go again: another impressive 7-inch Android tablet with a Gorilla Glass screen, 4G networking, and a suave interface. But is this thing more of the same or something new. The tried-and-true 7-inch tablet is, by now, old hat. In fact, little about the Dell Streak 7 is new except the clear [...]

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Sony Patent Shows Cool Folding Grip For Point And Shoots

When it comes to point-and-shoots, you generally don't see too much variation in the lens covers. They usually either have an automatic one or a piece that slides out of the way in one direction. A patent filed by Sony, however, shows off a pretty radical design that might set their cameras apart from the rest.

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Marketing Spin and Fake News: All That Novell Has Left

Poor material from Google News and Novell's role in generating it

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Why Monday Night Combat on Steam is worth a second look

We play video games to have fun and escape for a few hours into a more appealing virtual world. That may appear an overly simplistic explanation when you look at the variety of experiences that are offered through the medium, but it remains true for most gamers. Monday Night Combat is a game created by industry veterans and is focused on providing a multiplayer experience that captures a sense of fun and absurdity, but doesn't sacrifice the depth modern multiplayer gamers need.

Monday Night Combat was a critically acclaimed game on the Xbox Live Arcade, and both looks and feels better on the PC with a new $15 release on Steam. There are plenty of reasons this game is so well regarded, and the low price tag and ability to jump in and start shooting are only two of them.

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Sackboy stands up ready to hold your PS3 controller

TOY FAIR 2011: Cute, but not cuddly

Sackboy from Little Big Planet has got a new job; holding your PS3 controller when you’re not using it.

Cute is probably the best word to describe this rather simple and, let’s face it, basic controller holder that offers nothing more than a perch for your Dualshock joypad, but it brought such a smile to our faces when we saw it at the Star Images stand at the London Toy Fair that we just had to share.

Standing at 11 inches tall and with his arms outstretched, The Sackboy Holder will be able to cradle your PlayStation 3 controller or any reasonably sized household object for you - maybe even the new Sony NGP.

One for the Little Big Planet fans amongst you, it’s currently priced at around ?35 and available from shops and online stores such as Play.com.

Related links:

• Star Images - For the full product range

Tags: Toys Gaming PS3 little big planet Little Big Planet 2 LittleBigPlanet LittleBigPlanet 2 Sackboy

   

Sackboy stands up ready to hold your PS3 controller originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 14:54:00 +0000

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Marketing Spin and Fake News: All That Novell Has Left

Poor material from Google News and Novell's role in generating it

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LG all set for 3D smartphone and tablet launches?

Press conference invite hinting hard

Last week, Pocket-lint brought you news of Nvidia's soon-to-hit 3D Tegra 2 chip. And now, there's rumour aplenty that we'll be seeing the first Tegra 2 powered 3D device at Mobile World Congress - courtesy of LG.

The rumour mill has been kick started into action after LG itself dropped more than a subtle hint on its MWC press-event invite.

The invite shows the outline of a smartphone, that bears more than a small resemblance to the Tegra 2 packing LG Optimus 2X, with the words: "into the new dimension".

It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together and come up with a 3D version of the dual-core Android super phone.

Especially when you factor in that LG also showed off a 3D mobile concept over in Las Vegas at CES, and that James Choi, marketing strategy and planning team director at LG Electronics global, exclusively told Pocket-lint: "You’ll be very surprised shortly, of an actual working 3D device from LG. I’ll leave it there before I say too much."

There's also suggestions that LG will launch a 3D tablet, with speculation that the LG device spotted in a Korean pop video recently wasn't the G-Slate, but a 3D camera packing device.

Roll on 14 February we say, and not because we've got something special in mind for Mrs. Pocket-lint's Valentine's present (we haven't) but because that's when MWC 2011 kicks off in Barcelona.

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Tags: LG Optimus LG Optimus 3D Nvidia Tegra 2 3D MWC2011 LG Optimus 2X Tablets Phones LG

LG all set for 3D smartphone and tablet launches? originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 11:19:00 +0000

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Heavy Rain video game to get TV treatment

It's bound to be gritty

The video game Heavy Rain looks as though it could be coming to the small screen as producer and writer David Milch is signing to adapt it into a television series.

Variety is reporting that Milch will partnered by Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, "producing through their Unique Features banner."

Pocket-lint reviewed Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain back in Feb 2010, and it's clearly ideal for a TV adaptation as we found it "Gripping, moving, intelligent and visionary, it's the richest synthesis of game and film/TV thriller we've seen yet.

As its storyline is based around just 4 days of action, it'll be interesting to see how that's conveyed into the drama. However Milch has a good deal of experience in this field as he's been creator/exec producer for previous TV hits such as NYPD Blue and Deadwood.

The series will have the imaginative title of "Rain" and work will be started once Mitch has finished his current work on HBO's horse racing drama "Luck".

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Tags: Gaming TV shows Heavy Rain

Heavy Rain video game to get TV treatment originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 11:24:57 +0000

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Chevrolet Volt hands-on

Long-range green motor

Talk about electric cars today repeatedly boils down to one issue: range. Regardless of the fact that the average person drives just 19 miles each day, today’s electric car’s 100 mile range means that sooner or later, driving an electric car is going to inconvenience you. But General Motors (GM) claims it has an answer that gives you best of both worlds - electric car emissions-free running and unlimited range. It’s called the Chevrolet Volt and has just gone on sale in the USA. It’s going on sale here early in 2012, so on a recent trip to Detroit we tried it out.

