An experimental solar-powered plane took off from western Switzerland on Wednesday for a 24-hour test flight–a key step in a historic effort to one day circle the globe using only energy collected from the sun.

The plane has 12,000 solar cells on its 80-metre wingspan and looks like something out of a science-fiction movie.

Clear blue skies on Wednesday allowed the prototype aircraft to soak up plenty of solar energy as it flew over the Jura mountains west of the Swiss Alps. The big question, however, was whether the plane’s 12,000 solar cells could fill up its batteries with enough energy so the plane could fly through the night.

The flight is going “extremely well,” said team co-founder Bertrand Piccard, a record-breaking balloonist whose father and grandfather also accomplished pioneering airborne and submarine feats.

“The goal of the project is to have a solar-powered plane flying day and night without fuel,” Piccard said. “This flight is crucial for the credibility of the project.”

It took off at 7am from the Payerne airfield in Switzerland, with pilot Andre Borschberg planning to take it up to an altitude of 8,500 metres throughout the evening.

If all goes well he will continue to fly the plane through the pitch of night with just the power stored in the rechargeable solar-powered batteries.

By early afternoon, pilot Andre Borschberg had his oxygen mask on and was cruising at 19,680 feet (6,000 meters), after trying to dodge the low-level turbulence and thermal winds that are frequent in the mountains.

“Andre now reached 6000m in a cloudless sky … this situation will last the entire afternoon,” the control panel tweeted, adding later “batteries are nearly fully loaded. Sun rays now for climbing only.”

Piccard told The Associated Press he was confident the plane will collect enough solar energy to theoretically fly through the night but was not exactly sure how energy efficient the plane was.

“We will most probably take the decision to go through the night,” he said. “We’ll have to be very careful, because then we have to see if the energy that we have in the batteries will be enough.”

The plane is flying in loops in Swiss airspace and within gliding range of Payerne airport so it could land if it runs out of energy, he said. The solar plane needs a wide, concrete runway because of its wingspan.

Every aspect of the aircraft is monitored by engineers on the ground, with much of it fed onto the team’s website and Twitter page.

The 57-year old Swiss, a former fighter jet pilot, is wearing a parachute.

Crackdown 2 is a large game, but not one without some obvious flaws. The game’s location is the same. Crackdown 2 is the sequel to Crackdown.The graphics look about the same. In Crackdown 2 players return to an even more liberal Pacific City bulked up by new underground caves, bunkers, plains and more. Crackdown 2 is a sandbox-style third-person shooter video game developed by Ruffian Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It release on Xbox 360 on Tuesday, July 6th, 2010 or July 9th, 2010 in the UK. It is a direct sequel to the 2007 video game Crackdown.

Crackdown 2 delivers equal or maybe more thrill as compared to the first part but there is one feature of the game that is currently being discussed a lot by the gamer community. That is the targeting feature of the player. The problem is that most of the time the player is targeting explosive barrels, vehicles and civilians than the enemies. This obviously gets very annoying for the gamers and the default functionality should have been to target enemies only. This is a much hated feature, but come to think about it; doesn’t it add more of a challenge tothe game ? Why should the player automatically target only the enemies? Wouldn’t it be better fun if targets have to be chosen all the time?

Crackdown 2 is really a game for people who like collecting things. Four-player co-op is really all the game brings to the table over its predecessor. Color is the one place where Crackdown 2 discriminates itself from other sandbox titles. The environments are all too angular, the textures too plain. Crackdown 2 has you covered. Up to sixteen Agents can jump into a PvP arena. Those familiar with the first Crackdown will not have any trouble picking up the controls and completing the assigned tasks.

Overall the game is a lot of fun and very much thrilling like the first part. The semi open ended environment makes for a very nice third person shooting experience and that is why the game is a hit.

For all you lovers out there: Crackdown 2 is bigger than the original, with higher skyscrapers and harder-to-reach orbs, and more Freaks, who are now numerous enough to have their own faction, and even their own Freak lairs. And a few of them have evolved (or is it devolved?) into juiced-up super-Freaks who spit acid. Balls. But luckily, you can enlist three friends to help fend them off—Crackdown 2 incorporates four-player co-op.

