Microsoft and CEOP team up on customised IE8

Microsoft has launched a special version of IE8 along with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre that offers embedded advice, help and report services.

Customised browsers are far from uncommon, but the laudable efforts of CEOP on the internet makes Microsoft's latest effort worth consideration.

The CEOP-customised IE8 browser has a 'clear and direct' route to CEOP with a special button and is available from www.clickceop.net/ie8.

Jim Gamble CEO of CEOP said: "Internet safety advice needs to be at your fingertips and not hidden away. Parents and children should not have to go searching through numerous web pages to find the help they need.

Help and report

"The new CEOP-customised Internet Explorer 8 browser will embed advice, help and report services directly into the toolbar to provide a constant, reassuring presence for families who will be one click away from the support they need.

"We again applaud Microsoft for this development in child safety and look forward to working with other browser developers to make an even safer online environment for our children."

Essentially the browser simply has pre-set favourites, a CEOP help and advice search option and a CEOP 'webslice' button that gives you more options.

WinMo 7 coming without Flash support?

Word from rumour mills has appeared again over Windows Mobile 7, with a lot more information coming about the mobile OS.

The info is provided by sites PPCGeeks and MobileTechWorld with no sources cited other than a tipster, but does make for some interesting reading.

Among the highlights over Windows Mobile 7 are:

• A new Zune-based UI

• Support for Zune and Xbox Live integration

• No Flash support due to time constraints, although Silverlight Mobile will be included

• Applications only available through the Windows Mobile Marketplace, so no more installing from SD card (which could make unofficial apps obsolete)

• Full social networking support

• Internet browser based on IE7 with IE8 functionality, which is apparently 'better' than the iPhone

• UK release date for Windows Mobile 7 expected in September 'ahead of schedule'

We're slightly unconvinced about some of the claims made here, although they do seem to at least be grounded in reality, so we're looking forward to Mobile World Congress next week to see if this is the version that turns up.

Facebook on your mobile could give you a virus

A new report from the European Network and Information Security Agency (Enisa) has highlighted the security dangers of using social network sites, the most obvious being Facebook and Twitter, with the threat the greatest when accessing the sites from a mobile phone.

The report, which Enisa will be putting online when it's published, highlights a number of examples where malware has been used on social networking sites for such crimes as identity theft.

Although it admits that "there is not yet any known mobile malware propagation, this kind of social network can send especially crafted software directly to mobile phones, using Bluetooth and Wi-Fi features in mobile phones to propagate."

Golden rules

In other words, it's just a matter of time before viruses start spreading through mobiles, and the report also points out threat of corporate data leakages as more vital information is stored on smartphones.

The Enisa report has 17 'golden rules' to help people stay safe. Most are just common sense, such as paying attention to what you post and upload, using the privacy setting properly on social networking sites, and reporting lost or stolen mobiles immediately.

One or two, though, go a little further, such as disabling location-based services on your mobile unless you need them and always reading the privacy policies of social networking sites to ensure you're fully aware of all the risks posed by using your mobile to access such services.

The iPhone has been a high profile example of such exploitation - a self-propagating worm took advantage of jailbroken devices to send pictures without consent, highlighting the danger posed.

Google Street View awards the best streets

Google Street View is launching its own Street View awards, celebrating all that is good with the UK's streets.

The general public and a panel of judges will decide Britain's best foodie street, best fashion street, and most picturesque street.

In all, 50 streets in 25 different cities have been shortlisted, and the public can use Google Street View to decide on their favourites and vote.

Among those judging is VisitBritain, whose job, coincidentally is to promote British tourism. Agency spokesperson Sandie Dawe said: "We're really pleased to be involved in this exciting project, which will honour streets across Britain."

Among the Most Picturesque Streets are Bath's Royal Crescent and the Shambles in York, along with Main Street, Tobermory, on the Isle of Mull, all of them very popular tourist destinations.

Eating and Dressing

Those of a foodie disposition can vote for the like of London's Charlotte Street, The Calls in Leeds, or Wilmslow Road in Manchester's Curry Mile.

People more interested in looking good have a choice of 20 locations, ranging from Bridlesmith Gate in Nottingham to Buchanan Street in Glasgow, as well as two places in London – King's Road and Westbourne Grove.

Judges in the three sections include TV hiker Julia Bradbury, former Fall singer, now fashion guru Brix Smart-Smith, and food expert Henrietta Green.

The awards should help improve Street View's image after plenty of controversy last year over allegations that its pictures invaded privacy.

In Depth: 5 best PlayStation 3 media streaming apps

Say what you like about how the PS3's games library stacks up against the 360, it's hard to deny that it's a far lovelier media player.

Near-silent operation, masterful upscaling of SD content to HD screens, the lovely Planet Earth music visualiser and, of course, the Blu-Ray drive.

What it doesn't have is loud prompts and fancy Media Center screens to set up streaming of music and video files from a PC elsewhere on your home network. Fortunately, there are several ways to make that happen - but which one one addresses your oh-so-specific needs?

1. Windows Media Player 11/12 - Free

Windows' native music/video playback app is about the closest you'll ever get to running Microsoft software on a Sony console. The PS3 might be denied the glossy interface of Windows Media Center, but it can access anything WMP's sharing over a home network. The plus side is that Windows Media Player is essentially built into Windows, so if you already use it to manage a media library there's a minimum of setup required. The downside is, well, everything else. Limited categorisation options make navigating a large library a hateful business, there's no on-the-fly re-encoding of unsupported files and, in that typically Windows way, there's far too many button pushes and requests for permission necessary for setup.

