We're kicking off the weekend with another great deal on the V3 Software Store. From now until Monday 8 February you can get a copy of Acronis True Image 2010 for only £17.98, 55 per cent off the RRP.

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.

Posted by Madeline Bennett on February 5, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)

As today is Black Friday, we thought we'd get in on the act at V3.co.uk and alert you to some extra special deals lined up for you on our new and improved Software Store.

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.

Posted by Madeline Bennett on November 27, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

The new V3.co.uk download store is live and accessible now here or via the Shop navigation links across the main V3 site. The store lets you browse through popular software titles, make an online payment and receive an immediate download and serial code. You can have your software on your computer within minutes.

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.

Posted by Madeline Bennett on October 27, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

What do home workers do for internet access when their fixed line broadband connection has been terminated prior or subsequent to a house move? Having been plunged into this situation several times over the past year or so, I decided to find out what the options are.

If a BT line is not already installed in the property, as was the case with me, it could take in excess of a month to get broadband fully up and running, and with many broadband providers - not just BT - requiring the line before they can supply a service, it's a not insignificant problem.

It also emerged recently that Virgin have had their own problems coping with the mountain of requests from disaffected BT users. Late shipment of wireless routers and a general inability to cope with demand on their part mean you could be in for a wait to be connected whatever option you decide to go with.

So, here's the long and short of it: unless you want to risk jumping on an unsecured network nearby you'll need to invest in a 3G dongle. Anecdotally I've heard the quality of these has improved significantly since they first burst onto the market, with all the major mobile network operators selling an extensive array of dongles, depending on how much data you're planning to transfer.

Now this is by no means an exhaustive test, merely my own experience, so yours may be a lot different. I tried one from Vodafone and one from O2. First up was Vodafone.

Extremely simple to set up, the stylish white and red dongle glows when in use, and provides a simple read out to check coverage. It's also got a control panel allowing detailed management of the device. Sadly, this was all a moot point because there was no coverage in my flat in central-ish London. I didn't imagine second floor flat of three in a residential street in SE1 would have coverage problems but there you go.

O2 fared better; easy to set up, manage and get running, with coverage adequate. Trying to remove and uninstall the O2 connection manager client once I'd done this little test, however, was another matter. It took a lot of head scratching and tinkering to achieve, but nice that O2 was so keen to stay on my laptop - marks for enthusiasm. The speed however was inconsistent, ranging from good to not much better than dial-up , and this was just sitting in my flat with 'excellent' or 'very good' signal strength

I'd say that mobile broadband is still something to use in tandem with fixed broadband, not as a replacement. Interestingly, as I was writing this up a new report from Broadband-expert.co.uk revealed download speeds are only 24 per cent of those advertised - 1.1Mbit/s compared with a pledged maximum of 4.5Mbit/s.

It's not great, but I'm sure it will get better. In the meantime, take a deep breath, and prepare to wait.

Posted by Phil Muncaster on October 10, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (3)

Much like ergonomic keyboards, trackballs tend to fall into a love or hate divide in the PC peripheral market.

Similarly, trackballs take some getting used to, especially when it comes to the finer levels on control, but most avid fans will tell you that once you're used to them they are a lot more accurate than a mouse, especially for drawing programs and the like.

At first glance the unit looks like quite a chunky device with a fairly large base and a big ball dropped into the centre, hardly living up to its name, but because it doesn't move around it still takes up less of your overall desk space than a mouse and mat.

Once you have the hang of it, the large ball makes the SlimBlade easy to use without having to spin the ball repeatedly when moving the cursor across the screen and, although users with very small hands may have some issues, someone with an average or large hand should find it very comfortable to use. Also left-handed users won't have any problems with it as it's completely symmetrical.

The SlimBlade packs in four buttons around the large central ball, in the default navigation mode the bottom two buttons serve as the traditional left and right click while the top two enter the media and view modes.

You can use this device as a standard trackball straight away, but in this case only two of the four buttons - namely the left and right click - will work. To use the top two buttons you'll need to install the drivers.

Unlike most mice these days, trackballs don't have scroll wheels, so instead scrolling on the SlimBlade is done by turning the ball clockwise or anti-clockwise, which works remarkably well.

Once the drivers are installed you can enter and exit the aforementioned view or media mode by hitting the appropriate button.

When in view mode the ball rotating the ball zooms in and out, while rolling it pans around and the left and right click reset the page to its standard size and fit-to-width respectively. The view mode is not supported by all applications, but a helpful icon will pop up on the screen to tell you when this feature is not available.

Similarly, multimedia mode only works in Windows Media Player and iTunes and in this mode rotating the ball adjusts the volume, rolling the ball left and right goes back or skips to the next track, the left button pauses or resumes playback and the right button acts as a stop. If neither of these media players is running, one of them will be fired up automatically when you click the multimedia mode button.

