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Summarize the following article: Honour for UK games maker Leading British computer games maker Peter Molyneux has been made an OBE in the New Year Honours list. The head of Surrey's Lionhead Studios was granted the honour for services to the computer games industry. Mr Molyneux has been behind many of the ground-breaking games of the last 15 years such as Populous, Theme Park, Dungeon Keeper and Black and White. He is widely credited with helping to create and popularise the so-called god-game genre. Speaking to the BBC News website Mr Molyneux said receiving the honour was something of a surprise. It's come completely out of the blue," he said, "I never would have guessed that I'd have that kind of honour." He said he was surprised as much because, not too long ago, many people thought computer gaming was a fad. "It was thought to be like skateboarding," he said, "a craze that everyone thought would go away." Now, he said, the gaming world rivals the movie industry for sales and cultural influence. "Britain plays a big part in it," he said. "It's one of the founding nations that made the industry what it is." Mr Molyneux has been a pivotal figure in the computer games industry for almost 20 years. His career started at Bullfrog Studios which in 1987 produced Populous one of the first God-games. The title gave players control over the lives a small population of computerised people. Mr Molyneux said that his involvement with the games industry started almost by accident as back in the early days game making was more a hobby than a career. "I thought everyone would treat Populous as weird," he said, "but it became a huge international success." He left Bullfrog in 1997 to set up Lionhead Studios which was behind the ambitous and widely acclaimed game Black & White. One of the next titles to come from Lionhead puts players in charge of a movie studio and tasks them with producing and directing a hit film. The veteran game maker says he has one problem still to solve. "Being an absolute geek I've got no idea what I'm going to wear when I go and pick it up," he said.

Mr Molyneux said that his involvement with the games industry started almost by accident as back in the early days game making was more a hobby than a career.The head of Surrey's Lionhead Studios was granted the honour for services to the computer games industry.Mr Molyneux has been a pivotal figure in the computer games industry for almost 20 years.He said he was surprised as much because, not too long ago, many people thought computer gaming was a fad.He left Bullfrog in 1997 to set up Lionhead Studios which was behind the ambitous and widely acclaimed game Black & White.Speaking to the BBC News website Mr Molyneux said receiving the honour was something of a surprise."It was thought to be like skateboarding," he said, "a craze that everyone thought would go away."Mr Molyneux has been behind many of the ground-breaking games of the last 15 years such as Populous, Theme Park, Dungeon Keeper and Black and White.

Summarize the following article: Kenyan school turns to handhelds At the Mbita Point primary school in western Kenya students click away at a handheld computer with a stylus. They are doing exercises in their school textbooks which have been digitised. It is a pilot project run by EduVision, which is looking at ways to use low cost computer systems to get up-to-date information to students who are currently stuck with ancient textbooks. Matthew Herren from EduVision told the BBC programme Go Digital how the non-governmental organisation uses a combination of satellite radio and handheld computers called E-slates. "The E-slates connect via a wireless connection to a base station in the school. This in turn is connected to a satellite radio receiver. The data is transmitted alongside audio signals." The base station processes the information from the satellite transmission and turns it into a form that can be read by the handheld E-slates. "It downloads from the satellite and every day processes the stream, sorts through content for the material destined for the users connected to it. It also stores this on its hard disc." The system is cheaper than installing and maintaining an internet connection and conventional computer network. But Mr Herren says there are both pros and cons to the project. "It's very simple to set up, just a satellite antenna on the roof of the school, but it's also a one-way connection, so getting feedback or specific requests from end users is difficult." The project is still at the pilot stage and EduVision staff are on the ground to attend to teething problems with the Linux-based system. "The content is divided into visual information, textual information and questions. Users can scroll through these sections independently of each other." EduVision is planning to include audio and video files as the system develops and add more content. Mr Herren says this would vastly increase the opportunities available to the students. He is currently in negotiations to take advantage of a project being organised by search site Google to digitise some of the world's largest university libraries. "All books in the public domain, something like 15 million, could be put on the base stations as we manufacture them. Then every rural school in Africa would have access to the same libraries as the students in Oxford and Harvard" Currently the project is operating in an area where there is mains electricity. But Mr Herren says EduVision already has plans to extend it to more remote regions. "We plan to put a solar panel at the school with the base station, have the E-slates charge during the day when the children are in school, then they can take them home at night and continue working." Maciej Sundra, who designed the user interface for the E-slates, says the project's ultimate goal is levelling access to knowledge around the world. "Why in this age when most people do most research using the internet are students still using textbooks? The fact that we are doing this in a rural developing country is very exciting - as they need it most."

The base station processes the information from the satellite transmission and turns it into a form that can be read by the handheld E-slates."The E-slates connect via a wireless connection to a base station in the school.It is a pilot project run by EduVision, which is looking at ways to use low cost computer systems to get up-to-date information to students who are currently stuck with ancient textbooks."We plan to put a solar panel at the school with the base station, have the E-slates charge during the day when the children are in school, then they can take them home at night and continue working."Then every rural school in Africa would have access to the same libraries as the students in Oxford and Harvard" Currently the project is operating in an area where there is mains electricity.Matthew Herren from EduVision told the BBC programme Go Digital how the non-governmental organisation uses a combination of satellite radio and handheld computers called E-slates.But Mr Herren says there are both pros and cons to the project."It's very simple to set up, just a satellite antenna on the roof of the school, but it's also a one-way connection, so getting feedback or specific requests from end users is difficult."But Mr Herren says EduVision already has plans to extend it to more remote regions.At the Mbita Point primary school in western Kenya students click away at a handheld computer with a stylus.EduVision is planning to include audio and video files as the system develops and add more content.

Summarize the following article: Robots learn 'robotiquette' rules Robots are learning lessons on "robotiquette" - how to behave socially - so they can mix better with humans. By playing games, like pass-the-parcel, a University of Hertfordshire team is finding out how future robot companions should react in social situations. The study's findings will eventually help humans develop a code of social behaviour in human-robot interaction. The work is part of the European Cogniron robotics project, and was on show at London's Science Museum. "We are assuming a situation in which a useful human companion robot already exists," said Professor Kerstin Dautenhahn, project leader at Hertfordshire. "Our mission is to look at how such a robot should be programmed to respect personal spaces of humans." The research also focuses on human perception of robots, including how they should look, and how a robot can learn new skills by imitating a human demonstrator. "Without such studies, you will build robots which might not respect the fact that humans are individuals, have preferences and come from different cultural backgrounds," Professor Dautenhahn told BBC News Online. "And I want robots to treat humans as human beings, and not like other robots," she added. In most situations, a companion robot will eventually have to deal not only with one person, but also with groups of people. To find out how they would react, the Hertfordshire Cogniron team taught one robot to play pass-the-parcel with children. Showing off its skills at the Science Museum, the unnamed robot had to select, approach, and ask different children to pick up a parcel with a gift, moving it arm as a pointer and its camera as an eye. It even used speech to give instructions and play music. However, according to researchers, it will still take many years to build a robot which would make full use of the "robotiquette" for human interaction. "If you think of a robot as a companion for the human being, you can think of 20 years into the future," concluded Professor Dautenhahn. "It might take even longer because it is very, very hard to develop such a robot." You can hear more on this story on the BBC World Service's Go Digital programme.

"And I want robots to treat humans as human beings, and not like other robots," she added."If you think of a robot as a companion for the human being, you can think of 20 years into the future," concluded Professor Dautenhahn."We are assuming a situation in which a useful human companion robot already exists," said Professor Kerstin Dautenhahn, project leader at Hertfordshire.The research also focuses on human perception of robots, including how they should look, and how a robot can learn new skills by imitating a human demonstrator."Without such studies, you will build robots which might not respect the fact that humans are individuals, have preferences and come from different cultural backgrounds," Professor Dautenhahn told BBC News Online.By playing games, like pass-the-parcel, a University of Hertfordshire team is finding out how future robot companions should react in social situations.However, according to researchers, it will still take many years to build a robot which would make full use of the "robotiquette" for human interaction.

Summarize the following article: T-Mobile bets on 'pocket office' T-Mobile has launched its latest "pocket office" third-generation (3G) device which also has built-in wi-fi - high-speed wireless net access. Unlike other devices where the user has to check which high-speed network is available to transfer data, the device selects the fastest one itself. The MDA IV, released in the summer, is an upgrade to the company's existing smartphone, the 2.5G/wi-fi MDA III. It reflects the push by mobile firms for devices that are like mini laptops. The device has a display that can be swivelled and angled so it can be used like a small computer, or as a conventional clamshell phone. The Microsoft Mobile phone, with two cameras and a Qwerty keyboard, reflects the design of similar all-in-one models released this year, such as Motorola's MPx. "One in five European workers are already mobile - meaning they spend significant time travelling and out of the office," Rene Obermann, T-Mobile's chief executive, told a press conference at the 3GSM trade show in Cannes. He added: "What they need is their office when they are out of the office." T-Mobile said it was seeing increasing take up for what it calls "Office in a Pocket" devices, with 100,000 MDAs sold in Europe already. In response to demand, T-Mobile also said it would be adding the latest phone-shaped Blackberry to its mobile range. Reflecting the growing need to be connected outside the office, it announced it would introduce a flat-fee £20 ($38) a month wi-fi tariff for people in the UK using its wi-fi hotspots. It said it would nearly double the number of its hotspots - places where wi-fi access is available - globally from 12,300 to 20,000. It also announced it was installing high-speed wi-fi on certain train services, such as the UK's London to Brighton service, to provide commuters a fast net connection too. The service, which has been developed with Southern trains, Nomad Digital (who provide the technology), begins with a free trial on 16 trains on the route from early March to the end of April. A full service is set to follow in the summer. Wi-fi access points will be connected to a Wimax wireless network - faster than wi-fi - running alongside the train tracks. Brian McBride, managing director of T-Mobile in the UK, said: "We see a growing trend for business users needing to access e-mail securely on the move. "We are able to offer this by maintaining a constant data session for the entire journey." He said this was something other similar in-train wi-fi services, such as that offered on GNER trains, did not offer yet. Mr Obermann added that the mobile industry in general was still growing, with many more opportunities for more services which would bear fruit for mobile companies in future. Thousands of mobile industry experts are gathered in Cannes, France, for the 3GSM which runs from 14 to 17 February.

T-Mobile has launched its latest "pocket office" third-generation (3G) device which also has built-in wi-fi - high-speed wireless net access.Mr Obermann added that the mobile industry in general was still growing, with many more opportunities for more services which would bear fruit for mobile companies in future.Reflecting the growing need to be connected outside the office, it announced it would introduce a flat-fee £20 ($38) a month wi-fi tariff for people in the UK using its wi-fi hotspots.It also announced it was installing high-speed wi-fi on certain train services, such as the UK's London to Brighton service, to provide commuters a fast net connection too.In response to demand, T-Mobile also said it would be adding the latest phone-shaped Blackberry to its mobile range.He said this was something other similar in-train wi-fi services, such as that offered on GNER trains, did not offer yet.It said it would nearly double the number of its hotspots - places where wi-fi access is available - globally from 12,300 to 20,000.Wi-fi access points will be connected to a Wimax wireless network - faster than wi-fi - running alongside the train tracks.Unlike other devices where the user has to check which high-speed network is available to transfer data, the device selects the fastest one itself.

Summarize the following article: Web radio takes Spanish rap global Spin the radio dial in the US and you are likely to find plenty of Spanish-language music. But what you will not find is much Spanish-language hip-hop. Hip-hop and rap are actually quite popular in the Spanish-speaking world, but local artists are having trouble marketing their work abroad. But now, a US company is bringing rap and hip-hop en espanol to computer users everywhere. Los Caballeros de Plan G are one of Mexico's hottest hip-hop acts. They have a devoted fan base in their native Monterrey. But most Mexican hip-hop fans, not to mention fans in most of the Spanish-speaking world, rarely get a chance to hear the group's tracks on the radio. "You can't really just go on the radio and listen to hip-hop in Spanish... it's just not accessible," says Manuel Millan, a native of San Diego, California. "It's really hard for the Spanish hip-hop scene to get into mainstream radio. You usually have a very commercialised sound and the groups are not really known around the country or around the world." Millan and two friends set out to change that - they wanted to make groups like Los Caballeros de Plan G accessible to fans globally. Mainstream radio stations were not going to play this kind of music, and starting their own broadcast station was economically impossible. So, Millan and his friends launched a website called latinohiphopradio.com. The name says it all: it is web-based radio, devoted to the hottest Spanish language rap and hip-hop tracks. The site, which is in both in English and Spanish, is meant to be easy to navigate. All the user has to do is download a media player. There are no DJs. It is just music streamed over the net for free. Suddenly, with the help of the website, Los Caballeros de Plan G are producing "export quality" rap. The web might be just the right medium for Spanish language hip-hop right now. The genre is in what Millan calls its "infant stage". But the production values are improving, and artists such as Argentina's Mustafa Yoda are pushing to make it better and better. Mustafa Yoda is currently one of the hottest tracks on latinohiphopradio.com. "He's considered the Eminem of Argentina, and the Latin American hip-hop scene," Millan says. "He really hasn't had that much exposure as far as anywhere in the world, but he's definitely the one to look out for as far as becoming the next big thing in the Spanish-speaking world." Currently, the Chilean group Makisa is also in latinohiphopradio.com's top 10, as is Cuban artist Papo Record. "Every country's got it's own cultural differences and they try to put those into their own songs," Millan says. Latinohiphopradio.com has been up and running for a couple of months now. The site has listeners from across the Spanish speaking world. Right now, Mexico leads the way, accounting for about 50% of listeners. But web surfers in Spain are logging in as well - about 25% of the web station's traffic comes from there. That is not surprising as many consider Spain to be the leader in Spanish-language rap and hip-hop. Millan says that Spain is actually just behind the United States and France in terms of overall rap and hip-hop production. That might be changing, though, as more and more Latin American artists are finding audiences. But one Spaniard is still firmly in latinohiphopradio.com's top 10. His name is Tote King and Manuel Millan says that he is the hip-hop leader in Spain. On his track Uno Contra Veinte Emcees, or One Against 20 Emcees, Tote King shows he is well aware of that fact. "It's basically him bragging that he's one of the best emcees in Spain right now," Millan says. "And it's pretty much true. He has the tightest productions, and his rap flow is impeccable, it's amazing." Latinohiphopradio.com is hoping to expand in the coming year. Millan says they want to include more music and more news from the world of Spanish language hip-hop and rap. Clark Boyd is technology correspondent for The World, a BBC World Service and WGBH-Boston co-production.

Millan says they want to include more music and more news from the world of Spanish language hip-hop and rap.The name says it all: it is web-based radio, devoted to the hottest Spanish language rap and hip-hop tracks."You can't really just go on the radio and listen to hip-hop in Spanish... it's just not accessible," says Manuel Millan, a native of San Diego, California.His name is Tote King and Manuel Millan says that he is the hip-hop leader in Spain.Millan says that Spain is actually just behind the United States and France in terms of overall rap and hip-hop production.The web might be just the right medium for Spanish language hip-hop right now."It's really hard for the Spanish hip-hop scene to get into mainstream radio.That is not surprising as many consider Spain to be the leader in Spanish-language rap and hip-hop."He's considered the Eminem of Argentina, and the Latin American hip-hop scene," Millan says.But what you will not find is much Spanish-language hip-hop.Los Caballeros de Plan G are one of Mexico's hottest hip-hop acts.Hip-hop and rap are actually quite popular in the Spanish-speaking world, but local artists are having trouble marketing their work abroad.But most Mexican hip-hop fans, not to mention fans in most of the Spanish-speaking world, rarely get a chance to hear the group's tracks on the radio."It's basically him bragging that he's one of the best emcees in Spain right now," Millan says.The site has listeners from across the Spanish speaking world.But now, a US company is bringing rap and hip-hop en espanol to computer users everywhere.Mustafa Yoda is currently one of the hottest tracks on latinohiphopradio.com.Millan and two friends set out to change that - they wanted to make groups like Los Caballeros de Plan G accessible to fans globally.

Summarize the following article: How to make a greener computer The hi-tech industry is starting to get more environmentally aware. Bill Thompson thinks it's about time. My first car ran on four star petrol and pumped vast quantities of lead into the atmosphere as I drove around Cambridge. Now you can't buy petrol with lead additives, and we're all better off as a result. Chip giant Intel recently began shipping computer circuit boards that are lead free too, reflecting a growing awareness on the part of the technology industry that products have to be designed and built in more environmentally friendly ways. Apart from reducing the use of toxic materials like arsenic, mercury, cadmium and other heavy metals in the products themselves, the manufacturing process is also being cleaned up, with fewer complex and potentially damaging organic chemicals used as solvents. And work is going into making power supplies that are more energy efficient, since current transformers are astonishingly wasteful as they charge our laptops, mobiles and music players. One of the key aspects of the new approach is to design products that are easier to recycle. If you have got a phone or a computer with toxic chemicals or heavy metals in it then extracting them can be tricky and expensive. A well-designed electronic component is able to be recycled at low cost. This is going to be very important to hardware manufacturers in Europe since from August the new Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment directive will oblige them to accept returned products for recycling. They will end up paying if they build things that are expensive or impossible to take apart and will find their profits hit, something which is likely to motivate them where appeals to the wider public interest might fall on deaf ears. It is, as they say, about time. We have a long and depressing history of developing new technologies with complete disregard for their potential impact on the environment, and waiting until there is a crisis looming before we try to redesign them to cause less damage. The car engine is a case in point: lead additives helped stop petrol vapour exploding too early in the cylinder, a phenomenon called 'knocking', so they were simply used without any real thought for the fact that the lead would end up in the atmosphere. Redesigning engines and making petrol slightly different was a lot more work, so it took decades before it was done. We're seeing the same thing in the technology industry and, as a result, there are billions of devices, from old mobile phones to antique handhelds, that will have to be recycled in years to come. If Apple gets its way then a lot of people are going to be buying a new Mac Mini and throwing away their old PC, keeping the monitor and other peripherals. Even if Apple does not get its way, four or five-year-old computers are not good enough to run modern programs and it's not unreasonable to replace them. But what do we do with the old ones? I've just looked around my office and I find two monitors, an old 386 PC, two old handhelds, three ancient laptops, four antique mobile phones, a collection of rechargeable batteries and even a Sun workstation that is no longer really much use. They are all old enough to be hazardous waste - the monitors alone will be full of arsenic and lead - but it's possible that some of the components could be useful. I could take them up the to the council recycling centre, but it's a 10-mile drive away across town, and like many other people my commitment to recycling is shallow at best. Here in Cambridge we have green bins for compostable waste, a box for glass, cans and paper that can be recycled, and a black bin for the rest. There are bottle banks and clothing banks scattered around town and in supermarket car parks. Would it be too much to ask for an electronics recycling box too? I'd probably remember to take my old mobile with me to the supermarket and drop it in a box - at least eventually. Bill Thompson is a regular commentator on the BBC World Service programme Go Digital.

We're seeing the same thing in the technology industry and, as a result, there are billions of devices, from old mobile phones to antique handhelds, that will have to be recycled in years to come.If Apple gets its way then a lot of people are going to be buying a new Mac Mini and throwing away their old PC, keeping the monitor and other peripherals.They are all old enough to be hazardous waste - the monitors alone will be full of arsenic and lead - but it's possible that some of the components could be useful.I've just looked around my office and I find two monitors, an old 386 PC, two old handhelds, three ancient laptops, four antique mobile phones, a collection of rechargeable batteries and even a Sun workstation that is no longer really much use.Bill Thompson thinks it's about time.I'd probably remember to take my old mobile with me to the supermarket and drop it in a box - at least eventually.My first car ran on four star petrol and pumped vast quantities of lead into the atmosphere as I drove around Cambridge.This is going to be very important to hardware manufacturers in Europe since from August the new Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment directive will oblige them to accept returned products for recycling.The car engine is a case in point: lead additives helped stop petrol vapour exploding too early in the cylinder, a phenomenon called 'knocking', so they were simply used without any real thought for the fact that the lead would end up in the atmosphere.But what do we do with the old ones?Chip giant Intel recently began shipping computer circuit boards that are lead free too, reflecting a growing awareness on the part of the technology industry that products have to be designed and built in more environmentally friendly ways.Now you can't buy petrol with lead additives, and we're all better off as a result.

Summarize the following article: How to make a gigapixel picture The largest digital panoramic photo in the world has been created by researchers in the Netherlands. The finished image is 2.5 billion pixels in size - making it about 500 times the resolution of images produced by good consumer digital cameras. The huge image of Delft was created by stitching together 600 single snaps of the Dutch city taken at a fixed spot. If printed out in standard 300 dots per inch resolution, the picture would be 2.5m high and 6m long. The researchers have put the image on a website which lets viewers explore the wealth of detail that it captures. Tools on the page let viewers zoom in on the city and its surroundings in great detail. The website is already proving popular and currently has more than 200,000 visitors every day. The image was created by imaging experts from the Dutch research and technology laboratory TNO which created the 2.5 gigapixel photo as a summer time challenge. The goal of the project was to be one of the first groups to make gigapixel images. The first image of such a size was manually constructed by US photographer Max Lyons in November 2003. That image portrayed Bryce Canyon National Park, in Utah, and was made up of 196 separate photographs. The panorama of Delft is a little staid in contrast to the dramatic rockscape captured in Mr Lyons' image. "He did it all by hand, which was an enormous effort, and we got the idea that if you use automatic techniques, it would be feasible to build a larger image," said Jurgen den Hartog, one of the TNO researchers behind the project. "We were not competing with Mr Lyons, but it started as a lunchtime bet." The Dutch team used already available technologies, although it had to upgrade them to be able to handle the high-resolution image. "We had to rewrite almost all the tools," Me den Hartog told the BBC News website. "All standard Windows viewers available would not be able to load such a large image, so we had to develop one ourselves." The 600 component pictures were taken on July 2004 by a computer-controlled camera with a 400 mm lens. Each image was made to slightly overlap so they could be accurately arranged into a composite. The stitching process was also done automatically using five powerful PCs over three days. Following the success of this project, and with promises of help from others, the TNO team is considering creating a full 360-degree panoramic view of another Dutch city, with even higher resolution.

The huge image of Delft was created by stitching together 600 single snaps of the Dutch city taken at a fixed spot.The image was created by imaging experts from the Dutch research and technology laboratory TNO which created the 2.5 gigapixel photo as a summer time challenge.The first image of such a size was manually constructed by US photographer Max Lyons in November 2003."He did it all by hand, which was an enormous effort, and we got the idea that if you use automatic techniques, it would be feasible to build a larger image," said Jurgen den Hartog, one of the TNO researchers behind the project.The researchers have put the image on a website which lets viewers explore the wealth of detail that it captures.The finished image is 2.5 billion pixels in size - making it about 500 times the resolution of images produced by good consumer digital cameras."All standard Windows viewers available would not be able to load such a large image, so we had to develop one ourselves."Each image was made to slightly overlap so they could be accurately arranged into a composite.That image portrayed Bryce Canyon National Park, in Utah, and was made up of 196 separate photographs.

Summarize the following article: Virus poses as Christmas e-mail Security firms are warning about a Windows virus disguising itself as an electronic Christmas card. The Zafi.D virus translates the Christmas greeting on its subject line into the language of the person receiving infected e-mail. Anti-virus firms speculate that this multilingual ability is helping the malicious program spread widely online. Anti-virus firm Sophos said that 10% of the e-mail currently on the net was infected with the Zafi virus. Like many other Windows viruses, Zafi-D plunders Microsoft Outlook for e-mail addresses and then uses mail-sending software to despatch itself across the web to new victims. To be infected users must open up the attachment travelling with the message which bears the code for the malicious bug. The attachment on the e-mail poses as an electronic Christmas card but anyone opening it will simply get a crude image of two smiley faces. The virus' subject line says "Merry Christmas" and translates this into one of 15 languages depending of the final suffix of the e-mail address the infected message has been sent to. The message in the body of the e-mail reads: "Happy Holidays" and this too is translated. On infected machines the virus tries to disable anti-virus and firewall software and opens up a backdoor on the PC to hand over control to the writer of the virus. The virus is thought to have spread most widely in South America, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria and Hungary. The original Zafi virus appeared in April this year. "We have seen these hoaxes for several Christmases already, and personally I prefer traditional pen and paper cards, and we recommend this to all our clients too," said Mikko Hypponen, who heads F-Secure's anti-virus team.

Anti-virus firm Sophos said that 10% of the e-mail currently on the net was infected with the Zafi virus.The Zafi.D virus translates the Christmas greeting on its subject line into the language of the person receiving infected e-mail.The virus' subject line says "Merry Christmas" and translates this into one of 15 languages depending of the final suffix of the e-mail address the infected message has been sent to.On infected machines the virus tries to disable anti-virus and firewall software and opens up a backdoor on the PC to hand over control to the writer of the virus.Security firms are warning about a Windows virus disguising itself as an electronic Christmas card.The original Zafi virus appeared in April this year.

Summarize the following article: Media gadgets get moving Pocket-sized devices that let people carry around video and images are set to have a big year in 2005, according to industry experts. Last year saw the emergence of portable media players, such as the Windows-based Creative Zen portable media player, the Samsung Yepp, the iRiver PMC-100, and the Archos AV400 series among others. But this year, they are set to get smarter and more connected, to allow people to find more video to watch on them. Archos launched its latest range of its Linux-based portable media devices at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Friday. Dubbed the Pocket Media Assistant PMA430, it crucially has wi-fi capability built-in for the first time. "Consumers are showing a great thirst for devices that store all their media in one place for anywhere access," said Henri Crohas, chief of Archos. "And now those consumers can stay connected and productive at the same time." Archos said the focus for the device is to be the second gadget in people's pockets, after the mobile. Unlike Windows-based players, the Archos AV400 series devices have always been able to record from any video source, such as TVs, as well as playback. The content put onto the devices is copy protected so cannot then be swapped to another device. Recording is perhaps a crucial functionality for those who have not seen the point of portable video if there is not a lot of video to watch on it. And wi-fi connectivity opens up the possibility of content delivery via a high-speed wireless link. Archos also announced that it would open up the software development kit to Linux developers so that more applications could be created for the device. Microsoft also made some announcements in the portable media arena at CES, primarily for US consumers though. It has agreed a content deal with personal video recorder company TiVo, which Bill Gates also showcased in his keynote speech at CES. The TiVo To Go service means that US consumers will be able to take any programmes they record on their TiVos and transfer it for free to watch on any of the Windows-based portable media players or smartphones. It also said it had launched a service with MTV to let people watch Comedy Central, VH1 and Country Music TV on its devices. And a service is launching with MSN to provide people with shortened versions of news, entertainment and other video on a subscription basis for download via the PC onto the portable devices. But the ability to record directly from TV, VCR, and digital cable and satellite boxes, which Windows-based devices do not offer, certainly gives people more content to watch on the go too. The increased capability of these devices, and the content deals that are being done, may go some way to persuading people to use them. Recent research by Jupiter suggested that people would prefer a device that was dedicated to music. Only 13% of Europeans wanted to watch video while on the move. More seemed interested in spending their cash on music-only devices. "This year, we are ready for an explosion of portable media," Microsoft's Mike Coleman told the BBC News website. "We are very bullish about it. The fact that I can put photos on here too and share them is super-cool to the consumer," he added. The fact that Europeans are far larger public transport users than Americans is one reason why portable media will take off in the coming year too. There is a burgeoning market there for commuters to watch news and other programmes on their way to work. Although Microsoft's content distribution deals are for the US market at the moment, talks were "always on-going" with European content suppliers to offer similar services. Various rights management issues have to be ironed out first however. But that does not prevent people from finding ways to create their own content to share online and swap on portable devices, particularly via those which are wi-fi enabled. The possibility is open for non-professional makers of video and audio to take advantage of the growing portable media market to distribute their work. CES, which runs from 6 to 9 January, showcases more than 50,000 new gadgets that will be hitting the shelves in 2005.

The TiVo To Go service means that US consumers will be able to take any programmes they record on their TiVos and transfer it for free to watch on any of the Windows-based portable media players or smartphones.Archos launched its latest range of its Linux-based portable media devices at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Friday.But that does not prevent people from finding ways to create their own content to share online and swap on portable devices, particularly via those which are wi-fi enabled.But the ability to record directly from TV, VCR, and digital cable and satellite boxes, which Windows-based devices do not offer, certainly gives people more content to watch on the go too.But this year, they are set to get smarter and more connected, to allow people to find more video to watch on them.And a service is launching with MSN to provide people with shortened versions of news, entertainment and other video on a subscription basis for download via the PC onto the portable devices.The possibility is open for non-professional makers of video and audio to take advantage of the growing portable media market to distribute their work.Last year saw the emergence of portable media players, such as the Windows-based Creative Zen portable media player, the Samsung Yepp, the iRiver PMC-100, and the Archos AV400 series among others.Recording is perhaps a crucial functionality for those who have not seen the point of portable video if there is not a lot of video to watch on it.Microsoft also made some announcements in the portable media arena at CES, primarily for US consumers though.Pocket-sized devices that let people carry around video and images are set to have a big year in 2005, according to industry experts.Unlike Windows-based players, the Archos AV400 series devices have always been able to record from any video source, such as TVs, as well as playback.It also said it had launched a service with MTV to let people watch Comedy Central, VH1 and Country Music TV on its devices.The increased capability of these devices, and the content deals that are being done, may go some way to persuading people to use them.

Summarize the following article: Doors open at biggest gadget fair Thousands of technology lovers and industry experts have gathered in Las Vegas for the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The fair showcases the latest technologies and gadgets that will hit the shops in the next year. About 50,000 new products will be unveiled as the show unfolds. Microsoft chief Bill Gates is to make a pre-show keynote speech on Wednesday when he is expected to announce details of the next generation Xbox. The thrust of this year's show will be on technologies which put people in charge of multimedia content so they can store, listen to, and watch what they want on devices any time, anywhere. About 120,000 people are expected to attend the trade show which stretches over more than 1.5 million square feet. Highlights will include the latest trends in digital imaging, storage technologies, thinner flat screen and high-definition TVs, wireless and portable technologies, gaming, and broadband technologies. The show also includes several speeches from key technology companies such as Intel, Microsoft, and Hewlett Packard among others. "The story this year remains all about digital and how that is completely transforming and revolutionising products and the way people interact with them," Jeff Joseph, from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) told the BBC News website. "It is about personalisation - taking your MP3 player and creating your own playlist, taking your digital video recorder and watch what you want to watch when - you are no longer at the whim of the broadcasters." Consumer electronics and gadgets had a phenomenal year in 2004, according to figures released by CES organisers, the CEA, on Tuesday. The gadget explosion signalled the strongest growth yet in the US in 2004. Shipments of consumer electronics rose by almost 11% between 2003 and 2004. That trend is predicted to continue, according to CEA analysts, with wholesale shipments of consumer technologies expected to grow by 11% again in 2005. The fastest-growing technologies in 2004 included blank DVD media, Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) TVs, digital video recorders (DVRs), and portable music players. "This year we will really begin to see that come to life in what we call place shifting - so if you have your PVR [personal video recorder] in your living room, you can move that content around the house. "Some exhibitors will be showcasing how you can take that content anywhere," said Mr Joseph. He said the products which will be making waves in the next year will be about the "democratisation" of content - devices and technologies that will give people the freedom to do more with music, video, and images. There will also be more focus on the design of technologies, following the lead that Apple's iPod made, with ease of use and good looks which appeal to a wider range of people a key concern. The CEA predicted that there would be several key technology trends to watch in the coming year. Gaming would continue to thrive, especially on mobile devices, and would reach out to more diverse gamers such as women. Games consoles sales have been declining, but the launch of next generation consoles, such as Microsoft's Xbox and PlayStation, could buoy up sales. Although it has been widely predicted that Mr Gates would be showcasing the new Xbox, some media reports have cast doubt on what he would be talking about in the keynote. Some have suggested the announcement may take place at the Games Developers Conference in the summer instead. With more than 52% of US homes expected to have home networks, the CEA suggested hard drive boxes - or media servers - capable of storing thousands of images, video and audio files to be accessed through other devices around the home, will be more commonplace. Portable devices that combine mobile telephony, digital music and video players, will also be more popular in 2005. Their popularity will be driven by more multimedia content and services which will let people watch and listen to films, TV, and audio wherever they are. This means more storage technologies will be in demand, such as external hard drives, and flash memory like SD cards. CES runs officially from 6 to 9 January.

He said the products which will be making waves in the next year will be about the "democratisation" of content - devices and technologies that will give people the freedom to do more with music, video, and images.The CEA predicted that there would be several key technology trends to watch in the coming year.The thrust of this year's show will be on technologies which put people in charge of multimedia content so they can store, listen to, and watch what they want on devices any time, anywhere.That trend is predicted to continue, according to CEA analysts, with wholesale shipments of consumer technologies expected to grow by 11% again in 2005.Consumer electronics and gadgets had a phenomenal year in 2004, according to figures released by CES organisers, the CEA, on Tuesday.Thousands of technology lovers and industry experts have gathered in Las Vegas for the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES)."The story this year remains all about digital and how that is completely transforming and revolutionising products and the way people interact with them," Jeff Joseph, from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) told the BBC News website.The fair showcases the latest technologies and gadgets that will hit the shops in the next year.The fastest-growing technologies in 2004 included blank DVD media, Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) TVs, digital video recorders (DVRs), and portable music players.The show also includes several speeches from key technology companies such as Intel, Microsoft, and Hewlett Packard among others.Portable devices that combine mobile telephony, digital music and video players, will also be more popular in 2005.Although it has been widely predicted that Mr Gates would be showcasing the new Xbox, some media reports have cast doubt on what he would be talking about in the keynote.

Summarize the following article: US state acts to stop 'spammers' US state Texas has filed a lawsuit against two men believed to be among the world's top five spammers. It is seeking millions of dollars in damages in a civil lawsuit filed earlier this week. The Texas attorney general said it started the legal action as messages sent by the alleged spammers broke three laws governing e-mail marketing. The company named in the lawsuit denied any wrongdoing and said it complied with all relevant laws. The Texas lawsuit was filed against Ryan Samuel Pitylak, a University ofTexas student, and Mark Stephen Trotter of California. Both are thought to be the top executives in three companies - PayPerAction LLC., Leadplex LLC. and Leadplex Inc - that are suspected of sending out many millions of unwanted e-mail messages. "Illegal spam must be stopped," said Greg Abbott, Texas attorney general announcing the legal action. "Spam is one of the most aggravating and pervasive problems facing consumers today." The attorney general alleges that messages sent by Mr Pitylak and Mr Trotter's companies broke the 2003 Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (Can-Spam) as well as the Texas Electronic Mail and Solicitation Act and Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. All three acts confer cash penalties for each violation of their terms. If the men are found guilty and all penalties are applied, the two men could face a damages bill running into millions. Mr Abbott said the messages sent by the pair broke laws by using misleading subject lines, not identifying themselves as adverts and offering services for which they had no licence to do so in Texas. Lawyers for the alleged spammers said the lawsuit was groundless and the two men would defend themselves strongly against the accusations. "Leadplex and PayPerAction are legitimate internet marketing companies that are in complete compliance with the federal Can-Spam Act," said Lin Hughes, speaking on behalf of Mr Pitylak and Mr Trotter. In a similar move the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has won a court order that stops an international group of spammers sending sexually explicit e-mail. The FTC took the action because the messages being sent violated several parts of the CAN-Spam Act. In particular, the pornographic messages did not identify themselves as being sexually explicit, had deceptive subject headings, did not have working opt-out mechanisms, failed to mention they were adverts and did not give the sender's real world address. The court order stops the spammers sending e-mail and freezes assets prior to a hearing on a permanent injunction.

The Texas attorney general said it started the legal action as messages sent by the alleged spammers broke three laws governing e-mail marketing.The attorney general alleges that messages sent by Mr Pitylak and Mr Trotter's companies broke the 2003 Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (Can-Spam) as well as the Texas Electronic Mail and Solicitation Act and Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act."Leadplex and PayPerAction are legitimate internet marketing companies that are in complete compliance with the federal Can-Spam Act," said Lin Hughes, speaking on behalf of Mr Pitylak and Mr Trotter.Mr Abbott said the messages sent by the pair broke laws by using misleading subject lines, not identifying themselves as adverts and offering services for which they had no licence to do so in Texas.US state Texas has filed a lawsuit against two men believed to be among the world's top five spammers.Lawyers for the alleged spammers said the lawsuit was groundless and the two men would defend themselves strongly against the accusations."Illegal spam must be stopped," said Greg Abbott, Texas attorney general announcing the legal action.In a similar move the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has won a court order that stops an international group of spammers sending sexually explicit e-mail.

Summarize the following article: Microsoft seeking spyware trojan Microsoft is investigating a trojan program that attempts to switch off the firm's anti-spyware software. The spyware tool was only released by Microsoft in the last few weeks and has been downloaded by six million people. Stephen Toulouse, a security manager at Microsoft, said the malicious program was called Bankash-A Trojan and was being sent as an e-mail attachment. Microsoft said it did not believe the program was widespread and recommended users to use an anti-virus program. The program attempts to disable or delete Microsoft's anti-spyware tool and suppress warning messages given to users. It may also try to steal online banking passwords or other personal information by tracking users' keystrokes. Microsoft said in a statement it is investigating what it called a criminal attack on its software. Earlier this week, Microsoft said it would buy anti-virus software maker Sybari Software to improve its security in its Windows and e-mail software. Microsoft has said it plans to offer its own paid-for anti-virus software but it has not yet set a date for its release. The anti-spyware program being targeted is currently only in beta form and aims to help users find and remove spyware - programs which monitor internet use, causes advert pop-ups and slow a PC's performance.

Microsoft is investigating a trojan program that attempts to switch off the firm's anti-spyware software.Microsoft said it did not believe the program was widespread and recommended users to use an anti-virus program.Stephen Toulouse, a security manager at Microsoft, said the malicious program was called Bankash-A Trojan and was being sent as an e-mail attachment.Microsoft said in a statement it is investigating what it called a criminal attack on its software.

Summarize the following article: First look at PlayStation 3 chip Some details of the chip inside Sony's PlayStation 3 have been revealed. Sony, IBM and Toshiba have released limited data about the so-called Cell chip that will be able to carry out trillions of calculations per second. The chip will be made of several different processing cores that work on tasks together. The PlayStation 3 is expected in 2006 but developers are expecting to get prototypes early next year to tune games that will appear on it at launch. The three firms have been working on the chip since 2001 but before now few details have been released about how it might function. In a joint statement the three firms gave hints about how the chip will work but fuller details will be released in February next year at the International Solid State Circuits Conference in San Francisco. The three firms claim that the Cell chip will be up to 10 times more powerful than existing processors. When put inside powerful computer servers, the Cell consortium expects it to be capable of handling 16 trillion floating point operations, or calculations, every second. The chip has also been refined to be able to handle the detailed graphics common in games and the data demands of films and broadband media. IBM said it would start producing the chip in early 2005 at manufacturing plants in the US. The first machines off the line using the Cell processor will be computer workstations and servers. A working version of the PS3 is due to be shown off in May 2005 but a full launch of the next generation console is not expected to start until 2006. As well as being inside the PlayStation 3, the chip will also be used inside high-definition TVs and powerful computers. "In the future, all forms of digital content will be converged and fused onto the broadband network," said Ken Kutaragi, Chief Operating Officer of Sony. "Current PC architecture is nearing its limits."

Some details of the chip inside Sony's PlayStation 3 have been revealed.The three firms claim that the Cell chip will be up to 10 times more powerful than existing processors.The three firms have been working on the chip since 2001 but before now few details have been released about how it might function.Sony, IBM and Toshiba have released limited data about the so-called Cell chip that will be able to carry out trillions of calculations per second.As well as being inside the PlayStation 3, the chip will also be used inside high-definition TVs and powerful computers.In a joint statement the three firms gave hints about how the chip will work but fuller details will be released in February next year at the International Solid State Circuits Conference in San Francisco.