For starters, in Crackdown 2 people constantly try to kill you, but in GTA, generally you didn’t get attacked until you did something anti-social.

Panasonic Australia has announced the availability of a Skype enabled camera. These new Viera Skype cameras will give us the ability to make two-way video and voice calls from our living room

Priced at $AU199, the camera will only connect to Viera D25, S25, Viera VT20 and V20 Series Neo Plasma Series TVs. It connects via the USB 2.0 socket and can capture video and audio up to 5m away. Your existing Skype account can be used with the camera, including your contact lists, and other Skype features.

Glenn Zanoni, Product Marketing Manager at Panasonic Australia said “With Skype now available to access via VIErA TV’s, the future of communication has well and truly arrived. Gone are the days where we have to get close to a computer screen to video call someone on the other side of the world. Skype access on VIErA allows users to easily make video calls to other Skype users, from the comfort of their living rooms on their big screen VIErA TV “.

With the recent addition of new phones like the iPhone 4, that come with WiFi video calling features, and the computer which is already a standard for Skype video calls; it wont be long before we have a contact point to the world from any point in our busy lives.

The introduction of a camera that plugs into your home TV, to enable video calls to family and friends is going to be a must have device in the next few years. It will make that family call to grandma a much better experience, at least for grandma anyway

Online retail store will be posted soon, however you can read more about the new camera at the Panasonic web site: www.panasonic.com.au

While many movie-based games are notorious for being poorly made, that is not the case with Toy Story 3: The Video Game. Disney Interactive clearly spent the time to get it right; and the result is a great kids’ game that offers depth, charm and excitement. Disney even invested 160 hours in focus-testing with kids.

It is available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and computers ( Windows and Mac).

There is also a DS version.

Given the consistent quality of Pixar films, the inevitable video game adaptations have a hard act to follow, having been relegated to passable but forgettable children’s fare. The more uncanny aspects of Pixar movies–the nuanced storytelling, the striking emotion–are among the trickier qualities to translate to a game, much less in a category traditionally marketed to children.

But one of the strengths of Pixar’s work is its allure for adults and children alike, and a winning quality of Toy Story 3: The Video Game is that same multilayered appeal. This is a game worth picking up for the kids and then checking out for yourself. It falls just short of being a great title on its own, mostly because of some unnecessary “play the movie” moments in its story mode, though most of the shortcomings can be bypassed in an expansive open world toy box mode.

In the game, kids have two choices of play: Story Mode, a linear path that sends kids running, riding, and flying through eight levels inspired by the movie; or Toy Box mode, in which kids explore a wide open world that puts them in control of how they interact with Andy’s toys.

In both modes, kids play as Woody, Buzz or Jessie and switch between the characters at will. That switching is a play component in the Story Mode where certain characters have certain abilities.

For instance, you may need Jessie’s ability to nimbly jump on narrow platforms and later switch to Woody so that he can use his lasso to slingshot across a broad expanse.

In Story Mode, kids will find two kinds of levels: imaginary worlds where the toys pretend to have super powers and a real world where the toys move around in Andy’s domain.

The imaginary worlds are more about action, so you’ll find yourself directing Woody to run along the top of a moving train while avoiding fire from Dr. Evil Porkshop (the character of Hamm in his superhero form). The real world levels are full of environmental puzzles aimed at getting the toys up to hard-to-reach places.

In the Toy Box mode, kids are in charge. It starts as a Western town where Woody is made sheriff; but it expands as you earn coins to purchase new playsets, including a Haunted House, a Space Port and an Enchanted Glen. The toy characters offer you over 100 missions.

Not only are these beloved characters great fun to play with, but the game itself is kid-friendly. The game engine keeps track of how you play, and adjusts the game’s difficulty to your needs. If you keep failing in an action sequence, the sequence will eventually get easier. Plus, the game offers on-screen help in the form of hints and/or a video showing you the best route.

Another bonus is that the Story and Toy Box modes can be played by two players. In the Wii version, though, the Story Mode allows for two players, but the Toy Box mode is for a single player.

The PlayStation 3 version has unique extra content in the Toy Box mode, where you can unlock and then play as the evil Zurg, an outer space bad guy.

