When I suggested I should write about Pinterest, the technology editor chortled in return: “Everyone says It Is For Girls. You are a Girl. Therefore you are Perfect to do it.”

And that’s pretty much the perception of Pinterest, the latest social media hot thing. The company was founded in 2008, and the site launched two years ago, but although it’s been steadily gaining a foothold in the US, it has only just taken off in the UK.

The concept is clever and straightforward: users create “pinboards” of stuff they find around the web, arranged around themes. Think of an interior designer’s moodboard, and you’ve got the general idea. For now, it’s invite-only, though you can request an invite via its login page if you don’t have a friend already using Pinterest.

So what’s it like to use? Well, clunky. And slightly annoying: it insists that you connect to it via either Facebook or Twitter, which means that if you don’t want to share your “pins” (bits of content that you add to your boards) with your friends and followers then you’ll have to turn off all the notifications after you’ve signed up. The sign-up process also insists on assigning a bunch of random people for you to follow, which means you’ll have to unfollow them later if their boards don’t appeal.

Follower model

Its following and interacting model is a cross between Facebook and Twitter. Like Facebook, there’s a symmetrical aspect: to interact with someone else’s boards or pins, they have to follow you, and vice-versa: unlike Twitter, you can’t interact with someone you don’t follow. However, like Twitter, it’s open and asymmetrical – you don’t have to follow back, and it’s totally open; there is no option to hide your profile or any of your boards.

Adding content

You add stuff to boards either by uploading the link or by using the bookmarklet available on the Pinterest site. It then offers you a series of the images from the page and a box into which you can add your comments.

There are a couple of irritations here: first, more often than I’d like, the site will announce that it can’t find any images or videos and therefore it can’t create your pin, even though the page you’re looking at is brimming with images. Your choice then is either to abandon the pin, or do it the clunky way, which is to get a screengrab of the page, upload the resulting image and make sure you put the URL of the page in yourself.

Second, there’s no text formatting, so any comment you add to your pin is a long stream of text: it would be nice to be able to add paragraph breaks, if nothing else.

You also can’t pin anything from Facebook, which on balance I think is a good thing, even though you can of course screengrab and add the image that way. It should at least give users pause to think about the privacy of the friend whose content they are trying to pin.

Sharing

A screenshot taken at random on Pinterest’s landing page

Ah, yes, sharing content. Copyright is the big grey area on Pinterest: pins automatically grab an associated image that you may well not have any rights to reproduce.

Yes, the pin links back to the page you grabbed the content from, but that in itself could be infringing copyright. There’s a copyright declaration on the site, but it doesn’t make any feint towards saying it will police content itself (meanwhile, Google runs algorithms to make sure anything you post to YouTube doesn’t infringe copyright).

It has taken steps to allow website owners to restrict pinning but as Pinterest grows, the prospect of responding to what could in theory be thousands of takedown requests a day could become overwhelming.

Once logged in, your landing page is a visual jumble of your pins and those of people you follow. It is a little overwhelming, and can be hard to find stuff you want to look at, especially if something is going viral: seeing the same image reproduced several times on a page is offputting. On the left is your activity feed, where you can see who’s followed your boards, who’s liked a pin, who might have repinned your pin (the same idea as Tumblr’s reblogging).

I think this misses a trick – if you click on a notification that someone has repinned one of your pins, it takes you to your original pin rather than the repin: to go on, you have to click twice to get to the repin, which in effect is a dead end – it doesn’t encourage conversation and interactivity as well as it might.

For me, that epitomises the clunkiness of Pinterest: it’s just not easy enough to do the social bit of it. And the (potential) viral ecosystem therefore isn’t quite working: when I post that I’ve started new boards on Twitter or Facebook, that seem to drive more traffic to me than organic discovery of my stuff by other Pinterest users.

Love story

What I love about it, though, is how its limits are as wide as your imagination. Sure, there are a lot of mood boards and collections of images of expensive chairs. But I for one am collecting different kinds of stuff: I’ve got a board collecting examples of right-wing craziness from the US, for example; and a board of books. Oh, and a board about cats, of course.

Brands, inevitably, love it, and Pinterest is a very strong driver of referrals, which gives a clue as to how it plans to monetise – always a tricky issue for social media services that aren’t Facebook or Google+. Until recently, Pinterest was quietly using Skimlinks to generate income from links posted by users to products. A bit of a fuss ensued, and Pinterest dropped Skimlinks, saying: “Right now, we are focused on growing Pinterest and making it more valuable. To fund these efforts, we have taken outside investment from entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. In the past, we’ve tested a few different approaches to making money such as affiliate links. We might also try adding advertisements, but we haven’t done this yet.”

Conclusion

As a user, I like it a lot, though I have some reservations about the smoothness of its interactivity. And like many new web services that suddenly take off, the infrastructure often creaks: I hope Pinterest will be ramping up its server capacity soon. What I like about it is its visual appeal and how the only limits to what you collect are those imposed by your vision.

It might be a bit girlie to look at, especially when you arrive at a random page full of interior design or fashion boards, but it’s definitely not Just For Girls.

Article source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/feb/22/pinterest-not-just-for-girls

Facebook bans images of breastfeeding if nipples are exposed – but allows “graphic images” of animals if shown “in the context of food processing or hunting as it occurs in nature”. Equally, pictures of bodily fluids – except semen – are allowed as long as no human is included in the picture; but “deep flesh wounds” and “crushed heads, limbs” are OK (“as long as no insides are showing”), as are images of people using marijuana but not those of “drunk or unconscious” people.

The strange world of Facebook’s image and post approval system has been laid bare by a document leaked from the outsourcing company oDesk to the Gawker website, which indicates that the sometimes arbitrary nature of picture and post approval actually has a meticulous – if faintly gore-friendly and nipple-unfriendly – approach.

