News 

A device the size of a DVD player, created by Dr Jianming Tang and his team at the University's School of Electronic Engineering, can allegedly squeeze 100 times the data transfer rate from a fibre optic cable than is currently possible.

It will "revolutionise" the broadband entertainment market, claims Tang.

Although no figures have been released on the exact transfer rates achieved by the machine, Tang claims it will allow users to download 15 feature films per minute.

However, as most homes do not currently have last-mile fibre optic connections, it is unlikely that the device will see use any time in the near future.

The research was funded by a £760,000 grant from the European Union's Alpha project.

Dr Tang was unavailable for comment at the time of writing, presumably hard at work creating the future of the UK's broadband infrastructure.