TechRadar: All News Feeds

Internet: coming through your light bulb

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:29:00 GMT

Researchers at Boston University's College of Engineering are developing a system that could allow you to connect to the internet via a light bulb.

Using low-power LED technology, your computer would be able to use super fast flickering, invisible to the naked eye, to receive data at speeds of up to 10mbps with technology similar to the infrared signals given off by remote controls.

Future versions of the technology would allow even greater speeds, as well as the ability to communicate with smartphones, TV and even the room temperature.

"This could be done with an LED-based communications network that also provides light - all over existing power lines with low power consumption, high reliability and no electromagnetic interference. Ultimately, the system is expected to be applicable from existing illumination devices, like swapping light bulbs for LEDs," said BU Engineering's Professor Thomas Little.

Dominant

LED lighting is likely to become the dominant form of lighting over the next few years, and is already used in fibre optic connections.

The difference with LED lighting is it's digital (i.e is either on or off), so can be switched on and off at very fast speeds. This flickering is picked up by the device, and converted into data without any electromagnetic interference.

And as it's a low power technology already, combining it with lighting functions means the energy bills will be even lower, which will be a plus to major corporations with spiralling carbon emissions.

However, the light can only be used as connection in the same room as the computer, as it cannot penetrate walls, so this may lead to some innovative new network deployment should it reach mass market applications.

Flickr embraces the iPhone

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:16:00 GMT

Flickr has gone truly portable, with the popular online photograph showcase releasing an iPhone optimised version of the site.

Although some of the functionality, like picture editing, has disappeared, visitors to m.flickr.com with a mobile device will get a more functional minimal version of the site.

You have to sign in with your Flickr/Yahoo account to see the full effect, and you'll immediately notice that options are at the top of the screen – much handier for smaller screens.

Early impressions

TechRadar's early impressions are that it's a nice forward-thinking update – looking more like an app than a website and the loss of functionality is more than made up for by the increased ease of use.

So if you want to browse through somebody's pictures of Turf Moor, or remind yourself of your holiday in Ibiza, you can now do it on the small screen.

Oyster card security flaws published

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:02:00 GMT

Professor Bart Jacobs and researchers at Radboud University in Holland have finally published details of an Oyster card hack that has allowed them to clone the smart card.

Manufacturer NXP semiconductor had sought an injunction to delay the publishing of the paper, but the Prof and his team have now released the details at the European Symposium on Research in Computer Security (Esorics) 2008 security conference in Spain.

However, Prof Jacobs has said this is "not a guidebook for attacks".

The publishing of the findings represents a delay of around seven months after the legal action taken by the Dutch manufacturers, a spin-off company from Philips.

Delay

Steve Owen, vice president of sales and marketing within NXP Semiconductors, said the delay was only to give customers time to change their systems, according to the BBC.

"We sought the injunction to cause a delay, not to completely stop the publication," he said.

He also points out that new installations should think twice about installing entry systems based on the smartcard due to the possible security breaches.

Shashi Verma, director of fares and ticketing at Transport for London, also told the BBC that the organisation was already aware of the problem, and simply copying the card would not be enough

"We knew about it before we were informed by the students. A number of forensic controls run within the back office systems which is something that customers and these students have no ability to touch."

AMD will streamline for new Intel battle

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:44:00 GMT

AMD is reportedly ready to make major changes including selling off factories in order to better compete with Intel.

Reuters is reporting that Two Abu-Dhabi venture capital companies (ATIC and Mubadal) are ready to invest, with one putting '$5.7 billion into the spun off factories' and the other buying AMD stock and warrants.

The company split is anything but a surprise – with analysts on Wall Street waiting for the announcement as AMD formulates its plan to wrest back some of the chip market from Intel.

Twenty per cent

Intel currently makes over 80 per cent of the world's central processor units (CPUs) with AMD taking the majority of the rest.

A series of high profile failures as not helped AMD's cause, but a more streamlined 3,000 company concentrating on CPUs will apparently give a better chance of competing with Intel.

