Name: Samsung Galaxy Note

Type: Android Smartphone

Specifications: Click here for full specs

Price: £499.91 from Amazon, SIM-free

The Samsung Galaxy Note, AKA the Samsung Galaxy Personality Crisis. Is it a smartphone? Is it a tablet? Is it some altogether new-fangled tech beast? And is it any good? All these questions and more answered in our full review!

Design

Samsung's Galaxy Note is gigantic. If you thought the HTC Sensation XL was big, or even Samsung's own Galaxy S II, you've got another thing coming. The Note is Texas big. Brian Blessed big. With a 5.3 inch screen, it sits somewhere between a smartphone and tablet, while never really feeling quite like one or the other. It'll fit in your hand relatively comfortably, and will cover half your face when making a call.

Big doesn't mean heavy though. Like the Galaxy S II before it, it's very light for its size, weighing just 178g. Despite being so large, it will fit in a generous trouser pocket, though it'll fit more comfortably in a jacket pocket or bag.

The trade off here of course is that whopping screen. While an iPhone may sit snugly in a shirt pocket, it offers nothing close to the visual bang that the Note does. Thanks to 5.3 inches of WXGA (1280 x 800) Super AMOLED Plus goodness at 285ppi, there's little to match the Note's screen in terms of clarity, brightness and vibrancy. A 1.4GHz Exynos SoC (system on chip) processor is onboard, and is basically a slightly souped up version of the processor found in the Galaxy S II. As a result, the phone swipes through screens without any difficulties, and showed very signs of lag.

Measuring just 146.85 x 82.95 x 9.65mm, the handset adopts a fairly minimalist approach to design. A single hardware button sits on the bottom of the Note's front, with a power switch on its right edge, a volume rocker on its left, a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top edge and a recess to tuck away the Note's true USP, the S-Pen stylus, along the bottom edge. More on the S-Pen later, but for now take comfort in the fact that, thanks to a large 2,500mAh battery, you'll get easily a day's worth of use per charge, even with the screen running at its brightest.

The S-Pen stylus

Touchscreen phones were meant to kill off the stylus, right? The late Apple boss Steve Jobs' personal bug bear has even been dropped by long-time supporters Microsoft with Windows Phone 7, but Samsung still see a place for the stylus, resurrected here with the Note as the S-Pen.

Despite a major part of the marketing of the Note (the combo of a large screen and pen-like device is supposed to kill off the need for paper and pencil) the S-Pen proves little more than a gimmick. Though it's comfortable to hold and slips tidily away into a recess on the underside of the phone, it's practically pointless.

You've got note taking apps pre-installed and ones for jotting down doodles, but this is nothing new in and of itself. The note taking app could have had some decent application were its handwriting recognition up to scratch, but in reality it's prone to mistakes and slower to use than simply tapping out a message on a keyboard. The S-Pen may well have 100 levels of sensitivity, but it still sometimes didn't register input, and the software tended to lag slightly behind our preferred scribbling speed.

Sure, it's nice to be able to sign documents properly from your phone, and annotate the odd image or website, but it's a mostly needless addition.

Calling and Messaging

It may be gigantic, but the Note is still a phone at the end of the day. You'll look like a plonker holding it up to your ear, but it's not as ridiculous as using, say, a Galaxy Tab as a phone. Your best bet is to pair it with a Bluetooth headset, though that's not a necessity, providing you've got reasonable mates who wont twist your arm too much for the size of your phone.

The dialler is pretty much standard Android fare, but has a few Samsung stylings of its own. Along the top of the app are tabs for the keypad, call logs, contacts, favourites and groups. You can manually attach Twitter and Facebook info to contacts too, though it is not handled quite a slickly as HTC's Sense manages to.

If you can brave putting the Note to your ear, call quality proves excellent, with no interference and clear noise reduction. Signal strength remained consistently high too. As you'd imagine, the phone is a perfect fit for video calling apps, using the Note's 2MP front-facing camera.

For email, you get the standard Android Gmail client with is always excellent, and Samsung's own Mail app which can also pull in all manner of  POP3/IMAP and Exchange accounts you may use. It also makes full use of the large screen, offering a split, two-pane view of your messages when put in landscape orientation.

The standard Gignerbread keyboard is here for email and SMS messaging, but with the screen the size it is, you'll only comfortably be able to tap out messages with two hands. Of course, you could use the S-Pen, but as we stated above, that's just as clumsy.

Interface and apps

Just missing out on Ice Cream Sandwich, the Note is running Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread) out of the box, with Samsung's light TouchWiz re-skinning over the top. Again, if you've used a Galaxy S II, you'll feel right at home, with "Hubs" collecting apps for social sites like Twitter or Facebook, gaming portals and apps in the Gaming hub, book buying and reading apps in the Reader hub and music and media playback in the Music hub.

As with all Android phones you get ample ability to customise the experience, and Samsung offer a strong array of live widgets (many of which can be resized) for displaying information at a glance across the seven homescreens. Pinching the screen gives an exploded view of all seven homescreens at once, letting you jump quickly from one to another. It's a little fiddly, but apps can be arranged into folders too.

Drag down from the top of the screen and you'll be presented with the Android notifications bar, housing all your email, app, or social network updates. Samsung place a quick settings toolbar in here too, which is handy for quickly accessing GPS, Wi-Fi and profile options.

All the usual Google apps are onboard, including Maps, Talk, Latitude and Places, and you get access to the Android Market app store for grabbing new software. Voice control comes courtesy of a premium version of Vlingo; it's not quite as fully featured as Apple's Siri, but you can quickly train it to navigate media and jump to contacts with the power of your voice alone.

Samsung's Internet browser is the star of the pre-installed app line up though, and again that's mostly thanks to the quality of the screen in the first place. It's so big as to make full screen browsing not far off the experience you'd have with a tablet device, with eminently readable, crisp text and vibrant images. This being an Android device, you have none of the Flash woes that hamstring Apple's devices when it comes to browsing.

The extra screen real estate allows for a few useful additions to the browser UI, such as dedicated page forward and back buttons, as well as dedicated button for jumping between open tabs. There's even static page name info above the address bar. Though text reflow could at times be a little erratic when pinching and zooming on pages, it's still the closest we've come to a desktop browsing experience from a pocketable device.

Media playback and Gaming

The Galaxy Note really comes into its own when it comes to media playback. With a screen this big, and this gorgeous, it'll be a godsend come lengthy car trips or when you're stuck for something to watch in bed. Grab something like the Netflix movie and TV streaming app and you may find yourself glued to the Note all day long. There's even a setting that pushes the brightness levels of the screen even further for viewing in direct sunlight, though be prepared to take a noticeable knock to your battery level as a result.

Samsung have done a good job of providing solid file-format support with their video player, with the device expertly handling everything we threw at it, including MP4, M4V, Xvid, DivX, AVI and 3GP file types. Throw in DLNA support and you're sharing video to and from the Note to all manner of devices, making it an expert media experience. Samsung's video playing app even allows for some basic editing work to be done, which is handy if you're looking to upload to YouTube directly from the device.

Though competent enough, the music player is basically stock Android with a slight re-skinning. You can muck about with EQ settings, and get album cover artwork, but for a deeper music organisational experience you may want to download a third party app.

Gaming on the Note is also really strong. With a powerful processor and impressive screen, you're approaching iPad levels of playability. This was best illustrated with a quick game of the Grand Theft Auto III Android edition, where there wasn't a hint of stutter and the the virtual control pad didn't impede the view of the action in any significant way.

Still Camera and Video

The Note uses an identical 8MP rear camera as that found in the Galaxy S II. That's no bad thing, as that smartphone was capable of some superb shots. Thanks to the dual-core processor, you can boot the phone up from off and be in the camera app shooting snaps within little more than 5 seconds, which is great when you've got to capture a fleeting moment.

Images are crisp and detailed, with accurate auto-focus and colour reproduction. You also get a decent array of manual controls such as ISO settings, as well as Panorama modes and plenty of scene selection settings to scroll through to add a smidgen of Instagram-like cool to your shots.

Despite its strong image capturing chops, the Note is hardly the ideal snapper though. As it's so large, it's actually quite cumbersome to hold when taking a picture. With no dedicated shutter button, you'll be tapping away at the screen to take shots, which means you have to hold the over-sized device in some quite awkward positions. The size of the screen also makes it far too easy to accidentally brush it while taking a photo, leading to unintentional shifts in focus.

