Panasonic to cease production of Technics turntables

Decline in demand for analogue kit blamed for the demise of the DJ’s favourite. 

 The iconic SL-1200 Technics turntable is one of a number of analogue music devices that wil be discontinued by Panasonic.

Panasonic has confirmed that it will cease production of devices in its Technics range of audio equipment, which comprises turntables, mixers and headphones beloved by a generation of DJs. 

The Japanese company said it had seen a slump in demand for the analogue devices, as more and more musicians move towards digital downloads and track mixing. 


“Panasonic decided to end production mainly due to a decline in demand for these analogue products, and also the growing difficulty of procuring key analogue components necessary to sustain production,” a spokesman for Panasonic told The Tokyo Reporter.

Technics turntables have long been essential kit for DJs. The SL-1200 model, in particular, was one of the most popular, with 3.5 million sold since its launch in 1972.


Panasonic has not yet announced whether it will retire the Technics brand, or simply cease production of analogue devices and instead turn its hand to purely digital equipment under the Technics umbrella.

The announcement comes just days after Sony revealed that it would no longer be manufacturing and selling its iconic cassette Walkman in Japan.

Honda's Asimo robot is 10 years old

World's most advanced humanoid robot has come on in leaps and bounds. 

 Honda is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its ASIMO, the world's most advanced humanoid robot, on Sunday October 31. 

 To mark this special occasion, Honda has launched a dedicated website at http://world.honda.com/ASIMO hosting films and photographs detailing ASIMO's evolution over the past 10 years. A "Run with Asimo" smartphone and iphone app has also been produced to allow users to interact with a virtual version of the robot on their phone. 

The Run with ASIMO app for iphone and Android smartphones features ASIMO and other Honda robots as characters that the user can interact with. The app will be available to download from mid-November. 

ASIMO was created 10 years ago as part of Honda's programme of research and development into robotics and human mobility. After 10 years of innovation and development, it can now run and walk on uneven slopes and surfaces, climb stairs, and reach for and grasp objects. ASIMO can also comprehend and respond to simple voice commands, recognise faces and even avoid moving obstacles as it runs. 

Honda's robotics research has also led to breakthroughs in mobility technology, but its ultimate goal is to develop ASIMO into a robot to help people, both by carrying out day-to-day tasks and by performing work too dangerous for humans. 

The Japanese company is now focusing its research on the development of ASIMO's intelligence, as well as exploring the scope for interaction between humans and humanoid robots.

To view ASIMO's birthday celebrations, please visit http://world.honda.com/ASIMO

please visit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

16bn devices online by 2020, says report

More than 16 billion internet-enabled devices will be hooked up to the web by the end of the next decade, according to industry analysts. 

 Smart fridges of the future could be connected to the web, and able to place an order with your local supermarket to replenish dwindling supplies.

 

The “internet of things” will expand to encompass around 16 billion devices by 2020, according to experts at consultancy firm Analysys Mason. 

The “internet of things” refers to a growing number of internet-enabled devices that can be hooked up to a network to communicate with other web-enabled gadgets and services. These include devices such as home electricity systems, which are connected to the internet via smart metres to build a map of energy use. 

“That figure might actually be a conservative estimate,” said Jim Morrish, principal analyst at Analysys Mason and author of the report. “Taking in to account the uncertainties inherent in forecasting new technologies 10 years out, we believe that a realistic number of devices may be 44 billion, and six billion a realistic minimum.

"That’s a worldwide average of between 0.8 and 5.8 internet-enabled devices for each person alive in 2020.”

 Experts believe the smartphone will be the main “portal” in to the internet of things, aggregating and filtering information from a range of web-enabled devices owned by the user, and offering management and control functions – for instance, setting the time that a “smart cooker” would start cooking the evening meal, or granting remote entry to a property in order to allow a postman to leave a parcel on the porch.

 The most direct potential consequence of the internet of things is the generation of huge quantities of data,” said Morrish. “In a hypothetical internet of things environment, every physical object, and many virtual objects, may have a virtual twin ‘in the cloud’, which could be generating regular updates.”

