Apple extends its iTunes Affiliates Program to Europe

Apple has announced the extension of its iTunes Affiliates Program to its European online music stores. The programme lets other websites link directly to songs and audiobooks sold on the iTunes Music Store and take a four per cent share of the revenues from any songs sold. There are some 15,000 affiliates in the US, where the scheme has been running since September. ...more

Online music service bought by US rival

OD2, supplier of online music services to several of the rivals to the iTunes Music Store and Napster, has been acquired by US company Loudeye. The combined company will have a catalogue of 1.3 million tracks, almost twice the total claimed by iTMS and Napster. ...more

BT tests tech for 100 per cent UK access

BT has begun testing technology that could enable it to supply ADSL broadband to the 0.2 per cent of UK households that are currently outside the range of the nearest exchange. Over the next few months it will install broadband switches (DSLAMS) in or next to street cabinets which will in turn be connected to the exchange via a fibre optic cable. ...more

Turn your mobile into a virtual pet

If you think playing computer games on your mobile phone is fun then one man in Scotland wants to turn your phone into a tamagotchi. Kevin Bradshaw's company Digital Bridges is developing games for the mobile phone format. At the moment, it offers games such as hangman and noughts and crosses but it is developing fantasy football league (without any famous players) and the virtual pet system. ...more

A Web site to encourage the building of Web services

Entitled "The Microsoft Hosted Applications Development Community", it's a new Web site to help developers build the software necessary to support Web-based services. Microsoft is not alone in seeing the Web as the ultimate means of delivering applications and services, so it is keen to establish its own strategy - the .NET way - for putting it all in place. ...more