Social networking giant Facebook announced updated apps for Android and iOS yesterday in a high-profile press conference yesterday, but CEO Mark Zuckerberg ruled out any move into mobile hardware anytime soon. A steady trickle of rumours that Facebook was working with longtime collaborator INQ Mobile on a dedicated Facebook-branded mobile phone reached fever pitch when invites to yesterday’s event were sent out last week. But Zuckerberg quickly moved to scotch the rumours altogether, saying simply: “There’s been this rumour that Facebook is going to build a smartphone. What a novel idea, but no.”

The Gadget Show 

Virgin Media has lifted the lid on its new TiVo-powered set-top box and, if specifications are anything to go by, it's everything that we could have dreamed of with support for HD and 3D, while a 1TB hard disk provides plenty of room for recordings. In fact, depending on what you're recording, 1TB should be enough for up to 500 hours of content, which is almost three weeks of solid television. Should that not be enough then, Virgin Media's fibre optic network gives viewers access to a huge catalogue of on-demand programmes.

Skype will be offering free access to public Wi-Fi hotspots across the UK during the upcoming first ever Internet Week Europe. The first ever Internet Week Europe, to be held from 8 November to 12 November, will celebrate internet organisations, internet culture and the impact the web has had on people's life. It will include over 80 events held across London

IT Pro Portal 

News Corporation's president has spoken out publicly against the financial state of social network MySpace, saying that the losses from the social network are 'neither acceptable or sustainable'. MySpace has been put on notice by parent company News Corp, with Chase Carey, News Corp's president, noting MySpace "is a problem" after quarterly losses in its News Corp's digital and other activities increased by $30m to $156m (£97m).

Pre-orders for Windows Phone 7 handsets in some European markets have already sold out, according to some news reports. The issue seems to be the collision of high consumer interest with small inventories, at least of some of the new phones. Orange, T-Mobile, and O2 earlier this month launched their pre-order pages on their U.K. websites, for the HTC 7 Mozart, HTC HD7, and Samsung Omnia 7 (not all carriers are offering all three phones). Two other carriers, Vodafone and Three, will also be offering phones: LG Optimus 7 and HTC 7 Trophy.

Mac World 

Hackers might crack or steal your password, but can they type like you? Japan's NTT Communications has developed a computer security system that analyses the way a computer user types, and then checks it against a profile of authorised users to detect if the person at the keyboard is an imposter. The system, called Key Touch Pass, records the speed at which a user is typing, the length of time they typically hold down each key and the errors they normally make.

The manufacturer claims it remains fully functional after being submerged in water and is a buoyant, updated version of the similar Toughphone model. It continues to operate after being dragged behind a vehicle at 120mph, buried in two tonnes of rubble and then left underwater for six hours. Data Select, owned by Peter Jones of Dragons' Den, worked with JCB to make the floating phone which it claims is virtually indestructible.

The Telegraph 

A new material that could be used to create a real-life Harry Potter-style 'invisibility cloak' has been designed by British scientists. The material, called 'Metaflex' may in future provide a way of manufacturing fabrics that manipulate light. Metamaterials have already been developed that bend and channel light to render objects invisible at longer wavelengths.

The competition was launched earlier this month when Domino’s asked for suggestions for the best musical duets. Domino’s is now promoting the final playlist to encourage people to buy a Double Decadence pizza when organising a party. It created the playlist from more than 1,300 votes received via Facebook, with the most popular duet being Aerosmith and Run DMC’s ‘Walk This Way’.

Global broadband connection rates have rebounded strongly from their slump at the start of the year. According to new data from iSuppli, broadband connections increased 5.8 per cent in the third quarter of the year to 16.5 million, compared to a 6.6 per cent drop in the previous quarter. The firm estimates the fourth quarter increase as 7.3 per cent, making the year a net gain in connections.  Broadband subscriber additions declined in the second quarter because of normal seasonality as well as a poor performance in the North American market,” said Lee Ratliff, senior analyst for broadband and digital home at iSuppli.

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