Hi-tech to stop gadgets being stolen

China's top internet official warns that Google will "pay the consequences" if it does not comply with censorship laws.

Japan is embracing fuel cell to provide electricity and heat in the home. Now it wants to export the systems to the UK and the rest of Europe.

About 24,000 clients of HSBC's private banking operation in Switzerland had personal details stolen, the bank admits.

Twitter co-founder Evan Williams believes social networks will be the fundamental way the public communicates with government.

A row is brewing over separate projects to use the web to bring people closer to their local police forces.

Microsoft has lost a second appeal in a case that will see it pay $240m (£160m) in damages to software firm i4i.

Freedom of expression on the web has been curtailed in 2009, the US state department says in its annual human rights report.

Virgin Media has begun trials of technology to deliver high-speed fibre-optic broadband over telegraph poles in the UK.

The Conservatives say they will make Britain the first country in Europe to have widespread super-fast broadband.

Phones transform healthcare in the developing world

The dawning age of the agricultural automatons

A gaming service that aims to kill off the traditional gaming console will begin streaming games over the net in June this year.

Sony unveils its new motion controller the PlayStation Move, as a contender to market leader Nintendo Wii.

The internet is among a record 237 individuals and organisations nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize.

Mobile technology that could allow prying bosses to monitor every movement of their staff is developed in Japan.

Explore the inner workings of the web and its growth

Facebook calls on game designers to make an iconic title, such as Mario or Halo, specifically for the social network.

Fraudsters are continuing their switch from traditional card fraud to raiding online bank accounts, research suggests.

Has copyright gone too far? asks Bill Thompson.

Illegal file-sharers should be fined, rather than have their internet connection cut off, says the boss of BT.

10 years on from when the Nasdaq bubble burst

A never-before-seen reaction in nanotubes could make for batteries that pack a mighty punch, say researchers.

Costumed fans queue for launch

Electronics giant Sony says its new 3D television will be on sale in Japan from June, with a cost of £2,600 for a 46-inch screen model.

The merging of social networks and games is set to dominate this year's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

The home secretary says internet safety lessons must be learned after a convicted sex offender contacts and kills a teenager.

Skynet 5, the UK's single biggest space project, is to get a fourth satellite to up the bandwidth available to British forces.

A plan to create a net domain for adult content could be revisited three years after it was rejected by regulators.

Hard drives are about to undergo one of the biggest format shifts in 30 years but it could cause problems for Windows XP users.

The US eases sanctions on Iran, Cuba and Sudan to allow the export of web services that help the spread of information.

The Queen warns that businesses in developing nations are missing out because the internet is an "unaffordable option" in many areas.

Questions used as security checks on websites need to be replaced by better tests to see who someone is, say researchers.

Almost four in five people worldwide see internet access as a fundamental right, a poll for the BBC World Service suggests.

Indian computer graduates get etiquette classes

Long-term doubts linger about fusion energy's future

How technology helps artists push their boundaries

Your help is needed to watch the surface of the Sun

The web community founded on morals and manners

Small browser firms want changes made to Microsoft's browser choice screen to make their programs more prominent.

UK universities and college websites are targeted by criminals peddling counterfit drugs from fake online pharmacies.

A South Korean couple addicted to the internet let their baby starve while raising a virtual daughter online, police say.

A device that could allow people to conduct phone conversations without uttering a word is shown off by researchers.

YouTube adds captions to its treasure trove of video content, allowing it to be accessed by the deaf and hard of hearing.

A third of 11 to 17-year-olds don't realise they may be getting charged for premium rate texts, according to new research.

Can newspapers charge online and survive?

a research jointly conducted by chinese and asian scientists has discovered that highly pathogenic avian influenza (h5n1) outbreak was closely related to bird migration.

Ministers are defeated over plans to tackle online piracy, but critics say the replacement is just as bad for internet freedom.

