Solid Snake's OutER REaLm

The Facebook Drama

2009-05-09T15:27:00.000+05:30

Most of us are familiar with facebook and use it very often in our day to day lifes

I am going to write a sad experience of mine with this great social networking website.

I am very addictive user of facebook I post messages to my friends regularly,write on their walls and poke em often.
If thats not enough I share all my experiences from the net on facebook by the share tool they have introduced.

I regularly update my photos and notes.

Now what happened one night was that i was uploading pictures for a new album.The Upload was successfull, only thing which was to be done was to publish it.

I click the publish link and bammm I am logged out of facebook. This doesnt stops me I try to login again but I fail it says incorrect password or email id.

Hmm now what do I do i ask for a reset password request with that done I wait for the mail to come which usually comes in a minute or two.

Waited for 15 minutes still no mail.

Thinking something might have gone wrong I reset my password again but to no help.

Now am afraid If I got disabled or deactivated or worse deleted from facebook.
Which is a nightmare scenario cause you wouldnt want all the stuff on your account to vanish right away.

So I ask My roommate to check for my profile and see if i am still there.

Shocking news I am not there. I cant be searched or found on facebook...

I got angry and sad at the same moment.

After 5 minutes of that bloody rage i figured out i cannot stay without it. And Thought what if my account has been just deactivated and would be reactivated if i sign up again

So like a newbie I goto facebook and sign up for a new account with the same email address as that of the old account.

Now what happened was disturbing I thought my old profile would come back but no it made a whole new account (wtf)

Something really went wrong here.
Well with everything done from my part i decided to get help from facebook
while i was searching for the right email addresses to mail to them.

One Of my friends on the new facebook profile posted me a message why need of a new account your already on my friend list and i say wtf impossible how can that be.

I search myself from the new account and there i am still there with all the stuff as I left. I send a friendship request to my self and get a email notification to it too.
Which meant that my account was active but it was using the same email address.

So Now I log out of my new facebook profile thinking it would magically disappear and when i login back my old account would be presented to me.
But that didnt happen

Googled for other users with same problems and came across getsatisfaction.com and i wasnt the only one with this problems there were countless others too.

I made a list of email addresses of facebook support which was as follows:

abuse+dt17u8y@facebook.com;
comment-info-rt@facebook.com;
info@facebook.com;
abuse+dupdx6x@facebook.com;
affiliations@facebook.com;
login@facebook.com;
privacy@facebook.com;
disabled@facebook.com;
appeals+nr83181@facebook.com;
appeals-comment@facebook.com
warning@facebook.com
abuse@facebook.com
customerservice@facebook.com
admin@facebook.com
administration@facebook.com

mailed to all of them explaining them my detailed situation and giving them links to both the profiles and agreeing to disable my new account as it is against facebook policies to hold two account.

since all this happened on friday night.
I simply got an automated response from the facebook side.

I didnt knew what was going to happen.
I mailed them again and again precisely three four times with my original id and linked id.

Saturday went no response
Sunday went no response
Depressed with what was happening I closed my new account thinking if it would help in gaining my old account back.
But no use it was still the same.

I read a lot of stuff on getsatisfaction.com and came to know that facebook doesnt actually deletes your stuff it keeps it just that it cannot be accesed this is because of some laws and their terms of service.

If this was the case I had some hope that my account wasnt deleted.

On Monday I get a mail from Homer saying that my account is now active and working and apologising for the inconvinience.
I was soo glad to get that mail.

After getting my account back the first thing I did was made back of everything on my facebook
Notes
Photos easy way is to use facepad in firefox as an addon it downloads all the albums by one click

Then came the question of backing up my 2000+ friends how do I do that I cannot export my facebook friends to a csv file.

So there is a facebook app FriendsCSV it backs up the names of your friends and mails it to you.

After going through this I realized that our social networking identities are not completely our own and its better if we have a back up plan for exiting it.

Anyway This was just my experience I got my account back where as some people couldnt sad for em.

All this was a big drama for me but who cares am facebooking again :D

Sony Launches 5 New W-Series Cyber-shots

2008-02-17T14:29:00.000+05:30

Sony’s Cyber-shot W-Series has gained a new look for 2008, with five new cameras that team HD image quality with easy-to-use features. Available in a choice of colors, the new W-Series boasts clean lines and contemporary looks. Inside the all-aluminum case, all five models come with the latest Sony technology.

The range is topped by the 10.1 megapixel Cyber-shot W170 that sports an extra-large, bright 2.7-inch Clear Photo LCD. There’s also a Carl Zeiss wide angle lens with 5x optical zoom. Thanks to its minimum focal length of 28mm (35mm equivalent), zooming out to wide angle lets you squeeze in more of landscapes and group photos without cropping the subject.

The W170 now features Intelligent Scene Recognition that takes the guesswork out of selecting the right camera settings in a range of common shooting situations. In Advanced mode, the camera takes two shots – one with standard automatic settings and the other with optimized settings – allowing you to pick your favorite. Other key features include Smile Shutter, Face Detection and Super Steady Shot optical image stabilization for clearer low-light shooting.

With a resolution of 8.1 effective megapixels, the W150 has the same 2.7-inch Clear Photo LCD as the flagship W170. It also features a 5x zoom Carl Zeiss wide-angle lens, plus Smile Shutter, Face Detection, Super Steady Shot, and Intelligent Scene Recognition.

The W130 also boasts 8.1 effective megapixel resolution, along with Smile Shutter, Face Detection, Super SteadyShot and a 4x Carl Zeiss optical zoom lens. The W120 shares similar specifications but with a resolution of 7.2 effective megapixels.

The entry-level W110 offers 7.2 effective megapixel resolution plus 4x optical zoom, Smile Shutter and Face Detection.

The W120 will be available for about $200 in pink, blue, black and silver in March 2008. The W130 will be offered in pink, black and silver for about $230 the same month. The W150 model will hit retail in sophisticated champagne, red, black and silver for about $250 in April. The DSC-W170 model will also be available around the same time in the same colors for about $300.

Sony Introduces Cyber-shot T300

2008-02-17T14:28:00.000+05:30

Sony has launched the 10.1 megapixel Cyber-shot T300. This digicam boasts the Sony Bionz image processing engine that improves the speed and accuracy of autofocus, exposure control, white balance, color adjustment and other functions. It also boosts sensitivity to a maximum ISO 3200 for successful low-noise shots without flash indoors or in dim lighting conditions.

Improved Face Detection technology can now distinguish automatically between children and adults, adjusting exposure, skin tone and red-eye reduction for great portraits with quick subject tracking.

For even more fun when you’re shooting, Smile Shutter waits until the subject smiles before automatically firing the shutter. It’s great for capturing relaxed portraits of young children who won’t always smile on demand. Used in conjunction with Face Detection, it can be primed to fire the shutter when either a child or adult smiles.

In a Cyber-shot first, the T300 now features Intelligent Scene Recognition that takes the guesswork out of selecting the right camera settings in a range of common shooting situations. In Advanced mode, the camera takes two shots – one with standard automatic settings and the other with optimized settings – so you can pick your favorite.

Other features include the large, widescreen 3.5-inch Clear Photo LCD Plus touchscreen. There’s also a high quality Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens with a powerful 5x zoom range that brings distant subjects closer.

The DSC-T300 camera replaces the DSC-T200 model, and is expected to be available in March. It will ship in red, black and silver finishes, and retail for about $400.

IIT Techfest 2008: Geekiness Galore

2008-02-17T14:27:00.000+05:30

So Techfest 2008 came, rocked, and went. If you had any geekiness in you, here's where you should have let it loose. We experienced firsthand what it feels like to see what geeks are made of. It true Tech2 fashion, we bring you some glimpses of the technology festival.

We went around checking out some of the cool competitions, spoke to some participants, and even grilled some of them.

Students of GCET

Wings, an RC (remote controlled) glider competition, happened to attract quite a lot of curiosity. The rules were simple – build your own plane, then show if it can fly, or glide rather. Interestingly, we learnt 55 (out of 150) participants tried to smuggle ready-made RC planes without any luck.

Lazy Bird

We spoke to some of the guys who made it through the eliminations (none from Mumbai though), and trust me, some serious planning was involved. Some, like the boys from GCET (G.H. Patel College of Engineering and Technology), Gujarat, managed to complete the plane in three days, some like the duo behind the set of wings that came first called "Lazy Bird", underwent months of sleepless nights.

According to Chintan Modi and Gaurang, M.Tech students from NITK, Surathkal in Karnataka, they used Gyros to tackle gusty wind that made the plane to maintain a length of flight of 25.4 seconds. Cool, huh? Well, there is something cooler than this.

Vishan Popat, a 13-year-old student of Navrachana school, Baroda, happened to be the youngest participant in Wings. Apart from building a plane, he also managed to put together a contraption he called the "Solar Updraft Tower". Snobbish, huh? Not really! It's a small plant that can make electricity, capable of making 0.5W/M2 of it, as part of another competition called "My Innovision".

Prison Break

And if you are wondering, yes, we also caught some cool robotics action in a competition called Prison Break. It's a bit strange to find a whole lot of people building machines that can propel themselves out of the prison box. But the gadgetry involved made us happy, so there!

Tech2 Gaming Zone

Maybe you should have junked that PS3 controller and come down to IIT. And hey, they had a Gaming Lounge too, with loads of games, multiplayer etc. Naturally, the Tech2 zone provided some live action on the PS3 and the Wii.

EA expects PS3 to outsell 360 in 2008

2008-02-17T14:06:00.002+05:30

Wii to dominate console sales with Sony's flagship console cementing second place

Electronic Arts has released estimates of what it thinks will be the range of hardware sales in North America and Europe through 2008, and while the Wii unsurprisingly leads, it's the PlayStation 3 that will hold a strong second place.

That will, according to the estimates, be particularly true in Europe, where EA expects the PlayStation 3 to sell between 5 and 6 million units across the year, compared to just 1.5-2.5 million for the Xbox 360.

That means that while the company thinks the two will tie in North America on 4.5 to 5.5 million unit sales, the two sets of numbers combined give Sony's flagship console a compelling 3.5 million lead.

The report predicts the Nintendo Wii will win the year, with a combined total of between 12 and 14 million units sold, while the PlayStation 2 will continue on its long tail drop-off, shifting between 3.9 and 4.9 million units.

That yields a total home console sales estimate for the two regions of between 31.4 and 38.4 million units.

The report also gives estimates for the year's handheld sales as well, noting the company's belief that it expects the Nintendo DS to outsell the PlayStation Portable by over 2-to-1.

According to the numbers the DS should shift between 14 and 16 million units, while the PSP will sell around 6 to 8 million units, giving a combined handheld total for the year of between 20 and 24 million.

Combined console estimates for 2008 are as follows:

Nintendo Wii: 12-14 million
PlayStation 3: 9.5-11.5 million
Xbox 360: 6-8 million
PlayStation 2: 3.9-4.9 million

Combined handheld estimates for 2008 are as follows:

Nintendo DS: 14-16 million
PlayStation Portable: 6-8 million

WD Launches 320GB Passport Essential Drive

2008-02-17T14:06:00.001+05:30

WD has introduced its new My Passport Essential Portable USB Drives. These new drives are redesigned to complement WD's popular My Book family of external drives and seek to introduce a sleek new form that feels good in hand and fits neatly in a pocket or purse.

The drives feature a glossy black finish and come with 320GB of space. Apart from just looking good, they have been equipped with WD’s Sync software, which allows consumers to take desktop content with them by simplifying the synchronization of essential personal files and Microsoft Outlook data on a PC.

"The newly designed My Passport Essential drives are the perfect travel-friendly storage device to hold the rich media content generated by higher resolution photos and HD videos and music," said Jim Welsh, vice president and general manager of WD's branded products group. "The desire to carry and keep digital files close at hand continues to grow, and this new drive offers a sleek and stylish solution with plenty of storage capacity for consumers on the move."

WD's My Passport Essential USB Drives are available now at select retail stores and from WD's online store. The price of the WD Passport Essential USB Drive 320GB is $199.99 (MSRP).

Sneak Peek at Windows Mobile 6.1

2008-02-17T14:05:00.002+05:30

ou might have heard about Windows Mobile 7; and even seen some screenshots that were leaked a while ago. But let’s face it, it may well be a long time coming. In the meantime let's look at something a little more realistic – such as Windows 6.1. And Gizmodo, through the Portuguese tech forum PocketPT, seems to have some new information on what the next step might look like.

Image Source: PocketPT

One new feature is a Zoom function that will allow users to view an entire web page on the display screen. This could be useful for navigation to specific articles or portions on the page that may interest a user. Another feature will indicate how much space is consumed by applications. The latest version is expected to be able to load DOCX and SLSX formats. A new advanced 'Note' feature should allow users to draw and add voice recordings to each note.

Hopefully we’ll learn more at Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress this year. Stay Tuned.

Bose Introduces New Lifestyle HT Systems

2008-02-17T14:05:00.001+05:30

Bose has jumped on to the upscaling bandwagon. The mega audio corporation has just expanded its Lifestyle product line with the introduction of the V30 and V20 home theater systems. According to the press release, the two systems "provide high-quality audio and video from almost all entertainment sources available in the market, including those with HDMI."

The Lifestyle V-Class systems integrate easily with HD televisions and components such as DVD players, cable/satellite boxes, DVRs, MP3 players, and gaming consoles. Each system delivers 5.1 surround sound with the help of five small speaker arrays, a receiver ('media console'), and a subwoofer ('Acoustimass module').

All audio and video sources connect to the media console, which can be hidden away in a cabinet or closet. The included RF remote can control connected sources, and what's more, it's a learning remote.

The Lifestyle V30 includes five award-winning Jewel Cube speaker arrays, which deliver performance rivaling many larger speakers. The V20 system includes five Direct/Reflecting cube speaker arrays. Each system features a horizontal center channel speaker array, which helps to provide clear, focused dialog and balanced surround sound.

Both systems include the proprietary ADAPTiQ audio calibration system, which analyzes and automatically adjusts the system’s sound to the room, speaker location, furniture placement, and listener location. Bose Link, an expansion feature, can extend the music benefits of each system to 14 additional rooms.

The V30 and V20 systems are available in black or white. The V30 will sell at Rs 1,91,138, and the V20 will cost Rs 1,29,263. They will be available in Bose stores and from the company website, starting today

A Gaming PC for Under Rs 55,000

2008-02-17T13:22:00.000+05:30

This quarter is shaping up to be a great one for PC gaming. Finally there are some great single-player titles getting released on what is fast becoming a fading platform. Every single great game seems to have headed over to the consoles.

Thankfully, with recent launches like BioShock and upcoming titles like Jericho, MOH 4, and the big one Crysis, it’s the perfect time to upgrade your aging rig for a more powerful performer.

Of course, an upgrade can mean different things for different users, depending on their purse strings and what they define as acceptable. Another thing to note is the wide disparity in prices across various towns and cities. Keeping these factors in mind, we think the perfect mid-level gaming rig can be yours for Rs 55,000.

Please bear in mind that the amounts we have quoted in this feature are based on Mumbai prices. They have been taken from a wide variety of dealers and are currently prevailing street prices. These are 'non-bargained' prices, so your persuasive sweet-talk could perhaps save you some more cash. So, here we go...

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6550

The recently introduced Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 is a second generation product that's had its FSB bumped to 1333 MHz from the previous FSB of 1066. Priced at Rs 7100, this is the best VFM processor available right now. It has a clock speed of 2.33 GHz and a 4 MB L2 cache.

Motherboard: XFX 650i Ultra

Over the last couple of years, XFX has developed a very good reputation for its graphic cards and its exceptional after sales service. The company recently branched off into motherboards, with the introduction of Nvidia's 680 and 650 chipsets.

As its name suggests, the board we've chosen is based on the 650i Ultra chipset which has native support for the 1333 MHz FSB. The board lacks onboard graphics, but does offer a single PCIe 16x slot, 1 PCIe x1 slot, 8 USB slots, 3 PCI slots, and 4 SATA 2 (3.0 GB) slots. It is readily available at a cost of Rs 5,250.

RAM: Kingston DDR2 667 RAM 2x1GB

RAM prices have recently gone into freefall mode. This is good news for consumers, as it is now possible to buy two sticks of 1 GB very cheaply. This gives your PC a large performance boost, thanks to dual-channel support on motherboards. The perfect brand to go with is Kingston. It offers a five-year warranty and costs Rs 2,500 (1250x2), making it an ideal choice for our rig.

Graphics: XFX 8600 GTS

The XFX 8600 GTS is based on the G80 series of chipsets, which is DX-10 compatible, offers 256 MB of RAM, runs on GDDR3 RAM with a memory clock of 2.26 GHz and a clock rate of 730 MHz. At its price point of Rs 11,500, it's an incredible performer.

We currently have this GPU with us in the lab and are thoroughly satisfied with its performance. We plan to carry a single review along with an ATI vs Nvidia shootout, so you'll see just why we are recommending this card. It's that darned good.

Sound (onboard): HDA Azalia 8 Channel High Definition Audio
Onboard sound has come a long way in recent years. Today's onboard chips are multi-channel capable, and can easily compete with lower-end sound cards like Creative's Audigy 2 ZS. The XFX offers an 8 channel chipset with great audio output for excellent music, video, and gaming experiences.

LAN: Intel Gigabit Ethernet Controller 10/100/1000
This standard Intel Gigabit onboard 10/100/1000 LAN gives a maximum transfer speed of 1000 Mbps. It is fast enough to take care of your broadband internet (most have a connection speed of 256 Kbps or 512 Kbps). Though Gigabit LAN is already present, most home networks are only capable of handling 100 Mbps speeds. Hence, you have the right firepower in Intel's 10/100/1000 LAN.