2. TVersity - Free

The most elegant app of the lot. Essentially, TVersity is a super-charged, less restrictive alternative to Windows Media Player's streaming tool. It still requires manual or automatic refreshing of your media library to stay up to date, but brilliantly it enables you to browse it more logically at the PS3's end. Exploring by Date Added sounds so simple, so obvious a thing, but it makes all the difference if you're regularly adding new media to your PC. It also allows you to add various web media feeds such as Youtube channels, Flickr, even the bounteous Hulu (if you're a US resident) or anything you can provide an RSS feed for. Better still, it's capable of some on-the-fly transcoding of unsupported files; there's a drop in quality, but the important thing is it still starts playing at the click of a Sixaxis button.

3. PS3 Media Server - Free

While TVersity's the slickest streamer, it could be accused of being a little bloated - a charge you can't level at this strikingly powerful Java-based tool. PS3 Media Server doesn't need to install any codecs, it's a small, fast-loading app, and best of all it doesn't need to refresh a database to keep your PS3 up to speed with what media files you've got. Instead, it lets the console directly browse any folders you've specified, as if you'd just plugged in a USB drive - it'll even make ZIP and RAR archives browsable via the console. It also offers best-in-show transcoding - as long as your CPU and network connection is fast enough, it'll convert anything you throw at it to PS3-friendly formats on the fly. Alas, it's really not a pretty piece of software and the PC's end, and is so loaded with tech jargon and ludicrously specific settings that relative tech novices may struggle to get it do what they need it to.

4. MKV2VOB - Free

Not a media streaming app per se, but a vital tool for anyone who downloads stuff in HD. The current community standard filetype is MKV, which the PS3 doesn't support. Except... it does. Without getting too tech-babbly, the type of video in most MKV files is one that the PS3 can play, but the MKV element is an additional container around that - designed to hold, say, multiple audio or subtitle tracks within a single file. MKV2VOB simply removes this container, usually within seconds as essentially it's simply copying, not re-encoding. Though it is capable of that too - most usefully to turn DTS soundtracks (if your TV/amp doesn't support them) found on some MKVs into Dolby Digital 5.1.

5. Nero Media Home - £25

The only app here to carry a pricetag, though you may already have it if you own a recent version of Nero's DVD burning app. Like TVersity and PS3 Media Server, it can transcode unsupported files on the fly - and with a minimum of configuration. The stand-out goodie, however, is its ability to stream live television if you have a TV tuner in your PC. Given your PS3 is already connected to a telly that might sound a tad obtuse, but if you also own a PSP and have set it up for Remote Play with the PS3, you can call up the TV tuner through that too - from anywhere in the world. Unfortunately the app installs itself all over your PC rather than being invisible - in more ways than one, Media Home really needs to lose a few pounds.

Review: Panasonic HDC-HS60

The Panasonic HDC-HS60 is a brand new full HD camcorder which packs internal storage galore as well as many other nifty features.

However, when less than £200 gets you a pocket-sized, YouTube-friendly movie camera like the Flip or even Apple's iPod nano, why would you want to spend over £500 on a camcorder – even one as crafty and compact as Panasonic's HDC-HS60?

Welcome to a conundrum facing not just consumers but camcorder developers as well …

The crux of the problem is that as established camcorder manufacturers make their conventional models smaller – though still rammed with features – they're asking buyers to make a decision on products that while not much bigger than pocket-shooters can often be more than twice the price.

Entering this fray is the HS60, a spec'd-up, Full HD (1,920x1,080) camcorder, which doles out the type of modes a Toshiba Camileo or Samsung HMX-U10 can only dream of, and which forms part of a three-pronged '60' series that includes the TM60 and SD60.

Movie clips are recorded, using the AVCHD format, to an impressive 120GB HDD.

With four recording settings this means there's the potential to record between 15 and 51 hours of video.

And the inclusion of an SD card slot increases this storage, as if you fill the hard drive the cam will automatically continue recording to any installed SD card.

The HS60 is the successor to last year's HDC-HS20 and Panasonic has grabbed the opportunity to upgrade some elements.

Chief among them is the ability to use SDXC, the latest version of SD card-recording technology. SDXC promises faster access and more reliability, as well as the increased capacity of 48GB and 64GB cards.

An already advanced optical image stabilisation system receives the boost of Power OIS with Active mode, and this eliminates low-frequency hand shake. There are also additions including a wind cut feature to further reduce interference on the microphone and a 25x optical zoom.

One of the HS60's many positive elements is its ability to make you feel comfortable straightaway.

Despite a bulging feature list that mixes manual modes with face recognition technology, it's amazingly simple to shoot with.

Menus can be navigated quickly thanks to the combination of buttons and the touchscreen 2.7" LCD display. It's not quite as responsive as the iPhone or HTC's interfaces but it's a neat way to move around the menu.

Panasonic's decision to include a 35.7mm wide-angle lens on the HS60 really pays dividends as you can shoot at close distances while still fitting plenty into the frame.

Often with camcorders this compact you can find yourself constantly moving backwards to get what you need into the shot, but not here.