Boeing 747 survives simulated bomb blast

The Israeli military cancels a raid on a Palestinian village after one of its soldiers posted details of the operation on Facebook.

The US government admits that more needs to be done in order to protect the country and its citzens from cyber attacks.

china successfully launched an orbiter into space from the xichang satellite launch center in southwestern sichuan province at about 0:12 a.m. beijing time sunday. it was the third orbiter that china has launched for its independent satellite navigation and positioning network, also known as beidou, or compass system.

plant scientists at the university of york in the united kingdom have published the first genetic map of the medicinal herb artemisia annua. the map is being used to accelerate plant breeding of artemisia and rapidly develop the species into a high-yielding crop.

an annular eclipse of the sun is expected to cross china friday afternoon, cheng zhuo, a researcher with the purple mountain observatory under the chinese academy of sciences, said wednesday.the astronomical phenomenon, predicted to be the longest annularity of the next 1,000 years, will be visible in some areas of yunnan, sichuan, guizhou, shaanxi, hunan, hubei, henan, anhui, jiangsu and shand...

An application called Buxter allows Facebook friends to share money with each other for small value transactions.

How websites are putting a price on friendship

Has copyright gone too far? asks Bill Thompson.

Web officials and US government cyber security tsar discuss new threats on the net at world's biggest security conference.

A hacker intent on revealing the finances of leading Latvian firms has become an unlikely TV star in the country.

Sony says a millennium-style bug that prevented thousands of PS3 owners from using its online games network is "resolved".

Internet search giant Google is buying online photo-editing site Picnik - its third deal in three weeks.

The Conservatives say revamped contracts for the government's NHS IT system would "tie the hands" of the next administration.

Noses could be an even better method of identification than iris and fingerprint scanning, says a UK study.

russian modules on iss will realize uninterrupted communications with ground by 2013, insider said wednesday.

official wednesday said chinese internet authorities were seeking more information on google's statement that it could quit China.

hewlett-packard (hp) and microsoft on wednesday announced a three-year agreement to jointly invest 250 million u.s. dollars to advance cloud computing and simplify technology environments for businesses of all sizes.

Sony tells owners of older models of its PlayStation 3 to stop using them until it can fix a problem with its online games network.

Sony says it's working to solve a problem with its PlayStation 3 games network after users report problems getting online.

How Kenya became a centre of Chile's hi-tech relief efforts

Top thinkers share visions of the future of the web

The online commons should be preserved for all, says regular commentator Bill Thompson.

Local government websites need to improve as cuts bite and more people seek aid via the net, finds a survey.

A Europe-wide rule to prevent mobile phone users from building up large bills for surfing the internet via their handset comes into force.

Libraries and universities are protesting about plans to make them police those who use their free wi-fi networks.

The web community founded on morals and manners

More people in the US now read and consume news on the web than read newspapers, research reveals.

From 1 March, Microsoft will ask millions of Europeans who use Windows if they want to switch their web browser.

some smartphone owners running windows software said they got messages from the future, according to cnn report wednesday.

astronauts' urine is clogging water recycling system on the International Space Station, according to British media reports Wednesday.The 250 million- U.S. dollar-system was set for processing urine into clean water for drinking.

avic tuesday started building a r&d center to develop engines for domestic-made jumbo jets in shanghai.

u.s. researchers have found supplemental protein may help restore impaired mobility of people who suffer from a stroke.

Can newspapers charge and survive?

after a sharp decline in 2009, global information technology (it) spending is expected to rebound this year and keep growing in the years ahead, market research firm forrester said on tuesday.

US forces are to be allowed to use social networking websites following a review by the defence department.

A man who ran a website trading in stolen financial information linked millions of pounds in losses has been jailed.

Dan Simmons on what your handset will be able to do

china's largest search engine, Baidu.com, confirmed that its website was paralyzed Tuesday morning after coming under a cyber-attack. The search engine has now resumed operation. The company said it was still investigating the problem, and declined to give further information.

s korea's first-ever icebreaking vessel set sale for Antarctic voyage Tuesday to test its icebreaking operations.