HDD: Seagate SATA II HDD 250 GB

The cost of hard drives has dropped drastically as well in recent times. Units currently available offer an excellent price advantage if you compare the cost of the drive with its storage capacity. We had to decide between Seagate and Western Digital, and chose to go with the former due to the five-year warranty it offers. The 250 GB is built on the SATA II platform and offers more than adequate storage for all your needs. At under Rs 3,000, the drive is a great bargain.

Optical Drive: Lite-On LH-20A1P

The market for ODDs has become total VFM now. Prices of blanks have dropped to an all-time low. This is one segment where a single company’s lead has remained unchallenged for quite a few years. The brand is Liteon, whose products have come to define and set the standards for others to follow.

Monitor: Viewsonic VG1930WM

Viewsonic is a brand that really needs no introduction. The VG1930WM we have chosen here is a budget 19-inch widescreen monitor with a native resolution of 1440x900, a response time of 5 ms and a contrast ratio of 700:1. One thing that sets it apart from others is the fact that it has native support for DVI-D, which gives much sharper images and allows for richer color rendition.

Keyboard & Mouse: Microsoft Comfort Keyboard 2000 and Microsoft Comfort Optical Mouse 1000
Trying to fit in a dedicated gaming keyboard/mouse combination in our modest budget is quite a tall order. We considered various options and chose this combination as it offers nice ergonomics and a surprisingly good gaming experience. However, if your budget allows it, we recommend that you look at either Razer's products or one of the Logitech combos.

Cabinet: Cooler Master Elite 330 / Cooler Master Extreme Power 600 W

The ideal cabinet for our beast comes from Cooler Master or CM as it’s popularly known. CM offers some of the best PC cabinets and PSUs (Power Supply Units). We chose a mid-size tower with seven expansion slots, two USB ports, and five 3.5 inch bays.

This cabinet ensures adequate cooling via a provided 120mm fan and a front side 120mm fan mount. But it doesn't come with a power supply, so we went in for the Cooler Master Extreme Power 600 W. This provides 600 W of power at 70% efficiency, and comes with full support for the newest Intel standard (ATX V2.01 12W).

Speakers: Altec Lansing ATP3
Altec Lansing makes some great PC speakers that offer an excellent experience for games and movies. The ATP3 2.1 speaker system fits well into our budget, offering above average performance and some features usually found in products twice as expensive. The subwoofer packs a punch and is capable of outputting 18 watts RMS. The speakers are equally well-powered and manages 12 watts RMS.

Specification Table

Components	Model	Price (Rupees)
Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo E6550	7,100
Motherboard	XFX 650i Ultra	5,250
RAM	Kingston DDR 2 667 2x1 GB	2,500 (Rs. 1,250 each)
Sound	Onboard	NA
LAN	Onboard, Intel 10/100/1000	NA
Graphics	XFX 8600 GTS 256 Mb	11,000
Optical Drive	Lite-On LH-20A1P	1,625
Hard Disk	Seagate SATA II HDD 250 GB	2,850
Monitor	Viewsonic VG1930WM	10,500
Keyboard/Mouse	Microsoft Comfort Keyboard 2000 and Microsoft Comfort Optical Mouse 1000:	2,000
Case	Coolermaster Elite 330 with Cooler Master Extreme Power 600 W	8000
Speakers	Altec-Lansing ATP3	2,100
	Total	52,925

What we have built here is a strong starting base for an ideal mid-level gaming machine. With a few more judicious upgrades, you will be able to build a really powerful gaming machine that can easily resist obsolescence for a few years. We plan to keep building and adding features to this machine, over the next few months as this will remain a constant WIP feature.

A Multimedia PC Under Rs 35,000

2008-02-17T13:18:00.002+05:30

Consumers have never had it so good! Since the last time we did this roundup, there have been quite a few changes. The prices for CPUs, GPUs and RAM have all dropped drastically, leading to the availability of some very good products in this price bracket. This is naturally a good thing, as it allows you to build a PC now, which till even a few months ago would have cost at least Rs 55,000.

Please note that in some instances prices and specs have remained unchanged from previous articles. In such cases we haven't changed the relevant text, but carried it forward.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6550

The CPU space is now completely dominated by Intel. Within a price bracket of Rs 6,500 to Rs 11,500 there are 3-4 main offerings and very little to chose between them. This includes both the 65nm 1333 MHz processors (E6550 and E6750) and the new 45nm 'Wolfdale' E8200.

Our first choice was the E8200 which is already available and offers a significant upgrade. However, we ran into a problem – its price is around Rs 8,250. Our strict budget of Rs 35,000 meant we had to rule out this processor. Our next bet was the E6750, which is sadly priced in the same bracket as well. This led us further down the ladder to the E6550, which at Rs 6,950 fit perfectly in our budget.

The E6550, while not being quite in the same class as the E6750/E8200, is a powerful processor in its own right. It runs at a clock speed of 2.33 GHz, sports a 4 MB L2 cache, and is designed to run at 1333 FSB speed. It offers great VFM and is therefore a natural choice. (We're on a budget, hence the compromise. If you can stretch your wallet a little further, simply go for the E8200.)

Motherboard: Abit IP35-E

Abit as a firm needs no introduction. Having been one of the premier OC board makers for a decade now, their products are very reliable and can withstand a lot more stress. The IP35-E is based on the Intel P35 series of chipsets and offers native support for the 1333 MHz FSB. The board lacks onboard graphics, but does offer a single PCIe 16x slot, 2 PCIe x1 slot, 8 USB slots, 3 PCI slots, and 4 SATA 2 (3.0 GB) slots.

RAM: Kingston DDR2 800 MHz (2 sticks of 1 GB RAM Each)

RAM prices have been going further south and it's time to take advantage of this. At least 2 GB of system memory is absolutely vital nowadays with the increased size and requirements of software. Kingston really needs no introduction. The company has been making quality RAM sticks for a long time. Now available with a 5-year warranty, it’s the perfect product for our machine.

Graphics: XFX 8600 GT

This is another section that finds an upgrade. The 8500 GT gives way to the 8600 GT, which is a better card in every respect. The 8600 GT is clocked at a core clock speed of 540 MHz, has 256 MB of VRAM running on GDDR3, and a memory clock speed of 1.4 Ghz. These specs offer a vastly improved gaming experience. For a full specification chart, check out this link.

Sound (onboard): Realtek ALC888
Onboard sound has come a long way in recent years. Today's onboard chips are multi-channel capable, and can easily compete with lower-end sound cards like Creative's Audigy 2 ZS. The XFX offers an 8 channel chipset with great audio output for excellent music, video, and gaming experiences.

LAN: Onboard 10/100/1000
This is the standard Gigabit onboard 10/100/1000 LAN that gives a maximum transfer speed of 1000 Mbps. It's fast enough to take care of your broadband Internet – most users have a connection speed of 256 kbps or 512 kbps.

HDD: Seagate SATA II HDD 250 GB

The cost of hard drives has dropped drastically in recent times. We had a choice between Seagate and Western Digital, and chose to go with the former due to the five-year warranty it offers. The 250 GB is built on the SATA II platform and offers more than adequate storage for all your needs.

Optical Drive: Lite-On LH-20A1P

The market for ODDs has become totally VFM, with prices of blanks dropping to an all-time low. This is one segment where a single company’s lead has remained unchallenged for quite a while now. The brand is Liteon, whose products have come to define and set the standards for others to follow.

The LH20A1P is Liteon's first 20x DVD-RAM drive. It supports 20x for DVD±R, 8x for DVD±R DL, 8x for DVD+RW, 6x for DVD-RW, 12x for DVD-RAM and 48x for CD-R.

Monitor: Viewsonic VA1703WB

This is a 17-inch widescreen monitor that has a native resolution of 1440x900, offers an excellent response time of 8ms, and has a great 500:1 contrast ratio. It is among the cheapest widescreens available and is ideal for our machine.

Keyboard & Mouse: Microsoft Standard Desktop/Keyboard Mouse Set

Microsoft makes some great computer hardware combos, and this set offers a very comfortable working experience. Now available in a wireless edition, it's the perfect solution.

Cabinet: I-Ball i648 ATX cabinet with integrated 400 Watt PSU

This I-Ball cabinet comes with a 400W PSU and is reasonably priced.

Speakers: Creative SBS 370

This has been our favorite for a long time. The best part — it comes with a woofer to give you that thumping bass and offers good sound quality for the price. The satellites are powered at 5 watts RMS each and the subwoofer is powered at 11 watts RMS. However if your budget permits, we suggest you look at the Altec ATP 3 set which is a better 2.1 set and offers significantly more VFM.

Specification Table

Component	Model	Price (Rs)
Processor	Intel C2D E6550	6,950
Motherboard	Abit IP35-E	5,350
RAM	Kingston DDR2 800 MHz (2 GB)	2,200
Sound	Realtek ALC888	N/A
LAN	Onboard, 10/100/1000	N/A
Graphics	XFX 8600 GT 256 MB RAM	5,150
Optical Drive	Lite-On LH-20A1P	1,300
Hard Disk	Western Digital SATA II 250 GB	2,825
Monitor	Viewsonic VA1703WB	8,050
Keyboard/Mouse	Microsoft Standard Desktop Set	695
Case	I-Ball i648 (400W PSU)	1,350
Speakers	Creative SBS 370	1,120
	Total	34,990

Nvidia to Acquire Ageia

2008-02-17T13:15:00.000+05:30

In a move that comes as a bit of a surprise, visual computing technology major Nvidia has decided to acquire PhysX card maker Ageia. PhysX cards (or PPUs as their called) serve the purpose of extending realism by allowing games to simultaneously handle hundreds of 'physics' instructions.

The popularity of these cards can be gauged by the fact that all current-generation consoles (including Xbox360, PS3, and Wii) accommodate this chip. Furthermore, they are sold as standalone cards for the PC and there are over 150 titles that are available that can utilize this technology.

While on paper this move sounds good, it raises a few interesting questions. First off, how quickly will Nvidia integrate PhysX technology on to its own chipsets? Ageia has already licensed out its Physx technology to a lot of game-makers. Post-acquisition, will Nvidia become a 'middleware' provider? How will it affect its current standing with game developers? Only time can tell.

AMD Launches Hardcore Mobile Processor

2008-02-17T13:13:00.002+05:30

If Nvidia thought it would be alone in delivering hardcore handheld devices with high-tech hardware, it will seriously have to reconsider. AMD has also announced an expanded portfolio of products and technologies to enable popular, media-rich applications such as mobile TV, 3D games and high-fi audio, delivering immersive entertainment to tomorrow’s mobile phones and handheld devices. All this was showcased at this year's GSMA 2008 World Mobile Congress.

AMD has enhanced its established line of open-standard handheld device technologies with upcoming AMD Imageon processors, as well as next-generation 3D and vector graphics cores, available for licensing. These new offerings are designed to allow device manufacturers and network operators to support today’s most popular applications, as well as cutting-edge applications that will thrill tomorrow’s mobile consumer.

"Today’s mobile consumers demand devices and services capable of providing outstanding entertainment. AMD is committed to enabling advanced graphical interfaces that deliver the Ultimate Visual Experience on the go," said Adrian Hartog, senior vice president and general manager of AMD’s Consumer Electronics Group. "Our latest handheld technologies allow AMD to better address new and emerging applications, such as 3D gaming and mobile TV, as well as satisfy today’s consumers who crave portable music players and full-function touchscreen mobile phones."

According to analyst firm iSuppli, premium mobile content such as music, games and video is gaining momentum as a key revenue driver for network operators. In fact, mobile content now surpasses messaging as the largest data segment, representing 51 percent of total data revenue.

As a leading supplier of media processors and graphics cores for the handheld market, AMD works with an ecosystem of device makers, software developers, and baseband suppliers to deliver innovative technology solutions that can yield truly immersive mobile content.

The latest technology offerings to broaden the popular family of AMD Imageon processors will include:

AMD Imageon D160 mobile TV solution, a complete hardware and software package that will enable OEMs to design cutting-edge mobile devices that receive over-the-air broadcast TV signals transmitted in the DVB-T and DVB-H standards. This turnkey, antenna-to-display solution also will enable mobile TV functionality to be designed in a USB-powered device for watching live television on notebook PCs, PDAs, portable media players and other USB-enabled handheld devices.
AMD Imageon M210 audio processor is designed to enable a high-definition, fully integrated audio subsystem capable of delivering more than 100 hours of music playback in airplane mode.
AMD Imageon A250 application processor for feature phones will combine the best of AMD’s latest multimedia technology for video recording and playback, photo imaging, and high-res displays while maintaining long system battery life.
AMD Z180 OpenVG 1.x graphics core offers the only available hardware-accelerated native vector graphics solution, ideal for advanced user interfaces, navigational systems and portable devices optimized for animation and Flash-style content.
AMD Z460 OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics core will deliver fully programmable shader models for realistic 3D graphics, designed to revolutionize the mobile gaming experience for portable devices.

The new technology will be available for OEMs and silicon supplier licensees to sample beginning this month. Features enabled by these new products and technologies are expected to start appearing in mobile devices in late 2008 and 2009.

HTC Showcases the P3470

2008-02-17T13:13:00.001+05:30

At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, HTC announced the European launch of the HTC P3470, the latest member of the HTC product portfolio.

It employs TomTom Navigator 6, which claims an intuitive interface, instructions, and call handling. The phone features a 2.8-inch screen and includes a 1GB MicroSD card for mapping and other data storage.

"The HTC P3470 integrates GPS-location into an innovative and high-powered phone that brings location-based experiences to customers looking for power and affordability," said Florian Seiche, Vice President, HTC Europe. "We're very pleased to announce this addition to the product portfolio, continuing our commitment to provide an option for every user."

The HTC P3470 will be available to customers across Europe later this month at a price of €449. The first pan-European operator partner to take the HTC version of the device will be Orange, which will launch the P3470 in the UK, France, Spain and the Netherlands.

And This Year's Winners Are ....

2008-02-17T13:11:00.000+05:30

The just-concluded GSMA 2008 in Barcelona, Spain, served to open consumers' and developers' eyes to the vast array of devices and platforms available. As in the years past, categories for awards this year included Best Mobile Game, Best Mobile Messaging service, Best Billing and Customer and Customer Service... and of course, the one we’ve been anxiously waiting for: Best Mobile Handset.

As expected, the night was quite star-studded, with the presence of writer and producer Isabella Rossellini, Bollywood actress Sherlyn Chopra, and, from the music world, Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am, all of whom were at hand to present the awards.

"As we celebrate 20 years since the foundations for global mobile communication were laid, this year's winners demonstrate not only how far we have come, but also the limitless possibilities of where innovation and inspiration can take us in the years ahead," said GSMA CEO Rob Conway.

I’m very pleased to report that our very own Bharti Enterprise got two distinct awards: the GSMA Chairman's Award (given to Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder, Chairman & Group CEO Bharti Enterprise); and Best Billing and Customer Solution Award (for Bharti Airtel's mChek on Airtel Mobile Payment Service). Brilliant job; way to go Bharti!

The Best Mobile Game Award went to Cellufun's Call of the Pharaoh and Glu Mobile's My Hangman, while the Best Mobile Enterprise Product or Service went to Microsoft, for its Windows Mobile 6.

Finally, the Best Mobile Handset award went to the Sony Ericsson W910i. If you’re shocked, get in line.

K850i vs N82

2008-02-17T13:00:00.002+05:30

I picked the Sony Ericsson K850i and the Nokia N82 handsets for our shootout because both have 5 megapixel cameras with xenon flashes. Please bear in mind that what we’re doing here is simply 'focusing', so to speak, on the camera capabilities of these handsets, and not the entire phone as a whole.

Form Factor
Thankfully, both phones are quick to activate when it comes to turning on the camera. The N82 has a lever for the shutter cover that you can switch on, while the K850i has a key near the shutter release button that switches it on, just as in a digicam.

When it comes to ease of use, I must admit both are quite easy to handle and hold. However, the K850i has an added advantage thanks to some shortcut keys on the keypad for activating a few features. Otherwise I’d be inclined to lean towards the Nokia. The touchscreen feature of the K850i may be a plus point while using the phone but it’s a bit uncomfortable while using the camera.

I also like the K850i’s convenient switch to toggle between video and camera mode and the gallery. The N82 just has a single key that would take you directly to the gallery. I prefer the switch; it makes it feel more like a camera than a mobile.

Camera Features
Let's begin with an option that's very relevant for the average user: white balance. In this instance, the N82 gives you a small preview that adjusts to each setting, whereas the K850i shows the image in the background while the Settings menu blocks the entire screen – which makes it a bit awkward.

Scene mode in the K850i has a small preview of the kind of environment that particular setting would be suited for. While this may be visually attractive, it once again occupies the whole display and looks a bit squashed. The absence of a proper Night mode is quite disappointing but there is a mode for taking images of documents. Prefect for a spy.

The N82 doesn’t have a preview for this mode but what I do like are the tips provided for each setting. These come in handy for a noob who wants to improve his mobile photography. Sadly the N82 doesn’t have a Panorama option, but the K850i does – and performs quite well. The K850i even offers some funny frames to spice up your images.

The K850i has a Timer function (10 seconds) so you can leave the camera and get into the picture. One wouldn't really need more than 10 seconds to get into the frame, but some options would be nice. The N82 in this sense is perfect as it offers delays of 2, 10, and 20 seconds.

