Top 10 articles, 22 May 09

The most popular article this week came from the Thinking Digital conference in Newcastle, where delegates were encouraged to take a more open view of online piracy as it could spark innovation in unexpected ways. Not a view likely to be shared by the Business Software Alliance or the entertainment industry.

The launch of the Wolfram Alpha search tool, which dubs itself a 'computational knowledge engine', sparked a healthy debate among vnunet.com readers. According to the most recent figures from our Wolfram Alpha poll, it's neck and neck at the moment between people who acknowledged a few teething problems but would try it again, and those who think it's rubbish and are going to stick with Google.



Companies urged to embrace the piracy model

Unauthorised downloads can spark innovation in unpredictable ways



Wolfram Alpha launches to mixed reviews

Computational knowledge engine gets tentative thumbs-up, but problems persist



New Apple iPhone specs leaked online

Twice the storage, longer battery life, better camera and a new design



Top 10 disappointing technologies

'Game changers' that never quite hit their stride



Rumours point to new BlackBerry Storm

Update to RIM's touch-screen smartphone coming this summer?



Review: Acer Aspire Timeline 3810T

A thin-and-light laptop designed for a longer than average battery life



Palm reveals US launch date for Pre smartphone

Much anticipated handset to arrive on 6 June



Visual Studio 2010 beta launches this week

Update to flagship developer platform available for download from Monday



Sophos planning to supply anti-virus in Klingon

Marketing stunt or the ultimate niche market?



Ross email blunder highlights dangers of Twitter

Unfortunate updates can be hard to hide