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May 18, 2012
17:21
DealBook: Facebook Shares Open Trading With Modest Gains
» ‎ NYT > Technology

After a gain of more than 10 percent at the start, the stock drifted back to the offering price, then rose again. DealBook’s live blog is tracking reactions to the I.P.O. throughout the day.

16:50
Facebook shares spike on debut
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Facebook shares are trading flat at $38 on their stock market debut, having initially jumped to $42 within minutes of trade beginning.

15:59
'Inexact chip' allows errors to increase efficiency - massively
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

After fifty years of attempting to create accurate calculations, chip makers should be embracing the odd mistake in order to create more powerful and efficient processors.

That is the view of a group of researchers at the Rice University in the USA, claiming that an “inexact” chip can actually get a boost by allowing for the odd error.

In fact, the team claims that speed and energy consumption of inexact chips mean fifteen times more efficiency than current chips.

They were able to achieve this massive boost by getting rid of some parts that would usually make up a circuit, as well as cutting the power use for hardware to make calculations.

This means errors. But, through clever management of the probability of errors and limiting which calculations produce them, the chip designers were able to create massive performance boosts, with only a marginal drop in accuracy.

Of course, many computers rely totally on complete accuracy, but the errors manifest themselves in ways that might not make much difference in certain applications.

For example, in processing an image the chips could provide a lower quality picture, with the grey matter lodged between our two ears processing into a workable image.

As ARM has shown over the past few years, efficiency is the name of the game, and the chip designs could well see plenty of applications in low powered devices.

At the very least, in a world where computers are fast approaching human levels of intelligence, it is nice to know that there is room for the odd idiot too.
15:22
Samsung cracks graphene transistor conundrum
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

Samsung is throwing its considerable weight behind graphene production, claiming a breakthrough that should overcome problems with using the material in transistors and open the doors to future development in electronics.

Various firms have been throwing money at developing graphene for future applications in replacement of silicon, with big hitters such as IBM and Intel achieving considerable headway.

Now Samsung's Advanced Institute of Technology research arm has claimed that it has overcome one of the most fundamental problems with using graphene in a circuit - its ability to switch from one state to another like a semiconductor.

In the past, even Intel and IBM have written off graphene being used in a CPU, in its current state at least, due to the difficulting in getting the material to switch. But Samsung believes it has found a way to overcome this with a new transistor structure.

While graphene has many extraordinary properties that would make it very useful in electronics, such as extremely high electron mobility, the inability to switch between a ‘0’ and ‘1’ state makes it difficult to use in semiconductor applications.

Samsung points out that [revious attempts have been made to turn semi-metallic graphene into a semiconductor, but this has resulted in a decrease in electron mobility.

The team at Samsung’s research arm believe that by re-engineering the basic operating principles of digital switches, they have found a way to get graphene to switch between states without losing its coveted properties.

Samsung says that it has developed a ‘Schottky barrier’ control device named a ‘Barristor’ which can stop current in the graphene by lifting the barrier to a cut off point.

The firm claims to have also expanded the research into basic circuit components such as logic gates and logic circuits.

Samsung owns nine patents relating to the Barristor, which will go into the pile marked ‘graphene patents’ that it has been amassing.

According to the Intellectual Property Office, Samsung was leading last year in the number of patents for the ‘wonder material’.

This covers a range of applications and Samsung, like various other tech firms, has been eyeing the more imminent use of graphene in flexible touchscreens - with smartphones and tablets likely to be among the first ways that consumers see graphene implemented in their devices.

According to chip industry sooth-sayers Future Horizons, it could be a few years before we start to see processors using graphene in mainstream applications, and it appears that its apparent destiny to replacing silicon, in some quarters anyway, is far from assured.

However, if Samsung is keen on staying at the forefront of future chip development it will be interesting to see how other powerhouses respond.

13:08
VIDEO: Technology and texting tips for MPs
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

MPs have had their fingers burned by texting and technology, and may have regretted the odd text or tweet.
12:20
Twitter backs web privacy effort
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Micro-blogging service Twitter will support an initiative that lets people browse the web without being monitored.

11:48
Quantum computer can be built by paradox
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

An Aussie scientist has worked out that the best way to build a quantum computer is to use an off-the-shelf paradox.

According to Phys.org, for years, engineers trying to build a quantum computers have said it is impossible because of all the noise, presumably made by all those cats which are neither dead nor alive.

Dr André Carvalho, from the ARC Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology and the Research School of Physics and Engineering wondered if the fact that the noise made it impossible to work, then, in quantum terms it should be the very thing that makes it work. QED.

He wrote that to correct errors in a quantum computer noise levels need to be really low. This is tricky at the atomic levels which are extremely sensitive to noise.

However, his answer was to add even more noise to the system and keep a close eye on it and intervene.

Carvalho said it was all down to monkeys rather than cats. If you let a monkey type randomly on a typewriter, eventually a Shakespearean play could come out. But if the monkey types the right character in a particular position, you protect that position, so that any others typing there will not affect the desired character.

He said by choosing smart ways to detect the random events, it can drive the system to implement any desired computation in the system in a finite time.

Such technology development is important. Dr Carvalho said if a quantum computer existed now, we could solve problems that are exceptionally difficult on current computers, such as cracking codes underlying internet transactions.

And removing the dependence on quantum cats to more reliable - and genetically familiar - monkeys.
11:33
Tenenbaum appeals to the Supremes in Big Content case
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

Noel Tenenbaum is appealing to the Supreme Court after Big Content scored $675,000 in damages from him during a long running file sharing case.

Judge Nancy Gertner thought that the damages were unconstitutionally excessive and reduced the award to $67,500.

But the appeals court in the case reinstated the original $675,000 on procedural grounds.

Judge Gertner apparently should not have used the constitutional question, but have used some legal device called a remittitur which would allow the RIAA to have the case happen with a new jury. There have been three trials in the similar Jammie Thomas case.

Tenenbaum challenged the appeals court on all of this, but was rejected. But now Tenenbaum has filed to raise the issue with the Supreme Court.

His legal team is arguing that the statutory damages for non-commercial use is clearly a major Constitutional issue.

