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Top Twenty Stories

Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2

Review Windows 7 on a netbook - worth the wait?

Lenovo’s new IdeaPad S10-2 is an update of the S10e. The hardware is conventional netbook fare with a dual-core Atom processor and a 10.1in screen all dressed up in a smart chassis that makes it look like a baby ThinkPad. There have been a number of updates for this model, such as an increase in the frontside bus speed for the …
TomTom Start satnav

Review Made for map lovers, apparently...

TomTom's Start is essentially the satnav specialist's new low-end model. Rather than say so, though, it's not pitching the product on price but for its simplicity. It's a device designed to get you from A to B and nothing more. TomTom's Start: cuts to the chase with a simple, straightforward UI But it's also being described …
HTC HD2 Windows Mobile smartphone

Review Big screen winner?

HTC has just about the fullest range of Windows Mobile smart phones on the market at the moment with a wide variety of types and prices. The HD2 is at the apex of its range, offering arguably the most bang, but also demanding a considerable amount of bucks. It lines up as HTC's most complete package to date though, with a huge …
Chrysler dumps e-car plans

Leccy Tech Gone, but not forgotten?

Chrysler's e-car strategy has vanished down the plughole, taking with it any chance of us getting intimate with the Lotus Europa-based Dodge Circuit. Chrysler's ENVI arm is to close, ending hope of the Lotus Europa-based Dodge Circuit Things have been ominously quiet at Chrysler's ENVI e-car division for a while and now the …
Dell details smartphone spec

Mini 3i internals revealed

Dell has come clean on the full specifications of its Mini 3i smartphone, and it doesn't impress. Dell's Mini 3i: not the iPhone killer some had hoped for Dell announced earlier this month that its Mini 3i smartphone – which runs China Mobile’s Android-based oPhone platform - would launch in China towards the end of this …
Sony demos monster 3D TV

280in 'wall' made from 70 28in sets

What better way to prove your commitment to the 3D TV market than showing off a big, massive whopping 280in 3D-capable TV? That seems to Sony’s opinion, anyway. Can't see the video? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com The electronics giant this week displayed the monster screen at Japan’s annual International Broadcast …
Microsoft stands tall over Xbox Live lawsuit threat

'We're well within our rights,' claims software giant

The possibility of class-action lawsuit arising from the ban of roughly 1m gamers from Xbox Live doesn’t worry Microsoft, because the firm believes it is in the right. With a view to launching a class action lawsuit against the software giant, US law firm Abington IP last week published a webpage calling for anyone remotely …
Skinny Acer notebook delivers six-day battery life

Just ask Windows 7

Acer appears to have found a solution to notebook users' battery life woes. Its Aspire Timeline 1810TZ apparently delivers a 10x improvement in runtime when compared to other thin'n'light laptops equipped with six-cell lithium-ion batteries. After five hours' usage at a day-long conference the other day, we thought we'd check …
No Freeview HD kit in time for launch, warns telly exec

Full rollout timetable revealed

It's now clear that you'll need a new TV or set-top box (STB) to pick up Freeview HD. However, Register Hardware has learned that compatible kit won’t arrive in Blighty in time for the service’s debut early next month. Richard Lindsay-Davis, Director General of the Digital TV Group (DTG), has admitted to us that “at this stage …
Lawyers pursue banned Xbox Live gamers

Anti-Microsoft class action in the offing?

Are you an Xbox 360 owner recently banned from Xbox Live? Has the ban left you feeling short changed? Perhaps you’ve experienced other console problems as a result of the ban? If you can answer 'yes' to any of these questions, then US law firm Abington IP wants to hear from you. The “intellectual property law and consumer …
Ricoh CX2 super-zoom compact camera

Review Clever capture modes, but what about the video?

It doesn’t seem five minutes since we looked at the CX1 – well, back in April actually – so it’s quite surprise to find that Ricoh has already launched its successor, the CX2. Again, this is a super-zoom compact seemingly aimed at the enthusiast or the DSLR user who occasionally wants to pack something simpler and smaller. That …
Belkin Powerline HD Gigabit mains Ethernet adaptor

Review High-speed networking through a three-pin plug?

Belkin's Gigabit Powerline HD mains-wiring network adaptor is the first we've seen to claim to be able to delivery data transfer rates of up to 1000Mb/s. We stress the word 'claim' and the phrase 'up to'. Makers of powerline kit also market adaptors that, they say, deliver bandwidth of up to 200Mb/s. But no one who uses one …
Asus intros netbook with desktop CPU

Category killer?

Asus has once again extended it Eee PC netbook range, this time with a machine that not only includes Nvidia's Ion graphics but also a dual-core Atom processor - a desktop chip, to be precise. Asus' Eee 1201N: 'desktop replacement' netbook? Including Ion means the Eee PC 1201N can drive a 1366 x 768 resolution display, in …
Palm Pre update inbound

From WebOS 1.1.3 to 1.3.1

The Pre smartphone will be refreshed with an updated webOS “within the next few days”, manufacturer Palm has promised. A Pré update is due within days Customers of Telefonica – that’s O2 to you and me – in the UK, Ireland, Germany and Spain will be automatically updated from WebOS 1.1.3 to version 1.3.1 when within range of …
Wind turbines to power phone masts

~~Cold~~ Green calling?

Forget mobile phone covers made of recycled plastic bottles or handsets powered by sunlight. If you really want to make a green phone call then move to California, where some phone masts will soon run on wind energy. Helix Wind's turbines capture wind using a helix shaped blades Wind turbine manufacturer Helix Wind has …
HP Envy 15 'Lynnfield' Core i7 laptop

Review Inside, Intel's most powerful mobile CPU yet

It might be more accurate to refer to HP’s latest laptop as the ‘Apple Envy’, as the design of the machine so closely mimics that of Apple’s MacBook Pro range. But, to be fair to HP, it hasn’t simply copied Apple. It has added some nice touches of its own, and its use of the Intel Core i7 processor ensures that the Envy 15 …
T-Mobile Pulse

Review The Googlephone for everyone?

There haven’t been that many Android smartphones in the UK yet, but T-Mobile is already looking to capitalise on the burgeoning demand Google's operating system by releasing the Pulse, the first pay-as-you-go Android handset. T-Mobile's Pulse: Android goes PAYG Running Android 1.5 - aka Cupcake - the Pulse is the lowest- …
PS3 to go 3D in 2010, says Sony

Specs at the ready

Sony has formally announced plans to bring true 3D gaming to the PlayStation 3. Five advantages of the PS3 over, presumably, the Xbox 360 Source: Kotaku In a presentation designed to outline the “five key advantages of PlayStation 3”, Sony stated: “All PS3 units will be firmware upgradeable to 3D.” The company also …
Humax Freeview HD set-top box to debut 'early 2010'

Ahead of the rest?

Just days after Register Hardware was told by telly chiefs that no Freeview HD kit will be available in the UK ahead of the service’s switch-on next month, manufacturer Humax has announced the impending launch of its first Freeview HD-compatible set-top box. Humax's Fox-HD-T2 is set up for Freeview HD As its name suggests, …
E-book readers to stay pricey next year

Won't hit $100 for ages, says screen supplier

Holding out for a £100 e-book reader before snapping up one of these gadgets for yourself? You may get lucky this year, but don't expect prices to fall any further. Scott Liu, head of screen maker PVI - the Taiwanese firm that recently bought e-ink pioneer E Ink - forecast today that readers will not drop to hit the $100 (£61 …