Microsoft profit leaps to $5.41bn as Windows 7 becomes fastest-selling OS in history

Microsoft's latest profit swept past Wall Street forecasts thanks to renewed demand from businesses for software. 

Microsoft profit leaps to $5.41bn as Windows 7 becomes fastest-selling OS in history.

The world's biggest software company, which has been unloved by investors so far this year, reported first-quarter profits of $5.41bn (£3.4bn), up from $3.57bn in the same period last year. 

Appetite from companies for Microsoft's new version of Office helped the Seattle-based company cope with much weaker demand from consumers. Sales to businesses came in at $5.13bn, while sales of software used in servers hit $3.96bn. Microsoft's Windows 7, the operating software for PCs that succeeded the ill-fated Vista, had sold 240 million licenses for the software in its first year, making it the fastest-selling operating system in history.

Founded in 1975 by billionaire Bill Gates, investors are anxious about how Microsoft will fare in a world in which more software is provided via the internet, and as more computing generally moves from desktop computers to mobile phones and tablets.

Chief executive Steve Ballmer has said that the company is betting its future on internet-based software - or cloud computing - and next year will pour 90pc of its $9bn annual research and development budget into it.

“We are seeing improved business demand and adoption. Our enterprise agreement rates were strong, reflecting business commitment to Windows 7, Office 2010, and our server and database products,” said Kevin Turner, Microsoft's chief operating officer.

Shares in Microsoft jumped more than 3pc in extended trading in New York, but have lost more than 10pc of their value this year.

Police being taught to use Facebook to track killers

 

Sweeping changes have been made to training for thousands of student investigators to bring their work into the 21st century.

They include new information on how to track down suspects through social networking sites, where wanted people may reveal valuable clues.

Updated training exercises also examine how to gather the best information from computers, mobile phones and other electronic devices.

Senior officers have been forced to keep pace with the rapidly evolving online world to gather intelligence on suspects from street gangs to fraudsters.

Earlier this year escaped prisoner Craig Lynch mocked police with clues about his whereabouts on Facebook during four months on the run.

In London, detectives are examining posts on Facebook and Twitter relating to the murder of 17-year-old Marvin Henry during a suspected fight between rival gangs

 

Deputy Chief Constable Nick Gargan, acting head of the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA), said updated training is vital.

He said: ''This programme is a vital part of the career pathway for detectives and the new training covers sensitive areas of policing where limited guidance existed previously.

Apple iPhone sales outstrip BlackBerry, according to report

The success of Apple’s hugely popular iPhone range has seen it overtake Research in Motion, which makes the BlackBerry, as one of the world's biggest mobile phone companies. 

Around 1.3 billion mobile phones will be sold this year, according to Strategy  Analytics

 

Apple shipped 14.1 million handsets during the most recent financial quarter, up 91 per cent on the same quarter last year, according to analysts at Strategy Analytics. 

Bumper sales of Apple’s flagship iPhone 4 has seen the company outperform Research in Motion, the Canadian company that makes the BlackBerry range of smartphone devices. RIM shipped 12.4 million units during that period, an increase of 46 per cent on the same quarter last year. 

The reversal of fortunes has prompted some industry experts to question whether the popularity of the BlackBerry could be on the wane, as other devices match the mobile emailer for efficiency and usability.

A total of 327 million mobile phones were shipped worldwide during the third financial quarter of this year, up from 291 million on the same period last year. Strategy Analytics said that growth had been less than expected and slightly down on the first six months of the year, but blamed this on component shortages and ongoing economic volatility which “slightly constrained volumes”.

Nokia remained the biggest mobile phone maker in the world, shipping 110.4 million handsets worldwide during the third financial quarter. The company has undergone a shake-up in recent months, with several key executives, including chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, announcing their departure.

This weeks UK video game sales chart

UK game sales chart: the multiformat top 10 best selling video games in the UK. Data supplied by UKIE. 

