BT signs up Marconi for Multimedia Terminals

Public phone boxes as we know them could be replaced by multimedia 'Web phones' following a deal between BT and Marconi. E-mail, text messaging, full Internet access and general 'location-based services' for e-commerce are among the offerings that should appear in the 28,000 (Marconi-built and BT-managed) terminals. With a built-in keyboard and tracker ball, the design is intended to be robust enough for such British public spaces as bus and rail stations and shopping centres and motorway service stations. ...more

Microsoft hails 'solid' results

Microsoft builds financial success on the platform of Windows XP - and declares a profit of $1.5bn for its last quarter. In its latest financial results, Microsoft reports a ten per cent increase in sales, $7. ...more

Apple takes lid off Foxconn plant

Apple has begun its audit of the Foxconn iPod manufacturing plant in Shenzhen, China. 'Apple has begun a thorough audit of the manufacturing plant operated by Foxconn, including employee working and living conditions, interviews of employees and managers, compliance with overtime and wage regulations, and other areas as necessary to insure adherence to Apple's supplier code of conduct,' the company said in a statement. The audit was prompted by a Mail on Sunday article which claimed that the plants workers were poorly paid, working 15 hours a day and living 100 to a room in company dormitories. ...more

BFI to digitise 'national treasures'

The British Film Institute (BFI) and HP are teaming up in a ?2m project to help digitise its vast archive of films and television programmes. The BFI archive contains more than 230,000 films and 675,000 television programmes, including seminal moments in British broadcasting history such as the Queen's coronation, the 1966 World Cup Final and the Moon landing. However, parts of the celluloid archive - which is currently held in a 37-acre site in Berkhamstead - is in a rapid state of decline, accelerating the need for digitisation. ...more

Judge approves Microsoft MP3 patent damages

A US judge has approved a jury's decision to award Alcatel-Lucent $1.52 billion after it ruled that Microsoft had infringed an audio technology patent. District Court Judge Rudi M Brewster in San Diego rejected Microsoft's request that he reduce the amount of damages awarded in February, after the jury decided that Microsoft had infringed an Alcatel-Lucent patent by providing MP3 support in Windows Media Player. ...more