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Sony announces new smaller and lighter Playstation 3

Gaming
News

Andrew Edney

-

Sep 19, 2012

Sony announces new smaller and lighter Playstation 3

Sony Computer Entertainment today announced the new PlayStation 3, featuring a new design and a downsized form factor, will become available in the UK on September 28^th and October 12^th. The new PS3 will come in two models, a 500GB Hard Disk Drive (HDD) version (launching September 28^th), and a newly added 12GB flash memory model (launching October 12^th).

Completely redesigning the internal design architecture, the internal volume and weight of the new PS3 is reduced by more than half compared to the very first PS3 model with a 60GB HDD, and by 20 % and 25% respectively compared to the current PS3. By adopting a sliding disk cover, the new PS3 continues with the characteristic sleek curved simple body design, which fits various places in the home and enables users to enjoy an array of entertainment content.

With the extra HDD capacity which has been extended from 320GB and 160GB, users can store and enjoy more and more entertainment content including games, music, photos, and video on the new PS3. In addition, the new PS3 with 12GB flash memory offers opportunities to experience the world of PlayStation at an affordable price point. Users can also expand the storage capacity of the new PS3 with 12GB flash memory by connecting a dedicated HDD (250GB) to be released concurrently with the new PS3. In addition, a variety of accessories will be introduced by SCE to meet various kinds of needs from users including a vertical stand that offers more flexibility in how the new PS3 can be displayed.

Since the launch of PS3 in November 2006, the number of Blu-ray based titles has reached more than 3,300 titles and downloadable PS3 games to 4,100 titles worldwide, with the support from a broad range of third party developers and publishers. In addition to this extensive software title line-up, exciting and attractive new titles are to be released from third party developers and publishers as well as SCE Worldwide Studios, including Call of Duty Black Ops 2 (Activision Publishing, Inc.), Assassin’s Creed III (Ubisoft Entertainment.), FIFA 13(Electronic Arts Inc. ), PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, LittleBigPlanet Karting, God of War: Ascension (Sony Computer Entertainment), and more.

SCE will further accelerate the expansion of the PS3 platform which is in the 7th year of its lifecycle, by continually releasing a vast library of exciting and attractive software titles and offering users a choice from a variety of hardware models.

Specifications

PlayStation 3 (CECH-4000 series)

Product name		PlayStation®3
Release date		UK: September 28^th, 2012 (HDD 500GB) October 12^th , 2012 (Flash Memory 12GB)
Product code		CECH-4000series (Charcoal Black / Classic White)
CPU		Cell Broadband Engine™
GPU		RSX®
Audio output		LPCM 7.1ch, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD, AAC.
Memory		256MB XDR Main RAM, 256MB GDDR3 VRAM
Storage size		CECH-4000A : Flash Memory 12GB CECH-4000B : HDD 500GB^*1
Inputs/ Outputs^*2	Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0)	2
Networking		Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) × 1
		IEEE 802.11 b/g
		Bluetooth® 2.0 (EDR)
Controller		Wireless Controller Bluetooth®
AV output	Resolution	1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i (for PAL 576p, 576i)
	HDMI OUT connector^*3	1
	AV MULTI OUT connector	1
	Digital out (optical) connector	1
BD?DVD?CD drive (read only)	Maximum read rate	BD × 2 (BD-ROM) DVD × 8 (DVD-ROM) CD × 24 (CD-ROM)
Power		AC 220 – 240, 50/60Hz^*4
Power consumption		Approx. 190W
External dimensions (excluding maximum projecting part )		Approx. 290 × 60 × 230 mm (width × height × length)
Mass		Approx. 2.1kg ^*5
Included ^*6		PlayStation®3 system × 1 Wireless Controller (DUALSHOCK®3) × 1 AC power cord × 1 AV cable × 1 USB cable × 1

*1 Hard disk capacity calculated using base 10 mathematics (1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes). System software versions 1.10 and later calculate capacity using binary mathematics (1 GB = 1,073,741,824 bytes), which will display lower capacity and free space. A portion of hard disk capacity is reserved for system administration, which varies depending upon system software version, and is not available for use.

*2 Usability of all connected devices is not guaranteed.

*3 “Deep Colour” and “x.v.Colour (xvYCC)” defined by HDMI ver.1.3a are supported.

*4 Power changes depending on countries or regions.

*5 PS3 with flash memory 12GB weights approximately 2.0kg

*6 For certain regions, Euro-AV cable will be included.

Note: This product is not compatible with PlayStation®2 games.

Vertical Stand (CECH-ZST1J)

Product name	Vertical Stand
Release Date	UK: September 28^th, 2012
Recommended Retail Price	UK: TBC
Product code	CECH-ZST1
Included	Vertical Stand ?CECH-ZST1? × 1
External dimension	Approx. 120 mm x 17.5 mm (diameter × height (thickest part)
Mass	Approx. 200g
Supports	CECH-4000 series

* The “Vertical Stand” is for the new PS3 system (CECH-4000 series) and cannot be used on the current model.