1. Fallout: New Vegas (new entry)

The setting may be new, but everything else about Obsidian's new RPG should look and feel very familiar to Fallout fans. The latest instalment in Bethesda's post-apocalyptic series moves the action from the Capital Wasteland to Sin City and the outlying areas of Nevada. While most of the game's mechanics - such as the V.A.T.S. combat system - remain intact from Fallout 3, New Vegas's main draw is its huge new map filled with new monsters, new characters and, most importantly of all, new quests to get stuck into. One could level the criticism at New Vegas that it's simply a new story built on an aging engine for players who felt Fallout 3 should have been 60 more hours in length. That's true, but when the new 60 hours offer up this much enjoyment, who cares?

2. Medal Of Honor (▼1)
 
EA's military shooter suffered through a storm of controversy prior to its release, but how does it stack up now that it's here? In a word: brilliantly. Sporting an engaging, realistic campaign and a deep and layered multiplayer, Medal Of Honor should provide punters with plenty of shooter in the run-up to Christmas. There may be the possibility that some may jump ship with the arrival of 'that other game' come November, but for now, Medal Of Honor has FPS fans all to itself.

3. Fifa 11 (▼2)
 
The football season may have been underway for a few weeks now, but for millions of gamers it began this month with the release of EA Sports's magnificent Fifa 11. The engine has been tweaked and polished to give the on-pitch action a greater sense of realism; ball physics are far better, ping pong passing has been eliminated and players look and act more like their real-world counterparts. With smooth online play which allows for 11 versus 11 player matches, a condensed player and manager mode (which thankfully isn't broken) and gameplay that hits the sweet-spot between reality and fantasy, Fifa 11 is arguably the best football sim on the market.

4. Professor Layton & The Lost Future (new entry)
 
Fans of the gentlemanly Professor and his sidekick Luke will know what to expect from this absolutely delightful third entry in the series. For the rest of you, here's the pitch; Professor Layton and his apprentice are catapulted into a steampunk future London in the clutches of an evil mastermind. Along the way they meet tons of eccentric characters armed with loads of puzzles ranging maths-based conundrums to clever word games, to picture puzzles to jigsaws and more. As with other Layton titles, the visuals and soundtrack are lovely, the story is whacky and engrossing and the whole package is bursting at the seams with charm. An essential purchase for all ages.

5. Just Dance 2 (▼3) 

 

The sequel to Ubisoft's world-conquering party title looks set to stay in the charts for the forseeable future. The game's song-list is pretty varied and it comes with a duet feature which allows players to perform complimentary moves in both two and four player mode. It might not win over the shooter/hard-core/testosterone crowd, but as party games go, this isn't half bad. 

Skype and Facebook join hands...

Skype users will now be able to sync their Facebook profile with their Skype account, providing one click video calling to friends on the social networking site. 

The internet telephone tool has integrated the Facebook News Feed and its phone book into its service, in an attempt to boost the numbers of people using both its free Skype-to-Skype calls and its paid telephony service.

Contrary to predictions last month, Facebook users will not be able to use Skype’s service to make internet telephone calls and send text messages from their profile pages. However, Mike Bartlett, Skype’s director of product management, said that this integration between the two firms, was “just the first stages” of the relationship.

Skype has added a Facebook tab to its desktop service, which shows both the network’s ‘News Feed’ and phone book. A Skype user can only make a free video call with a Facebook friend if they are also a Skype contact. If they are a Facebook friend, but not a Skype contact, their phone number will surface in the News Feed and phone book in Skype (if they have added these details to their Facebook profile information) and a Skype user can call them, on their landlines or mobile, for the standard Skype credit and subscription rates.

The integration goes live today. Bartlett called Facebook the most “important social platform in the world”. He said: “We have seen Facebook growing hugely as a social platform and we wanted to strike the balance between our calling capabilities and social capabilities – which we believe this partnership will do. Rather than create social functions ourselves, it made much more sense to partner with Facebook. It’s a natural marriage.”

