A funny thing happened to us on the way to the future. The internet went from being something exotic to being boring utility, like mains electricity or running water – and we never really noticed. So we wound up being totally dependent on a system about which we are terminally incurious. You think I exaggerate about the dependence? Well, just ask Estonia, one of the most internet-dependent countries on the planet, which in 2007 was more or less shut down for two weeks by a sustained attack on its network infrastructure. Or imagine what it would be like if, one day, you suddenly found yourself unable to book flights, transfer funds from your bank account, check bus timetables, send email, search Google, call your family using Skype, buy music from Apple or books from Amazon, buy or sell stuff on eBay, watch clips on YouTube or BBC programmes on the iPlayer – or do the 1,001 other things that have become as natural as breathing

Following the reveal of its new Kinect motion control tech and games at E3 earlier this month, Microsoft is soon to reveal a $199 (£134) Xbox 360 Arcade replacement. The latest budget version of the Xbox 360 is expected to arrive just in time for Christmas 2010. The cheapest-in-range Xbox 360 Arcade unit has proven popular with families and casual gamers, although hardcore gamers are turned off by its lack of on-board storage (the console only has 256MB built-in).

Tech Radar 

O2 has admitted that its stock of the iPhone 4 will be “extremely limited” in the UK, meaning some customers will miss out if they want to buy the much anticipated device on a contract with the network operator. In a note on its site, the firm said the iPhone 4 will only be available for existing O2 customer at launch. “IPhone stock will be extremely limited in the UK at launch and not everybody who wants one will be able to get one straight away,” the update noted. “We want to make sure that our existing customers get priority so until at least the end of July, only existing O2 customers will be able to get an iPhone 4 from us.”

V3 

Facebook’s financial performance is stronger than previously believed, as the Internet social network’s explosive growth in users and advertisers boosted 2009 revenue to as much as $800 million, according to two sources familiar with the situation. The company also earned a solid net profit, in the tens of millions of dollars last year, one of the sources said. That growth in profit and revenue underscores how Facebook is increasingly making money off its 6-year-old service, which ranks as the world’s largest Web social network with nearly half a billion users. 

Wired  

This city of 65,000 has fought one of the nation's highest crime rates in recent years with an arsenal of high-tech gadgets, from gunshot detection systems to software that can sift and analyze crime data almost instantaneously .The results have been startling: Violent crime in East Orange has fallen by more than two-thirds since 2003, according to state police statistics. Yet even with its crime rate plummeting, the city is going a step further by becoming the first in the country to combine those systems with sensors, sometimes called "smart cameras," that can be programmed to identify crimes as they unfold. East Orange police say the overall system can trim response time to mere seconds. Doubters, meanwhile, question whether the effect on crime justifies the price tag.

Skunk Post 

Apple is cancelling iPhone 4 pre-orders, with reports across the web saying punters have received official notification that their order has been terminated. No official reason has yet been given. It currently appears that this is a US problem, with customers on the AT&T network also saying they’re receiving similar missives from the mobile carrier. Last week AT&T’s site crumbled under the weight of the thousands of iPhone 4 pre-orders. Apple says 600,000 have already been sold.

T3 

Google's vice president and general counsel told the ACM Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference yesterday that censorship is a "trade barrier" and a " vital economic and trade issue". Kent Walker went on to say that open platforms, open source and transparency are key to ensuring the free flow of information.

V3 

Toshiba has unveiled what it claims to be the first dual-screen multi-touch tablet. The Libretto W100 features two 7in screens and looks like a Nintendo DSi XL. It packs a 1,024 x 600 resolution and full multi-touch capabilities. The 840g device is powered by a UL5400 Intel processor, with a 62GB solid state drive (SSD), 2GB DDR3 Ram, a webcam, SSD integration and optional 3G. It runs on Windows 7 Home Premium.

V3 

Lastminute.com founder Martha Lane Fox has managed to hold onto her job as the UK Government's Digital Champion. Despite the ConDem Coalition swinging the axe in the direction of just about every IT project in sight, Fox has not only retained her remit to get the whole of the UK on the web, but is now part of the Efficiency Board which will look at other Government projects to see if they are pulling their weight.

Thinq 

An organisation called 10:10, which pushes for a 10 percent cut in the UK's carbon emissions during 2010, has proposed a change to the UK's clocks. It claims would reduce Britain's CO2 output by hundreds of thousands of tonnes. A study conducted by Cambridge University for the campaign -- called "Lighter Later" -- found that putting clocks one extra hour forward in the winter would make evenings lighter and reduce peak electricity demands, saving almost 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Researchers say that's the equivalent of removing 200,000 cars from the road.

Wired