Solaris is legit Unix says Sun

In the wake of SCO's challenge to IBM over the IP (intellectual property) rights to Unix, Sun Microsystems has moved to reassure Solaris users that it has licensing rights to the Unix used on SPARC and x86 systems. The networking systems company has announced that it has 'absolutely no licensing issues with SCO today'. It was at the end of last week that SCO squared up to IBM over its use of Unix - SCO bowls up to big blue for a billion. ...more

Console contest announced

Dust off your favourite console and get your trigger finger oiled up because a new gaming competition is doing the rounds - and you can earn yourself some hard cash. The new Console World Championships is open to all PlayStation, Dreamcast and Nintendo gamers and will feature 18 of the top games from these formats. So if you think you can pull off another ollie in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater or get that final touchdown with Madden NFL 2001, you had better sign up. ...more

Napster offers free music player in US downloads battle

Napster in the US is to offer a 'free' music player to its subscribers. Customers who sign up for a year's subscription at $119.40 get a Rio Chiba sport for free. ...more

Free broadband deals bite at NTL

NTL has begun to feel the pinch from the number of 'free' broadband offers from rival Internet providers. The UK cable provider revealed that while it had gained an additional 104,000 new broadband subscribers in the last quarter, growth had slowed considerably, down from 191,400 in the previous quarter. In addition to pressure from ADSL providers, NTL's chief executive, Steve Burch cited more people moving house and stricter credit checks as further reasons for the drop. ...more

Google snaps up Picasa

Search engine Google has bought up Picasa, a company which sells some highly rated digital photo management software. 'Picasa enables users to easily manage and share digital photographs, and its technologies complement Google's' said Jonathan Rosenberg, Google's vice president of Product Management. Founded in 2001, Picasa already has a relationship with Google's Blogger service to make publishing digital photos easier. ...more