Winstar files for bankruptcy protection and $10bn lawsuit against Lucent

Winstar Communications Inc, the troubled telecommunications provider, filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday, claiming it was forced to take this action after Lucent defaulted on a five-year supply agreement. Winstar's legal filing today alleged that "Little more than two years into the five-year agreement, Lucent has shown its promises were hollow." The agreement, which analysts predicted was worth as much as $1bn, should have seen Lucent paying Winstar $90m on 30 March. ...more

In space, no one can hear you say cheese

Kodak has announced plans for its Global Imaging department, which will sell highly detailed pictures taken of the planet Earth from space. The company has recently purchased the earth image processing, geographic information systems (GIS) and mapping systems from Groupe Hauts-Monts. Kodak believes that telecommunications companies will benefit most from this data, as three dimensional images of cities can be generated and aid the positioning of mobile phone masts. ...more

The Web leads the way for banking communication - study

According to a new study, just over half of customers communicate with the banks via the Internet only. The survey, carried out by market research firm Vanson Bourne, found that 51 per cent of respondents only interacted online with their High Street banks. The study of 1,000 people in the UK and Ireland found that 29 per cent of people only contacted their credit card companies via online means. ...more

iTunes votes Democrat

In the run-up to the US presidential election, Apple is providing speeches by leading Democrats for free, through its iTunes Music Store. Words of wisdom from Apple's very own Al Gore, the Clintons, Howard Dean, Ted Kennedy, Jesse Jackson, Ron Reagan and others are available to download Speeches from Day One, Day Two and Day Three of the 2004 Democratic National Convention are available. Bloomberg. ...more

Sun fires back over Open Source Java accusations

Sun has offered a frank response to the open letter from Eric S, Raymond, President, Open Source Initiative, in which he called on Sun to make its Java platform Open Source and described the company's Open Source strategy as 'spotty' and 'confused'. 'I'd say this is 100 per cent rant,' Sun's Chief Technology Evangelist, Simon Phipps told us. 'His simplistic accusations don't hold water. ...more