Google Maps Street View comes to iPhone

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:23:00 GMT

The new iPhone 2.2 firmware has been released to the development community, and has thrown up some interesting new features.

Of most interest is the Street View function being added to the Google Maps line up, with the accelerometer being used to change the display as the user moves around.

This means iPhone owners sipping on cappuccinos in Rome, or eating a croissant in Paris, will be able to see where they want to go in real terms on their handset, thanks to the Google Street View cars that have been roaming the world, taking pictures and sometimes causing havoc.

Incorrect texting permitted

Another interesting feature is the ability to turn off auto-correct when inputting text. It appears Apple has crumbled under public pressure with this one, as although the auto-correct function is scarily accurate at times, but for those not using English all the time, the process is annoyingly slow as you have to override the function for every word.

Oh, and if you're Japanese, Apple has now decided to let you use emoji icons, which will make it more compatible with other handsets in the country. Now that's the kind of Jobs-esque thinking we're used to.

No word on when the full firmware update will be hitting your handsets, but it shouldn't be too far down the line.

Otto Traveler cans cancel noise with built-in MP3

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:19:00 GMT

Otto has been making communication gear for racing car teams, law enforcement and fire fighters for years, but here's one of its first consumer products - noise-cancelling headphones with a built-in MP3 player.

The Traveler n/c cans are pretty standard, offering 85% noise reduction (20dB active, 7dB passive) and 20Hz to 20KHz response through an on-ear design.

The ear cups are padded leather and fold flat to fit into the supplied hard shell case.

The 1GB MP3 player is pretty ho-hum as well, with a USB cable for uploading a couple of hundred tunes. While there's no memory card slot, you do get adaptors for 1/4-inch stereo jacks and airline systems.

Battery swap

The Traveller headphones take two AAA batteries. One is for the noise reduction circuitry and should last 40 hours, the other is for the MP3 player, fading out after just 6 hours.

Otto is pretty excited about its launch, if the gushiness of sales director John Rehayem is anything to go by: "This headset is perfect for travelers. In fact it's perfect anywhere." Really, John? Underwater? Deep space? Your grandmother's funeral? A courtroom appearance when you're seeking custody of your beloved racing Chihuahuas?

What I wouldn't give for a pair of headphones that cancelled 85% of marketing hyperbole.

TomTom rolls out Map Update for sat navs

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:20:00 GMT

How seriously do you take your driving? If the thought of rolling down your window and asking for directions brings you out in a cold sweat, consider joining TomTom's new Map Update Service.

For a quarterly fee starting from £7.95, you'll get the latest road maps available to download to your TomTom sat nav as soon as they become available.

The maps are downloaded via the TomTome Home desktop software as soon any changes are approved by cartographers Tele Atlas.

Roads to somewhere

"The world's road infrastructure changes up to 15% each year," says TomTom MD Corinne Vigreux, although frankly that sounds like nonsense, given the sluggish nature of road repair and development here in the UK.

Still, if you can't bear your GPS unit being ignorant of a new slip-road to a housing estate in Fife or an exciting new one-way system in Norfolk, I suppose it's worth a look.

However, bear in mind that the Map Update Service for sat navs with full European mapping may cost more than £7.95 a quarter.

Exclusive: Future wireless nets to use visible light

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:54:00 GMT

Wireless networks that use visible light instead of radio frequencies could soon become a reality, thanks to a new $18.5 million (£10.5 million) project at Boston University.

Researchers expect to piggyback data communications on low-power LEDs at between 1 and 10Mbps, to create a hyper-connected 'Smart Lighting' network that's more secure than current RF technology.

"Imagine if your computer, iPhone, TV, radio and thermostat could all communicate when you walked in a room just by flipping the wall light switch," said Boston University Professor Thomas Little.

"An LED-based communications network could also provides light – all over existing power lines with low power consumption, high reliability and no electromagnetic interference. Ultimately, the system is expected to be applicable from existing illumination devices, like swapping light bulbs for LEDs."

Many hands make light work

The new Smart Lighting Engineering Research Centre will have 30 researchers developing the new technology.

