IBM adds to Java Security

IBM has released a number of free tools to help improve the security of Java applications. Among the tools on offer is automatic data encryption for Java. The company says that the IBM Secure Shell Library for Java automatically encrypts data transmitted from one computer to another, including passwords and information stored in files, therefore preventing it from being exposed to hackers and other online menaces. ...more

Canon develops digital TV printer

Canon has developed a printer that will print information from digital TV broadcasts, a business that it hopes will be worth around ?500m by 2010. The inkjet printer will launch in Japan next year for the equivalent of approximately ?250, with US and European launches to follow at an unspecified later date. Rather than simply print the image on the screen, the device will primarily be used to make hard copies of extra information on red-button pages. ...more

Michelin Red Guide for your PDA

The famous hotel- and restaurant-rating Michelin Red Guide is now available for all the major PDA devices. Up to date for 2001, the Red Guide for France contains more than 13,500 hotels and restaurants, and the Europe Guide contains more than 10,000 addresses in 110 different major European cities in over 20 countries. Establishments are rated on a scale of up to three stars, with special notation included to indicate "local delights" or good value for money. ...more

iPod manufacturer withdraws libel action against journalists

A Taiwan iPod manufacturer has withdrawn a libel action against two journalists who reported on conditions at its plant in China's Shenzhen province. Foxconn and the journalists' employer, the China Business News newspaper, issued a joint statement saying that they had resolved their dispute and apologised to each other for 'for the disturbances brought to both of them by the lawsuit'. Foxconn had earlier reduced its damages claim against the report's author, Wang You and editor Weng Bao from 30 million yuan to just one yuan. ...more

Newspapers count cost of online readership

Newspaper websites need to recruit as many as 100 online readers to compensate for the loss of just one reader of their print version, according to a US media strategist. Vincent Crosbie, a senior associate at Borrell Associates, told the World Newspaper Advertising Conference & Expo that the discrepancy is down to the relative amounts of advertising revenue that online and traditional readers attract. 'As more and more people shift their news reading from print to online, the newspaper industry must dramatically increase its online advertising revenues or die,' he said, noting that some US newspapers may already have lost the battle. ...more