MS introduces @hotmail.co.uk accounts

British users of Hotmail accounts now have a better chance to get that email address they always wanted. Microsoft is introducing the @hotmail.co. ...more

Mozilla, Apple, Adobe join forces to deliver richer Internet

Several of the leading players in Internet software have joined forces to develop a new browser plug-in technology designed to enable website designers to create 'richer browsing experiences'. The Mozilla Foundation, Adobe, Apple, Macromedia, Opera and Sun Microsystems will extend the Netscape Plugin Application Program Interface, making it more open and scriptable, to allow greater interactivity with plug-in technologies such as Flash, Shockwave, QuickTime and Java. The Mozilla Foundation explains: 'For example, a user shopping for clothing on a website that takes advantage of the new plugin capabilities could mix and match different styles and colors for shirts and pants using an interactive Flash movie, and pricing and other information in an associated Web page would be updated as a result. ...more

Lindows renamed as Linspire, under Microsoft pressure

Desktop Linux company Lindows has bowed to legal pressure from Microsoft and is to rebrand its product as Linspire. Despite US court victories, Lindows decided it could not afford to counter Microsoft's strategy of suing the company around the world. Apart from the legal bills, Lindows faced the prospect of losing valuable markets in countries, such as the Netherlands, where Microsoft had managed to gain injunctions preventing the company from using the name. ...more

Litigious porn publisher lashes out at Google

Porn publisher Perfect 10 is seeking an injunction against Google to stop it showing thumbnails of its copyright images in search results. The company filed the request in an LA District Court on Wednesday, as part of an ongoing copyright infringement case first brought last November. Perfect 10 alleges the practice involves copying, displaying and distributing thousands of its images, with many of the results linking to third party sites that are also using the images without copyright permission. ...more

IBM opens door to Cell processor details

IBM is backing the open-source community to kick start demand for its Cell processor. Big Blue announced in Barcelona last week that it was to provide key hardware and software specifications of the new chip to the open-source community to drive rapid development of platforms and applications. While Apple's Steve Jobs was reportedly thin on enthusiasm for the new processor, games console makers are already working on how to integrate Cell's mammoth multimedia capabilities into their next-gen consoles. ...more