A Japanese supercomputer has broken its own record as the world's fastest machine by performing 10 quadrillion calculations per second, its developers announced. The "K Computer", which has more than 88,000 central processing units - the computer's "brain" - compared with the fewer than four in the average desktop, smashed its own record of just over 8 quadrillion calculations during an experiment in October. A quadrillion is a thousand trillion. …

ST-Ericsson won a deal to supply chipsets for future Nokia phones based on Windows software, breaking Qualcomm's monopoly over Microsoft's mobile platform. ST-Ericsson said on Wednesday its technology would enable Nokia, the world's largest cellphone vendor, to offer cheaper Windows Phones and in new regions. The news sent shares in the parent companies higher, with Ericsson up 3 percent and STMicro up 4 percent. "ST-Ericsson have been clear about …

Mobile gaming firm Rovio said on Wednesday its hit game Angry Birds had reached a record 500 million downloads in less than two years since its launch. "It's more than any game ever before," Rovio's marketing chief Peter Vesterbacka told a conference in Helsinki. Unlike most mobile-game crazes, Angry Birds -- in which players use a slingshot to attack pigs who steal the birds' eggs -- has stayed at the top of the charts since it was launched for …

Six volunteers Friday will emerge blinking into the outside world after spending almost one-and-a-half-years in isolation at a Russian research centre to test the effects on humans of a flight to Mars. The six men, who have spent 520 days in a capsule in a car park outside the Moscow institute, will at 1000 GMT open the hatch of their module that slammed shut on June 3, 2010, before being taken for a barrage of medical tests. The experiment simulated …

Microsoft founder Bill Gates coolly parried some harsh criticism from late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, in an interview Sunday, saying their professional rivalry was positive. Gates, who maintained a long rivalry with the Apple innovator, was asked about an authorized biography of Jobs by Walter Isaacson which portrayed Gates as comparatively uninspired as a creative spirit. The Microsoft founder was told that Jobs "basically said that you were …

Steve Jobs was honored online and off Wednesday as tributes poured into a memorial website set up by Apple for its late co-founder and shops closed temporarily as workers celebrated his life. Doors were locked and curtains drawn at Apple Stores to allow retail store employees to tune into a private memorial being held in an amphitheater at the company's headquarters in the northern California city of Cupertino. Shops reopened at noon, two hours …

US technology giant Apple on Thursday won a temporary ban on Samsung selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia, the latest victory in its global battle over patents related to the iPad. The Federal Court of Australia granted an interim order against the sale of the Galaxy 10.1, ruling that Apple had established a prima facie case that the South Korean company had breached touchscreen technology copyrights. "Despite the force of Samsung's submissions …

Sony said Wednesday it had suspended 93,000 accounts on its online networks after detecting a large amount of unauthorised sign-in attempts months after a massive data breach. The attempts took place between October 7 and 10 and succeeded in verifying valid sign-in IDs and passwords of about 93,000 accounts on its PlayStation Network, Sony Entertainment Network and Sony Online Entertainment services. Sony said credit card details associated with …

Apple on Tuesday unveiled an updated iPhone complete with a built-in "personal assistant" in a move that failed to dazzle investors but promised to keep the smartphones ahead of the pack. Apple shares slipped on Wall Street after the California gadget maker showed off a slick, improved version of the iPhone but not the revamped next-generation iPhone 5 smartphone many had hoped for. Apple's new chief executive Tim Cook, who replaced ailing founder …

The first super bus has been developed in Holland costing 7 million pounds and was flown to the United Arab Emirates where it will be used by a sheikh. The super bus crafted with state-of-the-art materials which seats 23 passengers and had a top speed of 155mph. The hi-tech bus means the sheikh will be able to complete the 75-mile commute from Dubai to neighbouring Abu Dhabi in under 30 minutes. Made of lightweight materials including aluminium, …