CESThe format wars have taken another turn this afternoon as Microsoft announced its Xbox 360 console might feature Blu-ray in the near future.

CESIf you've already got the Xbox 360 special edition console and Lego-like Master Chief figures, but you still feel like you hadn't quite satisfied your Halo habit, you need a Covenant plasma pistol, rifle... or energy sword.

CESThe wristphone is back, this time courtesy of LG. But while the manufacturer showed off its idea of what such a gadget should look like, there's no guarantee it'll ever come to market.

Security mavens have uncovered a new class of attacks that attach malware to the bowels of a hard drive, making it extremely hard to detect and even harder to remove.

US health officials have warned that the global warming and inadequate control of mosquito populations could see dengue fever spread from the tropics to the continental US, Reuters reports.

Three US financial services firms have paid large fines for using unlicensed software in their offices.

One of the three transgenic "glow-in the dark" pigs born back in 2006 in China's Northeast Agricultural University in Harbin has given birth to fluorescent piglets, indicating the "technology to breed transgenic pigs via cell nuclear transfer is mature", according to professor Liu Zhonghua.

The RAF will use its new force of MQ-9 "Reaper" robo-planes to patrol the skies above the London Olympics in 2012, according to reports.

It is said that certain events put your town on the map, but one Irish town is taking things even further. It’s set to be immortalised in 3D on the Google Earth mapping application.

CESIon, the company behind those USB turntables much loved by those of us old enough to not only know what vinyl is but to have invested in an LP collection, is hoping to win over folk with home movies and films recorded on VHS.

InterviewConvincing internet users who are used to gorging themselves on free movies and music that they shouldn't do it may be like telling Pope Urban VIII the Earth goes round the Sun, but the government claims it's possible - by rejigging the copyright laws.

Digital certificate glitches have affected the operation of a secondary website used for UK passport applications.

The European Commission has ended its antitrust investigation into Apple after the computing giant agreed to cut the price UK consumers pay to download music for their iPods.

Computacenter today shrugged off any suggestion that it could be hit by the credit crunch crisis, even as evidence mounted that the contagion is spreading from the financial sector to the High Street.

Two men were arrested yesterday in New York's Hell's Kitchen district after failing to convince staff at a "check-cashing store" to honour the welfare cheque of a deceased friend, the New York Times reports.

Unwired Video ReviewEveryone knows that the Blackberry is de rigeuer for corporate types, but now RIM is making a real push to get the mobile email devices into the hands of consumers too. The Pearl 8120 builds on the original slimline Pearl and adds some cool new features - like Wi-Fi and a better camera.

Reg GuideEmail is no longer an option in the business environment. Like many technologies that have grown by individual demand rather than organisational imposition, email crept up on corporations by stealth, becoming an essential tool before anyone cared to notice.

RSA Security is to scrap staff as part of a restructuring plan aimed at boosting efficiency across parent firm EMC.

David Hanson, minister of state at the Ministry of Justice, told the Commons yesterday that the over-budget project to link prison and probation IT systems is being canned.

CES on VideoIt's the next generation of the Amiga operating system - company President Bill McEwen reveals what it's all about...

A former sysadmin at Medco Health Solutions, a US prescription management and health information firm, has been jailed for 30 months over a failed attempt to destroy its systems using a "logic bomb" computer virus.

Every parent of a secondary school pupil will have online access to real-time data on their child's behaviour by 2010 under new targets set today by schools minister Jim Knight.

C-Net is reporting that last December Qualcomm quietly bought up audio-streaming specialists Open Internet North America, though neither company has made a formal announcement about the purchase.

A journalist was awoken by a hot news story yesterday: the realisation that his LG Electronics laptop had just exploded.

Sony Ericsson hopes to draw the ladies in with its latest gadget: a Bluetooth headset designed with a lady's needs in mind.

For the third time in four days, Gordon Brown has sown doubts about the future of compulsory ID cards for UK citizens. Speaking at prime minister's question time today, Brown confirmed that it was "policy" for ID cards to become compulsory, but added the rider that this was subject to a vote in parliament.

CES on VideoIt's curved an it has got an enormous resolution. Yes, it's Alienware's monster monitor, and here's what all the fuss is about...

US motor heavyweight GM is determinedly presenting itself as a technological innovator ready to break with its old-school, big iron image. The car colossus' CEO, Rick Wagoner, has been giving speeches and briefings in recent days boosting his firm's efforts in development of new, greener prime movers and radical electronics.

IT contractors are up in arms about government legalisation that will overhaul income splitting arrangements among individuals following a landmark case that Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) lost.

T-Mobile customers signing up to Web 'n Walk Plus (or Max) will get free access to the operator's 39,000 hot spots from January. So for £12.50 a month users can get 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, and be allowed to use instant messaging too...

Wednesday (9 January) marks the fifth anniversary of the SoBig-A virus, an item of malware experts reckon marked the transition to money rather than mischief as the main drive behind malware creation.

Ofcom has published the first of its consultation documents looking at how Spectrum Usage Rights (SURs) are going to work in the real world, and the future looks bad for mesh networks with their lack of centralised control.

Toshiba has added a touch of style to its portable hard drives, whilst also breaking a record. It claims to be the first manufacturer to launch a 320GB 2.5in form factor portable HDD.

Traditional exercise is officially dead, at least in Japan. Nintendo’s Wii Fit video game has already sold one million copies to Japanese customers hungry for some virtual physical activity.

The "Essential & Specialist IT Skills Service Co-ordinators" among you will be delighted to learn that, if you're feeling charitable, NHS Connecting for Health is offering a seven-month gig up in sunny Leeds:

CES on VideoLenovo has big things planned for it's consumer-friendly little laptop, the IdeaPad U110...

CESLG has craftily shown off an ultra-mobile PC based on Intel's as-yet-unlaunched '45nm Silverthorne' processor at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

CESPanasonic claims to have created the industry’s first internet-enabled plasma TVs, part of its Viera range of displays.

CESUSB 3.0, the upcoming version of the universal add-on standard re-engineered for the HD era, made a small appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). It wasn't demonstrated in operation, but we did get to see what the new connectors look like.

A small minority of users - as few as one in 20 - is running fully-patched Windows PCs.

Is nothing sacred? The global financial crisis has encroached on that escapist Garden of the Id, Second Life.

At long last, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will investigate claims that Comcast has put a choke hold on P2P file-sharing traffic.

SWsoft has issued the sort of anticipated beta release of a hypervisor-style server virtualization product - Parallels Server.

Hands onMicrosoft's deal with US media giant NBC Universal to stream this summer's Olympic Games online using Silverlight represents a major demonstration of the potential of Microsoft's emerging browser-based runtime and streaming service.

Hackers have hijacked the Xbox Live account of a celebrity gamer and made off with a prized piece of virtual armor in a brazen act that suggests the online Microsoft service still puts the security of its users at risk.

Wireless switch specialist Aruba Networks is buying AirWave Wireless, a multi-vendor WLAN management firm, for $37m.

If you're a Trekkie it may have already occurred to you that Google is a little like the Borg. The company, it seems, is determined to assimilate all information-, advertising- and search-based services in its path. And now, mobile has fallen under the company’s rapacious gaze.

The infamous "Squidgygate" tapes of Princess Diana speaking intimately with an alleged lover were recorded by the Government Communications Headquarters and deliberately leaked over the public airwaves, her former bodyguard told an inquest panel looking into her death.

Mobile Windows Live Messenger users are reporting that Microsoft wants to take their money. But Redmond says it hasn't decided whether to take their money or not.