George Lucas 'very happy' with Star Wars 3D makeover

<P align=center><img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//classifications/gadgets/images/star-wars-logo-200-200.png"></P><br /><P>George Lucas has proclaimed himself to be 'very happy' with the 3D work being done on <EM>Star Wars: The Phantom Menace</EM>, as Prime Focus were named a partner on the project. </P><br /><P><EM>The Phantom Menace</EM> will be the first of the six films to be converted into 3D, with creator Lucas keen to see the job done well, and Prime Focus has been selected by Lucas and his Industrial Light & Magic effects house. </P><br /><P>"It was incredibly important to me that we have the technology, the resources and the time to do this right," said Lucas.</P><br /><P>"I'm very happy with the results I've been seeing on <EM>Episode I</EM>."</P><br /><P><STRONG>Tinker man</STRONG></P><br /><P>It certainly won't be the first time that work has been done on updating Star Wars – with the original and much loved trilogy remastered, poked, prodded and put through the digital grinder on several occasions by Lucas. </P><br /><P>Episode One - much maligned by the critics - is due to arrive in cinemas from February next year, with Blu-ray version likely to follow soon afterwards.</P><br /><P>But, although many fans will now have the films collected on numerous formats, the prospect of 3D remains enticing, as long as it is done really well. </P><br /><P>And perhaps Jar Jar is digitally deleted to boot. Oh, and make sure that Han shot first.</P>

George Lucas 'very happy' with Star Wars 3D makeover

George Lucas has proclaimed himself to be 'very happy' with the 3D work being done on Star Wars: The Phantom Menace , as Prime Focus...

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Gary Marshall: Happy Birthday Xbox 360: so good I'll buy it again

<img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//classifications/home-entertainment/gaming/games-consoles/images/xbox-360-three-red-lights-200-200.jpg"><br /><P>If you're in Europe, the Xbox 360 is five today. That means it's five years since many of us picked up a copy of <EM>Perfect Dark Zero </EM>and said "this sucks!"</P><br /><P>It got off to a bumpy start, but I love my Xbox. I missed it when it needed surgery to remove the Red Ring of Death, and I missed it even more when a hand injury and subsequent hand surgery meant I wasn't allowed to touch it for months. No sooner had the doctor said it was OK to play games again and I was installing <EM>Lost Planet 2</EM>.</P><br /><P>With hindsight, that one was a mistake. </P><br /><P><STRONG>Noise Annoys</STRONG></P><br /><P>It's not perfect. My one's on its way out, with startup freezes becoming more and more common. My wife can't stand the hooting of its fans, a noise that's still terribly annoying despite 2008's New Xbox Experience bringing the overdue ability to install games to the hard disk.</P><br /><P>The storage space is pathetic, because - yes! - I install games to the hard disk. Its looks haven't aged well, something the latest models address (along with the noise, I'm told).</P><br /><P>The video marketplace or Zune Tellybox or whatever it's been rebranded as this week still sucks. And the lack of iPlayer is crazy, Microsoft cutting off its nose to spite its face by refusing to let the BBC give us its sterling streaming service for free.</P><br /><P>Despite all of these things, I still love it. It doesn't feel like a console nearing the end of its life; rather, it feels like a console developers know what they're doing with.</P><br /><P>When I used to play PC games, I often - rightly - wished I had better hardware to play them on, but I still don't feel that with my Xbox: games such as the gloriously demented Vanquish look superb, go like the clappers and don't appear to be bringing my Xbox near breaking point.</P><br /><P><STRONG>Unplugged Dust Gatherer</STRONG></P><br /><P>It's interesting to compare the Xbox to the Wii, another console that used to live under the telly. After a brief burst of <EM>Wii Sports</EM> when I first got it, the Wii was demoted to Unplugged Dust Gatherer, resurrected briefly for a bit of<EM> Dead Space Extraction</EM> before ending up on Gumtree.</P><br /><P>I reckon my total Wii play time barely reached the tens of hours; with my Xbox it's thousands, and I've used it to watch countless videos too. The only bit of kit I spend more time on is the laptop I use for work.</P><br /><P>My Xbox 360 made me what I am today - fat, with ruined hands. So it's probably just as well that instead of rushing out a new kind of Xbox, Microsoft has released Kinect instead. I'm pretty excited about that.</P><br /><P>Not only is there the possibility that I'll actually get off my lazy backside, but as the dad of a three-year-old I can't wait to bring games such as <EM>Kinectimals </EM>into the house and get my wee girl into gaming at an impressionable age. The only reason I haven't got it already is because I'm saving up to buy one of the black Xboxes.</P><br /><P>There's a recommendation for you: it's so good I'm buying it all over again.</P>