Rural homes that cannot get broadband should get a grant to pay for cables to be laid, says a countryside lobby group.

Security experts are divided over Microsoft's legal move to shut down the Waledac botnet that sent billions of junk messages.

A Derby road is to be named after the computer game and movie character Lara Croft following a public vote.

the global communications industry will turn green and sustainable within five years, said alcatel-lucent's Bell Labs here Monday, when it announced the establishment of a global "Green Touch" consortium.

A micro-ear could soon help scientists eavesdrop on tiny events just like microscopes make them visible.

Microsoft wins court approval to shut down a network of PCs which it says is responsible for billions of spam messages.

chinese president hu jintao (c), poses with ...

Virgin Media says it will start to rolling out broadband with speeds of up to 100Mbps to homes by the end of this year.

Does Google have to act like other media firms?

the fast flip, which embedded in google news' bottom page, features the screenshot news webpages of all the major online medias.

many tv giants are displaying a new generation of tvs -- the 3d tvs, in one of the biggest electronic shows in the world, the consumer electronics show in las vegas, to boost the market, according to news reports on monday.

Return of the one-man British game makers

What does the fastest driver on Earth wear?

a marine biologist has discovered a startling new crab species that resembles a large strawberry. the unusual crustacean was found off the coast of southern taiwan. it has a dramatic bright red shell covered with small white bumps.

The iTunes online store sells its 10 billionth track with Black Eyed Peas' I Gotta Feeling officially the most downloaded track.

the astronautical exhibition would open to the public in hangzhou, capital city of east china's Zhejiang Province until Jan. 19, 2010, demonstrating almost all the latest space activities of China in recent years.

The UK's online heritage could be lost forever if a law put in place seven years ago is not clarified, a group of leading libraries warn.

Scientists in the US use an underwater robotic vehicle that can "plan its own experiments" on the seafloor.

How do you map a disaster zone from 4,000 miles away?

A hacker intent on revealing the finances of leading Latvian firms has become an unlikely TV star in the country.

GPS systems threatened by 'jammers'

200 UK scientists are to be interviewed to create an audio archive of British science.

the 2010 international consumer electronics show (ces) kicked off here on thursday with some 2,700 exhibitors unveiling their latest technology innovations. the world's largest technology trade show, organized by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), runs through Sunday. More than 20,000 new products will be on display at the show.

The first fully calibrated images from the European Space Agency's Smos satellite have now been released.

Satellite-navigation systems are ripe for targeting by widely available "jamming" equipment, experts say.

The US struggles with the battle over net neutrality

chinese technology giant lenovo wednesday revealed the industry's first hybrid PC for consumers, the IdeaPad U1 hybrid notebook, featuring a groundbreaking detachable screen.

the chinese government, two chinese software makers and seven major computer manufacturers faces a 2.2 billion u.s. dollars lawsuit filed by a us based software producer for their distribution of the internet filtering software "Green Dam Youth Escort" - which the company claims is pirated from a similar product it makes, the china daily reported thursday.

at&t announced it would sell seven new smart phones in the first half of 2010, including two palm and five android phones.

The Chinese government has denied that the hack attacks against Google took place inside two schools in the country.

A rare copy of the first comic book to feature Superman is sold on the internet for $1m (£646,000).

A committee of MPs attacks plans to charge those with fixed phone lines 50p per month to pay for ultra-fast broadband.

Urgent action is needed to tackle the growing problem of electronic waste in developing nations, says a UN report.

Investigators say they are closing in on the source of the cyber attacks that hit Google and other firms, according to reports.

Space shuttle Endeavour lands in Florida after delivering the last major component of the International Space Station.

The Israeli Air Force introduces pilotless aircraft that can stay in the air for nearly a day and fly as far as the Gulf.

Millions of Internet Explorer users in Europe will get the chance to change their web browser from 1 March.