The footage produced is of the kind that got people excited about HD in the first place. It's crisp, sharp and packed with fine detail that shows up the subtle nuances of shots, whether that's a weave in fabric or ripples on a pool of water.

Admittedly there is jitter on complicated scenes (for example on fences, railings or grilles) but it only detracts a little from the impressive overall performance.

Colours are accurate – the red of a London bus is perfect on our test footage, when it can so often be reproduced too vibrantly or with too much orange on other models.

What the HS60 does lack – and in doing so highlights its difference from pocket-sized shooters – is the immediacy of a one-touch YouTube upload function.

These are common on the Flip, Vado and Kodak-type cams and enable you to share footage, via the net, incredibly quickly. The HS60 does, however, come with (PC only) software for copying, transferring and editing clips, and iMovie 09 is supported so Mac users are able to edit movies too.

There are also a couple of notable absentees from a connections list that does include a (mini) HDMI port, USB out and composite/component output.

Those 'lost in action' include a microphone input and headphone socket but these are often seen as the preserve of enthusiast/semi-pro models The HS60 does offer an excellent mic level adjustment though that gives you a little more control over audio.

Minus marks are chalked up for a video light that covers no real distance, but this is nit-picking stuff for a camcorder that can be marked excellent most of the time.

Even the 5MP stills performance, though hardly an exceptional resolution, is creditable and there's enough flexibility with flash, flash level, self-timer and red-eye reduction modes to get properly creative.

If we return to our original conundrum, we can now add a few answers.

Yes, it is possible to envisage spending this much on a camcorder, as the HS60 admirably demonstrates what the extra outlay delivers.

A zoom as smooth and extended as the HS60's 25x isn't available on pocket-shooters, nor is the flexibility of its manual modes.

And, the quality and capacity of the wide-angle lens not only allows you to cram more in the frame from shorter distances but also helps produce high-definition images worthy of the name.

We liked:

The wide-angle lens, 25x optical zoom and Power optical image stabiliser deliver the platform for the HS60's superb imaging but the real wow factor comes from the images – and that's as it should be.

The 120GB HDD is a fantastic storage solution with the SD-card option providing the backup to ensure you won't be left looking to record but unable to.

Easy to use and comfortable to shoot with, the HS60 never makes you feel like you're struggling to know how best to utilise it. There's even an alternative record button on the frame of the LCD, which is often easier and quicker to access than the main button.

We disliked:

Aside from the weedy video light and the odd extra-press needed on the touchscreen LCD, grumbles are kept to a minimum.

A boost in still image resolution would, perhaps, add a touch of pizzazz to the spec shoot but it's debatable.

Final verdict:

An enjoyable, practical and creative camcorder, and one that proves it is possible to make a mid-range product with wide-ranging appeal and sparkle.

Yes, it is expensive compared to YouTube-style cams but the reality is that it's so much more powerful and versatile than those models that it merits the extra investment – if high-quality images lie at the heart of your movie ambitions.

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Canon EOS 550D officially announced

Canon has finally unveiled its update to its EOS 500D range, the EOS 550D – a camera which Canon is saying "redefines the boundaries". Packing a newly-developed 18MP CMOS sensor, the EOS 550D uses Canon's DIGIC 4 image processor, which means it can shoot Full HD movies.

The 550D features a 9-point AF system, has 14-bit image processing and impresses with a 100 – 6400 (expandable to 12800) ISO rating.

Also on board is the ability to shoot 3.7 frames per second (fps), handy for any sports photographers out there.

HD movie making

As the EOS 550D has a Full HD movie mode, it also comes with a number of movie presets.

These include the ability to shoot 30, 25 and 24fps at 1920x1080p resolution or 720p video at 60 and 50fps. There's also an 3.5mm external microphone jack included to help with making movies.

Canon has also announced that it has developed a free EOS movie plug-in for Final Cut Pro, so it's easier to get your footage off of the camera and into the edit suite.

UK release

Flip the camera around and there's a 3:2 Clear View LCD screen, which is said to be anti-reflective and water repellent.

And like the 500D, buttons on the camera have been made bigger and there's the inclusion of a new button on the battery grip which allows for changing the aperture setting.

HDMI connectivity and the news that the camera is compatible with Canon EF and EF-S lenses and EX series Speedlite flash units, rounds off an impressive launch from Canon.

The Canon EOS 550D (body only) has a UK release date of 24 February and is priced at a penny under £799.

Go to www.canon.co.uk for more details.

Canon shows off PowerShot SX210 IS

Canon has announced the latest addition to its PowerShot range, with the PowerShot SX210 IS offering 14.1MP resolution and DIGIC 4 processing.

Canon is pitching the PowerShot SX210 IS for 'users seeking powerful performance in a highly compact body', featuring a 28mm wide-angle lens and 14x optical zoom.

The camera also boasts 720p HD video recording functionality with zoom and stereo sound.

More features

Plus the SX210 IS offers Canon's Scene Detection Technology, i-Contrast , Smart Flash Exposure, Motion Detection Technology and Face Detection Technology for up to 35 faces.

The PowerShot SX210 IS has a UK release date of March 2010 priced at £359.

Go to www.canon.co.uk for more details.

95% of user generated content 'is spam'

Some startling web-based statistics have been unearthed in a new report, which shines a light on just how corrupt parts of the internet are.