Techdirt points out that by the UD courts forcing it through the remittitur process they are pressuring people like Tenenbaum to settle, rather than ever allowing it to be judged on constitutionality.

This helps copyright trolls to shake people down, without ever allowing them to challenge the constitutionality of massive statutory damages.
11:26
Nokia heaping piles of cash onto Espoo's biggest bonfire
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

The cocaine nose-jobs of Wall Street are worried that Nokia is burning through its cash faster than an under-the-weather Italian in a shoe shop in the Via Corsa.

Analysts are asking serious questions about the struggling Finnish phone maker's ability to stabilise its finances. According to Reuters, the cost of Nokia's debt appears to be following the same model as Greece.

The company could even be at risk of defaulting on its debt and having to issue its own currency if it fails to slow the burning of its cash.

Nokia has eroded its cash pile by €2.1 billion ($2.7 billion) which means it will have no money in a couple of years, unless it wins the lottery.It could burn through almost €2 billion more in just three quarters.

Societe General credit analyst Juliano Torii warned that Nokia will have some difficulty paying its shorter-term 2014 bond.

In 2007, the company had €10 billion in cash on hand and has two bond issues outstanding, €1.25 billion euros of 5.5 percent bonds maturing in 2014 and €500 million of 6.75 percent notes due in 2019.

The bonds are rated as junk by Fitch and Standard & Poor's.

A Nokia spokesperson admitted that improving its cash flow was an important goal.

At the same time its flagship Lumia, while receiving positive reviews, hasn't demonstrated it can really compete against Android or the iPhone.

11:09
Silicon trick for next-gen memory
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Researchers reveal details of a promising way to make a fundamentally different kind of computer memory chip.

11:06
Zuckerberg wins on triumph of hope over reality
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

From today, social networking site Facebook will be the most valuable US technology IPO in the last decade.

After only eight years Mark Zuckerberg will be one of the world's richest men, worth nearly $20 billion. Facebook will be worth $100 billion.

While no doubt Facebook's long term employees are currently working out ways to get a holiday somewhere nice, there are some alarming things about the company which cannot go away.

The IPO's success is not exactly based on sound business sense. Wall Street has warned that there is no way Facebook is worth what it claims. For it to be worth the sort of cash Facebook claims it will have to make some serious cash in the future.

The company made $1 billion in profit last year, which is not bad, but saying it is worth a hundred times that figure is pretty hopeful. It woud take 100 years to make the profit which the company says it is worth.

In addition, Facebook's ad business is much less developed, and companies are already starting to notice that it is less effective than Google.

Part of the problem is that people don't use Facebook to shop. They want to talk to their friends and show off pictures of their cats.

Facebook's main treasure-trove is its personal data - which is a dream for advertisers. But so far it has not been able to use that information effectively. Owning one of the biggest databases of personal information in the whole world should translate into way more cash.

Another key problem for shareholders is that Zuckerberg is an enterprising upstart who acts unilaterally based on his gut. While this can work well for a start-up, Zuckerberg's habit of billion dollar purchases of companies - like Instragram - without even talking to his board will go down like a bucket of cold sick with shareholders.

Bill Gates managed to reinvent himself into a fairly shrewd manager. Steve Jobs, who was the patron saint of autocratic tosspots, got away with it by coming up with products that people wanted. So far, Zuckerberg has come up with the timeline.

Although it will be a great day for Zuckerberg, Facebook could become the biggest internet bubble to burst as the global recession bites.

10:44
Anonymous attacks Indian websites
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Hacker group Anonymous has carried out a series of attacks against government and political websites in India.
10:35
VIDEO: Electric unicycles and other tech news
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Honda Motors unveils a new auto-balancing unicycle that can be controlled hands free - and other technology news stories.
10:17
VIDEO: 'Is Facebook worth $100 billion?'
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

As Facebook floats itself on the stock exchange, technology experts attending the Future Everything conference in Manchester give their views on the company's worth.

9:27
Building the Next Facebook a Tough Task in Europe
» ‎ NYT > Technology

Unlike in the United States, where promising Internet startups can expect venture capitalists to come calling early, entrepreneurs in Europe face a shortage of financing.
8:53
A Start-Up Is Gold for Facebook’s New Millionaires
» ‎ NYT > Technology

At Facebook, ground zero for the nouveau tech riche in Silicon Valley, peer pressure dictates that consumption be kept on the down low.

8:39
Anonymous hater hit Pirate Bay
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

A former member of Anonymous, who now hates the outfit and helps the feds, has claimed responsibility for an attack which downed the Pirate Bay and Wikileaks.

The "traitor", who goes by the name AnonNyre, has claimed responsibility for the Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack that kept the site offline for days.

In a Pastebin message, AnonNyre explains that he attacked The Pirate Bay because he was against Anonymous and does not support it any more. Apparently he also helps the FBI grass up Anonymous members.

He said that Pirate Bay was a press release website for Anonymous and so he thought by taking it down he would make life impossible for Anonymous.

" Get on your knees, Anonymous. I am a one-man army. I am not a hacker. I am a security killer," he said.

Nyre doesn't explain how he pulled off the feat, but the smart money is that he used a botnet of a respectable size.

Nyre might not be behind the Wikileaks attack which was also under a DDoS attack, and for much longer.
8:36
More than 100,000 PCs to lose internet connection
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

US police are predicting that more than 100,000 PCs will lose their internet connection when the FBI pulls the plug on servers that control DNSchanger,

On July 9, the FBI will disable rogue DNS servers it seized late last year and believes that by then there will be 100,000 left in the botnet.

That figure is large but is only a third of the 350,000 to 400,000 internet users believed to still have the DNSChanger malware on either their modems or Windows computers.

It is also a fraction of the four million users who were infected at the height of the Estonian scam.

Six Estonians have been arrested and are currently subject to extradition procedures to face charges in the United States.

The FBI gained interim control of the rogue DNS servers, but expect to shut them down on July 9, after a four month court ordered extension of the program expires.

