Yahoo! AOL sign deals to put their IM on Blackberry

Both Yahoo! and AOL have signed deals with Research in Motion to add their instant messaging services to the increasingly popular Blackberry platform. The wireless email device which has become a favourite of movers and shakers worldwide and is an obvious target for Yahoo! which has been pursuing an aggressive strategy of dominating emerging mobile web services. For example, RIM customers can already access Yahoo! Mobile Internet, including Yahoo! Search, Yahoo! News and Yahoo! Sports on BlackBerry devices. ...more

Yahoo! tries the personal touch to win search audience

Internet portal Yahoo! is showing its latest thinking in the development of search with new extensions to its My Yahoo personalisation. Visitors to the beta My Yahoo Search are able to edit individual results to store or block particular pages. Underneath each search result is the option to either Save it, Save with Note, Share or Block Site. ...more

Broadband growth in Europe set to plateau

Broadband growth across Europe is expected to falter at about 60 per cent, according to analysts Datamonitor. In its latest report, 'Consumer broadband markets: approaching maturity?', the company predicts that in the next 18 to 24 months the aggressive pace of broadband adoption across Europe will follow a similar pattern to the uptake of dial-up and begin to plateau. 'The current situation in many markets can be best described as one of rapidly increasing penetration, where broadband has effectively entered its growth sweet spot,' says Tim Gower, enterprise communications analyst at Datamonitor and author of the report. ...more

Ofcom charts fixed-line services

Ofcom has launched a new website designed to provide consumers with a comparison of quality of service levels among fixed-line telecoms providers in the UK. Although there are several price comparison sites already online and cost continues to be the most important determining factor for consumers choosing a fixed-line provider, the regulator recently commissioned research which showed that quality of service is consistently identified by consumers as an important factor in deciding whether to switch provider. Therefore the TopComm service will provide comparable information on: the percentage of orders that are completed on or before the agreed date; faults reported per 100 lines on a quarterly basis; the percentage of faults repaired within the agreed service time; and the percentage of complaints processed within 28 calendar days. ...more

Intel to cut Springdale prices in June

Intel plans to lower its 865 series (Springdale) chipset prices on June 29. A more significant price cut on 865-based motherboards can be expected only after the middle of the third quarter, when Taiwanese chipset designers catch up with Intel in product specifications, board makers said. Despite its plan to boost demand by cutting prices, Intel will only cut prices by US$1-2 on June 29, suggesting little pricing pressure in the current market. ...more