Tumbleweed loses PC Pro Recommended award

PC Pro has stripped Tumbleweed of its Recommended award for its MailGate NAS appliance (reviewed in the November 2004 issue). We were informed at the time of review that the MailGate would be on sale from ?1,000, but it's come to light that the system was never on sale for this price. Tumbleweed claims this was due to an upgrade to the specification, but the price is now approaching ?4,000. ...more

.NET catches major European telco

As another announcement coming out of CeBIT, Deutsche Telecom is to adopt Microsoft's .NET approach to the delivery of Web services for mobile devices. The avowed intent of Deutsche Telekom (DT) is to advance the deployment of advanced XML-based services across Germany and Europe. ...more

A new program to trap Cyber skivers

A new program has been launched that is designed to improve Internet security and clamp down on time-wasting employees who surf the Net for personal use. The software, developed by Glasgow-based Actis Technology, monitors employees' patterns of Internet usage to ensure that confidential material is not abused and highlights Web activity that is not related to business or which breaks company policy on Web use. Companies have become increasingly worried about "cyber skivers" and a recent report noted that up to a third of Web activity at work is for personal use. ...more

Nokia plays its game phone

Nokia launches game-centric N-Gage phone. The N-Gage handset showcased yesterday in the UK and Australia. Its boasts a landscape layout that gives it Game Boy ergonomics, so players can get to grips with the action on the 176 x 208 pixel colour screen. ...more

Robots need rights, claims UK government research

Robots may have to be given similar rights to their human counterparts, as advances in technology enables them to perform in increasingly similar, even better, ways to man. According to a raft of new futurology papers, commissioned by the government, society will have to adapt to offer robots appropriate housing, healthcare and other support, when they develop to the point of being able to reproduce and have artificial intelligence. This might happen within the next 50 years, it predicts. ...more