Video shooting still impresses though, with Full HD recording at 1080p/30fps possible. The results are sharp, and the image stabilisation does a good job of keeping moving images from being too jumpy. It suffers a little from noise in dark scenes though, and sometimes takes a little longer than we'd have liked to find a sensible point of focus using AF.

Verdict:

Samsung's Galaxy Note has all the trappings of a great phone. Its re-skinned version of Android gingerbread is understated and makes useful changes. Its screen is gorgeous to look at and a joy to use. Its processor allows for demanding multitasking and its camera offers both detailed still photography and clear HD video capture. However, its main selling point (its large screen) is also its downfall, as it's just impractical as an everyday device. It's just too cumbersome to replace a smaller, more versatile smartphone. Also, the Note's S-Pen is a massive disappointment, a gimmick that doesn't really add any useful functionality to an already-responsive UI and touchscreen combo. While it's a superb multimedia device, its going to take a person with very unique needs for it to be their ideal smartphone.

Name: Otone Audio Stilo

Type: 2.1 Desktop Speaker

Specifications: Click here for full specs

Price: £69.99 from Otone Audio

Otone Audio are the latest UK-based company to throw their hats into the home audio ring. As well as a range of 5.1 systems, they're also launching a range of desktop PC speaker set ups. Today we're taking a look at their Stilo 2.1 PC speakers. Read on for our thoughts.

Comprising two satellite speakers, a subwoofer and wired remote, the Stilo speakers are a bit of a missed opportunity when it comes to design. While the cube-shaped subwoofer is simple enough to be easy on the eye (measuring 220 x 211 x 230mm and making up a substantial portion of the package's overall  3.65kg weight), the satellite speakers, measuring  253 x 65 x 106mm , look needlessly cheap. They're a desktop friendly size, and we quite like the the cut-oval shape. However, the decision to make them from a mix of gloss black plastic and a matte silver/grey is a bit of a mess. Perhaps they'll suit the tastes of others, but we'd have preferred just the gloss black, thank you very much.

The pebble-shaped wired remote, which plugs into the back of the powered subwoofer, is a little tidier, with the mix of blacks, silvers and a green LED (indicating the speakers are on) reminiscent of the Android smartphone colour scheme. A dial controls the volume levels, clicking from a low volume setting to off at the counter-clockwise extreme. There's a little bit of a sharp spike in volume level when dialling past the halfway mark though. On the back is a handy pair of ports for auxiliary line in (letting you plug an MP3 player directly into the speakers and bypassing a PC) and a headphone port too, with a standard 3.5mm jack.

There are few other audio connectivity options on the subwoofer though beyond the 3.5mm line-in jack, so if you're looking for a more complicated set up with a high-end sound card, these probably aren't the speakers for you.

For everyone else though, they'll perform very nicely. Using a space-age sounding patented Vortex Drive system, they'll pump out 40W (2 x 10 + 20W) of power, easily reaching room-filling levels. 2 x 2" high-sensitivity twin drivers sit in the satellite speakers, and while a little lacking at the treble end, were otherwise warm and clear. We did experience a little rattling in the subwoofer cabinet at maximum volume levels and with the subwoofer itself turned to its maximum bass setting, but we're fairly sure that was down to a slightly loose fixture in our individual sample, and nothing that should worry any prospective buyers.


Verdict:

The Otone Audio Stilo 2.1 desktop speakers sound, for the most part, great, especially for the £69.99 asking price. You may need to scale the mid-levels back a little in your EQ settings, but our love of the odd spiky guitar shred and rattle of gunfire from Call of Duty wont likely line up with everyone's tastes. They're solid sonic performers either way. It's a shame then that the satellite speakers themselves looks so underwhelming. Sat on a retailer's shelf next to the sci-fi stylings of Harman Kardon's Soundsticks, it's unlikely the Otone Audio Stilo set will get a second look, which does the audio quality they're capable of something of a disservice.

Name: Desaia Beat Box

Type: Bluetooth speaker

Price: RRP £54.99

Desaia may be new kids on the block when it comes to portable audio systems, but their Beat Box Bluetooth speaker shows promise to come. Does it have enough polish to warrant your attention, and your cash? Read on to find out.

Desaia's Beat Box is almost a perfect cube, barring its curved, slightly tapered edges. It stands just 80mm x 80 mm x 76mm and weighs around the 150g mark, making it an easy fit in even the most modestly sized handbags or satchels. It's not much of a looker (our review sample was a black model, though more colours are on the way), but its perforated plastic casing and glossy plastic 4-way button pad on top are simple and functional.

On the rear of the speaker you'll find a port for hooking up non-Bluetooth music devices over a standard 3.5mm audio jack, and a mini-USB port for charging the speaker.

Hooking up the Desaia Beat Box over Bluetooth is a piece of cake. Holding down the Play/Power button fires the Beat Box up, with a blue LED ring flashing around the button pad (which turns red when switching off) letting you know it is ready to pair with a Bluetooth device. It's then just a matter of using your tablet, smartphone or MP3 player's Bluetooth manager to search for the speaker and unite the two units in musical matrimony. We used the Beat Box with an iPad, HTC Desire HD and an iPhone 4S, and had no problems at all with dropped connections during lengthy play sessions.

Those musical marathons can last up to 10 hours if using the Beat Box at around half its maximum volume, which isn't at all bad given the 2-and-a-bit hours charging time needed. It's even better when you note how loud the Beat Box goes. Despite only having a 2x2 W max output, it gives the impression of going far louder at full volume, particularly when placed on a resonant surface such as desk.

Sonically, there are better performers than the Desaia Beat Box. It pushes its mid ranges too much to the fore, while treble is harsh and lacks detail. Tweaking your EQ settings on your device helps to counteract this somewhat. However, you're never going to find audiophile quality sound in a device of this nature, so its something of a moot point; you buy a Bluetooth speaker for simple, on-the-go amplification of your digital tunes, and in that regard the Desaia Beat Box fits the bill nicely.

Verdict:

While its audio quality leaves a little to be desired, the Desaia Beat Box performs well when put alongside other similarly-sized Bluetooth speakers. It's a truly portable bit of kit, offers enough battery life to provide a day's worth of tunes down the park and (while still a little too expensive in our books at £54.99) is priced competitively against rivals such as Logitech's Mini Boombox. We expect to see lots of these sitting around outside tents come the summer festival season.

Tech Digest's wasted youth has paid off; we're now official holders of a Guinness World Record for playing Tetris!

Myself (Gerald) and ShinyShiny editor Becca Caddy now hold the record for the "Highest score on Tetris (Nintendo, 1986) for a team of two."

"The highest score achieved by a team of two sharing one controller on Tetris (Nintendo, 1986) is 23,552, achieved by Becca Caddy and Gerald Lynch (both UK) at the launch of Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2012 at Liverpool Street Station, London, UK, on 18 January 2011," confirmed the record tracking team today.

As if testing our dexterous digits wasn't enough, the Shiny team broke the record using the world's biggest NES controller, which measured a whopping 12ft x 5ft 3 in x 1ft 8 in.

I type this with a tear in my eye. It's the pinnacle of my geeky life. Great job!

Out now, the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2012 is available from all good bookstores. And some rubbish ones too!

Name: Resident Evil: Revelations

Genre: 3rd Person Shooter / Survival Horror

Platform: Nintendo 3DS

Price: £32.70 from Amazon

Capcom have made some missteps of late with their Resident Evil series, focussing too much on action and not enough on scares. Resident Evil: Revelations for the 3DS looks to go back to the series' survival horror roots. Are Capcom back to their shocking best, or have they been smoking a bit too much of the Green herb again?

"Survival Horror", a phrase so familiar to gamers, was pretty much coined to describe the first batch of Resident Evil games. Creeping around secluded, drab settings like the Arklay Mansion or the desolate streets of a Racoon City run rife with zombies, each second in the early Resident Evil games was a terrifying race to survive, hunting down weapon ammunition and supplies whilst hoping that turning the next corner wouldn't present you with a shambling horror eyeing up your guts for lunch.

As the series evolved, that slightly slower-paced, brooding terror was swapped out for faster monster movie action that saw you mowing down a near-endless stream of undead or mutant foes. It worked excellently in Resident Evil 4 (which retained a feeling of foreboding), but lost a significant scare factor with Resident Evil 5 and its sun-drenched streets.

