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Paul Lester, Personal Computer World, Friday 3 July 2009 at 09:00:00

Watch free-to-view TV ­ but a rooftop aerial is a must

Hauppauge has expanded its range of portable TV tuners to include the WinTV-Ministick HD, a portable USB-based tuner capable of picking up local free-to-view TV channels, including those in HD.

The device is no bigger than a thumb drive, with an RF port at one end to connect to an aerial. A portable mini-aerial is supplied as is the latest version of WinTV for accessing and recording channels.

Setup is straightforward, provided you have access to a strong signal. During our tests we found the supplied aerial to be all but useless, very occasionally picking up a few channels only to lose them after reconnecting, so we’d strongly advise anyone considering a purchase to use a rooftop aerial.

This restricts its versatility somewhat, but isn’t the only factor that can affect playback.

After successfully scanning for and detecting a range of channels using the setup wizard, we discovered our test notebook was severely under-powered and had to resort to carting a desktop machine to a location close enough to an aerial wall socket.

Reception and picture quality improved dramatically, but the listed system requirements are only a bare minimum, and might not be enough for consistently smooth playback.

WinTV is a basic application that provides all you might need from a TV tuner, such as the ability to pause, time-shift and record programmes. It includes a seven-day electronic programme guide (EPG) and the ability to set up and schedule recordings, show subtitles and Teletext.

Generally we were impressed by the image quality, portability and operation of the Ministick HD, but only in an optimum environment. The potential signal issues are a problem, but this is also true of many other TV tuners. If you have a powerful PC, this is an effective way to access digital television and HD.

Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH wireless router

Will Stapley, Personal Computer World, Friday 3 July 2009 at 09:00:00

Fast speeds when channel bonding, but no 5GHz mode

Buffalo’s latest router is a sleek-looking device, aimed at cable broadband users, since it has no built-in ADSL modem.

It is surprising that the WZR-HP-G300NH doesn’t feature a 5GHz 802.11n mode, relying on the more congested 2.4GHz spectrum only. But we still experienced some decent speeds during testing.

When using the router with Buffalo’s Wireless-N USB adapter, we transferred a 349MB file in 63 seconds, giving a throughput of 44Mbits/sec.

Switching the channel bonding mode on, the same file transferred in just 33 seconds (an impressive 85Mbits/sec), however your neighbours won’t thank you for hogging two wireless channels. These speeds were achieved at close range, and when we moved to around 30m away speeds dropped to under 15Mbits/sec, which is still respectable.

Buffalo has furnished the WZR-HP-G300NH with a few useful extras, including a Bittorrent client that allows for peer-to-peer downloads requiring a PC to be switched on. To use this feature, you will need to attach some form of storage to the USB port at the rear of the router. Once attached, the router will also function as a basic network-attached server (Nas) device.

A switch on the front of the router lets you turn the Movie Engine mode on. Essentially a quality of service (QoS) feature, this prioritises media traffic to reduce the likelihood of video stuttering. However, we had no trouble streaming HD video through the router, whether the setting was enabled or not.

There’s plenty to like about Buffalo’s latest router, but it’s rather disappointing it can’t manage 802.11n on the less-cluttered 5GHz spectrum.

Simon Williams, Computeractive, Friday 3 July 2009 at 09:00:00

Can this small PC be a useful home entertainment computer?

Having created the mini-notebook with its Eee PC Asus followed up with the Eee Box, a tiny desktop version.

Surprisingly successful as a general-purpose home PC, the original Eee Box format was also the ideal candidate for a sitting-room media centre computer, except that it wasn’t powerful enough to handle High Definition (HD) video.

Now Asus claims its B204 and B206 computers (the B206 has a built-in battery backup) – have been improved enough to enable them to handle HD video. To achieve this there have been two major component changes: the main processor and the graphics processor. The models still use Windows XP Home.

The central processor is now a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 and the graphics chip is an ATI Mobility Radeon HD3450, which should in theory work together to provide HD video support.

We were disappointed to find that the B204 still can’t really handle HD video. Even using the lower resolution 720p format, playback was jerky with dropped frames in standard media software.

This is mainly because the ATI chip offers its hardware boost only under Microsoft’s DirectX Video Acceleration (DXVA) and some video player programs don’t support this.

