Monthly round-up: September

Was it likely to end up any other way? September was Google's month as it came out with its own browser Google Chrome, with IT PRO reporting on its launch as well as giving our own verdict to the new competition to Firefox and Internet Explorer. And it's not even out of beta...

This month was also the first glimpse of a Google Android-based handset and a first-look review. Although most observers agreed the hardware wasn't much to write home about, it was all about the open-source operating system, which is likely to make it a major force in the mobile phone market.

There's hardly a month that goes by without some story of a government data breach, and September wasn't to be the exception. The government axed a 1.5 million contract with PA Consulting after the loss of an unencrypted USB stick which contained details of all 84,000 prisoners in England and Wales.

Better news (depending on your point of view) was to come with the first pictures of the controversial ID card, which will be issued to foreign nationals from November. The big question is whether the data held in these biometric cards can kept safe successfully.

Don't forget Apple although there weren't many iPhone related stories as usual, it was the month where new ranges of the iPod Touch and Nano were released to the world.

Dell was also busy. The long-awaited Dell netbook was finally launched the Inspiron Mini 9 - to a pretty crowded mini PC marketplace. Other technology under the spotlight was the new EliteBook, which had a claim of being able to last 24 hours without having to be charged.

And finally, although it looks like it may be broken down for the near future, the Large Hadron Collider held the attention of the technology world this month as scientists try to find out what happened in the Big Bang.