BT manager 'fesses to Google shares scam

A BT manager has been charged in New York with attempting to swindle people out of $3m (?1.7m) by pretending to have the inside track on getting hold of Class 'A' shares in Google, according to The Guardian. These voting shares have been earmarked for a close circle of people around Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. ...more

BBC to broadcast World Cup games online

The BBC is to broadcast its World Cup 2006 games live on the Internet. The Corporation has signed what it describes as an exclusive deal with Infront Sports & Media, which is the company responsible for the worldwide marketing and sales of the broadcast rights to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, having been appointed by FIFA. The deal means Internet users, in the UK only, will be able to watch all of the BBC World Cup games online. ...more

Microsoft profits slump

Microsoft has announced its financial results for the last three months of 2006. The figures reveal a 28 per cent drop in net income year-on-year, down to a mere $2.6 billion. ...more

Microsoft launches Vista, Office, Exchange

It has taken five years to arrive, but today marks the official unveiling of Microsoft's next-generation desktop operating system, Windows Vista. As well as Vista, Microsoft is also releasing Office 2007, its productivity and collaboration software, and Exchange Server 2007, its 64-bit only back-office messaging system. All three can be considered business-oriented releases, given that the consumer versions of Vista (Basic, Home and Ultimate editions) will be available 30 January 2007 and the new web services and group collaboration features of Office 2007 are aimed at work groups rather than individual users per se. ...more

Real Player 10 for Mac unveiled

RealNetworks has announce Real Player 10 for Mac OS X and a beta version will be released on Wednesday, 30 June. The new software will support playback of content in both the RealAudio and RealVideo formats as well as full-screen QuickTime and MPEG. It also has an integrated Web browser, Rendezvous support and a graphic equaliser. ...more