The launch will come from Mobile World Congress on February 29, US time, from between 3PM and 5PM CET, which is around 3AM AEST on March 1. Being at a mobile conference, the launch could include demos on tablets or possibly even a look at Windows Phone 8.

We already know that the preview will not have a Start button, thanks to fairly realistic leaks, and that the preview will include, thanks to a source from inside Microsoft at The Verge:

• Camera
• Messaging
• Mail
• Calendar
• SkyDrive
• People
• Photos
• Video
• Music

The Music and Video applications are currently under the Zune umbrella and built by the Xbox team, but The Verge is also hearing that Zune will be moved to the Xbox brand before final release of Windows 8. So that might mean that Zune Pass will become Xbox Music Pass, although that’s just me speculating.

All of the preinstalled applications can be updated from the Microsoft Store. The source at Microsoft also said MS wants the Messaging application to support SMS, but it is not known whether they will be able to do this before launch.

Finally, all 3 of you Media Center users might have to put on a brave face, as Microsoft is expected to not update the software, and will be revealing more details about it during the CP. This is part of their effort to turn the Xbox 360 into your TV media appliance. It is also said to be available only in a “premium” SKU of Windows. So possibly Windows 8 Ultimate?

We’ll be here to guide you through the beta as soon as we can, so stay tuned to TECHGEEK.com.au for all the info you need.

I’ve seen my fair share of horrible PowerPoint presentations, and I’ve noticed that they tend to follow common trends. So, I’ve decided to compile what I see from these very bad (and often nightmarish) presentations with my very own knowledge of how I design presentations to give you a guide on the 5 Things To Do when you make are making presentation in PowerPoint.

Also, while it is not included, don’t use WordArt. I’ll tear your presentation to shreds if you do use WordArt.

Above image: Ryan Vaarsi/Flickr (Creative Commons)

1. Make it readable

The biggest thing in PowerPoint faux pas is that you have made it hard to read. Either by making the size of the text too small that no one can see, or making the text and background colours clash that make it impossible to read.

If you are typography nerd, then you would know something about the “Classic Scale”. This makes the readability of your PowerPoint smoother and not awkward. Headings should be the biggest of whatever point from the scale you start at, then the next one down for your dot points.You should stop at 24, because that will most likely be the smallest size when looking far away. Remember, if you can see it close up, and its below 24, then it will most likely not be seen by people far away.

Also, keep your titles and text consistent on each slide. Don’t make one slide’s heading appear big in one slide and smaller in others. They should be all the same. Though, you can slightly deviate from it. Also, key thing – maintain one or two fonts on your presentation. Don’t switch from the Calibri to Arial to Georgia to Wingdings in the same presentation.

For backgrounds, remember yin and yang. If you use a light background, use dark or black colour for text. If you have a dark background, use white or light colour for text. The text needs to stand out from the background.

Also, when in doubt. Keep it simple!

2. Don’t put your ENTIRE speech

Another common faux pas I have seen from people’s PowerPoint presentations is the simple copy and paste job from their speech. Your speech should be on palm cards or in Presenter View (see below), not up on your presentation. The key for a successful presentation is that you are interacting with the audience, not interacting with the screen.

Your PowerPoint is to summarise what you are going to say. However, don’t make the presentation too wordy – because they’ll focus on the screen and not on you; and don’t simply read dot points. The main idea is that these points are the main points that you are talking about. The finer details are in your speech – so they’ll stay focus on you to hear those.

Look at what you see above. It’s simple, and summarise the main points – especially in comparing the two formats of Web Video. It is also not what you see below (and yes, I have seen people do this before).

3. If it’s too long for words, summarise with images

The old saying goes “A picture tells a thousand words” – and in PowerPoint presentations, it holds true. If you can’t summarise something in text, use a picture. They quickly sum up your point to your audience without a wordy explanation. Graphics also are helpful when you are trying to convey something complex.

They can also be used to inject a bit of humour into your speech to keep it a bit interesting (and awake). Take, for instance, these two Ignite speeches. Both use images to highlight their points and keep their audience interested, despite being boring and/or geeky topics to talk about in public.

However, don’t expect to use funny images on the internet if you have to present it to your boss. I don’t think he’ll like seeing Wikipedia’s unofficial mascot, or the Megaflicks logo.

4. Don’t make it too distracting

While it’s great to use images and custom animations – there are several ways they could be distracting. One is simply splurge a bunch of images at the same time, and placing them on top of each other with no clear focus on where your eye should look at. DON’T DO THAT!

Also, don’t make everything a custom animation, where text or images move up, down or in a random part of the screen. From personal experience, I cringe when I see people do that. It’s essentially prolonging the torture of me sitting there waiting for you to move on.

Below is simply the very definition of distracting.

A simple fade on an object – which should be set to “on click”, which we will get to in a moment – will suffice. It means that they will appear at the same time and appear relevant to whatever you are talking about.

5. Use Presenter Tools

One of the best presentations I’ve seen from people are when they have this handy tool (and, of course, combining the tips). This is like a fancier version of simply pressing the left and right keys on the keyboard; but there is one good reason why you should get this. It makes you sound a bit more professional and puts you in control on how the slides move.

Having another person to move the slides, especially one who doesn’t know what to do, is annoying as the person can move to a slide prematurely. Also, again, you have more control on how each slide shows up, making it flow with your speech. And if you are the one in control of the slides, you have more freedom to move around and not simply moving to and from the computer to transition to the new slide or new animation.

Speaking of which, another tool you should use is PowerPoint’s Presenter View – you can find it under the “Slide Show” Tab under the “Monitors” section. This will let you see your current slide, notes and what’s coming up easily. You just need to make sure that you have it set up where the projector shows the PowerPoint slides and your laptop screen shows Presenter View. It’s a great way to keep track of your presentation.

Extra 1: Rehearse, Rehearse, Rehearse

In order to make a good presentation, your speech should be timed with your presentation. So, you should do a dry run to see what works and what does not – and this will let you know what to add, remove or alter before your live performance. As well, timing is important. Keep it short – maybe around 5 minutes if you are doing a short presentation.

We all get nervous, but just keep practicing over and over again in front of your friends – if they allow you to. You don’t have to be the best public speaker in the world to present well, you just need some confidence in what you are saying. And as many say, practice makes perfect.

Extra 2: Don’t copy Wikipedia

Also, don’t copy from Wikipedia. I know this is one of the most obvious things, but DON’T COPY FROM WIKIPEDIA. Do some research once in your own life (via Google or, if you’re weird, Bing), rather than relying on a bunch of editors who managed to make this as their own unofficial mascot (but, I bet 4chan and/or Reddit are proud of them).

Though, if you must – just remove the links. It does make it look obvious. Also, don’t copy big chunks and paste that into your presentation – that is why we have introduced Presenter Mode. You can simply read off that and make yourself sound smart.

Do you have your own tips on how to make a good presentation? We want to hear them. Send them in the comments below.

