News desk

India launches lunar satellite

India has successfully launched a lunar satellite which will conduct a two-year mission to map the Moon.

The Chandrayaan-I lifted off from the Indian spaceport in Sriharikota on a domestically produced PSLV-C11 rocket. Once in orbit it will orient itself and begin the sustained burn needed to get into lunar orbit.

"Chandrayaan-1 is India's first spacecraft mission beyond Earth's orbit. It aims to further expand our knowledge about the Moon," said the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

"With well-defined objectives, Chandrayaan-1 intends to put an unmanned spacecraft into an orbit around the Moon and to perform remote sensing of our nearest celestial neighbour for about two years using 11 scientific instruments built in India and five other countries."

India is joining the Asian space race, as the satellite will join those of China and Japan orbiting the Moon. The country has said it wants to put men on the Moon in the next decade.

Part of the Indian mission will include attempts to locate deposits of Helium 3, which is being touted as the fuel for a new generation of fusion reactors.

Comcast runs out 50Mbps service in US

Comcast is rolling out its next-generation internet services, promising speeds of up to 50Mbit/s today and up to 160Mbit/s in the future.

The new services will initially be available in parts of New England, including the Boston Metropolitan region and Southern New Hampshire, as well as areas of Philadelphia and New Jersey.

Comcast aims to have connections available in 10 major markets in the next few months.

"Wideband is a game-changer for the industry. With wideband running over our next-generation fibre-optic network, we can greatly enhance our customers' online experience immediately," said Mitch Bowling, general manager of Comcast Online Services.

"And these speeds are only a preview of what's to come; wideband will provide the capability of delivering dramatically faster speeds in excess of 160Mbit/s in the future."

BlackBerry Bold set for US release

Research in Motion is planning to debut the new BlackBerry Bold handset in the US on 4 November.

AT &T will be the first carrier to offer the handset, which will cost $299. The two companies had originally planned a summer release, but had faced delays reportedly due to problems the phone was experiencing with AT&T's 3G network.

The BlackBerry Bold has been available in the UK since August through Orange and since September through T-Mobile.