Voice biometrics, war tech and the history of computing

In September silicon.com had an exclusive look through the treasure trove of historical technology in the National Museum of Computing at the home of the World War II codebreakers, Bletchley Park.

First up was a look at an exhibition showing how the British PC has evolved over the years, with museum volunteer, Peter Chilvers, providing his thoughts on classics including the Sinclair ZX Spectrum.

Videos of the month - September 2008

Click on the links below to see the videos everyone is talking about...

British PCs through the ages

The first UK business computer

Voice biometrics - 60 sec Pitch

Analogue torpedo simulator

Nuclear missile detector

Landing planes with Bletchley's flight simulators

Improving information management

Next up was the UK's first business computer, the Elliott 803, which emerged in the 1960s, with museum trustee Kevin Murrell showing how the computer worked.

The latest instalment of the silicon.com 60-Second Pitch series saw Douwe Mik, business development director from Agnitio, pitch his company's voice biometrics technology to a tough panel of CIOs.

There was also some interesting insight on the importance of information management for businesses and IT in September. Jonathan Steel, the CEO of technology research company The Bathwick Group, discussed the findings of the silicon.com management benchmark survey.

Back to Bletchley and Andy McCue took a look at an analogue torpedo simulator, the PACE TR-48. The video shows exactly how the device was used to model waves in the sea to help design torpedoes.

Sticking with the war theme was a look at a device used to detect earthquakes as well as underground nuclear tests during the 1990s.

The final piece of tech examined at Bletchley was a range of flight simulators that visitors can use to try their hand at landing an aeroplane.