For the giant social network, which has 800 million users worldwide and recently set out plans for a stock market flotation which could value it at up to $100bn (£63bn), it is a glimpse of its inner workings – and odd prejudices about sex – that emphasise its American origins.

Facebook has previously faced an outcry from breastfeeding mothers over its treatment of images showing them with their babies. The issue has rumbled on, and now seems to have been embedded in its “Abuse Standards Violations”, which states that banned items include “breastfeeding photos showing other nudity, or nipple clearly exposed”. It also bans “naked private parts” including “female nipple bulges and naked butt cracks” – though “male nipples are OK”.

The guidelines, which have been set out in full, depict a world where sex is banned but gore is acceptable. Obvious sexual activity, even if “naked parts” are hidden, people “using the bathroom”, and “sexual fetishes in any form” are all also banned. The company also bans slurs or racial comments “of any kind” and “support for organisations and people primarily known for violence”. Also banned is anyone who shows “approval, delight, involvement etc in animal or human torture”.

The 13-page manual, which is continually updated, is the bible for workers for oDesk who are deployed to police the posts and images that are sent to them any time somebody on the huge network clicks on a “Report” button. An early version was released last Thursday by a disgruntled employee of Odesk, Amine Derkaoui, a 21-year-old Moroccan who told Gawker that he was paid $1 per hour to trawl through the reports and determine whether they should be removed from the site or not.

“It’s humiliating. They are just exploiting the third world,” he told Gawker.

The site pointed out that Facebook’s banning of some content – often with sexual overtones – has drawn the ire of users. Besides protests from “lactivists” over breastfeeding photos, it has had to contend with anger from art lovers over the removal of a nude drawing (the new guidelines say explicitly “Art nudity OK” – though “digital/cartoon nudity” is not) and in April 2011 censored a picture of a gay kiss.

A Facebook spokesperson said: “In an effort to quickly and efficiently process the millions of reports we receive every day, we have found it helpful to contract third parties to provide precursory classification of a small proportion of reported content. These contractors are subject to rigorous quality controls and we have implemented several layers of safeguards to protect the data of those using our service. Additionally, no user information beyond the content in question and the source of the report is shared. We have, and will continue, to escalate the most serious reports internally, and all decisions made by contractors are subject to extensive audits.

“We are constantly improving our processes and review our contractors on an ongoing basis. This document provides a snapshot in time of our standards with regards to one of those contractors, for the most up to date information please visit our Community Standards page .”

Article source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/feb/21/facebook-nudity-violence-censorship-guidelines

Kim Dotcom, the founder of the filesharing website Megaupload, has been granted bail and released after a New Zealand judge ruled that the authorities have seized any funds he might have used to flee the country.

US authorities allege Dotcom facilitated millions of illegal downloads through his company. He had been in custody since his arrest on 20 January and the site has been shut down.

Dotcom spoke to reporters outside the court as he was ushered to a waiting truck. “I am relieved to go home to see my family, my three little kids and my pregnant wife,” he said. “And I hope you understand that that is all I want to say right now.”

He confirmed he would be fighting US extradition efforts. Asked how he had been treated by the police after his arrest, Dotcom said: “Well, it felt a little bit like an audition to American Idol.”

He was released without any monetary bail bond, which is standard for cases that come before New Zealand’s district courts. He does have other conditions of release but the ministry of justice declined to reveal them, saying this would require an application to the judge.

US authorities claim Megaupload cost film-makers and songwriters $0.5bn in lost copyright revenue. They are trying to extradite Dotcom, 38, and three of his colleagues on racketeering charges.

New Zealand authorities have seized millions of dollars in investments and assets owned by Dotcom, including luxury cars and artworks.

North Shore district court judge Nevin Dawson found that the German-born Dotcom no longer posed a significant flight risk because, as far as the court was aware, he was not hiding any money or assets that could help him flee the country. New Zealand courts had earlier turned down a bail application and a subsequent appeal, saying he did pose a flight risk, but Dawson said those decisions were made when details about Dotcom’s assets remained unclear.

“Since that time all known assets have been seized and are unavailable for Mr Dotcom’s use or disposal,” the judge said. “No new assets or accounts of any significance have been revealed since his arrest. Mr Dotcom’s submission that he has not concealed any assets or bank accounts has largely been borne out.”

Dawson said he received an affidavit from Bonnie Lam, the Hong Kong chief financial officer of Megaupload, supporting Dotcom’s contention that he had no resources available to him.

Dotcom was born Kim Schmitz but legally changed his name. He has both German and Finnish citizenship and was granted New Zealand residency in 2010.

He has lived in Hong Kong, where the Megaupload company is registered.

Colleagues of Dotcom arrested in New Zealand had already been granted bail.

Article source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/feb/22/kim-dotcom-granted-bail-megaupload

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/22/select-ps-vita-apps-hit-the-us-playstation-store-netflix-liv/

Connection in an Instant: Customers to Trial Enhanced Push To Talk Services from ATT

Charter Program Will Allow Participants to Experience Communications on a New Level

Dallas, Texas, February 21, 2012

In today’s fast-paced business world, every second counts. Communication must happen in a flash to keep an organization moving. And to help meet this need for speed, ATT* is launching a charter program to trial a suite of enhanced push to talk (PTT) services that will take workgroup communications to the next level.

The enhanced PTT solution trial, powered by Kodiak Networks Inc. InstaPoC™ technology, will harness ATT’s mobile broadband speeds, expansive wireless network coverage, broad portfolio of devices and the power of IP-based technology. That means faster and richer collaboration, lower cost of ownership and great potential for integration with mobile applications.