Paul Vixie of the Internet Systems Consortium told AusCERT 2012 attendees that internet service providers would have to rush new modems to those who think they might still have the malware.

He said that the scammers scripted the web interface and changed the DNS settings in the CPE of the modem and it is difficult to get these re-programmed, he told SC Magazine .
8:34
Monmouth becomes Wikipedia town
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

Monmouth, which is famous for being the the place where King Henry V was born, is to become the world's first "Wikipedia town."

Based on our experience, a Wikipedia town would be run by a bunch of self appointed experts, with fake degrees, who make people they don't like disappear.

However being a Wikipedia town does not mean that there will be an Everywhere Girl exclusion zone, and the mayor will deny ever going out with local newspaper editors, or beefing up their CVs.

From Saturday, they will be able to use smartphones to scan barcodes at points of interest in Monmouth. The phone will bring up a Wikipedia page about the landmark on their phones, in whatever language they are set to.

More than 1,000 different bar codes, plaques and stickers now adorn its schools, museums, historical sites and pubs.

It has taken six months to develop all the material. "Monmouthpedia" has been helped along by the local council's installation of town-wide free Wi-Fi.

Local residents and businesses have created and edited articles about Monmouth that are linked to the barcodes, while other volunteers have been translating them.

Stevie Benton, Wikimedia UK's communications organiser, said in a statement that more than 450 new articles about Monmouth have been added to Wikipedia and nearly 150 existing articles have been improved in the past six months.

In addition to being the birthplace of Henry V, the town also boasts a 13th-century bridge which is unique in that it has not fallen down.

Local businesses such as bakeries have also got involved, placing bar codes in their windows linked to articles about the history of baking. Local pubs have pages highlighting the history of their establishments and breweries.
8:30
Apple in trouble over advertising. Again
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

Apple is in trouble over its advertising for the second time in a couple of months.

For those who came in late, the only real reason for buying the iPhone 4S was to get your paws on the Siri voice activated search assistant. Other than that there was little point upgrading from the similar iPhone 4.

But it appears that there are those who were not that impressed with Siri when it arrived. Apple is being dragged into a court to explain why its adverts show Siri to be a little better than it really is.

According to BGR, Apple's TV ads show Siri as a fast-acting feature that intelligently offers help or information in responds to a wide range of and commands.

The company has been sued by New Yorker Frank Fazio, who alleges that Apple's Siri commercials are misleading and deceptive.

He points out that Apple's TV advertisements show people using Siri to make appointments, find restaurants, and even learn the guitar chords to classic rock songs or how to tie a tie.

But this functionality is contrary to the actual operating results and performance of Siri, he moaned.

Does Apple listen to its users' and promise to make Siri work better? Er, no. Apple's recommendation to Fazio is if you don't like the perfection we make buy a different phone.

Apple said that he did not make use of Apple's 30 day return policy and buy a different phone. By the way the iPhone 4S launch was its most successful iPhone launch ever so no one could be that unhappy really.

Apple said that taking a personal grievance about the purported performance of a popular product and turn it into a nationwide class action under California's consumer protection statutes is not exactly cricket.

The complaint does not come close to meeting the heavy burden necessary to sustain such claims.

While Apple might have a point that customers tend to sue it in a bid to make money, it is glossing over something more important.

This is the second time that Jobs' Mob has been called to task for misleading advertising. Apple had to change its adverts for the iPad in Australia and Europe when people complained that it was not capable of 4G as Jobs' Mob claimed.

Apple has always made it clear that Siri is beta software, but that has not stopped it making it the central advertising gimmick for sales of the phone.

It would seem that the world is starting to get a little annoyed at Apple writing cheques for its products that its technology can't cash.
8:27
HP takes the axe to eight percent of its employees
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

The maker of jolly expensive printer ink, HP, is firing an army of workers in a bid to pull its nadgers out of the fire.

About 30,000 employees are to be handed their pink slips and P45s. HP will not be able to escort them from the building because the persons responsible will also be given their marching orders.

According to the FT, the job cuts are a record for the technology giant but it is having trouble with its bottom line at the moment.

HP Chief Executive Meg Whitman planned the cuts - eight per cent of HP's total head count, which stood at 349,600 at the end of October.

There could be some more cuts to come, as deep throats in the organisation claim that the exact number wasn't yet final. One person said that a formal announcement could come when the company reports quarterly results next week.

Wholesale decimation of staff is becoming a trend in the tech industry lately. HP already laid off a lot of people under Mark Hurd (pictured). Hurd later laid himself off, only to resurface at Oracle.

HP has long had a policy of shifting staff jobs offshore to cheaper parts of Eastern Europe. Wide scale redundancies on this scale could harm these economies which are also having a tough time lately.

7:19
VIDEO: Facebook shares due to go on sale
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

One of the biggest floatations ever seen on world stock markets will take place today when shares in the social networking site Facebook go on sale.

7:13
Hewlett-Packard to Cut About 30,000 Jobs
» ‎ NYT > Technology

The tech giant will refocus on product development and sales, executives say, and operations in China will most likely be spared.
6:55
Maker of Angry Birds Shows Way for European Start-Ups
» ‎ NYT > Technology

Rovio, based in Finland, has said it plans a public offering next year that could value the company at $9 billion, not Facebook money but huge for Europe.
5:37
Ultra-Orthodox Jews Will Meet at Citi Field to Discuss Internet Dangers
» ‎ NYT > Technology

More than 40,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews will pack Citi Field to hear about the dangers of the Internet and how to use it in a religiously responsible way.
3:47
DealBook: Spotify Deal Would Value Company at $4 Billion
» ‎ NYT > Technology

Spotify, the online music service, is expected to raise $220 million for a value of $4 billion in the latest sky-high Internet company valuation.
2:15
DealBook: Long Odds on a Big Facebook Payday
» ‎ NYT > Technology

If history offers any lesson, average investors may find they face steep odds if they hope to make big money in a much-hyped stock like Facebook.