Summarize the following article: US top of supercomputing charts The US has pushed Japan off the top of the supercomputing chart with IBM's prototype Blue Gene/L machine. It is being assembled for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, under the US Department of Energy. IBM test results show that Blue Gene/L has managed speeds of 70.72 teraflops. The previous top machine, Japan's NEC Earth Simulator, clocked up 35.86. The Top 500 list was announced on Monday and officially charts the fastest computers in the world. It is announced every six months and is worked out using an officially recognised mathematical speed test called Linpack which measures calculations per second. Once completed in 2005, Blue Gene/L will be more powerful than its current prototype. "Next year with the final Blue Gene, four times what it is this year, it is going to be a real step up and will be hard to beat," said Erich Strohmaier, one of the co-founders of the Top500 list. It will help scientists work out the safety, security and reliability requirements for the US's nuclear weapons stockpile, without the need for underground nuclear testing. It will also cut down on the amount of heat generated by the massive power, a big problem for supercomputers. In second place was Silicon Graphics' Columbia supercomputer based at the US space agency's (Nasa) Ames Research Center in California. The Linux-based machine was reported to have reached a top speed of 42.7 trillion calculations per second (teraflops) in October. It will be used to model flight missions, climate research, and aerospace engineering. The defeated Japanese contender, the Earth Simulator, which was listed in third place, losing the top spot it had held since June 2002. It is dedicated to climate modelling and simulating seismic activity. Since the first supercomputer, the Cray-1, was installed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, US, in 1976, computational speed has leaped 500,000 times. The Cray-1 was capable of 80 megaflops (80 million operations a second). The Blue Gene/L machine that will be completed next year will be five million times faster. Started in 1993, the Top 500 list is decided by a group of computer science academics from around the world. It is presented at the International Supercomputer Conference in Pittsburgh.

The US has pushed Japan off the top of the supercomputing chart with IBM's prototype Blue Gene/L machine.The Linux-based machine was reported to have reached a top speed of 42.7 trillion calculations per second (teraflops) in October.Since the first supercomputer, the Cray-1, was installed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, US, in 1976, computational speed has leaped 500,000 times.The Top 500 list was announced on Monday and officially charts the fastest computers in the world.The Blue Gene/L machine that will be completed next year will be five million times faster.In second place was Silicon Graphics' Columbia supercomputer based at the US space agency's (Nasa) Ames Research Center in California.IBM test results show that Blue Gene/L has managed speeds of 70.72 teraflops.The defeated Japanese contender, the Earth Simulator, which was listed in third place, losing the top spot it had held since June 2002.

Summarize the following article: Loyalty cards idea for TV addicts Viewers could soon be rewarded for watching TV as loyalty cards come to a screen near you. Any household hooked up to Sky could soon be using smartcards in conjunction with their set-top boxes. Broadcasters such as Sky and ITV could offer viewers loyalty points in return for watching a particular channel or programme. Sky will activate a spare slot on set-top boxes in January, marketing magazine New Media Age reported. Sky set-top boxes have two slots. One is for the viewer's decryption card, while the other has been dormant until now. Loyalty cards have become a common addition to most wallets, as High Street brands rush to keep customers with a series of incentives offered by store cards. Now similar schemes look set to enter the highly competitive world of multi-channel TV. Viewers who stay loyal to a particular TV channel could be rewarded by free TV content or freebies from retail partners. Broadcasters aiming content at children could offer smartcards which gives membership to exclusive content and clubs. "Parents could pre-pay for some content, as a kind of TV pocket money card," said Nigel Whalley, managing director of media consultancy Decipher. Viewers could even be rewarded for watching ad breaks, with ideas such as ad bingo being touted by firms keen to make money out of the new market, said Mr Whalley. Credit cards that have been chipped could be used in set-top boxes to pay for movies, gambling and gaming. "The idea of an intelligent card in boxes offers a lot of possibilities. It will be down to the ingenuity of the content players," said Mr Whalley. For the BBC, revenue-generating activity will be of little interest but the new development may prompt changes to Freeview set-top boxes, said Mr Whalley. Currently most Freeview boxes do not have a slot which would allow viewers to use a smartcard. Some 7.4 million households have Sky boxes and Sky is hoping to increase this to 10 million by 2010. Loyalty cards could play a role in this, particularly in reducing the number of people who cancel their Sky subscriptions, said Ian Fogg, an analyst with Jupiter Research.

Viewers could soon be rewarded for watching TV as loyalty cards come to a screen near you."Parents could pre-pay for some content, as a kind of TV pocket money card," said Nigel Whalley, managing director of media consultancy Decipher.Credit cards that have been chipped could be used in set-top boxes to pay for movies, gambling and gaming.Any household hooked up to Sky could soon be using smartcards in conjunction with their set-top boxes.Sky set-top boxes have two slots.Broadcasters such as Sky and ITV could offer viewers loyalty points in return for watching a particular channel or programme.Loyalty cards could play a role in this, particularly in reducing the number of people who cancel their Sky subscriptions, said Ian Fogg, an analyst with Jupiter Research.Viewers who stay loyal to a particular TV channel could be rewarded by free TV content or freebies from retail partners.

Summarize the following article: Local net TV takes off in Austria An Austrian village is testing technology that could represent the future of television. The people of Engerwitzdorf are filming, editing and producing their own regional news channel. The channel covers local politics, sports, events and anything that residents want to film and are prepared to upload for others to watch on PCs. The pilot has been so successful that Telekom Austria is now considering setting up other projects elsewhere. "It's growing unbelievably fast," said Rudolf Fischer, head of Telekom Austria's fixed line division. The trial of Buntes Fernsehen (Multi-Coloured TV) was started in late 2004 and creates a net-based TV station run by the 8,000 residents of Engerwitzdorf. The hardware and software to turn video footage into edited programmes has been provided by Telekom Austria but this equipment, following training, has been turned over to the villagers. Any video programme created by the villagers is uploaded to a Buntes Fernsehen portal that lets people browse and download what they want to watch. Most people watch the TV on their home PC and a broadband connection is needed to get broadcast quality programmes. In the first four months of the project villagers have created 60 films and put together regular reports on local news items. "They have adopted it very quickly," said Mr Fischer. "They like the possibility to create their own content and see what's going on in the area." "It's kind of the democratisation of local TV," he said, "because none of the bigger broadcasters would ever do anything like this for that region." The Buntes Fernsehen project has been such a success that Telekom Austria is now considering setting up other schemes in similarly rural areas. Mr Fischer said it was taking the roll-out to other areas slowly because of the work involved in setting up the scheme, getting backers from local government and educating people how to make programmes. The Engerwitzdorf scheme is an outgrowth of Telekom Austria's online TV channel Aon which lets people watch programmes on their PC. Aon streams a couple of live channels, plus sports, news and music programmes on to the net and has a pay-for-download section that lets people watch what they want when they want to watch it. In October a larger TV-on-demand project is due to launch in Vienna that will let people download many programmes from the net.

The Engerwitzdorf scheme is an outgrowth of Telekom Austria's online TV channel Aon which lets people watch programmes on their PC.Any video programme created by the villagers is uploaded to a Buntes Fernsehen portal that lets people browse and download what they want to watch.Aon streams a couple of live channels, plus sports, news and music programmes on to the net and has a pay-for-download section that lets people watch what they want when they want to watch it.Mr Fischer said it was taking the roll-out to other areas slowly because of the work involved in setting up the scheme, getting backers from local government and educating people how to make programmes.The Buntes Fernsehen project has been such a success that Telekom Austria is now considering setting up other schemes in similarly rural areas.The pilot has been so successful that Telekom Austria is now considering setting up other projects elsewhere.In October a larger TV-on-demand project is due to launch in Vienna that will let people download many programmes from the net.Most people watch the TV on their home PC and a broadband connection is needed to get broadcast quality programmes.

Summarize the following article: More power to the people says HP The digital revolution is focused on letting people tell and share their own stories, according to Carly Fiorina, chief of technology giant Hewlett Packard. The job of firms such as HP now, she said in a speech at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), was to ensure digital and physical worlds fully converged. She said the goal for 2005 was to make people the centre of technology. CES showcases 50,000 new gadgets that will be hitting the shelves in 2005. The tech-fest, the largest of its kind in the world, runs from 6 to 9 January. "The digital revolution is about the democratisation of technology and the experiences it makes possible," she told delegates. "Revolution has always been about giving power to the people." She added: "The real story of the digital revolution is not just new products, but the millions of experiences made possible and stories that millions can tell." Part of giving people more control has been about the freeing up of content, such as images, video and music. Crucial to this has been the effort to make devices that speak to each other better so that content can be more easily transferred from one device, such as a digital camera, to others, such as portable media players. A lot of work still needs to be done, however, to sort out compatibility issues and standards within the technology industry so that gadgets just work seamlessly, she said. Ms Fiorina's talk also touted the way technology is being designed to focus on lifestyle, fashion and personalisation, something she sees as key to what people want. Special guest, singer Gwen Stefani, joined her on-stage to promote her own range of HP digital cameras which Ms Stefani has helped design and which are heavily influenced by Japanese youth culture. The digital cameras, which are due to go on sale in the US by the summer, are based on the HP 607 model. The emphasis on personalisation and lifestyle is a big theme at this year's CES, with tiny, wearable MP3 players at every turn and rainbow hues giving colour to everything. Ms Fiorina also announced that HP was working with Nokia to launch a visual radio service for mobiles, which would launch in Europe early this year. The service will let people listen to radio on their mobiles and download relevant content, like a track's ringtone, simultaneously. The service is designed to make mobile radio more interactive. Among the other new products she showcased was the Digital Media Hub, a big upgrade to HP's Digital Entertainment Centre. Coming out in the autumn in the US, the box is a networked, high-definition TV, cable set-top box, digital video recorder and DVD recorder. It has a removable hard drive cartridge, memory card slots, and Light Scribe labelling software which lets people design and print customised DVD labels and covers. It is designed to contain all a household's digital media, such as pre-recorded TV shows, pictures, videos and music so it can all be managed in one place. The hub reflects the increasing move to re-box the PC so that it can work as part of other key centres of entertainment. Research suggests that about 258 million images are saved and shared every day, equating to 94 billion a year. Eighty per cent of those remain on cameras. Media hubs are designed to encourage people to organise them on one box. Ms Fiorina was one of several keynote speakers, who also included Microsoft chief Bill Gates, to set out what major technology companies think people will be doing with technologies and gadgets in the next 12 months. In a separate announcement during the keynote speech, Ms Fiorina said that HP would be partnering MTV to replace this year's MTV Asia music award. MTV's Asia Aid will be held in Bangkok on 3 February, and is aimed at helping to raise money for the Asian tsunami disaster.

She said the goal for 2005 was to make people the centre of technology.Among the other new products she showcased was the Digital Media Hub, a big upgrade to HP's Digital Entertainment Centre.The digital revolution is focused on letting people tell and share their own stories, according to Carly Fiorina, chief of technology giant Hewlett Packard."The digital revolution is about the democratisation of technology and the experiences it makes possible," she told delegates.Ms Fiorina was one of several keynote speakers, who also included Microsoft chief Bill Gates, to set out what major technology companies think people will be doing with technologies and gadgets in the next 12 months.The job of firms such as HP now, she said in a speech at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), was to ensure digital and physical worlds fully converged.Media hubs are designed to encourage people to organise them on one box."Revolution has always been about giving power to the people."Part of giving people more control has been about the freeing up of content, such as images, video and music.Ms Fiorina's talk also touted the way technology is being designed to focus on lifestyle, fashion and personalisation, something she sees as key to what people want.It is designed to contain all a household's digital media, such as pre-recorded TV shows, pictures, videos and music so it can all be managed in one place.The digital cameras, which are due to go on sale in the US by the summer, are based on the HP 607 model.

Summarize the following article: Apple laptop is 'greatest gadget' The Apple Powerbook 100 has been chosen as the greatest gadget of all time, by US magazine Mobile PC. The 1991 laptop was chosen because it was one of the first "lightweight" portable computers and helped define the layout of all future notebook PCs. The magazine has compiled an all-time top 100 list of gadgets, which includes the Sony Walkman at number three and the 1956 Zenith remote control at two. Gadgets needed moving parts and/or electronics to warrant inclusion. The magazine staff compiled the list and specified that gadgets also needed to be a "self-contained apparatus that can be used on its own, not a subset of another device". "In general we included only items that were potentially mobile," said the magazine. "In the end, we tried to get to the heart of what really makes a gadget a gadget," it concluded. The oldest "gadget" in the top 100 is the abacus, which the magazine dates at 190 A.D., and put in 60th place. Other pre-electronic gadgets in the top 100 include the sextant from 1731 (59th position), the marine chronometer from 1761 (42nd position) and the Kodak Brownie camera from 1900 (28th position). The Tivo personal video recorder is the newest device to make the top 10, which also includes the first flash mp3 player (Diamond Multimedia), as well as the first "successful" digital camera (Casio QV-10) and mobile phone (Motorola Startac). The most popular gadget of the moment, the Apple iPod, is at number 12 in the list while the first Sony transistor radio is at number 13. Sony's third entry in the top 20 is the CDP-101 CD player from 1983. "Who can forget the crystalline, hiss-free blast of Madonna's Like A Virgin emanating from their first CD player?" asked the magazine. Karl Elsener's knife, the Swiss Army Knife from 1891, is at number 20 in the list. Gadgets which could be said to feature surprisingly low down in the list include the original telephone (23rd), the Nintendo GameBoy (25th), and the Pulsar quartz digital watch (36th). The list also contains plenty of oddities: the Pez sweet dispenser (98th), 1990s toy Tamagotchi (86th) and the bizarre Ronco inside the shell egg scrambler (84th). Almost everyone has a mobile phone, how many people own a Powerbook? or an iPod? The findings of this magazine are not very convincing. What about the magnetic compass? We still use it 1,000 years after it was invented. I am amazed by the obsession with individual gadgets rather than genre. For example the Sony walkman was the first truly portable way of listening to your own music on the move whereas Minidisc, Flash MP3, portable CD players etc. are really just improvements in technology. My favourite 'true' gadgets are probably my portable MiniDisc player and the little battery powered whizzy thing I use to froth up my coffee! Calm down it's only in their opinion, and any list that includes the Taser in the top 100 gadgets has to be suspect.... Swiss army knife and no question about it. How many of the other items are still relatively unchanged from the original idea and still as useful/popular? You don't need a laptop or even a pocket calculator to work that one out! This list merely illustrates interesting cultural divides between the American authors and the overwhelmingly British responses. Brits see no further than mobile phones and the over thirties Sinclair; whilst the Americans focus on Apple, TV remotes and TiVO (which probably is rather obscure in Europe). What about the Soda Stream. This gadget changed my pre-teen life. Lap tops may enable you to "think different, but you cant use them to "get busy with the fizzy" How about Astro Wars, one of the pioneers for computer games, i remember spending many an hour playing this and it still works today! However tried it the other day and it was rubbish, still a great gadget of its time. Why worry about mobile phones. Soon they will be subsumed into the PDA's / laptops etc. What about the Marine Chronometer? Completely revolutionised navigation for boats and was in use for centuries. For it's time, a technological marvel! Sony Net Minidisc! It paved the way for more mp3 player to explode onto the market. I always used my NetMD, and could not go anywhere without it. A laptop computer is not a gadget! It's a working tool! The Sinclair Executive was the world's first pocket calculator. I think this should be there as well. How about the clockwork radio? Or GPS? Or a pocket calculator? All these things are useful to real people, not just PC magazine editors. Are the people who created this list insane ? Surely the most important gadget of the modern age is the mobile phone? It has revolutionised communication, which is more than can be said for a niche market laptop. From outside the modern age, the marine chronometer is the single most important gadget, without which modern transportation systems would not have evolved so quickly. Has everyone forgot about the Breville pie maker?? An interesting list. Of the electronic gadgets, thousands of journalists in the early 1980s blessed the original noteboook pc - the Tandy 100. The size of A4 paper and light, three weeks on a set of batteries, an excellent keyboard, a modem. A pity Tandy did not make it DOS compatible. What's an Apple Powerbook 100 ? It's out of date - not much of a "gadget". Surely it has to be something simple / timeless - the tin opener, Swiss Army Knife, safety razor blade, wristwatch or the thing for taking stones out of horses hooves ? It has to be the mobile phone. No other single device has had such an effect on our way of living in such a short space of time. The ball point pen has got to be one of the most used and common gadgets ever. Also many might be grateful for the pocket calculator which was a great improvement over the slide rule. The Casio pocket calculator that played a simple game and made tinny noises was also a hot gadget in 1980. A true gadget, it could be carried around and shown off. All top 10 are electronic toys, so the list is probably a better reflection of the current high-tech obsession than anything else. I say this as the Swiss Army Knife only made No 20. Sinclair QL a machine far ahead of its time. The first home machine with a true multi-takings OS. Shame the marketing was so bad!!! Apple.. a triumph of fashion over... well everything else. Utter rubbish. Yes, the Apple laptop and Sony Walkman are classic gadgets. But to call the sextant and the marine chronometer 'gadgets' and rank them as less important than a TV remote control reveals a quite shocking lack of historical perspective. The former literally helped change the world by vastly improving navigation at see. The latter is the seed around which the couch potato culture has developed. No competition. I'd also put Apple's Newton and the first Palm Pilot there as the front runners for portable computing, and possibly the Toshiba Libretto for the same reason. I only wish that Vulcan Inc's Flipstart wasn't just vapourware otherwise it would be at the top. How did a laptop ever manage to beat off the challenge of the wristwatch or the telephone (mobile or otherwise)? What about radios and TVs? The swiss army knife. By far the most useful gadget. I got mine 12 years ago. Still wearing and using it a lot! It stood the test of time. Psion Organiser series 3, should be up there. Had a usable qwerty keyboard, removable storage, good set of apps and programmable. Case design was good (batteries in the hinge - a first, I think). Great product innovation. The first mobile PC was voted best gadget by readers of...err... mobile PC?! Why do you keep putting these obviously biased lists on your site? It's obviously the mobile phone or remote control, and readers of a less partisan publication would tell you that. The Motorola Startac should be Number One. Why? There will be mobile phones long after notebook computers and other gadgets are either gone or integrated in communications devices. The Psion series 3c! The first most practical way to carry all your info around... I too would back the Sinclair Spectrum - without this little beauty I would never have moved into the world of IT and earn the living that I do now. I'd have put the mobile phone high up the list. Probably a Nokia model. Sinclair Spectrum - 16k. It plugged into the tv. Games were rubbish but it gave me a taste for programming and that's what I do for a living now. I wish more modern notebooks -- even Apple's newest offerings -- were more like the PB100. Particularly disheartening is the demise of the trackball, which has given way to the largely useless "trackpad" which every notebook on the market today uses. They're invariably inaccurate, uncomfortable, and cumbersome to use. Congratulations to Apple, a deserved win!

The Apple Powerbook 100 has been chosen as the greatest gadget of all time, by US magazine Mobile PC.The most popular gadget of the moment, the Apple iPod, is at number 12 in the list while the first Sony transistor radio is at number 13.However tried it the other day and it was rubbish, still a great gadget of its time.The first mobile PC was voted best gadget by readers of...err... mobile PC?!Calm down it's only in their opinion, and any list that includes the Taser in the top 100 gadgets has to be suspect.... Swiss army knife and no question about it.Surely the most important gadget of the modern age is the mobile phone?A laptop computer is not a gadget!The magazine has compiled an all-time top 100 list of gadgets, which includes the Sony Walkman at number three and the 1956 Zenith remote control at two.It has to be the mobile phone.Almost everyone has a mobile phone, how many people own a Powerbook?The Tivo personal video recorder is the newest device to make the top 10, which also includes the first flash mp3 player (Diamond Multimedia), as well as the first "successful" digital camera (Casio QV-10) and mobile phone (Motorola Startac)."In the end, we tried to get to the heart of what really makes a gadget a gadget," it concluded.The Sinclair Executive was the world's first pocket calculator.There will be mobile phones long after notebook computers and other gadgets are either gone or integrated in communications devices.The magazine staff compiled the list and specified that gadgets also needed to be a "self-contained apparatus that can be used on its own, not a subset of another device".The oldest "gadget" in the top 100 is the abacus, which the magazine dates at 190 A.D., and put in 60th place.The Casio pocket calculator that played a simple game and made tinny noises was also a hot gadget in 1980.I'd have put the mobile phone high up the list.The 1991 laptop was chosen because it was one of the first "lightweight" portable computers and helped define the layout of all future notebook PCs.The ball point pen has got to be one of the most used and common gadgets ever.By far the most useful gadget.Brits see no further than mobile phones and the over thirties Sinclair; whilst the Americans focus on Apple, TV remotes and TiVO (which probably is rather obscure in Europe).My favourite 'true' gadgets are probably my portable MiniDisc player and the little battery powered whizzy thing I use to froth up my coffee!It's out of date - not much of a "gadget".For example the Sony walkman was the first truly portable way of listening to your own music on the move whereas Minidisc, Flash MP3, portable CD players etc.We still use it 1,000 years after it was invented.Also many might be grateful for the pocket calculator which was a great improvement over the slide rule.A true gadget, it could be carried around and shown off.Case design was good (batteries in the hinge - a first, I think).Karl Elsener's knife, the Swiss Army Knife from 1891, is at number 20 in the list.From outside the modern age, the marine chronometer is the single most important gadget, without which modern transportation systems would not have evolved so quickly.Yes, the Apple laptop and Sony Walkman are classic gadgets.This gadget changed my pre-teen life.Other pre-electronic gadgets in the top 100 include the sextant from 1731 (59th position), the marine chronometer from 1761 (42nd position) and the Kodak Brownie camera from 1900 (28th position).It's obviously the mobile phone or remote control, and readers of a less partisan publication would tell you that."In general we included only items that were potentially mobile," said the magazine.No other single device has had such an effect on our way of living in such a short space of time.I am amazed by the obsession with individual gadgets rather than genre.It has revolutionised communication, which is more than can be said for a niche market laptop.An interesting list.You don't need a laptop or even a pocket calculator to work that one out!All top 10 are electronic toys, so the list is probably a better reflection of the current high-tech obsession than anything else.Lap tops may enable you to "think different, but you cant use them to "get busy with the fizzy" How about Astro Wars, one of the pioneers for computer games, i remember spending many an hour playing this and it still works today!Gadgets which could be said to feature surprisingly low down in the list include the original telephone (23rd), the Nintendo GameBoy (25th), and the Pulsar quartz digital watch (36th).How did a laptop ever manage to beat off the challenge of the wristwatch or the telephone (mobile or otherwise)?

Summarize the following article: Iran jails blogger for 14 years An Iranian weblogger has been jailed for 14 years on charges of spying and aiding foreign counter-revolutionaries. Arash Sigarchi was arrested last month after using his blog to criticise the arrest of other online journalists. Mr Sigarchi, who also edits a newspaper in northern Iran, was sentenced by a revolutionary court in the Gilan area. His sentence, criticised by human rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders, comes a day after an online "day of action" to secure his release. Iranian authorities have recently clamped down on the growing popularity of weblogs, restricting access to major blogging sites from within Iran. A second Iranian blogger, Motjaba Saminejad, who also used his website to report on bloggers' arrests, is still being held. A spokesman for Reporters Without Borders, which tracks press freedom across the globe, described Mr Sigarchi's sentence as "harsh" and called on Iranian President Mohammed Khatami to work to secure his immediate release. "The authorities are trying to make an example of him," the organisation said in a statement. "By handing down this harsh sentence against a weblogger, their aim is to dissuade journalists and internet-users from expressing themselves online or contacting foreign media." In the days before his arrest Mr Sigarchi gave interviews to the BBC Persian Service and the US-funded Radio Farda. Iranian authorities have arrested about 20 online journalists during the current crackdown. They accused Mr Sigarchi of a string of crimes against Iranian state, including espionage, insulting the founder of Iran's Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei, and current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Mr Sigarchi's lawyer labelled the revolutionary court "illegal and incompetent" and called for a retrial in a public court. Mr Sigarchi was sentenced one day after an online campaign highlighted his case in a day of action in defence of bloggers around the world. The Committee to Protect Bloggers designated 22 February 2005 as Free Mojtaba and Arash Day. Around 10,000 people visited the campaign's website during the day. About 12% of users were based in Iran, the campaign's director told the BBC News website. Curt Hopkins said Mr Sigarchi's sentence would not dent the resolve of bloggers joining the campaign to help highlight the case. "The eyes of 8 million bloggers are going to be more focused on Iran since Sigarchi's sentence, not less. "The mullahs won't be able to make a move without it be spread across the blogosphere."

Mr Sigarchi was sentenced one day after an online campaign highlighted his case in a day of action in defence of bloggers around the world.His sentence, criticised by human rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders, comes a day after an online "day of action" to secure his release.A spokesman for Reporters Without Borders, which tracks press freedom across the globe, described Mr Sigarchi's sentence as "harsh" and called on Iranian President Mohammed Khatami to work to secure his immediate release.Iranian authorities have arrested about 20 online journalists during the current crackdown.Mr Sigarchi, who also edits a newspaper in northern Iran, was sentenced by a revolutionary court in the Gilan area.In the days before his arrest Mr Sigarchi gave interviews to the BBC Persian Service and the US-funded Radio Farda.Curt Hopkins said Mr Sigarchi's sentence would not dent the resolve of bloggers joining the campaign to help highlight the case.Around 10,000 people visited the campaign's website during the day.

Summarize the following article: Net regulation 'still possible' The blurring of boundaries between TV and the internet raises questions of regulation, watchdog Ofcom has said. Content on TV and the internet is set to move closer this year as TV-quality video online becomes a norm. At a debate in Westminster, the net industry considered the options. Lord Currie, chairman of super-regulator Ofcom, told the panel that protecting audiences would always have to be a primary concern for the watchdog. Despite having no remit for the regulation of net content, disquiet has increased among internet service providers as speeches made by Ofcom in recent months hinted that regulation might be an option. At the debate, organised by the Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA), Lord Currie did not rule out the possibility of regulation. "The challenge will arise when boundaries between TV and the internet truly blur and then there is a balance to be struck between protecting consumers and allowing them to assess the risks themselves," he said. Adopting the rules that currently exist to regulate TV content or self-regulation, which is currently the practice of the net industry, will be up for discussion. Some studies suggest that as many as eight million households in the UK could have adopted broadband by the end of 2005, and the technology opens the door to TV content delivered over the net. More and more internet service providers and media companies are streaming video content on the web. BT has already set up an entertainment division to create and distribute content that could come from sources such as BSkyB, ITV and the BBC. Head of the division, Andrew Burke, spoke about the possibility of creating content for all platforms. "How risque can I be in this new age? With celebrity chefs serving up more expletives than hot dinners, surely I can push it to the limit," he said. In fact, he said, if content has been requested by consumers and they have gone to lengths to download it, then maybe it should be entirely regulation free. Internet service providers have long claimed no responsibility for the content they carry on their servers since the Law Commission dubbed them "mere conduits" back in 2002. This defence does not apply if they have actual knowledge of illegal content and have failed to remove it. The level of responsibility they have has been tested in several high-profile legal cases. Richard Ayers, portal director at Tiscali, said there was little point trying to regulate the internet because it would be impossible. Huge changes are afoot in 2005, he predicted, as companies such as the BBC offer TV content over the net. The BBC's planned interactive media player which will give surfers the chance to download programmes such as EastEnders and Top Gear will make net TV mainstream and raise a whole new set of questions, he said. One of these will be about the vast sums of money involved in maintaining the network to supply such a huge quantity of data and could herald a new digital licence fee, said Mr Ayers. As inappropriate net content, most obviously pornography viewed by children, continues to dominate the headlines, internet regulation remains a political issue said MP Richard Allan, Liberal Democrat spokesman on IT. Mr Allan thinks that the answer could lie somewhere between the cries of "impossible to regulate" and "just apply offline laws online". In fact, instead of seeing regulation brought online, the future could bring an end to regulation as we know it for all TV content. After Lord Currie departed, the panel agreed that this could be a reality and that for the internet people power is likely to reign. "If content is on-demand, consumers have pulled it up rather than had pushed to them, then it is the consumers' choice to watch it. There is no watershed on the net," said Mr Burke.

The blurring of boundaries between TV and the internet raises questions of regulation, watchdog Ofcom has said.Despite having no remit for the regulation of net content, disquiet has increased among internet service providers as speeches made by Ofcom in recent months hinted that regulation might be an option.As inappropriate net content, most obviously pornography viewed by children, continues to dominate the headlines, internet regulation remains a political issue said MP Richard Allan, Liberal Democrat spokesman on IT.In fact, he said, if content has been requested by consumers and they have gone to lengths to download it, then maybe it should be entirely regulation free.In fact, instead of seeing regulation brought online, the future could bring an end to regulation as we know it for all TV content.Content on TV and the internet is set to move closer this year as TV-quality video online becomes a norm.More and more internet service providers and media companies are streaming video content on the web.Huge changes are afoot in 2005, he predicted, as companies such as the BBC offer TV content over the net.Adopting the rules that currently exist to regulate TV content or self-regulation, which is currently the practice of the net industry, will be up for discussion.There is no watershed on the net," said Mr Burke.Some studies suggest that as many as eight million households in the UK could have adopted broadband by the end of 2005, and the technology opens the door to TV content delivered over the net.At the debate, organised by the Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA), Lord Currie did not rule out the possibility of regulation.

Summarize the following article: Big war games battle it out The arrival of new titles in the popular Medal Of Honor and Call of Duty franchises leaves fans of wartime battle titles spoilt for choice. The acclaimed PC title Call of Duty has been updated for console formats, building on many of the original's elements. For its part, the long-running Medal of Honor series has added Pacific Assault to its PC catalogue, adapting the console game Rising Sun. Call of Duty: Finest Hour casts you as a succession of allied soldiers fighting on World War 2 battlefronts including Russia and North Africa. It is a traditional first-person-viewed game that lets you control just one character, in the midst of a unit where cohorts constantly bark orders at you. On a near-identical note, Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault does all it can to make you feel part of a tight-knit team and plum in the middle of all-out action. Its arenas are the war's Pacific battles, including Guadalcanal and Pearl Harbour. You play one character throughout, a raw and rather talkative US soldier. Both games rely on a carefully stage-managed structure that keeps things ticking along. When this works, it is a brilliant device to make you feel part of a story. When it does not, it is tedious. A winning moment is an early scene in Pacific Assault, where you come under attack at the famous US base in Hawaii. You are first ushered into a gunboat attacking the incoming waves of Japanese planes, then made to descend into a sinking battleship to rescue crewman, before seizing the anti-aircraft guns. It is one of the finest set-pieces ever seen in a video game. This notion of shuffling the player along a studiously pre-determined path, forcibly witnessing a series of pre-set moments of action, is a perilous business which can make the whole affair feel stilted rather than organic. The genius of something like Half Life 2 is that it skilfully disguises its linear plotting by various means of misdirection. This pair of games do not really accomplish that, being more concerned with imparting a full-on atmospheric experience. Call of Duty comes with a suitably bombastic score and overblown presentation. Finest Hour has a similar determination, framing everything in moody wartime music, archive footage and lots of reflective voice-overs. Letting you play a number of different roles is an interesting ploy that adds new dimensions to the Call of Duty endeavour, even if it sacrifices the narrative flow somewhat. The game's drawback could be said to be its format; tastes differ, but these wartime shooters often do seem to work better on PC. The mouse control is a big reason why, along with the sharper graphics a top-end computer can muster and the apparent notion that PC games are allowed to get away with a bit more subtlety. Call of Duty on PC was more detailed, plot-wise and graphically, and this new adaptation feels a little rough and ready. Targeting with the PS2 controller proved tricky, not helped by unconvincing collision-detection. You can shoot an enemy repeatedly with zero question as to your aim, yet the bullets will just refuse to hit him. Checkpoints are so few and far between that when you get shot, which happens regularly, you are set harshly far back, and will find yourself covering vast tracts of scorched earth again and again. The game wants to be a challenge, and is, and many players will like it for that. It is as dynamic a battlefield simulator as you will experience and even if it is not as refined as its PC parent, the sense of being part of the action is thoroughly impressive. Both of these games feature military colleagues who are disturbingly bad shots and prone to odd behaviour. And in Pacific Assault in particular, their commands and comments are irritatingly meaningless. But the teamwork element in titles like this is superficial, designed to add atmosphere and camaraderie rather than affect the gameplay mechanics at all. Of the two games, Pacific Assault gets more things right, including little points like auto-saving intelligently and having tidier presentation. It engages you very well and also looks wonderful, making the most of the lush tropical settings that are reminiscent of the glorious Far Cry, although we had to ramp up the settings on a high-spec machine to get the most out of them. Finest Hour is by no means bad, and it is only because the PC original was so dazzling that this version sometimes feels underwhelming. Those looking for a wartime game with plenty of atmosphere and a hearty abundance of enemies to shoot will be contented. But they will also have a niggling puzzlement as to why it does not break a little more ground rather then just being competent.

For its part, the long-running Medal of Honor series has added Pacific Assault to its PC catalogue, adapting the console game Rising Sun.On a near-identical note, Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault does all it can to make you feel part of a tight-knit team and plum in the middle of all-out action.Call of Duty on PC was more detailed, plot-wise and graphically, and this new adaptation feels a little rough and ready.Of the two games, Pacific Assault gets more things right, including little points like auto-saving intelligently and having tidier presentation.The acclaimed PC title Call of Duty has been updated for console formats, building on many of the original's elements.The game wants to be a challenge, and is, and many players will like it for that.Those looking for a wartime game with plenty of atmosphere and a hearty abundance of enemies to shoot will be contented.It is one of the finest set-pieces ever seen in a video game.Finest Hour is by no means bad, and it is only because the PC original was so dazzling that this version sometimes feels underwhelming.The mouse control is a big reason why, along with the sharper graphics a top-end computer can muster and the apparent notion that PC games are allowed to get away with a bit more subtlety.The arrival of new titles in the popular Medal Of Honor and Call of Duty franchises leaves fans of wartime battle titles spoilt for choice.Call of Duty: Finest Hour casts you as a succession of allied soldiers fighting on World War 2 battlefronts including Russia and North Africa.It is a traditional first-person-viewed game that lets you control just one character, in the midst of a unit where cohorts constantly bark orders at you.Both games rely on a carefully stage-managed structure that keeps things ticking along.This notion of shuffling the player along a studiously pre-determined path, forcibly witnessing a series of pre-set moments of action, is a perilous business which can make the whole affair feel stilted rather than organic.

Summarize the following article: China net cafe culture crackdown Chinese authorities closed 12,575 net cafes in the closing months of 2004, the country's government said. According to the official news agency most of the net cafes were closed down because they were operating illegally. Chinese net cafes operate under a set of strict guidelines and many of those most recently closed broke rules that limit how close they can be to schools. The move is the latest in a series of steps the Chinese government has taken to crack down on what it considers to be immoral net use. The official Xinhua News Agency said the crackdown was carried out to create a "safer environment for young people in China". Rules introduced in 2002 demand that net cafes be at least 200 metres away from middle and elementary schools. The hours that children can use net cafes are also tightly regulated. China has long been worried that net cafes are an unhealthy influence on young people. The 12,575 cafes were shut in the three months from October to December. China also tries to dictate the types of computer games people can play to limit the amount of violence people are exposed to. Net cafes are hugely popular in China because the relatively high cost of computer hardware means that few people have PCs in their homes. This is not the first time that the Chinese government has moved against net cafes that are not operating within its strict guidelines. All the 100,000 or so net cafes in the country are required to use software that controls what websites users can see. Logs of sites people visit are also kept. Laws on net cafe opening hours and who can use them were introduced in 2002 following a fire at one cafe that killed 25 people. During the crackdown following the blaze authorities moved to clean up net cafes and demanded that all of them get permits to operate. In August 2004 Chinese authorities shut down 700 websites and arrested 224 people in a crackdown on net porn. At the same time it introduced new controls to block overseas sex sites. The Reporters Without Borders group said in a report that Chinese government technologies for e-mail interception and net censorship are among the most highly developed in the world.

Laws on net cafe opening hours and who can use them were introduced in 2002 following a fire at one cafe that killed 25 people.Chinese authorities closed 12,575 net cafes in the closing months of 2004, the country's government said.China has long been worried that net cafes are an unhealthy influence on young people.This is not the first time that the Chinese government has moved against net cafes that are not operating within its strict guidelines.The hours that children can use net cafes are also tightly regulated.According to the official news agency most of the net cafes were closed down because they were operating illegally.In August 2004 Chinese authorities shut down 700 websites and arrested 224 people in a crackdown on net porn.Net cafes are hugely popular in China because the relatively high cost of computer hardware means that few people have PCs in their homes.

Summarize the following article: Google to scan famous libraries The libraries of five of the world's most important academic institutions are to be digitised by Google. Scanned pages from books in the public domain will then be made available for search and reading online. The full libraries of Michigan and Stanford universities, as well as archives at Harvard, Oxford and the New York Public Library are included. Online pages from scanned books will not have adverts but will have links to online store Amazon, Google said. "The goal of the project is to unlock the wealth of information that is offline and bring it online," said Susan Wojcicki, director of product management at Google. There will also be links to public libraries so that the books can be borrowed. Google will not be paid for providing for the links. It will take six years to digitise the full collection at Michigan, which contains seven million volumes. Users will only have access to extracts and bibliographies of copyrighted works. The New York library is allowing Google to include a small portion of books no longer covered by copyright. Harvard is limiting its participation to 40,000 books, while Oxford wants Google to scan books originally published in the 19th Century and held in the Bodleian Library. A spokeswoman for Oxford University said the digitised books would include novels, poetry, political tracts and art books. "Important works that are out of print or only available in a few libraries around the world will be made available to everyone," she said. About one million books will be scanned by Google, less than 15% of the total collection held in the Bodleian. "We hope that Oxford's contribution to this project will be of scholarly use, as well as general interest, to people around the world," said Reg Carr, director of Oxford University Library Services. "It's a significant opportunity to bring our material to the rest of the world," said Paul LeClerc, president of the New York Public Library. "It could solve an old problem: If people can't get to us, how can we get to them?" "This is the day the world changes," said John Wilkin, a University of Michigan librarian working with Google. "It will be disruptive because some people will worry that this is the beginning of the end of libraries. "But this is something we have to do to revitalise the profession and make it more meaningful."

Online pages from scanned books will not have adverts but will have links to online store Amazon, Google said.The New York library is allowing Google to include a small portion of books no longer covered by copyright.The full libraries of Michigan and Stanford universities, as well as archives at Harvard, Oxford and the New York Public Library are included."We hope that Oxford's contribution to this project will be of scholarly use, as well as general interest, to people around the world," said Reg Carr, director of Oxford University Library Services.Harvard is limiting its participation to 40,000 books, while Oxford wants Google to scan books originally published in the 19th Century and held in the Bodleian Library.There will also be links to public libraries so that the books can be borrowed."It's a significant opportunity to bring our material to the rest of the world," said Paul LeClerc, president of the New York Public Library.About one million books will be scanned by Google, less than 15% of the total collection held in the Bodleian.

Summarize the following article: Piero gives rugby perspective BBC Sport unveils its new analysis tool Piero at the Wales v England rugby union match on Saturday. But what does it do and how does it work? Picture the scene - Wales are camped on the England line in the dying seconds of the Six Nations' opening match. A ball is flung out to winger Shane Williams who crosses to score the winning try for Wales. But the England players are incensed - arguing that the pass was forward and the try should not stand. In the past, sports fans would be left debating the validity of the try for days and weeks to come. But BBC Sport's new tool Piero could end discussions in minutes. Piero, named after the Italian painter and pioneer of perspective Piero della Francesco, creates a virtual stadium in which virtual players can be tracked from almost any angle. Viewers will be able to see precisely how the ball was thrown and by whom, giving a greater depth to the growing wealth of analysis available during sports broadcasts. The technology has been created by BBC Research and Development for BBC Broadcast and BBC Outside Broadcasts. BBC Sport is the first client to start using the system. "In order to keep audiences growing and growing... we need to work closely with people who create technology and innovation to bring sport to life," said Andrew Thompson, the BBC's head of development, new media and sports news. "We want to appeal to core fans - to give them more analysis, more detail, more definitive answers about key passages of play." Piero works by taking telemetric data from fixed camera positions and sending that data inside the video signal to a PC which can then render the information into 3D graphics. The more cameras using Piero, the better the detail possible out the other end when the data is turned into 3D models. "It allows us to tell the story of a passage of play, tracking individual players across the field, looking at tactics," said Andy Townsend, from BBC Broadcast. An operator can manipulate the information and provide almost real-time replays of incidents, as well as more in-depth analysis. The "virtual camera" can focus on virtually any aspect of the pitch, giving viewers an insight into action that the camera normally cannot see. Piero also provides a wealth of statistical detail - from the length of kicks, to the length of a run of an individual player and the height of a lift at any lineout. Mr Townsend said sports performance companies were already showing an interest in the technology. BBC Broadcast hopes the technology can be sold to third parties interested in using it a number of different ways - from sport broadcasting to entertainment and game shows.

