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James Cameron is continuing is plight to turn everything 3D by helping out NASA and equipping its Mars rover with a 3D camera.

Curiosity - the name of the vehicle which is set to travel to Mars - has a launch scheduled in 2011, but before it jets off the rover is going to get a camera makeover.

The people behind the rover’s camera, Malin Space Science Systems, have enlisted the help of Cameron who turned Hollywood on to the idea of 3D with his mega-hit Avatar.

Cinematic 3D

Cameron will modify the existing cameras – which shoot HD – for 3D filing, using the technology he built from the ground up for Avatar.

Speaking about the link-up Michael Malin, from Malin Space Science Systems, said: “The fixed focal length [cameras] we just delivered will do almost all of the science we originally proposed.

“But they cannot provide a wide field of view with comparable eye stereo. With the zoom [cameras], we’ll be able to take cinematic video sequences in 3D on the surface of Mars. This will give our public engagement co-investigator, James Cameron, tools similar to those he used on his recent 3D motion picture projects.”

If all goes well, expect 3D footage of Mars to hit Earth sometime in 2011.

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen has spoken candidly about Steve Jobs’ scathing open letter ‘Thoughts on Flash’, explaining that the content of the letter is a “smokescreen” for Apple.

Jobs gave six reasons why Apple had not adopted Flash on its iPhone and iPad products, an attack that immediately focused huge amounts of attention on Adobe’s products.

However, in a video interview with the Wall Street Journal, Narayen notes that: “The world is emerging where there are multiple devices which are used to access the internet and our customers continue to tell us that they would love to have a way in which they can get their content, their brand across multiple devices – mobile devices, tablets, TVs and PCs.

“This article and Apple’s recent behaviour show that there is a concern that Adobe is able to provide value to customers and consumers alike.”

Flash forward

When pressed about what he thought were Apple’s motives, Narayen explained: “The technology aspects of this article are really a smokescreen.

“We demonstrated through Adobe tools you could build content and applications [for Apple devices]. Over 100 applications were accepted on the store.

“We have demonstrated magazines and newspapers running with the fidelity that the Wall Street Journal wants on all of these devices.

“So when you resort to licensing language it is clear that it is nothing to do with technology.”

Tools of the trade

Narayen also believes that Apple’s dismissal of Flash will make it much harder for publishers to get their content out there digitally and even though Adobe is supplying the tools, Apple is scuppering the delivery.

“We will deliver authoring tools which will enable people to deliver content to any device, even for the iPad if you are using InDesign and DreamWeaver.

“We provide the world’s best authoring tools, end of story. In terms of delivering that content the more these platforms adopt Flash you won’t have to do anything else, it will just work. On the iPad, you will have to do additional steps.”

In his letter Jobs stated that Flash caused crashes, ran down the battery on devices and was actually a closed system.

Unsurprisingly Narayen denied all of the above and in turn swiped at Apple’s OS, saying: “I’m not aware that Flash is the cause of crashes. It has as much to do with the Apple operating system.”

This is one of the most public war of words we have seen in recent years in the tech world and it is an issue that is not likely to go away anytime soon – much to the annoyance of consumers everywhere.

It’s Friday already – and that means the second weekly update from the team over at Computer and Video Games on the biggest hitting stories from the world of gaming in the past seven days.

First up, for first person shooter fans (boom, headshot), CVG first revealed earlier this year that the Call Of Duty Black Ops UK release date was set for November. And Activision has now confirmed a November 9 worldwide release for the game. We’d be a little surprised if there was a level where you blow up civilians in an airport – but let’s not rule it out.

One of the really big stories was in Activision’s deal with Halo creators Bungie. The gaming giants signed a ten-year multi-platform exclusive deal, and a decade in gaming is the equivalent of about eight life-times.

And a hat-trick for Activision stories arrives with the news that staff from Infinity Ward – the people behind Modern Warfare – have grouped together to sue the publisher.

PS3 Linux and Sims

More legal action, and we covered it here on TechRadar, but CVG also wrote up the news that Sony is facing a class-action lawsuit over its decision to drop Linux from the PS3. Taking away features retrospectively certainly is never going to be popular.