Resident Evil: Revelations then represents the game that long-time series fans have longed for arguably since before Resident Evil 4 was released way back in January 2005. Creepy, dark and oozing dread without scrimping on the action, it's one of the best games the series has seen in a long time.

This is partly achieved by the superb setting for the game. For the most part, you'll be controlling series stalwart Jill Valentine as she explores a bio-terrorist attack on the cruise liner Queen Zenobia. Its flooded, cold corridors prove as claustrophobic as the original game's Arklay Mansion and through some stunning work in the graphics department, about a thousand times more realistic. Revelations looks good enough to rival some console games, with excellently moody lighting, detailed character models and a surprising amount of variation in its scenes considering the predominately ocean-bound setting. 3D visuals add slightly to the tension on the 3DS, but we proffered to play with 3D switched off in this case, as higher levels of anti-aliasing then kick in, making everything look silky-smooth. Sonically it's hellishly spooky too, if putting to one side the series almost-trademark, comedically-hammy voice acting; from enemy moans, the screams of survivors to the haunting soundtrack (which Capcom deftly know exactly when to par down to increase tension), you'll have chills down your spine throughout.

The boat proves a great setting to let loose the games monstrous "ooze" enemies too. Closer to Dead Space's Necromorphs than the zombies of old, their loose, flowing nature makes them the perfect fit for the wet world you explore. Their fluidity also makes them far more vicious than previous Resident Evil foes; a seemingly safe corridor can quickly become a battleground as the amorphous nasties slide up through grates all around you. Boss battles are wondrously gruesome too, each offering just the right amount of challenge, needing unique tactics to fell each varied beast.

Enemies are made even more fearsome by the game's return to a survival focus, with methodical combat and scarce supplies. Though the optional Circle Pad add-on for the 3DS offers dual-stick controls, the game is at its heart-pumping best when in fact played with the limited movement offered by the traditional Resident Evil tank-like controls, turning your character on the spot to pick your shots rather than running and gunning. You can move and shoot now in a slightly clunky way, as well as use a rudimentary dodge move, but those added skills prove only a minor help in facing the horrors surrounding you. For once, "hamstrung" controls are intentional, and to the benefit of the tense nature of the game.

It's also a return to desperate item harvesting. Even when at your most shaken, you'll still need to deeply explore your surroundings for supplies, or a weapon box to swap your load out to suit your next challenge. Revelations introduces the Genesis scanner tool to your arsenal. A bit like the visor from the Metroid Prime series on the Gamecube and Wii, it rewards you for carefully examining your surroundings, throwing up snippets of info on the game's backstory, clues to Revelations well-thought-out puzzles and the odd reward for item conservation.

If there is one place where the game's atmosphere proves a bit of a let down, it's in the story. Sure, we've come to expect completely whacked-out plots from Capcom, but what's on show here veers dangerously from B-Movie territory to nonsensical. If you can get your head around the several-too-many twists across the course of the game, it's unlikely you'll care too much about the tale's outcome.

In contrast, the supporting characters aren't wacky enough. They're a dull bunch, while Jessica Sherawat's impractical, revealing costume undoes much of the good positive gender role work being done by Jill's strong lead role. The cast prove just as useless when in a supporting AI mode, shooting by your side but doing no real damage, and acting only to alleviate the game's bread-and-butter tension.

Gameplay is split into chapters, which proves both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, you've got roughly-hour-long chunks of gameplay to attack in a sitting, which is quite well suited for on-the-go gaming.

On the other hand, however, these chapters introduce Revelations' subplot, centred mostly around Resident Evil's other main hero, Chris Redfield. His action takes you away from the menace of the ship, and often throws you straight back into the kind of mindless shooting galleries that characterised and, to some extent, ruined Resident Evil 5. Chapters will of course naturally break up the flow of gameplay and cut through any tension built, but the transition between Jill and Chris's segments is almost always maddeningly jarring.

The game is fairly lengthy, easily taking the average player well over 10 hours to complete. But it doesn't end with the single-player campaign. Completing the main game opens up the Raid Mode, which supports co-op online play and makes characters such as Jessica and O'Brien playable. Here you and a pal fight through key sections from the main game, with set challenges and differing enemies than you may have experienced in the single player game. Success rewards you with points which can be used to buy upgraded weapons in the Raid store. It's a much better home for the action-orientated gameplay that feels shoehorned in elsewhere in Revelations.

Verdict:

Capcom have done right by the hardcore fanbase with Revelations. While not shying away from the action-orientated gameplay that revived the franchise after Resident Evil 4, they've managed to return that creeping feeling of unease that was missing from Resident Evil 5. The story is even more ludicrous than ever, with the supporting cast never exciting in terms of plot nor allied-AI. However, atmospherically and graphically it's a stunning achievement, which deserves not only to re-iterate Capcom's stellar horror chops, but also to highlight the potential of Nintendo's 3DS console in the right hands when put toe-to-toe with more powerful hardware like the PS Vita.

The Nokia Lumia 800 is the first Nokia phone to boast Windows Phone and comes with Mango as standard. Sporting a seamless 'polymer' design and a 3.7 inch touch screen - the Nokia Lumia 800 is the Windows Phone we've been waiting for.

Now with Three's all-you-can-eat data, you'll have all the internet you'll ever need. Tech Digest is offering one lucky reader the chance to get their hands on this cool new smartphone. It comes with a Pay As You Go SIM pre-loaded with all-you-can-eat data so you'll be free to stream, download, tweet and surf the web without ever worrying about the cost - there literally are no limits.

To be in with a chance of winning the handset, follow these two simple steps:

1) "Like" the Tech Digest Facebook page, which can be found by clicking here.

2) Leave us a message telling us why you think you deserve to win the Nokia Lumia 800, and what you''ll do with it, either via our Facebook page (with the message text starting with "TD NOKIA LUMIA 800") or by sending us an email explaining why you should win the smartphone to shinymediacomps@gmail.com, with the subject header "TD NOKIA LUMIA 800".

Good Luck!

Terms and Conditions

1. Only one entry per person will be counted. Only entrants who are also Tech Digest Facebook page fans will be eligible to win.
2. The competition closes at 5pm GMT on Monday 20th February 2012. No entries will be considered after then.
3. This competition is open to residents of the UK and Ireland.
4. The decision of the judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
5. The winner will be notified within seven days of the closing date.
6. All prizes are non transferable and there are no cash alternatives.
7. Submission of an entry will be taken to mean acceptance of these terms and conditions.

Keep an eye on www.techdigest.tv/promotions and the Tech Digest Facebook page, for chances to win more prizes in the future!

The Guinness World Record for the largest videogame controller on the planet has been broken! British electrical engineering student Ben Allen along with co-creators Stephen van 't Hof and Michel Verhulst put together a gigantic 12ft x 5ft 3 in x 1ft 8 in, 18 stone NES controller to take the title, a joypad so big it needs two people to operate!

"The idea basically came from a brainstorm," said Allen.

"We were sitting around between lectures having a chat and a coffee, someone came up with the NES idea and we ran with it. From the conception to the completion of the controller took about six months, and after spending a lot of time planning, the actual build took about four weeks. There were lots of late nights, and lots of not sleeping! In fact, I even fell asleep on the controller for about half an hour one night!"

Showcasing the achievement at London's Liverpool Street Station, Tech Digest got some hands-on time with the daddy of all retro controllers. Though it takes some getting used to, the oversize buttons responded really well, pushing back against our hands with a satisfyingly spongy feel. Tech Digest, alongside Shiny Shiny's Becca, managed a respectable 67 lines on the NES version of Tetris, a potential record in itself on the unique controller.

But construction wasn't simply a matter of scaling up components found in a regular NES joypad. After a few nights spent stress-testing the unit in a rowdy local pub, Allen's team quickly realised the original iconic design couldn't withstand the repeated button presses made when playing scaled up to the new size.

"In the original controller there's just a bit of padding on the back of each button and a mesh on the circuit board," explained Allen.

"When you press the pad there it short circuits the mesh and pulls the signal low. Here we do it slightly differently. The mechanical switches in our prototype broke, so we went with a light-based system with a sensor. When you press a button, the light beam hitting the sensor is broken, the sensor filters that information and pushes it to the same electronics as used in the original NES controller, which then in turn registers your intended inputs."

