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Essential iCloud guide: Introduction

Poor old MobileMe. It tried hard, but never quite delivered. Expensive, sometimes slow and saddled with a clumsy name, it has long had the air of an unloved child.

Its development cycle was long and drawn out. And by the time Steve Jobs announced the end of its short and undistinguished life, just two years after its rebirth from the ashes of .Mac, few were inclined to shed any tears.

Yet it wasn’t all bad. The email service was stable and largely dependable. It synced our contacts, so we didn’t need to tap them all in on an iPhone keyboard, and the calendar tool always made sure we turned up on time, wherever we happened to be.

Apple knew this as well as anyone, which is why it chose to preserve those parts, jettisoning the web publishing, photo gallery and iDisk, as it set about building iCloud.

Housed in a vast data centre in North Carolina, iCloud is Apple’s next-generation online service. It syncs your iPhone, iPad, Mac and iPod touch. It can track a lost device, copy your iPhone snaps over the web so they’re safely backed up on your Mac, and synchronise your iWork files so that whatever device you’re using, downtime is never wasted time.

Over the next few pages, we’ll show you how to set up your Mac and iOS devices to use iCloud, how to sync your apps and data, and how easy it is to back up your documents to the web. You’ll soon see that MobileMe’s demise really was the iCloud with a silver lining.

Whether you’re moving an existing MobileMe account to iCloud or setting it up for the first time, Apple has applied its trademark logic to the process to make it as simple as possible.

The most important step you need to take is to make sure all of your devices are up to date and running the most recent versions of each headline app. Here we’ll walk you through the process, step by step.

Update your Mac

To take advantage of all of iCloud’s features you need to be running OS X Lion. This is now well bedded in and although some older machines appear to run a little slower than they did under Snow Leopard, it’s generally proved to be fault free and enjoys good compatibility with existing third-party hardware and software.

iCloud requires Lion version 10.7.2 or later, which is the version currently being shipped through the App Store (£21). If you upgraded to Lion when it shipped back in July and haven’t touched it since then, run Software Update now to downloaded the latest revision before going any further.

Lion only works on Macs running on an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, i5 or i7, or Xeon processor. That precludes the earliest Intel Macs and anything running a PowerPC processor.

It requires a minimum of 2GB of RAM, 7GB of hard drive space and Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later. This was the first version of the OS released via the Mac App Store, through which the 4GB installer must be downloaded.

If you’re on a capped broadband deal or you don’t have broadband, then all is not lost. Head for a bricks-and-mortar Apple Store if you have one within reasonable driving distance and download it there using the free Wi-Fi.

Alternatively, order the £55 OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive from http://store.apple.com/uk/product/ MD256Z/A. It’s over twice the price of the downloaded edition, but it does come on one of the best-looking thumb drives we’ve ever seen.

Update iPhoto/Aperture

One of the most exciting features of iCloud is Photo Stream, which automatically copies the 1,000 photos you’ve most recently taken over the last 30 days between your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, as well as backing them up to any Mac running iPhoto or Aperture.

Again, you’ll need to ensure that you’re running the very latest edition of either of these applications. In the case of iPhoto, that’s iPhoto 11 version 9.2 or later, while Aperture users should be running version 3.2 or later.

Both of these are available through the Mac App Store (iPhoto 11 costs £10.49; Aperture 3 costs £55).

Update iTunes

iCloud has taken over from MobileMe as the main synchronisation conduit for all of your data on Apple’s integrated ecosystem. That includes not only your contact, email accounts, calendars and so on, but also your purchases through the iTunes Store, iBook Store and Mac App Store.

That means that any purchase you make on any of your devices, or through iTunes on your Mac, will automatically be synchronised on each of your other devices. This works on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch as soon as you upgrade to iOS 5 and activate iCloud.

But to get the Mac side of things working you need to upgrade to iTunes 5 or later, again through Software Update.

Update iOS devices

iCloud is compatible with the iPhone 3GS, 4 and 4S, iPad and iPad 2, and the third- and fourth-generation iPod touch. Each must be running iOS 5 to gain access to options for enabling the integrated iCloud features that sit at the heart of the OS.

The original iPhone and iPod touch only support as far as iPhone OS 3.1.3, and the iPhone 3G and second-generation iPod touch, iOS 4.2.1. If you’re updating several identical devices at one time, download the iOS 5 setup files manually so that you don’t tie up your internet connection as iTunes retrieves them for each device individually. See here for the direct download links and instructions on how to apply each patch.

Be aware that if you follow this route, the bundles differ according to which device you want to update. So while the OS underpinning your iPad 2, iPhone 4 and iPod touch might all be called iOS 5, they differ sufficiently for you to require a different setup file for each one.

The simplest route to updating your device, therefore, is to connect it to your Mac using USB and launch iTunes. iTunes will check Apple’s servers for the iOS 5 update and patch your device. Click Download and Update to proceed, having already performed a manual synchronisation to ensure there’s an up-to-date backup of your data in place should anything go wrong.

Once you’ve updated to iOS 5, all future software updates can be performed directly through the phone without plugging it in to your Mac. Tap Settings > General > Software Update to check for new releases.

You’ll also need to update your Apple TV to take advantage of Photo Stream and access your previous iTunes purchases. Do this by using your remote to select Settings > General > Software Update. When Apple TV has located the installer, click Download and Install (or Download Now on a first-generation Apple TV). When the download completes on Apple TV 2, the update will have been applied. On Apple TV 1, click Update Now. Note that only Apple TV 2 is compatible with iCloud Photo Stream.

With all of your devices and applications up to date, it’s time to take the plunge and set up your iCloud account properly. For existing MobileMe members, this is a simple matter of transferring your existing account. Everyone else, however, is starting from scratch. Turn the page to get started.

Setting up iCloud

iCloud for new users

Signing in to iCloud requires an Apple ID. If you’ve ever bought anything from one of Apple’s online stores – music, apps, books, videos and so on – you already have an Apple ID.

If you can’t remember what it is, point your browser at https://iforgot.apple.com, click Forgot Apple ID and enter your name, address and email address (or, if you can remember your Apple ID but you’ve forgotten your password, simply enter your ID in the box and click Next).

If you don’t already have an Apple ID you can sign up for one for free without making any purchases at https://appleid.apple.com. Your selected Apple ID will take the form of an email address, but note that you can’t use an existing MobileMe address here.

If you have one, it counts as an existing Apple ID, so you can use that to set up your Mac and iOS devices. So with your Apple ID registered, point your browser at http://icloud.com and sign in.

MobileMe users

As you already have an account set up, you need to convert it to iCloud. Open a browser window and visit www.me.com/move. You’ll need to enter your MobileMe password to authorise the transfer.

There’s no such thing as an iCloud family account, so master account holders of MobileMe Family Packs will have to transfer each user individually.

Data synchronisation

Like MobileMe before it, iCloud synchronises all of your day-to-day data, including appointments and contacts, between each of your devices. Again, setting this up is a two-step process conducted first on your Mac and then on your iOS device.

Open System Preferences > iCloud on your Mac and log in using the Apple ID and password tied to your iCloud account. Now check the boxes beside the data you want to synchronise, including Contacts, Calendars, Bookmarks and Mail & Notes.

