Virus activity lulls, but more new strains detected

June, July and December are typically lull periods for virus activity, according to Kaspersky, and last month did nothing to break that trend. Zafi-b topped the charts for both Sophos and Kaspersky, with 59.2 and 57 per cent respectively. ...more

EMI sways to ensure merger

EMI group PLC said today that it is looking to find a settlement with the European Commission regulators over its concern that the $20 billion merger with Time Warner would harm competition. This comes a day after The Financial Times reported that EC officials were poised to send a draft of their decision advising that the deal should be blocked. The FT said that unless the two companies must offer significant concessions to appease the EU. ...more

AOL to offer downloadable movies

AOL, currently in transition from its traditional image as a moms and pops ISP to an Internet content portal has signed a deal with a number of the major studios to offer downloadable films through the AOL Video portal. The movie majors who have signed up with the Home Entertainment Group are 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Pictures, and - no surprise - Warner Bros. After purchase - prices range from $9. ...more

Our chips will be even faster than your chips

Intel has announced that it has built the world's fastest and smallest CMOS transistor. The claim means that if the current trend continues over the next ten years, the company will be able to produce chips that are 10 times faster than the ones we have now. Intel's fastest chip at the moment, the Pentium 4, has 42 million transistors to aid it process millions of calculations but future chips could contain 100 times more transistors. ...more

New faster, lighter, sleeker iBooks

Apple has launched a completely redesigned iBook which is faster, lighter, sleeker and configured with a choice of four optical drive options, including a hybrid DVD/CD-RW drive. The revamped iBook follows the stylish lead of Apple's recently launched and highly acclaimed PowerBook G4 Titanium, completely dropping the curvaceous and brightly coloured look of the orginal range. Apple has abandoned its high profile multi-colour scheme - every iBook model now comes in an identical white casing. ...more