Happy Monday all – here we are at the start of another week and I thought we would start out easy with some news about one of the oldest gaming franchises still running today. Mario, one half of the Super Mario Brothers (did Luigi ever get annoyed that the whole plumbing business was named after his brother?), has been on the go since appearing in Donkey Kong in the early 1980s, and he is still going strong.

His latest outing is on the Nintendo 3DS, and the website for Super Mario 3D Land has just been unveiled. The site promises that the game will have “incredible depth, making it easier to judge the location of enemies and blocks, but also allowing it to be crammed full of amazing all-new puzzles and obstacles that just aren’t possible in 2D”.

I know 3D is just a gimmick for many people – at least when it comes to televisions, but I think gaming is one of those areas where there’s real potent ion to develop this. It’ll be interesting to see how Super Mario 3D Land does when it arrives on the 18th of November.

Here’s the press release, check out the links within for more information.

Mario’s pulled a classic suit out of hiding, has new actions and much more – come on over and see!

Mario’s back, but this time there’s a twist in the ‘tail’ – enjoy classic action, brand new worlds and challenges – and all in 3D, in Super Mario 3D Land!

That big meanie Bowser has nabbed Princess Peach again and our ‘stache owning hero is the only one who can save her. But this time around Mario has an old favourite suit to don once more, additional power-ups, and new moves to unleash on his quest to save the princess – and by golly he’s going to use them!

Want to know more about the adorable return of Tanooki Mario? Desperate to check out our hero’s new abilities? Thirsting for some snazzy screenshots, artwork and videos from this vibrant new Mario excursion?

If the answer’s a resounding, ground-pounding, “Yes!” then jump ‘n’ run over to our newly-opened SUPER MARIO 3D LAND teaser website – and don’t forget to check back in the coming weeks as we’ll be unveiling more exciting details on this technicolour feast of a 3D platformer!

SUPER MARIO 3D LAND will be in shops from the 18th of November, only on Nintendo 3DS.

This article was written by William Judd. William writes for MobileFun.co.uk, the UK’s largest online retailer of Samsung Galaxy S2 accessories.

Samsung announced today that they will be filing patent infringment claims against Apple in European courts. These claims will seek to ban the newly announced iPhone 4S from being sold in France and Italy, ahead of their planned release dates of October 14th and October 28th, respectively.

The claims are on the basis of Apple’s alleged infringement upon the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access standard, better known as W-CDMA. Samsung has announced that it will attempt to prevent the sale of the iPhone 4S in other European markets later, but has chosen France and Italy first as these countries allow bans of products before they have begun to be sold, and are also key markets for the iPhone 4s.

While Samsung has claimed that the move is because ‘Apple has continued to flagrantly violate our intellectual property rights’, in reality it’s a response to Apple’s continuing legal attacks elsewhere – to date, Samsung and Apple have sued one another in twenty cases in ten countries this year.

Most recently, Apple was successful (at least temporarily) in blocking the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 from sale in the EU, following an injunction from a German court. In that case, Apple was found to have doctored images in order to make the Tab and the iPad 2 looks more similar than they were, and the ban was restricted only to Germany.

Having the iPhone 4S being blocked from sale in Europe would be a great blow to the company, which is expected to see its shares fall further following news of the death of Steve Jobs yesterday. Shares in Samsung, on the other hand, rose 1.7% the day after the iPhone 4S announcement.

With the lacklustre announcement of the iPhone 4S, Apple will be looking to prevent their Android rivals from gaining ground, and the legal battlefield is one in which they must not lose. As Samsung and Apple continue to compete in the smartphone market and seem unwilling to settle their differences, expect more legal action between the two companies across the world.

People’s devotion to Apple is a strange phenomenon. It’s almost religious in its fervour sometimes, as people sift through all the available information to try and find the kernel of truth at the core. I’m not saying this as an outsider looking in, either, I’m one of those people who happily read the rumours of what shiny new piece of technology is about to be released and try to work out what is true and what isn’t.

I tried to look nonchalant as Twitter exploded with information about Apple’s media event yesterday, but I still ended up reading one of the many live blogs to try and find out what was happening.

And what was happening? Well, if the media predictions were to be believed it was the unveiling of the iPhone 5, but in a half-expected twist, it turns out that Apple were actually unveiling the iPhone 4S.

If you’ve paid attention to the iPhone’s evolution over the last few years, you’ll know that the iPhone 3G was superseded by the 3GS, then the 4… see the pattern here? I will admit I was a little disappointed at first, but having taken a little time to look over the iPhone 4S’s specs and capabilities, that feeling is fading fast. Let’s look at the 4S in more detail then.