In addition, ATT is working to integrate traditional private mobile radio (PMR) systems with this enhanced PTT service trial, and will demonstrate the functionality with Raytheon JPS at the 2012 International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE). ATT and Raytheon expect that push to talk interoperability across different networks will extend coverage of existing PMR systems and facilitate better communications for field dispatch and operations, when many people from many different organizations need to reach each other quickly.

Charter Program Details

Selected business customers in a range of industries – transportation, utilities, manufacturing and more – will get a first look at potential PTT services through ATT’s charter program.
Participants will use powerful, state of the art smartphones to test the technology.
The charter program will provide ATT and customers with a better understanding of the potential that the enhanced PTT service can offer.
ATT will work closely with customers participating in the program to measure results, and participants will have the opportunity to give feedback on their experiences.

Imagine how a field worker could benefit from enhanced PTT. Instead of lugging around a bag with a clipboard, a cell phone and a mobile radio, workers could carry one mobile device, complete with mobile apps and ATT’s PTT services. If an employee has a question while on the job, he or she could connect almost instantly to a supervisor – and even fill out forms on a mobile app while talking. A dispatcher could also reference PTT presence status to locate field workers quickly and assign the right employee to the task at hand.

“ATT – with its fast LTE network, rugged device portfolio, business know-how and open approach to application development – is well-positioned to develop enhanced PTT services,” said Andrew Seybold, CEO Principal Consultant, Andrew Seybold, Inc., a consultancy focused on cellular and private mobile radio industries.

“Our customers are looking for a holistic PTT service – one that supports instant calls, numerous devices, dispatch applications and Application Programming Interfaces for developers,” said Chris Hill, Vice President, Advanced Mobility Solutions, ATT Business Solutions. “Our goal is to meet and exceed those expectations. What’s more, we want to combine enhanced PTT services with an array of advanced mobility applications to build truly comprehensive solutions.”

ATT’s mobility application consultants can also help charter customers craft their strategies for migration from legacy networks that are currently being phased out to ATT’s anticipated high-performance solution.

Sneak Peak into ATT’s Enhanced PTT Offer

ATT’s enhanced push to talk service charter program features:

A combination of high-performance PTT communications and mobile data services that allow users to talk and use productivity applications simultaneously
Large contact lists and groups, ideal for organizations with lots of mobile employees
Faster call setup times than traditional PTT solutions
Integration with business applications for field force automation, fleet management, dispatching, GPS tracking and more
Ability to run on a wide range of smartphones, rugged phones, feature phones and specialty devices
Interoperability with existing mobile radio systems, such as Land Mobile Radio (LMR) and Private Mobile Radio (PMR)

For more information on the ATT enhanced PTT charter program, visit:

http://www.corp.att.com/forms/ptts/

*ATT products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of ATT Inc. under the ATT brand and not by ATT Inc.

——————

Sub-second IP Push-to-Talk for 4G LTE, 3G, Wi-Fi and Beyond

Kodiak InstaPoC™, the next-generation Push-to-Talk technology based on the latest PoC v2.0 standard, sets up calls at sub-second speeds with the dependability that wireless operators expect from Kodiak Networks.

International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE), Las Vegas, NV – Plano, TX – Kodiak Networks announces two transformative products that build upon its reputation for voice quality and reliability: Kodiak InstaPoC™, the next-generation of PoC v2.0 based Push-to-Talk (PTT) technology, and the Kodiak RTXi™, Kodiak’s IP-based communication platform. InstaPoC and the RTXi together provide sub-second Push-to-Talk call set up on downloadable Android, Blackberry and Windows Mobile clients and embedded devices.

As an IP-based technology, InstaPoC provides better than mobile voice call quality when deployed on 4G LTE, 3G and Wi-Fi data networks. Additionally, it supports simultaneous voice and data activity without changes to the Radio Access Network (RAN). Downloadable applications bring PTT functionality to modern mobile operating systems and facilitate application interoperability since Kodiak InstaPoC is at the core of each PTT client. Capabilities of InstaPoC include one-to-one and one-to-many-up to 250 contacts-PTT-based communication, centralized dispatch, enterprise-class administratio, and next generation features such as availability and call alerts. . In addition to smartphones, InstaPoC can be deployed on embedded ruggedized and value phones, allowing operators to offer the most diverse and robust PTT solution on the market.

Kodiak’s RTXi offers carriers a flexible and powerful new platform which represents an evolution of Kodiak’s RTX-a proven 99.999% available platform operating in networks around the world for a decade. The RTXi is an extremely scalable IP based platform that features open APIs, geographic redundancy, IMS interoperation and CALEA compliance allowing operators to meet diverse network requirements and build a flexible PTT ecosystem.

“The future of wireless is IP based broadband and Kodiak’s new offerings are designed to take full advantage of this future. Push-to-Talk capabilities as part of a network operator’s offerings is important for those who value instant one-to-many communications and Kodiak’s products are right on target.” said Andrew Seybold, a leading industry analyst and CEO of Andrew Seybold, Inc.

As the first PoC v2.0 compliant offering on the market, InstaPoC is built with application interoperability in mind. Aligning to the OMA POC v2.0 standard allows operators easier deployment of new handsets, PTT accessories and 3rd party vendors’ applications. Additionally, PoC v2.0 includes standardization for other media types like video, images, text and files. Many PTT enterprise users require integration of workforce management, navigation applications etc. with their PTT systems. Kodiak’s adherence to the PoC v2.0 standard creates an open environment in which this can be achieved.

