Tech News

HP donates WebOS system code to open source developers

2011-12-09T21:37:00.000Z

The code behind the mobile operating system, WebOS, is being released to open source software developers by Hewlett Packard. The tech company acquired the software when it bought the smartphone maker Palm for $1.2bn (£767m) last year. HP used the code to power its short-lived range Touchpad tablet computers before it abandoned the product line. The firm said it would continue investing in the

Motorola gains Apple wireless patent battle in Germany

2011-12-09T21:26:00.000Z

A German court has ruled in Motorola Mobility's favour in a patents dispute with Apple. The Android smartphone maker had complained that Apple failed to license one of its wireless intellectual properties. Apple uses the technology in its iPhones and 3G iPads. Motorola could now try to force Apple to remove the feature from its devices or halt sales in Germany. However, Apple said it intended

Black Friday and Cyber Monday US online sales soar

2011-11-29T02:57:00.000Z

Online sales rose faster than expected in the US on Black Friday, according to surveys. Internet sales totalled $816m (£524m), a 26% gain on last year, said Comscore. IBM Coremetrics put the rise at 24%. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is treated by many retailers as the start of the Christmas shopping season. They offer one-off discounts to mark the occasion. Analysts said heavy

United Kingdom cybersecurity project a 'promising step' but with hazards

2011-11-26T00:17:00.000Z

The UK government has today released its 2011 Cyber Security Strategy. With an increased focus on cybercrime, and renewed focus on cyberspace as an engine of economic and social prosperity, the strategy continues to hone Whitehall's understanding of this vibrant, complex and increasingly global domain. Many of the strategy objectives - in particular those related to securing critical

Black Friday iTunes infected credit malware alarm

2011-11-24T23:38:00.000Z

Criminals are targeting internet users with a new gift certificate scam, according to security experts. Users receive an email that claims to be from Apple's iTunes store, warns the Eleven security blog. The ZIP file attached contains malware that may allow hackers to gain access to the recipient's computer. The blog says the attack appears to have been timed to coincide with Black Friday, one

Apple wants to turn green with solar energy information centre

2011-11-23T22:32:00.000Z

Apple, ranked the least green of the big tech companies earlier this year, is moving quietly to repair its reputation by switching its vast east coast data centre from coal to solar power. Local officials in North Carolina say the company is preparing to build a solar farm adjacent to its $1bn data centre in Maiden. The facility could help Apple recover from a Greenpeace report earlier this

Google kills off 7 more products as well as Wave

2011-11-23T22:24:00.000Z

Google has announced that it is dropping seven more products in an effort to simplify its range of services. The out-of-season "spring clean" brings an end to services including Google Wave, Knol and Google Gears. It is the third time that the US firm has announced a cull of several of its products at the same time after they had failed to take off. Experts said the strategy might put off

FBI downplays claim that hackers damaged USA water pump

2011-11-23T17:43:00.000Z

US officials have cast doubt over reports that a water pump in Illinois was destroyed by foreign hackers. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security said they had "found no evidence of a cyber intrusion". The Illinois Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center (STIC) previously claimed a hacker with a Russian IP address caused a pump to burn out. A security expert, who flagged up the

World's 'lightest material' revealed by United States engineers

2011-11-19T18:39:00.000Z

A team of engineers claims to have created the world's lightest material. The substance is made out of tiny hollow metallic tubes arranged into a micro-lattice - a criss-crossing diagonal pattern with small open spaces between the tubes. The researchers say the material is 100 times lighter than Styrofoam and has "extraordinarily high energy absorption" properties. Potential uses include

Google updates search engine for smarter results

2011-11-06T01:13:00.000Z

Google has overhauled the way it serves up results in response to search queries. The update is designed to work out whether a person wants up-to-date results or historical data. The US firm estimated the alterations to its core algorithm would make a difference to about 35% of searches. The changes try to make results more relevant and beef up features which Google believes set it apart from

Apple MacBook Pro MD313LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop

2011-10-31T22:40:00.000Z

Introducing the 13-inch MacBook Pro. The state-of-the-art dual-core Intel i5 processor delivers up to 2x faster performance (over the previous generation of MacBook Pro). New Thunderbolt technology lets you connect high-performance peripherals and high-resolution displays to a single port, and transfer files at lightning speeds. And with the built-in FaceTime HD camera, you can make astonishingly

Angry Birds developer Rovio to open stores in China

2011-10-31T17:38:00.000Z

Angry Birds maker Rovio has announced plans to open stores in China within 12 months. Unofficial merchandise connected to the videogame has already proved popular in the country. The company's chief marketing officer, Peter Vesterbacka, made the announcement at the Techcrunch conference in Beijing. He said he was targeting $100m (£62m) in sales from the shops in their first year of operation.

