the sunday times the sunday times gizmo gear@sunday … · reading bedtime stories. connectr, which...
TRANSCRIPT
GIZMO GIZMO [email protected] TECHNOLOGY NEWS
DOCK AND LOAD
QWhen I power-offmy Windows XP PC,
it goes throughshutdown proceduresbut then restarts. Help. Tom Edwards, Ipswich
AThis might be due tobroken software drivers,
problems with USB devicesor incorrect power-savingsettings. And Windows oftenreboots because of asystem failure. Try right-clicking on My Computer,Properties, Advanced Tab.Under Startup & Recovery,click on Settings, SystemFailure and uncheck theAutomatically Restart box.There’s more detailed helpat tinyurl.com/cji3
QEvery time I connectmy iPod to my
laptop, it says thedevice can performfaster with USB 2.0.How can I get this? Casper Ng, London
AUSB 2.0 can be up to40 times faster than
USB 1.1, making musicmuch quicker to transfer.D-Link’s Dub-C2 card (£22)plugs into the PC-card slotfound on most laptops andgives two USB 2.0 ports.But you might not see hugespeed increases with allUSB 2.0 devices.
Buzz! The Schools Quiz HHHHPS2, £25. Age 3+
The maker of the quiz-game series Buzz hasteamed up with government experts toproduce this version of the game to helpchildren learn. It is tailored for 7 to11-year-olds and assists them in passingkey stage 2 of the national curriculum. The
cartoon-style quiz-show format and simplefive-button controllers (which cost £15 extra)work in the same way as in previous Buzzgames. You score points for answeringquestions first or for putting events in thecorrect order. There are various themedrounds, but the questions now coverphotosynthesis or Viking culture rather thanHollywood blockbusters.
The wide range of options makes it easy forchildren to concentrate on their weakersubjects. The Schools Quiz is certainly nosubstitute for homework or proper revision,but it is a good way to reinforce what childrenhave already learnt in class while getting thefamily involved. Just prepare for the oddhumiliation as the 5,000-plus questionsreveal embarrassing gaps in adults’knowledge too. Stuart Andrews
SLEIGH ’EM IN THE AISLES
DON’TDON’TPANICPANIC
Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom HHXbox 360, £45. Age 16+
Circle of Doom is the fourth instalment ofthe long-running Kingdom Under Fire series.It serves up relentless hack-and-slash actionin the tradition of games such as Diablo,albeit with swish 3-D visuals and anintriguing (if disjointed) plot. There’s no
shortage of monsters to kill and, unlike othergames of this ilk, it has a wide variety ofcreatures to fight so you never feel you’reslaying an army of clones. At your disposalare numerous weapons, spells and armour,most of which can be upgraded by lootingthe battlefield after each fight.
Combat is relentless but mainly consistsof continually hitting the blue or greengamepad button, and the unintuitive camerapositioning results in many a frustratingdeath. Couple this with the simplistic maps,limited playing area and repetitive gameplay,and the result is anything but magical.Circle of Doom does have its moments,and behind all the faults there is a goodgame, but unless you’re a diehard fan ofthis genre the overall experience is likely tobe underwhelming. Daniel Emery
You can nowbe in twoplaces at
once. Great forparents – and princes,reports Mark Harris
HydroPak Portable Power$400 (£205) www.millenniumcell.com001 732 542 4000
The HydroPackcombines twoprocesses to generate270 watt hours (ie, itcould power a 25Wbulb for more than 10hours) from alightweight cartridgecosting $20 (£11). Youadd water to trigger achemical reaction thatproduces hydrogen,which is thenconsumed in a fuel cellto generate electricity.There are no toxicchemicals or wasteproducts, and the unitis completely silent. TheHydropack has a standardAmerican AC socket and two USB ports and is capable ofdelivering enough power to charge a laptop, run a mobilephone or provide overnight lighting. HydroPacks go on USsale this summer, aimed at campers. Unlike most batterysystems, HydroPacks don’t lose their power over time.
