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Five will not be given a Freeview HD slot, with Ofcom deciding that the broadcaster has been unable to reach 'key criteria' to keep its slot, and deciding that the BBC should be given any extra room.

Channel 4 had bid for a second HD slot, but the communcations watchdog was not convinced by that bid either and any spare allocation on multiplex B will now be handed over to the BBC.

The BBC has yet to announce if this will mean the potential for a second HD channel to join BBC HD, with Ofcom merely stating that: "the BBC will now consider options to ensure the capacity can be used to provide High Definition services that will further benefit viewers of digital terrestrial television."

Five and C4 fail

"In June 2009, Ofcom made a provisional decision to reserve a HD slot for Channel 5 Broadcasting Ltd to provide new services on Freeview from 2010," said Ofcom. "This decision was subject to it resolving certain key criteria by the end of 2009.

"Channel 5 Broadcasting Ltd has not been able to resolve these outstanding issues.

"The only other applicants, Channel 4 and S4C, were unable to provide Ofcom with confirmation of their ability to launch a service within a defined timescale.

"Ofcom has therefore decided not to reserve capacity for either of the applicants at this time.

"Any capacity within Multiplex B that is not reserved by Ofcom is available for the BBC to use.

Second chance in 2012

However, all is not lost for Five, or for the chance of a second Channel 4 HD service, with Ofcom stating that it will listen to new applications from the commercial public service broadcasters in two years' time.

"Ofcom intends next year to give the Commercial Public Service Broadcasters another opportunity to apply to provide an additional HD service from 2012," stated Ofcom.

More to follow

Apple and Google love it. Adobe allegedly fears it. Microsoft is sort of squinting at it. It's HTML5, the future of the Web. So, er, what is it?

HTML is the language that tells your browser what to do, whether that's showing a LOLcat or running a browser-based application, and HTML5 is its latest incarnation. It's designed to handle the way the Web works now and in the future, which means support for Web applications and multimedia, and your browser already supports some of its key features.

Still none the wiser? Don't worry: here's your quick guide to what it is, why it matters and why people are getting excited about it.

1. It could replace Flash and Silverlight in a lot of sites…

Lots of websites use Flash or Silverlight technology to deliver video, and that's something HTML5 is perfectly capable of doing - without requiring the installation of a plugin. Other sites use Flash or Silverlight to deliver animation. HTML5 can do that too - without requiring the installation of a plugin.

2. …but it won't kill Flash or Silverlight

There's a lot more to Flash and Silverlight than mere video playback. Replicating some of the more interesting games, interfaces and Rich Internet Applications is a whole different ballgame. Remember, too, that Flash and Silverlight aren't carved in stone or dependent on browser support: if Adobe or Microsoft dream up a cool new feature they can build it, stick it in their plugin and update all their users almost immediately.

There's also the issue of hardware video acceleration, which the latest Flash Player - on Windows - takes advantage of: in tests by Jan Ozer [http://www.streaminglearningcenter.com/articles/flash-player-cpu-hog-or-hot-tamale-it-depends-.html] Flash was less of a hardware hog than HTML5.

There's another very good reason why the Web won't entirely switch to HTML 5 audio and video: DRM.

3. It doesn't do DRM

Publishing content in unprotected, easily duplicated formats won't appeal to some of the bigger media firms, so they'll stick with what they're currently using.

4. It's good news for Web app users

Some of the most important bits of HTML5 are under the hood where they make coding Web applications simpler and the apps themselves more stable - which means better performance and fewer crashes. It also provides a mechanism for offline data storage, blurring the boundaries between web apps and desktop ones.

5. It's killed Google Gears…

Gears was Google's technology for making its web applications work offline, but the search giant has decided that HTML5 is a better solution to the same issue. As a result, it's stopped developing Google Gears (although it's still supporting the technology until HTML5 can do every single thing Gears does).

6. …but it won't kill Photoshop

HTML5 is great for browser-based applications, but trying to replicate something as complicated - and as performance-dependent - as Photoshop would be madness. Madness!

