Thinking about what new things to do with your Raspberry Pi? Why don’t you take up photography? The Pi Foundation recently released a camera board for the credit card-sized computer.

The new add on has a small lens on a chip the size of a postage stamp, and it can be connected into the camera port situated between the Ethernet and HDMI ports on the Pi. But be careful while handling the module as it is very sensitive to static electricity, and that flimsy ribbon should not be folded too much. The video posted below should help you to play with the thing safely.

After connecting, start the Pi and you will need to update the firmware after which boot into the configuration settings to enable the cam. But to use the camera you will have to use some commands such as “raspistill -o image.jpg” for snapping stills and “raspivid -o video.h264 -t 10000″ for ten seconds of soundless video recording. The camera can also stream video over the internet.

The 5MP camera, which can capture 1080p video, can be ordered from RS Components or Premier Farnell/Element14 in the UK for £16.56 plus postage. That’s around $25, the Model A Raspberry Pi’s price tag. Interested US customers might wanna keep an eye on Allied Electronics.

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Microsoft is expected to unveil a major update to Windows 8, version 8.1 (aka Blue), in June at their Build conference. It appears like they have been listening to customer feedback and wants to make things better. According to The Verge, the company has plans to bring back the Start button with 8.1.

Most Windows 8 users wanted the return of the Start button and Start Menu, so they went for tools such as Pokki, which has been downloaded about 1.5 million times. With the arrival of Windows 8.1, the Start button will apparently make a comeback. It will look similar to the Windows flag in the Charm bar.

Don’t get too excited though as this button is not coming with the traditional Start Menu, but it will just allow you access to the Windows 8 Start Screen. So you better make plans for a third-party app if you hold no love for Microsoft’s new Start UI.

This new information follows an earlier hint about a boot to desktop option, which will allow users to boot directly to the traditional desktop in the upcoming OS update. More new features and upgrades are certainly coming and we are digging in to find out what those are. Stay tuned to Mobilemag for updates.

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The traditional PC market is continuing to shrink as devices like smartphones and tablets eat into the marketshare. There are certainly some critics who feel that Windows 8 is a big part of that blame, and with that in mind we present today’s newest rumor.

Intel is allegedly preparing to push new Haswell-based convertible notebooks running Android. Think devices like the Asus Transformer Prime, though manufacturers involved supposedly include Asus, Acer, HP, Toshiba and Lenovo.

The rumor further asserts that Lenovo will lead the way with this new Android “notebook” push by introducing an Android-powered variant of the Yoga this May.

So how much would an Intel Android convertible cost? The rumored price point would be sub-$500. At this price, they would be a considerably cheaper alternative to Ultrabooks and Macbooks. These convertibles would also represent a spiritual successor to the netbook, which has since largely faded into obscurity in the last few years.

By providing a device that was small, cheap and good for typing while also fully capable of seperating from the keyboard, Intel and its partners could find a way to bring out the best of netbooks and tablets all in one form.

Such a move from Intel doesn’t sound totally insane, but I would still be more than a little cautious about believing this latest rumor due to its source. Digitimes is known for generating tons of rumors, with a mixed reputation on actually getting them right.

Still, Android would work just fine as a basic notebook alternative. Android has plenty of apps and its productivity offerings such as Office Suite Pro aren’t half bad. What do you think, for a price around $375-$475 would you consider purchasing a convertible Android device as a replacement for a traditional Mac, Windows or Linux laptop?

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Source code found in a recent build of Windows 8.1 might hint at a new boot up option for the latest Windows update. Currently Windows 8 users are forced to boot to the tiled menu screen before heading to the desktop to get some actual work done. On a touch screen device this isn’t really an issue, but if you are using a track pad or mouse it’s an unnecessary extra step.

Russian site Windows Portal claims that code they have found might allow users to jump directly into the desktop in Windows 8.1. Those browsing through the code say that “twinui.dll” can be disabled and reactivated depending on which screen you wish to start from.