The freeware player MPC-HC does support it, however, and when we loaded this, 720p videos played without problem. With the higher-resolution 1080p material, though, there were more playback problems.

The B204 offers other improvements such as 1GB of memory and a 160GB hard disk. The only video output is an HDMI socket for connection to the flat screen, but there are still four USB sockets and an analogue audio socket, which comes with a converter for digital audio output.

As with the other Eee products there is no CD or DVD drive so any video you play will have to be downloaded or taken from an external hard disk, or you will have to buy and plug in an external disc reader.

The Eee Box itself looks much the same as it did before: a box about the same size as a large broadband router, which can be laid flat on the desk, mounted vertically on its slightly shaky stand or fixed directly to a flat-screen TV using a standard Vesa mounting bracket.

The stand and mount are supplied, as are a wireless network aerial and a remote control, complete with an infra-red adapter.

So, this Eee Box is better on the video side than earlier models, but is still not the ideal vehicle for a small-format media centre.

Power Traveller Solargorilla

Tom Royal, Computeractive, Thursday 2 July 2009 at 15:55:00

Charge your laptop or phone anywhere with this solar panel

Packing for holidays isn’t as easy as it used to be. As well as a passport, sun cream and clothes, many of us want to take a mobile phone – and that means taking a charger, and probably a foreign plug adapter to make it work. If you have an MP3 player, that’ll need a charger too. Oh, and if you’re travelling for work you’ll need a laptop and its charger. Pretty soon the bottom of your suitcase can end up filled with a spaghetti-like mess of power adapters and wires.

One neat solution is the Solargorilla: a foldable solar panel that can be used to charge all kinds of electronic products. Its two panels are fitted into a plastic case that measures around 27x20x2cm when folded shut, and feels impressively rugged – we would have no concerns about chucking it into a rucksack.

The Solargorilla has two sockets. One is designed to charge laptops, and there’s a USB socket for charging smaller devices. A selection of power adapters is supplied in the box, and others can be ordered from the company for a few pounds each.

The only problem we found with the Solargorilla was finding enough sunlight in the UK. Small devices such as a Nokia mobile phone and Nintendo DS games console charged easily, but even on a brilliantly sunny day we couldn’t quite get enough power to properly charge our Medion laptop. If you’re heading somewhere really sunny, of course, this shouldn’t be a problem.

Alternatively the company sells a rechargeable power pack, the Powergorilla, that can be charged from the solar panels and then used itself to deliver a steady charge to a laptop.

All in all, the Solargorilla won’t be ideal for everyone: it’s fairly expensive, and to charge a laptop directly you’ll need very bright sunlight. If you’re travelling somewhere hot and off the beaten track, though, it could prove invaluable.

Orestis Bastounis, Personal Computer World, Thursday 2 July 2009 at 10:41:00

An eco-friendly way to charge mobile devices

The Solar Gorilla is a portable solar panel that can charge an MP3 player, mobile phone, or even a laptop.

It’s quite a bulky unit that comprises two photovoltaic panels that open like a clamshell to capture energy from direct sunlight.

You plug a device into either the 5V USB or 20V laptop power using one of the supplied adapters. There are plenty of these for all the shapes and sizes of power connector used by different manufacturers, so you can charge most notebooks, including those from Asus, Acer, Compaq, Gateway, Epson, Samsung, Sony, E-machines, Viewsonic, Dell, Panasonic, but an Apple Macbook needs an adapter.

It doesn’t store any energy, so you can’t rely on the Solar Gorilla as an alternative battery. Instead, to charge a device, you have to leave it plugged in while the Solar Gorilla is in direct sunlight, which restricts when it can be used.

Powertraveller sells another product, the Power Gorilla, a portable battery that can be charged by the Solar Gorilla, although this costs another £130.

If you spend time camping or hiking, the Solar Gorilla could be exactly what you need if you have to be certain your laptop or mobile phone will work away from a power source.

The surface of the Solar Gorilla is covered in rubber, so it can survive a few knocks and scratches if you’re on the move. It’s quite thin, so will easily slip into a laptop bag or a rucksack, but be aware it weighs 700g.

It’s a free source of energy, but it might take a while before the savings to your electricity bill match the initial cost of the device.

