Apple and Microsoft battle over iPod market dominance

Apple has defended the dominance of iPod and the iTunes Music Store after Microsoft attacked it at the launch of the MSN Music Store yesterday. Christine Andrews, lead product manager of MSN, accepted that 'iTunes has done a great job of helping to elevate the market', but claims that it is Microsoft that offers choice. 'We're different because Apple is a closed system. ...more

Google wins first tussle over ex-Microsoft employee

A US judge has cleared the way for ex-Microsoft employee Dr Kai-Fu Lee to join Google in China. However Judge Steven Gonzalez placed strict restrictions on the use of the confidential information that Dr Lee acquired while working for his former employer. He ruled that Dr Kai-Fu Lee had misled Microsoft and used some of that information when he first joined Google. ...more

Adobe to release Captivate 2

Adobe has announced a new version of Captivate, its software that enables the creation of high-quality, interactive simulations, software demonstrations and scenario-based training modules. Based on the Flash technology that the company acquired with the purchase of Macromedia, Adobe Captivate 2 generates interactive content in Flash, without the need for programming knowledge or multimedia skills. That content can include scored interactions, feedback, audio and video. ...more

EU puts next-gen DVD licensing under scrutiny

The EU has begun an examination of the licensing policies of the two rival next-generation DVD formats, Blu-ray and HD DVD. European Commission antitrust officials declined to elaborate on the details of their inquiry, saying only that they has contacted the makers of both high definition formats to request licensing information to see whether the terms comply with EU competition rules. They stressed that this does not mark the start of a formal investigation. ...more

Agreement reached on 802.11n standard

Rival developers of next-generation Wi-Fi technologies have put their differences aside and agreed to work together to finalise the 802.11n standard. TGn Sync, WWiSe and MitMot will combine their proposals to submit to the IEEE later this year. ...more