2:07
Japan launches S Korea satellite
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Japan completes its first successful commercial launch of a foreign-made satellite early on Friday, marking its entry into the launch business.
1:06
Facebook's first female engineer
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

How the social network’s first female engineer beat old-fashioned views in Silicon Valley

0:55
DealBook: Facebook Raises $16 Billion in I.P.O.
» ‎ NYT > Technology

The initial public offering, priced at $38 a share, values Facebook at $104 billion, putting the social networking company on par with McDonald's, Citigroup and Amazon.com.

May 17, 2012
23:35
Float values Facebook at $104bn
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Facebook prices its shares at $38 each ahead of one of the most eagerly anticipated share flotations in recent stock market history.
23:00
Asian trading heads for online
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

The social networks breaking Asia's stock market traditions

21:17
DealBook: Pinterest Raises $100 Million
» ‎ NYT > Technology

Pinterest, which allows users to share photographs, recipes and other media on custom "pinboards," raised $100 million in a funding round led by the Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten.

18:24
Iran 'to sue Google' over Gulf
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Google is facing legal action for not labelling the body of water separating Iran and neighbouring Arab Gulf states on its map service.

17:58
Bits: Twitter Adopts Do Not Track Privacy Option
» ‎ NYT > Technology

Twitter said it would allow users to opt out of cookies that collect personal information used for advertising.

17:25
Government may miss cloud targets
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

The Government may miss its cloud computing targets because of a lack of enthusiasm from public sector IT staff, a report suggests.
17:20
Met Police to extract phone data
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Mobile phone data of suspects in police custody is to be extracted and retained, regardless of whether charges are brought, the BBC has learned.

16:42
India campaigns for UN-controlled internet
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

Those who believe that the end times are coming and we are all drifting to a One World Government controlled by the Illuminati will be getting their knickers in a twist over a move by the Indian government regarding the internet.

India's idea is to move away to a purely government-run multilateral body that would relegate civil society, private sector, international organisations as well as technical and academic groups to the fringes in an advisory role.

According to Owl Watchers, that means that it will take control of the internet from the people and put it into the hands of the Illuminati backed foreign governments who are their puppets.

Their case has been strengthened by the fact that the proposal is gaining traction in the UK without any public consultation, despite the move impacting the country's 800 million mobile and 100 million internet users.

India wants a forum called 'Committee for Internet Related Policies' (CIRP) to develop internet policies, oversee all internet standards bodies and policy organisations, and negotiate internet-related treaties. It would also rule on internet-related disputes.

The CIRP would be funded by the UN, run by staff from the UN's Conference on Trade and Development arm and report directly to the UN General Assembly, which means it will be entirely controlled by the UN's member states.

Tin foil hat wearers have a problem with the UN which smacks too much of a one world government, which they think is prophecised in the Book of Revelations and will be controlled by the anti-christ.

But the week point of their argument is that the internet is governed by a voluntary, multi-stakeholder group called ICANN or Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.

ICANN is headquartered in California and the only government which has a say in its operations is the US. So, really, the internet is under US government control.

The Hindu newspaper claims that there is something more dark than the anti-christ afoot for India's interest in controlling work carried out by ICANN.

It says that it will give a lot more government control over the internet. India has been worried about the internet after anti-government corruption campaigner Anna Hazare's managed to gather large crowds at the Ram Lila grounds by using the internet and social media.

The problem with the Indian plan is not that it is a secret Illuminati plot, but more that it puts politicians - who no one trusts - in charge of the web.

As the Hindu points out, a 50-member inter-governmental process lodged within the UN bureaucracy, meeting once every year for two working weeks in Geneva, cannot really be useful for internet development.

Russia, China, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have already indicated that they want government control over the internet.

15:53
AUDIO: Taxman targets online traders
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

HMRC is targetting people who use sites such as eBay and Amazon to sell items online at a profit.

15:49
Oracle being stuffed by Java Judge
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

After a month of listening to Oracle and Google patronise him about what Java code does, Judge William Alsup has revealed that he has, and still does, write code.

According to Groklaw Oracle's lawyer David Boies thought he was home and hosed and was talking up how crucial these nine lines of code were.

Boies had been trying to claim that Google's use of rangeCheck was "no accident" and that the company had used it in order to save time.

His exact quote was that they wanted Android faster and this copying allowed them to use fewer resources and accelerate that.

His logic was a couple of days programming time must have saved them about $6 million.

Then the judge waggled his wig and pointed out that was rubbish.

He said he had done, and still does, write a significant amount of programming in other languages and he had written blocks of code like rangecheck a hundred times before.

He said that he could do it and the idea that someone would copy that when they could do it themselves just as fast was silly.

Alsup said that there's no way you could say that was speeding them along to the marketplace.

Boies was so flumixed he tried to get back to his original point but Alsup would not let him.

He told him that all rangecheck did was make sure the numbers you're inputting are within a range, and gives them some sort of exceptional treatment. A high school kid could do it.

Boies admitted he was not an expert on Java and he could not programme that in six months. Oops.

15:46
Can Facebook crack China?
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Can Facebook crack the Chinese market?
13:10
Computer game for stroke patients
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Newcastle University helps to develop a computer game to help those who have suffered strokes.

12:50
Freescale and AMD draw their blades
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

Intel is going to face some serious competition next year when Freescale and ARM start to take it on in its home turf.

Freescale's blade servers are already starting to carve up Intel's share and, according to Electronics Weekly, ARM based systems will follow next year.

ARM will push into the server market with it next generation ARMv8 architecture, the first ARM architecture to include a 64-bit instruction set.

But what must be worrying Intel is some of its suppliers can easily introduce blades based on non-Intel processors and there are signs that they are starting to do that.

For example, the 40G ATCA payload blade, the ATCA-9405 is based on dual OCTEON II CN6880 processors from Cavium, each with 32 cnMIPS cores running at up to 1.5GHz.

Emerson's Katana QP blade is based on a single or dual MPC7448 Power Architecture processor running at up to 1.4 GHz.

This means that next year the market will effectively be chosing between three technologies and OEMs will be rolling out as many flavours as they can.

Great for the consumer, but not for Intel which will have to be sharing a customer base that it has, until now, had to fight AMD for.

Intel will most likely tout its history and promise future chip breakthroughs. Chipzilla is still ahead on the technology side of blade servers and it will take a bit of catching up from any rivals.

