The web browser, Firefox 3.0, has proved to be more popular than Mozilla could ever have dreamed of and they are now in second position to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer with 19% of the market share, which is set to rise in the coming months.

The record was not set without a few hair-raising hiccups along the way. Visitors bombarded the server checking to see if the new version of Firefox was available and it suffered a temporary collapse due to these vast numbers. There was also a problem picked up by a security company that suggested a potential flaw that would allow an attacker to hijack a PC if a user clicked on a booby-trapped link.

However, problems were ironed out and at one point the servers were busy handling more than 9,000 downloads of Firefox 3.0 per minute which saw the 1.6 million Firefox 2.0 version from 2006 outnumbered within five hours.

Firefox 2.0 will be supported until December this year, when users will be expected to switch to version 3.0. This is not an anticipated problem as the count for downloading Firefox 3.0 is already up to 28 million.

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Companies have long wanted to turn brands into web addresses and individuals have wanted to use their names but both have been stopped in the past. These are some of the things that will change in the near future. There is also the possibility that domain names could be written in Asian or Arabic, and Icann have already received requests for web addresses written in Cyrillic – the script used in Eastern European countries. This change has yet to be voted on.

The director of policy at Nominet, the national registry for .uk domain names says that this internet development is a huge step forward, unblocking people from getting online. It is claimed that there are one and a half billion people on line but four and a half billion people who do not understand the Roman script. Opening it up to other languages will change all that.

Although some just think it will make the internet harder to use, I personally cannot see that. Unless you’re talking about the vast numbers of extra people online that will slow speeds, the use of different languages has no need to affect other users. We will still be able to use all the ones that we are used to.

Current restrictions on top-level domains apply to individual countries like ,uk(UK) or .it (Italy) but the new system will allow domain names to be written in any script with any combination of letters. Provided individuals can show a business plan and technical capacity they will even be allowed web addresses in their own name. The lifting of these restrictions will open up millions of new addresses, at the same time as providing a world of information that had not previously been available.

The only drawback is going to be the cost. It is expected that the setting up of a domain name is going to cost six figures, at least to begin with. This expense will need to be met by the applicants but because of the need to protect brand names, there are companies who are concerned about having to protect all their brands, such as pharmaceutical companies and this is going to cost them dearly.

The potential for disputes is huge and this is something that Icann say they have taken into consideration , even going to the lengths of setting up an arbitration service to resolve disputes, but say that if a problem gets too complex, the highest bidder will win the right to the domain name.

It is expected that the first sites under the new system will be online by the end of 2009.

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It was on the 21^st of June in 1948 that the computer completed its first successful task using what we would consider today to be a paltry 128 bytes of memory. The original team that worked on the project are being honoured in a special ceremony this weekend to commemorate their seminal work; on being interviewed one of the team members, Geoff Tootill reminisced about the excitement they felt at the completion of this inaugural task.

While many see the UK’s ‘Colossus’ as the first computer it required much manual work to adapt it to different tasks. In resemblance to the modern computer, ‘Baby’ is a far better comparison than the ‘Colossus’ machine. It was the creation of computer memory that can be seen as the major development; without it, the adaptation and performance of the ‘Baby’ computer would not have been possible. It is amazing how far we have come since, the 1024 bits that gave the computer its 128 bytes is easily eclipsed by modern 1GB chips that have approximately 8 million bits.

While the difference between the modern computer and ‘Baby’ may be great, it is still possible to trace a direct lineage between the two, making ‘Baby’ easily the forefather of a device that the modern world could not live without.

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The IBM machine has been built using components designed for Sony’s Playstation 3 and has been named Roadrunner. It has beaten all records set by other computers by processing more than one thousand trillion calculations per second. To put this into some perspective, the calculations that this one computer can do in one day would take the entire world’s population a total of 46 years to do with a standard computer.

This doubles the speed of the last record set by BlueGene, also from IBM and all thanks to the ‘cell’ chip. This chip runs at a speed greater that 4 GHz and has been modified by IBM. 12,960 of these chips have been installed into the supercomputer as accelerators or boosters.

At £67 million I don’t think we’ll all be popping out for one. At least, not while utilities are the price they are at the moment as this computer needs the same amount of power that would normally run a large shopping centre.

Three separate programming tools using three different types of processors are needed and all 116, 640 processor cores need to be occupied simultaneously to run correctly.

The initial intention is that the computer will be used to work out complex nuclear problems and may be utilised at a later date to help with scientific problems such as climate change so at least once we’ve worked out how to blow each other up we can then work out how to put it all back together again!