Like the Nissan Leaf and Ford Focus Electric, a lithium-ion battery back housed underneath the floor, which you plug in to recharge, primarily powers the Volt. But where this car differs to purely electric cars, is that once you’ve depleted the battery (it has a range of 40 to 50 miles) a petrol engine fires up to continue providing power (indirectly) to the wheels. The logic is that, on short trips from home, the car will be emissions free because it runs purely off the battery. But if you suddenly need to get to Lands End tomorrow, it’s not going to take you 3 days to get there as you might in an electric car, because you’ll just keep filling up with fuel.

So the Volt’s important for its powertrain, but there’s a strong digital aspect to this car, which makes the experience of driving and owning it all the more special - and appealing to people like us.

Jump into the cockpit and the first thing you’ll notice is the white centre stack and trim surrounds. Dave Lyons and Stuart Norris from the interior design team talk about trying to live up to Apple’s “gold standard” in design when describing this interior, and we can see why. The white finish is just like the one on that third gen iPod that’s now sat in your top drawer with a dead battery. It might be a generation out of step with Apple’s industrial design, but it’s still striking and appealing to use.

In fact, the "buttons" on the centre console aren’t buttons at all, but touch sensitive actuators which give a lovely positive feedback "click" when pressed…exactly like the sound made when scrolling through menus on an Apple click wheel. Crucially, they’re nothing like as distracting and hard to use on the move as a pure touch screen.

Instead of dials and gauges, two 7-inch TFT screens act as your dashboard displays. The first, which can be used as a touch-screen, sits on top of the centre stack and displays the air-con, navigation and music information. It’ll also display "power flow", which tells you whether the battery or the petrol engine is providing the power.

In front of the driver, you get a central digital speed read-out, which is surrounded by battery charge level, range, fuel level, and an eco-driving meter. GM’s design and tech team are very proud of the intense blacks they achieved with these screens, and we’ve got to say they are beautifully HD clear and high quality in appearance.

There’s even a neat retro touch, in the eco driving-meter gauge, which has the quality of ball bearing maze game/labyrinth toy. You try to keep the gently spinning green ball in its centre "hole" to which it feels slightly magnetized - but brake or accelerate too hard and it floats up or down the gauge, showing you that you’re no longer driving efficiently.

But it’s not just in the car that GM has created a digital experience. Like the system Ford announced at CES, the Volt app - “OnStar Mylink” - available for iPhone, Android and Blackberry, provides the driver with control of the car via a phone. This allows you to set when the car is charged and to see how full the battery is, remotely. But it also allows unlocking of the doors via your phone, remote heating or cooling of the cabin, and remote start of the car, which is an amusing gimmick.

So what is it like to drive? It doesn’t sound as Jetsons-like as some electric cars we’ve driven, but it’s very refined, comfortable and - best of all - normal and easy to drive. And you can forget any milk-float jokes, because while you might not be worrying Porsches in a traffic light grand-prix, flick the Volt into power mode, and there’s more than enough accelerative shove to out-run today’s petrol-powered cars of a similar size.

If this truly is the future of the car, then we’re impressed. GM really seems to be letting us have our cake and eat it. Not only will the average person be driving on electric power, most of time (barely spend any money on fuel). But they’ve removed the worries and constraints involved in driving an electric car. The interior experience and ownership benefits the digital elements of the car provide are the icing on the cake. So forget the long mused about idea of an Apple “iCar”, the car for the digital era has arrived: it’s called the Volt.

Tags: Car And GPS Eco cars Eco Chevrolet Chevrolet Volt

                                                     

Chevrolet Volt hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 12:55:00 +0000

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Verizon iPhone Release Gets Dated Down To The Hour

Nothing much to see here folks. Just a bunch of people foaming at the mouth over, to them, the most anticipated phone (ever)�moving to a similar, but different network, their network. With tensions so tight, someone had to let people know down to the hour just when they should keep hitting their browser's refresh button.

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Will Elop Choose the Future (Linux) or His Past (Microsoft) for Nokia?

Nokia's CEO who is a former Microsoft president suggests he might switch to another operating system

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First taste of Honeycomb: Android 3.0 user interface preview

Google has released an early preview of the Android 3.0 software development kit (SDK). Android 3.0—codenamed Honeycomb—introduces Android's new tablet user interface, which is expected to officially debut next month on Motorola's Xoom tablet. Developers will be able to use the SDK preview to get a head start on updating their applications to support the tablet form factor.

The SDK also offers Android enthusiasts an early look at the new tablet user interface. It includes a partial Android 3.0 environment that runs in the Android emulator. Due to the emulator's glacially slow performance, however, we weren't really able to get an accurate feel for the responsiveness of the interface. The following screenshots highlight some of the major characteristics that differentiate Honeycomb's tablet interface from Android's conventional smartphone interface, but keep in mind that it's still just a preview build for developers and might not accurately represent what the platform will look like on an actual product.

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