Double whammy for Ellison

Surely Larry Ellison must be feeling pleased with himself? Yesterday's listing in Forbes magazine that showed the Oracle chief to be the second-richest man in the US (only $5bn behind Mr Gates) must have brought a wry smile? But on the same day his interactive television (iTV) supplier, Liberate, did the fashionable thing and snubbed Microsoft, beating the software giant to a lucrative deal with AT&T to pilot its software across its interactive TV systems, a company in which Microsoft is a stock holder and on friendly terms. This could mean Liberate technologies being rolled out across AT&T's broadband operation - some 10 million set top boxes - and leaving Microsoft's iTV plans for dust. This comes on top of another coup, a few months back, where Liberate again scored one over on Microsoft, pipping them to an ITV deal with UPC, again a company in which Microsoft is a major stakeholder. ...more

Microsoft publishes new guide to deploying Service Pack 2

Microsoft has created a new guide to allay fears for those who are deploying XP service pack 2. With SP2 raising the security bar for Windows, increasingly problems have been found with applications that assume a less rigorous regime. According to the Microsoft website, the Application Compatibility Testing and Mitigation Guide for Windows XP Service Pack 2 'will assist IT professionals to test and mitigate application compatibility issues arising from these more stringent security technologies. ...more

Sony debuts on the digital SLR stage

Sony has been showing off its Alpha range digital SLR camera to the UK press this afternoon. The Alpha 100 is Sony's first venture into high-end digital photography, but the Japanese giant declares it intends to be battling for market leadership - against the established Canon and Nikon - by 2008. Sony is building on the expertise and technology it acquired from Konica Minolta, which exited the market back in January. ...more

Pixar makes Incredibles profits

Pixar has announced record results for the last financial year. The animation studio which shares its CEO, Steve Jobs, with Apple, earned $141.7mn on revenues of $273. ...more

Intel squeezes more speed from the Pentium 4

New versions of the Pentium 4 arrive with a faster system bus and new chipset. In the relentless march towards the physical barrier of what can be etched on chips with ultraviolet light, Intel has squeezed more speed out of its 0.13 micron manufacturing process - 2. ...more