Sunbelt Software acquires Kerio Personal Firewall

Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but Sunbelt Software has announced that it will acquire Kerio Technologies' Personal Firewall product. This will be re-branded, temporarily, as the Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall, with all existing customers receiving support through Sunbelt once the acquisition is completed, which is expected to be before the end of the month. 'The popular Kerio firewall is a clear technology leader in endpoint security for businesses and consumers,' said the president of Sunbelt Software, Alex Eckelberry. ...more

Compaq calls back notebook batteries

Compaq has recalled 55,000 battery packs used in Armada E500 and V300 notebooks and is replacing them on a two for one basis over fears that they could short circuit and possibly catch fire. Although remarkably similar to a recent event where Dell recalled 27,000 of its notebook batteries because of safety concerns, Compaq maintains this incident is completely unrelated as the two companies used batteries from different manufacturers. A Compaq spokesman said the problem was caused by a pin that should be soldered to the circuit but which had punctured the board. ...more

Microsoft aims to open up Xbox 360 ecosystem

Microsoft is declaring it will 'democratise' the development of console games for its Xbox 360 platform with the autumn release of XNA Game Studio Express tools, based on its XNA gaming platform. The idea is to give hobbyists, students and small-scale developments tams the tools they need to produce Xbox-playable games, to sit alongside the larger studio offerings. 'XNA Game Studio Express will ignite innovation and accelerate prototyping, forever changing the way games are developed,' said the general manager of Microsoft's Game Developer Group, Chris Satchell. ...more

South Korea's MS antitrust probe still on

South Korean antitrust investigators have vowed to continue their Microsoft probe despite threats that it will withdraw from the country. The information ministry said that Microsoft should accept that it has a responsibility to its customers. 'We regret that Microsoft, which serves more than 20 million customers in South Korea, has officially mentioned that it could pull out from the country when regulators are probing the issue on a fair legal basis,' the ministry said. ...more

Finland picks up 3G challenge, but not literally

When is a 3G rollout not a 3G rollout? How about when the "network" is in place, but there are no handsets available to use it. This is the scenario faced by Finland, the first country to award 3G licences to mobile phone operators. The main Finnish telco, Sonera, intends - the BBC reports - to switch on its 3G service on the 1 January 2002, regardless of the absence of handsets to actually use it. ...more