Better still, it's an instant download, so you'll receive your software and serial code within minutes of placing your order.

With Acronis True Image 2010 backup software, you can schedule a regular backup of your drive, partition, or files and folders. Using differential support, each time you run a backup, only the files you have updated since the last backup will be stored. If you suffer from a system crash or buy a new PC, you can simply restore your data back to your computer.

If you're seeking drive backup software, you could also take a look at O&O DiskImage 5 Professional, which was released last week. This drive and partition backup software competes directly with Acronis True Image 2010 and is available for only £14.99 at the V3 Software Store, 50 per cent off the standard RRP of £29.99.

Setup is as simple as plugging in the wireless receiver, with options present to change channels if other competing equipment is within range.

A device this slim and compact - it measures 293x28x101mm and weighs 245g - would obviously raise concerns over usability, but we were pleasantly surprised by how responsive the keys are and how easy it is to type at a reasonable speed.

Something called X-type membrane is used here to allegedly provide silent strokes and tactile feedback. While we're not sure about the former claim, as it can make a bit of a noise when placed on a hard surface such as a desk, though it's quieter in a lap, we're certainly on board with responsive, tactile operation.

Mouse control is similarly effective and the fact that the trackball and selection keys are placed at the top corners makes it very nice to use when held in both hands. Cursor control is smooth, accurate and responsive and most users should have no trouble quickly navigating around a screen.

Of course it does take a little while to get used to the keyboard layout, and the fact that your fingers must remain quite tightly bunched together to achieve faster typing speeds means you won't be transcribing War and Peace any time soon, but that's not the 3200's intended use anyway.

Business settings where a user needs a little more control over a slideshow or presentation and home media control would be the most likely environments, and in these situations we think its works very well. Gaming is also cited, though in this case we can see people getting plenty frustrated at hitting the wrong keys in the heat of battle, so we wouldn't recommend it for this purpose. The 3200RF is wireless up to 10 metres and though we could only confirm operation at around a 7m distance from the receiver, this should still be plenty for most.

At £44, the 3200RF isn't exactly cheap, but as far as these wireless miniature keyboards go we think KeySonic has done a very nice job. It's solidly built, versatile and extremely usable, even if it will take a bit of practice before you're up to speed.

In the Compose Mail section of Gmail, a Web Search box has quietly appeared on the left hand side of the composition space which previously was only available to Labs users.

While the web giant did not publically announce the new functionality, a Google UK spokesman confirmed it was new and introduced over the weekend.

When a user searches for a term in the box, the results pop out in another box at the bottom of the page with links that can be copied and pasted.

The functionality will allow users to easily add links to their email without opening a second browser window.

CyberLink Media Suite 8 Ultra is a complete media solution, consisting of everything you need to edit your videos and photos, compile them and then burn to disc.

We've also got a special deal on Webroot security products this weekend. We're offering 50 per cent off all Webroot products at the V3 Software Store. Webroot Spy Sweeper 2010 is available for only £9.98 instead of the regular £19.95, and you can buy the complete Webroot Internet Security Essentials 2010 for £19.95 rather than £39.95.

Hurry though as this Webroot 50 per cent offer ends 24 January.

I speculated in the story that this might hit the makers of standalone navigation kit such as TomTom and Garmin, but further consideration has made me rethink this.

The fact is that standalone kit tends to ship with a larger, more readable screen than your average smartphone, and this is quite important when you are trying to use the device while driving. Phones also tend to go into power-saving mode if you haven't pressed a button for a few seconds, even when connected to an external power source. And what happens if you have an incoming call just as you reach a critical junction?

Interestingly, analyst firm Canalys thinks that Nokia's mobile operator partners stand to lose from the move, since they offer their own paid-for navigation tools to customers. These often download map data on-the-fly thereby driving up mobile data use as well, whereas Ovi Maps comes with the map data for all of Europe pre-installed on new Nokia phones.

Thinking about it, I can't see why you would want to use a mobile phone for in-car navigation rather than a device custom-made for the purpose, so perhaps TomTom and Garmin are safe.

Then again, I'm sure others will disagree. Is there something I'm missing?

Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Compact is Windows 7 compatible and ships with both 32-bit and 64-bit editions. It is designed to back up and restore your most important files.

The Paragon full download is available until 19 January 2010, so if you find the servers slow (it's a big download), try again soon.

The Nexus One, which can be ordered today from a new online store hosted by Google, has met with a mixed reaction from commentators and industry experts. Some have hailed the device as the only worthy challenger to Apple's iPhone, while others said that it renders other Android-based devices obsolete. Many, however, have expressed indifference to the Nexus and the "superphone" tag that Google has labelled it with.

Indeed, a glance at the specifications shows that the Nexus One, with its 1GHz Qualcomm SnapDragon processor, large touch-screen, Wi-Fi and 3G wireless support, plus built-in GPS, is very similar to other handsets such as HTC's HD2. This should come as little surprise, since the Nexus is actually manufactured for Google by HTC.

But it is the available software and services that set any mobile apart from the competition, as Apple has demonstrated with the iPhone, and the Nexus includes one or two surprises here.

As well as a newly minted version of Google's Android platform, the Nexus features speech recognition throughout, dynamic noise suppression on voice calls, and is also said to support automatic synchronisation of photos to the web.

However, in other respects the Nexus seems to have little to offer that consumers cannot already get with other Android-based handsets, such as access to Google Maps, Google Mail, Google Talk, and Android Market for downloading applications, so it is difficult to see justification for claims that the Nexus is the first in an emerging category of superphones.

Then there is the question of why Google has chosen to compete against its own partners, such as Motorola. The Android platform might be open, which is why it has attracted a number of handset vendors and carriers, but the fact that Google has been the first to market with an Android 2.1 device could easily convince its partners that they are not in an equal partnership.

Google's ultimate goal, as some observers have maintained, is probably to boost web advertising by getting its platform used by as many people as possible. Perhaps the company is hoping that it can follow Apple's example and use the cachet associated with the Google brand to draw consumers to the Nexus One instead of rival phones.

Whatever Google's motives for marketing its own-brand handset, the Nexus One seems a little disappointing after all the hype and rumour that preceded the launch. It certainly does not seem to be the "iPhone killer" that some observers have labelled it, especially as many buyers are drawn to Apple's handset because of its close integration with the iTunes music service and the huge number of available applications as much as for its slick design and touch-driven user interface.

However, here at V3.co.uk, we will reserve ultimate judgement until we have had a review model to test out for ourselves.

Today V3.co.uk tracked down (well, phoned) head of mobile at Mozilla Jay Sullivan, to speak about the new Firefox for mobile web browser.

Sullivan told us the browser was currently in release candidate format and was going through the necessary testing for any bugs before it could be launched - and although he apologised for the vagueness of this he did say it seemed most likely it will be launched at some point next week. Next week...isn't that Christmas? A present from Mozilla? How kind.

Whenever it is released, though, it looks as if it could be worth the wait. Screenshots seen by V3.co.uk show the browser has a nifty set of features including tabbed browsing that, instead of sitting on top of the browser, sit to the left hand side and are visible while you browse, allowing for efficient web use and easier switching between sites. No having to slide around to see what other windows you have open as you do on the iPhone.

Another interesting development offered by Mozilla is an application called Weave Sync. The app allows users to sync their desktop computer and their mobile phone device - as long as it's the Nokia N900, the only device to currently run the browser - so that, rather than having to type in all web addresses as new on the search bar, they can be imported from the desktop machine.

"People are very impatient to type in web addresses, log-in details, passwords and so forth on mobile devices," said Sullivan. "But by allowing syncing between computers and phones we can offer a far more efficient, simple browsing experience as all previous history and information can be uploaded and memorised by the device instantly."

This information is all stored in the browser's modestly named Awesome Bar that remembers all web addresses from both the phone and the computer, including closed tabs and history. This allows users to retrieve information when out and about they have already accessed on the desktop device, such as street addresses, names of restaurants or, indeed, awesome bars.

Currently the browser will only be available to download but Sullivan confirmed the company was not averse to having the browser coming pre-installed on handsets. He also said the browser would be available to Windows Mobile devices in the first quarter of 2010 and to Android devices by the middle of the year - and this time on more than one device.