12:38
DealBook: Agilent to Buy Dako for $2.2 Billion
» ‎ NYT > Technology

Agilent Technologies, a maker of scientific instruments, has agreed to buy Dako, a Danish cancer diagnostics company, for $2.2 billion.

12:19
UK government watches cookie deadline whizz by
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

With a deadline for cookie laws set to take effect next week, many government websites will fail to comply, according to the Cabinet Office.

Following a 2011 EU directive the Information Commissioner’s Office gave all UK sites until the 26th of May this year to meet guidelines for cookies that would involve site visitors opting in to having their data recorded.

However, the government has admitted that it is a long way off meeting the guidelines. A Cabinet Office spokesperson told the BBC that the government is working to complete compliance at the earliest possible date.

Many in the private sector have been slow to comply with the guidance, and government departments are no different, the Cabinet Office said.

In fact, the “majority” of departments will fail to meet the deadline.

While the ICO is unlikely to be happy about even the government ignoring its guidance, it appears that there should be some leniency for those who are showing a “strong commitment” to make changes - eventually, at least.

Last year, communications minister Ed Vaizey gave his backing to the EU directive, saying that the government would allow one year for a gradual roll out of the new guidelines.

Upon releasing the guidelines last year, the ICO said that it would not fine those who had not complied by the deadline, stating that the government was expecting a "phased approach to implementation".

However, as the ICO deadline zooms by next week with little action from the public or private sector, the ICO might have to change its tune.

Open Rights Group Executive Director Jim Killock said, speaking with TechEye, that the latest embarrassing development in the cookie saga is thanks to a continued lack of clarity from the government.

"This shows a remarkable reluctance to grapple with the fact that users should be asked before data is collected about them and shared in ways they wouldn't expect," Killock told TechEye. "They should be showing the lead, and if they are not then they are part of the problem."

Killock believes one of the biggest problems has been a lack of clarity from the government about how best it can proceed with the cookie law implementation.

"The government should come clean and explain precisely what data is being given to whom and in what way," Killock said. "That would go a long way to exposing exactly what needs to be done.

"A lot of the questions around cookie compliance are overblown - really we are talking about a very small number of cases around analytics which could be solved quite easily, particularly if they worked with Google to ascertain that data is not being shared across Google's service, which can be done," Killock said.
11:52
Apple dumps Nvidia
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

Apple gossip watcher 9to5Mac has found a juicy rumour about Apple heartlessly dumping NVidia and getting back to its old partner AMD.

Nvidia had been touted as Apple's new mistress after they were seen holding hands and the Nvidia GeForce GT 650M graphics card was mentioned in OS X beta code.

But AMD has has been the mother of many of Apple's children. The MacBook Pros currently use AMD's Radeon HD 6770M and Radeon HD 6750M for graphics processing. AMD has been loyal despite rumours of Jobs' Mob's roving eye.

It turns out that 9to5Mac found Nvidia crying in the loos after Apple returned to AMD, after it had some plastic surgery and was sporting some nice new bouncy Trinty chips.

Nvidia should have seen the writing on the wall. The MacBook Pro is due in June and there is no way that Nvidia could be its parent.

It seems that the GeForce GT 650M with its offers of better performance for gaming was not enough to woo Apple back.

11:19
Prosthetic retina in development
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Scottish scientists are working on a device to restore sight in people with a form of age related blindness.
11:16
Privacy watchdog to meet Google
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

The French privacy watchdog, acting on behalf of the EU, is to meet Google to scrutinise its controversial privacy policy changes.

10:25
Gadgetwise Blog: Q&A: Seeking Better-Sounding Skype Calls
» ‎ NYT > Technology

Suggestions for improving the audio quality of Skype calls.
10:23
Gadgetwise Blog: Q&A: 4G or Not 4G — That Is the Question
» ‎ NYT > Technology

The term "4G" or "fourth generation," which has become a popular advertising and marketing feature, means something different to many telecommunications engineers.

10:17
China Mobile in talks with Apple
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

China Mobile, the main mobile service provider in China and the largest in the world by users, could soon offer its customers Apple's iPhone.
10:14
Is social media changing how we complain?
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Has social media shifted balance when making complaints?
7:59
Tidal power gets a stormy birth
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Scotland's latest bid for tidal power

4:13
Bits Blog: In TV Race, Microsoft Has Lead, Forrester Says
» ‎ NYT > Technology

When it comes to the underlying technology providers that matter for mobile app developers, there's Google and Apple, with Microsoft as an also-ran. But as television begins to resemble the mobile business, Microsoft is in the lead with the Xbox, according to a new report out Wednesday from Forrester Research.
4:05
A Facebook Co-Founder Reflects on the Path Forward
» ‎ NYT > Technology

Eduardo Saverin, who left the company after two years, is assessing how best to manage the extraordinary wealth that will come his way in Facebook’s initial public offering.
3:38
DealBook: Ahead of Facebook I.P.O., a Skeptical Madison Ave.
» ‎ NYT > Technology

Despite overwhelming interest in its I.P.O., Facebook is facing concerns over its ability to attract enough advertising revenue.
3:31
State of the Art: SoundLink and Big Jambox Speakers Go Wherever You Go - State of the Art
» ‎ NYT > Technology

Pump up the volume with either of two high-end wireless room speakers: Bose’s SoundLink Wireless Mobile Speaker or Jawbone’s Big Jambox.
2:07
Paralyzed, Moving a Robot With Their Minds
» ‎ NYT > Technology

Scientists said a tiny brain implant allowed two people who are virtually paralyzed below the neck to manipulate a robotic arm.
1:50
A Computer User’s Guide to Cloud Storage
» ‎ NYT > Technology

Cloud storage, now offered by a number of companies in different price ranges, offers a substitute for physical storage, with the additional ability to synchronize across multiple devices.

1:36
VIDEO: Ad boss on Facebook's power
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Sir Martin Sorrell explains to Rory Cellan-Jones the strengths and weaknesses of Facebook when it comes to advertising, as the company prepares to float on the stock exchange.

