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This Christmas people up and down the UK people will be getting tablets - with retailers reporting that a tablet is selling every second in Britain. Just two years ago the choice would have been Apple or Apple, however 2012 has been a watershed in the tablet market, and there are plenty of great tablets for under £200 - and not all of them have the Apple logo on the back. Budget doesn’t necessarily mean poor quality any more. Here’s our pick of top five best budget tablets. 1: Google Nexus 7 From £159 The Google Nexus 7 is made by Asus, it’s a well designed-tablet with some great specs - and unlike Kindle, it has a forward-facing camera for Skype. The 7-inch screen is excellent for movies and the quad-core processor ensures it’s exceptionally quick, ably handling 3D games.Google Play Store now has a great selection of music, apps, books and videos. Running the latest of Android Jelly Bean, as a flagship Nexus device you can buy the Nexus 7 safe in the knowledge it is...

Families preparing for Christmas have been hit by floods and travel chaos as heavy rain batters Britain. The southwest of England has been particularly badly affected by the downpours. Three severe flood warnings - which means there is a danger to life - were issued in Devon and Cornwall. Conditions are so bad that rail passengers have been told to avoid parts of southwest England and South Wales. And motorists and shoppers faced difficult conditions on one of the busiest weekends of the year for travel and shopping. The town of Braunton in north Devon has been effectively cut off, with homes and shops under water, after the River Caen burst its banks. Liz Spear, chairwoman of Braunton Parish Council, said a river was running through the centre of the town. "It's really bad. We had flooding seven years ago but it was nothing like this," she said. Some residents in Helston, Cornwall, were evacuated overnight after river levels rose. ...

US web giant Amazon is opening a new research centre in East London's Tech City - Britain's answer to Silicon Valley. The digital media development centre will employ hundreds of people and focus on ways to transform how we watch TV. The multi-billion dollar company joins a growing number of technology firms in the East End , as digital industries become an increasingly large part of the UK economy. The sector generates £86bn every year, around 11% of Britain's GDP. For the managing director of the Amazon centre, Paula Byrne, London was seen as an attractive place to invest. "The talent pool that we have around here is terrific," she said. "In the UK we've had multi-platform TV with satellite, cable, terrestrial for such a long time. "And so when I was looking around for where those skillsets were, the UK was just an obvious place to go to." This growing digital economy is not just confined to East London...

How you could halve your parking costs By taking advantage of new services and technology you could more than halve the amount you spend on parking. If you think your car is expensive to run, you’re probably thinking of the high price of fuel, MOTs, insurance and tax. But there’s another cost that’s really starting to bite into Brits’ budgets. Recent figures from Confused.com show more than one British driver in five spends over £150 on parking every single month. £150 a month adds up to £1,800 a year – that’s even higher than my car insurance! In total, the price comparison website worked out that British drivers are paying £8 billion a year simply to park – a rise of 12.5% on the previous year. Of course, it’s much worse for some. One car park in Knightsbridge, London, charges £36 for three hours of parking! So what you can do to keep the price of parking down? Get the technology If you have a smartphone, or just hop online before you drive anywhere, it’s fairly s...

The home extensions that increase property value The Government has reduced the rules surrounding home extensions. How much would extending your home increase its value? For a limited, time, homeowners can extend their properties with larger-than-usual extensions and conservatories without seeking the usual planning permission from local councils. Businesses also get a boost, as shops, offices and industrial units will be able to expand significantly without seeking approval from local authorities. Add 23% to your home's value The new rules may see a surge in spending on such home improvements. Nationwide Building Society reckons that homeowners who take the plunge by extending or improving their homes could make sizable gains. According to its research, extending your home can add a lot to its value -- depending on the scope and scale of your project, of course. Based on an average three-bedroom British home, Nati...

Special tax unit takes extra £500m from UK's richest people The taxman has extracted an extra £500m from Britain’s richest people thanks to a special unit set up three years ago to target “high net worth” individuals. Martin Randall, the head of HM Revenue & Customs’ high net worth unit, said: “The tax affairs of the richest people in the country are, by their nature, complex, and that’s why we have focused resources on getting their tax right. “The majority of the wealthiest taxpayers play by the rules, paying the right tax at the right time, but we take action against the minority who don’t. This approach has delivered the result we have announced today.” He said that when the unit was set up in 2009 it was expected to bring in about £100m a year but it yielded £200m in 2011-12, up from £162m the previous year and from £83m in 2009-10. “We have brought in £55m so far this year,” Mr Randall added. “These year-on-year revenue increases h...

In these straitened times our desire to stay in touch and up to date wherever we are has only grown. In order to connect we need big, shiny, expensive, contract-laden smartphones, right? Not necessarily - there are a growing number of smartphone manufacturers offering capable budget models for less than £100, such as the £50 ZTE Kis. They may not be as shiny and feature-laden as an iPhone 4S or Samsung Galaxy S3, but they essentially offer the same functionality. Manufacturers like Huawei and ZTE are capitalising on dropping prices for parts and the growing demand for smartphones in the emerging markets. Low-end growth is driving the global market, with entry-level smartphone prices dropping thanks to greater manufacturer competition, data tariffs receiving closer regulation, and operators updating minimum hardware specs for so called ‘low-end devices’. This all sounds great for consumers looking to step up from feature phones, but do they really represe...

