CHiLL

Microsoft showed off a lot of awesome new stuff at today's pre-E3 press conference, but we were really excited to finally find out exactly what SmartGlass is. We're happy to announce that it looks like it could really enhance your entertainment experience, so long as developers and content providers take advantage of what it has to offer. For starters, SmartGlass can take advantage of a free app that's in the works for Windows 8, Windows Phone and 'other portable devices' (we're gonna assume that means Android and iOS devices) to share content across devices, kind of like Apple's AirPlay lets you stream video and music between different devices. SmartGlass takes things a step further by offering 'companion content' and potentially an overall more immersive experience than any of its competitors. Microsoft showed everything from Game of Thrones on HBO Go to Halo 4 taking advantage of SmartGlass' tablet-like abilities. Since 'keyboards don't belong in the living room,' Microsoft is combining the power and content of the Xbox 360 with a tablet-like form factor to help you get the most out of the web in your living room. Combining SmartGlass with HBO Go, you'll be able to keep track of where the action on Game of Thrones is happening by looking at a map on your SmartGlass, or by turning the SmartGlass into a playbook for Madden NFL. SmartGlass (and Kinect) also bring Internet Explorer to the 360, in what Microsoft calls the first “fast, fluid, intuitive web experience in the living room.” Using an interface that looks a lot like the Metro version of IE10, you'll be able to control IE with both Kinect and SmartGlass. SmartGlass is a little bit similar to what Nintendo is offering with the Wii U's GamePad, but if it keeps us from having to use that Fisher-Price stylus-driven monstrosity, we'll be happy (we still love you, Nintendo). Check out the demo below: Source: http://www.neogamr.net/news/microsoft-shows-off-xbox-smartglass Interesting...very interesting...

Samsung is suing the Australian patent commissioner in the latest twist in its intellectual property clash with Apple. The South Korean firm is seeking to invalidate four patents which Apple claimed had been infringed by Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer. Samsung alleges that the patents should never have been granted as they duplicated earlier intellectual property filings. A judge will hold a hearing into the matter on 25 June. Samsung made the claim in May, but the details only emerged after a report by ITnews. Secure vs innovation The Australian news site said the four patents involved slide-to-unlock, photo management, scaling and rotation features found on the iPhone and iPad. Australia has two types of patents: standard and innovation. The standard-type is tougher to secure, and offers 20 years of protection. It is designed to cover ideas that require longer development and will be on the market for a prolonged time. The innovation-type is easier and quicker to obtain, but only offers eight years of protection. It is designed for products that are only small advances over existing technology and may have a short commercial life. Australian rules say innovation patents can only be converted to standard patents in the period before they have been accepted. Samsung claims the commissioner was at fault because he granted Apple's inventions standard patents after they had already secured innovation ones. If the Asian firm prevails, it will undermine part of its American competitor's efforts to ban its tablet. "Although the lawsuit is directed against the commissioner, Samsung's ire is really directed against Apple," said Andrew Alton, a patent lawyer at Urquhart-Dykes & Lord. "It just shows these tech companies are using every single mechanism available in their fight against each other." Apple has already managed to force its rival's tablet off Australia's shop shelves once last year, although the move was later overruled. A full hearing into Apple's case versus Samsung is scheduled to run between July and October. Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18370258 Just when you thought the patent row couldn't get any more ridiculous...

Is anyone following this at the moment? I've watched a few matches so far, and the most exciting team is Russia. :| England v France is tonight (11th June, 5.00pm kick off GMT). I don't have high hopes for our drib-drab team that's been rushed. I'm predicting another Spain vs Germany final, with Germany winning, and Netherlands third.

Neutrinos are most definitely not faster than light after all, says CERN. The laws of physics got the good news last Friday at the 25th International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics in Kyoto, in a talk titled “The neutrino velocity measurement by OPERA experiment”. Slides (PDF) accompanying the talk say the faster-than-light results generated in 2011 were likely the result of “Faulty connection of the optical fibre to the Master Clock artificially increasing the neutrino anticipation by ~74 ns.” The slides also say OPERA had another problem, namely “Internal Master Clock frequency off by Δf/f = 1.24x10-7 (124 ns/s) artificially decreasing the neutrino anticipation by ~15 ns.” The conference also heard about four experiments - Borexino, ICARUS, LVD and OPERA - on neutrino velocity, the results of which all re-instate the speed of light as neutrinos’ upper limit. CERN Research Director Sergio Bertolucci said, in a press release, that ”Although this result isn’t as exciting as some would have liked, it is what we all expected deep down.” “The story captured the public imagination, and has given people the opportunity to see the scientific method in action – an unexpected result was put up for scrutiny, thoroughly investigated and resolved in part thanks to collaboration between normally competing experiments. That’s how science moves forward.” &reg Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/06/11/neutrinos_not_faster_than_light/ Well, something had to be wrong, and now it's been identified!