Sullivan also praised the developer community that works on the open source code integral to FireFox's success and helping them compete with rivals like Apple or Microsoft. But they probably won't be getting any Christmas presents, other than the new mobile browser.

From now until Monday 30 November, you can purchase Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 1-PC, 1-Year for the low cost of £16.49, 60 per cent off the normal price.

Also from today until Monday, you can get your hands on NitroPDF Professional 6 at a massive discount of 50 per cent off the list price - so £48.27 instead of £96.37.

Nitro PDF Professional is designed to offer a complete Adobe Acrobat alternative, with a whole range of tools to create, convert, edit, combine, secure and annotate PDFs.

PCmover Professional will also be available over the latter half of the weekend for £19.95, instead of the list price of £49.92.

Finally we'll be offering AVG AntiVirus 9, the 3-PC, 1-Year version, for the low price of £14.99 over the weekend, a huge discount on the retail price of £46.99. You'll also be able to purchase AVG Internet Security 9, 3-PC, 1-Year, at 60 per cent off the list price at £19.99 instead of £54.99.

These promotions will run for 24 hours at a time, between Friday and Monday, so keeping checking the store for the current promotional discount.

It didn't take long after Google released early test code of its Chrome OS for some enterprising techies to build it and make it available as a virtual machine.

A colleague managed to download a copy of this and I took a quick look using VMware Workstation to run it, but sadly, there isn't that much to report; if you have used Google's Chrome browser, then you have a fair idea of what it's like to use Chrome OS, as the browser pretty much IS the operating system.

Once Chrome OS is available, users will have access to web apps - primary Google's own apps like Google Docs and Picasa, but not necessarily restricted to these - but Chrome has no "desktop" as there is with most other operating systems, just browser tabs, and a few drop-down menu options for functions such as turning Wi-Fi on and off on your system (Chrome OS is intended for netbooks).

The build I looked at (very briefly) seemed very slow, but then I was running it with a limit of 256MB memory on a PC with 1GB total memory in the first place, and not everything seemed to be working. I hope to get a fuller hands-on with the software in future.

I finally got around to upgrading my partner's Windows Vista laptop at the weekend, and it turned out to be quite a drawn-out process and much more involved than I had anticipated. If Vista throws up this many problems with an in-place upgrade, it's no wonder that Microsoft decided that an upgrade path from XP wasn't worth contemplating.

The upgrade accounted for pretty much all of Sunday afternoon and evening, taking in the region of eight hours from start to finish. With hindsight, a clean install would have been a better option, but the laptop had a number of applications such as Microsoft Office that have been personalised with various settings and options, and it seemed that an in-place upgrade was the way to proceed.

The first thing I did was to backup all documents and files to a network share, as The Boss would not have been impressed if anything had gone wrong and resulted in the loss of any of her work.

Secondly, I downloaded and ran the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor from Microsoft's website to get some idea of any problems that might be lurking.

This turned out to be a useful tool, so I fully recommend it to anyone planning a similar upgrade. As well as confirming that the laptop (a HP Compaq Presario F500 series) met the minimum requirements for Windows 7, it identified one or two drivers that were not compatible with Windows 7 (see screenshot).

It also recommended removing several applications before the upgrade, including an old version of iTunes, Windows Live Messenger and the Windows Mobile Device Center.

Unfortunately, uninstalling one of the applications caused the laptop's DVD drive to stop working, which put a brake on the upgrade until I could fix it.

The problem was that the application had hooked into the DVD driver, and its uninstall routine had not removed the link. A quick web search provided me with a fix, which involved editing the Registry to remove any reference to the application from the DVD's entry.

With the DVD drive re-instated, I popped in the Windows 7 install disk and kicked off the setup. However, this performed its own compatibility check, which after an extended scan of the computer, threw up a new list of applications and drivers to remove.

One of the applications it identified was Skype, which wasn't actually installed on the laptop, and so caused some head scratching. It turned out the compatibility check had found a bundled Skype installer that HP must have pre-loaded onto the hard drive when the laptop was built.