Each LED lightbulb would serve as an access point to a broadband internet connection, flickering imperceptibly to transmit data using much less energy than radio frequency systems.

Because light can't shine through walls, Smart Lighting should be much more secure than Wi-fi, although of course it also means that you'll have to fish phones, cameras and computers from your bag for them to make a connection.

But don't go binning your draft-N router just yet - the Smart Light Research Centre is working to a 10 year timeline.

eBay cuts 1,000 jobs from workforce

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:04:00 GMT

It's been a sad day for technology today, with the announcement of job losses in all corners of the industry.

The biggest job cuts were made by eBay, where the company announced it is to shed 1,000 staff to help "improve operations".

Speaking about the job cuts, John Donahoe, Chief Executive of eBay, said: "While never an easy decision to make, these reductions will help improve our operations and strengthen our ability to continue investing in growth."

Not that this has put the company off expanding, with news that it has bought online credit firm Bill Me Later for $820m and two Danish classified firms dba.dk and bilbasen.dk for a cool $390million.

More company job cuts

In blogging circles, it was a shock to hear that Gawker Media is also saying bye to 19 people. This may not sound like a lot, but analysts are predicting this is the calm before the storm, with ad revenues tightening next year because of the credit crisis. Yikes.

It's all a bit doom and gloom in the world of Sony Ericsson as well, with the phone company announcing last week it is to down-size its research and development plant in North Carolina – from 750 jobs to 300. SE employers will find out this week who is to face redundancy.

All this pales into comparison, however, with Hewlett Packard's announcement last month that it is to cut nearly 25,000 jobs in the next three years as it integrates technology firm EDS.

Today it was revealed that 1,400 of these positions will be going in Germany. That sound you can hear is of belts being tightened everywhere.

Sony Ericsson to release football-shaped mobile?

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:22:00 GMT

Sony Ericsson, not content with its sponsorship of the WTA Tour, has decided to go one better and become the official mobile phone sponsor for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

This means the SE-lovers of the world will soon be able to buy branded phones (probably) and a load of other football-related madness (we expect the World Cup song to be pre-loaded on every handset between now and then).

What might be of more interest is the company's pledge to bring football-related content to its customers, which will probably be delivered by some decent streaming options or in the form of highlights packages to download.

Which in turn would hint at some larger screened media powerhouses from the Japanese-Swedish company.

Marketing fun

Or, you can read the same thing we just wrote, but in fun marketing-speak from Lennard Hoornik, Sony Ericsson's vice president and head of global marketing:

"The 2010 FIFA World Cup is one of the world's leading sporting events and is watched across the world by millions of fans. It will be these fans that we focus our engagement in football on; using our relationship with FIFA and our handsets to enable them to get closer to the game in new ways and enjoy the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

"We are looking forward to using our handsets to capture and share their football experiences."

Bated breath anyone?

HANNspree launches 28in Full HD TV

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:30:00 GMT

HANNspree has pipped many a major television manufacturer to the post by announcing a 28in TV with Full HD capabilities, the HT09.

The screen packs in 1,920 x 1,200 pixels on to a 16:10 screen ratio – so not quite perfect for widescreen viewing, but impressive nonetheless.

Connectivity is well-cared for, with 2x HDMI ports and 2x Scart inputs, as well as component, composite and VGA, while a 3ms response rate should counteract jitter from fast-moving imagery.

Audio bully

While this TV is a sound choice because of its Full HD visuals, it is let down on the audio side. With just two five-watt speakers, you will want to invest in extra audio enhancement before trying out the latest HD movies.

But don't let this put you off as the price is more-than reasonable, with the HT09 available now for just £279.99.

In Depth: The future of motoring

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:10:00 GMT

What does the future of motoring really look like? Will we be flying everywhere in our aerocars, just as they did in The Jetsons? And is the idea of Marty McFly and his time-travelling DeLorean not as far-fetched as you might think?