Dedicated HDD(250GB) for PlayStation 3 (with attachment) (CECH-ZHD1)

Product name	Dedicated HDD (250GB) for PlayStation®3 (with attachment)
Release date	October 12^th, 2012
Recommended Retail Price	UK: TBC
Product code	CECH-ZHD1
Included	HDD 250GB ?CECH-ZS1? × 1
External dimension	Approx. 88 mm x 18 mm x 260 mm (width × height × length)
Mass	Approx. 115g
Supports	CECH-4000A

* The “Dedicated HDD(250GB) for PlayStation®3 ” is for the new PS3 system (CECH-4000A) and cannot be used on the other models.

Pre-order Halo 4 for some really cool bonuses

Gaming
News

Andrew Edney

-

Sep 19, 2012

0

Pre-order Halo 4 for some really cool bonuses

The excitement for Halo 4, one of this year’s most anticipated games keeps building as participating retailers are now offering exclusive pre-order bonuses for fans – ahead of the worldwide launch on 6^th November.

“Halo 4” marks the return of legendary hero Master Chief, named by Fast Company as “one of the most popular characters in gaming history,” and aims to set a new standard for blockbuster interactive entertainment. Set four years after the events in “Halo 3,” Master Chief returns to confront his destiny and face an ancient evil that threatens the fate of the entire universe. Developed by 343 Industries, “Halo 4” marks a new beginning for the landmark entertainment franchise that has sold more than 40 million games worldwide and inspired multiple New York Times best-selling novels, live-action shorts, comic books, action figures and apparel.

The following exclusives are now available from the following outlets:

· GAME: Downloadable Blue Circuit Armour Skin, Arctic Weapon Skin and 6 specialisations for use in Halo 4 “Infinity” Multiplayer experience

· HMV: Downloadable Locus Helmet, Purple Spartan Warrior Armour and Xbox LIVE Unicom Avatar Armour (if ordered in-store)

· Tesco: Halo 4 T-shirt and Downloadable Black Raptor Armour Skin

· Amazon: Downloadable Gold Web Armour Skin, Bulletproof Emblem and Spartan Emblem

· Blockbuster: Downloadable Xbox LIVE Spartan Warrior Avatar

· Play: Downloadable Deadeye Helmet

· Shop2net: Downloadable Assassin Emblem

· Grainger Games: Downloadable Red Pulse Armour Skin

These Halo 4 exclusives are available by pre-ordering the game now from participating retailers, while supplies last. For additional information on the Halo 4 pre-order bonuses, please visit http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/Marketplace/Product/Halo-4/BuyNow.

Microsoft Announces Azure Online Backup Add-in for Server 2012 Essentials

Jim McCarthy

-

Sep 19, 2012

3

Microsoft has announced an online backup add-in for Server 2012 Essentials that adds Azure capabilities. Read on for details.

Microsoft has announced an add-in for Server 2012 Essentials that adds the capability of cloud backups using Microsoft’s Azure service. Here is the blog post:

Today I’m happy to announce that we released the Windows Azure Online Backup Integration Module for Windows Server 2012 Essentials!

This module allows you to more easily configure and manage Windows Azure Online Backup from within the familiar Windows Server 2012 Essentials Dashboard to provide a seamless backup and restore experience. The integration module complements your traditional local server backup (where the data is backed up to an on-premises external drive) by using the Windows Azure service to protect critical data on the server in the cloud.

What is Windows Azure Online Backup?

Windows Azure Online Backup is a cloud-based backup solution that enables server data to be backed up to and recovered from an off-premises datacenter (the cloud) to help protect against data loss and corruption. To reduce storage and bandwidth utilization, Windows Azure Online Backup performs block-level incremental backup. To increase security, the data is compressed and encrypted before leaving the server. To learn more about the specific features of Windows Azure Online Backup, see the Windows Azure Online Backup blog post.

Let’s get started

To get started with Windows Azure Online Backup and Windows Server 2012 Essentials:

On the Windows Server 2012 Essentials Dashboard, navigate to the HOME page, and then select the ADD-INS category.

In the ADD-INS category, select Integrate with Windows Azure Online Backup from the task pane. Read the description, and then click the Integrate with Windows Azure Online Backup task to launch the Windows Azure Online Backup subscription page.
You need to manually add https://activedirectory.windowsazure.com/ and http://download.microsoft.com/ to the Trusted sites of Internet Explorer.

You can easily get started with a free preview of the Windows Azure Online Backup Service account, which comes with 300 GB of cloud storage.

Sign in to the Windows Azure Online Backup portal and download the integration module for Windows Server 2012 Essentials to your Essentials server.