According to Websence Security Labs the majority of what we see online and receive through email has links to spam and contains malicious code.

In fact, 95 per cent of user generated content is generally spam or dangerous links and 85 per cent of emails sent are no more than 419 scams cunningly disguised – or not so cunning if they begin: "dear friend".

Stat attack

In the findings, it was also noted that 71 per cent of websites which contain malicious material are legit sites which have been compromised. And of those attacks, 35 per cent will have a data-stealing code embedded.

There's definitely a significant rise in compromised websites, with Websence Security Labs reporting that there has been a 225 per cent rise in dangerous websites, when comparing the second half of 2009 to the second half of 2008.

It's obvious why Websence Security Labs is relaying these scary stats – which it mined from the ThreatSeeker Network – but the statistics are pretty revealing. But not enough that a little bit of common sense and being web-savvy couldn't remedy.

BT would open ducts to other ISPs

BT has suggested that other internet service providers will be allowed access to its underground ducts to lay their own fibre-optic cable, heading off any potential complaints by a conservative government.

The opposition party, the Conservatives, had suggested that BT should be forced to open up its network of ducts to other ISPs, but Chief Executive Ian Livingstone insists that access had already been discussed with watchdog Ofcom.

Willing to provide access

"We told Ofcom last year we're willing to provide open access to our ducts... and we are working with them on how to achieve it," said Livingstone.

"Although it's unlikely to be the silver bullet to get fibre to every home, open access to all ducts, not just ours, might help BT and others extend coverage and so we would like to see a future government support such a move."

Use of the ducts would help cut the costs of rivals who currently have to either make their own excavations to lay cable – a crucial part of a next-generation infrastructure.

In Depth: Why 2010 isn't the year for 3D in the home

It's easy to get caught up in the excitement surrounding 3D TV.

DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg proclaimed that: "2010 will be the year in which 3D is brought to the home." Stephen Gater, LG's Head of Marketing for Home Entertainment said: "we're witnessing the start of dramatic change in how we view TV."

While a bullish Samsung laid out its plans at CES. "Just as we created the LED market last year, we will lead the industry in the 3D market this year," boasted its US president Tim Baxter.

Although 3D telly prototypes have been knocking around at tech shows for the past few years, 2010 is being hailed as the year that the resurrected format finally becomes a commercial reality. And this time it will be more than a gimmick with cardboard red/cyan glasses.

2010 will be the year of the first Blu-ray 3D disc, the first commercially available '3D Ready' TVs, and the UK's first dedicated 3D TV channel from Sky.

No brainer?

So we'll have 3D-capable hardware and 3D content to watch on it. But do all these firsts really mark a tipping point for 3D TV and herald a bold new era of bespectacled home entertainment?

2009 was certainly a pivotal year for 3D cinema. Films such as Coraline, My Bloody Valentine and Up all played to packed crowds happily to wear thick-rimmed polarised glasses.

But it's James Cameron's Avatar that's become the poster child for the 3D revolution. The sci-fi spectacular has clawed in over $1.86 billion dollars at the global box office. Hollywood has subsequently embraced 3D.

3D MOVIES HERE TO STAY: James Cameron's Avatar has pushed 3D cinema into the mainstream

Over 50 3D films are due for release in the next few years and many more will be re-released in a new 3D version. Bringing the 3D experience into your living room seems like a no-brainer.

2012 "more likely"

But when you look closer it seems ambitious to suggest that 2010 will be the 'year of 3D TV'.

Although the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) guesstimates that 2.2 million 3D-capable TV sets will be sold this year, Sony Electronics' chief marketing officer Mike Fasulo pegs 2012 as a more likely timeframe for mass market 3D adoption.

Futuresource Consulting has predicted that 45 per cent of US homes will have a 3D TV by 2014 and DisplaySearch forecasts that consumers will spend $17 billion on 3D TVs by 2018.

Consider how long it has already taken HD to gain a foothold in the UK telly market. The satellite broadcaster Euro1080 launched Europe's first dedicated HD channel (HD1) back in 2004. Sky launched its own HD service two years later.

Yet by the start of 2010, Sky HD subscriptions have only just surpassed two million households. While that's a good built-in audience for Sky's forthcoming 3D channel, how many of these subscribers will want to splash out on a new 3D-ready HD TV so they can watch it?

One of the biggest sticking points to rapid 3D adoption is price. If you've just bought an HD TV, you're unlikely to buy another one just to watch a smattering of 3D TV content. On his blog, Forrester analyst James McQuivey puts things neatly into perspective.

TOO SOON FOR HOME 3D? The 3D revolution has arrived during the middle of the HD revolution. Consumers won't upgrade again so soon

"Between 2007 and 2009, over 40 million HD TVs were sold in the US," he explains, "most of them close to or below $1,000... Now we're going to ask those same people to spend between $2,000 and $4,000 to get a good 3D TV set with just two sets of active shutter glasses? Sorry, the credit card is going to stay in the wallet for this one."

Content the key - as ever

Another potential pitfall is 3D content. Not the availability of the content per se. But our attitude to it. For example, Sky recently showed the Arsenal vs Manchester United Premiership clash on 3D TVs in selected pubs across the UK. Eight rigs with 16 cameras captured all of the action at the Emirates. What impressed most?

