The QWERY keyboard layout is one which most of us have grown up with. Designed in 1870 by Christopher Latham Scholes, it is the most commonly used format in the world. The name comes from the first six letters on the keyboard reading from left to right. The layout came into widespread use as it was patented for the ‘Sholes and Glidden typewriter and became even more popular after the design was sold to Remington in 1873. In 2013, it is still the default layout for most of the keyboards sold worldwide. However, there are alternatives out there and here we take a look at a few of them below.

Dvorak Layout

Image by:  zappowbang

This is a layout which was designed to specifically address some inherent weaknesses found in the QWERTY layout. It was created by Dr. August Dvorak and Dr. William Dealey and patented in 1936.   Also known as the ‘Simplified Keyboard’, it’s a  faster keyboard as it removes some of the awkward features that are evident in QWERTY  such as allowing for more letter combinations to be typed with both hands which produces a more rhythmic approach and makes the typing faster. Also the Dvorak layout avoids awkward finger motions and letters which don’t have to be crossed over to the same extent. This keyboard caters more for the majority of typists with the most common letters on the right hand side which is the opposite case with the QWERTY layout.  Most of the keystrokes (70%) are performed on the home row as opposed to the top rows which some say reduce the chances of repetitive strain injury.

Colemak

This keyboard layout was designed as an alternative to both QWERY and Dvorak. It was developed by Shai Coleman with a strong emphasis on ergonomic design and specifically for English touch typing. There are many advantages to Colmak over QWERTY and it doesn’t take that long to learn. Finger movement is significantly reduced, because you use your fingers 2.2 times more on QWERTY than you do with Colmak which has obvious advantages for fatigue avoidance and strain. You can also type up to 35 times more on the home row than you can with QWERTY.  Colmak is a credible alternative because it has created lot of time consuming changes whilst maintaining many of the features that users have grown accustomed to such as the well known short cuts, i.e. ‘CTRL+’ functions. Colmak also caters for over 40 different languages which will attract a whole range of users.

Optimus Maximus

Image by:  na0905

Designed by Artemy Lebedev, the Optimus Maximus keyboard is an ambitious move away from the standard keyboard formats.  This system differs greatly in a sense that it allows for greater interaction with the user. Each key is effectively a standalone display and shows which function is currently in use. If the shift key is pressed for example, it would illuminate an upper case picture. Optimus Maximus is suitable for a variety of different language layouts such as Ancient Greek, Cyrillic and Arabic as well as catering for HTML codes and maths functions. The keyboard buttons can easily be moved for replacement or when they just need cleaning.

There are other alternatives out there which are also proving that users don’t have to rely on QWERTY.  Of course many will still prefer to stick with its tried and tested formula but as computer and software manufacturers evolve we will most likely see a demand for more revolutionary keyboards.

Have you tried an alternative keyboard? Or are alternatives to the ‘standard’ a silly idea? Tell us your thoughts either way in the comments below.

The thing is, life is so saturated with technology these days, and all of those pieces of technology need to get their power from somewhere. My smartphone isn’t too smart when the battery runs out. So what if I were able to charge my devices using a readily available power source that doesn’t have any ongoing costs? I’m talking about the sun, of course, and the guys at Mobile Fun were kind enough to send me a solBAT II solar phone charger to try out.

First impressions were good – the solBAT II comes with a window mount for, er, mounting it on your window, and a carabiner for attaching it to a bag or rucksack while you’re out and about. I’ve tried it in both situations and found that having it on a bag makes it charge more quickly (I guess it gets more direct sunlight?), but it really spends most of its time on my office window. That’s no biggie, since the office gets direct sunlight all morning, but I thought it might be useful to know.

So, does it do the job? Well, sort of. It certainly works, and seems capable of adding several hours worth of charge to my iPhone, but the solar panels do take a very long time to charge the solBAT II up. We’re talking days when attached to my window, which means it’s not a viable option to use the solBAT as my phone’s only power source. It is, however, useful when you’re out and about and realise your phone is about to die… I’ve had the solBAT take my iPhone from 13% battery back up to just shy of 40% which, for me, takes it back out of the panic zone!

It’s worth noting that the solBAT also has the option to charge via USB. While the solar panel can take days, the USB cable will take the solBAT up to full capacity in just a few hours. In that case, it becomes a spare battery. Handy again for emergencies.

And that’s the key, really: the solBAT II is a great emergency charger. It does what it says on the box and, if you charge with solar, that’s free energy. But it’s not viable as your phone’s primary charger, which means I won’t be getting rid of my mains iPhone charger just yet.

