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Blockbuster to focus on Blu-ray

Film rental firm Blockbuster is to rent high-definition DVDs only in the Blu-ray format at 1,450 US stores.

The move is viewed as a blow for the rival Toshiba-backed HD DVD format - which has been battling against the Blu-ray format, supported by Sony.

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Net losses for software pirates

Software piracy is big business. Billions are lost every year by software makers as the codes they use to protect software are cracked. But now, manufacturers are trying a new system which could change things for all of us.

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Half of Britons 'e-mail addicts'

Half of Britons could not exist without e-mail - with 30 or 40-somethings more addicted than teens, a survey finds.

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Transformiing the world of online maps

Maps have been helping us get from A to B for hundreds of years, but their 2D, "flat" nature is not always helpful in the "real" 3D world. Online maps have also had this problem, but now this seems be changing.

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More cash machines for the poor

The banking industry is installing hundreds of new free-to-use cash machines in poor areas of the country.

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A journey into personal privacy

Privacy campaigners are convinced that big companies, from Google to Tesco, know too much about us - and are not careful enough with our data. We asked a young Londoner to find out what three big organisations knew about him.

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Hackers target 'legitimate' sites

More than 10,000 websites have become unwitting hosts of malicious software, say security experts.

Those visiting the hijacked pages risk having keylogging software installed on their PC if it is not protected with the latest patches.

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Pupils lead the way with blogging

Children in the pilot group at Woodhill Primary School in Bishopbriggs are using blogs to communicate with schools across the UK and Europe and making podcasts on a range of subjects, including French language.

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Revenue warns about more frauds

Tax payers have been warned to beware of more frauds using the name of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

At least eight different frauds are now listed on the HMRC website, compared with just one last December.

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Censors ban 'brutal' video game

British censors have banned a violent video game from the UK for the first time in a decade.

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Ofcom secures radio mic future

The future of live events, concerts, festivals and theatre shows could be secured thanks to a u-turn by Ofcom.

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Contract signed on Earth observer

The European Space Agency (Esa) has ordered the first bespoke spacecraft in its new global monitoring programme.

Esa plans to launch five Sentinel spacecraft to track changes in the land, oceans, weather and climate.

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Danes get interactive floors for schools

An interactive floor that encourages children to learn using their bodies rather than sitting at a desk or a PC through the school day has been launched by programmers in Denmark.

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Computers can raise attainment

High levels of computer technology in schools can improve attainment to an extent, a four-year study has found.

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E-vote 'threat' to UK democracy

British democracy could be undermined by moves to use electronic voting in elections, warns a report.

The risks involved in swapping paper ballots for electronic versions far outweigh any benefits they may have, says the Open Rights Group report.

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Hyper-personal search 'possible'

Google would consider keeping a user's search data for longer than 18 months if they had explicitly consented, one of the firm's key executives has said.

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Robot sub explores giant canyon

Scientists have begun the first detailed exploration of a vast underwater valley the size of the Grand Canyon - just off the coast of Portugal - and it has yielded a series of surprises.

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ID cards 'to be UK institution'

The identity card scheme will become a "great British institution" on a par with the railways in the 19th Century, Home Office minister Liam Byrne says.

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How corporates host hi-tech crime

The spammers behind the billions of junk mail messages bombarding our inboxes are often shadowy figures adept at hiding their tracks.

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Helping the web become world wide

Although the web has permeated almost 250 nations, everywhere from Ascension Island to Zimbabwe, the language of online life is by no means as diverse.

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Cyber attack on Pentagon e-mail

A hacker has managed to penetrate one of the Pentagon's e-mail systems, leading officials to take up to 1,500 accounts offline.

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Blackberry ban for French elite

French government officials have been ordered not to use handheld Blackberry devices amid fears that foreigners could spy on them, reports say.

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Social networking on the move

Online social networks already allow users to share photos, videos and update friends on everything they do. Now a new generation of sites is going a step further, using satellite positioning to track users' whereabouts.

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