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The future is bright for LEDs

They wink at us every day from computer screens and stereos. But the humble LED is heading for a brighter future. New generation Light Emitting Diodes will purify water, make lights that mimic the colour of sunshine, and keep private data immune from hackers.

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Music industry betting on mobiles

The music business has been in decline for the last seven years. CDs are not selling in the numbers they used to, which is a worry for the record industry as well as retailers.

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Students 'should use Wikipedia'

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has said teachers who refuse students access to the site are "bad educators".

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Push for faster net premature

The push for next-generation broadband could be premature, according to some senior industry figures. Both regulator Ofcom and BT have expressed doubts about whether the time is ripe for rolling out what would be expensive fibre optic networks.

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The obstacles to next-gen networks

Broadband has been a huge success in the UK with more than half of all UK homes with a connection, at an average speed of four megabits a second (Mbps). But there are fears that the country is being left behind in the push towards next-generation networks.

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Why do we need faster broadband?

A lot of what has been written about broadband has focused on obsession with speed. But for most consumers the size of the pipe or the bandwidth it carries is of little importance as long as they can get done all the things they need to get done.

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Providers question 'neutral net'

As broadband speeds get faster and the appetite for video services grows apace, bandwidth becomes an ever more precious commodity.

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Rise in broadband use in Europe

A total of 42% of households in the EU now have a broadband connection, according to an official survey.

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Fast broadband goes underground

While politicians and network providers work out how they can afford to provide the UK with a network capable of delivering super-fast broadband speeds, one company is already doing it - via the sewers.

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Emergency rules for net telephony

Watchdog Ofcom has ruled that firms which route phone calls across the net must connect to 999 and 112. Before now net phone firms have not been required to connect to emergency numbers. This ruling applies to those firms which let customers call normal national phone numbers.

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Net users 'want film downloads'

Net users in the UK have rated the ability to download DVD-quality films quickly as the service they most want from next-generation broadband.

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'Kill switch' dropped from Vista

Microsoft is to withdraw an anti-piracy tool from Windows Vista, which disables the operating system when invoked, following customer complaints.

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Games content concerns parents

More than 75% of parents are concerned about the content of video games played by their children, a survey suggests.

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CCTV could track branded suspects

Brands on the clothes of suspects caught on CCTV cameras could be used to help police track them down. The Metropolitan Police is looking into technology which can automatically identify branded logos on clothing.

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DVLA breached data protection

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) broke data protection rules when confidential documents were sent to the wrong motorists, it has been claimed.

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Data of 60,000 on stolen computer

A laptop computer containing personal details of up to 60,000 people has been stolen from the Citizens Advice Bureau in Belfast.

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Better data protection required

The government needs to ensure greater protection for people's personal information, a think-tank has said.

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Radio has picture perfect future

Digital radio means more stations have the ability to broadcast extra information alongside the audio. But some experts are looking at providing some pretty controversial extra radio content - pictures.

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Online shopping expected to soar

Christmas shoppers are expected to make Monday the busiest day of the year for online shopping. Credit card firms are predicting a rise of more than 50% in online shopping this Christmas, compared with 2006.

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Vulnerable need digital support

More information and technical support is needed to help vulnerable people who are confused about switching to digital TV, a report from regulator Ofcom says.

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Broadband customers put on hold

A survey looking at UK broadband services has revealed a downturn in customer satisfaction levels. Customer complaints now outnumber service-related enquiries by 52% to 48%

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Village hit by credit card scam

An entire village may have fallen victim to an elaborate international credit card scam, police believe. Hundreds of people living in Houghton on the Hill, Leicestershire, are thought to have reported cash being withdrawn from their accounts

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Hi-tech helps world's invisible

Handheld computers could help give a voice to the huge numbers of people that do not officially exist. The gadgets are being used to gather data about the estimated one billion people who live in shanty towns. The Mobile Metrix project aims to determine how big these communities are and discover what their lives are like.

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Government failing on e-crime

IT chiefs at some of the UK's biggest companies have accused the government of failing to take e-crime seriously.

Members of the Corporate IT Forum have demanded that the Home Office keeps a promise to establish a police unit to deal with high-tech criminal gangs.

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Light to shrink computer clusters

Supercomputers may one day be the size of a laptop thanks to research by IBM.

Scientists at IBM have completed work that may make it possible to do away with the copper wires used to couple processing cores to each other.

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Fasthosts faces user complaints

Customers are protesting over the measures taken by web firm Fasthosts following a security breach.

Following the attack on its customer database, Fasthosts asked customers to change their password for the webspace that Fasthosts looks after for them.

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