Google mistook MJ searches for net attack
Google has admitted it thought the sudden spike in searches for Michael Jackson on Thursday was a massive, coordinated internet attack, leading it to post an error page on Google News. In a blog posting, the firm’s director of product management, RJ Pittman, explained that search volume began to increase around 2pm PDT on Thursday and ‘skyrocketed’ by 3pm, finally stabilising at around 8pm.
V3

O2 improves Mobile Broadband Service
O2 is extending its Mobile Broadband Service by offering an upgrade to its Connection Manager software (taking effect for existing customers today). The upgrade will automatically copy existing Wi-Fi profiles from a customer's laptop into Connection Manager, meaning customers will be automatically connected to their home or business broadband wireless networks, with no need to enter passwords or security codes. Connection Manager will also alert you when you have used up 75%, 90% and 100% of your data allowance.
Mobile Choice

Nokia Siemens Networks Completes Initial Vodafone India Upgrades
Nokia Siemens Networks has completed the first upgrade for Vodafone Essar in India. The upgrades network covers seven regions across India, Assam, Bihar, Himachal, Predesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Madyha Pradesh, North East and Orissa.
Cellular News

Social Whale wants to bring Digg’s features on Twitter
Social Whale is a new startup company from Greece which aims to extend Twitter’s abilities by introducing some new Digg-like features on the famous microblogging service.
Tech Crunch

SMEs defy downturn with continued investment in comms
Despite, or perhaps because of the effects of the current recession, over 70% of small businesses in UK, France, Italy and Russia see communications technology as critical to their business and over 60% plan to make investments in technology now or within the next year, according to findings of new research by Avaya. The research also revealed a small business environment that is still investing in communications technology, even during these tough economic times.
Computer Weekly

Vodafone rumored to be considering T-Mobile UK purchase
Vodafone is the latest network operator to be rumored to be considering buying the UK arm of T-Mobile. A merged Vodafone/T-Mobile UK would have a subscriber base of 35.4 million, representing 43% of the market share.
Cellular news

China filter software faces tough sell in digital bazaar
Starting from Wednesday, personal computers sold in China must leave manufacturers with "Green Dam" filter software intended to block obscene images and, critics say, deter political dissent. This is the latest Communist Party initiative to control the Internet. However, it is not easy to control the fragmented retail sector who regard the new law dismissive.
Reuters

Microsoft to cut Razorfish loose
Microsoft has hired Morgan Stanley to find a potential buyer for Razorfish, its Internet ad agency. Reportedly the French marketing company Publicis Groupe is interested in an acquisition. Analysts estimate Razorfish could be worth $600 million to $700 million.
CNET

Nortel creditors, suppliers oppose $650m asset sale
Nortel creditors and suppliers have filed objections to the sale of wireless assets to rival Nokia Siemens which agreed to pay $650 million for most of Nortel’s CDMA and LTE assets. However Nortel bondholder and creditor MatlinPatterson has complained that the deal placed conditions that could prevent other bids from emerging.
Reuters

Apple raises Imagination Technologies stake
Apple has raised its stake in British microchip manufacturer, Imagination Technologies to 9.4%, following a surge in share trading by Apple and Intel. As Imagination Technologies is deemed more valuable as an independent entity, the stock buying by Intel and Apple is seen as ensuring that they prevent any one group from taking control.
FT

Web slows after Jackson's death

Google feared it was under attack after news broke following Michael Jackson’s death. Millions of people who searched the star's name were greeted with an error page rather than a list of results warning users the request looked similar to an automated request from a virus of spyware application. Microblogging network, Twitter, also suffered downtime due to the sheer volumes of people using the service.

BBC News

Facebook puts privacy controls in users' hands

Social networking site, Facebook, has launched a beta service that allows users to control and pick who can see their posts. As part of the Facebook Publisher tool, the privacy control feature will ask user’s who they would like to tell and guide them through a privacy wizard.

Macworld

Dyson unveils 'world's fastest motor' in new vacuum

Sir James Dyson has unveiled his latest invention, a hand-held vacuum cleaner which is run on "the fastest motor in the world", ten times quicker than the engine of a Boeing 747 aircraft. The DC 31 is the latest in a long-line of vacuums produced by the British inventor, but is the first ever domestic appliance to incorporate a so-called digital switched reluctance motor, which Sir James claims is the "fastest motor in the world, by a long stretch."