While this is a very well made video game, it is not perfect. The game allows you to “save” while in the middle of a level in the Story Mode; but when you return to your game, you must start that level from the beginning. However, given how much fun this game is to play, that is not much of a hindrance.

Parents should be aware that there is a disconnect between this game’s audience and the audience of the movie. While this is a fun game for kids age 10 and up (the ESRB rates this game as E10+ for cartoon violence and comic mischief), it is not right for the younger kids who will be seeing the film.

There is a fair amount of cartoon violence—aliens shooting at your character in frenetic battles, Woody throwing balls and Buzz picking up enemies and tossing them. You will even use a laser turret to shoot plush aliens. And Zurg in the PS3 version is all about destruction. It is cartoony and not very scary, but it isn’t right for the preschool and early elementary crowd.

“Toy Story 3″ ultimately succeeds in the same way that Pixar’s films do it’s attractive to young people who get a great surface experience and for older audiences who appreciate extra layers of depth. It also poses a challenge to those who are satisfied with churning out half-baked licensed games: You can do better, and the results of that effort are worth it.

Apple has a message for you if you notice problems with the reception on your shiny new iPhone 4. The problem isn’t the phone–it’s you. If you hold your phone so that your gubby little hands bridge the metal antenna bars that wrap around the phone, the signal will suck more than usual. Apple’s high-tech solution: don’t hold it that way.

When the engineers at Apple were asked about the issue, the answer was “Hold the phone differently or buy a protective case (from an Apple Store, of course)”. This is not a joke. The statement was the official response from Apple as the answer to the reception issue. The news about reception problems (network) was reported by “Engadget”. The official answer was in two parts, it began with an email reply from Steve Jobs and then by a longer statement.

Apple spokesman Steve Dowling acknowledged that the issues experienced by users were real, but he played down their importance.

”Gripping any phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, depending on the placement of the antennas,” Mr Dowling said.

He declined to say whether Apple experienced the issue during testing of the phone and suggested users not hold the phone in a way that covers both sides of a small black strip on the lower left side.

Analysts and investors did not appear too worried, and, given the long lines outside Apple stores, consumers appeared unconcerned by, or unaware of, the potential reception issues.

Gizmodo has a thread with nearly 2,000 posts, Engadget is pushing 900 posts, and Mac Rumors is nearing 1,000 posts with regards to iPhone 4 reception issues. I have witnessed the same issues with the iPhone 4 that I picked up this morning (yet don’t have any such reception issues with an HTC EVO 4G that I am currently testing or a year-old iPhone 3GS). The iPhone 4 starts off having 4 to 5 bars sitting by itself on a table, but if you pick the phone up and “palm it”, you may drop down to 1 bar or even get a “No Service” message.

For those that have just plunked down $200 or $300 on a new iPhone 4 (or more if you are upgrading before your contract is eligible), having your cellular connection drop out while doing something as simple as holding the phone in your hand is unacceptable.

Apple made a phone with an external antenna that has problems with reception when it comes in contact with the human body, then blames the consumer for holding the iPhone 4 in a perfectly reasonable fashion.

Early buyers of the new iPhone 4 should be a bit careful. Reports are already coming out about the new iPhone 4G problems.

The phone is barely in the hands of consumers, and there have been widespread gripes from early adopters. Some of these aren’t one-off whines either–in one case, they involve a legitimate concern that seems to affect every unit.

The biggest complaint to emerge is that the phone’s signal strength drops when a user grips the phone by the metal antenna band. Gizmodo has over a dozen videos of users showing off this problem.

We’ve run the same test on our phone. When we held the phone in front of us in our left hand with our fingers touching the metal band, the bars representing signal strength dropped from 5 to 1 in less than a minute.

The problem appears to involve finger-contact on certain parts of the metal band. When we switched the phone to our right hand (which put our fingers in different positions), the signal strength remained the same.

This is a strange error. Assuming the signal strength actually affects the quality of phone calls, Apple had better be able to fix this problem with a firmware update, or it will likely have millions of irate customers.

Other reported iPhone 4 problems are of the one-off type. They include screens shipping with discoloration, including yellowing in the bottom right corner and fragility. The iPhone has already been scratched by at least one user, and another user says s/he dropped an iPhone from a foot up and the glass back of the phone shattered.