According to Darren Long, Sky Sports' director of operations: "sport is all about emotion, and seeing it in 3D adds to the experience." But according to Dublin football fan John Cormican: "the best bit was when the players came out of the tunnel – it was amazing, they looked like they were running right past you."

GRAY AND KEYS: Sky's 3D football demo was considered a success, although only the low camera angles were most effective

As The Guardian points out in the same piece: "if you love football, the technology is irrelevant." The gimmicky approach to 3D is another problem. Movie plotting has often suffered under a deluge of special effects. Hello, Star Wars prequels. We're looking at you.

There's a danger that the craze for using 3D technology could also detract from the core elements of a good film – storytelling, believable characterisation and emotional engagement. For example, the #1-rated movie on IMDb is The Shawshank Redemption. Would filming it in 3D have made it any better? Would you enjoy it even more if it was converted to 3D by a Toshiba Cell TV? Just because you can add an extra dimension doesn't mean that you should.

Of course, 3D is already out of date in Korea, where 4D movie showings are all the rage. According to Variety.com, "the 4D screening [of Avatar] uses more than 30 effects during the 3D film's 162 minute run, including moving seats, smells of explosives, sprinkling water, laser lights and wind." Let's see Sony try and transfer that experience into your living room.

Denon S-5BD 'Cara' Blu-ray player announced

Denon has announced the arrival of its latest all-in-one Blu-ray system, the S-5BD.

The Denon S-5BD, or Cara as it is more affectionately known, is Denon's attempt at making its high-end AV kit more affordable.

Combining an 5.1-channel surround sound amplifier with a Blu-ray player, Denon has managed to snaffle some of the technology used in its £4,500 DVD-A1UD Blu-ray player, combine it with an amplifier which pipes out nearly 400W of sound.

Also on-board is a Compressed Audio Restorer, which promises to get better sound out of your MP3s and support for Dolby Pro Logic IIz and Dolby TrueHD/DTSHD Master Audio.

The system is Profile 2.0 and HDMI 1.4 compatible, so you will be able to spin those 3D-Ready Blu-ray discs when they make an appearance later in the year.

Price-wise, it's going to retail for £1,999. Yes, it's expensive but compared to some of the kit released by Denon, it's a bit of a steal.

Got to www.denon.co.uk for more information.

HTC Incredible packs top-end Android specs

HTC's latest Android phone has been shown off, and looks to be called the HTC Incredible.

What's incredible about it? Well, for starters it's massive – rumoured specs have it between 3.5-inch and 3.7-inch in terms of screen size – but judging by the pics from website Pocketnow we'd assume the latter.

A 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 5MP camera with dual LED flash and optical trackpad are also included, along with that whopping screen offering WVGA resolution on an OLED display.

How incredible is incredible?

The phone pictured is supposed to be coming to Verizon in the US, but very rarely does a phone from HTC land in the US and not make it over here – and one that's running Android 2.1 and HTC's Sense UI simply must land in the UK – else we'll be pretty angry.

The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that the HTC Incredible's stats bear a striking resemblance to the forthcoming HTC Bravo – so it's likely what we're seeing here is the US version of that.

However, the UK Bravo is still likely to have a UK release date of around March or April, so it won't be long until we find out.

In Depth: Key trends for the next 12 months in web design

We enter 2010 in turbulent times. The worst of the economic crisis is over, but recovery will be fragile. To an extent, the industry has weathered the storm, enabling clients to take advantage of the web's efficiency and modularity, and this will continue in 2010 – if agencies and designers pitch accordingly.

"I see budgets at the lower end of the market remaining tight," says Andy Budd, MD of Clearleft. "Marketing microsites and vanity games projects will be scaled back, and larger clients will focus on the effectiveness of their spend."

He reckons that although large companies might capitalise on the upturn and invest in full redesigns of their sites, most will explore improving core usability, in a bid to increase conversions and customer retention. Consolidation will affect the industry in various ways.

Dan Mall, senior designer at Big Spaceship, sees the web becoming a "more critical part of advertising and content delivery," with companies shifting from considering the internet secondary to traditional media to "using it as the primary source for spreading a message".

Although that could mean more work for designers, Happy Cog founder Jeffrey Zeldman says it won't lead to a resurgence of mega-agencies:

"As in advertising's creative revolution of the 1960s, we'll see smaller teams doing more via real, creative collaboration – no more sliding wireframes under the designer's door or mailing comps to the code guy. Designers will have to take a more holistic approach – be content-aware, and user- and usability- focused."

He predicts many designers frustrated by regimented workflow will be liberated in 2010, enjoying their work more, and that a "publication-and application-savvy generation of web designers will enrich and deepen the medium. The emerging web needs our insight and creativity, not just our skills."

Functionality

Sandi Wassmer, MD of Copious hopes the evolving industry will lead to designers asking more often whether something is needed: "I hope designers will take a greater interest in what functionality does in terms of end-user experience, and inform a client they don't need all the latest gadgets and gizmos," she says.

Wassmer predicts that with mobile's increasing importance, "designers will simplify and streamline websites for mobile platforms, resulting in sites with greater usability and apps that give users greater control over their personal experience online."

Additionally, sites should become more purposeful, increasingly restricting self-hosted content to the strictly relevant and utilising third-party services where necessary. "You visit YouTube to see videos, but wouldn't go to a corporate site to see a chairman's conference speech," she says. "You'd expect a company to have a YouTube channel, rather than their site taking forever to download due to large A/V files."

