Italian auction for mobile comms is suspended

Italy's auction of Third Generation Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) licences was officially suspended yesterday when only five consortiums were left bidding for the five licences available, following the withdrawal of the BT-backed Blu bid. The Italian government is now seeking to freeze the consortium's deposit, which was a not inconsiderable $1.7bn (L4,000bn), and it might seek more in damages. ...more

Adobe updates Photoshop raw plug-in

Adobe has updated the Photoshop CS plug-in that enables the image-editing application to import raw image formats from digital cameras. Available on high-end and some mid-range digicams, proprietary raw formats allow photographers to save images without any compression or processing applied - in effect it is the digital equivalent of film. The Camera Raw 2. ...more

My very own domain name

A new UK domain name, intended for personal use, has been authorised today: .me.uk. ...more

HP rejigs product lines ahead of new releases

A raft of new releases is lined up by HP, ready for an official launch in October. Hewlett-Packard has unveiled the HP e-pc 40, HP Vectra vl420 PC, HP Vectra xe310 PC, a 15-inch LCD monitor and a flat-screen 21-inch CRT monitor. These will fit in and around "simplified" desktop PC product lines. ...more

Sony adds new sensitivity to digicams

Sony has unveiled the latest addition to its Cyber-shot range of digital cameras, the eight megapixel Cyber-shot N1. The 8.1 effective megapixel Super HAD CCD is the highest-ever resolution for a 'super compact' Cyber-shot, which also boasts a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 3x optical zoom lens. ...more