Win £3,500 Worth Of 3D Home Entertainment Equipment

Think you host the best movie nights?

Do you go the extra mile to create a little extra atmosphere or ambience?

Do you want to win £3,500 worth of 3D home entertainment equipment from LG?

Every month, LG gives its 3D fans the opportunity to walk away with a 47″ 3D TV, a 3D Blu Ray Player, and a home cinema kit. The total prize package is worth around £3,500 and anybody can enter. Create a video or take a photo of your ultimate home cinema experience and submit it on the LG website and on the 15th of every month there’s an opportunity to win the living room of your dreams.

The world’s gone 3D mad and if your budget won’t stretch to the latest equipment but you still love watching decent films and listening to soundtracks in full surround then this competition really is ideal. Previous winners have kitted out their living room to look like the South Africa World Cup or the woods scene from the Blair Witch Project and with a similar idea you could be the next winner.

Sky has announced that it will be launching a 3D channel which will mostly feature movies to start with but will presumably move over to regular slots of all your favourite shows. By winning the LG 47″ LX9900 Full LED 3D ready TV you will be ready to start watching in glorious 3D.

The prize also includes the BX580 3D ready Blu-ray player so you can buyyour favourite films in 3D and enjoy watching them as though you were at the cinema. The final part of the prize puzzle is the HB 965TZ home cinema system which brings top quality sound to any movie you watch whether it’s 3D or not.

Have you got your entry in?

Do you go over the top for nights in?

It’s All Gone 3D For Panasonic

3D is one of those technologies that seems to have been taken to the hearts of consumers pretty much straight away. The release of major blockbuster movies in 3D and the proceeding release of 3D TVs and 3D games for the PC, as well as the imminent release of 3D console gaming and even portable glasses free 3D gaming from the Nintendo 3DS have helped to really push the emerging technology to the forefront of just about everybody’s minds.

The same is true of manufacturers too, and while Panasonic may not have released that many 3D gadgets as yet, they have enjoyed incredible success from their 3D plasma sets and they are likely to enjoy similar success for their newly released 3D camcorder. What’s more, claiming that 3D take up has been 3 times better than they initially thought you can expect a whole lot more to appear very soon.

The HDC-SDT750 3D camcorder is a groundreaking piece of kit that lets home video producers create their own 3D masterpieces. It is incredibly simple to use but the addition of 3D recording technology does have its downsides too, not least the slightly cumbersome nature of the device itself as well as the lack of any zoom feature. The quality, though, is pretty good and while it may not be up to 3D blu-ray imagery it is still incredible to watch your own footage in 3D on your TV. As you would expect, it’s not cheap, but at £1,300 it’s not as expensive as it could have been either.

Panasonic also announced that as well as the current line-up of 3D TVs they will be releasing new sizes and new models. They also touted the incredible 153 inch plasma 3D TV which is commercially available for around £400,000. OK, so it’s unlikely too many of you will be buying one of these but it does show the massive potential that 3D has.

Have you gone 3D yet?

Will you be getting the 3DS when it’s released later this year?

The C.R.A.B Droid – The Future Of British Policing?

It might look like something from a Robocop film (well, a more modern Robocop film with better quality effects anyway) but it is in fact a 3D creation from award winning designer Jamie Martin. In case you haven’t heard of him, Jamie Martin is the man behind the design of the Cobra Venom Concept Car and was one of four eventual winners to design the next London Bus (it’s not a bendy one, so it’s all good). This latest concept is a law enforcement aid that could be used to replace police vehicles and even their drivers.

Filled with AI and holding capability to perform various tasks normally undertaken by the police, the C.R.A.B Robot is really only a concept at the moment although you may see something similar next time you watch a Star Wars film or in the next incarnation of the Crackdown games.

The C.R.A.B (which stands for Cybernetic Remote Autonomous Barricade) would boast reinforced body armour so it could withstand hostile situations. It also has gas and smoke screen capabilities to quell uprisings and the such and while we’re not sure this would feature in the London bound model, it has twin cannons (maybe if they fired water they’d be used here). It is, thanks to its crab like pincer legs, an all terrain vehicle that can move quickly and efficiently from one crime to another.

Jamie Martin is a 3D designer who has created various models and helped design the Cobra Venom V8 Concept Car and will see a number of his design features added to the next generation of London Bus. The detail that’s gone into this is quite incredible and there are numerous teaser videos and photographs for you to look at on Jamie’s website (and we strongly suggest you take a few minutes to do so).