The future is now

Already, you can buy a Lexus that will park itself, there is a Mercedes with a night vision display, and BMW has built a car that runs on hydrogen. That's not to mention the wacky concept cars manufacturers constantly wheel out at the world's motor shows; at Paris last week Chevrolet unveiled the appropriately named Volt, an electric car with a 40-mile range and a back-up petrol generator if you do run out of juice.

What's coming next?

So if cars are this clever now, what are they going to be like 10, 20 or even 30 years' time?

Let's assume a typical journey in the future. Forget flying to work for a start; the infrastructure and technology is still a long way off; where would you park for instance and would you require a pilot's licence to take to the skies? And don't even get me started on the aerial traffic wardens!

Instead, you'll walk out of your hi-tech house and into your smart garage where your car has been charging all night – if you bought an electric version that is. Alternatively, you might want to replenish your biofuel or hydrogen car from the tank you had installed to brew your own fuel at home.

Lotus already has a prototype that runs on alcohol and produces no harmful emissions – but it won't see production because there isn't enough support for this technology in the UK. And US company Tesla has an electric sports car on the market that can hit 60mph in four seconds which you plug in at home. So the future is definitely green.

No more lost car keys

In this futuristic motoring utopia, keys will not be needed. To get into your car you will pass your index finger over a scanner on the door handle (you can currently buy an aftermarket fingerprint kit for your car that allows you to power it up), the door will open and you will slide into the driver's seat which, because it's the middle of winter, has been heating up for the past 20 minutes, as set by you via the on-board computer. In summer, fans will cool the cabin down before you get in.

Before you can start the engine, you will blow into an on-board breathalyser which, if it detects you are over the drink drive limit, will shut down your car until you are capable of driving again. Volvo's new XC60, out later this year, will be the first car to get an 'Alcolock' system (a £500 optional extra) which will transmit the results of your test by radio signal and prevent the car being started if you fail. Expect this to be a common safety feature in many cars in the future.

Take it with you

The brain of your onboard computer is in your pocket. Your smartphone, which will have all your favourite settings and media on its hard drive, will automatically connect with your car when you get in. It will analyse your mood and play appropriate music; soothing classics if you're stressed, lively upbeat jazz if you're feeling down.

The clever GPS sat nav will plot the least congested route to work, and it will take pictures along the way on a built-in camera as reference points to share with your friends and family. Satellite navigation will also be more accurate and less likely to direct you into a river or the wrong way down a motorway as the number of satellites in the sky grows.

Pay as you go

Pay-as-you-drive will replace road and fuel tax. One method of charging could be through the use of black boxes, which will record every journey you make and charge you per mile, the rate will depend on the time of day and the type of road travelled on. At the end of every month you will be sent a bill.

Norwich Union has already got a trial version of this in operation, and it is believed that this will be one of the key measures to reducing road deaths among younger drivers by charging them £1 a mile to drive after 11pm.

There will be a downside to this technology, though. Satellites will be able to record how fast you have been travelling, with the potential for the government to monitor speeders and send them automatic fines as well as add virtual points to their electronic driving licences.

And the investment required to build the infrastructure and call centres will be enormous; a feasibility study carried out by the Department for Transport suggests a national scheme could cost £62 billion.

So the future of motoring isn't quite as far-fetched as we would like. We won't all be in flying cars or being chauffeur driven in automated motors. But we will see an end to the conventional combustion engine in favour of greener technologies, the road network will change to a pay-per-mile type scheme, and new safety techs will make it even harder to crash and more unlikely that you will die in a car accident.

And if you don't like the sound of this, there's always the bus.

Read TechRadar's 10 life-saving car technologies

Manhunt 2 gets Halloween release date

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:02:00 GMT

Manhunt 2, Rockstar's controversial sequel to 2003's Manhunt, has finally been given a UK release date, more than a year after it was released in the US.

The game was suspended from launch in the UK and Ireland by its publisher TakeTwo after it failed to get a rating.

This rejection by the BBFC – and the subsequent court cases to reject the, er, rejection – meant that the game was indefinitely delayed, despite being available to buy in the US since 31 October 2008.