Double-click the installer file to install the software on the server. Make sure your Internet connection is available when installing the software.

Follow the wizard to install the add-in. After the installation wizard successfully finishes, restart the Dashboard.

Start a backup now

After the integration module is installed, a new navigation page is added to the Dashboard. If this is the first time that you have installed Windows Azure Online Backup on your server, you will see a UI similar to this.

To register your server, click Register under Step 1 to start the Register Your Server Wizard. To register the server, in addition to your Windows Azure Online Backup account and password, you also need to provide a pass phrase for encrypting the data.

After registration is complete, click Configure under Step 2 to start the Configure Online Backup Wizard, in which you choose which folder to back up online. We recommend that you back up server folders that contain critical data, as well as file history from critical client computers. Next, specify the backup schedule, retention policy, and bandwidth usage. After these simple steps, your configuration is complete.

After you complete these steps, the landing page should look like the following screenshot.

Can’t wait to start a backup? Let’s do it! In the task pane, click Start backup now. The backup will start in the background, and you can switch to the Backup History tab to view backup progress and status.

Time to restore

After your first online backup completes, you can rest assured that the critical data is backed up in the cloud. According to the schedule that you configured, automatic online backups will be performed to incrementally back up every change you make to your critical data.

If your local data is ever lost or corrupted, you can select the Restore files and folders task to get the data back from the cloud. Follow the steps in the Restore Files and Folders Wizard to select the desired backup and locate the files or folders you need to restore, and then with a few clicks, your data is restored to the local server.

That’s it!

It’s great to see Microsoft adding an Azure backup add-in to Server 2012 Essentials! If you’ve loaded Server 2012 Essentials, check this out and let us know what you think!

Microsoft Blog Post on Azure Add-In

ioSafe Announces the N2 Private Cloud

Storage & NAS

Jim McCarthy

-

Sep 19, 2012

2

ioSafe® has announced the N2 Private Cloud product, and has tapped Indiegogo to commercialize it. Read on for details.

ioSafe®, well known as a firm that makes fireproof and waterproof storage products, has announced their new personal cloud product, the N2. In order to raise funds to commercialize it, they have tapped Indiegogo. First off, here is a little bit about ioSafe:

About ioSafe

Like an aircraft black box for data, ioSafe provides rugged, fireproof, waterproof hardware and data recovery services as a cost-effective way for both businesses and consumers to protect critical and irreplaceable data. ioSafe is a privately held company with headquarters in Auburn, Calif. For more information, visit www.iosafe.com.

And now the announcement of the N2:

ioSafe^® Announces the N2 Private Cloud: a Disaster-Proof Network Attached Storage Solution to be Crowd-Funded via Indiegogo

AUBURN, Calif., September 18, 2012 — ioSafe^® aims to tackle data vulnerability and security in the private cloud market with the ioSafe N2, a disaster proof network attached storage (NAS) appliance powered by Synology^® DiskStation Manager (DSM) aimed at the SOHO, SMB and Remote Office Branch Office (ROBO) markets.

The ioSafe N2 will provide end users with a disaster plan straight out of the box while enabling them to maintain complete ownership of their data and total control over how it is secured, accessed and backed up. The N2 is designed to provide all the benefits of the private cloud with fast local transfer speeds and none of the security risks and privacy issues associated the public cloud.

The high performance 2-bay N2 will provide up to 8TB of storage capacity and be equipped with a 2GHz Marvel CPU and 512MB memory. The N2 will use redundant hard drives as well as ioSafe’s patented DataCast, HydroSafe and FloSafe technologies to protect data from loss in fire up to 1550°F and submersion in fresh or salt water up to a 10 foot depth for 3 days.

“We’re excited about the partnership with ioSafe. The collaboration will set new standards for reliability in NAS servers. Protected by ioSafe’s technology, the award-winning Synology DiskStation Manager builds secure private clouds for users, allowing them to share and synchronize data around the world” says Vic Hsu, CEO of Synology Inc.

“The 2-bay personal storage NAS market has experienced significant growth from 2009 to 2011, with shipment CAGR just over 128%, almost 8x that of the total Personal & Entry Level Storage Market” says Liz Conner, Senior Research Analyst of IDC. “To take advantage of the growing NAS market, ioSafe has introduced the N2, which offers security and disaster recovery to vulnerable private clouds without the WAN bandwidth limitations or costs associated with the public cloud. The N2 expands ioSafe’s portfolio, giving ioSafe a solid foothold into the personal storage NAS market.”

“As a privately held small business, Indiegogo allows us to jump past typical startup funding models and rapidly accelerate this ambitious product to market,” says Robb Moore, ioSafe CEO. “The N2 is a game-changer for anyone who demands absolute control, security and speed to manage terabytes of critical business data or precious digital pictures and videos. At the end of the day, you are the only one that truly hurts if your data is lost or compromised – nobody else cares as much about your data as you.”