The K850i has a BestPic feature that essentially takes multiple shots simultaneously, after which you can select the best of the lot. The good thing about this feature is that the camera is able to capture quite a few images in a very short time.

The Nokia N82 Burst mode is the same as BestPic, but Nokia has multiple settings for the same. You can take multiple images with different time settings, from 10 seconds to 10 minutes or even nonstop till you run out of memory. That'll leave you with an insane number of images to sort through, but you can't say you didn't have a choice!

With regard to effects both cameras have similar options for sepia, black and white, negative etc. But the N82 has a few additional handy features like Exposure Compensation Image Sharpness and an Image Contrast setting. While they may not be absolutely necessary, they do help you achieve those as-close-to-perfect images.

Performance
Getting down to brass tacks, feature-wise both phones come out just fine. But this is where the magic happens. Most of the images you’ll see are taken keeping the settings as equal in both handsets and no additional adjustments made in either phone.

I selected an appropriate setting depending on the environment and let the camera do its work. The reason for the odd images is the sheer portability of the devices themselves, and the spontaneity that drives most individuals to take a picture anyplace, anytime.

Daylight
The image with the K850i shows just a wee bit of blur in certain areas, and the shadows do seem a bit dark. However, the colors appear warm and vivid, but you'll notice a slight vignetting around the corners.

K850i - Daylight Mode

The N82 provides a cooler feel to the image with more detailing in the shadowed areas. The lines also seem to be a bit more defined. On the whole the N82 would give you a crisper image and although detailed, the colors do appear a bit dull.

N82 - Daylight Mode

Sports Mode
With a simple change of mode to Daylight (white balance) and Sports mode (scenes), the K850i rocks. The images of moving objects are crisp and the detailing is quite good, with colors accurately captured.

K850i - Sports Mode

The N82, at identical settings, doesn’t deliver too well in Sports Mode. You’ll notice the image is blurred and the colors look a bit faded.

N82 - Sports Mode

Close-ups (Macro)
In Macro mode I shot two pictures indoor and outdoors. The K850i, in Daylight setting, (white balance) delivers some pretty good shots and allows you to move in really close to the object. Unfortunately the focus may drift a bit from the central area of the object.

Indoors, with Fluorescent (white balance) settings, I’m afraid it didn’t do so well. While it still allows me to get close to the object, and pardon the dust (I’d like to say it was for effect and detail testing, but that would be a blatant lie), the colors don’t seem right and the image tends to be a bit out of focus.

K850i - Indoor, Macro Mode

K850i - Daylight, Macro Mode

With the same settings and locations, the N82 is quite good. In the sun, even though I wasn’t able to get as close to the object as the K850 without blurring the image, the image itself came out quite clear and the colors seem fine. Indoors with identical settings as the K850, I like the fact that the details, however they may reflect my room, are clear and the colors are really good.

N82 - Indoor, Close-up Mode

N82 - Daylight, Close-up Mode

Night Shots
On the whole I'll say the N82 is ahead of the K850 when it comes to images taken in low light. The K850 sadly gives you an extremely dark image, even with the flash, while the N82 gives you a decently bright image in simple point-and-shoot mode (Auto Mode).

To be fair I took pictures in the N82’s Night mode and the K850s Twilight mode. I simply placed the devices on a flat surface, activated the timer and let the cameras do their thing. I’ll let the images speak for themselves.

K850i - Twilight Mode

N82 - Night Mode

The Bottomline

As I mentioned in the review, the K850i is disappointingly not good enough. It’s quite an upset, considering it carries the Cyber-shot tag. But images in normal daylight, Macro, and Sports mode are quite good; just keep it out of the dark. On the other hand, the N82 with its Carl Zeiss lens is capable of taking some pretty good shots in almost all conditions save Sports mode. But then it's better in low light as well.

At the end of the day, it would all depend on your personal preference and how you like the handsets' other features. So, happy clicking.

India not doing enough for Open Source

2008-02-17T12:58:00.000+05:30

Free software is getting better and open source has seen deeper adoption among users. These are some trends that churned out from experts at GNUnify 2008, a leading open source conclave, organized by SICSR (Symbiosis Institute of Computer Science and Research) and PLUG (Pune Linux User Group).

Free software has better bug reports, a public bug database, allows lot of testing for all the code, and much better user-cum-developer feedback, free development, independence and ultimate documentation as co-founder of MySQL, David Axmark, reflected at one of the sessions.

"Here, security is not by obscurity and moreover there's a lot of ecosystem code resulting in a lower total cost of ownership. In proprietary software, feedback is limited to white paper reviews," he emphasized.

Commenting on the progress of Indian developer fraternity however, he remarked that there's a lot more room for open source contribution from India. "Don't be focused on making more money. Just make enough money, ignore the trends and do what you feel apt and right," he said, adding thatdevelopers in India need to be more risk-takers.

Another speaker at the event, Alolita Sharma from Technetra applauded the wider base of open source that has been witnessed recently amongst the users, especially in India. "With the growth of Web, social networking, users across the spectrum and specially education institutions and SMBs are showing this successful transition phase of open source."

GNUnify is a technical fest initiated in 2003 that hosts a conclave of experts and enthusiasts of the open source genre. The event is similar to FOSS congregations, but managed and organized by students from SICSR, marked interest from geeks and students alike with technical talks on various languages and open source subjects, install fests for Fedora and Mandriva, programming contests and workshops this weekend.

Speakers like Alolita Sharma and Robert Adkins (founders-Technetra), Brian Blehndorf (co-founder Collabnet), Chander Kant (CEO of Zmanda), Daneese Cooper from OSI and David Axmark of My SQL covered topics like Ruby on Rails, open source business models, Mozilla Prism, portable code in Linux, open source audio-video streaming, Jquery, Debian, Python, Shell scripting, Linux and Bluetooth, SQLite, and successful open communities.

Love is a Virus, say security experts

2008-02-17T12:55:00.000+05:30

According to MicroWorld Technologies, emails pointing to IP addresses hosting Storm Trojan are sent out in big numbers since the early hours of Tuesday

Valentine's day is here. Love is in the air. But be cautious when you find some lovey-dovey messages in your mail box, for a new round of attack is on from the Storm Worm authors. According to advanced Security Solution provider MicroWorld Technologies, emails pointing to IP addresses hosting Storm Trojan are sent out in big numbers since the early hours of Tuesday.

The subject lines of the mails are all love and valentine related. Some samples are: "Love Rose", "Rockin' Valentine" and "Just You". Inside the mail, the same lines are repeated followed by an IP address. Clicking on the link opens up a new page. Some really cute valentine images are displayed in random order which include pictures of lovely cupids, two interlocking hearts, a love chart, a chubby piggy wooing his mate and a heart that just got recovered from a series of breakups!

But things are not all that rosy like in these pictures, as you are prompted to download a file named Valentine.exe, the mask for the Storm variant 'Zhelatin.ve'. On clicking it, like any another Storm Worm, Zhelatin.ve opens up a to and fro communication channel with its creators that allows them to control the compromised computer and relay malware laden messages and Spam.

"There are so many people out there who believe that their prince in shining armor or the charming Cinderella of their fantasy land will come alive from nowhere in the second week of February. And there's no harm in it unless you want to click on every love message appearing in your mail box. The problem is there's a tendency among people to lower their levels of discretion during occasions like this and Virus writers have been successfully exploiting this human vulnerability year after year," says Govind Rammurthy, CEO of MicroWorld Technologies.

Started in the beginning of 2007, the Storm Worm today is much bigger than a run of the mill malware. Initially it came as attached 'exe', but changed gears in the last quarter of the year with messages containing links to malware hosted on fast-flexing IPs.

"The advantage of this method is that since it's a hosted file, they can change the malicious code as and when they want. This enables them to churn out variants at will without having to take the pains of resending the emails again. The people behind the Worm have so far managed to build a huge botnet containing millions of computers owned by unsuspecting victims and they are in no mood of a let-up at all, as evident with these attacks occurring at regular intervals," Govind points out.

Applying caution on all mails coming from unknown senders is a first line of defense in countering the storm Worm. Patching browser vulnerabilities and Windows vulnerabilities are second. Installing an intelligent Spam Control application and a fast updating AntiVirus software are the next two steps to make sure that one's computer is not stormed

Last.fm launches free music service

2008-01-30T15:31:00.000+05:30

Last.fm has launched what it's describing as the "world's biggest free music service".

The online radio site has signed deals with Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner and EMI, offering users complete access to their catalogues. The site also claims to have signed up more than 150,000 independent labels and artists.

Under the deal, visitors to the site will be able to listen to any track via a streaming service up to three times. After that the listener will be pointed towards iTunes, Amazon and 7 Digital to purchase the song.

The service will be funded by a proportion of the resulting sales and advertising revenue generated.

"At the moment it's just three opportunities, and the record labels aren't going to stretch on that," a Last.fm spokesperson explains. "Last.fm are pushing for longer, maybe something time based, but that might be something for the future. It doesn't look likely to change in the short term."

Alongside this, the site is also launching an "Artist Royalty" scheme, under which unsigned artists who upload their music to the site receive a royalty payment each time their music is played.

"Last.fm isn't revealing financials at the moment," the spokesperson confirmed when questioned by PC Pro. "It won't be a tiered system based on demand. The bands will receive a fixed amount for each play. So, a good band with a few thousand plays could potentially earn a few hundred quid, which is better than nothing."

The on-demand service is available in the US, UK and Germany, with other markets to follow later in the year.

Windows 7 pushed forward

2008-01-30T15:29:00.000+05:30

Reports are suggesting that Microsoft is considering pushing forward the release date of Windows 7, its successor to Vista.

APC Magazine claims to have seen Microsoft's roadmap for the operating system, and reports that the software giant is gunning for a 2009 release to manufacturing, a year earlier than initially planned.

The roadmap apparently contains three distinct milestone builds for Windows 7, with the first build, M1, apparently already shipped to partners for code validation.

M1 is reported to be English language only, but is shipping in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. M2 is slated to ship in April or May, while M3 is expected some time in the third quarter of 2008.

The rumour would certainly fit with Steve Ballmer's statement last year that he wants to speed up the turnaround between new operating systems, though Microsoft refused to be drawn on the rumours.

"We're continuing to work with our customers and partners on the development of Windows 7, the next version of the client operating system," the company says. "We're not sharing additional information at this time; instead, we're focused on helping customers today get the most value from their PCs using Windows Vista, and we're encouraged by the response and adoption so far."

Though details on the operating system are sketchy, Microsoft is apparently looking at creating a more streamlined kernel. A wishlist of features was also apparently leaked onto the internet last year.

The report comes just as Vista's fortunes appear to be turning, with strong sales of PCs beginning to drive demand for the operating system.

Tiberium First Impressions - Command & Conquer

2008-01-30T15:28:00.000+05:30

Tiberium First Impressions - Command & Conquer Goes First-Person Again

We get our first good look at the new first-person shooter based on the popular Command & Conquer real-time strategy series.

Developer Interview

Tiberium isn't the first first-person shooter EA has created out of its popular Command & Conquer real-time strategy franchise, but it is the first attempt in over half a decade. As such, Tiberium will bring all the latest technology to the fray, and developer EALA looks to craft a game that will blend the squad control of the RTS games with intense first-person shooter gameplay. Along the way, Tiberium will also fill in huge holes in the history of the Command & Conquer universe. We finally got our first look at Tiberium recently, and EA showed off some of its core gameplay and features.

The previous C&C shooter, Renegade, was an early attempt at a large-scale battlefield where you could jump into different vehicles or go on foot. It was basically an early attempt at Battlefield-style gameplay, before Battlefield even existed. Tiberium, on the other hand, will focus more on putting you in the boots of a battlefield commander on the ground. As executive producer Chris Plummer explained, the inspiration comes from the way Special Forces troops operate behind enemy lines. A single commando today is a potent warrior, capable of dispatching the enemy himself or calling in reinforcements or pinpoint air strikes. The game will try to build on that idea by giving you plenty of tools of destruction.

You've rarely seen a Command & Conquer battlefield from this perspective.

Tiberium will continue the storyline that ended in Command & Conquer 3, as the game is set in the years after the Third Tiberium War. The alien Scrin invaders that invaded Earth have been defeated, but one of their huge towers remains, seemingly abandoned. Keeping an eye on it is Ricardo Vega, your character. Vega is a member of the Global Defense Initiative (the good guys), as well as a Forward Battle Commander in charge of a Rapid Assault and Intercept Deployment, or RAID. Basically, whenever there's trouble deep in a Tiberium-infested area on Earth, the GDI dispatches a RAID, which is sort of like a Special Forces detachment. Your role as the FBC is to call in air, armor, and infantry units and lead them to victory, though you'll be armed with a powerful weapon yourself: a transforming, four-in-one gun called the GD-10.

As the Forward Battle Commander, your job will be to arrive on the scene first and secure the area. The GD-10 can transform into a magnetic rail gun (a futuristic assault rifle), a missile launcher, a grenade launcher, or an energy canon, which also doubles as a sniper weapon. Also, the FBC is clad in advanced body armor equipped with jump jets, which let you leap atop rooftops and other objects. The battle that was demonstrated had Vega battling Scrin units, from basic strike units (which are sort of like alien dogs) to more advanced archons. To bring in reinforcements, you have to seize Tiberium nodes on the battlefield. Each node lets you bring in a squad of your choice, including regular infantry, missile infantry, Titan mechs, and Orca air units. If some of those units seem familiar, they're taken from the RTS game (not surprisingly).

If a unit is destroyed, that's no problem, either. "Your squads are not your health bar; they're expendable," Plummer said. "If you lose a squad, it's not the end of a mission. You can just order reinforcements and bring in a different squad, or bring in the same squad and try a different tactic. This gives the player a lot of choices."

Squads will be tied to the directional pad on your controller. You can control a maximum of four squads (one for each cardinal direction on the D pad). Issuing orders is context sensitive, it appears. Judging from what we saw during the demonstration, if you want your tanks to attack something, simply aim at the target in question and then hit the corresponding direction on the D pad for your tanks. Or if you want your infantry to move to a certain spot, point to that spot and then hit the corresponding D pad button for that squad. There's also an interactive battlefield map that you can call up to issue orders to your squads, if you prefer that traditional view.

Plummer said that the team prototyped the gameplay mechanics more than two years ago, and they've been refining it ever since. It certainly provides a different way of tackling the first-person shooter genre, as most games simply rely on you blasting anything that moves. The challenge of squad control on a chaotic battlefield makes Tiberium seem like a sci-fi cousin to games such as Brothers in Arms, though the former will give you a much wider and more varied arsenal to play with.

You'll command squads when you're not busy blasting enemies yourself.

Longtime C&C fans will also be interested to hear that Tiberium will also delve into the lore of the franchise like few games before it. For instance, the roots of the GDI and its rival, the evil Brotherhood of Nod, will apparently be explored for the first time. It is essentially a conflict, as Plummer explained, between science and faith. It all revolves around the arrival of Tiberium, an extraterrestrial element that has the ability to transform any matter that it comes into contact with into itself. When Tiberium becomes a powerful resource, it becomes the source of conflict. Not surprisingly, exploitation will be the theme of the game.

With regard to technology, the game is being built atop a highly modified version of the Unreal Engine. But though the game is still quite a ways from completion, there are still plenty of details to be learned about Tiberium, from the multiplayer component to more details about the gameplay. Still, there's plenty of time; right now, it sounds like Tiberium will ship for the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 either late this year or early next. The exact date is still to be determined, and Plummer said that the game will ship "when it's done."

The ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2

2008-01-30T15:17:00.000+05:30

The ATI Radeon HD 3870 and HD 3850 are both fine cards and are compelling values at their respective sub-$300 and sub-$200 price points. However, PC enthusiasts were expecting more when AMD first introduced its ATI Radeon HD 3800 lineup late last year, namely a high-performance card that could take on Nvidia's GeForce 8800 GTX. AMD didn't have an answer for the GTX last November, but it did promise a dual-GPU card for early 2008: the ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2. Today we take our first look at AMD's new dual-GPU video card.

The ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2.

The card itself looks much like any other single-fan, double-wide video card, but a close side examination reveals two separate heat sinks for the card's dual GPUs (and a third, smaller heatsink for the bridge chip). The GPUs are basically Radeon HD 3870 cores with improved power efficiency and higher clock speeds. Each X2 graphics chip runs at 825MHz compared to 775MHz for a single Radeon HD 3870. The card comes with 1GB of GDDR3 memory, 512MB for each GPU. The X2 performance will definitely be better than a single Radeon HD 3870, but not quite double the power. Expect to lose some performance due to the overhead involved in getting two GPUs to work in tandem. The X2 also has slower 1.8GHz GDDR3 memory compared to the Radeon HD 3870's 2.25GHz GDDR4 memory.

The Radeon HD 3870 X2 shares the same features as the rest of the cards in the Radeon HD 3800 series family. That means you'll get DirectX 10.1, and full hardware-accelerated HD video decode. The DirectX 10.1 support is a forward-looking feature that will benefit you later down the line, but the HD video acceleration will help immediately with HD-DVD, Blu-ray, and all the major HD video file compression standards. The Radeon also has a built-in sound processor that allows the card to output full HDMI, both audio and video, directly to an external display device.

The Radeon HD 3870 X2 requires only a single video card slot, but you currently cannot run two cards together in CrossFire at this time. AMD has told GameSpot that it plans to offer X2 CrossFire support this March. The card also lacks PCI Express 2.0 because the special bridge chip that connects the card's GPUs together only supports PCI Express 1.1.

The card has two external power connectors, a six-pin and an eight-pin.