1:25
App Smart: Digital Guardians That Help Ease the Fears of Parents
» ‎ NYT > Technology

Two apps, FBI Child ID and Footprints, are worth downloading for any parent — even those who can’t imagine ever losing their children.
0:48
Gadgetwise Blog: App Smart Extra: Don't Let Me Squint Too Long
» ‎ NYT > Technology

"George Harrison: Living in the Material World," the new e-book by Olivia Harrison, has generated good reviews from iTunes users, and the content is excellent. Whether it's worth downloading, though, depends on your tolerance for tiny text.

May 16, 2012
23:07
Government to miss cookie cut-off
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Most government websites will miss the UK's deadline for complying with EU regulations over cookies, the Cabinet Office tells the BBC.

20:11
Gadgetwise Blog: Now on Pinterest: Scams
» ‎ NYT > Technology

It wasn't long before scammers and phishers found their way onto Pinterest, the growing social-network site.
20:08
DealBook: Facebook Increases Number of Shares for I.P.O.
» ‎ NYT > Technology

Facebook will offer 421 million shares, 25 percent more than it had planned to offer, in response to high demand.

20:05
Google makes search 'more human'
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Google revamps its search engine in an attempt to offer instant answers to search questions with a new function, the Knowledge Graph.

19:57
Gadgetwise Blog: A Pocket-Size Recording Studio
» ‎ NYT > Technology

Olympus's new LS-100 recorder may look like a piece of military machinery, but it is actually an eight-track recorder you can slip into your pocket.
19:36
G.M. to Quit Facebook Ad Campaign Worth $10 Million a Year
» ‎ NYT > Technology

The loss of $10 million in ad dollars does not represent a financial disaster for Facebook, but it is a public relations headache so close to the company’s initial stock offering this week.
19:26
A Russian Facebook Bet Pays Off Big
» ‎ NYT > Technology

Alisher B. Usmanov’s investments in the social media giant could be worth at least $6 billion when the company goes public.

17:16
The Pirate Bay hit by hack attack
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

File-sharing website The Pirate Bay appears to have been hit by a coordinated hack attack.
17:05
Robotic arm controlled by thought
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Paralysed patients control a robotic arm only with their thoughts

16:29
Mobile sales drop for the first time in two years
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

According to the latest figures from Gartner, retail sales of mobile phones have dropped for the first time in almost two years.

Sales for the first quarter of 2012 totalled 419.1 million units, down two percent year-on-year.

Now the analysts think they will have to adjust their forecasts for the whole of 2012 down by around 20 million units.

Smartphones are doing well, it is just that no one seems to want to buy a phone to send SMS messages or call people any more.

At the moment the best place to try to sell a mobile is China and this period is normally strong for sales because of the Chinese New Year.

Gartner's figures make Samsung the top handset vendor, selling 86.6 million devices and overtaking Nokia which was at 83.2 million.

Smartphone sales up 44.7 percent year-on-year, with Android-based phones accounted for 56.1 percent of all smartphone sales during the quarter.

But the percentage of smartphones to ordinary phones is still small. Samsung was the number one seller of smartphones but it only sold 38 million worldwide which compared to 419.1 million mobile units in total.

Nokia's sales slid 22.7 percent year-on-year. But 44 percent of Samsung's sales were higher earning smartphones, while the devices accounted for just 16 percent of Nokia's sales.
16:24
Brian Krzanich likely to be Intel Otellini replacement
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

Intel Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini appears to have received a mess of pottage from Chief Operating Officer Brian Krzanich and given him his blessing as his heir.

Otellini said Chipzilla will continue a tradition of filling the top position from within its own ranks.

Talking to Bloomberg from the company's headquarters in Santa Clara, California, Otellini talked about his possible successors.

Otellini, 61, as well as his two predecessors, Craig Barrett and Andy Grove, was chief operating officer before taking on the CEO role at Intel.

Otellini said his job is to groom a number of candidates for the board to choose from. It would seem that he has been picking fleas from the coat of Krzanich although he did not mention him by name.

He said that it made a lot of sense for most companies, particularly given the track record in the Valley lately, to hire leaders within the company.

16:23
Facebook to sell 25% more shares
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Facebook says it will sell 25% more shares than first planned in its forthcoming flotation in response to strong demand.

16:06
Samsung slumps as Apple props up Elpida
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

After failing to do any serious harm to its old chum Samsung in the court room, Apple has done more damage by walking away and propping up Elpida.

Shares in Samsung slumped more than six percent costing the company $10 billion on the back of news that Apple had placed huge orders with Elpida.

The source of the news was DigiTimes, but it appears to have been believed, perhaps because no one believed that Apple would stay with Samsung after its court battles..

The orders were for mobile DRAM and were with Elpida's 12-inch plant in Hiroshima, Japan. Basically the move will provide half the facility's total chip production.

Hynix shares also dropped by nine percent. Samsung is the world's biggest DRAM maker and its shares fell.

Choi Do-yeon, an analyst at LIG Investment & Securities, told Reuters that it was more about Apple not wanting Samsung and Hynix to dominate the chip market, so it wants to keep the bankrupt Elpida running.

Micron is in talks to acquire Elpida's business as the Japanese firm, so a merged Micron-Elpida could put the fear of god into the South Korean memory chip makers.

15:32
Virgin Atlantic allows air calls
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Passengers flying Virgin Atlantic from London to New York will soon be able to make in-flight phone calls using personal devices.
14:33
Jury out in Google Oracle dispute
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

A jury has retired to consider claims that Google wilfully infringed patents belonging to Java developer Oracle.
13:25
AUDIO: Could you be a Facebook 'addict'?
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

The BBC's Gareth Mitchell discusses whether it is possible to be addicted to social networks like Facebook with psychologist Dr Cecilie Andreassen.

12:57
"Inadequate" ICO hit by Anonymous
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

A group working under the banner of Anonymous has succeeded in bringing down the ICO's website with a suspected DDoS attack.

The privacy watchdog's site was down for all of yesterday after a group identifying with the collective dealt its blow.