BBC Sport unveils its new analysis tool Piero at the Wales v England rugby union match on Saturday.BBC Sport is the first client to start using the system.But BBC Sport's new tool Piero could end discussions in minutes.The more cameras using Piero, the better the detail possible out the other end when the data is turned into 3D models.The technology has been created by BBC Research and Development for BBC Broadcast and BBC Outside Broadcasts.BBC Broadcast hopes the technology can be sold to third parties interested in using it a number of different ways - from sport broadcasting to entertainment and game shows."In order to keep audiences growing and growing... we need to work closely with people who create technology and innovation to bring sport to life," said Andrew Thompson, the BBC's head of development, new media and sports news.Viewers will be able to see precisely how the ball was thrown and by whom, giving a greater depth to the growing wealth of analysis available during sports broadcasts."It allows us to tell the story of a passage of play, tracking individual players across the field, looking at tactics," said Andy Townsend, from BBC Broadcast.

Summarize the following article: Dublin hi-tech labs to shut down Dublin's hi-tech research laboratory, Media Labs Europe, is to shut down. The research centre, which was started by the Irish government and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was a hotbed for technology concepts. Since its opening in 2000, the centre has developed ideas, such as implants for teeth, and also aimed to be a digital hub for start-ups in the area. The centre was supposed to be self-funded, but has failed to attract the private cash injection it needs. In a statement, Media Labs Europe said the decision to close was taken because neither the Irish Government nor the prestigious US-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was willing to fund it. Prime Minister Bertie Ahern had wanted to the centre to become a big draw for smaller hi-tech companies, in an attempt to regenerate the area. About three dozen small firms were attracted to the area, but it is thought the effects of the dot.com recession damaged the Labs' long-term survival. The Labs needed about 10 million euros (US$13 million) a year from corporate sponsors to survive. "In the end, it was too deep and too long a recession," said Simon Jones, the Labs' managing director. Ian Pearson, BT's futurologist, told the BBC News website that the closure was a "real shame". BT was just one of the companies that had worked with the Labs, looking at RFID tag developments and video conferencing. "There were a lot of very talented, creative people there and they came up with some great ideas that were helping to ensure greater benefits of technology for society. "I have no doubt that the individuals will be quickly snapped up by other research labs, but the synergies from them working as a team will be lost." Noel Dempsey, the government's communications minister, said Mr Ahern had been "very committed" to the project. "He is, I know, very disappointed it has come to this. At the time it seemed to be the right thing to do," he said. "Unfortunately the model is not a sustainable one in the current climate." During its five years, innovative and some unusual ideas for technologies were developed. In recent months, 14 patent applications had been filed by the Labs. Many concepts fed into science, engineering, and psychology as well as technology, but it is thought too few of the ideas were commercially viable in the near-term. Several research teams explored how which humans could react with technologies in ways which were entirely different. The Human Connectedness group, for example, developed the iBand, a bracelet which stored and exchanged information about you and your relationships. This information could be beamed to another wearer when two people shook hands. Other projects looked at using other human senses, like touch, to interact with devoices which could be embedded in the environment, or on the body itself. One project examined how brainwaves could directly control a computer game. The Labs, set up in an old Guinness brewery, housed around 100 people, made up of staff, researchers, students, collaborators and part-time undergraduate students. It is thought more than 50 people will lose their jobs when the Labs close on 1 February. According to its latest accounts, Media Lab Europe said it spent 8.16 million euros (about US$10.6 million) in 2003 and raised just 2.56 million euros (US$3.3 million).

In a statement, Media Labs Europe said the decision to close was taken because neither the Irish Government nor the prestigious US-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was willing to fund it.The research centre, which was started by the Irish government and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was a hotbed for technology concepts."In the end, it was too deep and too long a recession," said Simon Jones, the Labs' managing director.It is thought more than 50 people will lose their jobs when the Labs close on 1 February.BT was just one of the companies that had worked with the Labs, looking at RFID tag developments and video conferencing.Dublin's hi-tech research laboratory, Media Labs Europe, is to shut down.Several research teams explored how which humans could react with technologies in ways which were entirely different.The Labs needed about 10 million euros (US$13 million) a year from corporate sponsors to survive."I have no doubt that the individuals will be quickly snapped up by other research labs, but the synergies from them working as a team will be lost."About three dozen small firms were attracted to the area, but it is thought the effects of the dot.com recession damaged the Labs' long-term survival.The centre was supposed to be self-funded, but has failed to attract the private cash injection it needs.During its five years, innovative and some unusual ideas for technologies were developed.

Summarize the following article: EU software patent law delayed Controversial new EU rules for the patenting of computer-based inventions have been put on hold due to a last minute intervention from Poland. Poland - a large and therefore crucial EU member - has requested more time to consider the issue, especially as it relates to the patenting of software. Critics say the law would favour large companies over small, innovative ones. They say it could have massive ramifications for developments such as open source software. Polish ministers want to see the phrasing of the text of the Directive on the Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions changed so that it excludes the patenting of software. The planned law has ignited angry debate about whether the EU should allow the patenting of computer programs and internet business methods as currently happens in the US. So, for instance, US-based Amazon.com holds a patent on 'one-click shopping'. Critics claim the law, which the EU says is needed to harmonise with the US, is little more than a law on ideas. "Patent rights, it is claimed, protect inventors but in this case it is exclusively the interests of the big companies that are protected," Eva Lichtenberg, a Austrian Green member of the European Parliament said in a statement. "Smaller, innovative firms cannot afford the patenting and legal costs that the directive would inflict on them," she added. The European Parliament has already clashed with the European Union on the issue and there have been accusations that the process to decide the issue has been undemocratic. The directive has been subject to several previous delays.

Poland - a large and therefore crucial EU member - has requested more time to consider the issue, especially as it relates to the patenting of software.The planned law has ignited angry debate about whether the EU should allow the patenting of computer programs and internet business methods as currently happens in the US.Critics say the law would favour large companies over small, innovative ones.Critics claim the law, which the EU says is needed to harmonise with the US, is little more than a law on ideas.The European Parliament has already clashed with the European Union on the issue and there have been accusations that the process to decide the issue has been undemocratic.

Summarize the following article: ITunes user sues Apple over iPod A user of Apple's iTunes music service is suing the firm saying it is unfair he can only use an iPod to play songs. He says Apple is breaking anti-competition laws in refusing to let other music players work with the site. Apple, which opened its online store in 2003 after launching the iPod in 2001, uses technology to ensure each song bought only plays on the iPod. Californian Thomas Slattery filed the suit in the US District Court in San Jose and is seeking damages. "Apple has turned an open and interactive standard into an artifice that prevents consumers from using the portable hard drive digital music player of their choice," the lawsuit states. The key to such a lawsuit would be convincing a court that a single brand like iTunes is a market in itself separate from the rest of the online music market, according to Ernest Gellhorn, an anti-trust law professor at George Mason University. "As a practical matter, the lower courts have been highly sceptical of such claims," Prof Gellhorn said. Apple has sold more than six million iPods since the gadget was launched and has an 87% share of the market for portable digital music players, market research firm NPD Group has reported. More than 200 million songs have been sold by the iTunes music store since it was launched. "Apple has unlawfully bundled, tied, and/or leveraged its monopoly in the market for the sale of legal online digital music recordings to thwart competition in the separate market for portable hard drive digital music players, and vice-versa," the lawsuit said. Mr Slattery called himself an iTunes customer who "was also forced to purchase an Apple iPod" if he wanted to take his music with him to listen to. A spokesman for Apple declined to comment. Apple's online music store uses a different format for songs than Napster, Musicmatch, RealPlayer and others. The rivals use the MP3 format or Microsoft's WMA format while Apple uses AAC, which it says helps thwart piracy. The WMA format also includes so-called Digital Rights Management which is used to block piracy.

"Apple has unlawfully bundled, tied, and/or leveraged its monopoly in the market for the sale of legal online digital music recordings to thwart competition in the separate market for portable hard drive digital music players, and vice-versa," the lawsuit said.Apple has sold more than six million iPods since the gadget was launched and has an 87% share of the market for portable digital music players, market research firm NPD Group has reported.Apple's online music store uses a different format for songs than Napster, Musicmatch, RealPlayer and others.Mr Slattery called himself an iTunes customer who "was also forced to purchase an Apple iPod" if he wanted to take his music with him to listen to."Apple has turned an open and interactive standard into an artifice that prevents consumers from using the portable hard drive digital music player of their choice," the lawsuit states.Apple, which opened its online store in 2003 after launching the iPod in 2001, uses technology to ensure each song bought only plays on the iPod.

Summarize the following article: Satellite mapping aids Darfur relief Aid workers trying to house, feed and clothe millions of homeless refugees in the Sudanese region of Darfur are getting a helping hand from advanced mapping technology. A European consortium of companies and university groups known as Respond is working to provide accurate and up to date maps. The aim is to overcome some of the huge logistical challenges in getting supplies to where they are needed. Respond is using satellite imagery to produce accurate maps that can be used in the field rapidly. "Respond has produced very detailed maps for example for the road networks, for the rivers and for the villages, to more large-scale maps useful for very general planning purposes," said Einar Bjorgo from Unosat, the UN satellite mapping organisation that is part of the Respond consortium. The group uses satellites from Nasa, the European Space Agency and the Disaster Monitoring Constellation. The satellite data is transmitted to ground stations. From there, the information makes its way to Respond organisations that specialise in interpreting such data. "You have to convert the data into images, then the interpreter has to convert all this into crisis, damage, or situation maps," said Stefan Voigt, who works in the remote sensing department of one of those organisations, the German Aerospace Centre. This kind of detailed analysis usually takes a couple of months but Respond gets it done in about 12 hours. "Our users are usually not so much familiar with reading satellite imagery, reading satellite maps, so it's our task to transfer the data into information that non-technical people can read and understand easily and very, very efficiently," said Mr Voigt. Respond supplies maps to aid groups via the web, and on compact disc. But the best map is one you can hold in your hands, especially in remote areas where internet connections and laptops are scarce. "A map is a working document," explains Herbert Hansen of Respond's Belgian partner Keyobs. "You need to use it, you need to write on it, correct, give feedback and so on, so you need paper to write on. "We print maps, we laminate the maps, we encapsulate the maps if needed so you can take a shower with the map, it's completely protected." Humanitarian groups in Darfur have been making good use of Respond's maps. They have come in especially handy during Sudan's rainy season, when normally dry riverbeds, or wadis, became flooded. "These wadis had a very small amount of flooding, generally, in terms of depth, but greatly impeded the transport capabilities and capacities of the humanitarian groups on the ground," says Stephen Candillon of Respond imaging partner Sertit. Respond's rapid imaging has allowed aid groups to find ways around the wadis, allowing then to mark on their maps which roads were washed out at which times. Aid groups say that combination of satellite technology and on-the-ground observation helped keep relief flowing to those who needed it. Clark Boyd is technology correspondent for The World, a BBC World Service and WGBH-Boston co-production

Respond supplies maps to aid groups via the web, and on compact disc."Respond has produced very detailed maps for example for the road networks, for the rivers and for the villages, to more large-scale maps useful for very general planning purposes," said Einar Bjorgo from Unosat, the UN satellite mapping organisation that is part of the Respond consortium.Respond is using satellite imagery to produce accurate maps that can be used in the field rapidly.Respond's rapid imaging has allowed aid groups to find ways around the wadis, allowing then to mark on their maps which roads were washed out at which times."We print maps, we laminate the maps, we encapsulate the maps if needed so you can take a shower with the map, it's completely protected."A European consortium of companies and university groups known as Respond is working to provide accurate and up to date maps.Aid groups say that combination of satellite technology and on-the-ground observation helped keep relief flowing to those who needed it.Humanitarian groups in Darfur have been making good use of Respond's maps."Our users are usually not so much familiar with reading satellite imagery, reading satellite maps, so it's our task to transfer the data into information that non-technical people can read and understand easily and very, very efficiently," said Mr Voigt.

Summarize the following article: 'Blog' picked as word of the year The term "blog" has been chosen as the top word of 2004 by a US dictionary publisher. Merriam-Webster said "blog" headed the list of most looked-up terms on its site during the last twelve months. During 2004 blogs, or web logs, have become hugely popular and some have started to influence mainstream media. Other words on the Merriam-Webster list were associated with major news events such as the US presidential election or natural disasters that hit the US. Merriam-Webster defines a blog as: "a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks". Its list of most looked-up words is drawn up every year and it discounts terms such as swear words, that everyone likes to look up, or those that always cause problems, such as "affect" and "effect". Merriam-Webster said "blog" was the word that people have asked to be defined or explained most often over the last 12 months. The word will now appear in the 2005 version of Merriam-Webster's printed dictionary. However, the word is already included in some printed versions of the Oxford English Dictionary. A spokesman for the Oxford University Press said that the word was now being put into other dictionaries for children and learners, reflecting its mainstream use. "I think it was the word of last year rather than this year," he said. "Now we're getting words that derive from it such as 'blogosphere' and so on," he said. "But," he added, "it's a pretty recent thing and in the way that this happens these days it's got established very quickly." Blogs come in many different forms. Many act as news sites for particular groups or subjects, some are written from a particular political slant and others are simply lists of interesting sites. Other terms in the top 10 were related to natural disasters that have struck the US, such as "hurricane" or were to do with the US election. Words such as "incumbent", "electoral" and "partisan" reflected the scale of interest in the vote. Blogs also proved very useful to both sides in the US election battle because many pundits who maintain their own journals were able to air opinions that would never appear in more mainstream media. Speculation that President Bush was getting help during debates via a listening device was first aired on web logs. Online journals also raised doubts about documents used by US television news organisation CBS in a story about President Bush's war record. The immediacy of many blogs also helped some wield influence over topics that made it in to national press. This is despite the fact that the number of people reading even the most influential blogs is tiny. Statistics by web influence ranking firm HitWise reveal that the most popular political blog racks up only 0.0051% of all net visits per day. One of the reasons that blogs and regularly updated online journals have become popular is because the software used to put them together make it very easy for people to air their views online. According to blog analysis firm Technorati the number of blogs in existence, the blogosphere, has doubled every five and a half months for the last 18 months. Technorati now estimates that the number of blogs in existence has exceeded 4.8 million. Some speculate that less than a quarter of this number are regularly maintained. According to US research firm Pew Internet & American Life a blog is created every 5.8 seconds. Another trend this year has been the increasing numbers of weblogs that detail the daily lives of many ordinary workers in jobs that few people know much about. In many repressive regimes and developing nations, blogs have been embraced by millions of people keen to give their plight a voice.

The term "blog" has been chosen as the top word of 2004 by a US dictionary publisher.Merriam-Webster said "blog" was the word that people have asked to be defined or explained most often over the last 12 months.According to blog analysis firm Technorati the number of blogs in existence, the blogosphere, has doubled every five and a half months for the last 18 months.Merriam-Webster said "blog" headed the list of most looked-up terms on its site during the last twelve months.Other words on the Merriam-Webster list were associated with major news events such as the US presidential election or natural disasters that hit the US.Technorati now estimates that the number of blogs in existence has exceeded 4.8 million."I think it was the word of last year rather than this year," he said.Merriam-Webster defines a blog as: "a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks".A spokesman for the Oxford University Press said that the word was now being put into other dictionaries for children and learners, reflecting its mainstream use.Statistics by web influence ranking firm HitWise reveal that the most popular political blog racks up only 0.0051% of all net visits per day.According to US research firm Pew Internet & American Life a blog is created every 5.8 seconds.The immediacy of many blogs also helped some wield influence over topics that made it in to national press.

Summarize the following article: Microsoft takes on desktop search Microsoft has entered the desktop search fray, releasing a test version of its tool to find documents, e-mails and other files on a PC hard drive. The beta program only works on PCs running Windows XP or Windows 2000. The desktop search market is becoming increasingly crowded with firms touting programs that help people find files. Search giant Google launched its desktop search tool in October, while Yahoo is planning to release similar software in January. "Our ambition for search is to provide the ultimate information tool that can find anything you're looking for," said Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president at Microsoft's MSN internet division. Microsoft's program can be used as a toolbar on the Windows desktop, the Internet Explorer browser and within the Outlook e-mail program. The software giant is coming late to the desktop search arena, competing with a large number of rivals. Google has already released a desktop tool. Yahoo is planning to get into the game in January and AOL is expected to offer desktop searching early next year. Small firms such as Blinkx, Copernic, Enfish X1 Technologies and X-Friend offer tools that catalogue the huge amounts of information that people increasingly store on their desktop or home computer. Apple will release a similar search system for its computers called Spotlight that is due to be released with the Tiger operating system.

Search giant Google launched its desktop search tool in October, while Yahoo is planning to release similar software in January.The desktop search market is becoming increasingly crowded with firms touting programs that help people find files.Google has already released a desktop tool.Microsoft has entered the desktop search fray, releasing a test version of its tool to find documents, e-mails and other files on a PC hard drive.Microsoft's program can be used as a toolbar on the Windows desktop, the Internet Explorer browser and within the Outlook e-mail program.

Summarize the following article: UK pioneers digital film network The world's first digital cinema network will be established in the UK over the next 18 months. The UK Film Council has awarded a contract worth £11.5m to Arts Alliance Digital Cinema (AADC), who will set up the network of up to 250 screens. AADC will oversee the selection of cinemas across the UK which will use the digital equipment. High definition projectors and computer servers will be installed to show mainly British and specialist films. Most cinemas currently have mechanical projectors but the new network will see up to 250 screens in up to 150 cinemas fitted with digital projectors capable of displaying high definition images. The new network will double the world's total of digital screens. Cinemas will be given the film on a portable hard drive and they will then copy the content to a computer server. Each film is about 100 gigabytes and has been compressed from an original one terabyte-size file. Fiona Deans, associate director of AADC, said the compression was visually lossless so no picture degradation will occur. The film will all be encrypted to prevent piracy and each cinema will have an individual key which will unlock the movie. "People will see the picture quality is a bit clearer with no scratches. "The picture will look exactly the same as when the print was first made - there is no degradation in quality over time." The key benefit of the digital network will be an increase in the distribution and screening of British films, documentaries and foreign language films. "Access to specialised film is currently restricted across the UK," said Pete Buckingham, head of Distribution and Exhibition at the UK Film Council. "Although a genuine variety of films is available in central London and a few other metropolitan areas, the choice for many outside these areas remains limited, and the Digital Screen Network will improve access for audiences across the UK," Digital prints costs less than a traditional 35mm print - giving distributors more flexibility in how they screen films, said Ms Deans. "It can cost up to £1,500 to make a copy of a print for specialist films. "In the digital world you can make prints for considerably less than that. "Distributors can then send out prints to more cinemas and prints can stay in cinemas for much longer." The UK digital network will be the first to employ 2k projectors - which are capable of showing films at resolutions of 2048 * 1080 pixels. A separate competitive process to determine which cinemas will receive the digital screening technology will conclude in May. The sheer cost of traditional prints means that some cinemas need to show them twice a day in order to recoup costs. "Some films need word of mouth and time to build momentum - they don't need to be shown twice a day," explained Ms Deans. "A cinema will often book a 35mm print in for two weeks - even if the film is a roaring success they cannot hold on to the print because it will have to go to another cinema. "With digital prints, every cinema will have its own copy."

The UK Film Council has awarded a contract worth £11.5m to Arts Alliance Digital Cinema (AADC), who will set up the network of up to 250 screens.The world's first digital cinema network will be established in the UK over the next 18 months."Although a genuine variety of films is available in central London and a few other metropolitan areas, the choice for many outside these areas remains limited, and the Digital Screen Network will improve access for audiences across the UK," Digital prints costs less than a traditional 35mm print - giving distributors more flexibility in how they screen films, said Ms Deans.Most cinemas currently have mechanical projectors but the new network will see up to 250 screens in up to 150 cinemas fitted with digital projectors capable of displaying high definition images."With digital prints, every cinema will have its own copy.""A cinema will often book a 35mm print in for two weeks - even if the film is a roaring success they cannot hold on to the print because it will have to go to another cinema.The UK digital network will be the first to employ 2k projectors - which are capable of showing films at resolutions of 2048 * 1080 pixels.AADC will oversee the selection of cinemas across the UK which will use the digital equipment."Distributors can then send out prints to more cinemas and prints can stay in cinemas for much longer.""In the digital world you can make prints for considerably less than that.

Summarize the following article: Blind student 'hears in colour' A blind student has developed software that turns colours into musical notes so that he can read weather maps. Victor Wong, a graduate student from Hong Kong studying at Cornell University in New York State, had to read coloured maps of the upper atmosphere as part of his research. To study "space weather" Mr Wong needed to explore minute fluctuations in order to create mathematical models. A number of solutions were tried, including having a colleague describe the maps and attempting to print them in Braille. Mr Wong eventually hit upon the idea of translating individual colours into music, and enlisted the help of a computer graphics specialist and another student to do the programming work. "The images have three dimensions and I had to find a way of reading them myself," Mr Wong told the BBC News website. "For the sake of my own study - and for the sake of blind scientists generally - I felt it would be good to develop software that could help us to read colour images." He tried a prototype version of the software to explore a photograph of a parrot. In order to have an exact reference to the screen, a pen and tablet device is used. The software then assigns one of 88 piano notes to individually coloured pixels - ranging from blue at the lower end of this scale to red at the upper end. Mr Wong says the application is still very much in its infancy and is only useful for reading images that have been created digitally. "If I took a random picture and scanned it and then used my software to recognise it, it wouldn't work that well." Mr Wong has been blind from the age of seven and he thinks that having a "colour memory" makes the software more useful than it would be to a scientist who had never had any vision. "As the notes increase in pitch I know the colour's getting redder and redder, and in my mind's eye a patch of red appears." The colour to music software has not yet been made available commercially, and Mr Wong believes that several people would have to work together to make it viable. But he hopes that one day it can be developed to give blind people access to photographs and other images.

Mr Wong has been blind from the age of seven and he thinks that having a "colour memory" makes the software more useful than it would be to a scientist who had never had any vision.The colour to music software has not yet been made available commercially, and Mr Wong believes that several people would have to work together to make it viable.A blind student has developed software that turns colours into musical notes so that he can read weather maps."For the sake of my own study - and for the sake of blind scientists generally - I felt it would be good to develop software that could help us to read colour images."Mr Wong eventually hit upon the idea of translating individual colours into music, and enlisted the help of a computer graphics specialist and another student to do the programming work.To study "space weather" Mr Wong needed to explore minute fluctuations in order to create mathematical models.He tried a prototype version of the software to explore a photograph of a parrot.

Summarize the following article: Santy worm makes unwelcome visit Thousands of website bulletin boards have been defaced by a virus that used Google to spread across the net. The Santy worm first appeared on 20 December and within 24 hours had successfully hit more than 40,000 websites. The malicious program exploits a vulnerability in the widely used phpBB software. Santy's spread has now been stopped after Google began blocking infected sites searching for new victims. The worm replaces chat forums with a webpage announcing that the site had been defaced by the malicious program. Soon after being infected, sites hit by the worm started randomly searching for other websites running the vulnerable phpBB software. Once Google started blocking these search queries the rate of infection tailed off sharply. A message sent to Finnish security firm F-Secure by Google's security team said: "While a seven hour response for something like this is not outrageous, we think we can and should do better." "We will be reviewing our procedures to improve our response time in the future to similar problems," the Google team said. Security firms estimate that about 1m websites run their discussion groups and forums with the open source phpBB program. The worst of the attack now seems to be over as a search conducted on the morning of the 22 December produced only 1,440 hits for sites showing the text used in the defacement message. People using the sites hit by Santy will not be affected by the worm. Santy is not the first malicious program to use Google to help it spread. In July a variant of the MyDoom virus slowed down searches on Google as the program flooded the search site with queries looking for new e-mail addresses to send itself to.

Santy is not the first malicious program to use Google to help it spread.Soon after being infected, sites hit by the worm started randomly searching for other websites running the vulnerable phpBB software.The worm replaces chat forums with a webpage announcing that the site had been defaced by the malicious program.In July a variant of the MyDoom virus slowed down searches on Google as the program flooded the search site with queries looking for new e-mail addresses to send itself to.People using the sites hit by Santy will not be affected by the worm.Santy's spread has now been stopped after Google began blocking infected sites searching for new victims.

Summarize the following article: Bond game fails to shake or stir For gaming fans, the word GoldenEye evokes excited memories not only of the James Bond revival flick of 1995, but also the classic shoot-em-up that accompanied it and left N64 owners glued to their consoles for many an hour. Adopting that hallowed title somewhat backfires on this new game, for it fails to deliver on the promise of its name and struggles to generate the original's massive sense of fun. This however is not a sequel, nor does it relate to the GoldenEye film. You are the eponymous renegade spy, an agent who deserts to the Bond world's extensive ranks of criminal masterminds, after being deemed too brutal for MI6. Your new commander-in-chief is the portly Auric Goldfinger, last seen in 1964, but happily running around bent on world domination. With a determination to justify its name which is even less convincing than that of Tina Turner's similarly-titled theme song, the game literally gives the player a golden eye following an injury, which enables a degree of X-ray vision. Rogue Agent signals its intentions by featuring James Bond initially and proceeding to kill him off within moments, squashed by a plummeting helicopter. The notion is of course to add a novel dark edge to a 007 game, but the premise simply does not get the juices flowing like it needs to. Recent Bond games like Nightfire and Everything Or Nothing were very competent and did a fine job of capturing the sense of flair, invention and glamour of the film franchise. This title lacks that aura, and when the Bond magic shines through, it feels like a lucky accident. The central problem is that the gameplay just is not good enough. Quite aside from the bizarre inability to jump, the even more bizarre glaring graphical bugs and dubious enemy AI, the levels simply are not put together with much style or imagination. Admittedly the competition has been tough, even in recent weeks, with the likes of Halo 2 and Half Life 2 triumphing in virtually every department. What the game is good at is enveloping you in noisy, dynamic scenes of violent chaos. As is the trend of late, you are made to feel like you are in the midst of a really messy and fraught encounter. Sadly that sense of action is outweighed by the difficulty of navigating and battling within the chaos, meaning that frustration is often the outcome. And irregular save points mean you have to backtrack each time you are killed. A minute red dot passes for a crosshair, although the collision-detection is so suspect that the difficulties of aiming weapons are compensated for. Shooting enemies from a distance can be tricky, and you will not always know you have picked them off, since dead enemies vanish literally before they have fully hit the floor, and they do so in some woefully uninspiring death animations. It is perhaps indicative of a lack of confidence that the game maker's allow you several different weapons almost immediately and throw you quickly into raging firefights - no time is risked with a measured build-up. By far the most satisfying element of the game is seeing old favourites like Dr No, Goldfinger, hat-fiend Oddjob and crazed Russian sex beast Xenia Onatopp resurrected after all these years, and with their faces rendered in an impressively recognisable fashion. There is a real thrill from doing battle with these legendary villains, and it is a testament to the power of the Bond universe that they can cut such a dash. But the in-game niggles, combined with a story and presentation that just do not feel sufficiently well thought-through, will make this a disappointment for most. Diehard fans of Bond will probably find enough here to make it a worthwhile purchase and try to ignore the failings. The game is weak, not completely unplayable. Then again, 007 fanatics may also take umbrage at the cavalier blending of characters from different eras. Given James Bond's healthy pedigree in past games, there is every reason to hope that this is just a blip, a commendable idea that just has not worked, that will be rectified when the character inevitably makes his return. GoldenEye: Rogue Agent is out now

Recent Bond games like Nightfire and Everything Or Nothing were very competent and did a fine job of capturing the sense of flair, invention and glamour of the film franchise.This title lacks that aura, and when the Bond magic shines through, it feels like a lucky accident.The notion is of course to add a novel dark edge to a 007 game, but the premise simply does not get the juices flowing like it needs to.What the game is good at is enveloping you in noisy, dynamic scenes of violent chaos.Rogue Agent signals its intentions by featuring James Bond initially and proceeding to kill him off within moments, squashed by a plummeting helicopter.It is perhaps indicative of a lack of confidence that the game maker's allow you several different weapons almost immediately and throw you quickly into raging firefights - no time is risked with a measured build-up.The game is weak, not completely unplayable.Adopting that hallowed title somewhat backfires on this new game, for it fails to deliver on the promise of its name and struggles to generate the original's massive sense of fun.GoldenEye: Rogue Agent is out nowBy far the most satisfying element of the game is seeing old favourites like Dr No, Goldfinger, hat-fiend Oddjob and crazed Russian sex beast Xenia Onatopp resurrected after all these years, and with their faces rendered in an impressively recognisable fashion.Diehard fans of Bond will probably find enough here to make it a worthwhile purchase and try to ignore the failings.For gaming fans, the word GoldenEye evokes excited memories not only of the James Bond revival flick of 1995, but also the classic shoot-em-up that accompanied it and left N64 owners glued to their consoles for many an hour.

Summarize the following article: Be careful how you code A new European directive could put software writers at risk of legal action, warns former programmer and technology analyst Bill Thompson. If it gets its way, the Dutch government will conclude its presidency of the European Union by pushing through a controversial measure that has been rejected by the European Parliament, lacks majority support from national governments and will leave millions of European citizens in legal limbo and facing the possibility of court cases against them. If the new law was about border controls, defence or even the new constitution, then our TV screens would be full of experts agonising over the impact on our daily lives. Sadly for those who will be directly affected, the controversy concerns the patenting of computer programs, a topic that may excite the bloggers, campaigning groups and technical press but does not obsess Middle Britain. After all, how much fuss can you generate about the Directive on the Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions, and the way it amends Article 52 of the 1973 European Patent Convention? Yet if the new directive is nodded through at the next meeting of one of the EU's ministerial councils, as seems likely, it will allow programs to be patented in Europe just as they are in the US. Many observers of the computing scene, including myself, think the results will be disastrous for small companies, innovative programmers and the free and open source software movement. It will let large companies patent all sorts of ideas and give legal force to those who want to limit their competitors' use of really obvious ideas. In the US you cannot build a system that stores customer credit card details so that they can pay without having to re-enter them unless Amazon lets you, because they hold the patent on "one-click" online purchase. It is a small invention, but Amazon made it to the patent office first and now owns it. We are relatively free from this sort of thing over here, but perhaps not for long. The new proposals go back to 2002, although argument about patentability of software and computer-implemented inventions has been going on since at least the mid-1980s. They have come to a head now after a year in which proposals were made, endorsed by the Council of Ministers, radically modified by the European Parliament and then re-presented in their original form. Some national governments seem to be aware of the problems. Poland has rejected the proposal and Germany's main political parties have opposed it, but there is not enough opposition to guarantee their rejection. Early in December the British government held a consultation meeting with those who had commented on the proposals. Science Minister Lord Sainsbury went along to listen and outline the UK position, but according to those present, it was embarrassing to see how little the minister and his officials actually understood the issues concerned. The draft Directive is being put through the council as what is called an "A" item and can only be approved or rejected. No discussion or amendment is allowed. So why should we be worried? First, there is the abuse of the democratic process involved in disregarding the views of the parliament and abandoning all of their carefully argued amendments. This goes to the heart of the European project, and even those who do not care about software or patents should be worried. If coders are treated like this today, who is to say that it will not be you tomorrow? More directly, once software patents are granted then any programmer will have to worry that the code they are writing is infringing someone else's patent. This is not about stealing software, as code is already protected by copyright. Patents are not copyright, but something much stronger. A patent gives the owner the right to stop anyone else using their invention, even if the other person invented it separately. I have never, to my shame, managed to read Lord Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. If it was pointed out that one of my articles contained a substantial chunk of the poem then I could defend myself in court by claiming that I had simply made it up and it was coincidence. The same does not hold for a patent. If I sit down this afternoon and write a brilliant graphics compression routine and it happens to be the same as the LZW algorithm used in GIF files, then I am in trouble under patent law, at least in the US. Coincidence is no defence. The proposed directive is supported by many of the major software companies, but this is hardly surprising since most of them are US-based and they have already had to cope with a legal environment that allows patents. They have legal departments and, more crucially, patents of their own which they can trade or cross-license with other patent holders. Even this system breaks down, of course, as Microsoft found out last year when they initially lost a case brought by Eolas which claimed that Internet Explorer (and other browsers) infringed an Eolas patent. That one was eventually thrown out, but only after months of uncertainty and millions of dollars. But small companies, and the free and open software movement do not have any patents to trade. Much of the really useful software we use every day, programs like the Apache web server, the GNU/Linux operating system and the fearsomely popular Firefox browser, is developed outside company structures by people who do not have legal departments to check for patent infringements. The damage to software will not happen overnight, of course. If the directive goes through it has to be written into national laws and then there will be a steady stream of legal actions against small companies and open source products. Eventually someone will decide to attack Linux directly, probably with some secret funding from one or two large players. The new directive will limit innovation by forcing programmers to spend time checking for patent infringements or simply avoiding working in potentially competitive areas. And it will damage Europe's computer industry. We can only hope that the Council of Ministers has the integrity and strength to reject this bad law. Bill Thompson is a regular commentator on the BBC World Service programme Go Digital.

This goes to the heart of the European project, and even those who do not care about software or patents should be worried.But small companies, and the free and open software movement do not have any patents to trade.More directly, once software patents are granted then any programmer will have to worry that the code they are writing is infringing someone else's patent.They have legal departments and, more crucially, patents of their own which they can trade or cross-license with other patent holders.A new European directive could put software writers at risk of legal action, warns former programmer and technology analyst Bill Thompson.The same does not hold for a patent.After all, how much fuss can you generate about the Directive on the Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions, and the way it amends Article 52 of the 1973 European Patent Convention?If the directive goes through it has to be written into national laws and then there will be a steady stream of legal actions against small companies and open source products.It is a small invention, but Amazon made it to the patent office first and now owns it.Much of the really useful software we use every day, programs like the Apache web server, the GNU/Linux operating system and the fearsomely popular Firefox browser, is developed outside company structures by people who do not have legal departments to check for patent infringements.The new proposals go back to 2002, although argument about patentability of software and computer-implemented inventions has been going on since at least the mid-1980s.If it gets its way, the Dutch government will conclude its presidency of the European Union by pushing through a controversial measure that has been rejected by the European Parliament, lacks majority support from national governments and will leave millions of European citizens in legal limbo and facing the possibility of court cases against them.The new directive will limit innovation by forcing programmers to spend time checking for patent infringements or simply avoiding working in potentially competitive areas.It will let large companies patent all sorts of ideas and give legal force to those who want to limit their competitors' use of really obvious ideas.The proposed directive is supported by many of the major software companies, but this is hardly surprising since most of them are US-based and they have already had to cope with a legal environment that allows patents.Many observers of the computing scene, including myself, think the results will be disastrous for small companies, innovative programmers and the free and open source software movement.If it was pointed out that one of my articles contained a substantial chunk of the poem then I could defend myself in court by claiming that I had simply made it up and it was coincidence.A patent gives the owner the right to stop anyone else using their invention, even if the other person invented it separately.

Summarize the following article: The future in your pocket If you are a geek or gadget fan, the next 12 months look like they are going to be a lot of fun. The relentless pace of development in the hi-tech world and rampant competition in many of its sectors, particularly among mobile phone firms, all suggests that 2005 is going to be a very good year. To begin with, 2005 will be the year that third-generation (3G) mobile phones become inescapable. The 3 network launched in 2003, Vodafone launched its consumer service in November, Orange followed in early December and T-Mobile and O2 are due to launch in 2005. The main result of these launches will likely be a slew of good deals for consumers as operators try to poach new customers from rivals and convince existing users to trade up. Already the extra capacity in 3G networks lets 3 offer good deals on voice calls at rates that will probably have to be matched by the other operators. But the shift in technology and low cost of voice calls means that operators lose a significant chunk of their revenue. "Show me an operator that believes their voice business can sustain them, and I'll write their obituary" said Niel Ransom, chief technology officer at Alcatel. Instead operators are likely to push all other things that 3G phones can do such as video messaging and other multimedia capabilities. Already camera phones look set to challenge digital cameras and are likely to win more fans as multi-megapixel devices go on sale. But 3G will not have everything its own way. It will face competition from emerging technologies such as Wimax. This wireless technology can boost data transmission speeds up to 75 megabits per second and works over distances of up to 30 miles. Kent is likely to be the site of the UK's first Wimax network which is due to go live in 2005 and it could be the way that rural areas get high-speed net access. Analyst firm Telecom View predicts that Wimax will steal a lot of market share from 3G and will be a clear winner. Bob Larribeau, principal analyst at Telecom View, said the better return on investment offered by technologies such as Wimax could dent the possible returns of 3G networks. And the growing ubiquity of wi-fi must not be forgotten either. The technology is popping up in more places than ever and its wider use is only held back by the price differences across countries and suppliers. Moves to unite mobile and fixed phones look set to get more emphasis in 2005 too. For a start, BT looks set to roll out its Bluephone project during the next 12 months. The service revolves around a hybrid device that uses the mobile networks when you are out and about but switches back to the fixed line when you are at home. Fixed line phones will also start to get much more serious competition from a technology that has the formidable name of Voice over IP (Voip). Voip routes calls via the net instead of the fixed line phone network. Anyone with a broadband connection, which is now more than 50% of the UK's net using population, can use Voip and could slash their monthly phone bills if they used it. Telecommunications regulator Ofcom has declared 056 to be the area code for Voip calls and 2005 is likely to see a lot more consumer-focused Voip call services starting up. Home broadband services will also start to increase in speed as dwindling numbers of new users signing force the pace of competition. If 2004 has been the year of the portable music player, they 2005 looks like it will be the year of the portable media player. Motorola has just announced a deal with Apple to produce a phone that works with the iTunes service and other hybrid gadgets that sport a big memory and lots of other functions will become commonplace. The pace of advancement in storage media will continue mean that the cost per megabyte of memory will plummet. Some of those devices will sport huge hard drives letting you store more data than you ever wanted or knew you had. Convergence could mean that single-function devices start to dwindle in number. Instead every gadget will be able to do almost anything and communicate almost any way you want. The only downside is that consumers will face a series of tough choices as they are confronted by a bewildering array of gadgets each with an enormous numbers of features and vast data holding capacities. But that is the kind of problem most gadget fans can live with.

Fixed line phones will also start to get much more serious competition from a technology that has the formidable name of Voice over IP (Voip).Voip routes calls via the net instead of the fixed line phone network.Moves to unite mobile and fixed phones look set to get more emphasis in 2005 too.To begin with, 2005 will be the year that third-generation (3G) mobile phones become inescapable.Motorola has just announced a deal with Apple to produce a phone that works with the iTunes service and other hybrid gadgets that sport a big memory and lots of other functions will become commonplace.Instead operators are likely to push all other things that 3G phones can do such as video messaging and other multimedia capabilities.Already camera phones look set to challenge digital cameras and are likely to win more fans as multi-megapixel devices go on sale.Kent is likely to be the site of the UK's first Wimax network which is due to go live in 2005 and it could be the way that rural areas get high-speed net access.The service revolves around a hybrid device that uses the mobile networks when you are out and about but switches back to the fixed line when you are at home.But the shift in technology and low cost of voice calls means that operators lose a significant chunk of their revenue.Telecommunications regulator Ofcom has declared 056 to be the area code for Voip calls and 2005 is likely to see a lot more consumer-focused Voip call services starting up.It will face competition from emerging technologies such as Wimax.If you are a geek or gadget fan, the next 12 months look like they are going to be a lot of fun.Already the extra capacity in 3G networks lets 3 offer good deals on voice calls at rates that will probably have to be matched by the other operators.

