1Mbit home broadband trial underway

BT's trial of its 1Mbit/sec home broadband service is underway and users who signed up should be getting activated this week. Although the length of the trial is flexible, it is not expected to last much longer than three months, after which, unless there are unforeseen problems, the trail will be converted to a full service. Users who have subscribed to the trial should not notice any difference when this happens. ...more

Enterprise-grade email for the Palm OS

PalmSource, the company that develops the Palm OS, and mobile access specialist Visto have joined forces to produce what they describe as 'a standard enterprise-grade wireless email client for the Palm OS platform'. Specifically, the new email client will provide secure push-email capabilities between Palm Powered mobile devices and enterprise-grade mail servers such as Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino, as well as access to the POP3 and IMAP mail servers of ISPs. The new email client will become the default messaging solution for the Palm OS platform. ...more

Microsoft beat off Linux in battle for key council contract

After toying with the affections of the Open Source movement, the London Borough of Newham has announced that it has signed a deal with Microsoft to upgrade the council's IT systems. Last year, the borough was part of a Government project comparing Open Source and proprietary software. As such, its IT infrastructure was independently assessed by CapGemini which looked at costs, business benefits and risks. ...more

Samsung looks to new memory and LCD technology

Samsung is looking to new emerging technologies to maintain its position as the leading manufacturer of both computer memory chips and LCD flat panels. The company is about to begin development of magnetic RAM and ferroelectric RAM chips to replace the DRAM (dynamic RAM) technology that is deployed in today's computers and other electronic devices, reports Reuters. . ...more

Non-stop gaming kills obese Chinese youth

Obsessive online gaming has claimed another victim after a young man in China collapsed and dies following a marathon gaming session. The 26-year-old man, from the Liaoning Province in North East China, had been playing 'almost all' week during the Chinese Spring Festival, reports the China Daily. Obesity, as well as gaming, was blamed for his death - the man identified only as 'Zhang' weighed 150kg (23. ...more