No money has exchanged hands between Facebook and Skype. The partnership, according to Skype’s spokesperson, is a “typical Connect platform” arrangement, with the exception that Facebook has allowed Skype access to its phonebook data.

A Skype spokesman added: “We hope that the integration will make it a lot easier for our users to find more people that they can connect with.”

The integration is part of Skype’s 5.0 update, which also includes the roll out of its new group calling feature, to all users, on a 28 day free trial basis.

Skype launched group calls in beta to a limited group of users earlier this year, but has now opened up the service to its whole userbase. Skype plans on charging for the group calls feature, but has yet to announce the date it will begin charging. The tool will remain in beta while the team continue tweaking the product.

Apple to reveal new Mac OS X at special event

Apple is expected to unveil its Mac OS X 10.7 operating system at a press conference on Oct 20....

Apple has sent out teaser invites for a Mac-themed event, hinting that the next version of OS X 10.7 Lion.

Apple is holding a special event on Oct 20, when the company is widely expected to unveil the latest version of its OS X operating system.

The company sent invites showing a picture of a lion and the slogan “Back to Mac” to select journalists and analysts. It has lead to speculation that Apple will use the event to launch a new range of Mac computers, and give details of the next iteration of its OS X operating system.

Apple traditionally names is OS X products after big cats, and 10.7, the successor to OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, is expected to be called Lion. 

The company could also use the event to show off a new model of its popular MacBook Air computer, as well as new versions of iLife and iWork, Apple’s productivity and media suites, comprised of programs such as Keynote and iPhoto. 

Mac OS X 10.7 is unlikely to hit shops until next summer. Apple is expected to use next June’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco to reveal more details about the platform, and confirm a ship date. 

Tim Bajarin, a principal analyst with consulting firm Creative Strategies, believes Apple could be looking to more closely integrate some aspects of iOS, its mobile operating system, and OS X, such as FaceTime video calling. 

“Making FaceTime work with iChat would be a logical guess,” he said.
Apple’s OS X products enjoy a 10 per cent share of the computer market, which continues to be dominated by Microsoft’s Windows operating system.

 

 

Mobile Phone companies urged to display Warnings about Radiation

Research into the potential danger caused by mobile phones have proved inconclusive,but some studies have suggested that they cause an effect on the brain and on sperm quality.
Most user  manuals for phones tell users not to place their devices directly against their skin,but this advice is usually printed in small print.
Alasdair Philips told the Daily Mail that the safety advice should be included more promptly in the 'Getting started' section of the user guides and not at the back.
Dr Devra Davis, a leading US scientist has warned that if these health risks are ignored  we could face a 'Global Health Catastrophe'.

Ears Provide New ways of Identification

Forget fingerprints or the colour of your eyes, airport security could soon be looking at the shape of your ears when deciding whether to allow you into the country

Researchers have discovered that each person's ears have a unique shape and have created a system that is able to scan them. The scans can then be compared with a database of ear shapes to identify whose they are.

For more info on this story go to www.telegraph.co.uk

Browser wars: the rise of Chrome threatens Internet Explorer, and Mozilla's revenue

Internet Explorer now accounts for less than 50 percent of worldwide web browser usage, a fall from its peak of 88 percent in 2003, Firefox is stalling and Chrome is on the rise. What can we expect from the next web browser war?



The emergence of Google Chome in mid-2008 has hit Internet Explorer hard. A fall below the psychologically important barrier of 50 percent market share makes the latest version, Internet Explorer 9, all the more important for the company.

The rise of Chrome is also affecting Mozilla Firefox, the second most popular desktop web browser, which has stayed at 30 percent market share since May last year.

Web browsers are big business. Mozilla has revealed that in 2008 it pulled in $79 million of revenue from ads served up when you use the Google, Yahoo or eBay search box or download Google's toolbar.
Google's investment in Chrome is certainly motivated by this revenue stream. Why should it pay out for the referrals when it can serve them up for free within Chrome?

