Ofcom orders further LLU broadband price cuts

Ofcom has ordered further cuts in BT's LLU charging, following the completion of its review into the ADSL wholesale market. The UK telecoms regulator has concluded that, with more up-to-date cost data to hand, voluntary cuts made by BT in September are no longer sufficient. BT has invested in automated processes that it says have 'significantly' reduced LLU costs. ...more

Scottish minnow trumps Seattle leviathan

Front Page, a Scottish graphic design agency, is celebrating victory in its five-year legal struggle with Microsoft for the right to continue to use its name, which is shared with the Web design application. A hearing at the Trade Mark Registry in London ruled that Microsoft's objections to the agency's name were unfounded and ordered the US company to pay the Scots' five figure legal bill. Microsoft had objected to the Scottish company's use of the Front Page name in conjunction with its Web site design activities, but the hearing determined that the company had established the right to use the name before Microsoft introduced its Front Page software in the UK. ...more

Her Majesty's Treasury turns to Linux

Open source software has been chosen for a new government online purchasing system. The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) - part of HM Treasury - has chosen to adopt a Linux-based system called Purchase & Pay. The IBM-supported system is being used within the Department of Work & Pensions for the purchase of stationery and various associated products. ...more

Applications drive OS X switch

Apple has finally taken the plunge and announced that all new Macs will boot into Mac OS X. The move was strongly influenced by the increased availability of OS X-native applications and the need to speed up migration to the operating system that has been shipping since last March. Previously, Macs had both Mac OS 9 and X installed but when users started their machines the systems booted up into OS 9. ...more

Free D animation

Not a Number's free 3D animation software has got some new numbers, as its 2.20 incarnation is made available. The new version, aimed at games creators, includes a flexible armature system for character animation, scene overlays, allowing the use of musical scores and information sharing between scenes and subdivision surfaces, enabling controlled and smooth modelling. ...more