On a happier note – should you be obsessive about creating virtual chairs or dictating exactly when a computer character takes a whizz – Sims 3 will be coming to PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii. We can’t wait to see the gestures needed for ‘get impregnated by an alien’ on the latter console.

More news and gaming updates over at http://www.computerandvideogames.com

The iPad has made a splash, but Apple’s Flash-free, App-centric platform has certainly left the door open for a web tablet not held back by Apple’s shackles.

So enter the 12.1-inch JooJoo, which has just gone on sale in the UK. Designed by Fusion Garage, a company that has not been without some controversy, the platform is a gesture-based tablet that is, essentially, one big web browser with a Wi-Fi connection.

The cost, including UK VAT, is £374. We’re expecting the entry-level iPad to hit the £399 price point. Is it worth as much as the iPad? Read on for our (varied) thoughts, but first, some basics.

The home screen essentially consists of a variety of web links rather than apps, though these are still downloaded from a ‘Store’.

Obviously they don’t need to be downloaded from a Store, but JooJoo hopes to ape Apple’s success in this way - even if there are no applications to speak of.

First things first though, the hardware - it’s slightly heavier than the iPad although the slick aluminium and dark-edged finish really does look the part - even if it’s similar to Apple’s device. There’s a USB input as well as microphone, power and headphone sockets.

JooJoo has 4GB of built-in solid-state storage in addition to 1GB of memory and Intel’s 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor - it would appear to have integrated graphics, though some web rumours have pointed to a future version based on Nvidia’s Ion GPU.

While the storage is less than the 16GB entry-level iPad, you won’t particularly need to store anything on this device as everything is completely web-based.

The bit of hardware that does disappoint is the screen - the 366 x 768 display isn’t quite bright enough and certainly isn’t good enough for group viewing. The iPad’s display is a lot brighter and is far better for viewing alongside others.

So what’s it like to use? Unfortunately, the Linux-based interface doesn’t quite live up to its slick look. It is sluggish while the menu bar - which needs a one-fingered swipe downwards - appears sporadically.

The unit we have photographed here was also demoed to us previously. During the course of the demo, the device crashed twice and was slow to respond at times.

Apparently these problems (as well as some others we’ll detail below) will be fixed by firmware updates in due course, but it begs the question - why is this device on sale now when it’s clearly unfinished?

It’s a real shame as there is A LOT of potential here. It’s just that the JooJoo seems like a beta device - we’re not that impressed that it’s already on the streets.

One thing we did like was the way the browser enables you to easily swipe between browser screens. Unlike on the iPhone or iPad, this means that any video or music playing in that screen won’t stop - it’s more like a desktop PC in terms of user experience.

Here’s your first glimpse of the keyboard, which works well for searching - there are shortcuts to Google, YouTube and other services.

And the main on-screen keyboard has two sizes, which you can see below in action using Google Docs. As the browser works just the same as that of a desktop PC, document editing isn’t an issue. We were dismayed that the keyboard doesn’t have a Shift key though! Expect this to appear soon.

The YouTube experience is good, but JooJoo hasn’t got the blessing of Adobe and is doing things its own way. It has implemented the first beta of Flash 10.1 but doesn’t have hardware acceleration and so 720p HD footage (we watched the Iron Man trailer) is poor. For this reason, JooJoo has had to provide us with a non-Flash MPEG playback of YouTube videos - you have to click on the JooJoo logo displayed on Flash videos - in other words, a “JooJoo mode” has had to be developed. Humph.

And for this reason, BBC iPlayer playback is also problematic as there is no “JooJoo mode”.

So what do we think? The JooJoo clearly has a lot to offer, but it’s marred by buggy software and an uneasy relationship with the very people that should be supporting it - Adobe.

This isn’t an iPad killer yet, but it so should be! It’s a real disappointment and could be so much better. JooJoo appears to have rushed it out because of the iPad. Instead, it should have waited and got things right first time.

Sky has come to an interim agreement with Ofcom over Sky Sports, with Top Up Tv, Virgin Media and BT Vision all set to offer the channels.

The difference between what Sky wants to charge for its premium sports channels and what Ofcom wants to set will be paid into escrow until the arguments and legal battles have ended.

