Top Twenty Stories

1. James Bond doesn't do CGI: Inside 007's amazing real-world action

   Bond on Film Invisible Aston? We don't like to talk about it

   The Aston Martin; a martini, shaken not stirred; the Walther PPK; cool one-liners. These are the four elements of the James Bond films that have become established in our collective psyche as trademarks of Ian Fleming’s secret agent. But there’s something else that’s also become a Bond trademark, and transformed what could …

2. Microsoft's 'official' Windows 8 Survival Guide leaks

   What you really, really need to know

   [Note: We received this FAQ document anonymously and cannot confirm its authenticity. However, it has such dead useful advice, we thought we'd share it with you - Eds] Q. Who is this guide for? A. This guide is for users who want to take advantage of new technologies in Windows® - such as faster performance, shorter boot …

3. No GPS in the iPad Mini Wi-Fi: People are right to criticise

   Comment Characteristically evil move by Cupertino

   Wi-Fi-only iPads have never featured GPS, but the lack of satellite-navigation tech in the new Mini fondleslab's non-cellular version has provoked a mild backlash: and rightly so, though not many people understand why. The new gizmos do have a "digital compass", a magnetometer which is aware of the direction the slab is being …

4. Better luck next time Blofeld! Five Bond plot myths busted

   Bond on Film What do you mean, 'why don't we just nuke them, boss?'

   Keep it simple – if only the villains of James Bond had learned that lesson in Evil Medical School. All too often, though, the Ernst Stavro Blofelds and Karl Strombergs of 007’s world succumb to their maniacal tendencies and plot ridiculously complicated plans to off Bond or take over the world, where a simple bullet or well- …

5. ESO's nine-gigapixel galactic image has 84 MILLION stars

   A portrait of the Milky Way bulge in the infrared

   The European Southern Observatory has captured and catalogued a giant image of the centre of our galaxy that, if printed at “normal resolution”, would measure 9 x 7 meters. The nine-gigapixel image from the VISTA telescope at Paranal Observatory – this is just a Web version – has been catalogued by an international team of …

6. Surface RT: Freedom luvin' app-huggers beware

   Review A hybrid with potential for productivity types

   “It’s the ultimate expression of a Windows PC,” says Windows chief Steven Sinofsky... or “a compromised, confusing product”, according to Apple’s Tim Cook, who has not used one. This is Surface RT, Microsoft’s first own-brand tablet, which went on sale today. Along with the fact that it runs Windows 8, there are two notable …

7. N00bs vs Windows 8: We lock six people in a room with new OS

   'It's like they tried to make my computer a mobile phone'

   The design of Windows 8's user interface - The Interface Formerly Known as Metro (TIFKAM) - leaves non-technical users yearning for the good ol' Start button. The Reg can report that finding after some rather non-scientific tests in which we offered different folks their very first experience of Windows 8. We chose …

8. China's Goophone unveils US$99 Android iPad Mini clone

   Every inch a GooPad mini with none of that Apple taste

   Apple’s Chinese nemesis Goophone is no slouch when it comes to launching fruity tech clones powered by Android – it’s just taken the covers off an iPad Mini lookalike running Jelly Bean which will sell for just $99. The infamous handset maker, which is already selling devices that bear more than a passing resemblance to the …

9. Mysterious galactic glow caused by Hitchhikers' Krikkit style stars

   Lone darkness-wrapped suns fingered in infrared conundrum

   The mysterious background glow of the universe is probably caused by "orphan" stars leading an isolated existence wrapped in clouds of dark matter, according to a new analysis by top boffins reviewing data from NASA's Spitzer telescope far out in space. Scientists have long been puzzled by the levels of background infrared …

10. LARGEST BELCH EVER SEEN devastates gassy GIANT Saturn

    Colossal ethylene eructation 'bigger than Earth'

    A titanic storm wracking the atmosphere of Saturn, ringed giant planet of the outer Solar System, resulted in an "unprecedented belch of energy" and an associated super-enormous emission of ethylene gas "the origin of which is a mystery", according to NASA boffins. "This temperature spike is so extreme it's almost unbelievable …

