French government considers switch to Linux

The French government is considering a move to Linux in a bid to stem its public spending and avoid breaking the three per cent of GDP EU limit for the third year running. According to Reuters, France's public sector shells out nearly ?200mn on office programs alone. But ministers reckon they can halve the software bill by moving to Open Source software. ...more

The UK Pentium 4 race is on

The race to UK shelves with Pentium 4-based systems is well and truly on. While the P4 was only officially released yesterday, Fujitsu Siemens is claiming first place with its SCENIC L, CELSIUS 460, SCALEO and SILVERLINE systems. Home users are targeted with the SCALEO and SILVERLINE, which are designed to support intensive applications such as streaming audio and video and online gaming, as well as photo and video editing. ...more

Samsung develops ultra-fine, high-speed handset LCD

Samsung SDI recently successfully developed an ultra-fine and high-speed handset LCD, which it terms the UFS LCD, according to the Korea Economic Daily. The UFS LCD features 13.5-millisecond (ms) response time, 260,000 colours and 87 per cent colour saturation, much better than the currently available mobile phone panels that feature 30ms response time and 40 per cent colour saturation. ...more

Digital divide narrowing - Ofcom

The digital divide between the various parts of the UK has diminished significantly over the past 12 months, according to new Ofcom research. In its Communications Market Report for the Nations and Regions of the UK, the telecoms regulator looked at take-up and usage of Internet, telecommunications and broadcasting services across Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the nine English regions. Where last year's report showed significant geographical differences, particularly in take-up levels of broadband and digital television, this year's shows that the gaps are closing. ...more

Google still leads Web search but rivals catching up fast

Google remains the world's favourite search engine although rivals Yahoo! and MSN are catching up fast according to analysts Keynote Systems. 'Google is the king of customer experience in the search engine industry, but Yahoo!, MSN and Ask Jeeves are improving,' said Dr. Bonny Brown, director of research and public services for Keynote. ...more