Parents in the US have accused a school of spying on children by remotely activating webcams on laptops.

Dan Simmons on what your handset will be able to do

What happens when you mix wine and Twitter?

The internet's largest blogging platform went offline for nearly two hours silencing more than 10 million blogs.

How technology impacts education around the world

A laptop called Alex aimed at people who are not regular computer users is being launched in the UK.

Microsoft's plans to buy Yahoo's internet search and search advertising business are cleared by European and US regulators.

Newspaper publishers urge the BBC Trust to block the corporation's plans to launch iPhone applications.

Why is the search giant going to court?

Would you like to tweet for the president?

Will giant rover deliver billion dollar science?

A Dutch website called PleaseRobMe claims to reveal the location of empty homes based on what people post online.

US regulators say they will investigate Apple and Research in Motion, over technology used in their smartphones.

Google is preparing to face opponents in a New York court over long-delayed plans to create the world's biggest digital library.

A mini armoured car, designed for use in confined spaces in the wake of the Mumbai attacks of November 2008, goes on display at an Indian arms fair.

The BBC announces that it will start offering iPhone apps for some of its news and sport content starting from April.

Sony Ericsson has been criticised for the way it promoted its Satio smartphone.

Even the smartest tools can be of little use to amateurs

A leading privacy watchdog files a complaint with US regulators urging them to investigate Google's Buzz social network.

An online TV service that offers programmes from the BBC, Channel 4 and Five is rolled out across the UK.

The social network reveals details of a stripped-down, text-only version of its mobile site called Facebook Zero.

Nothing is stopping low-income families from selling laptops given to them for free by the government, a Tory MP says.

Google and Yahoo have joined a group asking the Australian government to rethink plans to filter the internet.

Search giant Google admits to BBC News that testing of its controversial new social network Buzz was insufficient.

How would tech support Barbie fit in at your office?

A Labour MP apologises after appearing to describe the Conservatives as "scum-sucking pigs" but insists his comments were tampered with.

Mobile phones control household appliances

Microsoft shows off the latest iteration of its mobile phone operating system, called Windows phone 7 series.

Intel and Nokia have merged their mobile operating systems in a bid to compete with more established mobile platforms.

Vodafone launches what it says is the "lowest cost mobile phone on Earth", aimed at people in developing countries.

A team is created in an attempt to strengthen a challenge to online fraudsters that has yet to result in any convictions.

Has your phone changed your life? Tell us how

"Smart-home" technology that allows control of household appliances via mobile phones is shown off by researchers.

Twenty-four of the largest phone operators join together to make it easier to sell and distribute mobile phone apps.

The US struggles with the battle over net neutrality

A hacktivist group plans to keep up with attacks aimed at Australian government websites.

One of the founders of the Pirate Bay site is planning to help websites make money from their content.

If information is free what are the costs?

Icelandic MPs and whistle-blowing website Wikileaks put forward a proposal to turn Iceland into a "journalism haven".

Online money transfer service PayPal suspends personal payments in India because of regulatory issues.

Fatal flaw in chip and pin system revealed

The Solar Dynamics Observatory launches from Florida on its mission to study the Sun's activity in unprecedented detail.

MEPs "strongly" criticise telecoms firm Nokia Siemens for providing "surveillance technology" to the Iranian authorities.

Why tech support and the new breakdown service

The long trek to escape internet controls in Xinjiang

Final chapter for the unassuming home of TV

A malicious software program that flirts with internet users to try to get their personal information could be making a comeback.

Iran's government and its opposition call for a huge turnout to mark the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

Thirty Facebook pages have been taken down because of prisoners taunting their victims, Justice Secretary Jack Straw says.

Web portal Yahoo says it is still in the search business, despite its falling share in the market it helped create.

The government calls on the mobile phone industry to do more to protect handset owners against theft and other crimes.

Google announces that it is plans to offer 'ultra high-speed' broadband to up to half a million homes in the US.