Visual trends

How much impact a depressed market will have on the visual appearance of sites in 2010 remains to be seen, but a trend of enabling people to rapidly access information should persevere. "We'll see the continued rise of the grid system, influenced strongly by print," predicts TweetDeck UX & UI architect James Whittaker.

"Big, bold typefaces will form the centrepiece of many designs, although I hope there'll be a move away from Web 2.0 clichés and a fresher approach, with plenty of white space to enhance visuals." Many predict that colour will make a return, partly to cheer people up, partly because of the influence of retro designs.

Budd suggests that sites like that of the travel game gowalla.com will become more common: "That site signalled a renewed trend towards bright, simple, colourful interfaces," he says. "I suspect this has much to do with an emerging iPhone app style. In fact, many sites will take their design and user experience lead from their mobile apps, rather than the other way round."

Brendan Dawes of magneticNorth reckons mobile will affect desktop designs in other ways, too: "Gesture based interactions will become more prevalent, opening up a world of possibilities," he says, noting the popularity of feature-rich trackpads and multitouch devices such as Wacom's Bamboo.

Interaction

Paul Dawson of EMC Consulting reckons that interfaces in general will become simplified and easier for people to use. "2010 will see a move away from meaningless visual animation and towards beautiful interaction styles that look great and add something to the ease and pleasure of using a site," he predicts.

However, he worries that any trend towards richer interfaces might see a marked return of Flash-only sites: "They've steadily crept back in over the past two years, as clients and agencies push towards animated interfaces, but lack the skills to realise them in a cross-browser, accessible manner."

Yet it was heartening to note that of those we spoke to, few believed Flash would be a major concern in 2010, and those interested in the technology were primarily excited about Flash CS5 in relation to deploying iPhone apps.

Instead, JavaScript increasingly catches the imagination. "JavaScript libraries will be utilised more and more," says Mall, although he warns that the technology will experience growing pains, in the manner Flash had to deal with in the early 2000s:

"How does a developer intelligently handle a method that breaks the full-page reload method? What happens when the amount of code in a page makes it slow? Will we require JavaScript preloaders? When the dust settles, there'll be a clear distinction regarding the roles of JavaScript and Flash, but it'll be quite a journey to get there."

These concerns are shared by JavaScript advocate and An Event Apart co-founder Eric Meyer, who thinks 2010 will find designers having to dedicate more time and thought to using JavaScript in ways that make the web better for everyone, not worse: "It'll occupy a minority of their attention, but that minority is growing. And there'll be the incessant need to ask if a site works without JavaScript, if the content is where Google can find it, and if the disabled can navigate it."

Web standards

Meyer reckons the key to moving forward is solid standards-oriented design, but designers will have to exercise skills more than ever to ensure they don't build creaky shanties on top of that foundation. Similarly, take-up of CSS3 should be more apparent in 2010, but designers must again be mindful of anyone using browsers that don't support cutting-edge technologies.

Christoph Helzle of Fi New York hopes "graceful degradation becomes accepted, so things like text columns, drop-shadows and rounded corners look great in modern browsers and 'merely' good in older ones."

Inevitably, advances in utilisable technology – with the exception of proprietary plug-ins like Flash – rest with browser vendors. Levels of support for open standards will dictate the evolution of web design in 2010.

"Firefox will continue to be developed, as will Safari, Chrome and Opera, although I doubt we'll see major changes. But hopefully there'll be speed increases and added support for CSS3, HTML5 and the nascent WOFF font format," says Richard Rutter of Clearleft. "I also hope Windows 7 will be massively popular, and big corporates hanging on to Windows XP will upgrade, relegating Internet Explorer 6 to the history books."

Meyer believes "JavaScript libraries will graft support for HTML5 and CSS3 into older browsers," citing the spread of downloadable fonts as an example: "Some browsers natively support @fontface, and others act like they do with a little help."

He thinks JavaScript will be the key technology over the coming year, especially O3D and similar frameworks that enable native 3D in browsers.

Mall is more pessimistic, noting that: "The browser landscape has always been slow to evolve". He reckons that unless browser makers have something radical hidden from view, "we'll see little change other than small updates for CSS3 support".

Zeldman also doesn't picture an entirely rosy 2010 regarding browsers, commenting that although "Firefox, Safari and Chrome will continue to win converts, pressuring Microsoft to support @font-face without requiring EOT, the browser market will continue to fragment".

On the positive side, he reckons people's positive experiences with iPhone and Android might accelerate adoption of Safari and Chrome, helping people realise "a web experience can be richer and more beautiful". The mobile platforms Zeldman mentions and their browsers will be more important in 2010, due to smartphones becoming mass market.

Chris Garrett of Substrakt Bristol hopes we'll see standardisation – "WebKit's been adopted by Nokia, Android and iPhone. We just need straggling platforms like Blackberry to do the same for a truly rich mobile development environment."

Regarding strategy, Jakob Nielsen of Nielsen Norman Group argues you've three options: ignore mobile, adapt your website "so it'll suck less on mobile devices," or make a dedicated site or app. "All three strategies are valid, depending on the nature of the site," he says.