Mozilla's long-term advertising deal with Google ends in 2011. No surprise then that Mozilla is reaching out to other ad partners: Microsoft announced last week that the new version of Firefox 4 will include an option for searching via Bing.

Mobile web development is an underappreciated area, but one which will become more and more important over the next decade.

source, from wonderful site: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/8048679/Browser-wars-the-rise-of-Chrome-threatens-Internet-Explorer-and-Mozillas-revenue.html

Facebook groups, response

Facebook has unveiled a new Groups feature, which enables users of the social networking site to organise their circle of friends in to groups according to likes and interests. But what do industry insiders think of this new initiative?

Boston University Quad Blog: “Zuckerberg’s main assumption, that the biggest challenge in social networking is communicating in small groups, is correct ... Unfortunately, I think Facebook has made two fundamental mistakes in how they’ve chosen to solve it. First, in his talk announcing the feature, Zuckerberg called this a natural “social solution” to the problem of sharing information in groups, because a small subset of people will build groups for everyone (the way it’s worked for tagging photos). Unfortunately, this very feature that makes photo tagging work makes groups useless, because the definition of a group is that it is exclusive ... Secondly, public groups don’t work in the current social context. Why? Because we all have different interests that go beyond the scope of our Facebook friends. Being invited to a public group about computers, let’s say, by another friend who likes computers is great. Now what? I can discuss computers with a bunch of strangers, but I’m not going to friend any of them, because the point of Facebook (and especially these new groups) is precisely not to proliferate your connections beyond your ability to keep up with them ... New public groups are going to be not just useless like they were before, but now also highly irritating for the reasons outlined above.”
Silicon Republic: “[Facebook Groups] will certainly be useful at filtering out the general noise that comes with social networks ... The key message here is context. After all, unlike the mad hoi-poloi that can be places like Twitter, this returns context to the original framework that is Facebook. You may have 300 or 600 friends, but who are the ones who really know you or fit into specific relationships based on politics, hobbies or career? Context, in my opinion, was the glue that made Facebook stickier than Twitter.”
Cnet: “Facebook Groups are about to be the bane of junior high school guidance counsellors everywhere: ‘SHE DEGROUPED ME!’”
Forbes: “The company is attempting to address a fundamental problem to its service: the lack of ability to share information and content with only a subset of one’s entire friend list. But the new Groups misses the mark ... the problem with the new Groups is lack of incentives. Tagging people in photos is one thing. Tagging people in groups and then expecting accurate and agreed-upon groupings to arise naturally is an infinitely more tricky thing. Groups in real life aren’t easily defined, and are dynamic, slippery things. Even something seemingly as simple as a family group raises many issues. Who is considered family? The nuclear family? Extended family? God-parents and second cousins? Who gets to make these final decisions within a group? Asking group users to explicitly name these groupings on an online social network in black and white could easily lead to conflict and disagreements.”

UK video game sales chart

UK game sales chart: the multiformat top 10 best selling video games in the UK. Data supplied by UKIE. 

1. F1 2010 (new entry)

F1 2010 is one of the best racing sims to boast the F1 license in some time, and not just because it manages to recreate the speed and excitement of the sport. The cars and racing circuits look brilliant, the lag-free online multiplayer offers a great mix of challenges and customisable races and the lengthy career mode will have console playing petrolheads glued to the TV long into the night. For fans of the sport, or indeed racing games in general, this is an essential purchase.

2. Halo Reach (▼1)
The biggest game of the year so far more than lives up the massive hype which accompanies its release. Halo Reach plunders each and every Halo game - from Combat Evolved to ODST- taking the best bits and crafting them into something remarkable. This is Halo’s Greatest Hits. A blistering, breathless crescendo to a decade’s worth of work. This is Bungie’s last hurrah in the universe it created; a universe it has lived, breathed and loved for the last decade. Was there ever any doubt that the developer would go out in a blaze of glory?

