Nokia rails against "proprietary" Ogg

Nokia has joined Apple in calling for a change in the video code requirements for HTML 5. Specifically they want the W3C Working Group to drop the requirement that browsers and devices support the Ogg video and audio codecs.

In a Position Paper, Nokia states that the Vorbis audio and Theora video codecs are not the open, free formats that their advocates claim them to be.

On the contrary, the paper's author, Stephan Wenger, describes Ogg as a proprietary technology: "the recommendation of the Ogg technologies [is] based almost exclusively on the current perception of them being free," he says.

Ogg and its codecs are open-source projects, and widely believed to be free of the patent restrictions that mean anyone using the more popular codecs - such as MP3, WMA or AAC for audio - must pay licence fees.

These claims have been disputed, however: an article from <Wired suggests that the Ogg technologies may not be as free from patent litigation as its proponents assume. Certainly it has yet to be tested in court, one reason why manufacturers of portable music players have largely preferred to cough up for license-approved, if not open, standards.

But the draft HTML 5 specification says that browsers and devices "should support Ogg Theora video and Ogg Vorbis audio, as well as the Ogg container format".

Apple, like Nokia an active member of the Working Group, has objected from the start. It does not want HTML 5 to specify any compulsory requirement for a technology that it not widely supported.

Nokia agrees. "A W3C-lead standardisation of a 'free' codec, or the active endorsement of proprietary technology such as Ogg, by W3C, is, in our opinion, not helpful for the co-existence of the two ecosystems (web and video), and therefore not our choice," Wenger says.

Instead W3C should avoid recommending any codec and leave it to market forces to decide. Or it could draw up a list of approved codecs. Nokia shares Apple's preference.

"Considering our requirements, we believe the widespread use of technically competitive, but not necessarily 'free', open standards, such as H.264 for video and AAC for audio, would serve the community best," Wenger says.

Gmail accounts shut down

Google's attempts to fight a network of spammers has resulted in it accidentally disabling a number of innocent Gmail accounts.

Complaints began to flood Google's message boards in the early hours of yesterday morning, when one user noted that when he tried to log in to his account, he got a message informing him that it had been disabled.

The complaints swiftly racked up as more and more users complained of being locked out of their accounts without explanation and having to helplessly watch mail sent to their Gmail accounts bounced back to the sender.

Googleseems to have predominately targeted newer accounts, with one user, RawheaD, noting, "it sounds like this just started today, and right around the same time.

"The same thing happened to me with one of my accounts that I set up less than a week ago. I have four other Gmail accounts that I've had for a while, and they're all working."

Google's response to the complaints has been mixed, with some forum members claiming it has told them the technical difficulty is resolved, and others being informed that it is still being investigated.

However, when questioned by PC Pro, the company responded: "We've been targeting a large network of spammers to keep them out of the Gmail system and accidentally disabled access to some other accounts. We've restored access to these accounts. We know how important Gmail is to our users, so we encourage them to report any issues to the Gmail Help Center."

Microsoft stops crippling "pirated" copies of Vista

Microsoft stops crippling "pirated" copies of Vista

Microsoft has revealed that it will stop stripping features from copies of Windows Vista that it doesn't deem "genuine", in a notable change to its anti-piracy policy.

Vista currently enters "reduced functionality mode" if the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) validation determines that a copy is counterfeit. Microsoft now says it will take a gentler approach with the release of Vista Service Pack 1.

"Although our overall strategy remains the same, with SP1 we're adjusting the customer experience that differentiates genuine from non-genuine systems in Windows Vista and later in Windows Server," says Microsoft corporate vice president, Mike Sievert. "Users whose systems are identified as counterfeit will be presented with clear and recurring notices about the status of their system and how to get genuine.

"They won't lose access to functionality or features, but it will be very clear to them that their copy of Window Vista is not genuine and they need to take action."

Microsoft's softening stance is surprising, given the success of Vista's anti-piracy features. The company claims Vista's piracy rate is less than half that of XP's, adding about 5% to Microsoft's operating system revenues.

However, the WGA system has been beset by problems, such as the case earlier this summer where thousands of legitimate Windows owners were wrongly deemed to be running pirated software, leading to their systems being effectively crippled.

Battling the pirates

Microsoft insists it's not making life easier for pirates. Service Pack 1 will include two new patches that address counterfeiting exploits.

"We currently see two primary types of exploits pirates often use to generate counterfeit versions of Windows Vista," reveals Sievert. "One is known as the OEM Bios exploit, which involves modifying system files and the BIOS of the motherboard to mimic a type of product activation performed on copies of Windows that are pre-installed by OEMs in the factory.

"Another is called the Grace Timer exploit. This exploit attempts to reset the 'grace time' limit between installation and activation to something like the year 2099 in some cases. Implementing exploits involves extreme alterations to key system components and can seriously affect system stability," he says.

Microsoft says it will check its new anti-piracy don't cause any further problems for customers. "We want to ensure that through this program, we maintain a great customer experience, and to do so, we will go after pirates and counterfeit software in a way that minimises any disruption to our genuine customers," Sievert claims.

Rumour control: Nvidia GeForce 9 in February 2008

High end 65nm chip is alleged to support DirectX 10.1

The beginning of next year looks set for the next generation of high-end graphics cards, with ATI launching its dual-chip Radeon HD 3700 X2 cards and, so the rumour goes, Nvidia bringing out its next generation GeForce 9 series of GPUs in February.