The Daily Telegraph

Freeview HD gets launch date

The launch date for Freeview HD has been revealed as 2nd December. That is the date in which multiplex B - the multiplex that is being utilised for HD transmissions goes live at the Winter Hill transmitter. Put simply, this means that Freeview HD will be available to the Winter Hill areas of Liverpool and Manchester

Tech Digest

Marvell flicks on plug computing platform

Silicon specialist Marvell has announced the release of its SheevaPlug plug computing platform to developers across Europe. Marvell hopes that these plug-sized devices will become a standard for single-task, always-on devices such as file servers. Designed for regional electrical specifications, the platform is built using Marvell's Kirkwood series system-on-chip design, featuring a 1.2GHz Marvell Sheeva CPU processor, 512MB of Flash storage and 512MB of DRAM memory.

V3

Ofcom: Sky not playing fair with premium content

Communications industry regulator Ofcom, has release a critical report into the Pay TV sector claiming Sky is not playing fair with its dealings for movies and sports, with its wholesale costs set too high.  Sky has previously been told to set a fairer wholesale rate, but Ofcom is not happy with the results, meaning that Sky could be forced to set prices at a rate set by Ofcom.

TechRadar

Huawei Opens LTE Lab in Japan

Huawei has opened a LTE lab in Tokyo to serve as an incubator for LTE technologies and a training facility for the implementation and commercialization of the next-generation wireless technology. Huawei's research and development teams will also be able to work with Japanese operators to conduct tests on LTE systems before delivery.

Cellular-news

Pirate Bay four denied retrial

The four men fined and sentenced to prison for running file-sharing website Pirate Bay will not get the retrial they hoped for. This verdict says file-sharing is not a joke and copyright laws will be enforced if necessary, according to international law firm Bird & Bird.

ComputerWeekly.com

Young women dump PC for mobile phone when using the Internet

Studying the digital habits of women in the US, the Solutions Research Group has found that the mobile phone is quickly replacing the PC as the device of choice when using the Internet.

GoMo News

Google slammed as China and US quarrel over Internet

China intensified accusations that Google is spreading obscene content over the Internet, a day after the US urged Beijing to abandon plans for controversial filtering software on new computers. China says the "Green Dam" filtering software is to protect children from illegal images.

Reuters

Mobile ads are 30 times more effective than internet ads
A pilot programme relating to advertising on mobile phones carried out in the Czech Republic by T-Mobile has been completed and confirmed the above-average effectiveness of this kind of communication with customers. A total of 22 advertisers including Coca-Cola, Nestle, L'Oreal, Ford, Komercni banka and Eurolines participated in the pilot project.
Cellular News 
 
HTC unveils its third Google phone
Taiwanese mobile-phone maker HTC Corp. unveiled its third Android-based device, nicknamed Hero, which showcases a new interface that can be easily tailored to the needs and wants of the user. The new interface, called HTC Sense, has been in the works for over two years and is the cornerstone of the company's strategy to set itself apart in the increasingly crowded market for high-end phones.
Wall Street Journal

Firefly mobile aimed at toddlers
A mobile phone targeted at children as young as four is to be launched in the UK. The glowPhone from Firefly has only five buttons, two of which are direct lines to the child's mother and father. Another gives access to the phonebook, which can store only 20 numbers - all of which are entered by the child's parents.
PC Pro

Twitter breaks in to top 40 most-visited UK websites
Twitter is now the 38th most-visited website in the UK, and the fifth most-visited social network, according to web analysts at Hitwise. It marks a seismic rise in the profile of the microblogging service, which just last year was the 969th most-visited website.
Telegraph

China mobile sales up nine per cent in Q1
Economic programmes in China have helped to push mobile phone shipments up nine per cent in the first quarter of the year. According to marketwatcher iSuppli, sales of brand-name GSM-based mobile handsets amounted to 44 million units in the first quarter of 2009, compared to 42 million in the first quarter of 2008.
Electronics Weekly

