After waiting for longer than we've ever waited for a phone before, we've finally got our hands on a final version of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. Cue choir of angels!

Sleek Audio's high-end SA6 earphones are now available with Kleer wireless technology, and it's a whole load better than Bluetooth. Here's why

Hold on to your fingerless gloves, touch fans: HP has just announced the first consumer laptop with a 12-inch multi-touch display

A year after iTunes began offering music without copy-protection software from EMI, Apple is in discussions with the other three top recording companies -- Universal, Warner and Sony BMG -- about acquiring DRM-free songs, according to two music industry sources.

The Aston Martin DBS is a beautiful car and sitting in one is a very special experience. Sitting in a DBS and listening to a Bang & Olufsen audio system takes that special experience and adds a choir of angels. The high-end Danish audio components maker lends its expertise to Aston Martin with its Beosound DBS system, now coming as standard in the new DBS. At the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show we sat in the DBS as a Bang & Olufsen representative played a variety of music through the system.

What is the significance of Sun Microsystems' announcement on Wednesday that Wikimedia is buying truckloads of Sun servers? It's that the Wikimedia team, which runs Wikipedia, Wikinews, Wikibooks and other sites, is gearing up to change the nature of the reference services. Wikipedia, in particular, is going to get a lot more visual. Limits on the size of upload files will be increased to 100MB. Video -- hosted by Wikimedia -- will soon be part of the mix.

Join Ella Morton from the premiere of Australia for the 23rd episode of our global tech show -- this week Rory drives a Volvo with laser beams on the front

Microsoft is rolling out its most ambitious Xbox 360 system update yet -- an entirely new dashboard that adds avatars and more. Check out our hands-on video

We've waited ages to get Sennheiser's new flagship IE 8 earphones in, but it was worth it -- these could pinch high-end earphone customers from Shure's spectacular SE530s

If your TV doesn't quite have enough HDMI sockets, you might be in the market for a device that adds an extra one without you needing to cut holes in your pride and joy

Yesterday we sashayed along to the launch of the chic new LG Prada phone -- aka the LG Prada 2 -- to find out what the fashion-conscious phone has to offer. The original Prada phone was one of the first touchscreen handsets to hit the UK market, but it was fiddly to use, especially for texting. LG has taken this on board and tailored the Prada 2 to include a dedicated slide-out Qwerty keypad.

But there's much more -- the Prada 2 might look similar to its predecessor, but our first impression is that it's one of LG's best touchscreen phones yet.

Yahoo chief executive Jerry Yang has discussed the reasons behind his resignation in a blog posting -- his announcement comes after a troublesome year for Yahoo

After only two years on the market, Microsoft decides to discontinue OneCare, its subscription-based security suite, and replace it with free anti-virus software

Celebrating the second anniversary of the PlayStation 3's US launch this week, Sony Computer Entertainment America hardware marketing director John Koller announced that the PlayStation Network now has as many users as Xbox Live.

We've been trying out some £120 earphones that -- for once -- don't use sound-isolating silicone tips. They're Atomic Floyd AirJax earphones, and they're jammed in our head as we speak

The world has gone LED crazy -- you can't throw a light bulb without hitting something lit by LEDs these days. Your TV is no exception, with companies such as Samsung and Sony offering models with an LED backlight. Philips wants in on the diode action, so its Cineos PFL9803 Ambilight range features an LCD panel backlit by white LEDs, rather than the traditional cold cathode florescent lamps.

HP has just sent us what it believes is the LCD monitor to end all LCD monitors. The HP LP2480ZX can deliver colour reproduction usually only possible with a CRT display

If you're too lazy, too tired or just too annoyed to use the iPhone's text interface to search for something on Google, you'll be pleased to know you can now just say what you're looking for.

No, you haven't woken up in an episode of Star Trek, it's just plain old voice search, similar to Nuance's technology. What's great is that it's very accurate -- most of the time. We tried 'CBS Interactive' and it came up with results for 'CBS Construction'. But while it's not perfect, it's still very useful for simple terms.

All you need to do is download the Google search app or upgrade to the new version and go into settings -- you'll see an option for voice search that you'll want to turn on. Once it's on, a little mic icon appears next to the search app.