Primary features of InstaPoC on the RTXi platform:
Sub-second call set up and latency
Better than mobile voice call quality
Built on IP-based global PoC v2.0 standard
Works on 4G LTE, 3G and Wi-Fi technologies
Extensible open APIs
Supports one-to-one and one-to-many (groups up to 250 contacts) communication
Downloadable clients for smartphones, embedded clients for ruggedized phones
Enterprise-class administration capabilities
Next generation features like availability and call alerts
Proven platform reliability

Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/22/atandt-launches-pilot-program-for-expanded-push-to-talk-services/

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Android has taken over from Apple and now has the largest share of the installed base of smartphones among consumers in the UK, according to new figures provided to the Guardian by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

Google’s mobile OS has a 36.9% share of the smartphones in use among consumers in the UK, the company says in its latest survey, which covers the four weeks to 23 January 2012. Apple’s iPhone models have the next biggest share, with 28.5% of all handsets in use. The company does not split out brands, but it is likely that Apple is the most-used brand, with Android sales split among brands including Samsung, HTC, LG and Motorola.

UK smartphone installed base, by OS, January 2012. Source: Kantar Worldpanel ComTech

In terms of market share – a snapshot of ongoing sales figures for the four weeks, rather than the phones in people’s hands – Android handsets have just under half the market, while Apple has nearly a third. BlackBerry-maker RIM has just over 15%, with the remaining 6% split between more than five different platforms.

The data come as the survey company, which polls consumers and retailers (but not enterprises) about the handsets that they use and are purchasing, confirmed other surveys which indicate that more than half of the British population – 50.3% – now have a smartphone. It surveys users in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Australia.

In the US, the largest smartphone market in the west, Apple handsets outsold Android among consumers, with a 48.4% share compared with 42.8%, the company said. That indicates ongoing strength for Apple there, said Dominic Sunnebo, Kantar Worldpanel Comtech’s global consumer insight director: “The jump we saw in Apple’s share last period was clearly not just a blip caused by the iPhone 4S release. Although the majority of growth is coming from the new handset, Apple’s latest pricing structure is also working in its favour with no discernible drop in sales of older iPhone 4 and 3GS models.”

But the growth has not been evenly spread. In the UK, RIM, which is under increasing pressure from both Android and Apple handsets, saw its share of UK sales fall from 18.7% to 18.1%. However, Nokia‘s Symbian – effectively declared dead a year ago by its chief executive Stephen Elop – saw the most dramatic fall, with a halving of its share of the installed base in a year.

That was matched by a collapse in Symbian’s share of UK sales, from 15.5% in January 2011 to 2.8% in 2012.

Yet even that remained ahead of the share of sales achieved by Nokia’s new platform, Microsoft‘s Windows Phone, which grew from just 0.4% in the same four-week period a year ago to 2.2% in 2012.

According to Kantar Worldpanel, handsets running Windows Phone now have a 1% share of the UK installed base. Nokia looks likely to already be the largest single Windows Phone vendor, ahead of rivals such as Samsung and HTC.

Sunnebo commented: “For the first time ever, you are now in the minority if you don’t own a smartphone. With more people jumping on the bandwagon, there is huge opportunity for both retailers and manufacturers. However, the competition is intense.

“Android holds on to its lead but Apple is making inroads, increasing its [market] share of the British market from 21.7% a year ago to 29.1% now.” That figure refers to a snapshot of sales, rather than the installed base.

He added: “Windows Phone 7 is also creeping up, taking over 2% of the market for the first time with the Nokia Lumia 800 taking the lion’s share. This looks set to continue with the expected launch of at least two new models at the Mobile World Congress conference. We forecast this will help it to grow its share to around 8% in the latter half of 2012.”

Sunnebo said there were signs of hope for Nokia and Microsoft in owners’ engagement with their devices, which emerged from more detailed interviews: “One of the real positives for Microsoft Windows Phone is how engaged its users appear to be with its devices: 81% of handset owners have used social networking on their device in the past month, higher than both iOS Android. Meanwhile, three-quarters have used GPS, indicating that Nokia’s decision to include Nokia maps for free was a price worth paying to drive user engagement.”

Other data that emerges from the company’s research:
• Android dominated sales in every country except the US, where Apple led.
• Android’s sales share was highest in Spain, where it had 65.8% of sales.
• Android’s sales share was lowest in France, at 42.3%.
• Symbian’s sales market share is highest in Italy, at 19.2%, though that is substantially down from 46.8% a year ago.
• Apple’s sales share is lowest in Spain, where it had just 9.2% of the market – the same as a year ago. Symbian previously dominated with 65.3% of sales; now it is the second, with 13.2%, but far behind Android.
• RIM’s sales share is highest in the UK, at 15.5%, and lowest in Australia, at 0.7% – down there from just 3.7% a year ago.

Smartphone sales in different countries: comparing a four-week period to Jan 23 2011 to four week up to Jan 23 2012 in US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia. Source: Kantar Worldpanel ComTech

The picture that emerges is that the market generally is split into two dominant ecosystems, of Apple and Android. RIM’s share is being gradually eroded among consumers, but there is no large-scale shift visible yet towards Windows Phone – which was Elop’s hope when he abandoned Symbian for Windows Phone, saying that the smartphone market was a war of ecosystems rather than a battle of handsets.

