Continue reading »]]> In the old versions of Nokia PC Suite, I used to love the fact that you could back up old text messages stored on your phone to a CSV file for future reference. As sad as that might be, it can be extremely useful.

However, in the new Ovi Suite, Nokia seemed to remove that functionality – which I happen to think is a real shame. They just seemed to totally remove the function – so it now seems impossible to back up texts to anything other than Nokia’s own (useless) backup file.

Luckily, I have an old version of Nokia PC Suite stored on my network server, which has helped me back up texts from my Nokia 5230. I’ve got a download link below – but please read the following before use:

• Whilst I’ve taken every precaution to make sure nothing harmful is in the file (virus/malware scanned – 100% clean), I can accept no responsibility for damage to your computer or your mobile. You use old versions of software at your own risk.
• This won’t work with newer phones (or at least I don’t think I will). I know this version supports phones such the Nokia 5230 and 5800, but I’m not sure if it supports phones newer than that. My guess is that it will work with any phone pre mid-2009.
• If you find a phone that does work with the software, please post a comment for the benefit of others. Thanks
• It is not recommended that you install this alongside any version of Ovi Suite. I would recommend installing this in a virtual machine, or on a clean(ish) copy of Windows.

To grab the download, click the link below. It’s provided by FileServe – simply click Free Download.

File name: Nokia_PC_Suite_63_en.exe – DOWNLOAD (link temporarily removed)
File size: 21.23 MB

Let me know if you have any success.

Continue reading »]]> How many times have you been on your computer and then had the phone ring? You go out of the room to answer it, and when you come back you’ve left the computer and monitor on pointlessly for half an hour.

PecoBoo, developed by VeryPC, is an attempt to try and solve that problem. It utilises your webcam and uses face recognition to work out whether you are sitting at your computer. If it can’t find a person for a predetermined amount of time, it will automatically turn off your monitor. However the webcam and software stays on – so as soon as it notices that you have got back to your PC, it switches your monitor back on.

I downloaded the 30 day trial and gave the software a spin. I’m relatively impressed – it takes a bit of fiddling to stop it turning off your monitor when you are still at the system. I found that if you set the idle time to less than about 20 seconds you end up switching your monitor off if you hold your head still – and if you turn your monitor on and off too much you’ll not only end up using more energy than just using it normally, but you’ll also considerably shorten it’s life. It’s also extremely irritating!

Nevertheless, the software did a good job and I do think the face recognition technique is very clever.

To be honest though, the fact that it isn’t free puts me off. To earn back the £9.99 I’d spent in buying the software from turning my monitor off, I’d have to use it for months – which defeats the point a bit. It also poses the question of how much energy does your webcam use if you’re having that on whenever your PC is on.

Overall, if you’re a green geek – buy it and it will save valuable energy utilising extended breaks from the PC. However, for the average user, this will be of little interest.

Continue reading »]]> I recently came across Steam after a friend recommended the program to me. I thought it was worth a go as I have pretty good graphics on my new homebuilt PC.

The main purpose of Steam is to give users the ability to download games rather than having to go and buy them on a physical disk. It also means you get access to a wide range of PC only games which may be limited in disk format. It can also be considerably cheaper to use Steam as the regularly run discounts and multipack buys.

So I went ahead and downloaded the free software and gave it a go. Bought my first game (Burnout Paradise) which was on discount at the time, and it immediately started downloading.

As soon as it downloaded (which took a while, but that’s only because my internet connection isn’t rocket speed) I launched the game. I was amazed at how well it actually worked. You get access to the in-game Steam community as well so you can chat to your friends while you are playing games.

I’m actually very happy with Steam and I doubt I will buy another game on DVD. If you’ve got a good internet connection with plenty of bandwidth, it’s a very good idea.

Oh and just in case anyone is concerned – the software is totally legal and Valve (the company who run Steam) have partnerships with many of the big game developers.

Continue reading »]]> Well, after many months of wanting to do it, I have finally built myself my own computer. It was great fun – for a tech nerd like me – and it also saved me a lot of money!

Here’s what I bought myself:

• An AMD Entry Level Barebones PC kit costing £140 – that includes the case, motherboard, a dual core AMD processor and 2GB RAM
• A 512MB Gigabyte HD4550 graphics card costing about £35
• A 250GB hard drive costing about £25
• A DVDRW drive costing £18
• A 19″ LG monitor costing £92
• A Microsoft wireless keyboard and mouse set costing £17

That was it. If my calculations are right that comes to £327 and in my opinion that is a bargain. I’ve got a really good spec PC and a nice monitor and keyboard/mouse set to go with it. Perfect!

It does go to show how much cheaper it can be to go for the build your own PC option. It is much cheaper so is perfect if you’re on a tight budget, plus it can be really good fun if you enjoy working with computers.