Like the new Radeon HD 3800 chips, DigiTimes says that the GeForce 9 series will support DirectX 10.1 and Shader Model 4.1. The site claims to have spoken to graphics card makers over in Taiwan, who say that the first chip will be codenamed D9E, and will be a ‘high-end product that adopts 65nm manufacturing.’ The site’s sources also said that a mid-range 55nm GeForce 9 part, codenamed D9P, will be released later in June 2008.

We’ve seen very little action in the high-end graphics arena since Nvidia completely misjudged its spoiler for ATI’s Radeon HD 2900XT launch with the overpowered GeForce 8800 Ultra. Instead, the last few months have seen the main focus shift to mid-range graphics cards, such as the GeForce 8800 GT and Radeon HD 3850.

Nvidia refused to comment on the story, simply saying that 'we do not comment on unnanounced products or rumours.'

OCZ introduces 8GB RAM kits

Overkill or just what the doctor ordered?

The 64-bit era could slowly start to become a reality, as OCZ now thinks it’s worth introducing 8GB memory kits for ‘workstations and advanced gaming systems.’ The OCZ2P8008GQ kits feature four 2GB sticks of PC2-6400 memory with 5-4-4-18 timings, and will only be useful for those using 64-bit operating systems, as 32-bit operating systems can only access a total of 4GB of RAM.

OCZ’s vice president of technology development, Dr Michael Schuette, admitted that ‘to have eight gigabytes of memory available in the system may sound like overkill for the average user.’ However, he added that ‘in any mega-tasking environment the requirements for system memory can skyrocket and easily break the 4GB boundary.’

OCZ claims that the Quad Kit ‘is ideal for enthusiasts, professionals, and DIY system-builders using Windows® Vista™ as their choice operating system that require the performance of high-speed memory. As the ultimate upgrade for hardcore gamers, the latest DirectX-10 PC titles require large amounts of memory to deliver the most stable system performance and maximize game play.’

Samsung develops world’s fastest memory – GDDR5

New graphics memory promises lower power consumption and data transfer at six gigabits per second

We’ve only seen a handful of graphics cards using GDDR4 memory so far, but Samsung is already on the case with the next generation of GDDR5 memory, and claims that it’s already sent samples out to the ‘major graphics processor companies.’

Of course, Samsung isn’t the first company to start sampling GDDR5 memory. Both Hynix and Qimonda also announced similar parts in November, but Samsung’s memory has gone one step further by offering a data transfer rate of 6Gb/sec, over the standard 5Gb/sec. As such, Samsung is boldly claiming that it’s offering ‘the world’s fastest memory,’ and says that it’s ‘capable of transmitting moving images and associated data at 24 gigabytes per second.’

As well as increasing the bandwidth, GDDR5 memory also has comparatively low power requirements, and Samsung claims that its memory operates at just 1.5V.

Samsung is currently sampling 512Mb GDDR5 chips (16Mb x 32), and Mueez Deen, Samsung’s marketing director for graphics memory, said that the memory ‘will enable the kind of graphics hardware performance that will spur software developers to deliver a new level of eye-popping games.’ However, we may have to wait a while before GDDR5 becomes widespread. Samsung estimates that the memory will become ‘the de facto standard in the top performing segment of the market’ in 2010, when the company says it will account for ‘more than 50 percent of the high-end PC graphics market.’

Intel copied us, says head of AMD

AMD's CEO, Hector Ruiz, says that all the all the major recent innovations have come from AMD, while Intel is ‘trying to catch up’

Intel might have started the whole silicon microprocessor thing in the early days of computing, but AMD’s chief, Hector Ruiz, reckons that AMD’s been responsible for all the recent innovations in the chip industry.

Talking to Gulf News, Ruiz said that ‘If you look at the last five years, if you look at what major innovations have occurred in computing technology, every single one of them came from AMD. Not a single innovation came from Intel…so I would say that Intel is trying to catch up with us in that respect.’

The last five years has seen the introduction of AMD’s infamous AMD64 architecture, which kicked Intel’s power-hungry NetBurst architecture where it hurt and led to Intel sheepishly introducing EM64T instructions to its processors. It’s also seen the introduction of the first ‘native’ quad-core AMD products, while Intel is still sandwiching together two dual-core chips to make a quad-core CPU.

Meanwhile, Intel’s forthcoming Nehalem architecture promises an integrated memory controller, which AMD has had since 2003, and Intel is also promising processors with integrated graphics, which AMD has already announced with its Fusion technology.

That said, 64-bit desktop computing has yet to become widespread, and Intel’s Core 2 Quad processors are dramatically outperforming AMD’s Phenom chips. AMD’s AMD64 architecture may have been ahead of its time, but Intel’s Core 2 has proved that you don’t necessarily need an integrated memory controller to make the fastest chip.

Is Intel copying AMD, or would it have come up with these ideas anyway, and is just pacing itself more sensibly? Let us know your thoughts.

Via The Inquirer

Top 10 PC games chart for 4th December 2007

4th December 2007 by Ben Hardwidge

No change in the top 5, but Final Fantasy gets knocked out of the chart altogether and World of Warcraft: Battle Chest re-enters the chart

Despite all the hype surrounding Crysis, both Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Football Manager 2008 have held on to the number 1 and number 2 positions respectively this week. Interestingly, Unreal Tournament III is still stuck down in fourth place too. Who'd have thought that Football Manager 2008 would beat Crysis and UT3 in sales, even several weeks after its release?