Summarize the following article: Halo 2 heralds traffic explosion The growing popularity of online gaming could spell problems for net service firms, warns network monitoring company Sandvine. It issued the warning following analysis which shows that traffic on the Xbox game network increased fourfold on the launch day of Halo 2. The 9 November traffic explosion has continued into December, said Sandvine. Service providers now need to make sure that their networks can cope with the increasing demands for bandwidth. As well as being a popular single-player title, Halo 2 can be connected to Microsoft's subscription-based broadband network, Xbox Live. Gamers who want to play online can create their own clan, or team, and take on others to see how well they compare. But the surge in numbers and huge demands for bandwidth should be a wake-up call to the industry which must ensure that their networks can cope with the increases in traffic, said Sandvine's chief technology officer Marc Morin. In a bid to cope and ease congestion, providers are increasingly making their networks intelligent, finding out who is using bandwidth and for what. It could become common to charge people for the amount of bandwidth they use. "The explosion in Xbox Live traffic attributed to Halo 2 should be seen as a clarion call," he said. "ISPs need to enhance the broadband experience for these high-end users by prioritising or reserving bandwidth for games," he added. One of the main factors that spoils online gaming is "lag" in which there is a noticeable delay between a gamer clicking on a mouse or keyboard and what happens in the online gaming world. Gamers tend to migrate toward networks with the lowest "lag". Analysing traffic will become increasingly important for service providers if they are to hold on to bandwidth-hungry gamers said Lindsay Schroth, an analyst with research firm The Yankee Group. "In the competitive broadband environment, operators need to differentiate the way they offer access to services like live-play gaming," she said. In countries such as Korea, which has high levels of fast net connections to homes, online gaming is hugely popular.

Service providers now need to make sure that their networks can cope with the increasing demands for bandwidth.The growing popularity of online gaming could spell problems for net service firms, warns network monitoring company Sandvine.But the surge in numbers and huge demands for bandwidth should be a wake-up call to the industry which must ensure that their networks can cope with the increases in traffic, said Sandvine's chief technology officer Marc Morin."The explosion in Xbox Live traffic attributed to Halo 2 should be seen as a clarion call," he said.As well as being a popular single-player title, Halo 2 can be connected to Microsoft's subscription-based broadband network, Xbox Live.In a bid to cope and ease congestion, providers are increasingly making their networks intelligent, finding out who is using bandwidth and for what.Analysing traffic will become increasingly important for service providers if they are to hold on to bandwidth-hungry gamers said Lindsay Schroth, an analyst with research firm The Yankee Group.

Summarize the following article: US cyber security chief resigns The man making sure US computer networks are safe and secure has resigned after only a year in his post. Amit Yoran was director of the National Cyber Security Division within the US Department of Homeland Security created following the 9/11 attacks. The division was tasked with improving US defences against malicious hackers, viruses and other net-based threats. Reports suggest he left because his division was not given enough clout within the larger organisation. Mr Yoran took up his post in September 2003 and his first task was to get the Cyber Security Division up and running. The organisation had a staff of about 60 people and a budget of about $80m (£44.54m). The division was charged with thinking up and carrying out action to make US networks more impervious to attack and disruption by the viruses, worms and hack attacks that have become commonplace. In the last 12 months Mr Yoran oversaw the creation of a cyber alert system that sends out warnings about big hitting viruses and net attacks as they occur. The warnings also contained information about how firms and organisations could protect themselves against these attacks. The Cyber Security Division also audited US government networks to discover exactly what was sitting on which network. The next step was to be the creation of a scanning system to identify vulnerabilities that made federal networks and machines susceptible to attack by malicious hackers and virus writers. Mr Yoran's division was also doing work to identify the networks and machines that had been broken into by cyber criminals. Despite this success Mr Yoran left his post abruptly at the end of last week, reportedly only giving one day's notice to bosses at the Department of Homeland Security. "Amit Yoran has been a valuable contributor on cyber security issues over the past year, and we appreciate his efforts in starting the department's cybersecurity program," said a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman. Some reports have suggested that Mr Yoran felt frustrated by the lack of prominence given to work to protect against net-based threats in the wider homeland organisation. An attempt by US politicians to pass a law to promote Mr Yoran and raise the profile of his department's work is now mired in Congress.

Amit Yoran was director of the National Cyber Security Division within the US Department of Homeland Security created following the 9/11 attacks.The Cyber Security Division also audited US government networks to discover exactly what was sitting on which network.Mr Yoran took up his post in September 2003 and his first task was to get the Cyber Security Division up and running.Mr Yoran's division was also doing work to identify the networks and machines that had been broken into by cyber criminals.The division was tasked with improving US defences against malicious hackers, viruses and other net-based threats.Reports suggest he left because his division was not given enough clout within the larger organisation.Some reports have suggested that Mr Yoran felt frustrated by the lack of prominence given to work to protect against net-based threats in the wider homeland organisation.

Summarize the following article: Microsoft debuts security tools Microsoft is releasing tools that clean up PCs harbouring viruses and spyware. The virus-fighting program will be updated monthly and is a precursor to Microsoft releasing dedicated anti-virus software. Also being released is a software utility that will help users find and remove any spyware on their home computer. Although initially free it is thought that soon Microsoft will be charging users for the anti-spyware tool. The anti-spyware tool is available now and the anti-virus utility is expected to be available later this month. Microsoft's Windows operating system has long been a favourite of people who write computer viruses because it is so ubiquitous and has many loopholes that can be exploited. It has proved such a tempting target that there are now thought to be more than 100,000 viruses and other malicious programs in existence. Latest research suggests that new variants of viruses are being cranked out at a rate of up to 200 per week. Spyware is surreptitious software that sneaks on to home computers, often without users' knowledge. In its most benign form it just bombards users with pop-up adverts or hijacks web browser settings. The most malicious forms steal confidential information or log every keystroke that users make. Surveys have shown that most PCs are infested with spyware. Research by technology firms Earthlink and Webroot revealed that 90% of Windows machine have the malicious software on board and, on average, each one harbours 28 separate spyware programs. Before now Microsoft has left the market for PC security software to specialist firms such as Symantec, McAfee, Trend Micro and many others. It said that its virus cleaning program would not stop machines being infected nor remove the need for other anti-virus programs. On spyware freely available programs such as Ad-Aware and Spybot have become widely used by people keen to keep the latest variants at bay. Microsoft's two security tools have emerged as a result of acquisitions the company has made over the last two years. In 2003 it bought Romanian firm GeCAD Software to get hold of its anti-virus technology. In December 2004 it bought New York-based anti-spyware firm Giant Company Software. Last year Microsoft also released the SP2 upgrade for Windows XP that closed many security loopholes in the software and made it easier for people to manage their anti-virus and firewall programs.

Microsoft is releasing tools that clean up PCs harbouring viruses and spyware.Also being released is a software utility that will help users find and remove any spyware on their home computer.Last year Microsoft also released the SP2 upgrade for Windows XP that closed many security loopholes in the software and made it easier for people to manage their anti-virus and firewall programs.Research by technology firms Earthlink and Webroot revealed that 90% of Windows machine have the malicious software on board and, on average, each one harbours 28 separate spyware programs.The virus-fighting program will be updated monthly and is a precursor to Microsoft releasing dedicated anti-virus software.Before now Microsoft has left the market for PC security software to specialist firms such as Symantec, McAfee, Trend Micro and many others.In 2003 it bought Romanian firm GeCAD Software to get hold of its anti-virus technology.In December 2004 it bought New York-based anti-spyware firm Giant Company Software.

Summarize the following article: 'Brainwave' cap controls computer A team of US researchers has shown that controlling devices with the brain is a step closer. Four people, two of them partly paralysed wheelchair users, successfully moved a computer cursor while wearing a cap with 64 electrodes. Previous research has shown that monkeys can control a computer with electrodes implanted into their brain. The New York team reported their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "The results show that people can learn to use scalp-recorded electroencephalogram rhythms to control rapid and accurate movement of a cursor in two directions," said Jonathan Wolpaw and Dennis McFarlane. The research team, from New York State Department of Health and State University of New York in Albany, said the research was another step towards people controlling wheelchairs or other electronic devices by thought. The four people faced a large video screen wearing a special cap which, meant no surgery or implantation was needed. Brain activity produces electrical signals that can be read by electrodes. Complex algorithms then translate those signals into instructions to direct the computer. Such brain activity does not require the use of any nerves of muscles, so people with stroke or spinal cord injuries could use the cap effectively. "The impressive non-invasive multidimensional control achieved in the present study suggests that a non-invasive brain control interface could support clinically useful operation of a robotic arm, a motorised wheelchair or a neuroprosthesis," said the researchers. The four volunteers also showed that they could get better at controlling the cursor the more times they tried. Although the two partially-paralysed people performed better overall, the researchers said this could be because their brains were more used to adapting or that they were simply more motivated. It is not the first time researchers have had this sort of success in brain-control experiments. Some teams have used eye motion and other recording techniques. Earlier this year, a team at the MIT Media Labs Europe demonstrated a wireless cap which read brain waves to control a computer character.

Although the two partially-paralysed people performed better overall, the researchers said this could be because their brains were more used to adapting or that they were simply more motivated.A team of US researchers has shown that controlling devices with the brain is a step closer.Earlier this year, a team at the MIT Media Labs Europe demonstrated a wireless cap which read brain waves to control a computer character.Four people, two of them partly paralysed wheelchair users, successfully moved a computer cursor while wearing a cap with 64 electrodes.Previous research has shown that monkeys can control a computer with electrodes implanted into their brain.The research team, from New York State Department of Health and State University of New York in Albany, said the research was another step towards people controlling wheelchairs or other electronic devices by thought.Such brain activity does not require the use of any nerves of muscles, so people with stroke or spinal cord injuries could use the cap effectively.

Summarize the following article: Games win for Blu-ray DVD format The next-generation DVD format Blu-ray is winning more supporters than its rival, according to its backers. Blu-ray, backed by 100 firms including Sony, is competing against Toshiba and NEC-backed HD-DVD to be the format of choice for future films and games. The Blu-Ray Association said on Thursday that games giants Electronic Arts and Vivendi would both support its DVD format. The next generation of DVDs will hold high-definition video and sound. This offers incredible 3D-like quality of pictures which major Hollywood studios and games publishers are extremely keen to exploit in the coming year. In a separate press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Toshiba announced that DVD players for its technology would be on the market by the end of 2005. "As we move from standard definition video images to high-definition images, we have a much greater need for storage," Richard Doherty, from Panasonic's Hollywood Laboratories, one of the pioneers of Blu-ray, told the BBC news website. "So by utilising blue laser-based technology we can make an optical laser disc that can hold six times as much as today's DVD." A Blu-ray disc will be able to store 50GB of high-quality data, while Toshiba's HD-DVD will hold 30GB. Mr Doherty added that it was making sure the discs could satisfy all high-definition needs, including the ability to record onto the DVDs and smaller discs to fit into camcorders. Both Toshiba and Blu-ray are hopeful that the emerging DVD format war, akin to the Betamax and VHS fight in the 1980s, can be resolved over the next year when next-generation DVD players start to come out. When players do come out, they will be able to play standard DVDs too, which is good news for those who have huge libraries of current DVDs. But the support from Vivendi and Electronics Arts is a big boost to Blu-ray in the battle for supremacy. Gaming is a $20 billion industry worldwide, so is as crucial as the film industry in terms of money to be made. "The technical requirement for game development today demands more advanced optical-disc technologies," said Michael Heilmann, chief technology officer for Vivendi Universal. "Blu-ray offers the capacity, performance and high-speed internet connectivity to take us into the future of gaming." EA, a leading games developer and publisher, added that the delivery of high-definition games of the future was vital and Blu-ray had the capacity, functionality and interactivity needed for the kinds of projects it was planning. Sony recently announced it would be using the technology in its next generation of PlayStations. Mr Doherty said gamers were "ravenous" for high-quality graphics and technology for the next generation of titles. "Gamers, especially those working on PCs, are always focused on more capacity to deliver textures, deeper levels, for delivering higher-resolution playback." He added: "The focus for games moving forward on increased immersion. "Gaming companies really like to focus on creating a world which involves creating complicated 3D models and textures and increasing the resolution, increasing the frame rate - all of these are part of getting a more immersive experience." Fitting these models on current DVD technologies means compressing the graphics so much that much of this quality is lost. As games move to more photo-real capability, the current technology is limiting. "They are thrilled at the advanced capacity to start to build these immersive environments," said Mr Doherty. Currently, graphics-intensive PC games also require multiple discs for installation. High-definition DVDs will cut down on that need. Likewise, consoles rely on single discs, so DVDs that can hold six times more data mean much better, high-resolution games. Blu-ray has already won backing from major Hollywood studios, such as MGM Studios, Disney, and Buena Vista, as well as top technology firms like Dell, LG, Samsung and Phillips amongst others. While Toshiba's HD-DVD technology has won backing from Paramount, Universal and Warner Bros. "The real world benefits (of HD-DVD) are apparent and obvious," said Jim Cardwell, president of Warner Home Video. Mr Cardwell added that rapid time to market and dependability were significant factors in choosing to go with HD-DVD. Both formats are courting Microsoft to be the format of choice for the next generation Xbox, but discussions are still on-going. Next generation DVDs will also be able to store images and other data. CES is the largest consumer electronics show in the world, and runs from 6 to 9 January.

The Blu-Ray Association said on Thursday that games giants Electronic Arts and Vivendi would both support its DVD format.Mr Doherty said gamers were "ravenous" for high-quality graphics and technology for the next generation of titles.The next generation of DVDs will hold high-definition video and sound.Both Toshiba and Blu-ray are hopeful that the emerging DVD format war, akin to the Betamax and VHS fight in the 1980s, can be resolved over the next year when next-generation DVD players start to come out.Next generation DVDs will also be able to store images and other data.EA, a leading games developer and publisher, added that the delivery of high-definition games of the future was vital and Blu-ray had the capacity, functionality and interactivity needed for the kinds of projects it was planning.Blu-ray, backed by 100 firms including Sony, is competing against Toshiba and NEC-backed HD-DVD to be the format of choice for future films and games.A Blu-ray disc will be able to store 50GB of high-quality data, while Toshiba's HD-DVD will hold 30GB."So by utilising blue laser-based technology we can make an optical laser disc that can hold six times as much as today's DVD."Sony recently announced it would be using the technology in its next generation of PlayStations.In a separate press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Toshiba announced that DVD players for its technology would be on the market by the end of 2005.Fitting these models on current DVD technologies means compressing the graphics so much that much of this quality is lost.As games move to more photo-real capability, the current technology is limiting.Mr Doherty added that it was making sure the discs could satisfy all high-definition needs, including the ability to record onto the DVDs and smaller discs to fit into camcorders.

Summarize the following article: New Year's texting breaks record A mobile phone was as essential to the recent New Year's festivities as a party mood and Auld Lang Syne, if the number of text messages sent is anything to go by. Between midnight on 31 December and midnight on 1 January, 133m text messages were sent in the UK. It is the highest ever daily total recorded by the Mobile Data Association (MDA). It represents an increase of 20% on last year's figures. Wishing a Happy New Year to friends and family via text message has become a staple ingredient of the year's largest party. While texting has not quite overtaken the old-fashioned phone call, it is heading that way, said Mike Short, chairman of the MDA. "In the case of a New Years Eve party, texting is useful if you are unable to speak or hear because of a noisy background," he said. There were also lots of messages sent internationally, where different time zones made traditional calls unfeasible, he said. The British love affair with texting shows no signs of abating and the annual total for 2004 is set to exceed 25bn, according to MDA. The MDA predicts that 2005 could see more than 30bn text messages sent in the UK. "We thought texting might slow down as MMS took off but we have seen no sign of that," said Mr Short. More and more firms are seeing the value in mobile marketing. Restaurants are using text messages to tell customers about special offers and promotions. Anyone in need of a bit of January cheer now the party season is over, can use a service set up by Jongleurs comedy club, which will text them a joke a day. For those still wanting to drink and be merry as the long days of winter draw in, the Good Pub Guide offers a service giving the location and address of their nearest recommended pub. Users need to text the word GOODPUB to 85130. If they want to turn the evening into a pub crawl, they simply text the word NEXT. And for those still standing at the end of the night, a taxi service in London is available via text, which will locate the nearest available black cab.

The MDA predicts that 2005 could see more than 30bn text messages sent in the UK.A mobile phone was as essential to the recent New Year's festivities as a party mood and Auld Lang Syne, if the number of text messages sent is anything to go by.Wishing a Happy New Year to friends and family via text message has become a staple ingredient of the year's largest party.Between midnight on 31 December and midnight on 1 January, 133m text messages were sent in the UK.Restaurants are using text messages to tell customers about special offers and promotions.Users need to text the word GOODPUB to 85130.Anyone in need of a bit of January cheer now the party season is over, can use a service set up by Jongleurs comedy club, which will text them a joke a day."In the case of a New Years Eve party, texting is useful if you are unable to speak or hear because of a noisy background," he said.

Summarize the following article: DVD copy protection strengthened DVDs will be harder to copy thanks to new anti-piracy measures devised by copy protection firm Macrovision. The pirated DVD market is enormous because current copy protection was hacked more than five years ago. Macrovision says its new RipGuard technology will thwart most, but not all, of the current DVD ripping (copying) programs used to pirate DVDs. "RipGuard is designed to... reduce DVD ripping and the resulting supply of illegal peer to peer," said the firm. Macrovision said the new technology will work in "nearly all" current DVD players when applied to the discs, but it did not specify how many machines could have a problem with RipGuard. The new technology will be welcomed by Hollywood film studios which are increasingly relying on revenue from DVD sales. The film industry has stepped up efforts to fight DVD piracy in the last 12 months, taking legal action against websites which offer pirated copies of DVD movies for download. "Ultimately, we see RipGuard DVD... evolving beyond anti-piracy, and towards enablement of legitimate online transactions, interoperability in tomorrow's digital home, and the upcoming high-definition formats," said Steve Weinstein, executive vice president and general manager of Macrovision's Entertainment Technologies Group. Macrovision said RipGuard was designed to plug the "digital hole" that was created by so-called DeCSS ripper software. It circumvents Content Scrambling System measures placed on DVDs and let people make perfect digital copies of copyrighted DVDs in minutes. Those copies could then be burned onto a blank DVD or uploaded for exchange to a peer-to-peer network. Macrovision said RipGuard would also prevent against "rent, rip and return" - where people would rent a DVD, copy it and then return the original. RipGuard is expected to be rolled out on DVDs from the middle of 2005, the company said. The new system works specifically to block most ripping programs - if used, those programs will now most likely crash, the company said. Macrovision has said that Rip Guard can be updated if hackers find a way around the new anti-copying measures.

Macrovision says its new RipGuard technology will thwart most, but not all, of the current DVD ripping (copying) programs used to pirate DVDs.Macrovision said the new technology will work in "nearly all" current DVD players when applied to the discs, but it did not specify how many machines could have a problem with RipGuard.Macrovision said RipGuard would also prevent against "rent, rip and return" - where people would rent a DVD, copy it and then return the original.DVDs will be harder to copy thanks to new anti-piracy measures devised by copy protection firm Macrovision."RipGuard is designed to... reduce DVD ripping and the resulting supply of illegal peer to peer," said the firm.RipGuard is expected to be rolled out on DVDs from the middle of 2005, the company said.

Summarize the following article: Seamen sail into biometric future The luxury cruise liner Crystal Harmony, currently in the Gulf of Mexico, is the unlikely setting for tests of biometric technology. As holidaymakers enjoy balmy breezes, their ship's crew is testing prototype versions of the world's first internationally issued biometric ID cards, the seafarer's equivalent of a passport. Along with the owner's picture, name and personal details, the new Seafarers' Identity Document incorporates a barcode representing unique features of its holder's fingerprints. The cards are due to be issued in February next year, in line with the revised UN Convention on Seafarers' Identity Documents of June 2003. Tests currently under way in the Caribbean are designed to ensure that new cards and their machine readers, produced by different companies in different countries, are working to interoperable standards. Results of the current tests, which involve seafarers from a wide range of occupations and nationalities, will be published by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) by the end of November. Crystal Cruises, which operates the Crystal Harmony, is exploring the use of biometrics but has not yet committed to the technology. Authenti-corp, the US technology consultancy, has been working with the ILO on its technical specifications for the cards. "If you're issued a seafarer's ID in your country, you want to be sure that when the ship lands in a port in, say, my country you can validate yourself using whatever equipment we have installed," Authenti-corp's CEO, Cynthia Musselman, told the BBC's Go Digital programme. She said French, Jordanian and Nigerian nationals would be the first seafarers to get the new ID cards since their countries have already ratified the convention. It aims to combat international terrorism whilst guaranteeing the welfare the one million seafarers estimated to be at sea. The convention highlights the importance of access to shore facilities and shore leave as vital elements to a sailor's wellbeing and, therefore, it says, to safer shipping and cleaner oceans. "By increasing security on the seas as well as border control and protection, the cards will hopefully reduce the number of piracy problems around the world," said Ms Musselman. "It should be a safer environment for seafarers to work in, and will allow people protecting their borders to have confidence that the people getting off the ship are, in fact, seafarers."

She said French, Jordanian and Nigerian nationals would be the first seafarers to get the new ID cards since their countries have already ratified the convention.The cards are due to be issued in February next year, in line with the revised UN Convention on Seafarers' Identity Documents of June 2003."It should be a safer environment for seafarers to work in, and will allow people protecting their borders to have confidence that the people getting off the ship are, in fact, seafarers."As holidaymakers enjoy balmy breezes, their ship's crew is testing prototype versions of the world's first internationally issued biometric ID cards, the seafarer's equivalent of a passport."If you're issued a seafarer's ID in your country, you want to be sure that when the ship lands in a port in, say, my country you can validate yourself using whatever equipment we have installed," Authenti-corp's CEO, Cynthia Musselman, told the BBC's Go Digital programme.The luxury cruise liner Crystal Harmony, currently in the Gulf of Mexico, is the unlikely setting for tests of biometric technology.

Summarize the following article: US woman sues over cartridges A US woman is suing Hewlett Packard (HP), saying its printer ink cartridges are secretly programmed to expire on a certain date. The unnamed woman from Georgia says that a chip inside the cartridge tells the printer that it needs re-filling even when it does not. The lawsuit seeks to represent anyone in the US who has purchased an HP inkjet printer since February 2001. HP, the world's biggest printer firm, declined to comment on the lawsuit. HP ink cartridges use a chip technology to sense when they are low on ink and advise the user to make a change. But the suit claims the chips also shut down the cartridges at a predetermined date regardless of whether they are empty. "The smart chip is dually engineered to prematurely register ink depletion and to render a cartridge unusable through the use of a built-in expiration date that is not revealed to the consumer," the suit said. The lawsuit is asking for restitution, damages and other compensation. The cost of printer cartridges has been a contentious issue in Europe for the last 18 months. The price of inkjet printers has come down to as little as £34 but it could cost up to £1,700 in running costs over an 18-month period due to cartridge, a study by Computeractive Magazine revealed last year. The inkjet printer market has been the subject of an investigation by the UK's Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which concluded in a 2002 report that retailers and manufacturers needed to make pricing more transparent for consumers.

A US woman is suing Hewlett Packard (HP), saying its printer ink cartridges are secretly programmed to expire on a certain date.The cost of printer cartridges has been a contentious issue in Europe for the last 18 months.The lawsuit seeks to represent anyone in the US who has purchased an HP inkjet printer since February 2001.The price of inkjet printers has come down to as little as £34 but it could cost up to £1,700 in running costs over an 18-month period due to cartridge, a study by Computeractive Magazine revealed last year.HP ink cartridges use a chip technology to sense when they are low on ink and advise the user to make a change.

Summarize the following article: Mobile audio enters new dimension As mobile phones move closer to being a ubiquitous, all-in-one media player, audio is becoming ever more important. But how good can that sound be from such a small device? The sound of a buzzing bee jumps from left to right before disappearing around the back of my head. The surround sound demo is unremarkable when heard on a multi-speaker home cinema system but startling when emerging from a small mobile phone. British firm Sonaptic is one of a number of companies to have developed 3D audio technology that emerges from stereo speakers. Firms AM3D and SRS both offer stereo-widening technology for mobile phones. But Sonaptic's managing director David Monteith says his firm is the only company to offer positional 3D audio on a mobile. "There are quite a few basic technologies out there, making the sound seem a bit bigger, headphones a bit nicer. "No-one has really tried before to make proper 3D positional audio - where an individual channel can be moved around." Sonaptic has been working with Japanese mobile network NTT DoCoMo to set standards for 3D audio on mobile phones. In the last few months handsets from NEC, Fujitsu and Mitsubishi have been released on to the Japanese marker which have chips produced by Yamaha and Rohm with Sonaptic's technology. "The technology has been around on PCs and games consoles for some time but what we are doing is making it more efficient so it can go on a small consumer device like a mobile phone," said Mr Monteith. The technology works through applying the science of psychoacoustics and grew out of medical research done by the company's research director Dr Alastair Sibbald. "We are basically trying to fool your ears into thinking sound is coming from areas it actually isn't. "Your brain uses certain bits of information which we are effectively synthesising on a mobile phone handset." The structure of the ear works as a 3D encoder for sound - helping the brain understand from where sound is emanating. Sonaptic's audio processing algorithms mimic that 3D encoding, giving the impression that sound is coming from the left, right, and behind a listener when in fact it is coming from a single source. Mr Montieth says: "If the sound is off to one side it will get to one ear before the other - if it is on the right it has to bend around your head to get to your left ear. "The shape of your ear causes differences in sound from one ear to the other. We are synthesising those differences." Sonaptic hopes the technology will have a big impact in the growing market of mobile gaming and music downloading. "Handhelds often have limitations - screens will be small by definition. "If you want to get impact from media you are running - either a movie, a game or watching TV - if you want it to be more immersive then our technology can help." A fishing game is the first title to use the technology, creating a 3D sound field while the gamer plays. Driving games and shoot 'em ups using the technology are in development. The technology can also be used for music - giving songs a much more expansive and immersive feel. Sonaptic offers its technology on a chip or in software and is about to release a new version which significantly improves the efficiency of the audio processing. "It's important we only use 10 or 15% of the processor otherwise you won't be able to play a game on the handset," explained Mr Montieth. The company is now looking to the US and European markets, where it has been working with network Vodafone. "We have focused first on Japan because it has a very advanced mobile phone market. "We knew Japan would be the first place to have the handsets that could use our technology. "There should be handsets out in the UK in the next six months."

"The technology has been around on PCs and games consoles for some time but what we are doing is making it more efficient so it can go on a small consumer device like a mobile phone," said Mr Monteith.A fishing game is the first title to use the technology, creating a 3D sound field while the gamer plays.Sonaptic has been working with Japanese mobile network NTT DoCoMo to set standards for 3D audio on mobile phones."Your brain uses certain bits of information which we are effectively synthesising on a mobile phone handset."Mr Montieth says: "If the sound is off to one side it will get to one ear before the other - if it is on the right it has to bend around your head to get to your left ear.Firms AM3D and SRS both offer stereo-widening technology for mobile phones.Sonaptic hopes the technology will have a big impact in the growing market of mobile gaming and music downloading."We have focused first on Japan because it has a very advanced mobile phone market."We knew Japan would be the first place to have the handsets that could use our technology.British firm Sonaptic is one of a number of companies to have developed 3D audio technology that emerges from stereo speakers.The surround sound demo is unremarkable when heard on a multi-speaker home cinema system but startling when emerging from a small mobile phone.The structure of the ear works as a 3D encoder for sound - helping the brain understand from where sound is emanating."There are quite a few basic technologies out there, making the sound seem a bit bigger, headphones a bit nicer.

Summarize the following article: 'No re-draft' for EU patent law A proposed European law on software patents will not be re-drafted by the European Commission (EC) despite requests by MEPs. The law is proving controversial and has been in limbo for a year. Some major tech firms say it is needed to protect inventions, while others fear it will hurt smaller tech firms The EC says the Council of Ministers will adopt a draft version that was agreed upon last May but said it would review "all aspects of the directive". The directive is intended to offer patent protection to inventions that use software to achieve their effect, in other words, "computer implemented invention". In a letter, EC President José Manuel Barroso told the President of the European Parliament, Josep Borrell, that the Commission "did not intend to refer a new proposal to the Parliament and the Council (of ministers)" as it had supported the agreement reached by ministers in May 2004. If the European Council agrees on the draft directive it will then return for a second reading at the European Parliament. But that will not guarantee that the directive will become law - instead it will probably mean further delays and controversy over the directive. Most EU legislation now needs the approval of both parliament and the Council of Ministers before it becomes law. French Green MEP Alain Lipietz warned two weeks ago that if the Commission ignored the Parliament's request it would be an "insult" to the assembly. He said that the parliament would then reject the Council's version of the legislation as part of the final or conciliation stage of the decision procedure. In the US, the patenting of computer programs and internet business methods is permitted. This means that the US-based Amazon.com holds a patent for its "one-click shopping" service, for example. Critics are concerned that the directive could lead to a similar model happening in Europe. This, they fear, could hurt small software developers because they do not have the legal and financial might of larger companies if they had to fight patent legal action in court. Supporters say current laws are inefficient and it would serve to even up a playing field without bringing EU laws in line with the US.

A proposed European law on software patents will not be re-drafted by the European Commission (EC) despite requests by MEPs.But that will not guarantee that the directive will become law - instead it will probably mean further delays and controversy over the directive.Supporters say current laws are inefficient and it would serve to even up a playing field without bringing EU laws in line with the US.If the European Council agrees on the draft directive it will then return for a second reading at the European Parliament.Most EU legislation now needs the approval of both parliament and the Council of Ministers before it becomes law.Some major tech firms say it is needed to protect inventions, while others fear it will hurt smaller tech firms The EC says the Council of Ministers will adopt a draft version that was agreed upon last May but said it would review "all aspects of the directive".

Summarize the following article: Camera phones are 'must-haves' Four times more mobiles with cameras in them will be sold in Europe by the end of 2004 than last year, says a report from analysts Gartner. Globally, the number sold will reach 159 million, an increase of 104%. The report predicts that nearly 70% of all mobile phones sold will have a built-in camera by 2008. Improving imaging technology in mobiles is making them an increasingly "must-have" buy. In Europe, cameras on mobiles can take 1.3 megapixel images. But in Japan and Asia Pacific, where camera phone technology is much more advanced, mobiles have already been released which can take 3.2 megapixel images. Japan still dominates mobile phone technology, and the uptake there is huge. By 2008, according to Gartner, 95% of all mobiles sold there will have cameras on them. Camera phones had some teething problems when they were first launched as people struggled with poor quality images and uses for them, as well as the complexity and expense of sending them via MMS (Multimedia Messaging Services). This has changed in the last 18 months. Handset makers have concentrated on trying to make phones easier to use. Realising that people like to use their camera phones in different ways, they have introduced more design features, like rotating screens and viewfinders, removable memory cards and easier controls to send picture messages. Mobile companies have introduced more ways for people to share photos with other people. These have included giving people easier ways to publish them on websites, or mobile blogs - moblogs. But the report suggests that until image quality increases more, people will not be interested in printing out pictures at kiosks. Image sensor technology inside cameras phones is improving. The Gartner report suggests that by mid-2005, it is likely that the image resolution of most camera phones will be more than two megapixels. Consumer digital cameras images range from two to four megapixels in quality, and up to six megapixels on a high-end camera. But a lot of work is being done to make camera phones more like digital cameras. Some handsets already feature limited zoom capability, and manufacturers are looking into technological improvements that will let people take more photos in poorly-lit conditions, like nightclubs. Other developments include wide-angle modes, basic editing features, and better sensors and processors for recording film clips. Images from camera phones have even made it into the art world. An exhibition next month in aid of the charity Mencap, will feature snaps taken from the camera phones of top artists. The exhibition, Fonetography, will feature images taken by photographers David Bailey, Rankin and Nan Goldin, and artists Sir Peter Blake, Tracey Emin and Jack Vettriano. But some uses for them have worried many organisations. Intel, Samsung, the UK's Foreign Office and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories in the US, have decided to ban camera phones from their buildings for fear of sensitive information being snapped and leaked. Many schools, fitness centres and local councils have also banned them over fears about privacy and misuse. Italy's information commissioner has also voiced concern and has issued guidelines on where and how the phones can be used. But camera phone fears have not dampened the manufacturers' profits. According to recent figures, Sony Ericsson's profits tripled in the third-quarter because of new camera phones. Over 60% of mobiles sold during the three months through to September featured integrated cameras, it said.

The report predicts that nearly 70% of all mobile phones sold will have a built-in camera by 2008.Image sensor technology inside cameras phones is improving.By 2008, according to Gartner, 95% of all mobiles sold there will have cameras on them.But in Japan and Asia Pacific, where camera phone technology is much more advanced, mobiles have already been released which can take 3.2 megapixel images.The Gartner report suggests that by mid-2005, it is likely that the image resolution of most camera phones will be more than two megapixels.But camera phone fears have not dampened the manufacturers' profits.In Europe, cameras on mobiles can take 1.3 megapixel images.Four times more mobiles with cameras in them will be sold in Europe by the end of 2004 than last year, says a report from analysts Gartner.Images from camera phones have even made it into the art world.But a lot of work is being done to make camera phones more like digital cameras.Camera phones had some teething problems when they were first launched as people struggled with poor quality images and uses for them, as well as the complexity and expense of sending them via MMS (Multimedia Messaging Services).Consumer digital cameras images range from two to four megapixels in quality, and up to six megapixels on a high-end camera.Realising that people like to use their camera phones in different ways, they have introduced more design features, like rotating screens and viewfinders, removable memory cards and easier controls to send picture messages.

Summarize the following article: Video phone help for deaf people Deaf people who prefer to communicate using British Sign Language (BSL) could soon be having their phone conversations relayed using webcams or videophones and an interpreter. The Video Relay Service is being piloted by the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), but the organisation says unless the service is provided at the same rate as voice calls it will be beyond most people's pockets. The RNID is urging telecoms regulator, Ofcom, to reduce the cost of the service from the current £7.00 per minute and make it the same as ordinary phone calls. The service works by putting a deaf person in visual contact with a BSL interpreter via a webcam or video phone, and the interpreter then relays the deaf person's conversation using a telephone and translates the other person's response into sign language. For many deaf people, especially those born deaf, BSL is a first and preferred means of communication. Until now, the only alternative has been to use textphones which means having to type a message and have it relayed via an operator. "In the past, I've used textphones but they have problems," said Robert Currington who is taking part in the pilot. "I communicate in BSL; my written English is not very good and it takes me longer to think in English and type my message." "I sometimes find it difficult to understand the reply." The RNID says the UK is lagging behind other countries which are already making relay services available at the cost of an ordinary phone call. "There are no technical or economic reasons for not providing equivalent access to services for deaf people," said RNID technology director, Guido Gybels. "In the US and Australia, sign language relay services have already been made universally available at the same cost as a voice call. "By failing to provide and fund the video relay service for sign language users, the telecommunications sector is effectively discriminating against an already disenfranchised group." Ofcom says it has plans to review the services that telecoms companies are obliged to provide early next year. And new technology, including the Video Relay Service, will be discussed with interested parties in the near future. But a spokesman said its powers were limited by legislation. "Any proposals to extend existing arrangements to cover new services would be for government to consider," he said. Mr Currington, like many of the UK's 70,000 BSL users, will be hoping that a way can be found to make a cost-effective service available. "The relay service makes phone conversations a pleasure," he said. "I can show my emotions more easily in BSL in the same way hearing people express emotions through voice calls."

"The relay service makes phone conversations a pleasure," he said.The Video Relay Service is being piloted by the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), but the organisation says unless the service is provided at the same rate as voice calls it will be beyond most people's pockets.The service works by putting a deaf person in visual contact with a BSL interpreter via a webcam or video phone, and the interpreter then relays the deaf person's conversation using a telephone and translates the other person's response into sign language.The RNID says the UK is lagging behind other countries which are already making relay services available at the cost of an ordinary phone call."In the US and Australia, sign language relay services have already been made universally available at the same cost as a voice call."There are no technical or economic reasons for not providing equivalent access to services for deaf people," said RNID technology director, Guido Gybels.Deaf people who prefer to communicate using British Sign Language (BSL) could soon be having their phone conversations relayed using webcams or videophones and an interpreter."By failing to provide and fund the video relay service for sign language users, the telecommunications sector is effectively discriminating against an already disenfranchised group."

Summarize the following article: Nintendo handheld given Euro date Nintendo's new handheld console, the DS, will launch in Europe on 11 March, the company has announced. The portable games machine, which features touch-screen control, will retail for £99 in the UK (149 euros). Nintendo said 15 games would be available in the UK at launch, with prices ranging from £19 to £29. More than 2.8 million DS consoles have been sold since it first appeared in the US and Japan at the end of 2004. Rival Sony has said it will launch its first handheld console, the PSP, in the US and Europe before the end of March. The PSP is expected to compete for a large part of the same handheld market, despite Sony's assertion that the machines are aimed at different consumers. The 15 games available on the European launch date will include Nintendo's Super Mario 64 DS, as well as titles from third-party developers such as Ubisoft's Rayman DS. More than 120 games are in development for the new console, Nintendo has said. The DS is backwards compatible with the Game Boy Advance, allowing the earlier machine's back catalogue of 700 games to be played. Additionally, a short-range wireless link for multiplayer gaming is built in to the DS, with a "download play" option which allows a group to play against each other, even if just one person owns a copy. Other features include a short-range messaging application called Pictochat, and a built-in microphone which is used in Sega's launch title Project Rub. Nintendo has also announced a media adapter, which will allow the console to play music and video on the move. The launch price of £99 (149 euros) compares favourably with the US price of $149, according to John Houlihan, editor of the Computerandvideogames.com magazine. "It's a very, very competitive price point. There are some innovative features, and Nintendo has created quite a buzz," he says. "However, the line-up of games could have been stronger. Everyone wanted to see the eight-player Mario Kart DS, for example." Mr Houlihan believes that there is likely to be an audience for both the Nintendo DS and Sony's new PSP, with the former aimed largely at a younger audience and the latter expected to be marketed as a multimedia device. "The PSP is a sexy bit of kit, but Sony's attitude to the PSP has been very understated in Europe, so far," Mr Houlihan said. The worldwide handheld software market had an estimated worth of $2.6bn at the end of 2004, according to industry analysts Screen Digest. In the past, games consoles and handhelds have generally launched much later in Europe than in other parts of the world. However Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said the company was "pleased to have offered such a short period of time between the US and European launch". "Europe is an extremely important market for Nintendo," Mr Iwata added. Nintendo raised its sales targets for the DS console last December after selling a million in the US and Japan in just a few weeks.

More than 120 games are in development for the new console, Nintendo has said.Nintendo's new handheld console, the DS, will launch in Europe on 11 March, the company has announced.Rival Sony has said it will launch its first handheld console, the PSP, in the US and Europe before the end of March.Nintendo said 15 games would be available in the UK at launch, with prices ranging from £19 to £29.The 15 games available on the European launch date will include Nintendo's Super Mario 64 DS, as well as titles from third-party developers such as Ubisoft's Rayman DS.Nintendo raised its sales targets for the DS console last December after selling a million in the US and Japan in just a few weeks.More than 2.8 million DS consoles have been sold since it first appeared in the US and Japan at the end of 2004.However Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said the company was "pleased to have offered such a short period of time between the US and European launch".Mr Houlihan believes that there is likely to be an audience for both the Nintendo DS and Sony's new PSP, with the former aimed largely at a younger audience and the latter expected to be marketed as a multimedia device.Nintendo has also announced a media adapter, which will allow the console to play music and video on the move.

Summarize the following article: Nuclear body seeks new tech The computer systems used to monitor the world's nuclear power installations are so outdated that they are hampering the work of inspectors. A spokesman for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its current technology could allow key information to be overlooked as it was more than 20 years old. Such systems are the only method of tracking nuclear material worldwide. The agency has appealed for more funds to update its hardware and software. "A major overhaul of the system is needed to allow inspectors immediate, secure online access to information," said project manager Livio Costantini. IAEA inspectors make around 3,000 visits a year to more than 900 nuclear facilities worldwide. They are there to verify official reports of activities in the plants, to carry out environmental checks, and also to look for any signs that nuclear material is being smuggled in or out of the facility. The computer system inspectors currently use for comparing data from earlier visits, for instance, was built in the 1970s and largely paper based. An IAEA spokesman said this was extremely inefficient and makes searching for anomalies like searching for a needle in a haystack. The organisation is aiming to start a system upgrade in November, aiming to provide inspectors in the field with secure online access to previous inspection data, design blueprints of nuclear facilities, even satellite images of the plant. Where possible, it hopes to link the system with national records of the import and export of nuclear materials. Further analysis of these could help spot potential smuggling activities or illicit technology transfers between countries, according to a spokesman. Computer specialist at the IAEA, Peter Smith, would like to be able to incorporate state of the art visualisation techniques, more familiar to video games players, into the inspector's toolkit. "The commercials you now see have people are moving around in a virtual world," he said. "If we could have that on our laptops, we could be walking through the plant seeing, on the laptop, how the plant should look. "And if there's a door in the wall that is not on our laptop, then we have a problem." The IAEA estimates the total cost of the four-year project to upgrade its technology will be $40m. So far it has only received $11m from the US and the UK. "Failure to replace the hardware and software, and to integrate fully all the information system components will carry large risks," said an agency statement.