So, could anyone make a working version similar to the record breaking kit on show? Allen, who studies at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, believes so:

"If you wanted to do it at home I reckon you could. Perhaps using a wooden frame rather than the stress-tested steel frame we've built, without the car wheel ball bearings too. Though it's not a cheap thing to do, if you had three guys, working four full-time weeks, you could probably do this, and some more."

The event was held in order to promote the release of the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2012, which also features other quirky gaming records like "Longest Gaming Session in Free-Fall" and "Largest Competitive Pokémon Videogame Family". We can't begin to imagine what the conversation around that family dinner table must be like!

"We've been burning the midnight oil like ninjas for the 2012 Gamer's Edition: witnessing record attempts, talking to developers and playing as many videogames as we could handle." said Guinness World Records Gaming Editor, Gaz Deaves.

"Gamers all over the world can finally get their hands on the result of our hard labour, and this year's book packed with all the amazing records, facts and feats that they have a right to expect from Guinness World Records."

Out on Thursday 19th January, the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2012 will be available from all good bookstores. And some rubbish ones too!

Tried to get onto Wikipedia today? If you're from an English-speaking nation, then you were probably presented with the image above, and not the free source of community-built knowledge that the web encyclopedia is known for. And it's going to stay that way until 5am (GMT) tomorrow too.

Why? In protest to controversial US anti-piracy bills: The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and its Senate partner, the Protect IP Act (PIPA).

The bills are intended to strengthen the position of intellectual property holders and content providers on the net, who argue their industries are being monumentally damaged by online pirates. Their argument is sound, but many feel the bills' combative methods are not; while the music, film and software industries may be protected by the SOPA and PIPA bills, Internet advocates fear the heavy-handed tactics proposed by the bills will lead to a stifling of free speech on the net.

The new legislation would support laws already in place to protect copyrighted material, like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). However, while the DCMA targets the removal of the infringing content, SOPA and PIPA set their sights on the platforms hosting the content, giving the Justice Department the power to hunt down even foreign websites, cutting their support (and often revenue streams) from US-based advertisers, ISPs and card companies.

It essentially means all webmasters worldwide would have to vigorously monitor their sites for infringing content, something that many feel not only crosses the line into censorship, but, in the case of massively popular websites, would also prove a gigantic policing task and resource hog. Start-ups couldn't defend against possible violations, and the Internet's growth would be cut short.

And while the legislation primarily targets foreign sites hosting the infringing content, even domestic US sites could face heavy penalties, just for linking to the foreign pages in question. On a community driven site like Reddit, which relies on the sharing of content and healthy, open forum it has created to survive, it could eventually spell the end.

As a result, many sites alongside Wikipedia (including BoingBoing, Mozilla, WordPress, TwitPic, MoveOn.org and Reddit) are putting a "blackout" blanket over their sites to illustrate the potential dangers of the bills. Other sites, like Twitter and Facebook, have not took part in the blackout, but have been equally vocal in opposition, while Google too has a protest doodle with the message" Tell Congress: Please don't censor the web" alongside it.

"Today Wikipedians from around the world have spoken about their opposition to this destructive legislation," said Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia co-founder.

"This is an extraordinary action for our community to take - and while we regret having to prevent the world from having access to Wikipedia for even a second, we simply cannot ignore the fact that SOPA and PIPA endanger free speech both in the United States and abroad, and set a frightening precedent of Internet censorship for the world."

It's been an important few days in the fight against the bills. While no-one questions the fact that Internet piracy is a massive problem for the creative industries, even the White House has now began to withdraw support for SOPA, awaiting modifications for the legislation.

However the Senate is still scheduled to hold a procedural vote on PIPA on January 24th, which could yet see the bill instated.

If you think this is primarily a US concern, think again. The USA, in effect, could potentially hold the entire web to ransom, and where the US leads, the UK is sure to follow with similar legislation on our own domestic sites. With so many massive companies and media conglomerate's bank-balances tied to the success of PIPA and SOPA, there is heavy pressure for the bills to be passed.

The Internet as we know it could be about to change forever.

3D TVs still aren't quite taking off in the way the tech manufacturers had hoped for, but there's no sign of Hollywood slowing down their support for 3D content, what with the higher ticket prices they can charge for the privilege of adding a little depth to your screening.

But this year, for once, that's no bad thing! A whole host of madly-exciting 3D movies are hitting cinemas over the course of the next 12 months. From the long-awaited sci-fi return of Ridley Scott with Prometheus to Marvel's all-action The Avengers flick, returning characters like Judge Dredd in Dredd and ol' Spidey in The Amazing Spider-Man, there'll be plenty of reasons to pile on the popcorn in 2012.

Scroll down for Tech Digest's Top Ten Must See Movies of 2012!

After a lengthy wait, the Netflix streaming service is now open for business in the UK, offering a robust catalogue of movies and TV shows onto a wide variety of devices, with an intelligent platform and UI that the company claims delivers the best streaming service currently on the market. But does it have what it takes to compete with LOVEFiLM's UK dominance, and is Netflix up to the unique challenges the UK market presents?

We caught up with Netflix CPO Neil Hunt at the launch of the UK service to find out.

LOVEFiLM is already a well-established brand in the UK and, on the face of things, Netflix looks to offer a very similar package. What would you say are the key differentiators between your service and theirs, and what would the reasons be for LOVEFiLM subscribers to join Netflix instead?

I'd say we have a different catalogue of content that is broader and more interesting so they should definitely try that out. We also have a free trial for a month so there's the option to try it out to see how it works too. We have a tremendous range that you can view on practically any screen you put in front of yourself. LOVEFiLM, Apple TV, do not have that reach. We'll continue to expand that platform reach over time. We've been focussed on streaming since 2007 when we started streaming in the US, and we make streaming work really well, both in quality of delivery and the adaptive bitrate technology we use to put the best possible picture onto whatever platform you're viewing from.

Finally, but not least, I'd say the focus we have on streaming, with the single price point at £5.99, with no confusing pricing layers or tiers, no pay per view, no DVD, means your choice is very much simpler. That will translate into a much easier decision making process, and an easier to understand user experience. It's telling that LOVEFiLM is advertising a competitive price point, but it's not so easy to find on their website. Their website has various DVD programmes in it, and that's not where we're competing.

In the UK, one of the big bonuses of your service compared to competitors is that you're pushing 1080p full HD streaming. However, our ISP set-up is quite different from in the States; we get a lot of bandwidth throttling for instance, which harms video streaming, as well as wildly varying download speeds. Do you see this as a potential barrier?

I think we've put in a lot of energy to make it work well in the presence of variable bandwidth. The whole adaptive bitrate streaming system works by starting with a very low quality bitrate, and then quickly escalating the quality of the stream to match your connection capabilities, up to 1080p if you've got it. If the bandwidth is being throttled, you'll lose picture quality, but it'll still work seamlessly in terms of delivery, with no stutter. I certainly hope that there is no anti-competitive behaviour from providers who have their own video service, looking to penalise us as competitors. But the temptations are the same, and the regulatory framework is similar to other territories where we've had no real problems, so we're not expecting any real issues with that.

Much has been made of HBO's recent refusal to allow you access to their catalogue of Blu-rays and DVDs in the States. Is this a sign of things to come, what with Netflix now commissioning their own shows? Do they see you as muscling in on their turf?

Competition is always no-holds barred. I don't think HBO's posture with respect to the wholesale of DVDs and Blu-rays actually has much to say about their position on streaming content. HBO has rights to a portion of Hollywood output, but not all of it, and we've been successful in negotiating lots of other great stuff. We'll always have a content offering that's rich. It may not always have every specific piece of content, but there is plenty to go around.

You're working on bringing a brand new season of Arrested Development to Netflix, a show that, despite critical acclaim, was eventually canned due to low viewer numbers. Word-of-mouth now sees the show more popular than it ever was when it aired first. Is Netflix a good platform for similar slow-burning content?

Perfectly, yes. The key thing about the over-the-top delivery is that the content has a very long life span. We're not trying to find a mass audience to consume it all at once. We can afford to bring it to two people today, five people tomorrow and twenty people the next, as long as we an get enough people to view it over a window of several years.

All of the personalisation stuff that you see is really about learning about the content and the people, and matching that together. For instance, the first few people viewing new content help us understand what's great about it, and other users it might appeal to. Then you can deploy that over a long period of time, so that long-length lifespan for content definitely works to our advantage.