Inspired by a new generation of smartphones, Adobe has begun a new, higher-power effort to spread its Flash technology to mobile devices.

The company has worked for years on a lightweight incarnation of its Flash technology for mobile phones, but now it's working to bring the fully fledged Flash Player 10 to higher-end smartphones, chief technology officer Kevin Lynch said at Adobe's Max conference in San Francisco.

"We are in the midst of evolving Flash Player 10 for mobile," Lynch said. "We're taking the full Flash Player and making that run on the higher end of the mobile market."

The SuperSpeed USB 3.0 will be built into new products by the end of 2009 -- it's close to ten times faster than its predecessor, and more power conscious, making it a much-needed improvement

We haven't been massive fans of Sagem's PVR in the past, but now it's just £99, and for that little we don't mind so much if it looks like a bulldog chewing a wasp

Lucas Cruikshank is to user-generated video what Tiger Woods was to golf or what Bobby Fischer was to chess when they were teenagers. Not only has he risen to fame in a field dominated by adults, but he has managed to turn that success into cold, hard cash.

The 15-year old creator of the YouTube series Fred has become Internet video's hottest prodigy since last month, when the Fred channel amassed the most subscribers (585,506) on YouTube. He now has more than 645,000. Since launching six months ago, Fred clips have been watched more than 125 million times. With such a huge fan base, it is no wonder advertisers are hankering for a slice of his airtime.

The series is a goofy satire of some YouTube video bloggers that Cruikshank considers self-important. Fred is a fictitious teen with anger management problems, a strange voice, and a father serving time in jail. Cruikshank, a Nebraska native, has parlayed his Web success into cash.

If you're on a tight budget this Christmas, but still want to get a loved one something techy, a mobile phone could be the perfect fit. You may be surprised to hear that for only £20 -- or even less -- you can pick up a pay as you go phone.

These aren't cutting-edge handsets, but hey, they'll make calls and send and receive text messages, which is better than no phone at all. Take the Samsung B130, for example, which we reported on the other day -- it's pretty basic, but it's only £5 (plus £10 of credit), from the Carphone Warehouse.

LG KP100, on the other hand, will set you back a swingeing £10. For this extortionate fee, you get a colour screen and a slim candybar design.

If you want to work for the President-elect, you're going to have to do some research -- into your own online history

Free software developer Canonical has announced it will be developing a version of its Ubuntu Linux desktop operating system specifically for ARM-based processors, which have traditionally been used in small devices such as mobile phones.

Tuning specialist Brabus -- producers of souped-up versions of cars from Mercedes, Smart et al -- has announced it will produce an enhanced version of the electric sports car

It's Friday, and that can mean only one thing: tomorrow is Saturday. But in related news, it's also time for the CNET UK Podcast, and this week Nate is joined by lens jockey Rich T, and in the guest seat for the first time in history it's the ineffable Rory Reid.

In space updates, we're discussing the sad news that Earth has perhaps heard its last words from the Mars Phoenix rover, which went silent from the surface of the red planet at the start of the month. But if legend is to be believed, the Phoenix shall rise again. Maybe when Mars warms up.

We also talk about a new way America is dealing with the war on fat kids, by means of encouraging text messages. Though they'll probably spend even more time in front of the computer now full-length films are coming to Google's YouTube.

Red is back with characteristically grand claims for its new Scarlet, Epic and 3-D systems. We don't know when we'll see them, but we're excited by the modular concepts

If you're a little strapped for cash these days, but still need a new mobile phone, you'll be amazed to know that for as little as £5 you can buy a Samsung B130. For the price of two McDonald's meals you could be blabbering away on a brand-new mobile, which we think is pretty impressive.

To keep costs down, the Samsung B130 is totally basic, as you'd expect. It features a slim casing that weighs only 65g, a colour display -- and that's about it. But the B130 keeps things admirably simple and has a large, easy-to-use keypad. It's definitely not one for smart phone fans, but if you need something simple it's ideal.

The Samsung B130 is available for a fiver on pay as you go from the Carphone Warehouse when you buy £10 of credit from T-Mobile or Orange.

We give Microsoft credit for finally understanding that what works on a console won't necessarily appeal to PC gamers. First, it stripped away the much-derided, fee-based Games for Windows Live Gold membership level. Now the entire Games for Windows Live interface has received an update. The Xbox 360-style 'blade' interface is gone, replaced by a fully mouse-driven drop-down menu system. If it only worked as well as it should.

Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of the OLPC project, told our sister site, ZDNet UK, this week that version two of 'Give One, Get One' (G1G1) would enable European users to participate in the scheme

Thousands of people of all ages queuing in the freezing cold for hours on end can only mean one thing -- no, not a new iPhone -- it's time for another World of Warcraft expansion

3's latest phone has neither GPS nor Wi-Fi, but it keeps you connected to your friends in a simple way and is incredibly good value

We roll back the years and embark on a tour of the Apple iPod from its very first model, right up to the present day. Are you sitting comfortably? Then let's begin...

The Flatron W2284F has the curves of Beyoncé, style like Gok Wan, and -- with a weight of just 4.4kg -- we suspect it may even have one of those trendy eating disorders

Bow, mortals! Bow before the satanic majesty of the Ricoh R10, a camera as black as the depths of your soul. This 10-megapixel point-and-shoot is the Johnny Cash of cameras: the cam in black, if you will. The all-metal -- or should that be metaaalllll! -- frame is black, the accents are black, the rubberised grip is black. The lens barrel is black. Even the battery is black.

Philips Research has come out with a new intelligent camera pill that can be electronically preprogrammed to deliver targeted doses of medicine to patients with digestive disorders

A Microsoft blogger has written that the upcoming Web-based version of Microsoft Office will not be tied to either Windows or Internet Explorer

Intel's powerful new Core i7 desktop processor family, formerly known as Nehalem, is out soon. We tested the most beastly chip in the series, the Core i7-965 Extreme Edition

There's good news in the ongoing wars against AIDS and the mundane: Dell has unveiled three new 'Art House' laptop designs, all of which fall under the (Product) Red umbrella. Buy one, and you'll not only be the envy of your fashion-conscious friends, but you'll also be giving $20 to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, courtesy of Dell.

If you're not impresed with the BlackBerry Storm and you want soemthing a little more simple that will fit in your pocket, the Flip 8820 could be it

If you wanted to know how even the tightest niche subject can explode as a blog, you'd look at TorrentFreak. We talk to the site's founder, 'Ernesto', about how to get 3 million readers

Just as we predicted last month, after an interview with Flip Video's top man, the budget Flip Mino camcorder now comes in high-definition flavour

We're big fans of SanDisk's dinky Sansa Clip, not only for having a smashing audio chip and support for FLAC audio, but also for being a thoroughly usable MP3 player, despite being only a couple of dress sizes larger than the iPod shuffle.

This week SanDisk added a new set of strings to the Clip's bow -- four gigabytes of new strings, to be precise, bringing the tiny player's capacity up to a shuffle-crushing 8GB.

Apple may be searching for ways to make the MacBook Air even lighter. AppleInsider reports that the company is investigating using materials enhanced with carbon fibre in some of the parts on a future MacBook Air.

Given the time and energy Apple poured into the latest redesign of its laptops, developing a new unibody chassis milled from a single block of aluminium, it's unlikely that the entire chassis would be replaced anytime soon.

But AppleInsider thinks the company could shave 100g off the overall 1.3kg weight of the Air if it used some sort of carbon-fibre material for the bottom cover of the laptop.

Virtualisation company Parallels said last week that it plan to launch a facility to let PC users access their software from the iPhone, using the latest version of Parallels Desktop for Mac 4.0

Christmas isn't just about family arguments, bad Cliff Richard records and improbable plot twists on EastEnders, it's also about last-minute panic buying. We can't do much about the first three, but we can help you out on the last one by providing you with some great gift ideas.

If you thought all HD televisions had upscalers built-in, you might be surprised by Toshiba's claim that it's just produced the first upscaling TV

Tangent's Uno is a back-to-basics FM/AM radio, with a beautiful retro design and enough 3.5mm sockets to keep it working with iPods. For £90 this could be an ideal Christmas present for your dad

Rather than try to outdo itself every time it releases a phone, Nokia has sensibly -- if rather boringly -- opted to make a range of phones that do similar things to previous models. Take the new Nokia N85: it sits between the N95 8GB and N96, without any particularly distinguishing features, but it is a more refined handset.