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Top 10 paid iPhone apps

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:09 GMT

We run through the top applications downloaded for Apple's iPhone over the last week.

Phone review: Motorola gets smart with new Droid

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:27:42 GMT

Since its debut in 2007, millions of people have gravitated toward Apple's iPhone, wooed by its sleek hardware, simple user interface and abundance of applications.

The ten best sat navs

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:34 GMT

Chosen by Rebecca Armstrong

Rhodri Marsden: Why is Facebook asking me to reconnect with a dead friend?

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

When social networking websites change their layouts, it can feel like someone blundering into your living room, redecorating (badly), leaving the building and refusing to respond to pleas that they come back and sort out the mess. Time and technology don't stand still, of course, and websites understandably need to develop, but the reaction from users to any change tends to be furiously indignant. Such was the case a fortnight ago when Facebook made alterations; millions expressed their displeasure for various reasons – but one change in particular had a genuinely insensitive side effect.

Cyberpets: All creatures great and virtual

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

They don't bite, they don't make a mess on the carpet and they don't cost anything to feed. The appeal of virtual animals is clear. Both cute and attentive, they treat you as if you are the centre of their world – without any vet's fees. Video games involving animals are perfect family fun, and come in many forms. Virtual pets have been particularly popular – over 70 million Tamagotchi toys, the Japanese handheld digital pet, have been sold, while the Nintendogs series, in which the player looks after a virtual puppy on their DS, has been a major seller for Nintendo since its launch in 2005.

The science of predicting a hit record

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

The crisis engulfing the music industry in the 21st century is as profound as it is irreversible. While Robin Hood types believe that the dramatic collapse of corporate behemoths is almost karmic payback for years spent overcharging the consumer, the reality is more mundane: budgets slashed, offices closed and jobs shed. But while sales of recorded music have contracted, it's still a big industry – £1.3bn spent in the UK last year – and the race to grab a slice of that pie has intensified. Of the 13m songs that were available to buy online last year, 10m were bought by no one, and 80 per cent of revenue came from fewer than 1 per cent of them; in short, a smaller amount of money is chasing an ever-increasing quantity of music. And newly-slimmed-down record companies, relieved of squadrons of A&R staff whose job it was to hunt down the next big thing, are using technology to root out songs with hit potential.

Top 10 paid iPhone apps

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:46 GMT

We run through the top applications downloaded for Apple's iPhone over the last week.

The ten best MP3 docks

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:20 GMT

Chosen by Daniel Bettridge

Tracking the technology thieves

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Somebody has swiped my laptop. Fortunately I know exactly who did it; my friend Anthony, who has taken it to a secret location, the idea being that I use modern technology to track him down and wrestle it back off him – and hopefully with a bare minimum of violence. Of course, when most people lose their gadgets or have them stolen, the new owner remains a mystery and the police have precious little to go on in order to retrieve it and mete out any appropriate punishment. But the new-found ability of satnavs, mobiles and laptops to be aware of their location and electronically spill the beans has established a new breed of software: programs that turn super-sleuth in order to reunite you with your beloved device.

Internet animation: Draw it yourself

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:01 GMT

From the bristling fur of Fantastic Mr Fox to the rag dolls of the forthcoming Tim Burton-produced animation 9 and the low-fi puppets of Where the Wild Things Are, directed by Spike Jonze, it seems that you can't move at the moment for animation with a homespun attitude. More often than not, these mainstream films have their blockbuster roots in personal projects and traditional techniques.

Rhodri Marsden: Why does my employer stop me checking my personal email?

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:01 GMT

A quick tip when assessing studies into behaviour in the workplace: take the number of hours people admit to spending online for personal reasons, multiply it by somewhere between two and 10, and you'll end up with something approaching a realistic figure. For example, the eye-popping statistic that emerged from two separate reports this week into social networking wasn't either of the hastily conjured estimates of lost productivity (£1.38bn a year in the UK, said one, while the other attributed £325m to Twitter usage within the M25 alone). It was more the figure of 40 minutes a week that people confessed to using it for. 40? A week? Like age or alcohol intake, internet usage at work is something that most people round downwards. Massively.

Ten tips for capturing the perfect family photo

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:03:31 GMT

Award winning wedding photographer Alexander Whittle gives his ten top tips for capturing the perfect family photo.

Top tips for capturing the perfect family photo

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:03:31 GMT

Award winning wedding photographer Alexander Whittle gives his top tips for capturing the perfect family photo.

Ain't life fadtastic? The A to Z of fads

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Thank goodness that common sense deserts us from time to time. Imagine how lacking in sparkle our everyday existences would be if we didn't occasionally make absurd decisions, such as jumping in a fountain fully-clothed, belching loudly at a Christening or marrying our cousin.

GPS: How the world found itself

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

We're all familiar with the moment of realisation that we are lost: the prickle of panic at finding ourselves alone in a supermarket as a child, the frustration of driving down a maze of country lanes, and the tremulous thrill of losing our way in the wild. All are sensations we are on the verge of bidding farewell to, now that a £150 bracelet can trace a child 24 hours a day, satnav is standard on millions of dashboards and many hikers look down on mere map and compass.

Life unplugged vs life at the clicking edge

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

The insider guide to gizmo greats: The smartest gadgets you’ve never heard of

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Tomorrow's world: The gizmos about to change the way we live

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Flying cars and heated pants: Shouldn't we be able to buy this stuff by now?

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:00:01 GMT

The 50 best gadgets

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:00:41 GMT

From funky flatscreens to powerful smart phones, David Phelan selects the season’s hottest hardware for at home and on the go

The top 50 websites and blogs for parents

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:08:52 GMT

With so many websites and blogs out there, and so little time to look through them all, we decided to give you a helping hand.

First View: Can magnificent Seven rescue the reputation of Microsoft?

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:01:16 GMT

Windows, in its many and various forms, is installed on somewhere between 88 per cent and 93 per cent of the world's computers; to extrapolate that vague figure even more inaccurately, that's somewhere around a billion machines.

Can Windows 7 make PCs fun again?

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:20:07 GMT

Although no one waits in long lines for a new edition of Windows software anymore, the debut of Microsoft's latest operating system is part of why buying a PC is starting to feel fun for the first time in years.

Five ways to protect yourself from fraudsters

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:46:59 GMT

Identity fraud is one of Britain's fastest growing crimes, and if you are unlucky enough to fall victim you could find yourself facing a serious financial disaster.

The ten best study gadgets

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:00:04 GMT

Chosen by James McIrvine