BT boffins map out motorway data networks

Time for a new transport protocol, believes BT, quite literally: BT researchers are investigating the possibility of using cars on the UK highways to create a large-scale communications network. A new 'information superhighway' quips BT. A DTI-funded prototype is being developed - using wireless LAN technology - whereby individual vehicles will contribute data for better road management by traffic control centres, as well as provide certain information back to drivers. ...more

US frenzy welcomes PlayStation 3 arrival

Thousands of US gamers lined up last night to be among the first to get their hands on the Sony PlayStation 3. The multimedia machine is seen as key to the future of the beleaguered electronics and media conglomerate. Several had queued for more than two days outside Sony's midtown Manhattan store and had improvised creature comforts from street junk. ...more

Fujitsu embeds data in printed images

How many words does a picture paint? Well it depends if it is using Fujitsu's new system for embedding data within images. To be precise, Fujitsu's technology embeds 12-digit numerical data within pictures, enabling ID codes to embed URLs or telephone numbers inside magazine images or advertisements. This offers a potential way to link printed images to the Internet for users of PDA or smartphones. ...more

World's largest computing grid goes live

The world's largest permanent computing grid has gone online, giving scientists access to the processing power of 6,000 computers at 78 locations, including 1,000 at 12 sites across the UK. The Large Hadron Collider Computing Grid (LCG) is designed to be big enough to handle the 15 petabytes (15 million gigabytes) of data that will be generated each year by the large hadron collider at CERN, Europe's particle physics laboratory In Geneva, Switzerland. By 2007, LCG will be able to generate the processing power of the equivalent of 100,000 of the fastest computers, creating a 'virtual supercomputer' that can be expanded as required. ...more

CES 2007: Yahoo! wages new mobile search battle

'We want to be number one in mobile search, and we want to be number one in search monetization.' This is what Yahoo!'s VP of Connected Life, Geraldine Wilson, told us, outlining the company's raft of announcements emanating from CES. The mobile-related Yahoo! developments include version 2. ...more