According to a Tumblr page, the team - calling itself Anon A Team - targeted the privacy watchdog because they believed it lacked independence and had repeatedly failed "to protect the public’s privacy from hacking or data protection breaches."

It also claimed that the law protecting privacy was "inadequate and with disproportionate measures in relation to political protests but none for the civil service or media," as well as a systematic bias in the way the press reports public interest stories - as a consequence of its failure to give sufficient weight to certain stories.

"There is zero commitment by all our regulators to protect UK citizens from data protection breaches," it continued.

The group described the Leveson inquiry as a "farce".

The sentiments were echoed in an interview at TechWeek Europe, where someone claiming to be affiliated with Anonymous said the watchdog was not "equipped, nor have the motivation to ensure that we are protected".

The attack was met with mixed feelings by the security industry with many refusing to comment.

However, one security professional did speak with TechEye under anonymity. "Hackers are far cleverer than heads of states, government bodies and companies," the source said. "No matter how much security is in place, if Anonymous wants to take you down, it will.

"Do I agree with this attack? They do have a point about privacy," the source said.

The ICO itself refused to speak beyond issuing a generic statement:

“Access to the ICO website has been disrupted over the past few days. We believe this is due to a distributed denial of service attack. The website itself has not been damaged, but people have been unable to access it. We provide a public facing website which contains no sensitive information.

“We regret this disruption to our service; however we are pleased that our website is now available.”

12:42
Sexting threat comes from peers
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

A report commissioned by the NSPCC suggests that children are coming under pressure from friends to post explicit pictures

12:21
Deal Professor: China Flexes Its Regulatory Muscle, Catching Google in Its Grip
» ‎ NYT > Technology

China is having the final word on Google’s biggest and perhaps most strategic deal to date — its proposed $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility, the American handset maker and communications company.

12:19
Google patents Project Glass design
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Search giant Google patents the design of its augmented reality glasses, known as Project Glass.

12:14
Patent Dispute Holds Up Sales of 2 HTC Phones in U.S.
» ‎ NYT > Technology

Apple scored a narrow victory against HTC in a patent lawsuit in December over the technology used in the devices.

10:35
ASA barks at TalkTalk
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

TalkTalk has been investigated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after a customer complained about how the company advertised its broadband speeds.

The customer approached the watchdog after viewing a speed checking service on TalkTalk's site. After he entered his postcode, he was told: "Your estimated speed 3.8 Meg Your estimated speed range is between 2.1 and 5.3meg ...".

He challenged whether the ad was misleading, because he was a TalkTalk customer and had been informed that the maximum speed available to him was less than 2.1 Mbit/s.

TalkTalk claimed that it was compliant with the Ofcom Voluntary Code of Practice on broadband speeds, which stated that internet service providers must "provide a facility (line checker) on their website so that consumers can find out, in a clear and easily accessible manner, what their estimated access line speed is".

It added that given the material differences between the network measured access line speed and the throughput speeds consumers were likely to receive, the Code of Practice also required that ISPs explain that the actual throughput speed received would be influenced by a number of factors.

TalkTalk said it provided people with a link on its site that explained how it estimated speed. It also claimed that the speed checker results were based on the methodology set out in the Code of Practice, which was based on the standard distribution of access line speeds shown across their network but limited to between the 20th and 80th percentiles.

It said it had ensured it gave consumers a clear picture with its speed checker, which "was qualified, with the prominent statement that the speed was an estimated one as well as the text "Your estimated speed range is ...", for that reason."

However, it did admit that it could implement changes to improve the consumer experience in relation to the speed checker.

The ASA said TalkTalk didn't go far enough to explain these speeds and differences - and that the ad was misleading.

It ruled that the ad must not appear again in its current form and also told TalkTalk it must ensure its speed checker results were more clearly qualified in the future.

It also told the company to ensure it was in a position to provide evidence to substantiate the impression that was likely to be taken from its future advertising.
10:21
Apple's Siri fixed to lie about 'best phone ever'
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

While Apple is unreasonably slow in issuing security patches which imprison its users into botnets, it has been jolly quick at saving itself from an embarrassing fault in Siri.

Last week it was discovered that if you asked Siri what the best phone ever is, it would tell you that it was the Nokia Lumia 900.

Siri was taking information from Wolfram Alpha, which had determined that the Lumia 900 was the best smartphone by looking at customer reviews.

Now, it is nothing but the truth and the sort of thing that Apple users need to be continuously reminded of. But it was a bit of an own goal for the cargo cult which has made a name for itself by peddling sizzle and not steak.

Apple rushed to fix "the problem" and if you ask Siri what the best phone is in the world it will confirm your previous programming that you have not wasted money on your iPhone.

Asking Siri what the best smartphone is results in such answers as: "You're holding it" and "Wait... there are other phones?"

It seems that Apple has decided that rather than present information about technology in a fair and balanced way, it is simply going to use it to fling advertising at you. It is to be expected, but still.

As you might expect, Nokia was furious. A spokesperson said that Apple claimed Siri was an intelligent system that's there to help. If Apple does not like the answer they override the software.
10:05
'G20 geek' found not guilty
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

The insecurity expert who was arrested for allegedly plotting to bomb the 2010 summit of world leaders in downtown Toronto has walked free from court after two years behind bars.

Byron Sonne, the so-called "G20 geek", lost his marriage when his wife Kristen Peterson ended the couple's eight-year marriage while Sonne was in jail.

Sonne is a hacker who was a big name in the cyber security industry. He was arrested on June 22, 2010, as the first high-profile detention of the chaotic G20 weekend.

According to the Star, he was charged with mischief, weapons possession and intimidating justice officials. But by the time the case reached trial, most of the charges were dropped.

It turned out that the weapon was a potato cannon and the other charges were chucked out.

Sonne was left with four counts of possessing explosive materials and one count of "counseling the commission of mischief."

According to the prosecution, Sonne had all the necessary ingredients to build a homemade bomb and was encouraging people, through social media, to disrupt the G20.

He had not assembled any explosive devices and police found neither bomb-making plans nor a detonator.