European Commission want cross border security IT agency
The European Commission has proposed a new independent agency to manage massive IT systems used by border control authorities, the first step in the creation of a pan-European system of security and surveillance. The so-far-unnamed agency will initially house passport, visa and fingerprint databases from across the EU, but later it will take control of other IT systems, such as ones that record all entry and exit movements of individuals.
Computer World

Habitat sorry for Iran Tweeting
Furniture store Habitat has apologised for causing offence after accusations it exploited unrest in Iran to drive online Twitter users to its products. Keywords - called hashtags - such as 'Iran' and 'Mousavi' were added to its messages so people searching for those subjects would see the firm's adverts.
BBC News

cloud definitions
Analyst firm Gartner has revised the way it defines cloud computing to help prevent organisations from being hoodwinked by providers and to reflect emerging usage of the technology. Gartner has published a set of five cloud attributes, which it hopes will help stop providers from rebranding existing products as cloud services, and allow organisations to make more informed decisions.
ZDNet

India bans cheap copycat handsets from China
The Indian government has moved to ban cheap copycat mobile phones and accessories from flooding the market. As well preventing the risk of faulty batteries exploding, the replica phones are often missing an international mobile equipment identity number, which allows handsets to be traced to prevent their use by terrorists.
FT

Nokia Siemens Networks and Juniper grow closer ties
Nokia Siemens Networks and Juniper have announced they will pool their Optical and IP networking resources and jointly offer an integrated IP-Optical network. This follows an announcement earlier this year that the two firms will form a joint venture to address the Carrier Ethernet market.
Telecoms.com

RFID in all new phones by next summer
Ericsson’s VP of systems architecture has pronounced that all new phones will be packed with RFID chips by summer 2010, making it possible for the mobile phone becoming the keys to your car, a credit card or a concert ticket.
Silicon.com

Widespread cloud computing adoption two years away
A third of companies will migrate their client-server platform towards a virtualisation or ‘cloud computing’ platform within the next two years according to the finding of a study commissioned by Microsoft. The study noted that virtualization was a key spending priority, however, security still remained the biggest challenge.
ComputerWorld

Zain and Western Union team for international money transfer
Western Union and Zain have partnered to allow customers send and receive money via their mobile phone around the Middle East and Africa. In this new service Zain customers can deposit money to Western Union via their mobile phone and recipients can either pick up the cash in person or transfer it to their mobile wallet account.
Reuters

Vodafone launches signal booster 
From July 1st Vodafone is set to start selling hardware that makes it easier to use a mobile in the home. The box, known as a femtocell, is essentially a tiny base station that boosts mobile signals within the home. The hardware, which Vodafone has dubbed the Access Gateway, routes calls across a broadband connection.
BBC News

Nokia launches full-length mobile video content trial
Nokia has launched a mobile video trial of full-length content, with partners understood to include BBC Worldwide, ITV, Sky and Paramount. The trial, designed to kickstart long-form mobile video consumption, focuses on the way in which mobile video is delivered, with those involved opting in to feeds to have content downloaded to their mobile phone by a podcast-style model.
NMA

weComm delivers 3G TV app to Norway
The MiniTV mobil app powers live broadcast from TV2 and ViaSat MTG, as well as delivering news, weather, information, a programme guide and integrated video-on-demand streams. The service is built on weComm’s wave On-Demand Mobile Application Platform.
Mobile Entertainment

Orange refreshes laptop line-up
Orange UK has refreshed its laptop offering with its mobile broadband packages for consumers and business customers. The range has been extended to include models with embedded SIMs as well as bundled with a USB modem, with different payment methods and a variety of differently priced tariffs available.
Pocket Lint

Facebook adds alternate name functionality
Facebook has launched a function that will allow users to display alternate names on their profile. To activate it, users can log on to their Facebook account and add an additional profile name via the settings tab. The new function will allow users’ friends (who may associate them with a different name) to search for them more easily on the network.
Pocket Lint

HSBC offers business banking to iPhone users
HSBC has become the first financial institution to offer business banking on the Apple iPhone and iPod touch handsets. The HSBC Business Internet Banking service has been optimised for the Apple device, and offers access to secure, real-time banking information 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to the company. Services range from checking details of accounts held abroad, making payments of up to £100,000 per day, accessing credit and debit account information, and requesting an overdraft.
V3

