4K TV broadcasting coming soon – thanks to Sony A new compression technique could mean that broadcasters won’t need to upgrade kit to stream 4K TV right now Sony, fresh from revealing its84in 4K TV, has got its brainiacs to work on compressing 4K information for easier broadcasting. Thanks to some clever compression using the current H.264 tech, Sony has managed to broadcast 4K footage in a broadcast-friendly 50Mbps stream. That means people like the BBC could start streaming 4K without the need to upgrade physical infrastructure – meaning 4K broadcasts could come sooner than we thought....

5 of the best quad-core gadgets The introduction of quad-core devices at MWC has marked the dawn of a fierce battle among powerful beasts – here’s our pick of the bunch LG Optimus 4X HD LG enters the quad-core race with its flagship Ice Cream Sandwich flavoured4X HD smartphone. Running at 1.5GHz per core and packing a 4.7in 720p hi-def screen and NFC capabilities, LG’s almighty blower packs an impressive punch....

Acer reveals Aspire M5 Ultrabooks Trying to keep your head above the torrent of recent Ultrabook announcements? Better catch your breath – here’s another one Another week, anotherUltrabookannouncement, this time courtesy of Acer, which has parted the curtains to reveal its new M5 Ultrabook range. Available in both 14in and 15in models (both packing Intel’s latestIvy Bridgesilicon), the Acer Aspire M5 features a thinner display bezel and a sleek metallic silver chassis with a black backlit chiclet keyboard....

Altered Yeast: Dough Globe turns bread into a virtual pet You can read that title a hundred times and be none the wiser. Just click on through where all will be revealed. Sort of… Knead for Speed: Bunderground. Red Bread Redemption. Bakémon. All bread-based gaming puns that we’ve come up with for the sole purpose describing this little device – the Dough Globe. Described as “somewhere between a pet rock and a cat” by Mint Digital creative director Utku Can, the Dough Globe monitors the health of a sourdough culture mix and lets you know how well it’s doing via an on-screen game....

Amazing two billion pixel photo lets you zoom into the heart of Mount Everest This amazing gigapixel photograph of the great white behemoth has left us speechless. Almost There are few words that can do photographer David Breashear’s interactive panoramic gigapixel photo of Mount Everest justice, so we suggest you stop what you’re doing right now and drink in each and every one of its two billion pixels, righthere. We’ve circled a few highlights above (red for climbers, yellow for base camp) but we’re sure you can find a few other hidden gems among the vast whiteness of the highest point on Earth....

Amazon Cloud Drive launched in UK Fancy 5GB free storage for storing whatever you like? Amazon welcomes your online junk The Amazon Cloud Drive is now available in the UK giving you 5GB storage for free. Simply download the app to your computer and you’re instantly granted the free storage with paid options for greater space. 20Gb will set you back a mere £6 per year, while 1TB will cost you a steeper £320 – but there’s plenty of option in between the two also....

Amazon Kindle Fire 2 will get hi-res screen Taking on the Nexus 7, Amazon plans to cram plenty of pixels into its new Kindle Fire Despite theGoogle Nexus 7dealing a blow to the Kindle Fire with its superior specs, Amazon is leading a hi-res fightback in the form of the Kindle Fire 2. Word on the web fromAllThingsDis that the Kindle Fire 2 will feature a thinner body coming with a built-in camera and a 1,280×800 resolution display (the same as theNexus 7, and better than theSamsung Galaxy Tab 2)....