As with MobileMe, this latter option doesn’t synchronise your email messages – just your account settings. However, it does synchronise jottings created using the Notes application on your iPad or iPhone, filing them neatly inside the OS X Mail application.

Now turn to your iOS device and add your iCloud account: tap Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Add Account… and enter your Apple ID credentials, choosing iCloud as the account type. With this in place, step back to the overall Settings screen and tap iCloud, followed by the sliders beside the data types you want to synchronise. That way they match the ones you activated on your Mac.

Bear in mind that the more you synchronise, the more you’ll eat into your storage allocation, with even Mail and any attachments in your inbox, outbox, drafts and folders counting against your limit. Photo Stream is the only synchronisation feature that Apple excludes from its calculations when working out how much you’ve used. And for good reason: it would be impossible for you to accurately judge in advance the exact size of each picture you take and how much space it will occupy on Apple’s servers.

You should therefore avoid synchronising more data types than you need if you want to avoid having to upgrade to a paid account at some point in the future.

iTunes Store syncing

iTunes’ status has been demoted slightly since the arrival of iOS 5 in that you don’t need to use it to set up a new iPhone, or necessarily plug in your phone using USB to sync it. However, it remains a hub for your incoming data and an essential backup location for downloaded apps, books and music, so that should you lose your iOS device you won’t also lose all your purchases.

Launch iTunes and click iTunes > Preferences > Store, then click the check boxes beside Music, Apps and Books to automatically download all purchases made on your iOS devices simultaneously to your iTunes library. This saves you syncing your device manually the next time you want to create a backup.

Setting up iTunes is only one half of the process, as you need to enable the same options on your iOS devices. Here, click Settings > Store and tap the sliders beside Music, Apps and Books to activate synchronisation.

On the iPhone and on 3G-enabled iPads you’ll find a further option here to download your purchases over the cellphone network. Tap the slider beside Use Mobile Data to do this, but only if you’re sure you’re happy for your mobile 3G data allowance to be used in this way. If you are intending to take your device overseas, be sure to disable this particular feature. The excess fees you’ll be charged for data roaming will make even a free app painfully expensive.

How to free up space on your iCloud account

1. Consider an upgrade

Every iCloud account comes with 5GB of free storage, which you can optionally upgrade by 20GB or 50GB for £28 and £70 a year respectively. You might consider doing this when things start to get tight. But before you do, how about clearing out some unused files?

2. Manage current storage

You can manage your iCloud storage from either your Mac or an iOS device. If you’re at your Mac, simply open System Preferences > iCloud and click the Manage… button. On iOS, tap Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup > Manage Storage.

3. Clear unused files (OS X)

On OS X, click through the various apps that are authorised to save data to your iCloud space to see which apps are hogging more than their due. Select the files you don’t need any more and press Command+Delete to remove them, or click Delete All to clear out all files of that type.

4. Clear unused files (iOS)

On your iOS device, tap the name of each application in turn, followed by Edit, and then the red circles beside the names of the files you want to remove. This calls up a series of red Delete buttons. Simply tap these to confirm the removal.

5. Buy more storage

If you still need more storage, step back to Manage Storage on iOS, or click Buy More Storage… in OS X and select the amount of extra space you want to buy. Bear in mind that the specified quantities are in addition to your free 5GB account.

6. Downgrade options

Avoid paying for additional storage that you may no longer need when your account comes up for renewal by setting it to a more appropriate level. Click Downgrade Options… and select your new account quota. Note the billing details at the top of the pane.

Essential iCloud guide: Photo Stream

Photo Stream is like Time Machine for your iPhone snaps. Take a photo on any device running iOS 5 or later and it’ll be synchronised to all of your other devices, and your Mac, without any input from yourself.

It’s quite magical the first time you see it in operation, but how does it work, and how can you put it to use?

Set up Photo Stream

Enable Photo Stream on your iOS device by tapping Settings > iCloud > Photo Stream and tapping the action slider so that it reads ‘ON’. You can now step out of settings and get on with using your device as usual.

On your Mac, Photo Stream helpfully synchronises with iPhoto 11 or Aperture 3.2. You can enable it through System Preferences by clicking in the Photo Stream check box on the iCloud pane. You now need to decide which application should act as the archive for your remotely shot images. (Apple doesn’t allow you to send them simultaneously to iPhoto and Aperture.)

Open either application’s Preferences and click the toolbar’s Photo Stream icon, then tick the box to Enable Photo Stream, followed by either or both of the options to automatically import and automatically upload new photos. We would recommend at the very least enabling automatic import so that you maintain a complete archive of your iOS photos on your Mac.

Unlike the photos in the Photo Streams on your iOS devices, these will never be removed from your account, even after the 30-day limit.

Do you really need to enable automatic uploads? That depends on what your plans are. Are you going to be importing several hundred holiday shots when you return from your travels? It’s better to decide now whether you want them to also be sent to your iOS device. If not, uncheck that option.

Photo Stream only works over Wi-Fi, so it won’t hammer your 3G bandwidth and risk taking you close to your mobile contract’s monthly cap. One less thing to worry about when you’re on holiday!

Every time you take a photo on any iOS 5 device linked to your iCloud account, it’s uploaded to Apple’s servers when you quit the Camera app. From there it’s sent back down to your other iOS devices and your Mac.

The next time you fire up iPhoto or Aperture (depending on which you have linked to your iCloud account) you’ll find a Photo Stream entry in the sidebar containing a copy of each of your iOS photos. Your pictures will also appear on the second-generation Apple TV running software update 4.4 or later.

Photo Stream on iOS

Things work slightly differently on an iOS device to the way they do in Aperture or iPhoto. Images shot on any device are saved locally, as usual, to the Camera Roll in the Photos app.

Step back one level from here on the iPhone or iPod touch, or use the buttons at the top of the screen on the iPad, and you’ll see a new library called Photo Stream. This is where you’ll find your synchronised images, whether they were snapped on an alternative iOS device or synchronised through iPhoto or Aperture.

Any photo taken on an iOS device will remain on that device until you actively choose to delete it. However, items that appear only in the Photo Stream album will be removed from the device after 30 days. They will also be removed from the Photo Stream album on an iOS device one at a time if you add more than 1,000 during that 30-day period, with the oldest one in each instance being killed off to make way for each new addition.

It’s therefore vitally important that you take an active interest in saving (and backing up!) your synchronised pictures. Fire up iPhoto or Aperture at least once a month to make sure you have a copy of your images on your Mac. And if you want to keep synchronised photos on any iOS devices other than the ones originally used to take them, copy them to your Camera Roll by following the instructions in the walk-through below.

Images downloaded to your Mac are saved at their native resolution, so for anything taken using the rear camera on an iPhone 4S that means the full 8 megapixels. This matches some compact cameras on sale just a couple of years ago.

However, images sent to Photo Stream on an iOS device are first reduced in size to optimise them for display on that particular device’s screen. The exact resolution will depend on the dimensions of the original, but Apple currently uses 2048×1535 pixels (3 megapixels) as its benchmark.