See this week's top 10 below:

01 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (No change)
02 Football Manager 2008 (No change)
03 Crysis (No change)
04 Unreal Tournament III (No change)
05 The Sims: Bon Voyage (No change)
06 The Sims 2 (Last week: 12)
07 Championship Manager 2008 (Last week: 9)
08 Need for Speed: Pro Street (No change)
09 The Orange Box (Last week: 10)
10 Sim City: Societies (Last week: 6)

There have been a couple of notable changes in the top 20 too, with the World of Warcraft Battle Chest boxed set re-entering the chart at number 15. Interestingly, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men has risen two places to number 13 too, proving that it's resisted the controversy surrounding the rumoured sacking of GameSpot's editor Jeff Gerstmann after he gave the game an average review.

Meanwhile, Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess has been knocked out of the chart altogether, while World in Conflict has snuck back in at number 20.

See the rest of the chart below:

11 Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance (No change)
12 Gears of War (Last week: 14)
13 Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (Last week: 15)
14 The Complete Collection of The Sims (Last week: 16)
15 World of Warcraft: Battle Chest (New entry)
16 Medieval II: Total War (Last week: 19)
17 Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties (No change)
18 Empire Earth III (Last week: 13)
19 Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (Last week: 18)
20 World in Conflict (New entry)


Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, © 2007 ELSPA Ltd

Hands on with Zalman's 3D Trimon monitor

We've spent a week staring into the next dimension with Zalman's incredible 3D TFT screen - read on for our impressions

Along with the words ‘starring Robin Williams’ and ‘a heartfelt comedy’, ‘in 3D!’ used to be the line on a film poster that would strike fear into one’s heart. Technical limitations 3D visuals became little more than a fad, fit only for the back of a box of Frosties. The kind of novelty 3D illustration – technically termed anaglyptic images – seen on breakfast cereals usually requires glasses with red and blue lenses and lots of patience. It’s a somewhat sad state of affairs considering a usable 3D PC screen seems a rather distant prospect.

You can imagine our surprise then when Zalman announced it would be making a range of 3D TFT screens. Even given consumer grade 3D imaging’s ropey reputation, the fact Zalman is best known for its coolers and cases meant the news came out of the blue. Our scepticism grew when we were offered the chance to check out hand-built early samples screen in the summer at the Computex show in Taiwan and they proved to be extremely temperamental and incapable of generating a decent sense of 3D space.

However, that has all changed – we’ve had a production sample of Zalman’s Trimon ZM-M220W, the company’s 22in widescreen 3D screen, in our labs for the past week and it’s a remarkable piece of kit. It’s certainly not perfect, but the sense of 3D space and depth it creates is genuinely impressive, particularly in games such as World of Warcraft. Everyone who dropped by the CPC lab and saw it in action was surprised and, it’s not hyperbole to say, amazed by its abilities.

There are, of course, some downsides, limitations and quirks. While the Trimon doesn’t rely on anaglyptic images to produce 3D images, you do still need to wear special glasses in order for its 3D powers to affect you, as it works using a technique known as stereoscopy. This involves showing the viewer two offset images, which the viewer’s brain then interprets as being single scene with depth. The Trimon achieves its stereoscopic effect with polarized glasses that work in tandem with two polarizing filters on the surface of the monitor itself. The two polarizing filters are orientated at right angles, as is the filter in each lens in the pair of glasses; the lenses’ filters then only allow light of similar orientation to pass through, which is how the system presents each eye with a slightly different picture. Your brain then does the rest of the work and you see a 3D image.

Unlike with anaglyptic glasses, the combination of polarizing filters and glasses preserve the colour integrity of the image on screen, so as well as creating the impression that you’re seeing 3D, the shapes you see retain their original tones, which certainly helps make the image more convincing.

Aside from needing special polarizing glasses, Zalman’s technology has other limitations. While games don’t have to be written to support 3D, creating the 3D image isn’t totally up to the hardware – you also require a stereoscopic version of the graphics card driver. Only Nvidia provides one, and at the moment, the most advanced version is based on ForceWare 91.31. This means you’re limited to GeForce 7900 series cards and earlier, and Windows XP only. Stereoscopic support is supposedly being added by Nvidia to a new driver, which will support GeForce 8-series cards, but this is currently being planned to be Vista only. 3D in games only works when the game is running at the screen’s native resolution. For the ZM-M220W this can be a problem, as this is 1,680 x 1,050, and widescreen support isn’t implemented in every new game released. Furthermore, 91.31 dates from June 2006, and being eighteen months old means it lacks support for new titles – a problem when each game requires a custom profile to tune the stereoscopic effect to work best.

This means that while older games such as Painkiller and World of Warcraft respond brilliantly and enable the Trimon to create a freakishly realistic approximation of true depth, in more modern titles such as Call of Duty 4 and Colin McRae: DiRT, the driver and monitor couldn’t create a 3D feel.

In addition to games, the Trimon also supports 3D movies, but unlike with games, these need to have been shot with dual cameras to support stereoscopic 3D. Zalman provided us with a demo AVI file which showed off the potential admirably, with a floating fish that seemed to swim out of the screen.



As the Trimon uses two polarizing filters placed in front of a standard LCD panel, you can turn the stereoscopy effect on and off using hotkeys. When it’s disabled and you’ve dispensed with the glasses, the screen looks very similar to any other high-end LCD with a glossy black coating. When it’s on, to the viewer without glasses, the screen looks incredibly blurry – because it’s essentially showing two different images, overlaid with each other. Multiple viewers can see the image as it’s very tolerant in terms of horizontal viewing angles, although all viewers must be at the right eye height. Sit too high or too low and the polarizing glasses won’t be able to filter the light correctly.

As you’d expect, the Trimon doesn’t come cheap, but it’s not ludicrously expensive. Two models are being sold in the UK, the 22in ZM-M220W which we tested, at £429.98 inc VAT, and a 19in ZM-M190 for ££349.99 inc VAT. Both are available from Quiet PC and YoYoTech. It’s certainly a product we’re going to be keeping our eyes on – if Nvidia can sort out a new driver, then the future for three-dimensional graphics will be bright.