Rutter is unconvinced mobile-specific sites are necessary: "The beauty of iPhone's Safari is you don't need a 'mobile version' of a site – the only time you need go further is when making use of mobile features such as location-awareness."

Whittaker agrees: "Whereas people were all thinking about taking sites from the desktop to mobile, apps changed perceptions and expectations," he points out. For him, it's apps that will continue being hot in 2010, "providing quick, usable solutions for people on the go".

Of course, the impact of location awareness will be felt beyond mobile. "It'll become integral on the desktop," predicts Garrett. "Now Google Gears offers a JavaScript API for accessing a user's location, we can reliably set a geographical context, enhancing the user experience with services such as localised search, without relying on user input."

Rutter's colleague Paul Annett also advocates location-awareness: "In fact, an early Clearleft client was mobile game Locomatrix, where you collected virtual items in real-world locations via GPS. The lack of geo-aware mobiles at the time meant it didn't take off, but we're now seeing sites like Gowalla and Foursquare emerge with similar interactivity.

"This market will mature and develop with useful tools, where we share genuinely useful items such as virtual discount vouchers. The boundaries between activity online and in the physical world are beginning to blur."

New skills

Approaches to standards and platforms are only part of the equation for success in 2010. Any shift in attitude must also encourage flexibility and a fresh burst of innovation, believes Michael Stratton of Fi New York.

He sums up 2009 as "a year of repetitive iPhone designs, IA layouts and repetitive modularisation" and insists that "in 2010, designers must be more expressive and rekindle their passion for creativity, to make the web beautiful and intuitive".

New skills will also be important. "Designers who don't know about type need to get up to speed fast," argues Zeldman. Jonathan Green of Franki&Jonny recommends Flash specialists "start thinking about open standards, because Flash will become increasingly niche".

And the ability to manipulate output by getting your hands dirty will be essential, says Dawes: "With the iPhone, it's mostly software – it's so generic as an object that it could be anything, and through software it does indeed become anything. This is incredibly exciting for anyone who designs with code – they're now 'mutators of hardware'. If you're a designer who doesn't know how to code, you should learn – now."

It's also important to ensure your focus extends beyond the browser. Mike Kus of Carsonified finds it amazing that "there's been amazing print design around for decades, but only a handful of web designers take inspiration from it."

He hopes a new breed, perhaps from an offline background, might break into web design in 2010 to shake things up. Sidebar Creative's Dan Rubin also suggests getting away from the screen: "Stop wasting time on trends and find ways to play – to stretch yourself as a designer," he advises.

"Build something with your hands. Pick up a camera and learn to see the world in a different way. Above all, if you enjoy what you do and are passionate about it, you'll be successful."

FBI wants two-year website visitor log retention

The FBI wants ISPs to keep information for two years on what sites users visit.

The agency believes this action could help in the investigation of crimes, including child pornography.

For the last four years, FBI director Robert Mueller has been advocating that ISPs retain this data, including "origin and destination information," and two years ago asked Congress to make it into law, stating: "From the perspective of an investigator, having that backlog of records would be tremendously important if someone comes up on your screen now.

"If those records are only kept 15 days or 30 days, you may lose the information you may need to bring that person to justice."

However, it was only at a meeting of the Online Safety and Technology Working Group (OSTWG) that Greg Motta, the chief of the FBI's digital evidence section, came up with the two-year figure. The OSTWG is "tasked with evaluating industry efforts to promote a safe online environment for children."

What they don't want

Motto emphasised that the FBI wasn't asking for retention of data content. He said: "The question at least for the bureau has been about non-content transactional data to be preserved: transmission records, non-content records...addressing, routing, signalling of the communication."

Implementing all this would be a mammoth task, and the FBI hasn't yet been specific in stating what how much information it wants.

But the chances are the Big Brother will soon be watching your online activity.

Bungie promises 'last hoorah' for Xbox Live send-off

News last week that the original Xbox Live service is to be switched off in April has been met with some sadness by Bungie, makers of the Halo franchise.

In an emotional blog, the company remarks on Xbopx Live's proposed closure by saying: We're all saddened at the realisation that an era is coming to an end but looking back, we're incredibly fortunate to have had such a great run and such strong support from our fans.

"Halo 2 has been at or near the top of the Xbox Live charts for original games since it launched over five years ago.

Humpday losses

The blog goes on to say: "We're extremely thankful to everyone who has played, enjoyed and supported Halo 2 over Xbox Live. We've had some great fun together, including far too many humpday losses to even recount."

Bungie has decided to celebrate rather than commiserate and has proposed as massive send-off for Halo on the Live service, explaining: "Mark your calendars now – on 14 April let's all rally to go online for one last hoorah.

"One final farewell and one final opportunity for all of you to kick our asses at Halo 2."

Master Chief would approve.

Major Microsoft security patch equals biggest ever

Microsoft is planning a bumper Patch Tuesday tomorrow, with a total of 13 fixes. One of these will close a loophole that's existed since the days of DOS.

In a blog posting, Jerry Bryant, Microsoft Senior Security Communications Manager, announced the 13 fixes will address a total 26 vulnerabilities. Five of the patches are deemed critical, seven important, and one moderate. 11 affect Windows, with the remaining two covering Office.

Bryant stated: "We are not aware of any attacks on these vulnerabilities and continue to encourage customers to implement the mitigations and workarounds outlined in the advisories."