Already current users of Windows 8 are excited by this prospect, and those currently on Windows 7 have said they would be more likely to update if this feature is included in 8.1.

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It doesn’t take a genius to realize that the growing mobile market has cut into PC sales in a pretty big way over the last few years. While PC sales have been declining for a while, new IDC estimates show that for the first quarter of 2013, the market fell a whole 13.9 percent.

Looking back, this is the largest drop down reported by IDC in its entire history of tracking the PC market, which goes back to 1994. According to IDC, the biggest factors for this larger level of decline is that customers are spooked by the changes found in Windows 8, combined with the rise of mobile devices and the fact that the netbook pretty much went extinct.

While Windows 8 might be part to blame, that’s not the whole story. Apple Mac computers haven’t exactly jumped up in sales either, after all. The bigger picture is that more consumers are waking up to the fact that they don’t need $800+ machines in order to live in our socially-driven, web-connected world. Unless your needs are demanding (business, gaming, etc) – you can easily get by with a smartphone or tablet in today’s world. Hell even a web-connected game system or PC might be enough for many folks out there.

Additionally, PC declines are being brought on due to the fact that many of the PCs out there are more expensive than what many people were buying a few years ago. Why is that? Netbooks are pretty much extinct (at least from major, known vendors) and instead vendors are pushing ultrabooks and touch-capable devices.

Of course there is a reason for that. Although there is probably still limited interest in the netbook, it never exactly had great profit margins and as fewer people were buying premium home computers, it became less and less profitable for vendors to continue offering netbooks. Higher-end PCs generally command higher profit margins. That and lower-end PCs often aren’t much better for many consumers than purchasing a similarly priced tablet or high-end smartphone.

Bottom-line is that the PC market isn’t going to grow again in the forseeable future, unless something crazy happens like people drop interest in smartphones and PCs. Instead, vendors need to understand that the PC market will soon be a secondary business with their main focus needing to be mobile.

The bigger question is whether Dell, HP and other major vendors has what it takes to truly make the move over to a mobile focus.

What do you think of the PC market decline? Is it over-exaggerated, or conversely do you feel that Microsoft and its vendors are too blame due to not bringing enough interesting products to the market to win back desktop and laptop consumers? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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So, you’ve decided to upgrade your computer to Windows 8 and now you’re finding that you really want to have a touchscreen to take advantage of all those gestures. There are plenty of laptops and tablets out there with touchscreens, but what about your desktop? Thankfully, there are touchscreen monitors too and they can be quite reasonably priced.

One such example is the Viewsonic TD2420 24-inch monitor. This LED monitor is fully multi-touch compatible, so you’ll be able to do all of those Windows 8 things that you want to do. Along with the interactive stylus, the TD2420 is said to be great “as a POS device, information kiosk, or in hospital and classroom environments.”

Naturally, the TD2420 has a 1920 x 1080 full HD resolution. In addition to the screen itself, it also comes with a pair of integrated 2W speakers with SRS premium sound. Input options include HDMI, VGA and DVI, and then there’s the VESA mount on the back if you want to put this on the wall.

Regular price is $552.00, but the ViewSonic TD2420 is on sale for $367.40 through Amazon, representing a savings of nearly $200.

The post Save $200 on ViewSonic TD2420 24-Inch Multitouch LED Monitor appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Hoping that Android and Chrome OS soon become one and the same? Unless Google’s Eric Schmidt is purposely steering us wrong, I wouldn’t get your hopes up.

A new Reuters report says that Google’s Chairman has said that the platforms are “certainly going to remain separate for a very long time because they solve different problems.” Does that mean that Chrome OS couldn’t soon be getting Android app support though? Actually, no it does.

In fact, Schmidt even seems to hint at that different admitting that due to a “commonality” between the operating systems, Chrome OS could one day run Android apps but that wouldn’t mean that Chrome OS or Android would be abandoned or fully merged.