For more info, see Zalman's product page

Crysis

You emerge behind the outcropping of rock and sprint unseen through the dense foliage, right under the noses of a North Korean patrol. Your nanosuit winks out of stealth mode and into the visible spectrum as you chuck a grenade toward a watchtower. Trees bend back from the force of the explosion and the tower crumples forward, spilling out its screaming occupants. Soldiers cry out. Machineguns burst from all sides, bullets shredding tree trunks and rattling against corrugated metal fences. You trigger your super strength and leap ten feet high into the enemy compound, crashing through the rotted ceiling of a garage as alarms blare. Jets streak by overhead, chased by antiaircraft fire. Bomb blasts illuminate the other side of the harbor with dome-like explosions while thick smoke pours from overturned vehicles. As you trigger your stealth mode back on and glide silently toward a machinegun nest, you can't help but admire the colors of the sunset over the distant ocean...

Every couple of years a PC game comes along to push the envelope at any cost. Crysis is this year's landmark. Players are treated to one incredible vista after another, and as the game progresses, it continually ups the ante for visual spectacle. Crysis serves up dynamic gameplay in a lush environment, but it comes at a cost: you'll need a whopper of a PC to run it, and even powerful PCs will want to stick to 1024 resolution to keep a solid framerate. If your rig can handle this beast -- and if you don't mind the sometimes frustrating nature of an unscripted, open game -- then Crysis definitely delivers on its promise.

A nighttime raid. Vistas like this are common in Crysis. You'll decide how you want to cross the road and assault the fortification across the bay.

When Superheroes Attack

Despite the realistic near-future setting and familiar arms, Crysis isn't a military simulation. At its heart this is a superhero game, where the main character is armed with the latest in high-tech equipment. Your nanosuit -- the star of the show -- allows you to be invisible, to be super-fast, to be super-strong, or to be virtually bulletproof. Here's the catch: you can only use one power at a time, and they all have limited energy. Choosing which powers to use in every situation is the heart of the gameplay.

For the most part the powers are excellently balanced. Each has its drawbacks and situations where it's appropriate to use (any power, improperly used, will drain your suit's energy and shut off). The only exception is super strength, which isn't terribly useful in most scenarios. Sure, you can punch through a wall or leap over a fence, but we were really hoping to be able to do things like picking up an enemy vehicle and tossing it into a building like a toy.

Stealth, on the other hand, is absolutely essential. Gamers looking for an all-out action game may be disappointed to learn that stealth is at the core of Crysis. You are always outnumbered. Fortunately, stealth is brilliantly implemented: While standing still, your suit can stay invisible almost indefinitely. But the moment you start moving, your energy drops... fast. The gameplay that results is absolutely pulse-pounding. You'll dart from cover to cover, stealing moments wherever possible to recharge your suit. While standing still, enemies will walk right past you, unaware you're pointing a shotgun at their head.

The enemy soldier AI in Crysis may not be brilliant, but it definitely supports this style of gameplay. Soldiers don't passively wait around in small groups for you to pick them off. If there's a disturbance, they'll rush to investigate. If they find a body, they'll pull out their weapons and start fanning out to investigate the area. If you lie low, they'll eventually relax, and soon enough they'll go about their business: lounging around, smoking, taking a leak...

Even if you activate the bulletproof ability, you won't survive a direct enemy encounter very long with half a dozen guys firing assault rifles at you. So you learn to pay attention: you watch where guys are facing, you look for opportunities to pick people off, and you use dirty tricks to take them out (stealth + shotgun is a riot). Which dirty tricks you use are up to you. That's what makes the gameplay so satisfying.

These guys have no idea you're eavesdropping from just a few feet away.

Every Field is a Fortress

Much like Far Cry before it, Crysis features large open areas with enemy installations scattered about. In practice, each one plays out like a little open-ended puzzle. First, you get to a good vantage point and do some recon: by using your binoculars, you can "tag" enemy soldiers so that they will show up on your radar, along with their alert level and which direction they're facing.

After doing a little research, you can decide how to tackle the problem. Steal a truck and do an all-out assault with a mounted machine gun? Snipe the patrols from a distance? Stealth your way into the heart of the base and make hit-and-hide shotgun attacks? Or simply sneak past the base and ignore it completely? The decision is all up to you. Your choices have consequences -- soldiers might call in backup or even bring in a helicopter for support.

This style of gameplay has advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, you feel like an absolute badass. You're an invisible angel of death, silently stalking your prey, defining how you want each encounter to play out. But this kind of unscripted gameplay can also be frustrating -- unlike heavily scripted games that walk you from one set-piece battle to another, there's no guarantee that any encounter will play out in a satisfying way. Sometimes you die... a lot. Sometimes you waste a lot of time in a place that isn't interesting. You have to play Crysis with the understanding that not every encounter will have a spectacular payoff, but it's worth it when the stars align.

Immense Spectacle

In addition to the open gameplay, Crysis serves up some of the most intense spectacle ever witnessed on a PC. Sure, the jungles are beautiful and the physics of the explosions are terrific. But as the game progresses the sights take on an even grander scale. You'll be in the midst of a massive tank battle, jets will be flying overhead, helicopters will be exploding and whirling to the ground, and as if that wasn't enough, in the distance a mountain will explode. Halfway through the game U.S. forces launch an all-out assault on the island from a nearby aircraft carrier, and you've got front-row seats for every ounce of shock and awe.

