u.k

Segway fans are trundling mad today, following a magistrate's ruling that the two-wheeled wobblers can't be ridden on the sidewalk in the U.K.

The ruling (PDF) concluded a test case that saw an unemployed factory worker, Phillip Coates (pictured right), fined 75 pounds ($120) for riding a Segway on a sidewalk in Barnsley. Coates was also slapped with a bill for 265 pounds ($424) in costs.

The case hinged on whether a Segway could be described as "a mechanically propelled vehicle intended or adapted for use on roads." The judge in the case decided they … Read more

The Diocese of London official biography for Peter Broadbent, bishop of Willesden, explains that the man of the cloth is a season-ticket-holding football fan who appreciates good beer, so he sounds like an upstanding gentleman.

But according to a number of U.K. news outlets, Broadbent is treading in some very unholy waters these days after making remarks on Facebook about the impending nuptials of Prince William and fiancee Kate Middleton, in which he referred to the events surrounding their April 2011 wedding as "nauseating tosh," compared the couple to "shallow celebrities," and predicted the marriage … Read more

The United Kingdom's Information Commissioner has found that Google violated the country's Data Protection Act when it collected data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks with its Street View vehicles.

"There was a significant breach of the Data Protection Act when Google Street View cars collected payload data as part of their Wi-Fi mapping exercise in the U.K.," the Information Commissioner's Office said in a statement today.

The country's Data Protection Act, which was enacted in 1998, determines policies related to the safekeeping of personal information in the U.K. The Information Commissioner's office … Read more

Editor's note: Samsung has confirmed that it is not offering this promotion in the United States.

Sick of your iPhone 4 already? Then get on Twitter as fast as your fingers can type, because Samsung UK is giving away free Samsung Galaxy S smartphones to people who tweet their complaints about the Jesus phone.

Tweets from the Samsung UK Twitter account indicate that complainers are getting the top-of-the-line Android phone within a day of Samsung reading their complaints about the iPhone 4.

Read more of "Samsung gives away free Galaxy S to iPhone 4 complainers" at Crave … Read more

Though it has successfully resisted pressure to install a mandatory "panic button" on users' home pages, Facebook has permitted the U.K.'s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) to build an app for its platform that members of the social-networking site can use to report online abuse directly to CEOP or seek advice about potential dangers of the Web.

Called ClickCEOP, the app has been released following negotiations and eventually a partnership with Facebook. On Tuesday, U.K.-based Facebook members between the ages of 13 and 18 will see an ad on the site that … Read more

Blimey, last week was an iPhone 4-filled week over at CNET UK. Not only did we publish our full and frank iPhone 4 review, completely solve the iPhone's signal difficulties, and document the midnight queue for the launch, we're still reeling at the crazy-low iPhone 4 price plans that Hutchison-owned carrier "3" announced for the U.K. market.

A brand spanking new iPhone 4 costs British customers the equivalent of just $149 (99 British pounds) including sales tax when signing up to a $45 (30 pounds) per-month, 24-month contract. That's a total expenditure of $1,233 (819 pounds) in total, with 1GB of data per month thrown in for good measure.

These decidedly affordable tariffs aren't exactly news to Apple-loving Brits. Although for many years the iPhone was exclusively available to customers who signed up with U.K.-based carrier O2, the floodgates are now open, with British consumers currently being offered a choice between six different carriers--O2, Orange, Vodafone, 3, T-Mobile, and even Tesco Mobile (Tesco is a British supermarket chain--think Wal-Mart but with more tea and crumpets).

With choice for consumers comes market competition. British customers have a choice of 12, 18, and 24-month contracts, along with pay-as-you-go plans. And they're priced competitively too.

If you fancy whipping out your calculator and working out exactly how the U.K. compares with the U.S. when it comes to iPhone 4 prices, you can see how the best iPhone 4 deals stack up at this link.

If you really want to get inside the mind of the British Apple fanatic, below is a video diary of the midnight queue for the iPhone 4 launch at Apple's U.K. flagship store on Regent Street in central London. Not only can you witness one brave reporter's swift descent into madness, it all happens to the sing-song tune of the quaint British accent. You guys like our accents, right? Right?!… Read more

The fallout from Google's Wi-Fi data collection gaffe continues, with the U.K. government ordering it to destroy personal data collected through the Street View project.

The Information Commission's Office in the U.K. issued the order Tuesday, according to the Guardian, following Google's disclosure Friday that it had inadvertently collected personal data from Wi-Fi hot spots as part of its Street View mapping project. Google has said that it collected random packets of Internet traffic sent over unsecured hot spots as part of its bid to use Wi-Fi hot-spot triangulation for geolocation services, which several companies … Read more

The U.K. has launched a national space agency dedicated to coordinating its involvement in civilian spaceflight, with responsibility for overseeing policy and budgets.

The agency, which officially begins work April 1, will negotiate on the U.K.'s behalf with international bodies. In addition, it will take over responsibility for some key U.K. and European space projects, including Galileo, the U.K. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said in a statement Tuesday.

The U.K. Space Agency has been set up to help spur growth in the British space and satellite industry, which employs 68,000 workers … Read more

You might soon have to wear stupid-looking glasses to watch a football game down at the pub. With its first dedicated 3D TV channel, Sky 3D, launching this April, U.K. satellite broadcaster Sky TV is desperate to get 3D-capable TVs into bars around the country. To meet this goal, Sky has reached into its Tardis-like pockets and bought 15,000 LG 3D TVs.

It looks like the Korean giant has taken the initiative with its , since most manufacturers have avoided polarized televisions and pinned their hopes on active-shutter technology for the home market.

The disadvantage of LG's system … Read more