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Who said the bionic woman isn’t real? On the other hand, maybe her limbs are a more likely possibility of creation than over exaggerating stunts and super human strengths! It would appear that the bionic hand has won The UK’s top engineering prize. The MacRobert Award was given to the i-LIMB, which is a breakthrough in medical science aimed at acting as a prosthetic device for people who are unfortunate enough to have lost their limbs.

This new innovative creation has been fitted on over 200 people, which include soldiers from America who have lost their limbs during the war in Iraq. The i-LIMB was first developed in 1963 in Scotland, to help young children with Thalidomide. Touch Bionics are the company that produces the device and have released the device for sale from July 2007.

Ray Edward, CEO of the Limbless Association, is one of the people in the UK to have been fitted with the device “I can do a thumbs-up, I can hold a pen and I can do many things that I couldn’t do before.” He boasts after trying out the new limb. This is the world’s first robotic system to have claimed the award from the Royal Academy of Engineering based in London.

Other competitors include the chemical sensor, which detect the early stages of disease and another robotic system that preserves biological samples in sub-zero temperatures.

However, the bionic limb was the one to stand out above its competitors and changed the way prosthetic limbs work. There are two main features; one feature is the motor mechanism built into each finger allowing them to work independently; and the second feature is built into the thumb allowing it to be rotated 90 degrees, much like normal able thumbs. This is a first in prosthesis as it replicates the hand and finger movements almost exactly.

There are laboratory-based prosthetic devices, which is currently being developed by NASA and is a more advanced working prosthetic hand. They contain two electrodes, which sit on the surface of the skin and detect myoelectric signals. The muscle fibres in the body are what create these impulses. CEO of Touch Bionics, Stuart Mead explains “They are used by the computer in the back of the hand, which does two things: it interprets those signals and it controls the hand”.

Touch Bionics are in the midst of presenting a range of prosthetics and developing a new and improved design of the i-LIMB. At present, they are working on a full working arm. For now, the i-LIMB will be placed on display June 12 of this year at the Science Museum in London.

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We all know him for being the founder and creator of the multi-billion pound corporation Microsoft, allowing home users to enjoy the great internet from the comfort of their own homes and using one of the most widely known operating software in the world. Come June 27^th Bill Gates will be stepping down from his position at Microsoft after 33 years, putting full chief executive Steve Ballmer in full control. Gates will be working one day per week and will be serving as board Chairman, however his focus will now be turned towards Philanthropy – very different from the internet world!

The long-time business relationship with Ballmer has seen many challenges, including a clash eight years ago when Gates had given up the chief executive position. It was at this point that Gates had to seek the assistance of Ballmer as the company were facing many obstacles and issues of losing their key employers. It was the struggle over strategy to which Ballmer was endeavouring to place his mark on the company that sparked Gates choice in changing his career path and ultimately finalising his decision to depart from the company.

Gates and Ballmer first met at Harvard University during the mid-1970. He founded Microsoft when he was developing for the microcomputer design, Altair 8800. This then grew to dominate home computing market when they introduced the MS DOS operating system during the 1980s. However, over the years Microsoft was subject to criticism for its anti competitive business practises and holding a monopoly over its computer operating systems.

Aside from the accusations and criticisms, Ballmer appears confident and positive that he will be taking control for another ten years; even though he is already facing much criticism over his failed deal between Microsoft and Yahoo. There were recent calls made to him over a possible resignation because of this, with rumours of Ray Ozzie, chief software architect to be a possible successor.

Despite these challenges, beyond the handover between Gates and Ballmer, the company is seeing a restructuring of the workforce, with the chief media officer Joanne Bradford and the vice president of Windows core technology Rob Short resigning from their positions this year. Further losses will see Jeff Raikes, business divisions’ chief retire this September.

In his last speech at the TechEd Conference on Tuesday, Gates reflects with a smile, “It’s the first time I’ve really changed my career since I was 17 years old”. Gates will no longer be a fulltime employee of Microsoft, but will play a key part in the company when it sees itself moving into mainstreaming robotics development – an exciting time for the company and even more exciting leap for Gates.

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This is the first time Apple have offered film downloads to British consumers and is expected to become increasing popular as the credit crunch bites and people do not want to keep paying out for DVD’s.

The films will be available to watch on iPods, iPhones or TV via an Apple set top box and can be rented or bought. In total, 700 films will be made available from a library and a deal has been secured between Apple and top Hollywood film studios Warner Bros, Walt Disney, Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures and 20^th Century Fox to continue supplying movies over the internet into the future.