Half of Brits worried about mobile phone security
Over 50 per cent of Brits are worried about the security of information sent from a mobile phone, according to message security firm Cloudmark. According to its research, a further 69 per cent of handset owners cited these security concerns the reason they won't use mobile banking services while 37 per cent refuse to shop online via their handset because of security concerns.
PC Advisor

Mobile Money Democratises Uganda's Banking Sector
Mobile Money services are democratising banking in Uganda and changing the country's socioeconomic landscape by providing financial services  to people without access to bank accounts. The current service is only the start of an emerging money transfer culture that could significantly boost economic development in Uganda in the coming decade.
Cellular News

Tech giants deny helping Iran eavesdrop
Nokia Siemens Networks is denying reports that Iran uses its web-monitoring technology to censor and spy on its citizens' online activities. Iran's government censors blocked web sites including Facebook, YouTube.com, and the BBC. There have been recurring reports that Twitter.com and Yahoo Messenger have been blocked as well.
CNET

Netbooks disappoint end users, says survey
Consumers who bought a netbook are more likely to be disappointed with their machines than people who purchase larger and more expensive laptops, according to retail research firm NPD Group. The disappointment with netbooks results from expectations that a netbook and a laptop are equivalent.
Computerworld

Microsoft debuts free security software
Microsoft will release 75,000 downloads of a beta version of its free security software Microsoft Security Essentials  (MSE) today in the US, Brazil and Israel. A wider release will be available later this year to all licensed Windows users. The MSE software will compete with other free security software from AVG Technologies and Panda Software.
Computer Weekly

Teens use phones to cheat
A survey has found that over one third of American teenagers will use their cell phone to help them cheat in school - while half admit to using the internet to cheat. More importantly, claims the survey, many students don't consider their actions to be cheating at all.
Cellular-news

Broadband tax backlash begins
Executives from two of Britain's biggest telephone companies, Carphone Warehouse and BSkyB, have spoken out against the planned £6-a-year "broadband tax". The plans, announced last week in the Digital Britain report, will see a 50p-a-month levy applied to all landlines to help pay for a nationwide fibre broadband rollout.
PCPro

Android phone launches on T-Mobile
T-Mobile is set to announce the myTouch today, its new hot smartphone and next Google Android device after the G1, launched last autumn. The myTouch is manufactured by HTC and while the basic hardware design is the same as the HTC Magic, T-Mobile has made enhancements to the device both in terms of hardware and software.
Silicon.com

Nortel to sell wireless tech arm to Nokia Siemens
Nokia Siemens Networks will buy Nortel Networks' wireless technology business for $650m (£395m). Nortel, a former giant in telecoms equipment, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January with hopes of reorganising. Nokia Siemens said it will use Nortel's CDMA and LTE technology to expand its presence in North America.
ZDNet UK

Opera Unite could be security risk say researchers
Users installing Opera Unite, Opera's new web development platform, could at risk from being hijacked by cyber-criminals, according to security researchers. Opera Unite lets users run a web server from their desktops, simplifying things for home users who want to host their own web pages, but also making it easier to hack than most web servers.
Techworld

Top 40 faces new digital shake-up
The Top 40 is facing a shake-up as chart bosses consider incorporating songs from music streaming sites. Offering free, legal access to millions of tunes, online jukebox services like We7 and Spotify have taken off in 2009.
BBC Technology

Orange launches updated Glastonav mobile application
Glastonav navigates you round all the stages and through the line-up of the much-anticipated festival with information and stage times for the full Glastonbury line-up, the ability to personalise your very own artist schedule for the whole weekend, an interactive map of the site and indeed, any breaking news.
T3

Twitter visitors increase 1,500 per cent
Twitter grew faster than any other website in May, when its unique visitors rose almost 1,500 per cent year-on-year to 18.2 million, according to Nielsen Online.
PC Advisor

BT and Cashbox Turn UK ATMs Into Wireless Broadband Hotspots
A UK supplier of ATM cash machines has teamed up with BT to integrate Wi-Fi broadband hotspot access into all of its new and existing ATM sites. The new five-year deal allows anybody close to one of their cash machines to access the Internet via Wi-Fi equipped computers and devices.
ISP Review

