Yesterday we snapped a few pics of the new Ferrari One netbook, featuring a dual-core AMD Athlon Neo X2 processor. Take a look at the pictures below to see what you think. We’ll be bringing you a full review of this new piece of kit as soon as we can get our hands on a review unit.

If you don’t like red, you’re out of luck. It’s a Ferrari remember.
The Acer Ferrari One is impressive looking but slightly larger and heavier than most netbooks. But don’t hold it against it.

A big red power button. Just in case you didn’t know - this is a Ferrari.

There’s no HDMI port, but there is an XGP port for adding external ATI graphics for when you need a little more visual oomph.

Finally, the rests underneath are shaped like a wheel and have tyre treadmarks on them, which is both sad, and cool at the same time.

Yes, I know that this was from last week, but I just thought this was so clever that I wanted to cover it.

Google has picked up Recaptcha - the ‘anti-bot’ service that makes you enter blurry looking words into web pages when you fill in forms, in order to check that you’re real.

In fact, look at the bottom of this page, and you’ll find it, in case you won’t to comment on this blog.

It is a bit annoying, but now that Google’s got it, every time you have to do it you can comfort yourself that you’re helping contribute to a noble literary cause.

You see, somewhat controversially, Google has been scanning books for some years now, but sometimes its scanning software falls over on words that it can’t handle.

Now, one of the two Recaptcha words will be one of these tricky words, so when people enter the word, Google will be using real people to help finish its project.

Of course Google needs to know what of the words is first for it to be an effective security system, so that’s why it’s just the one word that will be from Google Books.

It’s also free labour to help get it done, which is smart. If you think about it, it’s also a form of grid computing, but using people instead of computers.

Really a very neat, and typically Google, solution.

The other day I helped out a few people by detailing the how to solve the, “Could not activate cellular data network: You are not subscribed to a cellular data service”, message popped  up on the iPhone following network updates applied via iTunes.

Though I thought I’d seen the back of this little issue, I was surprised too the message pop up again over the weekend. At first I thought it was just a glitch as the iPhone swithed to Wi-Fi at home, but once out and about I realised it was back with a vengeance with the results that once again I could no longer browse via O2.

Popping back into the settings I discovered that  my phone has somehow reverted back to the old APN settings of ‘idata.o2.co.uk’. This is correct for contract iPhones, but as I bought mine outright (could not face the 18-month lock-in) and am on O2’s Simplicity Tariff, these APN settings are not correct and should be mobile.o2.co.uk for Cellular Date and wap.o2.co.uk for MMS.

So why had it reset? I immediately realised it happened after I’d upgraded to iPhone OS 3.1that came out last week.

I’d held off for a few days as I was aware of a few horror stories of  bricked iPhones following the update, but after carefully balancing the successes and failures via a Twitter poll, I decided to take the plunge, manually backing up first of course.

Mine has appeared to have negotiated this little hurdle successfully until the browsing issue, but it just seems to have reset the APN data and no harm done.

But in case you’re on a non-contract iPhone, now you know.

Remember when Apple events used to be about exciting new products? All the hype about today’s announcements seem to be revolving around two things. Firstly, whether Steve Jobs will show up in person to speak, and if so, if he’ll be thinner than Posh Spice (is she still called that?), and secondly, if Apple will announce that the Beatles tracks will finally be arriving in iTunes.

(I’d admit that I’d be more excited if they would be arriving on Spotify as I have no intention of buying them digitally. I don’t buy digital music really. Being over 30 makes me of the CD generation, so if I want music enough to want to buy it, I prefer to own the best quality possible on disc, and rip it myself to my iPhone. But I digress).

Indeed today is Beatles day, as all the CD’s have been released fully remastered - and in both stereo and mono - and from the reviews, a fine job of it has been done on them too. I’ll naturally have all the existing albums on CD, and will be picking up the new box set when I can afford shelling out £170! Also released is the Beatles Rock Band, on all the gaming console platforms.

So it would make some sense for Apple to round it off announcing the Beatles on iTunes based on the remasters - perhaps in a special Yellow Submarine limited edition iPod?

So far though the rumours are contradictory - Sky News, quoting Yoko Ono, has said that that the deal has been done,  while EMI has come out denying that the deal has been done - apparently the sticking point is DRM, which seems a bit old hat these days doesn’t it?

