BT delivers new visual search system to Tate Online

BT has come up with what it calls a smart search product for people who don't know much about art but know what they like. The new Carousel system is available for visitors to the Tate Online website, where users can view a selection of art works. By clicking on something they like, they are shown a series of similar objects. ...more

Sony announces 8-speed DVD+R drives

Sony has announced internal and external drives that sport the DVD Alliance's 8-speed DVD+R spec. The internal drive (DRU-530A) will be available from next month for ?152 ex VAT, while the external one (DRX-530UL) will be available from January at a price yet to be confirmed. The 8-speed write specification was ratified by the Alliance in August, promising to burn DVD+R discs in less than ten minutes. ...more

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

Dell DJ links into Linux

Dell's digital music player, the Dell DJ, has found a friend in Linux, with Lindows adding automatic recognition and an interface for the USB device so Linux users can manage their music. It turns out Dell wasn't the first choice, but Apple must have decided Linux users were too geek to get to that iPod chic. 'We talked with Apple Computer about supporting the iPod but they want to keep that a closed system,' said Michael Robertson, chief executive officer of Lindows, Inc. ...more

Happy(ish) ending to bad year for Intel

Intel has published encouraging results for Q4 at the end of a 'terrible' year. Sales for the fourth quarter ended up 7 per cent over the previous quarter with a $7bn revenue, exceeding most expectations. This was down 20 per cent over Q4 2000, however, and end-of-year revenues for 2001 were down 21 per cent from 2000. ...more