Viewing films this way promises to be cheaper than buying DVD’s with library titles starting with a purchase price of £6.99 and latest releases at £10.99. For film rental prices start at £2.49 and allows customers 30 days to watch it.

Other firms have made films available via this service but the library is limited. Apples deal with the major film producers mean that the service will be revolutionised and the changes could see DVD’s losing favour in a big way.

The next few months will also see the BBC broadcasting its flagship channel on the internet. This means you no longer have to be near a TV set to watch your favourite programmes, as long as you have computer and broadband access. This brings the TV channels concerns about how to enforce a licensing fee, which would be impractical and virtually impossible. ITV recently announced the same intentions so it looks like we have a choice between working at work or watching Jeremy Kyle!

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Apples are working on solar powered technology for iPhones and iPods, filing a patent to stack solar cells under a touch sensitive screen. The problem previously faced by manufacturers when it comes to solar powered technology is the amount of room needed for incorporating solar cells as well as having enough space for buttons and a screen and not having it obscured by your hands. Placing the solar cells beneath the screen overcomes this problem.

Powering up your device without an external charger and drastically improving the battery life are the aim of Apple with their new invention. Of course, solar powered gadgets are not new as we have had calculators and watches for many years, but an iPhone uses up to a million times more power.

These devices come with ever increasing abilities from simple calls and texts through to internet use, gaming, camera’s and GPS and the more of these you use the less battery power you will have the use of. Switching off Bluetooth and wi-fi when they’re not being used will save battery life but solar power shows Apple’s commitment to solving the problem long term and saving us all money in the process.

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Mr Yang insisted that it was Microsoft that broke off the deal but Yahoo was still interested in listening to future propositions from the software giant. Through these talks it is surmised by many that an understanding between the two companies may well become apparent. It is doubtless that a combined effort from Yahoo and Microsoft would go a long way to combating the dominance of Google.

In a recent conference the Yahoo boss was insistent that the two companies were discussing a joint effort. The crux of the issue is that Yahoo wants to understand fully what Microsoft would hope to gain from a potential partnership. While the bid has been dropped, seemingly rumours are abounding over what the two companies intend to do in order to quell the Google threat.

Yahoo directors maintained their position that the bid, despite its huge figure in fact undervalued the company. This however has not done anything to disquiet certain shareholders that are still critical of Yahoo’s long term objectives and overall growth plan. While the AGM of Yahoo was postponed due to this backlash, company executives were adamant that they are not entrenched by their shareholders.

Time will tell how the faltering Yahoo will progress in the cutthroat search engine industry. Whether a Microsoft partnership materialises is still a matter of conjecture but if it somehow comes about, Google could well find themselves fighting a battle on two fronts.

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What is a Netbook or a ‘cut-down’ laptop I hear you say! A new venture for Dell is what it is and available to general consumers it soon will be! These have been designed for the developing world to promote low-cost computing and companies such as Dell are joining the ranks of offering these cut-down laptops. However, Dell has not yet revealed information about the netbook in terms of the pricing or the specifications.

Michael Dell presented the laptop to the editor of the Gizmodo website, during the ‘All Things Digital Conference’. As quoted by Michael Dell he has “positioned it as the perfect device for the next billion internet users”, with the netbook market being driven by the One Laptop Per Child programme. This is also being pushed by Asus Eee PC, the availability of chips made by Intel and Via which have been designed to cut down costs and reduce power consumption.

Other companies, which have entered the market, include Hewlett-Packard (using Via processors) and Acer. It is estimated that over 3.6 million netbooks is expected to be sold this year and will cost under $500. One thing to point out on the subject of optimistic estimations made on the sales, is that this is a fast growing market. “I’ve not seen energy like this from our customers in a long, long time” says Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini.

Currently Intel are pushing for Mobile Internet Devices (MID) which are even smaller computing machines and is going to be powered by Linux rather than Microsoft due to the level of power consumption. Mr Otellini further adds, “Vista has a larger memory footprint, a larger graphics requirement and a higher price point. This is all about low-cost computing”.

However, in a recent turnaround to prevent Linux from snatching every piece of this market, Eee PC is now extending its support to using XP OS on the sub-notebooks. This includes cutting down the cost for a license to run XP on the netbook to just £14 in developing countries.

As if, this market was not competitive enough! Via have recently announced a newly designed hardware for low cost laptops, which is aptly named the OpenBook. Via are hoping the design will influence manufacturer to build netbooks using Via Chips. The One Laptop Per Child has also revealed a sneak preview design the XO2 – the netbook tipped to be a newer version.

©2008 Highposition. All Rights Reserved.