The backstory of Crysis involves U.S. and North Korean forces contesting an island where a strange alien technology has been unearthed. Without giving too much away, you'll eventually explore the alien vessel from within -- in zero gravity no less -- in a series of levels that are completely disorienting. Most games would've climaxed right there, but Crysis continues beyond that to depict absolutely insanity, from aerial evacuations to tornadoes to (as seen in previews) an alien assault on an aircraft carrier. Crysis continually tops itself with sequence after sequence unlike any other game before it.

Unfortunately, the last few areas lack the open-ended freedom of the initial levels, and feel a lot more linear. Crysis loses a bit of its freshness here, but at least the first two-thirds of the game are immensely replayable.

Trouble in Paradise

Our playthrough of Crysis' single-player was immensely stable, with one exception -- a bug right at the climax of the game might cause your weapon not to lock-on to its target properly, bringing an incredible experience to an immediate crashing halt. We eventually finished the game by going back to a previous save and replaying the entire ending sequence, but it's a shame that players might encounter a showstopper at such a critical moment.

We were blown away by the visuals but we also had the hardware to handle it... sort of. Our main testing rig was an Alienware Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66MHz, with 2GB memory and a GeForce 8800 GTX. Even running as low as 1024x768, our framerate was usually solid but dipped on some intense scenes. If you want to crank the resolution beyond that you'll likely notice more slowdowns, which may disappoint a lot of hardware junkies who have otherwise killer machines. We recommend checking out the Crysis demo to see what kind of performance you can expect.

Again, it's worth noting that the open nature of Crysis means the gameplay can be hit-or-miss. Take the wrong approach to a level and you might find yourself getting killed over and over again. Even within the GameSpy headquarters our different editors all had different experiences. But if you've got a powerful enough system and the patience to work your way past some rough patches, the dynamic gameplay and spectacular visuals can lead to some of the most memorable gaming moments of 2007.

The "Power Struggle" multiplayer mode is a great deal of fun, but watch for those twitchy vehicles.

Multiplayer Goes Nuclear

Crysis features solid multiplayer, although it's a little rough around the edges. Players can opt for the deathmatch-style "Instant Action" mode, but the real heart of the online game is the "Power Struggle" game. There, two teams opt for control of a map. Capturing spawn points or weapons factories will help your team advance or bust out the big guns, but the special prototype factory building is the most important. Your goal is to capture the factory, power it up by holding power nodes scattered around the map, and use it to create uber-weapons (such as tanks with tactical nukes or alien singularity guns) that will destroy the enemy base with suitably spectacular devastation. Individual players will need to buy their own equipment, Counter-Strike-style, so you won't be able to buy things like helicopters or rocket launchers until you've proven yourself on the battlefield.

Multiplayer works great but for a few glitches. Vehicle movement is stuttery; it's far too easy to get run over by a friendly tank when you're trying to step up into the secondary turret. Only about half of the servers online are running the Punkbuster anti-cheating measures, and players seem to have discovered an unlimited nuke cheat for the non-Punkbuster servers. There's definitely a lack of polish compared with the single-player game.

But on the whole the Power-Struggle mode plays great. Tension builds as one team claws its way across the map, there's always a panicked scramble as the nuclear-armed tank rolls out of the factory, and the maps feature plenty of places for combinations of outdoor vehicular slaughter or indoor nanosuit gunfights. There may be better multiplayer PC games this year, but for Crysis the online play is just icing for the single-player cake.

Crysis pushes the envelope in the graphics department and experiments with some freewheeling gameplay. The end result may not be a perfectly polished game experience, and it might require a monster system to really appreciate, but it's hard to fault a game for pushing so far past the bleeding edge. Crysis puts some incredible things up on your PC monitor, and underneath that beauty is some enjoyable gameplay. This is definitely one of the landmark PC games of 2007.

Facebook Backs Off On Tracking Tool

Saying it went too far in its pursuit of profit, the popular Internet hangout Facebook Inc. is allowing its 55 million users to permanently turn off a new marketing tool that tracks their activities at other websites.

The privacy control, announced in a Wednesday apology by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, will likely limit the reach of an application called 'Beacon'. The tool is part of a month-old program that the Palo Alto-based startup had hailed as an advertising breakthrough.

Facebook users attacked Beacon as a flagrant violation of privacy. The tool enables Facebook to track users' purchases and actions at dozens of websites and then broadcast the data on the pages of their listed friends within its social network.

"We've made a lot of mistakes building this feature, but we've made even more with how we've handled them," Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook's blog. "We simply did a bad job with this release, and I apologize for it."

Empowering users to block Beacon entirely "is big step in the right direction, and we hope it begins an industrywide trend that puts the basic rights of Internet users ahead of the wish lists of corporate advertisers," said Adam Green, a spokesman for the advocacy group MoveOn.org.

More than 65,000 Facebook users signed a petition that MoveOn organized against Beacon.

Critics remain worried that Facebook and other popular websites will deploy increasingly sophisticated technology to shadow Web surfers' activities in an attempt to tailor advertising more and more specifically.

"The move to allow users to turn Beacon off entirely may restore a small measure of control to Facebook's members, but it is by no means an adequate safeguard for ensuring privacy protection on this and other social networking platforms," said Kathryn Montgomery, a professor at American University.

Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, promised to continue to press US and European regulators to examine Facebook's "significant privacy problem."

Matthew Helfgott, a college student user who was irritated last month when Beacon alerted him about a gift his girlfriend had bought him, was more forgiving.