This doesn’t seal the deal, but personally I wouldn’t be too surprised if we see Google Chrome OS get Android app supports at the Google I/O. It seems like the most logical reason for including touch capabilities in the ChromeBook Pixel. What do you think, if Chrome OS gets the ability to run Android apps, would you be interested in considering a Chromebook or will you still with Mac, Windows or Linux laptops into the foreseeable future?

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The post Chrome OS and Android Not Fully Merging Anytime Soon appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

If you’re running Android Jelly Bean on your phone or tablet, you will likely have tried out Google Now. If you haven’t then I strongly suggest you do. I’m currently running Google Now on my phone and I love the fact it can always tell me the shortest route home, the weather for my local area and even tell me if I’m close to the coffee shop I Google’d earlier in the week.

It’s easily my favourite built-in feature of Jelly Bean, and a killer feature for anyone trying to choose between an Android or iOS device right now, but this might not be the case for much longer!

Earlier this week a YouTube video (now removed) appeared showing a very realistic looking advert for Google Now for iOS. Then around the same time Francois Beaufort, a French web developer found pieces of the Google Now puzzle hidden in a development version of Chromium suggesting Windows and Mac OS users could also be getting some Google Now love.

True to form, Google is keeping quiet about both the video and the Chromium leak, but with so much evidence it sure is hard for them to deny.

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Thinking about picking up EA’s new SimCity reboot? You might want to wait a little while longer. While the media and many gamers are praising the title (82 out of 100 on Metacritic), it is currently receiving quite a bit of criticism due to server issues.

SimCity continues the trend that many big PC game studios are moving to: always online DRM. This means that you need to connect to a server in order to get into the city building action. Unfortunately, SimCity is selling way better than EA anticipated and that means that their servers weren’t ready for the load.

Added to the issue is that EA’s cloud features aren’t just about ‘logging in’, in fact many of the tasks within the game as supposedly augmented by their servers in a bigger way than many other “always-on” games like Diablo 3.

Here’s what the SimCity team has to say about the issues that angry customers are encountering so far:

What we are doing is deploying more servers over the coming two days which will alleviate many of the ongoing issues. We are also paying close attention to all the bug reports we are receiving from our fans. We’ve already pushed several updates in the last few days. Our live ops team is working 24/7 to resolve issues and ensure that bug fixes roll into the game as quickly as possible.

Bottom-line is that unless you are willing to put up with server issues, you might want to wait off a few weeks or even a month or two before rushing out and picking this title up. Are we really that surprised? Honestly just about every game that has went with always-on DRM has encountered these kinds of problems.

Diablo 3 was virtually unusable on its first day of launch and continued to be plagued with issues for weeks thereafter. What do you think of this kind of DRM, do you think that the cloud-augmented features are worth it or is this merely just a way for studios to ensure that piracy is at a minimum?

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The post SimCity Servers Continue to Struggle, Making It Hard For Gamers to Play appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

You know, it’s like we’re experiencing deja vu all over again. Microsoft is no stranger to problems concerning holding a monopoly and not giving consumers suitable alternatives. Back in 2009, Microsoft came to an agreement with the European Commission that it would provide Windows users with the ability to choose between multiple web browsers instead of automatically defaulting to Internet Explorer.

And they did, until the Windows 7 Service Pack was released in May 2011. With that Service Pack, Windows users were once again left with Internet Explorer as the default web browser out of the box. This went against the agreement that Microsoft had with the EU. Now the European Commission has fined Microsoft for the cool sum of $731 million.

“A failure to comply,” writes Commission vice-president Joaquin Almunia, “is a very serious infringement that must be sanctioned accordingly.” Microsoft says that it will not appeal the verdict and will just pay the fine. They “take full responsibility,” saying the “oversight” was due to a “technical error” and not because they just really want everyone to use IE.

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