Fans fight for Scrabulous future

The threat to the hugely popular Scrabulous game has galvanised Facebook members into mounting a vigorous defence campaign. In little more than a day more than 13,000 people have signed up to a Save Scrabulous group on Facebook. Many have signed a petition asking Mattel and Hasbro to back down from their threat to have the game removed more...

Npower smart meter trial to begin this spring

Npower is to start an 18-month trial of real-time gas and electricity metering technology in 5,000 homes this spring. Participating customers will receive up-to-the-minute information on their energy use through networked display units and text messaging services. The aim is to find out how customers will want to use the technology more...

Apple announces ultra-thin laptop

Apple boss Steve Jobs has unveiled the world's thinnest laptop, called the MacBook Air.
The computer, which is 0.76 inches (1.93cm) at its thickest point, was unveiled at an event in San Francisco. The Apple head also launched online film rentals for iTunes users in the US from almost every major film studio, including Disney and Fox more...

'One Click Away from Danger'

The BBC recently ran a programme about the dangers of Social Networking Sites, which can view using their new iPlayer by clicking here.

EU launches new Microsoft probes

The European Commission is launching two new anti-competition investigations against US computer giant Microsoft. The first will look at whether Microsoft unfairly ties its Explorer internet browser to its Windows operating system. In a parallel probe, the Commission will look at the interoperability of Microsoft software with rival products more...

BBC iPlayer bursts through user target

More than 3.5 million programmes were viewed on the BBC's iPlayer catch-up TV service over the Christmas period, according to the first figures released by the corporation. The research found that around 1 million people visited bbc.co.uk/iplayer between Christmas Day and January 7, and revealed that the most watched programmes on the iPlayer during this period were the Doctor Who and Extras Christmas specials more...

Is Apple readying a wireless announcement? Maybe not

A banner at the Moscone Center in San Francisco where Apple will host its annual Macworld conference has many in the technology sector buzzing about a possible wireless announcement coming from CEO Steve Jobs' keynote on Tuesday. The banner that reads "There's something in the Air" has prompted much speculation that Apple is readying itself for another big wireless announcement. The most persistent rumor is that Apple will include Wimax on Apple notebooks more...

Foreign Office to court youth on YouTube

The Foreign Office is to launch a public relations offensive in the spring targeted at British and foreign youth, with the help of a redesigned website and its own YouTube video channel. The Foreign Office channel has been functioning experimentally since September, broadcasting the off-the-cuff thoughts of the foreign secretary, David Miliband, observations from ambassadors and junior staffers alike and vivid travel advisories for would-be tourists more...

The BBC at the CES

Although we were not privileged to attend the CES you can view all the videos from the BBC webiste by clicking here.

One Laptop to set up US project

The One Laptop Per Child project is turning its attention to children in the United States.
The XO laptop developed by the OLPC was conceived to boost educational efforts in developing nations. Now the OLPC has set up a US office and has begun talking to state governments about ways to get the laptop into the hands of the poorest American children more...

Computer brings science up a gear

One of the largest and most powerful computers in the country has been unveiled in Edinburgh.
Hector (High End Computing Terascale Resources) is capable of 63 million million calculations a second and is four times faster than its predecessor. It represents the equivalent of approximately 12,000 desktop systems. The £113m project will run for six years and will enable scientists to develop life-saving drugs and model climate change and epidemic patterns more...

Biometric visa scheme goes global

All UK visa applications across the world now include fingerprint biometrics, three months ahead of schedule, according to immigration minister Liam Byrne. Prints from applicants from 133 countries are checked against government databases to prevent fraud and nearly 500 cases of identity swapping have already been found more..

Near-final Vista SP1 goes public

Microsoft has made Vista's Service Pack 1 near-final "release candidate" available for download to the general public, after initially choosing to restrict it to 15,000 beta testers when it debuted last week. According to a blog by ZDNet.com's Mary Jo Foley, a Microsoft representative said the build contained a "number of bugs that testers encountered in previous prerelease versions of SP1." more...