"I can understand why (Facebook) wanted a program like this, but I didn't like the way they went behind everyone's backs doing it," said Helfgott, 20. "I just hope they learned from their mistakes and do a better job telling their users about important changes like this in the future."

Although outrage over Beacon attracted widespread attention, it apparently did not drive people away from Facebook – the Internet's second largest social network behind News Corp.'s MySpace.com.

It's the second time in 15 months that Zuckerberg, 23, has fended off a privacy-rights backlash. Last year, after Facebook introduced its 'news feed' tool that tracked changes to users' profiles, it was swamped with complaints. In response, it added a way to turn off the feature. Those news feeds are where the Beacon-generated referrals now appear.

Facebook tried to quell the rebellion against Beacon by revising it so the information gathered was shared only when users specifically gave permission. Previously, consent was assumed unless users declined, but many said they never saw the notices that appeared for 20 seconds and then vanished.

But opposition remained among some users and privacy rights activists because Beacon continued to gather information about users' behavior even when they weren't logged into Facebook.

Now, when users turn off Beacon, Facebook will not store anything about their activity on other sites, "even when partners send them to Facebook," Zuckerberg pledged.

World's Toughest Cell Phone on World Tour

For those rugged, outdoorsy, always-dropping-their-mobile folks, here's what could truly be a godsend. A US-based telecom company called Sonim Technologies has recently launched what it claims is the 'world’s toughest' GSM mobile phone.

The phone, called the XP1, is apparently engineered and certified to withstand shock, water, wind, dust, dirt and extreme temperatures. It sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? To set such doubts at rest, the phone is currently on a world tour that began in Sweden.

Tests are being conducted by the company, which has invited journalists, bloggers etc. from around the world to show the versatility and endurance of the phone.

The company offers a three-year warranty on the phone and a lifetime warranty for the phone housing, with immediate in-store replacement if necessary. Apart from its apparent indestructibility, the XP1 is also equipped with Bluetooth and Push-To-Talk.

Image Source: Webitpr

"The Sonim XP1 is designed with the demanding user in mind, and will fulfill the requirements of a large number of Russian users," said Johan Bergstrom, Senior Director at Sonim Technologies. "As it will also work in very low temperatures, it will be the best choice in several Russian regions. The XP1 is also the only IP-52 classified water/dust-resistant GSM handset commercially available in Russia."

I do have my doubts, considering the video of a car running over the XP1 didn’t seem particularly convincing. There are other videos of 'stress' tests, but till it comes in for a test at our lab, I shall continue to remain skeptical about the World's Toughest Cell Phone.

There's no word on the price, or when (should I say IF?) it's going to be launched anywhere in our vicinity.

Now iSync Can Synchronize iTunes Wirelessly

iPhone users are in for a treat. Mac developer Francisois has managed to integrate a wireless synchronization solution in iSync, a native iPhone app that allows you to synchronize contacts, calendar items, bookmarks, music and photos between a Mac and an iPhone. And now, you will also be able to synchronize iTunes wirelessly.

Here are some excerpts from his site:

A new version of iSync for iPhone/iPod Touch has been released. For those of you who have been holding out on running iSync, this is the time to do it. This version is probably the most major release yet, and implements more features and fixes than the last three releases combined!

1. iSync is now packaged in an installer. No need to worry about Finder.app being on the desktop anymore, all files are now in your Applications directory inside the folder "iSync".

2. Battery life enhancement is no longer forced. Users can now choose to keep openssh running by unticking the relevant checkbox in iSync. With the use of Toggle (provided), users can easily switch to battery life enhancement, disable iSync altogether, re-enable it, or completely uninstall everything.

3. iSync will store your previous settings (Sync dirs etc) so that if you ever need to reinstall using iSync or uninstall using Toggle, the fields will be filled in for you, making it a one-click procedure.

4. Along with 300 more bugfixes (okay, not 300, but if Steve Jobs can lie, why can't I?)

He also says, "...I've reached a breakthrough that has allowed me to synchronize my own iPod Touch over wi-fi with an older version of iTunes. This is good news, but using an older version of iTunes is not the solution as it required a good bit of hacking and hex editing, including making changes on the iPod that could be considered seriously dangerous. I am working on getting iTunes 7.5 support..."

Nokia Unveils Two New Headsets

At the Nokia World event in Amsterdam, the company unveiled two new stereo headsets – the WH-700 and the WH-600.

The WH-700 is an in-your-ear style headset that offers the option of three different ear cups. This lightweight device has easy call management and volume control. It’s widely compatible, thanks to the inclusive adapter for standard 3.5 mm connectors.

WH-700

The Nokia WH-600, on the other hand, is a headband-style headset. It also comes with standard 3.5mm adapters, so it can be used on some newer models.

WH-600

The WH-600 will cost an estimated Rs 3765 (65 EUR) without taxes, while the WH-700 will cost around Rs 2896 (50 EUR) without taxes. The two new devices are expected to be available globally in January 2008.

Nokia Offers Free Music For One Year

Nokia has become quite generous with its latest offering called ‘Comes With Music’. What that translates to is simply this – buy a phone, get free music for a year.

At its annual event in Amsterdam, Nokia unveiled its latest program that enables people to buy a Nokia device get a year of unlimited access to millions of tracks from a range of great artists – past, present and future.

Once the year is complete, customers can keep all their music without having to worry about it disappearing when their subscription is over. What’s the catch? We don’t know yet.

"We set out to create the music experience that people are telling us they are looking for," said Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Multimedia, Nokia. "Music fulfills our dream to give consumers all the music they want, wherever they want it, while rewarding the artists who create it."

The program will launch with Universal Music Group International, and Nokia is in discussion with other major international labels as well.