The ioSafe N2 will begin shipping during January 2013 and will be available in capacities up to 8TB. Introductory pricing for the ioSafe N2 diskless version will start at $599.99. Like ioSafe’s other products, the N2 will be backed the ioSafe Data Recovery Service and No Hassle Warranty.

For additional information about the N2 and ioSafe’s Indiegogo project visit: http://www.indiegogo.com/iosafe.

This is a very interesting product. ioSafe has partnered with Synology, who contributed the DSM NAS firmware and web apps, and with the ioSafe-trademark physical security, they have come up with a unique and compelling product. Check out the Indiegogo site for more details.

Here is an interesting video from the founder that discusses the N2 in detail:

Archos 101 XS tablet video review

Tablets & Slates

Dan James

-

Sep 19, 2012

2

This week, we’ve had the Archos 101 XS tablet to play with. We’re not sure whether it’s pronounced “ten point one” or “one oh one”, but it doesn’t matter because this thing is amazing. It’s an Android 4.04 tablet (upgradable to 4.1) with a specialisation for audiovisual media. It can still do everything any other Android tablet can do – mail, browsing, apps, widgets, Angry Birds… – but excels at playing video and music.

I talk about it

If you want to have a close look at the tablet’s features and see it in use, then spend a few minutes watching this video review.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XT0dmp0oK0?rel=0%5D

I was extremely impressed by the Archos-specific features. It streams video very nicely from a NAS media server, with very little initial buffering, if any. The drag-and-drop or multiple-select file manager makes it a breeze to move files from a network share onto the device to take with you. The video and music browsers make connecting to SMB and uPnP network shares very easy, and the browsing interface is nice and slick. The battery life seems excellent – Archos say it will do 7 hours of video, and I tested it for two hours and it certainly looks that way – more than enough for a long journey (or a box set of your favourite show).

Vital Statistics

Width x Height	273 mm x 170 mm
Depth	8 mm (13mm with cover)
Weight	600g (800g with cover)
Display	10.1″: 1280 x 800 MVA
Application Framework	Android 4.0.3 “Ice Cream Sandwich” upgradable to 4.1 in Q4 2012
Capacity	Flash Memory: 16GB* + micro SD Slot (compatible up to 128GB)
RAM	1GB
Processor	Smart multicore OMAP4470 processor @ 1.5GHz (ARM® Cortex™-A9) with a PowerVR™ SGX544 GPU; 3D OpenGL Support

Gold!

CDW award the Archos 101 XS tablet the Gold Award for being brilliant. The XS is out later this week, priced at £299. Order yours now!

Synology Launches DX513 5-Bay Expansion Unit

Storage & NAS

Jim McCarthy

-

Sep 18, 2012

1

Synology Launches DX513 5-Bay Expansion Unit

Synology® has announced a 5-bay expansion unit for their NAS line. Read on for details.

Synology® has announced a 5-bay expansion unit for their NAS line. Here is what they announced:

Seamless, reliable and green capacity expansion solution for DiskStations

Milton Keynes, United Kingdom—September 18, 2012—Synology® Inc. today announced the release of a new 5-bay expansion unit, the DX513, a quick and effortless storage expansion solution for selected DiskStations with hot-swappable drive design aimed at businesses and power users.

As storage drives on Synology DiskStations reach their capacity limits, the DX513 provides an immediate solution to remedy this by scaling up DiskStation storage allowance through an additional five bays. RAID volume expansion can be directly performed by the paired DiskStation without reformatting existing hard drives; this allows continuous service uptime for the paired DiskStation throughout the storage expansion process. Furthermore, DX513 can function as a great alternative local backup solution if created as an independent volume for the paired DiskStation.

DX513 pairs to DiskStations via an eSATA cable with unique connector design on both ends to ensure reliability. Maximum throughput at 3.0 Gb/sec allows DX513 to operate coherently with DiskStation as one single unit.

DX513 is designed with the same energy efficiency concepts as Synology’s DiskStations, with hard drive and system hibernation modes that can be configured to operate automatically when the system has been inactive for a period of time. DX513 can also automatically power on/off with paired DiskStation, so no user intervention is required to keep the system running intelligently and efficiently.

A supported device that expands your RAID, or can serve as a backup target when mounted as a separate volume, is a nice addition to the Synology® product line. It connects to your NAS using esata.

This item is not yet available on Amazon.Com or NewEgg, but lists for £412.23 on Amazon.Co.UK.

DX513 on Amazon in the UK

Synology Announces DiskStation DS413 NAS

Storage & NAS

Jim McCarthy

-

Sep 18, 2012

1

Synology® announced the DiskStation DS313 NAS unit. Read on for details.

