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Weekly news roundup: Modern Warfare 2, Flip camcorder, Apple tablet and more

Want to know what's been hot in the world of technology and gadgets this week?

As another working week draws to an end, we look back at all the big stories we've brought you from the tech world.

Topping the list was the news that Russia had/hadn't banned...

INTERVIEW: Just how big is Movember?

Back in the southern-hemisphere summer of 2003, a gang of Antipodean gents came up with the idea of growing a moustache for a month. Six years on and nearly a quarter of a million men around the globe are cultivating face fur on their upper lips all in the name of charity...

Windows Live Messenger hits Nokia Messaging

Windows Live Messenger is now available via the Nokia Messaging Chat application straight from compatible phone's homescreens.

This first instalment of Windows Live Messenger for Nokia Messaging includes tabbed chat windows, the ability to call directly from...

Philips announces 9704 range of "LED Pro" televisions

Need another televisual tech phrase to add to the mix? Sure you do, and today's word comes from Philips with its new 9704 TV range that offers "LED Pro" technology.

Clearly better than just TVs marketed as LED sets, the "Pro" 9704 range offers "sensational...

Asus G51J Nvidia 3D Vision notebook announced

Asus has announced the launch of the world's first Nvidia 3D Vision notebook, the G51J, that offers a 3D experience on the small screen with the help of special glasses.

A niche offering to say the least, it's notable for offering a 120Hz 3D Vision-capable...

Qualcomm planning smartbook assault

Qualcomm has been showing off a bevy of devices called Smartbooks that the company thinks could be poised to swallow up the netbook market by outmanoeuvring them in their core strengths - the small-and-light and always-on-connectivity arenas.

The model pictured...

10 perfect Christmas presents for...PC gamers

Welcome to day 3 of the Pocket-lint Christmas gift guide bonanza. So we've got photographers covered and laptop addicts, but today is the turn of the gift guide for the PC gamer in your life. If you can coax these people down and away from COD or their meaty...

Firebox offers peanut butter maker

Firebox has announced it is offering a new novelty kitchen appliance in the form of a peanut butter maker.

However, unless you chug the good stuff down on a daily basis, we think it's highly likely that this kitchen gadget will sit languishing in the back of a...

Linn announces it's quitting the CD player market

High-end home ent manufacturer Linn has announced it has taken the "dramatic decision" to stop making CD players.

Linn will cease production from the start of 2010 to focus on digital music streaming systems, sales of which have apparently outpaced those of...

Sony Online Service iTunes rival announced

In Japan, Sony has outlined basic plans for a new online store that, if the plans pan out, will manage to rival iTunes, Amazon, YouTube and Flickr - at least for Sony customers.

Sony Online Service, as it's been dubbed at this early stage, will offer digital...

Ballmer says Windows 7 is "simply the best"

At a recent shareholders meeting Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer told attendees that "Windows 7 is simply the best PC operating system that we or anyone else has ever built".

As part of his opening speech Ballmer stated that the new OS was off to a "fantastic...

Dell quietly introduces Studio 17 Touch

Dell has sneakily rolled out a new notebook in the States. The Studio 17 Touch, as it's called, has appeared on the company's US website and features a whopping great big 17-inch multitouch touchscreen.

It ships with a suite of touch-enabled applications, including...

Motorola Motus emerges

A new Motorola handset has emerged from the mists of the Internet as an as-yet-unconfirmed coming-soon Android device.

The Motorola "Motus", said to be due an official announcement in early 2010, has been spotted in this oh-so-blurry spy shot sent into an Android...

Daily Tech Deal: Quidco offers cashback on BT Total Broadband

Today's tech deal brings you word of a deal being run by Quidco - apparently the UK's leading cashback website - and BT - the telecommunications behemoth.

Quidco is offering cashback over a wide range of BT's home products, with BT's broadband, phone and BT...

Vodafone offering free international texts all day today

They've kept this one quiet, but it seems Vodafone is offering free international texts all day today, so if you're a Vodafone customer and there's anyone overseas that you'd like to surprise with an SMS out of the blue, today is the day.

Vodafone customers...

iGoogle adds food themes

Following on from recent additions on the theme of comics, nature and video gaming, Google is appealing to the foodie in all of us with new grub-themed iGoogle themes.

"We've partnered with a variety of top chefs and food industry experts to bring you some...

OCZ introduces external USB 3.0 SSD

OCZ has unveiled an unnamed external SSD that it'll be showcasing at CES next year. It'll be the first to feature USB 3.0 connectivity, meaning that it should be able to theoretically reach 4.8Gb/s, though that'll sink to more like 1.6Gb/s in real-world situations.

The...

VIDEO: YouTube gets automatic captions

Google has used its automatic speech recognition tech, as seen in Google Talk, to offer machine-generated automatic captions across all of its YouTube videos.

"The captions will not always be perfect", says Google, "but even when they're off, they can still...

Qualcomm plans "Plaza" of white-label app stores

If you think the proliferation of app stores among device manufacturers, mobile networks and just about any other company in the world was getting a little silly, you'll likely be alarmed to hear that Qualcomm is launching an initiative that could see any company set...

Twitter talks up commercial services

Twitter boss Biz Stone has unveiled more about the micro-blogging service's plans to make money revealing that paid-for commercial accounts will roll-out this year, in an interview with the BBC.

Stone insists Twitter will stay free for individuals, and for...

Asus Eee PC 1201N multimedia netbook announced

Thanks to its Intel Atom 330 dual core processor and Nvidia ION dedicated graphics with full HD media support, Asus is claiming unprecedented netbook performance for its new Eee PC 1201N multimedia netbook.

Said to be "breaking the boundaries of what is possible...

VIDEO: Skifta offers media sharing app

A small startup from Poole has created an app that aims to make it easier to share your digital media collection between your various gadgets. It's called Skifta, and allows you to shift content between a number of devices with just one catch - they have to be DLNA enabled.

If...

AOL announces 2500 job cuts

In the States, AOL has announced it will be cutting its workforce by around a third after it gets spun off from Time Warner next month.

The job cuts - nicely timed for the "holidays" - will see both involuntary and voluntary redundancies for around 2500 members...

Google News gets updated for iPhone, Android and Pre

Google has announced the launch of a "completely new" mobile Google News offering for iPhone, Android, and Palm Pre users.

This follows the availability of a mobile-optimised version of Google News for other phones, such as Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and...

WEBSITE OF THE DAY - Textatrack

The music business ain’t no joke. Getting by is tough and getting started on the road to stardom isn’t all plain sailing. Even if you do get noticed and start to get your music out there for people to enjoy, the chances are that anybody selling it for you...