Smartphone data for countries

Data for installed base for UK, and market share for various countries Jan 2011/2012. Source: Kantar Worldpanel ComTech

Installed base Jan 2011

20.1

29.2

18.7

0.1

26.7

3.2

0.8

1.2

Installed based Jan 2012

36.9

28.5

18.1

1

13.1

1.3

0.7

0.4

Change

16.8

-0.7

-0.6

0.9

-13.6

-1.9

-0.1

-0.8

sales (market share)

UK Jan 2011

37

21.7

23.3

0.4

15.5

0.8

1

0.4

UK Jan 2012

49.7

29.1

15.5

2.2

2.8

0.1

0.3

0.2

Germany Jan 2011

27.2

31.9

2.8

1.9

28

2.7

3.9

1.6

Germany Jan 2012

61.1

23.4

2

1.5

8.2

2

1.6

0.2

France Jan 2011

35.1

20.6

11.8

1.9

21.7

0.6

7.3

1.1

France Jan 2012

42.3

25.7

11.6

2

4.3

2.6

10.9

0.6

Italy Jan 2011

18.7

19.5

4

1.4

46.8

5.6

2.7

1.3

Italy Jan 2012

49.7

22.4

3.5

1.8

19.2

1.7

1.1

0.5

Spain Jan 2011

14

9.2

15.6

0.3

55.3

0.6

2.8

2.2

Spain Jan 2012

65.8

9.2

11

0.5

13.2

0.3

0

0

US Jan 2011

54.5

21.7

14.3

3.2

1.7

2.4

0

2.3

US Jan 2012

42.6

48.4

5.7

1.5

0.4

0.3

0

1.1

Australia Jan 2011

23.9

34.2

3.7

2.3

30.7

1.3

1.5

2.5

Australia Jan 2012

48.8

42.9

0.7

0.9

4.3

0.5

0

1.9

The data for the countries.

Article source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/feb/21/android-smartphones-os-uk-apple

Link to this video

The first video game hardware launch of the year hits Europe on Wednesday. And while everyone seems to love the look and feel of the PS Vita, question marks remain over its prospects in a portable gaming market dominated by smartphones and tablets.

So is the world still interested in a £200 dedicated gaming portable? And if it isn’t, what can Vita do to change its mind?

Here’s our in-depth guide to the device of the moment.

The hardware

Weighing in at a mere 260g, Vita is lighter and thinner than most gamers expect before they see one. The casing is sleek, glossy and reasonably robust, the “super oval” shape continuing the design philosophy of the PSP. The front is dominated by the huge 5in OLED screen, which provides gorgeous detail, colour and contrast. Playing something like Uncharted: Golden Abyss or WipEout 2048 is really quite astonishing for the first few minutes – like that first go on Ridge Racer on the old PSP.

Of course, we’re beginning to see smartphones with 5in screens. The Samsung Galaxy Note and the forthcoming LG Optimus Vu are creating a new category between tablets and handsets. But right now, the Vita is certainly at the upper end of portable display technology.

The control configuration, too, is close to perfect. The two analogue sticks are very small – as are the standard four PlayStation buttons – but they’re well spaced to ensure comfort and clarity and they are highly responsive. At last, we have a handheld format that can offer the same sort of fast, detailed manoeuvrability we’re used to from a console controller – without the need for a hugely ugly add-on. Suddenly, proper first- and third-person shooters are a distinct possibility. Sure, with my large hands I found it slightly uncomfortable to cover the two shoulder buttons and the analogues at first, but after a few hours of Uncharted I’m getting used to it.

The front has a standard PlayStation button to get you back to the menu screen, as well as Start and Select buttons. Around the edges are the USB port, a slot for games, a slot for memory cards and an extra port for as-yet unannounced accessories. Surprisingly, there’s no video-out so you won’t be connecting your Vita to your 50in TV any time soon. Sound is also a little disappointing with a slightly tinny playback through the external speakers, though of course a headset port is provided.

The multi-touch display is sensitively tuned for gaming purposes. Interacting with the gloomy monochrome world of Escape Plan is a real pleasure, allowing you to tap on in-game items like light bulbs and signs, making them swing or collapse. And in Uncharted, you can show Nathan where to climb by simply swiping across the screen to plot out a route.

Meanwhile, the huge multi-touch swipe pad on the rear of the device brings in a fresh range of tactile gaming possibilities – not least, allowing you to interact via touch without having to cover a quarter of the screen real estate with your fat thumbs. WipEout, for example, lets you slide your finger along the back to accelerate, but more interesting, is the level in mini-game collection, Little Deviants, where you prod a landscape from beneath to create little hills, thereby guiding a ball around the map.

Both the back and front touchpads can be used together, so players can literally pinch onscreen objects between their thumb and index finger. In the brilliant mini-game app, Frobisher Says (distributed free with Vita pre-orders but availble to everyone in May) there’s a task named Squash the Toff where you splatter the plasticine heads of regal figures by pinching them in this way. It’s surprisingly therapeutic.

The technology

At the heart of the machine is an SoC with four ARM Cortex A9 processors, working together with a quad-core PowerVR SGX 543MP4+ graphics processing unit. Considering that the SGX 543 implementation in the iPad 2 and iPhone 4s is dual-core, we already have the capacity for twice the graphics performance of those devices. But that’s not all: this GPU tech is apparently a unique version of the 5-series set-up, specifically tuned for Vita by Sony. A spokesman for PowerVR manufacturer Imagination Technologies told us:

If you want to define the ‘+’ in SGXMP4+, it’s really all the things that Sony can take control of because they know so much about the system and how it will be used at all times. It starts from their own API for talking to the graphics, which enables them to know how data will be submitted and ultimately delivered to the screen. Then they have tight control over the SoC bus infrastructure which passes information for the graphics through the system – think of this like AGP or PCI-Express in a PC, though in fact it’s neither of those standards.

And then finally you have the way they’ve designed the cache infrastructure to control where data is at any time and how quickly it can be accessed and how efficiently it can be moved. Think: very quickly and very efficiently. Sony and its developers can console the geometry pipeline, how memories are partitioned, and how and when they render to screen. There rare all sorts of low-level, to-the-metal tricks that go toward gaining the best possible performance.