Sky is still appealing Ofcom’s decision that it, and not the broadcaster, should set the wholesale rates for the channels.

Pleased

“We are pleased to have been able to put forward an agreement which provides substantial protection against the short-term impacts of Ofcom’s decision,” a Sky spokesperson said.

“We remain fully focused on our substantive appeal, which will be filed with the CAT in due course.”

The news will be especially welcomed by Top Up TV and BT Vision customers who have not had the option of subscribing to Sky Sports before.

While this might be as reliable as hearing it from a bloke down the pub, rumours are appearing that Apple’s new iPhone will be packing a 5MP camera.

LG is apparently the company to supply the sensors, according to Asian title The Chosun, with the company already producing the dedicated cameras.

Mass production will being in the second half of this year - which makes us wonder about the validity of the story, given Apple is likely to begin shipping the new iPhone early in July.

Too little, too late?

This would give the manufacturers very little time to build and supply the cameras to iPhone manufacture.

However, the rumours of an improved camera for the new iPhone are pretty strong - the Gizmodo teardown of the new device didn’t manage to uncover the sensor’s capabilities, but showed the new unit has a flash.

With less than two months until the likely unveiling of the new device from Jobs, the speculation is only going to increase day by day - but thanks to the Gizmodo unveiling, it seems ‘One more thing’ will be a lot less of a shock this time.

Spotify’s been a massive success in Europe, with well over a million users in the UK.

With only the occasional advert interrupting the stream of music, it’s like having the biggest music collection in the world.

It’s so large that you might need a bit more help searching for songs and managing the results.

We’ve put together 15 hidden features, tips and add-ons that will help you make the most of Spotify.

1. Search modifiers

Search Spotify using modifiers to restrict and refine your results. For example, to search for Madonna’s 1983 output you enter “madonna year:1982″. You can also search for a range of years, like this: “rolling stones year:1965-1972″. Other modifiers include “album”, “artist” and “genre”. These can be combined, for example: “album:love artist:cult” only finds tracks from The Cult’s “Love”. Finally, Boolean syntax can be used to exclude keywords, like this: “genre:trip-hop NOT morcheeba”.

EXCLUSIVE TRACKS: Filter bands and tracks out of search results with the Boolean NOT operator - or use the minus sign “-”.

2. Search by genre

Spotify’s most useful search modifiers is “genre”. Search for “genre:post-rock” and you’ll get more Mogwai than you can get wet after midnight. It’s also the trickiest to use. The program itself only lists 18 default genres (in the Radio section), but it supports around 800! If you don’t use the right wording, the search will return no results. For a full and current list of Spotify genres, go to Spotify Gateway.

3. Multiple versions

Many albums exist in multiple versions with different edits - and Spotify may have multiple listings for the same collection of tracks. When this happens you’ll see a little arrow in the “Track” column of your results. Click it to see all the instances of that track appearing on a different version of the album.

MULTITRACK: Different edits of your favourite albums have different track versions. Spotify finds them, but hides them

4. Link to part of a track

As originally cited on the Spotify blog, you can send friends a track URI with a time index embedded in it. Copy the Spotify URI and paste it into your email or message window, then edit the URI to add ‘#time’ to the end. For example, if the track has a brilliant solo at 1:26, you append #1:26 to the end of the URI. You can also do this with HTTP links, but you’ll have to replace the hash tag “#” with “%23″.

5. Draggable URLs

You probably already know that you can right click on Spotify playlists, tracks and albums to copy the HTTP link or Spotify URI to the clipboard. You can also drag and drop any Spotify link to the text box of another program; an email client, instant messager, URL shortener or Twitter window. The HTTP link is embedded - not the Spotify URI.

6. Top Lists

The often forgotten “Top Lists” feature shows you the most popular tracks everywhere on the Spotify network, by default. You can change the display to show top artists, albums and tracks. If you look in the top left corner - you can also change where Spotify gets its data. Choose “Everywhere”, the United Kingdom or another region where Spotify is live. Finally, choosing “For Me” shows your most frequently played tracks since the list was last updated. This should happen once a week - but the feature is notoriously buggy.