A threat of a crackdown “like China” by India has forced Google and Facebook to remove content that were deemed offensive to religions in the country. The threat comes after a lawsuit by one person claiming that both companies were violating Indian law.

The decision came after a lawsuit by a Muslim petitioner, Mufti Aijaz Arshad Qasmi; with the court asking all 21 sites listed in the case to file a report within 15 days of content removed.

“The review team has looked at the content and disabled this content from the local domains of search, YouTube and Blogger,” Google spokeswoman Paroma Chaudhry told the Reuters news agency.

The law in question makes content providers responsible for all content that users upload, and they have only 36 hours to take down offensive material if there was a complaint. This was the basis of another successful lawsuit brought by a Hindu petitioner in the High Court. Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Yahoo are seeking to appeal the decision.

The Indian Government has been supportive of the move to seek Google, Facebook and others to remove content that are deemed objectionable to religious sentiments.

As Reuters have also pointed out:

While civil rights groups have opposed the new laws, politicians say posting offensive images in a socially conservative country, which has a history of violence between religious groups, presents a danger to the public.

India does have a history of religious conflicts, the last major was in 2008 that saw over 20 killed and 12,000 displaced because of riots. And obviously, they have a right to maintain stability in the country as, after all, a country of over one billion people with all different religious backgrounds can create some instability based on religion.

However, while the Indian Government want to see this implemented by companies, it is realistically impossible to monitor what is uploaded to their servers. The only move they can do is simply be reactive to what is happening, not proactive. It sort of echos the copyright lobby groups who, in SOPA, to make Google responsible to what searches come up or what appears on YouTube that is copyright infringing.

But it also does have a frightening impact on what you can and cannot say. While we can obviously identify what is highly intolerant comments, there are some areas where this can be abused. I mean, take the recent example of a Christian teacher in Perth going to ACMA over a simple 7.30 sketch by Clarke and Dawe. The teacher was offended by this, saying it vilified Christians:

Dawe: A lot of them must realise the damage they are doing?
Clarke: Oh, they do. A lot of them are Christians.
Dawe: So there would be a lot of guilt?
Clarke: A lot of guilt. A lot of denial.
Dawe: Look what they are doing to the asylum seekers.
Clarke: Perfect example. Perfect example.
Dawe: So they’d be blaming each other too, I’d imagine.
Clarke: Blaming everybody. I mean you can’t get anybody to admit to owning up to anything in the whole place.

If you saw the clip, and thank God for ACMA’s finding, it was not offensive to – as ACMA puts it – “an ordinary, reasonable viewer”.

It’s a very fine line, one that any decision should not go too far.

Image: Sudhamshu/Flickr (Creative Commons)

Since Windows 95, Microsoft has included the Start button, a button that opened a list of Applications and Folder shortcuts, in each new version of Windows. While there have been changes, such as the change from the word “Start” to a Windows ‘orb,’ the main functions of the menu have remained the same.

But it now looks like the famous button and menu is on the chopping block thanks to leaked screenshots on PCBeta, a Chinese website which says they’ve been leaked a near-final “Consumer Beta.” Instead of the ‘orb’ seen in Windows Vista and Windows 7, Microsoft will now use a ‘hot-corner’ to open a menu, but the menu will still not be the Start menu seen in Windows 7.

It would be a massive change, but the button never really fit in with the Developer Preview, so maybe it’s for the best.

On another note, why the hell is the Consumer Preview still using the same Aero as in Windows 7 and Vista? If Microsoft wants to switch to Metro, they might as well fully switch.

Not only does Google offer perfectly fine privacy policies, with the claims of this video false (Google AdSense does analyse emails, but in no way is it done or seen by employees), but their Google Apps that you pay for, just like paying for Office 365, have no ads. It’s comparing a free service to a paid service. And Google could easily be the best company to hold your data, with new ways to free it, such as in Google Takeout, where you can export almost all of your data and go somewhere else.

Also, never mind the fact that free Hotmail users probably have the same privacy in regards to ads as free Gmail users, but Microsoft would never let that get in the way of a good story now, would they? Neither would a number of other media outlets.

Either way, the video is below, and if you want some real facts about Gmail and Google, read their blog post. And remember, don’t listening to misinformed people and competitors. They probably just want a page view.

Update: Also, Microsoft also has personalised advertising. So does Facebook. And you can Opt-out to Google and Microsoft’s personalised advertising at any time. Just Google it.

Right now, Australian school kids are going back to school after their summer holidays. However, we all know that the level and amount of study increases – especially when they enter their final years of school to complete their VCE, HSC or equivalent. Since I finished high school last year, I decided to write down how I managed to study – while, of course, balancing my time on the site.

I know studying is hard and will be painful. But, with these tips, these will hopefully help you study efficiently.

Get a Calendar – Google Calendar

Google Calendar is your friend. Use it to keep track of any scheduled exams or when major assignments are due. What’s a big plus for Google Calendar compared to using Outlook is that it is available on every platform – mobile, desktop or tablet – via the web or through several methods, with native integration with iOS and Android phones. What’s also neat is that every computer or phone will be in sync, so you know you will not miss a date.

The great thing is that it is free, and if you already have a Gmail account, then you’ll be able to access Google Calendar as it falls under your “Google Account”. This also means that you have access to Google Docs – which is a great tool for collaborating on projects and on storing documents as a backup.

Limit Your Facebook Time

Facebook, YouTube and Twitter can be huge distractions – so it’s time to limit your usage. The key word is LIMIT. I’m not going to call on you to block these sites, because we don’t want to kill your social life (or what’s left of it). There are two extensions that can do this – LeechBlock for Firefox and StayFocusd for Chrome. Unfortunately/fortunately, there isn’t one for Safari, Opera or IE.

If you are desperate, then you should really consider blocking them. There are a few ways of doing this – find an extension or application to do this, or simply modify your HOSTS file with a long bunch of URLs relating to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and all the alternative URLs that you usually go to in order to bypass a filter. Though, if you choose to modify your HOSTS file, back it up before you do any changes. It is a systems file, and if you screw this up without a backup, then you may potentially harm your computer.

Don’t get distracted when writing typing

You’ll often notice when writing your essay or assignment is that you lose your attention when you see a little notification or even possibly the time on the taskbar simply because you just don’t want to do this. I know, I’m doing it right now. If you find yourself experiencing this problem, then maybe you should consider getting a distraction-free writer. Many of which are free.

However, you will not be getting the same features as Microsoft Word, like styling and adding images – the crux of any document editor. And while it will be annoying, just do a simple copy and paste when you are finished with it, or just open the .txt file to your document editor – all document editors will read .txt files.

While there are plenty of distraction-free writing software, some of the better ones include OmmWriter (Mac/PC/iOS – free/donation), WriteMonkey (Windows – Free) and Q10 (Windows – Free).

(Cloud) Bookmarking is your friend

Finding evidence or sources for an essay or project will most likely be easy – do a Google search. However, recalling this is a pain since Google’s results change every day. You can always look through your history – but everything will be a mess. So, make sure you bookmark those pages – and it is a simple click in many browsers. Firefox, for example, is a simple click on the star.

