British government gets serious about open source

The UK government is preparing to take a major step towards a policy of adopting Open Source Software wherever possible. Whilst not ruling out the use of proprietory software entirely, the plan seeks to get the best value for the taxpayers' money whilst reducing the risk to lock-in to one vendor and supporting open standards. These conclusions are part of a draft document published by the Office of the e-Envoy entitled Open Source Software for use within the UK government. ...more

World Cyber Games: the UK trail starts in West London

You too can join the devalued ranks of honed, muscled, professional (kinda) sportsmen by taking part in the World Cyber Athletics. Yep, this weekend the 15-person team to represent the UK in this year's World Cyber Games in Korea is being finalised at the Shepherds Bush Pavilion. With ?30,000 in prizes up for grabs this weekend, the winners will also head off to the Olympic village in Seoul, Korea to compete for $350,000 in prize money at the World Cyber Games in October. ...more

Apple gets RAW with Aperture

Apple has introduced Aperture, a new application that it describes as the first all-in-one post production tool for professional photographers based on RAW images. RAW images are maintained natively throughout Aperture without any intermediate conversion process, and can be retouched using a suite of adjustment tools designed especially for photographers. The nondestructive image processing engine ensures that it never alters a single pixel of the original photo so photographers can modify or delete changes at any point in the workflow. ...more

Samsung merges the monitor with the TV

Samsung is making its monitors more multi-functional. The South Korean electronics giant has announced its SM730MP and SM730MW wide-screen displays and emphasised ancillary functions such as new storage options for viewing personal digital data and a 'Picture in Picture' tool for incorporating TV feeds within multi-document displays. According to Samsung such displays herald the merging of PC monitors with LCD TVs: 'With the release of the SM730MP and SM730MW we are now seeing the cross over between LCD TV's and monitors merge ever closer,' said Neil Berville, general manager for Display and Storage at Samsung UK. ...more

AMD advances into Mexico with its 50x15 initiative

AMD is advancing with its 50x15 initiative, to bring affordable Internet access for 50 percent of the world's population by the year 2015. It has announced a deal with Telmex, a Mexican telco, to supply Personal Internet Communicator (PIC) devices across Mexico. Developed by AMD, the Telmex Internet Box - as it will be dubbed - will provide Internet access and involve hardware and software support. ...more