Small businesses set to suffer from SP2 problems

Canadian research firm AssetMetrix says that companies with fewer than 100 Windows XP machines will have compatibility problems with around 12 per cent of installed programs, with the figure ranging as high as 60 per cent in same cases. The company surveyed 44,000 Windows XP-based PCs from over 340 companies on the effect that the security-focussed Service Pack 2 rollout will have on businesses. Currently Microsoft allows businesses to hold off deployment while they test the upgrade, but this amnesty runs out 16 December, after which it becomes mandatory that it is installed. ...more

WiMAX wireless broadband body created

Just as you were getting a handle on 802.11, along comes 802.16. ...more

Bulldog cuts price of 4Mbps broadband by a third

Bulldog has cut 30 per cent from the price of its 4Mbps broadband and telephone services. The cuts follow an expansion of the LLU-based ISP's coverage, which will make it available to 30 per cent of UK homes and business by the second half of 2005. New customers signing up before 31 March will get the reduced rates for one year. ...more

Workers cost companies ?300 million on gambling

New survey finds that internet gambling at work costs firms in the UK more than ?300m each year in lost productivity. Over ?300 million is being lost in productivity as employees indulge in an online flutter at work. According to new figures released by business and technology consultancy Morse, online gambling is costing businesses ?306,236,140 each year. ...more

US gets first taste of Apple TV

Apple made its first major assault on the living room on Wednesday with the first shipments of the Apple TV device, a gadget that lets people take music, photos and video stored on a computer and play them on a television screen. The small silver box with a white Apple logo costs $299 and can store up to 50 hours of video, 9,000 songs, 25,000 photos or a combination thereof. It is available this week at Apple's online store, retail stores, and also from resellers. ...more