WikiLeaks whistleblower site in temporary shutdown
WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website that allows people to publish uncensored information anonymously, has suspended operations owing to financial problems. Its running costs including staff payments are $600,000 (£377,000), but so far this year it has raised just $130,000 (£81,000). WikiLeaks has established a reputation for publishing information that traditional media cannot. The website claims to be non-profit and relies on donations. A statement on its front page says it is funded by "human rights campaigners, investigative journalists, technologists and the general public".
BBC News

Battery recycling rules in force for stores
New EU rules have come into force that require some stores selling batteries to provide in-store recycling bins. Anyone selling more than 32kg a year - equivalent to one pack of four AA batteries a day - must comply as part of targets on cutting landfill. The UK currently recycles only three per cent of portable batteries, but the aim is to raise that figure to 45 per cent by 2016. Battery maker Varta warned that a lack of awareness among consumers could hamper the scheme's success.
BBC News

Conservatives would end BT monopoly to deliver superfast broadband
The Conservatives today claimed they were willing to loosen BT's grip on the local telephone network and use parts of the BBC licence fee to deliver "superfast" broadband to the majority of Britain's homes by 2017. Using "market-based solutions" the party believes the UK can be the first leading European country to have speeds of "up to" 100 megabits per second (Mbps), the shadow chancellor George Osborne said. He said "the Conservatives would support changes to the regulatory ¬framework", adding that private investors being allowed to pay for better cabling would encourage competition. If the market failed to deliver, then 3.5 per cent of the licence fee currently used to pay for digital switchover could be diverted to pay for broadband expansion, Osborne said. That would raise between £750m and £1bn on the basis of 25m TV licences.
The Guardian

UK's online shoppers lead the way in Europe
UK shoppers are the biggest online spenders in Europe, according to new research from price comparison site Kelkoo, which reported that £38bn was spent online in this country last year. The new study, carried out by the Centre for Retail Research, identified e-commerce as one of the fastest growing markets in the UK, jumping 171 per cent since 2003. British shoppers now account for around a third of all online sales in Europe. E-commerce is, unsurprisingly, predicted to lead the UK out of recession. Online sales this year are set to jump £4.7bn, or 12.4 per cent, to a total of £42.7bn, equivalent to 10.5 per cent of all retail spending in the UK.
V3

Google digs heels in over censorship in China
Google's standoff in China grew even more pronounced last week after chief executive Eric Schmidt restated the web giant's opposition to internet censorship, according to a Bloomberg report. Schmidt said at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Friday that, although the web giant is still complying with Chinese law in censoring search results on Google.cn, in a "reasonably short time from now we will be making some changes there". "We love what China is doing as a country and its growth," Schmidt is reported as saying. "We just don't like the censorship. We hope to apply some negotiation or pressure to make things better for the Chinese people."
V3

Apple makes $208 on each $499 iPad
The new iPad tablet priced at $499 actually runs Apple about $270 in materials and manufacturing costs, a Wall Street analyst said today. According to a bill of materials (BOM) analysis by Brian Marshall of BroadPoint AmTech, the cost of goods inside Apple's 16GB WiFi-only iPad totals $270.50. That figure includes a $10 line item dedicated to manufacturing, but doesn't include another $20 set aside for under-warranty service costs. Adding the latter makes Marshall's bottom-line total $290.50.
Techworld

'Smartphones leading the handset industry out of recession'
53 million smartphones shipped globally in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to Strategy Analytics. That's up 30 per cent year-on-year. The company's report is based on financials from the various handset makers. "This was the strongest period of growth since Q3 2008 and smartphones are leading the handset industry out of recession," says senior analyst Tom Kang.
Mobile Entertainment