Physically, it looks the same as the iPhone 4, which is going to be something of a shock to the many phone case makers who were given the specs for a unit with a thinner profile and larger screen. The internals, however, are completely different:

• The processor is Apple’s A5 chip, a dual-core processor which delivers two times the processing power of the iPhone 4, and up to seven times faster graphics.
• Battery life is now 8 hours talk time on 3G (14 hours on 2G), and 6 hours 3G browsing or 9 hours WiFi.
• The iPhone 4S is GSM and CDMA compatible. If this doesn’t mean much to you, it means that it is able to speak to mobile phone networks worldwide and should work in any country.
• An 8 megapixel camera will be installed in the new iPhone which, as well as taking high quality photos, can shoot video in 1080p HD. I’m a big fan of my DSLR camera, but it will be great to have a quality camera on my phone for those times when it’s not appropriate or possible to take a larger one with me.
• An improved dual-antenna system should also prevent those annoying drops when making phone calls because, you know, it should actually work well as a phone.

iOS 5

The latest version of the iPhone’s operating system will be released on Wednesday 12th October, before the iPhone 4S’s launch date of the 14th. iOS 5 includes over 200 new features. Again, let’s take a look at a few:

• iMessage – a text-based messaging service that’s “unlimited”. By unlimited, Apple mean messages will go over your data connection most of the time. They may be sent via SMS if iMessage is unavailable, however. It will allow instant messaging between iOS devices, and I’m thinking it might be something of a response to Blackberry Messenger. If you have used What’s App on your iPhone, it looks like it will be pretty similar.
• Twitter integration – tweet straight from Safari, YouTube, Photos, Camera and Maps. Nice, but I wonder if this will herald the beginning of the end for iPhone Twitter app developers?
• The camera will be useable straight from the lock screen – no more faffing around with trying to unlock the phone before taking a photo, only to realise the moment has passed. It will also be possible to edit and touch up your photos with the built-in photo app.

iCloud

iCloud is a wireless syncing service. When you buy something on one of your iCloud enabled devices, which will include the iPhone 4S, it will automagically be downloaded to your other devices, such as home Mac or iPad. Take a photo with the iPhone, and you will be able to access it on your Mac. No more mailing photos as attachments or plugging in the cable to download them to Aperture.

If you want your friends to be able to find you, you can broadcast your location so that you show up on their Find My Friends maps, and if you’re somewhere you don’t want others to know about, we are assured that it is a simple matter to take yourself off the grid for a while.

All of this sounds great, especially the idea of being able to access all your past iTunes purchases over the cloud (I keep forgetting to sync them to my iPhone) but there is one slight concern. This could really eat through your data usage, so I’m hoping there’s a way to limit iCloud to syncing when on WiFi or when items are under a certain file size.

Roundup

I’ll say again, I was a little disappointed not to be writing about a redesigned iPhone 5 today but, actually, the iPhone 4S looks like it’s going to be very, very good. Will I be in the queue at an Apple store for launch? No. Will I be enquiring about upgrading to a 4S when my mobile phone contract expires (very shortly)? You bet – watch this space for more information when I get my hands on one.

What do you think about the Apple announcement? Is there anything missing you think should have been included? Any features you think look particularly attractive? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. 

Good afternoon geeks – I hope you are ready and raring to go for another week. Today we have a bit of news for you, sent to us by Nintendo. If you’re the proud owner of a Nintendo 3DS and want to see more 3D content, this may be of interest to you. The press release begins below.

Nintendo is giving you the chance to download seven free 3D game trailers exclusively through the Nintendo eShop, showcasing some of the latest games arriving soon for the Nintendo 3DS™. Trailers for upcoming titles, including Mario Kart™ 7, Luigi’s Mansion™ 2 and Super Mario 3D Land™ will be available to download from the Nintendo eShop from today for a limited time only.

The trailers showcase some of the most highly anticipated games launching on Nintendo 3DS over the next couple of months and star some of Nintendo’s most famous heroes; Mario, Luigi and Pit all making an appearance. Other game trailers available to download include Paper Mario™, Mario Tennis™, Kid Icarus™ and Animal Crossing™.

The Nintendo eShop gives Nintendo 3DS owners access to a vast array of new exclusive 2D and 3D content, including a free downloads of the Pokédex™ 3D, and the ability to download original 3D software, 3D Classics, Game Boy™ and Game Boy™ Color “Virtual Console™” games and an extensive library of Nintendo DSiWare™ titles. New content is added every Thursday so make sure you check back regularly.

If you haven’t performed the recommended system update yet and want to download the new trailers, simply start the “System Settings” from the Home Menu, select “Other Settings” and scroll the page right to select “System Update.” Once updated enter the newly downloaded Nintendo eShop and download the free trailers from today.

