Vista and Office launch dates announced - by Amazon

Microsoft Office 2007 is slated for release on 30 January next year and is set at a price of $499 in the US. On the same day, Microsoft is also planning to launch the long delayed and much anticipated Vista operating system as the replacement for Windows XP. The US price for the 'Ultimate' version of Vista will be $399. ...more

Vodafone launches 3G into Europe

Today sees the official commercial launch of Vodafone's 3G services in Europe. The service beginning the 3G rollout will be the Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G/GPRS datacard, which Vodafone claims to be the first high speed lap top datacard of its type. The card itself, however, will not be fully available across Europe for another month 'The announcement of the launch of our 3G services is a major milestone in Vodafone's 3G journey,' said Peter Bamford, Chief Marketing Officer. ...more

Sony reveals its hand

We take a tour of Sony's UK labs for first looks at this year's products from the consumer electronics giant. In the glass-roofed atrium of Sony's HQ today, deep in darkest Surrey, we got our first eyeful of Sony's army of products poised to march on the high street this summer. Cli? handhelds The advance party to the rank and file of brushed metal hordes has to be Sony's new Cli? handhelds - the T series. ...more

EU treaty could spark hacker witch-hunt

Security experts at Def Con Europe in Amsterdam have expressed outrage at the implications of The Council of Europe's draft Cybercrime Treaty. The Treaty, drafted by EU member states in consultation with the US Department of Justice could be signed as early as December and would criminalise the writing or possession of hacking software and the publishing of software vulnerabilities. To many of the experts at Def Con, the word 'hacking' is simply a way of discovering how something works - research by disassembly. ...more

IBM drops some counterclaims against SCO

IBM has dropped a number of counterclaims against its opponent SCO because it believes it is not economically worthwhile to do so. In other words, SCO is too small a fish to fry for a slice of its sales. The decision to drop four of IBM's patent counterclaims surfaced in a document filed Thursday in opposition to SCO's requests for an additional 25 depositions. ...more