Barclays bank has revealed a new branch showcasing the latest in high-tech banking.

The emphasis at the new branch in London's Piccadilly Circus, which opened in late December, is self service and interactivity supported by a slew of technology.

The UK government has agreed to work with the European Parliament on plans to extend police powers to conduct remote searches of computers without a warrant.

The European Union Council of Ministers approved a plan in November 2008 to grant law-enforcement authorities in member states the power to perform remote searches of suspects' computers, as well as to perform 'cyber patrols' of the internet and increase data sharing between European police forces. The plan, to be implemented within the next five years, raises the possibility of cross-border co-operation on cyber investigations.

Conservative leader David Cameron has today set out plans that could see green tech start-ups get a helping hand from any future Tory government.

In a speech today, Cameron revealed a series of measures designed to tackle the sluggish economy, including the creation of incubators for green technology companies. Green IT from A to ZClick on the links below to find out more... A is for AbroadB is for BladesC is for Carbon footprintD is for Data centresE is for Energy sourcesF is for FreecycleG is for GovernmentH is for HomeworkingI is for Ice capsJ is for Jobs (Steve) K is for KilowattsL is for LandfillM is for MercuryN is for NanogenerationO is for OffsettingP is for Paperless officeQ is for QueenR is for RecyclingS is for SmartPlanet.comT is for TravelU is for UpgradeV is for VirtualisationW is for WEEEX is for XmasY is for YouZ is for Zero emissions

The UK government's digital information service Directgov has appointed three new directors, including the former IT director of BGL Group, David Matthewman, as CTO. silicon.com Public Sector Get the latest public sector news straight to your inbox. Sign up for the PS newsletter today!

Matthewman will be responsible for the organisation's infrastructure strategy and delivery. In his former position at insurance company BGL, he led the technology strategy for its in-house retail brands Bennets, Budget and Comparethemarket.com.

Apple has admitted that CEO Steve Jobs is skipping Tuesday's Macworld keynote for health-related reasons, after initially pointing to other reasons for his absence.

Throughout 2008 Apple was plagued with rumours about Jobs' health but steadfastly refused to acknowledge that anything was behind concerns over what many believed was substantial weight loss suffered by the iconic Apple founder.

The iconic Macworld event has been the highlight of Apple's year. So why are they stepping away from it? Seb Janacek has some theories.

Ever had a moment where you're cruising down the motorway in fifth gear, decide to drop it into fourth and accidentally hit the brake instead of the clutch?

The mobile-software company UIQ has filed for bankruptcy, following the decision by its last remaining customer to stop using its platform.

Motorola and Sony Ericsson, the joint owners of UIQ via a Dutch holding company, decided at a board meeting on 29 December to pull the plug on the company. The UIQ platform is being integrated, along with Series 60, into the Symbian Foundation's royalty-free, open-source platform, and Motorola announced in November that it would drop UIQ in order to focus on rival systems, including Android, Windows Mobile and P2K. Latest videos from silicon.comBA CIO - how we attract the best IT gradsGraduates on why they chose ITCIO Profile: Graham YoungCIO Profile: David SwayneThe firm with no IT teamThe birth of hi-tech BritainAll aboard the wi-fi train Check out all videos from silicon.com here

Compiled in my hotel room in Swindon UK and dispatched via a free wi-fi service

Christmas lunch seems long past and the decorations have been packed away until next year. It's a new year and I have been pondering the events of the last one and the past few decades. It has been abundantly clear for a long time that our politicians, bankers and managers in every sphere have failed to grasp a few essential basics.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown looks to have given the go ahead to a recession-busting programme of investment that could see super-fast broadband rolled out across the UK.

Speaking to The Observer newspaper yesterday, Brown revealed plans to create 100,000 new jobs by spending on public works, including investments in network infrastructure and backing for jobs in "digital industries".

Video has been hailed a productivity booster and cost saver. But can it deliver? Freeform Dynamics's IdaRose Sylvester explains what video can and can't do.

As we enter 2009, reducing spending, improving productivity of smaller teams, and the perceived imperative to improve the corporate 'green' footprint are three priorities facing corporations.

With 2008 bearing witness to both a mobile broadband boom and a proliferation of iPhone-esque devices hitting the market, suddenly surfing the web on your phone has never been more popular.

Here, silicon.com rounds up five of the best offerings out there and not an IE in sight...

Palm is rumoured to be launching a smartphone on Thursday that runs Nova, its next-generation operating system, according to a report Sunday on CrunchGear.

The report, which cites "a trusted source", says the device will have a full Qwerty keyboard that will slide under the touchscreen.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is "absolutely" not out of a job at the Wikimedia Foundation, according to the foundation's director of communications.

