Power Mac ad banned in UK

Apple's TV advertisement for the Power Mac G5 has been banned after eight complaints about the claim that it is 'the world's fastest, most powerful computer'. The Independent Television Commission has ruled that the ad is 'misleading' and can no longer be shown. Apple insists that the tests used to justify its claims were 'fair and even', but the ITC agreed with the complainants who said that the tests were weighted in the Mac's favour. ...more

Ryanair preps mobile phone support

Ryanair is poised to begin installing kit on its aircraft that will allow passengers to make mobile phone calls. The budget airline, which famously banned staff from charging their mobiles at work, is said to be close to a deal with an unnamed telecoms company to install the necessary kit to enable both voice calls and SMS texts. In common with other electronic equipment, phone usage will be prohibited during take-off and landing. ...more

BitTorrent shakes hands with MPAA

BitTorrent has shaken hands with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and has agreed to help stem illegal downloads of movies and other digital content. As a result of the agreement, BitTorrent will work to remove any copyright material that appears in its search engine. The announcement was made by Bram Cohen, the founder and chief executive of BitTorrent, alongside Dan Glickman, chairman of the MPAA at a news conference in Los Angeles. ...more

BT launches Digital Vault

You back up all your personal files at regular intervals don't you? I thought not. Well, help may be at hand as BT launches what it is calling a 'Digital Vault', which allows customers to store up to 20GB of data online. As PC users create more and more content such as videos, photos and music files on their hard disk, the greater the danger of losing their entire collection if the hard disk crashes. ...more

Google goes bard crazy

Summer, according to Google, means Shakespeare and to celebrate this it has devoted a new section on its website to the bard. Google Shakespeare lets book lovers and theatre fans explore Shakspere's entire oeuvre. You can search for famous lines in Macbeth without toil and trouble, browse through all the plays you know, or follow your curiosity to discover new works on the site. ...more