Photo Stream is compatible with JPEG, TIF, PNG and RAW images imported from your iPhoto or Aperture library. These formats are in turn converted as part of the transfer process.

How to archive synchronised photos on an iOS device

1. Select Photo Stream

To save synchronised images from being expired and disappearing from the Photo Stream on your iOS device, you should copy any you want to keep to your Camera Roll. Open the Photos app and step back to the albums page, then select Photo Stream.

2. Tick images

Tap the shortcut button on the toolbar (it looks like a box with an arrow curling out of it) and select the images you want to copy by tapping on each one in turn. As you do, they’ll be given a small red tick to show which have been selected.

3. Tap to keep

Tap the save button at the foot of the screen to store them in your Camera Roll. The images will be left in place on your Photo Stream and removed when their time is up, but the versions you saved will be kept on your device until you remove them manually.

How to delete your Photo Stream

1. Log in to iCloud

Although your Photo Stream contents don’t count against your iCloud storage limit, there may be times when you want to delete the contents of the stream entirely. Log in to your iCloud account at icloud.com and click the iCloud icon in the top-left corner.

02. Delete remote photos

Click your name at the top of the screen to open your account preferences. Click the Advanced button and then, click Reset Photo Stream. This clears out the images on Apple’s servers but leaves them where they are on your Mac and iOS devices.

3. Delete local photos

To remove the images from your iOS device, open Settings > iCloud > Photo Stream and tap the activity button so that it reads ‘OFF’. You’ll be asked for confirmation, after which all of the synchronised photos will be removed, leaving in place only original and saved snaps.

Essential iCloud guide: Backups and storage

As we’ve already discussed, iCloud takes care of backing up all of your iOS purchases on your Mac, and simultaneously installs any apps you buy on your Mac to each of your iOS devices. However, you can now go one step further and save your device backups directly to the cloud.

Previously, every time you synchronised your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with iTunes on your Mac it would create a local backup. That way, should the worst happen, you could easily recover your documents, contacts, appointments and apps. That’s still an option, but in iOS 5 and iTunes 5 Apple has improved on this feature in two ways.

First, you can now enable wireless backups to iTunes so that whenever your device is plugged into a power source and connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your iTunes library, it will automatically synchronise the two. You can opt instead to save that backup to iCloud, so that should your Mac be damaged or lost your backup won’t be lost with it.

To enable this, connect your iOS device to your Mac, select its entry in the iTunes sidebar, and click the Back up to iCloud radio button on the Summary page. Now your device will be backed up once a day whenever it’s plugged in.

The final piece of the iCloud puzzle (at least until iTunes Match arrives in the UK) is Documents in the Cloud, which maintains a backed-up copy of all of your remotely edited Pages, Numbers and Keynote documents.

Synchronisation with iCloud requires the latest versions of the iOS iWork apps. These updates are free for all existing users, but if you don’t already have them, the apps are sold individually at £6.99 apiece through the App Store. They’re all Universal apps, so work on the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

You need to opt in to use iCloud with each application individually. If you’re firing up any one of them for the first time you’ll be given the option to do this on the startup screens. But if you’ve already been using them in the past, you can activate them through the iOS Settings application where they appear among the third-party apps at the bottom of the menu.

Working with documents

Open the iWork app of your choice and create a new document by tapping the ‘+’ in the upper left corner of the screen. We’d recommend ignoring the option to use iDisk as this will disappear over time, so it makes sense to get out of the habit as soon as you can.

Tap Create Document and choose a document type in the usual way, then start working. When you’ve finished, and you return to the document menu, you’ll notice that its thumbnail has a small arrow on a turned-over corner. This is a warning that the document hasn’t yet been backed up to iCloud.

Your documents will automatically sync to the same apps on any other iOS device the next time you start them up, and are also saved to your online iCloud account. Point your browser at www.icloud.com/iwork, and you’ll see that there are individual tabs for Keynote, Pages and Numbers, with the relevant documents organised inside each one. Here, things don’t work quite as smoothly as you might hope…

Apple has made great claims about iCloud’s ability to synchronise your documents across all devices. It says you can shut down your Mac on your way out the door and finish working on your document, spreadsheet or presentation on your iPad on the way home.

Technically that’s true, but only if when using OS X you manually copy your data to and from iCloud. To access the document created on your iOS device, click it in the web interface and select the format in which you’d like to download it. Choose from the native iWork formats, their Microsoft Office equivalents and PDF.

To send documents from your Mac to your iOS device, select the relevant application by clicking its name on the tabs at the top of the web interface; then drag the file into the document management area that fills the rest of the screen. A progress gauge monitors its passage onto iCloud.

We can expect to see more apps exploit Documents in the Cloud, as Apple has opened up the underlying hooks that will enable third-party coders to integrate the service into their own apps. But we would also hope to see iCloud integrated directly into the OS X iWork apps so that we no longer need to open a browser window to access our iOS documents.

How to manage iCloud files in your browser

1. Rename files

Click once on the document’s filename and type a new name, pressing return as you would in the Finder to confirm the change. Filenames can be up to 255 characters in length and contain anything you like – so long as they don’t start with a colon, dot or slash.

2. Copy a document

Click once on the document’s thumbnail icon, followed by the cog icon, and then select Duplicate Document from the drop-down menu. The next time you check your iOS devices you will see that the file has been duplicated and is ready to work on.

3. Keyboard navigation

Now press Ctrl+Esc to activate the keyboard, then use the cursor keys to move around your files in the browser view. Pressing Shift+Esc has the same effect as clicking the iCloud icon – you will be taken back to the applications menu.

View full post on TechRadar: latest computing news

Germany seems to be a hotbed for patent war activity at the moment with Apple now overturning an online sales ban on many of its 3G gadgets.

Just this morning we reported on an injunction won by Motorola preventing Apple selling the iPad 2, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 on it’s official online shop due to its alleged infringement on a 3G patent.

However, the wheels of justice move quickly in these matters and Apple has been able to strike down the injunction with haste.

Moto being unreasonable?

The Cupertino-based company says that the legal see-saw was able to occur due to Motorola Mobility’s refusal (no doubt backed by its new friends at Google) to "reasonably" license the patent to Apple.

An Apple spokeswoman told AllThingsD: "All iPad and iPhone models will be back on sale through Apple’s online store in Germany shortly.

"Apple appealed this ruling because Motorola repeatedly refuses to license this patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard patent seven years ago."

Apple is now in the process of repopulating its store, but Motorola which initially filed for the injunction in December, will continue the fight for a reinstatement of the ban.

Via: AllThingsD

View full post on TechRadar: latest computing news

Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman says the company’s soon-to-be open source WebOS software will eventually be better than both the Android and iOS platforms.

HP will launch the first version of the reimagined operating system in September this year after deciding to commit the storied software to the open source community.

Whitman said the result will prove to be superior to the ‘closed’ Apple iOS ecosystem and the undeniably ‘fragmented’ Android platform.

She also confirmed that the company will re-enter the tablet market, following the HP TouchPad debacle of 2011.

An open and closed case

In an interview with CRN, she said: "There is a clear vision of what we’re trying to accomplish.

"There will be some people who will not love that vision, and then there are people who are very excited about this vision, and what it can mean for an alternative, open-source operating system that has some real strengths to it.

