NEW TECHNOLOGY

Windows 8 is set for MARKET release in beta form from Febraury 2012 according to a post by The Next Web who cite sources close to Microsoft. Windows 8 is expected to be a cross platform piece of software, designed for both tablets and computers.

A group of hackers who have identified themselves as 'Teampoison' have posted more than 100 email addresses and login details that they claim to have extracted from a United Nations database. Many of the released emails appear to belong to members of the United Nations Development Programme, (UNDP). The details were posted on the website Pastebin under the Teampoison logo. A spokeswoman for the UNDP said the agency believed "an old server which contains old data" had been targeted. "The UNDP found [the] compromised server and took it offline," said Sausan Ghosheh. "The server goes back to 2007. There are no active passwords listed for those accounts. "Please note that UNDP.org was not compromised."

Apple surprised users this week by delivering its battery-life-fixing update to iOS 5 sooner than expected. The update arrived a little more than a week after Apple first acknowledged that some users were, in fact, running into problems with battery life after upgrading to the newer version of iOS. Apple then promised to deliver a software update to fix the issue, which the company said would be here "in a few weeks." Instead the update came just eight days later, on both iTunes and as the first over-the-air update on devices--a feature that was added as part of iOS 5. Besides tackling the battery-life issue (or maybe not tackling it), iOS 5.0.1 brings multitasking gestures to owners of the original iPad, fixes a security issue for iPad 2 users with a Smart Cover, and brings an improved iPhone 4S dictation feature to Australian users    (CNET)

The latest in the Call of Duty video games went on sale in the UK at midnight last night with over 500 stores holding special release openings. Modern Warfare 3 follows on from events in it's predecessor. Players become special forces in the bid to stop a Russian invasion of the U.S.A and Europe. The latest campaign is set across England, France, Germany, Africa, India and the Middle East. Behind the scenes there is a real war going on after Activision fired the founders of Infinity Ward, the creators of the C.O.D. series, after they negotiated with rivals whilst under contract. Jason West and Vincent Zampella were later described by Activision as 'insubordinate and self-serving schemers'. The two have sued Activision for unpaid royalty payments who have counter sued accusing the pair of holding secret talks with Electronic Arts. The duo have have since set up a new studio, Respawn Entertainment, and have signed a deal with E.A. for publishing and d...

Nokia are trialing free Wi-Fi in central London from today until the end of 2011. 26 supported hotspots have been set up by the Finnish company around Victoria, Marylebone, Westminster and West End shopping areas for public use. These high speed access points will be free and require no registration or sign-ins. The trial is part of a long term initiative which hopes to see the whole of London offering free net browsing in the near future. Nokia has, so far, been the largest project of this nature and the firm plans to offer a fully fledged free Wi-Fi service in 2012 if this two month trial proves a success.

Nokia have uncovered their latest new smartphones at the Nokia World event held in London today. Both the Lumia 800 and the Lumia 710 will use Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7.5 operating system. The new manager of Nokia, Stephen Elop, said the launch marked the 'rebirth' of the company. Shipping of the Lumia 800 is to start almost at once and is due to hit the shops in November.