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Star Trek-style 'tricorder' invention offered $10m prize By Chris Vallance BBC News Without the tricorder The Enterprise crew would have struggled to boldly go A $10m (£6.5m) prize is on offer to whoever can create a Star Trek-like medical "tricorder". The Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize has challenged researchers to build a tool capable of capturing "key health metrics and diagnosing a set of 15 diseases". It needs to be light enough for would-be Dr McCoys to carry - a maximum weight of 5lb (2.2kg). The prize was launched at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. According to the official Star Trek technical manual, a tricorder is a portable "sensing, computing and data communications device". The kit captured the imagination of the show's millions of viewers when it was first used in the cult series' first broadcast in 1966. In the show, which was set in the 23rd Centu...

Ofcom boosts 4G coverage plan in rural 'not-spots' The 4G mobile tech will help to bring faster broadband to rural areas Ofcom has revised proposals for its fourth-generation mobile spectrum auction, adding measures that could bring coverage to 98% of the UK. The regulator said the winning bidder will have to provide the high-speed coverage to current "not-spot" areas. It said the measures would help bring fast mobile internet to parts of the country that are underserved. The bidding process for the spectrum is still scheduled for the end of this year, Ofcom said. A 10-week consultation period into the revisions will now begin ahead of Ofcom's final decision on the precise details of the auction. In a statement, Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards said: "We are proposing a significant enhancement of mobile broadband, extending 4G coverage beyond levels of existing 2G coverage - helping to serve many areas of the UK that have traditionall...

Apple ends China iPhone store sales after scuffles The BBC's Michael Bristow in Beijing: "Eggs were thrown, the police were called" Apple has said it will halt the sale of all iPhone models from its stores in China, after large crowds disrupted the launch of the iPhone 4S. An Apple store in the Sanlitun area of Beijing failed to open after a large crowd gathered outside in anticipation of the launch. The crowd became unruly, throwing eggs. Scuffles broke out with police. China is the world's largest mobile phone market, and Apple's second-biggest market. The iPhone 4S, which has voice-activated functions, was being introduced through official Apple stores in China for the first time. Tough market Apple said in a statement that it decided not to open its store at Sanlitun "due to the large crowd, and to ensure the safety of our customers and employees".   Pol...

Alaskan Indian woodcarver revives extinct totem art David Boxley had to learn the craft of totem pole carving by visiting examples in museums and studying the ancient designs World renowned artist David Boxley and his son are carving a Tsimshian Alaskan Indian totem pole for a prominent American museum. With no skilled artists alive to instruct him in the traditional craft, Boxley had to learn on his own. The Tsimshian tell a myth. A young boy was walking along a beach when he came across an eagle entangled in a fish net. He freed the eagle and it flew away. The boy grew up to become the chief of his village, which was struck by a famine. As he walked along the same beach wondering what to do, a salmon fell out of the sky and landed at his feet. He looked up and saw the eagle he had rescued years before. "He didn't realize that the eagle was a nax-nox - in my language that means spirit guardian, a su...

Burma frees high-profile dissidents in amnesty The BBC's Rachel Harvey says the move is a "hugely significant step" Several high-profile dissidents have been set free in Burma in the latest of a series of prisoner amnesties. Those freed include veterans of the 1988 student protest movement, monks involved in the 2007 demonstrations and ethnic-minority activists. The highest profile is Min Ko Naing, a leader of the failed 1988 uprising. State TV had announced that 651 prisoners would be freed under a new presidential pardon, but did not say how many would be political prisoners. Burma has faced calls from the international community to free more dissidents. The BBC's South East Asia correspondent Rachel Harvey says the names of those released read like a who's who of Burma's most prominent political detainees. Eyewitness Soe Win Than BBC Burmese, Rangoon The atmosphere w...

Eve teasing in India: Assault or harassment by another name By Nidhi Dutt BBC News, Mumbai   It's an unfortunate truth that women are sexually harassed, and sometimes assaulted, the world over. But in the Indian state of Maharashtra, there is an increasing determination to stamp out "Eve teasing", as it is called here, for good. It was afternoon and we had just finished filming. My colleague and I were piling in to a rickshaw, heading back to the bureau. And that's when it happened. We were suddenly surrounded by a group of boys, barely teenagers. At first the whole thing seemed harmless, if a little predictable - the cheery interest of a group of bright eyed, smiling boys. Their approach was not unusual, foreigners and cameras make for an unmissable attraction in India. But it was only a matter of minutes, possibly seconds, before the smiles turned into a blur of pawing, grabbing hands. Their indecent behav...