Gary Marshall: Happy Birthday Xbox 360: so good I'll buy it again

If you're in Europe, the Xbox 360 is five today. That means it's five years since many of us picked up a copy of Perfect Dark Zero a...

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Happy 25th Anniversary, Microsoft Windows

<P><img alt="Windows 1.0" class="alignright size-full wp-image-448137" height="225" src="/windows1-box.jpg" title="windows1-box" width="225"></P><br /><P>It was 25 years ago today that Microsoft released Windows 1.0. The world’s most popular operating system has gone through a number of versions since then, and the next iteration, <a href="">Windows 8</A>, is expected <a href="">within 2 years</A>.</P><br /><P>At the time it launched, Windows<a class="blippr-inline-smiley blippr-inline-smiley-03" href="http://www.blippr.com/apps/574203-Windows" rel="http://www.blippr.com/apps/574203-Windows.whtml" target="_blank">Windows</A> actually wasn’t a full operating system. Rather, it was a graphical user interface (GUI) that ran on top of DOS. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said at launch that Windows 1.0, which carried a suggested retail price of $99 in 1985, was “unique software” that would provide “unprecedented power to users today and a foundation for hardware and software advancements of the next few years.” (You can read the full, 32-page Windows 1.0 press kit at <a href="http://docs.com/8NAK" target="_blank">this link</A>.)</P><br /><P>While that uniqueness has long been <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/d/windows/apple-versus-microsoft-top-20-stolen-ideas-os-wars-046" target="_blank">up for debate</A>, it is certainly easy to argue that Gates was right about Windows laying a foundation for the future of the personal computer. Windows has been the dominant operating system for the past two decades. Its future as such, however, is in doubt. Computing seems to be undergoing a fundamental shift away from the PC paradigm and toward mobile and tablet-based interfaces.</P><br /><P>The graphic below, from <a href="http://www.zdnet.co.uk/reviews/desktop-os/2010/11/20/a-quarter-century-of-windows-40090900/" target="_blank">ZDNet UK</A>, illustrates the progression of Windows from November 20, 1985 to today.</P><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-448133" height="741" src="/windows-25-years.jpg" title="windows-25-years" width="620"> <br /><P>The following image is a screenshot of Windows 1.0, which sat on top of Microsoft’s command-line operating system, MS-DOS.</P><img alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-448135" height="350" src="/windows1screen.jpg" title="windows1screen" width="640">

Happy 25th Anniversary, Microsoft Windows

It was 25 years ago today that Microsoft released Windows 1.0. The world’s most popular operating system has gone through a number of versio...

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Happy 6th birthday, Firefox!

<P><a name="8919475252365066952"></A> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqpGzEWN09q33UEPTiN0CTyIwTVe8Muq4PmS7I15l0QWv8VixF1BwCx3rIkbBGyUnBxsWWWnOAaOzABnXjugoaK-2x6eA-41Pory1XoqVomrH0ksoKcsdE5fr4QTsqZN9irffBsXPqrhc/s1600/mozillafirefox.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="193" src="http://technologyforum.x10.mx/image//mozillafirefox.jpg" width="200"></A></P><br /><P>It was six years ago when Mozilla launched their browser to give users an alternative to Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Named "Mozilla Firebird" back then, it revolutionized the browsing experience by having an overall faster browser performance compared to the former. Most importantly, it gave users more flexibility through add-ons and plug-ins for features not included. Currently, Firefox has a market share of around 31% with the rest shared by IE and other browsers like Google's Chrome. Firefox 4, the next major version, is said to be launched by early 2011. This might sound as a make-or-break for them as many users have been switching to Chrome due to its faster performance.</P>

Happy 6th birthday, Firefox!

  It was six years ago when Mozilla launched their browser to give users an alternative to Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Named "Mo...

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