Broadband is go for 15 more exchanges

BT has announced dates for the upgrading of a further 15 exchanges with ADSL broadband capability. The fifteen, with dates, are: Antrim, Northern Ireland; Badsey, Hereford & Worcester; Devonport, Devon; Dunblane, Central Region; Kidmore End, Oxfordshire - 21 May; Attleborough, Norfolk; Dronfield, Derbyshire; Highclere, Hampshire; Ingleby Barwick, Cleveland; Kingston Blount, Oxfordshire; Odiham, Hampshire; Southam, Warwickshire; Wormley, Surrey - 28 May; Wentworth, Surrey - 4 June; and Brimscombe, Gloucestershire - 28 June. These 15 bring the total announced in the past three weeks to 49. ...more

Prog rock specialist pioneers lossless downloads

A new music downloads service claims to be the first to offer its music in a lossless compression, format. Mindawn, which specialises in but is by no means restricted to prog rock, provides users with a choice of formats when buying a song. One is Ogg Vorbis, a lossy compression alternative to AAC or MP3, and the other is FLAC or Free Lossless Audio Codec, similar in effect to iTunes' Apple Lossless Audio Codec. ...more

HP launches its cheapest laser jet yet

The HP LaserJet 1000 will be HP's cheapest LaserJet when it launches in the UK for ?277.30 (including VAT) this Autumn. Available from 1 October, the USB mono laser offers a top speed of 10pp/min and 600dpi resolution, which can be effectively doubled with HP's Resolution Enhancement technology to 1,200dpi. ...more

O2 buys Be

The Spanish owned mobile operator O2 is the latest mobile company to join the rush to convergence with the purchase of the high-speed broadband operator Be in a deal worth ?50 million. Founded only two years ago in 2004, Be was the first UK broadband internet service provider (ISP) to use ADSL2+ technology, which theoretically offers speeds of up to 24Mbps. Be has so far rolled its network out to 150 local exchanges and has plans to be in 400, covering half the UK population, by the end of 2006. ...more

Microsoft refutes IE 7 bug claim

Microsoft has denied that a there is an exploitable vulnerability in Internet Explorer 7. However, security firm Secunia which reported the bug is standing by its original claim. On Thursday, just hours after the launch of Internet Explorer 7, Secunia announced the presence of a security hole in the new browser that would allow a malicious intruder to take control of the machine. ...more