But what about if you are on another computer – especially at school – you can’t access your bookmarks. That is why you should bookmark your pages on a service like Delicious. All you need to do is to install a plugin or add a bookmarklet – which is a piece of Javascript that you add to your bookmark bar, so when you press it, it will let you save it to your account. And you can keep track of links and tag them for organising them.

And did we mention it’s free? So, if you need to collate sources for a project or essay, then this should be a must-use tool.

Create Flashcards – and take them everywhere

One of the brilliant ways to study and revise for a test is creating flash cards. Summarise what you have learnt, add questions and definitions, and finally motivate yourselves to revise again, and again, and again before your final exam. However, now there are services that bring flash cards to your smartphone – so you can take it, and study, at any time and in any location without carrying lots of paper.

For the iOS (except iPad) and Android platforms, there is a service called StudyBlue, which lets you create flash cards on the fly. You can also track whether or not you got the answer right or wrong (meaning that it is heavily based on trust), so you’ll know whether or not if you are retaining that knowledge or you have to go back and study before the final exam.

Another app, which supports the iOS platform (including the iPad) is called Flashcards Deluxe by OrangeOrApple.com. The app lets you create your own flashcards via a text editor or spreadsheet, via online services or within the app. And if you do create your own outside of the app, you can upload it to their own servers or retrieve it via Google Docs or Dropbox. It comes in two versions – a free version that has a limit of 4 decks with 6 cards per deck; or a paid version with no limits for $3.99. I suggest you take the latter version, because it’s worth it.

Extra 1: Back Your Files Up!

One of the most important things is to back up all your files. I have lost my USB drive so many times, and I am thankful that I at least have a copy somewhere. The basic principle you should follow is to store it on your computer, store on a USB flash drive or an external hard drive and store on the cloud. And make sure you keep each version updated – or at least one version away so you don’t lose all your work. It may be a huge effort, but you do not want to spend all night rewriting a piece of work you finished but were stupid enough to lose it.

For cloud storage, you should either use Windows Live SkyDrive or Dropbox. SkyDrive gives you 25GB of storage for free – and that will take you ages to fill up. Dropbox gives you 2GB of storage for free, but you can subscribe to a 50GB and 100GB plan. Dropbox also has an added bonus of having a dedicated app to syncs your files from a specific folder to its servers – so any change will not be lost.

Extra 2: Go Outside

You should always strive to find a balance of school work and your social life. Don’t focus on one or the other, because you’ll either feel too exhausted to be motivated to do work, or will keep pushing studying for something back further and further away. But do go out once in a while, as it will keep you grounded. My friends and I always have a day during the school holidays just to catch up – and for many, breathe fresh air after days locked in our rooms trying to finish the massive school load of homework.

Even if it is like two or three hours in a friend’s house, just have a period where you don’t do any homework and be with friends. You’ll be relaxed and hopefully less stressed out about how to do homework.

(This does assume that you managed to find time to allocate it somewhere else, however. So maybe it’s a good thing you have a calendar to help you – see tip 1)

Image: Bart Everson/Flickr (Creative Commons)

The next version of Microsoft Office – dubbed Office 15 – has begun the Technical Preview stage of its development. This means a select number of users under non-disclosure agreements will be sending feedback on some of its new features and changes.

Office 15 has been dubbed as the division’s most ambitious project, mainly because it will blur the lines of a physical and a web app.

“With Office 15, for the first time ever, we will simultaneously update our cloud services, servers, and mobile and PC clients for Office, Office 365, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, Project, and Visio,” PJ Hough, the Corporate Vice President of Development in the Office Division, wrote in a blog post.

“Quite simply, Office 15 will help people work, collaborate, and communicate smarter and faster than ever before.”

Microsoft has also confirmed that a public beta will be released later in the summer, so we’ll all know what are the new things inside Office 15.

I remember first seeing when Windows Phone Series 7 was announced. I also remember eventually using it in store. It was smooth, fast and I really liked the look of metro. I was excited. Finally, an alternative to iOS and Android which….looks good!

Eventually I ended up with a developer device (HTC Surround) and, while at first I was excited, that feeling eventually turned into annoyance and then also into just plain hatred of the platform.

Firstly, it’s stale. When was the last time you heard about a cool new app on Windows Phone? Yeah, I haven’t heard of one either. That’s because there aren’t any new apps that are exclusive to Windows Phone. There aren’t even any multiplatform apps that do something unique with Windows Phone. And whenever you hear about a company that’s announcing an application, Windows Phone is almost always excused from support.

Why? Because Microsoft isn’t working hard enough. And because there aren’t many new devices. Because it’s stale. And Microsoft is a pro at leaving things to grow stale. Look at Bing. Same look (ugly) and same actual tool. While Google adds cool things, like searching for the time somewhere and getting it, Bing remains crap. And Windows Live does the same thing.

The OS also looks and feels exactly the same as when it was announced in…woah. Feb 2010. February 2010! And nothing has changed. It has had one “big” update (with nothing much in it) and it has barely any apps. No devices (excluding Nokia, which is still on the distance for Australia), no updates, no apps. It’s stale.

But why fix what isn’t broken, huh? Well, it is broken.

So far, Windows Phone supports ONE resolution. Now, Metro might actually look good on a high-res screen, but I wouldn’t know. Because on every Windows Phone I’ve seen, it’s looked either too big for the screen or has been a crappy screen. You know the HTC Titan? It has the same resolution, software-wise, as my HTC Surround. And while we can’t entirely blame bad hardware on Microsoft, this can 100% be blamed on Microsoft.

Now, back to the apps. Sure, there aren’t many, but quality over quantity right? Wrong.

Trying to make Windows Phone your main device is impossible. The official Facebook application, made by Microsoft, wastes space, is laggy and doesn’t work. It doesn’t work! While scrolling down my feed the whole thing jumps as it loads. My iPod touch doesn’t do this, the Galaxy Nexus I’m borrowing doesn’t do this, but Windows Phone does. And the app wastes so much space too. There is a dedicated Status bar, which might sound good on another phone, but is terrible on this phone.

The Twitter app is a little better, but not by much. There are a number of problems, I can’t go over them all, but it’s not a good user-experience. And what do people do with phones? Facebook, Twitter, SMS, Calls, Web and Gaming, and that’s a bit of a generalisation, but it’s still what people do.

And every app uses Windows Phone’s terrible multitasking. For example, an application called RunKeeper, which tracks your excercise via GPS, pauses when the screen locks.

So just put yourself in my shoes. I’ve just ridden 10KM and the screen has gone to sleep. The app has now stopped tracking your progress and the whole thing is pointless. Sure, I don’t ride because of that, so it’s not bad, but it is annoying.

So Facebook and Twitter suck. How about the browser?

It’s actually not too bad. Streaming videos on it, for me, is terrible as the videos cannot play without lagging, literally stuttering and making the video unwatchable, but the browser is fine. Sure, websites still treat it like Windows Phone 6 with Mobile websites worthy of your old Nokia in the draw, but it’s a fine browser.

