Microsoft, Vodafone to create XML based web services

Microsoft and Vodafone have teamed up to develop a new set of mobile Web standards based around XML. The companies hope that it will encourage developers to create a new range of apps such as messaging, location, authentication and billing for the PC. Details are sketchy but the plan is that users will be able access applications that work both on mobiles and PCs on wired and wireless networks. ...more

Canon to market fuel cell driven devices next year

Japanese imaging giant Canon says it is working on fuel cell technology for its range of digital cameras and printers and expects to have products on the market next year. The company joins several other Japanese companies including Hitachi and NEC that are racing to get the new technology on the shelves. Until now, the leader of the pack was considered to be Toshiba, which earlier this year said it was developing an MP3 player powered by fuel cell. ...more

Windows XP braced for Bluetooth

Microsoft said yesterday that it would release an update to computer builders that would add Bluetooth support to Windows XP. Bluetooth took a bit of a knock when it was absent from Windows XP at launch. At the time Microsoft said this was because of a sparsity of commercial hardware around on which to test it. ...more

Comment: Are we really ready for 3G mobile comms?

The question is prompted by market research - carried out on behalf of Nokia, no less - which suggests a gushing welcome awaits the new mobile services. Nokia has been doing some research in to market readiness for third-generation mobile comms (3G) and - rather unsurprisingly - finds a demand for services that it is keen to supply. Respondents apparently declared a strong demand for applications, enthusiasm for the future of mobile telephony and also a willingness to pay for the 3G privileges. ...more

Real patches three critical flaws

Real Networks has issued patches for three critical flaws in its Real Player media software. The flaws could let a malicious hacker create a skin file or a RealMedia File that could cause a stack overflow which could have allowed an attacker to execute arbitrary code on a customer's machine. Fixes are available for the Windows, Mac, Linux and Enterprise versions of Real Player from http://service. ...more