The solBAT II solar battery pack is available on Mobile Fun for £23.95 (at time of writing).

Last week Microsoft unveiled the next generation Xbox console: The Xbox One. Like the PlayStation 4, which was announced earlier this year but hasn’t yet been shown in the flesh, the new console will be released in time for Christmas this year. That will bring an end to almost eight years without a new console generation, a much longer period than generations past.

As you’d expect, both of these next-generation systems are much more powerful than their predecessors. What you might not expect is how similar the two systems are to one another! In this article, we’ll have a look at how these two next-generation consoles compare.

Processors
Both systems move from a custom PowerPC architecture to a 64-bit semi-custom system-on-chip, like a gaming PC. Both the PS4 and X1 use an AMD Jaguar APU, which should be clocked in the region of 1.6 GHz (as estimated by Anandtech). Both systems feature two four-core processors, making for eight cores (and eight threads) in total. So far, so similar.

Memory
Where things begin to diverge is in system memory. Both have 8 GB of RAM, but the PlayStation 4 has an edge here, as it’s using much faster GDDR5 RAM versus the DDR3 of the Xbox One. Datarates and peak memory bandwidth are considerably in Sony’s favour here as a result. Expect 5.5 GHz datarate delivery peak memory bandwidth of 176 GB/s for the PS4, and only 2.133 GHz good for 68.3 GB/s for the X1. The Microsoft console partially makes up for this with 32 MB of embedded memory on die, which should reduce the amount of peak memory bandwidth required. Overall, it looks pretty close – Sony have gone with a higher cost but simpler option, but Microsoft’s approach is by no means foolish.

Graphics
In graphics land, things are more simply in Sony’s favour. Both consoles use an AMD GCN-based GPU, but Sony included an 18 Compute Unit configuration (good for 1152 ALUs) where Microsoft went for 12 CUs (delivering 768 ALUs). Both GPUs are clocked at the same speed (800 MHz), so here the PS4 has a clear advantage over the X1 in terms of horsepower – about 50%.

Power / Heat
The downside of having more powerful hardware is that you’d expect to also see more power used and more heat created. By that measure, the PS4 should be hotter and use more power than the X1, but both should also be hotter and use more power than the previous generation of consoles.

In truth, only the first comparison is likely to be true. While the new components used in the PS4 and X1 are more powerful, they’re also much more power efficient. Even when running at full tilt, we should expect to see only marginally higher power consumption than the previous generation.

Both of the new consoles also support power gating, allowing unused CPU and GPU cores to be kept in a low-power state until they’re needed. The new systems can also vary their frequencies and voltages as needed, allowing for a much wider range of heat and power usage than the previous generation. This should make them more economical and cooler to run outside of games.

In terms of PlayStation 4 versus Xbox One, we’d expect the PS4 will run a bit hotter and use a bit more power, thanks to the PS4′s additional GPU performance. Both systems look like they’ll use larger grilles, so heat shouldn’t be an issue.

Conclusion
All in all, it looks like the PlayStation 4 holds the performance crown, but the Xbox 360 may be a bit cheaper than the Sony console. That strategy hasn’t worked well for Microsoft with its Surface tablets or Windows Phones, but may be a good initial strategy for the company.

Of course, Microsoft are also investing a lot of time and money into the Kinect and the X1′s media capbilities, so perhaps we’ll see the same price point. Either way, it’s shaping up into an interesting battle!

I hope you found this comparison useful. For more in-depth information on the hardware differences between the PS4 and the X1, be sure to check out the Anandtech article linked above, which goes into much more detail for enthusiasts.

Enter the Xbox One. Microsoft say their new mission for the Xbox is to have a system that unifies games, television, music and movies. One console to rule them all, if you will. This won’t just be a gaming machine – Microsoft want to place themselves at the heart of the living room. That’s not to say we’ll all be huddled around a box, begging it for entertainment; apparently the technology will ‘step behind the curtain’, and allow you and your entertainment to take centre stage.

So, what can the Xbox One do? Well, quite a lot. It can show live TV for a start which, at the moment, requires you to change the input on your television. Voice control on the One was demonstrated, with a simple “Xbox, watch TV” bringing up a live TV feed. It wasn’t clear to me whether this was being streamed over the Internet, or whether you’ll need to plug a receiver into the back of the console (your Sky Box, for instance) but it was very impressive. Further voice commands allowed for instant switching to a game, movie, music, back to TV, Internet Explorer… it was all very snappy and seemed to live up to Microsoft’s vision of putting all your entertainment at your fingertips.