Universal Music Group International Chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge was at Nokia World to launch the program. "We feel it's an innovative way for people to discover and enjoy new artists, while at the same time having access to the amazing depth of the Universal catalog. 'Comes With Music' allows our artists to reach new audiences in a very easy and affordable way,” he said.

Lotus Elise Sports Racer

Loaded Lotus raids the options list - and gets all stripey

Like the parka and meat pies, it seems that skunk-like, full-length body stripes are fashionable again. Whatever car they're stuck to they're 'LOOK AT ME!' loud, but somehow they seem more appropriate affixed to a low-slung sports car like the Elise than a hot hatch. Be-striped Elises are nothing new - we've already had the Type 25 (green with yellow stripes) and the Type 23 (white with green stripes) - but the limited edition model pictured here, the Sports Racer, is of particular interest because it is being launched simultaneously with the revised 2006 Elise 111R on which it is based. This means it features new seats and LED rear lights, revised instrument markings and pedal box, and Yokohama rather than Bridgestone rubber. Also, for the first time, the regular 111R is being offered with the option of LTC - Lotus Traction Control - which the Sports Racer model has as standard.

This goes some small way towards justifying the Sports Racer's list price of ΂£31,995, some ΂£4000 more than the 111R. LTC costs ΂£395 on the standard 111R, while the Sports Racer also comes with both the 'Sport' and 'Touring' packs (΂£1495 and ΂£1995 options respectively), hardtop (΂£1295) and lightweight forged alloys (΂£1380, and a saving of 1.2kg per corner). That's ΂£6560-worth of options, not including the stripes... How much of this you actually need to enjoy the Elise is questionable, but the Sports Racer (also available in blue with two fat stripes) gives us our first chance to try the revised car on its new tyres and with traction control.

It seems curious that Lotus has chosen to develop a simple traction control, even though the Toyota-powered Elise has anti-lock brakes and therefore most of the sensors required to facilitate a full stability control system. LTC modulates the engine's output to rein-in wheelspin, which is partly why the new pedal box has been specified - the throttle is now an electronic drive-by-wire design. The new pedal arms are steel rather than aluminium (saving weight, against expectations), and their positioning and action has been modified for reduced travel, improved feel and to make heel-and-toe downshifts easier.

The pads that your feet find are still aluminium, so as you slip into the driver's seat, little appears to have changed. Even the new 'ProBax' seats seem much like the old but are, in fact, designed to support the seated spine in a natural way, promoting long-distance comfort and alertness through better blood-flow. The Elise is the first car to use this new design and, after much testing, Lotus is so convinced of its value that it has specified the ProBax seat for all its models. A positive side effect is that the seat itself is lighter because the pump and bladder that adjusted the lumbar support on the previous seat are no longer necessary. Having the car for just 24 hours, during which we had to bag all our photographs, precluded an extended drive, but the Elise certainly felt comfortable.

Look more closely at your surroundings and you'll notice that, race-car-style, the new tacho markings compress the first 3000rpm of the needle's sweep into the same-sized segment as each 1000rpm that follows, emphasising the upper reaches where the high-revving 1.8-litre Toyota engine does its best work.

The Sport Pack that comes as part of the Sports Racer package brings uprated Bilstein dampers and stiffer Eibach springs, and their effect is certainly noticeable. The regular 111R is a notch firmer than the Rover K-series-powered version and the Sports Pack suspension adds a further degree of firmness.

The Sports Racer feels taut right from the off, jiggling over the imperfections of typical A- and B-road asphalt and falling all-of-a-piece for cambers and dips. This feeling that all four wheels are firmly attached to a stiff platform never quite leaves you, but there is an athletic suppleness that's apparent once the pace is up, almost as if there's a pre-loading that's overcome by commitment.

Any changes in characteristics and performance brought about by the new, snappily titled Yokohama Advan Neova AD07 LTS tyres are subtle. There's perhaps a little more steering weight and feel at low speeds, but the same deft lightness at pace; an almost 911-like flavour with the nose light and tail heavier.

During our limited time with the Sports Racer the roads were helpfully greasy and, later, plain icy. On surfaces slick with the sort of emulsion that coats winter roads after a few days without rain, the traction control is quite busy, and subtly effective, but you can't help thinking that the Elise coped pretty well without it. The high-revving 189bhp Toyota engine doesn't develop a troubling amount of low-down torque (although we felt that the engine was a fraction more energetic low-down than we recalled, even if Lotus claims no improvement) and any excess would simply bleed away as mild, easily managed wheelspin on the 111R. On a straight but cambered icy road, LTC prevents the back end slithering sideways by more than a few degrees - just enough to let you feel the conditions. And the conditions tell you that with little weight pinning the front tyres to the road, you don't really want to be able to gain too much speed.

The Elise chassis is remarkably well balanced and it's an absorbing car to drive even moderately briskly. It's a compliment to say that pushing the rather cheap-looking LTC button to disable traction control doesn't feel like taking your fate in your own hands - you're already on the ball, sensitive to what's happening at each corner. Maybe at high speeds it offers a degree of protection in extreme situations, but we didn't have the time or facilities to investigate this. It's interesting to note that the optional torque-sensing limited slip differential (΂£995) cannot be specified without LTC.

As mentioned, the 2006 111R gets the new ProBax seats, pedal box, instrument markings, LED tail-lights and Yokohama tyres. The limited edition Sports Racer, of which there will be just 199 (100 for the UK) is simply a higher-spec, more sportingly firm Elise with very neatly applied stripes and, for those who were considering some of the option packs, a not unattractive price. An Exige, with most of the 2006 upgrades, is ΂£2K less, though. Fashion has its price.