"We’re going to build another operating system that has huge advantages, in my view, over iOS, which is a closed system, [and] Android, which is incredibly fragmented and may ultimately be more closed with [Google's] acquisition of Motorola Mobility."

Windows 8 tablet

Whitman, who took the reigns at the world’s largest PC manufacturer in September last year, also stated that HP will be in amongst it when the first Windows 8 tablets come to market later this year.

She said: "We have to have a tablet offering," Whitman said. "We will be back in that business. We’re coming back into the market with a Windows 8 tablet, first on an x86 chip and then maybe on an ARM chip."

Via: CRN, BGR

View full post on TechRadar: latest computing news

Avid has launched a version of its Avid Studio video editing software for the Apple iPad.

The £2.99 app brings a host of the ‘prosumer’ features associated with the desktop suite and hopes that iPad owners will use it in collaboration with the full suite for Mac and PC.

Like Apple’s own iMovie software, which launched with the iPad 2 back in March, the software will enable users to arrange and fine-tune clips with frame-by-frame edits.

There’s also a host of effects and transitions that can be dragged onto clips, while soundtracks can be added from the many built-in options or songs from your iPad’s music library.

Once you’re done with editing the project, it can be exported to Facebook or YouTube and also to the device’s camera roll.

Avid to Avid

It’s at this point that Avid hopes that owners of the desktop software can benefit from the on-the-go aspect of the app.

Once the video has been exported it can be easily brought into to the Avid Studio for Mac or PC, which brings the full-range of editing and exporting options.

"We’ve seen a shift in how creation is happening, and it’s really happening on almost any device," said Avid VP Tanguy Leborgne. "We think the tablet is more than just a consumer device; more and more people are creating on it."

The launch of software like iMovie and the more powerful Avid Studio programs add more weight to Apple’s claims that the iPad is a post-PC device.

After 30 days of using the Avid Studio for iPad app, you’ll need to front-up a couple more quid to continue using it on a full-time basis

Via: AllThingsD

View full post on TechRadar: latest computing news

Apple is plotting a souped-up Nike+ style application for future versions of iOS, which would allow athletes to compete against each other in real-time, according to a recent patent filing.

The application would link up with specific pieces of gym equipment to write data to an iOS device in real-time and then upload the results to provide a competitive real-time environment.

So, for example, if you’re running on a treadmill in London, you could race against a bloke doing the same thing in San Francisco as if you were on the same running track.

iOS devices would link up with each other and display stats like time, distance, heart-rate, calories burned and even blood oxygen levels.

Providing a competitive environment

The filing, entitled Interfacing Portable Media Devices and Sports Equipment says that information would be communicated between users via a third party website.

The abstract for the filing at the US Patent Office reads: "Circuits, methods, and apparatus that allow sports or other equipment, such as gym or other cardio equipment, to write data to a media player.

"Examples further provide the uploading of this data to a computer and third-party website. To monitor progress, the third-party website can be used to track workout data over time. The third party-website can also collect data from other users, which is particularly useful for providing a competitive environment.

"This data can then be graphically displayed in various ways to provide encouragement."

Nike+ in real-time

Apple has featured the Nike+ software, in various guises, on iPhone and iPad models down the years, but the suggestion here is that Apple thinks it can perhaps do better and turn iOS devices into essential fitness gadgets.

Nike+ currently uploads your workout data after you’ve finished exercising, but this innovation would allow head-to-head competition in real-time.

The app would, of course, require gyms to upgrade their machinery to be compatible with such a system which is probably more of a reach than Apple creating the software in the first place.

You can read the full USPTO filing here.

View full post on TechRadar: latest computing news

Microsoft has begun shipping the Kinect for Windows hardware, opening the door for a wave of motion-based applications for PCs.

The newly-developed peripheral is now available for £249, although Qualified Educational Users, can get a $100 discount later this year.

The launch of the Kinect for Windows hardware accompanies the release of version 1.0 of the commercial SDK and runtime to enable developers to get to work on new applications.

New features

The official launch of the SDK brings several improvements on Beta 2, which was released three months ago.

Among the new features is support for up to four peripherals on the same computer, improved skeletal tracking and the new Near Mode which allows the sensor to track objects as close as 40cm from the device.

The full list of new features can be viewed on the Kinect for Windows blog.

Wednesday’s launch lives up to CEO Steve Ballmer’s recent promise to make the devices and software available on February 1st.

View full post on TechRadar: latest computing news

Best free video converter: 1-6

AVI, MOV, MPEG, FLV, MKV, MP4 – videos come in many different formats. Each of which can then vary in a raft of subtle ways.

Which would be just fine if every application and device could handle every possible format, but of course that isn’t the case.

And so often you’ll find you’ve downloaded a movie to your PC, phone or tablet, but either it has major playback problems – no picture or sound, say – or you can’t watch the clip at all.

This doesn’t have to hold you up for long, though. There are plenty of free video conversion tools which can quickly import movies in just about any format, perhaps tweak them in useful ways (change the resolution, maybe carry out basic editing operations), and export them in formats you can actually use.

And if you’re aiming to view the clip on a mobile device then some of these programs can be incredibly easy to use. They’ll often include a library of presets for common devices, so if you want to export a video to an iPhone 4, say, you won’t have to manually tweak every possible setting.

Just choose the iPhone 4 preset and the program will automatically configure itself to produce the precise format you need.

The only real problem is that there are now so many free video conversion tools that you might be left wondering, which is best? We’re curious, too – so we decided to pitch 12 popular packages against each other in an effort to find out.

NOTE: While these tools are free, many now include browser toolbars and similar addons. If you’d rather not install these, don’t just keep clicking Next during the setup process: read each screen carefully. Choose "Custom" installation options where they’re offered, and clear the checkboxes next to any "bonus extras" which you’d rather not have on your system.

Best free video converter: How we tested

Our first measurement of video conversion tool quality comes in looking at its features. How many formats can it import and export, for instance? Do these cover all the options you’ll need?

We checked to make sure that you can carry out basic tweaks during the conversion process, like changing the video resolution. And we awarded extra marks for bonus features, such as the ability to edit the source video before converting it.

Video editing can be a complicated, jargon-packed process, so we were also interested in ease of use. We wanted our conversion tools to provide access to low-level conversion options (sometimes that’s very useful), but these should never get in your way.

Our utilities should ideally provide sensible default settings at all times, and device presets as well, so you can export to, say, an iPad 2 just by selecting it from a list.

And as converting videos can take a very long time, performance is particularly important. To measure this, we gave each conversion tool four tests.

Starting with the source files from Big Buck Bunny, we converted the 1080p surround-sound AVI to 320×240 WMV; tried transcoding the 480p MOV to MP4 (vital as that’s such an important format these days); and converted the 320×180 MP4 file to both FLV and MPEG2.

AVI to WMV

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MOV to MP4

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MP4 to FLV

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MP4 to MPEG2

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And while these tests don’t cover every possibility, they provided a great deal of very useful information. So read on to discover which conversion tools you really need to consider, and the programs you should avoid at all costs.

