• Apple to end music restrictions

Apple has announced at Macworld that music on its iTunes store will now be DRM free.

  • Tech show bucks global downturn

More than 130,000 people are expected to travel to Las Vegas for the giant Consumer Electronics Show.

  • Twitter hit by security breaches

The micro-blogging site has to deal with both a phishing scam and a hack of some very high profile accounts.

  • Apple's Jobs admits poor health

Steve Jobs, head of Apple, has disclosed in a press statement that he is being treated for a hormone imbalance.

  • NI links up to underwater cable

Northern Ireland is to be linked to an underwater transatlantic communications cable for the first time.

  • Police 'encouraged' to hack more

The Home Office has signed up to an EU suggestion allowing police to remotely access computers without a search warrant.

  • Cloud hangs over Macworld opening

More than 50,000 people are expected at the Macworld show this week for the final year that Apple will take part.

  • Getting into space by broomstick

The proposed space elevator project could be powered by a simple new approach, demonstrated using a broomstick.

  • Be not afraid: Nepalese children's first encounters with computers

The E-library in Nepal proves a hit with children unfamiliar with computers.

  • Get your up-to-date fix of blog posts about all things digital

  • Video: Macworld rumour roundup

Guardian technology correspondent Bobbie Johnson considers the rumours circulating around this year's Macworld expo in San Francisco

  • Stickman, Buccaneer and the whole future of indie game development

Once upon a time, not long ago, it looked like bedroom coding was dead ? at least as a commercial pursuit. The nineties brought in a growing obsession with detailed 3D visuals, requiring ever-larger teams of ever more specialised coders, artists and designers. And while an indie gaming scene continued to flourish online, the fruits of those labours were largely unseen and unappreciated by mainstream gamers.

But a lot has happened over the last three years. Vitally, Microsoft started trawling the indie scene for content to fill its Xbox Live Arcade service. Sony and Nintendo soon followed suit, resulting in the likes of Braid, World of Goo, Mutant Storm and Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People becoming key downloadable releases. At the same time, the growing PC casual gaming scene, together with the arrival of the iPod and iPhone as fully-fledged gaming platforms, has built an audience that clamours for graphically simple puzzle and word games. In a sense, casual gaming has legitimised non-naturalistic, often 2D, visuals and intuitive gameplay, reclaiming videogame culture for the masses.

Bedroom coding is back.

What we're seeing now is an intriguing interplay between the community ethic of indie coding and the commercial clout of the industry's corporate giants. And Stickman Studios is a great example.

Formed in 2005, Stickman is essentially Simon Nevill and Harvey Greensall, two ex-Codemasters staffers with backgrounds in web design and architectural modeling. Bored of churning out trees, tarmac and other peripheral objects for games like Club Football, LMA Manager and Colin McRae, the duo quit to set up their own studio. Originally, their plan was to abandon videogames altogether and work on a card trading game, but an encounter with Imperial Glory by Pyro Studios got them thinking about creating their own pirate adventure.

"We really liked the naval battles in the game which were set during the Napoleonic Wars," explains Nevill. "The ships looked great and it had a good feel to it, but it had a point-and-click interface and the ships moved incredibly slowly. We thought that a faster-paced, arcade-style game could work for this same period of history. Our own idea was to give the player control over a single ship as opposed to a squadron of boats and make the ship itself the 'character'. So we based the game in the Caribbean and gave the player direct control of their very own pirate ship".

The result, released via Steam at the end of last year is Buccaneer: The Pursuit of Infamy, essentially an arcade shooter, based in wooden ships rather than spacecraft. Players blast through a variety of missions, upgrading their boat as they go ? sort of Team Fortress meets Midnight Club on the high seas.

It's a remarkable achievement, especially considering it's ostensibly the work of two men ? and neither of them coders. Their first decision was to license Torque, a fully-featured cheaply priced 3D engine developed by indie publisher GarageGames and available to small studios for just $150.

But price isn't the only attractive factor. As Nevill explains, "we wanted an engine that was not completely reliant upon having a full time coder sat working with us. Torque's script-based coding system meant that many areas of the game could be changed by us? simply altering settings in existing scripts. There is also a great community spirit on the GarageGames forums and any problems you encounter are likely to have been seen before, so there is always help readily available."

The GarageGames set-up, part-commercial publishing hub, part thriving community, is what indie gaming is all about in 2009. And the fact that large publishers like Vivendi are employing Torque is another hint that the mainstream industry is now happy to court the indie sector if the price and the results are right.

