Features

• What Obama's re-election may mean for technology

  The US presidential election result leaves President Barack Obama in the White House and maintains the balance of power in Congress. In many longstanding technology debates, policy experts see little movement forward, although lawmakers may look for compromises on a handful of issues.

• IT in 2011: Four trends that will change priorities

  It's always a challenge for IT departments to anticipate how corporate technical demands will evolve, especially when IT budgets have been as tight as a drum for two years.

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  Four technologies for faster broadband in 2011

  A number of different technologies are being developed or improved to offer higher speeds for fixed and mobile broadband networks, as operators are preparing to compete with each other and carry video traffic in 3D and at higher resolutions, which is expected to happen in the coming year.

• In Pictures: Broadband according to the OECD

  The Broadband Portal by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) provides an interesting insight into the development of broadband and fibre globally. Here's a look at some of the key graphs and charts showing who's fastest, who's cheapest and how Australia really fares with its neighbours when it comes to lightning-fast Internet.

• Google Chrome 5 Beta: The top five features

  Google recently launched the beta version of Google Chrome 5, the next iteration of the search giant's Web browser. New features include HTML 5 specifications like Geolocation and file drag-and-drop; expanded cloud sync capabilities; Flash integration; and JavaScript engine speed boosts.

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  Google's big fiber play: What gives?

  Google on Wednesday announced that it wants to "build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States." Google's proposed networks would service anywhere from 50,000 to 500,000 people with commercial broadband Internet service reaching speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second.

• Facebook tracks your every move, employee claims

  Facebook is tracking your every move on the site -- or so says one purported Facebook employee, according to an anonymous interview with the Rumpus. In the interview, the Facebook employee, whose identity was protected so she wouldn't lose her job for talking to the media, also said that Facebook employees have relatively easy access to user accounts.

• Study: US sees 'broadband boom' this decade

  The U.S. government should avoid making huge changes in its deregulatory telecom policies because consumers have seen a "broadband boom" since 2000, according to a new paper released Wednesday.

• Bill would limit broadband fees based on use

  A new bill in the U.S. House of Representatives would require large broadband providers to get permission from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission before rolling out broadband subscription fees based on bandwidth use.

• EC drafts rules for state aid in new broadband networks

  The European Commission has laid out guidelines for how European Union national governments can boost development of super-fast broadband networks without falling foul of European laws designed to restrict state aid.

• 10 IT agenda items for the first US CIO

  Obama's appointment of Vivek Kundra marks an important first step for rectifying the nation's concerns about IT.

• Five ways to bulk up your network for telecommuters

  Whether they're in branch offices or home offices, workers are increasingly telecommuting instead of working in a traditional centralized office environment.

• 20 amazing, amusing and alarming IT facts

  A new report warns that the cost from lost productivity at work related to the new NFL season could add up to US$10.5 billion. And there we were, thinking the biggest waste of time at work came from fielding an endless stream of IT industry reports?