And lots of these problems can be linked back to Metro. It’s terrible. Swyping, while fun on an in-store display, is terrible on a real device. Instead of tapping to what you want to do, you have to go through every other menu, watch it stutter and freeze, and then go to the next menu until you get to the one you want. Ugh.

And the thing you should remember is that I’m just pulling these experiences out of the top of my head. There are plenty of other problems. And Metro is really a lazy UI when you get deeper into it. And don’t get me started on the search key which, instead of searching in the app, is actually dedicated to Bing. You can’t change it to Google either (I hate Bing, not because Microsoft hasn’t marketed it or shoved it in my face, but because it’s ugly and terrible).

Can search be social? That is what Microsoft is trying to look at with its new experiment from in-house FUSE Labs. Dubbed So.cl, the new site tries to combine social mechanics with a Bing Search so people can find and share web pages.

Now, you may be asking, how did I get in? I didn’t get in the ‘traditional’ way of being a student in one of the selected schools. In fact, I was invited in by my friend over at TechAU, Jason Cartwright (who was invited by Microsoft), by signing up to his new startup Constructiv (I highly suggest you check it out).

When you first open, you notice that it looks a bit like Facebook. I personally believe that making it similar to Facebook was not because of simply copying, but because it is a layout that people know how to use instantly. That means that users can simply pick it up and use straight away, rather than exploring the site aimlessly.

In fact, you need to use your Facebook login to access this site – once you have been given an invite to use this service. This means that you just need to use one ID rather than remembering several other usernames and passwords.

Again taking cues from Facebook, you are introduced with a “Feed” – except you start off reading everyone’s searches and status messages. However, you can filter this out by choosing via the sidebar to see only who you follow, or yours only.

The main idea of the site is to share your searches in a social environment. The top bar has a search box, where you automatically send out what you are searching for. A simple click to that speech bubble will switch that to a status message, a la Facebook. Taking cues from Google+, it has made your privacy settings for each individual post a bit more prominent. You can switch the privacy settings by clicking the globe (where it will turn to a padlock – representing private), or use the drop down menu below the status/search box.

Adding to the social component, you can also use what you find on Bing to create a personalised status message. You can add a link to a website, or even make a rubric set of images – like what I did below with the query “Australian Open”.

This feature I like very much, mainly because I can see students of all ages using this for research projects to share to their friends. And plus, it’s a much better alternative of saving it on this sort of thing, rather than trying to scroll through images or links over and over again. The tagging features is an added bonus, so you can group several things together, making research a bit less painful.

Then we have something called Video Parties (which you can see a screenshot below). It is a combination of a live video playlist and a chatroom, where you and your friends (or whoever is watching in the party) can simply add a video from YouTube. And like a video chatroom, you won’t be able to pause, rewind or fast forward. However, you do have the option reorder the playlist by skipping the current video and playing one video next.

It does assume that you have a fast internet connection as the video will cut off after the allocated time if it stutters, and does play the video in HD if available. So, this further highlights that this was designed for classroom and student use, rather than as an alternative to Facebook. What is also neat is that the Video Party can continue on the sidebar, so you can search for something while still watching the video.

Okay, since I’ve mainly been gushing over this network, lets list some negatives. A big one is the privacy. It follows the Facebook method of public first, private second. You have no option to change the default. You do, however, get to clear your history, tags, likes and comments from the network. And there should at least be a third option where you can share with Friends on Facebook only (since you can’t have friends, but followers), or with selected people so not everything you search for is plastered on the wall.

So if you search for some crazy things – maybe not do it on this social network.

Minor negatives are the aforementioned HD quality video streams, and the limits on providers on video parties. I would like it linked to many more providers rather than just YouTube since not all videos are uploaded on the site (granted, a majority of educational ones are). I also would like to see some more communication features, like live video chat – and they could use Skype for that.

But the major problem with So.cl is that it does not feel, well, social. It is a simple search, add and wait till friends comment on it. I would love the site to have more collaborative features rather than just video parties. Maybe have some document editing for your research project, or deeper integration with Facebook. And like every social networking site, there has to be a mobile strategy for this experiment as education is slowly shifting from desktop to portable devices. A web app that lets you do the same things – add, tag, comment – would suffice.

I should point out that this is an experiment to see if search and social media can be meshed into one site. Maybe we could see these features integrated across Microsoft products once this winds down. However, and this could be unintentional, it could rival Delicious simply because you can list, tag and collect pages from all over the web.

Windows 8 could come as soon as the third quarter of this year, with a report claiming (citing anonymous sources) that both Acer and Lenovo are set to launch their own tablet running the OS and a new Intel platform.

The platform in question is its Clover Trail platform, which is said to be preferred by “PC players” as the upcoming Medfield processor continues to miss performance targets in terms of battery life and is, according to Digitimes report, being “eclipsed by ARM-based processors in terms of performance”.

Sources also state that these Windows tablets will have “strong potential in the enterprise market”, hinting at Windows 8 tablets could possibly never reach the consumer market in order to avoid the iPad competition. Unfortunately, that seems like a false positive as – and this plagues RIM – they seem to forget that business and enterprise users are also consumers. As such, the competition with the iPad will still be there.

We could see an announcement during CES, though the rumour doesn’t say. And if there was such an announcement, it’ll most likely be up on stage with Steve Ballmer.

Wired Epicenter recently published an article on Windows Phone titled ‘Is Windows Phone’s Consumer Focus Killing It?‘. It’s certainly reasonable to propose that the consumer focus is a reason for Windows Phone’s less than spectacular adoption, but to say that Microsoft’s will to satisfy the end consumers to the highest degree possible will be a prominent cause in the platform’s possible demise is pushing it much too far.

That’s obviously not to plainly suggest that Microsoft taking a very Apple-like approach with smartphones isn’t holding them back even slightly. It’s a large reason for Windows Phone’s general lack of awareness amongst phone shoppers, and the obvious lack of sparkle in Microsoft’s Windows Phone lineup. Unlike Google with its Android operating system, Microsoft places strict hardware guidelines on manufacturers developing Windows Phones. OEMs are not permitted to have a screen resolution that is beyond or below 800 X 480 and processor requirements remain particularly strict and unmoving.

Microsoft remains strict on software customisation even more so than the company is on hardware requirements, permitting only extremely minor additions to the OS like HTC Hub and certain proprietary HTC apps on HTC Windows Phone handsets. Given this, the Windows Phone landscape is fairly static and stale, removed from the glory and the glamour of the nerd fulfilling spec wars in Android land breeding monsters with 3D capabilities, dangerously speedy processors, engulfing display sizes and eye bursting pixel densities.

Windows Phone sits on the hum drum side seat with an uninspiring collection of handsets built by manufacturers who simply aren’t permitted to throw their very best eggs into the Windows Phone basket. And since product design communicates the very essence of said product, manufacturers haven’t given their best shot at that either, with the most daring, slimmest and marvellous hardware designs saved for the maxed out Android handsets with differentiating specifications and OS customisations.

