A New Year's resolution: do-it-yourself ADSL

BT confirms New Year launch date of its DIY broadband service. The self-install broadband ADSL service will be officially launched on 15 January, BT has confirmed. BT Wholesale will be able to connect up users to broadband services without the need for a home visit by an engineer - you simply plug yourself in, as it were. ...more

Leopard is 'feature complete' says Apple

Apple has revealed that the version of Leopard it will be giving away to attendees at this year's Worldwide Developers' Conference (WWDC) will be 'feature-complete'. This would indicate that development is significantly more advanced than many suspected after Apple's decision to shift resources to the iPhone development team pushed back Leopard's final release date by four months. It also means that Steve Jobs will be demonstrating the operating system's much-hyped cool new features that to date have been kept under wraps. ...more

Microsoft's antitrust efforts slammed

The European Commission has sent a new letter to Microsoft explaining that the software company is still failing to comply with its March 2004 antitrust ruling. In particular the Commission draws attention to a report by the Monitoring Trustee professor Neil Barrett regarding Microsoft's obligation, under the terms of the 2004 settlement, to disclose complete and accurate interface documentation which would allow non-Microsoft work group servers to achieve full interoperability with Windows PCs and servers. Professor Barrett, who is responsible for providing technical advice to the Commission on issues relating to Microsoft's compliance, said that despite revising its interoperability guidelines they still fall short of the what is required. ...more

Amazon rejects Google search info request

Amazon has rejected a request from Google for details about its book search feature. Google says it needs the information in order to fight lawsuits from several major publishers who claim that Google's own book search breaches their copyright. The e-retailer described the request as 'overly broad and unduly burdensome', noting that Google's 6 October subpoena effectively demanded full details of Amazon's book sale business, not merely its search feature. ...more

Intel pilots new Tablet PC for NHS

Intel and Motion Computing are working with the NHS to produce a tablet computer for clinical use - to speed up the completion of paperwork and to give nursing staff more time to spend with patients. The mobile clinical assistant (MCA) - essentially a Tablet PC for medical use - was piloted at hospitals around the world, including Salford Royal in Manchester, after two years in development. The device, designed by Intel and Mobile Computing, will cost ?1,199 and be released in about two months. ...more