Apple will likely sell 1+ million units today, so the scratched, broken, and yellow phones don’t seem much of a concern (although any other company would be catching hell for them). The reception problem, however, could be a big issue.

The Apple’s iOS 4 arrives Monday for owners of the iPhone 3GS and third generation iPod Touch, delivering a bevy of new features worth the upgrade. If you’re not getting an iPhone 4 (by choice or limited stock availability), iOS 4 should supercharge your old iPhone with new tricks until your next upgrade.

With the impending iPhone 4 launch this Thursday, Apple will be rolling out the new iOS4 software to compatible i-devices within the next few hours. These devices include the iPhone 3GS, iPad (ipad update later this year) and iPod Touch.

iOS 4 will bring a whole host of new features with it, such as the long awaited multitasking, folder support, digital zoom for cameras and an updated email app across the board. There will be many more minor updates but these are the main ones you’ll notice and want the most!

Remember that not all previous Apple devices are capable of running the new OS, such as the original iPhone and the 1st generation iPod Touch. The iPhone 3G and 3GS will be able to handle the update, but may not receive all the new features and functionality due to hardware limitations.

Apple has not specified what time it will be releasing iOS 4, but if last year’s 3.0 release is anything to go by, expect the new operating system to hit the tubes sometime after 1 p.m. Eastern/10 a.m. Pacific Time. Patience is also a must, as millions of devices are eligible for the free upgrade, putting a lot of pressure of Apple’s servers.

Before we delve into the goodies within iOS 4, a sad reminder for original iPhone and iPod Touch users: you won’t be able to upgrade to iOS 4, as Apple says the hardware on these devices is not supported. iPhone 3G owners will get the update.

Also, if you have an iPad (which runs iOS 3.2), iOS 4 will arrive for you only in September. On the reverse, many iPad-only features by now have been ported into iOS 4 for. So here are some of the cool new and useful features in iOS 4.

As simple as it sounds, this feature was missing on the iPhone. The folders feature in iOS 4 will help you declutter your home screen, letting you compile under a single location up to 12 applications.

To access folders, enter customize mode (tap on an icon until all icons start jiggling), slide any icon on to another and a new folder is created. You can rename the folder to your liking, but iOS 4 will also suggest a folder name if applications grouped in a folder belong to the same category (like games, utilities, travel).

iOS 4 lets you set a wallpaper not only for the lock screen (as previously available), but also for the home screen. Like on the iPad, you will have the option to select a different image for the lock and home screen, or you can use the same image throughout. There is no way to set a wallpaper for each of your home screens, though.

The first thing you will notice in the Mail app in iOS 4 is the unified inbox. Users will multiple e-mail accounts have been longing for this feature for a while, and Apple finally delivered.

There is also support for threaded messages, so you can easily follow up on conversations (each discussion has a single entry that you can tap on and expand it). A big boon for business users will also be support for multiple Exchange account, as only one per device was available by now.

Alongside the predictive typing on the iPhone, spelling corrections were missing, but this issue is resolved with iOS 4. Misspelled words will be underlines with a jagged red line, and when tapped correction suggestions will be displayed. This feature works system-wide, including in Mail and Notes.

Microsoft is taking aim at the Wii. The company unveiled Kinect, its new motion-controlled gaming system for the Xbox 360, at the E3 Video Game Conference in Los Angeles. Kinect makes the player the controller, allowing a person to play games without a handheld remote or even without pressing a button. CNET’s Dan Ackerman explains how it works.

Xbox 360 officially took the wraps off Kinect, formerly code-named Project Natal, at a splashy, trippy Cirque du Soleil performance commissioned to unveil the device to the world. Spectators in light-up ponchos watched as a giant living room set rotated upside down, a life-sized elephant puppet ambled through the crowd and images of gameplay footage were projected onto giant screens in L.A.’s Galen Centre arena.

“It’s a webcam the plugs into your Xbox 360 console and it uses multiple cameras and mulitple microphones to track your body in 3-D space,” Ackerman said. “Then you can use it to either play games or control the media functions on the Xbox.”

Kinect goes on sale November 4th. Microsoft did not reveal the suggested retail price.