Like so many peripherals, how good the SlimBlade is to use is very much down to personal habits, requirements and hand size. Where it does fall short is the almost complete lack of customisation. You can adjust the sensitivity and the 'handedness' but you can't configure the buttons in any other way - so if you don't want to use the navigation or multimedia modes, you can't assign the other two buttons to any other purpose and if - as we found - your pinky finger rests more comfortably on the top right button instead of the bottom right, you'll probably find yourself constantly entering and exiting view mode instead of right clicking.

Fortunately this is an issue that could easily be fixed in a new version of the driver software.

At a retail price of around £100, the SlimBlade isn't cheap, but it's very solidly built and should last years without giving any hassles.

Posted by Ian Williams on October 1, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's amazing how very simple ideas can sometimes stop you in your tracks, and the folding plug from inventor Min Kyu Choi is the perfect example of that.

As just about everyone in the UK will tell you, the plug socket configuration often means that chargers and power cables are bulkier than the device themselves.

His idea scooped him the runner up prize of the James Dyson award, an international engineering design competition looking for new and innovative ideas for new products.

According to Choi, he came up with the idea after he bought himself a Macbook Air, Apple's ultra-thin laptop. He soon got annoyed with the fact that although the laptop itself was thin and sleek, the charger ended in a cumbersome plug end that would often end up scratching the Air's chassis.

So the recent graduate in product design from the Royal College of Art set about developing a plug that could fold up into a much smaller space when not in use.

His design works by turning the live and neutral pins sideways in line with the earth pin, creating a single thin plane. When extended into the normal position, two flaps fold out to secure them into position.

Choi has even taken the design one step further, by creating an adaptor that allows three folded plugs to be inserted into a block, effectively creating a multi-plug not much bigger than a normal plug.

He has patented the product and is building a working prototype, which he will seek to manufacture worldwide once it is judged to be safe by the BSI, the UK's safety standards body.

Personally I can't wait for these to become commercially available so I can replace the bulky plugs on just about every charger I can.

Posted by Ian Williams on September 16, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (3)

With almost every gadget under the sun packing a Wi-Fi connection it can sometimes feel like a bit of a waste if there isn't a handy hotspot to connect to while you're out and about.

This problem has been partially solved thanks to the USB dongles and mobile data packages for smartphones, but neither of these is particularly useful if the device in question is not a laptop or a phone. Even when it comes to a laptop, the USB dongles require extra software to be installed to set up the connection, so letting a friend or colleague quickly borrow it becomes a laborious process.

Enter Novatel's MiFi, essentially a very small mobile data router that allows several devices to network over Wi-Fi and share a single mobile data connection.

The MiFi unit is about the same size and weight as a deck of playing cards so carrying it around isn't going to add any serious weight to your bag and even popping it into a handbag or laptop case is not a problem.

The device is very minimal, with a single button with a multicolour LED, microUSB port, microSD card slot and a Wi-Fi status indicator.

The LED lets you see the status of the unit, but with five different colours meaning different things depending on whether it's solid or flashing, this can be a bit confusing at first. Pretty much the only colour of any importance is the red as this indicates a low battery or a device error.

One very minor gripe is that the status LED is embedded within the power button which is fine most of the time, but if you're turning the device on or off your finger completely covers the light so it's difficult to tell what's going on.

If you get a MiFi as part of a mobile data deal it will already be set up and so using it is very simple. When switching it on it automatically initiates a mobile data connection and switches on the Wi-Fi. Up to five devices can be wirelessly connected to the MiFi at any time.

At first the Wi-Fi is completely open so any device can connect without a password. There are several profiles available in the settings to allow you to create an encrypted, password protected connection to help ensure security and prevent anyone nearby from piggybacking on your connection.

If you want to save power you can also connect the MiFi via USB and use it just like a traditional mobile data dongle.

The whole device is controlled through a web interface and provides most of the settings you'd expect from a wireless router such as MAC filtering, port filtering and forwarding, connectivity and power management as well as providing details about the battery and the mobile data signal and connection.

The contents of the microSD card can also be accessed through the web interface or as a removable storage device when the MiFi is tethered to a computer.

It would drain the battery faster but we would love to have seen the MiFi offer some kind of sleep mode whereby it powers up and connects to the internet when it detects a Wi-Fi connection. This would allow users to carry the unit around in a bag and not have to worry about digging it out and switching it on every time they want to use it.

Even if you don't have a 3G data connection, the MiFi can be used as a basic network hub allowing you to connect several devices to share information, and the onboard SD card can also be a great way of sharing content.

As with most wireless devices battery life is going to depend a lot on how much data it's handling, so a lot of downloading or connecting several devices will take its toll pretty quickly. That said we managed to easily get several hours of constant use out of a single charge, and average use saw the device lasting around two days between charges. The added bonus is that if the battery dies you can simply tether it to your laptop and use it that way.

The MiFi is a great piece of kit and if you're in the market for a mobile data package we would definitely recommend that you try and get one of these rather than the standard USB dongles included in most packages.

Posted by Ian Williams on August 20, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

The HTC Hero has recently arrived at the V3.co.uk labs, HTC's latest phone to run Google's open source Android mobile operating system.

We'll have a full review of the device up next week, but here are some of our first impressions.

