Google Maps gives Europe a good going over

Google has extended its street maps, driving directions and integrated local search service into mainland Europe. Google Maps now covers France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Street-maps have also been rendered for several other countries, though these have to be accessed via the countries listed above. ...more

FBI worms its way into criminal communications

When is a virus, not a virus? When it's written by the FBI. Reuters reports that an FBI spokesman has confirmed that the US government is working on a project, codenamed Magic Lantern, that will log the key-strokes made on infected machines and enable the FBI to track communications made using it. Remember the recent W32. ...more

Symantec to launch phone security software this summer

Symantec has told PC Pro it will be launching smartphone security software this summer. The company will offer anti-virus software for both Symbian and Windows Mobile devices, as part of its Norton 2008 product refresh in late August. The company claims the threat level on mobiles now justifies its own security suite. ...more

Top viruses for November

Counting on a quiet weekend, Sophos has released its chart of virus activity for the month. In first place is Sober-A, which was actually discovered 27 October. Taking 32. ...more

Java faces obstacles to meeting high targets

Just because a handset has Java capabilities does not mean they are used. A new study finds that the number of active mobile Java users varies significantly worldwide: in the East, mobile users pick up and run with the technology, in the West, we seem to prefer to leave it well alone. The report - 'Mobile Application Platforms And Operating Systems', written by the research company Arc Group - indicates that in countries such as Japan and Korea around 80 per cent of all Java handsets sold led to active Java users. ...more