Facebook schools success with iTunes giveaway

The world's number two social networking site is giving away 250 million iTunes downloads in a back-to-school promotion. Facebook will hand out one million sampler packs each week for 10 weeks, each pack containing 25 songs pre-selected from a variety of genres. The site currently has around 13 million unique users, around a quarter of the figure for the leading networking site, MySpace. ...more

Free update to Norton Internet Security 2007

In our review of Norton Internet Security 2007 in the latest edition of PC Pro (see issue 147, p85), we mentioned that existing users of Norton Internet Security 2006 were entitled to a free upgrade. However, this offer isn't clear from the main Symantec website, so we want to explain how to obtain the upgrade. First, we should clarify that the upgrade offer is open to subscribers only. ...more

Sony to recall own batteries - report

It seems likely that Sony will now recall batteries for its own laptops, following a global replacement programme that has seen most major manufacturers recall Sony-made units except for HP and Sony itself. The company's VAIO subsidiary has now decided to act, and it intends to recall 90,000 of its Vaio brand laptop computer batteries in Japan and China, reports Reuters. The details emerged as part of announcement that it may change its full-year's earnings forecast, because the long-running issue will obviously affect Sony's bottom line. ...more

Yahoo! boosts spam defences

Yahoo! has announced a new set of spam tools for its premium services. The new tools are available in the US only as part of its Mail Plus premium service which costs $29.99 a year. ...more

A transatlantic emergency rescue

A Canadian Web surfer has saved the life of a suicidal Scot after speaking to him in a chat room. The Scottish man had taken an overdose of alcohol and Valium after a bout of depression and was slurring his words over his PC microphone and having difficulty typing. The Canadian, from Calgary, alerted the authorities by dialling 911. ...more