But this is Microsoft’s only genuine issue with Windows Phone, although a fairly large one – the manufacturers, sales channels and the carriers aren’t willing to invest heavy in developing and selling Windows Phone handsets because Microsoft’s restrictions aren’t permitting the carriers and manufacturers from any meaningful differentiation. Thus any marketing investment would reap smaller returns for both carriers and manufacturers given there’s a competitors’ Windows Phone next door that’s virtually the same.

Microsoft seems to be trying to combine both Apple and Google’s strategy, borrowing the idea of a core, uniform and optimal user experience from Apple, whilst trying to get the same reach that Google is enjoying with Android. There’s certainly the question of whether its possible to bring in the best of both worlds since the world by its very nature is full of trade offs. But I think with a little tweaking Microsoft have what it takes to make Windows Phone happen in a big way.

But, throwing aside Windows Phone’s issues (or issue), there’s a heck of a lot to be excited about, a heck of a lot for Microsoft to be excited about, and a heck of a lot of reasons to disregard sensationalist articles on Windows Phone’s seeming imminent death, and to swim against the tide of general Windows Phone negativity.

Wired’s aforementioned article noted a few really great things about Windows Phone, the fact that Windows Phone Mango has been well received by both reviewers and users alike meaning that it is objectively a really good operating system. The most crucial of Windows Phone’s accolades though is that according to Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, of the top 20 best rated cell phones on its site, 6 of them were Windows Phones and more importantly, the top 3 were all Windows Phone handsets.

Screenshot: Terence Huynh/TECHGEEK.com.au

This kind of customer satisfaction is something that Android has yet to achieve from even its greatest handsets, and although customer satisfaction for the iPhone is also presumably sky-high, it’s only one phone. Microsoft has managed to achieve satisfaction across a vast number of handsets, meaning that its ideals for reach in conjunction with a uniformly great experience devoid of fragmentation is indeed paying off.

What’s important for Microsoft now isn’t the fact that people are buying their phones in large numbers or not, but whether the ones who are buying are happy because these people are the ones who will enrich Microsoft’s Windows Phone ecosystem along with Microsoft’s greater ecosystem encompassing Xbox, Windows, Zune and others, and these are also the people who will keep coming back.

Microsoft is at an advantage here against Google because the team at Redmond have the security of knowing that their consumers enjoy Windows Phone for exactly what it is with its coloured tiles, swift transitions and minimalist outfit. On the flip side, it’s a fair point to say that consumers can’t ever really love Android because Android is only really Android in its pure form on a Nexus phone, a Google phone without the UI customisations and additions. You could say you love Android on a Samsung Galaxy S II, but then when you get a hold of an HTC handset in its Sense UI glory you could suddenly hate Android and its superfluous interface design.

Like an intelligent Wired Epicenter article stated – there’s no more Android, there’s only Android compatible. So the loyalty factor plays a role here, its much easier and more effective for Microsoft to invoke consumer loyalty with Windows Phone than it is for Google with Android.

Though both companies, with their extensive web and product reach, can play the ecosystem card as effectively as each other.

Still, having happy customers doesn’t change or cut loose the major flaw in Microsoft’s strategy which makes it really difficult for manufacturers to strike a home run and deliver Windows Phone in an incarnation capable of competing with the best of Android in an all out spec war. And not just plain processor specs, but display size, pixel density and even physical hardware design. In these respects, Windows Phone is yet to deliver. It’s a matter of marketing too, which is essentially the meeting point of all of Microsoft’s issue.

If OEMs can’t develop big and have a market-leading product, then why throw a huge party about it? Especially, especially if said OEM has an Android handset that is actually worth celebrating.

Nokia was meant to try and fix this. By being an exclusive Windows Phone partner they’d have nothing else to bother marketing, even if they did have a genuinely horrid product (which they don’t, of course). This plan has managed to see some fruits with an extensive marketing push in Europe, though sales numbers haven’t quite gone hand in hand according to most sources. But, without release in the US and Australia among other countries, its far too superficial to foretell Windows Phones’ future with sales figures from a single continent.

The whole Nokia partnership does pose problems for Microsoft’s remaining manufacturers whom don’t have an exclusive deal and many of the privileges Nokia has received from Microsoft. Since Nokia clearly have no choice but to throw all their best eggs into the Windows Phone basket, this leaves OEMs like Samsung and HTC in an even worse position knowing that there will most likely always be a Nokia Windows Phone better than theirs. Therefore, there is even less incentive to put any effort into building a half decent Windows Phone handset.

This leaves Microsoft in the likely scenario that Nokia will continue to build the high end, flagship phones whilst leaving remaining manufacturers to pick up the low end market for the budget concious consumers. This isn’t a bad scenario at all, not at all. At least not from Microsoft’s vantage.

Clearly, Microsoft has enormous hurdles with Windows Phone, but bloggers claiming that Windows Phone may very well cease to live is too far a jump to an unlikely conclusion. Despite all its problems, Windows Phone has succeeded in being a really great operating system that has immensely satisfied its user base. As a corporation, I assume there wouldn’t be too much higher on your wish list than that very sentence. Even then, it’s short sighted to call Microsoft out when all the cards haven’t yet been played.

The Microsoft-Nokia deal is really just getting started, and for the most part, hasn’t even begun. Integration with Microsoft’s popular software and services will only continue to get deeper and deeper and most importantly, what Microsoft does with their Skype acquisition could be the impetus for a fast turn around. The launch of Windows 8 will only do good things to promote Microsoft’s Metro style interface, the shining light of Windows Phone. And as still the most powerful computing company, Windows 8 will sure garner the hype, the excitement and the splash that Windows Phone never did.

I’m not saying Windows Phone will be a definite, unmitigated success, I’m just saying give it a chance. Microsoft is full of surprises and unlikely success stories, just look at the Xbox and how they slayed a monster.

Image above: by Diego Torres Silvestre/Flickr (Creative Commons)

The year 2011 was one year that we will all never forget. Even though they were all in the beginning of the year, the floods in Queensland and Brazil, the earthquakes in Christchurch and the tsunami in the north of Japan are still present in all of our minds. We also saw the death of a tech luminary, Steve Jobs; and the powerful News Corporation losing its influence over politicians in the UK after the phone hacking scandal took a drastic turn from celebrities to victims of crime.

This year, we’ve decided to recap the top 11 tech stories of the year – from security problems to business failures, and even the growing popularity of Windows Phone 7.

You can explore the choices below.

• The Revolutions Heard Around The Globe
• The Catastrophic Disaster of the PSN
• Steve Jobs: 1955 – 2011
• The Phone Hacking that killed the News
• A Global War – Apple v Samsung
• A 50 Day Hacking Campaign, for the lulz
• The Rise of Windows Phone 7
• An annus horribilis for RIM and Netflix
• Palm is dead, WebOS lives on
• Social: Google enters, LinkedIn goes IPO and Timeline
• Gone Viral: Friday – an instant success amongst the haters
• Credits

Image Credits: Al Jazeera English (Left) and David Shankbone (Right). All are licensed under Creative Commons.