Snap Mode is an interesting addition to the Xbox One, where you can ‘snap’ an application to the side of the screen while doing something else. If, for example, you’re watching a movie and want to find out the name of a particular actor, you could snap Internet Explorer to the side of the screen and look up IMDB… all while the movie is still playing. At the minute, I look up that sort of thing on my phone, but the One will let you do it all on the one screen.

Skype, recently bought by Microsoft, is also integrated into the One, enabling you to have video chats with friends and families from your television. Great for getting in touch with the grandparents!

At this point my thought turned to the fact that it was pretty much a Smart TV… except that all the smart elements are held in the Xbox rather than the television set.

What’s under the skin?

If you’re anything like me you’ll be wondering what the technology under the Xbox One’s skin is, and we were given a rundown during the unveiling:

• 8GB RAM – compared to 512 MB RAM in the 360
• 5 billion transistors
• A BluRay drive! (Yes, I’m excited about that one)
• USB 3.0 connectivity
• ‘Practically silent’ operation

The Operating system is a merger of three – bringing together the Xbox OS, Windows Kernel, and a sort of connector OS that allows instant program switching, multitasking and control.

The control systems have had an overhaul too, with a new Kinect controller. It is touted as being much faster at recognising voices than the current Kinect, and to have the ability to recognise different people. It is also more accurate at scanning the environment, and features a 1080p camera. It is capable of recognising more joints in a user’s body and, apparently, even able to read your heartbeat. I’m not sure if that last feature is cool or creepy!

The Xbox controller looks broadly similar to the current one (which is good, I’ve always found it comfortable) but actually has over 40 design updates.

Will there be any games?

Of course there will be games! Forza Motorsport 5, for example, will be exclusive to the One and will be available at launch. EA Sports are developing four games for the One and, Infinity Ward are producing a One version of Call of Duty: Ghosts that looks very, very impressive.

Let’s talk about that for a minute, actually, because I was fully prepared to be underwhelmed by the graphics of the One. I think the 360 does pretty well for graphics (yes, I know some PC gamers will want to slap me for saying that) but a side-by-side comparison of graphics from Modern Warfare 3 and Call of Duty: Ghosts just blew me away. The texture detail and the environment complexity made possible by the One’s power was genuinely amazing. It remains to be seen how games move beyond fancier graphics to make use of the One’s social and connected features, but pretty pictures are a good start :)

What didn’t we hear about?

There are a couple of things I was interested in learning about, but didn’t make an appearance in the unveiling:

• Price – there was no indication of where this will be pitched.
• Backwards compatibility – I remember when the 360 came out and only certain Xbox titles worked on it. It would have been nice to know whether my current games catalogue is about to become obsolete.
• Always-on DRM – rumours abounded about whether the One would require an Internet connection to play games. If it does, it sort of precludes any possibility of taking it away on holiday with you, or of playing when your Internet connection goes down. It would have been nice to hear some sort of official position on this.

Having said that, the overall impression I got of the One is very positive. It looks like it’s going to be a clever piece of kit, and certainly something on my wish list. The next big unveiling will be at E3, where we can expect to hear more about the games coming to this new platform.

Thoughts?

Did you watch the Xbox Reveal event? What did you think of what you saw? Are you looking forward to the ‘next generation’ of consoles, or are you quite happy with the current one? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

For several years I stuck with my itty-bitty phone whose functions were limited to making calls, sending texts and waking me up in the morning. Why would I want to spend a few hard-earned Benjamins on a smartphone? Well, I drunk the Kool-aid and now I’m never more than a few feet away from my phone. Here are some apps that get used on a daily, or near-daily, basis:

Flipboard

Flipboard helps me keep tabs on social media; it integrates my Facebook and Twitter streams with the RSS feeds of my favorite blogs and news sources. Instead of looking at the boring interface of Google reader, I just open Flipboard and see pics and headlines of the latest posts, tweets and status updates in a magazine. Just tap the picture to read the rest of the post and share it with others. Set up is really easy and, best of all, it’s a free app.

Instapaper

During the week, I never have enough time to read even a fraction of what catches my eye so I use Instapaper to save and read the article later. Instapaper lets me save articles so I don’t spend precious minutes searching for them later. The one-time $4.99 cost is comparable to what I’d spend on just one issue of my favorite magazine. Besides archiving up to 500 articles, I can share them with others via email, Twitter and Tumblr through the app.