I wouldn’t recommend this way of getting your hands on a nice new PC if you consider yourself a novice with computers. You do have to be careful – put the wrong component in the wrong place and you’ll be adding costs for replacements. Also, make absolutely sure that you have some sort of anti-static kit for your hands. Static electricity and internal computer components do not mix!

If you like a challenge and have a few hundred pounds to spare give this a go! You might be really pleased you bothered!

Continue reading »]]> It’s good to know that USB 3.0 is expected to start arriving on PCs and laptops from the end of this year.

The new Superspeed USB means that transfer speeds will rise from 480mbps to a whopping 5gbps. That means that if you are constantly transferring big files to USB drives, you’re in luck.

It’s being predicted that the new USB format will start shipping towards the end of the year, with it being available in a few high-end PCs. From 2010, it’s expected that about 26 million PCs will ship with USB 3.0. And by 2012, it’s expected that the number of PCs with USB 3.0 will be way over 300 million.

I’m very excited by the news, but it does mean that my laptop and PC will probably need upgrading. I can probably just upgrade the motherboard in the PC, but in the laptop it will be a bit more difficult. In addition, all of my USB 2.0 devices will seem horribly slow after USB 3.0 arrives.

Ah well, no worries for now. But you know, it’s a bit of a pain when you have so many outdated USB devices that transfer really slowly. Never mind.

Continue reading »]]> There’s a little rumour going around the internet at the moment.

If you remember, when the launch of Windows Vista was approaching, Microsoft did a ‘Free Upgrade’ program, meaning that users who bought a PC with Windows XP Media Center 2005 from a certain date (I think that was the case – maybe it was all versions of XP… I can’t remember) would get a free express upgrade to Windows Vista when it was launched.

Well, it would appear that Microsoft are taking this approach again, but for Windows 7. So, if the rumour is true, if you buy a Windows Vista PC (Home Premium, Business or Ultimate I think) anywhere from June 26th and October 22nd (Windows 7 launch date), you’ll get a free upgrade to Windows 7.

So if you are thinking of buying a new PC or laptop, hold off a couple of weeks and wait for the campaign to start.

Here’s another little rumour going round too: As well as Windows Vista preinstalled machines having a free upgrade to Windows 7, it would appear that Microsoft is planning to start the Upgrade Program on boxed versions of Windows Vista too. So if you buy a separate copy of Windows Vista Home Premium, Business or Ultimate, the chances are you’ll get a free upgrade to Windows 7 too.

Bare in mind this is all rumours – Microsoft still hasn’t confirmed what is happening with the Upgrade Program this time round as yet, so we’ll have to wait and see if the rumours are true.

Continue reading »]]> Gartner has today announced that PC sales are set to fall across 2009 by 11.9% (per cent) to around 257 million units. The company has said that this is going to be “the sharpest decline in history”.

According to Gartner, the PC industry is facing extraordinary conditions due to the economic downturn. When it seemed as if PC and notebook sales were increasing rapidly in 2008, we are beginning to see how the credit crunch is affecting the PC industry.

However, Gartner have also said that they are expecting an increase in the sales of laptops and notebook – more specifically the new mini-laptops or netbooks. 

So we’ll have to see what happens to sales over the course of this year, but it looks like many brands could be in trouble. I would like to hope that the rush of new technology might help ease the pain of the economic downturn on computing, but we’ll have to see what knock-on effect the downturn has this year.

Continue reading »]]> Well after an almost unbelievable 2 months and 3 contact attempts I finally have a return slip.

I contacted them for a third time today using their online returns form and to double check I rung them up after I’d sent the RMA request to be 100% sure they got it.

Finally, late aternoon yesterday, I got a response via email. They have finally sent me the return slip. After 2 months of contact attempts!

Anyhow, I checked the RMA to make sure its all correct. All good. Sadly, the terms and conditions weren’t so excititng. Firstly, I only have 14 days to get the ruddy thing to them or the request is void and I wont get a replacement. Kinda sad? But worst of all, I have to pay postage to get it to them! They refuse to pay the postage and packaging to get it to them so I had to pay £10 to get it over to them first class. 

So I’m still not really happy, but we’ll see what happens when the drive gets to them. I’ll be off to the Post Office today to send it over there.

Continue reading »]]> Every time I boot up my laptop TV tuner or go to iPlayer or the likes, it always makes me think. Is TV on your PC taking over normal TV?

I think it is. With a computer, you can now basically watch a programme whenever you want to. BBC’s iPlayer gives you 7 days to watch a program, the same goes for many others, and Five provides TV shows for several months now.

Watching live TV on your PC is also very cheap now. You can get a Freeview USB dongle for a laptop or PC now for around £20 and TV cards don’t cost a bomb either. Windows Media Center is perfect for watching TV on your PC and comes free with Vista Home Premium and Ultimate. You can even use your computer as a PVR thanks to programs such as Windows Media Center, whereas a set top PVR for your TV is costing you sometimes a couple of hundred pounds.

It seems so much better value to use a computer for your TV nowadays. 

Do you think TV on your PC is overtaking conventional television?