Netgear ProSAFE GS105PE PoE Plus Switch

Netgear launches a switch that can't even power itself.

Over the past year I've seen a few pieces of equipment that support the often misunderstood PoE or Power Over Ethernet standard. The concept behind this technology is that the eight wires that make up Ethernet are enough to carry both data and power if used intelligently. It works well with devices like security cameras, as it's much easier to run a network cable than deliver mains power to many install locations.

The GS105PE is a switch that was made by Netgear specifically for supporting PoE situations and has five ports that between them support gigabit Ethernet and a couple of PoE standards. Those being; 802.3at Type 1 (802.3af) and 802.3at Type 2. What really confused about this device initally, though, is that it has no normal means of powering itself; instead, it uses PoE. That reduces the useable ports to four, though one port would always be used as a link back to a router or another switch anyway.

Tesla Breaks The World

The father of electricity in a videogame? Shocking...

Funded on via Kickstarter and released as part of Steam's Greenlight scheme, Tesla Breaks the World is every bit an indie game. Having raised just $6,797 (with a $5,500 goal), it's nothing if not low budget. But having played more than our fair share of high-quality indie platformers in recent years, we're aware that such titles can often prove the most entertaining.

That certainly looks like it's going to be the case with Tesla Breaks the World. The screenshots of the game are sumptuous, belying its tiny budget. Yes, it's made up of cartoon characters and relatively simple backgrounds, but it's all expertly drawn and designed. So far, so good, then.

Introducing Windows 10

Microsoft confirms that we're getting a new version of Windows in 2015 - and it's called, er, Windows 10. Simon finds out more...

Increasingly, if you're going to pick up a copy of Windows, it's been best to go with every other release. Windows 98 was fine, while Windows Millennium Edition best forgotten about (there are some PCs still frozen on a Windows Me desktop screen somewhere). Windows XP, however, straightened things out, then Windows Vista bloated it back up.

In more recent times, Microsoft has continued its trait of learning from such mistakes with the release of the slimmer, far more popular Windows 7. But then it took a mighty gamble with Windows 8 and found itself stuck again. It's the great irony: people urged Microsoft to throw caution to the wind a little, it did, and it landed if not flat on its face, then certainly uncomfortably.

The future of gaming

Mobile and console games cross paths.

I have been playing video games ever since Atari released its first game console in 1977, and in the almost 40 years since, I've never seen anything change the landscape of the gaming world like the introduction of the iPhone in 2007. With Apple's mobile operating system, suddenly you could play console-caliber games anywhere, against competitors from around the world.

As technology is improving with Metal, iOS 8's new programming system, as well as with breakthrough accessories from top gaming companies, I see a future where console and mobile games will blend until they're almost indistinguishable. Mobile gamers will have access to all the best console games and will have the same access to professional gaming competitions.

No Man’s Sky

Hello Games’ Sean Murray is steering No Man’s Sky’s debug camera from a few inches of dirt on the surface of a desert world up to a view of the planet from orbit. Up, then down. Up, then down. From the ground he swings the camera upwards, where another planet hangs low in orbit on the horizon. I can see hills, valleys and forests on its surface.

“That planet is being fully generated, just at a low level of detail,” he says. “The planet you’re stood on is also fully generated. When you’re stood on a mountain you can see forever - to the curvature of the planet.”

There are no loading screens or pauses as the perspective of the debug camera races from ground to space, from world to world, just a slight fading effect as terrain closer to the player is rendered at a higher level of detail. The reason there are no loading screens is because No Man’s Sky isn’t reliant on reading content from a hard disk. In fact, none of this data is contained in a file at all.