Synology® announced the DS413 NAS unit, powered by a Freescale Semiconductor’s QorIQ® processor. Here is what they announced:

Synology® Presents DiskStation DS413

Ultra-green, high-performance encryption, and powered by DSM 4.1 wins Computex 2012 Best Choice Award

Milton Keynes, United Kingdom—September 18, 2012—Synology® Inc. today launched DiskStation DS413, a 4-bay NAS server that incorporates the latest technologies to minimise power consumption. It is well-suited for small and medium-sized businesses to centralize data backups and synchronise files across different platforms with minimum time and effort.

“Synology DS413 has emerged as an emblem of eco-friendly design and innovation, providing businesses with energy efficient data management solutions,” said Jones Tsai, Director of Hardware Design at Synology Inc. The DS413’s system hibernation mode is unparalleled within the industry. In this mode, the DS413 consumes merely 3.3 watts, and can be brought back to full operation within seconds via web access using Synology’s state of the art technology. In system hibernation mode, fans and hard drives also come to a halt, creating a completely quiet working environment. A further demonstration of outstanding power-saving design, the DS413 consumes only 13 watts and 35.6 watts respectively during hard drive hibernation and in full operation.

The DS413 is one of the first NAS servers to deploy Freescale Semiconductor’s QorIQ® Processor platform. With 1 GB of RAM, this combination enables best-in-class performance, deep sleep power management, and improved multitasking performance. “The compelling new DS413 product highlights the performance and energy efficiency leadership Synology is driving within NAS markets,” said Bernd Lienhard, vice president and general manager of Freescale’s Networking Processor Division. “Freescale is pleased that QorIQ technology powering the new DS413 NAS server helps to contribute to its impressive capabilities and low power operation.”

DS413 features high-performance encryption from a platform upgrade and a hardware encryption engine that achieves read and write speeds of 46.81 MB/sec and 23.46 MB/sec respectively in 256-bit AES. Non-encrypted performance also impressive at read and write speeds of 111.12 MB/sec and 80.86 MB/sec respectively under RAID 5 configuration. To ensure optimal services uptime, DS413 incorporates advanced reliability technologies including passive CPU cooling, two redundant 92 mm system fans, and hot-swappable drives.

Synology DS413 is powered by DiskStation Manager 4.1 (DSM 4.1), the operating system of every Synology DiskStation and RackStation. DSM 4.1 provides rich features to boost user-productivity and simplify their tasks, all on a sleek interface optimised for multitasking. Synology has received numerous media accolades and DS413 is no exception. It received the Computex 2012 Best Choice Award.

This low-power NAS is aimed at home and small business customers who value the energy-saving features that are onboard. I found this an NewEgg for $529.99, on Amazon for $499.99 and on Amazon.CO.UK for £434.40. Note that both Amazon sites showed the item as out of stock, so keep checking back.

DS413 On NewEgg DS413 on Amazon Stateside DS413 on Amazon in the UK

Final tracks for We Sing 80s game revealed, including T’Pau and Tiffany

Andrew Edney

-

Sep 18, 2012

0

Final tracks for We Sing 80s game revealed, including T’Pau and Tiffany

Following the success of We Sing Pop!, We Sing 80’s is coming in a few weeks and we can reveal the final tracks along with the complete track listing.

The 80s will be remembered for many things – big hair, fluorescent socks and Cabbage Patch Kids, to name but three – but perhaps its most famous export is the music.

Fans of the decade which gave us power ballads, soft rock and some of the most memorable songs ever written are in for a treat this October, as Nordic Games Publishing announces We Sing 80s.

We Sing 80s will feature 30 nostalgic favourites, covering the unforgettable decade’s cult hits and dazzling disco tracks, all of which include the original videos. Each song has its own difficulty rating and can be played in short or full length song modes.

Party mode includes We Sing, Versus, Group Battle, Pass The Mic, First to X, Marathon, Blind and Expert. There’s also Solo mode, which can also be played in Blind and Expert mode. Karaoke mode strips the track of vocals to really challenge players, or those that fancy an authentic karaoke experience.

Other features include Singing Lessons to help singers fine tune their voices and a Jukebox to queue up songs like their own personal music channel.

In-game awards come from playing either single or multiplayer modes, adding further depth and replay value to We Sing 80s. Plus, once a track has been sung, players can replay performances and add cool effects to their voice.

More points come thanks to Star Notes which provides extra points for hitting hard notes and Player Statistics give a detailed breakdown on performance on notes hit and missed with a comment on your performance at the end.