We recommend getting a 500W power supply for the X2. You will also want to make sure that the power supply has the right power cables for the X2's external power requirements. The card has one eight-pin socket and one six-pin socket, but the eight-pin socket will work with a six-pin cable.

We tested the $449 Radeon HD 3870 X2 against its closest price competition, the GeForce 8800 GTX. Both cards share the $400-$500 high-end range. We tossed in a Radeon HD 3870 CrossFire setup to see how the dual-card configuration compares to its single-card replacement. We also added a $1,000 GeForce 8800 GTX SLI system and a single $250 Radeon HD 3870 to show you what kind of performance you can get at higher and lower price points.

ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 Performance

(Longer bars indicate better performance)

3DMark06, 1280x1024

GeForce 8800 GTX SLI

13515

Radeon HD 3870 X2

13156

Radeon HD 3870 CrossFire

13240

GeForce 8800 GTX

11555

Radeon HD 3870

10540

Call of Duty 4, 1600x1200, Maximum Quality

GeForce 8800 GTX SLI

105

Radeon HD 3870 X2

Radeon HD 3870 CrossFire

GeForce 8800 GTX

Radeon HD 3870

Crysis, 1600x1200, High Quality

GeForce 8800 GTX SLI

Radeon HD 3870 X2

Radeon HD 3870 CrossFire

GeForce 8800 GTX

Radeon HD 3870

Unreal Tournament, 1600x1200, 4xAA, 8xAF, High Quality

GeForce 8800 GTX SLI

121

Radeon HD 3870 X2

Radeon HD 3870 CrossFire

GeForce 8800 GTX

Radeon HD 3870

System Setup: Intel Core 2 X6800, Intel 975XBX2, eVGA 680i, 2GB Corsair XMS Memory (1GBx2), 750GB Seagate 7200.10 SATA Hard Disk Drive, Windows XP Professional SP2. Graphics Cards: GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB, Radeon HD 3870 X2 1GB, Radeon HD 3870 512MB. Graphics Drivers: Catalyst beta 8-451-2-080108a, Nvidia ForceWare 169.28.

The X2 cruises by the GTX in Crysis and Unreal Tournament 3 but falls slightly behind in Call of Duty 4. We noticed that the X2 and CrossFire setup did not seem to offer any performance improvement over the single Radeon HD 3870 in our Call of Duty 4 test, which usually indicates some kind of multi-GPU setting snafu or plain old user error, but we determined that our level selection was the cause of the performance peculiarity. It appears that the intense firefight at the start of "The Bog" level in our Call of Duty 4 test doesn't allow the X2 or CrossFire systems to put up as many gaudy numbers as on the easier levels. The X2 showed a 60 percent frame rate improvement over the Radeon HD 3870 when we tested the opening sequence of an earlier mission.

Crysis Performance, Windows Vista 32-bit

(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Crysis, 1600x1200, High Quality

Radeon HD 3870 X2, Beta 8-451-2-080123a

Radeon HD 3870 X2, Beta 8-451-2-080108a

Radeon HD 3870 CrossFire, Beta 8-451-2-080123a

Radeon HD 3870 CrossFire, Beta 8-451-2-080108a

System Setup: Intel Core 2 X6800, Intel 975XBX2, 2GB Corsair XMS Memory (1GBx2), 750GB Seagate 7200.10 SATA Hard Disk Drive, Windows Vista 32-bit. Graphics Cards: Radeon HD 3870 X2 1GB, Radeon HD 3870 512MB. Graphics Drivers: Catalyst beta 8-451-2-080108a, Catalyst beta 8-451-2-080123a.

AMD recently released a new driver to improve Crysis performance in Windows Vista. It appears that the drivers simply bring the Vista numbers more in line with Windows XP performance.

Call of Duty 4 issues aside, the Radeon HD 3870 X2 does appear to be a viable choice among the sub-$500 video cards. The X2 performed well compared to the GeForce 8800 GTX in our benchmark tests, justifying its status as AMD's flagship card. The X2 also has the HD video decode acceleration and HDMI support media fans demand. We had been worried about encountering multi-GPU related issues with the X2, but we can say that we didn't encounter any of those types of problems with the card, the graphics drivers, or game support. The Radeon HD 3870 X2 behaved like a single-GPU video card, and that's the way we like it.

ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 Performance

(Longer bars indicate better performance)

3DMark06, 1280x1024

GeForce 8800 GTX SLI

13515

Radeon HD 3870 X2

13156

Radeon HD 3870 CrossFire

13240

GeForce 8800 GTX

11555

Radeon HD 3870

10540

Call of Duty 4, 1600x1200, Maximum Quality

GeForce 8800 GTX SLI

105

Radeon HD 3870 X2

Radeon HD 3870 CrossFire

GeForce 8800 GTX

Radeon HD 3870

Crysis, 1600x1200, High Quality

GeForce 8800 GTX SLI

Radeon HD 3870 X2

Radeon HD 3870 CrossFire

GeForce 8800 GTX

Radeon HD 3870

Unreal Tournament, 1600x1200, 4xAA, 8xAF, High Quality

GeForce 8800 GTX SLI

121

Radeon HD 3870 X2

Radeon HD 3870 CrossFire

GeForce 8800 GTX

Radeon HD 3870

Crysis Performance, Windows Vista 32-bit

(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Crysis, 1600x1200, High Quality

Radeon HD 3870 X2, Beta 8-451-2-080123a

Radeon HD 3870 X2, Beta 8-451-2-080108a

Radeon HD 3870 CrossFire, Beta 8-451-2-080123a

Radeon HD 3870 CrossFire, Beta 8-451-2-080108a

AMD recently released a new driver to improve Crysis performance in Windows Vista. It appears that the drivers simply bring the Vista numbers more in line with Windows XP performance.

Bono "to put the funk" into charity PCs

2008-01-30T15:15:00.000+05:30

Dell and Microsoft are teaming up to release a Product Red computer, donating up to $80 for every PC sold to fund AIDS-fighting drugs in Africa.

Dell will start selling two (Red) laptops and one desktop running Windows Vista on Friday. The two companies will donate $50 for a laptop and $80 for a desktop to the Global Fund, which finances health programs in Africa.

(Red), founded by U2 singer Bono and Bobby Shriver, works to develop co-branded products with companies such as Motorola, Apple and Gap, which then donate a portion of the proceeds for antiretroviral drugs.

Microsoft says it expects "several hundred thousand" (Red) Dell PCs to be sold in 2008. The PCs, designed in part by Bono, will have a distinctive red casing and the Windows interface will feature a red background and sidebar.

"My job is to put some poetry in the machine, put some funk in the machines," Bono claims.

(Red) has raised $53 million for the Global Fund since it was founded in 2006. Bono, who expects to exceed that figure in 2008 alone, claims the organisation lost some potential partners after a critical article in Advertising Age questioned the effectiveness of the campaign.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, who provided some of the seed money for (Red), defended the group, saying it has saved lives that would have otherwise been lost. "I guess you can criticise even life-saving activities. I don't know how, but if somebody has a better idea than (Red) to save more lives, we are all ears," says Gates. "I put it in the category of a creative use of capitalism."

Gates, Dell and Bono are expected to announce the partnership formally this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The Dell products offered under the (Red) brand will be a XPS One desktop and XPS M1330 and M1530 laptop computers. The products will sell for the same price as regular Dell models.

The computers will go on sale 25 January in the US and then the product will be available in 30 countries on 31 January.

Nano turns pink

2008-01-30T15:12:00.000+05:30

Apple has added a pink model to the iPod nano collection.

The anodised aluminum and polished stainless steel "pinkPod" will hold around 2,000 songs in its 8GB memory and cost £129. Battery life extends to up to 24 hours of audio playback or five hours of video.

"Customers are going to love the gorgeous new pink iPod nano," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of Worldwide iPod Product Marketing. "The pink iPod nano is perfect for people who want a great new color this spring, or who are searching for a special Valentine's Day gift."

Nanos are also available in silver, blue, green, black and (product) red.

Grand Theft Auto IV Dated

2008-01-28T13:50:00.001+05:30

After months of delay (and a whole lot of tears) it gives me immense – and I do mean immense – pleasure to inform you that Grand Theft Auto IV will be releasing for both the Xbox360 and the PS3 on April 29.
"We are so excited to be releasing Grand Theft Auto IV," said Sam Houser, Founder and Executive Producer of Rockstar Games. "We've pushed ourselves very hard to make something incredible and hope the game sets a new benchmark for interactive entertainment."

Alienware shows off 2,880 x 900 curved monitor

2008-01-19T14:30:00.000+05:30

Could peripheral vision simulation be the successor to widescreen gaming?

No matter how big your widescreen monitor is, you’re always going to end up seeing something mundane like your Mum’s mittens out of the corner of your eye, but this new ‘peripheral vision’ screen from Alienware could put a stop to that and let you completely immerse yourself in games.

Alienware has just demonstrated the screen at CES (consumer electronics show), and Engadget reports that it will be available in the second half of this year. The site claims that the screen will have a resolution of 2,880 x 900, which ‘mimics peripheral vision,’ and it’s based on DLP (digital light processing) technology. However, the site did say that 'three faint vertical dividing lines appeared to indicate four sub-panels making up this screen.'

Alienware was unable give us any more concrete details about the screen, other than the fact that the model on display at CES is just a prototype. Nevertheless, it's an interesting idea. Could this replace widescreen gaming? Let us know if you'd be interested in such a screen.

Nokia rails against "proprietary" Ogg

2007-12-11T22:18:00.000+05:30

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

2007-12-11T22:17:00.000+05:30

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

2007-12-11T22:13:00.000+05:30

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

2007-12-07T22:47:00.000+05:30

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

2007-12-07T22:45:00.000+05:30

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

2007-12-07T22:43:00.000+05:30

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

2007-12-07T22:42:00.000+05:30

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

2007-12-07T22:41:00.000+05:30

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

2007-12-07T22:38:00.000+05:30

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

2007-12-07T17:05:00.000+05:30

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

2007-12-07T11:03:00.000+05:30

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

2007-12-07T11:02:00.000+05:30

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

2007-12-07T10:58:00.000+05:30

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

2007-12-07T10:56:00.000+05:30

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

2007-12-07T10:53:00.000+05:30

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

2007-12-07T10:44:00.000+05:30

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

2007-12-07T10:41:00.000+05:30

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

599-based GTO is go!

2007-12-07T10:34:00.000+05:30

Dutch design house will build five 599 GTOs, each costing up to £1m

After almost universal approval for its artist’s impression of what a modern-day Ferrari 250 GTO might look like, Dutch design house Vandenbrink Design has decided to produce five examples of the Ferrari 599-based supercar for real.

Two versions will be offered: the 599 GTO, with the regular 6-litre, 611bhp Ferrari V12, and the 630 GTO, with an enlarged, 6.3-litre, 750bhp engine. Not only can the GTO be more powerful, it will also be considerably lighter, as Vandenbrink Design is aiming to reduce the kerb weight of the car to 1500kg – some 180kg lighter than a standard Ferrari 599.

The ultimate 630 GTO version will be priced at 993,000 euros, with full options fitted. However, this does not include the cost of the base car or taxes… For more details visit Vandenbrink’s website at

Money for Nothing?

2007-12-07T10:31:00.000+05:30

INTERVIEW: Elysium Gaming's Philip Wride.

Competitive online gaming is nothing new, but the past few months has seen the launch of a more mainstream-friendly CGS, coupled with the demise of the World Series of Video Games and Tournament.com.

To get a health check for the state of online play just as the CGS kicks-off in LA - and start a series of features on the topic over the next few days - GamesIndustry.biz spoke to Philip Wride, director of Elysium Gaming Ltd, a consultancy company specialising in the competitive online games sector.

We saw the collapse of the WSVG not too long ago - is the industry in crisis?

It depends which way you look at it really. One less tournament for the players is a bit demoralising, because they've got less to work for in terms of competitions, there's less potential prize money that they can go and win.

With the things that they were doing in terms of coverage, with CBS and things like that, it means less visibility for competitive gaming in the mainstream media.

On the upside it shows that gaming tournaments do have their ups and downs, and there are a lot of things to consider in terms of setting them up, getting the funding and crucially the community support.

That was one of the problems with the WSVG - it was perceived in the community that although the games they chose were mass-market titles, the likes of World of Warcraft and Fight Night, they didn't necessarily cater to what the competitive community actually wanted.

Therefore the communities were looking at it, seeing that 2006 was quite good, but they weren't sure about 2007, about the games, and therefore they struggled to get the participation.

So the fact that it folded was down to bad game selection?

It could be put that way. You'd have to talk to the WSVG about whether that actually is the case, but from the community perspective that was one of the responses that came through when they announced the tour this year - they weren't very good picks.

Ok, Quake 4 was one of the mainstream competitive titles, but the rest weren't really, and that's one reason why they struggled to get the numbers that they had at other events last year.

In the same way CPL has struggled with its tour this year because it's picked F.E.A.R. and World in Conflict.

What is the money situation like then, has it increased at all in the past couple of years?

It is on the increase, but it's not a dramatic increase. The World Cyber Games has increased its prize fund again this year, the eSports World Cup is still a pretty good tournament to go to in terms of prize money.

The new kid on the block though for offering players salaries and large amounts of prize money is CGS from the States, which is the competition backed by DirecTV and BSkyB.

What sort of money are they offering?

Well the players that get drafted into their teams are looking at salaries of about USD 30,000 and prize money and bonuses on top of that. So it offers players a direct opportunity to play the games that the CGS is operating, and getting paid a reasonable sum of money for it.

That's an exclusive deal, isn't it? So the CGS players aren't able to enter other tournaments?

It's initially exclusive, but if players want to compete in other tournaments they have to seek permission from CGS, they can't just go ahead and do it. You may look at it as an exclusive deal in that a lot of the players may not even bother trying to ask, because they don't want to be turned down.

Because they're playing for CGS teams, and the teams are owned by CGS, it's a bit like the players are also CGS property in a way - therefore they'll want to keep hold of them and utilise them in CGS competitions.

It's like players in a football team, essentially?

To an extent, yes, and certainly if you look at the franchise model of popular sports in the US.

The US has been a pretty good location for competitive gaming over time - how does Europe and UK fare in that respect?

In terms of tournaments, the US has certainly been better. CPL has been based there for many years, you've had WSVG which was predominantly US-focused, the World Cyber Games is in Seattle this year…so yes, the US has certainly been a lot better in that respect.

In terms of the gamers themselves, Europe still tends to dominate on the international competitive scene. Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, a couple of other countries here and there, but compared to the US gamers in Europe are generally at a higher level.

That's a slightly strange situation, isn't it?

Yes. I think the US has more of a console focus, with the likes of MLG, which is the main console tournament organiser. I think they signed deals with Boost Mobile to get footage out to a wider mainstream audience - and that is something that differs to Europe where PC is still the main source of competitive gaming.

How important to CGS is having Sky on board, is that a big step forward?

I think it is. If you look at the past couple of years, the shows that have been on Sky have been on channels that you'll very rarely flick through, and therefore you may catch five minutes, or whatever.

But if Sky and DirecTV are looking to do this properly, and are putting on prime time slots, it increases the chances that the general public will watch it, or at least see part of it, and hopefully begin to understand what it's all about.

From there, competitive gaming can see that it's becoming more mainstream, that people are understanding and appreciating it more, and then hopefully we can make some more money.

With other sports you've got two options - you can either play football, or watch professionals play it. At the moment a lot of people are playing videogames, but not many people are seeking them out to watch others. What do you think the main barriers are to changing that?

One of the biggest things is education. A lot of gamers, if you talk to them, don't actually realise that you can make money from gaming, and therefore they're not really in with the whole theme.

So an education process to show that it is possible, and that there are tournaments that go on, you can travel the world, you can make money from it - and try and show them what this side of gaming is all about.

And then again, working with the media to try and essentially create a product or a tournament structure like CGS that lends itself to mainstream media coverage. Competitive gaming in the past has been one of those things that, yes, people have covered it, put together documentaries on it or whatever else, but it's not been that appealing.

So if you pick the games that have the community following, potentially edit the rule sets like CGS have done to allow it to work better for TV, that will be one of the things that will help - keep the main fun or competitive aspect for that particular game to keep the people involved, and then take the footage that will allow you to put it onto the mainstream channels.

Show that it's fun, fast, intense, that it's here to stay and it's something that everybody loves to get involved in.

Do we need heroes, do you think?

The UK definitely needs heroes. We've struggled in the past couple of years to produce top gamers. And again, if you look at the likes of Fatality and the way that he's portrayed himself, and some of the top gamers in Korea - they are the pin-ups of gaming.

And this is of course something that the CGS is looking to produce. If you've got people in the teams endorsing general products, the likes of Coca-Cola or Nike, or whatever else, throwing them into the mainstream and putting them on a pedestal - then people will see that gamers are taken seriously and that gaming has money attached to it.

You change the perception of people. These aren't just people locked away in their bedrooms, you can make a living from it, and there are lots of opportunities like there are in other sports.

But are there lots of opportunities? Surely you have to among the best in any one territory to actually get anywhere?

Well, I'd say it's proportional. There are opportunities to be a professional footballer if you're good enough, but that doesn't mean you can't play in competitions and leagues if you're not.

But in terms of numbers, isn't it more comparable to Formula One? There are lots more football teams that you could potentially earn a wage from, but only a small number of F1 teams.

But football's also been around for over a hundred years. I'd say that's true, and to an extent it is a gamble, but those opportunities are there - it's just a case of people having to have the drive and enthusiasm to try and get there.