A spokesman for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its current technology could allow key information to be overlooked as it was more than 20 years old.IAEA inspectors make around 3,000 visits a year to more than 900 nuclear facilities worldwide.Such systems are the only method of tracking nuclear material worldwide."Failure to replace the hardware and software, and to integrate fully all the information system components will carry large risks," said an agency statement."A major overhaul of the system is needed to allow inspectors immediate, secure online access to information," said project manager Livio Costantini.The organisation is aiming to start a system upgrade in November, aiming to provide inspectors in the field with secure online access to previous inspection data, design blueprints of nuclear facilities, even satellite images of the plant.The computer systems used to monitor the world's nuclear power installations are so outdated that they are hampering the work of inspectors.An IAEA spokesman said this was extremely inefficient and makes searching for anomalies like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Summarize the following article: Microsoft releases patches Microsoft has warned PC users to update their systems with the latest security fixes for flaws in Windows programs. In its monthly security bulletin, it flagged up eight "critical" security holes which could leave PCs open to attack if left unpatched. The number of holes considered "critical" is more than usual. They affect Windows programs, including Internet Explorer (IE), media player and instant messaging. Four other important fixes were also released. These were considered to be less critical, however. If not updated, either automatically or manually, PC users running the programs could be vulnerable to viruses or other malicious attacks designed to exploit the holes. Many of the flaws could be used by virus writers to take over computers remotely, install programs, change, and delete or see data. One of the critical patches Microsoft has made available is an important one that fixes some IE flaws. Stephen Toulouse, a Microsoft security manager, said the flaws were known about, and although the firm had not seen any attacks exploiting the flaw, he did not rule them out. Often, when a critical flaw is announced, spates of viruses follow because home users and businesses leave the flaw unpatched. A further patch fixes a hole in Media Player, Windows Messenger and MSN Messenger which an attacker could use to take control of unprotected machines through .png files. Microsoft announces any vulnerabilities in its software every month. The most important ones are those which are classed as "critical". Its latest releases came the week that the company announced it was to buy security software maker Sybari Software as part of Microsoft's plans to make its own security programs.

Microsoft has warned PC users to update their systems with the latest security fixes for flaws in Windows programs.One of the critical patches Microsoft has made available is an important one that fixes some IE flaws.In its monthly security bulletin, it flagged up eight "critical" security holes which could leave PCs open to attack if left unpatched.Often, when a critical flaw is announced, spates of viruses follow because home users and businesses leave the flaw unpatched.The most important ones are those which are classed as "critical".The number of holes considered "critical" is more than usual.

Summarize the following article: Mobile multimedia slow to catch on There is no doubt that mobile phones sporting cameras and colour screens are hugely popular. Consumers swapping old phones for slinkier, dinkier versions are thought to be responsible for a 26% increase in the number of phones sold during the third quarter of 2004, according to analysts Gartner More than 167 million handsets were sold globally between July and September 2004, a period that, according to Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi is "seldom strong". But although consumers have mobiles that can take and send snaps, sounds and video clips few, so far, are taking the chance to do so. In fact, the numbers of people not taking and sending pictures, audio and video is growing. Figures gathered by Continental Research shows that 36% of British camera phone users have never sent a multimedia message (MMS), up from 7% in 2003. This is despite the fact that, during the same period, the numbers of camera phones in the UK more than doubled to 7.5 million. Getting mobile phone users to send multimedia messages is really important for operators keen to squeeze more cash out of their customers and offset the cost of subsidising the handsets people are buying. The problem they face, said Shailendra Jain, head of MMS firm Adamind, is educating people in how to send the multimedia messages using their funky handsets. "Also," he said, "they have to simplify the interface so its not rocket science in terms of someone understanding it." Research bears out the suspicion that people are not sending multimedia messages because they do not know how to. According to Continental Research, 29% of the people it questioned said they were technophobes that tended to shy away from innovation. Only 11% regarded themselves as technically savvy enough to send a picture or video message. The fact that multimedia services are not interoperable across networks and phones only adds to people's reluctance to start sending them, said Mr Jain. "They ask themselves: 'If I'm streaming video from one handset to another will it work?'" he said. "There's a lot of user apprehension about that." There are other deeper technical reasons why multimedia messages are not being pushed as strongly as they might. Andrew Bud, executive chairman of messaging firm Mblox, said mobile phone operators cap the number of messages that can be circulating at any one time for fear of overwhelming the system. "The rate we can send MMS into the mobile network is fairly constant," he said. The reason for this is that there are finite capacities for data traffic on the second generation networks that currently have the most users. No-one wants to take the risk of swamping these relatively narrow channels so the number of MMS messages is capped, said Mr Bud. This has led to operators finding other technologies, particularly one known as Wap-push, to get multimedia to their customers. But when networks do find a good way to get multimedia to their customers, the results can be dramatic. Israeli technology firm Celltick has found a way to broadcast data across phone networks in a way that does not overwhelm existing bandwidth. One of the first firms to use the Celltick service is Hutch India, the largest mobile firm in the country. The broadcast system gets multimedia to customers via a rolling menu far faster than would be possible with other systems. While not multimedia messaging, such a system gets people used to seeing their phones as a device that can handle all different types of content. As a result 40% of the subscribers to the Hutch Alive, which uses Celltick's broadcast technology, regularly click for more pictures, sounds and images from the operator. "Operators really need to start utilising this tool to reach their customers," said Yaron Toren, spokesman for Celltick. Until then, multimedia will be a message that is not getting through.

Getting mobile phone users to send multimedia messages is really important for operators keen to squeeze more cash out of their customers and offset the cost of subsidising the handsets people are buying.The problem they face, said Shailendra Jain, head of MMS firm Adamind, is educating people in how to send the multimedia messages using their funky handsets.Andrew Bud, executive chairman of messaging firm Mblox, said mobile phone operators cap the number of messages that can be circulating at any one time for fear of overwhelming the system.The fact that multimedia services are not interoperable across networks and phones only adds to people's reluctance to start sending them, said Mr Jain.Figures gathered by Continental Research shows that 36% of British camera phone users have never sent a multimedia message (MMS), up from 7% in 2003.Until then, multimedia will be a message that is not getting through.Research bears out the suspicion that people are not sending multimedia messages because they do not know how to."The rate we can send MMS into the mobile network is fairly constant," he said.While not multimedia messaging, such a system gets people used to seeing their phones as a device that can handle all different types of content.he said.But when networks do find a good way to get multimedia to their customers, the results can be dramatic.No-one wants to take the risk of swamping these relatively narrow channels so the number of MMS messages is capped, said Mr Bud.

Summarize the following article: Global blogger action day called The global web blog community is being called into action to lend support to two imprisoned Iranian bloggers. The month-old Committee to Protect Bloggers' is asking those with blogs to dedicate their sites on 22 February to the "Free Mojtaba and Arash Day". Arash Sigarchi and Mojtaba Saminejad are both in prison in Iran. Blogs are free sites through which people publish thoughts and opinions. Iranian authorities have been clamping down on prominent sites for some time. "I hope this day will focus people," Curt Hopkins, director of the Committee, told the BBC News website. The group has a list of actions which it says bloggers can take, including writing to local Iranian embassies. The Committee has deemed Tuesday "Free Mojtaba and Arash Day" as part of its first campaign. It is calling on the blogsphere - the name for the worldwide community of bloggers - to do what it can to help raise awareness of the plight of Mojtaba and Arash as well as other "cyber-dissidents". "If you have a blog, the least you could do is put nothing on that blog except 'Free Mojtaba and Arash Day'," said Mr Hopkins. "That would mean you could see that phrase 7.1 million times. That alone will shine some light on the situation. "If you don't have one, find one dedicated to that - it takes about 30 seconds." Technorati, a blog search engine, tracks about six million blogs and says that more than 12,000 are added daily. A blog is created every 5.8 seconds, according to a US research think-tank. The Committee to Protect Bloggers was started by US blogger Curt Hopkins and counts fired flight attendant blogger Ellen Simonetti as a deputy director. She has since started the International Bloggers' Bill of Rights, a global petition to protect bloggers at work. Although not the only website committed to human rights issues by any means, it aims to be the hub or organisation, information and support for bloggers in particular and their rights to freedom of speech. The Committee, although only a month old, aims to be the focal point for blogger action on similar issues in the future, and will operate as a non-for-profit organisation. "Blogging is in this weird no man's land. People think of it as being one thing or another depending on their point of view," said Mr Hopkins. "Some think of themselves as pundits, kind of like journalists, and some like me have a private blog which is just a publishing platform. "But they do not have a constituency and are out there in the cold." It is not just human rights issues in countries which have a track record of restricting what is published in the media that is of concern to bloggers. The question of bloggers and what rights they have to say what they want on their sites is a thorny one and has received much press attention recently. High profile cases in which employees have been sacked for what they have said on their personal, and often anonymous blogs, have highlighted the muddy situation that the blogsphere is currently in. "This is a big messy argument," explained Mr Hopkins. He added: "It is just such a new way of doing business, there will be clamp downs." But the way these issues get tested is through the courts which, said Mr Hopkins, "is part of the whole messy conversation." "If you haven't already got bloggers in your company, you will have them tomorrow - and if you don't have a blogger policy now you had better start looking at having one. Mr Hopkins said that the blogsphere - which is doubling every five months - was powerful because it takes so little time and expertise to create a blog. "Everyone does this - mums, radicals, conservatives," he said. Many companies offer easy-to-use services to create a blog and publish it in minutes to a global community. "That is the essential difference. What I call 'templating software' gives every single person on Earth the chance to have one. "You don't even have to have your own computer."

"If you have a blog, the least you could do is put nothing on that blog except 'Free Mojtaba and Arash Day'," said Mr Hopkins.The month-old Committee to Protect Bloggers' is asking those with blogs to dedicate their sites on 22 February to the "Free Mojtaba and Arash Day".Mr Hopkins said that the blogsphere - which is doubling every five months - was powerful because it takes so little time and expertise to create a blog.The Committee to Protect Bloggers was started by US blogger Curt Hopkins and counts fired flight attendant blogger Ellen Simonetti as a deputy director.People think of it as being one thing or another depending on their point of view," said Mr Hopkins.But the way these issues get tested is through the courts which, said Mr Hopkins, "is part of the whole messy conversation."The question of bloggers and what rights they have to say what they want on their sites is a thorny one and has received much press attention recently.Technorati, a blog search engine, tracks about six million blogs and says that more than 12,000 are added daily."If you haven't already got bloggers in your company, you will have them tomorrow - and if you don't have a blogger policy now you had better start looking at having one.The Committee has deemed Tuesday "Free Mojtaba and Arash Day" as part of its first campaign.The global web blog community is being called into action to lend support to two imprisoned Iranian bloggers.The group has a list of actions which it says bloggers can take, including writing to local Iranian embassies.It is calling on the blogsphere - the name for the worldwide community of bloggers - to do what it can to help raise awareness of the plight of Mojtaba and Arash as well as other "cyber-dissidents".She has since started the International Bloggers' Bill of Rights, a global petition to protect bloggers at work.The Committee, although only a month old, aims to be the focal point for blogger action on similar issues in the future, and will operate as a non-for-profit organisation.

Summarize the following article: Humanoid robot learns how to run Car-maker Honda's humanoid robot Asimo has just got faster and smarter. The Japanese firm is a leader in developing two-legged robots and the new, improved Asimo (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) can now run, find his way around obstacles as well as interact with people. Eventually Asimo could find gainful employment in homes and offices. "The aim is to develop a robot that can help people in their daily lives," said a Honda spokesman. To get the robot running for the first time was not an easy process as it involved Asimo making an accurate leap and absorbing the impact of landing without slipping or spinning. The "run" he is now capable of is perhaps not quite up to Olympic star Kelly Holmes' standard. At 3km/h, it is closer to a leisurely jog. Its makers claim that it is almost four times as fast as Sony's Qrio, which became the first robot to run last year. The criteria for running robots is defined by engineers as having both feet off the ground between strides. Asimo has improved in other ways too, increasing his walking speed, from 1.6km/h to 2.5km, growing 10cm to 130cm and putting on 2kg in weight. While he may not quite be ready for yoga, he does have more freedom of movement, being able to twist his hips and bend his wrists, thumbs and neck. Asimo has already made his mark on the international robot scene and in November was inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame. He has wowed audiences around the world with his ability to walk upstairs, recognise faces and come when beckoned. In August 2003 he even attended a state dinner in the Czech Republic, travelling with the Japanese prime minister as a goodwill envoy. He is one of a handful of robots used by tech firms to trumpet their technological advances. Technology developed for Asimo could be used in the automobile industry as electronics increasingly take over from mechanics in car design. For the moment Asimo's biggest role is an entertainer and the audience gathered to see his first public run greeted his slightly comical gait with amusement, according to reports. Robots can fulfil serious functions in society and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe predicts that the worldwide market for industrial robots will swell from 81,000 units in 2003 to 106,000 in 2007.

Asimo has already made his mark on the international robot scene and in November was inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame.The Japanese firm is a leader in developing two-legged robots and the new, improved Asimo (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) can now run, find his way around obstacles as well as interact with people.Car-maker Honda's humanoid robot Asimo has just got faster and smarter.To get the robot running for the first time was not an easy process as it involved Asimo making an accurate leap and absorbing the impact of landing without slipping or spinning.Its makers claim that it is almost four times as fast as Sony's Qrio, which became the first robot to run last year.Asimo has improved in other ways too, increasing his walking speed, from 1.6km/h to 2.5km, growing 10cm to 130cm and putting on 2kg in weight.He is one of a handful of robots used by tech firms to trumpet their technological advances.The criteria for running robots is defined by engineers as having both feet off the ground between strides.

Summarize the following article: Game makers get Xbox 2 sneak peek Microsoft has given game makers a glimpse of the new Xbox 2 console. Some details of the Xbox's performance and what gaming will be like with the device were given at the annual Game Developers Conference in the US. Xbox frontman J. Allard said the console looked set to be capable of one trillion calculations per second. Also all titles for the new Xbox will have the same interface to make it easy to play online and buy extras for characters or other add-ons for games. Microsoft is saving the official unveiling of the Xbox 2, codenamed Xenon, for the E3 show in May and the device could be on shop shelves by November. However, during his keynote speech at GDC Mr Allard, who heads development of game-making tools for the console, gave a glimpse into how some of its core software will work. He said gaming was entering a "high-definition" era that demanded detailed and convincing graphics that could adequately compete with the HDTV people were starting to watch as well as the HD DVDs that will soon start to appear. Industry watchers took this to mean that the Xbox 2 will push for HDTV quality graphics as standard as well as multi-channel audio to give gamers an authentic experience. Mr Allard said Microsoft had to work hard to ensure that it was easy for game makers to produce titles for the Xbox 2 and for players to get playing. To this end Microsoft was building in to Xbox hardware systems to support headset chat, buddy list controls and custom soundtracks so developers were free to concentrate on the games. The Xbox would also support well-known industry specifications, such as DirectX, to make it simple for game studios to make titles for the console. For gamers this emphasis on ease of use would mean every Xbox title uses the same interface to set up online play and get at music stored on the hardware. This interface will hold details of a player's statistics and skill level on a "gamer card" as well as give access to a store where people can spend small amounts of cash to buy extras for their avatars or add-ons, such as new maps or vehicles, for games they possess. This ability to personalise games and in-game characters would be key in the future, said Mr Allard. Only with such consistency would the Xbox be able to support the 10-20 million subscribers that it was aiming for, said Mr Allard. During his speech Mr Allard took several swipes at the Playstation and said processors for consoles had to be made with developers, not just engineers, in mind. "Our approach is Bruce Lee, not brute force," he said.

Mr Allard said Microsoft had to work hard to ensure that it was easy for game makers to produce titles for the Xbox 2 and for players to get playing.Only with such consistency would the Xbox be able to support the 10-20 million subscribers that it was aiming for, said Mr Allard.Microsoft has given game makers a glimpse of the new Xbox 2 console.The Xbox would also support well-known industry specifications, such as DirectX, to make it simple for game studios to make titles for the console.This ability to personalise games and in-game characters would be key in the future, said Mr Allard.Xbox frontman J. Allard said the console looked set to be capable of one trillion calculations per second.Also all titles for the new Xbox will have the same interface to make it easy to play online and buy extras for characters or other add-ons for games.

Summarize the following article: Napster offers rented music to go Music downloading, for those that have rejected the free peer to peer services, can be a costly business. The cost of paying even as little as 70p per track can add up, particularly for those people who own one of the new generation of players that can store thousands of songs. Paying per track for music is becoming as outmoded as paying per minute for internet access and alternative monthly or yearly subscription models are springing up as a more convenient, and ultimately cheaper way of owning music. "Music fans are moving away from buying the traditional bundled package of a dozen or more songs that we used to call an album to newer ways that fit their lifestyle; either single tracks or subscriptions services," said Paul Myers, chief executive of Wippit, a UK-based music download service. While iTunes is doing good business with its sales of individual tracks to iPod owners, others are questioning whether the concept of owning music is even valid in the digital age. Napster is due to launch a new rental subscription service - dubbed Napster to Go in the UK in the next few months. The service can be used on players that support Microsoft Windows latest Digital Rights Management technology known as Janus. This includes players made by Samsung, Rio and Creative. Currently on offer in beta-version in the US, the service costs $15 per month for unlimited downloads. The technology ensures that music downloaded to the player only remains playable while the user subscribes to the service. Users need to update their license on a monthly basis or the tunes will no longer play. This has outraged some digital music lovers, especially as Napster already offers a cheaper service for downloading music to the PC. Napster claims the higher price is a result of record labels charging more for the to-go service and says it also offers "greater value" for customers. Mr Myers is not convinced a rental model will work for consumers. "We've been offering our unlimited music subscription service for more than three years now and our customers know what they want. Format interoperability, excellent value and the reassurance that music purchased from Wippit is theirs to keep and enjoy on whatever device they choose," he said. "Who wants to download a track that won't play next month if you decide to unsubscribe to the service or change portable player for an iPod or the latest mobile phone?" Wippit offers a download subscription service for £4.99 per month or £50 per year. It has a catalogue of around 60,000 songs.

This has outraged some digital music lovers, especially as Napster already offers a cheaper service for downloading music to the PC.Wippit offers a download subscription service for £4.99 per month or £50 per year.Paying per track for music is becoming as outmoded as paying per minute for internet access and alternative monthly or yearly subscription models are springing up as a more convenient, and ultimately cheaper way of owning music."Music fans are moving away from buying the traditional bundled package of a dozen or more songs that we used to call an album to newer ways that fit their lifestyle; either single tracks or subscriptions services," said Paul Myers, chief executive of Wippit, a UK-based music download service.The technology ensures that music downloaded to the player only remains playable while the user subscribes to the service."We've been offering our unlimited music subscription service for more than three years now and our customers know what they want."Who wants to download a track that won't play next month if you decide to unsubscribe to the service or change portable player for an iPod or the latest mobile phone?"Currently on offer in beta-version in the US, the service costs $15 per month for unlimited downloads.

Summarize the following article: Attack prompts Bush site block The official re-election site of President George W Bush is blocking visits from overseas users for "security reasons". The blocking began early on Monday so those outside the US and trying to view the site got a message saying they are not authorised to view it. But keen net users have shown that the policy is not being very effective. Many have found that the site can still be viewed by overseas browsers via several alternative net addresses. The policy of trying to stop overseas visitors viewing the site is thought to have been adopted in response to an attack on the georgewbush.com website. Scott Stanzel, a spokesman for the Bush-Cheney campaign said: "The measure was taken for security reasons." He declined to elaborate any further on the blocking policy. The barring of non-US visitors has led to the campaign being inundated with calls and forced it to make a statement about why the blocking was taking place. In early October a so-called "denial of service" attack was mounted on the site that bombarded it with data from thousands of PCs. The attack made the site unusable for about five hours. About the same time the web team of the Bush-Cheney campaign started using the services of a company called Akamai that helps websites deal with the ebbs and flows of visitor traffic. Akamai uses a web-based tool called EdgeScape that lets its customers work out where visitors are based. Typically this tool is used to ensure that webpages, video and images load quickly but it can also be used to block traffic. Geographic blocking works because the numerical addresses that the net uses to organise itself are handed out on a regional basis. Readers of the Boingboing weblog have found that viewers can still get at the site by using alternative forms of the George W Bush domain name. Ironically one of the working alternatives is for a supposedly more secure version of the site. There are now at least three working alternative domains for the Bush-Cheney campaign that let web users outside the US visit the site. The site can also be seen using anonymous proxy services that are based in the US. Some web users in Canada also report that they can browse the site. The international exclusion zone around georgewbush.com was spotted by net monitoring firm Netcraft which keeps an eye on traffic patterns across many different sites. Netcraft said that since the early hours of 25 October attempts to view the site through its monitoring stations in London, Amsterdam and Sydney have failed. By contrast Netcraft's four monitoring stations in the US managed to view the site with no problems. Data gathered by Netcraft on the pattern of traffic to the site shows that the blocking is not the result of another denial of service attack. Mike Prettejohn, Netcraft president, speculated that the blocking decision might have been taken to cut costs, and traffic, in the run-up to the election on 2 November. He said the site may see no reason to distribute content to people who will not be voting next week. Managing traffic could also be a good way to ensure that the site stays working in the closing days of the election campaign. However, simply blocking non-US visitors also means that Americans overseas are barred too. Most American soldiers stationed overseas will be able to see the site as they use the US military's own portion of the net. Akamai declined to comment, saying it could not talk about customer websites.

There are now at least three working alternative domains for the Bush-Cheney campaign that let web users outside the US visit the site.Data gathered by Netcraft on the pattern of traffic to the site shows that the blocking is not the result of another denial of service attack.The official re-election site of President George W Bush is blocking visits from overseas users for "security reasons".The site can also be seen using anonymous proxy services that are based in the US.The blocking began early on Monday so those outside the US and trying to view the site got a message saying they are not authorised to view it.Some web users in Canada also report that they can browse the site.Managing traffic could also be a good way to ensure that the site stays working in the closing days of the election campaign.The policy of trying to stop overseas visitors viewing the site is thought to have been adopted in response to an attack on the georgewbush.com website.Most American soldiers stationed overseas will be able to see the site as they use the US military's own portion of the net.Many have found that the site can still be viewed by overseas browsers via several alternative net addresses.By contrast Netcraft's four monitoring stations in the US managed to view the site with no problems.In early October a so-called "denial of service" attack was mounted on the site that bombarded it with data from thousands of PCs.

Summarize the following article: Bad e-mail habits sustains spam The 'bad behaviour' of e-mail users is helping to sustain the spam industry, a new study has found. According to a survey conducted by security firm Mirapoint and market research company the Radicati Group, nearly a third of e-mail users have clicked on links in spam messages. One in ten users have bought products advertised in junk mail. Clicking on a link in a spam message can expose people to viruses and alert spammers to live e-mail accounts. The fact that one in ten e-mail users are buying things advertised in spam continues to make it an attractive business, especially given that sending out huge amounts of spam costs very little, the report concludes. "This preliminary data is surprising and somewhat shocking to us," said Marcel Nienhuis, market analyst at the Radicati Group. "It explains why e-mail security threats including spam, viruses and phishing scams continue to proliferate," he said, accusing users of "bad e-mail behaviour". Spammers are increasingly hooking into whatever happens to be flavour of the month, according to security firm Clearswift. It has recently seen a rise in the number of spam messages offering phoney Sony PSP giveaways. And, in perhaps a nod to the popularity of the American drama series Desperate Housewives, it has also seen a dramatic rise in junk mails purporting to give details of women looking for casual sex. But rather than finding a companion, users who click on such mail will find themselves redirected to porn sites, where they run the risk of downloading spyware on to their PC. Clearswift has seen a 180% rise in sex-related spam over the course of the last month. "Without casting aspersions, those likely to respond to these kind of adverts will be invariably hoping that 'one thing leads to another' but aside from the fact that these mails are bogus, clicking on any link within a spam mail can lead to a whole host of unwanted problems," said Alyn Hockey, Clearswift's director of research. Sexually explicit terms make up 14% of security firm Sophos' top 50 word that spammers most commonly try to disguise in order to beat anti-spam filters. Spammers will deliberately misspell a word or use digits instead of letters in an attempt to by-pass anti-spam software, said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for security firm Sophos. "The list of words most commonly hidden by the spammers from anti-spam software reveals that most spam is about the old favourites: money, drugs and sex," said Mr Cluley. But anti-spam filters can only be part of the solution to the menace of junk e-mail. "People must resist their basic instincts to buy from spam mails. Spammers are criminals, plain and simple. If no-one responded to junk e-mail and didn't buy products sold in this way, then spam would be as extinct as the dinosaurs," he said.

"It explains why e-mail security threats including spam, viruses and phishing scams continue to proliferate," he said, accusing users of "bad e-mail behaviour".According to a survey conducted by security firm Mirapoint and market research company the Radicati Group, nearly a third of e-mail users have clicked on links in spam messages.The fact that one in ten e-mail users are buying things advertised in spam continues to make it an attractive business, especially given that sending out huge amounts of spam costs very little, the report concludes.The 'bad behaviour' of e-mail users is helping to sustain the spam industry, a new study has found.If no-one responded to junk e-mail and didn't buy products sold in this way, then spam would be as extinct as the dinosaurs," he said.Clicking on a link in a spam message can expose people to viruses and alert spammers to live e-mail accounts.Clearswift has seen a 180% rise in sex-related spam over the course of the last month."The list of words most commonly hidden by the spammers from anti-spam software reveals that most spam is about the old favourites: money, drugs and sex," said Mr Cluley.

Summarize the following article: TV future in the hands of viewers With home theatre systems, plasma high-definition TVs, and digital video recorders moving into the living room, the way people watch TV will be radically different in five years' time. That is according to an expert panel which gathered at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to discuss how these new technologies will impact one of our favourite pastimes. With the US leading the trend, programmes and other content will be delivered to viewers via home networks, through cable, satellite, telecoms companies, and broadband service providers to front rooms and portable devices. One of the most talked-about technologies of CES has been digital and personal video recorders (DVR and PVR). These set-top boxes, like the US's TiVo and the UK's Sky+ system, allow people to record, store, play, pause and forward wind TV programmes when they want. Essentially, the technology allows for much more personalised TV. They are also being built-in to high-definition TV sets, which are big business in Japan and the US, but slower to take off in Europe because of the lack of high-definition programming. Not only can people forward wind through adverts, they can also forget about abiding by network and channel schedules, putting together their own a-la-carte entertainment. But some US networks and cable and satellite companies are worried about what it means for them in terms of advertising revenues as well as "brand identity" and viewer loyalty to channels. Although the US leads in this technology at the moment, it is also a concern that is being raised in Europe, particularly with the growing uptake of services like Sky+. "What happens here today, we will see in nine months to a years' time in the UK," Adam Hume, the BBC Broadcast's futurologist told the BBC News website. For the likes of the BBC, there are no issues of lost advertising revenue yet. It is a more pressing issue at the moment for commercial UK broadcasters, but brand loyalty is important for everyone. "We will be talking more about content brands rather than network brands," said Tim Hanlon, from brand communications firm Starcom MediaVest. "The reality is that with broadband connections, anybody can be the producer of content." He added: "The challenge now is that it is hard to promote a programme with so much choice." What this means, said Stacey Jolna, senior vice president of TV Guide TV group, is that the way people find the content they want to watch has to be simplified for TV viewers. It means that networks, in US terms, or channels could take a leaf out of Google's book and be the search engine of the future, instead of the scheduler to help people find what they want to watch. This kind of channel model might work for the younger iPod generation which is used to taking control of their gadgets and what they play on them. But it might not suit everyone, the panel recognised. Older generations are more comfortable with familiar schedules and channel brands because they know what they are getting. They perhaps do not want so much of the choice put into their hands, Mr Hanlon suggested. "On the other end, you have the kids just out of diapers who are pushing buttons already - everything is possible and available to them," said Mr Hanlon. "Ultimately, the consumer will tell the market they want." Of the 50,000 new gadgets and technologies being showcased at CES, many of them are about enhancing the TV-watching experience. High-definition TV sets are everywhere and many new models of LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) TVs have been launched with DVR capability built into them, instead of being external boxes. One such example launched at the show is Humax's 26-inch LCD TV with an 80-hour TiVo DVR and DVD recorder. One of the US's biggest satellite TV companies, DirectTV, has even launched its own branded DVR at the show with 100-hours of recording capability, instant replay, and a search function. The set can pause and rewind TV for up to 90 hours. And Microsoft chief Bill Gates announced in his pre-show keynote speech a partnership with TiVo, called TiVoToGo, which means people can play recorded programmes on Windows PCs and mobile devices. All these reflect the increasing trend of freeing up multimedia so that people can watch what they want, when they want.

What this means, said Stacey Jolna, senior vice president of TV Guide TV group, is that the way people find the content they want to watch has to be simplified for TV viewers.These set-top boxes, like the US's TiVo and the UK's Sky+ system, allow people to record, store, play, pause and forward wind TV programmes when they want.Essentially, the technology allows for much more personalised TV.With home theatre systems, plasma high-definition TVs, and digital video recorders moving into the living room, the way people watch TV will be radically different in five years' time.It means that networks, in US terms, or channels could take a leaf out of Google's book and be the search engine of the future, instead of the scheduler to help people find what they want to watch.High-definition TV sets are everywhere and many new models of LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) TVs have been launched with DVR capability built into them, instead of being external boxes.One such example launched at the show is Humax's 26-inch LCD TV with an 80-hour TiVo DVR and DVD recorder.One of the US's biggest satellite TV companies, DirectTV, has even launched its own branded DVR at the show with 100-hours of recording capability, instant replay, and a search function.All these reflect the increasing trend of freeing up multimedia so that people can watch what they want, when they want.But some US networks and cable and satellite companies are worried about what it means for them in terms of advertising revenues as well as "brand identity" and viewer loyalty to channels.With the US leading the trend, programmes and other content will be delivered to viewers via home networks, through cable, satellite, telecoms companies, and broadband service providers to front rooms and portable devices.They perhaps do not want so much of the choice put into their hands, Mr Hanlon suggested.One of the most talked-about technologies of CES has been digital and personal video recorders (DVR and PVR).

Summarize the following article: Sony wares win innovation award Sony has taken the prize for top innovator at the annual awards of PC Pro Magazine. It won the award for taking risks with products and for its "brave" commitment to good design. Conferring the award, PC Pro's staff picked out Sony's PCG-X505/P Vaio laptop as a "stunning piece of engineering". The electronics giant beat off strong competition from Toshiba and chip makers AMD and Intel to take the gong. Paul Trotter, news and features editor of PC Pro, said several Sony products helped it to take the innovation award. He said Sony's Clie PEG UX50 media player with its swivel screen and qwerty keyboard "broke the design rules yet again". Other Sony products that helped included the Vaio W1 desktop computer and the RA-104 media server. Mr Trotter said Sony's combining of computer, screen and keyboard in the W1 was likely to be widely copied in future home PCs. The company has also become one of the first to use organic LEDs in its products. "While not always inventing new technology itself, Sony was never afraid to innovate around various formats," said Mr Trotter. Other awards decided by PC Pro's staff and contributors included one for Canon's EOS 300D digital camera in the Most Wanted Hardware category. Microsoft's Media Player 10 took the award for Most Wanted Software. This year was the 10th anniversary of the PC Pro awards, which splits its prizes into two sections. The first are chosen by the magazine's writers and consultants, the second are voted for by readers. Mr Trotter said more than 13,000 people voted for the Reliability and Service Awards, twice as many as in 2003. Net-based memory and video card shop Crucial shared the award for Online Vendor of the year with Novatech.

Paul Trotter, news and features editor of PC Pro, said several Sony products helped it to take the innovation award.Sony has taken the prize for top innovator at the annual awards of PC Pro Magazine.Other awards decided by PC Pro's staff and contributors included one for Canon's EOS 300D digital camera in the Most Wanted Hardware category.Mr Trotter said Sony's combining of computer, screen and keyboard in the W1 was likely to be widely copied in future home PCs.Conferring the award, PC Pro's staff picked out Sony's PCG-X505/P Vaio laptop as a "stunning piece of engineering".Mr Trotter said more than 13,000 people voted for the Reliability and Service Awards, twice as many as in 2003."While not always inventing new technology itself, Sony was never afraid to innovate around various formats," said Mr Trotter.

Summarize the following article: Format wars could 'confuse users' Technology firms Sony, Philips, Matsushita and Samsung are developing a common way to stop people pirating digital music and video. The firms want to make a system that ensures files play on the hardware they make but also thwarts illegal copying. The move could mean more confusion for consumers already faced by many different, and conflicting, content control systems, experts warned. They say there are no guarantees the system will even prevent piracy. Currently many online stores wrap up downloadable files in an own-brand control system that means they can only be played on a small number of media players. Systems that limit what people can do with the files they download are known as Digital Rights Management systems. By setting up the alliance to work on a common control system, the firms said they hope to end this current fragmentation of file formats. In a joint statement the firms said they wanted to let consumers enjoy "appropriately licensed video and music on any device, independent of how they originally obtained that content". The firms hope that it will also make it harder for consumers to make illegal copies of the music, movies and other digital content they have bought. Called the Marlin Joint Development Association, the alliance will define basic specifications that every device made by the electronics firms will conform to. Marlin will be built on technology from rights management firm Intertrust as well as an earlier DRM system developed by a group known as the Coral Consortium. The move is widely seen as a way for the four firms to decide their own destiny on content control systems instead of having to sign up for those being pushed by Apple and Microsoft. Confusingly for consumers, the technology that comes out of the alliance will sit alongside the content control systems of rival firms such as Microsoft and Apple. "In many ways the different DRM systems are akin to the different physical formats, such as Betamax and VHS, that consumers have seen in the past," said Ian Fogg, personal technology and broadband analyst at Jupiter Research. "The difference is that it is very fragmented," he said. "It's not a two-horse race, it's a five, six, seven or even eight-horse race" Mr Fogg said consumers had to be very careful when buying digital content to ensure that it would play on the devices they own. He said currently there were even incompatibilities within DRM families. Although initiatives such as Microsoft's "Plays for Sure" program could help remove some of the uncertainty, he said, life was likely to be confusing for consumers for some time to come. Shelley Taylor, analyst and author of a report about online music services, said the locks and limits on digital files were done to maximise the cash that firms can make from consumers. Apple's iTunes service was a perfect example of this, she said. "Although iTunes has been hugely successful, Apple could not justify its existence if it did not help sell all those iPods," she said. She said rampant competition between online music services, of which there are now 230 according to recent figures, could drive more openness and freer file formats. "It always works out that consumer needs win out in the long run," she said, "and the services that win in the long run are the ones that listen to consumers earliest." Ms Taylor said the limits legal download services place on files could help explain the continuing popularity of file-sharing systems that let people get hold of pirated pop. "People want portability," she said, "and with peer-to-peer they have 100% portability." Cory Doctorow, European co-ordinator for the Electronic Frontier Foundation which campaigns for consumers on many cyber-rights issues, expressed doubts that the Marlin system would achieve its aims. "Not one of these systems has ever prevented piracy or illegal copying," he said. He said many firms readily admit that their DRM systems are little protection against skilled attackers such as the organised crime gangs that are responsible for most piracy. Instead, said Mr Doctorow, DRM systems were intended to control the group that electronics firms have most hold over - consumers. "The studios and labels perceive an opportunity to sell you your media again and again - the iPod version, the auto version, the American and UK version, the ringtone version, and so on."

Instead, said Mr Doctorow, DRM systems were intended to control the group that electronics firms have most hold over - consumers.By setting up the alliance to work on a common control system, the firms said they hope to end this current fragmentation of file formats.He said many firms readily admit that their DRM systems are little protection against skilled attackers such as the organised crime gangs that are responsible for most piracy.Shelley Taylor, analyst and author of a report about online music services, said the locks and limits on digital files were done to maximise the cash that firms can make from consumers."Not one of these systems has ever prevented piracy or illegal copying," he said.In a joint statement the firms said they wanted to let consumers enjoy "appropriately licensed video and music on any device, independent of how they originally obtained that content".Ms Taylor said the limits legal download services place on files could help explain the continuing popularity of file-sharing systems that let people get hold of pirated pop.Confusingly for consumers, the technology that comes out of the alliance will sit alongside the content control systems of rival firms such as Microsoft and Apple."In many ways the different DRM systems are akin to the different physical formats, such as Betamax and VHS, that consumers have seen in the past," said Ian Fogg, personal technology and broadband analyst at Jupiter Research.The firms want to make a system that ensures files play on the hardware they make but also thwarts illegal copying.The move is widely seen as a way for the four firms to decide their own destiny on content control systems instead of having to sign up for those being pushed by Apple and Microsoft.The firms hope that it will also make it harder for consumers to make illegal copies of the music, movies and other digital content they have bought.

Summarize the following article: Confusion over high-definition TV Now that a critical mass of people have embraced digital TV, DVDs, and digital video recorders, the next revolution for TV is being prepared for our sets. In most corners of TV and technology industries, high-definition (HDTV) is being heralded as the biggest thing to happen to the television since colour. HD essentially makes TV picture quality at least four times better than now. But there is real concern that people are not getting the right information about HD on the High Street. Thousands of flat panel screens - LCDs (liquid crystal displays), plasma screens, and DLP rear-projection TV sets - have already been sold as "HD", but are in fact not able to display HD. "The UK is the largest display market in Europe," according to John Binks, director of GfK, which monitors global consumer markets. But, he added: "Of all the flat panel screens sold, just 1.3% in the UK are capable of getting high-definition." There are 74 different devices that are being sold as HD but are not HD-ready, according to Alexander Oudendijk, senior vice president of marketing for satellite giant Astra. They may be fantastic quality TVs, but many do not have adaptors in them - called DVI or HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) connectors - which let the set handle the higher resolution digital images. Part of this is down to lack of understanding and training on the High Street, say industry experts, who gathered at Bafta in London for the 2nd European HDTV Summit last week. "We have to be careful about consumer confusion. There is a massive education process to go through," said Mr Binks. The industry already recognised that it would be a challenge to get the right information about it across to those of us who will be watching it. Eventually, that will be everyone. The BBC is currently developing plans to produce all its TV output to meet HDTV standards by 2010. Preparations for the analogue switch-off are already underway in some areas, and programmes are being filmed with HD cameras. BSkyB plans to ship its first generation set-top boxes, to receive HDTV broadcasts, in time for Christmas. Like its Sky+ boxes, they will also be personal video recorders (PVRs). The company will start broadcasts of HDTV programmes, offering them as "premium channel packages", concentrating, to start with, on sports, big events, and films, in early 2006. But the set-top box which receives HDTV broadcasts has to plug into a display - TV set - that can show the images at the much higher resolution that HD demands, if HDTV is to be "real". By 2010, 20% of homes in the UK will have some sort of TV set or display that can show HD in its full glory. But it is all getting rather confusing for people who have only just taken to "being digital". As a result, all the key players, those who make flat panel displays, as well as the satellite companies and broadcasters, formed a HD forum in 2004 to make sure they were all talking to each other. Part of the forum has been concerned with issues like industry standards and content protection. But it has also been preoccupied with how to help the paying public know exactly what they are paying for. From next month, all devices that have the right connectors and resolution required will carry a "HD-Ready" sticker. This also means they are equipped to cope with both analogue and HDTV signals, and so comply with the minimum specification set out by the industry. "The logo is absolutely the way forward," said David Mercer, analysts with Strategy Analytics. "But it is still not appearing on many retail products." The industry is upbeat that the sticker will help, but it is only a start. "We can only do so much with the position we are in today with manufacturers," said Mr Oudendijk. "There may well be a number of dissatisfied customers in the next few months." The European Broadcast Union (EBU) is testing different flavours of HD formats to prepare for even better HDTV further down the line. It is similarly concerned that people get the right information on HDTV formats, as well as which devices will support the formats. "We believe consumers buying expensive displays need to ensure their investment is worthwhile," said Phil Laven, technical director for the EBU. The TV display manufacturers want us to watch HD on screens that are at least 42in (106cm), to get the "true impact" of HD, they say, although smaller displays suffice. What may convince people to spend money on HD-ready devices is the falling prices, which continue to tumble across Europe. The prices are dropping an average of 20% every year, according to analysts. LCD prices dropped by 43% in Europe as a whole last year, according to Mr Oudendijk.

