Gadgets

State of the art
Many PDAs now boast the kind of processing power and functionality that was state of the art on PCs a few years back. Hoping to take advantage of this is Synosphere, which recently unveiled its Blue Dock, a docking station that enables PDAs to function in the same way as a desktop PC. Once placed in the dock, users can create, modify and edit data on the PDA via a PC monitor and a full-sized mouse and keyboard. The dock's Ethernet socket also means users can have access to the web, email and network resources such as printers. The dock is expected on sale later this year for around £200. www.synosphere.com

No expense spared
The world's smallest, and quite possibly most expensive, digital camera has gone on sale in the US. Just 69.1x16.8x 24mm, Sony's Qualia 016 can nevertheless take two megapixel images, features a 4x digital zoom and stores images on Memory Stick Duo card. The camera is accompanied by a range of accessories, including a snap-on flash that is almost the same size as the camera. To ensure images are steady and to counteract the movement of the hand, the 016 takes up to four pictures in rapid succession and then combines them into one image. The Qualia is available for $3,980 from www.dynamism.com.
www.sony.net/SonyInfo/QUALIA

3G

Laptop trial
Vodafone has announced trials of a 3G card for laptops with a view to a full launch later in the spring. The 3G Mobile Connect card fits into a notebook's PCMCIA slot to deliver data transmission speeds of up to 384kbps in areas where the Vodafone 3G network is available (essentially cities such as London and Manchester and along the M4). When the card leaves a 3G area, it apparently shifts seamlessly to a GPRS network. The card's early testers are likely to be its major corporate customers, although the network hopes to extend the trial to smaller business in the coming months. Vodafone is expected to launch a full 3G service in the summer. www.vodafone.co.uk

Broadband

Ministerial upgrade
Every telephone exchange in north-east England will provide ADSL broadband by March next year, as a result of regional development agency One NorthEast paying BT £4.7m. Broadband will be available to 94.5% of people in the north east, excluding those more than 3.7m (6km) from exchanges. The prime minister, Tony Blair, saw his local exchange, at Trimdon in County Durham, upgraded last week.

Also last week, BT upgraded the 1,000th exchange as a result of its trigger-level scheme, at Needham Market in Suffolk. Around 600 triggered exchanges are awaiting upgrades: when all are connected, more than 90% of Britons will have access to ADSL broadband.

Double time
Permanent connections to the internet - primarily broadband - are more than doubling in number annually, according to National Statistics. Data collected by the government's statistics agency from internet service providers showed permanent connections increasing by 118% between November 2002 and November 2003, and up 5.5% on October 2003, in figures released last week. Permanent connections represented 21.5% of all internet subscriptions in November, compared with 10% a year before. The survey also found that pay-as-you-go dial-up access made up 39% of connections, compared with 46% in November 2002. Overall, internet subscriptions were up 5.3% year-on-year, although dial-up connections fell 7.5%.

Internet

Off with the birds
In what it is billing as the airborne version of the Grand National, Ladbrokes.com is offering punters a chance to bet and follow on the internet a race involving Tasmanian shy albatrosses as they migrate from Australia to South Africa. Each of the 18 birds is tagged with a satellite transmitter that beams their whereabouts back to the UK. Not all the birds will finish the journey. Many become ensnared in one of the thousands of baited hooks dragged behind boats that use controversial longline fishing techniques. Ladbrokes hopes the race will raise awareness of the birds and their plight. The profits will be donated to conservation charities. www.ladbrokes.com

Wireless

All aboard
Two airlines are competing to become the first to offer laptop owners wireless internet facilities while aboard long-haul flights. Last week, Emirates announced that from March, passengers on its flights from Dubai to Sydney could send and receive email over an onboard Wi-Fi network for around £15. Around the same time, Lufthansa is set to become the first airline to offer a wireless version of the Boeing Connexion system delivering full internet access and email from £20 a trip. Connexion, to be available on transatlantic and Asian flights, is also compatible with virtual private networks. BA also recently trialled the Connexion system and is expected to offer it on long-haul flights later in the year. www.emirates.com
www.connexionbyboeing.com

Stat of the week: Crooks go phishing

Online scammers took $437m from Americans in 2003, with the Federal Trade Commission recording a 40% rise in incidents. More than 40% of complaints related to identity theft such as "phishing". Our chart shows the areas hit hardest by online fraud.