The final batch of songs is:
· Blondie – The Tide is High
· Sabrina – The Boys (Summertime Love)
· Culture Club – Do You Really Want to Hurt Me
· The Bangles – Eternal Flame
· T’Pau – China in Your Hand
· Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Come on Eileen
· Duran Duran – Rio
· Tiffany – I Think We’re Alone Now

The Tide Is High was sung by the ever famous Blondie in 1980, in a reggae/ska style including horns and strings. The chart success of The Tide is High was visible as it soared to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, also reaching number 1 on the UK singles chart. The success of that song could also be remembered by the more recent Atomic Kitten’s number 1 hit.

When Italian singer Sabrina released The Boys (Summertime Love) as her third single it achieved great success as a number 1 single in many countries, including Spain, Switzerland, France and Italy. The Boys (Summertime Love) was so popular that is it was the first single to be released by Sabrina in the UK.

Culture Club had their biggest hit with Do You Really Want To Hurt Me to date as it maintained its number 1 status in the UK singles chart for 3 weeks in October 1982. First released in the US and Canada, lead singer of Culture Club, Boy George provided a smooth voice to go with the Reggae tones of the track.

Eternal Flame was released by The Bangles in 1989. The single was a hit as it reached number 1 in 9 countries, including huge chart success in the UK, US and Australia. The ballad was inspired by two eternal flames, one at the gravesite of Elvis Presley and the other at a local synagogue of which the song writer Billy Steinberg attended as a child.

British band T’Pau sung China in Your Hand and released it as a single in October 1987. The songs meteoric rise to the top of the charts saw China in Your Hand maintain a 5 week stint at number 1. Further single chart success featured the track as number 1 in Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Norway and Switzerland.

Come On Eileen was a standout 80s song by the Dexy’s Midnight Runners and was a number 1 hit in the UK. A drum beat, bass guitar and piano feature in the song throughout making it a catchy dance tune. Come on Eileen’s lyric itself was loosely inspired by the song A Man Like Me by Jimmy James and the Vagabonds, a British soul group in the 1960s.

Duran Duran released the infamous Rio worldwide on 1 November 1982 from its same named album. Rio was a Top 10 hit in the UK and peaked at number 9. The music video symbolised 1980s glamour and excess along with its synthesized instrumental, which is a key feature of the song.

I Think We’re Alone Now by Tiffany was a re-energised version in 1987 taken from Tommy James & the Shondells original. In the UK Singles chart, I Think We’re Alone Now retained its number 1 status for 3 weeks. It was also the 18^th highest selling single in 1987. Number 1 singles chart success featured in countries such as Canada, Ireland, New Zealand Norway and US.

Full Tracklist:

· Blondie – The Tide is High
· Sabrina – The Boys (Summertime Love)
· Culture Club – Do You Really Want to Hurt Me
· The Bangles – Eternal Flame
· T’Pau – China in Your Hand
· Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Come on Eileen
· Duran Duran – Rio
· Tiffany – I Think We’re Alone Now
· Queen – I Want to Break Free
· Toto – Africa
· Frankie Goes to Hollywood – The Power of Love
· Starship – Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now
· The Human League – Don’t You Want Me
· Sade – Smooth Operator
· Lionel Ritchie – All Night Long (All Night)
· Cameo – Word Up!
· Cyndi Lauper – True Colours
· Tears for Fear – Shout
· Yazoo – Only You
· Lisa Stansfield – All Around the World
· Paula Abdul – Straight Up
· Simple Minds – Alive and Kicking
· Baltimora – Tarzan Boy
· Kylie Minogue – I Should Be So Lucky
· Spandau Ballet – True
· Musical Youth – Pass the Dutchie
· Yazz and the Plastic Population – The Only Way Is Up
· DeBarge – Rhythm of the Night
· Smokey Robinson – Being With You
· Roxette – The Look
We Sing 80s will be released on September 28^th. You can check out the full playlist on the Facebook app: http://www.facebook.com/WeSingGame

Below is a short trailer:

Visit the We sing website: http://www.wesinggame.com

Are you going to sing along? Tell us what 80’s tracks you would like to sing to by leaving a comment below.

SkyDrive Adds Recycle Bin and Excel Surveys

Microsoft

Jim McCarthy

-

Sep 18, 2012

0

SkyDrive is adding a recycle bin starting today, and will soon roll out Excel surveys as part of the web apps available. Read on for details.

Responding to requests from students, SkyDrive is adding a recycle bin starting today and will add surveys to the Excel web app. The former is a nice touch, and the latter will make using Excel to gather survey data very easy to use. Here their blog post announcing these changes:

We’ve focused on making SkyDrive the most versatile personal cloud storage service available—spanning file, app, and device clouds. So we appreciate it when reviewers recognize our progress, as with the recent PC Magazine award of Editor’s Choice in cloud storage to SkyDrive.

But our primary measure of success is whether key audiences, like students, use and love SkyDrive. That’s why we sponsored a student collaboration challenge (that received great submissions) and why we shared tips for students to make SkyDrive their cloud backpack. We’re happy to see students increasingly choose SkyDrive and share their stories.