11. APPLE: SCREW YOU, BRITS, everyone else says Samsung copied us

    But we will apologise because the judge said we had to

    Apple has complied with a UK court order by admitting on its website that Samsung's Galaxy Tab did not rip off the patented iPad design. High Court Judge Birss had instructed Apple to publish a statement online and in print after ruling that the South Korean electronics giant had not infringed Cupertino's patent. The statement …

12. 4G: Bad coverage, crap battery life - but at least it's really expensive

    Comment Bonus feature: Can't handle voice calls

    Six weeks ago Everything Everywhere EE announced the UK's first 4G network. "A new era dawned over London," Daily Telegraph writer Matt Warman told us. Mourners shuffled into the streets of Leicester and Stoke, and buried an enormous dongle in a mock funeral. That weekend, travelling football supporters from those cities were …

13. Vaunted Windows 8 RTM updates 'actually featured from Win2000'

    Ex-Microsofties dispute Sinofsky's blogpost claim

    Has Microsoft’s Windows chief Steven Sinofsky gone too far in stating the brilliance of his team's work on Windows 8? “Yes,” say some ex-Microsofties, who reckon Sinofsky is taking credit for something that’s not new on Windows 8, due on Thursday. What’s got them riled is a 10 October Sinofsky blog where he boasted Windows 8 …

14. Why is 4G so expensive? Answer: The Post-Voice Era is coming

    Analysis The money will go where the bandwidth is

    EE, the UK's largest mobile operator, makes most of its money from voice calls - but that's coming to an end with the launch of 4G tariffs that allow unlimited chitchat and text. Those tariffs start at £21 a month, with no handset subsidy and capped at 500MB of mobile data, but they impose no limits on texting and calls. The …

15. TSA fails again with adjustable boarding passes

    Lets passengers pick their own security rating

    The reputation of possibly America's least-favorite fondlers, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), has taken yet another hit with the discovery that its shoddy security allows passengers in its PreCheck system to pick their own security status. PreCheck allows some frequent fliers willing to pay $100 for a …

16. 'Regular' PS3 gamers who've cancelled credit cards? You FOOLS!

    'Network still secure' despite firmware hack and decryption key leak – security expert

    The appearance of a Sony PlayStation 3 firmware hack will only affect hardware modders, according to a gaming security expert. Chinese hacker group BlueDisk-CFW has published a tool that circumvents the console's firmware. This was followed by the release of "LV0 decryption key." The decryption keys allow PS3 firmware packages …

17. Apple's 13-inch Retina MacBook torn asunder for your pleasure

    Bonus! Adorable kitten photos

    Mere days after Apple announced the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display, the good folks at the parts, tools, and repair-guide website iFixit have torn one apart – carefully, carefully – and found some interesting innards. Not only that, but they also ratcheted up the teardown's cuteness level by including the globally …

18. Sinofsky: Surface 'best tablet, best laptop' he's ever used

    So solid Redmond built a Surface skateboard

    After a brief pause for recuperation after the Windows 8 launch, Microsoft's Windows supremo Steven Sinofsky went straight out and started on Surface and how it measures up to competition. "It's not just a tablet. It's actually the best tablet that I've ever used," he said. "It's also not just a laptop, but it's the best …

19. Surface tablet's touch cover is ZX81 REBORN

    FIRST FONDLE Hands on with Redmond's Typoslab

    The Surface tablet's Touch Cover is eerily reminiscent of typing on a ZX81, The Register can report after fondling one of the elusive (to non Microsoft-adoring press) computers at the Australian launch of Windows 8. To do so, we elbowed aside other media and scored a few minutes on a Surface running Windows RT. We were able to …

20. Dyson alleges spy stole 'leccy motor secrets for Bosch

    Clean up your act, says vacuum maker

    British vacuum cleaner magnate Dyson has started High Court proceedings against German industrial giant Bosch, claiming its rival swiped its designs for a new generation of electric motor. Mark Taylor, Dyson's R&D chief, said: “Bosch’s VP for engineering employed a Dyson engineer and benefited from our confidential know-how …