The Solar Gorilla is an excellent solar-powered charger, but aside from giving you a warm feeling that your laptop is being powered from a source of eco-friendly energy, it’s only useful in limited situations, most of them travel-related.

Genius G-Shot HD520 HD camcorder

Orestis Bastounis, Personal Computer World, Thursday 2 July 2009 at 10:25:00

A portable HD camcorder for less than £100

Like the Flip Mino HD, the G-Shot HD520 is a pocket-sized camcorder that can record 720p resolution video. However, the G-Shot can also capture still images, function as a webcam, MP3 player and ebook reader, has a 2.5in rotatable flip-out LCD and its internal storage can be expanded with SD cards. And, incredibly, it’s much cheaper than the Flip Mino HD.

When recording video the G-Shot is meant to be held with your arm outstretched, pointed like a gun. It isn’t as light or portable as the Flip, measuring 4cm deep at its widest point.

On the right-hand side is a control for 5x digital zoom, along with a button to manually turn the flash on or off when taking still images.

Four buttons sit under your thumb for going through menus, selecting options and deleting files. A switch on the top lets you switch focus settings between normal and macro recording.

Regardless of which macro setting you use, the G-Shot won’t produce brilliant-quality video, thanks to its low-quality lens.

We spent time recording indoors and outside, and both times the results were mediocre. Video was either grainy or blurry, with artefacts obscuring small details, which negates the benefit of recording in high definition. It isn’t terrible though and is perfectly suitable for recording video for the web.

The G-Shot’s other features range from good to useless. The MP3 player works well as expected, but the small 2.5in screen isn’t suited for reading ebooks. Its still images are reasonable, although most dedicated compact cameras produce far better quality.

Still, you’d be hard pressed to find another HD camcorder less than £100. The G-Shot isn’t nearly in the same league as the Everio, and falls short of the Flip Mino HD. However, it’s perfectly suited for recording while on holiday, or for anyone who likes to share online video.

David Phelan, Computeractive, Thursday 2 July 2009 at 10:00:00

This ‘business phone’ is neat enough to appeal to everyone

Nokia’s range of E-series phones are aimed at business users, which means they’re great for things such as email.

This new model is the first E-series one with a proper keyboard - it harks back to the company’s Communicator phones, which were always great for typing on but were very hefty.

However, on the E75 a spacious keyboard slides out sideways from behind the screen. The design of this phone was clearly important, and it’s elegant enough to stop it looking like a business phone at all.

It’s reasonably slim like a regular phone, and the gleaming metallic back looks very stylish. Overall, it feels like a classic Nokia that happens to hide a keyboard.

A motion detector means that when you slide out the keypad the screen spins around automatically and quickly so that its orientation matches the keys below.

The benefit of the keypad is obvious – why send text messages using annoying predictive text input when you have a full keyboard available to type on?

It worked very well, although there’s no room for separate number keys which instead occupy the top row of the keyboard - it is odd to have to press a Function key to select them.

Even though it’s sleek and cute, this is a phone that will attract more business-minded users who don’t want to go down the Blackberry route.

The E75 includes a subscription to Nokia Mail – a mail delivery service, free apart from data costs. Setting up a Googlemail account on the phone took just a couple of minutes and was simple and effective.

Like the earlier E71, this phone is designed to work in different ways according to your needs – it can be up for business and personal use with separate, customisable home screens.You can set it so business emails pop up only in the work scenario, for instance.

Internet access is good, with wireless network access built in so you can find a signal in a hotspot, but although the PC software is good for backing up and more, the absence of Apple Mac compatibility is a shame.

There’s a decent 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus, mirror and light, and a standard headphone jack. Battery life was decent rather than exceptional but this is a great phone with nice styling and strong features, including the very useful slide-out keyboard.

Konica Minolta Magicolor 1600W

Simon Williams, Computeractive, Wednesday 1 July 2009 at 17:17:00

A relatively cheap colour-laser printer

Inexpensive colour printing used to be the preserve of inkjet printers, but as prices have continued to drop, it’s now possible to pick up a colour laser for under £150.

Konica Minolta’s Magicolor 1600W is compact for a colour laser, but is still big – microwave oven-sized – compared to an inkjet.

It’s bigger still when in use, as the front cover pulls down to make the paper feed tray and part of the top cover hinges out to make the output tray.

