EC decision on AOL/Time Warner merger goes to poll

The European Commission (EC), the body charged with reviewing the proposed merger of AOL and Time Warner, has decided to delay its decision and plans to poll experts from all 15 of its member countries first. The EC has until 24 October to reach a decision, but industry experts had predicted that a definite decision would be reached much earlier. The EC is also responsible for handling the Warner/Emi merger and a media report suggest that a ruling on both cases will be made at the next main EC meeting on 4 October. ...more

Mobile phone market on the decline in Western Europe

The mobile phone market is struggling to grow in Western Europe, according to the latest research. Shipments have declined by 2.4 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2003. ...more

Orange and ntl in price-cutting alliance talks

Orange and ntl are set to shake up both the mobile and cable markets with an alliance. An Orange spokeman confirmed that the mobile operator is in talks with cable company ntl and an announcement is expected next week. Both firms are partly owned by France Telecom. ...more

IBM, Intel, Microsoft form the Trusted Computing Group

AMD, Intel, HP, Sony, IBM and Microsoft are among the companies that have formed the Trusted Computing Group (TCG). Its aim is to improve security technology embedded within devices such as PCs, PDAs, servers and digital phones. Member companies will develop and promote hardware security technologies, and software interfaces, that can work in a modular fashion across multiple platforms and devices. ...more

Real results

RealNetworks reported its second quarter results yesterday, announcing a net profit of $2.4m for the last quarter ending 30 June. This compares with $10. ...more