Britain's oldest original computer, the Harwell, is being sent to the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley where it is to be restored to working order.

The computer, which was designed in 1949, first ran in 1951 and was designed to perform mathematical calculations; it lasted until 1973.

When first built the 2.4m x 5m computer was state-of-the-art, although it was superseded by transistor-based systems.

The restoration project is expected to take a year.

The system was built and used by staff at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment in Harwell, Oxfordshire.

Speaking to BBC News, Dick Barnes, who helped build the original Harwell computer, said the research was - officially at least - for civilian nuclear power projects.

"Officially it was to help with general background atomic theory and to assist in the development of civilian power," he said.

"Of course, it [the Atomic Energy Research Establishment] had connections to the nuclear weapons programme," he added.

Although not the first computer built in the UK, the Harwell had one of the longest service lives.

Built by a team of three people, the device was capable of doing the work of six to ten people and ran for seven years until the establishment obtained their first commercial computer.

The Booklet has 3G, Bluetooth, and wi-fi connectivity

The world's largest manufacturer of mobile phones will join the PC market with its Booklet 3G netbook.

The Windows-based device is about 2cm thick and will offer 3G connectivity as well as wi-fi.

Analysts said the laptop was a "natural extension" of the company's product range but the firm would face stiff competition.

Nokia will release price and availability information at an event in Stuttgart on 2 September.

The Booklet has an aluminium case, weighs 1.25 kilograms (2.75 lbs) and its 10-inch screen is HD-ready.

Nokia has released a number of small, "tablet"-style internet-enabled devices in the past to mixed reviews, but this is the first effort which is claimed to be a full-function PC.

"A growing number of people want the computing power of a PC with the full benefits of mobility," said Kai Oistamo, Nokia's executive vice president for devices.

"We are in the business of connecting people and the Nokia Booklet 3G is a natural evolution for us."

id Software technical director John Carmack expects Sony to be the first of the platform holders to release a new console.

"The whole jockeying for who's going to release the first next gen console is very interesting and pretty divorced from the technical side of things," he said. "Whether Sony wants to jump the gun to prevent the same sort of 360 lag from happening to them again seems likely.

“As developers, we would really like to see this generation stretch as long as possible. We'd like to see it be quite a few more years before the next gen console comes out, but I suspect one will end up shipping something earlier rather than later," Carmack told CD Action (via Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry).

He also said that that he expects at least one of the next generation of games consoles to release without optical media.

"I think that Xbox Live... the advent of that and the App Store with the iPhone are wonderful signs of the future of digital distribution. I think there's a decent chance that one of the next gen consoles will be without optical media... the uptake rates of people who have broadband connects surprised everyone this generation. It's higher than what the core publishers and even the first party people expected." SOURCE