Google Street View, dirty mobiles, Gen Y and a new iPhone

Rumours were rife this month that Apple is preparing to launch a new version of the iPhone in the summer with more than 100 new features and applications.

It could well be good timing for the Mac maker as research has suggested that sales for smartphones equipped with Google's Android OS could be outstripping the iPhone by 2012.

Stories of the month - March 2009

Click on the links below to read the stories everyone is talking about...

Google's Street View gives UK its close up

Minority Report: New iPhone this summer?

Android sales to outstrip iPhone's by 2012

Ten ways to make your boss love you

Five ways Gen Y will change the way you work

Naked CIO: Tech is my job, not your hobby

BT reveals which towns will get fibre first

Unclean mobiles 'like sucking a toilet bowl'

Westminster insiders on why gov't IT is doomed

Three types of IT project you can get signed off in 2009

Sticking with (or possibly to) mobile devices, research revealed in March that using a mobile phone is as risky as putting your face on a toilet bowl . Tests carried out on phones belonging to doctors and nurses showed most mobiles have something unpleasant on them.

March also heralded the launch of Google's Street View technology in the UK, with London inevitably being the first region to be covered. The technology, which has been available in the US for some time, allows users to navigate the UK capital at street level from their computer.

During the tough economic period, silicon.com offered ten tips to make sure your boss finds you indispensable. A good place to start is to make your boss look good.

Meanwhile the arrival of Generation Y into the workplace is likely to change the way you work in the near future. According to web 2.0 evangelist Don Tapscott, Facebook and netbook-equipped youngsters are likely spark a "big conflict" in the office.

This month, silicon.com also took a look at three types of IT projects likely to get the green light during the potentially tough year that lies ahead. And no, this doesn't include implementing a Twitter strategy.

Someone that knows all about technology's relationship with work is silicon.com's Naked CIO who this month defended the reputation of the IT department against those who think they know better when it comes to tech in business.

It was also revealed this month that Westminster insiders believe government IT is doomed. A panel of chief civil servants and MPs concluded that Westminster's approach to running large tech projects is like "trying to avoid a car crash by looking in the rear view mirror".

And finally, March saw BT named the first UK towns to benefit from fibre to the cabinet next year. The installation will bring broadband speeds of up to 40Mbps - and potentially higher - to around half a million homes and businesses.