But the set-top box which receives HDTV broadcasts has to plug into a display - TV set - that can show the images at the much higher resolution that HD demands, if HDTV is to be "real".Thousands of flat panel screens - LCDs (liquid crystal displays), plasma screens, and DLP rear-projection TV sets - have already been sold as "HD", but are in fact not able to display HD.By 2010, 20% of homes in the UK will have some sort of TV set or display that can show HD in its full glory.The TV display manufacturers want us to watch HD on screens that are at least 42in (106cm), to get the "true impact" of HD, they say, although smaller displays suffice.But there is real concern that people are not getting the right information about HD on the High Street.It is similarly concerned that people get the right information on HDTV formats, as well as which devices will support the formats.HD essentially makes TV picture quality at least four times better than now.There are 74 different devices that are being sold as HD but are not HD-ready, according to Alexander Oudendijk, senior vice president of marketing for satellite giant Astra.The European Broadcast Union (EBU) is testing different flavours of HD formats to prepare for even better HDTV further down the line.Now that a critical mass of people have embraced digital TV, DVDs, and digital video recorders, the next revolution for TV is being prepared for our sets.This also means they are equipped to cope with both analogue and HDTV signals, and so comply with the minimum specification set out by the industry."The UK is the largest display market in Europe," according to John Binks, director of GfK, which monitors global consumer markets.The BBC is currently developing plans to produce all its TV output to meet HDTV standards by 2010.LCD prices dropped by 43% in Europe as a whole last year, according to Mr Oudendijk.As a result, all the key players, those who make flat panel displays, as well as the satellite companies and broadcasters, formed a HD forum in 2004 to make sure they were all talking to each other.In most corners of TV and technology industries, high-definition (HDTV) is being heralded as the biggest thing to happen to the television since colour.

Summarize the following article: Disney backs Sony DVD technology A next generation DVD technology backed by Sony has received a major boost. Film giant Disney says it will produce its future DVDs using Sony's Blu-ray Disc technology, but has not ruled out a rival format developed by Toshiba. The two competing DVD formats, Blu-ray developed by Sony and others, and Toshiba's HD-DVD, have been courting top film studios for several months. The next generation of DVDs promises very high quality pictures and sound, as well as a lot of data. Both technologies use a blue laser to write information. It has a shorter wavelength so more data can be stored. Disney is the latest studio to announce which technology it is backing in a format battle which mirrors the 1980s Betamax versus VHS war. Sony lost out to JVC in that fight. The current battle for Hollywood's hearts and minds is a crucial one because high-definition films will bring in billions of revenue and the studios would prefer to use one standard. Last month, Paramount, Universal and Warner Brothers said they were opting for the Toshiba and NEC-backed format, HD-DVD high-definition discs. Those studios currently produce about 45% of DVD content. Sony Pictures Entertainment and MGM Studios have already staked their allegiance with the Blu-ray Disc Association, whose members also include technology companies Dell, Samsung and Matsushita. Twentieth Century Fox is still to announce which technology it will be supporting. If Fox decided to go with Blu-ray too, it would mean the format would have a 47% share of DVD content. Disney said its films would be available on the Blu-ray format when DVD players for the standard went on sale on North America and Japan, expected in 2006. Universal is to start producing films on the HD-DVD format in 2005, and Paramount will start releasing titles using the standard in 2006. Toshiba expects sales of HD-DVDs to reach 300bn yen ($2.9bn, £1.5bn) by 2010.

Film giant Disney says it will produce its future DVDs using Sony's Blu-ray Disc technology, but has not ruled out a rival format developed by Toshiba.A next generation DVD technology backed by Sony has received a major boost.Disney said its films would be available on the Blu-ray format when DVD players for the standard went on sale on North America and Japan, expected in 2006.The two competing DVD formats, Blu-ray developed by Sony and others, and Toshiba's HD-DVD, have been courting top film studios for several months.If Fox decided to go with Blu-ray too, it would mean the format would have a 47% share of DVD content.Disney is the latest studio to announce which technology it is backing in a format battle which mirrors the 1980s Betamax versus VHS war.Universal is to start producing films on the HD-DVD format in 2005, and Paramount will start releasing titles using the standard in 2006.

Summarize the following article: Freeze on anti-spam campaign A campaign by Lycos Europe to target spam-related websites appears to have been put on hold. Earlier this week the company released a screensaver that bombarded the sites with data to try to bump up the running costs of the websites. But the site hosting the screensaver now displays a pink graphic and the words "Stay tuned". No one at Lycos was available for comment on latest developments in its controversial anti-spam campaign. Lycos Europe's "Make love not spam" campaign was intended as a way for users to fight back against the mountain of junk mail flooding inboxes. People were encouraged to download the screensaver which, when their PC was idle, would then send lots of data to sites that peddle the goods and services mentioned in spam messages. Lycos said the idea was to get the spam sites running at 95% capacity and generate big bandwidth bills for the spammers behind the sites. But the plan has proved controversial. Monitoring firm Netcraft analysed response times for some of the sites targeted by the screensaver and found that a number were completely knocked offline. The downing of the sites could dent Lycos claims that what it is doing does not amount to a distributed denial of service attack. In such attacks thousands of computers bombard sites with data in an attempt to overwhelm them. Laws in many countries do not explicitly outlaw such attacks but many nations are re-drafting computer use laws to make them specific offences. Lycos Europe now appears to have put the plan on hold. The site hosting the screensaver currently shows a holding page, with the words, "Stay tuned". The numerical internet address of the site has also changed. This is likely to be in response to spammers who have reportedly redirected traffic from their sites back to the Lycos screensaver site. The campaign has come under fire from some corners of the web. Many discussion groups have said that it set a dangerous precedent and could incite vigilantism. "Attacking a spammer's website is like poking a grizzly bear sleeping in your back garden with a pointy stick," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Not only is this screensaver similar in its approach to a potentially illegal distributed denial of service attack, but it also is in danger of turning innocent computer users into vigilantes, who may not be prepared for whatever retaliation the spammers care to dream up."

This is likely to be in response to spammers who have reportedly redirected traffic from their sites back to the Lycos screensaver site.The downing of the sites could dent Lycos claims that what it is doing does not amount to a distributed denial of service attack.Lycos said the idea was to get the spam sites running at 95% capacity and generate big bandwidth bills for the spammers behind the sites.But the site hosting the screensaver now displays a pink graphic and the words "Stay tuned".The site hosting the screensaver currently shows a holding page, with the words, "Stay tuned".A campaign by Lycos Europe to target spam-related websites appears to have been put on hold.In such attacks thousands of computers bombard sites with data in an attempt to overwhelm them.People were encouraged to download the screensaver which, when their PC was idle, would then send lots of data to sites that peddle the goods and services mentioned in spam messages.

Summarize the following article: Game firm holds 'cast' auditions Video game firm Bioware is to hold open auditions for people to become cast members for future games. The company, which makes role playing games such as Knights of the Old Republic and Neverwinter Nights, is seeking people aged 18 to 99. The Canada-based company says it was looking for "a wide variety of people to use as face models for characters". Everyone chosen to appear in a video game will receive a performer's fee for the use of their image. The company is inviting people to come along to a shopping mall in West Edmonton, Alberta, on Friday and Saturday, bringing along a piece of photo identification. "There are hundreds and hundreds of characters in a typical Bioware game," said Shauna Perry, Bioware's audio and external resources producer. "Those people live in any city and village and so we need ordinary people, people with interesting faces." She added: "Not everyone is a model in the world so we don't want just models in our games." People chosen to appear in a game will have their head scanned in three dimensions. Hundreds of photos of the person's head are taken so that a model of the head can be generated in 3D. "The 3D model will look exactly like the person - it's really quite incredible how detailed they are," said Ms Perry. She said chosen participants will have no control over how the image is used in a computer game. "We cannot give people any control over how the images are used. "But their face could be used in multiple games - so they could be the hero in one, the villain in another and just a merchant in a third."

People chosen to appear in a game will have their head scanned in three dimensions.She said chosen participants will have no control over how the image is used in a computer game."We cannot give people any control over how the images are used.Everyone chosen to appear in a video game will receive a performer's fee for the use of their image.Video game firm Bioware is to hold open auditions for people to become cast members for future games.The Canada-based company says it was looking for "a wide variety of people to use as face models for characters".

Summarize the following article: Format wars could 'confuse users' Technology firms Sony, Philips, Matsushita and Samsung are developing a common way to stop people pirating digital music and video. The firms want to make a system that ensures files play on the hardware they make but also thwarts illegal copying. The move could mean more confusion for consumers already faced by many different, and conflicting, content control systems, experts warned. They say there are no guarantees the system will even prevent piracy. Currently many online stores wrap up downloadable files in an own-brand control system that means they can only be played on a small number of media players. Systems that limit what people can do with the files they download are known as Digital Rights Management systems. By setting up the alliance to work on a common control system, the firms said they hope to end this current fragmentation of file formats. In a joint statement the firms said they wanted to let consumers enjoy "appropriately licensed video and music on any device, independent of how they originally obtained that content". The firms hope that it will also make it harder for consumers to make illegal copies of the music, movies and other digital content they have bought. Called the Marlin Joint Development Association, the alliance will define basic specifications that every device made by the electronics firms will conform to. Marlin will be built on technology from rights management firm Intertrust as well as an earlier DRM system developed by a group known as the Coral Consortium. The move is widely seen as a way for the four firms to decide their own destiny on content control systems instead of having to sign up for those being pushed by Apple and Microsoft. Confusingly for consumers, the technology that comes out of the alliance will sit alongside the content control systems of rival firms such as Microsoft and Apple. "In many ways the different DRM systems are akin to the different physical formats, such as Betamax and VHS, that consumers have seen in the past," said Ian Fogg, personal technology and broadband analyst at Jupiter Research. "The difference is that it is very fragmented," he said. "It's not a two-horse race, it's a five, six, seven or even eight-horse race" Mr Fogg said consumers had to be very careful when buying digital content to ensure that it would play on the devices they own. He said currently there were even incompatibilities within DRM families. Although initiatives such as Microsoft's "Plays for Sure" program could help remove some of the uncertainty, he said, life was likely to be confusing for consumers for some time to come. Shelley Taylor, analyst and author of a report about online music services, said the locks and limits on digital files were done to maximise the cash that firms can make from consumers. Apple's iTunes service was a perfect example of this, she said. "Although iTunes has been hugely successful, Apple could not justify its existence if it did not help sell all those iPods," she said. She said rampant competition between online music services, of which there are now 230 according to recent figures, could drive more openness and freer file formats. "It always works out that consumer needs win out in the long run," she said, "and the services that win in the long run are the ones that listen to consumers earliest." Ms Taylor said the limits legal download services place on files could help explain the continuing popularity of file-sharing systems that let people get hold of pirated pop. "People want portability," she said, "and with peer-to-peer they have 100% portability." Cory Doctorow, European co-ordinator for the Electronic Frontier Foundation which campaigns for consumers on many cyber-rights issues, expressed doubts that the Marlin system would achieve its aims. "Not one of these systems has ever prevented piracy or illegal copying," he said. He said many firms readily admit that their DRM systems are little protection against skilled attackers such as the organised crime gangs that are responsible for most piracy. Instead, said Mr Doctorow, DRM systems were intended to control the group that electronics firms have most hold over - consumers. "The studios and labels perceive an opportunity to sell you your media again and again - the iPod version, the auto version, the American and UK version, the ringtone version, and so on."

Instead, said Mr Doctorow, DRM systems were intended to control the group that electronics firms have most hold over - consumers.By setting up the alliance to work on a common control system, the firms said they hope to end this current fragmentation of file formats.He said many firms readily admit that their DRM systems are little protection against skilled attackers such as the organised crime gangs that are responsible for most piracy.Shelley Taylor, analyst and author of a report about online music services, said the locks and limits on digital files were done to maximise the cash that firms can make from consumers."Not one of these systems has ever prevented piracy or illegal copying," he said.In a joint statement the firms said they wanted to let consumers enjoy "appropriately licensed video and music on any device, independent of how they originally obtained that content".Ms Taylor said the limits legal download services place on files could help explain the continuing popularity of file-sharing systems that let people get hold of pirated pop.Confusingly for consumers, the technology that comes out of the alliance will sit alongside the content control systems of rival firms such as Microsoft and Apple."In many ways the different DRM systems are akin to the different physical formats, such as Betamax and VHS, that consumers have seen in the past," said Ian Fogg, personal technology and broadband analyst at Jupiter Research.The firms want to make a system that ensures files play on the hardware they make but also thwarts illegal copying.The move is widely seen as a way for the four firms to decide their own destiny on content control systems instead of having to sign up for those being pushed by Apple and Microsoft.The firms hope that it will also make it harder for consumers to make illegal copies of the music, movies and other digital content they have bought.

Summarize the following article: Musical future for phones Analyst Bill Thompson has seen the future and it is in his son's hands. I bought my son Max a 3G phone, partly because they are so cheap and he needed a phone, and partly because I am supposed to know about the latest technology and thought I should see how they work in real life. After using it for a while I am not at all tempted to get rid of my SonyEricsson P800 smart phone. That has a relatively large screen, even if it does only have slower GPRS access to the network. I can read my e-mail, surf the web using a proper browser and write stuff using the stylus on its touch screen. Last week someone e-mailed me a document that had been compressed into a ZIP file, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my phone even knew how to decompress it for me. By contrast the confusing menus, complicated keyboard and truly irritating user interface of Max's 3G phone simply get in the way, and I did not see much value in the paid-for services, especially the limited web access. The videos of entertainment news, horoscopes and the latest celebrity gossip did not appeal, and I did not see how the small screen could be useful for any sort of image, never mind micro-TV. But then Max started playing, and I realised I was missing the point entirely. It is certainly not a great overall experience, but that is largely due to the poor menu system and the phone layout: the video content itself is compelling. The quality was at least as good as the video streaming from the BBC website, and the image is about the same size. Max was completely captivated, and I was intrigued to discover that I had nearly missed the next stage of the network revolution. It is easy to be dismissive of small screens, and indeed anyone of my generation, with failing eyesight and the view that 'there's never anything worth watching on TV', is hardly going to embrace these phones. But just as the World Wide Web was the "killer application" that drove internet adoption, music videos are going to drive 3G adoption. With Vodafone now pushing its own 3G service, and 3 already established in the UK, video on the phone is clearly going to become a must-have for kids sitting on the school bus, adults waiting outside clubs and anyone who has time to kill and a group of friends to impress. This will please the network operators, who are looking for some revenue from their expensively acquired 3G licences. But it goes deeper than that: playing music videos on a phone marks the beginning of a move away from the 'download and play' model we have all accepted for our iPods and MP3 players. After all, why should I want to carry 60GB of music and pictures around with me in my pocket when I can simply listen to anything I want, whenever I want, streamed to my phone? Oh - and of course you can always use the phone to make voice calls and send texts, something which ensures that it is always in someone's pocket or handbag, available for other uses too. I have never really approved of using the Internet Protocol (IP), to do either audio or video streaming, and I think that technically it is a disaster to make phone calls over the net using "voice over IP". But I have to acknowledge that the net, at least here in the developed Western countries, is fast and reliable enough to do both. I stream radio to my computer while I work, and enjoy hearing the bizarre stations from around the world that I can find online but nowhere else. I am even playing with internet telephony, despite my reservations, and I appear on Go Digital on the World Service, streamed over the web each week. But 3G networks have been designed to do this sort of streaming, both for voice and video, which gives them an edge over net-based IP services. The 3G services aren't quite there yet, and there is a lot to be sorted out when it comes to web access and data charges. Vodafone will let you access its services on Vodafone Live! as part of your subscription cost but it makes you pay by the megabyte to download from other sites - this one, for example. This will not matter to business users, but will distort the consumer market and keep people within the phone company's collection of partner sites, something that should perhaps be worrying telecoms regulator Ofcom. But we should not see these new phones simply as cut-down network terminals. If I want fast access to my e-mail I can get a 3G card for my laptop or hook up to a wireless network. The phone is a lot more, and it is as a combination of mini-TV, personal communications device and music/video player that it really works. There is certainly room in the technology ecosystem for many different sorts of devices, accessing a wide range of services over different networks. 3G phones and iPods can co-exist, at least for a while, but if I had to bet on the long term I would go for content on demand over carrying gigabytes in my pocket. Or perhaps some enterprising manufacturer will offer me both. An MP3G player, anyone? Bill Thompson is a regular commentator on the BBC World Service programme Go Digital.

I have never really approved of using the Internet Protocol (IP), to do either audio or video streaming, and I think that technically it is a disaster to make phone calls over the net using "voice over IP".With Vodafone now pushing its own 3G service, and 3 already established in the UK, video on the phone is clearly going to become a must-have for kids sitting on the school bus, adults waiting outside clubs and anyone who has time to kill and a group of friends to impress.I bought my son Max a 3G phone, partly because they are so cheap and he needed a phone, and partly because I am supposed to know about the latest technology and thought I should see how they work in real life.But we should not see these new phones simply as cut-down network terminals.But just as the World Wide Web was the "killer application" that drove internet adoption, music videos are going to drive 3G adoption.But 3G networks have been designed to do this sort of streaming, both for voice and video, which gives them an edge over net-based IP services.3G phones and iPods can co-exist, at least for a while, but if I had to bet on the long term I would go for content on demand over carrying gigabytes in my pocket.By contrast the confusing menus, complicated keyboard and truly irritating user interface of Max's 3G phone simply get in the way, and I did not see much value in the paid-for services, especially the limited web access.If I want fast access to my e-mail I can get a 3G card for my laptop or hook up to a wireless network.But it goes deeper than that: playing music videos on a phone marks the beginning of a move away from the 'download and play' model we have all accepted for our iPods and MP3 players.I am even playing with internet telephony, despite my reservations, and I appear on Go Digital on the World Service, streamed over the web each week.The 3G services aren't quite there yet, and there is a lot to be sorted out when it comes to web access and data charges.After using it for a while I am not at all tempted to get rid of my SonyEricsson P800 smart phone.The quality was at least as good as the video streaming from the BBC website, and the image is about the same size.It is certainly not a great overall experience, but that is largely due to the poor menu system and the phone layout: the video content itself is compelling.

Summarize the following article: 'Brainwave' cap controls computer A team of US researchers has shown that controlling devices with the brain is a step closer. Four people, two of them partly paralysed wheelchair users, successfully moved a computer cursor while wearing a cap with 64 electrodes. Previous research has shown that monkeys can control a computer with electrodes implanted into their brain. The New York team reported their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "The results show that people can learn to use scalp-recorded electroencephalogram rhythms to control rapid and accurate movement of a cursor in two directions," said Jonathan Wolpaw and Dennis McFarlane. The research team, from New York State Department of Health and State University of New York in Albany, said the research was another step towards people controlling wheelchairs or other electronic devices by thought. The four people faced a large video screen wearing a special cap which, meant no surgery or implantation was needed. Brain activity produces electrical signals that can be read by electrodes. Complex algorithms then translate those signals into instructions to direct the computer. Such brain activity does not require the use of any nerves of muscles, so people with stroke or spinal cord injuries could use the cap effectively. "The impressive non-invasive multidimensional control achieved in the present study suggests that a non-invasive brain control interface could support clinically useful operation of a robotic arm, a motorised wheelchair or a neuroprosthesis," said the researchers. The four volunteers also showed that they could get better at controlling the cursor the more times they tried. Although the two partially-paralysed people performed better overall, the researchers said this could be because their brains were more used to adapting or that they were simply more motivated. It is not the first time researchers have had this sort of success in brain-control experiments. Some teams have used eye motion and other recording techniques. Earlier this year, a team at the MIT Media Labs Europe demonstrated a wireless cap which read brain waves to control a computer character.

Although the two partially-paralysed people performed better overall, the researchers said this could be because their brains were more used to adapting or that they were simply more motivated.A team of US researchers has shown that controlling devices with the brain is a step closer.Earlier this year, a team at the MIT Media Labs Europe demonstrated a wireless cap which read brain waves to control a computer character.Four people, two of them partly paralysed wheelchair users, successfully moved a computer cursor while wearing a cap with 64 electrodes.Previous research has shown that monkeys can control a computer with electrodes implanted into their brain.The research team, from New York State Department of Health and State University of New York in Albany, said the research was another step towards people controlling wheelchairs or other electronic devices by thought.Such brain activity does not require the use of any nerves of muscles, so people with stroke or spinal cord injuries could use the cap effectively.

Summarize the following article: Warning over Windows Word files Writing a Microsoft Word document can be a dangerous business, according to document security firm Workshare. Up to 75% of all business documents contained sensitive information most firms would not want exposed, a survey by the firm revealed. To make matters worse 90% of those companies questioned had no idea that confidential information was leaking. The report warns firms to do a better job of policing documents as corporate compliance becomes more binding. Sensitive information inadvertently leaked in documents includes confidential contractual terms, competitive information that rivals would be keen to see and special deals for key customers, said Andrew Pearson, European boss of Workshare which commissioned the research. "The efficiencies the internet has brought in such as instant access to information have also created security and control issues too," he said. The problem is particularly acute with documents prepared using Microsoft Word because of the way it maintains hidden records about editing changes. As documents get passed around, worked on and amended by different staff members the sensitive information finds its way into documents. Poor control over the editing and amending process can mean that information that should be expunged survives final edits. Microsoft, however, does provide an add-on tool for Windows PCs that fixes the problem. "The Remove Hidden Data add-in is a tool that you can use to remove personal or hidden data that might not be immediately apparent when you view the document in your Microsoft Office application," says the instructions on Microsoft's website. Microsoft recommends that the tool is used before people publish any Word document. A tool for Apple machines running Word is not available. Workshare surveyed firms around the world and found that, on average, 31% of documents contained legally sensitive information but in many firms up to three-quarters fell in to the high risk category. Often, said Mr Pearson, this sensitive information was invisible because it got deleted and changed as different drafts were prepared. However, the way that Windows works means that earlier versions can be recalled and reconstructed by those keen to see how a document has evolved. Few firms have any knowledge of the existence of this so-called metadata about the changes that a document has gone through or that it can be reconstructed. The discovery of this hidden information could prove embarrassing for companies if, for instance, those tendering for contracts found out about the changes to terms of a deal being negotiated. The research revealed that a document's metadata could be substantial as, on average, only 40% of contributors' changes to a document make it to the final draft. Problems with documents could mean trouble for firms as regulatory bodies step up scrutiny and compliance laws start to bite, said Mr Pearson.

Writing a Microsoft Word document can be a dangerous business, according to document security firm Workshare.Up to 75% of all business documents contained sensitive information most firms would not want exposed, a survey by the firm revealed.Workshare surveyed firms around the world and found that, on average, 31% of documents contained legally sensitive information but in many firms up to three-quarters fell in to the high risk category.Sensitive information inadvertently leaked in documents includes confidential contractual terms, competitive information that rivals would be keen to see and special deals for key customers, said Andrew Pearson, European boss of Workshare which commissioned the research.Microsoft recommends that the tool is used before people publish any Word document.As documents get passed around, worked on and amended by different staff members the sensitive information finds its way into documents.Few firms have any knowledge of the existence of this so-called metadata about the changes that a document has gone through or that it can be reconstructed.The problem is particularly acute with documents prepared using Microsoft Word because of the way it maintains hidden records about editing changes.

Summarize the following article: Ultra fast wi-fi nears completion Ultra high speed wi-fi connections moved closer to reality on Thursday when Intel said it would list standards for the technology later this year. Intel is developing ultra-wideband technology (UWB) which would allow fast data transfer but with low power needs. UWB is tipped to be used for wireless transfer of video in the home or office and for use in wireless USB devices which need low power consumption. A rival UWB standard is being developed by Motorola and chip firm Freescale. At the mobile phone conference 3GSM in Cannes last month Samsung demonstrated a phone using UWB technology from Freescale. At a press conference on Thursday Intel announced that two UWB groups, WiMedia Alliance and Multi-band OFDM alliance had merged to support the technology. UWB makes it possible to stream huge amounts of data through the air over short distances. One of the more likely uses of UWB is to make it possible to send DVD quality video images wirelessly to TV screens or to let people beam music to media players around their home. The technology has the potential to transmit hundreds of megabits of data per second. "Consumer electronics companies want UWB to replace cables and simplify set-up," Jeff Ravencraft, technology strategist at Intel and chairman of the Wireless USB Promoter Group, told technology site ZDNet. "Thirty percent of consumer electronics returns are because the consumer couldn't set up the equipment." The first products using UWB technology from Intel are due to hit the market later this year. Initially they will be products using wireless USB 2.0 connections. UWB could also be used to create so-called Personal Area Networks that let a person's gadgets quickly and easily swap data amongst themselves. The technology works over a range up to 10 metres and uses billions of short radio pulses every second to carry data. Intel says the benefit of UWB is that it does not interfere with other wi-fi technologies already in use such as wi-fi, wimax and mobile phone networks.

"Consumer electronics companies want UWB to replace cables and simplify set-up," Jeff Ravencraft, technology strategist at Intel and chairman of the Wireless USB Promoter Group, told technology site ZDNet.The first products using UWB technology from Intel are due to hit the market later this year.Intel is developing ultra-wideband technology (UWB) which would allow fast data transfer but with low power needs.Intel says the benefit of UWB is that it does not interfere with other wi-fi technologies already in use such as wi-fi, wimax and mobile phone networks.At the mobile phone conference 3GSM in Cannes last month Samsung demonstrated a phone using UWB technology from Freescale.At a press conference on Thursday Intel announced that two UWB groups, WiMedia Alliance and Multi-band OFDM alliance had merged to support the technology.UWB is tipped to be used for wireless transfer of video in the home or office and for use in wireless USB devices which need low power consumption.

Summarize the following article: Broadband fuels online expression Fast web access is encouraging more people to express themselves online, research suggests. A quarter of broadband users in Britain regularly upload content and have personal sites, according to a report by UK think-tank Demos. It said that having an always-on, fast connection is changing the way people use the internet. More than five million households in the UK have broadband and that number is growing fast. The Demos report looked at the impact of broadband on people's net habits. It found that more than half of those with broadband logged on to the web before breakfast. One in five even admitted to getting up in the middle of the night to browse the web. More significantly, argues the report, broadband is encouraging people to take a more active role online. It found that one in five post something on the net everyday, ranging from comments or opinions on sites to uploading photographs. "Broadband is putting the 'me' in media as it shifts power from institutions and into the hands of the individual," said John Craig, co-author of the Demos report. "From self-diagnosis to online education, broadband creates social innovation that moves the debate beyond simple questions of access and speed." The Demos report, entitled Broadband Britain: The End Of Asymmetry?, was commissioned by net provider AOL. "Broadband is moving the perception of the internet as a piece of technology to an integral part of home life in the UK," said Karen Thomson, Chief Executive of AOL UK, "with many people spending time on their computers as automatically as they might switch on the television or radio." According to analysts Nielsen//NetRatings, more than 50% of the 22.8 million UK net users regularly accessing the web from home each month are logging on at high speed They spend twice as long online than people on dial-up connections, viewing an average of 1,444 pages per month. The popularity of fast net access is growing, partly fuelled by fierce competition over prices and services.

More than five million households in the UK have broadband and that number is growing fast.The Demos report looked at the impact of broadband on people's net habits.More significantly, argues the report, broadband is encouraging people to take a more active role online.The Demos report, entitled Broadband Britain: The End Of Asymmetry?, was commissioned by net provider AOL.A quarter of broadband users in Britain regularly upload content and have personal sites, according to a report by UK think-tank Demos.Fast web access is encouraging more people to express themselves online, research suggests.

Summarize the following article: Intel unveils laser breakthrough Intel has unveiled research that could mean data is soon being moved around chips at the speed of light. Scientists at Intel have overcome a fundamental problem that before now has prevented silicon being used to generate and amplify laser light. The breakthrough should make it easier to interconnect data networks with the chips that process the information. The Intel researchers said products exploiting the breakthrough should appear by the end of the decade. "We've overcome a fundamental limit," said Dr Mario Paniccia, director of Intel's photonics technology lab. Writing in the journal Nature, Dr Paniccia - and colleagues Haisheng Rong, Richard Jones, Ansheng Liu, Oded Cohen, Dani Hak and Alexander Fang - show how they have made a continuous laser from the same material used to make computer processors. Currently, says Dr Paniccia, telecommunications equipment that amplifies the laser light that travels down fibre optic cables is very expensive because of the exotic materials, such as gallium arsenide, used to make it. Telecommunications firms and chip makers would prefer to use silicon for these light-moving elements because it is cheap and many of the problems of using it in high-volume manufacturing have been solved. "We're trying to take our silicon competency in manufacturing and apply it to new areas," said Dr Paniccia. While work has been done to make some of the components that can move light around, before now silicon has not successfully been used to generate or amplify the laser light pulses used to send data over long distances. This is despite the fact that silicon is a much better amplifier of light pulses than the form of the material used in fibre optic cables. This improved amplification is due to the crystalline structure of the silicon used to make computer chips. Dr Paniccia said that the structure of silicon meant that when laser light passed through it, some colliding photons rip electrons off the atoms within the material. "It creates a cloud of electrons sitting in the silicon and that absorbs all the light," he said. But the Intel researchers have found a way to suck away these errant electrons and turn silicon into a material that can both generate and amplify laser light. Even better, the laser light produced in this way can, with the help of easy-to-make filters, be tuned across a very wide range of frequencies. Semi-conductor lasers made before now have only produced light in a narrow frequency ranges. The result could be the close integration of the fibre optic cables that carry data as light with the computer chips that process it. Dr Paniccia said the work was the one of several steps needed if silicon was to be used to make components that could carry and process light in the form of data pulses. "It's a technical validation that it can work," he said.

While work has been done to make some of the components that can move light around, before now silicon has not successfully been used to generate or amplify the laser light pulses used to send data over long distances.Dr Paniccia said the work was the one of several steps needed if silicon was to be used to make components that could carry and process light in the form of data pulses.Dr Paniccia said that the structure of silicon meant that when laser light passed through it, some colliding photons rip electrons off the atoms within the material.Scientists at Intel have overcome a fundamental problem that before now has prevented silicon being used to generate and amplify laser light.But the Intel researchers have found a way to suck away these errant electrons and turn silicon into a material that can both generate and amplify laser light."It creates a cloud of electrons sitting in the silicon and that absorbs all the light," he said.Currently, says Dr Paniccia, telecommunications equipment that amplifies the laser light that travels down fibre optic cables is very expensive because of the exotic materials, such as gallium arsenide, used to make it.This is despite the fact that silicon is a much better amplifier of light pulses than the form of the material used in fibre optic cables.

Summarize the following article: Anti-spam screensaver scrapped A contentious campaign to bump up the bandwidth bills of spammers by flooding their sites with data has been dropped. Lycos Europe's Make Love, Not Spam campaign began in late November but its tactics proved controversial. Lycos has shut down the campaign saying it had been started to stimulate debate about anti-spam measures and had now achieved this aim. The anti-spammer screensaver came under fire for encouraging vigilante activity and skirting the edge of the law. Through the Make Love, Not Spam website, users could download a screensaver that would endlessly request data from the net sites mentioned in many junk mail messages. More than 100,000 people are thought to have downloaded the screensaver that Lycos Europe offered. The company wanted to keep the spam sites running at near total capacity to make it much less financially attractive to spammers to operate the sites. But the campaign was controversial from the moment it kicked off and many net veterans criticised it for using spamming-type tactics against the senders of junk mail. Some net service firms began blocking access to the Lycos Europe site in protest at the action. Monitoring firm Netcraft found that the anti-spam campaign was proving a little too successful. According to response-time figures gathered by Netcraft, some of the sites that the screensaver targeted were being knocked offline by the constant data requests. In a statement from Lycos Europe announcing the scrapping of the scheme, the company denied that this was its fault. "There is nothing to suggest that Make Love, Not Spam has brought down any of the sites that it has targeted," it said. "At the time that Netcraft measured the sites it claims may have been brought down, they were not in fact part of the Make Love, Not Spam attack cycle," it added. The statement issued by Lycos also said that the centralised database it used ensured that traffic to the target sites left them with 5% spare capacity. "The idea was simply to slow spammers' sites and this was achieved by the campaign," the company said. Many security organisations said users should not participate in the Lycos Europe campaign. The closure comes only days after the campaign was suspended following the outbreak of criticism.

"The idea was simply to slow spammers' sites and this was achieved by the campaign," the company said.Lycos Europe's Make Love, Not Spam campaign began in late November but its tactics proved controversial.Many security organisations said users should not participate in the Lycos Europe campaign."There is nothing to suggest that Make Love, Not Spam has brought down any of the sites that it has targeted," it said.Through the Make Love, Not Spam website, users could download a screensaver that would endlessly request data from the net sites mentioned in many junk mail messages.Some net service firms began blocking access to the Lycos Europe site in protest at the action.A contentious campaign to bump up the bandwidth bills of spammers by flooding their sites with data has been dropped.In a statement from Lycos Europe announcing the scrapping of the scheme, the company denied that this was its fault.

Summarize the following article: Mobiles rack up 20 years of use Mobile phones in the UK are celebrating their 20th anniversary this weekend. Britain's first mobile phone call was made across the Vodafone network on 1 January 1985 by veteran comedian Ernie Wise. In the 20 years since that day, mobile phones have become an integral part of modern life and now almost 90% of Britons own a handset. Mobiles have become so popular that many people use their handset as their only phone and rarely use a landline. The first ever call over a portable phone was made in 1973 in New York but it took 10 years for the first commercial mobile service to be launched. The UK was not far behind the rest of the world in setting up networks in 1985 that let people make calls while they walked. The first call was made from St Katherine's dock to Vodafone's head office in Newbury which at the time was over a curry house. For the first nine days of 1985 Vodafone was the only firm with a mobile network in the UK. Then on 10 January Cellnet (now O2) launched its service. Mike Caudwell, spokesman for Vodafone, said that when phones were launched they were the size of a briefcase, cost about £2,000 and had a battery life of little more than 20 minutes. "Despite that they were hugely popular in the mid-80s," he said. "They became a yuppy must-have and a status symbol among young wealthy business folk." This was also despite the fact that the phones used analogue radio signals to communicate which made them very easy to eavesdrop on. He said it took Vodafone almost nine years to rack up its first million customers but only 18 months to get the second million. "It's very easy to forget that in 1983 when we put the bid document in we were forecasting that the total market would be two million people," he said. "Cellnet was forecasting half that." Now Vodafone has 14m customers in the UK alone. Cellnet and Vodafone were the only mobile phone operators in the UK until 1993 when One2One (now T-Mobile) was launched. Orange had its UK launch in 1994. Both newcomers operated digital mobile networks and now all operators use this technology. The analogue spectrum for the old phones has been retired. Called Global System for Mobiles (GSM) this is now the most widely used phone technology on the planet and is used to help more than 1.2 billion people make calls. Mr Caudwell said the advent of digital technology also helped to introduce all those things, such as text messaging and roaming that have made mobiles so popular.

Cellnet and Vodafone were the only mobile phone operators in the UK until 1993 when One2One (now T-Mobile) was launched.For the first nine days of 1985 Vodafone was the only firm with a mobile network in the UK.Britain's first mobile phone call was made across the Vodafone network on 1 January 1985 by veteran comedian Ernie Wise.The first ever call over a portable phone was made in 1973 in New York but it took 10 years for the first commercial mobile service to be launched.Mobile phones in the UK are celebrating their 20th anniversary this weekend.This was also despite the fact that the phones used analogue radio signals to communicate which made them very easy to eavesdrop on.The UK was not far behind the rest of the world in setting up networks in 1985 that let people make calls while they walked.Mike Caudwell, spokesman for Vodafone, said that when phones were launched they were the size of a briefcase, cost about £2,000 and had a battery life of little more than 20 minutes.In the 20 years since that day, mobile phones have become an integral part of modern life and now almost 90% of Britons own a handset.Now Vodafone has 14m customers in the UK alone.

Summarize the following article: Firefox browser takes on Microsoft Microsoft's Internet Explorer has a serious rival in the long-awaited Firefox 1.0 web browser, which has just been released. Few people get excited when some new software is released, especially when the program is not a game or a music or movie player. But the release of the first full version of Firefox has managed to drum up a respectable amount of pre-launch fervour. Fans of the software have banded together to raise cash to pay for an advert in the New York Times announcing that version 1.0 of the browser is available. The release of Firefox 1.0 on 9 November might even cause a few heads to turn at Microsoft because the program is steadily winning people away from the software giant's Internet Explorer browser. Firefox has been created by the Mozilla Foundation which was started by former browser maker Netscape back in 1998. Much of the development work done since then has gone into Firefox which made its first appearance under this name in February. Earlier incarnations, but which had the same core technology, were called Phoenix and Firebird. Since then the software has been gaining praise and converts, not least because of the large number of security problems that have come to light in Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Rivals to IE got a boost in late June when two US computer security organisations warned people to avoid the Microsoft program to avoid falling victim to a serious vulnerability. Internet monitoring firm WebSideStory has charted the growing population of people using the Firefox browser and says it is responsible for slowly eroding the stranglehold of IE. Before July this year, according to WebSideStory, Internet Explorer was used by about 95% of web surfers. That figure had remained static for years. In July the IE using population dropped to 94.7% and by the end of October stood at 92.9%. The Mozilla Foundation claims that Firefox has been downloaded almost eight million times and has publicly said it would be happy to garner 10% of the Windows- using, net-browsing population. Firefox is proving popular because, at the moment, it has far fewer security holes than Internet Explorer and has some innovations lacking in Microsoft's program. For instance, Firefox allows the pages of different websites to be arranged as tabs so users can switch easily between them. It blocks pop-ups, has a neat way of finding text on a page and lets you search through the pages you have browsed. One of the most powerful features of Firefox is the many hundreds of extras, or extensions, produced for it. The Mozilla Foundation is an open source organisation which means that the creators of the browser are happy for others to play around with the core code for the program. This has resulted in many different add-ons or extensions for the browser which now include everything from a version of the familiar Google toolbar to a Homeland Security monitor that keep users aware of current threat levels. Firefox, which used to be called Firebird and before that Phoenix, also has a growing number of vocal net-based fans. A campaign co-ordinated by the Spread Firefox website attempted to raise the $50,000 needed for a full page advert in the New York Times. The campaign set itself a target of recruiting 2500 volunteers. Ten days in to the campaign 10,000 people had signed up and now about $250,000 has been raised. The ad is due to run sometime in a three-week period in late November/early December. The surplus cash will be used to help keep the Mozilla Foundation running. Microsoft is facing a growing challenge to IE's hold on the web using population. from alternative browsers such as Opera, Safari, Amaya and even Netscape.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer has a serious rival in the long-awaited Firefox 1.0 web browser, which has just been released.Internet monitoring firm WebSideStory has charted the growing population of people using the Firefox browser and says it is responsible for slowly eroding the stranglehold of IE.Firefox is proving popular because, at the moment, it has far fewer security holes than Internet Explorer and has some innovations lacking in Microsoft's program.Firefox has been created by the Mozilla Foundation which was started by former browser maker Netscape back in 1998.The Mozilla Foundation claims that Firefox has been downloaded almost eight million times and has publicly said it would be happy to garner 10% of the Windows- using, net-browsing population.Firefox, which used to be called Firebird and before that Phoenix, also has a growing number of vocal net-based fans.The release of Firefox 1.0 on 9 November might even cause a few heads to turn at Microsoft because the program is steadily winning people away from the software giant's Internet Explorer browser.But the release of the first full version of Firefox has managed to drum up a respectable amount of pre-launch fervour.Ten days in to the campaign 10,000 people had signed up and now about $250,000 has been raised.Since then the software has been gaining praise and converts, not least because of the large number of security problems that have come to light in Microsoft's Internet Explorer.A campaign co-ordinated by the Spread Firefox website attempted to raise the $50,000 needed for a full page advert in the New York Times.Much of the development work done since then has gone into Firefox which made its first appearance under this name in February.

