Cisco Systems buys Topspin Communications

Cisco Systems has bought Topspin Communications to give itself an entry into the emerging field of grid computing, clustered enterprise applications, and server virtualisation. Cisco says it has paid $250mn for the company in a combination of shares and cash. Topspin's particular forte is InfiniBand-based server fabric switches that connect servers together into a grid, and provide the server grid with network and storage connectivity. ...more

PC shipments to climb ten per cent - analysts

According to a forecast by research firm Gartner, PC shipments worldwide will jump 10.5 per cent this year to 255.7 million computers. ...more

City of London switches on Wi-Fi network

The City of London has switched on the Wi-Fi network covering the entirety of the capital's Square Mile financial district. Europe's densest wireless network provides broadband Internet access for the 350,000 plus people who work in and visit the area. They will get free access for the first month. ...more

Google rejigs its interface

Search engine Google has revamped its user interface to provide a more commercial face to the outside world. The shopping engine Froogle has now been promoted to a main category and the company has given much greater prominence to its contextual advertising alongside search results. The most obvious change has been the promotion of the Froogle product search service to rank alongside the news, web and images search. ...more

HP buys VoodooPC

Putting its boardroom woes to one side, HP has announced that it has bought VoodooPC, the manufacturer high-performance and customised gaming computer systems. The move echoes a similar acquisition by arch rival Dell who bought games machine builder Alienware earlier this year. VoodooPC was founded in 1991 and based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. ...more