Today, we’re excited to release a new recycle bin feature on SkyDrive.com and to tell you about a feature (Excel surveys) we’ll release in the coming weeks. Note: Due to how we release updates, the recycle bin feature may take up to 24 hours to appear in your SkyDrive. The Excel survey feature lets you easily create online surveys and analyze results using the free Excel Web App or Excel on your desktop. We hope these two new features will further enhance SkyDrive for students and others.

Recycle bin

SkyDrive already keeps previous versions of your Office documents automatically. But students, in particular, have asked for a way to recover any file—even those deleted by accident, by someone else, during a group project. So, we’ve added a recycle bin to SkyDrive.

I’m going to start by showing you how we’ve made deleting files better. Prior to this release, when you deleted anything in SkyDrive you had to acknowledge and dismiss a warning dialog. This extra step got in the way of making delete as fast as it should be. Now, when you delete an item, we simply tell you that we did it and allow you to “undo” your action:

We think this will make deleting even faster and easier. However, if you have deleted something already, from any SkyDrive app, we’re now giving you a recycle bin that will work very similarly to what you’re used to on your PC. You can get to the recycle bin from a link in the bottom left side of SkyDrive.

QNAP Enhances Cloud Storage Backup Solutions

Storage & NAS

Jim McCarthy

-

Sep 18, 2012

0

QNAP added an unlimited Symform and Google Drive options. Read on for details.

QNAP has added two alternatives for cloud storage and backup to their Turbo NAS line, an unlimited plan from Symform and integration with Google Drive. The Google Drive option requires installation of a QPKG package.

Taipei, Taiwan, September 13, 2012 – QNAP^® Systems, Inc. today announced its Symform^® cloud storage backup integration has been upgraded with unlimited cloud storage capacity by trading local storage capacity for cloud capacity, and now includes new Google^® Drive Sync feature. The improved integration of cloud storage services aims to provide QNAP Turbo NAS users with more flexible options for file backup.

QNAP included Symform’s service that provides Turbo NAS users up to 10GB free storage capacity for cloud backup. The new service advances the offering to a free and unlimited cloud backup storage by users’ contribution. Users can expand their cloud capacity by contributing local storage to Symform Storage Cloud™, and in return get additional capacity in the Symform cloud. The cloud storage gained by contribution is unlimited and free, providing more space to store personal files as an ideal backup solution on the cloud. Users can synchronize files between Turbo NAS and the Symform cloud easily for backing up important data redundantly in the cloud.

“We are excited to have thousands of QNAP users in over 50 countries backing-up their NAS data to our distributed, global storage network, and we appreciate QNAP’s market-leading approach to comprehensive data protection,” said Matthew J Schiltz, CEO of Symform. “Through our strategic partnership, we have established a revolutionary, crowd sourced model for backing up NAS data in the cloud, and with our new pricing, QNAP customer adoption will accelerate even further.”

The newly released Google Drive Sync provides an easy solution for synchronizing data between the Turbo NAS and Google Drive. Users can designate a local shared folder in the Turbo NAS dedicated for synchronizing files with Google Drive on the scheduling or manual basis. Any new or modified files stored in the Turbo NAS or Google Drive can be easily synchronized.

In addition to Symform and Google Drive, QNAP Turbo NAS supports other renowned cloud storage providers for data backup and recovery in the purpose of continuous data protection, including Amazon^® S3 and ElephantDrive^®.

“As cloud storage services are widely used nowadays, QNAP has integrated support for the well known and most-used cloud storage services to support the needs of users desiring to leverage cloud solutions for redundant file backup and sync,” said Jason Hsu, product manager of QNAP. “Our users can have greater flexibility in backing up content stored on the NAS,” added Hsu.

Availability

Symform is available for all Turbo NAS models capable of running NAS firmware version 3.5.2 onward.

Google Drive Sync is available on all Turbo NAS units installed with NAS firmware version 3.7.0 onward. To obtain Google Drive Sync, please visit QPKG Center to download.

I’m not that thrilled with leaving my data on someone else’s random system, so the Symform option is probably not for me, but synching with Google Drive might well be a good idea. I’ll check that out soon and report back.

App Update: Twitter app for iOS updated to version 5.0

Apple
News

Andrew Edney

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Sep 18, 2012

0

The official Twitter app for the iPhone and iPad has been updated to version 5.0.

What’s New in Version 5.0

– New Twitter for iPad
– New profiles with header photos
– Photo streams on profiles and events
– Other improvements, polish, and fixes

Download now from the Apple App Store

App Update: Amazon Cloud Player for iOS updated to version 1.2.4

Apple
News

Andrew Edney

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Sep 18, 2012

0

App Update: Amazon Cloud Player for iOS updated to version 1.2.4

Back in June we told about the Amazon Cloud Player app for iOS, but then it didn’t work in the UK, well it’s been updated and now it does.