Because if more people try to do it then you end up getting the investment from outside companies, because there are more people in the market as a whole, and that in itself creates more money to create those positions.

There isn't going to be more money until more people try to do it, but the people won't try to do it until there's more money there - but if you can start to educate people as to what the possibilities are, and try and start them down the path of getting into competitive gaming, then it's easier for those of us that are already involved to try and get the money to give them.

Philip Wride is the director of Elysium Gaming Ltd. Interview by Phil Elliott.

Ninja Gaiden II First Look

2007-12-07T10:22:00.002+05:30

Now that the dust is settling from the fall releases and the masses are working their way through the plethora of stellar content for the Xbox 360, thoughts are already turning to the next big thing on Microsoft's console. While we're sure there are a few heavy-hitters not yet announced for the platform, we expect Ninja Gaiden II to be high on any list of big 360 titles in 2008. The game is the proper sequel to Tecmo's superb revival of its classic franchise from the Xbox and caused quiet a stir when it debuted a few months ago in Japan. The game's visuals are complemented by blistering gameplay speed and a generous helping of blood--because no ninja game is complete without blood, and lots of it. We had the chance to check in with Team Ninja leader Tomonobu Itagaki about the upcoming game, which looks set to rock the 360 next year.

The game once again focuses on ninja Ryu Hayabusa, but a younger version of him. Apparently, Ninja Gaiden II will focus on the butt-kicking hero's formative years in adventure, set before the action in the original NES and arcade Ninja Gaiden adventures. The specifics of the story aren't available yet, but longtime fans can look forward to some interesting twists and new faces, along with all kinds of stabbing.

Evidently there was no shortage of blood during Ryu Hayabusa's formative years.

So how does one go about topping one of the best action games out there? For starters, it helps to have a borderline-masochistic team of perfectionists with a notoriously ambitious leader. While the basic framework of the action remains the same--you'll work your way through levels, basically mowing down anything in your way with your hands, weapons, and magic--the action is just nuts now. Ryu moves like greased lightning, and his array of moves, while still elegant, are just brutal. The speed turns out to be quite a necessary thing, due to the aggressive mobs of enemies that seem fixated on murdering you. Ryu's fleet feet help him hack up foes good, with a creative array of weapons that draws on familiar historical arms, plus stylized weapons such as the wicked pair of claws he uses. Finally, when Ryu's ninja skills and weapons won't do, he's got his trusty, deadly ninja magic to tap into to take out his foes.

From the look of things, Ninja Gaiden II is a fast, chaotic experience that is a good deal more intense than its predecessor. The mobs of foes hit fast and furious and seem to come out of the woodwork. We're curious to see how this will all work out in terms of pacing. The frenetic pace we saw in our demo looks to offer a meaty challenge and positions the game as one of the front-runners for "Game Most Likely to Take Your Lunch Money and Make You Cry in 2008." Masochists that we are, we're eager to see just how challenging the game is going to be.

As seen in the trailer and live demo, Ninja Gaiden II looks pretty slick, even in its work-in-progress state. The character models look very sharp and move with a fluid grace that almost makes it a shame when they're cut down (but you get over it). Ryu looks incredibly sharp and every bit the badass you'd hope he'd be in a 360 appearance. The environments look lush and break apart quite nicely. The game's look also has a decided differently flavor thanks to a varied array of locales that span the globe and include some well-known places such as New York and Venice.

While what we saw was still far from done, Ninja Gaiden II is looking like an impressive sequel to the Xbox game that should stand tall amid the Xbox 360's 2008 lineup. The game is fast, looks very sharp, and seems to be maintaining, even topping, the cool factor of its predecessor. The big question is how the gameplay and camera system will shape up. High-speed combat and in-game cameras tend to not get along well, but Team Ninja has a pretty good track record when it comes to making Ryu Hayabusa look his stabby best, so we're excited to see how the whole adventure comes together. Look for more on Ninja Gaiden II in the months to come. The game is slated to ship next year exclusively for the Xbox 360.

-GameSpot

The Savages

2007-12-07T10:22:00.001+05:30

The last thing the two Savage siblings ever wanted to do was look back at their difficult family history. Having wriggled their way out from beneath their father’s domineering thumb, they are now firmly cocooned in their own complicated lives. Wendy is a struggling East Village playwright, AKA a temp who spends her days applying for grants, stealing office supplies and dating her very married neighbor. Jon is a neurotic college professor writing books on obscure subjects in Buffalo. Then comes the call that informs them that the father they have long feared and avoided, Lenny Savage, is slowly being consumed by dementia and they are the only ones that can help. Now, as they put their already arrested lives on hold, Wendy and Jon are forced to live together under one roof for the first time since childhood, rediscovering the eccentricities that drove each other crazy. Faced with complete upheaval and battling over how to handle their father’s final days, they are confronted with what adulthood, family and, most surprisingly, each other are really about.

The Mist

2007-12-07T10:20:00.000+05:30

David Drayton and his young son Billy are among a large group of terrified townspeople trapped in a local grocery store by a strange, otherworldly mist. David is the first to realize that there are things lurking in the mist--deadly, horrifying things--creatures not of this world. Survival depends on everybody in the store pulling together, but is that possible, given human nature? As reason crumbles in the face of fear and panic, David begins to wonder what terrifies him more: the monsters in the mist--or the ones inside the store, the human kind, the people that until now had been his friends and neighbors?

The Golden Compass

2007-12-07T10:18:00.000+05:30

There is a world where witches rule the northern skies, where ice bears are the bravest of warriors, and where every human is joined with an animal spirit who is as close to them as their own heart. This world is dominated by the Magisterium, which seeks to control all of humanity, and whose greatest threat is the last remaining Golden Compass and the one child destined to possess it. Twelve year-old Lyra Belacqua lives an extraordinary life as a ward of distinguished Jordan College. Tearing unsupervised through the streets on mad quests for adventure with her loyal friend Roger, Lyra is accompanied everywhere by her daemon, Pantalaimon--a small, ever-changing animal that serves as a constant voice of reason. But Lyra’s world is changing. Her uncle, Lord Asriel, is embarking on a trip to the Arctic Circle to investigate a mysterious element called Dust, but the Magisterium would go to any lengths to stop him. At the same time, rumors of children mysteriously disappearing and being taken north become terrifyingly real when Lyra''s best friend Roger goes missing. She swears to go to the ends of the earth to rescue him, and when a new figure appears at the college--Marisa Coulter, a beguiling scientist and world traveler--she sees her best chance to get away. But Lyra''s been drawn into a trap designed to take from her the one thing she possesses that the Magisterium desperately seeks--the Golden Compass. It is a mystical device that can tell the truth, reveal what others wish to hide and foreshadow--and even change--the future. Lyra realizes that she will have to embark on her own journey to rescue Roger and stop the Magisterium. But fate puts her in the protection of a tribe of seafaring Gyptians led by Lord Faa, Ma Costa and Farder Coram. Banding together an unlikely alliance with the Gyptians, the mysterious witch Serafina Pekkala and Texas airman Lee Scoresby, Lyra is flung into an adventure that will take her over sky and ocean, to the wilds of the icy north, where she gains a powerful ally in a great armored bear named Iorek Byrnison. A great war is coming--with her band of friends and allies, and the power of the Golden Compass, Lyra will need all her skill and all her courage, to stop it.

Grand Theft Auto IV First Look

2007-12-07T10:06:00.000+05:30

You'd be hard-pressed to find a more anticipated, or scrutinized, game than Rockstar's upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV. The release of the game's trailer in March saw the 50-odd seconds of teaser footage poured over like evidence in a CSI episode, with fans (ourselves included) rabidly dissecting it frame by frame. To further stoke the fires of anticipation, Rockstar Games recently hit town and did the previously unthinkable: They gave us a look at a work-in-progress version of the Xbox 360 game. Whereas years past have seen us getting access to GTA games when they were much further along in development, Rockstar, confident in how development is going, raised the drape and let us get a look at GTAIV months before it hits. Our guided demo showed off a tiny bit of the city and gave us a taste of what Rockstar is cooking up for what is arguably the most anticipated game of 2007.

The demo opened up with the game's Russian hero, Niko Bellic, standing in a building--the offices of the taxi service, to be exact. As our demoer guided him around the interior, we were given a rundown of his story. The Eastern European immigrant will come to Liberty City at the request of his cousin, Roman. The trip seems like a smart move for Niko, who's had a rather rough life so far. The picture of life in Liberty City painted by his cousin is that of opulence and easy money. Upon arriving, Niko gets a reality check. Roman is living around the poverty line and drives a cab. Once that recognition hits, Niko realizes he's got to find a way to eke out a living, which is where the story begins. Given what was shown and implied in the trailer, we expect Niko's career search to take some interesting, and probably violent, turns. Rockstar reps noted that Niko's path through the game isn't going to tell a stereotypical "rags to riches" story; instead, it will offer a grittier tale that's about survival, "rags to slightly better rags" to be exact.

Once we got the rundown of the story, our demoer took Niko out for a stroll in the city. As the tour started, we got another quick primer on the city. The Liberty City in GTAIV is a modern-day metropolis that's a bit different than the one we know. The city is based on New York, though there's no version of Staten Island in the game. For fans at home already working on their maps, the borough of Broker is based on Brooklyn, Dukes is based on Queens, Bohan is based on the Bronx, Algonquin is based on Manhattan, and Alderney is based on New Jersey. Our tour took us on a run-through of some of the neighborhoods in Broker, underneath the Algonquin bridge overpass, and eventually out to the docks to look out on the city proper. The environment had a lived-in look that featured pedestrians, homeless, trash, steaming manholes, traffic, and an impressive array of little touches used to set the scene. But, while we expected all that, the demo showed off a new wrinkle to the densely packed environments: height. Though "verticality" has turned into one of the catchiest buzz words for new games, it's still an interesting feature to see. From the sound of it, GTAIV is going to let you go up or down buildings in the game as needed. Our demo showed Niko climbing a power pole and taking a look around at the environment--highlighting the impressive draw distance. But we also noticed that the dense city environment, which is roughly the same size as San Andreas, will be a layered locale with things to see and do at different heights. If it works the way we're hoping, it might offer some additional options when avoiding the police.

But avoiding police, like much of GTAIV's gameplay, is something that Rockstar wasn't going into too much detail on. There was no talk of the upcoming downloadable content or exclusive material for the PlayStation or Xbox 360. What was shared was that the role-playing elements are being dialed back, so Niko won't be morphing into a superman by the end of the game. Carjacking is being tweaked, so you can now break windows to jack parked cars. You'll be able to call people via cell phone and help move the story along, offering you more control over how the story will progress. Though you won't be able to fly planes, you should be able to fly helicopters. One of our big questions, what kind of online multiplayer the game will offer, was met with a coy assertion that the team wants the multiplayer to rival the single-player experience. Reps did note that it will not be a massively-multiplayer-online-game-style persistent city. Other details, such as the game's heads-up display, are still being ironed out. We did see a menu system that had all the expected options; we're just curious as to how it will be implemented. The driving force behind the game is its story, according to the team. So, to that end, the gameplay experience must be seamless. We're pleased to see the lengths they're going to for this to happen already. Moving in and out of buildings is seamless, and you'll have ample places to go in and out of, though not every building in the game is able to be explored.

The visuals in the game come courtesy of Rockstar's proprietary RAGE engine and offer a comfortable complement to the game's new look. The city area we were shown had all the real-world elements that are key to a GTA game's atmosphere: pedestrians, traffic, and a lived-in look. The key difference, as you can see in the trailer, is the level of detail and the art style. The expected bump in graphics seems to be agreeing with the team's ambitious tendencies, resulting in a dense city with rich lighting and populated by a diverse group of people. The little touches that were wrung out of the last generation of hardware are now fully realized, with proper lighting, particle effects, and shadowing being used to highlight the distressed city streets, old buildings, dusty windows, and vast panoramic views of Liberty City.

As for the residents, our tour of the city gave us a look at a sampling of some work-in-progress models that are set to be used for the non-player characters you'll meet. The models sported a higher level of detail and looked good, albeit nondescript, like any good NPC. Niko is the star of the game, with a character model that reflects his mental baggage. The detailed model has a decidedly gritty look that makes it pretty clear he's been around the block a few times--maybe even hit by some cars. Animation was early but seemed to be coming along fine. His gait when walking was deliberate and was on its way to adding to his world-weary vibe. Our demo also focused on showcasing a number of subtle touches being worked into GTAIV. The standouts were Niko leaning in a direction as he runs and, most awesomely, his breaking windows on parked cars so he could jack them. Though we just saw a small slice of what to expect from the game's visuals, we have to say we're impressed by the restraint we're seeing. In a time when so many games on the PS3 and Xbox 360 are going all out with the special effects and a glossy look, GTAIV seems to be drawing on the effects and tech it needs to establish a convincingly rundown look. While it may not bowl you over with blinding use of light blooming and other stereotypical "next-gen" effects, we've seen most of them used in subtle ways. But the game is focused on its realistic look, and we're pleased by what we're seeing.

The game's audio was far from finished, as Rockstar reps were quick to point out what we heard in the demo was very placeholder, with a fraction of the audio that will be in the final game peppered through it. It seems as though the plan is to expand on the concepts used in the previous games, so you'll hear tons of ambient chatter and city sounds designed to sell you on the game's virtual world. Finer elements such as voice acting and the ever-popular radio stations are still being ironed out. The team is mulling over the direction of where to go with the radio stations, given the tone of the game. There will be plenty of variety in music, but what those types are remains to be seen. The voice acting in the game is in a similar state of reevaluation. The team is thinking on what would best serve the story in terms of the talent used and the direction. As with the previous entries in the series, Rockstar is competing with the standards set by GTAIV's predecessors, which all featured great voice acting. As it stood, what we heard of the audio was coming along fine, and finished or not, we liked where it was headed.

Ultimately, our demo of the game was a pretty controlled experience and was more about showing off the world and the possibilities of what could be done inside it than showing off specific gameplay features. That said, even this modest look at a fraction of the city shows a whole lot of potential. The nuanced story; greater interactivity with the world; densely packed, vertical environment; ambitious scope; and increased freedom all seem like the right ingredients to have in play for such an anticipated sequel. Factor in the mysterious online multiplayer and downloadable content, and you have about as fully loaded a sequel as you could ask for. Grand Theft Auto IV is currently slated to ship this October for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Look for more on the game in the coming months.

Dark Sector

2007-12-07T10:00:00.000+05:30

Dark Sector Hands-On -- The Infection Spreads

We shot and slashed our way through the first few levels of Digital Extremes' upcoming action game.

Since Digital Extremes and publisher D3 last showed off their upcoming third-person action game Dark Sector back at the E3 Media & Business Summit and the Leipzig Games Convention, some aspects of the game's design have changed significantly. Even though Dark Sector is slated for release in the first quarter of next year, the designers have continued to stress-test the core gameplay mechanics and have replaced several basic capabilities with modified or entirely different ones to make the game play more smoothly. We had a chance to try out some of their recent modifications by playing the game's first two levels, as they currently stand.

If you haven't kept up with Dark Sector so far, the game draws heavily from Gears of War and Resident Evil 4 in gameplay terms, though its whole fictional-Soviet-state-overrun-by-hideous-genetic-plague thing is fairly unique. Main character Hayden Tenno can alternate between various firearms and his glaive, a bladed throwing weapon that pops right out of his arm (again, thanks to that pesky virus). The primary changes to the gameplay so far relate to your use of the glaive. In past versions of the game, you had to manually equip the glaive before you could throw it and then manually stow it to go back to your gun. That was problematic because Dark Sector uses an over-the-shoulder zoomed aiming mode similar to Gears, so you had to drop out of the aim view just to toggle from glaive to gun and back. Now, Tenno holds his gun in his left hand and always keeps the glaive ready on the right, which lets you use both interchangeably while aiming. (It makes him look more stylish, too.)

Just another day as a dashing secret agent...

The game also previously had a multitarget lock-on system, similar to something like Panzer Dragoon, where you could paint several enemies with the glaive target and then unleash it to kill all of them in one swoop. That feature has been removed for unspecified reasons and replaced with an "aftertouch" feature, similar to the one in Heavenly Sword. When you throw the glaive, you can have the camera chase closely after it as it flies in slow motion and subtly guide its course toward a particular enemy. This can be done on the PlayStation 3 with tilting controls, but luckily, you can use the analog sticks to do it as well (on both platforms, natch).

Dark Sector starts out with "a riff on The Wizard of Oz," in the words of project lead Steve Sinclair. In simpler terms, this means the first level of the game is in black and white. It's a method of indicating the before-and-after effect of the virus on Hayden's physiology, and we were surprised to find that it's actually kind of cool to play an action game without any color to it (aside from the occasional red). The story goes that a former secret-agent-gone-rogue named Mezner has defected to the nation of Lasria and taken control of the horrible virus that Hayden will encounter a little too close-up at the end of the first level. Prior to that, he's just a secret agent trading bullets with a bunch of bad guys.

The gameplay opens up after you get infected, allowing you to start hurling the glaive. At first, you'll only do minimal damage with the weapon, but at regular intervals throughout the story, you'll begin to receive improved powers. The contextual justification for this is that Hayden's infection is spreading over time, so you'll see the grotesquerie of his right arm intensifying as the game progresses. One of the first abilities you'll get is the power throw, which works exactly like it sounds. A regular throw will simply cut dudes, but the power throw can easily take off an arm, leg, or head with precise aim.

...until the color (and the infection) sets in.