3. Dead Rising 2 (new entry)
Proving that there's more mileage to be made in the zombie apocalypse, Dead Rising 2 takes what worked so well with the original (zombies and shopping malls) and then offers the player new and interesting ways to dispatch the undead horde. It's true that the Dead Rising 2 is not much of a huge step forward from its predecessor; it offers very little that the original didn't, but what it does offer has largely been improved. And most importantly of all, you can run over zombies with a lawnmower, something all games could learn from.

4. Sid Meier's Civilization V (new entry)
In a marketplace where shooters, beat-'em-ups and sports sims seem to get all the attention, you might think that it would be no room for a turn-based, contemplative strategy game. And you'd be wrong. Civilization V is an addictive and complex game which offers tons of replay value and serious depth to any gamer willing to be seduced by its stoic delights. Not only is it one of the best entries in the series, but it's also the most accessible. A must for any armchair general in need of a world to conquer.

5. Sports Champions (▼2)
As Sony begins its foray into motion sensor controls, it makes sense to offer punters an easy entry point. So, taking some inspiration (and possibly influence) from its rivals at Nintendo, Sony has released Sports Champions; a compendium of sports mini-games which both utilise the PS Move to great effect and are accessible enough for the entire family to enjoy. The presentation could do with improvement, but Sports Champions is really rather good on the whole. Table Tennis is exceptional, Archery is great and games like Gladiator Duel and Bocce are fun while showing off some of Move’s potential.

6 Guitar Hero: Warriors Of Rock (new entry)
While it's being released into an oversaturated market, Guitar Hero: Warriors Of Rock just might rekindle the affections of anyone who gave up on rhythm genre games. The Quest mode is fun and compelling, the Competition modes offer all sorts of challenges and the Create mode gives players the chance to create and share their own music. It just might be time to dust off those plastic peripherals...

7. Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (▼5)
Released to conincide with the arrival of the Jerry Bruckheimer-helmed movie, Prince Of Persia: The Forgotten Sands isn't an official movie tie-in - even though the Prince bears a startling resemblance to Jake Gyllenhaal and even borrows his wardrobe from the film. Rather, this entry aims at recapturing the magic of the series high-water mark, Sands Of Time from the days of the PS2. The platforming is exciting and well handled and even if the combat is a little tepid at time, the game's sense of pace is superb. It may rely a little too heavily on the franchise's past glories, but The Forgotten Sands is still a solidly entertaining game in its own right.

8. Mafia II (▼3)
The open-world template which Mafia II uses to tell its tale may be showing its age, but it doesn't get in the way of one enjoying 2K's epic tale of organised crime. The game's compelling narrative, stunning action setpieces and beautifully realised game world envelope the player, drawing them in and refusing to let go. Mafia II is certainly not a contender for GTA's crown, and as was the case with its predecessor, it's not trying to be. From its opening look at a child growing up in poverty to its closing snapshot, themes of gain and sacrifice, of loyalty and betrayal, are always at the forefront.

9. Toy Story 3 (▼3)
The video game tie-in for Pixar's latest movie featuring Woody and Buzz Lightyear bucks the trend for games of this type by being actually rather good. The game's story mode will delight fans of the film and gamers alike, but it's the game'sToy Box mode which makes it truly shine. Players plop down in a free-roaming expanse of dust land based on Woody’s Roundup, the fictional cowboy town seen in the films and take on the job of sheriff, helping out Mayor Hamm and the townsfolk while expanding the settlement; building schools, barbers and banks. This is game that understand the essence of fun better than most children's games, and is has enough content to keep adults glued to it too.

10. Final Fantasy XIV Collector's Edition (new entry)
It's a testament to the grip the Final Fantasy franchise has on its fans that Final Fantasy XIV crashed into the top ten this week, despite only the collecter's edition being available. The regular version of the game goes on sale this week, while PS3 players will have to wait until March next year to get hold of a copy. We can't speak to the delights this game may offer, having not played it at the time of this writing, but as one of the most popular RPGs moves online, at least the question concerning who it will appeal to has been cleared up completely.

for more info, please visit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/7888148/UK-video-game-sales-chart.html

Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2010 UKIE Ltd.