Google's index back in front

Following the announcement last week by Overture that its FAST database had the largest search index in the world at 3,151,743,117 pages, Google has quietly upped the number of pages it says it has indexed on its home page. The Google total is now claimed at 3,307,998,701. Of course the total number of pages is only part of the story. ...more

Apple unveils Bluetooth mouse

Apple has unveiled the wireless Bluetooth Mighty Mouse, just hours after its specification was leaked on the Web. The new version the multi-button mouse has a new laser tracking engine that Apple claim is 20 times more sensitive than standard optical mice for better tracking on even more surfaces. The mouse includes four independently programmable buttons plus the Scroll Ball that lets users scroll in any direction. ...more

Artist cops backlash over Sony DRM

The ripples caused by the recent revelations over SonyBMG shipping copy-protected CDs that install 'rootkit' code have reached the publisher's artists, resulting in a slew of negative reviews based on consumer reaction to the technology alone. Get Right with the Man by Van Zant is currently wallowing under a one-and-half star rating on Amazon.com, based purely on negative user reviews of the copy-protection technology. ...more

Thunderbird 0.4 RC1 released

The Mozilla Organisation has made the first release candidate of its open source email client available to download. Thunderbird 0.4 incorporates several new or improved features including: new icons for the mailing list, subscribe, search addresses and offline dialogues; results in the search Addresses dialog now only show a subset of the available columns by default instead of showing all the address book columns; an IMAP fix to prevent the software hanging when selecting the Inbox while new mail is being downloaded; find in message now always forces focus on the message pane so you no longer have to do it yourself; and the correct saving of attachments with non-ASCII file names. ...more

Wacom pushes pen tablet for laptops

Wacom has introduced a second wireless pen tablet - but this one is to keep notebook users happy. The PenPartner2, aimed at business professionals and business travellers, is designed specifically for laptops and allows users to add hand-written notes to documents in Microsoft Office. Now users can add a personal touch, like a signature or comments, to letters and e-mails in or out of the office. ...more