On Saturday, Valleywag editor Owen Thomas reported that Wales was "out of a job", writing, "Imagine an online encylopedia anyone can edit - and no one can run. Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia's...cofounder, is no longer a board member of the site's nonprofit foundation. Who's in charge here?"

Boxing day was the busiest day in terms of traffic for online retailers over Christmas as shoppers saved the little money they had for the sales. silicon.com Retail & Leisure Get the latest retail and leisure news straight to your inbox. Sign up for the R&L newsletter today!

According to internet search data company Hitwise, traffic to retail sites leapt 22 per cent between 25 December and 26 December 2008. However, Boxing Day volumes were down 4.9 per cent compared to the same day in 2007.

Web and multimedia research leader Professor Wendy Hall, of the University of Southampton, has been made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

The computer scientist, who was made a CBE in 2000, was awarded the honour for services to science and technology.

Online entertainment retailer Play.com has revealed 24 per cent year-on-year growth in sales over the Christmas holiday 2008. silicon.com Retail & Leisure Get the latest retail and leisure news straight to your inbox. Sign up for the R&L newsletter today!

The results buck the trend of muted growth over the busiest shopping days of the year among web retailers.

December was a bumper month for the Faster Payments Service (FPS).

According to payments industry association Apacs, 3.9 million FPS payments were made on 1 December 2008 - a new daily record for the service. Cheat Sheets ♦ Faster Payments ♦ Basel II ♦ MiFID ♦ Sarbanes-Oxley

The Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose is to get a new command system to help her crew defend the ship against air, surface and underwater threats.

The upgrade is an important milestone in the programme to develop a common command system across the fleet, starting with the Type 23 frigates, according to defence equipment and support director of surface combatants Commodore Graham Peach.

Bricks and clicks retailers appear to have had the upper hand over pure-play internet stores in terms of web traffic this Christmas. silicon.com Retail & Leisure Get the latest retail and leisure news straight to your inbox. Sign up for the R&L newsletter today!

According to research by credit checking and information services company Experian, high street retailers with a web shopfront got 68 per cent more internet traffic than their online-only rivals during the Christmas period.

Digital music, long the bane of the music industry, may finally be something that record label executives can smile about.

For 2008, total music sales rose 10 per cent to 1.51 billion units sold, up from 1.36 billion units the year before, according to industry tracker Nielsen. Units tallied include physical albums, digital albums and tracks, and music videos.

$1bn The value Steve Jobs reckons the iPhone App store will achieve

Five million The estimated number of iPhone 3Gs sold in the third quarter of the year.

As the credit crunch began to bite in 2008 IT directors prepared themselves by swotting up on those tech sectors that would be hardest hit and those that would thrive, as well as tips on how to land a new job.

10 ways the credit crunch will hit IT From falling revenues for hardware and software vendors to an outsourcing boom, a host of experts and analysts explored how the downturn would reshape the tech landscape.

There have been some big changes in the software industry over the past year - with big changes at Microsoft and cloud computing starting to have a real impact. silicon.com takes a look back at these and a few of the other big stories in software that got the industry buzzing in 2008.

Bill Gates' legacy: A modern day Henry Ford In June, Bill Gates stepped down as chairman of Microsoft - the company he founded and made into the juggernaut we know today - after more than thirty years. silicon.com's coverage included an analysis of Gates' impact on the world of technology and beyond that likened him to a modern-day Henry Ford.

2008 was a year of change in the mobile sphere - not least for the iPhone which switched from being exclusively a shiny consumer toy to a business-friendly mobility tool as Apple licensed Microsoft ActiveSync for Exchange email access. The iPhone hasn't stormed the enterprise bastion quite yet but is apparently proving popular with SMEs. Not bad going for a newbie.

Meanwhile BlackBerry-maker RIM has also felt winds of change - with co-CEO Mike Lazaridis telling silicon.com Qwerty keyboards are the future - only for the company to launch a touchscreen device a few months later, the BlackBerry Storm. The year in mobile - 2008 Click on the links below to read silicon.com's top 10 mobile stories of the year... BlackBerrys squashed by Whitehall data banMobiles on the moon? Nasa prepares trial for takeoff Apple iPhone 'ready for business' iPhone nano: Fact or fiction? RIM co-CEO: Qwerty is the next big thing UK crime fighters grapple with iPhone wipe threat Oyster brand and credit crunch to hit O2 mobile wallet? Symbian CEO on open source, Windows Mobile and 'usability' 'BlackBerry Storm was Vodafone's idea': RIM co-CEO Photos: 10 years of bananas, flips and candybars

With the world in the grip of an economic downturn, making the most of IT spending has never been more important for business.