We spend a frightening amount of our lives at work, so what can you – or your boss – do to make it a better place to be? A happy office isn’t just a better place to spend time in, it’s frequently a key part of the success of any business.  And happiness has more to do with respect and admiration from your colleagues and peers than pure cash, meaning it doesn’t have to cost the business a thing, according to a recent study by the University of California’s Haas School of Business. We still spend most of our lives at work - and we want to enjoy it as best we can. While running a business for more than a decade I learn many things along the way - and, of course, made plenty of mistakes. So here are my tips to make the workplace a much happier place to be. A little bit of praise goes a long way Praise is a no-brainier for any boss. It costs nothing, it's easy to give and it means a lot. So why have so many bosses not got the brains to praise their employees more...

The country's major retailers are risking their businesses by keeping too many stores open and failing to keep pace with the digital age, according to a report. Professional services group Deloitte suggests firms should be reducing their number of shops. It found a "barnacle effect" - a focus on preserving sales volumes and store numbers - was holding companies back from getting rid of retail space. It estimated that online sales already account for the equivalent of more than 60 million square feet of retail space and could increase significantly, potentially rendering large amounts of space obsolete. Earlier this year, Deloitte forecast that some retailers would need to downsize portfolios by as much as 40% as the digital age drove fundamental structural change in the sector. The report was released just hours before discount fashion chain Primark forecast a 17% jump in full year sales figures - driven by an increase in selling space. ...

Nokia and Microsoft took the wraps off two new smartphones running the new Windows Phone 8 software - the flagship Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 - at an event in New York today.  They provided the world's first proper look at Windows Phone 8's capabilities, and the Finnish phone giant's latest attempts to get its smartphone mojo back after losing ground to Android and the iPhone. Tech writers have only had a limited opportunity to play with the devices so far - but already the first impressions are coming in. So what did the gadget world think of the two handsets? The Verge were largely impressed by their first look at the Lumia 920, writing: "The Lumia 920 feels every bit like a flagship phone... Thanks to the sharper edges the phone feels enormous in your hand (even bigger than the 900), but it's incredibly handsome."  They added: "The curved, Gorilla Glass-coated 4.5-inch display is a huge improvement over the 900, and thanks to Nokia...

On Wednesday, Apple launches its latest product. Of course, they won't say what it is but the large number 5 on the invite spells out pretty clearly that it's the latest iPhone and it'll be called the iPhone 5 (unless there are five separate iPhones going to be released, of course, but the chances of that are nil to zero). So what should we expect? Nothing is certain, but read on for our best-informed guesses - your cheat sheet to Wednesday evening's event. All-new looks Since the iPhone 4S was cosmetically near-identical to the iPhone 4, expect a wholly new design this time around. Leaked images suggest a similar glass front but with a proportionally longer display: enough for an extra row of app icons, which may cause app developers some headaches or mean that older apps have black lines at either edge, working as they always used to. The longer screen could make video watching more pleasurable as it'll be closer to the widescreen 16 x 9 ratio. Re...

MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - Two Kenyan police officers and a civilian were killed when rioters hurled a grenade at officers in the port city of Mombasa on Tuesday after two days of violence over the killing of a radical Muslim cleric. Mobs of youths had fired at police with machineguns just before throwing the grenade into a police truck, Benedict Kigen, a senior police intelligence officer said. The riots broke out on Monday after Aboud Rogo, accused by the United States of helping al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants in Somalia, was shot dead. Gunmen sprayed Rogo's car with bullets in an attack many Muslims in Mombasa blamed on the police, who denied involvement. Police said at least 16 police officers were wounded in the grenade attack in Kisauni, a predominantly Muslim area, where youths set two churches on fire and barricaded roads with burning tyres as the riots spread to the outskirts of Kenya's second-bigge...

Olympic Contract Fiasco Costs G4S £50m Security provider G4S (Other OTC: GFSZF.PK - news) says the security fiasco surrounding its Olympic contract has cost it £50m, but said it expected to "over-deliver" staff for the Paralympic Games. The company reported a 59% fall in pre-tax profit to £61m in the six months to the end of June 2012 - down from £151m over the same period last year. G4S faced intense criticism after it failed to meet its £284m contract to provide 10,400 staff for London 2012. Thousands of military personnel had to be called in - including Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force staff - after the company only managed to deliver 83% of its contracted shifts. But the amount of troops and police officers on duty is due to scaled back for the Paralympic Games - which begin tomorrow - after organisers confirmed that G4S will provide the majority of security for the venues. Locog chief execu...