7. It knows where you live

One of the most interesting bits in HTML5 is its support for Geolocation, which works out where you are (based on your IP address, or GPS if your hardware has a GPS chip) provided you give it the go-ahead. That opens up some interesting possibilities such as location-aware search results, or Big Brother-style monitoring by the boss.

8. You can use it right now…

All the major browser makers are baking HTML5 into their browsers like chocolate chips in a cookie, so for example the welcome screen in Apple's Safari is an HTML5 effort. You'll find lots of HTML5 demos at the cunningly named HTML5 Demos website [http://html5demos.com/].

9. …but it's all over the place

As you probably noticed on HTML5 Demos, many of the demos only work on a few browsers. That's because different browsers have different levels of support, and differing approaches to common elements [http://a.deveria.com/caniuse/#agents=All&eras=All&cats=HTML5&statuses=rec,pr,cr,wd,ietf] - so for example while Safari, Chrome and Firefox all support HTML5 video, Firefox only works with the Ogg Theora codec while the others prefer H.264. Internet Explorer doesn't support either.

10. It's evolution, not revolution

Introducing HTML5 to the Internet isn't a big, dramatic event where some Web guru flicks a giant lever and we all switch over to a new technology. It's much more subtle than that. With each new browser version more of HTML5 becomes supported, and as that support improves websites will start to take advantage of more HTML5 features.

Apple could be set to release the iPhone HD later this year, according to a new video 'uncovered' by a tech fan.

A new commercial discovered on YouTube shows the new iPhone HD, and brings up a new phone with a radically new chassis.

We're taking this 'discovery' with so much salt that we're in danger of drying up completely - we can't imagine that Apple would change the iPhone design so much for the upgrade, as maintaining chassis shape and basic specs makes for easier and cheaper upgrades.

What would the iPhone HD look like?

The iPhone HD would basically mean a phone with a higher-power camera, apparently a front-facing camera for video conferencing, and a new high-res screen.

Although the second point does tally with forthcoming tariff changes to allow video calling on an iPhone, the rest just seems a bit fanboy-friendly to be taken seriously.

But it does solve the problem of what the next iPhone will be called (iPhone 4G would be too confusing ahead of the actual high speed 4G services coming in a few years) and iPhone HD has a very Jobs-y ring to it.

Have a look at the video below and tell us what you think - accidental leak from Apple or someone getting a bit over-excited with iMovie?

WikiLeaks may not be fighting fit at the moment, but the whistle-blowing site is still releasing some interesting titbits while it waits for money to make it fully operational again.

In a 'pop will eat itself moment', it has decided to make a US counter intelligence document available to the public which outlines ways America's Government is trying to stop the flow of restricted information getting to the site.

Increased threats

The document is titled 'Wikileaks.org – An Online Reference to Foreign Intelligence Services, Insurgents, or Terrorist Groups?' and was created in 2008.

In the report it reveals that information leaked to WikiLeaks "could result in increased threats to DoD personnel, equipment, facilities, or installations".

It also notes that: "Wikileaks.org uses trust as a center of gravity by assuring insiders, leakers, and whistleblowers who pass information to Wikileaks.org personnel or who post information to the website that they will remain anonymous.

"The identification, exposure, or termination of employment of or legal actions against current or former insiders, leakers, or whistleblowers could damage or destroy this centre of gravity and deter others from using Wikileaks.org to make such information public."

WikiLeaks is a site that strives to make sensitive information public in the name of freedom of speech. Leaking a document which outlines an active push to stifle this isn't just back-slapping but something of a call to arms to those who want to keep this type of information in the public eye.

This is something it needs to do, if it is to get the $600,000 needed to stay afloat.

Talks between Google and China are still on-going but it seems that the search giant is ready to pull out of the country.

The censorship feud has been on-going since January, when Google issued a statement that it would not tolerate censorship of its search service in China.

