UPDATED: EU threatens Microsoft with new antitrust penalties

Microsoft may face a new kind of antitrust punishment from the European Union if the company, already hit by multi-million-dollar fines, continues to defy it, the organisation's top competition official has hinted. The EU's executive Commission has said Microsoft set unreasonably high prices to discourage would-be competitors from making server software. The company responded on Monday that it would request no oral hearing on the allegation, which could result in daily fines of up to €3 million. ...more

Spring IDF 2006: Intel unveils faster memory

Intel revealed more information on its upcoming memory standards at IDF. DDR2-800 is set to be released in the second half of 2006, with the successors to the current mid-range 945 chipset being the first Intel products to support the new standard. The 945 will be replaced by the 965P and G chipsets for 'Digital Home' systems, and by the 965Q and 963Q for 'Digital Office' users. ...more

Apple clocks new milestone for music downloads

Apple claims it has clocked up 300 million downloads via its iTunes music store. Unveiled nearly two years ago, Apple's iTunes store set the standard, creating a much needed success story at a time when online services using a subscription model were struggling for users. Instead Apple chose a per track model, created an incredibly easy to use application, and coupled it to a killer device: the iPod. ...more

Tiscali buys Video Networks

Tiscali has announced that it is acquiring Video Networks, the owner of HomeChoice, a pioneering UK TV-over-Internet provider. HomeChoice's 45,000 subscribers will be transferred to Tiscali, as will its LLU network based in more than 300 BT exchanges nationwide. Video Networks was an early adopter of local loop unbundling which it deployed, initially in north London, to offer fast Internet connections coupled with IP delivery of broadcast TV channels. ...more

Holiday surfers suffer laptop woes

One third of British holidaymakers are taking their laptops on holiday with them, often with calamitous results, according to one high-street retailer. Colin Middlemiss of The Computer World told the Reuters news agency that 35 per cent now take their portables, and many return with them in somewhat less than working order. 'Some have been left too long in the sun, some have been dropped in swimming pools and others have had booze spilled on them,' he said. ...more