Your music. Everywhere. Listen to your music collection from the cloud on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad anywhere you are. You can download or stream your library from the cloud – or play the music you already have on your device.

To make your music collection accessible, visit Amazon Cloud Player on your PC or Mac and import your music collection from iTunes or your other folders.

Playing Your Music
• Stream your music from the cloud.
• Download locally to enjoy your music offline – no Wi-Fi or mobile network needed.
• Create and edit playlists.
• Play music in the background, or controlled via lockscreen.
• Use Bluetooth to stream your music in your house or car.

What’s New in Version 1.2.4

– Added support for German and French device languages
– Introduced Cloud Player for UK, Germany, and France

Download from the Apple App Store

Plantronics announce the Voyager Legend headset

Andrew Edney

-

Sep 18, 2012

1

Plantronics announce the Voyager Legend headset

Plantronics have announced a new headset, the Voyager Legend, with a blend of precisely tuned audio, Smart Sensor technology and intuitive voice enabled controls, the Legend is Plantronics’ most user friendly and best sounding headset to date.

The Voyager Legend is the next generation of Plantronics’ award-winning Voyager headset line and has three precisely tuned microphones and enhanced DSP (Digital Signal Processing) that optimize your voice and minimize noise caused by wind, movement, and background sounds. Industry-first Smart Sensor technology intuitively directs calls to your phone or headset and allows you to automatically answer by placing the headset on your ear. The Voyager Legend proactively delivers voice alerts to keep you informed of battery level, connection status and announces caller name. The headset also takes voice commands such as “answer” or “ignore” to keep you in control of your technology.

Usability advances provide convenience and control with dedicated buttons for call answer/end, voice commands, power and mute. Optional accessories, including a battery-powered carrying case for charging on-the-go and a desktop charging stand for when you touch down, ensure your headset is ready for calls.

The Voyager Legend line will include a version designed for Unified Communications (UC) with accessories that make it simple to make and receive calls from your mobile phone or PC. It also incorporates contextual intelligence, taking user awareness to the next level by leveraging user proximity to their PC, updating mobile call state and much more. The Legend UC includes a battery-powered carrying case, a desktop charging stand and a mini Bluetooth USB adapter for PC calling.

Additional Headset Features

Up to 7 hours talk time
Up to 11 days stand by time
Bluetooth v3.0
Wideband audio
Audio prompts include audio caller ID
A2DP for audio streaming
Multipoint technology
Headset battery meter for iPhone and iPad

Plantronics Mobile Apps

The new Find MyHeadset app for Android (Free app on Google Play)
InstantMeeting for Conference Calls (Available for purchase)
Vocalyst Voice and Text Services (Free service for first year)

Pricing and Availability

Voyager Legend will be available in October for €99.99 / £89.99 at Apple and Amazon.com. Voyager Legend UC will be available in January 2013.

We got some hands-on time with one a few weeks ago at IFA and have been testing it ever since, so stay tuned for our review shortly.

Learn more from the Plantronics website

Want a free copy of Borderlands 2? Just jump from the Borderlands 2 bungee crane

Gaming
News

Andrew Edney

-

Sep 18, 2012

13

Want a free copy of Borderlands 2? Just jump from the Borderlands 2 bungee crane

2K Games have introduced the ultimate bid to demonstrate just how psycho a person can be for Borderlands 2 and are inviting all comers to bungee jump for free to win a copy of the game. On Sunday, 23^rd September at Ely’s Yard, Brick Lane, London, all are invited to put their mettle to the test and take the plunge from a specially designed Borderlands 2 bungee crane.

Ben Lawrence, UK PR Manager 2K Games said, “We want to provide an afternoon of extreme fun and discover just how psycho Borderlands 2 fans can get. A bungee jump is the perfect way to truly test your nerves and we’re excited to bring the insane pleasure of the game into the real world!”

Jumps will be operated on a first-come first-served basis and take place between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. at the Old Truman Brewery, London, on 23^rd September.

Borderlands 2 is the sequel to the critically acclaimed four-player cooperative shooter-looter that combined intense first-person mayhem with role-playing game play. Borderlands 2 features all-new characters; skills; imaginative, diverse new environments with unique missions and enemies; and more exciting and fun weapons, equipment and loot than ever before. All of these features come together in a story that takes players to the world of Pandora to take down the notorious Handsome Jack and his corrupt Hyperion Corporation as a solo campaign or with up to four cooperative players.

Borderlands 2 will be available internationally on 21^st September and in North America on 18^th September. Borderlands 2 is rated 18 by PEGI and BBFC. For more information please visit: www.borderlands2.com.

Will you jump for a free copy? If you do, let us know by leaving a comment below.