AMD boosts outlook

AMD has raises predictions for fourth quarter. AMD's processors and high-density flash memory products are seeling faster than expected, says AMD. Accordingly it is raising it predicted sales growth for Q4 to 25 per cent, up from its originally stated 20 per cent. ...more

JavaOne: Sun unveils Java Studio Creator and J2SE 5.0

Sun has made a host of new announcements at its JavaOne conference, which has kicked off in San Francisco. Jonathan Schwartz, president and COO at Sun Microsystems, rolled out a slew of big figures to demonstrate how far reaching Java had become: 4 million developers and a 100 million downloads of Java kits, writing software for 1.7 billion devices, including 350 million mobile Java phones, and power an economy worth $120 billion. ...more

PC Pro online music expos?: UK public pays too much for too little

The new issue of PC Pro, which goes on general sale today, includes a headline-grabbing expos? of the UK's online music market. It reveals what many have suspected for some time: that the British public is being asked to pay too much money for tracks, that the music is often poorly encoded, and that the limitations over what people can and can't do with the tracks are strict to the point of draconian. 'What people don't understand is that when they buy an iPod or other digital music player, they're being tied into a system,' believes Deputy Labs Editor, Nick Ross. ...more

IR35 protesters win round one of legal challenge

The High Court has today given the Professional Contractors Group (PCG) permission to have IR35 judicially reviewed. As we previously reported, today's court hearing was to decide if the group should be allowed to proceed towards achieving a judicial review of whether IR35 is in fact lawful. The PCG's case is threefold: that IR35 is "an illegal provision of state aid to larger competitors", that it is in breach of an EC right because it discourages EU knowledge-based contractors from trading, and that it is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights because it amounts to a confiscation of property. ...more

BT boss rails against regulators

BT chief executive Ben Verwaayen has launched an attack on European telecom regulators, saying that they are to blame for the lack of 100 per cent broadband coverage, reports ZDNet UK. Speaking in London this week, he accused them of having a narrowband approach to broadband issues and failing to back risk-takers. Unlike narrowband, he said, broadband comes in several forms - ADSL, cable, 3G and satellite for example - and should not be subject to the same restrictions. ...more