See The LED Man – Believe The LED Man

If you saw this out of your bedroom window you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d gone a little bit mad – or, at least, for thinking somebody else has gone completely mad. The so-called LED man is attempting to show the world the benefits of using LED lightbulbs (namely, the fact that they are highly energy efficient using just 1/8 of the amount of energy needed to light a normal bulb) but he’s chosen quite an unusual way to go about it.

Incandescant light bulbs are certainly one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century but they’re far from being energy efficient. Around 80% of the energy used to power a lightbulb is actually wasted as heat emitted from the bulb and only the remaining 20% serves any real purpose in lighting the room around you. In contrast, LED lights do not generate heat and therefore 100% of the energy that is transmitted to the bulb is used for its intended purpose.

Dancing around and waving LED lightbulbs at the camera is far from being the normal way to show off LED lights but there’s more from the LED man, who is part of the Panasonic Sparks team; the team that is dedicated to testing the ocmpany’s new and leading eco products.

iPhone news: GPS tracking and Skype

Our first story is of the “bungling burglar” type which we all relish. You know the ones I mean; hapless thief dials police by mistake, crook locks himself in bathroom etc. This time a rascal stole an iPhone from someone called Jordan Sturm. Nothing unsual there. Except the fact that canny old Sturmers was testing a live GPS tracking app, called Alert & Respond, on the iPhone at the time.

Before the ruffian even had a chance to whistle the theme tune from Dixon of Dock Green the phone had been tracked and he had been given a very serious ticking off.

On a less crime related front, our friends at Skype have decided not to start charging for 3G calls and have also refurbished their iPhone 4 app, to take advantage of the phone’s stunning display and to maximise the potential of the multi tasking capabilities.

Your Business Can Make It Big With HP

Getting the right hardware and software for your requirements is an important part of setting up and running a modern business. With the right tools it is possible to streamline and improves processes while incorrect equipment can all but doom a business to failure. With such difficult economic circumstances, this is exacerbated even further as companies can scant afford to throw their budget away on printers, desktops, laptops, and other hardware that they ultimately don’t even use.

HP continues to help small businesses to make it big by providing the right equipment for the job in hand. But it’s not all about the hardware or the software either. If something does go wrong or you need advice on how best to get around a problem then having experienced, knowledgeable, and skilled assistance on hand is critical to you and your company.

HP Total Care provides exactly that – round the clock support. This not only ensures you can recover from problems that you or your colleagues face but it also gives you the confidence that every business needs.

The Make It Big website not only lists the equipment that HP has for sale but also details some of the real life success stories enjoyed by small businesses just like your’s. Whether you already have PCs and equipment but know that you could do better with better, or you’re starting completely fresh and want advice on the best equipment to buy for your needs, remember that HP can help you make it big like they have thousands of satisfied small businesses and entpreneurs.

HTC Wildfire King For A Day

The HTC Wildfire is the latest smartphone from HTC and it is a serious piece of kit for those that love to social network. It has instant access to Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr and much more. It has unique features such as an automatically updated Facebook status of the person that’s ringing you – this is made possible by complete integration between your contact list and your social networking accounts.

The Wildfire uses the Android operating system and benefits from the massive Android marketplace but so too can you and your mates. Using an app that you’re particularly impressed with? You can share a link to it in just a ocuple of clicks.

It’s also a multitasking monster providing 7 home screens and leap view which makes it easier to see what’s happening on each of the screens. Flash support makes browsing and using your apps easier and more enjoyable and to help announce the launch of this new smartphone, HTC is offering its Facebooks fans the opportunity to enjoy an experience of their lifetime along with all of their Facebook friends.

Tell HTC what you would do if you could get all of your Facebook friends together and you could win that very experience. Whether you want to be a king for the day or you really want to meet up with your Mafia Wars friends from the other side of the world, enter the HTC Wildfire competition to bag your dream prize.