TOP OF YOUR POPS: Spotify say that its lists of top tracks, albums and artists are refreshed once a week, so don’t worry if your currents faves aren’t at number one

7. Quicker playlist creation

So, you’ve found Spotify’s most popular tracks - now turn them into a playlist. CTRL and click on tracks to make multiple selections, then right-click to open the context sensitive menu and choose “Save to” and “New Playlist”.

8. Integrate Spotify with Firefox

FoxyTunes is one of our favourite plugins. It enables you to control Spotify (and over 30 other media players on Windows) from Firefox. You can also search for information on the current track direct from your browser. Combine it with Spotify Search for a complete search and playback solution in your browser.

FIREFOX ONLY: Though available in versions for Firefox and Internet Explorer, Spotify support is currently exclusive to Mozilla’s browser

9. Keyboard navigation

Use keyboard shortcuts to navigate faster in Spotify; tab to move through columns, use up and down arrows to select tracks or move through tracks or playlists, hit enter to play. The Spacebar toggles pause on and off. When you’re playing a tune, CTRL and right skips to the next in the list, while ALT and left or right goes back and forward through pages.

10. Volume control

Hold CTRL and hit the up or down arrow on your keyboard to change Spotify’s volume. To mute playback, hit CTRL SHIFT and down - but note that adverts pause when you do that. You’ll have to pay for a premium account to be rid of ads or try the rather convoluted solution blogging software developer Peter MacRobert used to auto-mute Spotify ads on his Mac.

11. Playlist privacy

By default, the new social features in Spotify make all your playlists public. Even the ones full of 80s power ballads. Prevent poor-taste embarrassment by clicking your own name in the “People” column - then click “Edit”. You toggle whether a playlist is published on or off; green for yes, grey for no. While you’re there, untick the box labeled “Automatically publish new playlists I create”.

You can also right-click on a playlist in the column on the left and tick or untick “Publish” in the context sensitive menu.

SHARE VIEW: You can choose which playlist you’d like to display on your public profile, and turn off your top tunes, too

12. Clean up your tunes

Like iTunes, Spotify now uses the Gracenote database to maintain and clean-up information stored in local tracks. You can enable this by default when you first import local tunes into your library, or you can do it manually, if you spot a problem. Go to “Library > Local” in your user panel on the left, right click on the track that needs fixing and choose “Update info from Gracenote”.

13. View other profiles

Facebook friends who enable Spotify’s social features are automatically added to your people list. You can view any Spotify user who has enabled the new social features, whether you’re their facebook friend or not though. If you know the username, type “spotify:user:” in the search box. If you’re subscribed to a playlist published by someone else, you can navigate to their profile just by clicking on their username. In either case, you can then add them to your people list, by clicking the “Add ” button.

FIND FRIENDS: If you know a Spotify user’s name - and they’ve enabled its new social features - you can check out their profiles and add them to your people list

14. Prevent track spam

Anyone with a Spotify account can now send tracks to your inbox. It’s as easy as dragging a track to a profile in the people column. What if someone you don’t know starts spamming you with Hall and Oates tunes? Easy. You block them. Right-click their name in the “From” field and choose “Block from Inbox”.

15. Share a playlist

You can drag and drop individual tracks to friends in the people list column or you can send tracks to them by right clicking and choosing “Send to > Spotify People > “. You can’t do the same with playlists though. There are a few workarounds. Firstly, you can drag and drop a playlist URL to your instant messenger or email client and send it the old fashioned way. Secondly, you can right-click on a playlist and publish the link to Facebook or Twitter. Thirdly, and most clumsily, you can select all the tracks in a playlist and send them to a friend by right clicking and choosing “”Send to > Spotify People > username” - but that sends the tracks only, they won’t be subscribed to the actual playlist.

SHARED PLAYLIST: For now, you can post playlist links to Facebook or Twitter but you can’t send them to your friend’s Spotify inbox

The Vivitek D511 is the first data projector we’ve seen from the Taiwanese company and on first impressions it’s a great example of what an entry-level projector should be. The compact body of the projector weighs in at a portable 1.9kg and while it’s not the toughest construction around, it offers good value for money.

The manual focus ring protrudes from the front of the casing, while the zoom is fitted behind it and hidden away inside the body of the casing.