European Union plan to spend billions on advancing broadband speeds

2011-10-31T17:20:00.001Z

The European Commission is set to propose investing almost €9.2bn (£8bn) in a massive rollout of super-fast broadband infrastructure and services across the European Union. The plan is partly aimed at stimulating further investment in rural broadband. It is hoped the initiative will also help to create a single market for digital public services. The Commission has already set targets for

Germany lifts Doom sales ban after 17 years

2011-09-02T04:51:00.000+01:00

A German ban on selling Doom to teenagers has been lifted after 17 years. The classic video game was put on an index of controlled titles in 1994 as it was deemed likely to harm youth. Like pornography, sales of the violent shoot 'em up were restricted to adult-only stores. The rules have been relaxed because officials believe that Doom is now only of artistic and scientific interest and will

William and Kate's World Wide Wedding

2011-04-30T21:50:00.000+01:00

The marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton was an event for the internet age. Great traditions of state were celebrated by the modern institutions of the web. Facebook, Twitter, Google and YouTube were all given over to the royal wedding. And, like the streets around Westminster Abbey, cyberspace was buzzing with talk of the big day. Leading the online celebrations was the British

PlayStation Network credit card details were encrypted

2011-04-29T16:42:00.000+01:00

Sony has revealed that credit card details held on its PlayStation Network were stored in securely encrypted files. The news offers some hope to users worried about their personal data after the online system was hacked. Sony had previously warned that card numbers and expiry dates may have been among the stolen data. However, other information, including dates of birth and home addresses, did

PlayStation information theft reaches 77m gamers

2011-04-27T13:48:00.000+01:00

Sony has warned users of its PlayStation Network that their personal information, including credit card details, may have been stolen. The company said that the data might have fallen into the hands of an "unauthorised person" following a hacking attack on its online service. Access to the network was suspended last Wednesday, but Sony has only now revealed details of what happened. Users are

Windows 7 distributes 350m licences - how does that equate to XP and Vista?

2011-04-25T19:04:00.000+01:00

Microsoft's happy announcement about the Windows licences sold in the new OS's 18 months need some context. The results may surprise you Microsoft has announced that it has sold 350m Windows 7 licences in its first 18 months on the market. This of course comes with the moniker of "fastest-selling ever PC OS" because of course the actual numbers sold are far more than previous ones: Todd Bishop,

Nintendo heralds Wii 2 console

2011-04-25T18:47:00.000+01:00

Nintendo has announced it will launch a new version of its Wii console in 2012. No technical details about the machine have been revealed, but gamers will get an early preview at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles in June. The original Wii proved a runaway hit for Nintendo when it launched five years ago. However, sales have been gradually declining in the face of tough competition from PlayStation,

Playstation Network suspended 'for day or two'

2011-04-22T15:08:00.000+01:00

Millions of gamers are unable to play online as the Playstation Network remains unavailable. Users are seeing error messages stating the network is "undergoing maintenance" or is "suspended". In a blog post, makers Sony thanked users for their patience but warned the downtime - which has so far lasted more than 20 hours - could continue for "a day or two". In recent weeks, Playstation has been

iBUYPOWER Gamer Extreme AMD AM573D3 Gaming Desktop Computer

2011-04-21T22:23:00.000+01:00

Experience a new dimension of interactive gaming, media organization, and content creation with iBUYPOWR Gamer Extreme AM573D3. Equipped with a powerful AMD Pehnom II x4 965 proccessor clocked at 3.4 GHz, computing and gaming would be a breeze. The Gamer Extreme AM573D3 was designed to handle most of the current games that requires high processing power and intense graphic situations. Helping the

Non-iPhone owners more probable to possess iPad in Europe, says research

2011-04-21T14:41:00.000+01:00

If you own an LG, Motorola, Samsung or Sony Ericsson contract smartphone then you're more likely than an iPhone owner to own an iPad, according to new European data provided by the research company comScore exclusively to the Guardian. The surprising result emerges from a new comScore mobiLens study that also shows that across the five European countries studied - the UK, France, Germany, Spain

Nokia market share decreases but Microsoft deal confirmed

2011-04-21T14:35:00.000+01:00

Mobile phone maker Nokia has posted better-than-expected profits for the first three months of 2011, down 1% to 344m euros (£304m). But its market share fell 4% to 29% as cheaper rivals and the popularity of competitors' smartphones ate into Nokia's dominance. Nokia also said that it had struck a long-awaited deal to develop smartphone technology with Microsoft. Investors welcomed the news,

Yahoo profits fall as company runs into technology delays

2011-04-21T03:35:00.000+01:00

Yahoo has said that a partnership with Microsoft is facing delays as it awaits improvements in technology. The internet company, which has also announced a 28% fall in profits, is using Microsoft's search technology in a bid to improve advertising revenue. But Yahoo said the system was not yet paying off and that a further roll-out was on hold while changes were made. Meanwhile, Yahoo made

Apple earnings virtually double as iPhone sales surge

2011-04-21T02:56:00.000+01:00

Latest profits for the computer giant Apple beat hopes, including a higher-than-expected rise in iPhone sales. Net income for the three months to March jumped 85% on the same period a year ago, with iPhone sales of 18.65m - a rise of 113%. The figures are the latest in a string of good results from the US's technology companies. Intel's figures, released on Wednesday, were also well above