Would you park on double yellow’s that were protected by the C.R.A.B?

Will it feature in the next Crackdown game or Will Smith movie?

BBC To Offer Mobile Content And HMV Offers Downloads

The BBC is just about everywhere you go and while there has been some controversy in the past regarding whether or not viewers should be charged to watch iPlayer content on the Internet the trust has decided that they will offer similar content via smartphone apps. This means that soon you’ll be able to watch catch up TV, read headlines, and view sports highlights directly from the BBC on your mobile phone or other mobile device.

When it comes to paying money in order to develop new channels and new methods of showing media, the BBC Trust must undergo a value test which essentially determines whether or not they are spending license payer’s money wisely and fairly. However if the move is seen as being an obvious one with obvious merits then this full review does not need to be undergone and that is the view of Diane Coyle, BBC Trustee.

Meanwhile, HMV is also trying to make its way into the digital music marketplace. HMVdigital is the name of the new music download service and to celebrate its opening, the British company is offering all top 40 singles at just 40p each. Although the company has tried to claim they aren’t an iTunes competitor it’s difficult to see exactly how they won’t be as competition between the two services will naturally emerge and further develop.

The two services do differ to some degree. HMV tracks are compatible with any mp3 player and with millions of tracks available many of them are available at the best quality of mp3 file. If you download a track and then subsequently lose it, you can even download it again which is not permitted with the iTunes service.

Will you be trying out HMVdigital instead of iTunes?

The Rise Of The Tablet – Top Alternatives To The iPad

The iPad did a lot of things for a lot of people, including lining Steve Jobs’ pockets with a bit more cash and while competitors were quite thin on the groun for a while there has been slew of tablet PCs released that aim to dethrone the king of what is essentially a giant and more powerful smartphone. The ideal tablet PC for your needs will depend on a numbe of factors including whether you’re one of “those people” that can’t bring themselves to buy Apple and how much budget you can stretch to.

The iPad is basically the king of all tablet PCs. Even if you don’t like it you can still thank it for pushing the likes of Dell, Samsung and soon Samsung, to release their own versions and some of them are arguably better equipped and certainly less expensive than the iPad.

The Dell Streak is pretty much identically priced to the iPad and it looks seriously good. It only has a 5″ screen compared to the 9.7″ iPad screen but it also has a front loaded webcam, a 5mp digital camera that people have been going potty about (in a good way). The GPS is also very good and intuitive to boot. It’s 1GHz processor makes it an incredibly powerful smartphone (realisticaly, it’s a tad too small to be considered a full on tablet).

The joojoo is a very conveniently priced tablet with a huge 12.1″ screen. Unfortunately, it’s cumbersome both in terms of physical size and graphical interface use. You also can’t download apps, which is especially surprising considering it’s built on a Linux framework which usually means you’re guaranteed to find useful little applications and programs. The £319 price tag is incredible but we think you’d be better saving the extra £100 for the iPad or even the Dell.

That’s pretty much all you get to choose from now in terms of true iPad competitors and in all honesty the Dell is a little too small to include in the list (we were struggling). However, by the end of the year you can expect competition from Samsung, Blackberry, and Lenovo to name but a few.

Personalised postcards to make your friends jealous

We’ve all been there. Rummaging a through a stack of cheap, tacky postcards with images of the Eiffel Tower / paella / Tower Bridge etc. Quite often the problem with these generic postcards is that the image is far removed from what you are actually doing. Not any more, jetsetters. A new, personalised postcard service has been launched by our internet neighbours at eCards.co.uk.

Now you can send pictures which genuinely reflect the fun / adventure /debauchery which you are having as you cut a swath through foreign lands.  How does it work? Let me tell you.

You download the application free from the site to your phone (iPhones and Android devices are supported) and add snaps to your holiday library. It then costs 99p to post your card second class and a reasonable £1.49 to send it by first class or to anyone anywhere in the whole wide world outside the UK. You make the payment by Paypal and bish, bash, bosh the thing is sent before your next sopa de chivo arrives and you aren’t even left with a sticky, gummy sensation on your tongue.

The system has been tested by 18,000 users and is up and running for everyone now.