Summarize the following article: US blogger fired by her airline A US airline attendant suspended over "inappropriate images" on her blog - web diary - says she has been fired. Ellen Simonetti, known as Queen of the Sky, wrote an anonymous semi-fictional account of her life in the sky. She was suspended by Delta in September. In a statement, she said she was initiating legal action against the airline for "wrongful termination". A Delta spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday that Ms Simonetti was no longer an employee. Delta has repeatedly declined to elaborate on what it calls "internal employee matters". A spokesperson reiterated this position on Wednesday, confirming only that Ms Simonetti was no longer with the company. The spokesperson also confirmed that there were "very clear rules" attached to the unauthorised use of Delta branding, including uniforms. Ms Simonetti announced on her blog she had been fired on 1 November. She said in an official statement: "As a result of my suspension and subsequent termination without cause by Delta Airlines I am moving forward with filing a discrimination complaint with the Federal Government EEOC [US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]." She added she had also hired a Texas-based law firm to initiate legal action for "wrongful termination, defamation of character and lost future wages." Ms Simonetti told the BBC News website she had received no warning or further explanation when she was suspended on 25 September. Queen of the Sky has received a lot of support and advice from the global blogging community since news of her suspension was brought to light on the BBC News website and others. Her story has highlighted concerns amongst the growing blogging community about conflicts of interest, employment law and free speech on personal websites. The blog, which she started in January as a way of getting over her mother's death, contains a mix of fictional and non-fictional accounts. Queen of the Sky developed over the months as a character in her own right, according to Ms Simonetti. In the postings, she made up fictional names for cities and other companies she mentioned to protect anonymity. But some postings contained images of herself in uniform. Of the 10 or so images only one showed Ms Simonetti's flight "wings". She removed them as soon as she was informed of her suspension. "I never meant it as something to harm my company and don't understand how they think it did harm them," Ms Simonetti said. A legal expert in the US speculated that Delta might be concerned that the fictional content on the blog may be linked back to the airline after the images were posted. Delta has been hit recently by pressures of rising fuel costs and fierce competition. It has said it needs to cut between 6,000 and 7,000 jobs and reduce costs by $5bn (£2.7bn) a year. Analysts had warned recently that the airline might have to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy prevention. Last week, it struck a $1bn cost-cutting deal with its pilots which could save it from bankruptcy. The deal would see pilots accept a 32% pay cut in return for the right to buy 30 million Delta shares, unions said. And on Monday, it negotiated a deal to defer about $135m in debt which was due next year, until 2007. The airline also said it had agreed the terms of a $600m loan from American Express.

A Delta spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday that Ms Simonetti was no longer an employee.A spokesperson reiterated this position on Wednesday, confirming only that Ms Simonetti was no longer with the company.She was suspended by Delta in September.Ms Simonetti told the BBC News website she had received no warning or further explanation when she was suspended on 25 September.In a statement, she said she was initiating legal action against the airline for "wrongful termination".A legal expert in the US speculated that Delta might be concerned that the fictional content on the blog may be linked back to the airline after the images were posted.Ms Simonetti announced on her blog she had been fired on 1 November.Queen of the Sky developed over the months as a character in her own right, according to Ms Simonetti.Queen of the Sky has received a lot of support and advice from the global blogging community since news of her suspension was brought to light on the BBC News website and others."I never meant it as something to harm my company and don't understand how they think it did harm them," Ms Simonetti said.A US airline attendant suspended over "inappropriate images" on her blog - web diary - says she has been fired.The deal would see pilots accept a 32% pay cut in return for the right to buy 30 million Delta shares, unions said.

Summarize the following article: Court mulls file-sharing future Judges at the US Supreme Court have been hearing evidence for and against file-sharing networks. The court will decide whether producers of file-sharing software can ultimately be held responsible for copyright infringement. They questioned if opening the way for the entertainment industry to sue file-sharers could deter innovation. They also said that file-trading firms had some responsibility for inducing people to piracy. The lawsuit, brought by 28 of the world's largest entertainment firms, has raged for several years. Legal experts agree that if the Supreme Court finds in favour of the music and movie industry they would be able to sue file-trading firms into bankruptcy. But if the judge rules that Grokster and Morpheus - the file-sharers at the centre of the case - are merely providers of technology that can have legitimate as well as illegitimate uses, then the music and movie industry would be forced to abandon its pursuit of file-sharing providers. Instead, they would have to pursue individuals who use peer-to-peer networks to get their hands on free music and movies. The hi-tech and entertainment industries have been divided on the issue. Intel filed a document with the Supreme Court earlier this month in defence of Grokster and others, despite misgivings about some aspects of the file-sharing community. It summed up the attitude of many tech firms in its submission which states that its products "are essentially tools, that like any other tools, capable of being used by consumers and businesses for unlawful purposes". Asking firms to second-guess the uses that its technologies would be put to, and to build in ways of preventing illegitimate use, would stifle innovation, it said. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil rights watchdog, is also defending StreamCast Networks, the company behind the Morpheus file-sharing software. The case raises a question of critical importance at the border between copyright and innovation, it said. It cites, as do many, the landmark ruling in 1984 which found that Sony should not be held responsible for the fact that its Betamax video recorder could be used for piracy. Defenders remain optimistic that the judges will rule in favour of the peer-to-peer networks, upholding the precedent set by the Sony Betamax case. A small band of supporters were outside the court as the lawyers entered, wearing "Save Betamax" t-shirts. "The Betamax principles stand as the Magna Carta for the technology industry and are responsible for the explosion in innovation that has occurred in the US over the past 20 years," said Gary Shapiro, chief executive of the Consumer Electronics Association. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said that inventions from printing to Apple's iPod could be used to illegally duplicate copyrighted materials but had, on balance, been beneficial to society. He said that while file-trading software can be used to illegally trade movies and music, conceptually the technology had "some really excellent uses". Based on Tuesday's hearing it seems unlikely that the Betamax ruling will be overturned but file-sharing firms might still be held responsible for encouraging or inducing piracy. Grokster's lawyer argued that the company should be judged by its current behaviour rather than what it did when it first set up. But this argument was dismissed as "ridiculous" by Justice David Souter. CEA boss Mr Shapiro thinks the case is the most important that the Supreme Court will hear this year. "It's about preserving America's proud history of technological innovation and protecting the ability of consumers to access and utilise technology," he said. The case has already been heard by two lower courts and both found in favour of the peer-to-peer networks. They ruled that despite being used to distribute millions of illegal songs, file-sharing could also be used to cheaply distribute software, government documents and promotional copies of music.

Legal experts agree that if the Supreme Court finds in favour of the music and movie industry they would be able to sue file-trading firms into bankruptcy.Judges at the US Supreme Court have been hearing evidence for and against file-sharing networks."The Betamax principles stand as the Magna Carta for the technology industry and are responsible for the explosion in innovation that has occurred in the US over the past 20 years," said Gary Shapiro, chief executive of the Consumer Electronics Association.But if the judge rules that Grokster and Morpheus - the file-sharers at the centre of the case - are merely providers of technology that can have legitimate as well as illegitimate uses, then the music and movie industry would be forced to abandon its pursuit of file-sharing providers.He said that while file-trading software can be used to illegally trade movies and music, conceptually the technology had "some really excellent uses".Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said that inventions from printing to Apple's iPod could be used to illegally duplicate copyrighted materials but had, on balance, been beneficial to society.Asking firms to second-guess the uses that its technologies would be put to, and to build in ways of preventing illegitimate use, would stifle innovation, it said.The case has already been heard by two lower courts and both found in favour of the peer-to-peer networks.The court will decide whether producers of file-sharing software can ultimately be held responsible for copyright infringement.Based on Tuesday's hearing it seems unlikely that the Betamax ruling will be overturned but file-sharing firms might still be held responsible for encouraging or inducing piracy.They ruled that despite being used to distribute millions of illegal songs, file-sharing could also be used to cheaply distribute software, government documents and promotional copies of music.

Summarize the following article: Viewers to be able to shape TV Imagine editing Titanic down to watch just your favourite bits or cutting out the slushier moments of Star Wars to leave you with a bare bones action-fest. Manipulating your favourite films to make a more personalised movie is just the beginning of an ambitious new 7.5m euro (£5.1m) project funded by the European Union. New Media for a New Millennium (NM2) will have as its endgame the development of a completely new media genre, which will allow audiences to create their own media worlds based on their specific interests or tastes. Viewers will be able to participate in storylines, manipulate plots and even the sets and props of TV shows. BT is one of 13 partners involved in the project. It will be contributing software that was originally designed to spot anomalies in CCTV pictures. The software uses content recognition algorithms. The three-year project will work on seven productions as it develops a set of software tools that will allow viewers to edit content to their needs. One of the productions will be a experimental television show where the plot will be driven by text messages from the TV audience. Participants will text selected words which will impact how the characters in the drama interact. It is being developed in Finland and will be shown to Finnish TV audiences. Another team will work on the BBC's big budget drama of Mervyn Peake's gothic fantasy Gormenghast. It will be re-engineered to allow people to choose a variety of edited versions. "The BBC is allowing us access to the material so that we can prove the technology and the principles," explained Dr Doug Williams of BT, who will be NM2's technical project manager. "The TV at the moment is a relatively dumb box which receives signals. This project is about teaching the machine to look at content like Lego blocks that can be reassembled to make perfect sense," he said. "At the moment we have interactive gaming and a limited form of interactive TV which usually means allowing audiences to vote on shows. We are hoping to occupy the space in-between," he added. NM2's co-ordinator Peter Stollenmayer explained that the new genre would radically alter the role of the audience. "Viewers will be able to interact directly with the medium and influence what they see and hear according to their personal tastes and wishes," he said. "Media users will no longer be passive viewers but become active engagers." It will also be important that the tools are sophisticated enough to obey the complex rules of cinematography and editing said John Wyver, from TV producer Illuminations Television Limited, which is also involved in the project. "It's not just a matter of stringing together the romantic or action portions of a production," said Mr Wyver. "The tool has to know which bits fit together both visually, by observing the time-honoured rules that go in editing, and in terms of the story." "Only then will the personalised version both make sense and be aesthetically pleasing," he added. Mr Wyver is planning a production entitled The Golden Age, about Renaissance art. It will allow viewers to create a so-called media world based on their own specific areas of interest such as poetry, music and architecture. Other productions that the NM2 team will make range from news, documentaries to a romantic comedy drama.

The three-year project will work on seven productions as it develops a set of software tools that will allow viewers to edit content to their needs.It will also be important that the tools are sophisticated enough to obey the complex rules of cinematography and editing said John Wyver, from TV producer Illuminations Television Limited, which is also involved in the project.One of the productions will be a experimental television show where the plot will be driven by text messages from the TV audience.New Media for a New Millennium (NM2) will have as its endgame the development of a completely new media genre, which will allow audiences to create their own media worlds based on their specific interests or tastes.This project is about teaching the machine to look at content like Lego blocks that can be reassembled to make perfect sense," he said.Other productions that the NM2 team will make range from news, documentaries to a romantic comedy drama."It's not just a matter of stringing together the romantic or action portions of a production," said Mr Wyver.Manipulating your favourite films to make a more personalised movie is just the beginning of an ambitious new 7.5m euro (£5.1m) project funded by the European Union."At the moment we have interactive gaming and a limited form of interactive TV which usually means allowing audiences to vote on shows.It will allow viewers to create a so-called media world based on their own specific areas of interest such as poetry, music and architecture.BT is one of 13 partners involved in the project.Viewers will be able to participate in storylines, manipulate plots and even the sets and props of TV shows.

Summarize the following article: TV's future down the phone line Internet TV has been talked about since the start of the web as we know it now. But any early attempts to do it - the UK's Home Choice started in 1992 - were thwarted by the lack of a fast network. Now that broadband networks are bedding down, and it is becoming essential for millions, the big telcos are keen to start shooting video down the line. In the face of competition from cable companies offering net voice calls, they are keen to be the top IPTV dogs. Software giant Microsoft thinks IPTV - Internet Protocol TV - is the future of television, and it sits neatly with its vision of the "connected entertainment experience". "Telcos have been wanting to do video for a long time," Ed Graczyk, director of marketing for Microsoft IPTV, told the BBC News website. "The challenge has been the broadband network, and the state of technology up until not so long ago did not add up to a feasible solution. "Compression technology was not efficient enough, the net was not good enough. A lot of stars have aligned in the last 18 months to make it a reality." Last year, he said, was all about deal making and partnering up; shaping the "IPTV ecosystem". This year, those deals will start to play out and more services will come online. "2006 is where it starts ramping up and expanding to other geographies - over time as broadband becomes more prevalent in South America, and other parts of Asia, it will expand," he added. What telcos really want to do is to send the "triple-play" of video, voice, and data down one single line, be it cable or DSL (Digital Subscriber Line). Some are talking about "quadruple play", too, with mobile services added into the mix. It is an emerging new breed of competition for satellite and cable broadcasters and operators. According to technology analysts, TDG Research, there will be 20 million subscribers to IPTV services in under six years. Key to the appeal of sending TV programmes down the same line as the web data, whenever a viewer wants it, is that it uses the same technology as the internet. It means there is not just a one-way relationship between the viewer and the "broadcaster". This allows for more DVD-like interactivity, limitless storage and broadcast space, bespoke channel "playlists", and thousands of hours of programmes or films at a viewer's fingertips. It potentially lets operators target programmes to smaller, niche or localised audiences, sending films to Bollywood fans for instance, as well as individual devices. Operators could also send high-definition programmes straight to the viewer, bypassing the need for a special broadcast receiver. Perhaps most compelling - yet some might say insignificant - is instantaneous channel flicking. Currently, there is a delay when you try to do this on satellite, cable or Freeview. With IPTV, the speed is 15 milliseconds. "That gets rounds of applause," according to Mr Graczyk. Microsoft is one of the companies that started thinking about IPTV some time ago. "We believe this will be the way all TV is delivered in the future - but that is several years away," said Mr Graczyk. "As with music, TV has moved to digital formats. "The things software can do to integrate media into devices means a whole new generation of connected entertainment experiences that cross devices from the TV, to the mobile, to the gaming console and so on." The company intends its Microsoft's IPTV Edition software, an end-to-end management and delivery platform, to let telcos to do exactly that, seamlessly. It has netted seven major telcos as customers, representing a potential audience of 25 million existing broadband subscribers. Its deal with US telco SBC was the largest TV software deal to date, said Mr Graczyk. IPTV is about more than telcos, though. There are several web-based offerings that aim to put control in the hands of the consumer by exploiting the net's power. Jeremy Allaire, chief of Brightcove, told the BBC News website that it would be a flavour of IPTV that was about harnessing the web as a "channel". "It is not just niches, but about exploiting content not usually viewed," he said. "We are focussed on the owners of video content who have rights to digitally distribute content, and who often see unencumbered distribution. "For them to do it through cable and so on is price-prohibitive," he said. This type of IPTV service might also be a distribution channel for more established publishers who have unique types of content that they cannot offer through cable and satellite operators - history channel archives, for instance. What is a clear sign that IPTV has a future is that Microsoft is not the only player in the field. There are a lot of other "middleware" players providing similar management services as Microsoft, like Myrio and C-Cor. But it will up to the viewer to decide if it really is to be successful.

Last year, he said, was all about deal making and partnering up; shaping the "IPTV ecosystem".This type of IPTV service might also be a distribution channel for more established publishers who have unique types of content that they cannot offer through cable and satellite operators - history channel archives, for instance.Its deal with US telco SBC was the largest TV software deal to date, said Mr Graczyk.What is a clear sign that IPTV has a future is that Microsoft is not the only player in the field.Microsoft is one of the companies that started thinking about IPTV some time ago."Telcos have been wanting to do video for a long time," Ed Graczyk, director of marketing for Microsoft IPTV, told the BBC News website.Software giant Microsoft thinks IPTV - Internet Protocol TV - is the future of television, and it sits neatly with its vision of the "connected entertainment experience".Key to the appeal of sending TV programmes down the same line as the web data, whenever a viewer wants it, is that it uses the same technology as the internet.In the face of competition from cable companies offering net voice calls, they are keen to be the top IPTV dogs."We believe this will be the way all TV is delivered in the future - but that is several years away," said Mr Graczyk.According to technology analysts, TDG Research, there will be 20 million subscribers to IPTV services in under six years.IPTV is about more than telcos, though.Jeremy Allaire, chief of Brightcove, told the BBC News website that it would be a flavour of IPTV that was about harnessing the web as a "channel".What telcos really want to do is to send the "triple-play" of video, voice, and data down one single line, be it cable or DSL (Digital Subscriber Line).With IPTV, the speed is 15 milliseconds.Internet TV has been talked about since the start of the web as we know it now.The company intends its Microsoft's IPTV Edition software, an end-to-end management and delivery platform, to let telcos to do exactly that, seamlessly.

Summarize the following article: Souped-up wi-fi is on the horizon Super high-speed wireless data networks could soon be in use in the UK. The government's wireless watchdog is seeking help on the best way to regulate the technology behind such networks called Ultra Wideband (UWB). Ofcom wants to ensure that the arrival of UWB-using devices does not cause problems for those that already use the same part of the radio spectrum. UWB makes it possible to stream huge amounts of data through the air over short distances. One of the more likely uses of UWB is to make it possible to send DVD quality video images wirelessly to TV screens or to let people beam music to media players around their home. The technology has the potential to transmit hundreds of megabits of data per second. UWB could also be used to create so-called Personal Area Networks that let a person's gadgets quickly and easily swap data amongst themselves. The technology works over a range up to 10 metres and uses billions of short radio pulses every second to carry data. At the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas products with UWB chips built-in got their first public airing. Currently, use of UWB is only allowed in the UK under a strict licencing scheme. "We're seeking opinion from industry to find out whether or not we should allow UWB on a licence-exempt basis," said a spokesman for Ofcom. Companies have until 24 March to respond. In April the EC is due to start its own consultation on Europe-wide adoption of UWB. The cross-Europe body for radio regulators, known as the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT), is carrying out research for this harmonisation programme. Early sight of the CEPT work has caused controversy as some think it over-emphasises UWB's potential to interfere with existing users. By contrast a preliminary Ofcom report found that it would be quite straight-forward to deploy UWB without causing problems for those that already use it. The Ofcom spokesman said it was considering imposing a "mask" or set of technical restrictions on UWB-using devices. "We would want these devices to have very strict controls on power levels so they can not transmit a long way or over a wide area," he said. Despite the current restrictions the technology is already being used. Cambridge-based Ubisense has about 40 customers around the world using the short-range radio technology, said David Theriault, standards and regulatory liaison for Ubisense. He said that UWB was driving novel ways to interact with computers. "It's like having a 3D mouse all the time," he said. He said that European decisions on what to do with UWB allied with IEEE decisions on the exact specifications for it would help drive adoption. Prior to its adoption as a way for gadgets and computers to communicate, UWB was used as a sensing technology. It is used to spot such things as cracks under the surface of runways or to help firemen detect people through walls.

Prior to its adoption as a way for gadgets and computers to communicate, UWB was used as a sensing technology.He said that UWB was driving novel ways to interact with computers.He said that European decisions on what to do with UWB allied with IEEE decisions on the exact specifications for it would help drive adoption.The government's wireless watchdog is seeking help on the best way to regulate the technology behind such networks called Ultra Wideband (UWB)."We're seeking opinion from industry to find out whether or not we should allow UWB on a licence-exempt basis," said a spokesman for Ofcom.By contrast a preliminary Ofcom report found that it would be quite straight-forward to deploy UWB without causing problems for those that already use it.UWB could also be used to create so-called Personal Area Networks that let a person's gadgets quickly and easily swap data amongst themselves.Currently, use of UWB is only allowed in the UK under a strict licencing scheme.UWB makes it possible to stream huge amounts of data through the air over short distances.The technology has the potential to transmit hundreds of megabits of data per second.

Summarize the following article: Sporting rivals go to extra time The current slew of sports games offers unparalleled opportunities for fans who like to emulate on-field action without ever moving from the couch. The two giants in the field - ESPN and EA Sports - have been locked in a heavyweight battle for years. The latter is the world's largest games manufacturer. Years of experience mean that the titles in their steady flow of sport sims are finely honed, massively entertaining and ooze flair. Sports broadcaster ESPN, meanwhile, has leant its name to a series of games that are similarly classy but lower in profile and price. But that status quo was changed forever - or for the next 15 years at least - by a deal earlier this year when ESPN sold EA the rights to its TV branding and on-air talent, meaning the ESPN games presently developed by Sega will have to come to and end in their present form. It was a massive-money deal that not only raised eyebrows but stirred active indignation in many quarters, with fans concerned that it is set to enable EA to monopolise the sports gaming landscape to an unhealthy degree. Some particularly disgruntled fans set up an online petition that notched more than 18,000 virtual signatures. Many of those clicking to complain were already rankled, for the ESPN coup happened just weeks after EA had pulled off another enormous licensing deal, controversially giving them exclusive rights to teams and personnel from America¿s National Football League (NFL). So, will the Sega - ESPN range be missed? A key reason for answering "yes" is that liking or disliking a sports game regularly comes down to personal taste, and having some options available always proves hugely handy. Online soccer fans will testify to that, between bouts of arguing over which high-profile title rules supreme out of the similar-yet-hugely-different FIFA 2005 and Pro Evolution Soccer 4. On the same note, the ESPN 2k5 and EA sports games have so little to choose between them that picking favourites will come down to players' personal preferences and spending budget rather than any technical elements. Taking hockey and basketball as examples, both publishers' efforts are phenomenally entertaining and fairly accessible. They also both look awesome, with the Sega / ESPN versions perhaps shading things on a graphical front. In terms of gameplay, I marginally preferred EA's NBA Live 2005 for basketball, and was more satisfied ice hockey-wise by ESPN's NHL 2K5. The ESPN games are a touch more arcade-like in look and feel and are slightly easier to get into, although like their rivals, they also offer a dizzyingly-extensive array of in-game tricks and overall challenge modes that should be enough to quench thirsts of even the most die-hard of sports fans. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the ESPN deal will be seeing how it affects the presentation of EA's future titles. The front-end decoration of EA's games has become something of an art-form in itself, loaded with slick visuals and oodles of licensed music. They are also immediately identifiable as coming from the EA stable, and the inevitable compulsion to add an ESPN look will no doubt change that in various ways. What is a shame is that the ESPN titles took similar care about framing the gameplay with an authentic setting - their preambles look and sound much like they would on TV. They are neat and excellent-value games in their current form, and combining them with EA's own established brand should produce a truly formidable beast.

But that status quo was changed forever - or for the next 15 years at least - by a deal earlier this year when ESPN sold EA the rights to its TV branding and on-air talent, meaning the ESPN games presently developed by Sega will have to come to and end in their present form.On the same note, the ESPN 2k5 and EA sports games have so little to choose between them that picking favourites will come down to players' personal preferences and spending budget rather than any technical elements.The ESPN games are a touch more arcade-like in look and feel and are slightly easier to get into, although like their rivals, they also offer a dizzyingly-extensive array of in-game tricks and overall challenge modes that should be enough to quench thirsts of even the most die-hard of sports fans.Sports broadcaster ESPN, meanwhile, has leant its name to a series of games that are similarly classy but lower in profile and price.So, will the Sega - ESPN range be missed?They also both look awesome, with the Sega / ESPN versions perhaps shading things on a graphical front.The current slew of sports games offers unparalleled opportunities for fans who like to emulate on-field action without ever moving from the couch.The two giants in the field - ESPN and EA Sports - have been locked in a heavyweight battle for years.Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the ESPN deal will be seeing how it affects the presentation of EA's future titles.

Summarize the following article: Sony PSP console hits US in March US gamers will be able to buy Sony's PlayStation Portable from 24 March, but there is no news of a Europe debut. The handheld console will go on sale for $250 (£132) and the first million sold will come with Spider-Man 2 on UMD, the disc format for the machine. Sony has billed the machine as the Walkman of the 21st Century and has sold more than 800,000 units in Japan. The console (12cm by 7.4cm) will play games, movies and music and also offers support for wireless gaming. Sony is entering a market which has been dominated by Nintendo for many years. It launched its DS handheld in Japan and the US last year and has sold 2.8 million units. Sony has said it wanted to launch the PSP in Europe at roughly the same time as the US, but gamers will now fear that the launch has been put back. Nintendo has said it will release the DS in Europe from 11 March. "It has gaming at its core, but it's not a gaming device. It's an entertainment device," said Kaz Hirai, president of Sony Computer Entertainment America.

Sony has billed the machine as the Walkman of the 21st Century and has sold more than 800,000 units in Japan.Sony has said it wanted to launch the PSP in Europe at roughly the same time as the US, but gamers will now fear that the launch has been put back.Nintendo has said it will release the DS in Europe from 11 March.It launched its DS handheld in Japan and the US last year and has sold 2.8 million units.

Summarize the following article: Text message record smashed again UK mobile owners continue to break records with their text messaging, with latest figures showing that 26 billion texts were sent in total in 2004. The figures collected by the Mobile Data Association (MDA) showed that 2.4 billion were fired off in December alone, the highest monthly total ever. That was 26% more than in December 2003. The records even surpassed the MDA's own predictions, it said. Every day 78 million messages are sent and there are no signs of a slow down. Before December's bumper text record, the previous highest monthly total was in October 2004, when 2.3 billion were sent. Text messaging is set to smash more records in 2005 too, said the MDA, with forecasts suggesting a total of 30 billion for the year. Even though mobiles are becoming increasingly sophisticated with much more multimedia applications, texting is still one of the most useful functions of mobiles. People are using SMS to do much more too. Booking cinema tickets, text voting, and news or sports text alerts are growing popular. Mobile owners have also given the chance to donate to the Disasters Emergency Committee's (DEC) Asian Tsunami fund by texting "Donate" to a simple short code number. Looking further ahead in the year, the MDA's chairman Mike Short, has predicted that more people will go online through their mobiles, estimating 15 billion WAP page impressions. Handsets with GPRS capability - an "always on" net connection - will rise to 75%, while 3G mobile ownership growing to five million by the end of 2005. These third generation mobiles offer a high-speed connection which means more data like video can be received on the phone. Globally, mobile phone sales passed 167 million in the third quarter of 2004, according to a recent report from analysts Gartner. That was 26% more than the previous year. It is predicted that there would be two billion handsets in use worldwide by the end of 2005.

Before December's bumper text record, the previous highest monthly total was in October 2004, when 2.3 billion were sent.UK mobile owners continue to break records with their text messaging, with latest figures showing that 26 billion texts were sent in total in 2004.Text messaging is set to smash more records in 2005 too, said the MDA, with forecasts suggesting a total of 30 billion for the year.The figures collected by the Mobile Data Association (MDA) showed that 2.4 billion were fired off in December alone, the highest monthly total ever.Looking further ahead in the year, the MDA's chairman Mike Short, has predicted that more people will go online through their mobiles, estimating 15 billion WAP page impressions.That was 26% more than the previous year.Handsets with GPRS capability - an "always on" net connection - will rise to 75%, while 3G mobile ownership growing to five million by the end of 2005.

Summarize the following article: Commodore finds new lease of life The once-famous Commodore computer brand could be resurrected after being bought by a US-based digital music distributor. New owner Yeahronimo Media Ventures has not ruled out the possibility of a new breed of Commodore computers. It also plans to develop a "worldwide entertainment concept" with the brand, although details are not yet known. The groundbreaking Commodore 64 computer elicits fond memories for those who owned one back in the 1980s. In the chronology of home computing, Commodore was one of the pioneers. The Commodore 64, launched in 1982, was one of the first affordable home PCs. It was followed a few years later by the Amiga. The Commodore 64 sold more than any other single computer system, even to this day. The brand languished somewhat in the 1990s. Commodore International filed for bankruptcy in 1994 and was sold to Dutch firm Tulip Computers. In the late 1980s the firm was a great rival to Atari, which produced its own range of home computers and is now a brand of video games, formerly known as Infogrames. Tulip Computers sold several products under the Commodore name, including portable USB storage devices and digital music players. It had planned to relaunch the brand, following an upsurge of nostalgia for 1980s-era games. Commodore 64 enthusiasts have written emulators for Windows PC, Apple Mac and even PDAs so that the original Commodore games can be still run. The sale of Commodore is expected to be complete in three weeks in a deal worth over £17m.

In the chronology of home computing, Commodore was one of the pioneers.The Commodore 64, launched in 1982, was one of the first affordable home PCs.Commodore International filed for bankruptcy in 1994 and was sold to Dutch firm Tulip Computers.The once-famous Commodore computer brand could be resurrected after being bought by a US-based digital music distributor.The Commodore 64 sold more than any other single computer system, even to this day.In the late 1980s the firm was a great rival to Atari, which produced its own range of home computers and is now a brand of video games, formerly known as Infogrames.

Summarize the following article: Web photo storage market hots up An increasing number of firms are offering web storage for people with digital photo collections. Digital cameras were the hot gadget of Christmas 2004 and worldwide sales of the cameras totalled $24bn last year. Many people's hard drives are bulging with photos and services which allow them to store and share their pictures online are becoming popular. Search firms such as Google are also offering more complex tools for managing personal photo libraries. Photo giants such as Kodak offer website storage which manages photo collections, lets users edit pictures online and provides print-ordering services. Some services, such as Kodak's Ofoto and Snapfish, offer unlimited storage space but they do require users to buy some prints online. Other sites, such as Pixagogo, charge a monthly fee. Marcus Hawkins, editor of Digital Camera magazine, said: "As file sizes of pictures increase, storage becomes a problem. "People are using their hard drives, backing up on CD and DVD and now they are using online storage solutions. "They are a place to store pictures, to share their pictures with families and friends and they can print out their photos." While many of the services are aimed at the amateur and casual digital photographer, other websites are geared up for enthusiasts who want to share tips and information. Photosig is an online community of photographers who can critique each other's work. On Tuesday, Google released free software for organising and finding digital photos stored on a computer's hard drive. The tool, called Picasa, automatically detects photos as they are added to a PC - whether sent via e-mail or transferred from a digital camera. The software includes tools for restoring colour and removing red eye, as well as sharpening images. Photos can then be uploaded to sites such as Ofoto. Many people use the sites to edit and improve their favourite photographs before ordering prints. Mr Hawkins added: "The growth area is that you can order your prints online. Friends and family can also access pictures you want them to see and they can print them out too. "Rather than just a place to dump your pictures, it's about sharing them." The vast majority of pictures remain on a PC's hard drive, which is why search tools, such as those offered by Google, become increasingly important. But some historians and archivists are concerned that the need for perfect pictures will mean that those poor quality prints which offered a tantilising glimpse of the past may disappear forever. "It's one thing taking pictures, it's another finding them," said Mr Hawkins. "But this is the same problem that has always existed - how many of us have photos in wallets tucked away somewhere?"

Many people's hard drives are bulging with photos and services which allow them to store and share their pictures online are becoming popular.Photo giants such as Kodak offer website storage which manages photo collections, lets users edit pictures online and provides print-ordering services."They are a place to store pictures, to share their pictures with families and friends and they can print out their photos."An increasing number of firms are offering web storage for people with digital photo collections.Marcus Hawkins, editor of Digital Camera magazine, said: "As file sizes of pictures increase, storage becomes a problem.On Tuesday, Google released free software for organising and finding digital photos stored on a computer's hard drive.Some services, such as Kodak's Ofoto and Snapfish, offer unlimited storage space but they do require users to buy some prints online.Mr Hawkins added: "The growth area is that you can order your prints online.The tool, called Picasa, automatically detects photos as they are added to a PC - whether sent via e-mail or transferred from a digital camera.Friends and family can also access pictures you want them to see and they can print them out too.

Summarize the following article: Junk e-mails on relentless rise Spam traffic is up by 40%, putting the total amount of e-mail that is junk up to an astonishing 90%. The figures, from e-mail management firm Email Systems, will alarm firms attempting to cope with the amount of spam in their in-boxes. While virus traffic has slowed down, denial of service attacks are on the increase according to the firm. Virus mail accounts for just over 15% of all e-mail traffic analysis by the firm has found. It is no longer just multi-nationals that are in danger of so-called denial of service attacks, in which websites are bombarded by requests for information and rendered inaccessible. Email Systems refers to a small UK-based engineering firm, which received a staggering 12 million e-mails in January. The type of spam currently being sent has subtlety altered in the last few months, according to Email Systems analysis. Half of spam received since Christmas has been health-related with gambling and porn also on the increase. Scam mails, offering ways to make a quick buck, have declined by 40%. "January is clearly a month when consumers are less motivated to purchase financial products or put money into dubious financial opportunities," said Neil Hammerton, managing director of Email Systems. "Spammers seem to have adapted their output to reflect this, focussing instead on medically motivated and pornographic offers, presumably intentionally intended to coincide with what is traditionally considered to be the bleakest month in the calendar," he said.

The figures, from e-mail management firm Email Systems, will alarm firms attempting to cope with the amount of spam in their in-boxes.Virus mail accounts for just over 15% of all e-mail traffic analysis by the firm has found.Email Systems refers to a small UK-based engineering firm, which received a staggering 12 million e-mails in January.While virus traffic has slowed down, denial of service attacks are on the increase according to the firm.The type of spam currently being sent has subtlety altered in the last few months, according to Email Systems analysis.

Summarize the following article: New delay hits EU software laws A fresh delay has hit controversial new European Union rules which govern computer-based inventions. The draft law was not adopted by EU ministers as planned at a Brussels meeting on Monday during which it was supposed to have been discussed. The fresh delay came after Polish officials had raised concerns about the law for the second time in two months. Critics say the law would favour large companies over small ones and could impact open-source software innovation. "There was at one point the intention to put the item on today's agenda. But in the end we could not put it on," an EU spokesman told the Reuters agency. He added that no date had been chosen for more discussion of the law. In December, Poland requested more time to consider the issue because it was concerned that the law could lead to the patenting of pure computer software. Its ministers want to see the phrasing of the text of the Directive on the Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions changed so that it excludes software patenting. Poland is a large EU member, so its backing for the legislation is vital. The EU says the law would bring Europe more in line with how such laws work in the US, but this has caused some angry debate amongst critics and supporters. In the US, the patenting of computer programs and internet business methods is permitted. This means that the US-based Amazon.com holds a patent for its "one-click shopping" service. Critics say a similar model in Europe would hurt small software developers which do not have the legal and financial might of larger companies. But supporters say current law does not let big companies protect inventions which they have spent years developing.

Critics say the law would favour large companies over small ones and could impact open-source software innovation.In December, Poland requested more time to consider the issue because it was concerned that the law could lead to the patenting of pure computer software.The EU says the law would bring Europe more in line with how such laws work in the US, but this has caused some angry debate amongst critics and supporters.The draft law was not adopted by EU ministers as planned at a Brussels meeting on Monday during which it was supposed to have been discussed.The fresh delay came after Polish officials had raised concerns about the law for the second time in two months.But supporters say current law does not let big companies protect inventions which they have spent years developing.

Summarize the following article: Microsoft makes anti-piracy move Microsoft says it is clamping down on people running pirated versions of its Windows operating system by restricting their access to security features. The Windows Genuine Advantage scheme means people will have to prove their software is genuine from mid-2005. It will still allow those with unauthorised copies to get some crucial security fixes via automatic updates, but their options would be "limited". Microsoft releases regular security updates to its software to protect PCs. Either PCs detect updates automatically or users manually download fixes through Microsoft's site. Those running pirated Windows programs would not have access to other downloads and "add-ons" that the software giant offers. People who try to manually download security patches will have to let Microsoft run an automated checking procedure on their computer or give an identification number. Microsoft's regular patches which it releases for newly-found security flaws are important because they stop worms, viruses and other threats penetrating PCs. Some security experts are concerned that restricting access to such patches could mean a rise in such attacks and threats, with more PCs left unprotected. But Graham Cluley, senior consultant at security firm Sophos, told the BBC News website that it was a positive decision. "It sounds like their decision to allow critical security patches to remain available to both legitimate and illegitimate users of Windows is good news for everyone who uses the net," he said. Windows Genuine Advantage was first introduced as a pilot scheme in September 2004 for English-language versions of Windows. Microsoft's Windows operating system is heavily exploited by virus writers because it is so widespread and they are constantly seeking out new security loopholes to take advantage of. The company is trying to tackle security threats whilst cracking down on pirated software at the same time. Software piracy has cost the company billions, it says. The company announced earlier in January that it was releasing security tools to clean up PCs harbouring viruses and spyware, which 90% of PCs are infected with. The virus-fighting program, updated monthly, is a precursor to Microsoft's dedicated anti-virus software. Last year it introduced the Windows XP Counterfeit Project, a UK-based pilot scheme, which ran from November to December. The scheme meant that anyone with pre-installed copies of the operating system in PCs bought before November could replace counterfeit versions of Windows XP with legal ones for free. It is also increasing efforts to squash software piracy in China, Norway and the Czech Republic, where pirated software is a huge problem, by offering discounts on legitimate software to users of pirated copies Windows. "China in particular is a problem, with piracy estimated at 92%," said Mr Cluley.

Microsoft releases regular security updates to its software to protect PCs.Microsoft says it is clamping down on people running pirated versions of its Windows operating system by restricting their access to security features.It is also increasing efforts to squash software piracy in China, Norway and the Czech Republic, where pirated software is a huge problem, by offering discounts on legitimate software to users of pirated copies Windows.The company is trying to tackle security threats whilst cracking down on pirated software at the same time.Those running pirated Windows programs would not have access to other downloads and "add-ons" that the software giant offers.The Windows Genuine Advantage scheme means people will have to prove their software is genuine from mid-2005.Microsoft's regular patches which it releases for newly-found security flaws are important because they stop worms, viruses and other threats penetrating PCs.Windows Genuine Advantage was first introduced as a pilot scheme in September 2004 for English-language versions of Windows.Microsoft's Windows operating system is heavily exploited by virus writers because it is so widespread and they are constantly seeking out new security loopholes to take advantage of.