Break

To relieve the day’s stresses, sit down and open up funny pics on Break.com’s app to get a few good laughs. The ever-increasing collection of pics are cracking me up have created such an addiction, I have to limit myself to 15 minutes a day! The app is available for iOS, Android and tablet devices and best of all, it’s free!

Evernote

Mint

Whether you’re trying to dig out of debt or just want to stick to your budget, the folks at Mint have you covered with this handy app that integrates your bank accounts so you can keep better tabs on your money. I like the user interface — it lets me track my spending with a few taps. Say goodbye to racking up $30 overdraft fees for a $3 coffee!

Shop Savvy

You know that feeling you get when you see the same dress you bought last week at a different store, but for $30 less? That may very well be a thing of the past if you employ Shop Savvy on a regular basis. You simply input the item that you’re planning to purchase and it will compare both brick and mortar the virtual shops to find the lowest price. And if that wasn’t good enough, shopsavvy.com states it will give you the closest location so you can decide if the cheapest price is worth it, even if it requires a half-hour drive or let you purchase the item via the app if you’re making an online purchase.

OverTo You

Do you use any of the apps we detailed here? Or do you have suggestions for other apps that should have made the list? We’d love to hear your thoughts – please do share them in the comments and tell us what you think.

This review of the Proporta Kindle cover is the second of two reviews of cases supplied by the device protection experts at Proporta.co.uk.

I really love books, real books, with the smell and the feel and the print and the turning pages. I know that makes me a bad geek, but I can’t help myself. Maybe it comes from having worked in a library or being married to another book nut, but my first choice for reading material would usually be in the printed form. But I also really like my Kindle.

I find myself very conflicted over that sometimes. I love that there’s all the free books and that you can read a ton between charges. I love that you can take an entire library’s worth of books with you. I find that there is a place in my heart for the kindle and the other e-readers out there, but I do like the attempts to make them look more like their analogue counterparts, this product included.

When the case arrived, equally as well packed as the previous review item, I was surprised to see that it wasn’t real leather. Let me clarify, I wasn’t disappointed with what I found, I was surprised that what I was looking at and touching wasn’t the real deal. It’s a very high quality leather-effect finish, including some clever printing that makes it look like a fairly old book. In fact it doesn’t look too dissimilar to an Italian leather notebook that I have.

There is one other way this is similar to my leather notebook, this was handmade. It’s surprising to think that this is priced competitively to standard mass produced covers, often made of a much lower quality material. To make the package even more competitive than it already is, Proporta also throw in a lifetime guarantee!

The case is really lovely to look at; it doesn’t look out of place on a shelf next to your real books and it is nice to hold. It’s a great all-rounder and does everything you expect. It includes the internal pocket that all good eReader cases incorporate, although I’m yet to find a good use for that.

I think it’s safe to say that I really like it, but I do have one small complaint and that is the lack of any mechanism to keep the cover closed. It’s not a big problem, but I would’ve like to have seen an elastic strap or even better some sort of clasp.

So just short of perfection perhaps, but a great way to keep my Kindle reading a secret!

What about you? Are you all digital, or do you still like a sneaky paperback once in a while? And do you prefer you e-reader covers closable?

This review of the Barbour Samsung Galaxy S3 Case is the first of two reviews of cases supplied by the device protection experts at Proporta.co.uk.

I’ve never used a folio case before I started reviewing this particular model, in fact as I thought about that fact it occurred to me that I’ve never really protected a phone quite as much as I feel the need to now. I reckon I’ve owned a mobile phone for the last 12/13 years; and whilst some of those early models were adorned with the “leather”-edged, plastic-fronted and elastic-sided type cases that were the norm as the time, most have lived in my pocket without any additional protection. The S3 I’m currently using started out unprotected, but I found it made me feel nervous much more than any previous phone had done.

Given all of that, I started this review not expecting to be blown away by the product. It didn’t matter to me much that it was a brand name either. I did not expect to find myself actually liking it.

So let’s start from the beginning; I was really pleased with how the case arrived. It was well packed and in a good quality Barbour branded display box. But what really pleased me was the inclusion of a little gift of tea. I’d imagine the gift itself wouldn’t be up everybody’s street, but the fact it was included, even with a product for review, adds a personal touch which is welcome.

The case itself appears to have been made to a high standard, including real-leather panels and a style that wouldn’t look at all out of place on any of Barbour’s famous jackets. The inside is trimmed with a Barbour exclusive material.