Can we compare the performance with PlayStation 3? Graeme Ankers, the game director, on WipEout 2048 certainly thinks so. “We’ve had the hardware from early on, right from the earliest prototype units,” he says. “When we were working on WipEout, we did some benchmark tests against WipEout HD fury on the PlayStation 3. We took an HD track and we piped it through the Vita, we put the polys through, we put a similar shader solution through, and we were getting a 250,000 polygon-per-frame throughput – that is comparable to what we were doing on PS3. So we developed the tracks for 2048 as though we were working on a next-gen console.”

At the very least, the Vita specifications are at the upper end of current smartphone performance. The question is, for how long? A couple of handsets will be using the new ARM A15 chipset this year, and Imagination Technologies is already touting its massively more powerful Series 6 Rogue GPUs. Nothing stays state-of-the-art for long in this business.

What’s interesting is how closely this architecture parallels current thinking in smartphone design – it’s almost as though Sony knows that a lot of young studios these days will be cutting their teeth on iOS and Android projects, rather than on complex console titles. There’s no sign here of the PlayStation 3′s arduously complicated set-up, complete with eight Synergistic Processor Units. Open Vita up and its modular design and efficient CPU/GPU system say phone rather than console.

It seems then, that ease-of-development is a key concern. “The Vita is really nice to develop for,” says Ricky Haggett, the co-founder of HoneySlug – creator of Frobisher Says. “The architecture is straightforward, and for the most part, the APIs are clear and easy to use. Of course, there are some teething issues – to be expected with a console that hasn’t launched yet – but there weren’t that many things that tripped us up during development, and the dev support team were always on hand to turn around solutions quickly.

“The fact that the tech of Frobisher Says – a game which aims to use every bit of functionality available on the Vita – was made by just two programmers should give you an idea of how straightforward the Vita APIs are to work with. Although, to be fair, they are awesome programmers!”

At the moment, there are no indie APIs available online akin to the Xbox XNA developer centre: making games for Vita remains a closed shop for a lucky few affiliates only. However, Sony says that it will soon allow smaller developers to create downloadable Vita titles via the PlayStation Suite programme, which offers a more open platform for game creation. This could be the point at which the indie devs get onboard.

There are other techie letdowns. The device’s front and rear-facing cameras won’t tempt you to leave your Nikon DSLR at home – at a measly 0.3Mp a piece, they’re far behind even the most basic contemporary cameraphones. However, Sony has said that the camera specs are designed with augmented reality games rather than photography and film-making in mind, so the lower resolution will lead to smoother framerates in AR titles like Reality Fighters.

Another key bugbear: Vita is awash with proprietary formats. You need a proprietary USB cable to plug the thing into your PC or PS3, and the system has no internal memory for game data, so if you want to save your progress or download titles you’ll need one of the – yes – proprietary memory cards. These come in 4GB, 8GB and 16GB iterations (the 32GB versions won’t be available in the UK at launch), with the 16GB option priced at £40. For that you could get yourself two 32GB SD Cards.

Of course, this is all about controlling the peripherals market, and Sony will claim it needed a smaller, custom-built memory card solution for its feature-packed device. But with the comparatively high price of the console itself, gamers might not appreciate having to pay over the odds for memory, too. The cards are also tiny so swapping one while on the go is a precarious and potentially costly endeavour.

The games

The Vita will have around 30 games available at launch. The line-up ranges from major titles such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss (above), WipEout 2048 and Virtua Tennis 4, to smaller downloadable games like Escape Plan and Super Stardust Delta. Prices are set to range considerably, with Uncharted at the upper end on £40, and downloadable games starting at a fiver for Motorstorm RC.

It’s a strong selection, not just in numbers but in quality. There are decent renditions of major console brands (Fifa is there, too, alongside Marvel v Capcom 3 and Ridge Racer) as well as interesting newcomers like augmented reality fighting game Reality Fighters and mini-game collection Little Deviants. A quick glance at Metacritic shows that it’s the third-party titles that are scoring highest, with Ubisoft’s Rayman Origins and Lumines conversions at the top of the heap, and hardcore gems Super Stardust Delta and BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend also attracting average ratings over over 80.

On the horizon, there are Vita versions of favourites like LittleBigPlanet, Call of Duty, Resistance and Bioshock. Sony Japan’s awesome open-world physics adventure Gravity Rush should be out here in May, and as visual showcase for the hardware that is unmissable. The music puzzler Sound Shapes from Canadian developer Queasy Games could be an interesting one:

I also like the look of two lesser-known downloadable launch titles – the platform puzzler A-Men from Polish developer Bloober Team and Subbuteo-style augmented reality sports sim, Table Football by Hull’s own Four Door Lemon.

On the subject of augmented reality, each Vita will ship with six AR cards and three apps to try them out on – just like the AR offering with the Nintendo 3DS. “We’ve experimented with AR in WipEout and we may well do something with it in the future,” says Ankers. “The interesting thing is when you combine AR with the Vita’s powerful gyros and accelerometers … you’ll be able to project an image onto a specific point and then walk around it, move in close to it, get further away – and it adjusts perfectly.”

Ricky Haggett concurs: “tThe gyroscopes are incredibly accurate, so the games where you’re moving the Vita around the real world and it is changing the display in real-time feel amazing. We’d love to make some more games using this tech because it works fantastically well!”

Vita owners will also be able to download classic PSP and PSmini titles from the PlayStation Store (which also gets an icon on the main menu). According to Sony, 275 “legacy” PSP titles will be available from launch along with 117 minis (from 60p each), and more will added to the list in the future. If these are sensibly priced, it’s a smart idea – especially for gamers who didn’t take the plunge with PSP, but heard all about landmark titles such as Patapon, Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness and Persona 3.