As for Jobs, one could argue that such is the debate over his health that brining him on stage would overshadow any announcement of products. However, he’s a well known Beatles fan, and if Microsoft got Paul and Ringo onstage for E3, surely Apple could do the same for a Beatles iTunes announcement? If that happens, I can’t imagine he would want to let anyone else handle that.

However, if there’s no Beatles news, then why wase Jobs on what pretty much eveyone is saying will just be an iPod refresh.

So here are the Apple event rumours in a nutshell.

- Steve Jobs will appear in person

- Steve Jobs will not appear in person

- Apple will announce the Beatles on iTunes

- Apple will not announce the Beatles on iTunes

- iPod touch and iPod nanos will have cameras added

- iPod touch to get 64GB version

- The iPod classic will get shelved (boo hoo)

- The iPod classic will not get shelved (boo hoo)

- no announcements of new Macs, MacBooks,  or MacBook Pros - or a tablet

My prediction - no Beatles on iTunes, and no Jobs and just cameras on iPods, making this one of the most low key Apple events of recent times. Either way, I plan to Live Blog from the event so if you’re still interested, check back later.

Just in to the IT PRO labs is this rather lovely looking new netbook from HP - the HP Mini 5101. It really looks the business, with a cool brushed aluminium effect lid, a glossy bezel around the display, a matt black finish and square looking spaced out keys that look at if they’ve been hewn.

There’s no doubt it has a quality look and feel, but then you’d hope so for around £435 excluding VAT. Is it worth the money? We’ll be benchmarking it and running battery tests next week so stay tuned for the full review.

When our sister title Know Your Mobile plugged one of these guys on the desk near us, my curiosity was piqued. The pad enables you to wirelessly charge your iPhone, which in anyone’s book has to come under the category of ‘cool’.The only downside is that you have your phone in a skin, with contacts that transfer the power to your phone.

However, the cover does at least have cut out for the connectors so if you were so inclined you could keep the phone inside the case all day. Once in the case, just place the phone on the mat, and it starts to charge, which is pretty neat. You do get a message that, this accessory s not compatible with iPhon, but you can just ignore that - it seems to work.

The only downside that at 60 quid for both pad and skin it seems an expensive luxury not to have to plug a cable in. Still if your willing to splash the cash, it’s a cool little device.

With the hype surrounding the possible release of an Apple tablet, the invitation that many tech publications have received for an Apple event on 9 September, should knock the idea that one will be appearing very soon firmly on the head.

The event features the tagline ‘”It’s only rock and roll, but we like it,” and features one of Apple’s distinctive dancers, striking a pose while holding an iPod, or possibly iPhone. Either way, the rumours are that this is just an iPod refresh, with the expectation that cameras will be making their way into the back of the iPod touch, and maybe ever the Classic, though that does seem a bit weird.

It’s also being held on 9/9/09, which is also the date that the Beatles catalogue is coming out remastered on CD, and that Beatles Rock Band is being issued on all the gaming consoles. I wouldn’t be too surprised if this coincided with the announcement of the Beatles music finally becoming available on iTunes – special edition Yellow Submarine iPod, preloaded with every Beatles album anyone? That’s my bet.

Thing is, if you’ve got an iPhone, it’s hard to get excited about iPod’s anymore. The advantage of an iPod are that it’s cheaper, you don’t get interrupted automatically by phone calls when you’re doing something vital, (like almost nailing a race when playing Need for Speed on the train morning), and you also don’t get woken up when your wife’s iPhone alarm goes off at 6:30 at top volume just because you’d increased her ringer volume the day before so she’d hear her phone when out and about.

Apple – is it too much to ask to have a separate volume control for the ringer and the alarms on an iPhone. If they announce nothing me than that on 9 September, I’d be happy.

So having popped over the to BBC to talk about Snow Leopard to them

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00mdnjn/World_Business_Report_28_08_2009 (I’m at 19:10), it was off to Apple to have a briefing and grab a copy of the OS.

And here it is, calling out, “install me!”.

If you’re a Mac head, you’ve no doubt already picked up a copy and installed it on your machine. What do you think so far?