At first I found the magnetic closure a little confusing, but this may be due to my inexperience with this type of case; it connects at the back of the phone rather than the front. Presumably this is so you can attempt to hold and open the case with one hand, but for me a phone this size is nearly always a two handed device.

Having now used the case for about two weeks I’ve found myself getting quite fond of it, not least because it impresses people. I’m genuinely impressed by the level of protection it offers, I’ve dropped the phone at least twice onto pretty hard surfaces and had no problems.

What I’ve also enjoyed is the fact that I tend to take the phone out of the case more, admittedly that is more to do with the type of case than this particular model, but it’s become a bit of a selling point to me. I generally take it out at work to place on my desktop stand and also at night, so that I don’t have to fiddle with the case if it goes off. What this means is that I get to enjoy the S3 as designed occasionally, whilst also getting the protection I require the majority of the time.

Even though I take the phone out at least twice most days, the case seems to be holding up well. I have seen some cheap cases start to show the strain after just a couple of attempts of taking a phone out and putting it back in again.

Overall I found myself really impressed with the quality and design of the case, in a fashion sense (something I’m not at all motivated by) it seems this would go with most outfits for most occasions. Some gel cases and the like can leave your top of the range phone looking a bit naff, not so with this premium product from a premium brand.

This wasn’t really a product I expected to like, not that I didn’t expect it to be high quality, but I wasn’t sure I would like the form factor. However I was pleasantly surprised and I’m a convert!

Internet behemoth, Google is putting plans in motion to change the way we access our personal pages online. Rather than memorize which email account uses your childhood address as the password, or which website requires you to type in the name of your favorite pet, Google wants you to access your Google accounts on your mobile device, tablet, laptop and desktop with the tap of a unique “finger ring,” says BGR.com’s Brad Reed. Thus marking the beginning of Google’s “password-killing” campaign.

Boosting Security

Google is one of countless websites that have modified password security with a two-step verification process. This process may require you to enter one password online while the website texts you an additional OTP (one time password). RTTNews.com says the combination of these two steps should make hacking into an account impossible.

The need for this extra layer of security became apparent last year when numerous agencies and corporations, like LinkedIn and Verizon, reported security breaches in their system because of hacked accounts.

Hundreds if not thousands of incidents like these have underlined the need for increased online security. According to Wired.com, Google executives Grosse and Upadhyay have even announced that they feel passwords and cookies are no longer enough to keep user data safe.

Improving User Experience

Although the call to change how passwords work is based on security concerns; part of the movement is attributed to making account access more user-friendly. A magic ring or a one-stop authentication device lets consumers sign into their Google accounts by tapping their finger against their desktop or mobile device.

In a paper published by IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine, Google’s engineers have outlined how they anticipate this product to work. According to RTTNews.com Google is creating a Yubico cryptographic card that can slide into a USB port that will automatically log users into their protected Google accounts.

Will Passwords Become a Thing of the Past?

Google has already tweaked their Chrome Browser to ensure that it will work with such a device, but there is still more work to do before a one-stop authentication device will become the norm. Websites that are comfortable using the conventional password to protect user data may be the biggest hurdle during this process. Once these other websites realize the potential in killing passwords, they may hop on the anti-password bandwagon.

Although these changes have been designed to improve the user’s experience, they also underscore the transparency of online data. With so much data freely available, it is critical for users to consider their online reputation as well as their online safety. “People need to control their online search results,” states Reputation.com, an agency that helps improve the online reputation of its clients.

When asked whether or not change is imminent, Google’s response is hopeful. They acknowledge that others have tried and failed in similar endeavors, but they maintain that they are eager to test their idea and move forward.

photo credit: FindYourSearch

Jigsaws can be fun, but I have to admit that I get frustrated easily with them. Live Puzzle is a slightly different take on jigsaws, in that the picture is moving while you’re trying to solve the puzzle. In some ways, that makes it a bit more difficult but, once you get used to it, it’s kind of cool to be able to see whether a piece fits by holding it in place and watching the animation.

You’ll need Flash to play this, and there is sound (the music is particularly annoying, so I switched it off).

–> Click to Play Live Puzzle <–

We won’t re-list them here (apart from anything else, Google hates that sort of thing!), so head on over to IT Tech Point, the IT Turning Point blog, and have a look for yourself. Don’t forget to leave a comment :)

Xbox 720 Rumours at IT Tech Point.