The philanthropic side of Larry Ellison

Oracle is funding a charitable foundation to help 'increase access to the Internet in economically challenged communities'. Microsoft and Bill Gates donate many millions to volunteer organisations and charitable projects, and the founders of Hewlett-Packard were long been known for their philanthropic bent. Now Larry Ellison (Oracle Chairman and CEO) - better known for his 'hard fighting' business instincts - is joining their ranks. ...more

ARM unveils new chip design

Cambridge-based ARM has introduced a new processor that is expected to power a new generation of mobile phones. The company claims that the new Cortext-A8 can deliver up to 2000 DMips and for the first time puts a mobile phone chip in the same league as a desktop processor. In contrast, the current Arm-9 processor that is found in the majority of today's mid-range phones can only manage around 300DMips. ...more

Napster director appointment renews sale talk

Napster's appointment of a new director has rekindled talk that the online music service is seeking a buyer. The new board member, Ross Levinsohn, is the former president of Fox Interactive Media, where he oversaw several acquisitions, including the hugely popular social networking website MySpace. It is the timing of his appointment, ahead of the company's AGM later this year, that has prompted suggestions that Napster is seeking to placate investors who are said to be impatient for a sale. ...more

bCentral users get free FrontPage tool to add e-commerce

Microsoft has announced an add-in tool, aimed at SMEs, that gives e-commerce functionality to FrontPage-based sites. bCentral's Commerce Manager Add-in includes templates for product catalogues, category pages and detail pages plus order management, shopping cart and order-processing (including credit card) features. Marcus Schmidt, lead product manager for bCentral Commerce Manager, said: "It's a total entry-level solution for small businesses wanting to build and sell things on a Web site. ...more

Russia first government with Windows code

Russia has become the first government to reap the fruits of Microsoft's Government Security Program (GSP). Announced barely a week ago, the program is designed to put Microsoft's most valuable asset - the source code to its Windows operating system - into the hands of governments. It will allow national bodies to adapt their own software to make best use of operating system's security features. ...more