Play your part in UK environmental awards

PC Pro is partnering with environmental charity SustainIT to promote the development of more eco-friendly products - and we need your help! In particular, PC Pro is sponsoring the Environmental Product Innovation award, part of SustainIT's 2006/06 eWell-Being Awards. This will reward companies that have developed IT products that improve, or have the potential to improve, environmental well-being. If you see a product that you think deserves to be entered, please let us know via a comment to this news story - we'll be monitoring the results over the coming weeks. ...more

Crazy Frog company fined ?40,000

The company that has inflicted the 'Crazy Frog' ringtone on the world has been fined ?40,000. The premium phone rate watchdog ICSTIS imposed the fine on mBlox after a Hearing Panel found that customers who thought they were making a one off payment for the ringtone were, in fact, signing up to a five pound a week subscription service. ICSTIS says it has received 338 complaints about the service from customers who claim they were duped into signing up for a subscription. ...more

HP to announce redundancies this week?

Industry giant Hewlett-Packard is expected to announce thousands of redundancies world wide this week according to industry analysts. The layoffs are expected to range anywhere in the region of between 15 and 25,000 from a workforce of around 150,000 world wide. The axe is the first major change to the company since Mark Hurd joined HP as its new chief executive from NCR in late March following the sacking of the former CEO Carly Fiorina. ...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

Government investigates outsourced data security

Following an undercover investigation by Channel 4's Dispatches the Information Commissioner has launched an official investigation into data security standards in offshore call centres. The program found that call centre staff were willing to sell credit card and password information on individual customers for a few pounds. The details were bought from a call centre that serviced the billing systems for a British mobile phone network operator. ...more