Eolas seeks Internet Explorer ban

Eolas, whose patent forced Microsoft to announce forthcoming changes to Internet Explorer, has asked a Chicago court to prevent Microsoft distributing the existing browser as it infringes their patent. Attorney Martin Lueck said that Microsoft's decision not to license the Eolas technology, but to seek instead to work around it (see Microsoft sets out changes Internet Explorer), had prompted the decision to seek further action. Eolas has already secure one legal victory, and more than $500mn damages, having persuaded a court that ActiveX controls in IE 6, which enable the playback of applications and content served over the Internet, violate its patent. ...more

UPDATED: 4.5 million iPods drive record Apple profits

Apple has reported its best ever financial results on the back of sales of 4.5 million iPods and more than one million Macs. Revenue for the latest financial quarter, ending December 25 2004, was $3. ...more

Sony unveils Flash Walkmans

Sony has unveiled its first flash memory-based portable music players, with a bewildering array of nine different models. These latest additions to the Network Walkman portfolio offer 256MB, 512MB or 1GB of storage in three ranges; the entry-level NW-E100 series, the mid-range NW-E400 series and the high-end NW-E500 series. The NW-E100 comprises the NW-E103, NW-E105 and NW-E107, with 256MB, 512MB and 1GB capacity respectively and available in six colours. ...more

Napster sees subscriber figures rise 50 per cent

Paid subscribers to Napster rose by 50 per cent in the last quarter of 2004, the online music service announced today. The Windows-only offering now has 270,000 subscribers entitled to stream as much music as they wish. However users must pay extra if they wish to download tracks in order to burn them to CD or copy to a compatible portable device. ...more

EU sets limits on mobile roaming charges

The EU has finally agreed limits on the cost of using a mobile phone abroad. European Union ministers adopted price ceilings established after a year of debate between the European Commission, Parliament and member states. Current EU president Germany said that the new rules will slash the price of making and receiving calls between one EU country to another by cutting 'roaming' charges to a quarter or a fifth of what phone users now pay. ...more