Product descriptions for Mass Effect's Extended Cut DLC and another, under-wraps multiplayer expansion, have leaked online. The information was posted to Reddit (via Kotaku) by the same tipster who accurately leaked previous DLC pack, Rebellion. As expected, BioWare's controversial Extended Cut DLC will better detail the effects of your final choice on the Mass Effect galaxy. "Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut: An expanded ending for Mass Effect 3. Additional scenes and an extended epilogue reveal the impact of Shepard's choices on the future of the galaxy." Various Mass Effect 3 voice actors have recently tweeted about recording dialogue for the new scenes. Returning characters include Kaiden Alenko, EDI and Admiral Hackett. BioWare previously listed the download for a "summer" release. Another multiplayer expansion, Earth, is also on the way. It will introduce six new human N7 classes, three maps and an arsenal of extra weaponry. "Mass Effect 3: Earth: The fighting is fiercest when it's your home at stake! Mass Effect 3™: Earth adds mods, gear, and new maps for Rio, Vancouver, and London. It features 3 new weapons: Piranha assault shotgun, Acolyte pistol, and Typhoon light machine gun. Six new human N7 classes are also available: Destroyer, Paladin, Demolisher, Slayer, Shadow, and Fury!" Source: http://www.eurogamer...fo-leaks-report Well, they certainly need to do something with Mass Effect 3, as it's been forgotten quickly.

After months of consultation, the UK government has decided to scrap the boring-snoring information and communication technology (ICT) curriculum. There was a "broad consensus" that the existing curriculum was "not fit for purpose", according to the Department of Education. Schools still need to teach ICT at key stages, but are now unshackled - "teachers will have the flexibility to decide what is best for their pupils without central Government prescription". We now enter a period of public consultation on a draft of the regulations that will change everything. The closing date for this is 11th July. The consultation - "Regulations for removing the duty on maintained schools to follow the Information and communication technology (ICT) National Curriculum Programmes of Study, Attainment Targets and statutory assessment arrangements" - can be found online. "Great news announced today by Gov to scrap the ICT curric so schools will be free to teach Computer Science from Sept," tweeted Ian Livingstone in response to the news. He's been an integral part of the campaign, and an advisor to Education Secretary Michael Gove. ICT lessons going bye-bye is one of two reasons why the UK video game industry should be excited. The other, the Raspberry Pi - a dirt-cheap and tiny PC engineered to encourage grass-roots programming in the same way the home computers of yesteryear did. Source: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-06-11-uk-govt-officially-decides-to-scrap-boring-school-ict-lessons Well, this is going to make my life in ICT Support a hell of a lot worse. Teachers given control...God help us.

You could, but nobody would block all the annoying people, as then Facebook would appear empty!

That is the case, but I think the point is that the people you're friends with just post comments which are basically moaning.

Compressed air hasn't caused my any problems, and I haven't heard of it causing problems in general. But I can see where you're coming from.

I used to play 1.5, loved going to the local LAN cafe with my mates to play. I used to play Source a lot too, and liked the better graphics. But spare time diminished, and I stopped playing.

I don't use Facebook much, but when I do go on it, on that rare occasion, it's either people posting rubbish, moaning or stupid article/pictures.

I have a PC placed at my parents house for downloading purposes, which are scheduled between midnight and 9am. This is because they have a much better connection that I do here, plus no monthly caps. To remotely control that computer I have both LogMeIn and TeamViewer installed on it, just in case one fails. I have have Remote Desktop enabled, but I can't use that from work because the local council have blocked the port. I have also enabled a web-interface on my router so I can remotely wake the computer up from sleep, rather than have it running 24/7 wasting power. This is because the computer will only WOL from sleep due to the motherboard restrictions and I can't get the WOL magic packet to route through the Internet and my router via NAT.

I was only post Ah, I was only going off that website I linked, as I was only born in '87!

It isn't a replacement, more of a different theme/look. You can change it back in the themes I presume, or simply uninstalling the application from Add/Remove Programs or Programs and Features.

I used to think like that, but in work we have some computers that are 10 years old this summer. They've been in locked cupboards with no open front and only 2x cable holes at the back of the cupboard. They're still working perfectly to this day, admittadly slow, but we still have over 100 of them in use.

I think that Guild Wars 2 is going to have a massive impact on the world of MMOs when it is released sometime this year.

Welcome Rick. I bet the weather is better where you are, than it is here in the UK!

If you're in the UK, you can't run your own business website from home from a standard home broadband connection. Well, technically you can, but if your ISP find out, they will charge you and put you on a much more expensive business connection.

Historically, MIT in the US created a system called MAILBOX, back in 1965. Eudora was popular back in 1988, and Pagasus Mail was also doing the rounds. MSN Hotmail was the first web-based email I believe, and that was started in 1996. I think I created my first Hotmail account in about 1999/2000. Source: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-were-the-first-email-providers.htm

You must remember that these features are added for one reason; touch screen devices. They are currently determining how desktop operating systems are going to be.

Hey Melody, welcome to Developer Base.

Wine is a programme on Linux that allows you to run some Windows applications on Linux. Sounds good, but it's extremely flakey. Only a handful of applications work, and fewer work well.

From what I've read, it actually shortens the life of the drive.

Do you really need to disable services though? How much do you actually gain?

Thread cleaned. Please stay on topic. This isn't an Apple vs Microsoft thread.