Creative Xdock HD$399 (£210) www.creative.com
Apple’s iPod and iPhone are great for enjoying music, photosand videos on the move but are far less impressive whenlinked to a TV or hi-fi. This docking station has an HDMIsocket for connecting it to an HD-ready television and claimsto “upscale” videos bought from Apple’s iTunes online store,although upscaled videos will not look as good as realhigh-definition digital downloads. It also boasts of improvingthe sound of digital music stored on the iPod to exceed CDquality. It comes with an RF-based wireless transmitter tobeam tunes to speakers around your house. You also getremote control of your docked iPod via smart on-screenmenus. Available in the US soon.
Some of the world’s mostfamous celebrities are nowchoosing to travel virtually, asthree-dimensional,high-definition holograms.
Last week Prince Charles was beamedlive to Dubai to address the WorldFuture Energy Summit. Instead ofracking up thousands of air miles andproducing the estimated 15 tonnes ofCO2 that his US trip last yeargenerated, the Prince was able toaddress an audience in Abu Dhabiwithout leaving Clarence House.And he’s not the only one. Sir
Richard Branson, Madonna, David
Beckham and the green evangelist AlGore have all used the Eyelinerprojection system, made by the Britishcompany Musion, to be in two placesat once.Although its lifesize, lifelike
holograms look futuristic, theinspiration for Eyeliner is a stage trickmore than a century old. The“Pepper’s Ghost” illusion used smokeand mirrors — or, rather, a sheet ofglass — to summon up spectralphantoms in Victorian theatres. Its21st-century incarnation is far moresophisticated, of course. “Our systemtensions a polymer screen up to fivemetres tall,” says Ian O’Connell, one ofMusion’s directors. “This is illuminatedby a hidden projector to create a 3-Dimage that looks as solid and realisticas a roaring fire.”The challenges involved in creating
convincing, interactive holograms areimmense, according to O’Connell. “Weused a powerful full-HD projector andthe latest TelePresence technologyfrom Cisco to transmit HD signals overthe internet.”The high-definition projection of
Prince Charles used a securebroadband connection to deliver sound
and video that is said to have lookedbetter than a Blu-ray movie.One advantage of an internet-based
system is that you’re not limited toappearing in just one place. InMusion’s Virtually Live project,starting next week, a pop band will beperforming “live” in five nightclubssimultaneously.Unsurprisingly, given its A-list
clientele, the Eyeliner system isn’t
cheap. While Cisco’s chief executive,John Chambers, aims to bring atwo-dimensional high-definitionTelePresence system to homes withinthree years for not much more than£500, Musion’s holographic setupcurrently costs £70,000. But a moreaffordable virtual doppelganger wasrecently unveiled by the Americancompany iRobot, whose $500 (£207)ConnectR robot has wheels, a video
camera and a two-way audio link, allof which can be controlled from aweb-connected computer anywhere inthe world.That means travelling parents or
distant relatives can still play a part infamily life, driving their ConnectRround the house, swapping gossip orreading bedtime stories.ConnectR, which is currently being
trialled in the USA and should be on
sale by the summer, needs a homewi-fi network to function, and has thedrawbacks that it doesn’t look humanand can’t climb stairs.These new technologies can’t be
faulted for their efforts to reducecarbon footprints, travel time andstress. But whether granny willappreciate a robot or holograminstead of an invitation to stay nextChristmas is another matter.
JUST ADD WATER
GAMESGAMES
I am not arobot. I amyour daddy
Porsche Kinderbob¤77 (£58) tinyurl.com/29kjy20049 711 9117 8823
Aspiring Le Mans drivers have tostart young these days, and wintryweather should never be an excusefor them to miss their training. Thissuper-swish downhill sled shouldhave junior drivers(weighing up to 60kg, orabout 9½ stone) steeringand cornering like trueprofessionals, thanks to theintegration of a shock absorber,the use of metal runners and —that essential Porsche feature — avery loud horn.
HHHHHKO HHHHA-OKHHHOK HHSo-so HNo-no
The iRobotConnectR allows
remote interaction
NIGEL POWELL ANSWERSYOUR WEB-RELATED QUERIES
10 InGear JANUARY 27, 2008 . THE SUNDAY TIMES THE SUNDAY TIMES . JANUARY 27, 2008 InGear 11