After removing the new problems and a quick reboot, I re-started the install and waited...and waited...and waited. After copying and expanding the files needed for Windows 7, the installer than scanned for existing applications and files, and this is what really took up a lot of the time, as it eventually reached a grand total of 342,814 items!

Of course, the upgrade was only half complete, as after rebooting into Windows 7, the installer then had to import all the applications and files it had previously identified.

Just as I was about to retire to bed and leave the upgrade running overnight, the installation finished and Windows Vista was finally replaced with shiny new Windows 7, with no loss of data and all vital applications intact.

So far, The Boss is pleased with the upgrade, although she complains that it is still a little slow for her liking, but an improvement on Vista's interminable startup and shutdown times.

The upgrade was thus a success, but not without its share of hitches, and it makes me wonder how less tech-savvy users would cope with a similar scenario. And this was with a Vista laptop bought as new just a couple of years ago, not an ancient XP machine.

In addition to an improved look and feel, the new site offers a much wider range of software from leading vendors including Uniblue, Kaspersky, AVG, Paragon Software and Avira plus many more. Other key brands will follow shortly, so keep referring back to the store. The store also supports multiple currencies so international users can order products in their local currency, unlike many other software stores.

To support the launch of the new store we have several promotional offers including discounts on Laplink PCmover Windows 7 Upgrade Assistant, AVG AntiVirus 9, Kaspersky Internet Security 2010, as well as free full software applications from Ashampoo and Acebit.

To take advantage of additional weekly promotion codes to get even better discounts on software, sign up to the Software Downloads Weekly newsletter on V3.co.uk or via the newsletter link on the download store.

RIM's recently announced BlackBerry Bold 2 updates (but does not replace) last year's Bold model, incorporating changes based on customer feedback regarding size and other aspects of the original device.

I was given a brief demo of the new Bold 2 - otherwise known as the Bold 9700 - which is slightly smaller and lighter than its predecessor and swaps the pearl trackball for a touchpad. It also features version 5.0 of the BlackBerry OS (recently introduced on the new Storm2 handset), and a slightly higher resolution 480 x 360 pixel display.

My first impression was that the Bold 2 seems noticeably smaller than the Bold, even though RIM has only shaved off a few millimetres all round, and it feels about the same size as one of the older Blackberry Curve models.

It looks like it would fit better in your pocket than the original Bold, and at 122 grams, is also less heavy to carry.

The other noticeable difference is the touchpad, which enables you to use some of the same gestures that are possible on the Storm2's touch screen, such as swipe, zoom and double-tap.

In practice, this means you can swipe your thumb across the touchpad to move from one open window to another. The touchpad also makes it easier to scroll quickly up and down through your messages much faster than was possible with the pearl trackball, which will please those business users who make heavy use of their BlackBerry for emails.

However, the Bold 2 has a very similar keyboard design to the Bold, with the oddly sculpted keys that some people (myself included) find more difficult to use than those of the BlackBerry Curve models.

Rob Orr, director of product management for RIM in EMEA, countered that users have a choice and can pick the keyboard that suits them. The original Bold will continue to be sold alongside the Bold 2, he added, because some users said they prefer a larger device.

Because it shares the updated OS 5.0 with the Storm2, the Bold 2 has the same enhanced web browser, which seemed pretty good for accessing standard web sites in the brief time I had available to try it out.

For corporate users, OS 5.0 also opens up access to the enhanced features of RIM's latest BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) 5.0 release, such as the ability to flag emails for follow up and access to Windows network file shares.

Like the Bold, the new model has Wi-Fi and GPS, but has double the Flash memory at 256MB.

Other notable features include a microSD card slot that can easily be accessed just by sliding the back cover down by a centimetre or so.

RIM also said that owners of existing BlackBerry devices will be able to get an upgrade to OS 5.0 sometime early next year.

Shown here is the Asus UnLimited (UL) series UL50AG with a 15.6in high-definition (1366x768) screen, which is set to ship with 64bit Windows 7 Home Premium and 4GB memory for £699.

The ET2002 is based on a dual-core Atom 330 processor with DVD drive and 2GB memory for £559, while the ET2203 has a Core 2 Duo processor, Blu-ray and 4GB memory for £819. Both have surround sound.