If you’re wondering what the fuss is about, or just want to see what we think, or both, all being well, we’ll be publishing our first look review shortly, so check a bit back later.

This week Virgin came in to show off its new ‘Freedom’ netbook, at the media company jumps aboard the netbook bandwagon, giving away a machine if you sign up to a new broadband contract of a least £20 a month.For that you get a 10Mb/sec broadband connection, a mobile broadband dongle with a 1GB data cap.

Remember that’s a 24 month contract, and don’t be fooled by the ‘from £20 a month’ - that’s for the first three months only- and you also have to take a Virgin phone line at £11 a month. So unless you’re planning on giving up your BT line, it’s not necessarily the best value.

The  machine is actually one of the nicest netbook we’ve seen,with a super shiny lid display with a smooth gloss finish round the nearly flush bezel round the display.

The keyboard is of reasonable quality too, though it is a bit saggy in the middle, but the trackpad is large and the two buttons beneath it have a good click action.

Inside specs are a rather regular netbook - with a 1.6Ghz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM and Windows XP Home Edition.

It’s available in black or a rather vivid red finish, and comes suppliede with an equally garish red carry puch, and a range of customisable stickers, that give it an slightly forced, ‘add your own flair’ feel.

The main concern is over battery life, which Virgin itself says will only give you three hours or so, a far cry from the 10 hours you’ll get from the best machines out there.

Still, as long as you’ve decided to go with Virgin anyway it looks like a decent machine, but we wouldn’t recommend it let it sway you.

There’s been much coverage over O2 not once, not twice, but thrice, suffering from a network break down. And on the interwebs, and on Twitter there has been much virtual ‘wailing and nashing of teeth’. There was coverage when everyone on iPhone’s at Glastonbury had poor or no coverage, and equally I recall reading how no one could get online at a recent game at Lords due to the number of iPhones.

Was it in Apple’s brief when putting together the world’s most sophisticated phone to ensure that it was only available on networks that couldn’t cope with it? It’s frustrating  to know that you’re using a ‘breakthrough’ internet device’, only not be able to use it at all for its intended purpose - as in get online.

Still, it’s not as bad as in the US where it’s on AT&T, which has been a constant source of irritation to the elite digerati around San Francisco, who not only can’t get online, apparently can’t even make calls or texts when down-town due to network congestion. That is just rubbish

However, I had been wondering what all the fuss had been about, as I seemed to have been spared - until just last week, when I got the at the time mysterious and frustrating message, “Could not activate cellular data network: You are not subscribed to a cellular data service”. I thought this was rather odd, as I am.

A few minutes Googling solved my problem - it involved changing my APN settings (General>Network>Cellular Data Network) from ‘idata.o2.co.uk’ to - ‘mobile.o2.co.uk’ for both Cellular Data and MMS. Apparently these are the correct settings for any one using an iPhone on O2 not on an iPhone tariff. I have a SIM only tariff, which offers the same as the £35 per month- 600 minutes, 1,000 text and ‘unlimited’ web bolt-on. (There’s no visual voicemail, but then I’ve got Spinvox, and whether man or machine powered, it’s better).

Odd then that I’d been fine on the ‘idata’ settings for several months, even though I wasn’t on an iPhone tariff.  I then recalled that a  few days before when I’d plugged the old 3GS into iTunes I had been greeted with a message that iTunes wanted to install some “carrier specific settings.” - and now it wasn’t working. Co-incidence?

However, while making the changes gave me back 3G internet access, I noticed that the internet tethering option that was on the page had dissapeared. O2 will only rip you off for tethering if you’re on an actual iPhone tariff. By the way, if you have a phone such as a Nokia N95, you can use it for tethering for no extra cost, so why O2 feels it can charge  £14.68 for the privilege is just criminal.

I’m also concerned that  non iPhone tariff owners aren’t getting as much bandwidth a those on an iPhone contract. Coming out of the office I saw a ‘E’ for Edge, rather than 3G, which I’ve never seen before.

All this means that the news that O2 may be losing its exclusivity to T-Mobile is good news. I’ve heard anecdotally from someone with an unlocked 3GS that 3G performance is much better on T-Mobile in London than on O2, and while I can’t confirm it myself, I wouldn’t be suprised.

Should I unlock my 3GS and leave O2 for T-Mobile? I’m tempted.