Sun sets on $1billion loss

Sun Microsystems has announced that it is to take a $1 billion hit on its fourth quarter 2003 earnings. This is due to a $1,051 million tax charge that, the company estimates, will plunge the system builder deep into the red this quarter. According to US law a company can defer taxes whilst it is making losses to some time in the future when (hopefully) it is back in the black. ...more

BT highlights the digital divide

BT has highlighted a new study that considers the extent of the digital divide and how it could affect the UK in 20 years time if current policies remain unchanged. According to the latest figures, 51 per cent of the UK adult population (24.2 million) are digitally excluded in the most basic sense of having no access to a home computer or the Internet. ...more

Boeing jettisons in-flight broadband

Boeing has decided to abandon its Connexion programme that had aimed to provide Satellite-based broadband Internet connections on its aircraft. The announcement condemns six-years' work to the scrap heap, after airlines decided not to adopt Boeing's technology but wait for cheaper, cellular systems to emerge. Only five airlines have deployed the service: Lufthansa, SAS, All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines and Singapore Airlines. ...more

Intel ups the ante for the mobile Pentium 4-M processor

Intel releases three new mobile processors on to the market and Centrino is nowhere to be seen. New processors designed for laptops come in the shape of a faster Mobile Intel Pentium 4 processor - M, and two new mobile Intel Celeron processors. The P4-M runs at 2. ...more

EU gives Microsoft one week to avoid €3 million daily fines

Microsoft has just one week to supply the EU with revised documentation on server interoperability or face fines of up to €3 million per day. Under the terms of a March 2004 ruling on its antitrust practices, Microsoft is obliged to disclose interface documentation that would allow non-Microsoft work group servers to achieve full interoperability with Windows PCs and servers. The company has submitted several sets of documentation, but has yet to meet the European Commissions requirements. ...more