Apple scaled back its MacWorld appearances in 2009, and now Microsoft will do the same. The company has announced that it will no longer do a major keynote presentation – always the first – after next year’s CES.

“We’ll continue to participate in CES as a great place to connect with partners and customers across the PC, phone and entertainment industries, but we won’t have a keynote or booth after this year because our product news milestones generally don’t align with the show’s January timing,” Frank Shaw, the Corporate Vice President of Corporate Communications said in a blog post.

And he is right. We usually don’t see major announcements from Microsoft at CES. We’re expecting more information about Windows 8, but usually, they just explain what the future of technology is with Microsoft’s partners. We heard it all before.

Plus, Microsoft’s E3 conferences are much better for the juicy announcements – mainly because its either going to be a title exclusive, hardware upgrade or something to do with Xbox Live. And Microsoft has so many other conferences that it holds – like BUILD and MIX, both developer conferences.

Don’t forget, TECHGEEK.com.au will be doing LIVE coverage of CES 2012 from our Las Vegas studio in Melbourne (yes, we’ve actually called it that). We’ll have up to the minute coverage of the keynote, and all the product announcements on our site.

Microsoft definately hasn’t rested after the announcement of Windows 8 and the release of the Developer Preview, with the company revealing the Windows Store, which is an app store for Windows 8, along with a number of details and screenshots.

From late February, developers will be able to submit apps which can be priced from US$1.49 all the way to US$999. While the apps start steeper than the App Store for Mac, with no US$0.99 offering, developers will be getting a much bigger cut of the pie if their app goes well. Like other stores, Microsoft will split the money developers make from apps 70-30, meaning they get 30% of the developers revenue. But if the developer makes anything over US$25,000 then that split will go down to 80-20. Unlike other app stores, the Windows Store will allow Trial apps for free on apps where the developer wants it, which means it will expire after a certain amount of time.

Developer accounts will cost US$49 and you will only be able to submit free apps from the start, but they will soon allow paid applications. Disappointingly the store will only be for Metro applications, so nothing that currently runs on Windows 7 will be available on the store unless the developer switches to Metro.

They’ve made a highlight-reel from the conference and you can catch that below. There are also a number of screenshots which show some cool Windows 8 features.

More details will obviously come from CES 2012 in January regarding Windows 8 and the Windows Store and TECHGEEK.com.au will be having live video and up-to-the minute coverage of the event and the rest of CES, so remember to tune in for all the news.

Yesterday Microsoft delivered the goods in regards to Windows 8 with news of their Application Store named Windows Store, coming in February. They also quietly announced a Public Beta for Windows 8.

The Public Beta will come in February 2012 and after the Windows Developer Preview’s three million downloads, it looks like the Public Beta will be just as, if not more, popular. With a Beta coming so early into 2012 it looks like Microsoft has plans to release the tablet-friendly update in late 2012.

We might also see some more details of a release date at Microsoft’s CES keynote, which TECHGEEK.com.au will be covering thorougly with live video and up-to-the minute coverage in January.

Update: The update is rolling out now and should be available to all 35 million members of Xbox Live either now or very soon.

Original Story: Uh oh. The Xbox Dashboard update, which was scheduled for release at 2AM AEDT has been delayed according to Microsoft’s Larry Hyrb (known online as Major Nelson).

This post will update as the update status changes and as usual TECHGEEK.com.au will have the latest on the delay as news rolls out. Unfortunately at the moment this is all we know.

FYI: The timing for Xbox 360 dashboard update has been slightly delayed. I’ll have a status update later today

December 7, 2011 1:31 AM via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@majornelson

Larry Hryb

We are still working to get the release out. Stay tuned, we’ll have an update this afternoon (PT) on when it will begin rolling out.

December 7, 2011 4:20 AM via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@majornelson

Larry Hryb

A new version of the popular Kinect device from Microsoft is in the works. A report, citing anonymous sources, is claiming that it will be bundled in future Xbox consoles and is said to be so accurate that it can lip read.

According to EuroGamer, the Kinect 2 will also feature improved motion sensors and voice recognition; and could detect the player’s emotional state by facial expressions and tone of voice. Their source said it is “so powerful it will enable games to lip read, detect when players are angry and determine in which direction they are facing”.

In addition, integration with the Xbox consoles means that it no longer has to rely on a USB cable. While theoretically can support data speeds of 35MB/s, it has been lowered to 15 or 16MB/s because of potential multiple USB devices connected. The Kinect 2′s integration would allow it to feed “more information” and higher resolution images for games to process movements.

“It can be cabled straight through on any number of technologies that just take phenomenally high res data straight to the main processor and straight to the main RAM and ask, what do you want to do with it?” said its source.

The reports are coupled with more rumours of the Kinect being integrated into television sets. Broken by The Daily, their sources are saying that they want to “push the Kinect into as many living rooms as possible, even those without its Xbox 360 gaming systems.” The company is in early discussions with Vizio and Sony (yes, Sony – the makers of the PS3) in licensing their technology.

Coupled with this rumour, it could mean that Microsoft could find a way to facilitate transmitting high-quality images from a proprietary port, or through other means, so it does not have to use a standard USB port.

I’ll leave you to make your own speculations about the Kinect.

Microsoft is looking at Yahoo’s financial statements after it signed a non-disclosure agreement, according to the New York Times. However, is this a sign of a possible acquisition of Yahoo again, failing to do so in 2008?

The New York Times also points that other potential bidders for the company like Silver Lake and TPG Capital, both private equity firms, have also have access to Yahoo’s books. In addition, Microsoft is rumoured to have held talks to its partners for a possible group bid to buy the struggling web property.

Microsoft attempted to buy out Yahoo once to prop up its then-failing web strategy. In some cases, its online strategy is still a mess, but it has somewhat improved. Bing is now the second-popular search engine in the United States, and its online strategy now includes mobile – especially thanks to Windows Phone 7.

Yahoo, on the other hand, is struggling. While it still attracts large amounts of web visitors, including 81.2 million uniques on its news site, it is financially weak and its leadership is all over the place. In addition, with the rise of Google in the services race, and the popularity of Facebook and Twitter, Yahoo is struggling to remain relevant.

What killed the 2008 deal was Jerry Yang. The “Chief Yahoo” wanted more money despite being a high enough premium for shareholders, given that it had been underperforming. Months of negotiations continued before Microsoft walked away from the deal.

However, the better question is, what the hell does Yahoo offer Microsoft now? In my view, especially since Microsoft bought Skype, Yahoo has no purpose for Microsoft’s online strategy if it does buy it out. It already has a search partnership with them, and already has a much more successful partner in news in the United States – NBC News; as compared to Yahoo’s new deal with ABC News (in America). It will essentially become a white elephant for Microsoft.