British Library publishes online archive of 19th-century newspapers
The British Library, has put much of its history literary collection online. In partnership with Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and Gale, part of Cengage Learning, the British Library has digitised more than two million pages of newspapers dating back as early as 1800 for its new online service.
The Guardian
 
iPhone 3G S hits the UK today
Apple's next generation iPhone, the iPhone 3G S hits the UK today. O2 retains the exclusive rights in the UK on the iconic device.
IT Pro

Mobile phone directory 118 800 fails to connect on its first day
A technical problem with the computers at 118 800 meant customers could not be put through to the mobile phone number they were trying to reach. Critics, who include MPs and civil liberties campaigners, say the new service amounts to a serious invasion of privacy.
Daily Mail

AT&T eases iPhone 3GS upgrade rules following customer outcry
The US network carrier has agreed to allow some customers to upgrade to a subsidised iPhone 3GS before their current contract expires.  Customers had petitioned the company to relax its upgrade rules, and AT&T now says that it will offer subscribers who are scheduled to become "upgrade eligible" by September the chance to immediately swap to a 16GB iPhone 3GS for $199 or the 32GB version for $299.
Telegraph
 
SpinVox rolls out across Latin America
SpinVox, the voice to text messaging provider, is rolling out across 12 more countries in Telefónica’s network across Latin America. The move follows the October 2008 launch with Telefónica’s Movistar Chile.
Techcrunch
 
Toshiba plans restructure of system chip unit
Toshiba, Japan's largest chip manufacturer, said it plans to mass produce 28nm (nanometre) system chips in the next business year as it fights to stay relevant in an area dominated by the likes of Intel and Texas Instruments.  Toshiba and NEC Electronics announced today said they would extend their development agreement with an IBM-led group of firms to develop 28nm chips together.
ZDnet
 
Facebook facing regulator crackdown
European regulators are considering reforming data regulations to prevent social networks from over-exploiting the private data of their users. Social networking sites increasingly rely on third party application developers to turn a profit. Changes would extend data protection rules to third party application developers which use social networking profile data to function.
The Register
 
Bing makes Microsoft more market gains
Bing, Microsoft’s latest attempt to break into the lucrative internet search  market, won more market share from rivals last week, according to new industry data released on Wednesday, but it still trails Google and Yahoo. Bing grabbed 12.1 per cent of US internet searches for the work week 8-12 June, up from 11.3 percent the week before, according to industry tracker comScore.
IT Pro

BT, PayPal & Intel back unified online IDs
A new initiative formed to promote interoperability among identity verification applications and services, The Kantara Initiative, launched on Wednesday with big-name backers such as BT, PayPal, AOL, Liberty Alliance and Boeing amongst others. Created to address the technology fragmentation of identity application and is aimed at harmonising these across the wide spectrum.
PC Advisor

LG plans three Android releases this year
At the recent CommunicAsia conference, LG executives let slip that they’re currently looking to release three mobile phones based upon Google’s Android operating system during Q3 this year. The devices are currently in a fairly early development stage and are rumoured to be launched around September, one of the three phones will be positioned as a low cost Android variant.
Mobile Choice

MySpace cuts 30% of workforce as site traffic slows
Social networking site MySpace has announced it will cut 420 staff and close offices as it battles for market share against rivals including Facebook. The company hoped the cuts will help it to become more nimble in a very competitive sector. The staff cuts will be in the US, where the bulk of the 1,600 worldwide staff are based.
The Guardian
 
SCO not quite as dead as previously feared
SCO Group, best known for its lengthy and dogged pursuit of IBM and others over claims that it owns key components of the Linux code, announced that it had been saved from Chapter 7 bankruptcy thanks to its acquisition by Gulf Capital Partners. After several years of claim and counter claim the US courts finally found that Novell was the true owner of Unix licenses sold by SCO Group, and which were the basis of its claim against IBM.
The Register

Microsoft-Yahoo deal less likely, says analyst
Collins Stewart analyst Sandeep Aggarwal this week issued a research note which was less than optimistic that the two IT giants could agree a deal. His main concern was the ability for the two companies to agree on the valuation of Yahoo. Aggarwal also cautioned that Microsoft cannot afford to stay at the negotiating table forever, as even with the recent launch of its Bing search tool, it needs Yahoo if it is to meet revenue forecasts for its internet division.
CNet

