Swindon takes high-speed Net crown

Swindon is the UK's top conurbation, when it comes to broadband access, with more than half of all households plugged into a fast Internet connection. It is the only place where penetration has exceeded 50 per cent, although Wokingham, a short hop along the M4, comes close with 49.3 per cent. ...more

Build your own search engine

How do you fancy being Larry Page with your own fully tricked search engine to play with? You would? How much would you consider paying? $1 billion? $100 million? How about one dollar? That is the astonishing offer being made by Alexa, the little known search engine produced by online e-tailing giant Amazon. The company has introduced a Web Search Platform Beta. The company is putting a set of tools and an API at the disposal of budding search tycoons to allow them to develop new services from the Alexa search index Although not the first company to come up with the idea of a set of search-based tools, for example Optevi is developing something similar, this is the first time that such an initiative has come from a company with the finance to back it. ...more

Nokia remains king of the mobile device market

Nokia continues to be the world's favourite mobile device manufacturer even though it faces a strong challenge from PalmOne in the US. According to the latest survey by industry analysts Canalys, Nokia's market share for mobile devices was almost three million units representing almost 40 per cent of total worldwide shipments. The only market where Nokia didn't have it all its own way was in the US. ...more

BT Wholesale reaches broadband landmark

Half a million ADSL broadband connections have now been made in the UK, BT Wholesale has announced. The lucky recipient of ADSL connection number 500,000 was apparently a mobile phone outlet in Barking, one Future AC. Incidentally, the ISP involved was not BT Openworld. ...more

Music downloads prove their popularity

UK sales of online music have topped CDs, vinyl and cassettes The latest figures from the Official Charts Company show that January sales of digital downloads reached more than 150,000, with 50,000 sold in the week that Coke launched its MyCokeMusic's launch. BPI Executive Chairman Peter Jamieson said: 'Digital music services without doubt represent an exciting future for the music industry. Putting the systems in place to properly reward the artists and creators of music takes time, especially against a backdrop of tough market conditions and increasing piracy. ...more