Microsoft betas its long awaited MSN search engine

Microsoft has opened up a beta version of its long awaited MSN search engine. However, don't expect anything radical just yet as it still appears to be based on the existing d Inktomi results of its current MSN search. The MSN search beta is not in a state to challenge Google at the moment. ...more

Vonage dials into UK

Vonage has launched its VoIP telephony service into the UK, with kits available on the high street, backed by an online advertising campaign. Already one of the leading playeres in the burgeoning US market, Vonage's UK outing offers unlimited local and national calls, whether they are to other Vonage users or fixed lines, for a penny less than ?10 a month. Mobile costs are fixed at 15p, 10p, and 5p a minute at daytime, evening and weekends respectively. ...more

HTC launches own Windows smartphone in UK

HTC, the company behind Windows Mobile smartphones such as Orange's SPV Signature series, is launching its own brand into the UK with its STRTrk handset. The vowel-less tribute to the Star Trek communicator is a slim, light clamshell design in either black or grey with the emphasis on music rather than teleporting. The outer shell boasts buttons for play, rewind and forward as well as a 1. ...more

9800Pro in All-In-Wonder guise

ATi has announced the All-In-Wonder 9800Pro graphics card, complete with all the multimedia functions for the home cinema buff. The ATi 9800Pro All-In-Wonder is based upon the top of the range 9800Pro graphics card, but with video-editing and TV-tuning capabilities and a software suite to boot. ATi's Multimedia Center 8. ...more

Philips backs out of plans to sell navigation devices

Philips has shelved plans to make mobile personal navigation systems, the chief executive of Philips' consumer electronics unit said today. Rudy Provoost of Philips told analysts at a meeting that Europe's biggest consumer electronics producer would not enter the market for navigation devices, citing existing competition and the low profitability of introducing a new product in a saturated market. Shares in the route-finding market leader, the Dutch company TomTom, were boosted as a result on Amsterdam's blue-chip AEX index. ...more