Connectivity

There are two models to opt for – one comes with Wi-Fi support, allowing you to get online via any hotspot or your own wireless internet connection, the other has Wi-Fi and 3G, so you’ll be able to use it like a mobile phone and get internet access whenever you’re in range of a 3G service. We found the Wi-Fi to be easy to set up, and downloading the requisite system update is quick and painless. The current version is 1.60 which adds the ability to capture video footage, and puts Google Maps on your menu.

The Vita comes with a basic web browser, which currently lacks support for Flash and won’t show YouTube videos. It does, however, support HTML 5, and updates will no doubt arrive later to add features. It’s not the fastest web browsing experience on the planet, either, but it does the job.

Perhaps the most interesting option is the Near app – Vita’s answer to the Nintendo 3DS StreetPass function. It allows you to check the whereabouts and favourite games of people on your friends list, as well as finding out if anyone else is playing a Vita nearby. Gamers can leave virtual gifts or challenges for each other in specific locations, perhaps dropping off weapons, costumes or ammo. Plus, if you have mates nearby, you can set up ad-hoc multiplayer sessions with them.

“The next step is a location-based network, where you can leave challenges around the world and get rewarded for doing so,” says Ankers. “The connected nature of the device is the key element going forward.”

Haggett, meanwhile, sees Vita becoming an accessory in more ambitious urban gaming sessions. “What could work is using the Vita as a peripheral device in a real life game. So if a bunch of friends went to a park to play one of those nerfgun zombie ARG things that are popular these days, they could use Vitas to do interesting stuff – like showing them where their teammates are, or warning them if zombies are near. I’m quite into facilitating more free-form experiences, so rather than dictating what the actual gameplay is, the Vita becomes a tool which different games can use.”

Elsewhere on the menu, there’s a Party app, allowing voice and text chat between friends, even when they’re playing different games. And the Group Messaging option lets you send out text messages to all your PlayStation friends. And naturally, there is support for Flickr, Facebook and Twitter, the latter via a dedicated Vita client named LiveTweet.

It’s a pretty comprehensive social gaming service, which exploits the intrinsically portable nature of the hardware. If Sony can produce some kind of Killer App to really exploit the sense of real-time social connectivity engendered by Near, it could be an important part of tempting sceptics over.

Elsewhere, the Vita can of course connect with the PS3. This will allow users to side load their videos, music and compatible games onto the handheld, but there are more interesting possibilities. Already, several Vita titles allow in-game communication between the two machines. With WipEout, for example, Vita players can challenge PS3 owners who have a copy of WipEout HD to multiplayer racers. Cross-platform play is also supported in Motorstorm RC, Ultimate Marvel v Capcom 3, Hustle Kings and Top Darts – and some titles will be free to download on one platform if you purchase them on the other.

There are also titles that allow continuous play across both platforms. In effect, owners can make progress on the Vita version, save their game, and then pick it up on the PS3 version when they get home. The forthcoming dungeon slasher, Ruin, supports this feature.

Furthermore, Sony is bringing over the Remote Play functionality introduced on the PSP, which allowed certain limited PS3 content to be accessed remotely via the handheld console. At the moment, it’s unclear how this will work, but Sony has demoed the PS3 game Killzone 3 being streamed from a PS3 to a Vita, so you’re able to play the game wherever you are. This doesn’t seem to be working right now, but a firmware update should make many of your PS3 titles accessible while on the move.

And finally, the Remote Play connectivity means your Vita can also double up as a PS3 controller. At the moment, this would be a little novelty extra, but in the future it could prove a crucial part of competing with the forthcoming Nintendo Wii U console, which features a new tablet-style controller with its own built-on screen. We’re all getting used to the “two screen” concept – simultaneously watching a large TV while interacting via a smaller one (for most people this means tweeting while watching Dancing on Ice, but you get the picture). If this is the way living room entertainment is going, Vita looks set to be able to capitalise.

Battery life

Sony says we should expect between three to five hours for gaming. Indeed, at our recent Indie Social event, the three Vitas demo units were in continual use for over five hours. The official specs say we should also get five hours of video and nine hours for music playback (the Vita can read a variety of formats including MP3, MPEG-4, Wav and AAC). The battery recharges from empty to full in 2.5 hours.

Pricing

The official price is £230 for the Wi-Fi model and £270 for the Wi-Fi and 3G model. In this country, Vodafone is Sony’s partner network for 3G, but it’s not an exclusive deal, and you’ll be able to use your current 3G sim in the device, whatever your operator.

The video game news site MCV has provided a comprehensive list of pricing deals and bundles, with Amazon offering the basic Vita for just £210, and Play.com going with £213 for a Wi-Fi Vita and 8GB memory card.

Conclusion

No one in the industry is going to argue with the fact that Vita is a beautiful piece of consumer electronics merchandise. And very few pundits will suggest it has anything less than a strong software line-up. The key contention is saleability: in the age of smartphones, will people still pay morre than £200 for a dedicated piece of gaming hardware any more?

My answer is … well, yes, a lot of people will. Certainly Android and iOS devices cater brilliantly to those daily impulse gaming moments – if Angry Birds, match-three puzzlers and the odd isometric RPG do it for you, Vita won’t be a wise purchase. Furthermore, a handful of smartphone titles (such as Dead Space and Infinity Blade) are beginning to offer some genuine console-style depth.

However, the touchscreen-only interface of most phones can’t provide one important element: spatial accuracy. Pinpoint control is needed for shooters or athletic third-person adventures like Batman or Assassin’s Creed – and these are the mainstay genres of the console experience. With the Vita’s 5in OLED screen, these will look lovely and play exceptionally well.

Perhaps it will be something of a luxury platform – not something users will take everywhere they go (I wouldn’t want to slide it into a back pocket), but perfect for longer journeys. Or for when someone else is watching TV but you still want to collapse on the sofa and play a big, meaty action adventure.