There’s no cover for the paper when loaded, so you’ll probably want to close the machine up when you're not printing so it doesn’t attract dust.

The control panel consists of two buttons and six indicator lights, four of which tell you when the toner in each of the colour cartridges is low.

This printer uses a carousel-style print mechanism, which means each colour in a print is built up separately, before the complete image is transferred to the paper.

This is a slower technique than inline print, which is now more common and produces a colour page in a single pass, but is more expensive.

The Magicolor 1600W only comes with a single USB connection – the USB socket sticks out of the right-hand side of the printer, rather than being less obtrusive at the back.

Konica Minolta only supplies drivers for varieties of Windows – there's no support for Mac or Linux.

Print speeds suffered a bit from the carousel print system, but we still saw a top black print speed of 17 pages per minute (ppm) and a top-colour speed of over 4ppm, both of which were close to the claimed figures.

Print quality was good for both black and colour prints, though black text isn't quite as sharp as from other entry-level laser printers we’ve seen. Colour graphics were bright and attractive, but the range of available colours made photo prints a little over-vivid.

In its intended market of homes and home offices the drum or fuser units, which have lifespans of 45,000 and 50,000 pages respectively, will probably never need replacing.

The only other consumable is the toner itself and this gives a cost per page of 2.6p for black print and 11.7p for colour. The black print cost is good, though the colour is a little on the high side.

Paul Lester, Personal Computer World, Wednesday 1 July 2009 at 16:22:00

A quick and easy way to transcribe handwritten notes

Anyone who has attempted to convert a series of handwritten notes to text on a computer knows that transcription can often be a painstaking and time-consuming process, so automating this with a device such as E-pens Mobile Notes could save a lot of hassle.

The package consists of a digital stylus that acts as a regular pen, a receiver unit and conversion software. It can either be used on the move or as a mouse for tablet PCs, or for handwritten text entry into various applications.

Setup is straightforward and, once charged, the receiver can be clipped to the top of a pad of paper, picking up pen strokes to store as one of up to 50 virtual pages.

Once connected to a computer, these can be imported using the supplied software and converted to digital text using optical character recognition, with a range of settings available to denote language, writing style and end-format.

In addition to this, switching to mouse mode means that pen movements control the pointer on screen, with a tap on the page or click of the control button on the pen, activating left and right click.

We were very impressed by the responsiveness of the stylus and receiver and, though you have to write quite neatly to achieve 100 per cent accuracy, it does an admirable job of converting scrawl into text.

If you are unable or unwilling to write neatly, there is a recognition trainer provided to help the software interpret your style of writing, although you will need to proofread and alter text after writing to correct inevitable mistakes.

A bigger issue is that the pen doesn’t feel solid or well-built and is prone to slipping in the hand slightly after extended use. For normal writing, a premium fountain or ballpoint pen is much more satisfying.

However, the Mobile Notes package is still an effective product for saving time when transferring handwritten notes onto a PC.

Lexmark X4975ve

Simon Williams, Computeractive, Monday 29 June 2009 at 16:11:00

A wireless printer with a few nifty additions

The X4975ve is part of Lexmark’s Professional range of multifunction printer/scanners, which means it comes with larger ink cartridges and a five-year warranty.

It looks clean and functional, with a silver case edge wrapping round the largely black body. There is a near-horizontal Automatic Document Feeder set on top, which makes scanning documents for Optical Character Recognition (OCR) much easier than using the standard glass flatbed scanner.

Paper feeds from a near vertical tray at the rear through to an extending output tray at the front. The control panel looked a little empty and one-sided, as there are no fax facilities in the X4975ve and hence no numeric keypad.

There is a 61mm colour screen, which can show thumbnails of photos as well as the menus. Controls for menu navigation sit to the right of the screen.

The front has memory card slots and a Pictbridge socket for printing direct from a plugged-in digital camera. The back has connections for USB and a home network. However, we suspect more people will use the wireless connection, also provided as standard.

To set this up it’s necessary to temporarily connect the machine through the USB socket first. Some of the printer's competitors have managed the wireless setup process without this step and it could be awkward if it’s hard to get your computer close to the printer.

Print speeds were below average, even for an inkjet, and much slower than Lexmark's claims: we measured just over 7 pages per minute (ppm) for black text and just under 2ppm for colour pictures. The X4975ve can print double-sided pages and at this it was better, at just under five sides per minute.