Don’t forget that you can also play most of the 1000 Nintendo DS™ and Nintendo DSi™ games on your Nintendo 3DS, due to its backwards compatibility. The Nintendo 3DS also features parental controls that let parents manage the content their children can access. For more information about these and other features, visit http://www.nintendo3ds.co.uk

For more information, please visit http://www.nintendo.co.uk/

I’m really impressed with the 3DS, especially since it creates that 3D effect without the need for glasses. It’s great to see that Nintendo are stepping out from pure gaming to 3D trailers… I wonder, is there hope for a portable 3D movie player at some point?

We’re currently halfway through a series of Doctor Who, and on a summer break after finally learning who River Song is. The remainder of the series will return in the autumn, apparently with an episode called, “Let’s kill Hitler”. But what about when the series has ended? Is there another in the pipeline? Yes, the BBC has announced the commissioning of another fourteen episodes of Doctor Who, with Matt Smith returning as The Doctor. Sam Hodges, head of communications for BBC One, fiction and daytime, tweeted the below:

Followed by the current series’ head writer Steven Moffat:

Now, if I’m honest, this wasn’t much of a news flash as Doctor Who is one of the BBC’s big success stories. Barring some strange goings on within the Beeb it was pretty much a given that there would be a new series… perhaps a small chance that there might be a new Doctor. However, Private Eye has been reporting that there have been major ructions within BBC Wales, with the main cast members looking for alternative roles, and that there would only be four specials next year instead of the usual series.

Well, it no longer looks that way with these two tweets being taken as the official nod from the BBC and writer.

I am, of course, happy that there will be more Who next year, but on reflection I think the most interesting aspect of this story is how Twitter is being used to get news out quickly. OK, that’s nothing new, but it’s not that long ago you would have expected a full press release. Perhaps even a reference to the press release in the Tweets, if you wanted to combine the two. But no, we now have comments from two people, clearly in the know, just sort of throwing the information out there.

That’s great! We get to know what’s happening much sooner than if someone had to craft a finely honed article, and there’s even the opportunity to respond to the tweets and ask questions, make suggestions, or whatever else you want to say.

And there’s more Doctor Who on the way.

Skype, the ubiquitous VoIP company, has been snapped up by Microsoft for a cool $8.3bn. That’s nearly £5.1bn at the time of writing. It was previously bought by eBay but has struggled to make a profit. It’ll be interesting to see if Microsoft’s direction makes a difference to that.

Exactly what Microsoft plans to do with Skype remains to be seen, but there are a vast number of Skype users, many of whom are wedded to the service for business use or keeping in touch with distant family members. What makes this even more interesting is that Microsoft already has Live Messenger, which allows Instant Messaging or Video Chat. Why not just add new features to that rather than pay a huge amount to purchase one of your competitors?

Maybe Microsoft isn’t so much buying a new service, as buying that huge user base. Skype users are already used to the idea of paying for an external telephone number, being able to connect to a telephone line, heck, even just the concept of having voice only chats as opposed to video conferencing. In many ways, that’s quite a different group of people to those making regular use of Live Messenger.

Will Skype be merged with Live Messenger? Will the two services be kept separate and go in slightly different directions? Who knows, but watch this space.

Are you a Skype user? What do you think of the Microsoft acquisition? Do you have any thoughts on what direction Microsoft will take Skype in? As ever, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

BBC News is reporting that Cisco Systems, the world’s largest provider of computer networking gear, is winding up its Flip video camera operation. Cisco bought Flip’s makers in 2009 and it seemed to be a pretty safe bet. After all, the innovative little camcorders were easy to use and looked like they had a bright future ahead of them.

Fast forward to 2011 and Cisco are refocusing on their core business as a network equipment provider which, unfortunately, means the Flip is going the way of the Dodo.

When you think about it, this makes total sense. When a company tries to diversify too much it loses focus and direction. Think about that much-loved fixture of the British High Street, Woolworths. In later years it never really seemed to know what it was trying to sell… pretty much everything, I think. Or take a look at WH Smith. Rather than focusing on being a top-notch newsagent and bookshop, it’s a bit of a mish-mash of everything and, for me, doesn’t really do the job with any of it. Cisco, rather than becoming a company that doesn’t really know what it’s about, has made the decision to return to what they know best.

OK, so it makes sense, but it’s a real shame their Flip division is being shut down rather than sold off. Maybe nobody wanted to buy it, but I know a fair few Flip fans (try saying that ten times quickly) will lament the passing of their favourite video camera.

Having said that, there are alternatives, like the Sanyo Xacti CG20 which shoots in full HD, is comparable in price to a Flip, and gets favourable reviews. And I have no doubt there will be other manufacturers who will come up with equally clever ideas for the next generation of pocket video cameras.

What do you think about this? Sad to see Flip go? Does it make sense for Cisco to refocus on their core business? Got something else you want to say? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.