Do you think the rise in mobile streaming will affect the formatting of video in the future? For instance, will mobile data caps result in TV episodes being delivered in 5-minute chunks, or longer movies a "chapter" at a time?

To begin with, our platform already offers great "resume playback" and bookmarking functionality; you can start a show at home, and pick off directly where you left it on your mobile device when out and about. What we've seen with mobile and to some extent tablet usage is that there is plenty of reach, but shorter views. You can view mobile perhaps as a sampling method, helping you pick what you'll watch on the big screen. A lot of the content has been produced with the 40 inch or 40 foot screens in mind, so perhaps the small form factor consumption isn't up to that.

Will we see a shift in the kind of content? Perhaps we will, I'm not sure. I believe we have a platform that potentially allows us to match the content to the form factor. If there are fundamentally different types of content that better suit the mobile format we'll be able to take advantage of that and promote them for the appropriate devices.

It's well noted that you had a large number of subscribers drop off the service when you changed your pricing format last year. What have you learnt from that experience?

A lot of stuff about how to run a business! I first want to challenge the supposition though; we changed the pricing on the DVD services but we didn't change the pricing of streaming. The impact therefore was largely on the DVD space. The reason we did that was in a perhaps over-eager attempt to focus their energies where it really mattered, and that's on the streaming side.

Do you see streaming as the inescapable future of video distribution then?

Totally. Streaming is the future. My entire team is focussed on streaming.

But surely then, if you're experiencing drops in subscriber numbers, your customers are saying that they don't see it the same way, and still want equal importance given to the DVD services and physical formats too?

No, I think it's that we forced the choice for a lot of people. Many of them did choose streaming. The hours of viewing through the streaming business has grown month on month; we've never gone backwards on streaming progress.

The business of the future is streaming, there's no question about that. We deliver many times more hours of streaming every day in the US than we do through physical copies. In the UK, Canada and 43 other territories we only offer streaming. We deliver to the UK market the best possible streaming product. The missteps we had with delivering DVD were through focussing more energy on streaming. Maybe we reacted too hastily, and we were too optimistic about costumers rationality, but that's water under the bridge.

Though you're not the sole cause of its downfall, Netflix has played a substantial part in the demise of the once-mighty Blockbuster. What can be learnt by their failings, and do you ever feel any pangs of guilt for your hand in bringing a massive global brand to its knees?

(Laughs) Pangs of guilt? I don't feel any pangs of guilt for providing a more compelling service to more people, and fundamentally that's what free-market capitalism is all about. If you can provide a better product then you should get the resources to do that better. And that's what this was all about.

Netflix was certainly not the sole contributor. But the lesson to be learnt here is that hanging on to an old business model when a new one presents itself can be bad. Blockbuster waited far too long to find a place in the new subscription model market, at which time it was very difficult for them to compete effectively. We took that lesson, and realised that it'd be a big mistake for us to over-invest in improving and enhancing our subscription DVD service when we needed to get focussed on streaming, which is where the real competition is. Unless we focus all our energy on winning in the streaming space, we might be the next Blockbuster. It's another reason why, looking back at the DVD issues last summer, it was right to focus on a tremendously compelling product in the streaming market.

You've warned investors that the UK venture may take two or so years to turn a profit. At the same time you're slowing international expansion. How much is riding on this current wave of expansion?

We've spent a lot of money licensing content in deals that last many years. It's for the long haul, there's no pulling out. We need to be successful, and we can afford to fight with this for a long time. Our goal is to produce a compelling product at a phenomenal price point. Consumers will see that this really is the future.

Great, Tech Digest will be looking forward to how your UK roll-out pans out over the coming months. Thanks!

Thank you. We hope you enjoy what Netflix offers the UK too.

Day two of CES 2012 is in full swing in Las Vegas now, with more gadgetry goodness pouring in. The UK Tech Digest team is rolling in for the night, but before we do that, here's a round up of all today's big CES stories.

Shiny Shiny will be continuing to post Stateside through the night, so be sure to keep a track of their findings from the show floor, as well as the constant stream of updated CES video content hitting our YouTube channel! Also, be sure to check out yesterday's round-up for all the pre-show and day one news!

Dell will try again with tablets in 2012

Can they learn from the disastrous mistakes they made with the Dell Streak?

JVC announces GY-HMQ10, world's first 4K camcorder

Ultra-high definition recording is no longer the reserve of Hollywood!

Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 mobile chips more powerful than Xbox 360

Another blow for dedicated handheld gaming devices.

Griffin turn your iPad into a music studio with StudioConnect

Because all the best songs are written on the road.

Panasonic's VT50 plasma is the 3DTV to save the pennies for

Probably the best plasma screen TV in the world today.

Parrot Starck Zik NFC headphones launched

Do you really need NFC tech in your headphones? The answer is yes. Yes you do.

Polaroid SC1630 - Is it a camera? Is it an Android phone?

Half Android, half camera. If my maths are correct, it all rests on whether it's half smartphone too...

VIDEO: Razer Project Fiona is a gaming tablet with controller handles

The maddest CES 2012 launch so far, and definitely one to keep gamers happy.

VIDEO: Lenovo IdeaCenter A720 All-In-One hands-on

Giant transforming touchscreen PC heading to a tabletop near you soon.

VIDEO: Lenovo IdeaPad YOGA hands-on

More flexible than a contortionist made of Play-Doh.

For more news from CES 2012, click here.

Viva Las Vegas! Tech Digest and Shiny Shiny are back bringing you all the latest technology news from the annual CES (Consumer Electronics Show), direct from Sin City itself.So far we've seen a ton of TVs, cameras and phones, but the most exciting (and rapidly expanding product category looks to be ultrabooks, with all the major PC and laptop manufacturers throwing in their first stabs at the ultra-portable, ultra-powerful form factor.

For your easy-reading pleasure, we've collected all of our pre-show and day one CES 2012 coverage below. Take a look, and feel free to fire over any questions or requests for a closer look at any gear via our Twitter feed.

Sony HX8 3D Bravia's ready for a battering with Gorilla Glass

Won't stop that cheeky monkey from Planet of the Apes destroying the world though. You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!

Wi-Fi added to Canon's M-Series camcorder range

Cable-free video uploads ahoy.

Sony Bloggie Live adds live Wi-Fi video streaming

Because everyone needs to see your YouTube reaction videos in real-time.

Xperia S to be debut standalone Sony smartphone

Features the same screen technology Sony put in their HDTVs

Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 flies to new heights

For the Peeping-Tom in your life.

Kinect motion controlling its way to Windows in February

But will only support development for Windows and Xbox 360 apps.

Lenovo get flexible with IdeaPad Yoga Windows 8 tablet/ultrabook hybrid

And not a fitness freak in sight.

HP Envy 14 Spectre dishing out ultrabook Beats

Spooky name, serious sounds.

Samsung's Series 9 900X3B claims "world's thinnest" title

This ultrabook could do with a good dinner.

Samsung boost smart camera line-up with WB850F, DV300F and ST200F models

Great for vanity shots.

Samsung reveal trio of ST compact cameras

Three new pocketable snappers from Samsung.

Samsung Series 5 ultrabook revealed

Already available in Korea and hitting the UK soon.

Watch out LG, here comes Samsung's 55-inch Super OLED TV

Samsung 55 inch OLED or LG 55 Inch OLED? I like them both. But which one is better? There's only one way to find out...

Sony Xperia Ion drops Ericsson, adds LTE, HD and 12MP camera

Another Ericsson-less smartphone from Sony.

Verizon Motorola Droid 4 revealed, Stormtroopers lay down their weapons

Smarter than an R2 unit, doesn't suffer from "bad-motivator" syndrome.

Sharp super-sizing 8K screens

Sharp looking to cater almost exclusively for the premium AV market.

HTC Titan 2 boasts titanic 16MP camera, LTE speeds

Are whopping camera specs enough to tempt you into the Windows Phone herd?

Canon PowerShot G1 X is compact in size with APS-C size sensor

Impressive specs in a compact body size, but may prove to be a little too pricey.

Huawei Ascend P1 S is world's thinnest smartphone, needs a Bic Mac

No excuses not to buy those crotch-hugging skinny jeans now.

LG's EM960V 55-inch OLED TV to hit UK in 2nd half of 2012

Specs and a release date for LG's lust-worthy OLED TV.

