RealPlayer 10 jumps aboard Linux heavyweights

RealNetworks' flagship media player will be the default option for a number of Linux operating systems, including Novell, Red Hat, Sun and TurboLinux. Both Red Hat and Novell will aid development of the media player and in return will ship their desktop products with RealPlayer 10 as standard. Other distros will use the open source version: Helix Player. ...more

IBM to shed thousands of European jobs

IBM has announced it is to shed between 10,000 and 13,000 jobs worldwide, with the majority of the cuts planned for Europe. IBM was one of a number of technology companies to report gloomy quarterly financial figures back in April, and to help reduce overheads it is going to axe a pan-European management layer. The company is now looking to create a number of smaller local operating units in Europe, with the emphasis on direct client contact. ...more

TimeWarner threatens to set the lawyers on YouTube

The CEO of TimeWarner is threatening to sue YouTube for 'breach of copyright', according to newspaper reports. Dick Parsons, the chairman and chief executive of Time Warner told The Guardian, 'You can assume we're in negotiations with YouTube and that those negotiations will be kicked up to the Google level in the hope that we can get to some acceptable position.' The threat follows similar warnings from News Corp. ...more

Covers come off Microsoft's Origami

The Origami project is officially revealed as an ultra mobile PC (UMPC), with Microsoft making the announcement at CeBIT. Asus and Samsung are the first manufactures out of the block, promising support (eventually) in the form of the Asus R2H (pictured) and the Samsung Q1. Base specifications provided by Microsoft, to qualify for the UMPC criteria, include running Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 OS, having a 7in display (or smaller), with a minimum 800 x 480 resolution, being WiFi- and Bluetooth-enabled, having an integrated touch panel and weighing approximately 2 pounds. ...more

I've just read your email, Jenkins. You're dismissed

A reports suggests that a third of US workers with Internet access are having their surfing habits and e-mails monitored by their employers. The study has been carried out by the American Privacy Foundation, and is part of its Workplace Surveillance Project. It estimates that 14 million people are under surveillance using commercially available software. ...more