The bank holiday is an opportunity for people to head out of (or into) town and visit friends, relatives – or even jet overseas for a short break. But those driving in the UK will not just encounter a change of scenery, but a large difference in the cost of filling up the car. Figures from Santander show there’s a 16.2p a litre difference in the petrol prices paid by Brits in different parts of the country, meaning filling up could cost you £10 more (or less) depending on where you go. Where’s cheapest then? Looking at credit card data, Santander compared the prices paid for unleaded at petrol stations across the country - the cheapest region to fill up in was Grampian in Scotland with an average petrol price of 129.7 pence a litre. Outside of Scotland, Denbighshire in Wales has the cheapest price per litre of 130.9p. Regionally, north-west England was cheapest at an average of 131.9 pence per litre of premium unleaded fuel. Where to avoid As well as the cheapest place t...

Mobile Phone operating systems: Which is the right one for me? The big four smartphones have very different operating systems and features but which is best for you? With a uniform black rectangular shape, touchscreen, smattering of buttons and a rear camera, you’d be forgiven for thinking that all phones are the same. In fact, the majority of smartphones use four distinct operating systems (or OS for short): Apple (iOS), Google’s Android, RIM’s BlackBerry and Windows Phone.  Despite some common features -  like access to an app store and push mail - each OS has specific traits that will suit different users. Whether you are a beginner, business user, social networker, media consumer or simply price savvy, there is an operating system for you. Beginner Apple (iOS) : If you’ve never used a smartphone before, pick up an iPhone and within minutes you’ll feel comfortable using it. Each screen consists of rows containing apps, shortcuts and features, which you ...

Motorists are being urged to drive with care on what has been identified as the worst day of the year for road accidents. Around 40% more accidents than average were recorded on September 1 last year as swathes of motorists returned from holidays. And in the previous two years, the rate was 30% higher than the summer holiday average. The fact that September 1 falls on a Saturday this year means the number of crashes is likely to be higher still, say experts. Sarah Vaughan, motor director at AXA insurance which published the study, said: "Every year we see a surge of accidents at this time of year as people head back after the August bank holiday, or return home after their summer holidays. "Generally speaking we tend to see lots of accidents on our roads over the few days following the Bank Holiday Monday. "However, we are particularly concerned this year that the 'bogey' date of 1 September also falls on a Saturday which is traditionally a ...

Train Passengers Face Airport-Style Security The Government wants to security scan at least a quarter of all train passengers for explosives, knives and guns to protect railways and the London Underground from terrorists. The Home Office has published details of what it wants the scanners to detect and how they should work, and is asking for advice on the technology available. "The main focus is on the detection of explosives and weapons on people and in bags," the research brief states, suggesting that technologies including X-ray, magnetometry, vapour and trace methods, electromagnetic radiation and ultrasound could be used. The researchers also want to know whether wheelchairs, false limbs, crutches, pushchairs, and bikes could be scanned and whether so-called dirty bombs could be spotted. Crucially, the document insists the scanning must be done without holding anyone up. "Any screening methodologies proposed must not delay t...

Thousands of bells, big and small, rang out across Britain for three minutes as the country prepared for the London Olympics opening ceremony later. Churches across the UK and British embassies around the world got into the spirit of the bell-ringing extravaganza, devised by artist Martin Creed as part of a 12-week programme of cultural events celebrating the arts alongside sport. People were encouraged to ring any kind of bell -- from a church, a bicycle, a door and even a mobile phone as the harmonious ringing spread from Wales in the west to Weymouth in the south. One of the biggest bells taking part was London's Big Ben in parliament's clock tower, the first time it has rung outside its regular hours since the funeral of King George VI in 1952. It chimed about 40 times between 8:12 and 8:15 a.m. after special permission was granted by parliament. Creed, whose won the famous Turner prize with an installation of lights going on and off in an empty r...

London is in the global spotlight this month as it gets ready to host the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. In order to make the most of all the exciting events and celebrations happening across the capital, check out our pick of the best London travel apps – packed full of helpful hints and tips from how to get around to where to stop for lunch: Copyright Rex   For getting around: Tube Map When you’re going to be spending your days hopping around London, from sporting events to music festivals and everything in between you need an app you can rely on – and this is it. Packed full of features this app will help you plan your journey, check your Oyster balance, find stations, check departure times and so much more. By checking to see which lines have a good service, you’ll be able to keep ahead of the game – and the queues.  For everything you need to know: Time Out London An award-winning app, Time Out London is written by local e...

Travel from London Heathrow - Gatwick Chauffeur Transport Looming over desert sand on the bank of the River Nile, the 4,500-year old Great Pyramid of Giza is the only surviving relic of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Yet despite being visited by millions of tourists every year, and poked and prodded by modern-day archaeologists armed with the latest robot technology, the giant monument - built over 20 years as a tomb for Egyptian pharaoh Khufu (known as Cheops in Greek) - still holds tightly onto many of its secrets. Day-trippers from Cairo who brave long ticket queues, hawkers and ill-tempered camels to explore inside often complain that they are rewarded with little more than a guided tour of an ill-lit, cramped and overcrowded passageway. But much of the vast structure remains out of bounds to the visiting public as work continues to reveal hidden doors, secret chambers and painted hieroglyphs which give a tantalising glimpse into the ancient world. The Great Pyram...