Gadget fans dreading the prospect of long Transatlantic flights without the comforting flicker of LCD screens or the in-ear thump of iPods will be pleased by a relaxing of the restrictions brought about by last week’s ‘critical’ terrorist security alert.
From 4.30am this morning, the Department for Transport (DfT) will allow Heathrow passengers to carry one item of cabin baggage on to planes, and this can include your lovely electronic gadgets – on the proviso that it is kept in clear plastic bags.
In a statement, the DfT said the new arrangements will apply to “all passengers starting their journey at a UK airport and to those transferring from international flights at a UK airport”.
The maximum dimensions for cabin baggage have been substantially reduced which may tempt hardcore travellers into investing into an ultra portable laptop rather than risk lumping their precious laptops into unpressurised cargo compartments.
Long distance lotharios who like to splash it all over with Brut 33 before arriving at their destination will be disheartened to learn that the carrying of all liquids remains forbidden.
Here’s a full breakdown of the new rules:
Cabin baggage must not exceed a maximum length of 45cm, width of 35cm and depth of 16cm (17.7″ × 13.7″ × 6.2″ approximately), including wheels, handles and side pockets. This is smaller than the previous limits on hand luggage.
Other bags, such as handbags, may be carried within it.
All items carried by passengers will be X-ray screened.
No liquids of any type are permitted through the airport security search point, with two exceptions: Prescription medicines in liquid form essential for the flight (such as diabetic kit), as long as it is verified as authentic. Baby milk and liquid baby food (the contents of each bottle or jar must be tasted by the accompanying passenger).
Liquids not allowed include gels, pastes, lotions, liquid/solid mixtures and the contents of pressurised containers, for example toothpaste, hair gel, drinks, soups, syrups, perfume, deodorant, shaving foam and aerosols. No cosmetics, toiletries or sharp objects.
To help their progress through search points, passengers are encouraged not to include items capable of containing liquids (e.g. bottles, flasks, tubes, cans, plastic containers etc.) in their cabin baggage.
All laptops and large electrical items (e.g. large hairdryer) must be removed from the bag and placed in a tray so that such items neither obscure nor are obscured by the bag.
Pushchairs and walking aids are permitted but must be x-ray screened. Wheelchairs are permitted but must be thoroughly searched.
Passengers boarding flights to the USA and items they are carrying, including those acquired after the central screening point, will be subjected to secondary search at the gate.
Any liquids discovered will be removed from the passenger.
More info: BAA
Following the long tradition of Web innovations often premiering in the 
Introduced earlier this year, the 3D displays have been used for professional applications, but the Holland Casino will be the first company in the leisure and entertainment world in Europe to use these 3D displays for the general public.
The Holland Casino plans to integrate the 3D screens in a new national jackpot concept, the Mega Million Jackpot, with the technology being introduced in the Autumn.
Nikon has announced their new ten megapixel D80 digital SLR, the company’s successor to the trailblazing D70/D70s cameras.
The D80 also offers a suite of in-camera retouching tools including shadow / highlight enhancement, red-eye reduction, trimming and monochrome and filter effects.
Nikon D80 specs Sensor 10.2 million effective pixels
Sony Ericsson has announced the latest addition to its popular ‘K’ series, with the ‘candybar’ shaped Sony K618 promising super fast video, music streaming and Web browsing.
The memory card can be upgraded up to a maximum of 1GB of storage.
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Casio Exilim Card EX-S770
It’s a tiny little fella too, measuring just 95 x 60 x 17 mm (3.7 x 2.4 x 0.7 in) and weighing just 127 g (4.5 oz) without its Lithium-Ion battery.
The 7.0 megapixel EasyShare V705 comes with the innovative Dual Lens design and a beefy 8 megapixel sensor, while the more conventional EasyShare C875 sports a 8.0 MP sensor and an all glass Schneider-Kreuznach optical zoom lens with 5x zooming.
Kodak also announced two bargain basement cameras; the C743 and C433.
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To the chagrin of many of its users, Rupert Murdoch whipped out his fat wallet in July 2005 to the tune of $580 million and added MySpace to his News Corporation empire.
Commercial synergy ahoy!
Apple has announced the new G5 PowerMac, a quad Xeon, 64-bit desktop workstation stuffed with two new Dual-Core Intel Xeon processors running up to 3.0 GHz which are claimed to deliver “up to twice the performance of the Power Mac G5 Quad.”
Graphics are taken care of with a NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT with 256MB of video memory, with dual-display support.
Sony has released details of the Mylo, a groovy new Wi Fi-enabled personal communications device aimed at Instant Messaging nutters.
For teens who, like, don’t find email too slow for their hyperactive needs, there’s also an e-mail client, compatible with services such as Yahoo! Mail and the Gmail web mail service.
Battery life looks pretty good too, with a claimed 45 hours of music playback and around seven hours of instant-message chatting/Web surfing.
A new survey by service comparison firm USwitch.com claims that Britain’s 10 million broadband users are spending an average of nearly a whole day online every single week.
Internet telephony looks to be continuing its explosive growth, with one in eight people of those surveyed saying that they’d used net telephone calls using technology like VoIP software such as Skype.
Search engine giants Google have introduced a new feature which alerts punters about search results that could potentially lead them to dodgy sites with malicious code.
With search engine results routinely displaying links to sites stuffed full of spyware and adware, it is reckoned that US surfers arrive at on malicious sites about 285 million times per month – all from clicking on search results from the five major search engines.