Record label Warner Music is to stop licensing its music to free online streaming services because they are "clearly not positive for the industry".

High winds at Cape Canaveral, Florida, prevent the US space agency from launching its latest Sun probe.

How technology impacts education around the world

How will social media influence political campaigns?

One of the co-founders of popular photo-sharing site Flickr unveils his latest web venture, an online game called Glitch.

Openness must be defended, says Bill Thompson.

Some 13.3m Britons play casual games online with 2.4m spending over £100 a year on them says new study.

Digital activists are starting to use sophisticated attacks on nations and organisations they oppose, reveals a report.

The US space agency will attempt to launch its latest Sun probe on Wednesday from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Why more active Sun spells trouble for sat-nav

The UK space industry could be employing thousands more highly skilled workers and turning over perhaps £40bn a year, a report claims.

Google launches a social network called Buzz, pitting it directly against rival sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Do you know someone who is missing out on the Internet? Then why don't you become their Broadband Buddy?

What happened to the dot.com millionaires?

The many different faces of cyber-bullying

Children as young as five are being targeted in a safety campaign launched as part of EU Internet Safety Day.

A quantum physics trick is set to give smartphones and hand-held devices pressure-sensitive switches and touchscreens.

The US space agency (Nasa) has launched its shuttle Endeavour on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Three people are arrested as China's largest training website for hackers is shut down, state media reports.

After poor weather thwarted Sunday's lift-off, the space shuttle Endeavour is fuelled for another launch attempt.

Can 'well-behaved' robots make the battlefield safer?

Revenue staff tip off Radio 4's Money Box that there are more tax code problems than their bosses are admitting to.

The computer that laid the foundations of the internet

Astronauts to install the biggest window in space

An influential group of MPs and peers says the government's plans to illegal file-sharing could breach the rights of net users.

The European Environment Agency launches a web tool to encourage citizens to log air and water quality in their area.

Academics are to study computer games and comics alongside the classics of children's literature.

The US Department of Justice says that it is still not satisfied with a deal that would allow Google to build a digital library.

How the web has become a powerful tool of protest

Facebook accounts for nearly half of all the time people in the UK spend going online using their phones, according to figures.

Malaysian politics moves on to the web

A 17-year old vulnerability that dates from the days of DOS is being patched in Microsoft's February security update.

A selection of props and costumes from BBC One's Doctor Who are to go under the hammer in London later this month.

Lego is no longer just a pursuit for children

Scientists in Cambridge show that an "artificial pancreas" can be used to regulate blood sugar in children with Type 1 diabetes.

Pledges of support for an Australian banker in trouble after being seen viewing erotic images on live TV are growing across the internet.

An Australian judge has ruled that ISP iiNet is not responsible for the illegal downloads of its customers.

Libya must stop cracking down on opposition websites and other site like YouTube, Human Rights Watch says.

How can you stop inmates making online threats?

The making of the first recognisably modern computer

A US study finds younger internet users lose interest in blogging and switch to shorter and more mobile forms of communication.

The group behind the world's most popular smartphone operating system - Symbian - is giving away "billions of dollars" of code for free.

A controversial iphone application that allows users to download speeches by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini is withdrawn.

A tourist lost in the dark on a frozen sea in northern Germany is rescued after flashes from his camera are spotted on a beach webcam.

Online criminals have created fake carbon registries and managed to steal permits worth 3 million euros.

Mobile company Nokia says that one person per second is downloading its free navigation software.

Could rural broadband become an election issue?

More than 4,400 people cheated in last year's GCSEs and A-levels in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, says watchdog Ofqual.

Twitter says it has identified a scheme that uses compromised file-sharing sites to steal the log on information of users.

A US Senate member asks 30 net firms about how they are protecting human rights in China ahead of a hearing on the issue.

Innovation is the key for papers says Bill Thompson

The Office of Fair Trading says it fears the planned merger between T-Mobile and Orange will harm competition in the UK.