Microsoft, if it does want to acquire Yahoo, has a bit of competition. Alibaba, a Chinese e-commerce company, is looking to make its own bid with a couple of private equity firms. It’s a bit weird, especially when Yahoo itself owns 40 percent of the company.

Dance Central 2 users will be pleased to know that downloadable content is now heading their way. Microsoft has announced that it will add more songs from Lady Gaga and Rihanna to its long list of songs via downloadable content.

Microsoft will be adding two Lady Gaga songs to its lineup with “Marry The Night” and “The Edge of Glory”, joining two more songs that are present in the original lineup: “Born This Way” and “Bad Romance”. Both songs will cost 240 Microsoft Points and are currently available now from the Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

It has also confirmed that it will have more tracks from Rihanna and additional downloadable content, but these will be coming out in December.

Gallery and video below.

Well isn’t that nice. Right on schedule Microsoft has launched Zune Music for Australia. While this may sound like just another music store, a major key to the Zune puzzle is Zune Music Pass, which allows unlimited music downloads for $10 a month.

There is a 1 month subscription for $11.99, 12 month subscription for $119.99 and a 14 day free trial available which all give unlimited access to the millions of songs in the Zune Music catalog. Music from the Zune Music Pass can be played on your PC, web browser, Windows Phone 7 device and soon Xbox 360. Also, if you somehow live in Australia and have a Zune HD you should also be able to use it. It’s a Microsoft-only affair for now but if they want to compete in the streaming music game they might want to offer iOS and Android access as well as a Mac version of Zune.

Also available from Zune Music are songs, music videos and albums which, unlike songs from Zune Pass, are yours to keep forever. These come in a number of price ranges, but in my experience songs are overpriced and albums can be quite cheap compared to iTunes, Bandit.fm and Bigpond Music. You also have to use Microsoft Points, which is a little annoying, but it’s still nice to be able to buy music as well as subscribe for it.

Zune is one of Australia’s few music subscription services that the US has had for years and Zune Pass will soon be followed by competitors Australia launch, Rdio and Spotify, in the coming months. And as I said when Zune Pass was announced for Australia, this is a major way that Microsoft can now compete with the Apple ecosystem as up until now users could only get music from their computers which they had already downloaded or ripped. Now there is the convenience of downloading songs on the go and this could be a competitive feature if Microsoft advertises it.

For $12 a month you will be able to access 11 million songs at any time when you have an internet connection which converts to $120 a year. It’s a little pricey, but interesting given the previous drought of music streaming services available to Aussies. While the US Zune Pass previously also gave you 10 songs to keep every month, Microsoft recently changed that to 0 free songs that last forever. This new rule will also apply to Australia’s Zune Music Pass, which is a little disappointing. You will, however, be able to get songs seperately but the pricing has not been revealed.

Windows Phone now has yet another way to compete with iOS and this new service might be enough to push some people, such as me, over the edge. I’ll be watching you closely Microsoft. Don’t stuff it up!

Now, in 2011, a new Forza is in my hands and, with a new Gran Turismo unannounced, has little competition.  Forza 3 innovated on the tired car simulation genre and now the series is back for more. But does the latest outing deserve to dominate? And does it change enough to warrant a purchase? Read on for a full review.

Gameplay

Forza 4 is one of those rare gems when it comes to gameplay. The racing can be fun and challenging and it has a great amount realism when it comes to turning and handling. The cars each have a different, real weight, which doesn’t always come across in other racing games. But the game doesn’t force you to be great at racing games. There are heaps of difficulty settings and that means it can be fun for anyone who can game. It’s still a simulation, but that doesn’t get in the way of the fun and, while serious, it doesn’t feel as full-on difficulty-wise as Gran Turismo can. It’s more accessable, with plenty of helpful assists turned on by default. But if you’re a car nut you have an option to turn whichever ones off that you feel you don’t need. Traction control, stability control, anti-lock brakes and automatic brake assists are included and make it easier for beginners, but with them turned off the game can become quite complex. But the easy difficulties don’t mean it becomes an arcade game though, sticking to its simulation roots. As said before, it’s serious, like Gran Turismo, but also fun, like DiRT.

Forza 4 has plenty of new environments and Season mode, which is now called World Tour Mode, is now a collection of racing locations from around the world. It feels a lot more like a real driving season, unlike the previous game which felt like a bunch of races glued together on a calendar. It’s fairly linear, but you still have options for which races you will do inbetween the big final races. The locations are now plotted on a map, which again makes it feel less like a collection and more like a real season of racing. And outside World Tour Mode you can look at every possible race in the game, just like in Forza 3.

Forza 4 also mixes leveling up with racing in a very smooth and rewarding way that is more fun than competing games. As you level up you get rewards and also Xbox Live achievements, which makes it feel less grinding than other leveling systems. The longer the race, the bigger the XP. And while racing games have had this RPG-style leveling system, Forza just feels like it does it better. You don’t start with a terrible car either. While you have to wait a while before amazing sports-cars, you aren’t left with the traditional garbage car that other games have. And as you collect driver and car XP you’ll find the game much more satisfying.

The lower the difficulty becomes, the more obvious the infamous racing game slingshot effect becomes. The slingshot effect, where the player will be coming last and then suddenly the game will make it easier, is really obvious. And this isn’t a difficulty problem. It’s the way it happens. If you play on Easy, cars will suddenly swerve off the road and sit until you drive past. It’s so obvious that it makes winning less rewarding for casual players. And it is rather embarrasing for whoever made the AI in this game. It’s better than Gran Turismo, but not perfected.

The game also includes the rewind feature from Forza 3. This really does help you in those situations where you’ve been in a race for 10 minutes and crash on the last lap. Instead of needing to restart the entire race you can simply rewind a couple of seconds. Some may say this is cheating, but I think it’s a great way to stop people losing interest and rage-quits. If you want to show off your skills you can simply not use it. It’s optional but a great feature for people who don’t like to be frustrated to the point of anger at the game.

Also in the game is a great integration of Top Gear, the popular BBC television series. If this integration is familar to you then it’s probably because Gran Turismo 5 also had Top Gear gameplay. But unlike Gran Turismo 5, Forza 4 does a really good job of adding the show to the game. Instead of searching menus for Top Gear races outside of the main game, they’re included in the World Tour Mode. The Top Gear Test Track is in the game too and there are some fun and silly challenges to complete. But, a warning. Some of these may frustrate non-fans of the show. The game also has some narration from Jeremy Clarkson and Forza really feels like a good choice for Top Gear. I had fun with it but, as I said, non-fans of the show may be frustrated by the inclusion of the, at times, controversial show.

Another new feature of Forza 4 is Kinect integration. I was unable to try it, due to lack of a Kinect, but I doubt it can compete with a controller. Still, I’m sure if you want to use it, you could finish the whole game with it. But you might want to look at some videos of it if you intend to use Kinect with this. Microsoft doesn’t have a good track-record of hardcore Kinect games. There are features like Head Tracking, where the camera view pans as you move your head and also full game control but I still don’t like this new technology. Maybe it’s because I’ve gamed with controllers all my life, or maybe it’s because it’s inferior. I’m going with the latter. And the Achievement that requires Kinect is cheap.

