PC Advisor News

UK broadband connections up to 94%

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:28:00 GMT

58% 2Mbs speeds or more

The figures are released today as part of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) “Internet Connectivity September 2008”. Data showed that broadband connections reached 94.1 percent of all connections (residential and business) up from 92.8 percent in June 2008

Internet Explorer 8.0 to launch in early 2009

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:33:00 GMT

Microsoft plans first IE8 release candidate

Microsoft will launch a release candidate (RC) for Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) in the first three months of 2009, indicating it will ship its newest browser sometime in the first half of the year.

Nokia and IBM link smartphones to Lotus Notes

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:27:00 GMT

Mobile email partnership announced

Nokia S60 3rd Edition devices can connect to corporate email accounts via Lotus Domino Server add-on feature Notes Traveler, without any additional costs, the companies said.

The integration is something Notes users have been waiting for, according to IBM.

"We see a wide distribution of Nokia devices within our customer base. I was at a user function...

Google kills Second Life competitor Lively

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:19:00 GMT

Virtual world closing down in December

Google said on a company blog said Lively would shut at the end of December at which time resources will be refosused on the company's search, advertising and applications businesses. "We've also always accepted that when you take these kinds of risks not every bet is going to pay off," the posting added. "Lively did teach us about what our users like and what they don't," said a Google spokesperson. "We learned people want to be social in many places on the web, and we learned that users appreciate the ability to meet new people and share content with friends."

Samsung starts 256GB SSD production

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:03:00 GMT

High-capacity solid-state drives now available

Samsung has started mass producting 256GB solid-state drives (SSDs), which could make their way into laptops in a few months.

eMusic passes 250m downloads

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:51:00 GMT

Subscription model pays off for iTunes competitor

eMusic has passed the 250 million MP3 download milestone since establishing its current subscription model five years ago. The number includes sales in the US, Canada and Europe.

IBM pays $3m bond in Apple employee suit

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:28:00 GMT

Battle over former exec Papermaster continues

IBM has been ordered to post a bond of $3m in case the company's lawsuit attempting to prevent former vice president of Blade Development, Mark Papermaster, joining Apple is proven without merit.

Wrath of the Lich King sells 2.4m copies in 24hrs

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:14:00 GMT

World of Warcraft expansion breaks sales record

The latest expansion for Blizzard's World of Warcraft multiplayer game - Wrath of the Lich King - sold 2.8 million units in its first 24 hours of availability, a 16 percent growth over the prior expansion The Burning Crusade, which sold 2.4 million units during its first day.

Typepad blogging service upgraded by Six Apart

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:08:00 GMT

Readers given TypePad Profiles

Six Apart's TypePad hosted blog service has been upgraded with features that tap into the popularity of individual social profiles and online-activity notification feeds.

CES price cut as economic woes bite

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:03:00 GMT

Cheap hotel rates on offer for Vegas show

The biggest hotels in Las Vegas have slashed the price of hotel rooms ahead of January's Consumer Electronics Show, suggesting the high-profile event is suffering from the current economic climate.

Folding screen adds flexibility to smartphones

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:54:00 GMT

Photo: Prototype phone opens like a book

A Taiwanese research institute has revealed a folding display on a smartphone that allowed its screen to double in size to 5in.

Security warning for Windows Vista users

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:46:00 GMT

Microsoft to patch Vista in next service pack

An Austrian security vendor has found a vulnerability in Windows Vista that it says could possibly allow an attacker to run unauthorised code on a PC.

3G digital cameras planned by mobile group

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:59:00 GMT

GSM Association pushes mobile broadband spec

3G technology - used in mobile broadband dongles for laptops - could find its way into digital cameras, cars and other devices that could link to mobile phones.

Phorm discussion banned in BT forum

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:24:00 GMT

Threads deleted following a change in policy

BT has banned members of its support forums discussing its Phorm webwise trials.

BBC One and BBC Two available live online

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:13:00 GMT

Simulcast channels still require a TV licence

The BBC has announced it will broadcast BBC One and BBC Two television shows live online from next week.

Open Office XML specification published

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:33:00 GMT

CD with 7,228 page document costs £189

The specification for Office Open XML (OOXML) has been published by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) following a bitter debate.

BT pressures Ofcom on 100Mbps fibre broadband

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:17:00 GMT

Ofcom asked to guarentee a return on investment

BT is putting pressure on telecoms regulator Ofcom to make guarentees over returns if the company decides to invest in rolling out a super-fast fibre network across the UK.

Microsoft won't revive Yahoo takeover bid

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:57:00 GMT

No deal on the table despite CEO stepping down

Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang's decision to step down from the company won't revive Microsoft's takeover bid, said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Google spam calculator analyses email burden

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:44:00 GMT

Tool calculates lost productivity

Google has launched a spam calculator that can calculate how much spam is costing your company.

HP TouchSmart tx2 is first multi-touch laptop

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:29:00 GMT

New laptop also includes hinged screen

HP has unveiled the TouchSmart tx2 - its firstmulti-touch convertible laptop for consumers.

Yahoo Glue combines video, text & images

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:12:00 GMT

New search results site rolled out in the US

Yahoo has rolled out a beta version of its new Glue search concept for the first time in the US.

IBM to reveal brain-powered PC breakthrough

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:07:00 GMT

Researchers plan perceptive hardware

IBM Research is expected to uncover work it is doing to bring the brain's processing power to computers, in an effort to make it easier for PCs to process vast amounts of data in real time.

Revamped Microsoft Zune subs announced

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:58:00 GMT

US customers can keep DRM-free tracks

Microsoft has changed the terms of its Zune Pass subscription service, allowing subscribers to keep some tracks each month as part of their permanent collections.

Sky TV comes to 3 mobile phones

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:04:00 GMT

Subscribe for £5 per month

Sky is offering 3 customers the chance to subscribe to a range of its mobile channels.

Virgin Media offers 16Mb ADSL broadband

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:20:00 GMT

Superfast speeds for non-cable subscribers

Virgin Media is offering consumers on its ADSL Broadband service the chance to increase their broadband speed to 16Mbps.