One of the first games available for the Kinect allows the player to dance alongside the King of Pop. Video game developer Ubisoft announced that it will release the new game featuring Michael Jackson . A person scores points by matching Jackson’s moves on songs including “Beat It” and “Billie Jean.” The game works with Kinect, and a similar system being developed for Sony’s PlayStation 3. There will also be versions for the Wii, Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable.

There will be 15 games available when Kinect goes on sale in November, followed in 2011 by new titles that will include a realistic Forza Motorsport driving game and a Star Wars game that will see players swinging a virtual lightsaber, using Force powers and duelling with Darth Vader.

The Kinect peripheral will also let Xbox 360 owners control their systems with voice commands and hand gestures reminiscent of the Steven Spielberg sci-fi movie Minority Report, like choosing on-screen icons by pointing at them, or saying, “Xbox, play music” to play tunes stored on the console.

The iPhone 4 is now available for preorder, Apple Insider reveals. You can buy the 16GB model with a two-year contract from AT&T for $199 and the 32GB model for $299.

The iPhone 4 pre-order launch did not go off without a few snags. At 6 a.m., Computerworld bloggers reported that the the US Apple store was flashing error messages. The site apparently went down for at least an hour, and was back up at 8 a.m., at which point Computerworld staff successfully pre-ordered an iPhone 4. Meanwhile, the Register reported that the UK Apple Store had apparently crumpled under heavy traffic.

Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone 4 at the WWDC conference in San Francisco last week. Although reviewers have not yet been given the chance to put the iPhone 4 through its full paces, early buzz is positive. Of especial interest is a range of features unique to the iPhone 4, including a gyroscope, for improved gaming motion control, and an HD video camera.

You can also now buy the iPhone 4 predecessor, the iPhone 3GS, for $99 with a contract from AT&T.

Apple limits preorders to two per customer. They deliver on June 24 or you can pick them up in stores on that day.

So what’s so special about the new iPhone 4, which Apple CEO Steve Jobs boasted was the “biggest leap since the original iPhone”?

It’s got more than 100 new features, including a higher resolution screen. It features a front-facing camera–great for video conferencing–and on the back, will have a five-megapixel camera and flash, so consumers will be able to shoot high-definition video.

The iPhone 4 is also skinny (less than 10 millimeters thick)–a full 2 millimeters thinner than its predecessor, the iPhone 3GS. Jobs says it is “the thinnest smartphone in the world.”

Gizmodo dishes on its other features, including an Apple A4 chip – the “brains” of the phone, a longer battery life–allowing users to talk for 40% longer and a built-in gyroscope that can track movement with better precision than the accelerometers in the older iPhones. The new model uses the iOS 4 operating system and has iMovie for iPhone, which lets you cut video and edit images.

Sprint claims Friday marked the largest quantity of a single phone it sold in one day, with the Evo 4G beating the previous records the carrier held with the Samsung Instinct and the Palm Pre. Unfortunately, Sprint did not disclose the exact number of devices it sold, but said it equates to three times the number of Instinct and Pre phones sold over the first three days of availability combined.

“HTC EVO 4G is a clear winner for customers with the powerful combination of an amazing multimedia experience in 3G coverage areas that becomes even better in our growing number of 4G markets. It is terrific to see customers react so positively to this device and the innovative experience it brings to them,” said Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO, in a statement.

The HTC Evo 4G is sold through a network of around 22,000 locations across the U.S., including RadioShack, Best Buy and Walmart. Sprint said it experienced shortages at some of these locations, including its own stores, and that it is working with HTC to replenish the stocks.

“HTC EVO 4G has more than lived up to our expectations that it would be one of the most anticipated technology products of the year,” said Kevin Packingham, senior vice president of product development for Sprint. “We are working closely with our partners at HTC to increase the supply and get EVO 4G into the hands of everyone who wants one as quickly as possible.”

The HTC Evo 4G is the first 4G Android smartphone, and was welcomed with mixed reviews. The device features some high-end specs, including an 8-megapixel camera and a large 4.3-inch display (4.5/5 in PC World’s review), but the limited availability of Sprint’s 4G coverage drew criticism toward the device.

“Sprint and HTC are diligently working around the clock to increase inventory in all sales channels. Additional shipments are arriving in retail stores on a regular basis with many stores seeing daily deliveries,” the company wrote in the release.