Both parties have stood firm since, with China's Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Li Yizhong, saying last week that: "if you betray Chinese laws and regulations... it means that you are unfriendly, irresponsible, and you will have to pay the consequences."

Google isn't likely to fork out for what consequences Yizhong is alluding too, however, with the search giant saying to Reuters this week: "We've been very clear that we are no longer going to self-censor our search results."

Sinking the censor ship

Also speaking to Reuters, Mark Natkin, Managing Director of Marbridge Consulting, explained his though, noting: "Our forecast has always remained firm that once Google announced it would not accept censorship, then it was nearly impossible to imagine a scenario either where Google didn't act on that or the government accepted their position."

Google hasn't announced outright it is ditching China. Instead it has issued a statement saying: "We are in active discussions with the Chinese government, but we are not going to engage in a running commentary about those conversations."

Unless Google or China blink first – and we know that's not going to happen – then all signs point to a less-than amicable split.

Virgin Media has announced the arrival of Sci Fi HD for its cable platform, with the latest channel due to arrive on 13 April.

it's a case of another day, another HD channel announcement for a UK platform, following a raft of announcements by Virgin and Sky last week.

With the channel due to follow its American brother and rebrand as the horribly clumsy SyFy on the same date, Virgin Media customers can look forward to the likes of the V reimagining and, of course, Legend of the Seeker in HD.

6th sense

This is the sixth HD channel announced by Virgin Media this year, as the quality of the picture becomes increasingly important in the buying process for UK consumers who appear to be finally waking up to the fact that an HD Ready TV needs a high definition source.

Virgin Media's executive director of digital entertainment, Cindy Rose, said: "The Sci Fi channel is synonymous with the science fiction genre and premieres many high-profile, first-run series.

"We are excited to be bringing the channel's programmes to our customers in spectacular HD ahead of its rebrand as I know they will be introducing yet more fantastic shows in the coming months.

"We are continuing to add more HD channels to our growing line-up, all of which are all available to our XL TV customers for no extra monthly fee."

Early adopters

Laurence Dawkin-Jones, UK MD of Universal Networks International, added: "Sci Fi channel audience tend to be early adopters so they will love the opportunity to watch some of their favourite shows in fantastic high definition.

"The picture quality will really make the most of our new look channel and the fantastic raft of UK premiere shows we've got coming up."

Sci Fi HD is already available on Sky's satellite platform.

Nokia and Apple are supposed to be duking it out in court over both infringing on each other's patents - but that doesn't seem likely to happen any time soon.

According to Reuters, the duo will only actually get to present their cases to a packed courtroom (probably with a comedic, oddball lawyer if TV dramas are to be believed) by 2012.

This means that this litigation battle - unless settled in the intervening period - will be dragged over months and months, by which point the balance of power in the mobile world may have shifted even further.

What's it all about?

Engadget has a good description of what this is all about - basically, Nokia is required by the licensing groups to license out its patents to anyone who wants them 'on fair terms'.

However, under Nokia's interpretation of said 'fair terms' it wanted cross-licensing of Apple's touchscreen technology.

Hence now Apple is suing for breach of contract by not being fair as well as Nokia nabbing its touchscreen tech, and Nokia suing because Apple is using its tech without being licensed. And breathe.

Nokia has since moved to ask the court to dismiss Apple's contract dispute, claiming it clouds the issue unnecessarily.

Looks like this case will rumble on in a rather dull fashion - we'd like to suggest a cage fight instead, but we doubt that will ever happen. Or will it...?

Last month saw YOYOtech's latest behemoth crash-land onto our test-benches in a cloud of benchmarks. It was a £5,500 rig that looked fantastic from a distance, gave great synthetic scores but up close wasn't as rosy as we'd hoped.

CyberPower, in the meantime, has jumped to it and is keen to show what it can do for half that; and so we have the Infinity i7 Phoenix. Quite which flames this li'l bird is rising from we're not sure, and we can promise YOYOtech the Fi7epower MLK3 hasn't been turned into ashes, so stop fretting.