1. Any Video Converter Free 3.3.2

Compatible with: Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7

Video conversion tools can sometimes be scary, complex, intimidating – but not this one. If your needs are basic then you can just drag in your files, choose the output format you need from the wide selection on offer, click "Convert Now!", and the program will go to work. It’s all very easy.

There’s also plenty of power here, though. Any Video Converter Free can download videos directly from YouTube, Google, MetaCafe and so on, for instance. Handy editing options include the ability to trim and crop footage, and apply useful special effects (sharpen, reduce noise, tweak brightness or contrast). And once you’ve chosen an output profile then you can customise a few of its settings, perhaps choosing a new resolution, frame rate, bit rate and so on.

Performance was a little disappointing, especially considering that Any Video Converter is (like many similar programs) mostly just a front end for the excellent FFMPEG conversion library. Only two programs were slower in the important MP4 conversion test, and the others weren’t quick, either.

And there was another problem. The program includes a "Burning to DVD" profile which is supposed to burn your videos to DVD when the conversion is over, but just gave us an error message.

This is a pity, because Ant Video Converter is well designed and had lots of useful functionality. It only offers limited control over the conversion process, so video experts may want to look elsewhere, but if you’re more interested in ease of use and can put up with the below-par performance then this could be an acceptable choice.

We liked

Easy to use, downloads from YouTube, useful video editing features, supports many input/ output formats

We disliked

Only limited control over the video conversion, DVD burning didn’t work for us, disappointing performance

2. Free Studio 5.3.3

Compatible with: Windows XP, Vista, 7

Free Studio is a suite of 45 freeware tools to handle all kinds of video-related tasks: downloading, ripping, burning, and of course converting clips from one format to another.

A front end menu tries to integrate all these, but it still takes some exploration to find what you need. Once discovered the relevant tools, though, they follow the usual route: import your chosen videos, choose the appropriate output format or device, and convert at a click.

If Free Studio doesn’t provide a profile to suit your needs, then it’s possible to configure a new one. So if you need to create 1024×768 AVIs, say, then in a click or two you can build a profile which uses that resolution, and in future you’ll be able to simply select it from the list. Which is handy, although there are only very few tweaks available within a profile: video frame rate, bit rate, resolution, audio sample rate, bit rate, the number of audio channels, and, well, that’s it. (You can’t even choose the audio codec, typically – the program selects what’s appropriate for the format.)

When it comes to performance, the story is mixed: Free Studio did very well in the important MP4 conversion tests, but was poor at creating FLVs, and couldn’t produce an MPEG2 file at all.

And so if you’re looking for real video conversion power this Free Studio probably won’t be good enough. But if you only need to convert videos occasionally, maybe to MP4, then Free Studio may deliver exactly what you need (and its ease of use and host of extras are a welcome bonus.)

We liked

Well designed, many extras (download, ripping, burning tools), good MP4 conversion speed

We disliked

conversion functions are inconveniently split across several programs, only limited conversion tweaks, slow FLV export, failed to create MP2 file

3. Format Factory 2.80

Compatible with: Windows XP, Vista, 7

Format Factory offers a good balance between ease of use and video conversion power. It’s easy to get started: you can choose the type of file you’d like to create, add some videos to be converted, and pick your required output settings. But you also just get a little more control over those settings than in some of the more basic tools here.

When creating an MP4 movie, for instance, you can choose the encoding option (DivX, XviD, H264); the video resolution; frame rate, audio codec, sample rate, volume and more, even rotating the image, or adding subtitles or a watermark, if you like.

But if you’re in a hurry, no problem, the program also provides multiple profiles which configure all your settings in a click. The MP4 conversion, for instance, has 27, with descriptive names like "Mobile Device Compatible 320×240 MPEG4", so it’s easy to find what you need. (And if for some reason it isn’t, then you can easily create new profiles to do whatever you want.)

Performance wasn’t bad, either, with Format Factory scoring well on our HD to MP4 and WMV tests, although its inability to run our MP4 to FLV conversion dragged its mark down.

The programs mix of usability with plenty of advanced conversion tweaks does mean it’s worth a look, though. And as a bonus, there are plenty of extra options, including the ability to create animated GIFs from movies, extract video soundtracks, convert audio and image files, rip DVDs and CDs, and more.

We liked

Advanced conversion options, plenty of built-in conversion presets, watermark and subtitling support, bonus audio/ image/ other conversion types, good MP4/ WMV output performance

We disliked

Failed to convert one test file

4. Freemake Video Converter 3.0.1

Compatible with: Windows XP, Vista, 7

If you need your conversion tool to support the widest possible range of formats then Freemake Video Converter could be ideal: it supports a lengthy list of video types, as well as being able to import audio files, images, DVDs, even YouTube URLs.

Once your movies have been imported, you’re able to remove sections you don’t need via a simple video editor. There’s a useful option to set a limit on the maximum size of your movie, or you might choose to import a series of files, but then join them together so they’re saved as a single video.

Export support for files is a little more basic, being mostly limited to the essentials, and you can only tweak a few elements of your chosen format (codec, resolution, frame rate, audio and video bitrate, sample rate, channels).

Exporting to mobile devices is better, however, with support for many Apple, Nokia, Samsung, Blackberry and other device types (there are even pictures of many phones, rather than just the model names, to help you choose). Choose the appropriate device and the program will automatically configure itself to produce compatible videos: all you have to do is click Convert and watch it happen.

And you won’t be watching long, as Freemake Video Converter delivers marginally above-average performance, not least because of its CUDA support.

A few more output formats would be welcome, then, as would some more advanced conversion tweaks. But that’s really just nit-picking: Freemake Video Converter is an excellent tool which already has more than enough power to satisfy most people’s transcoding needs.

We liked

Wide input file format support, lots of device export options, simple video editor, can limit converted video size, reasonable performance, easy to use

We disliked

Output file format support is limited, can only tweak a few aspects of the converted videos

5. Handbrake 0.9.5

Compatible with: Windows XP, Vista, 7, Mac OSX, Linux

HandBrake is probably the oldest of our crop of conversion tools, having been around since 2003. And it’s also one of the more specialised, being best at transcoding videos to run on Apple devices. The program can only export MP4 and MKV files, for example, and its output presets are mostly Apple related (iPod, iPhone, iPad and so on).

As long as your target device plays MP4 files, though (and most do), this doesn’t have to be a major problem. And HandBrake does enable you to customise the video conversion process in many different ways, which could be appealing if you find the competition a little too basic.

Once you’ve selected your source files, for instance, you can of course choose the output resolution, video and audio codecs, frame rates and so on. But there are also options to crop the source footage, add subtitles, or include extra audio tracks. You can include chapter markers, or apply some useful cleanup filters (Detelecine, Decomb, Deinterlace, Denoise, Deblock). And real experts can access many low-level encoding and analysis details via the Advanced tab.

What you don’t get here are spectacular conversion speeds, unfortunately: Handbrake’s MP4 output performance remained resolutely average in our tests (although perhaps it could be improved if you spend time tuning the program’s more advanced settings). Still, if you need lots of encoding options, and can live with the meagre selection of output formats, then Handbrake may still be a reasonable transcoding choice.