LG LTE Spectrum with IPS HD screen headed to Verizon

Superfast download speeds with a screen that will work well in direct sunlight.

Lenovo IdeaPad U310 and U410 ultrabooks revealed

Lenovo get in on the ultrabook action.

Samsung bringing Skype and Internet to your TV with InTouch

Big screen HD video calling. Better perfect your make-up.

Sunshine charging for book lovers with SolarKindle cover

Never need charge your Kindle again thanks to this cover, providing you live in the Gobi desert.

Griffin Twenty adds Apple AirPlay features to any old Hi-Fi

Don't quote us on this, but we think jukeboxes may now be AirPlay enabled thanks to this Griffin gadget.

LG launching 3D Google TV at CES 2012

Will LG's Google TV succeed where so many others have failed?

Motorola launch Defy Mini and Motoluxe Android smartphones

One for the posers and one for the wannabe Bear Grylls out there.

Ultra cool, Ultra Definition 84 inch LG 3DTV headed to CES 2012

Great; now I need a new larger home that I can't afford to house a TV that I can't afford either. Anyone need a kidney?

CES 2012 debut for Samsung's Series 9 27 inch quad-HD monitor

Paper-thin, icy-cool sci-fi monitors from Samsung.

Samsung launching multi-device compatible audiophile speaker docks

Both Apple and Samsung smartphones wirelessly supported by these high-end docks.

Razer tease Project Fiona: "PC gaming in an all-new form factor"

Razer in new-gaming-PC-form-factor-shocker.

Nikon has just revealed its latest flagship pro DSLR, the D4. Bringing over 45 new or improved features compared to the previous D3 model, it's been tailored especially for sporting and news reportage photography.

Before we delve into the features on show, here's a quick run down of the key specs:

- 16.2 million pixel FX format sensor
- ISO 100-12800, expandable 50-204,800
- Full HD video recording at 30/25/24fps
- 720p HD video recording at 60/50fps
- 3.2 inch 921k dot resolution rear LCD screen
- Up to 11fps shooting
- 51 AF points

Taking a closer look first at that 16.2 million pixel FX full frame format sensor, it's capable of low noise images thanks to redesigned 14-bit A/D signal processing tech. It also allows for a standard sensitivity range of ISO 100-ISO 12800, which can be tweaked to the equivalent of ISO 50 and up to ISO 204,800.

Sitting on the camera's rear is a 3.2 inch wide-angle LCD screen with automatic brightness controls, running at a 921k dot resolution. Whether shooting in landscape or portrait orientations the button layout remains the same, while one handed ergonomics have been improved, as well as the ability to swap between AF and AF-area mode selection without taking the camera away from the users eye.

Moving onto video capture, and the Nikon D4 is capable of Full HD video recording available at 30p, 25p, 24p, or 60 p for slo-mo 720p clips. Each clip can run for 29 minutes and 59 seconds.

Both FX and DX formats are supported through a new multi-area mode, letting you capture the same scene with differing crop levels. Uncompressed HDMI output fro pro editing is now possible, as well as an audio out for headphones for quick edits while out in the field.

Nikon's proprietary Advanced Scene Recognition system is onboard, using the new 91,000 pixel RGB sensor to keep scene reproduction as accurate as possible, better track 3D movement and detect human faces. The Multi-CAM3500FX AF Sensor module has 9, 21, and 51 point coverage settings allowing for quick subject detection, and also lets autofocus be possible in incredibly low light scenarios.

Keeping the wildlife/reportage focus in mind, the D4 matches the power of eleven central AF sensors, particularly useful when shooting from a distance with an extender. The redesigned Kevlar shutter is good for at least 400,000 releases, with superfast operation speeds of 0.012 start up time and 0.042 seconds for release lag.

Two card slots are now onboard, a first for any DSLR, compatible with both high-speed UDMA 7 CF cards and the new XQD format. Another Nikon first, a wired LAN connection also features on the camera, while newly designed WT-5 wireless transmitter for HTTP and FTP connections has been included. HTTP now also works with iPhone and iPad screen resolutions.

Due on February 16th 2012, it has an RRP of £4,799.99

Have you been outside today, British Tech Digest readers??? It's like walking down Hurricane Alley with a parachute trailing behind you!

For those enjoying sunnier climes, the UK is currently being battered by gale force winds that would make the X-Men's Storm blush, knocking out power lines, toppling trees onto roads and causing the sort of first-week-of-January-blues that are usually reserved for Christmas Mince Pie withdrawal syndrome.

To help you better battle the elements, we've put together this handy little list of apps that make braving the freak weather a little easier.

Main Image © David Killock - Flickr

Happy 30th birthday, Commodore 64!

The bulky brown home computing box of choice of the 1980's hits the three decade landmark this month, and is fondly remembered by many a tech fan (including this very Tech Digest writer) as their first experience with home computing.

A tame machine by today's standards, its 8-bit charms with a MOS Technology 6510 processor running at a 1MHz, 64k of memory and 16-colour graphics chip were as good as it got upon release in 1982.

For many, the machine was also their first taste of the delights of gaming at home, stuffing cassette tapes into the C64 rather than stuffing their pocket money into the local arcade machines. They took an age to load, but offered hours upon hours of fun. Anyone who has ever pulled off a split-kick double takedown in International Karate +, or ran through the legs of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in Ghostbusters will sing the machine's praises.

Anyone looking to get into making chiptune music should definitely check out the C64 too. The likes of Rob Hubbard, David Whittaker and Martin Galway were doing trailblazing stuff with game soundtracks using the machines SID chip, the influence of which can be heard in music by the likes of Crystal Castles. Just check this selection of tracks if you need convincing.

Though getting off to a slow start after being revealed at the 1981 CES show,17 million units Commodore 64 units went on to be sold. Dominating the 1980s, the machine fell out of vogue by the 1990s as Nintendo, Sega and Amiga machines become increasingly popular, and by the middle of the decade Commodore had filed for bankruptcy. A Commodore 65 prototype was built, but never hit mass production.

While it's very easy to get your hands on a Commodore 64 emulator (there's even one as an app for Apple devices), and just as easy to pick up a retro machine from eBay, a new company called Commodore USA in 2012 began to produce a new machine called the Commodore 64x. A great gift for fans of the original machine, it completely keeps the bulky build of the computer, but adds modern specifications like dual-core, 1.8GHz Intel Atom D525 chip, an Nvidia Ion 2 GPU, Wi-Fi and a Blu-ray drive.

So, were you the lucky owner of a Commodore 64 back in the 1980s? What were your fondest memories of the machine? Share them via the comments section below, our Twitter feed or our Facebook page, and we'll publish some of the best in a Tech Digest post!

And so concludes another great year at Tech Digest!

What a crazy year its been for me and the team! We've travelled the globe, played around with exciting new gear, interviewed some wonderful folk and seen some truly inspiring tech-fuelled stories explode around the world. Your support has lead to one of the greatest years in Tech Digest history, with the site growing incredibly over the last 12 months!

We put ourselves on the front line of every major tech show this year, covering it for your reading (and viewing, YouTube subscribers!) pleasure. From a January mad week in Las Vegas covering CES 2011 to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February, CeBIT 2011 in Hanover and IFA 2011 in Berlin this September, we've braved many a sleepless night to bring you bang-up-to-date news on all the tech world had to offer.

That's not to say we didn't have loads of fun too! From visits to game studios like Kinect-kings Rare and Lego game masters TT Games, whole days spent on rollercoasters playing with the Samsung Galaxy S II, wine tasting and peeing into urinal video games, we've taken away lots of great memories too.

We also got to meet some true pioneers this year as well. Both naturalist Sir David Attenborough and electro-music wizard Jean Michel Jarre all took time out to speak with Tech Digest, fulfilling many a TD fanboy's dreams in the process.

However, it was a year tinged with sadness too. For every great tale of social media inspiring the Arab Spring, we had news of BlackBerry Messenger being used to incite rioting in the UK.

It was a mixed year for tech heavyweights like Apple too. Though both the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S were great products, excellently received by the public and critics alike, the company faced their greatest loss with the death of the visionary Steve Jobs.