Disney and Asus team up for kiddies netbook
Asus has unveiled two new netbook models which carry the Disney brand and are aimed at kids. The Netpal netbooks will be available through online retailers like Amazon.com and will retail around the $350 mark. Consumers can get one decked out in Mickey Mouse's 'Magic Blue' or Ariel's flowery 'Princess Pink'. UK availability has not yet been announced.
Crave
 
Apple squashes claims by Palm that the Pre can synch with iTunes
Apple appears to have pulled the rug from under one of Palm's big claims for it's new Pre handset - that it will happily work with the world's most successful music service. In a statement, Apple said that "Apple does not provide support for, or test for compatibility with, non-Apple digital media players and, because software changes over time, newer versions of Apple’s iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with non-Apple digital media players".
Stuff.tv
 
Digital Britain report: the reaction
Yesterday's Digital Britain report included commitments to universal 2MB broad access by 2012 funded by the BBC license fee and a 50p levy on fixed line phone bills. However, there has been plenty of negative reaction to the recommendations; Netimperative has collected opinions from several industry players on what the report might bean for the industry and consumers.
Netimperative.com
 
IBM pushed the Cloud as a development tool
IBM has introduced a new set of cloud products and services under the name of Smart Business, with an initial focus on cloud development and virtual desktops. The company said it was building on the growing interest in cloud computing and was introducing the services to tap into the growing need by organisations to get the most from their IT investments.
ComputerWorld UK

Firefox 3.5 to arrive 'by the end of June'
What started as a modest upgrade and which developed into a much more significant update of the popular web browser looks set to finally hit PCs before the end of the month. Firefox 3.5 includes a series of key upgrades to the browser, including a completely revamped JavaScript engine, a private browsing mode and support for HTML5 video that doesn't require any additional plug-ins.
PCPro

Nokia signs up Carat to run £300 million global account
Nokia has appointed Carat to handle its global £300 million media planning and buying account. Carat will work across all markets for Nokia from the third quarter of 2009 with the exception of India and the Middle East and North Africa, which will move into the network at a later date. Nokia had called the review to create significant cost savings from its media buying.
BrandRepublic

Digital Britain: Gordon Brown backs broadband for all
Gordon Brown has said that today's Digital Britain report will guarantee broadband access for all, while he added that it was important to "develop and sustain" public service content such as regional TV news. The prime minister, writing in the Times newspaper ahead of this afternoon's publication of the report, said that a digital UK could not become a "two-tier Britain".
Guardian

Twitter delays upgrade to support Iran protests
Twitter rescheduled an upgrade because protesters in Iran were reliant on the microblogging website to share information. Following the disputed election at the weekend, the Iranian government blocked the use of social media applications such as Facebook and YouTube but forgot about Twitter. People in Iran have been able to communicate with the rest of the world as a result.
Computer Weekly
 
WIN to waive commission on charity shortcodes
UK aggregator WIN is to refuse cuts on charity donations and wants others to follow suit. Currently, mobile users who donate to charity via text message can see up to 30 per cent of their donations lost in network and third party delivery charges. Now, WIN will take no commission from any charity shortcode transaction that it handles via its WINCast distribution platform. 
Mobile Entertainment

Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 to be launched tomorrow?
The Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 mobile phone has been the subject of an increasing number of rumours and leaks recently, culminating in the latest report that it will officially be announced tomorrow at the CommunicAsia 2009 show in Singapore, according to the Phone Arena website.
Mobile Choice

Skyfire seals another mobile deal
Mobile browser Skyfire has announced a partnership with mobile communications hub Cellity. The deal means that users of each service will have easy access to the other - a link to Cellity will appear in Skyfire’s bookmarks, and Cellity will include a direct download link for the mobile browser. Coming so soon after Skyfire’s similar deal with MocoSpace, the new deal suggests Skyfire is moving in hard on mobile social networking as the way to attract extra users.
Gomo News

Four US senators ask FCC to look at exclusive phone deals
Four US senators are urging the Federal Communications Commission to investigate whether cell phone operators that sell phones on an exclusive basis are unfairly restricting consumer choice. The senators are asking the FCC to consider, among other things, whether there are too many of these arrangements between dominant US carriers and handset makers, and if they limit a US customers' ability to use their phones for certain features.
Total Telecom

