Emotion robots learn from people

Making robots that interact with people emotionally is the goal of a European project led by British scientists. Feelix Growing is a research project involving six countries, and 25 roboticists, developmental psychologists and neuroscientists more...

BA launches IT recruitment drive

British Airways (BA) is planning to recruit 20 people as part of a new IT Professional Programme, the first such campaign mounted by the airline in more than six years.
BA will provide 18 months intensive training in IT support, development and delivery and business analysis to graduates of any discipline wanting to work in IT more...

Sony PS3 Review

It’s here. At last. How can the PS3 possibly live up to our ridiculously high expectations? By being the best games console and media hub ever. After countless delays, Europe finally has the latest PlayStation in its grasp. Far from just a games console, this is a true all-rounder – the cheapest Blu-ray player you can buy, a media server for your music and digital video, and a web-surfer more...

S3 and Irdeto bring mobile television to computers

Mobile television could be received on laptop computers using inexpensive components that are already available. At the 3GSM convention in Barcelona, S3 and Irdeto showed a system based on a standard digital television receiver and a card reader more...

Microsoft faces $1.5bn MP3 payout

Microsoft must pay French phone equipment firm Alcatel-Lucent $1.52bn (£777m) after a US court ruled the IT giant had infringed audio patents. Alcatel had sued Microsoft, saying two patents related to the standards used for converting audio into MP3 files had been breached more...

Retailers suspiciously coy on PlayStation 3 pre-order figures

Is it a world-beater waiting to fly off the shelves, or a yawn-inducer that has left gamers with their hands firmly in their pockets? For the UK launch of Sony's PlayStation 3, due on March 23, the answer seems to depend on whether you believe the retailers - who may have a vested interest in talking up its promise - or the gamers more...

Google charges for web programs

Google has introduced a paid-for version of its web applications it hopes will be popular with small firms. The paid version adds more storage, phone help and guarantees of availability to the Gmail, calendar, word processing and messaging package more...

BT investing £260m in NI network

BT is spending £260m to create a new hi-tech communications network in Northern Ireland. The new communications system, known as the 21st Century Network, will power all of BT's telephone, broadband and ISDN services more...

Broadband Britain 'speeding up'

Broadband is getting faster in the UK but some customers are not reaching the speeds that service providers have advertised, shows a survey. The average UK broadband download speed is now 2Mbps, up from 512Kbps three years ago, says thinkbroadband.com more...

Microsoft patent row rumbles on

A legal row between Microsoft and phone firm AT&T over patent infringements has moved into the US Supreme Court. Microsoft has appealed against a lower court decision that the firm is liable for infringements overseas more...

Could we have hitched a ride on UFOs?

It is not the sort of discussion you imagine among the grey-suited ranks of Whitehall - defence analysts debating the existence of little green men and speculating about whether they have visited Earth more...

Hospitals pick hi-tech clipboard

An electronic clipboard that has the potential to save lives has been unveiled. It is hoped the device - known as a mobile clinical assistant (MCA) - will cut the time doctors and nurses spend on paper work more...

Iran shuts down website critical of president

An Iranian website fiercely critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been shut down in an apparent fresh crackdown on anti-government dissent on the internet. Baztab, a fundamentalist site that has previously accused Mr Ahmadinejad of betraying the Islamic revolution by attending a female dance show, has been closed for acting against the constitution and undermining national unity more...

Government backs digital lockdown

The government has rejected a call to ban the digital locks that limit what people can do with the software, music and movies they own. A petition calling for the ban on the government's e-petition website gathered more than 1,400 backers more...

Asda maps out store finder service

Supermarket giant Asda has added a mapping service to its web site to help shoppers find their nearest outlet and drive sales across the group. The search service, based on supplier Multimap’s Storefinder technology, allows shoppers to find their nearest store by location and store type, and provides customers with the five closest shops more...

Viacom in video deal with Joost

Entertainment giant Viacom is to provide TV programmes and films to much-hyped online video service Joost. The deal includes programming from MTV Networks, BET Networks and film studio Paramount Pictures. Joost was founded by Niklas Zennstroem and Janus Friis, the men behind Skype, and is pitching itself as a broadband video network more...

UK online sales continue to soar

Online sales will make up 15 per cent of all UK retail sales by the end of 2007, worth up to £40bn, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). The research, conducted on behalf of price comparison web site uSwitch, also predicts that internet sales will make up 40 per cent of all purchases by 2020 more...

Computer games 'burn up calories'

Playing new style computer games can help people burn up a significant amount of calories, research has found. Games consoles such as Nintendo Wii require players to use body movements to control the action more...

Mac users 'still lax on security'

Apple Mac users are still too lax when it comes to security matters, an independent researcher has said. Kevin Finisterre caused ripples in the Mac community when he started a website in January revealing a different bug in Apple systems each day of the month more...

Real game characters 'next year'

Super-realistic computer games which will feature human faces as they actually look are at most two years away, developers have told the BBC. At present, developers have not been able to create games characters with photo-realistic faces and expressions more...

BBC explores further options for broadband iPlayer

The BBC is exploring plans to make its proposed iPlayer directly available on television screens and considering options for co-operating with other broadcasters. Ashley Highfield, their director of future media and technology, hinted at the possibilities during a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch at a London restaurant more...

Hackers target the home front

One of the UK's leading banks has been forced to admit that organised hacking gangs have been targeting its executives. For the past year, Royal Bank of Scotland has been fighting systematic attempts to break into its computer systems from hackers who have sent personalised emails containing keyloggers to its senior management more...

Robotic retina offers second chance for sight

Six blind patients have had their sight partially restored by a "bionic eye" surgically implanted onto their retina. Although it restores only very rudimentary vision, the device has proved so successful that its developers are about to begin a study of a more sophisticated version on between 50 and 75 patients more...

Virtual treatment for US troops

Virtual reality is being used to treat soldiers returning from Iraq with post-traumatic stress disorder. The immersive system combines realistic street scenes, sounds and odours to allow patients to relive traumatic events in a controlled environment more...

Deaf to sign via video handsets

Deaf people could soon be using video mobiles to chat with their friends using sign language. Video compression tools made by US researchers make it possible to send live pictures of people signing across low bandwidth mobile networks more...