Steve Jobs has taken the stage at Apple’s iPad 2 event to announce the new device. There’s been plenty of speculation over what it’s going to look like, and what features it’s going to have. So now that the cat’s out of the bag, what’s the real deal?

“New Design”

It’s hard to radically alter the design of something as simple as the iPad. It’s effectively a large glass touchscreen, so what can you change? Well, the iPad 2 is 33% thinner than the original iPad, and has a front and rear facing camera. The cameras should make it useful for apps like Facetime and although it’s a but unwieldy as a camera, should mean you can at least grab a few photos with your new toy.

Both black and white versions of the iPad 2 will be available.

Faster and more powerful

The iPad 2 uses a new dual-core processor called the A5. This will give up to 2x faster processing, with up to 9x faster graphics when compared with the current generation of iPads. You would think this is going to hurt the battery life but Apple are claiming that the A5 iPad has the same low power consumption of the A4, giving 10 hours of use or 1 month on standby between recharges.

It’s got USB ports, right?

Er, no. It doesn’t seem to have any more connectivity than the current iPad, although an HDMI cable was demonstrated at the announcement that allows anything displayed on the iPad 2 to be shown on your HD TV.

Oh go on then, how much?

The iPad 2′s pricing will be the same as the current lineup, starting at $499. It remains to be seen whether the price will also be the same in the UK, but I would imagine so. If it is, the range will start at £439.

Are you in the market for the iPad 2? What do you think of the changes? Is it enough of an upgrade, or a little too similar to the iPad 1? I’d love to know your thoughts, so feel free to share them in the comments.

If you’ve ever fantasised about taking a flight in the TARDIS, you may be about to get your chance. The Doctor Who Experience invites you to step aboard and join the Doctor on an adventure through time and space.

The Doctor Who Experience opened on Sunday at London’s Olympia Two venue, and promises to be an unmissable event featuring an “exhilarating and unique walk-through experience and an awe-inspiring exhibition.”

Visitors are invited to step through a crack in time to become the Doctor’s companion on an adventure.  Their challenge is to reunite the Doctor with the TARDIS whilst fending off threats from a Dalek spaceship and Weeping Angels along the way, before exploring the wonders of Doctor Who at an out of this world exhibition.

When I was a child I had a TARDIS “wendy house”, and over the years I’ve sometimes wondered whether it would be possible to build a recreation of the main console… hey, this is called Geek-Speak for a reason, you know! So you may understand when I say I’m seriously excited by the possibility of visiting a full-size recreation of the TARDIS console room.

The exhibition element of the Doctor Who Experience charts the success of the show from the first series in 1963 to the most recent episodes starring Matt Smith and Karen Gillan.  Displays include items never seen before including original costumes, the Tom Baker TARDIS police box and two authentic TARDIS sets from the eras of David Tennant and Peter Davison.  The public are also able to get up close and personal with iconic sets from recent series, including the Pandorica Box and Chair and confront numerous monsters including several generations of the Daleks and Cybermen as well as Silurians an Ice Warrior and a Zygon.

BBC Worldwide have also announced that the Experience will be moving to a long-term home in Cardiff in 2012, so it should hopefully be around for your geeky enjoyment for a long time to come.

Checking on the Doctor Who Experience website as I write this, I see that it’s fully booked until 28th February and visitors are already being encouraged to book for Easter. If you have the opportunity, it’s probably worth looking at trying to get a ticket for a non-holiday date. Otherwise, book well in advance!

Enjoy the gallery of pre-opening shots below and, if you’ve had the chance to visit the Experience why not tell us what you thought in the comments?

Gamers who have been waiting for the launch of Battlestar Galactica Online, the MMOG from Bigpoint, won’t have to wait much longer. As from tomorrow, the beta of this free to play, browser-based space combat game will be available on SyFy.co.uk, seven days before it becomes available anywhere else. Battlestar Galactica Online is based on the re-imagined series, so expect gritty space combat rather than ’70s kitsch!

Also available exclusively on SyFy.co.uk will be SyFy branded Colonial Viper and Cylon Raider designs. It’ll be interesting to see what these look like, as I can’t quite imagine Vipers and Raiders running sponsorship!

In Battlestar Galactica Online, both the Colonial and Cylon fleets find themselves stranded in an unexplored area of space at the very edge of one of the galactic arms. Heavily damaged and critically low on resources, both fleets race against time to repair and rearm, struggling for control of systems rich in Tylium (the raw material for spacecraft fuel), metals and water. The Colonial fleet desperately searches for a way to escape and continue the search for Earth before the Cylons gain enough strength to destroy them once and for all.

With voice and video from the TV series, and well known Non-Player Characters, Battlestar Galactica Online aims to deliver an authentic experience that should please any BSG fan.

Battlestar Galactica launches tomorrow on SyFy.co.uk. For a sneak preview, watch the trailer here.