BBC to trial TV downloads service

The BBC has announced that it plans to begin making TV programmes available over the Internet. From September the corporation will hold three months of 'intensive trials' of its interactive Media Player (iMP). It will make selected TV programmes available for up to seven days after they were broadcast, alongside the radio broadcasts which are currently being streamed plus additional channels not yet available online. ...more

iTunes 7 users report significant problems

iTunes users are reporting significant problems with the latest version 7 upgrade, including distorted audio. Audio corruption has been reported by several Windows iTunes users in a thread on Apple's Discussion boards. Cipher reported that 'ALL of the songs in my library are extremely distorted when I play them. ...more

Formac announces designer combo

Formac has unveiled the latest additions to its Designer range of drives, a combo CD-RW/DVD-ROM - similar to that which has proved overwhelmingly successful in Apple's new iBook - and a high-speed CD-RW. Both drives incorporate Formac's proprietary BURN-Proof technology, which controls the flow of data into the unit to prevent the "buffer under run" errors that can lead to many a CD ending up as a coffee cup coaster. It also enables CDs to be burned in the background. ...more

Some CDs cheaper than downloads as labels put up prices

Record labels in the US are already trying to cash in on the success of online music stores like iTunes and Napster by forcing up the prices for certain albums from $9.99 to $13.99. ...more

HP indemnifies Linux customers against SCO

In a conference call today, HP has said it would indemnify customers buying Linux against any litigation from SCO. From 1 October, HP customers buying Linux distributions, such as Red Hat, SuSE and Mandrake, running on HP hardware will be able to sign an addendum to the support agreement that indemnifies them against litigious action of the sort currently pursued against IBM by SCO. HP's Vice President for Linux and Enterprise systems, Martin Fink, hosted a conference call today to spell out that HP is 'removing need for Linux licence' from SCO for its customers and that the indemnification is 'a risk we are willing to take'. ...more