The prosecution claimed that since he had all the ingredients to build a bomb and was criticising the G20 through his Twitter and Flickr accounts he must have been planning to kill people.

Sonne admitted to having materials that could be made into an explosive, but said he hadn't combined them and hadn't intended to.

Justice Nancy Spies said that the Crown could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Sonne was guilty of any offence.

Out of all those arrested during the G20, Sonne was the least likely to be a terrorist.

The potentially explosive chemicals he possessed had household uses and others were part of his model rocketry hobby.

Sonne said he had published photos of the $9.4 million security fence, surveillance cameras and pictures of police officers.

Some of his headlines would not have endeared him to the police. They included disparaging headlines such as "bacon on wheels" and "stationary bacon".

But that is not a reason to arrest someone for being a terrorist - and opposing bail for two years.

Sonne said that his job was testing the vulnerabilities in online security systems and he could see flaws in the G20's security.

Other evidence suggested that Sonne was intentionally provoking police to test the limits of civil liberties.
9:45
Canada shelves C-30 cyber snooping law
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

The Canadian internet surveillance legislation, Bill C-30, is as dead in the water as a freshly clubbed harp seal.

The bill, which was sponsored by Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, aimed to force ISPs to hand over any data that police wanted.

It was famous for Toews telling the world and its dog that if they did not back it, they supported child pornographers.

Federal and provincial privacy commissioners strongly objected to the bill as an unjustified violation of privacy rights.

It appears that it was Toews' child pornographers comment which killed the bill as it showed the law to be just pretty nasty and silly.

According to the Globe and Mail, the government backed down, declaring the bill needed further study, and nothing happened.

House Leader Peter Van Loan decided to send C-30 to the public safety committee first, where it is supposed to be extensively revised, before returning to the House for a second and third reading.

But before it can do that, it has to be debated for at least five hours and that requires it to be booked in for a day's shouting. So far it has not turned up on the booking list.

The Conservatives could send C-30 to the public safety committee in the autumn. But it would take months to rewrite the bill, and then weeks to get it through the second and third reading, which is unlikely to happen.

9:37
Diablo III players report game bug
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Blizzard say they are working to fix a 'game breaking' bug in Diablo III as the eagerly anticipated release is hit by more problems.

9:33
HTC suffers another blow
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

Smartphone maker HTC is seeing two of its phones blocked by US Customs.

The Taiwanese company has not been doing very well lately and needs to turn around sales in what used to be its largest market.

Sadly, it looks like Apple is using its narrow victory against HTC in a patent lawsuit in December to keep the company out of the market.

HTC said in a statement that the US availability of the HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE has been delayed due to a US Customs review of shipments that is required after an International Trade Commission exclusion order.

The ruling said that HTC phones with the disputed technology would be banned from entering the US from 19 April. What is frustrating for HTC is that the new phones have a work around which does not require Apple's blessing. However, the shipments still require inspection and this has delayed everything.

Some shipments of the One X model had reached the US before the ban date, enabling the model's launch, but further shipments are being delayed.

The EVO 4G LTE, which was supposed to be launched on Friday, will also be delayed.

HTC said it believes it is "in compliance with the ruling and HTC is working closely with customs to secure approval".

Still, it is all pretty bad news for HTC which needs to see things improve fast.

Some analysts are warning that HTC's problems could get worse. It was expected that general exclusion order from the patent infringement referred only to old HTC models, but there are some indications that all models could be at risk.
9:26
American paranoia moves online
» ‎ Tech Eye - Latest technology headlines

The Land of the Free has found a new fear which is fast replacing terrorism and its number one bugbear.

The US is good at collective fear. It was founded by those who feared Catholics, whipped up by a fear of witches, then a fear of paying tea tax. Later on there was a fear of communists, then terrorists.

Now a security study by Unisys said that more Americans want the presidential candidates to focus on protecting the government and the electrical grid against hackers than fighting terrorist groups.

The good thing about a fear of hackers is that you do not have to suffer from extreme security arrangements at airports.

The Unisys study said that more than 74 percent wanted better protection of government computer systems against hackers and criminals.

Over 73 percent thought it was better to protect the US electric power grid, water utilities and transportation systems against computer or terrorist attacks.

The survey, based off a random phone survey of 1,000 households in America, asked: "How important is it for a candidate to emphasise the following issues in the upcoming 2012 presidential election?" - along with a set of questions about how worried Americans were about other security threats, such as identity theft and online fraud.

Unisys did not mention how may Americans wanted to see US presidents deal with witchcraft and Catholics, so we guess the Land of the Free has evolved a bit.

9:06
HTC shares dip on shipment delay
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Shares of Taiwan's HTC fall after US customs officials hold up shipments of its new smartphones over a patent dispute.
8:13
Sorkin to write Steve Jobs biopic
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin is to write the script for Sony Pictures' upcoming biopic of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
7:00
Milestone for wi-fi with 'T-rays'
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Researchers smash a record for wireless data transmission in the terahertz band, an uncharted part of the electro-magnetic spectrum.
2:41
Sina swings to loss on expenses
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Sina Corp, China's largest internet portal and media website, posts a loss in the first three months of the year.
0:21
Flipboard integrates audio in app
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Flipboard, the popular social news magazine, starts integrating audio into its app for Apple's hand-held devices.
May 15, 2012
23:01
Power behind the phone: Imagination Technologies
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

The tech firm putting the smart into smartphone
21:10
Nvidia aims for fastest computer
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Nvidia unveils a new GPU which it says should help the the US overtake Japan to claim the world's fastest supercomputer.

19:30
Video Game Review: Max Payne 3 From Rockstar Games
» ‎ NYT > Technology

The newest version of this video game, by Rockstar, is set in Brazil, with the title character working as a bodyguard.The video game Max Payne 3 follows the former cop in his job as a bodyguard in Brazil.

17:59
Diablo III game finally launched
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Fans knock over maker Blizzard's servers as they rush to play the much-awaited sequel to the fantasy action role-playing game.
16:21
BT and TalkTalk lag in speed test
» ‎ BBC News - Technology

Mystery shopper tests have revealed that customers are not always told what speed they can expect from broadband services.

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