Sony stops selling lipstick and French food

Sony is to sell off some of its more unlikely assets in order to generate cash for its core consumer electronics businesses. Having already announced the closure of its QRIO and AIBO robot programme and Qualia, its high-end electronics experiment, Reuters reports that the Japanese firm will now dispose of Sony Plaza, an import-export business, B&C cosmetics, the French restaurant chain Maxim and a mail order business, all of which were bought by former CEO Akio Morita. Sony declined to comment, but according to Reuters' source it plans to sell more than 50 per cent of the four businesses. ...more

Domain kiting threat feared for .uk

UK Registry Nominet is hoping to suppress the appetite for 'domain-tasting' with new rules threatening to suspend access or terminate contracts with registrars that persist in the practice. 'Domain tasting', or 'domain kiting' involves the abuse of the systems of top-level domain Registries, which allow the deletion of domains registered in error because of a spelling mistake, for example. The system gives registrars a grace period in which domains can be deleted without being charged. ...more

WLAN Event: US Robotics introduces 802.11g Wireless Turbo range

Faster and more secure wireless networking is the boast of US Robotics and its new 802.11g Wireless Turbo range. 'The advantage of the Wireless Turbo product line is our exclusive Accelerator Technology, which provides 54Mbit/sec accelerated to 100Mbit/sec performance,' said Tony Field, a US Robotics Product Marketing Manager. ...more

Amazon leaks Windows XP prices

Amazon.com accidentally leaked the prices of the forthcoming Windows XP last week when it mistakenly started taking pre-orders for the second time in just six weeks. Amazon's error came just as Microsoft released Windows XP to PC manufacturers, ready for its 25 October release date. ...more

Google branded top by 'branding professional'

Internet firm Google has again pipped Apple to the top spot in a global brand ranking that also sees YouTube and Wikipedia debut in the top five, a survey showed on Friday. The annual survey by online branding magazine brandchannel.com often throws up controversial results, such as in 2004, when Arabic TV station Al Jazeera was named the world's fifth most influential brand. ...more