Music sales strong despite downloaders

The downloading of music over the Internet has not had the expected impact on UK music sales, according to new figures released by the BPI. Music industry bodies, such as the BPI and the IFPI, have spent much of the past year predicting doom and gloom for the music industry, and laying the blame squarely at the feet of computer users. However, sales figures for 2002 show that album sales have remained strong. ...more

New Centrino models take centre stage in Intel's chip troupe

A whole new range of Centrino parts have made their way onto the updated Intel processor price list. They feature the 802.11 a/b/g tri-band wireless module, which was unveiled by Intel back in August - Intel brings tri-mode wireless networking to Centrino. ...more

Wii proves gamer's choice in next-gen console war

The anticipated battle between Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 for the console crown has become a sideshow to the unprecedented rise of Nintendo's Wii as the next-generation gaming hardware of choice. Once a dark-horse contender, the Wii has outsold both its competitors in recent months. According to sales data from the NPD Group, the Wii sold 335,000 units in February to the Xbox 360's 228,000 and the PS3's 127,000. ...more

UK games chart: Mini revival for Halo 2

It's very much 'as you were' for this week's ELSPA UK games chart - we are still in the shadow of Christmas. For the top five there is little movement, except that Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 4 inches in at number five, swapping places with Ubi Soft's Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. Need For Speed: Underground 2 and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas continue to top of the pile The major mover and shaker is Microsoft's Xbox console game Halo 2 (pictured), which jumps back in to the top twenty. ...more

One in the eye for Napster

New technology developed by EMusic Inc is designed to stop people distributing its files via song-swapping application Napster. The EMusic site sells digital music and the company has come up with a way of embedding an invisible watermark into its files. When EMusic searches for its files on the Napster service, it searches out this watermark and further action can be taken if anything inappropriate is found. ...more