Government's UK Online annual report targets the digital divide

The Office of the e-Envoy has pubished its annual report, outlining the successes so far and future targets for its digital strategy. The department patted itself on its collective back for the hard work bringing the UK second only to the US as a top place to do ecommerce, according to an 'independent benchmarking report', having two thirds of government services online and that 96 per cent of the British populace knew where the nearest place they could get on the Internet was. Patricia Hewitt, Trade and Industry Secretary and E-Minister, said: 'Today's report shows that we have made substantial progress over the last four years in extending the benefits of the Internet to everyone who wants access to it. ...more

No money for Who Wants To Be A Millionaire

Free things are nice, and PDA owners could do worse than turn their collective styluses up at Eidos' free offer of the game Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Okay, the free version includes just 50 questions, and further packs of 500 questions will set you back nigh on a tenner a go, but if Chris Tarrant floats your boat and you live for lifelines, then point your browser here. The game is available for PalmOS-, Windows CE-, Pocket PC- and Symbian-based devices and is available in English, German and Swedish languages. ...more

Punters gagging for wireless versions of consumer electronics

Consumers are gagging for wireless versions of DVD players, plasma screens and other consumer electronic products, and would be prepared to pay extra for this feature, according to Netgear. The company, which unsurprisingly makes wireless products, polled 1,000 punters coming out of Habitat and found 51 per cent would pay at least 10 per cent more to be rid of the spaghetti of cables between various electronic boxes. 20 per cent felt that the more complex a product, the more likely things would go wrong. ...more

BT sets latest broadband dates

BT has announced its biggest batch of ADSL ready-for-service dates, with 57 exchanges to go online between April 2004 and October 2005. ...more

Panasonic introduces industry-first 12x zoom

Panasonic releases a beltful of mobile devices - including a digital camera with a 12x optical zoom The DMC-FZ1 boasts the industry's first 12x optical zoom, claims Panasonic - equivalent to a 35-420mm zoom lens on a 35mm film camera. Panasonic's Mega Optical Image Stabiliser keeps vibration to a minimum, including that caused by pressing the shutter button, the company claims. The camera also comes with technology developed to speed up power up time and reduce the time between pressing the button and capturing the image. ...more