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California sets fines for spyware The makers of computer programs that secretly spy on what people do with their home PCs could face hefty fines in California. From 1 January, a new law is being introduced to protect computer users from software known as spyware. The legislation, which was approved by Governor Arnold...
tech
Mobile TV tipped as one to watch Scandinavians and Koreans, two of the most adventurous groups of mobile users, are betting on mobile TV. Anders Igels, chief executive of Nordic operator Teliasonera, tipped it as the next big thing in mobile in a speech at the 3GSM World Congress, a mobile trade fair, in Cannes this ...
tech
Apple laptop is 'greatest gadget' The Apple Powerbook 100 has been chosen as the greatest gadget of all time, by US magazine Mobile PC. The 1991 laptop was chosen because it was one of the first "lightweight" portable computers and helped define the layout of all future notebook PCs. The magazine has compiled an all-...
tech
Sun offers processing by the hour Sun Microsystems has launched a pay-as-you-go service which will allow customers requiring huge computing power to rent it by the hour. Sun Grid costs users $1 (53p) for an hour's worth of processing and storage power on systems maintained by Sun. So-called grid computing is the late...
tech
Kenyan school turns to handhelds At the Mbita Point primary school in western Kenya students click away at a handheld computer with a stylus. They are doing exercises in their school textbooks which have been digitised. It is a pilot project run by EduVision, which is looking at ways to use low cost computer systems ...
tech
Tough rules for ringtone sellers Firms that flout rules on how ringtones and other mobile extras are sold could be cut off from all UK phone networks. The rules allow offenders to be cut off if they do not let consumers know exactly what they get for their money and how to turn off the services. The first month under...
tech
Mobile music challenges 'iPod age' Nokia and Microsoft have agreed a deal to work on delivery of music to handsets, while Sony Ericsson has unveiled its phone Walkman and Motorola is working on an iTunes phone. Can mobile phones replace the MP3 player in your pocket? The music download market has been growing steadil...
tech
China 'ripe' for media explosion Asia is set to drive global media growth to 2008 and beyond, with China and India filling the two top spots, analysts have predicted. Japan, South Korea and Singapore will also be strong players, but China's demographics give it the edge, a media conference in London heard. The world'...
tech
Beckham virus spotted on the net Virus writers are trading on interest in David Beckham to distribute their malicious wares. Messages are circulating widely that purport to have evidence of the England captain in a compromising position. But anyone visiting the website mentioned in the message will not see pictures o...
tech
Video phones act as dating tools Technologies, from e-mail, to net chatrooms, instant messaging and mobiles, have proved to be a big pull with those looking for love. The lure once was that you could hide behind the technology, but now video phones are in on the act to add vision. Hundreds have submitted a mobile vid...
tech
Progress on new internet domains By early 2005 the net could have two new domain names. The .post and .travel net domains have been given preliminary approval by the net's administrative body. The names are just two of a total of 10 proposed domains that are being considered by the Internet Corporation for Assigned N...
tech
Camera phones are 'must-haves' Four times more mobiles with cameras in them will be sold in Europe by the end of 2004 than last year, says a report from analysts Gartner. Globally, the number sold will reach 159 million, an increase of 104%. The report predicts that nearly 70% of all mobile phones sold will have a bu...
tech
Mobile multimedia slow to catch on There is no doubt that mobile phones sporting cameras and colour screens are hugely popular. Consumers swapping old phones for slinkier, dinkier versions are thought to be responsible for a 26% increase in the number of phones sold during the third quarter of 2004, according to anal...
tech
Anti-spam laws bite spammer hard The net's self-declared spam king is seeking bankruptcy protection. Scott Richter, the man behind OptInRealBig.com and billions of junk mail messages, said lawsuits had forced the company into Chapter 11. OptInRealBig was fighting several legal battles, most notably against Microsoft,...
tech
Peer-to-peer nets 'here to stay' Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks are here to stay, and are on the verge of being exploited by commercial media firms, says a panel of industry experts. Once several high-profile legal cases against file-sharers are resolved this year, firms will be very keen to try and make money from P2P ...
tech
Broadband fuels online expression Fast web access is encouraging more people to express themselves online, research suggests. A quarter of broadband users in Britain regularly upload content and have personal sites, according to a report by UK think-tank Demos. It said that having an always-on, fast connection is cha...
tech
Savvy searchers fail to spot ads Internet search engine users are an odd mix of naive and sophisticated, suggests a report into search habits. The report by the US Pew Research Center reveals that 87% of searchers usually find what they were looking for when using a search engine. It also shows that few can spot the ...
tech
TV's future down the phone line Internet TV has been talked about since the start of the web as we know it now. But any early attempts to do it - the UK's Home Choice started in 1992 - were thwarted by the lack of a fast network. Now that broadband networks are bedding down, and it is becoming essential for millions,...
tech
Cebit fever takes over Hanover Thousands of products and tens of thousands of visitors make Cebit the place to be for technology lovers. "Welcome to CeBit 2005" was the message from the pilot as we landed, the message on flyers at the airport, and the message on just about every billboard in town. CeBit fever has tak...
tech
New consoles promise big problems Making games for future consoles will require more graphic artists and more money, an industry conference has been told. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo will debut their new consoles at the annual E3 games Expo in Los Angeles in May. These so-called "next generation" machines will be fa...
tech
BT program to beat dialler scams BT is introducing two initiatives to help beat rogue dialler scams, which can cost dial-up net users thousands. From May, dial-up net users will be able to download free software to stop computers using numbers not on a user's "pre-approved list". Inadvertently downloaded by surfers, ...
tech
Spam e-mails tempt net shoppers Computer users across the world continue to ignore security warnings about spam e-mails and are being lured into buying goods, a report suggests. More than a quarter have bought software through spam e-mails and 24% have bought clothes or jewellery. As well as profiting from selling go...
tech
Be careful how you code A new European directive could put software writers at risk of legal action, warns former programmer and technology analyst Bill Thompson. If it gets its way, the Dutch government will conclude its presidency of the European Union by pushing through a controversial measure that has been reject...
tech
US cyber security chief resigns The man making sure US computer networks are safe and secure has resigned after only a year in his post. Amit Yoran was director of the National Cyber Security Division within the US Department of Homeland Security created following the 9/11 attacks. The division was tasked with improv...
tech
Losing yourself in online gaming Online role playing games are time-consuming, but enthralling flights from reality. But are some people taking their fantasy lives too seriously? When video game World of Warcraft hit the shops in Europe last week fans wrote in to the BBC website to express their delight - and to offe...
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