Old bugs

The old bug which is being fixed involves a utility that allows newer versions of Windows to run very old programs. It first appeared 17 years ago in Windows NT 3.1, and has been in every version of Windows since.

The vulnerability was discovered last month by Google security researcher Tavis Ormandy. He found the utility could be exploited in, XP, Vista, and Windows 7, as well as in Windows Servers 2003 and 2008.

Just last month Microsoft released and "out of band" patch for an Internet Explorer vulnerability that was believed to be the cause of the Google China hack. Last week yet another IE vulnerability was discovered that could let attackers view the files on a machine. Microsoft will get to grips with that one in the future, although there's no evidence that it's currently being exploited.

Yet, that is.

Google adds a little love to the Superbowl

Google's increasing profile continued with a major advertising spot in the most sought after ad breaks in global television – with the search giant paying for a slot during the American Superbowl.

The Superbowl is traditionally one of the most sought after advertising events of the year, and Google was so excited with the web reaction to its slightly twee Parisian Love promo that it plumped for a prime TV spot.

"If you watched the Super Bowl this evening you'll have seen a video from Google called Parisian Love. In fact you might have watched it before, because it's been on YouTube for over three months, said the company CEO Eric Schmidt on the Google blog.

Interaction

"We didn't set out to do a Super Bowl ad, or even a TV ad for search. Our goal was simply to create a series of short online videos about our products and our users, and how they interact," he added.

"But we liked this video so much, and it's had such a positive reaction on YouTube, that we decided to share it with a wider audience."

Will it bring a tear to your eye? Not if you're as cynical as we are, but I'm sure that a few bowls of popcorn were that little saltier on other side of the pond.

And at a price estimated at in excess of $3 million, probably a few tears were shed by Google's bank manager as well.

Review: Corner-A PhotoStyler 2.2

Many photo enhancement apps exist for the iPhone, but relatively few similar standalone pieces of software do for the Mac. However, things are changing.

Last month we reviewed the impressive CameraBag; that app was elegant, but it felt restrictive in use. By comparison, PhotoStyler almost offers the opposite experience: there’s plenty of functionality, but everything’s wrapped up in an awkward interface.

First impressions weren’t great – PhotoStyler’s ‘drop photo here to process’ work area resolutely ignored drags from Finder and iPhoto, but on loading photos directly, the app’s power soon became clear.

Panels provide access to presets, effects and the effects chain. Effects within the chain can be rearranged by drag and drop, and effects parameters are accessed by a double-click. User defined chains can be saved as templates.

PhotoStyler’s predefined templates and individual effects are almost universally impressive; the only drawback is in effects updates not being done in real time – making changes can be time-consuming and a stop-start process.

The general interface also feels awkward and not terribly Mac-like. The toolbar buttons aren’t obvious, and standard zoom keyboard shortcuts are omitted. PhotoStyler falls a little short of being a must-have app for amateur photo enthusiasts.

But if you can deal with its interface, there’s plenty of power under PhotoStyler’s hood.

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Review: Google Chrome 4 (Beta)

Google's dominance of the internet is worryingly reminiscent of Microsoft's command of the desktop market, and with Chrome being a big component of the Chrome operating system, it's clear this app is more than just a browser.

However, if 2012 sees us with Google chips implanted in our skulls, things won't be so bad as long as the company takes the same level of care as it has with Chrome for Mac.

Google claims the browser's been built from the ground up, which explains why it's taken so long to arrive. There's still the occasional iffy design decision – tabs have close boxes at the right and become small and fiddly when many are open, for example, and the toolbar drag area above the tabs is too small.

Elsewhere, though, it's clear this isn't a lazy Firefox-style port – Chrome utilises Mac OS X's Dictionary and Keychain; it also offers subtle Mac-like animations when opening tabs and panels.

The browser's fast, sleek and stable (in part due to each tab being an individual process – if one crashes, the others don't), almost making Safari feel cluttered and fussy by comparison. However, Chrome's also unfinished – this beta lacks extensions support, bookmarks and cookies management, as well as inline PDF display and a standalone app mode.

There's also no session restoration, although you can at least reopen closed tabs from the current session. Gripes aside, it's clear Google might have the Mac's leading browser – once it's finished.

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Review: Cheetah3D 5.1

For anyone wanting to learn the art and craft of 3D modelling and animation, there are few better starting points than CheetaD.

Developed exclusively for Mac OS X, it features a friendly if prosaic user interface, which conceals some powerful tools. The toolset enables you to model, texture, pose, animate and render your models, from characters to environments.

It also has decent import capabilities if you use other 3D packages, with 3DS, LWO and OBJ among the industry standard formats it supports.

New tools since version 4 include a revamped materials system, which enables you to define surface properties directly. The system's node editor lets you get right under the skin of a material.

Rendering is perhaps the area that's received the most attention, though: it's up to ten times faster than in previous releases, thanks to finely tuned hyperthreading and multi-core support. However, there's no marquee render to enable you to preview one section of your scene.

CheetaD still lacks features you would get in flagship 3D packages such as Cinema 4D or modo. But the most obvious absences are addressed with each passing update, and CheetaD is a fraction of the price.

The powerful render system means that professional 3D artists should consider it. The animation system is more limited, but accessible for newcomers. If you find the open-source Blender too confusing, try this instead.

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