Ask gives more answers to Web queries

Web search company Ask.com is set to give greater prominence in Web search results to photos, video and related searches, responding to growing consumer demand for more than text links. Ask calls its new service Ask3D, a reference to the way Ask. ...more

Apple opens iTMS Euro Grand Prize

The lucky purchaser of the 100 millionth entry from iTunes Music Stores in Europe will scoop a set of prizes including an iMac G5 and a 30GB iPod. Apple is giving a 100 Millionth Song Grand Prize to mark what it describes as a milestone for legally downloadable music. The full prize list is: a 17-inch iMac G5, a 30GB iPod, a 10,000-song Gift Card for the iTunes Music Store and last, and maybe least, two Tickets to see Robbie Williams live in concert on his 2006 tour (including travel and accommodation). ...more

Microsoft releases version 7.5 of Messenger

Doubtless stung by having the upstart Google impinge on its turf, not once but twice in a week, Microsoft has introduced an incremental upgrade of its MSN Messenger, IM software. The new version allows users record up to 15 seconds of sound that can be sent to others like any other IM and they can listen to it immediately. Sound quality also gets a boost using echo cancellation. ...more

Microsoft hotfoots fix for javaproxy error in July bulletin

Microsoft's Windows OS and Word are the recipient of three critical security updates released last night. Part of July's bulletin, two of the patches fix holes in the Windows platform, including server editions and also the Internet Explorer browser component of the desktop. The first shores up a problem with Microsoft Color Management Module where an error can occur in validating some formats. ...more

Adobe threatens China withdrawal

Adobe may stop localising its products for China and other Asian countries due to the high rates of piracy in the region. Speaking in San Francisco this week - and quoted in the South China Morning Post - Adobe chief executive Bruce Chizen said, 'It is a simple business decision. It costs $750,000 to localise an application for the Chinese language and if we are only going to make $500,000 in revenue it does not make sense for us to go ahead. ...more