Samsung unveils Jet smartphone
Samsung has introduced a new handset which the company promised will be amongst the most powerful on the market. The company said that the new Jet handset would use a processor running at up to 800mhz and offer such features as multi-touch support, Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support and a sharper screen quality.
VNUnet

RIM Shows Off Dual-Mode CDMA/WCDMA BlackBerry
Research In Motion has launched a new handset - the BlackBerry Tour - a new 3G BlackBerry smartphone aimed at CDMA customers in North America who also roam overseas. It supports 3G EV-DO Rev. A networks in North America, as well as 3G UMTS/HSPA (2100Mhz) and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks abroad.
Cellular-News

Western Europe holds spot as largest broadband market with 108 million broadband subscribers
The Broadband Forum announced the latest broadband and IPTV statistics, which show impressive growth in the face of the global economic downturn. The report shows that global broadband grew by 16.6 million lines in the first quarter 2009 alone, while IPTV subscribers approach 24 million, with expansion mainly in Europe and also North America.
European Communications

Has Opera Unite really reinvented the web?
Opera has unveiled a new technology which turns any net-connected PC into a web server. Opera claims the beauty of Unite is its simplicity. Users merely have to log-in with an Opera account and select the services they wish to use from a panel within the browser.
PC Pro

Salesforce Sites lets businesses build in the cloud
Businesses can now build and run their external websites using technology from software-as-a-service company Salesforce.com. Force.com Sites uses the Force.com cloud platform to support customer websites and online applications. As Sites runs on Force.com, the applications and websites can be linked to CRM data already hosted on the platform.
ZDNet UK

Mobile money seen $5 billion market in 2012
According to the US-based microfinance policy and research centre CGAP, the market of mobile financial services to people in emerging markets will surge from nothing to $5 billion within the next three years. Mobile money is one of the hottest topics in the wireless world.
Reuters

European Commission plans tougher sentences for cybercrime
New laws could see jail terms for cybercrimes increased to more than five years. According to the European Commission large-scale attacks are on the rise but the penalties?are not severe enough to dissuade criminals.
Financial Times

Business intelligence defies economic gloom
Business intelligence has enjoyed a boom despite the global economic downturn. According to Gartner Research, global revenue for business intelligence technology, analytics applications and performance management grew by 22 per cent in 2008.
ZDNet

The iPhone's Wary New Rivals
With price cuts on some iPhones, Apple is targeting new, more budget-conscious buyers who have never purchased smartphones before.
Apple is now moving onto turf held by low-end smartphones and full-featured cell phones.
Business Week

Recession to hit network security spending
As the full impact of the global recession hits Asia, the Asia-Pacific network security market will fall nearly two thirds from 2008 this year. However, the commitment to network security investments within Asia remains strong sais Frost & Sullivan.
Telecom Asia

Microsoft to give away anti-virus
Microsoft is poised to start giving away security software. The company is reportedly trialling free anti-virus software internally and said the beta version would be released "soon".
BBC Technology

Green features key to Windows 7
Microsoft has made energy efficiency a key design element of Windows 7, focusing on better power management for end users and centralised tools for IT pros. Power management features more accessible than previous versions of Windows while at the same time, giving people the ability to customise settings.
Silicon

Google enhances Gmail for mobile users
Google continues to revamp its Gmail for the iPhone and the Android users in a move to make the web experience similar on the desktops as well as on mobiles. The company has added two new features - address auto-completion and keyboard shortcuts.
Computer Business Review

Martha Lane Fox signs on as Government's digital champion
Lastminute.com founder Martha Lane Fox is to become the UK government’s ‘digital champion’, according to reports. Lane Fox, who founded karaoke company Lucky Voice in 2005, is understood to have accepted a position to help encourage the public to become more involved in digital, as well as identify digital issues.
New Media Age

Ireland’s largest operator announces 3G mobile broadband
Ireland’s formerly state-owned network. Eircom, will be launching a 3G dongle, as well as providing free access to its 1,000 Wi-Fi spots in Ireland. Initially the service will only be available in major metropolitan areas in Ireland, but should be available to 50 per cent of residents by the end of 2009.
GoMo News