ReviewWhen Cowon's iAudio S9 media player landed on my desk back at the end of 2008, it made a favourable impression. While it wasn't a multi-function whizz kid like the iPod Touch, its superb screen and excellent sound quality knocked the Apple into a cocked hat.

World of Warcraft forums are "where flame wars, trolling, and other unpleasantness run wild", says Blizzard, the publisher of the mega-online game. And it thinks it knows how to get everyone to behave more nicely.

Renault has released more information — and a series of teaser images — of its DeZir concept car, set to debut at October's Paris Motor Show.

EMC is getting into the data warehousing / business intelligence (DW/BI) area by buying Greenplum. This takes it into direct competition with Oracle and its Exadata product line.

Bespeckled thespiatrix Lindsay Lohan has been sentenced to 90 days' jail for repeatedly violating her 2007 probation for two drink driving raps.

Civil service jobs will in future be advertised in a standard format online, rather than in national newspapers.

Security watchers have discovered a Trojan that uses built-in Windows functionality to overwrite security software and compromise systems.

Robotics boffins in the States say they have developed a brilliant three-dimensional holographic projection system - ideal, for instance, for playing 3D Tetris - which is based on falling droplets of water.

Taiwanese notebook manufacturers - who, let's face it, are responsible for producing 99.9 per cent of the world's laptops, big and small - are apparently open to the notion that they should back a single standard for notebook power supplies.

Enterprise storage suppliers are a picky bunch and will buy storage from outsiders only if they build a better mousetrap than their current suppliers.

Tests by scientists from the University of Newcastle have suggested that spices commonly used in curry could cut methane emissions from flatulent sheep.

The Unite union has damned HP for cutting close to a thousand jobs from its UK workforce.

Facebook has confirmed it is investigating a problem that means that some users are failing to receive notification when a contact sends them a private message through the site.

Mozilla has released a first beta of Firefox 4, which comes loaded with lots of fresh features and a distinctive new look.

Hitachi has taken the wraps off what it reckons is a revolutionary new concept in external HDD design: a plug-in USB Flash drive.

Apple has reportedly advised iPhone 4 customers to leave off the q-tips and matches if they want to prevent the device's proximity sensor nixing their phone calls.

Hitachi GST is trying to redefine the consumer external hard drive with its LifeStudio products, which include local and cloud backup, document and multimedia content management, a 3D wall eye-candy interface and an attached USB stick.

Microsoft is reportedly set to lay off more staff, although the number of people expected to be shown the door is relatively conservative given the size of the company.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group has formally adopted the standard's Core Specification Version 4.0, which targets very low power networks, potentially vying with other systems like ZigBee. The new spec, originally released in January, is targeted at markets such as sensors for healthcare, and security and home networks.

Apple's other product line - you remember the Mac, don't you? - is apparently doing rather well, despite the fact that the iPad and iPhone 4 are getting all the attention at the moment.

ReviewSome years ago, I made a fool of myself by describing Microsoft's ultimately doomed Tablet PC concept as a good idea. My saving grace was that I wasn't as dim as all the Tablet PC manufacturers, who chose to overprice their own products out of existence.

NTT DoCoMo of Japan, renowned for its tight control of its handset experience, is taking a major step towards open access, and promises to offer all its phones unlocked. From next April, the operator will allow customers to switch handsets and take their devices to other carriers, by inserting a new SIM card, and will include SIM unlock software on all its phones.

BlogWe checked in with Hewlett-Packard’s HPC folks recently for an interesting conversation about their strategy and new products, and got a glimpse of their futures. One of the most noteworthy tidbits is the deal that they are working on with NEC for the Tsubame system, which will find a home at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

A third of young women will check their Facebook account first thing in the morning, leaving having a pee and brushing their teeth till after they'd watered their Farmville crops.

Apple has confirmed that iTunes accounts were compromised to make fraudulent purchases, and has banned the developer at the centre of the scam.

The Information Commissioner's Office has issued what it calls new rules for the processing of information online.

The proposed great Australian firewall is bad law and bad policy on every level, according to Professor Catharine Lumby speaking at the first conference of new international academic network Onscenity in London on Monday.

UK smut accessorymonger LoveHoney (NSFW) has confirmed what the fanbois out there knew all along: when they're not polishing their iPads, worshippers at the altar of Jobs are likely to be lovingly fondling other toys, with explosive results.

ReviewJust a few hours into From Software's already infamous RPG and I couldn't stop thinking of Lemarchand's Configuration.

The University of East Anglia's enquiry into the conduct of its own staff at its Climatic Research Unit has highlighted criticisms of the department and staff conduct - but clears the path for the individuals concerned to carry on.

Amazon's UK tentacle is upping its range of goods for sale to include thousands of grocery and food items and lashings of lovely booze.

A member of the group that publicised the recent AT&T iPad security breach has violated a gag order to protest his treatment by the authorities.

Phorm told the Stock Exchange today that it will issue a million shares to institutional investors in order to bolster its dwindling cash reserves.

As part of its effort to graduate its Chrome browser to the upcoming Chrome OS, Google is working to add device orientation to the browser's capabilities.

The JavaScript engine in Google's Android 2.2 running on a Nexus One phone soundly spanks Apple's iOS 4 incarnation running on an iPhone 4. Also, This Just In: Firefox is Still Slow.

BlogWhat’s the best way to make important decisions? Hunches? Intuition? Magic 8 Ball? Or relying on data analysis to reveal the best choice?

The European Commission turned its Google-investigation heat up another notch Wednesday with a few well-chosen words from its top antitrust official.

Who remembers the "Transformer TX" flying-car project, intended to equip the US Marines with a small four-seat vehicle able to drive about on the ground like a jeep, hover like a helicopter, or fly like a plane? The first team to publicly offer a contending design has now stepped forward.

Dell is working with Canonical to help customers float Ubuntu-powered open-source clouds while also cozying up to developers.

The hue and cry over AT&T's supposed "throttling" of iPhone 4 uploads turns out to have been premature — that is, if AT&T's explanation is to be believed.