UK winner announced for Europe's IT awards

The Syngene division of Synoptics Ltd has been named as one of the 20 winners of this year's European Information Society Technologies Prize (EISTP). The EC and the European Council of Applied Sciences and Engineering (Euro-CASE) have announced 20 winners yesterday, three of which will be awarded a Grand Prize worth ?200,000 (?125,000). The EISTP is awarded to "groundbreaking products representing the best of European innovation in information technology", said a statement on the EU Web site. ...more

UPDATED: Mandrake offers 80 per cent volume discounts

Mandrake is offering about 80 per cent off the retail price of its Linux software through a new volume discount program. The Personalized Solutions and Maintenance Program (PSMP) is open to SMEs, academic institutions, value-added resellers, non-profit organizations, resellers, government agencies and even Mandrake's own partners and allows purchases of software direct from Mandrake in volumes from five copies and upwards. The company reckons 100 copies of its Discovery desktop pack would cost nearly €5,000 at retail, but around €1,000 through PSMP. ...more

Dutch to get digital safe

A Dutch Commission has suggested that each of its citizens should get their own personal digital safe deposit box. The Dutch Ministry of Home Office Affairs asked the Commission to look into the modernisation of the register of the population. One suggestion was that to enable the population to have 24-hour access to the register, every Dutch citizen should get a digital safe deposit box that could store around two hundred items of personal information, such as their tax details. ...more

Hollywood Blockbuster - the Windows cut

New Windows Media technology makes digital film distribution a reality. ContentFilm and Magnolia Pictures are distributing their Woodstock Film Festival award-winning indie horror flick, Wendigo using a preview version of Microsoft's Windows Media 'Corona' technology. 'Corona' technology supports high-resolution video and multi-channel audio and makes mastering and distribution across a variety of formats cheaper and easier. ...more

One in 20 UK homes watching IPTV by 2011

According to research from the Centre for Telecoms Research, improved broadband speeds will boost use of IPTV to five per cent of UK households over the next few years. Five per cent of the UK population - some 1.5 million UK households - will be watching TV over an internet connection (IPTV) by 2011, according to a new study by the Centre for Telecoms Research (CTR). ...more