A bus pass to the Internet

Encouraging the elderly to use the Net is the aim of a new initiative from Age Concern. In conjunction with Barclays Bank, Age Concern is looking to provide basic IT training targeted at the elderly. Four buses - dubbed Computer Explorers - will be specially kitted out with IT equipment and training facilities and they will tour the country visiting day centres, residential care homes and other sheltered housing. ...more

Paramount plumps for Blu-ray too

One of Hollywood's largest movie studios has announced that it will release films on both high-definition DVD formats next year. Paramount had previously committed to the HD DVD platform but has now said that it will begin releasing movies on Blu-ray discs in Japan, North America and Europe just as soon as the first Blu-ray players become available. In effect, Paramount is looking to exploit the fact that Blu-ray drives will be inside every PlayStation 3 games console, which is due to launch in the Spring of 2006. ...more

UEFA kicks off Champions League football on broadband

You will now be able to get Champions League football over the Internet, courtesy of RealNetworks, and ?3.95 per month. In a deal signed with the European football governing body UEFA, Real is about to offer access to live matches and a highlights package. ...more

Powered-up Bluetooth destined for the wireless home network

The Bluetooth SIG has announced that it has decided upon an ultra-wideband specification for integration into the next version of the short-range wireless technology. As we reported last year, UWB will vastly increase the data throughput of which Bluetooth is capable. UWB transmits data over short distances at speeds up to 1Gbit/sec, many times faster than the 2. ...more

LaCie claims fastest DVD writing around with new drive

LaCie has released a new external dual-format DVD writer which the company claims, at 8x speed, is the 'fastest on the market'. In addition to 8x writing it also provide 4x re-writing and is compatible with discs in both the DVD+ and DVD- formats. It is also a fully-fledged CD burner. ...more