Summarize the following article: Gadget growth fuels eco concerns Technology firms and gadget lovers are being urged to think more about the environment when buying and disposing of the latest hi-tech products. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month, several hi-tech firms were recognised for their strategies to help the environment. Ebay also announced the Rethink project bringing together Intel, Apple, and IBM among others to promote recycling. The US consumer electronics market is set to grow by over 11% in 2005. But more awareness is needed about how and where old gadgets can be recycled as well as how to be more energy efficient, said the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Of particular growing concern is how much energy it takes to recharge portable devices, one of the fastest growing markets in technology. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has predicted that shipments of consumer technologies in 2005 will reach more than $125.73 billion (nearly £68 billion). Ebay's initiative pulls together major technology firms, environment groups, government agencies and eBay users to give information about what to do with old computers and where to send them. The online auction house thinks that its already-established community of loyal users could be influential. "We really became aware of the e-waste issue and we saw that our 125 million users can be a powerful force for good," eBay's David Stern told the BBC News website. "We saw the opportunity to meet the additional demand we have on the site for used computers and saw the opportunity too to good some good for the environment." But it is not just computers that cause a problem for the environment. Teenagers get a new mobile every 11 months, adults every 18 months and a 15 million handsets are replaced in total each year. Yet, only 15% are actually recycled. This year, a predicted two billion people worldwide will own a mobile, according to a Deloitte report. Schemes in the US, like RIPMobile, could help in targeting younger generations with recycling messages. The initiative, which was also launched at CES, rewards 10 to 28-year-olds for returning unused phones. "This system allows for the transformation of a drawer full of unused mobile phones into anything from music to clothes to electronics or games," said Seth Heine from RIPMobile. One group of students collected 1,000 mobiles for recycling in just three months. Mr Heine told the BBC News website that what was important was to raise awareness amongst the young so that recycling becomes "learned behaviour". Europe is undoubtedly more advanced than the US in terms of recycling awareness and robust "end of life" programmes, although there is a tide change happening in the rest of the world too. Intel showcased some its motherboards and chips at CES which are entirely lead free. "There is more and more awareness on the consumer side, but the whole industry is moving towards being lead free," Intel's Allen Wilson told the BBC News website. "There is still low-level awareness right now, but it is on the rise - the highest level of awareness is in Europe." A European Union (EU) directive, WEEE (Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment), comes into effect in August. It puts the responsibility on electrical manufacturers to recycle items that are returned to them. But developments are also being made to design better technologies which are more energy efficient and which do not contain harmful substances. Elements like chromium, lead, and cadmium - common in consumer electronics goods - will be prohibited in all products in the EU by 2006. But it is not just about recycling either. The predicted huge growth in the gadget market means the amount of energy used to power them up is on the rise too. The biggest culprit, according to the EPA, is the innocuous power adaptor, nicknamed "energy vampires". They provide vital juice for billions of mobile phones, PDAs (personal digital assistants), digital cameras, camcorders, and digital music players. Although there is a focus on developing efficient and improved circuits in the devices themselves, the technologies inside rechargers are still outdated and so eat up more energy than is needed to power a gadget. On 1 January, new efficiency standards for external power supplies came into effect as part of the European Commission Code of Conduct. But at CES, the EPA also unveiled new guidelines for its latest Energy Star initiative which targets external power adapters. These map out the framework for developing better adaptors that can be labelled with an Energy Star logo, meaning they are about 35% more efficient. The initiative is a global effort and more manufacturers' adaptors are being brought on board. Most are made in China. About two billion are shipped global every year, and about three billion are in use in the US alone. The EPA is already working with several companies which make more than 22% of power supplies on the market. "We are increasingly finding companies that not only want to provide neat, hi-tech devices, but also bundle with it a hi-tech, efficient power supply," the EPA's Andrew Fanara said. Initiatives like this are critical; if power adaptors continue to be made and used as they are now, consumer electronics and other small appliances will be responsible for more than 40% of electricity used in US homes, said the EPA.

But more awareness is needed about how and where old gadgets can be recycled as well as how to be more energy efficient, said the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).Initiatives like this are critical; if power adaptors continue to be made and used as they are now, consumer electronics and other small appliances will be responsible for more than 40% of electricity used in US homes, said the EPA.But at CES, the EPA also unveiled new guidelines for its latest Energy Star initiative which targets external power adapters.The predicted huge growth in the gadget market means the amount of energy used to power them up is on the rise too.The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has predicted that shipments of consumer technologies in 2005 will reach more than $125.73 billion (nearly £68 billion).The US consumer electronics market is set to grow by over 11% in 2005.But developments are also being made to design better technologies which are more energy efficient and which do not contain harmful substances.Although there is a focus on developing efficient and improved circuits in the devices themselves, the technologies inside rechargers are still outdated and so eat up more energy than is needed to power a gadget.The biggest culprit, according to the EPA, is the innocuous power adaptor, nicknamed "energy vampires".At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month, several hi-tech firms were recognised for their strategies to help the environment."We are increasingly finding companies that not only want to provide neat, hi-tech devices, but also bundle with it a hi-tech, efficient power supply," the EPA's Andrew Fanara said.Elements like chromium, lead, and cadmium - common in consumer electronics goods - will be prohibited in all products in the EU by 2006.About two billion are shipped global every year, and about three billion are in use in the US alone.Ebay's initiative pulls together major technology firms, environment groups, government agencies and eBay users to give information about what to do with old computers and where to send them.The EPA is already working with several companies which make more than 22% of power supplies on the market."There is more and more awareness on the consumer side, but the whole industry is moving towards being lead free," Intel's Allen Wilson told the BBC News website.Mr Heine told the BBC News website that what was important was to raise awareness amongst the young so that recycling becomes "learned behaviour".

Summarize the following article: Broadband fuels online change Fast web access is encouraging more people to express themselves online, research suggests. A quarter of broadband users in Britain regularly upload content and have personal sites, according to a report by UK think-tank Demos. It said that having an always-on, fast connection is changing the way people use the internet. More than five million households in the UK have broadband and that number is growing fast. The Demos report looked at the impact of broadband on people's net habits. It found that more than half of those with broadband logged on to the web before breakfast. One in five even admitted to getting up in the middle of the night to browse the web. More significantly, argues the report, broadband is encouraging people to take a more active role online. It found that one in five post something on the net everyday, ranging from comments or opinions on sites to uploading photographs. "Broadband is putting the 'me' in media as it shifts power from institutions and into the hands of the individual," said John Craig, co-author of the Demos report. "From self-diagnosis to online education, broadband creates social innovation that moves the debate beyond simple questions of access and speed." The Demos report, entitled Broadband Britain: The End Of Asymmetry?, was commissioned by net provider AOL. "Broadband is moving the perception of the internet as a piece of technology to an integral part of home life in the UK," said Karen Thomson, Chief Executive of AOL UK, "with many people spending time on their computers as automatically as they might switch on the television or radio." According to analysts Nielsen//NetRatings, more than 50% of the 22.8 million UK net users regularly accessing the web from home each month are logging on at high speed They spend twice as long online than people on dial-up connections, viewing an average of 1,444 pages per month. The popularity of fast net access is growing, partly fuelled by fierce competition over prices and services.

More than five million households in the UK have broadband and that number is growing fast.The Demos report looked at the impact of broadband on people's net habits.More significantly, argues the report, broadband is encouraging people to take a more active role online.The Demos report, entitled Broadband Britain: The End Of Asymmetry?, was commissioned by net provider AOL.A quarter of broadband users in Britain regularly upload content and have personal sites, according to a report by UK think-tank Demos.Fast web access is encouraging more people to express themselves online, research suggests.

Summarize the following article: Players sought for $1m prize UK gamers are getting a chance to take part in a $1m tournament thanks to one of the country's top teams. The Four-Kings clan is staging a Pop Idol type competition to find new members who can take on the world's best in the lucrative tournament. Four-Kings hopes the open qualifiers will turn up gamers good enough to beat all comers at the Painkiller game. Top players also get a contract with the Four-Kings team which will pay travelling expenses for the contest. UK gamers have until 12 November to register their interest in taking part and can sign up via the Four-Kings, Jolt.co.uk and Painkiller tournament websites. Philip Wride, who co-manages the Four-Kings team, said online qualifiers will be held from 16-28 November to find the best eight players of the Painkiller game. He said the clan was running the contest because Four-Kings does not currently have any players that excel at Painkiller. These eight players will be brought together in London on 3-5 December for the Bloodline Tournament that will find the best two players. The event will be filmed and the final cut made available online for others to watch. The movie is being put together by Simon Bysshe who has shot many other films about pro-gaming that have been widely shared online. Said Mr Bysshe: "Painkiller is a new game and the opportunity is there for a new player to step up." Painkiller has been described as a game that adds a few modern touches, such as improved graphics, to the old-fashioned first-person shooter. These two players will be put forward as the UK's entrants to the Cyberathlete Professional League $1m Painkiller contest that will take place throughout 2005. The event is being billed as the CPL World Tour and will be arranged around ten separate tournaments at different locations around the world. Travel expenses to all the stops on the tour will be paid by Four-Kings for the two UK players who make the grade. The top prize at each stop on the world tour will be $15,000. A further $150,000 will be given to the winner of the Grand Final due to be held in December 2005. Mr Wride said any gamer that wins a few tour stop tournaments and the grand final will have a very good year. The first stop on the world tour will be Istanbul, Turkey from 10-13 February. A total of $50,000 in cash prizes is on offer. The CPL has said that it picked a one-on-one game such as Painkiller to make it easier for spectators to follow the action. Counter-Strike, by far the most popular online game, pits teams against each other and can be confusing to follow if those watching are not familiar with the layout of the maps on which it is played. The decision to pick Painkiller was greeted with surprise by many gamers, as it was widely expected that Doom 3 would be chosen as the one-one-one title.

Philip Wride, who co-manages the Four-Kings team, said online qualifiers will be held from 16-28 November to find the best eight players of the Painkiller game.He said the clan was running the contest because Four-Kings does not currently have any players that excel at Painkiller.Travel expenses to all the stops on the tour will be paid by Four-Kings for the two UK players who make the grade.Said Mr Bysshe: "Painkiller is a new game and the opportunity is there for a new player to step up."The top prize at each stop on the world tour will be $15,000.Mr Wride said any gamer that wins a few tour stop tournaments and the grand final will have a very good year.UK gamers have until 12 November to register their interest in taking part and can sign up via the Four-Kings, Jolt.co.uk and Painkiller tournament websites.Four-Kings hopes the open qualifiers will turn up gamers good enough to beat all comers at the Painkiller game.The CPL has said that it picked a one-on-one game such as Painkiller to make it easier for spectators to follow the action.Top players also get a contract with the Four-Kings team which will pay travelling expenses for the contest.

Summarize the following article: Norway upholds 'Napster' ruling A Norwegian student who ran a website which linked to downloadable MP3 files has been ordered to pay compensation by the country's Supreme Court. Frank Allan Bruvik was ordered to pay 100,000 kroner (£8,000) to the music industry in Norway. He was a student when he set up his napster.no site, which allowed users to submit and receive links to MP3 files. Bruvik had earlier been cleared on appeal after a lower court had found for the music industry. Music industry bosses in Norway said the ruling would help build confidence in the internet as a distribution medium. Frank Allan Bruvik set up the napster.no website as part of a school project in 2001 while studying computer engineering in the Norwegian town of Lillehammer. The website was not associated with the napster.com site in the USA, which had been operating since 1999 and was already facing legal action. Bruvik's site was online between August and November 2001, and while it did not host any music, at its peak it was providing links to more than 170 free files on other servers. As well as providing links, the site allowed those visiting it to submit links that could later be accessed by other visitors. A legal complaint for copyright violation was filed by groups including Norway's performing rights society, Tono, and the Norwegian branches of Sony Music and Universal Music, who saw it as an important test of principle. A Norwegian court ruled in 2003 that Bruvik would have to pay 100,000 kroner to the music industry, but the country's Court of Appeal cleared him, saying that the copyright violation occurred when others posted the music. However, the Supreme Court stated that the music was clearly published in violation of copyright law It added that the case was decided based on the responsibility for abetting an illegal act, and that Bruvik's actions were premeditated. Norway's music industry said it was satisfied with the ruling, because showed that music piracy would not be accepted. Meanwhile, in the USA a further 717 lawsuits against people alleged to have traded copyrighted songs were filed this week by the Recording Industry Association of America. The suits, brought on behalf of the major record companies, cite the individuals for illegally distributing music via unauthorized peer-to-peer services such as KaZaa and eDonkey. As with preceding cases, the fresh action was made against so-called "John Doe" defendants, who are identified only by the codes given to their computers' internet connections.

Frank Allan Bruvik was ordered to pay 100,000 kroner (£8,000) to the music industry in Norway.Norway's music industry said it was satisfied with the ruling, because showed that music piracy would not be accepted.A Norwegian court ruled in 2003 that Bruvik would have to pay 100,000 kroner to the music industry, but the country's Court of Appeal cleared him, saying that the copyright violation occurred when others posted the music.Bruvik's site was online between August and November 2001, and while it did not host any music, at its peak it was providing links to more than 170 free files on other servers.However, the Supreme Court stated that the music was clearly published in violation of copyright law It added that the case was decided based on the responsibility for abetting an illegal act, and that Bruvik's actions were premeditated.A legal complaint for copyright violation was filed by groups including Norway's performing rights society, Tono, and the Norwegian branches of Sony Music and Universal Music, who saw it as an important test of principle.Bruvik had earlier been cleared on appeal after a lower court had found for the music industry.

Summarize the following article: Podcasts mark rise of DIY radio An Apple iPod or other digital music players can hold anything up to 10,000 songs, which is a lot of space to fill. But more and more iPod owners are filling that space with audio content created by an unpredictable assortment of producers. It is called "podcasting" and its strongest proponent is former MTV host and VJ (video jockey) Adam Curry. Podcasting takes its name from the Apple iPod, although you do not need an iPod to create one or to listen to a podcast. A podcast is basically an internet-based radio show which podcasters create, usually in the comfort of their own home. They need only a microphone, a PC, and some editing software. They then upload their shows to the internet and others can download and listen to them, all for free. Using technology based on XML computer code and RSS - Really Simple Syndication - listeners can subscribe to podcasts collected automatically in a bit of software, which Mr Curry has pioneered. The latest MP3 files of shows can then be picked up by a music playing device automatically. Mr Curry records, hosts, edits and produce a daily, 40 minute podcast called The Daily Source Code. He wants to make podcasting "the Next Big Thing" and says it is an extension of his childhood love of radio gadgetry. "I was always into technologies and wires," he explains. "My parents gave me the Radio Shack 101 project kit, which allows you to build an AM transmitter and subsequently an FM transmitter. "I had my mom drive me around the block, see how far it would reach on the car radio." Mr Curry is American, but he grew up in the Netherlands where he hosted illegal, pirate radio shows in the Dutch capital. He tried university in the US, and ended up back in Holland where he hosted a music video show. He spent the next seven years in New York where he worked at MTV hosting the Top 20 Video Countdown, but spent most of his hours tinkering with this new thing called the internet. "At a certain point in 1995, I was driving in on a Friday afternoon, beautiful blue sky, one of those beautiful days thinking, this is so stupid. "You know, I'm going do the Top 20 Countdown, take the cheque, go home, and sit on the internet until three in the morning. "So, after I finished the show, I quit. I said, on air, it's been great, I've been here for seven years at that point, there's something on the internet, I've got to go find it, and I'll see you later." But Mr Curry's technology and broadcast interests started to gel a couple of years ago when computer storage was growing exponentially and high-speed internet connections were becoming more widely available. The MP3 format also meant that people could create and upload audio more cheaply and efficiently than ever before. Most importantly, Mr Curry says, people across the globe were bored with the radio they were hearing. "Listen to 99% of the radio that you hear today, it's radio voices, and it's fake, it's just fake." He wanted to make it easier for people to find "real voices" on the internet. He wanted software that would automatically download new audio content directly onto players like, iPods. Mr Curry is not a computer programmer, so he asked others to create one for him. No one did, so he tried to write one himself. He finished it a few months ago and says it "totally sucked." He put it up on the net as open source software and now dozens of coders and audio junkies are refining it; the result is a work in progress called "ipodder". Doug Kaye, a California-based podcaster, praises the former MTV VJ for what he has done. "Adam created a simple script that solved what we call the last mile problem. Ipodder takes audio from the web and brings it all the way down to the MP3 player," he explains. "People can wake up in the morning, pick up their iPods as they go to work or before they go exercise, and discover that there's all this new content automatically put onto their players." It is created an explosion in podcasting content and podcasters are springing up in Australia, Finland, Brazil, even Malaysia. One couple broadcasts theirs, The Dawn and Drew Show, from Wisconsin in the US, sometimes even from the comfort of their own bed. Topics range from the comfort of their bed, to the latest films or music and have thousands of listeners. Already, websites are springing up that point listeners in the right direction of good podcasts. Chris McIntyre runs Podcast Alley and says that there are good sites out there but that not everyone has the technological know-how to simply listen. "If I were to tell my mom, or my mother-in-law to copy an XML or RSS file to their podcast aggregator, they would think I was speaking a foreign language," Mr McIntyre says. Along with technical challenges, there may be legal challenges to podcasters who air their favourite, albeit copyrighted, music. Some in podcasting also worry that too much attention may turn what they see as the "anti-radio" into something that is more like conventional broadcasting. Already there is interest in podcasting from the corporate world. Heineken is doing its own podcast now, and so is Playboy. For his part, Adam Curry's pressing ahead with his own vision of what podcasting should be. He loves doing The Daily Source Code because it is about introducing good music and cool ideas to new audiences. He has even been called the Ed Sullivan or Johnny Carson of podcasting which, he says, "is a badge I'll wear with great honour. "To be the Johnny Carson, or Ed Sullivan of anything is wonderful. And you know what? You don't need a hell of a lot of talent. "You just have to be nice, have your ears open, and let people shine. And that's good for me." Clark Boyd is technology correspondent for The World, a BBC World Service and WGBH-Boston co-production.

Podcasting takes its name from the Apple iPod, although you do not need an iPod to create one or to listen to a podcast.A podcast is basically an internet-based radio show which podcasters create, usually in the comfort of their own home.Most importantly, Mr Curry says, people across the globe were bored with the radio they were hearing.Mr Curry is American, but he grew up in the Netherlands where he hosted illegal, pirate radio shows in the Dutch capital.Mr Curry is not a computer programmer, so he asked others to create one for him.Using technology based on XML computer code and RSS - Really Simple Syndication - listeners can subscribe to podcasts collected automatically in a bit of software, which Mr Curry has pioneered.It is called "podcasting" and its strongest proponent is former MTV host and VJ (video jockey) Adam Curry.He wanted software that would automatically download new audio content directly onto players like, iPods.He has even been called the Ed Sullivan or Johnny Carson of podcasting which, he says, "is a badge I'll wear with great honour.They then upload their shows to the internet and others can download and listen to them, all for free.Mr Curry records, hosts, edits and produce a daily, 40 minute podcast called The Daily Source Code.The latest MP3 files of shows can then be picked up by a music playing device automatically.He wants to make podcasting "the Next Big Thing" and says it is an extension of his childhood love of radio gadgetry.But Mr Curry's technology and broadcast interests started to gel a couple of years ago when computer storage was growing exponentially and high-speed internet connections were becoming more widely available.One couple broadcasts theirs, The Dawn and Drew Show, from Wisconsin in the US, sometimes even from the comfort of their own bed.He loves doing The Daily Source Code because it is about introducing good music and cool ideas to new audiences.He tried university in the US, and ended up back in Holland where he hosted a music video show.It is created an explosion in podcasting content and podcasters are springing up in Australia, Finland, Brazil, even Malaysia."If I were to tell my mom, or my mother-in-law to copy an XML or RSS file to their podcast aggregator, they would think I was speaking a foreign language," Mr McIntyre says.Chris McIntyre runs Podcast Alley and says that there are good sites out there but that not everyone has the technological know-how to simply listen."People can wake up in the morning, pick up their iPods as they go to work or before they go exercise, and discover that there's all this new content automatically put onto their players."Already there is interest in podcasting from the corporate world.

Summarize the following article: Joke e-mail virus tricks users A virus that disguises itself as a joke is spreading rapidly across the net. Anti-virus firms are issuing high-level warnings about the new version of the Bagle e-mail program that seems to be catching a lot of people out. The Windows virus grabs e-mail addresses from Microsoft Outlook and uses its own mail sending software to spread itself to new victims. When it infects a machine, the Bagle variant turns off security measures that usually protect PCs. The new variant is called Bagle.AT, Bagle.BB and Bagle.AU and the attachment bearing the virus code is labelled as either "joke" or "price". The body of the virus usually contains nothing but a smiley or emoticon. The virus can strike computers running Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 and XP. Users will be infected if they open the attachment that travels with the e-mail. As well as plundering Microsoft Outlook for e-mail addresses to send itself to, Bagle.AT also tries to turn off the firewall and security centre services on Windows XP machines. BBC News Online has received five warnings about the virus from security companies. Finnish company F-Secure gave the virus its second highest threat level. "We've had several reports all over the world," said Mikko Hypponen, director of anti-virus research for F-Secure. Security firm Network Box said that it stopped more than 30,000 copies an hour of the virus as the outbreak reached a peak. Black Spider said it had stopped more than 1 million copies of Bagle.AT since the outbreak began at 0630 BST (0530 GMT). Anti-virus firms urged users to be wary of unexpected e-mail messages bearing attachments and to update their software to ensure they are protected against the latest threats.

Security firm Network Box said that it stopped more than 30,000 copies an hour of the virus as the outbreak reached a peak.The Windows virus grabs e-mail addresses from Microsoft Outlook and uses its own mail sending software to spread itself to new victims.The new variant is called Bagle.AT, Bagle.BB and Bagle.AU and the attachment bearing the virus code is labelled as either "joke" or "price".As well as plundering Microsoft Outlook for e-mail addresses to send itself to, Bagle.AT also tries to turn off the firewall and security centre services on Windows XP machines.The virus can strike computers running Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 and XP.BBC News Online has received five warnings about the virus from security companies.

Summarize the following article: Rings of steel combat net attacks Gambling is hugely popular, especially with tech-savvy criminals. Many extortionists are targeting net-based betting firms and threatening to cripple their websites with deluges of data unless a ransom is paid. But now deep defences are being put in place by some of the UK's biggest net firms to stop these attacks. Increasing numbers of attacks and the huge amounts of data being used to try to bump a site off the web are prompting firms to adopt the measures. "Net firms are realising that it's not just about anti-virus and firewalls," said Paul King, chief security architect at Cisco. "There are more things that can be done in the network to protect data centres." Mr King said the only way to properly combat these so-called Distributed Denial-of-Service attacks was with intelligent net-based systems. Many of the gambling sites suffering DDoS attacks are in offshore data and hosting centres, so any large scale data flood could knock out access to many more sites than just the one the criminals were targeting, said Mr King. This overspill effect was only likely to grow as attacks grow in size and scale. Malcolm Seagrave, security expert at Energis, said the most common types of attacks hit sites with 10 megabytes of data over short periods of time. Bigger attacks sending down 200 megabytes of traffic or more were rarely seen, he said. "It does feel like they are turning the dial because you see this traffic gradually growing," he said. So far there have been no attacks involving gigabytes of data, said Mr Seagrave. However, he added that it was only a matter of time before such large attacks were mounted. Maria Capella, spokeswoman for net provider Pipex, said that when DDoS attacks were at their height, customers were getting hit every four to five days. The defences being put in place constantly monitor the streams of data flowing across networks and pluck out the traffic destined for target sites. "It's about understanding what's genuine traffic and keeping attack traffic from going to the site," she said. "We study the profile of their traffic and as soon as we see an anomaly in the profile that's when we start to get the backbone engineering boys to see if we are going to sustain an attack," said Ms Capella. This traffic can be hard to spot because DDoS attacks typically use thousands of computers in many different countries, each participating machine only sends a small part of the entire data flood. Typically these computers have been infected by a virus or worm which reports its success and the net address of compromised machines back to the malicious hacker or hi-tech criminal that set off the virus. Hijacked computers are known as zombies or 'bots and collections of them are called 'bot nets. Many spammers rent out 'bot nets to help them anonymously send junk mail. Most of the zombies are based outside the country that hosts the target site so getting the attacking PCs shut off can be difficult. Often Pipex and other net suppliers do get advance notice that an attack is about to happen. "The serious players tend to precede an attack with some kind of ransom e-mail," said Ms Capella. "We ask, as part of the service we provide, that customers notify us of anything they have in advance that would give us forewarning." Once an attack is spotted dedicated net hardware takes over to remove the attack traffic and ensure that sites stay up. Energis took a similar approach, said Mr Seagrave. "We have technology out there that allows us to detect attacks in minutes rather than let network engineers spend hours pulling the information together," said Mr Seagrave. Also net firms were starting to work more closely together on the problem of DDoS attacks and pool information about where they are coming from. Information gathered on attacks and where they originated has led to some arrests. He said Energis also did its own intelligence work to get in insight into which sites criminal gangs plan to target. "We have people in places where they shouldn't be, monitoring tech sites," he said. Sometimes though, he said, spotting the next victim was easy. "You can see them going alphabetically through the list with the gambling sites, trying one after another," said Mr Seagrave.

So far there have been no attacks involving gigabytes of data, said Mr Seagrave.Many of the gambling sites suffering DDoS attacks are in offshore data and hosting centres, so any large scale data flood could knock out access to many more sites than just the one the criminals were targeting, said Mr King."It's about understanding what's genuine traffic and keeping attack traffic from going to the site," she said.Malcolm Seagrave, security expert at Energis, said the most common types of attacks hit sites with 10 megabytes of data over short periods of time.Once an attack is spotted dedicated net hardware takes over to remove the attack traffic and ensure that sites stay up.Bigger attacks sending down 200 megabytes of traffic or more were rarely seen, he said.Maria Capella, spokeswoman for net provider Pipex, said that when DDoS attacks were at their height, customers were getting hit every four to five days."We have technology out there that allows us to detect attacks in minutes rather than let network engineers spend hours pulling the information together," said Mr Seagrave.Mr King said the only way to properly combat these so-called Distributed Denial-of-Service attacks was with intelligent net-based systems."The serious players tend to precede an attack with some kind of ransom e-mail," said Ms Capella."We study the profile of their traffic and as soon as we see an anomaly in the profile that's when we start to get the backbone engineering boys to see if we are going to sustain an attack," said Ms Capella."You can see them going alphabetically through the list with the gambling sites, trying one after another," said Mr Seagrave.This traffic can be hard to spot because DDoS attacks typically use thousands of computers in many different countries, each participating machine only sends a small part of the entire data flood.Also net firms were starting to work more closely together on the problem of DDoS attacks and pool information about where they are coming from.

Summarize the following article: What high-definition will do to DVDs First it was the humble home video, then it was the DVD, and now Hollywood is preparing for the next revolution in home entertainment - high-definition. High-definition gives incredible, 3D-like pictures and surround sound. The DVD disks and the gear to play them will not be out for another year or so, and there at are still a number of issues to be sorted out. But when high-definition films do come out on the new format DVDs, it will profoundly change home entertainment. For Rick Dean, director of business development for digital content company THX, a high-definition future is an exciting prospect. He has worked on the Star Wars DVD trilogy, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and Indiana Jones. "There was a time not so long ago when the film world and the video world were two completely separate worlds," he told the BBC News website. "The technology we are dealing with now means they are very much conjoined. "The film that we see in theatres is coming from the same digital file that we take the home video master," he says. But currently, putting a master feature film onto DVD requires severe compression because current DVD technology cannot hold as much as high-definition films demand. "As much as you compress the picture data rate wise, you also take qualities away from the picture that we fight so hard to keep in the master," he explains. "I would love to be able to show people what projects that we worked on really look like in the high-def world and I find it very exciting." High-definition DVDs can hold up to six times more data than the DVDs we are used to. It will take time though to persuade people who spent money on DVD players to buy the different players and displays required to watch high-definition DVDs in 18 months' time. Mr Dean is confident though: "I think if they see real HD [high-definition], not some heavily compressed version of it, there is such a remarkable difference. "I have heard comments from people who say the images pop off the screen." High-definition will mean some changes for those working behind the scenes too. On the whole, producing films for high-definition DVDs will be easier in some ways because less compression is needed. Equally, it may mean Hollywood studios ask for more to be put onto the average DVD. "When we master movies right now, our data rates are running at about 1.2 gigabits per second," says Mr Dean. "Our DVDs that we put out today have to be squashed down to about five or six megabits per second. "That's a huge amount of compression that has to be applied - about 98%. So if you have anything that allows more space, you don't have to compress so hard." Studios could fit a lot more marketing material, games, and features, onto high-capacity DVDs. Currently, an entire DVD project can take up to three months, says Mr Dean. Although the step of down-converting will be bypassed, this will realistically only save a day's work, says Mr Dean. One of the most time consuming elements is building DVD navigation and menu systems. On the fairly complex Star Wars disks, making sure the menu buttons worked took 45 human hours alone. If studios want to cash in on the extra space, it could mean extra human hours, for which someone has to pay. "If the decision on the studio side is that they are going to put a lot more on these disks, it could be more expensive because of all the extra navigation that is required." And if studios do focus on delivering more "added value content", thinks Mr Dean, ultimately it could mean that they will want more money for it. Those costs could filter down to the price ticket on a high-definition DVD. But if the consumer is not willing to pay a premium price, studios will listen, thinks Mr Dean. High-definition throws up other challenge to film makers and DVD production alike. More clarity on screen means film makers have to make doubly sure that attention to detail is meticulous. "When we did the first HD version of Star Wars Episode I, everybody was very sun-tanned, but that was make-up. "In the HD version of Episode I, all these make-up lines showed up," explains Mr Dean. The restoration of the older Star Wars episodes revealed some interesting items too. "There are scans of a corridor [on the Death Star] and fairly plainly in one of those shots, there is a file cabinet stuck behind one of the doorways. "You never used to be able to see it because things are just blurred enough during the pan that you just didn't see it." What high-definition revolution ultimately means is that the line between home entertainment and cinema worlds will blur. With home theatre systems turning living rooms into cinemas, this line blurs even further. It could also mean that how we get films, and in what format, will widen. "In the future we are going to look towards file delivery over IP [internet protocol - broadband], giving a DVD-like experience from the set-top box to the hard drive," says Mr Dean. But that is some time off for most, and for now, people still like to show off something physical in their bookshelves.

But currently, putting a master feature film onto DVD requires severe compression because current DVD technology cannot hold as much as high-definition films demand.What high-definition revolution ultimately means is that the line between home entertainment and cinema worlds will blur.Currently, an entire DVD project can take up to three months, says Mr Dean.But when high-definition films do come out on the new format DVDs, it will profoundly change home entertainment.Those costs could filter down to the price ticket on a high-definition DVD.First it was the humble home video, then it was the DVD, and now Hollywood is preparing for the next revolution in home entertainment - high-definition.And if studios do focus on delivering more "added value content", thinks Mr Dean, ultimately it could mean that they will want more money for it.High-definition throws up other challenge to film makers and DVD production alike.It will take time though to persuade people who spent money on DVD players to buy the different players and displays required to watch high-definition DVDs in 18 months' time.High-definition DVDs can hold up to six times more data than the DVDs we are used to.Mr Dean is confident though: "I think if they see real HD [high-definition], not some heavily compressed version of it, there is such a remarkable difference.High-definition will mean some changes for those working behind the scenes too.On the whole, producing films for high-definition DVDs will be easier in some ways because less compression is needed.Equally, it may mean Hollywood studios ask for more to be put onto the average DVD."In the HD version of Episode I, all these make-up lines showed up," explains Mr Dean."When we master movies right now, our data rates are running at about 1.2 gigabits per second," says Mr Dean."The film that we see in theatres is coming from the same digital file that we take the home video master," he says.If studios want to cash in on the extra space, it could mean extra human hours, for which someone has to pay.

Summarize the following article: Microsoft sets sights on spyware Windows users could soon be paying Microsoft to keep PCs free of spyware. Following the takeover of anti-spyware firm Giant, Microsoft said it would soon release a toolkit that strips machines of the irritating programs. Although initially free, Microsoft has not ruled out charging people who want to keep this toolkit up to date. Surveys show that almost every Windows PC is infested with spyware programs that do everything from bombard users with adverts to steal login data. Microsoft said that a beta version of the toolkit to clean up Windows machines should be available within 30 days. Designed for PCs running Windows 2000 and XP, the utility will clean out spyware programs, constantly monitor what happens on a PC and will be regularly updated to catch the latest variants. Before now many of Microsoft's other security boosting programs, such as the firewall in Windows XP, have been given away free. But Mike Nash, vice president in Microsoft's security business unit, said it was still working out pricing and licensing issues. Charging for future versions has not been discounted, he said. "We'll come up with a plan and roll that out," he said. The plan could turn out to be a lucrative one for Microsoft. A recent survey by Earthlink and Webroot found that 90% of PCs are infested with the surreptitious software and that, on average, each one is harbouring 28 separate spyware programs. Currently users wanting protection from spyware have turned to free programs such as Spybot and Ad-Aware. Spyware comes in many forms and at its most benign exploits lazy browsing habits to install itself and subject users to unwanted adverts. Other forms hijack net browser settings to force people to view pages they would otherwise never visit. At its most malign, spyware watches everything that people do with their PC and steals login information and other personal data. Microsoft's announcement about spyware comes after it bought small New York software firm Giant Company Software. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Windows users could soon be paying Microsoft to keep PCs free of spyware.Microsoft said that a beta version of the toolkit to clean up Windows machines should be available within 30 days.Surveys show that almost every Windows PC is infested with spyware programs that do everything from bombard users with adverts to steal login data.Following the takeover of anti-spyware firm Giant, Microsoft said it would soon release a toolkit that strips machines of the irritating programs.Although initially free, Microsoft has not ruled out charging people who want to keep this toolkit up to date.Designed for PCs running Windows 2000 and XP, the utility will clean out spyware programs, constantly monitor what happens on a PC and will be regularly updated to catch the latest variants.Before now many of Microsoft's other security boosting programs, such as the firewall in Windows XP, have been given away free.At its most malign, spyware watches everything that people do with their PC and steals login information and other personal data.

Summarize the following article: Broadband steams ahead in the US More and more Americans are joining the internet's fast lane, according to official figures. The number of people and business connected to broadband jumped by 38% in a year, said the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In a report, it said there were more than 32 million broadband connections by the end of June 2004. But the US is still behind compared to other nations, ranked 13th in the world by a UN telecoms body. During his 2004 re-election campaign, President George W Bush pledge to ensure that affordable high-speed net access would be available to all Americans by 2007. According to the report by the FCC, broadband is becoming increasingly popular, with people using it for research and shopping, as well as downloading music and watching video. The total number of people and businesses on broadband rose by to 32.5 million in the year ending June 2004, compared to 23.5 million in June 2003. Whereas in the UK, most people hook up to broadband via Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) technology which lets ordinary copper phone lines support high data speeds. But in the US, cable leads the way, accounting for 18.6 million lines. Broadband over the phone line makes up 11.4 million connections, according to the FCC figures.

Broadband over the phone line makes up 11.4 million connections, according to the FCC figures.The total number of people and businesses on broadband rose by to 32.5 million in the year ending June 2004, compared to 23.5 million in June 2003.In a report, it said there were more than 32 million broadband connections by the end of June 2004.The number of people and business connected to broadband jumped by 38% in a year, said the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Summarize the following article: New consoles promise big problems Making games for future consoles will require more graphic artists and more money, an industry conference has been told. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo will debut their new consoles at the annual E3 games Expo in Los Angeles in May. These so-called "next generation" machines will be faster than current consoles, and capable of displaying much higher-quality visuals. For gamers, this should make for better, more immersive games. In a pre-recorded video slot during Microsoft's keynote address at the Game Developers Conference, held last week in San Francisco, famed director James Cameron revealed he is making a game in tandem with his next film - believed to be Battle Angel Alita. The game's visual quality would be "like a lucid dream," said Mr Cameron. But numerous speakers warned that creating such graphics will require more artists, and so next generation console games will be much more expensive to develop. The first new console, Microsoft's Xbox 2, is not expected to reach the shops until the end of 2005. Games typically take at least 18 months to create, however, so developers are grappling with the hardware today. According to Robert Walsh, head of Brisbane-based game developer Krome Studios, next generation games will cost between $10-25m to make, with teams averaging 80 staff in size taking two years to complete a title. Such sums mean it will be difficult for anyone to start a new game studio, said Mr Walsh. "If you're a start-up, I doubt that a publisher is going to walk in and give you a cheque for $10m, however good you are," he said. Mr Walsh suggested that new studios should make games for mobile phones and handheld consoles like the Sony PSP and the Nintendo DS, since they are cheaper and easier to create than console games. One developer bucking the trend towards big art teams is Will Wright, the creator of the best-selling The Sims games. The founder of California's Maxis studio surprised the conference with a world exclusive preview of his next game, Spore. Spore will allow players to experiment with the evolution of digital creatures. Starting with an amoeba-sized organism, the player will guide the physical development of their creature by selecting how its limbs, jaws and other body parts evolve. Eventually the creature will become capable of establishing cities, trading and fighting, and even building space ships. Advanced players will visit the home planets of creatures created by other Spore players. These worlds will be automatically swapped across the Internet. Mr Wright said that enabling players to devise and share their creatures would make them care more about the game. "I don't want to put the player in the role of Luke Skywalker or Frodo Baggins - I want them to be George Lucas or Dr Seuss," explained Mr Wright. Few games have hinted at the scope of Spore, but Mr Wright explained that he has nevertheless kept his development team small by hiring expert programmers. Instead of employing lots of artists to create 3D models of the digital creatures, Spore generates and displays the creatures according to rules devised by the programmers. "The thing I am coming away with [from the conference] is that next generation content is going to be really expensive, and creating it will drive the smaller players out of the market," said Mr Wright. "I'd like to offer an alternative to that." New development tools will be another important aid in making next generation games, and dozens of companies demonstrated their latest products at the conference. Oxford-based Natural Motion launched Endorphin v2.0, which enables artists to direct a 3D 'virtual actor'. The actor is realistically modelled according to the laws of physics. Endorphin simulates how the actor falls down stairs, for instance, or crumples up after a gunshot. Artists can blend together these visual sequences, and include the results in their games. The process is much quicker than having an artist animate each movement by hand, and so lessens the need for larger art teams. Another British company aiming to reduce the workload of artists is Manchester start-up Genemation. Its latest tool, GenCrowd, enables artists to create unique, photo-realistic human faces for games involving lots of people. GenCrowd works by blending together elements of an in-built supply of stock faces of differing ages and ethnicities. The software can create up to 2,000 new heads an hour. One area not yet dominated by graphical blockbusters is mobile phone games. Even the latest phones are not as powerful as the consoles of a decade ago, so smaller teams of half a dozen people can still create complete games for the devices. The Game Developers Conference included a special two-day summit dedicated to creating mobile games. A niche attraction for a few dozen conference attendees when it began five years ago, GDC's Mobile summit this year drew several hundred delegates. Mobile games are a fast-growing sector because newer phones have better graphics and sound, and are thus more suitable for playing games. Furthermore, the adoption of mobile phones continues to spread across the world. It's predicted that by 2006 two billion people will own a mobile phone. The growing importance of mobile gaming was reflected by a keynote given by John Batter, general manager at EA Mobile. EA Mobile is a division of Electronic Arts, the biggest games publisher. Until recently Electronic Arts had been dismissive of games for phones. "The last time you checked, EA wasn't in this business," Mr Batter admitted. But he said EA now planned on dominating the market by releasing mobile versions of its most popular franchises. EA plans to release up to 20 mobile games over the next 12 months. The first will be a version of its Need for Speed racing game, created by EA Mobile's 30-person development team. Mr Batter predicted that by 2006, mobile phones would be capable of running games of comparable quality to those on Sony's upcoming PSP handheld console. Owain Bennallack is the editor of Develop magazine.

Mr Walsh suggested that new studios should make games for mobile phones and handheld consoles like the Sony PSP and the Nintendo DS, since they are cheaper and easier to create than console games.EA plans to release up to 20 mobile games over the next 12 months.Mr Batter predicted that by 2006, mobile phones would be capable of running games of comparable quality to those on Sony's upcoming PSP handheld console.Mr Wright said that enabling players to devise and share their creatures would make them care more about the game.The Game Developers Conference included a special two-day summit dedicated to creating mobile games.Mobile games are a fast-growing sector because newer phones have better graphics and sound, and are thus more suitable for playing games.EA Mobile is a division of Electronic Arts, the biggest games publisher.According to Robert Walsh, head of Brisbane-based game developer Krome Studios, next generation games will cost between $10-25m to make, with teams averaging 80 staff in size taking two years to complete a title.But numerous speakers warned that creating such graphics will require more artists, and so next generation console games will be much more expensive to develop.Even the latest phones are not as powerful as the consoles of a decade ago, so smaller teams of half a dozen people can still create complete games for the devices.Making games for future consoles will require more graphic artists and more money, an industry conference has been told.Such sums mean it will be difficult for anyone to start a new game studio, said Mr Walsh.Its latest tool, GenCrowd, enables artists to create unique, photo-realistic human faces for games involving lots of people.The founder of California's Maxis studio surprised the conference with a world exclusive preview of his next game, Spore.Few games have hinted at the scope of Spore, but Mr Wright explained that he has nevertheless kept his development team small by hiring expert programmers.New development tools will be another important aid in making next generation games, and dozens of companies demonstrated their latest products at the conference."The thing I am coming away with [from the conference] is that next generation content is going to be really expensive, and creating it will drive the smaller players out of the market," said Mr Wright.The first will be a version of its Need for Speed racing game, created by EA Mobile's 30-person development team.In a pre-recorded video slot during Microsoft's keynote address at the Game Developers Conference, held last week in San Francisco, famed director James Cameron revealed he is making a game in tandem with his next film - believed to be Battle Angel Alita.The game's visual quality would be "like a lucid dream," said Mr Cameron.One area not yet dominated by graphical blockbusters is mobile phone games.