Californians set Internet speed record

Californian scientists have set a new record for data transfer speed over a standard TCP Internet connection, achieving a speed of 8,609Mbps. The scientists from Caltech, the California Institute of Technology, achieved the record speeds using a new data transfer protocol, Fast Active queue management Scalable Transmission Control Protocol, or FAST. They succeeded not only in setting a new speed record but also managed to sustain it over an extended period on shared networks in the presence of background traffic, making it adaptable for deployment on the world's high-speed production networks In recent years Internet speeds have doubled each year, but the improvements have been based on an algorithm designed in 1988. ...more

National Express trials Wi-Fi coaches

National Express has begun trials of a mobile Wi-Fi system to deliver Internet access on its coach services. The trial is being held on the London to Cambridge service. Each coach will be equipped with an 802. ...more

Consumers get Ombudsman to sort out telco grievances

Oftel has set out a final timetable for the introduction of a Telecoms Ombudsman, to be established in the first half of next year. The service will attempt to resolve disputes between consumers and telecommunications companies by offering an independent and impartial service that will hopefully avoid costly court proceedings. Only residential consumers and small businesses will have access to the Ombudsman scheme and the maximum payout will be limited to ?5,000. ...more

Bagle threat heightens as fresh variant spreads

The anti-virus companies are warning of a new threat that is spreading across computers as we write: Bagle.ai. MessageLabs, the email security company, reports that it has intercepted more than 17,600 copies of the latest Bagle variant. ...more

Appeals court overturns Intergraph's $150mn win over Intel

Intel's long-running legal dispute with Intergraph has taken another twist, turning back in Intel's favour. The patent case involves the use of technology found within Intel's Itanium server processor. The New York Times reports that a US federal appeals court has overturned a previous district court verdict that found in favour of Intergraph. ...more