The Corporate IT Forum recently found that its most senior members are planning to invest in IT but managing costs, careful budgeting and trimming discretionary spending are key priorities.

While it's been some years since the UK became a majority broadband nation but 2008 has still seen its fair share of shake-ups in the fat pipe world. silicon.com takes a look back at the stories that changed broadband this year.

Virgin hits top speed As the year closed, Virgin Media announced a speed bump for its users, offering broadband speeds of up to 50Mbps for £51 per month using a mixture of fibre and coaxial cable.

Network security software company Check Point is to buy Nokia's security-appliance business, the companies have announced.

Check Point has provided software for Nokia's firewall appliances for around a decade, but the Israeli security firm said in a statement on Monday that the collaboration would help it "provide an extended security appliance portfolio developed, manufactured and supported by Check Point".

With a potentially tough 2009 looming, Tim Ferguson as picked the brains of experts across the tech industry to come up with some of the areas CIOs should focus on when making their New Year's resolutions.

Be more efficient With the economic downturn looking like it will continue in 2009, one of the first things CIOs should look at is how technology could be used to make their business more efficient, as well as secure quick returns on investment.

Beat bobbies across the UK will be able to use mobile devices to slash paperwork following street searches from next week.

The Home Office says that red tape following stop and searches has been cut from about 20 minutes to 60 seconds by one force piloting the new approach.

January

"There are very few companies that understand software."-- Former chairman of Microsoft, Bill Gates, speaking in an interview with silicon.com sister site CNET News.com

Is there a UK IT skills gap or not?

Research by tech jobs site The IT Job Board has found the majority (56 per cent) of UK techies that responded to its survey are convinced there is a skills shortage in the UK tech sector.

It seems 2008 is the year of mobile data - in spite of the economic downturn.

Orange's research into its customers' behaviour shows mobile data usage almost doubling in the last quarter. It also said it has added 1.3 million 3G customers since the research was last conducted in November 2007 to January 2008.

silicon.com's Jo Best has been doing a spot of crystal ball gazing. Here's five predictions for the tech trends to watch out for in 2009 - and a couple of things that aren't very likely at all…

The rise of 'free as in beer' softwareWith SMEs being hit by the credit crunch perhaps harder than anyone and yet having the same need for up-to-date tech as other companies, 2009 could well be the year that 'free as in beer' software takes off. There are already a handful of software companies providing their services to SMEs ostensibly free to the customer, using advertising to make their money.

Natasha Lomas got her hands on a smartphone running Google's Android OS. How does it compare to the iPhone? Read on...

Not so long ago I wrote an article called Five reasons I don't miss my 3G iPhone - my opinion on my brief liaison with Apple's hardware.

Microsoft has issued an advisory confirming a remote code execution vulnerability affecting its SQL Server line.

The vulnerability affects Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE 2000), Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (WMSDE), and Windows Internal Database (WYukon). Microsoft said systems with Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Service Pack 4, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3, and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 are not affected by this issue.

Some PC makers now have an extra four months to sell Windows XP.

The BBC reported Monday that Microsoft has extended the deadline for smaller PC builders and resellers to obtain licenses for the discontinued operating system from the previous deadline of 31 January 2009 to 30 May 2009.

More than 1,000 messages asking for ID cards have flooded into the Home Office.

Over the last two years, 1,142 out of 3,073 pieces of correspondence to government on the biometric cards have been classified as "wants an ID card", according to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.

NatWest has launched what it claims is the first international money transfer service over mobile phones offered by a UK bank. Cheat Sheets ♦ Faster Payments ♦ Basel II ♦ MiFID ♦ Sarbanes-Oxley

From this Christmas, customers of its Polish Welcome account will be able to send money home to accounts run by Polish bank PKO BP.

Specialist online retailers score much better in terms of customer satisfaction than big high street institutions when it comes to internet shopping. silicon.com Retail & Leisure Get the latest retail and leisure news straight to your inbox. Sign up for the R&L newsletter today!

According to a survey of 7,000 shoppers across the top 30 UK retail websites by ForeSee Results, overall satisfaction has increased one per cent year-on-year when measuring functionality, price merchandise and content. Overall satisfaction is now ranked 67 out of 100, compared to last year's 66.

With Christmas just around the corner, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the hordes of people watching the horizon for signs of an otherworldly being are in fact watching for the arrival of Santa.

Not so – it's aliens. The Hat Creek Radio Observatory, in Northern California, is home to the Allen Telescope Array. The ATA, as it's called, is a collection of radio antennas, that together make up the world's first telescope dedicated to the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence project.