At the outset, you'll mostly be fighting armed mercenaries, as we mentioned, but as you progress, you'll start to encounter rather more mutated and unpleasant enemies, such as an enormous creature that we encountered in a courtyard laying waste to some of those very same mercs before it came after us. You'll get a chance to take out those mutants more creatively given the glaive's ability to temporarily take on such elements as fire and electricity. For instance, we saw one section where Hayden could hurl an electrified glaive into a pool of water to zap several approaching zombielike mutants.

Dark Sector's design team seems committed to refining the gameplay, given its willingness to swap in new mechanics so late in the development cycle. With release just a handful of months away, we'll be able to bring you a final verdict on their efforts soon.

-GameSpot

Xbox 360 Resource Center

2007-12-07T09:56:00.000+05:30

The Xbox 360 is a video game and entertainment console system manufactured by Microsoft. It can play Xbox 360 video games, DVD movies, audio CDs, and video and game content downloaded from the Xbox Live online service. Console owners can view photos and listen to music using the system's built-in photo viewer and music player software. Hard-drive equipped Xbox 360 systems are also backward compatible with a large number of games made for Microsoft's original Xbox system. The Xbox 360 first shipped in North America and Japan at the end of 2005.

The Xbox 360 System

Although the Xbox 360 competes against both the PlayStation 3 and the Wii in the current console generation, many consider the PS3 to be the Xbox 360's primary competitor because the systems share similar hardware capabilities and use a traditional gamepad controller interface. The Wii, on the other hand, has less powerful hardware, but has a novel motion-sensing "Wiimote" control. As a result of the control and graphics-power differences, many multiplatform games look and perform similarly on the Xbox 360 and the PS3, but are far different on the Wii.

Microsoft was able to take an early lead by releasing the Xbox 360 a year before the PlayStation 3. This lead made it easier to court third-party developers to create games for the 360. Microsoft hasn't been shy about acquiring developers, either. Microsoft has added heavyweights such as Bungie, Rare, and Lionhead Studios to the Microsoft Game Studios roster to ensure a steady stream of high-quality, first-party games. (Bungie has recently become an independent studio once again, but still plans on developing games for Microsoft platforms.)

The Xbox 360 has a well-rounded game library with plenty of games in all the major game genres, but the system's strongest genres are currently sports and shooters. The shooter genre on the Xbox 360 features hits like Gears of War, BioShock, and Halo 3 and several strong military franchises including Call of Duty and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. Gamers can also play third-person action games such as Splinter Cell Double Agent, Dead Rising, and Hitman: Blood Money while they wait for the latest Grand Theft Auto sequel. Console owners can look forward to yearly updates for the most popular sports franchises including Madden, NBA 2K, FIFA, NCAA Football, NHL, and Tiger Woods.
Xbox 360 System Configurations

Having trouble figuring out which Xbox 360 system to buy? Read our system configurations guide to find out about the different Xbox 360 models.
Xbox 360 Online

The Xbox 360 has an excellent Xbox Live online service. Find out what you need to get your Xbox 360 online and discover the differences between the Gold and Silver Xbox Live subscription levels.
Xbox 360 Accessories

Microsoft sells approximately three accessories for each Xbox 360 console. Take a look at all the official accessories to see what's available and to determine which ones are worth considering.
Xbox 360 FAQ

Do you know what "Falcon" or the "red lights of death" are? Find out the answers to those and more basic questions in our frequently asked questions section.

Ferrari Enzo My Dream Car

2007-12-07T01:16:00.000+05:30

The race track has always been the testing ground for the advanced technological research that later went into Ferrari's road cars. The very first Ferrari, built in 1947, was a 12-cylinder racing car. From that first 12-cylinder, 126 more were born, destined for both track and road. The Enzo Ferrari is not only the marque's latest V12, it is also a pinnacle of excellence drawing on the experience of victories in the last four years of the Formula 1 World Championship, thus endowed with the very latest automotive technology.

Company founder Enzo Ferrari always felt that design of the road cars should stem from the racers. Therefore, it was entirely logical that the company's latest creation should bear his name. The Enzo, built in a limited run of 399, is an outstanding expression of the concept of extreme sportiness, developed for road use, yet epitomizing the most advanced concepts of Formula 1 racing technology

Ferrari set out to develop the Enzo as an integrated system designed for extreme performance, in which even the limits of the performance achievable by the driver were enhanced, thanks to a man-machine interface typical of Formula 1.

Never before has style been derived so directly from function as in this model. Pininfarina wanted to create an uncompromising car that would break away from the approach used for the GTO, F40 and F50 that preceded it, to develop a new formal language that looked to the future. The engineers tried to create visual links with the world of Formula 1, to which the Enzo owes its technology, while highlighting its compactness and lightness. The result is a complex, sculpted form.

The use of advanced composite materials for the bodywork, with parts made of sandwich panels of carbon fibre and Nomex, allowed the designer to structure the bodyshell while keeping the weight to a minimum, and creating "extreme" stylistic forms.

The front, with its two air intakes for the radiators and a raised central section, is an interpretation of the Formula 1 front section with a small pointed, raised nose and air-intakes under the spoilers in a gull-wing effect. The sides, also benefit from the use of composites, shaped to optimise air-flow with respect to internal fluid dynamics. The large spoiler has been eliminated from the car's rear section which now boasts small aerodynamic appendages and very efficient ground effects.

Aerodynamics

In developing the Enzo, Ferrari set itself two pure performance targets which would represent a milestone for ultra-fast cars: to increase the grip limit in medium-fast bends by increasing downforce (lateral dynamics,) while maintaining a very high top speed, over 350 km/h (longitudinal dynamics.)

This meant that different aerodynamic configurations with contrasting characteristics had to coexist on the same car. In racing cars, this problem is solved by developing wings and special aerodynamic accessories for each circuit. But in the case of the Enzo, for which the various targets had to coexist in a single aerodynamic configuration, a concept of active, integrated aerodynamics was developed.
The high downforce configuration was obtained with a basic aerodynamic set-up developed on the basis of contemporary concepts for the definition of covered-wheel racing cars combined with the expertise of Ferrari Gestione Sportiva.

The optimal aerodynamic set-up is kept stable by special elastic features of the car's engineering and by active aerodynamic control.

As the speed increases from low-medium to high-very high, the engineering ensures that the car takes on the optimal aerodynamic set-up (maximum downforce obtained with an optimal load distribution) by varying the rigidity on the basis of ground clearance. As the speed climbs even higher, this set-up is maintained by the combined action of the flexible mechanical components and by active control of the spoilers. At very high speeds, the actively controlled spoilers (front and rear fins) limit the maximum vertical load, thus making it possible to keep the car above a set minimum ground clearance. On the Enzo, the aerodynamic load and balance can be modified on the road by means of a pair of flaps positioned in the front slides and a rear spoiler.

Vehicle Control System

The Enzo project is the first example of the complete integration of the vehicle control systems. Engine, gearbox, suspension, ABS/ASR, and aerodynamics all interact to optimise the vehicle's performance and safety. This presupposes an innovative approach to the design of the control system architecture, and to the development and fine-tuning of the subsystems on the car. It was made possible by the collaboration and specialist skills of Gestione Sportiva, and performance of each system was designed to enhance that of the entire car. The target when defining the control strategies of each subsystem was therefore the optimal behaviour of the car. The subsystems that interact are: the engine, gearbox, suspension, aerodynamics, and the ABS/ASR system. The large number of systems made it necessary to use special sensors. Management of the sensors is divided between the various control systems, each of which shares the relevant information with the rest of the system. The way the systems interact depends on the driving modes that the driver can choose from. The Enzo offers several set-ups: Sport, Race, No ASR.

Electrical System

The architecture of the F140 project was designed to minimize the section of the cables that link the utilities positioned on the steering wheel, the steering column, the onboard instruments, and the rest of the car. To achieve this goal, the architecture was based on a high speed communication line which links several different control units which pick up the signals "in the surrounding environment". These signals are transformed into information which can then only be exchanged through the communication line.

Engine

The engine of the Enzo Ferrari (which is known by its project number F140) is a 12-cylinder aspirated unit in a 65° V, a cylinder capacity of 5,998 cc, with a completely new design that draws on experience gained in Formula 1, and has a number of unique technical features. The cylinder head design reveals its Formula 1 origins: the "pentroof-type" combustion chamber, with four valves per cylinder, plus inlet and exhaust ducts designed to maximise the exhaust coefficients and combustion speed.

The cylinder case is built of aluminum with press-fitted sleeves lined with nicasil, with seven main bearings, and sleeve intervals of 104 mm. The con rods are made of titanium, the piston design is new, the crankshaft is lighter and the cylinder heads have four valves with high fluid dynamic efficiency, a new structure to increase rigidity, and a different oil discharge layout.

The timing gear features four overhead camshafts, direct valve control, and hydraulic tappets. It is completely chain-driven, with central transmission on triple gearing. The timing of the inlet and exhaust manifolds is continuously variable, thanks to the intervention of four variable advances activated by the engine control unit throughout the operating range via a high pressure hydraulic system, with the goal of lowering the noise and enhancing versatility.

The lubrication sump is of the F1 wrapround type, incorporating the main bearings and a specific oil recovery circuit to increase efficiency.

The variable geometry inlet manifold is also borrowed from Formula 1, with a system of small telescopic derivation cones, combined on this V12 application, with variable timing gear with a continuously variable advance on the four camshafts and a high pressure control unit.

Electronic engine management is provided on each row of cylinders by a Bosch Motronic ME7 unit which controls the PFI multiple injection system, the drive-by-wire throttle valve, and the single coils on each spark plug. Six knock sensors mounted on the crankcase guarantee knock control.

The performance goals of the new V12 have been met in full, in order to supply a unique blend of very high power, generous torque from low speeds and versatility. In spite of the large capacity of the engine, the applications derived most directly from Ferrari's Formula 1 experience have made it possible to keep the specific power of the engine at an extremely high 110 bhp/litre.

F1 Transmission and Gearbox

In the F140 project, the rear gearbox is coupled directly to the engine by an element that incorporates the engine oil tank, the bevel gear pair, and the self-locking differential. In line with the car's performance targets, the gearbox unit was developed only in a Formula 1 version. Gear changes are entrusted entirely to an electrohydraulic system which activates the gearbox and clutch. Gear change control is managed electronically and activated by paddles positioned behind the steering wheel, modifying engine torque and vehicle dynamics.

The project was designed for extremely sporty performance and adopts triple cone synchronisers on all six speeds. Lubrication is forced, with a large pump and lower oil level to minimise losses due to ventilation/shaking. The architecture with three bearings guarantees optimal gear train coupling even at high torque. The twin plate clutch with aluminium housing and a diameter of 215 mm also speeds up engine dynamics and synchronisation.

The number one goal of the Enzo project was to cut gear change times (down to 150 milliseconds) in the interests of extremely sporty use. The F1 gear levers are made of carbon, with an optimised shape and size, and they have been made symmetrical by transferring the direction indicator controls to the steering wheel spokes. The gear change pushbuttons are mounted on the steering wheel, as are the two different gear change modes, Sport and Race, as well as the reverse gear selector button.
Each of these modes comes with its own integrated software controlling damping and traction control systems (ASR.)

In RACE mode and with ASR disengaged, the Launch Control strategy borrowed from Formula 1 is also available, allowing the driver to start off at top speed in good grip conditions. The driver keeps the brake pedal down while he uses the accelerator pedal to choose the engine speed at which he wishes to set off. When he releases the brake pedal, the clutch closes rapidly while torque control is left to the driver.

The system fine-tuned by Ferrari for its Formula 1 transmission envisages a special multiple telltale at the centre of the main instrument panel which keeps the driver constantly informed about the state of the system and the speed engaged.

Chassis

The chassis was built entirely of carbon fibre and aluminium honeycomb sandwich panels, which made it possible to meet demands for outstanding rigidity, lightness and safety. In order to pass the offset collision tests required by the latest safety standards (56 km/h impact), highly sophisticated CAE methodologies were adopted to optimise the composite structures, to identify the optimal bodyshell structure, and to maximise the contribution of the reinforcement skin, where it is needed to support the basic panelling. The final result already meets the stricter future standards which will raise the collision speed to 60 km/h.

Respect for the styling and access targets (door solution with impact on the roof of the chassis) and the goal of passing 64 km/h offset collision tests with a view to further evolution of the requirements (extremely demanding in structural terms as a result of the 30 % increase in kinetic energy to be dissipated compared to previous collision standards), required complex planning of the tooling and the manufacturing methods.

The use of CAE optimisation methodologies was extended to the engine support frame, and particularly to the distribution of thicknesses in the suspension casting. In line with the work done for the bodyshell, a specific analysis set-up made it possible to identify the best weight-performance trade-off, supplying exact indications for the distribution of casting thicknesses.

Experiments confirmed the validity of the solutions chosen: torsional rigidity proved to be higher than the project target and to correspond to the values calculated, while all the homologation collisions gave a positive result from the start.

These results are all the more significant if we consider that the chassis weight had also been decreased considerably to 92 kg (compared to the 102 kg of the composite chassis of the earlier F50).

Suspension and Wheels

The Enzo has independent front and rear suspension with jointed double wishbones, and antidive-antisquat geometries to limit pitching during the transfer of longitudinal loads. The front uspension, which is push-rod in type with an opposed damper, also incorporates a lift to increase ground clearance during parking maneuvers. The rear suspension was designed to adapt to the chassis, with the engine-gearbox-differential assembly supported elastically, and a rear subframe
.

Combined with this suspension layout, an adaptive set-up was adopted for the Enzo project, based on a system of continuous control of the damping effect. The adoption of this system on the vehicle makes it possible to reconcile handling requirements (i.e. roadholding, minimal variation of the ground load) with the demands of comfort (movement and acceleration of the "shell", vibration transmitted to the driver), without having to adopt passive solutions (standard dampers) as a compromise.

In other words, electronic adaptation of the damping effect makes it possible to use a damper setting that is sufficiently comfortable in the car's basic configuration ("Sport" setting), yet there is also a setting that offers extra control in high performance conditions ("Race" setting).

The system uses the unsprung weights (wheels and suspension) to hold the sprung weight still (body) but it also insulates the shell from impulses transmitted to the wheels by the ground. The system is actually made up of four sensors (accelerometers) on the shell, two vertical wheel sensors, one vehicle speed sensor and a brake switch. The dampers are fitted with an internal proportional valve governed by the control unit, allowing damping to be modified instantly.

The braking torque control strategies (via ABS/ASR) were specially developed on the basis of the installed power and the optimisation of the braking system, and achieved a satisfactorily convenient result in terms of torque and braking pressure.

Although the Enzo project put the emphasis on handling, because of the car's extreme connotations, the adaptive set-up system employed meant that a good level of comfort could be obtained. Where the wheel modules are concerned, single-bolt light aluminium alloy wheels were chosen. The tyres were developed specifically for the Enzo project by Bridgestone and bear the exclusive name "Bridgestone Potenza RE050 Scuderia".

In order to maximise running safety, the car is equipped with a system that measures tyre pressure through special sensors inside the wheel rims, near the inflation valve. These sensors transmit a signal which is picked up by the antennae behind the stone traps on the bodyshell and linked to the control unit of the pressure monitoring system, which transmits the state of the tyre pressure to the instrument panel.

Braking System

The braking system developed for the car by Brembo features brakes made of carbo-ceramic material (CCM) used for the first time on a Ferrari road car, although Ferrari has been using them for many years on its Formula 1 racing cars. This made it possible to achieve outstanding results on the Enzo for all braking performance parameters. The main benefit required of this application was a decrease in unsprung masses, which was made possible by the significant reduction in the weight of the brake discs (12.5 kg less than conventional brakes). In addition to this, the entire braking system was obviously designed for maximum braking effectiveness and efficiency, in terms of prompt braking, stopping distances, and fade resistance. A further benefit of using brake discs in composite material was achieved in terms of improved reliability over time.

Interior

All of the main surfaces are made from unadorned carbon fibre. The functional elements are hooked onto a structural aluminium crossbeam. One of the main goals for the interior of the Enzo was to develop the concept of a facia and steering wheel that could optimise the flow of information and the way controls were activated by the driver, to make the so-called man-machine interface much more efficient.

One element that helped in this direction is the completely new steering wheel, the upper part of which is made of carbon and bevelled so as not to limit external visibility. It contains a series of LEDs which duplicate the telltales and the rev counter, and the lower part has been optimized to make more space for the driver.

Like a Formula 1 steering wheel, it also includes a large number of controls (six) on either side, linked to the main vehicle control functions: vehicle lift, reverse, exclusion/re-engagement ASR, integrated Sport/Race strategy, display configuration.

The control panel is tailor-made for the driver and includes technical features that are easily accessible from the wheel grip, and a compact, mixed analogue-digital instrument panel, in the shape of a reconfigurable graphic screen.

The driver's seat is an essential part of the driving position structure. A new racing seat was developed, made of carbon fibre and designed to give greater rigidity and to make the driving sensation more precise, filtering even the tiniest flexion in the seat system as much as possible. The aim was to give the Enzo driver the greatest possible awareness of the car's behavior.

Seat inclination is adjusted by a double Bowden lever system, and includes a lever control on the seat cushion, the only system of its kind in the field of fast sports car seats. The driver can also adjust the squab-seat combination to obtain a perfect driving posture.

Because the project only envisages a version with the F1 gearbox, there are only two pedals (accelerator and brake) which were optimized functionally and stylistically. There are numerous settings, for a total of 16 different configurations.