The game will now be released in the UK exactly a year after its US release, hitting British shelves this Halloween.

Decision overturned

The game was finally given a BBFC 18 rating back in March, after the Video Appeals Committee (VAC) overturned the decision to not give the game a rating – this was after some hefty modifications by Rockstar.

Quite why it has taken half a year to get the game into the UK is unknown, but it does mean that Wii, PS2 and PSP owners can finally satisfy their virtual blood-lust on the scariest day of the calendar.

Free satellite takes off in the UK

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:33:00 GMT

Free satellite services - such as the FreeSat service offered by the BBC and ITV, or BSkyB's option - have almost hit a million users according to the latest statistics.

Ofcom has announced a rise of 120,000 users compared to the same time last quarter, as regions of the UK gear up for the full digital switchover.

Life after Sky

The majority of these numbers are coming from BSkyB or other retailers, showing that a large amount of digital users are continuing to use their Sky dish after they decide to stop paying a subscription for the service.

In the last quarter, around 60,000 FreeSat units were sold in the UK alone, with this number set to rise as consumer education grows and HD options begin to be rolled out.

The report also mentioned that nearly nine out of 10 households have digital TV on their main set, news which will please those trying to help make the country aware that a full digital switchover is imminent.

Airport 'face scanners' pose security threat

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:18:00 GMT

It was meant to be the next step in airport security, but the trial of face scanning technology at Manchester Airport has run into a whole host of problems.

The main worry is that the scanning machines allow two people in on just one passport with the system.

This flaw was found out when a security guard followed one passenger through and no alarm was sounded.

The security breaches were found by the Daily Telegraph newspaper, which has been speaking to a source in the UK Border Agency (UKBA).

Serious security problem

"This is a massive loophole and a serious problem for security," said the source.

"It should certainly sound an alarm if there are two people trying to come through at the same time. It could lead to widespread immigration abuse and compromise the efficiency of immigration control.

"One particular concern is that it could be exploited by child traffickers, because it won't pick up if you have a child on your back."

Another worry is how regularly the machines break down. The five scanners in Manchester are all linked up, so when one breaks down, it seems that they all do.

Live trial

The UK Border Agency source continued his rant to the Telegraph, saying: "This is a live trial, and that is dangerous because a six-month trial is long enough for plenty of problems to happen. Only one in 20 of the admissions to the UK through the new machine will be examined by an immigration officer.

"If someone manages to get through without being seen and they are someone an immigration officer has suspicions about, it will be too late. They'll be in Britain."

The face scanners were set up almost two months ago in Manchester. The technology has got the backing from Home Secretary Jacqui Smith who has called for the scanners to be a "ring of security" for the UK and its borders.

Firefox Mobile coming 'in a few weeks'

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:14:00 GMT

Firefox Mobile, the handset-friendly version of the open-source internet browser, could be coming within the next few weeks, according to Mozilla's CEO John Lilly.

He spoke to the San Jose Mercury News recently, in an interview published by Linux Insider, and he said tests of the software would be debuting shortly:

"We want to make sure that the web on mobile is more like the web than what the mobile industry offers today, which is closed, separate networks and not a very good information-getting experience for the user.

"The first thing is to bring Firefox to mobile devices. We're working on that, and we'll see some alphas in a few weeks."

Chrome

He also spoke of the effect Google's new browser, Chrome, might have on Firefox's effectiveness, as the two programs are now effectively competing.

"I would say we have very good relationship with Google. Google has done a lot to make the web better and to make information more accessible. Some of the components of Firefox are shared with some of the components of Chrome.

"I'm not sure 'competing' is the right word. It's not the way I think about it. We're trying to make something that provides a good experience for people, and they are too."

97% of UK scared about their personal data

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:04:00 GMT

A staggering 97 per cent of British consumers are not sure that companies take enough care with their personal data - leaving them open to identity theft and fraud.

Research released to coincide with the start of the horribly named but very important National Identity Fraud Prevention Week (NIFPW) suggests that nearly everybody is worried about how their personal data is handled.