Print quality was generally OK, though black text is a bit more fuzzy than from rivals such as Canon and HP. Colour graphics are a little pale, though colour photocopies are surprisingly close to their originals. Colour scans from the flatbed are also good in this respect.

Using the larger ink cartridges supplied, one black and the other containing three colours, gives costs per page of 4.7p for black and 8.5p for colour. While the colour cost is reasonable for this class of machine, the black print cost is too high, as is the asking price for the device.

Julian Prokaza, V3.co.uk, Monday 29 June 2009 at 12:16:00

Apple's MacBook Pro range gains a much more portable member

The new 13in MacBook Pro is aimed at people who like the look of Apple's other aluminium 'unibody' models, but don't want to lug around a leviathan laptop just to have Mac OS on the move, or pay a premium for the MacBook Air.

Externally, the 13in MacBook Pro has the same sumptuous good looks as its 15in and 17in siblings, but it weighs a good half a kilo less than the 15in model. It fits more comfortably on the lap too, which is an important consideration if you're prone to working on the train or in cramped economy-class airline seats.

The all-aluminium construction means that the 13in MacBook Pro feels very robust and, like other the other unibody models, there are no external vents to worry about keeping clear. Apple has sensibly relegated all expansion ports to the left side of the laptop and, while this means that there's a plug scrum when they're all in use, the cables are at least kept neatly to one side.

All MacBook Pro models gained an SD Card with Apple's June refresh, and FireWire is now standard on all models. The port was absent from the previous 15in MacBook Pro, much to the annoyance of many. Apple has settled for FireWire 800 ports on all MacBook Pro models though, so you'll need an inexpensive 400-to-800 adapter to connect digital video camcorders and many external FireWire hard drives.

As with other MacBook Pros, the 13in has Apple's new glass multi-touch trackpad and 'Scrabble tile' keyboard, and both are extremely comfortable to use.

The 13.3in glass screen has the same frameless design as the other MacBook Pros but, unlike the 17in model, there's no anti-glare option. We can't help feeling that this is a mis-step for this model since, while the LED backlight gives a wonderfully bright and vibrant image, the screen's highly reflective glossy coating makes it all but useless outdoors, which is where a compact notebook like this will often be used.

One other small caveat with the 13in MacBook Pro is that the battery is non-removable. This is something of a trend with Apple products, although its supporting arguments about increased battery life do seem to hold water (or electrons). The 13in MacBook Pro gives an impressive six hours of typical internet use but, while this is impressive for any laptop, it's no consolation when you can't swap in a spare cell on a 10-hour flight.

With a starting price of £899, the 13in MacBook Pro is good value and highly recommended if you need a powerful Mac OS laptop that's both affordable and portable. The only hiccup is that the white MacBook is still on sale and, thanks to recent specification bumps, has largely the same set of features as the 13in MacBook Pro. In fact, its matte screen, removable battery and FireWire 400 port might make it even more appealing, as long as you can live with its dated design, that is.

Lacie Datashare

Tom Royal, Computeractive, Friday 26 June 2009 at 17:23:00

Two memory card readers in one

Lacie’s Datashare is certainly unusual looking. Its red and white plastic shell looks a bit like a giant pill.

Separate the two-coloured parts, though, and you'll find that each has a USB plug and a memory card slot. The red section takes SD and SDHC cards, or MicroSD cards using an adapter, while the white one accepts only MicroSD.

Apparently, the idea is that you stick a memory card in both and then use one side for files that you want to share and the other for those you want to keep private. There is nothing to stop you keeping both to yourself, though.

The two memory card readers work well, but we’re not sure how useful a MicroSD card reader is – we’d rather have two standard SD ones. Even so, the two-part design does at least keep dust out of the card slots when they’re not in use, and £10 seems a reasonable price to pay for a sturdily made card reader.

Andrea-Marie Petrou, Computeractive, Friday 26 June 2009 at 17:07:00

A frame with interesting features

A photo frame used to mean a static display of a single picture, but with digital photo frames it's possible to show much more than that.

The Sapphire DPF-T10 is a frame that looks sleek and stylish, meaning we weren’t embarrassed to display it in the living room. It has a 10in screen and can display JPEG and BMP format images as well as AVI video.