We liked

Many useful editing options and video filters, advanced encoding and analysis tweaks

We disliked

Only exports MP4 and MKV files, average conversion speeds

6. Internet Video Converter HD

Compatible with: Windows XP, Vista, 7

If there were awards given for horrible interfaces then Internet Video Converter HD (IVC HD) would be an obvious candidate. It’s a cluttered mess, confusing and poorly laid out, and will quickly have you wishing you’d downloaded a more conventional tool, instead. The program has received quite a few positive reviews, though, and once you get past the dubious design decisions then a few plus points do emerge.

IVC HD can download videos from YouTube and 12 other video sharing sites, for instance. It’s able to create Flash files (FLV or SWF) from your videos, and can generate the HTML to host them. Editing options include the ability to trim, rotate, deinterlace or sharpen your source footage, and converting HD footage from one format to another is simplified by a convenient set of built-in presets: just choose the one which matches your needs and you’ll be ready to go.

The basic conversion process isn’t too difficult to follow, either, once you’ve tried it a few times. Choose your input video, pick an output format, customise a few settings and click Convert: even if the developer is entirely clueless about interface design, the core procedure is just the same as with more normal tools.

Performance isn’t quite as good as you’ll get elsewhere, however, with the program delivering marginally below average conversion speeds in our tests. And so, if you really need the video downloading feature, or you want to generate Flash files (SWF) with matching HTML then IVC HD might be worth a try, just about. But otherwise we’d recommend you ignore it entirely

We liked

Handy HD conversion presets, downloads online videos from many sites, can generate HTML for Flash files, some basic editing options

We disliked

Dreadful interface, below average performance

Best free video converter: 7-12

7. KoyoteSoft Free Video Converter 3.1.0.0

Compatible with: Windows XP, Vista, 7

At first glance, Free Video Converter doesn’t look like the most impressive of transcoding tools. File format support is limited, for instance; you can only tweak the most basic aspects of the output video (codec, resolution, frame rate, bitrate and so on); and there’s nothing like the bonus features you’ll get with some of the more powerful competition.

Try a few conversions, though, and the program will soon seem more appealing. Importing videos is just a matter of dragging and dropping, for instance (and it supports all the formats most people will ever need). There are lots of presets available for various devices (Apple, Android, Sony, BlackBerry, Xbox and more). And while there’s only one editing tool, it’s perhaps the most important, allowing you to trim unwanted footage from the start and end of your clip.

There are also some issues, though. And the major one is performance. The program proved particularly slow in our HD conversion tests, and the other times weren’t great, either. While elsewhere, minor irritations included the lack of a local help file, always an issue when you’re dealing with such a complex topic. And an interface quick means you can’t manually type the video bitrate you require into the program (you’re bizarrely forced to use assorted buttons and a slider, instead).

Free Video Converter scores highly for its ease of use, then, and if you only occasionally need to run simple conversions of small files then it may be good enough. If you’re after power or performance, though, the program will probably disappoint.

We liked

Easy to use, lots of device presets, video trimmer

We disliked

Relatively limited file format support, some interface quirks, poor HD transcoding performance

8. MediaCoder 2011 R10

Compatible with: Windows XP, Vista, 7

If your video conversion needs are complex, and only the most powerful tool will do, then start by downloading a copy of MediaCoder 2011 – it’s packed with functions and features.

The program doesn’t just import all the main video formats, for instance: it can also download streaming videos, read CDs and DVDs, connect to video capture devices, and more.

In-depth editing options then allow you to trim and crop your footage; tweak levels, brightness, contrast, saturation, hue and gamma; and apply filters to deinterlace, denoise, deblock, dering and otherwise enhance your footage.

You can then output to all the usual video formats. And not just using whatever settings the developer thought best. MediaCoder gives you access to an incredible number of options, probably more than you ever realised existed (the Advanced XviD section currently contains 39 settings all on its own).

And smart optimisations, along with support for CUDA and Intel video acceleration technologies, helps to ensure that MediaCoder delivers the best possible performance. It was the fastest in our tests by a large margin.

With all this power comes a degree of complexity, unsurprisingly. The author has tried to combat this by providing a wizard and some simplified device-specific interfaces to help configure MediaCoder’s key settings, but it’s still trickier to use than most of the competition.

If you’ll use the program’s extra power, though, don’t let that put you off. It doesn’t take too long to master the MediaCoder basics, and your efforts will be handsomely rewarded by its powerful features, extreme configurability and great performance.

And if you must have something simpler, check out the program’s website: there are simpler, more specialised versions of MediaCoder (for Apple devices, say, or mobile phones) which deliver similar performance but are much easier to use.

We liked

Wide input format support, powerful editing, vast range of conversion settings and tweaks, excellent performance, straightforward configuration wizard

We disliked

Interface can be intimidating, relatively complex to use

9. Miro Video Converter 2.5

Compatible with: Windows XP, Vista, 7

Throughout these tests we’ve been giving extra marks to programs which allow us to tweak the video conversion process, change various advanced settings to produce the precise results we need. But if you don’t care about any of that, and just want the easiest conversion tool you can find, then Miro could be interesting.

The program really is very simple to use. All you have to do is drag and drop a file onto it (all the major formats are supported), choose an output preset (Apple and Android devices are covered, along with the PSP and basic MP4/ WebM/ Theora options) click Convert, and that’s it: Miro will begin converting your movie right away.

This simplicity does mean the program has plenty of limitations, though. You can’t tweak the resolution or frame rate, for example. There’s no talk of codecs here, no editor, no configurable sample or bit rates. You can’t add additional presets for your own devices.

It’s not even possible to process more than one file at a time, so if you’ve ten files to convert then you’ll have to drag and drop them individually.

Still, conversion speeds proved acceptable, with the program ranking fourth out of twelve in our MP4 export test. And so, if you occasionally need to convert a single video to play on your iPad, say, then Miro will get the job done fairly quickly and with the absolute minimum of hassle.

If you’d like wider format support, more (or any) conversion tweaks and a few video editing options, though, then move along to the next program: you won’t find any of those items here.

We liked

good input format support, drag and drop simplicity, above average MP4 export performance

We disliked

no configuration options at all, no editing tools, very few output formats, can’t add new presets

//score//

58%

10. Quick Media Converter HD 4.5.0.0

Compatible with: Windows XP, Vista, 7

Quick Media Converter HD does its best to create a good first impression by opening in an "Easy Mode", with minimal conversion options and plenty of bright, colourful icons. But it’s not long before you realise that "Easy Mode" isn’t really so easy, at all.

The program tells you to drag and drop your input videos, for instance, but that didn’t work for us. Many of the presets are confusing, basic and inconsistent. And while "Easy Mode" includes resizing and "bit rate select" buttons, most of the time they don’t work, either.

Switching to HD Mode is a little better, in that you can choose from some common target HD resolutions.

But then Expert Mode introduces new problems, in that it allows you to create all kinds of impossible combinations (like converting videos to GIF files using the H264 codec). Presumably they’re hoping experts will choose more sensibly, but a little help from the interface would still be welcome.

And other interface irritations include the horribly basic integrated video player, which doesn’t have a progress bar, so you can only play clips from the beginning – there’s no option to jump ahead.

