Europe warned not to follow US into patent court chaos

The US Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) has sent a letter to MEPs warning against adopting a system of patent courts similar or worse than its beleaguered US counterpart. Such a court would operate outside of the jurisdiction of the European Commission and would be overseen by the European Patent Office and national patent offices. Even in the US, rulings made in the patent courts of the Federal Circuit can be escalated to the Supreme Court or Congress for appeal. ...more

Hi-Grade hits the Gigahertz heights

Hi-Grade has announced two 1Ghz PIII notebooks: the UltiNote AS8400 and the Atlas/Hi-Grade Flyer 3400-1000. The former sports an internal CD-R/W and DVD-ROM combo drive. A TV-out socket, coupled with the S3 Savage MX 2x graphics chip, means you can plug it in to the telly once you get back from the office and use it as a standard DVD player. ...more

Apple updates iBook, Power Mac ranges

Apple has upgraded its iBook range of consumer notebooks and reintroduced a single processor Power Mac to its range. The iBook line-up still comprises the three models, but processor power has increased and ?50 has been knocked off the price of the 12in model. AirPort Extreme wireless is now built-in across the range. ...more

Intel opens research labs in Cambridge

Intel has opened its own research laboratory in Cambridge University. Intel researchers and academic staff will collaborate on open research projects involving networking and software development technologies. The focus of the lab, according to Intel's Director of Research, David Tennenhouse, will to be to develop future products which enable millions of small embedded wireless devices to work together. ...more

Google buys wiki-based JotSpot

Google has acquired JotSpot, a company that develops collaborative wiki-based applications. The terms of the acquisition are confidential. In a statement on its website, JotSpot explains that its technology is a strong fit with existing Google products like Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Google Apps for Your Domain and Google Groups. ...more