Blueyonder abandons phone requirement

Telewest has removed the requirement that users of its ?10 fixed-fee, Blueyonder broadband Internet service spend an equivalent amount on telephone voice calls. From now, Blueyonder surfunlimited customers' ?10 fees will cover all Internet access with no additional stipulations, nor time restrictions. Chad Raube, head of marketing for Internet, explained that, "some people are wary of terms like unlimited and the small print that accompanies many Internet services. ...more

US consumers lose $2.4bn a year from hacked bank accounts

Hacking into bank accounts via the Web is costing US consumers $2.4bn a year, according to research group Gartner. From a survey of 5,000 web users in April of this year, Gartner has worked out roughly two million consumers in the US have their passwords and authentication stolen and used to access funds from online and telephone accounts every year. ...more

'Home users should buy Macs' - Sophos

Security firm Sophos is suggesting that users who are concerned about the security of their systems should consider switching to a Mac. 'Macs will continue to be the safer place for computer users for some time to come - something that home users may wish to consider if they're deliberating about the next computer they should purchase' stated Sophos's senior technology consultant, Graham Cluley. The July update of the Sophos Security Threat Management Report notes that while the first malware for Mac OS X was detected in February 2006, it has not spread in the wild and was not the beginning of serious attention from the world's virus authors. ...more

HipZip firmware upgraded

Iomega has released a firmware upgrade for its HipZip portable music player. The upgrade includes: improved sound quality at lower bit rates; the ability to play a track by highlighting it in the Playlist Manager; saved playlist order changes when a disk is ejected; MP3 and WMA bookmarking, allowing you to return to where you left; support for low bit-rate (16Kbps) WMA files; scan mode plays the first 10 seconds of each track; and a return to the last-track-played when the player is switched on. A list of further enhancements and installation download and instructions are on the Iomega website. ...more

iTunes adds gigs to stay ahead

Apple has added a new 'premium' feature to the iTunes Music Store, full-length live recordings for $14.99. It is the first time the company has broken the 99? per song, $9. ...more