It's also the community element that insured Buccaneer became more than just an idea scribbled on the back of a fag packet. "We have had masses of help from a number of great people throughout the development process," admits Nevill. "Being basically self-funded (thus poor), we haven't had a budget for outsourcing work and so have relied heavily upon the good will of a number of people. Our time spent in the game industry meant that we already had contacts in the industry skilled in programming and several were willing to help us out in their spare time. Massive thanks must go out here to Neil Palframan, now working for Electronic Arts in Canada and Mr. "Winston Wolfe".

"We were also approached by a number of guys via the GarageGames forums who offered to supply audio work for us because they simply wanted to be involved with a pirate game. Our original plan was to do the vocal work ourselves and have some musically talented friends create a theme tune for us, but fortunately due to the incredible work supplied by some very talented individuals, Harvey and I were not required to get our microphones out. Special thanks have to go out to Pattarawit Arinyasak for his great Artificial Intelligence work, Joel Steudler for his unbelievable musical masterpieces and Captain Paul Bergel? the gravelly voice of Buccaneer."

Brilliantly, Stickman also somehow became involved with New Jersey-based, pirate metal band Swashbuckle who let the studio use some of their material in the game. They make a virtual appearance at the Buccaneer Tavern. "In return we put together a music video for their song "Drink Up!", which is accessible from our website."

Along the way, Simon and Harvey carried out freelance work for a range of companies to fund their pirate project. One client was veteran Leamington-based developer Blitz Games, to whom the chaps showed a demo of Buccaneer. Suitably impressed, Blitz offered to support the remainder of the game's development, providing vital QA testing and also using its bulging contacts book to secure distribution via Steam.

Coincidentally, Blitz was also making contact with another small studio, Regolith Games, entering into a similar partnership with them to see through the development of crossword puzzler, KrissX. From here, the company decided to formalise the process, setting up its 1>UP programme to fund and support smallscale game projects. "Funding is just one of the resources that we supply, and in fact that part is always likely to be a minor element," explains Chris Swan, Director of Blitz Arcade, the developer's specialist downloadable game studio. "We aren't trying to be a publisher here, and in fact one of our clients put it best when they likened us to a 'Swiss army knife of an agent' since there are so many elements that we can potentially provide. Things like advice on game prototypes based on our knowledge of the marketplace, resources such as art, design, code and audio, licensing our high-end BlitzTech, providing PR or legal advice - these can all be put into the mix.

"To be honest though I think one of the largest benefits is our network of contacts, which stretches all the way from outsourcing and developers to publishers and distributors. By being one of the largest independent developers we are also able to meet with a lot of the bigger players who are simply unable to provide the time for reviewing individual proposals from very small developers. So when Blitz has a meeting with a client, we can present an entire raft of games, some of which are ours and some which come through the 1>UP programme."

Blitz's approach reflects an industry-wide interest in embracing the indie community. The likes of XBLA (which should see a conversion of Buccaneer soon), PSN and WiiWare represent a reasonable revenue stream for publishers and developers, especially with a recession looming. However, in-house staff may not have the skills required to punch out cool, hugely intuitive budget games, with little or no management. If you look at something like Geometry Wars from Bizarre Creations, the project was started in the free time of experienced coder Stephen Cakebread, and may never have happened had he been shunted on to different, larger projects (see my blog post on the subject).

Instead, big industry players are reaching out to the indie scene to source talent. Blitz has formed 1>UP, but you've also got Epic buying small studios like Chair Entertainment and People Can Fly, and Valve nurturing its own mod community into tomorrow's A list developers.

It's probably the Valve model, of engaging with - and nurturing - a dedicated home coding community that's going to shape the industry over the next few years. Maintaining massive in-house teams will surely become all but impossible for many developers, and outsourcing only solves half of the problem ? outsource studios are usually highly specialized, perfect for churning out graphics and audio to strict pre-agreed templates, but often not able to provide their own creative ideas. Meanwhile, buying studios is a risky and expensive move, with no guarantee of subsequent product.

What 1>UP points to is perhaps a videogame publishing model that works more like ? for want of a better allusion ? a terrorist network: independent cells working on their own projects with only the loosest direction from a higher authority. If one cell goes down, there are others to produce the goods. Of course, there will always be a place for epic Triple 'A' blockbusters, but at the moment, the industry is undergoing a major period of fragmentation, both in terms of audience and available platforms ? the only way to hit all the targets is to produce a lot of cheap, original content.

Chris Swan agrees that creating small, highly-targeted games could well be the way ahead. "It's always hard to predict ahead in this industry, but I'm confident that in the long run this is an area of growth. In particular, as the portals and platform-holders more sublimely present the consumers with tailor-made game lists, we should be in an era where every kind of game can reach and make an impact on its ideal audience". Through the inter-coupling of indie guile with corporate experience and finance, the industry is going long-tail. Chris is right; nothing is really predictable from here.

