Optimising the Web for mobile devices

AvantGo has expanded its free Internet service for mobile device users to incorporate UK-specific content. The AvantGo Mobile Internet Service allows users of PalmOS, PocketPC and WAP phones to surf the web online via a wireless connection or offline via synchronisation with their desktop computer. The service, available at www. ...more

FBI pounce on software piracy gang

Reuters reports that the FBI has indicted 19 members of an international piracy gang thought to have cracked software, games and films worth some $6.5m. 'Operation Jolly Roger', focused on the RISCISO gang, believed to number as many as 60 and led by 26-year-old Sean O'Toole of Perth, Australia. ...more

French and German consumer groups join campaign to open iTunes

French and German consumer groups have joined with campaigners in the Nordic countries in an effort to force Apple to make the iTunes store compatible with music players other than its own iPods. The campaign began in Norway, where the consumer ombudsman Bj?rn Erik Thon believes that iTunes' terms and condition violate consumer rights laws, and was soon joined by groups in Denmark and Sweden. France's UFC-Que Choisir and Germany's Ferbraucherzentralen have now added their support, with Finland's Kuluttajavirasto expected to join in the near future. ...more

Apple pips Dell in US customer satisfaction survey

Satisfaction with Apple products is at an all-time high keeping the company at the top of an annual US survey of computer buyers. Apple's high rating of 81 helps it retain the top spot it grabbed from Dell last year in the PC section of the University of Michigan's Customer Satisfaction Index. It is Apple's highest rating since the survey began in 1994 and comes at a time when its compute shipments are higher than at any time in the previous five years. ...more

EC to allow computer patent law destruction

The European Commission has said it will not stand in the way of the European Parliament if it wishes to destroy a controversial EU directive on computer patents. The EC's Charlie McCreevy told the Parliament on Tuesday that 'the ball is now very clearly in the European Parliament's court. It's for you to decide how you want to play it. ...more