Digital Corner

Facebook quarrel to be thrown out of court: The judge has delayed a ruling and has given a group of former Harvard students two weeks to produce evidence that Zuckerberg stole their ideas to create his site. The three-year-old legal battle revolves around accusations, strongly denied by Facebook, that Zuckerberg stole ideas when he was hired by the Harvard students to write code for a site called Harvard Connection. The judge said in court yesterday the former Harvard students may be using the lawsuit as a tactic to extract a settlement from Facebook, and pressed their lawyer to produce evidence of a commercial arrangement with Zuckerberg, “Dorm room chitchat does not make a contract, so I want to see it.”
The courtroom battle comes amid mounting speculation that Facebook is heading for an initial public offering. The speculation was fuelled by Facebook's appointment of Gideon Yu, the former YouTube chief financial officer, as its chief financial officer. Yu became CFO of video-sharing site YouTube shortly before it was acquired by Google last year for $1.65bn.


Dell promotes Latitude XT tablet by sawing another in half: Dell has certainly brought its a-game to the table in promoting its Latitude XT, in what may be described as an already saturated market. This consumer obviously felt it more appropriate to take an electrical saw to his tablet. (See the ad here!) The Latitude XT is expected by the end of the year, its main feature will include a revolving touch-sensitive screen.

Lloyds TSB has launched a website, called “Help I'm Flooded”: to provide information for people who have been affected by the floods that have been sweeping parts of the UK. The site, http://www.helpimflooded.co.uk/, was built by search conversion agency Tamar in just 72 hours, to help and support both Lloyds TSB and non-Lloyds TSB customers. Simon Roberts, eBusiness implementation manager at Lloyds TSB Insurance, said: “During this difficult time, we wanted to try and help the general public as quickly as possible. We are extremely pleased with the outcome and have had some great feedback from our customers. We will be continually updating the website to provide as much information as possible over the coming weeks.”

Telegraph posts 50 must-watch web clips: here is the top 3, for the full list click here

1. Dramatic chipmunk
   The most menacing five seconds in rodent history.
   Watch this clip
2. Hitler's Sheffield United
   Not even the master race could have succeeded at Bramall Lane. (Warning: contains strong language.)
   Watch this clip
3. Welcome to iRack
   Watch 'Steve Jobs' launch Apple's least stable product.
   Watch this clip
   

BBC iPlayer has now launched - giving real TV on your PC:

At launch, once viewers have accessed BBC iPlayer at bbc.co.uk/iplayer and have downloaded a programme, they will have up to 30 days in which to watch it. Once watched, the programme file clears itself up by deleting itself. BBC iPlayer is far more than a standalone application. Later this year, it will become widely accessible across bbc.co.uk, as well as via links from YouTube and a number of other potential distribution partners (subject to the BBC Trust's new syndication policy and management's guidelines). Users will be able to watch promotional clips of programmes, and link back to BBC iPlayer on bbc.co.uk, enabling them to download the full programme. The BBC is in discussion with a wide range of potential distribution partners, including MSN, telegraph.co.uk, AOL, Tiscali, Yahoo!, MySpace, Blinkx and Bebo.

Nintendo tapped into a rich and, until then, unknown market when it launched its Wii games console late last year – the non-sedentary gamer: The revolutionary idea of getting gamers out of their chairs and moving struck a chord with key demographics, not least of all women. The secret lay in Nintendo's revolutionary motion sensor controller that allows your whole body to interact with the on-screen action. Suddenly, video games didn't mean being stuck in a darkened room for hours with only your online buddies for company. Gaming could also mean getting the blood pumping and - with a second controller - alongside real live buddies in the same room. The proof of its success lies in the sales: figures released this month show the Wii has outsold rival PlayStation 3 almost fivefold in the quarter to June with Sony claiming 710,000 PS3 sales worldwide, while Nintendo reported Wii sales of 3.43 million. The technology has been so effective, gyms have started incorporating the Wii and its Sports games suite into their fitness regimes. And now Nintendo has gone one better with the Wii Fit. Introduced at the E3 annual computer and video games industry trade show held this month in California, the Wii Fit features a wireless, pressure-sensitive foot pad, dubbed the Wii Balance Board. It allows you to control on-screen action - heading a soccer ball, for example - simply by shifting your weight on the board. Nintendo said that the Wii Fit will come with more than 40 activities, including aerobics, yoga, muscle stretches and games, many of which will focus on providing a ‘core’ workout that emphasises slower, controlled motions. The board, which is powered by four AA batteries, is due to be launched next year.

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