And in some ways, the term “luxury” is ever-so-slightly misleading. It’s not cheap, that’s for sure, and in these dark economic times it’ll hover out of reach for many until a price drop occurs. But Sony says it will support Vita for 10 years – which, considered beside your average smartphone or even laptop lifespan, is a veritable eon of usage.

As for the 3DS – well, this is the same old argument as the PSP v DS era: whose games do you prefer? Nintendo’s machine is cheaper, more portable and sports a novelty 3D interface. Plus, Super Mario 3D Land and Star Fox 64 3D have made it a hugely desirable purchase. But then, if you actually love Sony exclusives such as Uncharted or LittleBigPlanet, or want accurate handheld renditions of Call of Duty or Bioshock, you’ll be in exactly the wrong place with the Nintendo option.

Like the PSP, the PS3 and the Bravia TV range, Vita is a piece of consumer tech for people who love consumer tech. It’s strongly specced, ostentatious, desirable, but not exactly essential for the masses. Its feature-set promises a new era of wildly interconnected gaming experiences that mine location data, chat to your home console and allow you to form weird Venn diagrams between real-life, friendships and games. But then that’s the promise; the reality may be five years of PS3 ports with the odd indie gem chucked in.

Thing is, that worse case scenario may be enough for some; for many even. Sony, after all, really believes in this thing, and Sony isn’t mad. You’ll need deep pockets, both to buy and carry this thing, but if you’re – ahem – a “core” gamer with a love of epic gameplay design, I doubt you’ll regret it.

What the experts say

The PlayStation Vita is a truly lovely machine. To be honest, I’m still slightly in awe of its power, its countless inputs oozing potential and its unparalleled launch line-up of games, which would be considered strong even for a home console.

However, there are niggles, most notably the generally high price of said great games, but also its reliance on the PS3 or PC as a surrogate life support machine. If you’re a Vita buyer sans one of these mothers and their data-wire umbilicals, you will be reliant on proprietary memory cards (why not SD?) of excessive expense (£40 for 16GB) and unrealistic size caps (16GB is the largest, with Uncharted 4GB alone). Memory cards that, going on our evidence, you will repeatedly lose and/or curse every time you have to insert or extract due to them being half the size of a Monopoly house.

It seems curiously retrograde on a system that otherwise oozes class, quality and sophistication. That said, a couple of hours in the company of WipEout 2048 or Gravity Rush and you will forgive it practically anything.

Matt Hill, Deputy Editor, T3

It’s a remarkable handheld – the screen is beautiful, and Sony has delivered on its promise of console-quality gaming on the move. While it faces a challenge standing up to the vibrancy and low prices of the App Store, gamers will flock to Vita if great games emerge that capitalise on its raw power and flexible control inputs. It’s therefore up to developers to make the best of Vita.

Craig Owens, games editor, Edge

Without question, PS Vita is a powerful device with lots of potential. I think it’s the best answer the traditional parts of the games industry could have come up with against the advance of smartphone gaming. Retailers are very optimistic about the launch and hopeful that it will provide a boost during what has become some very challenging trading weeks. The trick for something like Vita to succeed is software and pricing – can that stand up to the huge volume of games apps on mobile and newer things like 3DS? Given Day One for Vita means around 30 games are available from £4.79 up to £49.99 it will certainly get off to a promising start.

Michael French, editor-in-chief, MCV

Article source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2012/feb/21/playstation-vita-essential-guide

The Pirate Bay is planning to defy an international crackdown on filesharing websites after the high court in London signalled that the site should be blocked in the UK.

The filesharing giant said it will bypass attempts to shut it down with a more covert system for illicitly downloading films and music.

The act of defiance comes as the net begins to tighten on some of the web’s biggest filesharing sites, following the closure of Kim Dotcom’s Megaupload by US authorities last month.

The high court is expected to tell UK internet service providers, such as BT and BSkyB, to block access to The Pirate Bay for UK users. The court ruled on Monday that the site breaches copyright laws on a large scale.

But The Pirate Bay has said it will sidestep the crackdown by “our common enemies” with a new downloading system to be unveiled next week.

In a statement on its official Facebook page, the site said that from 29 February it will stop offering downloads via torrents – which allow users to download music or films directly from their internet browser – and switch to so-called “magnet links” where users do not download files directly from the website.

“Before you go ‘oh ma goood why why why?!!!’, please understand that it’s a necessary move in the saga known as The Pirate Bay,” the website said in the message published late on Monday.

“Not having torrents will be a bit cheaper for us but it will also make it harder for our common enemies to stop us (which they can’t. But everything that makes it harder for them brings more lolz [laugh out loud] to our lips). So please get used to magnets, cause they are here to stay.”

The Pirate Bay ended its statement pledging to fight the controversial anti-piracy pact ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which has been roundly criticised by open internet advocates.

The Pirate Bay first moved towards magnet links in November 2009, but this is the first time the site has pledged to abandon torrent files entirely.

The move will make The Pirate Bay easier for users to distribute – a copy of the filesharing system will fit on a removable memory stick – and require less bandwidth to host.

The owners of The Pirate Bay are unknown – but courts in the UK and other jurisdictions have moved against the site in spite of this.

A Seychelles firm called Reservella Ltd has been claimed to be behind the site, according to the high court judgment handed down by Mr Justice Arnold on Monday, but this is disputed.

The four Swedish founders of the site – Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Warg, Peter Sunde and Carl Lundström – were in 2010 found guilty of aiding and abetting copyright infringement.

Earlier this month The Pirate Bay quickly switched its domain name to the Swedish .se suffix in a bid to prevent US authorities from seizing control of the site.

Article source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/feb/21/pirate-bay-defy-crackdown-filesharing

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/21/gunzes-new-touchscreen-tech-knows-whos-touching-it/