But less about such sad times; Christmas is here! So what to expect from Tech Digest over the next 12 months? Well, as per usual we'll be bringing you the best in news and reviews from the world of tech, covering all the major shows (kicking off with CES 2012 in January of the new year!) as well as continuing to build our ever-growing community of readers, getting you, our faithful readers, more involved through Twitter, Facebook, and a whole host of new features ready to be unleashed! We may even make a new iPad magazine too, following up on the great success of our trial run of Technode back in the summer!

And with that, I'm off to hibernate until the new year! It's been a pleasure writing for you guys this year, and I'm already looking forward to the promise of the next year. You can follow my personal updates on Twitter at twitter.com/geegeemidnight if you like (it'll probably just be rubbish about bad Christmas movies and even worse indie guitar bands though - you've been warned!).

All that's left for me to say is, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM TECH DIGEST, HERE'S THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL!

Take care!

Gerald Lynch
Tech Digest Editor

The Star Wars Holiday Special.1 by hansonataint

The Star Wars Holiday Special.2 by hansonataint

It's that time of the year again folks; the central heating is on, jackets are tightly buttoned and we're all tentatively trying to hide the fact that we're wearing granddad's long-johns underneath our jeans.

Okay, so maybe that last one is just me, but one thing's for certain; Christmas is just around the corner and it's time to start sketching out those wishlists for Father Christmas.

To help make your Christmas gift buying and choosing decisions that little bit easier this year, Tech Digest are putting together a ton of gadget, gaming and geek related guides to the best tech presents available this year.

From Blu-ray boxsets to compact cameras, 3D TVs to smartphones, geek chic to the best gear to kit out your man cave with, you'll be sure to find something for even the most discerning tech fan here.

We'll be updating this post pretty much on a daily basis from today right through December, so be sure to bookmark the page and check back every day to see what new goodies we think should be on top of your Christmas list this year. Scroll down to get started!

Best Blu-ray movie boxsets

Take a little bit of cinema magic home with our guide to the best movie boxsets available in the high-definition Blu-ray format. From Star Wars to Toy Story, you'll be gawping at gorgeous movies all winter long with this set.

Best DVD TV boxsets

Settle down this Christmas with a marathon session of your favourite TV shows. We've pulled together ten must see shows in this guide, guaranteed to entertain long after the mince pies have run out.

Best Gaming Chairs

What's Skyrim or Modern Warfare 3 without a comfy chair to play them in? Packed with speakers, rumble packs and butt-caressing cushioning, these gaming chairs will see you sitting merrily right up until the very last boss.

Kitting out the ultimate "Man Cave"

Need to getaway from the festive madness? Kit your spare room out with some of this great geek gear to create the ultimate "Man Cave".

Geek Chic Apparel

Unleash your inner nerd with this collection of nifty t-shirts, bags and accessories in Tech Digest's buying guide to geek chic apparel.

Stupidly Expensive Gifts For The Man That Has It All

What do you buy the man that has everything? His own personal, man-made customised island, a jetpack and Marty McFly's very own motor, that's what! All these gifts and more can be found in this guide, provided you've got a wallet big enough to handle them...

Top Online Digital Services - Spotify, Lovefilm, Dropbox and more!

Who said a Christmas present had to be something you can hold in your hands? Subscriptions to or vouchers for these excellent online digital services are superb, thoughtful gifts too.

Set-top boxes from Sky, Apple, TVonics and more!

Get the most from your new flatscreen TV with these top-notch set-top boxes. From comprehensive televisual nirvana from Sky to Apple's on-take on pay-per-view TV, there's plenty to chose from here.

Top 50 iPad Gaming Apps

You've got Apple's iPad tablet, but what games should you be playing on it? Let Tech Digest guide you through our tips as to the 50 best games on the Cupertino slate.

Best Games Consoles! Xbox 360! PS3! 3DS!

Have yourself a frag-filled Christmas by picking up a top games console. We run down all the usual suspects (PS3, Wii and Xbox 360) and throw some wildcards in for good measure too.

Best Xbox 360 games of 2011

After one of the busiest years in recent gaming history, it can be hard pressed to remember all the great titles that made their way onto the Xbox 360 this year. Tech Digest here guide you through ten of the best to hit Microsoft's console over the past twelve months, each a perfect present for a gaming loved-one.

Best PS3 games of 2011

Despite the PlayStation Network outage hiccup earlier in the year, the PlayStation 3 celebrated one of it's greatest 12 months of pure gaming action, with dozens of great first party titles hitting the console, not to mention stellar multi-platform efforts too. From early winners like LittleBigPlanet 2 through to recent greats like Uncharted 3, it was a great year to be a PS3 owner.

Best Nintendo 3DS games of 2011

Want the very best gaming action in your back pocket? Check out our run down of the best Nintendo 3DS games to hit the console since launch for a slice of Zelda, Mario and Star Fox shaped fun.

Speakers, Docks and Hi-Fi systems

Blast out "A Christmas Gift For You from Phil Spector" in style this holiday season with any one of these ten superb speaker set-ups.

Retro presents

Re-live your childhood with these excellent retro gifts. Our top tips for an old-skool Christmas include everything from Plasma Balls to Space Hoppers.

Stocking fillers for under £10

If you're planning on being a tight-fisted Scrooge this Christmas, check out our guide to cheap-and-cheerful stocking fillers that will give you change back from a tenner.

Best earphones and headphones

"Wow, listen to these crazy new croon-crunk, teen wave sounds! Rad! Dope! Awesome!" That's what your little ones will be saying if they pop a pair of Tech Digest's favourite ear-pieces on this Christmas.

Top of many a child's Christmas list this year is sure to be a tablet computer or a smartphone device. While your little ones may be looking forward to getting to grips with a handful of gaming apps over the holidays after unwrapping their top tech present, that doesn't necessarily have to be the mind-numbing experience that many parents dread. Mindshapes, a new digital publisher of apps and browser based games (made up in part by the team behind social-gaming juggernaut Playfish) are looking to promote learning through a fusion of gaming and educational principles.

"One of the things that is really important to us is how do you make learning more accessible to a broader range of people? How do you make it more interesting?" Mindshapes CEO David Begg told Tech Digest.

"The delivered learning method isn't always the most effective for the broadest population. We're not trying to challenge the way that schools teach, we're not trying to provide tools for teaching in schools, but we're looking at the ways we can provide accessory products for learning outside of school."

Having secured $5 million of series A investment from its founders and angels, Mindshapes are now preparing to launch two new products, which they describe as "ground-breaking learning worlds."

The first of these is Language City, described as an "immersive, task based, language learning virtual world", which is preparing to launch in closed beta. The next, Magic Town, takes the slightly more familiar shape of an interactive story-book.

"Magic Town as a story-based learning platform has been built with a very deep consideration of the core aspects of learning and development for children in the 2-7 year old age group." said Begg.

"We're not trying to teach cognitive skills, we are trying to teach some of the fundamental underpinnings of learning, that children of that age require. Things like creativity, reasoning, moral understanding, emotional development and social development, involving children in that learning through stories. Our animation content is built on the back of that [...] and the whole of the interactive structure behind those books has been built with the intention of creating the right level of involvement, and driving greater involvement in the story, rather than creating that story as a game."

Though Begg clearly does not want Mindshapes' future as an app publisher be too strictly labelled at this early stage ("I don't want to pigeon-hole us into the space of educational apps," he stresses) a clear effort has been made to maximise the educational potential in each of their products.

"Education isn't an overlay for us, education is deeply embedded in what we are doing from the ground up, and every product we are building comes from a proper understanding of the learning context for that", continued Begg.

"We have an advisory board made up of specialists in education, including Professor Harris from Harvard school of education, one of the leading spokespeople on child development and child psychology, We have within our team people who've previously been teachers, as well as Schoolastic and other educational based bodies. We have deep partnerships with a number of schools that go through pre-school to age 11 and above, as well as specialists in the particular areas that we are working in."

Mindshapes also clearly realise the potential for added engagement that gaming elements bring, with so many youngster these days glued to their games consoles.

"One can gain enormously from playing in a fun, immersive environment that has learning elements to it. Schools are already using a lot of gaming based products, not necessarily in their standard classroom, but certainly in some of the teaching areas beyond the classroom."

That engagement has been greatly increased thanks to the advent of the touchscreen, and larger screen devices like the iPad, believes Begg:

"The touchscreen has had an enormous impact on this category, particularly in the younger children segment, and I think the advent of a lot of products that are evolving, particularly in the younger child segment, would not have been able to have been developed when we were browser based. The touchscreen, and the tablet in particular, is an enormously intuitive device for kids."

