Because of their portability, laptops are particularly vulnerable

Encrypted information held on a laptop is more vulnerable than previously thought, US research has shown.

Scientists have shown that it is possible to recover the key that unscrambles data from a PC's memory.

It was previously thought that data held in so-called "volatile memory" was only retained for a few seconds after the machine was switched off.

But the team found that data including encryption keys could be held and retrieved for up to several minutes.

"It was widely believed that when you cut the power to the computer that the information in the volatile memory would disappear, and what we found was that was not the case," Professor Edward Felten of the University of Princeton told BBC World Service's Digital Planet programme.

The iPhone's network is too slow for streaming video

The BBC has launched a version of its iPlayer video on demand service for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch.

It is the first time the service has been available on portable devices.

The iPhone and iPod touch are able to stream shows from the iPlayer website over wi-fi networks. The iPhone cannot stream BBC video over the cell network. A BBC developer said that the corporation was currently working on other versions of the iPlayer for "many more" devices.

Anthony Rose, writing on the BBC internet blog, said: "We started with iPhone because it is the device most optimised for high quality video currently available.

"It displays the BBCiPlayer site and BBC programmes nicely."

The gate of Fort Sam is still visible in Google Maps' Street View as it is on a public road

The US defence department has banned the giant internet search engine Google from filming inside and making detailed studies of US military bases.

Close-up, ground-level imagery of US military sites posed a "potential threat" to security, it said.

The move follows the discovery of images of the Fort Sam Houston army base in Texas on Google Maps.

A Google spokesman said that where the US military had expressed concerns, images had been removed.

Google has now been barred from filming and conducting detailed studies of bases, following the discovery of detailed, three-dimensional panoramas online - and in particular, views of the Texan base.

The star's father has been given control of her affairs

Police in Los Angeles say they are looking into allegations that pop star Britney Spears was drugged.

Police Captain Kyle Jackson said the claims were "being considered", although a formal investigation has not been launched.

No suspect has been identified as yet, he added.

Ms Spears' mother claimed in recent court papers that the pop star's former manager Sam Lutfi drugged her, cut her home phone and yelled at her.

The allegations led to a restraining order against Mr Lutfi, who was barred from coming within 250 yards (228 metres) of the singer.

Ms Spears has endured a very public meltdown since splitting from her husband, Kevin Federline, in 2006.

Christian Bale stars as John Connor in the film

The fourth movie in the Terminator series will be released on 22 May 2009, film studio bosses have announced.

Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins features Batman Begins star Christian Bale as rebel leader John Connor.

Charlie's Angels director McG will take the helm on the movie, which is expected to be the first in a new Terminator trilogy.

Production will begin in May this year in New Mexico in the US and will be the biggest film ever shot in the state.

McG said in a statement that New Mexico represented an arid Western United States in a post-apocalyptic future.

Mark Speight insisted he had nothing to do with Ms Collins' death

CBBC presenter Mark Speight is to leave his television show SMart following the death of his fiancee, Natasha Collins.

"The tragic loss of Tash has affected her family and me very deeply," he said in a statement. "Therefore I feel unable to commit to the next series."

Speight was arrested on suspicion of murder and supplying Class A drugs after Collins was found dead at the couple's London flat on 3 January.

He is no longer a murder suspect, but is on bail over the drugs matter.

The BBC said it accepted Speight's decision.

Joe Godwin, head of Children's Entertainment said: "The next series of SMart is just about to go into production and, given Mark's recent terrible loss, we completely understand his decision.

"Everyone at CBBC wishes him well."

Intel's low-power processor code-named Diamondville will initially be available as a single-core processor, but the company is planning a dual-core version, said a source familiar with Intel's plans.

The dual-core Diamondville will deliver better performance than the single-core version and will be for low-cost desktops, the source said.

The dual-core Diamondville chip take Intel into the low-cost desktop market to compete with vendors such as Via Technologies, which is providing low-cost processors in desktops priced at less than US$300 being sold by Everex.

The single-core Diamondville will initially be included in low-power notebooks that are fanless, the source said. The chips, which will be available around the middle of this year, will be manufactured using the 45-nanometer process and will likely contain 47 million transistors. It will include a 1.60GHz processor and 512K-byte cache.

Dell reported revenue of nearly US$16 billion for the fourth quarter of 2008, up 10 percent from a year ago, but fell short of analyst estimates.

The company on Thursday reported revenue of $15.989 billion, short of the $16.265 billion estimate from analysts polled by Thomson Financial. Dell reported net income of $679 million, falling 6 percent year-over-year and short of analyst estimates of $810 million for the quarter that ended Feb. 1. Earnings per share were $0.31, down 3 percent from the same quarter of the previous year.

Earnings were affected by $83 million in charges taken by Dell related to the acquisitions of EqualLogic and Everdream. The company also took a $54 million charge related to severance costs and facility closures.

EBay has settled a patent dispute with MercExchange that in 2006 was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, which sided with the online auction house in what is considered to be an important ruling on intellectual property.

Under terms of the deal, eBay will purchase from MercExchange three patents that were part of a September 2001 lawsuit MercExchange filed, along with additional technology and inventions related to the dispute. EBay will also license a search-related patent portfolio that wasn't part of the lawsuit, the company said Thursday.

Other terms of the agreement are not being disclosed, eBay said. The company does not expect that settlement terms will affect its 2007 financial results or its 2008 financial guidance.

Whistle-blowing site Wikileaks is getting legal help to fight an attempt to keep it offline.

Freedom of speech and digital rights groups plan to argue on its behalf at a legal hearing on 29 February.

The hearing will decide whether to continue a court order that removed links to some of the Wikileaks sites from the net's address books.