What we do have here is a slightly more responsible spec on a machine that will take whatever you throw at it, whether you're gaming or rendering your own response to Avatar. At nearly three large it's still a huge outlay cash-wise, but there are enough bi-annual upgraders out there looking for their next £2,500 rig that this price point stands nowhere near the ridiculous level the Fi7epower occupies.

It's still got it where it counts though, with a Bloomfield Core i7 CPU running at 4GHz, more RAM than you can shake a Villazon at, a lightning-fast SSD boot drive and the fastest single-PCB GPU around. Obviously cuts have had to be made when compared with YOYOtech's monster machine, but for the most part these have been made intelligently, minimising the performance hit.

The most obvious is in the choice of CPU; going for the cheaper, out-going, i7 920 saves a lot of cash and in day-to-day use you will hardly notice the difference.

The storage array is where the biggest drop in performance will be felt, though plumping for only a single X25-M SSD as the boot drive will still give you an enormous boost over any HDD-based solution you're used to. The RAID pairing of the Fi7epower is incredible, but the twinning of the single drive and the massive 24GB RAM means that the desktop speed of the Phoenix is still lightning quick.

You could arguably halve the RAM and save yourself some cash without impacting performance too much, especially if you went for faster memory as well.

Pixel poor

The real disappointment though is the choice of graphics card. When you're spending between £550 and £620 on the graphics the cash difference between getting two HD 5870s in CrossFire and a single dual- GPU HD 5970 is negligible. The performance difference though can be huge.

This is where the Phoenix drops performance points on the Fi7epower and in a place where it really didn't need to. You're still having to cope with the vagaries of CrossFire with the HD 5970 so you might as well drop another £50-odd on the faster cards.

Still, the Phoenix is a well put together rig, immaculately tidy inside and stress-tested to within an inch of its life to make sure the setup's stable when it gets to you. Customise the rig on the site with 12GB of 1,800MHz RAM and swap out the 5970 for twin 5870s and you'll save over £200 on the list price.

This will hit the same benches as the Fi7epower without requiring you lug around that monstrous Thermaltake Level 10 chassis…

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Ford is planning an in-car app store to allow developers to build software that will run in customisable displays in its new web-enabled cars.

Ford revealed its plans for in-car apps in a recent SXSW talk embarrassingly called, 'Dude, This Is My Car' hosted by Ford R & D man TJ Giuli, and Paddy Srinivasan, founder of cloud computing company Cumulux.

The panellists discussed a host of intriguing ideas for in-car entertainment and other apps, such as games that scored you points for driving in a more eco-friendly way, in which you might compete against friends to see who is the 'greenest' driver.

More interesting journeys

There was also mention of the possibilities of a tour-guiding app that links GPS navigation to Wikipedia to keep you posted on your surroundings and nearby points of interest.

"Instead of having points of interest drawn from a stock database, what if you could have POIs your friends have recommended to you?" said Giuli.

More practically, there could also be apps that contacted your nearest and dearest to help you out in case of emergency.

The BlackBerry slider phone - the one that has been shown off in a number of spy shots in the last few weeks - has had a bit more dirt dug up on it.

New photos have emerged (shocking, we know) of the new BlackBerry, with comparisons to the Bold 9700.

Some are even positing that this will be called the 9700a, essentially a slider phone update to the popular new Bold.

Bigger, longer - faster?

The photos show the new slider phone next to a BlackBerry Bold 9700, highlighting that it's much thicker and a little longer (which you'd expect with an extra expanse of screen and keyboard wedged in there).

However, despite the myriad pictures leaking out of the phone, we're starting to doubt that this phone is actually in the works.

Each of the leaks look like further pictures of the same phone - so until we start seeing it turning up in other locations we're not sure this isn't much more than a retired prototype.

Add to that the fact it won't even turn on, and we're starting to worry even more - so here's hope the internet's intrepid spy-cam lovers can unearth some more dirt.