The screen can also be set up to display the pictures in portrait or landscape mode (that is, propped on its bottom or on its side). Most of the time the frame was able to detect that it had been rotated and it automatically rotated the pictures to match.

That clever touch aside, actual picture quality was not so good – photos were grainy and in some cases badly stretched.

The frame also supports MP3 music files, which means that you can listen to music while viewing pictures. Unfortunately the sound from the internal speakers was very tinny and when we played videos they suffered from the same problem.

However, the frame did come with some interesting features, notably the way it can be switched on by the user clapping twice. A great idea, but you have to stand right next to it, making us wonder if it wouldn’t just be easier to push the power button.

The frame itself is controlled using the touch-sensitive display, which has nine on-screen buttons (they disappear when not being used) to access menus and create slideshows of your pictures.

We were also impressed with the size and sensitivity of the buttons, which were big enough to cater for the biggest of big fingers and sensitive enough for just a light touch.

The frame has 256MB of internal memory for storing video and pictures and we liked the way that we could easily transfer it straight from a camera using the USB socket on the frame, or through a computer. There are also memory card slots that accept the common SD and XD formats but not the Compactflash used by some larger cameras.

First Look: iPhone 3GS

Ian Williams, V3.co.uk, Friday 26 June 2009 at 16:31:00

Is the latest incarnation from Apple worth the hefty price tag?

Apple recently unveiled the third generation of its popular mobile phone, the iPhone 3GS, and we've managed to get our hands on one for a quick once over.

At first glance it's almost impossible to tell the 3G and the 3GS apart, but under the hood Apple has made a number of improvements, including more storage, a higher resolution camera, faster processor, better data speeds, stereo Bluetooth and a magnetometer to enable the compass feature. Despite the extra grunt behind the 3GS, Apple reckons it has managed to improve the battery life as well.

Apparently the 3GS also boasts a smudge resistant screen, but to be honest we couldn't notice much difference and after a few minutes of use you'll find yourself wiping down the screen with your sleeve or a cloth, just like every other touch-screen around.

The latest version of the operating system also brings in a raft of new features, many of which will be available to original and iPhone 3G owners as well, including such novel concepts as search, voice recording, video recording, MMS and the ability to cut and paste text.

Of course some people will argue that Apple is not doing anything new, but instead just catching up with what most of today's smartphones can already accomplish, but regardless these new features do make it an even greater threat in the enterprise market as the iPhone now has enough functionality to make it a workable business device.

Possibly two of the biggest changes in this regard are ability to use the landscape keyboard in any application - something that was sorely lacking in previous iterations – and the introduction of cut and paste. When you have two hands available to type, the landscape layout is almost always much easier, however we found the lengthy procedure required to select, cut or copy, and then paste text to be somewhat laborious. That said, we can't really think of a bett er way that Apple could have done it under the circumstances.

Apple has done an excellent job of integrating MMS support, making the multimedia aspect fit in nicely with the threaded message system it uses for SMS. Adding images is also as simple as tapping the little camera icon that appears when typing a message and then either taking a shot or browsing for an existing one to be embedded into the message.

Another noticeable improvement is the increased data speeds which now support HSPA up to 7.2Mbit/s and if you're in the right areas you can really notice the difference. Similarly the faster processor helps make the iPhone's already slick interface just that bit smoother, particularly in resource heavy applications like Google Earth.

In terms of the camera, the bump in resolution to 3 megapixels and the addition of video recording goes a long way to turning it into something usable, however the lack of any kind of flash or zoom function means it still lags behind most competitors.

The new search function is a great addition, particularly for those heavy users who store a large number of contacts, email and bookmarks, allowing you to search for a term across the entire device in one place.

Apple has also jumped into the voice arena with the launch of the 3GS, introducing a pretty handy voice recorder and voice control as well. The voice recorder works well and also allows you to send recordings off in an MMS or an email.

Voice control is done pretty neatly as well, activated by simply holding down the home button for a few seconds. As long as there isn't too much background noise, the speech recognition is pretty accurate, although it does take a while to learn the commands, and the lack of any ability to train the software is something of a shortfall.

