19-01-2002 Essential news of the week

Brought neatly together and presented on a plate, here is a roundup of some of the week's main news stories from the world of IT. Lawyers eat into Microsoft's earnings Gates memo: security is the new priority Digital TV for ?100 Apple announces $38 million profit Visual Studio.NET released Happy(ish) ending to bad year for Intel Multimedia messaging gets closer . ...more

ISPs offer 2Mbps ADSL broadband

Trials of BT's 2Mbps wholesale broadband service began yesterday, with eight ISPs offering connections. BT Retail has already filled its quota, but anyone wishing to take part in the trial can apply to any of the following. • Andrews and Arnold Home-Fast - ?27. ...more

PlusNet begins screening test for Internet traffic

The Internet service provider PlusNet has begun testing a system for providing real-time screening of Internet traffic for viruses, spyware, adware and inappropriate content. StreamShield's combined software and hardware platforms are designed to scan up to 250,000 Web page requests and 5,000 emails each second without diminishing network performance. Unlike firewalls and IDS/IPS products, which operate on packets, the StreamScan scanning engine analyses the entire content stream in real-time allowing it to detect more complex threats. ...more

And also today (3-July-2001), for the record...

Here, in brief, are some of the day's other stories. Java smart cards Metrowerks has been signed up by Sun to provide developers with an integrated development environment (IDE) for Java Card technology (the Java Card spec enables Java to run on smart cards and other devices with limited memory). There'll be byte code and source-level debugging capabilities and a simulated runtime environment when the IDE is released later this year. ...more

Microsoft beefs up Media Center services

Microsoft has signed up seven new services for the Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (MCE). These include BBC News (for those with a Media Center but no TV tuner), Fashion TV and the MusicBrigade video jukebox service. It has also previewed Media Center Extender Technology, courtesy of the about-to-be-launched-in-UK Xbox 360. ...more