  • Tech Weekly podcast: Macworld and CES preview

This week, we bring you four Tech Weekly programmes (so, more Tech Daily, perhaps?), based around what's happening at the Macworld and Consumer Electronics Show expos in the US.

Bobbie Johnson will round up the big names and scour the floor to find out about the new exciting gadgets that we'll be seeing during 2009 ? and we'll bring them to your ears every morning this week (UK time).

Today's installment is a preview to this week's events, with our regular columnist Paul Carr and Kat Hannaford, T3.com's news editor. They tell us what to look out for (and what NOT to expect), and Bobbie goes off to meet the Mac devotees that are sat at the very front of the queue for tomorrow's show.

Get involved and tell us what you'd like to hear this week from all the shows (the contact details are below), and don't forget to check out Bobbie's video reports too, as well as all the coverage from Macworld and CES.

Don't forget to...

? Comment below...
? Call our Skype voicemail
? Mail us at tech@guardian.co.uk
? Get our Twitter feed for programme updates
? Join our Facebook group
? See our pics on Flickr/Post your tech pics

  • Hospitals told to lift ban on mobile phones

Hospitals in England should allow the use of mobile phones except in areas where they interfere with medical equipment or invade privacy, ministers said today.

NHS trusts should give patients, staff and visitors the "widest possible use" of their phones, the guidance from the Department of Health states.

It comes five years after experts said hospital-wide bans on mobiles were unnecessary.

In May 2007, the department recommended mobile phones were banned on wards and in operating theatres. The latest guidance is less prescriptive.

But it states that mobiles should continue to be banned where the electromagnetic fields could interfere with critical care equipment.

Hospitals must clearly indicate where mobile phones can and cannot be used, the guidance states.

Ben Bradshaw, the health minister, said mobiles could provide patients with close support and comfort from their loved ones.

He said: "Mobile phones are commonplace in everyday life these days and people have told us that they'd like to be able to use their phones more in hospital to keep in touch.

"That's why we're keen to encourage sensible use in NHS hospitals where it is safe to do so, in addition to other services offered in hospitals such bedside payphones, TV and internet access."

Clive Bray, director of device technology and safety at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, said: "The MHRA recognises that mobile phones provide a practical way for patients to keep in touch with friends and relatives during their hospital stay. We welcome the clarification in guidance on the use of mobile phones in non critical areas."

Michael Summers, vice-chairman of the Patients' Association, that in the average ward there was "absolutely no reason" why a mobile phone could not be used provided it was done discreetly and without upsetting those nearby.

Nigel Edwards, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said: "Any change to current policy on mobile phone use should take account of patients need for privacy as well as the fact that contact with relatives and friends can in many cases make a stay in hospitals less stressful and worrying.

 "However the last thing we want to do is to make hospitals more stressful than they need to be because of the noise of annoying ring tones or the kind of loud phone conversations that already plague much of everyday life. Doctors and nurses doing their rounds should not have to constantly wait for patients to finish phone calls and night-times on wards should not be disturbed by the chirruping of text messages.

"We need to ensure there is no free-for all and that policies supported by patients and staff are put in place such as quiet rooms and no mobile zones. There needs to be clarity on when mobile phones can be used and what visitors can do. "

  • Game review: 101 in 1 Explosive Megamix for Nintendo DS

Given the prevailing, recessionary mood, 101 in 1: Explosive Megamix would seem to be spot-on.

As the name suggests, it crams 101 mini-games onto a Nintendo DS cartridge. And as you could imagine, those games are short and sweet affairs. You get to play each for five minutes, in a quest to amass as many points as possible. Initially, only 10 are unlocked, but as you rack up the requisite number of points, you begin to unlock the other 91.

Explosive Megamix makes decent use of the DS's attributes: all of the games are controlled using the stylus rather than buttons, and are surprisingly impressive in terms of graphics. They involve tasks like playing keepy-uppy with a football, chucking a basketball from the bottom screen into a hoop on the top screen, or playing air-hockey or darts.

But occasionally, they demonstrate a WarioWare-style modicum of inventiveness, such as when you're invited to fire skewers at floating pieces of sushi, or manipulate an ever-growing smiley-face which eats bubbles in a fish-tank, while avoiding the fish therein.

Some of the games, naturally, will bug you enormously. But in general, it's perfect for train journeys and the like, and surprisingly addictive.

  • Game review: 100 Classic Book Collection for Nintendo DS

E-readers are still a minority fad, so how does the concept work on a cheap, already popular device like the DS?

Not bad, actually ? having two screens makes turning pages by stylus feel natural and there's several levels of zoom to compensate for all the squinting you have to do, especially in direct sunlight. As for content, you get a substantial library of classics here, from Austen to Shakespeare and Dickens, with another 10 to be downloaded over Wi-Fi.