Story 2

The name Ferrari brings many images to mind: a Formula One racer darting through the turns at Monte Carlo; vice cops chasing drug smugglers through the streets of Miami; ultra-rich drivers cruising winding roads in their six-figure trophy cars; the prancing stallion on a yellow background. The company itself is all about heritage and prestige. The Ferrari company has been involved with racing for more than 50 years, and has been producing road cars almost as long.

Every few years, the two facets of Ferrari combine, taking the high-tech, high-performance designs of Formula One (F1) and putting them into the ultimate dream car. The results have always been exotic, incredibly fast, and incredibly expensive. The latest Ferrari supercar is the Enzo Ferrari, named after the company's late founder.

Photo courtesy Ferrari SpA
Enzo on display at the Frankfurt Motor Show

Enzo Ferrari built the company after splitting from Alfa Romeo in 1940, and the car that bears his name is focused purely on performance. Just being rich isn't enough to get yourself behind the wheel of the Enzo: Fewer than 400 were made, and prospective owners had to apply to Ferrari for the privilege of buying one. Oh, and don't say the name wrong: It's Enzo first, Ferrari second.

In this article, we'll learn how the Enzo was designed to emulate a Formula One car, what powers it, how fast it goes, and why it's so difficult to get one.

Let's start with the engine.

Power and Glory

The Enzo Ferrari has the engine in a compartment behind the driver -- the mid-engine design that is almost universal among high-performance supercars.

Photo courtesy Ferrari SpA
The Enzo features a mid-engine design.

The engine itself, which was designed specifically for this car, is a 366-cubic-inch (6.0 liter), aluminum-block V-12, with four valves per cylinder. It cranks out 660 horsepower at 7,800 RPM, and goes from zero to 100 mph (161 kph) in 6.6 seconds. The top speed is estimated at 217 mph, a speed few owners will ever reach. With a compression ratio of 11.2:1, the Enzo needs some high-octane fuel to run properly -- just another symptom of its F1 heritage. A dry-sump lubrication system keeps everything running smoothly.

Photo courtesy Ferrari SpA
The Enzo features a 6.0-liter, V-12 engine

Despite stripping away many of the comforts associated with luxury cars (the Enzo has no radio), the Enzo is not the lightest car in the world. Its curb weight of 3,009 pounds (1,365 kg) gives it a power-to-weight ratio of 4.56 pounds per horsepower (or .219 horsepower per pound). Here are the power-to-weight ratios* of some of the top supercars so you can see where the Enzo fits in:

Chrysler ME Four-Twelve - .295 hp/lb
McLaren F1 - .251 hp/lb
Bugatti 16/4 Veyron - .230 hp/lb
Ferrari Enzo - .219 hp/lb
1965 Ford GT40 Mk1 - .213 hp/lb
Ferrari Koenig 360 Modena - .174 hp/lb
Lamborghini Countach - .139 hp/lb
Dodge Viper RT/10 - .131 hp/lb
Chevrolet Corvette Z06 - .123 hp/lb
Porsche 911 Turbo - .119 hp/lb
Ford Mustang Cobra R - .107 hp/lb
Ferrari Testarossa - .104 hp/lb

*Stats calculated from info at http://www.supercarstats.com

The six-speed transmission is considered manual-only -- no automatic transmission is available. However, many enthusiasts argue that in order to be considered manual, a car must have a foot clutch. Since it doesn't have one, these people prefer to call the Enzo’s transmission "sequential," or SM (sequential-manual). The term "semi-automatic" is also used.

Almost all of the controls are on the F1-style steering wheel, including the shifting paddles. A series of LEDs on the wheel lets the driver know when the RPMs are high enough to shift, which can be done without removing a hand from the wheel. Other buttons control the selection of gear modes (Sport or Race mode) and a traction control system that can be deactivated.

Photo courtesy Ferrari SpA

All that power gets the Enzo from point A to point B very quickly, but European supercars aren't built to go in a straight line. Next, we'll look at how the Enzo handles.

Ferrari Heritage

Photo courtesy Ferrari SpA

Much of what Ferrari does is based on tradition. Here are the stories behind a few of those traditions.

The prancing stallion - Ferrari's famous emblem of a prancing stallion on a yellow background comes from Enzo Ferrari himself. He explains:

The horse was painted on the fuselage of the fighter plane flown by Francesco Baracca, a heroic Italian pilot who died on Mount Montello: the Italian ace of aces of the First World War. In 1923 ... I met Count Enrico Baracca, the pilot's father, and subsequently his mother, Countess Paolina. One day she said to me, "Ferrari, why don't you put my son's prancing horse on your cars; it would bring you luck." ... The horse was black and has remained so; I added the canary yellow background because it is the colour of Modena.

Ferrari red - Ferrari's Formula One cars have traditionally been red. This stems from the early days of international racing in Europe. The sport's governing body assigned a color to each nation, and Italy was given red. Today, even road Ferraris seem to come mainly in red, but Ferrari reports that this is a modern phenomenon. In the '60s and '70s, other colors were quite common.

Scuderia Ferrari - This is the name of Ferrari's racing division, and was the name of the original racing club Enzo Ferrari formed in 1929. Scuderia Ferrari is Italian for "Ferrari Stable," though the name is also translated as "Team Ferrari."

Turning Point

By all accounts, the Enzo is stable when cornering, though it is so powerful that it can be difficult to control. The car does have rack-and-pinion power steering, a small nod to driver comfort. The coil-shock units are pushrod actuated, and the shock absorbers can be electronically adjusted from the cockpit into two different positions. The four-wheel independent suspension is further stabilized by front and rear anti-roll bars.

Photo courtesy Ferrari SpA

The Enzo meets the road on four Bridgestone Scuderia tires, specially designed and tuned for this car. The front features 245/35ZR-19s, and there are 345/35ZR-19s on the rear, mounted on forged aluminum, single-nut wheels.

Photo courtesy Ferrari SpA

Even the brakes are beastly on the Enzo. The Brembo-produced, 15-inch discs slow the car down remarkably quickly. Almost all the drivers who tested the Enzo reported a few embarrassing laps, creeping through the turns after mashing on the brakes to stem the Enzo's mighty horsepower. It turns out a lighter touch is needed. An anti-lock braking system helps control those steep descents in speed.

Now we'll see how Ferrari's engineers translated the pure racing power of an F1 car into a street machine.

One for the Road

The design of the Enzo, from the engine to the body, was intended to create something close to a street-legal Formula One car. That sets the Enzo apart from earlier Ferrari supercars.

The chassis is a lightweight, carbon-fiber tub with aluminum honeycomb units to help it pass safety laws. The interior is spartan -- even the dashboard is made of carbon-fiber -- and the pedals are close together like a race car's.

Photos courtesy Ferrari SpA

Only a few concessions to luxury were made, such as air conditioning and leather upholstery on the carbon-fiber seats. If you're sensing a theme, it's because the designers intentionally strove for a purity of "man-machine interface." Hence all the carbon-fiber. Air bags for both the driver and passenger were included, and have been needed. Several Enzos have reportedly already met their maker, reducing the worldwide population to about 395. The air bags helped keep the drivers from meeting a similar fate.

Photo courtesy Ferrari SpA

The body, designed by long-time Ferrari partner Pininfarina, was made to echo the form of the F1 racers. The tapered nose and front air inlets are very reminiscent of an F1's shape. Some have complained that the Enzo is not as "beautiful" as some Ferraris, while others see a different kind of beauty in its purity. "It's like a jet fighter," wrote one enthusiast.

In many ways, it is like a jet fighter. Imagine the shape of an airplane's wing -- it creates lower pressure on the top surface of the wing, helping to produce lift. The body of the Enzo is like an upside-down wing. The shape of the car, from the spoilers to the undercarriage, acts to create downforce, literally sucking the car down onto the road. A Formula One car does the same thing, but in that case, pit crews can adjust the car for each track: Lots of downforce is needed for tracks with tight turns, while too much downforce would cut down on top speeds at a more wide-open course. The Enzo has to do it all with just one configuration. Ferrari's engineers worked hard at this, using active control spoilers that adjust their positions -- and therefore the amount of downforce created -- depending on the speed of the car. At 135 mph, almost a half-ton of downforce is pressing down on the Enzo.

Photo courtesy Ferrari SpA

The Enzo is 185.1 inches (470.1 cm) long, 80.1 inches (203.5 cm) wide, and just 45.2 inches (114.8 cm) high. The doors and part of the roof swing up and forward to make it easier to get in and out.

Photos courtesy Ferrari SpA

The car only sits 3.9 inches (9.9 cm) off the ground, but another steering-wheel-mounted button lifts the front suspension a few inches more, so you can avoid scraping the car's chin on lumpy pavement or steep parking lot entrances.

Now, let's examine what it takes to get your hands on one of these limited-edition supercars.

Victory for Ferrari The creation of the Enzo Ferrari coincides with the end of a drought in Formula One championships for the legendary marque. Michael Schumacher has won the Drivers World Championship for Ferrari four times in a row, in 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003. Schumacher was heavily involved in the testing of the Enzo, helping to maintain its connection to those title-winning F1 cars. In an interview with AutoWeek, Schumacher said of the Enzo, "It is hardly possible to compare a road car to a Formula One car, but it is as close as I have got [to a Formula One car] on the road."

Exclusive and Limited

Photo courtesy Ferrari SpA

Although the price tag on the Enzo Ferrari puts it out of reach of all but the super rich (or the super obsessed), you'd still think Ferrari would be able to sell more than the 399 that rolled out of the factory at Maranello, Italy. Why did they sell so few? Because that's how many they made -- and that's how many they will ever make. When the Ferrari people call something a "limited edition," they're not kidding.

Part of maintaining Ferrari's prestigious heritage is making sure that not everyone can have one. Only a privileged few can buy a Ferrari, and only the most elite owners and collectors in the world will drive one of these limited-edition production cars. That helps explain why the company can charge a lot for their machines.

And just how much is "a lot"? In the Enzo's case, $652,000.

Photo courtesy Ferrari SpA

The money doesn't stop flowing once the Enzo is in your garage, either. According to a 2003 Car and Driver article, replacing the brake pads costs $6,000, and the carbon-ceramic brake rotors go for $24,000. A special oil must be used (or else Ferrari will consider the warranty void) -- the oil costs $60 a quart.

A stack of cash alone will not get you an Enzo -- Ferrari has traditionally made potential buyers apply to buy one of their limited-edition cars, placing various restrictions on what may and may not be done with the car. They enforce these restrictions by threatening to withdraw perks like factory tours and the chance to buy future Ferraris -- a serious threat to the exotic car collectors of the world.

Previous Ferraris were even harder to get than the Enzo. For example, the Ferrari F50 wasn't sold, it was only leased. Ferrari could yank the lease at any time, and one of the stranger restrictions was that journalists were not allowed to use the car for performance testing (Car and Driver, Aug. 2003). The Enzo is far easier to get into by comparison. All approved Enzo buyers had the option of traveling to Italy to have the seat and pedals custom fitted.

Specifications

Engine
Type:	V12
Displacement cu in (cc):	365 (5988)
Power bhp (kW) at RPM:	660(485) / 7800
Torque lb-ft (Nm) at RPM:	484(657) / 5500
Redline at RPM:	8200
Brakes & Tires
Brakes F/R:	ABS, vented disc/vented disc
Tires F-R:	245/35 ZR19 - 345/35 ZR19
Driveline:	Rear Wheel Drive
Exterior Dimensions & Weight
Length × Width × Height in:	185.1 × 80.1 × 45.2
Weight lb (kg):	3009 (1366)
Performance
Acceleration 0-62 mph s:	3.65
Top Speed mph (km/h):	225 (362)
Fuel Economy EPA city/highway mpg (l/100 km):	n.a. (23)

Ferrari FXX

2007-12-07T01:12:00.000+05:30

Ferrari FXX gets faster

The awesome Ferrari FXX supercar has been given an upgrade. More power, better aerodynamics and sharper handling are the result.

29th October 2007

Italian supercar maker Ferrari has given its stunning FXX a bit of a work out. As a result the Enzo based track car gets a power boost, together with tweaks to the bodywork and suspension.

Under the carbon fibre skin is a modified version of the existing 6.3-litre V12 that now churns out 848bhp - 50bhp more than the original. This is connected to a gearbox that has had its shift times reduced from 80 to 60 milliseconds.

To keep the Ferrari on the road engineers have modified the rear spolier and underbody diffuser to give more downforce. At the front revised suspension geometery gives the Evoluzione even sharper steering, while the carbon ceramic brakes now last twice as long.

The modifications have resulted in an an impressive two second reduction in the standard FXX's 1 min 18sec lap of Fiorano. Many of the changes were the work of seven-times F1 champion Michael Shumacher.

The original FXX was developed as a mobile test bed for forthcoming Ferraris, with 30 super rich owners being given the opportunity to buy cars. Each one had to fork out an estimated £1 million pounds for the privilege of driving at 28 private events. Sadly none of the limited model run have ever been made road legal.

Unfortunately there will be no new cars as the modifications are to be carried out on existing versions only. Over the next two years owners will get the opportunity to test the improvements at circuits around the world.

Ferrari 612 Scaglietti

2007-12-07T01:11:00.001+05:30

Ferrari 612 Scaglietti

On the road price: £175,72

For: Great drive, spacious, that badge

Against: Fussy paddle shift, hugely expensive, controversial styling

Ferrari has a habit of being controversial with its new model designs, but when you're replacing a car as stylish as the 456 GT it is always going to be difficult. The 612 GT Scaglietti has thus faced some fairly harsh criticism in regards to its looks, but if previous Ferraris are anything to go by then it'll almost certainly be looked on more favourably as it ages. Styling aside the 612 is demonstrably better than the car it has replaced. A proper four-seat coupe this truly is a GT car in the purest sense of the word. With a thumping 5.7-litre V12 up front offering a thumping 540bhp the 612 is certainly not short of power, and although it's a big car the use of aluminium throughout means it's not as heavy as you might expect. That means the performance is shattering, it'll reach 199mph if you've got a private track or a clear autobahn, and will sprint to 60mph in just 4.2 seconds. All that power is delivered to the rear wheels through either a six-speed manual or a semi-automatic with paddle-shift levers. The former is the preferable choice, the fussy paddle system not as smooth as a conventional automatic, even when the computer takes full control.

Otherwise the 612 is an impressive machine. It seemingly shrinks around you on sinuous roads, becoming more sports car than GT. The body control is excellent, the ride firm but not uncompromising, and the steering light and direct. All this allows you to use the 612's prodigious thrust more often than you'd expect, it a convincing and very enjoyable car to drive hard. Add in that you can take three friends and luggage along in the sumptuously appointed interior and the 612's appeal increases a desirable choice for the well-healed Ferrari driver wanting a bit more practicality than its two-seater relatives. Those seats don't come cheap though, the 612 Scaglietti being the most expensive Ferrari in the current range, by a significant margin.

Ferrari F430

2007-12-07T01:07:00.000+05:30

Ferrari F430
On the road price: £122,775 - £130,825

For: Performance, handling, engine, brakes, accommodation

Against: We can't all afford one...

Few thought that there was much wrong with the F360 Modena, but such is the pace of development Ferrari have now replaced it with the F430. While it shares the majority of its chassis with the old car, albeit significantly revised to increase stiffness, there's a new engine in the shape of a 4.3-litre V8, and a new style too. The new look is certainly more dramatic than the curvaceous wind tunnel honed 360, Pininfarina charged with adding some more visual drama and sporting appeal to the F430's looks. Despite its more appealing lines it improves on its predecessor's aerodynamic downforce to ensure even higher speed stability. The rear lights are reminiscent of the Enzo, protruding up through the bodywork, while the sharper, more aggressively styled nose feeds cooling air to both the brakes and radiators. It needs to, as that new V8, derived from the 4.2-litre unit used by Ferrari's sister company Maserati, is bound to produce a lot of heat with 490bhp on offer. It allows the F430 to rocket to 60mph in just 4.0 seconds and onto 196mph if you happen to be passing through Germany.

Inside it retains the practicality of the 360 with some space behind the seats for luggage, with some additional space under the front bonnet. Options include the F1 paddle-shift transmission at £6,500, it shifting faster and smoother than ever, and ceramic brakes which come in at a whopping £9,000. Even with a hike over the 360 in the list price to £111,000 its first year of production is already sold out. We can understand why, with performance that answers the questions asked by so many when Lamborghini released the Gallardo, Ferrari has taken it's rightful place back at the top of the supercar pile.

Ferrari 599 GTB

2007-12-07T01:04:00.000+05:30

On the road price: £171,825

For: Sensational performance, brilliant handling, styling, Enzo engine, detailing

Against: Prohibitively expensive, two-year waiting list

Driving:

Powered by the 6.0-litre V12 that debuted in the Enzo supercar, the 599GTB offers an incredible 620bhp and 608Nm of torque. The 0-60mph sprint takes only 3.5 seconds and top speed is claimed to be 205mph. Quite simply, the 599's performance is sensational, and closely threatens the Enzo's! The noise it makes is the perfect backdrop to such savage acceleration as well. A six-speed manual gearbox is standard, but 90 per cent of 599s will be delivered with the new F1 Superfast six-speed sequential manual with steering-wheel paddles. Bringing the 599 closer to Ferrari's Grand Prix cars, every change feels very precise and smooth, and barely interrupt the power delivery. What's more, the road manners are equally impressive, and work to flatter the driver rather than intimidate them. That's partly down to the traction control set-up, called F1 Trac. Meanwhile, the electronic dampers and suspension give the 599 unprecedented levels of grip and stability, and there's no shortage of comfort.