Still, at least Quick Media Converter HD uses FFmpeg to convert your files, so we thought conversion performance would be acceptable. But no, it turned out the program wasn’t great here, either. It did reasonably well on our small file tests, but when converting HD files Quick Media Converter HD was clearly outperformed by most of the competition.

So whether you want simplicity, advanced controls or reliably speedy conversions, Quick Media Converter HD just doesn’t deliver – give the program a miss.

We liked

Colourful interface, multiple operating modes, lots of device presets, reasonable SD encoding performance

We disliked

Poorly designed, often confusing and difficult to use, feeble video player, below average HD conversion speeds

11. SUPER 2011.49

Compatible with: Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7

While many video conversion tools try to hide their more involved settings, SUPER displays them up front, cramming its opening screen with more options than some of the competition have in total. And that can be a little intimidating, if you’re a transcoding novice.

In reality, though, the settings are sensibly grouped, leading you through the various options you need to take: choose an output file format, a video and audio codec, select a resolution, frame and bit rates, and so on. You’re able to drag and drop a bunch of files onto the program, and with a single click SUPER will then try to process them all.

Whether it’ll succeed is another matter. SUPER uses popular tools like FFmpeg to handle the conversions, so they really ought to be reliable, but it did give us errors on some conversions (and we’ve no idea why).

The real problem here is the horrible performance, though, particularly in the HD conversion tests, where SUPER trailed way behind everyone else. (Putting this into perspective, MediaCoder was more than 17 times faster in our MOV > MP4 benchmark.)

It’s a shame, because SUPER does have lots of interesting features: it can import streaming videos (rtsp, mms, http), understands playlists (asx, m3u, pls, wmx), and includes many advanced configuration options. In our view that’s not enough to make up for the dire performance, though, and so you’ll be better off looking elsewhere.

We liked

Imports streaming videos, lots of advanced configuration options, supports plenty of input and output formats

We disliked

Interface isn’t the best, poor performance, various quirks and irritations

12. XMedia Recode 3.0.6.0

Compatible with: Windows XP, Vista, 7

XMedia Recode made a good impression from the moment we launched it, thanks to a clear and well-designed interface which for the most part works just as you’d expect.

Here’s a box for your input files, for instance, and of course you can drag and drop whatever videos you like there. If your needs are simple then you can get by with just choosing an output format or device profile from the huge selection on offer. And if you need more, then the program organises more advanced conversion tweaks under various tabs so they’re easy to find.

It’s true, some of these are, well a little obscure ("Offset between I and P-frame Quants"). But there are plenty of more accessible settings here, too, with options to help you resize, crop, colour correct, deblock, denoise, deinterlace, sharpen and otherwise improve your source footage. It’s an impressive package.

One small issue is that your list of imported videos can’t be converted directly. You must set up the output format you need, select the files and choose the "Add Job" option before the Encode button becomes available, which isn’t immediately obvious. The program doesn’t have any English language help, either, so if you don’t understand something then you’re out of luck. And HD encoding performance was below average.

Conversion speeds in our other tests proved more acceptable, though, and the mix of powerful functionality with an easy-to-use interface gives XMedia Recode a lot of appeal. If you’re a mid-level user who needs access to advanced conversion tweaks, but only occasionally, then this could be the ideal solution.

We liked

clear interface, vast array of device profiles, wide file format support, many useful filters/ editing options/ advanced configuration tweaks

We disliked

No English language help, below average performance in our HD AVI > WMV test

Conclusion

Which is the best video conversion tool, then? What our tests reveal is there’s no one package which will suit every need, and the best program for you will depend very much on your requirements.

If you just want to convert the occasional video to play on a mobile device, for instance, and don’t want any conversion complexities at all, then Miro should appeal. Drag and drop a file, choose your device, click a button and that’s it: there’s nothing quite as simple here, and its MP4 creation performance isn’t bad, either.

Most people will want more power and configuration options, though, and the best all-round combination of power and ease of use is to be found in Freemake Video Converter, our pick for the novice and casual video conversion user. The interface is clean and well designed, it supports lots of input and output formats, there are useful extras, and while performance isn’t the best, it’s perfectly acceptable.

If you need more control over your output video, though, the next step up is XMedia Recode. Performance isn’t so great, but the program makes a host of advanced settings available, while an excellent interface ensures it remains generally easy to use.

Our highest score has to go to MediaCoder, though. It’s more complex than the other tools here, but if you’re a confident PC user then you’ll quickly master the basics. And what you’ll get in return is access to more video conversion tweaks than you ever knew existed, and performance which effortlessly outstrips the competition in just about every department: it really is a staggeringly powerful tool.

View full post on TechRadar: latest computing news

Good news for anyone who’s ever wished Apple Stores were a bit less friendly, a bit more incompetent, a bit more you’re-not-leaving-until-you-buy-an-extended-warranty.

Apple has decided that it needs some expertise from Dixons, and it’s poached Dixons CEO John Browett to become its senior vice president of retail.

So does that mean Apple Stores will start flogging washing machines, trying to sell you a whole bunch of crappy accessories and asking twenty-seven times whether you want an extended warranty on your iPad?

Er, probably not.

There are only two possible explanations for Browett’s appointment. Either there’s more to Dixons – and to Browett – than most people imagine, or Tim Cook has gone completely and utterly insane.

I don’t know about you, but I’m betting on the first option.

National service

If your experience of Dixons is limited to the airport shops or a dim memory of a buck-toothed simpleton trying to sell you Coverplan on a pack of triple-A Duracells then you’re bound to think Tim Cook’s gone crazy, but the truth is that Dixons is very different to the way some – perhaps even most – of us see it.

While most of the consumer electricals market is firmly in the toilet – Best Buy blew it, Comet’s currently worth about ten pence, most of the industry only really exists online – Dixons is still hanging in there, helped considerably by a change of approach that improved store layouts, integrated online ordering and introduced the KnowHow installation, support and repair service.

It’s easy to mock KnowHow, especially if you’re reasonably tech-savvy, but it’s part of a wider change that’s seen Dixons try to differentiate itself from rivals by concentrating on service, not box-shifting.

I think Browett’s focus on service, along with Dixons’ sheer scale – it’s an enormous, pan-European operation – is what’s attracted Tim Cook’s attention.

Apple wants somebody who cares about service and who can handle a truly massive retail operation. John Browett ticks both boxes.

Maybe I’m wrong and maybe Tim Cook has gone completely nuts, and the future of Apple Stores involves red-jumpered loons with no product knowledge breaking Macs all over the place.

It would certainly be quite funny, but given that Apple’s just posted yet another record-breaking quarter and annexed yet more of the world’s money, I’m inclined to think Tim Cook knows exactly what he’s doing.

Although I bet you’ll get asked more often about AppleCare.

View full post on TechRadar: latest computing news

Microsoft Office 15 won’t be rebuilt to fit the Metro stylings of Windows 8, according to insiders at Microsoft, but it will receive some tweaks to pull it in line with the modern look.

Instead of being rebuilt as Metro apps using WinRT programming, Office 15 will feature a radial menu system and a flatter, cleaner design that will mask what will be traditional Windows apps.