But perhaps even more worrying is the fact that 92 per cent of people feel that their own employer may not be able to keep customers' personal data safe.

Awareness

Identity fraud is a massive and growing danger in the online world – and NIFPW is aiming to raise awareness of the problems that losing your personal data can cause.

With the right information, people could find that fraudsters set up credit cards, buy goods and even send out spam emails in their name – leaving an enormous mess behind and potential financial hardship for the innocent victim.

More information about the week can be found at http://www.stop-idfraud.co.uk/

Giving us the Chiles

NIFPW have picked out the BBC's Adrian Chiles as their figurehead for this year (we don't know what the selection criteria was either - perhaps Christine Bleakley was too busy with Strictly Come Dancing) - and he outlined the dangers in a chilling Black Country accent.

"Britain's businesses have come a long way in protecting employees and customers from identity fraud," commented Adrian Chiles.

"Yet, while many have introduced stringent identity fraud prevention policies, more than a fifth of businesses in the UK still don't have comprehensive strategies in place."

DSi won't be a replacement for DS Lite

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:07:00 GMT

Nintendo of America's Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Cammie Dunaway, has said that the new DSi will sit on the shelves next to the current DS Lite as she thinks "there's an opportunity for both of them to coexist for some period of time."

In an interview with Wired.com, she thinks the DS Lite still has a lot of untapped potential, so the two devices, with the new DSi packing a lot more media features, will not compete directly with each other.

Potential

She pointed out that the US was still a big potential market for the DS Lite, as unlike the Japanese, who have one handset for every two households, US consumers are only currently averaging one in five.

She also pointed out that the new DSi devices were likely to continue with the same price premium in Japan compared to the US, though no mention of how the prices will compare in Europe.

"I don't know what the pricing is going to be here [in the US], but certainly it is going to be a premium over what our current DS is priced at," said Dunaway.

In Depth: 12 groups that hate the internet

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:03:00 GMT

We love the internet, but not everyone seems to share our enthusiasm. Some people hate it because it has destroyed their business models. Some hate it because people slag them off online. And some hate it because they're crazed totalitarian nutcases. Let's find out who they are.

Actors

Harrison Ford isn't keen on the web: "I hate the internet," he said, adding "any kind of rubbish goes on the internet and it can have a fucking life of its own." He's not the only one: while promoting Leatherheads, George Clooney mocked "a thousand people sitting in dark rooms trashing you… you're like, 'wow, dude!'" Then he tried to smash the internet with a hammer. We made that last bit up.

High street shops

In 2005, the boss of HMV dismissed the internet as an irrelevance. In 2006, he resigned after competition from cheap online shops and download services wiped out HMV's profits. Now, the world's biggest music retailer isn't HMV, or any high street chain, it's Apple.

The internet hasn't just ruined music retailing. Online shopping and price checking services have forced all kinds of retailers to slash their profit margins just to stay in business – and many of them still didn't make it. Things will only get worse for the high street as the internet moves to our mobiles and tells us when there's a better deal next door.

Hollywood studios

Before the internet, studios could release any old bobbins and make a fortune. Now, spies in focus groups and leaks from insiders can kill the buzz on a movie before it's even finished, and file sharers are trading blockbusters on the day of release. The studios' attitude to the internet is like Robert De Niro's attitude to Ben Stiller in Meet the Parents: gritted-teeth acceptance rather than joyous love.

The Church of Scientology

The famously litigious not-a-cult-honest-guv spends a lot of time chasing internet leaks and online criticism. We'd say more, but as we discovered a few months back, they know where we live. Eek!

Pop stars

Prince sues fans for uploading their own images, Elton John wants the internet shut down for a few years because it's destroying good music and Roger Daltrey feels "about as useful as a pork chop in a synagogue with all this internet bollocks… go out. Get a life". We'll just gently point out that all three internet-hating gentlemen are, ahem, somewhat past their sell-by dates.

The RIAA

To paraphrase The Sixth Sense: "I sue dead people!" And grannies!"