Schools are being sold detection equipment to catch mobile phones used secretly in exam rooms by students to cheat.

UK psychologists suggest there is a strong link between heavy internet use and depression, but others dispute their findings.

European nations commit to build the next Jason spacecraft, a key mission to monitor the behaviour of the world's oceans.

Openness must be defended, says Bill Thompson.

Should space travel be constrained by worldly budgets?

A petition calling for the UK government to drop Internet Explorer 6 is the latest move in a campaign to kill off the browser.

Pupils are more likely to use computers for their schoolwork at home every day than at school, according to a survey.

Are HDMI cables worth the money?

Fighting the Taliban from thousands of miles away

Commons Speaker's wife Sally Bercow complains about being featured on a website monitoring MPs' movements.

Revealed: the WW2 supercomputers developed by spies.

The full extent of scams in Britain is revealed as thousands are warned they could be on a sucker list.

Whistleblower website WikiLeaks says it is closing down temporarily because of financial problems.

Retailers selling more than 32kg of batteries a year must now provide recycling bins in a bid to cut the amount going to landfill.

President Obama is set to abandon the US space agency's "Moon rockets" according to reports.

Thousands of fraudulent e-mails have been sent out ahead of Sunday's tax return deadline, Revenue & Customs says.

The Conservatives have unveiled plans to deliver a "nationwide super-fast broadband" to the majority of UK homes by 2017.

Google has begun phasing out support for Internet Explorer 6, identified as the weak link in a cyber attack on the firm.

Egg credit card customers with Visa Debit cards from Natwest are unable to make payments via the Egg website.

Cyber conmen are launching attacks that trade on surging interest in Apple's iPad tablet computer.

Whether the web has missed its greatest chance

The way a UK law firm is pursuing alleged net pirates has been criticised with calls for the Information Commissioner to investigate.

Nintendo reports a near 10% fall in profits between April and December last year as games console sales slowed.

Experiments at the National Ignition Centre in the US show a potential obstacle to producing energy by laser fusion has been swept aside.

Peter Andre and Peaches take on Apple's iThingy

Authors and firms file objections with a New York court to reject a deal that would allow Google to build a vast digital library.

A website offering people cash prizes for monitoring CCTV footage online has had its launch delayed by an official review.

Facebook will be investigated by Canada's information commissioner over changes made to its privacy policies.

Analysts say that the launch of Apple's long-awaited iPad device could reverse the fortunes of the tablet PC industry.

Malaysian politics moves on to the web

Tablets were shown off at the CES tech show but some are questioning their actual purpose.

A search engine called "Goojje" has come online in China, in an apparent plea to Google not to end operations in the country.

Sky is to launch its 3D channel with a live Premiership match this weekend in nine pubs around the UK.

The launch of Apple's iPad tablet device

Apple chief Steve Jobs takes the wraps off its long-awaited touchscreen device, which the firm has called the iPad.

Will services like Spotify ever be profitable?

Microsoft has released a patch for a hole in Internet Explorer that is thought to have been exploited by Chinese hackers.

Fevered speculation over a new Apple product will end on Wednesday when the company unveils its latest creation.

More than 150 people have come forward claiming to be wrongly accused of illegal file-sharing, a consumer group reveals.

The Daily Mirror joins a growing number of newspapers to block news aggregator NewsNow from trawling their websites.

The US space agency concedes defeat in its battle to free the Spirit rover from its Martian sand trap.

The majority of broadband users pay for download limits that they come nowhere near reaching, a survey finds.

SeeSaw, a new online TV service offering both catch-up and archive programmes, is launching a trial in the UK.

The European Commission agrees to monitor Virgin Media's trial of anti-piracy software after a complaint from privacy activists.

Free software aims to challenge e-book devices

High-profile US technology blog TechCrunch is back online after seemingly falling victim to hackers.

Why have police been called in to a blog war?