Nokia’s Conspiracy For Good

Conspiracy for Good is what is apparently known as an augmented reality drama. Basically, in slightly plainer English, what this entails is the creation of a virtual drama that is set online and in various forms of media, but also encourages active participation from players in the real world. The whole drama unfolds before the eyes of the player and Nokia has teamed up with Heroes creator Tim Kring so you can be fairly certain that it’s going to be major.

Nokia are sponsoring the whole affair although it isn’t strictly necessary to buy a Nokia phone. The whole thing is seen as something of an experiment in storytelling and it is most definitely a unique event that you might well want to be a part of.

The event is actually already under way and the first free game released on the OviStore was called Exclusion and to be fair it was really rather good. Players completing levels of this game would receive level codes that would lead to an encrypted message left by Conspircay For Good activists nd this message would lead to a forum behind the main site.

If programs like Heroes are your thing or you ever fancied yourself as a bit of a streetwise, modern day spy then you’re probably going to enjoy the whole intrigue and nystery surrounding the Conspiracy For Good. The main CFG website has more details on what is coming next.

Limited edition Halo Reach Xbox

Those who like their machines and gadgets to be different from all the rest may be tempted by the soon to be released Halo Reach limited edition version of the slim Xbox 360.

It comes out of the shadows on the 14th September and our US friends will need to stump up 400 bucks to be able to enjoy its futuristic controller, metallic look and a copy of said game. The UK price has yet to be revealed, although an online currency conversion reveals 400 bucks to be around 260 pounds .

For your money you get the usual Wi-fi and 250GB. The Comic-Con event in San Diego is where this new Xbox was officially introduced to its public. Word on how many are to be produced, and more importantly how many of these fellows are going to be joining the mysteriously motionless check in queue at Heathrow, is still awaited.

Facebook, facebook and errr more facebook actually

They say that good things come in threes. Whether you consider three snippets of Facebook related information to be good probably depends upon whether you are a fan of the “social networking phenomenon” (copyright:anyone who has ever written an article about Facebook). Anyway, let’s get on with the show.

Facebook news shocker#1. After around 6 years of life, the social netwo..etc called Facebook has passed the 500 million users mark. That’s twice the population of Indonesia. As the world’s population is estimated at 6.7 billion I’ll leave you to work out what percentage of the entire world is registered.

Facebook news shocker#2.The boss, Mark Zuckerburg, is supposedly to appear in an episode of everyone’s favourite cartoon. No, not Vicky the Viking, I mean The Simpsons. It seems (according to New York Magazine’s Vulture blog) that the head Facebooker will voice his own character and will be giving Lisa sound advice when she plans to buy a bike shop.

Facebook news shocker#3. Facebook movie, The Social Network, is to “hit the big screens” (copyright:any movie reviewer who ever ate overpriced popcorn) in October.

Holidaymakers and fancy cameras don’t mix

An interesting survey around British holidaymakers gadget use tells us that 44% of British holidaymakers have missed great photo opportunities because they didn’t know how to operate their fancy camera. Another nice stat reveals that a clumsy 22% have either lost or broken their gadgets while on holiday.

More light heartedly (at least for those of you who like to laugh at other people’s physical defects) is that flabby snaps taken on foreign beaches have encouraged 58% of people that it was time to go on a diet. Meanwhile, the sight of a Mediterranean sun shining off a balding napper has perturbed around a quarter of men, who thought that their locks were still long and golden. Don’t stand up yet, stats fans, there is more. Over 40% of Brits have been left red faced and quite possibly flabbergasted by embarrassing holiday snaps which have turned up on photo sharing sites.

Those stats are courtesy of our friends at reevoo.com. Meanwhile, in a survey carried out in my living room just now, 0% of gadget reviewers have admitted to taking bizzare, artistic photos of their feet while on holiday and 100% owned up to burying their mate’s phone in the sand one time in Mallorca, but it was a rubbish phone so that was ok.

What do all these statisics and lies tell us;

1) Work out how to use your camera before you stumble across Antonio Banderas in a Marbella fish and chip shop.

2) Buy a simple camera for taking on holiday. You’ll be drunk when you take most of the photos and then you´ll end up bashing it off an ice cream stall anyway.

3) Buy a mirror and work out if you need a diet / wig before splashing out on trunks and snorkelling equipment

4) Never go on holiday with a gadget reviewer.

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