Pobody’s nerfect

It’s not what the company wanted, it seems, but time is working against it.

One source told The Verge that plans to create Office in true Metro style had to be pushed back "as the Office team would have to overhaul the entire suite to take advantage of WinRT" which would take far too long.

Some less complicated elements of Office 15 will be coming out as true Metro apps, however: OneNote and Lync are both expected to hit the Windows Store in their own rights.

This gives us hope that a true WebRT version of the Office suite could yet be in the pipeline – but we’re definitely not holding our breath.

Office 15 went into private technical preview earlier this week, with a public beta to follow in the summer.

View full post on TechRadar: latest computing news

Interview: Intel’s Genevieve Bell

When the CEO and the head of the PC group at Intel stop talking about processor speed and start talking about user experience and making technology people lust after, there’s something going on.

One of the people behind Intel’s new approach is Genevieve Bell, the cultural anthropologist who runs the Interaction Research Lab in Portland.

"We spend a lot of time settling with technology," she complains. "I wanted to ask what was really going to make us go ‘I must have it!’ Irrationally; must, must, must! What compels people to love phones?"

To answer that, her team spends time studying how people actually use technology, especially at home, and most recently in cars.

"It turns out that if you want to make the right decisions at a silicon level, you actually have to have a vision of where that silicon is used. You want to work out what people love and then you want to work out what are the technologies that will make that possible – or that will get in the way.

"Things that really piss people off turn out to be really instructive about what not to do."

You’re not everyone

The irrepressible Australian once confronted Otellini about the way Intel was approaching the TV market. "He explained to me that no-one watched TV any more. And I was ‘Excuse me, but I’m pretty sure everyone does. You read books instead; that’s just stellar, but you’re not everyone. In my professional opinion, you’re neither normal nor average’."

Many products fail because technology companies that became successful building for people just like their engineers are now making something no-one working there will use.

"It’s not just Intel; my colleagues at Microsoft, IBM, Google, Huawei all have the same problem. The gut instincts of decision makers, the ones that have served them so well up until now, turn out not to be the ones that scale for everyone.

"There was a time that what Intel made was PCs, laptops and servers and that was it. But the world of computing is infinitely more complicated now and our markets are bigger and the people who are buying the technology are like no-one in the building."

OTELLINI: He didn’t think that TV was that big

That’s why Bell’s team spends time watching people watch TV and, most recently, unpacking and photographing what people keep in their cars.

"About 40% of the cost of a new car is the electronics. And while car companies are increasingly building technology into cars, consumers just keep bringing more technology to the car. Car companies have a vision of ‘connected cars’ in much same ways tech companies have visions of technology. I thought, OK, let’s see what people actually do."

Socially safe

Cars, it turns out, are rather like sheds. "Stuff goes into cars and never leaves them again. Something you imagine you might one day need – like the dongle for a device you haven’t had in three years."

We keep emergency supplies like flashlights or water and in many cultures, we also keep things in our cars to make sure we’re not going to be embarrassed socially; spare greetings cards in the US, alcohol in Australia, lucky envelopes of money in Asia – and an A-Z in the UK. The same is true of phones.

"Phone numbers have people’s faces and names attached, Facebook tells you birthdays. We spend a lot of time talking about privacy but we haven’t spent much time thinking about how people use these devices to ensure the continuity of social relationships. It’s not about protecting themselves, it’s about protecting their relationships.

"That lets you think really differently about people categorise data. What are the ways people might think about privacy? What are the ways devices might need to talk to each other – and what are the kinds of things you might not want devices to talk about?"

Devices talking might matter more than people talking. "Whatever the latest cool phone is, I can guarantee you it is not the easiest thing on which to make a call," Bell claims.

"They’re much less about communications but you’ll never be somewhere without something to do. If it is more about constant engagement, it has really different implications for what you design into the platform, what software you might want to embed in it and what it needs to know about you and what you’re doing."

Her lab is working on that; "The stuff that will come out of Intel in the mobile space in the next couple of years has our fingerprints on."

Ultrabooks "empower people"

Not convinced Ultrabooks have a future when tablets are so popular? Bell calls herself "bullish" on Ultrabooks because "they are not just about Sandy Bridge – they are about empowering people to be creative." Yes, we want to consume content, but that’s not all we want.

"For five years now, consumers have had this incredible panoply of devices on which they can consume content, of which the iPad and Kindle Fire and Kindle are just the latest examples. TV viewing is up 15-25% in the last ten years; we watch more television that we did ten years ago. These devices make it easier to consume content than anything else – but what we were starting to hear from consumers for a long time was this desire to also participate and make things and share things."

ULTRABOOKS: But will they sell in numbers?

Another Intel idea she believes people want is WiDi. "I have never done a household interview where someone didn’t take me to a corner of the room and say ‘You see this pile of wires? Can you get rid of them?’."

In the longer term, Bell is trying to reimagine security. "I’m really fascinated by what we trained people to do on laptops and that fact that is not going to expand to other devices.

"All the ways we talk about security come out of a very military and western view; we have a drawbridge, we have a gate, we repel the hordes. I was struck by things that people have in their cars to protect them that have nothing to do with repelling danger. They were all about attracting good fortune. What are the other stories we tell about security that might lead to different ways of thinking about it? What are the conceptual models?"

She also wants to make devices less demanding. "Years ago I interviewed a woman who thought the technology in her life was like a backpack of baby birds with their mouths open saying ‘feed me, feed me, feed me!’ They need to be plugged in, they want networks; they need to be taken care of. They’re really demanding and also, it turns out, remarkably insecure. They lack self-confidence. ‘Are you sure you want to delete that?’ Yes, that’s why I’ve asked you twice. ‘Want to connect to that thing?’ Yes, I always connect to it every morning. They’re really high maintenance and there’s only going to be more of them."

We just want to make things easier

She dismisses the usual predictions about the future of technology. "This notion of artificial intelligence; objects will get smarter and be able to engage with us in rational conversations. I don’t want rational conversation! I just want it to stop asking me ‘do you want to delete this’. The second is of course as soon as the machines get a little bit more self-confident they will kill us."

Assuming we avoid HAL 9000 and Skynet, we can make life easier for ourselves.

"We want to create a more balanced relationship where these devices become both more self-confident and less needy and start to be able to do some things on our behalf.

"It’s perfectly possible to imagine – without it being too creepy a world – where it says ‘Genevieve always has the same meeting at 10am every Monday and at 10am every Monday she always opens up the laptop and starts shopping for shoes; this 10am meeting is one we could interrupt with email. Now this 11 o’clock meeting she’s never online, so we might want to hold stuff back’."

That means knowing what matters. "If you are on your computer and you’re making a Skype call, chances are the call is the important thing. I should probably prioritise that and deprioritise other things. I should probably make sure if the network degrades I can hop you onto another network so long as I already have the password; I shouldn’t have to ask you ‘the network degraded, do you want a new one?’ It should be clear that’s the priority."

And that comes back to silicon as much as software, she points out. "There’s some really interesting stuff you can do at that level to just rearrange everything, from hierarchies to memory caches, to priority calls on the hardware, that would let you operate machines that were a little more stable and a little more caretaking of you." Definitely better than Skynet…

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