Tabloid newspapers

Maybe it's because the internet is killing the classified ads that keep their local papers in business, or maybe it's just that their readers fear anything that's happened since 1956. Either way, the result is that a number of newspapers go out of their way to find negative things to say about the internet and never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

Metallica

Although technically pop stars, the ageing metal millionaires deserve a category to themselves: as if attempting to nobble Napster and inadvertently making file sharing even more popular wasn't enough, they're still whingeing about the internet – this time, because it lets fans listen to their new album and tell one another that it sounds rotten.

ISPs

Internet service providers and phone companies have a love-hate relationship with the internet: on the one hand they'd like us to use the internet, but on the other they'd prefer us not to use it too much – because if we do, they'll have to spend a fortune on upgrading their networks and bandwidth capacity. Hence bandwidth caps, insane mobile access charges, 'fair use' policies and the whole net neutrality debate.

The Iranian government

According to Reporters Without Borders, the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "is so little able to bear criticism that even an ironic article about his bodyguards' dogs earned one blogger, Reza Validazeh, two weeks in jail in December 2007". High-speed connections have been banned since 2006, most external content is censored and websites have to be registered with the government.

The Chinese government

When it comes to hating the internet, the Chinese government are the experts: not only do they crack down on free speech and prevent people from seeing anything they don't approve of, but they've persuaded Western giants such as Google and Yahoo! to go along with them. Reporters Without Borders routinely highlights China in its annual Internet Enemies list, and notes that "The country is already the world's largest prison for cyber-dissidents."

The UK government

We're not as bad as China or Iran, but our government is still rather keen on using the internet to keep tabs on the entire population. In Privacy International's list of surveillance societies, the UK is in the same 'black' category as those bastions of freedom, Russia and Singapore.

RealDVD copy service suspended

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:27:00 GMT

RealNetworks has been told by a judge to stop selling its software RealDVD. The program allows users to rip movies from DVDs and store them on hard drives.

Even though the company is claiming to be the owners of the world's-first legal application to do this job, RealNetworks has been under pressure by movie studios to stop producing the software.

So much so, a lawsuit was filed by the Motion Picture Association of America late last week against the company, citing violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Currently unavailable

The shutdown of RealDVD is a temporary one. A judge asked for RealNetworks to suspend distribution of the software until Tuesday, to allow for the time needed to review all the paperwork related to the case.

At this moment, if you log on to the RealDVD website, you get a 'RealDVD is currently unavailable' notice.

Sega reveals new gaming handset

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:00:00 GMT

Sega has decided that enough is enough and has delved back into the hardware market. Though those expecting the next MegaDrive will be disappointed, as it's nothing more than a bog-standard PMP, the Sega Vision.

Most of you will remember the days when Sega was the great lord of gaming, with the DreamCast set to herald in a new era of gaming fun.

But the new Vision seems to be a Chinese electronics manufacturer taking the Sega name and popping it on a device that can play MP4, some form of games, and TV via the built-in tuner.

E-book

In fairness, it can also take photos and video, record your voice and let you read e-books, but not a lot of people do that on dedicated e-book readers yet, so it's unlikely they'll bother on a PMP.

The Register Hardware is reporting Sega as saying the device will be coming to the UK early next year, so start getting excited now. The same site also shows a pic of the device in a London gaming centre... so start scouring the arcades now if you can't wait until 2009.

MySpace Music passes the billion song mark

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:45:00 GMT

MySpace Music was launched Stateside just over a week ago (25 September), yet the service has already announced that over a billion songs have been streamed on the site.

This impressive number systematically proves that the company's paid-by advertising module is working.

Music streaming

"We're extremely pleased with the launch of MySpace Music," said the company in a statement. "We've hit some incredible milestones in only a few days – some of the numbers you're reading about are already out of date.

"We can confirm that we hit a milestone of one billion music streams in only a few days after launching the new product.

"However, because this number may be inflated by the high profile launch and accompanying promotional push, we will be looking to our metrics on engagement and unique users, which will tell a much richer story on how positively the community is responding to the new music experience."

