Toshiba stakes its HD DVD claim on the high street

Toshiba is taking the next-gen optical disc battle to Japanese shops with the launch of the first HD DVD player, the HD-XA1. Initially, the player will be bundled with two complementary HD DVD movie discs, 'Resident Evil' and a Japanese film, 'Moonlight Jellyfish'. Toshiba also highlights the navigation and interactive features that are supported by the HD-XA1. ...more

US intelligence chief warns over satellite images

A US intelligence chief has warned that the government may have to restrict the availability of satellite images where they may pose a threat to the security of the country and its armed forces. The warning came from Vice Admiral Robert Murrett, director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, an obscure agency responsible for providing information on insurgencies, nuclear sites, terror camps or troop movements obtained from satellite pictures. 'If there was a situation where any imagery products were being used by adversaries to kill Americans, I think we should act,' he told AP. ...more

Amazon not the first to one-click

Amazon's patent of its one-click shopping service is looking shaky after a site called BountyQuest published previous examples of the technology. Amazon filed the patent in 1997, claiming to be the first company to store users' IDs and billing details so they wouldn't have to be re-entered each time at the checkout. The company is pursuing a lawsuit against rival bookstore Barnesandnoble. ...more

Google blanks CNet for Googling

Google is refusing to speak to journalists from CNet after the US news website published personal information about Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Ironically, the information was not gleaned by any underhand methods but by searching the Internet, using Google. However Google has decided to ignore the website's reporters for a year. ...more

Red Hat preps JBoss Windows alliance

Red Hat has joined the Interop Vendor Alliance in a bid to get its software working properly with Windows. Initial work on interoperability had already been begun by application server builder JBoss a year and a half ago, before it was bought up by Red Hat. So far, the interoperability work has focussed on Web Services standards such as WS-Security, WS-Transactions, and WS-Addressing. ...more