Government e-auctions save ?7 million on IT

NHS trusts and Local councils have saved millions of pounds on hardware purchases using a government e-auction scheme. According to a report by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), an online government procurement auction has helped 14 councils and six NHS trusts save a combined ?7 million on IT hardware purchases. The OGC eAuction site helped the councils and trusts buy six lots of IT hardware for ?6. ...more

Microsoft forgives $15 million loan

Former Microsoft president Rick Belluzzo will not have to repay a $15 million loan he received from the company. The money was leant to Belluzzo as an advance on profit that he was expected to make from stock options that he received when he joined Microsoft in 2000. However when he left the company in April this year, the stock price was such that the options were worthless. ...more

Fujitsu sucks up UK stalwart ICL

Thirty-three-year-old International Computers Limited (ICL) has been fully absorbed into its parent company Fujitsu. The name change will be completed by March 2002, as part of Fujitsu's three-year, $500m advertising campaign. Last year the company added the "A Fujitsu company" tag to its logo. ...more

Wii proves gamer's choice in next-gen console war

The anticipated battle between Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 for the console crown has become a sideshow to the unprecedented rise of Nintendo's Wii as the next-generation gaming hardware of choice. Once a dark-horse contender, the Wii has outsold both its competitors in recent months. According to sales data from the NPD Group, the Wii sold 335,000 units in February to the Xbox 360's 228,000 and the PS3's 127,000. ...more

Greenpeace continues to criticise Apple, despite renewed environmental commitment

While acknowledging that Apple's commitment to turning green beats Dell and many other computer manufacturers, Greenpeace still isn't happy. In a statement on its site, it makes it clear that Steve Jobs' commitment to increasing the amount of waste it recycles, and eliminating many toxic chemicals is 'not everything we asked for'. 'While customers in the US will be able to return their Apple products for recycling knowing that their gear won't end up in the e-waste mountains of Asia and India, Apple isn't making that promise to anyone but customers in the USA,' it says. ...more