Kinect also features in Autovista mode, where you can walk around and go into a car in a virtual showroom. I wasn’t at all interested except for getting the achievement, but car fans will surely be with all of the cars working with Autovista mode.

The game features plenty of multiplayer modes and other social elements. There is the regular multiplayer modes where you can race against friends, even when they’re offline, and get in-game rewards from winning. There is also matchmaking, which I don’t like (but, I don’t like it in any game). It’s going to be great fun with friends but I’m not a big fan of playing with randoms in any online game. Split screen is in and, I must say, I should’ve bumped up the score for that. I love split-screen and games that have online but not offline multiplayer are quite stupid, unless it’s technologically impossible (GTA IV).

You can also join or create a “Car Club” on Forza 4′s online service where you can make a group of drivers and customisations, such as paint-jobs or car tuneups. The Club can then be shared with friends and it can compete with others. It’s an interesting idea and while I haven’t spent much time with it, due to a small amount of people playing online, it works well and I did create a Club with ease.

The marketplace is also included, as in Forza 2 and 3, and there is still just as much customisation options as before and plenty of fun to be had. You can sell vinyls, car designs and tuning setups in the marketplace and buy other people work with in-game credit. There is, as before, also video and photo modes and you can share these online.

Presentation

The game menus have been reskinned, with the clean white menus being replaced with clunky, dark and not as soft menus. It doesn’t hurt too much, but I liked the more minimalistic menus from Forza 3. Apart from how they look, the menus are better for finding what you want. Multiplayer, for example, is easier to find, but there are still confusing items and it’s hard to find the settings page because it’s hidden.

Visuals

Forza 4′s car models are phenomenal. If you compared in-game vehicle models to real life vehicles I doubt you’d be able to tell too much of a difference. It’s just incredible work. And even with these photo-realistic graphics the entire game can still run at a buttery-smooth 60 frames per-second. Gran Turismo also featured amazing models, but they didn’t look as good in-game in my opinion. Forza’s look amazing in motion and the screenshots look great too.

There are also reuses of race locations from Forza 3. It’s frustrating that they can just copy and paste old environments into a new game, but there are still plenty of new tracks. Don’t be surprised if a track is instantly familiar from Forza 3 though.

One of the few problems I had with Forza 4 was the new, cleaner HUD. During races, especially with the shine of roads I mentioned earlier, it’s hard to see the all-white with small shadowed HUD. It’s clean but regularly hard to see behind white clouds or other objects.

The games damage system still relies mostly on changing the look of a car instead of performance and 3D physical car destruction. For example, to actually cause anything more than visual damage you will have to hit another car or object extreemly fast. Don’t expect DIRT or Burnout style vehicle distruction but still expect some visual and occasional physical damage, so your car doesn’t completely feel like a dodge-em car.

Overall the game models and lighting looks fantastic, but a few problems are still apparent, as with almost any game.

Sound

The car sounds are fantastic in Forza 4, with ultra-realistic audio. If you blast it up full-board on surround sound your neighbours will probably call the police. It’s so good.

There is narration from a smooth british man, as well as some by Jeremy Clarkson. It’s alright, but I don’t like the delay between when he’s talking and when I can skip the narration.

The soundtrack isn’t as good as the other sound though. There is a lot of Gran Turismo style house music mixed with contemporary music. And while this house sound is fine in menus, leave it out of the gameplay. You’ll occasionally get a good song in-game, but the other music is overused. Still, overall the sound effects are great, but the music lets the overall package down in my opinion. But music is a subjective topic.

Final Thoughts

If you are hungry for a serious car simulation game, then Forza 4 is for you. It’s packed with amazing detail, a buffet of settings and fine-tuning options, it looks beautiful and can be enjoyed by anyone. Hardcore and casual gamers can easily have fun playing it as well as a challenge.

Remember, though, that this game is more of a simulation than an arcade racer. It’s not NFS: Hot Pursuit and it definitely isn’t Mario Kart. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a lot of fun.

And while there aren’t extreme changes from Forza 3, this new game is still filled with enough new content to be worth the money.

I loved Forza 3 and played the crap out of it. The same feeling comes across to me while playing Forza 4. Now excuse me while I have a drive around the Top Gear Test Track.

While Nokia is saying bon voyage to Symbian and MeeGo, it appears that there could be two Windows Phone 7 phones that could come out at the same time. We know about Nokia’s Sea Ray phone (which looks like the Nokia N9), but a leak has revealed the name of the other – the Nokia Sabre.

The leak, spotted by WPCentral, came from Microsoft Canada in their competition page in celebration of Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, detailing what you have won:

The type of Windows Phone 7.5 will vary and will be selected at Microsoft’s choosing (examples include Samsung Yukon, Samsung Wembley, NOKIA Searay and NOKIA Sabre)

You can also see a full image of it here.

Speculation is saying that it will have a 3.7-inch display and support microSIM cards. We also know that it is estimated retail price is $600, per the confirmation in the terms. In addition to the leak, Microsoft has also confirmed the existence of two Samsung phones – the Yukon and Wembley, both also unknown to the tech industry until now.

However, if Nokia is to launch two phones with WP7, it could mean that Nokia is pushing Windows Phone 7, and hard. It needs to make up ground, as rivals Apple, Samsung and HTC – the latter two makers of Windows Phone 7 phones in addition to Android – are eating their market share.

Also, I should point out that Nokia World is coming in October, so maybe we could find out more details when it approaches.

Image: Nexus404

Windows Phone 7 users – like Stewart – will be pleased to find out that the latest update, Mango, will hit their phone sometime soon after Microsoft has confirmed that it has been sent to Telstra, Optus and Vodafone today.

All three, according to iTech Report, have approved the update before Microsoft rolled it out in order to avoid a long wait between updates – something which has long plagued the Android ecosystem.

Windows Phone 7.5 Mango brings hundreds of new features for developers to include into their applications. For consumers, it will bring an updated browser (Internet Explorer 9) and more social networking integration.

Microsoft has said that only 10% of phones will receive the update now, and then will expand to 25 percent then 100 percent of all phones. It says that it wants to ensure that the update does not create any hassles.

“Delivering Windows Phone 7.5 simultaneously to so many phone models and carriers requires the right engineering balance. Speed is a priority—but so is quality. We’re not just delivering our new operating system but also new software supplied by individual handset makers,” Eric Hautala, General Manager for Customer Experience Engineering wrote in a blog post.

“If a problem comes to light, it’s critical that we can isolate and fix it quickly. So we’re deliberately starting out slow.”

Users will see a pop-up notification when there is an update for their phone. Users, however, cannot download the update over-the-air (and given it would be a large file, you don’t want to go over your data limit and pay an hefty fee), instead Microsoft is directing you to use the Zune software or Windows Phone 7 Connector for the Mac and go to the Update Central page.