Marketplace:
Only a couple of years ago, it was reckoned the average Ferrari did a mere 6,000 miles annually. This has been growing steadily; the 599's predecessor, the 575M, claimed to cover 8,000 - and Ferrari expect the 599 to push this up further. But there's no doubt that while Ferrari's in rude health, the once-empty market it called its own is under attack from all sides. Bugatti, McLaren Mercedes, Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini and Aston Martin - even Rolls-Royce and Maybach - all are fighting for the same set of customers. That's why the 599 had to be such a benchmark car.

Owning:
You only have to catch a glimpse of the sensational 599 GTB Fiorano to know that it is a Ferrari. Not only is it one of the fastest motors money can buy, there's no doubt that in the style stakes as well, Ferrari still rules. The curving lines offer some great details. We particularly like the rear flying buttresses, which not only give the design depth, but improve the aerodynamics, too. But it's not just the look that makes the Ferrari body special. The aluminium panels weigh a mere 1,690kg. The weight advantage adds to the performance, and promises to improve the handling as well. Inside, the two-seat cabin mixes Ferrari's now traditional blend of metal, carbon fibre and leather to offer real style and luxury, and within the instrument panel there's a mix of traditional analogue dials and an electronic display screen - which even records lap times! Of course, the list price is heady, fuel economy barely reaches double figures and running costs will be prohibitive. Owning the 599 will not be cheap. But a two-year waiting list proves that for some lucky buyers, such concerns just don't figure. Besides, the 599 is a simply awesome machine; it puts Ferrari back at the top of the supercar tree.

Lamborghini Murciélago Reventón

2007-12-07T00:58:00.000+05:30

Lamborghini's latest comes shroud in carbon fibre bodywork and more power than an LP640

Here’s a Lamborghini for those who think the Murciélago is just too shy and retiring! This is the Reventón, a special edition of the brand’s flagship supercar, sporting a striking new body and a £787,250 price tag.

As only 20 have been made available, it’s certainly exclusive. But can it really be worth nearly five times as much as the model it’s based on?

One thing is for sure: it’s absolutely stunning. The carbon fibre bodywork, which has been penned by the Lamborghini Style Centre in Italy, is influenced by the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter.

Add camouflage-style paintwork and matt black wheels, and it looks as though it’s escaped from an air force base. According to company sources, the design isn’t a one-off, either. All future Lamborghinis for the next decade will follow the Reventón’s cues.

Power comes from the same 6.5-litre V12 engine as in the Murciélago LP640, but with an additional 10bhp – taking the total output to a storming 641bhp. The 0-62mph sprint still takes 3.4 seconds, but the Reventón is even more responsive in-gear. It sounds incredible, delivering a raucous bark that can be heard from miles away.

There is great fun to be had from blipping the revs on the downchange, but the standard-fit e-gear semi-auto box – which features steering wheel paddles – is jerky at low speeds.

The Murciélago’s optional 380mm ceramic brakes are also included, and they provide outstanding stopping power. With ultra-wide Pirelli tyres and four-wheel-drive traction, there’s lots of grip – but only the very talented will tame the Lambo on the limit. Inside, the Alcantara-trimmed bucket seats are unforgivingly hard, but the digital display on the dash is neat.

It can switch between analogue dials or an aero-influenced readout, complete with G-force meter! Similar to the set-up in jet fighters, it shows the pull being exerted while braking, accelerating and cornering. So the car provides a remarkable experience, but is it really worth nearly £800,000? Well, all 20 examples of the Reventón have been sold – one is in the UK. For those buyers, the answer is an emphatic yes.

Rival: Bugatti Veyron
The Lamborghini is no match for the £810,000 Veyron on the road. But both are amazing to look at and true collectors’ items. As all Reventóns have been sold, well heeled fans of the exclusive supercar experience will have to go knocking on Bugatti’s door.

FIRST OPINION

The Reventón pulled in huge crowds at September’s Frankfurt Motor Show. And on the road, the special-edition, jet-inspired Murciélago is even more striking. It’s sensational on the outside, and that appeal continues on the inside with an aeronautical dash. There’s no escaping the ridiculous price tag, but this limited-run LP640 is an important car for the company, signalling a new phase in its design direction. We can’t wait to see what’s coming next.

AT A GLANCE

Price: £787,250

Engine: 6.5-litre V12, 641bhp

0-62/top spd: 3.4 secs/211mph

Econ/CO2: 13.2mpg/495g/km

Equipment: Carbon-fibre body, climate control, e-gear semi-auto box, ceramic brakes, launch control

On sale|: Now

Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabrio

2007-12-07T00:52:00.001+05:30

Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabrio

Going topless just got easier - for a price. With impeccable timing, the latest Porsche 911 Cabriolet is hitting the UK as the summer arrives. Customers here have been made to wait a year for the drop-top, so was it worth the delay? Auto Express got behind the wheel to find out... and considering the Cabrio commands a ΂£7,230 premium over the Coupί¿½, it needed to be good!

Our infamous weather means soft-top driving can be a hazardous exercise. However, Porsche has done a fine job of letting owners take advantage of even the smallest ray of sunshine.

The roof goes up or down in only 20 seconds, so it can work comfortably while waiting at traffic lights. Not that you need to worry; if the signals change to green, the mechanism still operates at up to 30mph.

The set-up works at the touch of a button and stows neatly. In the raised position, visibility is aided by a heated glass screen, and the classy roof lining hides any ugly folding metal parts.

Refined

On the road, the soft-top is very refined but noise levels are, as you would expect, higher than in the Coupί¿½. Open-air motoring is remarkably fuss-free, though, and with the standard wind deflector in place, even motorway speeds do not prevent conversation. The clip-in device is stored in the car's nose and can be fitted in moments.

However, even without it, the front screen directs wind over, rather than into, the interior. Special door seals combine with ducts in the reinforced A-pillars to channel water away from the cabin in poor weather. Of course, safety is not ignored, and a pair of pop-up rollbars behind the tiny rear seats deploy automatically in a rollover. There are even door-mounted head airbags.

From behind the wheel, the conversion to the Cabrio has done little to affect the 911's outstanding handling. Cutting the roof off has seen a 110kg weight increase over the Coupί¿½, but it is unlikely that you would notice the difference in normal driving.

Scuttle shake is notable by its absence, and there is no body flex from the stiff chassis, which ensures the fixed-head version's pin-sharp responses are retained. To preserve ride comfort, the Carrera S is also fitted with Porsche's active suspension, which has been specifically tuned for the soft-top.

A six-speed manual box is standard on both the 3.8-litre Carrera S and the 3.6 entry model, and a five-ratio Tiptronic S is optional. At ΂£65,260, the base Cabrio is ΂£6,880 more than the Coupί¿½ - so whichever model you choose, value for money is one of the few things that does not come as standard.

FIRST OPINION

Porsche reckons the 911 Cabriolet is as aerodynamic as the Coup� - but top-down motoring adds the price of a new supermini to the total cost. It may be the fastest, safest and best-handling Porsche drop-top ever, but it makes the least financial sense. Unless you crave open-air motoring, we'd struggle to recommend the costly Cabrio over the Coup�.

AT A GLANCE

Classy cabin has nine-speaker stereo and will be familiar to Coup� owners. Rear seats are strictly for children - and are rendered useless with the standard wind deflector in place.

Engine: 3.8-litre 6cyl, 355bhp

0-60mph: 4.9 seconds

Price: £72,230

Porsche 911 GT2

2007-12-07T00:46:00.000+05:30

Porsche's GT2 is the ultimate 911

it’s the ultimate Porsche 911. Lighter, more powerful and even faster than the standard Turbo model on which it’s based, the stunning GT2 is about to change the way the world thinks about high-performance cars.

And Auto Express was first behind the wheel of the newcomer, which offers 530bhp from its 3.6-litre twin-turbo engine – as well as a 0-60mph sprint time of only 3.7 seconds.

Top speed is 204mph, but thanks to a series of aerodynamic and suspension modifications, Porsche is now claiming that the car will be among the most stable it has ever developed, particularly at cruising speeds.

Weighing only 1,440kg – that’s 145kg lighter than the entry-level ver-
sion of the Turbo – the GT2 features a number of unique adjustments to improve its straight-line pace and responsiveness. Yet unlike some high-performance specials, there’s no mistaking this version for the standard model. As well as a distinctive rear wing, it gets special front and back bumpers to improve cooling.

Inside, there’s a choice of two different interiors. The first offers luxurious trim including Alcantara headlining and leather seats, while the second is competition-inspired, with the cabin stripped out to save weight.

Our model had the latter option, with figure-hugging race seats, plus a roll cage. The set-up is uncompromising, but is still comfortable, and ensures the driver is safely secured behind the wheel. Radical changes have also been made under the skin, with the GT2 ditching the 4WD found in the standard Turbo in favour of a rear-wheel-drive layout.

To compensate for its huge power output, the Porsche has 325-section tyres at the back. These are some of the largest fitted to a road car, but are not the only distinctive feature. The GT2 is the first non-racing model to boast a titanium exhaust system – which is not only much lighter than standard, but more resilient, too.

On the move, the GT2 provides simply staggering pace, particularly in third and fourth gears, so overtaking is easy. Steering feel is first rate, too, helped by the fact that the comparatively narrow front tyres offer a delicate grip on the road.

Performance through the gears is devastating, and will leave you in no doubt that the top speed of 204mph is easily accessible. With 680Nm of torque, the car’s pace barely tails off as you work through the gears. Such speed comes at a high price, though – when the GT2 goes on sale in February, it will cost £131,070.

Rival: Ferrari F430 Scuderia
Developed with the help of Michael Schumacher, the F430 Scuderia is Ferrari’s answer to the 911 GT2. Its high-revving, mid-mounted V8 and unmistakable exhaust note provide it with plenty of character, but it doesn’t have the 911’s supremely balanced feel.

FIRST OPINION

The GT2 is a racing car for the road. Yet Porsche has managed to ensure it is not only great fun to drive, but also surprisingly reassuring. With such massive performance available from the turbocharged engine, the throttle demands respect, although that doesn’t mean this 911 is intimidating. Wide tyres at the rear offer masses of grip, while the steering is incredibly accurate. A smooth-acting traction control system provides a further safety net, particularly in lower gears. Frankly, we can think of few more capable road cars.

AT A GLANCE

Price: £131,070

Engine: 3.6-litre 6cyl

Power: 530bhp

Torque: 680Nm

0-60mph: 3.7 seconds

Top speed: 204mph

Standard equipment: Air-con, Bose sound system, sat-nav, roll cage, bucket racing seats

On sale: February 2008

Ultimate 911

2007-12-07T00:39:00.000+05:30

Porsche has just revealed official pictures of its fastest 911 ever

20th July 2007
Capable of 204mph, the new GT2 covers the 0-60mph dash in 3.6 seconds and will sprint from 0-100mph in 7.4 seconds.

Featuring a 530bhp version of the 911 Turbo’s flat-six engine, the GT2 swaps that car’s 4WD set-up for rear-wheel drive to save weight. Together with a stripped-out cabin, it tips the scales at 100kg less than the Turbo.

The bodyshell is strengthened, and fitted with stiffer suspension and ceramic brakes, while a roll cage is an option. The car gets a rectangular air intake and LED lights at the front, plus a wider rear with more air ducts and a bigger spoiler. UK sales start in November, with the price set at £131,070 – which includes the cost of a day’s driver training.

Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 GT

2007-12-06T20:18:00.000+05:30

Welcome to the most exclusive driver’s seat in the world!

Sitting behind the wheel of the mighty Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 GT is a pleasure only 21 wealthy buyers will get the chancce to enjoy.

This special evolution of one of the planet’s most exciting sports cars has been developed to offer all the thrills of the most glamorous race championships without the full commitment of taking part in one. As well as the two-seater, the price buys you entry to the SLR Club, and an invitation to contest the SLR Club Trophy on a series of race tracks – nearly all of which are on the F1 calendar. Is it any surprise so many people want to join? We caught up with the model at the Paul Ricard circuit in France to find out.

At the heart of the 722 GT is a series of modifications which turn it from a formidable road car into a race-ready track machine. Much of the engineering has been carried out by UK firm Ray Mallock Limited (RML), which has seen success in endurance racing and the British Touring Car Championship. RML has also built roadgoing specials – most recently a mid-engined Nissan Micra complete with a 3.5-litre V6.Based on a normal SLR, the 722 GT gets extra pace courtesy of a 670bhp version of the AMG-developed 5.5-litre supercharged V8. There’s revised suspension, plus new wheels with slick tyres. Enormous brakes help slow the car from its 195mph top speed. And a special aerodynamic package has been developed, comprising a massive rear wing and ground-hugging nose cone, complete with extra cooling vents.

Big changes have been made inside, too, with a pair of lightweight bucket seats and matching six-point racing harnesses to help keep the driver and passenger pinned tightly in place.

The dash is replaced by a simple carbon panel that houses the heater controls, while an LED display provides speed and rpm readouts, as well as general information like fuel load and engine temperature. A single starter button spins the V8 into life, while the enormous side-exit exhausts make a sound like cannon fire.

On the track, the SLR quickly proves to be truly sensational. It weighs 300kg less than the standard McLaren – at 1,390kg – and with an incredible 830Nm of torque, the 722 GT accelerates with awe-inspiring urgency.

The 0-62mph sprint takes 3.3 seconds, and the car is instantly through the first three ratios of the gearbox and approaching the end of the start/finish straight at Paul Ricard before the brakes are pressed. It slows exceptionally quickly, shedding speed with such ferocity that you’re pushed hard into the seatbelt harnesses.

Even more incredible is the SLR’s mid-corner stability. Figures released by the engineers show it pulls nearly 2g through faster bends – courtesy of the impressive aerodynamics and slick tyres. From the passenger seat, the experience was the closest thing to being in a top-flight racer, without lining up on the F1 or GT grid.

Of course, that begs the question why you’d spend so much money on the car. The answer is simple: this SLR is aimed at super-rich customers who don’t have time to do a full season’s racing. It’s competition lite – you get the car, the circuit time and the technical support, but aren’t committed to the pressure and responsibility of contesting an international championship.

As a concept, it’s very appealing, even if the price is steep. One thing is for sure, however: if you love cars, racing and have the money but not the time, few other clubs offer such a spectacular combination of thrills.

Rival: Ferrari FXX
the £1,000,000, Enzo-based FXX offers a similar programme of racing experiences to the 722 GT. Michael Schumacher famously played a part in its development. But with all 20 cars sold out, getting a seat behind the wheel is nigh on impossible.

FIRST OPINION

Don’t think of the 722 GT as a practical supercar – it’s more the means by which you can join a super-exclusive club of track day enthusiasts. On the race circuit, however, this special SLR is every bit as good as you would expect from a machine with such an enormous price tag. It delivers incredible performance, as well as breathtaking levels of grip and stability. The highlight of the package is the five-speed manual gearbox – which not only makes the McLaren feel more driveable, but more controllable, too.

AT A GLANCE

Price: £750,000 (inc track access)

Engine: 5.5-litre V8, 670bhp

0-62/top spd: 3.3 secs/195mph

Kerbweight: 1,390kg

Transmission: Five speed manual, rear-wheel drive

Brakes: Eight-pot racing calipers

Standard equipment: Racing seats and harness seatbelt, five-speed manual box, lightweight dash, perspex side windows, custom 18-inch alloys, sports exhaust

On sale: Now

Little Johnny

2007-12-06T20:15:00.000+05:30

A grade school teacher in Tennessee asked her students to use the word "fascinate" in a sentence.

Molly put up her hand and said, "My family went to my granddad's farm, and we all saw his sheep. It was fascinating. " The teacher said, "That was good, but I wanted you to use the word fascinate, not fascinating. " S

ally raised her hand. She said, "My family went to Graceland and I was fascinated." The teacher said, "Well, that was good Sally, but I wanted you to use the word fascinate, not fascinated."

Little Johnny raised his hand. The teacher hesitated because she had been burned by Little Johnny before. She finally decided there was no way he could damage the word 'fascinate', so she called on him.

Little Johnny said, "My Aunt has a sweater with nine buttons, but her tits are so big she can only fasten eight."

The teacher cried.

XP to be a lot faster than Vista

2007-12-06T20:10:00.000+05:30

Seattle: Microsoft Corpâ€™s Windows XP operating system is about to get faster and Windows Vista isnâ€™t, according to a report which caused a stir this week as industry watchers speculated that a zippier version of XP could keep customers from upgrading to Vista.

Microsoft, however, said itâ€™s too early to evaluate the two service packs it plans to release next year.

Early versions are already in the hands of testers like Devil Mountain Software Inc, which ran several versions of XP and Vista through a test simulating common desktop computing tasks.

It found the original Vista performed 50 per cent to 100 per cent slower than the prevalent XP Service Pack 2, or SP2.

Vista SP1, due out in the early 2008, barely improved the operating systemâ€™s performance.

But XP SP3, scheduled for the first half of 2008, did improve on XPâ€™s earlier performance, running 10 per cent faster than SP2.

Thatâ€™s a strike against Vista for IT professionals on the fence about switching, according to Craig Barth, the companyâ€™s chief technology officer.

Kevin Kutz, director of Microsoftâ€™s Windows Client group, said the company is working on speeding up tasks such as transferring files between PCs, but itâ€™s a work in progress.

Michael Cherry, an analyst for a research group in the US, said itâ€™s impossible to know if Microsoft has started tuning Vista SP1 for speed. Even if XP gets faster, consumers and businesses may still switch to Vista.

â€œIt might be an acceptable thing to me if it were slightly slower, but more stable,â€ Cherry said.

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