Is it as an enjoyable way of reading? Not particularly. Despite clever features like a search facility and some ugly bookmarks, it still feels too bland and impersonal ? but you can't fault it for value.

  • Game review: A Vampyre Story for PC

Point and click adventure games once ruled the gaming roost. Early 90s classics like LucasArts' Secret of Monkey Island were a heady mix of puzzles, storytelling and easy to use controls.

But the rise of 3D graphics essentially killed off a genre which has now been commercially dead for over a decade. But a revival may be on. The Wii and the Nintendo DS ? both having controllers ideally suited to the genre ? have seen a number of point and clickers released and now the PC is getting back on board.

Vampyre Story was created by a team of ex-LucasArts employees and the pedigree shows throughout. For a start it looks fantastic ? all gothic cartoon and comedy bloodsuckers ? but it is the story and puzzles that charm. The conundrums are usually straightforward "use object" puzzles, although retro fans will be enjoying some of the more obtuse teasers. Occasionally niggly controls are an issue, but Vampyre Story is a treat for adventure veterans and newcomers alike.

  • Professor Gerry Gilmore on the Milky Way's collision course

Our home galaxy is set to collide with neighbouring Andromeda. Professor Gerry Gilmore explains

  • Chatterbox Tuesday

Tuesday's edition of Chatterbox

  • Former eBay boss prepares to run for office

It's been a long time coming, but former eBay chief Meg Whitman now appears to be preparing to run for the post of governor of California.

Whitman seems to be planning a future as Arnold Schwarzenegger's successor, and she's spent the past year getting her credentials in order. Her ties to the Republicans are tight: she was a co-chair of John McCain's failed election campaign and before that an adviser to Mitt Romney's failed campaign to win the Republican nomination.

With such a startling record of political success, I quite hope she gets the nod - but I also hope that people start to question her period in charge of eBay.

After all, yes, she guided the company from a small outfit to worldwide success. She made it through the dotcom bust and came out the other side. But then things started to go awry: when eBay turned into a massive struggling bureaucracy that needed a bit of direction and oomph, she decided to buy Skype (which the company had to write down by $1.4bn) and then, this time last year, got the hell out of Dodge.

And just a few months after she bailed, the company laid off 10% of its workforce. California's got plenty of problems already.

Still, record aside, Whitman wouldn't be the first technology executive to try her hand at politics. Although in recent years Bill Gates has wielded the greatest political influence of any technology supremo (he once told me that he regularly phoned Tony Blair and Gordon Brown to check on the progress of the NHS's troubled IT upgrade) in the end he preferred to exercise his muscle for the company, not the country.

In recent American history, that means the most famous example of a technologist-turned-politician is Ross Perot, the founder of Electronic Data Systems who ran as an independent presidential candidate in 1992 and 1996. At his most successful, Perot received as much as 19% of the popular vote. Crikey.

Sidenote: Whitman's political links have also led some to speculate that she could be lined up as a potential secretary of commerce under Barack Obama. But despite another high-profile vacancy under the new White House administration, there's no whisper that she could be up for the job of America's CTO.

  • Truphone adds Skype, Twitter to iPhone client

The internet telephony company has turned its client for the iPhone and iPod Touch into an aggregator for Skype, Twitter, Google Talk, MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger

  • AMD chip bundle targets 'ultra-thin' notebooks

The chipset bundle, which includes the Athlon Neo processor, is aimed at laptops that are larger and have better components than netbooks, but are cheaper than ultraportables

  • Logitech to slash 15 percent of workforce

The Swiss manufacturer of computer peripherals such as webcams and mice cites the economic downturn as the reason for the job cuts

  • Twitter hack targets Obama, Britney

The popular microblogging site says its support tools were hacked and 33 high-profile user accounts compromised on Monday

  • Android becomes an accessibility testbed

There is much kerfuffling going on right now about the news that, shock horror, paid-for apps will soon appear in the Android Marketplace. Um, isn't that what marketplaces are for? Far more...

  • PM's spending plans may pave way for fibre rollout

Gordon Brown looks to have given the go-ahead to a recession-busting programme of investment that could see super-fast broadband rolled out across the UK

  • Toshiba moves into solar-power business

The company has created a unit dedicated to building large-scale power plants using solar-photovoltaic panels

  • Skype 2.8 for Mac set for release

Mac users will be the first to see new features such as screen sharing and an integrated Wi-Fi hotspot connector

  • Conservatives promise help for green tech start-ups

David Cameron has revealed a set of measures that could see green technology companies get a helping hand from any future Tory government

  • Google readies Picasa beta for Mac

A long-awaited version of Google's software for editing, cataloguing and uploading photos is set to arrive in beta form