In terms of design, HTC has stuck with the same principles it employed for its first two Android devices, so we have a large touch screen above a handful of buttons and a trackball which sit on a 'chin' that juts out. On the HTC Magic, the lines and this lip were all very gentle and understated, while on the Hero the lines are a lot harder and the lip is quite pronounced. This makes the Hero look a lot more professional than its predecessors.

Also, thanks to the change from a resistive touch screen to a capacitive one, the interface is a lot more responsive and it now supports multi-touch as well.

The screen is also the best looking by far, and this comes down to not just the components used but also the addition of Sense. Much like it did with the inclusion of TouchFlo over Windows Mobile, HTC's Sense adds a layer over the Android interface to help make it more intuitive. Sense also brings in a lot of integration and a few new applications and widgets to help enhance the experience. It also gives you access to seven screens instead of Android's usual three.

Some of these include the ability to tie your contacts to your communications and social networks, so now you can see an individual's details as well as any emails, calls and messages with that person and recent Twitter, Facebook or Flickr updates.

There is also the inclusion of what HTC calls 'Scenes' which are essentially profiles, so you can set up which layouts, shortcuts and widgets you want to use in a particular situation and then change between them as you desire. Unfortunately Scenes is only skin deep, so you can't make different account or settings changes for each profile.

As with all Android devices the Hero's ease of use and functionality is closely tied to Google's services, and while there may be privacy concerns about how much information Google has on each and every one of us, the upside is that contacts, email, calendar and instant messenger are all automatically synchronised with your Google account.

The physical keyboard in the G1 was one of the best I've ever used, but it did make the device very bulky. Having scrapped that on the Magic, I turned to the virtual keyboard, which was usable but was often very annoying. I'm happy to say that the soft keyboard on the Hero is a pleasure to use, thanks to the combination of the capacitive touch screen and a much improved dictionary that can actually learn.

HTC has also bumped up the camera on the Hero to 5MP - but there is still no flash - and the company has finally included a proper 3.5mm headset jack so you can hook up your favourite pair of headphones rather than having to use the rather uncomfortable mini-USB headphones that were bundled into the G1 and the Magic.

As a whole the device generally runs pretty smoothly, but it can be be a bit slow and occasionally lags, which can be particularly frustrating when you're not sure if it's overloaded or if it hasn't acknowledged your input.

It can be easy to forget that Android is still a very young operating system and so can still be a little rough around the edges, particularly if you're looking for enterprise level features. Sense goes a long way to helping fill some of the gaps that still exist in Android and make the whole experience that much better.

There are still some bugs, missing features and annoyances - but that could also be said for every other mobile operating system and device around. It's impressive to see how quickly developers have rallied around the operating system and developed applications for it; with the possible exception of the Apple iPhone's App Store, the Android Marketplace is almost certainly the best mobile app store around.

I'm not done putting the Hero through its paces, but so far I'm very impressed, not just by the device itself but also by how quickly Android has, and is still, evolving.

Update: The full video review of the HTC Hero can be found here

Posted by Ian Williams on July 30, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (4)

Generally people search to find the right answers or to deepen their knowledge on a subject. Not on Google Squared.

People using the new search tool should be prepared to be misinformed. Google should be prepared for a few complaints.

Google Squared was launched on Thursday with the product's manager, Alex Komoroske, admitting the technology "is by no means perfect", which some testing the tool would say is an understatement. So far the technology looks like it will cause users more trouble than its worth.

Google Squared is designed to allow users to research a subject without visiting many different web sites. Search results are delivered in a table, which users can then compare side by side.

However, so far the tool has pronounced both Prince William and Prince Charles dead.

A search for 'UK national papers' lists the Guardian as a tabloid while the Times maintains its status as a broadsheet. The Express is apparently a mix of student books, audio tapes and CDs. The Metro is a movie.

A search for 'Social Network' lists the MySpace owner as Facebook Will Win for Now while Facebook is owned by mario. Luckily Google knows that it owns YouTube and the tool correctly lists Flickr as Yahoo's.

A search for Good Camera Phones prices the Motorola Razr V3 at a bargain price of $3.45.

Posted by Rosalie Marshall on June 5, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (5)

The Symbian Foundation has revealed it now has the Symbian OS running in a test symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) configuration on an evaluation handset.

In a post on the Symbian Foundation blog, executive director Lee Williams wrote that "a team at ST-Ericsson, and ARM have the operating system now running on a highly capable SMP configuration."

The test platform is apparently a reference smart phone built around a ST-Ericsson U8500 chip, one of the first silicon implementations of ARM's Cortex-A9 MPCore, a multi-core version of the ARM architecture found in almost all today's smartphones.

Williams said that multi-core handsets can accommodate features such as high-definition video and hardware accelerated 3D Graphics supporting OpenGL.

Symbian said it intended to support the Cortex-A9 MPCore architecture when it was announced in 2007, but that multiple core processing is only likely to be used when required, to preserve battery life on handsets.

Posted by Daniel Robinson on June 4, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)