Sneaky boy sneaks app sneakily past Apple

Did any of our readers find the cunningly hidden Wifi tethering app which a naughty 15 year old managed to get onto the Apple apps store disguised as an app to turn your iPhone into a multicoloured flashlight?

The app cost 99c and was on the site the best part of the day yesterday, having managed to wriggle past Apple’s security people, rigourous checking and a line of ferocious guard dogs.

No doubt the cheeky young programmer will end up working at one of the top development companies thanks to his feat. Apple will surely now reinforce its famously stringent security measures even further, to avoid further embarassments, while freeloaders and potential establishment topplers will be keeping those little eyes peeled for more cheeky apps from rebellious teenage whizzkids.

Most used versions of Android

We love a good pie chart. Anyone else who shares our peculiar fetish will be delighted to see this ravishing little beauty, which quite simply tells us which versions of Android are used by what percentage of users, if you follow me.

Dragging its behind along the ground in last place is the predictable “other”, a popular backmarker in all pie charts. In this case it refers to older, obselete versions and comes in at 0.3%.

Next up is the latest version, Android 2.2, at a poor 3.3%. This is widely regarded as being far superior to earlier versions but has yet to grab a significant share of the user market.

Android 1.5 comes in at 18.9%. 1.6 takes a 22.1% portion of the pie but the undisputed champion of the world and big brother of the Android family is our old friend 2.1, which greedily hoards 55.5%  of the share.

The main problem in the Android world is that, although there is forward compability there is no backward compability. This makes using a later version a decision which developers have to seriously mull over.

Yahoo Posts Poorer Than Expected Results While Apple Boasts Record Figures

Following all of the fuss that surrounded, and in Apple’s eyes continues to surround, the iPhone 4 antenna problems you’d be forgiven for thinking that they would have taken something of a hit financially but it turns out that thanks to an incredible iPad launch and a continued lack of competition for the unique and incredible touchscreen tablet PC as well as massively increased iPhone sales figures, they have come out the other end smelling of roses. Very expensive roses and a lot of them at that.

For the quarter ending June 26th, Apple has posted revenue of $15.7bn up from $9.73bn the year before while profits have also risen dramatically from $1.83bn to $3.25bn. The company has placed the thanks for these record breaking results at the door of just about every product they make and have ever made. The sale of over 3.26m iPads and an increase in iPhone sales of 61% were certainly the main motivators behind such large increases but apparently more people are buying Macs than ever before too.

Yahoo, on the other hand, didn’t enjoy such a good quarter although they still made sizeable profits. Analysts had expected the Internet giant to post sales figures totalling $1.16bn but they only achieved figures of $1.16bn. To further compound their probably short lived misery, share prices took a tumble of around 6% on the back of these figures yesterday. The drop has been blamed on a dip of 8% in search advertising.

The news wasn’t all bad for Yahoo though. Carol Bartz, chief executive, said that search advertising figures were back on the rise again and should normalise soon enough. Meanwhile, results in other areas had improved especially a 19% increase in display advertising. Analysts also said that Yahoo’s strength in display advertising will serve them well as the social Internet continues to grow and expand.

Are you surprised at the level of profits for Apple?

Do you Yahoo?

LG BX580 3D Blu Ray Player – Better Than The Rest?

Manufacturers were kind of slow to jump on the whole Blu Ray player bandwagon but it seems they don’t want to be left out in the cold again with 3D TV as pretty much everything at the moment is being created in 3D. Companies are clearly catching on to the general excitement and stir that is being created by the emerging technology. What’s more, companies like Panasonic, Sony, and now LG are even managing to combine the two technologies in some inspiring pieces of home entertainment kit.

The LG BX580 does exactly that because it is a 3D blu ray player. obviously, you still need the 3D TV, a pair of fetching 3D glasses (at least they look more like Blues Brothers glasses and less like the 1980s glasses they used to), and of course a 3D version of your favourite movie.