RATING Full equipment list Fulsome price

SPECIFICATIONS Engine: In-line four, 1796cc, 16v Max power: 189bhp @ 7800rpm Max torque: 134lb ft @ 6800rpm 0 - 60mph: 5.2sec (claimed) Top Speed: 150mph (claimed) Price: £31,995 On sale: Now

Lotus Elise

Tokyo show 2007: Quicker Elise announced

Supercharged Elise shown at Tokyo, and news of the 2+2 Eagle

Different rear spoiler and new wheel design help distinguish the Elise SC from lesser versions

Lotus unveiled a supercharged Elise at the Tokyo show, sporting a 217bhp version of the engine from the Exige S.

The Elise SC, as the new model has been named, lacks the intercooler found in the supercharged Exige, but thanks to a number of other changes, including a smaller rotor pack for the supercharger, power is down just 1bhp on the Exige S’s figure. Losing the intercooler and its accompanying pipework results in an 8kg weight saving in the engine installation while also ensuring there is actually a view through the rear window!

Lotus claims the SC will take just 4.4sec to hit 60mph (0.3sec slower than the Exige S) before going on to a top speed of 150mph. The new model will be priced at £32,550 – exactly two grand cheaper than the Exige S.

What was not trumpeted at Tokyo is what we can expect to see next from Lotus. In the inner sanctum of the company’s stand, CEO Mike Kimberley updated us on Lotus’s next milestone: the unveiling of the Lotus Eagle at the London motor show next July.

‘It’s a two-plus-two tourer with a transverse, mid-ship V6 from Toyota, with whom we’ve had a 28-year relationship,’ revealed Kimberley, referring to Lotus’s first link with the Japanese giant, when the troubled Eclat became, with some Toyota componentry, the excellent Excel. ‘There will be seven variants, including a convertible and a paddle-shift transmission, and the price will be competitive, between £45,000 and £48,000.’

Lotus Elise S

Return of the entry-level Lotus Elise, now with Toyota power. For road use this could be the best Elise to date...

Elise S uses the same suspension settings as more powerful R

Imagine the consternation at Lotus when the long-term implications of the Chinese takeaway of Rover dawned - no more K-series. And no more K-series would mean no more entry-level Elise.

Since the arrival of the Elise S2, the base model was never a big seller, but as a way of attracting punters into the showroom, the prospect of being able to buy an Elise 'from around £24K' was much more appealing than 'with prices starting from around £28K' as they have been recently with the Toyota-engined Elise R (née 111R).

Replacing the K-series is no easy job - it's compact, light and offers good performance for its capacity - but fortunately much of the groundwork had already been done. With all the mounting and transmission issues already sorted for the 1.8-litre Toyota VVTL-i unit used in the R, it made sense to return to Toyota to power the new Elise S.

Not that the engine in the S is a detuned version of the motor from the R. In fact, it's not even the same engine, despite being nearly identical in capacity. As well as having variable valve timing and lift (hence the VVTL-i moniker), the '2ZZ' 1.8 in the Elise R also has MMC (metal matrix composite) bore liners and is built by Yamaha. The engine that goes into the Elise S is the 1ZZ, built by Toyota, and has cast iron cylinder liners, a different crankshaft, pistons and rods, and a cylinder head that provides variable valve timing, but not lift (VVT-i). It's probably best not to mention that it's essentially the same engine that powers the Corolla...

As installed in the Elise S, the 1ZZ gives 134bhp and 127lb ft; not massive outputs, yet sufficient in a car with a kerb weight of 860kg. In four of the five forward gears the Elise S has to hand (the R has six) the rev-limiter cuts in at 6800rpm, but in second gear the limit is raised slightly, reducing the all-important 0-100kph time by removing the need for another time-sapping gearchange. The 0-60mph figure is a creditable 5.8sec, and is how Lotus hopes to persuade potential buyers that the S is a serious sports car compared with possible rivals such as the MX-5 or Audi TT convertible.

Different engines they may be, but compare the power graphs of the S and the R and they trace very similar lines until 6000rpm, when the R's variable valve lift unleashes a sudden torrent of extra horsepower. So up to that point you might expect the driving experiences to be similar, especially as the torque curves also keep fairly close company. Strangely, though, that isn't the case.

Subjectively, the S seems to offer more robust performance, helped along by a slightly fruitier exhaust note. Although its torque peaks at 4200rpm, it pulls convincingly from as low as 2000rpm and gives the impression that you don't have to rev it mercilessly to obtain satisfying performance. If you've spent time in an R you'll be disappointed to reach 6000rpm and not have the engine go manic, but on the other hand, if you've experienced a regular K-series-powered Elise you'll revel in the fact that the engine still feels and sounds exuberant and well-mannered at this engine speed and that there's another 800rpm to go.



Not having to chase the extra kick provided by the R's motor is actually pretty liberating - finding a long enough stretch of tarmac to delve beyond 6000rpm to hit that hyper zone can be frustrating. Freed from this angst in the S, you can concentrate on enjoying the sublime chassis; it's like being back in an original Elise, where the pleasure in going fast in it had nothing to do with power.

Trackday fans are likely to crave the extra punch that the R gives, but for road use I'd hazard that the S is the best Elise to date.

RATING Power isn’t everything Except maybe on the track

SPECIFICATIONS Engine: In-line 4-cyl, 1794cc, 16v Max power: 134bhp @ 6200rpm Max torque: 127lb ft @ 4200rpm 0 - 60mph: 5.8sec (claimed) Top Speed: 127mph (claimed) Price: £23,995 On sale: Now