Branson breathes life into Virgin Mobile, NTL merger

Flamboyant entrepreneur Richard Branson has offered to forgo a ?42 million payday in order to finalise a deal with cable company NTL. Last month an $817m bid for the Virgin Mobile phone business was rejected by the board even though Branson, who owns a 71.3 per cent stake in the business had given the deal his backing. ...more

Long arm of the law reaches out to Xbox mod chips

The long-awaited sentence for David Rocci, who sold Xbox mod chips on his Web site www.IsoNews.com has come through a month later than expected. ...more

Ofcom plans massive increase in DAB

Telecoms watchdog Ofcom has set out proposals that will allow the vast majority of existing BBC and commercial radio stations to move to digital services. If approved, operators will be able to bid for a broadcasting licence in late 2006 with the awards announced in early 2007. Under the plans, the industry regulator plans a major increase in Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) that currently offers local and national free-to-air services that can be received both in the home and on portable radios throughout the country. ...more

Anti-blur added to the Sony digicam mix

If you find your photographs disappointingly blurry, help may be at hand. Sony has released two new digicams to enable better results. The Cyber-shot H5 and H2, Sony's latest digicam offerings, are the first digital still cameras from the H-series to combine Carl Zeiss 12x Optical zoom with Double 'Anti-Blur' technology. ...more

Broadband round-up: optical-to-copper, fastest ADSL, Cable growth

ADSLGuide has published details of BT's progress towards providing ADSL broadband at exchanges that currently use fibre optic (TPON) phone lines. TPON exchanges cannot currently supply broadband, and BT has gradually been installing alternative copper wired connections in order to provide ADSL in these areas. The full list of exchanges, comprising those already upgraded and dates for the others is reproduced here. ...more