You’re given the choice of watching the film in 3D or in bog standard 2D and while there is a difference in colour and contrast (with 3D being slightly worse than 2D as you might expect) the overall look of 3D makes it well worthwhile.

As promised earlier by LG, you even get a number of web apps included in the BX580. You can look at news headlines, watch video clips, and store and share photos. These are decent offerings although if you’re after more from the web apps stable then you should look at other models of blu-ray player and if you want more web action and 3D then you’ll just have to wait.

The glasses provided are light and comfortable, as well as being rechargable, which is another good point, but overall the LG BX580 seems to promise a lot and then not quite deliver. There’s too few web apps, there are better quality 3D images from other brands, and you’re left hoping that they will improve what’s on offer with the next model.

Can’t wait to watch your favourite films in 3D?

Is the BX580 worth the money?

Tablet News – HP PalmPad Will Have Touchscreen And Stylus

Apple announced huge sales and profit figures for the last quarter and put most of this down to the incredible success of the iPad as well as increased iPhone sales and growth in virtually every other area of their business. Those on the outside may well believe that the reason Apple has managed to hock more than 3.25 million iPads is because there is virtually no competition whatsoever and they’d probably be right, at least partially. What’s more, companies seem to be pretty slow on the uptake as there is still little in the way of choice.

Fortunately, a couple of Apple competitors are taking up the challenge and details of the Blackberry Tablet which is going to be a powerhouse of a business tablet and looks to outstrip the iPad in terms of features are joined by news that HP has named its tablet and it will offer touchscreen and stylus support.

Once a device is named it becomes less supposition and more rumour. When the company itself begins to release details of what will be included then you can really begin to get excited – at least, if it’s a promising looking piece of equipment.

The HP PalmPad will feature a touchscreen making it a very direct competitor to the iPad but where HP hopes it will make in roads is in the inclusion of a stylus pen.

The iPad touchscreen is incredible and the whole device is proving extremely popular especially thanks to the mass of apps that will work on the device. However, when it comes to note taking and even quick navigation, on screen finger flinging can prove cumbersome and this is where the use of a stylus will almost certainly offer benefit.

Will there finally be some competition for the iPad?

Will the inclusion of a stylus pen set the PalmPad above the iPad?

Vodafone Now Offering New Blackberry, Sony Ericsson, And LG

Vodafone has announced that it is offering three new smartphone handsets to its customers – the Blackberry Pearl 3G, the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro, and the LG Optimus. Prices will vary although there is no actual pay as you go price plan details available for any of the three models as yet so it’s possible that they will be contract only handsets. However with two Android handsets and the Blackberry it does offer a good choice of reasonable phones.

The Blackberry Pearl 3G is actually a bit of a step away from the usual business phone label that is usually associated with their handsets. Rather than a QWERTY keyboard, for a start, it opts for the more usual mobile phone alphanumeric keypad. It’s also considerably smaller and slimmer than other Blackberry models but it still packs some serious feature rich muscle. Wifi and 3G, GPS, and a 3.2mp camera are just the start. The phone also has multi-tasking and social networking features.

The Android based X10 Mini Pro from Sony Ericsson is also a very good little phone. It’s virtually identical to its very slightly older sibling, the X10 Mini except as well as being touch screen it also has a slide out QWERTY keyboard. The X10 Mini does sell on payg deals, and costs a happily inexpensive £200, so you would be forgiven for thinking that Vodafone will release this one in the same way too.

The LG Optimus is another Android phone and as it’s a mid range mobile you should expect similar prices to the X10 Mini Pro. Unfortunately, you can’t quite expect the same level of quality although if you’re an avid mobile social networker then you can perhaps expect to do a little dance of glee at the single touch social networking features. It also has a 3mp camera and a few other features although the list is a little disappointing.

Have you got yourself a smart phone yet?

Would you opt for the Blackberry, the Sony Ericsson, or the LG?

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