MySpace Music is a joint music venture that is yet to be launched in the UK. The major labels have an equity state in the business, which means that music can be streamed on demand.

Advertising pays for the streaming, and any revenue is split among MySpace and its partners.

Projection and HD in a mobile phone!

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:36:00 GMT

As if actually calling people while not being tethered to the wall (the phone, not you) wasn't enough for some people, the mystical phone manufacturers of this world have only gone and stuffed a projector and HD images in a mobile handset.

Well, it's only concept models at the moment, but KDDI and NTT DoCoMo have finally shrunk mobile projection technology down to the size of a huge battery, and Samsung has gone all OLED crazy again and put HD images on a mobile phone screen.

The projection unit, shown at CEATEC 2008, is able to throw an image from the handset onto a wall at up to 50in screen size.

It seems the contrast ratio is so poor that the handset only shows images well in the dark, so if you're a nocturnal businessman with a penchant for devices bigger than they were in the 80s, then start getting excited.

HD in a mobile?

Samsung's offering was a little bit more aesthetically pleasing, though not really any more useful.

A mobile screen sized 240 x 800 with 16.7 million colours and a contrast ratio of 100,000:1 is certainly approaching HD quality in a mobile, and apparently it's going to get even higher in the near future, up to 1,000,000:1.

Combined with amazing picture performance and quality, this certainly is a beautiful looking display... but surely more than would ever be needed in a mobile phone?

Anyway, the prototypes emerging from this year's CEATEC are at least encouraging and interesting, if not ideal solutions in the short term.

Google Yahoo tie-up put on hold

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:11:00 GMT

Google and Yahoo's controversial decision to form a search advertising partnership has been put on hold by the two companies.

With the US Department of Justice keen to hold talks with both Google and Yahoo over a deal which has been slated by rivals as anti-competitive, the partnership will remain in limbo for the time being.

"The companies have agreed to a brief delay in implementing this agreement to continue our ongoing discussions with the (U.S.) Department of Justice," Yahoo said in a statement.

"We have had discussions with regulators and look forward to responding to their questions about this agreement."

Google

Google added: "When we announced our advertising agreement with Yahoo in June we agreed to delay its implementation until October to give regulators time to look at the details.

"As we are still in conversation with the Department of Justice (DoJ) we have agreed to a brief delay in implementing the agreement while those discussions continue."

The use of the word brief in both statements is indicative of the companies' expectations of launching the service within October – although neither will want to draw the wrath of the DoJ.

In the United States, Google and Yahoo hold 88.6 per cent of the search market – 63 per cent and 19.6 per cent respectively – with Microsoft a distant third on 8.3 per cent

This has inevitably raised major concerns over the lack of competition in search advertising should Google team up with Yahoo.

Search specialist Ask given a facelift

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:45:00 GMT

Search specialist Ask has unveiled the newest version of its homepage insisting that it offers faster, more relevant searches – with a UK version arriving on 20 October.

Ask, formerly Ask Jeeves before it killed off its butler logo, has put its new site live in the US as it looks to wrest back some of the search market from industry giant Google.

Cesar Mascaraque, European Managing Director of Ask.com said: "It's our business to give answers. But this time we were asking the question: How did our users want us to improve? And they were very clear.

Faster, more productive

"They told us they wanted faster, more relevant answers in an enjoyable and simple user interface. We listened, and now we've delivered the best possible search experience on the web."

"This relaunch of Ask.com is the spearhead of a series of plans for growth and brand enhancements that we look forward to announcing over the coming months."

A forcible redirect to a UK version means that it is difficult to see the new tech in action until 20 October, but a quick browse to http://us.ask.com may give an earlier glimpse.

In truth, it's going to be an uphill battle for Ask in the UK, where the dominance of Google as the primary search engine pushed out many competitors – especially with both MSN and Yahoo sweeping up much of the remainder.

However, according to Neilsen, Ask had 6.9 million unique users between in July – which apparently makes it the 13th largest internet brand in the UK with a reach of 25.6 per cent of the internet population.