Intel develops mobile phone chip

The company associated primarily with PC chips is to announce a new chip that contains the circuitry of a PC and a mobile phone. In an attempt to diversify, the new Intel processors feature logic circuits, flash memory and analogue communication circuits on a single piece of silicon, produced by a single manufacturing process. Normally, these types of circuits are produced separately, but now the process has been unified. ...more

Microsoft loses China contract at last minute

The Beijing municipal government has pulled out of a deal to buy Microsoft software. In a victory for local suppliers, the local authority is instead expected to sign a deal with indigenous suppliers according to the Chinese website Pacific Epoch. The deal, in which the local government would gain the right to unlimited licences of Microsoft software over three years in return for $3. ...more

IBM to bring Firefox inside

IBM plans to develop Firefox extensions to integrate the open-source browser into its server software. Big Blue has advertised for a programmer in its advanced technology group with the job of 'enhancing Firefox with new features complimentary to IBM's On Demand middleware stack'. The creation of the post is another indication that major enterprises are considering the open source browser as a serious alternative to Microsoft's Internet Explorer. ...more

NY Senator bids to outlaw spyware

A New York Senator has filed a bill in the State Senate which would outlaw spyware. The Bill by Senator Michael Balboni attempts to make the unauthorised uploading of spyware to a user's machine a crime but also attempts to place limits on 'legitimate' spyware. Under the term 'spyware' the Bill covers programs which monitor communications between a user's computer and the outside world, especially key-logging programs and transmits them to a third party without the user's knowledge. ...more

Bagle-A virus runs rings round the Net

A new virus - Bagle-A - is running rings round the Net, but will self-destruct on 28 January Bagle-A was first discovered yesterday. But MessageLabs says it has already received 45,000 reports of the worm, the first of which came from Germany, but the majority of those following emanating from Australia. Trend Micro issued an alert for Bagle-A, with its first reports arriving from the States, but having also seen large numbers from Japan, Australia and Germany. ...more