Apple has also introduced tethering, which allows owners to use their iPhone as a 3G modem for their PCs. However, at least here in the UK this feature has been crippled by the mobile operator with the introduction of an extra tethering charge. According to O2, despite the iPhone's unlimited data service on the phone itself, if you wish to tether your iPhone you have to purchase a bolt-on for an additional £15 a month, which gives users up to 3GB of data. In this case, most people would be better off simply buying a separate 3G dongle.

At first glance the addition of the Compass may not seem like anything you might actually use, and as a discrete application that may be true. However its potential to be integrated into other applications is quite wide, the most obvious being maps and navigation – for instance if you double tap the 'locate me' icon in Google Maps the location icon also indicates your direction, helping make finding your way around just that bit easier. It also helps enable full GPS navigation systems to be ported to the iPhone.

So, the iPhone 3GS is faster and packed with a raft of useful new features, but is it worth upgrading? In the UK, O2 has an exclusive deal with Apple for the iPhone and the operator has attached a hefty price tag to the 3GS and isn't offering a free upgrade like it did last time.

Given that many of these new features are available on the previous iPhone through the OS 3.0 upgrade, if you're only a few months into your contract it's probably not worth the upgrade. But if you're a fan of the iPhone and your contract is up for renewal it may be worth counting up your pennies.

However for those that think the new iPhone is too expensive, the recently launched Nokia N97 and the upcoming HTC Hero could be great alternatives and may well suit your pocket a lot better.

Alan Stevens, Personal Computer World, Friday 26 June 2009 at 10:00:00

All in one threat protection for the small business

D-Link’s NetDefend DFL-260 is a UTM (Unified Threat Management) appliance which, at first glance, offers the same firewall/VPN facilities as the cheaper DFL-210 we reviewed back in the September 2007 issue. However, whereas the DFL-210 is very much an entry level product, the new DFL-260 adds anti-virus and more sophisticated intrusion protection options, together with hardware accelerators to cope with much larger networks.

From the outside there’s very little difference, with four 10/100Mbits/sec Ethernet ports for Lan connectivity plus two for the internet. Traffic shaping and failover options are available across the two Wan ports, added to which the second can be used to create a so-called De-Militarized Zone (DMZ), to protect public facing servers.

In terms of the firewall there’s not much difference either, implemented in the NetDefendOS software. To this is then added a VPN server able to support up to 100 tunnels with a maximum throughput overall of 25Mbits/sec. Support for site-to-site and client-based VPN setups is available using a mix of tunnelling IPSec, PPTP and L2TP technologies, but software clients aren’t included.

The “real” UTM options then start with what D-Link calls “stream-based” anti-virus scanning. By this it means the ability to inspect files for viruses as they pass through the gateway, without having to be cached. Kaspersky technology is behind the D-Link anti-virus scanner, added to which there’s an advanced Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) which employs a technology called component-based signature recognition to identify a wide range of potential threats. This, in turn, uses information collected from a number of sites including the US National Vulnerability Database.

The IPS and anti-virus options also benefit from hardware accelerators. D-Link claims the accelerators enable these options to be run simultaneously without degrading firewall/VPN performance and so deliver sufficient throughput to handle networks of 50 users or more.

Web content filtering is yet another option, with 90-days of free updates for this and the other services included. Thereafter, however, annual subscriptions are required which, together, can cost almost as much again as the hardware.

In terms of what it has to offer, then, the DFL-260 looks like it ought to be an effective UTM appliance, well suited to the small business. As with the DFL-210, however, management is something of an Achilles heel

The basics are fine, with a console port for local management via a command line interface plus SNMP support if needed. It’s also possible to connect to the DFL-260 via a browser both for initial deployment and day to day management.

We found the Web interface easy navigate, and there’s a startup wizard to, where for example, you can assign addresses to the various interfaces, set the clock and so on. That done, however, and all you’re left with is a fairly basic firewall. Everything else has to be configured manually, and it’s not easy

Policy-based management is the order of the day, which is good, and once you get to grips with how it all works it’s not hugely difficult. However, you’re presented with a seemingly endless list of options and a high degree of technical knowledge is assumed throughout. Such knowledge is likely to be in short supply in the kind of small businesses at which the product is aimed. The documentation helps, but only a little, leaving the DFL-260 very much the kind of product you’d want a specialist reseller to both install and maintain.