Even with the best of intentions, Mindshapes are entering an increasingly crowded area of the app market, with everything from branded children's apps leveraging the likenesses of popular characters to curriculum based apps all vying for the attention of parents and children alike. But Begg remains confident in the Mindshapes vision, and the great potential it holds for the company's young audience:

"We're not trying to be fundamentally revolutionary, but we've learnt a lot from the products that came out previous to ours and a lot of the theory relating to reading content. We're building products that have to stand on their own two feet across multiple platforms, and the responsibility is on us to market those products directly to our customers in the most effective way.

"Mindshapes are really looking to how to apply the interactivity and gameplay that come out of the typical gaming market, and how to incorporate that to make learning more immersive, more fun, more entertaining. We put together a team here that is extra ordinary when it comes to gameplay and interactivity. There is an extra ordinary tech team, and great artists behind that too, and in addition to that we've created a very strong team that have deep educational experience. It's that combination that make us really, really strong."

For more on Mindshapes, click here.

Last night Tech Digest were invited to the première of Sky 3D's latest natural history movie, The Bachelor King 3D. Helmed by Sir David Attenborough, the movie tracks the trials and triumphs of a King penguin from adolescence to adulthood.

You'd expect nothing less from an Attenborough flick, but The Bachelor King 3D, shot on the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, is particularly beautiful, in no small part thanks to the 3D work employed. From underwater chases with Orca whales to sweeping shots of hundreds of thousands of penguins protecting their brood in the harshest climate on the planet, it's funny, tragic, and touching, giving an informative look at these charming birds.

It's the second time Attenborough has been commissioned by Sky 3D, following last year's Flying Monsters 3D movie. But 3D natural history movies come with their own shooting challenges.

"Technically it is impossible to use a long telephoto lens, the reason being that a 3D camera mimics the human eye and has two cameras close together with the same kind of separation as our own" said Attenborough.

"If you shut one eye when looking at something that's close to you, you get one view, shut the other you get another view. The brain puts those two together.

"If you're looking at something on the other side of this theatre, you would see no difference. The way that you would get a stereo image is to separate the two components further.

"But when you do that...they have different backgrounds so it won't go together. So with the state-of-the-art at the moment it's not possible to use long lenses. And that is a very considerable problem when it comes to natural history programming."

However, that's not to undermine the importance of Attenborough's films. When asked by Tech Digest whether his two roles as both naturalist and broadcaster ever came into conflict, Attenborough answered:

"Broadcasting has given natural history a chance to reach audiences it never ever could before. Particularly these days, when according to the United Nations over half the population of this globe is now urbanised. This means to a greater of lesser extent, they're living without contact to nature.

"Some people wont see a single wild creature from dawn to dusk, apart from a pigeon or a rat! But it's crucially important for our own welfare that we understand the natural world. Natural history is not just a pastime, it's an essential part of someone's comprehension of the world in which we live, and we depend upon that world.

"I believe broadcasting has a very important function in keeping natural history in the awareness of an ever increasingly urban population."

Attenborough's next two Sky 3D flicks, ready for broadcast next year, will be shot in Kew Gardens and the Galapagos Islands respectively, the latter of which he last visited back in 2006.

"Galapagos is one of the most wonderful places in the world. There are extraordinary creatures living there that live nowhere else - a whole slew of marvellous animals" said Attenborough.

"But one of the things that make them even more extraordinary is that because the islands were not discovered by human beings until relatively recently, and they had remained isolated for so long, the animals still haven't become frightened of human beings. You can walk among them carrying your own snap shot cameras or even carrying a 3D rig and they won't go away. They continue behaving in just the way that they would do naturally. Galapagos is full of drama, full of charismatic creatures which you can film; it is a natural for 3D."

The commissions are part of Sky's commitment to increase its investment in original UK content by 50% to £600million a year by 2014, further cementing its position as one of the biggest investors in the UK's creative enterprises.

The Bachelor King 3D will air exclusively on Sky 3D at 8pm on New Years Eve, 31st December. It will then have a theatrical release, before returning to Sky 3D in 2012.

Today marks the launch of Rara.com, a new mobile and web browser based digital music streaming service that's set to rival Spotify.

Offering somewhere in the region of 10 million tracks, including all the major labels, Rara.com sets itself apart by not aiming at tech-savvy musos, but those less comfortable with concepts like streaming and only a casual interest in music. It aims to achieve this by simplifying the "speadsheet" style interface of rivals like iTunes and Spotify, collecting tracks into a UI full of colourful, customisable music hubs.

Launching in 16 global territories simultaneously, including the UK and North America, Rara.com has the potential to reach 900 million users when its total roll-out is completed.

"The vast majority of music services today are designed for people who know a lot about music and are technically literate," said founder Rob Lewis, whose name may be recognised by those who are familiar with Omnifone (the independent unlimited cloud-based music vendors) whom he also founded.

"If we're going to make digital as mainstream as the CD was (which is what we need to do with CD revenues heading in the wrong direction), we need to reach people who know less about music and less about technology."

According to Rara's research, these casual tech and music users/listeners account for 80% of the potential streaming market.

While the simple UI addresses the tech-savvyness issues, Rara are looking to a strong focus on editorial content and curation to push the service's potential as a music discovery tool. To do this, they will be enlisting the help of a number of high-profile associate editors, kicking off with a tenure by grammy-award winning Brit, musician Imogen Heap.

"I'm honoured to be the first associate editor of Rara.com," said Heap.

"As a musician I've been searching for the direction where the music industry is going to go, and how it's going to manage to pay the artists in this ever-wider sharing, free-music-download world. I think [Rara is] really exciting; it's very easy to use, and isn't boring, flat and lifeless like so many players are.

"It speaks to you. I believe it's the future of music making sense again."

That mass-market aim will be aided by the news that Rara.com comes with one of the biggest global partners in the world of tech, HP. Rara will come pre-installed on all 2012 HP computers with a bookmark "quick-link" directing users to the web-based service straight out of the box.

As well as the browser based offering, Rara can be accessed from today in the form of a mobile Android app too, with Windows Phone 7 and iOS apps to arrive hot on its heels. The mobile service makes use of system called "Network Aware Mobile Streaming", which can judge whether you're on a Wi-Fi or 3G connection, and adjust the data sent appropriately in order to keep you data usage at manageable levels. It pars down the visuals to keep data usage to a minimum, and greys out functionality only available over Wi-Fi.

Tracks themselves, though varying in bitrate from device to device, wherever possible are streamed using the EAAC+ codec, a highly compressed format that still manages to keep audio quality relatively high.

Pricing also looks fairly competitive, "radical" even according to the Rara executives. To coax people into giving Rara a try, the first 3 months access will cost just 99p, and £4.99 for the months following. To add in mobile music-caching functionality to ease the strain on your data plan, those prices jump up to £1.99 for the first 3 months, then £9.99 for the months thereafter. End your subscription and a short "grace period" allows access to your saved playlists for a limited time.

Some will argue that Spotify has the upper hand here, offering a free ad-funded model to lure music fans onto their service, but Rara are sticking to their guns, believing that offering the superlative, ad-free version at a reduced price is a more tempting gateway to subscription.

So does it have what it takes to topple the now-dominant streaming service Spotify? It's tough to say. Rara's main draw, in my opinion, is its colourful, inviting interface which displays its curated music. It's simple, but still isn't as simple as popping a CD in a player however. It also doesn't answer the big consumer turn off; ownership of streamed tracks. You're still effectively renting music with Rara, which even few Spotify subscribers feel comfortable with.

There's another question too. If Rara, aimed as it is at tech dunces and casual music fans, manages to convert the masses to music streaming, what's to say the newly-educated Rara subscribers wont jump-ship to more complex, fully-featured services? It may be more complicated, but the added features of apps, digital music downloads, a larger music catalogue to play with, collaborative playlists and deep Facebook integration within Spotify will surely begin to tempt users who cut their teeth on the simplistic Rara.

All this before you start considering the artists themselves, and the measly sums they make from music streaming.

However, Rara seem to have big plans in mind for the service. Hinting at significant announcements coming at CES, Rob Lewis made mention of plans to integrate the service into all forms of connected devices, including Blu-ray players, Sonos systems and car dashboards.

Head on over to www.rara.com to give the service a try.