Dell shines CES light on new notebooks and screens

Dell's Mr Dell yesterday unveiled his company's latest innovations at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. New to Dell's product lines are a notebook launched in the US with an enormous 20.1in screen, capable of HDTV, and the 30in Dell Widescreen UltraSharp 3007WFP flat-panel LCD monitor. ...more

Microsoft signs up Spiderman

Microsoft has signed a deal with comic book giant Marvel that will allow it to develop massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) featuring Marvel's superheroes for the Xbox 360. While Net play has been around for a few years on PCs and consoles, the worldwide take up of broadband connections, has made MMOGs big business. Games like World of Warcraft and EverQuest claim to have millions of players each one not only paying for the game itself but also a monthly subscription. ...more

FBI closes down 'Star Wars' p2p network

The FBI has announced that it has shut down the P2P network Elitetorrents.org. The Bureau said that the website was the source of recent pirated copies of the new Star Wars movie `Revenge of the Sith` which was leaked onto the Internet even before the film was released. ...more

RealNetworks calls for a Linux DRM

A RealNetworks executive has told Linux developers to add support for copy protection (DRM) technologies if they want a future in consumer markets. Jeff Ayars, a Real vice president, told Linux World in Boston, USA, that without DRM consumers will not be able to use Linux to play digital content. 'The consequences of Linux not supporting DRM would be that fixed-purpose consumer electronics and Windows PCs would be the sole entertainment platforms available,' he said; apparently he has never heard of Macs. ...more

Sun GPLs Java

Sun Microsystems is to release its key Java platform under the same licence used for Linux and other open-source software. The first parts of Sun's Java Platform Standard Edition and Mobile Edition will be available today under the GNU General Public License (GPL). Additionally, Sun's Enterprise Edition for Java will be released under the GPL, having previously been licensed under Sun's OSI-approved Common Development and Distribution Licence. ...more