Buttons on the top of the unit offer the standard array of controls, with a large Power button and a ring below this with Menu, Source, Auto and keystone correction controls.

The Vivitek D511 ships with a mini remote control that mirrors the controls on the top of the unit. The menu controls are easy to get to grips with, but you will find that some of the controls are hidden away, such as the Eco-mode.

You’ll find a full array of ports on the back consisting of the standard D-sub, s-video and component ports, and an HDMI port for connecting to a digital source.

With full support for 720p output, the D511 has a native resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels, but will upscale to 1600 x 1200 pixels with ease. This projector is also 3D ready and so is capable of making the most of the big changes in presentation technology.

When it came to image quality, we found the D511 had quite a short throw range, so it isn’t ideal for larger meeting rooms. In the home or small office, however, images look crisp and sharp.

Dropping the projector down into Eco-mode marks a noticeable drop in the noise generated by the fan, while it still manages to maintain a respectable brightness level.

The Vivitek D511 offers a fair degree of future-proofing for such an affordable data projector. Sure, it lacks the build quality of some other machines, but it still represents great value for money.

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The Viewsonic PJD6211 is the most cost-effective data projector here. It takes the standard design route for a DLP device, being a squat device that sits length-wise with the lens fixed at one end and a large vent along the front.

It’s quite compact but with a weight of 2.6kg, is not ideal for taking on the road. You will find it is a decent machine for sharing between rooms in an office, or possibly a school.

The lens has the usual manual focus and zoom rings and we found getting this projector up and running to be quick and easy. Controls on the top of the unit proved easy to get to grips with and while the menu system is comprehensive, you do need to scroll through quite a number of pages to get it set up to your liking.

With a brightness rating of 2500 ANSI lumens you’ll be able to use this projector in most lighting conditions with ease. What’s more, it has quite a small throw range, making it ideal for use in smaller meeting rooms and school classrooms.

Sadly, we found image quality to be fairly unimpressive, with the whites in our presentation test having a yellow tinge to them. Video seemed more appealing, however, with little in the way of pixelation, even during a fast action scene.

Running in Eco-mode dropped image brightness down by a noticeable degree but the cooling fan continued to run noisily.

Connectivity on the rear shows the entry-level roots of this device, as you won’t find any digital ports. There are comprehensive analog connections for use with multiple analog sources, however, highlighting the office-based functionality of this device.

Odd then that the PJD6211 comes with 3D ready support. This is due to the 120Hz refresh rate of the lens and its native resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels.

The Viewsonic PJD6211 data projector offers decent value for money but unless you’re on a tight budget we feel that it does have rather limited appeal.

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The Optoma EW330 is the most expensive data projector in this group test, but it’s also the smallest and lightest. With an overall weight of just 1.2kg, it is perfectly designed for life on the move. The compact chassis feels solid and is more than tough enough to be carried in a bag alongside your laptop.

The zoom ring is hidden away inside the main body of the projector, while the focus ring sits on the outside. Through the use of a clever design it works exceedingly well without protruding too much. The menu buttons are a little small and fiddly to use at first, but the menu software is easy to get to grips with.

With a brightness of 2200 ANSI lumens and a standard 2000:1 contrast ratio, you can use this projector in most lighting conditions. We found image size to be acceptable for smaller meeting rooms, but not nearly big enough for larger spaces.

Connectivity is kept to a minimum, with a single D-sub port and s-video connection. However, there is also an HDMI port in place, so you can connect to a high-definition (HD) digital source with ease.

What we like best about the EW330 is the image quality it delivers. During our presentation tests we found it offered a very sharp contrast between black and whites, with documents looking crisp. With its 16:10 aspect ratio, it’s designed for use with older laptop screens, so you’ll find the native resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels leaves a slight letterbox effect in place when running widescreen movies.

In many respects, the only real flaw with the EW330 is how hot it gets. We also found it quite loud, as the fan needs to work hard to keep the heat under control. If you’re using it for presentations on the road, you’ll need to wait for it to cool down properly before packing it away.

Overall, the EW330 is a great projector. We like the compact size and connectivity is decent, but most of all the image quality on offer is simply outstanding.

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