The order was sought by Swiss bank Julius Baer after internal documents were placed on Wikileaks.

Many in developing world rely on computer centres

A virtual desktop aimed at users who access the web via cybercafes is attracting interest from organisations set up to bridge the digital divide

Offered by Luxembourg-based start-up Jooce, it is being billed as a way of personalising any computer.

Jooce is targeting the estimated 500 million people who log on to the internet from a cybercafe every day.

Its free web-based desktop could prove valuable for those who can't afford their own PC, said experts.

Jooce offers users the functionality they would get from their personal computer on any machine, allowing them access to files, e-mail, instant messaging, storage and other applications.

Paying by cheque can carry a noticeable extra cost

Telecom and internet firms will soon have to stop levying extra charges that the regulator Ofcom says are unfair.

The regulator is responding to complaints about additional charges for paying bills by cheque or cash, ending contracts early or paying bills late.

Any extra charges must be clear and "demonstrably fair", Ofcom says.

The draft guidance from the regulator covers bills and charges not only for home phones but also for mobile phones, broadband and pay TV.

Engineers found the CD hidden under the keyboard

A highly confidential Home Office disk was found hidden in a laptop computer sold on eBay.

The CD was found between the keyboard and circuit board of the laptop by computer repair technicians in Westhoughton, near Bolton.

Technicians at the shop called police who sent around anti-terrorist officers to confiscate the machine, which had been bought in good faith.

The Home Office said investigations were under way into the incident.

The four-year project is due to start next month

A university in Devon is preparing to find out if a baby robot can be taught to talk.

Staff at the University of Plymouth will work with a 1m-high (3ft) humanoid baby robot called iCub.

Over the next four years robotics experts will work with language development specialists who research how parents teach children to speak.

Their findings could lead to the development of humanoid robots which learn, think and talk.

The project is believed to be the first of its kind in the world and typical experiments with the iCub robot will include activities such as inserting objects of various shapes into the corresponding holes in a box, serialising nested cups and stacking wooden blocks.

Sharp is currently building the world's largest LCD panel factory

Sony and Sharp have forged an alliance to help them meet the growing demand for liquid crystal display televisions.

Sony is to take a one-third stake in Sharp's $3.5bn (£1.8bn) LCD panel factory, which is due to be completed in March 2010.

Sony does not currently make the LCD panels for its flat-screen televisions, relying instead on a joint venture with South Korea's Samsung.

Sony shares rose more than 1% on the news, while Sharp closed unchanged.

Sony and Samsung branded televisions are competing for the number one spot in LCD sales, with Sharp trailing behind them.

Global sales of LCD televisions are expected to double to 155 million units by 2012, according to the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Association.

Google shares fell sharply after analysts reduced price targets

Fears a slowing US economy may be hitting Google have led analysts to cut the share price target for the firm.

The move came after research firm Comscore reported a sluggish January in the viewing of paid-for-advertisements on the Google site.

The total clicking on to Google's paid adverts was 532 million, down from 533 million a year before, Comscore said.

UBS cut its price target from $650 to $590, and BMO from $690 to $590. Google shares fell 4.57% to $464 on Tuesday.

Its shares reached a peak of $747.24 in early November 2007 and were just below $700 as 2008 began.

However, now it appears that shares in Google may be getting dragged down by the sluggish US economy.

Firefox 3 is codenamed 'Gran Paradiso'

The latest version of web browser Firefox will make changes to the way people search for information online, says its developer.

Mozilla has told the BBC's World Service that the new browser has been designed around the importance of search to users.

Firefox 3, currently going through its third stage of beta testing, will offer a combined search and bookmark tool via the url bar.

It will also allow offline working.

Chairman of the Mozilla Foundation Mitchell Baker told BBC World Service's Digital Planet programme:

"It's clear that when people are looking for information on the web, search is the number one activity," she said.

"We've devised ways to bring that power into areas that are closer to your individual life."

What's the dispute about?

The European Commission has fined US computer giant Microsoft for defying sanctions imposed on it for anti-competitive behaviour.

Microsoft must now pay a record 899m euros ($1.4bn; £680.9m) after it failed to comply with a 2004 ruling that it abused its position.

The ruling said that Microsoft was guilty of not providing key code to rival software makers.

EU regulators said the firm was the first to break an EU anti-trust ruling.

The fines come on top of earlier fines of 280m euros imposed in July 2006, and of 497m euros in March 2004.

"Microsoft was the first company in 50 years of EU competition policy that the Commission has had to fine for failure to comply with an antitrust decision," Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a statement.

Net hardware changes led to YouTube traffic hitting a dead end

Pakistan has rejected claims that it was responsible for blocking global access to the YouTube video clip site.

YouTube was hard to reach this week following action by Pakistan to block access inside its borders for its hosting of a "blasphemous" video clip.

Analysis suggests the block was taken up by net hardware that routes data effectively cutting off the site.

But a spokeswoman for Pakistan's telecoms authority said the problem was caused by a "malfunction" elsewhere.

Mr Mourtada said his fake Facebook profile was just a bit of fun

A Moroccan computer engineer has been sentenced to three years in jail for setting up a Facebook profile in the name of a member of the royal family.

Fouad Mourtada was arrested on 5 February on suspicion of stealing the identity of Prince Moulay Rachid, younger brother of King Mohammed VI.

The Casablanca court also ordered Mr Mourtada, 26, to pay a $1,300 fine.

The prosecution had urged the court to impose a sentence which set an example for others.

Mr Mourtada was convicted of "villainous practices linked to the alleged theft of the [prince's] identity".

In his defence, he said he admired the prince, and that the Facebook entry was just intended to be a bit of fun.